Sunday 3 November 2013

2 Elements for Hordes of the Things

Here's a quick, simple post.  I've not managed to finish many models this past week, but on display are a couple of elements for new or intended Hordes of the Things armies.

Wicked Witch of the West

First up is a magician general.  She's the Wicked Witch of the West, for the army of that name (from "The Wizard of Oz", of course).

The witch herself is one of the 28mm "GHW0007 Storybook witches" from West Wind Productions.  The crows are slightly-modified, but based on Reaper's "03479: Murder of Crows".
Note that I've had to add a piece of wire between the witch and the large flight of birds to stabilise the model.  I've attempted to make this merge with the base colours, but I'm not totally happy with the result.  However, I don't see what else I could have done - the crows were too fragile otherwise.

I've chosen to base the witch's appearance and colouring on the movie version of The Wizard of Oz, rather than the original illustrations from the book.  However, her army will be derived from the book, where the witch sent successive swarms of creatures to torment Dorothy and her companions.

This is what I've planned so far:
  • Magician General (the witch!).  I've added the flocks of crows to her base since the army already contains all the other elements which they might have been.
  • Beasts (packs of wolves)
  • Lurkers (wild bees)
  • Hordes (Winkie guards, distinctly unenthusiastic slaves).  I'll probably look for figures with a similar appearance to the movie version, since that'll be recognisable to a wider audience.
  • Flyers (the infamous flying monkeys!).  I've already got enough models for a couple of elements of these, though I haven't started on them since I can't decide how to landscape their bases.

Barbarians

Last Christmas, about 10 months ago, I was given a barbarian army by my wife and family.  That is, I ordered it and they took it off the postman, wrapped it up as a present and gave it to me on the day.  Progress on these has been slow, but I did recently complete the first element - a warband.  Here it is!

All the elements for this army have been built and all have the flesh painted (that's a mighty lot of pink!), but the time-consuming part of putting on the details has been slow.

These models are all from Black Tree Design.  Note that they sell 2 barbarian ranges and both appear together in the "army packs".  The figures on display here are huge; they're easily 31/32mm from base to eye, whereas the other range is closer to 28/29mm.  I've split them so that the smaller models will form hordes of youths, while the bulkier "adults" will form the main warbands and so on.


16 comments:

  1. Great work Colgar, especially on the Witch! I wouldn't worry too much about the wire, you'll forget it is there sooner or later :)

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    1. Thanks, Mathyoo. I'll bet that I don't forget about the wire, though :-) .

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  2. Great work! I would not have noticed the wire if you had not said anything. I think she looks great and the crows are cool. If you're concerned about the wire though, would it help to daub on some green to match the grass to make a brown/green camo effect? Might hide it more.

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    1. The crows worked much better than I dared to hope, but they did need some support since this is to be a gaming model and not just for show.

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  3. All fabulous, but the witch is particularly good.

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    1. Thanks, Michael. I am pleased with the way the witch turned out.

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  4. Awesome looking stands. The Witch is brilliant all those crows make her look suitably evil looking. Barbarians are meant to be big and well muscled!

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    1. I agree totally on the barbarians - well-muscled is appropriate. Indeed, I'm already thinking of extending this army (I haven't even finished it yet!) by adding a Thrud model or something similar.

      Poor crows - forever reviled as evil, just because they hang out with witches and the like!

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  5. Very nice to see two excellent additions to the HoTT armies.

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    1. Ah, but it's only 1 element for each of 2 new armies. I've got to make all the rest as well!

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  6. Beautiful vignettes, the witch is really amazing...great work!

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    1. Thanks, Phil. I do like the witch, but I hope the rest of the army (when I eventually make it) will be nice as well!

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  7. Nice idead for an army, wicked witch. I like how her base came out.

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    1. I wanted something high for the crows, since it seemed unlikely that they'd be on the ground. The tree stump seemed obvious, even if my sculpting isn't the best!

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  8. I do like the Witch base and if the wire still bothers you hide it within a small bush !
    Roll out the flying Monkeys too, just so everyone can think "Fly my pretties, fly !"

    The Barbarians will look great as an army too, but my money is on the witch's forces.

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    1. The monkeys will be in production just as soon as I can decide what to put on their bases. I could do more tree stumps, or just large rocks - but that seems a little dull.

      My 2nd Barbarian element (shooters) has just been completed :-) .

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