Thrust and Parry - the Sword Master

After finishing off my arrogant lordlings from the other week, I was left with a third figure from the Vespero's Vendetta set. I didn't want three long-haired duellists, so I picked up a few bits to see what else I could do with him.

Happily I'd been gifted some 3D printed shields (thanks Mike!) from someone else's somewhat more extensive Citadel Guard project. It was a simple job to grab another head and add the shield to give me a much less flamboyant (and possibly more effective) swordsman!

Arrogant Lordlings - Citadel Guard Duellists

Part of the fun I've been having with my Mordheim / Frostgrave warband is selecting models for a particular role. Whilst it would be easy to have a rag-tag group of models with no visual coherence, I'm trying to add to the warband with models that fit visually and thematically. Cloaks are one of the dominant features on the Lone Wolf Citadel Guard, so I'm trying where possible, to ensure that my models are wearing cloaks. As a secondary criterion, I'm aiming to primarily use sculpts by one of the Perry twins.

In Mordheim, shields are a sub-standard option. Ideally you want your swordsmen to be armed with a sword and dagger as a minimum (or sword/axe or sword/mace). In Frostgrave, the Treasure Hunter soldier is equipped with a sword and dagger. There aren't that many cloak-wearing two hand weapon wielding Perry sculpts around, but I recalled the mid-1990s regiment of renown Vespero's Vendetta. A couple of those guys would be perfect!

A Bolt in the Chest - Citadel Guard Crossbowmen

 After all the combat-oriented troopers I've painted up for my Lone Wolf Citadel Guard patrol (for Mordheim, Frostgrave and now possibly Warcry gaming), it was about time I added to the single missile trooper.

The second crossbowman is actually the model that set the look for these troops - the bandit from the Lone Wolf range. The third crossbowman is another Citadel feudal / Bretonnian figure. All three share a lot of visual similarities - take a look at their padded jerkins, helmets and leggings.

Adding Just a Pinch of Magic - Frostgrave Wizards

Hanging on the coat tails of any Mordheim warband is a Frostgrave one - all you need is a pair of wizards. If you've not looked at Frostgrave before, it's a very nice, neat fantasy skirmish game published by Osprey, centred on a wizard, their apprentice and accompanying band of mercenary soldiers. It's miniature manufacturer agnostic, so if you want to pit venerable Citadel metals against Reaper Bones figures, you certainly can!

The best bit about it is, as I mentioned above, all you need to adapt a Mordheim warband into a Frostgrave one, is to paint up some wizards that match the theme. Having just completed a small group of Lone Wolf Citadel Guard for use in Mordheim (prompted by the Scale Creep Mordheim Five-a-side Challenge), it seemed sensible to follow that up by painting a magical duo for the Frostgrave Wizard Battle Challenge.

Don't Create a Scene - 3D Printed Fantasy Ruins

I've been on the lookout for some terrain to use for Mordheim, Frostgrave and other fantasy skirmish gaming for a little while. I've picked up a few of the GW Osgiliath Ruins kits, but wanted some other bits to supplement them.

Monster hunting in the ruins of Mordheim.

The Citadel Guard - A New Mordheim Expedition

I'm not entirely sure when it was that I started getting interested in Citadel Lone Wolf range. I'm not by inclination a fan of pre-slotta miniatures, or a long-time devotee of the Lone Wolf books. But at some point, I looked at Citadel's 1984 Lone Wolf miniatures, and thought they looked cool.

Image from Stuff of Legends.

As these things go, I acquired a couple of the Citadel Guard. Then, perhaps a few months later, a Guard Captain. At some point last year I picked up the Bandit. And then I started formulating the idea of a little warband of the Citadel Guard. I could do a few head swaps perhaps. I could add the Bandit with some other crossbowmen. I could commission John Pickford to sculpt me some heads and shields.

Frostgrave Treasure and Spell Tokens



With eight days left to go until the international Frostgrave extravaganza I'll be attending in Ireland, there were a few things I needed to close out ahead of the game. One of these was to create some nice looking treasure and spell tokens for the games.

 

My tokens have been based in exactly the same way as my Pan Tangians (hence the lack of snow and presence of a more arid environment!).

 

First up are a trio of fairly standard treasure tokens represented by three old Citadel treasure chests. I decided to go for different looks on all three - a pale wood bound in aging black iron, a small leather clad casket, and an old chest with oxidising brass fittings.

 

 

Jakrit the Half-Breed - Pan Tangian Archer

The sorcerers of Pan Tang are known to plunder hidden depths of forbidden knowledge. One particularly vile school of lore are the experiments which cross-breed humans with demons. Jakrit is an example of the less-extreme results of these experiments. He is heavily built and hunched, with a large head and protruding eyes. He is fortunate however, in being able to pass as human...

 

 

The Guiding Hand - Pan Tang Officers

After a little break from my Frostgrave Pan Tang warband, I've painted up another couple of figures, this time representing the better fighters or officers. I imagine Pan Tangians to be ruled by a brutal and strongly hierarchical society. The military would be no exception - officers are the word of the gods, as far as their subordinates are concerned, no matter if this results in a soldier being needlessly incinerated by some kind of foul magic spell!

 

Pan Tangians battle Melniboneans - Stormbringer RPG by Chaosium Inc.

 

The two latest additions to the warband are just such men - masters of their own little empires; ambitious, amoral, petty and selfish. Thorkor (on the left), is a junior officer from the Pan Tangian marines. He wears the lighter armour and shorter tunic of the naval forces. Carkan Amit is the senior officer of the Soorkan ul'Kaarna's warband - the most experienced fighter, with a strong grip on the fate of his men.

 

The Sorcerer's Apprentice - Theleb K'aarna of Pan Tang

Next off the painting table are two new additions to the Pan Tang warband I'm putting together for Frostgrave. The background to the warband is that they are set some decades prior to Elric meeting Theleb K'aarna. Theleb is apprenticed to his uncle, a powerful Sorcerer called Soorkan ul-K'aarna.

 

Having already painted up Soorkan, plus a selection of henchmen, I decided it was time to paint the apprentice - Theleb K'aarna himself. I simultaneously painted up another of the warband in the form of a Pan Tang warrior:

 

Theleb K'aarna with hired thug, Tarkesh.

 

Tygers of Pan Tang - The Beast and His Handler

The tigers of Pan Tang are so iconic, that they even named a New Wave of British Heavy Metal band after them. The Stormbringer RPG by Chaosium Inc. states that:

"The tiger is a rare animal in the Young Kingdoms. Tigers roam freely only on the Isle of Pan Tang where it is the sacred totem animal of Chardhros the Reaper, Lord of Chaos...In rare cases they act as a Pan Tang warrior's combat companion."

It would therefore seem pre-destined that my Pan Tang Frostgrave warband would include a tiger (either as a Hunting Dog or Snow Leopard animal companion). Happily, Citadel anticipated my need, and produced a pair of tigers and their handlers as part of their Pan Tang range.

Image taken from Stuff of Legends.

The Rise of Pan Tang

Back in early 2014, I spent a lot of time and energy tracking down the delightful licensed Eternal Champion range produced by Citadel between 1986-1987. After successfully accumulating the entire range, I duly packaged them in a figure case and did nothing with them. Two years on, and their time has come.

In April I will be travelling to Ireland to meet up with some good friends and gaming buddies for a weekend. Among other things, we will be playing a series of games of Frostgrave - you may have already seen cheetor's fledging Oriental warband, The Shonen Knives. Bar the odd figure here and there, I've not painted a fantasy force for anything since about 1991 or 1992. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to put some life into some of my Eternal Champion figures.

After some consideration, I decided to use Pan Tangians for my Frostgrave warband, for no other reason than they are much less common than the Melniboneans which were later rolled into Citadel's High Elf range, while painted Pan Tangians are rare as hens teeth!

A Sorcerer of Pan Tang blasts his Melnibonean foes (artwork from the Stormbringer RPG by Chaosium).