Tuesday 12 August 2014

Knight Casualties, Crusader Miniatures (Battered/Casualty Markers)

These figures, representing knight casualties, are from Crusader Miniatures (ref. code: MCF015).

In the forthcoming Osprey Lion Rampant rule set you require some form of marker in order to represent that a unit is 'Battered'. You can simply use a small plastic token, a stone or even a die but I have the nasty habit of picking these dice up and rolling them, completely forgetting their use as a casualty/pin marker. So using these dedicated casualty figures and markers I can't make this mistake again.

I'm usually not keen on displaying death and gore on models. There's enough real violence, death and destruction in the world without having to add to it on this blog. After witnessing a very unpleasant experience a few years ago I realised that most war, and even horror, films don't really represent the volume of blood that is shed when serious injuries occur to the human body. Saying that I have added small details to show that they are casualties but I like to think that these figures represent stunned or wounded figures rather than anything else.




I removed the original head and replaced it with a plastic version of the great helm from Fireforge Games. I also roughened up the edges of the surcoat and made cuts into the upper chest area. I have another set of these figures that I'll leave unmodified and once painted I will post photos of them side by side.

These particular figures doesn't come supplied with shields so spare plastic shields were added just to differentiate it from the other set. Using a scalpel I scored a few sword cuts to the shield just for good measure.

I've put them on round bases so that they don't get mistaken (hopefully) for real/active figures; all my regular medieval figures are fixed to square bases.

14 comments:

  1. Look at that poor horsey you mean man! ;) Great job Matt, my favourite is the knight on his knees.

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    1. Don't worry Michael the horse is just winded. I agree, the kneeling knight looks absolutely knackered.

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  2. Those look great. Excellent job on the casualty figures.

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  3. Looking good. I think the roughening up paid off!

    Hope that first casualty marker will never be used for a certain king! ;-)

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    1. Thanks Burkhard, If the king's unit gets one on these makers then I'm in trouble. I should be posting the finished result of the figure you sent soon as I've finally managed to finish the base.

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  4. Nice work and a great idea. I to like the knight on his knees as the best of the bunch. Your right it is surprising how much blood can be pumped out the human body even for minor wounds let alone for serious trauma.

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    1. Thanks Mark, it was surprising (and shocking) not something I'd ever like to see again.

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  5. Excellent work, this knight is really fantastic on his knees, all the misery of the world on his shoulders ...

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  6. Nicely done...of course now I foresee a Monty Python Black Knight casualty marker, sans arms & legs of course

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    1. Thanks Terry, you may have just given me an idea for a new casualty marker...

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