The Children of Sekhmet

I've always been fascinated by the lizardmen in Warhammer Fantasy. They were perhaps one of the most outlandish and unique armies in the game. Plus Dinosaurs... I mean frickin' Dinosaurs! My first forays into Warhammer Fantasy (after many years of pure 40k) was with the denizens of Lustria, but it never really went anywhere. I got a bunch of saurus warriors, but little else. However with the dawn of the Age of Sigmar, my interest for them has been rekindled, albeit in a slightly different way. The lizardmen have always had an Aztec feel to them, but for this army I wanted to go down a slightly different route, and create a more desert-themed force. I'll be honest, my main motivation for this was speed and ease of painting. Its so much quicker to just drybrush all their scales instead of highlighting each one, and a scheme that suits well is that of dry bone-like scales. In addition, I've always enjoyed Egyptian history and mythology, so it was a natural fit to take the army in a more ancient Egyptian style direction. Even a lot of the iconography and patterns still work, it is a fantasy after all. I've seen other desert-themed Lizardmen armies online, so I knew it would work well. Its just a case of doing it. So I've made a start.

I couldn't help myself but focus on the two main characters first. I've got a small force here, namely the Start Collecting! box, and a few other bits I'm working on, but I always gravitate towards the characters as they're usually more interesting.

High Sun Priest Baal'halet'anephthis

My Slann Mage Priest, or in this case, High Sun Priest. The Sun Priests are the devoted servants of Sekhmet, the Goddess of Life and the Sun. Or they were until she sacrificed herself to defeat Chaos and inadvertently turned the lush jungles of Namu into a sweltering desert wasteland, but that's neither here nor there!
Baal'halet is a High Priest of the Sun. Though he cannot control the Sun, the Sun Priests worship it for it is said to be the gift Sekhmet left them for its Holy Light keeps Chaos at bay. In fact, Baal spent 500 years gazing at the sun looking for signs or portents from his Goddess, the result of which is pretty plain to see. Though he was bandaged by his aides, being a toad who would thrive in Namu in the days it was a jungle, he literally couldn't take the heat and became a husk. His consciousness still remains, and he is a great prophet and a powerful spellcaster.

General Sobak'ishtak

Sun General Sobak is the highest ranking military commander of the Kamun Karpak, the City of Golden Light. He is ancient beyond reckoning, some say as old as Sekhmet Herself, and marched at her side against Chaos when she and all she had made were undone. To this day he swears to avenge his fallen Goddess, and it is his duty to protect the Sun Temples and muster against their enemies.

He carries two ancient relics of his people, a sunspear forged in the heat of a volcano, and a mighty Sunfire Gauntlets that is imbued with some of the divine essence of the Goddess of the Sun. The Carnosaur he rides is a mighty steed he tamed in the Bloodlands, and place of feral beasts that have adapted to the new, harsh climate.

These are the two main characters in the army so far. I think I had more fun writing the lore for this army than I've had writing lore for any of my armies/characters. There's a lot more besides, I've written small pieces about Kamun Karpak, the great City of the Golden Light where the main bulk of the army resides (though its not quite a beautiful and golden as perhaps it once was), as well as Osiri'Anuk, the Grand Temple at the city's heart. More on that later, and more army pics to come!

Also, when taking these piccies, I've spotted a lot of mistakes I've made or areas I've missed. These will be fixed. Cheers, guys.