Untold Treasures

No good adventure is complete without treasure. It's the reason most adventurers hit the road, killing everything in their path as they wander from one end of the realm to the other looking for that sweet, sweet loot.

Frostgrave, of course, centers around this bloody gold-lust. Needing treasure tokens for Frostgrave gave me a wonderful opportunity to find something wondrous and shiny for my wizards to compete for.

Looking around at various company's offerings, I set eyes upon Ristul's Extraordinary Market's Cursed Treasure set. Not only does it have some really magical looking treasture, but there was no way I could pass up that Conan-the-Barbarian-Atlantean-skeleton look-alike.

I haven't gotten to that piece yet, but since I am running demos for Frostgrave, I needed my tokens now. I chose six of the treasure piles and set to work. Here are the results:

These were a simple drybrush with metallics, then picking out the jewels, chests and weapons for detail. All in all they came out splendidly, and look great next to my warband.

Of course, I would be lying if these little beauties didn't find their way into D&D. They look especially good on my 3D dungeon terrain.

I have a couple of other things I want to work on first, but I can't wait to finish this set. That skeleton will also be perfect for all things dungeon crawl, so he needs to be finished ASAP. Until then, these treasure piles will be hauled about quite a bit, hopefully so wizards, thieves, clerics and warriors can retire and stop slaughtering every living creature they come across for their pocket change.

Goddamnit, there they go again.

Happy gaming!

Lighting the Way (to Better Basing)

Hello again, gaming friends. I'm afraid this installment will be a little light (heh) on actual projects, since I have acquired a new and time consuming job that is very hard on the feet, along with a nasty cold. Time spent lying down is not time spent gaming or painting I'm afraid. But I did find time for a little project that was both simple and fun.

In our current Pathfinder campaign, our group has been joined with a fun and rather useful ally. This ally is a lantern archon named Laurel-Marshall Carancros Latuch. Once a mighty hobgoblin commander (for the good guys; hobgoblins are good in our setting) during the Ogre Wars, Latuch was killed in battle and his spirit sealed away in a small sphere for a couple thousand years. Now reincarnated as a lantern archon, he lends our group support as well as...ahem..."critique" of our battle plans.

Not having any suitable models I decided to build one and this is what I came up with:

After all that build-up, he doesn't cut that imposing a figure, but that's really not his fault. He is, after all, a glowing ball of light. But at least he was incredibly easy to make. Our glowy friend here is just a bead on a flying stand attached to a base. I left the bead silver, gave the rough edges some touch-up and then based it. Dead simple and fits quite nicely. The base was the most complicated part.

And speaking of bases, I wanted to share my new way of basing. This is a method that has existed for a while now, but I wanted to give it a little shout out because I'm a big fan.

You see, aside from a brief affair with green flock in the early 90's, I have always been a glue/sand/paint baser. I have always liked the gritty texture, flexible color scheme ability and relatively natural look it provides. I also hate the amount of drying time and the way sand falls off while you're trying to paint said sand. I've tried dozens of tricks to try and reduce the time and make it less tedious but to no avail. Then I found this:

Like I said, it's probably no revelation to many hobbyers, but I stumbled across this stuff in a craft shop and picked it up. I'd heard of texture gels before and this one was definitely the right price, 8 oz for $10. An amount like that lasts a long time, especially for someone like me who only paints a few figures at a time.

It comes as a fairly thick goopy paste. It is better applied with a small sculpting tool than a brush, since it needs to be spread and the texture will kill brushes pretty quickly. It still has some drying time but after about an hour it looks like this:

The medium shrinks up and leaves all of the nice grit detail fully visible. It also dries firm, but not rock hard. None of the grit falls out when painted and it doesn't require any sealing before painting. In fact, since it is a medium, it readily sucks up paint and covers up very well. You get a nice evenly covered base that is solid and easy to work with. It also can be built up or used to fill gaps in rocky pieces if you so choose. I recently used it to add some diseased areas to some Nurgle BFG ships I intend to paint "someday".

It really has a lot of great applications.

For comparison, let's look at some of my bases in various forms:

On the left we have our pumice gel, the middle is sand, and the right is Games Workshop Stirland Mud, which I bought in fit of masochism. They are all painted and static grassed in exactly the same manner. As you can see, the pumice gel looks almost identical to sand and S-Mud, but with about half the hassle of sand.

S-Mud, by the way, is essentially the same as the pumice gel, but with color already added and approximately 8 times more expensive (Golden is about $1.25 an oz and GW charges $4.00 for 0.4 oz, or $10 per oz). The grit is also smaller, so I had to add a wash step to painting and the drybrushing isn't as pronounced. It also only lets you skip one step in the process. I really can't recommend the stuff. I'm glad I only invested in one bottle.

I'm in love with the pumice gel though. The biggest drawback I could see is maybe trying to base an entire army at once. That could get tedious really quickly and the drying/sealing time of sand could be a nice break. But for someone like me that only paints a few miniatures at a time, it's a godsend. If you can find some, you should definitely pick some up.

That's it for now, fellow gamers. Happy gaming!

Bits & Bobs

I've had a bit of free time lately (read as "unemployed") and while I haven't done much in the way of big projects, I have had the chance to knock out a few mini-bits to enhance the games I play. I want to apologize for the photography here and in the last few months. The lighting in my new game room is atrocious and I'm trying to find a better way to do things. Right now these are taken in a small spot on my desk with my painting light.

The first thing I made up were a few treasure/magic item counters. Ostensibly they were made for use in Song of Blades & Heroes but they could also be used as generic objective tokens or to mark dropped equipment, or just as setting enhancers.

I had a lot of fun painting these up. The enchanted skull is may favorite and I think the freehand rune on top came out nicely. The shield is my least favorite because I really couldn't think of anything to make it seem really magical. I went with green, glowing eyes and another rune, but honestly it feels too subtle. Still, I'm happy with my work.

Next came a set of super-generic objective counters. It's just a set of scrolls based on pennies, and I didn't feel the need to spruce them up too much. They do the job though.

Finally, I wanted to add a couple of spell effect markers to my D&D adventures.

The ball of flame is a Reaper Bones orange translucent flame. It's going to be used to show the position of our gnome druid's flaming sphere spell, but it could also be used for a campfire or brazier in a pinch. Being orange already, I just drybrushed yellow, painted the base dungeon-y and called it finished.

The other marker is for my barbarian/cleric's spiritual weapon, and it is a scratch built piece. It consists of a Warhammer skeleton hand mounted on a paperclip. It got drybrushed for a ghostly effect and to give it some more character, I added a fallen branch to the base. The branch is a leftover Warhammer dryad arm. I'm really happy with how it came out and can't wait to use it to smite some foes!

And I will end things with an action shot...

Happy gaming!

A Little Goblin Ingenuity

One thing I like to do is occasionally paint a miniature I wouldn't normally lay a brush on. Since I make my miniature purchase decisions, it doesn't happen often. But a ways back when I was starting to play in my current Pathfinder campaign, one of the other players brought a mini and wanted to know if he could borrow some paint. I have a "no lending" policy, but I did offer to paint it for him.

And after several weeks of busy life and procrastination, this is how it finally came out:

The model is some sort of goblin tinker, which is good because the player is playing a goblin tinker. I have no idea what company it is from and I honestly keep forgetting to ask. It is resin though and the detail is great. It also came on a little sprue with this guy:

The little robot servant actually came with two of the same arm (left) but it needed a morning star, so I found a little extra Warhammer bit and attached that. After that is was a simple metal drybrush and some washes. Both are small sized so they got stuck on pennies.

I'm really pleased with how the goblin came out and the robot is passable.  I'm especially happy with the detail on the goblin's face. And so is the player, so I guess that's what counts.

That's all for now. Happy gaming!

Son of the Great White North

I haven't had much time for hobby projects lately, and posting the bloggings even less, so yeah. Recently, however, I was invited into a new roleplaying group for a Pathfinder campaign. Well I say new, but Jay, our GM, is a close friend of mine. Jay and I have been through many a campaign before, both run by him and as battle-brothers in quests run my others in our old RPG group. Most of that group is scattered to the winds these days, so it was a real privilege to get to adventure with him again.

This image was both awesomer and sadder before I got married.

I have always loved playing in Jay's campaigns because he has an impressive attention to detail, especially so in his Luth setting. He has run games for others in this setting, but I have never been involved in one, though I have heard the stories. I'm very excited to finally get to experience the world. So excited that I resolved to paint up a whole new character mini for the campaign.

Luth has a land filled with Viking-esque people called Oebriens, and the people of the Great White North stood out to me because some of them could talk to their dead ancestors. In game this manifests as being able to cast Augury a few times a week. I wanted to take it a bit further and make my character a barbarian so devoted to his ancestors that he gained divine magic. Thus Boros the Redhand was born.

Of course I went to my gigantic pile of Bones minis immediately. I found an amazing muscle-bound figure with a huge axe and a tiny head that was perfect.

I was able to get a surprising amount of detail out of the figure. I chose a red/brass scheme as a cue from the name Redhand and because the demon-faced axe reminded me of something and old school Khornate Chaos Warrior would carry. Overall I am very happy with the result.

I also couldn't resist writing up a short character history.

Boros Mikkelson, The Redhand (Barbarian 2/Cleric 1)

The Great White North is a harsh and unforgiving place. None know this more than the Oebrien barbarians who live there. Villages are small, food scarce and warmth scarcer still. However, this harshness binds the Northerners together, sharing everything they have with each other and inducing a friendliness that, while overbearing at times, can make outsiders feel welcome. Northerners enjoy life to its fullest, with feasts and celebrations all year long. Ancestors are praised, mead is drunk and everyone lives each day as if it could be their last. In the Great White North, this could well be true.

Because farming and raising livestock are so hard in the North, many Northerners turn to raiding southern villages to feed their families. This does little to endear them to the peoples they raid, but the Northerners try to take as little as possible to survive, knowing well how it feels to have nothing. Only the wealthiest towns and villages are chosen, with poorer families spared if possible. Of course violence is inevitable and the Northerners have become renowned as fierce and savage warriors. Many towns work out a system of tribute to avoid bloodshed and some even hire Northerners as mercenaries to protect them against other would-be raiders.

It is into this world that Boros, son of Mikkel was born, in a tiny fishing village called Sutvarsk. Boros was huge, growing to almost six feet by his fourteenth birthday. His father was an accomplished raider, teaching Boros the way of the axe and it was something the boy excelled at. It was not long before Boros joined the raids himself, earning his own name next to his fathers as the Redhand. His berserk fury on the battlefield soon caught the eye of a small band of mercenaries called the Blackblades and he quickly found himself roaming far from home to the southern lands.

Boros has developed a taste for the foods of the south and enjoys cooking in that style, even having gone as far as carrying cooking tools and spices with him. The Blackblades have no objection to this, of course, and enjoy many of the Northern dishes he prepares as well.

Boros is particulary reverent to his ancestors, and communes with them often in the way of his people. So strong is his connection to the dead that some say he occasionally converses with the Great Father himself, the one common ancestor that those from the Great White North claim all men are descended from. Only Boros himself can say whether this is true for certain, but lately he has shown the ability to call on divine powers to bolster his allies and heal the wounded. Boros claims none of this power for himself, saying it is his ancestors guiding and protecting him and his allies.

For now Boros travels with the Blackblades, but his visions seem to have him troubled of late. Who knows where is ancestors will guide him next?

Boros in Deep Dark Dungeons

Of course Boros will probably find himself in my own dungeon crawling games. The following stats will work for both Song of Blades & Heroes and my own Deep Dark Dungeons supplement to those rules.

Boros, the Redhand.....76 Points

Quality 3+  Combat 4

Cleric, Dashing

That's all for now. I hope you have enjoyed hearing about Boros and maybe soon I will be able to tell more of his adventures.

Happy gaming!

Dungeon: Corners and Crypts

Well, it has been a while since I've posted any real progress on my dungeon. Life just hasn't given me much time to work on anything, and some other projects have had to take precedence. However, I was getting tired of seeing plain white pieces in places, so I broke out the paint and did up a few small pieces.

As you can see, I chose some short wall pieces so that I could get some slightly larger rooms. I also did up some hallway caps so that I can have passages that end in something other than rooms or stairs. But I am particularly excited about these:

The corner wall pieces I have been meaning to do for a while. I love not having to be stuck with perfectly square/rectangular rooms anymore. The skull wall was also fun to paint. I love having a wall with buttresses and the skull, while kinda rough, is still creepy. Of course where there are skulls, there are crypts!

On the left you can see the tomb piece that came with the Dungeonstone set itself. On the right is Balin's tomb from the Mines of Moria box set that I had painted almost a year ago. I'm not a huge fan of the DS piece. It is kinda plain and blends in with the surrounding dungeon:

I think it will get used sparingly as a secondary crypt. Balin's tomb, on the other hand, looks suitably impressive:

Of course having all those pieces painted together means I can now assemble one heck of a burial chamber:

 Just watch out for angry wights!

With those pieces, all I have left are hallways for my dungeon, which means I am essentially done with the meat of the project. I will have to start looking for more furniture and monsters to populate it with! Reaper Bones Kickstarter, wherefore art thee...

Rolling With Dragons

Well, it's been a while since I've posted on here. Almost two full months in fact. A combination of real life and a horrible sinus infection will do that occasionally.

This has essentially been me for about a month now.

But when I came across this discussion on The Miniatures Page, I was reminded of an old friend from my formative days of gaming: Dragon Dice! I was also surprised to find out someone still produces and sells them!

Originally released in 1995, Dragon Dice was TSR's bid to try and drag people away from the Magic: The Gathering craze at that time. It didn't quite succeed, but it did bring something unique to the table. Now at that time I was 13-14 and already a mega nerd. I had already discovered Magic and I was completely ensconced in D&D whenever I got the chance. When Dragon Dice hit shelves, it seemed like the best of both worlds: A collectible game with dice plus elves, goblins and dwarves. TSR got peanut butter all up in my chocolate.

I was hooked immediately. Whenever I wasn't shuffling Magic cards, I was rolling Dragon Dice. I suppose at that age, there were very few activities that I engaged in that didn't involve repetitive hand movements.

Anyway, I had very loving parents that encouraged my hobbies even if they didn't understand them and probably cried themselves to sleep at night, so I had a LOT of Dragon Dice. I had long ago buried them in my parents' basement, but they were not hard to find. And I guess I had forgotten that I had acquired so very many of them. How many dice, you ask? This many:

That smaller pile consists of the dice I only ever really used.

I remember at the time I was a big fan of both Lava Elves and Dwarves. Since my Dwarf dice were better, they became my chosen race. I carried them in my the Earth (yellow) dice bag, and I absolutely had to have the official Dwarf play mat:

For practical purposes, the mat was a terrible idea. First of all it smelled like a corpse when first unwrapped. The game with two players can be played on a space approximately 18 inches. Because of its awful diamond-shaped design, the mat required a single player to have about two feet of space of his own. If two people had mats, you were so far apart you could barely see each other's rolls, let alone reach over to roll your own dice at your opponent's home terrain. My 14 year old brain solved this problem by letting the Buried area hang off the table and I Velcroed my dice bag to the spot to hold the dice.

Thereby ruining two potential collectors items! Yay!

Despite this I used this mat in every game and I loved every second of it. I have long since lost any clues to what my old armies might have been. So I sat down and pooled up some small 18 health armies from each of the original races, plus the basics to play some games:

Coral Elves and Lava Elves

Dwarves and Goblins

Terrain

Scaled death machines

Terrain and dragons were very important. I distinctly remember gravitating toward Dwarves because I didn't really have the right dice to play others. A second Highland and some green or blue dragons would have fixed that. The kid-that-has-disposable-income in me ordered a couple of green dragons off eBay just to even those out, but I don't think I'm going to spend any more on it for now.

I'm hoping to engage some of my former opponents (i.e. my cousins) in some battles over the holiday weekend. I certainly have enough dice to go around. It just remains to be seen if we can still move after all of that sweet, delicious ham.

Have a happy holiday everyone, and don't forget to roll some dice!

Down, Down To Goblin Town...

I recently picked up Games Workshop's new The Hobbit: Escape From Goblin Town set and found myself wanting a 2'x2' board to play the scenarios on. I've actually been wanting to put together a new small skirmish board for a while. My green grass board is beginning to show its age with a few bald spots and some dents (kind of like me), and I figured this would be a great opportunity.

So, armed with four 1'x1' floor tiles and some spray paint, I managed to put this together:

I sprayed the tiles black, then found a suitable dark grey textured spray to go over that. It's a little dark, but I think it captures the deep underground feel.

I've come to like the textured sprays Rustoleum puts out. A single can can easily cover a large area and the texture is sandy without being chunky. Miniatures slide over the surface with ease. The walkways pictured are the Goblin Town terrain included in the Hobbit set (and can be bought separately for ridiculous prices). The rocks are some of Gale Force 9's terriffic pre-painted Battlefield in a Box pieces. Luckily with such a small board, you don't need much to cover it.

Of course any small skirmish game or RPG could be played on this board. I have in the past played compact games of Song of Blades and Heroes on a 2'x2' board using their 15mm scale measurements with 28mm figures (my 15mm collection is woefully small). Combats for D&D could also be played out using inches instead of squares.

Hayden the Slayer encounters some aberrant monstrosities in the Deep Dark.

It will also serve to host other Lord of The Rings SBG scenarios in Moria or maybe even the black ash wastes of Mordor.

Frodo and Sam fend off a Moria Goblin in the rocky tunnels of Moria.

All in all, the best part about this board is that it was pretty cheap. My tiles were free (extras from re-flooring a space at work), I already had a can of black spray and the texture spray was around 6 bucks. But if I had to buy it all from scratch it would be less than $20. It's a bonus that the tiles all stack and store in a 1'x1' space and can have other things stacked on top with little chance of damaging them.

Happy gaming!

Dem Bones: Time's Almost Up!

I know this is kind of 11th hour at the moment, but Reaper's Bones Kickstarter has less than FOUR DAYS LEFT!

If you are a lover of miniatures, I urge you to pledge. This project will add a huge selection to a line of cheap, durable, high detail plastic miniatures that will help make adding minis to your RPG sessions, warbands and armies extremely affordable. The minis market needs this cheap option, not only to let new players have access to basic models at reasonable prices, but also to challenge those "premium" miniatures companies who say they can't make quality figures for cheap. Reaper is one of the biggest in the business, so if they can do it, so can others! We want our cheap minis!

*Ahem*

If you a TRUE miniatures lover, you are going to want to pledge at the $100 Vampire level. There are currently 182 miniatures ( and more coming) offered at this level. That is 55 cents a miniature! There is absolutely no better deal out there at the moment. Even if you can't use all the figures, they still make cheap gifts and you can always trade 'em. Not to mention all the sweet add-ons you can unlock at this level. Dragons, giants, antediluvian terrors, all can be yours for an additional fee! Pledge already, damnit!