Well, I've been here a while, but this is the first time I've had the bravery to try a plog. Partially it's that I am nowhere near the talent of the majority of this site, but also because with my life being so hectic, I rarely know when I can sit down and paint anything. Maybe having this plog will give me the extra push to try to get stuff done. Even with that though, this will be an intermittent update. The army itself is an 'Independant Army'
This is the Fluff and motivation behind my army, a displaced Border Princes force. This was written back when I first got into Warhammer (Back in high school) and is a bit out of date by today's standards. I will attempt to update the storyline and fluff as I write it. For now, I will present it as it stands right now.
Justius De’Parque, Lord of the Blooded Rose and Viscount to the lost Border Princes lands of La’Verillon and it’s principle city-state El-Derar, is an enigma, even to his own allies. A lord without a land, a warrior without a home, friend to dwarfs and elves alike, De’parque wages a constant and self imposed quest to rid the world of the various undead forces that plague it.
A noble Knight and Lord, some say he was of Bretonnian blood, others say he was a Reiksguard knight’s descendant; De’Parque lost his lands to a series of disasters that seemed as if they were divine punishments from the gods. The entire valley of La’Verillon was flooded when an earthquake cracked the valley floor and part of the Black Gulf flooded in. El-Derar was cut off for a long period of time by the Black mountains to the north, and the newly formed sea to the south. Vile Skaven chose this time to attack the city.
Weakened from the loss of most of their croplands, as well as overcrowded by refugees from La’Verillon, El-Derar reeked of plague and death. The Skaven were driven off at a horrible cost, but before the victorious, though exhausted troops could recover, the corpses of the recent dead were animated by a villainous necromancer named Manfred Bloodhand. That the troops of the city were already exhausted from the recent battle with the Skaven was bad enough, but now they faced a massive force of undead creatures in their very homes. What was worse to these already overwhelmed troops and citizen-soldiers was that the undead army was made up of family members and friends only recently deceased due to the conditions in the city and the toll of the Skaven. The soldiers had not even had the opportunity to mourn their dead and many were unaware that their loved ones had died; now, they faced their very families in their own homes. Understandably, many died, unable to strike their own kin. Lord De’Parque, heavy though his heart was, ordered his house bodyguard of Knights to attack his own city with fire and sword. The city burned, taking the undead in the great conflagration. The few remaining guards retainers and household in the castle fought their way through to the army and the entire living population marched away from their city, the flames reaching high into the darkening sky. Many men wept openly at the horrors they had been forced to endure.
The soldiers and refugees, weakened and hungry, traveled many leagues to the northeast, fighting their way through goblin tribes and a few beastman camps, attempting to reach friendly lands of Bretonnia or the Empire. One day however, they were beset by a force of skeletons, survivors of a hellacious battle with dwarfs. The people under Lord De’Parque’s charge were ill equipped to fight now, but with so many women and children still with them, they had no choice. De’Parque himself led the charge into the middle of the skeletons, ordering his cavalry with him and the foot soldiers to take the citizens to safety. Fighting madly, the Lord of El Derar managed to destroy the skeleton forces, turning to rejoin the main column, he saw it surrounded by a massive army of undead. Without hesitation, the remaining cavalry charged headlong into this new threat. It was not long before the humans were pushed into a circle, the weeping and screaming civilians in the center with what little remained of the soldiers, now only a few hundred, attempting to protect them.
As the undead forces began their attack, massive peals of thunder echoed all around the combatants and whole ranks of undead simply exploded. As De’Parque looked out over the craggy valley, ranks of heavily armored dwarfs attacked the undead forces. Thunderers decimated the ranks of ghouls and skeletons while a massively armored dwarf lord obliterated the necromancer who had kept far to the rear of his horde, away from De’Parque’s force, but ironically placing him at the very front of the dwarf attack.
With the death of the necromancer, the rest of the undead army crumbled into dust or simply disappeared. The ragged survivors of De’Parque’s people were brought into the mighty Dwarf stronghold of Karak Izor, upon the slopes of which the humans had been traveling. The proud De’Parque showed remarkable humility to the dwarf lord, asking for forgiveness for trespassing as they had no knowledge that they were traveling on dwarf land, and that he alone was responsible for any punishments the dwarfs decided upon. The dwarf king laughed, and told De’Parque that his blood was spilled protecting the dwarfs from a surprise attack from the undead. Had the dwarfs not heard the sounds of battle, they would not have known of the undead until they were already upon the very gates of the city. The lord was doubly grateful for his eldest son and youngest daughter were both outside the gates at the time and undoubtedly would have been among the first victims to the undead.
In gratitude for their part in the battle, and in respect for a man who could show stubbornness, fearlessness, pride and humility in equal measures, the humans were fed, clothed, their wounds treated, and left a month later, much healthier and in much higher spirits. A troop of dwarf guards was sent with them to bolster their defense and provide a guide to the human lands to the north. De’Parque was gifted with Thorn, a mighty sword of black metal, secret runes of power engraved upon the blade and promises of friendship and alliance were traded with the dwarfs.
Many adventures and hardships followed until they came at last to the lands between the Empire and Bretonnia. Technically within the borders of the Empire, De’Parque carved out a wild section of land, freed it from the orcs and goblins infesting it, and built a stronghold. Many of the dwarfen guides stayed on and helped build. The human settlement grew strong with the dwarf aid.
Now with the might of the Empire protecting his people, and with many of the dwarfs staying on to aid in expanding and strengthening the city, Lord De’Parque leads his army out among the lands of the old world, hunting down and eliminating all undead forces they find. Their adventures have led them against many other forces too, such as Orcs and Goblins, Skaven, and even the bestial and bloodthirsty armies of Chaos. Each time De’Parque has led his army through the battles alive, but it is against the undead that the army truly reserves its hatred. None of the veterans of El-Derar have ever forgotten the parody of life that the foul necromancer gave to their loved ones, and as such every warrior from the noblest knight to the lowliest foot soldier passionately intends to see that it never happens to anyone else again. The army has gathered followers from among the Bretonnians, the Empire and even Kislev. All through the lands of men, stories tell of the lord of El Derar, now clothed all in black in mourning for his people; his shield device of a crimson rose has earned him the nickname the Lord of the Blooded Rose, and his army, also clad in black and crimson uniforms, is called the Thorns of the Rose.
Most models are going to be WIP shots.
Lord General Justius De'Parque:
Captasus: Lady Elecia Orphiel De La’Volour is a stunning woman with flowing red hair and piercing green eyes. She is the favorite among the lower ranks on wagers as to whom their lord will eventually marry.
Elecia is a Bretonnian noblelady, a late-born daughter to a well known, yet elderly knight and his only child. Her strong will and desire to make her father proud have led her to the highly irregular act of becoming a knight errant. The codes of chivalry, and worse, tradition are less than kind to a female knight and had it not been for the memory of Lady Repanse De Lyonesse, it is quite likely that her father would have caved in under popular opinion and forced his daughter to settle into the life of an arranged marriage. Instead, Elecia set out with armor crafted especially for her and her father’s sword at her waist.
Elecia has gained some skill and has already made a modest name for herself, yet her appointed task of hunting down and bringing back the head of Lichemaster Heinrich Kemmler still eludes her. Her pride refuses to allow her to marry until she has earned her place as a knight of the realm, though Justius is obviously holding her interest. She remains with him both for her love, and because his quest to eradicate all undead compliments her own search for Kemmler.
Halberdiers. I've had some of these for a while, but the older ones need to be repainted in my newly adopted army colors, while the unpainted ones need to be painted. This is the first 16 of what I hope to be a 40-50 strong horde.
My three Knight orders color concepts. I think these will be the final color schemes.
Greatswords
First attempt at a freehand banner design. I think I won't be trying again anytime soon...
WIP war altar.
War Altar Progress Thread:
http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=41168.msg679956#msg679956The halberdiers are the most recent that I've worked on. I really need to stop piddling at multiple jobs at once and just concentrate on one thing at a time. Most of these are WIP and some of you will remember some of these from the past.
