Two more player characters for the Aliens game mentioned in the previous post. This time we've got a security agent and a corporate type. It was a bit of a challenge assembling a business person from Stargrave/Frostgrave bits, but I think she came out okay. The body is from the Stargrave Crew II set, while the arms and head are from the Frostgrave Wizards II sprue. I cut off a wand to give her a kind of PA device. I then used a book turned sideways to be a little briefcase. I think its the paint job that will cause her to stand out though, as she'll be the only one wearing a bright colour, where everyone else will be in muted tones.
Wednesday 23 October 2024
Monday 21 October 2024
Alien Crew...
Next month, I'm playing in a one-shot Alien role-playing game, and I agreed to paint figures for all of the Player Characters. These are the first two, the security chief and the android mechanic. They are both constructed from various Stargrave plastic kids.
It's generally against my nature to paint miniatures with no flock on their base, but considering how much grass is seen in the Alien films (none?) it didn't seem appropriate. What did seem appropriate were a few bloods spatters...
Monday 14 October 2024
Friday 11 October 2024
Orc
Some days, you just feel like painting an orc, or at least I do. And I did, a few days ago. I was looking through my collection of orcs and realized I wasn't really happy with them. There was nothing wrong with the models, just my paint jobs. I had painted all my orcs very dark and very grubby. This might be perfectly appropriate for the Tolkien style of orcs I want, but it just doesn't look that great on the tabletop. So, I wanted to paint one using a bit more colour, and more importantly, a bit more contrast to the colours.
To start, I went with a white undercoat, which I've never used for orcs before. This made a big difference on the brightness of the chainmail, which ended up contrasting very nicely with the black leather breastplate. I then used a dark yellow for the tunic - its not a nice or overly bright colour, but I think it found that happy medium of colour and grunge at the same time. I added a bit of purple, which gives it some more colour, but still keeps it dark overall. Finally, I gave it some real brightness on the shield, drawing a meaningless rune and giving it a little fire effect. I wanted it to sort/kinda/maybe give the impression of the Eye of Sauron without an actual eye.
Yup, very happy with how this guy came out. I might have to slowly replace my old orc force with this new, slightly more colourful variety.
Thursday 10 October 2024
Hythe Community Games Day!
Tuesday 8 October 2024
Cockatrice!
Tuesday 1 October 2024
Sam Wilson, Captain America
I didn't touch a paint brush all summer. I was just too busy travelling, playing with the kids, going to the beach, etc. But now that the weather has turned, the kids are back in school, and I'm home again, my fingers have gotten itchy. I jumped back into miniature painting with a Marvel: Crisis Protocol figure that's been in my painting queue for awhile: Sam Wilson, Captain America. I must admit, I really like painting super heroes. Bold Colours, heavy contrast, and details big enough for my aging eyes to see! This one was a little trickery than most with the all the stripes, but fun none-the-less!
Tuesday 9 July 2024
A Bad Night for the Town Watch...
I painted my first two Anno Domini 1666 figures. These are the metal versions, and I'm delighted with the look and quality - though I will admit the weapons are very slender (the downside to realistically scaled).
I didn't feel ready to tackle any of the characters, so I went for a couple of town guardsmen to get me started.
Just for fun, I shot them in front of one of my Tabletop World houses and with a few Reaper giant rats. I like the combined look so much, I'm thinking about running some Rangers of Shadow Deep games with a more 17th century look to it!
Tuesday 11 June 2024
Caphid Attack!
Monday 10 June 2024
Anglo-Egyptian Silver Bayonet Unit
Believe it or not, I don't have a purpose-painted The Silver Bayonet unit. Whenever I have played the game, I have just cobbled together a unit from figures I had previously painted. Well, that's set to change! Inspired by some of the minis produced for the new Egypt supplement, I've decided to create a new Anglo-Egyptian unit!
Thursday 6 June 2024
Slathek Attack!
It's another glorious day in the Colonial Marine Corp! I'm continuing to paint up aliens for Deathship One. This time its the tentacular Slathek! The first one of these creatures I painted, I spent ages doing layers, but didn't really like the results. Then I slapped a layer of contrast paint on these two, added some white dots and called them done. They actually look much better!
When Bobby Jackson started working on this project, this was the alien he was unsure about. Sometimes creative challenges lead to fantastic results!
Tuesday 4 June 2024
Drekyl Attack!
Having a bit of fun with my latest paint jobs - a bunch of Drekyl! These guys were created for my new game Deathship One, but there are also rules to use them in Stargrave (free) on my Patreon.
I got the STLs for these straight from Bobby Jackson and got them painted by my friends at Illusionary Terrain. You can also buy physical prints from Bobby or from North Star.
I'm also working on a new set of terrain, which is just a bunch of sci-fi walls from Blotz, which you can see here. Most of them still need painting (which honestly is a black undercoat with grey sprayed over top of it - done). Once I have them ready to go, I'll be running some of my colonial marines through the Deathship!
Yes, this spaceship has woodgrain flooring - it's a classy ride!
Monday 3 June 2024
Deathship One - Now Available!
While the game encourages the use of whatever miniatures you already have, it does feature 4 distinct alien races. And I’m excited to announce that famed miniature sculptor Bobby Jackson has made STL files for the aliens which you can purchased directly from his new shop. If you are in the US, you can also order physical prints. In the UK and the rest of the world, you can order from North Star.
Monday 20 May 2024
Gallimandus
Introducing, Gallimandus! I painted this figure to be my character for HeroQuest with the kids... but I'm so happy with the paint job that I might have to take him into the Frozen City on a treasure hunt or two...
Yes, this is another Bobby Jackson figure from Reaper Miniatures. The guy just sculpts figures that are fun to paint!
At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to get enough contrast between the purple and the blue, but I think the gold trim really helps to set the different areas apart. The only part of the figure that gave me real trouble was the main scroll. My first attempt just didn't feel right. It just looked too fresh, like it was written yesterday, where I wanted something older. Switching to a red/brown for the writing instead of black on the second attempt really helped with this.
I've always wanted scrolls to play a bigger part in Frostgrave, but I don't think I've ever pulled it off. My best attempt was probably in The Maze of Malcor, where you can find scrolls for spells you can't otherwise cast, but I still don't see them used very often. Oh well, something to think about for a future supplement!
Thursday 16 May 2024
Plague Doctor
On my computer, this figure is about 5 times 'life size' which probably doesn't do my paint job any favours! This is another fantastic Bobby Jackson sculpt for Reaper miniatures. I hear it was also the inspiration for one of the Rangers of Shadow Deep scenarios found in The Star of Alladore.
This figure has been subbing in as my wizard figure in HeroQuest, while I get a new one painted up. (My wife didn't want to play the wizard anymore, she wanted someone more aggressive).
I originally intended to paint him in black and grey as seemed more fitting... but when it came to it, I just couldn't do it. I like a bit more colour on my figs! So instead, I painted him up more like one of my rangers. I think it worked out pretty well!
Wednesday 15 May 2024
A Rare Space Hulk Scenario
Tuesday 14 May 2024
The Joseph A. McCullough Newsletter
patreon.com/GamesfromtheGrave973
Artwork by Barrett Stanley
Tuesday 7 May 2024
The Semova Sisters
Another throwback in the miniatures collection, and a couple of my favourites. These are the Semova sisters, who were sculpted to accompany Second Chances, the first Frostgrave novel, written by Matthew Ward.
I admit, I wasn't sure about letting someone write a novel set in Frostgrave, but I really, really enjoy this book! It is unfortunately out of print now, but hopefully used copies can be found.
Friday 3 May 2024
Rangers of Shadow Deep: A Gathering of Heroes
Ghost Archipelago - Crew Review 3
Here are the final members of my Ghost Archipelago crew. The one on the left is a Rangers of Shadow Deep figure. The third from the let is a Reaper metal miniature. The other two are from the official Ghost Archipelago range. The snakeman mercenary was created for the bad guys, but was just such a cool mini, that I had to induct him into the crew. He is a mercenary after all!
Now that I've got these guys out and dusted off, I might just have to run them through a solo scenario or two!
Thursday 2 May 2024
Ghost Archipelago - Crew Review 2
Having showed off the Heritor and warden yesterday, here is the first half of the rest of the crew!
For those wondering about the figures, from left to right they are from Lucid Eye, Frostgrave, Wargames Illustrated Giants in Miniature, and finally an official Ghost Archipelago figure.
Looking back at these figures, I wish I had been using white undercoats at the time, as it would probably brighten up these figures a bit, but otherwise, I'm still pretty pleased with them. They are such a diverse lot, but all seem appropriate for a ship sailing the Lost Isles!
Wednesday 1 May 2024
Ghost Archipelago Heritor & Warden
I've been dusting off my Ghost Archipelago crew, and thought I would take some new photos to show them off. Here is my Heritor and warden.
I spent loads of time searching for the perfect figure to match my vision of my Heritor. In the end, I used Hero Forge to make one. It was expensive, and I haven't used the service since, but I've got to say, I got just what I wanted!
The warden is a classic old school Games Workshop chaos model. It's a figure I've always loved, and demonstrates, once again, how incredible some of the old figures were, even with the casting limitatons of the time.
Monday 29 April 2024
I'm Not Going to Paint HeroQuest
I told myself I wasn't going to paint the HeroQuest figures. My family is already using some Reaper figures I painted up for our heroes, and there were just too many monsters and furniture to be worth the time...
I was looking at that mummy figure, and I thought, I'll bet I can basically paint him with a wash. So I sprayed him white, gave him a heavy wash of Army Painter Mid-Brown, and then picked out the fleshier areas with Army Painter Pallid Bone contrast paint. Then I painted the base grey. That's it, four paints and it came out looking pretty good.
So then I thought I might try a skeleton. He's mostly contrast paints and washes too. It probably took me about 1/4 of the time it usually takes me to paint a figure. Well, it doesn't make much sense to just paint two figures in the game... so I guess I'm committed to painting them all now!
Thursday 25 April 2024
Oh, Hypocrisy…
A few weeks ago, I posted an article over on my Patreon (free to read) about why I gave my Dungeons & Dragons 5e books away. Long story short, I didn’t want to support the company, Wizards of the Coast, when there were so many great alternatives available. About a week later, I ordered HeroQuest, a miniature heavy board game produced by Avalon Hill. The problem is, both Wizards of the Coast and Avalon Hill are both ultimately owned by Hasbro.
I didn’t realize this at the time I ordered HeroQuest, but I don't think it would have changed my decision anyway. I have been looking for a long time for a dungeon-crawler style board game to play with my family, especially my kids. We had played Mice & Mystics, which they really enjoyed, but I wanted something that was a bit more classic dungeon-crawling and something that was infinitely expandable. I searched, and searched, and all roads kept pointing back to HeroQuest. There is just nothing else, that I could find, quite like it.
Does this make me a hypocrite? I don’t know. In the case of D&D there are alternatives that I think are just as good (if not better). In the case of HeroQuest, I couldn’t find any.
The world is a big confusing place, and every question that gets asked is a little bit different. It’s hard not to trip over your own feet sometimes, and I doubt any human is 100% consistent.
So, I still believe that it is better to support the small companies, and independent creators, and companies with a better track record towards their employees and fans, but I also believe we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves. Those big companies often produce cool stuff. Sometimes it’s the best; sometimes its just loud and shiny and marketed everywhere. And I don't think anyone should feel too guilty about how they spend their hobby money.
Perhaps I'm overthinking this. Apparently, its a habit of mine.
My kids absolutely love HeroQuest. We’ve played a couple of games and they ask for it basically every night (when there usually isn’t time).
Wednesday 24 April 2024
Scavenger II
This figure mostly comes from the Scavengers II box, except the gun arm, which comes from Mercenaries II. The mask is designed to have a gasmask attachment, but I liked the look without it for this figure and left it off. I think it makes the figure strangely menacing.
Sorry, I didn't have better lighting on the photo. I mainly rely on natural light, and it's in a bit of short supply around here at the moment. Spring teased us for a week, and then went on holiday.
Monday 15 April 2024
Salute 2024
Thursday 4 April 2024
Torchbearer
Another 'give it my all' weekend figure. This is another Reaper Bones USA figure sculpted by Bobby Jackson. I wanted to paint it, specifically, because of my recent interest in the OSR style of role-playing. I won't go deep into that topic here, but essentially OSR looks back to the earliest days of role-playing, of Dungeons & Dragons specifically, when 'dungeon crawling' was the central focus of the game. Back in those days, carrying a torch was crucial for dungeon explorers, so crucial, in fact, that adventuring groups often hired someone specifically to carry torches.
Painting this figure was another way to explore this idea, mentally, while giving my fingers something to do. As always with BJ sculpts cast in either metal or Bones USA, the figure was a delight to paint, with both lots of character, and hard cuts separating detail.
Thursday 21 March 2024
Playtesting with Mike Hutchinson
There aren't a lot of people that 'do what I do' for a living. Thankfully, one of them lives not too far away. Last week, I met up with Mike Hutchinson (of Gaslands fame) to chat about work and the industry and to eat some good food. That's Mike's full English, while I went for the seaside specialty, the scallop and bacon baguette.
We also got a chance to have a quick playtest of Flagstone: A #Chess28 Game that Mike has been working on. I'll let him talk tell you more about in the video below, but I think he's onto a winner!
Wednesday 20 March 2024
Rats!
Monday 18 March 2024
Friday 15 March 2024
Shadowgrave - Cthulhu in Frostgrave, Stargrave, Rangers of Shadow Deep, and Ghost Archipelago!
Want to play Frostgrave, Stargrave, Rangers of Shadow Deep, or Ghost Archipelago with the Cthulhu Mythos? The complete Shadowgrave manuscript is now available to my Patreon backers, including 2 scenarios for each of those settings!
Thursday 14 March 2024
Halfling Rogue or Rogue Halfling?
Tuesday 5 March 2024
Huntress
I've said it before, and I still believe it - you can't have too many rangers!
I also took a photo of her patrolling the deep wilderness!
Monday 4 March 2024
RoboRally!
This fantastic board game has an interesting history. It was designed by Richard Garfield, who took it to Wizards of the Coast in the hopes of getting it published. WotC agreed to publish it, but as it had a lot of expensive components, they asked Richard if he had anything smaller that they could publish first, something like a card game... That card game was Magic: The Gathering. Several hundreds of millions of dollars later, they published RoboRally.
I love this game because the premise is simple, and the basic mechanics are completely logical. You just have to set out movement cards each turn to give your robot instructions - move forward, turn left, move forward, turn right, etc., and be the first to touch all of the flags. It should be easy, but because you get a random draw of cards, and because the robots can bump each other off course, and because elements of the board can move and turn you around, the results are often utter chaos.
I laughed a lot last night.
Thursday 29 February 2024
Public Lending Right
In the United Kingdom, authors are paid a small amount whenever their books are checked out of the library, so long as you register your books in advance. The actual rate per loan is set every year. This year it was £0.1369, but that amount is shared between all authors and illustrators that are listed on the cover. For major authors, this probably represents a nice little income stream. For someone at my level, it’s pocket change. I just got my statement for the past year and thought I would share the highlights!
The Story of Santa Claus: £1.37
Peter Dennis with the Cover Art! |
My biggest earner every year!
Dragonslayers: £0.41
Zombies: A Hunter’s Guide: £0.41
Zombies might not be the hot stuff they once were, but they
are clearly still of interest.
Steampunk Soldiers: £0.27
I told my co-author he should register. He’s missing out!
Frostgrave: Into the Breeding Pits: £0.41
Frostgrave: The Maze of Malcor: £0.41
Wait… what? That’s never happened before. What library is loaning
out Frostgrave books? (Answer – the BEST LIBRARY EVER!). Seriously though, I gave
up registering my gaming books because it seemed pointless. Looks like I might
be short-changing myself!
Possibly my favourite of the Frostgrave covers by the Burmaks! |
Wednesday 28 February 2024
Genestealer Cultists Investigate an Unholy Shrine
A few of my genestealer cultists investigate an unholy shrine. This might be just the variety of evil they are looking for!
I took this snap because these things were hanging around my desk. I think I've shown all, or at least most, of them before. The little shrine remains one of my all-time favourite terrain scratch builds. It was simple, easy, and looks terrific without being a huge pain to store! I've got one more genestealer hybrid to paint to complete the dozen I set out to complete for Space Hulk.
Tuesday 27 February 2024
Why I Joined Patreon & What it Means for this Blog
Artwork by Barrett Stanley |
I’ve considered setting up a Patreon for a couple of years, but every time I seriously thought about it, I decided, ‘I don’t really need it’. My games, published by Osprey Games and Modiphius, have sold well, and my publishers and my fans generally seem eager for more. I’ve even done some self-publishing to help fill in the cracks when other work was scarce. All and all, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to earn a decent living while working so intently on projects I love.
But while I’ve been able to support my family for a few years now, it has never been a steady road. Some months I earn next to nothing, others I land a big score. I live in hope that it averages out. I have no employment safety net, I don’t earn a pension, and I don’t get paid time off. That’s just the price of being my own boss, and I’ve accepted that. However, my industry is rapidly changing. New technologies and changing societal norms are mutating the traditional relationship between creators and publishers. Contracts that made sense when they were signed have become out-dated, obsolete, or sometimes non-sensical. While I work to maintain good relations with my publishers, and honestly hope to continue working with them for decades to come, no one can truly say what the industry will look like in three, five, or ten years. Will there be any publishers? Or at least more than one? And if there are, will they still employ independent creators? How can independent creators hope to retain a stake in their own creations while still getting them out to the people who would enjoy them?
Now, more than ever, it is necessary for creators to interact directly with the fans of their work. So, while the money and the idea of a bit of ‘steady income’ that comes with Patreon is certainly appealing to me in the present, I have really joined in the hopes of better securing a future for my work. To have a place I can always go to write, to create, and to share with people whose passion for fantasy adventure games burns as brightly as my own. A place where my work can be supported even if all other avenues dry up. Additionally, I want a place where I can enjoy the full freedom to write and publish whatever, whenever, I want, without reliance on anyone else. The business world loves to capture and dominate niches, as it has proven a good way to generate income, but people and artists don’t work like that. We thrive when we are free to explore, to take chances and risks, and to push the boundaries of our life and work. I am hopeful that Patreon will give me a safe space for my own explorations into areas and artwork for which publishers have no use. I need to keep exploring and trying new things, artistically and economically, both to survive financially and to ensure I don’t stagnate. I’ve got to keep pushing myself as well as my work.
I haven’t joined Patreon to massively change what I do. My greatest joy still comes from creating fantasy adventure games that are turned into glorious game books! I am just hopeful that Patreon is another tool that will allow me to continue to do that, while also growing as an artist and creator. If you’d like to support me in those endeavours, you can do so here.
What Does it Mean for this Blog?
I set up The Renaissance Troll to be my personal hobby blog, to show off the miniatures I have painted, talk about the games I have played, and to share quick thoughts about anything else that struck my fancy. Over the years, my work has crept into that, but that has always been its secondary function. I still intend to carry on with this blog, showing off minis and talking about games. Occasionally, I will mention Patreon, and maybe even share a piece or two from it, but it won't alter the basic structure of this blog.
Monday 26 February 2024
The Hobbit Puzzle
I made an interesting find in the local used bookstore over the weekend. It's a 1,000 piece puzzle based on The Hobbit with artwork by Peter Pracownik made in the UK for Express Gifts Ltd. The image is copyright 1999, which I suspect is near the printing date as well.
Now, I'll be honest, its far from my favourite piece of Middle-earth artwork. The whole work is a little cartoonish for my tastes. Bilbo is only recognizable as a hobbit by his bare feet, and looks much more human or even elvish. That said, these days it is rare to see a completely original take on any of Tolkien's works, so I do find it refreshing. I really like the letters in the 'Hobbit', which are extremely organic and even sprouting mushrooms. I also like the arrangement of the piece, with its frames within frames, and how many different pieces of the story it manages to work in.
We'll see how I feel about it once I've got it assembled. I'm not expert puzzler however, and it's a lot of pieces, so it could be awhile. Also, since it came from a used store, I just hope all the pieces are there!
Thursday 22 February 2024
Ogre: Test Run
My ebay copy of Ogre: Sixth Edition arrived, and I gave it quick test run. I replaced the cardboard Ogre Mk III with my metal mini and the command post with a little piece of terrain from Brigade Models. I played the most basic scenario and even used the suggested set-up.
The game really is smooth and quick. I wish it used a die other than the d6, but that's my only real complaint. Math that at first seems daunting really isn't. It is apparent that the side not playing the Ogre has a lot more to think about, which actually makes it a good game to introduce new players, as the Ogre side is much easier.
My Ogre finally ground to a halt a mere four hexes from the command post. The enemy still had 2 GEVs, 1 heavy tank, and a howitzer left. It's that howitzer that really caused the most problems.
I still want to replace the counters with miniatures. That actually make the game slightly harder, as the minis won't have stats on them. That said, the game has so few units, I don't think it will take long to memorize them all, and a quick cheat sheet is all that should be necessary before then.
Wednesday 21 February 2024
Games from the Grave - My Patreon, Launching Today!
- Drekyl in Stargrave - A reworking of an article I originally wrote for Wargames Illustrated, now featuring aliens I created for another game called Deathship One.
- The Renaissance Troll: The Life and Journey of a Tabletop Game Designer (Part 1) - The forward, introduction, and first chapter of my gaming autobiography.
- Gundogs of Death Canyon: Design Goals - The blurb and design goals for a small, solo miniatures game I am planning on developing within Patreon.
- Lair of the Dark Goat - A solo scenario for The Silver Bayonet.
- The Renaissance Troll (Part 2) - The next part of my gaming autobiography, which tells the story of the first great gaming store to influence my life and an examination of my first role-playing love: Middle-Earth Role-Playing (MERP)!
Tuesday 13 February 2024
Ogre: Mark V
I had so much fun with the first two, I decided to go ahead and repaint the last of my metal Ogre cybertanks - a dreaded Mark V. As you can see, the figure is quite a beast, and when cast in lead, has a serious heft to it! I nicknamed him 'Thunderbolt', because I had a couple of the hand holding a thunderbolt decals that I thought would look cool on him.
Disaster struck after I finished painting and went to varnish the figure. I do this by using blue tack to stick figures to cardboard and then take them outside to spray. Unfortunately, while tacking the tank down, I pushed on its one week point, right on the centre of the back where the two halves meet. And, unsurprisingly, it broke in half. Now luckily, it was a clean break, so all I need to do was glue it back together, and I had a new bottle of superglue gel to use... At least, I thought it was gel until I gave it a squeeze and sprayed superglue all over the place. This could have been a lot worse as most of it went on the tank itself and the newspaper underneath and not on my hand! So, check those labels carefully!
Eventually, I got him back together and sprayed. He's now ready to lead my cybertank forces!
Friday 9 February 2024
Ogre: Retreads!
At the start of the year, I wrote a list of all the games I would like to play in 2024. A surprise entry on that list, even to me, was Ogre, the Steve Jackson classic of asymmetric warfare where a giant cybertank takes on a conventional army. Unfortunately, the only copy of the game I owned was an old pocket edition... which is a tough sell to most modern gamers. So, I decided to buy the big, Sixth Edition box set, but this proved difficult. It's sold out in the UK. Well, lucky for me, I just won an ebay auction for a decently priced used set, and I'm awaiting delivery.
Although the game is technically a board game, using counters, I know I will eventually convert it to using all miniatures. Now, I did already have a few metal ogre miniatures from long ago, which I dug out of storage. In fact, they are dated 1993 on the bottom. I probably picked them up a bit later, maybe 1997, but that's still over 25 years ago. They were covered in dust and the paint jobs were horrible. I considered stripping them to paint again, but stripping miniatures is a really unpleasant and generally unrewarding experience - so I decided I would just paint over them.
I pulled out a Mark III and a Mark III-b and gave them each about 90 minutes of work. While they are unlikely to win any awards, they are vastly improved! I also have a Mark V, but he's in better shape. I might get to him later.
Once I get the game, I'll make plans for replacing the counters with other miniatures. Apart from the ogres, I'm not committed to the official range, so will see what glorious 6mm tanks are available!
Here's the original paint job on the Mark III. Certainly needed some brightening, if nothing else. If you look closely, right in the middle of the back, you can see it was just slightly miscast - but I'm calling that battle damage!
Wednesday 7 February 2024
More Hybrids
I've been having a lot of fun old-school kit-bashing to build genestealer hybrids for Space Hulk. Each of these three guys uses bodies and heads from the Stargrave Scavengers set. The two on the outside each have one arm taken from a modern genestealer hybrid set and one arm, or at least part of an arm, clipped off a classic Space Hulk genestealer! The middle guy has one arm from the scavenger set, but the gun arm comes from the Wargame Atlantic Einherjar (space dwarf) set, a sprue of which I got with a copy of Miniature Wargames. Makes a pretty good plasma gun!
Space Hulk uses genestealer hybrids in a way that really warms my gamer heart. Each scenario has its own encounter table, so you really never know exactly what equipment your hybrids will be carrying, and since this can very greatly from scenario to scenario, you never really know how many and what type you need in your collection. My goal is to have about a dozen of these guys with varied weapons, so I'll always have something 'close enough' that I can throw onto the table (hybrids rarely last long anyway).
Tuesday 6 February 2024
Big Skulls!
Just finished painted a pair of big skulls to use as a scatter terrain. These are Games Workshop pieces made to go with their Warhammer Underworlds game, though I actually got them from Stormbringer magazine - these and 4 more pieces for £9, which is kind of a steal.
I've always had difficulty painting bone. I could never quite get the effect I wanted, so I decided to really give these pieces my all. I painted the one on the right first. I used a lot of washes and layers on it, just taking my time to build it up, and I'm extremely happy with the results. It truly looks old and weathered.
When I came to paint the one on the left, I forgot some of those lessons. While the end effect isn't bad, it doesn't please me quite as much. It looks like it was recently picked clean, while the other one looks ancient.
I showed them to a friend and said, 'I love terrain pieces that I can use for every setting!' To which he replied, 'Those are going to look great in your American Civil War battles'. Fair point, but since I mainly play fantasy and sci-fi, I think it works.
The other 4 pieces are smaller, or about the size of the smaller skull, so hopefully I can get them painted up soon. Actually, I don't really like one of them, so it might be just 3 more. Cool kit. Definitely worth the money if you can find it for £9.
Thursday 1 February 2024
Colonial Marine Gun Truck
My Colonial Marines got a serious firepower upgrade over the holidays in the form of a gun truck. The model is from Games Workshop, their Genesteler Cults range. I liked the tough, workman-like look of the vehicle and thought it would be prefect for marines stuck on distant colonies who were generally facing low-level threats.
I don't really enjoy painting vehicles, so I gave it a very quick green paint job with a few details and a good bit of weathering. Then I threw a few decals on for visual interest. My one bit of flair was painting the name/artwork on the side. This truck is the 'Lucky Duck'... okay, the paint job ain't great, but it was the best I could manage!
I really couldn't decide if I wanted a mini riding on top of the truck or not. I went back and forth several times before deciding to make the figure removable. So, I drilled little pins into its feet and corresponding holes in the top deck. These hold her firmly in place, but when she is removed the holes are tool small to notice - so that worked well!