[WM/Hordes] Trolls, Maori Trolls to be precise...Whanau Options

[Bishop]

Whanau - pronounced Far-No (with a silent r) is Maori for family
History:
Since I first got in to miniature gaming (only about 5/6 years ago...I know...a late bloomer) I've always wanted to do a Maori themed army of some kind.
With Maori being a warrior race it wasn't so far fetched.
My introduction to mini gaming was 40k so the thoughts of mass conversions to get some have decent looking figures, and masses of them, was a scary proposition so it always ended on the back burner.
A few years ago I got in to Warmachine and Hordes and got the opportunity to realize this dream seeing as the concept is primarily based on skirmish style armies so in general low model count armies...when compared to 40k anyway.
I started playing Khador because it was the Warjacks and their concept that got me interested in the game in the first place.
Like most players who get in to WM/H I then considered a Horde faction as another alternate force/faction option instead of another Warmachine army and initially started with Legion of Everblight.
Legion however has/had a massive following in Melbourne and I've never been one to jump on to the most popular faction/army (hell, I played Sisters of Battle primarily for years) so I changed to Trolls who had been my first love (due to the awesome models/sculpts) but a mate had been gathering and playing them for a while which is why I looked elsewhere. He decided to move on to better things leaving me the option to pick up some models and move in on his turf.
It wasn't long before I was looking at the models, force compositions and overall game theme (these guys are combat monsters that often don't know when they are hurt i.e. tough)...thinking, this could be the Maori themed army I've been wanting to do for a while.
So it began...

Theme:
For those of you that have no idea...the Maori people are the indigenous people of New Zealand.
We (and I say we because I am of Maori decent) were at war with each other over land and women before the English arrived and, deciding we needed colonising, promptly went to war with the Maori. For a people that never had metal (or disease) until the English arrived we did seriously well in combat against the colonial forces with wood, stone and bone.
Enough on the history.
The theme of my force is a Maori community during the colonial wars.
They live in a Pa (a Maori village/fort surrounded by a wooden pallisade and defensive earthworks) near the snowline on the side of a wooded mountain/valley that was created by volcanic activity.
There is more to this such as some funny kiwi anecdotes but this will do for now.

Scheme:
They are Maori's!
Brown skin it is.
Oh what fun! I suck at painting at the best of times but feel putting the effort in has improved my skills. I'm happy with where I'm going and enjoy learning new stuff. I'm also a terribly slow painter as I don't have masses of time to do sit and enjoy this aspect of our hobby due to young family and work commitments.
While the PP studio scheme is blue-skinned Trolls...mine were always going to be something else and with the Maori Warrior theme it naturally meant Brown.
Needless to say the shades of brown paints I now have exceeds any other colour in my collection.

Diary: - excuse the image quality...I'm no professional, also the models are used/played with regularly so there may be some wear and tear on them.

Winter Troll
First up I painted a Winter Troll.
The PP studio version is a very pale light blue indicating the Winter aspect.
The sculpt also came under heavy fire as being one of the worst ever done by the team. I've seen some really funny photoshops of this model that probably suited the pose more than it's warrior pose.
I've maintained the winter aspect in the fists/hands having a freezing/blue aspect and a slightly paler skin tone.
The 'skirt' represents a finely weaved flax that was both a functional cloak, blanket, call it what you like.
The base is supposed to represent the moss covered base of a glacier, below the snowline, high on the mountain.


Pyre Troll
I next decided to paint a Pyre Troll.
Again the PP studio version had somethings I didn't like about him. The 'firey' hands made it somewhat difficult to see the chains wrapped around his fists so I opted for a different scheme where the 'fire' is an internal heat allowing the chains to be seen. I also replicated the Winter look with the pyre look restricted to the arms only. The studio model also has a fire ball coming from it's mouth which I preferred to to fill in the hole and paint as a normal maw.
The base is supposed to represent a very old lava flow near the mouth of the valley.


and a picture of the elemental brothers to show scale size


part 2 follows...

This post has been edited by Bishop: Apr 17 2011, 10:46 PM

[Bishop]

Borka
Borka is one of the Troll Warlocks that is a Priest of Dhunia so is 'blessed' with fury manipulation rather than the 'gifted' who are all Albino's (more on how I intend to 'display' Albino skin colour or lack of pigmentation later) so he has a 'normal' skin tone.
Maori chiefs were often gifted Colonial Military uniforms during the wars 'after' they had signed a treaty or agreed not to war with the English any longer...usually this was after capture and imprisonment.
The other chiefs and warriors would often take uniforms from the fallen as trophies.
Borka has done exactly that. Being a colossal he wears two red-coat uniforms that have been stitched together to cover his massive frame and then personalised with troll adornments.
The pale cloth is another of the finely weaved flax thread cloak/blankets that designates his position of chief.
His pose indicated genuine battle field authority so he is based on a pole platform high up on the palisade of the Pa.
I'm yet to do his Moko work otherwise he's pretty much finished.
[edit] Updated pics 050209


part 3 follows...

This post has been edited by Bishop: Feb 6 2009, 07:41 AM

[Bishop]

Brine
This is a slight diversion but was fun to do. Brine is a Heavy warbeast Minion and part of the Minion Lesser Warlock duo, Rorsch and Brine.
It suited my army composition and frivolous play style to include one of the Lesser Warlocks and seeing as NZ now has lots of wild boars since the English arrived and introduced them (one species is even called a Captain Cook) Brine was a natural inclusion.
Again I was never going to follow the studio scheme as there was no way I could see myself doing justice to the pinkish pig flesh they had painted...so I did a mottled pig colour, a colour relatively common on some of the big boars I've seen.
His base is supposed to represent a muddy sheep track (couldn't help myself really...there was always going to be a sheep reference somewhere) not far from a stream that feeds a river in the valley floor.
I'm yet to add water effect to the base in the deeper mud holes and finish off his nose/eyes. Plus the leather straps are not yet finished either.
[Edit] Image links fixed and last 3 pics are the most recent updated 050209




Part 4 follows further down the page (updated 050209)...with some group shots

As I've already mentioned...I'm a really slow painter so expect this diary to be updated on a semi-regular basis only.

C & C welcome...be kind...or I'll Jake Heke all over your a$$ next time we meet.

This post has been edited by Bishop: Feb 6 2009, 07:50 AM

[gronk]

Very very nice. I love the fact that the background to this force is something you obviously feel passionate about.

So far I really like what I've seen and will keep a watchful eye on this thread, keep up the good work mate!

[Buddha]

You can Jake Heke my a$$ all you want Mark

Looking pretty tops mate. Excellent character to each miniature... the elemental nature of the first 2 Trolls is very well represented... while maintaining a cohesive looking group.

I love the theme too

I am a big fan of bases also myself, I like to make good looking bases. Your bases are outstanding

A small army of big guys means you can spend alot of time being quite characterful with the bases

... all I have to say is so much talent being *cough* wasted *cough* on War Machine

Emma is starting her own painting adventure as we speak, I will link her your diary so she can keep an eye on it.

Cheers,

Tom

[Emma]

Tahi rua toru wha rima ono whetu waru iwa teko! Ko Emma taku ingoa, iwi ruapehu o rangi. Ka mi o tahi rua toru rangi.

Ko o te awa ko te awa ko o.

Very Nice, i love it!

This post has been edited by Emma: Feb 5 2009, 08:04 PM

[the varks]

looks great mark, it was good seeing them in person at arc, and also playing them.

Marco

[Buddha]

Oh,

Speaking of which, will you do the Haka before each Warmachine game Mark?

Tom

[Emma]

Kia Kaha

[Knight_of_Sanguinius]

Great work Mark.
I really like the look of that mud base.

[Bishop]

Keggie
Keggie is on a small base and is a sidekick to Borka...like an add-on if you like. Borka is renown as a drunk and brings a keg with him to battle. I had issues (and will probably continue to because of the overall army colour scheme) with the barrel/wood colouring. I'm using a brown skin tone range, the trolls wear lots of leather (more brown), their is a wooden palisade featuring in the scheme (more brown) and most of the Troll warriors carry little kegs with them (more wood). That's a lot of different shades of brown!
I'm not convinced I've got this particular barrel colour just right for my liking...but it's better than some of the earlier attempts at it.
The base is supposed to show Keggie underneath Borka's platform taking the keg to battle through the gateway in the wooden palisade.


and a couple of group shots of the current painted models to 050209


Next to hit the painting table will probably be Rorsch, part 2 of the Lesser Warlock and Heavy Beast Duo Rorsch and Brine.

[Bishop]

BTW
Thanks for the comments people.
@ Tom - if I could be inspired to collect and paint 'another' 40k army...well...who knows. And as for the Haka, you never know your luck in the big city.
@ Emma - Kia ora...you're funny!
@ Chris - I stole the idea and technique for the mud bases from the GW online tutorial on bike bases then changed it a little.

This post has been edited by Bishop: Feb 6 2009, 08:22 AM

[Diesel]

Well I must say the WAACY collective have been privy to this awesome Army diary for months...and I'm glad you've decided to share Mark.

Great Stuff Bro.

Deez

[Tyra_Nid]

Looking great Mark! A far cry from the 'Beer Metal' list at UniCon.

It will be cool to watch this army progress, and hopefully youll get another crack at beating me at some point

(Also, afraid to write anything bad unless you eat me)