OWAC IV - The pikemen - Part I

One of the pleasures of searching inspiration in historical references is to browse old books online. Lucky me, the history of the Old Swiss Confederation was covered by several chronicles, including the Tschachtlanchronik, the Chronicon Helvetiae (Part I, Part II and Part III) and the Illustrated Chronicle by Diebold Schilling of Lucerne (Luzerner Schillling). Hundreds and hundreds of illustrations to contemplate, find colour schemes, ideas for banners, and more generally, anything that can make your regiments stand out. 

For this second month, my initial plan was to paint the content of the MB1 box as is, using a very Swiss color scheme, white and red. But I've learnt two things from my unit of halberdiers: red is not an easy color, and the black & yellow couple works quite well. I have therefore opted for pikemen from the BlackHorns clan, whose coat of arms shows a black auroch's head on a yellow background... yep, you've probably recognized the coat of arms of the Canton of Uri. 

Once decided for Ur... sorry BlackHorns colors, something I couldn't avoid was the famous hornblower, wearing the bull outfit!

Luzerner Schilling - Detail of page 74

My first attempt is a conversion from the hornblower of the MM11 command group: I have simply swapped the original instrument for a bretonnian bit, and added two horns stolen from a Chaos Marauder. 

The second model is based on an MB1 pikeman: I have trimmed down his hat, given him horns (again from a Marauder's helm) and greenstuff ears, and equipped him with a small horn (another bretonnian bit). Et voilà!

I think the second model better captures the original idea. In any case, both will join my regiment of pikemen.