Imperial Knight of House Teuthida

After going halves on an Imperial Knights: Renegade boxset with Dan from Forged at a Painting Desk, I found myself owning an Imperial Knight. The promise of a game in Nottingham gave me the deadline I needed to get the thing finished and painted.

I was coming from a place of ignorance. Sure, I knew the basic background behind the Knight Houses – but I knew nothing about my Knight. I had no idea what House, or what purpose the Knight might fill, or how I would tie it in with my Space Wolves. I hadn’t anticipated touching the thing for a little while, hoping to let it gestate in the depths of my subconscious for a while.

It was important that it fit with my Space Wolves aesthetically, but I wanted to do something other than just paint it Space Wolf Grey. I also remembered I’d seen that the Freeblade Transfer sheet had squid/kraken things on it and maybe I’d could use those. After all, Fenris is famous for something else other than the Wolves, Ice, and Space Marines - Kraken! I didn’t want a Freeblade, as I wanted the later possibility - should I ever somehow find the time - to field an entire force of Knights, resplendent in their house colours.

Things flowed naturally from there. Sea-green seemed like a sufficiently different colour to my Wolves. Bronze and red would mean they’d share trim colours, tying the two forces together. Orange would look great too, as orange is the perfect colour to go alongside sea-green or teal. The plan was to weather it heavily, make it really rusty. I had this image of it being covered in sea-spray on its home planet, fighting horrible sea monsters to keep the populace safe (and most importantly, productive!)

Disaster struck when I attempted to order that transfer sheet though – it had long since sold out. Further, reading through the Imperial Knight codex, I realised I would need a House Coat of Arms. I was up for the challenge of making my own (I’m by no means an artist!). I’d read on From The Warp about custom decals and it didn’t seem too difficult. Following a quick search for free-to-use images, and time in Inkscape to make up my heraldry, it was done. I wanted to do something more than just abstract shapes (already prominent in my Space Wolves force) for the personal heraldry of the Knight. To complement the Nordic theme Space Wolves use, I used a Celtic knot, with an idea of using a different knot design for each Knight. One last touch was to put a wolf’s head on the pennant, to symbolise the co-operation between this Knight and my Chapter of choice.

The Crest of House Teuthida - I tried to match the style of the GW designs as closely as I could

Things didn’t go quite to plan! I found that Dullcoat wasn’t good enough for sealing the ink onto the paper and the transfers were not only terribly flimsy, but the ink ran too. I was running out of time by this point, but thankfully the father-in-law-to-be offered a can of Halfords car lacquer. I wasn’t entirely convinced, but I was desperate. Turns out, it was perfect. With the magic bottles that are Micro-Set and Micro-Sol (and a little matte varnish to dull the gloss after) I’d finally got the Knight looking how I wanted.

I couldn’t bring myself to rust it. The copper trim was a perfect complement to the sea-green already. So, it’s the only Imperial model I own that hasn’t been weathered.

I still can't decide on a name for him, but given how many times he came back 'from the dead' in his debut, I'm thinking 'Undying' or something similar will be part of it!

I think I could have done a better job breaking up the metalwork, but seeing as I'm the one who will see this side most games, I can live with it!

The Knight didn’t fair too well in its first outing. I imagine this matches most people’s experience of taking out a model they’re proud of for a spin! It was an epic battle though, facing off against serious Tau opposition (including a Supremacy suit!). The Imperials couldn’t quite carry the day, but House Teuthida fought valiantly, throwing Knight after Knight into the fray… (we were playing Apocalypse, so I took full advantage of the rule allowing me to spend victory points to resurrect a dead unit!)

I’m looking forward to taking it to battle again – particularly against the daemon possessed Knight Dan has been working on for a while now!

Thoughts on Games Workshop's Changing Relationship with Its Community

Before these halcyon days of the internet - the age of social media, hashtags, and dank memes - there was a time when companies couldn’t just go viral to market their product. You needed to advertise, whether on TV or in a magazine or other media. The only direct engagement you’d have with your customers was through a store front. The only bit Games Workshop did. GW has always had a funny relationship with the concept of marketing.

Word of mouth has always been the driving philosophy for Games Workshop’s promotion. They had exciting store windows throughout the UK, filled with cool looking painted models, that could attract the eye of almost any little boy looking through at the displays. They also had White Dwarf – their own bespoke magazine! During those pre-internet years, it was the only real way for most people to get Games Workshop news – and it had cool articles too! Though even then you could argue it was just a catalogue; but it was all we had!

Those were the days...

Then the internet rolled up, in its fancy sports car with animated gifs, auto-playing midis, and, critically, web-forums. Sure, chat-rooms were a thing, but web-communities picked up when the forum came along. And Games Workshop was uncharacteristic in being quick off the mark to get their own! Unfortunately, these web-forums didn’t last all that long. They were not a pleasant place. After this though they doggedly continued to put their website to good use, putting up many things up for free – painting guides, scenarios, rules.

Without much warning, things changed…

In typical fashion Games Workshop realised that it wasn’t making enough money from all this free stuff. If people wanted to look at these things for free so much, they’d pay for them, right? So, bit by bit, the website changed, they deleted all the old content, and replaced it all with epub format painting guides and dataslates (if you had an iPad you could have them in a less awful interactive format). Around this time the company itself became more anonymous, their web-forum was long gone, and they stopped stating who designed each model (a practice that sadly continues to this day!)

The advent of social media should have been a turning point, forcing GW into the 21^st Century. They created Twitter and Facebook accounts for all their major arms (GW proper, Forge World & Black Library), and they were popular! And then they killed them out of the blue, without fanfare, exhausted with the negativity posted by their own community. Games Workshop had finished its transformation into an anonymous and unapproachable fortress.

The Imposing Castle Games Workshop

It was hard to blame them from giving up the hobby community they’d spent so long promoting and building. The Warhammer community has always been caustic. Criticism of Games Workshop is the norm, and praise, was rare. And ‘criticism’ was often a polite euphemism for pure abuse. I don’t think they knew how to counter and resolve the issue.  I’m not sure drawing up the bridge and filling the moat with lava was the best response.

Then Duncan Rhodes came.

The Lord of Paint Thinning and being Neat As You Can himself.

There had been a Games Workshop YouTube channel for some time, although the majority of the content had been somewhat pointless reveal videos. Whilst often well done, they were meant to be the launching points for release hype and get people excited about what models might be coming up that week. Of course, leaks would usually have occurred weeks, if not months, in advance. It would take a long while for GW to best realise a strategy for dealing with leaks.

The ‘How to Paint’ videos were an unexpected masterstroke though. They’re among the best guides on the internet for beginner miniature painters. More than that though, they’ve given Games Workshop a face.

Finally, GW had found an avenue to engage with its community. It was a small step, but a vital one. With Duncan Rhodes, they had an approachable and likable figurehead to build upon. It isn’t perfect – they disable the comments on their YouTube videos, so it still feels like you are dealing with a wall. Duncan has even spawned his own memes – mostly about thinning paints.

Then, over the last year, something weird happened – Games Workshop, perhaps buoyed from its success with its painting guides, began talking to us and actively engaging with its community. The Facebook pages suddenly reopened for business overnight! They even started an Instagram account dedicated to farming pictures for use on their website via #paintingwarhammer. That's alongside monthly painting competitions to have your stuff showcased!

Those Facebook pages were the focal point for the one of the best bits of community engagement for gamers – FAQs! For years, the various iterations of Warhammer have languished with either substandard or entirely missing clarifications and errata. No longer! We’ve been given almost absurdly detailed documents (most of which are admittedly still in First Draft status) that have gone a long way towards helping with the increasingly complex 7^th Edition of Warhammer 40,000. Even better, these documents were built from solicited community feedback. Finally, Games Workshop seems like it’s listening; understanding what a powerful resource its community can be when it encourages it to behave in a positive manner.

One moment stood out for me. At first they suggested a house rule bringing Space Wolf, Blood Angels and Chaos Dreadnoughts’ into line with the Codex: Space Marines’ brethren by giving them two attacks. The community suggested this ought to just be an erratum to the rules. GW agreed. This would have been unthinkable only a couple of years ago – due to community feedback, Games Workshop changed a unit profile in an official FAQ. Madness! They’ve even put a call out for suggestions for the next edition of the Age of Sigmar General’s Handbook!

Leaks have traditionally been one of Games Workshop’s real bugbears. They seemed impossible to keep a lid on. Poorly taken photos of magazines and ill-remembered rules were as often able to completely stymie hype as they were to get anyone excited.

When Magnus the Red leaked – we initially saw this:

Not the way you'd want your brand new model judged.

Not bad, considering many of the leaks I’ve seen. But I doubt a crumpled-up photo of a box was how GW wanted to showcase the release of the first plastic Primarch (and first 40k Primarch since the early 90s)!

So, Games Workshop upped the ante with this masterpiece:

Games Workshop has come to the realisation that the best way to respond to those inevitable leaks is to outdo them. And it works!

The amusing videos didn’t stop there, with spoof adverts for the XL Chaos Black Spray which I recommend you check out. They’re probably a bit over-long, in hindsight. And I suspect that they’re mostly funny because it’s Games bloody Workshop. They’re having fun! It’s so weird to see!

They even set up an entire website dedicated to the community; Warhammer Community. I’m not sure what to think so far. It’s better than hiding the blog in some forgotten part of the main website like they did with ‘What’s New Today’ in its latter years. It’s all done with good cheer and personality, and a not that long ago this is content that would have been in White Dwarf. There’s good stuff – I hope they do more tactics articles like the one they did for Genestealer Cults.

The site also has a regular feature called ‘Rumour Engine’. Here the community is shown a tiny, out of context image from an unreleased model and invited to guess what it is. This is probably the best compromise secretive Games Workshop could come up with. It’s important to maintain hype about existing releases and at the same time tease the audience with something new. I wish it was more though. I miss the days where Games Day would roll around and we’d get pictures of unreleased models in cabinets.

What is it? I've no idea. (Actually, I think I do. A gyrinx. Shh!)

Regimental Standard is a WordPress blog that’s ‘Required Reading for the Modern Guardsman’. If you remember the old ‘Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer’, this is very much in that style, being silly and over the top Imperial propaganda. It’s one-note, and not quite deadpan enough for me. If it read more like actual propaganda I’d check the blog out more often. Instead it’s more of a straight up spoof with ‘hilarious’ footnotes about how the survival rate is only 1%. As it is, I check it out occasionally when its linked by the 40k Facebook page but otherwise it’s pretty missable.

Most recently, Games Workshop have started ‘Warhammer Live’, which I’ve not had a chance to check out yet. It’s Twitch.tv based videos, with battles reports and interviews. I’m a little worried that paid-for streamed content is them returning to the dark ways of the past. Hopefully all the useful things like painting guides, news, and tactical discussions will stay on YouTube and the Warhammer Community website.

What this all means is that Games Workshop is no longer the faceless monolithic entity we once knew. Instead it’s become something a lot more approachable and has caught up with the way things are done in this modern, social media dominated, age. Before they could have been justifiably accused of having an outright hostile attitude to its community, with a well-deserved reputation for arrogance. Now they’ve switched that around and shown a willingness to poke fun at themselves.

Does this mean Games Workshop is a different company now? Possibly, in some ways. Certainly, there’s been changes on the Board. It’s possible that their entire corporate attitude has changed but I think what’s really happened is they’ve just seen what other companies are doing.

This engagement doesn’t just benefit Games Workshop – although I would not be surprised at all to see a decent uptick in their sales over the last year – it’s benefitted the gaming community too. We’re getting more out of GW; be it models we want, rules or painting tutorials. In 2016 alone we saw things we would never have dared to dream of five or so years ago. Both Deathwatch and Genestealer Cults in the same year! Blood Bowl coming back! The pessimism of the recent past regarding Games Workshop’s business practises has gone. Now there’s hope that maybe we can all get the miniatures and rules we’ve been dreaming of. They're even asking the community which models they want pulled from the archives for their 'Made to Order' range, which is really neat.

More of this. This is good.

Personally, I’d like to see more of this engagement. With the FAQs Games Workshop has shown that it’s willing to use the community as a resource for its rules development. As a result they’ve asked for help with the Age of Sigmar General’s Handbook. I’d like to see the same for 8^th Ed 40k. We know it will come – and we also know that whilst Games Workshop can still arguably be said to be the leader of the pack in model quality, their rules design has long been their weak-spot. I think previewing and open playtesting with the community could help. I’m not convinced that the community is any better at rules (rules design is hard), but giving them time to get used to changes is a positive move. It would prevent the shock that provokes angry and unreasonable responses from fans and gamers.

Games Workshop is clearly feeling like they can take risks right now – and that’s good. It shows confidence, a welcome relief from the arrogance we’d knew. I want more of this. If the community and Games Workshop have a good relationship, both can prosper. Based on this article from the Telegraph about their changing financial fortunes, it’s looking like that’s been true so far.

Icons of Parsantium Review

Type of Hobby: Roleplaying Game (Supplement)

Number of Players: 3+

Authors: Richard Green

Publisher: Ondine Publishing

Price: £2.58

Disclosure: I received a copy for review from the author.

When I reviewed it last year, I was pretty impressed with Parsantium. I liked it's mash-up of historical and fantasy tropes; I liked that it was packed with detail; and I liked that it was cosmopolitan and varied.

I viewed Parsantium through a 13th Age lens, as that was (and is) my fantasy RPG of choice (although 5e has got a look in now I've actually seen the books!), and in my heart the two are inextricably intertwined, having initially encountered both at the same time at a convention.

Rich Green was quick to bring icons to Parsantium, presenting them on his blog. Now by popular demand, he's collected them together into a single product, alongside some very welcome extras.

15 Icons for 13th Age
Pasantium's 15 icons give players plenty of villains to choose as enemies and allies to throw their lot in with. Many have obvious parallels with those within 13th Age; covering as they do obvious fantasy archetypes. The Basileus is analogous with the Emperor, for example, and the Lady of the Summer Kingdom parallels the Elf Queen. However, thanks to Parsantium's more intimate scale, we learn much more about Corandius XVIII than 13th Age's near anonymous Emperor. We learn that's Corandius XVIII is 'a short, stocky and physically powerful male human in his thirties, who conducts himself with a confidence that borders on arrogance, though he is handsome and charismatic enough to get away with it.' That kind of detail is much more engaging, which is what you want from an icon; icons need to hook the players in and encourage them to engage with the setting. Parsantium's icons do just that. They have personality in spades.

I think my favourite icon is The Mummy - awakened evils are always a favourite of mine! Hunting down (and/or trying to prevent them falling into her evil hands!) ancient artefacts could lead to some fun pulp adventurers.

Parsantium is a melting pot, and its icons are a varied bunch too, many representing the leaders of the regional powers and threats outside the city. As links to cultures they are evocative. These interests all want their piece of Parsantium's pie and they give players plenty of ways in to the intrigue within the city. They also offer plenty of opportunities for action beyond the cities borders, perhaps protecting caravans from gnoll raiders loyal to the Khan, or investigating evil-doers for the Platinum Knights. Speaking of which, I liked the world map that helped put the city's place in the world in context. Now I really want to go on expeditions!

Races
I was pleased to see two races that I felt essential to playing in Parsantium included - the gnoll and the vanara. The gnoll of course has always been a staple of D&D, and usually in a villainous role. Having them as potential violent and feral sell-swords is a neat option.

The vanara are monkey men; nosy and with a predilection for pranks. In the right hands they should make fun characters.

Of course, races in 13th Age lack the depth of other systems, usually only having a single racial power and a stat adjustment, so these races could have been cobbled together by enterprising groups. There's something to be said for 'correct' rules, however, so I'm grateful to see them.

Icon Relationship Ideas
After the icons is a section full of sample icon relationship rolls, at least four for each icon (Positive 5 or 6 and Negative 5 or 6). Thinking up new and interesting ways to use involve those icon dice is one of the most challenging aspects of 13th Age, so I really enjoyed reading through these, both to use them in Parsantium and just generally for ideas in my other 13th Age games.

I really liked the format these took too - most 5s were simply an additional complication to the more broadly positive 6. As I find 5s far more difficult to work out than 6s, having these examples has been a great source of inspiration! For example, a positive 6 with the Grand Master of the Blue Lotus might find the party acquiring the use of a magical staff - but a 5 might add on top that an 'unscrupulous wizard belonging to the Fireball Club' finds out and decides he is more worthy of it than the party!

You could easily ransack these examples and use them as plot hooks too! The example above might lead to a fair few fun encounters if built upon, with the wizard going to increasing lengths to obtain the staff! (and what's so special about it anyway?) There's a lot here to get the ideas flowing in a pinch, and Parsantium was already rich in that regard!

Essential?
While the icons have been available on the Parsantium blog for a while now, they've been updated here and collected in a nice little package, with extra content. I'd definitely recommend it if you're planning to run 13th Age Parsantium - having the icons in one place is handy enough, both the races and icon roll ideas are nice to have and worth a look for a couple of pounds.

If you're not running 13th Age, you'll still find the information on the icons useful - powerful NPCs that vie in the background are useful to know about whether they're connected mechanically or not! 

5 Further Potions for 13th Age!

The time has come for me to release to the world several more potions from the secret text given to me by a dying alchemist. His last wish was that I give his closely guarded family secrets to the world. Probably. It was hard to hear, he was mumbling. Still, his loss is your gain! 

Potion of Concealment from Animals

Being able to pass unnoticed beyond a hungry pack of wolves isn't just a neat trick, it can be life-saving. 

You become effectively invisible to any creatures with the 'beast' keyword. As with invisibility spells, any attack or flashy action will dispel this effect. 

Tier	Cost	Duration
Adventurer	175gp	5 minutes
Champion	325gp	15 minutes
Epic	650gp	30 minutes

Potion of Concealment from Undead

Best not to think about what's in it; just be thankful the zombies seem to have taken you off the menu. 

You become effectively invisible to any creatures with the 'undead' keyword. As with invisibility spells, any attack or flashy action will dispel this effect. Very intelligent undead, such as liches or vampires, may, at the DM's discretion, make a hard save  (16+) to see through this effect. You should inform your players if this is a possibility. 

Tier	Cost	Duration
Adventurer	210gp	5 minutes
Champion	425gp	15 minutes
Epic	850gp	30 minutes

Potion of Jumping

This potion tastes like rubber and bounces inside around its bottle somewhat alarmingly. Once drunk, being able to jump great distances or heights is a doddle! No check is required, and the effects of the potion mean that landing from a height won't hurt unless the distance travelled is greater than potions listed effect doubled (once up, once down!).

Tier	Cost	Distance	Height	Duration
Adventurer	175gp	10m	2m	1 minute
Champion	325gp	15m	4m	5 minutes
Epic	650gp	25m	8m	15 minutes

Potion of Undetectable Passage

Once this potion has been drunk, the imbiber leaves no trace of their passing. Snapped sticks underfoot will mend themselves, kicked stones will roll back into place and footprints will fade away. Tracking the imbiber is impossible without magical means.

Tier	Cost	Duration
Adventurer	210gp	15 minutes
Champion	425gp	1 hour
Epic	850gp	6 hours

Potion of Distant Vision

This deep black liquid allows the imbiber to see as if he were within a distant area. The area to be looked at must be declared upon drinking the potion. If the area is not known to the imbiber (i.e. he has never been there before), he must pass a normal saving throw, or nothing is seen. These potions are incredibly useful for getting the lay of the land ahead, or keeping watch on a distant area.

Tier	Cost	Distance	Duration of Potion Effect
Champion	325gp	5 metres	30 seconds
Epic	650gp	30 metres	5 minutes

Morkai's Hunters - A Space Wolves Grey Hunter Pack

Morkai's Hunters, the foremost Grey Hunter pack in the Deathwolves.

By happy coincidence, both of my Grey Hunter packs were mentioned in Companies of Fenris as belonging to the Deathwolves; the Great Company of Harald Deathwolf. Here's the latest addition of the two - Morkai's Hunters. 

Icons of the Ashen Coast: The Tenebrae Cabal and the Wizards of Thrinn

The final two Icons of the Ashen Coast, the Tenebrae Cabal and the Wizards of Thrinn are both icons that until now existed only as features on the map of the Coast. The Wizards of Thrinn held their tower, and the Tenebrae Cabal plotted behind the Plague Bulwark.

The gods are an important part of the world of Vostror that the Ashen Coast resides within. Conveniently, I already had a place where the evil wizards and clerics of the last empire resided. The Tenebrae Cabal is an unholy alliance that should supply me with all the evil I could ever want. 

THE TENEBRAE CABAL

A union of evil arcanists and dark clerics, cast out long ago by their masters but determined to rule once again. 

Quote

'Our right to rule is absolute, a divine thing, a holy thing. This land is ours; the Empire has forgotten us, but we have not forgotten it.'

Usual Location

Beyond the Plague Bulwark, with enclaves spread throughout the peninsular. Fort Ibrak and the desecrated temple of Dol Himak are centres of power, however.  

Common Knowledge

Though they do not exactly work in perfect concert, the clerics and wizards of the Tenebrae Cabal are united behind a single purpose - to destroy the Plague Bulwark and unleash their horrors upon the Ashen Coast. Wizards and Priests do escape past the Bulwark on occasion and work to bring it down from the outside or pursue their own vile schemes. Others still are driven to attempt to cross the Bulwark, either hoping to find like minded individuals or driven there by lawful or good pursuers. 

The power within the cabal fluctuates between arcane schools (particularly necromancy) and worship of the various dark gods (of which Kostro, Vundrica and Toovik have the most influence behind the Bulwark). The current 'head' of the cabal is a Priestess of Kostro named Nahal Afsheri, and cultists from the ruined and desecrated towns behind the bulwark flock to her cause to wage war upon the Coast and destroy the wall by force. The vile sorcerer Zavar Amaanat is the strongest source of arcane power beyond the Bulwark, and he schemes endlessly. 

Adventurer's and the Icon

Worship of the dark gods is a quick route to power which can be irresistible to some adventurers. Most are sensible enough to work against the cabal, however, not with it. 

Allies

None. Isolation and the destructive nature of their goals puts even the vilest icons off working with the Cabal. 

Enemies

The Platinum Shield stands foremost between the Cabal and the Coast and must be destroyed at all cost. The High Priestess is a source of hope for the worshippers of the good gods; her death would be a great victory. 

History

The evil experiments performed by many of the wizards in the Empire of Turin were frequently misguided; the dark rituals performed by the servants of the evil gods equally so. The result was that the Ibrak peninsular became the domain of plague, rogue undead and worse and threatened to spill into the lands beyond. The governor at the time ordered the construction of a great bulwark to contain the horrors to the peninsular. Many of the evil wizards and clerics elected to stay behind. 

A curious balance formed between the wizards and the clerics of the various dark gods and collectively they became known as the Tenebrae Cabal.  

The True Danger

Everything will be alright as long as the wall stands and the full force of the Tenebrae Cabal is contained. 

There needed to be an arcane archetypal icon on the Ashen Coast, and the Wizards of Thrinn were already on the map - although that they lived within a tower was all that I knew about them. Combined with a recurring theme from my previous games - powerful and dangerous pink crystals - they've become somewhat more fleshed out now and something I hope my players will want to connect with. 

THE WIZARDS OF THRINN

An enigmatic order of wizards that travel throughout the Ashen Coast, recovering powerful magicks. 

Quote

'There is nothing to see here. And if there were, it would be in your best interest to avoid looking, nonetheless.'

Usual Location

The Wizards of Thrinn have always been a secretive presence on the Coston Peninsular, their tower standing looking out onto the Great Ocean. Only the select few that count amongst their number are ordinarily permitted inside. 

Common Knowledge

Wearing their distinctive purple robes, the Wizards of Thrinn are considered throughout the Ashen Coast ill omens; their appearance usually heralds 'interesting' occurrences with strange, long forgotten machines being dug up shortly before they arrive, or an evil awakening, posing a great threat before it is captured by the Wizards who disappear as quickly as they arrived, taking everything involved in the accidental summoning. Quite often these incidents will involve strange and dangerous bright pink crystals, although so far the wizards have yet to find any intact. 

Other times they will turn up and... nothing unusual will happen at all. At least, not that anyone saw. Perhaps something, or someone, might be missing when they've left. It's probably for the best. It's certainly best not to ask. 

Adventurer's and the Icon

It is not unheard of for a Wizard of Thrinn to join an adventuring party, although they seldom remain for long. More likely a party will recruited by a Wizard to help them in their mysterious work, learning only enough to earn their pay. 

Allies

The Wizards usually work alone, although any Icon may find themselves with a temporary ally in the form of a Wizard of Thrinn. Usually, they are not happy with the price of having such an ally. 

Enemies

The Lady of the Woods seems intent on preventing the Wizards carrying out their work, particularly in the wilds. 

History

The enigmatic Wizards of Thrinn have been sighted on the Ashen Coast for centuries, appearing, usually alone, to conduct mysterious arcane investigations. Their history is as mysterious as they are. 

The True Danger

Everything will be alright as long as the Wizards of Thrinn can't recover any intact pink crystals. 

So, that's all 13 icons for the Ashen Coast! Let me know what you thought of them! 

Thoughts On.... Companies of Fenris: Space Wolves Painting Guide

Type of Hobby: Miniatures Wargame (Supplement)

Number of Players: 2

Authors: Games Workshop Design Studio

Publisher: Games Workshop

Price: £20

Games Workshop have really been on good form recently with the quality of their painting tutorial videos. In many ways I thought that this book didn't really need to exist, as actually seeing someone paint is infinitely more useful than reading a description - but a real focus on variety and fleshing out the background of some of the less well known aspects of the Space Wolves makes the book well worth the asking price in my opinion.

The Great Companies

The guide presents four very different great companies, the Firehowlers, the Deathwolves, the Iron Wolves and the Champions of Fenris. This shows the depth that a single chapter can have within it, showcasing a few of the different themes you can choose. Space Wolves get a lot of flak for their recent focus on the 'wolf' side of the coin, but there's plenty of other options you can choose if you so wish and this book really shows them off. It's great to see a couple of the less obvious choices shown off here; Ragnar and his company would have been easy to throw into this book, but it's great to see other Wolf Lords getting a turn in the limelight.

There's a lot more space dedicated to background than I was expecting, giving a broad overview of the companies, then focusing in on the history and accomplishments of various packs within them, accompanied by lots of GWs usual high quality photographs. Interspersed there's advice on pack markings, how to apply company markings to vehicles and other iconography. The information is nice, and presented pretty organically, but it would have been better if it was all in one section within the book.

Each company has its own cool aesthetic, the warriors of the Firehowlers are covered in tattoos representing their accomplishments and look every bit the berserkers, whilst on the other end of the spectrum you've got the cold and mechanical Iron Wolves. Sven Bloodhowl and Egil Iron Wolf are pretty cool converted miniatures too and whilst they're not too hard to work out given the book tells you what they're actually based on, it would have been nice to have seen proper step by step tutorials for these.

This is all the stuff I actually bought the book for, if I'm honest; I'm reasonably confident painting my army at this stage. I'm pretty satisfied with the information presented, it gives just enough hints and ideas without outright giving the definitive answers or listing all the packs within the companies. There's still plenty of room for your own imagination!

By some serendipity, the two Grey Hunter packs I'd painted so far happened to be ones detailed within the book as belonging to the Deathwolves! Happy with that! I also learnt that within the Deathwolves the Wolf Guard keep their old pack markings, just painting them yellow and black. With that in mind I decided a little repaint was in order!

I won't be following the book entirely strictly though - I like the naming convention I've come up with for my vehicles, for example. (Everything is named after something from Norse mythology - Rhinos are named for wolves, Predators for weapons, Land Raiders for gods etc.)

Paint All the Things

I don't think that there is a single aspect of painting a space wolf that isn't in this book. Armour, fur, plasma coils, bone, parchment, metal, gold, gems, it's all covered. The only omission I noticed was no tips for painting eyes. A weird oversight but I have noticed painting eyes is falling out of fashion, so maybe that's why.

Not content with telling you how to paint everything, there's usually several different methods for doing it! It's a great resource, with eight methods for painting fur and nine for painting the faces of your warriors! I can't praise the sheer variety of painting guides in the book enough - each ranges from only a few steps to about 12, depending on the level of detail you're after - and you're bound to find a way of doing things that works for you.

Yet I'm not sure I can recommend this book alone for a new painter - Games Workshop still seem insistent on not teaching basic technique in their guides. You won't discover how to drybrush; or take care of your brushes; or correctly thin your paints in this book. Thankfully the internet is an amazing resource for that kind of information but I wish Games Workshop would start putting that kind of information in again. They're putting it in their video tutorials, which are free, so I'm incredibly surprised it's not going into their paid products.

A Nearly Perfect Resource

If you want some tips on how to paint your Space Wolves, or something to help you work out pack or company markings, this is a great book. The price is right too; at £20 it's a downright bargain for a Games Workshop product. I'm really interested to see if GW releases any similar products for other armies - it would be a shame if a product of this quality was a one off.

Icons of the Ashen Coast - The Platinum Shield

The Platinum Shield scour the Ashen Coast for the dark followers of the Evil Gods.

When designing the icons for the Ashen Coast I originally wanted, where possible, to emulate the archetypes illustrated in the 13th Age core book. Naturally, the Platinum Shield are analogous to the Great Gold Wyrm. 

THE PLATINUM SHIELD

Revering Saint Laila and the metallic dragons, the Platinum Shield are the Ashen Coast's first line of defence against the dark gods. 

Quote

'A Knight must be pure of heart and noble of purpose; like our beloved Laila. She was the very spirit of a dragon. We can only strive to emulate her. We will never equal her.'

Usual Location

The Platinum Shield's headquarters are located at Fralfield, a days march from the Plague Bulwark. In truth the majority of knights are manning the wall or questing throughout the Ashen Coast. 

Common Knowledge

Since the Plague Bulwark was constructed there has been an order set up to protect it. The threats behind the Bulwark are more terrible than most could face; only the purest of heart could hope to stand before the followers of the dark gods day after day and remain unscathed in body and soul. 

The order's prime duty is to protect Thun from the terrible evils beyond the Plague Bulwark. However, due to the dire state of Thun's Royal Navy, many evil clerics from the Tenebrae Cabal make it off the peninsular and move inland, spreading their evil. As a response, the Platinum Shield roves the Ashen Coast, hunting down these evil priests, or worse. Worship of the evil gods is not limited to the Cabal, and the Shield has become adept at finding hidden devotees.

The order has a strict hierarchy, with ranks following the colouring of their revered metallic dragons so that Brass is the lowest rank, held by the freshest initiates, and Platinum is the highest, held only by the Master of the order. The current Platinum Master is Diogo Corte-Real, an elderly man, thought soon to step aside to one of his inner circle. However, that has been the rumour for many years and his Gold Knights continue to jostle for his favour. 

Adventurer's and the Icon

Fighters make up the bulk of the order, although there are many Paladins and Clerics as well, the majority of which worship Derne (God of War and Law) or Sorath (God of Sun, Light and Truth). In theory, however, anyone can join the order if they prove themselves stout enough of heart and pure of soul.

Allies

The Knights of the Platinum Shield are pledged to protect Thun and its King. As a holy order, they are natural allies to the High Priestess and, as a Paladin, they respect the Elven Baron.

Enemies

The Tenebrae Cabal is the sworn enemy of the Platinum Shield, and must be destroyed at all costs. The Devil is a new threat, but an unholy one nonetheless, and the quest to destroy the Cult of Mammon is gaining traction within the order. 

History

The evils of the Empire of Turin once ran rampant throughout the Coast, and on one peninsular in particular; entire towns and villages were entirely subjugated to the wills of dark priests. Eventually, even the Governor, Tyrmund, realised something must be done and ordered the construction of a great wall to prevent the spread of foul undead and terrible disease. 

In the years following the end of the Empire, the wall fell into disrepair under the degradations of the evil magicks beyond it and was almost breached, threatening the surrounding towns and villages.

In a town far from the Bulwark, in the northern Duchy of Arromere, the young Laila de Freitas dreamt of the Platinum Dragon, standing resplendent before a wall that spanned over a hundred miles. Laila was brought up in poverty in a world of browns and greys, she wept to look upon his awesome countenance. The Platinum Shield say that he imparted a message to her, though the exact wording has been long lost, if she ever revealed it. Then he spread his great wings and flew away, leaving Laila standing alone before the wall. Now she could see that it was cracked, a huge chasm cut into it. Feeling no fear, she strode towards it and placed her hands upon it. Even as searing pain burnt her flesh away, the crack shank into oblivion, sealing the wall once more. 

Waking that morning, Laila took up her fathers old sword and began her long pilgrimage south. As she journeyed, she helped many in need and defeated many evils. More and more pledged themselves to her cause and by the time she reached the Plague Bulwark nearly five hundred pilgrims stood beside her.  

The wall was exactly as she had dreamt it, crack and all. She trembled, knowing that only she could seal the breach - but that it would cost her her life. As she hesitated, the aperture grew larger and the wall finally shattered. Plague ridden beasts and undead, driven on by evil wizards and vile clerics flooded from the breach. The pilgrims stood firm, encouraged by the prayers of Laila, but many were only farmers and peasants - they could not hope to stand against such a force. 

The cause finally seemed lost as Laila was struck down by a priest of Kostro; god of Vanity, Tyranny, and Violence. Terrified, the remaining pilgrims turned to run. Then there was the flash of light and before them Laila rose to the air, great platinum metallic wings spread, her fathers old sword now a glorious Holy Avenger. She breathed deadly fire upon the evil host, and drove them back with her enchanted blade. Encouraged, the pilgrims fought all the harder and not a single other was lost. 

The battle over, Laila flew to the shattered wall and plunged her blade into the ground. A great platinum seal filled the gap, energy flowing from her reforged body. The Bulwark was reforged and Laila fell, lifeless to the ground. The pilgrims swore an oath that the Bulwark would never fall into such disrepair again, that Laila's brave sacrifice would not be in vain. They would be the Platinum Shield. 

The True Danger

Everything will be alright as long as the Plague Bulwark stands between the Ashen Coast and devastation.

Would you join the Platinum Shield or throw your lot in with the Dark Gods? Let me know! 

5 More Potions for 13th Age

More potions for your perusal! As ever, let me know if you use them and if there's anything you'd tweak about them!

Potion of Chameleon Skin

This potion changes colour constantly, shifting hue between all the known colours and a few only the elves can see. Once consumed the user can change the colour of their skin and held items to any hue they like, simply by concentrating. Whilst many outlandish adventurers use these potions simply as fashion items - changing their colour at a whim - they're most commonly used to aid in more sneaky pursuits. 

When used to aid in appropriate skill checks to hide or deceive, Potions of Chameleon Skin give a +5 bonus. The duration the effect lasts for depends on tier.

Tier	Cost	Duration of Potion Effect
Adventurer	100gp	1 hour
Champion	250gp	6 hours
Epic	425gp	1 day

Potion of Speed

This potion rushes about its bottle, sloshing from top to bottom and side to side, as if unable to stay in one place for too long. Effectively doubling the speed of the imbiber reactions become quicker and distances can be covered in astonishing speed. In a combat situation the imbiber gains a second move action, as well as a bonus to attack rolls and physical defence (dependant on tier). Outside of combat the movement speed of the character is doubled - likely allowing them to outrun most normal foes. The effect lasts for a single battle, or 5 minutes, regardless. 

There is a downside to drinking such a potent mixture, however - each use ages you by a single year. 

Tier	Cost	Bonus to Attack	Bonus to Physical Defence
Adventurer	350gp	+1	+1
Champion	650gp	+3	+3
Epic	1,300gp	+5	+5

Potion of Sweet Water

The vapours of this bottle are often enough on their own to clear a room of any foul smelling mustiness, which makes these potions desirable indeed to adventurers delving in long sealed dungeons. The designed use is to transform tainted or contaminated liquid into pure, safe, water. Water created in such way is perfectly pure and the potion can be used on any non-magical liquid.

The volume of water that can be purified in this way depends on tier. 

Tier	Cost	Cubic Feet of Liquid Affected
Adventurer	100gp	1,000 (10' cube)
Champion	250gp	15,625 (25' cube)
Epic	425gp	125,000 (50' cube)

Potion of Distant Voice

The bottle this amber liquid is contained within always sounds like it's clinking and sloshing around in someone else's backpack. 

Imbibing this potion allows the user to 'throw' their voice, causing the sound to seem like it is coming from someone, something, or somewhere, else. The distance and length of this effect depends on tier. If appropriate, the DM may require that a charisma based skill check is needed to for the effect to successfully trick a foe.

Tier	Cost	Range	Potion Duration
Adventurer	125gp	5 metres	30 seconds
Champion	250gp	25 metres	5 minutes
Epic	500gp	100 metres	30 minutes

Potion of Water Breathing

Blue and fizzy, this potion is a favourite of coastal adventurers. It allows the imbiber to breath normally when submerged in oxygenated liquids. The length of time this effect lasts for is dependant on tier and the user is aware roughly of how long they have left before the effect wears off. 

Tier	Cost	Potion Duration
Adventurer	350gp	15 minutes
Champion	650gp	1 hour
Epic	1,300gp	6 hours

Icons of the Ashen Coast: The Lady of the Woods and the Red Dragon

The Lady and the Red Dragon both share a special link - they were both part of the first adventure I ever ran, all those years ago. Originally conceived as minor characters, they both grew to be something greater and part of the group's shared history.

The Lady of the Woods shares many similarities with the High Druid and fills a similar niche on the Ashen Coast. I've always presented nature in my games as a strangely familiar but ultimately unknowable force, and the Lady is an aspect of that. Outwardly she is a being of serenity, peace and beauty - but beneath that there is something alien and dangerous. So too with nature. 

THE LADY OF THE WOODS

A resurgent power, the Lady is a force of nature who seeks to purge her home of arcane taint. 

Quote

'A measured kindness is the best way to restore the natural balance. If that fails... there are so few choices...'

Usual Location

A secret glade within The Enchanted Forest, ancient woodland contaminated by an incursion from another realm decades ago.  There the Lady is protected by her centaur wards. 

Common Knowledge

Though now forgotten by most, there has always been the Lady of the Woods. Once worship of this powerful being was common throughout the Ashen Coast, now there are only myths and legends that tell of a beautiful woman who speaks with natures spirits and guides the will of the land. She is a being of serenity and peace, who urges balance and unity from her followers. Yet she lives amongst the warlike centaur and destroys without mercy those who seek to defile her beloved domain. 

Most likely, the Lady is a dryad or nymph, such is her obvious connection to the woods in which she lives. Some say that she is an aspect of Nalfarin, though there is little to support that assumption. Her recent efforts have been concentrated on removing the unnatural arcane taint from the Usmarsh and the Enchanted Woods, which has to some extent prevented her from turning her gaze outwards. Many wonder what might happen when she does. 

Adventurer's and the Icon

Druids, rangers and barbarians are all drawn to follow the Lady. Many powerful tribal lords will seek out adventures in the Lady's name, to perform great deeds that benefit them. 

The Lady's emissaries, a race of sentient trees that call themselves 'the Living Wild', are becoming an increasingly common sight on the Coast, and at least one has been known to join an adventuring party. 

Allies

The Lady is a natural ally of the sylvan elves, and so will stand beside the Elven Baron. 

Enemies

The Ice Titan holds claim to lands that the Lady knows belong to her followers. The Dread Pirate is a monstrous being whose very existence puts the natural balance in peril. The Wizards of Thrinn frequently send invasive investigators into the woods, seeking to harness the strange arcane power for their own use; such beings that would destroy the wild to gain arcane power are not to be trusted. 

History

The woodland that the Lady calls her home was for many years a corrupted, haggard thing with blistered trees and tormented wildlife. Every year its borders shrank away as whatever foul magic that stole the life away from the land surrounding the nearby mountains took a stronger grip. So connected with that land was the Lady that she herself began to wither away and her influence waned. 

This, coupled with the only recently defeated Empire of Turin's policy of iconoclasm, meant the Lady was almost completely forgotten in the civilised lands. The peoples of Ushenge, Usmarsh and the highland tribes remained her sole worshippers.

Nearly two decades ago, things finally and unexpectedly changed. Almost overnight the blasted farmland blossomed with new life, forming meadows and glades of arcane supernatural beauty. The forest too exploded back into life and with it, the Lady's power returned. Her influence has grown and, though she still holds little in the towns and cities, the people of Us and the highlands would march to war for her if she asked. Indeed, many now itch to, and some wonder what the Lady might do with such an army. 

The True Danger

Everything will be alright as long as the Lady sees no reason to create an army of her followers.

It wouldn't be fantasy roleplay without dragons. Even when I tried to create a setting devoid of the beasts it still ended up, ultimately, being about dragons. With fantasy rpgs it's dragons all the way down. 

The Red Dragon is an icon in absentia, which was an interesting challenge. First appearing in my first adventure as a sea shanty singing foe that terrified a party of 1st level adventurers to hide in a cave and live off drop snails for a bit, he had disappeared when the party returned from a parallel world. His disappearance was yet another unresolved plot hook and I felt his influence on the Ashen Coast was too great for him not to be an icon, even if he wasn't actually there. I also wanted to create a different feel to the Devil, who also influenced through followers rather than directly. This was the result.

THE RED DRAGON

The Red Dragon, Fuegalyr, cruel and terrible, terrorised the towns and villages of the Coast but kept the seas safe. Now he has gone those same folk that he victimised see him as their only saviour. 

Quote

'Things were bad then, sure, but at least an honest man could earn a living. Now my family is starving and I risk life and limb launching my boat. I don't blame folks who want that dragon back. A few cows a year seems a fair price to pay...'

Usual Location

Missing. Some say he has entered a long slumber, others that he has business elsewhere, some radical followers say that he walks among them in human form, awaiting a champion. A few dare to whisper that he may be dead - although no adventurers have claimed success at such a deed. 

Common Knowledge

Fuegalyr the Red Dragon, a monster with a cruel sense of humour, is famed for chasing bands of adventurers that are foolish enough to wander into his lands, sometimes pursuing them for days before finally setting upon the tired and weakened fools, searing their flesh and returning to his lair with their bodies and treasure. Sometimes he would follow them, never showing himself, instead singing or whistling sea shanties, knowing that his reputation would put fear into their hearts.

However, in recent years his presence has disappeared from the Ashen Coast and, with it, great poverty and hardship has arrived for the common man. Pirates and worse now patrol the seas, making it impossible for the majority who made their living from the sea's bounty to earn enough to feed their families. As a direct result, bands of vigilantes have risen up across the Coast, calling themselves 'The Red Dragons'. They seek out pirates and thieves wherever they can, liberating them of their treasure and adding it to a great horde that they hope will entice the missing Fuegalyr to return. Like the Red Dragon they have begun to idolise, their favoured weapons are fire and flame.

Adventurer's and the Icon

It takes a certain sort of desperation to believe that an ostensibly evil red dragon is your saviour, but many do. Folk under the banner of the Red Dragon frequently join adventuring parties, hoping to find treasures to add to the great horde. Fighters, rogues and even the clerics from particularly hard hit towns and villages are common Red Dragons. Sorcerers who trace their powers to the chromatic dragons have also flocked to the cause, often treated almost like priests or holy warriors by the vigilantes. 

Allies

A shared desire for gold means that many Red Dragons will willingly work with the cultists of Mammon and the Devil. The King of Thun officially condemns vigilantism, but in truth is eager for any help he can get to remove the pirates from his shores. 

Enemies

The Corsair and the Dread Pirate are the ones responsible for the current treacherous state of the seas. The Platinum Shield, full of lawful do-gooders and patrons of the metallic dragons, often destroy the Red Dragons wherever they find them. 

History

Fuegalyr, the Red Dragon, claimed the lands north of the Enchanted Mountains as his territory. Greedy and prideful, like all chromatic dragons, he terrorised the towns and villages within his domain by swooping in from the skies and demanding impossible tributes in gold and livestock. He rarely let the pitiful begging and whining of his subjects prevent him from leaving with an empty stomach and more treasure for his hoard. 

One trait peculiar to Fuegalyr was his intolerance for piracy (or at least, pirates unwilling to pay a significant tithe to him). For the hundreds of years he terrorised the coast, he kept the pirates at bay, allowing free trade through through the sea-lanes except for a few select pirate vessels.

The True Danger

Everything will be alright as long as the Red Dragon doesn't return and find the pitiful offering left by the vigilantes utterly offensive. 

So, two new icons - both of which have been rattling around in my head for about a decade. Would you follow either of their causes? Or would you work against them?