Inglorious Wolves - Mordheim Middenheim Mercenaries

Ciao,

this is a post I have been wanting to make for quite some time but managed to get at it only now.

Let me present you the Inglorious Wolves, a Middenheim Mercenaries warband I built and painted specifically for the one day Mordheim Pollenzo MMXX amazing event organized by VIII Legio.

This was the perfect motivation to make some good use of an Empire Militia box and some Middenheim bits which had been collecting dust for too long.

Here below a group picture including some hired swords.

Background (the fluff)

The camp was dimly lit by the embers of the dying fire, the silence disturbed by the rhythmic scraping of the whetstone on a blade.

Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, the man, who was busy sharpening an old halberd, raised an eyebrow then pulled a puff of smoke from his pipe and said: "Rich boy, can't you sleep?".

"No." Leonard answered, ignoring the provocation. He sat down next to the old soldier and let some time pass without saying anything, staring at the moon over the City of the Damned.

"Tell me about the Captain, I need to know more about who will lead us in the ruins."

Without haste, after another puff of his pipe, Juergen spoke: “A year ago a woman came to the estate, a beautiful and charming woman with whom the Captain fell madly in love. She was a cursed witch and a servant of the dark gods. She wanted to assassinate the Elector Count by taking advantage of my Lord's position. We managed to stop her plan but she escaped us and killed the Captain's son in revenge. Since then he has been chasing her restlessly. He looks for her to prevent her from doing any more harm but above all he looks for her to find her before the Witch Hunters do. He wants to be the one to execute her. But fear not, the Captain is the best commander that we could have for this trip to hell, obey his orders and you could even go home alive. Do you feel calmer now? "

Once again Leonard ignored the veteran's taunt and asked again: "What about the others?"

After having emptied the bowl of the pipe and cleaned it carefully, Juergen put it away in a worn case, then resumed speaking: “Dieter has fought alongside the Captain in countless battles. Don't be fooled by his white beard, he is the most skilled and brave man I have ever seen fight. He seeks the witch too.

Hugo and John are two ruffians, the only things they care about are fame, women and booty but they fight like furies and want to make a name for themselves."

A dark howl echoed in the darkness making Leonard shiver and instinctively brought his hand towards the axe handle. 

Juergen grinned in amusement, his hoarse laughter quickly turned into a catarrh cough then he cursed and said, “Don't fret greenhorn, this is our wolf friend telling us that everything is fine. Luckily he's out there too watching our backs, he has already saved us big troubles more than once ... The priest is called Bjorn, he appeared out of nowhere one morning and without saying a word he joined us, the wolf joined him shortly after. Every now and then he has fits, his eyes roll and he shivers all over. He says that Ulric sends him visions. Once I asked him to teach me to pray and he told me to let it go, Ulric doesn't listen.

Peter is my sister's son, he buried his father at the end of the winter and there was not enough food for everyone at home. What about you, rich boy? What mess did you cook to make your father send you to Mordheim?"

Leonard thought of Greta's raven hair and green eyes, her soft, fair skin and her sweet voice. Both he and she were far from the line of succession and there was never any talk of marriage. At the age of sixteen, Greta joined the Sigmarite Sisters and he joined the army. When he learned about the comet and what had happened in Mordheim he immediately volunteered. He had to find Greta at all costs and bring her to safety, saving her, perhaps, he would save himself too...

He got up, brushed off the bottom of his pants and as he walked away to his bed he said, “It was not my to send me here, I'm a volunteer. I want to be free, I seek happiness. "

The boy had already walked away and could no longer hear him but Juergen continued to talk, perhaps more to himself: "Of all the places in this grim and dark world, the last one where I would come to seek freedom and happiness is precisely this cursed city." then he spat into the fire and resumed sharpening his halberd...

List (the crunch)

The list is far from being optimized but I think it has some personality and I feel quite engaged and committed to play it.

Heroes

• Gottfried von Shieffer - Mercenary Captain
• dagger, sword, brace of duelling pistols, helmet wolf cloak
•   Dieter Bode - Champion
• dagger, halberd, helmet, wolf cloak
• Leonard von Richtofen - Youngblood
• dagger, axe, hammer, bow
• Peter Obst - Youngblood
• dagger, axe, hammer, bow
• Bjorn Borg - Wolf Priest of Ulric
• dagger, 2 hammers, wolf cloak

Henchmen

• McEnroe - Wolf Companion (1)
• Hugo & John - Swordsmen (2)
• dagger, sword, buckler
• Juergen Heiniken - Warrior (1)
• dagger, halberd