As I promised earlier, I’d like to establish a sort of overarching story or plot for all my future and past Warhammer projects. Hopefully, this will, on the one hand, motivate me to keep developing these projects, and on the other, give the units and heroes more character.
I’ve chosen the Border Princes as the setting because there’s still a fair bit of freedom there to ‘make things up’ or not have to take the existing lore entirely at face value.
I don’t want to give everything away just yet, but a lot of it will revolve around the city of Malko, which lies a little north of the Black Gulf on the River Treblecz.
In the official lore, the city is described as relatively large and well-fortified, though with wooden palisades, which I’m not too keen on.
In my imagination, the city is a bit larger and has strong walls, a bit like a northern Italian town.
Given the Black Mountains to the north, I imagine the Tilean influence on the region to be stronger than that of the Empire, which will be reflected to some extent in the local buildings, customs and clothing.
In the existing lore, there is also only a mayor as leader of the town; I’ll turn this into a baron or count whose ancestors were forced to flee the Empire long ago. Through marriage to a Tilean princess, the ties to Tilea are very strong, which will become important later on.
Malko is renowned for being the breadbasket of the Border Princes. It appears that the lands surrounding the city are very fertile, and the grain is exported far and wide across the Old World. Its relative proximity to the Old Silk Road further enhances the importance of trade and accounts for the city’s wealth.
Malko’s wealth is arguably exceptional for the Border Princes and must be adequately protected.
Thanks to his connections with Tilea, the city’s lord has many mercenaries under contract. Furthermore, the city militia and the small standing army – some of whom have been trained by Tilean military personnel – are inspired by Tilea and represent a force to be reckoned with in the Border Princes.
Due to the frequent orc attacks, the city’s troops are experienced fighters led by outstanding officers.
One of the troops’ most important tasks is to keep the River Treblecz clear to ensure the free trade in grain.
Small outposts and watchtowers have been erected along the river, all the way to its mouth at the Black Gulf, to provide early warning of raids by Orcs, pirates or envious princes, and to hold out for a time until reinforcements arrive.
So far, so good – more to follow soon!
I plan to build the bulk of the army using standard Imperial miniatures, but capture that Tilean flavour through a few conversions and the colour schemes. I also have a few mercenary regiments that are finally due a paintjob!
And here’s a first test miniature. It’s a brave warrior from the Malko City Guard, which will form several units and are called upon to deploy relatively often.
I hope you enjoyed this little excursion; hopefully there’ll be more of the same soon!
Gotrek and Felix will also play an important role....
