Fluff Part 2

My finished Banshee Katerina.  Highlighting is there, just impossible to see in the photo.

By the evening of the third day, Ivan Karamov was barely clinging to life.  He wasn't sure if the ethereal carriage that appeared before him was a result of his delirium or not.  The horses pulling it looked sickly, as if merely skin stretched thin over a skeletal frame. 

The Vampire Countess Tatyana Zlobin was merely passing through.  She had intended on consuming most of the inhabitants of Staraya upon her arrival, her thirst for blood was beginning to claw at the back of her mind again.  But there was nothing there, just smoldering ruins, and the faint heart beat of a single, sad mortal.

Custom insisted that Ivan show this stranger hospitality, so he forced himself to prepare food and shelter for her.  The Countess was moved by his attention, and by the story of his village and the despair Ivan felt.  That night, before disappearing back into the mists, before sinking her teeth into Ivan's neck, the Countess Zlobin whispered a wish into his ear, a wish that what she would do could provide him recompense. 

Painted and converted Vampire Ivan.  I'm worried the eyebrows are too cartoony, but he looks good IRL

From that day forward, Ivan Karamov did not want for food or drink or sleep or anything else that could weaken a normal man.  Ivan gained new strength, dark magic flowed through his body; the corpses of his home town of Staraya rose from the ground, curious necromancers gathered around him to learn from his dark power, and the spirits of the dead clung to his energies.  Among the spirits was Katerina, a soul ripped from her body at the wrong time, cursed to forever torment the living with her despair. 

Ivan mustered his forces.  His dead home marched to battle in his name, he would bring rest to his unending torment by punishing the Chaotic forces that destroyed his life.  Ivan Karamov became a member of the Vampire Counts, leading his shambling undead forces far into the North, where he will forever attempt to bring justice upon the evils that ruined him.

Ivan's back, to show his banner (no freehand...yet?) and with flash to show highlights.

Beginnings of a second necromancer.  Used Flagellant head and Empire Wizard body.

Finished Dire Wolf

This is the idea for my spirit hosts.  The old model is POOP, so this is ghoul+flagellant+skellie bits.  Will be three on a base.

Fluff Part 1

This is my vampire, Ivan Karamov.  He's based off of the metal Prince Althran model, and I quite like what's been done so far.  I replaced his sword, I filed down a lot of elvan markings on his chestplate and his shield (the second picture shows what I did with his shield, putting a bat wing on it from a Skeleton shield).  He should end up looking quite good.




While mortal, Ivan spent the majority of his life far north, on the edge of Kislev's civilization.  The small outpost town of Staraya, and more importantly, its wall, served as a last bastion of civilization, beyond which only horrible Chaos beasts and Ungol raiders could survive.  Ivan eked out a simple life as a logger, he married the woman he loved, Katerina, and she bore him a son named Dimitri.

He never saw Dimitri grow more than a year old.  The Czar's Navy pressed him into service, he was forced to become a mariner on a frigate to combat the ever-bolder Dark Elf and Chaos Marauder raids. 

Ivan served three years on that ship, and fought in countless, desperate battles for survival.  Finally, one day the enemy was too much for them and the frigate was lost.  Miraculously, Ivan survived and made it to shore. Katerina and Dimitri had never left his thoughts.  He braved the harsh tundra wastes, traveling for weeks to return to Staraya.

 But what he found in the town's stead was nothing but smoldering ash.  The tell-tale stench of foul warp-energies filled the air.  Unnatural flames of every color burned without end, and the scorched ground glowed with an unholy light.  Ivan knew it was too late, yet still rushed to his home.  He found nothing but the charred bones of Katerina, clutching Dimitri's frame. 

To the right is the Banshee Katerina.  She's unfinished, and the picture's shitty.  I wanted to see how the washed look could work for a ghost (my army will have a fair amount of spirits).  I'm not dissatisfied.  She still needs highlighting/drybrushing, and her hair hasn't been colored.

Ivan had fought his whole way home, thoughts of his family had kept him alive when others failed, and it was all for nothing.  He resigned himself to die right there, over the remains of his home, of his loved ones. 

Gonna leave it there before I become too long winded and confused.  Also, here's an extra picture of a Dire Wolf.  He's finished, except for the base:

Frozen Undeath

As many who post to this blog have heard, I've flip-flopped for the final time.  Vampire Counts called to me, and I made the plunge.

I have fluff that I will post about later when I'm more in the mood to tell a story.  I'm working on a list that caters to my fluff (because fuck being competitive...MATT!!).  I refuse to use zombies because they're so ugly, and I am instead going for a skeleton/ghost/fear theme. 

My fluff involves crusades up into the frozen north, which has helped a lot in making all of my scheme decisions for me. 

Here's a quick photo I took with my phone: