So, in a strange twist of fate (not a WWE reference) I have been posted to Kirkwall in Orkney for a couple of months for a nursing placement. Obviously being in such a fast-paced and tropical environment I would have no time for hobby..... oh wait. It has rained, snowed, and stormed constantly, with about thirty-five minutes of sun across the first six weeks. I was prepared for such an eventuality, having grown up in Deeside, and ordered some hobby stuff. But what game for?
Kings of War had died a death sadly, and the new edition of Infinity has been delayed. I wasn't taking my 9k of Warhammer Armies Project across the Penland Firth, and foolishly had left my Burrows and Badgers models at home. So, I needed a new project, maybe for a new game, and ideally wanted something that would give me fond memories of Orkney. Or what I could see of it through the rain and fog.
So Graham and Dan have been dabbling (read playing heavily) in The Old World, with a variety of armies. Initially Ben and I hadn't been fussed about playing it, being happy with our Warhammer Armies Project forces. We'd bought stuff for Saga, but sold it without ever playing, just a game too far. I have always loved the Victrix models, and have been looking for an excuse to use them for something. Then Graham revealed there was a tournament up in Elgin next year for The Old World. And that got me thinking....
So I read through the army lists for Empire and Bretonnians, and looked at the Victrix ranges. The Dark Ages/Medieval ranges gave the majority of models for either army, with the Napoleonic range allowing for handgunners, cannons, and the like. Fireforge have their Albion (with plastic/resin Pegasus Knights) and Northmen ranges which could supplement them further. I looked at both armies, but settled on Bretonnians as I couldn't find anything to be a steam tank, war altar, or demigryffs. Now, obviously models exist for them, but as I wanted to use the Victrix models and have it looking more historical, GW models were off the table. Also, a lot of the GW models for the Empire and Bretonnians for The Old World look (in my opinion) quite dated now.
I bounced some ideas off Graham, who had played with the Bretonnians a few times, and he liked the sound of my Bretonnian list, but suggested that I look at the Exiles Army of Infamy. I did so, and whilst initially hesitant due to the lack of Duke and Grail Knights, I found that I liked the list, and the extra items. So, I came up with the following list, and set about ordering some models through various Black Friday sales:
Baron (General) with Gromil Great Helm, Heavy Armour, Frontier Axe, Bretonnian Warhorse, Virtue of Purity, The Exile's Vow
Outcast Wizard (level 3) with Ruby Ring of Ruin, Battle Magic
Paladin (Battle Standard Bearer) with War Banner, Heavy Armour, Shield, Lance, Bretonnian Warhorse, Virtue of Duty, The Exile's Vow
Paladin with Morning Star, Heavy Armour, Shield, The Exile's Vow
9 Mounted Knights of the Realm with Full Command
9 Knights Errant with Full Command
10 Knights of the Realm on Foot with Great Weapons and Full Command
24 Yeomen Guard with Thrusting Spears and Full Command inc. Grail Monk with Blessed Triptych
10 Peasant Bowmen with Skirmishers
10 Peasant Bowmen with Skirmishers
6 Mounted Yeomen with Shields, Musician, and Feigned Flight
5 Mounted Yeomen with Shields and Musican
4 Pegasus Knights with Full Command
10 Border Princes Brigands with Blunderbusses and Full Command
Border Princes Bombard
Total: 1996 points
So it's worth noting that this is not a super-optimised, tournament winning list. It is lacking in magic items (especially the Falcon Horn), flying monsters, and contains some picks that would never really see a competitive table (Knight Errant, Yeomen Guard, Brigands). The smaller unit of Mounted Yeomen may yet be dropped in favour of command for the Bowmen and a couple of items/vow for the foot paladin. The intention is to use the Victrix Norman range for the Yeomen, Bowmen, Knights Errant, and Mounted Yeomen, their Medieval range for the Knights of the Realm, Fireforge's Albion Pegasus Knights for said Pegasus Knights, and Wargames Atlantic's Foot Knights from their Age of Chivalry range for the Realm Knights on Foot as Victrix's own versions aren't out until around March. I've always gone lighter on the magic items when playing any iteration of Warhammer, often forgoing ward saves unless the character is likely to be striking last/only in light armour. I'm not sure how necessary wizards are in TOW, and I struggle to ever remember Knights Errant being in any way decent, but we will go with this.
I will be using the Victrix Medieval Knights as Mounted Realm Knights, and I got the upgrade set to make a champion, and give me options for fancier knights (Questing/Grail) down the line. I'll use the Armoured Norman Knights as Knights Errant and the Unarmoured Norman Knights as Mounted Yeomen (with the addition of Dark Age Archer bow arms). With the bow arms there is no way to give them shields, there's just nowhere to sensibly attach them, but I'm hoping that this won't be an issue if I tell my opponents prior to the game. My infantry are the Victrix Norman infantry, assembled with spears. I will make half the bag with hand weapons to use as Grail Pilgrims and order Highland Miniature's Grail Reliquary at 28mm scale to put in them. Highland Miniatures' stuff is gorgeous, and minus much of the unnecessary embellishments seen on a lot of fantasy models, having a pseudo-historical feel to them. The Peasant Bowmen are the aforementioned Dark Age Archers set by Victrix, which are absolutely perfect in their role. The Border Princes models will be Victrix Napoleonic French I think, or at least the artillery will be. The other option is to remove the blunderbusses, replace them with crossbows and use the Victrix Norman crossbowmen. As earlier stated, I'll get Fireforge's Pegasus Knights, even though they aren't the nicest knights in my opinion, with the knight sprue it uses having the issue of being released before the Victrix ones, who are just superior in every way. The Foot Knights, as also earlier mentioned, will be the Wargames Atlantic ones, and the characters will be a mixture of Footsore Miniatures models from their Baron's Wars range, and Hasslefree, a company I have loved since their inception, and whom I have purchased a lot of models from over the years.
Hopefully my next blog post will detail the army and models, and provide a bit of a critique of them.
Until next time, take care and happy gaming.
