Ten Warbands, Ten Players, Lions & Dragons Rampant, oh my!

  Pictish spearmen prepare to form Wall of Spears as the Vikings advance ever closer in Lion Rampant

We had a friend who visits only about once a year coming into town and he wanted to join our Sunday Night Gaming crew. I messaged him to see what he'd be interested in doing and Anthony said he would like to try Lion Rampant. With everyone coming, it looked like we'd have nearly a dozen people, so we decided to stage two multiplayer games. Anthony would join Tom, Joel, Mike S, our host Mike W, and myself in a giant game of Lion Rampant on a 10' wide table. Meanwhile, the 6' wide table would hold a 4-player game of Dragon Rampant. I was in charge of bringing all the battle mats and terrain, in addition to three 24-point commands of Picts, so it was quite the load to set up.

Three warbands of Picts & Vikings each clash on a 10' wide table for a huge game of Lion Rampant

To fill the forces for three Lion Rampant commands of Picts, it took up a big chunk of my 28mm Dark Ages miniatures. Our side would field 20 units and more than 200 miniatures. My friend (and as it turned out, cross-table opponent) Mike S would be bringing 17 units of Vikings, I believe he said. It would be an epic clash as the Vikings launched an invasion of Pictland, hoping to secure northern Britain as their base for raiding. We played a straight up battle rather than a scenario, since it was some players' first game of Lion Rampant. In addition, we used our usual "no crap out" variant of the activation rules. A failure by one unit did not end a command's turn. We use that across the board for all of Daniel Mersey's "Rampant" series and believes it provides a much more enjoyable and entertaining game.

    My 2 units of Pictish light cavalry swing wide right and prepare to pepper the Vikings with javelins

I gave all 20 unit cards to Tom and declared him the overall Pictish commander. I asked him to divide them into three commands, left, center, and right. He took the center and I was given the right with six units under my command. I had two units of Pictish spearmen (light infantry), one of Warrior Infantry (wild chargers), one of archers, and two of Pictish light cavalry. Facing me were six frothing at the mouth units of Vikings -- or at least that is how it looked to my Picts! I sent the two cavalry units to the far right, supported by the archers. In the center, the Pictish spear intended to advance to tempt the Vikings to advance, and both units formed their schiltrons (Wall of Spears) to resist the Viking charge. Meanwhile, the Warrior Infantry would try to race into the woods on our left and chase off their archers.

    Viking battle line, led by a fearless and battle-hardened shield maiden in the center

It was a good plan, and early on it seemed to be working. The one unit of Vikings (Warrior Infantry) that entered the large field of crops opposite my archers began to waver under the archer's arrows and the cavalry's javelins. They began to fall back, battered, which encouraged my two mounted units to circle around the field. The lead unit of cavalry charged the Vikings while their morale were still battered and inflicted enough casualties for them to fail their courage test and rout from the field. The cavalry looked ready to encircle the Vikings and attack them from the rear!

    The battle lines of Picts & Vikings begin to edge towards each other as arrows fly overhead

On the left, my warrior infantry charged one of their opposite numbers from the Viking's center command. Joel's Viking warriors had surprisingly been driven back by Tom's Pictish archers. My warriors struck the disheartened Vikings and slaughtered enough of them to drive them from the field. Elated, they rushed towards the woods where the Viking archers were firing upon my spearmen and inflicting casualties. The warriors were cut off, though, and charged by a unit of Viking axemen (heavy infantry with bloodthirsty). Luckily, my warriors rolled high enough to counter-charge. We inflicted more casualties, and more importantly, Mike had a second drastic morale failure. The axemen ran from the field. 

    My warrior infantry, having chased off one unit, ready to face down more Vikings with impunity!

Emboldened by their success, the Pictish warriors charged their third foe -- the Viking archers. Their numbers were thinned by two combats already, but they inflicted enough casualties to rout the archers, as well. Good rolls on Courage tests were a scarce commodity on this flank! My Pictish spearmen were also failing their tests vs. the one or two casualties Mike's archers had been inflicting. Unfortunately, that third charge was it for my good rolling for the night! From this point on, I failed nearly every courage test and rolled poorly in every combat. The warriors decided they'd done enough for the day, so they also decamped from the field. Good on them, though -- three enemy units driven from the field!

    My Pictish spearmen are thinking, 'That sure looks like a lot of Vikings...! Are we sure about this??'

That was indeed the Pictish "high water mark" on the right flank. Mike's remaining three heavy infantry units began to advance on my wavering Pictish spearmen. Just in time, I rallied one unit and was even able to form Wall of Spears before the Vikings charged home. On average rolls, this should have been a victory for the Picts. However, over the next several turns, three times Mike's Vikings charged my cowardly and intimidated spearmen. Three times they were driven back by the Vikings. When my commander's spear schiltron eventually failed morale and broke and ran from the field, it unleashed a string of 2d6 rolls that never came close to average or succeeding. One of the cavalry units became battered upon hearing the warlord was dead, and proceeded to fail their next two tests, as well. The other spear unit steadily failed and retreated backwards four more times over the next four turns, until they backed off the field.  

    No two units failed more morale checks than these two units of spear -- it was maddening!

The cavalry unit and archers, although passing their courage test when the warlord fled, proceeded to fail their activation rolls time after time. When the archers did shoot, I rolled way under average and did not cause any casualties to a Viking unit that was at half strength and ready to crumble. It was a miserable ending after a spectacular beginning. Thankfully, Tom in the center had routed Joel's entire command, and began to send help my way. One of Mike's Viking heavy infantry broke under Tom's pressure, leaving him with just his general's heavy infantry and the half strength unit. That unit refused to charge my archers, who themselves failed to inflict enough casualties to get the Vikings finally running. Time after time, Mike's Viking heavy foot unit with his commander passed morale checks while mine failed them. In the end, I still outnumbered him in units, but my troops just wouldn't fight!

    Beers, snacks, and lots of orcs & goblins raging about on the Dragon Rampant battle table!

Fortunately, Anthony had finally won on the left flank, outlasting Mike W's Viking wing and driving it from the board. Tom crushed Joel in the center, losing no units, while Joel's entire command fled the field. Seeing this, we called it a Pictish victory. My wing was wavering at best, but Mike's was hanging on by a thread, too. My Picts could console themselves by saying they'd driven off more enemy units than we lost, but honestly, their "second half" performance was shameful! It was certainly the most frustrating run of failed courage tests I've ever had in any of the Rampant style games we've played. 

    The arid plains of the DR! battlefield were soon drenched with blood (fortunately no spilled beer!)

On the Dragon Rampant board, Andy and Allen's orcs and goblins had a bloody battle with Bob's and Keith's armies. The orcs fled the field in the end, with Bob and Keith holding on for the win. I didn't get over there much to watch the battle, but it sounded brutal. They were fighting on a smaller width battlefield (6' wide for four armies, two per side). I had brought over a folding table to add 2' to their width, but the table heights were too mismatched. There would have been a weird drop off three quarter's of the way across the table! So, the orcs and their foes fought in close quarters that evening. Still, it was impressive to have 10 players and 10 warbands clashing all at once. It was fun, but a LOT of work to set up and pull off. Thanks to Mike S for bringing three warbands of Vikings and Mike W for hosting such a throng of gamers! Lots of dice were flung and good times were had!! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 141

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 29

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62

Elven Cavalry From Warhost (er, mostly...!)

    28mm metal Warhost Elven Cavalry gallop out of the woods, swelling the ranks of the wood elf army

With this batch of Elven cavalry done, I am one final batch of six foot figures away from having my Dragon Rampant army completed! There is always a chance I may add in another pack or two from the Warhost 28mm Elven line. They've added some nice sculpts to the line since I bought my initial batch from Badger Games in the U.S. I have really enjoyed painting the figures for this army, with one exception, though: these Elven mounted!

    I liked the variety of weapons the figures came with, though I had to supply the shields

To be 100% honest, this pack was a major disappointment. First, my box contained only five metal riders instead of the six that were supposed to be in there. I feel it's been too many months since I received it to go back and complain to Badger Games. I should have counted everything when I the order arrived. Perhaps I missed the shortage when I opened the box because of the real reason I'm unhappy with these --the horses are plastic! I know other companies do metal riders on plastic horses, but the whole reason I went with the Warhost Elven line is because they are metal. If I wanted plastic cavalry, I could have bought these much more cheaply from Oathmark, or somewhere else. I searched through my 28mm Dark Ages unpainted figures and found an Ancient German cavalryman who was clean-shaven and wouldn't look ridiculously out of place, in my opinion. His fur cloak would be unique in the army, but hopefully painting him in the same color scheme as the army might make him blend in more. I'm assuming you can pick him out -- what do you think?

    Like with most of this line, there is also a nice variety of armor & helmets, too

The horse sprues include left half of the body, right half, tail, plastic head, and some bizarre horse equipment piece that -- for the life of me -- I could not figure out where it went. Weirdly, it also includes resin horse heads that look like they belong to a more armored horse miniature. The resin heads are noticeably smaller than the plastic ones (which I ended up using). Even then, I felt the plastic ones didn't fit that neatly and the seam between the neck and body was quite visible on a few of the poses. The box also included wire spears for the two riders supposed to be holding spears, and the impractical, fragile plastic tips. This time -- unlike with my foot Elven spear -- I eschewed using the resin tips. Too easy to break!

    I also had to supply a 6th rider - for some reason my box contained only five riders but 6 horses

I also substituted some of my own "pill-shaped" bases instead of the huge round ones included. I decided to glue the riders onto the horses before I began painting. I go back and forth with 28mm figures which way I do this. Yes, it is easier to paint the rider separately. However, I find that gluing them on first makes the whole figure more solid. The paint adds an extra layer to the epoxy bonding the rider to the horse. So, typically, I glue them on first. However, this does make reaching certain areas with a paint brush more of a challenge.

    A shot of the four shielded riders, showing off their leaf pattern shields

The horses painted up okay, other than the seam between the neck and body being a little too visible. The poses are dynamic enough, but nothing spectacular. The riders were also problematic in their own way. There was a flat area on their backsides, facing the horse's tail, with three indentations. It looked almost like an outlet to plug an electric cord into the figures...ha, ha! Perhaps it had something to do with the piece of horse equipment that I couldn't figure out? I tried, but could not come up with a way that the piece (which I didn't use) would have covered this noticeably deformed area on riders. I failed, though. I had to resort to mixing up some green stuff and smoothing that area out. 

I'm sure there is something I missed, and probably should have done some Google or YouTube research before fully assembling everything. Still -- there is a tendency among plastic kit manufacturers to leave out any instructions, and expect everyone to experts at putting together puzzles of the pieces they include. A small piece of paper with black and white diagrams for assembly would not add anything significant to their costs, but few do so. Another reason I prefer metal miniatures -- you usually don't have to puzzle out how to "assemble" your figure...except in the case of this box! The riders also did not include shields, even though their arms are bent in a standard "glue a shield here" position. Luckily, I have a decent sized collection of unused metal shields and picked out ones to use on the poses where it would have looked weird without a shield. 

 Wasn't crazy about the mix of plastic horses & metal riders - plus some parts I couldn't quite figure out

Once horse, rider, weapons, shields, and green stuff were all applied, I did my usual Liquitex White Gesso priming. I went back to my painted 28mm Mongol army for Saga, and picked out six cavalry whose horse colorings I particularly liked and brought them to my painting desk. I used those as models for the horses, which I painted up first. Next, I did the flesh, robes and tunics, and armor. I wasn't crazy about the poses of the metal riders, either. Maybe I am suffering from burnout painting these elves? Either way, I wasn't particularly enthused about this batch as I was working on it. Painting mounted figures is always more of a chore for me, so maybe that was contributing, too?

Either way, it felt like work getting through these six mounted miniatures. I was happy to be done with them and close to completing the army. After this experience with mixed plastic and metal figures, I will be more careful in purchasing mounted minis. In the future, I will attempt to avoid these hybrids, though I understand fans of Games Workshop have been happily painting up this type of combination for years. Yet another reason to avoid all things GW (besides their prices)...ha, ha! I also don't enjoy their very cartoonish look, with leering expressions or exaggerated features. The Warhost line has been the opposite and many have commented on the line's "Tolkien-like" appearance. 

More stuff is on the way soon, so stay tuned! I have been very busy with the release of Surviving 'Nam -- and apparently it has paid off! Check out the snapshot of the Bestseller list from Wargame Vault! I don't think any of my rules before this made it to #2 on the leaderboard. Thanks to everyone who bought copies! By the way, print on demand copies are now available on Lulu, besides the PDF downloads on Ganesha Games and Wargame Vault.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 141

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 28

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59

 

 

 

 

Wizards & Spellcasters -- Bending My Own Rules!

    Six 28mm Wizards, 3 for the Elves under the sky, and three for mortal men doomed to die...

Since I already have a Reaper Bones Elven Wizard painted up, I decided to paint just three more for potential spellcasters for my Dragon Rampant Elven army. At only 1 Army Point apiece, Level 1 spellcasters are a great deal in the rules. And sometimes, their magic might be the perfect counterpoint to an opponent's troop choices or special abilities. However, three is an awful small batch of figures, so my next decision was to assemble three additional sorcerors from the Frostgrave Wizards sprue I bought from Firelands Games last November. Six foot figures is a proper batch size for my temperament.

    3 Female Elven Wizards -- Bad Squiddo's 'Morgana the Forest Healer' & two 'May Queens'

That's when I decided to get cheesy and rules lawyer my vow to alternate painting a batch of figures purchased this year with one purchased in previous years. Why not count these six figures as two separate batches -- even though I painting them simultaneously? Genius...ha, ha! The three female Elven spellcasters are all from Bad Squiddo Games. Two are the May Queens pack and the the third is Morgana, the Forest Healer. Links are to the Badger Games site for them, which is who I bought them from. All three look Elven enough to pass, even though I imagine that none are meant to be elves. So, the Frostgrave Wizards would be the male counterpart to these three. I used the head and arms of one to be a Gandalf clone, another to be a "dark monk"-looking figure with a staff, and the third another hooded and robed figure holding a scroll. Or perhaps an early rules lawyer holding up the tome and saying, "No, you're wrong -- you can't do that under these rules!"

    Though probably the simplest of the three Elves, she may be my favorite because of her face & dress

Anyway, after priming all six with Liquitex White Gesso, I started off with their flesh. I decided to go with basic human Caucasian flesh tone for the male wizards as two of my sorcerers that I have painted up are Middle Eastern. The elves I used a lighter flesh tone as the base coat, following it up with my darker orange-toned wash. Once that stage was done for all six, it was time to decide on robe colors. For one of the May Queens, I went with a light sea-foam green, hoping she didn't end up looking like a bridesmaid. The other one was done in a dark blue-green color that I really like. The third, being a guardian of the forest and all, was done in a somewhat bright Leaf green. The male wizards got a Wedgewood grayish-blue for non-Gandalf, cherry brown for the dark monk, and a khaki/tan combo for the rules lawyer.

    My favorite pattern of the wizards - the clusters of light green dots - is also repeated on her dress hem

Naturally, I dry-brushed each set of robes the next session, and then went to work on details. Rather than do all of their hair, all of their belts, etc. like I normal batch, I would pick up one figure and do four or five details on it before moving on to the next. I was careful to paint the elves first because, you know, the last batch was previously painted miniatures...ha, ha! I promise...last time I mention that on this particular blog entry!! Anyway, I made good progress and in just a couple days of painting, all six were fairly far along. However, Origins Game Fair intervened, and there was a five day gap between painting sessions. Otherwise, these figures might have been completed in as little as a week.

    The staff is the coolest part of this pose - I like the bunny at her feet & magpie on shoulder, too

I tried to vary the colors of the wood tones I used in each spellcaster's staff, as well as giving them different decorative patterns. My favorite, but probably the most subtle, is the repeating pattern of bright green dots on the blue-green robe of one of the May Queens. All of them looked nice to me, though, and I was very pleased with how they were looking as they progressed towards the end. For their flowered head dresses, I thought it might be neat to put in colored flocking as flowers in their hair. My first idea was to trim flower tufts up and use tweezers to put them among the greenery in their hair. However, a friend at Origins handed me a bag of Woodland Scenics Autumn clump foliage he bought but decided he didn't want. I thought it would be MUCH easier to tear off tiny bits of the clump foliage and glue then in place. After they were in place and the figure had its first clear coat, I went back and used tweezers to tear off bits of some of the pieces to make them even smaller.

    Much as I dislike plastic kit figs, I have to say I really like the look of these Frostgrave Wizards

Prior to that, while I was doing the brown wash on the flesh and tan colors, I had the idea to add an animal familiar to a couple of the bases of the Elven wizards. I have a nice selection of unpainted woodland animals, so pulled out a rabbit out of a drawer for one and a fox for the other. Morgana has a bird on her shoulder already, which I painted as a magpie. I was really happy with how it came out. For the other animal familiars, I did my usual and looked up Google images of the creatures to get their colors as correct as possible.

    How many times do you think I said, "You shall not pass!" as I painted this Not-Gandalf fig??

All six bases got my usual treatment for flocking. I decided for one of the May Queens to try gluing on a couple of the little resin scenery pieces I bought for basing my Vietnam figures. It was very fiddly to get the vegetation pieces to stand up while the glue dried. I also have the feeling they will be fragile, considering how thin the vegetation stalks appear to be.  I have also tempted to start doing some "adventurer" type miniatures with stone pavement basing, considering that the setting for my Fantasy cooperative games will be a ruined medieval town. However, I hate to have wildly different basing systems for figures on the tabletop together. So, I will probably keep sticking to my usual outdoor wilderness flocking method.

    I love the hand position in this 'dark monk' looking fig - he appears to be casting a spell right now

What else is on my painting desk? Well, that 3-D printed Huey helicopter is still sitting there at the same stage it has been for two weeks or so. I really do need to find the drive to finish it off. I'm fairly close -- except for door gunners, which I plan on attaching via magnets anyway (and I, umm,  haven't purchased any door gunners, yet...!). I also pulled out my six Warhost Elven cavalry figures...only to find one rider missing! I had six (plastic!) horses and five metal riders in my box. No shields either, even though more than half the poses are in an obvious bent arm "shield holding" posture. This was the first disappointment from the Warhost line. Why plastic, assemble your own horses for a line of metal miniatures?? If I wanted plastic horses I would have just bought a plastic kit! Anyway, I dug through my Dark Ages miniatures and found a rider that I felt will substitute in okay. I prepped them for painting and they will likely be my next batch after the chopper.

I used my smallest nib micron pen to scribble some mystic symbols & runes on this wizard's scroll

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 133

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59

Birds of Prey: 'Lesser Warbeasts' for my Elven Army

    Birds of prey as 'Lesser Warbeasts' for my 28mm Elven army -- from a variety of sources

I have to be honest and upfront -- I am unable to identify where most of these figures came from. Most are likely from "Companion packs" by various manufacturers. Some are metal, though, and some are plastic. I believe the one of the elf with a hawk on her arm is a game piece from some board game that I've never played. I think a friend gave it to me because I definitely don't remember buying it! I did have to convert that figure, lopping off her rifle-carrying hand and substituting one carrying a sword. So, if anyone recognizes these miniatures (other than the Bad Squiddo Ravens, which I know), please speak up in the comments!

    Bird whisperer? Bird mistress? Plastic fig from a board game - I cut off her rifle & gave her a sword

 As I sat down to base these birds (or as Gollum would say, "birdses..."), my first thought was that I wanted to elevate them off the ground. For some I took wooden dowels and sliced them to a height I liked. Next, I shaved their sides with a hobby knife to look more like a wooden trunk. I used my pin vice to drill a couple holes and then inserted bent pieces of brass wire to become scraggly branches. For others, I used a large rock and epoxied the bird directly onto that. The clever among you may have noticed that Lesser Warbeasts in Dragon Rampant require six figures, but I am painting up seven. I was hedging against being less than thrilled with how one came out. The unlucky one will be relegated it to my box of animals!

    Left hand hawk is a raven from Bad Squiddo, but I have no idea of the metal bird on right

All were based on normal sized circular bases from Litko with heavy duty magnetic material underneath. Well, the elf bird-whisperer was on her own plastic base, so all I needed to do was put a magnet beneath her. Once all of the feathered Elf friends were securely epoxied to their base or perch, I primed everything with white Liquitex Gesso. Then they sat there for several days while I pondered how to paint them. On a day trip my friend Tom had organized, we stopped by Cedar Bog -- a wetlands nature park in Ohio. In their gift shop, they had laminated plastic cards of birds of prey that can be found in Ohio. I took a quick photo of it and then did Google Image searches on the species whose coloring I liked best. I chose only six because the seventh miniature was obviously a vulture of some sort. So, I picked the breeds with a color combinations that I liked. I numbered each base #1 - #7 so I could keep track of them. Perhaps I will mark on the underside of the base which each one is...? Or maybe not. Keith will likely look at them and say, "That's not a Northern Goshawk...!" Sigh. Some gaming groups have uniform experts who may critique every miniature. We have Keith who...well, according to him, knows everything! Ha, ha!!

    Right hand fig is another soft plastic fig, while left on the skull is metal, once again unsure of origin

From that point on, I would go down the list, pull up the table I'd saved with images of that species, and paint a color or two on it. I would then move on to the next, then the next, and so on. Of course, I was painting the Elven bird mistress at the same time. Why did I choose a green dress when all of the other figures in the army are pretty much green? Well, would YOU wear a different color if everyone else was wearing the one color? Ha, ha! I figured she would want concealment, too, as she stalked through the woodlands with her flock of attack birds. It took me a couple days to get the various plumage heads, beaks, eyes, and feet for all seven birds completed. One most of the birds, I did a brown wash to blend all the various brush strokes together. 

    Vulture (yes, not a bird of prey) perched across scratch-built tree stump & another Squiddo raven

I flocked the bases to match the rest of the army, with the exception of adding some clump foliage to the dead tree stumps. We are in the time of the year here in Ohio when the weather can make me wait several days or more to get a chance to spray coat my figures once they're painted. Some days, the humidity is too high even if the temperature isn't too hot. Other days, the humidity is too much even if the temperature is within the recommended rage for the Krylon matte clear coat that I use. I know, I know. My gaming buddy Mike S tells me at least once every couple months, "Why haven't you built a spray box for your house? It's easy!" Well, if I did, what would I have left to gripe about??

    Final look at the birds -- I like how the tree stump perches turned out...which one is odd bird out??

Tossing this in here because I didn't want to do a post just about measuring sticks. My friend Rich from RRB Minis & More handed these four sticks after I bought my last buildings. They are literally made to look like sticks (or branches? Trunks?) with wood grain and all. He asked if I preferred the 6" or 8" measuring stick, and of course I responded bigger is better! Rich 3-D printed them in a brown filament, but you know me -- I had to fancy them up! I spray painted them black and then brushed my premised 50/50 water and acrylic black paint over them. After that, it was my normal wood style recipe. Dark brown wet brush, Camo Brown dry brush, then Khaki highlight on alternating sections so it would be easier to see. I liked the alternating lighter and darker brown shades on the sticks. The final step was to paint the recessed notches between each one inch section black again to cover up stray dry brushing. So, now I have four measuring stick sticks...ha, ha!

    Measuring sticks painted as...sticks! Or branches or trunks, whichever you prefer. From RRB Minis

So, what else is on my painting desk? Right now, two 3-D printed medieval houses are racing the birds to be completed first. Yes, quite a sight to see a bird racing a house! Anyway, after that, I have nothing primed up, believe it or not. I guess I'd better get cracking! Since this was a batch of "old" figures, the next batch can be new, so that means another batch for my Elven army. I have the six mounted figures, six spearmen, and three (or so) wizards. Sayyy...I could be really clever and put together three of those Frostgrave wizards from the sprue I bought from Fireland Games. And combine the batch into a three of new and three of old? That sounds like a genius plan to me -- otherwise a batch of three figures may not seem like much. As for terrain, I don't know what is next for that, either. I could do another of the 3-D printed medieval houses -- maybe a two story, medium sized one? We'll see...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 125

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59  

 

 

Last of the Elven Archers

    Final batch of 28mm Warhost Elven archers -- still have more Elves to go, but the archers all done!

After being a bit disappointed at how long it took me to finish the previous batch, I set out to get this group of 28mm Warhost Elves done more quickly. Thankfully, I was successful in cranking them out in just over a week or so. These are the final archers for the army, which means I'm close to getting the whole army completed -- yay! I have honestly enjoyed painting these elves...and the orcs and goblins before them. I am planning on taking a breather before I do another army for Dragon Rampant, though. Wait...what was that advertisement? Warhost is making 28mm metal dwarves...? Nooooooo!!!

    Close up of two of the metal archers -- I like how the greens look as if they'll blend into the woods

Anyway, I have painting these guys down to a routine, by now. Weirdly, though, I tend to do the steps in a slightly different order with each batch. Luckily, with the archers, I get to skip the "assembly" step! After cleaning up the minimal flash on these Hobday and Hicks sculpts, I primed them, did their flesh, and then lined all eight of them up on my desk. I plopped a bottle of green paint behind each one to note which color their lighter, inner tunics would be. After painting that on, I did the armor base coat. I remembered to use the craft paint Gun Metal this time instead of Iron Wind Steel. These two packs of four had fewer guys with helmets or leg greaves, so that step went faster. Then, I realized I'd forgotten to dry brush the tunics before going on to the armor. No biggie, since I would be following that up with the bright gold color for the armor, which would likely cover up any stray swipes.

    These two packs of four had considerably more bare-headed as opposed to helmet wearing Elves

After the armor and tunics were complete, they were put back on parade. I picked out which darker green shade I would do the long vests in and placed the bottle behind the figure. Typically, this takes a bit time since I want the two greens to go together well. The vests were painted, and the next day I highlighted them. I stuck the elves back on parade and picked out a border color for each one's vest. I don't stick with green here, but I am hoping for the color combinations to be more muted and less contrasting than my first batch or two. Then it was time for the dots! My go-to for making a border or item of clothing look like it has a pattern or decoration is usually dots. These can be in a row or a pattern, giving the effect of an intricate design without actually having to do it. My friend Eric is a big proponent of all things dotted. Check out his blog here, which he has begun to update more often now that he has finally retired from teaching. 

    I have been consistently happy with these Warhost sculpts -- especially the variety of poses

I pulled out the same four shades of yellow I've been using for Elven hair next. I set two figures next to each bottle, hoping to give as much variety as possible. I dry brushed them the next day -- lighter yellow for the medium blonds, white for the lightest, and dun for the darkest. Moving on, I decided this time to do all the various sheaths, quivers, and pouches at once. Since I am going with a brown or tan tone for the equipment, I hoped it might save time. I pulled out five different brownish colors, unscrewed the caps, and laid them out before me. I know some say you shouldn't do it, but I usually shake my paint and use the paint inside the caps to dip my brush into. I've heard this causes the paint to dry up more quickly, but I honestly have never noticed that in my decades of painting this way. So, I continue to do it. Once that step was done, I went back the next day and applied a quick dry brush to each color I used. 

     Not sure why, but I wasn't as happy with my photos this time -- I feel the figs looks better in person

The figs were getting close, but still had some details to do. Next, was their waist sash or belts, shoes, arrows inside the quivers, feather fletching on the arrows, and so on. Eventually, they were done. With virtually ever color applied getting its own highlighting in a lighter shade, it does take longer to paint "my way" than some who have mastered the new breed of Contrast Paints. I would be interested in trying them out some day, but probably for a specific project. I don't want to have to re-purchase all of my paints. As you've probably noticed with this Elven project, I have more than a dozen greens alone!

    Sunlight through the trees -- final look at the final batch of Elven archers

So, what's next? Of course, my 2026 rules is for it to be a batch of figures acquired last year or earlier. Luckily, they will still be for my Elven army. I have seven birds of prey sitting on my desk which I have begun work on. They came from various source -- Fantasy Familiars or other packs from different manufacturers. They're mostly metal figs, but there are some plastic or Reaper Bones ones. I'm getting some more scenery ready to go, too. This includes not only two more medieval houses (smaller homes this time), but also a 28mm 3-D printed Huey helicopter. I would like the chopper (or all four) to be ready to use in a "Hot LZ" scenario when I run my Vietnam game at Origins Game Fair this June 17-21 here in Columbus. Lots more in the works, so stay tuned!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 118

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59  

 

2nd Batch of Elven Spearmen Finally Finished

    Another batch of 28mm Warhost Elven spear are finished bringing me to 38 in the warband, so far

It seems like forever since I painted my last batch of 28mm metal Warhost Elves. Checking my blog, I see I uploaded my post of my Elven Swordsmen on April 22, which means it has indeed been a month. Why? Well, I was hurrying to get some more medieval buildings done for my game at Drums, which went well. Plus, my alternating batches from my current project (Elves) with something older from the unpainted lead pile means the projects get slowed down a bit, as well. Throw in a couple convention weekends and things are bound to progress less rapidly...right?

    Since I had only a dozen spear left to do, I decided to split them into two batches of six figs each

Anyway, the final 12 Elven spearmen I had are being painted in two batches of six -- this one, and probably the final batch in the army. Now that these are finally complete, I have only five batches left to do until I have a Dragon Rampant army of Elves ready to go. I still have to do 8 archers, 6 mounted, 6 birds of prey (as Lesser Warbeasts), several wizards, and that final batch of 6 spear. Hopefully, that means this army should be completed by midsummer, if not before. I'm itching to get them onto the tabletop and see how they do. Their rivals, the Bonefish Band of orcs and goblins, have racked up a pretty good record on the table, so far. Pressure will be on the Elves, my favorite race from Tolkein, to measure up!

    Closeups of another pair of Elven spear -- I like the variety of green tones, but with a consistent style

I painted these like the previous batches of Warhost Elves, starting with my least favorite part -- assembly. Not only did I have to attach their weapon and shield, I also had to attach the long and elaborate 3-D printed point onto the wire spear. During the painting process on this batch, I dropped two of them, snapping off their points even before the first game! That doesn't bode well!! Still, I was able to superglue them back into place, but I am worried how well these points will hold up in games. We'll see...soon, hopefully! After assembly, I primed them with White Liquitex Gesso, did a pale skin color and its darker wash, and then progressed to the under tunics. They were done in a lighter greens like the rest of the army. Next was their golden armor, which was Iron Wind Steel base with a bright gold atop it. I realized again that originally I had decided to do a lighter base called Gunmetal instead of Steel. Oops -- too late!

    I also like the variety in armor style, helmets & poses in the Warhost line give an irregular look

Once the armor was complete with its yellow gold highlight, I went on to the long, darker green vests. Each color that goes on a 28mm figure I paint tends to get a base coat and dry brush. Their blond hair -- done in four shades from a strawberry blond to a very pale yellow, was next (with dry brush highlight, naturally!). I went to work on all their equipment next, shoes, inside of the shield, outside of the shields, and spears. I have to admit it seemed like the process was dragging -- almost like I had been working on these guys for a month...ha, ha! 

    Close up of the shield patterns with various types & colors of leaves on them -- they're Wood Elves!

Finally, I was on to the decoration stage -- the colorful borders on their vests, the shield designs ("We don't need no stinking decals...!"), and their eyes. For their shields, I pulled up some images of leaves that I had saved when I was painting the first batch of spear. I picked out six varieties that I hadn't used, matched them to the base colors I'd painted the shields. I drew the outlines on the shield with my smallest black mircon pen. Then I filled in the color, and added more black "veins" on the leaves. I finished the figures off with a brown wash on their flesh and other selected lighter areas, and a black wash on some other parts. Next came the flocking, and my Elven warband grew by another half of a unit! 

    The entire host of Wood Elves (so far) gathered to defend the kingdom for an orc or goblin incursion

I'm especially excited about the Elves because the Sunday Evening group is going to play Dragon Rampant again this weekend. Hopefully, this time I will actually get to play. Last time, we had an odd number so I just GM'd. Also, it was a special multiplayer scenario I had created (The Battle of the Gems), so it was probably for the best. This time, it will be one-on-one matchups like the other three times for a 6-8 player fantasy battle royale! I've picked out a scenario (which I will keep secret from the players so folks don't tailor their armies for it). My Bonefish Band will use its same list it did last couple times, so no tailoring on my end either. So, look for a post on that evening of gaming coming soon!

    One final look at the six new Elven spear that were added to my forces...finally! Ha, ha!!

Meanwhile, things are getting pretty crowded on my painting desk. Now that the Elven Spear have cleared out, five monsters for my horror skirmish games using Devilry Afoot take center stage. I have a werewolf, Bison Man skinwalker, two animated scarecrows, and a Kanontsistóntie partially finished. What's a Kanon...Kanontsis-thingie, you ask? It is from Iroquois mythology and is a giant, disembodied head which I will be using as a Spectre in the game. If I remember right, they are the spirits of evil shamans -- or at least that's what they'll be in my games which are set in frontier America. In addition to these five miniatures are more than a dozen Viking rune stones and the next medieval building I will be painting up. So, more to come...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 105

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59 

Warhost Elves Armed With Long Sword

    My latest batch of 28mm metal Warhost Elves, 2-handed swordsmen, for my Dragon Rampant army

Before I posted the Four (Five) Delvers and Surviving 'Nam battle reports the other day, it had been nearly two weeks since I updated the blog. Blame it on my amazing trip to North Macedonia (formerly part of Yugoslavia with a new name). It was gorgeous -- lots of incredible scenery and awesome historical sights. To read more about the trip and see photos, check out my Worldwidemike blog on Travellerspoint here: https://world-wide-mike.travellerspoint.com/

    I really like these 2-handed sword poses - they look ready to slice and dice some bad guys!

This batch of elves armed with two-handed swords was about half done when I left for North Macedonia, and I've finally got them all finished up. I purchased these 28mm Warhost metal miniatures because I plan to field them for Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition. They have a unit type called "Light Foot" that can purchase an option called "Mixed Weapons." This allows them to shoot, so I plan on putting them on the tabletop in units that have roughly half the figures armed with bows and the rest spears or these swordsmen. These will definitely provide some variety in the look of each unit.

    I like the effect of a variety of shades of green for the tunics & vests -- definite wood elf vibe

As you can see, all of them carry very long, two-handed swords and no shields. Otherwise, they have similar equipment and clothes as the Warhost archers and spearmen that I've painted up already. With theses done, I have 26 figures left in the purchase I made earlier this year -- 8 more archers, 12 more spearmen, and 6 cavalry. I still need to find some 28mm Elven mages in case I want to add them into my units, as well. Dragon Rampant lets you add a spellcaster to a unit for one army point per "level" of the wizard. I want to have that option open when making my army list. Unfortunately, I wasn't crazy about Warhost's Elven Wizard figures, so I am hoping to find some generic fantasy Elven mages to buy at some convention I attend in the upcoming months. 

    What do you think? Is the blue-green guy on the left fancy enough to be my army commander?

I painted these up pretty much as I have been doing for the archers and spearmen. Their long-sleeved undertunics are done in lighter shades of green while their longer out vests are in darker shades. The one with the dark blue-green vest I painted up ostensibly as the army commander. I decorated his outer vest a bit more than the others, and also used a color that was more blue than green to have him stand out more. If I find a figure later that I like better as an Elven lord, I may demote him to just a slightly better-dressed swordsman. I like how the lighter colored designs look on his vest. The swordsmen seem to have fewer deep pleats on their vests than either the Warhost archers or spear, so that made the designs a bit easier to do. The flowery designs do make him look a bit like a hippy, but then again, aren't Tolkien's Elves essentially that? Ha, ha!

    I like the more understated and less contrast-heavy hem decorations -- I'm shooting for subtle

I'm getting excited about finishing up this army. Essentially, I have 3-4 more batches of miniatures to do. It depends on whether I paint the 12 spearmen as two batches of six or one big one of a dozen. I prefer to work in smaller batches as it seems to me that I am making progress quicker. I guess every miniature painter has their sweet spot on how big of batches to paint in. Mine is between six and eight 28mm figures. I do have a plan to add a unit of flying "Lesser Beasts" to my Elven army. I would model them with hawks, eagles, owls, and such. Currently, I don't own the required six miniatures the unit would require. I think I have one...ha, ha! I may see if Hobby Lobby has some appropriately sized pre-painted plastic figures I could use. Or perhaps I'll pick up the birds of prey as I see them in stores or at conventions.

    Final look at my latest Warhost Elves -- only 26 more to go from the batch I bought awhile back!

So, what else is on my painting desk? I have another of the medieval, 3-D printed buildings I picked up from Rich Brown at RRB Minis & More underway. It is a smaller, one story building rather than the 3-4 story monstrosities I've painted up already. After that, I need a batch of "old" miniatures. I have an idea what I might dig out of my unpainted lead pile. I'm going to be running a medieval town skirmish at Drums at the Rapids gaming convention in May 15-16. It will be a two-sided civil disorder going on, with one faction supporting the local priest and the other side supporting the powerful nobles on the town council. So, I may paint up some 28mm peasants or unarmored soldiers up so that I can give each of the six player factions a coherent "look" on the tabletop. After that, I'll probably try to get another building done big medieval building before the convention. I guess I enjoy deadline pressure...accelerating a project I was envisioning for later in 2026!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 91

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 56