So I actually this miniature close to finished in August, but got side tracked and didn't put the small amount of time on it during the season of scenery. Gotta work on this challenge now, this one will be for July. I have 5 more to finish before the year ends or maybe just two more as it's A character a month challenge after all.
Dictating the narrative with his snowy base, another two pack from Wizkids 72560 Orcs. This is a full Orc, no human in this one.
Time to get going on the 5 more?
I am back for two entries for the Paint An Adventuring Party Challenge. Moving forward, I might just be painting up characters without the backstory. I find that I am quite slow at writing them up and posting them. Not only did I fall off the proverbial challenge wagon, but then fell off a cliff, hitting every jagged edge on the way down. Cut me some slack, I got a mini human to look after.
May's entry is a human Barbarian from Reaper Miniatures, Galdor the Barbarian. He is a metal miniature, that I probably picked up when Dragon's Den was clearing out their Reaper models to make room for Wizkids. Working on using different colours for skin tones like Leadballoony Warcry Spire Tyrants. Don't think I got very close to his, but it was refreshing to try green and yellows for skin.
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| Ack! Where did these spiders come from! |
June's entry is a Tortle Monk from Wizkids. A tortle was a homebrew race for 5th edition, but looks like the stat line can be bought on D&D Beyond now. I enjoyed painting the yellow robes, not a whole lot to paint but I might have to give it a try as a primary colours. The Wizkids minis come in twos, that might be a good colour for the second Tortle in the set.
I find myself more fond of painting Reaper Miniatures for the amount of character they have in their models, I am attributing this to the style they are going for, more factory friendly and less life in their sculpts. Wizkids are good for a quick paint job, already being pre-primed. On paint runs to Comic Readers, I would usually pick up one or two of these when they were a bit cheaper around $5. Now that they are closer to $7-8, I mostly just grab a monsters as I don't find the humanoid models as detailed. That said, I do have a few kicking around that will appear during this challenge.
Next on the Hobby Desk
I complete some more giant spiders, and Blackstone Fortress cultists. The latter of which have been sitting on my "abandoned heap". It was the last thing I was working on before moving to my current house, lost in the shuffle and buried under other more fun projects.
Oh boy, dragging my feet a bit with these Character of the Month entries. This will be my April entry, Jujosz is a metal reaper miniature. I was opposed to basing him on the square base he came on, but I just thought I was being basist, all bases look good on the tabletop... besides those shitty Wizkids flat discs.
Vindex, a town of wealth, for those that had it, was paradise. The rich owned the City Watch, making sure their position on the top would never falter and keep their hands clean of any criminal activity. The wealthy elite would compete against each other, three families are paramount in Vindex.
Xilmaris, a pure bloodline of Drow elves, they control the refining factories that dot the outskirts of the town. Workers are paid barely a living wage, it is also common for petty criminals to work off their debt to society in the factories. Speak to the right foreman and for the right price, they can send one of the workers a message for you in the form of "accidental" maiming in the workplace. Of course, some of these incidents might go sideways resulting in death instead.
Ahjkar are preoccupied by keeping up appearances, this family of Rakshasa might look young but they are centuries old. The secret to their youth is harvesting genetic traits from other species for elixirs. They sell off potions that have short durations, which makes sure customers return frequently. Through experimentation, they have found the Drow prove to have several traits of worth, especially full breed Drow, which has fueled many family feuds between the two houses.
Liloxora are dishonored Tieflings, outcasts in their own race they are mercenaries for the highest bidder. The Xilmaris would use a nepotism model to support their own business, hiring those members of the family that lacked empathy to be Captain of the Watch. These soldiers would economically bully society, keeping the peace in Vindex and sniffing out an "enemies of the state."
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| Jujosz |
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| Zombie rave in the dungeon |
Jujosz had the unfortunate luck of being born in Vindex, his family was tied to the city. His father worked in the refinery and mother was a blacksmith. Fleeing from the raids on smaller towns, they found work in Vindex, raising their family. Jujosz, was the youngest of three, discovered his talents for healing at the age of 6 (about 20 in human years). Sharing it with the community in the slums of Vindex.
The Ahjkar took notice of his skills, he was offered a position as a cleric at their shop. Spending time with the lower levels of the community he knew that the Ahjkar were not to be trusted. He refused, and while he was praying at the cloister, he was captured. Forced into service for the corrupt Ahjkar, tending to their weak experiments, keeping them alive to extend their harvesting of genetic material. Will Jujosz be able to escape his captors?
This miniature is from the metal line of Reaper Miniatures called Dragonman Cleric, T'kay. I have had it for awhile, really like the look of this sculpt. I also have his Fighter friend, Kar'Drakir unpainted, so maybe he will show up in one of the Character of the Month entry. I recently watched Fantasic Mr. Fox, so I think the idea of three families that ran a town sunk into my story.
Next on the Hobby Desk
Well, I hope it's the next Character of the Month as it is the end of May! I do have the Glottkin to a good place to call it finished. Tomorrow is the last day, might as well use the time to add any finishing touches to it.
Clearspell was a continent of prosperity, coveting knowledge over all else. Wizards were regarded with reverence, the council would look to their sages before coming to important decisions. Voronwe was one of the high wizards who would seek out esoteric tomes, experimenting with arcana knowledge that most thought was lost to the ages.
Financed by the council, Voronwe, along with his pupils set out to seek such a tome. Long ago, there was a great war between the elves and lizardfolk that dwelt in the dark caves to the east of Clearspell, much of the magic of that era had been lost for centuries. These caves had been vacant for generations, which emboldened the adventurers. Delving deep into the caverns of the reptilian foes, this was not the case. For their service to their dark god never ended, nor their hatred towards the elves. Clawed feet were heard as their search found them in their ritual chambers. Voronwe desired knowledge, not a battle, they quickly picked up any tomes that might be useful and left.
Returning to Clearspell, Voronwe was eager to study the ancient knowledge. Once opened, the book was enchanted with a spell, a relic of the age of war. Voronwe could feel his body changing, becoming frail, gaunt. He looked to see that he had be transformed into a liche. Cursed to harvest souls of the living to have eternal life.
Voronwe needed to gain the favour of the lizard gods, Sess'innek, a demon lord, if he was to reverse his current form.
This model is the Liche & Mummy from the D&D Wizkids, they are alright miniatures for the price. I prefer Reaper Bones with their harder plastic. Not the most fleshed out backstory, hopefully I can take a bit more time for the next one and also post it on time!
This doesn't looks good, already late on Character of the Month. This is February's Character of the Month. I just needed some sunlight for a quick photo which seemed to take me all month to remember to do. Not as stylish as last month's photos, but time seemed to slip away on me.
As a Dutchess of a small province, Darcy Rothschild, fit in well enjoy enough. Her teenage years were filled with learns on etiquette, royal lineage, courtship and all the other mundane aspects of being part of an oligarchy as well as fencing, horseback riding and archery.
Up holding diplomatic relations with other provinces saw her travelling throughout the land. On a visit to the capital, Yarmouth, she disguised herself to blend in with the locals, secretly desiring to learn how to handle seacrafts. If she was ever caught, she would be outed from the royal bloodline, being a service that is thought to be beneath her. Darcy craved adventure and to have her own crew aboard a Galleon. |
| Pelgwis Ambletrek |
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| Ready to defend the weak |
Now, 2022, after a year of maternity leave for Rachel, she will go back to work. This will begin my paternity leave for 6 months. This will be a good time to go out for family vacations for the summer. Rachel is already planning a trip to Prince Albert National Park to pick up some seeds that she wants to plant in our backyard. That won't be the only park we visit this summer. Grasslands National Park, Candle Lake, Narrow Hills Provincal park, Sask landing and Great blue Heron were on Rachel's short list of places she wanted to experience as well as old favourites, Riding Mountain, Echo, and Douglas. I know Rosalind will be ready to explore nature by then!
Rachel also mentioned making a point of playing 2 board games a month, a mix of revisiting old board games and learning rules (or relearning in some cases) for new games. We made up a list of games to play
Rachel's New picks
Mice and Mystics - haven't gotten passed the second chapter, I usually teach the first chapter as it gives a good feel to the game.
Root Underworld Expansion - haven't played the Corvid Conspiracy factions
Everdell - played less then a handful of times.
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig - this was a last year? Christmas gift, got out maybe 2 times
Rachel's Old picks
Lords of Waterdeep
Dinosaur Island (aka Rachel's OHS nightmare of a park)
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle - Finished main game once, haven't played The Monster Box of Monsters Expansion
Pandemic - have been playing that for a year and a half, am I right?
Takenoko
Scythe (hope to play the expansions with more players, one which is a legacy game)
Castles of Mad King Ludwig
Machi Koro
All of Rachel's picks I am game for, she picked out these from memory, this list will get longer as we actually look through our collection together.
As for me, I have a few games for solo play, because, let's face it, at some point I might not have people in my house this year. On a less somber note, is that most of these games I could show off to others after fumbling with the rules on my own. Also I am adding skirmish games, if you don't like it, make your own list.
Jon's New List
Reign in Hell - Models agnostic skirmish game, one of the reasons I picked up the Dreamblade models last year.
Super Mission Force - Repainting and purchasing old heroclix for this, I have 12 repaints done. I wouldn't say anything solid for a team, so that will be one of my goals.
Shadows of Brimstone - With the core set mostly done, I hope to get this on the table soon! I even picked up a Doctor/ Nurse hero to entice Rachel a bit more to play.
Mage Knight - I hear it's a good solo game with some crunch, doubt I will try playing it with others.
Rising Sun
Robinson Crusoe - great solo game, even has a fan made expansion that has you trying to capture King Kong!
Don't Look Back! - Cooperative slasher flick, might be awhile before this gets on the table... painted anyways.
7 Wonders Cities - never played the expansion yet
Formula D - Played beginner, would like to try an advanced game, with 10 players!?
Five Leagues from the Borderlands - solo grimdark fantasy solo game with a focus on narrative play.
PrimEVO - prehistoric tribal survival game, has solo play too. Might not get to all the indie skirmish games, but would be nice to try each out.
Jon's Old List
Lord of the Ring's LCG - Rachel bought this like 5 or 6 years ago, and I found another copy used to make the game 4 players. I want to try getting a full group for this game, I enjoyed playing it before.
Memoir 44 - Light wargame that isn't too hard to teach.
Star Wars Imperial Assault/ Descent - Another two games that could be solo or with other players.
I am sure I could convince Rachel to play some of the skirmish games on my list She also wants to do more regular paint nights and get me to assemble to metal Onna Bugeisha or Female martial arts practitioners from Test of Honor.
As for goals, I have some loose goals that I would like to see happen.
One Character a Month - Over at Dead Dick's Tavern, the Angry Piper runs a challenge for himself, and anyone who wants to join in on the fun, to paint up one character a month using different classes from Dungeons and Dragons. What a great opportunity to clear out some of my Reaper Bones models from the pile of creativity. I haven't decided if I will also create backstories (or character sheets) for these miniatures or if I will stick to just fantasy models. We shall see how invested I get with the models.
RPG try outs - Last year I picked up the Alien RPG starter set, which gives you all you need to play a cinematic version of Alien. After all, if you aren't a higher up in one of the main factions, you are expendable. Rachel also had some interest in playing the Root RPG, we got the quick start rules at an RPG day, but haven't dug into them. Another RPG I would be interested in running is Slasher Flick, a 80s campy horror film that puts you in the shoes of the teenages (usually each player plays two) that are making all the wrong cliché decisions. Go ahead and tease the killer, go skinny dipping with that hunky boy, it's your funeral!
Painting Goals - A bunch of the skirmish games listed on my New list aren't painted, so if I want to show them off on the blog, I better get my brush onto plastic! Finishing off Shadows of Brimstone core set, is definitely an easy win, only 3 models left! Painting up all the expansions, roughly 21 models, might be a more reasonable goal, especial when we start playing and enjoying that game.
Don't Look Back is a bit more involved, 10 heroes, 1 killer, and 3 MDF terrain pieces plus scatter terrain. I guess only 4 heroes and a killer are required, who wants a plain looking board though?
Terrain/ Board creation - I have talked about custom rules for Space Hulk a few times, adding in Dark Eldar or Orks would be fun and making a 3D board for 40mm Terminators. Heck, add in other Tyranid bugs, even go as far as using genestealer cults for xenos that have taken over dead crew. Exciting stuff! I will also need to make a playing area for DLB and Super Mission Force, a generic grass field one or urban streets.
That's all my goals for now! 2022 is a moving target, if I get through half my goals I would be pretty pleased.
Next on the Hobby Desk!
My brothers and I played some Mice and Mystics, I will have a few things finished on the paint desk to show off.
