Jump to content

The Gharuki Forest Duardin (Update 20/10/2018 BIG UPDATE! - Army overview! And Armies on Parade now!)


Recommended Posts

Hello Everyone,

This post will be a mini-blog on the new band of Duardin that I am starting. I started collecting warhammer when I was 8 and then gave up when I was 13, with a small bin bag full of grey plastic that was subsequently thrown out by my mother. I decided to get back into things at the start of last year (aged 28). The first thing I bought was a box of dwarf warriors, which I painted up and fell back in love with the hobby. Since then I have been collecting 40k (more popular with my friends) but have been dying to expand my dwarf army and get into AoS. This community seems really friendly so I thought I would share my progress here. This is the first creative blog thingy that I have done.

Since last year I had been writing bits of back story about a far flung continent in the realm of Chamon. It included ideas for several armies that I may eventually want to build. One such army is the Gharuki Duardin, who live deep inside a gargantuan forest. Their civilization is formed from many clans who fled their more traditional mountain dwellings as the forces of chaos swept through in the last age, forcing them to  seek refuge in new and alien places. The forest they inhabit is comprised of copperheart oaks, thousands of feet tall and hundreds of feet wide. The canopy of the forest is thick, providing a comforting cavern-like habitat for the duardin. As well as carving extensive tunnel networks around the roots of these trees they have also built elaborate wooden towns and villages that climb the giant trunks. As well as providing a home these trees also have rich mineral veins that run through their hearts, a peculiarity owing to the realm of metal in which they grow.

(NOTE: After coming up with this I then read the brilliant Spear of Shadows book by Josh Reynolds which contains a very similar forest once inhabited by dwarfs! Oh well, at the time I thought I was being clever ?)

The forest has provided such a good home to these Duardin that they view the trees themselves as sacred and have an entire school of runesmiths who dedicate their life to tend to them. Each tree usually has one or two rootsmiths who carve protective and sustaining runes into their bark, make sure that that they are getting all the nutrients that they need and guard them against any overambitious kin who would build their homes in them without the proper care.

About half way through the timeline of these particular dwarfs, an early Kharadron fleet crashed into the forest canopy with few survivors. Those that remained found help and sanctuary and decided to stay with the Gharuki and leave a life of profit that had brought them so much ruin. One particularly skilled endinmaster became very fond of his forest kin and did all that he could to share his technological knowledge with them. The Gharuki today have a vast and sophisticated force of gyrocopters and and other flying machines that they dock in the upper levels of the forest. They are no comparison for a kharadron force, but the canopy squadrons are impressive despite the lack of aether endrins.

As well as the canopy squadrons, the Gharuki maintain a more conventional dispossessed force called the root guard. These more conventional grumblers tend to dwell in the lower parts of the forests and the root networks themselves. They tend to be older and a bit more cynical, often complaining of the ambition of duardin who are too eager to climb trees and fly about in silly mechanical contraptions.

 

So what will these mean on the board? My plan is a mixed dispossessed / ironweld / kharadon army. I aim to make the dispossessed a little more tech-based than normal, and the kharadon a bit more traditional than normal. All while trying to keep a "forest" theme.

Completed so far I have:

16 warriors, the first models I painted, back when I had no idea what direction I wanted to go in. They are green though, which is a start!

A cogmsith and warden king that I have painted recently after much more practice. I have used these to experiment with a strong green colour scheme, and the warden king includes a small lantern conversion that I feel fits in with the deep dark forest idea. I hope to get more ambitious as I go along.

The bases need improving, but I haven't quite settled on how they will look yet. They will almost certainly contain some sort of fallen leaves.

1588538821_DwarfGang-Small.jpg.29c1da17857d5a31b9a34b264f722c71.jpg

565850478_WardenKing1Small.jpg.ef0df6237817d9b719cbd55c47cfb072.jpg

1575845511_WardenKing2Small.jpg.d2e2a3ad3b8532e0c84f4b7e3f91094b.jpg

I am now beginning on 2 units of 10 longbeards. The will have a similar green armour to my warden king. They will not have any elaborate conversions but I have designed a new shield for them all to bear. I've always wanted to do a  custom dwarf shield that represented a particular clan.

ShieldDesignRender.png.70843b5a28d78e02980d9e587d114427.png

This shield is a 13mm across and will be printed using shapeways finest detail acrylic. I printed a test piece (slightly different design) and the detail is almost as good as GW plastic. Once my next test has arrived (design above) I will post pictures. I might have to spray it first, because the printed part is translucent and difficult to see. If all goes to plan I will the print something similar to the sprue below:

ShieldSprueRender.png.94c6e940e999b1bb1e55493f8f96124d.png

Thanks for reading if you have made it this far. Hopefully this blog will keep me going and I hope I can be more active in this community ?.

Edited by Brad Gamma
  • Like 32
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolutely love the backstory. It gives you a lot of room to work and could even tie into the mentions of Root Kings or Ironwoods in Ghyran.  I'm looking forward to seeing where you take this!

one question - What was your recipe for the green armor? It looks great, especially alongside the gold.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

really nice color theme.

Do you want to include some Quarreller? Because it's the next thing to Rangers, the Dispossessed get at the moment.

One thing I think about the forest theme. Why not some Fyreslayers as Tribes. Instead of having Ur-gold runes, they could wear tattoo's or warpaint.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Rungi said:

Absolutely love the backstory. It gives you a lot of room to work and could even tie into the mentions of Root Kings or Ironwoods in Ghyran.  I'm looking forward to seeing where you take this!

one question - What was your recipe for the green armor? It looks great, especially alongside the gold.

Thanks! ? Do you know where can I find information about the Ghyran root kings and ironwoods? I find AoS lore quite difficult to navigate sometimes!

The green is actually only a few colours. For the warden king it was

  • Black undercoat (although I think a grey would be better).
  • Warboss Green, 3 thin coats or until coverage is good.
  • Do the base colours of any armour detail (e.g. Retributer armor on gold detail, Caledor sky on gems etc.) so it can all be washed at once.
  • Wash all over armor with Nuln Oil.
  • Start bring back up with super thin coats of warboss green.
  • Start highlights with super thin coats of skarsnik green.
  • Add white scar dots to very pointy bits (e.g. tip of shoe).

So for the actual green its only 4 colours (wash, 2 greens and white). I will also some times go back with a very thin black to really define edges between green and gold.

I have a lot of practicing to do to get the gold a better. I find metallics so difficult to highlight with, I can't quite get the consistency right. I'll probably experiment with NMM some time in the future, but this army will be strictly normal metallics.

2 hours ago, EMMachine said:

really nice color theme.

Do you want to include some Quarreller? Because it's the next thing to Rangers, the Dispossessed get at the moment.

One thing I think about the forest theme. Why not some Fyreslayers as Tribes. Instead of having Ur-gold runes, they could wear tattoo's or warpaint.

I don't think my army will have base quarrellers or thunderers at least not in any great numbers. I do have plans to add some converted arkanaut companies who will be the skirmish troop of the army. It is tempting to convert some quarellers though, give them hoods and things? Make them look like the total war rangers. They would look like suitable forest guardians.

The slayer thing is a good idea. In the spear of shadows book there is the remains of a huge forest lodge in Gorch, who carved there tunnels through the trees with bridges between them by using heat to form the branches into sky-roads.  I'll give them some thought!

 

I have 10 long beards built and will look to get them undercoated tonight. I've spent the morning magnetizing loads of 25mm round bases and now I need to start really settling on a base design. They need to be rugged, but show signs of the forest (leaves, roots etc.). I don't imagine the forest floor to be crawling with life, with there being so little light, so they won't be like some of the awesome sylvaneth bases I have seen. Grateful for any pointers or links to things people have done or come across.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/28/2018 at 12:22 PM, CaptainNippon said:

That King is marvelous! 

Relly looking forward to your Longbeards. I'm wondering if you could make use of Wyldwoods in this army to represent their connection to the forest. 

PS: did you make those 3D files yourself?

Thanks Captain! I did do the 3D files myself, I'm hoping to design some more stuff for this army.

The final test shield arrived today and I'm pretty happy with it. Here is a comparison shot with a longbeard shield

ShieldUnpainted.jpg.719d30f64e218c1a463e65ae6d2f3b52.jpg

It was really hard to photograph, being see through and all. So I gave it a spray so you can see how good the print is.

ShieldPainted.jpg.924a0009e517fc9a4189d8c711d135b8.jpg

And most of the surface roughness that you are seeing there is the camera. In person its difficult to tell that it was printed at all. Hard to focus on something so small with my phone camera. Need to get a proper set up.

I'll paint it up in green and gold and take another pic. Meanwhile I have gone ahead and ordered a bunch more.

I primed 10 longbeards on Monday, and I'm starting to make progress on the first batch of 5.

  • Like 16
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/30/2018 at 9:08 PM, elfhead said:

I think it is really cool you printed your own designed shields! What software did you use? Great start on this army.

I use Rhino 3D. I had a copy when I was at university and I can draw really quick with it, so I use it now out of personal preference rather than it being better than the competition. Its good for doing things to specific dimensions and can be entirely command line driven if you want. I've tried sketchup and blender and just can't be bothered to learn everything again. 

13 hours ago, Kaleb Daark said:

great army and concept :)

who do you use to print your parts?

I used shapeways, using their extreme detail acrylate https://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/20516-announcing-frosted-extreme-detail-or-fxd-our-highest-resolution-3d-printed-plastic-ever.html. For me in the UK they charge in euros and take about a week to ship, so I assume they have a hub in the EU somewhere.

I actually own a 3d printer that I use sporadically for some terrain. Its a prusa i3 MK2 and has an accuracy up to 50 microns, but thats not detailed enough for miniatures in my opinion.

P.S. If anyone knows of a UK 3D printing supplier that can compete on fine detail quality, might save myself some shipping costs at least!

Edited by Brad Gamma
Added question about other suppliers.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Brad Gamma said:

I use Rhino 3D. I had a copy when I was at university and I can draw really quick with it, so I use it now out of personal preference rather than it being better than the competition. Its good for doing things to specific dimensions and can be entirely command line driven if you want. I've tried sketchup and blender and just can't be bothered to learn everything again. 

I used shapeways, using their extreme detail acrylate https://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/20516-announcing-frosted-extreme-detail-or-fxd-our-highest-resolution-3d-printed-plastic-ever.html. For me in the UK they charge in euros and take about a week to ship, so I assume they have a hub in the EU somewhere.

I actually own a 3d printer that I use sporadically for some terrain. Its a prusa i3 MK2 and has an accuracy up to 50 microns, but thats not detailed enough for miniatures in my opinion.

P.S. If anyone knows of a UK 3D printing supplier that can compete on fine detail quality, might save myself some shipping costs at least!

This has inspired me to no end! I have a lot of experience in C4D from  work and it never crossed my mind to design for print with miniatures. 


Loving the lore you've created for your throng also, its really rich and interesting .

Edited by makeshifts
extra word.
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is it with all the great armies on this site at the moment. Love the background and your models , particularly the warden. Really looking forward to seeing your Longbeards. My first ever Army was Dwarves way back in 2nd? ed. This blog makes me feel a bit guilty for not having a Duardin force.

Well done sir!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, makeshifts said:

This has inspired me to no end! I have a lot of experience in C4D from  work and it never crossed my mind to design for print with miniatures. 


Loving the lore you've created for your throng also, its really rich and interesting .

Aw dude that's so great to hear. If you do have a go at anything make sure to share ?

7 hours ago, Fisher KIng said:

What is it with all the great armies on this site at the moment. Love the background and your models , particularly the warden. Really looking forward to seeing your Longbeards. My first ever Army was Dwarves way back in 2nd? ed. This blog makes me feel a bit guilty for not having a Duardin force.

Well done sir!

The problem with warhammer is how hard it is to collect everything you want! Do you have any of your old 2nd ed models lying around?

 

Quick update, I've painted my test shield to show you what it looks like. Really pleased with how it came out.

ShieldPaintedFully.jpg.446849d1e0d4036fcaa362b6b389bb64.jpg

Also because I was asked about the green armour earlier in the thread, I noticed I had by chance painted my batch in a way that made a good step by step photo.

LongBeardStarter.jpg.f6eba2a0720c84566d6f37a3fc38a375.jpg

This squad will have shields on their back.

  • Like 15
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 9:53 PM, Brad Gamma said:

The problem with warhammer is how hard it is to collect everything you want! Do you have any of your old 2nd ed models lying around?

I think I have some at my parents place. That ages them some what! I know I have the dwarven lords of legend box. a couple of the old lead ironbrakers, a early flame cannon. plus more I suspect. Finding them would be a quest but I may try and dig them out and strip them. could be a fun project.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Guys!

It feels like ages but I have finally completed my first squad of longbeards! It contains a full set of custom shields, my first ever attempt at freehand and what I think will be the base design for my army moving forward.

I have tried to improve my camera set up, but its still on a three year old beat up camera phone so not perfect. Hope you like them!

Longbeards_Front_Edit.jpg.aee371e5a1c7a7a81a7faa51d84bf83a.jpgLongbeards_Back_Edit.jpg.3124491056fa0467cc59251aef82eca3.jpgLongbeard_Command_Edit.jpg.56bc9ffba4fa879f69c666bb073a34e9.jpg

Few things I found really difficult making these:

  • The longbeard/hammerers feet are annoyingly unflat. I did the bases separately, and gluing them on was a pain.
  • Unlike the kit shields, mine have a completely flat back, which again presents some problems when fitting them on.
  • White paint is the worst.
  • Painting tiny bits of faces poking through helmets is horrible! I had a joy painting the drummer's head (super proud of it) and was really enthusiastic about the rest, but helmet with a little bit of flesh is so hard! Looking forward to ironbreakers having just helmet + beard on show.

Next up will be a gyrocopter. Apart from sticking my spare shield on the top of it, it won't really have much in the way of conversions. Still need to figure out how I am going to design the airborne guys. Doing my first copter will help though.

  • Like 28
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have also begun writing a short story about a young duardin as a way of giving insight into these forest folk and how their society works.

I will try and post a new section every time I put up another unit.

Here is the first part:

Spoiler

 

Clink! Clink! Clink!

A small hammer was being struck against an anvil by a miniature mechanical man. The delicate chronomatron was one of Kirgo’s most valued possessions, but that feeling changed each time it woke him up in the morning. He often had to remind himself of how proud he was when he had finished it and how upset he would be if it were destroyed. He resisted the urge to hurl it across the room and prepared to get up.

Swiveling to the side he placed his feet on the stone slab placed under his bed. Normally touching ones feet to stone is a comforting start to the day for a duardin, but Kirgo always slept in his boots. He had not been able to afford a pelt that covered even his modest length.

He felt around his bedside table for a cloth and, once found, he lifted it to uncover a small stone inscribed with a luminous rune. The dull glow of the stone would allow him to navigate to the window without treading on any of his precious tinkerings strewn haphazardly across the floor.

With all the grace of a river troll he bumbled through the clutter over to the window and opened the hatch. There was no burst of sun, but a warm blanket of lamplight produced by the bustling civilization beyond his walls. Either way it revealed a great deal more than the runestone.

Kirgo pondered whether he should build a contraption that would allow him to open the hatch from his bed, but was reminded of his mother’s words. “Build things that add to life, Kirgo, not things that circumvent it”. While he often felt that was relevant, he was never quite sure.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach. He shuffled over to the corner of his room that one might call a kitchen. The space was only about ten feet in each direction and each corner had come to serve a particular function. The food corner had a small iron stove, a stone basin, a keg and a cupboard. Kirgo rooted through the cupboard and brought out a bowl and a rather knobbly loaf of bread. He filled the bowl with a generous helping of dark ale from the keg, and holding the loaf in his mouth made his way towards what might be described as the sitting corner.

Though he plonked himself down in his rickety chair with quite the thud, not a drop escaped from his bowl. He began to tear morsels from the loaf, dunking them in the ale before eating them, occasionally wiping crumbs from his beard.

As he ate he gave thought to the day ahead. It wasn’t by any means a special day, but it wasn’t going to be uneventful either. Today he would apply to join the canopy corps as he had done, unsuccessfully, every month for the last three years. His happy mix of optimism and realism meant that he had become quite comfortable with the routine.

Once he had finished, he place the bowl on top of yesterday’s one next to his chair, promising to himself that he would clean up at some point. He rose and moved towards the door, the floor creaking as he went. The room was made almost entirely of wood, with just the stone slab under the bed for traditional and superstitious reasons.

Hanging by the door was a large fur-lined coat that showed traces of skill in its construction, but had obviously had a tough life. The bottom was frayed and dirty and small feathers were poking through seams here and there. It’s hood hung from the neckline in a way that suggested it would come off with a good tug. Kirgo removed it from its hook, wrapped it around himself and tightened the belt. He swore that he used to fill this coat out a bit more snugly. Some more wages on food and less on mechanical gizmos would probably do him good.

Before he opened the door he took one last look around his room, his gaze settling on the corner with his workbench. You would have to be told that there was in fact a workbench under the pile of tools, cogs and oily rags. Perhaps one day he could afford a workshop, one where he could build any contraption he desired. But to the task at hand, he thought!

He opened the door and stepped triumphantly onto the walkway outside of his room. He grasped the handrail in front of him and peered over to the bustle below.

Kirgo was a Gharuki Duardin, and his people had settled deep within the gargantuan Gharrakor forest. Unlike most of their kin, the Gharuki built their homes not only underground, but high up in the trees, and the trees of this forest were leviathan. Copperheart Oaks, or Ghahaz’El in their tongue, could measure thousands of feet tall and hundreds wide. Entire colonies could climb the surfaces of these living spires while palaces and fortresses could be carved into their core. Fate had also blessed these trees with rich mineral veins that ran through their hearts, a peculiarity owing to their being in the metal realm of Chamon. Over time the Gharuki had come to revere these wondrous trees and forge every aspect of their society around them.

The forest canopy was thick enough that almost no sunlight could penetrate through to the forest floor, forming a vast living cavern. This and the extensive networks of tunnels built around the tree roots meant that the Duardin had settled quite comfortably in this otherwise alien environment.

Kirgo’s house clung a few hundred feet up the side of Pyetar’s Steeple, a respectable tree where all of his people had made their home. He walked a few steps past his house to an exposed area of bark, gave his mother-tree a loving pat goodbye and skipped off to face the day.

 

Edited by Brad Gamma
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They look amazing! Such personality as a force. I'm really looking forward to seeing this take form (and it even makes me wanna buy some Dispossessed and paint ?)

I can relate to the pain with gluing models to finished bases. It's nice from the painting aspect but can provide some serious headaches when doing the final assembly if you're not working on flat surfaces like big rocks. This is why I've gone the lazy route and now make the bases in the same go as I paint the rest of the model ?

Edited by Slent
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The longbeards look amazing. This is going to be one beautiful army.

That would be true based on the painting alone, but I think the custom shields really make these.

 

Like the story too, though I can not really bring myself to imagine a Duradin living like a modern single. I just have it stuck in my mind that they would live in extended family units and would never let one of their own, no matter how kinless, dwell alone. Who knows what sort of bad ideas a beardling (i.e. not longbeard) would get up to without the watchful gaze of a few longbeards and matrons on them at all times!

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...