Warhammer Tilean (Empire) Regiment of Renown - Halberdiers of Trantio

 Well this next post was to be General Robert E. Lee's command base but for now, my American Civil War project has come to a halt and after over a year away, I have returned to painting Citadel stuff. I can't believe it's been so long.

 The initial plan is to resume my Empire collection and I've decided to work on a Tilean mercenary contingent. It'll be sort of based around the Old Worlder Mercenary Contingent list featured in Warhammer Armies. I'll list the stats of the named characters and the unit once I have them all painted.

 First up is the unit leader and standard bearer for my Tilean halberdiers which I've made into my own regiment of renown.

The unit command group in full

 For my unit leader I've gone for one of the real stand out figures from the original warhammer Empire range, the hero with eye patch and halberd.

 An immensely popular model, I've noticed this guy go for around the £30 on Ebay lately on more than one occasion - and that's on auction format, not desperados succumbing to the temptation of overpriced BINs.

The standard bearer is one of my favourite models from the original empire range. I replaced the original standard with a longer steel rod to accommodate at larger banner and have given it a standard top from another empire figure.

 The banner isn't my own work, I'm useless at freehand so I leave that to more talented folk than me, namely Pete's Flags from Ebay, a renaissance Habsburg design in fact but it certainly suits the style of what I'm looking for with this unit. I feel like I should have incorporated some blue into the flag but I'm somewhat wary of giving it a different finish to the rest of it. Additional paint may look a bit shiny in comparison to the printed finish and stand out oddly if you see what I mean.

Guido Gargano

Tilean Mercenary Captain 

 Despite his advancing years, Guido is still a steadfast and redoubtable fellow, a veteran of the mercenary armies of both the overthrown former Trantio Prince Orlando and successor Marco Colombo. Considered to be one of the more loyal Tilean mercenaries, he will generally stick to an agreement and is not the sort to change sides in the middle of a battle if an opponent offers a greater amount of cash.

 For the unit champion, I've recycled one of the models from my army painting challenge from a couple of years back, actually a Marauder reiksguard knight on foot. I've found he works pretty well as a halberdier command figure though. The drummer is also recycled from the same project and both models have had their bases jazzed up a bit to fit in with the new crowd.

Quintilano Dell'orso

Tilean Halberdier Champion

 A hulking brute of a man, Quintilano stands at nearly two metres tall and is an imposing sight in the unit. Originating from an affluent background, his exquisite and decorative armour is of the finest quality. He has brought shame on his family by waiving the position of a Tilean condottieri cavalryman, opting for the wild and unpredictable life in the mercenary ranks.

 With the command complete, I'll add a trooper on each end to make a rank of six followed by two more ranks to take the unit up to eighteen.

 So my plan is to flit around working on various aspects of the Tilean force. I have made a start on one of the other units so I may post them next while I add to the unit of halberdiers.