A big gribbly thing

This thing is from Fenris Games, it is called an Otyugh and is a Dungeons and Dragons monster.

It (he/she/they/it?) is a resin model that comes in seven pieces and, which assembled is around 7cm tall and 10cm from the end of one arm to the other. Assembly is relatively simple and the pieces fit well with only a small amount of trimming and smoothing required

I've wanted to get this one painted up since I first got it, but holidays and life in general got in the way, also a loss of my Painter's Mojo. Still, I thought that this was a great way to get back into the groove.

I've painted it in a fairly similar colour scheme to the one on the Fenris website, mainly because I think that the green is the best way to go. The actual painting was pretty straightforward, the bulk of the heavy lifting was done by using Halfords' Dark Green matt camouflage spray paint and lots of drybrushing with lighter shades of green, although I sprayed an off-white matt primer into the mouth before using the colours you see now. I washed the thing with two different Citadel shades, Reikland flesh in the mouth and Mortarion Grime elsewhere. I kept the base simple, AK Terrains Dark Earth drybrushed with Vallejo Iraqi Sand.

The photograph uses a Jon Hodgdon backdrop from the Fantasy Ruins and Tunnels book.

I think that apart from D&D (I seriously hope this thing doesn't end up in our club's current D&D campaign), this is the kind of Gribbly Horror that could be useful in anything from Victorian Pulp Horror and Cthulhu to skirmishes in far-away planets in the distant future.

More 3D printed stuff - this time science fiction

This time it is sci fi terrain pieces.

 Once again, this is all from Dungeon Scenes. The figure is for scale purposes only.

I thought that I would go for a Grimdark theme for these pieces rather than shiny clean advanced technology or a Mandalorian-style dusty Cowboys in Space look.

The big rusty blue thing at the back has been painted to be an abandoned installation of some kind, mainly because I had previously dropped it and one of the sticking up pieces had got broken. The two generator type pieces are clearly the kind of ancient technology that suits a degenerate and xenophobic civilisation that doesn't really understand how its machines work, or maybe it is alien tech that does abominable things in strange and incomprehensible ways?

The hexagonal sensor array (or whatever else it might be) at the back isn't as Grimdark as the other pieces, especially the bronzed tower.

I'll get these in front of some of Jon Hodgson's sci fi backdrops at some point.

The two generators could definitely feature in Pulp or VSF games, as well as more conventional science fiction settings.

Overall, I am pretty pleased with how they have turned out, even though this photograph doesn't really do them justice. 

A very odd miniature....

...... from Bad Squiddo.

He is called Turkey Man on the Bad Squiddo website and, if you click the link I've pretty much stuck to how he was painted there (by Warpfiend Studios). He is, I think you'll agree a rather disturbing figure, standing about 45mm high. 

He is definitely a creature of nightmares and therefore highly suitable for all manner of Pulp, Horror, Victorian Science Fiction and other associated Weird wargames. One can only speculate how such a being came into being.

My review of what I completed in 2023

Of course, at the start of the year I had many good intentions, so, how did I do? The picture below is something I didn't plan, but it came up quite early on as something I wanted to paint.

They were two North Star figures that were the subject of a painting challenge set by Nick Eyre, the North Star supremo. I think they turned out pretty well although I didn't win. The standard was really high and I never expected to win. It was fun painting them, though

Here were my actual plans;

15mm WW2 British Airborne support options for Chain of Command (these will be my January priority).

15mm WW2 German support options for Chain of Command

Stargrave plastic box sets for Xenos Rampant armies

Various other plastic sets that will work for Xenos Rampant with head and weapons swaps.

28mm Spanish for Sharp Practice 

28mm Bloody Miniatures 17th century troopers

28mm 17th century Bicorne Miniatures Pikemen and Musketeers (these will augment my existing Bloody Miniatures figures to make up useful forces for various sets of rules)

15mm extra units for my SYW Honours Of War army, infantry and artillery mostly

28mm Wild West figures for Dead Man's Hand and anything else.

15mm Renaissance army for Sword and Spear Fantasy (with a Warhammer Fantasy Empire theme)

15mm Northwest Frontier Imperial and Afghan forces and buildings (this is a new project)

Continuing building up my scenic collection in 15mm and 28mm, including lots of 28mm Sci Fi scenics

1/285 scale 8th Army and DAK for O Group

Crossfire 15mm US infantry company

15mm WW2 1943-45 British/Commonwealth infantry for the Far East.

28mm Pulp figures for all sorts of things (I have too many of these in my leadpile)

Additions to my 28mm Perry plastic Renaissance collection

Silver Bayonet - I completed a Spanish band

28mm Soviet Women, also for Chain of Command (from the Bad Squiddo Kickstarter)

28mm Late Roman skirmishing and armoured cavalry, and cataphracts too.

15mm Romano-British "Arthurian" army for Sword and Spear Fantasy

If the above is highlighted in green, I achieved it as planned. If it is in yellow, I started it but have plenty left to do and if it is in blue, it is an ongoing project. Scenics will always come under that heading.

 Anything not highlighted hasn't been started and will probably get dropped for 2024, although I now have the North-west Frontier figures and they might get looked at during the year. In the case of the 15mm SYW extra units, that isn't going to happen at all.

The Bicorne Miniatures stuff is almost completed. I did all the Musketeers and the Pikemen are almost finished, so they will get done quite soon, hopefully. They were victims of the dose of Painter's Block I had during the last couple of months of 2023.

Overall, I am reasonably happy with what I actually achieved but it was a case of Could Try Harder.

I'll do a separate post covering my 2024 plans soon. I have fewer firm objectives for the coming year, and a few ideas for side projects to stop me getting bored. What I want to avoid is getting dragged off down rabbit holes and buying stuff because I suddenly get a burning desire to start something that looks interesting. I expect it'll happen, though.

My final completed thing in 2023

Well, despite my best intentions, I've only finished one last piece this year. This is it.

I bought this at the club's Tabletop Sale back in May for (I think) £3. It is a Warmachines Mariner War Jack, whatever that might be, but I think it will be great for Steampunk and Pulp games, either as a McGuffin, an objective or an enemy.

I undercoated it in black and gave it progressive layers and areas of Vallejo bronze and brass, with oiled steel where appropriate (e.g. on the anchor and chain). Then it got all all-over wash of Nuln Oil.

I then washed the steel with Vallejo orange brown to give an impression of rust and a wash of pale blue mixed with green to create a patina of verdegris.

When I based it, I allowed the sandy basing gunk to stick to the thing's feet, to look like sand.

The Peaky Blinder is only there for scale purposes, but I doubt that his Lewis gun would be much use against such a Behemoth.

A final five Bob Murch figures

Well, final until I get some more!

These are called "The Daughters Of The Empire" in the official Pulp catalogue and are, like the rest of the range available from North Star.

I like these five, they have plenty of variety and ought to suit a variety of different settings. They have a definite Back Of Beyond vibe. One problem with these excellent Bob Murch figures is, for me that I just like them so much that I buy them without actually having a plan for them. I expect that they will get used at some point, but knowing that I have them makes me happy.
 

More Bob Murch Pulp figures.

These five are the "Rugged Adventuresses" set.

This set is rather interesting, I think, because they definitely have a kind of Back Of Beyond/Indiana Jones female villains vibe going on. The figure on the front right is carrying what looks very much like a Degtyaryov DP-27 light machine gun, which came into service in the late-1920s, and the woman on the far left has a Mauser C96 pistol, and has a somewhat Eastern European look to her uniform. The pilot, rear centre looks pretty Germanic to me too and the other two figures could either be heroic or villainous.

All in all, another great set of figures from the excellent Bob Murch Pulp Adventures range, available in the UK from North Star.

Some Bob Murch Pulp figures

One of my aims for this year is to reduce the lead mountain. One specific target is to paint up as many of my backlog of Pulp figures as possible.

This group of five are called Count Casamir's Trans-Siberian Renegades and comprise Count Casamir, Blotsky his Chief of Secret Police, his wife the Countess, Misha the faithful bodyguard and Yolanda his daughter. 

They are incredibly full of character, a hallmark of the excellent work of Bob Murch. His figures are available from North Star in the UK and I recommend them to anyone who likes the Pulp genre.

I decided to go with a different colour palette to the one chosen by Bob Murch, because I like to give my toys my own interpretation. They were fun to paint, mainly because they are so well-sculpted and cast, but also because they just look so good. The one I found the trickiest was Misha, the sailor bodyguard. I tried my best with the hoops, but I'm not sure I've done him justice. Oveall, though, I think they have turned out rather nicely.

They clearly have lots of possibilities for gaming and I really hope they will get some action at some point.

Here is the second part of my Zanzibari Arab project.

In my last post, I showcased leaders and Baluchis with jezails. Here I have some Zanzibari Arabs with muskets, various Arabs and more Baluchis, this time with with swords and to finish off, two more Arabs with fearsome double-handed swords.

These are all, once again Wargames Foundry figures.

I don't have any immediate plans for using them, but at least they are all now finished and packed safely away for use at some unknown time in the future.

Back in early 2018, I started off a project .....................

.............. but I abandoned it, half painted. Over the years I did a few bits and pieces but it stayed in a box, mostly forgotten.

However, while I've been painting other things this year, I've gone back to the abandoned project while waiting for things to dry and brought my earlier efforts up to a better standard, as much as possible.

The project was going to be a Zanzibari Arab slaver band for Congo, but we stopped playing those rules and I couldn't see much point in carrying on at the time. Now, though, I can see how the figures could be useful for all sorts of things, In Her Majesty's Name, for example, or Pulp games in general. So, without further ado, here are the first few figures out of the completed total.

These figures represent a variety of characters and leaders. I particularly like the two on the left, especially the one in the red turban with a double-barrelled shotgun and also the one-eyed piratical guy on the far-right, with his pet monkey sitting on his shoulder.

Next are two groups of Baluchis (now known as Baloch) with jezails;

I think I overdid the Army Painter strong tone a bit on the two guys in green, but I don't think it really matters.

As far as I have discovered, Baluchi people spread out around the coasts of the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf and ended up in East Africa when the Sultanate of Muscat controlled large parts of the East African coast. 

As you can see, I went for a much more colourful palette for the clothing of all these figures, mainly because I wanted a kind of Hollywood style for them, but also because I didn't want to paint up and endless series of figures in white. Yes, I know, I've recently been painting Napoleonic Austrians, but when I started on this in 2018 I was less confident about painting large areas of white.

There are plenty more figures finished off, so I'll post the rest of them over the next week or so.

Bad Squiddo Undead Things

Well, I've been busy today! I was up before 7 a.m because the dogs were being loud and excitable and I've been at home all day waiting for a parcel delivery, so I thought I'd paint some things that have been lying around for ages. 

All four are Bad Squiddo 28mm figures, and I have to say that they are terrific figures to paint.

First, there are two renaissance skeletons; a Landsknecht Doppelsöldner and a fine gentlewoman, maybe a countess or duchess.

I really love these. They are so animated and full of character.

I decided to try and get a few hints of rust on the Landsknecht's armour and double-handed sword and I think that it has worked pretty well.

Both figures were undercoated in black and given a top-down zenithal blast with Army Painter Skeleton Bone spray. I then used a combination of paints and drawing inks to build up the colours. I am really happy with the end results.

The other two figures are Mummies.

These were given the same black undercoat and skeleton bone zenithal treatment and I then built up the finished effects with dry-brushing and dark brown drawing ink. They were pretty quick to complete but I think that they will work well on the table.

These will be good for all sorts of horror and pulp games, as well as 7TV Fantasy and Pulp. I cannot recommend these figures highly enough. They are excellent.

Anyway, even after all the painting, basing, spray varnishing and photography, my parcel still hasn't arrived.

Bah!

 

Maze of Malcor - Four Wizard Shades and a Banshee

Ages ago, when it was first announced I bought the Frostgrave Maze of Malcor book and the associated range of figures from North Star. Sadly, our then-current Frostgrave campaign at the club came to an end and we all decided on a break from Frostgrave. I never painted up any of the figures, well not until now.

In the book, the Wizard Shades are portrayed as incorporeal but with a normal appearance. I decided that I wanted them to look more "ghostly".

As you can see, I've used a greenish palette for these figures, making them, hopefully, look a bit more like generic ghostly apparitions, or maybe even statues. Who knows? They could come in useful for all sorts of games with horror-based, gothic or supernatural settings.

I took a slightly different approach with the Banshee, giving her a reddish tinge to her flesh and hair. I wanted to make her look a bit different to the other apparitions. I'm not sure that I'm totally happy with the outcome, but she will have to do.

I'd be interested to see what others think about these.

Bad Squiddo Women of WW2 - Women of the Home Front

 I've been powering through my next group of Bad Squiddo Home Front figures over the weekend. 

These women are clearly ready to repel any Nuns in Jackboots who might suddenly appear on the scene or round up any shot-down Luftwaffe aircrew. Pointy sharp things on sticks predominate but the two ladies at the back are ready to provide fire support (and a nice cup of tea) whenever called upon.

These were good fun to paint. I decided on mostly simple colours for their clothes, after all there is a war on! I see the woman in the centre as Mrs Hardy, the local school's Headmistress and the organiser of the women's volunteers, a local force to do whatever might be required in an emergency.

Peggy, on the left owns the local dress shop, Doris, with the rifle is the village GP's receptionist and Edna (with the revolver) and Mary are farmer's wives.

The volunteers are obviously going to work alongside the local Land Girls to keep the area safe.

I'll definitely be using these for some "What If?" Home Front Chain of Command games when things get back to normal, but they will be equally useful for things like VBCW, Pulp and Cthulhu Mythos-themed games.

Bad Squiddo Women of WW2 - I've started work on the project at last!

Around this time last year, the  Bad Squiddo Women of WW2 Kickstarter (which has been available in the shop for ages) was shipped. Since then, so much has happened, apart from me actually painting anything from my pledge. This has now begun to change. I have several figures near to completion, but only one completely finished, and here she is;

This is SOE Annie, a wartime equivalent of the Sci Fi Raging Annie, who can be seen here, on the right of the photo.

Here she is from behind.

I have to say that I absolutely love this mini. The pose is terrific and the details excellent. I can see her featuring in a lot of Pulp settings as a femme fatale, straight out of the pages of a Raymond Chandler novel, or a feisty female private eye, as well as in some suitable TFL Chain of Command scenarios.

I thought that it was only fair that I painted her first. Next up will be a couple of real life SOE characters.

The rest of the Syldavian Königliche Gendarmerie

Here are the remaining five members of my Königliche Gendarmerie. They are in two pictures, so you'll need to scroll down.

Above are a Feldwebel (sergeant), a senior NCO, in his distinctive red uniform trousers with a Gendarm, that is the basic rank in the Gendarmerie, equivalent to a Soldat (private) in Infantry regiments. Below are three more members of the Gendarmerie, two Gendarms and a junior NCO, a Gefreiter (corporal) on the right. In the Gendarmerie, junior NCOs are only distinguished from rankers by a brass button on each of their shoulder tabs (not visible in the photo).

So, these are the last of my figures for my Syldavian and Bordurian companies for  In Her Majesty's Name . 

I need a new project now.

Some Syldavian troops of the Königliche Gendarmerie

I mentioned in an earlier post that the plainclothes Syldavian secret police, the Vohunska, often call upon support from the Königliche Gendarmerie. Here is an officer and two gendarmes from that fine service.

The Syldavian Königliche Gendarmerie was created in 1855 as part of the reorganisation of the existing regional militia battalions, to serve as both a Police force and a military reserve. In 1871, a separate National Reserve was created, leaving the Gendarmerie as a specialist national Police Force and Border Service. The Gendarmerie is part of the Syldavian army, and uses army ranks, except that the lowest rank is Gendarm instead of Soldat. Senior NCOs hold the rank of Wachtmeister.

The Gendarmerie wears the blue/grey army uniform, first introduced in 1822 (to replace the previous light grey uniforms worn since the end of the 17th century) as modified in 1849 when the kepi replaced the shako. Senior NCOs and officers wear red trousers and officers wear the 1867 pattern officers's kepi with a black leather peak. Other ranks wear grey gaiters with the trousers. Leather is brown for all ranks. The top part of the kepi is in the Gendarmerie's pale blue arm of service colour, as is the crown of the officer's kepi. 

Uniforms are cut in a French pattern and there is a white French-pattern "salacot" helmet, which is often worn on parade or by gendarmes guarding official buildings. In these situations, white gaiters are also worn. Where using a rifle is inappropriate, all ranks wear sidearms and will also be equipped with batons (swords for officers).

These figures are from North Star and are actually Artizan Designs French Foreign Legion ones. Obviously I will be using these figures in games of  In Her Majesty's Name and also in other pulp and Cthulhu Mythos games. 

I think that these will be worthy opponents of the Bordurians I have already painted. I will post the rest of them in future posts.

The final plainclothes Syldavian agents

Well, here are the two final plainclothes members of my Syldavian secret policemen. As previously, they are from the North Star Steampunk range. 

The eagle-eyed amongst you will note that they are duplicate poses to two of the others. I don't see this as any kind of a problem, because they have been painted in different colours. I think that the chap on the left looks a bit like Neville Chamberlain. I expect that he takes a much firmer line with miscreants and ne'er-do-wells though.

I can see these figures in all manner of settings. Blasting away fruitlessly at Shoggoths in Cthulhu-based games is a distinct possibility, as are supporting roles on Pulp games too.

So, now I have to paint up some uniformed members of the Königliche Gendarmerie. That should be fun. When they are done, that will mean that my Syldavian company for  In Her Majesty's Name is complete.

More Syldavian Secret police

Following on from my previous post, here are three more members of the Syldavian Security and Intelligence Service, the Vohunska.

You will note that the left-hand figure is the same pose as in the previous post. It isn't really an issue and, in any case I have painted him differently.

The middle figure is a second character, an assistant to Inspektor Eugen Jaegermann. He is Detektiv Samuel Tylenburger. Unlike his blunt and plain-speaking boss, Detektiv Tylenburger likes to think of himself as a man of the future and, as a graduate of the Institut der Wissenschaft in Klow takes a scientific approach to his work. A younger man, the Detektiv comes from the coastal city of Douma, where his family has roots going back to the early 18th century. His father, a leading merchant is currently the Bürgermeister of Douma and has been a member of the city council, the Stadtverwaltung for around 20 years.

Like the first three, these are also from the North Star Steampunk range and will serve as other things than just Syldavian agents. I will use them as Scotland Yard detectives and anywhere else where I need some chaps in plainclothes. I will use them for games of  In Her Majesty's Name and pulp and Cthulhu Mythos games.

The first of the Syldavian Secret Police

In a previous post, I talked about the Syldavian Security and Intelligence Service, officially the Varnosti Policija but popularly called the Vohunska i.e. "the Spies". Here is the start of my company of Vohunska agents and their uniformed assistants in the Königliche Gendarmerie.

Represented here is a senior agent of the Vohunska, Inspektor Eugen Jaegermann flanked by two of his agents. The Inspektor is a feared figure amongst the Syldavian Underworld, both with normal criminals who remember him from his days as a detective in the Königliche Gendarmerie and also with subversives in anarchist and other political groups. He is hated by the Bordurian Informat, who have put a price on his head because of his work exposing and eliminating clandestine operatives and saboteurs in Bordurian emigré communities. Jaegermann comes from the city of Travunje, south of the capital, Klow and joined the Gendarmerie after his mandatory period of conscription in the Syldavian Army. He is known for his blunt manner and his ability to get results where others have failed.

Vohunska agents work in plainclothes and officially they are part of the Syldavian Ministry of Justice, unlike the Gendarmerie who are part of the Army. They have a wide-ranging brief, which encompasses internal security and intelligence-gathering, as well as operating as intelligence agents in other countries. They may also, under certain circumstances work with the Gendarmerie's Bureau of Investigations, the Untersuchungsbüro. 

In many operations, the Vohunska will call upon support from the uniformed Gendarmerie when extra manpower is required.

These figures are from the North Star Steampunk range and will serve as other things than just Syldavian agents. I will use them as Scotland Yard detectives and anywhere else where I need some chaps in plainclothes. I will use them for games of  In Her Majesty's Name and pulp and Cthulhu Mythos games.

n.b. Eugen Jaegermann is a sort of Germanised version of Gene Hunt from the TV series "Life On Mars"

And now, I really have run out of Bordurians ..............

.......... well, for the moment, at least. These are my final four Bordurian clandestine agents, dressed as ordinary dock or factory workers.

Nothing new to add. Like the rest, they are Copplestone "Back of Beyond" Bolsheviks and I'll be using them for  In Her Majesty's Name and pulp games.

I've really enjoyed doing these. They are terrific sculpts and casts, lots of crisp detail and they take paint really well.

Now, on with the Syldavians!