Miscellaneous Update

Zeno's Greatsword Foot Guard are nearing completion... but sadly not quite there yet. I went to do the last bits and glue the last models together... and found my paint pot of pinkish skin dry, so I wasn't able to finish off the last 10 models. Ugh. These guys are aptly named; this project just won't end... I plan on picking up another pot of paint tomorrow...and I'll hopefully get them finished up yet this week. 

Once I get those 6 Troops done (plus a few spare models for Banners, in case I want to run them as a Horde or a few Regiments), the majority of my GW transition projects will be done. Still in the pipeline are:

3 Troops of Crossbowmen (just need to paint up the leader new models and multi-base)

1 Regiment of Pikemen (finish painting and multi-base)

1 Regiment of Pole Arms (repaint and multi-base)

1 Troop of Pole Arms (everything)

With the exception of the Pole Arms units, I think these should all go pretty quick. We'll see though...

In addition to hobbying, I lucked out and found a game tomorrow; against my dastardly, elf-playing friend. We're going to do one more "free-rules only" game, and then start increasing the points for our future games. It's a busy week coming up, but a BR on the game will be posted by the end of the week. I'll probably run a similar list to my OCD MSU, though I think my new Eccentric Foot Guard might replace the Pikes for this game.

Initially, I finished them, and was a little dismayed. They're just incongruous models. They are not GW, so they don't fit with what I have, and not Roman, so they don't really fit with where I wanted to go. I could fit them in, but did I want to?

When I was putting them on the shelf, a fluffy thought hit me.

Now, I typically have shied away from developing fluff with named characters. I nearly did some with my old Daemon Princes, as they often survived battles, but for my Empire characters, I just didn't see the point. I couldn't suspend my disbelief that Wally the Wizard could survive from battle-to-battle when he was killed in literally every game.

However, in Kings of War, units aren't slain, they are routed. That tiny linguistic change was enough to kickstart something in my noggin. And I looked at my Eccentric Foot Guard, and their tiny bodies were explained via fluff...

You see that unit leader? Well she took up sword and shield to defend her provincial town from some heinous threat. She saved some provincial youths, who have sworn to follow and defend her in repayment for their lives. Their youthful vigor and protective zeal compensate for their lack of experience and tiny stature, and make them an equal to any other unit of Foot Guard in the Regnum Aeternum. As she travels, fighting, there will always be adventurous young people flocking to her causes.

......I didn't say it was great fluff. But it's a baby step in the right direction. That story isn't something I will be sharing with my opponent, but it does make me like the models a bit more... and thus more likely to field them. I haven't had a game really really stir up this particular aspect of the hobby before. It's pretty cool.