Some of the best painted WFB Empire Miniatures you will ever see, all arranged into an amazing showcase diorama.
If you have seen a better diorama featuring Warhammer Empire miniatures I'd like to know where ! This is my favourite Warhammer Fantasy Battle diorama and here's why:-1) The presentation, the terrain, the detail.
2) The miniatures.
3) The "story".
4) The monkey !
Firstly, this Empire unit looks quite battle hardened and experienced. I like the way that the musician and standard bearer both sport mustaches (a badge of rank) and the marksman a beard (only allowed for Sergeants in some forces). The handgunner on the far right is balding and grey, he has an eye patch / bandage and rotting teeth and, even though I don't think he's leading this outfit,* I bet they listen to his hard won advice.
* he has a golden stripe on his leggings so I could be wrong !
These guys look like a cohesive unit, most of them share the skull unit motif somewhere about their person and they have a consistent "feel". Their uniforms are similarly coloured but some of them differ slightly suggesting (to me) that these guys have been around a while and the unit members are veterans. I imagine these guys to be no-nonsense, uncompromising "get the job done" soldiers.
The marksman is clearly lining up his shot and it looks like an important one because the banner bearer is staring intently, the musician is piping while focused in the direction of the target and the veteran on the right is clenching his fist urging his marksman to get a clean kill (they're probably aiming at a Vampire Lord if my experience fighting against Empire is anything to go by).
All of this is part of the story and it's really been brought to life by the way the miniatures have been presented. Check out the "powder monkey" his face almost looks human and he's either drunk or he's getting a bit of a fright - I wonder what this unit is up against ? It seems to me that these guys are taking a small window of opportunity to get in a shot from the top of a small ridge over looking the enemy.
Amazingly, these are all individual models and yet they fit in seamlessly with the terrain and that's what sets this diorama apart for me - the setting. Frankly, the terrain looks real, it doesn't look modeled at all. The boulders, exposed roots, autumnal leaves, moss, grass and tree trunk all look perfect and that's what really attracts me to this diorama.
This is a master piece. There's more detail I haven't mentioned (just check the pics and click to enlarge them in a new window). The banner itself is a work of art - I wouldn't mind betting that these guys are called the Death Jesters.
Well, that's more than enough from me. Let your eyes do the talking and take some inspiration from what you see. A lot of love has gone into this diorama and it deserves a lot of credit for it (there are a lot more images of this diorama on the Chest of Colors website)
There will be more from the ChestOfColors.com gallery in future. I'm also going to try to contact some of the Golden Demon award winners to ask for permission to show some of their photos. Firstly, I have a particular Russian painter in mind, another lady in fact.
All of the images are from Ana the owner of the Chest of Colors website and have been used with their kind permission (all rights reserved by Chest of Colors) and many thanks to Ana and Mahon - the painter and site owner.
Ana, is clearly one of the finest modeler / painters in the world and she ranks in the top 20 out of thousands of miniature painters on coolminiornot and has been awarded several Golden Demon awards, including gold !
Note: see the Warhammer Fantasy Battle gallery at Chest of Colors for higher resolution photos.
Chest of Colors boasts thousands of miniature pics, a forum, blogs, mini auctions and tutorials. You can find Ana's miniatures on eBay by performing an advanced search by seller id "chestofcolors".
Ana will paint for commission and can be contacted through webmaster@chestofcolors.com
PS. I am not affiliated with Chest of Colors or any other miniature / terrain modelers on this site, I just enjoy talking about their accomplishments.
