The Tigers of Pan Tang.

After much foot dragging I have finally finished my Pan Tang Army. I have enjoyed painting them, and will conduct a full army photoshoot for next weeks blog update. In the meantime I am posting photographs of the last element to the Pan Tang army to be completed; the Tigers of Pan Tang. I was going to add some Chaos Thug archers to the army too, but I did'nt think that really worked with the feel of the collection.

As I have mentioned before, The Tigers are an iconic component in a Pan Tang army, and no Pan Tang force would be really 'Pan Tang' without them (well maybe less so when fighting ship-to-ship!). I was very reluctant to paint them as I was'nt sure how to tackle painting Tiger stripes. I recall a White Dwarf article from the 1980's about painting Tiger stripes, and it kind of put me off. However, in the end I just went for it, and used Google photographs of actual Tigers for reference. I don't think that they turned out too badly.

Gaming wise, as the Pan Tang army itself is compiled used the 3rd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle Army Chaos Army list, the Tigers will be used as 'Proxy' Chaos Hounds. Given the smaller size of the army, four Tiger teams seems a good number. They are somewhat ticky to source now, so four also seemed a good point from which to stop.

Enjoy :)

 The four Tiger teams.

 From the left side.

 ...and right side.

 A Tiger team in action.

 Close up of the roaring Tiger 'Great Tooth'.

 Right side.

 Stalking Death.

 Right side.

 Tiger handler Vashtar Mu'ar.
I went for a Tiger skin paint scheme for the handlers to tie-in with the tigers, but kept the red armour to tie-in with the rest of the Pan Tang army. I like the tiger head/helmet.

 Kaaltar Beastlord.

 Rear view.

 As I had more Tigers than Handlers I decided to use a spare pair of Pan Tang infantry to step in.
This is Grar.
I kept the same indea of colours scheme for these as with the other 'proper' handler miniatures.

 Handler Vandar.

 A group shot of all of the Tigers.
I really like the Tiger miniatures, as I do all of the Pan Tang range. It is a shame that they disappeared from Citadels production. I am sure that they could have been produced under the banner of 'Chaos' miniatures, in the same way the Melniboneans became 'High Elves'. However at the time there were a lot of new miniatures being produced and things going one. It was a fun time in which to collect and game. :)

WIP...
...Lord and Lady McDeath. But more on these at a later date.

The next update will be an army update on the completed Pan Tang army.

Beasties from the Highlands, and Tigers from the Islands.

I have been back in the mood for painting over the last couple of days, and have been determined to finish the Pan Tang army. I have also painted a couple of miniatures for an upcoming project as well.

Concerning the Pan Tang, my painting of the army has been a little slack of late. My concern has been about tackling painting the iconic Tigers of Pan Tang themselves. So I decided to just go for it and attempt them, and as the WIP photographs later in this blog update show, I think that I have been successful.

In addition, I have painted an old Citadel C28 Giant from 1987, and a Grenadier Turtle Dragon from the 1980's (although this casting is from Mirliton Miniatures).
But why?

Well, I am hoping to assemble the armies for the McDeath scenario. The Giant will work for the Giant 'Markus Grimmock', and the Dragon for the 'Monster of Loch Lorm'. Whilst I do have nearly all of the characters for the scenario, and some of the Highlanders, I don't have either of the actual miniatures for the Giant and Monster. However I am not overly concerned. I am not a 100% keen on either of them, and I actually prefer the miniatures I have chosen.

For me, the Grenadier Monster look more like 'Nessie' [The Loch Ness Monster] has more personality. It is also looks similar to the old Citadel miniature. The C28 Giant, when you add the right head, and copy the Scottish looking paint scheme from the White Dwarf advert, also fits better in my opinion than the original allocated models. Both are also contemporaneous with the mid/late 1980's 'Oldhammer' era and McDeath Scenario, and so neither are out of place.

But more of McDeath in later blog updates.

Enjoy. :)

The McDeath set of miniatures.

C28 Giants, released in 1987.

Wither Wattle, doubling up as 'Markus Grimmock'.

Close up, with the C12 Goblin 'Bag Blower', playing the bagpipes.
I have used some Warlord Games 'Heather Tufts' on the base to give that extra Scottish feel.

Rear view.

Loookin' fer troooble!!!

'The Monster of Loch Lorm'.
This miniature was originally a Grenadier Miniatures Turtle Dragon from the 1980's, now produced by Mirliton Miniatures.

I painted the neck lighter to give an aquatic feel. This colour hinted at on the cardboard cut out in the McDeath scenario.

The Monster in the heather.

Close up of the shell.

The (in)famous hoax photograph of the Loch Ness Monster from 1934.

WIP Tigers of Pan Tang.
I painted them using a mix of Vallejo Orange-Brown, and Citadel's Troll Slayer Orange, over a base coat of Citadel's Steel Legion Drab.
I will be producing a better series of photogaphs in my next blog update once I have based them.

The Tiger Handlers.

I have also been basing the rest of the Pan Tang army, with Citadel's Technical paint Agrellan Earth, and various grass and flower tufts.

Next update will be the completed Tigers of Pan Tang.

Musketeer and the Captain of the Cardinal's Guard.

I still have'nt been much in the mood for painting in the last few weeks. However, instead I have been sorting my human miniatures into various armies based on the nations of the Old World, with an idea to do seperate armies on them. I have been quite successful in sorting them out, but the project will still require a mail order to Wargames Foundry for a few items. I've been buiying old Fighter miniatures from e-bay to add characters (and characters!) to the armies.

With that in mind I decided to paint up a couple of random miniatures.

I have always been a fan of the Three Musketeers, and Four Musketeers, especially the 1973 film (or films, as they filmed the two at the same time). I love the humour of the films, and the 17th Century history. So as I was sorting through some old Citadel Fighters and decided to paint up a pair of miniatures in that Musketeers vein. They will be the unit commanders of a pair of Arquebus armed units in my re-vamped Bretonnian army. As an aisde, the new idea for the Bretonnian army is Knight heavy, with few infantry, the Arquebusiers being added for flavour and humour.

Enjoy :)

 The two human Fighters.
On the left is a Citadel F2 Dogs of War range 'Falcon'.
On the right is another Citadel F2, but a Fighter range, 'Altdorf Captain'.

With the tabbard, I thought he fitted the Musketeer vibe. I am aware that he is a little out of date for the Musketeers era, but as it's for a fantasy Bretonnian army, it's fine.

Rear view and view of the buckler.

Captain of the Cardinal's Guard.
There have been several incarnations of the Cardinal's Guards uniform, so I based mine loosely on the 1973 version as the red and looks very striking.
I really like this miniature, the pose and style look more 17th Century to me, and the miniatures has a cocky attitude betting of adversary. Like the Musketeer above I have owned them since the 1980's,  paint-stripped the old 1980's painting to start anew.

Rear view. Love the wheel-lock pistol.

Next update will Pan Tang, as I really have to focus on finishing them. Still looking forward to painting the Tigers.