Tristan - A Present For Me

A little while back I reviewed Musketeer Miniatures' fantastic Bors figure, that I painted as a present for a colleague.


This figure, Tristan, comes as the partner to Bors. In the Arthurian canon, Tristan (Anglicised from Drustan) was apparently a Cornish nobleman, a nephew of King Mark, who largely became famous for falling in love with Mark's mail order bride, Iseult.

There's a pretty strong thread running through the stories that Tristan could have had some Pictish heritage (Drustan derived from Drust, an attested name of several Pictish kings). Of course it's quite possible he was a Cornish noble with Pictish blood - then as now the nobility of different states/countries probably intermarried.

Modelled in a fantastically aggressive running pose, Tristan is a pretty commanding figure. This is ncely in keeping with the Arthurian view of him is a handy fellow in any sort of fight. The sculpting and casting is first-rate, with no flash and minimal joint lines. Interestingly he comes without a weapon in his right hand. I added a sword (swiped from the spares in the GB Dark Age warriors pack), but drilling through to add a spear would be facile. Here he is, bearing down on a group of Pictish raiders. Maybe there's an old family feud between him and the Pictish noble?

Stand and fight!

As Tristan is a well-equipped elite fighter, he has a mail shirt and a Saxon-style helmet, complete with boar crest. I'm perfectly happy with this - there's no evidence that the Saxons had a monopoly on viewing the tough, aggressive boar as a symbolic of a fighting man. In my view Tristan has looked at the state of the art in weapons, armour and tactics and decided that the Saxon style, complete with the small, viciously-pointed buckler, suits him best.

No backing down!

And as for where he's going, well, he might get an outing in a Dux Brit game, but mainly, this one's for my desk!

Decision time!

Merry Meet Again!

Morgan Le Fay

The perfect spell, you could not resist,

I cast it well, beguiled and bewitched,

The evening fell and knocked like before,

But this time Hell had come to your door!

"Shapeshifter" - Gary Hughes

Here's the latest in the line of occasional non-historic Sub-Roman characters, Morgan Le Fay.

Morgan was Arthur's half-sister, a daughter of Igraine (Arthur's mother) and Gorlois of Cornwall. She was unhappily married to Urien of Rheged and was a student of Merlin. A powerful sorceress, but also a skilled healer, she plotted against Arthur, undermining him, his knights and even his wife, remaining a powerful adversary for many years. At the end, she was reconciled with her half-brother, and was one for the four enchantresses who went with Arthur to Avalon after his wounding at the Battle of Camlann.

The figure is a Julie Guthrie sculpt, sold via Grenadier Miniatures as a female assassin. The date on the bottom of the figure (1987) is slightly earlier than when I got it. I'd bought it and painted it, and had had good service from it in the rolegame days but had mislaid it. I'd been looking for it among the few figures I'd kept from back then, as I thought it was perfect for this purpose. It took me an age to find, and eventually it turned up behind a workbench in my garage during a massive clearout!

A quick clean-up and prime got her ready to paint, and to my mind there's only one example to follow:
Frederick Sandys' painting of Morgan. The original is in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, but this gives you the idea.

It's interesting to note the Pictish symbols on her overskirt. I don't this interpretation can be beaten, and here's my version derived from Sandys' masterpiece. Not a patch on his obviously, but I'm happy enough. The details on the mini are quite soft and subtle compared with today's castings, but at the time, these were pretty "state of the art".

Does the goblet contain some subtle poison, refreshing wine, a healing draught or some hidden spell the long-term effect of which can only be guessed at?

A powerful ally...

But if the contents of the wine-cup fail, then the dagger in her other hand will serve. I think Aelle is right to be wary of this strange lady.

...But a bad enemy

Marry Meet Again!

Here be dragons...

Underneath a wind torn sky,
Silent as the hunter’s moon I chase.
I am the guardian.
I am the god of this place.

I am the silent death,
Golden eyes and burning breath I take.
While the forest shakes and sighs
In my wake.

Taken down by armored men,
I tore their shields, I bloodied some!
I am war!
But the cowards came in numbers,
All the more...

Sing to me a song of open skies,
Bury me upon a mountain high.

Adapted from "Death of the Tiger", by Danny Vaughn

Danny Vaughn, who is a briliant singer and songwriter, and an all-round top bloke, wrote the above about the plight of tigers in captivity. Check out his work, and also the sentiment behind this. Wild animals, especially those that are so magnificent, have no place being kept for our amusement. As for people who hunt them for so-called "fun" or "medicine", well, I have my own opinions of how they should be dealt with, shall we say.

Despite being written about tigers, this spoke to me about how a dragon might think. Not just some mindless animal, driven by instinct alone, but a powerful entity, clever and wise, with a sublime knowledge of its place in the world. Men might catch a dragon, or even kill a dragon, but no man could ever truly tame a dragon.

If I have mysterious inhuman women, wizards and half-giants (soon!) in my wargame world, then dragons fit perfectly.

"My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords..." Left side.

This was a Grenadier Miniatures Blue Dragon, bought probably twenty years ago and waiting for an excuse to rise again ever since. 

"My claws spears, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt..." Right side.

I gave it a coat of black primer (to kill the original blue) then a coat of red oxide as an undercoat. Over this went a wash of black ink, then vast numbers of drybrushed coats of different shades of red-brown, red and orange.

 "My wings a hurricane, and my breath death!" You do not want to get on this side!

Individual scales were picked out with bright reds and oranges, and teeth, claws and eyes painted. Do you wonder everyone except Wiglaf decided to not help Beowulf fight the dragon?

Three heroes plus Merlin? My money's on the dragon!

The stones around the base are polymer clay, painted, ink washed and drybrushed, with a scorch mark drybrushed into the grass. Just to remind people there aren't just teeth in that end!

Three heroes, Merlin AND a dragon? This could be bad for someone. Very bad...

Merry Meet Again!

Merlin...

True Gods, they sleep,
Locked in their mountain of dreams.
They wait for the call, for the hunger.
They must be freed,
Drive out the Christian seed.
Lay waste; bring the storm and the thunder!

If I was King for a day,
This land would burn in the mystical flames!
Born through the fire,
The Old Gods would reign!
If I was King for a day!

King For A Day, From "The Once and Future king, Part I" words and music by Gary Hughes

Another slight foray into the mystical side of Arthurian wargames, here is Merlin, or, if you prefer, Myrrdin. Although his advice to Arthur was invaluable, it's well worth remembering Merlin (or Myrrdin!) had an agenda of his own, and only helped Arthur because it suited his ends.

 I hate churches, me...

As such, he's another potential source of randomness or downright anarchy in a game of Dux Brit, along with Nimue, either together or separately.

This is a Harlequin Miniatures model from their Lord of the Rings Legends of the Realm range, designed to represent someone who might look a bit like Radagast the Brown. I bought it through Black Tree Design when they owned these moulds. They are nice figures, but I'm not sure if that part of the Harlequin range is on the market any more. This is unfortunate, as they really were lovely figures.

I altered him a little, changing the leggings and high boots for a long robe, and removed the top of the staff. On Gary Hughes's albums, Bob Catley, formerly of Magnum, takes the vocal role of Merlin. Add a beard and he's even more convincing!

Finally, here are Merlin and Nimue, together. If each one was trouble on their own, just imagine how messy things could get with BOTH of them meddling?

Here's trouble...

Nimue: 

Think about the way you feel tonight,
Does the fire inside you still burn bright?
Find a way somehow to believe enough to fight,
Feel the cold caress of steel tonight.
Will you find the strength to face the light?
Did it take `till now to believe enough to fight?

Merlin:

I will return the gods to Britain!
This fire will burn,
I pledge my soul.
I will return the gods to Britain!
This tide will turn,
This ancient land.

Believe Enough To Fight, From "The Once and Future king, Part II" words and music by Gary Hughes


I will return the gods to Britain!

Merry meet again!

Lady of the Lake

A lady in white will bring sun to the night,
Brighter than ever before.
I know she waits below,

Only to rise on command.

When she comes for me,
She's got my life in her hands,

Lady of the lake 

from "Lady of the Lake" by Ronnie James Dio

 A slight confession. Long before I was a wargamer, I was a rolegamer. Before I read Osprey titles, Bernard Cornwell novels and the works of Lesley Alcock, my influences were Tolkien, Michael Moorcock, Robert Howard, Ursula LeGuin and Alan Garner. All of this, plus a love of heavy metal mean that fantasy and sword and sorcery run through me like the letters in a stick of rock.

As a result, my take on Arthurian wargaming cannot totally decouple itself from my past (and still ongoing!) love of myth and magic. So here is one of my favourite Arthurian characters, Nimue, the Lady of the Lake.

A Lady in white, to bring the sun to the night...

This miniature was originally an elf from Middle Earth, from the Mithril range sculpted by Chris Tubb. I think she provides a suitably otherworldly look for a character who was a fay, magical woman of uncertain background - who may not even have been fully human! The shading on the white fabric was Daler-Rowney Payne's grey acrylic ink, mixed with Future and flow improver, then diluted to give me the depth I wanted. Once it was dried, a quick drybrush with white was all it needed. I'm pleased with how it came out - not as nice as wet blended oils, but better than I can do with layered acrylics on white.

Here's a final one, with Aelle the Saxon warlord, Bedwyr, one of Arthur's nobles, and Drosten, a Pictish lord. Magic, mischief or magnificence - which will follow?

Then a beam in the shade from a slivery blade, has shattered the edge of the night

Merry meet again!