'Young' Aldrik Tarsyn, Castellan of Iridiumspire
Unlike most officers in the Free Companies, Aldrik Tarsyn can not trace his origins to a family of true Venithyans. Rather, he was born in the Sprawl, the slum that spread around Iridiumspire since the end of the Realmgate Wars to host the reclaimed tribes of the Glittering Plains. Luckly for Aldrik, Karol's Cuirassiers had recruited from his people through the entire Age of Chaos, and at the age of sixteen he was able to leave the Sprawl and join the Iridiumspire garrison. He quickly distinugished himself among the ranks of the Cuirassiers for his recklesness. It was during the purge of the Irongrove Brayherds that this side of his character led him to charge, alone, the gor pack that had felled Castellan Valmont. Picking up the banner the old veteran had carried, Aldrik charged his stallion into the gors. Seeing the young men bashing horned skulls in with the ironwood haft, the faltering lines of the Free Companies rallied and charged back into the fray. As the gors routed, Aldrik was hailed a hero and Karol himself recommended him to the Gilded Hand Elders for the role of Castellan. The first ever soldier to become Castellan before the age of twentyfive, he has however proven to be a skilled commander, over time temepring his recklesness and developing a keen flare for strategy. Yet, he still regularly rides with the Cuirassiers, accepting Karol's half-mocking remarks about his age.
As an officer in the Free Companies, I gave Aldrik golden armour, but I kept his horse barding in the same colours of his former regiment, glossy black and brass. As always, I've added touches of red and yellow on the reins, tassels, caparison and flag. To break things a little, I've painted Aldrik's clothes in green, creating a contrast I really like with the burnished gold of the armour.
I've also painted the rest of the Cuirassiers, swapping the red on Voland's Venator feathers for yellow. As Pistoliers don't have shields, I needed to find another area that I could paint white. As my bases are in a shade of brown, going for the original brown horses would have resulted in little contrast (something that the rearing stance of Aldrik's stallion prevented) so the horses were the perfect spot to use some white and stick to the original colour scheme.
They, and the rest of the Free Companies, have had their blood baptism as an army at the latest Triumph & Treachery event at Warhammer World. Stay tuned, and I'll let you know how things went.
Aldrik the Young, Castellan of Iridiumspire
Aldrik is the first Freeguild Hero I'm adding to my Free Companies. This time around I just worked with the bits I had without trying to replicate any of the classic Dogs of War models. I had the Freeguild General kit and I'm planning a Freeguild General on foot to accompany Fernando's Fancy Fencers, the Venithyan Marksmen and a few more infantry units. So, the mounted general was the perfect opportunity to give some support to Karol's Cuirassiers.
This meant that Aldrik needed a pistol. I had one in my bits box attached to a satchel, from the Pistoliers I think. I clipped away the satchel and handle and glued the barrel to the Freeguild General's arm holding a mace. I also gave Aldrik a banner since I intend to use the General on foot as my army general in larger games, and a Stately Warbanner is definetely a nice addition. Because I want my Free Companies to look as mundane as possibile I swapped the angel of death banner for the banner from the Imperial Knights. I've choosen the skull with laurel top as it perfectly matches the laurel and skeleton on the horse crest. Finally, since I'm keeping the General's heads for my unit champions, I've emebellished a Freeguildguard's head with the feathers from the same kit.
As I was working on Aldrik I've also built the rest of Karol's Cuirassiers, as planned using the Imperial Knights bodies and the feathered helms and pistol arms from the Freeguild infantry.
I'm still working on the details of Aldrik's backstory, but meanwhile you can (re)read that of the Cuirassiers here.
Karol's Cuirassiers
Karol's Cuirassiers can trace their origins back to the first mercantile expeditions that ventured out of Venithya during the Age of Myth. Back then, the Gilded Hand and the other merchant cartels running the city used to recruit the Jawmoon tribesmen from Ghur to escort their caravans. Skilled riders and archers, they ranged ahead of the Venithyan caravans on their sturdy ponies, spotting threats and chasing away raiders and wild creatures. Over the centuries, many Jawmoon clans settled on the plains outside Iridiumspire, the fortress guarding the land approach to Venithya. Staunchingly traditionalist, they only recruited from their tribes in Ghur and continued to trust into their bows and leather jerkins. During the Age of Chaos, as links with Ghur were severed, the Jawmoon Horsemen kept up their numbers as best as they could recruting from the populace of the lands outside Iridiumspire, sallying forth from its gates every time Chaos raiders were spotted. By the time the Realmgate Wars broke, only a handful of true-born Jawmoons remained, amongst them Karol. Still valuing the hit and run tactics of his people, but aware that better equipment was needed if they wanted to bring the fight to the Chaos hordes, he traded bow and leather jerkin for guns and armour provided by the Venithyan forges, turning his clansmen into the Curaissiers. They fought at the forefront of all the expeditions mounted by the Gilded Hand to reclaim long lost commercial routes, winning great renown and hoping to find a way back to their ancestral lands. Years on, Karol still leads his Cuirassiers. Although they have been to Ghur many times, the lands have been so twisted by the Dark Powers that they could not recognise the landmarks their elders told them about. Their quest continues, their allegiance to the Gilded Hand crucial to guarantee a constant supply of armours and guns.
This time, I've decided to tackle Voland's Venators, the Dog of Wars heavy cavalry.
I could have assembled the Empire Knights straight out of the box and use the Compendium warscroll for them, but I couldn't resist the temptation of kitbashing them with the leftovers from the Freeguild Crossbowmen/Handgunners and turning my Knights into Pistoliers. So Karol, the unit's Outrider, got a Reapeter Handgun, while the rest of the units will get all the pistols.
The head and wolf pelt come from the Knights of the White Wolf upgrade sprue. The rest of the unit will instead all wear feathered helms and no pelts. In this way I'm both replicating the difference between Voland and the other Venators, while also giving a nod to the current Outriders wearing jackets above their armour.
The wolf pelt also gave me an area where I could replicate the white of the shields from the original Venators. With the red of the lance tassels turned into the colour of Karol's sleeves and the barding and armour done in glossy black and brass, the original colour scheme was maintained. Finally, I've used the ribbon hanging from the gun to add a touch of yellow and tie Karol to the other Free Companies.
I'll have the rest of the unit ready soon, but meanwhile Karol will see some action in the twisted forests of the Harrowmark.
