Update #64
Nov 1, 2013
Jowan, Ssibyros, Aalvór, Pétroyos, Werwulfas, Khthones... and Exclusive Penda!
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The wheel of time turns relentlessly, it says here, and so another Friday rears its beautiful head - and we all know what that means. Yes indeed, here's another Friday Update - you Can't Knock it!
This Friday we have work in progress images of four miniatures, plus the completed Werwulf concept art and news of fulfilment and category locking. It's a jam-packed jamboree of jamminess!
Jowan of Carn Dhu, Hound-Master and Drune-Hounds
Hooray! Stéphane Simon has now finished Jowan of Carn Dhu and his Drune-Hounds, so much so that in fact they are in our grubby mitts right now and should begin to ship at the back end of next week. How exciting!
Until then, here's images of some of Stéphane's finest work...
The interesting thing about the Drune-Hounds is that their horns are separate and thus, if you wanted to use the hounds without them (perhaps in a different game or as part of some kind of diorama) that's achievable with very little work indeed.
Ssibyros, Gorgonarchon
Stéphane NGuyen has finished Ssibyros, which means we can "Hooray!" ourselves silly. He should land here in the
UK next week, and whilst we have no new images of him, there will be some of him assembled at some point soon.
What this means, of course, is that we can begin to ship the Khthones Starter Sets with everything in them, rather than splitting them, which is what we feared we may have to do.
Aalvór, Mallax Gultain
Benoît Cosse has begun work on Aalvór, the first of our Mallax or sloth-men for the Fomoraic. Aalvór is a Gultain, a minor commander, and whilst these are early
WIPs - there's not much fur, for example - he is already looking very cool indeed.
Watch out for more Aalvór images soon!
Pétroyos, Lískarchon
Not content with creating an awesome dragon and a stunning ice-beast and an amazing hydra over the past couple of months, not to mention Aradae Mawr, Glaun and the rest, we think that Roberto Chaudon has outdone himself with Pétroyos - the first of our Lískar, or basilisk-men.
He's going to be awesome!
Werwulf Unit Concept Art
Danny Cruz, the incredible artist that he is, has completed the concept art for the Werwulfas and we're very proud to show you his work right here.
Wulfric of Tamtun, Great Werwulf
Æsc, Werwulf Maneback
Dudda, Werwulf Howler
Inguc, Werwulf Warrior
Cenric, Werwulf Warrior
The Werwulfas are due to be sculpted by Benoît Cosse, of course; and whilst he still has Aalvór to finish and Maallolvór to start, we are confident these guys will be done in January.
Penda the Bloody-Handed - the Exclusive Version!
Now that the second Kickstarter project has ended and we have a bit of time, we decided to get digging yesterday so that our exclusive Penda the Bloody-Handed on Horse with Wolf Helm miniature can finally wend his merry way to you.
The limited edition Penda the Bloody-Handed with Wolf Helm miniature!
A few months back, you see, we unveiled just why Penda with Wolf Helm was exclusive, and not just because of his availability (he's strictly limited to 250, of which around a hundred are left to purchase); it's also because you'll get a piece of history in the blister pack he comes in, along with a special (no expense spared) silver sticker proclaiming his limitedness, a numbered certificate and a resin scenic base, of course.
That history takes the form of a small bag of soil from the site of the Battle of Hatfield (with which you could decorate his base, for example), the battle in 633
AD in which the real Penda of Mercia - along with the Welsh King Cadwallon - defeated and killed King Edwin of Northumbria.
Obviously, we have to dig up that soil, so here's a few images from our little trip to Cuckney, where the Battle of Heathfield is believed to have taken place, yesterday...
We didn't have far to travel to get to the site of the Battle of Heathfield, in Cuckney!
This map of Cuckney shows the whereabouts of Cuckney Church (under which are buried hundreds of bodies, believed to have been from the Battle of Heathfield), where we dug (X) and the all-important Greendale Oak, where we retired to afterwards!
The Battle of Heathfield could have taken place anywhere upon those fields, of course, but we believe it to be fairly close to Cuckney Church. Why would they take the trouble to move the bodies far?
Cuckney Church
Behind the church lies a very overgrown graveyard or two
Another, better tended graveyard. Bear in mind we did this on All Hallows Eve...
The lovely Norman tower of
St Mary's Church at Cuckney
St Mary's Church, viewed from "X" on the map
The boys dig up some soil from the site of the Battle of Heathfield. From left to right, Dave, Tim, Jamie and Niall
Dave and Tim climb up the small ridge to the heath field beyond
Tim walks on the heath field
The heath field itself - a strong candidate for the site of the actual battle
Job done, time for a pint!
The frankly awesome Greendale Oak pub. It's also a bed and breakfast hotel!
Huzzah!
...and then, sadly, it's back to Mierce Towers to do some actual work. We could easily have stayed at the Greendale all day!...and then, sadly, it's back to Mierce Towers to do some actual work. We could easily have stayed at the Greendale all day!
So, all of you that have purchased the limited edition, Darklands: a World of War Penda the Bloody-Handed on Horse with Wolf Helm miniature will enjoy a piece of history as well as a fantastic miniature sculpted by possibly the finest sculptor on the planet, Jacques-Alexandre Gillois!
Customers outside the
EU
Now, unfortunately for many of you, it will be impossible for us to send you the small bag of soil simply because the importation of such is illegal and highly restricted. Thus, we are sorry to say that we can only send the limited edition Penda with soil to those of you within the
EU.
Shipping limited Penda
It will likely be in a couple of weeks' time, so that we can organise the blister pack, labels, soil and so forth, but we'll keep you posted.
There's still some left!
There's still a few limited Pendas left - but be quick, because (as it states below) we'll be locking him on Monday...
The Battle of Heathfield
Now, with you guys and gals having a keen interest in warfare as well as history, we're sure you'd like to learn more about the Battle of Heathfield (which is generally called the Battle of Hatfield these days).
We're not the only ones that believe that Heathfield took place around Cuckney, either; and it all stems from what happened in Cuckney Church over sixty years ago and the fact that the name of a nearby village, Edwinstowe, means "Edwin's resting place".
The location of Cuckney, where the Battle of Heathfield probably took place, and Edwinstowe
So why do we believe the Battle of Heathfield took place in Cuckney? Well, after the Battle of Heathfield, the body of King Edwin, it is said, was taken to what is now called "Edwinstowe". Edwinstowe is thirty miles south of Doncaster, which is where the battle has been believed to have been held before now, and one question hangs over that location: why on earth would they take Edwin's body south by thirty miles, when Northumbria - North of the River Humber - is north of Doncaster?
We're not the only people that believe this. You see, it's well known around Cuckney that in the 1950s - when work was being done on the foundations of the church - a great number of bodies were found. An interesting article appeared in the local newspaper recently regarding this and the battle, so I scanned it in. It references both Cadwallon and Penda as well as Edwin, and also gives you some information on the bodies buried under Cuckney church.
http://www.mierce-miniatures.com/downloads/hatfield.jpg It's a pretty big file (2,000px wide and 1Mb+).
The Battle of Hatfield Society's investigations, of course, continue!
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
The shipping of the Angelcynn starter sets is now complete, which means we can move on to the Khthones! We'll be getting Ssibyros next week, so we'll be waiting for him to be moulded and cast before we begin shipments of the Khthones starter sets; this means they should begin to ship towards the back end of next week.
Of other recently completed sculpts, Chaagmuth on foot, Brynhild Gunnblindi and Gamla Bror are now being shipped, but we are prioritising those orders with starter sets so if that's all you've left with us, please be patient!
In terms of other sculpt progress, here's an update:
Allan Carrasco: Qaano will be sculpted later in the year.
Benoît Cosse: Aalvór is a work in progress and then he's doing Maallolvór and the Werwulfas.
Roberto Chaudon: Petróyos is almost finished (we hope he'll be ready next week) and Belech will follow him.
James van Schaik: he should be starting Kernuor on Karnun Beast in November sometime.
Stéphane NGuyen: Ssibyros is finished and he is starting work on Druc right now.
Stéphane Simon: Jowan is done, and he will begin work on Leofwen on Hart (as well as Leofwen on foot from Kickstarter II) very shortly.
More Kickstarter Category Locks
With a few sculpts now complete and the Khthones starter sets beginning to ship next week, it's time to lock more stuff from this project!
You have until midnight (GMT) on Monday, the 4th of November to order the following from the Darklands: a World of War category:
Penda the Bloody-Handed on Horse with Wolf Helm
All of the Khthones miniatures
Gamla Bror
Jowan of Carn Dhu and Drune-Hounds
That's it for now guys - until next time, enjoy!
)
Angels Amaranthine - growing slowly
Currently 200pts 
