Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Battle Brush Sigur on August 16, 2021, 05:44:38 PM
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Hello hello.
Here's the first bunch of figures from the Dark Souls board game:
(https://i.imgur.com/7RKqOzL.jpg)
For now I'll just do the basic box, but I'm pretty sure I'll do a bunch of the expansions as well. For research reasons I reinstalled Dark Souls 3 and ran around, taking screenshots of Hollow Soldiers and so on for reference. In terms of figure painting it's a really interesting endeavor, because the videogame relies very, very heavily on lighting to create the look of the enemies. Which is something that won't work that well in the actual miniatures of course. Sure, one could resort to heavy use of OSL, but that'll look weird to nonsensical. Of course it depends on how it's done, and I'm willing to see my fault if someone shows me their wonderfully looking OSL'd up collection.:)
Anyway, so here's the Hollow Soldiers, Elites, dudes with greataxes, silver knights with swords and bows and of course the great Winged Knight. These aren't all done yet, but well on their way. They need some tidying up (or untidying, depending on the figure) and of course some dungeon-y basing. It won't be anything too exciting, but I think it'll fit the theme.
Currently I'm working on the heroes, then I'll tackle the royal Sentinels, Ornstein&Smough (now that'll be fun, with the guys essentially being all golden), and then the rest of the bosses one by one. Titanite demon, Dancer of the Boreal Valley and the Gargoyle. The latter always makes me uneasy. I keep on expecting a second one popping up from behind any second. Last night it was especially bad and I started making panic rolls across the room.
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Wow! Fantastic brush work! I know nothing about the game(s), but the painting makes me want to investigate what the deal is!
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Superb. I find these miniatures quite lame compared to regular and more detailed figures, but your paintjob elevates them.
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@Mister Frau Blucher: Thanks very much, Mister Frau! The boardgame was a huge deal a few years ago, because it made a poopton of money on kickstarter. I'm a fan of the video game series (you play a knight person with a bighuge sword and fight scary monsters through dungeons which are all interconnected. What's not to love ;) ), and I played the board game shortly after it was released. It got some sombre reviews on release because it's unlike other dungeon crawler boardgames, but since then the publishers (Steamforged, originally known for Guild Ball, but they dropped that for more lucrative things by now. Shame, because after some years of not quite getting that digital sculpts at some point collide with the actual world they got to a point at which I called their figures my favourite metals out there. Without even playing their game!) added a ton of optional rules which improve the game - which wasn't bad in any way to begin with - a lot.
@Reed: Yeah, while I spent hours and hours trying to find ways to get rid of the mold lines on these figures somehow I realized why these companies advertise their figures using renders rather than the actual product. I just do NOT like that bendyplastic with the horrible mold lines. It's an odd space we're in with these figures. On the one hand they aim to give us these very big and impressive sculpts, and then they cast it in that horrible material, and all in one piece. Very much a product of their time, I'd say. The kickstarter gold digging days, promising 5kilos of bendyplastic with each box to people who'll buy three (one to sell right away, one to sell two months later, one more to keep for themselves). Hope I don't come off as being negative here. :D After all, it's a boardgame, being sold to boardgamers and to be used for gaming rather than display. However, while working with these figures I keep on thinking how these figures would look much nicer cast in crisp metal or resin. Oh well. I paint a lot of boardgame figures made from that material. They tend to turn out nice once all done up, but the way there probably would be nicer with models cast in another material. The big pro though: I can throw these figures across the room, drop them off the balcony give them to the dog as a chew toy, and they'll be fine (maybe after a quick wash). ;-)
One thing I find very interesting about these figures here is how you can play with textures. I don't do it as much as one COULD with these figures, but there's a lot of fun to be had. You get rough, aged, rusted armour, you get shiny new armor, golden armour (weathered and new), chainmail, rough-spun rags, silk, demon/monster skin, human skin, undead skin, stone-like structure, fur, feathers, and so on. It's a great variety show. :D
As for the actual progress - I'm getting there. They'll be done by the end of the month. I got the heroes done now, and I'm currently wading through painting the bosses. And then I'll base'em all in the end.
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Heyhey, here's WIP shots of the heroes:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/heroeswip1schrift.jpg.6dafb461bb7ddc077324cb2a941dabb5.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/heroeswip1schrift.jpg.6dafb461bb7ddc077324cb2a941dabb5.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/heroeswip1schrift.jpg.6dafb461bb7ddc077324cb2a941dabb5.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/heroeswip2schrift.JPG.fe8b556826a7c025266430c454e38c45.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/heroeswip2schrift.JPG.fe8b556826a7c025266430c454e38c45.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/heroeswip2schrift.JPG.fe8b556826a7c025266430c454e38c45.JPG)
The shield design on the herald's (the guy in the light brown cloak) shield is freehanded, based on the class' starter shield in the videogame. Colours and designs are as in the games (as far as it makes sense on a miniature), but I used that red on each of the heroes figures, which doesn't feature in any of the enemy figures, for easier identification on the board.
Hope you like them!
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Definitely the best painted Dark Souls boardgame figures I've ever seen. Very clever use of the red for ease of distinction.
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@Reed: Thank you very much; that's a very encouraging comment. :-)
Painting's mostly done now, and NOW I realized that I want to go the extra mile on the basing. Which is a thing I should have thought of beforehand. :D Oh well. Booted up Dark Souls 3 again, took some screenshots of the groun, and got to working on those bases.
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Heyhey, hope all of you had a lovely weekend. Here's the Dark Souls board game figures:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as1.jpg.2480f8d3b66ea0eb86f91d6a21ff27f0.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as1.jpg.2480f8d3b66ea0eb86f91d6a21ff27f0.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as1.jpg.2480f8d3b66ea0eb86f91d6a21ff27f0.jpg)
Hope you like them! More pictures coming up.
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Really nice paintwork! The gold on Ornstein and Smough turned out amazingly
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Really nice paintwork! The gold on Ornstein and Smough turned out amazingly
Thanks very much! Getting those to look right was pretty tricky. With metallics it's always a matter of getting the shading/highlighting just right. Doing too much doesn't look proper either.
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Here's the Dark Souls dudes all done:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as1bschrift.jpg.5e2015d027eb1d39de9e98a44e8bcc79.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as1bschrift.jpg.5e2015d027eb1d39de9e98a44e8bcc79.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as1bschrift.jpg.5e2015d027eb1d39de9e98a44e8bcc79.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as2schrift.jpg.ea521d7a78734ec23091b374cf0da53d.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as2schrift.jpg.ea521d7a78734ec23091b374cf0da53d.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as2schrift.jpg.ea521d7a78734ec23091b374cf0da53d.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as3.schriftJPG.jpg.886228e97df2cd338958fd999d448aa7.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as3.schriftJPG.jpg.886228e97df2cd338958fd999d448aa7.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/as3.schriftJPG.jpg.886228e97df2cd338958fd999d448aa7.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/1schrift.jpg.f74e417d213731aef67511aa49166ec5.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/1schrift.jpg.f74e417d213731aef67511aa49166ec5.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/1schrift.jpg.f74e417d213731aef67511aa49166ec5.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/2schrift.jpg.6fe95e949a7451f66bfacbcaaf20f799.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/2schrift.jpg.6fe95e949a7451f66bfacbcaaf20f799.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/2schrift.jpg.6fe95e949a7451f66bfacbcaaf20f799.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/2bschrift.JPG.c85a60f3174a16cfd17d1587463b63e9.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/2bschrift.JPG.c85a60f3174a16cfd17d1587463b63e9.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/2bschrift.JPG.c85a60f3174a16cfd17d1587463b63e9.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/3bschrift.jpg.e9d791bb9f8678eef3d15983e3b89ac6.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/3bschrift.jpg.e9d791bb9f8678eef3d15983e3b89ac6.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/3bschrift.jpg.e9d791bb9f8678eef3d15983e3b89ac6.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/3schrift.jpg.829d00bf71caa266a0309a56fafe092b.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/3schrift.jpg.829d00bf71caa266a0309a56fafe092b.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/3schrift.jpg.829d00bf71caa266a0309a56fafe092b.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/4schrift.JPG.6490349918049fa6815c14bb5d46b27b.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/4schrift.JPG.6490349918049fa6815c14bb5d46b27b.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/4schrift.JPG.6490349918049fa6815c14bb5d46b27b.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/5schrift.JPG.6bf5456d160f36a20bccd2545475e939.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/5schrift.JPG.6bf5456d160f36a20bccd2545475e939.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/5schrift.JPG.6bf5456d160f36a20bccd2545475e939.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/6.schriftjpg.jpg.c786d8c2ad98a77cfd5cf51238ffb049.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/6.schriftjpg.jpg.c786d8c2ad98a77cfd5cf51238ffb049.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/6.schriftjpg.jpg.c786d8c2ad98a77cfd5cf51238ffb049.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/7schrift.jpg.24befb0a5d358e14378b79e610c05c75.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/7schrift.jpg.24befb0a5d358e14378b79e610c05c75.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/7schrift.jpg.24befb0a5d358e14378b79e610c05c75.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/8schrift.JPG.b9e149f29ae473eb962968b62e9a3054.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/8schrift.JPG.b9e149f29ae473eb962968b62e9a3054.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/8schrift.JPG.b9e149f29ae473eb962968b62e9a3054.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/9schrift.jpg.ee8dfd94b0d77c51d09bc308db7a5293.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/9schrift.jpg.ee8dfd94b0d77c51d09bc308db7a5293.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_08/9schrift.jpg.ee8dfd94b0d77c51d09bc308db7a5293.jpg)
Hope you like them! :)
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Roight, I got the Darkroot expansion on the table now. After loads of sci-fi vehicles and huge fantasy building I'm back to actual figure painting. It's lovely. :)
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0602/0156/6449/products/dark-souls-darkroot-2_800x.jpg)
Hope I'll be able to post proper photos soon!
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Oh nice! Looking forward to seeing the work on the expansion!
Also late to the party but the cloak on the Dancer of the Boreal Valley is amazing work! Well done!
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Oh nice! Looking forward to seeing the work on the expansion!
Also late to the party but the cloak on the Dancer of the Boreal Valley is amazing work! Well done!
Thanks very much! I looked at videos of the guy and of course I fought him a few years ago when I played DS3, but at first it was a bit of a headscratcher. "How the heck do I put that look on a miniature?". :D The sword also looks a fair bit different in the game.
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Very nice :-*
You will have to look at Viva Dirt League on YouTube,they do a few very amusing Dark Souls skits :)
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Shared this thread with another group as you've done a stellar job on these :o
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@Blackwolf: I watched some of it last night. That's the same guys who did the PUBG skits as well, right?
@Knight-Captain Tyr: Thanks very much, for sharing and for the compliments. :) I kinda regret not having done more scenic shots of these, but I just didn't have the time.
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Indeed! :)
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Heyhey, happy Saturday.
Here's baddies from the Darkroot expansion of the Dark Souls boardgame:
(https://i.imgur.com/FViJ7ti.jpg)
All still WIP, other than prior DS figures these will get woodland-like basing. That should add a lot to the look of these. Hope you like them!
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However, while working with these figures I keep on thinking how these figures would look much nicer cast in crisp metal or resin. Oh well. I paint a lot of boardgame figures made from that material. They tend to turn out nice once all done up, but the way there probably would be nicer with models cast in another material.
This, Everytime I paint up a zombicide fig I cannot help but lament that the fantastic sculpts were never offered in a better material that would have done them justice.
Oh, and fantastic pjs as usual from you.
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@hubbabubbs: That's the thing, isn't it. Somehow these companies get off on digital sculpts with all the details and the tiny faces and tiny fingers and all, and then cast it up on THAT stuff. No wonder they go with bigger and bigger figures. Anyway, thanks for complimenting my PJs. :)
Right, I applied all sorts of fuzzy things to the bases and my surroundings, and that's what the figures look like now:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/as1shoopschrift.jpg.81e0ea6398833a5d2e325d4f8adf0d6f.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/as1shoopschrift.jpg.81e0ea6398833a5d2e325d4f8adf0d6f.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/as1shoopschrift.jpg.81e0ea6398833a5d2e325d4f8adf0d6f.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/allschrift.JPG.fc9253051db662ac698a80b3790f44d3.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/allschrift.JPG.fc9253051db662ac698a80b3790f44d3.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/allschrift.JPG.fc9253051db662ac698a80b3790f44d3.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/plantsschrift.JPG.ab2858b1f3361083f5ac5d388be16473.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/stoneschrift.JPG.3c3560a303aed8bb25de9f48120a2c2c.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_10/schwammschrift.JPG.224af1c74477211ee3608d3b179f004a.JPG)
That's that! Still to come are pictures of Knight Artorias and his doggo. Funny thing is that somehow the camera really dislikes the paintjob I did on the wolf. Looks nice in real life, looks kinda crap in the photos I took last night. (bar for the scenic shot. maybe something about the grey highilghts and the lighting or something).
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Mindblowingly good. In some ways better than the actual game.
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Well, it's easier to spot those plant bastards in the photos than in the actual game, that's for sure. :D Thanks for the comment!
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Heyhey, happy post-halloween. Hope you had a lovely time.
In the photos of the Darkroot expansion for the Dark Souls boardgame I omitted photos of Knight Artorias himself. Hereby I remedy this:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_11/arto2.JPG.10478376ff37c00a18fa5162a0f51905.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_11/arto1.JPG.432bbf9fd1a64fea7e5c0ca027ac4f4e.JPG)
Hope you like him (or are appropriately scared and saddened by his backstory).
Here's what he looks like in the video game:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/rgy1TV12LDc[/youtube]
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Great job with Artorias! The Abyss ooze is a really nice touch
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@HappyChappy439: Thanks very much! Yeah, I really try to get the figures (and the bases!) to look proper and like in the video games. Wouldn't wanna have superfans scream at me on the internet. :D
Hello, hello. Happy fourth advent Sunday!
Here's some more Dark Souls fun.
Asylum Demon (right at the beginning of Dark Souls1):
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/240794023_asad1schrift.JPG.8a21f2fca096c0966a0034470f76bf08.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/ad2schrift.JPG.ee8b659d143f77476cc35eeedeb7f383.JPG)
...and friends from Iron Keep (Dark Souls 2), including Smelter Demon and Lord Alonne:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/all2schrift.JPG.df8be5599eba63e10bdc4fb65a957e27.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/all2schrift.JPG.df8be5599eba63e10bdc4fb65a957e27.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/all2schrift.JPG.df8be5599eba63e10bdc4fb65a957e27.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/la1schrift.JPG.a50c4a10c7fee27b6f52a49f5cb2bf8b.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/la1schrift.JPG.a50c4a10c7fee27b6f52a49f5cb2bf8b.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/la1schrift.JPG.a50c4a10c7fee27b6f52a49f5cb2bf8b.JPG)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/la2schrift.JPG.4a4bd1ae1fb07e2fd8eaa499824d0e36.JPG)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/la2schrift.JPG.4a4bd1ae1fb07e2fd8eaa499824d0e36.JPG (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/la2schrift.JPG.4a4bd1ae1fb07e2fd8eaa499824d0e36.JPG)
Keep in mind that these are pretty big figures. The regular armoured dudes are 35mm foot to eye.
For research reasons I installed Dark Souls 2. As it turned out, it's quite a way from the start of the game to Iron Keep, so I'm not even there yet. :P But I take my reseach seriously, to make the figures look like their counterparts in the games, and I put extra effort into making the bases look right as well (ie appropriate to what the boss room or floor where you encounter the enemies looks like).
Btw, Dark Souls 2 is great. Sometimes it gets snubbed in favour of 1, 3 and Bloodborne, but even if it's a nudge weaker than these other games it's still great. Two nights ago I was playing the Rat King's dungeon (Grave of Saints). What a fun, amazing concept. I have NO idea how it works technically, but it does, and it's great fun.
Anyway, you can see those little Crystal Lizards they put in this add-on with the figures. I skimmed their rules for the board game, and they seem to work very much like in the video games, and thus seem like a very fun addtion and a great opportunity to get yourself killed. :D
Well, that's my important observations. I hope that you like the pictures of the figures, and that you're having a great 4th Advent Sunday. Tomorrow I'll get them to the gentleman I painted these for and will get another batch of Dark Souls boardgame figures (for way after christmas. Whenever I get to them). Good times.
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Incredible brushwork!! :-* :o
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Thanks very much, Anatoli! :)
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Heyhey, merry christmas, people!
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2021_12/1548099164_asad1schriftXMAS.jpg.1e208c1cc64d96e9ed183a6fa00fc37b.jpg)
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Merry Christmas people (and Asylum Demons!) lol
Really nice work on the last few posts as well! Smelter Demon and Alonne have turned out really well too!
Also nice to see some love for DS2 as well! It's definitely a solid entry in the series, with some of my favourite moments (if just a hair too long in some parts).
Rookie question, but what sort of proportion of DS1/2/3 figures are there in the miniatures game?
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That's a good question actually. The boxed game leans a bit toward Dark Souls 3 (because it was the new one at the time), and with the expansions you basically get what's on the tin. There are several boss expansions two or three ones about general areas (Darkroot and Iron Keep, maybe another one), and I think three general expansions: One which adds more player characters, another one adding phantoms/dark spirits and summoning allies and the Explorers expansion which adds models for some terrain features (barrels, gravestones, etc) and some other general stuff.
In terms of equipment, it's pretty much all over the place as far as I recall. Actually, we played Dark Souls (the boardgame; my brother's copy with all unpainted figures and so on. At least within the family we're at a point at which I don't get the theatrically surprised questions "you're painting with unpainted figures?! hahahaha" each time. ;) ) on a whim the other week. It's a perfectly nice game if you apply some house-rules which reduce the grinding. We played with double the amount of souls for each cleared room, purchase piles being separated into armour&shields, weapons, spells and upgrade stuff/ember. To keep it tough we halved the number of sparks per game (rounded down).
So yeah, that's that. Dark Souls: The Board Game works, and works nicely. It's just not your regular dungeon crawler. I got the new figures from the gentleman whose set I paint, so I can already tell you that next up we'll have the Explorers Expansion and bloody Black Dragon Kalameet, who is a Mega Boss. Should be good!
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Heyhey, I finished a bunch more Dark Souls figures (Explorers Expansion and Black Dragon Kalameet!).
More pictures to follow. I also made a funny.
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_04/comic1kleinschrift.jpg.e3fe9019c0a33c1966367dc822a719e4.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_04/comic1kleinschrift.jpg.e3fe9019c0a33c1966367dc822a719e4.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_04/comic1kleinschrift.jpg.e3fe9019c0a33c1966367dc822a719e4.jpg)
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Thats awesome!
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brilliant all 'round.
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Excellent work - and a great little story
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So good! Evokes the spirit of the games perfectly!
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Well done!
In short, Praise the Miniatures!
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@Knightofspades: Thanks very much!
@bloggard: Cheers, Sir!
@Little Odo: Thank you!
@Knight-Captain Tyr: Ha, thanks! :)
@HappyChappy439: :D
Righty, here's the other photos from the figures in the Explorers Expansion for the Dark Souls boardgame:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/baddies.jpg.d2a875e277f79eef8354a98efddeb83b.jpg)
The white background makes them look especially monochrome. But (other than with many other things I paint :P ) I do know my way around Dark Souls a little bit, and I take care to make the figures like they do in the videogames. In real life they're a little bit more colourful actually.
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/furni.jpg.7b960d7e0bea2bba7605fb57b317f4be.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/mimic.jpg.7a5ef19bc01fbdb48da84432851aeed3.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/pursas1schrift.jpg.ed807d60e8c80e531f47c01f819b9c53.jpg)
Then there's the Black Dragon Kalameet expansion:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/bdkalameet.jpg.4eb713b213b1eeaadf382925030d9d78.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/bdkalameet.jpg.4eb713b213b1eeaadf382925030d9d78.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/bdkalameet.jpg.4eb713b213b1eeaadf382925030d9d78.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/bdkalameet3.jpg.fa37557f4a05a74098125170cc966534.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/bdkalameet3.jpg.fa37557f4a05a74098125170cc966534.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_05/bdkalameet3.jpg.fa37557f4a05a74098125170cc966534.jpg)
He's a proper big'un. A megaboss, on a 150mm diameter base. Painting him was also interesting, as I tried some new things.
Anyway, hope you like them!
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Incredible!
I had a moment of PTSD seeing the mimic!
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Incredible!
I had a moment of PTSD seeing the mimic!
:D Who doesn't! The DS Mimics are such weird creatures with some memorable attacks!
Right, here's another batch of DS figures!
Old Iron King and the stonkin' good Characters Expansion.
Here's Siegmeyer (or Sieglinde?) of Catarina facing the Old Iron King.
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as1schrift.jpg.5e60e1893be390d92620bfb95b4dfe41.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as1schrift.jpg.5e60e1893be390d92620bfb95b4dfe41.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as1schrift.jpg.5e60e1893be390d92620bfb95b4dfe41.jpg)
This is why the Characters Expansion is stonkin' good - there's 10 figures in (more or less) iconic armor sets in there:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as3schrift.jpg.91b2f8c83306bb189110e7b4b1ab2919.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as3schrift.jpg.91b2f8c83306bb189110e7b4b1ab2919.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as3schrift.jpg.91b2f8c83306bb189110e7b4b1ab2919.jpg)
...as well as 6 new starting characters. Sorcerer, Thief, Mercenary, Cleric, Deprived, Pyromancer. Those required some freehand work on the shields.
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as4schrift.jpg.4bab100ef6d1e027bbd254df16e6ba50.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as4schrift.jpg.4bab100ef6d1e027bbd254df16e6ba50.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/as4schrift.jpg.4bab100ef6d1e027bbd254df16e6ba50.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/all2.jpg.4af86638b9981a257e9a4f1c52115ad5.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/all2.jpg.4af86638b9981a257e9a4f1c52115ad5.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_08/all2.jpg.4af86638b9981a257e9a4f1c52115ad5.jpg)
Hope you like them!
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Excellent work again! You've really done the game justice! I really like the lighting on Quelana(?) as well
It's great to see the Catarina knights in miniature form
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Excellent work again! You've really done the game justice! I really like the lighting on Quelana(?) as well
It's great to see the Catarina knights in miniature form
Thanks very much! I really try to get it 'right', from the colours to the style and feel to the bases. So it's twice as nice hearing that the effort pays off. Due to research reasons I started a new game of DS1 Remastered (playing a Sorcerer. Interesting.) and a new game of DS3 as a Deprived (fun). ;)
Yup, that's her, or at least somebody wearing the black hemmed armor set, casting some sort of fireball. Yeah, the armor is basically all black cloth, with some blue bracers underneath. Not extremely exciting by itself, so something had to be done to make her look a bit more interesting. :)
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Looking good mate! 👍
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I had to send pics of your stuff (again) to some friends who are into Souls. Your stuff is so good they should have used it for promo work!
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Your stuff is so good they should have used it for promo work!
I agree! The painting is so excellent I cannot really decide whether the figures themselves are any good or not!
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@Grumpy Gnome: Thanks very much!
@Knight-Captain Tyr: Oh cool. :) Feel free to send photos out. Also thanks for the compliments! I fully agree with you as well. ;-) I do the occasional promo figures/masters/shots for rule books and so on, but rarely for big operations such as Steamforged with their slightly broader products. Would love to do that more of course!
@Bearwoodman: Thanks, too kind of you. :) The figures are pretty good actually. Of course they suffer from some of the problems that come with the material (the occasional bent stuff, mold lines, can't really file it properly or such). They're also pretty huge, more along the lines of 34mm foot to eye, which helps them getting the details on. In the end they're boardgame figures. I try my best to make them look raggeddy and give them this typical Dark Souls look, with the exaggerated strong, dotty final highlights in pretty much white to give them an 'outline'. That becomes very apparent in the video games. Pretty much everything is very drab and dark, so every object or enemy needs an outline or have their own imaginary light source in front of them so you can actually see them. It's very interesting getting that on a figure.
Few days ago I handed the figures over to the gentleman who told me to put paint on them. He's very happy with them, which makes me happy. Next up: Vordt of the Boreal Valley (first boss in Dark Souls 3, which to me is extra special because DS3 is the one I actually played first proper. My brother's been into the series since Demon's Souls, it took me a a bit longer.) and the Phantoms expansion. Which contains a ton of fun character figures, but they'll all be just either white spectres or red ...well, evil spectres. Which is a bit of a shame, but that's what they're supposed to look like.
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fantastic work in this thread :-*
not that familiar with the video game - tried one, and needs too much synaptic skill for me (although interested in elden ring now there appears to be a workable co-op mod available ... ).
like the figures a lot tho' - and they're 'big' it would seem, which I want these days.
dunno ... BGG pretty much slates the gameplay - although I appreciate there are homebrew rules ... tiles look a bit dull - I guess they're probably a lot better in 'the real', and obviously are true to the aesthetic of the game anyway.
optional rules are mentioned right at the top- I've looked on Steamforged site, and you can d/load the rulebooks - is it the expansion rules you mean - or the BGG stuff?
seems to be some notdarksouls figures on etsy now too- very striking design.
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If the co-op is anything like the other Dark Souls games... that series has a weird approach to online gaming. :D On the one hand it's woven into the game in a fashion that blew my mind. (and in DS2 they do a thing with it which I still don't really get. It's the most innovative thing I've seen used in terms of online play).
I played a little Elden Ring and it's really cool. I think I prefer the slightly more claustophobic feel of Dark Souls, but Elden Ring rocks indeed.
I played the Dark Souls board game a few times. When I bought it the guy at the boardgame store (Planet Harry in Vienna. Tip Top boardgames shop. Nothing but board games and the people who work there (well, it is Harry and some other guy I think. Maybe somebody else before christmas) know their stuff. So when I bought it, I was advised to maybe think it over, becaue this game is nothing like a regular dungeon crawler. I would say that it gets the feel of the video games across rather well (not to mention all the stuff people know from the video game is in the game, it works as you'd imagine if you know the video games and so on).
It's an interesting game in its own right. It's not quick, but then again it's also not overly complicated or slow-feeling. The sessions just take a while. The house rules I mentioned before are on BGG. Few months ago we had a game using some of these house rules (one to speed things up and to make sure you get equipment you can actually use as per your class if you get to draw an equipment card, and another one to make the game harder to balance the other house rules' changes). It was perfectly fine.
Couldn't comment on etsy, 3d printing or digital sculpts based on licenses being sold for money. Well, I shouldn't. :D
Anyway, I'm actually not entirely sure if I can make a suggestion to buy the Dark Souls board game. It's a bit of an odd thing. And it may lead to expansion purchases (of course I'm the doofus who bought the new Heroquest and THREE expansions so far :D). I mean Steamforged announced a second edition to be released some time down the line; i'm sure that's worth a look. Possibly more so than getting the base game now.
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cheers Sigur.
Eldon Ring's co-op as designed (I understand) doesn't allow for you to play through the game entirely, er..., co-operatively with a pal. But there's a mod on the Nexus website which would appear to sort that (for the time being anyway).
as far as the board-game goes, well, if I get it now, I really have only myself to blame, given your thoughts. Do like the figures tho' ...
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Yup, they are nice. I mean SF got roughly 3 billion people back that thing on Kickstarter a bunch of years ago simply based on computer drawings of the figures. :D And they are cool figures of nice quality for boardgame figures.q
The crazy thing is that boardgames don't even get any less expensive now either if a new version is released, right? Normally I'd say "maybe you can pick it up for cheap once the new edition is around", but then there's this one card or little plastic nub that's not included in the 2nd edition which makes the 1st edition a highly sought after collector's item for nutters. :)
This may be a silly suggestion, but for a dungeon crawler have you played Mantic's Dungeon Saga? The figures are said to be pretty rough, but I heard good things about the rules. Maybe that's "2nd-hand-up-pickable". Or just Heroquest. You'll need a baddie player, you'll feel a bit silly for playing it, because it's really simplistic, but usually it's good fun.
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Another friend of mine convinced me to try this game out in June and we wound up eschewing all tabletop in favor of DS until August, it was so much fun. You did an amazing job painting up the sets! I wish we'd been able to play with your minis!
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Another friend of mine convinced me to try this game out in June and we wound up eschewing all tabletop in favor of DS until August, it was so much fun. You did an amazing job painting up the sets! I wish we'd been able to play with your minis!
Hey, that's great to hear! Makes me feel a bit silly for being on the fence on that game a little bit. I guess if I got to play with these figures I'd like it better as well, but alas, I have to give them away once they're done. :D
Great to hear you enjoy the game so much. Do you use any of the expansions and and house rules?
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yes, I'd like to hear more about your postive experience PineyPhantom.
@Sigur - yes - had all the Dungeon Saga stuff at one point; sold it all on ebay in one go - the most enormous flipping box.
I got disenchanted due to the confusion / controversy about the 'adventurers' (I think it was) expansion which should have expanded the role-playing lite aspect of it. Development of the game seemed to end under a cloud regarding the original designer Jake Thornton.
Not helped by when I contacted Mantic as to whether the game was still being supported and received a less than transparent answer which encouraged me to jump in. It then transpired that they had indeed dropped it (effectively) and gone onto the 'infamy' thing.
tbh, my interest in all of this is deffo figure-driven, so I might just start collecting the Etsy 'grimdark' proxies.
I've ordered one cavalry figure from what appears to be a 'good' printing service, and will prob. post here when received.
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Oh right, Dungeon Saga was another Jake Thornton baby. He did good whilst writing rules for Mantic, didn't he.
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As with any board game, I think a huge part of the positive experience was playing the game with friends who are also huge Souls fans, so we tried to play the board game in the spirit of the video game. We turned on the soundtrack for background noise. We had the fog door and you died tracks on standby to increase the immersion. As parents, we had to tweak some things (once we had a system for a room down to clear it without taking damage we would just give ourselves the souls to cut down on "down time). That was about as gamey as we got, and only out of necessity.
We did one two-man campaign first, realized halfway through we accidentally gave ourselves like double the souls we were supposed to have, so we agreed to have to spend souls to pay the deficit in scenario 2 until we caught up. It sort of evened it out. We were learning. In campaign 3 we played 3 players and did everything right. It was amazing. A third (and I imagine fourth) player doesn't significantly increase the time it takes to run turn order because the enemy's impending attacks usually clearly dictate an optimal course, which captures the game's kill move memorization mechanics for staying alive really well. You can try to go crazy and fireball an entire room at a low level. It very well might work. But boy howdy is it risky.
The rules, once you learn them, play very quickly. You can play the game very quickly but the setup for a campaign generally took us 30 minutes to an hour just getting pieces in place and deciding on characters. The combat flows so well it's almost criminal, which is deceptive because on misstep WILL kill you and send the entire party back to the firelink shrine. Progression flows well. Classes should really stick to their class gear, but legendary items allow for some amazing combos that make you feel strong and deliver without being game-breaking.
We actually lost the first campaign even with accidentally juicing up the first scenario. Getting killed 5 times in a row and losing to Ornstein and Smough was just as soul-crushing as it was in the video game. We had to wait a week to play just to try and cope emotionally with losing. Then we started the Lothric campaign with glee because the game is just too fun.
Even if I wasn't a souls fan, I'd still probably call this the most fun board game I've played since Axis and Allies 1940 Global, and this is better. It's fast, it's thematic as hell, new player friendly (if they've played advanced board games before) and was so engrossing we put aside all other tabletop for two months to play it more. 10/10 I had no complaints about this game.
*edit: we played with the base game, adventurers, explorers (summons/invaders/mimics), darkroot garden, and have old iron keep but haven't played it yet.
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brilliant - thanks for the write-up.
so that was all with the original rules, and official expansions; no home-brew tweaks then.
I guess that more unforgiving approach will feel more correct to those familiar with the video-game.
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@PineyPhantom: Aye, I guess that's a good summary. I just didn't play often enough, I certainly didn't have the sessions close enough to each other. :)
@Bloggard: Did you get the boardgame in the end now?
Right, I got to paint more DS figures! This time it's the Vordt of the Boreal Valley and Phantoms expansions.
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_12/vordtas2s.jpg.0934b0b5c48855fee589f32521c77c4e.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_12/phanas1s.jpg.59e88f6fb833e6fb40fbff23575cc3f8.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_12/phanas2s.jpg.3ab7a2a2385967ec57f4fa409de69128.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_12/phanas3s.jpg.99d7680893c994472f68774e6fb27756.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_12/phanas4s.jpg.ecac5e02d33b1453f4209b52bd0b6757.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_12/1s.jpg.edf81e24a6d5a55bfd16d7b71f1400aa.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_12/1s.jpg.edf81e24a6d5a55bfd16d7b71f1400aa.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2022_12/1s.jpg.edf81e24a6d5a55bfd16d7b71f1400aa.jpg)
By accident I painted one of the phantoms white instead of red. I only noticed that after taking the photos. So you can have a guess which one of those freaks is supposed to be red rather than white. :D White of course being allies, red ones being nasty baddies invading the players' plane of existance.
The Vordt of the Boreal Valley of course it a particular favourite of mine since he's the first proper big boss in Dark Souls 3, the first of the series I played (since then I played them all, except for Sekiro). Anyway. Hope you like the figures! Maybe I get to play the DS board game over the holidays as well. It's been a while, and it's a fun game. Of course all the figures in my box are unpainted. :D Which takes away from the otherwise magnificent experience of playing painted.
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Amazing paintjobs :o
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Wow great sculpts and what a paint job…amazing
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Amazing work! :o
You've really captured the look of the phantoms/dark spirits in the games!
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@Belgian: Thanks very much!
@Roo: Many thanks!
@HappyChappy439: Cheers! I do try and take my research very seriously. ;)
Heyhey, happy new year. Which in turn means new Dark Soulsy things. Big things too, this time!
First, the Last Giant (after a tough day apparently):
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_01/giantasS.jpg.f4a338a9e2ee6360e9c6bdfc6bcb6dca.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_01/giantS.jpg.bf867740b4faeced20ae621ee03bf8e4.jpg)
The Executioner's Chariot (plus friends):
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/exec2.jpg.73e2f8fbd8370c7e7a33f39fa580d1ef.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/exec2.jpg.73e2f8fbd8370c7e7a33f39fa580d1ef.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/exec2.jpg.73e2f8fbd8370c7e7a33f39fa580d1ef.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/execGF2.jpg.10682b950e50b317312017daa2f2584b.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/execGF2.jpg.10682b950e50b317312017daa2f2584b.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/execGF2.jpg.10682b950e50b317312017daa2f2584b.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/execGF3.jpg.a08a678f45cbb5128c9f58172e606caa.jpg)
full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/execGF3.jpg.a08a678f45cbb5128c9f58172e606caa.jpg (https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/execGF3.jpg.a08a678f45cbb5128c9f58172e606caa.jpg)
Certainly a very memorable boss fight. :)
...and here's the Gaping Dragon!
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/dragon1sS.jpg.10fc9351ec93b0f50222680e5b248ecf.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/dragon2S.jpg.d33aeafca331c65f7515562eec37a320.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_02/dragon5S.jpg.6a51d74c8db0ce83a16265439dbadbc0.jpg)
Working with that one was good, good fun. I mean making the base and simply removing mold lines from ALL the teeth and filling gaps took several hours. And then the painting had me doubt my approach once or twice. But in the end he turned out really well I think. I'm happy with that chap. :) He's a big'un too, on a 15cm base, and overlapping quite considerably to the sides and back, as you can see.
Well, I hope that you like the guys. C&C welcome as always!
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Wow! :o
That's some impressive work.
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That's tremendous work, but, man, that "dragon" is messed up. The bit of spittle or whathaveyou dripping from its maw is a perfect detail.
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Amazing paint work as always :-*
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That's tremendous work, but, man, that "dragon" is messed up. The bit of spittle or whathaveyou dripping from its maw is a perfect detail.
Alright, I'll say it: It looks like he's squatting to piss. lol
Still an incredible paintjob of a horrifying miniature. Dark Souls indeed.
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Truly amazing painting on some out there miniatures. Great job :-*
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These are fantastic!
The blending on the Gaping Dragon's scales is absolutely top notch! Really well done!
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@Elk101: Thanks very much!
@DalyDR: Cheers! It's a pretty impressive model, that. :D You can't quite see it in the pictures, but he also has a big old pot belly dragging along the floor and a atrophied little head over the big maw. It's an impressive thing and - as all the impressive DS things - has a gripping backstory I never really read.
Just in case it helps, this video explains the mechanics behind the thing a litte: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVk4vtLEEV8[/youtube] :D
@LoxIslay: Many thanks!
@FramFramson: Believe me, there were worse-looking iterations of that before the final colouring. I mean that whole design is ever so slightly subtext-laden to begin with anyway, so why not have some fun. ;)
@Little Odo: Thanks very much!
@HappyChappy439: Cheers! Yes, painting that one was fun. At first I thought it's yet another grimdark black-grey monster with lots of teeth, so I was very happy to see the slight sheen on the creature when I watched the video. But when I saw that this is basically a shiny, rainbow-coloured dragon it was fun times ahead. :)
Today I delivered the figures to their owner and he gave me the last batch of Dark Souls bosses. After that I'll do some more smaller Dark Souls figures.
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Heyhey, here's even more bighuge bosses for the Dark Souls boardgame!
Manus, Father of the Abyss:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_04/as5S.jpg.10fe226ba55b6c5f51f8b53cf7f5bd41.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_04/okmbgORG1S.jpg.0756a9e1aacc938127bd69820af2a9cb.jpg)
the challenge here was making a huge, seemingly all-grey thing look interesting. So I looked at pictures and videos and so on and tried to figure out where to add colour.
Four Kings:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_04/fkgb1S.jpg.1d0d2062337728863a99c98848cba91e.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_04/298005508_fourkingsS.jpg.d7c977a10653140227abf01ba40a3016.jpg)
Tricky, to say the least. You can watch the bossfight on youtube. These chaps are basically half-translucent fairies. Which is hard to translate to board game figures (which usually are cast less than filigrane), and the chaps are pretty darned big to begin with. Then you have to do the thing four times. The coloured blades I added myself, just to make the dudes appear just a little different from one another and add some sort of colour. As I keep on banging on, I put effort into getting the bases right with these figures, because the boss arenas especially are very much a part of the whole appearance and vibe of the Dark Souls bosses in the video games. the fight against these chaps takes place in a black hole. All I could do really was adding a tiny little bit of texture on the bases with a very slight purple hue.
Guardian Dragon:
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_04/as3S.jpg.d43c3d617599c311fb4961ac3229a93d.jpg)
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_04/gd2S.jpg.b1b2e48c85620d1f4fba051101584ba8.jpg)
{img]https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_04/gd4S.jpg.8b02d5d94d478f7e58f0d6820af754c1.jpg[/img]
(https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2023_04/gd5S.jpg.ea3246a1f7607b9c002357a525f97a0b.jpg)
Now this one's a different calibre. In my mind, a red dragon is the single best fantasy figure you can get. Everyone should own one. The more classic the better. None of that 90s flat-nosed D&D things. Alright, this figure out of the box looks slightly goofy. I asked the gentleman I paint these for if I was allowed to give the dragon a little rhinoplasty to turn his snoopy nose into an impressive beak, he allowed it, the dragon turned out lovely I think. Hope you like him as well! I had this one with me at 2 conventions, people really liked him.
Hope you do as well. :)
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They all look amazing! I wouldn’t have realized that the beak on the dragon wasn’t the original sculpt- your modification is very smooth. I expect that your client will be very happy with those!
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Amazing work!
Manus looks amazing! the lighting is really impressive, and you've done a great job of making the figure look interesting, especially considering how dark his arena is in-game!
Really nice work on the Four Kings' weapons, the fluorescent effect against the grey ghosts is a really cool look! Almost makes me forget bashing my head against them for ages in NG++ lol
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@Pattus Magnus: Thank you! Yeah, I went about it pretty subtly, because I always worry about destroying or damaging the figures people give to me. Here's a painted version with the original snout: https://i.redd.it/aw9x2vfmw2j21.jpg (https://i.redd.it/aw9x2vfmw2j21.jpg).
@HappyChappy439: Thanks, Sir! Yeah, so many enemies in DS are basically a black/grey shadow of textures, claws and teeth, and it can be rather tough figuring out what they actually look like. :D Sometimes the original concept art helps. About the Four Kings: I clearly played DS2 way less than I thought I did, because I never encountered them. But from videos and such they do seem like a tough enemy to deal with.