Back in the days when PaintSlam was still called Painthammer, I occasionally featured artists from the community here on the blog. With PaintSlam23 this is a feature I want to bring back! So I hope you all enjoy this first Community Spotlight of 2023, as we look at Terra’s Imperial Knights. And if you’re a member of the PaintSlam community and you want an army or collection showing off here on this blog, send me a DM in the Discord!
So, Terra, please introduce yourself!
Hi! I’m Terra (She/They), I’m a non-binary queer trans and poly gal. I’m 35 years old and I’ve been into the hobby since 2001, specifically I remember walking through Tesco and seeing Dark Elves on the cover of that month’s White Dwarf. And when you’re an impressionable emo/goth teenager, that definitely strikes an interest! Outside of the hobby I work in IT in London, I’m fond of cooking and baking when I get the time and I’m quite partial to a good charity shop!
Awesome, glad to have you as part of the PaintSlam community! Can you tell us about your Imperial Knight army, please?
The army itself is called “The Pride of Terra” (yes, it works on several layers) and consists of a bunch of queer and GNC* imperial knights! All the Knights have their gender on their right pauldron, and their sexual identity on the left. These knights are proud of who they are!
The lore behind the Knights is that they all grew up in the cis normative household of the great houses, but when they came out to their families, they were shunned and shamed for who they were. So, they took the oath of the Freeblade and wandered the stars, fighting against injustice and upholding their own honour.
Eventually, these knights found eachother, they re-painted over their household colours and formed their own found families. And now, they proudly display not their heritage, but who they are, on their might knight chassis.
That’s great! And I love how you integrated the flags into the design and backstory of the miniatures. Any other nuggets for us?
I made the army in a way to try to normalise asking about and using different pronouns. I found that a lot of warhammer players denote to calling their minis he or him as just the default. I don’t generally correct anyone on using the pronouns of my knights but I have noticed that at the start of the game opponents default to he/him, but after listening to me using she/they/it, that by the end of the game my opponent has picked up on it and genders my knights correctly.
I also make sure to crack a joke to ease tensions too, I find that most cishet folks are worried about making mistakes, so usually I mention that all the flags are painted freehand, and I get to make the joke of “yes they’re incredibly straight which is interesting really considering how straight I’m not” once there’s been a good laugh at the table people are usually a lot more interested in the flags and their meanings, and I often get people asking me about what all the different flags mean. This army has been a really fun experience to play, laugh with, and talk about.
Brilliant! And since these flags are often seen at Pride, what are you most proud about with this army?
As for being proud about this army, it was assembled and painted in just under a year. But if I’m honest there’s still little touches here and there to be made until the army is “finished” proper.
Thanks Terra for showing us your Imperial Knights! Keep it up and I’d love to see how the army grows in the future too! Terra is one of the members of the PaintSlam community, why not join us this year? Maybe you’ll be the next to have your collection in the spotlight!
*Gender non-conforming
