In any auto race, the signal to start is the waving of a flag. The one you see here is my making of Hernan Cortes’ banner of the Virgin Mary that the Conquistadores carried in Mesoamerica. It indeed will be carried by one of the soon-to-be-finished figures in the contest, so I thought it would be appropriate. Well, midnight passed last night and the Mark’s Conquistador Contest has officially started, and the flag is waved.
I have tabulated the list of entrants that you will see in the Excel chart below – sorted from earliest pick to the latest one.
You guys knew I’d have to have a spreadsheet!
I have listed the blog handles and the blogs of those who entered if you’d like to check them out. And you should if you do not know them. Click on their comments avatar to see them as they can be found in the comments section on the original contest post here. You can find most everyone on WordPress. However, a couple of entrants haven’t a blog to my knowledge (Leif Magnuson and Dave Wood), while Dave Stone is on blogger, and Buck has his own website. Buck is also on the HAWKS site with his fellow HAWKS Greg and Chris (cjpalmer), though Greg also has a WordPress site.
The contest is on!
We have 18 entrants. The average of the dates chosen was March 24th, 2021. The dates have a 101 day range, with Mike at despartaferres picking the earliest (February 8th) and Roger at Rantings From the Wargame Table playing the long game at May 2oth. The good news is that there will be no ties – as all dates are different and none are equidistant from the average.
I am making good progress and will be posting about that shortly. I know that many of the miniatures will take me longer to paint, and some much less. And I do have an airbrush…at this point, it’s anyone’s game. So stay tuned! Thanks to all who entered and good luck!
As a reminder for what the prize choices are for the three top winners:
2020 was – HOPEFULLY – a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As we all did, I had highs and lows on the personal side of life, the hobby side of life, and the golf side and others.
First, my deep thanks for all of you who regularly follow this blog and share your feedback with me. My thanks also to those whose blogs I follow. Your work inspires me.
As readers of this blog know, I am currently knee-deep in finishing up my forces for Feudal PatrolTM games. But I did set some goals back in January 2020 – so here I’d like to examine and share how I did – or did not do – versus those benchmarks, how my production was in 2020, how the blog did, and my personal highs and lows. I’ll also set some 2021 goals for myself. This is really to hold myself accountable here – and please know I’m open to any and all feedback.
How did I do versus my 2020 goals?
These are the goals I set for myself and how I did:
Games:
Run convention games at TotalCon, HAVOC, HUZZAH, BARRAGE, and the Fort Devens Game Day (and a few more maybe) –
Complete a supplement for Feudal PatrolTM for Mesoamerican warfare (Aztecs, etc).
Yes – this was a big part of my February and March. Civilizations Collide was published on the Sally 4th website and Buck Surdu’s website as free downloads. This is the accomplishment in 2020 of which I am most proud.
2. Be productive, but never sacrifice quality
Well, you dear reader can be the judge of that. I did paint 181 figures this year versus 153 in 2019. My project total was only 403 versus 775 in 2019, but I did a lot of scratch-building numerous game aids (410 to be exact while I only did 146 in 2020), so my production was different. Still, almost 181 figures is a lot!
My 2020 production summary.
3. Grow the blog and find new ones to follow!
I definitely did both of these. As for the blog, it grew by about 12% in terms of views and visitors, and my followers are up too. My posts were fewer by five – so that is something I need to work on.
4. Entertain my audience!
I think so – again – you are the judge of this, not me!
Golf
Get my handicap below 14 (if I have enough non-gaming time!)
I did a lot of research in March and wrote Civilizations Collide, a supplement for the upcoming Feudal Patrol™ card-based wargaming system from Buck Surdu. The supplement covers the Spanish Conquest, to include the Conquistadores, the Aztecs of the Triple Alliance, Aztecs of the Aztec-Chichimec Alliance, the Maya, and the Inca. I cannot quantitate this as a hobby project, but it certainly was one!
April: 19 projects
Figures painted (19):
12 Aztec Novice Warrior figures painted for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Wargames Foundry (#WF AZ018 Novice Warriors II)
7 Power-Armored Frinx figures painted/repainted for Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi games (25mm/28mm scale) from Archive (#2040)
18 Aztec Novice Warriors painted for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Wargames Foundry Aztecs line (12 from 2 blisters of #AZ016 Novice Aztec Warriors I, 6 from 1 blister of #AZ028 Novice Aztec Warriors III).
Figures assembled (32):
8 Tlaxcalan Novice Warriors assembled for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Outpost Wargames Services (#TX2 Tlaxcalan Novices in Padded Vests)
8 Tlaxcalan Elite Warriors assembled for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Outpost Wargames Services (#TX3b Elite Warriors in Feather Costume)
1 Tlaxcalan Captain assembled for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Outpost Wargames Services (#TXC01 Tlaxcalan Captain with Conch Blower)
1 Tlaxcalan Conch Blower assembled for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Outpost Wargames Services (#TXC01 Tlaxcalan Captain with Conch Blower)
6 Aztec Warrior Priests assembled as Tlaxcalans for Feudal Patrol™ (25mm scale), from Ral Partha’s 1200 A.D. line, circa 1988 (#42-302 Aztec Warrior Priests)
8 Aztec Novice Warriors assembled for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Wargames Foundry Aztecs line (6 from 2 blisters of #AZ016 Novice Aztec Warriors I, 2 from 1 blister of #AZ028 Novice Aztec Warriors III).
8 Aztec Cuachicqueh (the “Shorn Ones” shock troops) figures assembled for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Outpost Wargames Services (#AZ006 Cuachic Warriors- body suit and back banner)
1 Aztec Warrior Priest figure assembled for Feudal Patrol™ (28mm scale), from Wargames Foundry (#AZ011 Montezuma and Chieftains)
Figures converted (1):
1 Aztec Chieftain converted to one with a signaling drum from #AZ011 Montezuma and Chieftains
The super elite troops of the Aztec Empire were the cuachicqueh (kwa-cheek-kweh). These were their imperial shock troops, and held prestigious social status. To be able to join their ranks, a warrior would have had to have captured 6 or more enemy warriors, as well as demonstrated other acts of bravery.
A cuachic (kwa-cheek – the singular is cuachic, the plural is cuachicqueh – yes still more tough-to-pronounce Aztec words!) was a member of the ultimate Aztec warrior caste. They all had passed on the opportunity of becoming captains or officers in order to remain hardened elite front-line warriors. Their appearance was striking. They wore a distinctly yellow tlahuiztli (tu-lah-huz-ly) suit, had shaved heads with mohawks, and often had fierce yellow, red, and blue war facial paint. The Shorn Ones sported unique and colorful back banners to intimidate any foes. They were called “The Shorn Ones” due to their mostly-shaven haircuts. Cuachicqueh swore to never retreat in battle – and if any did – they would agreed to dispatched by their own comrades for this dishonor.
I was really looking forward to adding cuachicqueh to my Aztec forces for games of Feudal Patrol™, using my supplement, Civilizations Collide. I have discussed the game on previous posts, as well as my supplement.
As a reminder Feudal Patrol™– Buck Surdu’s rules and the decks of cards for “Skirmish Miniature Gaming in the Ancient, Medieval, and Fantasy Periods” is now available commercially. In the US, it can be bought from On Military Matters website here. It is also being sold in the US by Noble Knight Games website here. In the UK, it is being sold by Sally 4th on their website here. My supplement for the period is a free download on Sally 4th’s website here or the Feudal Patrol™ website here. Cuachicqueh can have a big impact in the game if used properly.
In my game, the cuachicqueh have special abilities – in addition to being total bad-asses on the battlefield. They can operate in smaller units. They can also act as berserkers. Tactically, their greatest advantage is that they can – through the use of obscene gestures and insults – provoke an enemy to charge them – even if that charge causes the targeted enemy to abandon a good and protected defensive position to its detriment. This ability has a good historical basis.
To understand this, imagine you’re a good Tlaxcalan bowman, safely ensconced behind a nice wall. Yet the cuachicqueh in front of you have just insulted and offended you and your people so gravely – that you rush out to ostensibly try to attack the miscreants. Your hasty assault only to serves the cuachicqueh – who now, as the Aztecs best, engage you in vicious melee – minus the protection you just abandoned. It’s not for nothing that cuachicqueh were the toughest of the Aztecs.
I bought some of these Aztecs in AZ06 “Cuachic Warriors – Body Suit and Back Banners” (from Badger Games here). The SKU came with eight 28mm metal figures complete with weapons, shields, and back banners. The figures were cast by Outpost Wargames Services in the UK. The figures were in really great shape and needed little cleanup. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about assembling and painting them due to the proximity of the back banners to the figures’ heads. I tried to use green stuff to achieve some degree of separation on the first two figures but abandoned that approach as I did not think that it added enough benefit structurally. I also worried that it would detract from the models’ aesthetics. In the end, good old Gorilla Glue worked just fine on the remaining ones and I just worked around the banners and heads intersections while painting. I decided to mount the back banners and the weapons before priming, and do the shields separately.
As a resource, I used the many books that I had with some nice plates showing the dress of the Shorn Ones. Clearly, they dressed similarly – and their shields were similar (but not identical). Trying to get the yellow tlahuiztli suits correctly colored was a challenge. Painting anything yellow, especially a dullish yellow, is always a painting challenge. I hope these will look good on the table. The back banners took some methodical planning and measuring (as you’ll see below) for painting as the stripes needed to look symmetrical.
I took some group WIP shots below (with comments) that will show this group’s progress, and then I will share some eye candy of the finished figures. I’ll conclude with a summary of where the overall project is so far, plus links to the previous posts (in case you just joined me here), and the paints I used if that sort of thing is interesting to you (if not that’s why it’s why it’s at the end!).
Here you see the primed figures with the back banner marking lines set. The back banners’ proximity to the figures’ heads is clear here.I washed the figures with Citadel “Nuln Oil” to help with overall creation of depth, and then began the early flesh tones as shown here. I knew war paint would come later, but I find painting the faces first as if there would be no war paint helps make war paint look better, especially around the eyes.I darkened the flesh and used Vallejo Model Air “Weiss” (off-white) on the sandals, loincloths, and straps to overcome the Nuln Oil.My start on the yellow tlahuiztli suits. This would take much highlighting and shading. I found Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” very helpful against the yellow inks (yes that’s plural – inks!) and contrast paints.I then moved on to shading their heads to simulate close-shaved heads (they’re the Shorn Ones not the Bald Ones). I also added war paints to most of the faces.At this point, I moved on to the back banners. I wanted these to pop, so I used “Weiss” again under a number of inks. Here you see the off-white between the earlier-painted lines on the back banners.The back banners with the colors added. Some of these back banners resemble flags of the US or even the LGBT Pride Flag, but these were actually the colors used by the Shorn Ones in the 16th century according to my research. I varied the colors of the “feather balls” immediately above the back banners in accordance with the Osprey resource books. Also, historically the 9-dotted field on the back banners had either a bluish or light brownish background, so I adopted this as well. Hopefully this will help with tabletop identification as well as the back banners, the poses, and the war paints. At this point in painting this group, I began to worry that sealing inked areas on these with an airbrush application of Vallejo “Mecha Varnish Matte Varnish” could possibly activate the multiple dried inks and ruin the models. Yeah, that was a bit scary! So I decided to seal the faces and back banners with Vallejo “Gloss Varnish” as that would seal those surfaces and also allow them to stay a bit brighter. I don’t think I needed to worry, but in any case this approach (IMO) worked well. You can let me know if you agree or not. Then I flocked the figures and moved onto the shields.Here I just started painting the shields – and I have not gotten to the feather frets. I use poster tack over gloss-varnished surfaces to try to paint both sides safely. First do one side, let dry, then the other.After a few iterations of painting and lining, the shields were done and I also varnished them with the Vallejo “Gloss Varnish” for the same reasons as I did the faces and the back banner. At quick glance, most cuachicqueh shields look similar, but these are all different. Just look closely!Here the shields are mounted with a “sandwich” of 2 drops of Gorilla Glue surrounding a dab of E6000 epoxy in the middle of the shields. This combination yields a quick hold with the Gorilla Glue while the E6000 cures over 24 hours and provides a stronger and slightly more flexible bond. You also see that I have added pigments to the flocking on the bases. These are ready for base dry brushing followed by an application of the matte varnish. Lastly, I add static grass.The eight models are shown here completed and “frolicking” on the various images and pages that I used as painting guides.
The eight are numbered for my cataloging system as ACC1 to ACC8. Now, let’s move to:
Eye Candy
Click on any of the images for a larger view!
ACC1
ACC1 – armed with a macuahuitl (obsidian-edged club/broadsword) and a non-fretted shield. He has war paint, and his back banner has the bluish background with red and yellow stripes.The back banner feather ball here is reddish.
ACC2
ACC2 – armed with a tepoztopilli (obsidian-edged thrusting spear) and a fretted shield. He has no war paint, and his back banner has the brownish background with blue, yellow, green and red stripes.The back banner feather ball here is light blue.
ACC3
ACC3 – armed with a macuahuitl and a fretted shield. He has war paint, and his back banner has the bluish background with red and white stripes.The back banner feather ball here is reddish.
ACC4
ACC4 – armed with a tepoztopilli (obsidian-edged thrusting spear) and a fretted shield. He has war paint, and his back banner has the brownish background with blue, yellow, green and red stripes.The back banner feather ball here is slightly orange in color.
ACC5
ACC5 – armed with a macuahuitl and a fretted shield. He has no war paint, and his back banner has the brownish background with blue, yellow, green and red stripes.The back banner feather ball here is dark blue.
ACC6
ACC6 – armed with a macuahuitl and a non-fretted shield. He has war paint, and his back banner has the bluish background with white and red stripes.The back banner feather ball here is orange.
ACC7
ACC7 – armed with a macuahuitl and a fretted shield. He has war paint, and his back banner has the bluish background with white and red stripes.The back banner feather ball here is dark blue.
ACC8
ACC8 – armed with a macuahuitl and a fretted shield. He has war paint, and his back banner has the bluish background with yellow and red stripes.The back banner feather ball here is reddish.
Group Shots
I hope that you enjoyed looking at this post and these figures. This is my penultimate (love that word) Aztec post – the last will be one with Montezuma, some Aztec captains and some warrior priests. Six more Aztecs, and then it’s on to the Spanish Conquistadores!
I’d love to know if you have a favorite – and any thoughts or questions and suggestions that you may have on the work here are always appreciated.
Miscellaneous details and references for those interested in that sort of thing:
Posts on games, units, and other projects for my 16th Century Spanish Conquest supplement for Feudal Patrol™ – “Civilizations Collide”
In the Civilizations Collide supplement (described on my last post) that I wrote for Feudal Patrol™, priests and shamans can be bought for points and deployed along with units. In the game, a warrior priest can both boost the fighting morale of your own troops as well as erode the morale of your defeated non-Spanish enemies. Plus, they can fight as heroes as well.
For my Aztec forces, I needed to paint up some more warrior priests. I already had one figure that I have painted from Wargames Foundry Heroes of Tenochtitlan (seen here). I also have six warrior priests for the Tlaxcalans (seen here), so this disparity needed to be fixed.
Originally to meet this figure deficit I purchased the Wargames Foundry blister pack AZ021 “Tloxtoxl and the Priests of the Great Temple” from Badger Games as I believed that this would get me six Warrior Priests. There is nothing historic about the name, but it sounds very Aztec! However, the pack was a bit different than I had expected. As you will see, two are definitely good as warrior priests, two are priests/priestesses who probably hung around the temple, and two are a command pair. No worries, as I can use all of these one way or another. The figures are metal, 28mm in size, and sculpted by Josef Ochmann. This group was in very good shape and was easy to prep for painting.
I did not take very many shots this go around – but my painting approach was similar to my previous posts which are catalogued below if you are new to this project. So without further ado…
Eye Candy
First, the two warrior priests – I think these will be fine on the tabletop battlefield, though underarmed a bit:
AWP2 – this figure is armed only with an obsidian dagger, and no shield or armor.
AWP3 – this figure reminded me of IRO’s stuff! He is armed only with an obsidian dagger, and no shield or armor, but is slick with blood after a captive live sacrifice. The dark war paint on his face and body and the skull on his hip were painted according to an Osprey image I had. I tried not to overdo the blood, but I think he would be pretty bloody.
The next group includes a priestess and a priest that do not look overly worthy of battle, but I can always put them in if needed or use them in some other way. Besides, they could be an objective possibly. I thought I’d paint them anyways – and give them flowers on their bases.
AP1 – this Priestess is admiring some turquoise jewelry or some such thing. I would have her armed with only an obsidian dagger, and of course no shield or armor. I tried to give the dress a pattern, but this was not squarely in my wheelhouse. Maybe that’s why I gave her a tuft of flowers as compensation?
AP2 – this Priest was not my favorite, though I did like experimenting with his headdress and his garb patterns. He is also armed with only an obsidian dagger, and of course no shield or armor. He also was missing some fingers. Maybe that’s why I also gave him flowers!
The next two really are a command group pair, and I will use them together as a higher commander of a warband or better.
AZC1 – this leader is dressed as an Eagle Warrior. I painted 6 Eagle Warriors early in the project that you can see here. I really liked this figure. I will treat his weapon as a tepoztopilli, and give him credit for his shield, some cotton armor and his helmet. He of course will need his assistant with the conch shell and drum to send battle signals out.
AZC2 – the leader’s signaler with a conch shell as a horn and a drum. I really liked this figure, though getting the shell right was a conundrum. I am only giving him a hand axe and but he gets cotton armor but no shield. So, he’s a bit vulnerable.
Here’s a group shot:
Thanks for looking – and please let me know your thoughts and feedback in the comments section. Do have a favorite? I do hope you enjoyed this!
Well, not exactly…more like into one of my storage boxes to await a future game…but now that I have your attention, welcome!
A completed slinger from this project. Nine of the 18 figures that I will discuss and display here are armed with slings. In my game, these Aztec slingers are very accurate – and very dangerous. Most Aztecs learned how to take small game with slings from a very young age. The Conquistadores described taking many grave injuries and casualties from slingers like these.
I just finished adding 18 Aztec Novice Warriors to my forces for games of Feudal Patrol™ – using the “Civilizations Collide” supplement that I have discussed previously on several posts (you can see list of these posts at the end of this post if you’d like to see what you’ve missed). I had needed to add some more novices to pair up with veterans for the game. Aztec veteran warriors would have novices attached to them for training and development in the tactics and techniques of Mesoamerican warfare. Aztecs preferred capturing their enemies versus killing them – after all, they wanted live captives for sacrifice.
Under veteran tutelage, novices would try to capture enemy warriors. Their success at this would allow them to gain rank as well as increased Aztec societal and cultural prestige (depending upon the number and quality of the captured enemy warriors). This increase in rank would also be shown by the warriors having the right to wear different and fancier uniforms. Of course the captured warriors would be most often sacrificed alive on the altar of Huitzilopochtli in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
Returning to the gaming project, I now have figures for 30 novices and 27 veterans, which should put me in good stead game-wise. These figures came from Badger Games and were manufactured by Wargames Foundry. The 18 figures discussed here came from two blisters of AZ016 “Novice Warriors I” and one of AZ028 “Novice Warriors III”. All were sculpted by Josef Ochmann. I previously painted up 12 from AZ018 “Novice Warriors II” that I posted about here. These were similar to those models, and most of this group are armed with slings. Unfortunately, for the non-slingers, there were no other weapons in the AZ028 blister, just shields. Not a problem, as I had some Outpost Wargames Services extra weapons and some extra shields already painted up for any non-slingers (Badger also sells OWS). I am sure that Badger would have taken care of it if I let them know (they are great), but I had the situation under control.
I must say that the Foundry mold lines here on some of the models were a greater problem than those I have painted before from OWS. I tried my best to fix what I could without destroying the figures, but there’s only so much one can file away before the cure becomes worse than the disease. I am going to jump right into some pictures and then as usual some references for those interested in that sort of detail.
Mounted and ready for painting.Early flesh tone work.Completed.Completed and removed from the specimen jars – ready for eye candy!
Because I had bought two 6-figure blisters of AZ016, I wanted to paint them differently enough so that they would be interesting on the tabletop. I will show the similar poses together, and then the single poses.
I have numbered my novices AN1 to AN30, with this project concerning AN13 to AN30.
AN13 and AN19 – armed with a tepoztopilli (obsidian-edged thrusting spear pronounced tay-pose-toe-pee-lee) and a shield, but no other armor.
AN 13 and AN19 figures from the front.AN13 and AN19, the view from the side.
AN14 and AN20 – armed with a cuauhololli (round-headed wooden club – pronounced kwa-ho-lolly) and a shield, but no other armor.
AN14 and AN20 from the front.AN14 and AN20, reverse angle. As these are all novices, I did not give them overly fancy shields.
AN15 and AN21 – armed with a cuauhololli (round-headed wooden club) and a shield, and quilted cotton armor called ichcahuipilli (pronounced each-ca-we-pilli).
From the front, AN15 and AN21. I painted the shields and ichcahuipilli drawstrings differently.AN15 and AN21 from the shield side. AN21 has feather frets on his shield.
AN16 and AN22 – armed with slings, no shield, and no armor.
AN16 and AN22 looking very choreographed from the front. Note the blue and red arm rings and earrings as differentiators for the tabletop.AN16 and AN22 looking no less choregraphed from the back!
AN17 and AN23 – armed with slings, no shield, and no armor.
AN17 and AN23 looking a bit more ominous than the previous pair of slingers. I did not like the size of these figures’ left hands. A shield could have hidden that but I did not think that having slingers should be so equipped. AN17 and AN23 reverse view.
AN18 and AN24 – armed with slings, no shield, and no armor.
AN18 and AN24. These were my favorite sculpts from the AZ016 blister. I really thought the faces were great.AN18 and AN24, reverse view.
AN25 – armed with a sling, no shield, and no armor. This is the first figure from the AZ028 blister.
AN25 looks for a target.AN25 reverse angle.
AN26 – armed with a sling, no shield, and no armor.
AN26 from the front. The figure is similar to, but not exactly the same, as AN17 and AN23, but I am hoping that the yellow earrings will stand out on the tabletop.AN26, reverse angle.
AN27 – armed with a sling, no shield, and no armor.
AN27 from the front, with some yellow color for his hairband and earrings. I liked the sculpting of his face too.AN27 from the back side.
AN28 – armed with a macuahuitl (an obsidian-edged club/broadsword), a shield, and no armor.
AN28 from the front, moving to attack. This is the only figure in this group to be armed with the common macuahuitl (pronounced ma-kwa-wheat). The macuahuitl came from a previously painted OWS kit. You can see an interesting video on this weapon later in this post.AN28 from the side, ready to hack and slash.
AN29 – armed with a tepoztopilli and a shield, and quilted cotton armor (ichcahuipilli).
AN29 front. This was my least favorite figure of all of these – I just did not like the face, though here it looks ok. The weapon is also from OWS.AN29 from the side.
AN30 – armed with a bow, no shield, and no armor.
AN30 from the side. I really liked this figure, plus he is now the only Aztec I have with a bow. Bows were much more the choice of peoples like the Tlaxcalans (as shown here), but Aztecs did use bows at times too.AN30 showing the side with the quiver.
That’s a lot of troops – and this month (October 2020) I have painted 42 in total after adding these 18 – a record for me. And I still have 2 days left, but likely this is it for October. I am nearly through what I need to paint for the Aztecs – then I can move on to the Spanish.
And as for the video I promised, here it is below. A group in Baltimore built a macuahuitl. I found it interesting, even though they did not know the correct pronunciation of macuahuitl! There’s obviously an old gamer there as shown by the paints used. Enjoy!
That’s all for this post. I’d be interested in your thoughts on this post and the project in general. Let me know in the comments section, share this post if you’d like, and as always, thanks for looking!
Project production to date – 121 figures…and counting!
Miscellaneous details and references for those interested in that sort of thing:
Posts on games, units, and other projects for my 16th Century Spanish Conquest supplement for Feudal Patrol™ – “Civilizations Collide”
18 Aztec Novice Warriors for Feudal Patrol Walk into a Bar (this post) – 18 Novice Warriors
Please let me know your thoughts and feedback in the comments section – I really appreciate learning any impressions or thoughts in general (or specific) that you have.
Ral Partha had a historical line of 25mm figures that were cast and sold back in the 1980’s. One of them was the “1200 A.D” line, which included Aztec figures, and one of their blister packs was “Aztec Warrior Priests”. It had 6 figures with two poses. Also supplied were 3 different weapons, and shields for each figure.
On my previous post on Tlaxcalans, I mentioned that I needed to have some warrior priests for their army. Unfortunately, I could not find a suitable 28mm version for the Tlaxcalans. I do have some Wargames Foundry Aztec Warrior Priests in the painting queue but they were not going to be right as Tlaxcalans in my view.
I did have (among several other blisters from that era) a single blister pack of 6 figures of Ral Partha 42-302. Now these were Aztecs, not Tlaxcalans, and 25mm size, not 28mm. Generally 28mm figures are 1:61-1:68 range, and 25mm figures are 1:68-1:71 range in scale. So from a gaming distance, I think that they will work. I have already incorporated other 25mm figures such as the historical Eagle Warriors from Tin Soldier and the ahistorical Ral Partha Arrow Warriors into my Aztec forces for the upcoming launch of Buck Surdu’s Feudal PatrolTMskirmish tabletop war game. (as a side note – my Civilizations Collide supplement will cover this period, and will be a free download from the website).
Getting back to filling the Tlaxcalan ranks with some Warrior Priests – I chose to paint the 42-302 figures up in Tlaxcalan colors and war paint. It allowed me to make use of the figures – which have been waiting 32 years to be painted anyways – and to not add any more to my unpainted stuff. Sometimes you just have to find a way to liberate the unpainted hordes! When they get deployed in my supplement, Warrior Priests are add-on troops that get individually attached to units. They have the ability to help keep a unit they are attached to from breaking morale, and also can cause a defeated non-Spanish enemy to be more likely to want to flee the battlefield.
Contents of Ral Partha 42-302
Ral Partha 88 on base
Ral Partha 88 on weapons/shields sprue
This blister pack was waiting 32 years to be painted
The six figures were more than enough to round out my Tlaxcalans. It’s always a challenge to go smaller than usual in painting, and these figures were no exception. One initial issue was the height, which I “leveled” by adding a 3/4″ x 1/8″ small washer on the 1″ washer base. This was to make the height disparity less noticeable. I also gave the somewhat pliable weapons a light coat of Gorilla Glue to stiffen them up a bit
Primed, mounted, and ready for painting.
A second challenge was capturing the delicate details on the figures. Here, I decided to steal an idea I have seen on Chris Palmer’s blog on the H.A.W.K.’s combined blog site – that is to prime figures white and use a dark wash over that to help with details. I think it helped – see the examples of WIP below.
The wash showed details that I could better shade and highlight
This worked well under the contrast paint.
Here is a second example:
The Tlaxcalans favored red loincloths and headbands – so those were easy to add. The war paint design mix that I used was similar to my previous group – a red-striped over white design or a black mask (or none at all). As for shield, I perused Steven’s Balagan and my Osprey books for inspiration (while modifying the colors a bit).
The shields as completed – I used different contrast paints for the feathers and denoted on the plate (because I might forget when I went to paint the other sides!).
Three of the models had a lovely little (ok, tiny) engraved skull at their waists on a bone necklace. I was unaware of this engraved skull aspect of Mesoamerican “art”. You can see a modern interpretive example from Amazon here and shown below:
Maybe not a Mother’s Day present…
I tried out my new Army Painter drybrush (the smallest one) and was very happy how well it performed, especially on the skulls. The bristles are round and it is just the right stiffness. Here is the link and the photo below if you are interested:
I bought this set and liked them.
Back to painting the models, my goal was to get a nice blending on the flesh before varnishing the figures. They do end up shiny from the Army Painter Flesh Wash, but with matte varnish the shine goes completely away.
Before varnishing – a bit shiny. You can see the extra washer here too.
Once I added the extra washer, you could see that the elevation on the base could pose a flocking issue – such that it would look “rounded” under the flocking. To deal with this, I glued some very small pieces of modeling talus on the washers to more or less camouflage the underlying round shapes. I would leave some of that exposed as well once flocked.
A model with the added talus pieces.
So let’s see the finished models! As usual, I gave each a number for future reference and creation of gaming aids:
Eye Candy
TWP1 – armed with a tepoztopilli (obsidian-edged thrusting spear), and no war paint. Interestingly this pose of the two types in the blister was a lefty!
TWP2 – armed with a cuauhololli (round-headed club), with no war paint.
TWP3 – armed with a macuahuitl (obsidian-edged club/sword), again no war paint.
TWP4 – armed with a tepoztopilli (obsidian-edged thrusting spear), and the red-stripes-over-white war paint. This pose of the two types in the blister was right-handed!
TWP5 – armed with a cuauhololli (round-headed club), wearing the black mask war paint.
TWP6 – armed with a macuahuitl (obsidian-edged club/sword), and the red-stripes-over-white war paint.
I think that they can safely share the same gaming tabletop!
Here are the three left-handed figures together.Here are the three right-handed figures together.All of Ral Partha 42-302.
This project also allowed me to help with one of my favorite websites, the Lost Minis Wiki, which is a fantastic resource for OOP stuff, especially from the 1970’s and 1980’s. Here is the entry photo for this blister.
So, my Tlaxcalan forces are done – I have now 32 figures for their army. When added to the 71 Aztecs that I have done, that brings me to over 100!
All of my Tlaxcalan troops.
Thanks for taking a look – below you’ll find my updated details list for the overall project and this particular one (paints, etc. used).
Miscellaneous details and references for those interested:
Posts on games, units, and other projects for my 16th Century Spanish Conquest supplement for Feudal Patrol™ – “Civilizations Collide”
Total figures to date for this project: 103 figures: 71 Aztecs, 32 Tlaxcalans
PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THESE TLAXCALAN WARRIOR PRIESTS:
Gorilla Glue
1/8″ x 1″ Everbilt Fender Washers
1/8″ x 3/4″ Everbilt Fender Washers
Plastic plates
Poster tack
Vallejo “Surface Primer – White Primer”
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
Citadel “Nuln Oil” (shade)
Vallejo Model Air “Weiss” (off-white)
Vallejo Game Air “Dead White”
Vallejo Game Air “Black”
Army Painter “Tanned Flesh”
Vallejo Game Color “Bronze Fleshtone”
Vallejo Model Color “Sunny Skin Tone”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Darkoath Flesh”
Battlefront “Chocolate Brown”
Army Painter “Flesh Wash” (wash)
Citadel Air “Evil Sunz Scarlet”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Wyldwood”
Battlefront “Sicily Yellow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Black Templar”
Vallejo Model Air “Tire Black”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Terradon Turquoise”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Skeleton Horde”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Battlefront “Wool Brown”
Army Painter “Red Tone” (shade)
Citadel “Agrax Earthshade” (shade)
Vallejo Model Color “Glossy Black”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Blood Angels Red”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Iyanden Yellow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Apothecary White”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Warp Lightning”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Aethermatic Blue”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Akhelian Green”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Ultramarines Blue”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Leviadon Blue”
Secret Weapon Washes “Sunshine” (ink)
Citadel “Ushabti Bone”
Citadel “Seraphim Sepia” (shade)
Vallejo Model Color “Dark Blue”
Vallejo Model Air “Moon Yellow”
Vallejo Game Air “Satin Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Turquoise”
Citadel “Caliban Green”
E6000 Epoxy
4Ground small talus pieces
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Brown Battlefields” (flocking)
Vallejo “Dark Yellow Ochre” (pigment)
Vallejo “Burnt Umber” (pigment)
Citadel “Steel Legion Drab”
Citadel “Tallarn Sand”
Citadel “Karak Stone”
Americana “Desert Sand”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”
Army Painter “Grass Green” (flocking)
Please let me know your thoughts and feedback in the comments section – I really appreciate learning any impressions or thoughts in general (or specific) that you have.
The Tlaxcalans were a Nahua people that were at a constant state of war with the Aztecs of the Triple Alliance for decades. The Aztecs never fully conquered the Tlaxcalans, as they found them to be a far more useful source of slave labor, sacrificial victims, and resources than as a vassal state. The Aztecs were able to take these captives and supplies by allowing the Tlaxcalans to merely exist – and by challenging them repeatedly to a series of “Flower Wars”. Flower Wars were basically ritualized arranged gang-like “throw downs” where usually the Aztecs would emerge victorious, as they were a larger and far more powerful empire based in Tenochtitlan. Certainly, with this level of abuse, there was no love lost between the Tlaxcalans and the Aztecs.
Into this theater of conflict came a new revolutionary factor in the early 16th century. Hernan Cortes and his Conquistadores arrived in Mesoamerica in February of 1519. In September of that year, he encountered the Tlaxcalans and briefly fought them – as the Tlaxcalans were unaware of who the Conquistadores were or from whence they came. Both sides came to peace terms relatively quickly after some tough fighting – during which mutual respect was gained for their respective courage and capabilities in battle. The Tlaxcalans informed Cortes of the vast riches (especially in terms of gold) of Tenochtitlan and their emperor, Montezuma II. The Tlaxcalans happily joined the Spanish on their march to Tenochtitlan and indeed were staunch allies for them. Indeed, without the Tlaxcalans who formed the bulk of Cortes’ forces, the Spanish would never have been able to defeat the Aztecs during their conquest of New Spain.
I have been working on building Aztec, Tlaxcalan, and Spanish forces for the upcoming launch of my rules supplement for Buck Surdu’s Feudal PatrolTMskirmish tabletop war game. My supplement will be a free download from the website and will be called Civilizations Collide. The supplement will cover many aspects of the Spanish Conquest to include the Aztecs, the Inca, the Maya, and more. Back in August, I began to work on the Tlaxcalans. I was working on my Tlaxcalan Archers, (which you can read about here), and quickly realized that the level of detail that I wanted to achieve on these figures could not be achieved if I was to work on too many at a time. Therefore, I broke up the project into two phases. The first phase was the completion of the 8 Tlaxcalan Archers. For the second phase – which this post concerns – I had 18 figures, all from Outpost Wargames Services via their US distributor, Badger Games. Eight were from TX2 “Tlaxcalan Novice Warriors in Padded Vest”; eight were from TX3b “Elite Warrior in Feather Costume”; and two were from TXC01 “Tlaxcalan Captain and Conch Blower. These are all 28mm in scale and metal. Still, this two-phase approach took me a lot longer than I had expected to take to finish these – primarily as there were (as you will see) multiple shields, weapons, and backbanners to paint and assemble. As source materials I used both multiple Osprey books and especially the two blog posts from Steven’s Balagan blog on Tlaxcalan painting and especiallyhis post on shield painting and design. These are fantastic resources and I recommend them highly for anyone interested in the period in addition to the Osprey books. I also recommend Badger Games as a source for these figures as well as those they sell from other manufacturers.
I will generally show some WIP stuff and discuss some of the aspects and challenges of the project and how I dealt with them. I’ll end with a recap of where the overall project progress is now, and what paints and stuff I used here. I did not take as many WIP shots as I normally do because while I have tackled more figures at a time previously, this project phase kept me very busy (and as this was during golf season, that took some hobby time too!). If WIP shots are not for you, just scroll down to the “Eye Candy” section to see how they all came out. With all of the photos – just click on them if you want a bigger view.
TX2 “Tlaxcalan Novice Warriors in Padded Vest” WIP Shots
The TX2 baggie of Novice Warriors as received
The painting plan for the Tlaxcalan Novices. I did find that I needed to change the weapons selection after painting as some of them did not fit quite well into the figures’ hands or did not look as good. I chose specific shield designs from Steven’s Balagan and the Osprey books. The numbers you see are applied to the base bottoms and help with my ability to make game menus and aids later on.
Here you see the novices mounted on 1″ steel washers on specimen jars with poster tack for ease of painting. I also labeled them (and all the figures) with their numbers, their future weapons, and their planned shields. The Tlaxcalan Archers behind them were completed in phase 1 (a previous post described them.
I chose to try to paint all of the separate components (figures, shields, weapons) before assembly. I did find that I had a bit of difficulty getting certain the weapons to fit easily to some models so I ended up switching between issuing a macuahuitl (broadsword/club-type with obsidian edges) or a tepoztopilli (obsidian-edged thrusting spear) for a few. I should have tried to widen the figures’ hands a bit more than I did. Certainly, I think using Citadel “Apothecary White” contrast paint on the white ichcahuipilli (quilted cotton vest armor) was a big win.
TX3b “Elite Warrior in Feather Costume” WIP Shots
The TX3b as received.
Tx3b painting and assembly plan
I used a plastic plate for getting to both sides of the shields and macuahuitls.
The Tlaxcalan Elites would be a bigger challenge – primarily because in addition to the figures, weapons, and shields, each had a huge (and relatively heavy model-wise) feather backbanner. I ended up using a wooden jig to hold them during the project in between painting colors. According to my research, there were other types of backbanners – and even this type (TX3b) was supposed to have the white egret backbanner as an option. All I had were 8 of the same type of backbanners- so I diverged a bit with color selections on the center section to aid with tabletop identification. I also decided to paint them a bit differently. I used Citadel “Nuln Oil” as a wash immediately after priming white. This allowed me to get better shading – especially with subsequent uses of contrast paints on the feathers. After I painted the backbanners, I applied a satin varnish to preserve the brighter colors as I used a final matte varnish at the end of the assembly. Clearly, between the costume and the feathered backbanner, these elites had a lot of “battle plumage”! Historically, fighting in melee with the backbanner on must have been tough. I do wish I had had one of the egret backbanners, but not enough to buy any more…yet.
My painting holder/jig for the backbanners – this is early in the project.
Here the backbanners are done and ready to be assembled onto the figures.
I did paint the elite figures a bit differently as well. I find that dry brushing over contrast paints leads to too much abrasion and wear on the contrast-painted areas. These Tlaxcalan elites have a nice feathered costume, and I wanted to bring that aspect out. So, I painted the figures’ flesh first, then similarly applied Citadel “Nuln Oil” as a wash. Then I dry brushed the costume with Citadel “Hexos Palesun”, followed by an wash-like application of Citadel “Iyanden Yellow” contrast paint thinned with Citadel “Contrast Medium”. My only change going forward would be to paint the flesh base after as of course I had to cover up some errant dry brushing.
Left is an elite figure after dry brushing but before adding the contrast paint. The right one has had the contrast paint added as I described above.
A finished Tlaxcalan Elite figure – more to see in “Eye Candy” below.
TXC01 – “Tlaxcalan Captain with Conch Blower”
Finally, I wanted to add some leadership for the group. For painting, I followed a similar path as described above for the elites and the novices.
TXC1 as received. I ended up giving both a tepoztopilli (spear).Gotta have a plan!Fast forward – and the Captain completed. I do like the way he came out – and more eye candy below.
Notes on Painting Shields, Assembly, and Basing
As discussed, this project took a lot of time on details. Each figure had its own distinctive shield design. After free-handing these, I used a satin varnish similar what I did on the backbanners.
To me, this is small!
My fave shield design – though maybe mine is too happy?
Steve’s Balagan was invaluable.
The Elite and Command Group’s completed shields
The shields were affixed with a “sandwich” of E6000 epoxy and Gorilla Glue. The weapons were attached with Gorilla Glue. Assembling the backbanners was trickier. They weighed a lot, and I wanted to make sure that they would be set up for both tabletop survival and looking good. I used Gorilla Glue on them, and then finished off the mount with green stuff. This necessitated yet another wait for curing. I primed the green stuff black and left it black as I liked it better than the brown I originally planned. Better yet, it is solid, and will support the figure as it is picked up!
Figures painted – need weapons, shields, backbanners, and bases flocked and finished!
The top mount is done with green stuff and the bottom is mid-application.
After the green stuff has been sculpted.
As for basing, I probably do too much, but I think bases are so important. This time I did the bases before affixing any weapons, shields, or backbanners. I used Army Painter Brown Battlefields with PVA (Elmer’s) glue. I then add two kinds of Vallejo pigments with Vallejo airbrush thinner. Once that is dry (again a wait) I drybrush the base with four different shades of tan. After varnish, the last step is to add some static grass with PVA, and gently vacuum that mix (once a bit tacky) so that the grass gets a little frilly.
The absolute last thing I do after final matte varnish is added and static grass is to highlight the obsidian-edged weapons with some Vallejo Model Color “Glossy Black”.
DONE!!! Now let’s do some eye candy!
Eye Candy
For shots here, I got a new background from previous posts – and added some cacti that I had flocked and washed. Hope it adds to the shots!
Tlaxcalan Novices
TXN1 – has the red-striped-over-white war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl.
TXN2 – has the red-striped-over-white war paint and is armed with a tepoztopilli. Also has the “thick-lipped” shield.
TXN3 – has the black mask war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl.
TXN4 – has the black mask war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl.
TXN5 – has the red-striped-over-white war paint and a different head cover, and is armed with a macuahuitl.
TXN6 – has the red-striped-over-white war paint and a different head cover, and is armed with a tepoztopilli.
TXN7 – has the black mask war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl.
TXN8 – has no war paint and is armed with a tepoztopilli.
Tlaxcalan Elite Warriors
TXE1 – has no war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl. The center of his backbanner is tan.
TXE2 – has no war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl. The center of his backbanner is yellowish-tan.
TXE3 – has the red-striped-over-white war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl. The center of his backbanner is yellowish-tan.
TXE4 – has the black mask war paint and is armed with a tepoztopilli. The center of his backbanner is light green.
TXE5 – has the red-striped-over-white war paint and is armed with a tepoztopilli. The center of his backbanner is tan.
TXE6 – has the black mask war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl. The center of his backbanner is bright white.
TXE7 – has the red-striped-over-white war paint and is armed with a tepoztopilli. The center of his backbanner is bright white.
TXE8 – has no war paint and is armed with a macuahuitl. The center of his backbanner is light green.
Tlaxcalan Command Group
TXC1 – Tlaxcalan Captain, with no war paint, armed with a tepoztopilli. His backbanner has a serpent on it.
TXC2 – Conch Blower, with no war paint, armed with a tepoztopilli.
Tlaxcalan Command Group
Next up I need to add some warrior priests for the Tlaxcalans – and I have some old Ral Partha ones that will do the trick – I hope – stay tuned!
Miscellaneous details and references for those interested:
Posts on Games and Units for my 16th Century Spanish Conquest Supplement for Feudal Patrol™ – “Civilizations Collide”
Total figures to date for this project: 97 figures: 71 Aztecs, 26 Tlaxcalans
PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THESE TLAXCALAN NOVICE AND ELITE WARRIORS AND THE COMMAND GROUP:
Gorilla Glue
1/8″ x 1″ Everbilt Fender Washers
Plastic plates
Poster tack
Vallejo “Surface Primer – White Primer”
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
Citadel “Nuln Oil” (shade)
Battlefront “Wool Brown”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Wyldwood”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Army Painter “Tanned Flesh”
Vallejo Game Air “Black”
Citadel “Agrax Earthshade” (shade)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Basilicanum Grey”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Volupus Pink”
Vallejo Game Air “Dead White”
Citadel Air “Evil Sunz Scarlet”
Vallejo Model Air “Weiss” (off-white)
Citadel “Averland Sunset”
Vallejo Game Color “Bronze Fleshtone”
Vallejo Model Color “Sunny Skin Tone”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Darkoath Flesh”
Army Painter “Flesh Wash” (wash)
Army Painter “Red Tone” (shade)
Citadel “Caliban Green”
Vallejo Model Air “Tire Black”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Apothecary White”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Blood Angels Red”
Vallejo Model Air “Moon Yellow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Warp Lightning”
Battlefront “Chocolate Brown”
Citadel “Biel-Tan Green” (shade)
Citadel “Seraphim Sepia” (shade)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Iyanden Yellow”
Citadel “Hexos Palesun”
Vallejo Game Color “Livery Green”
Citadel “Auric Armour Gold”
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (shade)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Terradon Turquoise”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Snakebite Leather”
Citadel “Hexwraith Flame”
P3 “Sunshine” (ink)
Secret Weapon Washes “Blue” (wash)
Vallejo Model Color “Dark Blue”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Talassar Blue”
Vallejo Game Air “Escorpena Green”
Vallejo Model Air “Cockpit Emerald Green ‘Faded’”
E6000 Epoxy
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Brown Battlefields” (flocking)
Vallejo “Dark Yellow Ochre” (pigment)
Vallejo “Burnt Umber” (pigment)
Citadel “Steel Legion Drab”
Citadel “Tallarn Sand”
Citadel “Karak Stone”
Americana “Desert Sand”
Green Stuff
Reaper MSP “Black Primer”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”
Vallejo Model Color “Glossy Black”
Army Painter “Grass Green” (flocking)
Thanks for looking!!! Please let me know your thoughts and feedback in the comments section – I really appreciate hearing what you think.
Mark A. Morin 
