The Lavender Order Recruits Again

Hello again.

One of my particular trends when buying figures or working through projects is that I do not like the "generic" approach. You know the sort of thing. If I change the flags and ignore the button colour, then those redcoats there will do for British one day, Swiss the next, something imaginary the day after that, and so on. If that is your bag, then so be it, all power to you and so forth, but it is not for me. I imagine such things are more prevalent in smaller scales, where one red coat looks much like another from anything more than a foot away, but I cannot say I have done any research on the matter.

I know it costs me more money to buy extra figures and more time to paint them as a result of having those extras, but I like distinction between my troops and  "Burrows & Badgers" is no different. I see people posting their warbands on Facebook and the like, but I often do not see a theme.

"I want a badger with my highland types!" screams Poster A, even though his highland types all look like Rob Roy and his badger is wearing full gothic plate.

"I am going to include this Victorian dandy in my band of bloodthirsty pirates," whispers Poster B, even though he looks like he has just walked out of the Old Curiosity Shop and the corsairs from some disease-ridden, tropical hellhole.

However, my Order of the Lavender Garden is growing apace as Oathsworn release more suitable figures, one of which is the subject of this piece. My Lavender Order, as I abbreviate it, has a number of branches, the most prevalent being the military arm and the witch hunting arm. In my head, the military arm also takes care of law and order in the better parts of the land. The good news is, so long as I maintain my preferred context, I can mix and match the figures between both, allied as they are and all dressed in some way in the purple and white livery of the order.

So, without further ado, I give you a "Mouse with Crossbow", at once both a member of the town watch, a soldier of the Order of the Lavender Garden and a hanger on for some zealous type looking for a magic user somewhere near you sometime soon. As I have chosen the figures for the various parts of the order with some care to avoid glaring fashion or other faux pas, he will fit with all three quite handily. So I saved a bit of cash and some painting time after all!

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The mouse with no name, ready to defend the poor and defenceless in honour of the Royalist cause. Or burn and pillage a village in honour of someone's ego...

His mace looks a bit like an incense burner, but I still would not want a smack over the head with it.

And, in addition to the purple and white livery, the purple lily emblem also ties the Order's members together nicely. Judging by the various scuffs and scratches on his helmet, he is either a veteran of many a fight or has inherited his headgear from a particularly unlucky and/ or unfortunate predecessor...

The Special Branch of the Lavender Order

Hello again.

We met Rufus Hopkins a little while back, special agent for the knightly Order of the Lavender Garden, aka Witch Hunter, but everyone needs a little help from time to time and witches sometimes come in packs. Well, covens anyway...So Rufus has some help of his own available now in the form of this group of fully vetted, wholly trusted (by the powers that be at any rate) group of individuals.

Who knows what back stories they each have? What could possibly drag a dormouse from its quiet, timid existence to live life on the road hunting evil and dark doings in the wilds of Northymbra? Why would a young, female rabbit leave the warren to confront all manner of ne'er-do-wells? Why would an organisation that operates in the darker places of the world recruit such a motley bunch? I do not know yet myself, but I am sure some tales will emerge in due course...

So, here yet again are further images of a project which has gripped my time, imagination and paint brush for the past several weeks and grips me still. even though I have other things waiting. Oathsworn Miniatures have relieved me of much cash, have seen me daydream far too much for a supposed professional employee of a large company, are great to chat with at shows and have a range of figures and rules that I heartily recommend.

Just a quick note before the piccies. As you may recall, the colours of the Order of the Lavender Garden are a white lily/ fleur-de-lys on a purple ground, so these guys are usually to be seen wearing these colours somewhere about their person. I say "usually", as they do not always want to give the game away given the company they seek, so those colours are one of the themes in this band. The other is the idea I had to include a graveyard vibe on their bases, so thanks to Renedra for selling me some headstones way back when that I just knew would come in handy some day. And I have more than enough left to be able to actually build a graveyard ready for some games!

There may yet be one more member of the Order to join, to provide something a little different, and I have ideas for companions and hangers-on who may feature from time to time when their purposes align with those of the group. So long as their credentials and known associates are suitable for the Order to allow them to walk alongside at any rate...

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Second in command of the group is Fluvius Poole, an otter ranger, who displays his allegiance via his halved purple and white hood and the check braiding on his cuffs.

Fluvius is obviously well equipped for the wilds, with rope, bedroll and various bags and pouches. One at least no doubt contains flint and steel to deal with whatever witches they catch!

And a fallen and smashed gravestone is obvious proof of witchery!

Pancho Keennose, aka Snoopy, is the group's tracker, a Beagle by birth, and a dab hand at sniffing out those nefarious types upon whom the group's attention naturally falls.

Handy with an axe too! (I hope!!!)

Less keen on the promotion of the purple and white livery, Pancho keeps his tabard rolled up atop his backpack.

Rosie Cottontail no doubt has a tale to tell of how she came to join this group, but it is a tale for the future perhaps (because I have not written it yet!). More grave furniture to help tie the group together, along with a purple and white hood.

 

I hope she can overcome the fact that, as a rabbit, her eyes are not those of a hunter but rather those of the hunted. At least she should be quick to spot danger.

Mickey the mouse ranger with another broken grave stone. Given his pose, this guy just had to be peering around something. And I might even be able to blag hard cover in games!!!

More shooty goodness. There is only Rufus and Pancho in the group who are not missile armed, though a concealed pistol or throwing knife is not out of the question...

Dormice are normally such timid creatures, happy to pose for cute photos with blackberries in their paws, but Ginger Baker here is of a different sort. Again, who knows his story, but he too is a valuable, if somewhat weak, member of the team and another shooty type.

More purple and white with the shield design and this time a tunic under his light, leather armour

The foot soldiers, minus Pancho, who is off tracking something somewhere

Pancho is still tracking something somewhere, but the rest of the group are armed, ready and , hopefully, dangerous!

Rufus Hopkins, Witch Hunter

Hello again.

Having temporarily finished playing with pirates, I decided to start on some potential opposition for the Black Pi-rat and the crew of the good ship "Blackberry".

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you the darker side of the "Burrows & Badgers" world, at least in my head, with the completion of Rufus Hopkins, Witch Hunter, aka "Ruthless Rufus". In my little piece of whimsy, there exists a military order known as the Knights of the Order of the Lavender Garden, their badge a purple lily/ fleur-de-lys on a white ground. They represent the noble defenders of the faith, the right hand of the ruling classes and protector of the masses. But, it has been recognised that clanking around in armour performing feats of derring-do is all well and good, but you can hear them coming a mile off!

Enter the Secret Police/ MI6/ Stasi/ NKVD/ Gestapo/ Mossad/ CIA/ Lord Walsingham arm of the Lavender Order - the Witch Hunters.

Rufus is an English Cocker Spaniel Witch Hunter (I know this because it said so on his packaging). His leather coat, leather waistcoat and leather hat either A) mark him out as a heavy metal fan-cum-cowboy or B) provide a modicum of protection from blades and elements as he roams the wilds of Northymbra seeking ne'er-do-wells, traitors, dark magicians and undesirables.

As befits someone who frequents the darker, scarier places of the pseudo-English countryside, he and his band do not tread soft, sandy beaches like the pirates I have done so far, but will have "graveyard" as their basing mantra, so Rufus himself treads a flagstone path almost overgrown with grass and weeds, with skulls, grave furniture and the like appearing as I get on with his companions. As members of the wider Lavender Order, they will have some sort of reference to the purple and white colours of the Order in their clothing, be it a tabard, an edge to their tunic, a hood halved in the two colours or whatever. Rufus' coat is lined in purple silk, his hat band of the same material, his neckerchief a flash of purple cotton amongst the weathered leather of his main clothing.

His companions will join him once I work out exactly who they will be!

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Rufus treads solidly along the overgrown path, his twin blades ready for the foes he knows are close by, his keen senses alert to the danger...

I attempted weathered leather for his clothing, using an edge highlight of GW "Fenrisian Grey", a technique I saw in a recent "White Dwarf". I like the effect, as it gives a sheen that in my mind illustrates him treading his path on a windy night under a full moon.

Has he seen something out of the corner of his eye?