Company of Villains

During the last two months I was part of an awesome project. It was an Instagram collaboration of different artists and it was called 'Company of Hobbyists'. The rules were as the following: Team up and create a fantasy styled warband with a common theme. This should include lore and same bases to get a coherent appearence. Deadline was set to the end of September. I was invited by Chris, a.k.a. the k03rnl and teamed up with requiem_82, tooth_in_layer and Mr. Golden-Demon winner Seyni. It was a blast and it was so much fun working with these amazing and talented guys. A complete different feeling than my usual lone-wolf-hobbying.

The first thing was picking a theme. Basicly we agreed on a group of villians in a snow inviroment. I instantly started writing a little introduction lore:
"After a long exhausting journey the group of strangers reaches their destination. They suffered cold winds, snow and many fights. Their cold feets brought them trough houndred miles of snow, over the black mountains, hostile territories and countless deadly dangers. And now, the last four survivors are facing the ancient ruins of Khart C'onz. Grouped by fate to form a fragile alliance to achieve their personal goals. No trust, no loyalties, just the desire of power. They are servants of shadow kingdoms and even darker places. Legends were told about a strange and mighty artefact, that once gave the old, dead kings of Khart C'onz the power to conquer these lands and retain their throne over generations. It seems they have prooven the legend's truth. But the artefact will only belong to the darkest and strongest soul in the end. And it will only belong to the choosen one."

Next stage was picking the characters. Everbody was free to choose a charcter and the result was a bunch of individual villains: The Frozen King, a Fallen Knight, an Assassin, a Priestess and a Beast. They all should appear in winter gear to fit the lore.We started rather late and had a few weeks to finish this project. I choose a sneaky, female Assassin and started to kitbash something. 

The Basemodel was created with the torso of a Khinerai and the lower half of a GSC Magos. The head is from a Wildwood Ranger. To add more cold weather gear I added a cape from one of the new Warcry models and extended it with green stuff. The Sword on her back is from a chaos sorcerer.
The pose turned out as dynamic as I wanted and I could start to add some smaller bits to complete this build.

Requiem_82 came up with the idea that the bases should be created by one person to get the most coherent appearence as possible. I volunteered for this task and was really looking forward to work with 'snow' for the first time. It was a bit of gambling, because I couldn't check if the models will fit. But with some reference pictures I tried my luck.

Cork was used to give each one the opportunity of easy pinning their models. I also placed some skulls and used sand and Vallejo texture paints to create the surface. I also placed a small piece of fooliage. Watered down PVA was used to achieve a heavy resiliant bond of the materials. After drying they were primed black and I started to bring in some colours. I started with base colours and some layers of drybrush. Then I used a wash that I created with Agrax Earthshade, Nuln oil and the new contrast medium. And again some more drybrushing. To finish this step I used different pigments.

To push this further I placed some moss (PVA, water, flock and pigments), a reddish plant (painted seafoam and Noch leaves) and started with some snow. The first layer of snow was Valhallan Blizzard. But I wasn't sure to achieved the desired result and mixed the snow with AK's ultra matte varnish on my palette. This gave me the look I was thinking of and also made it way easier to place.

After three layers this was finished and I airbrushed a layer of AK's ultra matte varnish and was very pleased with the result.

I packed and shipped the bases and crossed my fingers that they would fit the other's models and would arrive just in time. And they did, after some (a lot) trouble with the delivery company, creating and shipping a new one, etc.

The Murder Priestess by requiem_82

 The Fallen Knight by Chris

The Frozen King by Seyni

 The Unleashed Beast by tooth_in_layer

The Shaodw Assassin by myself

This was a very successful project and I learned a lot from these guys. I think this is one of my best painted minis so far. Hopefully we will do this another time. To finish this post following some more pictures of my own model.

Thank you very much for your visit. Feel welcome to comment and stay tuned! 

ONDROMA - Chapter I: Namorra Prime

Namorra Prime was once a civilised world of the Imperium. However, after centuries of civil war, brutal conflicts, and natural disasters, there are only a few Imperial strongholds left. Although Imperial in name, many of these strongholds are led by vicious Leaders, that are more similar to warloads than loyal followers of the Imperial Creed. The progressive decay of Namorra Prime lead to the rise of warbands, tribes, cults, and scavengers, which started a vicious cycle that further pushed the planet into regression. If the Administratum attempted a planetary census, Namorra Prime would undoubtedly be reclassified as a feral world, however the Imperium’s bureaucracy makes the probability of such an effort virtually nonexistant.

Hive City Kargon V was not exempt from the mayhem. The ruling Houses fought bitterly to retain control of the crumbling hive, with their Nobles trying to empower their forces and craft fragile alliances. Years of this internecine conflict, coupled with the steadily diminishing resources of a ravaged planet, dulled the Houses’ perception of anything beyond their own inflated egos, preventing them from seeing a rising darkness that was flooding the planet. Suddenly they realized an even more horrific danger had festered while they struggled for existence. Although incomplete and nebulous, records suggest Haunting Shadows came out of the shadows in every sector, a dark and powerful enemy, possessed by something, a morbid rapture. Conflict continued for many years, possibly for decades. As the 41st millennium comes to a close, it is not clear if there was the victor, or if the bloodshed continues unabated, for transmitted records have long since ceased.

During this tenuous time, the Planetary Defence Forces of Namorra Prime abandoned their sacred duty and retreated to their base on the surrounding moon. This base, once a small space port, was fortified to become the fortress Receptum. Archived records suggest that in cases of extreme need they were beseeched by local governments or even some of the warlords for support or rescue, but such requests fell on deft ears, for the PDF had completely cut ties with Namorra Prime, leaving them to their dire fate.

An emergency signal was detected a few days ago, its origin in the Ondroma Sector. Although the encoded message may be corrupted, it is certain that it originated from the Namorra Prime. Rumours suggest that a lost STC may have been recovered in the system, but no records can confirm the veracity of the claim. The Adeptus Administratum could not leave such rumours uninvestigated, and has sanctioned Rogue Traders to converge on the Ondroma system. This is only the official response of the Imperium of Man, however. As can be imagined, the destress signal has attracted all manner of other interest, including the Ordos and other less reputable factions. The Adeptus Mechanicus undoubtedly have deeper knowledge about Ondroma and their former Manufactorums on Drayker Zulu, but they remain curiously silent. Agents of the Ordos confirmed that they secretly sent out an exploration fleet. And it is very probable that the Inquisition is already heading towards this system as well.

Ultimately, it is still unclear how the rumour about the STC appeared, but it is simply too important to ignore. Furthermore, the signal was sent over an unimaginably long distance, making its interception by various Xenos races a certainty. Such holy data and technology cannot fall into such unclean hands.

All manner of explorers try to reach the system in secret to start orbital reconnaissance. The source of the signal may have been located in a still working relay station on the outskirts of the Wildlands, near Hive Kargon V. Therefore, this is the first point for the converging forces to start their investigations to gather more information. The first step into the abyss.
There are different factions on Namorra Prime that are aware of the incoming invaders, and want to decipher what is happening. Having been cut off from the Imperium for so long, they were surprised and shocked by the sudden arrival of these strangers. They remember stories and legends that their parents told them long ago. Stories of war, decay, and fear. Stories of a time that was. Stories told from generation to generation. Civilians hide, flee and seek shelter. Still loyal governors hold out hope for their long-awaited help. Warlords fear a loss of territory and power, or may see a way to increase both. Isolated tribes bring in their harvest and send out their warriors to protect their holy places. Cults see a chance to fulfil their beliefs, or see a prophecy come true. Renegades and Marauders gather their forces to scavenge new treasures. A dark new era is beginning, and it begins on Namorra Prime.

Story by Lars Sammet
Edited by Eric Wier

The Ondroma System in the Segmentum Ultima is named after his central planet, the Gas Giant
Ondroma. This red giant appears like the main sun on the surrounding planets, but there is another sun far away that actually enables life in this system. 

Levia VI is classified as a former Mining World. There are ancient structures all over the planet’s surface and below. But, so far as discovered, these aren’t typical Necron tombs. Their origin was
never discovered, neither who built them or for what purpose. It's a planet with a harsh environment and still offers a lot of resources which were needed in the Mechanicus Factorums on Drayker Zulu. The consistent expanding mines, imperial outposts and exploiting of resources lead to a harmful atmosphere. Millions of slaves were forced to work in the mines by the imperial government. Clans and gangs arisen over decades and a revolt was inevitable.

Drayker Zulu is classified as an Industrial World. It was ruled by the Adeptus Mechanicus and
colonised for supporting the other worlds with machines and weapons. There are rumours that the Mechanicus recovered or found an STC in this system, but that could never be confirmed. What is confirmed, on the other hand, is that a part of the ruling Mechanicus allied with darker powers and were intended to isolate the planet. The recorded history of Drayker Zulu stopped during the systems decay and remains unknown.

Rith is classified as the Agri-World of the Ondroma System. Back in the wealthy days of the System it provided food and water for the colonised planets. The planet’s actual status is unknown for more than hundred years.

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This will be a 2 day INQ28 Event in Germany. It will take place in April / May 2020 near Cologne.

The Team (Players, Contributers and CreativeDirectors) is for now:

abellardlindsay  

Between the Bolter and Me

Cpt.Timboli

direspire 

Hans__Reiter

KrautScientist

k03rnl 

Lars, this Blog ;-)

Malchy

PDH

Requiem_82

Wardsylvania

weird_witticism

So, expect to see some awesome stuff and thank you very much for your visit! Stay tuned and best regards!