Melcavuk

Thanks for the feedback, personally I've moved away from an expanded the Weld as explored on the premise that the Ironweld we have seen so far are simply the Azyrite and Hammerhal houses, that is to say those houses whose practices were diluted and refined within the locked borders of Azyr during the seperate Age in which it was sealed By looking at those kingdoms who were outside of the walls of Azyr during the seperation I looked into evolving the armies of these as seperate factions rather than simply one minor facet of the Azyrite armies.

Still steaming on through painting my Ironweld conversions my Iron Duke Coghauler (Hero class Steamtank) and minimum unit size 10 Pressure Rifles are completed for table. With just 3 Cogstrider lancers and 10 more pressure rifles to paint before I start on the Cogfort they'll be ready to play by April for anyone willing to help with some test games at Warhammer world

Sounds good, its a slow progress but about a month away from playtesting so its exciting times.

The humble Steamtank has been a staple of the Ironweld since the inception of Age of Sigmar and a beautiful model in the Empire range in the world that was, it was only fitting then that when I came to revise the Ironweld into a new iteration that it found only only one new warscroll but three to reflect the myriad of designs that Ironweld Arsenal can mount on such a reliable workhorse of an engine. One thing I wanted to emphasis in the lore was how vital the fleets of Steamtanks (Now referred to a Coghaulers) were in the expansion of the early Ironweld, reliable and secure they can traverse landscapes hostile to the traditional horse and carts, moreover their ironhide shells can repel the weaponry of marauding tribes making them ideal escorts and transports for the arsenal of the Ironweld cities. With that in mind I translated the original Steamtank warscroll into the standard chassis dubbed the Coghauler Bombard, known for its lethal array of weaponry able to rain death down on a foe even as its behemoth weight hurtles towards them. With the initial Warscroll translating across well, as Ironsworn knights in their giant steeds riding across the battlefield it was time to determine how the Ironweld view and approach magic. From the outset I had been against them wielding magic itself as I do not believe every faction should cover every facet, indeed it would be far more in their nature to try and bring order to the unruly magicks that ravage the realms. With some feedback I was presented with the idea of the Reality Anchor, formed of harvested Realmstone kept in constant motion by the Coghaulers Steamengine it is able to produce localised stabilising effects much like proximity to the centre of a realm, despised by the college arcane for its obsene effect on those who seek to harness magic nearby it has been known to inflict agonising pain, even death to those who try and break through its arcane interference. Able to dispell a single spell a turn as though it were a wizard it is perhaps the secondary ability of the Anchor that is most potent, it creates a double layered aura to impede spell casters, with the outer ring providing a small debuff to casting with the inner ring far more lethal. Next, it was time to look at who leads the Cogstables into battle, not content to ride in some mere Coghauler each Iron Duke customises their own Coghauler to present their own unique take on their destructive potential, from the volcanic arsenals of Esoteris to the fletchette cannonade of Morghast each weapon is unique only sharing the desire to shoot more than their less noble kin. The Ironduke provides a fantastic centre piece for a Coghauler centric army, not only keeping to the theme but increasing the mobility of nearby Cogwork units (extending not only to Coghaulers but also Cogstriders and Ironsworn Templars) As the Ironduke is a character we can look into the Command Traits available, however first as his Coghauler is a mount it can take an Artificer Cogwork, the Ironweld variant of mount traits for their elaborate designs. Key to keeping him alive for prolonged periods on the battlefield perhaps the most immediately useful comes by way of the Ironbark Bulwark, able to ignore the first point of rend for lightweight attacks. And to ensure his own Coghauler and those around him keep going making his Command Trait the Artisan Engineer allows him to repair a single Cogwork unit a turn as though he were an Engineer! Here we would now have a fleet of Coghaulers speeding down the battlefield with their Ironduke at the helm steering them into a headlong charge at the enemy, able to make makeshift repairs to the fleet whilst his own robust Coghauler deflects feeble blows away. When themeing your army to Coghaulers one house in particular leaps out, the House of Rok are the original innovators of the Coghaulers of the Realms, still utilising the same core chassis as when first concieved their own Cogfleet is perhaps the longest serving and most reliable in all the Weld. Those playing as House Rok halve the damage taken on their Coghaulers when consulting the damage table, working at near optimal capacity even as parts begin to chip away.

Seven of the Twenty pressure rifles done, aiming to have the full 20 done in the next week

Working on a series of articles that look at how the interplay between units and abilities in the battletome can reward those armies built with specific functions in mind, turning units that whilst good on their own into a synergistic organism that can be devastating on the battlefield: Part 1 - Optimising Artillery Part 2 - Immovable Weld Phalanx Part 3 - Riflemen Volleys

With Artillery and Phalanx looked at I felt it was time to see how the diminuative Pressure rifle wielding Weld Riflemen could perform with the interplay of various abilities within the battletome. Their initial statline whilst reasonable is in many cases risking being outclassed by the cheaper Freeguild Handgunners, however it is the strength of the army as a whole that boosts the Riflemen into the lead. -Starting from their own warscroll each Rifleman (barring the apprentice) produced a single shot that hits on a 4+ and wounds on a 4+ (that'd 9 shots at 100 points, 19 at 200 and so forth) - At 10 inches or under the strength of the pressure rifle is optimal, adding one to wound rolls making it a 3+ to wound - If unharassed by an enemy unit the Pressure rifles may reroll 1's to hit. - When entirely stationary and in sufficient numbers and 6's to hit produce 2 hits instead of one. So optimally the unit should be immobile, targetting a unit within 10 inches and over 10 models in the Rifles unit (Hit on 4's rerolling 1's, 6's produce two hits, Wound on 3's) Adding in the Master of Shot, unlike the Gunmaster this model has no longer got the Engineer keyword, instead he focuses on boosting the attacks of nearby ranged Weld Guard units. In a more limited fashion than the Freeguild general his bonus only applies in the shooting phase, however with the ability to pick upto three Weld Rifles units his boost is nothing to sniff at. Adding 1 to hit and wound rolls moves out optimal shooting scenario to: Hitting on 3's (rerolling 1s), Hits of an unmodified 6 produce 2 hits, Wounding on 2's By tailoring our Cogfort before the game to benefit shooting units we can look at embarking the Weld Rifles onto the Cogfort, this way one unit per turn can potentially shoot in the Hero Phase aswell as the Shooting phase doubling their damage output for that turn. And since no House values shooting more than Oran, having Oran Ironsworn nearby means if your rifles get locked down into combat they can both retreat and shoot within the same turn. Thanks for reading! Ricki

Fingers crossed GW like them when they're finished. Army in progress shot:

When desinging the rules for the Ironweld Phalanx I wanted them to feel different to your traditional Freeguild with Halberds, they are more robust and advanced but benefit far less in big units as they spend less time in trained military drills than their Freeguild variants instead relying on exquisite advancements in warfare to keep them safe on the battlefield. For an army centred largely around shooting I didnt want the Phalanx to suddenly be combat monsters, they are a defensive melee unit that thematically forms a living wall between the oncoming enemy forces and the gunlines of the weld, for this reason they are best when stationary and being charged (as opposed to charging themselves). Adding in the Anchor the Long Lines rule allowed me to reflect the sheer lethality of flinging yourself into an organised line of Weld Phalanx, able to deter oncoming foes from risking themselves in the combat and encourging an enemy to use weaker units to absorb the halberds of the Phalanx. One of the most common comments I have recieved is that a 4+ save would better reflect their role, however there are a number of factors interplaying within the tome that turns the 5+ save they currently possess into sheer brutal resilience. To start: Weldguard Phalanx naturally reroll ones to save from their Cogplate, however they can boost this to an impressive reroll of all saves if they remain stationary and lock their gears in place. A 5+ rerolling all saves is better than 4+ against rend - and only slightly worse against rend of -1 But then we can look at how the tome has elements to boost that save, with synergy at the heart of the Weld we can look at possibly my favourite of the noble houses the City of Midnight who employ extensive Cogwork augements to their populace, this grants them a resilience beyond that of mortal men. With a friendly Ironsworn unit nearby the Weld Guard can benefit from their Heraldry. And with a Hero nearby more trained in the Military drills of the Weld they can be boosted yet further, able to form a tight knit line of Cogplate to deflect even the most savage of attacks. The end result of combining these factors is a resilient Phalanx unit comprised of: 4+ Armour Save, Rerolling all failed save 6+ to ignore wounds or mortal wounds inflicted.

In my expansion of the Ironweld Arsenal it was important to me that everything seemed like a symbiotic melding of man and machine, each warscroll able to benefit from those around them and thus making no one more important than any others. In having modelled my Helblaster it gave me an opportunity to see how the new rules I had written could interplay to turn a good artillery piece into a great heart of an army. So first we have the new warscroll, gone are the seperate crew that always got sniped out replaced with a combined warscroll and single base. Then to ensure viability long term on the battlefield we have the rule to replenish crew from nearby labourer units, utilising the Ironwelds training on artillery to sacrafice models in other units to keep the artillery piece firing longer Next we have the Cogsmith, in a faction absent of priests or wizards it is the engineers of the Ironweld that provide most of the buffs to nearby units, in this case he has both the passive buff from his Engineer keyword allowing the Helblaster to reroll number of shots, but also his own rule allowing friendly Ironweld within range to always pass a save on a 6+. His Cogwork maintenance ability does not work on the artillery but is always useful to have nearby to repair Cogwork units. As our Cogsmith is a character, and an important one ensuring the backlines are constantly firing we can give him a Masterwork Design artefact, to properly boost the artillery and stop pesky foes from hiding behind cover equipping him with masterwork telescopic lenses to spy foes behind any cover he can really enhance the damage output And finally, as artillery is the very heart of the Ironweld we have a Battalion that brings everything together, from the ENGINEER through to the labourers to provide a screen and wound pool for the artillery crews right down to the artillery themselves. C&C welcome as always

Making the most of a day off to get some painting done, I've now cleared the 10 Weld Phalanx models, completed the first Weld Rifle test model and put some paint to my first proper artillery piece (Helblaster)

Some changes to the Weld Riflemen scroll, in part to move them further away from handgunners both narratively and mechanically. The now bear pressure rifles powered by their personal boilers, able to launch devastating volleys down the field with shocking frequency.

The Steamforged Cogfort has sprouted legs! Now able to stand without being propped up its nearing time to paint, just a little gap filling left to do when the leg mounts have finished setting, Johann provided for scale For anyone keeping track it sits at 12.5 inches tall at the peak which is 2 inches over a warhound titan

Upto six of the Weld Phalanx done for my Ironweld Expansion army, including two of the command staff (banner and horn) just awaiting the master of the guard and 3 more of the halberdiers.

Unit balance question: When putting together my Cogstrider Lancers the closest comparison is the Morrsar guard from the Idoneth Deepkin. Running the numbers across both of them against an unarmoured target the Morsarr put out roughly 25% more damage in turns they complete a charge (taking into account the pistol from the Lancers in this). Whilst the damage of 3 on the charge from the Lance rs lances puts out a little more damage it is the damage of the mount that puts Morsarr over the top significantly. Morsarr are faster and have full fly rather than half fly granted to lancers. Morsarr can deal mortal wounds. Cogstriders add to the bravery of nearby Weld Guard. Weighing this up with Morsarr sitting at 140 points I believe 120 is a good point for the Cogstriders Lancers to sit, it reflects their role within the force but with them being suitably compensated for the increased capabilities of the Morsarr. Here is their current Warscroll, Thoughts/critiques on the points costs?

Three makes a unit complete with a Master of Stables with his trophy wrack and extra pistol. All are magnetised to take the Fusiliers crossbows but I'm one short to make a unit which I'll grab when I get my next box of Cawdor for labourers.

These ones! Its Solar Auxilia (to keep common thee with the weld guard) with the Forgeworld Empire heads, empire knights lances or cawdor heavy crossbows depending on armament. (And yes her legs are the spare arms from the Vorax, she largely came together out of my bits box when i saw the arms and thought theyd make good legs for her)

A bit slow into combat is questionable, without run or charge then can focus down a 10 inch move per turn which is in line with smaller monsters or heavy cavalry. The shield as an option being dropped wouldnt increase speed without also binning the option of signal lantern otherwise one variant is flat improved which will boost the already hefty 260 point price tag. Aiming for the army ready and painted for playtesting come april, initial 1500 points looks like the following: THE MIDNIGHT TOLL Allegiance: Ironweld Arsenal House Allegiance: Midnight City LEADERS The Midnight Aspirant (220) Ironsworn Templar (260) General Command Trait: Artisan Engineer (Can repair once a turn as though he were an engineer) Master of Shot (80) Masterwork Design: Refined Ocular Artifices (Friendly units nearby ignore cover save bonus on shooting attack) Ironduke Coghauler (300) Artificer Cogwork: Ironbark Bulwark (Ignores the first point of rend on any attack) BATTLELINE Weld Militia x 10 (90) Weld Riflemen x 20 (200) Weld Phalanx x 10 (100) OTHER Cogstrider Lancers (120) ARTILLERY Ironweld Helblaster Volleygun (120)

Prospective combined paladin/templar warscrolls to free up roster space, along with a special Character the Midnight Aspirant (Scrolls cropped as much as possible to hopefully be legible with picture upload size limitations

Bit of work for the evening

Because Sigmar needs some more epic characters, here's my Midnight Aspirant for my Ironweld Revival, truly more clockwork than human the heavy robes hide the innovations that keep this enigma functioning. Aspirant to a house long since thought lost to the ravages of time and entirely unknown to the Iron Council of the Weld this young upstart has carved a name for herself in the short years since her arrival. Emerging from the City of Midnight, in the stillness of Ulgu long since all living had forsaken the city of Cogs and Wonder. (Shield will be painted not left perspex, she's pretty large)

As I have hit my cap of 16 warscroll a I have got a conundrum. I have now worked out a way to make the Clockwork Automata as a melee resilient unit, doing so however requires that I free up a warscroll slot. To my mind the best way to do so is to combine the Ironsworn Templar and Paladin warscroll so it’s a single Paladin hero model with lance and option if either Signal Lantern or Shield. That way neither equipment choice is an auto include and I maintain a maximum 16 warscroll rota. Would doing so add variety or simply muddy themes?

The riders steamtank will plug into the main walker somewhere and I'm contemplating adding in exhaust pipes adjacent to the gears but no actual arms.