Pre-Game Gallery: Balin And The Slann, Metal Magic Orcs Too!

Im going to have a Warhammer 1st edition battle tomorrow based on the "Ziggurat of Doom" scenario. 
Thought I would show off the figures today and introduce the forces that will be involved in the upcoming conflict.

Here are some Slann guarding one of their sacred spawning pools.
Slann come in many colors, I chose to stick with the Kremlo lore, and paint them as the "BlueSpine" tribe.
Left to Right: Musician, Slavemaster, Kremlo, Warrior, Herald, Palace Guard Officer.
These are C-32 Slann from 1987.
Kremlo actually has a scenario in Citadel Compendium #1 "The Legend of Kremlo the Slann".
 I think this might be the only scenario written for 1st edition, outside of the White Box and Forces of Fantasy.
Apparently, he was raised by humans and took up arms against his own species.  Here in Moria, he has been forgiven of his past misdeeds and cant wait to show his loyalty to the Slann cause.

As an aside... Here's a look at it.  The scenario itself isnt anything great, fluffwise or mechanically as a game.  But it does have great artwork!  Look at that old school charm!
Than again, the "Ziggurat of Doom" scenario isnt that great either.  But I will spruce it up, with more victory conditions, more forces, more objectives and random event cards.

According to my 1st edition Forces of Fantasy booklet:  "The Slann are an ancient and sophisticated race of semi-aquatic creatures who inhabit the continent of Southern Lustria.  In former times they controlled a vast empire, and built huge ziggurats, stone tombs and mighty highways.  The lands they retain under thier dominion are almost entirely tropical rain forests, populated by the scattered tribes of primitive Slann."

They are basically D&D Bullywugs given an Aztec/Mayan theme.  Still cool, just saying,  GW didnt really do anything original here.  Even the Mayan Aztec thing was big thing in D&D modules, such as in C-1 "Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan", which came out in 1980.  I think Dweller of the Forbidden City was one too, I dont recall.  I just remember the giant frog on the cover!

The army list includes Eunoch Slave Warriors.  Now I have 2 reasons to have Unsullied in Moria.  Whats the 2nd reason?  A certain short Lannister and friends will be making a grand first entrance to Khazad Dum and this very blog!

Although this model is called a "warrior slann", here on this blog he is now a Slann mage pariah.
And here he is after summoning a Cockatrice.  Chicken of Doom, as I like to call them.
The model itself is a Marauder MM44 cockatrice (possibly sculpted by Aly Morrisson, maybe Trish?)

And here we have a Winged Bear!  I have no idea who made this.  If anyone knows, please let me know.

And now we present the adveraries.  Metal Magic Orcs.  I really like these Orcs, very characterful indeed.  Im even keeping the company name for the fluff...  the Metal Magic Tribe!  They live outside the area of the Ziggurat of Chicken-Itza, out in the wilds of the Savage Lands.  The Savage Lands themselves are a wierd hellish jurassic jungle in the "hollow inner earth" of Middle Earth, that can be reached by journeying deep past the lowest levels of Khazad Dum.  Watch out for the raptors, they bite!

Group shot.  Metal Magic Orcs sculpted by Josef Ochmann, who I think sculpted everything at Metal Magic.  I really like his style of sculpting. Its definitely old-school.

I have to use every bit of my willpower to not purchase Metal Magic Sci-Fi figures.  I used to have a bunch of them back in the day for Dune Desert Planet gaming.

Why is that Orc balancing his club on his head?

Orc power!  Fists in the air!

These fellas are going to be causing some lovely havoc and mayhem tomorrow.

At long last, Balin, Lord of Moria makes an appearance on this blog.  He and his Chaos Dwarves have been able to survive insurmountable odds.  But only through the machinations of the Ruinous Powers.
Left to Right:  Mad Furrikson, Balin Lord of Moria, Napper Grundin

Here are Baldrik Backbreaker and Antor Axebreath.  Im glad I used modern shields for these guys.  I think they are Chaos Marauder shields.

Finally, we have Spikes Harveywotan and Jezreel Ironhand.

Tomorrow night, or more likely on Friday, I will post the battle report and its wider implications in the scheme of my Moria Project.  If you are a new reader of this blog, Im guessing you might have some questions...  Slann in Moria?  Balin is a Chaos Dwarf?  Inner earth in Middle Earth?  Dinosaurs under Khazad Dum?  What is this madness?  Theres no short answer Im afraid,  you will have to read from the start...

So to old readers and new ones...  Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
Mar

Chicken-Itza - In The Court Of The Lizard King

Small post today, just a peek into some new terrain Ive been working on.  I wanted the next post to be a battle report, but I just had to share my new terrain.  The battle report is still on schedule for Friday-ish.

Cardboard, clay, glue, and paint a'plenty went into making this new terrain set.  As you can see they match well with my Dwarven Forge.   Now, you might be asking, what is a Meso-American step pyramid doing in Moria?  To justify having some oldhammer lizardmen on the blog, of course!  Unfortunately, I dont have any painted up yet, so a D&D Bullywug King will have to step up to the plate for awhile until such time as suitable lizardmen are painted up.  The turqoise trees are plastic, which Ive painted in a suitable otherworldly jurassic color.  The purple trees are Woodland scenics FineLeaf Foliage.  I suppose its a plant thats been treated with a preservative of some sort.  Once I painted them purple, they really popped out visually. 

Welcome dear readers to the Court of the Lizard King, also called Chicken-Itza!

Somewhere deep in the Savage Lands, stands the Temple.
Once it was the center of an ancient civilization that brought order and prosperity to the Underworld - a reptilian race created by the Gods of Order.  They worked hand in hand with the Dwarves: Lizard magic for Dwarven stonework, but that was millennia ago.  The wars of Chaos divided the races, until both the Lizardmen of Chicken-Itza and the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum were overthrown by evil powers.  The Dwarves abandoned Moria, but the Lizardmen stayed behind, were slaughtered, until only one remained...

The Bullywug King stirred from his reverie, for the first time in hundreds of years.  Events were happening in the real world, that were also coloring his dream world.  The Dwarves have returned to Moria, in greater numbers this time!  But there was something else...  The Ghost King has also returned... to the Savage Lands.  He has awoken the sleeping dead.  The Bullywug was not afraid of him or the vast armies he now commanded.  The Temple was imbued with an ancient spell that hid it from outsiders with a labyrinthine maze of jungle paths and cavern walls.  No one could find the Temple unless permitted to do so.

Here is an ancient Spawning Pool, where new born lizardmen were hatched.  But they have been still and quiet for many ages.

The grey flooring of the pools are made of clay, which I spread out and smeared to look like rock.  And the pools themselves are various green paints and inks with some blues as well, then sealed with a varnish top coat.

"There's danger on the edge of town
Ride the King's highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby

Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake...he's old, and his skin is cold"
 

Magic is infused in the water, the trees, the stone of this land.  An ancient magic, deep and slumbering.  But now it is stirring again... the Land is awakening...  and it is hungry!

The Bullywug stares out over the land and with his staff, he traces magical runes into the air.  Until a vision comes to him, of events near and far.  He sees the threads of the future and its major players.  The ancient enemy, the Balrog.  The Ghost King.  The Dwarf Lords.  The cruel Drow and their Dragon Queen.  And the Fallen Dwarf...  Balin. 

The Bullywug King considers all possible futures and realizes he has a big decision to make that will determine the future of all his reptile kindred.  Sure there were feral reptiles out in the jungles, but they were savage and not intelligent.  If he chooses correctly, he will see the reemergence of the great Lizard race. 

He stares down at the two Spawning pools in front of him, that have stood empty for a thousand years.

"I am the Lizard King
I can do anything"

Who should he side with...?  The alliance of Dwarves and Lizardkind was long ago, would the stunties even remember it?  It seemed like the right choice.
But what if the right choice leads to extinction?

The Bullywug King makes his decision...
He raises his staff again and magical energy is summoned.

But to what purpose?

Soon, the Bullywug King will receive visitors.  They will be the first guests to see Chicken-Itza in such a very long time...

Thats the post!
I will have to drop another hint again for the battle report coming up next post...

"Next to a battle lost, the saddest thing is a battle won."