The War of the Roses and Zombies

[Lord Dan]

So I've been watching a lot of zombie movies, reminiscing over my old Sylvanian log, and playing a ton of medieval II total war. As a result I started thinking about an interesting concept that I haven't seen before, which is the idea of a zombie outbreak occurring during the 1400's. The plan is the create an army of zombie survivors from various countries, who have put aside their differences to fight in the name of humanity. As with my Sylvanian log I'm planning lots of undead-killing conversions to drive the theme home, and I will likewise be using the new Empire rules to represent the army.

I'm super excited about this project, and as a result I'm giving it it's own log (while my "Dan paints everything" log will continue for all of my other stuff) and have already ordered a bunch of Perry WoTR plastics and mantic undead models (which will fit the scale much better than GW's stuff).

The first unit up will be a unit of Milanese mounted crossbowmen, which I'll be using in-game as outriders. I've got two put together so far, but I'll be waiting for the undead goodness to arrive before converting the other 3 in the unit. For now, here's a M2:TW screen shot of the inspiration:



I'll be taking pictures of some eBay models tonight for my other log, so I'll snap some of the WIP models to put up here tonight.

[Lord Dan]

So, first pictures:




I couldn't wait for my zombies and skeletons from mantic to get here, so I rifled through my bitz box for some early conversions. This guy is a kitbash between a fireforge games knight, an empire crossbowman, a gripping beast viking, and, obviously, a GW skeleton. The next couple may have a couple of heads from the Perry mounted men-at-arms sprue, depending on if I feel they fit well enough.

I must say, for those who care for historical minis, that I find the fireforge knights to be quite nice. I think the gaps on the horses are definitely "holy crap" green stuff worthy, but aside from that one issue the kit had very little flash and everything is surprisingly well proportioned. The lances are somewhat absurdly thick and long for those using them as actual crusading knights, however in my case they're getting recommissioned for use by my Swiss pikemen. Speaking of which:



Standard bearer and unit champion for my Swiss pikemen. The standard will be getting a head swap once the new stuff arrives, though you can see there that the lance resting on his left arm is large and thick enough to act as a suitable pole for a standard bearer! These guys are small compared to the normal GW stuff, so I think they might actually fit in amongst the Perry stuff I'll be using to fill out the rest of the unit. If they prove too big (by which I mean if their hands and heads look too thick) they might get drafted to a war machine crew or something.

[Toshiro]

Sweet! Another Dan log, this will be awesome!

[Engel]

This is great.
I just love how you can combine different plastic kits to create totally unique models.

[Hideous Loon]

Hey, another Lord Dan log! And with two of my favourite things (zombies and knights), too!

Kitbashing looks cool, as usual. The knight model has a great sense of movement, kudos.

Minor nitpick: I assume that the crossbow will have a straight bowstring and that the bolt will be stuck to the skeleton somewhere.

[Lord Dan]

Sweet! Another Dan log, this will be awesome!

I certainly hope so!

This is great.
I just love how you can combine different plastic kits to create totally unique models.

Thanks man! There's going to be a lot of kitbashing in this army just to create the units I wish to represent. I was really pleased with how modern the fireforge knights are turning out, given that they're meant to represent crusading knights from about 1150 and this is intended as a crossbowman from 300 years later.

Hey, another Lord Dan log! And with two of my favourite things (zombies and knights), too!

Kitbashing looks cool, as usual. The knight model has a great sense of movement, kudos.

Minor nitpick: I assume that the crossbow will have a straight bowstring and that the bolt will be stuck to the skeleton somewhere.

Thanks! As for the nitpick, I actually didn't intend for this guy to have shot the skeleton. Rather, I imagined him just running the poor guy over with his horse, paying it no mind while casually reloading his crossbow. I've got another conversion lined up in which the mounted crossbowman will appear as though he did just fire a bolt into an undead creature, however in that case the pose will be more obviously "I just fired" with the crossbow leveled, a straight bowstring, and a bolt-riddled zombie getting blown back rather than crushed under hoof.

[Lord Dan]

I need some input on my Swiss pikemen. As you can see from my picture, I've decided to go the puffy sleeved route for my pikes. Something akin to this bad boy:



The problem is, according to my research, the Swiss weren't this poofy at any point during the 1400's. In fact it seems the Perry brothers got it right with their regular mercenary kit and separate heads for the 1450-1500 period:

Perry Brother's Swiss conversions

I had been thinking not of Swiss pikemen, but of Landsknecht pikemen, who hailed from the north Holy Roman Empire/Netherlands during the period I wish to represent. Ironically they were commissioned by the Emperor as a way to combat the insanely-effective Swiss pikes of the period. So the decision point: Should my first block of pikes be Landsknechts from the Netherlands or a much less poofy Swiss unit? I'm sure that eventually I'll have both, however with the number of units I have planned for this project it means the one I don't choose won't get completed for a long time.

[Lord Dan]

Up for some more?

Some drive-by shooting:



This guy apparently ran out of ammo, but he certainly isn't unarmed:



Here are some "regulars" to fill out the unit. I'm particularly pleased with the one on the left resting the crossbow under his arm while riding at full tilt:



Finally, a group shot:



I've got a lot of time on my hands with school not starting up for another week, so I'll be utilizing that to get some green stuff on this unit so I can start painting it for the tale of fantasy painters come Saturday.

[Il Maestro]

I personally prefer the puffy look, but maybe that's just cause GW have preconditioned me too it :P

Cool unit of mounted crossbowmen, really nice conversion work and individuality with the poses, it makes for a far more interesting unit!! Just keep it coming

[Roostmanuva]

woohoo another Lord Dan thread!! This one looks to be exciting indeed and I think you are right with mantic undead working really well with Perry boys minis. We are in for a real treat, me thinks!!

[Astraeos]

I'm not all that into historical miniatures but I like zombies and your conversions. I'll give this a watch!

[Lord Dan]

I personally prefer the puffy look, but maybe that's just cause GW have preconditioned me too it :P

Cool unit of mounted crossbowmen, really nice conversion work and individuality with the poses, it makes for a far more interesting unit!! Just keep it coming

I'm inclined to agree. The tricky part is going to be finding a way to get a unit of poofy pikemen in plastic without having to utilize the oversized and prohibitively expensive GW variants.

More, you say?

woohoo another Lord Dan thread!! This one looks to be exciting indeed and I think you are right with mantic undead working really well with Perry boys minis. We are in for a real treat, me thinks!!

I certainly hope so! Good to see you here!

I'm not all that into historical miniatures but I like zombies and your conversions. I'll give this a watch!

My aim is to change your mind. Would some paint help?:



I'm just about done with the riders. I used a different formula for the skin so I'll need to go back, wash it down, and highlight it back up. Additionally the detail in the chainmail is really quite shallow, so I'll have to go in and wash it pretty heavily to get the desired look. Finally I think another highlight on the gold wouldn't be amiss, after which I'll move on either to the horses or to the next pair of riders depending on my mood.

C&C, as always, is most welcome.

[Toshiro]

More poof for the poof god!

And the painting is superb as always, keep it up!

[Tonny]

The riders look fantastic! The green, white, red works perfectly. The heraldy is very nice! The fireforge crusader helmets do look good!

Very vibrant colours, it will work wonderfuly against the zombies.

[Hideous Loon]

Hitting the zombie on the head with your crossbow? I don't think he's doing it right...

[Boreas_NL]

Nice start to a fresh plog! Why not integrate them with your Sylvanians? Don't know if that would be an option as these are certainly a bit les 'cartoony' (I don't mean that in a negative way)... Anyway, looking forward to following this! Keep up the great work, very characterful as usual!

[Lord Dan]

More poof for the poof god!

And the painting is superb as always, keep it up!

Poof it is! The poof god will be pleased!

The riders look fantastic! The green, white, red works perfectly. The heraldy is very nice! The fireforge crusader helmets do look good!

Very vibrant colours, it will work wonderfuly against the zombies.

Thanks man! The heraldry is totally stolen from M2:TW, so I'm not sure about its historical authenticity. Even that dragon symbol on the rider's chest is from the game, however I though it both looked cool and was a great way to incorporate different colors in my units from different regions.

Hitting the zombie on the head with your crossbow? I don't think he's doing it right...

Actually it's everyone else who are doing it wrong.

Nice start to a fresh plog! Why not integrate them with your Sylvanians? Don't know if that would be an option as these are certainly a bit les 'cartoony' (I don't mean that in a negative way)... Anyway, looking forward to following this! Keep up the great work, very characterful as usual!

Thank you my man. Nah, the scale on the GW plastics and the historical minis is way off. More importantly I like the idea of a concise theme with War of the Roses and Zombies, as I feel War of the Roses and Sylvanians and Zombies would get a bit confusing. I'm glad you're enjoying my progress so far, though!


Here are some pictures I forgot to post last night for some reason. Here you can really see the work that needs to be done on the chainmail:




Should have more for you tomorrow!

[Gargobot]

Great stuff as always, both conversions and painting are stellar.
I have one question though, is this gonna be a two army log? Or are the zombies just there to add to the coolness of your WotR guys?

[mrtn]

Seeing how fantastical zombies are in the first place I think that you should either define and follow a historical period closely, or just give up any ideas of being historical.

Nice start on the minis.

[Lord Dan]

Great stuff as always, both conversions and painting are stellar.
I have one question though, is this gonna be a two army log? Or are the zombies just there to add to the coolness of your WotR guys?

Thanks man! It's nice to see you hopping around the forums, as always! As to your question, it's an Empire army with zombies being re-killed by my WoTR guys.

Seeing how fantastical zombies are in the first place I think that you should either define and follow a historical period closely, or just give up any ideas of being historical.

Nice start on the minis.

I read your post last night and have been giving it quite a bit of thought, and I feel you're right. Currently with the theme of "All European powers fighting zombies" is taking an idea that never occurred (all Catholic factions represented in a single army) and incorporating a fantastical idea that never occurred (zombie apocalypse). I think the way to stay true to the historical period, as you mentioned, is to pick a single European army from the period and have that faction be both historically accurate and fighting zombies.

That said, I need input on the army you would like to see painted from the period:

Burgundians: Primary colors are dark blue and white, with accents of red (particularly the red "x" on uniforms and livery. This is the color scheme on the box of the Perry mercenaries kit, if I recall correctly.

Germans: Primary colors are black and yellow, with accents of maroon and white.

Italians: Primary colors are dark red and white, with complimentary accent colors.

Until we decide on a color scheme I'll be putting together some Perry handgunners for the army.