Saturday 13 August 2016

STAND BACK! Be silent! Be still!



John Boorman's 1981 epic, Excalibur left quite an impression on young master Awdry.  Whilst familiar with the Arthurian legend, albeit in the sanitised form that was freely available to schoolchildren at the time, nothing had prepared me for this this dark, often harrowing, interpretation based of the 15th century, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory.  The was a visually stunning piece of work, but I remember being as confused as I was amazed, not least because they used the Old Spice theme tune to ride into battle!*
*Carl Orff's O Fortuna
With a formidable cast of British and Irish talent a stand out turn has to be that of Nicol Williamson as Merlin.  Mesmerised by the metallic skull cap, Williamson's Merlin steals every scene he is in, his comedic timing combined with a genuine screen presence giving the role true gravitas.  Perhaps not surprising then that a Merlinesque miniature would appear as part of the Zombicide Black Plague Kickstarter.  
Morgan, to give him his correct Zombicide name, was one of the randomly selected miniatures that the 'Dark Templar' fielded on his recent excursion to 'Awdry Towers', but what a revelation he soon became.  Armed with dual magic spells, Mike was rolling in excess of six dice at one point with devastating effects on the undead hoard.  With the ability to hold a third, longer ranged spell in the armour slot, Morgan was fast becoming an indispensable addition to the team.  
His official Zombicide blurb reads as follows, The third son of a knight, Morgan was always too poor to be a knight, too strong to be a scholar, and too smart to be a thug. What magic he could find was second-hand stuff, gleaned from sneaking into old castles and stealing from necromancers. He knows enough magic to get by, but in a pinch, his staff is a wonderful mace and his dagger will slow down even a zombie. Morgan always dreamed of advising a king. Now his best bet may be saving one’s life.
So, again in homage to his efforts on the board, Morgan/Merlin becomes the latest addition to the team and seeing how effective he was when loaded with spells, I am hopeful that he will continue to perform this roll when deployed in similar missions.  

"Look into the eyes of the dragon and despair!"

Click the logo for a treat! 

72 comments:

  1. Another great looking adventurer sir!

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    1. Thank you Michał, it is slowly coming together.

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  2. Great movie, great actor, great sculpt, and to top it all off, great paint-job!!! This is by far your best series of postings Sir Awdry imho!!

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    1. Thank you so much Simon, really enjoying putting them together.

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  3. Cracking group shot at the end, there. Great choice of colours that work well within the group.

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    1. Thank you Roy, it is starting to come together.

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  4. Cracking looking mini and paint job the party is certainly coming together very nicely indeed.

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  5. Your figures are amazing-all of them. The link was so good....I remember waiting for that advert to appear as a youngster watching TV.

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    1. That is incredibly kind of you, I can remember the smell Old Spice lingering around the bathroom in the 80s, nostalgia is a curious thing.

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  6. Na-na, na-na, na na na naaaah naaaaah, na-na, na-na....etc.

    That's me done - I'll be Orff.

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  7. Magical work. Is there a Cherie Lunghi Guenivere in there too?

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    1. Second that one. And Katrine Boorman risking severe metal scratches...

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  8. Cracking... Mind I did think it was Tim the Enchanter for a minute..When does the rabbit turn up?

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    1. Haha... me too! Very nice indeed Sir Michael.

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    2. Thank you both, funny you should mention Tim as I was looking at a suitable model for him too, perhaps he will make an appearance this winter?

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  9. Carmina Burana is such a GREAT piece of music, AND Excalibur is one of my all time favourite films. I remember watching it the first time with mouth open (at certain places)

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    1. It still has a magical quality to it and reads like a who's who of British acting talent.

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  10. Great music and great figure!

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  11. Beautiful work as usual Michael!

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  12. Excellent painting on that Merlin-esque mini. Great stuff. :)

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  13. Another great figure Michael, this could easily become a "Frostgrave Warband" too you know....

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thank you Roger, I hadn't thought about that, now that has got the cogs turning.

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  14. I do like the fact that the 'heroes' of Zombicide: Black Plague are, for the most part, based on characters from fantasy movies and/or TV shows. However, is there a Robin of Sherwood or Hawk the Slayer proxy amongst them?

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    1. Hawk the Slayer! Jeez Jez that's a blast from the past :D

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    2. Hawk the Slayer was another one of those films that made a huge impression on young master Awdry, I'm sure we must be able to find some proxies. As for the Hooded Man, fairly sure that someone has just released those too.

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  15. Loved that film, infact I still do! The figure is awesome and a carbone copy of Merlin. And who doesn't get goosebumps listening to that sublime piece of music???

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    1. Thank you so much Ray, must dig the film out and have another viewing myself.

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  16. Nicely done! Yes, Nicol Williamson's is the performance I remember best from the film, although I seem to recall a star turn by the young Helen Mirren as Morgana wearing a fishing net. Ah, the days of youth!

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    1. The delectable Dame Mirren and an inspired costume design. ;)

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  17. Magnificent, Michael. I very well remember seeing the film in ... 1980 (?) with my Mum (or all people) in the cinema. It was amazing and really blew my mind at the time. And Merlin....ooops, Morgan, brings back some wonderful memories. Talking of which, I really should get the DVD!!! Thanks so much!

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    1. Now there must have been an awkward couple of moments there, "So mummy is the boy in the gold armour, Arthur's son?" ;)

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  18. Wonderful mini (and great movie)!

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  19. I just had to listen to Mozart's classic as I read this entry and wrote this reply - stirring stuff visually and audibly!

    I hope Morgan has a suitable "Breath of the Dragon" spell :-)

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    1. Thank you Paul and yes he does, the 'Inferno' spell - lots of dice, lots of damage!

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  20. Lovely work again sir and very stirring music to finish, my favourite piece of classical music!

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    1. Thank you Andy, it is a smashing piece isn't it.

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  21. Don't they look great together. What a fab day and thank you for hosting. Morgan sure was a bit of a beast!

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    1. Thank you my good man and you are more than welcome - I enjoyed it tremendously.

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  22. Brilliant and one of the most stylish Arthur romps ever made.
    Love the breaking of the seige scene.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Thank you Stuart and I couldn't agree more.

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  23. Superb figure and brushwork sir

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  24. Young Master Awdry had excellent taste in cinema. Great movie, great job on the mini. Just the right amount of variation between the blackish-brown and the blueish-black.

    ... and who doesn't like a stainless steel skullcap?

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    1. Thank you Mr. Finch, I was really pleased with the blending on the back particularly.

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  25. Another excellent paint job. Your next challenge is see if you can work the charm of making into one of your lessons next term. I have!

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    1. Thank you Herbert, now there is a challenge!

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  26. Magnificient work there! A game of Zombicide must be a pure feast for the eyes with all your toys on the board.

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    1. Thank you Nick and we're getting there, but I haven't touched the zombies yet.

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  27. Great looking addition to your zombie slaying posse!

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  28. More excellent work Micheal! You will have your set of Black Plaque painted in no time & Lo' Zomtober doth come!

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  29. Another blast from the past, a merlin (and the best to date imo) with unique headgear by which he'll always be remembered stand above the rest.
    Superb rendition of one of my favourite film characters, brought to life in miniature, by your painting skill.

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  30. Ah memories, Williamson was mesmerising as Merlin though a bit of a hell-raiser in real life.That accent and delivery could make the phone book sound fascinating. Inspiring music, always makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. I still use Old Spice and have an old spice shaving mug...apparently it never went out of fashion.

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  31. Lovely job on that although I always thought that Nicol Williamson sounded like he was doing a bad Lionel Jeffries impression in the film.

    I took a young lady to see it at the cinema and apart from getting very excited by the, er, romantic scenes it turned her into a total King Arthur freak!

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  32. Great transitions on the clothing. :)

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  33. Very nice paintjob, Michael. Until now I haven't tried him in game but I'm looking forward to hearing your experience.

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