Heavy Metal Hordes- Wicked Wyverns

Prologue

As Ethul feasted on elf-flesh, and his troops continued to torch the trees, Dogrukk Eggshitta paused to take stock of how he had got this far. As the youngest son of Gotgutt, chief of the Edbatteras clan, few would have expected him to last so long, never mind grow up to become the wyvern riding chief feared throughout the contested lands either side of Blasted Peak. Any orc with even the tiniest amount of grey mush knew that younger sons did not normally last long in orc society, and the fact he was still around was entirely due to Ethul, and the relationship he had literally incubated.

 Wild wyverns were rare, even in places such as the Blasted Peak, so word soon got around about the burnt out village at the foot of Pity Crag. Every orc for miles knew what that meant. Egghunt!

The accepted etiquette was that each clan in the region would send out their chief’s eldest offspring in a competitive hunt for the wyvern nest, with the winner claiming the rare prize of any egg that might be nestled within. That would provide them with the opportunity to hatch the egg, and raise the wyvern from birth to be rideable by the lucky heir. Obviously, first they needed to avoid death by skullduggery from representatives of other clans, not to mention the fire-breathing, flesh-rending, irate, winged mother.

Rukdogg, Dogrukk’s elder brother, would later tell tales of how he and Dogrukk, taken along as porter and possibly as an expendable distraction should the mother wyvern find them first, managed to fight off or outwit the heirs of numerous other clans. Dogrukk knew this to be rubbish, and that it was pure luck that saw them locate the nest first. It was even better luck that the nest seemed to be wyvernless when they stumbled across it.

‘Go on den, Dogrukk, go see if deres'un egg fer me!’ said the eldest brother, peering over the heap of charred trees and blackened bones that made up the nest. To emphasize his point, Rukdogg poked the point of his dagger into Dogrukk’s left buttock. Dogrukk reluctantly made his way forward into the foul smelling pile until he found what they had been looking for. Kind of. Nestled in the remains of a cow’s ribcage was a rusty red elongated sphere the size of a troll’s head. Next to it was another-the same colour and shape, but substantially smaller, in fact about the same size as Dogrukk’s own bonce. ‘Err, Rukdogg, which un der yer want? Dere’s two!’

‘Two? As in more’n one?’. The elder brother paused.  ‘Which looks best?’ replied Rukdogg, slightly overwhelmed.

‘Dunno’, said Dogrukk, assessing the options. ‘Dere’s a big un an a little un. Big ‘un is blinkin’ eavy, a can’t lift it miself, but a could get der little ‘un in ma sack?’

‘Gerr out of mi way’, exclaimed Rukdogg, ‘A’ll come an look miself’. Rukdogg pushed past Dogrukk, shoving him into a pile of something soft and squidgy as he did so.

‘Right Dogrukk, yous da bruvver wiv da brains, if we get da bigger egg, will than mean mi wyvern will be bigger?’ asked Rukdogg, scratching his head.

‘Dunno Rukdogg, but warif we tek one an someone else from annuver tribe finds der uvver? Den der might be two wyvern riders round ere. Maybe we should tek both an sort it out when wi get back?’ With that he began to cut two strips of cloth from the top of his sack. He then put two slits in the top of the sack, two in the bottom, and threaded the strips through the slits. He carefully placed the smaller egg into the sack, lifted the sack onto his back, suspended from the straps, and tied the straps over his shoulders and across his front.* ‘ Gis a hand wiv der big un, Rukdogg, wi can carry it between us’. Dogrukk motioned to the rounder end, and between them they picked up the bigger egg.

*This arrangement, which became known at first as 'Dogrukk’s sack', and eventually as 'Ruk’s sack', became the standard method of carrying items long distances, first amongst the Edbatteras, and eventually amongst all orcs, where it replaced the receptacle originally used for storing severed trophy limbs, the 'hand bag'.

After an hour or so making steady progress down the mountain, Rukdogg’s mood was triumphant, almost boisterous. ‘A can ‘ave a spare wyvern jus’ in case’, he considered, ‘or…orrr a can ride da big ‘un, and keep da little ‘un as a big flying killa dog fing!’ Dogrukk just grunted, as the toll of carrying the two eggs began to take effect. By now, the way down had become a narrow path at the foot of a rocky crag, with a steep grassy slope to the downward side, ending in dense woodland. As Dogrukk put his end of the egg down to adjust one of his straps, from the top of the crag there was an ear-splitting screech, followed by the desperate flap of leathery wings. Mother was on her way! Dogrukk looked around for cover, but could only see a small pile of rocks, the result of part of the face of the crag carving away at an earlier date. Surely that wouldn’t be enough protection from the fury of an angry wyvern? Rukdogg, meanwhile, took a more straightforward approach, and kicking Dogrukk out of the way, launched himself and the bigger egg down the grassy slope towards the woods, both egg and orc tumbling and bouncing at an ever-increasing speed. The wyvern seemed to pause in mid-air for a moment, considering which orc/egg combination to follow first, before fixing her eyes on Dogrukk as he ran for the rocks. He hurled himself forward between them, confirming as he did so that there wouldn’t be enough cover from a blast of fiery breath. Unless….  Behind the rocks was a narrow opening. Dogrukk squeezed himself and his sack through the gap and ran as far in as he could before his lungs could stand no more. As he turned, he could see great gouts of fire coming down the passage, so he headed deeper into the mountain.

In the darkness, Dogrukk didn’t know how long it had taken him by the time he found another way out from the cave complex. What he did know is that he had stopped and rested, exhausted, three times before he got out. On each occasion, in the cold, he had sat on the egg for warmth, as it seemed to emit heat, even increasing as time went by. Back in the open, he cautiously made his way back to the village, eyes casting nervously skyward at every step. Shattered, he made his way back to his hut and collapsed on the pile of matted furs he called his bed, coiled around the egg.

Dogrukk woke with a start, feeling greasy fingers tight around his throat. ‘Dogrukk, wheres mi spare egg?’ It was his brother, a look of desperation in his eyes. ‘Dat big egg was a dudd. When a got back to da village wiv it, a put it on the fire to keep it warm. It cracked open but all that wuz inside wuz scrambled egg! It tasted alright but there was no wyvern!’ Dogrukk replayed the image of brother and egg rolling down the hillside, and was not surprised at the outcome. Especially if Rogdukk had put the egg on a fire! He truly must by the brother with all the grey mush.

‘Av not got der egg Rogdukk!’ Dogrukk gasped between his brother’s fingers ‘it…’noises stopped coming out of Rogdukk’s mouth as the fingers closed tighter. As his vision  began to go black as he lost consciousness, he suddenly smelled roast meat. This was followed quickly by Rogdukk screaming and loosening his grip on Dogrukk’s throat. He sat up to see Rogdukk’s leg on fire, just as a dark shape sprang across the room and attached itself to his brother’s face. With a couple of rips, Rogdukk sank to the floor. The baby wyvern, who had hatched in the night, sat on his brother’s chest, looking up at Dogrukk, big red eyes searching for approval. ‘Well dun, Ethul, dares a good girl!’

About Heavy Metal Hordes

Heavy Metal Hordes is a collaboration between vintage miniatures enthusiast Gary Westwell and Sculptor/Illustrator Aaron Howdle. Frustrated by the lack of variety in certain out of production ranges, Gary reached out in an Oldhammer Facebook group for suggestions. Aaron answered the call, and the two discussed how Aaron could provide Gary with the wood elf army of his dreams. And while he was at it, what about some proper scary old school orcs, sea elves maybe, and wasn’t it a shame that nobody really made more than a handful of chaos goblins? Come to think of it, maybe there were other gamers and collectors of a certain age who felt the same way? After all, Gary was always taught to share his toys!

Our aim is to populate the battlefields with our versions of the major factions found in many of the classic tabletop fantasy wargames of the 80s and early 90s, with miniatures which will scale and rank up with your existing collections should you wish. Wicked Wyverns is out third Kickstarter, following on from the successful Legendary Leaders and Intrepid Infantry 1 campaigns. So far, we have introduced over 160 new metal miniature designs onto the battlefields of the world.

All our miniatures are hand sculpted and cast in pewter, as all proper miniatures should be. Miniatures are supplied unpainted.

Meet the Wyverns

Like all our miniatures, our wyverns  are solid metal. They are the ultimate commitment so far to our mantra- No Plastic. No Digital. No Mercy. If we hit all our stretch goals, there will be potentially 96 different variants of head, rider and wing combinations to choose from, including 48 zombie versions! 

How to Pledge

Wyverns are available individually, in pairs, or in flocks (flights, herds, wafts?) of 5. If you want 12 wyverns, to take advantage of the many different variables available, we will not only supply you with a 13th, but Aaron will sculpt a unique rider for that one to your specification. If you are the sort of completionist collector who must have one of every option, we have the Wyvern Mega Pledge, which includes all 96 standard variants plus a unique monster and rider sculpted by Aaron to your specification. If we hit our stretch goals, you will be able to add variety to your selections by varying heads, riders, luggage and wings. There is no need to tell us which particular variants you want until after the Kickstarter campaign has ended. That way you can pick from all the available options when the choices become clear. To be clear, each wyvern pledged for comes with one head, one set of wings and one rider, each of your choice, subject to the designs being unlocked by us hitting the relevant stretch goal.

In addition, each of the first 20 orders of normal and zombie wyverns pledged for will come with an additional, exclusive, limited edition alternate head, unavailable for selection or purchase as part of future orders. So if you do decide you want to be the person with all 48 options of each type, you need to get in early!

Stretch Goals

If we hit certain targets, we will unlock additional wyverns and components so you can tailor your wyvern(s) to your own specification. The first Stretch Goal of £1500 unlocks the fearsome Undead Wyvern- Savage Lily, with her protruding bones and rotten flesh,  ridden by none other than Legendary Leader favourite Silla the Black. 

The second stretch goal, which unlocks at £2570, includes two new rider options for each wyvern, including Legendary Leader Orc Chieftain Bigladd Badgutz. 2 alternate heads for each wyvern are also unlocked, along with luggage options for both. Luggage options will be available to purchase as separate add-ons, whilst the riders and heads can be specified at no extra cost as part of your wyvern pledge.

Our final stretch goal releases another rider for each wyvern, along with two more head options, two more luggage options, and a new wing configuration option for each. Luggage options will be available to purchase as separate add-ons, whilst the riders,  heads and wings can be specified at no extra cost as part of your wyvern pledge.

Add Ons

Aaron has designed 4 items of luggage for each wyvern. If we hit our stretch goals, these will become available for £9 for any two of your choice. 

We have added the opportunity for you to add allies to your wyvern(s), in the form of the Legendary Leaders and Intrepid Infantry from the Heavy Metal Hordes range.

Postage

Postage is not included in your pledge, and will be dealt with through the Heavy Metal Hordes website once the wyverns are ready to ship, so we can calculate it accurately with up to date tariffs etc where applicable.