The House of Black Flames: A Druchii Project

Discover the age-old techniques of painting...

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Hiphopapotamus vs. Rhymnenoceros

The Hophopapotamus
9
36%
The Rhymnenoceros
16
64%
 
Total votes: 25

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Ilmaestro
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The House of Black Flames: A Druchii Project

Post by Ilmaestro »

-- Latest Update --

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WARNING: INTRODUCTORY POST AHEAD… BEAR WITH ME

Let me start by setting the scene: I have been, well, involved (probably the best word to use) with Warhammer for the past 10 or so years, but the last time I picked up a brush or used a model in anger was at the beginning of the previous edition, so since then I have been mainly watching other people get motivated and churn through armies. Having said that, I have had a yearly subscription to WD and bought every new army book and rule book that has come out since then, pouring over them and trying to work up the courage to invest my time and money into the hobby again, but to no avail. As you can all see from the ‘Join Date’ on stage left, I have been lurking in the shadows of the Druchii.net community for a long time with very little input – well, looks like that’s about to change! Spurred on by my new (financial) year’s resolution to get back into the hobby in a very serious way, I have decided to begin a project log! Yay! So now that the obligatory pre-amble is out of the way, let’s get to the guts of this project!

Let’s start with the question that must be answered at the start of any project: theme or competition? For me it’s a no-brainer, simply because I’m not sure what tactics I like playing with under these rules, so theme it is! Well, that was easy.

So, having decided that ‘theme’ was going to be the driving force behind this project, I needed two things: models and a back-story. The models are easy enough, I just intend to make large units of everything which then gives me all the flexibility I want when I start playing again

Story though…. well, that was where it became a little bit difficult. Whilst I am a Druchii lover through-and-through, I am sometimes bored by the wanton violence, treachery, hate-fuelled actions and general lack of honour that is attributed to our fine race. I wanted a cold and calculating leader – sure, he might fly off the handle sometimes and execute a small village or two, but the majority of the time that little temper of his is in check. I wanted a house that was noble and ‘pre-sundering’ in their attitudes, beliefs and view of the world, just… darker. Of course, that would just be a boring High Elf army, and I do so hate the High Elves

Then it came to me. Vampires – ok ok, hear me out before you run away in disgust! I know it might go against everything that you believe to be true, but I decided I really did want something different, so why not go the whole-hog and really mess with the Warhammer world? I mean, it never EXPLICITLY says that a vampire can’t be an elf, right?*

Now let me just clarify something now – this is not a Vampire Counts log, so don’t expect to see hordes of skeletons or zombies! It’s just that these elves (or maybe only some of the high ranking nobles) will be vampiric… in some way… somehow.

As for their look, I decided early on that I wanted this army to be very dark in both nature and look, so it looks like black armour is to be the new black… armour. I haven’t quite settled on the perfect mix yet, but a few test models down the track I’m getting pretty close – pictures up as soon as my camera decides it’s going to stop taking photos about as well as a microwave does!

So there it was – an ancient bloodline from before the Sundering that is in some way, somehow vampiric, with a very dark colour scheme to suit their equally dark nature, accompanied with a Black-Ark load of fluff to give this army some real character… well, now that I say it like that it doesn’t seem like such an easy task. But hell, I’ll give it a shot

So, without further ado, I present to you…

The House of Black Flames!


*I am probably wrong, but please don’t point it out; I’m happy in my bubble of ignorance, and I’ll come up with the fluff to back it up =)

Edit - Image Removed

Just as a side note, this was something I half-painted for my previous army all those years ago – it's not much to go on, just thought I’d give you an idea of what level to expect![/i]
Last edited by Ilmaestro on Thu Jul 04, 2013 10:45 am, edited 16 times in total.
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Post by Phierlihy »

That's an interesting banner. Does it actually rank up? And is a model holding it or is it mounted on a rock (it's hard to tell from the front)?
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Post by Ilmaestro »

@phierlihy - Thanks! It's actually held by a model, one of the old corsairs, who is standing on top of the rock, but seeing as I never really finished it (only painted a bit of the armour), I thought it wasn't worth showing =P And yes, it does rank up, the banned actually hangs just in front of the base

Stay tuned - first fluff piece to follow tonight...
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Post by Sacaspearman »

Cool banner! It makes me realize that I need to get off my rump and get my models converted/painted.
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Post by Ilmaestro »

So, after two years of constant battling and leveling up, my camera finally evolved into it's final form: a paper-weight. Hence, the photos of the first few warriors might be put on hold for a tiny bit longer ;)

Of course, I wouldn't want to keep you guys out in the cold too much, so until I get my new camera, I'll just have to keep you interested with fluff. Seeing as the history of this house is fairly long, i've broken it up into three parts for easier reading.

Hope you enjoy part le first!

House Kynath’sur – The House of Black Flames: A History

Part I


“Beware a gift wrapped in blood…”
- Old Druchii proverb

To look upon House Kynath’sur today would be to see an example of how fast and far the mighty can fall – the bloodline lies in ruins, the house cast aside in a distant corner of Har Ganeth. Few today remember that the same banner flying over the house of the weak was once that of only the most honoured and noble in all of Nagarythe…

The elves of the black flames can trace their history all the way back to the times of Aenerion. Even after he had drawn the damned Sword of Khaine and pushed back the first daemonic incursion, the people of Nagarythe were under threat; though endless tides of daemons could not take form enough to invade and pillage the lands, small eddies in the Winds of Magic occurred on a regular basis, which could lead to handfuls of daemons being unleashed anywhere into the realm. It was with one of these phenomena that the true story of the Kynath’suri begins.

Shaelith, Lord of the House of Flames, was a lesser noble in the twilight of his days when the daemons came into being. Eager to further his position within society, he was one of the first to take up arms as part of Aenerion’s host. At the head of fifty elves, Shaelith bid farewell to his wife and three young sons and marched off to war, ill aware that it was the last time he would see them alive – for whilst he was away, a small horde of daemons blinked into existence near his home, overrunning the few guards left behind and slaughtering his family. It was only many years later, upon returning from the successful campaign against the daemons, that he learned of their fate; instead of warm greetings from his wife and heirs, he found only death and ruin. Wracked with grief and the knowledge that his line was broken, he scornfully changed his banners to depict black flames and vowed an oath of vengeance on all daemon-kind, forever more becoming obsessed with retribution to the point of reckless abandon – a fact made evident to all by the empty sleeve that would hang from his left shoulder shortly after. Thus it was no surprise that when word reached Anlec of an attack on one of the northern outposts, Shaelith requested command of the small relief force.

Under the Banner of Black Flames, Shaelith led a small host of elves on a hard march north, intent on joining battle with his hated foe. It was, however, to no avail – the journey was made slow by the winter snows, and the three weeks that had passed since word first reached Anlec was too long for the defending elves; when he arrived at the outpost, all that was left was smoke, ruin and death. He ordered his host to look for survivors, though hours of searching only revealed hacked limbs and broken bodies arranged in sickening runes to the dark gods. It was just as he was about to give up the search and begin the march back to Anlec that a stir washed through the soldiers – a survivor had been found.

Rushing to the source of the commotion, Shaelith found a group of his warriors standing motionless, the silence broken only by whispered prayers to the gods and the emptying of stomachs. Pushing to the front, he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the horror that made the elves act as such. In front of him lay hundreds of severed heads, arranged in a star tens of metres wide, and at it’s centre, amidst the blood and snow, sat an elvish baby. Hardly old enough to crawl, the baby mumbled incoherent sounds to itself as it idly played with the long hair of a dismembered head, oblivious to the carnage around it. Shaelith cautiously approached, and it was only as he stood directly in front of the naked babe that it finally noticed his presence. The baby stopped it’s fidgeting and tilted it’s head up to lock eyes with the old lord; minutes passed as the two remained motionless in the snow, staring into each others souls. Some later said that the small elf was in fact born of daemons, and that in those long moments it dominated Shaelith’s mind and perverted his better sense, whilst others said that it was the baby’s striking resemblance to the lord’s deceased first born son that stirred emotions within. The truth of the matter is a mystery – what is known is that against the advice of his commanders, Shaelith did not kill the elvish babe that day.

Picking the baby up and wrapping it in his cloak for warmth, he turned away and strode back to his steed, ordering the elves to destroy all remnants of the outpost and it’s inhabitants before they left. Staring at the now sleeping boy in his arm, he knew that he had found his purpose; he had found his new heir, and he had decided on a name for his harbinger of revenge…

Khadeth.
Last edited by Ilmaestro on Sat Apr 20, 2013 5:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Ilmaestro »

@Sacaspearman - thanks for the kind words! That was one I did AGES ago, so I'm hoping that I've gotten a little better since then, and I hope the rest of this project gets you motivated to start one too! =)
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Post by Ilmaestro »

Quick update!

I got hold of my mate's camera, and was able to snap up a few photos before the battery ran out - probably should have taken the charger too :?

So here's a few WIP shots of the warriors I've put together in the last few days. There were about 10 that were already done, but they've been moved to the back row, so all the rest is new!

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One of the biggest problems I find with the warriors is that they seem very static. To counteract this, I used bits from the HE archers kit to make the front row kneel and had the second rank's spears positioned as if the unit were readying for a charge. Not sure how much it will help, but hopefully it breathes a little bit more life into them.

There are still a lot of things to fix: trying to position the spear arms like that left A LOT of gaps to fill, there is still a fair bit of flash and mould lines that need to be filed down, and the whole front rank needs chainmail sculpted onto their robes (not looking forward to that task...) but all in all I'm happy with the start :D

All comments and criticisms are welcome!
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Post by Thetosh »

I absolutely love the positioning of those first two ranks, very historically accurate and they look awesome. The only concern i'd have is about having them easily match up for combat, due to the spears protruding so far forward.

That being said, awesome work! Now lets see them painted! :D
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Post by Tyrannus deathbringer »

Nice. I've also went down the high elf legs/phalanx formation route.

Great minds think alike :D ;)
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Post by Nightcall »

Nice spearmen, I like how you have some of them kneeling like that.

Enjoying the fluff too. ;)
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Post by Dyvim tvar »

I like what you are doing here. I just wonder if it will cause a problem in game play because the enemy unit won't actually be able to make contact ...
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Post by Tyrannus deathbringer »

Regarding unit contact in h-t-h; you can use a scenic tray to house the unit with a front end projecting beyond the spears, alternatively if your opponent is reasonable you can use a counter to symbolise contact between your spiky spear wall and enemy units.

Tournament rules/players might object, but I personally prefer modelling and running a cool unit to the former.
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Post by Ilmaestro »

@thetosh - thanks for the compliments, I just hope I can do them justice with the paintjob!

@Tyrannus Deathbringer - glad to hear there are a few other great minds out there, and that they're on the Druchii side :D

@Nightcall - thanks, I'm happy to hear the fluff is going down ok too! I'm definitely not a writer, so I was pretty worried about that side of things...

@ Dyvim Tvar - thanks :) I live of praise, so the more I get the better I feel and do ;)

@ all concerning ranking - to be honest, I haven't really thought too much about tournaments or 'serious' gaming - the guys I play with most of the time would be pretty ok for me to just leave the unit an inch further back and have them 'in combat', and we're pretty cool about working things out on the fly. As a side note, I had considered what to do in case I wanted to do anything more strict, and so the back rank (at least without the shields) can be put in front of the front rank so that the pointy spears don't jut out of the unit :D


So I was only able to get a little bit done today - the dreaded greenstuff chainmail!! I haven't finished the skirts yet - I would like to add a tiny strip at each end just to tidy it up a little bit - but I've done all I will to the chainmail itself.

Of course, as with any project, I did learn a lot. First, greenstuff is a lot harder to use then I thought! This was the first time I have ever used it, but I thought after reading a few tutorials that it couldn't be that hard given enough time and patience, right? WRONG!!! Well, everyone that has EVER used this before, even for gap filling, just got a lot of silent kudos, so props to you all ;)

Second, chainmail is pretty damn hard - I don't know how everyone else makes it look SOOOO good, so more props to you there! As you can see, it's very rough in a few places (and by a few I do mean a lot), but it will be mostly covered by the shields/rank behind, and they are just warriors... To be honest though, I'm not really happy with how they turned out, however in the interest of moving forward I'm happy to put this feather in the 'practice' cap and I'm considering it a project complete :D

But enough chitter-chatter, let's see some pics!

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Phew! Now I just have to do an anti-rain dance to get this weather to bugger off - I'm getting the painting itch and I need to undercoat a few test models!!

As usual, all comments and crits are most welcome and encouraged! Cheers
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Post by Sacaspearman »

You did a great job on the chain. What did you use to make the indentions?
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Ilmaestro
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Post by Ilmaestro »

@Sacaspearman - Thanks for the praise! I just used the back end of the smallest drill bit from the GW drill set, but looking back at the photos now I think it might have been a little large, so next time I'll probably try a needle I think.

Well I decided that I would take the plunge yesterday and try to paint up a test mini. The results? Horrible :?

To explain, I am no golden demon painter; hell, I can't even paint better than my cat!! So I wanted something that would fulfill by want for a tabletop-quality painted army but not take forever on each model, so that I could actually have said army in the near future. With that in mind, i've been trying to find a nice way to do black armour for a while now, and I had found two different methods that I really liked, both seemingly basic enough that I wouldn't have to spend a million years on a simple spearmen. Of course, reading a 'how-to' and actually doing it yourself are two TOTALLY different ball games, and this was the result of 20 mins of frustration...

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To be honest, I was more testing the colours rather than trying to paint well, but the combination of totally wrong colours and the rushed look really kicked it out of me, so I quit... for the day :)

I couldn't leave you all hanging though, and having seen so many others on this site improve their skills by not giving up even when the going got tough, I decided I was going to give it another shot. However, I was going to change my tact - I realised that although I would love to churn through models at a fast pace, i would much rather have a mouth-watering army and improve my painting skills along the way. So I searched the interwebs and youtube, watching every video I could find on NMM, blending, feathering, glazing (or as one very helpful american called it, 'juicing') and anything else that would help me on my quest. Having picked up a few tips and tricks, I sat down and decided to give it another shot, and this is what I came up with.

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The pictures aren't that great, so to give you a heads up, all I tried was the two shoulder guards. I'm definitely not satisfied with how this one turned out - blending is very rough, the colour gradient isn't distinct enough, and the edge highlighting (especially in the middle of each) is far too wide and untamed - but I learned a lot form the mini, and am actually happy enough with the session as a whole.

Here are the two side by side, just as a comparison.

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Little rant over, and little update for you guys done :D hope you guys are enjoying this log and, as usual, all comments and criticisms are most welcome!

ps. more fluff to follow soon...
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Post by Layne »

Nice work so far.

On the chainmail - use a smaller pin next time, I find a paperclip works well, and do your chainmail before you glue on anything that's going to get in the way.

I'm so happy that you dust your models, everyone should, it makes things so much easier. You can put on more coats, washes take and hold better, it's simply the thing to do. But next time put on just a little more white, and take all the flashing off first. Washes don't like flashing, and if you aren't going to use a lot of washes you won't get full value from your dusting.

Good luck.
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Karonath - WS6 / S4 / T4 / D5 / I3
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Post by Ilmaestro »

@Layne - thanks! Totally agree with the tips for the chainmail, it was looking relatively ok as I was doing it, but it was only after I put them next to the normal minis that I realised how much larger my links were - still, not too bad for my first time with greenstuff hey ;) and thanks for the tips with the model priming as well, to be honest I am not at a level where I think it makes too much of a difference, though I have noticed the very thin layers I am now using don't tend to 'drip' down the model as my memory tells me they used to. And I can't believe I left some of the flashing on, I just got so excited when I saw the only 20 minutes of blue sky all week that I ran outside with a few back rankers and sprayed away!! I'll try to be a bit more composed next time, but no promises... 8)


Alright stop - update time!

Actually, there's not really much here to show you all. Continuing on with my new-found enthusiasm for furthering my painting skills and pushing the boundaries, I attempted my second ever piece of NMM armour, the (shocking) results of which you can see below...

NOTE: I am still trying to perfect the art of taking photos, and it seems that all of these are a little too dark and not quite representative of how the mini actually looks - any chance someone could post a link to a good thread detailing a better way of doing this? Thanks in advance :)

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Trying to learn from the mistakes of the last time, I tried not to leave as much of the area 'black', but I just haven't got the effect I am looking for. I think I need to make some of the edge highlights a little sharper still, as well as the attempted 'line of reflection' running along the top of the arm.

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The above was done with the accursed flash setting, just to try to show the actual gradient of colour a little better on the shoulders and the arm, and this is probably a little closer to what it looks like in real life than the other photos. To be honest, considering it's the first time I've ever actually tried blending, let alone NMM (oh yes, past Il Maestro did not at all like the idea of more than 3 stages of painting for any single thing on a mini, with drybrushing and edge highlighting the extent of the techniques that he was willing to use...), I'm not too unhappy with some of the blending itself, it's just the overall effect that I'm not quite grasping yet.

Anyway, I'm just putting some finishing touches on Part II of the house's history, so I might jump back to the paint station later and give another bit of the armour a crack :)

Hope you guys are enjoying the journey so far, and as usual, all comments, criticisms and tips would be more than helpful and are most of welcome!!!
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Post by Ilmaestro »

Not enough to spark your interest, hey? Well, guess I'll just have to undertake in the dreaded double post to remedy this! ;)

Quick update, just painted the breastplate of that same model, trying to get it finished (at least the armour) so I can see how it looks when all done.

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The blending is a bit all over the place, especially on that large flat area of the left breastplate - I was getting a little tired and I had forgotten about it, so I sort of rushed it a little, and it shows :oops: I also noticed that the central white 'shine' could probably afford to go a little higher up the breastplate as well... Ah well, live and learn hey?

I also thought I would take a few next to the other model that I did in the first place, and these are the results.

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The flash photos seem to give a more realistic look of the mini, so I've decided I might use them a bit more often until I get a proper lightbox set up. Now that the breastplate is done and the model is a little more complete, I am actually starting to like it a lot more - I think the colours changes are not as harsh on the eye, and I'm beginning to realise that full-on edge highlighting (as in the model on the left) is probably not where I want to go with this.

Anyway, I'll try to get the helmet, back and other arm done over the next day or two so i can get this one finally finished. Until then, any comments and criticisms are welcome, let me know which one you prefer!

Cheers
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Post by Ilmaestro »

Finished off the back plates and the other arm, only now the helmet to go and then I can start on the skin. Some of the blends are getting a bit rushed, I'm just finding that I really want to get a test model done and this is taking SO long!

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Hope you guys are enjoying this log so far, if you think the updates are a bit too much (maybe I'll only post once a model is done?) let me know. All comments and criticisms welcome, cheers
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Post by Lord_azoth »

nice work on the chaimail, but maybe the holes are a bit big, maybe you should use a smaller tool. I use a needle that I smooth out to soften the point
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Post by Nightcall »

The armour is looking nice, I can see the improvement there. :)

Can I ask about your undercoating? I paint mine with a mix of Chaos Black and Black Ink (the weather's been too crap for spraying). What is that speckled effect you are doing, is that Dusting? I haven't come across it before and would be interested to hear about the benefits of using it and how to do it.
Casaythe Blackstorm - Warrior (Corsair) - Group 22
Skills: Awareness, Endurance
Equipment: Short Sword, Glaive, Medium Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Repeater Crossbow, clip of bolts [11/20], 405 gold, Talisman of Darkness, Tool Kit, 2 months' rations
Stats: WS4, S4, T5, D3, I4

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Ilmaestro
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Post by Ilmaestro »

@Lord_Azoth - thanks for the compliment, definitely agree about the size of the chainmail links themselves though, and good idea with a blunted needle too!

@Nightcall - I'm glad that there's some visible improvement! :) As for the undercoating: you're right, it is called dusting, and it is basically doing exactly what you do but with another step after. So, after you prime the model black and fix up any small areas with thinned Abbadon Black, what you are attempting to do is to just spray a thin layer of white onto the surfaces to create an almost natural shading. To actually do it, first spray the model from above at an angle of about 45 degrees from each of the four sides, then do the same from below, so that in effect you are spraying it another '8' times. With each of these though, instead of giving long sprays and trying to cover the model white, just do light bursts (a little less than 1 second) from each angle, so that enough of the primer is falling onto the model to aid in the natural highlighting but without fully covering it in white. You should end up with a speckled result that is probably a little more even than some of those shots above, but you get the idea :)

As for the advantages, there are lots! To begin, it makes it a lot easier to apply basecoats and still get the natural colour coming through - you can afford to apply less individual coats and still maintain a strong colour. Also, the individual layers that you put on can be a lot thinner and still 'hold' to the model well. It also helps make the bright colours brigher (as if you were using a white undercoat), whilst still being very forgiving of any recesses that are missed due to the already natural shading effect that you have achieved. All in all, even for a very novice painter like myself, I have found that it is quite a superior technique, and I definitely recommend it to everyone!
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Post by Layne »

Brave going for NMM ; I'm awful at it so can't advise you. My only suggestion is that you might regret not painting the skin first. It's a choice where you're kind of damned either way but I usually find skin first is best.
Layne
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Karonath - WS6 / S4 / T4 / D5 / I3
Equipment: Bloodfeather, heavy armour, helm, Sea Dragon Cloak, rope x 2, month rations x 2
Inventory: longspear, 2 short swords, glaive, winter gear, shade cloak,
Mount: Dark Steed (Shiny), talisman of kurnous
Gold: 2294
Skills: Ambidexterity, Controlled Frenzy, Basic Ride, Drukh Kaganth
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Post by Ilmaestro »

@Layne - thanks for the advice, and I definitely agree, normally I prefer to work inside to out, but I'm till just testing out the armour idea at the moment, so not really painting up the full models yet how I normally would :)
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Nightcall
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Post by Nightcall »

Thank you for the tips, I will try it out some time. ;)
Casaythe Blackstorm - Warrior (Corsair) - Group 22
Skills: Awareness, Endurance
Equipment: Short Sword, Glaive, Medium Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Repeater Crossbow, clip of bolts [11/20], 405 gold, Talisman of Darkness, Tool Kit, 2 months' rations
Stats: WS4, S4, T5, D3, I4

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