Jiltsi/Rindi part 1

Ivan the Terrible surrounded himself with a bodyguard of 50-100 halberdiers called the Jiltsi.  His grandfather, Ivan III, had a similar bodyguard called the Rindi, who wielded axes.  In the Ambassador Chronicles, the Tzarina is also surrounded by fiercely loyal bodyguards, so  I thought it would be appropriate to provide her with a unit of elite footmen.

For models, I decided to use the Mordheim Kislevites, the first installment of which are pictured below:



Ultimately, there will be 28 of these guys, with full command.  Right now, however, I only have 12 done, 11 rank-and-file and a captain.  As you can see, I used the same basing techniques that I've previously described.  The trousers, caps, braiding on the coats, and sleeves are Altdorf Blue washed with Asurmen Blue (the last generation blue GW wash).  The coats are just Khorne Red washed with Carroburg Crimson.  The fur is just Ceramite White heavily washed with Nuln Oil. 

Here is a close up on the captain:

Here is a shot of two of the rank-and-file, one with a polearm and the other with sword and buckler:

Here are some close-ups of individual rank-and-file:

In game terms, these guys probably would be the equivalent of Empire Greatswords, at least in terms of elite status and function.  Of course, they don't have the benefit of the armor or weapons of the Greatswords, so to make them elite, they will need some other stuff.  Here is my thought: these fellows have the same profile as Greatswords, but light armor rather than plate (perhaps chainmail shirts under their great coats), immune to psychology in addition to stubborn, and a choice of fighting with sword and buckler or halberds.