More Devils, Rats and Scatter

The plan is to begin my "When Nightmares Come" campaign on October 2nd (I've got the day off work), so I'm bustling to get as much painted as I can before I start, so that there's less pressure on me between games.

I do have all six games plotted out using the generator tables in the rulebook, so I know what games I need extra "Alpha" Dark Spawn models for and more or less what terrain is going to be on the table during each game, which helps quite a bit. I had a lot of things very close to done at the time of my last blog post, and now they're all finished and ready to be shown.

 First things first, I finished my final five succubi; these are a mix of Heresy and Reaper Miniatures, and will be "Terrors," the most dangerous of the three tiers of Dark Spawn minions. 

 These followed the same color scheme I used previously - base coat of VGC "Gory Red," washed with GW "Carroburg Crimson," highlighted with Reaper "Fire Red" and "Regulator's Scarlet". The membranes of the wings follow the first two steps, but are then only re-highlighted with the "Gory Red."

I'm a very big fan of the chubby succubus from Reaper, she was a delight to paint and I'm looking forward to putting her on the table.  

For those keeping track at home, here's all my devils together:

 Next up, I needed an "Alpha" Dark Spawn for game 3, which is the last game featuring the lowest level of Dark Spawn, which for this campaign are Rat Swarms. These "Alphas" appear as bonus threats with certain rolls on the tables for generating a case file, and are slightly tougher versions of their normal tier. In this case, I dug around in my backlog and found some Reaper Giant Rats I bought ages ago. I glued one to a base and gave it a pretty straightforward paint job. 

 

Base coat in black, drybrush with "Stormy Gray" and "Cloudy Gray," then glaze with GW "Bloodletter" over the areas where the sores are visible. These were then picked out with Reaper "Moldy Skin" to give them a properly pus-filled appearance. The tail is "Tanned Shadow" washed with GW "Reikland Fleshshade" and drybrushed with "Tanned Skin." 

The narrative I've built around game 3's dice rolls is that the Webster Street Irregulars will be investigating mysterious disappearances against the backdrop of a sanitation workers' strike, which means I needed some piles of garbage! These are 3D prints bought from a licensed seller on Etsy, with the STLs designed by "Tiny Furniture" on MyMiniFactory. 

 I kept them fairly simple, without worrying too much about excessive shading or highlighting. They went pretty quickly and were a lot of fun to paint. 

Looking slightly further ahead, I got a package in the mail today with my terrain for game 6.

 These are, as you can see, from Warbases, and are very nice looking little kits. They're going to be customized into summer camp cabins, and despite their small size will have detailed interiors if everything goes right over the next few weeks. I got a couple sheets of laser-cut roof shingles as well, so I will be gluing those over the plain MDF of the roofs. Because why make it easy on myself when I can make it look better instead? 

So let's update that tracker:

 

Miniatures Acquired: 214

Miniatures Painted: 231

Terrain Acquired: 7

Terrain Painted: 10

Scatter Acquired: 15

Scatter Painted: 24

 

Heresy Winged Fallen One 2026

 Last year I pre-ordered the 2026 Winged Fallen One from Andy at Heresy Miniatures. I've been a fan of his demon sculpts for a very long time - I can remember ogling the all-metal Netherlord close to 20 years ago, long before I had the skills to tackle such a beast - and when I saw this one come up I knew I wanted it, could afford it and had the skills (mostly; I'm still not super experienced with resin figures) to tackle it. 

As an aside, if you're thinking of getting one, order soon; Andy's been dealt a full hand of trouble over the past few years and Heresy may not be open much longer, which would be a profound loss to the hobby. 

 

I decided to paint this fiend up as the "Atrocity," the final boss of a "When Nightmares Come" casefile; as such, if all goes according to plan, he'll be appearing on my table fighting the Webster Street Irregulars on Halloween.  

 I bought a bundle version that came with 5 different sets of horns, two right arms, and three or four left arms; not all of these pieces are currently available; looks like the sword-holding right hand may not be available at present. After Tim Curry passed away, I had to assemble this massive fiend with the huge, sweeping horns reminiscent of Curry's appearance in the movie "Legend."

The fit is pretty spectacular; Andy got really ingenious with how the parts were separated for casting, ensuring most pieces fit together in ways that hide the join. 

 Color-wise, I did some thinking about his clothing, because I didn't want it to just be black cloth. With him being draped in a stole, I eventually decided on a color scheme that would give a sense of him dressing in mockery of traditional liturgical vestments. I think it works out pretty well. 

I'm not going to lie, I'm seriously thinking about picking up a copy of the wingless version to compliment this one. 

 He's on a 40mm round base, and I've got some resin flame bits on the way that I'm going to add to the base; while the lesser demons on based on my normal grassy bases, with the idea being that they've been summoned to Earth from Hell, I decided on ash and flames for their boss - he brings a little bit of Hell with him when he appears. 

I've finished a few more things as well for my When Nightmares Come game:

 I needed a few more rat swarms to serve as the lowest level of enemies, and cobbled these two out of some leftover rats from a set of 3D printed resin swarms from Green Stuff World; I've got a few singular rats left still but not enough to make another swarm base like these. Technically I should have two more swarms beyond these (these put me at 8, should technically have 10), but I think I can make this work. Worst case scenario, I ordered a set of rats along with the flame bits so I can make more if I want. 

And finally, a pair of 3D printed two door sedans from Miniature Tanks - though frustratingly, this model, the "Volkswagen Golf Mk 2" seems to have disappeared from their site in the three months since I ordered it! These will be set dressing for When Nightmares Come and other modern-set games. 

 Simple paintjobs befitting terrain.

 So let's update the tracker:

  

Miniatures Acquired: 214

Miniatures Painted: 225

Terrain Acquired: 5

Terrain Painted: 10

Scatter Acquired: 9

Scatter Painted: 18

 

Devils on Parade

 I'm prefacing this post with a warning - some of these figures are not just nude, but downright lewd. That's not normally my thing, but I've had them (I think I might have originally bought them to paint up for a friend I ultimately had a falling out with), I started working on them while washes were drying on the last bunch of zombies, and here we are. 

Let's start with the most Safe-For-Work one; this is the "Basement Beast" from Crooked Dice, and as impressed as I generally am with Crooked Dice's commitment to pop culture delving, I never in a million years would have guessed they would make a figure of the titular monster from the movie CELLAR DWELLER. The sculptor really captured John Carl Buechler's monster design from the film; rather than following the color scheme of the movie, I painted it with bright, almost cartoonishly red skin.

 The recipe for the skin color (since I know I'll want to do it again on future figures) is a base coat of Vallejo Game Color "Gory Red," washed with GW "Carroburg Crimson," then highlighted with Reaper "Fire Red" and a final highlight of Reaper "Regulator's Scarlet."

Next up are a pair of "Saucy Succubi" from Heresy Miniatures; they originally came in a three-pack but their sister managed to get dropped, break, and the pieces disappear instantly into the 8th dimension. 

 And now the really risque ones - these are a pack of Succubi from Hasslefree Miniatures, who sadly have stopped trading; I'm hopeful that the molds can get sold on to another manufacturer at the very least, as there's a number of figures in their "Modern Adventurers" range I missed out on and would like the chance to acquire. 

 So what's the plan for this bunch? I'm not 100% sure to be honest. I am giving another look towards Osprey's "When Nightmares Come" solo investigative horror wargame and and thinking about giving that a go, and this would give me a nice chunk of enemies towards a storyline fighting the "Damned" villain faction. 

And! They push me back into the green for a little bit on the tracker.

 

Miniatures Acquired: 184

Miniatures Painted: 188

Terrain Acquired: 2

Terrain Painted: 8

Scatter Acquired: 8

Scatter Painted: 10

 

Finally, some real progress!

 I've had a baker's dozen of figures on my table, slowly chipping away at them one step at a time, one hour of painting time a night (if that). No reason for me to rush anything, so I chose to savor the process and really take my time and try to push myself a little bit on some of these. And as of last night, they're finished! I got them varnished this morning and now here they are.

First things first, here are the three Samurai from North Star that came packaged with the ashigaru I finished earlier in the month. Together, these nine figures make a 200-point warband, or buntai, for the Osprey game "Ronin." These are again painted as Takeda clan, and I used a fancier version of the clan emblem decals for the banners they're wearing. The armor got a little more attention plus the lacing picked out in different colors.

 Next up, a set of eight figures packaged as a set from Grey For Now Games for their samurai game "Test of Honour" - these are the Rogues and Ruffians, who can be played together as a thematic gang of bandits, or hired off individually into warbands to provide color and some unique abilities.

 Of these, my favorite is "The Witch" in the first picture, wearing the black kimono with the white sash and kabuki facepaint. She gains differing abilities in game depending whether she's wearing her mask or not, which is pretty cool. The kanji on her kimono reads "DEATH" if I drew it correctly. I decided, as a witch with an enchanted mask, she could afford to be a little extra flamboyant in her personal style. 

I also tried my hand at OSL on the lantern bearer in the last picture. I haven't done it in years, and with varying degrees of success at the best of times. I think this turned out solid, if not perfect. 

Next up, the "Ronin, Shojo" from Bad Squiddo Games. According to the description on their site, Shojo randomly arrives at inns, challenges everyone inside to a drinking contest, and by the time anybody wakes up the next morning, she's gone as if she'd never been in the first place.

 I think she's one of my favorites of this bunch - everything just worked right on her in terms of colors and placement. She's wearing more neutrals and desaturated colors compared to the Takeda samurai above, befitting her lower social standing, the the face half-hidden by the hat is a very neat "woman of mystery" effect. 

And lastly, my big favorite of this bunch. This is an "Ogre Mage" from Reaper Miniatures, but very clearly based on a Japanese Oni demon in appearance. I've had my eye on this figure for a very long time, and finally the time was right to paint him. I really tried to push myself to make him the best figure I've ever painted; I chickened out a little bit at the thought of painting a pattern onto his pants, but overall I'm really pleased with how he turned out, and was well worth 20+ hours at the painting desk to bring out every detail of the sculpt.

 To give an idea of size, he's on a 60mm x 40mm oval base - his pose made him overhang a 50mm round base by just a little too much for my liking! I'm really pleased with the depth of color I got on the shell of the kappa clinging to his basket. These little water goblins have a depression on their head filled with water; if this water is spilled, they're paralyzed until it's refilled. They're nasty little critters with a taste for human intestines but unfailingly polite - if you bow to one, it will automatically bow back, spilling its water. 

So that's 13 figures added to the "Painted" side of the tracker, 14 if we say the Oni is large enough to qualify as two. In fact, let's do that.

 

Miniatures Acquired: 135

Miniatures Painted: 112

Terrain Acquired: 4

Terrain Painted: 5

Scatter Acquired: 0

Scatter Painted: 4

 

The Painting Bench, an Update

Well, with the announcement having been made for the 8th annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (in which I will be participating), I thought I should show off some of what's been coming off my project list lately:

First up, "Edgwick and his Hounds," a unit of Lesser Warbeasts for my "Men of the West" army for Dragon Rampant.  These guys still need a dusting of meadow flock added to their bases, and I'm not super in love with how the dogs themselves came out, but they'll do for now.  Edgwick himself is a Crusader Warlord from Gripping Beast, which they threw in as a bonus figure with my last order, while the dogs are Reaper Bones.

Next, "The Howling Hordes of Bakarath," A Reduced Model Unit of Bellicose Foot which may or may not end up with the "Cause Fear" rule applied to them, for a "Dark Lord's Evil Coalition" army for Dragon Rampant.  The idea for this army being it's humans, goblinoids and demons, held together by the power and charisma of a villainous warlord; these Reaper "Bakarathi" demons certainly look Bellicose! These are older metal figures from Reaper, from the 02100s and 02200s line, and now I think they're in the 03600s.  A "98" was scratched onto the bottom of a couple of them, telling me they were sculpted 19 years ago.  I've glued a few Wargames Foundry shields and a cut-down Reaper Bones skeleton warrior to a couple of the bases. 

Next, another unit for my "Men of the West" army, a Reduced Model Unit of Heavy Foot with an attached Wizardling.  The spearmen are Conquest Games' plastic Norman warriors, of which I'd ordered a couple sprues.  These went together nicely enough, though I had some problems with their two-handed axes, as you'll see in a minute.  These are still a work in progress; the red needs some touching up on their tunics and shields, and of course the bases remain to be finished.  Accompanying them is "Diva, the Blessed," one of the limited-edition figures Reaper has put out this year to commemorate their 25th year in business.  Like Edgwick and his Hounds, her base just needs a dusting of meadow flock to complete it. 

Following them we have the Black Prince himself, leader of the Evil Coalition army, accompanied by his beloved pet scorpion.  For Dragon Rampant purposes, he is a Single Model Unit of Elite Foot.  I think he's pretty much done except for his base and the leather bits on his armor.  I like how his cloak came out.  Both figures are Reaper metals. 

Finally, we've got the King's Guard, a Reduced Model Unit of Offensive Heavy Foot who will be replacing a set of Bones figures that I was never super happy with.  These will be paired with King Denethall, leader of my "Men of the West" army, and are again Conquest Games' Normans - made using the more heavily armored bodies on the warriors sprue, as well as the two bodies on the command sprue to create a sergeant and standard bearer.  I ended up with some significant gaps where the right arm meets the torso on two of the axe-men (I suspect that some weapons fit some torsos better than others) that I'm going to need to putty up before I can get painting. 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with everything, caveats as noted above.  I'm liking the Conquest figures enough that I'm considering getting a couple archer sprues to replace my Reaper Bones bowmen in this army, and adding another box of Normans when I get around to building a second 24 points of "reinforcements" for this army. 

Next up, however, is going to be the first 24 points of the Black Prince's army; I've pre-ordered a box of "Oathmark" Goblins from North Star, which will produce two units of Light Foot and a unit of Scouts, as well as a box of Fireforge Games' Medieval Russian Infantry, which will serve as humans marching beneath the Black Prince's banner a la Tolkien's Easterlings serving in the armies of Mordor.  Fireforge provides enough spear-arms for the box to produce two units of spearmen, but not enough swords, axes, maces or bows to produce any units with them.  I've got a ton of Fireforge crossbow arms in my bits box from last year's Ordenstaadt project, I may convert a dozen of these soldiers into crossbowmen.  I am going to have to find some replacement shields for the ones I do arm with spears though...

For those interested, the Black Prince's list as I'm currently building it:

• The Black Prince (Elite Foot, Single Model Unit) - 6 pts.
• Sorceress and Spearmen (Heavy Foot, Reduced Model Unit, Wizardling) - 6 pts
• Crossbowmen (Heavy Missiles) - 4 pts
• The Howling Horde of Bakarath (Bellicose Foot) - 4 pts
• Goblins (Light Foot, Cowardly) - 2 pts
• Goblins (Light Foot, Cowardly) - 2 pts

The Goblin Scouts are being saved for inclusion in the second 24 points "reinforcements" list for bigger games.  Overall, however, I think the contents of those two boxes - a total of 55 figures - will form the core of my Painting Challenge entry this year. 

Wendigo WIP

Last year as part of the Secret Santa exchange, I received (alongside several packs of skeletons) a metal Wendigo figure from Reaper Miniatures, courtesy of Thomas over at Learning by Doing.  This is a really gorgeously ghoulish figure, gaunt, with long limbs, hooved feet, a skeletal face and antlers.  A perfect representation of the cannibalistic "spirit of the lonely places" of Algonquin folklore, a creature born of famine, isolation and desperation in the deep winters of the American wilderness.  I'd gotten it cleaned up and glued to a 50mm square base (a spare from a Fireforge cavalry boxed set) but hadn't gotten past that point.

Yesterday, frustrated with some Bones figures not behaving the way I wanted them to, I resupplied on black primer and matte varnish and took advantage of it being a warm, dry day to put a coat of primer on him.  Once it was good and dry I got to work.

Skin was basecoated with a couple thin coats of Reaper's Golden Shadow, since I wanted to emphasize that this creature was once human.  Over this I did a wash of a 50-50 blend of Nightshade Purple and Deep Red, to give a bruised, postmortem lividity shade.  Here's a pic:

Once that was dry, I highlighted the skin with Golden Skin, then again with Golden Highlight.  The bony ridges of the face, the exposed vertebrae and some exposed ribs got a final highlight of a mix of Golden Highlight and Creamy Ivory - to suggest skin drawn so tightly over bones as to be translucent. 

The hands, feet, ears and area around the mouth were given another wash, this time a 30-60 mix of Nightshade Purple and Deep Red to prepare these extremities to be painted as frostbitten.  Once the wash was dry, a couple thin coats of Pure Black allowed just enough purple to show through to keep things interesting.  Also, don't Google Image Search "frostbitten hands" too soon before or after a meal!

Teeth were picked out in Creamy Ivory, while antlers were given heavy drybrushes of Stained Ivory, followed by Yellowed Bone and finally a light brush of Creamy Ivory to make them really stand out from the pallid skin.  Eyes were given a basecoat of Viper Green, while the patchy fur on its body was drybrushed first with Cloudy Gray, then with Misty Gray.  The furry part of its tattered loincloth was given a basecoat of Muddy Brown, then drybrushed Earth Brown.  At this point I took this pic:

After taking that pic, I basecoated the "leather" areas of the loincloth with Lonestar Leather, but when I tried highlighting with Leather Brown, Leather Brown went on very thinly and I ended up having to go over the entirety of the loincloth with it to get an evenish coat.  I'll probably go back and wash it with Lonestar Leather and give a final highlight of Golden Shadow to the loincloth.  Eyes were highlighted with Moth Green, giving them a sinister, glowing pinprick in the center of each bulging orb and marking my only departure from very naturalistic tones on this figure. 

At this point, Atticus decided to jump in the middle of everything and tell me I'd done enough painting and not enough petting today, forcing a conclusion to today's painting session. 

I've got a couple extra Bones skeleton warriors that I'll be chopping up, painting and gluing to the base during the flocking process to represent kills half-buried in the snow by the Wendigo. 

As for what I'll use it for...

While the Wendigo would make a spiffy Major Demon for Frostgrave, I'm actually thinking he's more likely to see use in Dragon Rampant; having finished my Undead army and wanting a break from Bones given the annoyance I'm having with the last of my Anhurian figures, I've drawn up a "Warriors of Evil" list based largely around Ral Partha Chaos Warrior figures (rereleased through Ironwind Metals) as a "next project" to begin work on, and the Wendigo would be an imposing addition to that list as a "Greater Warbeast."

Or I might throw him at my D&D players if they go up in the mountains...