Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Koyote on July 25, 2019, 04:54:26 PM
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So as not to anger the Moderator gods, I'm going to split off my Age of Magic projects from my SAGA Britons thread in the Medieval Adventures thread.
First, for those who haven't seen my Briton's thread, here's a quick recap.
One of the brilliant aspects of SAGA Age of Magic is the ease in which you can bring your historical SAGA warbands into AoM. Prior to the release of AoM I had already planned to add a unit of 12 levy archers to my Britons to take advantage of levy rules in SAGA v2, but now that AoM has landed, I've decided to expand the warband even further so that my Britons can be played as a Great Kingdoms warband. I want to keep my original Arthurian "villains" theme, so I am going to restrict my model and weapon selection (e.g. no firearms) and try to stick to monsters from the early Welsh Arthurian stories.
In addition to expanding my Britons warband, I will need a piece of Sacred Ground terrain. In both my “historical” and AoM warbands, most of my Britons are early-Christians, but Mordred, Morgan Le Fay, and many of their men keep the old gods and the old ways. These ties to my Britons’ pagan past gives me the excuse to incorporate some terrific standing stone models (made by Scotia Grendel Miniatures) into my Briton’s AoM Sacred Ground terrain.
I purchased the the rocky hill from Terrainify, a 3D printer that sells on Etsy. They sell this hill in 3 different sizes. For this project, I’m using is the middle size. It measures roughly 7.5” x 6”.
Below are some WIPs.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3549/RtYSZV.png)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/913/Fe15m8.png)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/9530/007DPI.png)
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Giants play a prominent role in the early myths of Britain's founding, so it's not surprising that they pop up, time and again, in many of the Arthur myths. In a Welsh myth, Arthur uses treachery to kill 3 giantess sisters and when their brother, Cribwr Gawr, reproaches Arthur, Arthur threatens Cribwr Gawr with death.
In my warband's AOM backstory the giants are no friends to the Britons, but when Mordred offers Cribwr Gawr the opportunity to kill Arthur, an uneasy alliance is formed
Below is the model that I will use for Cribwr Gawr. It's one of two giants that I ordered from ArchaniaWorkshiop (a 3D printer who sells on Etsy). With shipping and tax, the two models cost me $26, a bargain indeed.
The model is made from a hard, brittle resin. By brittle I don't mean that the model is fragile, only that that material can't be bent or deformed because it will break. The detail is quite good and clean-up was minimal.
I removed the model's long hafted axe from its left hand, as it's kind of ridiculous and doesn't fit my theme. In its place I put a struggling victim that comes from GW's giant kit. I cut the bit in half and carved away the orignal hand that was grasping the victim. I glued the two halves to Cribwr Gawr's hand and used greenstuff to fill in the gaps and sculpt the bottom of the victim's long tunic.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2029/WHFp1j.jpg)
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That looks like a very good quality print. Well done on the squished fella as well.
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I did a bit more work on my AoM models.
I did some more GS work on victim's tunic and I added a slain monk (made by Wargames Foundry) to the giant's base.
Here's the backstory.
On the eve of battle, Mordred's warband was joined by Cribwr Gawr, Morgan Le Fey, and the sorceress' Pictish bodyguard. Upon spotting the newcomers, warband's priest, accompanied by his lay assistant, confronted the giant and the "witch", loudly declaring them to be a servants of the devil and imploring his Christian god to strike them down. The giant stared at the two men for a moment, and then reached down and picked up one man in each hand. Convinced that his faith would shield him, the struggling priest's protestations and threats grew in volume and venom. Annoyed and bored by his shrieking captives, Cribwr Gawr crushed the life out of both men, discarded their corpses, and then calmly continued his progress into the warband's camp. Convinced that discretion is the better part of valor, the onlooking Britons opened their ranks and let the giant stride into the camp.
The war machine is Warlord Games' Roman Scorpion. A representative of Warlord Games saw my post (on a different message board) about my preference for the Warlord Games' scorpion and sent me the model. I chose the resin version, which I regret. The detail is quite good, but clean up was a chore. The mold lines and misaligned cast lines weren't too bad, but because the material is a rubbery resin, the lines couldn't be scrapped off with my hobby knife. The lines had to be sliced away with careful cuts parallel to the model's surface. The cuts left little stringy bits of resin hanging off at the end of the cut, which required more tedious trimming.
The scorpion's bow arms were these thin, bendy-rubbery bits, pointing in different directions, so I snipped them off and replaced them with bow arms from a GW Bretonnian archer's bow.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4176/fQBJC3.jpg)
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The giant looks good.
The scorpion model sounds a right pain.
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Shaping up to be a nice looking war band. Great work on the giant and the squishee.
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Looking good, and that's a noice giant!
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Great work here. I do like the sacred ground, and that is a superb looking giant. I love the guy in his hand.
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Lovely eye candy as always (even though it's not completed!).
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gosh, that 3-d printed giant is messing with my mind ... it looks like a 3D screen image ... I keep on thinking you've photoshopped in ! lol
... looks great.
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Great work! I will follow this with interest! :D :o
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I made some progress over the weekend.
I spent most of my hobby time finishing four more levy archers and getting started on the last four.
One of the Great Kingdom builds that I'm considering for my Britons uses the Sapphire Elves rules. This will let me use the archer levy that I'm painting for my "historical" Britons as Warriors armed with bows in my AoM Britons warband.
Warlord -mounted
8 Hearthguard -mounted
12 Warriors -bows
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
1 Behemoth
1 Static War Machine
1 Paladin -mounted
I'm not convinced that it's worth 1 point to gain access the the domains of light and energy (my least favorite domains), so I doubt that I will be availing myself of the Sapphire Elves' Masters of the Magical Arts rules.
I added texture to my Sacred Ground terrain piece and a few critters. I'm certain that I'll keep the raven/crow, but I'm still up in the air on whether or not the rabbit and badger will be included in the final painted piece.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/7716/Yyxmvo.jpg)
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So, I haven't played SAGA since 1e, and I've been looking at AoM lately, so I have a random question and nowhere better to ask it:
Is SAGA 2e / AoM still played on a 2' x 3' board?
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So, I haven't played SAGA since 1e, and I've been looking at AoM lately, so I have a random question and nowhere better to ask it:
Is SAGA 2e / AoM still played on a 2' x 3' board?
Like in SAGA 1.0, SAGA 2.0 games are generally played on 4’ x 3’ boards.
In SAGA 1.0, the scenarios were found in the main rulebook and the expansion sourcebooks. In SAGA 2.0, the main rulebook includes a single scenario that can be played using a half dozen specials rules. The sourcebooks (Aov, AoC, and AoM) do not include any scenarios.
Last Autumn, SAGA released the Book of Battles. This expansion contains 55 pages of scenarios and rules designed to be used by all of the sourcebooks. In the Mass Battles section of the BoB are scenarios for multi-player. These scenarios are played on boards measuring 6’ x 4’.
There are five sections within the book, the first covers Skirmish level games, the second deals with the more usual two player Battles associated SAGA, the third deals with Legends – a more narrative approach to games, the fourth with multi-player Mass Battles with three or four players, and the last offers a set of campaign rules to create your own ongoing Sagas.
https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/saga-book-of-battles/
So if you are interested in playing AoM, I recommend that get the main rulebook, the Book of Battles, and the AoM sourcebook.
With that said, SAGA 2.0 can, with only a few minor tweaks, be played using scenarios from SAGA 1.0, so the BoB is optional.
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That was a succinct but very informative reply to my question! Thank you!
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The levy has been mustered to defend Britain from the Saxon invaders and the usurper, Arthur.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3259/JUiM0E.jpg)
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That is a really well balanced color scheme. I really like the base design as well.
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Cribwr Gawr (Monster -Behemoth)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7868/3zgiJ1.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3199/QPl17P.jpg)
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Good work on the giant. Very natural looking
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Good work on the giant. Very natural looking
Thanks.
Eventually, I'm going to add blue Celtic tattoos to the giant's right shoulder and breast. I don't enjoy painting large models, so for now, I'm going to put the tattoos on hold and move on to another project.
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Tattoos should look good. But I can see why you would want to pause before doing them.
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Next up on my painting table is a Static War Machine (Gripping Beast's Hatra Ballista), a Sorceress (Hasslefree Miniatures' Azura Halfblood), and a unit of Levy armed with crossbows (Foootsore Miniatures' Pict Hunters).
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8160/quY5Ie.jpg)
Of all the Domains of Magic, I am the least impressed with Light and Energy, so if the Sorceress, Morgan Le Fay, doesn't find a home in my Great Kingdoms warband, she will serve as the Sorceress for the Horde warband that I am creating using models from my existing Dark Age Irish warband.
What convinced me to convert my Irish into a Horde warband was the opportunity to use Victrix's AMAZING new(ish) Celtic Chariot kit. I'm not yet 100% sold on the Horde's War Chariots (a special unit type), but I do like the idea of a Warlord mounted on a beast, and the Horde's Warlord entry just so happens to read: "The Warlord of the Horde can be mounted on an animal or mounted on a beast, which can be represented perfectly by a war-chariot and its team."
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7101/TTsKG6.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6343/vN910W.jpg)
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Looking good.
I'm clearly a wargamer that uses metal spears and pikes - all I saw was the Warlord's hefty spear, thinking ooo that's a bit alright.
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I've finished my Static War Machine for my AoM Britons Great Kingdom warband. It may also be used as a Manuballista for an Aetius & Arthur Roman warband.
It's a Gripping Beast's Hatra Ballista. It is a late Roman ballista named after the ancient city in modern day Iraq where the archeological evidence for this weapon's design was uncovered.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/1751/4Oyhbj.jpg)
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Lovely.
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Now that my Britons are ready to be played as an AoM Great Kingdoms warband, it's time to start work on getting my Irish ready to be played as an AoM Horde warband.
I want to equip a max-size unit of Horde Warriors with Heavy Weapons. I already have 10 painted Irish Fianna equipped with dane axes, so I finished off the unit by adding 2 more models from Footsore's Irish with Axes set. For my Horde Sorceress, I am using Hasslefree Miniatures' Azura Halfblood.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/5115/hvThK3.jpg)
I love Footsore Miniatures, and over the years I have bought a lot of minis from them, but I have to admit that I've been sorely disappointed by the quality of my last two orders. My order before last, 12 Picts armed with xbows, included 4 crossbows with malformed xbows. In each instance, one of the bow-arm's ends was melted down to little more than a nub. My last order of Irish axemen, 3 of the 4 models arrived were significantly misaligned. For two of the models I had to use GS to rebuild the left side of their faces. The third is essentially missing its entire nose a part of its face, so I ever use it, I'll probably just replace the entire head rather than trying to rebuild the face. Footsore Miniatures' management needs to have a talk with whoever is in charge of quality control.
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love your painting style.
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This model is Arthur from an Arthur & Mordred vignette made by Westwind Productions. It’s part of side-project, along with my Briton archers and Hatra ballista, to make my Britons playable as Romans (or AoM Great Kingdoms). It’ll make a great foot-Warlord (or AoM Captain or Paladin).
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4365/2f0syM.jpg)
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NIce painting (as always), particularly the shading on the cloak.
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The introduction to the Lords of the Wild faction in SAGA: Ago of Magic reads:
"In the most inaccessible parts of the world, there live peoples who have prospered while cut off from the more developed civilizations which surround them. For cultural, spiritual or traditional reasons, these societies have never sought to exploit their environment, instead seeking harmony with the surroundings which provide them with what they need to develop.
These peoples, who we call the Lords of the Wild, can be human, but often have traits which differentiate them from their peers. They might be animal hybrids, ancient elves, gnomes or hobgoblins. Their existence gives life to the legends we tell to children, and embodies a mass of superstitions. They are often feared and misunderstood. Entering into their homeland unleashes their fury and has been he cause of numerous wars they have wreaked upon their neighbors.
These societies generally organize themselves on tribal or clan lines, beneath the authority of a king or chief. They are rarely geographically spread out, since the difficulty of establishing lines of communications in these hostile environs constitutes a real brake on their development."
When I first read this introduction, my mind immediately jumped to the most common Fantasy forest dweller tropes (e.g. wood elves, treefolk, beastmen, etc), but then a couple of weeks ago, while I was working on my SAGA Moors and thinking about ways to fit them into Age of Magic, I got a great idea. The Lords of the Wild description could apply to tribes of desert nomads, like the ancient, pre-Islamic Bedouin tribes of Arabian peninsula. These tribes lived in a desolate wilderness that they could not shape, so instead they adapted. To the people of neighboring civilizations who dwelt in cities or in small agricultural communities, the desert nomads were likely thought of as strange, insular, people whose ability to survive in the desert made them both mysterious and more than a little threatening.
Below is a WIP shot of my initial warband. As I play-test the warband, I expect that its composition will change over time.
Warlord -flying beast
Sorcerer
Ranger
4 Shapeshifters
8 Warriors -mounted
10 Warriors -bows
9 Warriors
9 Warriors
12 Levy -javelins
The camel cavalry and plastic spearmen are all Gripping Beast minis. The levy are from Perry Miniatures' Sudanese Tribesmen plastic kit. The metal archers are Artizan Design's Berber Bowmen.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/7889/LrQtik.jpg)
My Warlord is a converted Wind Rider from Game Zone Miniatures' Sylvan Elf line. The original model's rider is assembled from two pieces. I kept the lower piece, the legs and saddle, and replaced the upper piece with some bits from Gripping Beast's plastic Arab Spearmen kit. The legs were armored, so I covered them up with GS Arab leggings and belt sash. I used GS to add a saddle horn and a harness to hold the saddle in place.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4417/YSkFr2.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4692/R5pwl2.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6602/IDieDj.jpg)
For my Sorcerer, I am using the Salah ad-Din model from Cipher Studios (now OOP) Hell Dorado Saracen model line. I've cut down the size of the wave of sand he's perched on to fit the 25mm base.
For my Ranger, I am using the Mutatawwi’a Warlord from Stronghold Terrain's SAGA Collectibles model line.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/9258/wzFUNR.jpg)
The concept that I am most pleased with is how I am going to represent the warband's Shapeshifters.
In a Lords of the Wild warband, 1 point will buy you 4 Shapeshifters (each has an aggression of 5). These models are "hidden" in units of Warrior foot units (up to 2 models per unit). When that unit fights in its first melee, the Shapeshifters are revealed by replacing normal models in the unit with Shapeshifter models. The basic idea behind this rule mechanic goes WAY back to 3rd Edition's Warhammer Armies Book, which was published in 1988.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/2312/vnH5ji.png)
I'm not familiar enough with pre-Islamic Arab myths to know if it included lycanthropy or human shapeshifters, but I do know that the word 'assassin' comes to the English language from an 11th century Muslim sect who trained and directed operatives to infiltrate enemy strongholds and courts to kill clerics, rulers, and officials. The most commonly-repeated theory holds that the word" Hashshashin" or "Assassin" comes from the Arabic hashishi, meaning "hashish users." Chroniclers including Marco Polo claimed that the followers of this sect committed their political murders while under the influence of drugs, hence the derogatory nickname. The Koran includes a strict injunction against intoxicants, so claims of hashish use by this sect may have been propaganda created by the European Crusaders or the Seljuk Turks -the latter group were the sect's most frequent target.
Regardless of how the sect's killers got their nickname, the connection to the Arab history is enough for me to incorporate it into my theme. So, instead of men turning into beasts, my warband's "Shapeshifters" will be represented by deadly assassins, who when battle is joined, toss aside their disguises to reveal infamous killers of legend. And by "legend" I mean my own fantasy version of the sect, not the historical version.
These models are Artizan Designs' Black Guard from their Moors model line. I want my assassins to be more fantastic and flamboyant than their namesakes, so I replaced their right hands and original weapons with fancy curved swords from Frostgrave's Cultist plastic kit. To make them clearly stand out from my rank-and-file models, I'll paint them all in black..
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2804/dFc4Si.jpg)
Lastly, since my Lords of the Wild warband are nomads, using a static object for my Sacred Ground terrain simply won't due. Instead, I am going to use this tent that I bought from a 3D printer on Etsy, to serve as my warband's Sacred Ground. Presumably, the tent will contain the nomad's most sacred relics.
The plan is to mount it on a styrene base, and fancy it up some by adding a couple of resting camels and other interesting thematic bits.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8030/xOcYVV.jpg)
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Great project! I imagine this will not be to hard to turn into an Age of Crusades force, or?
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I'm loving this thread!
In the Lords of the Wild warband I've been painting, my representation of Shapeshifters are somewhat similar to yours: ordinary men hiding among the soldiers, armed with a nasty big axe. Kind of like Night Goblin Fanatics from Warhammer, but without the drugs :/
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interesting takes on the warbands. Certainly suits Saga's historical roots very well.
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Great project! I imagine this will not be to hard to turn into an Age of Crusades force, or?
Actually, I've been playing-testing an Age of Crusades Moors warband for a couple of months now. It's the warband that I want to take to the Adepticon 2021 SAGA tournaments in Chicago.
In previous years, the Adepticon tournaments were not divided into faction specific tournaments. One could play factions from any of the source books in either the SAGA Singles or SAGA Doubles tournaments. Last year, the tournament organizers changed the format to source book specific tournaments. Consequently, if a participant wishes to play in multiple tournaments they must either bring multiple warbands to the event or use models that can be played using rules from different source books.
My Moors models can be played as Moors from the Age of Crusades source book. By exchanging my crossbowmen for bowmen, they can be played as Umayyads from the Age of Vikings. Finally, by swapping out my horsemen for camel riders (purely for the aesthetics reasons), exchanging my mounted warlord for my eagle rider warlord, and then adding a half dozen heroes and assassins, my original army can be played as Lords of the Wild from the Age of Magic book. Voila!
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8948/XWxhI4.jpg)
It doesn't seem right to play AoM without including at least one monster my warband. It's not that monsters are SO good that you can't win without them, but rather because their rules are fun and it gives one the opportunity to paint a really impressive centerpiece for one's warband.
I started my search looking for djinn and efreeti models so I can field a flying monster that can keep up with my flying warlord and provide him with some backup. I couldn't find a model that I both like and is large enough to reasonably represent a monster. Eventually, I settled on an air elemental model that I purchased for $8 from a 3D printer on Etsy that I can paint as a whirlwind of sand and stone animated by my sorcerer. I'm still on the fence with this model or even whether or not I want to include a monster in my Desert Nomad warband. Nevertheless, the model will give me something I can use for play-testing.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1343/pzGvVp.jpg)
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I will closely watch this thread!
I fell in love with the work you have done for your britons and how you expanded them for AoM and can't wait to see how you paint all the new minis.
For the elemental you could probably texture it with fine sand and little rocks before painting to make it look like it's made of sand as you mentioned.
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Awesome project, brilliant painting. I love the giant figure, with his terrified victim in hand. The eagle rider shows a lot of promise too.
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Looking great ! Fantastic project.
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This model is Gripping Beast's Mounted Welsh Warlord (previously sold as GB's Strathclyde Warlord). It was originally purchased and converted to serve as the mounted version of my Irish Warlord. I added the beard, axe, and chainmail sleeve to match the model that I use for my foot Irish Warlord.
Like many of my side projects I got distracted by another project, and never got around to finishing it. AoM has given me the excuse to finally put some paint on this model. My plan is to use it as a mounted Lieutenant for my Celt Horde warband.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8409/dPtFs3.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9943/8N9Y7D.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3630/OmKvso.jpg)
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I really love the work you do. Another great mini.
Do you have/plan on making any kind of step by step or video tutorial on how you paint your minis? The final results is really lovely.
Do you use some knd of blacklining to make the colors pop more? If yes, how do you do it?
Keep feeding us these hobby treats please!
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Gorgeous as usual. And that Air Elemental is a great find. Painting it as a sandstorm is just the trick.
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I really love the work you do. Another great mini.
Do you have/plan on making any kind of step by step or video tutorial on how you paint your minis? The final results is really lovely.
Do you use some knd of blacklining to make the colors pop more? If yes, how do you do it?
Keep feeding us these hobby treats please!
Thanks.
In general, I use inks to "black-line". I use Nuln Oil for metal, Reikland Fleshshade for flesh, and Agrax Earthshade for just about everything else.
You can find some mini-tutorials on pages 4 and 8 of my Britons thread in the Medieval Adventures forum.
(https://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i200/10011970/New2/roman_zpszmo0syid.gif)
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Great painting! Thanks for the pointers. I usually do dark shadows by undercoating in black, and then leaving gaps unpainted, but it looks like having an ink wash to emphasize shadows is a much faster and more effective technique.
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The next model on my paint bench is the Victrix Celtic chariot. To make painting the various components a bit easier I have divided the model into 5 sub-assemblies and a base.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6579/cbal9Z.jpg)
The plan is to include two of these models in my Horde warband. One will represent my Warlord mounted on a Beast and the other will be an actual Horde War Chariot. My plan for distinguishing the two is for the Warlord to be equipped with mail, shield, and cloak (as pictured above), while the warrior in the War Chariot will be more lightly armored and a bit less impressive. Since the War Chariot is equipped with javelins, I'll equip the model with two javelin quivers and the warrior with a javelin in each hand.
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the 3d printed elemental is fab - the technology really is poised to sweep all before it I get the feeling - even at the 'home' level.
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My chariot's base measures roughly 4" x 2", which works fine for the Horde War Chariot because its rules use the base size for Monsters. However, as someone on another forum pointed out, the maximum size for a Beast's base is 80mm x 50mm, which translates to 3.15" x 1.97". In order to use the chariot model to represent my Warlord mounted on a Beast, I'll need to put the model on a smaller base. Doh! (https://groups.tapatalk-cdn.com/smilies/52929/1534797218.2935-smiley.gif)
SAGA players know that you (almost) always ' round up' so I've taken the liberty to "round up" (nod-nod wink-wink) the dimensions to 3.25" x 2". Fortunately for me, the dimensions appear to work for Victrix Celtic Chariot, which compared to many other 28mm chariots, is a bit on the small side. A fact I attribute to Victrix's decision to remain true to the historical evidence of chariot dimensions and the ponies and small horses employed by the ancient Celts of the British Isles.
Disaster averted. (https://groups.tapatalk-cdn.com/smilies/52929/1534797201.7229-smiley.gif)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/9987/vfRDzA.jpg)
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Progress.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/6121/FpK4ya.jpg)
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Coming on nicely!
Although that picture confused me hugely to start with!
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Nice tones. What's the plan for the base covering? Flock, etc only on the back half? Or half way through dry brushing it?
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That chariot is going to look very cool... great job.
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A bit more progress. :)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8901/JUYrjU.jpg)
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Nice tones. What's the plan for the base covering? Flock, etc only on the back half? Or half way through dry brushing it?
Same as my other models. Once the model is finished, the last step will be to add grass tufts to the base.
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It's great as usual. The skeleton bits tho... perfect.
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Age of Magic Horde Warlord on Beast
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6928/qRAUpq.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/57/I5wfuw.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/1919/wa30M1.jpg)
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Stunning.
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Looks amazing!
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A beautiful chariot!
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Wow wonderful chariot and basing is tops.
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Lovely work :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
Can I ask what colours you used on the wicker work?
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I like your clean muted painting style, nice chariot.
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Really cool!
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Lovely work :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
Can I ask what colours you used on the wicker work?
I used GW’s Steel Legion Drab as a basecoat, washed with Agrax Earthshade, then highlighted with Steel Legion, and mixtures of Steel Legion + Karak Stone. I applied Army Painter’s Soft Tone wash thinned with a little water, around the edges.
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I finally got around to adding a tattoo to my Celtic giant, Cribwr Gawr.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3280/CSjnuE.jpg)
This model is Shield Maiden Astrid, made by Brother Vinni Miniatures. She, along with the 3 tattooed Curaidh models that I previously painted for my Dark Age Irish warband, will form a unit of 4 Beserkers for my Age of Magic Celtic Horde warband.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8048/4svQH2.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/763/DDkLdr.jpg)
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Great additions to your collection!
Astrid is a must-see :-*
You have a unique painting style!
Cheers!
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Lovely painting :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
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Man you are so produktiv and such high quality. Love for your work all around !
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My order from Brother Vinni's arrive late last week. Included in my order is fun magic carpet mini that may replace the Hell Dorado mini as my Desert Nomad's Sorcerer
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/5351/6rel3l.jpg)
I haven't decided if my Desert Nomad Sorcerer will be 'mounted' or 'on-foot', but thanks to some very small magnets, the magic carpet model can be used as both. Below is the model painted, attached to his 'on-foot' base via a magnet.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4848/aWcE1K.jpg)
Below is the (yet unpainted) magic carpet itself. The carpet is cast a bit too thin, so as expected, parts broke off or were damaged when I removed it from the sprue and trimmed it. I attached the carpet to the 'flight' stand using a magnet attached to the bottom of the carpet. The magnet that you can see in the photo holds the rider's left foot to the carpet. The other little metal thing sticking out of the surface of the carpet is a very small length of metal rod that inserts into a hole on the bottom of the rider's right foot.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7067/iMhJHg.jpg)
One would expect that a model on a flying carpet would have the Flight rule, but unfortunately, this option isn't available to the Lords of the Wild Sorcerers, so it will have to serve as a low level flying carpet -more of a 'hover carpet' than an actual flying carpet. Perhaps the Sorcerer suffers from Acrophobia, and can fly higher but doesn't do so out of a paralyzing fear of heights? Sorcerers are a very strange breed, so anything is possible. :D
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Very nice work :-* :-* :-*
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Very nice. I'm loving that desert Sorcerer.
And thanks for the reminder: I've got some Hell Dorado Saracens stashed away somewhere that suddenly need paint.
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Ted, a friend of mine who I introduced to SAGA, just bought his first house. Normal people give bottles of wine as housewarming gifts. Gamers give toys. :D
Ted plays Vikings and plans to use them in AoM as a Horde warband. He told me that he wants to include in his AoM warband a massive wolf, reminiscent of Fenrir, as a Monster. With this in mind, for a housewarming gift I ordered him the model pictured below from a 3D printer who sells on Etsy (HQMiniatures). I bought the base separately from Renedra, Ltd. The model arrived today. Its printed in resin and it turned out very nice.
I posed it next to a ruler and a Victrix 28mm Viking to provide a sense of scale.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/9826/8lqeuk.png)
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That is definitely a monster. Great gift idea!
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your paint-jobs never fail to impress.
3d-print wolf is great.
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This model comes from the Victrix Chariot kit sprue.
My only modification was replacing the original spear shaft metal rod, which is both thicker and more durable.
It will make a terrific druid (Sorcerer) for my AoM Celt Horde warband.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8614/8TSfrC.jpg)
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Looks great! Wish we could get just the characters from that kit.
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Top notch! :-*
You managed to show the smallest detail of this excellent sculpt!
Congrats!
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Looks great! Wish we could get just the characters from that kit.
Each chariot sprue includes a druid and Boudica model, so when you buy the Victrix Celtic Chariot kit you get 3 druids and 3 Boudicas.
Ogrob, I'm a fan of your work and I'd love to see what you do with these models. PM me your address and I will mail you the druid and Boudica models from the kit.
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Each chariot sprue includes a druid and Boudica model, so when you buy the Victrix Celtic Chariot kit you get 3 druids and 3 Boudicas.
Ogrob, I'm a fan of your work and I'd love to see what you do with these models. PM me your address and I will mail you the druid and Boudica models from the kit.
Wow, that is really generous, but aren't you in the States? Shipping to Sweden is going to be crazy, so I really can't. I'm sure I'll pick the kit up at some point anyway.
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Wow, that is really generous, but aren't you in the States? Shipping to Sweden is going to be crazy, so I really can't. I'm sure I'll pick the kit up at some point anyway.
A small padded envelope won't cost that much to ship. If you change your mind, PM me your address.
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Each chariot sprue includes a druid and Boudica model, so when you buy the Victrix Celtic Chariot kit you get 3 druids and 3 Boudicas.
Ogrob, I'm a fan of your work and I'd love to see what you do with these models. PM me your address and I will mail you the druid and Boudica models from the kit.
+ 1 reason why this forum is nice! :D Friendly and helpful people.
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Wow, that is really generous, but aren't you in the States? Shipping to Sweden is going to be crazy, so I really can't. I'm sure I'll pick the kit up at some point anyway.
Ogrob, your toys are in the mail.
In addition to Boudica and the druid, I threw in two of the Celt warriors that came with the chariot kit along with a bunch of arms, weapons, and heads.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/9421/Moh08w.png)
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One of my take-aways from my first game of AoM is that it would sure be nice to have tokens to mark units affected by spells.
Well, it looks like a company called Historique wasted no time filling this need. :)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/13/mJkMdL.png)
LINKY (https://historiqueshop.com/index.php?id_category=44&controller=category)
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Thank you!
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Done anything with it yet Ogrob? lol
Loving this thread - giving me good motivation to throw some stuff together!
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After a few games with my Lords of the Wild, I've decided to bench my Monster. I attribute my poor success with the big beastie to my inexperience using it, but also to the fact that I rarely have the SAGA dice that I need to activate a Monster. Since my Warlord is mounted on a Beast, I don't have a We Obey to fall back on. And between my best battle board abilities and my Levy, there's too much competition for uncommon and rare SAGA dice for me use them on a Monster.
With the newly freed up 1 point and an extra four bodies from my Warrior units, I'm going to experiment with a unit of 3 Creatures. The Lords of the Wild battle board doesn't have the defensive buffs that the Otherworld Creatures enjoy, but it does have some nice melee buffs and access to Animal Prowess spell should help.
Fielding a unit of Creatures also gives me an excuse to use one of my favorite GW Ogre models, the Arabian Maneater. For a bit of variety, I've added to this unit an Avatars of War Ogre Khan with Great Weapon. I bought this model a while back to use as an Ogre Bodyguard for my Kislev Warband (https://www.ordofanaticus.com/topic/210700-koyote-in-mordheim/?tab=comments#comment-2395485), but I never got around to painting it. The AoW Ogre doesn't have a gut-plate. Instead it has two ridiculous armored hubcaps protecting its nipples, like a backup dancer in a 1990's Madonna music video. After an hour with a hobby knife, some greenstuff, and an extra gut-plate, I transformed him into a proper Ogre.
An air bubble in the cast damaged the model's nose, so my Ogre chief also ended up with a nose job.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5027/74dzH0.jpg)
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Nice looking unit. I've really liked Creatures in units of three. Very tanky and very hard hitting.
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Here's my newest addition to my Age of Magic Horde Celt warband, 3 Quadruped Creatures. The models come from Games Workshop's Fenrisian Wolf Pack kit. They are mounted on 40mm Renedra rounds. I used Apoxie Sculpt to make the rocks and logs.
The prevalence of wolves in ancient and medieval Irish myths and history made them a natural choice for my Celt Horde. The last wild wolf in Ireland was killed in the late 18th century, but up through the middle ages, wolves were so common in Ireland that it was sometimes referred to as Wolfland.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/9145/jbWV25.jpg)
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Just caught up with the thread, fantastic project!
Wolves look great!
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Some more cool additions. I’ve not played Saga AoM for ages now...
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I backed Fireforge Games' Forgotten World Kickstarter in September of 2018 without any plans on what to use the models for. All that I knew is that I absolutely loved their Undead models and I had to have them.
I received my models a couple of months ago, but I've been busy with other projects, so until last weekend, my Undead have been neglected.
My theme for this warband is a cursed forest that has fallen under the spell of a malign, enigmatic fae creature who takes the form of a gaunt, impossibly tall manlike creature reminiscent of member of the Wild Hunt from Northern European folklore. The warband is comprised of the reanimated men, elves, and even a treant, of forest kingdoms decimated by the fae creature's dark magics.
The Warlord is Privateer Press' Lord of the Feast model, which I have long admired, but until now, have never had a use for. I removed the raven from its extended arm and replaced its sword with a spear. The model is almost twice as tall as a rank-and-file infantry models in the warband, so I've mounted it on a 40mm base and for game purposes, it will be a counts-as Warlord (or Necromancer) on a Beast.
The Sorcerer and Warriors are from Fireforge's Living Dead model line. I have on order enough shields with the defoliated tree insignia (see below) to equip all of the warriors.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3893/zyagZn.png)
The undead Treant and archers represent victims from the forest's elven kingdom.
The Treant (Behemoth) was another model that I purchased without any plans for it. The manufacturer is Ultraforge Miniatures, but I purchased it for 50% off during the Warstore's going out of business sale.
The archers (Warriors with bows) are Reanimate Archers from Fantasy Flight's Runewars game.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7337/9bIQEf.png)
Like the Warriors in the first photo, these knights (Hearthguard) are reanimated corpses from the forest's human kingdom. Their original shield insignia's were transformed by the fae creature's dark magic, from the kingdom's living tree heraldry to the symbol of the fae creature, the cursed tree.
The knights and shields are made by Fireforge Games. The only thing that I don't like about the Living Dead Knights kit is that the knights' heads are a tad small. I remedied this by replacing the original heads with heads from Games Workshop's Skeleton Warriors kit.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6751/yzudnf.png)
This last model, may or may not make it into my warband as a Lieutenant -Black Knight. It too was part of the Fireforge Kickstarter, and like the knights, its head seems a tad small, so I replaced it with a bit from an old GW wood elf kit. The bit, a horned skull wrapped in vines, was intended to decorate a base. I used a hobby knife to cut away the vines, and voila, I have an (over-the-top) horned skull helmet. And since this fella is dead and likely a skeleton himself, its a skull helmet sitting on top of another fleshless skull. Double skull, FTW!
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3062/UYkAVr.png) (https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4299/3Ny6wj.png)
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You just churn out armies! It all looks fantastic, the theme is so evocative. Haven't seen many people build the undead from Fireforge yet, but they are very nice looking. I have some of their zombie villagers waiting to be built myself.
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Wow. Another fantastic looking army is awaiting paint. Did you ever post finished pictures of the Celtic group? Or the ogres? I really loved the pallet you had going with them.
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@Ogrob: The Fireforge Living Dead plastics are amazing kits. The mold lines are minimal and the pieces fit together nicely. I was surprised by how quickly I was able clean up and assemble each model. The detail isn't as sharp as GW plastics, but it's still quite good. The price per model for Living Dead Warriors comes in around $2 USD, whereas GW's Skeleton Warriors are $3 USD per model and GW's Grave Guard (skeletons in heavy armor) $4 USD per model. The price per model for Living Dead Knights comes in around $4.50 USD, whereas GW's Black Knights are $7 USD per model. Living Dead Peasants are only about 30 cents per model cheaper than their GW counterparts, but Fireforge models are MUCH better than the dated GW zombies.
@syrinx0: The wolves were the last addition to my AoM Celts. One of these days I'll post some group shots. The Ogres, which will be part of my AoM Desert Nomads army, won't see paint for some time. I'm currently painting my Moors/Umayaad warband. Once I've finished painting the models I need to play this warband in Age of Crusades and Age of Vikings, then I'll paint the models I need to play it in Age of Magic.
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A busy painting schedule but one I am sure you will meet. Thanks for all the in progress shots too.
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My Necromancer (Warlord) was mounted on a 40mm base and stands taller than my hearthguard cavalry, but it felt a bit wimpy to be a counts-as Necromancer on a Beast, so I transferred the model to a larger base and gave him a "pet". The model is still no Dieter Helsnicht (old school Warhammer fans may get that reference), but I feel that the larger base and zombie bear better represent the model's improved stat line and stays true to my 'cursed forest' theme.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/9875/tbjK5A.jpg)
The zombie bear is the Haunted Bear from Great Escape Games' Dead Man's Hand model line. Below is a shot of the Haunted Bear from a different angle.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/1712/Vyvym6.png)
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Great to see an update! I wish you Merry Christmas and I hope to see some more progress soon :)
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Excellent thread :-*
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My first tabletop army was fully painted 2nd Edition WFB Orc and Goblin army. Over time, a small contingent of forest goblins made its way into this army, likely somewhere around 4th Edition. That army, and all but two of its models, are now long gone, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Greenskins, and in particular, for the Forest Goblins, so in February of 2019 when I saw Shieldwolf Miniatures' Forest Goblin Kickstarter, I knew I had to have a box.
My initial plan was to buy a single box and use the minis for a Forest Goblin Mordheim Warband, but once SAGA: Age of Magic was released, I realized that I could do bigger and better things with the diminutive greenskin savages. The obvious choice of factions for AoM greenskins is the Horde, but I already have a painted, AoM Horde army (my Celts). I may use the Forest Goblins as a Horde warband, using GW's enormous Arachnarok spider model as The War Monster legendary unit, but I want to use them primarily as a Masters of the Underearth warband.
Unlike many of their goblin cousins, Forest Goblins aren't subterranean dwellers, so to satisfy my need to create a backstory for each of my warbands, I need to connect forest dwelling greenskins to the troglodytic labyrinths of the under-earth.
Clearly, the Forest Goblins particular style of primitive dress and stone weapons was inspired, at least in part, by Mesoamerican cultures (e.g. Mayans, Toltecs, Aztecs, etc.). When I was in Belize, I went cave river-tubing into a massive limestone cavern. Our guide told us that the ancient Mayans believed that these caves and others like them were entrances to the underworld where they could commune with their gods and beseech them for good harvests and rain.
So, by pulling together the strands of GW fantasy fiction and Mayan history, I've decided that this particular tribe of Forest Goblins dwells within a massive limestone cavern in the heart of a tropical forest. They do spend a good deal of time in the forests, hunting, raiding, and getting up no-good, but the limestone caves serve as their village-fortress and sanctuary.
Below is what I've assembled so far. I still have a lot of models to assemble before I can test-play the warband, but since I'm simultaneous working on my Desert Nomads and Undead, I'm in no rush.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2315/BRCYvB.jpg)
The trolls are GW's Fellwater Troggoths. I've incorporated these models into the warband because they are some of my favorite GW models, and I wan to experiment using them as a Mutant Aberration legendary unit.
The giant spider is a 3D printed resin model that I purchased from a seller on Etsy. It's called a Dread Spider. It and its rider will be a Warlord on a beast.
Except for the blowguns, the rest of the models and bits are from the Shieldwolf Forest Goblin Kickstarter. The off-white resin models are stretch goal extras from the Kickstarter.
The Masters of the Undearth battleboard has this great ability called Experimental Techniques. It's a shooting ability that causes any modified roll of 6 to count as 2 hits instead of 1. Crossbows add 1 to the result of a shooting attack die roll, so crossbows make this ability even better. Understandably, the Shieldwolf Forest Goblin sprues do not include crossbows, so I needed a counts-as alternative that goes with my Mesoamerican goblin theme. I chose blowpipes and poisoned darts. I sourced the blowguns from some GW plastic Skinks that I bought on eBay. The Skink arms are a bit skinny and have only 3 fingers instead of 4, but this should be easy enough to fix with some greenstuff.
The Masters of the Underearth's lieutenant is called an Alchemist. The Alchemist has a multi-shot ranged attack that has the potential of inflicting an additional fatigue on its targets. The goblin firing the three arrows (Legolas style) will be my Alchemist, Instead of tossing chemicals or explosives at his enemies, he uses a bow and a fast acting poisons that causes a quick, horrific death that demoralizes his foes.
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Cool! Didn't back the kickstarter, and had quite forgotten about it. I think this is the first I've seen these models in the wild.
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The Masters of the Undearth battleboard has this great ability called Experimental Techniques. It's a shooting ability that causes any modified roll of 6 to count as 2 hits instead of 1. Crossbows add 1 to the result of a shooting attack die roll, so crossbows make this ability even better.
Check the FAQ regarding this ability. Unmodified 6's count as 7, and thus do not grant the extra hit, so it is not really better on crossbows than other weapons.
Did you realize that there is a Spider Rider legendary warband for the Lords of the Wild?
Anyway, it is all looking very very good and fun!
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@Ogrob: Shieldwolf started shipping the Kickstarter goodies in December. I got mine a week ago.
Overall, the quality of the plastics is quite good. I'd rank the sharpness better than Frostgrave sprues, but not as good as Fireforge's Forgotten World or GW sprues.
The quality of the resin hero models is inconsistent and not so great. The detail isn't as sharp as the plastics, and seems to vary from model to model and bit to bit. The white resin components have small air bubbles. Also, the resin models are noticeably taller and bulkier than the plastics. Side by side, the models look like models sculpted at different scales.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4966/tLncnU.jpg)
@Gandalf the G: Doh! You're correct. Oh well. Overall, crossbows are still a pretty good choice.
I saw the The Arachnaean Jungle list. It's a bit too niche for me. The only models that you can field are Warlord, Sorcerer, and Warriors, all mounted on spiders, and up to two non-flying monsters. Because of the model requirements, I expect that it's not a list that will get much play.
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I've assembled another unit of gobbos. This will be a unit of 10 Warriors armed with heavy weapons.
With the exception of the meat shank that I attached to the banner (which is from GW's 40K Kroot kit), all of these models are 'out of the box'. I used small greenstuff wedges to reposition some of the arms, and a hobby knife and glue to straighten many of the model's left wrists, which are bent slightly to accept a shield.
The resin model is the Master Butcher mini from the Kickstarter. He'll be the unit leader, which like the standard and musician has no in-game effect in SAGA: Age of Magic, but I'm an old-time WFB player, and old habits die hard. Plus, adding these types of models to a unit gives one an opportunity and the inspiration to personalize a unit. Here, the presence of the Butcher in the unit gave me the idea to add the meat shank to the standard (the "Butcher's Banner"). And now it's not just another mob of generic greenskins, it's the 'Butcher's Boys'.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6935/f5Kq9j.jpg)
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Its the thoughtful little touches that make it fun to model. :)
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I hope you paint Bill with a glass eye so he can tap his knife against it.
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I hope you paint Bill with a glass eye so he can tap his knife against it.
That is a brilliant idea! Consider it done. (https://groups.tapatalk-cdn.com/smilies/52929/1534797201.7229-smiley.gif)
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For as long as anyone in The Tribe can remember, there has been a fierce rivalry, bordering on hatred, between the Bashas and the Slashas clans. The primary point of contention is what's the best way to kill prey (there is no word for "foe" or "enemy" in the language of the Tribe -anything that must be killed, for any reason, is "prey"). The Bashas contend that the best way to bring down prey is to bash it with a blunt weapon, like a club or mallet. Conversely, the Slashas contend that the cutting blade is the only way to go.
With the exception of the drum and horn and the extra bits I hung from each banner, all of these bits are from the Forest Goblin kit. In a few instances, I used greestuff wedges in the models' armpits to reposition the arms. My next step will be to revisit all the goblin infantry models and use greenstuff to fill in gaps and re-sculpt the blowgun models' right biceps.
Bashas
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/5214/irbY5x.jpg)
Slashas
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/2034/aYYbYa.jpg)
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I finished most of the greenstuff-work on my forest goblins, just in time for my first game with them tomorrow.
Below you can see my work on the unit of gobbos armed with blowguns (counts-as crossbows), Each model's right arm comes from GW's Skink kit. Skink arms are much skinnier than goblin arms, so I used greenstuff to bulk-up the Skink arms. Skinks have only three fingers, so my original plan was to add a fourth finger to the hands holding the blowguns, but instead, I'll name this unit the Three-Finger Clan and call it good.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img923/5832/5kcXwx.jpg)
The champions and musicians of Bashas and Slashas clans also needed some greenstuff-work.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img922/747/YLGT8n.jpg)
Now that I've finished assembly and gs-work, it's time to get to work on the bases.
For a while now I've had my eye on Citadel's Barbed Bracken kit, but until now, I've not had a project that called for this kind of foliage. I'll use the bracken either in addition to or in lieu of the grass clumps that I normally add to my bases.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img924/8034/Fc7eKE.png)
For the larger models, like my giant spider and troggoths, I've purchased some resin stumps from Green Stuff World.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img922/8089/ZKIB6O.png)
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The Barbed Bracken comes in two basic shapes: 1) a multi-stemmed, multi-leafed cluster that looks like an entire fern plant, and 2) a single-stemmed, multi-leafed cluster that looks like a young plant or a single branch of an older plant. The former are too big for models on 25mm bases and the latter, by itself, looks like a sad, Charlie Brown Christmas Tree fern. However, by drilling a hole in the base I can insert 2 or 3 of the 'branches' and the result looks like a complete, albeit small, fern.
The overall plan is to texture the bases with fine sand/ballast, and after painting, add Army Painter woodland grass tufts to the mix of ferns, mushrooms, stumps, and (of course) skulls.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img923/2532/GmzrZk.jpg)
Below you see the giant spider removed from the base so you can get a better look at my work on the base.
The little critter on the Sorcerer's base is an old, GW squig familiar from the early 1990s.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img924/2436/qB3gmo.jpg)
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I am digging the mix of plants you have there and using the old squig is a nice touch.
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Love the painting style, very very nice. Pity that wonderful air elemental is in the US, postage is a killer on Etsy. Oh well.
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Nice progress, the blowpipes fit the models very well, and bases are looking promising.
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Great stuff! I particularly like your forest goblin warband work.
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Following this with interest!
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Can't wait to see those trolls and goblins painted up!
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Here's an idea that I have been toying around with (pardon the pun). From a perspective of creating a strong, competitive list, it isn't particularly good, but from a hobby aspect, it's quite fun.
I want to add a couple of Destruction Teams to my Forest Goblin Masters of the Underearth warband. As with my counts-as crossbows, my technologically challenged goblin theme presents certain obstacles to creating proper models for the role; however, thanks to the foresight of author of AoM, the solution was quite simple. In the description of Destruction Teams, the AoM rulebook describes their implements of destruction as "dangerous but light weapons such as small cannon, projectile throwers, and terrifying magical war-drums."
Reaper Miniatures' Bones collection includes a set called the Goblin Honor Guard. This set is cheap and includes an impressively sized war drum being lugged about by a little greenskin lackey. If I keep the lackey, I'll replace its head with a gnoblar's head to give it the properly pointed features shared by my other forest goblin models.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5758/U3zcdC.png)
Even a goblin knows that you can't entrust a terrifying magical war-drum to just any knucklehead. It must be played by a shaman, or at the very least, a goblin wearing a suitably impressive mask. To fill this role, I'll use Spellcrow Miniatures' Goblin with Frog. Neither a stone dagger or frog make a particularly good drum mallet, so both will need to be replaced large bone clubs from the plastic forest goblin kit. The daggers and frogs are great bits, so they will go into my bitz box.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6194/zFfXmv.png)
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Sounds like a great plan!
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I like your thinking!
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The Sacred Ground terrain for the the Masters of the Underearth is an Underground Network. It is represented by two pieces of terrain (each max size 6" x 6"). Units belonging to the MotU player can use move between the two pieces of terrain, regardless of their distance from one another, by activating a unit for a Maneuver within 2" of one of the Network's two terrain pieces.
In keeping with my warband's theme, I want my Underground Network terrain to look like natural formations. I could make my own using insulation board and putty, but I have too much on my hobby plate already.
I bought 2 aquarium caves (see below) on eBay for $8 each plus free shipping. They check all the boxes, plus the price is hard to beat.
I’ll mount the caves on styrene bases, add forest/jungle foliage to match my goblins’ bases, and call it good.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6250/qops9I.png)
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That is a nice cheap price to buy you more time painting fun stuff.
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I don't have many virtues, and of those I do possess, patience certainly isn't one of them... :)
I couldn't wait for my frog sacrificing goblins to arrive from Poland, so I made my own from the Shieldwolf forest goblin kit. The masks are shields from the kit with eye holes drilled through them.
The trees are limbs from the Citadel Woods kit. The spiders come from GW's Arachnarok Spider kit. The Orc skull comes from the GW Orc Warriors Regiment box set (circa 1999).
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3897/IexcQf.jpg)
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You may not be patient but you are resourceful and inspired. Those look great!
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I concur with Syrinx0.
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Gone are the days of rank upon rank of identical soldiers marching toward the enemy in with clocklike precision...let's have little goblin taiko drummers blasting the enemy's eardrums out it of their heads from a safe distance instead...Magic. inspirational as usual.
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I built a Static War Machine for my Masters of the Underearth forest goblins. I used bits from the Arachnarok Spider kit that I purchased on eBay to make the catapult and Shieldwolf Miniatures' for its crew. When mounted on the Arachnarok Spider, the catapult isn't fitted onto a raised structure, so I used different parts of the kit (a raised howdah assembly) and a good deal of pinning and greenstuff to assemble this particular build. It still needs some touch up and a little more GS work, but it's in good enough shape for play testing.
Based upon its rules, I don't believe that the Static War Machine is a very good option, but like the Destruction Teams, this catapult is an excuse to build and paint fun models.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/628/XjHea3.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/6504/p2ZrT3.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/1263/7bW5jT.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4613/DyzGO1.jpg)
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The cobbled together aspect of the build really works for a Goblin war machine. It might not be effective but it looks cool.
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Wow! That looks amazing. Great work.
I find that warmachines are really effective at putting hits on heroes as well as monsters. Nothing like taking out a giant with one shot from a warmachine after you have exhausted it
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Great kitbashing! That siege engine is genius.
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I don't have many virtues, and of those I do possess, patience certainly isn't one of them... :)
I couldn't wait for my frog sacrificing goblins to arrive from Poland, so I made my own from the Shieldwolf forest goblin kit. The masks are shields from the kit with eye holes drilled through them.
My tiki-mask goblin minis have arrived.
Spellcrow advertises that it's miniatures as 28mm or "ideal for use with 28 mm scale models". Based upon my previous experience with Spellcrow's minis (I own a couple dozen of them), their models are on the larger end of the 28mm heroic scaled model spectrum. So, when I ordered these goblins, my concern was that they would be a tad bit too large. It turns out the opposite is true. This particular goblin mini is quite a bit smaller and skinnier than my Shieldwolf forest goblins. The model's proportions are comparable to Games Workshop's Ogre Kingdom's gnoblar minis.
Thanks to the size of the mask, the difference in scale isn't too obvious when you look at the front of the model. The difference becomes most noticeable when you look at the rear of the model.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/9615/FoAQsQ.jpg) (https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9177/m5LHYB.jpg)
Rather than convert these diminutive goblins into drummers, I'm going to stick with the forest goblin models that I previously converted for my Destruction Teams.
Fear not, the Tiki-masked, frog wielding goblins are too cool not to incorporate into my forest goblin warband, so I will find a use for them.
One idea is to use them as counts-as Shapeshifters for a forest goblin Lords of the Wild warband. I have a friend who has as dwarven Masters of the Underearth warband, so when I play against him, I intend to use my forest goblins as a LotW warband. In my desert nomads LotW warband, I use assassins as counts-as Shapeshifters. I can do something similar with my forest goblins. Instead of assassins, my counts-as Shapeshifters will be fanatics who, by licking the skin of poisonous tree frogs, enter into a nigh unstoppable frenzy when battle is joined.
These fanatics are recruited into the Cult of the Frog Lickers as adolescents (who are generally too young and dumb to know better). Sadly, because the cult's activities involve two very dangerous pastimes, imbibing poisonous hallucinogens and frenzied hand-to-hand combat, few of the cult's warriors ever make it to adulthood.
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They are indeed too cool!
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And back story seems legit.
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After a couple of close losses with my Masters of the Underearth forest goblins in scenarios that include objective markers, I've come to the conclusion that my footslogging warband would benefit from some mobility. One idea is to add a small unit of mounted Hearthguard. Since it's a warband of forest goblins, the obvious choice of models is Games Workshops' Forest Goblin Spider Riders kit.
Even before purchasing the kit, I had concerns that the scale of the riders was a bit too small in comparison to my Shieldwolf goblins, but I didn't realize how small the riders were until the kit arrived in the mail. My first thought was to convert the kneeling Shieldwolf goblins, but after some test fittings and more thought on the matter, I decided against it.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5243/djU4Ci.png)
The GW spider riders are some really fun models, so it would be a shame not to use them. Also, after assembling a model and putting it beside an infantry model, I realized that the difference in scale doesn't look too bad. I may end up using a bit of greenstuff to do some subtle enlarging of the models features, such as its arms, cranium, and ears.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8740/qQTP76.jpg)
The most obvious modification that I will make to the models (as pictured above) is spreading out the spiders' legs. Games Workshop designed these models to be used in units of closely ranked models, as such, the spiders' legs are bunched together to fit nicely on a rectangular base.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2020/hfVp9x.png)
The 'bunching up' of the spiders' legs is a practical solution for the particular problem faced by GW's model designers, but in my opinion, it takes away some of the characteristic creepiness of all those long legs spread out in every direction.
I use a hobby knife to separate the two inner legs on each side from the two outer legs. By bending the plastic and doing a bit of pinning, I was able to reposition the legs so that they are spread out some, yet still fit on a 40 mm round base.
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Those spiders look so much better that way. They'll be easier to paint as well
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Those spiders look so much better that way. They'll be easier to paint as well
It also lifts the model off the ground, so it isn't resting on its belly. This makes the spider look larger.
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I do not see a problem with goblins having some diversity in size, if anything I think it helps lend credibility by avoiding a cloned look.
Changing those spider legs really improves that model!
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Changing those spider legs really improves that model!
I totally agree! Nice modding!
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I totally agree! Nice modding!
+1 absolutely agree!
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I'm glad that I decided to stick with the original riders. They have so much character and fun little details.
I still need to to some greenstuff work on them, but they are in good enough shape for play testing the unit.
In my current build, these mounted Hearthguard will provide me with a seventh SAGA die and give me the speed to tackle objectives. In games without objectives, they will serve as a mobile reserve.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6863/NAN4vm.jpg)
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The spider conversions are great! The size comparison looks fine to me, when they are mounted you really can't tell the models are smaller.
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I can always tell when someone has done well with their spiders because my arachnophobia starts kicking in. Brilliant job, very much looking forward to seeing them painted so I can be filled with proper loathing.
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Turning a silly or downright ugly model like the GW spider into that is inspired :)
And you make it look so simple too.
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Thanks everyone.
I'm certainly not the first person to perform this conversion, so the credit for this idea isn't all mine.
Also, by accident or design, the contact points between the outer legs (the front and back legs) and the inner legs on each side of the model are relatively short and in some places quite thin (see red arrows below). This makes separating the legs much easier than you'd imagine. Just make sure you use a new blade and a steady hand, or you are apt to slice into your fingers.
I use a method of cutting where I apply just enough pressure to the blade to cut a short distance through the plastic and then relax the pressure. I repeat this over and over until I cut all the way through a particular section of plastic. I've found that if I try to power through the cut in one single push, I have less control over the direction of the blade and I am apt to over-cut or lose control of the blade at the end of the cut when the blade breaks free from the plastic.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/6143/UsZmeh.png)
The contact points between the rear outer legs and the rear inner legs are longer, and in some places, a bit thicker than you find between the forelegs. To narrow the thickness of the plastic, I used the tip of the blade to cut furrows along the recess between the legs (see dashed red lines below). I repeated this a couple of times in order to deepen the furrows.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5203/eCmgJL.png)
Finally, starting at the rear of the model, I cut slowly forward, as described above, following the track of the furrows.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/6553/ZhUjfN.png)
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An arduous job, but brings fruits!
Thanks for sharing your W.I.P.!
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I want to have several equipment options for my Warlord, so I purchased Shieldwolf Miniatures Goblin Hero with 2 Handed Weapon to serve as my Warlord on foot. The axe blade is absurdly large, but for me that's part of this model's ridiculous charm.
To accentuate the massive overhead blow this fellow is about to deliver to some hapless foe, I mounted the Warlord on a stump.
Equipping a Warlord with a heavy weapon is a gamble, as it reduces its melee armor to 4 and prevents the Warlord from Closing Ranks. With this in mind, I converted a spear from bits found in the GW Spider Rider kit, so that the Warlord can be equipped with a regular hand weapon (i.e. "no equipment). The plan is to insert small magnets into the wrists and hands so that I can swap out weapons.
The model still needs some greenstuff work to make him look more like a proper forest goblin.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/5720/L9TALD.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4092/FfJwpS.jpg)
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That's just brilliant!!
The only thing missing now are photo-etched ferns! <3
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Thank you for sharing the how to on the spider! You may not be the first but it's the only one I've seen. Really great of you to take the time to share the process!
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This giant bat, the Bloodhunter Dire Bat, is another resin 3D printed model from an Etsy seller. The print turned out quite good.
I'm going to use it as a Monster (Scourge) or, if I play my goblins as Lords of the Wild, as a flying Beast mount. As with my mounted Hearthguard, my motivation for adding the bat is to give my forest goblin warband a bit more mobility and speed.
For a Monster, it's a tad small, so I used some greenstuff and a resin log to add another half inch to its height.
The first photo is a size comparison pic. The other three show the Dire Bat from different angles. I inserted a magnet into its back to hold a rider in place, and covered the magnet with greenstuff to conceal it.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3583/O0Klfr.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4423/seZYBZ.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3337/JPBYSv.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8263/6a0tHR.jpg)
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Nice! This will all look great when done, love the basing and the care that you put into everything.
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looks blooming ace to me.
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Below are some WIP photos of my Dire Bat rider.
I started with a forest goblin from the Shieldwolf kit. I removed the models legs at the upper thighs and used my hobby knife to carve out the model's groin area. I used bent pieces of metal rod (leftovers from metal spears) to serve as the skeleton for the model's new legs and to reposition the angle of the feet. I glued a magnet to its butt to keep the model on the bat.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/2350/IDFsab.jpg)
Next, I used greenstuff to sculpt the calves and the outer part of the thigh. Once the GS had been given a little bit of time to set up, I applied water to the inside of the legs and then sat the model on the bat's back. This shaped the inside of legs to match the contours of the bat's back. The combination of letting the GS set up and the water kept the GS from sticking to the bat's back.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/148/NUPPCc.jpg)
Once the legs were dry, I realized that there was still a big gap between the inner thighs and crotch of the goblin and the bat's back, so I used greenstuff to bulk out the thighs, extend the rectangular belly plate, and add a skirt. The extended belly plate and skirt also hid the magnet.
Lastly, I gave the little fella a bit of gear by adding a sheathed knife and a small satchel. Both bits are from the Frostgrave Barbarian plastic kit. Eventually, the model will be equipped with a shield from the Shielfwolf forest goblin kit.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4268/e43Cts.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2790/nn6NCF.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7084/AgCkAL.jpg)
The last bit of work I need to do is to use greenstuff to fill in the cracks where the shoulders meets the torso, extend the foot wrappings to the bottom of the feet, and to sculpt the bottom of the feet and toes.
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Lords of the Wild Warlord on flying Beast
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1305/Vxmsyj.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/489/ZHAgDV.jpg)
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Bloody love it :D :-*
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Fantastic mounted lord conversion. A unique center piece for a unique army!
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heh, he's brilliant.
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I did a little bit of work on the gobbos last night.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/7104/CF4JsW.png)
I added magnets to my foot-Warlord and his weapons so I can swap between heavy weapon and hand weapon.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8349/vO75iR.png)
I also sculpted the bottom of the Dire Bat riding Warlord's feet.
Lastly, I put the finishing touches on two more models that I will use when I play the Old Feud scenario from the Book of Battles. In this scenario, each player selects a character from a list of six archetypes (i.e. The Brute, The Counselor, The Traitor, The Soldier, The Princess, and The Mystic). Each character has different stats, abilities, and equipment. Each player's goal is to eliminate his opponent's character and to protect their own character. The "First Player" selects a character first and his opponent selects a character from the five remaining options. Each character provides different advantages and disadvantages, but I suspect that most players would agree that The Brute and The Soldier are the strongest choices.
The model with the big axe is from the Shieldwolf Miniatures forest goblin Kickstarter. Compared to Shieldwolf's plastic forest goblins, this model is huge, which makes it ideal to serve as The Brute. The model's arms come from the Avatars of War Dwarf Rangers kit. The axe blade comes from the Frostgrave plastic Gnoll kit. The axe haft is a spear shaft from forest goblin kit.
The model holding the severed head is Shieldwolf Miniatures' Goblin Hero B. This model will serve as The Soldier. To make the model look a bit more like a forest goblin, I removed the spikes from the shoulder and knee pads. I also removed the axe from its right hand and clipped the sickle shaped blade from the top of the weapon held in his right hand. You can't see it from this angle, but I added a pouch, a sheathed knife, and some feathers to rear of the model.
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I ordered two sets of these little critters from Mortal Arrow Miniatures (the goblin is present for purposes of size comparison). I'm going to use the small ones to decorate some of my forest goblins' bases and the warband's Sacred Ground terrain. I may use the larger ones and groups of the smaller ones to make Swarm levies for Lords of the Wild version of the warband.
The legs on the little ones lie flat, but it's not difficult to bend them so that look more like proper crouching spiders.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/741/rYtbH8.png)
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Another great project!
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I won a bits auction that has some of the Arachnarok Howdah bits... since some say imitation is a form of compliment, I am trying to replicate your genius to make a spidery catapult for giant spider worshippering tribesmen in Mirkwood.
Since you have been so generous already sharing how you did the spider legs from that GW spider rider piece I feel a bit guilty asking but any advice on the catapult?
Thanks for the inspiration!
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Since you have been so generous already sharing how you did the spider legs from that GW spider rider piece I feel a bit guilty asking but any advice on the catapult?
I'd be happy to, but without WIP shots of the assembly, the best I can do are the images below.
I began by putting together the tower assembly. Fortunately, the front and rear tower sections and the small platform were designed to fit together so putting together the tower assembly that will form the foundation of the catapult is quite easy.
Prior to gluing the Front and Rear tower sections together, I recommend that you remove from the vertical pieces identified in the image below. The catapult requires two long vertical arms at the front half of the tower assembly to hold the catapult arm crosspiece, so you will use one of the vertical pieces removed from the rear tower section to create Long Arm #2. The long arms are 'load bearing' pieces, so if you aren't using plastic glue, I recommend that you pin and glue Long Arm #2 into place.
You may also want to trim the ends of the platform pieces identified in the image below.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6038/m4e25J.png)
Once you have Long Arm #2 in place, you will attach to the long arms two short lengths of pieces that you previously removed, to form the the Y-shaped forks that the crosspiece will rest on. Alternatively, you can use short lengths of plastic or metal rods for this, and cover the rods in greenstuff to make them match the limbs and branches that make up various pieces of catapult.
When I built my catapult, the ends of my Y-shaped forks were too short, so I had to use greenstuff to extend them. This is why these portions of my catapult look like they are made entirely of greeenstuff.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/6642/lYjgyx.png)
The distance between Long Arm #1 and Long Arm #2 is too short to fit the crosspiece of the catapult arm bit, so you will have to cut away the webbing and portion of the crosspiece indicated in the image below. Once you can fit the crosspiece section of the catapult arm between the two long arms, you will need to create a new crosspiece. You can do this by drilling a hole through the catapult arm where the previous crosspiece was located. You will then insert our own crosspiece, which you can make from short length of plastic or metal rod.
When I'm done sculpting, I take the leftover greenstuff and roll it into a ball, cube, or a dowel and let it cure. I then throw these extra bits into a small box. I find the GS dowels to be particularly useful when I'm converting models. I used one such dowel as the crosspiece for my catapult.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/1015/X1L71C.png)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8443/iO8NCx.png)
This profile shot gives you a pretty good look at the tower assembly, long arms, and Y-shaped forks that the crosspiece rests on.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4613/DyzGO1.jpg)
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You are a star! Thank you for such a detailed explanation. That is much more than I was expecting and I really appreciate it. Much as I hate spiders personally, even more son I hate seeing bits like this go to waste when they could instead be used as you have done. You are truly inspirational and I doff my cap to you sir.
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This thread is far from my genre of games, but I started following cause to its originality!
Seeing your analytical how-to explanation for the catapult, I can't hold myself to congratulate you greatly that you took the time to do it!
You are the kind of friend modeler anyone would like to have, mainly because you share your knowledge generously! Cheers!
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Koyote is a real gentleman. I reached out to him through friends of his about another thread (check out his other projects, just amazing) and he was kind enough to get back to me here and answer some questions I had about parts he sourced. Super helpful and his work is an absolute inspiration every time.
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Thank you for the kinds words. Always happy to help. :)
My tiki-mask goblin minis have arrived.
...
One idea is to use them as counts-as Shapeshifters for a forest goblin Lords of the Wild warband. I have a friend who has as dwarven Masters of the Underearth warband, so when I play against him, I intend to use my forest goblins as a LotW warband. In my desert nomads LotW warband, I use assassins as counts-as Shapeshifters. I can do something similar with my forest goblins. Instead of assassins, my counts-as Shapeshifters will be fanatics who, by licking the skin of poisonous tree frogs, enter into a nigh unstoppable frenzy when battle is joined.
These fanatics are recruited into the Cult of the Frog Lickers as adolescents (who are generally too young and dumb to know better). Sadly, because the cult's activities involve two very dangerous pastimes, imbibing poisonous hallucinogens and frenzied hand-to-hand combat, few of the cult's warriors ever make it to adulthood.
I present to you, the Frog Lickers. The model comes in only one pose, so I left one model in its original pose and re-positioned the arms of the other three. These little fellas can serve as counts-as Shapeshifters for a LotW warband or as a small unit of foot hearthguard.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3540/bgRzbJ.jpg)
I also did a little bit of work on my Bruiser and Soldier.
You can't see it well in the photo, but the severed head now has its tongue lolling out.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/19/SmiKwI.jpg)
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Very nice!
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I finally got around to finishing the flying carpet. If I play my desert nomads as Great Kingdoms, it will 'count-as' my Sorcerer's flying mount.
Painting a proper design on the carpet was something that I dreaded, so I cheated and used a Little Big Men Islamic banner decal. The banner was narrower than the smooth portion of the carpet, so I painted a red border around the decal. I applied a coat of Vallejo matt varnish to the banner and then used watered down paint to darken the red on the deal to better match the red I used to paint the border.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8910/Njer3d.jpg)
Small magnets and pins to hold the Sorcerer to both its infantry base and the carpet.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4848/aWcE1K.jpg)
Here's a WIP shot of the flying carpet, showing the location of the magnet and pin. After this photo was taken I replaced the clear plastic rod with a flying stand taken from a Privateer Press Cryx Carrion Thrall model.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7067/iMhJHg.jpg)
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That is brilliant! You don't see enough flying carpets on the battlefield!
Although does he need an assistant to lug the carpet around when the Sourceror is on foot? ;D
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Really cool!
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Genius! Loving it.
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Genius! Loving it.
+1! :-*
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That is brilliant! You don't see enough flying carpets on the battlefield!
Although does he need an assistant to lug the carpet around when the Sourceror is on foot? ;D
That really is brilliant. Excellent job on the carpet.
Being magic I am sure it just follows the Sorcerer around at a safe distance...
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amazing attention to detail. A master craftsman.
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loving your stuff,
specially bedouins army!
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loving your stuff,
specially bedouins army!
Thanks, if you want to see more of my painted Berber Tuaregs check out my Moors thread in the Medieval Adventures forum. The painted models begin on page 4.
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=119599.0
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Can we see the finished army in an overall picture? Have you had time to get to that or, even better, painted them?
Please, please, pretty please with sugar on top?! :D
Thank you!
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I tend to bounce around a bit from painting project to painting project. In mid-2020 I changed gears from SAGA historical and fantasy to post-apocalypse: LINKY (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=104179.270).
In October 2020 I decided to set down my brush for a while to focus on a writing and game design project. That kept me busy until a month or so ago, when I lost interest in most everything hobby or gaming related.
Not doing anything hobby or gaming-related has been very bad for my mental health, so it's time to pull myself up by my boot straps and get back to it.
The only question is do I ease myself back into painting with a smallish project like my Necromunda Cawdor gang or dive headlong into a big project like my SAGA AoM goblins or undead?
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7271/bFzZ9I.png)
Can we see the finished army in an overall picture? Have you had time to get to that or, even better, painted them?
Please, please, pretty please with sugar on top?! :D
Thank you!
This morning I did a Google-image search for "shieldwolf forest goblins" and aside from the photos posted by Shieldwolf for the Kickstarter and their webstore, I found very few images of painted Shieldwolf forest goblins. This is a shame considering how fun and characterful these models are. It's an army that I've waited decades for someone to do right, and I think Shieldwolf has done just that.
And while the plastic forest goblin kit is great, the quality of Shieldwolf's white resin character models is less so. In a couple of instances, the resin casts were downright awful. Also, as I posted earlier, the scaling between the goblin plastics and goblin resin models is off by quite a bit.
In the past Fireforge had the same problem. They made some great plastic kits, but then supplemented some of their lines with absolute garbage soft resin models. BTW, if you are thinking about buying Fireforges' resin Medieval Russians or Armies of Islam, don't. I bought a half dozen of these kits and all were poorly cast, malformed, and peppered with air bubbles. Absolute garbage!
In Fireforge's defense, I did not have this same experience with Fireforge's newer resin models, such as the resin models that were part of their Forgotten Worlds Kickstarter and their King Richard model. These resin casts were all quite good.
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Go for the smaller Necromunda project. Ease your way back in.
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I was just thinking yesterday about how I hadn't seen any hobby updates from you in a good while!
A small project is probably a good idea to start, but what do you want to work on the most? What strikes your fancy?
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I was wondering where you have been mate! Glad to hear you are ok. In these challenging times “radio silence” can be caused by a number of different things, some worse than others.
As for your question, I would say ease your way back in with the Necromunda gang. Hit your groove then tuck into your forest goblins.
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Thanks for the advice, everyone.
I think I will start out slow(ish) by picking up where I left off with my AOM desert warband. This will let me start small with a single unit, but that single unit will contribute a much larger existing project that is already two-thirds complete.
The orignal plan was to use them as Lords of the Wild, but since my forest goblins make a more obvious LotW warband, I'll use my Moors as the foundation for a Great Kingdoms warband.
Warlord -beast (flight)
Paladin -winged mount
3 Biped Creatures
1 Scourge
8 Warriors -no equipment
8 Warriors -no equipment
8 Warriors -mounted
12 Levy -bows
12 Levy -crossbows
I have already painted 16 Moor warriors (no equipment), 8 Moor warriors (mounted), and 12 Moor Levy (bows), so with the exception of one more unit of 12 Levy (crossbows) which I can use in Age of Crusades as well, all that I have left to paint for my Great Kingdoms warband are the fun units, like characters and beasties.
I'm not a fan of the domains of Energy and Light, so I think I'll skip the sorcerer and spend the points elsewhere. In my Great Kingdoms warband, my painted wizard on a magic carpet will be used as Paladin on a Winged Mount. The model doesn't have the fierce expression or menacing expression as you'd expect on the face of a monster slaying hero, so I am going to dub him Ali the 'Pensive Paladin'.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8910/Njer3d.jpg)
The first new unit I'm going to tackle is this unit of Biped Creatures. Two of these big guys are my favorite GW Ogre models, the Araby Maneater. The third is a converted Avatars of War Ogre Khan. After that I will tackle the remaining 3 units.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5027/74dzH0.jpg)
Warlord on Flying Beast
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4417/YSkFr2.jpg)
Levy with Crossbows
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8762/qCccKs.jpg)
And finally, I just ordered this beauty. It's Atlantis Miniatures' Sphinx. I will use it as a Scourge.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/2484/zhrY1u.png)
One of the problems you can get into with flying creatures is that if you are too aggressive with them they can get stuck out on their own, without support. With 3 flying units, the flyers in my warband can be used to support one another.
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Looks like a scary quick force. Love the flying carpet wizard.
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Ali the Pensive Paladin looks amazing!
Glad to see you getting back into the swing of things.
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I'm not a fan of the domains of Energy and Light, so I think I'll skip the sorcerer and spend the points elsewhere.
Light is a handy domain if you are running a bunch of Creatures since you can use Laying on Hands to remove fatigue
Energy also helps boost the Creatures as you can use Elemental Barrier to gice the Creatures cover.
I agree that for the most part a Spellcaster in the Great Kingdoms is rather a special case scenario but I have had success specifically using them to keep Creatures and Minsters on the table.
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Light is a handy domain if you are running a bunch of Creatures since you can use Laying on Hands to remove fatigue
Energy also helps boost the Creatures as you can use Elemental Barrier to gice the Creatures cover.
I agree that for the most part a Spellcaster in the Great Kingdoms is rather a special case scenario but I have had success specifically using them to keep Creatures and Minsters on the table.
Thanks for the tips. I hadn't thought of that.
(https://groups.tapatalk-cdn.com/smilies/52929/1534797201.7229-smiley.gif)
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I made some progress last night. I textured the bases of the big guys, and did some prep and clean up work on the crossbowmen.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6151/Yi35IA.jpg)
The crossbowmen are a simple kitbash that combines pieces of the Gripping Beast Arab Infantry kit and the Fireforge Games Foot Sergeant kit. The Foot Sergeant kit don't include quivers. The quivers in the Arab Infantry kit includes quivers, but they are too long. I fixed this by simply removing about a 1/8" section from the bottom of the quiver and reattaching the very bottom of the quiver.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/223/dDkxyO.jpg)
The arrows/quarrels don't have nocks, so I made my own by attaching slices of thin greenstuff dowel to the tops of the fletchings.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8525/rIfmMg.jpg)
I still need to do some greenstuff work on the crossbowmen's neck areas. The models in the Arab Infantry kit fit together pretty good, with the exception of the heads. Simply gluing the heads to the bodies leaves visible gaps. In the past I covered these gaps up with greenstuff scarves attached to the helmets of my Moorish spearmen and HG. I don't think I will do that with this group, so I'll need to fill in those gaps and smooth out their necks.
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Thanks for the tips. I hadn't thought of that.
Well Ali looked like he really didn't want to be a Paladin
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All your stuff is so good. Super inspiring. I'm loving the kitbashes here.
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Just in case I decide to add a static warmachine. Just in case... :)
It's a Shieldwolf Miniatures' Shieldmaiden Ballista minus the maidens. I replaced the original ballista ammo with spears from Fireforge Games. It's difficult to see this in the photos, but I added fletchings made from clear plastic to both the loaded spear and the spear held by the crewman.
I believe that the crew are both random Footsore Miniatures models. The model holding up his hand was missing his feet ("Umm. Excuse me sir. I seem to have left my feet in my tent."), so I sculpted him a pair.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6109/6EJDIs.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/286/qJw6N0.jpg)
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Just in case I decide to add a static warmachine. Just in case... :)
They are really good at picking off enemy leaders and spellcasters
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Very nice!
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I am looking forward to seeing these all painted - some fantastic kitbashing and greenstuff work there. I like what you have done with the crossbowmen and that ballista - well done. The ogres also very much look the part.
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I didnt know this ballista, looks good!
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Your fantastic miniatures inspired me to reread the AoM rules. Will
Need to spruce up my Warhammer 7th Ed orcs.
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I didnt know this ballista, looks good!
It's a fun, stylized fantasy war machine. Here's a pic from Shieldwolf's website:
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2376/tPz7eG.png)
Overall it's a pretty good model, but unfortunately it's cast in a resin material that's not as soft as Games Workshop's so-called Finecast models or Reaper Miniatures' Bones minis, but soft enough that the detail isn't very sharp and some of the thin bits, like the spears and the bowstring are crooked or droopy.
It comes with extra pieces so it can be mounted on ShieldWolf's Great War Mammoth model.
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The model needs another layer or two of highlights, but I’m done fussing with him for now, so I’m moving on the Biped Creature number two.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4984/qOy7if.jpg)
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Wow, that’s a great looking ogre! Totally nailed the “Araby” vibe.
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Brilliant work as usual mate.
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Really like the skintone you've achieved.
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Thank you everyone. It feels good to be back in the saddle again.
I've started on the second GW Araby Maneater model, which, because I lack imagination, will be painted in an identical color scheme as the first.
I've also been taking a good look at the third ogre in order to plan out how I want to paint it. I originally purchased the model, Avatars of War Ogre Khan, to use as an Ogre Bodyguard for my Mordheim Kislev warband (pictured below), and later decided to use it for AoM Moors because it was a model that I had on hand and it looks vaguely "Eastern".
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/a/img923/3999/fTLRjy.jpg)
This morning, I was doing a Google image search and I stumbled upon this model. It's Westfalia Miniatures' Saracen Ogre. Wow.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1171/zuhfBw.png)
If the Saracen Ogre scales well against the Ogre Araby Maneater models, the Ogre Khan model is getting sent back to Mordheim to hang out with my Kislevs. However, since orders from Westfalia Miniatures can take up to seven f'ing weeks to arrive, it may be some time before I know the Ogre Khan's fate.
While I wait I'll set the Ogre Khan aside. After Ogre Maneater #2 is done, I'll move on to my static warmachine, and then maybe the warlord.
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Here's the second Biped Creature.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5767/Z6TIad.jpg)
As I mentioned above, I'm going to hold off on the third Biped Creature until my Westfalia Saracen Ogre arrives. In the meantime, it's time to get to work on my Static Warmachine.
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Love that vivid blue!
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I’ve got good news and bad news.
The good news is that my order from Westfalia Miniatures arrived lightning quick -six days from my order date. Also, the quality of the miniature is excellent. I will certainly be buying from Westfalia again.
The bad news is that the model is not suitable for my planned purpose. As you can see, in comparison to the GW and Avatars of War ogres, the Westfalia ogre looks like the runt of the Araby ogre litter. Such a shame. I really do like this mini.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3775/USYKrx.jpg)
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'Half-Ogre' maybe?
I had held off making my order of the same model waiting to see how he scaled up with your stuff. Shame, really. I'd still have to use him somewhere.
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Static War Machine
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1696/vLBsRM.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/9338/hCMT5a.jpg)
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Great work!
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Excellent work on the war machine.
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Thanks guys.
I'm not too happy with how the wood grain turned out. It's too dark and too thick.
After I posted the photo, glazed all the wood parts with a thin glaze of Army Painter's Soft Tone. That darkened the highlights so the contrast between the wood grain and the surrounding wood isn't so stark. I'm still not thrilled with the final product, but it is what it is.
My Atlantis Miniatures' Sphinx arrived the same day as the Westfalia ogre runt. I am very please with the quality of the cast and the sharpness of the details. I only hope that my painting skills can do this model justice.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2735/b6N6Pl.png)
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Here's my third Biped Creature. The big, gold sword clearly identifies him as the leader of my Araby Ogres.
If you look closely, you will see a big brown blob of paint on the sword's cross-guard. I didn't notice it until after I had cropped and resized the photo. I have no idea where it came from. I suspect that my 7 year old may be the culprit. I have since repainted that portion of the cross-guard, but I'm too lazy to get out my lights and reshoot the model, so I'm posting the photo as-is, blob and all. :)
(https://imageshack.com/i/pocNBGdkj)
(https://imageshack.com/i/pox3T0a2j)
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I have no idea where it came from. I suspect that my 7 year old may be the culprit.
I think he may be responbsible for some odd paint splashes on some of my mins as well ;D
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That atlantic spinx is epic, very much looking forward to seeing it painted up.
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Wow. Ogre looks like a mad djinn.
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Wow. Ogre looks like a mad djinn.
Or this guy...
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/3742/jjkDDn.gif)
Although, if you are younger than 40, you may not recognize this Bugs Bunny reference.
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:o :o :o
It’s fantastic to see you reviving this thread.
Fingers crossed you will get back to your Rus/Rus Princes
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I've spent the last couple weeks taking stock of the models I've already painted for this warband and fixing some of its aspects that aren't working for me.
I started by slightly darkening the shade of blue on their robes and headscarves and adding a bit more shading to the recesses. I also changed the color of their skin tone. I really wanted the models to have a very dark skin tone, more Sub-Saharan (like the Sub-Saharan troops of the Almoravid armies than reinforced the Taifa states in the 11th century) than Saharan, but my painting skills just aren't up the task. My very dark skin tones look okay under good light, but under regular lighting conditions (or the gloom of the Adepticon tournament hall) the facial details get lost quite easily. Instead, I repainted the flesh of almost all my models using Mournfang Brown (instead of Rhinox Brown) as the base, so my Moors skin tones now look like my Tribal Hunters mercenaries (pictured below).
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5397/EMYkWY.jpg)
I finally got around to adding greenstuff scarves to my kitbashed crossbowmen. The scarves cover the defects in the Gripping Beast plastic Arab heads and gives them that desert nomad feel. Remember, my warband is an contingent of tough, desert dwelling Berbers/Tuaregs, not effete city-dwellers in their silks and Persian slippers.
I've added rocks and bones to their bases, so all that's left to do now is to glue texture to their bases and they are ready for paint.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6618/DupSyv.png)
Another choice that I regret is the use of the fully veiled Gripping Beast plastic Arab head on my AoM warlord mounted on the giant eagle. The fully veiled was a boring choice, so I dug around for bits boxes for a more interesting head. The model now sports a head from an Artizan Design's Andalusian Noble Cavalry miniature, but it's blank expression is making me have second thoughts...
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5125/tAiMbi.png)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/3215/HdlWZd.png)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8338/Wcz83C.png)
Lastly, I updated my Spinx's base, by replacing some of the rocks with some scattered bricks, adding a few more bones to the base, and putting an arrow shaft into the skelly.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7911/AMKfd2.png)
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All the units look amazing. I like the idea of the veiled warlord.
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I’ve added some reinforcements to my growing goblin horde.
The model on the right is my warband’s new sorcerer. It’s an Avatars of War Forest Goblin Shaman 3D print. It’s a huge improvement over my original Shieldwolf mini shaman.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7251/3n6wfh.jpg)
I've also made some good progress on my Chasm marker.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4536/WjGWLc.png)
I've designed it to fit my goblin's theme. Rather than causing the earth to open up beneath the goblins' enemies, the goblins conjure or release a nest of giant spiders.
You can't see it in the photos, but in each large trunk section there are holes from which spiders are crawling out. I can imagine hundreds of giant spider spiders pouring out of the knotholes and from beneath the trunks, spreading out and skittering over everything and everyone nearby.
The marker measures 6 inches by one inch. I built it from bits from the GW's Arachnarok Spider kit, GW's Citadel Woods kit, and Green Stuff World's resin mushrooms. I still need to add foliage and texture to the base.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1228/VeVkqZ.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5756/oa67Es.jpg)
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Ooh, nice
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That's great, what a neat idea for re-flavoring that spell.
If you wanted more variety for the little spiders, you might take a look at Mortal Arrow's "arachling" set:
(https://www.mortalarrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Bag-of-Arachlings-Size.jpg)
https://www.mortalarrow.com/product/bag-of-arachlings/
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That's great, what a neat idea for re-flavoring that spell.
If you wanted more variety for the little spiders, you might take a look at Mortal Arrow's "arachling" set:
...
The one metal spider pictured in the photos is from the Mortal Arrow arachling kit. It's rounded legs didn't match the other spiders, so I carved off the bump on the top of each leg, cut tiny notches into the top of each leg to make them look more segmented, and then carefully shaved each leg down.
I've also added Mortal Arrow spiders to the bases of some of the larger models in my warband. It's a fun kit.
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I've also added Mortal Arrow spiders to the bases of some of the larger models in my warband. It's a fun kit.
Indeed. Fond of their little beetles, too.
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Great to see your work on this again mate! Much as spiders creep me out, still great to see your imagination realized.
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I've added some ferns to my Chasm marker.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4559/qaSgJW.jpg)
The Masters of the Underearth battle board has 3 advanced SAGA abilities that are assigned to a specific unit and remain in effect until the end of the player's turn. I've created a marker for each of these abilities, to help me and my opponent remember which ability affects which unit. Each marker is built on a 32mm base. Bases large enough for a small diorama and to stand out from my infantry models, but not so large that it takes up too much space on the table.
From left to right: Traps, Tenacity, and Cave Dwellers.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/614/ebT7Jm.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5724/wLLnG2.jpg)
Since spiders are already an important part of this warband's themes, I reasoned that massive web would serve nicely as a physical representation of the Traps ability. The web is another bit from GW's Arachnarok Spider kit.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4698/jiGult.jpg)
Tenacity means possessing a strength of will. Synonyms for this word include determination, persistence, steadfastness, grit, and also courage. This SAGA ability gives extra defense dice, with the trade off of suffering a penalty to the unit's attack dice. Coming up with physical representation for this thing that happens in one's mind was a bit tricky. However, when I boiled it down to the question, what can make one both brave but less skillful, the answer became obvious -alcohol/drugs. This fella is drinking down some "liquid courage".
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/3212/mgP3X2.jpg)
The ability’s name, “Cave Dweller”, doesn’t give one much to work with, so I had to look beyond the title for inspiration. Like Tenacity, this is a defensive ability, but instead of providing extra defense dice, it provides a unit solid cover. The answer came to me when I was digging around in one of my bits boxes, and happened upon sigil stone with a peculiar carving on its surface. The stone is small enough to fit on a 32mm base, but large enough to hide a goblin.
A goblin warrior crouching down and taking cover behind a huge stone seems like a fitting physical representation of this ability. Plus the stone has this great carvings on it, that kind of looks like a primitive goblin holding up a sword and spears. Perfect!
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8475/b8Au54.jpg)
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Koyote, the flavour and attention to detail in these markers is absolutely superb. Between you and Ogrob, I've had to go and check out SAGA: Age of Magic now!
Top notch work and I'm hoping I can find a few players near me who might be interested in trying it out. Really thematic, flavoursome work.
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Great ideas for the markers and nicely executed.
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Extremely cool.
Makes me want to investigate Saga AoM.
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Thanks everyone.
I agree with Knight-Captain Tyr, Ogrob is a rock star. His enthusiasm for the hobby is only matched by his excellent conversions, sculpting, and painting.
If you haven't tried out SAGA, you definitely should.
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I agree with Knight-Captain Tyr, Ogrob is a rock star. His enthusiasm for the hobby is only matched by his excellent conversions, sculpting, and painting.
:P
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I built the models pictured below to serve as Destruction Teams for my Masters of the Underearth list.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4905/J37Jwv.png)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3897/IexcQf.jpg)
I used them a couple of games, but I wasn't impressed. It's is shame that Destruction Teams aren't more effective, because they really are some fun models.
My plan is to play my goblins in the Adepticon 2022 Age of Magic tournament. The tournament rules have not been published yet, so I searched the Adepticon archive and found the rules from the cancelled Adepticon AoM 2020 tournament. The 2020 rules instruct each player to bring 3 objective markers. Players may bring themed objective markers to gain extra points for their appearance score.
Problem solved!
My shaman war drummers may not have a future as destruction teams, but with the addition of a 3rd model, I can use the models as themed objective markers.
Below is what I've come up with for my 3rd themed objective marker. The statue is a ceramic tiki statue bead that I bought from a seller on Etsy. I purchased a half dozen of these to decorate my goblins' Sacred Ground terrain.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6325/z1p2ky.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1193/NQHxnt.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/9128/oUF45E.jpg)
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A thematic little trio! And it's always a task to find uses for our creations even when things change. Custom objective markers always adds a lot of character to any army.
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Okay, I've change my mind (again) on the direction of my AoM desert warband. I've heard a lot of good things about the Great Kingdoms warband, but the board looks kinda boring. Plus, due to local Covid outbreaks and my work, family, and painting schedule, I doubt that will have any time to play-test Great Kingdoms prior to Adepticon. So now it's back to Plan A, play them as Lords of the Wild (which I already have experience with).
To ready my AoM desert warband for Adepticon, I need to paint a unit of 12 levy, a scourge, and a warlord on a flying beast. Since I'm a chicken when it comes to painting big models, I think I'll tackle the easy models first, the levy.
Lords of the Wild levy come in two varieties, swarms and levy armed with javelins. I need more missile troops in my list, so I opted for the javelin-men. The minis I'm using are Perry Miniatures' plastic Sudanese Tribesmen. They will represent the tribe's young men who haven't yet earned the right to wear a 'warrior blue' tunics. They go into battle without the traditional face scarves (the Lithim) so that their acts of valor can be witnessed and properly attributed to them.
Last night I added rocks and bones to the bases and used GS to fill gaps and fix some of the defects in the models. Tonight I will add texture and primer.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6797/Tw1Jqz.jpg)
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Very nice. It has been said before but the Sudanese is such a versatile kit. I used some for my Lords of the Wild levy too, just stock some bearded heads on them, painted them white skinned and called them wildmen from the deep woods.
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Very nice. It has been said before but the Sudanese is such a versatile kit. I used some for my Lords of the Wild levy too, just stock some bearded heads on them, painted them white skinned and called them wildmen from the deep woods.
I would echo that. Both that they look very nice and that the Perry Sudanese are a really versatile kit.
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I missed the latest updates here - this post is gold!
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Such converting genius.
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Six down, six to go.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7359/FMfQ2n.jpg)
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Nice, really like the skintones.
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Oh aye, they look brilliant. Quite inspirational in fact! Photo saved so I can reference it when I get around to painting mine.
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Last night while waiting for the inks to dry on my next batch of levy, I did a bit of work on my warlord.
Previously, I replaced the warlord's original head, which was fully veiled plastic Gripping Beast head, with a helmeted head because I want the model face unveiled. The conversion wasn't my best work. The new head, which I posed poorly, has a short beard and hipster mustache that is curled at its ends
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8338/Wcz83C.png)
I reposed the head so it’s looking down the spear shaft, snipped off the curled up ends of the mustache, and used greenstuff to fill out his beard. His face doesn't have the fierce expression I'd prefer, but I prefer a stoic warlord to a bored, daydreaming hipster warlord.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9280/ylpJAz.jpg)
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Yup, better, much more natural pose.
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This thread is very inspiring! Keep it up! :-*
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I really like the pose and the sculpt.
Only thing that keeps jumping out at me with that is the length of the spear...I keep thinking about how could someone actually use the spear there to actually hit something as it looks to short to do more than stab at something the mount is already shredding there or would come crashing down on you due to reach above.
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Definitely worth the effort, it really shows the impact of a well posed sculpt.
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spectacular :-*
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The Age of Magic warband that I'm going to bring to Adepticon includes a mounted Sorcerer, however, the model that I want to use for this is mounted on a base that is a bit too small. SAGA requires mounted models to be on bases no smaller than 20mm x 40mm and no larger than 50mm x 50mm. The sorcerer's current base is a 32mm round.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8910/Njer3d.jpg)
To avoid any confusion or hassle at the tournament, I started work on a 40mm round. However, once I put the sorcerer on the larger base, I noticed how small the carpet looks in proportion to the sorcerer. This Brother Vinni sculpt is one of my favorites, but it looks like the sorcerer is flying about on a magic doormat or a magic bath towel, not a magic carpet.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/276/kZYveG.jpg)
One of my favorite online pastimes is seeking out new miniature manufactures and buying fun or useful minis to stock my bitz boxes. Last year I stumbled upon Effincool Miniatures, which sells an odd assortment of fantasy and sci-fi minis. Effincool also has a pervy miniature line called Court of the Sultan. In addition to all the gratuitous boobs and schlongs, this line includes furniture and scenery bits, including an ornate rug. The ornate rug is a wonderful mini, not only because it’s cast in white metal, allowing one to bend it to mimic the motion of a magic carpet, but it has the decorative pattern carved into it surface, so you don't have to hand paint your own design.
To my eye, the ornate rug looks a bit too large, but when compared to the flying doormat, it's a big improvement.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4041/KhlXdm.jpg)
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Excellent work! :-* :-* I love your painting on the carpet.
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The new carpet is a much better fit for the sorcerer and it doesn't seem too large to me (at least when looking at the picture).
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Excellent work! :-* :-* I love your painting on the carpet.
I can't take full credit for the carpet. The Arabic calligraphy is a transfer. I cut to size a portion of an Islamic banner transfer made by Little Big Men Studios, and applied it to the surface of the carpet. Then I applied a coat of matte sealer over it. Finally, I applied paint and spot washing on the transfer itself and around its edges to to blend the transfer in to the rest of the carpet.
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The new carpet is a much better fit for the sorcerer and it doesn't seem too large to me (at least when looking at the picture).
I agree.
Another good call and worth the effort Koyote.
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New carpet looks great. You want some safety margins up there. They really should put some rails on there, or a harmess or something.
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Agreed with everyone else - the new carpet looks about right
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very nice paint-job.
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My SAGA Desert Nomad (Lords of the Wild) javelin levy are done. That's one fewer task on my Adepticon prep to-do list.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5364/wWo3Ez.jpg)
In addition to finishing off the last of my levy, I spent time this week experimenting with colors for my new magic carpet, painting the base for the new carpet, and prepping my Sphinx for paint.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4208/neceXr.jpg)
I also took some time to update the bases of my 60+ Moor and Desert Nomad models to match the bases of my javelin levy. This entailed repainting the black decorative rocks a dark brown (highlighted with a lighter brown) and added tufts of Tiny Beige Gamer Grass (2mm). The mixture of dark and light tufts look much better than just the dark tufts alone.
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Even with the embossed designs as a guide, painting the carpet was a pain in the @ss. It still needs another layer or two of highlights, but I've done enough work on it for now. It's time I try my hand at painting a sphinx.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/5119/WljMtC.jpg)
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While it does look like it was a pain to paint. I can say it looks to be worth it! Awesome pattern work! It is a top notch piece.
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top-notch.
looking forward to the sphinx.
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The carpet turned out really well. Looking forward to seeing the sphinx now.
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Brilliant work mate!
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I agree with the fellows about the painted carpet. It looks wonderful! Your magician on flying carpet makes a truly awesome hero for SAGA.
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Sphinx 1 Koyote 0
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5268/5CJOYn.jpg)
Stripping everything down to the bones and starting over.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8597/kESNdw.jpg)
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As you might have guessed from my previous post, my first attempt to paint the Sphinx didn't go so well. My selection of paints, washes (damn you Seraphim Sepia), and techniques for painting the body and legs was a disaster. My choice of colors resulted in a giant, sandy/tawny creature standing on a pile of sandy/tawny stones, surrounded by sandy/tawny desert. I used different shades of sandy/tawny color on each component, but the end result was uninspiring and bland. The mane and wings were a dark brown, but it didn't help much.
If I have another go at this model, I will add a greater variety of colors to break up all the tans and browns. The stone blocks with have a reddish hue and the wings will be a much lighter color.
As a plan B, I just ordered this fella.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/964/z2DWRD.jpg)
If I estimated the scaling and proportions correctly, it can serve in the place of the Sphinx as my warband's Scourge (flying Monster). It fits my warband's theme, it "flies", and feeling restricted to tans and browns won't be a problem.
Although, every new subject matter brings with it new problems. Do I paint the skin blue to match my warband, or will this make it look too much like a Disney genie? Perhaps I will paint the top half to match the skin tones of the rest of my army, and paint only the smoke blue or bluish white? Hmm?
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Looky what arrived yesterday.
Overall, I'm satisfied with the quality of the 3D print, however, there are areas where the layering of the resin is visible, leaving those areas looking like a topographical map. I've seen this before on 3D prints printed in plastic, but not in resin. Most of the areas of are gradual enough that the primer and paint should cover them up. Other areas, such as on the sword blade, are quite severe. I'm going to attempt to smooth these areas out with fine grit sandpaper and/or the edge of a hobby knife. Wish me luck.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2882/To6ByY.jpg)
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That's a big lad indeed! Shame about the print layers, but they certainly don't show in a photo so shouldn't be obvious on the table either.
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good grief, what an amazing 'print'.
why do everyone else's seem to be better than the ones I've bought off ebay / etsy ... ? ???
you are a perfectionist :) - I can't see anything much wrong with the figure - particulary, as Ogrob says, from table-top distance etc that the paint-job wont obscure.
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good grief, what an amazing 'print'.
…
you are a perfectionist :) - I can't see anything much wrong with the figure - particulary, as Ogrob says, from table-top distance etc that the paint-job wont obscure.
It looks good from a distance, but the layer height is such that even when primed and painted, you could see the layers through the paint. This was made more obvious when inks were applied. The surface of the sword blade was especially bad. I tried strip the model so I could sand down or scrape flat the problem areas, but the layers gave the primer places to grip onto so the stripping left behind a mess that would take me hours of tedious work to clean up.
I gambled that the layering was subtle enough that it didn’t need to sanded down. In my defense, some of the worst patches were in areas hard to reach, so it would have been a chore.
Lesson learned, I sacrificed the model to Hephaestus and ordered the same model from a different printer. This time in my pre-purchase communications I set my expectations for a smooth surface up front.
why do everyone else's seem to be better than the ones I've bought off ebay / etsy ... ? ???
When buying from an Etsy printer:
1) Check the description to ensure the model is printed in resin, not plastic filament (FDM)
2) Larger minis (ogre sized and above) without too much fine detail tend to come out the best
3) Check out the Seller’s Etsy seller page and read the reviews and photos. Keep in mind that only close-up photos show the true level of detail and sharpness.
4) Buying man-sized minis can be a gamble, since the quality, sharpness, and proportions can differ from seller to seller and STL to STL. Thus, I recommend buying a sample man-sized 28mm as a quality and scale check before buying an entire unit of minis.
5) Always use caution when buying from sellers outside the US, UK, and Western Europe.
6) It’s a good idea to chat with the seller before making your purchase. Ask for an estimate on turn around time and the name of the shipping carrier. Some sellers have a month+ wait time. Their responsiveness and friendliness will give you a feel for what they will be like if you happen to have a problem with your order.
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I finished my AoM Warlord on a flying beast. I can see plenty of areas where the model can be improved, but overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out.
The eagle's feathers look much better (better definition between feathers) in-person than they do in the photo. Also, the talons don't look quite so orange in person. I think both are cased by my lighting, but I'm too lazy to go back and shoot the model again.
I used a plain LBM decal for the shield and painted the white script and circles by hand. Simple but effective.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8545/e8c0wM.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/122/KMWB9i.jpg)
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Fantastic looking model - certainly fit for a warlord. Good work on this!
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indeed.
and thanks for the the advice / opinion on 3d prints etc.
I have been tending to ask for samples - and in both 28mm and 32mm, as sourcing figures that really 'work' with old existing ranges (say 'classic' GW fantasy etc) is more difficult than one might expect (given there are so many 'not-' GW substitutes being offered).
as to seller location, personally no problem with the one order I placed outside the zones mentioned.
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One more task checked off my Adepticon prep to-do list.
This big fellow will serve as a Scourge (flying monster) for my Deep Desert Nomad (Lords of the Wild) warband.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7228/fotzAo.jpg)
It’s a Djinn 3D print that I bought from a seller on Etsy.com. I scaled it up to 120mm so it would be “monster” sized rather than “creature” sized.
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That is ridiculously good. I love the skin tone and highlights.
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Oooh :-*
Although, as a child of the 80's, I'm a little sad you didn't jump in with both feet and go full Disney ;)
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Brilliant work as usual mate!
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That is ridiculously good. I love the skin tone and highlights.
I have to agree, probably the best dark skin tone I've ever seen.
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well, still think the fig. looks amazing, and a wonderful paint-job.
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Fantastic paint job on a really nice figure. Well done!
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The Adepticon Age of Magic tournament permits the use of Sacred Ground. The choice to use Sacred Ground is optional, and the effect of The Lords of the Wild Sacred Ground is easy for an opponent to avoid, nonetheless, it adds to one's painting score so I'm going for it.
The sphinx comes from GaleForce 9's Forgotten City: Riddling Sphinxes set. I used a railway scenery rubber mold and Plaster of Paris to cast the rocks. The base is a sheet of 1 mm thick styrene sheeting, cut to shape.
The next steps are to add some desert critters, scattered bones, and texture, and then the model will be ready for primer and paint.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3689/fLn3P4.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/5130/dhl3Q8.jpg)
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I’ve added a few more rocks, bones, critters, and texture.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1314/9crezS.jpg)
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I finished painting the Sacred Ground.
It's time to start work on the desert display board. My plan is to make it a fairly simple board. It will incorporate an insert for the Sacred Ground, tufts, and some of the exposed rock seen on the Sacred Ground.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5885/q5Eel5.jpg)
I've included the WIP photo below so you can see how I made the insert. I'll use filler to conceal the outside edge of the styrene sheet.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8396/KZ9474.jpg)
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Much looking forward to the end product, and the army all together of course.
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(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7687/cR0LZq.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4053/9oDW74.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8602/kgughp.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6363/M3lIau.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4130/guhLU8.jpg)
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Looks ready to go. Have a great time at Adepticon!
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:)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8867/ktB4f3.jpg)
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Congratulations! No mean feat to get Best Overall at Adepticon in any competition.
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Nicely done mate! Congrats!
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Well deserved recognition of your work, well done.
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Congratulation! Well deserved!
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Congratulations!
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fantastic, well done.
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Cool. Well deserved indeed.
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The light in the Adepticon event hall was so poor I couldn’t get any good photos of my warband. So, before I put my minis back in my display case I took a group shot.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7818/Undova.jpg)
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That looks amazing mate!
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Ooh, now they look good all set out together.
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Great looking force - you must be pleased with how it has all come together.
And congrats on the adapticon medal - for those of us on the other side of the pond - what where the criteria for ‘best overall’?
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great to see them all together.
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Great looking force - you must be pleased with how it has all come together.
And congrats on the adapticon medal - for those of us on the other side of the pond - what where the criteria for ‘best overall’?
The criteria was a true best overall score, with battle points, paint, and sportsmanship being weighed equally. In the event of a tie, massacre points was to serve as a tie breaker.
There were also awards for best sports, paint, and most massacre points. Swag/prize support was handed out in reverse order, with lowest overall score getting first choice from the swag pile, second lowest next, and so on.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8800/haBq0G.jpg)
I won my first two games (vs Great Kingdoms and Horde) and fought to a draw in the third (Undead). I squeaked out 1st place overall by one point, thanks to a single ‘Best Opponent’ vote.
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Well done! Good work to have scored so highly in all 3 criteria.
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Congratulations! You had a great performance!
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The original theme was is a cursed forest that has fallen under the spell of a malign, enigmatic fae creature who takes the form of a gaunt, impossibly tall manlike creature reminiscent of member of the Wild Hunt from Northern European folklore. The warband is comprised of the reanimated men, elves, and even a treant, of forest kingdoms decimated by the fae creature's dark magics.
I've refined this theme by adding Baba Yaga and some of her pets to the mix. I've additional flavor to the warband by sprinkling some fun character models throughout. Finally, added some resin bits to the bases and the hearthguard's helmets to reinforce the dark forest theme.
I magnetized the warlord (or Necromancer) so I can switch him between bases. This lets me play him on foot or mounted on a Beast (although in this case, he and his "beast" walk side-by-side). The two character models beside the warlord are to be used as Challengers in the Old Feud scenario -one a fighty character (Brute or Soldier) and one a non-fighty character (Mystic or Counsellor).
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/586/8QlkwD.jpg)
Here's Baba Yaga herself. Mounted on her flying mortar and pestle, she can represent either a mounted Sorcerer or mounted Necromancer. Beside her is her trusty lieutenant, the Black Knight. The FAQ made the Black Knight a bit less useful, but still, its ability to take Fatigue off of a nearby hero could mean the the difference between life and death when a Necromancer or Sorcerer has to roll on the Abuse of Power Table.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/612/OzQqmE.jpg)
I've replaced the scary Treant model with an even scarier Leshy (Wendio) model. I made the switch because I think this model will paint up much nicer than the original "undead" Treant.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6172/aTyMUs.jpg)
Of course, you can't have Baba Yaga without her magical, chicken legged hut. This hut is a bit smaller than I had originally envisioned, so I've ordered a second hut printed at 150% of this hut's size. My plan is to use the hut as the warband's Sacred Terrain.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/2832/VZ6Hea.jpg)
Below are three themed objective markers I whipped up for the warband.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5065/SrK82N.jpg)
Below are my mounted hearthguard. The antlers were snipped off a pack of resin antlered helms I ordered from a printer on Etsy. I drilled holes into the sides of their helmets to slide each antler into place.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4642/CAn5QT.jpg)
Below are four units of 10 Warriors -two with "no equipment" and two with bow. Each unit is led by a champion that has no in-game effect, but adds flavor to their respective unit.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4537/VxvSbx.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6206/MlWqCE.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8426/nExXGk.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9577/Y9kSVo.jpg)
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Fantastic set of miniatures, impressively cohesive for such a varied mix of makers.
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That’s an amazing looking collection! Great job finding them to fit with the theme. I can’t wait to see them painted!
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Another impressive Saga build begins. This group has a lot of character.
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Fantastic!
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Another impressive Saga build begins. This group has a lot of character.
I am echoing Syrinx0 here! Loving it!
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Really brilliant stuff, this is shaping up to be one of your best forces yet.
Have you chosen a colour scheme for the undead yet? And where did you get the unit champions, if I may ask?
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Wow; this is such a cool force you put together. The theme across the whole army is wonderfully coherent and creepy; this is no ordinary undead army!
Especially the leaders of the undead units add the required character to otherwise rather bland units.
The warlord(?) in the first picture (with the hound on the base) is from the Circle faction from Hordes, right? But the leader in the first bowmen unit looks familiar too, but I can't recall where he's from?
Can't wait to see this army painted!
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wow. :-*
archers look like the old Runewars miniatures. Prob. similar contemporary 3D prints.
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Oh; I thought they were mantic, at first glance...
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Below is the miniature legend for this warband.
It's so varied because I spend an inordinate amount of time collecting miniatures, even if I don't have an immediate use for them. The end result is boxes of individual minis that I then dig through when it's time to find character models for my armies and warbands. At other times I will need a mini to fit a certain role, and if I don't already have a suitable mini, I derive quite a bit of satisfaction from searching the available model lines for just the right mini.
Designing (i.e., list building and creating a theme/backstory), collecting, assembling, and converting warbands is by far my favorite part of the hobby, followed by painting and playing the games.
UNDEAD WARBAND MINIATURE LEGEND
The Warlord and the tree with the skeletons draped across it are Privateer Press Circle or Orboros models.
The zombie hound is from Fireforge Games' Living Dead Knights kit.
The zombie bear is the Haunted Bear from Great Escape Games' Dead Man's Hand model line.
The bird/stork guy is the Melchior model from Heresy Lab Miniatures.
The skelly with the crown and the big sword is a Wight King from GW.
The Black Knight is Fireforge Games' Vekhat the Soulreaper. Its ram's head is a scenery bit from an old GW Wood Elf sprue, with the foliage removed.
Baba Yaga, the walking hut, and the Wendigo (Leshy) are 3D prints from an Etsy printers.
The mounted Hearthguard are from Fireforge Games' Living Dead Knights kit. I found their original heads to be too small so I replaced them with heads from the OOP GW Vampire Counts Skeleton kit. The antlers were cut from 3d printed knight helmets.
The foot warriors are from Fireforge Games' Living Dead Warriors kit. The tree shields are also sold by Fireforge Games.
The "undead" knights leading the foot warriors are Knights from Heresy Lab Miniatures.
The bow warriors are indeed models from the ill fated Runewars model line. They are all OOP now, but you can still find them on eBay.
The bow warrior "champion" armed with a sickle is Slough Feg, from the Sláine: Kiss My Axe! miniature game.
The bow warrior "champion" armed with a wavy knife is Zealot Miniatures' Phanrax the Necromancer.
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The larger hut arrived today. I'm much happier with the scale.
Even though it's only going to be used as Sacred Terrain, it will make a wonderful centerpiece for the the warband's display board.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/60/JGRVxF.jpg)
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The increased size was a good idea. That will be impressive on your board.
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wonderful mix of ideas and figures. Baba Yaga's hut is fantastic at that larger size.
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Even though it's only going to be used as Sacred Terrain, it will make a wonderful centerpiece for the the warband's display board.
You could also play the hut as a behemoth or a titan. After all, the hut has big chicken legs to move around. ;)
I cannot wait to see your finished warband! :)
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I have yet to put any paint on my Undead or Greenskins, but recently added some new additions.
First, a friend printed only the head and spear from the Avatars of War Savage Orc Warlord STL, so now the head and weapon of my my mounted warlord matches the head and weapon of the foot version.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7098/YqY8mZ.jpg)
I've been experimenting with different Undead lists. Two of the options I wish to experiment with are Hearthguard armed with heavy weapons and the static warmachine. The latter was made by Knightmare Miniatures, and is clearly an homage to the classic 1990s Citadel Miniature's Man-Mangler kit. I cut down the moon central face's chin a bit, so that in keeping with my Baba Yaga haunted forest theme, the face can be that of a fairy tale witch rather than that of GW greenskin Badmoon symbol. This warmachine will be nicknamed, The Hag.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/996/YKx2Ep.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/1096/ySbSsx.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/917/HDi5qc.jpg)
Lastly, since the opponent that I've been play testing my Undead against fields a Dwarf warband, I couldn't resist adding some dwarfs to the ranks of my living dead.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2039/xLcriN.jpg)
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Little bit of a delayed response here, but this army is coming along brilliantly! I love the addition of the zombie dwarves - just makes sense, will be really cool for immersion!
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Those zombie dwarves are awesome (just what the necromancer ordered). They look like 3D prints. Can you reveal the source?
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Those zombie dwarves are awesome (just what the necromancer ordered). They look like 3D prints. Can you reveal the source?
Yes, they are 3D prints. I purchased them from an Etsy seller, LeviathanDesignLLC. Got to www.etsy.com and search for 'Zombie Dwarves'. You'll see that multiple sellers sell them.
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Those zombie dwarves are awesome (just what the necromancer ordered). They look like 3D prints. Can you reveal the source?
Look like Duncan Shadow to me?
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I’ve been away from Saga for a while, playing mostly Mordheim, but the Saga itch has returned. Below are six new (no equip) Undead Hearthguard.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/1203/G46lAE.jpg)
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Cool figures. 3D prints?
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I’ve been away from Saga for a while, playing mostly Mordheim, but the Saga itch has returned. Below are six new (no equip) Undead Hearthguard.
Now those are nice. Who makes them?
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Now those are nice. Who makes them?
They are Skeleton Boyar Guard. The STLs were designed by Highland Miniatures. I bought my models from a Seller on Etsy.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5408/lJuLEd.jpg)
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Impressive. I could tell the command was from a printer but the regular troops looked like they might be plastic. Took a look at his stuff. Pretty slick all around.
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I’ve assembled a second unit of mounted Hearthguard and a unit of flying Creatures.
The HG are Fireforge models with their original, puny heads replaced with larger, heads from a GW’s skeleton warrior kit. I added the spikes to the tops of the helmets. The spikes are the tips of butt-spikes clipped from plastic spears.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2495/GTQoGD.jpg)
The bats are GW Fell Bats. Their original arms and legs look much to skinny, so I bulked them up a bit with greenstuff.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8541/i7wvf7.jpg)
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Excellently composed minis as always. Love the bases on the bats.
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Those will be great additions. I like the modifications you did on the horsemen, the kitbash looks pretty seamless.
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Really cool to see you back on the SAGA train, and even better with Undead. Been boosting my own Undead forces lately so always great to see more. Keep it up mate
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You have a lot of stunning miniatures here! Especially these undead are cool :-*
You rekindled my idea of creating an undead army myself :D
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The light in the Adepticon event hall was so poor I couldn’t get any good photos of my warband. So, before I put my minis back in my display case I took a group shot.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7818/Undova.jpg)
Stunning work here! I especially like the wizard surfing on his carpet :D
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I purchased a ticket for the The Awakening Age of Magic tournament in in Langley, British Columbia.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/1628/splsxs.png)
I doubt that I can have my Undead ready in time, so I am going to use this as and excuse to re-tool my Lords of the Wild, Deep Desert Nomads warband. I'm going to tweak my Adepticon list a bit, add some new "equipment" options, and revisit my models' shading and highlights.
I began, last night, by selecting my core infantry models and starting work on rebasing the giant wolves that I orginally painted for my Celtic Horde warband. These desert wolves will give me the option to field my creatures as bipeds or quadrapeds.
My hope is that this tournament will motivate me to finally put some paint on my WL and HG camel cav (which can also be used in a Mutatawiia warband).
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4672/UBf2Af.jpg)
I want to add small shields to my javelin levy. This will add another splash of color and break up all the brown on the models.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5364/wWo3Ez.jpg)
The Lords of the Wild don't have a multi-activation ability and I've never been player who uses his warlord that aggressively, so the WL on flying beast will likely stay home. Instead, I'm going to field my warlord as mounted (camel) or on foot (pictured below center right).
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2447/0jsd7s.jpg)
I also have plans to create a small unit of foot HG using Lord of the Rings Abrakhan Guard minis. I already have one painted, which I previously as unit leader for one of my units of Warriors.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7302/g90L8s.jpg)
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Keen to see your creations as always :D
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Awww mate, more brilliant work! I love your creations.
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Simply amazing. Well done
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My giant wolves have been transported from the fens of Inisfail to the deserts of fantasy Sahara.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5932/9ZJ9Yf.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7440/cHqNAL.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5861/GphNh7.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9100/yzvHdI.jpg)
Apologies for the photo quality. To save time, I used my iPhone and poor lighting. Once I've completed the warband's makeover, I will take proper photos.
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In other news, I've replaced my Baba Yaga with version that like a bit better. I've also replaced the printed foot HG (which are bit too static and boring) with GW Deathrattle skellies. Lastly, I've added a quadraped creature option to my Undead Legion.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2295/5cvddR.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7633/O7Do7N.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6249/0YqvIV.jpg)
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Very nice.
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Always interesting topic to follow. There are so many good ideas!
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I have a confession to make. I f*cking hate the blue that I used to paint my Desert Nomads/Moors warband. Also, I am not particularly fond of the Gripping Beast plastics Arab infantry and Araby heavy cav models (although the horses themselves are quite nice).
To set these hobby wrongs right, I'm going to remodel and repaint much of the warband. I'm also going to add new units and new 'equipment' choices.
I replaced the Gripping Beast Arab Infantry with Perry Miniatures' Afghan Tribesmen. Additionally, the blue that I hate will be replaced with some more muted colors.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/605/Aq9Dc2.jpg)
I replaced the original, fully veiled Footsore archers with different Footsore archers. The unit leader is a converted Brother Vinni model and the standard bearer is a Perry Afghan.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6720/LSPbcO.jpg)
I repainted the waist sashes on my javelin Levy and added shields.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5430/YXrAXV.jpg)
I repainted the blues on my Biped Creatures and did some more work on their skin. I also added a Quadruped Creature option.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/3554/Rg5W1y.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5580/6wixGZ.jpg)
I did a bit of work on my Djinn's (Monster) flesh. I still have to add another layer of highlight to the highest points on the Djinn's smoke.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6959/fo2Srb.jpg)
I repainted the blues on a unit leader model and rebased it so that it can serve as a Warlord on foot. I still need to paint the mounted Warlord model. The hated-blue doesn't look too bad on my Sorcerer model, so I may leave well enough alone.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/1227/uBzGdj.jpg)
Still on my To-Do list for this warband is:
- Repaint the blue on my Perry Berber cav, so I can play my Warriors as infantry or cav
- Paint Warlord on camel
- Paint 4 HG on camels
- Paint 4 HG on foot
- Paint a second Monster so I have the option to field a Scourge (flying Monsters) or a Behemoth or Titan
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The djinn and the sorcerer are masterful painting!
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I quite liked the blue for a Tuareg vibe but your new color palette works too. I am quite keen on your painting style.
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If time allows, I want to put paint on an alternative Monster.
In Saga you declare how many points you spend on each unit type, but you aren’t required to declare how your units are equipped until it’s time to deploy that particular unit. If you have the available models, this lets you fine tune your warband to you opponent, the scenario, and the terrain set up.
In the case of Monsters or Creatures, there are 3 varieties of Monsters and 3 varieties of Creatures -each with its own strengths and weakness. Flying Monsters, like my Djinn, are the most mobile and have a short range shooting attack, but they are the weakest in melee and since they are flying, they cannot be screened from shooting attacks by other units or terrain. This makes them an easy target for static warmachines, which have an unlimited range. Thus, if my opponent fields a warmachine, it will be nice to field my Monster as one of the two non-flying varieties.
I got a good deal on a giant snake made by Steamforged Games. To rebase it, I had to chisel the snake and terrain bits off the original base using a screw driver and hammer. I made the base out of a 0.04” thick styrene sheet and Apoxie Sculpt.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8756/N8cKfm.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2878/JcoTq8.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2708/kN8iJh.jpg)
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I do enjoy the humor of putting Indy's hat on the base there but it does limit the use some and your rebasing is great.
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Still on my To-Do list for this warband is:
- Repaint the blue on my Perry Berber cav, so I can play my Warriors as infantry or cav
- Paint Warlord on camel
- Paint 4 HG on camels
- Paint 4 HG on foot
- Paint a second Monster so I have the option to field a Scourge (flying Monsters) or a Behemoth or Titan
I finished my To-Do list with 2 days to spare. On October 1st, I'm going to take my LotW Deep Desert Normads to a Saga, Age of Magic tournament, about one hour north of me, in Langley B.C.
First up is a giant serpent that will serve as either a Behemoth or Titan.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2293/qwp7yW.jpg)
Next are 10 mounted Warriors that I can swap out for 10 foot Warriors, depending upon the mission and my opponent's faction.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7210/jtlG9B.jpg)
Next are 4 mounted Hearthguard and 4 Hearthguard on foot. Once again, painting two units gives me the option to play my HG mounted or on foot.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7798/hOQbPJ.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8859/C6XhGK.jpg)
Finally, here's my mounted Warlord and two versions of the LotW's Lieutenant, which is called a Ranger. These models give me the option to equip my Ranger with a bow or with no special equipment.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1347/duuNEh.jpg)
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Stunning work! Love the strategic thinking too, best of luck at the tourney!
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Loving the additions mate!
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What a superb force!
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This is a wonderful thread. Going back a couple of posts - that flying carpet is insanely good. Wow.
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Fantastic looking warband - the paint work is sublime :-*
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The hard work paid off. My Lords of the Wild -Deep Desert Nomads, made a good showing of themselves at Sunday's tournament. Turnout was modest, but you couldn't ask for a better bunch of guys to game with. I look forward to their next tournament.
I took a couple of pics during my first game (vs Undead), but then entirely forgot about doing so in games #2 (vs Otherworld) and #3 (vs Lords of the Wild).
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/797/wH4UlZ.jpg)
I played very conservatively in my first two games. Since my third game was against another LotW player, I had no choice but to drive forward and really mix it up. My LotW opponent is a good player and lost more models in my game against him than my first two games combined. Game number 3 was, by far, my favorite match of the event.
And while I did take best overall and best painted, this must be tempered by the fact that the tournament had a modest turnout (8 players) and there was no painting requirement for attendance. It's my understanding that this club has a stronger Saga historical player base, and is still building its Saga Age of Magic player base. As such, this inaugural AoM event was intended to be more of a casual affair, aimed at growing and cementing its AoM player base.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/3131/93Mvn6.jpg)
Here's a group pic. The board is a bit crowded because I included all of the optional models.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5716/XJhJl4.jpg)
Ironically, I spent a lot of time painting my HG cavalry and repainting parts of my 10 Warrior cav, but didn't use either option in any of my games. My HG and Warriors stayed on foot during all 3 games.
I did utilize both Monster and Creatures options. I found the flying Monster the most useful, but this is because I used it primary to harass and distract my opponents. I used both the Giant Wolves (quadruped) and the Ogre (biped) options, but aside from one charge taking out 9 levy in one go, my creatures didn't do much.
I equipped the Ranger with a bow in all 3 games. In Game #1 he didn't do anything. In Game #2, he turned a large area of uneven terrain into open terrain for my warband. This was crucial in allowing me to achieve the scenario objective. In Game #3, I used him to counter my opponent's Ambush ability and he killed off my opponent's last two mounted HG with a single volley.
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Glad to hear it was a fun tournament. No matter how big the turnout your well painted force certainly would have been in contention. Great picture of the entire force.