A Realmgate Too Far

 Ah - apparently I painted some AoS things over the last few months! Yes, that would examine why they are sat on the shelf. In the few months proceeding the latest version of AoS (hopefully I’ll play more games of this one than the last version - it does look fun!), GW released a number of Broken Realms supplements, and the last one featured a big old centaur chap… Kragnos! Smasher of things! Kragnos! Basher of kings! And yes, the big lug had to be painted as a Lynel, of course. How else would you paint him? Part of the thinking here was to paint up Kragnos and then do some of the new Kroolboyz (or whatever the new orcs are actually called!) to wander along with him. I’ve since picked up the Dominion set, and have made the models, but have only pained a single Gutrippa. They’re all sprayed green and ready to go though, so I might try to get cracking at some soon. Given the Dominion set also has new Stormcast Eternals, I felt he had to have a companion, presumably to bash. Enter Gar...

It's been a somewhat quiet couple of weeks, in terms of blogging - mainly because it took me quite a while to write up the last battle report! However, that does mean that I've made quite a bit of progress painting up a number of models for both Chaos & the Stormcast Eternals. First up are the Slaves to Darkness: I actually started painting some of these chaos warriors a few years ago, partially inspired by the old 3rd edition Realm of Chaos era books, and partly by the bright coloured enemies in the similarly(ish) aged (1992, I think) computer game Legend (The Four Crystals of Trazere in some places), an isometric dungeon crawler RPG. In particular, Legend is one of the games I remember most from my youth, as it was one of the few we had when I was a kid, and I spent a long time playing it (alongside other brilliant games like D/Generation and Zak McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders).  My introduction into GW (after Heroquest & Space Crusade) was vi...

Battleplan: The Trap We recently played the next game in the Realmgate Wars series – The Trap. We’re still fighting in Ghyran, the Realm of Life, and this game gives us a bit of background and feel to what’s happening in Ghyran prior to the Stormcast Eternals arriving. For many centuries, Nurgle’s forces have spread across and corrupted Ghyran, polluting rivers, corrupting flora and fauna alike, turning the Jade Kingdoms into twisted, blighted realms. Alarielle has hidden herself away, grown disconnected with her realm and people. Despite Alarielle’s disinterest, the Sylvaneth are still motivated to fight on, and to destroy the forces of Nurgle where possible. The Trap is an example of the kind of fighting that is going on all over Ghyran. At the centre of the Greenglades lies the Shimmertarn, an ornately carved standing stone from whence rivulets and streams flow, purifying the surrounding lands and providing a pocket of resistance against Nurgle’s encroachment. As s...

As mentioned in a previous blog post I recently pre-ordered Soulbound – the AoS RPG by Cubicle 7. While the physical book won’t be available for a while, the pdf file is, so people can start reading, planning and playing straight away. I’ve only had a pdf copy for a few days, and haven’t had a chance to read through it all – the original intention was to review things every few chapters (and I still plan to), but a couple of things have jumped out at me while reading through the Equipment chapter – in a good way, so I wanted to talk about them, and some ideas that come from them. The first of these is the currency system in Soulbound. Rather than using coins, one of the major currency systems used in the Mortal Realms, and especially in the Grand Parch in Aqshy, is Aqua Ghyranis, the life-giving water from Ghyran, the Realm of Life. Apparently coins were abandoned, much to the Kharadron’s annoyance, as they had a monopoly due to the amount of precious metals they had a...

 Another day, another group of models finished off and ready for battle. I've managed to clear two small groups of models off my painting table in the last couple of days. The first are the Nighthaunt miniatures from the first two issues of the Mortal Realms magazine. The first issue provides you with 10 Chainrasps, and the second with 4 Myrmourn Banshees. Spooky ghosts, haunting some ancient ruins. While I could have gone for one of the suggested ways to paint ghosts, starting with a light base coat, and following up with washes or glazes of things like Nihilakh Oxide, or the ghost themed technical paints (or contrast), I instead decided to start with a black undercoat, and build up the colours quickly by drybrushing Incubi Darkness, Kabalite Green and Sybarite Green, with the lighter colours being focused slightly more towards the bottom of the models. An edge highlight of Sybarite green was used to bring the colours together. The "skin" was painted by ...

As some of you may be aware, the pre-order for Soulbound, the AoS roleplaying game by Cubicle 7, went up the other day. Despite the fact that I'd only being vaguely paying attention to this, I ended up putting an order through. While the physical book (and associated products, GM screen, starter pack etc) won't be out for a while, Cubicle 7 are proving a pdf copy of the rulebook with orders (or you can get the pdf separately if you don't like massive books) - very nice of them! Soulbound cover. Yes, you can be a Kurnoth Hunter if you want to be. Squeezing through small gaps may be tricky. Maybe send your Quiverling ahead as a scout? I've only had time to skim through the book so far (my more thorough read is only up to page 30 or so), but it looks very interesting. While I played a lot of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Call of Cthulhu while I was a student (well, undergrad, Masters & PhD, so that's a fairly long period in any case!), I haven't pla...

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I'd subscribed to the Mortal Realms magazine. Not that I needed to, to be honest - I know how to play Age of Sigmar, I've got tons of Stormcasts sitting around unpainted, and my partner has a bunch of spooky ghosts (Nighthaunt). But apparently I've got poor impulse control (who knew?), and I like the idea of models turning up every now and then through the door, in a possibly manageable fashion (painting wise). It also gave me an opportunity to do YET ANOTHER Stormhost. To add to the two I have on the go already. Because that's not insane in any way, shape or form! So, the first three models for the Anvils of the Heldenhammer are completed. I went for these for two reasons: Firstly, it fits the narrative of the Soul Wars setting of AoS II (fighting against the Nighthaunt in Shyish). Not that I expect we'll play any games in the Soul Wars for a while, mind! Secondly - skulls on Stormcasts look cool....