Marienburg

[ZeroTwentythree]

Jumping into the painting log thing. Would that be a plog?

For years I’ve wanted to build a Marienburg army. I’d collected figures, then got rid of many of them after they sat in storage for years, but have finally decided I need a break from the Skaven and will put together at least 1500 +/- points of Marienburger deathmachine. (Mmmmm… marienburgers…)


ACHTUNG! I've removed my progress list and started to streamline it for my own convenience & sanity. If you want to peek at where I'm at in terms of painting troops...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...W5ERFkxT2pqQkE



Basing:

I’m not sure what to do about basing, both in terms of materials & appearance. My skaven are on a mix of group bases and single bases, all made with basswood with magnetic bottoms. I’ve had mixed results with this as the wood tends to warp a little, and never seems to get as nice an edge as the store-bought bases. But on the other hand, I like having the magnets in terms of transport, and the group bases for quick set-up and removal of casualties.

I’m tempted to match the basing theme on the few that are already done (which matches my skaven), though I might change it around a little bit. I’m contemplating something with some tall reeds on a few of the bases, though, since it’s a port city, on a river, and near a marsh. Maybe a city basing theme, with cobblestones? I like that idea, but it would probably look odd on most gaming tables. I’m not opposed to something completely different.


Attached are a few pics of what I've started on so far, including a number of older figures. Still not sure what color to paint the wizards.


Any input is appreciated, as is critique & comments on the pics.

[Caligula]

You have a really great painting style, one in which I hope to achieve myself someday soon. Your style is very clean and very crisp, and the minis you've got there look amazing...and they're just the normal troops. If you have any advice on how to achieve such a clean painting style, please share!

With all the different coloured clothing and uniforms and such you're going to end up with, a good basing technique will be invaluable. You'll want something simple, yet striking and unique, to tie your army together and help make it look like a cohesive force. I'll think about what exactly that might be, and if I come up with anything I'll be sure to let you know!

Doing the whole mixed colour thing can be a rather dangerous prospect, usually ending up in the army looking really spectacular, vibrant, and pleasing or as a, to put it simply, a mess. I've seen examples of both, usually done with Brettonian armies. I don't think you have anything to worry about in this regard, as your painting is amazing, and what you have done already looks grand. I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

[Zodiac]

Wow , I already liked your giant, but it seems your flow of great ideas hasnt yet stopped!

I painted my handgunners in a dark red/khaki sort of scheme.. but yours look much better! Off to the "simple green" tub then
I really like the way you mixed all kinds of colours together.

And, a very good point is that you made ugly greatswords look good!
Kudos! x1000!

[Crazy Harborc]

Looks good so far. Well painted. I suggest you look into magnets that fit into/on the bottoms of GW's bases. Around here, I would go to hobby/craft stores or office supply stores. Indi gaming stores/hobbyshops. I don't use the magnet sheet metal basing/movement trays myself. My long time, old fart opponents do.
'

[static grass]

I love this landskneckt style! Why has no one else done this?

I am pretty sure that the DoW dwarfs are allowed spears though. My warhammer annual says so I am sure.

Nice concept and well executed!

[Voronwe[MQ]]

Very good painting - it's catching the feeling of Marienburg really well. I hope you're going to include Mordheim Marienburg models, since all Empire armies from a specific state or city should have some.

Voronwe

[Darknight]

This is a very fine army and idea indeed - I considered something similar myself but never had the patience.

I think the general idea of the somewhat gaudy mercenary look is a good one. As for the short stuff, I think mixing them in with the rest of the units is a good one - Ogres would probably fight on their own, and so you should just do some units of those chaps without trying to fit them into other units.

Ogres in poofy northern European renaisance clothes! Shakespeare the Ogre! Man, good times.

[Crazy Ivan]

Shakespeare the Ogre!

"To eat or not to eat, that is the question"

Very nice painting! The landsknecht colours look really good. Adding other races will make the army look nicely varied, too.

[Ornithoticus]

nice work, keep it up

[ZeroTwentythree]

You have a really great painting style, one in which I hope to achieve myself someday soon. Your style is very clean and very crisp, and the minis you've got there look amazing...and they're just the normal troops. If you have any advice on how to achieve such a clean painting style, please share!

With all the different coloured clothing and uniforms and such you're going to end up with, a good basing technique will be invaluable. You'll want something simple, yet striking and unique, to tie your army together and help make it look like a cohesive force.

I'm thinking along the same lines for the basing. I think your comment re "simple" just set off the idea that I should also keep it very drab, so that it contrasts with the bright colors of the figures.

As far as advice: "paint a lot of figures." I've been doing it on and off for 20+/- years and have painted a lot of armies/figures on commission in addition to my own. I know I'm not anywhere in the top tier of single-figure painters, but from painting a lot and getting comfortable with particular techniques, styles, etc I've done a decent job getting to a point where I can paint rank & file figures to a pretty good standard.

And, a very good point is that you made ugly greatswords look good!
Kudos! x1000!

Thanks. I initially wasn't too fond of the old figures either, and I like the new ones a lot, but I think the old ones have grown on me. I'm not crazy about the fully armoured ones, but the one with the full helmet has become a favorite. I've got some of the new greatswords to mix in, as well as the newer command figures.

Looks good so far. Well painted. I suggest you look into magnets that fit into/on the bottoms of GW's bases.

I've got some big sheets of magnet left from a couple previous armies. I once traded some painting for a huge roll of sheet magnet. The problem I've found is that it doesn't look that great on the bases. I want to work out a way to transport the figures as well. My skaven army with magnet bases (stored in boxes with metal bottoms) has worked out OK, but I'm trying to come up with a better plan.

I am pretty sure that the DoW dwarfs are allowed spears though. My warhammer annual says so I am sure.

Nice concept and well executed!

Well, we can hold off on the "well executed" til we see a bit more of it and see how it works together. I've wanted to do a historical landsknecht army for a long time (and have a bunch of Foundry figures barely painted!) so this is my decision on an outlet for that. I'll get to use a WFB army more than a historical army, most likely.

I just looked at the PDF at GWUS. They list hand weapon, great weapon and crossbow for dwarf DoW. I have spears and handguns. :/

I hope you're going to include Mordheim Marienburg models, since all Empire armies from a specific state or city should have some.

Voronwe

Good idea! I just took a peek, I think I should get some of the Averlander figures too.

This is a very fine army and idea indeed - I considered something similar myself but never had the patience.

((snip))

Ogres in poofy northern European renaisance clothes! Shakespeare the Ogre! Man, good times.

I've got 3 of the old ogre figures.

As far as patience... My trick to painting the figures is that I will take a number of figures at a time and paint them in the same colors, but not neccessarily the same scheme. So it's somewhere between painting assembly-line style and painting single figures. It basically cuts down on switching colors so much. So I'll do something like grab 5 handgunners, a greatsword, and an artillery crew and paint them all with some sort of combination of blue and white. I might add one tiny detail of a different color on each figure to break it up further -- like the ribbons on their pants -- maybe one is red, one is yellow, etc. Sometimes I will leave one sleeve unpainted and go back and do that a completely different mix of colors when I do the next batch of figures. On the other hand, sometimes its a bit spontaneous and I will just sit and work on one figure until it's done. I hate metalic paints, and don't like using them on the same palette or rinsing them in the same water cup, so I usually wait until I have a bunch of figures and do it all at once.



I will have a couple more photos in the next day or two. I've been sick and haven't done much, nor have I had access to the internets. I painted a few figures, but also spent a bit of time on cleaning & assembling.



Thanks for the comments, I appreciate them.

[mrtn]

... I've wanted to do a historical landsknecht army for a long time (and have a bunch of Foundry figures barely painted!) so this is my decision on an outlet for that. I'll get to use a WFB army more than a historical army, most likely.
...

I've thought about a landsknecht army too (the riot of colours, and not the GW two-colour schemes), will be nice to see your attempt. Good luck!

[ZeroTwentythree]

I only worked on a few figures in the past week. I was sick and injured my back as well, so I wasn't really up for much painting. A mere 4 dwarf spearmen, two greatswords, an an old metal mortar and cannon. I prepped a bunch of figures as well, though. I finished assembling the rest of the 16 spear from the old WFB set, 6 dwarf handunners, a bunch of artillery crew (3 dwarf and 10 human), the three ogres, and the first 8 swordsmen. (Included a few pics below, since I love the models.)

While digging through the figures I found my old halflings (the ones Marauder did). There's only 8 of them, and only a couple are in "Empire" looking attire, the rest look like farmer militia. Maybe I will use them for militia. This did get me thinking about trying to sculpt some renaissance garbed halflings at some point...


I mentioned my method of painting a group of mixed figures the same colors (mostly) perviously. Maybe the photos illustrate that. I only did six figures, but worked on 3 at a time -- three red & white, three blue & yellow. I'm throwing a little extra into many of the greatswords to make them stand out, so they get extra color, an odd colored sleeve or leg, etc.



I've got a general idea for the first 1000 points:

1 captain
2 x 10 handgunners
25 swordsmen
25 greatswords
1 mortar
3 ogre ironguts

I figure that will give me a fair balance. I still have about 27 points left. But I've got two big regiments, two small missile regiments, one artillery, and one small unit of "heavy hitters." The ogres are sort of taking the place of a small unit of knights. In game terms, the knights might be a better buy, I'm not sure. Points wise I can get 5 knights with command for about the same points. I'm not sure which is the better buy, but the ogres fit more in theme and I don't have any GW knights (and the ogres are crying out to be painted and put in an army.)


edit: Looks like my camera washed out the pics a bit... I'll have to check the aperture setting or whassit called and try to get better pics next time. Still figuring out the manual settings on the camera.

[Boss_Salvage]

Those dwarf spearmen are ace, and I like the armylist a lot. Possibly only thing missing is some magic defense of some kind, but then again my ogres do ok at 1000 with zero magic ...

Speaking of ogres, that third attached pic is some incredibly old school ogres, right? WOW

- Salvage

[ZeroTwentythree]

Yeah, my options are to swap out the captain for a mage, or decrease one of the regiments sizes and pick up a mage in addition to the captain.

But I like the idea of having a captain to lead the mercenaries, and I don't really want to trim any of the regiments too much. So for now I'm thinking of trying to go with no magic. I'd go with at least a mage in a 1500 or 2000 point force, though.

Well, also my skaven army is renown for having the grey seer blow himself up with miscasts in about 3/4 of all my games, so I'm really sick of magic anyway.

[NakedFisherman]

Awesome stuff, Thomas. I can't wait to see it on the table.

[Hywel]

Excellent models and lovely painting, it should become a pleasure to the eye.

25 greatswords is a princely unit even in double the point value! The tactical bore in me would suggest dropping 5 of them to get 10 free company (a detachment of 5 for each of your infantry units). But it's no biggy if you're happy as you are.

Good luck with this army, it's shaping up to be handsome indeed.

[Crazy Harborc]

I would prefer more armour than is usually worn by all the fluff and puffers in their wide brimed, plumed hats. Wellll.....then there's how lazy I've become at my painting

[Voronwe[MQ]]

The classic dwarf pikemen and cannon crewmen is a nice addition to the army, and the greatswords looks good. Averlanders will fit the bill in your army, I'm sure.

Voronwe

[ZeroTwentythree]

I was working on the ogres a bit last night and hadn't noticed something before. One of them has a rat sitting on the brim on the back of his hat. Nice little detail.

My camera's still washing the figures out a bit, still a bit of work to do on getting that right.

[Darknight]

Man, that Ogre looks sad. Poor guy - he needs some clowns or something. I've never seen a more miserable dude in my life.

Great painting, though.