New year, new army

After three years dedicated to Pfeildorf, I've decided to take a break, and start... a new imperial army. Yep... Empire... again.

As you may remember, my initial plan was to build an Empire army entirely composed of Marauder Miniatures, based on MM60, MM61, MM62, MM64 and MM65 references. Facing the absence of some types of troops (in particular the crossbowmen, a mandatory regiment according to the Warhammer 3rd edition Army book), I've allowed myself to include Aly (and sometimes Trish) Morrison's models designed earlier for the Citadel and the Talisman range.

Unsurprinsigly, this resulted in a systematic collection of all the imperial miniatures I could find designed by Aly Morrison, and a number of models by far exceeding Pfeildorf's military needs. Despite the recruitement of mercenaries, bowmen, crossbowmen, militiamen and watchmen, the green dots (painted models) remain quite rare compared to the red dots (just owned models).


Rather than extending indefinitely the ranks and files of my Pfeildorfers, I've decided to join the third edition of the OWAC and use the next 6 months to reduce the number of red dots with a new army theme: the crusades against Araby, and more precisely, the one (mis)led by Pieter the Pious.

Illustration by John Blanche - (Kharé - Cityport of Traps)

Once there was a man, who called himself Pieter the Pious, and who led an army of fanatics into the parched land of Araby. On his journey across the Empire, his rhetoric and charisma turned many men, women and children to his cause. They followed behind him, chanting dirges and chastising themselves until their passing was marked with many trails of blood.
Somehow, they managed to find passage across the sea to Araby. But after that, the mouth of history becomes silent. Rumours abound. Were they swallowed by the desert? Were they destroyed by vengeful sand gods? Nobody knows...

Extract from "Armies of the Hammer - The Forgotten Crusades"

(*) Actually: "Blood on the Reik - A journey Through the Old World" - a Black Library product

... but some pretend that their story ended tragically, with the pilgrim army sold into slavery.

Follow ye not in the wake of Pieter

Over the sea to the land of sand,

Your blood will boil in the hot, hot sun,

And into the teeth of death you'll teeter 

Ah, the joy of painting a doomed army :)

All right, let's start with the Empire citizen who followed Pieter's call.
Poorly equiped with rusty weapons and wooden shieds, they are led by a fanatized paladin, Sir Monne de la Monte. I will count them as Ersatzolder (and give them a leather armour to make more points). Note that compared to this picture, posted on OWAC blog in December, I've already changed my mind for the standard bearer, who will join instead the unit of noblemen.

Beggars, crippled veterans, lepers and fanatics are also part of the trip: I will count them as Fleglers, even if they inspire more pity than fear. Since this picture was taken, I've converted the second beggar into a standard-bearer, and the third one into a musician.

Monks and religious will make acceptable Helblitzen. In the heat of the desert, pilgrim's staffs can look like halberds. Compared to this picture, the wizard on the left now holds the standard of the procession, and I've added candles on some staffs. 

Pieter the Pious also managed to convince some noblemen to follow him. Whether they looked for fortune or salvation remains unclear... I will count them as Reiksgards.

When they arrived in Araby, the pilgrims were joined by a few hermits. Living on their own in the Arabian desert, half - if not totally- mad, they make excellent scouts, and will count as Bergjaeger, replacing the traditional long bows by long range arquebuses. Since this picture was taken, the 5th flagellant has been promoted as standard bearer of the company.

Last but not least, Pieter the Pious will be the commander of this pilgrim army: as there is no priest profile in 3rd edition rulebook, let's count him as a wizard. No miniature to show yet, as I plan a conversion involving a war altar...

Illustration by John Blanche (The Seven Serpents)

So, let's count the points:

• Pieter the Pious  = 240 points
• 14 Empire citizen led by Sir Monne de la Monte, with standard bearer, musician, shields and leather armours: (16 x 8) + (55+2+3) = 188 points
• 9 Noblemen, led by Valdemar the Just, with standard bearer, musician and double handed weapons: (11x13) +  (55+2+3) =203 points
• 11 pilgrims, led by Bishop Maximus, with standard bearer and musician: (13x9) + (85) =  202 points
• 6 Sandjaeger: 6x13 = 78 points
• 8 Beggars with musician and standard bearer: 10x9 = 90 points

Around 50 models and 1000 points... I still don't see how I can paint this in six months :)  

Sir Geoffry the Archer... and the first rank complete

A Citadel miniature, for a change. Not 100% sure it was designed by Aly Morrison (even if he is credited for his twin brother Bertrand the Red - see an old post here), but it will do the job.


And the first rank of this regiment of archers:

The scout, the Tilean, and the Mercenary

The Armsbrustschutzen are a mandatory component of an Empire army in the 3rd Ed. Warhammer Armies book... not so easy, when you consider building a force with Marauder Miniatures only. However, as you may know, I've recently solved this issue by extending the initial concept to "anything designed by Aly (and sometimes Trish) Morrison in the eighties".

For this regiment, I had no precise idea in mind for the color scheme: I guess the first painted guy defined the palette for the following ones: black, red and white. So, let's start with the scout of the Citadel Talisman range:


The second painted model is the Tilean Crossbowman from the Citadel F2 Fighter range.


The third one is the Mercenary Crossbowman (same range):


And that's it for the moment!

Maximillian the Brave

New violation of the Marauder-only rule, this model comes from the Citadel Fighter F2 range. As it's an Aly Morrison's design, I guess we can accept him in the City Watch :) As you can see, pictures are still very dark, I don't understand where it comes from. Anyway...

One last model and the 20 mandatory Hellblitzen required by the Warhammer Armies book will be complete. Not totally happy with the way this unit is going (too dark)... and I'm also concerned by the 10 crossbowmen I have to paint to finish the mandatory troops. Well, we'll see...

Chief Interrogator and Guards of St Quintus Prison

I've finally decided to complete the Guild of Lamplighters and Watchmen before starting anything new. As explained in a previous post, my intent is to work district by district and to paint three blocks of 9 watchmen each with a specific theme.

The first one is Mórrsfeld district, where you can find St. Quintus Prison. You've already met the Warden, the Executioner, and a jailer, it's time to introduce you Theobald Grimm, Chief Interrogator and Torturer of St. Quintus, flanked by two guards.

The two watchmen are Marauder Miniatures from the MM60 Fighters range. I'm not totally convinced by the one on the right, but a collection is a collection, and I have to paint them all. For Theobald, I've used a Citadel model from the Dogs of War range, most probably sculpted by Aly Morrison. Note that the portcullis on the shields is part of the coats of arms of the Watch of Mórrsfeld district.


The standard bearer should follow soon...

The treasurer and his secretary

I know, I know, two posts ago, I was annoucing the beginning of Pfeildorf's Watch, and now, I'm back with my old militia. The reason is simple: I've recently acquired an unreleased Marauder fighter equipped with a spear, and I couldn't but include him in the militia.

Hence this new citizen, assisted by a MM64 halfling (HL1), to lead a new rank of spearmen. The citizen is not from the Marauder range, as it was released to play the WFRP scenario Shadows Over Bögenhafen. But I'm pretty sure that this Teugen model was sculpted by Aly Morrison, and it will do the job in this Marauder army.

As for the halfling, I've replaced the fork by an imperial icon, and tried to sculpt a little tabard to bear the colors of his employer. In the end, I've opted for a reduced and simplified version of the militia's standard, considering that this late addition will represent the treasurer of the Guild House, rather than a new Guild Master.

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.

Flagellant #11

First violation of my "Marauder only" rule, you probably saw it coming if you read my previous posts: OK, it's not from the MM65 range, but it was still designed by Aly Morrison :)

This model will complement my initial regiment of fanatics... or initiate a new one? still unsure. I owe this flagellant to the kindness of Chris, who sent it to me after reading my efforts to gather Aly Morrison's production. Thanks again Chris!

Looking for Aly Morrison's model (part 2)

White Dwarf 92 (1987)

Now, back to the picture of F2 fighters released in White Dwarf 92, and let's try to find additional members of Aly's family:

Militia Man and Gaston Spearer

Halberdier and Maximillian the Brave

Imperial pistolier and Georg Lightfoot

Altdorf Captain and Altdorf Infantry

Bernard Swiftbolt and Tielan crossbowman

Mercenary Captain and Altdorf Axeman

Mercenary Swordsman and Mercenary Axeman

Ostland Irregular and Altdorf Seargent

Rupert of Marienburg and Germinus Hero Captain

Sir Crispen of Talabheim and anonymous C01 Fighter (picture from CcmWiki)

Well, that's it, we have identified a good part of Aly's fighters, indistinctly attributed to Aly and Trish Morrison in White Dwarf 87:

White Dwarf 87 - The Stuff of Legends

Now, based on the Militia pages in the 1991 Red Catalogue, which credits Aly Morrison and the Perry twins for the miniature design, we know that the green dotted Enrico Boldlance (Halberd 7), the Gunnery captain (Mace) and the Arquebusier (Arquebus) were also designed by Aly Morrison...

... which leaves us with Rombustus Sellsword, the Mercenary crossbowman, Ernst Stoutheart and Astol the Archer:

.
Given the face of these models, plus the dynamic pose of Rombustus, the crossbowman and the archer, there is little doubt that they were sculpted by Aly Morrison!

Let's check again the militia pages of the Red Catalogue and compare them to the Dogs of War page from the 1988 Citadel Miniatures Catalogue, crediting Aly and Trish Morrison as the designers of the whole range. The purple dots designate the models found in common in both catalogues, wich allows attributing them to Aly Morrison.

Now playing  the "Game of Clones", the following miniatures can also be assumed to be designed by Aly Morrison:

 

which leaves us with the following models without a sculptor's name to put on:

 

Well, if you have any information, feel free to share :)