Major Sharpe's Mordheim Crap

Meet my Middenheim Warband:

Johnny Daystar's Society for the Preservation of Self-Interested Gentlemen and Civic-Minded Opportunists!

The first painted models:



Saul Darius is the first member of the company that I'm willing to call complete.  I still need to do his eyes, and maybe clean up the fletching on one of his arrows, but otherwise I'm happy with the figure.

Youself Malinowski and Gustav Karlson were more or less the test models for this warband.  I wanted to develop methods for painting leather and white fabric respectively.  They both need some work, but for now they're tabletop quality, and I'm willing to put them aside.

I spent a lot of time modelling this warband, even the models that don't have any conversions. My philosophy for modelling is that you should be able to tell a story about every model, even if that story is as simple as "Crossbowman bob is pausing to reload" or "Fred Jones is advancing under fire".

With Saul Darius, I wanted an archer that looks like he has set up shop on the 2nd story of a ruined building, and is taking shots from the window. He's unlimbered his gear, lightly sinking his axe into the floor and laying out his arrows for easy access. He's just released his shot and is waiting to see whether it hits.

More pics:





The rest of the warband are in various points of completion, but here are some of my favorite models:










Sorry about the picture size/quality.  I'm lacking in a proper lighting setup so I had to photo-edit the pictures.  

C&C Welcome, more pictures and character bios forthcoming.

The War Band has GREAT potential &, from the more finished fellow, a hint at how great that will be. Keep up the EXCELLENT WORK!   

I am looking forward to seeing more.

Well, after my handful of test games last Saturday I've got a better grasp of the mechanics and am looking to modify the warband a bit. Some models are getting equipment changes, and others (namely Captain Ritter and Pirate Pat) are getting arms cracked off so I can magnetize some of their wargear options.

As the league starts in mid-november, I want to have a competitive (but not completely cheesy warband) ready to go. As such I've decided I will hire a pit fighter, and trio of cheap hammer/dagger warriors. I'm hoping that these guys will help me by being human shields the rest of the warband can advance behind, as well as lending a hand in moshpits. So without further delay, allow me to introduce:





Currently Nameless the Pit Fighter. I'm debating actually whether he'll have a name at all. I may just write PIT FIGHTER on his base, though I'm also strongly inclined to write I'LL SHRED YOUR ORGANS if I can fit it. Not much to say about him. He's WYIWYG legal, and was likely hired by the warband at their port of departure.

His mace is from the War40k Dark Heresy box, and his bladefist is an empire knight's shield arm, with a cut down greatsword's dagger glued to it. Greenstuff wrap is supposed to look like leather bindings, we'll see how it looks when painted. Overall a fairly rapid and hopefully good looking conversion.









Pirate Pat's first officer and a pair of 28 point thugs. Though they all have identical equipment, I want my henchman teams to have a visually obvious 'sergeant' that will be the recipient of 'the lad's got talent' rolls. No names of backstories as of yet, though these are the few remaining crewmen of Pirate Pat the Currently Shipless Pirate, and I guess giving them Catachan heads makes them look like pirates. Very happy with the leader, not sure how I feel about the pose on the other two.

The gladiator and the pirates turned out great (catachan heads work nicely). The hammer of Pat's first officer has this little flag that looks like the hammer was just about to come down while the officer stands perfectly still (or there is wind coming from below). This looks a little strange imo. Also, while Saul's axe looks nice in the wood, it's strange to also see the arrows rammed into the floor. But that's just some minor stuff I guess. Great looking warband altogether!

LOOKIN' GOOD! You're mix of plastic & some nice Green Stuff work have produced four potentially cool Rogues...I really like the Pit Fighter. GREAT WORK...keep it up!  

With the hammer & flag, he could be in the process of lowering it quickly.  

Thanks for the feedback, especially on the pirate sergeant's hammer. I'm not sure if i'll cut the pendant off or not. When I modeled him, I figured it kind of looked like he was squaring himself to receive a charge, and maybe the paper is getting kicked up by the wind, but now I have my doubts.

In other news, meet Lukas Voelzman, one of my youngbloods:








Lukas was born the seventh and youngest son of a wealthy Middenheim builder. A sickly child, he was unable to pursue the martial lifestyle expected from a youngest son of the gentry. Had it not been for his childhood friendship with the elector count's grand-nephew, Lukas's brothers might well have led him into the forest to die. Unable to pursue his preferred scholarly pursuits without his family's support, and standing to inherit little other than his father's contempt, Lukas left home at 19 with a single silver coin in his pocket and the family's heirloom zweihander slung over his back.

Though none of the count's state regiments would accept such a tall and skinny youth, the Midland forest guard was considerably less discerning of its recruits. Seeing action in a handful of minor skirmishes against the ratmen and gnoblars that infest the tunnels beneath Middenheim's great rock, Lukas came into his strength as a man and learned the basics of sword drill. When a comrade sought to enrich himself by claiming the reward for the stolen sword of a Norgaten nobleman, Lukas deserted his post and threw himself upon the mercy of a passing caravan's mercenary guards.

The mercenary captain, a man by the name of Jahn Ritter, was impressed by the articulate lad's aptitude for sums and letters, and after seeing a demonstration of the boy's simple, but competent command of a greatsword, offered to take him into his service. Despite learning that their eventual destination was Mordheim, Lukas accepted the offer. Though, knowing that he would almost certainly die in the city of the damned, he had little to lose, and the opportunity to return to confront his family as an adventurer of significant wealth was too great to turn away.

/fluff

The model: Nothing too complicated here. Greatsword arms, free company body, head is from a forgeworld cadian upgrade kit. Sorry about the dark pictures, the skin looks a little better on camera than I think it does in person. My goal was to make him pale skinned, but also dirty with a slight bruise on his face. He's posed to be standing resolutely in the face of a charging inhuman foe, alarmed, but still in full possession of his nerve, he times his strike. He understands well enough that he only gets one swing.

Lukas is the beneficiary of a nice mix of parts. The brushwork & especially the cluttered base look TERRIFIC. VERY WELL DONE!   

You spelled the "z" in his name as an "s".

I know, minor detail, I'll just shoosh already ;-)

Ontopic:
Really like the the details on the mini's. This is looking good!

Nice job on the painted models. You have a pretty good collection of bitz for kit bashing as well. Love the choices for models so far.

Meet Champion Simon Marquis and the warband's hired Pit Fighter.














I'll save Simon's backstory for when I do Captain Ritter's, as there's a lot of overlap between the two.  Long story short, he's an Imperial Guardsman that has been flung through the warp to the world of WFB by a trickster daemon named Ly'fyllwyn.  

The Pit Fighter's fluff is still somewhat up in the air at the moment.  I'm leaning towards, is a veteran pit fighter, has no tongue and therefore never speaks, is therefore strong, silent, and generally creepy towards others.  Also toying with the notion that he's a mortal that has attracted the interest of Khorne (which may help to explain his eventual departure from the warband).

Both models are fairly straightforward, as are both paintjobs.  My first time doing red pants, so I hope it turned out.  Also first attempt at painting a bronze blade/armor, so I hope the effect transferred.  As always, sorry about the poor picture quality, I'll get around to building a lightbox, I swear.  

A question to anyone reading: I have one final thing planned for the pit fighter's paintwork.  I want him to look as if he's been sprayed with arterial blood. I am however, unsure exactly how to do this without ruining his paint.  My current thought is to use the same method I'd use to spray mud onto the tracks of a tank: use a stiff bristled toothbrush, get it wet with paint, and use a finger to spray the model with paint.  Suggestions and or examples are very much welcome for this.

The new additions look TERRIFIC; the color choices & brushwork are OUTSTANDING! The metalwork looks good, although in reality a bronze blade is a liability in combat against opponents wielding steel weapons. That aside VERY WELL DONE!   


There's a technique of loading a brush with fairly thin dark red paint & bending the bristle back then releasing them to send a spray of red on the mini or whatever is to be bloodstained. It works fairly well & looks realistic enough. I've done it on commissioned pieces when requested, but, personally, I don't much care for the dripping gore look.  

So the henchmen have been completed for a while, but I've been slow to post pictures.

Here are Patrick Volker's Pirates comes ashore:




Names are still pending. The general idea is that my warband has entered the city via the river, and hired a down-on-his-luck pirate to bring them in.

Patrick Volkers (also known as Pistol Pat), was a pirate of little renown but significant success on the great ocean for more than 30 years. Kidnapped from the Marienburg docks at the age of 10, Patrick was pressed into service in a pirate sloop's kitchen. By the age of 14, he had taken part in his first boarding action, and by the age of 27 had risen to command his own (stolen) vessel.

A fair commander and only moderately brutal pirate, he inspired significant loyalty among his core crew members. When his vessel was caught and destroyed by an Empire steam ship in the dead winds of the Tilean sea, he escaped to shore with less than 20 men and very little wealth. Selling their services as guards to merchants of the Empire's inland rivers, Volkers' once again acquired his own ship.

Desperate to make ends meet before the coming winter, and willing to be reckless with his few remaining years, Volkers agreed to transport Captain Ritter's men into the cursed city of Mordheim. A contingent of Volker's men, including his first mate, will accompany Ritter into the city. Their services have been paid in advance, but it is the promise of a cut of the loot that keeps these men loyal.

/fluff

I think the models turned out alright for being pretty quick paints. The ugly pug-faced pirate had his foot snap off when I was transferring him between bases, so I briefly considered fashioning him a peg leg, but decided against it. My one complaint is the First Officer's eyes. He's kind of bug-eyed and I don't know how to fix it. I'm normally pretty decent with eyes, but I think the substrate itself might have particularly large/round eyes, and I'm just painting over that.

Again, sorry for the poor pictures. My apartment is pretty much entirely lit with either shop lights or integral lamps. I don't have anything freestanding with which to make a light box.

The Lads look FINE; the beneficiaries of some GREAT brushwork. I hadn't noticed the eye problem; taking a quick view of the photo it looks more like a hard stare than cross eyes...the stare would make him intimidating, thus avoiding a repaint. The fluff is a cool touch that enhances the paint job. VERY WELL DONE!