If Literature were Chapters: Game of Thrones

Warhammer & Warhammer 40k are rife with puns, homages, and word play. The game universe is awash with references to literature, pop culture, historical figures, world cultures, & myths. In this section, I draw inspiration from various sources to imagine them as new armies of the Imperium.

Today I'm breaking from my usual format to create 10 chapters from a single source: George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Background: 
Raimo Ricohard, the Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, sequestered himself to his chambers for a lunar cycle before suddenly charging into the offices of the Scholastia Psykana screaming "They are coming!" and falling into a deep coma.

Upon investigation of his chambers officials found detailed maps, dataslates, and feverishly written notes detailing an imminent Tyranid invasion the likes of which have never been seen. Ricohard's predictions detailed the "Omegaswarm" that would pierce deep into the heart of the Imperium, leaving nothing but "cold husks of worlds" in its wake. Unless the invasion was stopped upon its arrival, he concluded the galaxy would fall into an eternal lifeless Winter.  

This revelation was so sudden and shocking that the High-Lords of Terra wasted no time in stationing 14 full chapters of Space Marines to the Western edge of the Aeros sector of Segmentum Pacificus: The location of the first wave indicated in Ricohard's notes. The chapters arrived and quickly built fortifications and prepared to fight.

Then they waited.

Unfortunately, despite all of their details, the note failed to mention *when* the incursion would begin. Centuries have passed since the prophetic vision was first revealed, and the chapters themselves have stood watch ever since. Three of the original chapters have been snuffed out over the years, but the others have kept themselves honed and ready through voluntary crusades, competitions, the occasional Ork invasion, and constant infighting amongst one another.

Dire Wolves
House: Stark
Colors: White with Dark Grey shoulders and helmet.
Concept: The Dire Wolves are one of the few chapters that still firmly believes in the existence of the Omegaswarm. Their black-clad scout company makes regular expeditions to the edge of the sector, and lately, fewer and fewer have been returning. (note: when I pick up the 7th ed starter set, this is how I'll be painting the Space Wolves) 

Furious Kings
House: Baratheon
Colors: Black and Yellow quartered
Concept: Once the leaders of the allied chapters in the West Aeros region, their status has become shakier after their Chapter Master Hrodebert was slain in a battle with the White Boars. His successor, Gottfrid, has proven himself inexperienced and utterly grating to the other leaders, who are now competing to wrest control for themselves.

Flaying Blades
House: Bolton
Colors: Light Crimson with Red shoulders and accents
Concept: The walls of the Flaying Blades' dread fortress citadel are covered in beautiful banners made from the tanned flesh of their enemies. At the end of each campaign a handful of foes are left alive, and unharmed so their master flayers can perfect their art.

Titans of Braavos
House: Baelish
Colors: Sage green with Grey helmets
Concept: Thought to be of Raven Guard descent, these marines excel in deceptive tactics, and the use of cat's paws. They rarely take to the battlefield in force, rather, they will send waves of conscripts to fight while they maneuver to assassinate their foes when they're preoccupied.

Sunspears
House: Martell
Colors: Orange with Red helmet, shoulder insets, & greaves
Concept: A hot-blooded chapter, the Sunspears excel in battle and employ fast, brutal tactics that include ambushes and the use of poison. Lately they have found themselves in pitched battle with members of the Reciprocators chapter.

Days 30 & 31: Night Wolves pack leaders

Muninn's May Mini Madness is complete for another year. This year was tough, but I made it.

Here are the final two minis for the month:

Two pack leaders for the Night Wolves. Rhapsody (the client) wanted them to stand out, so he decked them out with command-level bits. The wolf backpacks, the pelts, the veteran shoulder pads, etc. He also wanted them painted to a slightly higher level, and for the fur to be white instead of brown.

My only contribution to the conversion was the first leader's head. If you don't recognize it, I don't blame you, since it's from the Empire Hurricane Priest. I'd bought the mini for my Tau Ethereal conversion, so I had a head left over, and I thought it would fit nicely on a wolf body. All it took was a little Greenstuff work.

I finished each of these guys on their respective days, but I didn't have time to take their pictures until today. it worked out alright though. I wanted to finish three more Night Wolves for the last day, but I just ran out of time. I still finished 31 minis in as many days, so I'm happy.

I'll write up a recap later this week. Take care all, and thanks for following the madness.

~Muninn

Day 29: Human Wizard

Now I'm all caught up. Just in time.

You might wonder why I pick the miniatures I do for this challenge. For the most part I look at the incomplete minis I have kicking around, gauge how much work I'd need to do to finish them, then plan accordingly. Today's mini?

I'm just tired of looking at him.

 I've had this guy since I left the Navy in 2005. A buddy of mine invited me to play in his game of D&D & he I picked up this mini, Reaper's Eredain, since it looked similar to the PC he described to me (but with hair).

He's been sitting, unfinished on my to-do shelf ever since.

Until today I suppose.

I'm the kind of person that prioritizes easily completed tasks over longer jobs, and this guy has always looked like a longer job to me. Between the straps, buckles, details, bags, studs, and staff, I just felt like my time would be better spent on other minis. He's been one of the standby minis for my mini-a-day challenge since 2012, but there have always been easier minis in line ahead of him.

It's true this year too, I just really wanted this guy off my table. Maybe I painted his face to be too judgmental.

I'm glad he's done though. I hadn't originally intended to give him greying around his temples, but it looked right to me. I think it gives him character.

We're into the last two days of the challenge now. I'm working as fast as I can, so hopefully I'll have something to show tomorrow.

~Muninn

Days 27 & 28: Orc boy, & Tau Fire Warrior

Alrighty. Now that I've updated my Tyrant Guard shots, I can post these:

 First off. one of the Orc boyz from the front line of my O&G mob. I've painted the 20+ orcs that stand in the back rows, but I'm taking more time with the front.  The guys in the back will die first, and be lost in the crowd (plus they only cost 8 pts or so). But I feel like the front line should be painted well since they're the focus of attention.

I'm particularly pleased with the decapitated guy. He really looks dead to me.

Now it wouldn't be May Mini Madness without one of my white Tau. Its an easy enough scheme to accomplish with some white primer and a steady hand. So here he is.

To complete my Tau army I'm gonna want a Riptide. Although I'm not sure how well the white scheme will work on such a a large mini with flat-open spaces. I'd probably have to fiddle around with it.

More later today.

~Muninn

Day 26: Tyrant Guard

UPDATE: Now, with better pictures.

Here's an old-school Tyrant Guard. I remember buying it back in 2005 right after ended my enlistment in the Navy.

Similar to my other Tyranid, he's painted in an orange and black scheme, like my home college team (my Eldar use the same scheme as the college just down the road)
The orange took a while longer than I'd intended, so I applied the black rather hastily to try & compensate. It's not an overly detailed mini, but it is big.

It just occurred to me that I have 4 large-based minis scheduled in this last week of painting (I've got two termis left).

In the last two years of this challenge I've only ever completed one large-based mini (although he wasn't actually all that large), meanwhile this year alone I'll have finished 6.

Apparently I back-loaded this year's challenge a bit.

~Muninn

Day 25: Khador Man-O-War

Three days into the final week & I'm running a bit behind. Sunday's mini took a little more prep than I'd considered, & I bit off a good bit more than I'd intended for Monday (Suffice to say, it's large & orange. Not a good combination)

Either way, Here's Sunday. Another Warmachine model: the Khador Man-O-War. I bought this one 5 years ago during a going out of business sale for a game store about 75 miles from where I live while visiting my fiance at her college. I'd always really liked the look for this unit. They're beefy and impressive, but still seem realistic to steampunk warfare. So when I saw there were a few blisters for 50% off I went ahead & grabbed one.

I'd originally wanted to paint them in a black & gold scheme, similar to a Necron test-mini I painted a while back, but I decided to stick to the classic red, since that's how I've painted all the other Khador I've done in the past.

I'm happy with him, although once I put him next to my other Khador types it occurred to me that the others don't have much gold.  I want Khador to have a more industrial look, not fancy, so most of them are silvery & brass rather than gold. Oh well. Maybe I'll sell him or give him away. We'll have to see.

Hope to catch up soon.

~Muninn

Day 24: Dragonborn Paladin

Last October I came up with an easy method of converting a Dragonborn Paladin. I got a good head start on the paint job, but then I stopped. Mostly becuase I was stumped on how to decorate his shield.

Well I finally buckled down & finished it.

I got tired of dragging my feet, & decided to do a little castle freehand with some simple shapes. It's a nice, long shield so I painted a little laurel motif at the bottom, and a few stars in the top corners to draw attention upwards. It isn't the cleanest freehand, but not bad for having been done sitting on my couch in the middle of the night.

I wanted to Dragonborn to be Black, and almost monochrome, while still having some pops of color. That's where the blue & gold came in. I suppose I could have gone for green accents, since D&D black dragons usually have acid breath, but this works just fine.

I have another, nearly identical, conversion ready to paint. Maybe I'll do that one green.

~Muninn