Courtesy of tjub, this is my version of Astragoth.
Chaos Dwarfs respect age as much as their western kin, and the title of High Priest of Hashut traditionally falls to the oldest Sorcerer Lord currently living. Astragoth is the current High Priest of Hashut and therefore the oldest living Chaos Dwarf Sorcerer. During the height of his powers, he was the most powerful Sorcerer to walk the Plain of Zharr in a thousand years. Now, however, his petrified body can no longer master magic as it once did, for almost all of Astargoth’s body is now stone. He must carried from place to place by his followers, and his underlings must perform many of the more complex rites of his spells. In an effort to overcome these disabilities, Astragoth ordered the creation of a special device blending sorcery and technology: a mechanical body grafted to his stone limbs that now enables him to move and cast spells. Where other Sorcerers must rely on the help of their servants and become increasingly feeble, Astragoth can now take part in battles, lending his considerable magical talent to Chaos Dwarf slaving parties, as well as using his mechanical might to physically pummel his enemies.
Most Dawi�?TZharr consider Astragoth quite mad, but while he lives he is still the High Priest of Hashut and they must accept him, mechanical body and all. There is growing
rebellion in the Temple though in the form of Ghorth the Cruel, who has now surpassed Astragoth in power and influence. Astragoth still maintains a power base of the more traditional Chaos Dwarfs however, especially the zealous Acolytes of Hashut who revere him as befits his station. It is only a matter of time though until matters come to a head…
Like the paintjob on this. I’v never been too fond of the old Astragoth model, but the milky beard and blue hat really give personality to this miniature. You changed my mind bro:)
I think it’s not easy to give a good “modern” interpretation to those old minis, but you did a really good job with him. Especially I like the skin and, as Skink already said, the beard.
Thanks, everyone. The figure was as much a revelation to me while painting it. I was never that inspired by the GW paint job, and only really bought him from tjub on a whim, for the purposes of completing my collection. It turned out he was a much better figure than I thought, with a lot of character. I just had to make him look old and haggard, with his red nose, rheumy eyes (can you see I added a faint glaze of elf flesh around the eyes to make them look sore?) and grey beard (it’s supposed to be grey with age, not stone like him limbs, btw). He was great fun to paint, and really quick and easy to do once I got started.
Kawazu: I probably won’t do banner for him, no. My existing Sorcerer just has bare poles, and I’m not a big fan of character models waving flags around on their backs (what are they? Space Marines?).
Kawazu: I probably won't do banner for him, no. My existing Sorcerer just has bare poles, and I'm not a big fan of character models waving flags around on their backs (what are they? Space Marines?).
Thommy H
Well, more than SM I'm thinking to samurai... have you ever seen Kagemusha, from Akira Kurosawa? ;)
I know what Samurai flags look like, yeah. It’s not the vibe I’m going for though, precisely because it conjures up conflicting imagery. My Chaos Dwarf Sorcerers apparently just wear sticks on their back for some reason. Maybe they act as lightning rods, attracting Hashut’s favour? According to the rules in the army book I’ve written (from which that fluff in my first post comes), Astragoth is immune to flaming attacks, so getting struck by lightning probably wouldn’t bother him.
Yeah, probably. I almost want to turn this into a magic item in my Chaos Dwarf army book now…
Sojourn: I guess the beard is supposed to be soft in the sense that’s it’s hair rather than something more substantial. I went with layering instead of the usual drybrushing for a texture like that, so it should look a bit less harsh. I’m very happy with the blending on the hat too - blue is quite a forgiving colour for that kind of work (compare it to the less-smooth blending on the arrows, for example).
I cut the banner poles off my Astragoth model, then resculpted the hair on the exhaust. Everyone had a backbanner in those days, but now I struggle to think of a single recent character that does.
(not sure if that’s what you were going for… but you know)