Themed Armies

[Guest]

Darkoath DinoRiders

A heavily converted Slaves to Darkness army that combines the look of the Darkoath Chieftain with an African tribal aesthetic. Riding dinosaurs. With giants. All covered in warpaint, trophies and some in masks. These guys are sworn to Chaos Undivided grudgingly, so they still maintain a lot of their original culture and humanity, and haven't gone full-psycho. The Chaos influences and iconography would still be there, but more subtle than usual. I think it would be interesting to see how an army inspired by African culture would interpret and design the symbols and iconography of Chaos, which we're used to seeing through a European lens.

 

I love this idea, but I'll almost certainly never have the time and resources to do it. I got the idea after painting up my Darkoath Chieftain in a non-traditional scheme. Maybe a small warband one day...

[Azamar]

Took a few pictures of my fire elves for those interested. Think I fell in the trap of just having elves painted red for a few units, but I like the effect of the braziers on the banners standing above the rest of the army.

The doom fire warlocks are painted to try and make them look charred- I was working on the theory that being a fire mage  in Aqshy isn’t the safest of occupations, with a high risk of spontaneous combustion. If that happens, you might as well hop on a firey steed and charge in hurling fireballs at the enemy to go out in a literal blaze of glory. As my painting improves, I might add another unit to try and do the effect better.

[Ulf]

I'm doing a Destruction army themed around The Realm of Shadow. There's a thread about it over in the Destruction sub-forum.

[Makiwara]

I’m thinking of doing a Wild Hunt themed Daughters of Khaine army with my wood elves. 

 

Wardancers would be the replacement for Witchs and Sisters of Slaughter. 

 

Wild Riders as the new medusa unit. 

 

Sisters of the Thorn on Fenrisian Wolves as Doomfire Warlocks. 

 

Convert the harpies with feathered scourge wings. 

 

Horned Rat as a converted Orion to replace Morathi. 

 

And an Altar with a whole bunch of giant horns instead of the Cauldron of Blood. 

 

Also so have a nice unit of Executioners using grave guard legs, kabalite torsos, WWR ranger heads and Executioner arms to use as allies. 

 

Think I will theme it around the son of Orion and Ariel, Atolmis the Ancient, etc.  The harpies can be the daughters of Scaw. 

 

Its my frontrunner for an AoS army right now. 

[elfhead]

I´m in the hobby only for the hobby, painting and converting. I always have a narrative which helps me come up with new ideas.

My Hig elven cult of pleasure army was a joy to work on (link below). It is based around a hig elven character named Thalion, who secretly worships Slaanesh as the God of all that is beautifull. He collects the finest art from Ulthuan in order to save it from the End times. Thalion eventually reaches daemonhood and saves his art collection inside of the Jade palace. The Jade palace now sits on top of a mountain and a great city has formed around it.

The army was showcased on Mengels blog: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/10/04/converting-your-own-free-city-oct-4gw-homepage-post-3/

Thalion's story is complete, but I want to continue building this army so Iḿ currently in the proces of coming up with a new character to continue the narrative.

Iḿ really enjoying the idea of a city filled with a mix of races to form an army. Allthough my city isn 't excactly a city of order (it is ruled  over by a damenon prince, allthough it's citizens are not aware of that).

I really loved these armies showcased on the warhammer community: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/10/04/converting-your-own-free-city-oct-4gw-homepage-post-3/

 

Please check out my Plog here on TGA to follow my progress.

[Redmanphill]

I would very much love to see some heavily themed Grand Alliance armies, some of the Free Cities provide great inspiration for this. 

[Thundercake]

@Makiwara, i've been obsessed with trying to put together an orion conversion in my head. What would you use for Orion's head?

[Melcavuk]

*cracks knuckles* ok lets do this, first up my Fire Aelves, heres about 1/3rd of their background and a small snipped of photos

:

 

“We gave everything, we gave our all. Our Armies, Our Children, Our lives for HIS cause. The Liar King, Deceiver God, Traitor Kin. We BURNED for his pride as he left our kind to rot in the dark. And we burn yet still, but the Goddess preserves us.” Voices in the Darkness.

Every race has their creation myths, from the Arachnid brotherhood believing they were woven from the great tapestry, to the Fae king and his legion of untold whispers who are said to be born of the souls of lost children. And in their time the Aeloran were no different, their tale speaks of a time before time, when the goddess of Alarielle was young and eager to walk the realms to add new flora to her Garden. When she came to walk Aqysh, a realm of fire and heat where even the hardiest of things perish, she wandered for decades searching the peaks and crevice for any sign of beauty in a harsh and unforgiving land. And yet her search was fruitless, ascending to one of the greatest peaks she sat atop the rocks and wept, for in her heart she had never truly believed a realm could be so lacking in life and beauty.

One by one her tears fell to the cracked earth, pooling and flowing through the seams in the mountain until they came across a weed, hidden by the volcanic ash and yet surviving, enduring against all the indignities that the realm could set against it. As the tears of a goddess flowed into this hardy plant it began to grow, twisting and spiralling with flowers sprouting across its form, yet so caught up in her grief was the Goddess that she paid it no heed. More tears flowed and rushed down the mountainside, and that first weed grew to mountainous size, one enormous flow manifesting at the centre of the tangled mess. As the goddess lifted her head and went to leave the mountaintop the new flower caught her eye, its petals unfurling and from its unruly form stepped Amelia, the first of the Firekin. Born of the will of Alarielle and the fires of Aqysh she was a hardy looking Aelf, eyes burning with the fires of the realm, hair unruly and defiant and the very air around her hissed and cracked like the magma flows raging below.

Alarielles sorrows were eased, and she descended the mountain once more to return to her garden, taking with her Amelia the Flower of Aqysh. In the Garden of life Amelia spent every moment by her mothers side, watching as the world grew and shaped around her, constantly in awe at her mothers powers. And yet despite her teachings Alarielle could not impart the magic of nature upon her kin, where flowers would grow in the footfalls of the goddess only Fire would follow in Amelia's wake, where her mother created Amelia could only destroy. Such was the curse of Aqysh, its child would never truly know what is it belong outside the harshness of its native realm, her gifts of fire crafting were unparalleled, conquering creatures and golems from the flame itself, magical weapons and devastating arrays of infernos. But such destructive tricks could not amuse Alarielle, she cared not for her daughters talents.

With a heavy heart the pair parted ways, but not without one last gift from mother to daughter. Alarielle imparted eternal life to Amelia, knowing in her heart that one flower would always live in a realm so harsh as Aqysh would bring her a kind of peace. Upon her return to Aqysh Amelia found that she was not alone in birthing from the tears of the goddess, stumbling upon the mountain of her birth she saw a great city of bronze and blackened rock jutting from its peaks. As the tears had fallen the mountainside each weed they found had sprung forth a Fire Aelf, and in her absence they had become a civilization of beauty and power.

Born of a realm of fire and volatility these Aelven kin were quick to anger, intense and warlike. And yet when loyalty was earnt it burnt with a passion that few could compare to. They believed in survival of the strongest, and from birth honed their flame craft, even a child could craft a flame golem from the volcanic rocks strewn around the city for a brief time. Five great clans had formed, often clashing, occasionally drawing arms against each other but existing in a volatile harmony much like the realm around them.

First were the Artisans, those that used their flame craft to warp the metals forming the city around them and art for trade. To heat and quench with magical touch allowed such spiralling creations that few could compare.

Then were the Historians, those that imparted knowledge to the next generation, using their magical talents to create enrapturing displays of fire sprites telling through their races history. Often entertaining traders from other realms with their talents.

The Conjurers created magical elementals from the realm around them, monolithic golems of fire and rock who could bear loads far too vast for any mortal creature, steeds born of the magma itself to carry their riders where no living steed could bear, so too would they raise the phoenixes and maintain their nests.

Next came the Pyre Guard, those that honed themselves for combat exclusively. Armour made of glistening bronze, weapons forged from the magma below they were swift, destructive and unrelenting. Much of the races military might was drawn from this clan which gave them an uneven advantage over the other clans when it came to bargaining.

Finally came the Nomads, those who could endure to be away from Aqysh the longest, roaming the other realms to bring new trade through their cities. Sailing the skies above Aqysh in glistening ships that used the heat of the magma flows below to lift them high above the ground. Such sky boats were designed to pass through realm gates and sail the oceans of the realms beyond, seeking out new civilizations, new knowledge for their kin.

Upon her return the five Clans of the Aeloran recognised Amelia as one of their own, welcoming her back into their midsts as kin. Despite their fierce pride even they were awed by the potency of her abilities, she could best each clan in their own fields of expertise, creating creatures stronger than the conjurers, besting the champions of the Pyre guard, and creating works of such beauty as to put the Artisans to shame. It was perhaps these abilities, or her ageless existence that meant that as much as she was kin to her kind she stood apart, never truly knowing what it would be to be one of them. As the centuries wore on she left the great city and constructed the first temple of Alarielle atop a nearby mountain seeking solitude to contemplate her mothers works, a divine temple of twisted volcanic rock and copper jutting against the unforgiving skies, plants and fountains the likes of which rarely seen outside of the garden of Alarielle herself. The greatest minds of the Aeloran would pay pilgrimage to the temple to learn from its Priestess, and she to hear of the troubles of her people, advising and guiding but never truly interfering.

 

NEXT STORMCAST

THE SENTINELS OF JOTUNGUARD

 

“For weeks they drove us onwards... those cowardly slaver filth, the scent of our burning villages still hanging in the frost of the morning air though the glow of the embers long having died out in the darkness of the night. Through the treacherous mountain paths they took us, no care given to the old or weak... so many perished to the elements even after the butchery that had been their assault on our homestead. Food was scarce, warmth even more so, the ice laden paths ridden with pitfalls threatening to claim our lives before our new masters had chance to make coin from them.

 

It was on the third week... third or forth I think, when the howling started, our masters had taken refuge from a wicked blizzard within a few dugout caves on the mountainside. At first it could have been mistaken for the wind pounding against the mountain, vast cascades of snow plummeting down from the peak to sweep away any semblance of path we had moved across mere moments before. One by one they pierced through the roaring torrent of the Storm, haunting howls echoing between the rock faces of the peaks, at once all around us in a morbid song of the hunt, even our captors seemed ill at ease, their watch doubled through the night and yet no challenge came.

 

It happened again the next night... and every night for that week, a vicious storm raging in the nights sky in Sigmars furious onwards march, bolts of lighting lashing the ground and freezing momentarily in the ice forming eerily beautiful pillars of frozen light. The howls... always the howls came with the storm, in the distance shadowed forms seemed to appear in the lightning glow and disappear mere moments later, some said it was beasts... others men... none could be certain.

 

It was on the eighth night they came... as the last embers of the nights fire began to dull against the unrelenting cold they swept upon the war party with a fury I hope never again to witness. Sigmars chosen but... not, more beast than man their armour lay beaten and tattered, held together by crude leather strapping and adorned with fur and trophies from the hunt, their expressions no longer concealed by the angelic visage showed almost human features... a look in their eyes seen too many times on the faces of soldiers who never truly came home from the wars. They did not march alone however, in their midsts strode beasts even more feral, savage monstrosities equal parts beast and man, at first their forms seemed entirely alien, and yet as they leapt deftly across the embers I saw it... only for a moment. The broken and sheered armour of the stormcast still held firm in some places across their torsos, what beasts had these angels become...”

ALSO DONE:

Undead parasitic trees of Realm of Death led by Morghur reborn

Nautical Beastclaws

Ghoul hunting patrols

[EMMachine]

On 4.3.2018 at 11:11 PM, Azamar said:

I put together a fire elf army- basically a mixed order/ pure elf army using any units with a fire based attack, or decal on the models (phoenix guard, phoenixes, sisters of the watch etc) along with bleakswords for battleline all painted in fire colours, with the odd simple conversion here and there, and using the elven runes for conquest, and Khaine’s rune on the banners.

I would say, I have the counterpart of your Army with my Frostaelfs

And I have some Alarielle worshippers called Faithful of Eloni (they should be mostly human in my lore besides I used many Wanderers Bits.)

[Lightbox]

I'm doing a freecity that's a mix between western europe (standard freeguild) and aztec/amazon inspired tribes. Got mordheim Amazons as militia guard and currently making up a unit of jaguar warrior greatswords (greenstuffing jaguar heads has ended up making them more teddy-bear warriors alas)

 

Hopefully will have pics soon. Got some yellow spray paint to make the jag warriors easier. Regular guard are spanish colours of yellows, blues and reds. Also gonna have some of my more elite units in black called the 'blackguard' (original I know)

[TalesOfSigmar]

This is my only 'themed' army which was for Realms at War 17 last year.

Pirate Orruks using Kharadron Overlord rules.

[flamingwalnut]

2 hours ago, TalesOfSigmar said:

This is my only 'themed' army which was for Realms at War 17 last year.

Pirate Orruks using Kharadron Overlord rules.

Nice! Had a similar thought using Scourge Privateers as KO. Curious, what is the Tyranid counts as?

Man, this thread is awesome! My Freeguild is pretty basic Realm of Heavens, old school Empire feel. I have a Death army that I can hopefully have a Realm of Beasts sub theme. Will post more when the models I ordered actually get here...

[AthlorianStoners]

I’m doing a Freeguild army using Kroot models. 

They’re the remnants of a city of Ghur from the age of myth, who was abondoned during Chaos’s reign. They survived the predations of chaos by moving towards the edge of the realm and fighting when they could, but their proximity to the raw magic of Ghur left them warped and changed, better to survive in the realm of beasts. 

[TalesOfSigmar]

15 hours ago, flamingwalnut said:

Nice! Had a similar thought using Scourge Privateers as KO. Curious, what is the Tyranid counts as?

Man, this thread is awesome! My Freeguild is pretty basic Realm of Heavens, old school Empire feel. I have a Death army that I can hopefully have a Realm of Beasts sub theme. Will post more when the models I ordered actually get here...

The Tyranid/Araknarok Spider was a special Leviathan model that we had to make for the event. It had it's own special warscroll for the day. Not a clue what I can use it as now the event has been and gone!

[Melcavuk]

For anyone looking for a theme the freecity builder from Warhammer community is alot of fun in generating a random freecity (or switch a few of the options you can change it up for chaos stronghold etc) to base your army off of. Aside from name and realm I generated one for my stormcast that filled me with ideas an inspiration. Here's the options it generated:

 

Jotungard

Ghur

Sprawling Metropolis

Stormcast + Dwarves

Legendary Location

Dispossessed Mason, Sealed and Terrible Vault, Arcane Forge, Site of Great Battle

 

And the background I grew from it:

It is said that in the time of myth, when Sigmar was reclaiming the realms from the wilds that held them he visited each in turn, whilst many legends tell of his great battle with Gorkamorka in shaping the Realm of Beasts little is said of the war with the great Storm titans of the Jotun high up in the mountaintops of realms edge. Even with Gorkamorka having joined the growing pantheon of Gods at Sigmars side there were beasts in Ghur that recognised no man or god as their master, such creatures predated the gods dominance of the realms and remembered a time when the strength of the Wild was dominant. The Tribes of Storm Giants named the Jotun were one such set of creatures, they dwarfed even their Aleguzzler kin in terms of size and stature, mountainous forms of flesh, ice and stone that shook the very earth with every step. They came from the very realms edge, the mountain range known as the Beasts Maw, it is thought their proximity to the wild magicks at the outer reaches of the Realm may have been what gifted them the unnatural size and strength they had used in past ages to claim dominance over the realms. They were known in foul tempers to gather stormclouds around their peaks, casting bolts of primal lightning down from the mountain tops to gouge huge scorch marks across the very flesh of the Realm.

 

In the age before he had formed his Stormcast Legions it was the god Sigmar himself leading an army of men against the Jotun tribes, the battle raged for months with every heavy blizzard forcing both sides to take shelter or risk falling victim to the elements. At the battle climax the great mountain king of the Jotun descended from his peak, it had been an age since he had feasted on the flesh of a god and the hum of celestial energey resonating from Sigmar had peaked his appetite, whilst it would haved been an easy feat for his kin to finish off the Gods meagre forces his kin would likely devour the godkings flesh long before offering tribute. And thus the two became locked in a mortal duel to claim dominance over the peaks, each casting rippling bolts of energy at the other, those that touched into the mountains surface send racing steams of frozen lightning rippling down into the earth and bringing forth an eerie blue glow from the very ground beneath them. Again and again they struck at each other, the very mountain beginning to hum with power as its light became blinding to those who looked directly upon it, it was however Sigmar who finally seized the upper hand, swinging his hammer time and time again to crush the Giant into the ground, every impact left an ever expanding crater to mark the defeat of the Jotun. As Sigmar looked upon the scars the battle had left upon the realm he could see the racing streams of celestial and primal energy some how frozen into the very ice of the mountain, the crater adorned with bolts of frozen lightning racing beneath the very ground. The ensure the Jotun could never again inflict their cruelties upon the Realms and prevent any who would seize the frozen power of the mountain. Sigmar erected a series of fortresses along the mountain range, his Duardin masons working tirelessly to form unassailable watch posts on the peaks all linked by an increasingly elaborate labyrinth of tunnels back to the lightning crater. Here they formed a great clockwork fortress that a garrison might keep watch over the realm for the day the Jotun sought to try and reclaim what was once theirs, the fortress was dubbed the Jotungard. Within the keep itself lay the arcane forge left by Sigmar to equip those who took up the mantle of Sentinels in the years the come, its flickering flame formed not of heat but the very ice of the mountaintops, a strange and magical contraption that even the Duardin manning it did not fully trust.

 

Sigmar knew that the hearts of men could be corrupted, and could not truly leave such a power in the hand of any mortal beast and yet his attention was needed elsewhere and he was loathed to destroy such potent energies. It was this that drove him to task the greatest engineers of the realms to erect the elaborate clockwork city of Jotungard, its every shifting maze of buildings and dead end corridoors feeding off of the very power of the mountain to fuel the cog-made contraptions. The city itself hummed with the power of the mountain, and to guard it his engineers brought forth clockwork warriors, ingenius contraptions of metal and sigmarite powered by the latent static energies that rippled from the mountains heart.

 

In the centuries that followed many heard rumours of the lost city of Ghur, a palace of such elaborate planning and divine resources that treasure hunters from across the realms sought it out to loot its treasures. Many were lured by the glowing mountaintops of the Beast Maw range, travellign across savage forests to try and secure their fortunes. None however returned from the clockwork city, the Cogs were tasked to protect it from all barring the true servants of Sigmar himself. As the tide of chaos began to ripple across the realm Sigmar knew too well that the mountain might oneday be used against him, and thus he assigned a newly forged chamber formed from the hearts of men who had spent their lives fighting the beast within, those who had maintained humanity in savage climates that they might resist the bestial lure of Ghur. Named the Sentinels of Jotungard they joined the silent clockwork Cogs of the city guard to protect against all who would seek the cities power.

[Kaleb Daark]

@Melcavuk Your dragon conversion with the carnosaur is beyond awesome - I love it.

[Lysandestolpe]

Here is my Orkgor themed army article on Mengel’s site: http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2017/06/showcase-orkgor-tells-no-jokes.html?m=1

better pictures: 

[Kaleb Daark]

what head did you use on the giant?

[Lysandestolpe]

1 hour ago, Kaleb Daark said:

what head did you use on the giant?

I custom sculpted it, just like I did with my Ironjawz giant:

 

[Makiwara]

Because I want to highlight the hunting aspect of Orion over the bestial I would probably use the Magnus head with cut down hair covered by a greenstuff hood and cowl. That’s my idea at least, an Orion taking cues from waywatchers and Wardancers. 

[Kaleb Daark]

beyond brilliant

[treeclimber]

There are some pretty cool models in this tread.  Good job ye all.

My sylvaneth army is painted as birch trees which I am quite fond of. The white bark with black markings is not something I have seen others have in my local community. I do want to expand into other order armies, mostly dwarves, but i not quite sure how to thematically match fyreslayers with sylvaneth!

[Thundercake]

6 hours ago, treeclimber said:

There are some pretty cool models in this tread.  Good job ye all.

My sylvaneth army is painted as birch trees which I am quite fond of. The white bark with black markings is not something I have seen others have in my local community. I do want to expand into other order armies, mostly dwarves, but i not quite sure how to thematically match fyreslayers with sylvaneth!

I DEMAND PICTURES!

[treeclimber]

14 hours ago, Thundercake said:

I DEMAND PICTURES!

Ask (or demand I guess) and you shall receive. 

[Mr. White]

It seems themed armies usually get posted in the GA or Painting and Modelling subforums.

I've got a few there: