thanks for the comments everyone!
Looking good but is that a dog outline hanging on the wall? 
indeed it is. it must be the house of a dog trainer?
21November2015
Hello, hello. Update time yet again. Today is all about the elite ‘Gryphon Guard’ of Volganof. Founded more than two hundred years ago as the ‘Honorable Kompagnie in Defense of the Gryphon Gates’ the Gryphon Guard stands watch, escorts westward cargo and keeps order in the city quarter adjacent to the gates. The defenses of Volganof were reorganized after the catastrophic events during Brak Vorns ‘Spoiling of the East’ (a story for another time). Each city quarter was put in charge of forming a guard for their gate. The rich merchants and traders of the Gryphon Quarter quickly figured out that time spent serving in the guard was time not spent making money while at the same time recruiting men from other parts of the city lead to conflicts with their local councils. The obvious solution was hiring outsiders. Decent pay and good equipment allows the Gryphon Guard to be quite selective as there is always a good number of applicants to choose from and service in the Guard is seen as a good gig in certain circles as far away as Talabheim. The Gryphon Guard has a reputation for snobbery among the city garrison, after all their better pay is spent on plumes and personal hygiene. But, nobody should doubt their dedication to the city. This is their gate and they will not yield.
The Gryphon Guard is organized in two columns, the Inner and the Outer Guard each nominally charged with duty at one of the two gates (in practice men are rotated quite regularly). On the left the Inner Guard, on the right the Outer Guard command rank (or was it the other way around?)
Some troopers. I painted these units in unreasonably sized batches and did not vary the pant/shirt/equipment colors. While this procedure was quite a bit faster than my usual ‘five guys, white right leg here, black right leg there, etc.’ it also was a whole lot less fun. So, back to my leisurely painting from this point forward.
Here is the Captain of the Gryphon Guard, the honorable Wolfram Bertrano. In his youth he had to leave Nuln shortly before graduating from a famous fencing school due to an inappropriate interest in the daughter of a baron. Originally, he joined the Gryphon Guard on a two year contract but took a liking to the simpler life in the North. After rising through the ranks he became the first Gryphon Guard Captain not native to Ostland. This lead to some grumbling among the other city garrison captains, until the now legendary ‘Dreitorlauf’ of 2512. The ‘Dreitorlauf’ is an annual event in Volganof consisting of a long distance run around the city where the captains and select members of their units compete. The track weaves in and out of the city through the gates and traditionally the each gate’s garrison will spice things up by placing obstacles in the darkest part of the gatehouse and throwing items foul or furry (sometimes both) at the runners. Wolfram was leading the pack for most of the race but slipped on some cunningly placed foul matter inside the Wolf Gate and hit the ground hard. The other runners passed him but Wolfram made his way to the finish line all bruised and limping earning the grudging respect of his peers. The fencer with the finest technique in all of Volganof, Wolfram has trained his men well. While he is breathing the Gryphon Gates will not fall…I am sure Lord Mortkin can figure this one out.
Finally, here are two work in progress shots. This is the first house of Volganof as it currently stands. I had to abandon my overly ambitious plans for a second story (of course I built half of the darn thing before realizing it was too big). But, I quite like the house now. It’s almost ready for paint.
And here is my current project, the first of Valmir von Raukov’s bodyguard, the Raukov Household knights. Obviously based on a chaos knight but I spent some time grinding off the tainted chaos symbols. Any suggestions for improvements before I do nine more?
The official Volganof counter:
677/957
That’s it. It might be a while before the next update with the jolly season almost upon us. Upward and onward. Cheers.
