Melcavuk

I'm toeing around the edges of the older Ogor lore and avoiding key elements of Gutbusters but its nice to be adjacent to the Ogor kingdoms at times (obviously completely absorbed and grew from the Firebelly concept)

Cheers, I wanted to show atleast narrative, probably with models eventually that the Suneaters can be more than just fire and Ogors, with each taking a very different route to get the ultimate destruction objectives. From the hideously afluent Ur-gores literally clad in rippling gold to the spooky and macabre Dead Heads. And you're right the Ur-gores are big spiteful brutes, they'd try to burn the city for the Suneater but bathe in the gold just to make sure nobody else got to have it

Cheers, Had to readjust, Ur-Gores are Aqshy, the Pyremaws are Ghyran. Entirely forgot that the Fyreslayers that Ur-gores war with were Aqshy centric. The tome has been fixed accordingly but for now these photos will stay up. The small blurb on the first photo (grey box) was the guidelines that whilst they have suggested home realms as they are migrations you can pick whatever realm best suits your army theme (as migrations move around they can justify being from anywhere really). My personal favourite are the Dead Heads but every model I've made so far is Burning Klaw since they are the most generic and the original tribe, got alot of conversions in mind using things from the new Nighthaunt range and the Ogors to combine into Dead Heads.

I've spent alot of time going back and forth as to whether introducing Subfactions to the Suneaters would fit my theme or not, as each of the migrations tailors to their Volsungr its entirely possible for them to change modus operandi as soon as they change leadership. However I eventually resolved that those within said migration would likely fall into similar patterns of behaviour (its what they were raised with after all) which allowed me to create the key, most reknowned and named migrations of the Suneaters. What I havent done however is key it to paint scheme, there is even a disclaimer when picking your Migration that you can paint however you want:

The Hunters rule was to give them a useful ability against Hordes, designing the faction based on my Partners brief she wants small, fancy and elite units (mostly to limit having to paint hundreds of models) whilst still retaining Aelven charactertistics (so not amazingly resilient, but graceful and fast). The Centaurid have a benefitial ability to target characters so the Hunters was to do a guerilla warfare style ability where a small unit excels at taking on the larger ones, it also gives them a use in the current meta of larger sized units in that theyre specifically better when the opponent plays to max size bonuses. 160 felt heavy in points to me but at the same time I tend to lean toward heavy rather than light pointing when starting out as its a custom unit.

Cheers, I'm mulling over concepts but I also dont want to force them in unless I can find a decent niche for them. Thus far many of the concepts I have devised are already accounted for in existing endless spells available, and my volcanic eruption concept falls far too close infunction to the stormcast meteor not to be considered a direct rip off. Until that point i'm just Ogor fluffing out how they explain each of the endless spells (because lets be fair no human wizard is going to of lectured a Suneater caster on what an arcane pendulum is)

Agreed. They haven’t been standout units in any of the games so far and with only a single shot a piece, no rend and limited survivability they’re feeling rapidly outclassed by all more recent units. The glade shards sit where I think a standard archer battleline for aelves should be.

Adding some endless spells into the mix, splitting the box with my girlfriend here's the ones i ended up taking for the Suneaters whilst the rest (more utility spells and the big old head) join her nature aelves.

Here's a sleeker look at the existing warscrolls on the background for their battletome:

Here's the current quota of Warscrolls from the Suneaters battletome, I keep deivising new unit concepts but that this point feel I have hit capacity on number of scrolls in a reasonable faction in AOS. If anything I may end up dropping scrolls to replace them with new ones if any are found to lack the right feel for the army

So here's a first look at what is the basis for a sleek and more refined looking Suneater Tribes battletome. Latest revisions include the newly refined Allegiance abilities for the Faction along with revised prayer and a newlook warscroll layout for 2.0 Along with a handful of screenshots I have enclosed a PDF for everything i have written thus far if anyone wants to do some playtesting for me with proxy models or give feedback. Download the current WIP tome here: Tribesinprogress.pdf

Alot of the time when I design a unit or faction ability I get alot of questions as to how I can tell what is "Fair" on the battlefield, mostly I like to think i have a good eye for what makes for a fun, thematic but balanced faction and unit within the factions but there are times at which I can get it wrong. Through copious playtesting the Suneaters one thing came to mind as an oversight on my part, the GOTHI became an autoinclude as they very faction abilities meant to come by selecting the faction are keyed to their prayers, so you could never benefit from allegiance without having to spend copious points on the priests. After playtest number 4 or so I've revised a way of keeping the Pyres thematic and limited whilst allowing for list diversity, here is the new Allegiance abilities: BATTLE TRAITS An army with the SUNEATER TRIBE allegiance gains the FEEDING THE FLAME and CREEPING DEATH special rules CREEPING DEATH: The Suneaters do not simply bombard a foe with rocks and arrows like lesser races, every attack sends great gouts of flame, burning oils or incendiary devices down the field as much waging war on the very lands around them as they do the foe. Enemy Models may not benefit from COVER against a Suneater Tribes ranged attack, every would be shelter soon descending into a fire drenched tomb. FEEDING THE FLAME: Before either army deploys on the battlefield select one piece of TERRAIN and place a single INFERNO MARKER, it is possible for other INFERNO MARKERS to be placed throughout the game through abilities or artefacts, when placing an INFERNO MARKER, it must be placed wholly within a terrain feature and not within 6 inches of another INFERNO MARKER. Each turn you may enact the below rule in your hero phase: In each of your HERO PHASE any SUNEATER HEROES within 6 inches of a terrain feature may attempt to call forth a Pyre. Roll a D6, on a 4 or more you may place an INFERNO MARKER on that terrain piece. PYRES OF THE SUNEATER In your hero phase count the number of INFERNO MARKERS currently on the battlefield and select an army wide ability from the chat below. You may select one ability to enact until your next hero phase up to the number of pyres you have (you may select a lower number ability if you wish) to channel the favour of the Suneater. Only one such Pyre Ability may be in force at any one time. Once an ability has been enacted roll a D6, on a roll of 1 you must remove 1 INFERNO MARKER from the battlefield as it is drained of its energies. INFERNO MARKERS ABILITY 1 Choking Smoke – With the smoke from the Pyre hanging low over the battlefield the Suneaters can conceal themselves with ease. Until your next Hero Phase, subtract 1 from any attacks targeting a SUNEATER TRIBES unit in the shooting phase 2 The Leaping Flame – Until your next Hero Phase SUNEATER TRIBE models may re-roll failed charge rolls this turn, in addition any successful charge that rolls a 9+ immediately inflicts 1 mortal wound on an enemy unit within 3 inches. 3 The Roaring Blaze – SUNEATER TRIBE units may run and shoot, or run and charge for the duration of this turn. A unit may not elect to do both however. 4 Undying Embers – SUNEATER TRIBE HEROES immediately heal D3 wounds, additionally increase the attack characteristics of their weapons by 1 until your next hero phase. 5 or more Shimmering Heat – Until your next hero phase SUNEATER TRIBE units that suffer a wound or mortal wound may ignore them on a D6 roll of 5+ this turn as the heat of the blaze warps away otherwise mortal blows. GOTHI PRIESTS Now ofcourse this meant that the Gothis prayer on their scroll needed changing, once more it should be keyed to the Pyres that they attend to for their god but since they intuitively can summon pyres through factional allegiance it should be something new. I actually took Prayer 6 off of the original prayer list and tweaked it allowing them to weaponise summoned pyres instead of making new ones by praying: All Gothi Fyri know the Spark of Destruction prayer and may additionally select another from the Suneater tribe prayer list. They may attempt each prayer they know during each of their HERO PHASE. SPARK OF DESTRUCTION: In your HERO PHASE select an INFERNO MARKER within 15 inches of this model and roll a D6. On a roll of 4 or more that INFERNO MARKER erupts in a glorious explosion, any enemy units within 6 inches of the marker immediately suffer D3 Mortal Wounds Which means the new replacement Prayer 6 makes sense in the times of magic that are now ravaging the realms giving even a Volsungrless Suneater list the potential to consume spells. PRAYER LIST 1) Wrath of the Blackened Wyrm – A priest channels his will into the thick black smoke billowing from the pyres, coiling it like a serpent to obscure the Suneaters from their foes. Pick one TERRAIN feature within 15 inches of this priest and roll a D6, on a roll of 4 or more enemy models may no longer draw line of sight through or over that terrain feature until the beginning of your next hero phase. 2) Judgement of the Suneater – The best blades are formed in the hottest of flames, pick a friendly unit within 12 inches and roll a D6, on a 4 or more that unit immediately heals D3 wounds. On a roll of 1 however they are found unworthy and instead the target unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. 3) Volcanic Blows – Pick a friendly unit within 3 inches and roll a D6, on a 5 or more that units weapons are charged with the force of a volcanic eruption. Until your next hero phase whenever your target unit rolls of a 6 or more to hit increase their rend by 2. 4) Under the heel of Gork – Select an enemy unit within 18 inches and roll a D6, on a roll of 5 or more that unit counts its SAVE as its movement value until your next hero phase (A unit with a save of 3+ now has a move of 3) as they feel the weight of Gorks mighty foot pushing down upon them. 5) Burning Blood – Select a friendly unit within 3 inches and roll a D6, on a roll of 4 or more that unit is enchanted. Until your next hero phase, if at the end of any combat phase that unit has lost wounds in close combat their attacker suffers D3 mortal wounds as their foes blood burns at their skin. 6) Spell Eater – Roll a D6, on a 3 or more the PRIEST channels the flames hunger for the arcane magicks permeating the realm. Until your next HERO PHASE this model may attempt to dispel 1 spell each turn as though he were a WIZARD.

Cheers guys, its nice when I can get a project thats nice and easy to roll with, fortunately the relatively simple glow technique for the Suneaters helps tie together models that might otherwise look disjointed as one cohesive army. As I'm slowly filling up the unit roster I've put together riders for my Aldin Draken ranged cavarly and whilst waiting for the release of the Stormcast Dracolines theyve claimed some mournfang mounts for now!

If the Aelves thought themselves fortunate to stunt but a single tendril of the great Migrations they were mere fools, they had not been the target of the migrations long march across the realmscape, nor had they faced the true might of the Migrations warriors, instead to revel in the joy of their ambush showed the arrogance of all of Sigmars pets. Their greatest mistake however was to put thorn to the great beast and then flee without expecting retribution, even as their fleetfooted kin retreated higher out of the valley and into the forests the drums of war began to reverberate, seemingly coming from the mountains themselves. Those animals of higher instinct knew what was to come, great flocks of birds taking to the skies in search of less volatile grounds to make their nests, whole herds of antelopes racing in a crazed stampede through the valleys to find pastures and refuge far from these fields. Aelven scouts, hidden high in their perches to watch for signs of the enemies witnessed the arrival the main body of the migration into their secluded valley, vast plumes of smoke rising high up into the skies as every tree seemingly erupted into a rapturous applause of flame in the very presence of such military might, every blade of grass withering to form a carpet of Ash that the divine migrations might not walk upon unworthy ground. Worse still a word carried on the wind, riding the beat of every drum and etching its way into the hearts of those who heard it... "Surt'ar....." Leaping deftly from their lofty perches the Aelven scouts made all haste toward the refuge of their kin "Surt'ar...." The very air around the scouts seemingly became thicker with every passing moment, a wave of blistering heat crashing down upon them, the sun long since having retreated behind the clouds of smoke from the migrations Pyres. "Surt'ar...." One by one the scouts dropped lifeless, their bodies already shadowed in ash as they slumped face first into the dry and cracked earth, the very air in their lungs blistering and burning as they choked out their last few breaths before giving way to the sweet release of death. He was awake.... So game 2 of the narrative series is tomorrow, I get to test out Surt'ar in his post-prison state as a rage fuelled fanatic hell bent on vengeance, where better to start than with a migration that has been assaulted by pesky Aelves. Here's the 2k list I'm looking at: Surt’Ar – The First - GENERAL Gothi Priest - Judgement of the Suneater Prayer (healing) Gothi Priest - Volcanic Blows Prayer (Increases rend) Aldin Draken x 2 - Battleline because Surt'Ar has the Volsungr Keyword Aldin Draken x 2 Gullveig Ogors x 6 - Battleline, large unit to maximise the benefit of command ability and prayer Ashen Grots x 20 (Bows) - Harassment battleline Bal Kasta x 2 Slatr Warbeast Burnin Bomb Catapult x 1 Pyre Belcher It gives me a decent mix of units and a chance to see how the revised scrolls on the Pyrebelcher and Aldin drakken play out.

The little Gothi blurb was to clarify that Gothi priests are afforded respect due to their affinity with the Suneater. Whilst Ogors will heed a Gothi Priest command it’s the Suneaters will (admittedly interpreted by the priests) they obey. An Ogor would sooner sit on a Gothi than admit it was incharge but the Priests exist outside of the chain of command, as advisors to the Elite they can have a degree of reflected status (after all is the order coming from the priest, or is he relating it for his Prophet). The more power the prophet the more reflected status so those keepers of the Exalted are protected through fear of their masters

At any one time it is hard to gauge exactly how many migrations of Suneaters roam the realms, with no overarching hierarchy or chain of command to unit the migrations it is only when the Gothi hear their gods divine summons to war the the migrations will unite once more to form a tide of flame and destruction that can drown whole realms. There are however Migrations who have carved out the disctinction of "Clear and Present Threat to Civilization" within the whispered halls of Azyr, those whose threat encroaches ever closer to the cities of order, those who have raised villages and butchered populace far too long to be dismissed as mere raiders. These infamous migrations are slowly becomining whispered legend across the cities of men, the glow of their pyres tainting even the glow of dawn that it might be an army on the march, and they are named as follows: The Burnin Klaws (Ghur) The Pyre Maws (Aqshy) The Ur-Gores (Chamon) The De'd Heads (Shyish) The Ash Walkers (Ulgu) Whilst each tribe is different, formed in the image of their Barbarian Overlords the Volsungr Prophets they tend to share similar hierarchy, mimicking that of the very first tribe to depart Ghur on their rampage of destruction. CHOSEN CHAMPIONS Those born of Suneater Lineage, the leaders and elite of the tribes most favoured VOLSUNGR (Prophet and King by Divine Law) BESERKR (Apostles and Disciples of the Volsungr) ALDIN DRAKEN (Elite Guard, Answerable to the Volsungr Only) FYREBORN FANATICS (Divine Soldiers, Marshalled by the Beserkr) CONQUERED TRIBES Conscripts or trophies of conquered Ogor tribes allowed to serve the almighty Suneater GULLVEIG (Conquered Ogors, the strongest survivors joining the growing Suneaters Armies) BAL KASTA (Children of defeated Tyrants, Soldiers consumed by the Flame and used as Shock troops) GOTHI Grots serving the Suneater, considered second class citizens though the Gothi Priests are afforded respect for their affinity with the Suneater GOTHI HERALD (Lead Gothi Priest, interpreter of Divine will second to the Volsungr) GOTHI PRIESTS (Cunning, backstabbing priests leveraging favour with their god for position in the tribes) ASHEN GROTS (Fanatical Grot cultists serving in the hopes of ascending to Gothi Status) GOTHI ARTILLERY (Pyre Belchers, Burning Bomb Catapults, Salamander Herders) WAAGHKART (A totem to the Suneater, Grots clamour to serve on the Kart that their god might takes notice) BEASTS OF THE TRIBES Beasts forming the Migration, these heavy beasts are as useful in Siege warfare for their resilience and brute force as they are at surviving the long marches on little food MAGMA DRAKES SLATR WARBEASTS CARRION DRAKES HEROES OF LEGEND (In Recent Days heroes who had long since departed the Migration, either thought lost in battle or awaiting their gods final assault upon the realms, have begun to awake and return to the Great Migration, these legendary warriors exist outside of the Migrations Hierarchy, those to march to war alongside one is to be in the presence of the Favoured) EXALTED VOLSUNGR (More mountain than Ogor these ancient Volsungr carry so many blessings of their God it is hard to recognise them) THE FIRST (Legend has it the very first Volsungr of the Tribes has returned, though what savagery lies within his heart is yet unknown)

They are nice models of somewhat costly though the guy in store earnt the sale after doing dozens of size comparisons for me

Happy to call him finished for now, Surt'ar can now join the rest of the migration in my display cabinet!

If you want Alarielle Centric: Scions of the Everqueen Order of the Eternal Goddess Or make up a season related aspect, Alarielle forests do after all follow the seasons so in spring shes likely revered as a Fertility Goddess, in Summer when all is warm and bouyant life she might even be revered as the goddess of Ale and Festivities. In autumn goddess of the Harvest etc. They might even have a winter festival where they give thanks to her for the year of good life, and so on

Nearly finished, just want to push some of the skin contrast, fix the side of the foot and some extreme edge highlighting

So at the end of day one of painting Surt'ar the progress is going well, for anyone who hasnt seen my progress thread in the painting forum he started the day looking something like this after in my impatience I balanced him on still curing greenstuff lower limbs and propped him up with a Doritos dip jar (other dips are available): After alot of airbrushing, some glazes and the usual fire glow treatment I've gotten onto doing the detail work including his "packed lunch" of capture Azyrites in the back pouch: Also given me a chance to think on some more of his background and state of being, rather than going full mortal or full daemon of destruction I'm leaning toward The First being somewhat inbetween. he is sustained by the worship of his god much like daemons are, growing more potent in the presence of Pyre shrines to the Suneater and able to withstand wounds that would feel mortals. Similarly when eventually slain he is seemingly rendered down to the inert magma that was sculpted into his current existance with armour panels simply clanging to the dirt, how long it takes him to recover seemingly varies though some claim it is simply the sulking of a creature licking their wounds that delays him. When the time comes to return to the battlefield he is birthed once more in the heart of a volcano, his form rippling back into existance with a force that can render even the dormant volcanoes of the realm active once more. Also working on how he "Feeds", current concept is literally grabbing a mortal up in his hand, channelling the heart of his form into that grasp to burn his victim alive. As the flames spread and blood boils, flesh sloughing away into nothingness eventually even the bones crumble into little more than ash. Those who have observed this happening say a flameborne shadow of his victim remains, as though a faint flickering echo of their soul that one deep drag of his massive nostrils seems to be absorbed into the Prophets form. Such feeding is the only way a creature so old can sustain themselves, the souls no longer finding afterlife and robbed from Sigmars salvation it is destroyed entirely in the process, some claiming this is the perfection in the Suneaters plan, he does not feed the forces of Sigmar, Nagash or Chaos, instead the dead are simply snuffed out of existance. When Gorkamorka kills you, he kills you right the first time.

A little more paint before the excessive heat has forced me to stop for a few hours: Also a look backwards with the most recent model from the faction alongside the very first, as I have worked through the models within the faction the paintjobs have been refined and the techniques repeated to the point where they have developed their own style, looking back at the first model I'm still proud of him but definately feel Surt'Ar is a level above.