More Celtic/Gallic/Albion Shenanigans
In part One I covered the more regular elements of a Celtic army in Legiones Antiquitatas but now we wander off the paths and into the woods and marshes of a more fantasy element to get in touch with the mystical...
Celtic possessed
Few readers will be unaware of Slaine from 2000AD and his warping into a killing machine and I had to include some warriors with the possessed ability lending them deadly battle madness and strength. These guys have 5 attacks, Frenzy and Cleave which gives them a ton of killy power. The miniatures are 3d prints from Archvillain games as I wasnt able to source any decent spasming celts for some reason...
War dogs
The dogs are by The printing goes ever on and are supposed to represent Irish Wolfhounds or the like variants existing across the Celtic world used to disrupt enemy lines in a frenzied attack. Three are currently allowed in the list but that may change as i suspect they might be a bit good for the points!
Giant Boar
Obviously this particular giant Boar has more horns and tusks than is the norm but he has been living in an enchanted forest so whatever. Clearly Boars had to be included in any list including magical cauldrons and Celts (Gauls). This type can be summoned by a druid and is critical against troops while the normal slightly less insane type can be brought into being by the Shapeshifter below.
Shapeshifter
Belief in humans who can take animal form is common across many cultures throughout time and this model by Tytan troll miniatures is a really cool representation i think. In the Celtic list he can become a Bear, Boar or Eagle with one action and while in this humanish form has Command 3 Beasts which allows him to order 3 other friendly beasts within 4 hexes to move outside of their activation. A very useful piece.
Bear
The shapeshifter can become a bear just like this one who seems to have one the Fat bear of the year award! https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/63226870 In his bear form he is a combat beast with good attacks, frenzy to reroll all of them if they disappoint and a good amount of tankiness. Slower than the Boar and Eagle the Bear is unsurprisingly a good option after flying into the enemy rear.
Dryads
The first of 3 arboreal entities Dryads are the sort of youngish whippersnapper trees who can lay in ambush then nip out and slap something with their springy branches before running off like a big girls blouse.
Branchwraiths
These are the more mature trees who can ambush but will give a hefty thump with more solid branches and are critical troops. More expensive and rarer in the list but with more punch. Both this Branchwraith and the Dryads above are by Titanforge who produce some of my favourite fantasy models
Treeman
Top of the tree is the...Treeman. Massive, fearless and unstoppable with the Hard Shell attribute which makes all missile fire disadvantaged. He or she, I am unsure of tree genders, possibly They? They are hard hitters if you have a good red card to guarantee some rerolls should the first 5 dice disappoint. The unstoppable follow up attack is disadvantaged but should sill do a couple of hits.
This treeman is by Archvillain games but any type of Ent would serve!
Fomorians
In Irish myths the Fomorians initially seem to be some sort of sea creature before morphing into giants or beautiful women so take your pick really. I have gone with the fishmen but as yet have not painted up any suitable models but will be using the Morloks created by Archvillain games as they are on the fishy side of fishmen rather than the merman type. The model below shows the paintscheme using shifter paints but lacks the essential human parts.
Faeries
Another Archvillain production for this faerie which is a useful support piece as it has flight (obvs) and can both doom enemies making them ineffective and inspire friends to increase combat power. Ethereal is its only defence however and needs to be kept in cover unless flying out to grab an objective.
Banshees
More supernatural goodness, the Banshee is also ethereal but more of an attack piece as she has doom and confuse to render any lower WP opponents helpless to other units' attacks. Like the Faerie and the Sprite to follow there is no close combat capacity. I think this was another Tytantroll mini.
Another straightforward summons bringing Lure to the game to pull an enemy out of position then confusing it and letting something with an actual weapon bowl in and kill it. All three should be able to lure, doom or confuse most normal WP 3 enemies but will struggle against heroes. This was a free model off Myminifactory.
Giant
In the old world of Albion I seem to remember there were giants on the lines of Gog and Magog so the Celts also have access to a single giant and this example which is free from Emang on Cults3d is the one i multipurpose for any of my lists which allow a Giant! Originally it came with Goblin iconography but through sanding and some frankly poor greenstuff i have degoblinised him and he has become anygiant. All giants in L.A. have the same stats with obvious killing ability in combat but also a useful ability to throw a rock a good distance. Expensive but useful against troop based forces.
That concludes the wandering through the highways and byways of the Celts however I am currently working to complete the painting of a Japanese force based on the Samurai but with all the mythic elements of Legiones Antiquitata