Tuesday 18 December 2018

CXCIX. Knights of the Firmament: Sol and Luna

When The Dolorous Stroke was released back in August, I immediately picked up the rulebook. It's a narrative tabletop skirmish wargame written by Emmy Allen, with a dark fairy tale/Arthurian theme. It has its own setting, but it can easily be used for a bunch of fantasy settings. Now, months later, I'm finally going to give the rules a try with a little adventure set in my AoS28 Isles of Brume. Of course, I'm making some new minis specially for this occasion.

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Sol and Luna are members of a mystical knightly order named Knights of the Firmament. The order is dedicated to a demon named Giger, who allegedly dwells in a subterranean palace beneath their keep on Erebos. The knights travel around the Isles, spreading Giger's cult by doing great deeds, including interfering with schemes of other demons (using their followers for such tasks is is nothing out of the ordinary for demonkind). Knights of the Firmament have been known for abducting musicians, singers and songbirds, for the demon Giger is incredibly fond of music - and likes to collect performers to entertain him.  


I recently invested in a few boxes of 28mm Perry 15th century plastics (as well as some 1/72 Zvezda medieval knights) primarily for a diorama project I want to do next year. Great bunch of minis. Sadly, not compatible with Citadel due to scale, so none of these will be seen on the tabletop with any of my previous human models. But they can play with monsters, and I have plenty of those. These two knights were built using Mounted Men at Arms, Foot Knights, and European Infantry kits.

Each has a mounted an dismounted version, as well as swappable lance and sword options for the former. The Dolorous Stroke is played with a very low model count, so it's cool to dedicate even more effort to each character.


The Perry models were moderately converted. I fully sculpted the helmets, and the shields are metal thumbtacks. I made the suns on Sol's horse's rear barding, and thr crescents on Luna's horse came from old Citadel High Elves. 



The designs were inspired by a piece of alchemical artwork (below). For the entire faction's look I think I'll also be channeling the art of Viktor Safonkin, an amazing surrealist painter (look him up, you won't be disappointed). 


27 comments:

  1. These are absolutely wonderful! The armor and reminds me of the movie Hearts and Armour. Nicely done.

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  2. Hello, I really love the inclusion of Perry miniatures, a thing I have been doing myself, and I Leary’s thought they would perfectly match within the garden. The really baroque look of the helmets fits the heavy armor and the kind of Brueghel/Bosch eastethic of your setting, I love it ! Concerning the scaling, I usually find that the armored miniatures, if you leave the little base beneath their feet really compensate the difference of scale and, in a more general way mixing GW/Perry parts in a miniature really blend it together! Keep it up !

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    1. Thanks! Making them stand on something doesn't fix the scale, just makes them a bit taller - not the same. I wouldn't mix them in situations where I want things to be to scale with each other. On that diorama I'm planning, on the other hand, I'll allow myself way more artistic freedom - hopefully to an interesting effect.

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  3. SQUEEE!
    (I, too, have been using perry miniatures a lot for DS models. I've found they actually mix fairly well with some of the old 5e bretonnians etc that they made, so long as your careful with hand sizes).

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  4. I haven't got around to playing it yet, either, but The Dolorous Stroke was a great read, and seems like a really cool system.

    The Safonkin influence is already noticeable in these first two Knights. Thanks for introducing me to his work! I also like the idea of using symbology typically associated with "good guys" for the servants of a Daemon. Very interesting twist there.

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  5. That's quite impressive, I love how the limited conversion gives a maximum effect here. And having them around more regular humans would enhance that feeling of weridness I think.
    Great job really.

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    1. Thanks! It would, perhaps. Problem is, I want to also make regular humans from Perry plastics to use in scenarios alongside these. Then they all wouldn't work with the rest...

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  6. Great work! I love the combination of realistic, historical armor together with those heavily stylized helmets, they complement each other very well :)

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  7. I looked at Safonkin's works and was not disappointed !

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  8. This is just ... wow
    How do you swap weapons ? Do you have magnets ? Where is the joint : at the elbow or the shoulder ?

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    1. Thank you! The joint is at the shoulder. No magnets, just pins.

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  9. Beautiful and impressive figures, love the armors!

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  10. What else to say? I finally bought the game (so cheap) in order to have a look. About the figures, you're always an inspiration. Thanks, Anna, to share your creativity.

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  11. Yet more brilliant work. Very impressive.

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  12. Fantastic work as usual. Interested to see more of this setting.

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  13. Good lord those are beautiful. I'm amazed.

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