7TV Fantasy - four adventurers from the Frozen Northlands

Here are four more good characters for the cast of Tales From The Enchanted Kingdom, my imaginary TV fantasy series of the 1960s and 70s;

These are Anastasia and Irina, twin sisters from the icy land of Novgorod. The sisters are adventurers with some special skills. Anastasia, on the left has some skill with the mystical arts as well as being a redoubtable swordswoman and Irina is a skilled thief and also rumoured to be a dangerous assassin. Exiled from their homelands following their father's unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the autocratic rule of Sviatoslav, the ruling Prince of Novgorod, the sisters swiftly found employment amongst the quarrelsome dukes and margraves of the Great Empire of Sigismondo before fleeing from imperial justice and finding refuge in the Enchanted Kingdom, where they now ply their trade for discerning patrons. 

They are always accompanied by their two faithful oathsworn retainers, Ivar and Sveyn, formerly warriors in the army of their late father, the Boyar of the Western Hills, who now act as protectors of the sisters. 

Ivar is a fearsome fighter with his bardiche, a great two-handed poleaxe and Sveyn is a formidable swordsman. The two warriors are feared and hated by the Goblins of the Mountains and they are also sworn enemies of all Undead things.

These four figures are all from the North Star Frostgrave range of miniatures and they were huge fun to paint.

More 7TV Fantasy villains

In my original post about my 7TV Fantasy project, I referred to three "goblin" brothers (derived heavily from Tolkien's Orcs), Gomba, Banda and Munga, who were regular baddies for hire. Here they are;

These are metal Goblins champions from the North Star Oathmark range and to my eyes they definitely have the classic look of Tolkien's Mordor about them. Of course, I had to give them green skin, a nod to the days of the original Warhammer Fantasy game, but apart from that, they could easily be part of the band of Orcs who captured Frodo after his and Sam's encounter with Shelob and took him to the tower of Cirith Ungol.

Anyway, they are, from left to right Gomba, Banda and Munga, three cunning and wicked goblins who will work for anyone who will pay them, as well as operating as bandits and slaver traders in their own right.

Back to 7TV Fantasy - two more villainous characters

After the diversion into 1/10 scale painting, it is good to get back to the 28mm fantasy stuff.  These two are definitely villains;

Both are actually Frostgrave figures from North Star, but I am using them as two of the major bad guys from my imaginary Anglo-Italian TV series, Tales From The Enchanted Kingdom. I have already alluded to the Guild of Torturers and these two brutal-looking characters are leading members of the Guild.

On the left is Hengist the Executioner and the figure on the right is his regular associate, Landulf the Pitiless, a torturer by trade but willing to do anything illegal for money.

I decided on a dark minimal colour palette for these and I think it works pretty well. I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't mistake these two for friendly assistance under many circumstances, although if you were willing to pay them enough gold they might do you a good turn.

A bit of an oddity

This isn't a wargaming miniature. It is the driver for a remote control (RC) vehicle and is in 1/10 scale, i.e. huge, as you can see from the 28mm figure next to it.

As an item to paint it was pretty simple. The cast is quite crude and lacking in t he kind of fine detail you would expect to get in a 28mm miniature. However, that doesn't really matter because it is designed to end up inside a RC vehicle and seen from a distance.

The vehicle it belongs to is a kind of quasi-military light attack speedster, which is going to end up with a Mad Max vibe when it is finished. It is a project for my partner, not me, but I have agreed to do the modelling and the paintjob.

Anyway, the driver was a really quick and simple thing to paint. Big brushes and a bold and impressionistic approach to colour was the order of the day, with the aim of turning out a finished article that would look good from a distance. Job done, I think.

I gave him a camouflage finish because it just seems right for someone who is going to be sitting in a post-apocalypse vehicle.

Before long, I'm going to have to make a start on the actual shell of the speedster.

7TV Fantasy - Vanozza the Fearless, a Pirate Queen

In my introductory post, I mentioned Vanozza the Fearless, a pirate captain, and here she is;

She is a Bad Squiddo figure, originally intended to complement the release of Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago, but although I bought the rules and some minis, I've never actually played the game. As you can see, she has a pet, a very grumpy Giant Iguana. I like this figure a lot and I've given her a back story to fit in with my imaginary TV series, Tales From The Enchanted Kingdom. 

Vanozza was the illegitimate child of a one of the great Lords of the Enchanted Kingdom and his concubine. From an early age she rebelled against her father and ran away from home many times. Eventually, she was sent away to live with a community of priestesses on an island off the southern coast. She was captured by a fleet of slavers who had raided the island of the priestesses, carrying off valuable treasures and many captives. The teenage Vanozza was sold to a sea captain, who was later killed by pirates. Vanozza joined the pirate crew and rose through the ranks because of her almost insane fearlessness, her aggressive attitude and her ability to read and write (much valued by the largely-illiterate pirate crew).

Over the years, Vanozza became the Captain of her own ship and now commands a fleet of six large ships and three smaller sloops. From her fortress in the Perilous Islands, she raids far and wide. Because she wages an unceasing war against the Slavers, many of the rulers and governors of the islands and coastal communities see her as their protector and pay her a tribute to defend them and not plunder their shipping.

I am working on her crew, and I'll post them later in the week.

7TV Fantasy - A pair of Jesters for Tales From The Enchanted Kingdom

Here is something a bit different, a pair of Jesters from Bad Squiddo Games;

I have always loved these two, but never really had a handy niche in which to fit them. Now, with 7TV Fantasy, I can use them, or maybe just the guy on top as a Fool.

And here they are from behind;

There is so much wonderful detail in this sculpt and bags of character in the two jesters. They were an absolute joy to paint, superb crisp casting and no cleaning up required before priming them.

So, to fit them into the context of my background story, Tales From The Enchanted Kingdom, I'll need their story.

These two are Antonio (the agile juggler) and Decimo (the sturdy support), two travelling tumblers and jesters who have been known to attach themselves to parties of adventurers when funds become short and belts need tightening. Antonio and Decimo, it is said, used to be Official Jesters at the Court of the Great Emperor Sigismondo who left under a large and threatening cloud when certain valuable portable items went missing from the Imperial Jewellery Collection. These items were stored in a sealed and guarded chamber but somehow disappeared one night. The mission was said to have been impossible but the presence of a rope left by an open skylight showed that the thief had been lowered down into the chamber, leaving in the same way. Anyway, the jewels were gone, as were "Ant and Dec" as they are known to many.

7TV Fantasy - Seven Elves for Tales From The Enchanted Kingdom

Here are some more fantasy figures for my 7TV fantasy project, once again characters from that legendary TV series "Tales From The Enchanted Kingdom". These are Grey Elves of the Great Forest.

First here is Oberon, Lord of the Elves, a great Paladin and Artemisia, Lady of the Grey Elves, a mighty Sorceress.

Next, here are three great Elven heroes, Achates, Pallas and Anchises. They appeared in the very first episode of the first series but were not given names until their next appearance several episodes later.  

These are the only other Elvish characters who were ever named in the programme. On the left is Juturna and on the right is Ascanius the Herald.

Their names were taken from the Aeneid, presumably because that work was no longer covered by copyright and therefore unlikely to incur any angry letters from lawyers, which was a problem that bedevilled the series throughout its existence.

These figures are all Oathmark Elves, available from Northstar.

I decided to give their weapons and armour a light blue effect, to represent their otherworldly magical properties. I think it has come out rather nicely. The design on the shield is a hand-painted tree. It is OK, but could have been better.