Koyote

If your warband is Dwarf themed and your "wizard" is a summoner, what models will you use for summoned demons? In my Frostgrave Summoner warband, I used the Mordheim Warlock model as my wizard. The model has a frog on its shoulder so I thought it'd be fun to use giant demon toads as summoned demons. For my Imps I used the Heresy Miniatures' Demonic Toad Familiar. For my Minor and Major demons, I used Toad King Castings' Giant Toad miniatures. The latter comes in two sizes. I used the small of the two sizes as my Minor Demons (pictured below). I never got around to painting a Major toad demon, but I still have the models floating around in my bits boxes. ...KILL! KILL! KILL!

I hope you share pics once you have them ready for the table. Will your Dwarf "wizard" be an enchanter or are you going for something less traditional?

Like dwarves do you? You’ll like my next project. It’s a Norse Dwarf Warband for use in both Mordheim (counts-as Dwarf Rangers) and Frostgrave. I am using Spellcrow Miniatures’ Northern Dwarves and other Dwarf miniatures converted to mimic brows and features of Spellcrow’s Northern Dwarfs.

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From McCullough's blog, Renaissance Troll:

I’ve used that explanation as well. One of your basic Soldier types does something remarkable in a game, so in the next game you upgrade him to a better Soldier type in the same general category. As I mentioned above, if you want to customize the stat line of a favorite Soldier you can equip it with a magic item (there are well over a hundred to chose from). Also, if you prefer to play with painted minis, static stats and equipment means that you don’t have to paint a new version of the a fighter each time you upgrade it.

I love Frostgrave. In most regards, it's rules are far superior to Mordheim, but it doesn't hold a candle to Mordheim's nostalgia and fluff. One of the biggest complaints I heard was that players didn't like that the only characters capable of gaining experience and advances are the wizard and apprentice. This got a bit better by adding a fighty-character to the game, the Captain. I have to admit all having all of your Mordheim characters and (most) henchmen gain advances is a fun aspect of Mordheim, but I also have to admit that after a while the injuries and advances wreak havoc with the game balance. In this respect, Frostgrave's static stats for Soldiers (which can be tweaked by equipping them with magic items) does a better job of balancing the game, especially mid and late campaign. I've read that some of the changes in Frostgrave 2.0 involve Soldiers. In Frostgrave 1.0 you can spam the best Soldier types and have an entire warband of Treasure Hunters or Marksmen. To fix this, they tweaked some of the Soldiers' stats (e.g. some missile armed Soldiers are now even weaker in melee). Also, the best Soldier types will be classified as specialists, and warbands will be limited to a maximum of 4 specialists. Another change is to make thugs and thieves free. This way, if a warband Is broke and gets devastated, it can quickly add bodies to its ranks so it isn't so grossly outnumbered in future games. Another advantage Frostrgrave has over Mordheim is that your warband can be assembled from minis from just about any line of fantasy minis. Also, despite the game's name and background, your games don't have to be set in a subarctic setting. I've seen players who play the game in a desert setting. Back when I played Frostgrave, I played it in a Mordhiem setting so I could have the best of both worlds: Frosgrave's rules an Mordhem's fluff ("Frostheim"). Below are pics of some of my favorite minis from my days playing Frostheim. Witch & Apprentice Dwarf Sigilist & Apprentice Captain Gnoblar Trapper (counts-as Trap Expert) Squire (counts-as Treasure Hunter) and Knight Dwarf Raven Master (counts-as Crow Master) Yorick the War-Monkey (counts-as Warhound) Exiled Sylvanian Noble (counts-as Templar) Thief Kislev Ranger (counts-as Ranger) Halfling Ratcatcher (counts-as Tracker) Group shot of Summoner warband.

I've made some progress on my mounted Hearthguard. My original plan was to equip them with the four-stud shields from Footsore's Arab Round Mixed Shield pack. At first I painted the entire shield face metal, but it looked blah. Then I experimented with painting only the studs metal and the remainder of the shield face another solid color. I tried a few colors but nothing looked quite right. If I had painted patterns on the models' garments , then the solid colored shields might have worked, but since their garments are mostly solid colors, the shields need to be a bit more intricate. I've ordered some LBM shield transfers designed to fit the Footsore small round shields. My hope is that the transfers' Arab script and non-uniform designs will balance the solid colors and (mostly) uniform colors of the riders' garments.

And pay income tax and have my liberty to pump my own gas infringed upon?!?! NEVER! GIVE ME THE FREEDOM TO PUMP MY OWN GAS OR GIVE ME DEATH! Although I have to admit I do dearly love Pine State Biscuits. Do you think there would be any interest in a SAGA tournament at OFCC?

I evicted my TNT miniatures to make room for my growing Moors warband. I moved the post-apoc minis to a 12 x 8.5 display case designed for books.

My next project will be one point of mounted hearthguard. The models are assembled from Gripping Beast's GBP05 Arab Heavy Cavalry kit and bits from other GB kits and manufacturers. I replaced their plastic spears (which have a tendency to break) with wire spears. Since these models represent my elite warriors they should be well equipped, so I added sheathed swords to their left hips and sheathed knives to their right hip. Each model will also be equipped with a small round shield held in their left hand. Moorish mounted hearthguard are equipped with javelins, so equipped some of the models with an extra javelin. The mace comes from Fireforge Miniatures' Medieval Russian Infantry kit I don't care for the look of the horses' knotted tails, so I either replaced the tails or carved off the knotted portion and repaired the tail with greenstuff. One of the weaknesses of this kit is how the torso piece and legs piece join together. Once assembled you can see a small gap and the model's skinny little belt is barely discernible. I fixed this by using greenstuff to fill in the gap and sculpting a thicker belt and buckle. I also used greenstuff to patch gaps in joints, add scarves, bulk up some of their tiny little hands, and elongate the stubby little fingers on some of the hands holding weapons.

Filthy godless heathens we may be, but at least we aren’t the sheep-humping Welsh. 🙂

Thanks. The models on the bottom shelf are my SAGA Age of Vikings Irish and the units that I added to play them as a SAGA Age of Magic Horde warband. The models on the middle shelf are my SAGA Age of invasions Britons and the units that I added to play them as a SAGA Age of Magic Great Kingdoms warband. The models on the top shelf are my soon-to-be-evicted TNT warbands and my growing Moors/Umayyad/Lords of Wild warband.

It took me over 3 weeks of painting in my spare time, but the my first unit of Tuareg (Moorish) cavalry is finally done. With the addition of this last unit, my display case is full. I had previously relocated a half shelf of Mordheim & Frostrgrave warbands to wall mounted display cases to make room for the first few units of Moors, but I see now that I will need to find a new display case for my This Is Not A Test warbands as well.

Six down. Two to go.

Four down. Four to go.

I finished painting the first two mounted Warriors. Despite the quality of the Perry casts, I think they turned out pretty good. I spent hours with a hobby knife and greenstuff, cleaning up the imperfections on the 8 riders. Even so, once I put primer on the models, many more little bumps, cracks, and deformities were revealed to me, so fixing the flaws while I painted added extra time and unpleasantness to my painting of these models. There's a scene in the movie 300 where the Spartan villain, Theron, forces Gorgo, King Leonidas' wife, to have sex with him. As a prelude to act, Theron tells Gorgo: "This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this." This quote kept popping into my head as I painted these riders.

I assure you its a fair description of the models they sent me. Most likely, the molds for these particular models are worn out and in need of replacing.

The next unit I'm going to tackle is a unit of 8 Warriors mounted and armed with javelins. When I play the warband as Umayyads (Age of Vikings), this unit will replace the Tribal Hunters (Age of Crusades mercenaries). The riders are Perry Miniatures' Bedouin Cavalry. The casts are crap, so they required quite a bit of clean-up and GS. Their horses were even worse, plus I didn't care for their poses, so replaced this unit's mounts with Footsore Miniatures horses.

Here's a close up of the Tribal Hunter Leader. When I use the warband in Age of Magic, I plan to use the model as my Desert Nomad's Ranger (lieutenant).

🙂

Here is another Challenger model for the Old Feud scenario. The model is an Abrakhan Merchant Guard from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings model line. The only modification to the model was the removal of the raised snake pattern on the the sword's blade. In the Old Feud scenario there are 6 archetypes to choose from: The Brute, The Counselor, The Traitor, The Soldier, The Princess, and The Mystic. While my first model could serve as a Soldier or possibly a Brute, this second model is clearly best suited for the role of The Brute. Also, the model's Arabian Nights eunuch guard attire make it better suited as a Challenger for my Age of Magic Desert Nomads than my Age of Crusades Moors. Then again, in both my Viking Age Irish and Age of Invasion Britons warbands, I blurred the lines between historical and the fantasy, so I see no reason to treat my Moors any differently. 🙂