Jaeckel's Army of the White Lady - Introduction

The starting point of this new army is a visit of the Chateau de Chenonceau, and in particular, the bedroom of Louise de Lorraine. After the assassination of her husband, King Henri III, Louise fell into deep depression, and began to dress in mourning white clothes, being nicknamed the "White Queen". In her castle, she covered the walls of her room with black, only decorated with shovels, cornucopia shedding tears, thorns, and white feathers (in French, "penne", for feather, sounds like "peine", for pain).  

Examples of mourning symbols painted on the walls

These walls sparked my imagination, and I started to think about a bretonnian widow, Louise de Montfort, refusing the death of her husband, and going to war with his remains. For nobles dying away from home, there is indeed an ancient ritual, the excarnation, inherited from the Crusades against Araby, where the body was dismembered prior to boiling in wine or water. The viscera were often buried at the place of death, but the heart and the bones were then transported back to the deceased's home. 

In the case of Heinrich, Count of Schädelheim, his remains do not rest in peace in the family's vault... but follow the White Widow on the battlefield, protected by men at arms dressed in black as a sign of mourning.

The heart of the deceased prince-bishop of Würzburg is brought to Ebrach abbey, delivered on a carriage drawn by four horses. Illustration from the Würzburg chronicle, by Lorenz Fries

The sinister look of Countess Louise's army is even exacerbeted by the generalisation of excarnation to ordinary men and creatures fallen on the battlefield. The skulls of the fiercest opponents are displayed as a warning to the enemy, while the remains of fallen soldiers are kept in portable shrines by their comrades, with the promise to lie one day in the Gardens of Mòrr. 

In each regiment, a Death Crier shouts the losses, and chants the exploits of the fallen brothers in arms. He uses his bell to repell the evil spirits, and brandishes a lantern to guide the friendly souls. As for the necrologists following the White Widow, they log in the Schädelheim Chronicles every death suffered by the company.

In terms of miniatures, I have a stack of early 90s miniatures that has been waiting for far too long. For the infrantry, I have opted for rarely seen models in an Empire army: the spearmen. I guess they sucked in terms of game, plus the fact that GW had released only four models... which doesn't help to build full regiments. Below my basic conversions: I have used spearheads of undead warriors, skulls, imperial heads from various boxes, and a few bones stolen to the ghouls. Two gunners have also been transformed into a spearman and a standard/shield bearer.

 

The second unit to join the White Widow is archers. Since there are 9 different models, I have only played with skulls and arrows, to tie the regiment to the general theme of the army. 

The third unit is the inner guard of Louise de Montfort, built with Reiksguard foot knights. As GW released only 8 of them, I have complemented the initial lot by converting a standard bearer into a Death Crier, and adding a Captain.

 

The fourth unit is a band of Mourners, based on the 6 flagellant models released in the 2000s. Rather than hammers and flails, these followers of Mòrr favor tools used by the gravediggers, the shovel and the pickaxe (recalling one the panels seen in Louise de Lorraine's room). 

As you can see, each regiment has a Death Crier, all derived from the "Clocheteur" depicted in Les rues du vieux Paris by Victor Fournel.

 

 

Below a few trials to see how gloomy this army will be...

Using the 4th edition Warhammer Empire army book we should have: 

• Characters = 418 points
  
• 1 mounted general (the White Lady) = 103 points
• 1 wizard champion (the priest of Mòrr) = 118 points
• 1 wizard (the necrologist) = 56 points
• 1 champion with light armour and long bow = 35 points
• 1 champion with shield, heavy-armour and double-handed sword = 36 points
  
• 1 hero with heavy-armour and double-handed mace = 70 points

• Regiments = 466 points
  
• 14 spearmen with shield, light armour, standard bearer and musician 16 x 9 = 144 points
• 9 archers with light armour, standard bearer and musician 11 x 10 = 110 points
• 9 reiksguards with standard bearer and musician 11 x 12 = 132 points
• 9 flagellants with standard bearer 10 x 10 = 100 points

• War machines = 100 points
  
• 1 mortar = 100 points
  

• TOTAL = 1004 points

 I still need to work on some characters, the warmachine and its servants. 

 In the meantime, enjoy the holidays, and see you in January with the first regiment!

Jaeckel's Castle Wittgenstein - Conclusion

Another OWAC, another (small) army painted. As often, despite the months of preparation, new ideas have emerged during the challenge, some finalized in due time, others deferred to a later date (and most probably given up forever). This year, flipping through the pages of "Death on the Reik", I have (re-)discovered an incredibly rich scenario, full of weird ideas, and nicely illustrated by late Martin McKenna. 

 This resulted in adding to the initial plan the ogre torturer, the Wittgenstein creature, and the ugly Slurd. I wish I had more time to work on some cavalry, using beastmen as scouts, to build a cage wagon filled with peasants captured beyond the frontiers of Wittgenstein baronny, or to work on a new unit of mutants/beggars. Anyway... Let's recap what has been done for this sixth edition of the OWAC (and my fourth participation).

• 10 crossbowmen (100 points), plus one guy painted in January that was meant to complement a more difficult month (never shown before);

 

• 15 halberdiers with musician and standard-bearer (153 points), plus Shif Doppler, level 10 hero with flail and heavy armour (59 points);

 

• 15 peasants with musician, mascotte and spears (112), supported (cough cough) by their good doctor Rousseaux, incompetent level 5 wizard (60 points);

 

• 10 cannibals (fleglers) with musician and standard bearer (108 points);

 

• and finally, the general, a level 15 sorceress (155 points), and her suite of weirdos, including a mercenary ogre with light armour and double-handed weapon (256 points).

 Total: 1003 points... that was close! 😛

At this stage, I have to admit that I'm not sure to join the next edition of the OWAC. The not-yet-released range of AOS Cities of Sigmar is incredibly appealing (can't help seeing Gary Chalk's influence in some designs), and chances are high that I'll paint a lot of plastic in the coming months. We'll see... 

 Anyway, thanks again Iannick for the organization, the two-headed lamb is finally on its way to Canada!

Jaeckel's Castle Wittgenstein - Wild Card and NPCs

 I have started the challenge with a clear idea of who would lead this army (Lady Margritte), but no miniature to play the role. I have considered a number of female models (Lucrezzia Belladonna, several lahmias and sisters of Sigmar, some Frostgrave magicians, and even the legendary Lady McDeath), but nothing really convincing. 

The light came last month through a comment left below my entry, pointing towards a modest lady in the medieval pack MED209 by Wargames Foundry (thanks again daveb 👍). The miniature is fine, but I wanted something closer to the scenario illustrations, with a more menacing look or... a hood. Perfect match with Samantha Phox, a sorceress model designed by Aly Morrison in the eighties.  I gave her a staff to show her use of electricity to animate cadavers. She also received an undead familiar, probably one of the mutant cats cherished by her mother, Lady baronette Ingrid von Wittgenstein. Finally, since the miniature was a little bit small compared to more recent models, I have fixed Lady Margritte on a small stone stairway. In terms of painting, the final result is not at all what I had in mind: Mrs. Santa Claus and her zombie pet...  Well, too late for changing plans 😑. 

(Spoiler Alert) "Death on the Reik" ends with the final confrontation with Lady Margritte, and the ultimate undead creature, the Wittgentsein Monster, a composite being made up from various body parts and internal organs gently provided by the villagers and beggars of Wittgendorf. 

Regarding the miniature, the quest was easy, and (unexpectedly) cheap: the exact model was proposed with the original scenario. 

Regarding the painting job, we can read the following details: "deathly white skin with green discolorations on the cheeks and lower jaw". I really tried... then followed another path.

The next inhabitant of the castle is Slurd, an old (and senile) retainer of the Wittgensteins, whose left hand has muted into a bird's talon. The original miniature is actually quite pleasant to paint, and the illustration by Martin McKenna helped me to figure out how to paint his claw. 

With an additional month, I would have probably given to Slurd a few beggars and muted servants, and built another unit of useless fighters. For the moment, he'll be on his own on the battlefield.

Back to Wittgendorf, and the good doctor Jean Rousseaux. Poisoned by the very warp dust he's pouring in the booze distributed to the villagers and the beggars, his skin has started to flake, and he's hiding his affliction by plastering his face with white powder. The miniature is a previously unreleased Marauder Miniatures wizard, now sold by Wargames Foundry (referenced TWW-07). I have removed the beard with a modelling knife, and tried to keep the chubby face of Martin McKenna's illustration in the first release of Death on the Reik. The flask and the rapier are small additions echoing the equipment of the NPC in the scenario. In terms of painting, the powdered face was an interesting challenge. Not sure it's understandable without the background explained above though...

  

Lovely characters...

And finally... Yep. I did it again. Another double-headed sheep, using Wargames Foundry models (referenced GPR066). I will use it as a mascot for the regiment of peasants, as I can't find a proper idea for the flag of the standard bearer.

With the time left, I have added a few Wittgendorfers to the band. They either come from the C46 villagers, or from the F4 Mercenaries. Except a fixed spearhead, there was absolutely no modification on these models.

Jaeckel's Castle Wittgenstein - Leader month - Shif Doppler and more

Well well well... can't say ending this OWAC is easy. I'm still struggling to find a model for Lady Margritte von Wittgenstein, and I am less and less confident to succeed by the end of the challenge. All I could do this month was the lieutenant of the guards, Shif Doppler, one ogre, and... more guards! At least, I can pretend the "Leader" month is done 😜

Shif Doppler has been heavily tainted by Chaos: he can turn his head and arms by 360 degrees, and his face is so corrupted that he's hiding it under a silver mask depicting a handsome youngman. 

In terms of miniature, I have used the model proposed in the original scenario pack to depict this character, but carved the helmet to replace the head by an AOS Stormcast face, and equipped it with a Warcry miniature flail (part of his equipment in the scenario).

Another character of interest, Slagdarg is the official torturer of Castle Wittgenstein: not particularly bright, this mutant ogre is fully dedicated to his job, and keeps questioning his guests... without listening to their answers.

To build this one, I have modified the Gutlagg Executioner model designed by Jes Goodwin by separating the head from the body, trimming down the shoulders, then lenghtening the torso by adding the upper armour piece of a Kruleboyz boss. I thought the chains, locks and keys would fit nicely with the honorable profession of Mr. Slagdarg.

Besides his final odd proportions (cough cough), Slagdarg's mutations consist in a bright green skin with orange hairs on his arms. Not exactly my comfort zone... In the end, way too much time spent on this model.

 

As for the guards, they are based on the imperial halberdiers designed by the Perry brothers in the 90s: I have either swapped the heads, or trimmed down the fancy feathers to give the original helmets a more severe look. I have also replaced two halberds by man catchers, very useful to capture new subjects for Lady Margritte's experiments 💀

The whole rank:

And the whole month:

See you in June with what's left to paint 😜

Jaeckel's Castle Wittgenstein - Rank and File month - The cannibals

 

Same crapy old models, but different unit: the cannibals of Wittgendorf. 

If most of the villagers suffer from various afflictions, some went a step further along the path of corruption, and turned towards cannibalism. Hidden in the abandoned temple of Sigmar, they have devoured the majority of the corpses in the crypt and in the graveyard. Now, they want more...

The ghoulish villagers are armed with clubs and bones, or any weapon they could find in the graves. In terms of game, I wanted to count them as Fleglers (flagellants), but they may in the end join the other villagers to form a block of useless Landesturm. We'll see...

In terms of miniatures, you'll recognize some villagers of the Citadel C46 range, two flagellants (one F2 Fighter and one MM65 Marauder) and one F4 mercenary, slightly modified using bits and bones from ghouls and zombies sprues. 

In terms of painting, same colors as for the other villagers, except the red tones that I have reserved for the mouth and the hands of the cannibals.

I have also slightly adapted my "rock and moss" bases, picked some bits from these excellent zombies to give a more sinister look to the unit, with dug up graves and bodies removed, either eaten by the villagers or taken by Lady Magritte for her necromantic experiments. 

And now my last regiment for this army...

Butcher (C46)

Bolg (C46)

Simkin (F4)

Tom (C46)

Owd Roger (C46)

Allard (C46)

Bully

 Rear rank:

 

and front rank:

Next month should see some characters painted.