Having fun with Warhammer Army Banners, Standards and Shields - "A dream to some... a nightmare to others !"

Every Fantasy Battle General needs a great Army Standard to rally his troops around and they don't come any better than these !

Flat surfaces are a rarity on fantasy miniature models so make the most of it when you get a relatively even banner, shield or tunic to paint. It's your chance to place your own personal stamp on your units, give them a consistent, uniform look (if you want to) and to make some great centerpieces for your army.

I was surfing around looking for inspirational pics of banners and shields when I stumbled across IronHalo.net. I had never seen the site before but was extremely impressed.

The site is owned by a lady named Rachel. Rachel has been painting professionally since 2001 and has won 5, yes 5 Golden Demons, 2 of which were gold !!!

Thankfully, Rachel responded to my begging letter and has very kindly granted me permission to show off some of her awesome banner / shield work.

To check out IronHalo.net click the banner below or see the foot of the Blogroll. They provide terrain and bases* in addition to painting services, some painting tips and an absolutely awesome miniatures gallery.

* I didn't realise this at the time but Rachel tells me that Philfy used some of the IronHalo.net Valhalla range of bases in his Lizardmen to Daemon Army Conversion (it goes to show what a small Warhammering world we live, hack, slash and die in !)

PS. Rachel is available for commission work if you want to have the best painted army on the planet !!

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An enormous amount of modelling and conversion work went into this BSB miniature (click the image at the top of the page to enlarge it). The miniature was for the Australian Golden Demon 2005 competition. You can read all about it in the Iron Halo gallery. All of the below pics come from the Warhammer > Bretonnians section.

This is the pic I really wanted to draw your attention to. Check out the fabric look, it's meant to be French Tapestry. Can you imagine anyone being able to achieve a better effect ?!  To me this just looks incredible.

Check out the level of detail ! I particularly like the leather / gold stud effect on the scabbard and the horses barding and indeed the overall colour combinations and the way they contrast (click pics to enlarge).

More Bretonnian Banners...

A very grand Holy Grail Battle Standard or possibly a Grail Knight Standard Bearer.

(enlarge the pics to see them in a lot more detail)

The Bretonnian King, Louen Leoncoeur himself...


It sounds like this model was a bit of a pain to put together but produced a satisfying end result. Note that the banner is custom built, it does not come with the model.

The banner itself is less detailed than the first BSB at the top of this thread but King Leoncoeur's standard will appear more striking and stand out better on the battlefield. Remember that the first banner I showed you was specifically for a Golden Demon competition and therefore a lot of close up scrutiny.


Bretonnian Shields and Heraldic Uniforms

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Take a look at the heraldic shield designs, they really draw the eye and give the models a nice sense of purpose and pride - the shields almost make them look more virtuous !

Also note how a different palette can achieve a completely different "feel". These models are quite similar but look very different due to their contrasting colour schemes. The first one seems more fantasy like while the second, which I personally prefer, has a more "let's get down to business look".

Both are superbly painted and there are more pics on Rachel's IronHalo.net site of these miniatures.


One last example to give you hope that you can achieve something similar...

This Knight bears the Chivalric Virtue of the Impetuous Knight (+d6" for his first charge and any unit he's with). Look how simple the design is and yet how much it adds to the model. Go for it, give it a go !