Uther the unhinged:
Cool ratty story. I like the idea of byzantine rats. Does T9A have ratty cataphracts, heavy armoured ratkin on heavy armoured giant/wolf rats. They would be cool.
Admiral:
Cheers Uther! I originally tossed a proposal of Byzantine remnant Humans at T9A after seeing their new world map with Avras as a crossroad city… only to discover to my surprise that the Rats would be the Byzantines.
Of course: Mediaeval flamethrowers, backstabbing and infighting, and segmented plate armour and metal helmet crests. Plus that backstory for Skavenblight in a Tilean city surrounded by swamps, that is, a Ravenna equivalent. Skaven in Warhammer apparently were Romans all along! 
So the Ninth Age drew inspiration from this and simply plan to ratchet it up several notches. There’s even a company, Dragon Claw Miniatures, that recently released Republican Roman ratmen through Kickstarter.
There’s not much revealed on the Vermin Swarm in the Ninth Age yet, so I’ve repeatedly got the itch for some ratty concept doodles to try out the Byzantine rodent look (blank canvas opportunity), and hopefully give better artists who are actually involved in T9A team some ideas for where they could go, if they like. All I’ve seen in my limited readings of T9A fluff are their involvement in the fall of Avras (Rome) during the Fifth Age, from the World Hymn.
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I sure hope they will have Cataphracts! I actually drew a Catarat for the sake of a pun, but I had to wrack my brain for what it should be. Would it be ratmen mounted on heavily armoured wolf rats? Or on the shoulders of armoured rat ogres? But of course, there is already a mounted rat in the army list!
Forgeworld sports a Brood Horror mounted by a Skaven leader. This has made it into the Vermin Swarm army list as a Monstrous Rat mount for Vermin Tyrants. A mate of mine fields one equipped with some tricky magic items that make this “cowboy” into a deadly surprise for his opponents. Rats can ignore challenges you see, so the usual ploy of challenging with a champion to save one’s characters from the enemy’s murder hero don’t work against ratkin.
So the Catarat idea is for monstrous hero cavalry at the moment:
Would love to hear if you have any unhinged ideas for Byzantine ratkin, by the way!
Uther the unhinged:
Byzantine armies not my historical forte but the did use quite a lot of horse archers. Now bows not very ratty are they bu many many many years ago I had a English civil war cavalryman (Roundhead) figure with a small blunderbus. I could see lightly armed vermin atop wolf rats with firearms. However rather than firing bullets/shot which may need to be accurate they could fire canisters of Greek/vermin fire. Short range but high damage. If combined with a fire retreat ability … devastating. That is of course if they don�?Tt just blow up in their faces.
Also a few years ago (pre LoA) I converted my goblins to Hobgobs. Just added head gear (I am not Xander). I was left with three 90s fanatics. So I added head gear, painted the non spiked balls black and added fuses. Thus they became �?~lobbers�?T, hiding in units then popping out (toa safe distance) and lobbing the bomb at the enemy like throwing the hammer (an Ancient Greek weapon). Of course in my rules it did not always go to plan. I could see big vermin or even rat ogres armed like this. The rat ogres with bigger range could be shielded by units of vermin.
Anyway just some thoughts.
Admiral:
@Uther the unhinged: Nice idea! Thanks. Here’s a quick on-foot or rather on-paw version for the time being. Hope to tackle a mounted naphtha slinger eventually.
Lovely lobbers! You don’t happen to have any photos around, by any chance? 
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Vermin Swarm Grenadier[/align]
Skirmisher slinging naphtha pots aflame at the foe.
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Uther the unhinged:
Cool rat grenadier!
Sorry I don�?Tt have pictures of the lobbers. I still have the minis stored somewhere and I�?Tll try to get some pics up.
Of course now I�?Tm thinking is there scope for rat pole vaulters to leap barricades? Maybe living plague bombs pole vaulting over front lines to infect/explode the foe. Not sure how practical but could be quite a cool mini.
Also could go for a rat Testudo old roman shield tortoise. I could see this crawling across the field releasing rat swarms from beneath the takin shields.
Lastly but not least who could be the Varangian guard. The elite Viking force of mercenaries? Ogres possibly but in chain mail with BIG axes. How about them being led by a half giant (ogre giant cross) modelled on Harald Hardrada.
Drat, had wine again.
Admiral:
Wonderful ideas, all of them, Uther! I’ve been doodling non-stop in my spare time ever since I read your post here. You apparently should drink wine more often!
Good idea for the Varangian guard! I’ve pondered them for a long time, and that may indeed be the best solution. Great ideas, please keep ‘em coming!
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Vermin Swarm Testudo[/align]
A truly ancient tactic long used by the Vermin Swarm is the unleashing of rat swarms from infantry units packed close in tortoise formation. No one knows how the ratmen manage to control most of the small rats massed around their paws until the moment they are released. Some speculate that Rats-at-Arms carry with them bags filled with small rats which are emptied at a signal from the commanding officer, yet most eye-witness accounts attest that many Vermin Swarm infantry formations are accompanied by a chittering mass of small rodents at all times on the battlefield. Whatever the exact workings behind this mystery, the symbiotic relationship between animal rats and sentient ratmen remain a primary reason why their ilk is called the Vermin Swarm.
The sudden onrush of bestial rat swarms from out of cohorts of Rats-at-Arms has time and again swayed battles in the Vermin Swarm’s favour. It is especially useful as a surprise to disrupt enemy charges before they reach the shields of the Rats-at-Arms, or to buy time for the warriors to make their escape from a losing fight. The combination of rat swarms and closely packed infantry formations have also been used to soften up an enemy and give the Rats-at-Arms a much needed edge in combat. Even at the best of times, the questionable discipline and combat performance of Vermin Swarm infantry has long required an array of innovative tricks up their Tyrants’ sleeves, including attached weapon teams, rat swarms and concealed flanking units to assist the mainstay Rats-at-Arms in the bloody grind of melee before their vermin nerve gives in. Such are the crooked tools with which victory is clawed into the grasping hands of chittering warlords, the true rulers of fabled Avras.
This concept is all Uther the unhinged’s idea of a Vermin Swarm testudo formation unleashing rat swarms from under its shields, from over on Chaos Dwarfs Online. The drawing itself is heavily based upon AMELIANVS’ drawing of Narses overseeing training. The kite shields are to aesthetically tie in with Mediaeval Roman Skoutatoi troops, while the shield designs are based off Roman ones from Classical (both Republican and Imperial) and Late Antiquity. The helmet and spear designs are likewise plucked from all over the Roman timeline, and include both a rat-adapted Apulo-Corinthian helmet and some headgear based on horse armour. The signum standard is topped by the symbol of the Last Human Ruler of Avras Quartered by Four Vermin Hulks.
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Dînadan:
Why is it that I can only see this ending up with the ratmen tangled up into the mother of all rat kings? �Y~o
Admiral:
@Dînadan: Haha, an unavoidable accident for sure! It’s even in their insignia:
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Vermin Swarm Scholar[/align]
Sizeable parts of the learning of ancient Avras of the Humans have been carried on by the ratmen that claimed supremacy over its fallen civilization. Much of the ancient heritage of literature, science and wisdom has been lost to the teeth of time, yet what remains of the old lore in the frayed and treasured libraries of the Vermin Swarm has been expanded with new works and new insights gained through the ages. Many classical works survive only in parts as excerpts or quotations in ratmen’s compilations, while only a few books remain of many multi-volume works. Often the final loss of books have been due to starved vermin kin gnawing up parchment and papyrus in a mad scavenging for food, or due to rat swarms finding a tiny entrance into lead-sealed scroll containers. Such constant danger to the corpus of hand-written tomes only increase the value and prestige of owning books, and commissioning them to be written.
The upper classes of the Vermin Swarm are strongly classicizing in their approach to higher culture. Understanding ancient languages and being versed in the classics is an important element in what sets them apart from the teeming plebeian masses below, and from the barbarian nations outside. Scribes and scholars who come into the favour of Vermin Tyrants enjoy lavish privileges and access to slaves and resources which most ratmen could only dream of. Such succesful learned ratmen tend to grow proud and arrogant toward underlings, and are in turn despised by commoners as a result. A persistent strain of self-important philosophers among the Vermin Swarm finds a perverse joy in writing abstract treatises on liberty with one clawed hand, while whipping their slaves harshly with the other. Consequentially, many a renowned ratman scholar’s career has ended abruptly when he was torn apart by his long-suffering household slaves, or lynched by offended commoners or Rats-at-Arms in his master’s employ.
Drawn at the request of piteglio.
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Uther the unhinged:
Love the hypocrisy of the scribes. Excellent fluff.
By the way to stimulate your creative juices Manticores do a rat king figure. It is part of their sci-fi ratkin range the Veer-myn, called a Veer-myn Tangle. Just thought you could come up with something for T9A
Veer-myn Tangle - Mantic Games
Admiral:
Thank Uther! Lovely idea there. :cheers
Doodled some quick Infernal Dwarf technical schematic advice for Mad 'At (text in Swedish):
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Admiral:
Tk’ya’pyk over on Lustria Online have an idea for Dreadmill circus racing:
So traditionally, the Byzantines were big into chariot racing, hired “barbarians” as mercenary troops to supplement their core regiments, and fielded a strong navy. What would you recommend as comparative Skaven choices? I have to admit, the idea of Doomwheel racing teams amuses the heck out of me.
Tk’ya’pyk
[align=center]Vermin Guard Centurion[/align]
Vermin Guard Centurion of fallen Avras, leading his soldiers onward against the barbaric foe. Note the ridged kite shield with plumbata darts and AVRAS�?< sign on its inside. Note also the Mediaeval Roman lamellar armour, paramerion scimitar, pugio dagger, the spear’s sauroter spike counterweight as well as the ruined Roman brickwork.
Sculpted at the very end of 2019 AD as a practice model for posing, shield and spear sculpting. I am currently looking for a casting/miniature company willing to adopt this random character sculpt into their permanent range. My go-to caster for single miniature moulds currently do not make new moulds.
You can find tutorials for how to sculpt lamellar armour, skull, string bow knot, pteruges and much more �?.
Happy new year!
Uther the unhinged:
Lovely centurion. So many details, awesome.
On a less sane point… Doomewheel racing is good…but not as good as two Doomwheels chained together (alongside each other) pulling an unpowered �?~chariot�?T. Like the kids race in �?~Phantom Menace�?T. For cheaper doomwheels the manticores veermyn version would be ace.
Veer-myn Tunnel Runner Formation - Mantic Games
Admiral:
Marvellous idea, Uther! :cheers
Lord-Triceratops over on Deviantart has drawn these concept images for his own historically based fantasy setting, which happens to sport Incan Dwarves much like these proposed ones for the Wrathful Mountains in T9A. The parallells are obvious. I would like to share them here, along with his thoughts, to inspire:
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Scene from the Incan Dwarf marketplace[/align]
I read an article in the December issue of Archeology magazine (the magazine about old stuff with advertisements for old people, to make you feel even older) about the abandoned Incan city of Huánuco Pampa. Sad story. It used to be a thriving commercial hub for the empire before the Spanish arrived. The centerpiece was the market square/government plaza, where dignitaries from the provinces and regional tribes would gather and not only shop, but debate and spread the news about their corners of the world. Each representative would have his or her section of the plaza to demonstrate not only their local goods, but also any news and reports to the emperor if he was in town. Huánuco Pampa was more centrally located than the capital of Cusco. Plus the Incas kept sophisticated granaries and food silos there to distribute the year’s harvest fresh. Every morning, according to Spanish missionaries and now archeological evidence, the market would open by an announcer blowing into a conch shell at dawn and ringing a bronze bell. The illustration I used for reference (by 16th century artist Felipe Guaman) seems to show the announcer wearing a feathered hat. I guess so he’d be more visible to the shoppers.[align=center]
Then tragedy struck as the Spanish not only captured the last emperor Atahualpa, but also spread smallpox through the empire. The last signs of life in Huánuco Pampa are the crumbling silos, market square, and a half-finished temple that still stands. I know it’s a depressing note for the season and I’m sorry, so I wanted to draw my dwarven people starting their day in the market. I also want to admit that I have no idea how to draw a conch. I could have looked it up online, but I was watching another Christmas show while I was drawing.
Lord-Triceratops
Giant Ground Sloth Puppet[/align]
I made this one before I made “Incan Dwarf Theater” because I wanted to understand how a life-size ground sloth puppet would work. Basically, it’s a movable parade float operated by a puppeteer inside, She operates the arms with sticks, the head with a rope (the neck is just a hinge), and moves the whole thing with her feet. Then someone puts a massive wool cape over the whole thing to complete the effect.[align=center]
Lord-Triceratops
Incan Dwarf Theater[/align]
This one banged around in my head ever since i read about the Incan ruins, and other sources. The first one, oddly enough, was the CGI movie Beowulf. Personally, I didn’t like the movie, but one scene stuck out for me. Years after he killed Grendel, Beowulf and his buddies are chilling in Heorot Hall, and there were a pair of midget (is that the correct term? Sorry if it’s not) reenactors showing Beowulf defeat a puppet Grendel. The Grendel puppet was made of an ox skull, while the actor for Beowulf was a ripped little dude with big pecs. Now skip ahead a decade or so, and I read about the theater/market square in Huanoco Pampa. Well if it’s a theater then there have to be performances there, right? And what better way to bring in the crowds then a story about a hero fighting a monster? Or you could show nudity, but I don’t want to do that. Anyway, in this world the dwarves live alongside Pleistocene animals like saber tooth tigers, glyptodonts, and giant ground sloths. Plenty of inspiration for monsters, especially for a society of short people.Furthermore, BondageGoatZombie over on T9A forums had these thoughts to share:
Lord-Triceratops
I’ve been thinking a bit about this. A bit rules oriented.Do you have any thoughts and ideas of your own, mayhap? Please share, if so.
If we say the QQuezcuz (using above mentioned name for the Inca dwarves) do not have fun powder, we should give them something else.
What would a society that lived under saurian threat for the longest time specialize in? Ie what are saurians good at that needs to be countered and what is their weakness?
Mastery of magic comes to mind thinking about cuatls. So the Quezcuz could be heavier anti magic that other DH.
What should Quezcuz magic look like on the other hand? Same as DH? The totem system of beasts would also fit. Or even the totem animal mechanic of saurian warriors?
As for runes, I think we should keep them, that’s just so typically dwarven.
Another saurian strength would be armour. So we could give the Quezcuz more AP base.
I actually can’t pinpoint any real weakness in SA as hoc, maybe someone else can enlighten me.
Seekers could be re-modelled as dinosaur killers, removing eg yer comin with me with lethal strike.
If we have the Quezcuz low tech in general, we could give them bows instead of crossbows, or throwing weapons of course. slings maybe as well?
However keeping stone throwers and ballistas would be nice, to have at least some war machines in a dwarf army. But if they can build ballistas they can surely build crossbows, can’t they?
Poison would also be a fitting option for some of the army at least.
Generic plate armour would be replaced by scale armour, which is the same except for some additional effect. Hard target maybe? Or what else could scales do?
Can someone think of a themed buff wagon Inca style?
BondageGoatZombie
Admiral:
[align=center]Makhar Confederacy[/align]
Art Contest III saw new artworks created for the Makhar Confederacy, the Ninth Age’s fantasy Magyar steppe nomads. This army is a spin-off cavalry variant of Warriors of the Dark Gods (much like �.sklanders are a spin-off barbarian variant of WotDG), complete with two-handed kontos lance cataphracts and giants armed with bows.
Artwork by Chevalier Rouergue2:
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Artwork by a20t43c:
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And my own doodle:
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Makhar Flayer[/align]
Among the Makhar, some follow a darker path. That of the Flayer. Where the herdsman is content with his horses and sheep, the Flayer seeks more exotic and sometimes dangerous pastoral beasts. Chimeras, turuls, karkadans, and in rare cases humans; the more dangerous the herd, the more prestigious in the eyes of a Flayer. To control these perilous and unpredictable herds, Flayers mount the most spirited creatures: Shadow Chasers.
Makhar Flayer riding atop a Shadow Chaser, which I have interpreted as a large, feathered raptor. Primordial creatures could do with more use outside of tropical climes for fantasy. The mount in this drawing is probably too small to support its rider’s weight, or at least so for any extended period of time. Perhaps it is a young one being broken in and trained? The depicted rider is female, as a reference to ancient Scythian and Sarmatian warrior maidens. Said reference may be wasted for Hobgoblins, many tribes of whom are based on Scythians, so better make use of it elsewhere on the steppe. Note the skinned arm in the grass.
Ninth Age fantasy Magyar rider drawn for Art Contest III.
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Do you happen to have any thoughts and ideas of your own to share? If so, please do! 
Uther the unhinged:
Feathered raptor is good. I think they believe a lot of dinosaurs were feathered now so giant feathered velociraptor could be spot on.
Good to see Incan dwarves are still in the mix. I love the giant ground sloth.
Admiral:
Cheers!
A Tale of Opulence and Plague, by Akitku
Finally managed to finish my commission for KarakNornClansman based on his work of the Ninth Age system!! I’m so proud of it. I think it’s one of the most complex things I’ve ever drawn. It was so much fun. Also, fun fact: as a teen I used to play Skaven…Commissioned art piece, created by Akitku. Check out her Deviantart gallery.
Akitku
Admiral:
Return of the Koghi
This is a commissioned illustration by Mitchell Nolte for Ghiznuk’s story Return of the Koghi, featuring a fantasy Ghana empire for the historically based setting of the Ninth Age. For more brainstorming on the Koghi faction, see here.
« A big noise was heard from behind the trees. It grew louder, into the voices of many men, with the bellowing of beasts and the whining of horses. Young men came running to the chief, while the women deposited their jars on the ground and went in excitement in the direction from where the noise was coming, children following them, scaring dogs and chicken away. The whole village resounded with one echo, one chant : « Kooooghi ! Kooooghi ! Kooooghi w’o da ! Kooooghi w’o da ! »
Their leader came mounted on a fierce monoceros, a terrific beast with a huge, heavy horn like a tree trunk on its nose, sustained only by the beast’s powerful neck. The animal was covered under a quilted pelt reinforced by leather patches and iron plates nailed directly into his powerful body, criss-crossed by strings of talismans and amulets, including worn out parchment covered in script. Sitting astride the monster’s hunched back was a fierce-looking warchief, a kêlêtigi, carrying long iron swords on his side, as well as the beautifully carved bow that was the mark of his rank and status.
All the while the children were watching and singing around them, with the women and a growing crowd of curious villagers standing behind and around, looking either afraid or wondered, chatting excitedly among each other and clapping their hands in joy. »
Abecedar:
I just found a Rhino in my O&G box. Not quite that big though.