Slann. Slaves 4

With the Slaver completed it was back to the GS and building collars for the 19 slaves, once it had dried I then added the arms and started to Batch paint them.The shields were prepared separately with the skull motifs being filed off and then painted.

The face paint was added after the skin was completed so it could be seen round the edges and it was clear it was applied paint and not a blue face.

I have decided not to give the unit a standard due to their low standing and lobotomised nature, though when I start on the second unit i might review and add some sort of skull/ corpse topped staff.

The completed unit fits in well with the rest of the painted army and will certainly be added the other unit once I have completed the core units on my list and can get hold of another Slaver

Next on the build list is the Slann Mage...

Slann. Slaves 3

With the first slave done i started the production line with the first slave unit of twenty, though this would be 19 slaves and a Slann slave master.

The Slave master is a pre-slotta release and I trimmed off part of the base and used cork and GS to have him standing on a partially submerged pillar, this would obscure the base and also give him a bit more height to help him stand out over the slaves. I had also extended his slave whip

At first glance the slaver can look quite a blob but as with a lot of the Preslotta slann there is a huge amount of detail and was a pleasure to discover and paint

Slann. Slaves 2

Deciding to use the Ansar Tribesmen set from Perry miniatures for my Slann slaves i needed to do a bit of conversation to help them blend in with the Slann slaves that would be bearing my Slann mages.

using my very basic Green Stuff skills I was able to add a slave collar, though i was very mindful I had now committed myself to having to this another 39 times!

I also decided on using another of the shields from the Goblin sprue, these wooden plank style would match up nicely with old pre-slotta slave designs

I wanted to give him a minimal colour scheme that would would work in massed ranks, kept the robes a dirty white, and a painted face that would mark them as sacrifices as well as tie them in with the colours of the army.

One down and 39 to go...

 

Slann. Slaves 1

all for wanting an army based on frogs, the slave unit is actually one of my favourites. The idea that the Slann are using lobotomised human slaves makes for a unique start point and underlines the alienness of the Slann. i always imagine the Slann view of humans similar to that of the Apes view of humans in the original Planet of the Apes, at best a resource or tool and at worst dangerous vermin.

With the original range several Slann slaves were produced,  several warriors pre-slotta and then a club wielding slave and the mage litter for slot base. 

I had a couple back when I first started collecting and even attempted to cast my own using Plaster of Paris and Lead to very limited success, but starting up again the prices and rarity of slaves makes it impractical.

Looking at a modern alternative I looked at Aztec and Mayan ranges from several companies including Wargames Foundry, The Assault Group (TAG), Eureka Miniatures, Outpost wargames service, Perry Miniatures and Gringo 40  

GW Dwarf, GW Knight, Perry Miniatures, Pre-slotta slave, Slotta Slave, Gringo 40, Slann

overall I found Gringo 40 the best in sculpture quality but a bit too tall, I didn't want the slaves bigger than the Slann or too far from the original style if possible as I would still be using the slaves with the Mages.

Both Wargames Foundry and Outpost Wargames Service also supply extras like banners and shields which I will use but the figures looked a bit small and didn't quite match the slave look I wanted.

Slann slave unit using TAG aztecs from Jon's Wargames  mini'sBlog:

jonswargamesminis.blogspot.co.uk

Slann slave from Perry miniature from theottovonbismark blog 

theottovonbismark.wordpress.com

In the end I have settled on the plastic figures from Perry Miniatures, they are slimmer than the GW slaves but i figure these have been bred to fight and minimal unadorned sculpt works well. Being able to field 40 from a singe box is also very appealing!

The Perry Miniatures come with a range of heads and weapons, I will be using the bare heads and will match them up with GW shields rather than those on the sprue to help blend them into the army