Dwarf vs Skeletons

 

Almost a full year since I posted last. Haven't been painting much, but here are eight that I finished...

Warriors from ages past rise from the bogs and hills where they have lain...

They set upon a lone Dwarf warrior travelling through the wilderness. But the undead daunt her not.

Seven to one, does not seem fair. The focus on the grass is less than ideal. I blame hostile magical forces, possibly necromantic.

With a fierce cry, the warrior launches herself into battle. These creatures died once. They can die again.

The skeletons are from the Oathmark plastic range. They have a nice bronze age feel to them.

The Dwarf warrior is from Bronze Age Miniatures

Vikings and Gaels and Harpies, a Dwarf Wizard, Normans and a woman with a child

So I've been painting miniatures on and off and finally I got around to photographing them. As you can tell from the title, it's a bit of a random assortment.

They all seem to be brawling over control of a small Dark Age style hovel.

These are Foundry vikings. Personally I'm not convinced by the historicity of the breastplate. The beards and hair are a little too wild and unkempt too, if you ask me.

The fellow with the horn is Citadel IIRC, while the other two are Foundry.

Suddenly three fierce Harpies (Foundry) appear, intent on capturing the hovel.

Using their superior mobility, the Harpies displace the Vikings...

... but the Vikings rally.

Here a Dwarf wizard with a crow familiar (Oathmark) and three Celtos Gaels have taken possession of the hovel. Not sure where the Vikings and Harpies are up to, but if the opportunity is there it'd be foolish not to take it.

The Gaels have not accounted for the small handful of Citadel Normans. Off to the side we can see woman with a child. She's Citadel as well and, I think, somewhat later than the Norman era.

Things are getting confusing now. The Normans have the hovel, but one Gael swordswoman are still among their lines.

Confusion reigns. Who is fighting whom? Maybe it's all just for show...

In the end, the Harpies reappear and claim the hovel. Most likely they're feasting on the bones of the slain.

I still have to varnish the minis, but otherwise they are done. 

The Five Dwarves, the Mule, and the Beastman

If you go through the Beastwoods, you should expect to meet with those who dwell within. And if you do not have their permission, you could get into trouble. For example, these five Dwarves have just lost their pack mule.

Five on one should result in a Dwarf victory, even if the Beastman is much bigger. The question is, of course, how many mates does the Beastman have lurking in nearby bogs and thickets?

I've painted a few more minis. The Dwarves are new Oathmark plastics. Personally, I enjoy their pseudo-historical Dark Ages styling. The Beastman is an old Citadel mini, and the mule is an even older Citadel mini.

The Beastman takes up a tactical position with his back to a rock and some thickets. It'll be harder for the Dwarves to surround him now.

As you can see, I'm going with a mostly blue and yellow scheme for the Dwarves, but not too rigidly. I think early medieval (and early medieval type fantasy) people tended not to be too uniform in their gear. It turns out I also enjoy painting individual minis more than I enjoy painting "units", so theory and practice go together in happy unity in this case.

The Beastman agrees to trade the mule back for three bottles of strong ale and two books of poetry. In the end, no one was seriously hurt and new friendships were formed. Awh!

Fantasy Miscellanea

I also painted some fantasy minis.

First up, a Reaper Bones (first KS wave) undead thingie, an old Citadel (or Marauder) Chaos Warrior, and a Citadel Beastman.

This brings my Chaos Horde up to 5 Chaos Warriors and 3 Beastmen. It's a pretty small horde, which explains the need for undead to back them up on occasion.

The highlight here is clearly the Chaos Warrior's exposed left buttock. Chaos can be pretty wild sometimes.

Next up a Reaper earth elemental and two Celtos Gaels. The Celtos range has some women warrior in bikinis that I really like, but they are - as we say these days - a bit problematic. My current approach is to field a roughly equal number of more-or-less equally undressed male and female minis for a given faction and say that the nudity/ near nudity is a cultural thing independent of gender... but I'm having a harder time finding sexy dude warriors for some reason.

I love the face expression and dynamism of the woman warrior's pose. Her massive shield is pretty cool too. I suppose it makes sense to have a big shield if you're not wearing any armour.

Here they are facing the other way.

Finally, a fountain from the Reaper Bones first Kickstarter. I tried using clear acrylic medium and painting to suggest water with depth and I was really happy with it. Then I varnished it (matte varnish) and the water effect went all translucent grey. Maybe I'll try to fix it....

The woman is a Hasslefree mini and the trunk is from the D&D Nolzur line.

This woman's attire is a bit more historical, I think. Warmer too.

Now that I think about it, that's a pretty big chest. Like, steamer trunk sized. I wonder what's inside it?

A Small Wave of Normans

I painted some Normans. Maybe they'll fight some of the vikings or even show up in a fantasy game some time.

Five knights charging gloriously.

I'm (obviously) going for a red and white theme for these knights. The minis are the familiar (to collectors of 28mm Norman miniatures) Conquest plastics.

Five knights gloriously repositioning.

But as we all know, sometimes the Normans fought on foot. Attempting to reflect historical reality I managed to paint a small handful of Norman infantry as well.

I think the fellow in the middle is supposed to be William the Bastard, but I'm not sure. Anyhow, here he is with a few stout lads.

Still going with the red and white scheme, as you can see. If I recall correctly, they're all old Citadel historicals from the pre-slotta days. Pretty sure they're lead and everything.

Notice the distinctive shaved-back-of-the-head hairstyle which apparently was very fashionable at the time.

Old School Citadel Fantasy Minis

I've slowly been finishing some of the fantasy miniatures I've had under way. These ones are all old school Citadel miniatures (which is what Games Workshop used to call their miniature business). Some of these figures are older than several of my colleagues for sure, but I just finished painting them this week.

First off we have a rag-tag bunch in the goblinoid spectrum, arranged from smallest to largest.

A bunch of rabid redcap goblins coming straight at ya'! There's gonna be blood spilt tonight!

... or maybe they'll run away as soon as things go against them.

These orcs are from Citadel's very first foray into plastic minis. Ten each of goblins, skaven, orcs, elves, dark elves, and dwarfs. I painted these three with rpg-use in mind, intending to refer to them as "the red one", "they yellow one", and "the green one."

... and from the back. Maybe they're off looking for the goblins?

Truth be told the fellow with the sword was painted quite a while ago, though I added some more stuff to his base. The new, very pale, ogre is legit from right now. This is my first time using one of those "verdigris bronze effect" paints. Worked out okay, I think.

Party in the bush, I guess. No innuendo intended.

I've also painted a few chaos minis as well. I tend towards the bright and colourful and Slaaneshi for chaos.

Two monopose beastmen.

Look at those succulent beastman buttocks.

Two members of the Company of the Black Flower. In spite of the poetic name, they're pretty nasty. That is what those of us in the writing business call juxtaposition.

The purplish armour is contrast paint over regular silver paint. It turned out pretty good to my eye, so I might use the effect again.

... and that's all folks.

Two Vikings Freshly Painted

Not a whole lot, but two is more than zero. Just look at these pictures.

A wolf-heathen (ulfhednar) and a more regular fellow. One is old citadel (in actual 25 mm) and the other is Wargames Foundry (closer to 28 mm).

Here they are walking away. Vikings were pretty keen on finery as a way to show of social status. So far I'm mostly using dot patterns to suggest fancy embroidery. It kind of works, I think. Also, as I understand it there are no accounts of vikings disliking pink, so I use it a fair bit (it could also be faded red).

From the Dark Ages

I painted another handful (12) of spear wielding Gripping Beast plastic dark age warrior types. I figure they can do duty as a fairly wide range of early medieval North West European fyrd or levy type warriors, as well as generic warriors, tribesfolk, and/ or angry local farmers in various fantasy settings.

This time I went for a much more muted palette, attempting to represent warriors of more modest means dressed in humble homespun fabric. Again, these lads were painted mostly using contrast paints.

Charging across a white, featureless plain.

The shield designs are entirely speculative.

Granny and the Boys

I finished a few more viking types, including Granny. I'm in the process of planning my first Dragon Rampant game and Granny is going to feature in it - as are her two friends, most likely.

I picture Granny as being a local force, both due to her tendency towards sorcery (real in fantasy games, less real in historical games) and sheer force of personality. The miniatures themselves are (L to R) Citadel, Citadel (I think), Wargames Foundry.

Vikings Muster

A little while ago I posted some pictures of a batch of vikings that were "in progress". Well, I actually legitimately finished some of them. So here they are.

First up a pair of berserkers who've kept their pants on:

These fellows (Citadel) look to me like they've both just about had it.

I'm pretty happy with how that red and white shield came out.

Next up, a set of three berserkers who in terms of clothing seem to own an eye-patch, two shoes, and a belt between them. I'm not sure if they share...

That line from Dirty Old Town comes to mind: "I'm going make me a big sharp axe, shining steel tempered in the fire, I'll chop you down, like an old dead tree...."

The lesson here seems to be that a belt and a pouch will make your butt seem just a little juicier. These are Wargames Foundry miniatures.

Also, a handful of more regular viking types. They're a bit fancier than the shieldwall types I posted earlier. In the interest of transparency I should disclose that I finished the lass miniature a while ago (in fact you might recognize her from earlier posts), I just redid her shield.

Here they are coming towards the viewer...

... and here they are, moving away. The fellow second from the left is an old Citadel mini, the rest are Wargames Foundry.

And last but not least here's a cute viking couple and their kid. I hope they all stay out of trouble.

Hands on hips lady looks like she is not going to put up with any nonsense...

... that is, if she can locate the nonsense. The man is a Citadel mini and I think the woman is too. If not, she's from Wargames Foundry.