Iron Sleet Invitational II

 Fyonn of the Jade Morning, Duchess of D'Vroek and retinue

 I couldn't resist the opportunity to create a group that came from the Thorn Moons. What an incredible setting and idea. The originality of instagram.com/f_p_o_a's models and background really had a major impact on me, as I am sure it did with a lot of other hobbyists. The combination of botanic and mechanic in this way was something really inspiring and unique in 40k. So when the ironsleet.com invitational came around again and was asking us to create something in this setting I didn't even think twice about creating anything other than Thorn Moon loyalists.

The idea of some sort of isolated society that had descended from marooned Imperial nobility and citizens that somehow managed to get to the Moons took root and I began to really like it. The mystical symbiosis with the forest realm reminded me of shamanism and tribal culture which in turn brought me to Celts and the Vikings. I definitely took influence from Norse history when thinking of names and titles, I wanted these to feel different from typical Imperial ones as well.

And so the Sunderkin were born, a warlike, tribal society ruled by powerful noble houses. The societal structure I have in mind for them takes inspiration from medieval tribal societies. I imagine the Sunderkin to be to the Imperium as the Norse were to the Saxons or the Gauls were to the Romans. This is in culture alone of course, there are only a few million Sunderkin, not enough to pose quite the same level of threat to the Imperium. They are fanatically and religiously loyal to the Greene Kyngge however. They are all 'Bannermen' to the Greene Mechanicvm and ultimately exist only through their acceptance and minimal support. 

For me this warband had to look and feel as if they had their own culture and practises that had evolved from but were also very different from their Imperial ancestry. I added a few key accessories here and there to try and give them more of this narrative in physical form. I'll go into that a bit more after they've been shown for the Invitational and I can really pick out the details.

Thankyou for reading and yes, those are two real snail shells in there! ;)

Thorn Moons Conquered

So finally finished my Thorn Moons project! What a sense of relief, and achievement. Feels good to get something finished. I'll wait until my pictures have made it onto ironsleet.com before I post the full warband here. Having a hard time getting my phone into focus when taking the photos, but I did my best.

Here is one of my favorites in the warband, Horgraive Snake-Eater, Warbringer of D’Vroek, Radningar of the Shieldkin, Hero of the Black Mud Sea, Thorn Moons Loyalist

Had a lot of fun with this group, tried out a lot of techniques I hadn't used before, some worked better than others but I learned a lot at least. Used some Vallejo pigments for rust and mud for example and tried to get the armor to look really weather beaten and rain streaked, was feeling very proud of myself until the photographs, seems like a lot of the texture and detail on the armor has been lost. Shame but good lessons for the future.

Another new thing for me was woodland themed bases. Never been particularly good at basing or scenery so with this theme it was a good opportunity to try some things out.