Axe & Oath

I had time to setup my new scenic backdrop and photoshoot all my units again. It makes them look pretty cool in my opinion. Anyway onto the pictures

Since starting my Axe & Oath account, I have seen other hobbyists’ great work. While their models are superb, the photo has been significantly enhanced with a scenic backdrop.

I was inspired to try it myself. My earliest photo of this project (that I can find) was taken on 29 May 2024, making it roughly 10 months in the works.

And boy, it has been fraught with delays. The most significant part has been the sourcing of the needed supplies, which were lost in the post.

Anyway, without doing, here it is:

Method

This required planning. Mine is going in my display cabinet, so its dimensions were limited to the width and height of the shelf. Once it was determined, I sent a rough diagram to a local woodshop, and a week later, it arrived flat-packed.

Secondly, once the dimensions were determined, I had to decide what picture I was using. I found a Total War/Vermintide PC Wallpaper (I believe) that I liked. I upscaled its quality, photoshopped out the GW logo (Not, sorry), sorted its dimensions, and then sent it to a vinyl printer.

Then, it was just a process of basing it. I used cork sheets of different thicknesses. The trees are from Epic Basing, which I printed in different scales for variety.

Reflection

Now that it is done and I have had some time to reflect, there are three things I would do differently.

▪Flat bases for the scatter pieces. I think using flat bases would tie the scenery into the base better

▪Photoshop out the Dwarf statue in the foreground. I think it looks cool, but it defines any photo with it. A more neutral backdrop would be better

▪The backdrop tone needs to match the basing better. It would certainly be easier to pick the picture and then determine my army’s basing, but that was not the case here.

These fire-slinging warriors are my converted version of Irondrakes, made using Long Drong’s Slayer Pirates and armed with custom-designed drakeguns. I had originally planned on using parts from the Irondrakes kit, but converting the weapons to be left-handed was a bit of a pain. I wasn’t able to use the drakeguns from the kit in any of my conversions, but I did use their nice, detailed banner to help tie the unit thematically to the Irondrakes.

Instead, I designed and printed 3D my drakeguns, twisting them: instead of regular dragon heads, they all have Myrwyrm heads. These guys are fiercely unleashing their devastating armaments into the fray; for all intents and purposes, they count as Irondrakes. And it’s not just their intricate nautical tattoos showing their past; such tattoos are a sigil of survival, warding off the scorching heat of their devastating Drakeguns. A perfect cocktail of Slayer tenacity with engineering ingenuity!

October marks the first anniversary since I started this account and started painting my army of Slayers.

In honour of that, I took everything I had painted without their kind words and got an army shot.

I want to thank everyone who has supported this endeavour. I couldn’t have gotten this far without their kind words and encouragement.

And please don’t stop, because I still have much more to come (especially war machines), including some of those “crazy” ideas.

Long Drong has been hard at work press-ganging slayers into his service along the pirate coast of Sartosa.

In my slayer model only Karak Kadrin army these count as Core Warriors with Sword (Cutlass) and Shield.

*The Shields have been 3D printed

I got myself a golden button. Didn’t think my dwarfs would get any attention here so thank you

Not all of the Undead beneath Karak Azgal are evil. Some have returned from death and still desire to do what is right. Balkrag is one such soul. He gained fame in life in an ironic twist of fate. Wanting only to cover a personal shame and the release of death, he chose the Slayer’s path. He proved too tenacious a warrior to go quietly and his skills in battle grew until he was almost without peer. An attack by Chaos Dwarfs on Karak Azgal brought him face-to-face with a Daemon. He slew the creature, thwarting the attack, but lost his own life in the process. As a reward for his brave deeds, he was buried in the Hall of Heroes and his name became legendary.

His rest, though, would not remain undisturbed. Koros the Liche summoned Balkrag’s spirit back from death, imprisoning it in the Dwarf‘s remains. Though he was powerless to stop his return, he was too strong of spirit to allow the necromancer to control him. He escaped from the Hall of Bones, vowing to destroy the Liche before again returning to the sleep of death. The Daemonslayer wanders the ruins of Karak Azgal now, trying to find the help he needs to defeat the Liche.

His condition as a Wight has obviously made this difficult. He is four feet tall, wields a two-handed axe, and wears no armour. He appears to be a skeleton, but his face is gruesome to behold, with rotting flesh still clinging to his skull and his orange spiked hair rising from the top of his head. Still, he sees this as only a minor inconvenience, believing fully that the Dwarf gods will send him help to vanquish his sworn foe.

Inspired by Gotrek and Felix’s experience in Karak Eight Peaks and to add a bit of variety to my Slayer Army