Path of Conquest 2020 : The 100 Kingdoms – The host of the Iron Wolf

I finally completed Milestone 6. I now have a 2000 points army for the Hundred Kingdoms.

It was like every army I painted so far. It took more time than I expected, I used some shortcuts (and I’ll have to get back at some minis later), but I made it, and it’s visually satisfying, and I’m kinda proud of it.

I’ve been playing a few games so far, and my son likes to play with the Host of the Iron Wolf (I play Spires for now). He made the lore of the army his, and it helped me discover a great game, with a stunning lore.

This army won’t be my main army for Conquest, because I’m currently planning to start a new army, and spend some more time on the minis than what I’ve done on the host of the Iron Wolf. I’ve been listening to Danheim for a few months now, and I have visions of hordes of half-naked barbarians running in the Snow…

It will be Nords, then !

To conclude this Path of Conquest, here are a few pictures of the Hunter Cadre and the whole army.

My final Regiment is in progress. I struggled to find a color scheme that works with the rest of the army since the miniature I used as a test has a lot of leather on it.

I botched the eyes, but it works overall well.

Here is the full view of the Host of the Iron Wolf, 1800 points, with the Iron Wolf himself.

I also joined a few pictures of the models I finished. The Household Knights standrard bearers are simple conversions, and I like the Seasoned Veteran (the picture is a bit dark). But I’ll redo the Imperial Officer in the next fews months. Some parts of his armor need attention, and his face is complete garbage.

For Milestone 6, I finally decided to go with the Hunter Cadre. They are finally available, and they fit the lore of the Host quite perfectly. The miniatures are great, and it will be the 200 points I need to grow up to 2000 points.

I hesitated with the Household Guards, but those are better if the regiment has more than 3 stands, and an Armsmaster, but it didn’t fit in 200 points, thus I decided it would be for later, to grow up the host to 2500 points.

Here is the link to the army list for Milestone 6

I finally finished Milestone 5. Since I emptied my Coelia Greenshade, I couldn’t do the bases (I only did the Iron Wolf), but I should have a new Coelia Greenshade tomorrow and will then finish those bases (an post the pictures).

Here is the Iron Wolf painted. Not the perfect paint job, but I used speed painting techniques (airbrush, contrast paints and drybrush) to get it done.

I finished the conversion ofthe Iron Wolf yesterday. It turned out quite well : some green stuff to fill the gaps, and I finally found a head that I really liked (3D printed). It has been undercoated in black, with a zenithal highlight of white.

I’ll probably finish this Milestone next week.

I do’nt have decided yet which unit I will pick for Milestone 6. I’m currently looking at the Houshold guards, since the Hunter Cadre are not already available to complete my army for Milestone 6, but I already know that I’ll paint and play both (after Milestone 6), along with the Longbowmen. It will depend on my time and money (3D print archers is much cheaper, but the Household Guards are really stunning).

I just finished Milestone 4. I still have water transfer to put on the shields, but everything else is done. I’ll have to ressuply grass tufts, I used them all.

Currently also working on terrain (same color scheme as the bases of my army).

I’m currently finishing Milestone 4, but there’s nothing fancy about it, since they are just already seen regiments. The wolves (militia) are painted, and the Crossbowmen and the Men at arms are in progress, but it’s a bit boring to only paint large regiments.

I thus updated my army list for milestone 5, with only 4 minis added :

• The Iron Wolf (Cavalry Noble Lord)
• 3 Household Knights

My previous mounted Lord will be demoted to Regiment Leader, and two of the new Houshold Knights will be converted as Standard Bearers.

Here is the link to my Army List.

And here is a glimpse at my current work on the Iron Wolf (I’ve started working on it to deal with the monotony of Milestone 4). I’ve removed some parts on the wolf to make it less “barbarian”, the body of the Iron Wolf is the body of the Noble Lord from the starter set, but his right arm comes from the steel legion.

I still have some work to do to fill the gaps, to convert the head, and he won’t have a shield but will hold a chain in his left hand (as driving reins).

I still have some hesitations for the last Milestone, and I have 3 ideas :

• Longbow men
• Hunter Cadre (just came out)
• Household Guards

I dont like the longbow men that just came out but spotted others I really like. They are a light regiment, but their 30″ range and the arcing fire rule could really be useful.

The Hunter Cadre are great minis, but I already feel I have enough light regiments, so I’m not sure I should hire them.

Finally, I really like the Household Guard minis, and they are a medium regiment.

Still not sure…

January has been a busy month for me, and I had not much time to paint or assemble miniatures. I hope to get itmake some progress to jump into Milestone 5 in the next few weeks.

I had plans on basing my Drillmaster slightly differently, but I finally decided to make it simple and easy. By the way, it was quite amazing to see it on the Weekender. I didn’t expect it since it was an unfinished speed paint job !

I also painted my new lord : this miniature is really great and perfectly fits the lore of the Host of the Iron Wolf.

I spent some time to finish the first step of my Spires army, to start playing with my son as soon as I get my new battle mat.

I started painting the miniatures I finally got two days ago.

The Drillmaster is almost finished, but there are a few things I need to work on.
I spent some more time on the armor (NMM, but not drybrushed), and there are a few parts that need more attention. The face needs some more work too. I also have the base to work on, and I want to make it slightly different from the other bases

I also added blue parts to make him more visible in the regiment (Steel Legion)

It is a 3D printed miniatures (the original, then it is cast) : there are a few 3D features that are still visible (like on the right shoulder on this picture). I wish Para Bellum were selling 3D models to be printed…

I finally got my OTT order today !
It took almost 30 days to the French Post to get it through the process they had put in place for Brexit.

I just assembled the minis, and they really are incredible. The details are amazing and there were very few molding features I had to remove. I‘m going to take my time to get them painted.

I also thought a bit about the way I created the Host of the Iron Wolf after watching the videos of the OTT team about milestone 4. 

This army is mostly build around Men at Arms and Mercenary Crossbowmen, and both are mercenaries. No Household Guards, and the Militia is just a pack of wolves. It only leaves the Household Knights as “locals“.

And it makes sense. The Iron Wolf is a rich lord living in a harsh environment. The locals are busy surviving or digging in the mines, and only the strongest make it to the top. But since he is rich, he can hire mercenaries almost at will. I’m thinking about changing my plans for the next milestones to stay on this path.

First I noticed only today that the team awarded a Golden Button to this project back in October ! Thanks guys !

I’m still waiting for my order from OTT. It has been stuck at Roissy Airport for more than two weeks by the French Post “adapting it’s procedures to Brexit”. That’s frustrating, since I really want to get my hands on those minis…

I wanted to show a piece I’m especially proud of : the standard bearer of the Steel Legion. The banner is really finely detailed, and it was a real pleasure to paint. It came out quite well and stands out naturally.

I play miniature wargames because I like miniatures.
Thus, a battlefield should be aesthetically attractive for my miniatures to fight in.

There are a few things that can make a battlefield great:
– Nice battle mat (fortunately, there are great battlemats nowadays: mine comes from Crank Wargames, a small French company)
– Scenery based on the army’s lore (that’s the goal of the next steps of this project, since the minis I’m painting right now are not really something new)
– Coherent : everything should fit well on the battlefield

I had already decided that the Iron Wolf lived in snowy mountains, and his Kingdom was rich because there were iron mines.
I really like the Let’s Play Justin did with Leo, and the snowy battlefield helped a lot to find inspiration.

Those few hints led me to have a few scenery ideas :
– Snow battle mat
– Scenery with a mine entrance
– Buildings that had the color of the bases (with the same techniques)
– Vast forests of pine trees covered in snow

I also had a few thoughts about the battles to come. I wanted to test the gameplay of Conquest in three parts :
– I want to first test a small encounter (around 600 pts) just to understand the game
– The next battle would be a small one (800 pts) where the local Lord faces the Spires. I thus wanted a Noble House, probably another house, and a few pine trees
– The third battle would be in the middle of the forest (1200 pts), with big rocks and hills
– The fourth battle would be at the entrance of a mine, with the 100K protecting the mine (1500 pts)

Those battle are made to use the various milestones up to milestone 4.
I have a few more ideas for milestones 5 and 6, but it is a secret…

For the first battle (not the encounter), I already knew what I was going to use. I had a few 3D models of small houses and noble houses. You can find those free 3D model here (this guy does amazing things).

I settled for the Noble House and the Small Cottage you can see below.

For those, it’s just matter of printing time anf filament so no big deal, my 3D printer works for me.

For the pine trees, I looked at what existed but ended up not satisfied.
I then decided to build mine. Next update will be on how I did it (simple and efficient way to get an entire battlefield in a few hours, for just a few bucks).

Milestone 4 is an important milestone. After this one, there’s only 500 pts left, and I already know what I want to put in those 500 pts (if you want a hint, I think the Iron Wolf should lead himself a 2000 pts army…).

1500 pts is a pretty big army and should have big regiments.
I thus decided to expand one of my Men at Arms regiment and the Militia regiment of 3 stands each. If I add a Mercenary Crossbowmen regiment, it makes exactly 300 pts. I got the miniatures for the Men at Arms and the Crossbowmen with the second starter set, and I printed the wolves of the Militia on my 3D printer (I changed the printing parameters to get rid of the printing patterns I had on the first ones : the first Wolves were among my first prints on my resin printer, and those are much better).

Here is the link to the list on the Army Builder.

There’s not much more to say about it, since the painting scheme already exists.
But next milestone will be an important one.

Very important…

Want another hint ?

Okay…

A quick update : Milestone 3 is almost done (I have a 12 Men at Arms to finish, and a few finishing touches to the bases, shields and banners, but I hope it’ll be done tomorrow) !
I now have enough painted miniatures to enjoy a few battles.

You’ll find below a pictures of the entire army.
I’ll update soon about my plans for the next steps (Milestone 4 of course, but also a campaign and scenery).

The Steel Legion is one of the most impressive units of the 100 Kingdoms. They are surrounded with legends, and thus deserved a special treatment.
I used the very same painting scheme I had used on the Men at Arms, but since it was a heavy unit with full armour, I decided it was perfect to explain the technique I use to speed paint NMM.

Here is a step by step guide to how to do it.

I used the steps I outlined in my first post on this project (step by step below).

First I primed it in black with the Vallejo Black Primer. I had put some sand on the bases beforehand, to have them undercoated with the airbrush.
I then used a zenithal Highlight of the Vallejo White primer.
These two parts are KEY to the NMM : the zenithal highlight creates the reflection, but I couldn’t do NMM if the undercoat was grey, because NMM uses strong contrasts to create the illusion of the reflection of light on the metal.
That’s why I didn’t rush.

Citadel Contrast Basilicanum Grey is perfect for Steel armour. One of the first secrets is to use a thin coat. You still need some paint to go into the recesses, but not too much.

For the gold parts, is used a thin coat of Iyanden Yellow.
It took me a long time to master drybrushing. If you want to make effective drybrush, here is a simple method:
– Use a paper sheet.
– Your brush has to have firm bristles, that will put some pressure one the minature and leave some paint, even when the paint is dry.
– Pick some paint with your brush and brush on your paper sheet until you hardly see paint goin on the sheet.
– THEN BRUSH SOME MORE one the paper sheet
This is when you are ready to drybrush your miniature. If you want to do it right, each stroke will leave an almost invisible layer of dried paint.

Do it again and always avoid rushing this step. Once done, all the edges will have been highlighted.

It’s now time for Agrax Earthshade. I put it on the gold parts to deepen the shadows, and on the Gambison, just to taint it.
I also paint Wood (banner pole and some others) in this step, but it’s not visible on this model: Citadel Contrast Wyldwood

Clothes and shield: Citadel Contrast Flesh Tearers Red
Clothes and shield highlights : Citadel Base Mephiston Red
Flesh (not visible here) : Citadel Contrast Darkoath Flesh

About Milestone 3, my goal was to finish it before the new year.
I will not reach it how I intended, since my order has been stuck at Roissy Airport (because COVId and Brexit says the French Post Service).
Thus, I’ll use the miniature I intended in the first place as my Imperial Officer, and he’ll be demoted to combat retinue when my real Imperial Officer will be in my hands.
He’s painted and looks good enough (despite the speed painting)

I hope to finish painting Milestone 3 before Monday. I wanted to finish it before but problems got in the way and I am behind schedule.
Most of the job is done, but I still have some work to do.

I wish everyone a happy new year, with a good health and plenty of minis to paint!

First, merry christmas to everyone !

I fell in love with the Spires yesterday. I’ve had a complicated relationship with them, since I didn’t really knew how to paint them.

I found a color scheme that was quick and easy (and that worked) for the drones but ‘ve been with how to the high clone executor. And yesterday I decided to try to paint the characters of the spires I had (Pheromancer and High Clone Executor). My OTT order that contains a few characters for the Hundred Kingdoms and a contrast paint I wanted to use on the Spires characters, has been stuck for almost a week at Roissy airport. I just hope I’ll get it before the end of the holidays. Thus, I had to find another way, and I jumped in not really knowing how it would end…

I wanted to recall the rest of the army and used the same color scheme, but I decided to make them stand out. I used various inks and a few contrast paints to get the purple I wanted and the bone/coral/flesh look I desired.

I also decided that the weapons and a few parts would be made of an otherworldly metal. For this one, I used the Colorshift Metal “Psychotic Illusions” from Green Stuff World on the mask and the blade of the High Clone Executor. It has a metallic blue/pink/weird touch, that fits the rest of the miniature and the Spires in general.

I’m very happy with how it turned out. I think my Spires army has now a worthy warlord.

If you want to fight a Battle, you need an opponent. The Iron Wolf needs an enemy.

Since I already had two starter sets and a box of Marksmen Clones, The Spires would be perfect as the enemy.

I have to point out that the starter set is a really good offer. I bought the first one in France with a large discount for 68 € shipping included (£62) and got another directly from Para Bellum with a box of Steel Legion and a box of Marksman Clones as gifts, for 99 € (£91, shipping included). I even discovered later that there was a 10% discount code on underspire.net
If you want to start a 100 Kingdom or Spire army, that’s what you need.

I thus had enough to raise a 1400 pts Hundred Kingdoms army (if I add a miniature for the Imperial Officer, but it’s still possible to make a conversion with various parts of the minis you have in the starter set, and I didn’t include options like standard bearers that can help you to push up to 1500 pts), and a 1330 Spires army if you hire a High Clone Executor (you need him to hire the Marksmen).

Back to the Spires : I didn’t want to spend much time painting them (it’s not my main army), but I still bought a High Clone Executor since I liked the miniature. I settled for a very simple color scheme for this army, and it would be mainly painted with contrast paints and drybrush.

I have a rule: I don’t play with a miniature if it is not painted.
It’s a simple rule, but it takes some energy to always abide by it.
I’m proud to say that my son (13) has played many battles in various miniature games, but has never played with an unpainted mini.

He got interested last week in Conquest and has asked me to play. He’ll probably play the 100 kingdoms, and I already have a small campaign with the Spires in mind.

The main goal is to have a visually different army from my 100K army, but still know they fight on the same battlefield (bases). I thus decided to use more “natural” tones, like brown and bone, to make those spires visually more organic.

I’m going to spend more time on the High Clone Executor, since he is going to be the warlord of this small army. I’m also going to add a few colors and change a few things depending on the rank of the miniature, as @Ulverbite did on his Spires army.

Drones will be bland (especially the Force Grown Drones), the brutes will have a few distinctive bits (their weapons mostly) but are still drones, the Marksmen Clones will have more colors, and the characters will get more attention and shiny colors.

Thus, I tried the following color scheme:

– White primer (cheap spray, it’s a lot faster than the airbrush)
– Citadel Contrast Skeleton Horde (whole body)
– Citadel Dry Wrack White (whole body)
– Citadel Contrast Space Wolves Grey (legs and arms and a few other parts)
– Citadel Contrast Gore Grunta Fur (fabric)
– Citadel Contrast Wyldwood (handle of the spear)
– Citadel Foundation Macharus Orange (drybrush on the fabric and the handle of the spear, old citadel paint)

For the bases, I decided to use the same pattern I used with my 100K army:
– Citadel Wash Coelia GreenShade
– Citadel Dry Etherium Blue
– Base details: a few leaves and winter grass tufts, and some snow from Green Stuff World

Here is what it looks like.

I then tried to do something similar on a Brute Drone, but I wanted to have them a bite different, since they are not “simple” drones and thus worked a bit on the weapons.

Next time will probably be a step by step on the Steel Legion : I have to paint my milestone 3 (and I hope the miniatures I ordered form OTT will arrive soon since I need them to complete milestone 3).

It’s time to change my plans.

I decided to modify Milestone 3. I’ve been reading the latest version of the rules (v1.0.3) to update what I knew about character rules. I first saw those changes on the Army Builder, and that’s what drove me to dig into it.

Here are a few problems I noticed :

1. Since the characters have their own stands, I will need special stands I don’t have right now

2. Having retinues is a very useful strategy, and helps to enhance visually the army, but I don’t have them right now

3. Visually speaking, I’m not satisfied with some of my miniature choices, and thus had to make a few changes

Now is time to bring solutions to those problems

1 and 2 : Stands for characters

I have 3D modelling skills, thus I decided to create my own character stands, since what I found of the internet was not satisfying. Nothing fancy, just plain stands, compatible with the official stands. Since characters can have retinues, I will need stands for 1, 2, 3 or 4 standard miniatures. I then designed them : you can find the links below.

• Character stand
• Character stand with one retinue
• Character stand with two retinues
• Infantry stand

3 : Choices

I reconsidered my army and a few things were now visible.
My “Lord” looks a bit… strange… in this army. He looks more like a seasoned veteran than a real Lord in fact (and I’m not satisfied with the print parameter I used, especially on the shield : I did better since then). In the same way, the choice I made previously for an Imperial Officer does not really satisfy me.

The men of the Iron Wolf live in a harsh environment, and Imperial miniatures should look more sophisticated. In the same manner, any leader for an Imperial regiment should be more “imperial”.
That’s why I ordered a few miniatures and changed my army list.
I removed the various Heirlooms and Weapon Arts I had given to my characters and instead chose a few upgrades for my regiments and some retinues for the Lord.

• First, I chose the Drillmaster for the Steel Legion. The miniature is just awesome and I wanted to paint it.
• Then I picked the official imperial officer, who looks more imperial than my first choice. The miniature I printed will end up as a leader for the a Men at Arms or the Steel Legion regiment, or as a retinue.
• I finally chose the seasoned veteran, because… his gritty look is awesome and I definitely want to paint this miniature !

For the miniatures I already had, I’ll use my former lord as a seasoned veteran, since it is already painted and he looks just like it. I’ll just add the new veteran to one of my other regiment (when I’ll have enough points), he’ll probably go with the Steel Legion.

It meant I had to pick another Lord. Actually, I had already found him, and it’s what drove me to review the choices I had made. It’s another miniature from Titan Forge, and the wolf themed ornaments made me think “why the hell didn’t I pick this mini ?”.

As I wrote in my previous post, I’m back on track and this time, the goal is Milestone 3. (yes, I know, I’m a milestone late, but the lockdown wasn’t compatible with hobby time for me).
To get it right for Milestone 3, I decided to catch up with the 1200 points, as scheduled at the beginning of this Path of Conquest, which means a 400 pts increase.

And it will be possible with a major regiment : steel legion !
I ‘m about to get those miniatures with the starting offer on the Para Bellum website (with the starter set and another box of Marksmen for the Spires). It’s a very interesting value for price set.

In order to put the Steel Legion into my army, I must have an Imperial officer.
I got a 3D model which was perfect for this role, from Titan Forge (and remember, “3D printing is the sh*t”).

And instead of creating a totally new Men at Arms regiment, I decided to add a few miniatures to one of the already existing regiments (and the miniatures will be in the starter set).

This is what the army list looks like : army list on the Army Builder

Since it’s becoming a real army, I decided to add a few tactical thoughts.
– I have 3 light regiments, 3 medium, and one heavy : I don’t want to arrive too late on the battle field but I still need to be able to seize the objectives (light regiments can’t do that).
– The crossbowmen are perfect to deplete the enemy regiments as they arrive. Their V of 2 and the armor piercing rule makes them much more reliable than the militia bowmen, and much more effective against armoured opponents.
– The Militia will go as fast as it can to block the enemy before he reaches the objective, and expand the reinforcement zone as far as I can. It’s not the perfect regiment for this, but it’s the best I can do until I hire the mounted squires into the army (I have a plan for this).
– The two regiments of Men at Arms are here to seize the objectives in the long run, and block enemy regiments to let the Household Knights and the Steel Legion charge (flank them if possible) and wipe them out.
– The mounted Lord will go with the Household Knights, to add some impact
– The other Lord will be in one of the regiments of Men at Arms
– The Imperial officer will lead the other regiment of Men at Arms

Next entry in this project blog will probably either be a painting tutorial for the Steel Legion (if I get them soon enough since they are on the way) or a first look at “The enemy” (the spires from the starter set which I started painting yesterday).

I also have some scenery in mind to get a proper battlefield, and play my first conquest battle (against myself because of the lockdown and the fact that there are very few Conquest players in France), but that’s another story…

OK, almost two months without an update.
The French lockdown has taken its toll on my hobby time (I’m of those who have to work twice as much during a lockdown).
But I haven’t given up.
So I’m back at it.

The enemy is going to sh*t his pants, the Iron Wolf is angry !

Since I’ve been painting miniatures, I’ve always been on the speed painting side because of the time it requires to paint those small things.
I’m not lazy, I’m smart : there’s a difference. 😉

I still like good looking miniatures. I’ve then used techniques optimising the ratio time spent/result.

Here is a quick tutorial on how I proceed when I have to paint an army, and this example will be on my “militia”, which means the pack of wolves.

First some general rules :
1. Zenithal highlight is your friend : trust it.
2. Have a standard paint scheme for all bases (not necessarily all miniatures). It brings the army together visually.
3. Have a plan
4. Test the plan
5. Optimise the plan
6. Follow the plan

Zenithal Highlight does not need an explanation, but I have to address one of the most important parts : which colors to use.
On my Men at Arms, I used a black primer and a white zenithal highlight. It’s simple, and it creates a great contrast between shadows and light, very useful when you do NMM.
On the wolves, I already knew I was going to use the Contrast Paint Space Wolves Grey for the fur. Despite the fact that fur is no metal, I decided ti keep the black primer instead of using a grey one. I then highlighted it zenithally with pure white.

For the bases, I already had my plan, which is very simple :
– After glueing the miniature, PVA glue with sand and small rocks
– Once dry, another coat of diluted PVA glue, just to make sure nothing is going to get away
– Then the airbrush, and finally the steps I already outlined in a previous post :
– Base: Citadel Wash Coelia Greenshade
– Base highlights: Citadel Dry Etherium Blue
– Base details: a few leaves (birch seeds from my garden) and winter grass tufts (Green Stuff World)

Then I had to think of a plan to paint the wolves. They were going to be grey wolves, but I had to put som red on them to bring visual coherency to the whole army (I have red on every miniature so far). The red would be in the eyes and slightly on the mouth, since no other parts were eligible for it.

You can see below the detailed stages for those wolves.

Since I was satisfied with it, I decided to optimise the whole plan. Had I not been satisfied with it, I would have to start over again and change what I didn’t like. This is why you have to make a test before applying it.

To optimise the plan, I had to reorder the steps to gain some time. In this case, I was using twice the Citadel Dry Etherium Blue (for the base and for the wolves). I placed that step at the right place :
– Base: Citadel Wash Coelia Greenshade
– Fur : Citadel Contrast Space Wolf Grey
– Fur drybrush : Citadel Dry Etherium Blue
– Mouth : Citadel Contrast Flesh Taerers Red
– Teeth : Citadel Dry Wrack White
– Eyes : Citadel base Mephiston Red
– Eyes : Citadel Foundation Macharus Solar Orange (old reference)
– Base details: a few leaves (birch seeds from my garden) and winter grass tufts (Green Stuff World)

It might be a small difference, but it saves me time (which is very precious nowadays).

This a very simple and effective way to paint large units and it took me less than an hour to paint the whole unit (apart form the leader who has a slightly different paint scheme).

Next update wille be for the planning of Milestone 3.