Ost Averland Black Mountains Garrison, DOW Pikes and Platemail

[sigur]

Very cool plog, mainly due to the various miniatures you're using. These decals look spectacular as well.

[Zoring]

I had considered a black rim Sairion, but i found that all the black made them look a bit bland without the contrast of the green, next time i finish a couple i will put up one with a black base to show you what i mean.

Sigur i have some realy cool stuff coming in the mail for the army, the cavalry i have lined up to use as pistoliers are going to be very cool (i hope!).

Here is a photo I took outside in the natural light for a bit of an experiment, made the drum and his knuckles quite shiny but came out ok. Normally when i take my photos it's in the middle of the night after some mad painting session.

Musiker Hausmann

The Alpenkorps traditionally uses a trumpet whilst mountaineering simply for the convenience whilst mountaineering, however drums are favoured whilst on campaign, as they can also be used to keep the cadance of the march whilst not in combat. Musiker Hausmann's tunic displays the ubiqutious Imperial Cross on his left sleeve, a common device that the men like to have embroidered on articles of their white clothing.

[Zoring]

I have painted up all my Republican Guard, oh daylight photography be a cruel mistress. This is all the Republican Guard i have at the moment, anyone got some they want to get rid of! Want to get the block up to 40 in the future.

Set Pikes!

The Black Mountain garrison forces were present in the campaign against Grom the Paunch in the Imperial year of 2040-2042. Fighting under Prince Wilhelm of Reikland the Ost Averland pikes took heavy losses in the Battle of Bloody gorge.

Garrison Pikemen

As a result of this campaign the Black Garrison forces was significantly reinforced into a heavier permanent armed force to form an increased presence in the mountains. The result of this is an greater ability to provide greater warning for future incursions and a better bulwark against Orcish and other aggression.

Horde in the making

Despite being heavy the Pavise provides excellent protection against incoming missle fire

[Indreth]

The wonderful painted Pavise make the Pikeman look incredible realistic! Keep up the great work!
Cheers.

[Lord Dan]

Awesome! Will you count the pavaises as an extra rank?

[Zoring]

I wasn't going to initially but they look pretty awesome in-front of the men like that i think i will use them as a unit-filler. Also means i only need to get one more box of Ricco's to have a full unit of 40.

Perhaps for the fluff purposes i won't have the Alpenkorps (Leopard Company) with the pavises, to reflect their light role. I will eventually be adding a third Regiment made up of a selection of the better historical mini's.

[Sgt_Eagle]

Ah, found this plog of yours just now. Excellent stuff, both the fluff and miniatures. The pavises have been highly praised by others and I will gladly join the chorus. Maybe you could add an arrow or two on some of them?

So what are your new miniatures? Any info to share with us? I'm slowly gathering miniatures to make a DoW list too, bit more witht the conquistador theme though but any source for good historical minis would be highly appreciated

[Zoring]

Ah arrows. That is a splendid idea and I do have some spare ones.

Well the bloody new miniatures haven't arrived :P Hopefully soon they will and i can get some pics up. I am painting some new stuff for this blog right now so i should be updating it soon.

There is some excellent historical stuff for Spanish/Renaissance/Conquistador/Estalian/Tilean (phew) style stuff. Which you can find here:

http://www.theassaultgroup.co.uk/store/p...t=6&page=4 (this is just a little bit theres a lot of other stuff on that website)

http://www.crusaderminiatures.com/li...3&sub=7&page=1 some cool pirates and stuff here for ships crew (i always imagine crewmen pitching in on expeditions)

Foundries Spanish and British stuff are bang on for those as well.

http://wargamesfoundry.com/historica...ethan/british/
http://wargamesfoundry.com/historica...ethan/spanish/

Probably some other suitable stuff on there website, really ridiclously good ranges.

[laisu.reloaded]

Very classic looking and inspiring...

[Sgt_Eagle]

Well, thanks to you Zoring I wandered to Assault Group homepage last night and purchased some 20 of their Renaissance Spanish pikemen! I was able to rein myself not to purchase more than that though as I know I can't get these 20 ready quite soon... the project is on a back-burner but little accumalation of assets (miniatures, that is) can't hurt nobody.... besides my wallet, I guess

I have a bunch of Foundry Spanish, they are really good (no wonder there, I guess). My overall plan with this Eldorado project, as I call it myself, is to have a force in which all the miniatures are different, even amongst the rank and file. Of course with easy headswaps, greenstuffed beards and goatees appearances can be changed too.

Now back to your wonderful Garrison. Since there are no official DoW list by GW atm (I think), are you planning to use just Empire list? That's what I was thinking for my project, just with the addition of the pikemen.

[Zoring]

Been a bit distracted with my Aeronautica Painting but the Garrison is still getting some love, going to put up some more pics of them as well, absolutely love these archer models, reminded me of the fun of multi-part plastic models (if a bit more hassle!)

Glad to have helped Eagle There is such a great wealth of historical stuff out there for human Generals, and it's always good to have a future project to look forward to, even if we usually struggle to get around to them! There's such a great wealth of stuff for the Spanish/Conquistador/Estalian/Tilean theme too, as you have Spaniards, Elizabethan englishmen and europeans, anything in the Renaissance, Italian soldiers from the period all of which represented with historicals so you should manage to get lots of unique figs.

Alpenkrieg Jaeger Schule

The Mountain Warfare Huntsmen School is an institution run and organized by the professional soldiers and huntsmen of Ost Averland. Due to it's location in the dangerous Black Mountains the Garrison is the perfect location to provide a unique training experience.

Taking trained huntsmen and archers from across the provinces of the Empire the Schule trains the men in the stalking, hunting, tracking and despatching of monsters and creatures rarer in other parts of the Empire, nearly all huntsmen are experts in dealing with the common beastmen that plague the forests, but the mountains are host to Orcs, Goblins, Trolls and other beasts rarer in the heartland.

It is no place for beginners however, the mountains are a dangerous place. In addition to teaching the Jaeger provided a very active role as scouts and lookouts for the Garrison forces, often accompanying the Alpenkorps on it's patrols. In field engagements and campaigns the Jaeger continue their role as scouts, provide much desired supplements to rations and form a skirmish line in battle.

My next unit teaser:

[Zoring]

Hauptmann Hans Ritter von Althaus

One of the senior teachers at the school is Hans Ritter von Althaus is a central Averland Captain with a great amount of experience. Formally a leader of a Jäger group in the central forests of the Empire von Althaus was Knighted for his continued service in Beastman eradication. Upon this he was transferred to the Alpenkrieg Schule to lend his experience to the soldiers there. Unlike the more utilitarian dress of the Ost Averland von Althaus wears the typical flamboyant clothing and feathered cap typical of Averland.

Huntsmen of the Scuhle

On the left can be seen two Ost Averland Jäger, showing the typical predeliction towards practicality, leather sleeves and steel helmets are untypical of Huntsmen in the Empire but the Ost Averlanders are firm believers in protection over flamboyance. The huntsmen from Wissenland and Ostermark are distinguished by their State colours feathering and their slash and puff sleeves.

Jäger

Second from the left are Georg the Ostland huntsmen and his Terrier, Rex. An experienced hunter from the Northern province of Ostland, Georg is always accompanied by his small terrier, who's keen nose is trained to sniff out Greenskins, an invaluable aid.

Second form the right is Pieter from Stirland, the rustic red-headed Pieter is a little eccentric by the standards of the other Jäger, his rustic upbringing means he is never more happy then when he has a delicious turnip to eat. Despite this he is an excellent marksman and a valuable addition to the Jäger troop.

Equipment

All Jäger in the Empire learn to live off the land and the men of the Schule are no exception, they carry with them all the tools and equipment needed to survive in the field, mallets, hatchets, and knives are common accoutrements, you can also see the soldiers carrying supplemental rations slung from their belts. On the left the Ost Averland huntsmen is carrying a large Fascinemesser, a large cleaver designed for cutting branches and under-brush.

[Sgt_Eagle]

Excellent stuff once again. Great to see that you keep up the high standard in your minis and fluff as well. Rex looks like an epitome of "terrierness", great work. So next in pipeline are some riders? Outriders perhaps?

[Zoring]

Hey chaps, i tend to finish painting one of my men before all the rest when doing a new unit in a more production line style, find it keeps me motivated So here is the first of my new unit the outstanding Pery Scurriers from the WOTR range who will be playing the part of Pistoliers in my army. I am waiting for some pistols and carbines to be delivered so he is currently rather lacking in firepower!

Thanks Eagle, i have 9 more of these chaps to go, will do a single unit of 5 completed and then finish off the last 10 pikemen from the Leopard company.

Dragoner Solveg

Riding the small horses typical of the Ost Dragoner Regiment, Trooper Solveg is equipped in the typical style of the Regiment in a chainmail shirt and steel helmet, supplemented in his case with a cuirass and a leather bracer. Although some troopers ride into battle wearing armoured leggings Solveg has eschewed this in favour of more comfortable and mobile riding boots. Just behind his leg embroidered on his horse blanket an Imperial Cross can be seen.

[Zoring]

Hello chaps, had these guys finished up last week but didn't post them because i didn't get the pistols in the post today. Perry WOTR Scurriers and Assault Group pistols. Was fun to paint horses since I have only painted up 2 before. I will also post up comparison pics for the sizes to some GW stuff soon.

Ost Averland Dragoner Regiment

The Eastern Averland Dragoon Regiment is a relatively new unit, having only been formed in the past 10 years. The Dragoner are unlike the Pistolkorps in that they are formed from State Troops and equipped by the Province rather then the nobility. Being formed from commoners the Dragoner Regiment takes a more disciplined approach to warfare drilling the soldiers and with a heavy emphasis on training rather then relying on pluck and and verve.

Despite this some members of the Averland nobility do join the Dragoons rather then the pistolkorps, nobles who are destined or desirous of military rank and postings rather then positions within the Knightly orders. As such the Dragoner regiment is fast growing and has even begun to spread as neighbouring provinces have begun recruitment for their own Dragoner units.

The Dragoner regiment is equipped with both wheel-lock pistols and carbines. The pistols are much the same as the ones carried by the Pistolkorps, whilst the Carbine is a shortened Musket as used by the Empires Handgunners. This shortened carbine provides gives a greater reach and accuracy than a pistol whilst providing a much greater manageability then the full length Muskets.


On campaign the Dragoner regiment fights mostly from horseback, and along with the huntsmen provide valuable scouting and reconnasiance work as well as acting as light cavalry on the field. When the situation requires the Dragoon's will also dismount to fight on foot, in this way they can be used as a very mobile infantry unit able to rush to re-enforce points of a weakened line or take key objectives.

The Ost Averland Mountain Garrison maintains a permanent force of the Dragoner Regiment, the mountainous terrain is mostly impractical to horses and renders heavy cavalry useless, but the light horses of the Regiment provide valuable service as scouts and skirmishers. In the mountains the troops will travel mounted and then dismount to investigate crags, slopes, caves or ridges with their horses positioned nearby in order to facilitate a quick retreat if necessary. Which as can be imagined infuriates the un-mounted monsters that dwell in the mountains.

[Hadriel Caine]

What a great looking army! I love the pikemen's pavises. Incredibly well painted. A good unit filler too. Nice painting. Looking forwards to seeing more.

[Sgt_Eagle]

Great unit, once again! The horses are looking good, very fitting size for mountainous terrain.

When do we get to see army list? And what's next?

[jdp]

Really like the look of the black iron plate! Also I am a sucker for any pikeman, DOW was my first fantasy army all those yeares ago...

[Zoring]

21 Little men finished, Back in the old days this would have been a finished unit! A few more men were delivered so I shall work on those soon to get this unit up to 8th edition size.

No banner yet, will have to figure out something for that.

As far as armylist goes, i haven't written one yet haha. So eventually i will get around to writing one. I have a basic idea of what i want hence the mini's but haven't really refined it yet.

There's more pikemen to come, I have some Perry men that will be in the next big unit, but I think I will finish off these blocks first before I do them.

I have been looking at those old Bronzino's galloper guns. Pretty cool looking unit, Might try and get one, like that oldschool GW stuff but getting ahead of myself, already have 2 cannons. Also i have been pondering a Hellstorm rocket launcher, going to make them look like the Congreave rocket system, but that's a long way off.

Alpenkorps Pikemen

The Black Mountains are riddled with crude Goblin tunnels, and the suppression and destruction of these holes and tunnels gives the Alpenkorps a never-ending job. This has given the men a great deal of experience in dealing with the diminutive green-skins. The Captain of the Alpenkorps can be seen wearing a wheelock pistol, whose main function is putting down any Night Goblin enraged by madcap mushrooms.

Alpenkorps Pikemen

One technique innovated by the Alpenkorps troopers is the use of a black-powder charge to clear tunnels. It is popular amongst the troopers although impossible to employ all the time due to the lack of black-powder in the mountain garrison. The method involves an oil soaked barrel of black-powder, set on fire and dropped or rolled into a Goblin tunnel, on fire the charge is impossible to throw out and when the charge goes up it more often than not collapses the tunnel.

[Brother Alexos]

I love this army, its the most fluffy army I've seen, and probably the only one of it's kind.