2016 re-cap

Last post of the year, it's time to have a look at what I have painted and collected over the last 11 and a half months.

Painting...

No suprise here, except a miniature for railway modelling and a Bood-Wargames dwarf , I've focused my efforts on my Empire army, using mainly the Marauder Miniatures sculpted by Aly Morrison and Trish Carden.

Since January, I've been able to paint 34 models, including 7 MM60 fighters, 10 MM62 citizens, 5 MM64 halflings, 7 MM65 flagellants, 1 MM41 ogre, 1 unreleased Marauder wizard and 3 Citadel miniatures (F2 fanatic, C46 mastersmith and TL8 merchant).

My first completed unit is the flagellants, painted using a faded palette of brown, green and grey colors. Considering what the 'Eavy Metal team painted 25 years ago, I wish I had added some details on the robes and the banner and used more colors. Well... maybe for the second batch of flagellants, initiated with a Citadel model sculpted by Aly Morrison.

(source: http://www.solegends.com/marauder/mm65flagellants.htm)

The second unit I'm working on is the militia hired by the Guildmasters of Pfeildorf. My initial plan was to use the leather tones of the gambesons to unify the different models (mainly composed of MM62 citizen). But over the last few months, I've realised that painting elaborate coat of arms designs was quite fun, and I've started to rework the militia by adding townsfolk and shield bearers. I still have one rank to paint (including the standard bearer and the musician) to consider this regiment complete: hopefully, Christmas holidays will be sufficient to paint the 5 missing models.

The third unit to complete is composed of hired soldiers, mainly equipped with great swords. Considering them as mercenaries is the only way I've found to include the fighters of the MM60 range. So far, only 5 models painted. More to come next year!

The fourth unit I have in mind are the 20 mandatory halberdiers of the 3rd edition army list... well, not much progress here, with only one beta-test model (shield to re-paint).

... and Collecting

2016 has been a great  year for the oldhammer collectors, with the release by Wargames Foundry / Warmonger Miniatures of the Empire Magic Users initially designed for Marauder Minatures. So far, I've only succeeded in painting Magic User MU9. Still 4 wizards to complete  (admittedly not the finest miniatures, particularly MU1 and MU3)

(From left to right: Magic Users MU1, MU3, MU6, MU7 and MU9 - check this link for further details)

On a more personal point of view, I've finally been able to complete my MM60 collection, by acquiring the last missing fighter (F20), and I'm slowly filling the gaps in the MM62  citizens.

Last but not least, I've been lucky enough to pick up two unreleased Marauder Miniatures: an archer (already identified by the CCM Wiki) and a crossbowman, never seen before. And in both cases, the sculpting job is really outstanding!

So what's next?

As I said, my top priority is the completion of the militia. After that, several possibilities:

• adding a second rank of hired swords;
• starting the halberdiers;
• painting a regiment of archers (including the unreleased model).

Now my recent acquisition of the unreleased crossbowman raises a lot of questions: should I paint it, or try instead to find a way to make duplicates of it, so that I can field a regiment of 100% Marauder shooters? I'll see what I can do next year...

In the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The Cobblers' Guild Master and his shield bearer

Once again, not a Marauder model but a villager from the Citadel C46 range, the "mastersmith". No idea who sculpted it... As far as I know, it could be Aly Morrison or Trish Carden, which means that this addition wouldn't be totally irrelevant in a Marauder-only army (minus two).

As usual, the shield bearer is a halfling from the MM64 range (reference HL2): the scythe has been replaced by a dagger and I've simply glued a shield on the left arm.


Regarding the shield, I've simplified the coat of arms of the cobblers' guild of Vienna (check this blog for more details) by removing the arrow and the small details of the crown. Below the original:

So, that's it, my rank of weathy owners of Pfeildorf's militia is now ready for parade.

Still 5 militiamen to paint to complete the regiment...

The Tanners' Guild Master and his shield bearer

This merchant model is not a Marauder Miniature, but since it was sculpted by Aly Morrison (for Talisman), let's say it's acceptable for my now "almost Marauder-only" Empire army. The shield bearer is a  converted MM64 halfling (HL3): right hand re-sculpted to hold the shield instead of the original flail.


Regarding the coat of arms of the Tanners' guild, I have opted for a sheep holding a spear with the militia's colors (red and white), inspired by the Lamb of God used by the wool merchants guild in Florence, or by the tanners' corporation of Grasse (France).

Not my brightest idea as, believe me or not, it's way easier to paint a two-headed eagle than an ordinary sheep...  On top of that, the lamb is probably too big for the shield, but when I realised it, I was too tired of painting again and again the face of this damn' sheep to re-start from zero.

So, for the moment, the merchant has been glued into place, and the halfling is simply put on the base: I'll see in the coming weeks if I find courage to paint a new shield for the Tanners' Guild.

The Shearers' Guild Master and his shield bearer

Second addition to the rank of wealthy citizens leading the Guildhouse militia, this model was an unreleased Marauder Miniature for a long time. Lucky you (and me), this Magic User (former reference MU 9) is now available for almost free (compared to eBay standards!) as a "Time Warped Wizard" from Warmonger Miniatures.

As the city of Pfeildorf is renowned for its wool clothing industry, the guild master of the Shearers had to appear as a very rich citizen, and this wizard was the perfect match. As for the shield bearer (MM64 HL5), I've simply removed the right hand holding the spear and sculpted a new one holding the shield.


The arms of the guild are golden hand shears. A few examples can be found on the web (see below).

(source: The Vinkhuijzen Collection of Military Uniforms)

Now I'm still hesitating about the next Guild master: I have a few models, some of them sculpted by Aly Morrison, but unfortunately not from the Marauder Miniatures range. Should I break the Marauder-only rule for them? Or try to use some MM62 citizen, even if they're not as convincing as the ones already painted? We'll see...

The Tailors' Guild Master and his shield bearer

I was recently browsing Cadwallon's Player Book, studying Gary Chalk's artwork in search of ideas to improve the look of the Guildhouse militia. And I remembered that I really liked the idea of  the Weapon Bearers: as it is forbidden for beings taller than 1.50 meters to bear weapons in the upper city, small people hire their services to transport weapons, which allows rich Cadwës to bypass the rule of the upper city.
Eureka! I was going to use the halfling range MM64 as shield bearers for the Guildmasters of Pfeildorf.

Referring to Mad Alfred's work on Pfeildorf, we know that:

Guilds are a major political force in Pfeildorf. These regulate the economic issues and rules of their respective trade throughout Sudenland. The guilds control their members in other parts of the province through use of smaller outposts in Geschburg, Kroppenleben, and Steingart.
The most influential of the Pfeildorf guilds are the Shearers’, Tailors’ and Weavers’, Tanners’, and Cobblers’, who also happened to be the ones involved with the major portion of the town’s exports.

 [...] Other guilds are important to Pfeildorf and make certain that the four major guilds represent their respective interests as well.These guilds include the Artisans’ (a mix bag of craftsman not covered by other guilds), Bowyers’ and Fletchers’, Builders', Rivermen, Smiths’, Stevedores', Teamsters', and Vintners’.

OK. So let's start by an easy one: the Master of the Tailors' Guild. The model comes from the MM62 Citizen range, reference CZ 11. For the shield bearer, I've selected the halfling HL6, slightly converted by removing the finger in the nose, adding a shield and replacing the spade tool by a dagger.

Obviously, the shield had to bear the colours of the Tailors' Guild. Again, Cadwallon was of great help to define the concept. Below a part of a Gary Chalk's illustration that can be seen in Cadwallon Secrets Volume 1, and the resulting shield:


And here is the final result: the merchant and his shield bearer. They will stand in the front rank of the militia... until the battle begins of course :)


(The piggy face of the merchant is all my fault: I've let the miniature fall on the nose :( )

Since each Guildmaster will bear the colours of his guild, I've sent the former standard bearer back to the usual and safer job of an ordinary militiaman... which means putting back in place the hallberd I had previously removed...

Swordsman #5

First rank of imperial swordsmen completed with this F12 fighter. His scale armour is unique in the MM60 range, and I wanted this veteran to stand out by using copper tones for the NMM.


The inspiration for the shield came again by browsing the Warhammer Armies book (the Empire section). One (virtual) pint to the one who identifies the bird... (a chicken?)


And to conclude, the complete rank:

Swordsman #4

Another Marauder MM60 fighter (F11). People who know the miniature will notice that I've painted fake edges on the shoulder pads: it makes the painting job way easier.


Still a lot to paint for this unit of mercenary swordsmen, and for the moment, I can't find any coherence in the colors chosen... painting dwarfs in chainmails was much simpler :(

Time Warped Wizards

For those (like me) who missed the Oldhammer week-end this summer, the formerly unreleased Empire Magic Users (see collecting Citadel Minis wiki) will be soon available.

Check this link for pre-order :)