Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Introducing Some Weird War Two Bad Guys: Sturmbannfuhrer Ingrid Schmertz and Oberscharfurer Karl Lupo

I have managed to complete a few more figures for my Weird War Two project and shall be introducing them over the next few days. The first two are from the Warlord Games set, their "Frau Growler/Werewolf" set. Both lovely moe dels and fun to paint. The werewolf is the first furry thing I've ever painted.

Once there was a little girl in the Black Forest named Ingrid whose father raised prize Alsatians. Little Ingrid wanted to become a veterenarian when she grew up and help puppies and dogs grow up to be big and strong. Ingrid's father, Herr Schmertz, was a Party man and curried favour by giving purebred dogs to top Nazi leaders. When she was twenty, Ingrid was recruited from veterinary school into a special SS research unit that was tasked with investigating the scientific basis behind the legend of the werewolf.

As a girl Ingrid had been fascinated by the stories told by old men in her village, which looked curiously like the set of an old Hammer film. The villagers all knew to avoid the dark woods when the moon was full, and the howls of wolves were heard through closed shutters. She volunteered as a research assistant to SS Doctor Otto Stahl, who was investigating the genetics of certain backwoods families in the Schwarzwald. Dr. Stahl's research identified the werewolf bloodlines and found that the change could be manipulated with electromagnetic fields at certain frequencies. His research also found that the subjects, when changed, tore apart their male handlers but were quite docile around young Aryan maidens, presumably because of their pheronmones (or something - for God's sake, this is pulp!).

Karl Lupo is a brave and handsome SS man, a dedicated Nazi who volunteered for Dr. Stahl's research. The treatments have been extremely painful, and the change into the werewolf form is agonizing and terrifyiing. When the change comes over him and his eyes turn red with bloodlust, the only thing that can bring him back is Sturmbannfuhrer Schmertz's sweet Aryan face.

Karl is hopelessly in love with Ingrid, but as a good SS man, he would never dream of telling her, his superior officer, about his feelings. He dreams that one day, when the Reich is victorious, things may be different, and, if that is not to be, that he will die bravely in battle and she will witness his brave deeds. In the meantime, he writes a lot of letters home to his dear mother in Munster, but can never bring himself to tell her what a thing of nightmare he has become in order to serve his Fuhrer.

So, gentle readers, there you have it. Will these two young Nazis find happiness? Does Ingrid perhaps harbour feelings for Karl? Does she even dream of injecting herself with Herr Doktor Stahl's treatments, and running alongside Karl through the Black Forest under a hunter's moon? Will the WaffenWulfen program succeed in turhing out monsters in numbers that will win the war? Find out here. In the meantime, stay vigilant, chaps.

9 comments:

  1. Nice work on the fur! I just finished painting some GW Wargs, painting fur can be a hit-or-miss process indeed. You certainly hit! Just need to verify that you have seen Dog Soldiers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280609/), otherwise it's off to the video store right away and film night with the missus tonight, Padre.

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    1. Thanks mate. I was quite intimidated by the fur. Imthinkmmow I have the confidence to go revisit my own GW wargs. Will you have wargs for Dux Gondarium?

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  2. Lovely work on the models. But... "Ingrid Pain"? (I'd best be careful; a large number of my congregation are "Siebenbergishe Sachen" (Transylvanian Germans). Next you'll be adding an attached IRA man who is a Puka!

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    1. Thanks John. I thought Ingrid Schmertz/Pain was a funny and appropriate name, as was Lupo. An IRA man would be a great asset for this project. I could model him on Donald Sutherland's character in The Eagle Has Landed.

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  3. Absolutely great. As Thomas said the werewolf fur is really good

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  4. Hey Benito. I really appreciate the feedback, thanks mate.

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  5. My good padre, those are great! The sculpts are lovely but you've done them justice. As has already been said the blending between the different shades of the fur is something I'm very envious of. In the long running saga of these occult-themed models, is there a campaign in sight for them, or some games? I'm thinking of getting some myself and am struggling to find any decent systems for occuly-werewolfy games out there. And Ingrid seems to be doing well for herself, a major at 20? Can I sign up, I'm in the wrong job obviously!

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    1. My dear Colonel, you are most kind. They are indeed nice sculpts and very forgiving. Part of the fun of this project is that I can set aside the Osprey uniform guides and the duty to historical accuracy and just enjoy painting for the sake of it. You will notice that young Ingrid's uniform is black, but has all sorts of red that I doubt any SS uniform ever sported. Not accurate, but then there was no WulfenWaffenSS, so who cares. As Conrad Kinch pointed out to me, Weird War 2 is no more real than Star Wars, so ...
      As for a campaign, and what I might do with these figures, I am still giving some thought to that subject, so I will answer you in another post.
      Yes, Ingrid has done well for herself. It helps having a father who is a well connected Nazi and who gives adorable Alsatian puppies to important people. Since as you correctly note, a Sturmbannfuhrer is equivalent to a Major's rank, she needs some troops to command. I have a few other werewolf models to paint, and I am thinking of some of the SS female types sold by Bob Murch's Pulp Figures, provided I can do them without going too far towards a creepy 1970s Nazi sexpolotation vibe.
      Cheers,
      MIke

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