Void Elf Hunters, Boss Monsters, and Bad Guy Floors

 A bunch of things painted and a lot learned.

We got in our first game of Star Saga.  The game looks like it will play well once we have a few run throughs. 

On the down side: The rules are a bit haphazardly organized and required a lot of looking around to sort out questions.  Some of the examples don't seem to agree with the written rules etc...

 On the plus side:  Its a really ambitious game for the format and allows for a large number of different kinds of action while not adding tons of extra rules.  Its a fun stand alone but looks like it really shines in the campaign mode.

I painted up the Plague Aberration (the far left model in the picture above) mostly just to test the material for paint interactions and didn't spend any time cleaning it up, or washing it, in advance of painting.  It took paint really well and was a lot of fun too! I'm going to have to dig the plague out the Deadzone and Warpath boxes and churn a pile out.  Of course I didn't back the Plague faction very hard... good thing Mantic remains affordable even when not in Kickstarter mode!

 The Titanite Demon from Dark Souls the Board Game.

This is a large model as you can see from the picture of it intimidating the Herald player character...

Also fun to paint using mostly washes and dry-brush... even played with osl a little on it.

The base is a test run of the "Bad Guy Floor" and you can see the Herald on the "Good Guy Floor"

 The massive blue sparky Horns are a mix of dry brush and wash as will as some top layer stippling.

The main body is a heavy Sunny Flesh drybrush over the Khaki base coat then a coupl of washes of P3 flesh.  The P3 flesh is a purplish shader which I'll use a lot for the undead and malefic flesh tones. 

 The Aberration was, again, dry brush Sunny Skin Tone over the Khaki base coat and then wash with Secret Weapon Ruby for the softer areas and Army Sepia ink thinned with Vallejo Glaze Medium for the bony bits.

The skin was brushed back up with a thin Brains Pink and the carapace with Graveyard Earth and Splintered Bone (Reaper)

The eye glow is old Scaly Green (Citadel) which is at least two generations of GW paints old... its a great paint for lenses as well... I'm gonna miss that when its gone!

 The Aberration with Canoness Veridyan.  The Star Saga version came sans base so it loses a little height in comparison.. the good news is it doesn't force me to come up with a basing scheme yet!

As much as I like doing scenic bases I've been thinking about going with clear bases for the Mantic family of games.  Mostly its just so I don't have to look at trench warfare bases on a map representing a star-ship or a high tech base in a jungle... its just a thought at the moment and might be already sabotaged by Mantic's habit of including integrated bases on their minis... which would have to be removed to replace them with clear bases... 

 Void Elves!

These are beautiful kits from Raging Heroes which I want to use as Ynnari faction Eldar.. kind of Elfy Death Cultists... Bone Brown is the new Black and tiel and blue fancy bits because... elfs!  I mean... even a morbid death fixated elf has to have some style!

I use the giant pony tails as unit colors so I can keep the models organized on the tabletop.  Blue, red, green,,, etc... this first squad is blue.

I'm really excited about these models for a couple of reasons but the main one is the sharpness of the detail.

 Raging Heroes has always made really beautiful models with great designs and a lot of character but for many years the details were soft edged.  The soft edge meant that speed painting techniques, and dry-brush in particular, were harder to use, required more touch up and a steadier hand.  Lines that could be made to pop by dragging a dry brush across them had to be painted manually if you wanted that very fine sharp line.  Basically you had to be a better painter to make an RH model look good than you had to be to make a GW (or similar)  model look good... and it just took longer.

 The Void Elf Hunters have very crisp details and painted up really rapidly! I have two more squads of them to paint and I'm assembling them now.  I'm hoping this is a trend throughout the TGG model line as it will really help at the "I'm generating a cool looking army here not painting a masterpiece for a contest " level. 

Veridyan and the Hunter... Veridyan is on a 32mm base so I really ought to dig a GW model out that is on a 25mm round to use for these size comparisons... I'll eventually unpack one!

 Veridyan the Aberration and the Hunter.

The main lesson from this week... if I'm gonna bother to paint it I really ought to clean it up! Even models from board games! I ended up liking these models and thinking about using them beyond the occasional session of the game they came with...

The Aberration is a great model and, though it took the paint well, it has some really prominent mould lines. 

Similarly the Titanite Demon would make a great proxy model and has some casting lines and the joins (the model comes pre-assembled) are not obscured and could have used a spot of the green stuff.

Final thought...

The Hunters! front and back... these helmets are so awesome... they remind me of Predator... which is, of course, a great theme for the "Hunters"

Back to building and painting...

Reaper Fire Giants

 When I first started thinking about getting back into tabletop roleplaying I realized that, for many years, I had been so focused on tabletop wargaming that my collection was stored in such a way or lacked the depth of minis Id like to have for RPGs .

Enter Reaper Bones Kickstarter!

These represented and affordable way to get my collection of dedicated roleplaying minis up to speed.  The Bones II Kickstarter continued in the same vein and these are from that project.

This group represents King Skorg Ironskull, Queen Vanja, and a Body Guard.

I've based these using gravel chips, which makes the bases quite heavy, to keep in theme with the Fire Giants from the Bones I group I did earlier.  That group had yellow spot colors instead of the green I used here.  I like the green better and am imagining the difference to be due to this being a Royal group while the previous set was rank and file warriors.

 I really like the body Guard model.  It's simple but has enough little decorations to differentiate it from the regular warriors.

 King Skorg Ironskull cuts a huge, and angry, figure. 

The skin was worked up from Vallejo Rose Brown and a wash of Secret Weapon Ruby.

The Base was Painted with Americana Alizarin Crimson.  This is a very inexpensive craft paint and really useful for times like this since the tiny gravel really eats a lot of paint on the base coat.  This was then dry brushed with Reaper Fire Orange twice.  GW Blood for the Blood God was applied to make little valleys of deep red and then a final, light, dry-brush of Vallejo Sunny Skin Tone to tie it all together.

 The Greens were worked up from the Reaper Olive Triad, washed with Secret Weapon Baby Poop, and then highlighted with Vallejo German Camouflage Bright Green from the Flames of War line.

Yellow metals were Army Painter Gold, Secret Weapon Flesh Wash, Vallejo Model Color Gold and Fantasy Forest Rustungs Farbe... (read silver of some sort)

 Vanja, Fire Giant Queen was one of my favorite concept drawings from the Bones II Kickstarter and the sculpt was pretty good too!  I really love the massive pile of hair!

 Hair being Vallejo Scrofulous Brown, Reaper Buckskin Pale and Secret Weapon Ruby wash.  The same process was used for all three giants but you'll notice Vanja's hair is a bit darker... I accidentally hit her head with a brush load of glistening green that I was unable to remove completely so I use a little Reaper Yellow from the yellow Triad, redid the buckskin pale and rewashed the ruby.  I think it gave a little more depth having done the process twice so... a fortuitous accident in my book!

 White metals were Vallejo Gun Metal Grey, P3 Armor Wash and a light brush up with Rustungs Farbe.

 As befits a Queen she has a fair load of gems on her.  I mixed the colors with red, yellow and green gems.

... and I almost forgot!  Since these are giants it might be nice to see them alongside a regular sized model!  So Here is Yoko the Psycho, from the Raging Heroes Toughest Girls of the Galaxy, being eyed suspiciously by the Fire Giant Body Guard... Careful Yoko that flamer isn't gonna scare this guy!

LT Parker in two versions

 A quick post as I'm madly getting things together for the impending move...

Two of the metal version of LT Parker from Raging Heroes TGG 1.

This was a very popular sculpt and has great imagery for a small unit champion/commander.  We see her carrying the ubiquitous ZoT! Energy Drink, both in hand and couple of cans spilling out of her pack,  sporting some official ZoT! Sun Shades, and smoking A Lucky ZoT! Glow Stick!  She is ready for action!

I've done her as Basic LT Parker in Olive, Brown and Ivory and as Veteran LT Parker in Prison Pride colors.  The kit comes with an alternate arm which I've used in the Veteran version.  It looks like a power glove of some sort but could also pass for a target designation device.

Due to my general incompetence as a photographer the rear view picture came out in this crazy low res that reminded me really strongly of the Borderlands art style... I may have to investigate that further, I mean the Jailbirds are already towing some Claptraps around! Making Lemonade!

Olives were worked up from Reaper Olive Triad and Secret Weapon Sewer Water, Ivory from P3 Menoth White Base, and Menoth White Highlight,  Prison Orange was Vallejo Scabrous Brown washed over white primer, washed with Secret weapon Orange and Secret Weapon Yellow Snow.  Anime blue hair was Reaper Nightmare Black washed over white Primer, highlighted with Vallejo Sky Blue and washed over with Secret Weapon Sapphire.  Anime pink hair was Reaper Brains Pink washed over with Secret Weapon Ruby.  ZoT! signature green was old Citadel Glistening Green washed over with Secret Weapon Sewer Water.

Hopefully I'll get some Reaper Bones up a bit later this week.  Then I'm hoping to get Space Papess Arthemesia VI, some scatter, and a pile of movement trays up before the pack out.

A Tale of Two Ravens part 2. and some TGG 2 freebies

 Raven the Chainbreaker.  Iconic Freedom fighter of the Jailbirds.  This model is in a great pose that such screams rage and rebellion. 

Here they are in both scales... heroic 28mm and 54 mm.

I've depicted her armed with silver ammunition and blessed guns thinking that she is the best, and possibly last, line against the Kurganov Werewolves that hunt the elusive rebel Jailbirds.

 In 28mm she'll take the field mostly against KST (Kurganov Storm Troopers) in my adaptaion.  She'll have bonuses against the KST (Particularly against werewolves) and will, of course, have a price on her head that would make her joining a Jailbirds Division unit in KST service impossible.

She is wearing Prison Pride Orange and appears as the Bloody Red Banner of Revolution itself. 

 The models come in 4 parts and this version is resin. 

 The 54 mm version was a lot of fun and allowed me to more easily see some of the details that I might have missed on the 28... like the little smiley face button and ribbon or the boot straps that are mixed in with the rags around her legs.

 Next on deck are a couple of metal version Jailbird Division LT Parkers and something from Mantic's Abyssal Dwarf Army.

 Lastly a couple more of the freebies from the TGG2 Kickstarter!

Based for Mordheim is Scout Celenia who will also often serve as a vampire hunter both in Mordheim and in Frostgrave.  With her is the mascot Tobias although this one is intended for use with the SF version of the Sisters of Eternal Mercy.

Scout Celenia has an awful lot of armor for a scout so I chalk it up to the vampire problem... and trimmed her with a little green just to be kind of scout-y...  I like the red blaze in the middle of her abdomen and she'll have that in common with the rest of her order.

Vending machines and mail boxes scatter/objective markers

  Scatter really brings life to a table and a game.  I decided to work on some Vending Machines and mailboxes I got from Armor Cast about a year ago.  It then occurred to me that they might also make really good objective markers so I also numbered them on the bottom.  I can just see it now... the Dark Eldar fighting desperately for the Soda Machine!

 The mailboxes have a symbol (stylized arrow) that I cooked up to be the logo for the Kurganov Postal Service, or the Imperial Post..  Kind of still chewing those over so there ya are... a logo but missing the national emblem.  I left space for Imperial Eagles and am leaning in that direction. 






Typical from Armor Cast the resin had a fairly large number of bubbles but most of that occurred on the back of the vending machines and a bit in the snack items themselves.  Nonetheless they cleaned up well and took paint readily.  I really like the snack machines varied inventory.

 As usual the drink Machines became ZoT dispensers! "If its Hot grab a ZoT!"  I see ZoT as the signature drink of my Jailbirds... an energy drink with a big kick! Drink ICE COLD! for maximum effect!

 The snack company is L&R Snacks non-stop.

 "Loud & Ragin' --- Coyote Style!" Non Stop snacks for every mission!

That is some essential Coyote Crew food!



The name is, of course, a nod to Raging Heroes and the Toughest Girls of the Galaxy!

I failed to do before and after shots... ack!  I just grabbed some stuff and started painting!




I'm pretty happy with these machines and boxes and will have to keep an eye out for more in the same vein.

Toughest Girls of the Galaxy 2 Preview; Executrix Champion Sephea and Dark Elf Mascot Violet

I got a preview set of the the freebies from the Toughest Girls of the Galaxy 2 "Darkness and Light" (TGG 2) and I'll be painting them up just as fast as I can manage but, even though the freebie set contains Sisters and Lust Elves I really fixed on Executrix Sephea and the Mascot Violet as my first targets.

 Its kind of funny that I first got interested in the Kickstarter because of the Sisters of the Chalice/Orphanage and then became completely enthralled by the Lust Elves and now have really started looking hard at the Void and Dark Elves.

 I usually play Dark Eldar in 40K and have proxied some RH stuff in my armies before... Asharah SF version as the Archon of the Blood Rain, and the Blood Vestals SF version for Wyches as well as the fantasy versions for Witch Elves.  Because I have a full blown Dark Eldar army already built and painted up I thought I'd have less interest in proxy Dark Eldar... boy was I wrong about that!  At this point I'll be building a parallel pure Void Elf army, complete with its own backgrounds, as kind of a "Darker Eldar" army that is related to my main Force  "The Blood Rain".



The figures are very finely detailed and crisply cast.  There are few mold lines and they are generally well placed.  After a thorough cleaning I primed up Sephea and Violet and set to work.







The Blood Rain has a very identifiable color scheme and the new Void Elf Shard is going to as well.  First things first, Asharah's Void Elves will be the "Vertigo Shard" and will have a lot of asymetric designs worked into the heroes and vehicles... I'm thinking that the Blood Rain will retain the old school Dark Eldar vehicles while the Vertigo Shard will get the new style... we'll see how that plays out for troops but these minis are so inspiring I might go there!

My first thought is to take the iconic Incubi... all black and skulls and scary... and re-imagine them in rose and indigo.  You see that here with Sephea and Violet... who will serve as the Shard's Communion Familiar... sort of a modified creature that talks to lesser beings so the Void Elves don't have to... The actual Executrix troops will have the same, or a reverse, of Sephea's scheme... all depends on how the rose sits against the flesh... tricksey!

 I imagine Executrix Sephea's first meeting with Val'orn Archon of the Hidden Kindred to have gone something like this:


 "Dire Lord!  The Void Kin vessel approaches as anticipated." whispered the diminutive Communion Familiar.
Archon Val'orn of the Hidden Kindred, vassals of the Blood Rain Kabal, winced.  He did not agree with this course of action but the Kabal  had chosen this path and he was compelled to obey.

 "Dispatch Ar'Rrath" he directed.








 "Void Sisters we welcome your arrival and look forward to this exchange. Klaivex Ar'Rrath is on his way to you. When can we expect your Executrix?" the tones of the communion familiar were carefully cultivated... radiating an indifference just short of actual insult... it was unclear, to the uninitiated, whether or not a reply was actually expected.


 "You may expect me now." replied a lilting and remotely amused voice from the foot of the command dais.  A tall blonde female Void Elf, for no outsider had ever seen a male Void Elf... if indeed any of them existed, clad in brilliant blue and pale rose armor stood gracefully in the single moment before the command deck erupted in furious activity.

 Two Incubi clad in the heavy armor, and bearing the signature great blades of their profession, moved rapidly to flank the new arrival.


 "How quaint, you actually wear....black... oh, and skulls.... yes there are skulls!  I imagine that is fearsome!" mused the newcomer.

"Stay your blades Incubi!" laughed Val'orn "I suspect this is Executrix Sephea... your new Klaivex."

The Incubi came to a sudden, and complete, halt as Val'orn turned his attention to Sephea... "I expect to learn something of that trick as part of this exchange but recommend that you use it with caution while you are among the Blood Rain."

For all his glib demeanor Val'orn was off his guard.  The Void Elves had a reputation that was equal parts mystery and terror, even by the standards of the Kabal, but this sparkling gem did not align with his own vision of fear.

"As you command Dire Lord, although... if I might mention such a trifle... while caution might be useful if simple fear is your desire" a slight pause, a blatantly incredulous eye cast toward the Incubi she was to command, she continued "it's usefulness is substantially diminished when invoking true terror."

"We shall see Executrix... we shall see..."  Val'orn retreated within the protective void bubble of his command throne and wondered again about the wisdom of this course.



The story is still unfolding but such an auspicious beginning!




Sephea and Violet, in its role as Communion Familiar. The Mascot "Violet" should probably be renamed to "Indigo" in my service since I painted her that way... but, reduce confusion, Violet she remains!

Sephea seen paired with a rare female Archon from GW.

Oh... before I forget completely!

Painting notes:

Skin: Basic Flesh (Vallejo), Flesh Wash (P3), retouched with Basic Flesh.

Indigo areas: Nightmare Black (Reaper), Deep Sky Blue (Vallejo) highlights, wash Sapphire (Secret Weapon), spot highlights Deep Sky Blue.

Rose areas: Rose Brown (Vallejo), highlights Brains Pink (Reaper), wash Drying Blood (Secret Weapon), retouch Rose brown, spot highlight brains pink.

Designs in the rose area were painted between just before the first wash using Deep  Red (Reaper)



I based her on the same Blasted Swamp (Secret Weapon) bases that majority The Blood Rain is based on.  I thought about a separate basing scheme for the Vertigo Shard but they may still be used with the Blood Rain quite a lot and it will be more unifying to have the bases regularized.

Oh! before I forget.... Sephea and Violet are both part of the big pile of freebies you get for pledging at the LT. level or higher.  It's still possible to join the Kickstarter if you do it before the Pledge Manager opens.  Raging Heroes expects this to happen in less than two weeks.

Next up... Nuns with Guns!