The Adventures of Kurt Von Signheisser - Updated 14/9/17

After years of lurking I've finally bitten the bullet and started on my first warband - a Middenheim mercenary one, with the theme of SWORDS.

The central concept is a warband made up of the members and instructors of a 'sword school' in a similar vein to the fencing/martial arts schools run by Talhoffer, Fiore dei Liberi et al.
The warband will have the fencing master himself as my captain, a pair of instructors (champions) and a variety of students. Everyone will of course be armed exclusively with swords. Currently I'm thinking of starting with the following list, I mostly need to decide equipment specifics:

Captain (Kurt Signheisser) - 90
Two swords
Lucky Charm

Champion - 65
Two swords
Helmet

Champion - 65
Two swords
Helmet

Youngblood - 30
Sword
Buckler

Youngblood - 30
Sword
Buckler

Swordsman - 55
Two swords

Swordsman - 55
Two swords

Swordsman - 55
Two swords

Swordsman - 55
Two swords

Total cost: 500 GP

I'll post some pictures tomorrow after my exam. I'm working from the State Troops box (I tried to get some Free Company but they were out of stock )

Interesting idea, but it's not very Middenheim, is it?

Reikland seems a better fit though the Marienburgers' extra starting cash would help pay for all those swords and some extra bodies, hired swords or equipment. Either of these warbands wouldn't be laughed out of their home towns should you decide to go down the rapier route as well.

Citizen Sade wrote:

Interesting idea, but it's not very Middenheim, is it?

Reikland seems a better fit though the Marienburgers' extra starting cash would help pay for all those swords and some extra bodies, hired swords or equipment. Either of these warbands wouldn't be laughed out of their home towns should you decide to go down the rapier route as well.

I'm not very knowledgeable about the fluff side of things,but from my (admittedly brief) reading of the rules, the Middenheimers seemed the most melee-focussed, while the Reiklanders seemed more focussed on marksmen. Having re-read the warband section, it does seem that Marienburg might be a better fit. Luckily I've only just started painting.

Herr Kurt Von Signheisser, sword master and leader of the warband in his primed state.



The first of Herr Signheiser's acolytes (a Swordsman).

Looks good so far! Can't wait to see more!

Herr Von Signheiser didn't show up for moi, but his Henchman looks VERY promising. Keep up the GREAT WORK!  

Hmm, Google Drive isn't great for posting pictures. I've uploaded them to my Picasa account.

Here's Herr Von Signheiser again, with the colours blocked in:



I've mostly finished the first Swordsman, Hans Pegnitzer. He still needs basing and a second sword.





And I've started on the first of the instructors, Hendrick Van Kaal:



I'm still debating whether to choose Middenheim or Marienburg for my warband; here's a provisional list I've drawn up for a Marienburg warband:

Warband:

Captain (Kurt Von Signheiser)      - 60
Two swords      - 20
Lucky Charm     - 10

Champion (Hendrick Van Kaal)     - 35
Two swords      - 20
Helmet          - 10

Champion ()     - 35  
Two swords      - 20
Helmet          - 10

Youngblood ()   - 15
Sword           - 10
Buckler         - 5
Helmet          - 10

Youngblood ()   - 15
Sword           - 10
Buckler         - 5
Helmet          - 10

Swordsman (Hans Pegnitzer)    - 35
Two swords      - 20

Swordsman ()    - 35
Two swords      - 20

Swordsman ()    - 35
Two swords      - 20

Swordsman ()    - 35
Two swords      - 20

Swordsman ()    - 35
Two swords      - 20

TOTAL: 575

I have 25 gp left, and I'm not sure what to spend it on. Is it sensible to keep some cash in reserve?

The Lads are in various state of OUTSTANDING. GREAT WORK!  
As a Fan of Flashy, I'd go for the Marienburgers myself.  

Great work! I really appreciate how well you paint eyes, those are solid!

You could keep the 25gc, or use it on a hired sword. You could get a halfling scout, troll slayer and if you drop something you can get a warlock, pit fighter or tilean marksmen (for some ranged shots) for 30gc.

I would probably go for halfling scout personally. Being able to add 1 extra member to your total warband number is cool!

@DeafNala, thanks!

@Chief Tugboat.

Chief Tugboat wrote:

you can get a warlock, pit fighter or tilean marksmen (for some ranged shots) for 30gc.

Ranged weaponry? Preposterous! My good sir,  REAL men use swords!

As you may have guessed I've got a sword theme going on and I'm avoiding ranged weapons, but I'll have a think and see if I can fit any hired swords into my fluff, thanks

Exams have been fairly all-consuming this last week, but I've got a little bit of sculpting done on the bases for the warband:



The figure bases are 2p pieces, while the smaller ones are pennies for Wyrdstone shard markers. I'm making them using some green crystals I bought on Ebay here

The bases look SPLENDID! GREAT WORK!  

Nice work! I keep intending to recommend a duelist HS and now I have. Hire a duelist.

@DeafNala, thanks! (again)

Von Kurst wrote:

Nice work!  I keep intending to recommend a duelist HS and now I have.  Hire a duelist.

Duellists sound like a barrel of fun. Perhaps I can bring in a Miyamoto Mushashi -esque character. Thank you for the recommendation.

My green crystals arrived today, so after my exam I sat down and glued them to the bases I made (and subsequently painted).





So...green...

I also painted Herr Pegnitzer's base - he's now awaiting the possible addition of some foliage and a second sword.





I am nothing if not easily distracted though, so I've already started another side project. Can anyone tell me what this is going to be?

You are most welcome.

Great update! The crystals look great, spooky even. The bases painted up pretty well too.

On the side project I got nuthin'.

Nice bases. I like the structure or the pattern you placed the stones in, looks very realistic to me. Maybe you could use some more colours on them and place some more rubbish, grass or something. They look very clean, even if they are broken. More like indoors than in a street.

Nice paint job I especially like the white.

Some grass growing through the cracks is an excellent idea. Other than that the miniature & the shard bases are BEAUTIFULLY DONE!  

My guess is your doing a Rube Goldberg plumbing project.  

Exams have been a slog, but they're done for the year and now I can show off all the little bits and pieces I painted while taking a break from revision.

@Von Kurst,

They are very well suited to being warpstone crystals, and not much else.

@Grimscull,

You're right, they do look rather clean for a destroyed city. That said, I'm going to wait until I've made a start on some accompanying terrain before finishing them up so that I can match them.

@bad,

Thanks, it's basically Bleached Bone (or whatever the current name for it is) highlighted up to white. I also put down a couple of coats of khaki beforehand so that the bone covers well.

@Deafnala,

Close, would a further picture help?



A clue: the black area at the base should be filled with fire.

While I wait for my Hirst Arts moulds to arrive (Royal Mail lost them...) I've been started on some small items to go in my buildings once they're done. I've started with a set of items for the sword school's armoury/forge:



Some tables, for placing things on while they're worked on.



Some racks, for putting swords in.



A case, for putting various weapons in. All the above are made from coffee stirrers and small GW parts that I bought in a 'bits box' on eBay a while ago.

The bits box also contained a bunch of other useful objects, which I also painted:



Some buckets, filled with warpstone or otherwise.



A drum (for ceremonies) and some miscellaneous strongbox-type objects. The bits box had lots of candles in.



Finally, some ammunition racks and another case.

I have more furniture planned/under way - more weapon racks, smithing tools, a forge and a few other bits and bobs. At some point as well I'll be making a bar so I'll need lots of bottles and barrels.

COOL STUFF! AND all BEAUTIFULLY crafted & painted. The Mystery piece looks rather like some distillery apparatus now...nice choice of colors. OUTSTANDING WORK!  

The bitz painted up really nicely

@DeafNala, got it in one! (well, two). It's a distillery. No point in staying sober in the city of the damned.

@Von Kurst, thanks, credit to the sculptors for making them so easy to paint.

No painting progress recently - my Hirst Arts moulds finally arrived this morning so I've been cranking out loads of tiny plaster blocks (and starting a new thread for the scenery).

Wow, one whole year without an update!

At some point over the last year I bought a box of Greatswords and set about remaking the more senior members of the warband with the parts. Full set of pictures to follow, but for now here's a WiP of the second member of the warband; Hermann 'The Ham' Metzger

He has a WONDERFULLY horrified expression; very appropriate for Mordheim. TERRIFIC WORK!

Good to see you back

Wow. I really like your painting and basing.

The warband is interesting and its good to see a player choosing a warband to fit a theme, rather than just to maximise chances of success.

I'd suggest spending 10 of your leftover 25 gc on a helmet for your Captain. Being stunned is pretty dangerous.

I'm looking forward to seeing more models.

Wyrdstone Dave wrote:

I'd suggest spending 10 of your leftover 25 gc on a helmet for your Captain. Being stunned is pretty dangerous.

I would, but my captain's model has a hat with an outrageous feather and that's rather incompatible with a helmet.

Of course, making warbands based on models/theme is much easier to do if you have no regular gaming group to influence you.

Onwards!

Hermann is now complete; that makes two models done. You may notice I've put him on a 25mm Slotta; much as I like the decreased profile that the 2p pieces provide they're 26mm in diameter, which is a pain when all of your terrain is based around 25mm squares, and I'd like the basing to be consistent and appropriate if ever GW decides to support Mordheim again.



As before he features the Marienburg colours of red, yellow and blue. As a fencing instructor, Hermann gets to wear colourful clothing all over rather than the predominantly white garb of the students.



Other benefits of tenure include a big feather in your hat and truly exquisite mutton chops.



I'll probably alternate between students and staff as I work my way through the warband, so expect another terrified youngster at some point within the next...six months?