It's been awhile since I added anything to my Dol Amroth forces. Recently a friend sent me a Guards of Traitor's Toll sprue. It's a really nice sprue, filled with interesting bits, but what most caught my eye was one of the bodies. I thought it would make a great captain for Dol Amroth. I gave him a head from another sprue and a nice round shield, and then painted him to match the swordsmen. Looks like he fits right in!
Every miniatures collection needs some goblins. These are from Reaper Miniatures, all clipped off their integral bases and remounted onto GW ones. The fireplace and cauldron is from another Reaper set. The fireplace looked really plain, so I painted random runes on it. The goblins are a combination of speed paints (mostly for the skin) and more traditional painting. They are great little figs.
I've used these goblins in a couple of games of HeroQuest with my son; however, he keeps talking about how cut they are, so I'm not sure they are achieving the desired result!
It began with an early break, allowing a quick shot on goal. The shot hit the post and bounced straight back to the shooter. He shot again, only to hit the post a second time and watch the ball fly off in the other direction. From there, the game descended into pure chaos. No one seemed able to land a telling blow on their fellow jousters - most of the damage came from running into stumps. After 2.5 hours of hilarious play (I've never had the game go longer than 2 hours before), the score was tied 1-1-1-1. The next goal would win.
Still, the poor Hairfoots seemed completely incapable of keeping their mounts on target. With the clock ticking, I threw an extra ball into the arena. After a little more back and forth, the little Hairfoot who had missed the opening shot, finally put one into the goal to take the victory - just as our time expired!
It was longest game of Hairfoot Jousting I have ever played, but at no point did anyone want to leave the table!
What's worse than an evil cultist? An evil cybercultist!
I'm continuing to have fun with the Stargrave/Frostgrave plastics. This model uses the body and an arm from the Frostgrave Cultists III kit, while the head and other arm come from the Stargrave Automatons set. It really is a bit like wargaming LEGOs!
This was a quick and simple build. Both the base and the main board are foamboard, held in place with glue and dressmaker's pins. I used a pencil to draw in the 'boards'. The frame is made from left over balsa wood bits. I drove pieces of match stick into the board, held in place by some greenstuff, to create the pegs. The score placards are thick cardboard with holes punched in them. I wanted the whole thing to have a bit of a rough/rustic look (which is good, because I'm probably not capable of much better!). The placards are reversable, with '0' on one side and '1' on the other. The game is only played to 2 goals, so no other numbers are needed, but I could always create some more if I wanted to play the game to higher totals.
I painted the back with the Stadium name/logo. Not only is it a scoreboard, but it's also part of the wall of the arena.
I also upgraded my polo ball. It's just a little wooden ball, covered in green stuff to make it bigger and a little less perfect. I tried to paint it a bit like a cricket ball.
All and all, pretty pleased. I think it'll add a little something extra to my games!
I have painted two more heroes for my upcoming Warriors of Athena game. The woman is a Reaper Bones Black figure. It was a bit fiddly to cut her off her integral base, but a little green stuff and a little flocking hide a lot of sins! Bones Black figures are harder to paint than the Bones USA figures, as the detail is just not as sharp, but I really enjoyed this one.
The other guy is a Lucid Eye figure, and I admit, I struggled with him. I'm not sure why. The detail is good. I think going with green as a focus colour was the wrong choice, as it just doesn't pop enough - not aided by being against a green background here. It needed something bolder against the bronze and gold of the armour. Still, it's a nice figure.
I've now got most of the miniatures I need, so it's time to start thinking about terrain!
The figure on the left is a rebased Reaper Bones figure. Now, there are no true 'spellcasters' in Warriors of Athena, but there are a few Heroic Abilities that look a bit like spells. So, he might be the slightly more supportive Hero.
On the right, we've got one of the frontline fighters. This is a metal miniature from Lucid Eye with a plastic shield. Both of these ranges fall under the heading of 'Heroic Scale 28mm' and thus fit together really well.
I still need two more and then a few companions for the game... and still a few monsters short as well.
In February, I'm going to fly across the ocean to Denver, Colorado. I have been invited as a guest for GengisCon, a sizable gaming convention. As part of my attendance, I've decided to run a few games of Warriors of Athena. I've even written a special quest for the event (which I'll be releasing to my Patreon supporters sometime around the game's release). This quest involves quite a few harpies. So, I figured I better get painting. Reaper does a really nice two-pack of plastic harpies sculpted by Julie Guthrie.
As usual, I cut them off their integral bases and mounted them on GW style plastic bases. I painted these mostly with speed paints. I probably could have done a bit better with a more traditional style of painting, but I'm happy enough with the results. I've got a second pack waiting.
Loads more to do on this project, but it's a good start!
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The photo is just to grab your attention!
My latest painting triumphs! (Because I consider every figure I paint to the best of my ability a triumph.) These are both Reaper plastic figures that I cut off their integral bases and put on GW bases. I plan for these guys to do double duty. They will serve as beastmen in my dungeon crawler, but I am also going to use them as evil satyrs in Warriors of Athena. Actually, I suspect they'll appear in other places as well, I've got a Cthulhu-esque Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario that needs beast men and a Silver Bayonet one as well, both found on my Patreon.
The base is just more foam board, bevelled at the edges. I coated the cut edges in white glue to protect them from melting when I primed it black.
Painting was quick and easy. I used a makeup brush to quickly do a few layers of grey, with a final layer of white on the Hirstarts features. When making terrain like this, I think it can be really enhanced with flocking. I put a layer all over the base and added in a few tufts and flowers. Then I glued bits of lichen at random points to show the plants growing in the odd cracks and corners.
Finally, I added a few runes over the door and running down the sides at the front. They are subtle, but they give it a bit more visual interest and a bit more creepiness.
Like I mentioned, I wish I had spent a bit more time on the stone work, but overall, I am happy with the results. I think it'll make a great addition to the tabletop!
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Over the years, I have made several attempts at painting a Rohan force, but I've never been completely satisfied with any of them. Late last year, I bought the War of the Rohirrim box set from Games Workshop, and had a go at that. It is filled with lovely figures, but I didn't enjoy painting them. They were just too small, which was exacerbated by their more realistic proportions, which made their heads and hands seem incredibly small. So, I gave up on them. I've painted enough minis now to realize, I just like the slightly chunker variety.
I have now returned to an old idea with a few new twists. I bought some metal Goths and late Roman figures from Footsore Miniatures. I cut them off their integral metal bases and glued them onto GW ones. They come with open hands to hold wire spears, but I cut off the hands and replaced them with plastic ones holding hand weapons. Finally, I gave them shields from the unused portion of the above mentioned box set.
I can honestly say, these are the Rohirrim I've always wanted. The ones that fight in my imagination when I read The Lord of the Rings.
This is probably more work than most people are going to want to do, but the work is part of the fun. Now I've got some really unique figures. Yes, at some point I will run out of GW shields, and I still need to work out how to handle cavalry, but these are bridges to cross later.
Interestingly, my new figs scale pretty well with the older, metal Rohan sculpts from Games workshop, so that I would have no problem mixing them in the same force.
