Blood and Plunder!

With the arrival of Blood and Plunder to my FLGS, I’ve been shanghaied into painting up the French starter box for the game. I’ve actually gotten a demo game this week. I enjoyed it- very close to Muskets & Tomahawks, with fairly simple basic rules and few super units. The activation mechanic is very cool, allowing for some good strategy over the course of the game turn.

We played 3×3 players on the Breakthrough scenario, with the starter boxes. My side all used the French, while the opponents used Spanish, English, and Unaligned forces. The French line was holding fine on the flanks, beating back the Spanish and English (the right flank even pushing the English almost back to their deployment zone). The center was severely mauled, the Unaligned force nearly taking the French deployment zone. I had to leave before the end, but France seemed in a good position at the end.

The models are nicely done, with some good details and character, though some of the castings are a bit rough in places. The era of the 17th Century Spanish Main and colonial conflict in the Caribbean is a new historical era for me. Earlier I posted my French Canadians for Muskets & Tomahawks, which covers mid-to-late-18th Century conflicts, so I’m at least used to musketeers and their assorted details.

The first pic is the French Commander. This guy is very fancy, with a lacy shirt, bright blue coat, bows and ribbons all over, and of course the big curled wig. He definitely gives the force a national character, considering the rest of the minies are somewhat generic frontiersmen and sailors. I painted him to match the color scheme from the official art; very colorful and vibrant. He’s joined by a few of the Marins that I’ve finished.

The next pic is a group of Boucaniers, the hunters and woodsmen of the French army. They lack any sort of uniform and standard equipment, instead looking like rugged individuals. The bare legs and floppy hats give them a distinctive look.

Finally in this batch are the Militia, the Milice des Caraibes. In contrast to the Boucaniers, they wear uniform grey coats and blue sashes, along with standard issue muskets, cutlasses, plug bayonets, and pistols. Some have bayonets fixed, while the others are firing their guns. The boxed unit has duplicate members of the unit (8 in the full unit); hopefully I’ll be able to paint them with enough variation.

More to come. The box contains 8 Milice, 8 Flibustiers, 4 Boucaniers, and 4 Marins.

The Swarmlord

I’ve been working on several projects at the same time, but I finished a new addition to the Tyranid army. The test models were posted a few weeks ago.

The Swarmlord is a character for the Tyranids, an unexpectedly unique model in an army of mass-produced bio-clones. As such I painted him to really emphasize him in the crowd of the rest of the army.

His (her?) color scheme follows the design of the army that the client wanted. The dark brown body contrasted with the harshly-highlighted carapace, with bone and orange as the detail colors. I added an orange glow to his boneswords to make them really shine on the battlefield. The same color appears in the venom glands and his eyes.

Like the Tyranid Warriors before, his carapace has spotting based off tropical beetles. The spots were created in the same fashion as for the Warriors (Balor Brown and Doombull Brown), with an additional highlight of Flash Gitz Yellow.

The Swarmlord does point out a problem with the Tyranids, and any army made up of animals and inhuman monsters. Characters have little to differentiate themselves from the rest of the army, other than say height. The Swarmlord lacks special gear, decoration, and special uniforms, unlike a Space Marine Captain. A unique color scheme might help, but then the character stands out too much and doesn’t look like it belongs.

Next up- Ol’ One Eye himself.

Saga: Equites

I’ve been adding to my Romano-British force for Saga: Aetius & Arthur. I like both of the Roman and Briton factions’ battle boards, so I am designing some of my minies to be usable for either. These will be Romano-British, representing Britons and/or Romans in Britannia near the end of the occupation. In a pinch, they could even represent Goths (since at the time the Goths often were under the employ of the Romans anyway).

With that in mind, I picked up 2 blisters of mounted troops from Gripping Beast; one set of Roman armored cavalry and one of Briton cavalry. They will act as Commanipulares for the Britons or Knights for the Romans. These are the first 4 members of what will be an 8-man Hearthguard unit. I’ll also be able to attach 2 of them as the Companions for the Briton Warlord, the rest forming a 6-man unit.

The miniatures mix nicely together; the Late Roman legions were much more hodge-podge in their uniforms and unit designations. I also figured the Hearthguard, being of the equites social class, would have even more leeway and mixed equipment. The majority of the unit will have the roundel legion shield design, with a few unique designs mixed in. Along with the roundel, the chi-ro symbol shows up in a few places. Their clothing was procured locally, so they’re wearing British versions of the Roman tunics common at that period.

I painted the striping on their cavalry spears, since they apparently did paint them for both decoration and to protect the wooden shafts from rot. Technically, the spears might be a bit too long for this period (resembling full lances) but I’m ok with that to make them look more striking on the table.

The Warlord has been posted here before. However, after some thought and research, I decided he needed a little ‘oomph’. His original shield was a bit boring, and his javelin wasn’t really impressive. With that in mind, a weapon swap (to a proper Roman spatha) and a highly decorated shield. The Virgin will safeguard him through all future battles! The icon and the unit’s shields were all based on historical images I found.

The rest of the unit will come along eventually.

Antares: Boromite Brood Mother

 

 

I’ve finished yet another big project, this time the Boromite Brood Mother from Beyond the Gates of Antares. This is the first minie I’ve done from this game. Maybe more will be in my future…

This giant model is solid resin, easily 2 or so pounds. The legs extend past the edges of a 60mm base that the client picked for it. The Brood Mother doesn’t usually have a base, but the client wanted to make any questions of placement on the table easy to determine.

The idea of the Brood Mother is that it is a rock beast, its interior molten rock. The heat from the molten center leaks from the various pores, a wound on its side, and of course the gaping maw. To emphasize this, I went for a cool outer skin of basalt-like deep blue stone (P3 Coal Black) with only minor highlighting. I highlighted the gravelly textures dotted over the surface and picked out small stones in GW Admin Grey or MSP Dusky Skin. The giant teeth were Dusky Skin highlighted with white and GW Rakarth Flesh.

The harness and weapon emplacements were painted a dull yellow to contrast with the dark blue. The shading/highlighting was done to show the industrious nature of Boromite tech, with plenty of chipping and staining. The green lenses covering the surfaces were picked out in green, the same as the force field (?) bulbs dotted over the Brood Mother’s body.

The base is 60mm resin, from Secret Weapon. The lava flow effect was done with shades of P3 Sanguine Base for the coolest parts (deep deep red), highlighting up through GW Khorne Red, Mephiston Red, Troll Slayer Orange, Averland Sunset, and finally Flash Gitz Yellow. This color chain was also used for the glowing interior of the Brood Mother. I included pics of the base to show this off, as once the Brood Mother is attached, it gets somewhat obscured. The minie has only a few tiny places where it actually touches the ground, walking on its knuckles on only three of its limbs. I had to pin the feet to the base, and even then I worry that it might break off at some point. Here’s hoping it stays together.

AoS: Stardrake!

The heavens split with the roar of the Stardrake!

Whew doggie this model is huge. It was quite time-consuming to build and paint. The drake was painted in stages like most of the larger models I’ve worked. I built the body, legs, and tail first, mounting them on the base. I then painted those parts before I worked on the head separately; this was then attached. The drake’s scales were the same as the Dracoths I’ve painted before for the army.  I wanted to differentiate the spines from the teeth, claws, and horns, so the spines had a basecoat of GW Steel Legion Drab, and the claws/teeth/horns had a base of MSP Dusky Skin. Both then got a highlight mixed with white.

The riders and saddle were done next. Since the Stardrake can have either a Lord-Celestant or a Marshal for a rider (and thankfully all the parts for both) I decided to paint up both of them. The Lord-Celestant carries a hammer, while the Marshal has a starlance. They both got a magnet in their torso that mates with a magnet in the hips atop the saddle. Easy swap out for any occasion. They match the deep purple armor and gold and bronze of the rest of the Stormcast Eternals army. They did get extra golden plating with appropriate molded designs, spiked halos, and decorated shoulder pads.

After the riders were done I finished off with the gigantic wings. Each wing is effectively a whole model in its own right. These got painted and pinned in place. The skin of the wings were painted in P3 Underbelly Blue, washed with Nuln Oil and highlighted back with Underbelly. Like the rest of the scales the wings got a wash of Green Ink.

The model is so big that I took many pics from every angle, A few detail pics join the larger full-body pics.

This army is almost done…only the Celestant-Prime, Ghal Maraz himself, is left.

Tyranids: Bugs Bugs Bugs

It’s been several years since I’ve painted any Tyranids. With the arrival of 40K 8th, this will be changing. A friend is starting a Tyranid army for the new rules. These Warriors are the test models for the army.

The army will mostly consist of big gribblies like Carnifexes and Trigons, with some of the little Gaunts mixed in. The color scheme is designed to look like tropical beetles and bugs. We went with a dark body shell, with brighter carapace plates.

The body shell is Rhinox Hide, washed with Nuln Oil, highlighted with Rhinox Hide, Doombull Brown, and Rakarth Flesh. The fleshy parts (tongue, joints, and venting slits) are Balor Brown washed with Agrax Earthshade, highlighted with Rakarth Flesh. The carapace is Caliban Green, blended with Abaddon Black, then highlighted with Caliban Green and Warpstone Glow. The edges of the plates got an extra highlight of Flesh Gits Yellow. The scything claws got a similar treatment, but kept the highlights to the very edges.

The large plates have a good area for decoration. I added symmetrical splotches  like those found on some of those tropical beetles. This was done with first marking out a splotch with Doombull Brown, then Balor Brown.

The last details was the poisonous symbiote attached to the Warriors. I wanted it to really stand out from its host. The shell and legs are Abbadon Black, highlighted with Vallejo Grey. The carapace of the symbiote is Troll Slayer Orange, washed with Agrax Earthshade. This orange will also appear in the army for any glowing elements, in these Warriors’ case the eyes.

A note on the bases- This is the first time I’ve used the GW Texture paints. The Tyranid army will be racing across a desert, painted with Agrellan Badland. This gives a nice cracked hard-pan desert effect. I followed up the Badland with a wash of Earthshade followed by a bone-white drybrush.

More to come!

Saga: Aetius & Arthur

I’ve gotten in some games of Saga, with the Aetius & Arthur expansion. We’ve been playing the decline of the Western Roman Empire in Britannia. My regular opponents and I have been using our Dark Ages models, since they are generic enough to pass as ca. 400 AD, though it does make a stickler like myself twitch that my Saxons have the wrong shields. Oh well!

The first model I’ve done for the new expansion is a mounted Warlord. This is a Gripping Beast Late Roman General model, mounted on a 60mm base. I wanted him to stand out from his mounted soldiers. This model can stand in as both a Roman general as well as a Briton hero, and in a pinch could stand in as a Gothic Warlord (by this point in history the forces are almost nearly wearing the same gear anyway). I modeled him riding his horse down a dilapidated Roman path, next to a Roman road marker. I based the writing on a photo of a real marker from Britain.

We played 2 battles today. The first was Saxons versus Britons with the Frozen River scenario. My Saxons were using the frozen river surface to invade the lands of the Britons. We played 6-point forces. Saxons were Warlord, 40 Warriors, and 12 bow Levy. The Britons were Warlord and 2 Companions, 10 mounted Hearthguard, 16 Warriors, and 12 bow Levy.

My Saxons slowly crossed the river and fords, while the Britons turtled up waiting. The Briton battle board really encourages defense over offense. The Saxons have no choice but to advance!

The fights were very bloody, but the Saxons forced the defenders back at great cost. Eventually, the Warlord met in combat, pushing back and forth before the Briton’s lord was cast down (at a cost of a dozen Saxons). There wasn’t much left of either army by the end. The end result was 9-6 VP’s left, a Saxon victory!

Deployment: Saxons to the north, Britons to the south.

The Britons, with their Warlord and Companions.

Charge! Several 4-man Saxon units lead the way to wear down the opposition.

The Saxon throng, Warlord in the middle leading them on.

Here they come!

Hold the line!

The second battle was the Campfire scenario. This time I was using the Romans, while my friend stuck with the Britons. Maybe the Romans were chastising the Britons for letting the Saxons overrun the frontier earlier, or the Britons were negotiating military support from the typically arrogant Romans. Either way, things got out of hand, and swords were drawn…

The Romans had a mounted Warlord, 4 mounted Hearthguard, 24 spear Warriors, 8 bow Warriors, and 12 spear Levy. Except for the new mounted Roman Warlord, I used the Anglo-Saxons/Saxons models, with some donated mounted Hearthguard. The Roman frontier forces of the era were mostly Germans by this point anyway, right? The Britons had a mounted Warlord, 8 mounted Hearthguard, 24 Warriors, and 12 bow Levy.

The scenario requires the armies being split up among each other, which means the units are threatened from all sides. I scattered the Roman Forces in a rough circle, while the Britons had a few tight bulwarks of units. The fight began with the Roman Warlord drawing his sword and leading his nearest unit of soldiers against the British lord, cutting him down. After that the Romans had the upper hand, especially in Saga dice.

The movements of both armies was chaotic, but the Romans quickly redressed their ranks and tried to hold back the Britons. The Levy struck down several British Hearthguard with their plumbatae (heavy darts) and some lucky combats. The Roman defensive abilities served them well. On the other side the Britons were wearing the Romans down, both holding their own lines and performing repeated charges and volleys of bow shots. The Hearthguard performed a disastrous charge, the Briton shieldwall holding and wiping them out. Oops. Eventually though the Roman Warlord rallied his forces and crushed the flank, beating back the encirclement and winning the battle. Final VP’s were 19-14, victory for the Romans!

Campfire Deployment: Romans and Britons milling around the Warlords.

Charge! The Roman Warlord runs down the Briton Warlord right off the bat. It was an uphill battle for the Britons after that…

Crunch! The warriors meet in charge/counter-charge.

End: British forces beaten back, at great cost.