Starting a new adventure: Warcrow

 The title may have given me in. Right, I'm getting myself into a totally new project. "How can this be even happening?" I hear you mumbling. Well, long story short, I took the kids to a hobby event and they were on the "Ooooh! Ahhh! Shiny" side of the spectrum. They got their eyes on this game, Warcrow, brought by the same people from Infinity, the guys from Corvus Belli. Yes, I've noticed; "Corvus Belli"... "Warcrow". For sure their IP will be easy to remember.

I digress. The Suberlings really got into the aesthetics of these minis and I saw the chance to get them into the hobby, starting with minis of their own liking. Sooo, here we are! (sigh)

But now, what's Warcrow all about? Is it just a fantasy Infinity? Well, you can certainly see the minds & hands behind, but it wouldn't be a fair comparison. It takes place in the world of Lindwurm, where magic comes and goes in cycles depending on the arrival of a mystical celestial body called... the Warcrow (dun dun dunn). Magic is returning, ancient powers are waking up, everybody mistrusts everybody else, and naturally this means (no relation with actual events along present or past history whatsoever) heavily armoured people start solving diplomatic disputes with axes and halberds.

Yes, it has this kind of Infinity vibe, in a subtle way. No hackers or ninjas (yet), but you can feel the clean aesthetics, dynamic poses and the way factions seem to have very distinct personalities. Oh, and tactical stones, sure thing.

Both my kids liked human factions the most. So humans it is. Let me start with the Hegemony of Embersig. They’re basically a young, expansionist empire mixing humans, elves and all sorts into a disciplined military machine dressed in black armour and gold trim. A bit of Roman Empire, a bit of dark fantasy conquistador, a bit of “we are definitely the good guys, please ignore the marching columns”. Very stylish lot.

Starting with the leadership, these are a special character, named Dragoslav Bjelogríc, a Hetman of the Black Legion, and a Black Legion Bucklerman Sergeant

Moustache boys. No, definitely not Mario Bros.

The Frostfire Herald, i.e., an Elven Mage, and a War Surgeon.

The pic is bad (as usual), but you should be able to spot the 'Plague Doctor'-like mask

The muscle of this warband are the Bucklermen, the regular troops from the Black Legion:

As with any ultra-dynamic minis, it's almost impossible to find their golden angle

You can see this is a more skirmish-oriented game. This is all you need to get a functional warband:

We're dark, ominous and terr... I mean... We're the good guys!

Taking good pics of such dark minis is tricky!

We can move on to the other human faction, Feudom, which feels much closer to classic feudal fantasy:  knights, oaths, religion, honour and all that lovely medieval business. From the little I’ve read, they seem to lean into the whole crusader-kingdom aesthetic rather heavily. I wouldn't say a Bretonnia copycat, but certainly in that 14-15th Century Burgundy vibe, as described by Japanese videogame designers.

Here you have the  warrior ladies: Morgane de Jauffret Syzigian and Verena of Aurtigard:

(Yes, I had to look up for the names)

The banner bearer and the Knight of the Sacred Relic:

Wouldn't like to mess with that grimdark crusader. Don't know how can he even lift that hammer

Finally, the generic troopers, the Guisarmiers:

(The "guisarme" is the long halberd)

 Again, a manageable warband to run reasonable skirmishes:

Agincourt on steroids

Just a proof that I painted the rear parts too!

 

Well, what a start of a project, huh? I still haven't read the rules, but at least we have a couple of warbands to give them a try.

You know, the thing is that these were part of two separate starter boxes, so I have two other warbands to assemble, now the non-human factions. I still have many other stuff to do before, but at least the kids now have enough to get started!!