Heffengen

 
The Empire is recovering. But in his private chambers, Karl Franz is worried.

Find out why.

Thunder over Nuln

The hour has come. The Empire and its Lustrian allies have reached the city of Nuln. The Empire's first major test since the dark years.



Read the Siege of Nuln.

Warhammer: Age of Rebuilding - Interlude the first

Bet you thought Valten was dead. Again.

But nothing seems to keep the Wolf of Sigmar down for long.  Of course, he’s now in a city filled with evil dwarfs who want to torture him until they figure out what makes him tick. This should go well…

Read what Valten's up to

This is the first of my ‘interlude’ supplements. The plan is to do these between those bigger supplements which take a long while. ‘Thunder over Nuln’ is taking a while, so I thought it was time to catch up with the man who just won’t stay dead.

Note: Valten’s peculiar condition will be familiar to some readers of Black Library novels. However, even the most eager consumer of lore will be slightly bewildered to that Valten has this unusual gift. This is entirely my invention. I’ve never wanted to decanonise the Storm of Chaos, which is why Age of Rebuilding is peppered with references to the invasion of ‘Surtha Lenk, the False Archaon’. When debating how to account for the fact that Valten has apparently died twice, I decided to embrace it.

Veteran readers may smile at the return of another badass of yesteryear, who finds himself debilitated in a way that deviates from the original lore. You’ll understand when you come to it. This apparent contradiction is because unlike the Storm of Chaos, this character’s two timelines were not possible to blend. So instead, I retconned one and decided to retell the other one in a slightly different form.

Reikmarshal Von Vincke

The life of Blucher Von Vincke has been a long and interesting one. There will be few friezes depicting his heroic feats, but his contribution to the Empire’s military cannot be underestimated. His elevation to Reikmarshal in 2528 was initially met with bemusement. But time has already begun to tell that this was a wise decision.

Von Vincke’s early life was similar to many nobles: the eldest son of a wealthy Reikland dynasty, he cut a fine if unexceptional figure in the high society of Altdorf. Von Vincke was quiet but confident, strong but reserved. Emperor Luitpold was relieved when Von Vincke submitted his application to the Reiksguard. Luitpold had formed a good impression of the lad, and service in the Reiksguard would likely secure the allegiance of his family – and their considerable resources.

Von Vincke served with the Reiksguard in active service for seven years. He was a robust, competent warrior, more given to minimising friendly casualties than striking down enemies. He was noted as saying that he would always save the lives of his men over killing his enemies. When asked why this was, he simply replied “Our enemies will still be around later. Let’s make sure we are too.”

After seven years, however, Von Vincke suffered a major setback. A rabble of goblins was attempting to set up a racket in Mad Dog Pass and a taskforce was sent to root them out – Imperial trade into the east would suffer if greenskins were robbing or extorting illegitimate tolls from merchant caravans. The goblins were put to flight with relative ease. However, Von Vincke was close to a ramshackle stone thrower, pursuing a broken mob of night goblins, when a cannon ball demolished the war machine. A flying piece of shrapnel caught Von Vincke high in the right leg. Remarkably, he kept his saddle and managed to stay in formation. But after the battle, it was clear that his days as an active knight were over.

In the Reiksguard's barracks, Von Vincke made a slow but full recovery. It took several months, but he regained his ability to walk and even ride. He would grumble of stiffness and aches in the cold or wet for the rest of his life, but he escaped crippling due to his own determination to recover and the work of the surgeons.

During this time, Von Vincke requested to work on the Reiksguard’s inventories and internal policies. He didn’t have much interest in the work at first, but it gave him something to do stop him from becoming bored during his recovery. After a while, Von Vincke found himself growing more interested in the work. He had identified several infrastructural and recruitment issues which could be improved. He took his findings to the quartermasters and senior commanders of the Reiksguard, who were amazed. Von Vincke took a permanent role overseeing recruitment, deployment, stores and training. By the end of his ten years of service within the Reiksguard, he was well established and everyone expected him to remain within the order. 

But Von Vincke surprised all observers by purchasing a commission within the Reikland State Military. His seniority within the Reiksguard made a transition at the rank of Major relatively smooth, and Von Vincke took up a position in the 16th Altdorf Regiment of Heavy Infantry (often listed in gazetteers as the 16th Halberdiers or more colloquially as the Griffon Feathers). Von Vincke's feeling was that he could do more good in the vast state armies, having essentially already smoothed out as many of the issues of the Reiksguard as was possible.

Von Vincke quickly proved as methodical on the battlefield as with stores: his regiment was well prepared, well provisioned, excellently briefed before each battle and used the terrain to perfection. The 16th conducted battles in an orderly, well co-ordinated fashion, never rushing, never taking unnecessary risks. Sometimes, victory took longer. But the survival rate of the regiment soared.

It wasn't long before Von Vincke was promoted to Colonel and within a handful of years, he was seconded to the General Staff of the Reikland. He argued passionately for a wider approach to the military: better supply pacts with the guilds, more investment into road maintenance, stringent requirements for equipment standards.

"Glory is useless, honour is subjective and righteousness gets you killed," he once famously barked during an argument with Kurt Helborg, "we need exacting standards, better layers defences, and soldiers who stay alive!"

Von Vincke eventually ascended to the rank of Grand Marshal of the Reikland. His was not a glorious approach to war, but it was a very successful one which reduced waste of men and materiel.

After Surtha Lenk's invasion under the guise the Empire has come to know as the 'False Archaon', in the war loosely called 'the Storm of Chaos', Von Vincke retired quietly, without fanfare. But his work was not yet done. His greatest test was yet to come.

The dark years are over, years during which Von Vincke's organisation abilities were pushed to the limit. Yet the task is not done. The Empire has survived, but taken a tremendous beating. Now is not the time for great heroes like the lte Kurt Helborg. Now is the time for rebuilding smashed institutions, training new armies and approaching wars with a disciplined, unglamorous approach to victory.

Von Vincke is an old man. But there is work to do, plans to make and problems to solve. His steely blue eyes see all, and the mind behind them is as sharp as ever.

Nuln Siege Cannon

"Jurgen Von Grissen's Steel Leviathan of absolute and indiscriminate devastation."

Jurgen Von Grissen took another sip of his coffee and grinned cheerfully to himself. The massive bulk of the Siege Cannon lumbered awkwardly forward, white smoke puffing from the Steam Tank pulling it. Thank Sigmar they'd finally cracked the key to making new Steam Tanks just before the dark years. Without one of the lesser workhorse models, moving the Siege Cannon would be basically impossible. 
Beside him, General Olafssohn was making a face. 
"I don't want to be a killjoy, Jurgen," Olafssohn said carefully, "but I'm pretty sure His Majesty asked us to retake the Empire, not flatten it."

Von Grissen chuckled. 
"Oh, do stop worrying Sigfried. It'll be strong enough to effect a wallbreach, but with the right calculations it won't do much more than that."
That didn't seem to reassure Olafssohn much. He glanced sidelong at his old friend. 
"You... erm... you did design this thing to throw shells over the Auric Bastion, didn't you. And the Auric Bastion was..."
Von Grissen beamed. 

"Three thousand four hundred feet tall, give or take a foot. Don't worry, Sig. Jorge helped me to devise some of the settings."
The reference to Jurgen's Gold Wizard son didn't really help, but Olafssohn had the good grace to keep his face neutral. Von Grissen enthusiastically pointed to the arcane housing of the vast gun barrel as it trundled past. State troops were hurrying to get out of the way, no easy task in the crowded streets of Averheim. 

"See those candles and all those odd bits and bobs? That's all part of a Chamon Trap, or so Jorge calls it. When the gun fires, the Trap activates, absorbs the recoil and rechannels the energy back into the barrel. Keeps it stable and stops it overheating."
Olafssohn grunted. 
"Have you tested this thing?" he asked, "you didn't get a chance before the Auric Bastion came down, as I recall..."
Von Grissen's smile widened. 
"That's what we're off to do now. I'm fairly sure it won't explode..." 

I've had this idea knocking about in my head for years. One day a while back I roared in holy wrath 'just get on with it'.

Some bits of it are fairly self explanatory. The Steam Tank Thunder Bearer is simply a regular ST with the roof left off and a couple of engineers put in there (after painting them). The steel bars hooking it to the Siege Cannon are just some thin dowel (they wouldn't be required to hold any weight). The feel I was going for is that of an old-school traction engine.

Now, the cannon itself is a bit more complex. The main gun itself is a Forgeworld Siege Bombard which was originally for my Imperial Guard, until I decided to totally revamp said Guard. The sides are from a War Altar, pinned to the gun (that barrel is much too heavy to just glue). The floor of the Siege Cannon is actually two War Altar floors side by side, and the wheels also from the War Altar.

I decorated the barrel with some bling from the various Empire kits (Fortified Manor, Greatswords, Flagellants and maybe some others).

The front of the carriage is the sticking point: I made it from random spare model train parts that I scrounged from my friend Tom. I can't for the love of god remember which kit it was.

I'll be writing up rules for this in a chapter of Age of Rebuilding that I'm calling 'The Steel Parade of Nuln'. This will include the Siege Cannon, Lord Engineers, and the aforementioned Tom's Knights of the Burning Stone. You will not believe how awesome his conversions are!

Anyway, plug over! Yell if you have any questions.

Get carting

One of the things which I love about Warhammer Fantasy is the sense of it being a believable world - the Empire's resemblance to an early modern Europe gives it a nice point of reference. Right from my first encounter with the hobby in the mid-90s, I loved how immersive things were, both in terms of the background and the sculpted landscapes. 

A while back, I had this idea about making carts full of wares. No particular reason for this, I just liked the idea. And it was actually very easy.

The cart itself is just lolly sticks cut to size and glued together. For axles, I used matchsticks cut to a uniform length so that they were just a bit wider than the body of the cart. To these I fitted spare wheels from old cannon/chariot kits. The cart felt like it needed something to make it explicitly 'Empire', so I added a shield from the Empire State Troops kit to function as a kind of livery. 

The horse is a spare pistolier horse. I chose this model because all the bridle etc meant that he was easy enough to pass off as being in harness I cut down the front and back of the saddle to make it look more like a blanket draped across his back.The traces were added at this point, made from matchsticks. 

The sturdy looking merchant is a Free Company fighter with a repositioned hand and a Greatsword's head.

The last thing to add was the merchant's wares. I used a few barrels from various kits for this, and added in a crossbow - in case the merchant has to see off highwaymen!

It's a simple piece, but I think it's a nice addition to the world building aspect of Warhammer Fantasy.

Karl Franz Holswig-Schliestein

Warhammer Fantasy is what got me into this hobby, and ultimately remains my first love to this day. This strange, vibrant, deep, murky world of dark pine forests and soaring mountains, of great palaces and candlelit taverns. My friends and I do not recognise Age of Sigmar as canonical, preferring our alternate universe continuity where the world survived. Nothing against AoS fans, it just wasn't a setting I could enjoy. A world where instead of needing overblown super warriors, the world survived Archaon because of the ingenuity and bravery of mankind. Our version of the Warhammer World survived for many reasons. But the man who brought it all together, who fought and killed Archaon, was the great hero at the centre of the Old World: the Emperor Karl Franz.

Karl Franz is a paragon hero, there's no about it: a great warrior, a master tactician, a man of the arts and sciences, of an ancient line but understanding the common man. He is a beacon of hope, and an endorsement of what ordinary human beings can achieve when they rise to the occasion.

If I had to get rid of all my models except one, Karl Franz riding Deathclaw is the one I would keep, because he's a character with such emotional connection. The best of us, but still one of us: not a God-king or a lightning-forged hero, but a man of flesh and blood. The model captures that. But it also captures the magical side of the Warhammer World, with Ghal Maraz and Deathclaw. The striking, recognisable look of the Empire is captured in Deathclaw's armour and the Emperor's plumed helm and armour. To me, at its core, Karl Franz is Warhammer. If I could only keep one model, it would be this one because it symbolises the hobby I love.

It was years ago that I painted this model, but I still remember how much I enjoyed it. There could be no shortcuts: Karl Franz has a colour scheme and look established for decades. Deathclaw has always had aspects of a tiger and a bald eagle, so I had to d things I wouldn't usually. Painting Deathclaw was a particular joy: his fur isn't orange, it's brown with an orange wash. His stripes are Rhinox Hide rather than black, because black looked too stark.

I also wanted to create a version of Karl Franz on foot. This wasn't really a gaming thing - I've only used Karl Franz a couple of times, in massive games. It was just because I... wanted to have one!

It was quite easy tom do: the legs are from an Empire General. The body, head and Ghal Maraz were all spare from a second griffon kit. His left arm and cloak came from the Empire Captain model.

So there we have it. The man, the legend. Karl Franz, the hero we needed, not the one we deserved. And as long as I'm around, he'll still be the one, true, undisputed Emperor.