The Depraved of Hyrne
Rob LaneIt's taken a little while longer, Miercenaries, but February's amazing battle host is here, and it's a cracker, featuring twenty-plus all-new miniatures for the Jutes - specifically for the realm of Cant, and the ghoulish ghūlas!
All of these miniatures were sculpted by Rafael Callegari and they really are magical: he's captured the essence of all things ghoulish. With two commanders, two sorcerers, two units of infantry, a unit of much bigger infantry and a unit of monstrous bats, The Depraved of Hyrne are a superb addition to the ranks of the Jutes!
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The Depraved of Hyrne
In a bold attempt to live beyond death, denied the honour of joining the ranks of the undead by their lords, perhaps because of their barbarity or criminality in life, the degenerate ghūlas of Hyrne took matters into their own hands and consumed the pupae matter stored in the vaults below. Their attempts were successful, after a fashion; but they became bitter and twisted, eaters of man- and beetle-flesh alike, their hands elongated and clawed to rip flesh apart easily.
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Cweld, Ghūlgār Thain
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Cweld, Ghūl Thain
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Tētwic, Ghūlhag
- Tētwic [Pin Up]*, Ghūlhag
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Depraved of Hyrne, Ghūlgār Unit (5x warriors)
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Degenerates of Ācholt, Ghūl Unit (5x warriors)
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The Wicked of Mālæsc, Gryreghūl Unit (5x warriors)
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Screechers of Cisel, Nihtbat Unit (3x warriors)
*The pin up loyalty rewards are only available if you subscribe through our webstore
Leading the ghūlas are the ghūl thains such as Cweld; somewhat better equipped to deal with the realities of their existence than their subjects, these degenerates were chiefs and commanders in their past lives and retain some of their training and intelligence. They often use better equipment such as helmets, spears and shields.
Tētwic is a ghūlhag, a sorcerer of sorts, a nasty magicker full of hate for humans and pretty much everything else. Her sorcery is created by the eating of man-flesh and beetle pupae, so she's perfect to add a little something to your Jute ghūl host. She has two head options, bald (above) and with hair (below).
The mainstay of this month's battle host are the ghūlas. Retaining most of their former intelligence yet mired in degeneracy, eating man-flesh and bat-flesh and pupae, they actively attempt to recruit others to join their ranks, living in caves, howes and other abandoned places.
Some ghūlas even bring spear and shield to battle as ghūlgār (meaning, literally, ghoul-spear), wearing rough mail and sometimes pot helms, with the knowledge to use them.
While abhorrent to the men and women of Cant and Wiht, the ghūlas are tolerated (as long as they do not roam from their enclaves) and actively used in Jute armies due to their sheer ferocity. For their part, the ghūlas don't really care about much except getting more flesh...
The gryreghūlas, much larger than the ghūlas, are a different matter entirely. Thankfully rare, malformed and hard to kill, their skin of these tough creatures has morphed into the chitin of the beetles and pupae they exclusively devour. Around seven to eight feet tall, sporting all manner of chitinous growth around their bodies, they are ferocious and great shock troops in any Jute army.
The huge nihtbats live in the natural caverns and coves of the southern coast of Cant where they naturally have contact with the ghūlas. Some say they have been changed themselves, and now have a taste for the flesh the ghūlas consume. Standing on 60mm bases and useful divers and swoopers, get them up in the air and slamming into your enemies!
Who Are the Jutes?
Along with the Angles and the Seaxna, the Romans also invited the Jutes - the people from Jutland in the north of Denmark - to defend Britannia from the enemies of Rome, more specifically the painted barbarians of the north. With the Angles eventually conquering the north of Britain and the Saexna the south and west, the Jutes took the southern regions of Cant and Wiht for their own.
Outwardly very similar to the Anglecynn and the Seaxna, strong, powerful humans with a warrior outlook and a strong sense of family and society, the Jutes are also shape-shifters, although the creatures they morph into are very different from the mammals of their kin: for in old age some are cocooned, and from the resulting pupa they emerge as huge and powerful beetles, creatures of incredible strength and immense toughness, creatures that form the front line of any defence of their homelands.
The incredible change that occurred in the pupa fascinated the Jutes of old, for in many ways it was a change that cheated death itself: and so those that could not form the pupa, which became more and more over time, desired their descendants to find out why so that they at least could change and protect their loved ones. The resulting attempts to cocoon willing volunteers with secretions from those that were changing had unexpected results: for whilst these volunteers could not become beetles, they could live on after death.
These wihtas, as they were called, brought joy and then sadness and then pragmatism: for whilst humans could indeed live beyond death their minds eventually dimmed and they forgot themselves and their families, until they became little more than creatures of bone and sinew, still with strength, but little intelligence. Even so, the leaders of the Jutes understood that they had solved their problem - and so began the practice of building barrows of immense size beneath the earth, of digging graves and building tombs that held armies of the dead; and all to aid the living.
Cant
The first kingdom of the Jutes, and the last remaining human kingdom, is that of Cant. Equivalent to the county of Kent in England, Cant is a place of striking countryside and beautiful coastline beset by enemies on all sides; and yet its stronghold in Cantwarebarg - from which King Eorcenberht rules with an iron fist - is one of the strongest in Bryten.
Eorcenberht knows that, in the power of the beetles and the strength of the wihtas, his kingdom will endure; but his problems are many, for the Jutes are few in number and they must defend long stretches of land to the west, land that both protects and leads to the great barrows of Wihtbarg. For without the wihtas, the Jutes cannot defend against the fanatical Seaxna - who consider the wihtas to be an abomination - and against the constant raiding of the Kernewek and the Franks and the Norse.
You can learn more about the Jutes on the Mierce Miniatures webstore and in the Lands of Darkness kindred guide!
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More to Come...
In a change to the proposed battle host for next month, we're bringing you more of the mole-rat-men known as the Vras!
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