Wing Commander

I needed a suitable commander for my medieval troops to give them a fantasy feel. What better than to include a monstrous, impressive creature with big wings. So, in keeping with the overall Germanic theme of my medieval troops, I created Baron von Bach-Sachenkrach.

So I got a griffin which is yet another nice big monster from Reaper Bones. You just can't go past Bones for big creatures that are affordable and lightweight. The knight is a Perry, War of the Roses mounted man-at-arms. He looks okay. I added the crest on his helmet from another Perry figure - A plastic French Napoleonic Dragoon. His shield is a left over from the Fireforge Teutonic Knights set.

The saddle was a bit of a problem. I just ended up using some greenstuff. I don't know what a griffin saddle should look like so this is what I came up with. It's not great but it is what it is.

I really wanted this creature to stand out but it looked a bit dull. So I added the blue feathers which was just what it needed. The blue really made it go: Ta-Daaaaa! Also I luckily spotted an old sheet of GW Eldar decals in amongst the chaos of my painting desk. Hence the appropriate shield device.

So. all in all... I have a nice fancy commander/hero to give my men-folk a bit of a fantasy flair. 

T'was Brillig and the Slithy Toves...

...Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogroves,
and the mome raths outgrabe.

Yes, I bought myself a Jabberwock, my son. With jaws that bite and claws that catch. This is a Reaper Bones figure and it looks lovely. But I have to say that it would have been better produced using the harder Black Bones material. It stands on one skinny leg and its tail and these can't support its weight. As a result it constantly wants to bend towards the ground because the white Bones material just isn't strong enough.

So, I tried a few things which didn't work and eventually decided to drill into one leg and drive a piece of brass rod into it. I then drilled a notch into the mdf base and glued the rod in place. Then I used Miliput and Greenstuff to build a tree stump around the brass rod.

He came out very nicely and he'll join one of my fantasy armies. I have a couple of figures with long spears that would look good as handlers so he might end up as a fantastic element to go with my medieval troops and give them a more fantasy feel.

A Troll, a Champion and Some Elves

I've been doing a bit more painting this week. I'm trying to get some of the bigger figures that I have waiting on the painting tables as well as getting some more elves ready for battle. Not that it makes much of a dent in the model-pile. But they do add to the numbers of troops waiting for another battle.

"Puny humans." Troll SMASH!

First is this ugly fellow. He's big and standing at about 3" (7.5cm).  I used him recently in a game and, as you can see in the above photo, he makes a pretty intimidating presence when on the table. The figure is yet another Reaper Black Bones. It's a good solid and hefty figure and if it was made in lead he'd weigh a ton and I could use him for doing a workout. I added the mushrooms and also some flock on his shoulders & back to make him look a bit more organic, as if he'd been sleeping under a bridge waiting for unsuspecting travelers.

I'm not sure what this figure is supposed to be. As I've been slowly building fantasy armies, I thought I might create separate Elf and Faerie Folk armies. This isn't anything definite but it's good enough a reason for me to collect more things and do some odd stuff. 

Anyway... this guy will be a champion or a general or a captain or something. For the moment I'm calling him the Lord of the Forest. He's another Reaper Bones figure. He's okay but I think I'd prefer the metal version. As you can see he came out okay but I just can't seem to straighten that sword handle. Also, I don't know what that weapon in his hand is supposed to be. Initially  I thought it was a melee weapon but I now think it's a bow. 

And last but not least is a new regiment of elves. These ones have a different paint job to my previous ones. I like the idea of different noble houses having their individual panoply. These guys are from Oathmark. I made the captain a few weeks back and posted on here. I thought I'd give him his own regiment. The shield motifs are just printed on paper. they're cut out and stuck on and varnished over the top. Not great but they look okay for the moment.

 And here they are without their captain.

And that's it for now. But I do have another large model that I've just finished and waiting for some final little details. I'll post some photo's soon.

Farewell dear reader.

A Battle in the Forest

Once again I'm locked up in Melbourne which has been deemed Plague Capital of Australia. Oh well, what can I do?

I can have a battle in my garage. That's what I can do!

The army of the Erlking: being bright eyed elves and other faerie folk defending their realm from a force of evil orcs, ogres and werewolves lead by the arch werewolf: Black Maugwr himself.

By the banks of the swift river Silverwash in an open dell stands a sacred she-oak of ancient lineage and mystical virtue. The last survivor of a once great grove. Black Maugwr, that spirit of the vilest wickedness, craved only two things: The corruption of the spirit and the power to bring about that corruption. On this day Black Maugwr bent his malice to the destruction of the ancient she-oak for no better reason than destruction itself.

But nothing happens in the the Erlking's realm that is not reported to the Erlking's ears. And hearing of this venture into his lands he sent forth elves, fauns and centaurs led by The Rosy Knight and the dragon Bluefang, along with the fairy Hellebore and the Daoine Sidhe.

Wearing the shape of a great werewolf, Black Maugwr looks with contempt at the forces arrayed before him. They will die this day and the life-magic of the old tree will be devoured by nightfall.

 On the flank faun scouts enter the woods and prepare to hold their ground against the enemy.

On the opposite flank on the banks of the Silverwash a band of ferocious werewolves dash forward full of the wild killing lust.

 Orcish scouts enter the forest to be met with the sharp arrows of the fauns.

Black Maugwr's ogres make straight for the she-oak and start swinging their axes and clubs, gashing the tough old bark.

The werewolves make their way towards a company of elfin archers only to be met by Bluefang and the Rosy Knight. They are driven back scorched by the dragons' fire and pierced by the knights' lance.

The elves cannot let the ogres continue with their hacking and charge forth with their spears leveled. The ogres are made of hard stuff but the elfin spears hurl them back leaving one of their number dead in the grass. But Black Maugwr, himself charges into the elfin ranks driving them back with great carnage.

The centaurs charge into the great wolf form but they are no match for a creature of such malice and evil and are themselves forced to retreat.

With the Daeine Sidhe holding back the werewolves with their spells The Rosy Knight prepares to duel with the great black wolf.

The ogres, now with the blood rage surging through their veins, charge another band of elfin spears. But their captain is prepared. With spears set and shields locked they stand solid against the ogres. Another dies and the last of the hulking creatures runs from the field bleeding from a dozen wounds.

 Before dragon, knight and wolf can duel a band of orcs moves up distracting both dragon and rider.

In the woods the orcs have tried to penetrate and have been pushed back. A second attempt to oust the fauns also fails but not before the second band of orcish scouts shoot their poisoned darts at the centaurs from the cover of the woods driving the sylvan cavalry from the field of battle.

With the Rosy Knight distracted the orcs drive froward towards the dragon but as they get close Bluefang lets forth a roar and a blast of blue fire that sends the orcs running.

In the center, Black Maugwr had his orcs charge the elfin spears who stood fast and throwing the orcs back. But they could not abide the assault of the great wolf and fled in terror. But the fight was not all one sided and Black Maugwr was sorely wounded and stood panting amongst the bodies of the slain. Seeing the foe worsted the captain of the elfin archers ordered a volley that brought down the great black wolf. With a great cry of despair Black Maugwr fell as an oily black smoke rose from the fallen creatures' carcass and took the the air.

With their captain gone the orcs and their remaining allies fled. Why should they stay to die when their mighty captain was no longer alive to scourge their hides.

And so the day was won. The danger had passed and the she-oak still stood: wounded but still alive. But where was the corpse of the black wolf? Where the great body fell only grass, blackened and turned to ash by the spilling of it's blood remained.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was just a spur of the moment solo game using Dragon Rampant. I just wanted to set things up and put figures on the table. I already had the lists worked out from a couple of month ago. I decided to treat the she-oak as a unit of Elite Foot (armour 4 with 6 hits). It had no fighting ability just the toughness that comes with age. The ogres managed to inflict 2 wounds.

I've been thinking of creating a short campaign for a bit of narrative fun and to give some meaning to a few solo games. I might have a look online to see if I can find something ready made.

I hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers.

Knights and Wolves

This week I decided to paint some knights. I really wanted some elfin knights but every where I looked I found that I was going to have to take out a second mortgage to pay for them. Instead of paying a ridiculous amount of money for half a dozen mounted figures I decided to get a box of Perry plastic Hundred Years War knights and decided that a nice paint job will make them look suitably elfish.

Originally, I was going to paint them all different colours. I was reading The Many Coloured Land (again after a long time) and I really like the description of the glowing coloured Tanu knights and I thought I'd paint them like that. I put the figures together and put them aside. I picked them up again a few days back and decided to paint them green to keep them in line with my Elfland / Faerie theme. They came out okay and they look enough like faerie knights for my taste.

I also got a bunch of wolf packs from Reaper. I could only get three packs for nine figures but I really want to make a unit of a dozen. They were pretty easy to paint and they look nice. I just need to get my hands on another pack to bring them up to speed.

I made a couple of small terrain pieces to go with my Faerie theme. Just a couple of pieces of scrap foam mounted on some old cd's. Cheap and easy but they look nice enough.