Mesoamerican Terrain

 I have quite a stack of Mesoamerican terrain, both resin and MDF, to chip away at getting painted if I want to put on a Maya game at Wargames Among the Warplanes in September; as is, I think I'm going strictly as a player to the June show to save my energy for September. 

I've finished the first two pieces, a pair of resin buildings from Acheson Creations:

These were kept pretty basic - primed a dark brown, the stones are drybrushed with successive layers of Raw Sienna, a medium gray and a paler gray. I used cheap craft paint for all of it, and mostly stuck to the color scheme Mark Morin used when he was painting this model. His blog tracking his own Aztec project has been a huge inspiration for me with my own Mesoamerican project. 

Unlike my modern buildings, I glued the roofs down rather than worrying about drilling the resin and adding magnets to try and hold them in place. 

Up next I've got another four buildings, these with thatched roofs. They've been primed (dark brown for the stone, a yellowy tan for the thatch), and I should be able to complete them this week.

I'm also beginning work on another set of jungle terrain pieces, including a couple with incorporated Olmec heads:

Unfortunately I ran into some trouble with those yesterday - I used torn pieces of cork sheets to add some elevation to a few MDF bases, only to discover the PVA glue didn't bind the cork to the MDF, so the cork is now just sliding right off. Superglue it is then! 

Miniatures Acquired: 97

Miniatures Painted: 87

Terrain Acquired: 1

Terrain Painted: 4

Scatter Acquired: 0

Scatter Painted: 4

A Forest of Kings - Warriors, Characters and Peasants

 It took me a little longer than expected due to how cold my basement got over the past week, but I've finished the next two formations of Warriors for my Maya Tribal project, along with a couple of heroes and some peasants. 

First up, the Warriors. These ones are armed with Short Weapons per Tribal's rules, gaining a bonus when performing straightforward bashing attacks on their opponents. Again, like with the spearmen I finished last month, these are more or less color-coded into formations. Figures again by Lucid Eye.

Next up, two heroes - a "Mayan General" from Paymaster Games here in the US, and a second Mayan Shaman from Gringo40s.

And finally, four Mayan Peasants carrying cotton bundles from Gringo40s - these have been based two to a 40mm round to serve as objective markers in games of Tribal.

What's left to go with this project? Well, I've got four characters primed and awaiting paint, and ten figures with bows and atlatls waiting to be assembled and primed. And shields for all these warriors to batch-paint. I also have a dozen buildings awaiting cleaning, assembly, and painting but that's going to be a warm weather project. I think I'm unlikely at this point to buy more figures for this project unless something really spectacular releases. 

Going through my spreadsheet and tallying everything I've painted (including some things I can't post here yet because they haven't gone live on the Challenge blog), and everything I've bought...I'm actually all tied up for the moment. For the moment, because I've got another dozen figures almost done being painted that will shift the needle properly into the green. 

Miniatures Acquired: 47

Miniatures Painted: 47

Terrain Acquired: 0

Terrain Painted: 0

Scatter Acquired: 0

Scatter Painted: 0

A Forest of Kings - Warriors with Spears

 Pleased to report I've completed another two units (or "Formations") for wargaming inter-city Maya conflicts using Mana Press' Tribal, both warriors armed with spears or, in the language of the game, "long weapons." 

These are Lucid Eye "Jaguar Tribes" figures, and range from almost totally nude to full body suits that, in bright colors, make them look like enthusiastic Muppets cosplayers. 

I've detailed the two formations in different accent colors to better differentiate them on the table. I'll be doing similar with the next two formations, which are armed with clubs and flint-edged macahuitls. 

I've also completed two Gringo 40s Maya casualty figures, to serve as disordered/panicked tokens in game. I should have painted the figures separately and then glued them to the base after I flocked it!

I'm very pleased to report that these bring me up to 30 figures painted; however, I've also bought some figures - Dragon Bait Miniatures has announced their retirement and closure, so I took advantage of their retirement 15% off sale to stock up on some Egyptian civilians and soldiers from the Dark Fable line - which was one of the miniature lines that brought me back to the hobby in 2014. I've also ordered another 10 Maya warriors from Gringo 40s, all armed with bows and atlatls to give me some ranged options. Fortunately, I have another 16 figures already half-finished on my painting bench, so I'll be back in the green soon.

So, let's update the tracker:

Miniatures Acquired: 44

Miniatures Painted: 30

Terrain Acquired: 0

Terrain Painted: 0

Scatter Acquired: 0

Scatter Painted: 0

The King and Queen of Yaxchilan

The first "Bonus Round" of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has gone live, and I can now re-share my entry here. These are the figures that started me on this Maya miniatures journey - the limited edition Maya King and Queen figures from my friend Chris. As far as he or I are aware, this is only the fifth painted set of these figures in the world. 

These figures represent King Itzamnaaj Balaam III, "Shield Jaguar," and his aunt/wife Lady Xoc of the city-state of Yaxchilan. Shield Jaguar was born sometime in 647 CE, and assumed the throne on the 23rd of October, 681, reigning until his death on June 15th, 742 - dying at the age of 94-95, and reportedly having still led troops into battle into his 80s. His marriage to his aunt was likely done for political reasons, to cement support for his reign among the nobility. His named heir, Bird Jaguar IV, was born to his second wife, Lady Eveningstar, and a ten-year succession struggle took place following Shield Jaguar's death between the families of Lady Xoc and Lady Eveningstar before Bird Jaguar eventually took the throne.

These figures are specifically sculpted based on the image of Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc that appears on Lintel 24, a spectacular piece of carved limestone commissioned by Lady Xoc for a building that was probably her private home; the Lintel currently resides in the British Museum, and is considered one of the best examples of Mayan art, showcasing the king and queen with minimal abstraction and a high degree of realism. 

Lady Xoc is depicted kneeling in the midst of a sacred bloodletting ritual - having pierced her tongue with a stingray spine, she now draws a thorn-studded cotton rope through the opening. The rope absorbs the blood and channels it down to a box of paper sheets on the ground in front of her. The bloody paper will be burned and the will of the gods divined from their smoke. This sort of ritual was normally restricted to the king himself, so her being shown performing it shows just how much political and religious power she wielded. King Shield Jaguar holds high a torch, illuminating his wife as she performs this ritual. 

King Shield Jaguar is on a 40mm base per "Tribal"'s suggestion for placing a warband's leader on a larger base, while Lady Xoc is on one for her to serve as an objective token for the game's scenario generator. I've built Shield Jaguar's base up with a few layers of cork and also added a bit of plastic foliage, tying him in to the jungle terrain I built last year. Speaking of which, I've been collecting supplies to double my collection of jungle terrain this year. 

Miniatures Acquired: 4

Miniatures Painted: 8

Terrain Acquired: 0

Terrain Painted: 0

Scatter Acquired: 0

Scatter Painted: 0

Maya Ajaw and Ah'kin

First post of the year! The one downside of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is that I can't show my painted figures anywhere else until they've gone live on the Challenge blog. I've done quite a bit of painting already this year, but it's going to be spread across three Challenge blog posts (so far), so it takes some time for me to be able to share them here. 

One of my big goals for this year is to knock out my backlog of Maya figures so I can start gaming with them. So, while the first finished figures off my table were the Boomstick Cultists, I did start immediately in on the first of the Maya on the 21st, choosing some of the more richly dressed and ornamented figures from the Lucid Eye range; these five I'm treating as ajaw, members of the noble class in a Mayan city-state, fighting for personal glory and social status.

I misplaced the shields for this group; if I find them or buy more (or more likely, buy more and then find them), I'll get them painted and glued on. 

I also picked up some 28mm Maya figures from Gringo 40s to accompany my Lucid Eye figures and fill in some gaps. One such is this priest, or ah'kin; He wears a Chaac mask, putting on the persona of the god of rain, agriculture and (sometimes) warfare, with a plume of quetzal feathers. 

This is one of two copies of Gringo 40s' priest figure I bought, so you'll see another one in different colors later on in the challenge. 

While I'm going to work extra hard to paint more than I buy in 2026, I did pick up two figures at my LGS when I went in for paint the other day; this particular store, Casual Dragon Amherst, used to be under different ownership under the name Dragon Snack; when the owner of Dragon Snack took ill, his family shut down the shop, with all merchandise still inside, and the owners of Casual Dragon Lockport stepped and made Dragon Snack a satellite location of their own store. 

There is quite a bit of *old* merchandise still on the shelves that they don't quite know what to do with, including a couple of blisters of "Legend of the Five Rings" samurai fantasy figures dating back to when Reaper Miniatures briefly held the license around 20 years ago. These have been marked down dramatically (well below MSRP as it was two decades ago!) so I grabbed a few. I may go back and grab the rest; Casual Dragon has, unfortunately, jacked their paint prices through the roof in the last month so I can't afford to continue to buy my paints there. 

And, with a new year, we start the tracker afresh, and add some new categories:

Miniatures Purchased: 2

Miniatures Painted: 6

Terrain Purchased: 0

Terrain Painted: 0

Scatter Purchased: 0

Scatter Painted: 0

Moving Forward on the Maya

I received a package today from Gringo 40s containing a small assortment of their Maya figures - shamans, a chieftain, princess, a few peasants carrying packs of maize and some casualty figures. Ged at Gringo 40s went well above and beyond in my interactions with him - detailed communication throughout (some of the figures I'd ordered had had their mold blow out, necessitating substitutions), a bonus figure as a thank you for ordering, and some hints about a planned expansion to the Gringo40s Mesoamerican line.

Naturally, I couldn't wait to get them on the workbench, cleaned up and glued to bases. The weather should be clear and well above freezing the rest of the week, so priming them is going to be possible. The chieftain, princess, casualties and peasants went on 40mm round bases - to serve as Warlords, Panicked markers and "People" objective tokens under Tribal's rules. The princess, with her extravagant headgear, could easily be either a Warlord or an objective to be rescued, kidnapped, or even sacrificed in game. 

This cleared out the last of my stock of 40mm round bases from Renedra, so I will need more at some point in the not too distant future. 

I also finished some painting for the Maya tonight!

I was anxious to get a good handle on painting Mesoamerican skin tones, so I grabbed the five figures showing the most collective skin from my pile of Lucid Eye "Jaguar Tribes" ersatz Maya. These five absolute madmen, dressed in naught but a cotton belt, are carrying hornets' nests to throw at their enemies. 

While there is some questionable historical support for hornets being weaponized by the Maya in the Popul Vuh, the idea of picking up a hornets' nest, carrying it to the battlefield and throwing it at someone hoping they get stung more than you do seems to originate in the video game "Medieval II: Total War." Still, the legend is good enough to warrant a place on my table. 

I like the way the skin tone came out - over black primer, this is two coats of Reaper "Bronzed Shadow," washed liberally with GW "Reikland Flesh Shade" before getting re-highlighted with more Bronzed Shadow. Hair is Reaper "Coal Black," which has a bit of blue-green to it; I really like it for any sort of organic black like hair, and use it quite a bit for black leather as well. It's a color Reaper only offers in December - I've got about half a bottle left but I'll probably pick some more up next month just to ensure I don't run out! The cotton cloth is base coated in Reaper "Yellowed Bone," washed with GW "Seraphim Sepia" and highlighted along the edges with "Creamy Ivory."

I should probably go in with a micron pigma pen or a fine-tipped brush and apply some tattoos to these guys; I was reminded of the 2006 Mel Gibson movie "Apocalypto" tonight, so I'll probably try to rewatch it soon for inspiration. 

Tomorrow night I should really get my new recruits started for Dracula's America - can't play my next game with unpainted figures! 

Figures Acquired in 2025: 246

Figures Painted in 2025: 169

2026 Goals #1: 6th Century "Star Wars"

 

That's a heck of a title, isn't it?

Let me explain.

Looking ahead to 2026 and planning my hobby goals, one thing I want to do is a project centered on pre-European Contact Maya culture. This stems from my friend Chris gifting me copies of some Maya miniatures he'd had sculpted and cast, which got me reading about these fascinating people of Central America for the first time since the Mesoamerican history class I took in college almost 20 years ago. 

The figures Chris gave me. They're based and primed now.

In reading "A Forest of Kings," by Linda Schele and David Freidel, I came across the concept of Maya "Star Wars." The Maya of the first millennium CE were every bit as into astronomy/astrology as the Ancient Egyptians, and they had a specific type of warfare in which city-states would attack and even overthrow one another in conjunction with certain appearances of the planet Venus (known as Chak ek', the "Great Star") in the night sky. Linda Schele named these Venus-driven conflicts "Star Wars."

Well who could resist?

To go with these figures from Chris, I've bought about 30 figures from Lucid Eye's "Savage Core" range - their "Jaguar Tribes" figures are passable Maya/generically Mesoamerican - as well as a few Maya character figures from Paymaster Games (with an eye towards getting more) and a few days ago ordered another 10 Maya figures from Gringo 40s. 

I've also bought some terrain: two MDF temples and two pairs of engraved columns from Things From The Basement, and so far two Aztec-style houses and a pair of Olmec heads from Acheson Creations. I even got a Lemax cobblestone-stamped vinyl mat from my local craft store, designed for use with Christmas village displays, to form a city square. There will be more houses, grain storage, etc., ordered from Acheson in the coming months, and probably more columns (and maybe some walls/lookout towers) from Things From The Basement. 

So what's the plan?

I want to put on a game of Maya warfare at the June 2026 Wargames Among the Warplanes show that's able to seat four players, in which one side (ideally, two players each taking one "wing" of an invading army) attacks a Maya city-state being defended by the other side (again, ideally two players each taking one "wing" of a defending army). Each army has specific goals (capture slaves/sacrifices, loot a treasury, protect the King's daughter, etc) so that victory isn't simply a matter of "we move all armies to the middle of the table and roll dice until one side's all dead."

Ruleset: Right now I'm looking at Mana Press' "Tribal, 2nd Edition" rules for this. Each warband will be about 16-18 figures (three units of five, a warlord, and a hero, maybe two heroes), which feels very doable painting-wise. And it's a ruleset that's already designed to handle ceremonial warfare among pre-gunpowder peoples, where how much Honor (or, since the game is written by non-Americans, Honour) one gains and loses is as important if not more so than actual victory in the field. 

I haven't played Tribal, but I've got 7 months to practice and get enough of a handle on it to confidently teach the game at an event. I think Chris has played it so maybe I can talk him into giving me a hand. 

The figures I have right now are enough to yield two warbands. So I'm already off to a great start in terms of purchasing, I just have to start slinging paint at them. I've got four figures I need to paint for my Dracula's America posse ahead of them, but once those are taken care of I plan to jump on painting my Maya. The sooner they're painted the sooner they're on the gaming table. 

I might grab another eight or nine packs of Lucid Eye Jaguar Tribes to make up the second two warbands, or I might order a bunch of Maya from Gringo 40s; the only thing I'm maybe worried about there is I've heard their alloy is softer, so spears and atlatls tend to be on the bendy side. Ged at Gringo 40s has also let me know in the email exchange following my order that he's planning on expanding their Mesoamerican offerings in the coming year. So either way I'm anticipating another Gringo 40s order or two or three in the coming months. 

As mentioned above, I've made a start on terrain collecting. For a lot of my terrain I'm taking beaucoup inspiration from Mark Morin's 2022 Mesoamerican project; reading his blog posts reminded me of Acheson's offerings (which fortuitously came back into production exactly when I started considering this project). Things From The Basement also ran a 20% off sale on their Mesoamerican-inspired "Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago" line of buildings a few months ago, allowing me to get both temples and a pair of column sets at a discount. 

I'm still so damn proud of how these turned out.

I also have my jungle terrain that I scratchbuilt; it surprisingly does not provide that much coverage on a 3x3 table, much less the 4x4 I'd want to use for an event game. So producing more bases of jungle terrain will be a necessity; fortunately, they're pretty fast and easy to make all things considered! Maybe do another 20 terrain bases? 

I've got a pair of Olmec stone heads from Acheson, one intact and one ruined; I'll incorporate these into terrain bases for variety and because the Maya were aware of the Olmec people and saw them as their ancestors, so having Olmec ruins on the table is not anachronistic or anything like that. Less anachronistic than having "Aztec" branded architecture, though from what I've seen in my readings so far there was probably a lot of overlap between cultures in that regard. I'm not expecting any tenured Maya studies scholars showing up at my wargaming table! 

So let's start breaking this down into steps:

1. Paint 34 figures that I already have cleaned, based and primed.
2. Begin practicing Tribal, using the solo rules provided in the rulebook and Chris' help if he's amenable.
3. Buy and paint an additional 34 figures (plus additional figures for objective markers).
4. Assemble and paint the terrain I already have.
5. DETERMINE HOW MANY MORE BUILDINGS I WANT TO HAVE ON THE TABLE. This is a project I can easily see growing dangerously, to the point where I end up with a village filling half the table and that's probably not necessary. I just need to evoke the feel of a Maya city on the tabletop, not build an accurate recreation. My love of cluttered urban table setups does not need to come into play here! It helps that the Maya didn't have wheeled vehicles or carts, domesticated animals, crates, barrels, garbage cans or any of my usual street scatter. 
6. Buy, assemble and paint the remaining buildings I want/need.
7. Produce another 20 bases of jungle terrain. 
8. Make sure I can pack it all securely and ensure it fits in my car. Another vitally important step in the process! 

This feels like a big project but one that breaks down into manageable chunks; one eats an elephant a bite at a time, and I feel like this divides neatly into phases or sub-projects that I can hopefully rotate between to keep things feeling fresh. Having an outlined plan will also hopefully help me stay motivated and moving forward. 

I do also want to make sure I'm allowing myself grace to paint other things along the way; if I need to paint new posse members for Dracula's America, or if I want to paint aliens for Majestic 13, I should feel free to do so and not let my anxiety convince me that I'm meaningfully taking away from the larger Maya project by doing so. 

I think that sums up the project outline, at least for now. As we wargamers know all too well, no plan survives contact with the enemy, so we'll see what needs to change as I work my way through it. 

Figures Acquired in 2025: 244

Figures Painted in 2025: 164

Lord Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc in 28mm

 On Friday, I had the opportunity to meet up with Chris Regan, a local gamer who I'd interacted with on social media quite a bit over the past couple of years, but this was the first time we'd gotten the chance to meet up; we weren't able to get a game in, but he picked up a copy of one of my RPG scenarios and was generous enough to gift me copies of a pair of miniatures he'd commissioned. Chris runs a Facebook group called "A Forest of Kings - a Maya Wargaming Project", and he'd had these sculpted and cast up to commemorate the group reaching 500 members. 

These figures are based on Yaxchilan Lintel 24, currently in the British Museum. Lintel 24 depicts King Itzamnaaj Bahlam III, aka Lord Shield Jaguar, and his wife, Queen Consort K'abal Xoc; he is holding a torch aloft, illuminating her as she performs a bloodletting ritual. She's pulled a rope studded with obsidian shards through her tongue (AH!), allowing blood to spill on to a codex in front of her, which will be burned as part of the ritual. 

So, now I'm contemplating a Classical Maya project. And by "contemplating," I mean I just pulled the trigger on an order over at Badger Games. Since they carry Lucid Eye Publications' miniatures, I picked up nine packs of their "Maxzan" figures, slightly fantastical Mesoamerican-style figures that work well as Mayans. I bought enough to assemble 10 spearmen, 10 warriors with hand weapons, and six "Hornet Throwers," men armed with wasps' nests! I believe I've got another six that I'd bought a few years ago as well. Mana Press' Tribal would be a perfect ruleset for this, and 32 infantry gives me a total of six units (two armies of three!) with a couple figures leftover. 

So adding 28 (2 for the figures from Chris, 26 Lucid Eye figures) to the Acquired side of things.

Figures Acquired in 2025: 155

Figures Painted in 2025: 138