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Melcavuk

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  1. Melcavuk

    A Hidden Truth...

    By Melcavuk,

    A continuation of the background story for my Suneaters
    The tomes of Azyrheim tell little of the battles that quelled Gorkamorkas rebellion, nor the atrocities that followed it at the hands of those who fought in the name of justice and Order. The few tales that have survived to the modern age speak of a host of men, aelf and dwarf the likes of which the young realms had never before seen, all marching in the shadow of the Man-God Sigmar under the mighty flags of Azyr. This massive host was drawn not just from the noble houses within Azyr, but every general (disgraced or otherwise), pirate, corsair and mercenary who owed fielty to the Barbarian king. This vast host spanned from horizon to horizon, some say that its footfalls could be heard across the entire spanning continent of Ghur as it marched across the lands, that its nightly campfires were so many that they threatened to drown out the darkness entirely as though day simply spanned into day once more. It is said that the tides of Gorkamorka were met by this host on the plain of Rok-Gor, a once verdant and beautiful landscape in a realm of savages, the green tides number were twice that of the Order host and beneath the combined footfall of the legions every spec of grass within sight was crushed out of existance. It is said that the mages of Hysh wielded their sun based powers with reckless abandon, forever changing the intensity of the sun in this part of the realm to scorch all life from the grounds below, that so savage was the combat that no native fauna escaped the onslaught.
     
    The battle was savage, with vast number of casualties on both sides, but eventually the god of destruction found himself brought to heel, beaten and bloodied but his thirst for mayhem and war thoroughly saited the mighty Orruk god lay down to revel in his heady onslaught. With the rebellion quashed Sigmar returned back to Azyr, with matters more befitting a god to focus his attentions on he left his grand host to disband themselves, here he trusted in the souls of men to do as they were instructed… a fools hope. His vast host had been raised on the promise of bloody conquest, of glorious trophies and heroic deed, but moreover they had been promised a wealth of gold and treasures that they might use to raise kingdoms of their own. Men lured by such temptations are not so easily swayed into forgetting them, and Sigmars conquest against Gorkamorka had cost them many lives and far more gold than they had been repaid, now left in the midsts of the savage landscape of Ghur these weak men sought to find treasure of their own.
     
    Corrupt generals and greedy nobles all spurred their legions forth into Ghur, they butchered the local populace indiscriminately, Ogors that had no part to play in Gorkamorkas rebellion and mighty beasts older than human memory all under the guise of bringing order and civility to the Realm. Whole Ogor migrations found themselves on the wrong side of man-forged blades, any lands of worth or found to be rich in metals and minerals soon became annexed by Dwarven kings and merchant guilds, the previous owned put to work in slave camps or executed as warning to the savage populace of Ghur as to what happened to those who resisted the recent influx of Order into the Realm.
     
    The Iron Klaw Ogors, who had lived in relative harmony with the man-kingdoms of Ghur for as long as records existed, never took more meat than needed from the human villages around their migrations. To blame them for taking their share would be to blame the man for taking the sheep to slaughter, these Ogors demonstrated immense discipline only picking the elderly or weak from human villages to sait their hungers, never staying in one place long enough to diminish the populace beyond reason. Their demise came without warning, unbeknownst to the tribal elders their migration had setup camp atop a wealth of mineral deposits high up in the mountains at realms edge, it was in the dead of night amidsts a thunderous storm that a dwarven cannonade sought to bring the whole mountaintops down upon them. Flashes of black powder detonating lit up the nights sky, punctuated by streaks of lighting racing to the heavens, war scarred and embittered dwarven veterans marched up the mountainside to butcher those Ogors who survived the savage cannonade. It fell to the young Chieftan of the tribe to muster what little defense he could bring to bear, a mere handful of champions atop mournfangs raced down the crumbling mountainside to meet with their attackers. Fortunate was not however with the young chieftan, struck in the helmet by an oncoming cannonball he found himself flung backward off of his mount, foot still tangled in the saddle straps he was dragged down the mountainside, dazed from the strike and beaten by every rock on his descent his blood crazed mount ran throughout the night deep into the deserts beyond the mountains.
     
    As the dwarves butchered all those Ogors who remained they lacked the insight to know what they had instigated, the nightmare that they had unleashed upon the realms with the soul survivor carried far beyond the charted edge of the realm….
  2. Melcavuk
    Background
    "They come like thunder and fire, like savage beasts driven mad by ravenous hunger... they are the volcano and the quaking earth... these savage beasts, our enemy, our quarry" Huntmaster of the Shatterflock Nomads
    The aftershocks of Nagashes malignant Necroquake still reverberate throughout the realms, tremours of nefarious magicks that shape and distort otherwise harmless beings into nightmarish monstrocities, but worse still after the effects it has wrought on the Maelstrom at worlds edge. These primal and shifting magical energies know no master, the insult of the wave of death that encroaching on their riotous storms only serve to stoke their ire, and in turn what had for so long been safe harbour for the Aeloran Nomads hidden beyond the edges of the map has begun to decay into arcane madness. The Wyld that they had for generations sought to mitigate though the soul blends seems to have risen once more, cancerous within the very skin of the realm as flora and fauna alike are overriden by the vicious carnivourous change of its ancient and knowable power. Once content to conceal their presence from the denizens of the Realm the nomads once more find themselves forced from save haven, ejected from their hiding place entirely exposed to a world that has changed much in their absense.
    Isolated, alone and oblivious to the developments of the realms in this new age each of the Aeloran Nobles strike out with their hunters, leading a great hunt across the realms in every direction that they might find new harbour, allies or benefactors to weather the storm that robbed them of their own. And yet no matter how far they travel from the primal storm of worlds edge they cannot escape the Wyld that has taken root within every member of their populace, driven ever onwards knowing that if they ever stop for too long the very jungle of savagery they have fled will begin to sprout around them. 
    It is a young noble of the Shatterflock that now finds himself in the path of an oncoming Suneater Migration, a wall of fire at his back and this new foe bearing down on his people the hunt has once more been joined, let arrows fly and battle commence.
    Wordy bit
    Tomorrow sees the first playtest of the newly written Aeloran Nomads rules that form the heart of their battletome and a chance to experiment with their unique allegiance abilities including the vicious Wyldshard Brambles that sprout from ever barren dirt when seeded with the blood of Aeloran Nobility:
    An army with the AELORAN NOMAD allegiance gain the following abilities.

    The Savage Heart – To survive the Wyld is to understands ones place within the food chain, the Hunter must consume the prey, and the prey must be consumed. Roll a dice for every enemy model that flees due to battleshock whilst their unit is within 3 inches of an AELORAN unit, for every roll of a 4 or more the AELORAN unit regains a wound, if there are no wounded models in that unit you may instead restore a number of models to the unit lost earlier in the battle with a number of wounds upto the wounds restored.
    Wyldform – The eldest of the Aeloran populace have begun their final descent into the Wyldform, every drop of their blood carrying the changing taint from world edge with them into battle. Should a precious drop of this blood hit the ground it bears the spores of the predatory plants of Ghur, erupting forth to reclaim the lands. At the end of any turn in which an AELORAN NOBLE is wounded but not slain, roll a D6 for every AELORAN NOBLE that was wounded adding the number of wounds lost. You may add one base of WYLDSHARD BRAMBLES within 3 inches of that model for every roll of a 5 or more. In addition is an AELORAN NOBLE model is slain, immediately replace the model with a base of WYLDSHARD BRAMBLES.


     
    Its also a great chance to try out some of the newly fledged aspects that function as the command traits in the Aeloran society, each of the nobles bear a specific trait from their blends with their beasts of affinity, over time managing to manifest those traits they find most benefitial in an arcane evolution of their species:
     
    COMMAND TRAITS
    In addition to their command abilities, if they are a Hero, the general of a AELORAN NOMAD army can have a command trait from the list below. Pick the trait that best suits your generals’ personality. Alternatively, you can roll a dice to randomly determine a trait. If, for whatever reason, you must select a new general during the battle, immediately generate a trait for them.
     
    D6
    Command Trait
    1
    Aspect of the Scorpion – Your hero channels the poisonous nature of the monolithic scorpions at world edge. Pick one of your heroes weapons (this cannot belong to their mount), if your hero wounds but does not kill an enemy model with this weapon that model suffers an additional mortal wound at the end of that phase.
    2
    Aspect of the Stag – This hero channels the grace and speed of the great stags of the forest. Add 3 to this models move characteristic.
    3
    Aspect of the Raptor – Channelling the great raptors that claim the skies of Ghur these heroes descend on wounded prey with unrelenting speed. You may reroll failed charges for this model if the charge move will end within 3 inches of a model already wounded that turn.
    4
    Aspect of the Lion – The nails and teeth of this hero have sharpened to the needlike points of the feline predators of their homelands. In the combat phase you may add one to the rend of and attacks that roll a 6 to hit.
    5
    Aspect of the Hydra – This hero has gained a sliver of the mighty regeneration power of the Hydra, seemingly regrowing lost limbs in the heat of battle. In each of your hero phases you may regain 1 wound on this model lost earlier in the battle.
    6
    Aspect of the Ironhide – Channelling the tough hide of the Ironhide Rhinos of the Ghur mountains this heroes skin has toughened to deflect blades. Roll a dice whenever a wound or mortal wound is allocated to this model, on a roll of a 6 that wound is ignored.
     Finally my partner gets to show off some of her in progress models on the battlefield (nice looking WHW table booked) including the Wyldshaper on Griffon, Reavers and the new Wyldrunner Chariot featured below:



     
    And for the clash here are the planned 2000 point army lists:
    SUNEATER TRIBES MIGRATION - 2000
    EXALTED VOLSUNGR – General, Leader, Behemoth (400)
    Gothi Fyri – Priest, Leader (80)
    Gothi Fyri – Priest, Leader (80)
    Gothi Herald on Carrion Drake – Priest, Leader (200)
    3 x Gullveig Ogors - Battleline (120)
    Crusher, Bellower, Banner Bearer (1 x Great Weapon)
    20 X Ashen Grots - Battleline (130)
    Spark Bearer, Standard Bearer, 20 x Burning Bows
    2 x Aldin Draken Battleline (180)
    Huntmaster, Tracker
    2 x Aldin Draken Battleline (180)
    Huntmaster, Tracker
    2 x Bal Kasta (200)
    Ignitor, Fyre Stoker
    2 x Burnin Bomb Catapults - Warmachine (160)
    1 x Pyre Belcher - Warmachine (140)
    1 x Waaghkart – Warmachine (160)
     
    AELORAN NOMADIC EMPIRE - 1960
    Aeloran Noble on Wyldrunner Chariot – Leader, General (200)
    Aeloran Lord on Wyldmare - Leader (220)
    Aeloran Wyldshaper on Griffin – Leader (260)
    10 x Gladeshard - Battleline (160)
    5 x Aeloran Reavers - Battleline (140)
    5 x Aeloran Reavers - Battleline (140)
    10 x Forest Shades (160)
    3 x Centaurid Hunters (120)
    3 x Aeloran Chargers (200)
    5 x Melusari Blood Stalkers (bows) ALLIES (160)
    3 x Kurnoth Hunters (bows) ALLIES (220)
     
     
     
  3. Melcavuk
    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.
     

     
  4. Melcavuk
    I've begun the start of the Suneaters background, it tells a very different tale of Gorkamorkas rebellion that has been told to date and is the tale from the Ogors of old, Sigmars "truth" is a lie...
     
    THE SUNEATER TRIBES
    Deep within the Realm of Fire the drums of war echo with resounding beats as the fanatical Ogor and Grot acolytes of the violent and fire-born god The Suneater march to war. Putting all that stands in their path to the flame that every realm might one day reflect the broken and charred world that birthed them.
     
    There are many who tell the tales of righteous victories of Sigmar, those that would tell of his heroic deeds and noble intentions to creation a unified pantheon of the gods, all equals in their own right who would form a bulwark agaisnt the tides of chaos that sought to seize upon the Realms. But the words of men are weaved of lies and weighted by the egos of their kind, such tales are little more than the fanciful reimaginings by the poets and politicians of Sigmars realms, their lies woven into the very fibres of every building and the muscled sinews of every Soldiers in his armies.
     
    The terms of Sigmars alliance with Gorkamorka are oft glossed over in the telling of the pantheons founding, such details do not fit the narrative of Sigmars tales and thus who chose to share it with nobody, the feeble Man-God promised the Lord of Destruction a war unlike any other… he told tales of a tide of chaos encroaching upon the realm and a mighty battle to dwarf anything the mighty Orruk god had ever experienced before. The weak god sought to whet the appetite his rival, but where he offered war he hide his desire for a peace without end, when he spoke of battles in glory he wove a leash to keep Gorkamorka to heel, and when he spoke of an empire that spanned corner to corner of the realms he meant only his own. And thus when Sigmar lay the first bricks in the foundation of his grand alliance it was on a crumbling foundation built of lies and deceit, doomed to fail.
     
    To leash the Lord of Destruction is to try and cage the very wind or lid the volcano, for every day that passed for this mighty beasts beneath the heel of Sigmar his temper grew and his patience shortened. Years of enforcing a peace he had never wanted renegated the only glorious creature to little more than the attack dog of the man-god, sent out to wage wars no other god was willing to risk there people for only to return and find yet more idols and cities erected to the weaker gods of the pantheon. As his realisation of this injustice grew Gorkamorka began to unravel the leash he had been caged by, he saw the lesser gods for what they were, false idols feeding off of the belief of their peoples seeking to impose their wills upon the realms that neither asked for nor wanted them. Gorkamorka however was born of the primal winds of the realms themselves, every brick laid tore just a fraction more of that primal wind away, every mighty beast caged fed the other gods and syphoned away his powers. All this while Sigmar thought himself just and glorious, he saw no ill in the cage he had built for the Lord of Destruction, and in his arrogance he failed to see the last threads of his leash unravel until it was too late.
     
    The Gods of Order had thought Gorkamorkas power had diminished beyond reckoning, but the explosive force of his temper caught them all off guard, as the last strands of his leash decayed he erupted forth in a tide of destruction unlike any that had gripped the realms before, he gathered to him every Orruk and Greenskin and those Ogors that would heed the call. It is said by the scholars of Sigmar that every creature of destruction fell beneath the sway of Gorkamorkas petty rebellion, they do not tell of the Ogor tribes that wanted no part of the endless wars that Gorkamorka sought to instigate, but these truths are often found to be inconvinient in light of the war Sigmar waged against Gorkamorkas kin. In retaliation to the tide of destruction Sigmar gathered to him an army of man, aelf and dwarf to enforce his word of Order across the realm, such a combined army marched that the very grass beneath their feed was crushed away to darked dirt, their hunger was so ravenous that they stripped whole regions bare off livestock yet all these things were blamed on the kin of destruction.
  5. Melcavuk
    So having worked on my Suneaters for a long time my partner has been working on her Nature Aelves to fight against them, one thing we have noticed is that the old Aelven scrolls are lacking... something, in splitting them down between so many factions and without recent updates they struggle to stand up to the more modern scrolls in efficiency or character. For this reason she asked me to look into allegiance abilities and more modern scrolls for a Wanderer evolution to fit the growing themes of Age of Sigmar for when Soul Wars hits.
    So heres where I am right now:
    AELORAN NOMADS
    When the Realms fell to chao those Wanderers who found themselves abandoned by their volatile and spiteful goddess fled across the realms, the tide of chaos ever biting at their heels as they sought a place to call their own. Yet godless and without allies every door became closed to them, even the mighty gates of Azyr were found sealed by the time their beleaguered populace came unto it. It was then that they were driven onwards, ever further out from their cities in the heart of Ghur towards the volatile and unknowable forests at worlds edge that they might endure the elements longer that they could the blades of their foes. Their hidden refuge at realms edge has, for the longest time kept the nomads hidden from the wars that ravaged the Realms, but the very magics that have shielded them have taken a heavy toll upon their bodies and souls. An intelligent and deeply invasive bestial wind called the Wyld at the edge of Ghur has seeped into the very fibres of every muscle, the primal drum beat that forms the very pulse of the realm now resides within the souls of every Aelf in their ranks threatening to overwhelm reason or logic with every beat of the endless rhythm.
    As the Wyld seeks to claim their souls the desperate Nomads sought ways to stave off their final bestial forms, that they might retain their Aelven grace and nobility for few millenia longer. Through many trials that claimed more and more of their population with every passing year eventually a symbiosis was found, the strongest souls within their ranks could merge their souls with the savage beasts of the realm, burying their own soul within that of the mighty beasts to hide it from the Wyld that sought to snuff them out. Such an act would preserve the Aelven soul but the toll it took on their partnered beast was heavy, no such beast could endure more than a few years of the merge before the Wyld claimed it entirely.
    It has then come to pass that the eldest amongst the Aeloran populace have formed such a bond with hundreds of beasts, each becoming inclined to merge with a beast that matches their personality beyond all others. At first such pairings seemed solely matched by personality, the most vigilant paired with the mighty raptors that claimed the skies of world edge, the fleet of foot would pair with the mighty stags that leapt deftly through the forest and the greatest hunters would merge with packs of the savage wolves that hunters in the darkest corners of their realm. As the years have worn on however the Aelorans features have begun to shift and alter to match that of the beasts whose souls have touched their own, the Birdkind develop accute vision, their bone structure lightening as though able to drift on the wind instead of falling. The Doekind develop extraordinary muscle structures allowing them to dance across the very tree tops with every deft leap, and the Wolfkin become hunters beyond compare.
    The Aeloran carry with the Wyld wherever they travel, it has become a disease that spread like wildfire throughout their populace and even the blending of souls can only delay it so long. They have become blighted, never able to settle for long lest the carnivorous plants of the Wyld itself spawn in their very footprints, beset at all times by the predators within and without they lead nomadic lives, ever in pursuit of the great hunt that they might find a beast able to endure the blend long enough to hold their degradation entirely.
     
    ALLEGIANCE ABILITIES -
     
    The Hunters Heart – To survive the Wyld is to understands ones place within the food chain, the Hunter must consume the prey, and the prey must be consumed. Roll a dice for every enemy model that flees due to battleshock whilst their unit is within 3 inches of an AELORAN unit, for every roll of a 4 more more the AELORAN unit regains a wound, if there are no wounded models in that unit you may instead restore a number of models to the unit lost earlier in the battle with a number of wounds upto the wounds restored.
     
    Wyldform – The eldest of the Aeloran populace have begun their final descent into the Wyldform, every drop of their blood carrying the changing taint from world edge with them into battl. Should a precious drop of this blood hit the ground it bears the spores of the predatory plants of Ghur, erupting forth to reclaim the lands. At the end of any turn in which an AELORAN NOBLE is wounded but not slain, roll a D6 for every AELORAN NOBLE that was wounded adding the number of wounds lost. You may add one base of WYLDSHARD BRAMBLES within 3 inches of that model for every roll of a 4 or more.
     
    WARSCROLLS:
    Many of these are still WIP and yet to be tested, as you'll see below I have pointed out scrolls that I havent yet published as I work out the details however the faction is split into 3 racial keywords (Aeloran for those still mostly Aelf, Centaurid for Aelven Centaurs and then Avari for the more Avian Aelves).
    Aeloran Reavers take the Reaver (Previously Ellyrian Reavers) warscroll with Keywords changed to match Aeloran Allegiance
    Aeloran Chargers are currently just a retooled Pallador scroll because of fondness for the Gryphchargers, they'll become more distinct soon whilst maintaining mount specific characteristics
     





     


     
    PITCHED BATTLE PROFILES

    The table below provides points, minimum and maximum unit sizes and battlefield roles for the Warscroll and Warscroll battalions in this book, for use in Pitched Battles. Used alongside the rules for Pitched Battles in the Generals Handbook, this provides you with everything you need to field your army of Aeloran Nomads against any opponent
     
    AELORAN NOMADS
    UNIT SIZE
    POINTS
    BATTLEFIELD ROLE
    NOTES
    UNIT
    MIN
    MAX
    Aeloran Noble on Wyldrunner Chariot
    1
    1
    220
    LEADER
     
    Aeloran Wyldshaper on Griffin
    1
    1
    260
    LEADER, BEHEMOTH
     
    Aeloran Lord on Wyldmare
    1
    1
    220
    LEADER
     
    Aeloran Gladeshards
    10
    30
    160/420
    -
    BATTLELINE if AELORAN NOMAD Allegiance and your general is an AELORAN NOBLE
    Aeloran Reavers
    5
    20
    140/500
    BATTLELINE
     
    Aeloran Forest Shades
    10
    30
    160
    BATTLELINE
     
    Aeloran Chargers
    3
    12
    200
    -
     
    Centaurid Huntresses
    5
    15
    180
    -
    BATTLELINE if AELORAN NOMAD Allegiance and your general is a CENTAURID
    Centaurid Stargazer
    1
    1
    100
    LEADER
     
    Centaurid Gladiatori
    5
    15
    180
    -
     
    Avari Sunrakers
    3
    6
    200
    -
     
    Avari Starcaster
    1
    1
    100
    LEADER
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  6. Melcavuk
    A little work done on revising the Suneater batallions, I feel I could do with two more in order to fully fill out the quota within the tome as 2 of the current ones are mixed destruction Batallions with a central theme of Suneaters.

     
    Currently thinking of the following thematic compositions for one of the last two but in terms of rules to fill them out I'm open to suggestions:
    TRUE SONS OF THE SUNEATER
    There are Ogors, especially amongst the older members of the tribes that grow to resent the power the Gothi have garnered through their manipulations of the Suneaters blessings, these embittered beings go to excessive lengths to prove their devotion to a god that would sooner heed the word of a Gothi priest than the prayer of true Ogor Kin. In battle they are visceral, savage beyond compare as they swear to carve their name into the very legends of their kind or die before kneeling to the grots of the migrations.
    Exalted Volsungr
    2 x Fyreborn Slayer Units
    0-4 OGOR units
     
     
  7. Melcavuk
    So who then make up the Champions of this Flame obsessed tribes, that they might elevate themselves above the Gullveig and Grots within the migration and carve out their own names in the legend of the Suneater.
    Aldin Draken –
    The Aldin Draken are enormous even for Ogors, drawn from the ranks of the Gullveig, these chosen of the Suneater have walked the blasted wastes alone for months on end and entirely without supplies. They are tasked with finding enlightenment that at their lowest moment in their final breath they might look upon the face of the Suneater, be judged and reborn. Perhaps more shocking they have emerged from those daunting wastes with enough of their sanity intact not to descend into the bestial hunger that claimed so many of their kind, and with the physical strength to drag what remains of their half starved bodies back from the brink of death. Those who emerged from the wasteland are a cruel sight to behold, their skin is blistered and scarred, coarse to the touch but toughened in the eternal heat of the Suneaters embrace, their eyes have blackened to coal seemingly at once unseeing and all too piercing for their kin to endure, some say to be looked upon by the Aldin Draken is to face the wrath of Gorkamorka himself. When they return these champions do not seek food or comfort, instead ascending the peak of the Draken nest, a bustling feeding ground for the enormous stone hide bearing Draken of Aqshy, an irritable bundle of sword-proof hide and jagged teeth prone to belching flame when provoked, here they face their final test. To ascend to the rank of Aldin Draken the champion must first claim his mount from the vicious lizards that populate the Drakens nest, each must engage in mortal combat with the Draken with many succumbing to the cruel claws and wicked beaks of the fattened lizards and feeding the nest.
     
    Those who survive the trials do so through the use of brute force and strength of will to beat a reptile into submission, triumphantly riding their new bruised and beaten companion down from the mountaintop. In battle these Cavalry are slow and cumbersome, the drakes themselves lumbering and covered in heavily armoured scales whilst their riders wield crude heavy crossbows firing obsidian tipped barbed bolts across the battlefield, Often first into the fight they are more than a match for many a mortal hero and used as the elite guard for the Prophets of the Suneater Tribes.
     
    The sacred duty of the Aldin Draken is to accompany the Volsungr into battle, should their mighty prophet fall the Magma drake mount has been known to rampage back through the Suneater Migration wreaking havoc on their numbers. Should this happen the Aldin Draken are put to task, pursueing the distraught beast and bringing it down that it might join its masters body on the Pyre and ascend to the halls of the Suneater together.
    Tactics: These fearsome heavy cavalry become battleline if you field a Volsungr as your general, whilst slightly slower than their Prophets they excell at following the mighty beast up the Battlefield and using their crossbows to weaken foes he intends to charge. More over their specialties against monsters make them a genuine contenter to hunt down the enemies toughest warriors and drop them before any damage can be dealt to your heroes. 

     Bal Kasta - 
    The Bal Kasta (Also known as Akursed) are Trophies of the Volsungr, taken from the firstborn of conquered tribes these massive Ogors would be contendors for Tyrant one day in any other Ogor migration, insread in the Suneater tribes they can never hold rank or power. Those tribes who refuse the enlightenment of the Suneater, too blind to see the true path to glory, and who are too weak to avoid subdjugation by a Suneater migration swell within the ranks of the Gullveig of the tribe. But these tribes are hidden from the Burning Gaze of their mighty god, they are not viewed as foes of the Suneater (such a status would make them fearsome indeed), they simply no longer exist in his eyes and therefore can never recieve his blessings. As such the flame still burns them as it would never burn a true disciple of their god, they cannot belch forth his devouring fires nor summon the pyres to his glory.
    Such is the curse of the Bal Kasta, they will live their entire lives in the service of those chosen by their God but never live to see that power become theirs. Great Volsungr will have full regiments of Bal Kasta within their armies, a striking show of his dominance over the tribes as his fallen foes now serve at his whims in Battle, and in time some of these fallen champions may well be put to use. The Gothi Engineers of the tribes have long since mastered the Fyre Powders of Aqshy, using it to power their catapults payload and feed the mighty Pyre Belchers of the tribes, and whilst no true Son of the Suneater  would disgrace himself with using it to mimick the mighty fire belch of the Beserkr there is little that Bal Kasta have to lose and many find themselves all too willing to try.
    These brave (suicidal?) Balkasta have two mighty fire belching blunderbuss strapped beneath each arm, their form clad in beaten iron plating that mighty (probably not) resist the flame should the volatile alchemical mixture backfire onto them, each is attended to by their own compliment of Grots tasked with filling and reloading the fire belching cannons as the Ogors simply cannot use their hands for anything other than holding onto this fearsome arsenal. Those who live long enough in battle hope that in time, should their gods eyes fall upon them belching flame from these mighty cannons, they might earn his favour and be elevated from the rank of Bal Kasta, though such a thing is unlikely.
    Tactics: Short ranged and at their best when immobile the best use for Bal Kasta is to use a Waaghkart to throw them up the battlefield, becoming a point defense unit on an objective you need secured and scorching any enemies that mighty dare to come close. The Bal Kastas ideal target is mid weight infantry though they are no slouches in horde control. Supported by a defensive line of Ashen Grots to take any charge these Ogors can then fire over their defenders in unrelenting barrages to fell oncoming units.

  8. Melcavuk
    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.
  9. Melcavuk
    Like many others since the inception of Age of Sigmar I have been waiting to see how the normal men and women of the Realms come to be represented, from the citizens of Azyr to the settlers who go on to form Freecities and the refugees trailing in a never ending stream back towards the Golden city as the tides of chaos, death and destruction ravage the Realmscape around them. As I wasnt a fantasy player before Age of Sigmar became a thing i had no pre-existing loyalties to the factions of old, no fond memories of Empire and Brettonians to niggle at the back of my mind when imagining the shapings of the armies of Man to come in the later Age of Sigmar lore.
    One of the most interesting elements to me was the seperation of the Ironweld Arsenal, a faction comprised of the heavy artillery and siege engines of old accompanies by engineers and the potential this could open up in terms of how the faction would grow, expand and become a unique force on the battlefields of Sigmar. The concept of soot drenched, smoke belching armies chewing their way through the battlefield, a vertiable force of the industry of man that held little reverance to the will of Gods and Daemons, who trusted in the strength of their own steel and heat of the flames of the furnace. 
    So the theme:
    To my mind the Gunnery Schools of the Ironweld are an empire unto themselves, their vast factory complexes as much cities in their own right seperated into the Nobility of the schools of Engineers down to the peasantry of the labourers. The noble houses each vying for status as the lead with an ever expanding array of contraptions and staggering arsenal of weaponry defining which holds the seat of power and becomes the Guild Patriarch, in this way the constant competition drives them ever onwards, never once allowing themselves to simply sit idle whilst others seize power around them.
    The Weld revere Grimnir not as a god but as the peak of Artisans of his craft, a true genius in the refinement of the very art of war. It is his very skill in ever labour that the Duardin and Men of the Weld have come to revere, seeking ever to improve their craft that they might create a weapon worthy of the Duardian Mastersmiths attentions.
    The peasants are a dour class, functional clothing long since having been stained a shadowed black by the coal that has become a key pillar of their daily existance, the volatile nature of the machinery often claiming the lives of dozens in the name of progress. Those who are not killed are often maimed, their severed limbs replaced with crude beaten metal replicas strictly functional and given none of the workmanship of the Weld's true arsenal. In times of war these peasantry march alongside the armies of the weld, wielding roughly forged metal bucklers alongside black power or bladed weapons to protect the Guilds arsenals.
    The Nobility are a breed apart, each marches to war with their own personal armoury from their families artificer forges. From smog belching metal steeds and ornate battle tanks to the lumbering battle armour of the Ironsworn Templars the very act of war is as much a way of advertising their own Guilds wares to would be buyers from both sides of the battle. Those unfortunate enough to be injured are often adorned with complex and beautifully refined enhancements to further embellish the legends of their own noble house.
    Battleline Concepts:

    Weld Arbalesters 
    Though lacking the status and wealth to carry true weapons of the Weld, the Arbalesters march to war equipped with blackpowder laced bolts and heavy crossbows, able to launch volleys of devastating explosives down the field. Lacking in the accuracy and refinement of the Nobilities weapons these soldiers exist as much to sow panic in an enemies ranks.
    Weld Riflemen
    The simplest of black powder weaponry are common place in the mighty forge cities of the Ironweld, those tasked with guarding the vast complexes carry with them longrifles to pick out targets at range. Though simple in design they are suitably devastating in a volley to deter would be thieves and spies from their charge.
    Weld Phalanx
    Marching to war with heavy plated metal shields and long lances the ranks of the Weld Phalanx form a bulwark of expendable labourers to deter would be chargers against the lines of the Ironweld. A wall of men and metal form a thorny barricade to protect the true wealth of the Ironwelds Armies.



  10. Melcavuk
    So here's a light hearted faction focus for my Suneater tribes for AoS 2.0
    FACTION FOCUS: SUNEATER TRIBES
    Its time for another Faction Focus today and one I'm sure all of me has been waiting for! We'll be looking at who the Suneater Tribes are, with tactical insight from "Totally not me wearing a different hat" along with how they'll evolve into Age of Sigmar Second Edition...

    WHO ARE THE SUNEATER TRIBES
    Fanatical, obsessed and enraged the Suneater Tribes are the city burners of the Destruction faction, they are ruled over by Ogor Prophets who play the role of Barbaric Kings and Seers of the tribes, driven by the will of the Suneater (A Volatile aspect of Gorkamorka) to burn the cities that seek to bring order to the wilds of the Realms. The Suneater tribes are an enemy of Sigmars own making, a result of his armies being left to enforce their own concepts of civilization without restraint across the realms, conquering tribes who would otherwise have taken only their fair share of meat and lives from weaker races. The relentless expansion of Order cities pushes the tribes to the edge of extinction, and in this moment of cataclysm a mighty Prophet walked forth from the blasted deserts at the edge of Ghur, a living avatar of their Gods firey temper.
    To the Suneater tribes every city in the realms is a taunting reminder of the dominance that Order sought to show over their people, it is a blight on the face of the Realm, they believed that when walls are broken and shelters burned the natural order of things will resume, with Ogors (and their grotkin) resuming dominance over the weaker man-things of the Realms. The Suneater tribes fiery temper is matched by their abundance of pyrotechnic weaponry, wielding flame as easily as blade or club in their onslaught, they bring what few other destruction factions can... the ability to break wall and burn fortress. To this end they are often slower moving than many of their destruction kin but make up for it with a plethora of ranged weaponry and a first for destruction: Priests.
    A Suneater tribe migration is a literal scar upon the realms, hundreds of miles of woodland in Ghyran is now little more than a blackened wound referred to as "The Scorch" where a rogue Suneater migration was eventually brought to a halt by a combined Order alliance. Whilst the Suneaters themselves were destroyed the wound they left on the realms has yet to begin to heal, either through intense heat or magical mean no seed will take to the burnt soils they left in their wake.
    PLAYER PERSPECTIVE
    Ricki-in-a-Hat is one of the most devout players of the Suneater tribes, more to the point is definately not me in a hat giving the tactical overlay of my custom faction, at all.
    Interviewer: So what attracted you to the Suneater Tribes
    Ricki-in-a-Hat: Well first of all thanks for having me Tim..
    Interviewer: I'm not Ti...
    Ricki-in-a-Hat: Good story Tim, I found the original factions of destruction to be lacking something, they all encapsulated the wilds of the Realms but it lacked that emotional aspect that I find ties me better to collecting and playing a faction. There is a visceral rage to the Suneater tribes, they are not acting without reason but avenging centuries of abuse and onslaught by the cities of order, in their minds they are the good guys here, fighting to reclaim lands and lives lost when Sigmar decided that his armies would take what was theirs in the name of "Good"
    Interviewer: So what're your tips for Suneater Tribes players?
    Ricki-in-a-Hat: Stoke the Pyres, the inferno marker ability is a fantastic way of delivering massively impactful abilities on a turn by turn basis, all from the hugely thematic concept of burning down the terrain that makes up the battlefield (could anything be more destruction?) You'll want a couple of Gothi Fyri priests using their Cowardly rule to avoiding incoming fire to stoke pyres across the battlefield. Most Suneater Tribes units are better when near, or targetting an enemy near an Inferno Marker, use their to control the battlefield either by having troops Firewalk using the Waaaghkart or delivering an unrelenting artillery bombardment.
    Interviewer: What advice would you give to a new Suneater Tribes player?
    Ricki-in-a-Hat: Start with a character, these are the lynchpins of the Suneaters story, every tribe is shaped by the will of its Volsungr prophet from their fighting style, appearance all the way down to their motivations. In developing your tribal leader you'll understand and connect better with the rest of your force. Some will be led by Ogor centric Volsungr who trust the Gothi Priests as far as they can throw them (which admittedly is still pretty far, especially if you crush them into a ball first) so will focus on Gullveig and the mounted Ogors to deliver much of their blow. Others might listen a little too much to the Gothi whispering in their ears, a force comprised of cowardly Grots with minimal Ogors present but bringing in much more artillery.

    IN THE NEW EDITION
    So GREAT NEWS... I'm still writing the Battletome (see procrastination is for WINNERS), what this means is it can evolve and change with the new edition, first of all this faction packs in some of the most reliable combat Wizards in the game with a Volsungr on Magmadrake packing in over 20 wounds and enough mobility to delivery him where you want your endless spells to originate. Your Inferno Marker will also take on new life in AoS 2.0 as the excitations of flame elementals focuses around the Pyres of the Suneaters, you'll have to decide whether to use your Pyres to enhance your fighting capabilities or extinguish them to unleash volatile and capricious flame elementals on your foes and drown the battlefield in living fire.
    Points will ofcourse be reviewed as we enter the new edition, with a couple of units already seeing points drops (Slatr Warbeast), but moreover whilst over factions relish the new "Look out Sir" mechanic your Gothi priests take it a step further with their Cowardly rule keeping them entirely safe from enemy shooting when hidden near other Suneater units.
    You'll also be able to take advantage of some of the massively thematic new relics from Ghur and Aqshy, realms the Suneater tribes have the bulk of their Migrations in, this way you can tell the tale of your tribes conquests through treasures captured along.
    Combining Pyre Markers and your Waaaghkarts ability to launch units up the field you'll be able to target enemy characters seeking to hide in the backfield, or bring your slower units to bear in the prescence of your Volsungr on Magma drake, locking down the enemies most potent units with your own viscious combat units and controlling the battlefield from an early stage.

    IN SUMMARY
    The Suneater tribes and their world burning migrations are looking set to bring the cities of Order to heel in the new edition...
  11. Melcavuk
    Today saw the most recent clash between the Aeloran Nomads and my Suneater Tribe Ogors, the first in our narrative series to shape the factions place within the Realms. We decided to use the Open War card in order to generate a decent narrative for the battle beyond the normal objective based clash, it was our first time using the card and the variation in deployment made for an interesting start. The Suneaters tribe came straight down the middle of the field, a roiling unrelenting steamroller of muscle and flame, meanwhile the Nomads scattered to the edges of the field, emerging from two of the nearby forests in a pincer move to surround and envelop the slower and more cumbersome foe. Generating the Torrential Rain card was a nice touch, adding a real sense of atmosphere to the battle whilst our objective was to each take out the opponents messenger (for us these were the people carrying warning back to the rest of their faction of the oncoming war).

    TACTICAL OVERLAY
    As this was the first time in testing out many of the Aelven units I played soft with the Ogors, rather than deleting units I knew to be potent I wanted to see how potent each of the units were, however this couldnt always be the case (closest target, blocking my way etc). Poor deployment made the gladeshards easy prey to even the weaker flying hero of my force, they were initially too far out of range to hit and with a 16 inch move the carrion drake moved from outside their shooting range to in combat with them in a single turn so they didnt hold up too well.
    The Longstriders survived an onslaught of Bal Kasta, Aldin Draken, Grots and catapults, very resilient and putting out a few wounds of their own in return but the Pyre ability (-1 to hit for shooting) and the rain (-1 to hit for shooting) really didnt help the Aelves in this encounter, often making even their normal infantry hit on 6's at range which is just unplesant to far. It also stunted both the Bal Kasta and Aldin Draken shooting however, the former I forgot to use most of their abilities and the latter did reasonably but would be better utilised against a force with more monsters in it.
    The Apex predator rule on the Wyld Runner chariot was fantastic, holding my general in place whilst both the chariot and griffon savaged him and brought him down was a great victory for Charlotte at this point in the battle (I had been systematically deleting units, the centaurs got stood on by the volcanic idol). The battle really went on for about 6 turns, even then both our messengers were on full health (my grot hid in a cave, he's a grot) as time wasnt on our side and the battle was balanced we diced off and Charlotte came away with a well fought win. Narratively as more aelves had died the Ogors dominated the village and took the land but the Aelves filled their mission of getting a messenger through the Suneaters lines to rouse the rest of the Hunt to this new threat.
     
    STORY
    The Aeloran scout crouched low in the lashing rain, her boots sinking into the deluge of mud beneath her and the once life Aelven cloak that shielded her form now sodden with rain hung heavily on her back. Her party had been ordered to take up position in a small copse of trees at the edge of what must have once been a man-kin village, from here she saw her first glimpse of the devastation wrought upon the world when her kind had abandoned it to the tide of chaos. Once mighty stone structures had been shattered as though by the hands of gods themselves, mighty carved pathways through the village now broken and shoddy reclaimed once more by the wilderness, there were no signs of the populace of this once burgeoning settlement, no laughter of children, no ringing of the dinner bells… it lay hollow and empty much like the Aeloran themselves.
     
    Though it must have been nearing midday the heavy clouds had long since drowned out any memory of the sun, darkness swarmed across the battlefield and visibility was rapidly becoming an insurmountable challenge. Yet even through this wall of rain she could see the flickering lights of their quarry, hundreds of torches somehow enduring the outpour as though fuelled by some arcane means, the very rain tasted of the smoke and ash their foe sent out into the wilds. More worrisome was the thunderous footfalls of the beasts that formed their preys procession, at the head of their column lumbered some monolithic creature, the glowing embers of its mask making its haunting visage visible leering in the darkness, with every slam of its heavy feet the trees itself seems to wince and lean away from its advance.
     
    As the last of the enemy procession cleared the treeline, the low drone of a hunting horn spurred the young Huntress from her thoughts, all distraction fading from her mind she felt the doe-kin spirit that shared her form spark into life. The energy of her blended soul coursed and rippled through her form, every muscle twitching with renewed vigour, leaping out of her crouched position her fingers curled tightly around the ironbark bow as her party joined the hunt. Silent save for the last reverberations of the horn still resonating through the treeline the Aelves advanced rapidly, leaping deftly over broken branches and ruin alike, the nearer the came to the enemy force the more they could hear the shrieking riotous laughter of the madness tinted grots still hidden from view, screeching in their primitive tongue to whatever gods they had sworn allegiance to. Notching an arrow, the Hunter took up her position amongst dozens of other archers, even Aelven eyes straining to pick out their quarry through the rain.
     
    As the enemy advance came into view she could feel the ripple of shock resonate through those around her, each doing their best to mask it, but a discernible wince seemed to flood through the battle line. Standing well over twenty aelves in height came the enemy leader, a giant hewn of stone, its every coursing vein glowing with volcanic heat, a savage mask offering only a leering grin of distain to all that lay beneath it. Every step it took seemingly scorching the very earth upon which it stood, on its shoulder stood the screeching maddening grotkin they had heard on their advance, large and bloated for its kind she could not help but feel disgusted at its very form. With this massive monstrosity came lumbering Ogor cavalry, massive even for their kin and clad is heavy beaten iron armour, sat atop fat wingless drakes whose scales glimmered and rippled in the glow of their volcanic master. Behind them came crude metal contraptions, lumbering and creaking with every step mounting crude weapons beneath each arm, what foul monstrosities they were she could not tell but only hope it was not first hand that she would find out.
     
    With every moment yet more horrors came into focus, poorly constructed wooden frames carrying massive rock totems to their god, siege engines carrying burning pay loads, dozens more Ogors and hundreds of screeching Grots… yet it was of little consequence. The hunting horn sounded once more, as one the archers rose from their positions and loosed their arrows, wood slick from rain what would have once been a seamless barrage rapidly descended into madness yet enough seemed to find their mark, Ironbark tips piercing even the rock hide of the monstrous creature at the head of the Ogor column. No cheer went up yet there was a sense of smug satisfaction as the Volcanic entity reeled backwards, short lived however was any joy the Aelves derives at its low rumbling laughter shook the very trees around them, followed shortly by the same lumbering footfall as before, they had done little more than amuse it.
     
    As the rain broke momentarily the Huntress could spy the second pincer of the hunt closing on the enemy across the shattered remains of the village, dozens of stags leaping over low walls as their riders filled the sky with a torrent of arrows instead. The satisfying screech of impales grots punctuated every loosed arrow, Kurnoth hunters from the realm of the forest loosed massive spear like arrows of their own, yet even their mighty blows seemed to do little to the monster at the head of the column. Through the midst of the Ogor ranks she could spy crude bonfires being rapidly assembled by the enemy priests, every bonfire lit beginning to fill the clearing with a heavy smoke that threatened to choke the air around them. Even without the rain this smoke made it hard to place arrow to their quarry, wiping the sweat from her ash stained face the huntress paused for a moment. A sound resonated through her acute hearing even over the clamour of the battle, the strain of wood… a low growl, too late she realised the source of her distraction as the agonising sensation of a crude bolt ripped through her shoulder, the very strength of the shot carrying her forwards as the bolt embedded in a broken wall in front of her. The impact slammed her head to stone, coursing agony flowing through her every thought, blood beginning to blur her vision as she glanced backwards to her attacker. A second party of the giant lizard riding Ogors had approached from their rear… had they been the ones being hunted? Such delirious thoughts had little time to take root however as consciousness began to flee her beleaguered mind and darkness resumed.
     
    Flickers of consciousness… merest glimpses of the battle found their way to the Aelfs mind, she could only watch helpless as her sisters valiantly tried to fight off the lizard riding hunters to no avail, soundlessly whimper as the bloated beasts feasted on their entrails. She could utter no warning as the heavy metal clad Ogors with their crude weaponry seemingly walked from the mighty pyres their priests had erected, belching gouts of molten metal that turned the once peerless gryph chargers of the nobles into screeching piles of singed flesh and molten slag.
     
    She saw, with at least some satisfaction, her noble king fighting the volcanic beast that led the enemy assault, as his great chariot impaled the beast in a fearless head-on charge, a noble griffon descended on the stone-beasts back, the pair clashing and ripping the beast apart stone by stone even against the screeching protest of its Grot passenger. She saw too the hammer blow that shattered her kings chariot… though held out hope he had survived the assault to hunt once more, the spear like bolt that laid low the griffon even over the smouldering wreckage of the volcanic idol.
     
    Great Wyldshard brambles had begun to flood the battlefield, every drop of noble blood that touched this accursed dirt sunk deep into the rain sodden mud. Wickedly sharp brambles erupted forth, they moved with carnivorous intent as they coursed and flowed across the battlefield, a living wall of vine and thorn that sought to stunt the Ogors advance.
     
    As consciousness fled once more her final vision was of the fleeting form of the Wyldmare racing past her, a smile filling her blood-stained lips. The messenger had broken through the Ogor lines, help was coming.
     
     
     
     
     
     





























  12. Melcavuk
    Chosen of a god borne of Fire and Destruction, the Prophets of the Suneaters rule not by might alone but by Divine Right, they are chosen, elevant and gifted beyond any of their kind that they might be the fists of the Suneater beating down against the cities of Order. Every Volsungr is a warrior of reknown, a capable wizard (though intensely destructive in the nature of their spells) and a competant tactician, those who have not passed their trails of the Suneater cannot challenge them for rule of the tribes as none would follow a creature so unloved by their God. 
    The Volsungr
    In the guttural dialect of the nomadic Ogor tribes the word Volsungr "Vol-Sun-GHUR" roughly translates to Chosen one or Chooser, both of which apply aptly to the great Volsungr of the Suneater Tribes. They are the highest authority within the tribe, seconded in potency only to the great Suneater himself, they have walked the blasted wastes and faced the great trials in the same way the very first Prophet of this kind did and emerged the stronger for it.
    Each nomadic tribe has but a single Volsungr, the most potent of their Ogor wizard that has risen to dominance, often the oldest and strongest of their kind their skin is rough and blistered from decades walking the flames of their Gods glory, adorned with trophies of civilisations that they have incinerated. To pass the final trial to become a Volsungr each aspirant must tame one of the great drakes of Aqshy, walking alone and unarmed into the Scorch fire Chasm as their prophet had done so long ago. So seldom does such an aspirant emerge from the Chasm successful (or intact) that there are but a handful of Volsungr roaming the realms, each at the head of a great host of the Suneater tribes who recognise their glory.
    Volsungr ride into battle mounted atop their Magma Drakes, a rippling beast of scorching heat and burning hot scales. Their hides are thick enough to deflect even the best of Duardin blade and their great wings allow them to race down the battlefield even carrying to burden of their master atop their backs. In the heat of battle they can unleash boiling brimstone flame from their wicked beaks, boiling blood and shattering bone with the intensity of the molten magma that erupts from their gullet.
    Tribes form around the Volsungr, seeing them as the prophets of the Suneater and his embodiments within the realms, as such each tribe takes on features of their Prophets, often mirroring his garb and trophies with priests screeching out their new masters interpretation of the will of the Gods. For this reason should a new member of the tribe seek to take on the position they are cast out into the blistering wastes, for no prophet can endure the word of another, if the Suneater finds the challenger worthy he will protect them and allow a tribe to form around their new interpretation of his will.
     
     

    Exalted Volsungr: 
    It is said that from the day they are chosen the Volsungr, great prophets of the Suneater tribes are gifted with the touch of the volcano, indeed many have been witnessed in battle belching forth great gouts of flame and magma to douse their enemies and leave them to an agonising death. Such things (the gothi say) are the blessings of the Suneater, that his mightiest warriors might one day rival the destructive powers of the volcanic mountains of the realms). They are seemingly untouched by flame from the day of Ascension, feeling no heat nor pain at its prescence. Indeed many take to bathing in the Magmaflows to cleanse their unsightly crevices of parasites that no Gothi can even be convinced to remove.
    As a Volsungrs migration spreads across the realms, leaving a blistering scar of scorched earth in their wake, they share in the power gifted to the Suneater with every pyre to his glory lit, the further they travel and more pyres they ignite the more powers bestowed upon them, to some comes the choking cloud of ash that shadows their every movement, choking out any foes who would dare approach. To others the calloused and coarse skin becomes as hard as the stone of the mountain itself, yet more manifest a mighty bellow that can fell trees and shattered the most hardened rock as though the power of a volcanic explosion.
    It is said that the most aged of the Volsungr reach such power that they need no migration to follow in their wake, they have become the mountain and their Gods chosen warriors, in time these ancient warriors leave their tribe to the next prophet, migrating across the realms to rest at the Maw of the Suneater, the birth place of their tribes and await their gods command. They take no guard with them, nor trophies or treasure... such things mean little to these mighty avatars of their god, instead only their most loyal of Gothi priest are permitted to (and insisted upon) accompany them to their holy site.
    As years turn to decades these warriors fade to myth, yet now as tremors of change ripple across the realm the Suneater stirs from his pit, with a mighty bellow his chosen warriors march forth once more. This once mortal forms changed entirely as their hardened rocklike skin has grown to immense size, no longer can they merely belch the flame, their entire visage has eroded to the rippling orb of flame to drown out even the Sun itself, so much has their power intensified that every crack and crag in their rocklike skin seethes with blistering heat. They are accompanies, as all Volsungr, by their most loyal of Gothi borne high above the battlefield on the shoulder of their prophets. These Gothi are perhaps the most unsightly of the pair, a Grot unlike any other... one that has allowed to both grow fat and old, feasting on the food and treasures their champions no longer require.


  13. Melcavuk
    Frankly Ironweld would not be Ironweld without artillery pieces, it is the very heart of their faction and sadly of late their artllery has been left to rot due to the ability to shoot the crew out from behind the warmachine leaving players with simply useless cannons unable to be crewed on the battlefield. There was no need to tweak the lore behind these warmachines as each is a defined and well known part of the arsenal and thus my aim was merely to bring them more in line with modern War Machine scrolls and answer that age old question "Why dont other soldiers crew them when the crew die?"
    Well now they do, every labourer in the Ironweld has basic experience of manning the guns, it is the very heart of their existance, they help to manufacturer, maintain and fire these devastating machines of war and understand that the cost of the artillery far outweighs the cost of a labourer. As such the artillery pieces can now "heal" using labourers from units nearby, who drop their current weaponry to frantically maintain the artillery when ordered to do so.
    This is simply the first interplay with the LABOURER keyword added to the Weld Guard, they form the backbone of the force so that the Nobility can fullfill their own agendas. Having a good number of Labourers in your force not only lends weight of numbers and attacks but ensures that your heavy hitters are kept in the battle for longer.



  14. 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.
  15. Melcavuk
    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
  16. Melcavuk
    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.
  17. Melcavuk
    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
  18. Melcavuk
    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.
     

  19. Melcavuk
    For anyone whose been keeping an eye on the Ironweld Arsenal fantome project, or avid fans of big guns in the Age of Sigmar we've put together the version one allegiance abilities, warscrolls, batallion and playtesting points lists for the Ironweld Arsenal. Below are our initial outlays and abilities for the faction that we'd love feedback and critique on aswell as any ideas that fresh eyes can bring to the concepts. These are the gameplay mechanics of the Ironweld, though feel free to check out thread in the main forum for the Narrative elements or my twitter feed @rlrsmith88 
    If anyone has the models to playtest/proxy out games I've love to see photos and know the results, what needs tweaking or refining aswell as what works particularly well on the field of battle.
    Collated PDF: IronweldmechanicsV1.0.pdf
    So here we have Allegiance Abilities:
    Warscrolls - 
    HEROES
    BATTLELINE
    OTHER
    BEHEMOTH
    ARTILLERY
    BATTALIONS
    POINTS COSTS

  20. Melcavuk
    Trying to pick a base model for my next Sigmar conversion. When looking at models to use as the basis for my Weld Guard (5up save infantry with either rifle or pike) I have three options for base models all of which speak to me for different reasons and I need help deciding:
     
    The classic Ironsides, a nostalgic empire I look but unfortunately this could make them easily confused with Freeguild. A natural fantasy choice but nothing intrinsically Ironweld about their look
     

     
    The long coat, to me these would look like career soldiers. Formal in their guild colours but distinguished from the militia. Always been a fan of long coats. Needs a weapon swap and would have Empire Outrider heads.

     
     
    or the Steam Punk, correlates nicely with the steam engines and Templar armour but even with a head and weapon swap they’re very tech. Stylistically probably the most Ironweld but I’m already getting flakk that the Ironsworn is too 40k

  21. Melcavuk
    Looking for idea on the development of the Ironsworn Templars (aiming to make a unit version (Templars) and a character version (Paladin) with the latter able to buff the former Significantly, and both able to inspire the Labourers)
    War beyond the walls of Azyr, to the little people far below the gaze of the Gods and Titans that seek to claim the realm of their own, is a bloody and often short lived affair. Those who have not earned the favour of the God King are not spared the bloody butchery that make up the myriad of battlefields the realms over, from the tortured wastelands of the Great Parch to the body strewn marshes on the approach to the Black Pyramid of Shyish. To the nobility of the Ironweld, whose souls are far from the perfection sought by Sigmar to make up his great hosts, the disfavour they have been shown is insult unanswered, perhaps they have spent far too long in the company of the Duardin Artisans but such nobilty know all too well how to hold a grudge.
    Denied the preservation of eternal service in the hosts of the Stormcast the Ironweld have sought new ways of prolonging their lives, replacing limbs lost in battle with finely tuned prosthetics, some even go so far as to say that the Matriachs of the noble houses have found ways to live far beyond the years of mortal men and women. It is this very determination to endure inspite of the arrogance of gods that drives the true heart of the Ironweld onwards, their cannonades become the roar of their choir celestial, their steel behemoths are the wings upon which their empire soars, and on the backs of their labourers they will be raised aloft that they might stand amongst Gods and Titans to claim their place within the Realms.
    Yet in truth all of this would not be possible without the aid of a God, Grimnir the Master Smith has long since been the benefactor of the hosts of the Ironweld, teaching his craft first to the Duardin artisans of Azyr, and through them the heart of the Ironweld has spread to man and dwarf alike. The greatest pupils of the Duardin artisans became the first families of the noble houses, the five pillars of the Ironweld Arsenals combining their family estates into the first factory city of the Ironweld, and through the generations it is these families who have been responsible for the myriad of weaponry that marks the Ironweld Arsenal as the true heart of the empire.
     
    The Ironsworn Templars - 
    Even the true heroes of the Ironweld, the children of the noble houses are not spares the miseries of the Battlefield. War is the very heart of commerce for the Ironweld Arsenal, any child expected to rise through the ranks that they might one day steer the fate of the factory empires must understand the visceral nature of War in a manner that only those who have served the host could.
    Should these young nobles be wounded in battle no expense is spared to restore them to fighting fit, eschewing medicine for masterwork engineering it is far quicker to sever a damaged limb and replace with a metallic replacement to return them to the front lines instead of waiting for healing to eventually take hold. Yet there are those whose injuries could baffle even the artisan engineers of the Weld, and it is these souls who qualify for the growing ranks of Ironsworn Templars.
    New, innovative and brutally effective the Templars have only recently marched forth from the crawling factory city of Oran, heavy lumbering suits of armour thrice the height of any soldier in the weld. The beaten steel plating built around a harness augmented with newest hydraulic innovations, they are the  glorious knights of the new generations of Weld Nobility. They carry with them enormous zweihander blades augmented with oil belching hoses that they might be ignited in the midsts of battle, able to cleave into even the most monsterous or magical of foes with disturbing potency.
    Those soldiers whose injuries have moved them beyond the fields of battle can still serve the Weld from within the Ironsworn Templar armour, burning metal rivets driven through broken limbs to adhere them to the beaten steel harness. Torn wounds cauterised by the searing heat of the suits furnace that they might never tear open again, the very internment is a life of constant agony and yet they are revered amongst the armies of the Weld, a living embodiment of sacrafice in the name of the Ironweld. For the labourers to see such icons of war marching alongside them sparks inspiration beyond measure, that the nobility might bleed amongst commoners is a unity beyond measure.
    Monsterous Infantry (6 wounds, 3+ save, slow movement)
    Special Rules - 
    Icons of War - Friendly LABOURER units may reroll failed Battleshock tests whilst they can draw line of sight to any IRONSWORN units from your army. 
    Incendiary Arsenal - able to deal mortal wounds but risk taking mortal wounds themselves each time the blades are ignited.
     
    C&C welcome as always
  22. Melcavuk
    As some of you may know I've been at this for a fairly long time now, converting and making news things is the main lure of the hobby for me and I'll fit games in around that. However there are times that I get stuck in the void between projects where I am starved of inspiration and desperately need something to spark off a chain of ideas that can form the basis for my themes. To do this I often start trawling around various blogs and websites in search of something that clicks into place, or wander the exhibit hall at warhammer world searching for a model, component or bit of scenery that I can build my own ideas around. I'm glad to say that this works 99% of the time, and since I have for years been an inspiration leech off of others works I figured its about time to pay some of that back into the community.
    Below are most of my conversions for the last two years, I've left off the Suneaters as they can be found in the rest of this blog, and the latest Idoneth because I have a live thread in the painting and modelling section for them. This isnt me saying "I'm so good at this, you must learn from me", its my way of paying back all those who have inspired me throughout the years that hopefully anyone searching for a glimmer of inspiration can see some of my old works and make a newer, better and more cohesive idea based off of them.
    I have explored maaaaaany army in the last two years, in part due to the rich tapestry that is the potential of age of sigmar and in part because my partner is overly supportive of my hobbies, I tend to avoid chaos as I like it more as a taint on an otherwise differently inclined faction rather than a thing as a whole but otherwise have explored most races (barring dwarves, cant get behind converting them for some reason).
    So thanks for reading, and feel free to browse what is a massive photo dump to follow, feel free to ask any questions and I hope if you're seeking inspiration there's something there to spark it.























































  23. Melcavuk
    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.
     
  24. Melcavuk
    Anyone who read my battle summary would have seen that tragically the Exalted Volsungr got a bit beaten up by a Griffon and a Chariot, tragic ofcourse but it does beg the question what happens when an immortal warrior of the Suneater is felled in battle?  Can such a creature ever really die? What role does the Gothi accompanying them play in such a situation and how exactly are they "healed" if the can be? 
    Well here's how, part two of the battle summary, Rebuilding a God as the now mountless Gothi seeks to rectify what went wrong:
    “Stupid Aelves….” His voice shrill with irritation as his thin wrinkled lips curling back to revel a rack of yellowed yet wickedly sharp teeth as he spat into the dirt “Stupid skin and bone Aelfkin, broke him they did…” Irritated, old and wizened yet remarkably fat for his kin the Gothi priest balled his fists and slammed one into his rocky mount, a piercing scream of agony punctuating the idiocy of such a move for a frail and feeble creature to undertake. Worse yet as realisation overtook him the priests began to caress the rock, murmuring softly back to it “But we’ll fix him up, feed him up food, feed him on the Aelves and their pathetic little souls and yes….”. Within a moment all trace of softness vanished from his voice “FASTER! HE’S HUUUUUUNGRY!” he barked forward to the scarred and blistered backs of two Ogors in front of him, swaying with every step of their rippling scaled mounts, the stench of the pair was almost unbearable, a putrid combination of the muds of this rain sodden field combined with Ogor sweat and the unmistakable odours of faeces made the frustrated priest miss the isolation and dry cracked earth of his former refuge. He could not tell if the response came from Ogor or Draken, but it sounded enough like an irritated huff of compliance to assure the old Gothi of compliance, turning his attention back to the boulderous skull of his former master and mount he was sat upon, great chains wrapped around its mighty horns to drag it behind the giant Draken mounts of the Aldin bodyguard.
     
    There was little by way of conversation as the two mounted Ogors dragged their precious cargo up the hill toward the sweltering heat and night piercing glow of the great pyre, it afforded the Gothi time to nail down precisely what had gone wrong in the battle. They had been sent ahead of the great migration of the Burnin Klaw, Great Prophet Fyrebite had demanded it of course… why would someone chosen by the gods ask when he could demand after all. They were to forge the path to the Maw Gates whilst the rest of the migration gathered slaves to sustain them on the long haul back to Aqshy and the blistering heats of home. This land was meant to be the quite place, once fortress to the puny fanatics of the pretender god Khorne and their pathetic little rituals, the very thought brought a furrowing of the brow and yet more spitting of distain from the Gothi priest. Those pretenders had taken the land from the fool-man Sigmars pets, and before them it was the wildlands… now it was to be the Scorch, one finger of the mighty fist of the Suneater as he pummelled this realm into submission. But this quiet place wasn’t good quiet… no it was Aelf quiet, the quiet that bites on the wind and runs like a coward, the quiet that isn’t a good fight but like rats in the night. Stupid raingod thought he could quench the great Pyres of the Suneater, but the Suneater pummelled raingod and the Pyres rose high, puny Aelves thought they could stick the Gothi good with their beelike arrows stinging all round but the Gothi were too smart, hiding behind Ogorkin whose big backs could take many arrows and small brains might not feel them. Stick bird thing though… stick bird pecked at the mighty Gor-da, Exalted Prophet of the tribe, mighty Gor-da who had shaken whole realms and walked as mountain of flame and stone, Gor-da who now was just a dull rock starving slowly in the night… stupid Stick-bird broke him good.
     
    “Bring it!” the Gothi priests shrill cry pierced the night once more as his two escorts unceremoniously dumped their chains into the dirt by the pyre, only the thick mud of the hill stopping the great stone skull from rolling back down to its starting point once more. The maniacal laughter of his attendants at least brought a shifting evil grin to the older gothis face, each shuffling into view from behind to glow of the pyre with a barbed chain lashed around the face of a bruised and beaten Aelf. Every tug of the chains elicited a pained yelp from their captive, much to the riotous laughter of his jailors, inch by inch forcing their new toy closer to the giant skull.
    “Make it kneeeeeell!” he cried into the night, an attendant delivering a bone crunching wallop to the feeble boned Aelf to drop it to its knees. Even the laughter of the attendants died out at the Gothi raised his hands to the nights sky, the beasts of Ghur falling silent in anticipation. The older Gothi begun to utter guttural prayers, low… rumbling noises of the volcanic wastelands he had for so long called home, his hands arching and curling through the air as bony pale fingers beckoned to the great pyre before him. Serpentine the flames leapt higher, leaping and twisting as they moved toward their summoner, at times they reeled back as though some wild beast resisting the will of their master but each time he called out shrill into the night and they came back to compliance. Each tendril wrapped around the broken Aelf, at first inching around limbs, the smell of singed Aelf flesh sweet in the night sky, the flames rose through the Aelven form as though through dried wood, wreathing the creatures whole form into flame.
     
    The priests prayers reached a climax, now so shrill they’d passed beyond the hearing of most mortal creatures, his fingers outstretched toward the burning Aelfs form he balled up fists and slammed them once more down into the Rocks skull that formed his stage. With this final movement the flames leapt from Aelf, burning into the eyes of the stone-hewn mask, the roar of the Volcano punctuating the rituals completion with great gouts of flame emanating from eyes and mouth of the fallen Idol of the Suneaters. The spark once more lit the Gothi caressed his fallen masters skull, beady eyes staring out into the crowd of gathered Ogors and Grots “More Aelves… He’s hungry… and bring rocks... big rocks.”

  25. Melcavuk
    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

















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