Arn The Knight Templar

I watched this movie on Netflix this morning and it was fairly enjoyable.  I'm not really going to debate the historical authenticity of the movie, but final battle of the film takes place in Norway between two Norwegian forces and one with help of the Danish king and these types forces are the inspiration behind my fantasy army.

Why do I bring this up?  It's because it gave me some inspiration for my fantasy army that I'm working on.  I decided to change which cavalry I am going to use and, instead of the men-at-arms, I'm going to use Fireforge's Templar cavalry.  I also want to include a Templar-like force to the growing army and was attempting to develop a fantasized-version but finally came to the conclusion that I am going to include Knights Templars.  Another, completely coincidental, is the Norwegian forces in the movie are a similar color scheme to my painted models and are similarly armed.

Templar Infantry complete

I completed the remaining infantry figures from the Fireforge Games Templar infantry box this weekend. They consist of 6 armed with hand weapons, 7 armed with spears, 1 armed with a two-handed ax, a standard bearer, and a captain.  Like the crossbowmen, I mixed in Gripping Beast viking bits for some fantasy flavor.

 This is an army shot of the completed box.  I'm going to try to get a better picture, but my homemade light box is only so large!

I played a LotR SBG with my son last night.  No battle report since it's the first game either one of us have played in a long while.  He used his Dark Elves (using Elf stats) and a couple of bloodletters (Uruk-hai berserkers).  I used Minas Tirith rules for my men and added 2 points for the crossbows. The men were victorious and removed the menace from the village.

I need to get a grass mat or a green table cloth at the very least!

Here is a comparison picture with the a Fireforge model next to a couple GW miniatures as requested:

Fireforge Crossbow Infantry and Daemons

I picked up a box of Fireforge Templar infantry and got to work right away.  I decided to break the box of 24 into a Lord of the Ring friendly force consisting of 8 crossbows, 7 spearmen, 7 armed with hand weapons, 1 standard bearer, and 1 Captain.  I completed the crossbowmen first.  I was given a handful of Gripping Beast viking bits and I put them to use:

I also discovered that I had some half painted Bloodletters from Games Workshop hiding in a figure carrying case.  That is strange for me since I do not have tons of miniatures lying around!  I decided to rebase them on round bases:

Next update will be some spearmen, hopefully in the next day or so.

Mounted Sergeants Complete and some Red Box Games Commission Pieces

I'm happy to report that I have completed the final two Mounted Sergeants from Fireforge Games.  These are fantastic miniatures and I'm very pleased with how the models came out.  Once I have my hands on some infantry (they're in route, I ordered them today) they will see service using Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (the skirmishing game).  I really like the mechanics and the ease of play of the rules.

Here are the final two miniatures.  The Captain's name is Hemond and I am open to suggestions for the surname.  He has a nice cloak and I reversed to the colors on his shield to help distinguish him on the battlefield.  Those familiar with the LotR rules know he will have a dismounted version completed of him as well.  As always, I am open for comments and criticisms.  I still haven't gotten the hang of painting white horses yet, but I am happy with the result.

Next picture is all 12 miniatures massed.

A while ago I painted some fantastic Aenglish miniatures from Red Box Games.  I sold them when I realized that they wouldn't match well with the FireForge sergeants.  The buyer asked me to paint a few more miniatures for him from Red Box Games.

Additional Mounted Sergeants

Completed four more Mounted Sergeants from Fireforge games today.  I changed the shield design to a bend (diagonal line) and changed the colors to match the paint scheme better.

 The painted figures so far.  The remaining two will be completed shortly.  One of the two figures will represent the commander of the company.  No name for him yet.

Rising from the ashes!

Not really, but you get the idea.  I've finally gotten around to taking some pictures of my most recent figures I've completed.  The first picture are the Red Box Games Helsvakt Gynnade Krigare from the Kickstarter campaign.  They're done in the "trollcast."  The standard is hand-made and the miniature in the foreground has a skull from Maxmini.

This is a group shot of the entire warband:

I bought some Mounted Sergeants from Fireforge Games.  These are the first 6 I've completed.

It's a little too quiet.....

I haven't given up on painting, but things have been hectic lately.  I picked up a box of Fireforge Games Mounted Sergeants and I'm painting them to match my Red Box Games Aenglish (I've completed 6 already, but not photos yet).  Fireforge has also produced a box of infantry sergeants that are next on my list for the Aenglish.  Monday I received my box of Helsvakt figures from the recent Kickstarter, 5 Gynnade Krigare and Red Olga.  They will become some powerful reinforcements for my warband.   

All of this painting will be waiting until I return from some National Guard training in March.