Friday 18 October 2024

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet: The Rotmoons - Bonesplitterz to Ironjawz, part 7


The Waaagh! energy that swirled around the Weirdbrute Wrekkaz caused them to see the world as a sea of green fire. Groups of enemies burned in their vision with particular intensity, so the Weirdbrutes just needed to head toward the light and start swinging.

The Weirdbrute Masks attached to their faces, by El Doktoro the Weirdnob Shaman, helped to focus their madness into a deadly frenzy. With nothing to distract them from the Waaagh! energy coursing through them they could ignore the effects of all but the most grievous wounds, meaning most enemies couldn't stop the orruks before they barrelled into their lines.

+++

The extra Wrekkaz and Brute are ready for battle alongside the Rotmoons!

It feels like they've taken me ages to paint them, due to a serious lack of hobby time this month, but it's only been a couple of weeks since I finished building and greenstuff work on them. I'm glad they're done anyway.

(I hate the way the names on their bases have come out. It's like the paint has shrunk or beaded or something. I've no idea why they've gone like that but I'm going to have to fix it!)

+++

The two Wrekkaz aren't really for Warcry - I can now field 1,000 points of just the Rotmoon's crew for AoS:

The Rotmoons (1000 points)
Ironjawz

Ardboy Big Boss (130)
  • [General]
  • [Armour of Gork]
  • [An Eye For Da Fight]
  • 10 x Ardboyz (180)
Warchanter (120)
  • 10 x Ardboyz (180)
Weirdnob Shaman (130)
  • 3 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (130)
  • 3 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (130)
[Spell Lore: Lore of the Weird]
[Manifestation Lore: Aetherwrought Machineries]
[Prayer Lore: Warbeats]

960/1000pts
3 drops
Generated by Listbot 4.0

+++

I've no idea how this will play, as I haven't tried 4th edition yet, but it looks fun enough that I to want to give it a go at some point.

This is how the new Wrekkaz look, when added to the ones I'd already made:


I like how they have (unintentionally) divided into two mobs: a static or "ready" mob who all have horned masks; and a more dynamic, charging mob whose masks are without horns.

+++

Fausto

A Waaagh!-crazed Wrekka with a gore-choppa.





+++

Murko

A belligerent Wrekka with a brute-crusha.





+++

Maximo

A swashbuckling pirate brute with a pair of brute-choppas.





+++

By adding Maximo to my Warcry list, the Rotmoons (after the changes in the September Update) now look like this:

DAGGER
Kapitan daLeeva - Ardboy Big Boss (Hero), Fortitude, Hero, Leader [175+15]
Bold Rikk - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]
Percy Percy - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]

SHIELD
El Doktoro - Orruk Weirdnob Shaman, Hero [170]
Bortagno - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]
Tambor - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]

HAMMER
Maximo - Orruk Brute with Pair of Choppas [140]
Geedo - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]

1000 points
8 models

So the crew is a little smaller (one model less than my previous warband), but considerably tougher and more exciting to play (due to the added Brute and the new Ardboy Big Boss and Ardboy profiles, but especially the new Ardboy ability!).

I can't wait to try them on the table!

Wednesday 2 October 2024

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet: The Rotmoons - Bonesplitterz to Ironjawz, part 6


After the recent AoS4 points changes I tried making a few Ironjawz lists with the models I already have. At larger points levels it was pretty easy to make something close to the things I had previously looked at: Armies made up of several pirate orruk ships' crews working together.

But a lower points levels I started to see something interesting:

The Rotmoons (1000 points)

Ironjawz

Ardboy Big Boss (130)
  • [General]
  • [Armour of Gork]
  • [An Eye For Da Fight]
  • 10 x Ardboyz (180)
Warchanter (120)
  • 10 x Ardboyz (180)
Weirdnob Shaman (130)
  • 3 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (130)
  • 3 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (130)
960/1000pts
3 drops
Generated by Listbot 4.0

+++

I realised I can almost make this 1000 point army with the models I've built and painted for a single ship's crew; a single Warcry warband!

Because of all the options and alternative models I've made for them (so I can try a variety of play-styles), I only needed to build and paint two Weirdbrute Wrekkaz and the Rotmoons would be a self-contained AoS army! (I've made three Weirdbrute Wrekkaz from the normal kit, and I already had a fourth, from Morgok's Krushers - the Underworlds warband.)

So using the spare masks from the box of Weirdbrute Wrekkaz I've already finished and parts from the regular Orruk Brutes kit I built Murko and Fausto.

+++

Murko






+++

Fausto






+++

To add to this, the recent Warcry update that added fighter profiles and abilities for the new Ardboys, the Ardboy Big Boss, Weirdbrute Wrekkas and Brute Ravagers to the Ironjawz roster sent me on another wild ride.


This is just a selection of warband ideas I might test. But several of the lists need a Brute with a pair of choppas to make the points work and I don't yet have any regular Brutes made in the Rotmoons' Elizabethan / Spanish Armada / Shakespearean style.

So while I was working on the final touches to the Weirdbrutes I quickly built one (and, I'll be honest, I'd mixed too much greenstuff and I didn't want to waste it!).

But doing the greenstuff work without the usual day, or more, after building a model (for the plastic glue to properly cure) was not a fun challenge. Things shifted a bit, more than once, and needed sorting out before I could call him done and stop working.

And it looks like I've run out of Outrider / Pistolier pistols again, so I'll have to see if eBay or a bits reseller has any left I can get in a hurry.

Anyway, here's...

Maximo






+++

Next: paint!

Friday 30 August 2024

The Rotmoons and the Starwood Compass - part 5, The Letters


The Rotmoons re-joined the rest of the Ironfang Fleet as they raced over the Shimmersea, chasing after a number of ships spotted from several miles away after they had seen the glimmer of Hyshlight reflecting off metal hulls in the summer evening twilight.

The Rotmoon was able to rendezvous with the Fleet and soon they were running ahead of them, hoping to catch-up with the distant vessels first.

They gave chase for nearly three days without gaining on the prize and eventually Mogrum signalled orders that the chase was to be abandoned, as the Ironfang Fleet had become scattered over many miles of Shimmersea.

Disgruntled, the Rotmoons made their feelings about it known but they obeyed orders when Kapitan daLeeva made it clear that he agreed with them.

They never found out who's ships they had pursued.

+++

A week later the Fleet was becalmed - they were slowed to almost crawl for days on end. Without realising, the orruk pirates ships had passed through the lee of a metalith island that had very high levels of Nullstone deposits. The effect on the charms and enchantments that kept their sky-ships aloft was temporary, but still significant for a while.

During the downtime, El Doktoro studied the Starwood Compass obsessively - the flickering lights that flowed along the lines and circles of its geomantic markings were changing. They were pointing west, to Phyrra, or one of the tiny islets just off it's coast. It wasn't far away, so the Kapitan sent a hurriedly scribbled note to Mogrum.

As soon as they cleared the lee of the metalith, the Rotmoon signalled that it would, for a while, part company with the Fleet once more and they set a course to Phyrra.

+++


+++

When they arrived at the island they realised the Hollow Knight was in their way again. But the vampire and his minions seemed to be in some distress. They appeared to be frantically gathering scattered papers or letters that were spiralling in the wind.


Kapitan daLeeva instantly knew that anything that could cause that vampire distress was worth making worse. He quickly barked out orders to his crew.

Bortagno scooped up a bundle of letters caught under the trees and hurried toward the camp, where more papers were caught in the sun-sail.


Kapitan daLeeva and Bold Rikk watched as a skeleton lurched forward and picked up a ribbon-tied manuscript.


El Doktoro blasted a Kosargi Nightguard who lumbered toward him.


A pair of Vyrkos leapt up the rocky outcrop and one of them picked up the letters there. Tambor charged them and attacked.


El Doktoro blasted one of the Vyrkos to ash. The Hollow Knight rampaged toward Bortagno and knocked down the big orruk, the papers he had been clutching scattered over the ground. 

The vampire turned on El Doktoro who was distracted by the lights of the Starwood Compass that blazed exceptionally bright all of a sudden.


Tambor took down the remaining Vyrkos and their small bundle of letters dropped to the ground below, right next to the waiting Kosargi.


Shocked back to awareness of the peril he was in, El Doktoro countered the Hollow Knight's attack, then fled between the trees, prefering not to fight the vampire.


The Necromancer cast life-draining magics after El Doktoro as he ran.


Skeletons closed in on all sides, slashing at El Doktoro and daLeeva. A Nightguard loomed not far away.


The Kosargi moved at Kapitan daLeeva and attacked but the Kapitan's blade whipped around so fast it blurred, and deflected the undead ogor's massive poleaxe.


A skeleton took down the wounded Tambor and followed-up with an attack on Bold Rikk. But the papers they fought for burst into flame, soon they were nothing but blackened ashes and smoke.


Geedo called out in surprise as an invisible ethereal tide swept him back, away from the loot. 

Dragante moved to block more skeletons moving toward the Shaman, El Doktoro, who disengaged again and blasted the vampire. 

He rushed for the letters that Bortagno had dropped, but before he could reach it, the Hollow Knight used his supernatural speed to race past the shaman, picking up the letter deftly as he swept over it.


+++

The Rotmoons returned to the ship in a strange mood; empty-handed and somewhat frustrated, but also mildly entertained by making the Hollow Knight work harder for whatever was in those papers. But the matter of exactly what that might be was soon forgotten when the island started rumbling and lurching violently. 

The ground shook and the skies split with a deafening thunder. The stones on the ground around them started rolling and bouncing around in a strangely synchronised way.

A vast chunk of the island suddenly detached itself and lifted up into the air. Rocks, trees and earth tumbled from its sides and top and a Seraphon Templeship revealed itself!

The Templeship noisily ascended, higher and higher and the orruks suddenly realised there were more Templeships lifting into the sky in the far distance, from other islands, in almost every direction they looked!

The behemoths of cut stone pulled themselves from the Prime Dominion and sailed upward through the firmament. They departed, upward and away. They were still just about visible until they reached the Perimeter Inimical, the layer of pure magic enveloping the Hysh Realmsphere, where they disappeared as they crossed the boundary into the Aetheric Void beyond...

+++

Deployment: Realmshaper Mishap
Victory: The True Prize
Twist: Brutal Currents

This is the second time I've played The True Prize, and both times it has made for a cracking Battleplan - it's a really good victory card. I also loved the Brutal Currents twist card (from Pyre and Flood) - it only actually did anything once, but it has the potential to really mess up either side's plans every round.


(Lee drew the symbol from the "real" treasure token before the game, so he could show me which he'd picked at the end.)


Thursday 15 August 2024

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet: The Rotmoons - Bonesplitterz to Ironjawz, part 5


With the primal beat of the Waaagh! constantly ringing in his head, Palmaz was probably as close to the archetypal "fire-and-brimstone preacher" as an orruk ever got. He tended to lead the singing of the Rotmoon's favourite loud and unpleasant sea-shanties. Especially the really dark ones.

No-one can remember exactly when he joined the Rotmoons, or even if he was invited. One theory is that he'd been on the crew for years as an ordinary, unnoticeable, ardboy and he just sort of... evolved into a Warchanter over time.

Whether that was true or not didn't really matter; the Rotmoons accepted that he was part of the crew in the usual matter-of-fact way that orruks do, and that was that.

+++





+++

And some WIP shots of the Warchanter before I started painting, because I just realised I hadn't posted about him then! I got him from Stormbringer Magazine (issue 75) simply because he's an Ironjawz hero, but it didn't take me long to pick which pirate crew I was going to make him!

The decking on the base is an offcut of (MESBG) Goblin Town platform scenery, with a little greenstuff under the edges.

I missed-off the big chunk of armour from his back and shoulders and the smaller one from his chest. I sculpted greenstuff muscles to fill the big hole that left in his back and the small ones in his chest.

When that was cured I replaced one of the shoulder plates with armour from the Beast Snagga Orks kit and added his half-cape (from the Aleguzzler Gargant kit) and then made greenstuff straps for the cape. The scroll-and-skull and book are from an eBay purchase of selected Empire / Freeguild Flagellant bits.

I sculpted the ruff after almost all the plastic parts were added, but while the greenstuff was still soft I glued on the beard (which was part of Gordrakk's necklace, i.e. from the Megaboss on Maw-krusha kit) and finished the ruff around it so the beard sat in the right place.