Banner of the Old Alliance

It's time to bring out some more oldies - after Signieur Crinierre, the Bretonnian Lord on a Hippogriff, now I will show a standard-bearer that I painted somewhere in 2010.

The funny thing is, while I normally recognize numerous flaws with such old models, this one here still amazes me - I wonder how I was able to paint this freehand! (Well, maybe my eyesight was younger and better!) I freehanded numerous banners and logos throughout the years, but this one is probably my favorite - and most intricate - to this day. My wights get a lot of patterns on their cloaks, but that's only two colors, here I went way beyond that. Such craziness fits Bretonnia way more than Undead, so here's an excuse for such a lack of progress...

Another funny thing, this guy is not even a Battle Standard Bearer, but just a common standard-bearer for a common Knights of the Realm unit. I planned a BSB to ride in the same group - and while his banner wouldn't have as much space for freehands, it would have lots of embellishments and actually sculpted detail. Maybe one day I'll paint him too!

Seven generations ago the Sagremor family was in a very difficult situation - weakened by internal strife, economic issues and beset by the undead and greenskins. Faced with the obliteration of his lineage, the senior Armand Sagremor left his forces and went to speak with his vassals. Discontent and rebellious, they were eager to wait for their senior to bleed out, but they decided to hear him out. What he said during the long meeting he held while the ramparts on the borders were burning is unknown - but on the next day, the nobles showed up on the battlefield and managed to drive the invading forces away. The previous economic turmoil, coupled with the fresh destruction marked the rest of Armand’s rule and he died exhausted and stressed several years later, but he managed to bring his fellow Bretonnians together and push his family forward into the future. To commemorate this event, a banner was sewn - a beautiful one, which is still held by one of the Sagremor lances to this day. The vassal’s families either crumbled or vanished outright during those years, but the event is still fondly remembered as one of the turning points in the history of this part of Bretonnia.