#yndrasta

[sammie-dae]

ok it's done

im kinda proud of it

[minisandmonoliths]

Having some fun with some Stormcast Eternals. I never used to like them until I painted a few models, and now I'm kinda fond of them. These are a few of my faves.

[corviacore]

Yndrasta and the Cooler Yndrasta.

I kitbashed a new, darker Yndrasta for my ruination army.

[s0meth1ngnew]

I'm not sure if this is a repost but here are my stormcast!

[feyd-rautha-apologist]

Yndrasta done! (except for the base)

[farsight-the-char]

Praise T'au'va.

This exciting new story of intrigue and clandestine warfare stars an Elemental Council, luminaries from each of the Empire's castes. Brought together by the enigmatic ethereal Yor'i to pacify the resistance, they'll need to work together to forge their unique skills into an unbeatable team.

Raptors Space Marine chapter initial antagonist (which the article diverges to shill 🙄, of course), though there is a "secret" third act antagonists (probably Genestealers).

Raptors have history with Tau though in the original Fire Warrior game and the original Taros campaign, at least.

...

Noah Van Nguyen wrote some of the better AOS books, The GodEater's Son and Yndrasta: The Celestial Spear, so this will probably be good.

...

[lewdcookies]

"Yndrasta? Yeah, I know her. One of the best hunters in the whole damn Realms if you ask me." "So what's she like?" "Oh you know, brave, bold and steadfast like the rest of us. Seen her face a rampaging daemon prince without the slightest hesitation, then nailing it between their six eyes with her spear." A smirk crept on Nalia's face. "Of course, what most people don't know that she has this sensitive spot on her inner thigh that will make her moan like crazy when kissed." "Bullshit, you're pulling my leg!" Nalia chuckled at her travelling companions surprised outburst. "No, honest. Get a beer and I'll tell you the whole story. And make a proper one, not that watered down stuff too that the tavern keep sells."

***

Right on the verge of the new edition of AoS coming out I manage to paint the centerpiece character from the last edition. That I also got back when that edition was hot and new.

Maybe if I get one of the Skaventide models I want, maybe that won't take me three years to paint.

The biggest challenge was removing the model from its way too large display base, without destroying it in the process. But, thanks to a sharp scalpel blade and some patience, went down without too much damage to either part. Who knows what I'll use that for.

Otherwise, an uncomplicated painting project. Wings took me two attempts because I wasn't too enthused with how they looked after the initial layering. But some reference pictures helped there. And the end result was pretty good too.

[celembrindal]

Went 1-2 at my first Age of Sigmar tourney today. Yndrasta and her dragon friends faced the decaying forces of Nurgle, the swarms of the Skaventide and the vampiric might of the Soulblight.

Not bad for only playing the game for a month.

Taking it slow with Sigmar, but enjoying it thoroughly so far.

[dawn-in-waiting]

Morvenn Vahl: Spear of faith

Started and finished ''Morvenn Vahl: Spear of faith'' by Jude Reid this week.

And it was... pretty good.

Good in general, pretty solid for a Sisters of Battle book.

If you read Sororitas novels, this is worth checking out. Wouldn't recommend it as your first, there are better options. It definitely feels like the most ''recent'' one when it comes to the situation of the galaxy and the setting. Post Cicatrix, post Indomitus. Ophelia VII is rebuilding after being besieged by Chaos, takes the audiobook ''Our Martyred Lady'' into account.

The book is focused on Vahl retaking Ophelia VII from the Night Lords. Her feelings of inadequacy, failure, her doubts. What it means to be a sister, being just a human fighting the horrors of the galaxy with nothing but faith and a bolter.

It can be pretty bleak, the sisters keep getting L after L, dying by the dozen in every encounter. You shouldn't get attached to the characters, because if they're not in the cover, there's a big change they're not going to make it to the end. It also suffers from taking place in only one planet, with almost always the same scenario (catacombs or ruined temples). It can feel claustrophobic, but when you take into account the enemies are the Night Lords, that might be intentional.

For the best parts, it's great to see more sisters, how different they can be and how they all live their faith. Shot-out to one of Vahl's bodyguards, who is deaf, and their interactions using sign language.

Neat book, much better than Pilgrims of Fire, probably on the same level as ''The Triumph of Saint Katherine'' or the Sisters' omnibus. Made me want to paint more sisters and finish painting my Valh miniature, so good job.

I'll probably read ''Daemonbreaker'' next, by the same author, Jude Reid. Haven't read much from her and I'm curious to read more after this one. Another option is ''Yndrasta: The Celestial Spear''. I've never read an AoS book before, I know very little of that world, but I've heard some people recommend it and describe Yndrasta as a ''psycho''.

[fiendishneko]

Over-analysing Stormcast Eternal character design

So we've gotten a good look at the new AoS starter box, right? No? Well you should, because for even those 40k die-hards among you, there's some absolute gold here.

Now this is coming from someone who's been into Stormcasts conceptually since the first edition, but seeing the "flawed forging" narrative come to fruition is SO SATISFYING!

(Very big, mostly coherent post under the break)

So first off, I'm going to show you the main character models from the 1st and 2nd edition AoS boxes: Vandus Hammerhand and the Lord Arcanum:

So I don't think it's much of a stretch to say these characters are both "Hero Coded"; gleaming gold armour, weapons held aloft and sat atop a fearsome, yet noble looking steed. Hell, paint them entirely grey and they wouldn't look far removed from actual statuary we have in our world.

At this stage in the AoS timeline, the Stormcasts are still these nigh-impervious heroes, champions of Sigmar and civilisation itself, the flaws of their construction being apparent only to their creator himself. There's an underlying tone of something uncanny though, the human looking, but eyeless helmets feel familiar, but a little off...

Ah well, nothing to worry about, here comes 3rd edition, and champion of Sigmar, Yndrasta, along with it!

So that's different. She's certainly brandishing her weapons, but her armour is dull and tarnished compared to the gold of previous editions (this is due to her being of a different stormhost, but the lack of gleaming gold IS of note here). Additionally, not only does she not have a steed, but it's her counterpart in the box set, the Orruk Kruleboss that comes saddled up, almost aping this cliche hero pose we've become used to.

Add onto this how Yndrasta is characterised, not as a proud leader or wielder of magic, but as a hunter prone losing herself in the act of slaughtering her prey and dumping their severed heads in Sigmar's throneroom. And to put a cherry on top, here's how she is depicted in art form, gorgeous, radiant and FUCKING TERRIFYING.

So that leaves us at 4th edition, the Stormcast Eternals who have been killed and reforged so many times as to be nothing but a shadow of what they used to be are being called back into service against the Skaven. And who leads them this time?

Oh.

This is the Lord Vigilant. His weapon is lowered, his armour a dull, battered silver and his steed... oh his steed...

The side by side of this guy and the Lord Arcanum is pretty shocking to me. The mount of the Lord Arcanum is a Gryph Charger, and incorporates elements of horses and birds of prey like hawks and eagles. It reads as noble.

The Lord Vigilant rides a Gryph Stalker. It doesn't rear up like a knight's heraldry come to life, it stalks, hell it looks like it's staring you down through the screen! (Good job photography team, btw!) Like, I really need you to understand when I first looked at that thing, I was drawn straight to it's eyes and I got chills.

The use of colour here also feels like a natural conclusion. The bold colours have faded and worn, the armour's gold plating has been chipped and broken away from years of war, even the Gryph Stalker looks washed out.

Anyway, that's about as much as I can write on this subject without wanting to smack myself for being a pretentious art nerd, but there is a whole (half) box set of interesting model designs I'd be down to analyse if that's what you folks are into?

[sammie-dae]

yndrasta day ??????

plant mode

[bringdowntheskyn7]

Yndrasta the Celestial Spear

[patpaintsminis]

Always end up touching her up. I’ll post her again in like half a year 😂

Yndrasta - The celestial spear

[lolipop1920art]

Jokingly I would like to think Sigmar adopted the stormcasts of his inner circle.

Them being Celestant-Prime, Ionus Cryptborn, and Yndrasta.

One day he just looks at Emps and his children minus the fact it's a dumpster fire of a relationship and wanted something like that.

He manage to pass the bar it's a low bar but it's something

Techinally his maybe actual (it's complicated) child is in canon limbo along with the Angel.

Sorry about this

[irmomasterofvisions]

Yndrasta and her buddies, by me.

[askrobouteguilliman40k]

Finishes reading: Yndrasta, the celestial spear.

Wow, the hunter Saint is a bit h... But over the course if the book, gains a heart.

This is the story of survivors of one of the monsters Yndrasta is tasked to slay and how they help... Sort of.

Took me a while to warm to it, but in the end it was a satisfying read.