Update #9

Sep 1 2016
£21,250 - Mounted Nobles I

Here's something promised for you all - a chance to get a hold of the Mounted Nobles that already exist for various kindreds in metal (as well as resin). Have a look at the Mounted Nobles I stretch goal, set at £21,250 to unlock - not too far away!



Each mounted noble seen here will be produced in metal once the stretch goal is unlocked, with the resin version available now and shipped as part of Wave 0.

Watch out for more metal mounted nobles soon!

Update #10

Sep 1 2016
£23,750 - Rudraige the Fat on Pony

Here's another stretch goal to go for, this time for the Érainn, and it's Rudraige the Fat on a lovely little pony - set at £23,750 to unlock!



Rudraige the Fat is a warlord of the Érainn, a Rí Túath, a minor king from a powerful family line. Mounted upon a small but doughty pony of the hills, Rudraige is a great addition to your Irish host!

Increase your pledge by £18 ($24) to purchase Rudraige the Fat on Pony in metal, or by £27 ($35) to purchase Rudraige the Fat on Pony in resin.

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
...How, exactly, is that monster going to swing its sword without punching itself on the noggin and/or impaling its own hands with its horn?

Also, more minis sculptors and fantasy artists need to look at the fechtbuchs. If your culture is sophisticated enough to manufacture a two-handed sword, it's sophisticated enough to have figured out how to fight with it efficiently, which means there is no time that you hold it with the point that far behind you.

 Bolognesus wrote:
Hell, some of us will be chuffed never to hear of the bastards again

Giants! Giants!

We're on the last lap of BaneBeasts: Mighty Monsters Part Deux, because the three Giants are almost all upon us!

Let's begin!



A newcomer to this project, Andrew May has provided us with some stunning Darklands conversions so we thought he'd be perfect for the Giants - and we weren't wrong...!



Just the head to show from Andrew May so far, but the Giant is in progress...



The Giant should be a Wave 14 shipment!



The Chaos Giant is a little further along the line, with his lovely helmet and club almost done...







The Chaos Giant should hopefully be Wave 14 shipments.

Maximus

Last October was when we showed the last miniature from this project... and we finally have some progress on the very last one to be made!

Let's begin!




It's been a long time in coming, but Stéphane Simon has stepped up to the plate and cracked on with the last miniature reminaining from this project, an Ancestor of one of our backers!




Let's have a recap on Maximus' descendant and background first, before we show you the sculpt!

Max Schüte hails from Germany and is, like our other descendants, a prolific supporter of Mierce Miniatures and our Kickstarter projects, and he's joined John Longshore, Tomas Johansson, Rick Boer and Seb Volkmann in becoming a descendant of a Darklands character.

From the very start, Max was very clear in what he wanted - a Germanic berserker of the Kerus, a barbarian tribe of Germany that is well-known to have been a thorn in the Romans' side for many years until the fall of the Roman Empire in the west. In Darklands, of course, the Byzantii are re-conquering the western empire, and this ensures they clash again with their old enemies the Kerusker. Here's a bit of background to Max's ancestor...

Maximus of the Kerusker, whilst now being that thorn in the side of the Byzantii, was raised amongst them: the high-born son of a Kerusker noble, Maximus was given to the Byzantii as a child by his father to become a hostage, the better to ensure the allegiance of his particular Kerus tribe, many of whom fight as foederati amongst the Byzantii. However, Maximus was always a little wild and whilst he initially enjoyed his life amongst the civilised, becoming a warrior of some renown, he eventually came to hate his masters as he realised how depraved they actually were - and escaped to Kerusland, where he found depravity and devil worship. Claiming the demon axe Skōhsla from his father and, with its power, slaying him, he escaped the Kerusker and wandered, becoming a berserker for hire amongst the many hosts that could use his skills...

Artwork by Danny Cruz



Max was very happy to have Danny Cruz draw up his ancestor and we think Danny has done a superb job, as always!

Maximus, as you can see, is a classic Germanic berserker, wearing the bear shirt and looking very wild indeed with those skull trophies. However, there are elements of his Byzantii upbringing, such as the segmentata armour on his shoulders, but that demon-axe looks very nasty indeed.

Sculpting by Stéphane Simon

Stéphane has begun work on Maximus and as you can see, he's already taking shape!







Maximus could well be a Wave 14 shipment, but we'll see.

How can I purchase Maximus? 

Maximus is available to purchase from our webstore, in the Darklands: First Edition category (and some others too), at the special Kickstarter price of £10.00.

Who were the Kerusker?

The Kerus, as we call them, were a Germanic tribe well-known in Roman times as the Cheruscii and whilst they disappeared from history under that name before 650 AD - they were said to have been absorbed by the Allemanni and the Franks - there is no reason why a small tribe of the German forests would still call themselves the Kerus.

Dromedon!

It's Mierceday again, hooray! It's also the holiday season, boo. That means there's not a great deal to show, but what we do have is stunning. So that's good then!

Let us begin!



We've a warchief on a 40mm base and a big beastie on an 80mm base for the Byzantii to show this week, from Yannick Hennebo and Roberto Chaudon respectively!



Yannick's been hard at work for some other company but he's back with a bang - Nervor, the lovely Demioption, is ace!










The axe was a little blunt so we asked Yannick to fix it...




Nervor should be a Wave 14 shipment!



Roberto Chaudon nails a sculpt yet again. Iqqud is utterly superb. Don't take our word for it, use your peepers!















Here's a scale shot. He's a big lad!



Iqqud should be a Wave 14 shipment!

Snake-Bull

We've some works in progress to show you this week, of monsters only, but still good!

Let's go!



Martin Lavat's cracking on with the various monster conversions he has on his plate, as you can see...



The lovely Gunaal - a conversion of the Albainn Aurogg, of course - is complete!





Here's the Greathorn variant...



He will be a Wave 14 shipment.



Martin's done some cracking work on Ischys. It's no longer safe to walk around, people! Tremors?











Ischys should be a Wave 14 shipment!



Eleven Infantry Hosts have shipped / are shipping!

Eleven infantry hosts from this project have been shipped (or are shipping) right now - the Albainn Gairlom, Anglecynn Duguth, Brythoniaid Teulu, Brythoniaid Rhyfelwr, Érainn Tuanagh, Fomoraic Gabrax, Fomoraic Warriors of Baalor, Jute Wihtgār, Norse Holumann, Ysian Ax-Drune and Ysian Bow-Drune Infantry Hosts - as well as the individual miniatures within them.

If your hosts from this project haven't been shipped by now, that means you either:

[*]don't have enough shipment items to justify separate shipments or you don't have any shipment items at all;[*]or you have some resin miniatures on order which need to be cast.

Note that if you have purchased similar infantry hosts from other projects, such as Savage Hordes or Savage Hordes II, we will only ship what we can (as many of them are different) and they are not guaranteed to have been shipped with your items from this project - and again, it depends on your shipment items.

What's Next?

The first samples of the Byzantii Legionarius starter host are with us, as you can see, so whilst there's a couple of corrections the production casts should be with us in September.

The Anglecynn Gesith starter host has been sent to the metal casters and we are simply awaiting the first samples. They should be with us in around a month's time.

The Atalantes Oplites starter host is all sculpted but are in various stages of printing, although we are hopeful we'll get those in our mitts and off to the metal casters ready in time for Wave 14 now.

The Byzantii Demilegionarius starter host is still needing the alternate sculpt of Erebius (the full sculpt of Nervor is done but not with us yet), so we're getting there.

We're hassling the sculptors as much as we possibly can! We'll get there!

Chaaruch the Despoiler

It's Mierceday again, hooray! It's also the holiday season, boo. That means there's not a great deal to show, but what we do have is stunning. So that's good then!



There's just one miniature to show for this project this week, but it's a cracker from Michael Anderson!



Chaaruch is going to be amazing. We already knew that, of course, as Michael Anderson's sculpting him; but to see him take shape is more than just a confirmation...







He does look a bit like Amos Brearly though...

Chaaruch will hopefully make it into Wave 14!

Gnith

It's another update for Darklands: Savage Hordes II, hooray!



We've got something for the Albainn this week thanks to Valentin Zak!



A powerful sorcerer of the Albainn, Gnith is looking fantastic so far...







Gnith should be a Wave 15 shipment!

Next up for Valentin is Crístóir...

 zedmeister wrote:

Hedroc the denied is finally with us and the campaign is still running! Will the Mallax curse be finally lifted?

 zedmeister wrote:
Long have we languished without a Roberto Darklands sculpt, but now he appears and what a piece:

We've got Hedroc on Hound-Horse!! We thought he was doomed to live in purgatory forever, but you guys have made him happen... to celebrate, let's give him a compatriot: Kerazek on Horse, set at £32,500 to unlock!



Kerazek is an Augur-Drune, a powerful sorcerer of the Ysians (the foot version of which is from Darklands: Savage Hordes II) and he's now available on horse - a conversion of Uhtred's horse - to become a mounted sorcerer, able to keep up with the fast 'uns in his host and buff them up a bit.

Increase your pledge by £18 ($24) to purchase Kerazek on Horse in metal, and £27 ($35) to purchase Kerazek on Horse in resin.

Schmapdi wrote:

 zedmeister wrote:
Long have we languished without a Roberto Darklands sculpt, but now he appears and what a piece:

I'm sorry - but that looks ridiculous - how Is it going to swing its sword down - its head is in the way ...

Update #15

Sep 6 2016
£31,250 - Aanchuth the Cursed on Toracx

Here's another mounted wizard for your delectation! Set at £31,250 to unlock, our old Gabrax Warlock favourite, Aanchuth the Cursed, gets a Toracx to ride!




Aanchuch is another of our earliest miniatures (as the hoof version of course) and is riding a Toracx by popular demand. Most Fomoraic players want a Gabrax Warlock to be a bit more mobile!

Increase your pledge by £30 ($40) to purchase Aanchuth the Cursed on Toracx. He is only available in resin.

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
Consensus on my Fb was that he is leaning forwards for a mid-battle kiss.

I also want to know how he got his sword there in the first place... Anyway. Lovely sculpt, of a truly terrible design!