The Graveroot Wargrove, Part 11

The Harrowmark in Shyish, has long been considered a cursed and backward region, it has gained an ill reputation for being both a refuge for sorcerers and necromancers, and where the dead do not rest long in their graves.

But it is not only the dead who terrify the locals. Most of the Harrowmark is virtually impenetrable forest: Seemingly endless miles of dark, tangled, twisted and corrupted forest. Things live in these forests: malignant, spiteful things. It is a brave soul that ventures under the dark bowers, brave or foolish, as few who attempt to navigate the winding pathways ever emerge again.

~ 🙐 ~

I have one Kurnoth Hunter to build and paint, and a handful of small Spites that I have individually based, and then everything I own for Sylvaneth in finished!

~ 🙐 ~

This is just an idea of how I might use these models in AoS Skirmish games in the Harrowmark:

Hemlock Bitterblade (100)
Arch-Revenant
- General
- Trait: Impetuous Crusader 
- Artefact: Armourbane (Skirmish Artefact)

9 x Tree-Revenants (144)
- 1 Champion or Upgrades - Waypiper (5)

Total: 249 / 250
Wounds: 14

Shadows of Commorragh - part 14

Around the titanic central spires of the Dark City are the trading districts of the old Eldar empire. The lowliest of ports was once an architectural masterpiece millennia ago, but the ravages of civil war have not been kind. Low Commorragh now consists of a mixture of shattered ruins and scavenged former glories. Numerous dilapidated fortress complexes and barter-ports now spread out in every direction. The lesser Kabals riddle the extremities of the angular black spires with opportunistic growth. The labyrinthine depths of the outer zones are so congested that a traveller could travel for months on end without so much as a glimpse of a stolen sun. Many areas that have been twisted beyond recognition by the tremendous upheaval of the Fall are haunted by scavengers and spectres. Within the pitch-black catacombs of Low Commorragh there lurks far larger and uglier creatures than the Dark Eldar, for they are prowled by the lost, and the feral thrive there.

~ 🜾 ~

The Voidfall Tower

This is a TT Combat laser-cut MDF "Space Elf Watchtower" kit on top of a 3D printing filament spool I was given. The "power vain" on the middle level actually a leg from a "Space Elf Landing Pad" kit. I added a bit of wreckage made from ancient Raider parts and some ruined walls made from Lord of the Rings Moria scenery.

There are a couple of Drukhari-styled details added with spares from my Commorragh bits box - probably from the Daughters of Khaine Cauldron of Blood and a Drukhari Cronos, but I'm not certain.

I may revisit it and add more dust/dirt to it as it looks a bit "clean" for my taste, especially on the lowest level.

Now I can't wait to get my Deep Cut Studio "Gotham" game mat and get an idea of how it all looks together!

~ 🜾 ~

And, purely because I enjoy having such things on the table during games, I made some Drukhari glyph cards. I may add some more "texture" or details to them before the campaign starts...

Ferrugo Pass: Tor Megiddo - part 17 - Escape the Cauldron

+++ Systems rebooting...

+++ Internal defenses coming online...

+++ Multiple faults detected.

+++ Critical system failures.

+++ Activating fall-back systems.

+++ Awakening the Cog-Forsaken...

+++ May the Omnissiah forgive us.

+++

Ambush mission with no adjustments(!) - the Purebred had to get their warriors off the opposite board edge, through Anomaly Protocol's deployment zone. If they got more than half of their warband off the board they would win. If more than half were killed or prevented from leaving by the end of the game they would lose.

+++

In the darkness consciousness stirred. Blood and chemicals flowed. Awareness grew. The Cog-Forsaken awoke and stretched their hybrid human/machine limbs; flexed their long-slumbering muscles. Lumens flickered on in their cell. The minor magi who had been reviving them hurried out and the door slid closed behind them.

Maglocks in their chairs uncoupled from their backs and the Cog-Forsaken stood up. The scanned one another. Recognition runes glowed in their optical readouts.

Another door opened with a hiss, they turned as one, and stalked from the cell.

+++

The Purebred knew they had to escape, and quickly. The defenders of the Tor were closing in on them.

Nyxos-1-J, the leader of the Cog-Forsaken, transmitted instructions to his team.

Sek-M and Zhu-7 took the left flank.

The Purebred made a break for it on the right.

Great Father Arun burst round a corner, his chain-glaive roared into life...

And Rho-2/5 was taken offline.

Snapper and Jax jumped as the door in front of them opened and Sek-M and Zhu-7 charged through it! Jax's heavy stubber blazed; thunderous noise and the yellow light of muzzle-flare filled the corridor. A couple of rounds punched through Zhu-7's armour.

Rax-1/1 charged past Great Father Arun, straight at Mahela.

Rax-1/1 wounded her but she was not alone - one of the Blemished charged and felled him.

Yash charged Sek-M and the fight on the left flank intensified.

Zhu-7's chordclaw ripped through Jax. Sek-M's transonic razor impaled Yash.

Great Father Arun found Nyxos-1-3 blocking his way, but Mahela activated a stimm-booster in the Great father's spinal implant...

And Nyxos-1-3 could not withstand the Great Father's assault.

Kurk escaped the Cauldron, out into the bright light in a swirl of red-orange dust.

Great Father Arun and Mahela were not far behind him.

Sek-M slashed at Snapper the Dusthound - the beast howled and fell.

Great Father Arun and Mahela escaped as well!

Warfather Dez was enraged at Snapper's death and turned to move deeper into the Tor, to get his revenge on the Cog-Forsaken, as Zhu-7 charged down the corridor at him at full pelt...

... and Dez bathed the whole corridor in flame!

Sek-M appear from his flank, ducked under the gout of fire, and ripped Dez open.

+++

+++ Status: Epsilon

+++ The Rustking in critical condition

+++ 17.64% probability of survival

+++

+++ Invaders neutraised

+++ Invader classification: Yaike Yaike tribe

+++ Invader identification: The Purebred

+++ Leader identification: Great Father Arun

+++ Status: escaped

+++ Reaction: pursuit

+++

This was such an intense game - I really thought it would be easy as Rust Stalkers look ridiculously good on paper. But I made a few mistakes early on and Viktor took out three of them in short order. After that I had to work really hard for what I thought would end up as a draw, but when we looked at the victory conditions we realised that Viktor had made a mistake in sending Dez to try to take out my last two fighters and not trying to escape. That choice tipped the balance in my favour.

Three of the Purebred escaped, but Anomaly Protocol managed to take out four of them, so I won a second game in this campaign (just...!)

Viktor's version of this adventure is here.

Shadows of Commorragh - part 13

It's been a long time since I have posted anything about this project but we have decided to start playing this nearly-all-Drukhari narrative Kill Team campaign in the second half of August! So: Back to working on the Low Commorragh scenery for Shadows of Commorragh, after too long a break. 

~ 🜾 ~

First up is 6 of these 3D printed webway gates. These all have "ground level" basing. The other 6 I have will have dark green tiles to match the upper levels of the board I'm making (more on that in a minute). 

They were sprayed with a Chaos Black undercoat, then a zenithal basecoat of Mechanicus Standard Grey, then a careful spray of Grey Seer on the "inside" of each gate. 

I used Aethermatic Blue (Contrast Paint) over the Grey Seer, then edge-highlighted that with white. The back of each gate was painted the same way as the rest of my Commorragh scenery: Incubi Darkness base, highlighted with Kabalite Green then Sybarite Green. I didn't dry-brush them though as the texture of the 3D print would be too visible!

The bases were washed with Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with Ushabti Bone.

~ 🜾 ~

I had planned to make the boards for this campaign but I haven't been able to get hold of the materials I wanted to use at an affordable price, So I took the easy (and, it seems, less expensive) way out and ordered a Deep Cut Studio mousepad style 4x4 Gotham mat. This was the closest match I could find for the scenery I had already made and the look I wanted for the board.

~ 🜾 ~

Next up was some more Drukhari scenery elements, made from TT Combat laser-cut MDF "Space Elf" kits and some 3D printing filament spools I was given. this is the "watch tower".

I used a "leg" from the landing platform to make a Drukhari "power vane" thingy.

This larger "landing platform" will also get a power vane, as well as a lot of Aeldari wreckage.

(This is what is underneath, you can't really see it in the photo above.)

Rob (Wailslake) gave me some scenery kits last week - some more Ruins of  Osgiliath among them. I have started adding Drukhari wreckage to them as well.

~ 🜾 ~

While looking through the things I have set aside for this scenery I found two Finecast Medusae heads and some Dark Elf chariot crew models that Lee (BlessedKnight) gave me. I had no idea what they were going to be until I found them and then it just clicked.

The Medusae are unusual creatures, even in a place like Commorragh. They are highly empathic parasites that look like a collection of brains and spinal cords one atop another, and they float through the ether like jellyfish, feeding on daydreams and nightmares. A Medusae will often latch onto a host creature, which they will enslave to their will, enabling them access to realspace. While they retain most of their original appearance, the host will develop a single deadly eye, which will be covered by a heavy steel visor. When this visor is lifted, the Medusae will paralyse those under its gaze with a wave of raw anguish, plunging them into a coma from which there is no recovery.

The GW model has its hands chained up and when I found the Raider(?) passenger arm holding a chain it seemed to fit. Then I found I had some Blood Bowl Dark Elf arms left over, still on the sprue, so they got empty hands. 

I think they will be NPCs for the Shadows campaign.

(Bloody cat hair! It gets everywhere...)

~ 🜾 ~

I hope to get all this scenery, and maybe even a few more elements, finished by mid August at the latest. Lots and lots to do!