Chelish Command and Privateer Press: Legion of Everblight

Again, another double-update of Skull and Shackles campaign info and painting toward my Privateer Press force. As usual, the campaign comes first. 

Skull and Shackles

Adversaries of Renown:
Vice-Admiral Delthretta Pavane is the current commander of the Chelish forces in the Arcadian Ocean. An elite fleshcrafter in training, when she set her eyes on commanding naval forces she soon rose to the top. Given the relative freedom of the seas and her absolute authority over her armada, the Vice-Admiral has pursued greater and greater devilish infusions into her body than would normally be seen among elites within Chelish borders. Plumbing the depths of fleshcrafting, she has transformed parts of her body with infernal power.

The darkness grows from within

As a sign of pride and command for her troops, the one thing she has refused to adjust is her peg leg--having lost it to a cannonball shot at the Battle of the Nine Coasts. Her sailors, many of whom have also been crippled in the course of battles, look to her example with a source of pride. 

All dressed up but no parties to attend

Vice-Admiral Pavane is the one behind the surge in Chelish fleets deploying great fleshcrafted beasts of war on their ships. This creature, a blend of sea monster and hellfire spitting devil, is but one of many creatures dispatched with teams of handlers to man Chelish vessels large, small, and in-between. 

Anyone got a breath mint?

These developments in the Chelish naval fleet have led to worrysome effects for the pirate residents of The Shackles. Not only do privateer crews need to prepare for the solid Chelish marines, but they never know when the hold of a pirate-hunter boat may belch forth one of these monstrosities. And if that were not enough, the other nations of Golarion have gotten word of the Chelish plans and are attempting to arm their ships in similar fashion. The great nation of Rahadoum, a somewhat uneasy competitor with Cheliax, has been rumored to be importing massive beasts of war to help supplement their own slave-driven ships. Even some free captains of The Shackles have taken to the practice. Rumors abound across Port Peril that Captain Barnabas Harrigan of the Wormwood keeps an Owlbear chained below decks for just such a purpose. 

Privateer Press

Two things have been added to my Legion of Everblight forces since the last update. First, the Warlock Absylonia, who is my preliminary commander. And the Ravagore, a heavy warbeast with a great shooting attack option for my force. 

Fire in the hole

I'm really pleased with how the painting has gone on these models, and the battlegroup is looking really tight in my eyes. The bigger beasts having the higher red-to-orange spectrum makes them eye-catching. Then the details can all be cooler colors in light shades, such as the light blue dress of Absylonia or the green fire from the Ravagore. 

I spent a lot of time getting the green fire color right... I'm proud

I've played my first few games of Privateer Press with this group, and so far I've split 1 and 1 at the 20 points size level. The first battle had some great infantry killing by my forces, but I bumbled control of an objective on a critical turn and ended up losing the game. Totally my fault, but it was a fun match. Second game I reversed the trend by using my lesser warbeast Shredders to help secure objective points--and the enemy took the bait and focused on my big beasties (who took a pounding) until it was too late.  

Absylonia's battlegroup thus far

In all, I'm pretty pleased with how the force is doing--particularly on the painting side. I'll be painting up the first infantry models of the force soon (as the Skull and Shackles game needs enemy "Chelish Marines" to fight), and I'm working on their battle engine as fast as I can manage. So far so good!

Legion of Everblight

Models Painted: 6

Points Painted: 25

Warlocks Painted: 1

The Imperial Navy of Cheliax: Fiendish Might

Skull and Shackles

North of Port Peril and the Shackles region lies an enormous whirling hurricane in perpetual motion called the Eye of Abendego, and just north of that is the Arch of Aroden a thin passage to what is known as the Inner Sea. Commanding the Inner Sea, and now turning their eyes outside to the Arcadian Ocean (where the pirates of the Shackles ply their trade) is the grand nation of Cheliax. A lawful evil society based around devil worship, the Chelish field fleets of naval vessels to support their control of the Arch of Aroden and gain influence and control of the greater ocean. For more information on the nation of Cheliax in the Pathfinder world, check here.

Essential to our purposes in the Skull and Shackles campaign is that the Imperial Navy of Cheliax are the primary formal navy and pirate hunters of the region and the campaign. More worrysome to aspiring pirates is the sheer might of the Chelish forces. Their ships of the line include the Chelish Man-o'war, a massive three-decked vessel that normally is fitted with 20 ballistae per side and huge catapults on both the fore- and aftcastle. As if that is not bad enough, the current Vice-Admiral of Chelish forces who has been tasked with the elimination of piracy in the Shackles is the infamous Delthretta Pavane, a deeply cursed woman whose raw savagery is augmented from a most dire pact with some devilish force. Vice-Admiral Pavane has been equipping her naval crews with not only the normally-sturdy Chelish Marines, but with strange devil-bred hellspawn made from the unholy matings between devils and sea beasts: sharks, sea monsters, and worse.

Behold, the Scythean!

For instance, the most recent reports from a few sailors who managed to survive their ship being wrecked by a Chelish attack talk of a large beast which was driven onto their decks by its Chelish Marine handlers. The strange beast seemed to be a cross between a devil and a plesiosaur, and tore into the pirate crew with unmatched savagery. This corresponds to similar stories of small two-legged shark creatures that were delivered by strange agents on floating rafts to assail other ships north of the Eye of Abendigo. For now, while the massive hurricane continues its whorl, hopefully the Imperial might of Cheliax and their devil-bred ocean beasts is held in check.

The regions of Golarion that are primarily involved

Privateer Press

So while in the Pathfinder campaign, the models will represent the devil-bred forces of the Chelish navy, they're the Legion of Everblight in Privateer Press' twin games Hordes and Warmachine. The painted model, the Scythean, is the first heavy warbeast that I've painted for my force. I like the way the color scheme worked out on the model with a lot more area. The prior ones, the Shredders I posted about first in this post, had only smaller areas that were in the red-to-orange spectrum. I really like the way it came out in the larger model.

Side and back view

The Scythean is a seriously nasty foe in combat, with brutal attacks and the ability to punish large groups--it has a chain attack ability that goes off if it hits with both of its initial attacks. While I have plans on doing a Ravagore and a Carnivean to give some depth of options for my force, I decided to paint up the Scythean first. The reason: simplicity. I'm still learning the game, and the beauty of the Scythean is that it's just a face-wrecking melee critter. Plus, I'm saving the complex tech for my next addition: the Throne of Everblight

Awww Mikey, give us a little lickery-kiss

It's still being assembled, because the kit is HUGE. But I wanted to do a Throne as it's honestly the model that inspired my vision for this force. I pictured a massive beast that burst up from below-decks in a ship due to the commands of a master sorceress. Normally, the Throne has kind of a parapet at the top. I changed it up, with some Sculpey and bits from other models, plus ample numbers of the coffee stir sticks I am using for decking, to look as if it burst up from below decks.

It came from below!

That shot of the full model gives a good sense of my intentions. I still have work to do on it, such as finishing the tentacles, adding the pirate details to the sorceress on the deck, and putting on the broken and splintered deck from the base (which I am going to at least try to paint a recessed image underneath... we'll see how good my painting skills are). But I'm really pleased with the progress thus far. I love the look of the piece for Privateer Press--let alone what sort of horror it will be for the Pathfinder gaming table in my Skull and Shackles game!

Legion of Everblight

Models Painted: 4

Points Painted: 15

Warlocks Painted: 0