THE WORK OF SHAITAN

 Continuing with yet another Border Princes post, this latest offering is a tweaking of the classic Emperor Karl Franz figure - transforming him into High Prince Bela of Styrtia.

 The plan is to include three or four of the Border Prince characters into the army with of one them as supreme commander - preferably the most flamboyant one. The Karl Franz figure seemed the most suitable option; getting rid of the hammer of course.


 I decided to give his steed a bit of enhancement as well, using several mould presses as armour details. A bit of a fiddly job was that. The head is of a chaos steed but I've given it a plume from what I believe to be a Blood Dragon horse.


 Overall he was a tricky character to paint; some bitchingly difficult eyes to finish off with as well. With a lot of varying detail, it was crucial to make sure the colour choices were coherent enough. That flowing elaborate sash prevents him from ranking up in a unit with other knights, which is a bit of a pisser.


 I'll try to bash out one more post before the traditional end of year review. Most likely it'll be the start of another unit, possibly cavalry.

 If six months ago someone had said me I'd own and paint a Forgeworld Marienburg Landship by October, I'd not have taken them too seriously. This is the main reason my blog has been quiet of late.

 Back in June I woke up one Saturday after a night down the pub and still slightly drunk I decided on an impulse buy. One landship bought. It arrived fully built which wasn't the smartest idea as it's impossible to paint unless it is in several sections. I then had to stick it in the freezer so I could get the glue brittle and break it up. That worked but not without damaging several pieces so it wasn't off to the best of starts. Furthermore, the other half spotted it on the desk and asked how much it had cost. When I lied and said it was £50, she baulked.


 The first plan was to ditch the crew (which I'm not a fan of by any means) and replace them with some nice 4th edition Perry sculpts.
 I won't lie, this model was an absolute bitch to build/paint at times, especially the rear wheels.




 So four months later (or thereabouts) It's all done - another one off the bucket list.
 Rather than a Marienburg vessel, I've painted it as part of my Border Princes force in particular from the principality of Khypris.



 I'm not sure what's up next. At least I've managed to get my annual large project in which I've been able to achieve for three years running now. It's a lot a weight off the shoulders to see it finished and free me up for smaller more manageable projects to keep the blog ticking along a little more consistently.

 It's been a a hectic couple of months with work. The busiest I've ever been, in fact. With barely a day off I've found time to paint a bit on the scarce side. Plenty of plans but just trying to find time to get on with it and then having the brain cells left of an evening to actually blog it. Anyway, I've finally managed to finish one post off while I have a minute.

 On with my warband merry go round, with Chaos handing the baton back to Empire (Border Princes to be exact). This has been one I've had in planning for some time, an Empire warband with a unique colour scheme.

 Up first is the leader and champion. I've gone for my commissioned Empire hero again for the champion (nice to slap some paint on another of those!) and for the leader I've opted for the wonderful steam tank commander. Until I purchased him recently, minus the tank, and had him in hand, I never realised how much of a superb characterful sculpt he is and of course makes a fine warband leader.




 Hailing from the principality of Khypris, I've created my own colour scheme like I have done with my Border Princes army so far. I'll be aiming for an 8 man warband with a firearm theme throughout.




 I'm unsure whether the next post will be a continuation of this lot or back to chaos warbands. Plus there is something on the horizon. Something large which I think I purchased while still under the influence of alcohol early one Saturday morning about a month ago, something I've wanted for a while now. This will take a bit of time, I will admit but it's underway at least.

 After sitting out January I've got back into the swing of things with February's Old World Army Challenge.


 The latest addition to my Borders Princes force are a 15 man halberdier unit which includes a champion, standard bearer and drummer.


 I wanted to achieve a real varied look to my unit by using as many different looking troops as possible; men who have hailed from across the Old World seeking fortune and a better life.



 • 15 Halberdiers including champion, standard bearer and drummer from the principality of Myrmidens - 208 points.




 It's not the most detailed banner ever made but that's about the limit of my freehand. On the plus side I've always wanted to paint a halberdier unit so that's another thing to draw a line under and I'll probably expand it at some later date.

 Well I thought December's installment of the Old World Army Challenge would be fairly straight forward what with having a bit of spare time over the Christmas period but I only just managed to finish on new year's eve.


 Opting for both artillery pieces, I've gone for uniform colours that are quite diverse from the Empire provinces; particularly the black and apple green of the great cannon crew.



• Great Cannon with 3 crewmen from the principality of Styrtia - 100 points



• Helblaster Volley Gun with 3 crewmen from the principality of Munzig - 100 points

 I kept both war engines quite plain as both sets of crew are busy enough with colour. If I'm honest I found this month's challenge a strain at times, in particular the volley gun crew. The guy with the barrel is a pretty rough sculpt in places, especially the face. I'm not used to painting to deadlines and some of it felt a little rushed.

 Anyway, this month I'm focusing on cavalry and I'm going down a non Citadel route. Hopefully it won't be too much of a rushed struggle this time!

 Well it's been a while since my last post; 2 months in fact. The time has been well spent mind, preparing for something I had not been expecting to get involved in - The Old World Army Challenge.


 To save me waffling on about the rules, and probably getting it wrong, here are the details as follows:

 Now this isn't the sort of thing I'd normally take on, the idea of painting an army in an allocated time fills me with dread but seeing as all other projects  (or most of them anyway) have been finished off, I decided to give it a go.

 I opted for a Border Princes Army or The Northen Borders Confederacy. This will give me the opportunity to paint an Empire force but it gives me the freedom to incorporate several different coloured uniforms into the army from each principality - plus adding some dwarfs into the mix.
 I intend to use a mixture of 4th Empire figures plus a number of the Marauder Empire and dwarf range. I may even go for some non Citadel figures as well.

 •THE ARMY LIST

1 Mounted Border Prince
1 Mounted Hero
5 Border Heavy Cavalry
5 Princes Bodyguard (on foot)
15 Halberdiers including champion
10 Handgunners including champion
8 Dwarf Spearmen
1 Great Cannon
1 Helblaster Volley Gun

Total Points 1007

 So the first instalment is done. Only a mere 4 figures this month but it does include the army commander and hero.



• Lord Durant, Principality of Akendorf     Army commander
Heavy armour, barded warhorse
110 points



•Duke Beaucamp, Principality of Brovska
Empire Hero
Heavy armour, barded warhorse
75 points


•Dwarfs*(2 from an 8 man unit)
Sword and pistol, sword  (standard not included in points)

*making up points to roughly total 200 for the month.

 It's been an impressive start to proceedings from the challengers and December should prove equally prosperous. Myself, I'm not sure what's in next month's installment yet. Need to decide quickly though and get cracking.
 Incidentally, my blog page has just turned 4 years old. Time has certainly flown.