The Ironfang Pirate Fleet, part 18: Adm'rul Kurgan Grimjaw (PIP)

A bit of a paint-in-progress update on MegaBoss Adm'rul Kurgan, as it's taking a long time (mainly because I've had hardly any hobby time for days on end recently). The base colours are mostly set down and the first couple of washes are on. Most of what is left to do now is highlighting and detailing.

The Ruins of the Realms - Architecture in the Mortal Realms

This is a detail from a map in Battletome Ironjawz, showing the city of Crookback in flames.

The architectural style of the Mortal Realms is a radical departure from the Warhammer World-That-Was standard of Renaissance Germany, with extra comets, skulls and hammers of course. To me it looks like Edwardian Neoclassical, with added dragons, but I'm no expert on historical architecture!

It was hard to see the overall style from the scenery kits released last year but I think the kit-bashed and scratch-built Age of Sigmar display board at Warhammer World in GW's Nottingham HQ gave us clues of what was to come. It's worth noting that none of the AoS scenery kits include domes, but they seem to be a signature feature of the Realm's style.

The big display board used components from the AoS scenery kits, along with a myriad other bits and a lot of bark and polystyrene, to make something far beyond the capability of the average gamer(!) but it demonstrates the ambition of the AoS setting to take a unique and fantastic direction.

I really like that this board and the map above share the same architectural style. I would imagine the map was based on the board (given that it was published nearly a year after the board was revealed) but it may have been the other way round. The map features many details that match components from the AoS scenery kits, but not any "whole" scenery pieces.

(The following photos are all saved from the internet, not taken by me and I'm afraid I didn't note who took any of them.)

Floating or flying islands of rock have long been part of the Warhammer palette, thanks to John Blanche's art for the most part, but they have mostly been in the far distance in large scale paintings and have not often featured in the background fiction or on gaming tables.

The dome half way up on the right hand side features a Hurricanum orrery - this idea is also featured in the Crookback map.

The "Portable" display board didn't have any domes, but it was still more impressive than the average gamer's table top!

The gorgeous Ruins of Dras'Shiel board, in the gaming & events hall at Warhammer World, also uses the same architectural style but with a striking turquoise colour scheme on the stone work. I love this board and I really hope the scenery team at Warhammer World make more boards with the same imagination and flare in the near future.

This last one (photographed by Amy Snuggs) is a centre piece made for a Throne of Skulls event at Warhammer World.

All this is very inspiring and makes me really want to start another scenery set in this style. I have a few of the new scenery kits in my "to do" pile but I really want to get more of my Pirate Orruks re-based first...

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet, part 17: Adm'rul Kurgan Grimjaw (WIP)

Megaboss Adm'rul Kurgan Grimjaw is ready for paint, bar a few tiny details that need tweaking or cleaning up!

Since last time I have added the tails of his sea-coat, 3 pistols, a couple of nautical charts, a logbook, an hourglass and a barrel of rum.

I was ready to call the build finished (I'd taken these photos and posted them on Twitter!) when I realised it needed a final detail: a handguard for The Kutlass!

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet, part 16: More Sea Trolls

Trollumbus and the Stinkers

More re-based Sea Trolls (well, Fellwater Troggoths, to use their Age of Sigmar name!)

Edit: colour recipe for these ladz..

Skin: 
Death World Forest base 
Biel-Tan Green wash 
Loren Forest layer 
Ogryn Camo highlight 

Claws: 
Zandri Dust base 
Agrax Earthshade wash 
Ushabti Bone highlight.

All of the Trolls!

Fortress of Shadow and Mist - Duskhaven Campaign, game 8

Battleplan - Age of Sigmar: Storm the Walls

After their recent successes, the Cleavermaws had set up a camp, a base of operations of sorts, in a group of ruined houses with the remains of walls between them. They had gathered quite a stash of loot and most of it was hidden in the basements of the ruins, or buried in the gardens.

The area was also surrounded by the corpses of the previous inhabitants, and more recently a crop of adventures and explorers, Their bodies had become so steeped in wyrdstone dust that they did not rest easy. The slightest movement in the streets would disturb the deadwalkers and they would shamble towards the interlopers to feed on their warm flesh. The pirate orruks took full advantage of this, as well as setting up sharpened stakes and traps in the ruins they made sure that the deadwalkers stayed nearby but none came into their stockade.

The Church of Sigmar’s Retribution picked their moment to try to deal with the orruk pirates, once and for all. They mustered their full strength against the greenskins and waited until a heavy mist lay across the town, to conceal their approach.

The Militia got confused in the fog and left behind as the rest of the congregation advanced without them.

Kaptain Mogrum gave orders to his crew to hold the central house at all costs and ducked down a secret tunnel into the neighbouring house!

Klaw, the River Troll, took another secret tunnel and left Mr Sludga and Lost Uzzog to hold the left-hand house on their own.

As the Church approached through the mist, a small number of dead bodies pulled themselves to their feet and shambled towards the Witch Hunters.

The Griffhound cried out in warning and gave the Witch Hunters time to ready a brace of pistols each. They neatly shot the deadwalkers through their heads and dropped them.

The noise awoke a dozen more deadwalkers though!

The Churches Militia made up for their earlier mistakes by risking a Hazardous Journey through the Realmgate - they stepped out of a corona of grey flames... into the centre of the orruk's stockade!

As they charged the Kaptain and Klaw two of them fell victim to the orruk pirates' traps! They wounded the Troll, but his natural regenerative flesh knitted itself back together. The Kaptain's armour saved him from even a scratch.

Meanwhile the deadwalkers lurched into the Witch Hunters' lines.

Once again they were dealt with swiftly but they were costing the Church dearly in time, holding up their assault on the stockade by vital minutes. More deadwalkers pulled themselves to their feet and reached out with grasping hands and rusted weapons for the Churchmen.

After Kaptain Mogrum slaughtered the last of the Church Militia, Klaw barreled into the Witch Hunter Captain and his Unforged companion.

The deadwalkers turned on the nearest Griffhound!

Lost Uzzog blasted the Witch Hunters with the Gaze of Mork.

But they shrugged off the magical fires and dealt with the last of the deadwalkers...

Then charged into the central house.

The orruk pirates took a few casualties but gave back almost as good as they got.

Klaw the Troll fell but the Churchmen fell back into the mists leaving the pirates to tend to their few wounded crewmates.

~~~

The orruks still held two of the three loot stashes so they earned a minor victory for the Cleavermaws!