Low calorie soldiers (a Vampire Counts, Empire and Mordheim plog)

[Nordic]

Interesting eyes on the wizard. makes him look really magical!

[HiDeke]

Man oh man- your sculpting is really great- and you follow it up with a neat paintjob. Clean and consistent. The helmets with the eye slits make a real impact for me- and I bet they do on the tabletop too.


Is there any difference with the "brown stuff" that you use in terms of workability/sculpting behavior? Or does it behave just like green stuff?

[SniffleSocks]

Great stuff!

[Asp]

your kit bashing is superb, your painting commendible, but above all I LOVE HOW MUCH MORDHEIM IS GOING ON

[Spjuth]

The Champion look truly great! That morning star suited him perfectly!

[MaxSigmund]

Thanks guys! No pics this time, but I'm working on a couple more henchmen to bulk out my warband, so I'll post pics after the weekend.

@Nordic: That's laziness on my part (painting eyes is always a faff) combined with an excellent miniature; some of the Mordheim figures were the best GW ever produced (shame about the last lot though)...

@HiDeke: Brown stuff is very similar to green stuff in terms of workability (I generally mix it about 30 minutes to 1 hour before I start working with it so that it isn't too sticky). It is more expensive, but dries harder, is easier to carve/file, and doesn't seem to swell as much. I don't sculpt many clothes, but better sculptors than me use brown stuff for the armour and green stuff for cloth. You can buy it here: http://www.heresyminiatures.com/shop...roducts_id=168.

@Asp: I love that all this damn Mordheim is going on too! It's probably something to do with the staggering amount of modelling opportunities afforded by all these new plastic kits. Anyway, I was going to save this for my next post, but may as well put it here:

GW Cambridge Mordheim Campaign - Week 1:

We had 3 of our campaign warbands available this week - Reiklanders (me), Araby Nomads and Ogre Maneaters.

Game 1 (Reiklanders vs. Ogres): My Mercs got utterly breamed by a 3-strong ogre warband. Despite this, only one casualty and no serious injuries.
Low point: My halberdier champion getting captured and eaten.
High point: My OOA captain getting Sold to the Pits, and beating a pit fighter by the skin of his teeth (he knocked that fighter down 3 times in a row, despite getting critical hits each time before finally managing to kill a man who was on the floor).

Game 2 (Reiklanders vs. Nomads): My Mercs managed to regain their self respect with a very lucrative attack on the nomads.
Low point: My poor wardog (Niblet) charging into combat on his own against 5 angry nomads due to all my reinforcements failing initiative tests.
High point: Getting my grizzled swordsman to Hero level! Boo ya. Plus, I've got a free hired sword helping in my next battle, so I'm tempted to get an ogre of my own just to help me exact revenge on those damn Maneaters...

Game 3 (Ogres vs. Nomads): The plucky nomads almost managed to win an "Occupy" mission, but the ogres pulled through in the final 2 turns.
Low point: The brave nomads taking every ogre down to 1 wound and getting pounded into the dirt for their trouble.
High point: The Guide being attacked by his own Sabretusk after the Sabretusk spent all the previous 6 turns running to and from the edge of the board.

Next week I'll be away, but we'll have Lizardmen and Beastman warbands joining in, and potentially some Black Orcs as well. At this early stage, we're being quite flexible with the rules, and we'll probably be introducing a lot more for the ogres just for fluff reasons (getting stuck in narrow doorways, smashing down buildings, crashing through floors, etc.). This campaign should be a lot of fun, I'll keep posting updates if anybody declares an interest...

Any suggestions for themed scenarios would be appreciated! Happy hobbying Warseers

[Nordic]

I loled at the sabretusk high point!
Seems your warband has fared better than my Witch hunters, I've played like 5 games with them and lost 4. I won my first match against a night goblin warband cuz they failed their rout test, I passed my rout test in the previous round. Only one of my heroes has died though!

How about a bounty hunting scenario, like the one found in the "Empire in flames"? After all your're playing mercs!

[Boreas_NL]

Very, very nice Warband! I don't have to point out your sculpting is amazing, it has been said already (but man, it's amazing!). I absolutely love what you did with the Warband and your other Empire mini's! I couldn't sculpt anything to save my life...

Would you be interested in commision work?

[azhagmorglum]

Nice wizard and the blue eyes are great.
I don't agree with you about metal models though, I have a good feeling when I paint those compared to plastic model, I don't know, it must come from the weight. Anyway, when I paint metal models, I blue-tac them on an old paintpot to avoid touching them while painting. I don't know if you do that, but it sure helps.

Keep the great work up !

[MaxSigmund]

Hello all! Thanks for the comments, much appreciated (ah, ego boost ). Only a short update from me as I won't have much time for the rest of the week (hobby schedule should resume within a couple of weeks, but September is going to be a manic month). Hopefully I'll reply to some of your points in more detail later.

Apologies (as always) for the shoddy photos, but you can just about make out the details of the models. I've made another crossbowman, pictured alongside another unpainted one (trying not to have crossbow spam in my warband, so 4 should be enough). I also tried to convert a normal Mordheim mercenary figure into something a little different by sculpting a bit of armour onto him and filing away some other details. I need to add a bit more gear to all these figures, but I'm pretty happy with them:





@Boreas_NL: Thanks! Love your blog, and I notice you started your Empire army in the same way, as a Mordheim gang. About commission work: I generally don't (due to time constraints), but I will if the price is right and the project interests me. If you want to discuss this further, feel free to drop me a PM

[Nordic]

great sculpting on the greastwordsman, very clever idea to make armor on him.

[Pariah-Miniatures]

Love your conversions. Everything you do is full of character and unique. Keep up the great work!

Pariah-Miniatures

[Hrokka `Eadsplitter]

This might be the best Mordheim stuff I've seen in quite a while.
The warband is really impressive, so far my favourite is the Bronn-guy
I'm really impressed by your sculpting skills, awesome miniatures the lot of them.
Since you already got a Bronn-ish guy, have you thought of expanding your Game of Thrones-based retinue?
Myself I've been toying with Lannister employed mercenaries for a warband, with Knights Panther shields and helmets, to catch the feeling. However, I get the feeling you'd do a helluva better job
Keep up the good work!

[Scythe]

Beautiful plog you got here Max! The Vampire Counts look very impressive, but I was blown away with your Empire. Great sculpting and painting there, every model is just so full of character.

[SevenSins]

This is really nice stuff, both brownstuffing and paintjob, inspiring

PS while I love your mordheim/empire anymore size skinny coming up? (read VC)

[MaxSigmund]

Hi all! Update time again. Thanks for all the positive comments guys, feel free to rate this plog as well

@SevenSins: I know, the VC haven't felt the love for a while, I'll get back to them once this Mordheim campaign is over. Hopefully, by then I'll have a small Empire army to pit against them.

@Hrokka `Eadsplitter: Cheers! Bronn the Swordsman has been the best performing member of the warband so far, which I'm quite pleased about. I won't be doing specifically GoT-themed minis, but it's a great series to draw inspiration from. I might do some knights with lion helms and Lannister-style decoration, or with helmets like the Hound's...I'll see what happens. The round shields from the old WHFB starter set would be appropriate. Check back when the next season of GoT is broadcast, that'll probably encourage me (I'm very suggestible like that)

Right, more reinforcements for my Mordheim Irregulars (I still need to think of a name): two more crossbowmen and my champion models.


I was going to include a warrior with greatsword, but due to my Captain getting robbed, I had to swap some equipment around, so the champion has given up his helmet and halberd in exchange for a greatsword:


...and here's the warband in all it's painted glory (except the Ogre Mercenary, who hasn't been made yet).


Not sure what I'll make next for this campaign, although I will be using the best part of the fortified manor kit to make a pub! Suggestions for a name gratefully received (particularly humorous ones). I'll also make some minis to replace my Youngbloods once they grow up a bit, and some henchmen to act as meat shields.

So Warseers, suggestions for a pub name*! And happy hobbying

* Don't suggest The Winchester, way ahead of you...

[unwanted]

It's been a while since I checked in, but everything is turning out gorgeous! The mercenaries in particular, as they're all very distinct individuals.

[Catalip]

realy good looking, and the armours look fantastic, not too shiny not too old

[Asp]

who doesnt love mordheim. looooooove mordheim

[MaxSigmund]

@Asp: Who doesn't love Mordheim? Well, maybe crazy people, but we don't listen to them.

Quick update from me tonight with some modelling news. I'm quite proud of this mini, although my mercenaries aren't doing very well in the campaign (last game I lost a crossbowman, got both youngbloods injured and one champion captured). Here is someone I hope to buy as soon as I can afford him: a marksman with a blunderbuss, pistol, sword and heavy armour. He'll stand in as a handgunner champion in my future Empire army.




He's made of a handgunner body (with the torso cut off, repositioned and sculpted over), the Empire general head jammed into a Greatsword helmet, and bits from a few militia kits. The blunderbuss is made from a handgun with part of a lance attached. He certainly looks grizzled enough to have survived a few close-range firefights...

Anyway, wish my mercs luck for the Rescue mission, more updates next week. Happy hobbying Warseers