Thursday 23 November 2017

Relics. Battle for Orcnar Village

The Grymann were young, barely fallen out of their Dmoder's backs, and their eager cries and howls echoed across the valley as they charged down its edge ahead  of the main Orcnar force. Beorn Omrok at the front of the main March stopped to survey the valley, his eyes taking in their goal, an empty village at the valleys heart but also a smudge of colour on the opposite hills. Another had come to challenge them for what was theirs.


Simple last man standing battle between Orcnar and Ridend with 150 points per side

Ridend

x2 Units of Archer
x2 Units of Foot Kights
x1 Barons - Baron Scra'ch
x1 Baron - Sir It'ch
Vassel Knights formation with x2 Foot Knights and Ladies of the Court

Orcnar

x1 Dogma
x1 Grymann
x2 Unmann
x1 Eotan
x1 Spatga
x1 Beorn - Baraak
x1 Niwain - Torom



Battlefield with village and ruins



View from the ruins



Abandoned Orcnar village and War Shrine



Orcnar Dice at the ready!


Openning rounds saw both forces advance, the Ridend taking advantage of multiple commanders (both Barons and the Ladies) to spread out while the Orcnar moved close to the Baraak and Torom



Eager for blood, the Docga broke ranks and ran through the village, taking advantage of the huts to shelter from the Ridend archers.



Torom extending the Baraaks command to lead an Unmann and Eotan force into the Standing Stones


Ridend Foot knights led by Baron Stra'ch move in to the outer ring of the Standing Stones



Both sides move to engage as Ridend Maaj and Spatga vomit take casualties




The Grymann move into position to delay the Vassel Knights and lose two to the Ladies maaj attacks



Following a furious four rounds of initiative dice rolling, the Orcnar take the lead and the Dogca, boosted by Baraaks Beorn Maaj charge the Ridend Archers and destroy them





The second archer unit fires as it withdraws and takes one of the great beasts down. Foot Knight charge in to avenge their fallen brothers



The fight continues and both sides are reduced as Sir It'ch moves closer


The fight for the Standing Stone begins as the roaring bulk of the Eotan smashes into the Foot Knights 



Unmann rush to support the Docga as the Spatga take out another one. The other unit of Unmann weathered another arrow storm as they move to support the Eotan



Clear of the hill at last, the Vessel knights move towards the village


The last Docga finally falls but takes the Foot knights with it.







Too late to the Eotan, the Unmann aim themselves at Baron Scra'ch



Over a field of dead Docga and knights, the Unmann charge the injured Baron



Grymann launch a surprise attack and manage to kill all the Ladies



Enraged, the Foot Knights charge and swear revenge!


Baraak abandons control of the Spatga and moves away from the archers and towards the Grymann



The Beorn charges, taking out two Foot knights and using Blood Ceremony to restore a Grymann






Baraaak and the Grymann fall under the the weigh of both Foot Knight Units
while the Unmann succeed against Sir It'ch and rush to support the other unit 




Unmann and Knights trade blows 


Reduced by archer fire, the last Unmann launch themselves at Baron Scra'ch



Still jubilant from the destruction of the first Unmann unit, the Knight move in to support their Baron as the Vessel knights approach  





The last Unmann falls



The victorious Ridend take the village!

Baron Scra'ch surveyed the battlefield from the centre of the village. It had been a hard fought victory and many brave ridend had fallen including the revered Ladies and his own son Sir I'ch. He sat and surveyed the ruins of the Orcnar village, already empty, it felt like a hollow victory but he knew his Dukes domains must be protected at all costs. Though crude, the village was a start and soon young Ridend would arrive and make it their own and add a new standard to the hall of the Duke.




Relics. C'thu Vesparmoths



The next group of figures for my C'thu faction is the Vesparmoth. I got two of these as part of the Kickstarter and they are big resin models that sit on 50mm bases. The main body is about 50mm long and about 15mm wide with an assembled wingspan of 90mm across on the larger wings.
Inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos Mi-Go race, the Vesparmoths are a impressive model and along with their smaller cousins the Vesparthers, are the first flyers for Relics (the Vaettir have some figures with wings but are all grounded). There is not that many insect based figures in the miniature world, a underused potential, and the Vesparmoth is a great design with the head linking it to the others in the range.
With one assembled in a blutac test I was a little concerned about potential transport problems so I  decided to magnetise the wings. The recesses for the wings required very little work for the magnets (3 by 2 mm) but settling the opposites was a bit of a fiddle as I wanted them to align the same so they would try and flip before the glue had taken. The base of the wing arms was also large enough to drill and fit another magnet.


The components required very little cleaning. I won't be using the flight stands and will be using blackened wire instead.



Starting on the Flesh work of the body. I decided to paint the main carapace section as if it had been gilded to tie it in with the C'tharacs. The face/tentacles will also be be dark.


Finished Vesparmoths


The Flight stands have been replaced with steel needles painted black. with such large bases i added some mushroom patches which are made form wire and Green Stuff


All the wings are removable and fully interchangeable 



Comparison with Orcnar Unmann and Eotan.
The figures are large but designed well and don't feel like Scale Creep.


The Dead Sun Church 




Sunday 19 November 2017

Relics. The C'thu


'From the depths of the deepest, darkest swamps of Relicia, the Cult of C’thu emerges. Its origins seeped in betrayal of the most heinous kind. 
Lord C’thu commands his minions from the shadows, whispering his unholy wishes into the eager ears of his chosen avatars. One of these devotees has surpassed all others in his pursuit of power and has assumed the mantle of leader and with it the authority to conduct the affairs of the cult on behalf of his malevolent master, he his known as Xavius Prime and from the glades of the Krakenshearth he plots to bring a terrible plague of madness upon all of Relicia'
Between building more Orcnar Terrain and putting together the next batch of Orcnar troops ( and adding all the GS stone collars and bracelets) I have been able to get one of the guys at my gaming Club hooked and has started collecting the Ridend. Discussing next factions he has settled on the Vaettir so I narrowed it down to the Nuem or C'thu. Both factions have  huge appeal for me but as I managed to stock up a quite a hoard of the C'thu when they were launched on Kickstarter and there have not been that many painted armies show up on the Net they won out.

The first figures i decided on are the C'tharacs. I picked up two of these in the kickstarter and are single pieces of resin about 50mm long and 20mm wide and stand on 40mm bases. When they were released they were shown unpainted and instead used Cthulhu Mythos images to find a direction for their look. In the end it was the Primordial beasts, the Ogdru Jahad from Hellboy that gave me a start for the tentacles 


while for the headdress, i drew from images of Indian and Thai headdresses and old gold from sunken treasure. I had a vision of the C'tharacs slowly emerging from the sea, though listening to 'The Shadow over Innsmouth' while i was painting might have had something to do with it!



 Cork and stone bases.
With the base colours done. The brown works well as a base for the gold

Once i started on the C'tharac's getting the infants became a must and I ordered two units. These are cast in one piece metal and stand about 30mm.

Aging on the finished crowns, built upon using several inks.
The eyes were painted as if they were glowing, which is not something I usually do and am a still bit undecided. I might go back later and redo them if I can face doing all those eyes again!

Completed C'tharacs
I wanted the bases to give the impression of their deadly nature, beneath them the earth is drained of life and cracks and plants wither and die.

C'tharac Infants

Size comparison with Orcnar Eotan and Unmann


The Dead Sun Church so far...




Gary Numan - Dead Sun Rising