Relics. Mercenaries. P1

As part of my wider review of my Relics collection (and painting drive this year) I found several mercenaries which I had picked up as part of some job lots.

The Mercenaries are a sub faction of independent characters that can be used as allies by all the races (with a couple of exceptions) 

I had previously painted the Ridend Banished Knight and Britanan St Nik and as a little break from painting Kopalops I took on Maverick Mike and his boys.

For colours scheme inspiration I drew from the American war of Independence, the Continental Army and Milita with the Mel Gibson Film The Patriot playing in the background ( Lt. Colonel Tavington's cavalry will certain appear as a Britanan Dragoon unit at some point!)

For the Maverick Boys, I wanted to move away from the ordered Britanan Red Line and give them a rough and worn civilian look. Really pleased with how they have come out and will certainly try and get some more. You can run up to two units with Mike and it might be an interesting little side project to make up a little rebel faction with head swaps on the dragoons to make some Rough Riders etc

A breakaway outpost established on the mainland forming a Continental faction...

Maverick Mike was a former Sergeant Major but I wanted to keep him away from the traditional red  and settled on blue inspired again by the Continental army 

Maverick Mike and his Militia Boys

St Nik

Banished Knight

Back to Kopalops and putting together the last of the Mercenaries, the Alt sculpt Banished Knight and seated Chronicler

Relics. Ridend. The Brass Duke

The signal fire burned and threw its light into the darkness, in the distance light flared as the next tower lit up and carried the message on.
Nearby he treelike moved and begun to light up in reflection. As the message sped on to the heart Ridendea, those closest had answered its call and mustered once more against the raid of the C'thu.
The flickering light washed over the polished armour of the Brass Duke as he emerged from the copse and moved forward with his retinue and mustered forces, they had stood before and would stand again.
Duke Ito Baras, known as the Brass Duke, moved forwards on his armoured Kopalop and approached the bright pyre and the ridden peasant that had lit it.
' My Lord' , it stammered out 'Our village is under attack,. The C'thu, they are here again. They came in on the fishing fleet . Please help...'
The Brass Duke nodded and raised his golden hand to signal the rest of his party to follow. For all their horror the C'thu could still bleed and in the name of the Lady he would drain them dry.


One of the strengths of Relics is how unique each of the faction are, drawing from traditional fantasy archetypes but twisting them and making something new. The Ridend draw from Goblin and romantic ideals of knights and damsels, Games Workshops Bretonnia remade with the artistic vision of Brain Froud. A generous dose of Excalibur, Legend and Labyrinth.
the Ridend have sat in their boxes the longest as I could never decide on a paint scheme for them but after a recent incident with a friends having his Ridend warband stolen ( with such short supply available alternatives are being planned which will be for another post!) I reviewed my own and found inspiration...

The prototype Ridend and one of the most iconic for the faction. Knight on Kopalop!

Dark metal with Brass elements that will tie in with a Brass Duke!

The knights will all have different plates in brass to give them a more individual look as each suit is a family heirloom. Brass plates are added on to emulate the Duke or were given by him as rewards.

Going though my Ridend I found I had enough for 2.5 units so used three banished knights with their backpacks removed and made three shields for them. With one per unit they blend in despite being slightly less bulky than the regular knights

First Unit with cheque pattern to match the Duke. Other units will have an equally somber patterns

The Brass Duke

A limited release resin figure as opposed to the metal. One of my favourite in the range, full of detail from the Kopalops armour to the lance and helm it has been a joy to paint!

The back and white colour scheme of the heraldry and bird allow the Brass to stand out and works well with the red skin.

When the range gets restarted i would love to see this used as a model for Ridend Heavy cavalry with  armoured Kopalops and lances

Hi name is inspired from Michael Moorcocks Count Brass

The lance is magnetised to make it easier to transport and also allow for weapon swaps as the model also comes with a sceptre/mace option

The Pride of Ridendea so far

Relics. Battle Report - Defend the village

With the Orcnar Village wall finally complete, I have decided to build a couple of platforms I can stand against the inner walls and create firing (Grymman screaming!) steps but that will be for another day, and eager to get the terrain used I was able to arrange a game at my local club with bot the guys I have passed the Relics bug too. The battle was set with the Orcnar defending their homes against a combined Ridend and Vaettir assault.

Additional rules were decided for the walls, they would count as Obscuring for fire and if the walls were not being targeted any 1 or 2 hits would be taken against the wall section rather than the target. Walls would received a 4+ save and would have 6 damage points. The gate would have 8 damage points and it would take one round to open or close the gates and would need an Orcnar unit next to it to do so.

All packed and mobile!

Initial terrain set up

Orcnar forces - 2 Beorns, 2 Unmann units, 2 Eotans, 1 Spatga unit, 1 Docga unit and 2 Grumman units. Plus Orcnar Dice!

Ridend forces - 3 Archer units, 1 Foot Knight unit, 2 Barons, 1 Vassel Knights Formation ( 1 Ladies of the Court, 2 Foot Knight units)

Vaettir Forces - 2 units of Vicario, 1 unit of Sol, 1 unit of Vstonin, 2 Elvspon, 1 Evocatour and 1 Vaelad ( proxy with an Infinity figure as the miniatures are currently out of stock and I need to assembly mine!) Plus Vaettir Dice!

Orcnar set up first with the Ridend taking the northern edge and the Vaettir taking the west. 

Grymman units decided to take up positions outside the walls to act as guerrilla forces and maximise their ranged attacks. They also thought it would be finny not to come in when told and ran off in hysterics and hid in the hunt ruins!

The Vaettir began their advance and the Vicar cast Iced Ground on the (badly) hiding Grymman and limiting their hit-and-run intentions!

The Grymman withdrew and successful survived more elemental assault, but from fire this time

The other Grymman unit weathered an arrow storm which took two of their number as they moved out of cover to close into range and also back into command range to allow them to make aimed shots later.

With the gates still open and the Sol closing in, the Docga are unleashed but despite their best efforts only inflict one point of damage

One of the Unmann units is called to take over the gate defence and 

The Beorn follows after the Docga against the Sol

The Grymman counter attack the Ridend and kill two of the Ladies.

The remaining ladies retreats behind her protective Knights

Despite the loss of the Ladies, the Ridend continue their steady advance, archers inflicting casualties on the defending Unmann units behind the walls and weaken the wall itself (dark stone mark the section damage)

A final volley from the archers brings down the wall section and knights move towards the breach as the Orcnar inside move to defend with the huge Eotans and Spatga open fire to try and reduce the breaching forces.

A unit of Knights moves to support the Vaettir as the Sol and Docga trade blows. The rest of the Vaettir forces move in under the cover of the conflict.

Overview of the battle so far. 

 we ran out of time and will resume next week!