Stormhammer: the Assault on Sul

[kebabi]

This is like the coolest thing ever dude!
Kudos!!

[Mercykiller]

I haz me a Lock n Load ninja with cash in his pocket

Although after I'm done with the Gun Carriage on my table I fear any other model I post will be a let-down lol. Thanks to GRR coming in August the Stormhammer are officially unshelved rather than try and bang together three 35 point Iron Circle lists + reinforcements in that time ... the wife was rather vocal in disapproval of my insanity. This month is tight, but hopefully by the end of June the greenstuff work and rebuild of the GC will be done, then I can dedicate Julyish to the Conquest. That's assuming my publisher doesn't have me doing promo work, which my friend is warning me is ahead lol.

[Defenstrator]

Electric Gun Carrige and Conquest? I am looking forward to that.

[Raktra]

I only wish that my Menites could achieve this level.

[PG_Snoitpo]

Stuff like this and the Cryx-nar thread has been making me think of trying something like this with my Cygnar or Menoth.

[aaziz]

I... holy hell. These are amazing. Simply. Amazing. :0

[Vakdaron]

They are so nice that I think if they made a special edition of your models I would buy the complete army!

[Mercykiller]

Thanks guys

Just as an update, a lot of folks have asked if I attend conventions and such; being the cheap homebody I am I tend to stay close to Sacramento. Luckily our local PGers are working hard to make sure the Gold Rush Rampage grows (http://www.goldrushrampage.com/) into something big and rocking. I've pre-registered, and will be debuting the Gun Carriage (and possible the Conquest if I can ever get my butt in gear) there.

Normally I don't post in-progress shots, but given I'm so glacial I figured I'd show a teaser of the 'horses and wheels' for my Gun Carriage in the nekkidness (aka not even close to done yet lol). Yes, they are still the 'motive power' behind the thing heh.



It's still a long ways off from being done, but if I can ever finish the other stuff eating my time I can finish! There's still lots more conversion to do (the biggest and most involved conversions I've ever done or prolly will do) and then of course paint

[PG_Farvann]

Having seen this stuff in person, I look forward to seeing it on the table again!

[Sacredsouless]

Yay! My favorite (or at least, one of them) painter is still alive! Very glad for the update, even if its a teaser!

[pattison]

Found this thread, and now I'm like...

[Grimwolf]

Just have to say this is one hell of a kick *** project man! Keep it up.

[lordofnecropolis]

Disappointed to hear you don't go to conventions! I was looking forward to getting an exceedingly confusing game against you at gencon. :P

[Mercykiller]

Okay guys, the Gun Carriage is done and painted (and it's the biggest most converted conversion I ever converted in ever lol). It'll be making its big 1st table appearance as I bumble through my turns next week at Gold Rush Rampage (http://www.goldrushrampage.com/), a large bi-annual event my buddy has been shepherding to becoming our big northern Californian tournament event here in Sacramento. Pre-registration ends today so if you've ever dreamed of metaphorically smashing my face in for daring to pervert Khador (or congratulating me for resisting the Winterguard Deathstar ... for now) then be assured I'll be one of the peons playing on one of the 'no way I'll win let's have some fun' tables

For those wondering, yes, I do have pictures of the Gun Carriage and fluff, but I want those attending the big tourney to see it for the first time in public (so expect an actual pictures update sometime after next Saturday). Now I have to resist the urge to link to Ray Stevens' song "The Streak" with all this talk about revealing my Battle Engine to the world

[Siskey]

So glad you posted about that event, so that this thread could surface and I could read through it all. Pretty enjoyable day for me, must try to get my hands on your book as I have really enjoyed your writing style (Minion, shake my head in annoyance! ).

I have a question, did this start out simply (hah) as a way to present Khador as Cygnar, or did you have the whole infiltrator idea planned out?

[Mercykiller]

Heh, that character is one of my wife's favorites; she'll occasionally shout out "MINON! Get me coffee!" And trust me, no one's quite as ready for the book to come out as me lol (it's in the formatting thingie stage or something, well on the track to the August 9th release).

In regards to the seed-idea, it actually started due to two things. The first was that UPS had just destroyed my old Cryx army. I was building a new one with the insurance money and thought the MOW were cool as hell (and their hardiness were quite alluring after the fast yet fragile Cryx). I just didn't like the fluff and style of Khador outside of them. On the opposite side of the coin was that I really liked Cygnar's color scheme and models (in fact many times I've wondered if I'd chosen the wrong army, but then there'd be no conversions or storylines lol). The second factor was that PP had just opened their bits store, allowing me to purchase lots and lots of electric coil and Cygnar stuff without laying down money for a whole other army. Then I had to make sure it stayed tourney legal. And thus, voila, the army was born!

[Mercykiller]

AT-ST Weapons Platform (All-Terrain Swan Terror, aka the Gun Carriage)







?As Vidrir wages his seemingly endless war warders have become rarer within his ranks, and his supply of ready warjacks has dropped as a result. The few warders left in his forces have already been shackled lest they escape the insane man who proclaims himself their monarch. Their minds and souls await enslavement within the crude warjack bodies that the Storm King continues to utilize to hide his army?s origins, cut off from the other servants of the Maiden of Gears and unable to warn them of the delusional king?s betrayal.

In their place Vidrir has demanded a war machine that can reinforce his army without the need of risking the precious numen ripped from the warders? bodies. Terrified by the Storm King?s increasingly erratic temper the remaining preceptors have abandoned many of their order?s founding principles of beauty and striven to produce a machine more fitting of the brutal tenets that Vidrir holds as truth. Research into an experimental gyroscope finally saw a breakthrough that allowed the desperate scientists to support several tons of weaponry and armor upon an all-terrain platform that could be easily controlled by even the most ignorant of soldiers in the Brigade?s ranks. A simple lever and wheel system inside the armored cockpit belies the work of thousands of whispering gears and rods that interact with the core gyroscope to allow the machine to maintain a bipedal balance without the use of a cortex or numen.

Upon this steel monstrosity the preceptors mounted the latest in storm mortar technology. Rather than continue to try and make the bulky apparatus man-portable the scientists have enhanced the lightning weapons with a particle projection system that allows the storm strikes to supersede their former destructive capability and tear holes out of the very earth itself even as it obliterates the bodies of the enemy caught in the blasts. Although it takes an incredible amount of power to generate the blasts the sheer weight capacity of the AT-ST?s frame allowed storm coils of unprecedented size to be mounted on the vehicle. These massive generators provide not only enough vital energy to feed the particle cannons but also allowed the addition of a secondary particle turret, albeit at a much lower destructive capability than its larger cousins.

The first of these new weapons has been recently deployed on battlefields and performed above even the most optimistic of expectations, assuring all of Immoren that it is only a matter of time before legions of the steel war machines crush the enemies of the Storm King underfoot.?

[Mercykiller]

Due to the 4 picture limit, here's the other two pictures




Whew, well there it is: the model that damn near broke me of the Stormhammer! This was my most ambitious conversion ever, entailing lots of scratch building and new techniques I've never done before. Also, still 100% tourney legal! "But MK," I hear you say, "Where are your horses? Where are your wheels?" Well anonymous internet voice, if you look the feet are made up of the cut-up horses (I sliced the flesh away) and the joints are the wheels. So not only are those parts present, they're still the motive power for the blasted thing!

My only regret with this model is I just couldn't seem to get the perfect angle on it (and now thanks to a blown fuse in my lamps I'm a little light-less for a reshoot). I don't often say this, but the AT-ST looks much better in real life than it could ever do in these pictures. It also performs pretty decently.

I posted these pics as well to my website, www.sraelkin.com, along with its story blurb. Oh, and as a side though, today marks the release of my first published book! As I don't want to break the forum rules on adverting I'll just say I am not a subtle man on my website lol.

Hope you folks enjoy the model that nearly broke my will (8 months of no work, just sighing heavily before finding something else to do). I'm not sure I'll ever build another, but I definitely have the parts for it. Right now the fully converted and half-painted Thunderwalker (aka the Conquest Colossal) is sitting on my painting table, awaiting me finding a local retailer with the shade I'm out of (which a buddy found today). Hopefully in a week or two I'll have it done and photoed for your viewing pleasure, but in the mean time I hope this little conversion above will keep you sated for now

[Craftwerk]

Absolutely fantastic. Showing coworkers who don't even play, this is so great.

[Penguin616]

This is looking very cool! Love the battle engine. Really nice project

[jdeckert]

You really outdid yourself. This is ridiculously awesome. Also, the book looks really interesting and I'll definitely be picking it up.

[PBartholdy]

Looks pretty cool. The AT-ST shape fits the gun carriage well.
Only point of critique I have is that the legs look way to thin. It doesn't look like they would be able to carry the weight of the chassis at all.

Besides from that, great work!

[PG_Malebolgia]

Awesome...best conversion I have EVER seen here on PP.

[PG_Bubblybrew]

WHAT! That is an absolutely amazing conversion.

[Mercykiller]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it!

As for the thin legs, All I can really say is that the photo and cleanup process doesn't do them justice. They don't look as spindly in real life; like I said before, the All Terrain Swan Terror fought me with the photos lol.

@jdeckert: Awesome, I hope you enjoy the book It's a nice chunk of words, and while I can't really nail down how to describe it past the blurb on the website I will ramble off that if you like steampunk-werewolf-western-alternate history it'll probably tickle your fancy

[Siskey]

Wonderful stuff as always! I love the use of horse bits for the feet, take that Steamroller Conversion rules!

[Seventhprophet]

This looks great, how sturdy are those legs?

[Mercykiller]

Surprisingly sturdy actually! That was one of the more difficult parts of the conversion, as the design on the AT-ST legs is weird to try and model. In addition I knew that between my conversion stuff and the resin main body itself the legs needed to support 2+ lbs. I very nearly cheated and went for ED-209 legs and ran a long pin into the ground instead of using ankles, but I figured if the model was going to break me anyway, well, might as well break me all the way lol.

I just wish it photoed better. When I went to Gold Rush Rampage last week he was definitely the centerpiece of my army, the belle of the war-ball Conquest looks damn good as well (tip: they want shins), but as I ran out of Cygnar Blue Highlight and no store has it locally I'm waiting a week or more for an online order to arrive. It's weird having a half-painted Colossal not because of my own laziness but rather because it and the AT-ST had such surface area that I ran out of paint

BIG EDIT: Woohoo, thanks to the fine folks that snagged a copy of my book I hit #1 on the daily sellers list with my publisher! Later today I'll have a new chapter of the Case 18 Jonathon Worthington file up in thanks (which totally doesn't have anything to do with working on it this last week, honest. Swear. Cross my heart and hope to worship Menoth )

[cavebaby]

There has never been, nor shall there ever be, as cool a conversion as this.

[tallted]

These pictures don't do the models justice. I highly suggest you guys come to the next gold rush rampage to see them in person.
The bonus is that Mercykiller likes to talk about his work, and there are some interesting details to how he built the atst.

[WereRogue]

Awesome work as usual. I'm headed over to your website now (ish) to take a look at your book.

-Ken

[Defenstrator]

That didn't take very long at all. He looks great. I like how you managed to incorporate even the winter guard gun at the front.

[Mercykiller]

Thunderwalker Colossal (aka the Conquest)






“As he attempts to conquer his father’s stolen kingdom while simultaneously defending it from outside threats Vidrir has found his forces stretched thin. The Cult of Cyriss was never very numerous, and the rest of the temples have finally isolated and restricted the Storm King’s access to their own congregations after his insane goals came to light. While many of Cygnar’s criminals and disillusioned can be conscripted for experimentation and enslavement only the rare Warders are fit for incorporation into a warjack chassis. Without the cooperation of the other temples Vidrir has had to recall many of the first Warders he had sent out to battle for retrofitting into a more singularly powerful frame.

While the numen used to animate the warmachines are in short supply the Storm King and Nevash have gathered hundreds of tons of war material from both the Cygnaran defectors and the battlefields. Rather than let this massive amount of armor and weapons go unused Nevash designed a warjack chassis that is far heavier and deadlier than any other. Using incredible amounts of energy for even the most basic of tasks the Warders incorporated into the Thunderwalker Colossals find their personalities and souls dissolving into the web of the immense power matrices required to animate the constructs. While they retain some of their intelligence the strain of being incorporated into the giant warmachines strips them of the last traces of their humanity and willpower, reducing them to little more than barely-functional cortexes. The crude and brutish prison of metal is a living hell for those who once aspired to become something infinitely more elegant and sophisticated in their pursuit of perfection.

Boasting the latest advances in the lightning-particle projection cannons the Thunderwalker Colossals are able to change the polarity of a target area, not only sowing destruction but also causing the ground itself to surge forth in revolt: those not immediately killed by the coruscating energies find themselves thrown back violently into their comrades. Secondary batteries mounted on the shoulders have the capability to not only scythe through enemy formations but also to project fields of destructive energy capable of ripping apart lightly armored troops advancing through them.

Whether the appearance of the Thunderwalker Colossals will be enough to reinforce the failing lines of the Storm Brigade is an answer that only time and bloodshed will reveal.”

[Mercykiller]

Ye olde 4 picture limit makes these pop here

[KhaosSpectyr]

so damned pretty!!!!!

[Drzombieface]

[skapunkboy]

Love how you have bent the legs on it to make it taller!

How tall is that now?

[Zso27]

If lightning strikes, he will certainly be the one who it hits with those huge coils on his back!

Everything looks amazing. The swans on all the models look great. I really like the gun carriage conversion.

[aaziz]

I love the models, those conversions are truly amazing! I have one tiny peeve though... what's with the giant coils on the Stormwalker? They seem to work better on the AT-ST, but they stick out on the colossal to me. But I still love it :3

[Mercykiller]

@skapunkboy: Actually what I did was give him shins For some reason the normal Conquest has almost no shin, it's basically a thigh connected to an ankle. The proportions bothered me, so I rebuilt the lower leg. It's about an inch and a half higher, and although that doesn't sound like much it made quite a difference to the eye.

@aaziz: I think the reason they seem to work better for you on the AT-ST is because much of their length is running along the corner edge of the vehicle, so the eye doesn't see them as dominating. For the Thunderwalker I wanted them proud and out there; they're still in scale, but it is a huge 'mini' and they still take up a significant section of air real-estate. For some reason I see the Thunderwalker sidling up next to the Stormwall and making him hang his head in shame at his diminutive ... coils