The Alcanti Fellowship and The Birdmen of Catrazza - 10mm Dogs of War

Today I undertake a short return visit to my 10mm Warhammer Fantasy project. Over the past few years I've had a lot of fun creating massed bases of 10mm fantasy units for the Empire, Tomb Kings, Beastmen and Orc & Goblins. 

Nonetheless, my favourite force has to be 'The Dogs of War'. 

First up are 'The Alcatani Fellowship'. Pikemen in Warhammer Fantasy (well, the old version anyway) were very rare, in fact they could only be found as mercenary troops hailing from the city states of Tilea. 

Though vulnerable on their flanks, pike formations can be rather nasty when faced frontally, with many a cavalry commander ruing the day they charged a well prepared pike phalanx. The Alcatani Fellowship are unique in that they don't always fight for money, but often offer their services to fight injustice and tyranny. GW's version of social justice warriors. 

These 10mm fellas are 3d prints from MiniRat Studios. Great little models and they printed-up a treat. They have quite a bit going on with them so not a quick paint, but they look good all ranked up (there are about 85 figures in this unit).

Next are the Birdmen of Catrazza. One thing I really enjoyed about the 'Dogs of War' list was its sly nod to all sorts of Renaissance Italy ephemera such as Lucrezia Borgia's poisons, mercenary pikemen and Leonardo Da Vinci's whacky inventions. The Birdmen of Catrazza are very much along this vein and remain as much-loved models from the original range. 

These are 10mm renditions of the Birdmen from Varus Miniatures. Beautiful models and a real joy to paint. 

For their basing I decided to try a forced perspective with a tiny windmill on a range of treed hills. It was fun to do.

And for a final shot, here is my Dogs of War force to-date, with the Alcanti Fellowship and the Birdmen joining Bronzino's Galloper Guns and Braganza's Besiegers. Getting close to a real force. I just need more pikemen, always more pikemen...

Thanks for popping by for a visit. I hope you have a terrific day!

- Curt

10mm Nasty-Baddies for Warhammer Fantasy

Hi There!

I've been plugging away at these bad lads over the winter months and I thought I'd just post what was ready to go.

The vanguard of the my Great Herd.

First up are two herds of Beastmen Gors. As these are supposed to reflect massed formations, I put these fellas on deeper bases. I've popped in a few trees and a burned out cottage to give the bases a bit of variation amongst these horny (horned?) lads.

Supporting the Gor foot are two herds of Centigors. After painting these I thought I had ran out of skirmishing bases, which is why there are the two sizes shown here. Of course, I finished these only to find some proper sized bases tucked away in the Dork Shed. *facepalm* Whatever. I'll rebase the offending unit later... 

Next up are two units of Cairn Wraiths. These were a very simple paintjob (Contrast 'Aethermatic Blue' uppers and 'Plaguebearer Flesh' below the waist). Nonetheless I like the overall effect and am happy to have a few more of these to cause some ghostly mayhem on the tabletop. 

Finally are two units of Khorne Bloodletters to add to my Daemonic host. What to say, just a passel of nasty, pointy-spikey fellas. Again, a pretty straighforward paint recipe, but they suitably look the part when all based-up.

Now, let's switch gears and look to Troy...

Have a great day!

Curt

Harkonnen Ornithopter

Umm. Sire, I think we can confirm Wormsign...

Late Friday night Lady Sarah and I went to the late night premier of Dune II which we very much enjoyed. Wow, what a feast for the eyes and ears! Epic sci-fi at its best.

I've been quite taken by the design of the ornithopers over the past two movies. I love how menacingly instectoid they look. Without giving anything away, I can safely say that the their perceived lethality has nothing but increased in the recent film. Two words: Overwatch Fire - Yikes.

I found this great ornithopter model by Hardware Studios on MyMiniFactory and had it printing while we were at the movie (I know. Such. A. Geek.). Originally designed for 6mm, I nudged the scale up a touch to fit more in-line with my Legions Imperialis stuff (for a non STC pattern - clutches pearls!). 

I typically struggle with vehicles, but this little beast was fairly straightforward. I wanted to keep it pretty dark and basic with just panel highlighting and a touch of metallic here and there. I mounted it on a magnetic ball and gimbal flight stand so it can be tilted and posed (with the suitable ornithoptery noises). It was a fun model to work on.

Cheers!

- Curt

10mm Warhammer Fantasy Goblins

For the past few years our local gaming group has been using a fantasy variant of  'To the Strongest' for our 'Old World' of Warhammer games. We've been enjoying a hotly contested map campaign since last spring which is now drawing to its nail-biting conclusion. The hustle-bustle of the campaign has encouraged us to add units to our existing forces, and as a result here we have the Goblins benefitting from this surge in industry on my part. All the models are from Green Skin Miniatures.

In our campaign the Goblins are the spoiler force, run by the GM (me) to add a bit of friction to the players' plans. The little blighters invariably get creamed, but its always fun to see them in action. 

Any self-respecting Goblin commander knows that he needs hordes of infantry, so here we have two fresh mobs of Night Goblins to bolster the Greenskin line of battle.

The combination of 10mm figures and larger bases allowed me to have a little fun in composing the units. As Night Goblins like to imbibe on trippy mushrooms from time to time (meaning ALL the time), I thought a cluster here and there of narcotic fungi would be apropos. 

The next Night Goblin regiment is benefitting from the enthusiastic support of a Snotling Pump Wagon. (If 'support' means getting crushed into red paste by a huge spiked roller.) With friends like these, who needs... Well, nevermind.

So, if one Snotling Pump Wagon is good then a whole unit must be the cat's pyjamas.  Toot! Toot! Parp! Parp!

A battery of Bolt Throwers keen to miss everything they aim at and perhaps hit something they didn't.

Goblin wolf riders doing, you know, wolfy and ridery things.

A horde of hungry Squigs being cajoled and chivied along by their Night Goblin overseers. I had a bit of fun printing squigs in various scales to give the unit more of a unformed look.

And finally, a Goblin commander proudly watching his horde (just before it breaks down into internecine bickering and complete chaos).   

Thanks for popping by!

- Curt

10mm Warhammer 'Dogs of War' - Bronzino's Galloper Guns & Braganza's Besiegers

Hellooo!

Here I present the beginnings of a new contingent for my 10mm Warhammer collection. It's time to let loose the 'Dogs of War'!

Old Sweats of Warhammer will recognize these two 'Regiments of Renown' from the original Warhammer 5th Ed supplement 'Dogs of War' (1998). It was such a unique and characterful army. I remember meeting GregB for the very first time while he was playing a tournament using his DoW force (and remember the poor Bretonnian player being schooled on what happens when cavalry frontally charges a formation of pike). I still have a dog-eared copy of the army book that I enjoy looking through from time to time.

First up are 'Braganza's Besieger' who are a mercenary company of heavy crossbowmen. Their specialty is to support the shock infantry in the front ranks. They all wear heavy plate armour and have pavise shields to help them weather incoming missile fire. 

For a bit of fun, I placed them amidst some ruins, thinking of something analogous to their name.  A tough bunch of characters, to be sure.

Next up is 'Bronzino's Galloper Guns'. 

I think this unit may be the only classic horse artillery in the Warhammer world. This battery of light guns specializes in quickly running up their cannon close to the enemy, cracking off a few rounds, and then nimbly limbering up to scoot away before things get too hot. They are meant to be proper infuriating. 

The figures for these two units are 3d prints. The crossbowmen are from Polish Lightning Miniatures, and the horse artillery are from Onmioji Miniatures. Fabulous digital models both.

While this may be a creditable start, the force really needs some more meat on its bones. I think some massed pikemen will be on the horizon soon. Hopefully more on that in the weeks to come!

Have a great day!

- Curt

10mm Giant Undead Sphinx and Ushabti

Hey There!

Back to some more 10mm Warhammer Fantasy stuff. This time out we have a giant undead Sphinx for the Tomb King contingent along with a unit of Ushabti constructs to act as its flank guard. Fun!

The Sphinx was a real hoot to work on. It's a 3d print I came across from Txarli Factory which I scaled to purpose. 

I popped on some ruins as the desert basing can get pretty bland otherwise.

Here are some rank-and-file units to give a sense of scale of this guy. Yes, he's quite rompy stompy.

Next is a unit on Ushabti constructs. Nice models from Onmioji and a pleasure to paint.

These two additions to the Tomb King army should give it a little more oomph, I think.

Thanks for dropping in and have a great day!

- Curt