On The Horizon - September 2012

Even though it's more than a week into the new month, I suppose it's still not too late for another edition of On The Horizon.  I didn't post an update last month due to time constraints and the fact that quite frankly, very little of the painting queue had changed since the previous one in July.  The last half of August was rather productive for me however and this month's edition should have quite a few changes for those that follow along.

Warning:  This post is long and probably quite boring so feel free to breeze right through it or ignore it completely.  The On The Horizon posts are meant mainly for myself to help me organize my project queue and visualize my progress.  Actually, the entire blog is mostly meant for the same purpose and to serve as a online project journal of sorts.  And to be honest, I'm still surprised that others even stop by the blog to read the updates.  So much the better!

On to the update.... As you can see, my hobby station is bustling with activity this month with ongoing projects in many different stages of completion.  To control the chaos and help with photography for this post, I've broken down the miniatures on the desk and grouped them together either by theme or by nearness to completion.  Feel free to flip through the photos to see what's brewing for the new month and maybe find a mini or two that you can't live without.

The first and second photos below were taken from a section on the desk that I have humorously dubbed the "imminent completion" rack.  These are miniatures that are close to completion and should recieve most of my attention, but rarely do.  Sometimes these minis sit there for longer than ones that I have not even started yet.  And, as you can see, sometimes brand new shiny minis find their way to that rack and displace ones that are almost done.  It's definitely my hobby A.D.D. acting up!

All of the miniatures in the "imminent completion" rack are fantasy figures, except one.  I have not given up on any of my other projects; it's just that these are the ones I happen to be working on at the moment.  From left to right:  Autumn Bronzeleaf (03492) is the first mini.  Though the name Reaper Miniatures has given her would suggest otherwise, she is in the process of being painted with bright spring-like colors.  I just wanted to do something different with her than the other painted versions I have seen around the internet.  Next to her is Kurff the Swift (02034), also from Reaper.  He will make a nice thief addition to the collection. If you fancy this sculpt from Sandra Garrity, you may want to pick up a copy soon.  The Reaper website states that he is out of general distribution but is still available for now on the website.  Next to Kurff is another Reaper mini called Anwyn (03080).  I very much like the pose and can't wait to finish her up and add her to my Level One Adventurers collection/project.  Next in line is a miniature only available through the CoolMiniOrNot webstore.  Alejandra (CMN0020) is a resin version of a previous metal mini that apparently is no longer available.  Although I really dislike working with resin, I loved the sculpt so much that I simply could not resist the purchase.  The last mini from this group is Shae.  She is a Steve Buddle sculpt, of former Spyglass/Eolith miniatures fame (now with GW from what I understand), and like many of the minis from his past, she is both simple and elegant at the same time.  Heresy miniatures acquired the rights to some of Steve's minis in 2011 and I believe Shae can be purchased there.

The second group on the priority rack are mostly fantasy as well.  The first is an unprimed miniature from Reaper.  The Handmaiden of Keskura (14579) is from the Warlord line of minis, their in-house skirmish wargame.  While I have no experience with the game itself, I do have several figures from the line and have been happy with them all.  Next to the topless barbarian is yet another pirate from Black Scorpion miniatures.  He can be found in the Rogues #2 blister.  Black Scorpion recently switched over to resin but if you look hard enough, you can still find this intimidating fellow in metal.  Next to the pirate is a female fighter from Dark Sword Miniatures (DSM4115).  She is part of the Visions in Fantasy line that I have come to love over the last few years.  The concept art was taken from fantasy artist Jeff Easley but oddly enough, she is not part of the Easley Masterworks line.  Fourth from the left is Aethelglyth, Warrior-Maiden of Mercia (BNL-023), the first mini I've purchased from the Bane Legions system.  It's a rather strange line of minis but I was taken by this particular sculpt and had to try it.  It may be my last however due to the fact that everything is resin and I HATE resin and all the extra work that goes along with it (green stuff fills all the little air holes in the mini).  The last mini is Nienna (02909) from Reaper.  She's a ranger-ish elf with an action pose....both of which I love, so it's no surprise that she's here in the queue.


Now on to the great Aragorn project of 2012.  In the ultimate definition of efficiency, I'm painting every Aragorn pose at the same time (with the exception of a certain version that came in the Mines of Moria set that shall never be named due to the horrible sculpt).  I've painted several of these poses before, but I thought it would be fun to do them all at the same time.  So after buying duplicates of my already painted versions, here they are all lined up and ready for attention.

From top to bottom, left to right:  The first sculpt is from the Heroes of the West set.  This is one of the versions I had previously painted so it will be interesting to see how the two compare upon completion. In the middle on the upper row is Aragorn from The Three Hunters blister.  This is one of my favorite Strider sculpts.  Rounding out the top row is the sculpt from the Attack at Weathertop boxed set. A version from Breaking of the Fellowship starts out the middle row followed by one from the Ambush at Amon Hen box. One of the better Aragorn sculpts is from the Heroes of Helm's Deep collection, seen here on the end of the second row.  Finally, on the bottom row is version 1 from the original Fellowship of the Ring set (another previously painted version), next to the elusive Defenders of Rohan model, and a mounted version from the Warg Attack boxed set.  Happy Aragorn painting indeed!

This section of the queue all hail from the pirates line of Black Scorpion Miniatures. The bulk of the minis are from the Royal Marines #2 and #3 blisters.  They are flanked by a Royal Navy Officer on the left and a Navy Captain on the right.  They are all destined to take part in my Legends of the High Seas campaign.

Now for the ladies that will be joining the same LotHS campaign.  The two primed figures on either end both come from the villagers line of Fenryll Miniatures.  They are plastic but still exhibit good detail so I did not mind adding them to the collection.  Second from the left is a strumpet from Hasslefree Miniatures (HFV003).  She has been in the queue for quite some time but is finally seeing some progress.  Next to her is a serving wench from Reaper.  She can be found in the Townsfolk I blister (02583) along with another serving lass and a barkeep which I have completed earlier.  Next in line is a "madam" from the Townsfolk III blister (02655).  You can imagine what she will be representing in my game.  The Governor's daughter from Black Scorpion finishes out this section.

I've got a few more pirates in this section of the queue.  The first two are from the Pirate Captains pack from Old Glory Miniatures.  Next to them is yet another miniature from Black Scorpion.  He can be found in the Pirates #2 blister.

Now for a few more fantasy miniatures that are in the initial stages of completion.  The first from the left is another bard from Reaper.  Druss Darkblighter (03136) is the winning entry from the Design Your Own Miniature contest.  It's an interesting sculpt in the fact that no weapons are visible and he seems to be depicted in the middle of some mundane action....such as speaking to a passerby or perhaps reciting verse to a crowd in a tavern.  He's different and I like it.  Next to Druss is a warhorse from a Bretonnian force.  The project where I've been converting Bretonian knights to the different noble houses of Westeros is finally moving forward again.  Another GW mini is next to the horse.  I've been doing several test models of GW High Elves to complete a diorama of a scene from The Silmarillion.  I'm a bit happier with this color combo so far and may actually complete this model.  Last in line is Artemis (HFH036) from Hasslefree.  The skin and metallics have been basecoated and both are ready for shading and highlighting.

Most of this section of the queue is just getting started. I'll breeze right through them since more than likely we will see them again next month.  Top row, from left to right:  Visions in Fantasy Female Cleric (DSM4107), GRRM Masterworks Bronn (DSM5050), a halfling from Tercia Creativo, GRRM Masterworks Benjen Stark (DSM5051), Elmore Masterworks Female Elven Princess (DSM1167), and Elmore Masterworks Amazon (DSM1169).  Bottom row from left to right: three GW Cadian test models, a pirate with a blunderbuss from Black Scorpion's Rogues #1 blister, Gil-galad from Games Workshop, and Cyndria Stormcaller (02956) from Reaper.

Same story as above for this section.  Top row from left to right:  Easley Masterworks Male Mage (DSM4105), three AWESOME armored skeletons form Otherworld Miniatures, and Adrielle, High Elf Queen (65048) from Reaper.  The bottom row is all comprised of goblins from Hasslefree Miniatures.  I love these little guys.  They have an old school feel but definitely exhibit details and characteristics of modern miniatures.  Perfect combo!

Well, it's obvious that I have my work cut out for me this month so I better get started painting.  I wonder how different the painting queue will look in October?

Damian Helthorne from Reaper

I'm not a huge fan of heroic scale miniatures.  Maybe it's the GW effect that drives me away or perhaps the cartoon-like image that particular style of mini represents.  Whatever the case, the oversized weapons and features of heroic scale figures usually sends me running the other direction.  However, Damian Helthorne (03201) from Reaper Miniatures immediately caught my eye when I walked into a "local" (the nearest FLGS is a 48 mile one way trip) hobbyshop, despite featuring most everything I dislike about this type of miniature.

In this wonderful sculpt by Tre Manor, the oversized weapons and features just work for this miniature.  I don't know if I had a preconceived notion due to Reaper branding Damian as a bandit, but as soon as I saw him in the blister, I knew I had a roguish, dashing, charasmatic NPC that simply demanded a larger-than-life personae and effects.  I knew right away while staring at the bare metal how I wanted him to look as a painted miniature and act as a wargaming hero/leader or RPG NPC.  Any other style of mini simply would not do.

 The color choices for painting was easy.  He is a bandit...outlawed and hunted, so his garb should reflect his time in the forests and hills surrounding his former home.  Greens and browns dominated my palatte in the initial phases of painting.  However, the Damian Helthorne I envisioned simply would not go quietly into a life of forced banditry.  His ego and charisma would not allow it.  To illustrate this point I knew I had to go with a big bold color for his cape.  Red was my immediate thought.  I have no doubt that he would have acquired such an item when robbing one of the very nobles that had a hand in banishing him from his former life.  Despite the fact that his new cape doesn't even come close to blending in with his surroundings, he is very fond of it and now considers it a part of the legend that has sprung up around his exploits.

As I mentioned above, I knew right away how I wanted this miniature to look when I was finished painting....right down to the individual details.  However, the sigil on his shield is not what I had in mind.  What I originially wanted to do was paint a bit of heraldry from one of the noble families in the region and then add a worn faded effect to signify that the shield was stolen and perhaps "altered" a bit.  Unfortunately, I was unable to accomplish the desired effect.  Instead of a worn look, all I was able to achieve was a sigil that looked new but slightly unpainted.  I eventually gave up on the idea and went with Plan B.

Plan B consisted of taking a page from the pirates of the Golden Age.  In my ongoing research of piracy in the Caribbean to support my Legends of the High Seas campaign, I've read several great books.  The one I just finished, Colin Woodard's The Republic of Pirates, along with David Cordingly's Under the Black Flag, both go to great lengths to emphasize that pirates used a bit of early psychological warfare to frighten their quarry into submission.  Afterall, the pirates were after the cargo on board the vessel or sometimes the vessel itself.  Why damage the very things they are after?  Threat displays such as brandishing weapons or causing a rucous to seem more imtimadating were common.  Perhaps the most well known technique though was raising the company's flag...the infamous Jolly Roger, which through it's symbolism, had a definite meaning.  When an opposing ship's captain saw the black flag flapping in the wind, he knew he had a decision to make: fight the pirates and possibly risk his life, along with that of  his passengers and crew or strike his colors and most likely avoid an unfortunate fate.

I decided on a similar role for Damian's shield.  I figured that such a legendary figure would be well-known in the realm for his daring deeds.  Just a view of his shield would cause the unlucky victim to strongly reconsider a fight with such a worthy adversary when in all probability, all that was wanted was gold and goods.  The eye crying tears of blood into a stolen chalice was appropriate iconography for such a man and I'm mostly happy with the outcome.  

So, since I failed in my initial attempt on the shield, I'm definitely open to suggestions on how to achieve such an effect.  Comments are more than welcome!

Misunderstood Orcs and a Big Score

Found this video quite by accident today and just had to share.  Enjoy!

Oh, and I was finally able to find the Defenders of Rohan boxed set on eBay.  Actually, after months of no luck in my search, I was able to find not one, but three sets.  The first was selling overseas and I tried my best to win the auction but was outbid at the last minute.  My losing bid was £95.63, which comes out to around $150 for me.  I was saddened by the outcome since I had been watching and waiting all week for the close and could almost feel the miniatures in my hand.  In the end however, I came out ahead.  Just a little over a week later, another box appeared on eBay, this time on my side of the pond.  I thought for sure I would lose out on this one as well but luck was on my side.  I won the auction for a little over $80....a savings of almost half if I had won the original auction. That's not cheap of course, but for seven hard to find miniatures, it was more than acceptable to me.

SCORE!!!!

As I mentioned, I found three boxes.  The third is still up for auction but the price is a bit on the high side.  The seller is asking $184 for the Buy It Now price (item #130748462298).  As an aside, for some reason the same seller has a few other boxed sets that are not all that rare, but offered at high prices.  For example, the Breaking of the Fellowship set is listed at $144.99.  I've seen a few of these sets here and there and they went for much less.  Plus, with just a bit of patience and searching, the minis in the set can be found individually for a fraction of the total cost.  I'm not sure why the price is set so high.  Am I missing something here?

Anyway, now that I finally have the Defenders of Rohan in my possession, it's time to start yet another project.....painting every Aragorn pose at the same time.  That should keep me pumped up and excited for the upcoming Hobbit movies.

Two Minis and a Hurricane

Sorry about the lack of updates this past week.  I had several posts planned but mother nature had different plans for me.  Isaac, though uninvited, decided to come pay my island home a visit.  Since the highest point on the island is only eight feet above sea level, any tropical system deserves my full attention. I've spent the last week pulling my personal boat out of the water, prepping and tying lines on the two work boats, and getting the house ready for a good blow.  Now that all the hard work is done, I'm sitting in my shutter-darkened office, having a nice cold adult beverage, and enjoying the calm before the storm.  And while I still have power, I though I'd just combine a few of the posts I had in mind to form a quick update.

This Isaac

  Not this Isaac

Now for the update. The sweet little lass below is a great mini from Hasslefree Miniatures (Barwench HFV001).  She is part of the villagers line, of which I have several others.  As is usually the case from Hasslefree, the sculpt is wonderful, the details are sharp, and the mini came in with very little prep work to perform.

She is destined to mainly serve in my Legends of the High Seas campaign but like some of the other miniatures I'm using as inhabitants of Port Largo, she is pretty much genera-neutral.  She would be equally at home in the Golden Age of Piracy, medieval Europe, or any fantasy setting. 

 

I've painted her up to be a fairly young serving lass.  I tried to invoke a bit of innocence in the color scheme instead of the bawdiness I emphasized on most of my other "ladies" of Port Largo.  I also moved away from my normal female skin tone and used slightly darker colors.  I was attempting to portray an islander of mixed descent but I'm not sure how well I succeeded.

I was also able to complete another pirate/privateer (I'm still undecided) from Black Scorpion Miniatures.  There's not much to say about him except I'm rather pleased with the gaunt look I was able to achieve on his facial features.  I wanted him to look hungry and a bit desperate.  I may have done that with his face but I failed to factor in his clothing.  He's a bit well-dressed for a man with nothing to lose.  Oh well...

I've also finished off three fantasy miniatures, with an additional four almost completed, but they will have to wait.  My frosty adult beverage is now empty and I just felt another early outer rain band hit.  Time to go and watch the wind blow.  See you all on the other side.

"Squalls out on the Gulf Stream, big storm's coming soon..." -- Jimmy Buffett

A Merchant Captain for Legends of the High Seas

I've been super busy with the last of the summer tourists and have not had much time for painting or blogging.  Despite the hectic Dog Days of Summer, I have been able to complete a few minis lately.  Since I only have time for a quick update I'll focus on one of them....a merchant captain for my Legends of the High Seas campaign.

 

The miniature is part of the Pirate Captains pack from Old Glory Miniatures. The scale is a bit off from the vast majority of the miniatures I'm using (25mm compared to 28-30) but the addition of the base evened out most the difference.  Of all the miniatures in the pack, this guy is my favorite.  Although he is not armed with a cutlass and only a hint of his pistol is visible, he still strikes me as an opposing figure.  However, since he does not exactly fit the popular image of a pirate captain, I decided to use him as one of the non-pirate citizens of Port Largo.

Though I do not have his background fully fleshed out as of this post, I know he will be serving as a merchant captain on the island.  A pirates plunder is only as good as the coin it can be sold for and that is where this gentleman will play a role.  I envision him as a law abiding mostly law abiding citizen trying to make a living in a port town infested with pirates. He will purchase their ill-gotten gains and sell them to colonists in Charles Towne or some of the other islands.

To set him apart from the mostly colorful pirates I've been painting, I decided upon a fairly muted color scheme.  His britches, boots, hat, and stockings are low key and blend in with the mini.  The blue for the coat was chosen to make him stand out just a bit without being overwhelming.  The grey for the vest was my own private little joke representing his ambiguous position in a pirate society.  The best feature is his chubby cheeks.  Though my iPhone photo does not show it very well since everything is washed out (I had camera troubles with my Nikon on the day of the photo), I worked hard to accentuate that feature and make them stand out while still giving his cheeks and bald head a bit of sunburn/tan from working in the tropical sun.  Now that I have the camera sorted out, I'll try to snap another photo and add it below to illustrate the skin tone I'm describing.

Well, that's it for now.  I have miniatures to paint......

Closing text

From The Ashes A Fire Shall Be Woken???

I've been thinking lately about letting my White Dwarf subscription run out.  It's expensive, full of GW propaganda, and in my humble opinion, is mostly a monthly company catalog.  I no longer play WFB or 40K (although I still collect some of the models) so what little useable text within the pages there is, it's rather useless to me.  Even the well-painted models are less of an attraction these days.  The painting is still absolutely gorgeous but for the most part, the models themselves are getting ridiculous.  What's all this crap sticking out of them lately?  How do these guys walk around, much less fight?  To be completely honest, it was only the Lord of the Rings content that kept me hanging on, and even that has been pretty much nonexistent for some time now.

My August copy of White Dwarf arrived today (it takes forever for it to make it down here) and any thought of letting my subscription lapse suddenly vanished like a certain Hobbit placing a magical ring on his finger.  It seems after a long absence (beyond just fluff articles), LotR SBG content is coming back!

My heart raced as I glanced lovingly at the two page spread graced by Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin and company.  Sudden memories of the glory days of LotR rushed through my brain and the long defeat seemed to be coming to an end.  Indeed, hope did remain while the company was true...

Of course I knew, or strongly suspected, that GW would cash in on The Hobbit money making machine.  I was pretty sure we would see new models and possibly a revamped game.  But I didn't begin to think that this one photo, this little tease of things to come, would reignite so strongly the feelings of those blissful early days of the game and the LotR films.  I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl right now and cannot wait for the upcoming monthly content in White Dwarf, the pending miniature releases, and the general resurgence (hopefully) of a game I dearly love.

For those of us lonely collectors and gamers that never gave up on the forlorn system, now is our time to rejoice.  Though GW may try to weave a spell and force me to purchase Finecast models, at least there is now light for the world of men and LotR gamers.  As Hurin once yelled long ago in the years of the First Age, "Aure enteluva! Day shall come again."  And so it shall be for us....collectors, players, and lovers of this game.

I'll be waiting with bated breath for the upcoming issues.  No chance of me cancelling my subscription now. Who knows what treasures lie within the golden horde that GW has slept upon for these long years.....

Damn you GW, you had me at "In a hole in the ground...."






If you are not a subscriber and cannot read the text in the ad, here is what it says...

Unless you have been hiding in a Hobbit-hole, you'll know the epic movie, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, reaches cinemas in December.  We are tremendously excited about the forthcoming tabletop battle game and range of new miniatures based on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and the opportunity to continue the exploration of Middle-earth that began with The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.

Keep up to date with all the movie news and trailers at the-hobbit-movie.com, and find out all about Games Workshop's new releases in the months to come in the pages of White Dwarf and the Games Workshop website, games-workshop.com.

The People of Port Largo - 'Ello Governor

Although I have not posted much about the Port Largo pirate project lately, the miniatures, buildings, and ships are coming along quite nicely.  Four other minis are just about finished while the inn and a blacksmith's shop are not far behind.

Quite a few pirates are walking the streets of Port Largo and the ladies are doing their thing as well, but there has been a lack of other inhabitants (aside from a lonely barkeep) for the booming seaport.  Over the next few weeks that issue should be rectified.  In fact, the change starts today with the introduction of Governor Thomas Haldane.

Governor Haldane arrived in Port Largo in 1714 seething with indignity at having been posted to such a minor possession of the King.  Though he is from a fairly prosperous and influential family, his enemies back home sought to remove the Jacobite sympathizer from court and send him to the remote British outpost.  Once on the island however, Governor Haldane made the best of his predicament.  Thomas is heavily involved in the illegal trade on the island and has amassed quite a fortune through his interactions with the pirates and privateers of Port Largo.  Though the pirates and privateers know they have a high ranking ally in the Governor, they also are aware of his precarious nature.  At any moment, the tide may turn and a crew once under the employ of Haldane as privateers may become hunted pirates by the very man that initially empowered them.  A common question of ship captains as they dock in port, "Which way blows the Governor?" illustrates the uncertain loyalties of Thomas Haldane.

The miniature representing Governor Thomas Haldane is from Black Scorpion.  That should come as no surprise for regular readers of this blog.  I'm quite smitten with Black Scorpion and own most of their pirate range.  When I first saw this mini, I knew he was destined to be the Governor of Port Largo.  The sculpt has a close resemblance to a certain Governor from a certain Disney movie and fit the image of what I wanted in my game.  I was fortunate enough to purchase the miniature a few years ago when he was still available in metal (I'm not a fan at all of their resin products but that's a story for another time) but those seeking the mini now may not be so lucky.  

Painting was fairly simple.  I wanted a rich color that suggested wealth without looking too outrageous.  I basecoated the mini with GW Beastial Brown then worked up through several different layers of GW Snakebite Leather and GW Bubonic Brown.  The vest was painted using various cream colors and brown washes.  To add a bit of contrast and color, the scarf was painted using the ultramarine triad from Reaper.  The rest was fairly standard fare. 

My only complaint about the painting is the parchment roll.  From a tabletop standpoint, the writing looks just fine.  Now that I see a closeup photo however, my attempt at freehand looks pretty darn terrible....especially the red wax seal I tried to replicate on the bottom right hand side.  It looks like a big brown blob.  Oh well....

Despite his shortcomings as a miniature, I'm sure that Governor Thomas Haldane will make quite a impression on the island of Port Largo.  I can only hope that my crew remains in his good graces during the games of Legends of the High Seas.

Ghost - The Direwolf of Jon Snow

It should come as no surprise to even occasional visitors to this blog that I am a huge fan of Dark Sword Miniatures.  Frequency of product release, quality of the miniatures, and great customer service are just some of the reasons that place DSM at the top of my list for miniature companies.  Probably the best attribute however is the sculpts of the miniatures themselves.  Action and emotion are both captured in most every pose while the proportions are quite realistic and believable.  There are very few figures on their website that I would not be proud to own and paint.

Despite all of these wonderful accolades, DSM has met its match in at least one catagory....wolves.

Ghost, the direwolf of Jon Snow.

I had been waiting for DSM to release the direwolves to accompany the Stark children....especially Ghost, the faithful companion of Jon Snow.  However, when they were released, I was quite disappointed with Ghost.  I say "they" because two versions were released but neither were exactly what I envisioned from reading the books.  Version one, sculpted by Dave Summers, was too feral for me.  The pose, especially the mouth with teeth bared, suggested active malevolence.  In the books, Ghost was often described as a silent menace and I thought version one went beyond the bounds portrayed by George R. R. Martin in his writings (with that being said, the sculpt is wonderful and would make a great wolf/direwolf for general purposes).  Version two  was just the opposite.  Tom Meier is a wonderfully talented sculptor but his version of Ghost was too domesticated.  I felt like I was looking at an overgrown lapdog.  So I began searching for a better replacement.  That's when I remembered my old miniature stand-by, Reaper, and a blister pack of wolves I purchased a few years ago.

Wolf Pack (02830), sculpted by Geoff Valley, contains three wolves in various poses.  One of the three, presumably the pack leader, stands on a small rise and gazes out towards the landscape.  The wolf seems powerfully built and brimming with the confidence of a top tier predator.  The sculpt was exactly what I was looking for as a stand-in for Ghost. 

Painting was fairly straightforward.  I started with a medium grey basecoat then gradually added white as I worked up to the highlights.  Although Ghost is described as an albino, I elected to leave a fairly good amount of grey visible to enhance the highlights.  Going mostly white would have produced a dull gaming piece in my opinion.

The base is well sculpted but is a bit on the thin side.  I could see the miniature being easy to knock over when handled so I added an oval wooden counter to provide more stability and a bit more room to create scenery. As I mentioned in this post, I decided to avoid using a snowy base to allow the wolf to serve in other roles on the table beyond a wintery battleground.  

Jon Snow from Dark Sword Miniatures along with a wolf from Reaper

Mixing different miniature companies can sometimes lead to issues with scale.  In this case I was quite happy with the results, however.  The size is just about right, although for a direwolf described by George R. R. Martin as being a little "gaunt" when compared to normal wolves, the bulk is a somewhat overbearing.  But for the most part, I'm quite satisfied with this wolf as a replacement.

With that being said, I still plan on purchasing some of the DSM direwolves as general gaming or display pieces.  As I mentioned above, I'm particularly drawn to version one of Ghost but I'm also leaning towards picking up Nymeria and ShaggyDog as well.

Wildings - Painted and Stat Profile

As I mentioned in the post about Alfyn Crowkiller, I've been working on painting up miniatures for a bit of GRRM skirmish warfare between The Night's Watch and Wilding raiders. Warbands on both sides of The Wall have been coming along nicely and I've been slowly replacing LotR rangers and Wargames Factory vikings (which have been serving as proxies) with more appropriate miniatures as they are painted.

Here are two such Wildings that are ready to take their place on the table.  Just like Alfyn, both are from the George R. R. Martin Masterworks line produced by Dark Sword Miniatures.

Of all the Wildings in the line, the Wilding Warrior with Longsword (DSM5015) is my favorite sculpt.  The pose is quite dynamic and just looking at the miniature head on, one can almost get the feeling that this fierce warrior is about to strike a killing blow.  Kinetic energy seems to be bound up in the stance, with devastating power about to be unleashed from the sword arm.  Now that's what good sculpts are all about!

To honor Martin's vision of his fierce northern warriors, I painted the miniature using mostly organic earthy colors. Living off the land as they do, I wanted their garb to reflect their harsh life.  However, being Wilding raiders, they are bound to find, steal, and pillage equipment and arms during raids south of The Wall or take items from vanquished Black Brothers.  To illustrate this fact, I painted the shield and armor in stronger, less natural tones to suggest items foreign to their culture.

Readers familiar with GRRM's works mostly through the excellent HBO series may take issue with the bases of these minis (and the others in the project). In the TV series, everything north of The Wall is depicted almost as an arctic wasteland.  Basically the scenery looks like it was filmed on a glacier.  However, in the books, the lands of the north are not necessarily always covered in thick snow and much of the action takes place in the Haunted Forest.  I chose to base the warbands with the books in mind rather than the television version.  Plus, I'm a huge fan of double-duty miniatures.  Basing the figures on snowy bases makes them much less usable to me for other types of gaming.

Dark Sword Miniatures calls this next figure Wilding Warrior with Great Axe (DSM5016).  I painted this warrior in many of the same colors as the one above to build upon the raider theme.  The garb is different but I wanted to use the same colors to suggest that a successful raid over The Wall garnered the raiders with a couple of bolts of cloth that was later sewn into garb.  Plus, by using the same colors but in different places, the warband looks like they belong together on the table while still looking chaotic enough to suggest a highly irregular force, as opposed to the Night's Watch regimental-like livery.

The painting of the two forces is not the only facet of the project getting attention.  I've been slowly experimenting and tweaking the LotR skirmish rules to use with my Westeros wargaming.  Most of the rules are just fine as is, but the magic and hero systems definitely need work.

Profiles are taking a bit of time as well.  Getting the right numbers to balance the forces and do justice to the individual heroes is not a matter to be taken lightly.  Special rules are also worthy  of deliberation.  They are a major part of the game and definitely important to the overall flavor and theme of the participants.  With time and additional battles, I'll be able to zero in on the right mix. 

I'm fairly happy with the profile for Wilding warriors/raiders however.  It's a solid stat block that fits well with the description of the Wildings given in the books.

              F      S    D    A    W    C
       3/5+   3    3     1      1     3

            Special Rule:  North of the Wall
            Wildings are at home in the harsh climates north of The Wall and are masters of ambush tactics.  As such, any Wilding warrior may move through difficult terrain without penalty when fighting on home terrain.

I'll be posting more stat profiles as additional miniatures are painted and added to the character list.  I'll also try to get a battle report up as soon as I work out the remaining bugs and kinks.

Help Finding Two OOP Saruman Miniatures

Going through my LotR collection the other day, I noticed that I'm still missing a few miniatures from the line.  Being mainly a collector of the range, I've done a pretty good job over the years keeping up with all the releases GW has put out for the game.  Or at least I thought I had.  Somehow I've managed to miss one Saruman variant and misplace another.  I'd like your assistance in helping me find them.

First up is the Saruman variant that depicts the fallen wizard holding a Palantir.  I'm not really sure how I missed this model.  It's a great sculpt from Gary Morley and possibly my favorite of the four existing versions.  I think it was released early on in the Fellowship of the Ring phase but I could be mistaken.  Either I owned it at some point and misplaced the mini like the one below or perhaps I simply forgot to purchase it.  Either way, Saruman with the Palantir is missing and I sure would like to add him to my collection.

Next is Saruman the White from The White Council boxed set.  I know I had this model in the past since I own every other mini from the set and I'm positive I did not purchase each miniature separately.  Perhaps I misplaced him in one of my several house moves or maybe he ended up in the same mysterious place where some of my socks seem to disappear, but he is definitely missing. 

I realize that the LotR SBG is not the big thing anymore and many visitors to the site will probably have moved on to newer and greener pastures, but I'd still like to ask for your assistance in finding these two miniatures.  I have checked eBay many times over the last few months and have found little success except for one seller that has listed a poorly painted Palantir version for almost $40.  Hopefully someone in the blogosphere can point me in a better direction.

Thanks in advance for any time or consideration readers can provide to my search.

Note:  Not having access to the miniatures themselves, and with GW not cooperating with images of OOP models, I had to use images from the web.  Below are the links to the sites where the images were borrowed.  If the owners of the above images have any issue and/or concerns with my use of them, please feel free to contact me and I will gladly remove them immediately.

The Dead Marshes    http://www.thedeadmarshes.com/
Lord of the Miniatures     http://lordoftheminiatures.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html

Edit 1:  Gamers, RPers, and Mini Painters are the best!  Not even 15 minutes after I posted this, I already have a lead on a new eBay post from overseas.

Edit 2:  Thanks to an awesome reader with an extra model, I now have Saruman with a Palantir on the way.  Hopefully I'll get lucky with another seller/trader on Saruman #2!

Whom Do You Serve? Saruman!!!

As I mentioned in the last post, I have had a couple of Saruman miniatures in my painting queue for....well, forever.  While version two is still under construction, I had a moment to snap a few photographs of the first one.

I painted this version from a dark undercoat of brown up to a final highlight of almost pure white.  I struggled with each highlight stage though to keep the white and brown mix from turning too pink but remembered an article I read years ago about adding a bit of yellow to offset the the pink hue.  The technique worked pretty well.  I'm working in the opposite direction in version two where I'll be starting light and washing to get the appropriate shades.  The latter option is certainly going much faster but I'll decide when both are complete which one looks the best.

How do you paint?  Do you start dark and work up to the highlights, in the middle and add both shading and highlighting, or light and wash down to create shades?  I'm assuming most wargamers take the easy route since speed is important for rank and file minis but it would be interesting to hear what technique others use for heroes, commanders, or single minis.

On The Horizon - June 2012

It's the start of another month and that means another On The Horizon post.  Well, actually it's already a week into June but the idea is still the same.....to showcase some of the projects I'll be working on this month.  For this column in the past, I've basically showcased my entire workbench of current models.  At any given time though, I have over 50 miniatures in some stage of completion and at my glacial painting speed, there is actually little change from one month to the next.  Many of the same minis are visible each month, some with little to no progress.  The lack of change makes for a fairly uninteresting monthly column (which also explains why it has been so sporadic). So this month I'll be doing the column a bit differently and only showcasing the miniatures that I keep directly in front of me....my so called "imminent completion" models.  They are the ones that get the most attention and therefore may actually change from month to month.

Here is a quick peek at the first six miniatures:

Harald Hardradda (HVA03) is the top left miniature.  He is part of the Heroes of the Viking Age line produced by Gripping Beast Miniatures.  Harald will be serving as a warband leader for much of my Dark Age gaming.

To the right of Harald is another great sculpt from the Elmore Masterworks line by Dark Sword Miniatures.  She is titled Female Wild Elf (DSM1164). I grew up with the fantasy imagery of Larry Elmore and love being able to paint those images Dark Sword has brought to life in 3D.

On the far right of the upper row is a Barwench (HFV001) from Hasslefree Miniatures.  She is another useful model found in their Villagers line.  She will be serving as yet another female inhabitant of Port Largo in my Legends of the High Seas campaign.

Looking quite dashing and fierce on the bottom left is Damian Helthorne, a bandit from Reaper Miniatures (03201).  I usually avoid the big "cartoony" looking figures but this particular sculpt caught my eye right away.  All the features in the mini are very pronounced and I thought he might be a pleasure to paint.  So far I was correct.

Saruman stands in the center of the bottom row.  He, along with a second version, have been in the queue since sometime last year. I finally finished one and this version is nearing completion as well.  All that remains to finish are his flowing robes.

James St. Johnson rounds out the bottom row.  He too is from Reaper (02663) but unlike Damian, his features are quite a bit more realistic and much more to my liking.


And here are the final seven:

The first in line is the Governor from Black Scorpion Miniatures.  Just a few more details and highlights are all that's keeping this chap from joining the other citizens of Port Largo.

Autumn Bronzeleaf (03492) is next.  She is another Reaper miniature.  Although the name suggests otherwise, I've decided to paint her in very spring-like colors.  Her intricate sandals are giving me a bit of a fit though so she'll remain in the queue for some time.

One of my favorite miniatures from this round is third from the left.  Alejandra (CMN0020) is from Coolminiornot.  She is a wonderfully simple but alluring sculpt from Steve Buddle of Spyglass and Eolith Miniatures fame.  She originally came with a giant scythe but I thought the dimensions looked all wrong so I did a very minor conversion and changed the weapon into a magical staff. 

Speaking of Spyglass, next to Alejandra is Shae (SGM003).  She is another simple but elegant sculpt and I very much look forward to painting her.

Just in front and to the side of Shae is a mini I will be using as a merchant captain in my Legends of the High Seas campaign.  He is from the Pirate Captains (OGP-01) collection by Old Glory Miniatures.  I've had this fellow since Christmas 2010 and it's definitely time for him to make his way from the bench to the table.

I found the next miniature completely by chance.  It's from a Spanish company called Tercio Creativo.  The mini is listed as Mochilero, a rogue warrior, but since my Spanish is terrible I can't be sure I'm reading the label correctly.  Anyhow, I simply loved the sculpt and had to give the company a try.  I can't wait to see how the little halfling-looking guy turns out.

Finally, I have another mini from Black Scorpion to round out the queue.  He is from the Privateers 2 blister.  Just like the Governor and Merchant Captain, he too is destined to walk the streets of Port Largo.

So that's my plan for the next month.  Hopefully when July rolls around I'll not be taking photos of the exact same miniatures.  Doing so would not really honor the meaning of the phrase "imminent completion".

Kobold Tribe

Larx Longtooth is known throughout the realm as one of the most crafty and troublesome Kobold raiders to ever curse the lands of Galaria.  Time and time again, he and his band have crept down from the foothills of The Crags to descend upon some unsuspecting trader's caravan only to disappear quickly into the wilds.  Along with his cohort, Binj the Mewler, Longtooth's Raiders (as they have become known) have caused trade between the North and South to become a dangerous and expensive endeavor.  In fact, trade has become so sluggish that wardens from Cumbria have been called to Donegal to track and stop the scourge of the North Road.  For the North and South to work together so closely on this matter certainly illustrates the seriousness of the problem.

Larx Longtooth is flanked by Binj the Mewler on the left and an unidentified raider on the right

It is believed that Larx and his band are part of the tribe known as The Children of Cridox.  This is a large group of Kobolds that call the eastern Crags home and have been known to prey upon trade and travel between The Dales in difficult years.  If this theory is true, then the trouble may only get worse as the year progresses, for the tribe is ruled by none other than Guart the Taker along with his minions Mange the Mighty and Rikt Wyrmcaller.  Trouble is brewing indeed.

A Kobold raiding party preparing for a "run"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been working on my Kobold tribe for some time now and finally have an acceptable number for gaming completed.  Though I absolutely love the old school feel of Otherworld Miniatures, I chose the Reaper line of Kobolds to represent my little raiders on the field for several reasons....the biggest of which is availability and cost.  Ordering from Reaper only takes a few days to get my goodies and the minis are always reasonably priced.  With the release of the Bones line, I get an even better deal on rank and file Kobolds.  Don't get me wrong though.  It's not like the Reaper Kobolds were a distant second and chosen only due to logistics and money.  I very much like their Kobold sculpts.  It's just that I grew up with 1st Edition and I'm familiar with the old style Kobold illustrations that are so faithfully rendered in Otherworld's sculpts.

Anyhow, I've got the first twelve raiders finished and ready for action.  They are from Reaper's Kobold Raider blister (02470) and the Bones version (77010).  I also have additional reinforcements nearing completion.  They are four Kobolds from blister #03064 which includes an archer along with a blister containing a leader and a sorcerer (03024) and Snar Mangebelly (03295) which will represent Mange the Mighty, Rikt Wyrmcaller, and Guart the Taker respectively.

In doing a bit of research to decide how I wanted to paint my Kobolds I was surprised to learn that their background changed a bit over the years.  When I was a D&D geek during the 80's, no mention was ever made that they had draconic connections.  Apparently sometime during 2E and definitely during the 3E days, they became somewhat connected to dragons.  At first I was taken aback by the change but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.  With their new connections, they are still low level fodder but the gaming possibilities are greatly increased when possibly paired with a dragon. 

With this in mind I decided to pair my tribe with Cridox the Red and paint the Kobolds with a reddish hue.  I basecoated the tribe in Scorched Brown and worked up the red highlights with Dark Flesh to give the tribe a physical connection to a red dragon without ending up with "little red lizards".  I'm excited to try this process again with another tribe possibly paired with a blue or green dragon.  A dark organic blue with electric blue highlights might look interesting and definitely different from the standard fare players often see.

I love Kobolds by the way and they, more so than any other monster, bring back memories from my first D&D adventure....but that is a story for another time.

Off Topic: Waterspouts

Although I regularly bemoan the fact that gaming is non-existent where I live (the closest FLGS is nearly a 50 mile one way trip for me), I have to admit that calling the Florida Keys home for the last fourteen years is not a bad thing at all.  After all, I do live in paradise and have a dream job.  OK, so other wargamers are very few and far between down here, but the advantages of working on the water and living beside palm trees definitely outweigh the disadvantages of living in a gaming vacuum.  Some of those advantages are the spectacular scenery I get to see everyday from my "office window" on board the boat.  And last week was no exception.  I was treated to a wonderful display from Mother Ocean.

During our morning dive excursion, a line of dark grey rain clouds started to move out over the reef line.  The rain was falling heavily in sections while thunder and lighting added to the natural soundtrack.  But the winds remained light and this time of year that usually means one thing...Waterspouts!

Though I see them quite often during our wet season that lasts from mid-May to November, I was in for quite a surprise.  Over a twenty minute period I was able to spot and photograph between 12 and 15 waterspouts in the same general area.  That general area happened to be pretty much right on top of me.  In fact, while I was busy getting video of one about a mile from my position, one quite literally developed on top of me.  The mate on board happened to bring to my attention the monster that was forming about 30 yards from my stern.  I was able to get great video of the business end of the spout but due to our close reference point, I obviously could not get the whole thing in the frame.  Darn!

The video above shows the water swirling on the surface of the ocean.  The funnel cannot be seen yet.  The video below shows the same waterspout after it moved away from our position.

While the waterspout did form very close to the boat, I wasn't too worried.  There are two types of waterspouts:  tornadic and fair-weather waterspouts.  The tornadic version is just as it sounds....a tornado that forms over water.  This variety can be every bit as dangerous as their land-based counterparts and are certainly a cause for concern.  The ones close to me however, non-tornadic, or fair-weather spouts, are a totally different beast.  They usually form in fairly benign conditions beneath the bases of flat-bottomed cumulus clouds and start on the water and work their way up to the cloud (unlike tornadoes that form from the cloud down).  They are still capable to capsizing small vessels though so I certainly would not recommend getting close to one.

Although waterspouts have been reported in many locations worldwide (even in Europe I'm told), the Florida Keys get more waterspouts than any other place.  Over 400 are reported every year.  I've witnessed quite a few in my days on the water, but seeing so many in such a short period of time was both unusual and exciting.

Before posting these photos, I tried to think of a clever way to link the pics to gaming.  Naval waterspout rules anyone?  But in the end I just gave up and let it be.  Sometimes it's just nice to sit back and chat about something off topic.  It could have been something much worse like politics or religion, right?

So enjoy the photos while I start working on my next "on topic" post.

Alfyn Crowkiller

I mentioned a while back when I completed Jon Snow that I did not relish the idea of painting an entire unit of rangers of the Night's Watch for gaming.  Well, since that post I've had a change of heart and started working on a small unit of rangers that will be sent beyond The Wall to search for signs of Mance Rayder.  The thing is, if I'm to do a bit of Westeros wargaming, I better have a few opponents for the Watch to face.  And who better than their long time enemies, the Wildings?

I thought I'd start my Wilding warband with Alfyn Crowkiller (DSM5021).  Although Alfyn is not a major character in the novels, his name is mentioned several times and it is quite apparent that he is a man feared and respected by the Night's Watch.  It took the fabled ranger Qhorin Halfhand to finally bring down Alfyn in A Clash of Kings and end his murderous ways.  We shall see if the rangers of the Watch are able to repeat that feat on the game table.

I started with Alfyn not only because I needed a leader for my Wilding warband, but because I absolutely love the sculpt.  Jeff Grace has done a wonderful job capturing the essence of the GRRM novels for Dark Sword Miniatures.  The Wildings he has completed all feature dynamic and fluid poses, which always grabs my attention....and this one is certainly no exception.

Although not much is written in the novels about garb, I had to assume from the descriptions of their spartan lifestyle that the Wilding culture is based off the land.  As such, I painted Alfyn wearing leathers and furs with lots of earthy colors.  Even the metals were mostly muted, with the exception of the maile and sword. 

With such a limited color palette, the miniature was fairly easy to paint.  And with the extra time, I was able to do a bit of wet blending on the shield.  The color gradient on the shield surface came out fairly well but the metallic decorations were another story.  With the limited space and metallic color options, the gradation was too abrupt and easily noticed.  If I were to do it again, I think I would have chosen to use non-metallic metals to help with the blending.

As for the gaming rule set, I've been tinkering with the old LotR SBG rules from Games Workshop.  They are easy to adapt and perfect for the small scale skirmishes that characterized warfare between the Wildings and Night's Watch.  For now, I'll basically use the rules as is, and simply substitute warrior profiles where appropriate.  With time, I'll work on adding special rules that more closely represent the world George R. R. Martin created.  Ideas and suggestions would be very welcome!

The Ladies of Port Largo - Part 3

Perhaps this entry should have been titled Lady of Port Largo since I only have one miniature ready for the blog at this point.  But to keep the titles of the ongoing series symetrical, I guess I'll leave it in the plural form.  Anyhow..... although this miniature is destined to serve as a character in my Legends of the High Seas campaign, just like the barkeep a few weeks ago, she is well suited for use in a number of settings from fantasy to medieval and even into the closing stages of the last century.  I have no doubt that I'll get quite a bit of use from her.

The miniature is from Fenryll and is part of their Villagers line.  She comes in a blister containing three minis, all of which are well-sculpted and suitable for gaming.  She scales well with Reaper miniatures but not so well with Black Scorpion, which comprises a large part of my pirate collection.  That's OK though.  She is to be used mainly as a background piece and not so much as a character, unlike some of the previous Ladies of Port Largo entries. 

Although I did just say that the model is nicely sculpted, there is a problem with the eyes.  It may be difficult to tell from the photo, but the recesses are definitely offset.  I tried to cover the flaw with paint but the raised areas only showed the flaws in a unflattering light more readily.  I suppose I could have taken a very very very small file and and removed the sockets but I lack both the skill and the patience, so she will remain as is.   Still, she is a wonderful miniature and I'm quite happy with her.  Now I need to go and create a proper background for her so that she can join the campaign.