Author Archives: Alex

Mythic Battles: Pantheon continued AND a new project!

28 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by in Ghost Archipelago, Mythic Battles: Pantheon

≈ 18 Comments

Greetings Terrans, I hope this finds you all well. I have two lil’ updates for you today, starting with some reinforcements for my Son’s Mythic Army:

On the left we have King Eurytus of Oechalia… I think! The Mythic Battles folks had him down as ‘Eurystus’, but I can’t find any reference to that name anywhere… Eurytus on the other hand, is a renowned archer who, depending on the author, might’ve challenged Apollo to a shooting contest & got killed for his hubris, (a common theme in Greek Mythology), or possibly he was killed by Heracles as part of a feud over his daughter’s hand, (another common theme).

Next, we have Marsyas – a Satyr who rocked it on the double oboe… (that is an actual instrument, and not a fantastic innuendo by the way). He is famous for challenging Apollo to a music-off, and guess what, he lost & got killed for his hubris… by being flayed alive… I’m getting the feeling that Apollo was a bit of a bell-end, and that the ancient Greeks disapproved of hubris!

Finally, we have a trio of Satyrs – ‘Lustful, drunken woodland gods’… (Wudugast?). Interestingly, in Greek mythology, Satyrs were depicted as men with horse ears & tails, and it was actually the Romans who went with the whole goat vibe… who knew!

All were painted mostly with contrast paints by my Son, (with a little help from me on the most fiddly bits)

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Ok, so now for something of mine – not much to show, just a single model, but he’s a proof-of-concept for a whole new warband and a long-overdue exploration of Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago.

I was honoured to be invited to join a collaborative Ghost Archipelago project a few weeks back, and have been kicking around ideas since. I knew I wanted to use minis that I already own, and also that I wanted the warband to be unusual and cool, with an oldhammer vibe and a strong pirate theme. I had a good look through my lead pile, and a promising line of possibility involved a load of Pantheon of Chaos minis that I have been sitting on for far too long. I really like the Beastmen in the range – they are proper Realm of Chaos Beast-Men rather than the Broo that modern GW peddle, and I started thinking about the H.G. Wells classic ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’… In that book, the eponymous doctor experimented with stitching together beasts and elevating them to near-humanity. It’s a cool story but is quite a different kind of sci-fi to the Pantheon of Chaos range, so the PoC minis didn’t really fit the theme very well…

Until, for laughs, I sculpted a Tricorn hat on one of them – a particularly imposing chap that Knightmare Miniatures call ‘C’Chak the Silent’. I got some good feedback on the Facey group, and while the hat helped to prove that they could look more anthropomorphic, I didn’t think it went far enough to ‘humanise’ the mini – it still looked too Chaotic (with a capital ‘C’)… After thinking it over, I decided to go all in and over-sculpted proper clothes onto the chap. I then applied a weathered & ‘sensible’ paint job, and I ended up with this:

Now, I may be biased, but this guy doesn’t scream ‘Realm of Chaos!!’ to me any more… instead he has a humanity about him, despite his bestial form, and he has a nautical flavour to boot! In short, I’m very happy with the result, and as with all good warbands, we have fluff… with apologies to H.G. Wells:

“The noble Heritor Edward Prendick & his crew were en route to the Lost Isles – like all Heritors, Edward felt the inexorable pull of the Crystal Fountain, the source of all his powers. During the journey, their ship got caught in an incredible storm & they were wrecked on a lonely and mysterious island, where they were subdued and captured by bestial men loyal to the nefarious scientist Dr. Moreau. The Doctor was obsessed with animal/human hybridisation, and he proceeded to experiment on Prendick and his crew, keeping them drugged while he surgically altered them into parodies of humanity, before conditioning them to obedience in ‘the House of Pain’…

However, the Doctor had not reckoned on the superhuman fortitude of the Heritor taint, and was thus unprepared when an enraged Prendick managed to regain enough awareness to break his bonds & take his revenge. Now inhabiting a huge reptilian frame & with Heritor strength, Prendick made short work of the Doctor, crushing the man’s skull before tearing off the hand that had caused him so much pain… Prendick wears that same hand on his belt as a reminder of how he became the creature he is today, for the cruel truth is that, along with his crew, his humanity is slipping away piece by piece. Every day it gets harder for them to remember their lives as men and women, and every day they grow closer to the beasts they resemble. Now, accompanied by those of the Doctor’s former experiments that retain enough awareness, Prendick and his crew continue their search for the Crystal Pool. Their quest is simple – they seek the pool in the desperate hope that it can restore their stolen humanity…”

So that’s all folks – there will be plenty more on this warband, but first – Fembruary!! I’ll be adding some serious muscle to my all-girl Banshee gang, while my Son will be adding some fab females from the Mythic Battles: Pantheon range… I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys do!!

Mythic Battles: Pantheon – introducing the Amazons

13 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by in Dragon Rampant, Fembruary Challenge

≈ 81 Comments

Greetings Terrans, quick post today – hot on the heels of his excellent skirmish force from Mythic Battles: Pantheon, my youngest has just finished up a quartet of Amazons. They were fiddly little buggers, so I helped with some of the trickier areas, but most of the work & all of the design choices are his. Check it out:

My son really wants these to be an elite option in combat and at range, so in Dragon Rampant we’ll be fielding them as Elite Foot with the addition of a fantasy rule called ‘Wizardling’. This gives them a reduced access to some spells, one of which is a suitably shooty spell, this we can simulate their deadliness with bow, sword and spear. Here they are with their fellow mortals:

These ladies form a nice segue into another topic – that of my now-annual ‘Fembruary Challenge’!  It’s a simple affair, just paint & post one or more female miniatures from your piles-of-shame, in the name of fair representation within the hobby. Just link back to this post, or ping me directly & I’ll grab a pic and include your entry in the final round-up in early March (usually by International Women’s Day, 8th of March)

Given that this is intended as an encouragement to think about inclusion in the hobby then it makes sense if your entries are kick-ass ladies, and not the product of some socially awkward mini-sculptor’s sexy fantasies… Anything dodgy & I’ll omit it from the round-up, otherwise, have at it! I usually pick my favourite of the bunch – no prizes I’m afraid, but a boatload of kudos to you as an official Fembruary Winner!!! 😊

Laters potaters

Happy Commencement of New Arbitrary Terran Orbital Cycle

04 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by in Dragon Rampant, Side projects

≈ 22 Comments

Greeting Terrans, and if you are reading this, congratulations on getting to 2021 with your sanity intact. What a year eh? I’m a firm believer that pushing one’s comfort zone is good for your growth & wellbeing, but last year really did stress that outlook to a whole new level. It seems that every single assumed ‘truth’ that I understood about myself and my life in 2019 was deeply flawed… Things I thought were unconditional had conditions. Stuff I believed could never happen happened. Things that I took for granted were taken away, or were very nearly lost. The shock of these events was disorientating and deeply unpleasant, but I’ve certainly learned a lot & grown along the way. Here is a summary of my key takeaways:

  • People (and by extension, societies) are not always rational – get over it
  • A life is precious to those it affects, otherwise it is an abstract – get over it
  • Even the most secure workplace can be forced to make cuts – get over it
  • Fair-weather friends are just that – get over it
  • Some people can’t disagree without being disagreeable – get over it
  • I am not the Covid police – get over it
  • Never miss an opportunity to show someone you love that you love them
  • I wouldn’t want to swap my issues for anyone else’s issues
  • Get rid of shit that doesn’t enhance your life (and don’t replace it with other shit)
  • Don’t make your happiness & self-worth contingent on anyone or anything
  • Staying fit is hard… Being unfit is also hard… chose your hard!
  • Take a moment to be grateful for what you have every single day

I have cleared up my life & ditched a whole bunch of crap I didn’t need, both literal and metaphorical. I have refocused my energies into areas that deserve my attention and efforts, and I have pulled back from those areas that don’t. I feel a little older & maybe a bit more cynical, but I’m a hell of a lot wiser in terms of understanding those things that are most important to me. I honestly think that one day I’ll look back on 2020 as a defining year that led to some positive personal outcomes despite the trials and tribulations along the way.

Anyway, I know you came here to see painted minis rather than listen to my bollocks, (ok, not literally – that would be weird), so let’s get to it. During my mass-clear-out I found a whole load of minis that came with two kickstarters from Monolith Games, (Mythic Battles: Pantheon and Conan) and Rising Sun from CMON. I went through a phase of backing shit like this, but with no idea how I was going to paint all the stuff, learn the game, play, etc…  Pretty wasteful really, and definitely not in keeping with my drive to clear out crap.

I decided that the games per se didn’t do it for me & so I got rid of all the associated guff, but I thought that the minis were ideal for having some Father/Son time with my youngest during Christmas lockdown – if he fancied it. We had a chat, and he was pretty positive about it, so he helped me to sort the minis by type & selected those he most wanted to paint. A short time later & we had cranked out Ares, a trio of Argonauts, five Hoplites and Leonidas – I helped by painting in parallel with him to speed the process up, but not by doing it all for him. Here’s what we ended up with:

Nice!!

As we were painting, we naturally got to talking about having a game with them, so I got out my copy of Dragon Rampant & worked out a list for his Ancient Greeks, and another using my Greek-themed Dark Elves. DR is a cracking little rule set, very easy to pick up & understand, and is totally agnostic when it comes to minis… Perfect for a simple throw-down with a youngling! We played a couple of games over the weekend, winning one each for a very satisfactory outcome:

So, in a roundabout way, 2020 has led me up to this. Having a good clear-out unearthed these minis, and lockdown gave me ample opportunity to spend quality time with my youngest. This surplus of time meant that the slow art of painting and gaming managed to get a look-in against the many & various forms of electronic entertainment – no mean feat these days!

Most of all, 2020 taught me to be grateful for that quality time with him, and I am looking forward to more of the same – he’s already plotting what units he needs to add to make his first army even more formidable 😊

Anyway, that’s all for now. Keep buggering on ya buggers & I’ll catch you next time.