Armies on Parade and a Monstrous Engine of Pain

The Court on Parade

After a couple of years painting them and a few weeks creating their display board, the Court of the Fisher King were finally ready to be submitted for the 2020 Armies on Parade online competition!

Shock Manta prepares to enter the drop zone while Trench Runner leaps from his own platform

The court stalking down the shoreline to enter the icy depths

I created the staggered board so that all of my knights can be seen at once

The most challenging part of the whole build was getting the platforms to line up correctly with the base cut-outs; particularly as the water levels were also different for each of the knights!

Deep Dive and Barracuda Squall perch on a rocky outcrop where they can be easily seen above the knights on the shoreline

There's a real feeling of intent now that all of the knights are moving toward the ocean as a united force

Trench Runner is jumping into the depths from a vertical aqua deployment ramp (a knight sized diving board...)

From a more elevated position, you can better see the transition from sandy cliffs to shoreline platforms to the ocean itself 

I love this image so much! The smaller knights picking their way forward while the lancers easily traverse the cliffs up above!

It was important to me that the Fisher King took the prime spot, higher even than Reef Thresher; fitting as the most senior member of the Court, he can be seen towering above them all

Reef Thresher marches with the King on the top tier

The diminutive Mudskipper working his way down the flank

Quake Hydra towers over Mudskipper!

Sacristan Nautolex watches his mechanical charges deploying for battle 

Conga Blue leads the Court, striding out confidently into the bay

Shock Manta appears to be taking one last look at the horizon before his drop

I even managed to find a place for Snapper who is found near a cliff face entry hatch

Building the display board

In my last post, I showed a few images of the poly sculpting I was doing to get the basic structure for my display.  Here are some more images covering off the rest of the process!

The rather naked looking polystyrene shapes!

The next part of the build was to add all of the platform cut-outs and other plastic details which I made while poly sculpting.  I hot glued these in place then began the process of coating the display with external filler (on the cliffs) and plaster on the water areas

This stage was extremely messy and it was difficult not to get filler and plaster on the plastic elements!

I waited until the plaster was starting to cure before creating the wave patterns with gloved hands

After the whole display had dried (this took about 24 hours), I then went back and added additional sand and gravel before priming everything with a mix of pva and paint.  Note that I was using this mixture rather than biscuit spread which the jar suggests!

The base coat of glue and paint took a whole day to dry fully, but it was necessary to seal everything, strengthening the plaster and foam

It was then just a case of painting the rocks, sand and sea to match the army!

Once I'd finished the basic painting, I tested the knights on the display and made small colour alterations to better match them up, then blacked out all of the edges with a mix of thick black acrylic paint and pva.  Again, this took 24 hours to dry, but it levelled and protected the edges nicely for handling

A torture engine like no other!

I realised a couple of weeks ago that with all of the knights and titans on my blog, I have completely neglected to produce anything even vaguely resembling a giant monster for some time and that I needed to remedy this by finishing some of my kaiju backlog!

 

As a result, I finally completed my Drukhari Wrack Knight with a lick of paint!  I'm so pleased with how this monster turned out; he's so unique while fitting perfectly into the coven.

My Wrack Knight in all his gory glory!

Not as bulky as a regular Wraithknight, he is still an imposing presence!

The bladed sails jutting from his back project a shadow field over this mighty monstrosity

Just like his smaller kin, this Haemonculous' creation is studded with dark technology

Double jointed legs give this construct a much more alien feel

As with all servant of the Haemonculi, the creature's face is hidden behind a Wrack mask

The huge trophy rack on this beast's spine displays victims from a wide variety of species...

A twin disintegrator cannon makes for a devastating secondary weapons array

While disintegration is scary, the thought of being killed by a titanic husk glaive is terrifying! 

What Wrack is complete without an exposed spine and hunch back?

Like regular Wracks, the Knight wears his torturer's apron with pride.  The hooks at his back are used to hang trophies during battle

Where the Hex are the rest of them?

As I've not shown them on the blog recently, I thought I'd also take a few group shots of the Coven so far - enjoy!

The Hex in all their dark majesty

Last but not least...

I decided it was time to dust off the Tantalus and start painting...

Mudskipper & Pals

Mudskipper; Armiger Class Helverin Scout

Standing ready on the Corbenician shoreline, Mudskipper scouts ahead of the court

Despite featuring on the blog months ago as a WIP, I have only recently finished painting Mudskipper, completing my originally planned 10 knights for the Court of the Fisher King.  There may or may not be truth to the rumours that Mudskipper's completion was slowed by the intrusion of an 11th member of the court...

Far nimbler than the larger knight classes, the armiger chassis is a perfect vanguard engine

Uniquely, Sir Jayce Arron's Knight armour bears heraldic serpents; awarded for his peerless skill as a duellist in the Solstice Games

All Armiger class engines in the court are required to carry a signature deep-sea anchor ensuring that they can weather the unpredictably destructive currents which cut across Corbenic's ocean floors

The arm & carapace mounted harpoon launchers provide Mudskipper with a powerful array of weaponry with which to subdue oceanic fauna of immense size

Mudskipper frequently marches alongside his Helverin counterpart Trenchrunner, forming a potent hunting pack

Although used widely across the court, the colour white is much more predominant across Mudskipper's hull, denoting it's pilot's purity of heart

Mudskipper's hull incorporates a manipulation dendrite near the face plate to assist with deep sea maintenance duties

Mudskipper's honour markings are displayed across its armour panelling

Mudskipper with his Knight Scion Pilot, Sir Jayce Arron

The Armour on the Armiger mirrors that of the pilot

Jayce Arron chooses to fight with twinned weapons when mounted and on foot

Wielding exquisite duelling blades, Jayce Arron is a formidable adversary even outside of his war suit

Sir Arron has famously never refused nor lost an honour duel

Going full Scion

As previously noted on my blog, it's always been my intention to represent the pilot for each of my knights as miniatures outside of their titanic war mounts.  I've now finished the Scions for the two remaining knights in the court. 

Hastur Mordent

Riding the brutal Conga Blue deep into the oceans, Hastur Mordent is an assertive figure in the court, passionate in his beliefs and experienced beyond measure in the intricacies of ion shielding.  Hastur is a highly respected Scion who is always ready to impart his knowledge to younger more irascible members of the court.

Hastur Mordent has single handedly dispelled the widely held belief that an ion shield can only effectively defend a knight suit from one angle.  The level of skill required to achieve multi-directional deflection was previously thought impossible without a dedicated cogitator feed 

Hastur is currently tutoring the Count's son and daughter in the use of Questoris and Cerastus battle suits

Hastur's stoically refuses to upgrade his aged interface suit, claiming it is an 'antique' rather than a lived in relic from his days as a lowly squire

Patrocles Hiralden

Patrocles is the headstrong firstborn son of Count and Countess Hiralden.

Although he rushes to the fore in his Armiger class Warglaive Shellback, he is a capable pilot, able to fight his way clear of even the most precarious situations.

Patrocles constantly competes with the other members of the court to prove his marshal prowess. His rivalry with his sister Ivraine is legendary

Like his sister, Patrocles favours the close range punch of the Warglaive pattern Armiger chassis, using chain blade and melta fire to devastating effect

Despite their competitive nature, the two siblings are often found fighting side by side to overcome foes which would otherwise prove beyond the power of a single Warglaive 

Yet another box...

I previously showed my WIP fisher king crest which I've now finished painting.  Now it's done, I've mounted it on a new box for transporting dice etc and I'm quite happy with how it turned out!