For centuries the
Spotted Ones tribe had lived in fear of the stronger Greyskins, the more savage
Black Pack or the cleverer Rat Tails, but this all changed when Snaarl
Blackmane became chief. For this he always attributed his success as tribal
chieftain to one thing: he never turned anyone away.
The tribe’s fortunes
first began to turn when they discovered the strange striped nose whelp, left
abandoned in a sewer pipe. On Snaarl’s orders they took him in and raised him
as their own, for even as a pup Snaarl could see potential in the small mewling
thing. It was not long before ‘Mewl’ had surpassed the old shaman in all
matters spiritual. Their enemies soon learned to fear his skills and knowledge
of all things poisonous.
Then there were the
half-breed barbarians of the upper levels. While strong and ferocious in
battle, they were slow and dim-witted when it came to tactics and were being
hunted to extinction by the cunning Gnoll tribes. Snaarl changed all that,
offering a paw of friendship that ultimately saw them become his shock troops.
He also spared no
attention to his rank-and-file tribesmen – be they lowly thugs or favoured
Templars – all got their share of the spoils. Even the Hyenas could expect a
decent feed after the many wars of expansion that Snaarl launched against his
former oppressors.
Soon the Spotted Ones
had expanded their territory from the Great Canal to the Skull Gate Fighting
Pits, even reaching down into the old laboratories and workshops that had lain
undisturbed and forbidden since the time of the Makers. Here they had
discovered strange treasures, which they jealously guarded despite being
ignorant of their function.
But now a new threat
had emerged. Hairless ones, smooth skins and fangless warriors from the Great
Above with strange magic and alien smells. Incursions into Snaarl’s territory
became more and more frequent. Deep down Snaarl regretted ever delving into the
Maker’s secrets, for now these others came in search of such things, and the
great chief knew that fighting them would be the only option.
Let his warriors
gibber and squeal in anticipation then. The Gnolls of the Spotted Ones tribe
are on the hunt once more…
The last bunch of minis for my Gnolls then: a chieftain
(Reaper Bones Gnoll warrior) and some ‘Gnoll’ barbarians. I decided to use
Reaper Bones Bugbears as to my mind there were no suitable barbarian torsos in
the Northstar box set and I wanted a change from painting Gnolls (I’m also tempted
to use these as barbarian berserkers if there’s nothing I fancy in the
Forgotten Pacts barbarian box set).
