The assembling and painting the chariots is completed. There are 22 Chariots in all, broken down into 3 squadrons of six, one of 3, and a Tomb King on his own, styled as a 'Commander of the Chariots'.
My approach was to brake down the assembly and painting the chariots into two phases, firstly tackling the chariots themselves, and then secondly the crew. I did this so I could tackle all the specific chariot details at the same time and get into a mode and mindset of painting the same model, which I find easier and quicker to do. It also meant that after painting the actual chariots themselves, I would turn to the basing, which is done in stages. So whilst I was completing each stage of the basing and letting that dry, I could move forward with making a start on painting the crew, then nip back and forth to complete the ongoing stages of the basing and painting of the crew.
I have painted all of the chariots in one batch of 23, and then all of the crew in one large batch of 47. These might seem large batches to undertake, but the painting style is quite easy to do and doesn't require a lot of fiddly detailed painting. In addition I have a high boredom threshold and so don't mind painting the same things in a batch over again. In fact the batches were broken up into smaller sub-batches as two of the squadrons, and the Tomb King, had different colours to paint from the others.
They were fun to paint, but they were a pain to assemble. I am not a fan of the old two part skeletons, and I would also recommend assembling the crew in pairs which fit together, rather than just assemble them and then pair them together hoping they would fit together in the chariot (which is what I did). I found positioning the undead horses to line up to the chariot yoke a bit of a faff, but all in all these were minor issues. They look great when assembled and I think turned out nicely. I only have one more chariot to paint, but that belongs to Settra, and he will be tackled as a 'batch' on his own.
Enjoy :)
As noted above, I have split the chariots down into four squadron. Two of the 6 strong squadrons are in Settra's red and turquoise, and represent the core of the chariot force. The other two represent allied, lesser subordinate kingdoms, and so I have painted them in different colours. The Tomb King is resplendent in his golden chariot (dusty, but still golden!).
I chose this pose because I like the look of him reaching out and pointing at the enemy. The halberd looks great too, and given the extra height of he chariot gives it, I think it looks more daunting to a foot slogging enemy.
I order to differentiate this squadron from the other one, I gave all of the chariot the skull decorated fascia, and a banner to match.
I gave him a the more crowned headdress and Tomb Guard Tomb Blade, to suggest that, whilst not a Tomb King or Prince, he was someone of importance, such as a minor son, and that is why he is commanding one of Sterra's chariot squadrons.
Note the matching skull banner to the fascia.
I didn't use the matching standard for this squadron (but I have for one further below) as I wanted each of the squadrons to have different standards. So, being one of Setrra's chariot squadrons I chose a spare Tomb Guard standard, to lend them that aura of importance.
The idea of this squadron is that they are an allied and perhaps subordinate Kingdom to Khemri. With this in mind I painted the chariots and crew details in a different colour. I also didn't add the bow and javelin cases to give the chariots a different and less affluent look. This also allowed me to convert some chariot archers below.
Like the other two leader I have added a fancy headdress and Tomb Blade, although given his lesser status, I gave him the less fancy headdress (but still more fancy than the ordinary warriors one!).
A mismatch of the standard to the fascia, but maybe something to be expected of a provisional and lesser Kingdom!
Without the bow cases on the side of the chariots it allowed more room to convert a couple of chariot archers, and also was at least necessary to have one as they are meant to be armed with bows.
He is just a conversion using a mix of the charioteer body and the skeleton warrior archer arms and quiver.
Just as the squadron above, this is meant to represent a minor city or Kingdom. With this in mind I have also painted them in a differing colour scheme. As a smaller squadron, they would be used to provide flank support to the larger formations.
Again, he is fancy, but not too fancy.
I have matched up the standard and fascia for this squadron.
The chariots look superb
ReplyDeleteAn excellent army. Very impressive.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I am pleased with how the army is taking shape and looking. It's been fun to do.
DeleteWe really appreciate the rationality of your way of working - and even more because we are completely incapable of being so methodical! Thanks for sharing, there are many useful tips. Although you are working on large numbers of minis, you are always careful to differentiate them and to give character to the most important pieces, based on the narrative you have developed for them. Very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteThe Tomb King has a majestic and menacing pose - we have no doubt that he will be the center of attention of your painted army. The fact that you glued it to a single base prompts us the question about the crew of the chariots. If we have understood correctly, in the game normally the soldiers on chariots do not count as individuals and cannot dismount or be eliminated individually: is that so?
Thank you, I am glad you like them and that you are enjoying the army, as well as my explanations of how I am approaching their assembly and painting. I am enjoying painting them, and it's nice that you are enjoying my progress with them.
DeleteWith regard to the dismounted Tomb King, there was an article in the first army book (2001) about the option having the Tomb Kings on a separate base. At the time I think is was possible for a character to have their chariot destroyed and so they would have to continue on foot. I am not sure if it was carried on in later edition rules, but I decided to retain the option anyway.
Another reason for doing this is because I have found that sometimes attaching metal parts to plastic miniatures can cause problems with the weight distribution. If too much of a metal weight is at the top of the miniature it can cause the miniature to be top heavy (as in the case of the Liche priest miniatures on plastic horses). This can lead to the miniature being unstable, or breaking. Also, gluing metal onto plastic can cause extra pressure on the contact point between the plastic and metal which again can cause breakage, especially on miniatures which are handled frequently.
Finally, like you, I like the post of the miniature. So it is always nice to have the option of using him in a dismounted capacity.
Excellent work on all your chariots Lee, they really look impressive all massed up together.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Having them all massed on the painting table was a good motivation to getting them finished to see them properly massed on the gaming table.
Delete