Swamp Monster

Or sewage monster, whatever.

Literary Villains (and other personalities)

To start, here's Cardinal Richelieu and Vlad III "Dracula".

Dumas' villain is from Warlord Games, and Stoker's from The Assault Group.

The Dracula figure also comes with a boyar (armed with a neat triple-headed flail) and a noblewoman (not yet painted, not shown). Last night I also painted a set of heroes to oppose these villains: Stickler Mitchell and Young Megan from Warlord Games, and Bertha Bestraufrung(sp?) from Games Workshop's old Sisters of Sigmar range.

I think Drac and his buddy look pretty neat next to Warlord's voynuks...

more colorful than peasants

Here are some voynuks. Heavy Balkan infantry, in service of the Ottoman Empire by my era. I don't actually have an Ottoman army yet, but maybe someday. In the meantime, they'll be handy as hirelings for Mordheim.

Lochaber axes

My Mordheim Scots needed some reinforcements too, so I made some warriors with Lochaber axes, which just count as halberds in-game.

"Mordheim" Reinforcements

An order arrived from The Assault Group that I've been quite looking forward too! They may eventually be used to form full units in Pike & Shotte, but for now I'll just be fielding them individually in my historical Mordheim games. I had another smaller one with my brother last weekend, it was pretty fun and we actually got through the whole thing. His Ottomans were able to slay the powerful monsters and drive offer the lesser ones. I didn't have time to take pictures, but there were plenty of dramatic moments, especially when his halberd-wielding champion slew a heavily armored vampire in a single strike! There was also much stumbling and slipping about in the steaming offal which had spilled from the belly of a vile, corrupted monstrosity.

But nevermind that, here's the new minis:

Ottoman Janissaries - Swordsmen with bucklers

Ottoman Janissaries - Swordsmen with Muskets

Russian Sloboda - Warriors with Muskets

Russian Rindi Guard - Swordsmen with Two-handed Weapons

Polish Haiduks - Marksmen with Muskets and Swords

Polish Haiduks - Marksmen with Muskets and Two-handed Weapons

Szlachcic - Polish Nobleman

a new monster

Inspired by this page, I have tried to work out some frustration by converting a topical addition to my 17th-century horror collection. Behold the fleshly manifestation of evil known only as Baron von Trimpf! Hear his ululating battlecry as he leads his horde of writhing monstrosities into battle!

"Machen wieder machen wwieder maccchn wiieederrrrr mmmaaaaaaaaaacccn wwwwwwwww..."

Halloweekend 2016 pics

The weekend before Halloween I had some friends over for a bit of historical/horror Mordheim. Warbands from all over Europe had been pursuing witches and vampires, and all the monsters had converged on a remote Carpathian town for unknown, but presumably dire, purpose. The hunters formed a makeshift alliance, and assaulted the village from all directions to cleanse the evil gathered within.

Wizards and Command

Two officers and two musicians, except that one of each has been converted into a wizard. Hope you like them.

I've been hearing good things about Frostgrave...

...so maybe someday I'll buy the rules and try them out with my historical collection, as an alternative to Mordheim.

Apparently the distinguishing feature of Frostgrave is that each warband is build around a wizard and an apprentice. So I've started converting leftover miniatures into 17th-century spellcasters.

The generic duo is entirely Warlord Games plastics, except for the greenstuff and red beads. The Scotsmen are also Warlord-based, but with Gripping Beast spear arms and I think one Perry Zouave arm. The Cossack apprentice is a Zouave with a GB spear arm, and the older Cossack is a Fireforge Mongol with Warlord pike arms and a cut-down GW spearhead.

Beyoncé

I don't often get direct inspiration from pop culture, but the Formation music video from a week ago (the day before the Super Bowl) was pretty amazing, so I tried to replicate my favorite Beyoncé look in miniature form.

The head is from Wargames Factory Soviet infantry, the body is from the same company's WSS artillery crew, and the arms are from a Warlord Games Celt, all with plenty of greenstuff on top (some of which needs to be filed better). I guess she's some sort of monster hunter.

fun fact: necromancers hate hot sauce

Diorama Extras (infantry command)

I'm slowly getting through the cold-weather conversions for the diorama characters, but I did just finish painting some of the other guys. Goblet Guy and Telescope Guy could both be characterful pirate captains for this era. Halberd Guy is just one more infantry sergeant.

Sorry about the moldline, I'm fixing it now.

Konrad von Carstein

A model I've been meaning to paint since getting back into Mordheim. This figure is completely unconverted, and one of my favorite GW models ever. He should provide a difficult challenge for any witch-hunters or treasure-seeking mercenaries that dare cross him...

an anachronistic gentleman

Here's a dude with no particular purpose. Maybe he could be a character in a loosely historical RPG? The legs are Fireforge steppe infantry, the torso (including the sash) is Wargames Factory WSS, the hat and arms are from the Warlord firelocks, and the head is from Gripping Beast's dark age warriors.

Pike and Shotte and Tentacles

aka Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men

So I've recently finished watching a Bloodborne playthrough on youtube, and that really got me in the mood for some creepy pseudohistorical gothic weirdness. Since I have more Firelock Storming Party bodies than I know what to do with, I mixed a few (and a spare pikeman) with some scrap plastic for this band of gross mutants, who would work quite nicely for a Possessed warband in Mordheim.

And here are WiP shots, along with a random anachronistic kitbashed musketeer who's still being painted: