I first saw Splintered Light Miniatures' 15mm Fauns and Satyrs at a convention a couple years ago, when they were released. I remember being amazed and exclaiming, "They sculpted eyelids on these 15's!" Finally, at Cold Wars 2009, I took the plunge and bought one pack each of their line of Fauns (3 packs) and Satyrs (4 packs). I also picked up some of Iron Wind Metals' excellent 25mm animals to use as allies for the proposed "Army of the Olde Forest." A few months later, I dug them out of the box, and sat down with pen and paper to design an army list for Hordes of the Things (HOTT). I realized then that with the Fauns alone I had enough for a big, 36 AP army (when you toss in a 25mm Pan figure I'd painted and based years ago). So, I decided to paint just the Fauns, and save the Satyrs for another day.
The package of Faun Spear, along with figs from the Faun Leader pack, would make four stands of Warbands. Since this army is meant to defend its woodland home, I wanted virtually all troops to be able to operate in bad going (HOTT speak for terrain). The spear package contained 3 poses, all of which are fantastically detailed. I decided that I would, in essence, treat these as 25mm figures to bring out the detail. I painted their skin a base "Terra Cotta" color then drybrushed it with standard Flesh. The detail on the musculature -- particularly the abdominals -- really pops out! Their furry undersides were painted brown with a khaki drybrush. I gave them a variety of hair colors, drybrushing it a lighter shade for each.
I also wanted to be able to use a Warband stand or a Shooter stand as the army general, so one of the stands has a standard bearer and leader figure. For shield designs, I'd decided to go with leaf patterns. I sat down for an hour or so one day and Google image searched "leaf" "pattern" "design" and so on. I saved the ones I liked that I thought would translate fairly easily to the small pallette that is the Fauns' shields (those bosses in the center take up a lot of room). After I was finished, I scattered different hair colors, patterns I liked, etc., among the stands to give them a nice, irregular look.
The other main half of the army is four stands of Shooters using the Faun Slingers pack. These were actually the first stands that I painted up from this army. Other than having to wait overnight for the base colors to dry before dry brushing their skin, hair and fur, the Fauns painted up fairly quickly. These figs don't have an overwhelming amount of equipment to paint, so that makes them quicker to complete. The exception are the wild and intricately designed standards. I spent a good bit of time staring at them and trying to decide how to paint them to bring out their rich detail. Of course, the standards and leaders were all painted in the third batch, along with the Magician, below.
I was surprised and excited to find this Faun shaman figure in the Leader pack. Also, the Fauns playing the pan pipes were excellent, and a great twist on the usual trumpeter that most manufacturers produce. The detail on the shaman figure is amazing, with his hair bound up and decorated, his staff carved into an animalistic shape (with eyes), and his long, long goatee. I gave him a piper on his stand to aid in summoning up the powers of the gods of the Forest, but thought that any other impedimentia on the stand (cauldrons, etc.) would detract from the figs themselves.
As I usually do, I included a mount of some sort on the Hero's stand. In this case, an Iron Wind 25mm Stag. I used some bluetac rolled thin as reins, which I tucked under the shield arm of the Hero's standard beaer / sidekick. The Hero figure itself is not overstated, but a simple advancing swordsman. I considered tattooes to make him stand out more, but had already done that with my Centaur army, so decided against it.
I probably won't use both the Hero and Mage in a normal, 24 AP battle. However, for Zeke's 36AP "HOTT Wax" tournaments, I would need both to flesh out the points.
This being an army of the Olde Forest, it needed some ambushers, right? In HOTT terms, those are Lurkers. I decided to base up two of them, as I ended up with one extra spear figure and one extra slinger. Some acquarium rocks and lichen on their base made them look like they were springing up out of the scrub brush to attack. Not horribly creative, but hey, with this army, the figures carry the load, as they are so stunning.
Years ago, I'd painted up two stands of woodland animals using Iron Wind Metals 25mm creatures from their "loose figures" bins they take to conventions. I highly, highly recommend these as a source for HOTT armies. It is a rare convention that they are at that my fingers don't end up a steely gray from sorting through the bins, looking for this or that oddity. So, when planning this army, I thought I'd add a couple stands to that total so that I had four of them. I picked up the stags, bears, foxes and bobcats at Cold Wars along with the Fauns. I decided not to go with the cougars I'd bought, like I used on the previous stands. They're still going to be use as Beasts, in HOTT terms, as that is another troop type that operates well in terrain.
Another step I highly recommend is to do some Google Image searches for the type of animal you are painting. I usually download several good photos of each type, and use it as a reference on where to put markings, white patches, and what colors to use. It really makes a difference, as folks always compliment my animal figs that I field.
I honestly have no idea where and when I picked up this figure, nor what manufacturer it is. I painted it up long ago as a fantasy element to add to my 15mm Greeks so I could field them in HOTT. My friend Tom Graves used him for awhile as a God figure (I think) with his always-tough "Black Hoof Clan" HOTT army. That is what Pan will be used as in this army, too, but only in 36 AP, larger versions. The sculpting (and paint job) aren't really up to the standard of Splintered Light or this army, but otherwise it fits fine.