Hi everyone,
This is an exciting new project for me. Not only is this a completely new unit I am starting form scratch, but it is one I have wanted to do for years. That is bring back the
Elven Beast Masters!
I am going to start with the
Bear Clan for two reasons. Firstly I have all the miniatures I need to complete this project. Secondly, the
Boar and
Cat Clan will be
Hunters of the Wild proxies, while the
Bear Clan are going to be a large infantry horde unit proxy - and that is what I want at the moment!
So, some experimentation with the placing of the models lead me to a unit that seems well balanced where miniature position goes. Since the bears are slightly smaller than
Tree Shamblers I decided to place 8 figures on the multibase instead of 6.
The next step was to create a little differentiation between the two pairs of identical models in the unit. The first pair are the old Citadel bears. These are the bears that came with the original Ursine Beast Masters. They are a bit stiff and flat - therefore hard to convert. So I opted for a slight repositioning of the head with one of them. The conversion is minor, but it does give a sense of individuality to this model. I judged that it was enough.
The next pair of models is where I intend to do the most conversion work. The werebears are nice, but very plain and drab. Initially I was going to get the
Otherworldly werebear, but it has that
torn-clothes-busting-out look that I did not want. I wanted my werebears to be a clan of werebears, so they would have clothes that fit in their werebear form. I also wanted them to be warriors, so I had to dress them up.
I also wanted one of the werebears to look older, so I decided to cut him up and give him a pose that would express his age but not make him look too feeble. The squatting pose seemed right. Originally, I also decided to give him a spear instead of a sword, but I think a spear suits an old timer more.
Once again, that is all for now. Join me again next week as I start to convert the figures. Until then, farewell and good health to one and all.
NR
