Initially, I wasn’t too interested in the Silver Bayonet, but I recently met some local gamers who were getting into it pretty heavily, so I figured why not do up a little unit and join in? Using the Victrix Bavarian models (with the Austrian unit list) I wanted the unit to have more of napoleonic army special unit look. The official models look more like generic gothic warband to me.

The unit is: an officer (mounted and unmounted), dhamphir, tactician, occultist, and three infantryman.

For the dhamphir, I went with a blood bowl dark elf lineman head. The dark elf head is slightly bigger than the body but that might not stand out as much once painted. Besides, maybe big headedness is a result of his dhamphirism? I went back and forth on his helmet. Decided to keep it fantasy for a little fantastical/supernatural element to the unit. Maybe those helmets are assigned to dhamphirs in the Bavarian army?

The dhamphir looks better primed and good at arms/table length. I think he’ll be fine for gameplay.

Thinking the unit is a collection of soldiers that hunt what goes bump in the night, I wanted to lean into a more dark/muted color scheme rather than the bold, bright colors I saw online of Napoleonic era Bavarians. Fortunately, I came across the cover of the following Osprey book, and the gentleman on the left had similar colors to what I had in mind.

With that, here’s Der Nachtruf:

The dhamphir’s blue skin helps him stand out in the unit and I appreciate how the model using a musket as a one-handed weapon implies a supernatural strength. The monk, I was thinking I might actually do in dark blue robes to match the others, but opted to stick with traditional browns so the unit retains a historical feel and doesn’t dip too far into fantasy.

My brushwork isn’t the best, but I like the results.