Citadel Empire Fighter Warband Update - Crossbowman and Dwarf spearman

 In addition to the captain and champion, I have a couple of the retinue ready this week. The first of the Citadel F2 Fighter range, a mercenary crossbowman and a Marauder Dwarf from the spearman regiment.

 The dwarf is probably my favourite of the troopers in the afore mentioned Marauder regiment. My plan is to include a couple of dwarfs in the warband with the idea of having it based in Tilea, the principality of Luccini in particular, where dwarfs are known to reside. I'll be going into more detail with all that once the warband is completed.

 

The mercenary crossbowman is a wonderfully detailed figure albeit tiny. It's certainly smaller than the other F2 fighters in general but then it is a variant of the Talisman minstrel model which is very diddy. I'd have struggled to paint him without the new magnifying visor which is proving to be an invaluable asset. 

 I'm currently working on the next pair which will put me at the halfway stage which is pretty good progress for me. 

The Beginning of a Citadel/Marauder Empire Fighter Warband

 

 With something finally painted and confidence restored, I felt it was the right time to embark on the classic Fighter warband as mentioned at the end of my previous post. So here are the first two members, the Captain and Champion. 

 Now it's been something I've intended on doing for several years and I've attempted to make a start in the past but I've never quite been satisfied with the colour schemes. The plan is to have the warband made up of Citadel fighters, mainly from the F2 range and Marauder Minuatures, although as you can see here, I've opted for the excellent Smiorgan Baldhead figure from the Eternal Champion personalities range to represent the champion. I can't think of a model more suitable for a grizzled veteran - he was always destined to be part of this project right from the off. 

 With the warband leader, I've gone for one of the Marauder MM60 Empire fighters; probably my favourite of the range. I've always liked that slightly hawty appearance he has. 

I have to say, this project carries a fair amount of inspiration from the superb Averland warband painted by Chris Sabick of Blue's Marauding Miniatures and if by some gross misfortune, you've never had the pleasure of seeing it, it's well worth a look - HERE

 So the next plan is to get another three painted and post up in a week or two. The aim will be to end with around a dozen in total with the inclusion of a Marauder Ogre - that is if I can get hold of one!

On a final note, something I have recently invested in, due to my eyes beginning to feel the strain of close up work, is a magnifying visor and I'm delighted to say that it's made a hell of a difference. 

Warhammer Empire Hochland Captain

 

 I've finally gotten around to blogging my first post of 2021 which is due to not getting anything painted in about a month and a half. I had planned to work on quite a bit over Christmas but contracted Covid which laid me up until new year.

 It was pretty grim but could have been a lot worse but it did leave me feeling quite mentally ravaged more than anything and when I was functional enough to resume the hobby, I found I was totally at a loss as to what to work on. After several failed attempts at various projects plus a huge lack of confidence, I finally managed to complete something, albeit one solitary figure.

 I've gone for something familiar to get me going again - an Empire mercenary captain. I decided on the colours of Hochland, mainly because I fancied working with green which is a colour I've barely used in recent years. The model is originally the excellent standard bearer which has been slightly modified with a hand conversion. 

 He was painted as a one-off but with the option of adding a retinue if he turned out well so I've lined up several models for that. The important thing was getting something finished and have my confidence return. 

 Meantime I've managed to gather some ideas for some other projects over the coming weeks/months, in particular a classic Citadel fighter warband which has been something I've wanted to get done for years now. A combination of careful figure selection and deciding on colours for the uniform has always kept this idea stalled but I think I've finally got the green light. The way things are going I should have a couple ready for posting next week.

 

2020 Review Time

 

 Well here we are again for the annual review.

 It's been a pretty involving one; the Dixon Confederate army has taken up a large percentage of this years' efforts, kicking off last January but not actually blogging anything until February; the second infantry unit and an artillery base.

 March and April saw more of the same with some Confederate cavalry, General Longstreet and a third infantry unit before I decided on giving the ACW a bit of a well earned break.

I wouldn't blog again until the July as I spent time trying out bits and pieces, planning a Tilean Mercenary army which took a bit of time. I did manage a few random empire figures but didn't end up blogging any of them.

 So by July I had organised enough and made a significant start on the Tileans with work on a mercenary halberdier unit and also a number of pikemen.

 It was all coming along nicely until I began to struggle with finding uniform colour schemes that I was happy with and wasted about a month trying things with unsatisfactory results. Enough was enough and I needed to put the brakes on the whole idea for now until I was able to find some colours that I was going to be happy with (however long that was going to take!).

 So the last three months were spent back with the Confederates with another artillery piece, a fourth infantry unit and two more command bases of Generals John Bell Hood and Robert E. Lee.

 I did manage to sneak in a Slaanesh Champion for the Scale Creep Champsgiving challenge....

....before rounding things off with a group shot on my Confederate army. 

 I had planned quite a bit over the Christmas holidays but illness totally put paid to that. So regarding 2021, I've no plans as yet, I think it's time for another break from the ACW. I'd like to think this coming year has a diorama or vignette in the offering - let's face it, one of them from me is overdue.

Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - Confederate Army group shot

 

 After getting to a substantial stage with my Dixon Confederate army, I thought it was high time to post up a group shot so here it is so far.

 

  To be honest, I had never planned for anything this size. Initially I bought about 10 figures on a whim just to have a mess around with. Little did I know I'd end up becoming obsessed with this somewhat quirky range of miniatures. Despite not being to everyone's taste, they are brimming with character and authenticity. I just love the little guys!

 

General Robert E. Lee

 

I had to carry out about half a dozen head swaps to avoid duplication thus making every man in the army different. There are another six infantry units still to come and at least one more artillery base and a limber team but it's cavalry that I certainly need to build on next.

 

General James Longstreet 

General John Bell Hood 

2nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment

 

8th Virginia Infantry 

3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment

28th North Carolina Infantry

JEB Stuart's Cavalry 

10 Pound Parrot Rifle & Napoleon Gun

Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - General Robert E. Lee

 So I've finally got around to finishing off what will be the centrepiece of my Confederate army, the command base of General Robert E. Lee. I had initially started it back around May or sometime around then before having a break from the whole Civil War thing.

 The figure of Lee from the Dixon range has a great deal of charm and was nice to paint up. There are a number of nice officer figures by Dixon which were well suited to what I wanted to achieve here. I think this is probably the first grey horse I can recall painting actually, which is Traveller of course. 

General Robert E. Lee with staff. Second from left is aide Walter H. Taylor. 

 Ever loyal to his beloved Virginia, it goes without saying that Lee was one of history's greatest military commanders. 

 A top graduate from West Point, Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia from June 1862 following the wounding of General Joseph E. Johnston up until the war's end three years later. He was successful in repelling the Army of the Potomac away from Richmond during the Battles of the Seven Days followed by success at Second Manassas.

 Lee's two most notable victories were at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, overcoming enormous odds against superior numbers with tactical mastery. After another invasion of the north, Lee was decisively beaten at Gettysburg, coming under fierce criticism for the doomed frontal assault on the Union centre, Pickett's Charge. 

 The following year there were inconclusive battles for Lee at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania before the siege of Petersburg. By the time of the capture of Richmond in 1865, Lee's army was a shadow of its former self and surrender was inevitable. 

 After the war, Lee became President of Washington College in Virginia before passing in 1870.

 I've a couple of infantry to round an 18 man unit up to 20 and then I shall organise a group shot of the army so far which I'll aim to post up at the weekend.

Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - General John Bell Hood

 

 So up next, as planned, is the command base for my Texan Brigade, featuring its commander General John Bell Hood. I had to sculpt the extra long beard with green stuff as the model was sporting fairly modest facial hair that was insufficient to replicate Hood's. Dixon Miniatures feature a couple of nice models waving hats/kepi which I've put to good use here, cheering on their beloved commander.

 Arguably one of the best brigade and division commanders in the Confederacy, John Bell Hood was renowned for his bravery and aggression but was prone to recklessness. He was assigned to the Texan Brigade in February 1862, being promoted to Brigadier General the following month. He and his brigade performed well during the 7 Days Battles and featured prominently at Antietam later on in the year.

 The following year at Gettysburg, his arm was severely injured as the result of an exploding artillery shell overhead. Avoiding amputation, it was though, rendered permanently useless. Severely wounded again, this time at the Battle of Chickamauga, Hood suffered a fractured femur resulting in his leg being amputated four inches below the hip(!). The surgeon sent the severed leg with Hood in the ambulance assuming he'd want to be buried with it. Against all odds, Hood survived.

 Now needing to be strapped to his horse, Hood's reputation was marred during the latter period of the war with notable disasters such as the Battle of Franklin. Working as a cotton broker in Louisiana after the war, he died of yellow fever at the age of 48 in the epidemic of New Orleans in 1879.

 So the plan is to continue with the Texan Brigade (most likely the 5th Texas infantry) and mix it up with getting my Genreal Lee command base finished which has been half done and left on the desk for some months. Getting Hood's base wrapped up has given me the momentum to follow suit with the main man's.