After Acheron (do you want to know more?) I completed a second playable Confrontation warband this year, which is, I think, a personal best. I already wrote about Kayl Kartan’s Lab and what started this project (do you want to know more?) and already tested them in battle (do you want to know more?) so let’s show you some pictures of the warband.
As always, feedback is appreciated.
Group pictures
First of all here are some group pics of the warband before it received reinforcements, as I forgot to include them in the last post.
Here you have a small but playable warband: Kayl Kartan (sorcerer leader), 3 crossbow clones, 3 close combat oriented clones and a tiger.
The Vicar
I used my standard colour scheme on this one, pretty quick paintjob since the mini is only robes and armour. Norhing fancy here. To be honest I realized this was a lore mistake. My colour scheme is supposed to suit Kayl Kartan’s servants and, after having checked Vicars lore, I learned that these guys are the Inquisitors of Dirz society. They are supposed to keep everyone in line, clones and Technomancians alike. So basically, the vicar should be some kind of political officer, outside usual hierarchy and keeping an eye on Kayl’s actions. Anyway, the guy was painted and I liked the way he looked, so I have to live with it.
This sculpt is one of the « weird one » from Rackham, the helmet reminds me of old colonial helmets from the XIXth century and has nothing to do with the classic Dirz aesthetic. He wields giant « cissor-swords » which are some of the craziest / non practical weaponry of the Dirz range, but that I quite fancy. For the rest it is all robes and movement. As the Vicar is supposed to fight on the frontline (it gets its mystical powers from surrounding foes) I like the « surrounded duelist » kind of pose.
The Dasyatis Clone
The Dasyatis… The beast. This is one of the BIG guys of a Dirz list. Pretty expensive in terms of points but will throw quite a punch on the battlefield.
Lore wise these are bio-ingeniered combat clones, used as bodyguards by Dirz dignitary both at home (in their labs) and abroad (on « diplomatic » missions). I needed one for the warband, as it fits my warband fluff perfectly.
The mini is a massive chunk of metal with enormous arms and torso but ridiculously small legs and lower body (which is recurrent in with Dirz « big guys »). These guys are a pain to assemble, I tell you. Bear in mind that I had to reinforce every joint of its body at a time I did not own my dremel…. The sculpt itself is a kind of mix between the humanoid clones and tigers aesthetics. The paintjob match this with a piece of cloth and the armour/weaponry matching the humanoid clones colour scheme and the skin and chitinous skull closer to the tiger one. As a matter of fact the skin tone is a « happy accident ». I wanted it to look more like the tiger, but I failed to remember my recipe (the one I wrote down was clearly not what I used). It ended up lighter than intended but works in the end, as a mix between the tiger and the lesser clones.
The Keratis Clones
The Keratis are close combat oriented clones. Stronger than the rank and file clones they are not beasts like the Dasyatis. I picture them as the sentinels guarding the lab, a role their pose fits really well.
In game they would very offensive soldiers, able to deal some heavy damage but not particularly tough to kill (they are that fragile though), perfect spear head for an assault combined with the tiger.
The sculpt is an older one from Rackham, clearly inspired by middle eastern medieval soldiers. It is pretty common among the Dirz range (their country is pretty much a desert). I first though of using a different colour scheme for them, as hospital may differentiate among their personnel by using different colours (green, blue, pink) but in the end I used my standard colour scheme. I thought what would work in a large army (having colour schemes variations to differentiate units) would just seem weird in a rather small skirmish warband. Once that was decided they were a pretty straightforward job. They just needed some GS live since I got them on ebay and they were not in pristine condition when arriving to their new home.
The Scarlet Servant
Lore wise scarlet servants are the « personnal » slaves of the technomancians and fulfill all kinds of « needs ». Yes, exactly what you are thinking about…
The sculpt reflects that quite specific job description, obviously NSFW. It is a late Rackham sculpt and I have to confess, once you are at peace with the concept, it is brilliant. Painful to paint actually because of its finesse and subtle details, but lovely to look at once done (pun intended).
In game fielding a scarlet servant allows you to heal the other fighters (they are trained « medics » as well) which fit my theme pretty well (the team you need to run a cloning facility). I see her as Kayl Kartan personal aide.
For the colour scheme I wanted her to fit in the general aesthetic but also underline her status as « non combatant ». I went for a warmer skin tone and that is what I am most proud of on this one. I got the result I wanted and I am pretty pleased with the look. This helps to differenciate her from the other clones. I imagined the technomacians (who are « true borns ») going for something more « natural » in those clones than the others. The result may not seem natural, but at least it is very warm, which is a nice contrast in comparison to the other clones. The rest of the mini is my usual colour scheme (and there is not much to paint once the skin is done tbh). I hesitated between green and white for her « cloak » and went for white, as it reinforces the idea that she is from Kayl Kartan’s very personnal retinue and reminded me of a distorded « wedding dress ». In the end I am very happy with the mini.
It is a provocative and overly sexualized sculpt. Still, I find it beautiful. It sure relies heavily on the usual clichés of erotica and S&M to depict the brutality of the slavist society of the Dirz Empire. It works very well to do so in my opinion. Actually there is much to say about the use of such sculpts in our hobby and I wish to have the courage to share my views on this one day. For now, let’s just say that part of our hobby tends towards art, or at least artistic activity, and that regarding artistic activities, provocative is not necessarily a bad thing. More on that later…
Some more group shots
I could not take pictures of the whole warband tonight, but I promise to take some soon.
Well that’s all for folks. Hope you liked what you read, see you soon.
Banner picture, Confrontation art. The (too dark) pictures of the minis are my own.
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