Wednesday 28 October 2009

The Devotees In Mordheim - Henchmen Martzel

Right here's the first henchmen, he still needs some work (and the arrow flight from the one in his hand came off as I was photographing him so that needs to be fixed). All the pics I'm posting here will probably look different when they're painted as I keep adding new little bits on and fixing bits.







To finish on a WFB note instead of a Mordheim one... All the bits I need for my character on chariot have now arrived. I need to decide whether to do him or to carry on with the BSB for the painting competition at my gaming club next month. I reckon the BSB model may be a better mini for this sort of thing but can't decide one way or another with any conviction at the minute. Does anybody else have any thoughts?

5 comments:

noeste said...

I'd say go with the BSB, as that should give you the most time painting.
On top of that, I just might have something against chariots... They easily hide the character you want the focus on, while the chariot itself often gets a bit boring - either too plain, or drowned in bits and extra pieces. Aaaand, it's a bigger model, so on top of loosing time to assembly, you'll need more time painting it, than the BSB.

I'm not saying that it's impossible to make a good looking chariot, but I think it generally looks better together with an army, as the rank and file formations gets interrupted by something else entierly. On its own, it looses some of its "magic".

Elazar The Glorified said...

Excellent, thanks Noeste. That's the sort of response I was looking for! :) I can see what you mean about the chariot drowning out the character and being a bit dull. It is hard to make them look great all round. Ok, will carry on with the BSB then!

P.S. What did you think of the Marauder Henchmen? Am I the only one that's really disappointed he's of no use in WFB, I think the Marauder minis look pretty good with bows! :)

noeste said...

Ah, heh, forgot all about the bowman in my eagerness to "trash chariots" ;P

Uhm, I like him - bow and quiver is from the Tomb Kings unless I'm mistaken? Fits very well in either case - you've captured the sort of Mongol tribesman-feeling I had hoped you would. And yes I agree that Marauder Horsemen with bows would've been awesome! That's how I envision the Kurgan and other eastern Marauder tribes at any rate - can always hope that they'll give us some Horsearchers in 8th edition.

I do have a bit of critisism, and that's the way he's holding the arrow.. No bowman would grasp the middle of the arrow like that, before placing it on the bowstring. Try to make it look like he's holding the fletched end of the arrow (not sure if it is realistically doable, though... but would look awesome!).
Also, I think it'd be better if you'd remove the leatherstrap of the quiver, as it doesn't fit completely to the body. either fasten the quiver at his belt or try to sculpt a new strap running over his torso (could be a good way to conceal the slightly disproportion of his chest..?)

Best of luck with it!

redmanphill said...

I agree with Noeste, the BSB would be your best bet.
As an aside I have found that a disc of tzeentch is a wonderful mount for a character. The fact that it is raised up and has no sides makes it a great focus for the model on top. One wonderful conversion I have seen recently had a BSB on the disc. It functioned like a plinth at Golden Deamon, really focusing the eye on the model.
The archer looks cool and not out of place amongst a few brethern. I think a few archers in the front or second rank of a regiment are fine. They can break the monotony of a regiment up well. I would also sculpt a better strap. It is pretty simple to do and would look a lot better.

Elazar The Glorified said...

Thanks for the feedback guys :) You both mention the strap so I'll do something about that! Hehe.

Noeste: Glad you think I captured the Mongol tribesmen vibe, that's what I was going for. I'm really tempted to model the unit of Marauder Horsemen I'm working on at the minute with bows now just because I reckon they would look awesome. Will just stick with whips for counts as flails methinks though.
Yeah, the arrow... the idea was in theory that he'd just pulled the arrow from the quiver but I think you're right in that it looks off. Not sure I can get him to hold the arrow any better than that really but I'll have a play around and maybe try something different.

Redmanphill: Cool, BSB it is then! What you say makes sense about the disc. I guess the other great thing there is Tzeentch offers plenty of scope for some pretty 'out there' colour usage to catch the eye.
Thanks for the comment about the archer. The plan is for the Mordheim warband Marauders to bulk out the next regiment of foot Marauders for WFB when necessary so I've done my best to make sure they can rank up without too much hassle. Will give the regiment some more flavour having a few different guys amongst it!