Heralds Of The Storm - Some Early WIP Pics

I've really struggled to get anything done for these lately as I had been working evenings and with the kids evenings (once they're all settled into bed) are then only time I ever get to actually build or paint my minis generally. Luckily I've gotten on to the day shift at work now so I have my evenings back which means I have my hobby back!

Been playing in a fantasy campaign at my gaming club which starts out with 500pts armies and even that's a woeful unpainted mass of half-built proxy miniatures so I'm eager to try and get some of these guys done. I also really want to paint my first character to try and enter the COTEC painting competition but I'm going to be tight for time on that now I think so will have to see how it goes!

Some WIP Chaos warriors with halberds, got another 16 of these to build for this unit yet!

The character I'm working on - Tarkal Khagan - I really love the Harry The Hammer miniature and I was glad to get my hands on another one after converting him and using bits of him to make my BSB for the Devotees of Elazar way back when! Itching to try out the colour scheme for this army on him (or any mini for that matter!) so will hopefully get him started in the next couple of nights!

In the background you'll spot a load of great weapon wielding marauders. They're all mostly with the exception of the all need heads on their weapons as they're currently just running around with big sticks! Then with a bit of tidying up and some GS they'll be ready to paint!

Hopefully there'll not be anywhere near as long between updates this time and I'll have some more to show off soon!

Heralds Of The Storm - Getting Started

First off, it's shocking that there's not been an update on The Glorious Works since June! A lot has happened in that time with a new baby and a new job so I'm only just now starting to get my hobby time back!
They say that everything goes around in a circle and so it seems as here I am starting a new Warriors of Chaos army. This one actually kind of follows on as the background ties in with the old Devotees of Elazar, and in particular with the Storm God narrative campaign that I wrote...
So first off some new fluff!

*

Rumpolt Staudinger panicked as he tripped over a rock underfoot. At one time he’d been weary of his drawn out existence but now suddenly faced with his potential mortality he found himself desperate to survive. The daemon Elazar had used him as a pawn and as a chronicler of all of the being’s nefarious deeds and to aid him in this task he’d extended and twisted the old man’s life out for a great many generations more than he should ever have seen. And now in hindsight he realised it had all been destined to lead to that one specific point in time. Elazar had sent Rumpolt into the north to a massive cleft in the earth at the foot of which The Storm God slumbered. An ancient Shaggoth, kin to those other names dreaded of their kind - Krakanrok The Black and Kholek Suneater. Aarakturious Stormfather had spent centuries in hibernation, awaiting the great storm that would summon him to war once more.
A being aflame with ambition Elazar The Glorified sought to summon the very storm that would awaken Aarakturious. Alongside a coven of sorcerers sworn to his service they channelled vast energies to birth vast black clouds that crackled with the pent up fury of the storm. The summoning destroyed the minds of the sorcerers and the chaos energies warped their forms into hideous mutated spawn but for a Daemon Prince of Elazar’s standing the energies were easy to bear with very little strain.
The terrible storm that followed was a thing of nightmares. Thunderclaps sounded and the world shook at their roars as if the sky was splintering overhead under such tremendous force. Hail and lightning lashed the land amidst such chaos the Storm God stirred. The Daemon Prince Elazar demanded fealty of the ancient Shaggoth and Aarakturious responded with a deafening roar that made the thunder overhead seem tame. The Shaggoth climbed from the cleft in which he’d slumbered to the cliff tops above. Again the Daemon Prince demanded the fealty of the Storm God and was in turn swatted aside with contemptuous ease. The tribes that surrounded the lands where the Storm God slumbered had built a temple to the sleeping behemoth and the chaos gods that he served and to this temple Aarakturious strode bathing in the lightning that now struck repeatedly at his titanic form.
His pride now a stinging wound in his daemonic heart, Elazar The Glorified soared to the temple built to honour Aarakturious and the ground shook as the two beings duelled amidst the great pillars risen by the tribes in tribute to their infernal patrons. The Chaos Gods watched the contest, the storm had drawn their attention but the combat that raged between Elazar and Aarakturious now held their gaze.
In Aarakturious Tzeentch saw the changes that would be wrought upon the world by his armies and he spied all the paths of fate leading to and from this moment plotting their course. Slaanesh bathed in the ancient pride of the Shaggoth and could already sense the great torrents of fear that would drown his foes. Nurgle sensed the despair in mortal hearts at the Storm God’s reawakening and knew that in their wake his armies would leave fields of carrion to be tended by flocks of crows and swarms of flies, each host to plagues and diseases beyond counting. Khorne could feel the endless rage of the storm, the infinite hatred of the dread Shaggoth and knew that towers of skulls would be heaped at the foot of his great brass throne in offering.
In that moment Aarakturious carried the blessing of each of the Ruinous Powers and Elazar felt only the scorn of his own beloved patron. With a ferocious strike Aarakturious destroyed the Daemon Prince’s physical form banishing him back to the realm of chaos. The storm overhead swelled with power as the chaos gods fed its power to herald the awakening of their new champion.
The Devotees of Elazar had borne witness as events unfolded before them, helpless to intercede as their beloved leader was destroyed. With a roar Aarakturious summoned his own followers to war and those tribes that had journeyed to witness the awakening of the Storm God descended upon the Devotees. But, for all the ferocity of the Astragar, Kavakh and Mulghar men it was the egos of the champions of the Devotees of Elazar that spelled their doom. Each keen to ascend in Elazar’s place they killed their own just as readily as the Storm God’s followers sought to slay them. Some such as Harkaitz made their stand and were cut down by the tide of tribesmen whilst others like Endika Fleshtearer fled to escape their doom.
Amidst the chaos Rumpolt Staudinger had thought he’d made good his escape until he glanced back and spotted the half-dozen riders dogging his steps. In an instant the fight was gone from him, he felt the years of his extraordinarily long life catching up with him all at once. Resigned to his fate he hobbled over to a rocky outcrop and sat himself down.
The riders sensed an end to their sport so quickly covered the ground between themselves and the old man. All six of them were Mulghar men. They were each frightful in their own way bearing slight mutations that marked them as servants of the dark gods but it was the man that rode at their head that scared Rumpolt. He wore a helm and armour on is right arm that seemed alive with the electricity of the storm that still raged overhead. Arcs of lightning played over its surface with an audible crackle but the man himself seemed not only unharmed but unfazed by them. On his chest a brand of a lightning bolt had been burnt into the skin, marking him as a servant of the ascendant Storm God. The man leapt down from his mount, a beast clearly touched by the warping energies of chaos, and then hoisted Rumpolt to his feet. He said something in his own tongue that Rumpolt didn’t understand and within seconds the other five men had leapt down from their steeds and began to bind spears together with twine. The man stood watching Rumpolt as the men in his thrall set busily to whatever task he had set them. His face was hidden behind his helm which he’d topped with the skull of some beast. Even without being able to see the man’s face though Rumpolt could feel the barely contained rage which seemed to charge the air around him, the fury of the storm above them seemed to echo in the heart of that man and Rumpolt felt only dread as he regarded him.
When the Mulghars had finished they had bound together dozens of spears in the image of the eight pointed star of chaos. Another shout from their leader saw the men grab Rumpolt and drag him struggling to the chaos star and bind him to it. Rumpolt alternated between howling in fear and pleading with the but if they understood his words the made no outward show of it. With two thick ropes they raised the start upright and into a hole they’d dug into the ground to plant it.
“The storm will decide your fate,” the armoured man said his voice iron as it sounded from behind his helm.
As the men mounted their horses and continued southwards riding ahead of the storm their leader glanced back over his shoulder and watched the lightning raking the ground around the chaos start they’d erected and then saw it catch light as another bolt struck it and it burst into flames, a fiery sigil of chaos against the black clouds that stretched back on the horizon. He thought he heard the old man’s agonised screams for a moment but the thunder drowned out the sound like cruel rumbling laughter.

*

This is going to be an Undivided Chaos force. The followers of the Storm God worship the four ruinous powers as well as the Storm God as the gods' chosen champion.

I was inspired by The Temple of Skulls shown in White Dwarf 381. My wargames club has just bought one so I painted it similarly so that there's now some themed terrain where I play all my games! Just need to build and paint the army now!

I've also put together some mock-ups of for my chaos ogres. I saw a great Ogre Kingdoms army using the Minotaurs somewhere on blogger. Their owner had sculpted pants etc to make them Ogre bulls but I figure the chaotic feral feel of the Minotaurs is perfect as is for some very raw looking Chaos Ogres.

More Destroyed Vehicle Markers

Back up on ebay!

 

The Glories Of Others - Monsterzonk's Nurgle Troll

I wanted to show Monsterzonk's Nurgle Troll that he made for his Warriors of Chaos army. I think it's a disturbing and awesome mini and really captures the feel of the army!
Monsterzonk has two great threads on Warseer associated with this army. The project is called "A Tale of Plague and Pestilence" and is split over two threads, one for the miniatures and one for the fluff.

A Tale of Plague and Pestilence - Army Building Thread
A Tale of Plague and Pestilence - The Story Thread

Here are some pictures of the Nurgle Troll

I also want to include a WIP picture just so you can see how much green stuff work has gone into this unique mini.

I personally can't wait to see a complete unit of these! Please go and see Monsterzonk's threads linked above for the rest of this army. There are some amazing miniatures that he'd built and painted and its an army with a really great theme!

Lots of Warhammer & 40K Stuff Up On Ebay

Have had something of a clear out!
The following are all listed on ebay here
Including:
Vehicle Destroyed Markers
Lots of Bitz lots
Bretonnian Green Knight
Land Raider
Hellcannon
Transfers
Zombies
Ghouls
Grave Guard
Skeleton Warriors
Lots More!

Image Property of Games Workshop

Destroyed Vehicle Flickering Fire Markers For Sale

Now up on ebay get them before they run out!

Black Knight Mock-up

I posted a picture of this on Twitter last night but here it is again with a couple of other pics just to show roughly what I'm planning on doing for my regiment of Black Knights. I've used Grave Guard body, head & shield; Dark Elf legs & lance; a Bretonnian horse; and there will be a Skeleton Warrior's arm to hold the lance.

Obviously the finished minis will involve far less bluetac (e.g. none) so things will fit together better and I'll be swapping the lance onto a skeletal arm I just couldn't be bothered to do all the cutting and sticking when I'm not putting them together quite yet! Plus there will be some green stuff and I need to work out the bases... the list goes on...
Anyway, what does everybody think?

Preparing For War - Getting Ready For WFB 8th Edition: Part I

Whilst my time with the (beautiful) new rulebook has been brief so far it’s very clear that Games Worksop have been very bold and ambitious with this edition of the Warhammer rules. There are some quite fundamental changes to the way the game plays and from what I can see they deserve a lot of credit for making these changes without invalidating the entire range of army book as had to be done with Ravening Hordes in the past. From what I understand a lot of issues that may arise too should be getting cleared up with the FAQ/Errata update that’s just around the corner.

Now, as the rumour mill ground out the odd snippet I have to admit that I was exceedingly sceptical. However, upon seeing a lot of the elements that concerned me in the wider context I’m impressed and genuinely excited! Warhammer really seems to play to its background now and the games take on the feel of the epic battles out of books and films.

Image Property of Games Workshop

One of the simplest but possibly the biggest change is in my opinion the ability to pre-measure distances. The purist in me was admittedly a little alarmed when I first read that. Suddenly the playing field has changed. I think this was a necessary change with the introduction of random charge distances. You can be a lot more precise when concocting your nefarious plans but like all good plans they might go straight out of the window when it comes to the nitty gritty.
I like the idea that charges might peter out before the warriors make contact with the enemy, leaving units sitting ducks for the counter-charge. I like to imagine this represents the natural ebb and flow of a battle, exhaustion setting in and enthusiasm being drained from a charge as those at the front realise they’re running at a wall of spears. So I’ve decided that all troops are going to need rousing speeches before the call to charge. Yes, this edition I just might be THAT player!

Once you get into combat, you come across a whole host of changes that really change the shape of Warhammer Fantasy battles. Firstly there’s the rules regarding stepping up and supporting attacks. In essence these allow troops in the second rank (and sometimes even further back) to make an attack. This will make combats more brutal and realistic. Alongside casualties being taken from the rear and not affecting the number of attacks you’ll get in retaliation (unless the rear IS one of your fighting ranks) we get combats that have a more life-like flow to them. Yes, you might chop down 10 of the 50 strong Goblin unit but this time they’re not all going to stand around checking their watches and waiting for a turn in which they can attack back. They’re instead going to scramble over the corpses of the fallen to try and stab you with something pointy, they’re going to jostle each other to get the chance to add to the kill-count. Combats seem more brutal, more visceral, more desperate and frenzied – exactly how war should be fought in the Warhammer world.

Image Property of Games Workshop

Before you get into combat though there are the magic and shooting phases. Magic has gotten a huge overhaul along with the combat system. Gone are the days when you need to take a Level 4 Wizard and two Level 2s just to remain competitive in this phase of the game. Dice are generated by rolling 2D6. The casting player takes the sum of the roll as his power dice and the defending player takes the highest individual dice as his dispel dice. These dice can then be used by any of your casters. To cast a spell you roll you chosen number of power dice and add your magic level. Miscasts are gone on double 1s but a double 6 casts with irresistible force. However, with irresistible force there is a magical backlash and you have to roll on the loss of control table. You dispel in much the same way you cast, rolling dice and adding the magic level of the dispelling wizard. Magic now falls more in line with the background. The winds of magic are fickle and ever changing. There is great danger in wielding them but also the chance of devastating power.

Changes to shooting have included one I hoped they’ make but which has come in for some criticism on forums; true line of sight. I was never a fan of the two heights fits all rules in previous editions; they were clunky, confusing and unrealistic. Whilst I used warhounds to screen my Chaos Knights from shooting it never felt right that the little doggy blocked my opponent from seeing the hulking, chaos armour clad brutes atop massive barded daemon-steeds that followed behind them. Interposing models which don’t block line of sight now decrease your chance to hit slightly and this feels so much more real. Picture the scene –

The Empire musketeers loaded their weapons. Their eyes locked on either the slavering jaws of the massive hunting dogs that scrambled across the battlefield towards them; or on the dark armoured riders whose steeds’ nostrils billowed steam in the cold morning air, keeping pace behind the warhounds.
“Aim for the horses!” the order was roared.
Adelbert squinted, taking aim at the exposed flesh under the barding of one of the chaos steeds. He heard a couple of panicked shots go off early, the pressure of the approaching foe affecting the concentration of the men and some in self-preservation choosing to instead try and fell the faster approaching dogs.
“Fire!”
A barrage of shots pelted the knights but Adelbert had hesitated a second, one of the hounds had leapt up, blocking his view and foolishly he’d attempted to adjust his shot but instead fluffed it and it flew harmlessly past both hound and steed. A few of the knights were felled in the volley but the hounds were upon them now, the knights would exact their bloody revenge if any of the Empire's men still drew breath afterwards. Adelbert drew his knife and roared in anger, trying to dispel the creeping despair as a tide of claws and fangs leapt at him hungrily…

You can’t tell me getting to play that out isn’t cool?! That’s what I really love about some of the rules changes; they’re making the game so much more cinematic!

Image Property of Games Workshop

In Part II I’ll go into some more detail regarding rules changes and how it’s likely to impact the way we pick our armies. Then in Part III I’m going to try and build a new list for The Devotees of Elazar to make them ready for 8th edition.

Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition

Image property of Games Workshop

Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition is now available to pre-order along with a host of related goodies. The rumours have been thick and fast of its coming and I have to say GW look to have done a stunning job presentation wise. The book and related products all look exceptionally pretty. I certainly want a set of those dice too, they'll go mighty fine with my other Gorewing dice too! Lots to have to buy, just as well it gets released on my birthday!

Zorion The Resplendent on Chaos Dragon Early Mock-up

My Warriors of Chaos haven't been forgotten I'd just been looking for something a bit different to get my teeth stuck into with them. So here's a very early mock-up of what I'm going for.

Obviously, the dragon is still in need of wings. They'll be added on once I get my hands on them.
I've done a fair bit of work to the Carnosaur to get it into the pose I want and to make it a bit more dragon like. Firstly, I bent the tail of the model to a completely different angle, this was for the most part purely about the balance of the piece. Obviously balancing that much metal in the air leads to an element of inbalance so stretching the tail out allowed me to offset that a great deal. The tail was extremely hard work to shift so I kept boiling it and bending it until I got roughly the shape I wanted. I also bent the Carnosaurs left out to make the pose look more realistic as it climbs the rock ready to soar back into the sky in search of prey.

That picture shows the difference in the Carnosaurs pose now. As you can see I've extended the neck to make it longer bodied and slightly more serpentine in shape. The head on the Carnosaur is actually from another Carnosaur but cut further down so that also helped to extend the neck so far. The milliput there at the minute is just to space, I'll be adding greenstuff on top to detail scales etc.

Zorion the Sorcerer Lord rider is still very early in his construction too. For the most part it's the mounted Slaanesh Lord mini but the helmet is from a Dark Elf but with the cone filed down to make a flat top more like an Arthurian Knight style helm. I might add some decoration to the top yet and I'll be sculpting a gem to cover the hole in the helm. The Slaaneshi staff top is the icon from the Daemonettes sprues.
The rock on the base is made from air drying clay for the most part and some milliput under the left foot. Again, there'll be green stuff etc to tidy this up and detail it but for now I'm just getting the underlying shapes down. Imagine wings on him though and you'll have a very good idea where I'm trying to go with this.

The Glorious Works Painting Service

I am looking to start taking painting commissions -

Obviously without knowing your needs its difficult to give prices. The cost will depend on the specifics of your project so please email me with all the details you can so that I can produce the best possible quote for you. Prices will include basic assembly of minis and basing as required but more extensive conversion or difficult assembly work will mean a slight increase in price.

Once painted I will send pictures (and can and will do so throughout the project) and finalise payment details including delivery costs. I'm quite happy to work with overseas customers just please be aware that postage may be higher as a result.
If you require I can purchase products on your behalf (doing so means I will require at least 50% of these costs up front). I will always try and find the best possible price for these. This option may be particularly useful for overseas customers to avoid having to incur the delivery costs twice. Again, if you email me with your needs or questions and I'll be able to discuss them further with you.

The Storm God - Part 2 The Fameseeker

The Bretonnians had been true to their word as Rumpolt was to his. They spared his life and he began to lead them through the wastes to where the Storm God slumbered. Their intentions for being in this place were noble which often gave Rumpolt cause to chuckle to himself. Such ideals, how quickly they would be perverted out here in the wastes. For their part the Bretonnians ignored his ramblings and random fits of laughter, but seemingly they still thought him sane enough to lead their way. They ignored him when he told them the stories of his dreams, the stories that the daemon, Elazar planted there. Although Rumpolt was careful to keep that small detail to himself. As they made camp once more, finding what shelter they could from the now driving rains, Rumpolt fell into his day dreaming.


The story was the same now as it had been since he’d been borne away by the Bretonnian Knights. He dreamt of a giant of a man, a warrior of the north who swore his soul to the daemon, Elazar. In his service he won great renown, slaying all the enemies the daemon sent him after. The warrior had taken the name Lord Kemen The Infamous and warriors flocked to his banner eager for a chance to share in his glory. A roving tribe of Hung had descended upon the lands Kemen laid claim to. Slaughtering the armies of Kemen’s lieutenants and taking the skulls as offerings to the Blood God. Lord Kemen brought the Hung to battle, amongst the carnage he sought out the rival champion leading the Hung on their rampage. The two warriors made their oaths to their patrons and after a bloody combat Lord Kemen had slain the Hung chieftain. He took the heart of his fallen rival and burnt it in offering to the daemon. Elazar in return showed great favour to Kemen, he descended onto the battlefield on glorious white wings and made gift of an exquisite blade. Lord Kemen took the offered blade and felt the mirrored hunger for glory that coursed through the sword as if it were a living thing. The sword and Kemen were a perfect match, their same need for fame bonding them in a way no warrior and a weapon of the mortal realm could. Fate had other far less glorious plans for Lord Kemen though. Despite being leaderless the Hung didn’t cease their own campaign. They plagued Kemen’s armies as they marched to make war in Elazar’s name. The Hung performed constant hit and run attacks but wouldn’t be brought to battle. The Daemon, like all beings of chaos was fickle and soon Elazar’s gaze fell elsewhere and despite the successes he later reaped Kemen couldn’t recapture the undivided attention of his patron and fell into a sullen depression. His army shrank as many left in search of greater glories and Kemen could feel the resentment the sword he wielded now held for him.
One day that all changed. A young warriors known as Luken The Sixth Born marched his growing warband into Kemen’s lands. Lord Kemen The Infamous rode out to meet this warrior. Kemen felt the gaze of Elazar upon his new champion and he and his blade rejoiced at the opportunity they had been presented with. The sword’s ravenous hunger for the glory of victory overtook Kemen and he issued a challenge to the young warrior. The years of inaction made Lord Kemen slow and Luken, basking in the attention of his patron, took the upper hand. Betrayed by the weakness of its master the sword leapt from Lord Kemen’s hands and landed at the feet of this glorious new warrior. Luken ignored the blade and ended the life of Lord Kemen with his own.
Elazar descended from the heavens once more and gave the blade to the remnants of Lord Kemen’s warband. He ordered them to build a great tomb to honour their former master in death. They were ordered to place his sword at his side and spend the rest of their existence guarding him in his final resting place.
Years of toil above and below ground were finished and Lord Kemen’s tomb was complete. Each of the entrances marked by great monoliths telling of the magnificent deeds of Lord Kemen. His followers entered the tomb and never again stepped foot above ground, guarding the remains of Lord Kemen and his sword The Fameseeker.


Rumpolt recounted the tale daily to his captors but they seemingly dismissed it for madness. However, when a monolith was spotted in the distance Rumpolt felt a growing anticipation amongst the Bretonnians. When they approached the monolith and saw it told tales of Lord Kemen the greatest amongst their ranks ordered the army to make camp and descended into the tomb. Rumpolt envied them, the rain was constant now, the skies eternally dark. Looking into the distance Rumpolt smiled. The Bretonnians had been watched by others. Soon they would all get to witness the reawakening of the Storm God…

*

The characters dismount and descend into Lord Kemen’s tomb. Overpowering the smell of damp and dust is the scent of a quite potent opiate. Instantly the characters can feel a blissful sluggishness about themselves but realising that to succumb to its effects would ruin them they shake their heads clear and resist the urging voices at the back of their minds telling them to breathe deep of it and enjoy its sweet release.

Getting Started
The scenario is played on a board. The player with Rumpolt Staudinger in custody deploys first and takes the first turn. The other players roll off to decide their deployment order. (The players take their turns in this order also. The player with Rumpolt goes first regardless of any other benefits and/or penalties so praying Bretonnians will still go first!).
The guardians of Lord Kemen’s tomb always go after each of the players.
Each player receives 3 Dice of Heroic Destiny.

Deployment
The players place all their characters in their marked deployment spaces.

Exploring Lord Kemen’s Tomb
The game is played following the normal turn sequence.

Movement
Models with US1 move as skirmishers and have a 360° LOS.
Charges are not declared. A character needs only to be in a square adjacent to a model to be able to attack it in the close combat phase.
Models can walk or run. Walking pace is equal to the model’s movement characteristic in squares on the board. The model can move to any unoccupied square.
A model can also run this is done at twice the pace of walking. If a model runs it cannot shoot or cast spells that turn.
Opening a door counts as an additional square of movement on top of the movement required to reach the door and move through it.
Models cannot move back to the square they started their movement phase in and still count as moving. If they do this then they count as having been inactive in their movement phase.

Magic
Magic works as normal with the following exceptions.
Spells that target an enemy directly or indirectly will always require LOS regardless of the normal rules of the spell.
All ranges should be halved within the confines of Lord Kemen’s Tomb.

Shooting
Shooting works as normal with the following exceptions.
Shooting attacks that target an enemy directly or indirectly will always require LOS regardless of the normal rules of the spell.
All ranges should be halved within the confines of Lord Kemen’s Tomb.

Combat
Combat works slightly differently to normal.
Combats are fought in initiative order unless a model should be striking first or last due to special rules of equipment. Models with equal initiative should each roll a dice; the highest result determines who gets to strike first.
There is no combat resolution to calculate. Combats are fought out and if both sides survive then the combat will continue in subsequent turns until the models are no longer in base contact.
Models can allocate their attacks against any model in base combat and can split their attacks between targets as they choose.
All combats count as being fought to the front regardless of the position of the actual models. Therefore models will get the additional armour bonus for using a hand weapon and shield etc.
Models are not locked in combat and are free to move in their movement phase if they are able to.

Psychology
Psychology works mostly as normal.
As with all other ranges inches should be interpreted as squares.
BSBs allow a re-roll to all psychology tests within 12 squares.

The Opiate
A heady opiate pervades Lord Kemen’s Tomb. The product of great sorceries carried out in the name of Elazar and the Prince of Excess. The opiate numbs the mind and limbs, providing a joyous release from the strain of existence, at least those are the whispered promises of the voices speaking with the heads of all in the Tomb. They urge the characters to surrender themselves to the intoxicating bliss of nothingness.
Whilst the characters focus on their goal they manage to ignore the effects of the sorcerous opiate. However, in inaction the characters are vulnerable to intoxication.
At the end of the movement phase any character that has stood motionless must roll a D6, on a roll of a 1 or 2 they have succumbed to the opiate. A character that falls victim to the opiate cannot shoot or cast spells this turn. Until their next movement phase their weapons skill and initiative are halved (rounding down). If a character has already succumbed once to the power of the opiate then its addictive qualities will make them more prone in future. Any further tests are failed on rolls of a 1, 2, or 3.

The Guardians
The remnants of Lord Kemen’s warband sealed themselves in their masters tomb to guard over him and his sword The Fameseeker. Each room occupied by a guardian will contain a dice until a character has LOS to the contents of that room. More than one dice means more than 1 guardian. The player that discovers the contents rolls any dice present there to determine what they represent.
1, 2, or 3 – Chaos Warrior
4 or 5 – Chaos Marauder
6 – The guardian has fallen completely to the opiate’s embrace and is unable to respond to the invasion of his master’s tomb.

The guardians of Lord Kemen’s Tomb have wilfully abandoned themselves to the effects of the opiate, indeed their sorcerers created it. All guardians count as being affected by the opiate but they are still able to move but only at a walking pace.
If the guardian has fought in combat this game turn then the numbing effects of the opiate begin to lift as they remember their purpose with renewed vigour. They can move as normal (including running) and their initiative returns to normal. (Their weapon skill is still halved). At the end of their turn all guardians fall back into the depths of the opiate.

Victory
The winner is the player to get one of his characters to the resting place of Lord Kemen and take The Fameseeker. This is done by moving into an adjacent square to where the sword lies.

Experience
Each slain guardian is worth +1 Experience Point.
The character that reaches The Fameseeker gains +5 Experience Points.

The Fameseeker
The character that reaches the weapon will have to choose whether to take the sword and wield it in their quest to slay the Storm God or to destroy the weapon and not let such a creation of chaos out into the world once more.

The Dark Emissary - Now On Ebay!

Ebay Auction















Pleased with how this one turned out. I really hope I've captured some element of the artwork I based the colour scheme on. He's now available on ebay. Please bid if you're interested as he will be helping to fund my new 40k army!
Comments and feedback appreciated as ever!

The Dark Emissary - A quick update

Time for an update! Still got a fair way to go with this yet but the colour scheme is starting to come together now.