Monday 11 November 2013

They came from the swamp...

To the marsh they made offerings; and from the marsh they rose. Manifestations of the hunger of the fens, the hunger that sucks the unwary traveller into the endless mud. The demons of the primordial deep.

Having just got back from Blog-con, where I had a whale of a time and fought in two very different battles, I've got a pile of stuff to write up, so watch this space in the couple of weeks ahead. It was a first outing for my fimir force, which is just at its very beginnings. But alongside the fimir were some demonic allies; the embodiment of the fimir's fenland habitat. I'm attracted to the idea that the fimir inhabit a swamp-like environment that has historically been feared and disparaged, the kind of environment that generates folktales about the creatures that suck you in - stories that explain why some people who stumble out onto the marshes never come back. I wanted my force to contain supporting units that played on this cultural horror of the swamp. So, moving along with the fimm warriors were the following fendemons:


Marsh Crawlers

The very soul of the fens is decaying matter. The crawlers are manifestations of this decay, seeking more organic matter to offer the swamp as food. The tendrils which emanate from their mouthpiece paralyse their opponents, allowing the crawlers to carry their victims back to the marsh as a living offering to the depths. The crawlers spread the dreaded fen ague across the battlefield as they move. These are old citadel AD&D carrion crawlers, produced between 1985 and 1987 when Citadel had the license from TSR to produce AD&D minis. For the battles at Blog-Con, these counted as Beasts of Nurgle from The Lost and the Damned (hence the fen ague, which is the fimir-themed equivilent of Nurgle's Rot).


Swamp Vermes

Old wives tales speak of the capacity of a worm to live on as two worms if you cut it in half. These demons carry within them proof of that old wives tale and thus exploit cultural fears. Crawling from the fens in the form of giant putrid worms, playing on the disgust of the ignorant towards the fenland habitat, upon being wounded, the demonic vermes split into two smaller worms.
Unlike the long oop Carrion Crawler minis, these minis are in production and produced by companies doing some sterling work. The larger worms are giant worms from C-P models; the smaller are giant slugs from Heresy miniatures. For the battles at Blog-Con, these counted as pink/blue horrors of Teezntch again from The Lost and the Damned (albeit without the magical abilities), for the simple reason that pink horrors when wounded burst into two blue horrors, which is exactly the mechanic I wanted for these demon worms. All credit to Chico on the oldhammer boards for this "counts as" idea.


As I write up battle reports from Saturday and Sunday's action, you'll see these demonic allies in action alongside my fimir.

4 comments:

  1. Mum-Ho-Thep is pleased with the devotion of the Fen-Folk.

    Feyana was fairly happy on the Sunday too, even though I may have subconsciously made her name a bit Fimiry and sent her off into the swamps to an uncertain fate!

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    1. As I said, I think in the future a rescue attempt could be in the offing...

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  2. I like the idea of count as pink/blue horrors!

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    1. That very good idea came from Chico on the oldhammer boards, after I posted the general question of "what should I do with these giant worm models"? They work well as such and (once you strip them of the magical element that would come from Tzeentchian demons) are not too powerful as to overbalance a small game.

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