The Wolf Clan Complete (For Now)

 My wife says she heard my satisfied exclamation of "Done!" from the living room above my painting bench as I dipped the last figure's base into Army Painter snow flock. These Cro-Magnons and Amazons from Lucid Eye definitely became a slog as I worked on them, and there were days where I was doing more touch up than actual moving forward, so I'm very happy to call them finished...for now.

I have another five Cro-Magnon males to paint at some point, but for now I'm real tired of painting earth-tones. So I'll take a break before I paint any more cavemen. 

I did finish basing the ghost I showed the other day while I was at it:

So what's next? I've got five Ghouls from Heresy Miniatures about half finished on my workbench, and I've had a dig through my leadpile and pulled out a few things I can use for Devilry Afoot - a couple of innocent civilians, a bloodhound with his nose to the ground, a Bogeyman, a couple of imps, a witch or two. I've got a suspicious looking goat that might serve as a "Pact Devil" in Devilry Afoot - wouldst thou like to live deliciously? 

Figures Purchased in 2025: 90

Figures Painted in 2025: 98

Ah-Cahulka, the Golden (Lucid Eye Publications)

 Over on Instagram I'm participating in a "Deadcember" painting challenge this month, and posted my finished piece today. My undead of choice was "Ah-Cahulka, the Golden" from Lucid Eye Publications, a Mesoamerican-style liche from their "Savage Core" line, part of the "Maxzan" faction. 

The base is a couple layers of cork board, torn into irregular shapes and stacked on top of each other, painted in shades of gray (there was a green wash in there as well, for the humid, mossy stone look, but I think it got lost in the gray to some extent), then splodged with thinned white glue and dipped in a couple different shades and grades of flocking. I topped that off with a couple of green foam shrubbery bits. 

I had a really good time painting this figure; I'd originally thought he'd be a gaming piece but honestly, I might keep him as a display figure.

Not Much to Report

 My painting has, unfortunately, slowed down dramatically since January. Depression has been kicking my ass, sad to say, and just all around haven't been able to carve out both the time and energy to make it to the painting desk. I did manage to eke out these vampire women from Reaper's Bones 5 Kickstarter, part of the "Shadows of Ravenholme" expansion.

"The Children of the Night...What Music They Make!"

First up, a bit of news; Mike Hutchinson, of Gaslands fame, has released a beta PDF of a new solo-play/co-op pulp game called Perilous Tales.  Drawing inspiration from Lovecraft, hero pulps, Indiana Jones, and the Universal and Hammer horror films among others, it is squarely within my wheelhouse and I'm hoping to give it a go later this week.  

To that end, this week I've painted up a Vampire Count and his minions to play the villains in that first game.  

The villain himself, Count Ludwig von Blutburg, is a "Vampire Lord" from Reaper Miniatures' Dark Heavens line of metal miniatures, and even without the rock he's standing on, is an absolutely towering figure.  

He's served by Hans and Hilda, a pair of Vampire Spawn, also from Reaper's Dark Heavens line.  

And then finally he commands a pair of Bat Swarms, from Reaper's Bones line of plastic figures.These I was worried about coming out well, but basecoating the swarm in Reaper "Woodstain Brown" and drybrushing with "Driftwood Brown" honestly looks pretty darn good to me.  They're on 40mm bases.  

All in all, I think they make for a pretty imposing bunch, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they fare against Count Casimir and his Trans-Siberian Renegades.  If the weather improves later this week I'm hoping to get some more figures primed for both Perilous Tales and Fistful of Lead, as well as the first unit of a small Wargods of Aegyptus army I'll be working on in the near future.  

Lady Winterthorn's Retinue

First thing's first, I am now a proud Union man - specifically, the Brush Wielder's Union, a collection of likeminded wargamers and miniature painters dedicated to getting their stuff painted and on the table and encouraging others in the hobby. 

One of my local wargaming friends expressed an interest in his Age of Sigmar goblins pulling double-duty as a Dragon Rampant warband.  All he needs is someone to play against.  This got me digging my Liche and Skeleton Legions army out of storage, and finding it sorely lacking for what I wanted.  It was too inflexible, had too many easily exploitable weaknesses.  The answer? Build a fresh army. 

After some brainstorming, and going through my project pile of shame, I settled on a warband led by a vampire, and composed of deluded and fanatical mortals who'd been duped by the vampire's promise of eternal life.  I put together a list with a little speed, some shooting, some melee capacity and a solid spellcaster at its heart, which I felt was pretty well-balanced. 

The army core is Countess Adrasteia Winterthorn (Reaper #07010) and her Sanguine Guard (six copies of Reaper's #77408, "Athak, Undead Knight" in Bones), comprising a Reduced Model Unit of Heavy Foot with the Spellcaster fantastical rule applied.  The robes are basecoated in Reaper's "Deep Red" and highlighted with "Fresh Blood," while the armor is done in "Gunmetal Blue" with some accent work in "Ancient Bronze" highlighted with "Antique Gold." Countess Winterthorn's cloak was basecoated in "Midnight Blue" and highlighted with "Twilight Blue."

Last night I assembled the next unit in the army - a band of fanatical cultists that will be rated as Bellicose Foot.  These vicious maniacs compete among themselves for Countess Winterthorn's attention, hoping to spill enough blood to win her favor.  They're a dozen figures assembled straight off the sprues from Northstar's "Frostgrave Cultists" plastic boxed set. 

From here on out, everything else is going to be a conversion or kitbash.  I've got a box of Gripping Beast Arab Light Cavalry that are going to be converted into mounted cultists through the addition of heads and missile-weapon arms from the Frostgrave Cultists, and some Fireforge Medieval Russians are going to get turned into formal soldiery employed by the Countess. 

Painting Challenge Opening Salvo: An Undead Quartet

I painted four older Reaper undead figures, all sculpted by Bob Ridolfi, a few days ago as my opening burst for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  Here's another look at them:

Golgoth the Eradicator - Olleytoberfest

I think this is the only piece I'm going to get done before Olleytoberfest ends on the 31st.  This is Reaper Miniatures' #02270, "Golgoth, Eradicator," an armored skeleton or wight sculpted by Bob Olley in the 1990s.  The other figures I started this month - "Dragoth the Defiler" and "Carnessa" - I'm not sure I'm inspired enough by the finish.  "Dragoth" is a little bit frustrating because I can't always tell what's armor and what's wrappings on him, and Carnessa is just...not an exciting sculpt, much as I tend to love Bob Ridolfi's undead.  But anyways, back to Golgoth. 

I love this sculpt - I love the flow of the ragged cloak, the way the tattered tunic falls open, the fall of the leather neck-guard attached to the helmet.  There's such a sense of energy and motion in this sculpt that's just wonderful.  He feels like he should be menacing Conan in a Frazetta painting. 

The cloak got a base coat of Reaper's Deep Red over a coat of black primer, followed by a heavy drybrushing of Blood Red to highlight, concluding with a wash of Citadel "Carroburg Crimson" to tone the brightness down and deepen the shadows.  The tunic was base coated with Midnight Blue, highlighted with Twilight Blue, and then given a light wash of "Drakenhof Nightshade."

Bones were given a base coat of Sandy Brown, highlighted with Stained Ivory, washed with Seraphim Sepia and then given a final highlight of thinned down Creamy Ivory. 

The helmet was painted with Ancient Bronze and washed with "Nuln Oil," while the sword and armor plates were drybrushed "Tarnished Steel" and given a wash of Seraphim Sepia to give them a rusty appearance.  Leather bits were picked out in Reaper's Lonestar Leather and washed with "Seraphim Sepia."  Finally, the wooden back of the shield was painted "Shield Brown" and washed with Seraphim Sepia to bring out the wood grain, and the base was painted "Earth Brown" in preparation for flocking. 

Overall I'm really pleased with how he came out and I look forward to (slowly, perhaps) working through the rest of the undead I bought. 

Thursday WIP: Olleytoberfest Undead (and bonus Carnessa)

So I've now got not only the figures I showcased in my last post for Olleytoberfest (Sean's celebration of Bob Olley's sculpting work) but a stack of older undead from Reaper Miniatures sculpted by Bob Ridolfi, who is my go-to sculptor for awesome undead figures.  Reaper's having a promotion for the month of October, spend $40 and get a "Ghoulie Bag" of candy, limited edition paints, and a translucent "smoke" tinted wraith miniature. 

I got a bunch of figures primed, and initially selected DHL #02270, "Golgoth the Eradicator" and #02310 "St. Tarkus, Dire-Dead" (aka the Zombie Bishop) for my painting table.  Well, when I squeezed out a little bit of "Deep Red" onto my palette for Golgoth's cloak, I ended up getting a lot more than I'd bargained for.  Knowing I wanted St. Tarkus' cloak to be a deep, Tyrean purple, I put him back on the shelf and selected two more that I thought would look good with some dark red on them; #02077 "Carnessa the Terrible," sculpted by Bob Ridolfi and closer to true 25mm than the other figures, and #02367, "Dragoth the Defiler."

Dragoth the Defiler

For Dragoth, with his heavy armor and ornate helmet, I got to thinking of an ancient warlord raised from the dead.  His armor's been basecoated in Reaper "Ancient Bronze" and will get a wash of Citadel "Reikland Flesh Shade" before being highlighted with "Antique Gold" and a touch of "True Silver" on the very edges.  Bones have been basecoated in "Sandy Brown" and I'll be picking out the wrappings on his left arm and legs in "Yellowed Bone" before giving them a wash of "Seraphim Sepia" and highlighting the wrappings with "Creamy Ivory" and the bones with "Stained Ivory."

Golgoth the Eradicator

Golgoth, by comparison, comes off as much more utilitarian.  He's wearing a tunic with a few small plates strung together covering his abdomen and groin, and there's some hints of chainmail under the tunic, especially under his right arm (in shadow in this picture).  He's got a shield with a big spiked boss, a spiked and horned helmet in proper Frazetta fashion, and an absolutely amazing, flowing ragged cloak.  Once again the bones have been basecoated with "Sandy Brown," the tunic has been basecoated with "Midnight Blue" and the wood of the shield is, appropriately, "Shield Brown." The helmet is, again, "Ancient Bronze."

Carnessa the Terrible

Carnessa, sculpted by Bob Ridolfi, is a much flatter figure compared to the other two, with a smaller cloak that's less folded and draped.  Her sword blade was originally folded over double against her back, though I've straightened it as best I can.  Armor and bones are as per the other two, and I'm considering repainting her loincloth to be a different color than the cloak.  Maybe blue like Golgoth's tunic? I'm not sure.  I originally mistook the folded-down cuffs of her boots as heavy metal anklets or greaves, so those need to be repainted. 

Olleytoberfest (and possibly Zomtober as well!)

Sean over at Sean's Wargames Corner has proposed a fun little project for the month of October - honoring sculptor Bob Olley by showcasing figures he's sculpted that we've painted, and painting new figures that he's sculpted.  Now, sadly, I don't have any painted Bob Olley sculpts in my collection at the moment, though I've admired his dwarves and ogre sculpts for years.  So I decided I would try to mark this occasion by painting a small collection of Bob Olley sculpts - and, since it is October and it's time to get spooky, I opted for a half-dozen undead figures Olley sculpted for Reaper Miniatures.  Placed my order this morning, they should be arriving sometime early next week and then I can get crackalackin' on them. 

Here are the figures I ordered, presented unpainted, from Reaper's site:

As you can see, lots of tattered cloaks and flowing robes to work on my blending with, some armor, and a good mix of bare skulls and rotten flesh to keep things interesting.  If I wanted to, I could field these six as a unit with my Dragon Rampant undead army, should I ever get a game going of that.  Either way, I'm looking forward to them being an enjoyable project for the month.

First Dragon Rampant Army Complete!

Yesterday, I hit a huge milestone in my career as a miniature painter and wargamer. 

I completed an army.  For the first time ever, (not counting things like a Frostgrave warband) I have finished building and painting an army for a game.  I put the last dabs of paint and flock on the last units I needed to do for my 24 point Undead army for Dragon Rampant, "the Skeletal Legions of Nesuahyrrah." I'm also only two units away from finishing my second army, the Men of Anhur, so I'll be able to start putting on some demo games soon enough - I've got some interest locally already.

I kept my list fairly simple:

• Lich (Heavy Missiles, Undead - No Feelings, Summoner, Single Model Unit, Army Leader) - 7
• Skeleton Warriors (Light Foot, Undead - No Feelings) - 3
• Skeleton Warriors (Light Foot, Undead - No Feelings) - 3
• Skeleton Berserkers (Bellicose Foot, Undead - No Feelings) - 4
• Wraiths (Heavy Riders, Undead - No Feelings, Venomous, Reduced Model Unit) - 7

The idea being to keep at least some of the skeletons off the table at the start of game and summoning them as reinforcements mid-battle, and using the Wraiths as real heavy hitters to hammer an opponent's more powerful units.  I've got some ideas of where I'd like to go in expanding this army for larger games as well.  

Everyone together.

The Lich, calling up reinforcements.

Two units of Light Foot.

Skeleton Berserkers.

Wraiths.

I'm not stopping at two armies, however.  Because I've really fallen in love with the Dragon Rampant rules, I'm planning on building multiple armies for variety in demo games as well as for use in larger, multi-player games eventually.  Because I'm a lunatic like that.

Still Painting

Lest anyone thing I've abandoned miniature painting for strictly running RPGs, I have been slowly but steadily puttering away at a pair of demo armies for Osprey's Dragon Rampant - the undead "Legion of Nesuahyrrah" and the stalwart "Men of Sabaton."

The fiction I've got in my head has Sabaton as a frontier province, rough and barely-claimed, the Baron and his soldiers working tirelessly to tame and civilize the region and bring it into the Empire.  They don't have enough men, they don't have the best armor and weapons, but they've dug in their heels and refuse to give an inch.  Most of the figures are Reaper "Anhurians," a pseudo-Norman bunch wearing chainmail shirts and open-face helms with nose-guards.

I've previously shown the Baron and his bodyguards:

Now joining them (just bases left to finish) are a unit of archers (Reaper Anhurian Bowmen) and some heavy cavalry - Wargames Foundry's Norman Knights.

Both of these units were slow-going and a bit of a pain.  I think I must not have cleaned the mold grease off these bowmen well enough, something I'm usually very careful about.  The paint has not wanted to stick to the plastic and took every opportunity to pull away from the material.

As for the riders, both men and horses had a TON of excess metal to be trimmed off, especially between the horses' legs.  My can of spray primer was running low too, so the horses especially ended up with a little bit of a spotty coat - especially in the creases of their manes and tails, primer just didn't end up there.  So I had to go over each figure with black paint by hand afterwards.  One of the riders had lost his hand in transit, and I clipped a plastic hand off a Fireforge knights sprue to replace it.  Throughout the painting process I was constantly finding more little bits of excess metal or mold lines that I had missed at every prior point.  Very frustrating.

I'm not a fan of painting horses in the first place (not sure why, they just irritate me to do) so this might be my last cavalry regiment for a while.  I have two more units to do for this army - a unit of Anhurian Spearmen (with an attached priestess providing some magical support) and a unit of war dogs.

Moving on to the Legion of Nesuahyrrah...

These are the undead legions of the Lich Nesuahyrrah, an ancient undead spellcaster.  I imagine the Lich ruling over a swath of territory that the Men of Sabaton are now trying to exert influence over, and he's not having it.  Calling up the bones of long-dead warriors, Nesuahyrrah strikes and strikes hard to reinforce his sovereignty.

(of course, "Nesuahyrrah" is "Harryhausen" backwards, in tribute to the late, great Ray Harryhausen, who animated so many memorable monsters for the silver screen, not least being the seven skeleton warriors in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS)

I've previously shown off Nesuahyrrah himself, as well as the unit of Wraiths he commands.

I have finished their bases since this photo was taken!

Joining them now is a unit of Skeleton Berserkers, armed with big two-handed swords and axes.

I have one more unit to paint for this army, at least in its initial 24-point form, and that's a unit of Skeleton Warriors with swords and shields.  I anticipate adding more skeletons to it in the future, either for larger point games or to sub in place of the Wraiths - which make up a full third of the warband, points wise, being classed as Heavy Riders (for hitting power and speed), with the Fly and Cause Fear fantastical rules added on.  This is, understandably, a big investment in a single unit, so there are going to be games where I just want to have an extra 24 skeletons in their place and overwhelm opponents with numbers.