Well, life happened at me, a lot...

Yeah, so I had a two-month stomach bug, followed by a corona scare. Luckily all is well, but I'm still rebuilding my strenght/stamina after barely holding on to nutrients during the stomach bug.

Which left little spare energy for hobby.

I did manage to squeeze these lot out: 

A Squig with a fancy hairdo: 

Naturally, I also participated in the Iron Kingdoms: Requiem Kickstarter, and this has once again urged me to do a bit more on some IKRPG character miniatures:

 

 

They're two minis for the same character, a Knight-Ironhead. As the new version of the IKRPG doesn't work off combining two archetypes, I'll have to figure out how to make him work, ruleswise.

 

Also, ofcourse I pre-ordered Cursed City. Warhammer Quest, but horror, and with a strong Eastern European vibe? Perfect.

So, not much to report. See you again next time, whenever that may be!

Warhammer Questions: Hesitations over Hammerhal

So, a new iteration of Warhammer Quest has been released. And unlike Silver Tower, this one actually had me interested/excited: Hidden conflict in the catacombs under a great, magnificent city, seeping corruption. The preview art showed the Heroes facing off against corrupted Nurgle warriors. Rumours of campaign rules, options for adding more monsters and creatures to the game. So, the right mood, the right setting, promise of replayability, this could be it! I said to myself that, if the funds were available at the end of this month, I'd treat myself to it.
Now, the end of the month is here, the funds are there, but I'm still holding off the order.
Why? Because doubt has set in about wether this game is really worth my money...

Part is because the setting of the game isn't as focussed as I had anticipated, instead of being more Nurgle-centric, GW has tried to cram all four Chaos Gods into this set. Which struck me as odd, as the first WHQ-reboot game was all about Tzeentch.

This was also reflected in the miniatures. Several let-downs on that area, in my eyes: First: no new sculpts, at all. Plus, there were less mini's than in the Silver Tower box. (And even less still, than in the original WHQ box...)
And to be honest, of the mini's in the box, the only ones that I'm actually interested in are the Cogsmith and Putrid Blightkings. Oh, and the Gryphhound. :)
The Kairic Acolytes actually annoy me for being in this set. I don't like the sculpts, far to bulky/beefy and not near mystical enough for followers of Tzeentch. Apparently they are the cockroaches of AoS as well, as you seem to find them everytime you go into a dark and dank area...  Sigh.

Finally, there is the doubt about how much I'll actually get to use it. Aside from some (semi) regular RPG campaigns and the occasional wargame with Johan, I don't really game that often anymore. (Something that I'm trying and willing to change, but hey, calendars and real life and stuff.)
So, I'm not sure I want to spend the cash on something that may just end up a closet-filler.

On the plus side, it has got me thinking about dungeons and dungeon terrain again, in other words, it may have lit a spark under my Dungeoneering project... (Which may turn out to be bad news for my Howling Griffons. But then again, that project has lain dormant for a month already. And maybe this will fire up the old hobby engine again? Which could benefit the Griffons as well.)

As a result I've been looking at options for dungeon terrain again, and thinking about what I really want from it.

There are ofcourse various commercial options, like Dwarven Forge, Hirst Arts molds, Ziterdes and things like Maki Games' M.U.P. and te offerings Manorhouse Workshop (though I discovered their excellent dungeon walls are no more to be found on their store.). Quick to get up and running (except maybe for Hirst Arts), but very spendy and ofcourse, clearly mass-manufactured.

So, I'd be expending a significant amount of cash (which I don't have to spend) to get a reasonable sized setup that isn't very unique in the end.
Plus, being an artsy git at heart, I like the stuff I use to be unique and "mine".

However, I have learned from my Space Hulk 3D project, that if I do build it from scratch, I need to do so in a way that is both quick and easy. I need to acknowledge that I no longer have the (near) unlimited time and energy of my youthful years.
What I've taken away from my Warhammer Quest Display and the walls for Frostgrave is that most time is consumed by the various styles and types of stonework.  I'll need a way to speed that up, and still get good-looking final results.

I could look at sheet materials for the textures (plasticard or resin), casting molds or maybe even texture rollers (though I don't know if those are tough enough to texture foam, most I see are intended for putty or clay). Or I could go monolithic and carve or stack XPS blocks.

What do I want from my dungeon terrain? I want it to be both modular and atmospheric and moody (just look at the picture above). I don't want/need squares or hexes per se, though it would be nice if it were easily made compatible with the original Warhammer Quest. I'm not sure if I'd want terrain tiles with (groups of) rooms and corridors or separate individual rooms and corridors. I think I'd even be fine with combining the both. A Forgeworld Zone Mortalis type set-up, expanded with a number of moveable walls would also be worth considering. I'm a bit hesitant about the Dwarven Forge style modules, I'd like a whole corridor or room to be a seamless whole where possible, plus all those little bits take a while to set up before a game. Definitely no papercraft for me! I'm looking for a (moderate) variety of styles, including cellars and dungeons and crypts/catacombs.
At some point I'd definitely want to expand it with caves as well. Multi-level is cool, but may already be too ambitious, let's just get a basic set done first.  I'd like to be able to build some larger dungeons, so I should be able to fill a 3x3' or 4x4' square table, for warband-sized skirmish wargames.

So, anyone have any suggestions or ideas how to go about this? Maybe there are some products or companies I haven't seen yet, that would be perfect for this?

See you next time!

Going deeper underground

The display backdrop for my wife her Warhammer Quest set is done!
I installed it into the cabinet today, and presented it to her.

Naturally I also shot some pics of it for you folks...
The first pic is with flash, the second without. I'm presenting both as I like how the pic with flash looks more like the bright cartoony style Warhammer Quest has in it's presentation and miniature painting. Whereas the pic without flash best shows off the colours and mood of it, and shows the more "modern" pallet and style of many dungeon games.

With Retro-Flash Tech:

And without flash, in modern Gritty-Punk-O-Vision:

I haven't yet set the heroes on the outdoor section yet, as the glue in the flock still needs to dry properly.
She's happy (though she scared my by saying: "Nice, now do the rest of the cabinet as well."), I'm happy.
I'm looking forward to switching off the display lights tonight, I want to see how the glow-in-the-dark shrooms in the cave will do. :D

See you next time!

Mercenary Terraformer

For the past couple of weeks, behind the scenes I've been working on some terrain. A while back a friend mentioned he could use some more scenery, but lacked the skills and materials. Now I had the skills and materials, but could use some more hobby budget. We soon came to a mutually beneficial understanding. ;-)

He was looking for some rock formations. After some exchange of ideas we settled on a group of rocky hills and a stone circle. As I delivered the finished product today, I can now share the pics with the world. (When I make something for someone else it's my rule that the new owner gets to see it first.)

So, here is a pic-dump of the construction process for you to enjoy:

A change of gears.

I've done a bit of painting on the Warhammer Quest display backdrop, but a combination of the size and extent of the paintjob on it, as well as some real life worries had me lose steam for a bit, hobbywise. As a result the backdrop project just became this massive beast, staring me in the face, making me lose heart.
So I decided to change gears for a bit, and just pick up a random project on a whim. Clear the palate as it were. I wanted to do something none-fantasy, but not grimdark (I felt like I had enough doom and gloom on my plate already...). Something small and easily finished.
I had a look over my stacks of mini's ready to paint and WIP (I have an archival drawer cabinet with minis from various projects that are either WIP, primered or ready for primer. I tend to switch gears a lot usually, and this is my way of accomodating my hobby-butterfly tendencies).
My eye fell on my partly painted Appleseed Landmate conversion from a couple of years ago...

At the time painting on it had stalled out, because, well, painting that much white neatly was an absolute bugbear. Luckily, this time I knew what I was in for (and had nearly half a decade more painting experience under my belt). The trick to painting white is accepting it will take a bazillion layers...

Anyway, here is the result:

And the anterior:

In the end, it turned out a little lighter/brighter than his buddy I painted years ago:

(Old one on the left, new paint in the centre, and Special Ops Landmate on the right.)

Here's a pic of the whole gang as it stands now:

The SWAT team in the background isn't formally part of the Appleseed project (they're painted in the colours and markings of the Arrestatieteam, the Dutch equivalent of SWAT), but as they're carrying futuristic gear anyway, they might as well be co-opted.

With him, all my law enforcement Landmates are painted. On the to-paint tray are still 3 opposing force Landmates and 9 Bubblegum Crisis "Boomer" miniatures that need converting into combat cyborgs. When I'll do those minis? I don't know.
I had intended this mini to be a single painting project, to reboot the mojo, but I've finally watched Appleseed Alpha ("for research") and am currently rereading the manga, and it's drawing me in again. So this project may just have a longer breath than I had planned.
I also discovered that the particular Infinity models I used for these conversions are being replaced with a newer sculpt that isn't compatible with the looks of these (It's a nice sculpt, but there's just not enough of the classic Guges in it). So I kinda, sorta, somewhat quickly ordered an extra one, to convert into a support Landmate with an Anti-Landmate Sniper rifle.

There's still plenty on the wish list for this project, with the top picks being; a Landmate for Briareos, suitable clean sci-fi terrain, and most importantly, a ruleset that does what I want from Appleseed style gaming.
After that it's just tasties: more (varied) opposing force, some vehicles, civillians...
But there's not much of a priority on that, because as far as I know I don't have anyone to actually game this with... It's mainly just a modelling project and homage to Appleseed. But who knows, if I get enough finished I may just draw someone in?

See you next time!

Blacked out...

Sunday I spent making the extra detailing for the display unit; Sconces for torches, some candles for the niches in the lower corridor, the doors and trapdoor and a set of iron rings to go into a wall somewhere.

Which means that I had everything ready for primer!
The little bits will be sprayed, I just have to wait until the rain lets up long enough.
Because the corridors are mainly made from various forms of foam, I couldn't spray them, so they got handpainted with a PVA/black paint mix, slightly diluted down. Here is the result, still drying as I type:

Now that it's finally all a single colour, it's great to see how all the different materials give a nice variety of textures and surfaces. I'm well pleased so far!

Now just to leave this to dry for a couple of days and then find the time to paint this behemoth...
As an extension of this, I'm also thinking about dungeon terrain again, I've got lots to think about on that subject. If I can, I'll write something up about it.

See you soon!

Flooring it!

I had the house to myself today, so I decided to make a mess... :D

After a gentle nudge from Harry over on Warseer, I had to agree it was high time to continue work on the display backdrop for my wifes Warhammer Quest set. If I am to finish painting it, I'll need both a boost to motivation and room to put the finished minis, as the allotted shelf is slowly filling up. Warhammer Quest is a big set!

I still needed to do part of the flooring on the dungeon corridors. (In fact, the entire centre level of the display needed its flooring done!) So, that's what I did today:

More photos and words after the break.

That's a load of bull!

Highland bull, that is!
So, a double feature today, two posts within 24 hours! I managed to finish a second figure yesterday. After all, I had a whole day of nothing else to do but wait for the cable guy. I lost no time faffing about on the PC as I'd lose the internet connection the moment the guy started working, so I didn't bother switching it on in the first place and just kept painting.

Which means now I can present to you; the Highland Minotaur.
Like with the chicken-keeper from last post, it was to dark to photograph them by the time they were finished so I took pics today.
Here's the beast:

He's a conversion of Heresy Miniatures Snow Troll. I simply added horns, lopped off it's toes and replaced them with hooves. I hid any seams or connections by sculpting fur over them, to blend into the existing shaggy coat. Paint was a series of washes and drybrushes for the fur.

(P.S. the gritty texture on his left hand isn't a casting or sculpting defect. It's just me being a klutz and not noticing there was still some sand stuck on his hand until well after primering... Being on the underside/inside of the hand, and so not noticeable from tabletop angle, I opted to just keep it there instead of trying to scrape it of and potentially messing up the WIP paintjob or surface of the mini. Just so there is no confusion, Heresy's Andy his casting is impeccable!)

Sunday paint session: Griffon done.

Over the last few painting sit-downs I've been working on a Griffon. Today I got to finish it.
It's the old metal GW Griffon that Emperor Karl Franz normally sits on (I have the Karl to go with him, but I just needed the monster. Maybe I'll find good old Karl a horse one day...). A lovely, classic Griffon, no frills, no extreme styling, and most importantly, no integral tack and saddle.
Here she is:

And finally a couple of size comparisons:

FYI, that infantry miniature is on a 30mm base, not a 25mm one...

As Griffons reputedly live in rocky, mountainous regions, I decided to model the base accordingly. Originally the Griffon was rearing on it's hind legs, which left little room for larger rock formations, until I had the idea to support one of the front legs on these rocks. I quite like the way this makes her seem to be posturing, presenting a large profile and clawing at the air intimidatingly.
As an older metal model, there is a bit more work to assembling her (I'm pleased that I managed to get the joins unnoticeable), but it does mean the model has a nice heft to it. I'm quite happy with the way she has turned out. Enough to actually be thinking about maybe building a Griffon nest as well, maybe even look for a couple of baby Griffons in a similar style. It's an idea I've been toying with a bit more lately, to build nests or lairs for some of the larger monsters I have in storage or on the to-purchase list. I'm partly inspired by the Witcher 3 in this, which I've been playing a lot recently, and where you can get prime loot from wrecking monster nests with bombs! But also because "Find me a Griffon egg!" and similar are just classic errands to send heroes on!
Anyway, that is for the future.
I've got a giant on the assembly desk, an idea for converting wraiths from Empire Flaggelants (again inspired by Witcher 3), and a drawer full of minis that are ready for paint, including a Beastman warband, a mob of subterranean degenerates (the Hobbit Goblintown goblins), the remains of the Undead band and some more heroes....
Plus there is the Witcher 3, which I'm enjoying tremendously, partly because the game is so very pretty, but also because of the lore of game and the monsters and places in it have positively got my head bubbling with ideas and plans to co-opt for my fantasy games and setting.

Until next time!

Dungeon Kickstarter

I've totally forgotten to show you this kickstarter by Manorhouse Workshop in collaboration with Maki Games:
Modular Underground Project
Being plastic and based on 10cm squares, it would be perfect for many a dungeon game, the upcoming Privateer Press Corvis Underground boardgame (though you'd need a fair few sets to remake the board with these sections) as far as fantasy goes. You could also use it for pulp games, or even sci-fi games (it reminds me an afwul lot of Hellgate London's sewer levels, for example, or some of the Metro 2033 stuff.
They've demonstrated its compatibility with several major other modular dungeon systems.
Here's what it looks like, once painted:

It currently seems to be flagging a bit, so please, have a look and if you like it spread the word!

The Minoic Beast

Another to tick off the Warhammer Quest completion list: One Bipedal Bovine.

A monster of the labyrinth to really worry the heroes...
(Or from the heroes' perspective: a large pile of loot and beef!)
As usual, I took inspiration from the classic WHQ look, but with a more modern palette.
I may go back and add some smears of less fortunate adventurer to his axe, but I'm letting it rest a bit before I decide.

I struggled with painting him a bit, as my mojo has been at an ebb lately, but I'm still quite happy with how he turned out.  With his brothers I might try to get the skin a bit lighter, though. I underestimated the darkening effect of the washes I used to smooth out the highlighting on him.

Going beyond the threshold.

As the "Birthday Project" has been wrapped up (literally!)  and I don't feel quite up to tackling the rocking chair just yet, I've pulled out the painting gear again. Hopefully I can get up my mojo again by just doing it and going from there.
I decided to start with something simple and fairly quick, to prevent myself getting discouraged by the mid-paint "hump" I often encounter when either unit-painting or going high quality on a single model. This really only left terrain and counters, neither of which I have a lot of ready to go right now. Except for the doors from the Warhammer Quest set. I had painted 4 of the 10 a while back, leaving only six to finish:

As the previous were done in a grey stone colour, I decided to do these in a warmer sandstone scheme.
Now, I hear you thinking; "He said he had already painted 4 out of 10, that should leave 6, but there are only 5 in the picture?"

Conjurer of dead things

 I had this song running through my head the entire time I was painting my latest miniature:

It's not often a miniature has such a clear theme song...
Can you guess what he is yet? ;-P

Disruptions and distractions

I've been ill the past week.* Which limited my hobby options to idly leafing through my note- and sketchbooks in those moments I wasn't either asleep or actively engaged with being ill.
Not very nice at all. :(

*: Nothing serious, just one of the fun seasonal bugs doing the rounds here...

And while it was fun, and a much needed distraction, to see my other ideas and plans outside of dungeoneering/fantasy again, it has been a bit too distracting, as I seem to have lost my focus on the Dungeoneering/fantasy/Quest project...
I'm not yet fit enough to do hobby stuff, so hopefully the distraction will pass, and I can resume work on my Dungeoneering/fantasy (let's just say D/F/Q from now on, shall we?) project as planned when I've recovered. But I'm not too confident.
You see, I've been able to focus on the D/F/Q project far longer than I'm used to sticking to a hobby project. It's a bit of a surprise to me, really. So I'm not sure how to deal with this. Usually distraction struck much sooner, and it meant the previous project would be relegated to (one of the many) back burner(s) for a few months at least.
Which I don't want to happen with the D/F/Q project (Gods, this project needs a catchier name!).
So, how do I deal with this?
Do I ignore the ideas that are floating around in my head and knuckle down the fantasy project, with the risk that the itch won't go and I make D/F/Q a chore for myself?
Do I allow myself the sidestep with a little "refresher" project, so I could return to D/F/Q with new energy, but risk that the sidestep leads me deeper into the other project(s), causing me to neglect the D/F/Q project?
Or do I try and do both, and see what wins out, survival of the fittest style? It would mean dividing my already limited hobby time even more, further reducing any progress I make.
At this point, I really don't know what the best option is.
Do any of you have some good advice or own experiences to share?

Barking up trees

This weekend I had originally planned to make some more progress on the Warhammer Quest display unit for the glass cabinet. However, I had neglected to calculate for the various celebrations (an anniversary and two milestone birthdays) within our family... Which my loving wife dutifully reminded me of, as I was pulling out all the hobby gear.

So the progress hasn't proceeded as progressively as planned. :-(

I did get the trees for the display covered in bark-like texture. (Hence the title of this post.) I painted the wire skeleton with several layers of wall-filler made slightly thinner and goopier with the aid of PVA glue. I brushed on an initial layer of watered down filler, to act as a "primer coat" for the following layers to grab on to. Then I added several layers of a thicker mix until the wire frame wasn't protruding from the surface anymore. For the final layer I threw a handful of sand into the mixture, to give it some more texture. I put this on roughly and with visible brushstrokes to emulate the texture of bark. Once dried it is a bit more subtle than I'd hoped, but when painted it should suffice:

As I had several tree wireframes still lying around, I've textured them at the same time, as you can see above.
Here is a close up of the two trees (and separate branches) for the display, so you can see a bit of the texture I achieved:

As a bonus, while these were drying between layers, I managed to clip and clean 18 GW the Hobbit Goblins. I'll be using these as some sort of underground degenerates, and they can double as mutants for games of 40K or =I=Munda, so they'll be based somewhat generically. I also managed to greenstuff the torsos of 11 second-hand Battle for Skull Pass spiders, so they are ready for primer. Additionally (filler is applied quickly, but dries slowly) I filled the gaps in the Heresy Miniatures Lurkers I showed a while ago and attached them to their bases.

All in all, looking back, while I didn't do what I planned to, I've been quite productive. And all that in a weekend I, beforehand, considered lost to sitting up and playing nice with relatives...

Thoughts and aqcuisitions

Last weekend Johan came for a visit. He brought a little care package along, a group of Harlequin medieval spearmen. The baggy included two halberdiers, who will go to reinforce my already painted knight his retinue (making his retinue the largest of my knightly warbands).
The remaining spearmen will form a troop of city watch. Currently I'm thinking of giving them pavises and painting them in the heraldry of the 14th century Knight who held lordship over the area I live in:

It is a bit bright and bold though, which clashes somewhat with the "yokel guard" image I want to go for. So, I may yet reconsider and go for a more subdued shield decoration after all. On the other hand, historical pavises were often beautifully painted... And it could serve as a contrast with the scruffy yokels behind it?

Additionally, a package arrived today from the ever lovely people at Hasslefree:

Unusually, not a pile of miniatures for me this time...  With the recent influx of extra mini's and the gradual expansion of the project, the bottom of my box of bases was getting into view. So I needed more. As my funds were insufficiently ample, I couldn't splurge on a handful as miniatures as well. :(
I did need a set of lady noggins for a few conversions though, and I simply couldn't resist the lovely Luna. So those got included.
As always, service from Hasslefree was prompt and friendly and their product is absolutely top notch, I couldn't recommend them more!

All in all, you're just another...

... brick in the wall.
Tiny foam ones, that is. This weekend the lad is out on a sleepover trip, the misses is meeting up with friends, so I've designated this "Terrain Weekend".
Specifically, I wanted to work on the scenic background I'm building for my wife's Warhammer Quest collection.. I had one section of corridor I still needed to do the walls for. Inspired by JimBibbly's excellent Castle Blackwolf thread on the Lead Adventure Forum I decided to try my hand at bricklaying. As I wanted the wall to look roughshod and crudely made, I opted not to measure or use a ruler when cutting, but to just cut by eye and feel. I'm glad I did, the results look nice and "rustic" (aka dilapidated and unsafe...):

Here is how the entire thing looks at the moment:

I've still got a fair  bit to go before I can paint this beast (I should have included a mini for scale, come to think of it). Here's what I still need to do:
-Sculpt some (semi-round) tree trunks for the upper left area, to give the impression that the cave entrance is in the middle of a forest.
-Add floors to the centre corridor sections (the left one, with the large stone blocks gets a dirt floor, the centre one a tiled one, maybe even a mozaic, the right one gets worn plank flooring).
-Detail all of it (floors, furnishings, dirt and debris, small little touches). This may potentially be the most time-consuming step yet....
-Seal all the solvent-vulnerable materials and primer the thing!

Sunday update:
I got some work done on the trees, but I ran out of greenstuff and daylight...
Here's where I got:

The leftmost tree still needs to get it's wire branches reinforced with greenstuff. After that the trees can get a bark texture (still need to figure out how...). Nothing of it is glued in place at the moment, I want to attempt to paint a scenic backdrop on the rear wall. Hopefully I can achieve the effect that the 3d trees are merely the nearest ones of a larger forest. If not, I'll just have to cover up the entire rear wall with trees...

They dwell in the dark places of the world...

Two posts in one weekend! I know, wild, isn't it? ;p

The beastmen warband is fully assembled. I just need to fill any gaps and do their bases.

Here's the chieftain and his elite warriors:

The lesser fighters of the clan:

 So, once I have the last remnants of my Undead warband painted (2 Skeleton leaders, 1 Dread Knight, 2 Wraiths, a Banshee, Necromancer and the Skeleton King himself. Hm, sounds like a lot still...) I should have the next evil warband primed and ready to go.

I also made a base for the Dwarf today:

And, as an extra, I assembled my Lurkers from Heresy miniatures:

Sadly, he doesn't seem to make these anymore. I believe they wore out their moulds too quickly.
The leaping ones are on 25mm bases only temporarily, in the end they will all get 30mm bases.
As I normally use 30mm bases for my major heroes, these will become rather dangerous critters....
I like the idea of fielding them as (lesser) Grue, just for the nerdy reference. Don't let your torches go out!

Now, time to mix up some greenstuff and start filling gaps...

See you next time!

Hoof and Horn

No painting this weekend (unless I change my mind tomorrow), but assembly in an attempt to redress the Hero-Villain balance.
What have I been assembling?
Have a look:

 That's the core of my Beastmen for the dungeoneering/chivalry/fantasy project. I've still to assemble two more of the greater beastmen, the lesser will remain at eight. I gave some of the lesser beatmen the large shields that the manufacturer (GW) intended for the greater beastmen, to make them look less uniform. Where the lesser beastmen are the rank and file (and dogsbodies) of the clan, the greater beastmen will be more individualistic, warriors of note. I hope to give each of them an individual and evocative  attitude and choice of wargear. An interesting challenge, as I'm using the older, and more limited GW Gor/Ungor combined kit. I'll take some pictures once all four greater beastmen are assembled, to see/show if I've succeeded in this.
There's also the leader of the warband to still  assemble, and at some point I'll need to get a shaman for spiritual guidance as well.
These won't go on dungeon bases, as they're creatures of the deep wilds. I think I'll base them similar to the Knight and his retinue.
If you look carefully at the back you'll see a hero sneaking in, a stour armoured dwarf. (a bit headless at the moment, as I want to reach his breastplate and crooks of his beard properly when painting him.)
And an other figure, whom I'm still deciding on if she'll be a force of good or evil (leaning towards evil right now, though).

I'm also slowly collecting ideas and bits of pieces of lore to assemble something resembling a setting out of. As far as beastmen go, I'm starting from this point:
Beastmen are an evil, a species without redeeming features. Vicious and cruel, they live only to destroy and defile. Favoured children of one of the old, inhuman gods, they are corruption and insanity made flesh.
Where a barbarian merely eschews civilization and it's trappings, the beastmen actively seek to destroy it. They see the spread of civilization as a plague, taking the danger and need for survival out of the land and allowing the weak to survive when they shouldn't. The world should be uncaring and cruel, only those who are brutal and strong enough to force life to give up what they need have the right to survive.The beastmen refer to themselves as the Tribes of the Thousand Young. It is a common belief among the beastmen that all of their tribes and clans descend from the original 1000 young of their deranged, goat-like deity. Dwelling in the wild and forbidden places of the world, they prey on anything and frequently raid the surrounding lands. They partly raid for food* and supplies, but mostly to cause havoc and tear down what others have built. To force their targets to prove their strength and right to survive, or otherwise punish them for being to weak to survive without the crutch of civilization.
*: Meat mostly, and strong drink. They'll eat any meat, dead or alive, of non-sentient or sentient species, but they prefer the latter options as it represent the greater atrocity.


There is a reason people feel ill at ease in the deep woods, and get shivers out on the moors, when the light is fading...
It's where the Tribes of the Thousand Young dwell.

A shrine and a short one.

I had the day to myself to do some painting today. As I still had a small roadside shrine to finish from last week's painting session, that came first:

 It's an old OOP GW Sisters of Battle Shrine/Objective marker. The lowest part is about the size of a 20mm square base. On the rear, someone has seen fit to nail a page from a manuscript to it:

GW being GW, it comes equipped with both a skull and a purity seal as standard....

With that out of the way, and most of the day still ahead of me, I grabbed another mini. I wanted to do something on my wife's Warhammer Quest set. After all, despite being the catalyst for me starting on this whole Dungeoneering/Chivalry/Fantasy project, it has languished a bit of late.
Today I had neither the time, nor the desire to start on another batch of monsters, plus, none of the heroes have seen any paint yet...
The Elf was not an option, as it had incurred some damage during storage I still need to fix. I didn't feel like painting lots of skin, so the Barbarian was out. Of the two left, the Dwarf caught my eye the most.
So, here he is, the shortest of the heroes in the WHQ box:

I kept close to the colours depicted in the Warhammer Quest artwork for the Dwarf, only deviating on the gloves. Instead of bright yellow, I opted to paint them in a buff leather colour. I figured the Dwarf would want his gloves sturdy, with good grip, but not too precious to discard if they became soiled or damaged.

As usual, I kept to my more subdued, realistic colours rather than 90's GW brightness, but still keeping to the spirit of the miniature and the game. I think I've managed to strike a happy medium.

And my wife is happy with him, which is the most important, I think. :D