Frostgrave Barbarian

[Gutbukkit]

I haven’t painted or played Frostgrave in asuch a long time. Yesterday afternoon I put on the Conan the Barbarian DVD (and Conan the Destroyer after) and then painted this classic Frostgrave Barbarian. Such a great model. This also continues the theme this week of painting Mark Copplestone miniatures whilst watching films relating to the minis genre.

[Ogrob]

That's a fab paintjob there!

[beefcake]

Great paint job on that. Love the fur. Never heard of Conan the destroyer before. Don't actually believe if exists. Nope no such movie.

[Gutbukkit]

Never heard of Conan the destroyer before. Don't actually believe if exists. Nope no such movie.

 

[Bloggard]

I have trouble understanding why anyone thinks the first one is any good tbh, let alone 'destroyer', but regardless, seem to have helped inspire a fantastic paintjob.

[Kegluneq]

I have trouble understanding why anyone thinks the first one is any good tbh, let alone 'destroyer', but regardless, seem to have helped inspire a fantastic paintjob.

Okay, it's simple:
Conan the Barbarian applied a coherent Nietzschean narrative to an action film where people were swinging actual steel at people.  So if you were there for big schlocky action, there's something for you, and if you want to dig deeper there's actually something there for you.  Though it deviates from the books, it is more responsible in that deviation than just about any other treatment, so there was something for me.  And Conan has an arc, and Thulsa Doom has an arc, so if you wanted characters to grow and change there's something there too.  Is it a "good" film?  What is "good" anyway?  All that matters is that it was a quotable 80's action flick, and if you want to ponder the Riddle of Steel you can.

Now, Conan the Destroyer isn't in the same universe.  It isn't in the same head-space or even genre.  Conan the Barbarian did some work to try and persuade you that there was a larger world out there, but Conan the Destroyer doesn't care.  But I'll tell you a secret: pretend it is an amateur dungeon master's D&D game, and suddenly it makes more sense.  Now, it is a -bad- film, but through the lens of poorly written modules it has a certain charm.  There's even that moment when the bad guy is getting ready for a speech and Conan's player says "Enough talk!  I throw my knife at the high priest's throat ... critical hit!" and everyone has to roll initiative as the DM sets his notes aside.

Now, as for the miniature, great paintjob.  And I have the Earl Jaime miniature from a Zombiecide kickstarter, so now I'm thinking about a Conan warband and a Thulsa Doom warband facing off. 

[joshuaslater]

I will add that the soundtrack to Conan really stirs the soul and gets the blood pumping.

Fantastic paint on the barbarian!!!

[LiamFrostfang]

  very cool.

[Bloggard]

Okay, it's simple:
Conan the Barbarian applied a coherent Nietzschean narrative to an action film where people were swinging actual steel at people.  So if you were there for big schlocky action, there's something for you, and if you want to dig deeper there's actually something there for you.  Though it deviates from the books, it is more responsible in that deviation than just about any other treatment, so there was something for me.  And Conan has an arc, and Thulsa Doom has an arc, so if you wanted characters to grow and change there's something there too.  Is it a "good" film?  What is "good" anyway?  All that matters is that it was a quotable 80's action flick, and if you want to ponder the Riddle of Steel you can.

Now, Conan the Destroyer isn't in the same universe.  It isn't in the same head-space or even genre.  Conan the Barbarian did some work to try and persuade you that there was a larger world out there, but Conan the Destroyer doesn't care.  But I'll tell you a secret: pretend it is an amateur dungeon master's D&D game, and suddenly it makes more sense.  Now, it is a -bad- film, but through the lens of poorly written modules it has a certain charm.  There's even that moment when the bad guy is getting ready for a speech and Conan's player says "Enough talk!  I throw my knife at the high priest's throat ... critical hit!" and everyone has to roll initiative as the DM sets his notes aside.

Now, as for the miniature, great paintjob.  And I have the Earl Jaime miniature from a Zombiecide kickstarter, so now I'm thinking about a Conan warband and a Thulsa Doom warband facing off.

well, that's me told for sure. 
didn't make it through all of destroyer iirc, but think i preferred it to the first one, exactly because it had no pretensions to be anything other than a (kind of ) dnd-y/ sword and sorcery-y kind of deal.

[Kegluneq]

well, that's me told for sure. 
didn't make it through all of destroyer iirc, but think i preferred it to the first one, exactly because it had no pretensions to be anything other than a (kind of ) dnd-y/ sword and sorcery-y kind of deal.

Glad I could help.  Don't let anyone ever tell you they are highbrow or fine works of cinema, but I love them both. 

And, to be completely fair, I did not learn to love Destroyer until I got to watch it with beer and friends who loved them some schlock.  Give it a try sometime!

But stay away from 2011 Conan.  A wasted opportunity.  There's no fun.  There's no depth.  There's no character arcs.  The swordplay looks bad and wrong, instead of weighty and accidentally severing people's fingers (actually happened in Conan The Barbarian).  Just CGI monsters and intense facial expressions and the worst of post 2000 summer movie habits.  I couldn't even ironically enjoy it. 

[Gutbukkit]

If it wasn’t for Destroyer I’d never have watched Conan the Barbarian. I’d go as far as to say the Conan films and other fantasy films of that time influenced what my wargaming genre preference is. I even like the recent Conan film...

[Kegluneq]

If it wasn’t for Destroyer I’d never have watched Conan the Barbarian. I’d go as far as to say the Conan films and other fantasy films of that time influenced what my wargaming genre preference is. I even like the recent Conan film...

Really?

Ah well.  De gustibus non est disputandum.

[Bloggard]

to be honest, Keggers old chap I thought you were joking with your first reply, Nietzschean reference an' all ...
And kind of hope you still are with apparently recommending a film coz real fingers are severed ... 

let's put it this way - somehow after reading that post I ended up on the wikipedia page for jan-michael vincent 

oh, and regarding the latest film: i don't think I made it through that either ( and I have it on dvd!). What I certainly do like about it, is that it should have been called 'Conan the Hawaiian' - sending Mr. Howard in circuitous motion in his place of rest at a rather furious pace I suspect.

[beefcake]

To be honest I secretly liked the destroyer 
Latest movie wasn't too bad either. Neither compare to the barbarian though. Love the music to go with it.

[Kegluneq]

But Bloggard my good man, the film quite literally opens with a quote from Nietzsche!  And there are themes of transcending religious thinking and forging your own morals all throughout!  What else could it be but a philosophical masterpiece of cinema!   

Jokes aside, there's that delicate line in defending what you like, isn't there?  I don't want to full-throatily defend these films, since they are a bit silly.  But on the other hand I am a fan, and think the first film gets written off as trash a bit easily.  It's not great, but I think it's far above trash.  Best not to take things too seriously, though.  The world does not hinge on anyone's enjoyment of a single action film. 

And yes, if the swordplay in the first film looks weighty, slow, and a bit cautious that is because they were basically using some blunted but real steel weaponry.  Sandahl Bergman nearly lost her index finger to an unfortunate parry.  You can find her account of it in the extra features of most rereleases of the film.  She made it to the hospital and they stitched her up.  I called it out mostly because I find the swordplay in a lot of films to be quite tedious and impractical to watch, but somehow I always find myself enjoying it in CtB.  There's no flashy moves or backflips or spins or anything like that.