Sunday, January 11, 2026

'Empire' From RichardM - Lamassu Statue (55 points)

 In last year's Challenge, I finished the last few units that I needed for my Sassanid Persian army.  


At that time, I prepared a large command base that had a small Lamassu statue built into a wall in the background with the suggestion that my Sassanids were fighting somewhere in Mesopotamia / Assyria.

So for my Empire theme entry, I have gone back to that concept and prepared a standalone Lamassu statue that when placed on the battlefield as scatter terrain would be a reminder of what was the great Assyrian Empire that existed up a millenia earlier than the Sassanids.  


For those who aren't aware, Lamassu are stone carved figures with a human head on the body of a winged lion or bull.  They were typically seen as guardians outside of major gates in city walls / palaces.  Indeed, that is where the 3d model that I have printed comes from - this is one component of something much bigger (I'll include a photo of the whole model below).  



For those wanting to see one in the flesh so to speak, I have been lucky enough to see the ones in the British Museum, the Louvre and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.  I believe there is one in New York and of course ones that are a bit harder to get to - Iraq and Iran.

So this is a 3d model that I printed on an FDM printer.  I have then painted with acrylics and weathered it with pigments.  No washes were used as they are not very successful with the lines from an FDM print.

The photo that follows is an image of the whole model that this print comes from - my print is the left hand lamassu.  It is sculpted by Ian Lovecraft and can be acquired at https://i-lovecraft.com/product/desert-adventures-all-in/.   It would make an impressive terrain piece for a quiet corner of a table - but it would be huge 


And finally, while not relevant to this year's challenge, this is the terrain piece referred to above which I originally prepared for the Sassanids with the lamassu in the background wall at the right, that started the Assyrian Empire theme in their terrain.



Points:

Empire theme - 50 points
Lamassu as a terrain item - I cannot see it getting more than 5 points (but please change as you see fit)  

7 comments:

  1. I have a soft spot for Persians and having seen the creature at the British museum it evokes a remoteness of these empires that makes them all the more enticing- your approach to colour is excellent and the look is pleasing on the eye

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  2. That's a very evocative statue, nice choice!

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  3. A nice piece of terrain for your table, well done.

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  4. Love this. I have the same statue done for my 10mm Desert Undead. I like yours better. :)

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