Bestial strength

The tribes of Or are back hunting across the plains of the Alderans! I am experiencing a rare rush of inspiration that is pushing me to explore once again my personal corner of the AoS setting and I hope there will be more of them coming in the close future.
This one must be my favourite conversion for the Son of Or up to date. The pose just works very well (credit goes, once again, to the amazing Kairic Acolytes kit) and the small greenstuff additions are quite subtle and natural if I can say so myself.
Big inspiration for this project (and for my ghurians in general) comes from Frazetta art and from the very excellent Jacque-Alexandre Gillois sculptures of the Vorag barbarians back in the early 2000 (still think those are the best barbarians sculptures available today).
I also treated myself to the Darkoath Warqueen miniature today! She will be converted into a leader for my warband but not before I finish sculpting some more tribesmen... I need some archers!

Hagen

Back to the plains

Good Morning!

Since last post I have received lots of nice messages and emails of support for which I am incredibly grateful! Some of you even made spontaneous donation which I really believe I don't deserve but again, I was delighted to see how many amazing people gravitate around this hobby.

Since you were all very vocal about your wishes to see some of my works again I decided to go back to my Ghurians this sunday  and revisit one of my earlier conversions: the horn blower.

This fellow has a very important role within the tribe. He is the one entrusted with the holy Jagdhurn, whose notes announce the beginning of a holy hunt.

The decision to revisit this conversion comes from the fact that I am back working on my Sons of Or and have found in the Kairic Acolytes kit the base models I sought for my ghurians. In the past I used the bloodreaver (back then the only suitably naked human model in AoS range) for this project but after seeing the acolytes kit I knew they were more in line with what I had in my mind when I envisioned the Sons of Or. Barefoot, no marks or tattoos, a potentially quite sober look and a great base for conversions as so many hobbyists have proven with their work in the past year (first and foremost Duncan Rhodes amazing spearmen). So I bought a kit and started doodling with them back a few months ago but then shifted my attention to other projects and lost focus. Now I feel like coming back to them and I am working on three of these at a time with plans for many bestial additions to the band: sabertooh beasts converted form gryph-hounds, winged black krakaros and the creation of a new leader for my hunters: Or-Sha, the bride of Orar, based on the amazing new Darkoath Warqueen.

My ghurians will son be expanded then so keep an eye on here for more Or-worshipping tribal shenanigans!

Hagen

Sale time

Good afternoon everyone,

Due to some unexpected circumstances involving a robbery and not having any insurance in place (a lesson a young adult has to learn at some point) I will be forced to put on sale some of my miniatures to sort out my finances.

As much as I do not enjoy having to do it, the following miniatures will be put on eBay in the next few days but before doing that I thought some of you might have been interested in getting them without the hassle of an eBay auction... So here we go, these are the minis and the prices, which take in consideration the retail value of the mini itself plus the time I spent on each.

Please note that the price of each miniature is EXCLUDING delivery charges that will be charged separately

Stormcast eternal 1: Price: 100 €

This model was painted as a test for a colour scheme I had in mind for the stormcast eternals. The buyer will get a step by step tutorial on how the marble effect was achieved complete with pictures included in the price that will be sent to them via email as part of the purchase.

Stormcast eternal 2: Price: 100 €

This is the second model I did with the marble technique. As the first one the model will come with a step by step tutorial on how to achieve the marble effect included in the price.

The Alluminarch of Anaryn: Price: 250 €

This is the leader of my Anaryn warband I created last year. The conversion is pretty complex and involved a great amount of different bits taken from various kits. The model have been painted to a high standard and is an excellent collection piece.

Warrior of the Alluminarchate: Price: 75 €

This is the test model for my warriors of the Alluminarchate I did last year.

Warrior of the Sons of Or: Price: Price: 75 €

Created two years ago as part of my warband from the plains of Ghur

Anyone wishing to combine more than 1 model will get a 10% discount on the second one or you could take the whole lot for 500€

If anybody is interested or would like to know about any other work of mine that is not included in this list, please contact me at matteogallo088@gmail.com

Thank you all!

hagen

Sword and Sorcery

I have seen the book,

The book that turned Darkness

into Light

Tomm Moore, The Secret of Kells

Update! The warriors of the 4th and 5th mysteries are finally complete and based! Really pleased with the result. After a lot of thoughts and indecision I am finally sold on using metal for the armour instead of the cream colour I used on the first warrior and the Alluminarch. It makes it more fantasy and less sci-fi and, coupled with the new flame and sun motifs on the vests, give the model an old school vibe that I am very pleased about. It sort of looks like something out of a black and white illustration from Realm of Chaos!

There are very subtle differences between the two warriors, to distinguish the members of each circle of mystery in the order. The trim of the armour for instance but also the motif on the parchment hanging form the back plate should indicate the rank of the warrior within the order.

As I stated previously, this group is definitely nowhere near to be the "good guys". They are an order of fanatical puritans whose only aim is to annihilate every form of social progress and take the battle against chaos in an extremely literal way which would ultimately be as destructive as the powers they seek to eradicate.

Imagine them as an esoteric version of the Ku Klux Klan which is ruling a whole kingdom. The people living under their rule are impotent slaves of the Alluminarch vision of a perfect and immovable society, rigidly divided into casts and completely deprived of any concept of self betterment. The very opposite of the "Free People" of the Mortal Realms. A good comparison could be the Mechanicus in 40k. A stagnant order of sorcerers who struggle to preserve fragments of ancient past knowledge without questioning or seeking any improvement. If the Alluminarch had the technology for creating them he would love servitors!

Which makes me think... Fantasy servitors???

Warriors of the Fifth Mystery

Faith is the strength 

by with a shattered world

shall emerge into light

Helen Keller

It was about time that I posted an actual update around here! I could go on to tell you all the usual stuff, how life is getting busier, work and responsibilities and bla bla bla, but you came here to loo at some toy soldiers so here you go, another couple of warriors for my Alluminarchate warband!

These two belong to the elite Fifth Circle, meaning that they disclosed the true meaning of five of the eight mysteries of Sehemaza and are only a few steps away from total enlightenment (though from here it doesn't get any easier and nobody, not even the Alluminarch himself have ever grasped the meaning of the eighth and final Mystery). The knowledge they possess and the deadly weapons they wield make these two types really dangerous, specially if you happen to have sworn allegiance to the Dark Gods. In game (if I ever get to play one) they will probably use the rules of the Sisters of Avelorn which I reckon should be quite deadly in a small game of Skirmish, wreaking havoc form afar and helping my brave warriors with some ballistic support. Apart from the flaming bows from the SoA kit the rest of the conversion is identical to the one already experimented on my other warrior that you can see below finally completed with a proper fluffy base to match his leader the Alluminarch.

I am really happy with the final result on this mini, representing the third and hopefully final incarnation of this conversion that I was able to refine over the past months (actually it's almost one year since I came out with the concept of the Alluminarchate and I am still down to these three guys plus the leader... food for thoughts).

Again, for the ones among you who wants to know, the bits for this conversion come from a variety of both fantasy and 40k kits. Legs are from the HE Phoenix Guards with front armour and loincloth form the Sister of Silence 40k kit. The body is converted starting from the AdMech Skitarii Rangers with the top amor plate from the Ruststalkers Princeps. Shield and sun symbol are from the AoS Stormiest Knights Excelsiors (with resculpted parts to suit the war band's theme) and the head is a Bretonnian Men at Arms helmet with a SM Iron Armour MKIII faceplate from the Burning of Prospero box set. Arms are generally from the HE range with sculpted sleeves.

I would love to get to painting these quite soon but unfortunately I have other projects to work on and few hours that I can dedicate to it, so it might take some time before these guys see some Corax White.

As always, let me know your thoughts.

Hagen

The Court of the Cannibal Knight

Hiya!

Here is a sketch of a project I might embark in the close future. Check this space for more details!

Crooked villains and greedy wenches

Hello again

To continue with my journey through Mordheim, here are some pictures of some of Van Hoogen's "Greedy Wenches" conversions.

Let me introduce you to Peetar Ruggbroeder and Rijk Van Rijker, champions and minority shareholders of the Company of the Golden Mermaid. These were converted based on FW Manaan's blade and sold along with our good captain.

Edvard Van Muntz , third son of deceased Herr Loedwijk Van Muntz, ex business partner of Captain Van Hoogen... Conversion loosely based on all time Barry Lindon favourite Lord Bullington.

I have not received satisfaction!

The band with two swordsmen (admittedly not very visible in the picture)... This really funny project drew great inspiration from a couple of movies villains, in particular the aforementioned Lord Bullington from Barry Lindon and the incredible Archibald Cunningham from Rob Roy... They were designed to push the stereotype of Marienburgers as "fops" even further that the official models, bringing in some aesthetic references to the XVII and XVIII centuries, like curly wigs, laces and a bit of extra pomposity. Can you imagine them painted with white-powdered faces and red cheeks that hide 5o'clock shades and rugged scars?  They would have been glorious!

Moving on to my second warband, this is the one I actually play (or will play as soon as I get to complete the scenarios for my table), meet the Reikwald's Wolves of Captain Metzger!

Captain Wilhelm "der Metzger" was inspired by another great movie villain... who can tell me which one? 

Sargent Krantz, the "Bear of Teufelbrück" is the muscles of the band, ready to break bones and smash spines.

Archibald "Peacock", the greatest swordsman of the Reikwald Forest, a self-obsessed narcissist and lethal warrior.

Dieter "Marineburg" the youngest of the wolves... Look at his terrified face!

Ilja, kislevite swordsman and drinking champion of the warband... Not even Sargent Krants is a match for this tough old boot.

And finally the Reikwald Spectres, whose leader, Diebold Serck, was Jaegermeister of the Prince of Reikland Sigismund himself, before disgracing the daughter of a courtier and being exiled from the capital.