Hobby Update: Kingdoms of Men Wizards on Pegasi

These two dudes have been a long time coming. Up now are a pair of Wizards on Pegasi!

The duo.

I’ve actually had the models for quite some time. Well over a year at least. The Old World wasn’t around when I was looking, and I didn’t want the medieval heater-shield style of the Bretonnian mount coverings anyways. Fireforge has a neat semi-Bretonnian-style knightly box kit without the medieval shields, that seemed like a good buy to get multiple mounts, but it was just impossible to find in the US. I chanced upon two Fireforge blisters for relatively cheap on ebay, which unfortunately also seems to be a bit of a rarity in the US. Non 3d-printed, ridable Pegasus minis were really hard to come by for whatever reason. 

A wizard with a rock.

Frequent readers will know that scoring heroic units are a strong competitive pick, and valued highly in our local meta, and in the Midwest, and beyond. The mounted wizards had been garnering quite a reputation already, with some (I think it was Vince on the Forum) arguing semi-recently in favor of taking them without spells actually, as a flying 40mm scoring unit was potentially just that impactful for scenario play. Being seen as a competitive pick for the army, I had shied away from these. I’d much rather build something experimental and try to pilot it well than to copy strong lists online and chase trends, or show up to the shop with a continually oppressive list.

Different angle for the projectile wizard.

The minis are unfortunately made from Fireforge’s somewhat brittle resin, and the connector nub is made from the same. The nub is a single piece, with a circular insert up between the halves of the horses, and designed so that the horse needed to be assembled around the nub. There is some give, but I am wary of breakage, so we’ll see how well and how long these last. Hopefully I don't have too many repairs in my future.

A wizard with a spear, for pointing at things or something.

So, hobbying-wise, the mount is from the blister. I have a lot of mounted wizards from the Warlord Praetorian Romans boxes, with a few extras even still, but they are all metal, and I was worried about the weight and accidentally breaking things. Instead, I dipped into my bits boxes and cobbled together a pair of mostly wizardly-looking riders. The bodies were knights with tunics and swords, so I aimed for a Gandalf-feel for these. I tried to emphasize the tunics, painting them brown and giving the minis unarmored arms and heads. I needed weapons, but wanted to avoid lances and big martial weapons, so one got a neat rock and the other got a short spear. 

So far I have not glued the riders down. With Pegasi models hard to find, I wanted to keep the mounts open, as I want to try out some 3-attack "fighty" Heroes on Pegasi sometime too.

Again, another angle.

On the table, the sky is the literal limit with these. As-mentioned, scoring units are strong, and even taking these without spells seems viable in some circles. I think mine are generally going to want spells though. With spells, Bane Chant for mid-game support and late-game scoring seems like an option, as does Lightning Bolt for early game pressure into mid-game chaff into late-game scoring. Since I like my horde of Crossbows, this is probably going to be my go-to to start. Multiple spells are possible, but probably an over-investment in the unit. Arcane Library spells are probably not as attractive since he can’t hit Level 3 for the very best casting, but grabbing Mindfog and Hex (either via the spell, or the item) could be great takes for these, if you want to give them a bit more versatility for their spells. 

These have a strong reputation for Kingdoms of Men players, and after long-last, I'll hopefully get them on the table soon myself and report back!