From Curt: 10mm Empire Flagellants (186 Points)

First, a big thank you to Phil for letting me muck-in with his Friday crew and, more importantly, for being such a terrific Friday Minion. Phil's a busy chap, with lots of family commitments, so I really appreciate the time he gave us in helping out this year. Cheers Phil, you're a prince!

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This is will be my last 10mm Empire entry for the Challenge (I'm sure there are a few observers breathing a sigh of relief). :)

The ranks of the Empire's armies are not only composed of troops from the loyal and sometimes vainglorious Elector Counts, but are also made up of the desperate, the destitute and the fanatical. These poor souls gather in riotous mobs led by fervent warrior priests, worshiping bloodthirsty vengeful gods, and as a whole are simply referred to as Flagellants. Once gathered on the battlefield, they work themselves up into a murderous, doom-ridden rage, ever-eager to get to grips with the enemy.  In game terms, they are a 'tar-baby' unit, not very dangerous when measured man-to-man, BUT as a mob they are excellent in tying-up high-value enemy units being as they won't break, and typically will fight to the bitter end. 

As I wanted a big mob of Flagellants on a double-sized base (signifying 'Deep' units in TtS), I had to break from my use of venerable GW metals as I didn't have enough on hand.  Instead these figures are all 3D prints from the talented MiniRat. 

I really like the variation and character of these figures. From the guys advancing in stocks, to those brandishing torches and flails the diverse poses really reinforce the ad-hoc, crazed mob feel of this unit.

As I didn't want to get bogged down in painting figures for which 90% would not really be seen, I used a few tricks I've learned over the years to quickly bash them out. One is using an airbrush to establish the main tones, both along the upper and lower part of the strips of figures. 

As the lower part of their torsos are hardly visible due to being tightly packed together, I used a mid-tone brown and a contrast wash from the waist down, while keeping their upper torsos relatively bright and flesh toned. This way I could use a variety of inks and washes to get a quick mob effect. 

So essentially the front of the front rank and the backs of the rear rank gets detailed brushwork. The remainder of the figures have basic blocked-in colours on their upper features alone, while their lower parts are painted as in shadow. 

I'm relatively pleased with the results, and the unit provides me a proof of concept as I want to do my upcoming Goblin army using a similar approach, being that they are almost exclusively organized on these large bases. 

Here is a pic of the force as it stands as we wrap up. Again, I'm happy with what I managed to get done through the catalyst of the Challenge. I'm thinking I just need about 4-5 more units and I'll have a decent-sized playable force.

As to points, there are 30 strips of 6, plus a character and five individuals figures, a total of 186 points. This should be enough to just exceed my points target for this season. Whew! I'm happy to have made it.

Thanks for stopping in for a look and have a great weekend as we conclude the Challenge at midnight Sunday.

- Curt

Friday Minion: Aha wonderful, this mob is just the business, they look suitably crazed and immovable both in game, and in their faith in Sigmar. They are very characterful sculpts. I love this force you've built, as I was a big Empire player back in my GW days. 

Thanks for the tutorial too, nice technique to get a punchy bright finish with a lot of speed. Congrats on hitting your target, though I expect you'll have your traditional final post to close us out.