Gorthor21 Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Hello all I am sure some of you have seen my blog about my hobby in the blogs section of this site and noticed I am building a Tzeentch army at the moment. I am thinking of adding some Warcry models to growing horde of Tzeentch. I know that none of the warbands are meant to be dedicated to a specific god but these guys scream Tchar to me. From what I can gather about the Cypher lords they function almost identical to an arcanite cult by waging clandestine wars and inserting themselves in places of power and importance to sow discord and anarchy for the sake of it. They differ by how the majority of the cypher lords are enthralled to the leadership and display minimal free will as opposed to how Kairic acolytes join their cults in hope of a better lot in life or a chance to attain more power for personal gains. Aside from these minor lore differences, thematically they are very similar in design as well as how they live their lives in the mortal realms. My army’s lore is a host from the insane labyrinth of a Silver Tower as I feel that gives me lots of room to work with. I plan on adding two of the cypher lords sets and a mindstealer sphrianx to give me a large brick of fodder and a cool medium monster to paint up. My contention lies on what other people would think of this and whether or not the cypher lords are a good narrative fit for an arcanite cult and if not what other war bands would be a better fit with Tzeentch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron Klatz Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Honestly that sounds fantastic. Their short story gave me huge Tzeentch vibes so it seems a natural combination to me. https://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-age-of-sigmar/featured/the-method-of-madness-ebook-2020.html "Of the many warbands who lurk amidst the madness of the Bloodwind Spoil, the Cypher Lords are ever the most mysterious, their motives and methods of war shrouded in secrecy. When Thrallmaster Vignus Daneggia enters Carngrad, a city of Chaos wracked by constant warfare, his goals are unclear – perhaps even to those who serve him. " I'm a chaos neophyte at best but that sounds like a dead ringer for Tzeentch worship. I really like the Silver Tower angle too. Since the Cypher Lords hail from the realm of light a Silver Tower hidden among the magical gleaming silver mountains would blend in well with a Sphiranx posing as a Moon spirit like Celennar to misdirect people and pilgrims towards the tower looking to enhance their wisdom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitGas Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 Actually it's hinted that the Cypher Lordsare not only visually close to Tzeentch... (both in WD and the core rules AFAIK). It's hard to find figures that scream Tzeentch more, really. The Corvus Cabal was also stated to be Tzeentch worshippers (despite the crow usually being a Nurgle thing) in the latest white dwarf although that's IMO more debatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandlemad Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, Gorthor21 said: My contention lies on what other people would think of this and whether or not the cypher lords are a good narrative fit for an arcanite cult and if not what other war bands would be a better fit with Tzeentch. The Cypher Lords definitely fit Tzeentch narratively. You're absolutely right about how their background is pretty similar to that of the Arcanites, and their vaguely Egyptian aesthetic is one that's popular with Tzeentch stuff in general. In fact, I suspect their masks are meant to be at least a bit similar to that of Doctor Fate, just like the Thousand Sons are thought to be. That said, don't dismiss the other warbands entirely! As you say none of them are meant to be devoted to particular gods but there's definite angles you can take that would make them work as part of a force of Arcanites. Corvus Cabal: Tzeentch's association with birds; watchfulness and knowledge; obsession with taking treasures/trinkets becomes seizing magical artefacts Iron Golems: something to do with the change of metal from ore to molten stuff to armour; crafting and enchanting magical weapons; the patience of ritual; the fires of the forge changing all things Untamed Beasts: a shamanistic approach, changing from man to beast through devouring; merging souls; reading portents and signs in the winds as they track their prey Spire Tyrants: same as any chaos warrior really but maybe focusing on Tzeentch as the god of chance and luck and fate, very important in the arena Splintered Fang: alchemy and magic; some of the same cultish stuff as the Cypher Lords but more martial Unmade: they're all mad, aren't they? Fallen philosophers. They want to inflict suffering and that's maybe a bit more obviously Slaaneshi but consider that they're also desperate to defy Nagash, so set their beliefs about life/mutability/change against those of death/unchanging/staticness, gets more Tzeentchian. Also their island kingdom was called Tzlid, which sounds appropriate. Scions of the Flame: Tzeentch and fire go very well together! In practice the visual aesthetics of these warbands aren't as obviously Tzeentchian as those of the Cypher Lords but the right colour scheme could make it work. Silvery-blue armour on the Iron Golems/Spire Tyrants/Splintered Fang, twisty blue tattoos on the Untamed Beasts/Corvus Cabal, that sort of thing. Cypher Lords definitely fit Arcanites but you could certainly make the others work too. Edited October 7, 2020 by sandlemad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron Klatz Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 4 hours ago, sandlemad said: Iron Golems: something to do with the change of metal from ore to molten stuff to armour; crafting and enchanting magical weapons; the patience of ritual; the fires of the forge changing all things They're interesting because on the outside their brutish appearance and war focus makes them dead ringers for Khornites who were big on creating Aqshy Forge Kingdoms during the Age of Chaos to keep supplying their wars through realms. However that their base of operation is in the Realm of Metal is a big boon for Tzeentch who covers the malleable realm and it's alchemies while the Iron Golems use stuff like chained down sun dragons to forge their metals instead mundane means. A focus on alchemy and finding more magical means to create their weapons and expand to tools and temples of knowledge like the Tzaangors do by creating their own libraries would fit well with Tzeentch's love of Chamon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorthor21 Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 Thanks for all the replies everyone! I am definitely getting motivated to add the cypher lords to my collection now. I am thinking of adding Corvus cabal as well but just a single set to act as a skirmish type unit. I’m also thinking of adding either spire tyrants or the iron golems to work with an Ogroid mymidon as I think that would look freaking awesome with a little shield wall with that brute behind them. Though basic marauders would work too. Some part of me still has hold outs from my Warmahordes days with the separate functioning ‘modules’ in army building. Aside from cultist units I am very partial to the Kurgan warlords from the olde world and I wouldn’t mind having a big block of 20 marauder horsemen with a cool unit champion as their chieftain. That would be a hell of a way to die in the silver tower, you turn the corner onto a large corridor and a huge mob of crazed horsemen come and trampled you beneath a wave of horseflesh. @Baron Klatz I like the idea of the Sphinx thing acting as a false prophet with the cultists going out missionary style in Hysh to bring fresh victims to the Tower. I like how the Sphiranx fits with the cypher lords like the myrmidon fits with the spire tyrants. In all honesty I will probably end up getting a few of the cult units as I intend on getting around 10 k points of tzeentch stuff in the end. Though I doubt I will ever find anyone wanting to fight that battle I would love to have that army on display. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron Klatz Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 (edited) That many would look incredible (and may the Gods give onlookers the strength not to use the over 9,000 meme). The Cabal would be fun to convert into Silver Tower messenger/scout Tzeentch crows but how will you go about the Ogroid? Make it too Tzeentch and it'll become it's mage cousin in appearance. Also a neat idea for a shieldwall could be to hunt down some Silver Tower tiles and convert them to shields. Edited October 8, 2020 by Baron Klatz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorthor21 Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 Yeah I was thinking of painting them both the same shade of blue. Either which unit I put it with I will paint blue whorls on the shields and maybe blue woad on the humans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popisdead Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Have you read City of Secrets? You should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorthor21 Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 I have read it. That was from before warcry was a thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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