The Ironfang Pirate Fleet: The Rotmoons - Ironjawz Spearhead, part 3

I went back to working on these two Brutes at the weekend (after starting work on them in March 2024 but stalling while I worked on other things).

I pivoted, from painting them as part of the crews for the Plunderblade and the Portwrecker, to painting them for the Rotmoons.

I realised the Plunderblades and the Portwreckers are only likely to see tabletop action in bigger games of AoS, and almost certainly won't get used in Warcry. (As much as I enjoyed the Warhammer World tournament where I played the Plunderblades, I didn't gel with the story of the warband and I definitely didn't want to use a Megaboss in Warcry again. The huge 60mm base of a Megaboss makes them too ungainly and un-maneuverable on the tabletop for my taste). So it felt like there was little point in making just two Brutes for them.

When you add all that to the fact I was using a Warchanter and a Shaman as "proxy Brutes" for Spearhead games, it made much more sense to give these Brutes the black, yellow and red scheme of the Rotmoons and swap the Warchanter and Shaman out, for models of the actual unit type they were stand-ins for.

So this is Kapitan daLeeva and his Brutes, as they'll feature in any Spearhead games I'll play.

I have the parts for another Brute that I'll add, at some point, for larger games of AoS when daLeeva is an Ardboy Big Boss.

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Roggriguez and Bernardo joined the crew when the Rotmoons came to Aqshy's Ravaged Coast. They already knew Maximo and Medrano and happily accompanied them at the others on their adventures in the Gnaw.

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Bernardo

A pirate orruk Brute, armed with axe and sword choppas and a pistol, with powder and shot. He wore a massive broad-brimmed hat, with the front folded up and held by a skull-and-bones hat pin. He sported the red and yellow striped trousers, black clothes and armour of the Rotmoon's crew, and added skull-and-bones icon on his back-plate.

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Roggriguez

A pirate Orruk Brute Boss who carried two sword choppas, and two pistols with powder and shot. He was very taken with how he looked in his long ragged black sea coat and massive hat with a skull-and-bones pin. He also enjoyed keeping the names of those he'd defeated in battle on a long strip of parchment pinned to his armour.

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet: The Rotmoons - Ironjawz Spearhead, part 2

The Ironjawz Spearhead will consist of a Megaboss, 2x5 Ardboys, 5 Brutes and 3 Brute Ragerz. 

As I've mentioned before, I have all the models on this list among my pirate orruks but I was missing a few models to be able to field a Spearhead made from a single crew: the Rotmoons.

One of those missing models was a Megaboss, and I've fixed that by giving Ogdrog a partial repaint.

The other models the Rotmoons were missing were Brutes - but Kapitan daLeeva will lead a Brutes unit made up of all the "Brute-sized models" in the Rotmoons that aren't in the Spearhead as his quarter-deck crew (El Doktoro the Weirdnob Shaman, Palmaz the Warchanter, and Maximo the Brute)

That just left one model I needed to add. 

Enter, Medrano - a new Brute, armed with a Gore-choppa and loaded-up with looted gear:

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His ruff collar is made of greenstuff. The backpack is from ogor gluttons, the holstered pistol is from Freeguild Pistoliers (thankfully that kit has returned as part of The Old World, Empire range!), and the scrolls are from Skaven plague monks and Freeguild flagellants.

This was how he looked pre-paint, with a black undercoat and a grey "sort-of zenithal" primer:

I've been looking forward to trying Spearhead for a while, so the new Battletome can't come soon enough for me!

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet: The Rotmoons - Ironjawz Spearhead, part 1

I had an idea today, that began when I was thinking about the December AoS Battlescroll adding Headstompa to the Megaboss profile. This small change to the rules triggered a series of thoughts that "unlocked" the option to use the Rotmoons in AoS Spearhead.

Since last month's preview, we know that the Ironjawz Spearhead being released in January 2025 will consist of a Megaboss, 10 Ardboys, 5 Brutes and 3 Weirdbrute Wrekkaz. When it was first announced I expected to use a mix of my other crews as the basis for mine, as the Rotmoons are missing a few models to be able to field a Spearhead picked exclusively from them.

One of those missing models is a Megaboss. I have an unbuilt Megaboss that I'd considered making in the Rotmoons' style, but previously I'd shied-away from doing this for story reasons: I wanted Kapitan daLeeva to remain in command of his ship, and adding a Megaboss to the crew would feel weird if he wasn't in charge. I also didn't want to "promote" daLeeva to Megaboss status, as I don't really enjoy using a Megaboss in Warcry.

But now they added Headstompa to the Megaboss profile, it seems possible, normal even, that a Megaboss can serve as a "junior officer" to other orruk heroes. 

So I've repurposed Ogdrog (one of the two Megabosses I made at the end of last year who, if I'm honest, was unlikely to ever see the tabletop) into a Headstompa in the Rotmoons. This means he can join a regiment without being it's leader in AoS. 

So Ogdrog will join the Elizabethan-styled pirates for some of their adventures. While he will count as the general in the Ironjawz Bigmob Spearhead rules, and daLeeva will only count as a Brute Boss on the tabletop, the Kapitan will remain the crew's leader in my narrative.

Kapitan daLeeva will be part of the Spearhead's Brutes unit with all the "Brute-sized models" that aren't in the Spearhead as his quarter-deck crew - El Doktoro the Weirdnob Shaman, Palmaz the Warchanter, Maximo the Brute, and Medrano - a new Brute, with a Gore-choppa, who I started building tonight.

This is a very long-winded way to say that, as a result of all this narrative-knot-unravelling, Ogdrog got a partial re-paint today, so he now has the black, red and yellow colour scheme of the Rotmoons.

I'll get a photo of the entire, expanded, crew of the Rotmoon as soon as the new Gore-choppa Brute is finished.