The Sable Host - Anvils of the Heldenhammer.

 

The sable armoured host of Stormcast Eternals stood in formation for address, the soil of Shyish, burned from their explosive landing upon reforging, mixed with ground up bone and Shadeglass flowed around their armoured feet as a gale blew in over them.

Rising and falling with it's owners particular rhythm of walking, the reliquary-banner reflected the pale white sunlight off of the ornate gold gilting. The ancient skeleton held aloft looking down upon the Stormcast with stern, dark eyesockets, the oiled relic blade held to bolster the deeds of the living, with the glories of the past.

A giant in black armour, lined with gold and inlaid with the icons of death and mortality strode purposefully towards the front rank. Lines of parchment, inset with Azyrite runes whipping around him in the gale.

He swept his skull helmed visage around, taking in the details of his host.

The proud, veterans disdain for danger and the enemies of the God-King in the stances of the Midnight Exemplars. A unit of Sequiturs who had been in his service for half a century, they had individual markings on their shields, but he could tell them all apart just by their body language.

Ordinator Valeris stood next to her Celestar Ballista, the remarkable machine crackling with the thunderbolt power of the Boltstorm it would fire in combat. 

The Pale Hounds clipped their beaks and stretched muscles out as the commander marched past, running a gauntleted hand over the alpha of the pack as he did so.

Above them, sweeping in to land with the crack of lightning came the Scions of the Host, the Prosecutors dispelling the glowing hammers they wielded and standing to attention.

Having taken the measure of his immediate force, Lord Relictor Eldosis crashed his fist to his breastplate and thunder rumbled in the sky.

"Warriors of the Sable Host" he began, voice resonating above the growing storm so that all the Stormcast could hear him speak.

"It appears that we have been broken by dark magick's as we reforged and headed back to Shyish after all this time. I am before you now before we embark upon this crusade to restore our broken brotherhood and stormhold".

He paused as lightning flashed across the amethyst sky.

"We lost The Keep of Cold Flame nearly a  hundred years ago when the Nighthaunt invaded Lethis and drove the Azyrite population and our parent Stormhost away".

A grumble of disapproval accompanied this last statement.

"But fear not, The Sable Host will take its place in the forefront of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer's ranks when the Stormhost is next called before the God-King Sigmar. Though the magical explosion may have sundered our numbers and scattered our warriors across Shyish, I declare now that we will account for each and every member of our warhost. I declare that we shall defend the people of the realm when they need it, wether Azyrite or Shyish by birth. We shall forge such a crusade that even the Undead King Nagash will have to acknowledge our presence let alone his more mundane slaves which he uses to wage his wars. My brother's and sister's, duty and war call, will you answer?"

With this last question thunder crashed above the Stormcast and their black armoured forms were lit by lightning flashes.

The gathered Sable Host did not roar their approval as some other more Bellicose Stormhost's may have done.

Instead each grasped their favoured melee weapon and thrust it into the air, a muted, whispered cry of exultation accompanying the raised mace's and hammer's.

With a satisfied nod, Lord Relictor Eldosis turned on his heel and began marching towards the ruins nearby, the host following him onwards, scarlet robes whipping in the wind as the pale soil blew across their landing site, covering the burn marks with a fresh mixture of bone and Shadeglass.

*****

Greetings, so recently I've been working on one of my projects from my list of Hobby Season project's around practicing and passing various tests at work for a future promotion when the line in the link becomes available.

As mentioned sometime before, when I took stock of all the various Stormcast Eternals Miniatures I had, I decided to unify them all under one Stormhost, namely the Anvils of the Heldenhammer.

I liked their black colour scheme and the Mrs liked their background, being linked with Shyish and the underworld (she reads a lot of paranormal romance novels, so I think that was playing into it).

So to start with, here is an overall picture of the Stormhost as it currently sits:

Closer up photo's now, and we being with the Prosecutor's, the Scions of the Host:

These models are some of the first Stormcast I ever painted when the first Age of Sigmar big box came out (yes they're that old) and I stripped the paint off to redo them for my current plan.

Below are a few more focused photo's of Prosecutor Prime Calyx.

I didn't want to just do flat black armour with gold trim, as that's very Black Legion Chaos, which I'm also working on.

So instead made a very dark metallic mixture of Leadbelcher and Abaddon Black, which I highlighted with pure Leadbelcher. I then contacted this with Khorne Red, Mephiston Red and Evil Sunz Scarlet for the petruges and robes of the mini's. This is something of a regret as I think I would have been better going for Barak-Nar Burgundy to keep the moodiness of the Stormhost, but I'm going to run with the red now rather then repainting them again:

Next is Ordinator Valeris and her Celestar Ballista:

The warmachine itself is a nice ornate chunk of a machine, this got a lot more normal metallic work, the ammo clips are painted with Grey Knights Steel and washed with Nuln Oil:

The crew were where I started to experiment with the robes, to contrast with the red I wanted a warm colour and went for a bone/cream coloured base, washed with Sepia and then I made a mixture a highlight with Ushabti Bone and Ulthuan Grey:

The veteran Sequiturs of the Midnight Exemplars are next:

The two Grandmace wielding members of the unit follow the same painting steps as the warmachine crew above:

The mace and shield wielding members of the unit, Sequitur Prime Vanthia in the center may well be my favourite Stormcast model:

Their individual shields, I wanted to do something more with these then the usual flat colour which the GW Studio paint theirs. As these are veterans of the host, I see Liberators as the line units, I took the step to split their heraldry vertically, half in the black of the Anvils, and half white and red for their heraldry. The colour choice keeps the shields on theme for the army and ties everything together:

The big man himself, Lord-Relictor Eldosis, again painted using the same techniques, a lot more work went into his reliquary:

The reliquary-banner, here as a close up, the bones started with Ushabti Bone, washed with Sepia, but worked back up to Ulthuan Grey to represent polished bone inlaid. The various candles go the other way, starting with Ulthuan Grey and being washed two thirds down with Sepia, then once this had dried washing the bottom half, then the bottom Thurs, finally the bottom quarter to get an old, aged candle look (I should go back and pick out the wicks with some black at some point):

The mass of Parchment which makes up his cloak, this is simply Tallarn Sand wash heavily with Sepia:

Finally we have the Pale Hounds, Gryph-Hounds are one of my favourite creations from AoS and I had to have some for the force.

I kept to the sandy, lion bodies which I had already painted, I just used Terradon Turquoise contrast paint over the feathered areas to make them more unique and magical-creature-esque:

Finally a repeat of the overall Stormhost so far:

I believe this lot comes out to 620 points, so over a third of the project completed.

The Gryph-Hounds weren't part of the original planned list, but I just wanted to get them up to snuff and they were an easy win.

When I took stock of everything I had Stormcast wise, I had three of the original big boxes worth of models, a set of models from Stormstrike (I think), the second edition big box as well as a few other bits and pieces, so plenty to be going on with.

Until next time, have nice day...

A Knight-Questor's Tale - part 2.

 (Continued from Part 1)

The champion loomed large, I am not ashamed to say that I must have screamed in terror.

Here I was, just a boy, playing at being a man and confronted by a nightmare vision of death.

I raised my pitiful sword and made to strike.

A deep basso rumbled in my ears and I realised that the champion hadn't bothered to block my strike and was laughing instead.

Outraged I swung again and again, eventually breaking my sword against the thick hellforged armour, I raged against the unfairness of everything.

"I admire your spirit boy! I am Kharnan Kraguul, seek me out when you are a man so we can settle this, one warrior to another" he roared with a voice that sounded as if a volcano was erupting.

Then everything was black.

I woke up three days later, pulling myself clear of the mass grave where the bodies had been piled and sought out the few survivors who were making ready to leave.

I was told that after I had broken my sword, the champion had backhanded me with such force that I flew clear over the ranks of the soldiers behind me and was thought to be dead.

It was deemed a miracle that I lived still...

 Alryne was abandoned, but I never forgot the champions challenge to me. Wherever we ended up I strove to defend to my utmost, even my last breathe I declared.

My home and family had been destroyed and that opened a burning fierceness in me to never let that happen again.

Over and over through the years I defended villages and towns against the insane horde of chaos worshippers. 

Eventually, Lord Sigmar blessed me with transformation upon the Anvil of Apotheosis and I became a Knight-Questor of the Hallowed Knights Stormhost.

I perform my duties with due diligence for Lord Sigmar, however I still search for Kharnan Kraguul.

I still search for the reckoning we are fated.

I still search for vengeance for Alryne...

*****

Whilst I finished the Khornate Knights for the last post (linked at the beginning), I was struggling to come up with a decent story for them, other then being just "Haha Blood Knights" (which are a vampire thing incidentally).

During the course of just cleaning up some Stormcast parts which I originally planned on converting into a Lord-Celestant on foot I began playing the Silver Tower mobile game, where your starting hero is a Knight-Questor.

Coupled with talking to Fraser about my lack of story ideas he suggested the old Khorne theme of honour, battle and challenge.

These two things led to Knight-Questor Calain Drakesword and his loyal Gryph-hound Silver.

Though I never mentioned his name in the background, I always like to name my models (or at least the unit leaders), makes them feel more like my dudes.

So why Hallowed Knights?

I was searching for cool Stormcast colour schemes, as a method of doing something different and found a great Silver washed with Purple shade scheme, but with Red robes.

Chris suggested Green, but I wasn't sure about the Purple and Green together.

Then I remembered the awesome stories in the first set of AoS novels about Gardus Steelsoul, who now has his own AWESOME Mini. 

So Blue it was for the robes and details.

He is built from a starter set push fit Liberator Prime body, a Liberator sword, Paladin backpack and Vandus Hammerhand's Head with majestic mohawk included!

Silver came about because I love Gryph-hounds and I had a spare waiting to be built. I don't believe that a Knight-Questor can take a Gryph-hound in AoS, but rule of cool!!!

So this models definitely falls under the category of a "Kitbashed model" so he claims that second kitbash square on my hobby bingo grid. Also netting me the line across the top as well, making a gain of sixty points at the start of the month.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the grid before I'd made more additions to it, so that updated grid will be in the next post.

Until next time...

Gryph-hounds of the Star-Fated Lords Stormhost.

The Stormcast Eternals of the Star-Fated Lords Stormhost made camp in the foothills of the Drakespine Mountains. They had been working on an expanding patrol route of the foothills after receiving word of Black-Axe Brayherd movement's to the north of Ancestors' Fyrd.

Corine Silverheart, the Knight-Incantor meditated in her tent as the Lord-Castellant Andrius Suresteel and Knight-Concussor Arinos Swiftsoul conversed.

"I do not like this waiting Lord" Swiftsoul spoke up, "We seem to be inviting ambush by the cursed beastmen".

"We are not inexhaustible my friend" Suresteel replied, "Even the champions of the Storm King need to take rest occasionally".

"Yes Lord, but apart from our sentries here we seem rather vulnerable, especially camped here near the Ruins of Whitestone".

"True, we are in an exposed position, but I wouldn't have wanted to rest inside those haunted walls, would you? Besides, we are not as vulnerable as you think".

"Lord Suresteel, my visions point towards a detachment battling its way from the northwest" Corine Silverheart spoke up now, her eyes still glazed white in the trance.

"We need to muster our forces" Swiftsoul began before Silverheart cut him off.

"They bear the colours of our Stormhost" she said.

"Ah, our Vanguard Detachment is here at last" Suresteel said with a knowing smile.

-----

Four miles northwest of the Stormcast camp, Jermyna Swiftgale sprinted forwards. Her troops of the Vanguard Detachment using their own Swiftfoot spells to keep up with her and the ranging pack of Gryph-hounds she kept with her.

The hounds, eagle headed but with the bodies of miniature lions barked as they called to each other, the wind ruffling their feathered heads as they sprinted and bounded between the conferious trees of the foothills.

With a sudden growl-bark the pack stopped in it's tracks. The alpha moving to join it's package which had called out.

The two creatures sniffed the air and began to weave between the brush and tree trunks slowly.

Jermyna Swiftgale, held up a clenched fist and the entire detachment stopped, coming from full sprint to silent rest in seconds.

She watched the two hounds intently, any reaction from them would be a warning, for it was truly said that one can never surprise a Gryph-hound.

With a start the Alpha clicked it's beak and began barking, the second hound joined in and the pack moved over towards them.

"Defend yourselves, Brayherd ambush" Jermyna shouted to her troops, as the forest came alive with the crashing shapes of the beastmen.

*****

Age of Sigmar has some really cool spectacularly high fantasy models in it's range, a lot of which have been produced since the game was released after the death of Warhammer Fantasy Battle (I'm not getting into that here!).

The Stormcast Eternals are the games flagship faction and have seen the most attention, obviously.

Some of my favourite things that have been released have been the creature additions to the Stormcast range.

From the Aetherhawks, to the Gryph-Chargers and the mighty Stardrake.

These Gryph-Hounds are the Azyr equivalent of a hunting dog.

I gave these a more muted tone then the box art or some I have seen online, or as I have produced in the past when I previously painted one to accompany my Lord Castellant.

Mainly a series of dull tawny browns for the bodies, remeniscent of a lion.

Along with the white eagle head, the combination of which makes the pack resemble miniature Griffon's, but without the wings.

It dosen't show up well in the photo's, but the white feathers actually have an undercurrent of electric blue beneath them, something to denoted their magical nature.

The bronze and red accoutrements tie them to my Stormhost. 

The Alpha-Hound here also has a series of black feathers around his head, as well as his bronze headgear denoting the pack leader.

Finally, as I plan to add these to a Vanguard Chamber detachment, here is a photo of them with the detachment leader, Jermyna Swiftgale:

With these six beasties out of the way, that's another "Unit of 2+ models" box crossed out on the Hobby Bingo grid, pushing me well into the lead, until Chris and Dave post some stuff and catch up. They've both made noise that they have post's to produce, so keep an eye on their blog's as well.

These models also give me another six points in my challenge with Duncan. Bringing me up to 23 points in total.

As we both have a week of annual leave currently, I'm hoping to get more of a tally going,, as I know he's probably working on something super-heavy for lots of points...

Until next time...

 - Lewis

The Battle of Iron Ridge - A Dragon Rampant Battle Report.

The other day I said that I was going to post up a Dragon Rampant battle report to test the rules and see how the game plays.

This is actually my first game using the system, I was going to get some practice games in at the beginning of the year and attend the Rampant day 2020 event which was being organised, but the world put paid to that idea, especially as the thing was cancelled anyway due to the pandemic.

Anyway, for those who don't remember, I did an introductory post about the game at the beginning of the year, which you can find Here.

Given that whilst lock down has been eased, we still aren't allowed to gather in groups, Dragon Rampant was one of the best games in my collection to be played solo.

To set the scene in my house:
Out came the grass mat, the plastic bonsai trees and the ruins which are Here I made a bit back, along with my completed small forces. My son had gone to sleep, the Mrs was reading downstairs and the cats were calm and sleeping of their dinner.

Time for me to get a game on!

The forces are as follows:

Stormcast Eternals:

Lord Castelland and Knight-Incantor - Heavy Infantry with Mystical Armour and Wizardling.

These have the leader trait “Brave” meaning that they were never effected by fear.They had the spells: Heal Thee!, Power Bolt and Stronger Shields.They have 6 wounds each, using the reduced model count rule.

4 Sequitors – Heavy Infantry.

They have 3 wounds each.

4 Liberators – Heavy Infantry.

They have 3 wounds each.

A Dracoth Rider – Heavy Rider with Wizardling.

He has the spells: Banish Fear! Sod-Off-Spell and Power Bolt.He has 6 wounds.

3 Aetherwings – Lesser War beasts.

They have 2 wounds each.

The Nighthaunt:

Knight of Shrouds and 2 Dreadblades – Heavy Riders with Flying and Undead.

They have the leader trait “Goader” meaning that a unit can automatically move without passing a test to do so.

They have 2 wounds each.

3 Myrmourn Banshees – Scouts with Flying and Undead.

They have 2 wounds each.

6 Grimghast Reapers – Bellicose Infantry with Undead.

They have 2 wounds each.

Banshee, Spirit Torment and 10 Chainrasps – Light Infantry with Wizardling.

They had the spells: Heal Thee! Bog Thee! And Befuddle Thee!

They have 1 wound each.

An Abyssal Horror – Lesser War beast with Flying, Flame Attack and Undead.

This has 6 wounds.

Now that the forces are laid out, let's set the scene in the game:

“Find the ruins three days march westwards from Ancestor's Fyrd, it's a small ancient hovel nestled in the lee of Iron Ridge, we thought we could find a shortcut and beat the Angus clan here to trade. All we found was death, tormented spirits rising from the ground to attack us as we moved through, there's no way traders will be coming here unless that is dealt with”

Andrius Suresteel thought about the tales of the wild eyed trader who had rode into Ancestor's Fyrd six days ago. Trade was the lifeblood of the township and needed to get through, more over, a significant Nighthaunt presence this close to the town had to be dealt with and quickly. It had taken them three days to call back the roving patrols which kept the Brayherd's to the north in check, and leaving a garrison behind, they had marched out to confront this latest threat.

“Sigmar's work is never done my friend” Arinos Swiftsoul said from atop his Dracoth mount as if sensing the unease in Andrius.

“No, it seems not, we'll push on for another hour to the top of Iron Ridge and see if we can spot anything” he replied.

“Very good lord” Arinos said and goaded the Dracoth forwards to the front of the column.

****

An hour later they had marched onto the crest and were looking down at death.
Nighthaunt were spilling from the ruins sensing the living warriors opposing them, Chainrasps, Reapers, a huge Abyssal and the Knights which were leading the horde. With a howl like a dry wind, they set forward drifting on tendrils of smoke eager to kill the living.

“Form up, spread out to cover the ridge, we have the high ground” Andruis shouted to his Stormcast warriors.

Sequitors to his left, Liberators and the Aetherwings to his right. Andruis on his Dracoth following the Sequitors seeing the Reapers and Abyssal heading towards that flank. Orine Silverheart, the forces' Knight-Incantor remained by his side, the senior command and spell caster acting as the lynchpin of the force.

Issuing orders, the Liberators moved forwards to the edge of the treeline to make the best of the room available, at the same time the Aetherwings, ever unpredictable, shrilled and flew forwards, eager to rend the enemy.

The Sequitors and Arinos however were caught out by the speed of the enemy who were charging forwards en-mass, the Abyssal flying over the ghostly troops to switch flanks.
Andrius couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn he saw more ghost shapes in the ruins who hadn't moved but couldn't see properly.

With a sudden shriek the Aetherwings swooped forwards, driving at the Abyssal and tearing with beaks and claws.

The Azyrite birds, though valiant in the attack, hadn't managed to wound the great ethereal beast at all, yet when it hit back, arcs of blood followed the weighty hit and the hawks flew for the safety of the trees on the ridge.

Meanwhile, the Sequitors and Arinos had steeled themselves and marched forwards over the crest-line, staring at the incorporeal horde approaching, readying themselves as best the could for the fight to come.
At his side, Andruis nodded with satisfaction as Orine muttered an incantation to Sigmar and unleashed a bolt of purest white Azyr lightning at the enemy leaders.

The bolt struck true and one of the Dreadblade bodyguards seemed to drop somewhat towards the ground and slowed, these creatures could certainly be wounded. The other troops were watching as a cheer sounded from the length of the ridge at the strike.

With a sudden surge of movement, the Nighthaunt force threw itself forwards.
The Grimghast Reapers fell upon the Sequitors with unholy vigour, their scythes driving one of the warriors to the floor, his armour split in two.

The unit, unsure of themselves only managed to fend off the attackers before stumbling back up the ridge where they came. A bolt of lightning leapt skywards from the ground as the fallen warrior was reclaimed to Sigmar's realm.

In the center of the line, Andruis and Orine found themselves embroiled in a fight as the Knight of shrouds and his bodyguard had charged forwards and swept their blades in wicked circles.

“I am Vornos Ravenhold, do you fear death?” it seemed to whisper and scream at the same time.
Neither of the Stormcast deigned to answer and set about themselves with stave and halberd.

Though bloodied, the Stormcast heroes held firm. Their strength smiting one of the Dreadblades and wounding the other as the Knight of Shrouds pulled the ghostly creature in front of the halberd blow meant for him.
With a sibilant hiss, he turned and led his ailing comrade back through the trees for the moment.

In the center of the Nighthaunt line, Amondrizel, leading the Chainrasps, let out a shriek which cracked stone. She aimed her scream at the Liberators unit causing them to cover their ears in pain and stumble out of rank.

At the same time, they were hit by a more powerful shrill scream. The Abyssal had opened it's jaws wider them a living thing could have and shrieked, digging a furrow through the ground and pitching one of the stalwart warriors from his feet.

Steeling themselves, the Liberator unit redressed their ranks in-time to receive the charge of the Abyssal which swooped down from the top of the nearby ruins. Spectral claw met Sigmarite shield. Ayzr forged hammer battered ethereal scale as the fight erupted.

Amazingly they managed to drive the creature off, giving praise to Sigmar as they watched it silently drift away through the ruins.

Their gaze draw down towards the fallen comrade at their feet, before he is lifted away by a bolt of lightning, reclaimed to Sigmar's forge. Steeling themselves their set their sights upon the Chainrasp horde massing in front of them.

The Grimghast Reapers charged up the hill to engage the Sequitors once again. Scythes flailing they set about the Stormcast as if they were a harvest.

Unfortunately, this particular harvest was armoured in Sigmarite and fought back. When the dust settled another of Sigmar's warriors was reclaimed, but two of the Reapers had been banished back to the lands of Shyish.

Unfortunately, their nerve didn't hold and they scrambled backup the ridge again, in-spite of the bellowed orders of Arinos.

The figures which Andrius thought he had seen at the beginning of the battle finally resolved themselves as a unit of Myrmourn Banshee's. They swept forwards and immediately began wailing at the Liberators unit. Obviously wise to this tactic now, the Liberators were unaffected and continued about their business.

Meanwhile magical spells seemed to permeate the air as Amondrizel turned uttering praise to Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Dead, seemed to reinvigorate the Knights and they reformed themselves more solidly.

Orine, casting another incantation from Sigmar, caused the Liberator's armour to begin to glow, almost white with the divine protection coming from it.

And Arinos, bounding forwards on his Dracoth, sent a searing bolt of lightning into the Grimghast Reapers, causing one of the ghosts to disintegrate entirely and causing the rest of the unit to scurry backwards to safety.

Not taking a single step backwards, the Liberators charged forwards with a mighty warcry!
They smashed into the Chainrasp line and battle was joined in earnest.

Rusted sword and spectral claw proved no match for the mightily protected Liberators who proceeded to banish six of the ghosts in a matter of moments, hisses and gasps echoing from each banishment.
Amondrizel, sensing the fight was turning, spitefully stabbed her dagger into one of the few weak points of the Liberators causing a wound, before turning and gliding away with the surviving Chainrasps following through the ruins.

Once again Vornos Ravenhold led the charge up the hill, determined to see these upstart living beings be drawn to the world of the dead. He managed to draw a bead on the Knight-Incantor and sweeping his blade in a whistling arc dealt a sever blow to her, driving her to her knees. He over extended however and being so set on killing Orine, he failed to recognise the death shriek of his remaining Dreadblade, let alone the whistle of the Halberd which had now cut through several of his physical ties to this realm. Panicked and badly out of position, the Knight of Shrouds emitted a high pitched wail and bled into the ground and returned to Nagash in Shyish.

With their main source of connection to this realm defeated, the remaining Nighthaunt all seemed to fade and little, their power somewhat diminished, until Amondrizel, the thorn in the Stormcast sides, screeched once again and focused the rest of the ghosts on the battle, only the Abyssal fled from the battle line, recovering it's wits a few moment's later.

As the Knight of Shrouds dissolved into the floor, the Liberators and Aetherwings were back on the attack.
The Aetherwings seeking out the retreating Amondrizel and Chainrasps, clawing at the ghosts which deftly avoiding the return attacks.

The Liberators carried on their forward momentum and slammed into the Myrmourn Banshee's who were lining up to attack the Lord Castellant, current;y helping the wounded Knight-Incantor back to her feet.
With another warcry to Sigmar, the Liberators set about the Banshee unit before the enemy knew what had hit them. Wiping the spectres from the realm, an echoing wail emitting from each undead banished..

Arinos had charged into the Grimghast unit again, driving his Dracoth hard. The creature swept about with it's giant claws, biting forwards as Arinos swung his sword, keeping the standard he held high.

With the turn of the Reapers once again, the Nighthaunt seemed to loose whatever passed for a heart amongst their kind and quit the field.

The Nighthaunt had been driven away, Andrius gathered about him his surviving warriors.
Though many were bloodied and Orine Silverheart was struggling to stand by herself, his forces losses were thankfully light. Two Sequitors and one Liberator had been reclaimed by Sigmar for reforging, the one Aetherwing which had fallen was lain to rest at the foot of the crest.

“We have done great work here, the trade lines from the west will resume to Ancestor's Fyrd with the new of this victory, Praise be to Sigmar!” He spoke to his warriors.

“Praise be to Sigmar!” the echoed.

“Further” Andrius continued, “Eldermnon Hammerborn, your and your Liberators have performed above and beyond that which was expected of your today. In recognition of your deeds, your shall be referred to as 'The Bulwark of the Heavens' from hence forth”.

The Liberator Prime stood straighter at this news, pride filling him. Even his wounded soldier shrugged off the help of his fellow to stand with his prime in recognition of this accolade.

Looking about him with a weary but proud eye, Andrius Suresteel met the eyes of every Stormcast present.

“We march to Ancestor's Fyrd!”

****

Well, an enjoyable couple of hours play testing the rules.

I enjoyed the randomness of activations, and the fact that if you fail an activation, then your turn automatically ends regardless of whether it is the first activation or the last. There was much luck of the drawer in the game, if some of the rolls, especially for the almost immortal Liberator unit had gone the other way, then it would have been a very different story. Likewise the Knight of Shrouds, inspite of him being the "Big Bad" couldn't seem to cut his way out of a paper bag, nevermind a fully armoured warrior!

One of the things I like the most about this game is the damage system is very well done, simple but elegant and I had that down after the third combat. I think with time and a few more playthroughs then I will get speedier at the rules and not have to cross-check as much as I did, as this is what ate up a lot of the time today.

I will definitely be playing this again in the future, and maybe organise a campaign for myself to play through.

Until next time...

- Lewis