Mandrake's Mad Dogs (or Bitches to the "soon-to-be-dead")

For my up and coming "Return to Mordheim" campaign I wanted to re-visit my first ever warband and see how things have changed for them years after the initial campaigns I ran 10 or so years ago.

Unfortunately I have since lost and sold off most of my original warbands, so I will be starting from scratch with them, but this gives me a great opportunity to re-make all the characters I came to know and love and re-imagine them and how they have changed in the 15 years since they retired.

So without further adieu, first of all we have...

Tobias "Mad Dog" Mandrake

Bio:
Tobias Mandrake started life as a witch hunter hero in my first ever warband, but after the original captain died at the hands of a particularly nasty vampire he was promoted to lead the warband. He has a loathing of all things undead and a soft spot in his heart for the various dogs of the warband, raising and training them himself to be vicious and loyal. This led to people calling him "Mad Dog" as he was never seen without some vicious canine in tow.

Unlike the other warbands of the time, Mandrake would take both men and women under his care, as long as they were brave, loyal or mad enough to face the darkness of the streets. Since there were so few other warbands employing female warriors, the number of women in the warband grew over time. This led to some people referring to the warband as "Mandrakes Mad Bitches", although never within earshot of any members.

With "Mad Dog" at the helm, the witch hunters tracked down and ended the existence of countless monsters and ner-do-wells. When the streets began to quiet and the hunters disbanded, Tobias used his limited funds to set up a small kennel on the outskirts of the city, where he spent the last 13 years raising and selling quality wardogs to adventurers and local militia. Yet like so many other veterans, as he aged, Tobias found himself longing once more for the clash of battle and the purpose he felt hunting through the streets of Mordheim.

Now that the cursed city stirs and stories of horrors once more wandering the streets increase, Mandrake finds he can no longer sit idly by. Dusting off his weapons and taking his best hounds with him, he makes for Mordheim once more...



When re-making Mandrake I wanted to make him show his age, so whereas he was originally clean shaven and well kept, he is now visibly older and definitely not so bothered with his appearance. You'll also notice I cut up and added a crossbow bolt, I hate unloaded weapons/invisible arrows in models -.-'



Throughout the model I have tried to add little bits of extra piecemeal armour and equipment, especially around the legs. I just always feel like it is a simple way to make your character unique from the rest of the crew (especially if you are kitbashing)



Mandrake knows what he's going into, so he carries allot of stuff, including some food for his beloved dogs xD



I'm not ashamed to say that the shoulder pad and leg brace/armour are a homage to good old "Mad Max" ^^

I think he still needs some more greenstuff work around the leg brace, but other than that I think he is about ready to paint.



A quick preview of the flaggelants. They are fairly simple weapon swaps of the 40k sister repentia models, not sure how much/if any greenstuff work I am planning on doing with them although...I am sorely tempted to make the greatsword a flaming sword though for when one gets LGT xD

Any feedback is appreciated. Cheers!

Wonderful use of the goodies that come with the Kroot kit! Love you conversion there!

Joao

JoaoS wrote:

Wonderful use of the goodies that come with the Kroot kit! Love you conversion there!

Joao

Haha yeah, bought a Kroot box when they first came out...never built a single kroot though, still useing them for kit bashing all these years later xD

VERY COOL & IMAGINATIVE STUFF...I love the background story & it fits the minis very well. Considering Mordheim is rather a Renaissance Post Apocalypse setting, having your Mad Max look like The Mad Max seems appropriate. Rescuing the Sisters from 40K is a fine idea. Keep up the FINE WORK!

DeafNala wrote:

VERY COOL & IMAGINATIVE STUFF...I love the background story & it fits the minis very well. Considering Mordheim is rather a Renaissance Post Apocalypse setting, having your Mad Max look like The Mad Max seems appropriate. Rescuing the Sisters from 40K is a fine idea. Keep up the FINE WORK!

I have to admit, they didn't need much rescuing, they pretty much assaulted me screaming "You have had us in storage for 5 years! WE DEMAND TO SLAUGHTER THE HERETICS"...I tried to reason with them, "One day I'll make a sisters of battle army I promise!" but they were having none of it, they stole some weapons from my marauders when I wasn't looking and even wrote themselves into the warband roster!...Crazy sisters...oh crap! I think they heard m......

Excellent greenstuffing (?) and kit bashing, Tobias is a very cool character.

"Oh...Father Samwell? Hm, well you know how they say that to go hunting in the cursed city you gotta be one of two things, brave or mad? Well turns out there is a third option, surround yourself with all these lost, brave or mad souls...and get them into one helluva frenzy."

Father Samwell is the current warrior priest in the warband, he has a knack for attracting the insane or lost souls wandering the streets of mordheim. He heals their wounds, teaches them scripture and the way of Sigmar, and finally, he teaches them how to kill.

I have always loved the warrior priest of Sigmar model, but it is used so often I just had to do something a bit different. So I thought "Hey, you never see any warhammer models with coifs...challenge accepted!"

I've never made any chainmail with greenstuff before, but I've read up on the theory a bunch so I figured i'd just give it a go ^^

Sorry bout the picture quality, it was a brilliantly dull day in dundee today when I was taking the pics xD









Urgh, the greenstuff looks really thick and blurry in this shot xD rest assured its nicer IRL!

Well I'm off on holiday for a few weeks, so the warband will have to await my return before I can make any progress ^^

Well I've been been cut off from the internet for a few weeks now but I made some progress this weekend while everybody was obsessing over a queen and a bunch of boats or something -shrug-

I got the whole warband finished modelling wise and base coated, so with a sizeable potion of Red Dwarf I got some proper painting done.

First up, father Samwell got himself a new pet, and a fine coat of paint to boot!





And a new entry into the story, Yaria "Trueshot". They say she can shoot the hair off a man's balls from 50 paces...of course this is just a saying, as she has yet to find a man willing to participate in this challenge. She joined up with the Mad Dogs primarily for a steady income and shelter, but truth be told after turning down several offers for lucrative merchant bodyguard roles, most have come to believe that she enjoys the challenge of hunting the lost and the damned amongst the ruins...







Hopefully progress shall continue and I can get the rest of the warband up and running, pinions/feedback is welcome as always

Very nice convertions and BG. I like this warband.
The only thingi don't really like is chainmail cap. But it's too late to complain about it.

NICE ADDITIONS to the Band. Both painted up quite well. WELL DONE!
AND a Happy Enlightened Entitlement Day, erm...Jubilee! Hurrah Queen Liz!

Is that girl mini a Reaper model? Been looking for a couple female minis, and she'd be perfect.

Spectre76 wrote:

Is that girl mini a Reaper model? Been looking for a couple female minis, and she'd be perfect.

I think she is, one of Klockes if I judge correctly.

Really nice conversions, and an interesting background story - like it alot!

folketsfiende wrote:

Spectre76 wrote:

Is that girl mini a Reaper model? Been looking for a couple female minis, and she'd be perfect.

I think she is, one of Klockes if I judge correctly.

Really nice conversions, and an interesting background story - like it alot!

You're right on that one folketsfiende, it's called "Tara the Silent" for reference. I've actually got a number of nice reaper minis in the warband, so expect to see more of the ladies ^^

DeafNala wrote:

NICE ADDITIONS to the Band. Both painted up quite well. WELL DONE!
AND a Happy Enlightened Entitlement Day, erm...Jubilee! Hurrah Queen Liz!

Thanks, although I prefer to call it "Happy Expensive, Mandatory 60 Year Celebration of our unelected Sponge of a Monarch/Tourist Attraction Weekend"...But then again I'm Scottish so yeah xD

TheEnemyWithin wrote:

Thanks, although I prefer to call it "Happy Expensive, Mandatory 60 Year Celebration of our unelected Sponge of a Monarch/Tourist Attraction Weekend"...But then again I'm Scottish so yeah xD

I doubt i'd call it much different and i'm English

Nice stuff here, keep it up!

Spectre76 wrote:

Is that girl mini a Reaper model? Been looking for a couple female minis, and she'd be perfect.

Also I forgot to mention in my previous post that I slightly converted the model by adding the sword+scabbard to her back (its from the empire archers plastic set). Just in case you got confused that it looks different.

I would also recommend thinking ahead on what you are going to do with the big rock she stands on before purchasing, as it's one huge lump of metal that is really flush with her feet, so it ain't coming off easy xD

Woo Hoo for 100th post!...anyways.

Next up on the painting block we have Elaina!

Daughter of a travelling merchant, Elaina spent her formative years learning of different cultures and continents, in preparation for taking the reigns of her father's small trading outfit when he inevitably retired. Over the years, she discovered in herself a sharp intellect and a keen mind for research and bi-lingual studies, that could one day lead to her growing into a fantastic merchant in her own right. Unfortunately fate had other plans...

When a raving lunatic informed the father and daughter that the ancient artefacts they were attempting to sell were cursed, they laughed him off and continued to transport the priceless items to buyers across the old world. Yet when Elaina entered her father's study to find him clutching one of the artefacts under the thrall of a powerful demon , she wished they had listened.

Using her father as a puppet, the demon easily overpowered her and escaped into the night, leaving Elaina alone, traumatised and distraught.

Refusing to accept that her father was lost to the demonic presence infesting him, she spent the next three years trying to track him down. During this time she spent her entire fortune purchasing every known text on the occult and demonic powers from across the world. Despite the warnings, she turned her powerful intellect on the accursed information they contained, desperately searching for a way to find her lost father.

When she finally did track him down, her father had become a twisted shell of the man he once was, lurking with his followers in a pit of depravity that could drive any mortal man to insanity.

Using every scrap of bravery and intelligence she possessed, Elaina fought insane cultists and unspeakable demonic forces for untold days in an attempt to gain her father's salvation. But in the end, when she emerged into the sunlight once more to breath the fresh, uncorrupted air, her father was dead. The twisted features of his severed head seeming to mock her futile attempts to save his soul.

With her father dead and her trading empire in ruins, Elaina found that her only remaining assets were her in-depth knowledge of the occult, how to fight it and a burning hatred for all the corrupted powers in this world. Establishing herself as a demon hunter for hire, Elaina set off for the place where demons walk the streets, where all you need to do to find evil, is point your crossbow, and shoot.

With her unique skillset and proficiency for demon hunting, it was only a matter of time before she signed up with the Mad Dogs, and while Mandrake has officially welcomed her into the group, he keeps a very close eye on her, as he can never trust somebody who has such a strong working knowledge of witchcraft and sorcery.

Phew! That was a bit of a long one! xD Pics time!





I really need to get myself a camera with a Macro lense, all these photos with my phone are useless -.-'

...and now for something completely different!

Behold the Lord of the Dead! He is an NPC boss character I am working on for a campaign setting, he is basically a zombie lord held together by the Necronomicon...Hail to the king baby!





That's all for now folks!

Although it's a bit early for reading here, with much moving of lips, I worked my way through Elaina's story...VERY COOL. The mini matches up nicely to the background...if Witch Hunting doesn't work out, she could join Occupy Wall Street.
The Living Impaired Honcho is really a cool mini...I like the added eyeball. WELL DONE!