Looking Toward 2017

While 2016 may have been a washout for just about everything else in the world, it's actually been pretty good as far as miniatures games go. I've been having a ball, at least.

Display Tables

Fantasy Flight announced its new Runewars miniatures game this year, and I was commissioned to produce some terrain for demo games and photography. I'm really looking forward to see how the game develops.

 

 

Scenery and Scorpions

Just a quick post this week to look at some of my recent projects:

Ruined Shrine

I was playing around with my Skull Forge Scenic shrines to use as basing elements. This one is a reworked master with unique cracks and damage, and a dirt base with some skulls. It will fit on a 50mm square base or a 60mm round base. Perfect as a perch for a smaller monster or as a basing element on a larger monster base.

You can pick one up for yourself in my shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/skullforgescenics

 

 

Siege Towers

I had posted a blog entry about my Skaven Siege equipment back in 2014 (which you can see here), but I just came across an old disk containing the WIP pictures of the siege towers, so this is a good opportunity to show them off.

 

 

A Look at the New Blood Bowl Components

Blood Bowl was the first miniatures game I had ever played, back when I didn't even know what "Games Workshop" was. I've always loved this game, and now that the newest edition of Blood Bowl is out, I didn't hesitate to pick up my copy. Here's a look at some of the components in the box set. I haven't gotten through the rules yet, but it looks like it plays mostly the same with minor variations.

 

The Corpsemasters

My corpse carts have been kicking around without any drivers for quite some time. The reason for this was that, in previous editions, the cart could be used as a mount for a necromancer. My intention was to use the corpsemaster models to represent a necromancer driving the cart, and I never got around to building them.

Since that option is gone in Age of Sigmar, and the carts have different attack profiles depending on how the corpsemasters are armed, I decided it was time to properly finish the carts.

 

 

Selketta and the Red Rain Host

I've finally finished up my archery dream team and knocked a project off of my Undead to-do list. You've seen the Tomb Prince Selketta in a previous post, but the unit champions and banners for the skeleton archer units are painted and ready for battle.

 

The Legion of the Infernal Skull, A Legacy of Death

As long as I've been playing Warhammer, I've been writing backstories for my characters and updating the lore as significant events happen in games I've played or in the evolution of the rules. I've collected many of them in this blog over the past years. This post is a compilation of everything so far, with a few updates to reflect the current status of the army and to fill in some of the blanks and flesh out the remaining characters.

 

  

More Age of Sigmar

My buddy Chris came out to visit last week, and he pitted his Khorne Bloodbound army against my Undead. (And we got to break in my new terrain!) You can see more of Chris's models on his blog: World of Walton'scrafts

We played the Escalation scenario from the General's Handbook. Each of us divided our army into three parts, deployed the first third, and then the rest would arrive in turns two and three. The battlefield was divided diagonally, and we were trying to control three objectives– The mausoleum in the upper right corner, the large monument in the center, and the small shrine in the lower left corner.

 

Terrain Tutorial: Graveyard Hills

For Halloween this year, I've put together a tutorial about building some graveyard-themed hills and crypts. The scenery also incorporates some of my Skull Forge Scenics walls and tombstones, which add a lot of detail without having to do a lot of extra work.

 

Dreadfleet: Converting the Auxiliaries

The last leg of my Dreadfleet project was finishing the auxiliary boats, and I wanted to do something really creative with these. There are only two versions of the standard "cog" markers for the auxiliaries– one for the Grand Alliance fleet and one for the evil Dreadfleet. 

 

 

All of the fleet ships are so different, each with its own unique design, I felt their auxiliaries should reflect this. It didn't seem right that the Skaven vessel, made from a leviathan fish carcass should have the same auxiliary design as the Tomb King's ship. And how, exactly, would a little wooden sail boat dock with a giant mechanical squid submersible? After rooting through my parts box I was able to put together some satisfying conversions:

The Heldenhammer

This was simple enough. Plastic card for the extra sails, covered with putty to give it the "puff" of a sail catching the wind. A tiny bit from a Black Templar accessory went on top of the mast, and a helmet spike from a Grave Guard forms the prow spire.

 

 

 

The Curse of Zandri

This was the first one I made, and the easiest. I removed the sail but left the oars, and cut a pyramid into the center so it matched its parent ship. The metal bits are from Tomb Kings models– the end of a halberd and the top of Settra's head. (Yeah, that's right. I ruined a classic Settra model for a tiny counter in a game I'll hardly ever play.)

 

 

 

The Skabrus

This one was fun to kitbash. I kept the figure on the prow because it looked like a little Skaven dude, and added a triangular icon cut from a Clanrat spear. The top of the tower and the boilers and smokestacks are tiny bits taken here and there from the Boneripper kit (the parts are so small they probably won't be missed). There were also two small rats on the Boneripper sprue that had little wheels for their back legs, and I used those wheels with some thin styrene strips to make the paddle wheel.

 

 

 

The Swordfysh

One of the extra sails that I cut off the other boats went into the Swordfysh conversion. The main sail needed to be turned so the sails would both be blowing the same direction. The "sword" on the prow was made from a strip of styrene, shaped and pinned in place. Modeling putty was used to extend the bow.

 

 

 

The Bloody Reaver

I tried to match the sail-laden castle aesthetic of the parent ship. The top of the tower is part of a Grave Guard helmet, and the tiny skull comes from a Tomb Kings banner. The stern of the boat was built up with modeling putty, and a few tiny windows were added to the tower.

 

 

 

The Flaming Scimitar

Another Grave Guard helmet was used for the tower, and the hull was shaped with modeling putty. The scimitar on the bow was cut down from a full-sized Tomb Kings chariot scythe. The boat's square sail was turned on its side, trimmed and puttied into a triangle. I used a piece of wire to make the angled mast, matching the style of sail on the larger vessel.

 

 

 

The Black Kracken

This one was the most complex, and probably has the least amount of "original" boat remaining. More Grave Guard helmets for the fins, and a melta-bomb forms the boiler with a small spike for the smokestack. There are parts of old battle wagon spikes on the stern, and a metal light from the Killer Kan accessory sprue to form the bridge windows, which were painted to match the green glow of the Kracken's "eyes." The paddle wheels are made from hole punched styrene card, with a thin strip over the top and details sculpted with putty.

 

 

 

And that's it! My Dreadfleet set is officially done! Both fleets are ready for war. I hope you've enjoyed following along with this project, I sure had fun painting it!

 

'Til next time!