Work in Progress

Amazon Army (Work in Progress)

Posted by steve_pickstock on 04 Jul 2019, 14:44

Thought that seeing as how Monmouth the War Mammoth went down well I would add a few more of the girls.

This is for a Dragon Rampant army and the units are in 6's (cavalry and some foot) and 12's (foot units). DR is a very flexible system so even you can have single units like Monmouth or Gary the Gryphon

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which are strong and pwerful - like good monsters should be, but they're not over-powering and a unit of foot can take them on and win.

The reason why these units are partly done in some cases, is that I want them on the field, and details like spears and boots etc I can come back and finish.

The other thing about this army is that with the news that Redbox are releasing Centaurs it triggered a whole Drak Ages/Heroic Greek thing, so as well as the Amazons to which will be added Linear A models when they are released, there will be various monsters from Greek mythology (I knew the Greek pantheon before I could tell you who the apostles were) - pegasus, a minotaur, a Hydra, it's 'teeth', various boars, bulls and a Medusa. I've got Caesar Miniatures Mycenaean and Trojans under-coated and waiting paint, and all told I don't think I have been as enthused about a project as I am about this, and I hope my enthusiasm carries me through to the end.

Anyway the miniatures.

Amazon Elite Cavalry - or the Pony Club as they are known.

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The leader got an upgrade to the Bucephalus from the Zvezda/Italeri Macedonian Cavalry set, all the rest of the mounts are from Red Box's set.

I have actually done a fair bit of research for this army and the principle source is a this book by Adrienne Mayor - probably the world's formost authority on the subject.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazons-Legend ... way&sr=8-1

Apparently high ranking steppe people preferred grey horses, hence the Pony Club mounts. Other units are going to get horses painted to look like Przewalski's horses - there's a unit of mounted warriors, some mounted archers and three Mycenaean style chariots ( I figured they would import them - like Ferrari's or Porsches, along with charioteers to drive them, they'll be crewed by Linear A figures.)

Personality This is a part-painted magic user/hero. Her mount is painted as an Akhal Teke - a golden horse, also from the Zvezda/Itleri set.

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Infantry These figures count as a unit of Bellicose foot, very definitely up for a fight. They have the special ability 'shiny armour' to give them better protection, it's not about the shiny armour really it's more about the fact that's about ALL they're wearing. Eventually these will get peltast style shields.

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Cerberus. It may come as a surprise to see something other than a rottweiler type of dog - but Cerberus is Greek for spotted - Hades called his dog Spot, who knew - so it was painted as a spotty dog.

I used a Wizkids Deep Cuts Timber Wolf

https://www.goblingaming.co.uk/timber-w ... ave-7.html

Cut the heads off two and shaped it so

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The last one shows him next to a Red Box figure to show how nicely the model fits with 1/72. Most of the rest of the Deep Cuts models are too big but there is stuff that can be used.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by Graeme on 04 Jul 2019, 16:54

Your Amazons are very fine looking bunch of women and I'm always impressed when I see grey horses that look good.

But the Cerberus conversion is outstanding! It's the kind of difficult subject that has lots of potential for turning out badly, but this one looks absolutely fantastic. I like the spotted coat too, I think the similarity to Hyena colouring gives the figure extra menace. So do the fiery red eyes.

This is an interesting and fun project.
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Graeme  Australia
 
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 04 Jul 2019, 17:43

Thank you.

I was working from this real example of a primitive breed

https://www.google.com/search?q=spotted ... nfUyUy5OOM:
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 04 Jul 2019, 21:46

All I can say is:

Keep going, and keep showing us the pics.
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 31 Jul 2019, 00:33

Added a new creature to the project.

The Pegasus.

I made this from one of the horses from the Alliance Mounted Cimmerian set, with a set of wings from a Nolzur's D&D miniature. It actually took three goes to get the wings in the right place and even now it's not spot perfect.

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And along side another horse from the same set
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by Graeme on 31 Jul 2019, 15:22

Another terrific conversion, I think the wings look very natural and the choice of horse pose is excellent; it really looks like it's in the act of taking off.

I think the fact this reminds me a paratroopers arm badge means it's hitting the right note.
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 31 Jul 2019, 15:32

I knew the story of Pegasus and Belleraphon from an early age, not long after that my mum did a lot of cross-stitch tapestry, and as I type this I can look up and see one of hers on this topic, hanging on the wall in my living-room. Pegasus is such a quintessential part of the Greek myths I can't conceive of this project without him.

Similarly - if and when we see them - the Alliance Centaurs, will just slot in nicely.

Next up on the list is the conversion of an Alliance Amazon archer into a Harryhausen style Medusa from Clash of the Titans. And I'm starting work on a nice minotaur by Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures, design to scare the Hades out of unsuspecting opponents.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by sberry on 01 Aug 2019, 08:49

I love your Pegasus, a great conversion! But I also love your fantastic Cerberus - how could I miss this post, I have just discovered this thread ...

BTW: I'm currently reading Lempriere's Dictionary (again), which is full of such mythological creatures. What about Diana, Actaeon & the Dogs as the next topic. Just asking.
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sberry  Germany
 
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 01 Aug 2019, 11:29

There is an Amazon Huntress with a pack of hounds - in Dragon Rampant terms she/they count as Scouts and as a minor magic user but rather than a classical greek name she goes by the name Feral Cheryl, I will get some pictures sorted out.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by Peter on 15 Aug 2019, 11:27

Excellent work Steve! Keep them coming! :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by steve_pickstock on 13 Oct 2019, 20:05

Feral Cheryl - an amazon huntress and her hounds.

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Posted by PhilC on 13 Oct 2019, 20:23

Oh I just discovered your topic, excellent idea! The greek mythology is full of unbelievable creatures...
I painted an old Ral Partha Hydra a few years ago, perfect in 1/72. I also have a harpy to paint, an ancient Citadel miniature from the 80s.
Regarding your huntress and her dogs, they look good, too bad the picture is a bit dark.
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PhilC  Europe

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Posted by steve_pickstock on 13 Oct 2019, 20:24

This project has grown, probably out of hand.
First there were the Amazons. They were going into a Dragon Rampant army set in the Dark Ages of Greek history that time between Homeric Greek and the more common history.
Of course they needed some monsters, but then Red Box hinted at their centaurs, and of course there were the mummies.

The mummies army came together quite quickly. I threw in some models from Reaper Bones where I thought they would fit.

The army itself - from left to right - Mummy archers, warriors, scorpions, undead sea people warrior zombies (though I may use them as vampires in the future), Tomb Knights, more scorpions, a sphinx, and beyond her some avatars of the gods.
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Some of the scorpions and the avatars
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The Sea Peoples zombies
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Warriors, scorpions and Tomb Knights
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The sphinx - a Reaper Bones model, she goes by the name of Neferkitti
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There are still some details to paint, but with the Slag om Grolle rushing towards us the last few weeks have been spent on getting kit ready for that.
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Posted by carlosfaro on 13 Oct 2019, 20:55

Wow Steve congratulations, great Funerary Egyptian army!! You made it quite fast

Amazons are also great.. which figures are the hounds of the running huntress?

By the way, apart from very good Dragon Rampant, maybe you can also give a try to this other Osprey publication, specifically focused on classical mythological battles:
"Of gods an mortals"
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/ ... y.html?m=1
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 13 Oct 2019, 21:05

carlosfaro wrote:Wow Steve congratulations, great Funerary Egyptian army!! You made it quite fast

It's a simple army to paint - a good base colour, followed by a wash and then pick out the details.

carlosfaro wrote:Amazons are also great.. which figures are the hounds of the running huntress?
To be honest I'm not sure, they may be from Gripping Beast, but I'm not certain.

carlosfaro wrote:By the way, apart from very good Dragon Rampant, maybe you can also give a try to this other Osprey publication, specifically focused on classical mythological battles:
"Of gods an mortals"
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/ ... y.html?m=1

I have this and the Celts volume, but it's a question of intrudcing it to the players in our group. They generally like Rampant, so we're happy there.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by PhilC on 13 Oct 2019, 22:06

Unfortunately, I can't see the pictures you posted (same thing on laptop and mobile device) :(
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 13 Oct 2019, 22:37

PhilC wrote:Unfortunately, I can't see the pictures you posted (same thing on laptop and mobile device) :(

Try it now Phil I changed the privacy settings
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Posted by PhilC on 14 Oct 2019, 07:18

Steve, I still don't see the last pictures. And after you change the settings, I can't see the amazon huntress even.
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 14 Oct 2019, 08:03

No idea, Phil, sorry, I made them viewable by all. I could add them to Photobucket, I know that works, but it may be a week or two before that happens as I am packing to go away for a week.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by PhilC on 14 Oct 2019, 14:21

I think it's probably my firewall. If any other visitor of this topic could confirm if he/she sees all pictures, it would help me understand :)

No wait! If I wait for a certain time (more than 5/10 minuts), The pictures appear on my screen ! So It's a performance issue.
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