Tag Archives: osprey

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: 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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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.

Ronin: Sohei Buntai

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After the Bandits, the Koryu, and the Ninja, I’ve now got a fourth buntai… the Sohei. Usually, I prefer to create and employ my own colors for factions, so this may be the first time I’ve simply gone with the faction colors as presented in the rulebook’s samples. I kinda like the black and white Sohei model in one of the pictures in the Ronin rulebook, but my other three factions are in darker colors, so for these warrior monks, something colorful to contrast was ideal. The traditional orange and yellow work. I used AK colors with a Seraphim Sepia wash for shading. not a perfect shade, but works for me!

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Ronin: Swords for Hire

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A pair of Ronin and a Shugyosha looking for work. Any of these models could be used as either a Ronin or Shugyosha, but in my mind while painting, the two on the left were Ronin and the Ryu-looking model on the far right is the Shugyuosha looking to test his skills against the greatest warriors of my dining room table. The center model with yari (or nagae-yari) is from Warring Clans, the other two are from Bac Ninh Miniatures.

Ronin: Dragon Rampant Warband

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The Rampant series from Osprey is another ruleset I’ve become enamored with in recent years. While painting Ronin models, I’ve kept an eye on what could be combined into a larger force so I could flex the same models between both rulesets. So, without further ado, here’s the 24point Dragon Rampant warband using three Ronin buntais and three mythological creatures, the Yami No Taiyo (or the Dark Sun). Starting with the Jorogumo and going clockwise:

  • Lady Kage (Leader): Light Riders (Single Model Unit – 4pts)
  • Shuten-Doji & the Amanojaku: Bellicose Foot (Reduced Model Unit – 4pts)
  • Shadow Dancers: Scouts with Invisibility (5pts)
  • Bandits of the Dark Sun: Light Foot with Mixed Weapons (5pts)
  • Hypnotized Swordsmen: Elite Foot (6pts)

Even though Jorogumo don’t work with Bandits, officially, in Ronin, I painted them in similar colors knowing they were going to be her general foot troops in Dragon Rampant. As shared last post, Jorogumo can lead Koryu by entrancing them. Here, I’m using them hypnotized as her elite guard. The Oni, Amanojakuo, and Ninja…well they’re up for working in her employ for their own shadowy goals.

Ronin: Mythological Creatures Part II

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One of the advantages of Ronin, besides being a killer ruleset for small-scale skirmish gaming, is that it has a low model count. This makes collecting all the Swords-for-Hire or optional Mythological Creatures easy and affordable. Previously, I’ve painted up the Oni, Amanojaku, and Kappa. With the three above (L to R: Kitsune, Jorogumo, and Tengu) I’ve finished the other three types and completed all the creatures for hire in the world of Ronin.

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Ronin: The Villagers

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Quick post on eight Perry Miniatures villagers used for scenarios in Osprey’s Ronin. Despite my hesitation, I attempted an easy pattern on one of the lady’s yukata . It was basically a white circle with a red line drawn through. Even then, it didn’t come out great, but looks good enough on the table. As usual, looking at one of these posted photos…several fixable errors jump out at me. My next paint session is going to involve a little cleanup with this set. Still, they were easy to paint and fit my little village well. On to the next set…

Ronin: The Koryu Buntai

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Last summer, I completed a Bandit Buntai for Ronin to face off against James’ Sohei. Though my Bandits weren’t very successful, the game Ronin itself is a lot of fun, and after those games I knew I’d want to expand my collection. Seven months later or so, I finally got around to painting that next buntai, The Koryu.

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