Troubled Council: Urban Unrest in Medieval Vespugia Play Test

    Medieval Vespugia's streets are quiet but soon blood will be shed in a clash between church & town

Town leaders nearly came to blows last night at Vespugia's council meeting. Although violence did not break out, many left muttering that "mayhap on the morn' blood would be shed" on the town's streets. By one vote, the council voted to arrest Father Leowulf, whose sermons against the rich and powerful families had angered them. The priest has been railing against the "un-Christian like" treatment of the refugees who had been arriving in town, recently. Will Father Leowulf be arrested tomorrow? Will the priest's supporters take up arms and defend him? It's medieval "gang warfere" on the streets of Vespugia!

    House Faroli's men, firm backers of the Town Council, flood through the streets towards the center

This is the event description for the my upcoming convention game at Drums at the Rapids, which is held on Armed Forces Day weekend every year at Fort Meigs, a reconstructed War of 1812 fort in Perrysburg, OH. As readers of my blog know, I have been collecting and painting 3-D printed medieval buildings for about a year, now. I wanted to do a small scale skirmish in an urban setting, but had been scratching my head about what rules to use. Eventually, I decided to use a set of my own: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities modified to be used in the Middle Ages. Since my game was set in the romanticized look at urban street gangs, portrayed in the 1979 cult movie classic The Warriors, I felt that it wouldn't take much to adapt it to this setting.

    Town Council players, on right, make their opening moves to threaten Father Leowulf in the church

I wrote up a draft of rules modifications for a medieval and fantasy "Malevolent Streets" and sent it to a few friends, who gave me great feedback. Once I was happy with how it was looking, I designed the Father Leowulf scenario -- absolutely NOT based on current events -- and play tested it on my friends in our latest Sunday Evening gaming session. I had seven players, four of which would take on the role of the Town Council trying to arrest Father Leowulf, and three defending him. I gave most of the player groups different objectives. Two noble families on opposite sides also wanted to burn down their rival's homes on the town square, while all factions wanted to take possession of the "meddlesome priest." Many wanted to be the one who had their hands on him spiriting him off their entry point on the board. All factions wanted to kill their rivals, and received points for knocking enemy figures out of action.

    Archers from the Town Council take an advantageous sniper perch on the balcony of House Catrine

The sides were roughly even, with the attackers having a slight advantage in numbers. This was offset by each of their four individual commands being slightly smaller than those of the defender's. I let each player deploy one of their figures forward on their side of the main street that ran diagonally across the board. Although it appeared the Town Council forces made the most tactically clever deployment, placing two archers on the third story balcony of House Catrine. However, appearances can be deceiving. The Dominican monks marching up the street to rescue Father Leowulf cleverly placed one of their figures inside the cathedral with the preacher. Their goal was to spirit him away to their deployment edge on the far side of the board. 

    Attackers cross the street & close in on House Duncan -- staunch defenders of the Father Leowulf

In Mean Streets rules -- sorry, "Malevolent Streets" -- you roll a die for each figure in your command. Any figures in command range of the leader roll them together and the player can choose which figure receives which die. Figures off on their own outside of command range are rolled for individually. A roll of 1-3 gives one action to the figure assigned that die, 4-5 provides two actions, and a 6 three actions. So, there is an advantage in keeping figures within command range, balanced out by trying to achieve more strategic objectives. In Malevolent Streets, the "Gang Boss" is called a Hero, a Warchief is a Companion, and Punks are Followers. The die that is rolled for combat and morale is a d8 instead of a d6, though. I wanted more swing and more granularity to accommodate larger monsters in a fantasy version of the game.

    A couple well-armed townsmen defend the gate & doors of the cathedral as attackers cross the walls

The game opened with the sniper archers in the Catrine House balcony loosing their arrows at the cathedral defenders. The rest of the Town Council forces began a fast advance, closing in on the both the cathedral and House Duncan -- one of the wealthy families that supported Father Leowulf. The defenders moved up more cautiously. Leowulf's defending forces -- a band of Franciscan monks and a few well-armed veteran citizens did not deploy anyone in the cathedral with the recalcitrant father. This proved to be a big mistake, as the Dominican Companion immediately moved Leowulf to the back of the church and towards the rear doors. Throughout the game, he would drag the sometimes reluctant priest out of the church, over the walls, and towards the Dominican corner of the board.

    Simultaneously, House Duncan comes under assault by the Town Council - blood is being shed!

 Meanwhile, the players focused on each other's forces as primary targets. After all, each enemy killed was +1 Victory Point -- why not take out the other players' troops? It took us a couple turns to begin to easily calculate the archer's range modifiers (-1 for each complete 6" away the target is), but otherwise, folks picked up the rules fairly quickly. After the game, we discussed what needed changed. To my surprise, there were fairly few tweaks needed, according to my players. I know that Mean Streets "works" as a game, so shouldn't need major retooling. However, I thought with the change in period and the move to a d8 die my players would have more concerns. As it was, the players said they were happy with how the game worked.

    While the attacking players are distracted by the fighting, Keith at left has a wily plan...!

Then I sprung my entire evil plan on them. I wanted to use Malevolent Streets for a cooperative fantasy skirmish game, with each player controlling a Hero, Companion, and Follower. I would control the foes. Thus, why it needed to be fast and simple. They sat back for a moment and said yeah, it would work. They liked it -- and said they preferred it over Four Delvers, which we had tried recently. They also gave me a few suggested tweaks for the scenario. 

    A well-armed retainer hired by the Dominican monks hustles Leowulf out the back & over the wall

So, how did the action unfold? The archer snipers in the House Catrine balcony kept the defending forces' heads down, and made them move up cautiously. In fact, they distracted Father Leowulf's Franciscan monk defenders so much, they didn't notice when their Dominican allies hustled the priest out the back doors of the cathedral and towards their own lines. House Duncan, faithful to Leowulf, was also distracted by the aggressive advance of the forces of the Town Council. Lord Duncan and his Companion waded into the less-skilled ruffians hired by the Town Council and began cutting them down. Meanwhile, some of Duncan's own retainers were being killed by House Faroli's men, who vaulted the walls of the cathedral -- further distracting Leowulf's Defenders.

    Attackers are over the cathedral walls -- unaware that Dominican monks are spiriting Leowulf away

Meanwhile, Duncan's mortal enemies on the Council, House Catrine, also launched an all-out assault on his fortified home. Two of Catrine's thugs even broke into the house and set fire to the first floor. Lord Duncan, seeing the smoke, barged in after them and cut down the two unskilled ruffians. However, Duncan's forces were slowly being whittled down, and it was all he could do to save his own house. Father Leowulf was in the hands of the Franciscans and Dominicans, as far as he was concerned. He and his men were holding off two to three of the enemy bands. 

    Leowulf's defenders rush to oppose the incursion & men begin to die upon holy ground!

On the far side of the board, House Stronghelm, declaring for the Town Council, was probably the least aggressive of the attackers. They crept up one side of the table towards the Dominicans, killing one or two, and burning a home that others had holed up inside, driving them off.  Too late, Stronghelm and his men saw Father Duncan being hustled across the board by their foes. They tried to intervene, but the wily monks had consolidated their forces and formed an armed wall between Stronghelm's men and the priest. The captain of the Town Council's ruffians sprinted the length of the table, once he saw the danger of the Dominican plan. However, he was unable to break through the men protecting Leowulf's reluctant escape from his own cathedral.

    More attackers press forward on the right, setting fire to a home that the monks had holed up inside

In the end, although it appeared the Dominicans won handily, they actually only tied House Duncan in victory points. The noble defender and his men killed enough enemies, plus received bonus points that the father was out of the Council's clutches. Mike S proved that sometimes fighting and killing your enemies effectively is enough to win a game! I look forward to getting one or two more of my newly-purchased medieval buildings painted up before the game on May 15-16. That should allow me to make the table a bit denser, and possibly also swap out a few of my more rural Acheson Creations Dark Age resin buildings on the table. It was a fun game, though, and I'm glad the players enjoyed the system.

    After his home is set afire, Duncan himself bursts in & slays two ruffians hired by House Catrine

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 176
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 91

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 7
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 25

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 17
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59 

    A Franciscan monk defending Leowulf assaults House Catrine to get at the balcony archers

 

    Attackers realize the peril too late! Leowulf has been taken off-board by the Dominican player

Hurrying to Get Things Done for my Medieval Town Game

    Fountain for my fantasy or medieval games (from the Ferisia line called 'Dwarven Stone Fountain')

I'm scheduled to run my first medieval town skirmish in two weeks or so at Drums at the Rapids, May 15-16, at Fort Meigs. Since Rich Brown and I are still working on tweaking Four Delvers, I decided to not use it and instead run the game with a system that I am satisfied with already. So, I'll be using my Mean Streets gang warfare game, with modifications made for a Fantasy/Medieval setting. Even though there will be some tweaks to that, too, I know the basic command & control and combat systems work well enough already. So, with a deadline looming, I am hurrying to get some buildings, scatter, and miniatures done in time for the game.

    Stone Cutters Yard -- which could also be used as a stable, also from the Ferisial 3-D printed line

These items represent the bare minimum that I wanted to get done for the game. The two smaller buildings (Stone Cutters Yard and Dwarven Fountain) are also from the Ferisia line carried by Rich at RRB Minis & More. The pair of two-wheeled carts and the four-wheel wagon are from A Critical Hit that I picked up at Cincycon 2026. I'm also working on eight miniatures from Gripping Beast and (I think) Old Glory to add to my Dark Ages Saga figures that I already have painted up. I hope that I will also get one more of the larger Ferisia buildings done, but we will have to see. Those take time with all the different levels and having to do both the interiors and exteriors. Still, I wasn't expecting to run a medieval town skirmish till later in the year. So, getting one on the table in spring is way ahead of schedule!

    A look at the wood tile roof for the fountain -- dwarven runes carved into stones on the corners

Both the Stone Cutter's Yard and Fountain are very simple buildings to do, requiring fewer colors and details than the Duncan or Catrine House. I started out with the usual black spray prime and then 50/50 water and acrylic paint to make sure all the crevices were fully covered. For the Fountain, I did a dark gray wet brush over the entire bottom half of the structure. For the roof, I used a medium leather color for the wooden tiles, much like I did with the Merchant Store B I finished a week or so, ago. The Stone Cutter Yard roof also got the same initial coating of medium leather. Its floor appears to be stone tile covered in dirt and mud. So, the floor received a dark gray wet brush, too. However, the two walls are obviously wood, so I wet brushed them dark brown. 

    Jets of water emerging from the mouth of the carved faces are fiber optic wire glued into place

Since the Fountain was going to be all gray, except for its roof, I did a medium gray dry brush, too, to give it more depth. Once that had dried, I highlighted it with a light gray. The bottoms and sides of each basin were given a light blue color on the walls so that people would think "water" when they saw it. Yes, I know that if a gray stone basin has water poured into it, the sides don't suddenly turn light blue! However, the key is for people seeing a piece of terrain to make the right connection. Light blue often means water in our brains. And who's to say that it isn't reflecting the blue sky above? Ha, ha! All doubt would be removed with the "water" I crafted from fiber optic wire pouring out of the dwarves' mouths. It turned out much better than I thought it would, and encouraged me to paint some white splashes and wavelets in each basin.

    Stone Cutters Yard without the roof -- nice & simple 3-D building to paint up!

The wood tiles on the roofs got a Khaki highlight, like with Merchant Store B. The other wooden portions of the two buildings were done exactly as I typically do wood. After the dark brown wet brush, I do a dry brush of Camo Brown, and then khaki. For the sections of the floor covered in mud/dirt, I painted in my usual Earth Brown that I use on my bases. Next, I flocked it as I typically do miniatures, with Woodland Scenics Blended Turf. I decided to do a black wash on the wood tiles on the roofs for these buildings. In hindsight, after I had finished the Merchant Store B, I thought perhaps it was a little too bright. This gave it a more weathered, darker look.

    One 3-D printed wagon & a pair of 2-wheel carts from A Critical Hit

Moving to the carts and wagon, they were also quick and easy to finish up, too. I was surprised that I had to improvise something for the wagon's axle, though. Of all the many pieces of scatter that I've painted up from A Critical Hit, it was the only thing that needed anything additional. The carts wheels attach directly to the body of it with no axle. Luckily, the print was done very cleanly and all I had to do was find a piece of piano wire that was closest to the diameter of the holes in the wagon wheels and the shaft underneath the wagon.  The brass wire I used for spears was too small, and all of the dowels I have were too big. Luckily, I had some thicker piano wire leftover from a previous project, and it worked fine. Afterwards, I thought that perhaps a toothpick might have worked, too? Otherwise, everything fit together easily with superglue.

    I had to use piano wire to thread through the wheels and bottom of the cart for an axle

Rather than spray prime them, I brush primed them with black paint. The color of filament that A Critical Hit prints them in is too light or brown for my liking. I prefer the grains in my wood to be darker. After it dried, I simply did a dark brown wet brush, Camo Brown dry brush, and Khaki highlight. The metal parts of the wagon were done in Iron Wind Metals Steel. Quick and simple! And they will look good as random scatter on the streets of my medieval town. I would have bought more of them at Cincycon, but I cleaned them out of their wagons there. Next time I see Blair, hopefully she will have printed some more.

    Two-wheeled carts from A Critical Hit -- bargain price at just a couple bucks each!

As you will see in the next day or so, both buildings and the carts/wagon saw use in a game this weekend. So, what else is on my painting desk? Well, those 8 townsfolk miniatures are about halfway completed. I also spray primed the medieval building I bought from Phalanx Games & Sundry at Little Wars. It is the smallest of the three medieval buildings I have left, so I am hoping I will have it read for the tabletop when I run my medieval town game at Drums at the Rapids in less than two weeks. Wish me luck!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 176
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 91

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 7
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 25

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 17
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59 

Merchant's Store for My Medieval City

    3-D printed medieval building from the Ferisia line from RRB Minis & More - Merchant Store B

After building another of the large buildings last month from the Ferisia line carried by RRB Minis & More, I decided to build a smaller one next. As opposed to the towering ones composed of 4-5 levels/roofs, Merchant Store B had only two pieces. The lower one was the house itself while the upper one was just the interesting looking roof. What I liked most about it was the covered patio attached to the house, where the merchant would ostensibly sell his goods. It was a unique design and matched the overall look of the buildings I've been painting up, so far. The STLs for the Ferisia line are from Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni. They've created a number of other, very interesting lines, and I highly recommend folks to check them out. 

    Side and rear of the merchant house, with a good look at the wooden tile roof

As much as I like the 3-4 story Duncan and Catrin Houses, I assume that most medieval cities would have a limited number of buildings that tall. The bulk of the homes would more likely be one or two stories tall. Because of that, I'd picked this building up from Rich Brown of RRB at Cincycon, and fast-tracked it to be the first one that I painted up. Of course, I bought another tall one at the same time, simply called the "Merchant's House," that is four stories tall (interestingly, the roof being part of the 4th story). Considering that I just came back from Little Wars 2026 yesterday, where I bought three more buildings from him, I have a feeling this is going to be a routine for this year. See Rich, buy buildings! Ha, ha!!

    My favorite part of this building is the roofed patio and its counter where the merchant sells products

Anyway, back to the Merchant Store B! I painted this one up using the same system as the others, with a black spray prime followed by a 50/50 mix of water and acrylic black paint. Once dry, I completed the stone sections first. I gave them a dark gray wet brush over the black, then a light gray dry brush. Next, I painted the wooden sections dark brown, followed by two highlights -- a medium Camo Brown from Howard Hues and a Khaki dry brush. Next, I painted up the metal components on the two doors and pillars holding up the open air, covered patio. I base coated them in Iron Wind Metals Steel first, followed by Bronze. I wet brushed the window panes and frames in Iron Wind Dun yellow.

    A look at the interior of Merchant Store B and its patterned wooden floor & fireplace

The results on the building looked good, but I thought it needed more. I decided to do a checkered pattern on the stone tile covered patio. I used a very light dry brush, alternating the colors of the square sections in Dun yellow and a light Wedgewood blue. I liked how that looked, so added those colors to the raised arc of stones surrounding the front door to the house and the side door from the patio to the home. Finally, I echoed those colors again on the rooftop's conical decorations. I had gone back and forth on whether to portray those finals as metallic or simply painted wood. In the end I went with painted wood in pastel blue and yellow.

    Front doorway with its 2 torches,  blue & yellow stone archway, & decorated wooden door

There are also two torches flanking the front entrance. Originally, I was worried they might be fragile, considering they are 3-D printed. However, I never brushed them accidentally during painting, so I think they'll be fine. The torches were completed with a wooden handle, metal rim, and very bright yellow and orange. I admit I am a bit worried about the conical decorations on the roof's spine. I snapped a couple off in transporting the building home from Cincycon, but luckily Rich had the foresight to include extras. This is a similar to a problem with the finials on the railings of the Catrine House. You really have to be careful where you put your hands on the model to pick it up. No "claw" grips! Watch where you clasp your fingers around it to pick it up! Otherwise, these 3-D printed buildings are sturdy and solid state. I have no worries about breaking off any other sections. As you can tell from how many I have bought, I really like this line of buildings and Rich does a great job on printing them.

    I wasn't sure how to paint the wooden tile (or 'Shake') roof -- decided to go with a new wood tone

The roof of Merchant Store B obviously looked to me like it had wooden tiles -- not terra cotta ones. I was tempted to paint it with the same red brown base coat and orange flesh dry brush anyway, but decided not to, instead.  I did a handful of Google searches on wooden or "shake" tile roofs. Based on those, I decided to do a different tone of brown. I wet brushed the tiles with a medium leather craft color called Raw Sienna. Next, I did a dry brush of craft paint of a darker Khaki color. I liked the different tone it gave from the wooden beams and patio pillars. In fact, I liked it so much that I chose not to do a black wash over it for fear it would "gray out" the colors too much. Same with the gray stone sections of the store. I did the black wash only on the wooden beam/pillars, the metal, and the Dun yellow windows. I really like how it came out!

    I did a blue and yellow patterned tile flooring to the patio, which comes off of the side of the house

So, what's next on my painting desk? I'm hurrying to get things together for my scenario that I will be running at Drums at the Rapids, May 15-16. I'll be using my medieval town terrain for it, and I want to get as many structures completed as possible. So, in that light, I'm painting up two of the smaller ones that I bought this past weekend from him at Little Wars (see them in an upcoming post on the convention). To go with that, I'm also working on a batch of eight figures that can pass for medieval townsfolk. You know how it goes -- if I am not rushing to get something completed it time for a game I'm running at a convention, things just aren't right! So, considering the upcoming deadline, hopefully you will see more updates soon!

    A final look at the newest addition to my medieval town, which will be used this weekend in a game!

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: 23

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

Catrine House - Another Lovely 3-D Printed Medieval Building

    Towering Catrine House - 3-D printed purchased from RRB Minis & More adds to my growing city

My medieval (or fantasy medieval?) town is slowly growing. My favorite part of it, so far, has been the 3-D printed buildings that I've bought from my friend Rich Bown of RRB Minis & More. He bought the license to produce and sell the Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni products and their Ferisia line. If you get a chance to check out this line or any of the others, it is truly worth your time. They are amazing, evocative buildings. The Catrine House is no exception. The fact that "Katrin" was one of my best friends from teaching (our middle school's German teacher), makes it all so much the better...ha, ha!

    Angry looking madam of the house looks out from the rear of the stucco & stone building

I love how this building turned out. However, I don't want to play down how long it takes to paint up a five piece building (base ground floor, level 2, 3, 4, and roof). I believe I have been working on it for at least two weeks! The main reason for this is because I'm using my standard base coat and dry brush method for just about every part of the building. That means a lot of waiting overnight (or at least half a day) for the base coat to dry and "shrink wrap" onto the model, so the dry brushing sticks out properly. So, let's say that on Day 1 you spray prime, Day 2 you put on a 50/50 mix of black paint and water like I did, and Day 3 you base coat the interior stucco wall portions of levels 2, 3, and 4. That means you have to wait a day for it to fully dry before you dry brush the interior stucco. On the same day, you can do the base coat for the stone sections of the interior. Now, you have to wait another day for it to dry before you can dry brush that part. You get the picture, and you are still about a dozen days away from being done! 

    'Now where have those danged kids gone off to...?' Looking from the cool, 4th-story balcony

I like to do all of the interiors sections of each level first, then the exteriors. This ensures I have something to hold onto that isn't wet paint while I am working. So, once I've done the interiors, I pretty much have to then repeat the process for the exteriors, if that makes sense. Once I'm started, a normal day working on the Catrine House settled into a dry brush highlighting what I had base coated the day before and then base coating the next part. On most days, that is 20-30 minutes worth of work. So, it is probably best to be working on something else, too, while you're painting a building -- perhaps a batch of figures? That way, after finishing your 20 minutes on the building, you can work on the figs for the rest of your painting session. In two weeks, you should be done. Well, that's if you are being anal retentive like me and insist on doing a thorough job and not doing a just quickie paint! 

    All five pieces of the 3-D printed Catrine House laid out side by side

Note that I'm no boasting and saying that I've done the best-ever paint job possible on this building. To me, it seems like I am doing a minimum acceptable job. There was no customization on the Catrine House, no signs, no graffiti -- nothing to make this building "pop" other than its own natural beauty. Why not add a bit extra like those things? Mainly, it's because I these medieval/fantasy 3-D buildings to be useful for a maximum number of periods or games. I want it to be able to look great on a tabletop simulating a thriving medieval city, but also on a ruined, abandoned one. The less individualization I do on it, the more games I can use it in the table without needing a wink and a nudge!

    Level 1 is all stone and came out very nicely - I like the faded green & blue tiles and stairway up

I especially like how these Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni buildings recreate a variety of textures and surfaces. Of course, that is also part of the reason it took me two weeks to get this beauty painted up! I think it does look more natural, though, for it to not be all stone or wood, or whatever. All the different types of surfaces also add variety to the tabletop. The quality is great -- each level (and roof) fits securely onto the level below and comes off easily. It makes it much more skirmish friendly for gaming! 

    Who's this ruffian at the front door...? Is he a particularly unsavory looking employee of the owners?

Still, these buildings are no idle undertakings. I will do the much smaller, two-story one I bought from RRB next. Then, I will tackle the next 3-4 story one. And once I finish those, it will likely be time to see RRB Minis & More at an upcoming convention. And you know what that means, right? There's a very good chance he'll be bringing along more 3-D printed buildings for me to buy...ha, ha! Anyway, I just need to keep telling myself it is not a sprint to get these done. Work on them slow and steady! Hopefully, you guys are enjoying seeing them. And perhaps, some of you are reaching out to Rich to buy some of his incredibly affordable buildings, too!

    Interior of level 3 of the Catrine House - you can see the trapdoors and ladders to go up & down

So, what else is on my painting desk? Well, Samwise will be happy with me. I did go back and assemble and prime a half dozen of the North Star Frostgrave Gnolls. This will allow me to fulfill my promise to myself to intermix in a batches of figures purchased this year with ones purchased in previous years. That means the big alien monsters I was working on were "kicked to the curb" by the gnolls. And the monsters don't look happy...ha, ha! Also, I began working on a single, 25mm, 1980s Grenadier Dark Ages warrior . Why? He is the only thing I have in my unpainted lead pile that could possibly pass as a Dwarf...ha, ha! I will need him for my Four Delvers games. So, stay tuned for pictures of these things soon!

    Level 4 without the roof on - I think this upper level balcony adds a nice look & gaming possibilities!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 73

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: 48

 

    A final look at the building with no figures around it -- an abandoned house in Moonrest...??

 

 

Two Medieval/Fantasy Stone Buildings

    These two 3-D printed buildings from Sword & Scabbard are my latest addition to my medieval town

After being excited about how my Watchtower and Duncan House came out, I wanted to paint some more medieval or fantasy type buildings. I'd purchased this pair of buildings from my friend Scott of Sword & Scabbard Games at Advance the Colors 2025. They were also 3-D printed and I liked their somewhat ramshackle look. I think painting medieval buildings is going to be a bit of a side project for this year. Two more finished gets me closer to eventually being able to run a Medieval Town skirmish scenario!

    I'm looking forward to collecting (and painting up) enough buildings to run town skirmishes

However, painting these two were a night and day different experience than the previous ones. The way these buildings were laid out with taller walls and more cramped quarters (part of the look I liked) made them VERY difficult to paint the interiors. The initial base coating and dry brushing the stone wasn't too awkward, though I did have to find an angle to tip the building towards me to really see what my brush was doing. However, getting at the various beams in the walls, doors, window sills, and wood beams along the floors (!!) was a nightmare! These two buildings are smaller than either the Watchtower and Duncan House, but they easily took two to three times as long to paint. There was simply an excess of interior details, in my opinion. I would be very surprised if the designer (unfortunately, I didn't ask Scott who created the STLs) actually painted one of these prints up! If so, my guess is he (or she) would have made some changes...haha!

    Close up of a courtyard created by setting the two at right angles and on my new stone surface mat

This issue is certainly not Sword & Scabbard's fault. This was simply me not examining the buildings carefully enough. I just looked at the exteriors, which I loved. The exterior details were very easy to get at and painted up easily enough. Well, then again, when you factor in all of the different types of surfaces -- stucco, stone, wood, roof tiles, window slats, window leading, metal on doors, etc. -- the exteriors were not too bad to paint...ha, ha! The interiors were simply miserable, though! I will have to remember that and more closely examine the interiors of any new buildings before I purchase them! 

    The one story building - easier to paint because it did not have that cramped, tall upper story

I began, as I usually do with 3-D printed buildings, spray painting them with Krylon Fusion Matte Black. I then brush on a 50/50 mixture of acrylic black paint and water, which sinks into all those crevices the spray can may have missed. And there were LOTS of little crevices on these buildings! I did a wet brush of dark gray followed by a dry brush of light gray. Sometimes, I do a three different shades of gray atop the black, but I didn't this time. The next step took me several days to finish, though. I painted all of the wooden surfaces with a dark brown paint. This was when it really hit home to me how painter unfriendly these designs were. Things got only a little better when I did the first dry brush on the wood with a medium tone called "Camo Brown" from Howard Hues. The final Khaki highlight on the wood took another day. Throughout the process, I had to go back and clean off splash-overs on the interiors -- especially from trying to paint those stupid wooden beams along the floors! I'm sure the designer thought it looked atmospheric, with all the wooden surfaces intermixed with the stone. 

    A view of different sides of the one story building and some of my 28mm civilian figures

I was also painting the roofs at the same time. There was only one small stone section on the roof of one of the buildings. Both roofs are mostly covered with tiles and wooden beams, with the two story building also having its upper level attached to the roof piece. The one story building has what looks like standard clay tiles, while the two story has what appears to be wooden tiles. I thought about differentiating the wooden and clay tiles in different colors, but decided to go with the same color for both. I did a craft red-brown paint for the wet brush and another Howard Hues color that I try to keep in stock, Middle East Flesh, for the more orange dry brush highlight. Unfortunately, I am running low on that particular pot of paint and probably won't see my usual vendor for it until April. After that step, it was time for Dark Brown nightmare, Part 2. There is a LOT of wood on these roofs, but since it is all "exterior," it went much easier than the interiors of the buildings. I followed up with the same Camo Brown and Khaki I used on the bottom levels and interiors.

    Even though it was a pain to paint up, I love the way the building overhangs its entrance way

These two buildings also have an unusual amount of doors and windows as part of their design. A medieval fire safety inspector would doubtless approve of all the emergency exits! Each door has what appears to be metal parts, too, so that was another two-step painting job (Gunmetal Gray and Bronze). I went back and forth on what color to use for the stucco sections (mostly the upper section of the two story building. I decided that the one story would have a pale yellow stucco, while the two story would have pale blue. I like pastel colors for stucco or daub and took out my various bottles of pale colors, placing them next to the buildings before making my choices. For the interior stucco on the two story, I decided to go with a more tan/white look. Done, now? Nope! More to do!!

    2 more sides of the 2-story -- I really like the ramshackle look of these Sword & Scabbard buildings

For a brief moment, I considered putting clear plastic on the inside of the window frames. Perhaps I could even color them with transparent markers to look like decorated or stained glass? In the end, I decided that the interiors would look awkward then, with the criss-cross black leading behind a solid sheet of clear plastic. Speaking of which, the narrow bars on the windows I decided to do in black, while the thicker wooden slats would be lightly dry brushed with a faded color. For some reason, I like how dark red looks on windows of medieval buildings, so decided to go with that on the one story. On the two story, I decided to dry brush a medium blue as a faded coloring on its frames, to go with the pale blue stucco.

    The interior of the 1-story...take a look at the wooden beams going along the floor & wall line - ugh!

Once again, I wanted my medieval buildings to be as "generic" as possible, so I did not add signs or any unique decorative modifications myself. Also, I worry about a black wash possibly obscuring the highlighting on dry brushed gray stone, so passed on that step for both of these. Same with the tiled roofs. However, I covered the stucco sections with a dark brown or black wash in the end. Same with the metal on the doors. I like how a black wash ages metals. 

    The interiors of the two floors of the 2-story - hopefully my players will think they turned out well!

And I think that finally -- other than a matte spray coat -- finishes these two medieval sagas! I like how they look -- especially the upturned wooden beam decorations on the roofs. Speaking of which, the roofs fit on nicely, as does the upper section of the two story. These will make great additions to my eventual medieval town board. I do have another medieval building on the way. My friend Rich Brown from RRB Minis & More, who printed both the watchtower and the Duncan House, has his 3-D printer back up and running. He had some sort of glitch that derailed his printing for months. He has promised to print up the Catrine House for me. It's from the same Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni range as the Duncan House, so should look great. I will be seeing him at the end of this month at Cincycon 2026. If you're going to Cincycon, he will be there as a vendor. So reach out to him if you want something printed -- his prices are unbeatable!

    Final look at the two buildings together as a street scene - that one lady is sure angry at a lot of folks!

So, what else is on my painting desk? The first batch of 28mm Elves from Warhost are nearly done. Look for a post on them very soon. So far, I am keeping my pledge to alternate batches of figures from current projects with something I purchased pre-2026. I have primed and ready to go two giant spiders (from the Wargames Atlantic kits), along with four not-so-giant ones. I picked them up last year from Firelands Games at Hold the Line 2025. Rusty and James sell individual sprues, which is a great resource to the gamer! I picked up two sprues of the spiders. I also have a 3-D printed fantasy Ancient Deer that I bought from Beldolor Studios at Origins 2025. It looks almost alien, so I figured it could possibly be used as one of the aliens my Critter Control dudes have to fight. They're waiting in the wings. Terrain-wise, the bullet impact markers I picked up at Michigan Toy Soldier are next in line. So, lot's more on the way!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 34

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24