Aurelian's Aurpards
The Aurpards were founded in the Age of Myth by the first Venithyan merchants that joined their resources to establish the Gilded Hand cartel. They were the only company to include both the red and yellow of the Gilded Hand heraldry on their own shields and were known as the Gilded Guard. At that time, aurpards, pack felids that prowled the gold-rich Glimmerpeak, posed the gratest threat to the Venithyan convoys on the first leg of their land journey to the Mercurial Gate. It became customary for the Gilded Guard to don the striped pelts of the beasts they killed during their journeys and to depict the aurpard on their shields and helm crests, thus earning them a new name among the Venithyan populace. Expert pikemen, they remained the foremost Free Company as the Gilded Hand turned into an alchemist guild. Through the Age of Chaos, the Realmgate Wars and the Season of War, they continued to unflinchingly serve their masters and to protect Venithya. Their current captain, Aurelian, has reintroduced the practice for parties of recruits to kill an aurpard before they can formally join the Company. Having to work together to separate the beast from the pack, corner and skewer it on their pikes, they develop a spirit of camaraderie the like of which is not seen among other Free Companies. Rightly proud of their skills and heritage, the Aurpards have recently been claimed by Lord Captain Rodrik as his personal bodyguard. Ever since, Aurelian has proven to be an excellent second-in-command and many in Venithya are sure he will succeed the hoary veteran at the head of the city armies.
Aurelian's Aurpards are the last human Free Company I'd planned and wanted to be a tribute to the pikemen introduced in the Dogs of War Army Book. There were many pikemen companies, but I've always favoured Leopold's Leopards, in no small part because of the great illustration that featured in their profile page.
On the other side, I found that the original models didn't quite capture the feeling of that illustration, in particular the nobility conveyed by the helms and their crests.
So, my objective was to have models that more closely reembled the fighters in the picture. To achieve that, I had avoided using the armoured Freeguild Guard bodies for my other companies. Once combined with the Empire Knights' arms, helms, shields and pelts, I had exactly what I wanted!
For Aurelian himself I used the last head from the Freeguild General, the one with the helm sculpted as a felid head with a laurel. I also wanted his pike to look slightly different, so I combined the Empire Knight banner bearer arm with the pike from the really old Unded Chariot (think it was a 1992 model!).
The musician and banner bearer required some additional work to give them armoured left arms with weapons, which I made by combining Empire Militia and Knight of the White Wolf arms with spare blades from the Freeguildguard. The banner bearer has a machete-like blade, which was a way to link to Leopold's original model.
As always, I tried to give a tribute to the colour scheme of the original models, hence the white trousers. However, since I kept copper or gold armour for my heroes, the Aurpards were given a dull iron armour. As always, the red and yellow tie the models with the other Free Companies, but they are more prominent on them as the oldest Venithyan Free Company.
For the pelts, since I'm not good enough of a painter to do leopard spots, I went for an easier striped pattern. And I have to say, I'm rather pleased of
how they actually turned out!
And with them, my time with Freeguild is over! This project started with the release of Age of Sigmar and the Empire Batallion going on Last Chance to Buy. It feels right that it finishes before the second edition comes out.
But do not be fooled, I'm not done with the Free Companies! There are still non-human Regiments of Renown that I want to replicate!
Fernando's Fancy Fencers
Fernando was born shortly after the Realmgate Wars to a mid-ranking alchemist of the Gilded Hand. His father had grand plans for him and traded many of his discoveries to secure a place as apprentice for his son. But alas, the young Fernando was much more interested in the pleasures that the brothels, drinking and gambling dens of Venithya could offer. It was in these places that he learned the art of fencing and built his reputation as a troublemaker. Kicked out of the Gilded Hand for the many embarassement he brought to them, he joined his companions of debauchery Esteban and Jorge on a successful career as hired sword. As prosperity was returning to Venithya, so did rivalries between wizard and merchant houses and it was easy for the three to find employment either as bodyguards or killers. Soon, they had a following of young men, eager to join them in the lucrative business and in the lavish parties they threw at the Laughing Maiden. The Fancy Fencers were born, yet the older Free Companies still frowned at them. Then Fernando's favourite courtesan mysteriously disappeared. It took the Fancy Fencers months to discover the ring of masked cultist responsible for it. Worse still, their leader was Fernando's father. Bitter about the failure of his son to enter the Giled Hand Inner Circle, he had resolved to claim that place by himself, even if that meant trading his soul to the Chaos Gods. Fernando did not care about gods, but he wanted his vendetta for the young woman his father had taken from him. He waited until they congregated in the palace he had called home and with the help of his companions killed every one of them. The Gilded Hand, freed from the cancer growing within them, set Grundok Ironfrown, the Elder representing the duardin, to reward Fernando and his men. Ever since those days, they proudly wear the bucklers the Runelord forged for them and have gained the respect of all the other Free Companies. But still, those that favour them the most are the wrenches and scoundrels of Venithya, cheering everytime the yellow feathers of the Fancy Fencers and Esteban's piping announce it is time to have a decent party to forget about the darkness outside and within Venithya.
The start of our Skirmsh campaign was approaching fast, so I only painted the five models I needed for my warband. The other five are right now on the painting desk, but I'll spare them to you.
As I did for the Venithyan Marksmen, I've replicated the colour scheme of the original Regiment of Renown, Vespero's Vendetta. Since they had no feathers I was free to choose the colour for them and, once again used yellow. This way the Fancy Fencers remain distinct, as a regiment of mercenaries should be, while still showing their alligiance to the Gilded Hand.
Meanwhile, I've also started working on my next Free Company, Karol's Cuirassiers. I'll have them ready soon, especially since my warband has already grown and I wnat to add some cavalry.
Slowly, but work on the Free Companies of the Gilded Hand is going ahead. Hopefully, I'll have enough models painted for the starting warband I'll take to a Skirmish campaign set in Warboss Kurgan's very own Harrowmark. This time around, I've been working on some close quarter fighters, the duellists and reckless thrill-seekers known as...
Fernando's Fancy Fencers
The plan for them was to replicate the look and feel of the classic Vespero's Vendetta.
Ufortunately, I had used almost all the left arms with daggers I had on other models. The other problem I faced was the lack of male heads with long, flowing hair in my bits box. The heads with feathered hats from the Freeguild Crossbowmen and Guard, however, screamed 'fancy-dressed rogue' as much as long hairs and I settled for them. The head from the Feeguild General also has a skull nested on the hat's brim, so I've managed to give a tribute to Vespero's Death Mask without having to go into more extensive conversion work.
To replace the daggers I thought that bucklers would be equally appreciated by professional duellists. Not to mention that, game-wise, they will avoid confusion between Freeguild Guards with Militia Weapons or Sword and Shield. I had plenty of bucklers from the Duardin Thunderers set, and they worked just perfectly on the Freeguild range. As you can see, I didn't remove the duardin runes from the bucklers. Well, there'll be an explanation for this once the Fancy Fencers are painted and given their bit of back story.
The bodies are from the Freeguild Crossbowmen command group, the only three bodies to come without the left arm in that kit, and the unarmoured ones from the Freeguild Guard. Since the original Vespero's Vendetta had no command group, I felt free to give them a piper rather than a drummer as stated in the Freeguild Guard warscroll. It makes much more sense for a bunch of wealthy young men seeking the best pleasures Venithya has to offer to ease their days with some merry tune than to march at the sound of drums, doesn't it?
The last thing left to do was to give them mantles. In the original models and rules, the mantles were used as shields, thus they were rather long and wrapped around the left arm. Since my Fancy Fencers have bucklers, there was no need for the mantles to be long, so I kept them short.
I've just realised this is the first time I took WIP pictures just before priming my models, showing that I base them during the building stages. I do this as I see bases as part of the models and prefer to paint them alongside the rest. The other thing is, I keep my bases very simple (just some sea sand and slate chips) and in neutral colours to match as many gaming tables as possible. Who knows, one day, if I decide to experiment with some more scenic bases I might try and paint the bases separately.
Kalyustar of the Gilded Hand
The alchemists of the Gilded Hand lost their faith in Sigmar when the God-king retreated behind the Gates of Azyr. Ever since, they have learned to trust two things only. Their knowledge of the elements and the magicks that rule them and the skills at arm of the best mercenaries that wyrd-gold can buy. Kalyustar is no exception in this respect. Where he differs is in that, since the onset of the Storm of Sigmar, he forwent the safety of his laboratory in Venithya. Since then, he has traveled the Realms to collect the rare substances so crucial for his experiments. In Ghur, at the head of a motley host of ogors and orruks, he sacked the vaults of the Lofnir Lodge. On the Sky Roads of Chamon, he led a charge of Demi-gryph Knights to capture one of the Olwyr Stonehorns and grind its bones. He spirited away a chunk of Shyishian Realm Stone from Voldyr Keep, the Scourge Privateers he hired fighting their way through ravening flesh-eater hordes. Countless of times he has clashed with Chaos Lords and Sorcerers whose keeps held secrets worth the lives of many a man. Equally celebrated as a hero and reviled as a villain, he has collected the rarest of substances, but one. Sigmarite, the celestial metal, still eludes Kalyustar. As the Eclipse engulfs the Realms, he knows the vilest of Chaos servants can channel its dark energies and trap the precious metal. He will stop at nothing to seize their secret, whether this means ripping it from those he can vanquish or struck a bargain with those too powerful for him and his mercenaries.
As a nod to the old Dogs of War fluff that placed the mercenary armies in the Warhammer version of the Italian peninsula, Venithya is loosely based on 16th century Venice. For the first member of the Gilded Hand I modeled, I therefore choose the colours of Venice flagg, gold (for the barding) and red (for the mantle). I didn't want to overdo with the gold, so I've broken it with the blues and greens of the vials. Again, not to have too much gold, I kept Kalyustar's armour a dull silver, but decided to paint his mask white to make it stand out more.
I've painted the Militia banner bearer and musician using the same palette of the unit they will join in larger games. The colours work well also alongside Kalyustar, with the red tying the models together, but the brown and beige marking the two men as less wealthy than the wizard.
The flagg was painted blue with red sigmarite symbols to match the dress of Lothar Valdemius, the Excelsior Warpriest that leads the Church of Sigmar's Retribution.
Since Jake (Bruticus) launched the Eclipse competion I've been looking in amazement at some of the entries that have being popping around the web. They spurred me to think and rummage through my pile of unbuilt kits, but inspiration was hard to come by. The search, however, took me back to my Free Companies of the Gilded Hand, my AoS28 tribute to the classic Dogs of War range. So far I've churned out a few Companies, but never attempted to represent one of the alchemists that pay for their services. That's it...until now!
Kalyustar of the Gilded Hand
Once I had decided I wanted my Witch Hunter to be a wandering alchemist, I started browsing books, WD issues and the internet for cool ideas. When I opened the 8th edition deck of Magic Cards and went for the Gold Magic cards, I was struck by lighting. I wanted my alchemist to look like the wizard on the back of the cards.
I had some arms from the Battle Mage, including the one holding the bottle with the skull-like puff of smoke, and a Liberator head sitting in my bits box. Mask, vial and part of the cape were sorted, what I needed was an armoured body and a hood. I had no armoured infantry that could be put to use, but I had a full box of Empire Knights (last minute purchase before they disappeared!). Armoured body sorted, I then sculpted the missing part of the cape and the hood.
The wizard on the card has another vial hanging from his belt and I wanted that to feature too. Since Kalyustar is on horse I figured the best place to put them was on the horse itself. After all, how else would a wandering alchemist carry his tools and ingredients?
Blackpowder vials from the Duardin Thunderers and the Freeguild Handgunners (and a scroll with skull from the Flagellants, why not?) found their way on the rump barding and dangling from the reins and staff. The staff was the fiddly bit of the entire project. It was the one with the Twin Tailed Comet top. I didn't want a too obvious connection with the sigmarite cult (more on this with the fluff, when the model is done), but I wanted to keep the orb. In removing the Comet's tails I snapped the staff, but that was ok as I found it was too long and broke the flow of the model. Once the orb was on top of the shortened staff it still missed something, but I still had the halo I had clipped from the Liberator head (never throw away a still usable bit!)
Since I was at it I've also knocked together the banner bearer and musician for the Church of Sigmar's Retribution Militia. When I modeled that unit, Militia could not have them, but then Grand Alliance: Order came out and they were given a boost. Luckily, I had the crew from an Empire Cannon (another last minute purchase) ansd spares from the Empire militia and Flagellants. The good thing is, I can also use them as reiteneers for Kalyustar in AoS28 games!
I have a rather clear idea of what Kalyustar's backstory is, but I always refine my models' stories while I paint them, so you'll have to wait a little to know more about him...
An introduction
It's October, days are getting shorter, mornings colder and trees are starting to change colours. This means only one thing: winter is coming...no wait! That's another thing! What is really coming is Halloween!
Warboss Kurgan and me often tried to celebrate Hallows Eve with a themed, evening game, but this didn't always work. Yes, real life got in the way!. So, this year we have decide to build our Halloween's celebration into our regular lunch-time gaming and run an entire Halloween themed campaign. We will only use the 'The Deadwalkers' Battleplan from this summer Throne of Skulls. What's better than a zombie invasion to celebrate the spookiest festivity of all? We will not randomly generate the objectives, rather, every week we'll select one around which we'll build the campaign narrative. And of course, our warbands will be themed too.
I'll be bringing my Devoted of Sigmar, the Church of Sigmar Retribution. I featured them some months ago on the Tales of Sigmar blog but then didn't have the time to give them a proper background. That doesn't work well for some of the main characters in a story. It is time to remedy!
The Witch Hunters
Pieter von Toorn joined the Order of Azyr as a young man haunted by visions of Sigmar himself calling on him to cleanse the Realms of the Chaos taint. The spirit-eyed youngster rose swiftly through the ranks of the Order.
By the time the first Stormhosts were ready to clear Azyr of orruks and other beasts, Pieter was a Captain leading a small band of Witch Hunters in scouting missions that paved the way for the Stormcast's offensives. He personally handpicked them.
Ludvig Mannhaft, Pieter's mate since their training, tempers the Captain's fiery nature with his cold and lucid rage.
The dashing Friederik Abscheu is a tracker and hound trainer of unsurpassed ability.
In the young Jakob Finster, Pieter saw a dedication akin to his own.
Their repute among the Order is undisputed and whenever an enemy of Sigmar must be tracked down or precious relics recovered, their names are always the first to be put forward.
Sigmar's Hound
Friederik Abscheu found this litter of griffon cubs in the wilds of Azyr, their mother slain by rampaging orruks. After directing the freshly forged Stormhosts against them, the Witch Hunter took great care to raise and train the cubs. Under Friederik's attentions they have become a fiercely loyal pack, a sharp word and few whistling sound is all that their master needs to unleash them against Sigmar's enemy.
Lothar Valdemius and Sharpbeak
Ever since he joined the Church of Sigmar, Lothar Valdemius dedicated himself to the mastery of Sigmar's teaching and the knowledge of the Realms before the coming of Chaos. Every waking moment he was not training with his hammer or communing with Sigmar, he spent in Azyrheim libraries. It was because of his knowledge that the Grand Conclave chose him to explore Chamon. The Warpriest gladly accepted and only asked for the best trackers the Order of Azyr can provide. The Conclave summoned Pieter von Toorn and his team and gifted Lothar with Sharpbeak, a young, fierce Gryph-hound. Their orders were simple: move out from the ruins of Elixia and rally all the untainted survivors he could find.
Avram the Daemonslayer
The duardin known as Avram was a builder and warrior in one of the Dispossed clans tasked with the rebuilding of Elixia after the rediscovery of Ghal Maraz. He saw all of his kin slaughtered in a single, daemonic attack attempting to re-seize the city. Driven completely crazy by remorse, he took the path of the Unforged and stalked the least secure corners of Elixia in search of revenge. He found Lothar and Pieter's team cornered by a horde of gibberish Tzeentchian daemons. Single-handedly, he despatched the Lord of Change directing the horde. When Lothar offered him a chance to bring his and Sigmar's revenge to the furthest corners of Chamon, he gladly acccepted.
Wilhelm Glaubig and the Penitent Brotherhood
Ever since Sigmar's retreat to Azyr, his Cult had been grudgely tolerated in the lagoon city of Venythia. Yet, the alchemist of the Gilded Hand ruling it understood well how the Devoted could boost the fighting prowess of their Free Companies and keep Venytia safe through the Age of Chaos. Wilhelm Glaubig was one such man. A self-thought Warrior Priest, he was convinced that the Age of Chaos was Sigmar's punishment for humanity wickedness. He preached that only the mortification of the body could bring about the return of the God-King. Over the years, he rallied a rag-tag band of former mercenaries brought to the edge of insanity by never-ending war. As the Storm of Sigmar broke, the Penitent Brotherhood were certain that years of repentance were rewarding them. They fought at the forefront of the Free Companies, eager to rest their eyes on the glory of the Stormcast Eternals. When Lothar Valdemius and the Witch Hunters brought the Word of Sigmar to Venythia, Wilhelm knew the God-King has finally deemed him worth again.
The Militia
When Lothar reached Venythia, he had already gathered a small band of survivors. Chamonite slaves freed from the yoke of Chaos, they made for a good if unruly fighting force. Led by Russ Krahe, a pit fighter Valdemius had rescued from a Chaos tainted arena, they could be relied to fight until the very last. As the Realmgates Wars came to a conclusion, survivors from many disbanded Free Companies had joined them. Not all of them are true believers, but their hatred of chaos is all Lothar asks of them.
