The Patrol

An event from the expansion set, the Patrol. 

I seem to be going for units again, there is a definitive risk of this expanding into an army. These guys are from Perry miniatures, except for the leader with a sword is from Wargames Foundry.

Year One

It has now been one year since I took up painting again. Looking back, I'm surprised how much I've done.

I usually get about a half hour of painting done every day. Hopping from one project to another I work on 1-20 minis simultaneously which means a lot of half-dones lying around.

With these guys laid out, the funny thing is, I don't know if I've gotten a lot better at painting during this past year but I've definitely gotten a lot faster. And maybe I'm now getting more hits compared to the misses..

Anyway, as a hooray to myself, my top five pieces of the past year IMHO:

This arthropod. I'm happy with getting decent paint job onto the plastic I was having trouble with earlier. And I'm pleased with the way the light source effect turned out. I also think the pose turned out fine; the spider rearing back from the torch, probably thrown by some startled dungeon explorer who has just noticed a spider the size of a cow sneaking up on them.

This pirate. I always wanted to paint a classic pirate, but never got around to it before. Also, he was one of the early ones I did after picking up a brush again after taking a break for a decade. With him I felt like I was really getting my painting groove back on again, painting was starting to feel fast and easy, and I like the result.

These marines. Finishing a full squad was very satisfying. Also, the droids had been taunting me from my "to-paint" pile for almost 20 years. Finally done!

These watchmen. The second time a did a whole unit, and finding inspiration in classic art was surprisingly much fun.

This fellow. The paint job is crap, but he is the mini that broke the decade long hiatus!

And Another Dragon

Dragon number two from the basic set.

This Reaper dragon by Kevin Williams was listed as a young swamp dragon, so I gave her a swampy base. Also, my darling wife taught me to use PhotoShop to brighten up my poorly lit pics. Natural light is the best, then the pics turn out fine, but you really don't get much of that at these latitudes at this time of the year. Compare, before:

And after:

Anyway, thanks dear, better photos ahoy!

The Priest

A player character from the basic game.

This time the mini from Perry Miniatures, sculpted by a Perry, I presume? They now make nice, realistically proportioned historical minis from various time periods. This man of the cloth is from their crusades range.

The Watchmaker

The City's Finest: Keeping the general populace safe from arachnids and democracy.

Just a quick run-down of the making of the Watch. I remember taking more pictures, but here are most of the stages. I was a bit overwhelmed at doing a whole unit after painting just individual minis. To make sure that would actually have the energy to finish these guys, I decided to follow the ancient guideline of engineering and Keep It Simple, Stupid or KISS.

The sprue.

A pikeman assembled.

Based with one of my favorite basing materials, pine bark.

Grey undercoat.

Painting the first layer with midtone colours.

Some black ink over the metal bits and then drybrush with just the same silvery metal.

Over the rest of the colours I used a brown wash (Citadel Agrax Earthshade) and then a quick highlight with the same midtones I used earlier. Then, finally a layer of satin varnish to provide that tiny bit of protection in the harsh life of an inch tall toy soldier.

The process was quick and the result ok when viewed from a gaming distance of 0,5-1 m. Looking back, it really wouldn't have taken that much longer to add a lighter final highlight, which would have left the watchmen looking a little less flat. Still, there is something in the effect of seeing a finished whole unit that you just don't get with single minis.

The Watchmen

Patroling the streets of the Talisman City, are the watch. Encountered as an event, any scoundrels with a warrant for their arrest may have to fight patrols of variable strength  from 4 to 12. There are a total of eight Watch cards, so this time I wasn't crazy enough to do eight patrols, just enough to represent a unit of up to 12 men.

I know, not quite this:

I also know this has been done before, for example here (a good book by the way):

Some photos in formation:

And a line-up, these guys are plastic Warlord Games English civil war royalist infantry (the Watch motto of the more early medieval City: "Anachronisms over anarchy"):

And these guys are from the same line of products, but in metal:

And instead of a girl in a yellow dress, you got a dwarf in gilded armour:

She's an older acquaintance, a Ral Partha dwarf ca. 1988. Listed here (11-006) as a fighter, but I remember them being sold as clerics. I should have the male counterpart somewhere as well.

The Corrupt Sheriff

One of the fat cats of the City, the Corrupt Sheriff, the event. What kind of a cop is he? A bad cop.

He also doesn't look at all pleased with the amount of palm grease offered. Built from a Warlord Games plastic English civil war royalist infantry sprue. The only modification was chopping of his swordhand and replacing it with an open hand with a couple of shavings from the butt of a pike for coins.

Another Honest Deputy

With this mini on my hands I decided to do another version of the Honest Deputy from the City. Not just a man of high morale standards, but also a man with a heightened fashion sense.

Set against the background of a tiny metallic English civil war officer from Warlord Games.