My Post-Apoc Figures and Terrain (new Sarissa trailer 4/23/25)

[mikedemana]

it looks good in the flesh (er, metal, really...) too!

Or 3-D printed plastic...haha! 

See you this weekend at Drums at the Rapids!

Mike Demana

[mikedemana]

Giant rats -- or ROUS's for fans of The Princess Bride -- are a danger in my post-Apocalyptic world

Rats are hardy creatures, and can grow quite large, so I figured swarms of bad-tempered rodents would make logical monsters prowling the ruins of humanity's cities. And why not an occasional ROUS (Rodents Of Unusual Size, for those not familiar with the classic Princess Bride movie), too? Reaper Miniatures makes a number of different rat packs in their line of plastic miniatures. They came essentially in three sizes. Dire Rats came in a pack of eight and were the smallest. Giant Tomb Rats were the next size up, and the six in the pack were appropriately shaggy and angry looking. The largest were ("ROUS's? I don't think they exist..." RAHHRR!!!) the Barrow Rats, and came two to a pack. All in all, I had two dozen rats to paint up after a few months of collecting packs from Guardtower East or Dragons Guildhall on our Saga game days.


The various sized rats holding a rat rally in front of a run-down trailer home

I decided that I wanted to black prime my rats to give them a dirty look. I would just dry brush the fur in one of four colors - light gray, dark gray, medium brown, or a cream color. I could have done more colors, but I thought four would provide enough variety. The ears, nose, and tail I painted a base salmon color and dry brushed a lighter pink. I gave them ivory claws and teeth, along with black eyes with a red dot to give them a feral or "eyes glowing in the dim light" aspect.


A close up of a swarm of the smaller rats from the Reaper Miniatures plastic packs

Once they were all painted, I applied a heavy black wash. Most of the rats had various stone tile or cobble stoned bases, which I also did in shades of gray. All in all, I was happy with how they came out looking ragged and dirty. Since I am using Fistful of Lead rules for my post-apocalyptic games, I based the smaller rats up three or four to a base as a "Swarm." The ROUS's, which are the size of a very large dog or small bear, were individually based, of course. Since base size or shape doesn't matter for this game (or most rules I play), I put them on some available oval MDF bases I'd purchased last year at Cincycon.


I like how the pink tails, noses, and ears make them stand out from their dark background

I flocked the bases with Woodland Scenics Fine Ballast (Gray Blend). I gave this a dark wash, as well (perhaps too dark?). I also put some resin bricks on the bases that I'd purchased at the Dragons Guildhall, too. I finished the bases off with some tufts of grass for that overgrown urban environment effect.


A close up of the bases -- I like how they turned out with various bits, tufts, and such on them

Hope you like them!
Mike Demana

[Kourtchatovium104]

Great painting, you've chosen the good colours for those swarming rats, brrr! I particularly like the giant ones 

[CapnJim]

I smell a rat.  Or rats, as it were...

[mikedemana]

I thought I was done painting my survivor gangs. However, I was at Historicon last month and Battle Valor Games was a vendor there. I saw these figures and couldn't resist picking them up. They're called "Water Traders."



Pictures are from the company's ebay site, so hopefully they don't disappear one day. Let me know if they do and I'll fix the link.



Something about the big, wide hats nabbed me. I had to pick them up!  Maybe I will paint them up and try a solo Zona Alfa game or two? I'm trying to think what color would be a good theme for their clothes. Or should I make them a mish-mash of colors? What do you guys think?

Mike Demana

[Doug ex-em4]

They’re very characterful. I would paint them various colours with one item uniform - maybe all the hats are the same colour or just the hat-band. Or possibly the bedroll.

I look forward to seeing what you do with them.

Doug

[CapnJim]

...I would paint them various colours with one item uniform - maybe all the hats are the same colour or just the hat-band. Or possibly the bedroll...

What he said!

Nice find!

[Dr Mathias]

Good too see all the Foundry and Copplestone post-apoc figs. I really like the pillbots too, I think I have some similar things in the pile. Those 'Water traders' look really interesting!

[mikedemana]

Thanks everyone! Praise on this forum is high praise indeed, considering the talent level of the artists on this forum, like Dr. Matthias!


The Bass Reeves with a great haul of loot! My new scavenge markers

My latest thing was painting up some scatter bits to use to denote which characters in my post-apoc games have picked up supplies. Currently, we stick a small craft store pom pom (or "puffball," in our vernacular). However, I try to make everything as "scenic" as possible. So, I painted up some backpacks, suitcases, medical kits, stacks of cans, etc., from the Mantic Games "Terrain Crate" Crystal Peak Camp set.


Close up of the bits and pieces from the Mantic Games "Crystal Peaks" Terrain Create

I think they will look MUCH nicer on the tabletop than a puffball! Now that I think about it, maybe I should add a post which details the various scenic markers I have created for our games. We like the Wiley Games "Fistful of Lead" rules, but they are relatively marker heavy. So, I had to get a bit creative to have enough things to mark which figures have moved, which are "Creeping," Shock Markers, Wound markers, and so on.

Look for that in a future post!

Mike Demana

[Vagabond]

Excellent idea Mike, I personally dislike counters on the table. We spend a lot of time creating believable scenery and painting figures to provide a visual delight and then litter it with markers. It doesn't seem right, even if it helps with game play.

These are a great solution.

[CapnJim]

Those do look good, Mike.  The should prove quite versatile.  Well done!

[mikedemana]

I personally dislike counters on the table. We spend a lot of time creating believable scenery and painting figures to provide a visual delight and then litter it with markers.

You sum up my feelings perfectly, Vaggers! That's one of the reasons I created a "moved already this turn" scenic base (well, to be honest, these were bought from Michigan Toy Soldier Company... ). The alternative is leaving the card the character moved with out on the table, which I find hideous. I have found, in general, scenic markers to replace counters don't really take much time to make. Yep, definitely need to take some pics of my stuff and show it off... 

Mike Demana

[Too Bo Coo]

Thanks everyone! Praise on this forum is high praise indeed, considering the talent level of the artists on this forum, like Dr. Matthias!


The Bass Reeves with a great haul of loot! My new scavenge markers

My latest thing was painting up some scatter bits to use to denote which characters in my post-apoc games have picked up supplies. Currently, we stick a small craft store pom pom (or "puffball," in our vernacular). However, I try to make everything as "scenic" as possible. So, I painted up some backpacks, suitcases, medical kits, stacks of cans, etc., from the Mantic Games "Terrain Crate" Crystal Peak Camp set.


Close up of the bits and pieces from the Mantic Games "Crystal Peaks" Terrain Create

I think they will look MUCH nicer on the tabletop than a puffball! Now that I think about it, maybe I should add a post which details the various scenic markers I have created for our games. We like the Wiley Games "Fistful of Lead" rules, but they are relatively marker heavy. So, I had to get a bit creative to have enough things to mark which figures have moved, which are "Creeping," Shock Markers, Wound markers, and so on.

Look for that in a future post!

Mike Demana

Lovely stuff! Those Mantic objective tokens are really great!

[Grumpy Gnome]

A worthy project, lots of great post-apoc stuff here. Lots of character!

[Sunjester]

Some great stuff here, I can't wait to see those water traders with paint on!