Colours of the Empire
The other week we received several emails from Richard Applin, who's been collecting Empire models for many years, a fact that is clearly evident by the breadth of miniatures in his collection. From the new Demigryph Knights and the Luminark of Hysh, right back to some of our oldest Greatswords and Flagellants, Richard has something of everything in his collection. Luckily for us, he's also taken quite a few pictures of his miniatures and sent them in to us. So, without further ado, here's a selection of our favourite units in Richard's army.
Richard's Demigryphs, which can also been seen in the picture at the top of the page, have been converted to include the Grand Master of the Knights of the White Wolf as the unit Preceptor - a suitably grim-looking character to lead such powerful warriors into battle. Each knight also has a slightly different colour to his livery, giving the models in the unit a unique appearance, but coherent colour scheme.
The Luminark of Hysh also found its way into Richard's collection. Like the Demigryph Preceptor, this model has also been converted with the addition of a different wizard model that Warhammer veterans will recognise as Nicodemus - the Mordheim mercenary wizard. We told you Richard had a wide variety of miniatures in his collection.
One of his more recent miniatures is the Steam Tank, which Richard painted in the colours of Nordland - his province of choice. The model was undercoated with Skull White Spray and then painted with a basecoat of Administratum Grey to get a neutral tone to the model. Richard then used Seraphim Sepia and Drakenhof Nightshade to shade the two sides of the tank before applying the two main colours - Balor Brown and Caledor Sky, which were highlighted up to Yriel Yellow and Lothern Blue respectively.
This Empire Swordsmen regiment is an eclectic mix of miniatures, some of which are older than many hobbyists. In fact, there are models in this regiment from the last four decades - an impressive feat of collecting if ever we've seen one. Amongst them you can see the current Empire State Troops, the Empire Captain with Sword and parts from the Greatswords kit. Speaking of Greatswords, you'll notice that Richard's regiment of them is similarly characterful, including miniatures from pretty much every catalogue we have ever produced.
And where would an army be without its commanders? Richard has painted up three of the greatest heroes of the Empire to lead his troops into battle - Marius Leitdorf, Ludwig Schwarzhelm and Kurt Helborg. Like many of his miniatures, Richard has painted them using a non-metallic painting technique, and all of their swords - the Averland Runefang, the Sword of Justice and the Solland Runefang - have been painted with a glowing magical effect.
