Oh schaurig ist‘s übers Moor zu gehen. Florian‘s Silver Bayonet

[anevilgiraffe]

Nice. That rat man is quite cool.

[DivisMal]

Nice. That rat man is quite cool.

Thank yoe EvilG. You’re doing a very impressive Silver Bayonet project yourself!


Scounging through my stash of painted but never used models I found this gargoyle from Rackham for the Confrontation game. As I’ve said before I have some issues with „demons“ in the Napoleonic age. Are there indeed suggestions or is there literature dealing with them? I haven’t found anything yet. Gothic horror (or Romantic Schauertomane) deal with the supernatural in death, nature or from ancient times, but not really hell itself. How could hell actually be worse than the siege of Badajoz, the retreat from Moscow or just being an average soldier ordered to stand and hold while enemy artillery was doing target practice on your regiment?

That’s why I decided to use the gargoyle as a „demon“. Gargoyles may not be typical of north German protestant churches but there were still enough in the Catholic centres like Münster to explain why they stalk the bogs.

So with the „demon“ now being replaced by a gargoyle, the ex-demon will probably serve as something else. I’ll explain in one of my next posts.

Question: this guy has been based for Confrontation. Plain black. I’m tempted to rebase him on a grass base to suggest he’s been from a Catholic monastery razed in the 30 Years War by the Swedes. Stupid or cool? I’m slightly afraid the green might ruin the effect of the wall where the gargoyle just detaches himself.

[Michi]

The gargoyle is an excellent idea!
Why don’t you add just rubble and debris ot the ruined building that you can paint like the stone columns? It would neither disturb by the colour, nor would look out of place. You would catch to flies with one strike…

[Malamute]

Great stuff. I love the demon.

[Cordvane]

I love the idea of the Gargoyle as a lone 'survivor' from a razed catholic church that is now out and kills everyone in blind anger who dares to come to close to his lone pile of rubble.

[Metternich]

A lovely start to your project.  Will we be seeing any of their human foes in the near future?

[H.G. Walls]

I like what you are doing so far. Please, keep going as I would like to see more of your creative craft.

[DivisMal]

The gargoyle is an excellent idea!
Why don’t you add just rubble and debris ot the ruined building that you can paint like the stone columns? It would neither disturb by the colour, nor would look out of place. You would catch to flies with one strike…

Okay! I like that idea. Work has started!

Great stuff. I love the demon.

I love the idea of the Gargoyle as a lone 'survivor' from a razed catholic church that is now out and kills everyone in blind anger who dares to come to close to his lone pile of rubble.

Thanks, guys! I’ll elaborate the idea a little in the near future ^^.

I like what you are doing so far. Please, keep going as I would like to see more of your creative craft.

I hope, I won’t disappoint;)

A lovely start to your project.  Will we be seeing any of their human foes in the near future?

Definitely! I’ve got some Victrix French and Perry Moscow retreat French on my painting desk. Especially the latter are absolutely stunning. As with the 95th there’s a bit too much flash for my taste, but the models are en par concerning proportions and dynamics with the best fantasy / 3d prints I’ve seen.

So, the frozen bogs will see a lot of small scale skirmish activities. First because I have those models and then because I think that’s actually the kind of warfare that would make sense in my alternative historical setting.

[DivisMal]

I managed to find another model that will be refurbished for The Silver Bayonet:

When the first squads were mauled by the beings in the moors, it was a shock. The bodies were found horribly mutilated, sometimes half eaten. This was not the work of a wolf or the French.

Cathcart knew he had to find help. Anglican priests as well as the north German Pastors were embracing science too much and were of no help here. He needed help from an older religion. While Irish priests might have been an option, the suppression of Irish catholicism in the British army proved a problem.

That’s when the Portuguese connection came in and Padre Rui Parreira was shipped to Germany.

The padre is an old man, stout in his beliefs, nearly blind, ascetic and of near legendary constitution. Armed with a crucifix only he often accompanies the 95th when the supernatural is suspected.

[DivisMal]

Padre Rui exorcising a halfbreed („hobgoblin“).

„ Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae, hostis humanae salutis.“

[Malamute]

Great stuff. Love the priest

[Grumpy Gnome]

Continually great stuff mate! 👍

[aircav]

Cracking stuff, love the gargoyle idea 

[DivisMal]

Thank you, gentlemen! Father Rui will soon see some action. Yesterday I was in the DIY store and got two 125*65cm boards which hopefully will suffice as a playing area. I haven’t decided yet, how to do the board, but I think I will go for a flat surface with some sandy patches for my bog and terrain features recycled from previous projects.

I also did some work on the bases and gave my 95th Rifles some highlights (which are barely visible in photos, but look nice in real life); last, but not least I worked on some more monsters.

First the riflemen:

[DivisMal]

Then I played a bit with Michi‘s idea and worked a little on the base of the Gargoyle and found some suitable terrain (I guess from a long forgotten GW kit) for the ruined chirch he belongs to.