Elven 'Guardians' - Creepy-masked Halberdiers

    Six 28mm, masked Elven Halberdiers from Warhost stand guard in the forest

I've always enjoyed the iconic flashback scene in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings where Elrond and the Elves are receiving the charge of hordes of Orcs. As the enemy closes, the Elves whip up their halberds and then spin them downward cutting down the first two ranks of chargers. So, when I saw this pack of Elven Guardians on the Warhost website, I wanted to get some for my Dragon Rampant army. I wasn't 100% sure about the creepy faceplate mask, but figured I could decorate it up on the style of Late Roman or Early Saxon ones rather than an evil clown mask. As it stands, this will be the final batch of Elves for the army, though after my first game I am exploring different troop type options for fielding Wood Elves. So, you never know...!

    Probably the most heavily armored of the infantry, these actually painted up very quickly

Anyway, these actually went faster than either of the previous batch of spear or cavalry. They appear to be more heavily armored, so doing the base coat of Gunmetal Gray, then Bright Gold, and finally metallic yellow accent was the most time consuming part. Once that was done, the tunic and cloak seemed to be a breeze to finish. I stayed with the lighter green shade under tunic and darker cloak on top that I've been using in this army, so far. I did my usual pattern of dots on the colored borders for the cloak. This time, I added in a border on the bottom of the tunic, too.

    With this final batch of six, my Dragon Rampant Wood Elves army is now officially complete!

I gave them the usual shades of blond hair (where you could see it), and more brown tones on the equipment and shoes and such. I certainly have Elves down to a routine, by now -- almost 70 figures later! I'm definitely going to be taking a break from painting up DR! armies for a little while and give a little more attention to my other projects. That doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed watching my vision of Wood Elves come to life. They were always my favorite fantasy race, and I like how Warhost evokes the Tolkien mythos. Of course, my friend Keith -- who thinks the Orcs of my Bonefish Band look like Saxons (I know, but you just can't talk to him sometimes) -- will probably say they look like Huns or Celts or whatever! Honestly, I'm pretty sure he does it to "poke" people to get a reaction. Yeah, Keith, all those commenters on this blog and the Lead Adventure Forum are wrong -- they don't look Tolkien-like, they look like Uhtred Uhtredson...ha, ha! Maybe we can all join in together and say, "No, Keith, you're wrong...!"

    I decorated the armored face masks with my smallest nib black micron pen - how do they look?

The trickiest part of these figures was doing the face masks, of course. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about them, yet. I would honestly love to hear your comments whether the tiny Micron pen patterns make them look less creepy and more "Ancient race decorative," or what. Given a choice, I would have preferred that Warhost didn't sculpt the Guardians with their masks, but hey! I bought them anyway, right? I used my smallest nib black pen to do swirls, dots, and even a leaf petal design. After the decoration was done, I painted the eye slits in the masks. Then I did the eye itself -- so there was a lot of work done on those masked faces!! Hoping they look decent, but as I said, I'd love to hear your opinions pro or con.

 

    Another look at the detachment of the Warhost Elven 'Guardians' in the woods

The bonfires that the Elves are gathered around in these photos are more amazing 3-D printed scenery from my friends at Bad Goblin Games. I bought one each of their Large Bonfire and Campfire at Historicon 2026 a few weeks ago. They are printed in an orange translucent material. Typically, for their flames, I do a orange-red wash on it so that it softens the bright, plastic look. After that was done and dry, it was a snap to paint the logs with my usual wood tone recipe, and then the rocks, and finally apply the ground and flocking. I painted both the pieces identically, and once done, slid the supplied watch battery into the LED light holder. I pressed the LEDs into place from underneath the fires and voila! A very cool, flickering bit of scatter for the gaming tabletop. 

A few second video of the Large Bonfire flickering away, with an Elven Halberdier standing watch

So, now that the Wood Elves are officially done, what's going to be the next project to cross my painting desk? Actually, there will likely be three that I'm juggling simultaneously. Regular readers will remember my decision to alternate a batch of older figures (bought prior to this year) and newer ones (2026 purchases). Well, luckily the three projects fit neatly into that scheme! The older figures (and next batch waiting in line) are Pulp Science-Fiction figures from Hydra Miniatures. Originally, I purchased them to be a faction in games of Xenos Rampant. Since then, I've had an idea for a convention game using them that I think will be really cool. Building the board for it (a city in the clouds, ala "Cloud City" from The Empire Strikes Back) will likely be a late year or 2027 project. In the meantime, I want to get a half dozen factions for the game done using Hydra Miniatures amazing Retro Raygun line. Previous purchases of them give me enough for three factions, so that will be one of the things I'm working on.

Small, 3-D printed LED campfire from Bad Goblin Games

 The other faction is to finally paint up some reinforcements for my Viet Cong in games of Surviving 'Nam. These will be figs bought earlier this year from Gringo40s (but not 40mm scale...ha, ha). I will also continue to work on batches of figures for my Devilry Afoot games set in Franklinton on the American frontier. Yes, yes, I know it has been a long time since my first game...! I've been busy!! So, look for batches from those three projects soon, along with more buildings and scatter terrain!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 166

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 69

Finishing Off My 'Pacific Huts' for Vietnam

    3 'Pacific Huts' from Diabolical Terrain's line of WW II 3-D printed terrain that I'll use for Nam

You know how it goes when you're running games at a convention or a game day? You think of something less than two weeks before the event that will be extra cool thing to add to the tabletop. Well, last week I thought that I should get another of the Pacific Huts that I bought from Diabolical Terrain done in time for Saturday's Summercon game day in Cambridge, OH. As I breezed along on the 3-D printed hut, I thought, "Hey! Why not get the other remaining two done, as well?" Sure enough, for a project that has more figures and terrain than I need for a game, I suddenly manufactured a deadline crunch! 

    Each of the huts is subtly different, with different textures & layouts, but same basic design

They DO paint up very quickly. The only assembly that needs to be done, as you may have seen in my post about my first Pacific Hut, is epoxying the posts the hut rests upon to its underside. You also have to glue the ladder to the log deck, and in my case, trim to size some craft sticks and epoxy them into each corner of the hut to hold the roof in place. Not sure why the model was designed without tabs or something to hold it in place, but this is very easily remedied. I also glued craft sticks to the back of the door, which for some reason, is flat with no wooden texture. I spread Tacky Glue on the back of the door, then laid enough craft sticks atop it so the texture of the door on the interior matched the exterior -- more or less. I trimmed the stick to size and then epoxied the door in place, too.

    I like the 'woven' look of the exterior and interior walls - also a good look at my craft stick posts!

Next, I took a gamble on a fairly hot day and primed the roofs and buildings with Krylon Fusion Matte Black. My brother, who lives in Nashville, TN, had preached that it is not humidity but the dew point that is more important. Another blog post I read online said it is the difference between the dew point and temperature that is the true worrying point for when you can spray miniatures or buildings and when you can't. The blog said that as long as there is a 10 degree difference between the dew point and the outdoor temperature, you should be okay. I wouldn't risk clear coating painted miniatures on a hot day with that formula -- I can wait. However, priming with a "rattle can" is worth doing, and so far I haven't had any problems following that formula!

    A look at all of the 3-D printed buildings and their thatch roofs - I love how they are raised on posts

One of the reasons these paint up so quickly is that there are only two surfaces on these buildings. Well, three, actually! The wooden posts and frame for the building are one and the woven wicker sides are the two. The third one is the thatch roof, but is done exactly like the woven mat sides with an extra step on the end. I do the wood first -- wet brush dark brown, dry brush Camo Brown, and highlight Khaki. Then I add in the wicker sides in between the wooden frame posts. This is done with a medium brown color called Autumn Brown, which I then dry brush with Iron Wind Metals Dun. For the roof, I add a final light gray highlight to give a more sun-bleached effect on the thatching.

    Using the Diabolical Terrain huts will give my Vietnamese village a more cohesive look, I think...

Once the painting is all done, I add a final black vehicle wash over the entire building. I like the effect this gives, make it look more dirty and lived in. For the interior floor, I cut to size a piece of scrap booking paper that I found in the local craft store. One final clear coat and the huts are done! I'll be using all four of the now completed huts I bought from Diabolical Terrain at the game day in Cambridge this Saturday. Although I like my scratch built jungle huts I made long ago for our Pulp games, they are a bit larger. These will fit better for the board size for Surviving 'Nam and I will likely use these more going forward.

    I added in a dirty looking scrapbooking paper for the floors, but otherwise usually don't do interiors

What else is on my painting desk? First off, the huts barely edged out the Elven Halberdiers I've been painting. Otherwise, I have another small batch of scatter terrain that is close to be done, as well.  For miniatures, I have primed the first of my Pulp Retro Sci-Fi figures from Hydra Miniatures. I am doing my factions in groups of five figures, which is more than enough for a multiplayer game of Space Weirdos rules. For the first action, I will likely paint them up similar to the two earlier ones I did -- one for my Five Parsecs from Home crew and another for my Star Wars rebels. Being a metal miniature, it was not destroyed in the great asphalt catastrophe when a friend accidentally dumped my box of miniatures I was using for our Star Wars campaign on the streets one night after gaming. Anyway, stay tuned for more updates!

    This one is almost identical to the first of the Pacific Huts that I did - very basic and open looking

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 160

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 69

    These buildings will be on the table for my games this Saturday at Cambridge 'Summercon'

'Pacific Hut' from Diabolical Terrain for my Vietnam Games

    From Diabolical Terrain's 3-D printed line of 'Pacific Huts,' here is another Vietnamese hooch

Last October at Advance the Colors, I picked up four 3-D printed Pacific Huts from my friend Ron at Diabolical Terrain. By the time I bought them, I already had enough Vietnam hooches or buildings painted up for the tiny villages or hamlets my players will encounter in games of Surviving 'Nam. So, the huts sat there staring at me accusingly from the shelf for more than six months. With my rules finally released, I decided to paint them. I figured I would do one first as a test rather than all four at once.

    Zooming in on the front porch & ladder, with 2 of my 28mm Empress Vietnamese civilians

This is Pacific Hut 5, which completely by coincidence, seems to be the simplest design of the seven Diabolical Terrain has for sale. Had I taken a moment to check out the four varieties I bought, I would likely have chosen this one, anyway! The posts that the hut rests upon come in four corner pieces, which you glue to the bottom of the hut. That was easy. I did mine with my normal "go-to," two-part, 5-minute epoxy. Next, I noticed that the roof didn't have any tabs to keep it into place or a way to slot in on top of the building. That was a bit disappointing, but easily solved. I measured and glued four wooden craft sticks into each corner, protruding up just enough to catch the roof and keep it from sliding off, but not enough to prevent it from sitting flush on top of the hut itself. After that, I spray painted it black on one of those rare, non-humid summer days in Ohio. I followed that up with a 50/50 mix of water and acrylic black paint.

    Side view of this Diabolical Terrain hut - though meant for WW II Pacific - works well for Vietnam

Looking the hut over, I decided that there were essentially only two materials represented on this model, not counting the thatch roof. There was the wooden components, including the support posts raising it off the ground, the deck, door,  and the smaller wooden poles that frame the building. Then there was the wicker portion, which were the most of the walls of these huts. So, really, I was looking at only three color schemes. I decided to do the wooden parts first, wet brushing them with a craft "Burnt Umber" color -- a very dark brown. The next day, I dry brushed those areas Howard Hues Camo Brown, and finally highlighted them in Khaki. 

    Interior of model showing my four craft sticks in the corners which nicely keep the roof in place

The following day, I painted the wicker portions a medium brown craft paint called Autumn Brown. I let that dry overnight, and followed it up with a Iron Wind Metals Dun yellow dry brush. I should mention I was giving the thatch roof a very similar treatment. However, I added a final very light gray dry brush on the thatch, that I did not do on the wicker. Once the paint on the roof and building had dried, I went over both with a black wash. The last step was to take a piece of scrap booking paper that had an interesting dirty wooden pattern and cut a rectangle of it for the floor. Once it was trimmed to fit the floor of the interior as best as possible, I affixed in place with white glue. 

    Rear view of the hut -- model will look great on land or on a riverside with it being elevated on posts 

Not only was a I pleased with how the Pacific (read: Vietnam) hut turned out, I was really stoked about how easy it was to paint up and get ready for the tabletop. There's something inspiring about cranking out nice-looking tabletop scenery that quickly. It is listed for $22 on the Diabolical website for 28mm scale (also sold in 15mm and 32mm), which I think is a fair price for something so practical and good looking on the table. If you are doing Vietnam or even World War II Pacific theater, I would highly recommend these huts. Check out the different varieties, some with porch screens or other differences. I will likely paint the other three up soon, now that I know how quickly they paint up!

    Last look at this 28mm model -- I have three more that I purchased from Diabolical still to paint up

What else is on my tabletop? I have my batch of five figures for the Lead Adventure Forum's 20th Anniversary in the flocking stage. I've also begun the final batch of figures for my Elven army for Dragon Rampant. I leave for Historicon on Tuesday, though, so there will likely be a holdup on my progress. Stay turned, though, and hopefully I will have more soon -- especially having played a game of Dragon Rampant on Saturday and Lion Rampant on Sunday!

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

Bad Goblin Games Scatter Pieces

    Scrying Pool from Bad Goblin Games -- very cool piece of 3-D with a flickering LED

In talking to my friends Brian and Liz from Bad Goblin Games at Origins, it made me remember that I have some of their scatter terrain pieces that I've been wanting to paint up. So, one day while at my painting desk, I grabbed two of them -- plus an old 28mm stone tomb which I believe is from Reaper. The two Bad Goblin items are their LED Barrel Fire and their Scrying Pool (which wasn't listed on their website last time I checked). Apparently, it was designed by Fat Dragon Games, but Bad Goblin has the license to print and sell them (thanks for the correction, Brian!). I painted all three of them black craft paint as primer. 

A video I took at x2 speed, showing the pulsating glow & color changes of the Scrying Pool 

Both the Scrying Pool and the tomb look like stone, so I did my usual gray stone formula on them. Black prime, Dark Gray wet brush, Medium gray dry brush, and then light gray highlight. They painted up very quickly, making me wonder why I let them sit on my desk for so long! The coolest thing about the Scrying Pool is that it comes with an LED light that pulsates with changing colors and three different tinted plastic disks to represent the surface of the pool. One is a swirling blue, another is a bubbling green, and the third is simply clear. You lower the disk of your choice onto the rim of the pool, while the LED and batter component is pressed up into the piece from the bottom. Watching the pool slowly change colors in a throbbing pattern was really cool. I can't wait for a chance to get it onto the table in a fantasy game! 

    This stone tomb has been sitting on my desk, waiting to be painted, for more than a year!

The tomb is decorated with skeletons and skulls, and obviously is the resting place of some evil being -- perhaps a Lich? Anyway, it's job on my desk for the past couple years has been to be a prop of sorts for something in the process of being expoxied or super glued. Ha, ha! Yes, something that took me less than a half hour to get ready for the tabletop, from brush priming through spray coating, sat un-started (but not unused!) for months and months. Not any more! It is inside one of my rolling carts that contain most of my scatter terrain from various periods.

    This barrel fire has a flickering LED, as well - obviously meant for modern not fantasy, though!

The final piece, the Barrel Fire, took the most time to paint up. It contains a variety of surfaces and items modeled on it -- sand bags, wooden crates, a giant wooden spool for cable, cinder blocks, a trash can lid, and more! Naturally, all of those took more time to paint up. I did my usual wood recipe for the crates and piece of wood leaning against the barrel. For the cinder blocks, I did gradually lighter gray dry brushes until I was happy. The trash can and metal debris I did in Iron Wind Metals Steel first, then did a Pewter brush-on highlight. I will likely use it in my post-apocalyptic or modern games.

    I like the various odds & ends modeled on this piece, such as the crates & cinder blocks

So, what else is on my painting desk? I am working on a special set of miniatures in honor of the Lead Adventure Forum's 20th Anniversary. These figures are about halfway done -- maybe more. The next miniatures that I do will be the final six Elven spearmen for my Dragon Rampant army. Of course I say that, but who knows? With Badger Games attending Historicon, there's always a chance I may pick up another pack or two of the newer releases that weren't part of the Warhost line when I made my purchase. The Elven Guardians pack has those long, halberd like things that Elrond slashes up the orcs with in the flashback scene in The Lord of the Rings. For terrain, I am FINALLY getting around to painting up one of the Pacific Theater Huts that I picked up from Diabolical Terrain at Advance the Colors 2025. Hopefully, I'll get them done before I leave for Historicon next Wednesday!

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: 62

Two 3-D Printed Ruins - Desert Fort & Stone Temple

 

    I felt this church or temple ruin fit would fit in nicely with some of the others I have painted up

I picked up these two 3-D printed ruins from my friend Scott of Sword & Scabbard Games at Advance the Colors 2025, last October. They'd been patiently waiting on my shelf for their spot in the queue since then. I knew they would paint up very fast, so awhile back, I pulled them out, spray primed them, and set them down on the edge of my desk. There they say, a little less patiently, until last week when I took a few days and got them all prepped for the tabletop.

    The 'Desert Fort Ruin,' as I'm calling it, painted up very quickly -- spray, dry brush, wash & flock

Starting with the one I'm called a "Desert Ruin," I went back and forth whether to paint it up as stone or a more mud brick look. Figuring I have plenty of stone ruins, I thought it might be useful to have something to put on the table for a more desert or arid ground table. So, I spray primed it a Khaki color. I don't have a premixed 50/50 paint and water to get into the crevices for this color. So, I made sure to spray it as thoroughly as possible. 

    The flocking growing along the walls and in crevices gives a nice touch, I feel

Once it had dried, I dry brushed it a very light tan with a wide, square brush. Then I used my brown vehicle wash and brushed that on the entire ruin. I really like how it settled into all the grooves between the bricks, giving both shadow and a dirty look. I almost left it at that, but decided I wanted to put in some vegetation growth on it, as well. I took white glue and squirted it in the crevices and corners, wetting a brush down to help spread it where dust, dirt, and eventually plant life might sprout. I sprinkled on Woodland Scenics Blended Grass over it. Next, I added two different colors of green clump foliage here and there on the spots of grass to represent bushes or small plants that have taken hold. I was very happy with how it turned out, and now am just waiting on a day that I can clear coat spray it to call it completely finished.

    Some of my Saga Moors get some fresh air and pose next to the ruin - I like its tumbled down look

This stone ruin I picked up because it would go well with the European look of some of the ruins I've gotten from Rusty at Firelands Games. It is that in between look -- could be an old Roman or Greek ruin, or could be a medieval church. Since this one was going to be stone, I spray painted it Krylon Matte Black and DID go over it with my 50/50 water and acrylic paint mix. Then I simply did three layers of brushing. I began with a dark gray wet brush, then a medium gray dry brush, and finally a light gray highlight here and there. It looked good enough that I felt it didn't need a black wash to blend it all together. If the brush strokes are a little to visible, I feel a black wash softens them and blends the look of the model together. I skipped that step for this ruin.

    This stone ruin was almost as quick to paint up, but involved a couple extra layers

I added first Woodland Scenics Blended Grass in spots, and then the same clump foliage. Once again, I put the white glue in spots where dust and dirt might collect over time, leading to the growth of vegetation on the ruin. As I knew it, these two buildings were quick to paint up. I am glad I have this more church or temple like ruin to add to the ones I already have. Now, I can make a bigger area of a tabletop a tumbled down temple or church.

    One of my Saga Pictish crossbowmen peers through a gap in the upper story, on the lookout

So, what else is on my painting desk? I am getting closer to finishing the six Elven cavalry for my Dragon Rampant army. I have begun the special 20th Anniversary of the Lead Adventure Forum batch of miniatures, too. I almost pulled out another building for terrain to work on this morning. However, the Columbus is gripped in another heat wave, with high temperatures all week in the 90s.  Who knows when I will get a chance to spray prime a building in these Mad Max-style temperatures? So, instead I just grabbed some scatter I've been meaning to work on and primed them. I will definitely want to be spending time in my hobby nook in the basement with as hot as it is outside!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 135

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

Two Small Medieval Town Homes (or Farmhouses)

    Two more 3-d printed medieval buildings from RRB Minis & More -- these are smaller homes

My latest purchases of 3-D printed buildings for my medieval town from Rich Brown of RRB Minis & More were technically Farmhouses. I felt they could easily work as smaller homes for a more urban setting, though. I slated both of them to be my next additions to my medieval town -- hoping they would paint up significantly faster than the 3+ story buildings that I've been doing in the past.

    Like many of my others, this farmhouse building is from the 'Ferisia' line carried by RRB

One of the two is from the Ferisia line that many of my other buildings are from, while the other is an earlier work of Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni, who created that line. It is called Stormhill City Farmer House. Actually, it was a gift from Rich as thanks for all the exposure my posts here on Lead Legionaries have given him. What better way to accept somebody's generosity than to use the gift they gave you right away? So, on a particularly nice, sunny -- but not humid day -- I spray primed both of them up. Each is two piece -- a roof and bottom level. I did my usual follow up with a 50/50 mix of black acrylic paint and water.

    This photo gives a good look at the thatch roof on this building and its rear

I thought about doing one of them in a different color stone than gray, but in the end, opted for standard gray stonework. There is already so much exposed wood on these buildings that going with a brown tone could be a bit confusing. I remember taking part in a discussion on the Lead Adventure Forum recently about how wood isn't really brown and all stone isn't gray. However, if you paint your wood terrain and scatter gray and your stone ones brown, I feel that you're working against people's expectations. People expect to see wood being brown and stone gray, so your terrain will look "right" in your eyes if you paint it in the stereotyped colors. That's my sentiments, at least!

    The interior of the Ferisia building with its nice wooden floors and wooden beams

Once again, I began with the interiors for the lower level of the farmhouses and the roof of the upper levels. The Stormhill City Farmhouse had a wood tiled roof while the Ferisia Small Farmhouse had thatch. For the interiors, I did a very dark gray wetbrush over the black, followed by medium then light gray highlighting. Next came the woodwork and I painted the beams dark brown first. I followed that up with my usual "wrong" (ha, ha!) recipe of medium brown and khaki dry brushing. I did the window frames in a painted color (highlighted in a lighter tone). I chose blue for the Stormhill City Farmhouse and green for the Ferisia one. I applied the color as a dry brush to the window frames so that they looked like paint had chipped and worn away.

    This farmhouse is from an older line called 'Stormhill City' -- Rich gave it to me as a gift! So kind!!

Meanwhile, I was working on the roofs at the same time. The thatched roof got a medium brown wet brush, dun yellow highlight, and final light gray dry brush. There! I painted some vegetation with a grayish tone...happy?  For the wood tile roof, I decided these would have been painted by the home owner. I liked how the roof of the "Cottage" I purchased from the Misty Hollow line came out, so did it in a relatively similar fashion. Instead of faded green, though, I went for faded blue. It still received the medium brown wet brush and Khaki highlight, I just finished out each tile with a dab of faded blue. The exposed beams were painted next, in exactly the same fashion as the interiors were. Weirdly, I decided to do the small stonework that was showing on the roof sections after the wood beams. Why? I figured they were small enough that the chances of splash over on my highlighting were minimal.

    The rear of the farmhouse with a nice look at its faded, wooden blue tiles

With the roofs done and the interiors completed, it was on to the exteriors. I pretty much followed up with the same recipe for stone and wood on the outsides. I did brighten up the stonework a bit, figuring more light would be playing over its surface than reached the interior through its windows. Otherwise, everything was pretty much the same. I discovered that two small buildings do take significantly less time than the three and four story monstrosities I've been painting up to this point. Once I got started on the, they really took relatively little time to complete. 

    I love the fancy wooden floor with slats going alternating directions -- lots of wood beams, too!

I decided that the buildings did need a black wash over them -- especially the thatched roof. I always worry that I'm going to lose the highlighting I did and give them too much of a gray look when I apply an overall black wash. Hopefully, folks don't think they turned out too dark! So, what else is on my painting desk? Well, I did decide to be a rules lawyer and combine my next two batches of miniatures. I am painting up there Elven wizards from figures bought this year and three ordinary human wizards from the Frostgrave Wizards set I bought last year. They're coming along very nicely and won't take too many more sessions to complete. What's next for terrain? Well, I have a 3-D printed Huey helicopter from my friend Ted B that I've started. It has the base color done and dry brushed. Now, I need to do all the finicky details. Look for those works in progress to be finished next week at the very earliest. I am attending Origins Game Fair this Wednesday through Saturday, so won't be doing any painting during that time.

Last look at the 2 newest additions to my growing medieval town

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: 28

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

Viking Rune Stones

    Floki (from the Vikings series) stands in front of two of the rune stones that I painted up

I always try to buy things from the dealers who come to our HMGS chapter's flagship convention, which is Advance the Colors. It is held every October in Springfield, OH, by HMGS Great Lakes' more than 200 members. I've been the vendor coordinator for it for a number of years, so I have developed a (hopefully good) relationship with the dealers. I want each of them to be successful and have a good show. I try to help that with my own purchases, making a goal to buy at least something from each of them. I bought two bags of these rune stones a couple years back from my friend Scott at Sword and Scabbard Games.

    Here are half of the 14 rune stones that I painted up in various shades of gray, from light to dark

The result of that is a closet full of unpainted terrain and scatter -- all of which I swear that I will get to eventually! This is why I began tracking Acquired vs. Painted for both Terrain and Scatter this year, in addition to Miniatures. Although I am doing much better in those two categories (see the chart on the bottom) than I am on Miniatures, so far, I still have a LOT of in that closet. Two items in that collection were bags of 3-D printed Viking rune stones. The week before heading to Drums at the Rapids, I decided to grab those bags and prep up the rune stones for painting.

    Here are the ones in various brown hues -- my favorite is the pink granite one next to Lagertha

There are five different shapes and sizes of rune stones in each bag of seven or eight pieces. I did Google Image searches on existing rune stones, finding that they were in a variety of colors. Not all are stone "gray" or "tan." So, I picked out a variety of grays, tans, and browns to do them in (after I primed them with White Liquitex Gesso). I decided that the runes carved into the surface would be darker than the surface face, which would be made lighter by dry brushing. I also did a black or brown wash over the stones, doing my best to have the color sink into the tiny crevices of the carved runes. I thought this process worked out really well, with the darker base coat also being the rune color. The runes are incised deep enough a flat dry brush misses them and gets only the stone surface, as intended.

    Shield maiden Lagertha (Ragnar's wife) contemplates the Norns of Fate in front of three rune stones

Once each stone was done, thought, I thought they looked a little bare on their bases. I decided to add other medium and smaller stones grouped around or slightly apart from the rune stone. After gluing the stones in place, I painted them roughly the same base coat color as the stone. Once they'd dried, I highlighted them like the rune stone. I also did the same wash as on the stone proper. Next up, I did my normal flocking method on the stones' bases. First, I painted them with a mix of white glue and earth brown craft paint and sprinkled on fine brown ballast while wet. After it dried, I dabbed on a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water. I sprinkled that with Woodland Scenics Turf, and finally applied patches of Blended Green with full strength white glue. I added a couple of grass or flower tufts, and they were done! 

    Three of the rune stones had a very cool Viking longship inscribed on them with a sun stone's rays??

I think my favorite one in the bunch was an experiment to replicate pink granite. I painted it in a salmon color and dry brushed it khaki. The brown wash really made the runes stand out, as well as gave the stone a natural look. I like how all of them look, actually. Probably my least favorite are the darkest gray ones. I think the runes don't show up as well and they look just like jagged stones. The ones I painted in the lighter colors look them best, in my opinion. Of course, since I painted up both bags at the same time, it is kind of academic information. Unless, of course, someone reading this blog entry and is looking for inspiration to paint their own rune stones!

    Ragnar's brother Rollo in front of the three largest of the rune stones - I like their rounded shape!

So, what else is on my painting desk? The five monster miniatures for Devilry foot are coming along very nicely. I have spray primed one of the smaller medieval houses I picked up at Drums at the Rapids last weekend. So, progress has picked back up after a slow period in April. Look for more entries on here soon, and thanks for reading my blog! 

    Ragnar & pooch with 3 jagged, triangular stones -- Ragnar and family figs are from Brigade Games

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 

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