Harkaitz - The Herald of Elazar, Bearer of the Glorious Standard

The stories of Harkaitz, amongst the tribes, are many but in truth very little is known of The Herald of Elazar. He has fought alongside the Daemon Prince’s armies as far back as any mortal memory goes and he has witnessed the rise and fall of a great many champions. Legend has it that Harkaitz is the last surviving member of Elazar’s warband from before his ascension, and that is why he has the honour of carrying the Daemon’s banner. This would make Harkaitz centuries old but within the Realm of Chaos such things are possible. Whatever the truth of things his presence in an army is an omen of a great battle to come. Elazar does not send his banner bearer lightly.
The Glorious Standard that Harkaitz carries acts as a vacuum for the souls of those that fall in battle against Elazar’s armies. Dragged into the Realm of Chaos these souls are subjected to endless tortures for Elazar’s pleasure. The wails and screams of the trapped souls can be heard emanating from the banner in a cacophony of suffering. More disturbing still, faces press against the mortal realm from within the banner. They plead for their freedom before they are dragged back by the daemonic minions for more tortures. The sight of one’s fallen comrades begging for deliverance from the next plane is enough to unman many a foe and the mere presence of the banner has turned the tide of many a battle, the resolve of the enemy crumbling the face of such terror. After the battle Harkaitz can be seen riding back into the chaos wastes to return to his Prince’s side. His name drifting back into legend until the next time he marches to war.
The Daemonic Steed that bears Harkaitz to war is the subject of a great many legends itself. This terrible beast has been named as Gentza by the tribesmen that worship the Daemon Prince. Gentza was the cruel steed gifted to the then mortal Elazar by Slaanesh and Harkaitz’s steed matches all the descriptions in the tribes’ oldest tales. However, Gentza is said to have sired many offspring and these spawn of the daemon mount are given as gifts to those warriors who earn Elazar’s favour. Some of them wholly Daemonic, others an impure mix of horse and daemon.

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The Glorious Standard (counts as Banner of the Gods).
Unnerving foes and inspiring acts of devotion from Elazar's servants, the banner is a thing of pure chaos. Anguished howls of the fallen echo across the battlefield and promise the ruin of all who oppose the Glorious Host...
The presence of The Glorious Standard has such an effect on the combatants of a battle that the bearer causes Terror. Also, all friendly units within 6” of the banner become Stubborn.

Harkaitz - The Herald of Elazar, Bearer of The Glorious Standard (A Sneak Peek)

More (and much better) pics will be posted Monday but was so pleased to finally be done that I had to post a photo!

1500pts Doubles Tournament

It's the WFB Doubles Tournament tomorrow at my gaming club. Had to submit our lists yesterday so I thought I'd post mine and my son's up.

My son's Orcs & Goblins:

20 Orc Boyz
Shields
Full Command
150 pts

20 Goblins
Short Bows
Full Command
100pts

20 Night Goblins
Spears
Full Command
3 Fanatics
175pts

10 Forest Goblin Spider Riders
Short Bows
Full Command
170pts

Night Goblin Shaman
2 x Dispel Scroll
100pts

Orc Big Boss
Additional Choppa
Light Armour
Shield
78pts

Total: 773pts

The Devotees of Elazar:

5 Marauder Horsemen
Mark of Slaanesh
Flails
Throwing Axes
Light Armour
Musician
106pts

6 Chaos Knights
Mark of Slaanesh
Musician & Standard Bearer
Rapturous Standard
300pts

Endika Fleshtearer
Exalted Hero
Mark of Slaanesh
Flail
Shield
Steed of Slaanesh
Blood Curdling Roar
Collar of Khorne
Favour of the Gods
199pts

10 Warhounds
60pts

10 Warhounds
60pts

Total: 725pts

Army Total: 1498pts

The Orc Big Boss is going to be the army general as he'll be staying with the infantry and it'll be the Goblins that will require his leadership most. Endika will meanwhile be busy harrassing the enemy army's flanks and aiming his flail at their characters' heads. The Steed of Slaanesh makes him very good at hit and run tactics so he'll be alternating between helping the Marauder Horsemen along or the Knights depending on what we're against. Maybe even the Warhounds seeing as he'll make the unit cause fear...
My son's army was restricted by the models he has so far but it makes a nice infantry core to the army and adds a little bit of cavalry to the mix. My army was restricted most by the points allowance. It was always going to be small and seeing as my son had infantry pretty well covered that left the obvious choice of all cavalry so it had to be Endika Fleshtearer's army!

Gentza - The Herald's Steed

The next update will be more substantial than this. However, I might hold onto images of it until after the painting competition now...

It's also the WFB Doubles Tournament at my gaming club the same day as the painting competition. Trying to finalise a 750pt Warriors of Chaos force to go alongside my son's Orcs and Goblins. Really is hard to do anything substantial with so few points and such costy troops! Wish us luck!

Chronicles of the Enslaver

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Ximun held the blade in the flames until it glowed hot then dug it into the flesh of Argider’s chest. The Zar whispered a prayer to his patron as the shaman proceeded to cut angry runes into his skin. The pain was intense and the smell of charred flesh assailed the senses but upon finishing his prayer Argider met it all with a grim smile. The Zar and his tribesmen had been caught by surprise as they’d been exploring the city ruins. The zealots of the Witch Hunters who had assailed them on their way into the city had descended on them once again. The tribesmen had been separated at the time and Argider himself had fallen in the melee that followed. Overwhelmed by the weight of numbers against him Argider had been battered to the ground. Fortunately the southmen had been over eager and pressed on before checking to see if the tribal lord still drew breath. Argider had been unmarked by the encounter but his fury with himself had yet to subside.
Argider had demanded that his shaman carry out the ritual. In part so that the scars would remind him of his own failure but more as an act of penance and to show his patron Elazar that he was worthy of his favour and could not only weather this pain but indeed revel in it.
Upon finishing applying the burning scars to his Zar the shaman had fetched the narcotic laced ink he’d mixed earlier and emptied the bucket over his chieftain. Argider let out a scream born of pain and ecstasy as the ink seeped into the raw flesh of the cut runes. Purple ink sprayed from the Zar as he raised his arms to the heavens and the droplets that flew into the flames ignited in a pinkish glow.
“Glorious Elazar!” Argider roared. “I bear the scars for my failure in your service. I swear upon my soul I shall not fail you again!”
The tribesmen had gathered around to watch the ritual and had sat in silent awe of the Zar’s resilience. Argider looked down at them with demented eyes.
“Drink!” he screamed. “Tomorrow we will take our enemies’ hearts as penance for their cowardice! And their tongues we’ll nail up as an offering to our Lord!”

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More on this at a later point...

Gentza - The Herald's Steed

Slowly getting there now...

Gentza - The Herald's Steed

A little more progress. Still very WIP but getting the barding done on the mount now.

Gentza - The Herald's Steed

So, here's a quick WIP shot of the Daemonic Mount. It's not much yet but gives you an idea of where I'm going with it:



I wanted to stick to the army colour scheme but do something a little different to the norm with it. So I decided to use the same scheme as I have/will do on Be'Lakor should I ever get round to painting/finishing him. It's particularly interesting because by the time christmas has passed you'll start seeing my Beastmen appear on here and their colour scheme is going to be very similar to this... I really enjoyed painting the steed like this and the mad part of me is tempted to go back and make the steeds my Knights are riding like this but then the lazy (and/or sane) part is saying 'they're ok, there's so much more that needs your attention.'
I've started using a wet palette for my painting and I've found it makes a HUGE difference. Really would recommend it to everyone.
Anyway please comment! Helps keep me motivated and it's always helpful to get any mistakes pointed out at this stage instead of when I think I'm done!

What's Fluff Got To Do With It?

As found on The Trading Post

I reckon that the majority of Fantasy players have a theme or background for their army. I think only the real hardcore tourney players might be excluded from this. We all theme our armies to some degree, it might not be a conscious effort but we may just put in units the we like the look or background of even though they’re not necessarily the most superior battlefield option.

Others may take this to the next step. We might consciously limit our army choices to help build a theme or background to our force. This might mean playing a mono-god Chaos army, a Khainite Dark Elf force, a Savage Orc horde or selecting troops for a provincial Empire army. Of course the added hobby bonuses really start to kick in at this point. Conversions start to present themselves as you change minis to better fit your theme or if you’re especially creative you might go all out and scratch build them! On the painting side, things can become interesting; an army theme gives you a great starting point for coming up with a unified colour scheme. Once you start playing games with your themed army you’ll have lots of fun. Your victories are dedicated to the glory of Slaanesh or to defend the city of Middenheim etc. this really adds to the background story going on in your head if nowhere else!

The next step along the fluffy-brick-road is an actual background story. This doesn’t necessarily have to be written down but you might have an idea in your head. This could be anything from; “The army is a band of mercenaries under the rogue general Rutger Koppenweld.” Or it could be anything up to a full blown story explaining Koppenweld’s deeds that have lead to him being the leader of a grizzled mercenary army. How his former home was sacked by roving Green skin hordes and his desire to exact his vengeance. Now this is the sort of stuff that I personally love. My Warriors of Chaos army now has quite an extensive back story and I’ve added to it with my minis, especially characters as they are the real heroes and villains of the Warhammer world. Inspiring men to great or terrible deeds or crushing their enemies with sorcerous powers. Characters provide a really rich opportunity to theme your army and enhance your gaming and hobby experience. A battle becomes so much more meaningful as you witness Rutger Koppenweld leading a cavalry charge into the heart of an Orc horde, screaming an anger-fuelled war-cry and slaughtering his sworn foes mercilessly. Equally entertaining is watching him get knocked from his horse by the cunning of the malicious Night Goblins and their Warboss’ rather ‘tricksy’ magic weapon! When you next add a character to your army make sure to come up with a name for him. If you’re feeling more daring, create a back story for him. It’ll make building the mini even more fun and you can try to convert something that really captures the characteristics your back story highlighted.

I’m going to leave the subject of characters there as I plan on going into more depth on this another time. The army theme subject though leads nicely into all sorts of other topics; campaigns, conversions, painting, fluff and army composition to name a few. If you have something to say on any of these get writing!

The Devotees of Elazar - The Glorious Host Goes To War

I'm absolutely loving putting together a 7000pt army list for my battle against the Skaven in just over a fortnight. I'm going to show you the army list now. It might give a few bits away about some of my upcoming projects but it's great fitting in all the characters I've created in my head and I have minis for and being able to field them in the way that I want them! The list isn't massively competitive but to be honest I'm more interested in the spectacle of a battle this huge than worrying too much about whether I will win!

Amador The Chosen of Elazar
Chaos Lord
Mark of Slaanesh
Daemonic Mount
Helm of Elazar
(Rending Sword
Crimson Armour of Dargan
Collar of Khorne
Favour of the Gods)
Shield

Elazar The Glorified
Daemon Prince
Level 4 Wizard
Mark of Slaanesh
Diabolic Splendour
Fury of the Blood God
Stream of Corruption

Aaracturious The Betrayer
(counts as Kholek Suneater)

Isidro Devante
Sorcerer Lord
Level 4 Wizard
Mark of Slaanesh
Rod of Torment
Power Familiar
Dispel Scroll
Biting Blade

Gaizka The Warped
Sorcerer Lord
Level 4 Wizard
Book of Secrets
Spell Familiar
Black Tongue

Ximun
Sorcerer Lord
Level 4 Wizard
Armour of Damnation
Dispel Scroll
Dispel Scroll

Vela The Performer
(You should know this guy by now!)
Sorcerer
Level 2 Wizard
Mark of Slaanesh
The Marionette
(Infernal Puppet
Bronze Armour of Zhrakk
Conjoined Homunculus)

Harkaitz The Herald of Elazar
Exalted Hero
Battle Standard Bearer
Mark of Slaanesh
Flail
Shield
Daemonic Mount
The Glorious Standard
(Banner of the Gods)

Endika Fleshtearer
Exalted Hero
Mark of Slaanesh
Flail
Shield
Steed of Slaanesh
Armour of Morrslieb
Blade Thrower
(Bloodcurdling Roar)

10 Chaos Warriors
Mark of Slaanesh
Full Command
Rapturous Standard
Additional Hand Weapons
Shields

12 Chaos Warriors
Mark of Slaanesh
Full Command
Banner of Wrath
Halberds
Shields

11 Chaos Warriors
Mark of Slaanesh
Full Command
Great Weapons
Shields

15 Marauders
Mark of Slaanesh
Full Command
Great Weapons
Light Armour
Shields

20 Marauders
Mark of Slaanesh
Full Command
Light Armour
Shields

3 x 5 Marauder Horsemen
Mark of Slaanesh
Musician
Flails
Throwing Axes
Light Armour

6 Chaos Knights
Mark of Slaanesh
Standard Bearer
Musician
Banner of Rage
Lances

6 Chaos Knights
Mark of Slaanesh
Standard Bearer
Musician
Blasted Standard

2 x 3 Dragon Ogres
Great Weapons

3 x Hellcannons

4 x 5 Warhounds

Now this comes in a 6565 pts (sadly not 6666pts, that would have been so Slaaneshily brilliant!). I'm unsure what to do with the remaining points. Any suggestions? I have plenty of options as I can borrow the minis I need. This is 133 models. Churning out a whopping 22 Power Dice (+2 bound spells) and 11 Dispel Dice (+3 Dispel Scrolls).
Aaracturious and his Dragon Ogres will have primary duties of dealing with the abundance of Doomwheels that will be hurtling towards my army. Their immunity to lightning spells will make them very useful in this roll and their high strengths will hopefully make fairly quick work of the evil contraptions. Aaracturious can then focus his shooting attacks on the prime targets for such things such as Plague Furnaces to help the rest of the troops out with the abundance of unbreakable plague monks they're expecting to meet in combat! Not sure how magic heavy the Skaven army will be but it will be hard pushed to counter everything the chaos army will be throwing out and I will have plenty of leadership destroying spells and also plenty of panic, fear and terror causing units to force as many of these checks as possible. My troops are going to be heavily out numbered so the fast cavalry and the Knights are going to be really essential for trying to get round the flanks of the Skaven force and hopefully I can then roll them up! Sounds so simple typed out.

Something Stirring In The Woods, Plus Other Blogginess

I have to say, I'm finding myself getting quite excited at the prospect of raising a new Beast Herd. I've started planning out purchases and even started cooking up army fluff!
Truly now, the Empire is doomed, even as The Glorious Host threatens its northern borders an evil stirs from the woods within...

Kuffeh (of Grumpy Stunty fame) has started a new blog. The Trading Post. The idea is that The Trading Post will be a hub for Warhammer Fantasy Battles blogs. I think that Fantasy is a little under-represented in the blogosphere and hopefully The Trading Post can go some way to counter this. Head over and take a look, make sure if you have a Fantasy blog you let Kuffeh know about it so it can be added to the blog roll! The Trading Post also plans on covering Blood Bowl and Mordheim.

My hobby time has been under siege this last week. I've become slightly hooked to Blood Bowl on my son's Nintendo DS. It's lots of great fun and I've played quite a few games now with Elazar's Glories (Chaos team obviously!). My Minotaur is driving me mental with his constant failed Wild Animal rolls though! Would love to see what it's like on the PC as the DS version has I'm guessing slightly simplified options over the PC one (although seems to me to be a faithful recreation of the board game). Just got to teach my son to play it now and then Elazar's Glories can have some Goblin bashing fun!

I'm probably not going to get much done on my minis this weekend but middle of next week I'll hopefully have an update for you! Fantasy players get yourself over to the Trading Post now!

Battle Standard Bearer WIP Mock-Up

Did a mock-up of the finished Battle Standard Bearer model. Lots of pinning, and gluing done but even more greenstuff and fixing of things to go!











As you can see, still lots of work to do around the arm holding the banner. Getting rid of the tentacle was a nightmare and now I have to build up again now, I'm thinking I'll put a small Marauder round shield on the arm as well. Please let me know what you think! Any suggestions etc. will be greatly received and now is the best possible time to make them so I can fix things!