Nilfgaard Army

 So after the test piece, here is the beginning of the Nilfgaard army.

The Mini-army plan is four ranks of spearmen and four ranks of archers plus change, with an alternative of a Champion plus change.

There are only five "advancing" poses in the box (one per sprue) but no really advancing spears, these are built using the javelin arms from the Auxiliaries sprues (again there are only one over head arm per sprue)

The five standing spearmen.

The Auxiliaries box contains ten armoured bodies and twenty sets of bow arms..

The bows need a bit more work.

The plan is to use the armoured bodies for the front rank, and the unarmoured bodies for the rear rank.

Fireforge Byzantine Spearmen or the Nilfgaard Empire

 As mentioned previously, I was looking for a Human Army that looked different to my (many) existing (or planned) armies.

I chose to use the Fireforge Byzantine Spearmen and Auxileries as the basis.

Here is the test piece.

After an underocat of Citadel Chaos Black and a further coat of thinned Vallejo Black, the skirt, leggings and helmet skirt were painted with Vallejo Black Grey. The (non standard) boots are Citadel Steel Legion Drab - the main build will be black. The spear is Vallejo Old Wood. The strap is Citadel Mournfang Brown.

The black parts of the figure were dry brushed with Vallejo Black Grey followed by a mix of Vallejo London Grey and Black Grey. All black parts were then washed with Citadel Nuln Oil.

The figure will be fitted with the tear drop shield, not sure how I am going to do the Sunburst mark.

The scale armour does bear a resemblance to the odd Nilfgaard armour form the television series.

Wargames Atlantic Persians for Oathmark Odyssey

 A while back I showed the sprues for Wargames Atlantic's Persian infantry.

Here is the first painted example (currently without a shield).

Empress NHS Charity Nurse

 Empress released a figure sculpted by Paul Hicks in aid of charity.

There are details on the origin of the figure here.

The helmet is Humbrol 30 Dark Green acrylic, uniform is Vallejo English Uniform. The webbing and puttees are Citadel Snot Womble green highlighted with Citadel Nurgling green. The bag and its strap is Citadel Deathworld Forest.

The uniform was highlighted with a mix of Vallejo Old Wood and English uniform.

The mug was base coated with Army painter Stone Golem then highlighted with Humbrol 34 acrylic White.

The figure was dry brushed with Citadel Terminatus Stone and washed with Citadel Agrax Earthshade. the helmet was washed with Citadel Athonian Camoshade.

I was tempted to wash the body with Citadel Athonian Camoshade because canadian uniforms are known to have a greener shade than British uniforms, but decided to leave it as the other British figures I have painted.

Fireforge Byzantine Spearmen and Auxillaries

Though I have yet to complete a human army for Oathmark (I have started many), I am always on the look out for suitable figures for new armies.

My inspiration for this new army is the Army of Nilfgaard from The Witcher. I have never played any of the computer games, and the design of the armour and equipment in the television series is a bit odd.

I wanted something a bit different to the various western medieval figures (including the Oathmark Human Infantry and the Fireforge Northmen) that make up the various factions I have already started.

Having looked through all the ranges available, I decided on the Fireforge Byzantine Spearmen for the infantry and Byzantine Auxillaries for the archers. There are two options for the cavalry.

Each sprue holds five figures. There are five spear arms and two sword arms allowing up to 10 soldiers and fifteen spearmen to be built from the box. There are two full sets of shields, the earlier almost round type and the later teardrop ones. There are eight different heads (same helmets).

The sprue has three unarmoured and two armoured bodies. There are four bow arms, four spear arms and one sling (currently no use in Oathmark). There are eight heads (two bare headed, one with a different style. There are five mini shields plus one shield/spear combination.

The box can build ten armoured archers, ten unarmoured (or up to twenty unarmoured if no armoured archers) and 

My plan is to build ten armoured and ten unarmoured archers from the box and deploy them as two units with the front rank made of the armoured and the second rank made of unarmoured.

Not sure what to do with the rest. This is supposed to be an invasion army so I will need to think about it.

One thing I did notice was the new bases in the box.

They are 20mm x 20mm square but with rounded edges, making them nicer for skirmish style games but still easy for rank style games.

Crooked Dice Robo-Minions

 A couple of Crooked Dice Robo-Minion.

Oathmark Odyssey - Living Statue

The town was about a dozen small houses clustered around a square with a shiny bronze statue on a plinth in the middle.

We had been spotted, as we could see figures rushing around. The women and children were being directed to the most impressive building while the menfolk were collecting weapons and shields.

The men began forming ranks, but we could see we outnumbered them at least five times.

Behind the ranks, I could just make out some priest or similar making offers to the statue. As I turned to the soldier next to me to say this should be easy, there was a sound like a god's sword sliding over another god's shield and his eyes turned wide.

Looking back, the statue began to step down from the plinth, its sword and shield at the ready.

I wanted some more fantastical elements for the Oathmark Odyssey armies, and the inspiration of Ray Harryhausen is hard to avoid.

Crooked Dice have two different Titans for their Argonauts range with optional Melee Weapons.

This is the first one completed. He is moving forward, his shield before him and the iron blade of his sword ready to strike.

The figure was undercoated with Citadel Chaos Black spray. It was then painted with Vallejo Brass. The "skirt" was painted with Army Painter Chaos red. 

The shield centre was first painted with Army Painter Stone Golem, followed by Humbrol 34 Acrylic matt White. The scars on the shield were painted Vallejo Brass then Vallejo Gold. 

The body was then extensively dry brushed with Vallejo Gold followed by a lighter dry brush of a mix of Citadel Mithril Silver and vallejo Gold.

It still has to receive a design on the shield (probably an Owl from the Ancient Greeks sets).

Blood Barbarian for The Red King

 Built from a Warlord Celt fitted with a head from the Frostgrave Barbarian sprue.

The hair on the back of the head was added with Greenstuff.

I think I need another five of them. I think I have sufficient Warlord sprues left.

Oathmark Knight

 This figure was built quite a while ago, but not sure when.

Heavy armour and a two handed sword make him suitable as a character or a Linebreaker.

Stargrave - Quarantine 37 expansion

 Osprey have just released the first expansion for Stargrave, and my copy arrived today.

Covering adventures on a biological research station it throws the crews against zombies and bugs.

I am still reading the book at the moment, and there will be more on the book, and the supporting figures later.

Oathmark Skeleton mini army

 Here is an Oathmark Skeleton mini army.

My original plan was to have a mix of soldiers, archers and spears, but I got in the flow and built most of my stock into soldiers.

So nine ranks of Skeleton Soldiers and one level one Necromancer.

I did pick up a box of Mantic Ghouls which will give some speedy units in lieu of some cavalry when I expand this army.