Angelic Host - the flip side of Daemons

[laribold]

After having collected and played Empire for a bit I was looking for something a bit different in terms of play style (and frankly in terms of number of models needed!)

I did the usual dip into a couple of different armies that seemed to fit my criteria (Ogres, Warriors of Chaos) but couldn't find anything that sparked my creative juices. I came across Daemons of Chaos, but frankly wasn't really inspired by the existing models and mix'n'match look that the army list seems to engender.

It was then that I saw some plastic Empire flagellants that I had goind spare and I had a bit of an idea. I'm now setting up this log to try and make sure I follow this idea through...

So here is the idea:

An angelic host that is there to judge the righteousness of all they encounter. Suffice to say all they encounter are unworthy and need a good smiting! It is the other side of the coin to evil chaos, cleansing the Old World of the unpure...

From an army perspective I'm looking at quite a few Furies, some Daemonettes, some Bloodletters, and a few Flamers all led by a Daemon Prince (or Archangel).

I wanted to put up my initial test models for feedback (painting and photo quality notwithstanding). Do the modelling ideasstand up as what they are supposed to be?

Anyway. To begin with here are my test models for some Angels (Furies):





Furies can fly so they need large wings, but have nothing else special rules-wise so just have basic swords for smiting.

Any thoughts to start with?

More to follow from the angelic heirarchy...

[mdiscala]

Cool idea. The bloodletters could all be blindfolded women with swords and scales. like lady justice?

[Elfboy]

Looks and sounds like an interesting concept for an army, looking forward to seeing how this turns out

[Monsterzonk]

Great idea! Very unique. I really like the conversions so far. They fit the theme perfectly. Consider me subscribed.

Cheers,
Monsterzonk

[juicytomatoes]

very interesting idea! I'll be keeping an eye on your blog. Lookin' forward to see more done!

[Purplebeard]

In the olden days (before my time) there used to the gods of Law in Warhammer, and you could field angels and certain demigods/demigoddesses in games (eg. Rigg for the Amazons). They caused Terror in Greater Daemons and were suitably fearsome to boot. There also used to be Malal - the anti-Chaos Chaos god - a god of self-destruction whose followers were sworn to destroy Chaos. He is the fifth Chaos god, but GW lost the IP to the concept as it belonged to one of their writers....

[Abraham Danglebreech]

Brilliant idea for an army. I don't have any suggestions as to which minis to use but, after reading Purplebeard's post above, I had a quick look at the religion section in WFRP 1st edition and came across a brief section describing Gods of Law. I reckon the deity that best suits your theme is Solkan: master of vengeance. A bit of a hit with Witch Hunters but shunned by most folks for all the bigotry and absolutism his worship breeds. The two others are Alluminas: master of light and, Arianka. Don't know what she represents but she is supposed to have been imprisoned by a chaos God.

Looking forward to seeing more

[pointyteeth]

very cool idea. looking forward to see how this comes along.

[Killingspree]

I have a question, where did you get the wings for these models? And where did that first model come from? I absolutely love your theme for the army! Please keep at it!

K/S

[Acerbus]

Very interesting and orignal idea, i'm looking forward to see how you pull off some of the counts-as here.

[EnternalVoid]

Not the biggest on the theme but it is not a bad one if you can do it right. I would suggest going with the Solkan theme and scout the internet for information. I am sure there are sites that have some sort of break down of the information on Solkan.

I like the idea of female swordsmen for the bloodletters. Perhaps try to make them some sort of female swordmasters with blindfolds or something. I believe Solkan's sister, Arianka, was the goddess of Law and Displine, but when she was imprisoned Solkan took over that field in his own way. So the female swordsmen could always been followers of Arianka searching for the means to free their mistress while serving with Solkan's forces.

As for the models, I suggest sticking to the arms that don't have chain or scale armor on them. It makes it seem kind of odd with them having no body armor to suddenly have armor on the upper part of their arms.

[laribold]

Cheers for the feedback so far and the info on Solkan, I'll look into that some more.

I'll be cleaning up the robes on the Angel Furies to make them less ragged and thanks to the good spot by Eternal Void on the armoured arms on unarmoured torsos means some arm swaps are in order there.

Next little glimpse is some more trial figures for one of the other orders of angels:

This time its the Malachim (or Bloodletters to you and me):




(one on left is a musician, one on the right is a unit champion)

Bloodletters have less movement and so I thought smaller, almost vestigial wings. They also have Killing Blow and so I thought I'd give them flaming swords. These seem to have the right feel for angels and also make it clear they've got a different attack.

The problem at the moment is that they still look too high elf-like. Feedback from elsewhere has suggested more muscle-bound arms to give an impression of the strength of these angels (reflected in the Bloodletter stats). I've worked up some further trial figures with different arms and will post soon.

The bases are still the wrong size and the poses still a bit un-dynamic for angels but you get the idea.


As for female swordmasters, I'm intending to use Sisters of Sigmar with suitably angelic wings and twin swords. I really love the idea of having them blindfolded though and so will add these on before posting pics.

[Purplebeard]

I don't have any, so I don't know what they look like in the flesh, but Reaper do some 54mm females - one of those could make a great Archangel / Greater Daemon

[Abraham Danglebreech]

Dunno if this is of any use? http://www.madalfred.darcore.net/Articles.html The relevant article is quite far down in the "WFRP 1e Religion:" section, where it gives info on the cult of Solkan. Madalfred is a legend in WFRP land

[laribold]

Thanks for the WFRP link, there’s some interesting stuff there. I’m not sure about the “black robes with fire effects” look that it mentions for Solkan’s priests. Doesn’t quite have that Angelic look… I’m still thinking along the lines of brilliant whites and lots of gold for a paintscheme. I want it to look quite ethereal. I’ve no doubt I’ll be coming back for painting advice and opinions.

@ Killingspree: The first model uses wings from the Blood Angels Sanguinary Guard, an Empire Flagellants body, a High Elf Silver Helm head and High Elf Archer arms.

@ Purplebeard: Thanks for the heads up about Reaper minis. I've already got the stuff I need for my Archangel (it's what happens when the old Wood Elf Orion, Nagash and some Green Stuff collide!)


The next update is not the Sisters of Sigmar/ Daemonette models but is instead the Eroii (counts as Flamers).









My inspiration for this was the whole “bring me my bow of burning gold”/Jerusalem thing. Flaming arrows and golden bows wings seem to hit the right note. No other troop type in the daemon list has shooting attacks so it should be pretty clear what they are/count as.

[Joeli]

this thread shows awesome work people usually dont do, what looks really neat imo

wanna see some archangels!!

[Demon-cookie]

this an awesome idea i shall be watching

[Indreth]

Very cool way of making "good" demons! The trumpet and the bowmen are my favourite!
Keep it up.

[Wishing]

Really creative, I love the idea of ancient warhammer lore being used to make modern day armies!

[WhiteKnight]

Great concept for an army! It may be confusing to know what models do what but once it gets into your opponent's mind, it should be great! I want to see a greater daemon represented as a huge Archangel but its your choice!