KoW Varangur/Aos Khorne Warhost WIP

Some models I've been working on, still have plenty of work to do but I wanted to share my progress. I think of these guys primarily for Kings of War, but when I have them all painted up I'll finally have a starter AoS Khorne force and few potential critters and a wizard for the Frostgrave skirmish game as well.

I'm playing around with Reaper Snow effects, seen most clearly on my unit of Fallen and Cave Beast. It looks okay, if a little stark. I'm doing some experimenting to bring out some of the textures without making it strange colors with the washed I have at my disposal. I'd love to hear some thoughts on that! In either case, here we have the Collared Warband:

Vhalnach the Conqueror, Mutant Son of Korgaan , Forger of Chains
and Lord of Ghorath Hold.

Vhalnach is an AoS Khorne Lord, and will count as a Chieftain on
Direfang. His purple chaos hound gives him... speed, or something.

Vilkas the Enslaver, the warband's Skald encourages the troops to
stay in the fight with his words and threats of the lash.

Asmund Headtaker, First of Vhalnach's thane's and personal
bannerman. He carries the Banner of Korgaan at all times when in battle.

The lighting could be better. Much better. Still working on getting
a workable lightbox to fix the problem.

Arcadius the Exile, Magus of the Host and his homunculi Visage.

In Mantica, Arcadius is a former Basilean wizard and will pull triple duty-
either as a Magus, a Necromancer, or a Frostgrave wizard (and apprentice~)

The 'roided out commander of the armies Reavers, blessed by Korgaan
and Acadius's spellcraft until they assume the form of bigger-than life
Berserkers.

In this warband, many warriors are former slaves who (under
lash and boot) proved to their master's that they were strong
enough to join the cause.

The Age of Sigmar miniatures are taking center stage at this stage,
though figuring out the 50% +1 for regiments and the like will be
my next interesting challenge.

I do really like these Blood Reaver miniatures. I think I found a color
scheme that distanced them from classic Khorne roots without directly
precluding them from jumping right back into AoS if I wanted.

Brakkas the Hungering Skullbeast was found slumbering in Korgaan's
Temple deep under the former Abyssal Dwarf Hold of Ghorath.

Awoken from its slumber, Brakkas will count as a Cave Beast or, in a
pinch, a Cave Troll King.

Finally my elite unit of 'Fallen', Korgaanite warriors brought back from their eternal
rest to once again bring war to their Master's enemies.

So that's what I have done for my Kings of War Varangur army. I have more Blood Reavers to paint, thirty five odd Chaos Warriors for Bloodsworn, some chaos hounds to act as Tundra Wolves and a few metal odds and ends to maybe build up a Chieftain on a Chimera. My next big project will be to figure out the best way to build troop movement trays to accommodate the AoS circular bases- hopefully in an aesthetically pleasing and tournament legal way.

On the building table is a few units of Mantic undead from the KoW two player starter set. They'll start life as Frostgrave monsters and allies for my Varangur, but hopefully I'll be able to support a great company by expanding it to a full blown army one of these days. One project at a time. Well, at least per game system!

Expect some longer fluff for these guys soon!

Frostgrave Hadross Warband

I finally have some more of the Wrath of Kings Hadross painted up, and while I near the minimum model count for my first few games of WoK, there is another game I can use them for- Frostgrave! This time Nassicus the Deepcaller (an elementalist harnessing the power of the icy deep) has risen from the frozen shores (or perhaps, from out of the lakes leading to or from the Breeding Pits) to find fortune and fame.

All Wrath of Kings Miniatures! Well, except for the Reaper Intellect Devourer-
which acts as a magical conduit (apprentice) for the warband.

Of course, any Hadross player knows that you need a giant crab to
carry all of that lovely treasure between games!

The Crab, of course, counts as a Bear.

This is Not a Test Skirmish: Quarantine Breach [Cold Vengeance]

Caravan's were the lifeblood of the Keystone territory, spreading wealth and much needed supplies amongst the scattered settlements and hold-outs. It wasn't the safest career, with dangers in the environment and natives threatening from all sides... but rarely did entire caravan's go missing. Usually there was some sort of trace... but not this time. 

The P&G Cartel's premier Wagon Master and his entire staff had gone missing in the area, and there were no traces. Raiders and beasts would have picked the bodies clean, but there would have been SOME indication of a struggle. The freak snowstorm didn't make things any clearer, heavy irradiated flakes forming in great piles to impede quick foot traffic. What Major Armstrong wouldn't give for a working Vertibird! Of course, the snow was the least of their worries.

The trail led to the quarantine zone surrounding the territory of one of the most powerful factions in the Keystone region. The Order of the Red Cross was ruthless when it came to enforcing their borders from possible contamination and infection. If the Cartel tried to by-pass proper Order checkpoints to make some extra caps...

"//This is Sector Commander Pyre//" the rough, deep voice cut through the chill air like a hot knife "//You are entering a restricted area. Turn back, or we will forced to initiate Purification Procedures!//"

Welp. That didn't take long. 

The Battlefield. 

The Order of the Red Cross rush to the barricades as the Keystone
Rangers refuse to back down and vacate the area.

Still searching for evidence of a missing caravan, the Rangers
make sure to keep cover in case it all goes terribly wrong.

The Rangers set up their missile launcher just as the Red Cross
Sacrificial land crossed no man's land to bring the Order's 'terms'...

Spotting the explosive collar, Major Armstrong made the call and
ordered his ranger's to open fire- the standoff was over, and the bomb
was dead. 

The Major takes up a covering position behind the
house, trying to get his Ranger's into a better position.

The Order begins to push out past the barricades, trying to
get the flamethrower to bear- but he'll go down in a hail of gunfire.

The Order return fire takes the Ranger sniper out, and drop the
LMG man Hohenheim. Riza the Outrider's wounds would be
survivable, but would give her a fearful look. Hohenheim wouldn't survive.

The ladies of the Order (Officer Baldwin and Quartermistress Heart) take a strong position
overlooking the battlefield. The battle will soon end in an Order victory- 4 to 2.

The chatter of gunfire slowed, all clear signs radiating from the entire unit as the Ranger's were pushed away from the sector. Commander Pyre heaved himself up and over a barricade with a grunt, his reflexive stealth suit ruptured and stain with blood. He could tell from long experiance that the wound was very much cosmetic, skimming flesh rather than anything important, but it still meant that he was looking forwards to a long decontamination shower when he and his squad returned to base.

"Alright, look for survivors still in the area." he commanded curtly, assuming that nine would be found. The Ranger's had a reputation for doing their best never to leave one of their own behind. It was commendable, but predictable. Just like it was predictable for Caraveneers to circumvent protocol and try to buy their way out of a predicament.

But protocol was protocol. No one passed through Order territory without passing the proper examinations and security checks. And there was only one punishment for lingering in the Quarantine Zone.

Purification, before any contagion can spread. 

This is Not a Test Skirmish: The Lost Scout [Cold Vengeance]

This was quite the mess. Makyat was a veteran of the waste's, but even the most experianced wanderer could fall prey to simple bad luck- and boy was this bad luck. All he wanted to do was make sure the Rangers moved off of Tribal land like they agreed... and he managed to run smack-dab into a raider band. These particular band of crazies were led by a demon-masked man known throughout the hills as 'The Underking'.

Ruling out of some ruined Vault like a feudal warlord. The things they said...

Well, with howling madmen on his trail he couldn't head back to Walks-in-Mist. He would try to lose them, and hopefully the Rangers would take care of the problem. Hopefully.

The Battlefield- Rangers on the left, Raiders on the right, Tribals starting
at the bottom coming out of the suburbs. Makyat, the Scout, finds himself
in no man's land hiding in the white ruined building.

The Keystone Ranger Peacekeeper Warband! 

The Tunkhannock Valley Tribal Warband!

The Dunmore Troop Raider Band!

The Rangers make their way through and old military depot. 

Searching for a lost scout, the Tribals break the cover
of  a nearby town looking for their lost scout. 

The brutal Raiders out looking for prey... but they didn't expect
two well-armed bands. 

Despite Radstag Joe's motivating words, apparently a pall has
 fallen over the band- nearly every tribal fail their first activation.

The Rangers have no such problems and rush up to
take defensive positions along the perimeter.

Tactical Hohenheim sets up to cover the no man's land with
his lmg- effectively covering the Ranger's entire flank. 

Tribals finally make it to the edge of the town, catching site of their scout in 
the center of the battlefield and training weapons on their myriad enemies. 

The Raiders get to the low wall, but unlike their opponents, they
aren't content with cowering behind cover. 

The Mad red-hood run's towards the center, while the Scout
Makyat tries to hide. Worried about an attack, he climbs to the
second floor to get a better vantage point...

Just in time for the fragile peace to break. The raiders begin to fire (ineffectually).
This lead to the Rangers firing.... much more accurately. A rocket launch blows two
Raiders into the dust, while Riza the sniper puts a hole in the Tribal Scout's back.

Along the other flank, the Tribal's engage the raider to great effect.
Big Tom makes it up the hill and knocks down Wendigo, but is taken out
by the spam suit laced within his skin. 

Rains-Fire gains some small measure of revenge by blasting the sniper who killed
their scout with long range missile fire. Its painful, but eventually the score is tallied,
and the Tribal's win a Pyrrhic victory. 

The raider's were driven from the field, battered and bleeding. The Ranger's made a show of 'securing their rear' but eventually pulled out of the area as well. Even so, Radstag Joe and his chosen warriors didn't creep down from the cover of the town until the dead of night. A quick search of the area revealed what they all feared- Makyat's body. He was slumped where he fell, in a pool of blood and shattered bone.

It was a hard thing, to find a friend dead in the dust. Makyat had been there for him from the beginning. He was the one who had found him, half delirious from the summer heat and lack of clean water. The one who had saved his life, was now dead.... and from the look of the wound, he had found his end under the sights of a former friend and protege. Pain ripped into his heart as he remembered watching Riza's unconscious body carried from the field by the Ranger's. Pain followed pain.

And all over some bad luck. What a waste.