Dark Age Of Sigmar - The Dirge

She once was beautiful. The sun dappled leaves made shadows in her glade, where spring flowers grew, by eternal in their beauty. Death had no power there, instead the cycle of life renewed again and again,  safe within the bosom of her enveloping spirit.

No human life had ever visited her domain. The portal sealed and lost to all memory. Myths in far off lands oftentimes touched upon the glade and its spirit. It was whispered she had once been a mighty queen in far off Athel Loren, now fractured forever in the mighty sundering of the old world.

Safe in her glade she had spent what seemed like eternity, giving and receiving life in an endless, joyous circle.
It was not to last...
The men came, blasting their way through the forgotten portal in a steady stream. They settled the land on the outskirts of the forest in which she had her glade. They brought their gods with them, shrivelled, wizened things that beget nothing but hate for all living things that did not give their souls in worship.

Over time villages were built, filthy hovels to house the gods and their people. Destruction inevitably followed, trees felled and animals sacrificed to placate the never ending thirst of the evil ones.

She watched with horror as her home was slowly destroyed. Disease and rot seeping into her life stream, corrupting the cycle of rebirth within her. After an age, the glade was no more. It's springs were poisoned, the grass and flowers reduced to a stinking fetid bog, where nothing but tendrils of mist moved above its putrid waters.

Hate had grown within her, encompassing everything she was, until nothing was left but the need for revenge.

She summoned the spirits of the glade, now one and all corrupted like she, and together they focused their hate, chanting in ancient tongues, forbidden words pouring from their putrid mouths.

Imperceptibly the bog expanded, encroaching upon the withered forest until all was consumed by its fetid, squelching stench.
It's spirits now served her, and she was nearly ready for war. Again they chanted, and the bog expanded more, encroaching beyond the boundaries of the forest. Graveyards and villages sunk below its fetid waters, the bodies of both the living and the dead consumed and made new, the endless cycle of re-birth still continued within her bosom. Their new forms were mocking parodies of their former selves, entwined forever with the dark spirits of the forest. The creatures born again were shaped by her hate, their spirits poisoned by the need for destruction of all who had hurt their mother. War had come to the glade....

The gods of men trembled, for they now knew what they had awoke in anger. Death had come for them, it's misty tendrils ever searching for them. No rest, no respite, no forgiveness.....

Been mega busy in real life, but over the last two months I have been chipping away at a new project for AOS. These 8 are the start of the warband, which I hope to expand to a full army eventually. Going to use lots of textures and bit swapping to get an evil swamp vibe, and will be doing fluff pieces for each set of conversions I do. Should be fun

Damn that's cool I love this whole Dark Age of Sigmar/AoS28 stuff that's coming out recently. Not only are your models stunning, but the fluff is perfect too

I really must make some of my own. I've had an idea in my head for cannibal wood elves for ages but never got the stuff together to make it a reality.

Good to have you back!

I'm not really sure what I'm looking at, but they're real pretty.

@Ynneadwraith. Cheers buddy Yes I am loving all the stuff being created both for inq28 @ AOS28. Just chocked full of character and creativity, which is really inspiring to see.

I don't usually write fluff, but I really enjoyed doing the piece for this project, and fully intend to do one every time I post up a new model or paint job for them.

@Calyptra. Much obliged . Hopefully when they get some paint on em it will make a bit more sense where I am going with the project

When AoS launched, I made an effort to learn about the setting without buying big, expensive books, which sort of devolved into me asking AoS fans over and over, "Who lives there? What are they like?" and never getting an answer. I eventually gave up and stopped paying attention. It seems like now, however many big, expensive books later, there are finally some answers to those questions, but I don't know what they are.

So these are gribbly, swamp tree monsters of some sort. I probably don't need to know more than that to appreciate them, right?

Yes I did not really get into the setting originally either. It just seemed so bland, and I gave it no further thought. When the AOS28 movement started, it piqued my interest, as it really enabled the creating of your own little world, with fluff that could Ben whatever you wanted it to be, in a loose setting/framework. This is where the lack of official lore and setting really became an advantage. There is very little limitations to what you want to create, and your imagination can run wild. I have hardly ever written fluff or anything for a project, but this one shouts for it, and it has been a really enjoyable thing to do, and has whetted my appetite for more. As an aside I am also quite interested in the game too, which helps

Check this blog out. This is where the whole aos28 things started

http://www.exprofundis.com/blog/

Oh yeah his Aelves of the Black Sloth Hell are utterly fantastic truly inspirational stuff.

I'll second on the whole not knowing much aobut the AoS universe. I wonder if part of it is that it's still in its formative years. With 40k we've got decades of development behind it so each faction is pretty well known (even if most of the actual universe is a mystery).

Sweet! Looks like something straight out of a 1930s expressionist silent horror movie.

(Does your brain play the music in your head when you see this picture??

@Ynneadwraith. Yes I absolutely loved his black sloth elves. Utterly glorious! So inspiring

@Scrz. Hah very fitting. Definately reminds me of those old Dracula movies, all stop motion and strangely spooky

"Something has occurred to my peasantry, the ones who ensured my food supply with their humble labor. Where the storehouse once stood amongst a freshly cut grove now only rubble and spilt red wine remained. Such a lovely shade of red, it made my mouth feel ashen for want of it's taste.

The signs of struggle were everywhere, the attack came quickly and left no survivors. My mind wandered to the barricades, they did little to stop the ferocity of forest folk but they put a sense of dread in me. Why? I never was threatened by my own people's defenses-was I?

Bah! my mind aches but the fey fiends left behind food they had no use for. So much food and red wine. I ponder where the bodies are but my mind starts to hurt, some of this food should help. The food and the so very, very red wine."
-torn passage found in the swamp fort of Sir Verdantdread, Ghoul king of the hallow thirst.

(fluff written by BaronKlatz on Reddit in response to my posting of these. I think its great )

Behold the dark spirits, the bog demons, the warped creations of the Mother spirit. Bathed in anger, and stewing in her bitterness she spews their bodies from her womb. Hateful amalgamations of tree, bark and human flesh. Once her prey, now her everlasting servants.....

I hope you enjoy these as much as I have creating them. It really challenged me to paint in a very different way from my other project, La Danse Macabre. Whilst that is very precise, using colours and patterns, wet blending and edge highlighting to achieve the look, these were done with nothing but glazes, washes and drybrushing over a white basecoat. The texture I achieved by applying agrellan earth and stirland mud to the models before painting, and the static grass was added at the very end.

Good Lord these guys are utterly phenomenal they look so warped and twisted, and the painting is just top notch. The fluff is really cool as well.

Just all round phenomenal work

I'm actually rather disturbed by those...things! Absolutely superb!!

@ynneadwraith. Thanks man! I have really enjoyed coming up with the concept and doing all the conversions for them. The painting has been very quick (for me) and easy which is great. A nice break fom 40k too, which has soured for me big time recently. Def excited for 8th. This project will be a stayer though. Very much enjoying it

@count adhemar. Thanks very much I have 10 more on the converting table, which I hope to finish soon while I am on a roll, then I can do a few of the bigger things

Hey folks. Been awhile. RL been suoer busy. Thought i would post up some progress on my Bog Sylvaneth, as i havent updated this thread fo awhile and ive just finished another unit of Kurnoth Hunters

First up the new unit

Tree revenants, bow kurnoth hunters & Spite Revenants

Creepily gorgeous stuff! I wouldn't want to walk through that bog where these guys hang around!

Always a pleasure to see more of your inventive conversions.

Indeed!
Impressive conversions, looking quite malicious.
My faves are the Kurnouth Hunters with the horned rat(?, rather clueless on AoS) heads and tusks.
Are those tusks custom? Looking awesome!
Also the Vegeta-tive level of your army is over 9000 with the technicals and the grass.

@Siticus the ancient. Thanks very much
I’m really enjoying the project tbh, and it is easy to dip in and out as well, which is good when life gets busy

@Marrath. Thanks dude
Yes I am really pleased with how organic they feel. I really wanted them to feel alive in some way, and it adds an extra dimension to the models with all the texture to draw the eye.
The skulls come from the citadel skull kit. It’s got some really cool bits in it

A few more pics I forgot to upload. Some dryads

My Drycha Hamadreth Conversion dome for the Bog Sylvaneth. Still got the textured paint to add which will really tie in the flesh and wood, but pretty chuffed with how she has turned out. Def looking forward to painting her