The Baron’s Hunt – Spring Clean 2026

To finish this group, I still had the horses, shield, silver highlights, horns and the base to paint.

For the horse, I mixed Rhinox Hide:The Fang 1:1 and applied this all over, except on the black primed horse where it was added as a highlight. I also used this for the fur on the cloaks.

For the horns, I tested a bone scheme, starting with Zandri Dust:The Fang 1:1 followed by Karak Stone:The Fang 1:1.

I followed these with a recess and underside wash of Drakenhof Nightshade as a shadow.

I then highlighted the horns further with Karak Stone:Fenrisian Grey 1:1.

For the base, I started with Thondia Brown:The Fang:Black Templar 1:1:1.

I then used Drakenhof again in the shadow of the model. I gave a light Drybrush of Thondia:Fenrisian 1:1 to the lit areas.

I added some grass patches and washed them in Drakenhof mixed with some water to darken the “roots”, which turned out alright compared to the natural bright green of the grass that I use.

I used Stormhost Silver as a metal highlight to give some shine at the high points of the weapons, helms and mail that points upwards.

Finally, I took the Black shield and glazed on some The Fang pushing towards the upper edge. I then stippled on some watered down Fenrisian Grey as a cross and then Ulthuan Grey towards the upper edges of the pattern. I thinned Drakenhof:Lahmian Medium 1:4 and washed over the full shield to soften some of the colours.

I still need to paint the base rims but grabbed some pictures while the final washes dry.

Following the blue basecoat of Incubi Darkness:Abaddon Black in a 2:1 ratio, I added layers of Incubi Darkness followed by 1:1 Incubi Darkness:Stegadon Scale Blue.

For the Green, I followed the basecoat of Incubi Darkness:Caliban Green:Abaddon Black in a 2:2:1 ratio with 1:1 Incubi Darkness:Caliban Green. I then layered up 1:1 Incubi Darkness:Warpstone Glow followed by 1:1 Stegadon Scale:Warpstone Glow.

Next, I need to work out how to mix Black without it looking too much like the Blue, test out some Basing colours and finish the Skele-Sergeant, who I cannot decide on a tabard colour for.

Following on from last update, I decided to focus on models wearing Mail first. This includes two models that are currently painted which will get some alterations and the models above; The Baron, Two Knights, Two Mounted Knights and a Foot Sergeant with a rather bony complexion.

The main colours that I will be using are Red, Green and Blue, so following the mail, wood and leather areas from last time, I started blocking these in.

For the blue base, I used Incubi Darkness:Abaddon Black in a 2:1 ratio, leaving some black in the shadows on the Black Primed mini. This will be a half scheme with the other side in Red, which I will focus on for this update.

I am not concerned about using a Grey Primer for the rest as I will be adding more shadow later, and I find Grey easier to see detail in.

For Green cloth, I started with Incubi Darkness:Caliban Green:Abaddon Black in a 2:2:1 ratio. It’s very dark, so I covered the full area.

For the Red cloth, I started with a mix of Khorne Red:The Fang:Abaddon Black in a 2:1:1 ratio.

The Fang would add some cold blue to the mix and Khorne Red is already quite dark and lacks the bold redness of something like Mephiston Red. Perfect for my plan for lowlight/moonlit miniatures with the low light levels at night showing Reds with less saturation and much darker than blue colours.

At each stage with these reds, I also covered areas on my red painted models with the corresponding shadow/mid/highlight colours. Just with 1 thin coat, with the intention of desaturating them and tying them into the new theme.

For the next layers of Red I used:

Khorne Red:The Fang in a 1:1 ratio as a first highlight/layer (see the rear of the horse in the next image)

followed by,

Mephiston Red:Fenrisian Grey in a 1:1 ratio as a bright highlight (see the front of the horse in the next image).

I focused these towards the top of the mini, I also selected the left (right as I look at it) of the model to have the highlights running a little further down to suggest the light was coming from up and to their left.

I wondered if the Fenrisian Grey was too much of a jump alongside the Mephiston Red to add some saturation. I had also tried the previous Khorne:Fang with some Screaming Skull mixed in but it was too pink. Maybe just Fenrisian into that would have been enough. In the end, I think it has worked fine, but it is something to consider when I work on the Blue and Green, not to jump all at once into the next brightness level.

I also considered where future shadows would be, keeping highlights from extending under limbs, cloaks, the horses neck etc, as these areas will be getting darkened further later.

With that, I was happy with the red for now, and am moving onto the blue and green. I have another image collecting the red clothed models together.

The Wargames Atlantic Guard with GW Dark Riders head is still a bit bright, but I can work on that when I add some more shading.

I hope that the effect is starting to come through, I might need to think about finding something dark to photo against, at least for the finished models later as it is hard to read “Moonlight” when they are in a white space. Future me problem.

I decided that my Baron would join the two accompanying Mounted Knights I had already built last year in wielding a Battle Axe, a nice addition to the Knight profile in a recent update to their wargear.

I had to take further inspiration from Herne the Hunter and use one of the Antler adorned helms from Victrix Medieval & Fantasy Heads, Cloaks & Shields. He would look out of place without them, since the other two knights had horns of their own.

I also added some damage to the barding on the horse using a triangular file and a pin vise. Though with my plan for painting (which I will come to soon), I should have been more destructive as it is not too clear.

In a final effort to help my leader stand out, I took some offcut pieces of puddle base and cut them into small slab shapes. I knew I was hording them for good reason, I just didn’t know what it was. I also used a small rectangle piece of coffee stirrer for one slab to represent a hasty wooden repair, though the texture might not be too clear once primed. I’ll have to see when it’s time to paint the base.

I placed these slabs at the front of the base to suggest the rider was approaching a road, since stories involving such hosts often centred around a lone traveller being met on the road by a rider offering them a challenge.

I placed a thinned piece of coffee stirrer at the edge of the road, not sure how accurate it is but I wanted something to represent the mud and verge being restrained and kept separate from the stone bridleway.

I added a mix of Black & Yellow craft paint (comes out a nice dark green-brown), Wall Filler, Play Sand, PVA Glue and Water as my home-made mud mix, washing it into the cracks between the slabs with a wet brush.

I forgot to take a Built and Primed picture of the Baron, so I’ll add a sneak preview with a bit of paint on at the end.

Speaking of paint, it was time to decide on how to approach this varied retinue. I needed a theme to tie them together.

From my reading, a few different themes presented themselves. White Hounds with red ears, large black-clad huntsmen, eyes like saucers or perhaps flaming. Either way, one theme stood out, Night.

I haven’t played around with the idea of moonlight, or any sort of OSL or similar before. I don’t want to go the route of light from above and orange flame from below, I know my current limits however, I would like to try a more directional highlight and a bit of mixing to add bluish tones. Reds will be muted as they can appear more black in dim light and I’ll be mixing in blue and blue-greys to aim for a moonlit retinue.

I will probably go unit by unit, but to start, it’s anyone wearing mail.

I blocked in Leadbelcher for the silver, Rhinox hide for leather and Mournfang Brown for wood detail (image 1), before washing with Drakenhof Nightshade (image 2), just to see how it came out at first.

I’ll need to darken the shadows some more, but for now, it gave me an idea of where to go.

As promised, here is the Baron. I have done a bit more painting, blocking in some colours on the cloth areas and fixing some brighter colours on a couple of painted models but that will be for the next update.

I started building some miniatures last year with the intention of getting into The Baron’s War. After getting excited by Konflikt 47, and earlier this year rattling through 100 GW minis for their challenge, I still haven’t gotten around to it. It’s time to change that… almost.

I realised that I have a fair number of assorted models that I can use as enemies in games like 5 Leagues but they still needed some paint. This leads me to my latest idea for a retinue.

I was reading a bit about myths in and around the UK and an idea started to gather some steam. There are stories across Europe, and specifically within UK folklore too, of intimidating hunting parties, ghostly riders, daemons etc, sometimes believed to be an omen of war or plague. To keep my inspiration/references short, this motif has appeared in The Anglo-Saxon/Peterborough Chronicle (in an event in the 1100s) and later in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Herne the Hunter) including other 20th century works that expand on the character. Most will know it as a Wild Hunt.

So, here we are, “The Baron’s Hunt”, a retinue for The Baron’s War that represents:

• ill omens, vile creatures and cursed individuals in a perpetual hunt, foreboding the war(s) to come
• a story told by a cowardly Lord to excuse fleeing from battle
• the drunken ramblings of an old soldier in the local tavern many years after the Baron’s war(s) concluded

I gathered up some models and started messing with the Baron’s War app to plot out a short-list.

I decided on a few models that I can draw from for a list, consisting of:

Baron (Mounted)

Knights (Mounted) x2

Knights (Foot, 2 Handed Weapon) x6

Serjeants (Foot, Falchion and Shield) x4

Spearmen x5

Bowmen x4

Levy (Slingers) x5

Levy (Hand Weapon) x10

I needed to build a few models to make sure I was at a minimum of 4 for a couple of units. An extra spearman, a cursed individual who joined the hunt, with some chains inspired by the trope of ghosts with rattling chains. I also built two extra bowmen, one who’s all bones and another inspired by the curse on Herne, wearing the antlers as he chases his quarry.

The Spearman was built using Wargames Atlantic Peasant Levy as a body base, with a spear and stone pouch (slinger) from the same set. A Frostgrave Cultist 3 Head and belt adornment add some extra creepiness. Finally adding a left arm and chain from Oathmark Goblin Slaves for more linked metal goodness.

One archer is just a Wargames Atlantic Skelebob with bow, like one of those I already built.

The final archer uses a Frostgrave Cultist 3, as the head was going to be a bit large on a Levy body, and it was key to the look.

I still have to build my “Baron”, the leader of the Hunt. I am also planning how I will paint (and repaint is some cases) this group considering the various descriptions and styles that I could attempt, I want a bit of a challenge for this one so will try to go out of my comfort zone.