Lucius Scopos and the Venithyan Marksmen
The Venithyan Marksmen were funded during the Long Siege, the major conflict faced by Venithya in the Age of Chaos. When a Slaneeshi fleet emerged from the Waterway and blockaded the city, most of the Free Companies were engaged on the mainland repelling a Skaven attack to Iridiumspire. Every civilian able to hold a weapon was thus press ganged and given a crossbow. As the siege grounded on, the best marksmen were formed in a special company, tasked with the spotting and killing of the officers of the blockading ships. It was their commander, the Venithya-born commoner Drogo Scopos, to end the siege as he placed a bolt in each of the three eyes of the enemy admiral, Ar'ghul Slithertongue. Scopos and then his descendants continued to guide the Marksmen, taking pride in recruiting only among the Venithyan commoners.
Lucius Scopos has recently succeeded his father. Yet, he has already led the company in a number of brilliant missions that have allowed the Gilded Hand to reclaim many of their long lost trading routes. He has proven himself as a calm leader and unmatched maestro of the reapeter crossbow. These qualities, together with his uncompromising loyalty for Venithya and hate of any Chaos worshipper, make him one of the most highly regarded Captains on the Gilded Hand's paybook.
It took me some time to paint them as the hype for the new 40k edition and the enthusiasm for the Inq28 campaigns I'm playing pulled me towards other ideas. But then, AoS Skirmish came out and rekindled my motivation.
As for the modelling, i've tried to replicate, as close as possible, the colours of the Marksmen of Miragliano sticking to a palette of red and green for the clothes, pale leather for caps and accessories, bronze for armour and steel for the pot helms.
And now, onto the next Company, a yet-to-be-named bunch of swaggering duellists!
