[Great Clans of Ossia: A Viking Vampires Thread]

**WEEKLY UPDATE**

This week's goal is to paint a chunk of the Lord on Zombie Dragon as well as 5 more skeletons, taking me up to 15 of the 30 painted. I wanted to take a moment to talk about the Vamp Lord's lore and design.

-Havard Fuilbeorn-

Called The Blood Bear, this soulblight vampire is now King of northern Ossia, having been chosen at a moot of the Jarls by rites and sacrifice. Predominantly seen as a unifying figure amongst the Clans, he literally looms large over other men. A hairy, boastful, and often gregarious mountain of flesh, Havard enjoys the savage conquest of war, almost as much as he enjoys blood-wine, and all he can eat in his feast hall back in Shyish. Make no mistake, that quixotic ton of man is a gleeful servant of Nagash. King Fuilbeorn invades the many realms of the living with intent of conquest and plunder by the dead, so that their way of life - the proud, violent life of Ossia - may spread elsewhere.

His feast hall in Ossia is something only Nagash can offer. The spectral champions of ancient heroes drinking and cheering alongside Deathrattle kings, vampire jarls, and their mortal descendants. Glorious songs and near endless mirth filling the air. Chaos does not offer that, no God of Sigmar's pantheon offers that. At the end of the hall, a grand wood and stone carving of Nagash dominates the edifice, and beneath it is the throne of the Clan King. Behind the throne is a carving, dyed red with dragon's blood, "True Power can only be wielded by those who lower themselves to pick it up." Havard is humbled by his God, and while Nagash could utilize unflinching control over him and the whole of Ossia, he does not. They kill, pillage, and dominate in his name, what more could the God of Death ask for?

I didnt want a traditional vampire, I wanted to capture something more lively and aggressive, in some ways jolly. It's one thing to get the aesthetic of a viking berserker out of a khorne lord or even some Slaves to Darkness hero. No, I wanted an older, even fat man full of hair and bulk not necessarily just from muscle, and I think I pulled that off here. He's made out of a Pusgoyle Blightlords rider, an Unforged (dwarf slayer) head, and a LOT of sculpting. If you notice the brooch on his fur is the shape of Arkhan's hexagonal black gem. This is supposed to denote the King as one of Arkhan's disciples, allowing him to pull double duty in a Legion of Sacrament or Grand Host list.

[AoS 2 - Aelves Discussion]

My guess for Hysh/Light Aelves are the Xmas army or next Adepticon. We still have to get a book for Darkoath, as they are the last character from Malign Portents which does not have an army. Sylvaneth, KO, and theoretically another Death and Destruction army are slated for tomes in 2019 per the graphic shown at LVO and Adepticon.

If you guys think I'm Sigmar's number one best boy, just wait until our Most Radiant Princes return. Especially you Mr.

@Strength_Hammer

[Stormvault: The New Lore]

The "New Battletomes are Coming" poster depicts art of a vamp lord. Would love this lore to lead into a Soulblight Vampires tome. Non-summonable death units need a boost.

[Great Clans of Ossia: A Viking Vampires Thread]

8 hours ago, Thundercake said:

I really like this idea and the rider of the dragon. He looks great. Hopefully the paint scheme makes it scream undead because right now I think it could be seen as a proxy for a BCR or something besides a zombie dragon. 

For me, the grimghast reaper proxies don't work as reapers. Looking at the ones you painted, the look ethereal because of the color and remind me of the really old spirit host models. I think a proxy needs to remind the opponent of the base unit. Reapers have long handled scythes, float, have rags, a sense of movement, etc. I don't see any of those components on those models. I think skeleton warrior armored heads/marauder horsemen heads on reaper models, even with axes would match your theme and make the models recognizable at a glance on the table.  You could also sculpt some fur cloaks in tatters mimicking those painted skeletons to add in the movement factor on the current models.  Not meant as a slam, just a friendly opinion. If I walked up to a table to play you, I wouldn't know what they were and would probably ask throughout the game to make sure I didn't have them mistaken.

I was on the fence about it myself, in regards to the Grimghast proxies. It's also why I decided to only approach painting ten of them under the concept. I have been struggling over how to work in the concept of the celtic and the Nordic themes into the Nighthaunt miniatures, which have so little room for clean conversions. I won't abandon painting the ten, they'll be finished this month for sure, but thank you for the input on them and I will look at another angle to make them fit with my narrative theme.

As for the fur on the skellies, that was my thinking entirely. I love the look of the Sepulchral Guard, and can't wait to bulk up the remaining models a bit with some tattered extra armor here and there as well as the fur, which is so easy to sculpt. All in all, thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate the targeted critiques, as I want this army to look the absolute best it can be.

[Great Clans of Ossia: A Viking Vampires Thread]

Amidst a land of looming cliffs, wild streams, and dark pine forests, a harsh and rugged people claw their existence out of that brutal archipelago – Northern Ossia in inner Shyish. While the weather is rarely ever kind, and the wilds often teem with baleful spirits as often as wild animals, the seafaring Ossians proudly sustain themselves on trade and plunder in equal measure. Divided into independent, often feuding clans, Ossians recognize no rule above their Soulblight Jarls, and a king chosen from amongst their rank during ceremonial gatherings of heinous violence.

The Age of Chaos tested the normally indomitable will of the Clans, many of which only survive as ghosts and dusty bones. Even in death however, the culture endures. Druidic necromancers have interpreted the Necroquake as the dawn of a new time, one of unending war and plunder which will restore former glory. Their greatest Jarl, Havard Fuilbeorn – literally the “Blood Bear” – has returned from a pilgrimage to remote Penultima astride a massive dragon, unique in almost all the realms. He has united both the living and the dead, the corporeal and the spectral, for the first time in a thousand years. With this grand army, he shall carve a bloody swathe across the Mortal Realms. Do you dare to stand in his way?

Hello everyone, Martin here with a new hobby project. I’m moving on from a two-year devotion to Stormcast Eternals to break away from every comfort zone I’ve ever held dear, and have turned to Legions of Nagash. I’ve wanted to do this army for a long time, probably since early 2017, but hadn’t the courage nor the idea on how to execute it properly. The tidbit of lore attached should provide some context into what I want, but to further explain I didn’t want something like the endless waves of indistinguishable dead, I wanted something more aggressive and vibrant looking. The idea came about from playing fames like The Witcher 3 and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice to create an army born of Celtic and Nordic influences. Brooding greens and cold greys would contrast with the pallid flesh of vampires and bright bone of the skeletons. There are subliminal nature themes within the army, though it is not one of reverence like that found in Sylvaneth armies, rather representing the inscrutable, inhospitable nature of the Ossian homeland.

 

 

I have a goal of painting 1,000 points of the army over the next five weeks, and I will be posting regular updates delving into why I made certain choices about how things looked as well as the lore behind them. In addition to picking an army I believe can be more competitive for me in the long run, I also wanted to infuse more of a story into each unit, giving them as much character as possible. My test Nighthaunt unit for example, is a banshee sent from Nagashizzar to corral the spirits of deserter clansmen, commanding them to fight even when the Jarl had forsaken such a miserable and pathetic house of ingrates.

In this month I have to paint

-Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon

-Necromancer

-30 Skeletons

-5 Dire Wolves

-10 Grimghast Reapers

-4 Gravesites

 

I’m doing this in cooperation with my local gaming club which is running a Warhammer charity event around building, painting, and playing models. I also want 1000 points complete so I can begin acclimating to the army as quickly as possible, even if the games are smaller. I hope you enjoy these pictures, feel free to leave feedback and check back in with the thread later down the line to see progress. Thank you.