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Darth Alec

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  1. Darth Alec
    Effective immediately! Go download!

    I am immensely proud to say that the new update to Battletome: The End Times is finally released. It has been a labour of love, and an effort to keep improving the project as times move on. This is the first major update, and what an update it is.
     
    From the beginning, I've thought of making this tome into a campaign. After some experiences of running them in my local club, I had an epiphany. Playing long campaigns is hard. Life gets in the way! Campaigns with multiple people are the same. Though they're great fun, coordinating that many people is difficult. It requires a lot of work from a DM, and the chances of it falling apart before the end are high. After looking through the General's Handbook, I realised that I've seen the tree campaign somewhere before. The original End Times books had a campaign system which was exactly what I was looking for. 2 players, short, but with plenty of variety. It even had a solid first campaign in the Doom of Belegar. Sadly this system came to late for anyone to use it during 8th edition. But it now lives on through BT: The End Times.
     
    Each campaign is between 3-6 games long, the perfect length for a full weekend of gaming, or spread out over a few game days at the club. They each follow a specific story as well. Instead of just being each of the book's battleplans sequencially, each battleplan has been carefully selected to best fit the background of the events. Many cover events that didn't get their own battleplans at all. Rather than make new ones, pre-existing ones have been used. Most are from this very tome, but some are from the original AoS book or the General's Handbook. This creates a lot of variety, as well as allowing me to fit every battle to the story. There campaigns provided tell 5 very different stories, each from their own book of the End Times. The Rise of Nagash covers Mannfred and Arkhan's efforts to ressurect Nagash, and their many obstacles on that path. The Tentacle Lord's Conquest follows Gutrot Spume's efforts to ransack the Empire and besiege Altdorf. In The Return, Malekith once more sets foot upon Ulthuan. We go underground as the Doom of Belegar tells the final tale of Karak Eight Peaks. Lastly we have Death and Plague, the story of how Isabella prevented Nagash' rise to godhood.
     
    In addition to these, there have been many minor changes across the book. Most of these are useability updates, spelling checks or minor corrections. It even includes a content table! The tome should be better to use than ever. Each of the minor tomes have been upgraded as well, for those who prefer more edible chunks of the tome at a time. I really hope you guys enjoy it! It's for everyone to play and enjoy exactly the way you want to play your games.
     
     
     
     
    (Small note on downloading, you will need to be a member of TGA to download this file)
  2. Darth Alec
    What is dead may never die, baby. The Tomb Kings may be discontinued, but they live on in our hearts. I actually started with Tomb Kings 15 years ago. Threw out a lot of old models when I quit. Then I came back. After I started the Death army, I had a clear theme in mind for them. But I couldn't stay away from the sandy skelletons. So I built a few, then a lot. Now I have a lot, and am building more. But that's for another time, now to get into the stuff I painted in 2016.
     
     

     
    Starting with the guys who give the Tomb Kings some of their unique flavour, it's the skeleton archers. Every single model is converted from VC skeleton models and TK bows and quivers. I also strung each bow. The original skeletons just look terrible. Couldn't have that in my new force. So I got these guys. Loads of work, but it paid off. They also perform really well in-game for me! 30 guys give 60 shots, and an average of 10 wounds. Not amazing, but at 20 (effectively 26.5) inches, it's the sort of reach I otherwise lack.
     

    Let's keep things Deathrattle, shall we? It's the chariots! Again, replaced the original skeleton riders. This time I also replaced the horses. The original horses aren't utterly terrible, but they are bad. And the Black Knight horses are just so good. So they had to go. Not seen on this side is teh quive for the bow, which hangs off the other side of the chariot. What you can see is the basing though. It's actually a road, 2 chariots wide! They flow into each other, with a split in the middle base. Not snowed them down yet though, but it counts as complete for my purposes. Building 9 more of these babies in 2017.
     

    Birds! Now Carrion aren't an amazing unit, but they have their tricks. I also like their half-rotted appearance. These were speedpainted for SCGT last year, but I like the result. Two full units of objective grabbers and assorted uses. They're pure metal though, so I'm always afraid of chipping them.
     

    You can't have a Tomb King army without at least one of these. Undead artillery! Shame they're also the worst models in history to assemble. An absolute nightmare. I bought one of them used and sprayed just with some colour spray. But because it was assembled, I was too afraid to break it up and strip it. I'm going to regret that some day...
     

    And so it's on to the Reanimants. I love the Tomb Scorpion model, but I tired out painting it. It's in the same marble scheme as all my reanimants, but it's just so rich in texture that it was a huge amount of work. The entire underside is also painted this way. So a lot of line highlighting. The result is nice though. I also posed the guy as crawling over a fallen pillar. Not very easy to see in this picture, but it's a cool effect.
     

    Ah, the Ushabti. Are there any more quintessential Tomb Kings models than these guys? Amazing stuff.  Loved painting them. They look great on the table as well. No converting or anything needed here. These guys just look great. But I have 4 If anyone has 2 extra they're willing to part with, hit me up! Would love to flesh these guys out to 6.
     

    Next up is the Bone Giant! Another childhood favorite of mine. Fun fact, this is my very first "large" model. 15 years of service! And now he's the same size as Morghasts. If not scale creep, it's something. The original model is cool, but a little stiff. So I tried to pose him with the base to make him look more dynamic. Like he's smashing through a wall to get to you. Bits from the Garden of Morr set keeps on giving.
     

    Biggest of the bunch is the Warsphinx! It's got the same marble scheme as all the others. Doing that tail took forever. When I initially put it together, I wasn a little sceptical. Now that it's done I appreciate it a lot more. I drybrushed the gold on the Warsphinx itself though... Couldn't face line highlighting all that gold. A minor point of shame. But It still looks nice. Crew are mixed original and VC skeleton/black knight bits. I wanted them to fit a little more in with the rest of my army, so I went a little bit away from the Old Dynasty aesthetic on the crew.
     
     

    FIrst up of the heroes is the crafty Necrotect. Not my greatest conversion. Honestly, he was a rush job to get finished for SCGT. The original model had either gone out of print then or I was being unfair to it. I rather like the original now, but it's even harder to get than it was. So I'm stuck with this guy. It's not too bad though. The high elf pants gives him a unique look, and he's got both the whip and dagger, so he's WYSIWYG.
     

    Now we're talking. This is, IIRC, the limited edition model. The only difference is the smaller banner. Much nicer than the frankly ludicrous ones that most models use.  I don't think this is my best job or anything, but I like it. The face turned out nice, the pose is cool, and the model in general is good without being overstated. Just one of those models that make me nod my head in approval when I think about it.
     

    Now here's a model I am pleased with! Love the skin tones on this guy. He's not got the exact same skin as the vampires, so it was a huge experiment. The rest of him isn't all that remarkable, but I like him. I have an ancient model of him around as well, painted some 13 years ago. I showed them off against one another on twitter a while back. It was quite the difference.
     

    Most esoteric Tomb King model? I think so. I initially got this guy mostly to fill out the collection. But I like him. Had no idea how to paint the scarabs, so it ended up with some sort of green. When I did some research afterwards, I saw that they can be a lot more shiny and stuff. Still no idea  how to paint them, so green it is! Proud of the little OSL on his head though. Very simple, but it just adds a lot to his face.
     

    Done with the princes, now it's on to the kings. The king on foot is a favorite model of mine. Classic pose, detailed without being ostantacious, and clear to read on the table. I really like his cape and shield as well, but I wasn't forward thinking enough to take pictures of that... Oh well!
     

    And now for the final king of 2016. This guy was a lot of fun! Banners are from the Tomb Guard and some elf. Had to pick this King model. He just looks so goooood pointing forward, at the foe! And he's got the right glaive. Not used this guy yet. But he'll be my King for SCGT. Really looking forward to that! Not snowed his base yet though. Just really like this guy. Going to be great to see him charge down the field!
     

    Last up is Queen Khalida. She's not technically a King, remember This was my first attempt at the marble effect. Not sure I did very well. Thankfully the model is so nice. So, so nice. Love it. I'm quite pleased at the staff transitioning into the snake. Tried to copy some other real life snakes for the ones on her body, but they were mostly more complex than I could manage. Now I just need a second unit of archers so I can use her to lead my forces!
     
     
    That's the last of my Tomb Kings! So how much did I end up painting?

     
    That's... A lot of points. And a lot of different models. 7 different heroes! Laying it all out like that really shows that I had some time on my hands, huh? Doesn't matter, now I got a sweet TK army. Finally. After 15 years. It's been a journey, and it's not over yet.
     
    That's it for the round up. Next time I'll be talking about the plans for 2017!
  3. Darth Alec
    I painted a few Death models... Quite a few actually. I started painting Death in 2015, after AoS dropped. I had originally started in the hobby with Tomb Kings, and now was the perfect time to refind that love. But since TK were on the way out, I went with pure Death. That didn't last... But for today, here's all the regular, non TK stuff I've painted!
     
     
    First up today are the troops!

     

    40 skeleton warriors... Ugh. This was a grind! I wanted skeleton hordes since I started the army, but I got distracted by all the shiny stuff. So for the RAW:16 event, I decided to finish a proper unit. I'm not a huge tournament player, but I do like units to have some punch. Hence the 40. In one game at RAW, they threw out more than 140 attacks against a single Arachnarok! It was glorious. And perhaps not fitting for a 1k game... Oops. I could have used TK skeletons for these guys, but those skeletons are so ugly. Very dated and weren't great on release. But the TK shields are cool. So a simple swap made them look great.
     

    I had painted up the first 10 Grave Guard in 2015, including the command. But I wanted more! Each has been converted and reposed to do something slightly more interesting. The original GG models were a bit static for my taste, but these guys with mixed weapons are a lot of fun. I experimented with the cloth, and was pleasantly surprised when it worked out.
     
     

    Continueing the Deathrattle theme, Black Knights! Like the Grave Guard, the Black Knights are a custom job. They've been mixed with Dragon Prince models. This is the dragon prince half of the unit, whilst the Black Knight half was finished in 2015. A lot of people take them for Blood Knights, but no. That's usually a cheap conversion, if it's a conversion. But these guys are definitely Black Knights, as I've got the proper models for Blood Knights painted. Really pleased with this unit, though I won't be adding any more in a while...
     

    This is definitely a Wight King, right? Definitely not a vampire repurposed as a Wight King with Infernal banner... This is what you get for buying models before you check the rules, kids. All in all though, I'm happy. He works. This was one of those models I needed to have. But I was never a fan of the flayed skin banner, so I switched it out for the Orruk boss banner. The symbol is the Pyramid and Moon common on a lot of the banners in the army. To make it stand out, I gave it Morghast wings. I'm no good at freehand, but this guy was a success. The red on his pole indicates that he's actually a vampire. You won't see red on anything that isn't Soulblight!
     

    And the last Deathrattle is Krell! Or rather, a Wight King with Black Axe. But it's Krell. The 2007 Vampire Counts update brought in some of the best character models in the business. Krell, the Von Carsteins... I needed all of them! Really pleased with how he turned out. Though I haven't actually gotten him into combat yet.
     
     

    Spirit hosts! 3 more, bringing me to 6. They've gotten a few conversions. Nothing special, though I have written a spirit host guide somewhere. What else have I for Nighthaunt?
     

    Mourngul! Why would a narrative guy like me get one? Funny story really. At SCGT, some guy stepped on my Skeleton Archers. You may know him, 'cause it's Joe from the Bravery One podcast. As the great guy he is, he decided to buy me a Mourngul. Thanks Joe! Now I have all the filth... As for painting, I always thought the spirity versions lacked something. They weren't as scary as maybe they should be. So I figured a flayed-flesh version would be very, very creepy. I think it worked...
     

    The first Nighthaunt hero is the Cairn Wraith. I'm not really a fan of the model. But I had it. So I decided to make teh best of it, and try to do something cool. The result was this floating guy. Now I sort of like him. He's just pinned to the side of the building, but it's something a little different.
     
     

    The last Nighhaunt hero is my Banshee. I've tried for a sort of narrative base. There's a story here, but I leave what it is up to you. Note the rusted blade that, unlike all other blades in the army, doesn't have shiny spots from use. Not really fond of the Banshee model, but it's a huge improvement over the older ones.
     

    Now we're getting to the heroes. This is my necromancer. He's really just an Empire Wizard with a different colour scheme. The door really brings out the spookyness though. I like him, but this is a terrible picture.
     
     

    Next up is Soulblight, and my first award-winning model! So proud. This is Lahmanet, my Aspirant for the RAW: 2016 event. She won the people's award for Aspirants, which was pretty amazing to me. There were so many good entries. She's got an empire general's horse, Coven throne body and elven sword. Also note the red, it's the first red since the "wight king" to bear red!
     

    And here she is again, now in Legendary form! Note the bigger hair, bigger sword, and bigger mount. This model was a lot of fun, but doesn't have any good picture angles. In-game, it's an Abyssal Terror. They're supposed to be weaker than Dread Abyssals, so I left off the armour and gave it wings. This Lahmanet also won a trophy! She won the best Legendary hero at RAW:16. I actually got both prizes there. That was pretty shocking. Thanks to everyone who voted for me!
     

    For some reason this picture is sideways... It's not in the original. Sorry about that. This is my Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon. Everyone keeps talking about how good this guy is, but he usually fluffs his attacks. But his ranged threat is huge. He was a treat to paint though. Gigantic! My first properly large model. Highlighting the wings was an absolute terror though.
     

    Then there's these guys... The Morghast Archai. They never dissapoint. Amazing to build, awesome to paint. Love everything about them. Though highlighting the wings was a pain. First time trying out the blending technique on the weapons, so that worked.  Just very pleased overall.
     

    Last out the door, first in my heart, is Nagash. He's huge. Such a brilliant model. When it came out, it really sealed the deal about starting Death. I can't not own this model and an army with it. Spent months on this guy. So many new techniques and tricks. I may do a bigger post about him if there's interest. Somehow this picture also ended up sideway, which I don't understand. So you just crane your necks or something... 
     
     

    So how'd we turn ou.... 3500 points? Whoa. That's a lot. And 2000 of them are characters. Mighty pleased with that, though I don't need any more characters for a while.
     
    That's it for today's Death extravaganza! Tune in later for the Tomb King update.
     
  4. Darth Alec
    It's 2017. That means I'm doing my now-yearly model round up. It's a simple thing, really. Take a picture of every model that I painted in 2016, host it, and write a little blurb about them. I have done a ton this year, much more than I expected! So strap in. This is going to be a three parter, and not one to miss!
     
    First up is Order! At the tail end of the year, I started up my Duardin force again. Didn't get to do much, but I'm very proud of what got painted!
     
    First up is the Doomseeker!

    A favorite of mine from Silver Tower, I wanted to get this guy painted. He's also my test model for the (eventual) Fyreslayer detachment of my Order army. Did some custom reposing on him, which I think worked out. The OSL on the axe didn't work out so well though. Didn't thin the final layer of red down enough. Oh well, learning experience.
     
     

    Longbeards! Lovely models, and I'm super pleased about my paintjob. Honestly, I wasn't sure about it until about 90% of the way through. But on completion, is was the right way. Bronzed armour for these guys, Ironbreakers will have silver armour, and the Hammerers will have gold. Gives them all a continuity. The bronze is the Sister of Silence recipe from Warhammer TV, beard is some online guide, everything else is custom.
     

    Thorek Ironbrow and the Anvile of Doom. Very pleased with this guy. He was delivered without a rune-arm, so this one is from the Runelord kit. I think it works better, much more dramatic and eye catching with the flame. Shields are new as well. Though I prefer the newer duardin models, this guy is just a classic. Shame his guards are so wonky.  I also learned to appreciate the newer sculpts in a different way: detail density. Thorek is packed with detail. None of it visible on the table. Newer models are often both less dense and much better at showing off what detail they have. Base is the same colours as the rest of the Order army, but with glowing runes.
     

    Last of the Duardin is High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer. Now this is a dwarf. Love this model. Did not love highlighting gold though. There's 4 different types of gold! Very pleased with him overall, even though the finecast leaves a bit to be desired. A suitable centerpiece for my force, which I will enjoy taking into battle in the coming years.
     

    Last of the Order models is the Knight-Questor. I did actually paint up a few more Stormcast, but they were filling out other units. This guy is a simple conversion to make him much more hoplitesque. A friendly soul on twitter gave me the bits, which I'm grateful for. The scheme is based on the Hammers of Sigmar, but different. I originally painted my SCE for a store exhibition, but didn't want to go all out. So this darker gold and blue got made instead. Loving the gold I got here, and not very complex.
     
    That's it for my Order stuff this year. So what's the total?

    700? Not bad, but not really an army. Let's see if we can't fix that next year. I plan to do a lot more bearded beauties! Especially if GW drops the new Duardin force on us. For 2016 though, painting 2 models I've always wanted to do felt really good. And now I have them done for any narrative End Times stuff I might want to do.
     
    Stay tuned for the next update. Death will dawn over the Mortal Realms...
     
  5. Darth Alec
    For the next update of Battletome: The End Times, you'll get your hands on the new Mighty Battles campaign system.
    The Mighty Battles is a system for narratively linking your games, creating a campaign for two players. Each battle will have an effect on the overall campaign. These campaigns are short, usually between 3-6 battles, and easy to play using whatever forces you have. Designed to be played over a few weeks, a weekend or even a single day, the Mighty Battles lets you quickly and effortlessly play out great stories. There are many campaigns already included, featuring some awesome moments from the End Times. Also included is a helpful guide to let you build your own campaigns and create your own narrative in Age of Sigmar.
     
    I'm also proud to announce that each book will have its own campaign. That means you'll get 5 campaigns in this new update! 1 from each Nagash, Glottkin, Khaine, Thanquol and Archaon. You'll have loads to do, and it will be even easier to do it. Just grab a campaign, grab a mate and get at it. Each is designed to be able to finish in a weekend at the most. For the true enthusiasts out there, there's even a recreate the battle section, so you can have a truly authentic experience!
     
    I'll even be revealing the first campaign right here; It's the Doom of Belegar!

     
    Picture not illustrative! Following the final battles of Queek and Belegar, this campaign is a no-holds barred affair. Endless reinforcements and disregarding battleshock makes this a bloody and desperate war. This campaign was originally taken from the Thanquol book, but has been redesigned to better fit AoS.
     
    Lets get into the rules! Some of this won't make much sense since you guys don't have the base rules yet. Don't worry about it, it's not very complicated.

     
    As you can see, the Defenders will be nearly impossible to shift. Yet the Besieger will have the troops to bear down on them. It fundamentally changes how the battleplans work, driving home the feeling of skaven hordes versus stalwart dwarfs.
     
    As for the campaign tree itself, take a look!

    Just start at the top and follow the arrows! The victor usually gains some small benefit, but nothing is garantueed. No matter how things go, the campaign will last a simple 3 battles. Easily achievable in a long day or weekend of warhammering. Also note how none of the wordings are faction specific. You can use any units and armies you want! In fact, I've been playtesting this with Stormcast vs Ironjaws, two factions that didn't even exist then! It's a flexible system for all players. It doesn't matter if you play Skaven, Dwarfs or any other faction. You don't even need to have played during the days of WHFB, the campaigns work for everyone!
    Here's even a picture of a playtesting session. This is from the very first battle. The Ironjaws are about to move a ludicrous distance (they could move even further than normal thanks to a stratagem), and my poor stormcast got a proper beating.

     
    That's a small sneak peak of the next update! Coming November 19th. Remember to check out the Battletome: End Times right here on TGA for a collection of 49 battleplans and 6 time of war scrolls!


  6. Darth Alec
    Yes, it's finally time for another update! On the 19th of November, Battletome: The End Times update 2 will be released. It contains a number of new features and fixes to the existing battleplans. It was quite a journey to get to the first release, and the reaction was immense! It's been shared in all sorts of media, and mentioned on numerous podcasts. I was even invited to talk about it on an episode of Garagehammer! I took a few months off after completing it to focus on other things, but now I'm back. Though the bulk of this now year-long project is finished, it's not done. Already packed with features, the next update brings even more options to your games.
     
    Biggest of the new features is the Mighty Battles campaign system.
    Built on the Lords of Battle system found in the original End Times books, it has been expanded and generalised to make an easy system for building and playing your own campaigns. Many campaign systems rely on many players or weeks (or even months) of playtime. I find that these sort of campaigns usually collapse before they finish, for all sorts of reasons. It's never easy to keep groups together and focused for such long events. I knew that the battles of this tome needed to be connected through a campaign system, but I wasn't sure how to do it. The Lords of Battle system from the original books provided the answer. Designed for two players to duke it out over shorter campaigns, it's perfect to play across a single day or a weekend. You still recreate the epic battles and heroic moments, but now you can reliably complete each campaign. There's also much less fussing about with special campaign rules, unpredictable results or the need for a DM! Now you just follow the charts to battle, all the rules you need to know contained in a short and easy-to-read document.
    As with all content in Battletome: The End Times, the campaigns are faction neutral. So even if you collect Stormcasts and your friend has Fyreslayers, this is a way for you to play. You could create your own campaign, or play one of the many that are included, substituting the story as best suits you! For those of you who yearn to fully recreate the wars for the old world, there's also a "Recreating the War" section, forcing further restrictions to keep the battles in line with the story as they happened. This way you can play exactly the way you want.
     
    For the 2.0 update, the Battletome will include a full campaign for each book! These will naturally not cover every battleplan in each book, but rather parts of the story. For some, this will include battleplans that are not in Battletome: End Times. This is simply so that each battle can be unique and interesting, true to the story, and without me having to invent another 50 battleplans!
    I can reveal two of the campaigns that will feature; From Nagash, you will get to play through the Rise of Nagash campaign. It follows Mannfred and Arkhans attempt to ressurect their long-dead overlord, facing a variety of foes. The first campaign from Khaine will be The Return, a campaign about Malekith's final assault on Ulthuan, and the desperate race to the Blighted Isle and the Shrine of Khaine.
     
     
    In addition to the Mighty Battles campaign system and the embedded campaigns, there will be several custom warscrolls!
    There are many heroes and villains whose tales need to be told. Some of those featured prominently during the End Times will be recieving all-new, custom Warscrolls. Each of these are designed to capture the essence of the character, and bring it into the Age of Sigmar. These are narrative warscrolls, with strange and new abilities. Add them to your battles for a great story-driven tale.
    The final number of custom warscrolls is not finalized. These will continue to see work up until release. I can reveal that each of the Mortarchs will get their own warscroll, as benefits the greatest minions of Nagash.
     
    For a preview of what to expect, here is the warscroll for Dieter Helsnicht! A manticore-riding Necromancer, he has not had rules since 5th edition warhammer! He's a great mix of combat power and magical might, making your other necromancers instantly more dangerous. Please note that every warscroll is WIP, and subject to changes.

     
     
    And with that, I've revealed enough for one day. There's plenty more in the 2.0 update, which will drop November 19th.
  7. Darth Alec
    Lahmanet, my Warrior Aspirant for the RAW: Legends event, is done!

    “He does not see it. Very well. I am tired of fighting a lost war. Not when there’s a cause that can be won. I need to get a message to the Lightning Men. A parley. An alliance of our might to theirs. The Order can’t fulfil its vows if every battle is lost before we fight it. With them though, there may yet be a chance. Only Ahken-Sur stands in the way.
    The Holy Order of the Guardian Moon is an old order, stretching back into the Age of Myth. Long has it been a sacred order of the most unusual sort, an order dedicated to the defence of mortals. The vampire-monks who made up its ranks were celibate, and drank no blood but that which was offered. Many villagers would willingly offer the tribute of blood to their betters in exchange for their protection in troubled times. As the Age of Chaos grew darker, the Order was hard-pressed to defend their charges. Still it fights a losing battle. Kingdoms and Empires have been defended by the Order, and each has been lost in turn. Though valiant, even the charge of vampiric heavy horse cannot break every army. Casualties mounted, and all that is left is a motley collection of fools, a pale imitiation of the once-glorious ranks of the Order.

    Now the Age of Sigmar has been unleashed, and the world is changing. The ways of the old Order may not be right for this new age. Ahken-Sur, Imperator of the Order of the Guardian Moon, sees this not. To him the endless war continues, and there can be no allies until Nagash returns once more. Lahmanet, tired of the endless, pointless wars, sees new chances in the lightning storms.


    She's a pretty complete conversion job. The Horse is from the Empire General kit, her body from the Coven Throne, and sword from an old elf kit. The saddle is custom made as well. She's kind of difficult to photograph. She's looking down at the enemy (she's a bit aloof), rather than straight ahead. Still, I'm quite proud of it. I wanted her to be mounted and fit with the Legendary version of her. Finding a horse wasn't easy! Going through elven, human and undead horses, I landed on this one. It's big and solid, armoured, a proper warhorse. She may not be dressed for war, but riding on that there can be no doubt. And it needed to be her. I had originally planned on making a pair of generic armoured vamps, using old Blood Dragon models. That was a bit generic though. We need more female representation, even if it's literally out to drain our blood! Thankfully the vampire models from the Coven Throne fit.
     
     

     
    Never painted cloth as complex as this before. Think I did an OK job. It's red to tie her in to all the other vampire models, with a nice white spot colour. Painting her really reminded me that I've just been painting dead stuff for a whole year! Fun, but quite challenging. The red is a simple Mephiston, with carroburg washed into the recesses and highlighted with wild rider red. Mixed some black into the mephiston for the deepest recesses. It's pretty striking, so I think she'll be visible on the battlefield!
     

    So, what is RAW: Legends then? It's an awesome narrative event being hosted in November. Check out the link below for the whole pack. The idea is that everyone has an Aspiring champion, a minor hero who has just started her journey. As we play through the event, the aspring champ gains new items, bonuses and other stuff. Eventually, she'll be upgraded to a Legendary version of herself! There will be room for all sorts of shenanigans (including a doubles battle), so it's going to be great. It's full ATM, but I highly recommend checking it out!
    Next up: The Legendary Champion, Lahmanet upon an Abyssal Terror!
  8. Darth Alec
    I've finished Krell, and with that Clear the Backlog: Phase 2!
     

     
    Krell is progably one of my favorite models. It's big, tough and looks deadly. Krell seriously looks like he'd turn any opponent into several small pieces. Fun fact, this is the last of the "classic" VC character models in my collection. Some clear evidence of progress there. I actually put him together more than a year ago, but never got around to him. Now I'm only really missing Arkhan, and I'll have all the End Times undead characters as well. He'll look amazing leading my Deathrattle hordes in future games.
     

     
    As far as painting goes, he's pretty standard. Purple armour as usual, gold as usual. The only interesting parts on my end were the cloak, the crest and the fur. The cloak is rakarth flesh with a wash of reikland flesh. Add short lines of rakarth over that. Don't do a full layer, just nice soft lines. Do an extra highlight of pallid wych flesh to draw the eye. I struggled a bit with the crest. Most have painted it either entirely black, or red. I didn't want it just black, because that's just a little dull. It can also look super stiff. Red is also out. Red is only used on vampiric models in my army, it's one of the few unifying elements for them. So I went with this black-and-white scheme, inspired by ancient roman/greek crests. it makes it clearer that it's a crest, whilst giving him a unique look. The white is celestra grey, ulthuan grey (remember to thing your paints), thinned nuln oil, and white.
     
     

     
    As for the fur, I wasn't entirely sure what to do. Haven't really painted fur for a long time. So I went with browns and washes. Doombull brown with a simple highlight of Gorthor brown. Wash it with agrax, then highlight with steel legion drab, IIRC. Not sure if I'm pleased with it, but it works.
     
     

     
    And to finish Phase 2, 10 skeletons. These guys are tabletop at best. I've now painted 60 skeletons, and it's getting a bit dull! As these guys are going into a unit of 40, I couldn't quite keep the motivation to paint them super well. But they are finished! Completing this phase of my backlog-clearing project.
     
    I'm nowhere near done with my Death models. However, I'm shifting gears towards a new (old) force. Expect to see some of it in the next update!
     
  9. Darth Alec

    Warsphinx completed!

    By Darth Alec,

    Phase 2 is running on schedule! The newest addition to the growing horde is the magnificent Warsphinx. Such a lovely model!

     
    The full thing, in all its glory. I remember the day when the Bone Giant was a large model. Now it's small, almost weedy compared to this. The Tomb Kings continue their triumphant model line with this thing. As a lover of the Tomb Kings, getting my hands on this was a triumph. They were OoP when I bought it, but @Dangermouse425 provided.
     

     
    A slightly frontal view. The gold is fairly standard for me. Warplock Bronze base, paint Retributor Armour over everything but the cracks, wash with Seraphim Sepia. To add detail, paint every other "thing" with Ironbreaker. The twist here was a drybrush of Liberator Gold. I'm not usually fond of drybrushing any more, but I couldn't stand the thought of line-highlighting every last edge. I would be done until christmas! So it's a slight cheat, but I feel like it's ok. The result is pretty nice either way. It's old gold, but slightly less weathered than most of the gold in the army. The eyes were painted using @Mengel Miniatures glowing eyes guide. Can't say I have mastered it as well as him, but I'm pleased. There's definitely some otherworldy energy there! Oh, and before I forget. The teeth and claws are probably my best ever. Which isn't saying much. Simple line technique, really. I've just never done it very well before. I figure that means my brush controll is ever so slightly improving.
     

     
    Before we get to the marble, I wanted to do the tail. It's the new Gemstone paint, but with a little work put into it. Base with leadbelcher, then do smaller and smaller circles of the lighter metals, focused towards the front of the orb. Do a thinned wash of Nuln oil to blend the colours a little and shade the edge. Then just cover with the gemstone paint. I needed two layers for a decent cover. It's really simple. I know a more cumbersome method produces better results, but I like it. Went with blue rather than green to provide that little bit of spot colour.
     

     
    Marble, then. Easily the biggest and most time consuming part of the model. I've used a similar technique for all of my reanimants so far, and it's worked out quite well. Nothing was on the scale of this though. Even the bone giant pales. Again I followed Mengel Miniature's guide, but with my own lazy twist. Start with an entirely Abbadon black model. Pretty important. Then I took Kabalite green and mixed some abbadon into it. Painted long and in lines like you would imagine marble does. Also add to every major edge. Then grab your Warpstone Glow and add some black into it. Paint it thinner within the kabalite lines. The thinner the better on all of these layers, really. But as you can see, I chose the safe option of not going super thin with my first layers. Then you grab the Sybarite green, your thinnest brush, and go to town. Paint it unto every sharp angle (breaks, corners etc), and in thin, irregular lines into the existing lines. They need to be broken up (to simulate depth). Be meticulous! Once that's done, I glazed the entire thing with pure Biel-Tan green.  Overall, I'm super pleased with the effect. It's not winning any awards, but it looks great on the table and OK in close-ups. Nerve-wracking to do so much of it though...
     

     
    Last up is the crew! They're the OG crew, with breastplates from the regular VC skeletons and heads from the Black Knights. It ties them better to the rest of the army, and gives me more room to paint purple. Othewise this unit wouldn't necessarily fit in as well as the others. They're a right pain to put into the basket, I'll tell you. Decided not to glue them in case I decided to put a King into the howdah. Just blu-tacked in place. Which also allows for much safer transporting. They'd break every chance they got if not.
     
    That's it for this time! Phase 2 of the operation is going ahead smoothly. Just the skeletons and Krell left! Then it'll be a change of pace...
  10. Darth Alec

    End Times Battlereport!

    By Darth Alec,

    So I finally had a chance to do a little Battletome: End Times playtesting! For the game, we rocked up with regular all-round armies (this wasn't planned), and picked a battleplan slightly at random. It needed to fit two regular-ish armies. So for this game, we went with the Battle of the Blighted Isle (Khaine 4 IIRC)! It's a pretty big battle, fluff wise. Malekith is racing towards the Blighted Isle to sieze his fathers blade, whilst the defenders and Tyrion race to stop him. The defenders are therefor split in two, with reinforcements arriving in the third hero phase. The goal is to sieze the Widowmaker and live.

     
    In the place of elves stood the Undead and the Ironjaws. The Battletome is meant to be played with any army, after all! The undead decided to bunch up behind a unit of 40 skeletons, with spirit hosts taking up the flank. A single Bone Giant adds some combat punch, whilst a Necromancer and Wight King with Infernal Banner keeps the entire formation alive.
     
     
     
    The red marker represents the Widowmaker, in lack of anything more impressive. Looking at it from here, the defensive position is formidable, but theenemy more so...
     


     
    Driving home their first turn advantage, the Ironjaws charge forth! In a single hero and movement phase, nearly the entire Ironjaws force is within combat range. The defence would need to be hard-fought. The speed was unexpected, and not at all welcome!

    Smashing into the skeletons, the 'Ardboyz make themselves known. Only 6 skeletons die to their onslaught though, to a pair of their Orruks. The Necromancer's Cursed Book keeps much of the damage away.
     
     
     

     
    Choosing to take the defensive in their turn, the undead bunker up with plenty of spells. This allows the Ironjaws to pile in further. Nearly every unit in their army is now in combat, pounding away at the defenders. They hold up well though, suffering only another 6 skeleton casualties. This doesn't even reduce their attacks back, as the banner had healed enough models previously. The Ardboyz continue to suffer under the 90-ish attacks from the skeletons!
     

    Disaster strikes! Tapping into the power of the failing Vortex on the Isle of the Dead, the Wierdnob vomits forth a terrible green torrent. It kills a single skeleton, and does 6 damage to the poor Wight King. The arcane power of the banner saves him though, restoring him to his last wound. Not prepared to leave killing undone, the Wierdnob shoots him down with a simple Arcane Bolt. The defence is now crippled!
     

     
    As if to pile in further pain, the Megaboss takes flight! He now sits upon the Shallow Pond of Khaine, staring directly into the back of the defenders. It is a good thing the Necromancer wears dark robes this day.
     

     
    All is not yet lost though! Using the power of the Great Vortex, the Undead use Bridge of Shadows (The Great Vortex Weakens special spell) to transport the blood knights to the defence. The Morghasts race down the center, closely followed by the Von Carsteins.
     
     

    Unfortunately, the Ironjaws win the crucial priority roll! Moving quickly and with deadly efficiency they block off the attackers. Driving Brutes into the Blood Knights and Ardboyz into the Morghasts and Spirit Hosts.
     

    The effect is devastating. Nearly all the reinforcements are slain. The Undead are stuck without a chance to kill the Megaboss! In a single round of combat, the Ironjaws decided the fate of the sacred blade.
     
     

     
    With victory in hand, the Megaboss now looks to sweep the last of the defenders. There are bigger foes to slay, now that he wields the legendary sword...
     
     
    The game ends with a major victory to the Ironjaws! It's a difficult scenario for the defenders! You need a good defensive core that can work without command abilities, and a strong fast secondary detachment. On the attacker side, you need to not get bogged down too much. A fast army can get in, smash up and get out before the defenders can rally, which I think is useful. Had the Ironjaws not been so absurdly fast (Ardboyz moved 14" before their own movement phase!), the battle would have been very different. Having a general that can fly and get into the backfield is very useful though. A model on foot I could have held up longer. Could have done more to block the massive base of the Megaboss though.
     
    Minor adjustments made to the battleplan: The wielder of Widowmaker must charge if able, and complete charge if able. Battle length increased to 6 turns. Need to do further adjustments, including fixing the command abilities and victory conditions.
     














  11. Darth Alec
    Akhen-Sur could not see it. He had always been a fool. He had always had hope. “This is where we break them”, “We draw the line here”, always, always with the speeches. For weeks and months and years, we’d fight for one kingdom or another, but they’d always fall. We’d flee. And the next little realm would accept our help. Over and over and over again. For two hundred years we have been fighting against Chaos. Hopeless battles for doomed mortals. I guess that makes me a fool as well. The lightning had changed everything


     
    Akhen-Sur could not see it. He had always been a fool. He had hope when there was none. And when hope now rides upon the lightning, he complains about the rain.  I can no longer content myself to drinking the blood of fallen enemies and petty intrigue. It is time…


     
    Two converted heroes! The horse version is my Aspiring hero, whilst the Abyssal Terror is the Legendary. Both of these are custom built for the Realms at War: Legends event in late November. Hosted by EatMingsFoote, it's a narrative event. Really looking forward to it. I went to SCGT, so after this I'll have been at both a top-level tournament and a top-level narrative event. And since it's a narrative thing, it needed custom models.
     

     
    The horse is from the Empire General, and the vampire is from the Coven Throne. Shaved off all the Sigmar and Karl Franz stuff, hopefully did that well. Made a side-sadle for the lade, so she could sit elegantly whilst murdering fools. Basing is a ruined Dragonfate Dias pillar.
     

     
    The Abyssal Terror is a unit I've really wanted for a while. The old-school model is a bit funky, so I decided to make my own. It's a Dread Abyssal without any of the armour, shortened tail, converted Arkhan-Abyssal head and Morghast wings. I feel like it's different enough thanks to the wings that people won't assume it's a Mortarch once I say so. Sourcing the wings was honestly the worst. Had to buy a set of Morghasts, so now I'm down one pair of wings. Basing is bits from the GW basing kit, an old set I can't remember the name of, sand, and bricks. Love these little bricks. Nice to not have to make my own out of greenstuff!
     

     
    The lady herself is the vampiress from the Coven throne. If you pay close attention, you can see that he hair has grown significantly, as has her cleavage. True marks of being more powerful! Blame GW for that last one. I gave her the chalice to give her an air of aristocracy and non-chalance. Then she got a halberd from the Tomb Guard kit, just so she has a weapon that is big enough to be used from up there! Add some greenstuff to cover up the magnets and you've got a legendary vampire!
     
    Really looking forward to this event, so now I need to get painting!
  12. Darth Alec

    Khalida finished!

    By Darth Alec,

    High Queen Khalida is such a wonderful model.

    She's small, but so commanding. It's one of the really iconic Tomb King models for me. It's just so easy to imagine her standing in a temple, or on a sand dune, gazing across a battlefield. She looks ancient, but graceful. The model is actually quite small, a fairly realistically scaled female. She's actually smaller than the skeletons released at the same time! They weren't to scale, being as large as a man with his flesh still on. Basing her was therefor fairly hard. You can't do too much to a model like this, or you'll drown out the simple elegance of her pose. You can base Archaon on anything and it won't matter, but Khalida will drown in an elaborate basing. So I went with something ornamental, but not very complex. Two bannertops cut and glued together makes a fairly decent-looking thing. The contrast between the grey stones and the beige marble draws the eyes towards the model, so I think I succeeded there.
    I tried to go with the marble technique shown in the Warhammer TV advent Calender. Not really sure I nailed it. It looks more like she has a scar running down her face. It's not easy when the model is so small! I'm actually considering redoing it. For now though, it'll do. I'm trying to paint up a lot of models. There's always room for improvement, especially for new techniques. The gold is Warplock Bronze, Retributor Armour, Seraphim Sepia and Liberator Gold. Gives it an old, once-polished look. It's an easy technique which is fast and goes on really well on most models like this. The bandaging is grey in order to fit in with the rest of the bandaging across my army. I love how she has snakes just slivering around her. Each is based on a real venomous snake. I'm most pleased with the staff-snake. It's more detailed, both in painting and modeling. Makes the staff look a little plain and boring.
     
     
     

     
    You can really see the flow of the cape here. It's lovely. My painting was pretty simple, both because I wanted to not mess it up and because I felt like the model didn't need anything detracting from the front. Naggaroth Purple is the bae, with Xereus Purple and Genestealer purple highlights. This creates a rich purple without being much work. And I needed something to be purple on her to tie her into the rest of the army.
     
    All in all, it we a wonderful model to paint. Went quite fast, too. Not entirely pleased with the marbe result, but I'm super stoked to finally finishing a model I've been staring at for nearly 15 years!
  13. Darth Alec
    Featuring basecoat and advanced WIP!

     
    Finally started this model. When I started back in the day , she was one of the real beauties of the Tomb Kings faction. The sort of model you didn't buy, but wish you were good enough to justify doing so. I feel like I'm there now. Trying a new marble technique on the face and body, so that's exciting. It's the marble guide from Duncan over at Warhammer TV, but it should be really good. The basecoat shows the major elements; bandages, marble, metal, cape and skull. It's not a complex model, but the pose is excellent and very evocative. I made the base very simple, as I didn't want it to detract from the elegance of the model.
     
     

     
    So this is a fairly advanced WIP. Spent a few hours on it. Cape is largely done, as is the bandages. The bandages look very plain right now, but there's a brilliant detail that will help with that. Along the arms and one leg, there's snakes crawling. I intend to paint them as various Asps, which will break up the monotonous colours of the bandaging. The metal I think is done, might add another highlight though. The marbling is only 40% done, so a bit of work left there. The staff I will need to do some research on. I am hoping to get a reasonably accurate egyptian staff look, transitioning smoothly into an asp at the top.  Will also add a green sheen to the left hand, as it's described as filled with snake venom in the fluff.
  14. Darth Alec
    Finally finished my first part of the project. It's been a long time, unfortunately. For almost the entire month of August, I've been too ill to really paint anything. That left these three sitting around not getting finished. But now they're done!
     
    They are the first of 4 identical units. Due to a brilliant deal, I now have more than enough chariots to build a full Royal Legion of Chariots. This is the long term plan (think years). In the shorter term, I plan on adding another unit of chariots. This would give me three battleline units. Two chariots which are fast and tanky, and a unit of skeleton warriors. Nothing exceptional, but flexible and great objective sitters.
     
     
     
    Each unit is of course built out of a mix of TK and other bits. Black knight horses are the big change. Then there's regular VC skeletons, which have a much better scale, poseability and overall look. Add in a thing from the Sphinx set as the banner, bows from the TK skeleton set, a trumpet from the High Elf spearmen and you've got a something going.
     

    It's not a great photo, and obviously the bases aren't done. I'm going to make a six-base set with a unified pattern, I just need to plan it out a bit. Should look great once done though.
     
     
     

    The chariots can both shoot and use spears, so I wanted an archer in the unit. You can see his quiver over the shoulder of the hornblower. The hornblower is using a horn from the high elf spearmen kit. The long ornate horns in the skeleton kits are too much, and would never have been used by a charioteer. I figured a simple horn that could be placed away before combat would be the best. He's holding onto the chariot for stability. I feel that it's important to use the "props" on a model to convey a sense of place. He could be posed a little better, but he belongs in that chariot!
     
     

    This is the champion. He isn't here to be cautious. He's here to chew gum and charge fools, and he's all out of gum. Or something. You can see the bow resting in the quiver on the left there. Since both crewmembers are wielding spears, I wanted to make it clear that they could grab a bow if they wanted to. The symbol on the front is a lot worse that I remember it being. Oops. Might go back to that eventually.
     
     

    Last up is the banner. I couldn't find a cloth banner I was digging, so I found this tail piece instead. I figure that nobody will protest it. I needed to give one of these guys a whip, so it ended up here. He's leaning forward whipping the hide off the bones of his horses, to little effect. Habits are hard to break, I guess. The archer in the back is just holding on, trying not to fall out. Used the GW gem paints on the banner, which gives a decent enough effect. Nothing spectacular. When you're tired of the model and just want to finish though, it's a godsend!
     
    That's it for phase 1! I'll write up a new post when I decide on phase 2. Trying to make these blog posts more interesting, so please shout out if there's anything you'd like to see more of, hear more about, or any praise or critiscism (of writing or painting!).
     
  15. Darth Alec
    Hey guys! Time for my next major project; Operation Clear the Backlog. Anyone who's been following me on twitter knows that I've been buying a ludicrous amounts of models. It's silly. But when you're offered Tomb Kings models for half of retail, you take the offer. Normally TK stuff runs for more than retail on Ebay, and the supply isn't going to grow anytime soon. So I've picked up a lot of stuff. 
     
    I feel bad letting it lie around though. These are toys, after all. So I decided to start finished stuff, rather than just buying new. I'll be splitting the project into chunks that are more manageble and motivating. There's a few WIP already, so some things might go really fast and others may take forever.
     
    And here's phase 1:
    One Tomb Herald, one Wight Kings with Infernal Banner, 10 skeleton spearmen and two chariots.

     
     
    As I mentioned, there's a few WIP's here already. The Tomb Herald was one of them. So I've finished him up pretty fast. Not a great job, but I'm aiming to finish things here. Love this model though. It's got a lot of character.

     
     
    Next up is the "Wight King" with Infernal standard. It's a really old Vampire model. I've been looking for it for a long time, and finally bought it a year ago. It wasn't quite what I expected though. I struggled a lot with how to paint it according to my colour scheme. Pleased with the result. The banner is probably my best one so far, which isn't saying much. Trying to get better though.

     
     
    Until next time, adios!
  16. Darth Alec
    So I picked these beauties up from the printer today. 8 months of work, bound and covered. It's strange, but very satisfying.
     
    Hope you guys check out the battletome. It's got everything you could want from the world that was. Except ogres. Because they got nothing

  17. Darth Alec
    I'm skipping the introduction for now. Many of you may know me already. If not, I'm a Norwegian guy, I wrote the Battletome: The End Times and I'm a mod right here on TGA!
     
     
     
    First up on the block are my 10 skeletons. Nothing impressive, really. It's the start of a 40-bone unit, so I wanted it to be quick and efficient. Bases aren't done, but otherwise I'm calling them finished for now.

     
     
     
    Next up is a WIP. Neferata, the Mortarch of Blood! I'm going to add all three to my army eventually, so I needed them to have unique poses. I've tried to capture a regal cat-like pose. She used to have a cat back before the world blew up, so I thought it fitting. Quite pleased with this one. Going to paint each monster differently as well. She'll get a pale marble monster, which I hope will make her feel even more aristocratic.

     
     
    That's it for my first post. Nothing much, but I've got so much in the works. Can't be sitting around writing blog posts all day!
  18. Darth Alec
    The new and final version of Battletome: The End Times is finished!
    There's so much I could say about this. And I will update the blog later. But for now, here's the links to the tome and ALL its parts.  I also made a trailer, so please enjoy that!
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    That's all of them! As a bonus, here's a screensaver! It's just a silly little thing, but I figured that since I have the files it'd be fun.
     

     
    Thanks for reading!





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