Jaeckel Alone

Second month of the OWAC V, and second unit of pikemen, after the canton of Uri / BlackHorns clan painted last year. This time, I wanted something inspired from the canton of Schwyz: these new dwarves would wear red and white, and carry a banner showing a white cross on a red background. Efficient, and  simple to paint 😁

The Bernese Chronicle

 

Admittedly a rather ordinary regiment... until I see this picture in the Chronicon Helvetiae:

No clue what this jester is doing in this illustrated chronicle, but I wanted one for my unit, seconding his lord, and cheering the  guards with lame jokes. So, instead of aligning 10 additional dwarves from the marauder MB1 and MM15 ranges, I have replaced two of them by the gnome jester of the Dwarf King's Court set and the Baron of the Dwarf Lords of Legend set. Et voilà!

 

And the rest of the bunch:

Now grouped for the family shots:

With this regiment, I have now painted all the mandatory troops for a 3rd edition Warhammer dwarf army: 40 warriors split into 20 pikemen and 20 halberdiers, and two units of 10 crossbowmen each 🍻

 

Next month should see a new clan with harquebuses and a hairy mascotte...

As I am considering extending the painting of this army to the next OWAC, I've decided that my dwarf priest deserved additional thoughts and preparation. As for the mounted captain, my first attempt to paint the poney failed miserably... and instead of insisting, I have opted for other characters.

So, let's start with the first one, the Annalist of the company, who happens to be a dwarf wizard of the Marauder range, MM10 DW10.

The second character and current leader of the army is one of the Captains that takes command of the dogs of war when the General is not on the battlefield. The model is the well-known leader of the MB1 regiment:

The third character is one of the MM11 champions, that will lead the bodyguards of the paymaster.

I still have a few ideas to explore for my Swiss Grey Mountains mercenary dwarfs (such as clockworkers, a chocolate hot pot, or a "William Tell" quareller), plus a full box of Marauder dwarves waiting for their basecoat, but I have to admit that the initial impetus stemmed last month while painting my crossbowmen. 

So that's it for OWAC IV!

 Time to show you the rest of the clan. Unmodified models of the mythic MB1 box!

Second rank of pikemen:

 

 And the BlackHorns completed:

 See you next month for something totally different!

Standard bearers are probably the most time consuming models in a regiment, and this one was no exception. 

Chronicon Helvetiae Part I - Page 230

The emblem of the BlackHorns clan being the famous auroch of the Grey Moutains, I've searched for inspiration in the existing banners of the Canton of Uri (left: Sempach banner, 1386 - right: Julius banner,1512)...

... and finally used as a starting point the coat of arms of the Warhammer Ostland :) 

Painting on curved surfaces while keeping the proportions can be tricky sometimes. Below a few pictures (shot with my smartphone, a little bit dark I'm afraid) showing how I have processed: 

1. Copy the model on a square paper; 
2. Draw a grid on the flag (based in white); 
3. Draft the silhouette, using some reference points on the grid; 
4. Fill the silhouette; 
5. Clean the messy paint strokes and the grid with several layers of the basecoat (here Vallejo Model Color Filthy Brown)

Still a few additional hours to spend on shadows, highlights, and all the tiny little details (the tongue I had initially forgotten). And you're done!

 The back is far less glorious :p

 

Another idea I found in the illustrated chronicles Luzerne Schilling:

Luzerne Schilling - Page 123

These naked hairy men are "woodwoses" or wild men of the woods, and they were sometimes used in medieval representations to present coats of arms (in our case, Lucerne and Uri). Anyway, these beards tinted in the colors of the Cantons is a nice touch I had to try... with mitigated results I would say.

Next post, I'll show you the other models painted for the BlackHorns clan.