Mythological Elements
The following elements are for the Fantasy version of this army:
The Wendigo = Knights
Victims = Warband
Giant Wolves = Javelin Cavalry (Terrain Affinity - Woods)
The Wendigo is a must-have addition to make an Eastern Forest American army into a mythological version. Most modern versions of the Wendigo have them as a kind of zombie-deer-humanoid with big antlers. It seems like the legends describe it more as a towering, emaciated humanoid figure with skin stretched tightly over its bones, sunken or glowing eyes, and a perpetual, insatiable hunger for human flesh. The other elements are straightforward - victims consumed with the insatiable hunger of the Wendigo, and giant Wolves.
The Victims have been infected by the greedy hunger of the Wendigo. These are Khurasan figures with hair and clothing added. They will be classed as Warbands.
The Wolves are just giant wolves. Nothing too exciting, but they will give the player at least one fast-moving element. Maybe Javelin Cavalry with Terrain Affinity - Woods.
How the Wendigo was Made
A 28mm Ghoul would work well as a Wendigo, but most of the models available seem to be in odd poses or are wearing clothing. So I decided to make my own.
This one started as a Demonworld (?) Troll with a club. It was a good height and slender.
I borrowed some arms from some Black Raven Foundry tree men because they were long and slender with big hands.
The pointing hand looked good, but the left hand was just too tree-like so I chopped it off and added a victim. Plus this thing needs to look hungry. The figure is from Chariot (?) and was originally “victim impaled on pole” that could be used for an Assyrian army. I pinned the victim to the end of the arm then sculpted a grasping hand.
The troll head was cut away and replaced with a pin
The arms and hand were filed down to make them smoother and less ent-like.
The main part of the head was finished with a plastic skull piece that I got from Paul Potter.
The paint job is simply beige with a contrast paint wash (Skeleton Horde) followed by a wash using Minwax Polyshades Satin Tudor. The idea is for it to look corrupted, not undead. Painting this thing only took about 15 minutes at most.
The figure is on a 30mm deep base. It doesn't seem like a Behemoth in game terms. Maybe some kind of Knight - moves fairly fast, seeking to overwhelm with shock, will pursue. I am open to suggestions on this.
Other Ideas
I am ordering some 17th-century musketeers and some horsemen to paint as the French Explorers who fought against the Natchez, a Mound Builder culture. The Eastern Forest American army would represent their native allies.
