Warriors of the Dead - Command

This lot come in pairs with each of Dark Alliance´s "Dead" Cavalry sets, The Musicians in the Light warriors of the dead cavalry, the Standard bearer and King in the heavy warriors of the dead cavalry.

The bod Comes with standard/flag that is molded draped over the arm supporting it...and due to the folds  it  makes it near impossible to paint the Thing..unless they are painted up just as ghosts.
 

Solution? Cut the molded flag off at Hand Level (You can just about see his boney fingers Holding the staff )  remove the bottom part of the staff, and carefully trim away and excess plastic to give a rough arm shape. Add New Staff and when the bod is painted, add the printed flag. This then gets folded and creased around the arm to cover up  the fact it´s not a perfectly molded arm.

 

The way is shut.

It was made by those who are Dead.

And the Dead keep it.

The way is shut.

Until the time Comes.

Anyway, the bods will be used as medieval Revenants, visible ghosts or animated corpses that  return from the grave to terrorize the living. (Revenant" from the Latin word, reveniens, "returning")

A really good article on Medieval  Wraiths, revenants and Rituals  HERE

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And my pet "hate" at the Moment :-D

Log out of FB and your web browsing is still being watched by..?....FB. How? Part of signing up (who honestly read the Terms and conditions?) gives them the right to  tracker  your browser!!!

But..all is not lost....this free easy to use (trust me, it´s easy and free ) Little app added to your browser sends them (and a couple hundred more tracking A-Holes) packing,  

Blur - Donottrackme

You get to see which trackers are at which sites, here it´s google..obviously.
Since I uploaded it (yesterday) It´s blocked 257 trackers to the time of writing this..including FB, which had a like /share link on a News site and to most Blogs which are linked to FB.

You can still use FB etc but FB says;
 "Your browser or device may allow you to block these technologies, but you may not be able to use some features on Facebook if you block them"
Ah!! Didums!!..Boo frickety hoo!! 
and what Features may they be? The trackers that collect our data and sell them on?

Light Warriors of the Dead Cavalry (Dark Alliance)

As per titel..the light Version of the heavy cavalry..except I´ve swopped the nags with caparisons into the heavy cav unit, the ones without into the light cav.
Would the "dead" have or Need specific Ratings for thier Units? It would be as difficult to deal with one dressed in  Shorts, T-shirt,  flip-Flops and armed with bad language as one smothered from head to toe in Inch thick plate armour and armed with a chainsaw.

A great set, the only Thing missing..a mounted Musician  / Signaller. The set Comes with two musicians, a Drummer and a horn Player but they are on foot
Close ups. (not all the poses)

The "Missile" section. The arms on the Crossbow were non-existant so I created some with a staple.

Note to self; Next time take more care in removing the excess plastic between the nags ears

Nosferatu?

As with the heavy cav set, I´ll definately get These   again, the conversion potential I can see with both These sets combined with the infantry set is huge,   doubling  the number of poses, if not more,  is definately possible.

All the Light and Heavy cavalry together.

and nope..I ain´t finished with FB..not yet....and nor are a few other People...
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/19/native-american-activist-facebook-lawsuit-real-name
Ok..they probably aint got a hope of winning but it Shows  that the  policy   (although understandable) as being a bit dumb and hitting the wrong target.

Interesting is this, quoted from the linked article;
"Having people use their authentic names makes them more accountable, and also helps us root out accounts created for malicious purposes, like harassment, fraud, impersonation and hate speech"

That, IMHO, is complete S**t... They already have ways of blocking People who are using FB for "malicious" purposes, but they don´t. For example, some of the racist /Sexist stuff on FB is dreadfull to say the least or the Impersonation, like the  use of a UK School Girl´s Photos by someone pretending to be her..   reported recently  on the BBC.
Did any of the native americans etc  create accounts "for malicious purposes, like harassment, fraud, impersonation and hate speech" ?
Added to that;
Providing ID doesn´t prove the Person with the account is in fact who they say they are. Do they personally meet every single Person to confirm that is in fact the Person in the ID´s photo? In fact, criminals are more likely to be able  to provide  falsified ID and then happily use FB for Malicious purposes. It makes Fraud  and Impersonation easier.
And...women who get married /divorced  (and some men come to that) and had an FB account at the time of marriage  or divorce  in thier Birth / married Name  (or visa versa )    automatically break this "no use of a psydonym" rule...as do a lot of Celebrities from the Film and Music worlds. Michael Jackson, for example,  still has an FB account which gets regularily updated.
Maybe I´m out of touch, but  isn´t re-Animation / coming back from the dead still a Sci-fi idea? And if anyone did..why would they spend thier days feckin about on FB?
Come to that..why does anyone?

Face block

To anyone wondering (if anyone is) where I went on FB it´s not because I stopped following anyone, or shut my account..it´s some (IMHO) tosspot at FB has blocked my account.
Why? Could be a couple of reasons including some s**t head has reported me but what for I can´t imagine...they didn´t like my taste in Music?


It could be me using a Name that ain´t my own? Well, that´s actually allowed here (protection of online anonymity) and wether FB thinks everyone should give thier Name and address to FB, then Ok..they can all give US thier names and addresses.
Using a "False name"...that would go for one heck of a lot of the modelling /bod painting community.
And, if you think that using your real Name on your FB Profile  is any protection, think again, they are blocking accounts at random all over, both with nicknames and real names. Today I´ve read 100´s of cases this year alone. I gave up reading them eventually cos the stories were the same,  accounts locked of longtime users, accounts under thier real names, no Explanation..the only way you can find out..Give em a scan of your ID...ie; Break the law.

Anyway, to get back on I´d have to send a scan  of ID, and seeing as me doing that constitutes a crime in this Country and the asking for and recieving of would be aiding and abbetting, I´ll save myself and possibly some poor IT twonk working for the man, the Trouble .

Will I go back? Not on the old account for sure..unless they unlock it...but the only proof of ID they will get from me is the steam off my S++T..and that´s if I´m Feeling generous.


I could open another account..easy enough, create a satellite E-Mail etc but that would be against thier "rules" but seeing as the observance of  international /national laws don´t bother them  why should a "rule" bother me?
Even if i did..what would be the Point? I would build up the old contacts and at some Point down the line the same Thing would happen again.

My advice ? Delete your accounts while you have  Access to them.

Medieval Salt transport

A man can live without Gold or silver, but not without salt.

Often quoted as being "as expensive weight for weight, as Gold" (a statement I cannot find any confirmation for) it certainly influenced the  creation and  destruction of Empires.
A quick scan of the Internet gave These examples , among many others;
 

In China, Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, (who  apparently is credited with invented writing, the bow and arrow, the cart, and ceramics,  precided over what is considered as  the first salt war.
 

The city of Rome may have begun as a salt-trading Center.
 

The salt mines of Poland led to a vast kingdom in the 16th century, only to be destroyed when Germans brought in sea salt. The Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland was started in 1280 and went on producing until 2007!!
 

Venice fought and won a war ( War of Ferrara) with Genoa over salt.
 

The gabelle—a hated French salt tax—was enacted in 1286 and maintained until 1790. Because of the gabelles, common salt was of such a high value that it caused mass population shifts and exodus, attracted invaders and caused wars and was one of the causes of the French Revolution.
 

The Moscow uprising of 1648 is sometimes known as the salt riot, started because of the government's replacement of different taxes with a universal salt tax.
 

Thousands of Napoleon's troops died during the French retreat from Moscow due to inadequate wound healing and lowered resistance to disease - the results of salt deficiency.
 

During the american revolutionary war of 1812, salt brine was used to pay soldiers in the field, as the government was too poor to pay them with Money. and during the ACW, Salt production facilities in Saltville, Va., Virginia's Kanawha Valley and Avery Island, Louisiana, were early targets of the Union Army. The North fought for 36 hours to capture Saltville, Va., where the salt works were considered crucial to the Rebel army - so crucial that Confederate President Jefferson Davis offered to waive military service to anyone willing to tend coastal salt kettles to supply the South's war effort.

 

So, you can see it was important...and highly prized in less industrial times, the cost in the mid 14th Cent was 60 times higher when compared to the period just beforeWWI.
 Important because it was used for preservation of foodstuffs and necessary to Keep livestock healthy..an army with sick horses has a huge disadvantage.
Highly prized because it´s production was Manpower intensive, distances from production to end sale/use Long and difficult and therefore costly.

That being the case...any medieval (or come to that pre-motorization) army would have some form of salt supply in the "wagon Train" ..and it would Need guarding.


As far as I can find out, salt was stored and transported in casks (Barrels) .The cask for transport by donkey  was 107 pounds (55 kg)

While salt may or may not have had the same value as Gold it would have been important so it´s Position in the Train would have been central with lots of soldiery (the word soldier Comes from Sal = Salt) around it.

 

Heavy Warriors of the Dead Cavalry (Dark Alliance)

The set has 10 riders in 10 different poses and 10 nags in 5 different poses and 2 foot bods (I haven´t included them here as they will end up as the command for the infantry)
I wasn´t too pleased with the result of painting them as "ghosts" ( like I did with the infantry HERE ) but went for a "scruffy undead with colour" look. Takes longer but IMHO, Looks better....and, I can use them as rebellious scum types.
Also, the horses. I swopped the ones with caparisons from the light warriors set. In Total that means 8 nags in 2 poses but they are the heavy cavalry and the light cavalry having nags with caparisons seems odd to me.

The Things that make the bods (in this set )look undead are minimal..slightly skeletal arms, grimer looking faces and shabby clothing (torn chainmail) and are easily excused which makes  them usefull as veterans.
I suppose it would be difficult, in this scale,  to create an obvious undead look without going for  Skeletons with armour.
The nags are a different case, especially the ones without caparisons, Boney faces, empty eye sockets, ribs  and other bones showing.

Close ups (not of every pose)

Two nags without Caparisons needed to make up the 10 mounts needed for all the riders from the set. . The Flag I found online and printed out.

At some Point I will get some more of These nags. Fill any holes, add a tail and they would be fine for normal medievals.

The "Unholy Orders"

A couple more General pics.

Half orcs (Dark Alliance set 3)

The "themed" set from the range of half-orcs and apart from a couple of bods which, without conversion, can only be used once which is a shame, because the sculpts are really good.
In total, 10 bods, 4 of which are as pairs.

As ever, the complete poses from the set.

Grenadiers. Grenadiers? Ok, the caeser Set of goblins has Grenadier bods so why not the Half Orcs?

Axemen. Obviously they are  reflecting the tree cutting  orcs in one of those films that I can´t remember the Name of.

"They´ve taken the Little ones!!"

Another reference to the films. Pouring molten metal. They could be pressed into Service tipping boiling oil from a Castle wall..or the bucket tipped (or replaced) so they are carrying a load (catapult ammo) but basically...what would you do with 4 lots of These?

 

Bomb carriers. Again, what anyone could do with 4 lots of These I can´t imagine.

Basically, the pouring oil, one of the "they´ve taken the Little ones!" and the Bomb carriers are without conversion, one use bods.  

So..now the conversions...

One of the Hobbit carriers has had the Hobbit surgically removed and a shield from set 2 added. The Bomb carriers relieved of thier burden and pikes added.

The infantry poses based up.

Next?? Heavy warriors of the undead cavalry?