Manda’s (Amachan) Order of Heimdallr

These are my berserkers armed with Dane axes.

These are my berserkers armed with a bardiche.

I know, my berserkers are not wearing bear skins…..

These are my mounted huscarls.

I updated the paint scheme I used for the horses with what I actually used to paint them. The only one not updated is the bay horse as the dice did not let any be painted that way.

Here are my Valkyries mostly build (shields are still separate) for the Order of Heimdallr. These are mounted shield maidens from Bad Squiddo Games riding Pegasus from Fireforge Games with some custom spears.

That’s all the normal horses painted and based.

The first unit for my army is done, these are 12 crossbowmen.

Over the last couple of weeks of me dealing with the heatwave and a depression after that, I managed to slowly get these 21 horses build. They all need a little clean-up before painting.

Hjǫrdís is my pagan witch riding a unicorn. To make her I am using the rider from “Freydis on Horseback” and the horse from “Jarl Lathgertha”, both are from Bad Squiddo Games and I’m adding a couple of bits from the Frostgrave wizards set as well. That set is from Northstar Military Figures.

I started by drilling a hole in the head for the unicorn. This made sure that the unicorn got more oxygen to the brain and could think more clearly. I put in a brass rod, cut that to size and shrouded that in a coat of greenstuff.

On to Hjǫrdís herself, I cut the hands of the model and replaced one with a staff and one with an open hand from the Frostgrave Wizards set.

I filled in the gaps in between the hands of Hjǫrdís and then I sanded the horn of the unicorn smooth. I got rid of most of the cast-on base, drilled a couple of holes in the hooves and pinned the unicorn to some cork bark. I then glued that to a 50x50mm square base. I added some more cork bark bits to the base and I feel like the model is ready for priming. Hjǫrdís is still separate from the unicorn and will be so during painting.

I painted the edge and rim of the transfer shields and I think I got quite a good colour match with my transfers. I did this to blend them in with the back, as the colours do follow on through the back.

I sprayed a coat of gloss varnish over the shields to protect the work I’ve done so far.

I got the back of the shields painted and put a wash over it. Just some final bits and they’re done.

ALL OF THE SHIELDS!!! I got all of the shields painted for the Order of Heimdallr.

The last couple of days I have been working on the shields for the Order of Heimdallr.

I first primed the shields white and gave the front a coat of gloss varnish.

I then started applying transfers to the front surface of the shields, not all transfers worked correctly and when doing custom transfers it’s really important that you cover everything on the transfer sheet well with your varnish. On the surface of the shields I applied a coat of Vallejo Decal Fix (73.213) before applying the transfers.

After applying and cutting them to size, I had a couple of really badly applied transfers. I managed to remove them and will have te re-apply transfers on them. After cutting them down I applied a coat of Vallejo Decal Medium (73.212) to soften the transfer and hopefully get small cuts to just bend around the edge.

I’ve re-done the shields that failed last time and this time they’re good. I used the process as before.

I painted the boss on the shields and then got a nice flat basecoat of green on the shields which in hindsight I should have done with my airbrush, but I didn’t so I spent a couple of hours doing this.

I painted patterns on the bossed shields, I tried different patterns, but the quartered pattern seems to have worked the best for me.

For the leopard I will use a base of Vallejo Model Air White (71.001) and shade it using a wash made from Vallejo Model Air Aged White (71.132). I will than stipple the horse with some Vallejo Model Color Basalt Grey (70.869).

For the manes and the tail I will paint different strands using Vallejo Model Air Aged White (71.132) & Vallejo Model Color Basalt Grey (70.869) and shade it using a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Glaze Medium (70.596) & Citadel Shade Nuln Oil (99189953017).

For the trim I will use a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Glaze Medium (70.596) & Vallejo Model Color Black Grey (70.862).

Probably the most complicated one, the tobiano will be done with a basecoat of Vallejo Model Air White (71.001) and using a wash made from Vallejo Model Air Aged White (71.132). Then I will paint a pattern on it using Vallejo Model Color Red Leather (70.818) and shade it using a wash made from Scale 75 Scalecolor Inktense Wood (SC-80).

For the manes and the tail I will paint different strands using Vallejo Model Air Aged White (71.132) & Vallejo Model Color Basalt Grey (70.869) and shade it using a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Glaze Medium (70.596) & Citadel Shade Nuln Oil (99189953017).

For the trim I will use Vallejo Model Air White Grey (71.119).

For the bay I will use a basecoat of Vallejo Model Color Red Leather (70.818) and shade it using a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Glaze Medium (70.596) & Citadel Shade Agrax Earthshade (99189953018).

For the manes and tail I will use Vallejo Model Color Black Grey (70.862) and shade it using a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Glaze Medium (70.596) & Vallejo Model Color Cavalry Brown (70.982).

The trim will be done with Vallejo Model Color Black Grey (70.862) probably mixed with some Vallejo Glaze Medium (70.596).

For the hooves on all horses I will use a base of Vallejo Game Color Bonewhite (72.034) shaded with Vallejo Game Color Sepia Shade (73.200).

Horses come in a variety of colours as many of you may know. And I kind of wanted to know what kind of colours of horses where used around Scandinavia around 12th/13th century. I couldn’t find it for exactly that area and era, but I found something that will give me quite a good idea and that will do. I found this paper online with a nice chart that helped me figure out what colour horses I want to use.

So I don’t want all horses to be the same and thus I make a chart for rolling a D12 to select what colour I want to make the horse.

• 1-2-3-4 Chestnut
• 5-6-7 Black
• 8-9 Leopard
• 10-11 Tobiano
• 12 Bay

I think this will give me a balanced variety of horse colours.

For the chestnut I want to use a base of Vallejo Game Color Bronze Fleshtone (72.036) and shade it using a wash made with Scale 75 Scalecolor Inktense Wood (SC-80), I will use the same for the manes and the tail.

As for the trim I am going to use Vallejo Model Air White Grey (71.119) & a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Model Color Black Grey (70.862) & Vallejo Glaze Medium (70.596).

For the black horses I will use a base of Vallejo Model Color Black Grey (70.862) and shade it using a wash made with Scale 75 Scalecolor Inktense Wood (SC-80). I will use the same for the manes and tail.

For the trim I will use Vallejo Model Air White Grey (71.119).

For this project I have plans in mind for how I am going to paint stuff. I’m going to go through them here so that everyone knows what I use for what and so that I have a reminder for myself as well.

Some basic colours I will use are green (Scale 75 Scalecolor Irati Green (SC-43)) and black (Vallejo Model Color Black Grey (70.862)), so when I don’t mentioned the paints I use for these colours it will be these ones.

For the mail armour I will use a basecoat of Vallejo Metal Color Burnt Iron (77.721) followed by a drybrush of Vallejo Model Air Steel (71.065) and then a wash of Citadel Shade Nuln Oil (99189953017).

For armour plates and blades and metal bits for weapons as well I will use a basecoat of Vallejo Metal Color Burnt Iron (77.721) followed by a drybrush of Vallejo Model Air Steel (71.065) and a wash of Citadel Shade Nuln Oil (99189953017).

The bosses on shields will use the same paint scheme as armour plates, other metal bits may just be painted with Vallejo Metal Color Burnt Iron (77.721).

Any other decorative pieces of metal may be painted most likely with Vallejo Model Color Bronze (70.998) or Vallejo Game Color Polished Gold (72.055), other colours may be used as I find appropriate.

Most clothing will be black and/or green as the colours of the militant order are. For the rest of the clothing I wanted some neutral-ish colours to use for some variety. So I will use Vallejo Model Color Dark Yellow (70.978), Vallejo Model Color Green Ochre (70.914) & Vallejo Model Color Sand Yellow (70.916) where I find appropriate.

For leather I will mostly Vallejo Panzer Aces Leather Belt (70.312), Vallejo Model Color Red Leather (70.818) or Vallejo Model Color Cavalry Brown (70.982) which ever I find appropriate. I may use different colours on the same model. I will at times at drybrush of Vallejo Model Color Yellow Ochre (70.913), but finish them all off with a coat of Vallejo Game Color Sepia Shade (73.200).

For skin I will use my base with Vallejo Game Color Cadnium Skin (72.099) and then a coat of 50/50 Vallejo Glaze Medium (70.596) & Citadel Shade Reikland Fleshshade (99189953027).

Wood will be painted in Vallejo Panzer Aces New Wood (70.311), Vallejo Panzer Aces Old Wood (70.310) or Vallejo Model Color Mahogany Brown (70.846) which ever I find appropriate and shaded with Citadel Shade Agrax Earthshade (99189953018) or Citadel Shade Athonian Camoshade (99189953024) for a more aged look.

Different colours may be used in places and I do not mention them, mostly because they are unplanned. If they become a regular part of the paint scheme I’ll add them to this list.

Shields will be covered on the front using custom transfers made in the same way as in my Mechanicus project, apart from shields with a boss, they will be painted in a pattern of black and green.

I’m going to use the same kind of basing on this army as I was using on my Samurai Warband. However for base sizes I will use square bases appropriate for Bretonnia for Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

I will use a base coat of Vallejo Panzer Aces Dark Mud (70.316) and than add a coat of Vallejo Earth Texture Dark Earth (26.218) on the top. While this last coat is still wet I add a couple of tufts, maybe a log or a rock and then lightly sprinkle some static grass over it. This will make a bit of a worn summer/spring like battlefield look.

For my fantasy army I wanted something to represent me and thus I looked at the things I like and combined them. I love horses for one, so Rohan from the Lord of the Rings would be good one. I also do like Bretonnia from the old Warhammer Fantasy with all of their cavalry in different forms. I do also like their infantry from Total War: Warhammer.

Now when I start looking at history I do like the medieval period, preferably the earlier medieval period (11th-13th century). I kind of do have an affinity with Scandinavia, the cultures, the history and the environment. I’ve never been there, but surely will have to at some point. So for those two I can combine them in medieval Scandinavian armies at which I focus mostly around the time of the Northern or the Baltic crusades in which the Danish and the Swedish took part.

Another thing I’ve been inspired by is the militant orders of the crusades, the Teutonic knights, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Templar and so on. But I have absolutely no interest in their beliefs. I myself have a more pagan belief and therefore I decided to make a militant order for pagan beliefs, Norse in this case.

Norse mythology is also something I have a deep interest in and thus will become a key theme of this army.

And with all of those ingredients I came up with the Order of Heimdallr. A pagan militant order upholding pagan beliefs against all other odds.

To start of I bought the Scandinavian Starter army from Fireforge Games to form the base of the army. I’m planning on buying some more bits from other companies to kitbash my leaders and characters.

As new religions began to be introduced in the lands and the old pagan beliefs were being abandoned, not everyone felt comfortable doing so. Þórhildr (Thourhildr) being one of them and being fairly wealthy, She held her own realm. As the new religions took roots through the lands, Þórhildr was one to oppose this movement actively. This led to a war that Þórhildr could never win. Þórhildr lost most of her lands and her realm to the kings loyal to these new religions. Her last castle, the mighty fortress now nicknamed Himinbjörg by the locals, is where Þórhildr together with her enchantress Hjǫrdís founded the Order of Heimdallr. There are many people who cannot convert to these new religions. Those capable of fighting make their way to Himinbjörg to join the Order of Heimdallr. Those less capable of fighting join the society in Himinbjörg and contribute to its economy under the protection of the Order of Heimdallr. The Order of Heimdallr’s purpose is to defend and hold true to their pagan beliefs, their gods and their way of life, even though the rest of the lands and its people would see them destroyed.

I want the colours to represent me and I found a list of what stuff in medieval heraldry means. Using this I made my own symbolism for my army.

Green (Vert); I chose green as my primary colour as it stands for hope and loyalty in love. 2 things that represent me as I still have some hope things are getting better and I know that when I fall in love with someone I’m loyal to that person to a fault.

Black (Sable); Black is my secondary colour as it stands for grief. I suffer a lot from the pains from my past.

Gold (Or); Gold is my tertiary colour, not as much for it’s heraldic means, but more for the fact that most heraldry did include a metal colour and gold looked the best in my opinion.

Boar; I use a boar as my heraldic charge as it represents bravery and someone who fights to the death. I chose it because I’m still fighting the pains from my past and I will until I die. The boar is also my second favourite animal, the wolf being the first obviously. The boar is also a creature represented a lot in early Germanic art and cultures and does have some significance in Norse mythology as well. Apart from Freyja and Freyr who both had their own boar, I haven’t yet been able to find much more on the significance of the Boar in Norse mythology.