Game of Thrones - The Mad Queen

Season 6 Finale SPOILERS Ahead!

Continue at your own risk!

I really enjoyed Season 6 of Game of Thrones. While I had a few issues with one or two storylines and some of the pacing; I did find it a big improvement over season 5 (which I really didn't like i.e. Dorne) and there were lots of scenes and surprises I really enjoyed. The last two episodes in particular were excellent and it is a real shame that their director, Miguel Sapochnik, has been nabbed by Netflix and won't be directing any episodes in season 7.

While Battle of the Bastards was a true spectacle perhaps one of the best visual representations of the grim realities of medieval warfare I have ever seen, the final episode: The Winds of Winter was a plot and character driven rollercoaster I really enjoyed. The first fifteen minutes or so in Kings Landing for me was the standout part of the season.

The piece of music which accompanied Cersi's revenge on House Tyrell and the Faith, quite fittingly called 'The Light of the Seven', was brilliant if a little different to the usual score given the use of a piano and an organ. The entire segment very much felt like the ending of one of the Godfather films where we see Michael orchestrate revenge on all those who have slighted him at once.

The climax of course was the burning of the Sept of Baelor where wildfire caches that have remained hidden since the days of the Mad King are lit by Qyburn's little birds. I have already seen one or two spectacular pieces of art based around this scene and I felt inspired to do one myself which I have titled: 'The Mad Queen'.

Disappearing and returning to the hobby

As some of you might have noticed I sort of dropped off the face of the earth some time in September last year. The past year for me has been incredibly busy for various reasons and without warning my hobby was put onto the back-burner. In between commitments I did manage to paint a few things but nothing substantial and unfortunately blogging fell off of my radar altogether. I think this is something that we all do from time to time when life overtakes us and I would like to apologise that in this instance I disappeared without warning. 

My academic year however is now over and with some free time I have been able to get some serious painting done and decided it was high time I address the blog. Firstly I have reorganised some aspects of the blog in order to make newer and more interesting content more easily available while clearing out some of the digital cobwebs that had built up. 

Currently I am working on re-painting my Chaos army (a project I wanted to finish before Christmas but never got round to) and some random stuff for Frostgrave which my brother and I have really gotten into this past year. You can expect to see this, alongside a few random Kingdom Death miniatures to appear in the next few months.

WIP Twilight Knight (Reverse Pin-up)

Also this summer I am planning to do a serious re-evalutaion of what I own and will most likely be selling off some of my armies and miniatures which I don't use anymore and are just languishing in boxes gathering dust. Those models I choose to keep will receive special treatment in order to be displayed. As I don't battle very often I have decided I might as well get a glass cabinet and put what I do have on show.

As for future projects I am in fact planning on taking the plunge into Age of Sigmar. I have decided that my time for mourning the Old World is over and I can hardly resist the new miniatures and the appeal of delving into a new universe to explore. More on this to come in the Autumn when I start work on the Court of the Silver Lion and the Church of Nagash. No doubt I will soon write an editorial about my thoughts on Age of Sigmar as a follow-up to the editorial I wrote last year: Thoughts on Age of Sigmar: rage, optimism and the uncertain future...

Lord Quasdomo the Twice-Cursed

Already I have started work on this mighty Chaos Lord who will be visiting the Court of the Silver Lion as a foreign dignitary. I had an awful lot of fun converting the Forge World Praetor Tribune, which I picked up on a total whim having gone to my local GW for some paints, and I look forward to using him in the future.

I also plan on posting some more of my other art to the blog including canvas and watercolour pieces. Currently I am working on this acrylic painting which was inspired by the season finale of Game of Thrones. On this note I will leave you and I look forward to posting some more content on here in the next few weeks.

Doombringer out.

WIP: The Mad Queen

Game of Thrones - Group Photos

For the final blog post I do on Game of Thrones for a while I have a few group photos of the war bands facing one another. To see the rest of the pictures with my comments go to the dedicated Game of Thrones page accessible from the top bar that contains all the links to posts with the models. Enjoy!

War in the Riverlands

The Brotherhood Without Banners enters the fray

Different angle

Battle of the Blackwater

Dragonstone force

Game of Thrones - Salladhar Saan's Lysene Pirates

The second part of my Dragonstone force is a small group of Lysene pirates hired by Ser Davos to pad out Stannis's army and led by an old friend of the onion knight: Salladhar Saan himself. Apologies for only a short post today but I will make up for it next week.

Game of Thrones - House Baratheon of Dragonstone

All Hail the One True King of Westeros!

The King in the Narrow Sea
Stannis Baratheon

With all these pretenders to the throne fighting in the Riverlands I have finally turned my attention to the rightful King: Stannis of the House Baratheon, King of the Andals, the First Men and the Rhoynar, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. Protecting his right to the throne are two war bands I have created; the first being loyal men of Dragonstone led by the Hand of the King Ser Davos Seaworth and the second being some Lysene Pirates led by Salladhar Saan. Thus far I am yet to find a satisfactory model to use for Stannis the Mannis himself but I promise he will follow eventually.

Game of Thrones - House Lannister

House Lannister is arguably the most interesting of the great houses of Westeros with a slew of complex characters at the very centre of the sexy political intrigue that makes Game of Thrones so enthralling. Continuing with the 'War in the Riverlands' theme I have built a heavily armoured Lannister patrol to be ambushed by the Blackfish or Thoros of Myr.

Hear Me Roar!

This war band represents a Lannister patrol led by Ser Addam Marbrand: the leader of Tywin Lannister's outriders from the books and a childhood friend of Ser Jaime Lannister. What this war band lacks in ranged combat it makes up for with cavalry, three knights of the Westerlands and Ser Addam himself leading the charge against the rebel northerners.

Game of Thrones - Brotherhood Without Banners

The Brotherhood Without Banners makes a nice neutral war band to add to my growing collection of converted 'Game of Thrones' miniatures. After this I have several other mini-projects set in Westeros that I have planned and which you can no doubt guess from looking at the 'A Game Of Thrones' page on the bar near the top.

Thoros of Myr

Game of Thrones - House Tully

Several years ago I heard that HBO was making a new series based on the best-selling fantasy series 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. Deciding I could do with something fresh after re-reading the Lord of the Rings for the fifth/sixth? time I sat down and read the first book over the course of two days and was instantly hooked. I finished the rest of the books over the next few weeks and turned in anticipation to HBO's adaptation. I was not let down and I would very much recommend both the books and the TV series to anyone who enjoys darker, grittier fantasy.

Having just gotten hold of the Season 3 boxed set I decided to have a three-season marathon. About two thirds of the way through as I watched Robb Stark moving little wolves, lions, krakens and flayed men around on a map discussing war an idea hit me. I have got all sorts of old Lord of the Rings  models just laying around that would be perfect for using in a small-scale skirmish game. Digging through my infamously large, bizarre and poorly organised bitz boxes, I soon found what I was looking for...