Thursday, 9 March 2023

Vlätkrig Set One: Gnörf Wardens of Legend


Here at Zhu Industries, we've been been busy developing a range of 2d print-and-play, flat-packed, digit fantasy paper miniatures. So far we have released two sets into the wild, The Gnorf Wardens of Legend and  The Haemogoblin Könkerors.

The first set The Gnorf Wardens of Legend contains seven paper figures and a sheet containing 3 pieces of scatter terrain.


Gnörves are the weird crusty folk that can be found skulking in hedgerows and generally minding their own business. A cantankerous and curmudgeonly sort, as likely to be grumbling amongst themselves as performing their solemn duties as caretakers and tenders of the the Edgelands, the borders between the cultivated places and the Great Wilds of the world. 

Myk Lynksch

Arkallar Dat Karl

Steorra Adze-Wielder

Yani Vintersdottir


Kehaar Störmyre

Yargh Fett Küppah

Jeramiah Krawhbane


Terrain pieces, include two hedges, based on traditional hedge laying techniques and a coppiced ash tree.

Laid Hedge 1


Laid Hedge 2


Coppiced Ash Tree 


Although Vlätkrig is very much grounded in a personal take on the traditional fantasy genre, and old school gaming, the models are heavily influenced by the card figures in Warhammer 2nd Edition designed by John Blanche and the various thematic Citadel Box sets (such as the Night Elf Patrol, or Dwarfs Kings Court, for example). I hope the figures are as much use as 'counts-as' models for other tabletop fantasy worlds, as they are a doorway into the strange world of Vlätkrig.

There are several more sets at various stages of development, including the Haemogoblin Konkerors which have already been published and I'll do a similar blog-post on those in a while, some Koblings (kind of suburban lesser night goblins), and a modular Ziggurat which may be Planström instructions, or new designs. When all those elements are done and dusted it will be enough to play Rick Priestley's Ziggurat of Doom scenario for Warhammer 1st Edition. Beyond that goal, plans for Vlätkrig include adding background narratives, scenarios, and some skirmish rules to the current sets. Preparatory sketches are already underway on some unusual undead types, some and the invocation of mysterious Ætheladaru.


Vlätkrig Set One: Gnörf Wardens of Legend are available from itch.io priced £1.99: https://zhu-industries.itch.io/gnorf-wardens




Thursday, 2 March 2023

Hieronymus Bosch Tabletop Miniatures

 


Miniatures sculptor Andrew May (Meridan, Otherworld, Crooked Dice, Impact! Minitures and many others) is running a short Kickstarter to launch a set of 10 multipart miniatures inspired by the works of Heironymous Bosch.

It goes without saying these figures would make for an amazing and unique warband for Warhammer Realms of Chaos, steeped as it is in the Late Gothic historical-imaginary, and a highly atmospheric Frostgrave warband, or just a nice modelling and painting project to explore some of the original art history references that continue to influence and shape the worlds of fantasy hobby wargaming. 

Friday, 12 August 2022

Lion Rampant: Second Edition

My contributors copies of Daniel Merseys Lion Rampant: Second Edition arrived earlier this week, and it's due for general publication next week so took the book outside into the blazing solar heat of the ecopocalypse, to have a quick look through.

Epic front cover by Mark Stacey


As the Daniel states in his introduction to the book, Lion Rampant isn't a "detailed and scholarly simulation of combat" but rather "favour(s) abstraction and stylisation", taking influence from popular-culture representations of the broad historical period of medieval combat -incuding imaginary kings who pull swords from stones and vikings with mohawks and eyeliner. So for this set adopted my 'high medievalist' approach, drawing on the traditions of the medieval illuminated manuscripts with it's formal stylisation and idiosyncratic quirks of the scribe, as much the Arts and Crafts medievalism of Beardsley, Morris and Gill as our anonymous monastical scribbler.


12th C Frankish Archer

13th C Frankish Knight

13th C Mongol Mounted Archer

12th C Frankish footsoldier

12th C Mounted Saracen

10th C Foot Viking

The labels are my own, rather than Daniels or Ospreys -  Frankish being short-hand for 'occidental' covering the broad types from which the characters are drawn, much like Saracen covers multiple diverse cultures and periods. Like all medieval illuminators inevitably do, I brought in various elements of flora and fauna to embellish the work, but rather than purely decorative, used them to reflect the material and literary cultures of the characters. 

The 13th C Frankish Knight is accompanied by a squirrel and fox echoing popularity of the folk hero Reynard the Fox in the period, and have them on an Oak bough, with it's associations of.  The 12th C Mounted Saracen, tulips and peacocks both long held motifs of turkish art. The 13th C Mongol mounted archer rides along the birch used in construction of the recurve bow, the 12th C Frankish footsoldier a small hedgehog perhaps reminiscent of a spear formation, standing on the ash of the traditional ashen spears.  Beside the 10th C Foot Viking are two ravens, sent by Odin, no doubt, perched on the white pine the vikings hew their shields from. The 12th C Frankish archer, inevitably featuring a small bird offering advice and standing on the yew from which his longbow is made. Slightly whimsical quality that perhaps lends them something of the peculiarities and universality of medieval manuscripts.

There is much more art in the book than just my linework - theres a lot of full colour miniatures photography from the author, Daniel Mersey,  Henry Hyde and the Wargames Illustrated team, featuring models from Perry Miniatures, Gripping Beast, Crucible Crush, 1st Corps, Claymore CastingsBad Squidoo and many others. 

Miniatures from Bad Squidoo

And quite a lot of gorgeous full colour artwork over double-page spreads that make the book quite the visual treat, including painted work by Angus McBride, Graham Turner, Johnny Shumate and others. On a personal note, it has to be said, having my work in the same publication alongside that of McBride - whose work I've admired since boyhood is really quite something.



Back cover with my linework in blue

And no word of a lie, at this point my phone overheated, refused to take any more pictures, and shut itself down for my own safety.

Lion Rampant: Second Edition is available to order from the publishers, Osprey Games and all good bookshops.