When I was doing a bit of tidying up, I came across this bag of playing pieces. This instantly gave me the enthusiasm to make some more minis for my Chess Dude Warband. I rifled through the bag and realised I hadn’t done anything with a king. I didn’t want to make another Nobel or leader for the team, but I did notice that when you turned him on his side, he looked somewhat like a cannon! So with that in mind, I started crafting.
I thought of making a traditional weapon, similar to the ones you have on a ship. But I quickly changed my mind, as it would be far cooler if he were carried around instead. So I grabbed a couple of pawns and placed them in such a way to support the king. Then, using a bishop, I created a commander for the team.
To finish off, I glued all the bits to a large base and painted them in the same livery as the rest of the warband. Except for the king, I gave him a gunmetal finish to reflect his new-found purpose.
After finishing the cannon, I went on a spree to make more of these things. Next, I made an archer and two swordsmen. Who’ve I nicknamed “The Pawn Berserkers!”
For the next one, I wanted to make something a little different, so I grabbed a couple of pawns and went to work.
I made the main figure the same way as all the others, apart from angling him a bit and allowing him to lean backwards. I then beheaded another pawn and replaced it with a cylinder of sprue. This was to act as a mouthpiece. After attaching the arms, I positioned the horn on the lips of the mini.
In hindsight, maybe the horn could have looked better if it were a brass colour. But at least it hints that the horn could have once been one of their fallen comrades, repurposed into a sacred instrument!
I was about to put all these chess pieces away again, but I realised that the warband was missing a bit of spiritual guidance, so I made one final mini a “Warrior Priest!”
I grabbed another bishop and made him in the same way as all the others. And then I gave him a long spear and a sacred book, which I made from two tiny pieces of a base.
And that’s definitely it, for now at least! These dudes can now join the rest of their comrades and grow the ranks of the “Chess Dude Warband!”
Click on the link below to see the first part of the Warband:
WARBAND no1 – Chess Dudes – Use The Sprue