Greetings!
I've been working on an Ostland army for about a year now. This will be my third Empire army, but hopefully the first one I finish. I'm mostly a tournament player, but as I'm pretty happy with the performance of my Ogres, I'm building this army without any list or style in mind.
Since the release of the new book, I've yet to meet an Empire infantryman who wasn't carrying a bow and protecting a mage, so to try and break the mold (and because it is how an Empire army is supposed to look IMO) I have started out with warmachines and infantry, but over time I plan on adding some cavalry.
The year is 2520. Beastmen raids out of the Forest of Shadows have been more frequent and the foul things of the woods have become less and less afraid of retribution. Scouts have reported eerie lights around Brass Keep and amongst the brigands and outlaws, the name "Archaon" is whispered in hushed tongues.
The cities and towns of Ostland have responded with building up their armise and training the common folks and forming them into militias.
In the heavily fortified town of Bohsenfels several of the gate companies have been boosted with fresh recruits and have started launching retilatory actions against the aggressive beastmen and marauding bands of banditsI imagine my army to have been raised right at the brink of the Storm of Chaos. I chose the city of Bohsenfels, because it was one of the very few cities in Ostland that didn't fall to the forces of darkness. No that the invaders wouldn't be able to take it, if they tried hard enough, but the defenders was able to hold it long enough that the Chaos forces ended up bypassing it for more important objectives further south.
I had been considering starting a new Empire army for a while, as I have always loved the fluff and aesthetics. When Forge World released Lietpold the Black, there was no turning back. I absolutely had to paint him- and of course build an army around him (or Graf Otto von Bohsenfels, as he is known in my army).
Edgar Skomorowskis miniatures may not he the most flowing and dynamic ones, and he may have a penchant for overloading them a bit when it comes to decorative details, but overall I think he must be one of the best miniature sculptors ever. I have his warrior priest sitting on my desk and my fingers are totally itching to get started with it.
Like every group of five or more soldiers of the Empire, mine also had to have a Steam Tank. I reckon here must be about as many Steam Tanks in the Empire as there are prostitutes and seamstresses.
The name "Eisen Hammer" may not be the most imaginative, but I'm very limited in what German names I can give my models or units, as the names have to be approved by my German wife, who thinks just about anything I come up with "sounds too nazi". I can absolutely understand the concern, but I for one thinks "Panzer faust" sounds much, much cooler- and would make a good black metal reference.
My venerable Lv. 4 light wizard:
I had real trouble with the white balance here (The background is a white sheet of paper) and I noticed too late how much dust the miniature had collected on top of my child and cat safe Warhammer-locker. Absolutely lovely model though. It doesn't come off in the pictures, but for any Norwegian readers out there, I based his face on one of the last portrait photographies of the late singer Odd Børretzen. Also tried painting the book to look like he is looking up the Lore of Light in the BRB, but didn't quite have the skills to pull it off.
I'll be adding more over the coming days, weeks and months. Any C&C are more than welcome as I'm trying to improve both my painting and photography. I'm especially interested in improving my metals, as I find them really hard and will have to paint lots of it.
Thank you for looking!
