TURM 2024 – How to thematize a warband – Fishfolk Warband
One of the biggest advantages of this hobby for me is creativity. Narratively and visually, we are given the opportunity to express ourselves and play with the ideas we want to realize.
For the upcoming Agram event TURM 2024, I decided to make my own warband and I was looking for a way to make it my own. The simplest way is to convert or, if you have the time and skills, to sculpt your own miniatures in order to better translate your idea into physical form.
The choice of theme itself had little to do with the miniatures I already own, but I was looking for a theme that I had not had the opportunity to realize so far, and which would match the theme and the atmosphere of the event. I wanted something that I could play with narratively and breathe life into the characters with a story, write their backstory and give them a motivation that would make them go into conflict with monsters or other adventurers in the first place.
One of the subjects that has always been interesting to me is the horror fiction of the writer H. P. Lovecraft. From his rich portfolio of monsters, the underwater horrors of Shadow over Innsmouth seemed perfect for an event like this – created by forces outside our world or reason, but still creatures of flesh and blood.
One of the things that significantly helped me realize the idea were the heads that Ana gave me. Fish-shaped faces perfectly match the aesthetics of vintage horror and how human-fish hybrids were portrayed in the middle of the last century.
As I was sure that I wanted to have a wizard in my group, I decided to use one head for the occasion. The body I chose for the wizard belongs to the Warhammer Fantasy Flagellants. Wizards in games typically don't wear significant amounts of armor, and the exposed torso does a great job of showcasing that unarmored approach.
Wizards in the game Forbidden Psalm, which we will play on Turm, are very perceptive. Surely such a character would contribute to his group in reconnaissance, noticing dangers or opportunities first, and reporting to his superiors. I imagine such a perceptive character would be in charge of a lookout, maybe a navigator, but a head with a face that looks like it's surprised or like it's shouting was just perfect for this character.
I didn't significantly modify the torso itself for this kitbash, I liked the fittings around the neck, but I had to deepen the recess for the head, and on the head I shortened the joint a bit to make the parts stick together easier and to remove the unnecessary gap between the torso and the head.
I have equipped the wizard with a sword in one hand, and to further emphasize his reporting, the wizard points to what he is talking about with the other hand.
When I was satisfied with the miniature, I repainted it black so that I could double check that all the connections were good and that I could consider the conversion complete.
Encouraged by the wizard's success, I decided to strengthen the crew with a real warrior! I used the Dark Elf Corsaire's body as a base, and for the head I wanted a face showing her teeth. Since the body is quite static, I wanted to choose hands and equipment that can tell my story. This warrior is armored in heavy armor, and I wanted to incorporate some other elements from Lovecraft's mythos. I had some ancient zombie miniatures with human faces crucified on the discs – this reminded me a lot of the Necronomicon displays. The hand holding the shield has a spiked shell, which reminded me of a crab's shell. I was left with a choice of weapons, and for such a brave warrior, who surely carries the spoils of his adventures to his temple for sacrifice, the Dark Eldar Wrack's hook seemed like a great choice - if we can handle big fish like tuna, swordfish or sharks with big hooks, why the same tool would not be effective against humans?
I wasn't sure how much time I would have to convert, so I wanted to fill the rows with something simple and effective. I converted the two nighthaunt models by replacing the skulls with octopus heads from Stargrave, and replacing the weapons (two-handed sword and scythe) with spears (one was a skeleton warrior spear, the other was a Dark Elf spear). Harpoons were popular weapons for hunting whales and large marine animals, so it made sense for me to have spears in this group as well.
The model I wanted to play with converting a bit more was this crossbow. The basis is the body of a lotr goblin, on which the head of the GW Horror is attached. Assembling the head was challenging, and I had to first cut and scrape the goblin head, so that the demonic face could fit into place. In order not to leave visible scraped plastic and part of the torso, I modeled the inside of the mouth and tongue from greenstuff. The arm and hand with the crossbow are separate parts, and there was a significant gap between the arm and the shoulder. I didn't want to close the gaps with greenstuff and then model the missing anatomy - I believe that great results could be achieved, but I wanted to introduce more underwater elements. I made thin ropes from greenstuff and wrapped them around both crossings - when I paint I will try to use them to show the coiled sea grass and kelp that this hunter brought with him. Every spearfisherman knows that the easiest way to hunt with a speargun (or in this case, a crossbow) is from an ambush - with a check.
These five models are the basis of my warband, and I hope that by the time of the event I will be able to assemble and paint a few more auxiliary and spare models!
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