[PLOG] Shadows of Har Than WIP

[Harbanatim]

Down the Dark Road from Hag Graef, through the Shadow Wood, and further still into the Blackspine Mountains, Har Than may be found by the fortunate devout of Khaine or those soon to be dead. One of the secret Khainite compounds throughout Naggaroth training the temple's infamous assassins, Har Than also serves as a watch post against the ravager hordes of Beastmen that roam the surrounding mountains and forests. More than a few warherds have been brought to a premature end by the assassins of Har Than.

Brought up in the Khainite temple, Qal Heartsbane, commands Har Than's garrison. Theoretically loyal to the hag priestesses of Har Ganeth, Har Than recently lost its own hag matron under suspicious circumstances along the Dark Road, leaving the Har Than's administration to The Heartsbane. Not content to let the outpost slowly fall into secluded ruin, the garrison commander rallies the few men he can spare from Har Than's defense, and slips out into the frozen wilds like shadows in the growing twilight.

Army Concept

Since the time I first started playing Warhammer, I have enjoyed building a story for each of my armies. Now that I'm planning to build a Druchii force, I've decided to do just that, and let the story guide the army's composition and style. Here are the concepts that appeal to me from the Druchii culture: assassins (as you may have guessed), repeater crossbows, and manticores. Fortunately for me, manticores are seen as aspects of Khaine, so they'll fit right in with the Khainite Assassins. Eventually, I'd love to see a Cauldron of Blood, Witch Elves and Executioners, but first I'm going to focus on getting the army themed for subtle murder.

The General

For the army leader, Qal Heartsbane, the Cloak of Twilight is a must; I don't think any other option quite says Assassin! like the cloak. I haven't quite got the model for him plotted out yet, but featuring the Cloak of Twilight and a repeater crossbow are at the top of the list. I haven't decided if I'm going to use the Dark Rider covered heads (I love the look), or incorporate some hood/cowl greenstuff shenanigans. Also, I'm a bit of a WYSIWYG fanatic (I blame Mordheim), so the body will probably be from an Executioner for the lower point lists; I have a Raging Heroes manticore ready for the higher point lists (stealth manticore lord!), which will require a different approach.

Darkshards, Dark Riders, and Shades

I've decided that not everyone can be an assassin. Otherwise how special are your assassins? Not very special. But with the army fluff centered on Khainite Assassins, I feel I need a better showing than the general and whatever assassin heroes I pick up along the way. This is where those awesome Dark Rider covered heads come in. They go on the Dark Riders, most people put them on the Dark Riders anyway, and I don't blame them. Personally, I don't like the Shade models, instead I'm going to convert some Darkshards by adding the Dark Rider heads, greenstuffing the chainmail into robes, and painting the remaining armor to look like hardened leather. Finally, with the Darkshards, I'm going to put those Dark Rider heads on the unit champions.

Color Scheme

Assassins who dwell in the Blackspine Mountains probably don't wear bright colors. I'm going to go with a scheme that fits in with the environment: dark grey cloth, black steel weapons and armor, chestnut/reddish brown leather (need some red in there for Khaine), and bronze ornamentation on standards, musicians and other non-assassin types.

More to follow...

[T.D.]

[Harbanatim]

Heraldry

Borrowed from the "Help Identifying Banner Shield Logos" thread to choose the heraldry for Har Than.

Har Ganeth -- Theme: Khaine Insignia: Bloody Hearts, Torn Heart and Mouth, Held Bleeding Heart Colours: Black, Gold, Red

As the center of the Khainite religion, Har Ganeth is probably the best place to start for heraldry. On the transfer sheet that came with my Darkshards, we have the held bleeding heart. The transfer sheet also has a yellow manticore insignia, which I like. The unit box came with skull embossed shields that resemble the Executioners' helmets, but I'm not feeling it.

Interestingly, the transfer sheet comes with three different versions of glyphs that seem to represent the major cities of Naggaroth, but only two smaller sets for four of the elven gods.

The problem with the manticore is that it isn't a unified symbol, it's associated with Naggarond, Beastmasters and Khaine. As the Host of Har Than are specifically Khaine oriented, I suppose the held bleeding heart is the winner. Not that I'm sad about it, it's going to look fantastic on the banners and shields; the held bleeding heart on a black (sable) field should be very striking.

[T.D.]

Heraldry changes from AB to AB; I'd always go with your gut feeling on heraldry, and put your own fluff over the "official" approach.

The themes of Khaine and a remote Shade-haunted Temple are very atmospheric; looking forward to seeing your minis

P.S. I've seen a lot of nice things done with Shadow Warrior bodies and the cloaked heads from the new Wildwood Rangers. Might fit your approach.

[Harbanatim]

Yeah, they do changed, but at least the held bleeding heart will match the Khaine statue on the Cauldron.

I've seen those conversions, thank you for reminding me. The Shadow Warrior bodies look great. If I did use them, I'd still go for the Dark Rider heads. Corsair bodies might be more appropriate though, as the Shadow Warrior bodies are fairly blatant in their High Elfishness.

[T.D.]

I've used Dark Eldar Wyches as the basis of my sneaky shades