The Foxes!

The Fox crewmen for my Ghost Archipelago campaign (Splintered Light Miniatures)

I thought I was done with my Ghost Archipelago crews for my players, but then another friend expressed interest in playing, as well. I sorted through my Splintered Light Miniatures animals, slapped my head with a "Doh!" when I found four more unpainted crews already sorted out, and picked the foxes to paint. When I was looking through the unpainted lead bag, I was surprised how few poses there really were. I would end up having to use the same figure pose two of the five-man crews. Not to worry, though, as one of them would be the Warden and he would be substantially modified.

The Fox crew's leader, or Heritor,  in Ghost Archipelago terms

Starting with the figure I picked out to be the crew's Heritor, there really wasn't much choice. He was so obviously a leader figure, from the cape to the heavier armor, to the pointing, commanding arm. Since he was leader, I had to give him a purple cloak in my favorite Ral Partha "Tongue Purple" color, and dry brushed in a lighter shade. The detail in the figure's chainmail made it easy to paint. I spiced it up a bit with a bronze helmet, and some gold armbands. Although there is not a lot of "fox" showing on this fig, I really liked the way her turned out.

The Fox crew's modified Warden, or spellcaster. I added an Iron Wind 25mm fox to the base as a familiar

This figure is the same pose as the middle one below (and at top - sorry for the repeat photograph). The big modification was to cut out the large sword from his left hand and replace it with a banded staff. I used some beads from another project to build the staff, gluing the top half under the hand and the top half onto the fist. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It may be a tad chunky, but what the heck? I actually had another photo of the front half of the Warden, but it was so out of focus I just couldn't bring myself to use it. As a final touch, I added an Iron Wind Metals 25mm fox to the base as a familiar. I have done this with a lot of the crews. If nothing else, it makes it easier to pick out which fig is the Warden!

Deja vu? Yep, these guys again...

I forgot to do a "crew assembled" photograph for the first photo. So, you have to look at this one again -- ha, ha! I did not come up with a fancy theme for this crew -- no medieval quartering, or stripes, or whatever. I figured that the foxes coloring is distinctive enough I really didn't want to compete with that. Once cool touch on the middle figure was how the hair coming off of his face is tied up into locks or braids with ribbons. The sash around the waist also kind of makes him pirate or reggae looking, so maybe I missed an opportunity here. The other two were done in plain tunics with a base color and dry brush. They were all molded with armbands, which I did in copper for this bunch to set off the reddish tone of their fur. Speaking of which, I used Iron Wind metals Red Brown for the base coat, then did a light drybrush of Howard Hues Middle East Flesh for their coloring. I always look up Google images of the creatures I am painting so I can get the fur patterns as correct as possible.

So, will there be yet another crew to be painted? Perhaps. I kicked myself when I found the box where I had pre-sorted figures for another 3-4 warbands. I certainly have the unpainted lead. And who knows? Maybe another friend will jump in and want to play!

Rats! More "monster" progress...

Splintered Light Miniatures Rats -- who will be taking on the role of "Dricheans" in my Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago

My upcoming Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago campaign is taking a slight spin-off from the worldview that the creators of the game envisioned. Instead of human adventurers exploring the South Seas, I am using the Splintered Light Miniatures animals as my races. So, my players have chosen from among my Badgers, Mice, Bears, etc., to fill out their crews. Similarly, I am modifying the "monsters" they will encounter. One of the races said to inhabit the Ghost Archipelago's islands are called Drichean -- essentially Bronze Age humans. I decided to substitute these out, as well, and make the islands "rat-infested."

My favorite rat is the one in the center here - the dark gray with light gray drybrush fur came out best, I thought

Here is what should be the last of the monster I have to paint up to be ready to game -- my Dricheans, Splintered Light Rats. I painted them in a variety of fur colors, with a tendency towards dark gray. So, in that way, they are not a whole lot different than my Splintered Light mice that I've painted up. However, they certainly look nastier, which is on whole the difference between a mouse and a rat...ha, ha! I gave them solid but dull colored clothes, and primitive looking shield designs. For decoration, they have copper rather than bronze or gold.

Rats guarding a treasure token somewhere on a "rat-infested isle" in the South Seas

Also pictured in each is one of the dozen resin chests that I painted up as treasure tokens for Frostgrave. One of the main objectives in games of Frostgrave for the adventuring parties are scrambling for (and fighting over) treasures located on the board. One of my friends had given me a bunch of these that he had cast up from Hirst Arts molds, and I also had a couple Acheson Creations ones. I also painted up some with stone floor bases (not pictured) for those that I'll tuck inside ruined temples and such.

At this stage, I just have the odd monster or two to paint up, in case my players encounter multiples of the same monster. So, look for me to actually run my first game in a month or so. I still want to create player aids - such as cards for the monsters and spells. Not everyone has rushed out and bought the rules, so I think having these will move the game along much better.

Fur-grave: Gallery of the Warbands

I'm ready to start my Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago campaign with my regular Sunday evening gaming group. The South Seas setting really appealed to me because I had so much appropriate terrain painted up already from my 28mm Pulp games set in Southeast Asia. As you have likely seen from earlier posts, I will be using the anthropomorphic figures from Splintered Light Miniatures as my warbands.

I have been busy painting up warbands for my players to select from for the last few months. Each warband will be half the size the rules suggest (5 figures, instead of 10). This is because we will have bigger groups playing, most likely. For their convenience, and as an introduction, here they are all gathered together. Some may show 6 or more figures painted, but that was just to give them some variety or choice!.

Badgers

Badger Heritor and Warden (with familiar on base)

Badger Spear and Axe

Badger Archer and Axe

Bears

Bear Heritor with Animal crew

Bear Warden with small brown bear familiar on base

Bear crewmen

Jungle Rats

Jungle Rat crew, with Heritor in black at front left, and Warden in middle with staff

 Pine Martens

The Pine Marten warband

Pine Marten Heritor and Warden

Pine Marten crew

More Pine Marten crew

Raccoons

Raccoon Warden (with raccoon familiar on base) and Raccoon Heritor

Raccoon Crew

Satyrs

Satyr Warband

Satyr Warden

Blurry image (sorry!) of the Satyr Heritor

Satyr spear and archer

Satyr Sword and Archer

Weasels

Weasel Warband

Weasel Warden

Weasel Heritor

Weasel Crew

 Assemble Your Own Crew

In case any of my players want to create a motley warband of various, random Splintered Light Miniatures animals, I am giving this option on a first-come, first served basis. As you can tell, I really like SLM's animals. One thing, though, is that many of their cool creatures are single-casting, or have just a couple poses. So, we'll see if any players decides to go this route. For their convenience, here are the rest of the SLM animals I've painted!

Three mice (not blind), suitable for either crew, Warden, or even Heritor

Three Squirrels

Two Skunks

Two Opossums

Two Wolverines

Two Beavers

One Coyote Warrior

One Prairie Dog Warrior

Wildcat Warrior (or Heritor?)

Armadillo Warrior

Fox Warrior

New Frostgrave Warband: Weasels

Weasel warband using Splintered Light Miniatures

I had to put painting more Frostgrave warbands on hold while I finished up some terrain and miniatures for my Wars of Insurgency (modern skirmish) scenario that I was playtesting this past weekend. Once those were out of the way, though, I primed up four unpainted Splintered Light Miniatures weasels. A couple of the figures required modification, which I will discuss below. This brings me up to six painted warbands. Considering one of my players has painted up his own mice warband, I am just about ready to begin play.

A heavily-armored weasel will be this warband's Heritor, most likely

First up is the leader of the warband, the Heritor. He was the most heavily armored and impressive looking of the five, so I chose him. Of course, if whichever of my players decides for the Heritor to be one of the other figures, that's their call, too. I was going for a somewhat pastel theme to this warband. So, I decided a rose or pink color would be interesting and different. I thought copper colored armor would make the color palette even more striking, so I added highlights and plate in that color. I really like this figure, although the "sniffing armpit" post isn't the most unique or impressive in their line, he painted up really cool looking, I feel.

The warband's Warden, or spellcaster -- a figure I modified to give a cool-looking wizard's staff

This figure began as an axeman. He held a small axe in both hands, which I thought I could convert into a staff. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I snipped off the axe at the blade and flattened out the surface. I glued a tiny golden bead to the top. I added a piece of appropriate width spear shaft to the bottom of the axe, and voila! It was done -- axeman to wizard! I gave each of the figures besides the Heritor a fancy, scrolled "W" (for Weasel, naturally!). I like this one's design the best, as I tried to make it look like arcane writing, too. I'm very happy with how this figure turned out.

The Weasel crew -- all from Splintered Light Miniatures (archer's bow added on)

And here is the crew for the Weasel warband. I decided to give front and back pictures so you could see the scroll "W's" on them. I added the bow to the archer on the right. I simply took a length of lead spear, bent it appropriately, and epoxied it to his back. From there, it was all paint. I like how it looks slung across his back. The one on the left was actually painted previously. I did at a tuft of grass to make him match the other four better, but otherwise he was untouched from before. I really liked the scroll W on the back of the swordsman in the middle. I was able to give it a lighter touch, which I think looks better than the thicker designs on the other figures.

What's next? I have six Satyr figures on my desk, primed and with their flesh base-coated. Once this batch is done, I think I will go ahead and let players choose their races, outfit their warbands, and we'll play our first game. I'm looking forward to trying out a Ghost Archipelago campaign, and hope the players enjoy it! 

New Frostgrave Warband: Raccoons

Splintered Light Miniatures Raccons explore a ruined city

I am steadily fleshing out the warbands of Splintered Light Miniatures animals available to my players in my upcoming Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago campaign. So far, Badgers, Pine Martens, Bears, and Jungle Rats are ready to seek treasure among the islands of the South Seas. Adding to that list is this Raccoon warband.

Front and rear views of the warband's Heritor and Warden

There is a pretty wide variety of poses and armament in the SLM Raccoon line. Appropriately enough, their clothes are in a "pirate" theme -- with head scarfs sashes, and fancy jackets. I am not sure, though, if there is one obvious commander figure for the Heritor. So, I chose this one, mainly because of his dashing but faded, green waist sash. It seems to make him stand out a bit from the pack. I didn't have a lot of choice, though, for the warden figure -- if I wanted to be strictly accurate. The rules say wardens don't carry a shield or wear armor. So, I picked this guy -- the only one I had unpainted that didn't have a shield -- for the warden. To make him stand out as the warden, I painted up an Iron Wind Metals animal as a raccoon and placed him on the base alongside the warden. I don't think the casting is really of a raccoon, but it is a small, furry creature. Painted up like a raccoon, with the distinctive bandit mask of black on the face and ringed tail, it does the trick.

Raccoon crew checking out some overgrown columns in the ruined city

The crew were also painted in similarly faded, pirate glory. I love the striped stocking caps or head scarfs. They add a lot of character to the figures. I tried to also give them a look of bright colors that have faded with too much exposure to sea and sun. As far as size goes, the SLM raccoons measure about 16mm from sole of foot to tips of heads. They are a bit stocky, though, so they don't look out of place up against the other animals I'll be painting up. They're shorter than the bears and pine martens, but about the same height as the jungle rats.

I'll be taking a short break from the Ghost Archipelago warbands to paint up a batch of 20mm Cubans for my upcoming Wars of Insurgency scenario. I'll be running a game simulating a skirmish during the counterattack by South African and UNITA forces after they had repulsed the Angolan army as part of the larger battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

New Frostgrave Warband: da Bearss!

For my upcoming Frostgrave campaign, I had some warbands that had a few figures already painted. "Da Bearss" (nod to an old Saturday Night Live skit) is one of those. And yes, I am tempted to name the leader "Ditka" -- but I'll leave that up to the player who decides to use this warband! The two figures that I will be using as crew were completed previously as part of a Lead Painters League entry. The others are all new, though.

The Bear warband's Heritor and one of its warriors -- a Ral Partha Grizzly Bear

First up is the Heritor and a Ral Partha 25mm Grizzly Bear. I will use pretty much normal crew stats for the Grizzly, perhaps making him a Specialist hand-to-hand type. I love Ral Partha (or Iron Wind Metals, if you prefer) animals. They are realistic looking and are great size to mix with the Splintered Light Miniatures that will make up my warbands. The Grizzly ("Butkus"?) was easy to paint up. A dark brown base coast was followed up with a Camo Brown dry brush. Khaki highlights were then dry brushed in. I then went back and darkened the legs with black dry brushing. He looks effective and fierce, I think.

I hand-painted the Heritor's shield, though the shield itself is a modification of the figure

I chose this figure as the Heritor, though truthfully, all of the SLM Bear miniatures are impressive looking. I picked him mainly because of his heavier armor. I don't know why, but for these figures I like to do leaders with polished bronze armor -- using some gold paint for highlights. I used steel chainmail, though, to give him an interesting composite mix. The shield is actually a modification of the SLM figure. There is a peg hole in the back where a scabbarded, two-handed sword is supposed to go. I decided I would give him a shield in case the player controlling the warband wanted his Heritor to have more armor.

The Bear warband's Warden -- love the two-handed warhammer!

Next up is the Warden, a bear swinging a seriously impressive two-handed warhammer. I picked him for the warden because they are technically not supposed to wear armor. This figure has only a couple shoulder pieces and an arm brace, so "close enough," I say! I decided to go with a rust color for the bears' eyes in this warband. The original paint job on the other two had black eyes with tiny white points to be light reflecting off, but it looked too maddened and crazed to me. I always Google images of animals before I paint them, and bears' eyes seemed to be this honey brown color in the images I found.

The Warden's familiar - a Ral Partha brown bear that, ahem, barely squeezes onto his base with him

I've also begun placing an animal on the base of the wardens as a "familiar." It will make it easier for players to differentiate the various members of the crew on the tabletop. Since I'm using what Splintered Light Miniatures makes, I don't quite have the variety and choices that a human warband would have! The bear is a Ral Partha 25mm brown bear - quite a bit smaller in size than the grizzly. I painted him up similarly, though. He should probably be a bit darker to be a true brown bear, but I like how he turned out nonetheless. He did j-u-s-t fit onto the base with the Warden.

The warband's crew members -- both were previously painted up and based (though I added the tufts)...love the guy holding aloft he axe - you can almost hear him roar!

Here are the previously painted figures from two separate Lead Painters League entries. One is armored (once again, bronze plate armor) and the other less armored. I was tempted to cut off the axe head of the unarmored one, fashion it into a staff, and make him the warden. But honestly, it is such a freaking cool figure! I love the way he's holding aloft that two-handed axe...you can almost hear him roaring a challenge to his enemies. So, I just couldn't bear (sorry) to mutilate this pose. Both poses are great -- I also love the giant, two-handed morning star. The sculpted, bronze cuirass is pretty cool, too.

These are the tallest SLM figures I own. They measure about 29mm from the soles of the feet to the tips of their ears. They tower over some of the other animal lines -- especially the mice and squirrels. The badgers aren't too much shorter, and their wolverine figures rival them in height, but fall a bit short (as U of M Wolverines tend to do...ha, ha!).  I really like this warband, though -- it is probably my favorite of the ones I've painted.