Melcavuk

Today a friend and I headed off to warhammer world to test out my initial rules for the Ironweld Arsenal, it was my first proper chance to test the army outside of crude number crafting and math hammering in a vacuum to look at how it could perform in a realworld (fantasy world) scenario. With my opponent new to the freshly released Flesheater Courts it was the ideal opportunity to test the strength of the tome against a modern, competitive and decent build Battletome with each force deploying a variety of units without angling to tournament or overly competitive builds. To begin with here is my army list, comprised of literally what I have assembled thus far: My opponent ran a variety of lists throughout the day, mostly centred around 2 blocks of 20 man Ghouls, a pair of Ghoul Kings (terrorgeist and zombie dragon respectively) and an Arch Regent. In various builds there were either Horrors or Flayers in the list, and often it involved summoning in a Vargulf Courtier. GAME 1 - In the first game three objectives were deployed on the battlefield, one to the centre and one in each of the deployment zone. In fluff this was little more than a border skirmish as the Weld began to encroach onto the barren lands ravaged by the Courts and provided a good framework for us to test our initial forces out without heavy objectives weighig over us. Having lost both the deployment roll and moved into taking the first turn I had little to do other than inch up the battlefield, utterly failing with the long rifles both on the Steam Tank and Master of Shot (A pattern throughout the day, neither did a thing across 18 turns in 4 games). With my turn over the flesh eaters tore across the battlefield, out of range to charge but able to deal a good number of mortal wounds from both the flayers and the terrorgeists to punish the low bravery of my Weld Guard and Labourers. With the tides of Ghouls now supported by advancing horrors I commited far too much of my force to blocking down his larger units, committing firepower to levelling some horrors and ghouls but struggling with his multiple saves (Armour, Unnatural resilience (spell), bonus death save)), as I lacked mortal wound output it really began to show here, with the Rifles hitting and wounding on 4's a mere quarter actually delivered wounds with my opponent able to wittle down 200 points of shooting down to a mere one or two damage I began to feel that perhaps I had made mistakes in the unit design. The Weld Phalanx ability to inflict defensive mortal wounds on an enemy proved effective not only in wounding those who approached but in deterring later charges. Only having 10 of them limited their ability to form a proper defensive line and I believe that in larger numbers they might prove an effective deterrent to oncoming enemies. When committed to melee however their low number of attacks were poorly placed against this particular foe but would have been better served against less resilient opponents. Highlights of the game for me came by way of the Lancers and Ironsworn Templar delivering a fatal blow to his Zombie Dragon, combining the two on the charge allowed me to deal a high amount of quality damage that did something to mitigate my lack of mortal wound output. At the end of the game i had a mere 3 models remaining and my foe was at 1400 points left. Learnings: - The Midnight Aspirant command ability became a crutch in a game it was poorly placed, there is no outlasting Flesheaters in combat, allowing myself extra saves cannot compete with summoning, revivival, and triple save units. - I forgot to use the command ability from the Master of Shot to increase the to hit and wound for riflemen units, in later games I would come to appreciate the ability of it. - In the entire game I forgot the plentiful cache rule on my Cogfort allowing me to attempt to shoot an embarked unit in the hero phase, whilst only a 5+ chance this combied with the above command ability would have dramatically increased damage output. GAME 2 After the first game we broke for lunch allowing us a chance to chat over what had gone well and what needed to change, the concensus was largely that the Riflemen were a poor mans Handgunners, a 4+ 4+ is simply not in the same ballpark as the handgunners units, and at a cost of 100 points per 10 it is a poor points efficiency. Going forward we trialed them as a 4+ 3+ with the to wound stat matching other gunpowder units now to see if this brings their points costs back into effective levels. Here in the second game we moved into a relic mission, it was a good way of drawing both armies into a bitter fight at the centre of the board and allowed a game the focused on my opponents desire to move his army forward rather than baby sitting a central objective. Again I lost pretty much every priority roll throughout the game, however this time he opted to take the first turn in order to summon in flayers and a vargulf in close proximity to my starting army followed by moving and advancing the rest of the force up the field. Doing so left his army strung out in three stages, with the flayers and vargulf far in advance, the two behemoths sat in the midfield and in the rears all of his ghouls and the archregent. In my first turn this allowed me to approach his piecemeal army as a series of targets of opportunity, having split my riflemen down to two units of ten for the course of the game and managing a hero phase set of shots with one from the Cogfort I levelled the flayers to a single model. Combining fire from the riflemen, helblaster and the lancers into the zombie dragon I dropped it to half wounds before sending the Ironsworn templar in to valiantly impale the now wounded beast and end the combat in the turn it began Losing yet another priority roll allowed his horrors and terrogeist to impale into the Phalanx, destroying the fragile ten man wall in a single combat phase whilst his ghouls encircled the Ironsworn Templar. On the far side my lancers could finish off the final member of the flayer unit and I directed the Ironduke, Aspirants and all of my handgunners into the Terrorgeist in an impressive hail of fire that made it fragile to the charge of the Ironduke. Ending my turn both behemoths were dead (or redead in the case of the zombie dragon, his knights all fallen and with just ghouls and an archregent in play he conceeded the game Learnings: The Ironweld are lacking the sheer speed of the courts, but their defensive mortal wound output and short range firepower are strong deterrents to oncoming forces. Poor dicerolls on my part made both the Ironduke and Master of Shot questionable in terms of damage output however the command ability on the Master of Shot was an invaluable asset. The Ironsworn Templar command ability better suits a generic faction command ability, removing it from the warscroll and adjusting points accordingly may see him fall better in line with his potential. The Midnight Aspirant is fun, but not game swinging, her command ability would be better served against foes that could be outlasted or with larger Weld Guard units to benefit, still she really added alot of personality to the game so I enjoyed her. Labourers are made of tissue paper, suitable really but their handful of damage output was a nice boost to what essentially came as ablative wounds for the Volley gun. NEVER FORGET TO REPAIR, with half the army Cogwork and between my Command Trait and the Aspirant I could of healed two units a turn but got over excited and often forgot, same with healing the Ironduke by a wound a turn.

Played some fantastic test games of my work in progress Ironweld Battletome against a flesh eater courts army today. In the first match I managed to get utterly savaged by my opponent, baited into spending far too long fighting ghouls and horrors who kept respawning and blocked out of range of his courtiers (16 inch range average in a shooty army is incredibly limited) we did note however that my initial Riflemen scroll was a worse and more expensive handgunner, increasing the to wound to 3+ for subsequent games making them far more effective for 100 points. Having found my footing after the first gamed and played around with artifacts the units began to synergise well, with my Master of Shot utilising his (freeguild generalesque) command ability to buff the riflemen into a fieresome barrage and not being afraid at throwing the Lancers, Ironsworn Templar and Tank all into combat. Lacking mortal wound output is somewhat worrying but the army seems to be working toward something great! Here's some of my favourite photos from the day

Except he was talking about the past, during the time of Fantasy when he worked on Ogre Kingdoms as one of his favourite past projects. The entire point was what he had done previously that he had enjoyed, its not like GW would of had him write the next 4 things vaguelly Ogor related when working on a Army book for a completely different game.

I would expect: Hands on with Warcry models on show Detailed look at the full starter set More details of the Forbidden Power, including looks at the new endless spell models Battletome announcement for one of the unpredicted, likely free people or duardin. Maybe some other flavourful stuff but those four are my bets

Adding to background: When God of Gods, Master Craftsmen and Smithy of Azyr Grungi first stoked the fires of the foundries he started an industrial revolution that spread like wildfire across the Realms. From every corner of the far flung reaches came a tide of craftsmen, smithies and artisans that they might study beneath the master and learn even a sliver of his prowess to take their peoples innovations forward into the new age. Mortal and God alike, and all those that fell between made the pilgrimage to the forges of Grungi, toiling hard day and night as apprentices to take the smallest amount of the Duardin Gods workload away from him that he might have time to vital impart knowledge to their kin. Whilst many left Azyr once more having learnt enough to provide their people advancements to serve them over the coming centuries there were those who instead sought to stay behind. They were the most loyal, most dedicated of the apprentices of Grungi, yet even their number began to dwindle as age or ailment wore down once deft and skilful hands and dulled their minds to the new learnings to be imparted. Amongst those remaining but a handful could resist the attrition of age, those born of divine heritage of possessing power enough to rival the demi gods of the Realm, it was then as the numbers of the mortals grew ever slimmer that these divine beings came into power of their own. In each other they found a strength of unity of purpose, to have toiled alongside each other the long centuries there was a certain (if at time begrudging) respect shared between them. And though none could rival the true master of the forge they came together to pool their knowledge into a Pantheon unto themselves, that they might travel where Grungi could not to share his learnings with those they had deemed worthy. It was in this Golden Age that the Pantheon of the forge was formed, born of Duardin, Men and Aelven demi-gods and artisans of their craft. Though such timeless beings called Azyr home they often travelled beyond the city under many guises , each seeking out different cultures and known under a hundred names their teachings can be used to perhaps shed some light on who these divine artisans had once been. To the scholars, philosophers and warrior mages came Askror, the Golden Prince. Once hailed as the Demigod of Hysh and credited to be the found of the Factory City of Cor Temporis. His teachings focused around the arts of Metallurgy and Alchemy, it is said that his visage inspired the golden idols found in the now forsaken pyramids of the tribes of Ghur before their wild and unruly ways slighted the more scholarly of god. It is perhaps this rebuke by the ignorant savages of the greater realms that lead him to seek refuge amongst the monks and scholars that made up the populace of Hysh. To the innovators who sought progress without hinderance of morality or mortality came Dammik-Morr, Demigod of Shyish. It is said he had once founded the fortress empire of Cor Maledictus before the headsmen of Nagash sought to claim him as their prize, it was this then that spurred the darkened God to seek refuge in Azyr, ever looking over his shoulder for the armies of Death seeking to drag him to the Oubliette. His talents focused around the macabre arts of Bonecraft engineering., utilising the one thing in abundance in all the Realm to engineer his creations, death. Known to be cold and distant, ever paranoid since his banishment from Shyish by Nagash, though he sought sanctuary within Azyr but never fully integrated. At odds with both the living and the dead his followers share his sense of isolation when outside of the heavy mists and comforting macabre atmosphere of Shyish. In the hardy and desolate plains of Chamon came Rok, the Mason of the Iron Mountains. Hailed by the Duardin as one of the lesser Demigods of Chamon, and founder of the mountain refuge of Cor Esoteris. In all his guises Rok has been depicted as volcanic in appearance and temperament, ever coursing with the power of the Esoteris volcano in which is shrine had been founded. He built up a fierce reputation for acts of violent destruction to rival the titans of destruction, able to harness the volcanic energies to create magma cannons and explosives to rival even the hammer blow of Sigmar. The roaming nomadic tribes of Aqshy speak of the god Grongar, the Living Flame. Known to them as the Light of Aqshy, and founder of the artisan spires of Cor Insendires. One of the more arcane inclines of the gods it is said he imparted the powers of Fire shaping to his followers, able to summon and entrance elementals of the flame to do their bidding and fight wars without have risking their own live. An arcane smithy and master of the runic forges the beating Forgeheart of the cities of the modern Ironweld still bear the mark of Grongar, a reminder to a distance past that for many has slipped from memory. Perhaps one of the most remarkable came the Aelven demi-god Marak, The Steel Vinelord. One of the many Demigods of the vibrant landscapes of Ghyran, founder of Cor Vivistus. Able to coax and grow metal as though it were a living thing without ever leaving the scar of industry on the fragile skin of the realm he could conjure whole cities that weaved and coursed through the forests in blissful synergy. The chronicles of the Living City claim he was once to be a suitor to the Goddess Alarielle herself but instead was rebuked as she found him to be as cold an imitation as the metallic vines he cultivated. It is rumoured this heartbreak shattered the fledgling demigod, falling to his knees amongst the forest he buried his hands amongst the dirt and wept tears that coursed as a river of metal. Many credit the Ironbark forests having sprung up from the tears shed in his years of mourning, coursing with the power of the young god, indeed even in the modern realms shrines to Marak can be found in many of the Ironbark groves, a testament to his lasting legacy amongst the populace of Ghyran. Finally came Emmanuel, The Forgotten One- Human Demigod of Azyr, Shepherd of the lost and unloved. Founder of the Fractured Welds he sought to unite hundreds of states abandoned by the other gods those his kin had once taken under their wing only to be disappointed by their failures and left to fend for themselves defenceless against the many dangers of the realms. In this modern realms Emmanuel is the only demigod who still shows his face, and even then only at the most dire of times. Seen in many a guise from the haggard traveller to the lone soldier defending caravans of refugees, it would seem he has never truly relinquished his task of shepherding those most needy of souls. For an age the divided empires of the Ironweld each grew and flourished, though once formed of a common school of thought each god sought to impart their own personal teachings on an empire that would stand testament to their greatness and a legacy that might outlast them within the realms. This petty rivalry between the pantheon spurred each to spread their knowledge far and wide, imparting all they could to any they saw as worthy in order to outdo their kin and gain and following the dwarf any of the rest of the Pantheon. Such thoughts however were simply short sighted, the competition between the gods did not go unnoticed by the growing cultures that they had cultivated, their mortal empires instead interpreting the rivalry as another of their divine teachings, each seeking to outdo those who might encroach on their growing kingdoms, it was then unfortunate that conflict had bored its way into the very central foundations of the fledgling Ironweld empire, bestowed from flawed divinity there seemed little to steer their followers from an increasingly hostile road. In this Age the pantheon continued to flit from Azyr to the outer reaches of the Realms, often spending years away from the forges of Heaven that they might wander amongst those who revered them above all else. These trips served little more than to please the egos of the divine and yet with immortality there is often little more to do than service ones own ego. It was then, when news of the passing of Grimnir reached the Azyrite city that the Pantheon of the forge were all found to be absent and perhaps fortunately so, in his rage and mourning the great god Grungis wrath seemingly knew little bounds. Some claim that the Duardin Gods howl of grief shook the very mountains of the realms, coursing as though a hurricane through every gate that led to the Realms of Heaven. Legends even tell of the first Cogforts of the Ironweld straining against this relentless force of sorrow, bending against the wind before pulling themselves from the very earth that held them that they might escape it. Grungis wrath erupted upon the blossoming factory districts of Azyr that had sprung up around his mighty forge, tearing through timber and masonry as a force of nature as his very footfalls shattered the cobbled paths that wound through the district. When sorrow overtook wrath the wounds the God of forge had wrought upon the forges of Azyr were grievous, once the heart of an Ironweld empire there was little to be found but grief and devastation in the city of Heaven. From their distant travels word reached the Pantheon of the Forge of Grungis act, perhaps interpreting the devastation as some personal slight, or fearing reprisal for their absence during his grief, each knew that their return to the Azyrite city was no longer possible indeed with so little remaining of the forges they had built there the city was simply no longer the home they had once forged. It was with heavy hearts that the Pantheon instead retired to the capitols of their Factory Empires, each choosing to take seat upon the greatest shrines to their glory that they might steer their empires individually as all thought of unity had been shattered in the forges of Azyr. In these days, with heavy hearts the Cogforts came to dominance, each God fearing the wrath that Grungi might still bring down upon them could never truly feel safe in cities that great God had known of. Instead they cultivated mighty fortresses of stone and steel that might wander the Realms, ever gaining distance from the heart of Azyr and the God they had abandoned in his time of need. Whilst to the Gods these ingenious innovations were a method of flight from sorrow to their mortal descendants the Cogforts were weapons of immense strategic value, fortifications able to carry garrison and armaments to distant battles and deployable within mere hours rather than the weeks it would take a foe to assemble a ramshackle defence. Each of the young empires sought to use their new arsenal to fuel rapid expansion, in the shifting plains of Hysh the young House of Oran founded the city of Cor Temporis, formed of hundreds of Cogforts walking in tandem, towering high above the mountains as it made it way across the Realm. In Shyish Dammik-Morr sought to raise an empire that might protect him from the ever growing forces of Nagash, surrounding himself with Cogforts in their dozens that they might form some bulwark to slow the advance of the ever patient God of death. With every passing decade new cities and empires sprung up in the name of the Pantheon of the Forge, each a legend and innovation in their own right, yet in Azyr once heart of the Weld there were those who sought to restore the workshops that had been destroyed, under the teachings of Grungi alone the Azyrite houses of the Ironweld were formed.

Reworked the Cogsmith warscroll including a new command ability to summon in air support from a Gyrocopter, his revised scroll now clocks in at 120!

As i wait to playtest the first iterations of the rules for my Ironweld Expansion I have been adding some borrowed Sigmar artwork to the cover and updating all warscrolls to version 2.0 Battletome(March).pdf Full version PDF (warning many blank pages as I fill out lore) Cover and Warscrolls

New full colour 2.0 warscrolls

Its the lascartridge on the gun that is the most notable of issues, I'd suggest shaving that segment off as its a bit of a glaring sign, other than that is shaving the imperial insignia off but he's pretty solid all around. For solar auxilia my Ironweld guys look like:

My entire Ironweld Fantome uses solar auxilia as the basis. Weapon swaps and paint jobs go a long way in changing how sci-fi they look

New temporary cover for the battletome borrowing on some existing Hammerhal artwork, and considering the potential for purchasable defensive scenery in lieu of endless spells, from palisades to embedded spears, gyrocopter scouts and field surgery etc. What do people think?

Unless you have Vostroyans already they'll be hard to get as I'm pretty sure theyre out of production, to add to that they're also metal single piece models so converting will be... challenging at best. There are some decent models in guard ranged that could be used as a basis, krieg and solar auxilia are my list of base models to use for Ironweld conversions. For command tanks you could simply transplant the hurricanum shrine in lieu of the turret for a team tank, maybe adding in some legs to make it a bit more steampunk going forward.

Thanks, I had looked into some air stuff but with it being fairly steam punk already I was concerned that adding in anything flying might make it too close to the Overlords in terms of aesthetic themes. The Duardin are in my background for the faction too, currently modellingwise their model count is limited in what I can do in terms of conversion, stage two of the army involved a massive Duardin walker and adding 10 duardin to the Weld Phalanx (Irondrake legs, the upper body remains the same as the humans, duardin heads). My limit on duardin additions is currently capped by how heavily stylised their existing kits are. And here some nicer photos of the army!

Definitely using those Halflings to crew my Cogfort

Now upto 1500 points of my Ironweld Arsenal expansion painted and ready to hit the table for playesting, missing a few grass tufts on the last of the stalkers bases but otherwise table ready!