In the first part of this project, I discussed the idea behind the Broken Warhost of Byland and why it feels like a good fit for Wargames Atlantic plastics.
This second part is about the next step: actually building the force.
Steve Beckett, has now taken my background notes and miniature brief and is starting to turn them into a full Broken Warhost. What you can see here is the first proper build-out of the army before painting, shields, banners, and final details are added.
That is the exciting bit for me.
This is the point where the background stops being notes on a page and starts becoming something you can put on the tabletop.
The force is already beginning to look like it comes from Byland. Not clean. Not uniform. Not a proud royal army standing in neat ranks. This is a force made from what survived.
Riders, fyrd, camp followers, shepherds, sellswords, and guards, all pulled together into one battered Warhost.
The Veteran Riders
The mounted warriors are a part of the force that immediately gives it movement and purpose.
These are the last of Byland’s ridge-riders and outriders. In the background, they were once scouts and border riders. Now they have become the hard edge of the Broken Warhost.
Steve has built them from a mix of Barons’ War Mounted Serjeants, Dark Age Cavalry, Mounted Knights, Light Horse, and Peasant Levy parts. The horses come from the Light Horse frame, while the riders use a mix of heads, cloaks, scabbards, arms, and weapons from different kits.
That mix really helps.
They do not look like tournament knights or polished cavalry. They look like practical mounted fighters who have kept going by replacing their kit as they find it. Some look more armoured, others more stripped back, but they all feel like they belong together.
For the Warhost, we are building a mounted command group and a separate group of Veteran Riders with spears.
The command group will be the focus of the mounted element, while the spear-armed riders provide the force with a fast, dangerous group to use on the tabletop.
The Mounted Commander
The mounted commander is intended to stand slightly apart from the rest of the riders in character without looking out of place.
That was important.
I did not want him to feel like a grand noble in perfect armour. Byland is past that point. He needed to look like a leader who had survived the same fighting as the warriors around him.
Steve has used the Mounted Knights frame for the head, body, sword scabbard, and arms, with a Light Horse mount and a Dark Age Cavalry cloak. The shield will be added later.
The result feels right for Rider-Kaptain Harlec Stone-Eye. He looks experienced, hard-used, and still very much part of the mounted group around him.
The Standard Bearers
The banners will be added later, but the standard bearers are already in place.
There will be one mounted standard bearer for the riders and one foot standard bearer for the fyrd. These are some of the most important models in the whole force because the banners matter so much to Byland.
They are not just command markers. They are reminders of the kingdom that was lost and rallying points for those still fighting.
The mounted standard bearer uses parts from the Mounted Serjeants, Light Horse, Dark Age Cavalry, Mounted Knights, and Barons’ War heater shields. The foot standard bearer uses parts from the Foot Serjeants, Mounted Serjeants, Dark Age Army Builder, and Wargames Atlantic shield frame.
Once the banners are added, they will carry the old white gate of Byland. I want them to look worn and repaired, as if they have been carried through smoke, mud, and defeat.
The old saying among the fyrd sums it up:
“So long as one banner stands, Byland endures.”
The Broken Fyrd
The Broken Fyrd are where the force really starts to feel like a kingdom in pieces.
This group is not meant to look neat. Some warriors are armoured. Some are not. Some look like they have proper military kit. Others look like they have been handed whatever was available and told to stand in the line.
That is exactly what I wanted.
Steve has used Barons’ War Foot Serjeants, Peasant Levy, Dark Age Army Builder, Dark Age Cavalry, Levy parts, and Wargames Atlantic shields to create the group. The mix of bodies, arms, heads, weapons, and shields gives them a really useful irregular look.
They still read as a fighting group, but not as a polished one.
For the force, this group will represent the melee element of the Broken Fyrd.
These are the farmers, smiths, herdsmen, and local fighters who once answered their lord’s shield call. Now they fight because there is no one else left.
Fyrd Archers
The archers add another important layer to the Warhost.
Byland is a frontier kingdom, so bows feel right. These are not court archers or a tidy military company. They are men used to hunting, watching, and surviving in rough country.
Steve has built them using Goth Warrior bodies, arms, and quivers, with cloaks from the Dark Age Cavalry and Goth Warrior frames, heads from the Dark Age Army Builder frame, and daggers from the Barons’ War Peasant Levy frame.
They look practical and lightly equipped, which suits the force. They are not overloaded, and they have that useful skirmishing feel that I think Byland needs on the tabletop.
This group will give the Broken Fyrd a ranged element and help make the Warhost seem less like a straight line of infantry.
Armed Camp Followers
The camp followers are one of the parts of the force I am most pleased with because they help tell the wider story of Byland.
A Broken Warhost should not just be made of soldiers.
When a kingdom collapses, everyone gets pulled into the fighting. Cooks, labourers, smiths, servants, and displaced folk all end up carrying weapons because there is no safe place left behind the line.
Steve has built the camp followers using Goth Warrior bodies, arms from the Barons’ War Peasant Levy and Goth Warrior frames, a Dark Age Irish cloak, and heads from the Dark Age Army Builder frame.
They have exactly the right feel. They look rough, useful, and out of place in the best possible way. They are not pretending to be trained warriors, but they still look capable of being dangerous if forced into a fight.
Shepherds with Slings
The shepherds are another group that helps ground the force in Byland.
These are the sort of warriors I like in a skirmish game because they are not obvious heroes. They are ordinary people who make sense in the setting.
A shepherd with a sling is not glamorous, but on the frontier, it feels right. These are people used to being outdoors, watching animals, driving off predators, and moving across rough ground. In the Broken Warhost, those skills become useful.
Steve has built them using Goth Warrior bodies, arms from the Barons’ War Peasant Levy and Goth Warrior frames, pouches and knives from the Peasant Levy frame, and heads from the Dark Age Army Builder frame.
As a group, they add a lot of character. They also help stop the force from looking too professional, which is important.
A Byland warhost has to feel like people fighting for survival, not just a list of troop types.
Foreign Sellswords
The Serevarra swordsmen add something different.
Not everyone fighting for Byland needs to be a Bylander. I like the idea that other warriors have found their way into the Broken Warhost for different reasons. Some may be there for coin. Some may have old loyalties. Some may simply know that if the Orcs are not stopped in the Bylands, the danger will spread.
These models need to stand apart slightly, and they do.
Steve has built them from Barons’ War Foot Serjeant bodies, Foot Knights arms and scabbards, cloaks from the Dark Age Irish and Dark Age Cavalry frames, heads from the Dark Age Army Builder frame, and Barons’ War heater shields.
They look a little more professional than the fyrd and camp followers, which is exactly right. They still fit into the force, but you can tell they are not quite from the same place.
The Reckoner’s Guard
The Reckoner himself will be a new Paul Hicks sculpt, armed with a two-handed axe. He will become one of the main character models for the force.
For now, Steve has built his guard.
These are some of the most important warriors in the Broken Warhost. They are not just bodyguards. They are there to protect the Reckoner and what he represents.
The Reckoner represents law, judgement, and order in a land where all three have almost collapsed. His role is to witness what is happening in the Bylands and make sure it is not lost, forgotten, or quietly written out of the record.
His guards have been built using parts from the Barons’ War Foot Knights, with cloaks from the Dark Age Irish and Dark Age Cavalry frames. The shields will be added later, and once painted, they will carry the Byland heraldry with a gold circle to mark their role.
They are more controlled than much of the force, deliberately so. Among the ruin and patched-together fighters, the Reckoner’s Guard should still feel like something formal remains.
Shields, Banners, and Paint
The next major step will be adding the shields and banners, then getting paint onto the whole force.
The shields are going to do a lot of work visually.
They will help tie the different groups together, especially because so many frames have been used across the army. The Byland heraldry will give the force a common identity, while still allowing individual groups to keep their own character.
The banners will be just as important. They need to look like treasured objects, not fresh cloth. The old white gate should still be visible, but the banners should feel battered, repaired, and carried through too many fights.
Once Steve starts painting them, I think the whole force will really come together.
The Parts Used
For anyone interested in the kitbashing side, here is a quick breakdown of the main parts used across the force. All these kits are available from Wargames Atlantic.
Veteran Riders
Bodies and arms from the Barons’ War Mounted Serjeants frame. Scabbards and cloaks from the Dark Age Cavalry and Mounted Serjeants frames. Horses from the Light Horse frame. Heads from the Barons’ War Peasant Levy, Mounted Serjeants, and Dark Age Cavalry frames. Shields from the Barons’ War heater shield options.
Mounted Standard Bearer
Body, head, and sword from the Mounted Serjeants frame. Horse from the Light Horse frame. Cloak from the Dark Age Cavalry frame. Arms from the Mounted Knights frame. Shield from the Barons’ War heater shield options.
Commander
Head, body, sword scabbard, and arms from the Mounted Knights frame. Horse from the Light Horse frame. Cloak from the Dark Age Cavalry frame. Shield from the Barons’ War heater shield options.
Fyrd Standard Bearer
Body and head from the Foot Serjeants frame. Arm from the Mounted Serjeants frame. Sword from the Dark Age Army Builder frame. Shield from the Wargames Atlantic shield frame.
Broken Fyrd Armoured Warriors
Bodies from the Barons’ War Foot Serjeants and Levy frames. Arms from the Barons’ War Peasant Levy and Foot Serjeants frames. Shields from the Wargames Atlantic shield frame. Heads from the Dark Age Army Builder and Foot Serjeants frames. Sword scabbards from the Dark Age Cavalry frame.
Broken Fyrd Archers
Bodies, arms, and quivers from the Goth Warriors frame. Cloaks from the Dark Age Cavalry and Goth Warrior frames. Heads from the Dark Age Army Builder frame. Daggers from the Barons’ War Peasant Levy frame.
Armed Camp Followers
Bodies from the Goth Warriors frame. Arms from the Barons’ War Peasant Levy and Goth Warriors frames. Cloak from the Dark Age Irish frame. Heads from the Dark Age Army Builder frame.
Shepherds
Bodies from the Goth Warriors frame. Arms, pouches, and knives from the Barons’ War Peasant Levy and Goth Warriors frames. Heads from the Dark Age Army Builder frame.
Mercenary Sellswords
Bodies from the Barons’ War Foot Serjeants frame. Arms and scabbards from the Barons’ War Foot Knights frame. Cloaks from the Dark Age Irish and Dark Age Cavalry frames. Shields from the Barons’ War heater shield options. Heads from the Dark Age Army Builder frame.
Reckoner’s Guard
Bodies, heads, scabbards, and arms from the Barons’ War Foot Knights frame. Cloaks from the Dark Age Irish and Dark Age Cavalry frames. Shields from the Barons’ War heater shield options.
What Comes Next
This stage of the project has been about building the Warhost and making sure the models have the right feel before paint is added.
I think Steve has nailed it.
The force already has a clear shape. The riders give it speed. The fyrd gives it a core. The shepherds, and camp followers lend a desperate, irregular feel. The sellswords show that the war in Byland is pulling in outsiders. The Reckoner’s Guard gives the force a harder, more formal edge.
Most importantly, it looks like a Warhost with a story.
That is what I want from Warhost the game. More than a collection of profiles and point values, but a force you want to build, paint, name, and put onto the tabletop.
Next, we will move on to shields, banners, painting, and then the rules we need to make the Broken Warhost of Byland feel right in play.
The Broken Warhost is no longer simply an idea.
It is on the bench.
And soon, it will be ready for the tabletop.
