Tag Archives: Reaper

The Dwarves Are Upon You (again)!

Just in time for 3 years after the Age of Sigmar destroyed the Warhammer Fantasy universe, I have finally finished my dwarf army. Well, mostly finished. I firmly believe that you can never have enough dwarfs. But for now, I am content.

This was definitely a labor of love. It has been over a decade since I played a game of Warhammer Fantasy, and I have no interest whatsoever in Age of Sigmar. It is unlikely that these stalwart dwarfs will ever see battle, which is a real pity. Nonetheless I did my best to paint them in a manner most glorious, limited only by my shortcomings of painting skill.

Some of these miniatures and units have appeared before on this blog, back when I was zealous enough to think I could complete a project in a reasonable amount of time. Now that the army as a whole is finished (mostly), I decided to present them once again, this time with the rest of the army. My dwarfs are from several different manufacturers. I have no brand loyalty when it comes to good-looking miniatures, and I don’t play in tournaments where “official” miniatures are required. To that I say most vehemently: “Fuck that shit.”

First up, the Thunder from Down Under(ground), my missile troops!

This is the small unit of Thunderers included with the Battle for Skull Pass (BFSP) boxed set. Ten stalwart gunners, led by a Hero (more on him later). I really like these one-piece plastics; even though they’re not poseable, it’s still possible to achieve enough variation with the paint jobs to make them all appear different.

Up next is a group of ten Quarrelers, produced by Mantic. Mantic definitely has a unique look that you either love or hate (I like these guys), but the price can’t be beat. Not as detailed as some of the other manufacturers, but they certainly do the job for rank-and-file troops. These dwarfs could have been build as Ironwatch, which is Mantic’s equivalent of Thunderers, but I chose to give them crossbows rather than rifles because crossbows are cool.

Finally, my favorite unit of missile troops: my Dwarf Gunners, manufactured by Black Tree Designs. Let me be clear: I LOVE BLACK TREE MINIATURES.These guys are all metal, and hearken back to the glory days of GW and Citadel metal miniatures. They have the same “chunky” look to them and the same weight in the hand. They’re priced fairly well, especially since Black Tree seems to have constant 40%-50% off sales going on at any given moment. These guys were a joy to paint, and although 18 is quite a lot of dwarfs for a unit of Thunderers, I really like them!

Next up, the foot troops. First is the small unit of Dwarf Warriors from the Battle for Skull Pass set. Ten dwarfs does not a unit make, IMO, but they’re what I had. They’re positioned behind one of the King’s Wall obstacles, also from the BFSP set. I acquired a few more of these dwarf walls over the years. These warriors are positioned next to a Flame Cannon (more on that later).

Up next, a group of 16 Dwarf Rangers. These guys are GW plastics, and they lack a command group because I couldn’t find a dwarf command group that looks the same as the unit. I’d still like to get one, though…so if anyone has dwarf plastics from this set that could be made into a command group, contact me and let me know. Although they are ubiquitous in Fantasy, especially with Dwarfs, I’ve never been a fan of double-bladed axes (they look dumb to me), so I took the liberty of modifying some of axe-heads by removing one of the blades. I like the way it looks much better. They’re standing next to an old -style GW Dwarf Organ Gun (see below).

A unit of Black Tree Dwarf Warriors. Now this is more like it! A small unit at 18 models, but a solid enough brick on the table. Red is my least favorite color, and I loathe painting yellow, so why I chose this color scheme I couldn’t really tell you. The standard bearer had a miscast axe, so I just clipped it and replaced it with a Mantic hammer head.

This unit is a unit of Black Tree Miners. Note the shiny headlamps and the hammers. I love the look of these guys, and there’s 20 of them, so it’s a decent sized unit. But I’ve decided to use these guys as warriors rather than miners; I am a big proponent of core troops over special or elite choices, and these guys can serve as warriors just as well…

…especially since I already have a unit of Miners. These guys are mix of the GW BFSP miners and a GW miners regiment, for a total of 18. The one-piece BFSP sculpts blend pretty well with the poseable regiment dwarfs. The command group is from the BFSP set, so I was free to make the entire regiment box rank-and-file miners.

These Mantic Shield-Breakers are proxy Hammerers. Since there’s only 10 of them, I figured I would use them as a bodyguard for my army general. To be blunt, I hate half of these miniatures. The ones that have smooshed-down helmets annoy me, as it can’t possibly be that difficult to cast a miniature headless instead. This would give you the option of adding whichever dwarf head you prefer. Any of them would look better than these lazy, one-piece castings. The other dwarfs actually look pretty cool. And once again, the price can’t be beat (I guess you get what you pay for). This was the most recent unit I painted, completing it just last week, even though I bought it at Gen Con in 2012.

Lastly, my elite unit. These are 20 Black Tree Dwarf Ironclads; in other words, proxy Ironbreakers. I love these guys, and they’re pretty much the best dwarf unit you can field. I once had a unit of Savage Orc Boar Boyz charge a unit of my friend’s Ironbreakers, only to get decimated on the charge and routed. That’s right: my unit of Savage Orcs charged the dwarfs and got their asses kicked so hard they ran away; and somehow I rolled so badly that the dwarfs were able to run faster than my boars and cut the entire unit down like ripe wheat. Oh, the humanity.

Next up: the artillery! Here is a standard cannon. Note the crew is being kept well-hydrated by the Dwarf Brewmeister and his team. The cannon is a metal GW piece, the beer guys are from Reaper and serve no purpose other than to look cool.

Another cannon, this time the plastic one from the Battle for Skull Pass boxed set. I’m a fan of the models, especially the Dwarf Engineer. Note the Dwarf bagpiper in the background. He’s from Bob Olley’s Dwarf World line, and he’s playing the only instrument loud enough to be heard over cannon fire. Hell yeah!

Here is a close-up of the old-style dwarf Organ Gun from Games Workshop. I’m pretty sure I have the wrong crew miniatures for this artillery piece (I think these are technically cannon crew), but they came with the gun and I got the whole kit on the secondary market. I like the newer GW model better. In fact, I like the Mantic version better, too…but the spiky front on this one has some charm. Kind of superfluous, though…I mean, wouldn’t the five loaded guns deter a frontal assault just fine without all the spikes?

This trebuchet is from Black Tree Design. You may ask: who needs a stone-thrower when you have cannons? Well, I do. My cannons almost always misfire. I have better luck with rocks. And dwarfs are pretty traditional…rocks have been around forever, and if there is one thing dwarfs have no shortage of, it’s rocks. They served well enough in the past…why change things? Rocks are obviously made for hurling at greenskins or those annoying elves. AS IT SHOULD BE!

Here is a shot of the Flame Cannon, also by Black Tree. Sadly, since I will probably never play this army in a game, I will not be able to see the flame cannon in action. Burning things seems like a lot of fun. Like all my Black Tree dwarf models, I love this gun. As a bonus, here’s another look at the Dwarf Warriors from BFSP.

Confession time: Although love dwarfs, I hate Dwarf Slayers. I think they’re stupid. That’s why I will never field a unit of them. Although GW has made them iconic, I refuse to buy into their bullshit. Nonetheless, one of them came with the BFSP boxed set, so I painted him up. There he is.

And finally, a closeup of my Lords. The army general on the left came with BFSP. I painted him up a couple of years ago as part of Dwarvember, along with those GW warriors and miners. You can see more pictures of him here. On the right is a GW Dwarf Hero. Since he has a cool pistol, I placed with my small unit of Thunderers.

As I said, the army is mostly done. Astute viewers may have noticed bare banner poles on some of my standards. That’s because I suck at freehanding banners, but hopefully I’ll get around to it. Also, the Mantic units do not come with command groups (it’s not necessary for their game, Kings of War), and neither do I have a command group for my Rangers. I’d like to get command groups painted for all my units. Perhaps it’s because I played so much Warhammer Fantasy, but units without command groups look incomplete to me, and are therefore irksome.

I’m just glad I completed this project (mostly) after talking about it for so long. The army may be complete, but I still have plenty of dwarfs to paint. Watch this space soon!

The Invaders!

A few months ago, my fellow supers-enthusiast Carrion Crow hosted the Forgotten Heroes challenge. I submitted the Liberty Legion, which got me thinking about all those great WWII-era comics: Sgt. Rock, Our Army at War, GI Combat, and of course, the Invaders! I have always loved the Invaders; in fact, I love almost anything where Nazis are the main bad guys (they’re just so suited for it).

I dug this old photograph out of my grandfather’s trunk in the attic…

From the battlefields of WWII, America’s first super-team: The Invaders!!! From left-right, Toro, the (original) Human Torch, Bucky, Captain America, and Namor, the Sub-Mariner; with special guest Sgt. Nick Fury (sans the rest of the Howling Commandos)!

The Human Torch is a Heroclix Fantastic Four Human Torch. Since there’s very little difference in their appearance, I decided he could pass for his WWII predecessor. Toro is yet another Human Torch miniature, this time from TSR’s old Marvel Super Heroes line. I’ve used some of these old TSR miniatures before in my X-Men team. The TSR Torch miniature is noticeably smaller than the Clix version, which makes him ideally suited to represent the original Torch’s sidekick, Toro.

You may remember Bucky from the Liberty Legion post. Captain America is a “unique” Heroclix version of Cap from the first ever Infinity Challenge set. It’s essentially the same sculpt as the regular Cap, but with a kite shield instead of the round one. I painted him a brighter blue than my other Cap to distinguish the two.

Side note: to make the flame and water effects on the bases, I used a pretty simple trick. I applied some Elmer’s wood filler to the base (wear gloves unless you enjoy having it on your fingers for days) and teased it into shape. Let it dry overnight. When painted, it looks pretty good!

I actually painted “Nick Fury” a few years ago, but I couldn’t resist including him with the rest of the Invaders. This is Sgt. Mack Torrey (50120) a Reaper miniature from their Chronoscope line. He just looks so battle-weary and badass that I knew he had to be my Sgt. Fury.

Now I need to get some cheap 28mm Germans and play some skirmishes!

Savage Land Characters

As anyone who read my Breeder Bombs campaign knows, I decided rather late in the campaign to set the final scenario in the Savage Land and to add some classic characters to the mix. Here’s what I did.

For Sauron, I didn’t do much beyond a rebasing and a new paint job. Above is the factory paint job, which, I think we can all agree, looks like complete shit.

Here is the finished product. I’m not the greatest painter in the world, but it doesn’t take much effort to make the original factory paint job look a hell of a lot better (or at least not like complete shit).

No game set in the Savage land would be complete without Ka-Zar, Shanna and Zabu. I looked up the clix versions of the characters and instantly hated them all. Well, Ka-Zar wasn’t too bad, but I knew I could do a lot better for Shanna and Zabu.

I checked a lot of manufacturers for a Tarzan figure. Tin Man makes a great traditional Tarzan, and Warlord has a very cool “Beastlord”. I settled on Reaper, because I thought Reaper’s version best captured Ka-Zar’s look. (Plus, he comes with a monkey. Who doesn’t need another monkey?) I also went to Reaper for a Sabretooth tiger miniature. Although Reaper makes more than one tiger, I chose this one based entirely on price. One slightly-rushed paint job later, and they were ready to go. I think his dagger looks a bit too “fantasy” for Ka-Zar’s Bowie knife, but I felt like converting it would just be a little more trouble than it was worth, so I left it as-is.

Shanna was a bit more work. I used this Heroclix Tigra miniature as the base model, because she’s practically wearing Shanna’s costume already (how many miniatures have a tooth-belt bikini?). One quick application of the nippy cutters removed her tail and her right arm. For the spear arm I used the arm from a GW skink warrior. It turned out to be the perfect size (although it’s a bit more muscular than Tigra’s other arm).

Another slightly-rushed paint job later and presto! One Shanna the She-Devil, ready to rumble in the jungle!

Although I don’t see myself using these miniatures for further Savage Land adventures, they’re useful for other genres…(Pulp and Congo gaming come to mind).

Now I just need to replace my Tigra miniature since I’ll probably be needing her sooner or later…

The Nativity

I’m not what you’d call a religious person (I did my time and never looked back). But my mother is, and this year I decided to give her a gift I thought she’d love. So I picked up Reaper’s Nativity (sculpted by the great Sandra Garrity) and got to painting.

I ordered this way back in November, because I knew I would need the time to paint it and base it up so that it was ready for Christmas, and I knew that I would procrastinate until the very last minute. And I did. See, once I made the decision to paint the Nativity scene, it immediately became work. As in no fun. But I stuck to my rule: until it was done, if I wasn’t painting the Nativity, I wasn’t painting anything.

Pretty soon I decided to add the shepherd and sheep to the scene, as it would help to fill out the base (and it would look better). So another order from Reaper was necessary. In case you’re interested, my painting order was Joseph, Wood Backdrop, Mary, Shepherd Boy, and sheep, with Jesus being painted here and there along with the others.

I bought the base at Michael’s, added some stain and polyeurethane. Nothing fancy. I got the plate engraved (“Peace on Earth”) at Things Remembered. I decided to pin all the miniatures to the base so they would stay where I put them, with the exception of baby Jesus. Some people like to keep Jesus out of the Nativity scene until Christmas Day (my mother is one of them), and besides, there’s no way to pin the manger without seeing the pin. He’s the only unattached piece in the scene.

Total cost: $38.00 for the miniatures (plus shipping), about $2 for the base, $24 (!!) for the plate and engraving, and my time…which for my mother, is of course free.

I’m happy with how it came out, especially the star, which I dreaded painting (I hate painting and shading yellow). Hopefully she will like it too.

Merry Christmas to all!

WizarDecember Week Four

The end of the year signals the end of WizarDecember as well. I would like to thank everyone who participated, whether by submitting miniatures or just by dropping by and viewing the work of some very talented hobbyists! A reminder to all to check the sidebar for some interesting blogs, some you may know, some maybe not. I plan on being a regular visitor to all of them!

Without further ado, the final wizards of 2015!

First up is TMP’s CBPill with another Wargods of Aegyptus miniature, an “Asar Mistress of Worlds”. While I don’t play the game, CBPill’s submissions for Dwarvember and WizarDecember have piqued my curiosity as the game seems to have some pretty nice miniatures associated with it.

Next up is a Scibor Tech Priest proxy for CBPill’s (not) Adeptus Mechanicus army! I love Scibor’s miniatures (especially the Dwarfs), and this one looks like another fine sculpt. I’d be wary of playing with him though, as the resin might not hold up to constant handling. But YMMV!!!

And finally, CBPill ends WizarDecember with “Stanley whose RPG character is a Wizard named ‘Palmyricus the Perfidious’ (thought that would be a silly change of pace.)” We probably all know a Stanley. Technically not a wizard himself, but don’t tell him that! “Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!”

Thanks for all the great submissions, CBPill!!

Next up is Punkrabbitt Returns’s submission, which has to be one of the strangest and coolest wizards I’ve ever seen! This is Ooleekoo, “a Morokanth shaman, essentially a sentient tapir native to Glorantha specializing in spellcasting.” Punkrabbitt has Frostgrave fever, and this looks to be a new wizard for yet another Frostgrave warband! You can see how he converted the original model and hear all about Ooleekoo over at his blog, Tumbahelada de Punkrabbitt, over in the sidebar! He used a plastic Toob figure! How frickin’ cool is that??? Awesome and inspirational job, Punkrabbitt!

Another awesome paint job on another awesome base by TMP’s 144artist! This is another Hasslefree Kev White sculpt. The scenic base really adds a lot to the miniature and the freehand work on the cape is terrific! I generally suck at freehanding anything, but after seeing 144atrist’s work and what a difference it makes, I’m going to have to try it more often!

Here’s a closeup of the detail work on the rear of the cape. Thanks for participating in both recent painting challenges, 144artist!

Finally, here is my submission. I originally planned a big blowout to WizarDecember, but then I got a PS4 and Star Wars: Battlefront, so…it didn’t happen. However, here is a lizard-wizard for your perusal! This is a Reaper Lizardman Shaman. I’m happy I got to pose him amongst my recently created swampy terrain, even though the pictures aren’t spectacular.

In other news, amongst my Christmas loot this year I received a Barnes and Noble gift card, which was promptly put to use purchasing Frostgrave and Thaw of the Lich Lord. To my newfound friends who submitted wizards this month, I can no longer resist the pull of this highly reviewed game. I credit Punkrabbitt in particular for all his warband submissions in November and December. So hopefully, I will play some Frostgrave in the near future and write some AAR’s about it! (Although I don’t think a Lizardman warband would work so well. Being cold-blooded in the frozen city? Might result in at least an initiative penalty or two. 🙂

I’m taking a break from hosting painting challenges for a while, in part because I can’t find a word to work into “January”, but mainly because I need some time to focus on projects I’ve let go (like Imperial Assault) in favor of Dwarfs and Wizards for the past two months. I’m more than willing to participate in someone else’s challenges, if the subject is right. So someone pick up the glove!

Thanks again to all! Happy New Year!

WizarDecember Week Three

This week was my birthday, and between that and the general holiday madness it was a challenge to be able to submit anything this time around. But WizarDecember stops for no one until the 31st! So, without further ado, here are the wizards!

First up is Punkrabbitt’s Week TWO submissions, here a little late but welcome nonetheless. You can read all about his Frostgrave warbands over on his blog, Tumbahelada de Punkrabbitt, accessible through the sidebar if so inclined. Up top is the old Citadel wood elf Queen Alarielle, circa late 90’s. Below that is an old Citadel wood elf mage. Together they’re a wizard and apprentice for Frostgrave, respectively.

Punkrabbitt’s week three submission is a conversion of a Reaper Bones miniature. Using an Iron Wind Metals rabbit head, Punkrabbitt converted this wererat to be a bunny-headed wizard for yet another (bunny or Chaost-themed) Frostgrave warband! Awesome!

TMP’s 144artist submitted this Hasslefree female wizard, again for use in…you guessed it…Frostgrave! (I gotta get into this game.) 144artist combined some terrific brushwork with a Micro Arts Studio base and here is the result! I particularly like the blending on the crystal ball and the designs on the hem and back of her robe. Thanks again, 144artist!

These two are from TMP’s CBPill. Up top is an old Celtos Kev White Sculpt that is a new version of CBPill’s Necromancer from an old WarGods of Aegyptus world campaign. (His words, not mine.) And on the bottom is a “wizard-type from the Dark Fable line of Ancient Egyptian minis.” Both look great. I’m considering an Egyptian-themed pulp game in the future, and that guy on the bottom would fit right in. Thanks again, CBPill!!!

Lastly, here is my submission for the week: this RAFM Wizard with Wagon. I’ve always loved the opening scene in the Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf rides into Hobbiton in a wagon loaded with fireworks. So I guess it’s no surprise that I went for a Gandalf look when I painted him.

I now wish I painted the goat more of a whitish color. I painted him first, then decided on the Gandalf look, so by the time I painted the wizard it was too late to change the goat around and make my deadline. Although I used different colors, they look a little too similar for my liking. Also, it seems I need to rub off some of the static grass on the side of the base. Ooops.

This is one of those miniatures with a lot of character. I’m not sure what this fellow poking his head out the back is supposed to be, so I just went with a standard “red demon” look.

WizarDecember concludes next week, the day after Christmas! Happy Painting!

WizarDecember Week One

WizarDecember officially gets underway this weekend with some impressive submissions! And here they are!

First up is TMP’s 144artist with this Reaper Pathfinder gnome summoner! I really like the “iconic” Pathfinder series of miniatures, and with 144artist’s paint job, it’s not hard to see why. Thanks for the submission!

TMP’s Skrapwelder sent in this Reaper wood elf mage. Awesome work. I’ve always found yellow to be a tough color to work with, especially shading it well. I also really love the face in this miniature: perfect shadowing! Thanks, Skrapwelder!

Just under the wire, TMP’s CBPill submitted this interesting fellow. CBPill explains: “This is a figure from the Colony87 Kickstarter. He’s supposed to be a space merchant, but he really looks kind of wizardly to me, so that’s how I painted him and put the green magic swirl in his left hand.”

Works for me! I also like him as a space merchant!

Punkrabbitt returns returns for WizarDecember as well with this GW goblin shaman from Battle for Skull Pass. Punkrabbitt says it’s for yet another Frostgrave warband. I’ve managed to resist the pull of Frostgrave so far, but it’s getting harder everyday with all the great reviews, and miniatures like this just highlight the possibilities… Thanks, Punkrabbitt!

Lastly this week is my submission: this Reaper “death priest”. I posed him with some skeletons from Mississinewa Miniatures (sadly gone, now) and some Armorcast mausoleums, just for effect.

That about does it for this week! See you on the 12th, and Happy Painting!

Side Pile: Dwarf Characters

Like many miniatures enthusiasts, I have a small pile of miniatures “off to the side” of my main projects. These miniatures collect paint slowly, usually because I have dispensed or mixed too much of a color for my current project and don’t want to waste paint. Pour out a little too much of a color for your current project? Find an unpainted miniature or miniatures off to the side and apply the leftovers. Beats wasting paint, right?

Unfortunately, after a while, the “off to the side” pile of halfway or even two-thirds completed miniatures gets to be huge and takes up more space on the painting table than my current projects. Then, it’s time to roll up the sleeves and finish off the pile. I have done this recently. Thus, I bring you some figures of my favorite fantasy race: Dwarfs!

Up first, some Dwarf Lords from Scibor Monstrous Miniatures. I love these sculpts, and it was one of my first times painting on resin. None of these miniatures above required assembly beyond glueing them to their bases. Because they’re resin I would hesitate to game with them, but they’re perfectly awesome as RPG characters or for the miniatures collector. I’m not a fan of the “dwarf slayer” concept; I always found it stupid. But I must say the guy on the left is pretty cool holding a severed ogre head. The middle dwarf is one of my favorites from the line. I like huge, blocky hammers.

The dwarf on the left is another favorite. Since I just said I love big, blocky hammers, this should come as no surprise. I also like the overflowing mug of the dwarf in the middle, and the pipe on the one farthest right. Both the left and middle dwarfs required assembly of their weapon heads, but the resin is easy to work with and glues quickly.

This is a view of all 6 Scibor dwarfs from the back. I’m happy with the results.

Next are two unique miniatures. On the left is a Dwarf wizard, from the Wizards of the Coast Magic: The Gathering miniatures line. He’s holding what I assume to be a magic rod of some kind. He’s a two-piece sculpt that joins at the waist. This particular miniature has been in my side pile for about 7 years. I finally got around to painting him, and I think he turned out ok, although I thought he might look better with some kind of pattern on his robes. The dwarf piper is from Bob Olley’s Dwarf World line. Being a dwarf and a bagpiper makes him pretty much the coolest two things a miniature can be in my book.

These last miniatures came to me in a trade about a year ago. This is Reaper’s Dwarven Brewmeister (Reaper 02559), also sculpted by Bob Olley. I’m a big fan of miniatures that tell a story (as opposed to “guy holding weapon” miniatures), and I love these guys. I’m happy with the way they came out. I think I will use them as part of my Dwarf army as decorative pieces behind the artillery lines, making sure all the cannon crews stay hydrated.

More “side pile” miniatures soon!

The Blighted Watchtower: A Battlesystem AAR: Part 1

I’ve been going through miniatures gaming withdrawal lately, so I threw down some scenery and played a game all by my lonesome. I chose Battlesystem Skirmishes as my ruleset du jour. Even though I played this one solo, I managed to have a good time.

The Scenario

Amid ruins in an ancient forest stands an ancient watchtower, long rumored to be haunted. Anyone who has ventured there has never returned, but that has only fed the rumors of treasure and glory just waiting to be had by those daring enough to brave the danger. Two parties of stalwart adventurers set off towards the watchtower with equal intent: to make their fortunes, destroying anything that would stand in their way.

First up: a group of dwarves: (L-R) Poth, Siegfried, Grimnar, Boris, and Reglan. All are warriors with the exception of Siegfried, who is a cleric. Grimnar is the leader, an 8th level fighter. Boris and Siegfried are both 6th level, while Poth and Reglan are 5th.

Next up: a group of gnomes and their human mercenary hireling: (L-R) Stengil, Graflin, Cavram, Durwald, and Ashlock. All are warriors with the exception of Graflin, who is the leader and an 8th level wizard. He is supported by his brother gnomes; Stengil, Ashlock and Durwald, all 6th level fighters, and Cavram, an 8th level human fighter.

The dwarves approach the watchtower from the south, while the gnomes make their own stealthy approach from the west. Soon, they are not alone!

On the crest of a nearby hill, a manticore appears, bellowing a challenge! The gnomes prepare for combat!

Meanwhile, to the south, the dwarves steel themselves as some zombies come lurching out of the woods!

The battle is joined! No sooner do the gnomes move than the manticore lashes out with its tail spikes. It fires a volley at Cavram as the human moves towards the hill, inflicting 1 wound. Meanwhile, the zombies charge into the dwarves. Grimnar wades into the fray, easily destroying one zombie. Boris manages to wound a zombie, but takes a wound himself. Siegfried steps forward and calls upon his deity, turning 6 of them immediately. They flee from the cleric’s true faith, but not for long…

Meanwhile, Graflin, the gnome mage, casts Reduce upon the manticore! The beast fails its save and is reduced by one size level, losing one attack die and incurring a penalty on further attacks! Durwald shoots the manticore with his Crossbow of Accuracy, hitting easily and inflicting 1 wound!

At the end of the turn, a mysterious evil force rallies 3 of the fleeing zombies. They turn and shamble back towards the dwarves…

The next round, the manticore gets initiative. He wastes no time in firing his tail spikes, this time at Graflin! Even with the reduced Attack Dice, Graflin takes 2 wounds as the spikes rip through him! Cavram charges up the hill at the manticore, hitting it for 3 wounds! Graflin casts Magic Missile, inflicting another wound on the beast, while Durwald shoots it again for yet another wound! The manticore, down to 1 wound, checks morale, and rolls a 1!! The enraged beast will stay and fight to the death! (Manticores are dumb.)

Meanwhile, to the south, the dwarves square off against the zombies. Boris, Grimnar and Siegfried all put a zombie down, while Reglan wounds one. The zombies fail to wound any of the dwarves, since most of the dwarves killed them before they could fight. Since they’re undead and not being turned, zombies don’t have to check morale. They fight on.

The manticore manages to wound Cavram once before the human runs it through, putting it down once and for all. The gnomes reconvene at the top of the hill, where they get their first look at the rival warband to the south, still fighting off the zombies. They set off quickly, hoping to reach the watchtower before the dwarves!

Meanwhile, the dwarves destroy the remaining zombies with relative ease.

The dwarves regroup and move north, intent on plunder. They round a grove of trees only to spy the gnomes moving towards the tower! Will it be a race, or will the two parties fall upon each other??

Part 2 up soon!

Scots Wha Ha’e!

I painted up some Reaper Highlanders for use as a warband in Battlesystem. I’ve had most of these miniatures for a while now, but I didn’t like the way they were painted, so I stripped them and repainted them. I’m happy with the results.

These guys are some of Reaper’s earliest releases. I don’t think they’re part of their current line, but you can still get them on the website. This is my first real effort at painting tartans. While there are many different tutorials online, I used Trojan Art Painting’s method. I used a blue/green tartan for these guys above.

I did a small conversion on the Highlander on the left above, adding arrows to his shield. The arrows are brass rod with fletching made from green stuff. I went with a red/blue tartan on these three.

The last two models are a piper and a druid. I made another slight modification to the piper by removing his fourth drone pipe. I like the look of the 3-drone highland bagpipe better. His tartan is gray/black with red and yellow accents. I painted the druid in white robes to make him stand out more. Weird how he’s clutching wheat instead of mistletoe. Trying to make it look like mistletoe would just look like green wheat, so I didn’t try.

I played my first ever game of Battlesystem with these guys over the weekend. Batrep in the next post!

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The Angry Piper's miniatures and gaming blog.