The Harrowmark Tarot - part 1

A Warhammer-themed tarot deck (and specifically a pirate Orruk-themed one) is a project I have wanted to do for a number of years, but I have always hesitated to start as I have never been sure about the "look" or of my ability to make it convincing. But this week something went ping in my head and I knew how I wanted them to look. I realised that making a deck that could have been created by someone who lives in the Harrowmark would unify the themes I use, as well as inspire the images on each card. They have to be drawn from the point of view of a Harrowmark orruk shaman.

The malignant forests of the Harrowmark, the death-centric culture of Shyish, and the orruk sky-pirates (that I have an obvious bias toward!) will all form the basis of the choice of imagery. There is also a secondary benefit: this theme adds a bit more depth to my home-brew setting!

Major Arcana:

0 - The Fool (Sigmar!)
I - The Magician (or maybe The Necromancer)
II - The High Priestess (possibly the Briar Queen?)
III - The Empress (Lady Olynder)
IV - The Emperor (Nagash himself!)
V - The Hierophant (maybe a Priest of Morr-Nagash?)
VI - The Lovers (The Court of Spades)
VII - The Black Coach
VIII - Strength (a wild boar)
IX - The Hermit (a Skull-Bird)
X - Wheel of Fortune (a "wheel" torture device)
XI - Justice (unbalanced scales, with a boney finger pressing one side down!)
XII - The Hanged Man
XIII - Death (a Knight of Shrouds)
XIV - Temperance (The Forest)
XV - The Daemon (a Bloodletter)
XVI - The Tower (Freebooter’s Tower)
XVII - The Star (the Azyr symbol on a twelve-pointed sun)
XVIII - The Moon (The Rotmoon / Bad Moon)
XIX - The Sun (The Ogre-sun)
XX - Judgement (Angels of Death with trumpets)
XXI - The World (The Mortal Realms)

Minor Arcana:

Clubs (clubs!), Skulls (diamonds), Scythes (spades), Time - hourglasses (hearts)

This is probably going to be a slow-burn project... there is a lot to do!

Shadows of Commorragh - part 12

Many dangerous creatures dwell in the depths of Commorragh - some are stealthy, viperous creatures, others are brutal killing machines. The Ur-Ghul fits into the latter category. They are native to the labyrinthine ziggurats of the Drukhari city of Shaa-Dom, a satellite realm of the Dark City, but they can be found in many other dark corners of the Webway. While it may be entirely sightless, this wiry beast can sniff out its prey with uncanny accuracy and for this reason they make excellent hunters. Drukhari Archons use these brutal creatures to stalk their prey, before they unleash the Ur-Ghul upon their unsuspecting victims. The violence they can cause is far less sophisticated than that of their Drukhari masters, but that is of little concern to the Archon - death and destruction is always welcome, whatever form it takes.

~ 🜑 ~

The Blackstone Fortress Ur-Ghuls are lovely sculpts, simple (there are only two variations) but lovely. I have used a fairly quick-and-dirty paint scheme for mine. Black undercoat, grey zenithal base coat, white dry-brush. Washed with a mix of Coelia Greenshade / Lahmian Medium, everywhere except their hands which got a wash of Druchi Violet. Their "nose holes" got the violet wash too, then when that was dry a second wash with a tiny amount of Carroburg Crimson below their nose holes.

They will be used as NPCs in the campaign - lurking in the shadows and ruins, ready to pounce on the unwary!

Endless Spells of the Harrowmark - part 7

The Dead Man's Chest

Since his accident Kaptain Mogrum was changed. Where before he had been a brutal, but cunning, Warboss who led his crew from the front, he was always first over the gunwales into an enemy ship, and a vicious, merciless fighter. But he was now a cunning, but brutal, Weirdnob Shaman!

Since his awakening the pirate orruks who followed him fully embraced his change (not least because he killed a lot less of them in fits of anger. Even if he did kill a lot more of them in accidental explosions of Waaagh! energy... on balance it seemed better to them) and from then on they all consider themselves experts in the fields of thaumatology, evocation and sorcery. The nodded sagely to one another as they described the magic around them in great technical detail (often using the wrong terms but they really didn't care). They pronounced judgements on the quality of the wizardry they witnessed and debated the relative merits of various spells.

When they journeyed to the very edge of the realms in search of the wild magic of Endless Spells, their Kaptain issued each of them an ensorcelled black-powder pistol as a focus for binding the Endless Spells. Each orruk then took it upon themselves to add charms and trinkets to their pistol, in order to enhance its power. A selection of teeth, bones, coins, pebbles with holes, crow feathers, gold and silver rings, and polished fragments of glass - all tied on with string or jewellery chains - adorned their foci.

~ 🕱 ~

The Cleavermaws walked cautiously through the dark, tangled forest. At the back of the group two of the pirate orruks guided a floating chest. The iron-bound wooden strongbox looked heavy; with bands of metal riveted together over dark wood, but it was borne aloft on a cloud of swirling soul-energy that glowed with a ghostly blue-green light from within, so the orruks barely had to use any effort to move it. Sometimes it even felt like it was moving them (though they tried not to think about that too much).

~ 🕱 ~

This is my Objective Marker for the Spellhunters Skirmish Battleplan from Malign Sorcery. The Battleplan describes how each warband uses "Binding Rods" to draw the contested Endless Spell to their own objective, to win the game. I have encouraged the others in our group to make their own objective marker on a 40mm or 50mm base, themed to the warband they are using in the campaign.

WIP:

Painted

The Malfactus Rift Campaign - part 11

I have updated the Dust Hogz with coloured panels from their old Kultures and 32mm bases for the Ork Boyz. I hope this makes them a bit less "muddy" and a bit more photogenic!

They are not going to be great on the table (in Kill Team) without Looters, Burnas, Shoota Boyz or Kommandos but I might add a few more models to fill in those gaps later.

+++

Kaptain Throttle
Throttle used to be part of the infamous Blood Axe warband known as Da Fifty Fiff Bad Redz Brigade, but he was outcast because he was far too interested in loot, and not interested enough in the militaristic formalities the Bad Redz delighted in. He became a Freebooter and set off with a very small group of Boyz loyal to him. Since hitching a ride on a Space Hulk that dropped out of warp space in the Ghoul Stars he has gathered a few more followers to his crew.

He is often exasperated and constantly frustrated by the failures of his warband. He just wants a "job" to go to plan; just once!

Warphead Ghizzud was a member of a Snakebite clan until he Jumped a whole warband into a nest of angry dino-squigs. He was the only survivor and the rest of his tribe made it clear they didn't want him around anymore. He was exiled when the rest of the clan made planetfall to join Waaagh! Bork he was set adrift alone in a space hulk.

The hulk slipped into the empyrean again and he was carried on the tides of the warp to the Ghoul Stars where he was found by the Dust Hogz when they boarded the hulk. He was... changed somewhat by the journey, but Warboss Throttle saw how powerful he was and made it clear that he was now part of the crew.

Bossnob Nognox is a loyal first mate and a tough, deadly fighter. He has been at Throttles side since the "old days" in the Fifty Fiff.

Draktor is the warband's heavy weapon specialist. And he is a bit thick. But since his brings the big guns and seems to know not to shoot anyone on his side the others put up with him.

Arg is the warband's psychopath. He is always first in the charge and though carries a slugga on his back he rarely uses it, preferring to get "messy" with his Big Choppa.

Smarg is a sarcastic bastard with a bionik eye. He never says what he means and what he says is always mean.

He claims to have been to Lesotho Two-Twelve, but no one believes him.

Mugwak is a miserable git. He mourns the loss of his lost mob-mates, and keeps a Slugga from each dead Nob as a memento, believing that he will gain some of his dead mates' strength by carrying them.

Nognox and his Krew

Hoop and Twitch are the warband's fetchers and carriers, dogsbodies and slaves. They run errands, carry messages, fetch ammo and try not to get trodden on. The class a day when they don't nearly die as a good day. They have only been with the warband for a few weeks, they don't know but they are the latest of a long line of Grots that usually have very short lives in the Dust Hogz and they are already well past their expected "expiry date".

Boss Nob Woz and his Boyz Boyz are all Freebooterz - they have been kicked out of their old klans for their strange ways.

Boss Nob Woz 

Mangul

Hatchet

Finder

Retch

Frenzy

Lockjaw

Turbo

Mudge

Mudguts - Ork Gunner

The whole Freebooter krew