Beyond being blessed with conversion kits for Toulmore and Gwynt, we have gotten a 5th faction for Quar now, in the shape of the people of Western Arnyara, available entirely as a 3d printable faction. And with lore available in Western Iron. And I am here to present my take on a 300 points list, peppered with some lore and my takes on how to translate it into my modelling and painting.
Ables = Rhyflers?
Unlike the formal militaries of Coftyr, Tok, Fidwogg and so forth, W.Arnyaran have a different ranking structure. They don't have privates or ensigns as such, since their patrols and squads are the staff centered around their mobile housing tractors, this also means we get to see Dyna (female Quar) joining in to protect their home.
An Able isn't strictly a military rank, but anyone old enough to wield a weapon and fight for their home, meaning they are often soldiers by necessity, but another trade by choice. Which is likely represented in their lower hiring costs and lower skill. Able come with 4 different profiles, along with the slightly more experienced Able First Class, who are preparing to intern under a Bosun, but we'll get to that.
The Able profiles includes on with a MAR SMG, and one with swords and pistols (called GREEs). Both of these are unlimited in the amount you can bring in a force. I have interpreted these as the less experienced everyday folk, while seeing the limited ones with the KEEGY heavy rifle, and dual GREEs as the best shots and thus likely given a role as guards and lookouts even when not in active combat.
Among these rank and file able, I have opted to include a bunch of extra pouches and a variety of hats. Here the goggled heads, and even the caps from royalists and crusaders has really come in handy.
Soil of the Homeland
A side note on the subject of Ables. I figured since we have a profile with a melee weapon, substituting their swords for rolling pins or wrenches seemed like an obvious choice to show their more militia nature. However their Answyth Blades have a very important symbolic role to the Western Arnyarans. Being caravanners they often spend several years away from their homeland, and risk returning to find it no longer the same - occupied by foreign power. This is why they are also called Western Arnyaran, to designate themselves as only half of their original size, as what would be Eastern Arnyara is part of Creevin by now.
So, to remember their roots and stay in touch with family, they usually carry soil of their homeland around in lockets and charms. A role the Answyth Blade has also filled, storing the soil in its pummel. So while tempting to substitute for something else on their fighters, their blades matter, and therefore stay. I have also opted to give the First Mate a larger sword from another kit, to make him more distinguishable amongst other blade wielders.
De-centralized Production
To remain clandestine in arming themselves, the Western Arnyarans doesn't have factories or assembly lines. Instead their weapons are based on standardized patterns, commissioned piecemeal from unsuspecting trade partners in bulk, and then assembled in secret in their smithies. To represent this I have somewhat limited their number of actual helmets, and painted their weapons in different types of metals, to represent the broader scope of producers involved.
The Bosun and First Mate
Nearing the top of their hierarchy we have the Bosun and their First Mates, sitting just under the Lord or Lady of the House. Each Bosun has a field of expertise and responsibility within the house, with First Mates being apprenticed under them. I have chosen to alter the recent model of a mechanic to represent my Bosun and their area of expertise. I do love how broad this rank actually is, if I get a force large enough to warrant a second Bosun, I will likely make them a chef, carpenter or navigator. All roles which are likely as important stations within these roaming households. Strategically these leader models have an ability unique to Western Arnyara, Fire and Advance, a group move allowing some models to move while their allies provide covering fire.
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| First Mate (left), Bosun (right) |
Autocycles
Scouting units that roam ahead of the main caravans to scope out the terrain. While the temptation to run over enemies is there, this isn't actually how they function. They're light bikes and will crash horribly, so they cant perform charges into melee. Instead they are sort of modal units, the rider can swap between being mounted and dismounted, with each having distinct benefits and downsides. While mounted, you go really fast, but cant cross difficult terrain or go prone, plus all your shots are performed with the snapshot penalty - as you're trying to steer the vehicle meanwhile. When dismounted you can more reliably use the SMG the rider also has, instead of the pistol, as you don't get snapshot penalties. My guess is that you'd want the riders to flank enemy forces, then dismount and laydown fire from cover with their SMGs.
Also worth noting is that the base sizes for the Autocycles haven't actually been posted as of writing this, since they are still WIP rules. I have based mine on a 50mm x 25mm ovals, but others have used 40mm bases. Also, these guys cannot use swords and aren't meant to be melee cavalry, but I had to indulge the akira slide. I might print a 3rd more proper autocycler at one point.
The Actual List
While my Coftyr and Crusader lists have both been based on the squad examples in the book, Western Arnyara doesn't have one. So I have had two main goals in this one, wether its competitive or not time will tell. Goal #1: I want to take advantage of the Fire and Advance special rule, by having two leaders capable of using it and a quantity over quality of miniatures to provide the covering fire. Goal #2: I want to play with the new limited things, so I have both Autocycles and some KEEGY heavy rhyles in there.
Ables with MAR and GREE cost the same so they can be freely exchanged depending on what profile you prefer. And the same thing goes for the KEEGY and dual GREEs profiles, my preference was towards the KEEGY heavy rhyfles, because they have Large Caliber ammunition and the best range among the Western Arnyaran forces. While having paired pistols is probably cool too, especially since they have Multi-Attack I opted not to do it, since they already have limited range and so you would stack penalties to get better range, something that would also stack with the multi-attack penalty. So instead of a lot of unreliable bullets, I wanted some punch. And that I am probably gonna get with the Daen-Fen rules looming on the horizon.
I hope this was helpful and/or inspirational to all of you out there
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