Tzeentch. Brother Jest and Brother Marc

 A couple of small additions to my Tzeentchian Warband before the year is out, hopefully 2022 will be a better year for the Church of Transmogrification.

Brother Jest of the Outer Church

Brother Jast had always been a religious man, but never a humble one. Raised a devotee of Sigmar, he had been a thorn in the side of the priests with his wealthy family affording him generous donations that always came with price and a demand that his voice be heard. 

Jest had always felt blessed and elevated in the eyes of the Gods but unappreciated of the earth and after arguing with the local priest for the last time he stepped into the Church of Transmogrification, maybe they would be grateful. Grateful they were for his patronage and flattered his ego until he had given all and took the Lilac Sacrament. The hand of Tzeentch reached out and blessed him with pale wings and his ego soared to new heights. He boasted of their beauty and revealed in flights between the colonnades of the church Halls, announcing to all that was amongst the favoured and would soon be blessed again, to join the Churches Cherubim and then on to daemon hood  and to stand by the side the Great Changer! 

His words were heard and the next time he took Sacrament he was brought low and his wings were shrunk until he could do naught but hop, his bright mask burnt and twisted and became a comical grin. Jast became Jest and now serves as a bloody Fool for the Church and still dreams of flight as he perches and drops with his mace

Brother Marc of the Outer Church

Marc had ended his life before the Church found him as a thief of poor skill and little luck. 

Born to a family with a little land, he was the third son and had inherited nothing on his father death. Unwanted at birth and unloved at home, he had been encouraged by uncaring brothers to seek his fortune away from them and in the town. They had given him a small sum of coin and their fathers sword to bribe him on his way. 

But his older brothers had no desire to give anything to him and had plotted for their farmhands to set upon him like brigands when he reached the town and take back all that they had given. Beaten and robbed, the town only saw yet another filthy worthless dreg, his protestations and pleas for help as only begging lies. Desperation drove him to steal, but unskilled and unaccustomed to his new life he was caught by the town watch and punished. His ears were cut and he was pilloried for his theft. Further undone he was found by the Church who took him in and showed him his first kindness and he gladly took the path they offered. Healed of his wounds, he now bears the drums of service and beats out each step on the Changers Way.

Brother Jest is a C12 Citadel Goblin Splat with a set of wings I found in my Bits box. Brother Marc is another figure taken from the Red Redemption set

The Church of Transmogrification revealed so far

  

The Return of Bretonnia

I am still knee deep in Vile Rune Orcs but already thinking of the next group to start on and for a bit of a change will be looking at some humans and the Militia unit. Following that train of thought the unit will  double up as a Bretonnian Peasant unit and decided to dig out my long (again!) dormant Bretonnian forces. Since i have a castle built by my grandfather and one of the reasons I started wargaming ( i will safe that story and photos for another post soon) they are a faction i would never give up and will try and bring them back to life as well this year.
i am currently rereading the Belgariad series by David Eddings and watching Game of thrones which is also peaking my armoured interest!

A quick review has given me a lot to work with, although a lot of stripping and repainting as well, there are also another unit of archers and men-at-arms somewhere as well...

i have decided on a province of l'Anguille, but will be looking for a more subtle blue shade, with some possible GOT Greyjoy elements and undecided whether to go for a clean or dirty finish.

Not wanting to jump in too much with Orcs still to green, i started with one of the damsels, she would give me some more practice with skin tones which i feel is not one of my strong points  and thought I would try a sheer look for her dress. This is not a technique I have tried before but found a couple of tutorials seen it done well by others on the model

Building up the skin tones all over as if the dress was not there before building up layers to form the dress

The finished Damsel, the Lady Elise of the White lake.

Update:

By strange coincidence, or the designs of the Lady, there is a bit of a wider resurgence in Bretonnia and I will be linking in my own progress as part of a Kingdom Reborn Campaign which is being led from Facebook and here:

https://bretonnia.wordpress.com

Next for Bretonnia will be my Duke...

Tzeentch. The Foundlings of Tzeentch

'Before the bright cacophonous advance came the strangest of tides, a host of twisted and malformed hounds that called out in bark and cry as they lopped on and stranger still was their riders that sat aside their hunched backs and shoulders. Tiny forms, like children coloured as to wine, as if they had been dipped into a vineyards press, and stranger still was their countenance For each wore not a face but a part, one an eye and another a nose. It was as if a great face had been raised up and shattered and its parts laid up on each child's sleeping that they might wake and carry it as their own.
Though they stood no higher than my waist i had no breath to laugh for their mad and murderous intent was clear and had emptied my lungs in fear. I know not what brought me lower, that they were apart or that might come together again in some greater madness.

Pikeman Cartin, 1st Standing Stone Border Milita.
Survivor of the Candle Tower Massacre.


The public face of the Church of Transmogrification is a merciful and beneficent one. All are welcomed and none are turned away, no matter their crime or deformity, no matter how unloved and unwanted.
The mutant and criminal have found their way through the church doors but young and abandoned are also taken in and found a place under the Lord of Changes gaze. The smallest are given over to the hungers of sharper mouths with the congregation while the more able are taken into service.
Life expectancy is short for many, exposure to the high levels of magic and the warp poison some while others dissolve into multicoloured hue or cloud, collapsing into a scented incense drift or bright smudge against the wall. Some mutate into bright insects or small twisted gargoyle like shapes that swarm and inhabit the small spaces of the church. Some endure and joined the ranks of the Foundlings, their bodies given over to a single sense and their minds joined, sustained by magic and used by the church masters to extend their visions. The founding act as spies for the Church in times of peace and as scouts and saboteurs when battle is joined, ranging ahead of the main lines or skulking round the edges to see what might be missed.

In constructing the Foundlings I used Chaos war hounds and a selection of Halfings and Marauder Miniature Goblins. Saddle cloths, saddles and their altered faces were then built up with Green Stuff.
Prior to this project i have only really worked with GS as a filler but my first attempt at sculpting (very crudely!) with the Slann War Tortoise encouraged me to keep trying and forming the shields and these features are the most complex I have done so far.

The Warband so far, taller figures to come as well! 

First Bretonnian

My first new Bretonnian!

The figure is from the Marauder Miniatures Fighter range and he will stand in as a Paladin on foot.

I remember when i first got the figure and wasn't that keen on him but now is unique look and the chance to get him right this time made him a easy choice for me. As a Paladin i wanted to go for quite a clean minimal look and not distract from the armour too much. For the armour I wanted to avoid the  polished chrome look and be a bit more realistic.

I am really pleased with the base, its my first time using cork and the terrain from the Army Painter range but will use this as the template for the army.

A return to Warhammer

I have not had much time to post recently, work commitments but also busy painting and reviewing my collection out of deep storage.
The Age of Sigmar has reminded me how much i liked the original fantasy game, this was where I  started with wargaming and I have decided to refresh my Bretonnians as well as pick up a couple of extra units to make them playable.

My original army had the original Empire High Helm and White Wolf knights and Empire Crossbow men  and a one of the Regiments of Renown, Red Redemption Chaos Cultists as a unit of warrior monks. I will probably ebay them to fund some units on my wishlist.

My Men-at-Arms are a mix of early Feudal, Norse and Foot knights which i prefer to the new plastic unit.

I have been able to pick up a several joblots of Archers and Knights have started on the first unit. I know rebasing isn't compulsory and if they did not need painting i would probably leave them but will a wholesale refurb i have decided on the round bases as it will give me more space to decorate and terrain. To keep the big battalion feel i will look at getting some movement trays for them