Charging back into the action

The last time we saw these guys was in a post, long ago, the 'last post from here' which turned out to be the last time that a painted medieval-esque figure graced this blog for a long time. Since then, the Runissians, Kaliads and Kindrarrians have quietly sat in a box, moved flat twice and never used in action.

Oh it feels good to paint 28mm figures again!

Instead of blabbering about how long it's been since i posted, here is a picture of a Runissian noble i made a while ago and never painted until today.

I was afraid after over a year of not painted 28mm figures i would be a bit rusty, but he turned out OK. Took a while, but that's 28mm for you! I sure do like the modelling and detail on the bigger figures.

Here's an OK-ish  picture of him with some infantry i did at the same time.

Yeah; the chap on the left has a black feather on his helmet, can't decide what colour to do it yet!

So hello again bloggers! I've had a lot of false starts recently, and i hope this won't be another one. I've been out of motivation to do anything with my figures, but i had a tiring week so i had a quiet evening painting and i rediscovered the pleasure in sitting down with the paints and plastic.

Current retinues so far

Looking back over my posts, i noticed i hadn't shown my current painted war bands! Being obsessed with cavalry at late, i forgot about the foot sloggers!

So here they are, pretty much finished...

Kaliads:

Soldiers, or warriors if i was playing Dux Britanniarum. Still need to add 2 shields!!!

The 'levy', lesser armed Kaliads, but (hopefully) tough behind their large shields. Might add a couple more though.

I have added flags since i took these photos, so need another update to show them!

Almost forgot the crossbowmen.

Runissians:

The champion has been finished by the way...

I've tried to put the newer ones nearer the front so you can see them.

Attacking the unpainted pile

Getting back into the swing of painting after a while not doing any. Continuing my alternate medievals as, although i might be gaming and thinking about the 15th century, i have enough figures for the moment.

Although they're not based, i thought i'd share them.

Kaliads. I tried blued armour on the champion (left with big axe) and was not sure if i over did it. Looks alright now though.

A couple of Runissians, including the third noble for the starter force. As he is noble, i decided he should have his own 'coat of arms', his family symbol that he wears to set him apart from the other soldiers who wear their lord's symbol.

Bird, person or mythical creature, who knows?

Also painted my first cavalry for this setting, a Kaliad noble or retainer and a Runissian.

For the infantry, i've tried to keep the colours similar, as, being common men, they have no symbol of their own and will wear their leader's colours. The cavalry, however, will be much more mixed as it is composed of nobles, who each have some followings in their colours.

This means the cavalry will have more 'flare' than the foot sloggers. The only exception is the Runissians, as many Runissian nobles choose to fight on foot.

Couple of other views.

And this is what will most likely be happening in reality:

'Back to the north, Runissian dog!'

I'm rather enjoying doing cavalry, and i've got plans to do a new band soon, this time of Kindarrians, horsemen who live east of Runissia.

Norvarje Workbench

I present thee with the fruits of mine labour...

Just more WIPs.

Forums and blogs are great, as i can copy ideas and use them myself. For example, the idea for the noble below came from this banner bearer. I studied the pictures for quite some time, and decided to take the plunge and give it a go.

But not to make it identical, i also swapped the body with a fireforge one, so instead of chain mail sleeves he has a surcoat showing. Here he is, needs a head that i'm still thinking about. He will be wielding a lance over arm, like the Normans.

Here's the other half of him; fireforge body in Perry legs to make my first Runissian rider. Although mostly an infantry force, the Runissians have some cavalry, mostly javelin wielding light cavalry around a core of heavy cavalry. This man could be used in both roles, depending if i say the spear is a lance or javelin.

I lengthened the surcoat to cover damage, and also just to look good! Needs a sword and then on with painting!

This man has appeared before, a Kaliad with sallet and pavise. Well, i didn't like him so tore off the arms, chopped off his jacket and added a mail hauberk and breastplate instead. Lots of work (soooooooo many holes...) but i like him better now.

A couple of to-be Runissians, one built with a fully armoured man with the groin armour cut away and replaced with a mail hauberk under the breastplate. The other, lighter man is simpler, bill arms with padded jacket sculpted over.

One of my crazier conversions, a body swap between the walking breastplate body and a padded jacket body. I had to repair bag straps and make a plakart for the right hand man, but i'm glad they worked. On paper i was really wondering how it would work.

I'm sure as this project goes my builds will get crazier and crazier as i search for new ideas. I relish the challenge!

Getting stuck in

Thank the gods my new figures are here! After a six week wait i only had to wait a couple of days for them to arrive from the shop.

While i was waiting for them to arrive though i painted some more men, such as these below:

On to the unpainted stuff!

I almost have a full starter Dux force, i need 12 men for the Runissians and about 10 for the Kaliads. I've done quite a few body swaps recently to get some variation.

Kaliad levy. I like the fireforge figures, the only problem is they have no neck so one needs to be made, not a big hinderance for me as a camil hides them anyway. The middle man has a fireforge kit shield.

More Kaliads. I might change the second from the right as i'm not really happy with him. The one holding a pavise is inspired by stuart's Picard pikes. I plan to doa  few more of these to add to the levy groups.

A Runissian archer with coif and a Big Man who will carry a shield in his left hand.

Three very converted Runissians. Desite the body swaps, i've done a LOT of chain mail on these guys.The left one has a full mail hauberk, then a camail. In the middle is a standard bearer, and the swordsman has mail showing below the waist and will be wearing a coat of plates over it.

And finally, the fireforge cavalry! I've seen some people don't really like the fireforge figures but i don't see what they mean. Sure, the weapons are a bit big, but i won't use them and the conversion potential is huge. They're also useful because the left arm is loose and not sculpted on like the Perry men at arms.

I've made three to represent the Kaliad noble cavalry who fight with javelins and swords. No crouched lances here, instead they will be using lances overarm or thrust forward. The leader is a Perry man at arms with chain mail instead of the fauld, he will be a Runissian leader. I need one more for a Dux Brit Group, and a mounted Big Man to lead them.

It's not all trees and streams

Another batch of 10 Runissians and Kaliads.

You will notice i have snuck a bit of terrain in, as they're posing before my new barn and pig sty.

The Runissians. The pointing chap is rather 'classic' again, but i changed the hands with the german ones from the Mercenary box to change the look a bit. He also wears along wolf fur surcoat as he will be the leader of a Kwenth war band. Kwenth is the furthest north in Runissia and was an independant kingdom for a while and has some individual features. His armour is blackened and gold lined.

Another view. Odd camera angles because i was having trouble finding a good spot to take a photo without standing in the light.

The Kaliads. The older man closest to the camera here will be the leader of the levies, an older man called out to defend his home.

'If you want our barn, come and get it!'

Also experimented with a white padded jacket, since they're on loads of wall paintings but i haven't got one yet.

And finally...

'Get away from my pigs you northerners!'

Joyfully battling on

Good progress! I have now painted 26 figures for my fantasy world, 13 for each side.

Seeing as the Kaliads are the favoured at the moment, let's start with them.

The leader with a couple of elites and a pennon. In this world, when an enemy is defeated the victor may take any captured banners and rip a strip from it to hang below his own. So the strip below the pennon is from one such victories.

Close up of the converted leader (click for a much bigger image). Yes, blue is the Runissian's coloour, but the image that i used as inspiration looked SOOO good with a blue surcoat so i left it the same. It is supposed to be covered in lines of embroidered ivy.

Kaliad warriors. The one nearest to the camera wears a smooth breastplate, based on a figure from the Perry Agincourt range.

Painted but unbased, dismounted crossbowmen and levies. The two spear wielding levies have leg swaps, the other two are WIPs.

Now for the Runissians.

Almost forgot about the archer (with miliput hood).

Lesser noble and a couple of heavies.

The warriors. Still waiting for my figures to arrive so i've got some new shields and some cavalry.

Another raven. Basic, but looks good.

Again, unbased, this time with the leader for the Runissian band. The white on the rondels are supposed to be eagles/ravens but painting freehand on a thing that is about 8mm long is hard! So it's a bit blobby.

The bill man is another legswap, could be straight from the wars of the roses as. A change of legs and re-positioning of arms makes him look ready to unhook a horseman from his perch, or looking over the front rank.

On the workbench, some convertions that will be posted up soon.