From ManusH: Conán of the Fianna and an Ammunition Cart (60 Points)

In this post, I've completed my first piece for the Quadrant Challenge! I've landed on the verdant world of Arda with a figure of legend from Irish lore. The theme of this planet is "fantasy, Tolkienesque", and I think Irish myth suits it quite well - it's full of great heroes and powerful magic. 

Tolkien himself did not enjoy his time in Ireland, and drew far more inspiration from Welsh myth. I was however interested to find that some elements of Lord of the Rings might originate in Irish myth. Wormtongue is strikingly similar to the Irish character Bricriu Nimhtheanga (Bricriu Poisontongue), while Gollum has been said to be inspired by the Poll na gColm cave in Clare. 

This figure is "Conán of the Fianna", a 28mm model by Lucid Eye. Their range is inspired by Jim Fitzpatrick's paintings of Irish mythological figures. In the Fiannaíocht, Conán Mac Mórna is a gigantic warrior of the Fianna warband, led by the famous Fionn Mac Cumhaill. He is a comic figure, usually blustering around looking for food! He was said to be so hairy that a cloak could be made from hair shaved off his back once a year. I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Robert E. Howard used his name for Conan the Barbarian. Irish myth can get very "sword and sorcery". 

The base features Conán's name in Ogham, the old Irish rune alphabet 

I tried to copy the original painting for this model. There are lots of cool textures that were really fun to replicate. 

I'm afraid I don't know the lady's name; she isn't mentioned in the myths 

My second piece is an ammunition cart for my Sharp Practice 1798 Rebellion Project. It's a scratch-build I've had lying around for a long time! The horse is from a Wargames Illustrated issue, so I think it's by Warlord. The wheels are from Warbases. All the rest was made up of scrap MDF, coffee stirrers and Milliput! The hinges on the caisson were made from strips of aluminium from a Coke can. This is a great material, especially for flags! 

I tried out a piebald colour scheme on the horse. It's not as easy as I expected! Still, I really enjoy having a broad range of horse colours in my collection. The cart itself is very generic, and could be used for United Irishmen, British forces or the French Expedition. 

I'm not sure if Conán counts as 1 figure or 2! I'm going with 1, as it's one casting, but I might be wrong. I've counted the cart as a "28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon" just because I think it's the most accurate category. 

1x28mm foot figure @5 points

1x 28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon=10 points

Quadrant Challenge bonus=20 points

Total =35 points. 

Thanks 😊

____________________

Love this post, especially the short tour of Irish mythology - wonderful!

That Saleh's vignette of Fitzpatrick's Conan is tremendous and you've done a really wonderful job on it Manus. I'm particularly admiring the various colours, textures and even the runic name on the base! Spectacular work. I have a bunch of Lucid Eye stuff sitting in the wings and this really makes me want to pull them out for some attention. 

The cart is a very useful piece as it could be used in a variety of settings. I'm scoring it as a vehicle, plus single horse (10 + 5). Conan I'm scoring as two figures as I'm feeling that Goodwill to Mankind thing. It's a brief condition - I'm sure it will pass. :)

Great work Manus, keep them coming!

- Curt