An army needs a leader! My Aztecs troops will be used in skirmish warfare games of Feudal Patrol™ (check out these two links on the game here and here).
Feudal Patrol™ will launch very soon (very exciting!).
In the game, the basic unit is an Element of 5 figures, including a front-line leader. Up to four Elements will constitute a Warband, and up to four Warbands will make up a Battle Group. Similarly, up to four Battle Groups will constitute an Army. Most games will never be composed of an Army as the system is designed for skirmish level war gaming. Still, it could be used for big battles effectively.
At the highest level of course was the “huey tlatoani” or “Great Speaker” – the emperor of the Aztecs. Under him as the head of the War Council and the supreme field commander was the Cihuacoatl, also called the Snake Woman”. This was not a woman – but always a man – despite the name. Cihuacoatl was also a goddess of fertility and childbirth in Aztec mythology. Yes, it’s a bit confusing, and I’ll leave that right there.
As I previously posted, Badger Games was kind enough to offer me an Outpost Wargames Services baggie of OWS AZG001 – General as Snake Woman priestess w/drummer. It consisted of an Aztec/Mexica General replete with back ornament and a standard of Quetzalteopamitl (serpent of precious feathers). Back in the day, both were adorned with lots of gold and quetzal feathers. A wonderful image is found on plate A of Pohl’s Aztec, Mixtec, and Zapotec Armies. It was a nice chance to work on two figures at a time instead of 21!
The model was fairly straightforward, though I needed to make a rig of clothespins, poster tack, and specimen bottles (seen below) to paint the back ornament and the banner. Mold lines were easy to deal with on these, and the details were nice.
As received in baggie… 
Hmmm, how to handle for painting?
The challenges here necessitated using slightly larger washers as bases – and 1.25″ washers along with some smaller ones and some plastic card were needed (a list of materials is at the end of this post for those who are interested). As far as painting, care had to be taken with the components so as to not damage them during the build as well as to protect their paint jobs. A little varnish along the way helped here. The other major challenge was on the generals face painting. The details (such as the white markings on the lower blackened part of the face) here were the smallest I have ever attempted on 28mm figures.
Back ornament 
Quetzalteopamitl banner 
Drum 
Drummer – the matte varnish would take care of the shiny flesh wash 
I wanted the warpaint to look as if it was over flesh – so I painted the face first, then painted the warpaint designs (including the tiny white circles and dots).
Aztec Snake Woman 
Drummer
I hope that you found this interesting. I am moving on to working on other troops – and A GAME (remotely run) next week with players in 3 US states and the UK – more to follow soon!
Until next time – take care and stay safe all!
Miscellaneous details and references for those interested:
Posts on Units for my 16th Century Spanish Conquest Supplement for Feudal Patrol™ – “Civilizations Collide”
- Aztec Snake Woman and Drummer (this post) – 1 Aztec General and 1 drummer
- A June and July Jaguar Warrior Frenzy (plus some Aztec Veterans and a Warrior Priest to Boot) – 3 Aztec Veteran Warriors, 17 Jaguar Warriors, 1 Aztec Warrior Priest
- Doubling Down – Aztec Veteran Warriors – 24 Aztec Veteran Warriors
- Aztec Arrow Knights, Ral Partha circa 1988 – 6 Aztec Arrow Knights
- Aztec Eagle Warriors from Tin Soldier UK – 6 Aztec Eagle Knights
- Aztec Novice Warriors and a few Frinx – 12 Novice Warriors
Total figures to date for this project: 71 Aztecs
PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THE AZTEC SNAKEWOMAN AND DRUMMER:
- Gorilla Glue
- 1/8″ x 1.25″ Everbilt ABJ Fender Washers
- ½” stainless steel fender washers
- #8 Everbilt Fender Washers
- Plastic card
- E6000 Epoxy
- Poster tack, plastic plates, and clothes pins
- Vallejo “Surface Primer – White Primer”
- Vallejo “Flow Improver”
- Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
- Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
- Citadel “Contrast Paint – Warp Lightning”
- Vallejo Model Color “Mahogany”
- Vallejo Model Air “Weiss” (off-white)
- Vallejo Game Air “Black”
- Vallejo Model Color “Sunny Skin Tone”
- Citadel “Steel Legion Drab”
- Citadel “Agrax Earthshade” (shade)
- Citadel “Contrast Paint – Apothecary White”
- Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
- Citadel Air “Evil Sunz Scarlet”
- Citadel “Tallarn Sand”
- Citadel “Karak Stone”
- Vallejo Model Air Color “Gold”
- Citadel “Contrast Paint – Blood Angels Red”
- Citadel “Balor Brown”
- Vallejo Model Air Color “Silver”
- Vallejo Model Color “Basic Skin Tone”
- Vallejo Model Color “Light Flesh”
- Citadel “Contrast Paint – Wyldwood”
- Battlefront “Wool Brown”
- Citadel “Auric Armour Gold”
- Citadel “Contrast Paint – Volupus Pink”
- Citadel “Contrast Paint – Darkoath Flesh”
- Army Painter “Flesh Wash” (wash)
- Citadel “Praxeti White”
- Vallejo Game Air “Dead White”
- Battlefront “Panther Yellow”
- Citadel “Contrast Paint – Basilicanum Grey”
- Battlefront “Chocolate Brown”
- Army Painter “Red Tone” (shade)
- Americana “Desert Sand”
- Elmer’s PVA Glue
- Army Painter “Brown Battlefields” (flocking)
- Vallejo “Dark Yellow Ochre” (pigment)
- Vallejo “Burnt Umber” (pigment)
- Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”
- Army Painter “Grass Green” (flocking)
Thanks for looking – I am entering this project into Azazel’s extended July/August community painting challenge in the “hero” category. Please feel free to comment below – always appreciated.
Mark A. Morin 
Awesome paint job on these Mark.
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Thank you oh King of the Shetlands!
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Ggreat work Mark- love the drummer most of all.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete – the drummer needed some love!
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Very cool. Looking forward to hear how they go on the table, and how the remote game turns out
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Will do Dave and thanks!
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I’m with Pete the drummer is great but nice work all round mate
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Thanks and as I know you’re a drummer that’s high praise!
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Hehe love my drums
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Great job on these minis — the colours are really vibrant and the shield and the banner and back ornament look superb. The figures have a ton of character and you really brought that out.
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Cheers! One of the fun aspects of painting Aztecs is all the bright colors you get to use. Thanks for checking in!
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Excellent work! I really like the figures & banners themselves, but the painting looks great. Great pieces overall.
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Also, thanks for the picture of the Quetzal bird. It made me look them up and they have remarkable colours.
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Glad you enjoyed the post. I’m a bird lover so given that tropical feathers were so prized (as gold really) I thought it was appropriate to add the quetzal. I’d love to see one for real!
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Excellent work on both on Mark, and great background as well
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Thanks Dave!
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Two more wonderful figures I’ll go against the grain and say that the snake woman with those wonderfully painted banners and standards is my favourite, but that is beautiful work on the drum (and drummer) too.
Best of luck with your remote gaming.
Cheers Roger.
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Cheers Roger. Always interesting to read others opinions as I like both too. Going to spend this hot week prepping for the game, will share some shots I hope.
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Nicely done Mark on both figures and as always I enjoyed the accompanying narrative too. Great photo’s as well to show them off.
Looking forward to what you have planned next. 😊
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Thanks TIM!
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Very nice indeed, Mark! 🙂 I must admit, I like them both and that whole force is coming along really well!
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Cheers John!
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Like John mate ,to hard to split ,well done!! I do really like the work you have put into these little folk.
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Thanks Pat!
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For me it’s the standard. It’s the combination of the green red and gold and how they complement each other. The shield is particularly eye catching too!
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Great feedback and thanks. The standard was fun to paint, and I don’t usually get to do a lot with gold. The red and green quetzal bird was helpful as a color guide, though in real life I imagine it took a lot of unfortunate birds to make. Freehand painting the shields has been much more fun than I thought it would be. It does help to have the historical examples to follow. Cheers BTTH!
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Looks great, Mark! I really like banner and standard bearer models when they’re done well, and this one certainly falls into that category. Also very impressed by the growing force further down the page!
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Thanks Az, I do as well. Thinking of it, I have not done a standard since The Nightmare Legion post in 2015, which was my first one ironically https://markamorin.com/2015/03/19/the-story-of-the-nightmare-legion/
Hope your doing well in your lockdown- stay safe.
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Absolute classic models. Bit before even my time in the hobby 😁
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Thanks Mark – sheesh, I didn’t know you owned Warhammer models!
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I think they were probably from Priestly’s early version?
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Well done Mark! I always find special models take more time than a unit just because you want them perfect. There are only two, so everyone focuses on them. You have done excellant work. So much detail and so many colors! They look great. Both could even move into a WFB Lizardmen army as explorers gone wild. Fantastic figs!
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Great to hear from you and appreciate the feedback greatly! I think the Lizardmen were Aztec-inspired? Not sure as I have not played WHFB.
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They are definately Aztec-inspired. Feathered headdresses, obsidian weapons, atl-atls, war clubs. The influence is easy to see.
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