Stunning models
Games Workshop have really excelled themselves with the Warcry! sculpts. Reminiscent of Malifaux in their intricacy yet not as fiddly. Each of the six available so far are unique and characterful. Not sort of variations on a theme characterful but embracing their own style and inspirations. They also inspire greater variety and character, I have already seen the Corvus Cabal painted up as Parrot masks and sailors slops to create a piratical theme.
Whatever your style there will likely be something to work with. At first glance I was impressed but uninspired. Looking at the actual models changed that and I fell in love with the Splintered Fang.
The Splintered Fang
Hailing from the realm of life, the Splintered Fang are all about poisons and snakes. That's pretty epic in itself. There are so many snakes with beautiful colours to draw inspiration from. That alone isn't enough to draw me in.
Their aesthetic though. Oh my. Imagine a group of Greek Warriors fell into a Conan story as the villains then wound up battling in the Colosseum. Corinthian helms, scaled armour, mighty thews, Hellenistic styling, the trident and net of the Retiarius. Snakes abound and ornate weaponry speaks of the strange rituals of a serpent cult. Utterly, utterly beautiful.
A bit of conversion work
Out of the box there is a good variety of model options. I didn't want a variety, I wanted to stick to a theme. Exploring the idea of ritualised, gladiatorial combat I wanted a focus on shields and spears. My main battle line would be a Retiarius flanked by Hoplomaci.
The secondary line of juves couldn't take spears so I kept the theme with shields. This would mean sacrificing offensive capability for an increase in resilience, tactically questionable but a theme is a theme.
Bringing up the rear we have Snekboi who has a huge snek and throws darts at people. Alongside him we also have a slither of snakes, a little stabby dude and Mr. Big 'n' Stabby. I'd like to make Mr. Big 'n' Stabby fit the theme more but this model was just beautiful as is. I did stick one of the big snakes from Snekboi on his base though, then used blue stuff to copy the slither of snakes for Snekboi's base.
Next steps
I need to get these painted. My initial thought is to go for Bronze weapons, throw on a little verdigris, blend into the poison vials and snakes in green. When it comes to skin tones I'm in two minds about what to do. On one hand I want to evoke the wide range of Mediterranean skin, on the other hand doing them all as marble statues animated by veins of poison would look stunning if I can pull it off.
Regardless, if you need me I'll be looking at pictures of snakes.
