It's been a while. In fact, it has been such a while that many of my paints have dried up
Nevertheless, like malaria, playing with toy soldiers never goes away completely and you never know what will cause a relapse. For me it was two things hitting at once - finding my packs of Bronze Age miniatures' mythical Greeks (more on that another time) and hearing about a game where I could play "Sharpe vs. monsters". What can I say? I was hooked on the idea, and I'm back on the wargaming wagon.
First off, I had a look at Muggins's
excellent guide to starting Silver Bayonet which contains a useful summary chart (below) of the various monsters needed to play through the scenarios in the core rulebook and started rummaging through the for-so-long-undisturbed lead pile.
A few mdf bases off eBay later and I was able to rustle up or repurpose this lot:
I was quite pleased with the conversions of Victrix French into alarmingly hungry revenant zombie things. On a roll by now, I made a couple more zombies, and also found rats, spiders, a gargoyle, a pair of ghosts, a hobgoblin, and two furies that will act as the savage/wild vampire creatures from the Carpathians expansion. They'll also be normal vampires unless/until I get some suitably be-fanged aristocrats.
You may have noticed the rabbits. This is not a Monty Python reference, but a handful of medieval manuscript marginalia figures that I was gifted quite some time ago that I shall use as goblins - I wanted to paint them up finally, and I reckon the medieval monks of the Silver Bayonet world weren't just doodling but recording sightings of small fae creatures. Or something!
Only monsters so far. I have an order from Gripping Beast that is in the post (email confirming dispatch arrived today - great people to deal with, adjusting my order after confirmation quickly and helpfully) which will deliver a British and a French company, so I'm trying to get some of these critters done in the meanwhile. It will keep up impetus and hopefully knock some of the rust off my lapsed painting skills
This is what I have completed so far:
The hobgoblin bugbearI always think of a hobgoblin, in a European folklore sense, as a household sprite. Troublesome occasionally? Sure. A malicious tool of a spreading Darkness? Nah. So I've changed it out for a bugbear, specifically this old Citadel figure that I gave a dust and a quick chip repair, before rebasing .
GhostsTwo more old Citadel figures, I rather like the Tolkienesque, barrow-wight feel they have. A quick spectral paintjob, but the accidental yellow tinge comes from not cleaning my drybrush properly. A happy accident!
Goblins Marginalia RabbitsQuick, but oddly difficult for me to paint. They are so accurate to the illuminated manuscripts that inspired them, but I'm out of practice enough to find the smooth surfaces a bit challenging. I still love them, and have six more on the go.
More painting over the next few weeks should see this lot and hopefully one unit of British done for some solo gaming. I might even remember how to photograph miniatures alongside remembering how to paint before I tackle those Napoleonic uniforms!
May 27, 2024, 10:35:56 PM
