Oops More Empire of the Dead Releases

Oops forgot these figures. Now I don't recall a "spirit vacuum" in the rulebook but this chap looks mad as a hatter and that's good enough for me.

EOTD Police Dog Handler

The Police Special Branch Infernum Hound and Handler blister is now out. Backers of the Westwind Requiem KS have been awaiting this figure for nearly a year.

I'm sorry guys I've know about this for 2 weeks but the holidays have keep me of the computer for some time now. I'm horribly behind on Clint's wonderful naval game, the Padre's commandos, Wargamer girl's prodigious challenge output and I'm sure so much more. I'm furiously writing posts for you guys, expect a small flurry this week as I'll be very busy at work New Year's week. There will be more EOTD figure release photos, Christmas folklore and a London Board update in store for this Christmas week.

Nadezhda Durova

Everyone who pledged in the Requiem Kickstarter received this this dashing hussar or should I say hussette? But did you know that this figure is an artistic interpretation of a real life military adventuress? Yes Nadezhda Duroa was a decorated Tsarist hero of the Napoleonic Wars! 

"The year was 1807. Napoleon and his Grande Armée, having defeated the vaunted Prussian army the year before, was on the move again, and the Russian army was marching west to meet him. Among the multitude of Russian units was the Polish Lancer Regiment, whose recruiting parties rode alongside its line of march, trying to fill vacancies in its ranks. One rainy night in March a young man presented himself to one of those parties and politely asked to join the regiment. His only answer to the captain's questions about his background was that he was a Russian nobleman who left his family to join the military in spite of its disapproval. The volunteer, who called himself Aleksandr Sokolov, enlisted as a 'gentleman-ranker.' Nobody suspected that this slim, dark-eyed man was, in fact, a young woman named Nadezhda A. Durova." 
"Once in the Polish Lancers, Durova received her baptism of fire at Guttstadt on May 22, 1807. Throughout the action, the Lancers did not fight as a regiment–instead, each squadron would make a charge and then rotate to allow a fresh squadron to take its place in line. Either in her excitement, or simple ignorance of what was expected, Nadya joined in every squadron's assault until an officer from another such unit noticed her with his squadron and chased her away.


In addition to displaying her inexperience, the battle first showcased Durova's bravery. While returning with her own squadron after a charge, she saw several French dragoons surround a Russian dragoon officer and knock him off his horse with a pistol shot. Without a second thought, Nadya lowered her lance and charged. Startled, the French dragoons scattered. Showing more nobility than judgment, Durova then lent the wounded officer her horse to get him to the nearest field doctor. She was able to recover Alchides much later–after Cossacks had stolen her saddlebags, packed with food, personal possessions and her overcoat. She spent several very uncomfortable and wet nights before she replaced the lost items with those pilfered from troopers killed in action."

Nadezhda fought in all the later campaigns of 1812, 1813, 1814 and the Hundred Days Campaign of 1815 which ended in the Battle of Waterloo. She impersonated a man throughout her military career but rumors of a cavalry-woman in the Russian ranks persisted and "Durova was summoned for a personal audience with the tsar at St. Petersburg. Aleksandr was very impressed with her and granted her permission to stay in the army. He also awarded her the Cross of St. George for saving the life of an officer and commissioned her as a cornet (second lieutenant), with permission to join the regiment of her choice. She chose the Mariupol Hussars, known for a large number of Russian aristocrats serving in its ranks." 

Despite the Tsar learning the truth she continued to wear mens clothing and insist on being address as Sir even after she retired from the army to her country estate. She found this retirement to be a bore so she wrote four novels, her memoirs and numerous short stories.The Cavalry Maiden: Journals of a Russian Officer in the Napoleonic Wars, her memoirs are available in English through Amazon.

She became a Soviet era icon due to the Aleksandr Gladkov play, A Long Time Ago.

She appears here as one of the main characters in Eldar Ryazanov's 1960's film The Hussar Ballad. 

She became such a soviet darling that her likeness appeared on a 2 ruble coin. 

She was decorated for bravery numerous times during the course of her military career and subsequently the subject of many military themed oil paintings.

She was buried with full military honors in 1866 at the age of 83. Or was she?
She appears here in Requiem in the flower of her adventuring youth could she have become one of the Nosferatu?

(Quotes taken from an article orignially publish in Military History magazine on June 12 2006. The article can be found here.

Requiem KS photo bonanza! Special Characters & Bobbie Set pt2

MY Requiem package hasn't arrived yet, that damned postmen! So instead of flying into  murderous rage, I've rifled through Lunatic R.'s parcel again causing him to fly into a protective rage. Once the dust had cleared I'd managed to come away with more photographs of the brand new KS miniatures, which I will share with you my readers.

Again these figures have not been cleaned up nor based, they are as they came in the package. The pictures are a little hurried but I think they will give you an idea of the beauty of the sculpts. We will begin with the Special Characters that Lunatic R. ordered, the KS offered a huge number of individual miniatures to choose from in the KS, there are only a handful here as one could choose sets or individuals in your order and sets won out. His first 3 choices where characters from the wildly popular comic "The Extraordinary League of Gentlemen" Alan Quartermain, Captain Nemo and The Invisible Man.

Alan Quartermain

The Invisible Man

Captain Nemo

You can see how much influence the comic had on these figures. Next up the steam cannon operator:

Now for individual shots of the Bobbies Set first posted here.

So this is the whole set in pictures. Lunatic R. has fallen in love with these bobbies so much that he is putting aside his Brotherhood faction to begin a Special Branch 666 faction using the Special Branch 666 Set found here, the Bobbies Set and the Constable in Perambulator Boots pictured below.

He is now ready to create a fantastic Special Branch Faction, so now I'll have to beef up my vampires to match his supernatural policemen!

That's it for Requiem news from me at least until my package arrives. Next I'll begin my Zomtober 2013 posts.

Requiem Update 221 B Baker Street in the metal

Lunatic R. received his Kickstarter package I took some quick photos of his miniatures in the bare metal before clean up in an effort to give you an idea of what you are getting. They have limited flash and the mold lines are faint.

Here is the 221 B Baker Street Set

This is the set, they are great miniatures with nearly no defects of any kind. My one issue with this set is that Watson, though a wonderful sculpt, doesn't seem to fit with the rest of this set. This is a fantastic set of figures that one can imagine seated in the parlor discussing a case. Watson on the other had looks like he's hunting a blackguard through the foggy streets of London. For this set he should be smoking his pipe or taking notes. He would fit in much better with this set if he was.

Clickers Faction Painted!

West Wind has just released photographs of the Requiem Clickers faction painted by Ruben.

 To be perfectly honest I had no idea what to expect with this faction so I didn't buy into them. They have turned out to be cooler than I had ever expected them to be! I'm rather distraught that these lovelys are not on their way to my home with the rest of my pledge.