Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (Frostgrave undead and construct)

[fred]

Good find - there is are fair few there!

I shall operate solely on the dictates of whimsy.

Excellent!

[Hobgoblin]

Here's the first of the two Orks I started months ago - and the first of the unearthed batch to emerge from the Biostrip.

[Hobgoblin]

And here's the first of the strippees painted up. Whimsy in this case dictated a simian colour scheme, specifically (though loosely) that of a mandrill.

[Hobgoblin]

Here are Grenadier's armoured bugbears. They're destined for HOTT, so will all go on one base as a warband element. I've got the more lightly armoured set too, though one is broken at the ankles, so there's a bit of repairing to be done before the second element is up and running.

I was swithering over basing these chaps up individually or for HOTT, but reckoned that I'd get much more use of them as a HOTT element; I've no shortage of largish nasty humanoids for skirmish games (and some very different bugbears), and two elements of these fellows will work well as an Elite Foot unit in Dragon Rampant as well. I also have the Grenadier "war trolls" underway as another warband HOTT element: these old Grenadier packs of three fit in nicely.

[LeadAsbestos]

Nice work! I always liked those bugbears!

[beefcake]

Love those bugbear minis. Big heads and scary!

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks! Yes, they're great old models. I've always wondered why Mirliton (I assume it has the moulds) doesn't re-release more of the Fantasy Lords range. The fact that they rereleased Demogorgon to ride the Stranger Things wave makes me think that they must have more treasures ...

Now, to basing. I briefly flirted with having these fellows just two to a base (and thus getting three elements out of the six models), but I prefer them "massed": they'll look warbandish on the table. Space dictates a 1:2 or a 2:1 formation. I'm almost set on the leader at the front and the two followers at the back, but they're OK the other way too. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

[affun]

Personally, Id base them up individually for skirmish ...

I think of the two constallations, the first looks the best. It's more intimidating, and the triangle points towards the enemy, giving them some form of momentum, rather than having a bloke randomly skulking in the back.

An idea might be to vary it a bit on multiple bases, though?

[beefcake]

Agree with the above on all counts. to add as well, having the one in the back makes him seem like he's scared of the fight. Not becoming of a Bugbear leader.

[Severian]

Yes, I think the 1:2 formation works best - draws attention to the nicely understated lidless eye on the leader's shield, amongst other things.

The alternative I'm sure you've considered is of course to base them singly and then sabot them in a neatly reversible 1:2/2:1 base. But probably better to settle on a formation and stick to it, if they're going to be used only as a warband unit. Very well done in any case!

I've only seen most of the Fantasy Lords range pictured, so don't know how they are in the lead, but there do seem to be some gems there, together with a lot of fairly static-looking sculpts in what looks like the very early 80s style (reminding me a bit of the awful Hinchliffe figures that were my first ever fantasy miniatures, but surely not as crude and gangly...I still have them, mind you, in their chipped primary colour enamel paintjobs...).

I haven't paid attention to what Mirliton have released recently but it does look as if they have disinterred a few old moulds so I suppose there's always hope of more.

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, all! Yes, 1:2 it shall be. I think sabot bases would be a bit fiddly, and I have plenty of other, bigger bugbears for skirmishes; these ones, being smaller than their Citadel peers, occupy a rather crowded "largish humanoid" space.

I might do the other three 2:1, which would give the whole lot a diamond shape when put in typical one-behind-the-other-for-the-bonus HOTT warband formation. That might also break up the repeated poses a bit, as the two sets are variants of each other.

The Fantasy Lords range did vary a bit. My general view at the time was that the humans were poor, but the monsters were excellent - especially the dragons, giants and medium-sized beasties.

[Hobgoblin]

Here's another element for HOTT: some old War Trolls from Grenadier. This, like the bugbears, will be a warband element.

I'd forgotten how hard to paint some of these old Grenadier figures can be. The detail is fine, but often slightly shallow and soft, which makes them less receptive to washes than their contemporaries. So, while I really like the figures - and especially the refreshing proportions of their weapons - I found them quite a struggle. They'll look better based, of course, and I did get the colour effects I was hoping for - a bit like some of the Ian Miller orcs in the Tolkien Bestiary. So they'll do.

[psullie]

lovely work, I really like your muted colours. regarding the basing have you considered sabot bases for the best of both worlds?

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks!

Yes, I have toyed with the idea of sabot basing now and then, but I've rejected it, for a few reasons.

First, it's tricky to do with HOTT. I like the idea of keeping to the standard base sizes; a friend and occasional opponent has DBA armies, so there's the compatibility to think about, even though most of the games I play are ones for which I provide both forces. The standard HOTT/DBA element size has a 60mm frontage, which doesn't leave much room for manoeuvre with figures on 25mm round bases - and none at all when the elements are blades or spears (60 x 20mm). ]

Second, I do have a huge number of individually based humanoid monsters - hundreds! So I've got more than enough to populate any kind of skirmish game or RPG. And for "large skirmishes" like Dragon Rampant, I actually prefer to use a fair few HOTT bases along with individual figures - it makes the game signicantly faster, and by loosely arranging (for example) four bases of three figures, you get the correct coherence for DR quite nicely.

Third, I actually like the aesthetics of multi-based figures at least as much as individually based ones. I think, for example, that these War Trolls will look better when based up on a single base than they would if based individually. And there are more gaming opportunities for unusual figures in HOTT. For example, I have a lot of command groups kicking around. They're not a huge amount of use in skirmishes - yes, I often use standard bearers in SBH, but you only need one per side at most. With HOTT, there's no reason why every element can't be a command group - indeed, in a perfect world, I'd probably give almost every element a standard bearer for a better massed effect.

Fourth, I think that HOTT is the game I'm most likely to play most in the long term. Why? Because it's highly tactical (more so than skirmish games, which are more about narrative), great fun and has a very short "time to table". And it doesn't take up much space, or take long to play. It's also the wargame that is mostly likely, I think, to ensnare non-wargamers who are open to "corruption". That's because it's in many ways more like a boardgame - the ruleset is tight and "closed", and the set-up is nicely regulated. I know quite a few people (including my wife!) who really enjoy Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne and the like, and who could possibly be tempted ...

In this regard, I was stripping down some old Citadel great goblins (aka gnolls) the other day and thinking about this. They're lovely little figures for skirmish games. But I have 50 or 60 of them. And some of the least interesting poses are those that are leaning upright on spears and other polearms. Not great for skirmish - but absolutely perfect for HOTT spear elements (you can even fit four to a base with no trouble). So I'm planning to base those accordingly, and make a few warbands or hordes out of the others, and them base up duplicates and the best ones (the last ones released) as skirmish models.

Long answer to a short question! 

[Severian]

Great work on these - the colours work very well.

50 or 60 great goblins? Wow. That's a horde to be reckoned with. I liked them a lot back in the day but only ever owned a few, and those disappeared decades ago. I think I may have traded them for dwarves, or something. Still have a few of the Citadel RQ trolls knocking about, though, and they share a good bit of DNA with the great goblins... Interested to see what you make of them.

I'm currently making some sabot bases for HOTT, as it happens. It's possible but does require a bit of tweaking; I've had to make blades 60x30 rather than 60x20, and even then can only comfortably fit a couple of penny sabots per base. Warband will have to be 60x40, because they're going to be my Essex orcs based on tuppences, and again only two will fit. Still, the rules do say "the base depths specified are recommended minima" and these will be playing only against each other, so I'm not too concerned. But in an ideal world, dedicated element bases with multiple figures would be better (and much less work, although I do quite enjoy the process).