The subtle art of miniature sculpture pt. 2

This is a sort of addendum to the last post, as I have had a think about sculpture in general. And a bit of an epiphany. No angry rant this one.



Now, Games Workshop have these special minis of famous heroes in the Warhammer Fantasy Battles world, that come with scenic bases. They have themselves said that these minis are important because not only do they represent some of the most famous and beloved/hated heroes and villains of WHFB, they also represent entire armies and their "feel".

With no minis is it as obvious as the following two:

Mini painted by Anne Foerster

Painted by Jo Dale

Tyrion is the first one there. Archaon on the bottom.

I think you notice at once were the similarities lie, and where the differences are.

Thing is, Tyrion and Archaon were released at pretty much the same time, which means we can't unequivocally rule out that Gary Morley, who sculpted Tyrion, and Brian Nelson, the mind behind Archaon, didn't work together as far as concepts are concerned. It's a bit of "The chicken and the egg".

Still, I think that, when put together like this, Tyrion and Archaon become two sides of the same coin. They have never met on the battlefield, as far as the fluff is concerned, but they really are different versions of the same theme. And it's not just the rearing horses.

Consider the pose of the characters themselves. True, there are only so many ways to position someone on horseback, but still. There are similarities, especially in how the sword is wielded. And yet, there is a subtle difference at play here:
Tyrion holds his sword, the Sunfang, upright, towards the heavens and seems to be looking back, as if rallying his troops.
Archaon hold his sword, the Slayer of Kings, horizontal and looks down it, as if his mind is already in the combat in which he's about to charge. An all together more aggressive pose.

Then we have the fact that Tyrion isn't holding onto the reins of Malhandir, his steed. He doesn't have to. He is in total control.
Archaon has to hold on to the rein of his Chaos Steed, Dorghar. He isn't in total control. This works to underpin the chaotic nature of the forces that Archaon tries to dominate over through sheer force of will. Archaon doesn't look that Chaos himself, bar the helmet, the sword and the shield, so Nelson used subtle cues like the reins on his steed to communicate it. Archaon is a dominator, so it works.

These two represent their armies (High Elves and Chaos Warriors respectively) very well, but they also represent the two sides that vie for domination in the Warhammer world: Light and Dark. True, in Warhammer, nothing should really be taken for granted and the High Elves are arrogant bastards, but the fact that Tyrion and Archaon are two sides of the same coin still applies.