The Others, Part I: The White Walkers

Having recently completed an 11-12 man Winterfell warband, it's time to move on to other projects.  Right now the Lannisters are in the hopper, but I'm currently in the midst of brainstorming some ideas for a force of White Walkers/Others.  Part of this is due to the fact that WWs will add some more of a horror/fantasy element to the game, while Stark-Lannister conflicts are more or less straight-up medieval skirmish wargames due in large part to the understated fantasy elements within the series.  So, while I get on with the task of starting up my Lannister conversions, here goes.

White Walkers are, in the world of GRRM, divided into several distinct categories.  These are, specifically, White Walkers (WW), wights, and what I shall refer to as "fell beasties" of all sorts, specifically reanimated creatures

* White Walkers/Others themselves.  As put in an interview with Martin, "They are strange, beautiful...think, oh...the Sidhe made of ice, something like that...a different sort of life...inhuman, elegant, dangerous." As per other sources, "Martin also confirmed that the White Walkers are not 'dead', just an inhuman kind of life."

So, in other words, WWs themselves occupy a leadership position within any "Others" warband.  They are lithe and sinuous, but also inseparably linked to things cold and malevolent.  They may be magic users and are adept in combat, but other than that, little is known.  Based on these observations, here are a few potential models to use with regards to the field of battle.

Privateer Press has an few excellent model that would work from their Legion of Everblight range of Hordes.

While I would normally prefer these guys to have less clothing on, the figure in the middle looks particularly suitable for a White Walker captain.

Annyssa Ryvaal is also an excellent choice for a mounted Walker, as she not only has the right look, but is riding a reindeer, while I feel really captures the spirit of the race.

Brigade Models' line of Sidhe from their Celtos line also has a few decent options for WW solos and characters.  For example, Nuada of the Silver Hand:

As well as Irdil of the Silent Arrow:

Games Workshop also has a few suitable options, such as the Twilight Ringwraiths from their Lord of the Rings series:

All in all, not a terribly bad selection for White Walkers, especially since I imagine most skirmish-level warbands wouldn't need more than one or two (or perhaps three in the event of a massed battle).

More to come in Part II: The Wights.  Stay tuned!

Stark Warband Complete!

Sorry for the lack of updates recently.  I was waiting on some static grass to finish my lads and, what do you know?  It was cheaper and easier to order the damn stuff from England on Amazon than it was find it at my local suppliers or via my usual go-to place, thewarstore.com.

In retrospect, I probably should have had the men wearing white with grey wolves, as that is the "official" heraldry for the Starks of Winterfell.  However, it should be noted that the household guards of the Starks are consistently referred to as "greycloaks" and at one point, Arya is almost fooled by Goldcloaks disguised as her father's men in grey cloaks.  Of course, it really has ended up as more of a blue, but I'm generally content with the overall scheme.  Plus, give the massive influx of recruits at the beginning of the War of the Four(/Five) Monarchs, it is certainly reasonable to expect that in a pre-industrial society, there would be plenty of variation.  The winter effects were made with GF9 snow effects, as well as MIG weathering powder (white).  Overall, I'm pleased.

Ah well.  This is what happens when you get a historical gamer modeling fantasy figures.  Enjoy!