Bloodbath.The Linden Way Militia.P1

With the completion of the Osrim Chardz and only the unit banner to do I moved on to my next Command Sheet and decided to tackle the big human unit, the Linden Way Militia.
This is quite a large sheet with 36 units split between 25 militia and 10 villagers plus the command figure, Mayor Leofwine.

Assembling the figures for this was one of the longest due to the number of villagers and Mayor Leofwine. The 25 strong Militia I picked up from Wargames Foundry and were originally released by citadel as Feudal Levy for their Bretonnia range plus a couple of their medieval archers.

 The villagers are from the citadel C46 villagers range and were a slow find from eBay over several years

The first six done. From left to right, The Stable Boy, The baker, The Miller, The Storekeepers Wife, The Store keeper and The Libertine.

The Store Keeper is not the figure used in the set as this one seems to be particularly rare and still eludes me, the Baker and the Libertine are not part of the  BB@OD set but I picked them up as part of a larger group 

 I have gone for quite an earthly colour scheme which will give them a unified feel despite the individuality. the figures have loads of character and i have really enjoyed painting them and can see why they are a collectable set.

the remaining six 

Bloodbath. The Dwarfs of Ashak Rise. P2

Looking back over the blog and it was Oct 2018 that I last posted on my Bloodbath at Orcs Drift Project and unfortunatly I had done little else since then. 

Distracted by numerous other projects, the figures did little more than move around my painting list and sit accusingly on the back of my desk. But as the end of this year approached I had a burst of guilt fuelled inspiration to try and get at least these finished and complete my second Command Sheet

This was the state of play late December, with ten still to paint and six done, although I was no longer happy with them which I think contributed to my avoidance. 

I started reworking the initial six and gave them a new livery which I was much happier with and inspired me to work on the rest.

The crossbow dwarves were painted up in the new livery. The crossbows were modified Empire crossbows

The first of my Bloodbath character figures. Borinn Fimbul and his son Snorinn Fimbul.

Both figures are packed with extra details and a joy to paint

This took me up to the end of the year and only the pack mules left to do frustratingly!

All painted and my second Command Sheet completed!

Still on a dwarf high, I have started the next Command Sheet which will be The Engineers of Osrim Chardz. This is also small unit and will be another repaint and paint. It also contains Osrim Chardz himself which was a limited Scenario release and is quite a rare/expensive figure.

Bloodbath. The Dwarfs of Ashak Rise.P1

Taking advantage of some extra hobby time and the buzz from completing the Vile Rune Orks I have moved on to the next Command sheet and the Dwarfs of Ashak Rise which I had previously started.

This one of the smallest groups and is only 15 figures, 11 dwarf clansmen, two characters and three pack mules. 

The first job was to rebase the dwarfs as they had been placed on round bases which had been used before I decided on original bases, and then to to retouch the six dwarfs I had already painted. It also gave me an opportunity to revise some of the colours and go for a more sober look and bring the base style in line with the Orcs, although for the forces of good the bases will be a little more alive with green rather than brown foliage.

Five Dwarf Crossbows, three Mules from Wargames Foundry who now hold the original Citadel molds and the two characters

Borinn Fimbul and his son Snorinn Fimbul

rebased and repainted with new shield details that have the dwarf runes for Fimbul and Fim 

Norse Terrain.P2

After posting my last piece I realised I had not posted up on the Terrain pieces which I had started and finished a while ago.
Originally designed to be used for a Saga war band, I have ended up putting that project on hold (so many projects!) but is generic enough to be used for other tables. The finished set comprises of a two stone carved piece, several smaller standing stones( I had started with a couple and then kept going! ) and a stone well
I had also created a a casualty piece with a soldier who had been killed and given the Blood eagle, this where the victims back is opened up and the ribs pulled back and the lungs drawn out and draped over the shoulders to form bloody wings.

Yggdrasil World Tree carving

Stylised Norse Raven

Norman soldiers form up around the well and ruins.

Figures old citadel, now available from Wargames Foundry

The torn back was made using GS and small slivers of wood for the ribs

Slann. Baggage Train 1

Going though the rules I found that you are allowed a free baggage train every 1000 points, which for the Slann consists of a train of porters, 5 Slann bearers and 5 human slaves. My initial thought was to also add a terrain piece, a pile of luggage and food baskets under a canopy.
For the Slann bearers I plan to use one of the loin cloth Slann brave figures and cast up some using GS as i don't have that many figures to spare. For the human slaves I looked at casting up some of the slaves from the wizards litter bearers and have the two poles joined up to have a pack slung below but  I  came across some baggage carrier on Wargames Foundry,  Askaris bearers (DA 021) from their Congo range which fit in well with the original slaves

in the background you can see me sketching out the idea for the baggage dump but i will post more on tat when I start it properly

rebasing and then all ready to paint in the same style as the Slave unit. I used a similar colour range with the baggage to keep the contrast with the face paint

Happy with how these have turned out and match up well with the other slaves, will look at getting some more to use for convoy scenarios. The baggage dump and Slann bearers will have to wait a bit until I get the rest of the 1000 completed!

Wargames Foundry

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