David デイビッド : The Bloody Slayers

by David on 2013-09-13 (Fri) 17:08PM

Presenting the crew of The Bloody Slayer - my Empire pirate-themed warband for our recent Warhammer campaign. The idea is to get a workable warband out of 100 points, and I decided to make one themed to the high-elf port board I'm currently working on. So here they are, posing for photos on board their ship...

This is the 100 point roster sheet I worked out for them, featuring special WANTED posters for 4 troublemakers in particular. Look familiar to you, perhaps?

Lord von Trapp, the Younger :
I needed some silly rich nobleman, who would be paying all the costs of hiring the ship and its crew. I wanted these models to look unified and match a variety of terrains, so I tried these 20mm square acrylic bases. Each model required having its foot pinned to the base, and then glued with 2-part epoxy glue.

Captain Johann 'Hannibal' Schmitt :
The true master of The Bloody Slayer ship. This model is actually an old Mordheim elf, that was free with a very old issue of White Dwarf magazine. He was the most suitable model I had lying around, so I green-stuffed on a tiny goatee beard, and left it at that. In game terms he is simply a swordsman, because I wanted the other 3 of his mates to have the special Dogs of War skills..

Babaracus, First Mate :
Yes, perhaps you can guess the second theme, now?

I thought it would be great to have the A-Team in there somewhere, as they could always be relied on to get the job done. So I cut the head off this massive Savage Orc warboss model, and replaced it with an ogre head instead. Then I simply had to trim his nails, and model on that particular Mr.T mohican with green-stuff. Finally, I wanted to use this model as equipped with a flail and Frenzy, so it seemed a good idea to give him a suitable weapon. A ship's anchor should be chunky enough, right?

"I ain't goin' up in no crow's nest!!"

Faith Man :
The third of the A-Team models, this time acting as the ship's carpenter. In the game I either use him with a 5+ regeneration save (from his comet-shaped birthmark) or as causing Fear (again, his aura of godlike awesomeness).

Drumming Mad Murdoch :
Finally, the A-Team wouldn't be complete without Murdoch going into battle singing loudly or playing the harmonica. Well, this drummer was the closest I could find, and looks suitably barmy.

Jurgen, Babyface Bert and Hans :
These three make up the shore party of gunners, with an assortment of weapons and the ship's colours.

Otto, Old Sven and Dolf :
These three spearmen join Lord von Trapp when he ventures ashore, to act as his bodyguard. They also serve well as the ship's pressgangers, to 'encourage' young men to join the crew and see the world in a life of adventure on the high seas.

Stinky Jan and Olaf :
Finally, these two sea dogs act as shipmates to Babaracus in a fight - benefitting from his Frenzied state as detachment units. The beefy arms are from chaos marauders.

What makes Stinky Jan so stinky? Well, just make sure you never ask him to take his hat off!