Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (undead warband for Mordheim)

[Vladimir Raukov]

Cracking work on the lizardmen, some of my favourite infantry models there. Can't say I recognize that snake guy though.

[DeafNala]

SPLENDID ADDITIONS! I'm particularly fond of the Hobgoblins & Dwarfs. GREAT WORK!

[Evil Doctor]

Hobgoblin, your stuff is brilliant! I love the Orcs - I go for the grey skin tone myself, and I love the old-school preslotta stuff!



EvilD

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, all!

Vladimir - the snakeman is a Reaper Bones figure.

DeafNala - me too! Those Nick Lund hobgoblins are in some ways rather crude sculpts, but - like many early miniatures and like most of Nick Lund's - they work really, really well on the tabletop. The hobgoblins don't photograph nearly as well as the lizardmen, but they look much more striking in a game. I have many more to come - including the tremendous shaman figure (squat, masked and pointing), which is one of my favourite miniatures. I have a special fondness for the Chronicle hobgoblins, as I remember them playing a large part in one of my first wargames, played with unpainted Citadel and Chronicle miniatures (hobgoblins, broo, dark-elf cold-one riders). There were no rules; rather, the miniatures either attacked a fortress made from wooden building blocks or sheltered behind mantlets made from the same. Casualties were decided by taking alternating shots with a small replica crossbow (a souvenir from Sienna). The last man (hobgoblin, broo, whatever) standing won.

Evil Doctor - thanks! I take an "anything but bright green" stance on orcs. These fellows are meant to be a bit Weirdstone of Brisingamen (the text rather than this illustration in particular). I will paint some duplicates black to vary the "fish-white" a little, in line with Garner's descriptions of the Svart-Alfar (but I'm ignoring the allergy to iron). I've been enjoying your blog and hope to see more of your orcs!

Here are some images from today's game of Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes (to test out some rules in the Hammer and Forge supplement). We played a three-way game with ratmen (my daughter), lizardmen and frogmen (my son) and goblins (me) trying to snatch a treasure chest from a ruined temple. The treasure was guarded by Medusa and some skeletal henchmen, and the area was plagued by wandering monsters (using the principles outlined in one of Dan Mersey's Song of Arthur and Merlin vignettes: a dice is rolled at the end of each turn; on a six, a monster appears). My daughter's ratmen had the edge initially, as the Gregarious rule allowed her arquebus-wielding leader to get his fast-moving ratmen scouts in and out of the temple while the frogman wizard drew the fire and ire of its guardians. But the lizardmen caught the vermin at the table edge, with the tide turning when the wizard took control of a rat ogre's tiny mind and sent it slamming into its comrades. Meanwhile, the goblins cleared the temple of ratmen warriors, but fell foul of a wandering griffin, which swooped down on them from the flank. In a pivotal moment in the game, the frogman wizard managed to exercise mind control over the griffin, to send it against the goblin discipline master (that side's main driving force, using the excellent new Discipline Master trait). Meanwhile, a pair of burly reptiles made off with the loot. Terrible photos, thrown-together scenery, but a great way to pass a chilly afternoon:

[Hobgoblin]

Here's Vandamar (to my mind the best chaos warrior Citadel ever made) and one of the old Tom Meier troglodytes (to give my son's all-conquering reptile warband some unneeded beef):

[Hobgoblin]

And a few more orcs. I have another twenty or so of these chaps in a "getting there/almost there" state.

[Hobgoblin]

Some slightly better shots of these orcs.

[Hobgoblin]

And here's a lizardman cold-one rider:

[DeafNala]

UBERCOOL OLD STUFF! I love the silly grin on the Cold One. Since most of the minis are new to, previously unseen by moi, I can't but notice that, while they may lack some of the finer details of current standards, they more than make up for any deficiencies in detail with an abundance of charm & character. VERY WELL DONE once more!

[Duncan McDane]

That Dragonscale Orc warrior is a long time favorite of mine. 
Love the stuff you are posting, keep it coming please.

[Hobgoblin]

UBERCOOL OLD STUFF! I love the silly grin on the Cold One. Since most of the minis are new to, previously unseen by moi, I can't but notice that, while they may lack some of the finer details of current standards, they more than make up for any deficiencies in detail with an abundance of charm & character. VERY WELL DONE once more!

Thanks, DeafNala!

I think there's are a few intertwined factors with the early-80s Citadel stuff. Some of it (the Fantasy Tribe stuff, for example - like the orc with the sword and the javelin) is a little bit crude in some details, but superb in concept and "broad strokes" execution. But then, the later stuff - the last solid-based models and the first slotta-based ones - like the crouching armoured orc (just pre-slotta) and the goblin with the fur-rimmed helmet (early slotta) is as good as anything they ever did (and certainly anything they've done more recently). But those moulds must have been worked to death, and some of the castings are significantly rougher than others. On top of that, as these models are so old, they tend to have been knocked around a fair bit, which hasn't done wonders for their dental work and whatnot. One thing, though, that the Perrys were (and are) preternaturally gifted at is giving figures wonderfully natural poses. The way that lizardman sits on the cold one is just perfect. I think the sculptural principle is called "weight shift", or contraposto - conveying the impression of movement and weight. The Perrys seem to have an innate grasp of it, from their early-80s Citadel stuff to their plastic men-at-arms today. I think that sort of thing is much more valuable than the extreme dynamism that modern miniatures often display.

Duncan - all of that applies in spades to the orc with the dragon shield. He's a tremendous sculpt, with a haunted, even damned air about him.

And from the Perrys to another great master of the miniature: Aly Morrison. His hobgoblins are probably my favourite miniatures ever - so much so that they're a little daunting to paint. But here's one:

[Vermis]

Brilliant. I hadn't seen those hobgoblins before. You've done a great job on this one.

One thing, though, that the Perrys were (and are) preternaturally gifted at is giving figures wonderfully natural poses. The way that lizardman sits on the cold one is just perfect. I think the sculptural principle is called "weight shift", or contraposto - conveying the impression of movement and weight. The Perrys seem to have an innate grasp of it, from their early-80s Citadel stuff to their plastic men-at-arms today. I think that sort of thing is much more valuable than the extreme dynamism that modern miniatures often display.

Duncan - all of that applies in spades to the orc with the dragon shield. He's a tremendous sculpt, with a haunted, even damned air about him.

Can't disagree there.

[Hobgoblin]

Brilliant. I hadn't seen those hobgoblins before. You've done a great job on this one.

Thanks, Vermis. He's the start of a Dragon Rampant unit of Fierce [sic!] Foot. I've got a mounted half-orc leader to go with them (I like the look of infantry units with mounted leaders) and hobhounds to fill out some of the front rank - they work with the speed and ferocity of the Fierce Foot profile.

The Morrison hobgoblins were a tremendous range. They were the shock troops in my childhood Warhammer orc army. Here's a couple of links to some of them. They spanned the solid-based and slotta-based eras (with some of the same models appearing as both). I've got quite a number of them kicking around, though many require repairs to weapons and fragile ankles.

[DeafNala]

He is an UBERCOOL Little Rogue...Hobgoblins of all descriptions are favorites with moi. You did an OUTSTANDING job on the Old Boy. VERY WELL DONE!

... and fragile ankles.

The ankles are among the first things to go when you get old. This may be an art imitates life thingy.

[Duncan McDane]

It's great to see someone doing those great old sculpts justice. I got quite some of the pre-slotta stuff myself but an suffering a bit from a: painters block and b: the same you have with the Hobgob, scared of not doing them the justice they deserve.
It's more easy to paint models you're less fond off/attached to, but that's also less rewarding. Sigh... 

Ah well, at least that Orc, the Hobgoblin beastmaster and some more pre-slotta fun is lying around on the side table so who knows, one might be picked up soon  .