ECHOES OF IMPERIUM

Every good game needs good villains and fortunately Cursed City comes with a nice variety of evil doers. Torgillius if for all intents and purposes a necromancer, Halgrim is a rather handy in close combat and Gorslav is a bit of an oddball that likes to bury his opponents.

Torgillius if definitely the one I like the least of the villains, there is just too much going on with him to make for a good miniature. Yes, I know the tired old argument that there are so many bits, but a miniature should be judged as a whole, not on the merits of it’s various bits and here I believe Torgillius is a clear failure. Still, that didn’t mean I couldn’t do something I liked with the concept.

There are plenty of necromancers to choose from, some really good while others fall more into the goofy or downright bad categories. But the cool thing is that there are so many options to choose from. I decided to go with the fantastic necromancer from Mordheim, mostly because I really like his face and crazy haircut. The miniature was missing an arm, but as I didn’t care for the sword he was supposed to wield it wasn’t a problem. I replaced his arm with a bit from the Empire archer kit (a tragic loss, it was one of the best kits in the Empire line) and the hand and dagger is from a Myrmourn banshee, a dagger is a much more fitting weapon for a chamberlain and as the original is carrying a kukri it’s somewhat thematically close. Further touches to tie him to the original is a set of keys, a pet raven (but the rest of the menagerie had to stay behind in the laboratory) and also a wooden board on his back with some sort of parchment on it. He is of course dressed in the same yellow cloth worn by the rest of the villains, but with a very Hot Topic underskirt.

If I wasn’t too impressed by Trogillius the Chamberlain the same can not be said of Watch Captain Halgrim, one of the best looking villains in the box. He is really well designed and doesn’t suffer from needless clutter, just the kind of miniature that is a joy to paint.

My version was originally released as Ennio Mordini, commander of the Nightmare Legion. The Nightmare Legion was sculpted by Aly Morrison and released in 1986 as a part of the Regiments of Renown, a great collection of regiments that would eventually be used as the basis for the Dogs of War army that Games Workshop made for the 5th edition of Warhammer. Ennio turned out to be a hard skeleton to kill as he stuck around after the Regiments of Renown were discontinued, you can see him hiding out here as a Skeleton Champion, sadly reduced to just Sword 1. I would also argue that Richter Kreugar is a reimagining of Mordini, but with an Empire spin instead of Tilean, the miniatures and theme are certainly similar enough.

It is actually quite fascinating to see how many of the Regiments of Renown were reused in the Dogs of War army, from the famous Golgfag’s Mercenary Ogres, to the stranger like Mengil Manhide’s Dark Elves and the bizarre case of the Flying Gargoyles of Barda and their eventual reimagining as the Birdmen of Catrazza. In many way it shows just how creative Games Workshop was in the 80’s and the long legacy it created, something the company has really just cast of decades later with the Age of Sigmar and 8th edition of Warhammer 40 000.

But yes, the Watch Captain. The copy I had was missing a hand, it’s becoming a theme here, but I wasn’t a problem as I could give him the halberd that the original also carries. He might wave it around a bit too enthusiastically but what can you do. I added a sword to him, still sheeted as he is a sensible skeleton and only uses one weapon at a time, and a wolf talisman to show his role as commander of the Ulfenwatch. He was a real joy to paint, I only wish I had added a wolf head to his cape, but maybe that can be fixed someday.

Gorslav the Gravekeeper is an other great miniature, he has a strong Resident Evil vibe to him and while slightly cluttered he more than makes up for that with pure style. Just look at that shovel, absolutely Warhammer.

This was one of the first miniatures I added to my oldhammer remake, and to be honest I made a slight mistake as I misunderstood just how big Gorslav is. Instead of him being one of the biggest miniatures I turned him into one of the smallest, and least threatening as well. The miniature is from Mordheim, an Undead dreg. He is a mix of Dreg 1 body, but with the spear hand from Dreg 2, I can’t recall where I got the hook for his other hand. The mask is made from bone bits, it’s great that so many of the Warhammer kits include bones, and I am quite happy with it as it is one of the most recognizable part of the original. At the time I didn’t have a suitable shovel so that’s why he is armed with a spear, I might correct that at some point but to be honest it’s unlikely, I would rather paint other miniatures than redoing the ones I have actually finished.