First Look At Axia’s Next Kickstarter For Tales Of The Old World

Giuseppe has sculpted some truly magnificent figures for Axia's Tales of the Old World range and in September he returns once again with his first human(ish) mercenary warband in Tales of the Old World: Revenge of the Mad Count! Based on Piotr Chrzanowski's stunning artwork.

Tales of the Old World: Revenge Of The Mad Count! // Axia

Axia is back with its sixth Kickstarter, and this time the focus is on a long-requested addition to its range: human mercenaries, which starts with an 18-model core force and can grow through a series of unlockable freebies and paid add-ons. As with Axia’s previous campaigns, there are options for both physical miniatures and digital STL files, with the Golden and All-In pledges offering an increasingly hefty haul for collectors looking to get the most from the campaign.

Piotr Chrzanowski has done an amazing set of art based on the Sun Of Averland, a Polish reenactment group, and now Axia is using his artwork to form the basis for a Human Mercenary Warband that will be sought after by fans of the Old World and Mordheim.

Piotr Chrzanowski

The artwork immediately establishes a grim, distinctly Old World mercenary aesthetic. The heavily armed woman at the centre has plenty of character, from the extravagant feathered headdress and skull details to the battered shield bearing the Averland Sun. There’s a sense that these are practical soldiers rather than pristine fantasy heroes, with a mixture of armour, cloth and well-used equipment.

As you can see from the render, it stays remarkably close to that original concept, carrying over the distinctive headdress, skulls, shield design, spear and layered clothing. The pose has been simplified slightly for a miniature, but the important elements of the character are all there, making it a great example of how Axia translates its artwork into a sculpt that should still be instantly recognisable on the tabletop.

Likewise, you can see with the maul-carrying soldier that some details are pulled straight from the art, like the massive-nosed poleyn that screams both madly medieval and also don't knee me in the groin! But at the same time, the cross on the breastplate has been swapped out so the recurring Sun emblem could be added.

The sword and board has probably seen the most deviation with changes to the shield and attire, but she is still distinctly the fighter from the image.

Little details like shifting the hourglass around to the rear give a visually clean version of the art while still maintaining as much as possible about what makes these soldiers all individuals.

I've named this fellow the Captain in my head as he appears to be ordering people about, or perhaps he's telling his pet who to attack, and I love the detailing on his jacket and the charms around his neck, either tokens from his family or to his God perhaps to remember and keep him safe.

We don't just have mercenaries coming based on Piotr's artwork, for the full warband, there are others, both human and non-human. The standard-bearer is a great sculpt with both pistol and poleaxe to defend himself; no one will be carrying off this standard easily.

I'll leave you with a teaser of one of those non-human mercs in the form of a well-dressed Ogre, earning his crust the only way he knows how. Clearly he's been with them long enough to be civilised he's practically a sharp-dressed man.

Keep an eye out for this new Kickstarter campaign coming later in September. If you've missed out on the previous Kickstarter campaigns, this is going to be a perfect chance to snap all of it up and get yourself some great warbands for whatever Fantasy game you want to play.

Do you like the look of this new Warband?