Roasting On An Open Fyreslayer

I didn't think I'd stacked the deck in favour of The Silver Tower, but along comes another model from Santa (the fifth one in ten draws).

At least it's a single model, so let's stoke up the fire (fyre)!


Like his buddy, the Tenebreal Shard, I'd deliberately held off painting the Fyreslayer Doomseeker too.

It wasn't the complexity of the model - I've painted enough dwarves and, like all of them, this one is all beard and axes - but the Fyreslayer range is one of the few Age of Sigmar releases that I can't get on board with.

To me, it just seems like the Troll Slayer aesthetic (which I love) has been ramped up to the point where all individuality gets erased. If I painted up a unit of the Fyreslayers (don't look at me like that, Start Collecting), I think I'd struggle to pick the out leaders from the warriors. Even the Stormcast get across more personality than that.

The other thing that bothered me was the colour scheme: pale flesh, gold armour and orange hair is going to blend into each other like a jar of marmalade.

So, in a rare moment of inspiration, I went my own way: properly fiery beards and charcoal-dark skin, as if the duardin were burning up and spewing lava.

Recipe as follows:

• Skin: Charcoal Grey (Vallejo), Nuln Oil wash, Dawnstone highlights
• Beard/Crest: Averland Sunset base, Cassandora Yellow wash, White Scar+Yriel Yellow layers, Fuegan Orange tips
• Eyes: Mephiston Red
• Gold Runes: Retibutor Armour base, Reikland Fleshshade wash
• Weapons: Leadbelcher base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ironbreaker drybrush
• Weapon features: Incubi Darkness base, Sotek Green highlight + Soulstone Red

In the fluff, I think his Runic War-Iron (that pick-thing) is meant to light up, so he can quest in dark places. But I didn't want to distract from the lighting I'd done on the hair, so I gave it a lick of Soulstone Red, with Celestra Grey edging, to make it seem special.

And that's him done! I'm very happy with this style and, while I was bewailing having to paint an army of these, I wouldn't mind doing a couple more (maybe a Shadespire set...)

Onto my next challenge - another from the Nice List! Santa must know I'm pushed for time.