The Archers: An Everyday Story of Bretonnian Country Folk

 Back again to the ongoing (and arguably unending) Bretonnian project. I've finished the unit of archers, at last. I made them a champion from a model called Farendil the elf ranger, who was from the game Dungeonquest. Apparently, this miniature was sold in several other ranges and under other names after that. He's a decent model, but a bit more "high fantasy" than the rest of my archers. Still, he's Oldhammer.

I also made a standard bearer. This guy was originally an archer making a V-sign with his hand to show that he's still got his shooting fingers, Agincourt-style (although apparently this is a myth). His rude hand was lost many years ago, and I gave him the arm and shaft of a more modern polearm, along with a plasticard banner. Again, being able to glue it to the back of his head helped greatly, which is why the banner is quite low. We've also got a musician, who is blowing a horn. He's a mid-90s model and, while simple, is very nice.

So here are some pictures of the bowmen, painted in the jolly (if rather grubby) uniform of the Archers du Brest from White Dwarf 237:

I also started a new unit. Back in the good old days of the first Bretonnian codex, you could upgrade a unit of archers to the Bowmen of Bergerac, led by Bertrand the Brigand. Bertrand and his Bowmen bear a strong resemblance to Robin Hood and his Merry Men (in particular, Errol Flynn's version). You can see why they were dropped from the more grimdark 2003 book: Bertrand the Blood-sodden and his Miserable Men doesn't sound anywhere near as good.

I was lucky enough to find a metal Bertrand on ebay for a not-too-outrageous price. He's a super miniature and looks just right for this project.

I also made Bertrand's two helpers, Little John and Friar Tuck - sorry, I meant Hugo le Petit and Gui le Gros. Gui, a tubby monk who carries a barrel of booze to raise morale, was converted from a plastic model, with a barrel from an ogre. His staff arm came from an Empire flagellant, and his other hand holds a flagon which I sculpted (not very well) from green stuff.

Hugo le Petit was a more complex conversion. I based him on a dumb-looking Age of Sigmar Khorne bodybuilder type, with a Mordheim head and a lot of green stuff.

And here they are as a group. I've got some really nice old "brigand" models, which I bought for almost no money a very long time ago, and I shall be adding them to the Bowmen of Bergerac. They've got a lot of character and will look good in a unit.

And that's it for now. By the way, if you got the reference in the title, you are almost certainly British and middle-aged. Which is probably a lot of Oldhammer fans...