Jousting June Recap

Three new knights, who were among the display at UKGE 2025

Jousting June was a month I was really looking forward to. Particularly since the beginning of the month was hot off the back of UKGE, where I got the chance to attend, and run demos of Half Tilt on the TTCombat stand! I also spotted a couple new models that had made their way onto the display stand! It’ll be interesting to see if they’ll be parts of new teams, or Hedge Knights to add into existing ones, as the knight with the frog on his helmet would fit in nicely with Sir Pigismund, Sir Cluckington and Sir Ducksly, and the knight at the front of the photo has a large, ornate chalice on his helmet and shield, looking like the companion of Frederik Of The Chalice.

But looking at future releases is cool and all, but we’re here to see what I’ve painted this month!

Descent Of The Shield Maidens

The first team I painted this month were the Walrus riding Shield Maidens - a Nordic themed team, styled on Vikings and Valkyries, who play as hard-hitting, slow moving knights. The Walruses all have a negative modifier on their initiative, and the knights tend not to have anything on their block stats, other than two of them having rerolls. However, they all have a positive modifier on their Strike stats, with Yrse The Cleaver and Signe The Champion boasting a massive +3 modifier.

I really enjoyed painting these models, and I’m really happy with how the skin of the Walruses turned out, and the white whiskers on them look good. I was initially worried they may be a little too stark, in particular against the brown Walruses. On the bases, I used new Siege Scenics winter mosses and tufts, and snow effect. But beneath that, to really sell the effect of a frosty plain or snowy fjord, I used Krautcover Snowy Highland Pass, which has a great mix of stone, grit, soil and ice and was an excellent base to build on with the moss and tufts. I used a Scottish Highland photo as a basis for these, and I think I got the effect I was after really quickly.

Nessie, Queen Of Little Skjarr

Nessie has the Keyword Shieldmaiden, meaning she works with the Ploy Cards for the Shieldmaidens perfectly. She has a very balanced stat line, with a full 10 dice to play with from her Jousting skill. Where she really comes in strong is forcing the Cowardly trait onto enemy knights if they took damage from her that turn. And even cooler, she’s on the back of a ferocious bear! I based her the same as the Shieldmaidens, but where she really stands out is the jewels on her bear’s armour. I chose the colours to look like it’s Thulite, Norway’s national precious stone.

Lords Of The Craggy Bottom Derby

Craggy Bottom is one of TTCombat’s key Halfling settlements, which you’ll see elsewhere in Half Tilt, and in TTCombat’s fantasy scenery range. These particular knights are mounted atop the noble goats of Craggy Bottom! The Craggy Bottom Goats are a well balanced stat line team, who really come in to their own with their abilities. Davkin Freegrove (picture 3 and 4) for example, if the opposing knight rolls 2 or more 1s on their strike or block, they immediately take 1 damage. And Sandri Hornhelm (picture 7 and 8), adds the damage caused by his strikes to the opposing knight to his momentum, making it easier for him to catch the knight, ending the bout. As a little reference, on Brutus Headstrong, (pic 1 and 2) is wearing the MacEwan (or McEwan) tartan, my family’s tartan. For their bases, I wanted a riverside base, because they made me think of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. I couldn’t model a bridge onto the bases, so went with the river theme. I used Krautcover Riverbed base material, which has a range of stones, grit and sand, then used UV resin for the water, and splash effect to add ripples to the water.

Danric Brightfingers

Danric has the keywords Craggy Bottom, and Goat, making him perfect to fit in with the Craggy Bottom Derby. With his Blinding Light ability, opposing knights gain a -2 modifier to their Strike while at the tilt with Danric, which helps to offset his -1 Block stat. But before making an initiative roll, Danric rolls a D6, and on a 4+ he gains a +2 modifier to his initiative. That can make him move pretty quickly, helping to get him behind the opponent, ending the bout. I wanted to add some freehanding to Danric’s robes, by adding constellations, and I based him like I did the Derby.

Scribbit & Mertha

Scribbit & Mertha are an unusual pair for jousting. A Gnoblit and an Ogre, teaming up and taking the jousting world by storm! At the end of the allocation stage, you can choose either the Lancer generic trait or a Strike Reroll for that turn. My head canon for them was Scribbit left his Gnoblit clan, dreaming of the life of glory and riches as a jousting knight, but he didn’t have access to a mount that would see him well in the tilt yard. On his journey away from the clan, he stumbled upon Mertha, being attacked by knights who were hunting her, trying to irradicate the Ogres in the area. Deftly disposing of her attackers, Scribbit made his presence known to Mertha, striking up an alliance, telling her how she would be able to fight with knights all the time, without having to look over her shoulder constantly. She should become a jouster, by being his mount! She agreed, fashioned her knightly attire using the spoils from her defeated attackers, and used a log to create a lance befitting her size. Now they have the renown they deserve!

I designed a shield, Argent cat Rampant Regardant Vert, meaning the white cat is on their back legs, looking behind them, on a field of green. I also had to make a decision for the apple Scribbit. As Scribbit is green, I didn’t want to have him with a green apple, so red it was! However, he is wearing a red cap, and Mertha also has a red headscarf. To break this up, I used a pale yellow to add the highlight on the apple, making it a bite from it, which I really liked. For the base, I used Krautcover Tales From A Forest Moon basing material. It features leaf litter, soil, moss and twigs.

Crowd Members

I like to populate my stands for Half Tilt and Rumbleslam. Fortunately, the sculpt style between both of these games is the same, so they don’t look out of place. I like to look at Maxmini for my extra models, as they’re part of the Troll Trader family, and the Half Tilt models are actually part of the Fantasy Halflings from Maxmini. I use clear bases on these crowd models, so they match how the Rumbleslam crowd event exclusive models are based. I have more crowd models to add to the stands, including a range of halflings dressed in their work clothes (I’m looking at you, Butcher Halfling!) and drunken halflings, one of whom is in the pictures below! I like painting glasses, and got to (I feel) perfect how I do it when I painted the Pulcinella Pub Crawl. But I also picked up some of the TTCombat Glistening Puke paint, which gives a beautifully disgusting effect.

Picture 1 and 2 feature the Duke of Tippshire, Lord Tippmann Van Cat, featuring his coat of arms, which we’ll also see in the next section…

Tippshire Castle

When I backed Half Tilt on Kickstarter last year, I went with the option to get EVERYTHING. That included a dice tower that looks like a castle! Whenever I see pictures of it, it was always painted grey. And well, having a castle in my hometown, I wanted to evoke the feeling of Alnwick Castle, so with a bit of research and trying some arty-farty stuff, I came up with…