Troglodytes and Lizardmen

My painting output has dropped a bit in the last month, inasmuch as I’ve not got a lot of finished work to show. However, I have been busy organising my paint. It is now all in dropper bottles. This was a slow and messy job, but a good chance to assess the quality of a some of my paints. They are a lot easier to use now, so I think it was worth the effort.

Paints all in dropper bottles.

Otherwise, I have started painting the carroccio and the foot to morph my Normans into Communal Italians. I’ve done the shields, using mostly VVV decals, but also a few of my own that I made (I needed some decals for the carroccio, and added a few for the guards).

I have also spent time buying boxes to store my figures in. This occasioned my discovering some partly painted warbands for Song of Blades and Heroes. It didn’t take long to get them finished, which is quite satisfying. The figures are all Splintered Light, which come in irresistible warband packs (I have a lot more I could get done).

The first warband is a group of Troglodytes; I painted a test figure of them two years ago, and I got the base colour done of the rest: link. They languished after that. I was not entirely happy with the colour, which was too similar to the lizardmen, despite using different colours for the base and drybrushing. I didn’t let that trouble me this time, and just got the detail done, which is not too much work.

Troglodytes!

The warband has a commander and a shaman, and large chap and a pet lizard of some sort.

About face!

And turn again!

The other warband was some lizardmen. They were at the same stage as the Trolodytes, and didn’t take a lot of work to finish. They also have a commander and a shaman; they also have a larger chap with a trident.

Lizardmen…

About face!

And turn again!

I hope to use these figures at some stage; I also would like to get the warband of ratmen painted. The base colour for them is done, and they should look great when finished. They would join quite an array of SoBH figures now.

That’s two groups of figures that I’ve taken out of half-painted limbo. My Veteran Carthaginians remain in this place, but I’ve hit on a plan to get some of them done. I’m going to finish four elements of them to use as imitation legionaries for my Mithridatic army. Getting them done is likely to push the Communal Italians back down the queue!

Zombies

As I checked over the paints that I’d not used in over a year, I came across some colours that reminded me that I had a few figures I’d meant to paint. The next thing you know I’m painting a warband of Zombies that I’d based over a year ago. Not content with that I also did some test figures of Troglodytes and Lizardmen that I’d wanted to do. Then I bought some more figures from Splintered Light because they had a sale … Oops!

The Zombies were pretty straightforward. I used drybrushing after I had applied the wash, as I had gone for a pretty drab palate and wanted a bit more contrast than the wash gave.

The Zombies (can you spot the rogue skeleton painted as a zombie in error!).

Those with the most open wounds.

Those with dresses, the one in the middle is armed with an arm!.

The arm!

Short and tall.

Tunics and a skeleton.

Spears.

Gesturing, and almost the Karate Kid.

I’m hoping to start using these warbands for SoBH in something closer to a RPG campaign inasmuch as I envisage that a warband would encounter zombies and other monsters in the course of a campaign. It gives me an excuse to paint quite a number of these warbands. To date I’ve got my Undead largely done (just some ghouls to do) — evil wizards, a vampire, wraiths, ghosts, skeletons and zombies is a bit to get going with. I’ve also got Gnolls and Goblins, along with a few larger humanoids.

The two test figures, the Troglodyte and Lizardman, were straightforward to paint. However, I’m not happy with the colour of their skin. I was hoping a drybrush would work, but I may have to start again. I want something lighter with more variation. I’ll try a heavier drybrush. If it still doesn’t work, I’ll have to redo the base coat. Otherwise, they’ll be a cinch to paint; not too many colours and clear lines for the detail.

Test colours for a Troglodyte (left) and a Lizardman (right).

The other side.

The warbands may not get much attention, however, until more urgent DBA projects are finished (or that’s the theory).

Dwarf quest

Last month I posted a comparison of 15mm dwarves. After that I spent some time researching figures, and decided to order some dwarves from Splintered Light. They proved to be the answer, being the right size to scale with my humans and even to mix with some of my other dwarves. Despite this, it’s taken me a while to post anything about them. Yesterday, I prepped them, so now I can post a few comparisons. Here’s a rogues gallery of all the manufacturers I have (thought the Peter Pig ones got forgotten):

Dwarves from left to right: Blood Dawn, Eureka, Copplestone (x2), Black Raven (x2), Grenadier (x2), Feudal casting (human), Essex (human), Splintered Light (x2), East Riding Miniatures (x2), Chariot (x3, 3rd = halfling).

All the figures to the left of the two humans are bigger than them, and I’ll be selling those figures soon. Those to the right are Splintered Light (SL), East Riding Miniatures (ERM) and Chariot. The SL figures vary a little in size from figure to figure. This allows them to scale with both the ERM and the Chariot figures. Here’s a selection of these three manufacturers:

From left to right: first six = SL, next six = ERM, last three = Chariot.

Most of the SL figures would mix well with the ERM ones, as shown here:

Scaling SL and ERM.

The one on the right is very small and wouldn’t mix well. However, it’s one of the best for scaling with the Chariot figures:

Scaling SL and Chariot.

I’m in the process of painting some of the ERM figures. These comparisons have reinvigorated my interest in getting them finished. If you compare some of these figures with the pictures on the manufacturers’ websites, you might notice that I’ve made the axes smaller; in particular, I’ve chopped off one head of the double-headed ones.

Well, that’s where I’m at with my dwarves. After a lot of searching I finally have the figures I want. These are the ‘Angry Viking’ style dwarves, not the Leonardo Da Vinci ones. I’m not sure what Peter Jackson thought he was doing with his in the last instalment of the travesty that has been misnamed The Hobbit. There is a clear description of Dain’s dwarves, one he ignored, but then he ignored most of the book anyway, and loaded the film with ludicrous kung fu special effects and silly story lines. But I’ll restrain myself from saying more.

Skeletons

When I looked at the figures I had for Song of Blades and Heroes (SoBH), I decided that my ghosts and wraiths would be lonely without some low quality undead to make up some warbands. Furthermore, I figure skeletons and zombies won’t take too much trouble to paint. Therefore, I based the two warbands I’d got from Splintered Light and set to work on the skeletons. I got these done very quickly, and I’m pleased with the result. I’ve used GW Bleached Bone with my usual wash and then a drybrush of white for highlights. The other colours were designed to be drab, so the cloth was a grey mixed with my linen colour (a mixture of bleached bone and the GW khaki colour — now renamed to Karak Stone).

The new skeleton warband.

Three archers.

From the back.

The mounted skeletons.

The other side.

Unarmoured skeletons.

From the rear.

Armoured skeletons.

From the rear.

The wash brings out the detail well, though indentations for temples sometimes can look like eye sockets. The kite shields of a couple are of a later period than the Dark Age setting I favour, but skeletons are probably lacking in any fashion sense.

The zombies should come next, and then I may get back to the ratmen that I started before Christmas. I have quite a few sundry figures for SoBH in various stages of completion. I also have figures for DBA that are getting worked on now and then; in particular, I have four stands of mounted Norman knights that are well on the way. I cut out the spaghetti lances and gave them Xyston spears. The clever part of this was leaving the last 3mm of spear on each one’s foot. It made the whole process much easier and you can’t see the join.

Finally, I will post pictures of dwarves at some stage. I got an order of Splintered Light ones, and they are of the right scale for my humans. Before I look to sell the Copplestone, Grenadier, Blood Dawn and Black Raven dwarves, I will post some pictures for purpose of scaling. I’m also in the process of painting some East Riding Miniatures dwarves, though they seem to be languishing in the queue to be completed!

Gnolls, wraiths and ghosts.

I’ve finally finished a number of figures. These are mostly Splintered Light ones. I’ve got quite a few of them recently; I really like them and can really recommend Dave McBride as someone to shop from.

The first of these figures are some giant boars. They may be beasts in HoTT, possibly with a Dwarven army that is still taking shape. The figures look nice, but the bristles are not quite deeply enough incised to get the contrast that my use of washes and drybrushing needs.

Giant boars.

Another angle.

The next is a Hippogriff rider that I started around the time that I was painting Normans for SoBH. It never quite got finished. It’s an old Ral Partha figure. There’s also a pair of Chariot centaurs that I started at some stage and only got finished today.

A hippogriff rider and two centaurs.

Another angle.

Then there are three Khurasan Norman knights that were in the same boat. They will round out that Norman warband.

Mounted knights for SoBH.

Another angle.

From the rear.

And then the new stuff! I painted some Splintered Light Wraiths and Ghosts last month, but didn’t get around to flocking them. They were flocked today, along with the Gnolls that I have just finished. These were experiments in using washes and drybrushing on very light and dark colours. I went for a light blue for the ghosts and an very dark blue for the wraiths. I was pleased with those colours, though I’m less pleased with how the flesh of the wraiths came out.

Wraiths.

From the rear.

The HoTT wraiths are based as sneakers and the HoTT ghosts as lurkers. The SoBH figures will be joined by skeletons, zombies, ghouls and werewolves at some stage.

Ghosts.

From the rear.

Finally, the first of a number of SoBH warbands that are fantastic value from Splintered Light. These are their hyena men, or gnolls. I didn’t put a lot of effort into painting them, but went for a technique I’ve used for horses of undercoating half in black first. I was worried that the faces, manes and tails would look terrible, but once I added a wash and some dry brushing, they look acceptable. I went for very drab equipment — blank shields, plain kilts; they are supposed to look pretty primitive. They also have some hyenadons as support animals.

A Gnoll warband for SoBH.

The Hyenadons.

Gnoll spearmen.

Gnolls with handarms.

Gnoll archers.

No trouble spared on varying the colours!

War chieftain and shaman.

Shaman is carrying a head.

I have a ratmen warband that I’ve started, and which is a lot of fun; then in addition to the undead I mentioned, I have lizardmen and troglodytes. I’m keen to do a small warband of rangers using some of the Splintered Light Robin Hood series; I have the figures, it depends a bit on the order I paint them!

Warbands for SBH

• Ogres

I’ve prepped quite a few monster figures for SBH, but only these two ogres from Magister Militum’s Blood Dawn range (formerly Reaper, I think) are finished. I had a bit of trouble with wash on their faces.

By bending their arms I varied the poses of this figure.

Another angle.

• Magicians

Most of my magic users are based for SBH, though I have plenty more waiting for paint! The Tabletop figure is quite neat; it’s fairly big compared with my other figures, but comes with a backpack and frypan, as do the other figures from that range.

A Chariot elf, a Tabletop druid and two ERM wizards.

• Normans

I have quite a few Feudal European figures now for SBH. They have also been useful as test runs on an Essex Norman army for DBA.

Knights, all but the two on the right are Essex; the one with his foot on the rock is Two Dragons.

Norman archers and crossbowmen.

Spearmen.

• Halflings

I’ve done a few of the halflings from Chariot’s range. Again they are a good way to see how they will look when I paint more as auxiliaries for a HotT Dwarven army.

Halfling archers and swordsmen.

A comparison with some Chariot dwarves.

A comparison with two Essex Normans and a Chariot elf (ranger).

• Elves

Before I went to Australia I based up my elves for SBH. I added a magician and a sneaker to the band; here a few of them.

An Elven band with a friendly bear. To make a band of such high value character work the bear is made cheaper with the abilities of stubborn and protect (he’s the wizard’s companion).