Tuesday 26 June 2012









































Nicknamed the hounds of Ch'ihll, the rangers of the Black House form the mainstay of skilled labour within the vast estates the family owns. Drawn from the survivors of the wars waged between the noble houses of Naggarond, the Druchii who choose to serve as slaves under the yoke of the Gorgon queen are given the responsibility of cultivating the mean land. As a mark of their enslavement, the hounds are castrated and sent out into the trackless depths of the Ch'Ihll estate. This is a haunted place where the more horrific offspirng of the Gorgon queen dwell. 

The rangers are expected to maintain the grounds, hunt the meat for the Highborns plate, and try to keep the monsters of the estate from escaping. The groundsmen receive no payment and the Gorgon queen does not deem it appropriate to gift her slaves with fine black chargers as is so common with other houses dark riders. However, they do have their ways of getting around quickly which stems from their love of dog fighting. 

One's social status is determined by how well their dog fights in the pits. The bigger and more ferocious breeds of dogs are obviously the best, so they cross breed their pets with whatever wild creatures the rangers can find. The bigger animals can be mounted and the ranger can ride them into battle.

The current emissary to the Black Prince, the only rangers from the clan who may stance in his  presence, is a fearsome brute of an elf named Brelich. The previous leader was his borther, Northrelich who lost his position as alpha male because his dog was killed in a vicious pit fight. These are the only two ragners who are allowed to bear a sword - a symbol of power, prestige and civilization. The other rangers carry instruments that aid them capture the wild animals, nets, impaylers and repeater crossbows.




LilLoser

Thursday 7 June 2012












Sculptor: Jes Godwin
Release Date: 1991 Games Day UK
Coolminiornot Link

This is the second miniature in my Citadel Legends series, the Venerable Space marine captain from gamesday 1991. This miniature is littered throughout the earlier White Dwarf's and appears as a firm favourite in many peoples favourite miniature lists.

Unfortunately, I cannot find who sculpted this piece, nor can I find any reference to where it was distributed. All I know is that it was released for Gamesday 1991 in the UK. The miniature is typical of the Space Marine captains that were sculpted at the time; static, imposing poses that were suited for a simple two piece cast. Every captain came with a cloak like this one, except this captain had little skulls embroidered into the fabric.

I decided to use my TMM Ultramarine technique to add a new spin on a classic miniature. However, I decided to keep more modern techniques, like weathering, non metallic metals and object source lighting to a minimum. This preserves a sense of historical place whilst affording me an opportunity to paint in a style I have not done in years. I have taken a photographs before and after I glued the cape on to show how de-saturated the colour scheme the miniature had. This was a conscious desicion designed to add more visual impact to the strange reddish purple of the cloak (if anyone can tell me what mid tone I used for the cloak gets to join my gang - answers on facebook if you want to cheat).

I finished the miniature with a flourish of marbling for the Captain's 'U' symbol on his left pauldron. I'm delighted to have finally painted this miniature and it is certainly worthy enough join the halls of my Citadel Legends.