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

[Jacksarge]

You have done a splendid job on those Oathmark Goblins!
Waiting for mine to arrive in Oz, and still wondering what colours to paint the skin for a Middle Earth look.
I had been thinking grey tones, but after seeing yours I'm not sure now...

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks!

This skintone does use mid-grey as a starting point, but with a sepia wash and warmer highlights to make it look a bit more organic.

Here's a space goblin that's part of a (long-overdue) project to supply the kids of one of my friends with some miniatures for Mutants & Death Ray Guns and Rogue Stars. A very quick paintjob, as I'm aiming to get the whole lot posted tomorrow:

[Hobgoblin]

The first of a few stormtrooper types for the same destination:

[Hobgoblin]

The bulk of the set I'm sending on in the service of gaming evangelism (the rules are already in the recipients' father's hands). Just a couple of tyranids and maybe another Eldar to add tomorrow.

[Hobgoblin]

I finally got the whole batch of 12 miniatures finished tonight, with another Eldar, a brace of tyranids and this beastman (who can be a sort of Gamorrean guard with low-tech weaponry: that will work well in Mutants and Death Ray Guns, especially if he has a high combat score and a trait like Savage, as there'll be a nice risk/reward balance in getting him close enough to wreak havoc). They'll go to their recipients (a friend's sons) tomorrow.

[Hobgoblin]

The "winter orc" thread here got me thinking about my Chronicle black orcs (the big, slotta-based fellows of the Ugezod type, rather than the little preslotta ones that I use as 15mm ogres). In the past, I've painted them red:


 And I'd started painting this fellow red too. But I decided to have a go at painting him as a "winter orc". I think this look works better, given the amount of fur these chaps wear. I might add some bicarbonate of soda to his base as snow at some point. Anyway, I'm going to paint the rest blue, and when I get those done, I'll probably repaint the red ones to match. Or they might even mix in OK, oni-style.

[jambo1]

Looks really good in blue, works well.

[Vladimir Raukov]

Looks great, but what about leaving the red ones red so they can change colour with the season or when they're exposed to environmental effects?

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, both!

Looks great, but what about leaving the red ones red so they can change colour with the season or when they're exposed to environmental effects?

I'll leave them well alone until the rest are done blue and then see how they stack up. I've never been quite happy with the red ones, though: I like the idea of red orcs (as a wizard's demonic servants, perhaps?), but somehow, the heavy furs work against the red skin.

[Jagannath]

Sorry matey - not commented for a while, excellent recent stuff. I had a flash of 'coolspiration' seeing that Beastman backed up by the two Tyranids, very cool. I like your multi race approach to factions, it's really refreshing. Recent orcs look great, though I must say I prefer the red skintone.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Blue orc looks great.  Just don't start painting any of them green!

[Hobgoblin]

Cheers!

had a flash of 'coolspiration' seeing that Beastman backed up by the two Tyranids, very cool. I like your multi race approach to factions, it's really refreshing.

Lots more of that to come: the kids and I are planning masses of sci-fi skirmishing over the Christmas holidays, and we're taking a very Mos Eisley approach. I've also got some more science-fantasy beastmen planned, inspired by Gene Wolfe's "pandours of the Autarch" ...

Recent orcs look great, though I must say I prefer the red skintone.

Thanks! I love the idea of "red orcs" (too much early exposure to Citadel?), but, having lined them up with each other, I think the blue works better on the table. I'll be seeking out some suitable candidates for red orcdom though ...

[Severian]

Blue orcs look very good but I also like them in red. I'm sure you can devise a plausible explanation for the variance in a game context, too.

Obviously interested in how your pandours come out!

And good luck with the Christmas gaming. Mine is still at the slightly incoherent planning stage...

[Hobgoblin]

Blue orcs look very good but I also like them in red. I'm sure you can devise a plausible explanation for the variance in a game context, too.

Thanks! Well, there's certainly a precedent:

Obviously interested in how your pandours come out!

I thought you might be! Should have the first one finished tonight. I've been re-reading that episode with the steel coach and the mastiff-man.

And good luck with the Christmas gaming. Mine is still at the slightly incoherent planning stage...

Thanks! I meant to make another recommendation to you for family RPGs, though it's probably a bit late now: Dungeon World. We played it last weekend (the kids and a visiting relative who's been making up for a gaming-starved youth in Provence), and it worked really well. The system's really simple: basically, you roll 2D6 and add relevant attribute-related modifiers: 6 or less is a fail (and an experience point); 7-9 is a success with consequences; and 10+ is a complete success. It has hit points and damage like standard RPGs, but rolls are triggered by "moves": so, if you say "I swing my axe at the ogre", it triggers the Hack & Slash move; whereas if you said, "I duck through his legs and leap over the chasm", it would be a Defy Danger move. (The system is taken from another game called Apocalypse World.)

What's so good about it is that it doesn't limit you to back-and-forth combats (I always think D&D combat is a bit like a rugby scrum; you can't get out until it's over), but allows players to attempt whatever they like. So the narrative is dominant, but you have the resource-management aspects of HP and equipment. And that combination makes it excellent for kids, who can exercise their imaginations to the full. It's also very quick to prepare: "Draw maps, but leave blanks" is the advice for GMs. There are some odd artificial restrictions, too: only one PC of each class in each party; and PCs have "bonds" - story-driving connections to each other. These actually work really well to get the story going.

It's well worth a look, in any case, if only for inspiration (I bought it in PDF). There's also Mouse Guard, which uses the same system and is (I think) about mouse musketeers braving woodpeckers and weasels and such like ...

[fred]

Loads of cool stuff!!

I really like the Sci Fi stuff - especially as you have moved it from its usual parameters.