The Amanar Estates

[BeatTheBeat]

Hello everybody! Newly registered user here (jumping on the bandwagon), mainly active on Warseer from where some of you might recognise me.

Started up a small army last week and got into a real painting frenzy, this is where it's at at the moment:

Balthasar Amanar, current head honcho of the army.

24 bases worth of fresh Zombies, to be expanded to at least 36.

15 bases worth of Village Militia, the poor deranged fellas desperate enough to take up employment with the Amanar family.


Next up is hopefully another Vampire conversion, for which I need the Vampiress from the Coven Throne set though. So if you want to sell that Vampiress to me... HINT HINT!

Failing that, I will probably get a corpse cart, some dire wolves, more core troops to expand the units and a terrorgheist.

Nice to see all the great threads on here by the way, been lurking over the past week.

Cheers,
BTB

 

[kaiserjez]

I like the Vamp! Is that a conversion of something or bought like that?

The dirty look to your zombies is really well done and the Militia idea is pretty cool.

Looking forward to more!

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Thanks! It's a conversion, here's a WIP picture:

I also took time to write some background fluff for the army, definitely made me more enthusiastic about this project. Hope you like it:

A Tale of Autumn Leaves

After the pride of the Strigoi brought ruin and destruction upon the mighty yet damned kingdom of Strigos, the descendants of dead Ushoran were scattered all over the world like autumn leaves. A few of those leaves rotted into the infamous Ghoul Kings soon after touching the ground, though that fate might be considered more merciful than the bloody fate awaiting most of the Strigoi as the other vampire bloodlines fell upon Ushoran's scattered spawn. Yet for all the inglorious realities of their existence, the Ghoul Kings clang to life such as it might be, and defied those that would see them vanquished. Thus it has become so that in the present day, the name of Strigoi evokes images of graveyard monarchs of raw muscle, fangs and claws, whose thirst for blood is strong, yet who have more in common with the wild beasts of the Old World's forests than with other vampires and seldom recall more than a faint shadow of ancient Strigos.

A few, however, still remember. Some leaves from Strigos blew on strange winds, deep into shadowed places, and there lingered neither blemished by rot nor put to the sword.

In Ostermark, to the west of the Silver Pinnacle, north of the Wale of Cobwebs, in the woods by the Eerie Downs, sits Castle Coalwall brooding. It is a cursed place, so say the old women in the villages, yet it is not an empty place. In a time uncounted centuries past, as kings, priests and warriors celebrated the fall of Strigos, one of the kingdom's scattered leaves fell into its lap, taking up residence in its vast halls. That leaf was Tarok Kargadon, one of Ushoran's favoured lieutenants, High Executioner of his court, and vampire by the grace of Ushoran himself. The urge to aid others of his fleeing kin was strong as was his thirst for blood, yet he recognised the war as lost for now and the need for secrecy as paramount, the burden of his bloodline's continued existence weighing heavily upon his shoulders. Chaining himself in links of discipline and restraint he beheld in silence the merciless slaughter of the others of his blood, and the degeneration of those that escaped, as the years turned into decades and centuries.

Watching, waiting. Sleeping. Feeding, ever so seldom. Tarok Kargadon changed himself into Tarok Amanar, establishing a reputation as an honourable yet eccentric lonesome aristocrat, and then impersonating his own son, and his son after him, taking a human wife every now and then, sometimes killing them, sometimes just outliving them. Amassing riches, knowledge, loyal subjects, and dead wives. Finally, his fifteenth wife somehow managed to reach behind Tarok's dark inner curtains of mourning and revenge, and called forth something approximating love from within the ancient vampire. Katarina was her name, daughter of an overwhelmingly rich noble in southern Kislev, and within a decade of their marriage she received the Blood Kiss from her husband.

It was only a matter of time before they made Katarina's noble family unwitting thralls, and with them came their riches. Her little brother, Balthasar was given the Blood Kiss by Katarina and joined them in Coalwall, and he was not to be the last of Katarina's extended family to gain a queer addiction to red wine and move north to join the Amanars. Over the centuries, Tarok and Katarina's small and undying family turned into a small yet undying court, with the ancient Tarok at its head. The dark and brooding Coalwall became the unseen true power in the region - dreams of ancient Strigos awakening again within its walls.

Yet with wealth and influence came attention. Rumours and gossip are slowly spreading in the Empire and Kislev both: Of pale skin, seemingly everlasting youth and even darker sides of the Amanar family. To the south in haunted Sylvania, red eyes turn northwards and the smell of unfinished business seeps into coffins old beyond belief, for none recognise the name of Amanar as their own blood. In graveyards, crypts and tombs around the Old World, the Ghoul Kings hear their servants whisper the ancient name of Kargadon. To some, the name recalls a vague hope and glories lost in the mists of time, while to some it sounds of a weakling coward who left his kin to bleed. To some, it might even reminisce of their own fate.

In Castle Coalwall, oblivious to the attention directed towards it, the Amanars cover the walls with maps of mighty Strigos. Not maps of yesterday, but maps of tomorrow.

Cheers,
BTB

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

Allot of work has gone into that guy.
Nice job.
Thought it was Eric Draven with a beard when I first saw it..... Pretty Please put a crow on his shoulder?

 

[Mannerheim27]

Great conversion, he has a ton of character to him. I really like the feel of the army so far, especially the deranged peasants. I can't wait to see what else you throw into your army.

Jake

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Thanks guys!

I would really love to put a crow on Balthasar's shoulder, I sorely miss a crow model in my bits box though.

Latest addition, so fresh the glue is still not dried:

When it's finished I'll be at 500 pts painted! Woop woop! The model has a huge amount of detail though, so I don't think it will be as quick to paint as the earlier units. Very much looking forward to painting it though, it's a great model.

Cheers,
BTB

 

[Boo]

Well well! You finally found your way over to CN huh? Welcome!

Your army looks very good so far, and I must say that your fluff fits it perfectly. You have amassed 500 pts in like... five days? Mighty fast I must say!

Keep up the good pace friend, I will keep a watchful eye on your log here!

All the best,

Boo

 

[Tim]

Very nice conversion work there on your head honcho.

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Thanks guys!

Not quite five days, a little more than a week, but still a hell of a lot of a record for me. Glad you like the fluff Boo, one of the most important things when writing it was that it should allow VC vs VC battles, guess why

Started painting the Corpse Cart yesterday night, and it is taking a LOT of time! So much detail and so many weird angles and surfaces... Flesh, wood and metal areas are more or less done, still need details on the corpses, lots of details on the corpse cart itself, and of course the corpsemaster.

 

[Tawg]

WHAT?!

They gave those zombies swords, just because they're pulling a cart?! This is madness, they need to go back to pitchforks!

Also, gj on the progress; Is that wood green, or I mistaken? Seems like an interesting choice. Also I almost want to say I would paint a lot of that model before gluing it, lol. How is that working out for you? Seems not too bad?

 

[SotF]

I would really love to put a crow on Balthasar's shoulder, I sorely miss a crow model in my bits box though.

The Mantic Skeletons sprue has one that could be used rather easily if you remove it from the skull it's attached to.

Reapers Murder of Crows: extra Crows bit might have one you can use.

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Tawg - I know, it's ridiculous, next thing they'll be asking for hot baths and magic helmets.

SotF - Thanks! Fairly unlikely that my already stretched Fantasy budget will allow buying bits for their own sake though, atm

Finished the Corpse Cart yesterday to get my minds off the troubles I'm having with the courses this semester. Though after taking the pictures I see that I have forgotten a wash on the blood parts, so that will be remedied until the next army shot...

And the first 500 points in all their dubious glory:

Comments, thoughts, criticisms all welcome!

Next up are some Dire Wolves, reinforcements to the core units, and hopefully that bloody (pun intended) vampiress if I can ever get my hands on her... Way too few people are buying Mortis Engines!

 

[Santawraith]

Comments, thoughts, criticisms all welcome!

My honest thoughts? I LOVE the blue flames, I really would love to know how you did them. Your style is beautiful, clean although rotting and rusted. I love it! erv:

I demand to see more from you.

 

[dictator]

The militia idea I have been toying around with too. I like how you have portrayed them. They fit the strigos theme very well. Keep watch on your money because you will get sucked in to buying more and more.

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Comments, thoughts, criticisms all welcome!

My honest thoughts? I LOVE the blue flames, I really would love to know how you did them. Your style is beautiful, clean although rotting and rusted. I love it! erv:

I demand to see more from you.

Thanks! Very motivational to hear As for the flames:

- White undercoat
- Reverse highlighting, adding in first fortress grey and then Hawk turqoise
- Pure hawk turqouise at the tips of the flames
- Go back and paint in pure white again in the deepest recesses
- Highlight the skulls with bleached bone and skull white

The militia idea I have been toying around with too. I like how you have portrayed them. They fit the strigos theme very well. Keep watch on your money because you will get sucked in to buying more and more.

Thanks! Haha and yeah, I do know... Combined with the army book and cards I don't want to think about how much this month cost me in Fantasy terms...

 

[BeatTheBeat]

After a bit of a break I'm back with the next unit to be added to the army, a small group of Wolves made from the Chaos Hounds:

Hopefully painted by tomorrow. Still nobody selling the Coven Throne vampire?

 

[Tawg]

Oh, are you looking for the vampires ladies on the Throne?

I was thinking very much of getting a Mortis engine soon, so I may well have them laying around soon.

Also, with that greenstuff on the wolves? Was it to cover up otherwise chaos-y bits? I am not familiar with the Chaos hounds(They had horns didn't they?) Pretty cool though, the 'Dire wolf' models are a bit.. odd. I'm growing to like them, but still, I wouldn't mind having a few less 'dead' looking puppies ;D

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Thanks to Tawg for his kind offer!

Managed to finish (except for some static grass) the Wolves just now:

Some of you might recognise the concept, like Count Balthasar they are quite inspired by the Hellsing series... Their fluff in the army being that they are not wolves per se or even separate individuals, but extensions of the Vampire himself, who of course will get the power that allows him to summon MOAR in due time!

 

[Sharkbelly]

Great work with the greenstuff on the wolves!

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Thanks!

Taking a break with something else before tackling the next five wolves.

Here is a WIP of one of Count Balthasar's thirteen or so dead wives, figured that they all still haunt him as various kinds of ghosts. This one was apparently agreeable enough, as she lingers to reap Balthasar's enemies, not to run around and cry loudly:

Will hopefully be able to paint her tonight, stoked to try painting something ethereal. I'm going for the same colour as the Balefire on the Corpse Cart, but not reverse-highlighted.

 

[maddipper]

i like the figurines. could i ask where you got the vulture perched on the zombie standard?

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Thanks! It's from the Ogre Stonehorn set, that one came with a lot of nice bits in general.

 

[BeatTheBeat]

Finished the Wraith yesterday:

And as I'm now getting increasing amounts of very bright blue in the army, I felt that old Balthasar himself was a little bit too plain to stand out, so I upgraded his sword a bit:

Next up should the other unit of five wolves, unless I managed to get sidetracked again that is

 

[Zephyr]

Balthasar reminds me of Rom Zombie for some reason

Very cool army, love it so far, and a really cool fluff-piece to boot.

 

[Vallasch]

Balthasar reminds me of Rom Zombie for some reason

And Rob Zombie too!

On a more serious note, i did like the conversion work on the wolves. They do look just like the familiar (Baskerville?) from Hellsing.