Kislev Showcase
Kislev is one of those armies that has only taken on a unique identity with me over the past 5 years or so. Before that, Kislevites were always just another call-up unit to serve with the Empire. But, since Kislev is it's own sovereign nation to the North, I felt it was appropriate that they have their own army- even more than the simple Contingency Force created by Games Workshop to satisfy those of us who had old Kislevite Horse Archers from 4th Edition.
The Kislev Army Book is on the Allies & Dogs of War tab. Many of these Showcase pictures are in that army list. It is a compilation of the Contingency rules previously released by GW and the Middenheim Army list from the Storm of Chaos module. The Middenheim list had the northern feel to it that seemed appropriate for matching up with Kislevites. The current force shown below can be fielded as a Contingency force with my current Empire army.
Collection Statistics
375 models
103 painted (25%)
Largest legal force I could deploy with painted models: 972 points
Estimated Goal Force Strength: 5,000 points
Kislev Characters
It goes without saying that I'd lead off with Boris. This is one of my favorite models in my entire collection. It's too bad I don't often have the opportunity to use it. His next appearance will probably be as the great bear character when I recreate The Battle of the 5 Armies from the Hobbit (probably around the same time the movie is out).
My Ice Queen model was painted by Josh Lyons and mounted on a barded warhorse (which appears to have originally belonged to my High Elf Silver Helms). He did a great job differentiating the ice blue hue of the sword blade with the blue of her clothing.
This Boyar is a Reaper model who was destined for one of my Eastern Nomadic Hordes tribes when I decided he belonged with the Kislevites (namely because the Eastern Nomads will have no models on foot). His most recent stinit was as the leader of my Kislevite warband for Mordheim.
This is the traditional Boyar model from Games Workshop. Rather than the red and blue scheme sported by GW's Kislevites, I decided that a red and brown scheme looked more appropriate for the army. It helps that the models and these colors closely parallel Russian and Polish uniforms.
Always the opportunist, I grabbed some models off EBay once the Storm of Chaos campaign was over and players were looking to part with models no longer needed. This Warlock is one such model. I considered drafting him to the Empire army as a Gold Wizard (my current mounted wizard of that color stinks), but I didn't want to destroy the base in an attempt to remount him. Thus, he maintains his status as a Warlock for the Kislevite Force.
This Priest of Ulric by the same modeler was picked up as part of the deal for the Warlock. The Bear God of Kislev is Ursun, so this model can just as easily be declared a Priest of Ursun.
These Warlocks are years apart. The model on the left is the Druid from the Dogs of War "druid & 2 giants" unit. Again, he came from the same seller as the other two above. The other is an old Grenedier character from our D&D adventures some 30 years ago. He's still mounted on his original Scrabble piece (we raided the Scrabble game for standardized bases at the time).
Kislev Core Units
3 units of Kislev Horse Archers (now sporting the politically correct "Ungol Horse Archers"). Some 12 years separates the oldest models in this collection (and their pale-skinned paint schemes) with the newer models. You'll note that there are even 3 Ral Partha historical Huns riding on GW horses to help fill in the ranks of my old Horse Archer unit. The original Horse Archers were some of the first models to be brought into my first Empire army some 18 years ago. At some point, these models will get an overhaul to match the new earth & snow bases of the army. At that time, the elder paint will probably be updated as well.
These models are Kossars from the Kislev box set, but they filled in as Archers rather than breaking into the blister packs I have specifically designated as archers for the army. These guys will end up back in the Kossar regiment when the axemen are completed.
These Spearmen are a surprise to most astute Fantasy gamers and they are part of the reason for a dedicated Kislevite army. The models actually belong to the (now defunct) Lord of the Rings collection by Harlequin Miniatures (I think these are the Southrons or Haradrim). They were on deck to become my Araby army when the new GW models came out and I decided that I liked the new Harad models much better. Besides, these guys seemed to be sporting a lot of armor to be fighting in the desert. Never the less, the uniforms seemed to emulate Kislev very well. I have a rather large collection of models from the old Harelquin range- most of which are bound for my Kislevite army. The red stars are decals from a World War II sheet with other accents painted on. I'm still working on a good Bear symbol for the standard bearer.
The Winged Lancers unit needs some TLC to the lances (they've been bent over and lost paint from the many moves that they've had to endure). This unit was purchased off EBay from the same seller as the character above, so I can't take credit for that sweet looking skull on the banner.
Recognize these fellows? The Teutogen Guard of Middenheim are being drafted to take on the role of the Kreml Guard for Kislev. My original Kreml Guard are the Fountain Guard of Minas Tirith from the Harelquin LOTR range, but when the Middenheim list permitted Teutogen Guard AND Great Swords, I figured I could have these Kreml Guard with Great Weapons along side a unit with halberds. These boys were a rush job for a Storm of Chaos battle and will need a full facelift when joined with my other 10 models for their future role as an elite unit in the army.
Although Kislev has the Griffon Legion, I have long possessed these converted Wild Riders of Atilla (40K conversions) for use a Lancers. When I picked up the Winged Lancers unit, I moved them into the Druzhina slot- being the elite cavalry of nomadic northmen. So, "Druzhina" seemed appropriate for the elite lancers of my army. Never the less, the army list calls for "Griffon Legion" or "Druzhina" and gives them both the same stat line.
The unit champion and a Druzhina lancer. I painted the grenades to look like terracotta pots with stoppers in them for water or whatever. Some of the techy stuff on the lances was cut off and I hid the larger pieces with a half-shield covering the lancer's hand and a penant at the top. The penants are from an old Man O' War sail sheet. The champion's sword was made of modeling putty; technically my first attempt at any kind of sculpting. His horse was repositioned by cutting the legs, re-gluing them and filling in the gaps with putty.
The Standard and musician of the Druzhina are actually Lancer command models without all the flashy feathers. The banner is a black & white cut out from a wargaming magazine that I colored with pencil.
Thus concludes the Kislevite Army showcase. The army isn't high on my current priority list, but still remains on the "to do" list so that I can field more of those vintage Harlequin models. My estimated time for completing such a force is, probably, 2016. (In other words, don't hold your breath unless you intend on harassing me to work on it).