Building a WarhammerTeam Tournament Army

By Domus & Caiusa.k.a. - James Hyde & Caius Jennison

1 - INTRODUCTION

Marty Gaska asked if we would be willingto document our efforts putting together apair of armies for the Fantasy TeamTournament. This is something of adeparture for us as we both enjoy the funof building in relative secret and revealingthe new army at the event. For Adepticon2007 we collaborated on a Halloweentheme – Caius created a 1000 points ofpumpkin patch goblins to complimentDomus’s fabulous fall wood elves.

Pictures here:http://www.adepticon.org/gallery/main.php(Under Adepticon 2007 Fantasy TeamTournament)

On our evening drive back from a recentday of Warhammer in Chicago wediscussed what we would do for the WFBTeam Tournament 2009. We know fromprevious years there are number of thingsto consider when teaming; like how wellthe two armies work together andcomplement each other, or howcompetitive and playable a concept willbe, or even how acceptable to WFBpurists the mix might be (Goblins andWood Elves pushed that envelopewonderfully.) Even more important, to usat least, is finding a strong visual theme.An idea that we are both enthusiasticabout, something that will focus our effortsand bring out some creativity, somethingthat allows us to use miniatures in anoriginal or interesting way.

We discussed the various projects weeach have started, have the miniaturesfor, or have original ideas for. I suspectmost Warhammer players could tell youthe next three themed armies they want tobuild (far more armies than actually getcompleted.) Caius has, for some time,been collecting pieces to make a Zealotsof Sigmar themed Empire army. Theconcept uses primarily Sisters of Sigmarand flagellant miniatures. We consideredsecond army options that would work withand add to that concept and, after goingthrough pretty much of the Warhammerarmy lexicon, Domus settled on Ogres.

Fanatical Sigmarite Ogres

2 - THE ZEALOTS OF SIGMAR

Since we are still putting flesh to theOgres concept, we’ll start with adescription of the strongly SigmariteEmpire army concept. Not all of thefigures and units described below willmake it into the 1000 points I have to workwith for my half of the team tourney, butfor a full army I’ll have the following lineup of options.

First we have the Sisters of Sigmar, awonderful group of models produced forthe Mordhiem game. These battle readywomen of the cloth come in a good varietyof poses. I plan to use them as theleadership of the army (Arch Lector,Warrior Priestesses and Captains), andas a couple of the mainstay units.

Sister – first painted fig

Still determining the best color for metals - thisscheme uses greys and creams and no metalicsfor the metals – but I’m not sure how the well it willwork for the army.I’m thinking about tryingsomething lighter…

Sister Captain on Pegasus - work in progress

The sister sculpts have a tendency to beeither facing half left or half right and thetwo facings don’t mix particularly well in aunit, so I have split the two facings intotwo units. One will be swordsmen (SisterAcolytes of Sigmar) and the othergreatswords (Sisters of Sigmar.)

Sisters Unit

The army centerpiece will be the WarAlter, about which I will go into a lot moredetail later. Suffice to say the intent is thatthe Sister Arch Lector and her Alter will bethe dominant visual element of the army.

The Sisters have recruited a unit or two ofEmpire Knights for their holy crusade.These will be depicted as the Order of theKnights of Sigmar’s Blood.

Visually I want the sisters to representfaith, and strength and a cruel purity Thisis their army, built and maintained for theholy purpose of driving out the enemies ofSigmar and striking down the armies andbeasts of chaos. The Sisters of Sigmarare modeled with hammers and nastysteel whips and it is these that play intothe second part of the army theme.

The rest of the army is made using theflagellant models. These are units offlagellants, swordsmen detachments forthe main Sisters units, militia, huntsmen,and crews for two modified cannons.

Huntsmen – created using flagellant bodies andother empire bitzThe Sisters of Sigmar lead an army that isa rabble of zelots, made up of criminalsand sinners of all kinds. Unwanted scumdriven from their homes, the destitute,infirm and wretched of the empire are alltaken in by the Sisters. Once in those kindand gentle hands they are brought to thefaith and enlightened to the magnitude oftheir crimes. They are given an unflinchingview of the eternal damnation that awaits,with fearsome demonstrations ifnecessary. They are persuaded that theycan be redeemed, but only by servingSigmar in His holy war.

The rabble of outcasts vie for the chanceto strike at Sigmars enemies and throwthemselves into His purpose. These menwith their wicked history and the cruelwhips of the beautiful and righteousSisters behind them know with a ferociouscertainty that salvation is found only bystriking at the talons of chaos.

So this is an army of contrasts. The purityof the Sisters of Sigmar, and the wretchedfilthy army of sinners they are leadingtowards salvation.

Flagellants – initial test figs to play with the colorscheme – Lots of dark browns, creams and lightflesh to tie in with the rest of the army – nonmetallic grays for the weapons, manacles andchains with some orange and brown rust.

Next update – Caius will reveal the designfor his war alter and Domus will introducehis Sigmarite Ogres