The Official WIP Screenshot Thread

[Aradan]

The first one is a peasant unit, a slightly-worse, tiny-sized clone of the second unit, which is why they look the same. Peasants are spawned only during revolts, but are otherwise not available, so unit #1 probably shouldn't have been included in the 'preview'.

[Bercor]

My bad .

[Aradan]

Too bad you can't be beheaded atm, your services are still required. First thing as soon as you're done though!

[MasterOfNone]

Beheaded? No, no - let's use the Wargs again...

[putoconcarne]

Beheaded? No, no - let's use the Wargs again...

I was gonna ask where and how Eorl has been all this time, but I guess that answers the question.

[Aradan]

The first two are the same, yes, though only one is really available. No, they don't have javelins. I'll leave the emblem question to our modeller/skinner and unit card maker.

[Bercor]

Personally, I'm not a fan of an emblem for such lowly class of soldiers. In regards to adding a bit of colour, it could be done, but with precaution for the yellow to be the main colour.

[webba84]

Yeah, some subtle highlights could be done, would help distinguish them a bit more from the levy versions. Also dont think shield emblems particularly suit a faction like the Beornings, they dont exactly have what you'd call a professional army.

[athanaric]

Yeah, some subtle highlights could be done, would help distinguish them a bit more from the levy versions. Also dont think shield emblems particularly suit a faction like the Beornings, they dont exactly have what you'd call a professional army.

I'd think that even a low-ranking soldier would've been able to paint his shield (I haven't researched shield paintings myself, but from what I've seen, even the poorest of barbarian tribes had decorations of some kind). It doesn't have to be an ornate crest (such would surely be the privilege of soldiers from a wealthier and/or more stratified society), could just be a crude symbol painted by the soldiers themselves, perhaps a stylized forest animal - e.g. bear (obviously), deer (a common symbol in real life history), lynx (would add a unique touch), Goshawk, boar (does any faction have boar symbols yet?), and so on - or a tribal symbol.

[Thangaror]

True, some decorative patterns on the shield would be nice though. Shields that are utterly plain, even without a shield-boss, look a bit funny.

[The Angry Greek]

A bear's head or a bear's claws would look amazing on their shields. I do believe that while the models are great, some further decoration will make them look beyond sublime.

Also, on an unrelated note, if I as a Beorning Chief conquer Framsbug, do I get access to the Guards of Framsburg?

[Aradan]

No, Framsburg Guard are available only to Dale.

[Bercor]

A bear's claw could work, I guess.

[Thangaror]

Doesn't even have to be a bear's claw. A simple coloured pattern would already work.

Inspiration needed?
http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/vik1.jpg
http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/germ1.jpg

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

Yeah, some of the units do need a bit more colour. After all, some of the Northmen units are rather similar, and different colours and patterns would help with that.

[CountMRVHS]

Something minor could work if Bercor/Webba is up for it, but the colorful Viking-themed designs don't seem to match the Beornings/woodmen, who are probably the most withdrawn faction in DoM. Anything added would have to be very subtle and minor IMO, probably earth-tones.

It's also important to remember that there are a couple of Beorning units not shown in the above image, and they will be some of the highest-tier Beorning units. So there will be some distinction between them and other Northmen rosters. To some extent, what you're seeing above is predominantly the Woodmen component of the Beorning roster, which tends to be low-tier-ish and quite similar to the 'basic' tiers of other nearby factions, such as Rhovanion (they all have spears/axes/bowmen/riders, e.g.).

[Bercor]

Something minor could work if Bercor/Webba is up for it, but the colorful Viking-themed designs don't seem to match the Beornings/woodmen, who are probably the most withdrawn faction in DoM. Anything added would have to be very subtle and minor IMO, probably earth-tones.

I agree with this. The examples shown by Thangaror seem too colourful for me.

[Aikanár]

While surely everyone would be capable of coloring their own shield, the colors itself may pose several problems like availability, price and so forth. I'm not too sure whether low-tier units of low-trade/remote/rural/poor regions would have access to them and if they had whether they would have the money to afford them.

[The Angry Greek]

Something akin to the symbols on the shields of the Dunlendings, or Celtic inspired would go very well with them I would think.

[Jagmodo]

I agree with CountMRVHS and Aikanár on this one. Subtle stylistic patterns here and there yes, but colourful Viking-themed designs not really, especially for low-tier units…

When I saw Beorning units, my first impression was how they are very close in appearance to early Balto-Slavic tribes. I actually think it fits them very well since they both would have very similar habitat and therefore way of living. I didn’t said this before since it has potential to unnecessary divert discussion into off-topic, but now I do to explain my stance on the matter.