Under an Ashen Sky - The Elder Scrolls in 28mm (Frostgrave)

[Reed]

I hate you and your thread because now I want to do something related to the Elder Scrolls

[Wyrmalla]

Paint up some fantasy Roman soldiers. Go on... ^^'

Ok, attempting to put myself back into gear somewhat after a day of doing bugger all, I slapped together a Treasure Hunter for Frostgrave.



Or rather what I translated their profile into. All that dexterity to me seemed like it'd fit an assassin, so here's one of Morrowind's premier assassin's guild; the Morag Tong. The model's another of those Wargames Factory female survivors, as I endeavor to find something positive to do with their horrible poses. The design's based on the original concept art for that guild, with a few changes, but at least she looks nothing like what Skyrim decided to do (reskinning the Chitin Armour set in a darker colour. ...Though I'll admit that was probably down to Bethesda cutting development on the game at that point).



I looked at my current planned warband lineup and took the criticism which I'd read of the Man at Arms soldier to heart. If Frostgrave was a game where you could keep chucking in models to a warband then sure I'd consider using one, but when you can only take eight soldiers to a party I'd rather go for a bit more optimal a selection. Meh, you get another model out of me at least.

Oh and she was originally intended to be wearing Netch Adamantium armour, but I thought that the Morag Tong are more iconic of the game (rather than of a popular mod). Having said that that armour set would perhaps do for a Ranger (given the Ranger's higher gold value being representative of the armour's tier, which could be a rule for how to dole out armour sets in general actually - thugs = Chitin - Man at Arms = Bonemold - Knights = Glass, etc).

[Wyrmalla]

Another thug. She's wearing Chitin Armour on her legs and left arm, whilst the rest is all unarmoured. That sort of mish-mash of bits was pretty common in Morrowind before they got rid of that modular armour system.



What's left to sculpt (let alone paint) is one more thug and two archers, at least one of whom will be wearing Chitin Armour again as its really simple to sculpt. =P

[Wyrmalla]

And for today's painted offerings...

I've managed to finish my wizard's apprentice.




Who's clothes are based on Master Neloth's from Skyrim's Dragonborn expansion (which are perhaps a bit fancy for an Apprentice, though this guy could be pretty old himself considering that his master's probably ancient), plus a Molecrab helmet from Morrowind.

And the Ashlander.




Who I suppose is off on some vision quest or has been exiled from his tribe considering that Ashlanders (at least before the fall of the Tribunal) were pariahs in Dunmer society.

I'm considering what else to do for terrain. Do I go to the local hardware shop and buy some plumbing materials to do for Dwemer ruins? What about styrene balls to sculpt over and make Telvanni mushroom buildings from? Or do I just throw out a few of those middle-eastern style mud houses you find in most Dunmer towns? See now I'm considering if I aught to go for an intact town or rather jump the timeline past Morrowind and go for events after the Red Year when half of Morrowind was turned to ruins (which would fit Frostgrave's narrative a bit more). The mud buildings would probably be easiest, though they're similar to an existing project which I'm working on for a friend.

...Until I've actually painted up a starting warband however I suppose the point's a bit moot. =P

[LordOdo]

If you choose for a Morrowind, id suggest the Vivec sewers. A dark and mysterious world on it's own, where adventurers could search for loot while they fight all kinds of enemies.

[Wyrmalla]

Well that runs along the same lines as why I didn't do a Metro 2033 project. Making modular tilesets are a real pain in the arse because you need to be precise with your cuts and measurements. As opposed to that open boards are just a case of throwing down crap anywhere and not caring how they line up. I did see a modular sewer system Kickstarter a while back which would do well for the Imperial City or Riften sewers though, but the look wouldn't fit in with Morrowind's ones unfortunately.

Oh and that after the Red Year Vivec city is literally a giant hole in the ground filled with boiling water might factor.

'Nother WIP. An archer wearing some Netch Leather armour, plus the armature for the Nix Hound. Not sure if the Nix Hound's sizing's perfect. I based it on a model made for a Skyrim mod which has it standing up straight rather than with its legs bent and close to the ground as you usually see them in the game (they do stand up like this during their idle animations however IIRC).

[LordOdo]

A yeah fair point according the sewers. The nix hound hound looks a bit small if I recall right. If memory serves well they are more chest-height. Not sure though

[Wyrmalla]

If I were going to scale then a Nix Hound aught to be a on a 50mm base rather than a 30mm one. I guess mine's a domesticated smaller breed/ child or something, otherwise I'm not sure if it'd fit into the warhound profile. Hmn, its trying to find something which could be considered a dog to suite Frostgrave's purposes really. I guess as an alternative I could be using something like a Scrib, though that doesn't really scream hound to me...

[LordOdo]

I think a nix hound would do fine actually, otherwise a Cliff racer would match the stats: Quick, attacking,  but no possibility to grab treasure

[Reed]

Paint up some fantasy Roman soldiers. Go on... ^^'

I could get a box of Roman Veterans from Warlord Games and convert them. I don't what I'll use them for, but they'll be excelent Imperial Soldiers.

[commissarmoody]

I could get a box of Roman Veterans from Warlord Games and convert them. I don't what I'll use them for, but they'll be excelent Imperial Soldiers.

Hey some of your old Cesar legion guys with out fire arms might fit the bill for an ash waste  fantasy apocalypse

[Wyrmalla]

The creator of Frostgrave has mentioned expanding the game elsewhere. I can picture that including giving ravens to Rangers as an alternative to the existing warhounds, which Cliffracers would suit.

Nah if I make some Imperials then I'll sculpt them myself, or at least buy some new models for them. Though the Legion appear to be wearing standard Roman armour, its not exact, so I'd rather sculpt it. I do take issue though that the Warlord Games Romans are more like 25mm rather than 28, so I'd be looking at some better sized ones if I were to make a few Legionnaires (if the Perrys do them in Plastic they'd be an option, though I hardly need 30 Imperials in a game where the average warband is 10 model, so I'd rather sculpt them from scratch).

On that note though I did pick up some loose Gladius and Roman shields last week. ...Not that the Imperials in Skyrim actually carry either of those, though at the time of Morrowind the devs were much less inventive with their designs. =P

[Wyrmalla]

More terrain! Woop, woop!

...Because I'm too tired today to paint anything. =P

Here's the start of a small Telvanni mushroom house. Really early as I ran out of milliput, so its pretty much just the basic shapes with no details (hell the roof's still half done). Blame me for thinking I had more clay than I actually had yet again...



Its just one polystyrene ball with another cut in half stuck on top of it. Nothing major. I still need to add the fungal texture, the doors and windows, the roots holding it up plus some stairs and some other rubbish details. For scale purposes there's the still WIP Flesh Atronach beside it, which is mounted on a 40mm base (along with the front door too). Its only a concept piece, so if I were to make more of these then I'd have a few the same size then larger ones - all flung in beside some giant mushrooms and other bits of tat to suit a small Telvanni settlement.

So yes, tell me if this is a good idea or not. I'm thinking that they could do for a Telvanni village like I said or plunked in among ruins, etc, to add a bit of a variety. Perhaps Telvanni wizards seeking to reclaim parts of Vvradenfell or thrown in with some generic European terrain as part of Imperial settlements. for the moment there's no plan to give this or any other mushrooms interiors as I do with most of my stuff due to this being made from a solid ball, though they're small enough for that not to have a major impact on games I would think (and if I do make large ones I could have spiral staircases running up the sides so they aren't just line of sight blocking bricks on the table).

[Braxandur]

Oooh, I like it. I really enjoyed Morrowind a lot and the setting is defenitly special. I think you are on hte right track with your telvanni house, especially of you manage to add some of those spiralling trees/roots(?).

Keep up the inspiring work!

[Wyrmalla]

That's the plan. I'll probably see about writing up a tutorial once I've finished this first one and worked out if there's any kinks. The basic design can be transposed to larger buildings once you have the technique down, the only difference is more roots involved and a different structure to the stairs.