Lord Commander of the Witchhunters - Green

The most fierce and feared of all the witchhunters is their Lord Commander, sometimes referred to as the Witchhunter General. The model is a bit of a collaboration between two sculptors, as the basic horse blank and armoured body are the ones done by FP, that also serve as the basis for the mounted knights and the additional detail is sculpted over that by Mick Darpa who did the footknights and witchhunters.

A close up of just the rider, with his pet raven.

I initially wanted the horse to be a singlepiece casting, but when I checked with the mouldmaker, he was of the opinion that it would be too wide and wouldn't cast properly (which I guess is why these type of barded horses in metal are usually multipart). Not wanting to go the split in the middle route I tried to work out a way to keep the naked horse body one piece and the barding separate. As the thin barding pieces from the mounted knights presented their own challenges in moulding, I wanted more solid pieces, which meant reducing the bulk of the horse body. Fingers crossed that it will all work out as planned in moulding.

More Witchhunter Greens and an Update on the Human Footknights of the Great Bear

It's been a while since the last update, so first things first, the current state of affairs regarding the human bearknights on foot that were previewed some months ago. They have been mastermoulded and the mastercastings all came out perfect, so this weekend I will spend some time cleaning mouldlines off the masters to prepare them for production moulding. If all goes well, they may be available in greater quantities next month.

Meanwhile, I had Mick Darpa slaving away at the next set of figures which are three Witchhunter/Daemonhunters to complement the earlier Witchhunter/Vampirehunter set. I was so pleased with the first set, that I had to do a couple more and here they are.

The first character is a Daemonhunter holding up a freshly acquired trophy, the head of a large beastman champion that he has slain. The God of Death will look favourably on his servant.

The second is a female witchhunter in sensible armour (read: no breastshaped breastplates, fashionable thin waist or high heeled armoured boots). She's holding up a decree proclaiming the witchhunter's mission and powers, while casually resting a hand on a holstered pistol, implying "or else...". In my head, I call this one "We have a warrant!"

The last one is a specialised daemonhunter, going after those who would spread plague and disease in the realm. He is wearing a mask filled with herbs to keep away disease and carries a torch to burn the afflicted.

There you have it. I hope to be able to mould this soon, so you won't have to wait as long on the next update.

Knights of the Great Bear Greens - More pictures

I received some better looks at the figures from yesterday's post from the sculptor, so feast your eyes on these:

The Champion of the Order

The (first) 5 rank and file knights:

The Musician and Standard bearer

Knights of the Great Bear on foot - Greens

Mick Darpa has delivered another set of (in my opinon) characerful sculpts with an oldschool bent. This is another set of knights templar (on foot). These belong to the order of the Great Bear. They are wearing heavy fur cloaks, made from the skins of bears they killed themselves and wield impressive great hammers that strike fear in the hearts of their enemies just by looking at them.

The champion of the unit looks unimpressed by the enemy. He'll lift his hammer when they get close enough to smell their breaths... The bearhead adorning his helmet could also be painted differently to represent a particularly ugly direwolf if you prefer.

The musician goes into battle armed with a "small" warhammer, to keep his other hand free in case his needs to blow his horn.

The proud standard of the unit. No frills, just a carved bear's head to show what they are about.

The first 5 rank and file Great Bear templar. I will post more pictures from different angles when I get them. A second set of rank and file figures, with bare heads, will be converted from these after moulding.

New Human Character Greens - Graf's Wife and White Knight

While you've been introduced before to the Graf's lovely daughters, we were yet to encounter their stepmother, the Graf's new wife. Noone really knows where she came from, though she herself says she descends from a royal lineage and claims the title of "Queen of Hearts". Tensions have been running high between the Graf's daughters and their stepmother...

 Model sculpted by Shane Hoyle.

 Another mysterious character has been roaming the land off late. This ageing knight is clad in shiny white armour, with a helmet shaped after a horse's head and carries some frankly odd equipment. Upon mention of his presence in the Empire, it is said the Graf's new wife reacted with visible shock, suggesting perhaps that this White Knight may have traveled from the same place whence she came. If that is the case, it does not appear as if that news was a welcome one...

Human Templar Knights of the God of Death Command - Greens

Looks like for some reason I forgot to upload these sculpts by Mick Darpa for the Command group for the Templar Knights of the God of Death. The rank and file were shown earlier here.

The Champion's helmet is inspired by the Lord model in the MB/GW Battlemasters game, always a favourite with me. He's sporting a cloack covered in Raven feathers, because he's special.

The musician is a sturdy fellow who can get away with having only a bird on his helmet to show his allegiance:

The standard bearer:

These are scheduled to be mastermoulded this week or the next, so productionmoulding hopefully won't be too far behind on both the command and the rank and file.

Human Witchhunter Greens, part 2

The (for now) final installment of the Witchhunter set, all sculpted by Mick Darpa in a deliberate 90's style. 

This band of witchhunters travel with a cleric for some moral and divine support. Of course, given the nature of their calling, it's a cleric of the God of Death, so the grim appearance and the skullfaced mask might not lift the group's morale much, but you can't have everything.

A minor update to the witchhunter with pistols from last time, in the form of the addition of a small dagger to the backside:

Human Witchhunter Greens

I've long wanted to get some Renaissance Witchhunters figures done, clad in heavy armour and with the iconic hats. The idea probably goes back to some conversions I saw several decades ago that left a general impression with me. The armoured dollies made for the footknight figures offered a good base to jump off from. All three models sculpted by Mick Darpa.

Witchhunter Captain With No Name. Very loosely based on the Man With No Name and a certain H.S., he loves his cigars almost as much as he loves the way a plan comes together. His heavy broadsword is the perfect tool for chopping up all manner of undead and witchbreed.

Witchhunter Pistolier. Because sometimes it's just nice to put some distance between you and the enemy.

Witchhunter specialising in vampire control. Armed with a warhammer and a set of wooden stakes. You don't want to run into him if you're a child of the night, especially with that neckguard protecting him from your bite.

Human Templar Knights of the God of Death - Greens

After the generic "Imperial" footknights and the Knights of the White Boar, it is now the turn to present the Templars of the God of Death: human knights armed with greatswords and displaying skull and raven heraldry, two subjects generally associated with their patron god.

The Order specialises in fighting undead, though they will of course oppose evil in any form where it is encountered.

The figures are sculpted with Mick Darpa and a command set will be added.

Knights of the White Boar on foot - Greens

It's been a while without any new greens, but that's about to change now. I've previewed the Boar Knight command set a while ago and Mick Darpa has just finished these rank and file knights for the Order. There are five poses, displaying all new boar heraldry in their helmet crests and shields. These will be armed with the same morning stars as the command set, as that is their orders prefered weapon, but will be fully compatible with the spare weapons included in the "vanilla" human footknight sets with plumes and feathers.

All 5 variants:

5 new themed shields:

A closer look at each knight:

 And a reminder of what their command group looks like (more on them here):

Human Footknight Greens 6 - Knights of the White Boar Command

Now that the "vanilla" footknights have been released and I'm waiting on castings for their command, here's a preview of the command set for the first of the themed footknight orders, the knights of the White Boar.

Champion, with custom shield:

Musician:

Standard Bearer:

Rank and file knights of the White Boar to follow...

Human Footknight Greens 5 - Handweapon and shields Set 2

Last set of the generic footknights by Mick Darpa, the second set of 5 footknights with various handweapons and shields.

 

As a reminder, they will come with a selection of handweapons:

And a set of undecorated shields:

Finally, a last look at all ten models: