We have our heading ...





OK, after the dodgy title, I'll state my purpose. And it is thus. For the one and only Bob, I am determined to paint a Bretonnian force, as well as avoid dodgy pictures. :blink:

The force is of a crusade force -- no colours but red, black and green. This force is determined to cleanse Mousllon or die in the attempt. (Actually, after this I'll be creating an undead version of the force, so they won't die in the valiant way they intended)

I have recently ordered an old Bretonnian battalion off ebay for £30, so hopefully I'll recieve that soon and have models to paint; though the seller has never sold before, he seems reliable.

MM :)

Bear in mind MM that if the pics aren't any good I have a kipper here....

*draws eel in defence*

what is it with you guys and seafood?

Oh, and where is Mousillon/ why does it need cleasing anyway?

Green? Isn't green a general no-no in Brettonnian forces, except for of course, the Green Knight (unsure on that name)?

:P lol ... they make good weapons ... ;)

It is a realm n the land of Bretonnia that is infused with evil, and skaven and VC dwell there. The people are even more twisted than usual. And it's been "excommunicated" (not really. More disgraced, but that's close description, though politically and feudally, not religiously) by the knig officially in days past ...


TheGrizz: Dark green, and only as a contrast to the red, black and silver. I won't use it in excess, which looks terrible.


BTW, the figure in my sig is an image that could easily apply to the hero in the story below.

MM :)


I'll post a story relating to one of the heroes in a moment ... (no, you only get one this length for one hero. The others get a paragraph.)

Arborkh laughed coldly. He still remembered those days when he had been like the knight riding to meet him: young ... foolish. Yet now he was strong and powerful, strengthened by the power of blood. Smiling faintly at the knight's reactions upon seeing him, Arborkh slowly smiled, exposing his teeth. He had spent ages perfecting his image, and the terror on the knight's face was obvious. Just a flicker, but still there. For a grail knight to display terror was remarkable. But he had tried to create a terrifying effect -- while other vampires tended to think it foolish, somehow riding at the opposition without bloodstains and glowing eyes seemed ... wrong. As if it was against some code of honour: the monster always had to look scary.


Coreaux de Albeirt felt a slight jolt as he stared at the monster's white face. The eyes were in pits of shadow, and glowed like a pit of hell. The mouth was covered in blood, and the expression was of pure hatred. why the beast had a reason to hate him, however, was beyond him. But a grail knight could not think about such foolery -- it was his task -- no, his duty -- to defeat evil for the lady. Frowning, he spurred his pale steed towards the foe.

"For Mousillon and the Lady!"

+++

As the first rays of dawn arose over the forest Coreaux awoke. His head felt like it had been repeatedly slammed into a tree, and his mouth was full of the iron-filled taste of dried blood. Slowly, he stirred, and looked around. He was in the same clearing as he last remembered. His helmet was nearby, and echoed his head's feelings: decidedly ruined. The visor was missing, and the steel head-guard had recieved a massive blow: no, many blows. It looked exactly like his lead felt. His chainmail armour was torn, his plate armour dented as if from a falling tree. Coreaux was vaguely conscious of the pain all over his body from deep gashes, and bruises, but that was not what concerned him: his body felt ... different, perhaps. As if he was carrying a great weight with him. As if he had aged fifty years in a night. What had happened? The conflict seemed so distant. Yet as he concentrated, memories began to pour into his head like water from a stream ...

"You are defeated, petty mortal." The knight hissed in a cold voice. His laughter shook the evening sky, and magpies scattered away, cawing and mocking harshly. "But I will not kill you. I feel it is unsporting to kill an opponent who fought valiantly, and yet was defeated in such a way by his own impetuousness ... no, I will leave you something to pain you for the rest of your life, which will probably be significantly shorter ..." he chuckled. Slowly he bent down, and touched Coreaux's head, throwing the helmet away with such force the ground shook. A strange sensation spread over Coreaux. All his body seemed to shake momentarily, and he fell against the tree. As darkness descended, he just made out the dark knight riding away, cackling, into the darkening forest ...

Coreaux's eyes snapped fully open as he awoke, realizing the impact of the vampire's words. Slowly he reached up to touch his head, once covered in wild brown hair. He felt nothing at first, just his skin. His hand moved further back, and felt hair ... wispy, thin hair. He was an old man. What can I do? he thought, but the answer was already forming. Pray for the Lady's forgiveness and blessing.

+++

The sacred lake was quiet, with many simple shrines set near to it. Whether it was sacred or not, Coreaux had no idea, but in the late afternoon sun it looked wonderful. Small ripples spread over it as small gusts of wind passed by, as if driven by the lady's power.

Sighing, Coreaux knelt on weary limbs and began to pray ...

Hours past, and Coreaux began to feel a simmering resentment. Why had the Lady abandoned him now? What had he done to deserve this cruel torment? He gritted his teeth. Nothing was happening. He thought a grail knight was 'favored' of the Lady? Growling with pent-up rage, he seized a small idol from a shrine, and flung it into the misty waters ...

But before he could repent, he noticed a gleam among the water. A steel helm. And armour? Was this a gift from the Lady? Had it been there all the time? Without hesitation, he stripped of his clothes and dived into the icy water.

The armour was a dark steel, covered it ancient rust. But as Coreaux studied its ancient design, he noticed a gleam show again. The rust was falling from it, leaving darkened metal behind. Truly this must be a sign! Then he saw something else. A shield. It had no design, but he slowly traced his finger over it, and where his finger touvched, fiery lines appeared.

In awe, Coreaux began to buckle on the breastplate ...

++++

He felt young ... agile ... in the armour. As if, he had been removed a heavy burden. His sword felt light as a feather, and his horse as easy to control as a royal steed. But something was wrong ... the armour was too easy to use ... almost as if it had a life of its own ...

++++

Yet, as he stood on the bank, and as he turned away to look back into the forest, it seemed a voice spoke into his mind:

"Go forth, Coreuax of Mousillon. Go forth, and avenge those that have died! May the Lady's spirit be carried with you ..." the voice held an ethereal quality. If the Lady had a voice, it would sound like this. Coreuax's mind was filled with a sense of purpose. he was the Avenger, and he would avenge the wrongs done to Bretonnia. As he thought this, he felt something behind him ... was aware that something was there that hadn't been there before. How he knew this, he had no idea, but it felt like a spirit guideed him. He turned. Deeply embedded in the shore was a sword that shone like the Midsummer sun upon a blue sea. As his lingers grasped the hilt, which seemed as if moulded for his hand; he felt a new sense of purpose fill him. He would cleanse Bretonnia of evil.

+++

Arborkh turned to see a figure riding towards him upon a pale charger. He had black, all-enclosing armour, and a red crest that flew in an unearthly breeze.

"Stand and fight!" rang out over the quiet wood, and a flock of birds took off into the sky, crowing in indignation. Who was this knight? But that was for later; the dead could be identified. Laughing, he drew his sword, as the other knight drew from a black sheath a sword that shone as if covered in blue fire that burned like a terriible judgement flame.

"Your end has come, vampire!" sounded across the wood, and the poweful being struck, only for his blow to be parried ... and again, and again. He had the feeling this was only the start, though. He tried vampiric magic, but it faded, as though dissipated by a being of intense power. Desperate, he pressed on, hoping to defeat the enemy with strength, but every blow was met with a parry of perfect skill and force. What could cause such mastery? Only another, more powerful, vampire could acheive such a level of mastery, yet this was a mortal. Any grail knight would be dead by now. A dragon could have been slain by his attacks, but here he was. He launched another series of attacks. repelled as before. the knight didn't pant, whatsoever, he was completely silent as the vampire backed away. Yet as he reached the tree, and series of blows reached out so fast and sudden that he was powerless to defend. It pierced the vampires chest, and his body shook, as if a flaming brand had been pushed into his flesh. With stuttering words, he managed to mutter through cracked lips: "Who ... are ... you?"

The knight slowly lifted off his helmet, revealing a mane of thick brown hair over a pale face. His words would remain with the vampire for the rest of eternity.

"I am the Avenger," the knight calmy stated, and his blue, steel blade swung once more, aimed with perfect precision at the target's neck ...



Coreaux smiled, and lifted up his foe's helmet, then dragged the head out of it. It had raven hair, and a cold white face similar to Coreaux's own. But an iron hand had gripped his heart. He had defeated evil, perhaps, but something else concerned him... My son. he was my son. The vampire. My son. Coreaux thought numbly. When had he last seen his son? Years ago, when he had left his fort to go on a crusade to Mousillon. And since then, it was clear ... Adieu! Adieu, Lucas. Adieu. May you find mercy in the Lady's judgement. Coreaux never usually displayed any emotion, but now ... his face was like something fromn the deepest hell, so twisted. He remembered the sacred lake. The sword. And his son's head, lying carelessly on the cold ground. With a cry of anguish that raised to the sky, he raised his sword, and moved to plunge its fiery blade into his own armoured chest ...

But something resisted. Perhaps the Lady's spirit, perhaps his own will. Yet his sword would not move towards his still beating heart. With a cry of despair, Coreaux numbly wondered why he should be punished so: that he should be denied death. And standing, he stood up, moving his sword away, and pointing it at the sky with a motion worthy of a hero of old. He was still the Avenger, and he still had a duty to be done. Whether he should turn to evil with anguish or avenge the evil done to him hung in the balance as he stood there, standing against the setting sun. Then he sagged, and sheathed his sword. A mental decision had been reached. Slowly, he strode back into the forest.

+++

A year later ...

Outside Mousillon's walled boundaries stood a figure, sword raised in defiance. As he lowered it to point at the walls, a vast host assembled around him, prepared for war. He clasped his helm in one hand as he revealed flowing brown hair, which the wind whipped around his face.

"Today we shall defeat evil, and avenge the wrongs done to us! This is their judgement day, and by my steel sword they shall die! We will avenge them. For the Lady and for Mousillon, charge!"

Please may I have some C&C on the story, and some advice for the army/ebay?

Thanks,
MM :)

Very good fluff i can see from this. Ebay is really good to buy Warhammer off, as it is cheap and sometimes you can get good deals from it. i have 20 Catachans on the way as we speak!

As for the knights, i'd go for a black with red details scheme. If you did that, then you could alternate between a Bret force, and a blood dragon force for when the new VC comes out (so then you could add other units to your will. Someone did that at my local GW, and he did it very well).

i'm no bret player, but i will add some basic advice to what i know. To add to the force, a General and a BSB is a must (for brets anyway). A high leadership is always good for an army, and the if the Lord is accompined by grail Knights, then you are not going far too wrong. Split your archers into 2 seperate units of 10 (i know you don't get 20 in the battalion, but look on ebay for some more :)), so that you can split or combine your firepower at your will. To add to the firepower, add a socceres(s) or mabye even a trebuchet. Giants and Ogres will die :D. Men at Arms will provide good support to your archers, as they will protect them from flank attacks. The light calvary in the army is a MUST. Light calvary has saved me many a time when i've played that occasional time using my dads O&G army, and will protect your knights flanks if they run into trouble.

Your tatics are to hit hard and fast really. your lances are going to hurt if you get the charge, but if you don't, then it may go a little wrong from there. Armies with good shooting such as Dwarfs or Elves in general can be a pain in the ar*e, but if you use the terrain wisely, then you should be able to survive the worst of it.
Combat heavy armies such as Chaos or O&G are not really a problem, since they'll want to fight you too. Shooting is either aload of shite or okish or even nothing(hope its the latter). You should be able to charge these guys since you have alot more calvary generally then them. Heavy armour don't like lances or Two handed weapons.

Here is my help, hope you think is useful :)

DK

Thanks. :) I hadn't thought of the knights idea, but it sounds very good, so I'll certainly consider it. :)

Grail knights ... well, I'll wait 'til I see better Blood Knight pictures before I decide on my opinion of them ...

As for aerchers, I'm going to upgrade them to skirmish, to avoid LoS difficulties, so units of 8 or 10 really makes little difference.

I'm adding a trebuchet, but a damsel is uncertain, as it goes a little against the fluff (as you can see, the above story uses a lot of 'artistic license').

Light cavalry is certainly useful, but the models are too expensive until I extend my army past 1,000 points.

yep. After all ... this. Is. Bretonnia!

Useful indeed. Thanks. :)

MM

*waits for pics of stuff* *or compressed form of fluff*

I can't say I've read the fluff... there's just so much... but because of the vastness I can say you've put a lot of work in, and should now do some models!

You lazy git :P

DK

Models? I recieved the old Bretonnian Battalion today, so I'll get pics up later. :)

Merceus: thanks. Now read it! <_< (Just kidding, I'll give a better description of the army later. That was a story based on the fluff, not the other way around. <_< )

DK: you read my mind ... :P

MM

Hey! Im the living embodiment of sloth! Can you blame me?

Well ... yes?

The army is based on the cursed illegitimate son of Maldred of Mousillon, who has long been scorned for reasons best left uncovered. Rumour dictates his activities have involved urinating on an idol of the Lady, though that is highly fanciful, and more likely come of the metaphors often used in tales and rumours. The real reason for his disgrace is that his mother was a common peasant, that his father liked greatly, and was said to bestow 'favours' on, of a sort which it is perhaps best not to delve too deeply into.

Yet Arkhor (for that is his name) is determined to cleanse Bretonnia of evil once and for all, in order to regain his honour. So he has raised a small crusading force from all over Bretonnia, determnined to save it. He has gained the support of his half-brother, and a great pegasus from the lands of Aquitane. His army uses pure black horses -- grey or black, but never white. whether because they are noble horses, or are just significant of Mousillon is unknown, but what is certain is that they will die or free Mousillon from the clutches of evil ...

====

And sometime next year I'll be creating another army! A VC force. Yes, you guessed it, an undead force based on this one, after Arkhor was brutally overpowered by an evil vampire ...


And yes, DK's idea sounds awesome for accomplishing this. :)

Or cuz painting white is hard?....

*bangs table*
PICS!

SC

Later. When I have a laptop to bluetooth them to. They'll be blurry, but still pics.

And yes, that is the start to the reason for black. White takes too much time for a 90 model army, and black makes DK's idea possible.

MM

No, he buggered the idol of the lady!

The blood kingiths are so prewty... you must use them!



Tepok

depending on your point of view. Compared to the skeletons, all I could say to them is 'meh' ... but then again, that's compared to the skeletons ... ;)

OK, double post. But for legitimate reasons. More fluff!

----

But little does Arkhor know that within his ranks lies an evil vampire, a mastermind of the night. Every day he is tempted further into the bdark by a skilled agent of his vampiric half-brother. Little does he know how soon his bite will come ...

But the vampire is only part of an insiduous plot to turn all Mousillon to the shadow -- how could a grail knight know if the cup he supped from was a diluted elixir of life offered by a lahmian vampire, or lake water from the grail itself? And so vampires spread their influence far, and slowly good descends into evil, and what would have once been evil becomes good. theories that would once have been vile heresy become the simple and blatant truth.

As every knight seeks desperatelyt for the grail, they come closer to the curse of vampirism ...

And thus a kingdom of unlife shall be born from the ashes of a broken land.

Nice fluff there mate, but...

*Bangs table in a much more manly way than SC*

PICTURES!!!

*jumps*

Later tonight. Or tommorrow -- it relies on being able to use a laptop to bluetooth stuff to ...

*smackfacedeskplateouchmashgoo*

*wipes self down*... *way down*

*claps once*

Pictures dammit!!

I can take them, but I have no method of getting them onto my computer ...

OK, pictures later today. Yes, seriously.

BTW, I want advice, please. Should I use Chaos Warrior helms with no horns as knight helmets, or should I leave them as they are? I considered DE helms, but they're too small in comparison to Bretonnian ones. The idea is that to join the crusade you must abandon all past ties, and therefore your heraldry on your helm. KE helms would be OK, but only some are sealed and they look small and weedy.

What do you think?

thanks,
MM :)

hmm, chaos helms, even with horns taken, may still look too chaosy... try it, but dont glue it on and show us as an example...

Can you not just cut the heraldy (the funny animals) off of the Bret helms?

Hm...haven't spoken here for a bit...

I'll say try the Chaos heads with a bit of blue tack (bloody handy this stuff), because its nice to personalise your army. Merceus' idea is good, the Bret heads look cool without the heraldy and sort of sinister look to them too, which is good for the relation betwenn VC and them.

Idea for the Grave guard...do Men at Arms with skellie bits, and for the skellies, unarmoured archers with hand weapons if you can convert :)

The Black Coach could be the Arkors personal carriage when he was alive, but a little more dead, and the corpse cart could be a good old plauge cart (bring out ye dead!) with the odd bird heads they wore. Gives a realistic medivalish look to them.

And just use the knights you have :) If you don't use any human heads, unless you paint them pale, to look like a half Vampire for the Champion. AND... for the necromancer, make Arkors' sister necromancer! Make her up!

Just my help :)

DK

*Actually, you did say ou liked the new skellies...just add some Bret Men At Arms shields to them, or paint icons on to the grave shields

I've used Merceus' idea.Bret. knight heads look a little out of proportion when the crest is removed, so I used KE heads, which look better, without the fanciness.

I like all the VC idea, and I especially appreciate that you've obviousy taken ime an compared them to the fluff, so thanks. :) However, the VC army may have to wai until around October due to finances.

Pictures when photobucket works. :)

Thanks!

MM

PS> probably a nice avatar! (I have no real idea who Bob MArley is, and the 'love' above him is a tad concerning ...) ;)

Your wish is my command.

So I bring you ...

An update!

It's a blurry picture, but it doesn't need to be more detailed, as they're not even undercoated or fully assembled yet. I bring you ... the Bretonnian Men at Arms ...




And here's just a few of the sprues for the bowmen and M@A ...




The bowmen themselves, trusty skirmishers all. In later years it is suspected the peasants were either bandits or undead minions. The general vote was that they were undead minions commanded and aimed by bandits. Bretonnians are an unimaginative unch.




The knights and pegasus knights. This ios before their helmet change.








Now ... give me C&C! :P

MM :)

Well, its a long lasting joke in our family ;)

I am a very strange person :D

Knights look lovely, and so does the rest. I took time to do that, because you took time to do the army :)

I'll have to game against you at Warhammer World with my Chaos army, if we do a Warhammer AB Tournie or just to go there and play. My Warhammer army isn't that big...

DK

hurray for pics! Now paint damn you! paint!

^^ seconded

paint like a drugged up crazy painting grot who is on the meks shite-list and needs to get a gargant painted by the end of the day!

DK: again, thanks. :)

Indeed we will have to have a game sometime ... so get painting! :ph43r:

Merceus: Wait a moment ... they're not even undercoated yet!

TWoO: Err ... OK ... I'll get painting then ...

I'll undercoat these tomorrow, weather permitting, and paint them before February's end, with any luck. BTW, I'm going for one unit a week, or less, so these should be painted fast enough.

Thanks all. :)

MM

well then, I guess you'll have to undercoat them :P

yes, master! As I said in my post, they'll get undercoated tomorrow ...

yes master. I'll hurry. ;)

MM

In reply to my thread...

PAINT EM NOW!!!

It wouldnt be too hard to convert some of these.
If you buy a box of the multi-part men-at-arms and just combine them with the new empire light cavalry (I forget for name but I think they're plastic and should be cheap if they are).

Merceus: I'm hurrying!

Traitor King:
Nice idea, but I assume you've never seen any M@A assembled? Their legs would have to be seperated from the bpdy -- not too hard, however -- but their arms are by their sides up until the elbow -- the parts you stick on are the elbow downwards. Nice idea, but hard to execute well in time for the BoB. :)


My progress?

I have undercoated and based every model i have at present. the bases are my great success -- as this is Mousillon, I invisaged a tainted cursed waste, which I originally achieved with 40k-style black sand drybrushed grey. then I glued on patches of static grass -- simple but effective.

Tommorrow I'll try to bring you a test scheme or so, but it may be hampered by the fact that I start school tomorrow. :(

thanks for reading,
MM :)

This was correct until today, the finishing date of test mini no. 1. I decided a dragon looked far better, and tied in beter with the blood dragon connections.

In particular, I am revising the beginning:

Will become:

++++

The army is based on the cursed illegitimate son of an unknown noble of Mousillon, who has long been scorned for reasons best left uncovered. Rumour dictates his activities have involved urinating on an idol of the Lady, though that is highly fanciful, and more likely come of the metaphors often used in tales and rumours. The real reason for his disgrace is that his mother was a prophetess of the Lady in the fair land of Bastonne -- suffice to say that there was a disgraceful affair, after which the noble hurriedly left, leaving the baby to inherit a small land in bastonne. His mother killed herself rather than risk the wrath of the lady when he was twelve, since which he has been responsible for his own realm. Since that, he has recently discovered his father's identity -- or rather, his father's land, and little more. So he has decided to cleanse his birthright, as the one way possible of gaining wqhat little honour he has a chance of gaining ...


For Arkhor (for that is his name) is determined to cleanse Bretonnia of evil once and for all, in order to regain his honour. So he has raised a small crusading force from all over Bretonnia, determnined to save it. He has gained the support of his half-brother, and a great pegasus from the lands of Aquitane. His army uses pure black horses -- grey or black, but never white. whether because they are noble horses, or are just significant of Mousillon is unknown, but what is certain is that they will die or free Mousillon from the clutches of evil ...

But little does Arkhor know that within his ranks lies an evil vampire, a mastermind of the night. Every day he is tempted further into the bdark by a skilled agent of his vampiric half-brother. Little does he know how soon his bite will come ...

But the vampire is only part of an insiduous plot to turn all Mousillon to the shadow -- how could a grail knight know if the cup he supped from was a diluted elixir of life offered by a lahmian vampire, or lake water from the grail itself? And so vampires spread their influence far, and slowly good descends into evil, and what would have once been evil becomes good. theories that would once have been vile heresy become the simple and blatant truth.

As every knight seeks desperatelyt for the grail, they come closer to the curse of vampirism ...

And thus a kingdom of unlife shall be born from the ashes of a broken land.

Update, you ask? Later. But for now ...

My resolution for this army is to paint it all using no inks other than black.

My Empire army is, at present, completely pathetic-looking until I can find a varnish to remove shine. Alright, I was a rubbish painter when I started painting it, and average/good when I finished, yet I can't bear to see two whole armies of mine look pathetic, and the only one I can repair the damage to without repainting it is my Empire -- my restoring dullness to the army ...

So if anyone has any methods of removing shine (preferably cheap, and that don't remove shine from metallics), please tell me, or give me reviews! It can be Testor's dullcote or vinegar, just help me please!

C&C too please (on the fluff) ...

Thanks,
MM :)