Tales of Instahammer 2019

Greetings!

Time has come for me to announce one of my first new projects this year: the Tales of Instahammer 2019. I joined this amazing hobby event to feel the grand power of community inspiration and pressure, which I hope will see me building myself a new finished army by the end of June.

So, what is my Instahammer project? A brand new Order army, of course, with Sylvaneth and Free Peoples units combining to make up a totally useless but extremely thematic force for me to play some sweet narrative games with.

Right. And the theme?

Some of you might recall the events of the recent Twilight Prince campaign. My army represented the Breuer's Regiment of the Grand Army of the Puffington Empire, which got drawn into a perilous quest to seek and defeat a Slaaneshi daemon trapped in the woodlands of Uglu. Led by a cold Gunmaster and a power-hungry Battlemage, the valiant freeguilders fought their way through many bloody battlegrounds to reach their destination, only to find a duardin army blocking their way right at the end of their arduous journey. Urged by these two warmongers, the soldiers attacked the duardin and were mercilessly slaughtered at the Battle of Twinpoints. The human officers were left at the mercy of their surviving miseld underlings by the duardin Thanes, who didn't see the wretches worthy of their attention.

This is a story of what happened afterwards.

Meet the Ulgumgi, a bloodline of humans living in Ulgu which branched off of the Puffington Empire that fateful day the Breuer's Regiment was defeated. The survivors of the army scattered into the dark woodlands of Ulgu after dealing harsh judgement upon the leaders who led them to fight an allied race. No-one yet knows what actually happened to the regiment's officers, but none of them have been seen ever since.

The Ulgumgi are a minor wilderness society of ex-freeguilders and their descendants, living somewhere deep in the forests of the Realm of Shadow. Former soldiers of the Puffington Empire shrugged off the dominion of their homeland and blended into the local human tribes, starting a new bloodline where the solemnity of the Ulguans and the brashness of the Ghurians got mixed. The Ulgumgi cherish their newfound connection to nature, however harsh it may be in the cruel Realm they inhabit. Their unrefined style of living has drawn the attention of the forest spirits, who despite all their hatred and spite are able to see the potential in having allies of a lesser race.

When the Battle of Twinpoints turned into a slaughter so many years ago, the souls of the misled soldiers got trapped in the woods around them, unable to pass into afterlife due to the tragedy and unjustice of their deaths. Now that the Ulgumgi live in harmony with the lands around them, making offerings and amends for every living creature they take down in order to feed themselves, some of the restless souls have began manifesting in physical form with the aid of the Sylvaneth spirits.

This union of man and nature, bound by mutual protection and vengeance, is the society known as the Ulgumgi. The name comes from the duardin population of the realm's cities of Order, who are well versed in the abominable grudge humans committed against their race at Twinpoints. The name literally means "humans of Ulgu", as the name of the realm has been fused with the Khazalid word for human, umgi.

Breuer's Regiment marching to its fate at Twinpeaks. Picture is the courtesy of Baron Klatz!

A hasty sketch one Puffington scout managed to draw of the constructions. Found on a corpse with a bolt in the throat, by another scout. Courtesy of Baron Klatz!

The Puffington Empire has only now become aware of the fate that befell the "Lost Regiment", as the sorry event is known back in the heart of the Empire in Ghur. Some scouts have returned with reports of odd constructions and towers in the forests of Ulgu, not too far away from the site of the Battle of Twinpoints. These crude buildings are said to have the faded colours of the Puffington Empire hanging from their makeshift ramparts and battlements, with old imperial flags and standards flapping in the bitter breeze of the Shadow Realm.

Many scouts never return from this region, but those who do tell stories of lightning ambushes that end as soon as they've begun, leaving only dead and dying in their wake. Some say the survivors are offered a chance to join the mysterious human tribe, but hasn't been confirmed as those who refuse are slain on the spot.

Some closer pics on a unit of Ulgumgi Trappers. I wanted to go for a rugged and wild look on these, using parts from Freeguild Archers, Greatswords, Guards, some Duardin and a couple of old Empire Free Company kits.

I'll be using these as Freeguild Crossbowmen.

I wanted to use a very limited palette with a lot of dark and pale natural colours, like wood and leather. With the addition of some feathers and plenty of rust on the weapons and metal parts I tried to imply great age or poor craftsmanship. The muddy ground seemed a bit dull under the already dark models, so I added some red gemstones and pale grass to represent the mystical woodlands of Ulgu.

Next, some WIPs from the building process. I used greenstuff to fill the gaps that Free Company crossbow arms left when added on an Archer torso.

More pics will come in further posts as I move on to heroes and melee infantry!