Daemons of Nurgle

Today I'm sharing the Daemonic options for my Rampanthammer Nurgle force - starting with a unit of Plageubearers.  These are from Magister Militum where they are called Morbi Plague Demons.  They are nice, chunky minis:

I got some free Giant Slugs in an order from Alternative Armies - perfect as Beasts of Nurgle I think:

Finally I got a couple of bases of Nurglings - these were from a 3D printer on Etsy:

I think these will go well with the Great Unclean One I won from The Wargames Website!

Proxima Centauri - background

Recently I fell into a rabbit hole of 15mm adventure - starting with Burning Sands by Crom's Anvil.  I'll be covering that more when I've got some painted minis!

Anyway, while I was looking around getting all sorts of miniatures for that game I obviously came across inspiration for another project (isn't that always the way?) - there are a fair few really nice 15mm sci-fi ranges out there, and I decided I'd acquire stuff for a similar adventurous game as Burning Sands is providing me in a fantasy world.

So I'm working through prepping miniatures from Alternative Armies, Ral Partha Europe and CP Models but in the meantime I've thrashed out a bit of background for my universe.  I thought I'd share the first part of that today!

Continued and accelerating decline in Earth’s ability to sustain life during the 2020s due to climate change resulted in ever more extreme weather – causing drought, famine, flood and fire.  This, coupled with exponential population growth leading to increasing wars for the dwindling resources of the planet, caused some to seek a means of escape.

By 2030 the richest individuals of Earth had plotted to leave to head for the nearest star – Proxima Centauri.  Giant spaceships called Arks were constructed – the wealthy guaranteed their place, others only permitted because of what they could offer the rich; as much a resource as the hoarded food, fuel and technology.

At least a dozen of these Arks were built and launched – but over the many thousands of years that the journey took several were lost, presumed destroyed.  As time passed each Ark formed its own distinct culture, with each becoming known as a House – the descendants of the original individuals formed the Nobles of the House and held absolute power, with the descendants of the workers becoming known as Vassals.

Eventually, many millennia later, eight Arks arrived at the Proxima Centauri system to start a new life – but they quickly found they were not alone on the various planets there; sentient beings from a hundred different worlds could be found there… including humans.

Unlike the humans of the Houses, these humans had no real tie back to Earth – they had been here since the glory days of the Centauran Empire.  The Centaurans were great travellers, explorers and scientists and at times during their history had taken humans from Earth to study them – eventually the descendants of these humans became a part of Centauran society, albeit as third-class citizens.  As the Centauran Empire eventually declined the humans were given full rights and found their own way – they became known as Freedans.

The eight Houses that survived the trip to Proxima Centauri are:

AFA Union (Arnault-Ferrero-Albrecht) – whilst imperfect, the Union has an egalitarian attitude and makes allies easily with other species and even other Houses.

House Ambani – the Ambani have no specialism – but they are involved in absolutely everything, making them powerful players in the system.

House Bezos – even so many millennia after its founding the Vassals of House Bezos are treated close to slaves.

Zango Dangote – the Dangote maintained their many traditions and customs whilst embracing new technology during their journey to Proxima Centauri.

House Mordashov – certain of their destiny to rule the surviving humans, the Mordashov seek power in the system by any means necessary - they are masters of industrial espionage, cyberwarfare and propaganda.

House Mota-Velasco – masters of industry from mining to fabrication, Mota-Velasco is known for its hard working and hard playing people.

Clan Yanai – titans of design and commerce, even the Vassals of Clan Yanai are wealthy compared to their peers of other Houses.

Clan Zhong – as the Ark moved forwards, the culture of Clan Zhong returned to something resembling the Imperial Court of China. 

The lost Houses included Al Saud, Buffet and Windsor – the names of any others are lost to history.  Occasionally humans show up claiming to be from one of these lost Houses – they tend to be Freedans seeking some form of notoriety, but who knows if there are some survivors out there?

Following the vast influx of Earth humans from the Arks, and after a lengthy period of several centuries of conflict and assimilation, peace has mostly returned to the Proxima Centauri system - outright war has been avoided for the last 50 years.  Of course, skirmishes between species, Houses, corporations, organisations and more are still commonplace, particularly in border areas where tensions often spark over small matters.

Last of the Empire's Humans

I've got the last of the human elements for the Empire part of the 'good guys' side of the Rampanthammer project.

First up, a Mortar:

The Mortar piece itself is from Pendraken's Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth range.  The crew are from their Landsknechte range.

I also have a couple of units of Knights - these are Pendraken Medieval Late European men-at-arms on barded horses:

Finally, to use as an Elector Count and overall leader for the army I got the 'Elf Hero on Griffen' from Alternative Armies for a Griffon mount.  It's designed for 15mm, but it was all I could find that came with saddle etc.  I used a TB Line Eastern European Heavy Cavalry rider from Pendraken, with a headswap and a banner pole (repurposed lance) from Pendraken's Early 16th century English/Scots men-at-arms that I mistakenly ordered (a happy mistake as it turns out!):

As you can see, the Griffon is rather large - but the more I look at it the happier I am with it.  I felt that the Empire half of this project needed some centrepiece to really put the army in the fantasy world rather than just be Landsknechte with a Wizard.  I think this chap fulfils that need quite well! 

Dōsojin and Milestones

One of the things I particularly like about the Sengoku Monster Hunter rules are the various types of encounter that the hunters can have whilst they try to track down their quarries.

The Milestone is one of these - and Alternative Armies has a couple of models to use when they turn up:

Simple pieces but will add a lot of flavour in the game!

Another such piece is the Dōsojin - small statues that ward against evil.  Alternative Armies has a couple of different designs available:

Again simple pieces, but paint up nicely with drybrushing and will amp up the character in games.

Yokai Parade

I've got a real mixture of Yokai to share on the blog today! These are all from Alternative Armies' Sengoku Japanese Fantasy range.

First the Tsurube Otoshi - a monstrous head that drops out of a tree to attack the unwary!

This handsome chap was fun to paint... considering he's just a misshapen head!

Next is the Tsuchinoko, one of the few Yokai who can aid the hunters!

As a flat snake (in effect) it's a bit tricky to get a picture of, but hopefully you can make out the markings I added to the skin.

Next is a Hosta Yokai, a monster plant:

Not the most interesting miniature to paint - but the more variety the better for enemies in SMH!

Here's quite a famous Yokai - the Rokurokubi.  The neck on this mini comes straight and you bend it into position - this was tricky and nerve-wracking but not impossible as you can see:

Another famous one (whose Malifaux cousin has been featured here in the last few days) is the Wanyudo:

I'm pretty happy with how the flames turned out on this one.

Finally one of my favourites - the Kitsune and Kit in human form:

Very cute, I hope you agree! To ramp up the cuteness, here's the rear of the mini:

Look at the Kit's tail!! It must still be learning its shape-changing abilities! 😄

That's a lotta legs!

Today I'm sharing a couple of enemies for Sengoku Monster Hunter - and both are centipede-ic in nature!

First the rather terrifying Greater Centipede Demon:

A tricky thing to get a decent picture of, but I hope you get the idea!

His less terrifying, but more freakish, cousin is the Centipede Devil - I opted for a spare human torso  rather than the head as I preferred it that way:

For both I took inspiration from the Mukade, which thankfully we haven't encountered during our times in Japan! 

Weird and Wonderful Creatures

Today I wanted to share a couple of the most unusual miniatures for Sengoku Monster Hunter (from Alternative Armies).

First, a pair of Baku - despite their odd looks, they are good creatures who eat nightmares:

The colour scheme was inspired by the entry for the Baku on Yokai.com.

An altogether more sinister creature is the Nue:

Again, the colours are inspired by the Nue entry on Yokai.com.

I think both the Baku and Nue show why Japanese folklore is such a rich setting for a game - there are so many interesting and varied yokai!

Sinister Monks

A couple of dodgy monks today from Alternative Armies for use in Sengoku Monster Hunter - first a skeletal monk (maybe he fasted just a little bit too long?):

And the demon monk - a tall, powerful looking entity:

The minis are both two-part (torso and legs), so very simple to assemble. For both of these sinister monks I opted for colours that one might associate with Sōhei to reinforce their 'monk' status.

Sengoku Arachnids

Some more SMH stuff today - this time all spider-related! (nb I don't like spiders).

As always, all miniatures are from Alternative Armies (mostly their 15mm Fantasy Sengoku Japanese range).

Starting with the Spider Devils - on the larger body I used a human torso:

I went for a very unnatural look for this one.

On the smaller body I used the Ox head (to match the Ushi-Oni depicted in the Hyakkai Zukan):

I even gave it blue eyes like in the Hyakkai Zukan.

I also ordered the Arachnid Swarm to use as giant spiders:

These are one-piece resin miniatures.  I painted them in a scheme inspired by the Jorō Spider, which we had seen on a previous trip to Japan.

I'm not looking forward to our hunters facing this arachnid menace!

Cats, Dogs and Foxes

Some more Sengoku Monster Hunter today - this time it's the turn of Nekomata, Inugami and Kitsune!

First up is the Nekomata - a cat yokai.  I looked up art to try to decide what kind of look to go for - I couldn't find anything that seemed to be a 'typical' Nekomata but I did come across some cool art that was heavy on the blue ghost fire look, so I decided on blue!

I wanted these to look very obviously unnatural - which I think this has achieved!

Then it came to the Inugami, dog yokai.  I decided on a similar look as the Nekomata - but this time went for red:

Finally in this group - the Kitsune, the famous fox yokai.  These I used varying tones to make each look different - but all inspired by the Ninetails pokemon (which is itself taken from the legends about Kitsune of course):

These three groups of yokai are all available from Alternative Armies of course if you want your own animal yokai!

The Tsukumogami

One of the most interesting classifications of Yokai to me is the Tsukumogami - tools that have acquired a spirit (typically because they have been around for 100 years) - and the Sengoku Monster Hunter range from Alternative Armies certainly doesn't disappoint!

You may already be aware of some - the Chōchinobake, or paper lantern ghost is quite iconic and I really enjoyed painting up this mini version!

Another famous yokai of this type is the Kasa-obake - an umbrella:

A less famous type is the Boroboroton - a rather murderous futon!

Next is the Eritategoromo - a high priest's kimono spirit:

Finally, and not quite Tsukumogami but somewhat related are the Nurikabe - available in both hostile and friendly forms.  I wanted these to look mostly wall-like rather than over emphasise the faces within:

Unlike the rest of the minis the Nurikabe are resin rather than metal.

I love the sheer variety the Sengoku Monster Hunter range includes - and the Tsukumogami (and their Nurikabe cousins) offer some interesting painting opportunities a little different to the usual fantasy fare!

Sengoku Monster Hunter - Oni

Next up for the Sengoku Monster Hunter collection are the Oni - certainly one of the most iconic creatures from Japanese folklore! These are available from Alternative Armies' wonderful 15mm Japanese Fantasy range.

I opted for the classic red skin look, which I paired with white hair to contrast.

First up the Oni Commander - seated and holding his kanabō in one hand and a sake gourd in the other, and an Oni Shaman (who looks like a master of the Shun Goku Satsu...):

Next a trio of armoured Oni - two with swords and one unarmed (well, other than its claws!).  I deliberately went for metal armour on these to show further differences from the humans in the game who will be wearing the lacquered style armour.

Here's a pair of Oni baring their claws:

Next a pair with swords:

And finally a couple armed with the classic Oni weapon, the kanabō:

I really enjoyed painting these - and I'm very pleased with their red skin!  Woe betide the hunters that encounter these monsters!