Sources of Inspiration

Earlier this week, I came across the tomb of Gulaab Kaphool...

Bronze Age 'cist' (stone coffin) on Buttern Hill, Cornwall

For a bit of a change, I thought I'd blog about some of the sources of inspiration behind my Barfunweltz backstory and modelling ideas...

Bronze Age landscapes

I had a rather spooky experience on Tuesday. Barfun Moor was always based on the real Bodmin Moor near where I live in Cornwall. I enjoy cycling and walking there among the many ancient historical remains. It's a wonderfully atmospheric place with plenty of legendary associations, not least those relating to King Arthur.

I wrote The Doom of Mad Kaphool about six weeks ago, and had a very clear picture in my mind of a barrow on top of a hill with wide moorland sloping down to a marshy valley below, interspersed with a few large rocks. A few days ago, it was like I walked right onto the site of my story! Not only was there an absolutely awesome Bronze Age tomb on the top of the hill, but a great rock half way down the slope - exactly like the one I'd imagined Elohiim standing on when he granted the blood-kiss to Mad Kaphool! It was kind of spooky...

Victorian graveyards

The first models I painted when I (re)started the hobby were my Nighthaunt. I wanted to paint them almost monochrome so I realised their bases would be even more important than usual (I'm great believer that 'faces and bases' are the secret to a good paint job). While I was searching for ideas, we paid a visit to local National Trust property Lanhydrock. Its Victorian gardens and churchyard seemed the perfect look - and pretty easy to replicate with the right materials.

(Dad-)pop culture, real life & politics

It amuses me to try and introduce subtle references to random 'real life' things into my stories, and particularly the names of my characters. I think I'm right in saying that every single name I've chosen involves some sort of real life reference, or at least has a special significance to me (e.g. gaming buddies, my children). If you can be bothered, you'll find references to all of the following in my stories:

• TV series including Blackadder, Monty Python, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Peppa Pig, Breaking Bad
• Movies including Gladiator, Ghostbusters, Interview with a Vampire, Fight Club
• 1970s and 1980s pop groups and rock bands
• Assorted books and poems including Shakespeare, Lewis Carol, Alan Garner, Alfred Tennyson, JRR Tolkien
• Philosophers and theologians
• Various biblical and apocryphal stories
• Christian hymns and liturgies
• Events from church history, particularly the Reformation
• Political figures, both British and American
• Local (Cornish) legends and language
• Scientific disciplines including botany
• Supermarket chains!
• ...and those are just the ones I can remember!

Anyway, if you're reading this, I'm hoping it's because you enjoy my narrative approach to the Warhammer hobby. I don't pretend to have much of a 'following' out there, but that's really not the point for me: I just enjoy writing this stuff, and if others enjoy reading it, well then that's a wonderful bonus! 

Now, it's time to return to Barfunweltz...

#69 KNIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD