The Leydenhoven Border Patrol - a Mordheim warband

Since I created the Coldwood Smugglers, I planned on having a nemesis for them, a band of Border Wardens hunting smugglers and, since we are in the Warhammer World, monsters and mutants. But at the same time I didn't want to invest a lot of money in it (too many other projects... ) so I decided to build the new warband with a single set of miniatures: the excellent Empire Archers, in the time of AoS also known as the Freeguild Archers. Created in 2009, this set has been hugely popular because of its quality and modularity (and price point), before being discontinued in 2019.

That's right, I got myself a basic warband for around € 20,00, which is a steal!

The fluff of the warband is simple: the town of Leydenhoven lies along the river Reik, on the southeastern border of the Wasteland, still belonging to Marienburg but a few hours walk away from Middenland and a short boat trip from Reikland. It is a sleepy border town: boats pass by on the great river, and few people walk along the road, mostly peddlers and hunters. The main road to Marienburg also bypass Leydenhoven by cutting from Kalkaat to Klessen anyway. To the east of town the eaves of the Drakwald loom all too close and the summits of the Mirror Moors are clearly visible.

The inhabitants of Leydenhoven are local merchants, hunters, farmers and fishermen. The city maintains a small garrison of guards commanded by a Captain sent from Marienburg, who is also responsible for order within the city, but the main defence are the Wardens of the Border Patrol, a corp of rangers trained to scour the forest, capture smugglers and outlaws and kill beastmen and mutants.

Unlike the guards, who are mostly outsiders, the wardens are all local people - woodsmen recruited and paid by the Burgomeister. Their captain is Rutger Hauer, an middle-aged veteran whose experience and sense of responsibility allowed him to access a position few others would keep, had they his total lack of mesure in talking. Rutger the Outspoken, the Straighforward, the Sincere are just kind names for his inability to hide, or even sweeten, his opinions, which are generally negative or anyway pessimistic. The Burgomeister Cornelis Drebbel can't stand him, but also trusts him to do his job and keep an eye on a group of people who are paid too little to be professional and are very prone to corruption.

Rutger de Stomp - the Blunt - is assisted by three main assistants: Lieven de Schermer, Eddi de Groen and Elke de Bosdochter.

Lieven de Schermer (Leobwin Visser) is the only member of the wardens to have a proper combat training. He is a Marienburger with an obscure past - some say he was a duellist, some say a protagonist, all agree he ran into some trouble connected to a woman, her husband and some murder. He enrolled into the Border Patrol and nobody ever asked him any question. He does not like to talk about his past, anyway, although when drunk he occasionally mutters about some past sorrows he needs to forget.

Eddie de Groen (Eduard van Halen) is the youngest member of the wardens. He joined because he wanted an exciting life of fighting monsters in the woods, rather than fishing like all his family does. Rutger constantly yells at him or berates him for his lack of judgement, but he is actually grooming him since he is one of the few members to actually believe the Wardens have some purpose. Eddi carries a sword, apparently found on a river wreckage when he was little, and is trying to learn how to use it.

Elke de Bosdochter (Adelheid Bosch) is a priestess of Taal and Rhya. While not a member of  the wardens, she is often called upon when the Patrol needs to deal with supernatural threats. Elke agrees to help them if there is indeed a supernatural threat to the population, and expects to receive a donation to the village temple.

The rest of the warband are regular wardens, all armed with a long bow and a dagger.

Berengar de Stil - Citadel ME25 Ithilien Ranger (1985)

Here's a later addition to the Coldwood Smugglers: Berengar de Stil, boar hunter and poacher. Armed with bow, spear and a hunting horn, lying in ambush for his prey.

I am in love with the Ithilien rangers from the original Lord of the Rings release of the '80s: this is the second one I find, and I hope I can complete the collection with the third one.

Elke the Forest's Daughter - Diann the Girl Thief from Citadel Dungeon Adventurers Starter Set (1983)

This is probably one of my favourite miniatures ever; certainly my favourite among pre-slotta figures. Why? Well, it's so simple, and yet the balance of everything is perfect - the pose, the proportions, the delicate traits of the face and hands, the way the dress and cloak fall around her body. The way she seems to grasp her dagger tightly, almost hiding it behind the cloak. She has a shady air, looking at something and planning to dash for it, blade flashing.

She was included in the Dungeon Adventurers Starter Set sold by Citadel in 1983, and referenced as Diann the Girl Thief. Sadly no sculptor was credited.

To me, she is Adelheid - Elke for her family and friends - also known as the Forest's Daughter. Growing up in the Coldwood between the Wasteland and Nordland, she displayed strange powers over plant and beast since childhood, and she was sent to be apprentice of Old Maud, Priestess of Rhya and Taal. By her fifteenth year, Elke could bless the crops of the village, protecting them from blights, and summon squirrels to her bidding; when running in the woods, she could jump as far as a deer and walk in the rain without getting soaked. The denizens of the wood adored her and would treat her as a holy saint.

She would not join her older brother Roel de Rood and his band of Outlaws, but would instead help the local Border Watch against any invasions from creatures of darkness, such as Giant Spiders, Goblins or Beastmen. That is, I use her as a Priestess of Taal and Rhya in the Drakwald Border Watch warband I use in Mordheim (based on the Stirwood Outlaws).

The Coldwood Smugglers - a Mordheim Warband

I've been interested in Mordheim for some time but after visiting BOYL 2018 I met some guys who really encouraged me to pick up the game and I've been hooked since that time. This is the first warband I put together: the Coldwood Smugglers, based on the rules for the Stirwood Outlaws.

What follows is a rather long and tedious description of the warband members and their story.

In the Imperial Calendar year 2504, a revolt quaked the free city of Marienburg: the poor were protesting for the increasing prices and the corruption in the government, and soon a leader emerged among them: Johan Hess, a wealthy merchant who had never been involved in politics before. Hess set fire to the masses blaming the ruling council and the Elves for all their problems, and soon violence erupted as the mob assaulted the Elven Town, causing its inhabitants to flee Marienburg abandoning all their properties. The Stadtsraad was quick to admit Hess among its members and make it head of the Directorate. Nobody could expect that a year later Marienburg would be significantly poorer and more corrupt, and ruled by a madman who had the guts to crown himself Emperor of Marienburg. But by that time, all those who could oppose Johann I had been either banished or killed.

The van Noort family were among those who had suffered the most: small traders, they used to buy Indhyan spices, Cathayan tea and Arabyan cotton from the Elves and sell it in the villages of the Wasteland. Without the Elves, all these goods were either unavailable or too expensive to sell. Frederick van Noort, on the verge of bankruptcy, saw no other option that to contact the brothers de Houtman, shady smugglers that helped him get the goods he needed from the ports of Norden and L'Anguille, where the Elves still traded.

This worked, for a time. But one night the wardens fell on the smugglers and captured Jakob and Gert de Houtman. They never came out of the black cells of Rijker's Isle: however, a few days later the guards came for their band members, who escaped after a bloody skirmish. That same day Frederick van Noort was arrested.

Young Olivier van Noort, Frederick's son, was left to lead the family. Vowing vengeance against the Mad Emperor, he left Marienburg. With the help of Fastradil, a former business partner of the van Noorts and survivor of the Elven revolt, Olivier was able to negotiate passage of goods from Hargendorf in Nordland to the borders of the Wasteland through the secret paths of the forest of Laurelorn and its western fringe, known to locals as the Coldwood. To move the goods he hired some woodsmen from the border villages, people with no allegiance except for themselves. This is how the band of the Coldwood Smugglers was born.

Olivier van Noort - Bandit Leader
Eldest son of Frederick, Olivier is only 24 years old. He had a privileged upbringing but in the last two years he discovered what a hard life really is. Determined to save his family from ruin and do what he can to fight the Mad Emperor, Olivier is now running the smuggling and sale of exotic goods from Nordland into the villages of the Wasteland. Olivier is armed with his family's heirloom, a steel two-handed sword with a gilded hilt. The miniature is Citadel's Strider from the Fellowship of the Ring Boxed Set BME1, issued in 1985.

Pieter de Grote - Champion
Pieter is the biggest fellow in his village, a burly woodsman wielding a two-handed axe with strength, precision and rare viciousness. Pieter is not nice and few people like him, but least of all the representatives of the law: he has spent a good time in a cell, just because he would not stop a brawl when the guards showed up. Pieter met Olivier in the woods one day and the young merchant, instead of being intimidated like everyone else, asked him if he wanted to make some extra money carrying heavy bags. Pieter was enthusiastic, and in fact he helped recruiting the other woodsmen, for whom he acts as representative. Pieter's miniature is a MM62 Marauder Villager from 1989.

Kees de Houtman - Petty Thief
Kees is the youngest of the brothers de Houtman. When his brothers Jakob and Gert were taken by the city guards, he narrownly escaped with his life. Now fighting the Mad Emperor has become his main objective. These days he helps Olivier run the business, supervising the smugglers and the moving of goods in the Wasteland. Cornelis's figure is a Citadel C04 Mugger from 1986.

Kiliaen van Rensslaer - Priest of Stromfels (Manann)
Old Kiliaen has been a member of the de Houtman gang for many years. Through his life he's been a cut-throat, wrecker, smuggler and moonshiner. Fifteen years ago, after he survived a shipwreck, he had strange dreams and decided to become a priest of the forbidden cult of Stromfels. Today, he is widely considered a giver of blessings by the criminals of Marienburg. He has a bad drinking habit but the brothers de Houtman always kept a place fot him in the gang, and he is grateful to them for that. He helped young Cornelis escape from the guards and now follows him, well aware that the guards have his name on their black list of most wanted. His miniature is a Citadel C04 Thief from 1983.

Gerbrand de Kort - Marsksman
Gerbrand the Short is a hunter. Middle-aged, poor, ugly, short and curt, he has no wife and few friends, one of them Pieter. He agreed to join the band hoping for a better life and a decent old age. The miniature is a Citadel ME25 Rangers of Ithilien from 1985.

Werner de Lange - Marsksman
Werner is a hunter. Word is that he used to be a gamekeeper when he was young, but he was sent away by his master for some misbehaviour. A tall man, Werner does not love to talk too much: his words are few, direct and often harsh. He has no friends and spends most of his time alone, but Pieter and Gerbrand went to look for him and he accepted eagerly to be part of the new enterprise. Miniature is a Bretonnian Bowman from the 1990s.

Klaas de Schrander - Marsksman
Klaas is a young hunter, well known in the village for being shrewd, patient and clear of mind. He has no intention of living a life of hardships in the wood and hopes to put some money aside to start a new life somewhere else. The figure is a Citadel ADD7 AD&D Ranger from 1985, sculpted by the Perry brothers.

Without shield

With shield

Roel de Rood - Marsksman
Red-haired Roel is one year younger than Klaas and a good friend to him. He comes from a large and dirt-poor family of woodsmen and would like to bring home some decent food. Unlike Klaas, Roel is more of a romantic and idealistic and enjoys adventure for the sake of it. The figure is a Citadel ADD7 AD&D Ranger from 1985, sculpted by the Perry brothers.

Without shield

With shield