Ambush at Fenrus Ruins

Greetings!

You're all familiar with my ongoing Iron Grudge campaign by now. It's the mother of all background stories, a great overarching story line into which most of my Narrative Battle Reports are tied in one way or another. Now this massive campaign has experienced yet another fresh event!

High King Ungrim Ironhelm has led his duardin legions on a crusade against the ever-present threat of Waaagh! Urgokh, and was last seen leading his forces through forested lowlands after clearing a tribe of grots from the Sneakpass. Ungrim has sent out forage parties, scouts and vanguards to keep an eye out on their surroundings as they march, but now a different kind of plan has come to fruition...

We played Battleplan: The Trap with around 1200p of greenskins against ~1000p of duardin. This was to simulate the ambush Brewmaster Dorinsson has set up with inferior troop numbers in order to get rid of Wolfboss Elgar and his tribe of nomad grots.

The lighting on the pics is a bit off, so sorry about that. Without further ado, let's get to it!

Is It Worth It?

It was already getting dark in the capital of the Puffington Empire, somewhere in the Realm of Ghur. Two figures strode casually along the dark grey battlements, patrolling the perimeter of the bustling free city of Puffington, the single most largest settlement in the area. Several miles across and surrounded by thick walls and bastions, this imposing fortress city housed hundreds of thousands of men, aelves and duardin alongside their Stormcast protectors. Despite its size, wealth and importance the entire complex was silent, sleeping.

The two figures were almost indiscernible in the darkness, any colours and heraldry blending into the darkness that the setting night brought with it. Only their silhouettes could be distinguished against the faintly-lit horizon: one with the size and proportions of a man, the other with almost twice those both. The soft shuffle of the man's boots against the flat rock of the ramparts was accompanied by slower, heavier metallic clangs of the giant. They spoke in low tones, their voices audible only to each other as the words drowned in the evening breeze sighing against the stone crenellations.

They came to a large gatehouse, opening the reinforced wooden door to step into the warmth of the braziers inside. For a moment, yellow torchlight washed over the battlements and muttered greetings could be heard from inside, only to be cut off when the door was pulled shut behind them. For several moments only wind blew across the walls. Then the door on the opposite wall of the gatehouse opened, again casting a brief pillar of light across the flagstones.

"That's the West Gate, then! We're a good hour or so ahead of the schedule, Iberius. How about we stop for a moment to catch our breaths?" Ludwig called out to his companion as they left the gate's garrison to their games of dice and cards.

"No need on my behalf. I'm not fatiqued," replied the towering Stormcast as he yanked the door shut behind them, plunging them into darkness once more. The freeguilder snorted.

"Of course you're not."

"...But you obviously are, so let us rest for a moment or two."

Strengthening the Sentinels

Evening!

After I finished painting the first batch of my Scarlet Sentinels warrior chamber of Stormcast Eternals, they have not been seen in this blog that much. Not at all, actually. Now that is about to change: I have fairly recently finished painting 10 Liberators, with custom Grandhammers!

"Custom-what?", you're asking. Let me show you!

Here they are in all their glory, 10 Liberators with Prime and two Grandhammers (and an additional Prime if I ever need 2 units of 5 men). These are all models from the Age of Sigmar starter set, so they're monopose and armed with shields and warhammers. They bear the colours of my own Warrior Chamber: the Scarlet Sentinels, and as such their livery is dark red, purple, gold and steel. They stand upon the flagstones of an Order settlement, just like my Freeguild, to bind these two armies together in their background narrative.

I mentioned they were Easy-to-Build models from the starter set. What about those Grandhammers? I scratch-built them myself.