Dogs of War

I’ve returned to working on the army for Chaos Wars for a client. These Gnolls are allied to the Gobin units I finished already, filling the role of skirmishers for the blocks of foot troops.

Like the Goblins, the Gnolls wear primarily earth tones, with dirty armor and weapons. The Gnolls’ skin had a variety of tones as well, in degrees of dull tan. Overall, the Gnolls give an impression of grungy, feral savagery, separate from even the general grotiness of the Goblins.

These Gnolls are from Frostgrave. They have a nice assortment of weapons. The Gnolls were painted in small groups based on their weapons. The first pic is of the 2 leader-types, armed with a sword and dagger. To further mark them out from the throng of the Gnolls they wear blood red tatters.

The other Gnolls in the pic are some of the standard Gnolls, carrying assorted weapons and shields. The other pics are a quartet of greatswords and another quartet of archers. Since they all have hunched positions, I added other angles of the models.

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Crimson Fists: Blasters and Skulls

I’m once more back on the Crimson Fists Space Marines. The new Primaris starter army was too tempting for the client, so I’m back at it.

Since I’ve already finished a few squads of Intercessors from the previous round of painting, I started with the Hellblasters squad. They follow the same schemes as the rest of the army, with the Devastators/Support chevron on the right pauldron. A few Marines have ‘Fist’ symbol relief on the left pauldron, while the rest required me to freehand the chapter symbol. 3 more members will finish the 10-man squad.

A note on the Marine with the bare head- nearly all the bare-headed Marines have their helmet on their belt or in hand.

While I worked on the Hellblasters, I also got some of the Reivers squad finished. These Marines are pretty interesting, with plenty of tacticool gear and custom power armor. I love the skull masks. They really carry a sinister air.

Next up, the rest of these squads and a few characters.

Age of Sigmar: Da Bad Moon Risin’

 

My Moonclan Grots finally get their own rules, in the form of the Gloomspite Gitz. The majority of the army has been done for years now, but I’m happy to add to the horde. It’s the Age of Squigmar!

The new Squig models bring tons of animation and a degree of customization (swappable faces), letting the Squig Herd stand out from the black-clad Grot infantry. I now have enough Squigs to field 2 10-Squig units, along with their Handlers. The herds are a mix of new plastic, Finecast, pewter, and even some ancient lead from 4th edition. I kept the orange-red coloration from earlier waves of painting, with enough variety to give them some individuality.

The Handlers are also of various vintages. They include a pair of pokin’ sticks, a musician with cymbals, and a Grot with lots of tasty treats for the fungus pups. I have yet to build the new Handlers that come with the Squig kit.

I added side details to show off the leaping bodies and their mushroom-festooned bases.

 

 

Last up is the wonderfully bizarre Fungoid Cave-Shaman, the generic version of the named character from AoS’s big magic event last year.

This grot is piled with detail, with layers of clothes and accoutrements. His head is split open with a bloom of mushrooms, including the big sombrero-looking cap. I made the mushroom red to match the other characters in the army (who all wear red hoods so they stand out in the mass of Moonclan). He has a lot of color, more than any other model in the army. I like the centipede on his staff and draped down his back.

Next up are the Snufflers or Hoppers, so more Squigs it is.

Drowned Earth: Dinos Dinos Dinos

 

Dinosaurs! Pretty simple, really.

These dinosaurs are from the Drowned Earth skirmish game. The players’ gangs can be joined by dinosaurs, or they can feature as living terrain hazards.

Fist off are a pair of Domeheads (aka Pachycephalopsaurus). These relatives to the Ceratopsians had thick skulls covered in nobby horns. They probably engaged in some big horn sheep-like territorial/breeding shenanigans. I painted the pair with simple drab colors, with a stripe of black down their backs. I put extra color into their craniums and bellies.

Next are a pair of Troodonts, bird-like theropods. They were sculpted with full body feather covering, so I went for a bright plumage. Their purple bodies got bright blue tips on head, tail and arms. The limbs got lighter tints of  the same purple.

Last are some Dilophosaurus, another type of theropod. They are known for having crests on their heads, and thanks to Jurassic Park, frilled-lizard-like neck wattles. These sculpts are really small for real Dilophosaurus, which were ~23′ long in reality. I opted for a mid-tone orange-brown for the bodies, lighter underbellies, and vivid pink crests to really make them stand out.

Saga: Baltic Crusades

 

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but I have been working on various projects.

On the Saga front, I’ve been working on two faction forces simultaneously- the Polish and the Baltic Pagans, from both sides of the Baltic Crusades. I’ve posted miniatures from these factions previously.

The Knights here are Polish rycerce, the Hearthguard for the army. They stand out from the Men-at-Arms (Warriors) with caparison-covered mounts. The also got the ‘modern’ lances of the 12-13th Century, whereas the Warriors carry shorter cavalry spears and lances. The caparisons really brighten up the horses. I like the Knight with the goose/swan on a blue field. Like before, I sourced the heraldry from online.

The Knight in white is a Sword Brother from the Order of Dobrzyń, one of the various militant orders that arose during the Crusades. I figured he has joined with the local Warlord’s forces to aid their cause. The infantryman in the Order’s colors I posted earlier might even be his sergeant or squire.

With the Knights come some infantry to back them up. I’ve added some soldiers with heavy weapons, including a pair with polearms (the rest all carry double-handed axes). The halberds come from GW’s Bretonnian Men-at-Arms kit, with Russian Infantry bodies and bits. The halberds themselves are probably a bit anachronistic, being heavier and more evolved compared to simpler bardiches and axes.

Another infantryman carries a standard for the army. He bears a red banner with a family tamga, the same symbol seen on his shield.

 

Next up are a bunch of completed Baltic Pagan fighters. They wear darker, duller colors, to show their poorer status, as opposed to the brighter, showier Polish warriors. I included a couple shots of their shields.

Finally, I’ve completed a set of three Objectives for Saga games. With the new Book of Battles, many scenarios involve objectives and other counters. You could of course use dice or paper markers, but I wanted something special. I made three counters, and plan on three more. So far we have a campfire, pile of loot, and some random sword jabbed into a stone (I’m sure it’s not important…). I mounted the counters on Privateer 30mm bases. I did this to make them stand out from the rest of my miniatures; in a swirling melee I don’t want to lose them in the shuffle. The rims each got 4 Saxon runes for decoration.

 

Drowned Earth: Dinos and Gorillas

 

I’ve finished the Militia starter for Drowned Earth. These three members round out the unit. There’s plenty of diversity at play here.

The human girl, Juchita, has a nice run n’ gun pose (and legs for days). She got the same uniform as the other Militia members, though a few ad hoc pieces of gear reinforce the setting. I made her a redhead to brighten her color scheme.

The next member is a Saurian with a beret. I gave him a deep grey-blue skin tone so his fatigues and red beret would stand out. I like his skulking pose, and of course his Ray Bands.

Last up is the team’s gorilla with a chaingun, a staple of every good setting. It’s pretty well sculpted, giving him a sense of weight and mass. His chaingun got a few washes to show metal fatigue and wear and tear. I went with realistic skin and fur.

Alongside the Militia I finished a pair of Yuttaraptors (sic). These Utahraptors are very well sculpted, with a nice sense of speed and viciousness. The color scheme was done for a sense of realism, with a darker grey skin tone to make the bright red feathers really stand out. I added an area of dark brown stripes down their spines in the vein of big cats.

In one pic, I included a better shot of the basing for the models.

Saga: Crusaders and Crusadees

 

I’ve added more models to my growing Polish force for Saga: Age of Crusades. The militia were the Levies for the Polish forces, the serfs and city guard of the commoners. They’ll serve a defensive role alongside the strelzcy Men-at-Arms.

Units of Levy are groups of 12, so I’ve done up a dozen soldiers. Each bares the heraldry of their szlatcha masters, found via some research. I like that Polish heraldry has both Western medieval symbols as well as Slavic tamgas (the runic symbols). Like their Warrior counterparts they have a mix of gear, one with a very Eastern armor set leading the unit. Another leader-type is the one wearing the colors of the the Order of Dobrzyń, the Polish military order during the Baltic Crusades (he’s the one in white with the red cross and sword symbol on his shield). While it’s a bit odd that a Levy would be wearing the Order’s colors, he could be a commanding role or a Warrior for other armies.

I love the red squirrel; it’s real I swear.

The spearmen here can also be used in a Crusaders force as Warriors, in which case they get pared down to 8 men.

I’ve also finished 8 Crossbowmen, for use with a Crusaders, Spanish, or Milites Christi force.

Last up are a few fighters for the Pagan Peoples faction. I’m working on those alongside the Polish to give both a proper counterpart enemy. The factions would see fighting during the Baltic Crusades in the 13th Century.

The Pagans here are Balts and Wends, possibly from Latvia, Prussia, Pomerania, etc. I kept it pretty vague, and those areas have less visual references to fall back on. They got duller, darker colors to make them stand out from the brighter Poles/Crusades. I’ve already built enough for a full 8-man Warrior unit, and they can used alongside my Anglo-Saxons models (avoiding the ones with overt Christian imagery obviously). The Pagan models favor older round shields or the small tear drop shields more common to 10th-11th Centuries to represent their ‘backward’ status compared to the Poles.

More to come.