Tuesday 19 June 2018

CLXXVII. Stormcast Questor and Penitent Acolytes of Sigmar



New faction for Isles of Brume. Centered around a Stormcast Questor sent to Isles on a mission known only to him and his god. Apparently he is looking for something. Gradually, a whole penitent cult formed around the wandering golden demigod, following him wherever he goes.


So, this is another take on the Stormcast from me. This time I didn't use a Stormcast model as the base, but I did end up with a Dark Souls-ey look once again. The model I used was Biologus Putrifier from 40K, whose forward striding pose I find very fitting for my Questor's background.





I acctually started working on this faction a long time ago. First I came up with the Questor, when I thought about how I wanted to represent Stormcast Eternals in AoS28. They are very, very rare on the Isles. Tremendously powerful, foreign to the islanders, mysterious. This Questor is more like force of nature, most people get out of his way rather than engage him. They have heard what happens to those who cross his path. Since he has very limited communication with locals, but they find him fascinating - they come up with their own interpretations of him. This penitent cult writes down everything he says, and chronicles his travels. These make their sacred texts, which are ever expanding as they learn more about Sigmar from his golden warrior prophet.




Religious zealots and this sort of imagery are the staple of Inq28. But when I look at what the AoS28 crowd has made to date, I don't see this popping up that often. I wonder why this is so.

 
The Acolytes accompanying the Questor are based on metal flagellants and warrior priest. I made a press mould of a Stormcast mask to make their masks, and I sculpted tall hoods reminiscent of those worn by Catholic penitents. A few more subtle modifications were done, where necessary. 




So I had them saved in the form of sketches, and I slowly gathered the minis I needed (mostly older metal stuff). Now there's a warband competition at Blog dé Kouzes, so I decided to put the first five models in my schedule. There's a lot more coming in the future, including a converted Screaming Bell.










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Since I'd taken out my cemetery scenery, I photographerd the Mirrogoi faction, too. Recently I've tweaked and expanded their backstory into something more interesting than 'they're undead and they worship Nagash'. Here it is:



Mirrogoi is an ecclesiastical state, governed by the Pontiff. The highest functionaries are all clerics and monks hailing from all across the Isles. The Necropolis is a burial ground for kings, nobles, saints and other honoured individuals, whose bodies are transported from their homelands to be interred in majestic tombs on the island. Many Brumean states have had or still have this agreement with Mirrogoi.


Death clerics continue their service beyond the grave as different forms of undead; there are actually very few living people on the island at any time. Higher priests are adept at necromancy, and their powers are also used to maintain an army to protect the tombs, and the bodies and treasure within them. The bone army consists mainly of the poor, criminals and other unwanted or unclaimed dead, vanquished enemies, and of those who volunteer their remains for the task. Precious bodies of those buried in the tombs are, of course, left at peace. Outsiders are normally permitted on the island only for funerals, pilgrimages and other necessary ceremonies which are arranged and performed in collaboration with Mirrogoian clergy...

43 comments:

  1. Again, Ana, absolutely sterling work! So heavily atmospheric with a breath-taking vision. You're one of the most prolific champions of the DAoS ethos, going from strength to strength. <3

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  2. Incredible once again! Those penitents are really cool! Love the masks and the tall hoods! The atmospheric photographs really bring across the vibe of these!

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  3. Fantastic work! Thanks for including more sketchbook pages 😉

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  4. WoooW! What an atmosphere!
    Great work!

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  5. I can only join the chorus or praise.

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  6. I dig the added layer of Mirrogoi fluff. All of your collections blend so perfectly. I wonder what might happen if you forced yourself to paint something outside of your patented style. When I look at my own collection I see a mishmash of techniques and wild colours. Somehow you stay consistent, but manage to push the boundaries of imagination with every new warband. Can't wait to see what is next!

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    1. Thank you! I can tell you that I have done things outside of my style, mainly for commissioned work, and in most cases I despise the result and find the process exhausting. There are some other styles I would like to try out that I think I would like, though. So maybe I'll will push myself to experiment some day.

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  7. Excellent stuff! Yeah, other than Chaos, religious fanaticism seems to be kind of downplayed in AoS compared to both 40K and, say, the Old World Empire or Brettonia. I love the idea of a religion just more or less randomly forming up around this wandering Stormcast. "Hey, there's a big mysterious shiny dude in town. Let's go worship him!" ;) Also, it's really impressive how well Stormcast and Blood Warriors can sub for 40K Power Armour, or vice versa.

    I also really like the idea of a necropolis maintained by the dead themselves, or at least a subset of them.

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  8. I love the background for your Stormcast, and the look of the acolytes is fantastic.

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  9. Amazing work both paint- and storywise. Could you give some hints as to how you achieved the beaten down gold effect on the Stormcast's armor?

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    1. Thanks! I photographed the model next to a strong light source to see where the shadows would be. Basecoated gold, washed with brown. Then I painted very strong shadows with solid dark brown and black, to get high contrast. I used that photo I took at the beginning as a guide. Added silver to gold for highlights, going up to pure silver. There is a bit of teal on the shoulder pads, barely perceptible, just to break up the monotony.

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    2. Thanks for the guidelines, I'm going to try a similar approach on a test Stormcast.

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  10. Hot damn, this is so awesome! Just when I was thinking that your Shadespire Stormcasts conversion was the best, this guy comes in together with his worshippers and brilliant backstory - your blog just keeps on surprising! Your questor looks awesome, I especially like how heavy and bulky he looks on that back picture, you can almost hear the clanking. Cultists looks nicely grim too, great idea with press molding their masks. I wonder if you have plans for those weird 'wings' that Biologus had with him :)

    Awesome concept arts too, what did you use for them? Ink?

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    1. Thanks! You bet I have a plan for the potion 'wings'. ;)

      As for the concept sketches- I printed out photos of my base models in black and white, and then drew with a pen and painted with acrylics over that. It's a neat trick for quick conversion mockups.

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  11. I'm completely in love with this entire project. GW should give you a job.

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  12. Another top notch warband! Swapping out the weapons and shields has always been a good way to bring the Stormcast down to earth, as it were, but swapping the whole body is quite something else. It shows, if anything, how iconic the stormcast helmet has become in defining their look.

    You make an interesting point about the lack of religious fanatics in AoS28. I think maybe it's just that the lore hasn't spent too much time exploring the various cults in the Mortal Realms, so we don't have so many accessible jumping off points as 40k does. AoS28 could really do with an Inquisitor style rulebook that defines some key archetypes, the same way that book did (and does) for Inq28. Hmmmm...

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  13. Words like 'excellent', 'beautiful' or 'awesome' are just such an understatement!! :O

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  14. In awe of the size of this lad. Absolute unit.

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    1. It's worth noting that the first thing I thought when I saw the head on shot, was 'CHUNKY BOYYYYYYYY'.

      My favorite model I've seen you do in the time I've been following your excellent work. You are relentlessly inspirational.

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    2. Thanks! Yeah, he is quite a bulky dude.

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  15. Brilliant pieces of work tell a story and yours certainly does!

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  16. Love your take on the stormcast, that weathering is superb.

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  17. Amazing, great atmosphere! Anyway, words can not describe it!

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  18. Love looking at your stuff Ana!
    As a side topic: wish I could contribute to Legen project but due to RL I can't :/

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    1. Thanks! Oh, that's a shame. But that's what RL does.

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    2. Brilliant work--I love the penitents with their capirotes and the Stormcast is very effective.

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  19. Absolutely breathtaking!!!

    Your beautifully grim figures framed by your amazing terrain collection!

    Oh that reminds me, I managed to get copies of the Lászlo Adóba Diorama books you recommended a while back. Really beautiful/inspirational stuff in them, thanks for bringing them to my attention :)

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  20. AoS always stealing and twisting WHFB models :/
    Hagen

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