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Author Topic: Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (Rust Monster face reveal)  (Read 395700 times)

Offline Hobgoblin

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My blue-nosed hobgoblin troop is taking shape, with the addition of Num-Tin from the old Chaos Marauders boxed set, and his diminutive Grenadier heir Tin-Tin. I have the two Essex hobgoblins, who almost match Num-Tin in stature and costume, to add as his bodyguards.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2018, 11:45:11 PM by Hobgoblin »

Offline Hobgoblin

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Re: Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (more blue-nosed hobgoblins!)
« Reply #1711 on: October 18, 2018, 10:01:03 AM »
And here's a blast from the past. On page 2 of this thread are a couple of "Orcs of the White Serpent". I mentioned there that I had a whole warband of them almost done. Several years on, I haven't touched them. But, getting home late last night, I thought I'd try to finish one off (the middle one here). They're pretty rough, but getting them out of storage and into the Cabinet of Shame will safe space and provide me with a handy dungeon faction. So I'm going to try to finish one a night while painting other stuff.

I might redo the all-green bases, either by adding brown earth patches or going for the umber/grey bases I use for predominantly subterranean types.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2018, 10:26:06 AM by Hobgoblin »

Offline Hobgoblin

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I meant to post this photo of Num-Tin, which shows his face a bit better. He's a really unusual figure, as he's staring up, despite being really quite tall (even by today's standards). I had to resculpt his nose, but I think it's come out OK.

I really like this figure, despite some peculiarities - not least the way he holds his axe! He doesn't quite fit with any of the other Citadel hobgoblin ranges, which is why he's joined my blue-snouted band of Chronicle, Grenadier, Acropolis and Essex renegades. I have another, though, whose axe is broken (I have the bit, I think, but may replace it with something else). He's going to join my Hordes of the Things Fantasy Tribe hobgoblins.

Offline Hobgoblin

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In line with getting the Orcs of the White Serpent finished off, I decided to do something about the Caesar 1/72 lizardmen that have been littering my miniature boxes. I bought these a few years ago, let the kids mess around with painting some of them and painted three for use as giant 15mm reptiles. But with 34 in the box, the majority were sitting around untouched, and the kids were happy enough to have their early efforts repainted. So I decided to get a batch painted up, with a view to getting them all done. I might even rebase the 15mm ones when the rest are done.

What's good about these (apart from the fact that you get 34 for £7 or so) is that although they're 1/72, they were clearly designed as big lizardmen at that scale (like GW's sauruses). So they're roughly human-sized at 28mm - a bit shorter, but quite powerfully built with it, in a reptilian sort of way. You can see one with a converted Oathmark goblin and a Perry knight below. So I think they'll work quite well as D&D troglodytes, which are "medium" in the original Monster Manual and smaller than lizardmen. The Caesar ones are roughly the same size as Tom Meier's old "lesser troglodytes"/lizardmen - though they look much less civilised, which is a plus if you want them as primitive, smelly cave-dwellers.

I've also got some of the marvellous Otherworld trogs, which are pretty big, so I can see those acting as chieftains and elites for this lot.  The nice thing about the Caesar ones is that they're absurdly quick to paint. Because they're soft plastic and 1/72, there isn't much detail and so you're limited in what you can do with them. And that means that you can knock 'em out fast. I've got four more just about there, and a good few more based up and undercoated. I'm going to experiment with converting a few others - drilling through hands to give them javelins and that sort of thing.

If I wasn't sitting on a vast hoard of lead and plastic, I'd be tempted to go with 1/72 for RPG monsters. I have the Caeasar ratmen, which we use as giant beastmen in 15mm or little ratmen in 28mm; they'd make decent kobold proxies in 28mm. The lizardmen cover trogs, lizardmen and other cold-blooded types (sahaguin, kuao-toa, whatever), and the Dark Alliance orcs would make very decent goblins, with the half-orcs as hobgoblins, perhaps. There's something attractive about the "anonymity" of the 1/72 miniatures when using them as RPG foes; I think players would accept them as proxies more easily (rather than the "Hey! We killed that guy before!" I sometimes get when running games for the kids).
« Last Edit: October 21, 2018, 11:42:26 AM by Hobgoblin »

Offline Paboook

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What a lovely project! I have soft spot for oldschool minies and your painting is doing them more than justice :)

Offline MeridarchGekkota

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Ah, they're adorable. :-*

Where do you get your Caesar miniatures from in the UK?

Offline Hobgoblin

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Thanks, both!

I picked these up in Wonderland in Edinburgh a while back, along with the ratmen. They don't seem to stock either of them at the moment, though, but they have the goblins and elves on their website. You can get them on eBay here: more expensive with the postage, but still not too bad, given the numbers they come in.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2018, 11:51:40 PM by Hobgoblin »

Offline Hobgoblin

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Well, I got nine more done tonight to complete the troglodyte 1st XV. I also converted another five to add variety, using Oathmark and Wargames Factory orc parts.

There's something really fun about painting these cheap and cheerful soft-plastic figures. Close-ups don't flatter them, but I'm very pleased with how they look on the table. And they've got me thinking about all sorts of reptile-based scenarios, perhaps with the Meier trogs as more sophisticated leaders and exploiters of their primitive kin ...

Online Sunjester

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I really need to look again at these 1/72 ranges. I've got a pack of trolls which I use for more "civilised" trolls in Middle Earth (those under Mordor/Angmar control).

Offline fred

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Well, I got nine more done tonight to complete the troglodyte 1st XV.

Nice reference. Bonus points to any of our American friends who understand it!


There's something really fun about painting these cheap and cheerful soft-plastic figures. Close-ups don't flatter them, but I'm very pleased with how they look on the table.
That's good to hear, as looking at the photos, the soft detail does make me wonder if the effort is worth it. But close up photography is a harsh mistress, and its not how you see the figures in a game.


And they've got me thinking about all sorts of reptile-based scenarios, perhaps with the Meier trogs as more sophisticated leaders and exploiters of their primitive kin ...
And this is the key bit. Back in my RPG days I don't think we ever had adventures with lizardmen and their kin. Now I have a 10mm Lizardman army, and they are one of my favourites.

Offline Hobgoblin

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That's good to hear, as looking at the photos, the soft detail does make me wonder if the effort is worth it. But close up photography is a harsh mistress, and its not how you see the figures in a game.

Yes, exactly. One thing in particular is black lining. It looks pretty rough in the photos, but it really helps on the table. With most of them, I've added a thin black line to delineate areas like the join of underbelly and scales. I'd never do this with regular metal or plastic miniatures, but it helps add definition to these, to the naked eye at least.

What's particularly good about the Caesar lizardmen (and ratmen) is the posing. They don't have any of that flat look that you sometimes get with 1/72. Instead, they're really dynamic. Some of them have one foot raised, some have their spines almost horizontal, the tails are really well animated, and the multipart ones work really well. So, on the table, they look much more like a group of reptiles than many more "respectable" ranges.

And this is the key bit. Back in my RPG days I don't think we ever had adventures with lizardmen and their kin. Now I have a 10mm Lizardman army, and they are one of my favourites.

Ah, well my son plays a lizardman or similar in just about every game he can. But that opens up all sorts of herpetological possibilities for a game with degenerate, subterranean lizardmen as villains. I'll look favourably on any communication attempts that cold-blooded PCs make!

Offline Hobgoblin

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I really need to look again at these 1/72 ranges. I've got a pack of trolls which I use for more "civilised" trolls in Middle Earth (those under Mordor/Angmar control).

Yes, I picked up some Dark Alliance trolls a while back for HotT. I've based two elements, but might look at using the rest individually. They're nicely heft.

I cracked last night and ordered the DA armoured "warg" riders. I really dislike feliform animals (of all things!) being called wargs (a word that actually means "wolves"!), and I'm sure it'd have JRRT spinning in his grave. But I've got no problem at all with goblins of the D&D sort riding hyena-like creatures. If they paint up nicely, I'll order some infantry to go with them - I think they work out at about 20p each! The DA "wargs" look really animated, so I imagine they'll work well on the tabletop.

Offline Hobgoblin

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This might give a bit of a sense of how they look on the table. The dynamism of the poses and details like the scaly ridges on the backs help them fit in quite well with 'proper' miniatures.

Offline fred

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Yes, that's a good photo, shows them off to their best. Lots of them have that crouched for action pose, which looks good.

Offline Hobgoblin

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I managed to base up the remainder last night. I also converted all the ones that required or suggested it, thus limiting the duplicates. Here they are as works in progress. I'm quite pleased with the shaman. I just wrestled a Fireforge cloak over his head, then added the top of an Oathmark goblin banner to a cut-down spear. The others have weapons from Oathmark, Gripping Beast and Wargames Factory.

 

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