Men-at-arms filler - Tarrare - WIP

Second filler for my ramshackle Bretonnian Men-at-arms unit. This time, it's an ogre!

I love ogre bulls as basis for conversions, they are like a blank canvas to try all sorts of stuff. An extra one was laying around, so it was a no brainer to incorporate him in the unit. I think of him as an ogre baby that was left in the countryside to be adopted by peasants and raised as an abnormally large and hungry child. That's why he has no gutplate and uses only Bretonnian equipment. This was also a perfect excuse to use that hanging cow from the giant set - brings out the agrarian theme of the unit even more!

Men-at-arms filler - Crashed Wagon - WIP

After the last long stretch of knights I wanted to try something different, so I switched to build-mode and started setting up my Men-at-arms. I have been buying those dudes for a long time now and gathered a sizeable collection. I plan to have 3 units of them, to avoid painting all of them in the same color! One of them is going to a random bunch of misfits, so not only they carry improvised weapons and shields, they'll have some fillers, just like my old Zombie Legion.

This is the first one, I reused an old orc chariot to serve as a crashed wagon for the dudes. Finally a good excuse to use all those barrel bits I had laying around! One extra man-at-arms is included, as with that wheel he really fits in well.

Knight of the Realm #12

Surprise, surprise, even more Knights of the Realm! This one is actually a renovation, as the model was painted originally in 2008 - but very flat, of course. Now, armed with newfound skills in painting yellow and red, I could redo this brave guy and make him feel less embarrassed among his peers. The main colors are readjusted and a lot of highlights were added.

Besides that, nothing too special - just some Spanish-adjacent yellow and red color scheme.

Knight of the Realm #11

Continuing two things from the previous post: heraldry from A Song of Ice and Fire and a wavy pattern.

I needed a yellow and black color scheme and I always liked the Greyjoy's coat of arms, so I decided to incorporate it. Wavy pattern on the barding was supposed to be a contrast to the smooth one on the Tully one and serve as a thematic fit for the Kraken on this knight. Sadly, when I designed this, I didn't know how much I would dislike painting the pattern... The Emblem itself may not be very kraken-y, but this is how my books were depicting it.

You may also notice, that despite him being a musician, he has a lance strapped to the saddle. When I was making photos of the Errant Knights, I noticed that I really like the "forest of lances" effect that was made in the last rank - and those musicians in the middle really messed it up! I added those light lances to all the already painted musicians and even something similar to the damsel - just to bring some much needed verticality to the whole unit.

Knight of the Realm #10

Yet another Knight of the Realm - and after a particular pegasus knight, yet another that was inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire back in the day. This time, the emblem of the Tully family from that story.

It had the typical Bretonnian red and blue, so it was an easy idea. Besides, I also wanted to try that wavy field - unfortunately I don't enjoy painting it, it's harder than it looks.

Knight of the Realm #09

While I had some black&white knights so far, most of them were predominantly black, with only the tiger knight being halfway white a long time ago. Here I am back with one that could almost pass for a teutonic knight!

Because of that, I was inspired to give him a german-inspired emblem - there should be at least one eagle, right? Those things are popular in heraldry!

Besides, nothing too special about him - it's time to fill up the ranks!

Sir Armand du Plessis, Knight of the Realm Gallant

It's been a long time since we've had a Knight of the Realm here, so here we are back with a converted unit champion to get this thing rolling again. His WIP was presented HERE.

The idea with him was to make a cardinal-like knight, inspired by heraldry of cardinal Richelieu. Quite a lot of bits were used to make him special, but I think the paint makes most of the work. I had a lot of fun painting all that red, going against my usual multicolored approach to Bretonnians. I also realized that this whole project is a very good exercise in painting basic colors! I hated pure black and yellow for example, but now I find them quite pleasant and manageable!

This guy also starts a big batch of Knights of the Realm, so be prepared to see quite a lot of them here.

Donning the deep crimson of his very wealthy and influential family, Sir Armand de Plessis is very recognizable - and his presence always means trouble to those not devout enough, truly or just perceived as such. While he always proclaims to be driven by love, that’s the love of a very, very strict parent, one’s that not afraid to draw blood when teaching lessons. Acting almost like a male priest in a very important sanctuary, he commands a lot of respect amongst his fellow knights, so it’s only natural to act as their commander. This way he’s also close to his men to search for any kind of foulness or heresy.

Errant Knights

We've had one group of knights here some time ago, now it's time to finally show off a full unit! All the knights, full command group and with a character too. They may be just young helmet-less knights, but it's still a good start.

As you can see, I updated the bases on all the knights to have more tufts, more ivy and more stones.

Next ones in the line are two units of Knights of the Realm, 12-knight-strong and 15-knight-strong. This will be a major undertaking, but seeing how nice just 9 of them look, I really can't wait to have them ready on my desk!

While Knights of the Realm are the mainline of Bretonnian forces, every one of them had to be an Errant Knight first. While relatively inexperienced, not as skilled and impetuous, they have the strengths that their older peers do not possess. Eager to prove themselves and not truly understanding the danger, they are truly fearless when charging and fight with heart unlike any older knight that spent too much time managing his lands and politics of the court. Earl Sagremor prefers to lead them himself in battle, using their strength directly to ride around the enemy force and strike their weak points.

The Errantry Banner

I left the toughest topic of the whole unit for last, the standard bearer for my Errant Knights.

Back in WFB Bretonnians had a certain magical banner, unique to this type of knights, that was so cheap and useful, it was a mistake not to use it. It was described as an being tattered and worn, used on many occasions across the history. Eager to try some converting back in the day, I decided to recreate it, while also making it look as if it was stitched from many smaller, torn pieces. I would do it differently nowadays, but I like how it shows a certain stage of my hobby career.

Conversion part was done a long time ago, but the painting is all fresh. Every part of the banner had to use different scheme to reinforce the mismatched look, so it was a bit intimidating, but I somehow managed it. The knight underneath it is really simple - I used a coat of arms that I found a long time ago on the internet, supposedly used in IRL history, but only when actually painting it, I noticed that it's basically Nurgle's emblem. So, even when painting Bretonnia, I can't really escape Nurgle's embrace...

His WIP post can be seen HERE.

The idea of an errantry quest is a very old one in Bretonnia. When there is a big undertaking, one that may not sit well with all the landed nobility, a lord may call upon his much freer subjects to accompany him, all the eager, young errant knights. This not only allows the lords to swiftly deal with arising problems, it also allows the youngsters to earn their spurs. Unfortunately, the reality can be harsh and the history of those quests is a bloody one. When Earl Sagremor took his position, he wanted to remind his errant knights of that fact - so the banner they’re carrying to battle each time is a burned, tattered and stitched collage of all the previous ones that were used during those quests by his forefathers. It may not be as glamorous as others, but this banner is a strong reminder that the knights are carrying a legacy of their predecessors and their history is built upon blood, sweat and tears of those that came before.

Sir Estienne Sagremor, Knight Errant Cavalier

The penultimate member (and a champion) of the Knight Errant unit and the second son of Earl Sagremor, the main leader for the whole army.

Because of this important position in the story, I had to do some simple conversions to make him stand out. A horned helmet for the horse was a must, then a cloak and an extra pauldron. A little, but it fits a champion for an unit of youngsters. He also got that little hawk on his hand - I always liked that bit that came with the knights' box, but I didn't have a good excuse for it - until now.

Also, as you can see, his base is a little more busy than usually. After redoing the bases on my pegasus knights, I decided to bring the whole army in this direction - and Estienne here is just the first one to get it after that change in policy. All the group photos from now one will feature upgraded, fancy bases.

His WIP post can be seen HERE.

Second and youngest son of Earl Sagremor, Estienne had a much easier childhood than his brother. Without as many expectations placed upon him, he had time to develop himself as a person. While he’s prone to jokes, carefree behavior and being led by women way too easily, it would be foolish to dismiss him as a spoiled brat. Estienne still tried to emulate his brother at least a bit, so he still grew into a fine knight and a capable leader. Leading a lance of like-minded Errant Knights, he’s always eager to prove himself in the heat of battle - and so far, this approach worked very well for him. If just his father would let him lead more autonomously, that would be perfect.

Knight Errant #06

One more Errant Knight to break up the monotony of the Plague Marines! Here comes the black one for the unit - every one of them has one to serve as a contrast to all the other (relatively) gaudy colors. Other than that, pretty standard thing.

Thankfully, this is the last rank-and-file knight for this unit, only the champion and the standard bearer are left and should be soon done and ready. This will bring us the first completed unit of this whole mess!

Knight Errant #05

Back to Bretonnia - they are weirdly very popular on my Instagram, so I decided to move them in the right direction.

Musician this time, nothing overly fancy. I tried another way of painting black and yellow parts and it works pretty well, quicker and cleaner. Should prove helpful in the future!

FKB XCVII: Hero of the Background - Hunter Militia, command Group

Another polish Blogger, koyoth, proposed a new topic for this month, a "Hero of the Background". Seeing as my table is chock full od various Bretonnians at the moment, I had something just perfect for that - the peasants! The whole army concept revolves around the shiny knights on the front and dirty unfortunates behind them, useful, but never in the spotlight.

I actually painted a couple of them many years ago, but they were really flat and boring. To bring them up to speed (and make them match ones that I'll paint later) I added extra shading, some highlights, a little dirt and some simple OSL. The color choices and overall design stayed as it was back then - as well as those damned mould lines... I should have made a before and after comparison, but when I thought of that, it was already too late for the "before" photos...

Here is the command group, which for some strange reasons, include 4 dudes on the sprue. 3 of them actually have specific functions in the unit, while the one on the right just kinda... hopes to blend in with the rest. They use the same color scheme as Earl Sagremor and they are meant to be serving directly under him.

Knight Errant #03 & #04

My new resolution is to focus on the unit of Errant Knights first, rather than jumping from unit to unit randomly. So, today I'm showing you one with a fresh coat of paint (right) and one from 2008 (left) with some extra shades added to make him look more... contemporary and with proper shadings. Not much of a difference between them now, I guess. The new one was painted much faster though.

The new guy is yet another pleasant black-red-white kind of dude. Nothing too remarkable about him. The older one is a variation on a templar heraldry, but with some extra details and colors to make it more bretonnian.

Knights of Bretonnia, group shot 01

There was some popular demand for a group shot, so here I am as promised, with the first group shot of all the knights that I painted this year (so no oldies from 2010).

Unfortunately, seeing as I paint them rather randomly, we have some Knights of the Realm here, as well as the Errant Knights, there is no banner and the colors are unbalanced. Final units have some more thought put into them, so please wait for that - but in the meanwhile, it's actually very nice to actually see them as a proper group. I got most of my Bretonnians in ages long gone and only now I am getting close to seeing them as they were supposed to.

Knight Errant #02

Okay, here I'm back with some actual content. I'm sorry for the last weeks, but real life just doesn't want to settle on a consistent schedule as well... Hopefully, now I can deliver stuff a little better.

Second Errant Knight for the unit, who - with the colors and the heraldry - looks a bit Ukrainian-themed. I designed him years before the war, so it was not a spontaneous decision, but still nice nonetheless. The stripes in this color scheme intimidated me a little, but thankfully it actually went quite smoothly.

Also, he's the ninth knight I painted this year, so I can actually now gather all of them into a proper 3x3 unit, which will come next week. In related news, I managed to buy some more knight minis, so instead of three 9-man units, I'll have one with 15, one with 12 and one with 9, for a proper size!

Knight of the Realm #08

Return to the knights for a bit. I am very busy at home right now and I wasn't able to prepare anything more fancy. The painting on this one is also rather simple.

Still, this knight is rather unique, because I had only one of those antlered helmets when I was assembling them. Naturally, this also meant that he had to have a fitting heraldry. Besides, he sports probably the blackest color scheme out of the whole bunch - with some slight color to break it up a bit - and I already have a completely monochrome knight anyway.

Bretonnian Knights - Conversions

Between all the rank-and-file knights I have been working on the characters and command groups. Wanting to make them more distinct and fit my backstory a little better, I wanted to do some conversions on them since... forever. Seriously, some of those guys were my first attempts at conversions, first experience with greenstuff, etc. Of course, I had to change some of them to not be embarassing, but the idea stays mostly the same. I apologize for the mess with the undercoats and paints - I was convinced many times that they are ready to be painted, only to get them back to the conversion phase later, after already starting.

First is the "main character" of the whole army, Earl Sagremor, based on the "paladin with an axe" model from bygone ages. Main idea - his horse is a manmade unicorn, fitting his heraldry - this horn may be actually from 2008, those are easy to make. Second idea - the shield should be covered with a dragonskin - and this is perhaps the 4th or 5th attempt. Third idea - he should have a big sword. The first version of this was a translucent plastic sword that I got once in a restaurant to eat french fries with! It broke off sadly, was brittle as hell. Everything else on him are "modern" conversions to fill him up with details.

Second one, his older son, the Battle Standard Bearer. His horse is also a manmade unicorn of course.

Here, having already made a pretty impressive standard for a different knight, this one needed to be extra extravagant. So, my 2008 self sculpted this whole big "altar" on top of the standard, with the rays and shields. I only shortened some of the rays for better effect, but overall, not that terrible. Only the "ribbons" on the back side were super bad, so I remade them according to my current skills.

Now the younger son, a champion for the Errant Knights.

Nothing too complicated here, just some bits to make thim stand out more. And a unicorn-hat on the horse, of course.

Standard Bearer for the Errant Knights.

This one was actually a magic standard used on WFB 6th edition, it cheaply made Errant Knights significantly stronger - so it was always used. I liked the fluff description on how it was carried through countless errantry wars, was tattered and sewn together from many different smaller pieces, so I wanted to represent it on the tabletop. Nowadays I would probably give it more tattered parts and make different stitches, but it works good enough here too. This conversion is almost unchanged since 2008, only the hanging chains were added recently.

Last conversion for now, a champion of one of the Knight units. The idea came to me when I saw cardinal Richelieu's heraldry and wanted to do something similar - right after that the concept evolved to make him a priestly knight. Such a function probably doesn't exist in Bretonnia's fluff, but the aesthetics work well enough.

His helmet has this "bishop's hat" style and there is a lot of flowing details, all to make him regal and important.

Only one conversion still isn't made - Cadret the Black, a special character of my own invention. That one involves reposing the horse, sculpting the barding from scratch and many other details, so that one will come much later.

Knight Errant #01

A slight change - an Errant Knight this time, one of the younger, inexperienced knights. They are using the same kit, the only visual difference being they don't use the extravagant helmets of standard knights - that's why I'm working on them at the same time as the others, it's just a long production line anyway.

Wanted to give them another difference, I decided to paint their lances wooden-color, thinking that maybe they break their weapons so often, nobody really bothers to paint them properly. At least it'll make them more distinct as a unit.

I don't even remember how I came up with this heraldry and colors, but now I can only think of him as a German or Belgian football fan...

Knight of the Realm #07

A late post, unforgivable! Sorry, I had the photos prepared, but the internet broke down when I wanted to set them up online...

Another knight - this time in a white-blue color scheme, I don't think I had any of those. I decided to use light gold and yellowy-brown for the leather parts to make him all look rather bright and friendly. That's definitely a pleasant change of pace. I'm not sure how to excuse having a breaking wheel on his coat-of-arms in-universe, but I still think it looks cool and I wanted to make something like this since I saw such a heraldric concept on Wikipedia a long time ago.