Vampires or Winged Demons

I love miniatures that work for multiple settings, such as these Vrykolakas. They are part of the North Star range for the The Silver Bayonet, part of the new figures for The Carpathians: Castle Fier. I'm sure I will use them for that, but I can also seem them appearing as medium demons in Frostgrave and maybe even as space demons or space vampires in Stargrave.

Painting these guys was a breeze. I hit them with Vallejo 'Gory Red' paint, gave them a black wash, and then layered it up by mixing in yellow. Just a bit of hair, eyes, teeth, and the base and they were done. Despite the minor effort, I think they've come out great! 

While painting these guys, I kept thinking of a line from Solomon Kane's Homecoming, 'And I have seen winged demons fly all naked in the moon.' It's a fantastic poem by Robert E. Howard.

Queen Valdea

The latest figure to come off my painting table is Queen Valdea, who will serve as the first mate in my Stargrave crew. A warrior queen, Valdea defied the Daleks until the bitter end; until her planet was destroyed around her. She only survived through the intervention of the rogue Timelord, Chance. While she has never forgiven Chance for his interference, or the curse of her rescue, she has vowed to fight the Daleks wherever they are found. Travelling with Chance gives her the best opportunity. 

I built this figure using the Frostgrave Wizards II and Stargrave Mercenaries II sets. As you can see, the sets are fully compatible, which is no major surprise as they are both sculpted by Bobby Jackson. I really love the juxtaposition of the two sets - the wizardly robes versus the cybernetic arm and the massive carbine. I had a lot of fun painting this one and can't wait to get her onto the tabletop! 

The Original Boba Fett

Twenty-five years ago, I was living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Ostensibly, I was there to get my university degree, but I actually spent most of my time in the legendary gaming store, Cerebral Hobbies. One year, the owner Steve and his wife, went off to GenCon.

Upon his return, he presented me with this signed photo of Jeremy Bulloch, the original Boba Fett. Although I've never been one to collect signatures, Steve knew I was a big fan of the character, and I have treasured it since.

Jeremy Bulloch passed away a few years ago, and really, the character has never been as cool since he played him. Boba Fett is a great example of a character that became less cool the more that was known about him. Creators beware, characters are often cooler left in mystery. 

Still, it's a great photo and a little link with another time.

 

Me, the Time Lord

 

Last week I got a real desire to paint a Doctor Who figure, but I couldn't figure out exactly what I wanted. Then I realized I had a pretty good Time Lord figure sitting in my lead pile. What I had, was a miniature of... me. This figure was sculpted as a gift when I left Osprey Publishing. I was given a copy of the figure painted by Kev Dallimore and several bare metal ones. Until now, I've never had the courage to paint one, but I got inspired. Now I'm planning on him leading my new Stargrave crew!

This is the rogue Time Lord known as Chance. In his stolen Tardis he has rounded up a crew of desperate freedom fighters to battle against the Daleks (and possibly the Time Lords) in an effort to protect people during the Time War. 

I debated how to depict his Tardis. Logically, there is no reason it should look like a police box. In fact, it could literally be anything else. But, if it can be anything, how do you know its a Tardis? I toyed with using the cola machine miniature I've got, but it didn't look quite big enough. In the end, I think, if you want a Tardis on the wargaming table, it's got to be a police box. Luckily, I've had this one for years. It's a resin piece, but I cannot remember where I got it.

Now to get to work on the rest of the crew!