Tag Archives: Miniatures

Dragon Rampant: Old School Fantasy – Evil

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Here’s my third attempt at a Dragon Rampant force. This time… the complete army is done! Previous attempts stalled because a) I switched scales and b) I didn’t wanna paint all orcs. 

I took inspiration from the “Old School Fantasy” lists in the Lion Rampant books. I might not wanna paint 50 orcs, but I’ll paint 12. The thought of getting to play and paint with the different Oathmark models appealed. Most of these figs are from that line with a few Reaper and a Gripping Beast. I also added a few extra models so I could use these with the LR ruleset as well.

I’ve always liked this old cover to Dragon Magazine, and along with the Old School Fantasy lists in LR having each unit be a separate race, I was finally able settle on my DR force. And like I mentioned, painting several different creature units seemed more fun than a whole army of the same creature.

As a regular reader of Dragon Magazine in the 80s, I felt like I saw a hundred Clyde Caldwell paintings of a female character of some flavor with a small dragon familiar nearby. Maybe there weren’t as many as I thought, but they seemed to have stood out. I’ve also always wanted to do a larger base for a SMU leader or hero, so that was the approach I took with the leader of this warband.

In my head cannon, I envision the sorceress being to MotU’s Skeletor as the unit leaders are to Beastman, merman, evil Lynn, and the like. That’s why they’re all different skin colors, like Skeletor’s lackeys. Unified in a muted scheme but also clearly their own unique creature. It’s not an obvious nod, but part of the inspiration when I created the force, and why I arranged them around her in the first photo.

I painted up 7 or 13 models for each of the normal human sized units so I can pull the leaders of each out into an elite foot leader group in Lion Rampant (in place of the SMU sorceress) while still having 6/12 models in each unit. Now… let’s look at these units.

Dire boar SMU – lesser warbeast maybe with hatred or cunning

Stone Trolls RMU – bellicose foot

Goblin wolf riders – heavy or light riders

Gnolls – scouts maybe with fearful

Night orcs – scouts

Orcs – heavy foot with offensive

Skeletons – light foot with undead

This is all over 24pts, but still fits in a single Really Useful Box. Since taking these photos, I’ve received my copy of Dragon Rampant 2nd edition which greatly expands the Fantastical Upgrade a Spell Lists. The new book increases the standard game to 30pts, but 24 is still viable. So, after spending a little time with this new tome of wonder, I’ll need to revise the units here. But that part is easy, the hard part…putting paint to models…is done. This is a big relief and I’m pleased with the result.

What are your thoughts of this Old School Evil army of mixed units?

Roswell ‘98: Moar Ninja

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Painted up a few loose figs for my Ninja-type faction. They are from L to R: a red ninja from the Dark Alliance Stalker set, an Elheim survivor, a street samurai troll from the old Ral Partha Shadowrun line (as an Oni), and one of the Citadel Dark Future street warrior models as a stylin’ Yakuza boss. These characters flesh out the rest of my models to make a full Xenos Rampant Detachment. I might make the Oni character one of the rare Elite Units in my collection. It seems that might make sense with the range and melee weapons he’s packing plus oni magicks. In hindsight, I wish I had painted all my ninja models red. Oh, well.

Roswell ’98: Southwestern Cryptids

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One of the things I appreciate about games like Dracula’s America is the inclusion of North American creatures (or cryptids as some may consider them). I have a single posse for that game, but I don’t have a table or group for it, so haven’t gone all in on the creatures. With my Roswell Post Apocalyptic setting, I do have players and terrain. So, looking over a list of Southwestern cryptids and what’s suitable for 1/72, I landed on Skinwalkers, a Thunderbird, and a Pale Rider.

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Why Minis Games?

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This is a short post I’ve wanted to get out of my head for a while. Essentially, with all of the options for entertainment and creativity…why do I continue to come back to minis games? I’ve always been attracted to gaming, and like everyone else have played plenty of RPGs and video games over the years, but why do I come back to the subset of games that require the most work? Heck, I’ve had periods where I’ve sold off my entire model collection, as well as paint supplies, in attempts to “move on”. To be honest, I don’t really love painting. What am I doing here?

Ultimately, for me, it comes down to the permanence of tabletop games. I said I’ve gotten rid of collections in the past, but my wife held on to a few models as keepsakes. Here’s one. In fact the oldest painted model in my current collection.

It’s a Citadel Chaos Sorcerer from the mid-80s. He’s not my first painted model – that would be a small handful of Ral Partha figs for Dungeons and Dragons – but he’s the oldest I still own. In the late 80’s, when Mr White was a young 14 or 15 year old, a buddy wanted to run a new game called Heroquest, It came with models, but we could get our own to be the classic Barbarian, Elf, Dwarf or Wizard. Choosing the wizard, and a fan of superhero comics at the time, I wanted a figure that the other members of the party could call “Bucket Head”. This was the nickname Marvel characters would call Nova. This Chaos Sorcerer hung on the sprue at the LGS. I had no idea what Warhammer was at the time, but he looked like a good fantasy match for Nova’s outfit. At least having a helmet.

Anyway, back to permanence. Over the years, RPGs and video games felt a little hollow to me. I’d play them, but when they were done…they were done. Nothing really left but the memories of the good times. If I could get Zen for a moment, even that 14-year-old kid who painted the model above is no more. He doesn’t exist. But when I hold the model above, it’s the same model covered in the same paint that those 14-year-old hands held. That 14-year-old is gone, but he’s also a part of me, and this model is a weird artifact bridging me to that child.

On top of that, if the need arises for me to need a bucket-headed chaos sorcerer… I’ve got one. That need hasn’t happened, but…case in point:

When I got rid of all my original Blood Bowl teams a few decades ago, a buddy asked to have the above converted Warhammer rat ogre. I think I made this fella in about 1993, or maybe it was 1994..whenever the 3rd edition of the game came out. My first BB team was made up of this rat ogre and the 2nd edition skaven models. Last fall, I ran a little gaming event that included a Gutter Bowl tournament where the participants used old school, metal BB models. My buddy reminded me that he had this fig and sent it to me. Again, I had a model in hand that a younger version of myself created. Anyway, I went out and chased down some 3rd edition metal skaven models to rebuild a team around this rat ogre.

Happily, this ol’ veteran rat won the Gutter Bowl Event. (The largest Gutter Bowl Event ever held in historic Lockhart, Texas, btw. lol)

Anyway, I think going back to “why minis games?”…for me, it’s never really been about specific rules, but more the creation of the models, and as I’ve gotten back into the hobby pretty heavily about 8-9 years ago, I’ve become drawn to the fact that once created… the creation persists. These old pieces of lead can still continue on new adventures. And, deep into mid-life now, there is a little bit of an attraction to something old still having use as well as new journeys ahead.

So, what are the oldest models still in your collection? Do they see the table?

Burrows & Badgers: Necromancer and Ghasts

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I’ve wanted to try Burrows & Badgers out for awhile, and with the Second Edition incoming local interest has picked up enough to make it happen. I placed a fairly large order with Oathsworn a few weeks ago…more than I needed after double checking the rules… now I’ve got plenty. Maybe more than enough to weather me through the coming increased expenses.

To start with, I’ve got a Black Rat Necromancer Leader (though painted white), her Stable Ghast minion (in the back), and four summonable Mists Ghasts. In the game, a necromancer casts an Invocation spell to see how many points of Mists Ghasts they can summon that game. I’ve painted four of various sizes, but as mentioned, I’ve got several others I can paint up if I find I need em. The Bat Assassin is the warband “Second” at the moment. In headcanon, he’s the one who “unalives” marked warriors for the Necromancer to raise.

I’ve got a few Thralls to paint up then this warband will be ready to hit the table prior to the delivery of that Second Edition Book.

Ronin: Kappa Buntai

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I’ve had five of these Khurasan Kappa models painted for a while using them as either villagers or as an independent force as suggested in the Mythical Creatures document: https://www.ospreypublishing.com/media/qzvnud5q/ronin-mythical-creatures.pdf

I went ahead and picked up the Daimyo model so the group has a proper leader. Using the Osprey Ronin points calculator (https://www.ospreypublishing.com/media/by3dcjby/ronin-points-calculator.pdf) I made a Daimyo character so this unit could have a proper Buntai at 125points… the point value I’ve been playing Ronin at.

I’ve also attempted a “Spill the Sara” optional rule to better tie the unit into Japanese folklore. Essentially, opponents can make a Disarm attempt and if successful the model is Routed and must Run to the nearest water feature or table edge, where they are removed from the table. in the End Phase of the following turn they can appear along the edge of the water feature or same table edge they fled from. It may make the unit a bit more chaotic, but again, optional rule.

Kappa Buntai Roster:

Buntai Roster – KappaDownload

Dragon Rampant: Dire Boar

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A third post in under a week! Both of the blog’s readers are eating well! 😉 Seriously though, last week I took a few days off work to spend time with the kids on Spring Break and I was also able to get quite a bit of painting done. Don’t expect this many posts as the new regular. ha.

Anyway, here we have a Reduced Model Unit Lesser Warbeast, a Reaper Dire Boar. They had this fella down at the local game shop and I thought he’d be a good, cheap addition to the warband. I think he cost about $5. An ornery Dire Boar seemed like the sort of ill-tempered creature to fit in an orc warband. I’ll probably give it the Hatred Fantastical Rule. If I remember correctly, there was a dire boar of sorts causing mayhem in Arthurian legend? He just needs a terror-inducing name like that ram in LotR, Grond. I think I’m gonna go with Morthog unless something else comes up. I’m open to better suggestions if you’ve got ’em.

This was three quick-to-paint units putting me at about 12 points. Half the warband already! But where are the orcs in this orc warband?!

Dragon Rampant: Orc Shaman

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Had a little momentum, so painted up the next Orc Warband unit, The Orc Shaman. I’m thinking this is going to be a Light Foot Unit with the Wizardlings fantasy option added, so a 5 point unit. This gives the unit three spells, which’ll probably be Power Bolt!, Befuddle Thee! and Heal Thee!. A range attack, a spell that batters a unit, and a healing spell. Pretty generic but probably the most flexible.

I’ve modeled this Light Foot unit with only two models. The Orc Shaman and a “summoned’ Bog Beast. The summoned part is just for Rule of Cool, I’m not going with the Summoner ability. This unit of 2 models will be 6 ST points each. Clearly, that Bog Beast can soak some damage, and the shaman has…”magicks”.

I painted up the Bog Beast with the same technique I do terrain. I recently acquired a pot of Dirty Down’s Moss Effect which is great, but I wonder if that sort of technical paint makes it visually too different from the orc models. Well, it’s also a Meirce Miniature that I had kicking around the bits box for awhile and the sculpts on those are a bit more detailed than my preferred style which lies closer to the Oathmark Orc Shaman from Northstar. I hope the duo fit together though.