an unintentionally morbid end to the year...

Please don't read into this too much. I'm just catching up on some terrain projects, and it just happened to work out that this Reaper Bones piece is my last paint job of 2018.

As you can see, the scale's a little wonky (Reaper is a heroic fantasy line, of course), but whatever. Happy New Year!

Swamp Monster

Or sewage monster, whatever.

Literary Villains (and other personalities)

To start, here's Cardinal Richelieu and Vlad III "Dracula".

Dumas' villain is from Warlord Games, and Stoker's from The Assault Group.

The Dracula figure also comes with a boyar (armed with a neat triple-headed flail) and a noblewoman (not yet painted, not shown). Last night I also painted a set of heroes to oppose these villains: Stickler Mitchell and Young Megan from Warlord Games, and Bertha Bestraufrung(sp?) from Games Workshop's old Sisters of Sigmar range.

I think Drac and his buddy look pretty neat next to Warlord's voynuks...

Peasant Battalia

God willing, it's going to be years before I paint another Eastern-European peasant.

To recap, they are a mix of Assault Group metals, converted Wagames Factory Persians (so cheap!), and lightly converted Gripping Beast dark age warriors. The GB kit is what I'd recommend to anyone looking to make some peasants of their own. Warlord Games' peasant weapons packs were used throughout, and greenstuff for the hats. The standards are Napoleonic Opolchenie banners found via google search.

Lochaber axes

My Mordheim Scots needed some reinforcements too, so I made some warriors with Lochaber axes, which just count as halberds in-game.

"Mordheim" Reinforcements

An order arrived from The Assault Group that I've been quite looking forward too! They may eventually be used to form full units in Pike & Shotte, but for now I'll just be fielding them individually in my historical Mordheim games. I had another smaller one with my brother last weekend, it was pretty fun and we actually got through the whole thing. His Ottomans were able to slay the powerful monsters and drive offer the lesser ones. I didn't have time to take pictures, but there were plenty of dramatic moments, especially when his halberd-wielding champion slew a heavily armored vampire in a single strike! There was also much stumbling and slipping about in the steaming offal which had spilled from the belly of a vile, corrupted monstrosity.

But nevermind that, here's the new minis:

Ottoman Janissaries - Swordsmen with bucklers

Ottoman Janissaries - Swordsmen with Muskets

Russian Sloboda - Warriors with Muskets

Russian Rindi Guard - Swordsmen with Two-handed Weapons

Polish Haiduks - Marksmen with Muskets and Swords

Polish Haiduks - Marksmen with Muskets and Two-handed Weapons

Szlachcic - Polish Nobleman

a new monster

Inspired by this page, I have tried to work out some frustration by converting a topical addition to my 17th-century horror collection. Behold the fleshly manifestation of evil known only as Baron von Trimpf! Hear his ululating battlecry as he leads his horde of writhing monstrosities into battle!

"Machen wieder machen wwieder maccchn wiieederrrrr mmmaaaaaaaaaacccn wwwwwwwww..."

Halloweekend 2016 pics

The weekend before Halloween I had some friends over for a bit of historical/horror Mordheim. Warbands from all over Europe had been pursuing witches and vampires, and all the monsters had converged on a remote Carpathian town for unknown, but presumably dire, purpose. The hunters formed a makeshift alliance, and assaulted the village from all directions to cleanse the evil gathered within.

Wizards and Command

Two officers and two musicians, except that one of each has been converted into a wizard. Hope you like them.

Beyoncé

I don't often get direct inspiration from pop culture, but the Formation music video from a week ago (the day before the Super Bowl) was pretty amazing, so I tried to replicate my favorite Beyoncé look in miniature form.

The head is from Wargames Factory Soviet infantry, the body is from the same company's WSS artillery crew, and the arms are from a Warlord Games Celt, all with plenty of greenstuff on top (some of which needs to be filed better). I guess she's some sort of monster hunter.

fun fact: necromancers hate hot sauce

Diorama Extras (infantry command)

I'm slowly getting through the cold-weather conversions for the diorama characters, but I did just finish painting some of the other guys. Goblet Guy and Telescope Guy could both be characterful pirate captains for this era. Halberd Guy is just one more infantry sergeant.

Sorry about the moldline, I'm fixing it now.

Pike and Shotte and Tentacles

aka Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men

So I've recently finished watching a Bloodborne playthrough on youtube, and that really got me in the mood for some creepy pseudohistorical gothic weirdness. Since I have more Firelock Storming Party bodies than I know what to do with, I mixed a few (and a spare pikeman) with some scrap plastic for this band of gross mutants, who would work quite nicely for a Possessed warband in Mordheim.

And here are WiP shots, along with a random anachronistic kitbashed musketeer who's still being painted:

Pan Twardowski

I'd hoped to feature this guy in some Halloween Mordheim, but I didn't get him done nearly in time, and now I don't have the energy to play. So here he his, famed sorcerer and alchemist, Pan Jan Twardowski. You can get the gist of this folkloric character from his wikipedia page, though it doesn't explain why he rides a chicken.

The chicken is a cheap toy from a dollar-store farm animal set, embiggened with greenstuff. I wanted to make it a specifically Polish breed, and it just so happens that there is a breed called the Polish Chicken that is quite visually striking.

The guy himself is a old GW Kislevite from the waist up (except for the sword blade and feather from Warlord plastics). His legs are from Wargames Factory's WSS plastics, with plenty of greenstuff to make the two pieces fit the weird chicken shape.

And I'd be lying if I said I didn't have help on this project from another icon of Polish culture...