Arch-Lector Kaslain W.I.P.

I have had a few heavily-anticipated deliveries this week - my Realm of Battle tiles and my new Empire models. All that is left to arrive for my immediate projects are the resin bases from Dragon Forge. With NICON only a few weeks away, it will probably be too late to take this army, so I will have to decide whether or not I am crossing that bridge very soon.

The Realm of Battle table is starting to take shape. I hope to buy the extension tiles at some point, but most of our games recently have been reasonable enough size for just the 6' x 4' table. Just needs some flocking and then some Purity Seal.

In the meantime I have been revisiting my Nuln Army. The new army book is fantastic, and the models themselves are stunning - truly the best of their kind out there. The amount of detail on the war altar, demigryphs, witch hunter and warrior priest releases is exciting; I can't wait to get them all painted (- my fourth and fifth ever Finecast models are immaculate, so I am still waiting for the dreaded mis-casts to show up, despite their reported prevalence. I guess I've been quite lucky so far).

I am developing my army theme further along the lines of the Cult of Sigmar in Nuln. Nuln is a mecca for the Cult, in part due to it being the seat of one of the two Arch-Lectors, and also because it used to be the Capital of the Empire, the seat of Magnus the Pious. I wanted my army to be absolutely full of warrior priests, and really take literally the theme of the oft-quoted line of Magnus describing what he felt made the Empire great; "faith, steel and gunpowder!" The new army book has made many of the themed lists out there viable it their own right without being over-powered, so these are exciting times

The first step for me is to get the general sorted out. Arch-Lector Kaslain is the no-brainer choice here. I want to first introduce some background for this less visible personality, so below is a compilation of some info gleaned from various sources - for the most part from WFRP First Edition.

Arch-Lector Kaslain is one of two Arch-Lectors, second only to the Grand Theogonist himself in the hierarchy of the Cult of Sigmar. Kaslain's counterpart is Aglim, who is based in Talabheim - not a traditional center for the faith due to its alignment with the Ulricians and the norther alliance during the Sigmarian heresy. Nuln has more prestige in this respect, with its association with Magnus the Pious.

Kaslain is described to look much younger than his years - appearing around 45 when he is in fact into his 60's. He made a name for himself in his youth fighting alongside the dwarfs of Karak Kadrin. Like Aglim, and Volkmar before him, he was required to forsake his birth-name for a dwarfen name upon taking his post.

Most of the duties of an Arch-Lector are ceremonial and political, but his time in wars past have given Kaslain the reputation of being a bit of an iron fist in a velvet glove, with a backbone of steel.

Unlike many Sigmarites, Kaslain is not hostile to the Cult of Ulric, and looks for unity where many would seek division. This has helped build the stability that holds today under Emperor Karl Franz.

As an Arch-Lector, Kaslain is also an Elector, and has an important political voice in the circles of power which often see him traveling abroad from his seat in Nuln.

Every now and again, when the portents are right, a crusade is called, and Kaslain leads forth a mass of religious fanatics as well as contingents of state troops granted from the Countess, to purge the evil and the unworthy in the name of Sigmar.

With the new war altar model, the sculptors have included a model to use as Arch-Lector, which I love. However, I also felt it should look more distinguished than the average warrior priest, as befits his rank. I always liked the Saint Celestine model, so I acquired her halo and pinned it to the back of the Arch-Lector Model.

The problem was, this looked way too bulky and plain on his back. I poked around on the flagellant and war altar sprues and found some bits and pieces to glue onto his back to blend the halo onto the model a bit better.

I've been playing a bit of Warhammer Online recently and I think this look is partially inspired by some of the high tier armour sets in that game;

'All' that's left to do is give him the most amazing paint job I can and I will have my very own Kaslain, decked out with a now appropriate level of iconography and glory!

Well, then I have to do the war altar itself, which I will get to in a later post.