The Laboratory [Necrarch Soulblight]

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

Hey!

This will be a Soulblight army themed around my favourite bloodline from The World That Was, reimagined for Age of Sigmar — the Necrarchs. I'm obsessed with this bloodline — I think they're so characterful, I love that they wear their heart on their sleeve (often literally...) in terms of actually looking horrifying and embracing their dark gift, and I can really relate to the desire to squirrel themselves away in tall towers away from civilisation and read/study/sleep!

(If you're interested, you can read some fiction and lore I'm writing about them in the Chronicles of Death.)

I'm aiming for a 2,500 point collection, to begin with. The cornerstone of the army will be the vampires themselves, represented by a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon, a couple of Coven Thrones and a Vampire Lord (Winged Horror). Supporting them will be their retinues, whether those are the risen dead, their many experiments or their own dark acolytes.

This is a brand new project for #newyearnewarmy and I can't wait to get stuck in!

My focus for 2020 is on:

1. Completing the army! I'm trying to set a monthly target to keep the pace going. (The 'Tales of Instahammer' group on Instagram will hopefully keep me on the straight and narrow!)

2. Painting to a better quality. I was into this amazing hobby for much of my childhood/adolescence but have only recently come back to it in the past year or so and want to 'brush up' on my painting skills (groan...)

3. Posting more WIPs as well as finished models. One noticeable difference from the hobby now compared to back then is the incredible online community that's sprung up around it! I'm really looking forward to sharing my progress on here, as well as over at @brotherhoodofnecros on Instagram.

I haven’t painted anything yet (save one Fell Bat) but here is my WIP general – the Ancient One – and the first Fell Bat:

 

[robtion]

Oh nice. Looking good so far. Great choice of models. I look forward to seeing your army grow :thumbsup:

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

Cheers, robtion! I'm hoping to get some hobby time this weekend. Think it makes sense to continue with the Fell Bats for now!

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

Calling it a night now — it's my first full week back at work tomorrow after the Christmas hols (booo) — but I wanted to leave you with a first look at my Necrarch-themed Blood Knights:

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

A few more tweaks to make but pretty much calling these guys done!

My Blood-Fat Bats, hurling themselves on ragged mainsails through amethystine skies.

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

"Tell me a story, Abel."

One sandalled foot on the marble steps, my brother stops.

"A story, Teacher?"

"That is what I said."

He tugs at the sleeves of his robes, eyes unblinking, and I almost imagine I can see them playing out behind those glassy orbs: a hundred tales, a thousand sagas retold in the recesses of his mind. They say the dead don’t dream, but I have tasted Abel and know better, know that in the dusty aisles of his compliant head, an imagination like no other gluts itself on a centuries-long banquet of literature and lore. Grimoires. Codices. Maps, books of maths and legislature, litanies and more fill his brain. Another once described his sort as books of blood. If so, I am his sole translator.Dark Awakening, Ch. 2

For month one of Tales of Instahammer, we've been asked to complete a regiment and a character. So in addition to the Fell Bats (see above), I've decided to tackle a counts-as Coven Throne. I've started with one of the vampire 'handmaidens'.

Befitting my Necrarch theme, I've imagined the Coven Throne as a kind of chariot/platform from where Abel and his get recite their litanies. A priest of Necros, Abel the Unwritten spends much of his time in the library. A shadow of their progenitor, his get are similarly obsessed. As a coven, they're never far from one of their books. To represent this on the Throne, this acolyte will be reading studiously from a necromantic tome, muttering the word-perfect incantation that you can see manifesting from his outstretched hand.

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

A little work on his father, Abel:

“Necromancy, a written art, its secrets consecrated in blood, His Word made flesh. For the longest time, that was all I saw; runes and languages that sought to confound me even as I learned them. Never did I stop to study that on which they were written.

"Their medium: human skin, gut for binding, and flesh of a different kind, sprouted from the fecund earth, grown into great forests before being hewn and pulped. That flesh is silent now, but in fair Ghyran, it still sings, the very wind whispering with untold secrets, a shiver down my spine. So I walk that land, and beneath those trees I read again, my fingers teasing stories from the throats of sylphs, my tongue the sorrow that defines their tales.

"What more could the undying ask for than that: Nature, a book that never ends! Such a shame that they won’t stop screaming. How is one supposed to read, surrounded by such a racket?” — Abel, Dark Awakening

http://instagr.am/p/B7a7zrYnGDA/

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

It took me most of the day but I'm finally calling this finished.

Neferata's handmaidens aren't the only coven to take to battle atop their thrones. Abel the Unwritten and his acolyte march forth, forbidden lore in hand, dragged by the bound spirits of those who once carved a home beneath Shyish’s brittle peaks.

 

[robtion]

Wow I love that coven throne. So unique. Great colours and design. Is Abel an existing mini or did you convert it?

The bats also look rad. Nice work :thumbsup:

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

Wow I love that coven throne. So unique. Great colours and design. Is Abel an existing mini or did you convert it?

The bats also look rad. Nice work :thumbsup:

Cheers, robtion!

Thrilled you like them, thanks for the kind words. Abel is a head-swap with another classic Necrarch mini (the acolyte at the front of the coven). He has two Spirit Host arms to complete the decrepit, skeletal look that just never goes out of fashion for the Necrarchs. xD

 

[Sharkbelly]

Hey, these are fantastic! So full of character. Great job on the conversions and painting!

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

Hey, these are fantastic! So full of character. Great job on the conversions and painting!

Thank you! I'm having such a good time working on them. Up this month, the Casket of Khepra.

If you're interested in the fluff behind this ancient artefact and its ravenous occupants, you can read more about it here.

 

[robtion]

Oooh that casket is looking awesome. I love the diorama style storytelling you have going with your minis. Look forward to seeing the finished product :thumbsup:

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

Here we go...

I've never painted anything of this size before — wish me luck!

 

[robtion]

That looks like it is going to be pretty amazing. I love painting big models like that.

Buona fortuna!

 

[Shadespyre]

Some excellent original thinking going on here. I love the purple spirit dwarves! Can't wait to see paint on more of these works :)

 

[Eduard Bernstein]

Great stuff in here! Looking forward to see your Necrach army completed.

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

Sooo close to finishing this guy...

Apologies for the radio silence. I've been working on him for weeks and have been resisting the urge to update you with every step!

Hoping to complete him this weekend. *Maniacal cackle*

In the dark corners of Necros, the Necrarchs endure...

 

[Kassill]

Very cool conversions!

 

[The Brotherhood of Necros]

Very cool conversions!

Thanks, Kassill!

Here are a few more. What happens when Life meets Death?

She emerged from between the trees and her light was like the coming of spring on a cold winter’s morning. Far below, the forest was a patchwork of withered glades and walking dead, but she had only eyes for the abomination sailing towards her on ragged wings and the entourage of monsters flapping in its wake. Here was the architect of the forest’s plight, the one for whom the puppets swarming below staggered and danced.

Its unnatural presence rolled across her, a shadow over her soul, and then it crashed into the Green Finger. Rock crumbled. The mountainside shook. The delicate weave of life magic in which she hung rippled, sending shivers down her arms, and for one dizzying moment, she felt the nature of the creature and its blasphemous mount like poison through her veins. The once noble wyrm swung its head to regard her through eyes like amethystine marbles. Staring into them, she saw nothing. Then she was amongst it, the winds become pale flames under her touch, a prayer to the Goddess on her lips as she cast back the fell bats and turned her hands on the soulless monster in the saddle.

Once more, the winds lurched. Though she couldn’t hear the creature over the gale, she could see its lips moving, and where her pale fire leapt, bolts of amethyst sprang forth to meet it. The monster’s gaze burned into her until she could not resist it. Her ears filled with the screams of the dying, her hair with the wordless roar of the wind. And the unblinking eyes that stared back at her from that long-dead face did so with the detached curiosity of a mortal about to pin and dissect a butterfly.

 

[Eduard Bernstein]

Impressive paintjob!

 

[Farmer7574]

First time checking out your PLOG and I love how your army has started. Nice conversions, colour choices and painting.

 

[Loki Ragnarok]

Great stuff

 

[RoguePanda]

Thank you for sharing these! I am hoping you will be back to update on these soon, I have to say the coven throne is my favourite so far. I really have been struggling with the Age of Sigmar setting (it feels very low stakes - the realms are vast and infinite, sure, but there is no character there, it feels very flat and empty) but work like this reminds me of why I enjoyed the original warhammer undead in the first place. Very inspiring stuff.

 

[Realjuan]

Really nice wings!! Recently I painted a winged deamon, and wish had seen your work before.