Author Topic: Conan - painting up the "Kings pledge" and a lot of expansions 2023-09-15 (Read 34520 times)

Anatoli · « **on:** September 04, 2021, 04:40:14 PM »

Long winded backstory for this project:

Earlier this summer I was able to buy a copy of Monoliths "Conan" board game, the Kickstarter edition (Kings pledge). Got it 2nd hand at a good price, after recently diving into some of Robert E Howards fantasy stories. The idea of getting this game had been with me for many years but I had been on the fence up until now and by now most shops had stopped selling the retail version.

The seller was clearing space in his collection, and the Kithai and Stygia expansions, as well as 9+ small expansion boxes were still unopened and in mint condition. However, most of the base game and stretch goal miniatures were primed and painted with thick paint as he had used them with his play group.

This prompted my very first attempt at stripping plastic miniatures of paint since I started the hobby 25 years ago... Had to use brake fluid and toothbrush to clean off the paint, then bathe everything in soap water to clean it up properly. Took me a whole weekend of doing it in batches of some 25 miniatures at a time.

Initially I was not sure I would paint the miniatures either, but primed the various miniatures in different base coats depending on whether they were heroes, bad guys or evil minions. Having played a few test games I figured this would be something I would enjoy more than once which meant also having to paint it all up.

This led med to my second problem. Most of my painted board game miniatures are mounted on clear bases so that I can enjoy both the painted miniatures and the board game artwork. For Conan you have these color rings to show which unit group a model belongs to. The plastic rings that came in the game did not fit with the acrylic bases I had purchased from GreenStuffWorld for other projects. In the end I was able to find a small French manufacturer that made custom acrylic bases and plastic color rings for Conan. (link to my review and pictures of those acrylic extras can be read in my BoardGameGeek thread: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2686581/acrylic-extras-stuff4games-mini-review )

TLDR:
I have been painting up miniatures for the Conan board game from Monolith over the past 2 months at varied pace. Some weeks I get a lot of stuff done, other weeks I get little painted due to "real life" stuff getting in the way.

I have been experimenting a lot along the way, with painting styles, new painting techniques, new paints, oils and washes for some units. Recently tried "AK Streaking Grime" on the mummies and Liquid Pigments on the skeletons. Having a blast painting the models. I try not to let mould lines bother me too much. I attempt to clean the worst, but don't bother with every single one as I simply don't have time and energy for it, and you don't see those when the mini is on the table. I also try to paint things up to a decent tabletop standard, putting some more time and effort into some of the characters and monsters while trying to speed paint my way through the hordes of minions.

In this thread I will share what I have painted up so far and everything that will follow. I made a personal goal of painting everything up before the end of the year, and it looks quite achievable so far and at my pace.

Painted miniatures in this post: Conan, Belit, Hadhratus, Shevatas, Princess, Giant Serpent, Zogar Sag, Hyenas.

Anatoli · « **Reply #1 on:** September 04, 2021, 04:42:12 PM »

Painted miniatures in this post: Pict hunters, Pict bowmen, Pict warriors, Mummies, Bone Golem, Skull piles.

Anatoli · « **Reply #2 on:** September 04, 2021, 04:44:06 PM »

Painted miniatures in this post: Zelata and her wolf, SKeletons, Dark demon.

Anatoli · « **Reply #3 on:** September 04, 2021, 04:46:03 PM »

Painted miniatures in this post: Guards (love these miniatures as they look like the Amn city guards in Baldurgs Gate 2), Pirates, Bossonian bowmen, N'Gora and Belits guards.

Anatoli · « **Reply #4 on:** September 04, 2021, 04:47:41 PM »

Painted miniatures in this post: More pictures of N'Gora and Belits guards, Skuthus, Khosatral Khel, Outer Dark Devil.

Anatoli · « **Reply #5 on:** September 04, 2021, 04:48:45 PM »

Some of the chests from the terrain pack and Zaporavo and Valeria.

Pattus Magnus · « **Reply #6 on:** September 04, 2021, 05:41:20 PM »

Wow! Sounds like a nuisance to get the primed figures stripped and prepared, but your finished result is amazing! Well worth the time, I would say. You have enough figures there to make several forces for various skirmish-level games, too.

Bearwoodman · « **Reply #7 on:** September 04, 2021, 05:47:46 PM »

Wow too! You have been busy! Lovely painting that will really enhance the game experience. I hope the game is fun, but as Pattus Magnus says, you can use these figures with other games too!

levied troop · « **Reply #8 on:** September 04, 2021, 05:54:50 PM »

Wow three! That’s some excellent painting and the miniatures look fabulous.

Anatoli · « **Reply #9 on:** September 04, 2021, 05:58:42 PM »

Thanks!

I have until this point been content with just base coating painted miniatures with new primer, but these had such a thick coat of paint it blocked some of the details and would had made a fresh paintjob look bad. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. It was also interesting using stuff like brake fluid to strip paint, but I hope I will not have to do that again anytime soon as the smell was horrible

These miniatures will be used for the board game, but will also double for SAGA Age of Magic and Conan tabletop RPG if I can get friends interested in that. I am sure the painted collection will see use with other games as well, but those are for certain

As all the minions are painted up I really only have a lot of characters and monsters for the base game left. Saved those for last as a way of treating myself haha , but I had a surprisingly good time painting the hordes of minions. There are some really sweet looking minis in the expansions such as the Kushite Witch hunters that I really look forward to painting!

beefcake · « **Reply #10 on:** September 05, 2021, 12:53:33 AM »

Awesome. I sill have this mostly unopened from the kickstarter. Very impresswed to see it painted!

Hitman · « **Reply #11 on:** September 05, 2021, 02:08:46 AM »

Absolutely stunning work!!! I would love to play any kind of game with those figures. So realistic!! If you ever want to sell them....

Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Hitman

Grumpy Gnome · « **Reply #12 on:** September 05, 2021, 02:24:37 AM »

Brilliant work!

Elbows · « **Reply #13 on:** September 05, 2021, 02:30:00 AM »

Wonderful painting! I wasn't overly enthused with the game so I sold off most of mine - but I'm impressed with your paint results. I found a lot of the miniatures were a bit too slight for my normal preference.

It's all so glorious looking, particularly the Picts, which I wish I had kept

fred · « **Reply #14 on:** September 05, 2021, 07:55:25 AM »

Great work! +1 to all the above comments.

The quality and quantity both impress.

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Author Topic: Conan - painting up the "Kings pledge" and a lot of expansions 2023-09-15 (Read 34520 times)

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