The Imperial Legion pt. 2

More pictures of the Imperial Legion!

These Legionnaires boast a +6 ATK and +8 DEF with a 4+ armor save! They can also re-roll 1d6 during combat when they ready their defense and as a unit can re-roll 1d6 when charging!

   

   

   

The basic structure of units in the Valiant! system is five models with one or two captains or heroes for the whole army list. This box of Warlord Games' Roman Veteran miniatures comes with enough parts to make four units -- two with gladius and scutum, two with pilum and scutum, with three command figures amongst them.

The Dragonguards

Playing through the civil war story in Skyrim at a high level is a bit curious. You're more powerful than anyone else in the province, nearly untouchable to the hordes of NPCs, yet you're taking orders from different factions and single-handedly squashing or leading the revolution. Why not use that Dragonborn fame and adventuring gold to raise an army and assert yourself as god-king?

Perhaps you don't want to kill Paarthurnax after reforming the Blades and instead envision forming legions of the farmers and guards of the realm you've been meeting and running quests for. This optional unit is the Dragonborn's fighting force, the Dragonguards. Most of the designs in Skyrim have real world foundations that give a sense of grounded functionality so we chose to use hoplites for our game. Victrix has some great 28mm armored hoplite miniatures (though with the corinthian helmets they seem more like 35mm!) that look distinct from the other viking and legionnaire figures we're using!

Using the Valiant! system the Dragonguards have a +6 ATK and + 7 DEF with a 5+ save and the ability to re-roll 1d6 in combat when they ready the defense! When together as a cohesive unit they are also able to each re-roll 1d6 against ranged attacks! 

    

    

How can you have an army for the Dragonborn without actually having the Dragonborn, you ask? You'll just have to make your own! Rules for custom hero creation coming soon!

Thalmor Command

Seeking to unite the provinces of Tamriel, Thalmor agents operating for the Aldmeri Dominion travel to Skyrim to aid Imperial forces suppressing the Stormcloak rebellion, root out worshippers of Talos, and assert elven supremacy. Within Skyrim the Thalmor function more as advisors and investigators. For the purposes of this game they're field commanders and elite troop choices!

 

Finding miniatures of elves with armor similar to the style of the Mer wasn't at all difficult as Games Workshop had released several gorgeous models through their Lord of the Rings movie range with a wonderful light, leafy plate design. 

    

    

The first four to be painted were models of Gil Galad, Haldir, Elrond, and a standard bearer. Though the Thalmor usually wear all black in Skyrim we reasoned the reds may be something they wear during combat and would make them pop as command figures. The red also ties them in nicely with other Imperial units!

The basic elven soldier's (not pictured yet) stats using the Valiant! system are +10 ATK and +8 DEF with a 4+ save! Each of the models in this post are captains which boast a mighty +13 ATK and +10 DEF! Captains may be purchased as an upgrade when a unit of five soldiers of the same type are being used in a force selection. They are generally stronger and provide command bonuses to their troops.

As representatives of the Aldmeri Dominion these Thalmor agents are elite HQ choices who will definitely make an impression during a game. More elves soon!

Balgruuf the Greater

One of the first heroes we wanted to incorporate into the game was the Jarl of Whiterun, Balgruff the Greater! A tough command option, his army of Whiterun guards is a neutral force either the Imperials or Stormcloaks can use in their army lists. They're especially useful as they can merge with any kind of friendly unit to refill ranks!

Also pictured is a captain of the Penitus Oculatus, the Emperor's security and law enforcers.

    

Jarl Balgruff's model is King Theoden from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings miniatures range while the other is Aragorn adorned in his Gondorian armor from the end of the third film!

The Stormcloaks

Led by Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm, the Stormcloaks are brave Nordic warriors fighting to liberate their homeland from the oppressive Empire and are a joinable faction in Skyrim. They resist the White-Gold Concordat which decrees the worship of Talos to be illegal and seek to secede from the Empire.



While the Imperials were easier to find models for these were a bit of a challenge. There were a few ranges that could have been used but we settled on Gripping Beast's Vikings. With a little bit of sculpting putty to add in cloaks they really pop and look like a diverse group of individual fighters ready to resist the Imperial machine!

Using the Valiant! system we set the combat values for a standard Stormcloak warrior to +7 ATK and +5 DEF. They're a cheap horde army that uses numbers and combined attack bonuses to break through Imperial defenses. Though they're the backbone of the resistance the Stormcloaks aren't fighting alone. Plans have already been drawn together for allies who fight for the Stormcloak cause:

• Guards from across the reach who are dispatched by their jarls to aid the Stormcloaks
• Reguard warriors from the south
• Thieves Guild archers sent from Riften
• A militia fighting force raised by the Dragonborn (okay, this was never in Skyrim but it would have been cool if you could have recruited to build your own army when you played, and supposing you're playing scenarios for this game that take place after the liberation of Solitude it is entirely reasonable to assume the Empire would have sent legions to reclaim Skyrim and that the Dragonborn would perhaps use their fame to raise a defensive force)

   

More to come soon!

The Imperial Legion

One of the joinable factions in Skyrim is the Empire's occupying force, the Imperial Legion. After the murder of High King Torygg by Ulfric Stormcloak the Empire sends General Tullius and his legion to Skyrim to suppress the Stormcloak Rebellion.

      

Imperial Legion soldiers often favor one-handed weapons and shields and have a slightly higher defense than their Stormcloak foes. They will commonly wear light or studded armor while higher-ranked officers will wear heavy plate armor.

Based heavily upon the ancient Roman Empire it was clear from the conception of an Elder Scrolls miniatures game focused upon Skyrim that the best figures to use would be Warlord Games' plastic 28mm Imperial Romans. This being a small skirmish game it's important that each piece be their own character so we decided the veteran box with chipped up shields and armor would look the most interesting. Each box gives you parts for twenty figures total with three of them being command figures.

   

The pieces are easily convertible but slightly shorter than other ancient miniatures so a penny was added in the base of every figure to hide the height difference. To break up some of the repeated poses weapons were swapped around. Warlord provides shield transfers in all of their boxes but we opted to paint the shield patterns on ourselves.

Using the Valiant! system to create rules for the Empire's forces we broke the faction into four parts:

• Auxiliary - lightly armored troops disposable and cheap in points (will probably use early Roman Legion figures)
• Legionnaires - the heavily armored Guards pictured in this post
• Penitus Oculatus - specialized elite troops (will use either Praetorian Guards or Numenorians from Games Workshop's LOTR line)
• Thalmor - elves sent by the Aldmeri Dominion (will use elves from GW's LOTR line)

The guards have a sturdy +6 ATK and +8 DEF with a save of 4+ and can re-roll 1d6 when they ready their defense. As a unit they are able to also re-roll 1d6 when they charge! Captains are a little stronger with a +9 ATK and +8DEF!

   

The Imperial Legion is certainly an army focused on a small number of figures working together to create a strong defense while also dealing a fair amount of damage!

More pictures of the expanding Legion to come!