Curis' Normans and Medievals

[Curis]

In the lands of the north, where the black rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long, the men of the north lands sit by their great log fires and they tell a tale…

Exploring Citadel Miniatures' pre-slotta ranges is a real journey of discovery and wonder for me. My knowledge of Games Workshop's miniature ranges starts with 1991's Catalogue 1 – which only goes back as far as 1986 and not right to the beginning of Citadel history (1979) as the name suggests. There's a great many pre-1986 miniature ranges I have no awareness of, and so I'd never painted any pre-slotta stuff until I found out about this Gnoll.

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Gnollin the Gnoll.

This is no ordinary Gnoll – his nasal helm, kite shield and hafted axe mean he's Fantasy Tribes FTG14 Gnorman the Gnoll. I picked him while I was trawling the net for 1980s Citadel Normans to reinforce my army. His giant nose and teeny legs do put me in mind of Noggin the Nog.

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"Hello" said Noggin, cheerfully. "Very pleased to meet you."

Gnolls in the Warhammer World are described as having ruddy flesh, but I thought that when placed alongside regular Normans he'd work better with green skin to reinforce his inhumanity. As I found out reading Goblin Lee's blog on Gnolls, the Fantasy Tribes Gnolls were later rebranded as C12 Great Goblins, so I can claim the green flesh is goblin rather than botched Gnoll.

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Gnollin with more Normans I've painted since Salute 2017.

I now have fifteen Norman Sergeants, which allows them to rank up pleasingly in a five-by-three regiment. Though these models have been primarily used in Saga where round bases are king, I do like the 20mm square bases to make them into a neat and imposing regiment.

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Lord Weuere happy to let Gnollin in his shieldwall.

I really enjoy slipping this little piece of fantasy into my historical force; I want to push that envelope further. Watch this space!

[Curis]

Decades of exposure to Games Workshop’s marketing materials has conditioned me not to paint individual figures, but regiments, and then armies. There was no stopping at just one Gnorman Gnoll. Gnot on your gnelly. eBay trawling has turned up two more preslotta gems from 1981–3.

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Lord Tisserand with his hawk Antonius, accompanied by two Gnolls.

Lord Tisserand is a simple conversion of the Wargames Foundry ex-Citadel Normans with the arm from a Black Tree command figure holding a hawk swapped in to make him a regimental champion. I also sculpted on a strap so he could carry a shield while waving around the Bird of Command – but that’s barely worth mentioning as this sentence took longer to type than the strap took to sculpt.

You can see the original figure as it appeared in White Dwarf 92, with the cliché French names variously inspired by Inspector Clouseau, Rémy Martin cognac, Marie Brizard liquer and maybe ‘Allo ‘Allo characters.

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And just what is the French for “cliché”?

Why a hawk? Hawks were a symbol of authority in Norman times. The Bayeaux Tapestry initially shows Harold holding a hawk, and switches to showing William holding a hawk when his claim to England’s throne becomes legitimate.

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I might push this idea of animals symbolising command into the realm of fantasy and model a Norman King on a giant hawk or griffon. I am enjoying the blend of historical and fantasy in the same project.

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Lord Tisserand and the Gnolls against Undead Wights.

All three Gnolls I have painted now are variants of the same figure. In the above image the right-most Gnoll is the unadulterated miniature. The one on the left I converted with an arm and sword from a 1980s Citadel Goblin. The central Gnoll is the resculpted version that appeared in the later C13 range – who has the same body but a new weapon arm and head. Challenge now is how to convert future Gnolls to provide enough variety for a complete Gnorman regiment.

[Curis]

Friar Tuck, legendary tonsured companion of Robin Hood, joins my miniatures collection.

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“Praise the Lord! And pass the tax rebate!”

Friar Tuck was an impulse purchase whilst acting as Nottingham cultural attaché for visiting family members. Warlord Games (a Nottingham company) have a small range of Heritage Miniatures they’ve slipped into local tourist spots like the the National Justice Museum and Nottingham Tourism Centre. I quite enjoyed making my turbo-nerd purchase in a regular retail outlet – it’s like being able to buy Dungeons & Dragons in the same place as your milk and morning papers.

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“If Curis has seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giant Robin Hood statues.”

Tuck’s base was originally built up with sand to accommodate the cast-on scenic base. But the original sculpted base features what looks like a little tombstone with FRIAR TUCK engraved on it, which I thought implies he’s the friar that’s just buried Friar Tuck, or alternatively Friar Tuck’s ghost. That was too much narrative for me. So I chopped it off.

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Friar Tuck in the Monastery of Abingdon.

The basing style matches my Warhammer Age of Sigmar and Dungeons & Dragons miniatures, and not my Citadel Normans. Tuck is too big to stand alongside the older 1980s Perry sculpts, plus friars are anachronistic in Norman times. But then friars are anachronistic in the classic Robin Hood setting of Richard the Lionheart. I plan to paint some monks/friars/priests that are compatible with my Normans.

Cool ending tangent fact: – [url=https://mightyjabba.com/2012/10/25/friar-tuck-action-figure-from-robin-hood-prince-of-thieves-by-kenner/]the Friar Tuck action figure from the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves toyline[/url] was based on the Star Wars Gamorrean Guard?

[Curis]

Thanks Codsticker! I'm slowly getting the hang of buildings. Thanks mrtn.

I'm researching and constructing a 28mm Late Imperial Roman army. It's mainly for the thrill of watching a painted collection amass in the display cabinets, though also to serve as an anchor for researching and understanding the period.

The army will be constructed with the classic Foundry range as the basis. These miniatures are Perry classics. Here's one of the best packs from the range.


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I want to use the Foundry's house style of painting for my army, but not necessarily the garish colour schemes shown above. That commander second in from the left! Red and blue and purple clothes? All at once?! Blerk! No thanks, sensible muted colours please. This is a historical army after all. [url=http://www.ninjabread.co.uk/ancient-roman-stonework/]I've dug up Late Imperial Roman forts[/url], every archaeological find is brown,

So I dipped into my reference library to find out what shades of brown would have been in vogue circa 400AD, and this colour plate jumps out. Blerk, it's that guy from the Foundry range, resplendent in red tunic with and orbiculi!

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This is Graham Sumner's reconstruction of a soldier as depicted in a Syracusian catacomb painting. The colours are taking from the original painting, so they're authentic. I thought it really surprising. And cool, as the miniature has transformed from generic Roman into a real-life soldier with a name and dress sense.

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This is Maximianus (hurr hurr, "-anus"), and he's my first test model.

[Curis]

Arch-rivals from opposing sides of the Hundred Years’ War. Each of them a talented medieval commander, but with a great respect for the other’s skills and abilities. Presenting two classic Citadel Miniatures – Sir John Chandos and Bertrand du Guesclin.

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English commander Sir John Chandos and French commander Bertrand du Guesclin.

I like how different the miniatures are to each other. Chandos is depicted as a classic knight in shining armour, with his “sharp pile gules” (a medieval way of saying “upside down red triangle”) heraldry sculpted onto both his tabard and shield. His chainmail coif and fine moustache mark him out as a gentleman. In contrast, du Guesclin with his black Breton eagle is a scruffy bugger with his bare head and loose-fitting straps. Du Guesclin was a low-born brawler who started his career as a marauder, ambushing people in the forests of Brittany. His equipment was reputedly in such poor condition he was sometimes mistaken for a common brigrand rather than a knight. When the pair first met, Chandos lent du Guesclin his own armour and horse, as du Guesclin’s own kit wasn’t nice enough to be seen duelling in.

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Bertand du Guesclin and his retainers surprising men-at-arms of Sir High Calverly on the road to Montmuran, Brittany, 1354.

The two men clashed on opposing sides of the Battle of Auray in 1364. The French were defeated, and du Guesclin taken prisoner by Chandos. France quickly paid his 40,000 florins ransom as they were keen for him to command an expedition to assist in the Castilian Civil War. Guesclin invited Chandos along with him to Castile, a sign the two men had grown into friends, though Chandos declined.

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Sir John Chandos is harassed by Moorish genitors in the army of Henry Castile at the battle of Nájera, northern Spain, 1367.

The pair also fought on opposing sides at the Battle of Nájera in 1367. Again the French were defeated and again du Guesclin was taken prisoner by Chandos. Again France were eager to have him back and paid a massive 100,000 francs.

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Chandos and du Guesclin in the crumbling Burgundian ruins of Grenoble.

The walls of Grenoble in the picture above are from an upcoming Kickstarter from Fogou Models. I’ve been gifted a set to paint ahead of the campaign, and they’ve been an absolute joy to drybrush and weather up. Expect to see a lot more photographs of them in the future.

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Left to right: Biscuit Dude, Alan Horseman, Bertand du Guesclin and Sir John Chandos.

That’s one third of the Blandford Warriors painted now! I’m hoping to get all twelve finished for Bring out Your Lead in August – they were last year’s reissue and want to buy this year’s without any lead-guilt. Next up, we’ll be going in to the Hussite Wars.

[Curis]

This is “Biscuit Dude”, and he’s come to fight you with his sock dragon. He’s my first painted miniature of 2018, and it’s exactly thirty years since he was released.

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Rock out with your (dragon) sock out.

“Biscuit Dude” is a Late Imperial Roman standard bearer, released by Citadel Miniatures in January 1988 as part of the Blandford Warriors range – twelve medieval(ish) characters also appearing in the 1987 Blandford Press book Medieval Warlords.

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The complete Blandford Warriors range, image from Stuff of Legends

The range is a curious mix of generic fighters like “Teutonic Knight” (top left), and named personalities like “Betrand du Guesclin” (one in from top left). If you’re unfamiliar with medieval history it’s confusing who’s a character and who’s a unit type – Alan Horseman, I am looking at you.

Looking at the name of the miniature on the flyer, I assumed “Bucellarii of Majorian” was a person, but turns out “bucellarii” (singular: “bucellarius”) is actually a name for the household troops in the Late Roman period. It’s Latin for “biscuit dude” – troops were so named as on campaign they were given their grain ration (or “bucellatum”) in the form of a hard biscuit. This kind of diminutive naming humour is common in the Late Imperial Roman military – the heavily armoured cavalry troops were called “clibanarii” or “little ovens” as it got so hot inside their armour.

I based the paintjob for my miniature off the Angus McBride colour plate from the Medieval Warlords book.

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Vandal and Moorish pirates flee to their ship after an ambush set up by Biscuit Dude and his seahorse, Seabiscuit.

The Bucellarius fits really nicely into my fledgling Late Imperial Roman army, as will the two other fifth century Blandford Warriors – “The Warlord Aetius” and “Alan Horseman”. Here’s my mighty army so far, needing a lot of reinforcements before they get that Warhammer Ancient Battles +1 rank bonus.

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The mighty Triumverate of Maximianus, Biscuit Dude and Araneus.

The complete set of twelve Blandford Warriors miniatures was re-released last summer by Wargames Foundry, so now everyone can own them without paying ridiculous prices on the secondary market.