Mordheim Tileans

Hot on the heels of the Bretonnians and Middenheimers, here's a group of Tileans for Mordheim. I had fun trying to distinguish them from the look of the native Empire warbands. Tons more pics and lore below the jump...

Tilea is the Warhammer World's equivalent of Italy. They received a very thematic Warhammer Army Book back in the day (Dogs of War) that showed their armies as a mix of irregular mercenary regiments hired by city states. Tileans also received some Mordheim rules in Town Cryer (with variants for three Tilean cities), which in my opinion were overly finnicky. I'll do my usual complaint: they should have been an add-on variant for the standard Mercenary warband (same as Reiklanders, Marienbergers etc).

With a Tilean warband, as with Bretonnians, you've got to explain: what has brought them to the worst city in the world? What are they doing in the Empire? I've borrowed from a purely vibes-based interpretation of real-world medieval Italian history, to say: for this warband it's a matter of politicking, intrigue and betrayal.

The Contessa

Heiress to a small coastal town with economic potential, the Contessa was touring the Empire with a small entourage to shore up political support for her domain. However, some months into her journey, in Ostermark, a courier caught up with her to deliver the sad news that her mother, the old Contessa, had died suddenly and unexpectedly from "the Tilean Malaise" (a sudden case of poisoning by an ambitious relative). The young Contessa's younger brother was now Conte in her place. He sent only the simple message: "don't come back :-)"

The Contessa's mission was now one of collecting alliances and military support for returning to claim her position with a vengeance. There was simply the small matter of finance. Fortunately, there was new word of riches for the taking in the newly ruined city of Mordheim nearby...

Making the Contessa's entourage, my main goal was to differentiate the models from the more Germanic Empire style. The Contessa's armour for example has Venetian-style carnival masks where Empire style might have skulls. The base model is the chief cultist from the Chaos Space Marines Dark Commune, who needed only a little work to turn her outfit from fully Chaotic to only merely grotesque. The Contessa's head is from the Freeguild range, which is a fantastic source for human heads of all sorts.

I attempted a damask pattern on her robes - I think that it pushes it more into the cosmopolitan, mercantile vibe that Tilea would have more than The Empire. This maybe represents a Cathayan silk gown (an expensive rare item you can take in Mordheim) that is probably already ruined (an unfortunate rule that nullifies the item's effect!). She certainly looks like a noble who's fallen on hard times. Will Mordheim prove to be the right place to search for riches and influence? (almost certainly not!) 

The condottiere

The condottiere is a simple character - a hired mercenary of the sort common in medieval Italian city states. He uses mostly Empire parts, carefully chosen for their style that kind of matches what I saw in pictures while researching for the project. His hair has a bit of greenstuff work, he has a Bretonnian shortsword accessory, and his halberd is a mix of Bretonnian and Askurgan vampire bits.

I chose the Askurgan weapon haft from my bits box since the hands and detailing are much crisper than for the older Empire kits, and eventually decided not to remove the details that make it look like a long bone - such a macabre detail fits with Mordheim I think. He has a playing card pinned next to his flask, and I painted it up as The Empress (symbolising his employer), to complement Olivinius' The Magician.

DiMarco

The other two are explicit nods to prior GW Tilean characters: Maximillian Damark, and Leonard of Miragliano (who is not really a GW character, but Da Vinci himself). DiMarco came about by happenstance after finding a head in my bits box that reminded me of that classic sculpt. When I found I had a spare arm doing "the Italian gesture" I was resolved that I 100% had to make this guy (the hand is from the Warcry Unmade gang - the guy with the arm raising his mask to reveal his gross face - I cut away the mask leaving the hand like that). 

The original Maximillian Damark (copyright Games Workshop)

The mdoel is not a direct copy, but is more driven by my glee that I could scrape together enough parts from my bits box to build a homage to this legend.

Even so, I broadly followed the colour scheme from the original Damark. I have a feeling that one day, one of DiMarco's descendants will go on to lead the Marksmen of Miragliano.

Leo

 The Empire Flagellants set is an staple kit for Mordheim kitbashing, and it famously has a head directly designed after Leonardo Da Vinci, so of course I had to use this in a Tilean project. Leo is the Contessa's most trusted advisor. He carries a walking staff that also functions as a heavy bludgeon.

 The globe on the staff's head presents a surprisingly well-researched map of the known world, produced thanks to his discussions with travellers from Araby and Cathay, and perhaps even Ulthuan. Indeed Leo has named his staff "The Known World". When he hits people with it, he likes to joke about instilling knowledge right into their head.

 I didn't refer to GW's Leonard of Miragliano model to make this one (actually I don't think I could remember what it looked like). Both my kitbash and GW's version are meant to look like Leonardo da Vinci, so there you go!

Finally, here's a WIP shot showing which bits are green-stuff. Notably before I'd decided what to put on the end of Leo's staff!

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In all, this was a fun project! I enjoyed steering them away from the typical Empire visual cues and try to hint at a different but neighbouring culture. All of my Mordheim warbands are low model count, so there is opportunity to go back and expand on each one. Maybe this one will get more models in future.