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'

Medieval Extravaganza of Terrain, Scatter & Minis

    Big batch of Medieval townsfolk miniatures, various scatter, and a 2-story building

I decided to go ahead and make this a big update covering of all the various Medieval things on my painting desk. After buying a good amount of scatter at Historicon a week or so ago, I decided to get a bunch of old and new pieces done while I was painting up the latest medieval building RRB Minis & More. To stick with the theme, I also decided that my next batch of "old" figures would be these medieval townsfolk. Why not? Plus, it made sense to combine them into a single update, even though some pieces were done more than a week before the last ones.

    I added the cross and the water spouts to this 'misprint' from Miniature Building Authority

The first to get completed was a "misprinted" 3-D Town Fountain that Kirk from Miniature Building Authority had in his discount bin. I had already begun painting the smaller Celtic Cross B before I left for Historicon, and thought setting it atop the fountain might jazz up the look a bit. The fountain was done very simply with my standard "gray stone" recipe: black base coat, wet brush dark gray, dry brush medium gray, and highlight a lighter tone. I painted the basin of the fountain sky blue and dry brushed it with a very light blue. Then I decided to add in streams of water flowing from the central part of the fountain into the basin. I used the same method I did on my Dwarven Fountain I'd painted up back in early May. I took fiber optic material, trimmed and bent it to the correct size and shape, and simply super glued it onto the fountain. I painted some white ripples in the water, then gloss coated the "wet parts" (but not the fiber optic). The dryer parts of the fountain I gave a brush-on matte coat. Simple and quick, but I think it will look nice on the tabletop!

    Brunbir Blazeforge House - 3-D printed building from the Ferisia line picked up from RRB Minis

Simultaneously, I was working on the two story Brunbir Blazeforge House from the Ferisia line that Rich printed for me. I really like the look of this house with its angles and second story balcony. I'm trying to slowly do more of the two story and smaller medieval buildings that I've purchased for my growing medieval town. I have plenty of skyscrapers (3-4 story, in medieval terms) already. I think that more variety in height will improve the look of the town. This 3-D printed building was done in my usual way -- spray prime with Krylon Fusion acrylic black, go over it with a 50/50 black paint and water mix, and then dry brush the same stone gray method I used on the fountain. The wood was also done with my standard recipe (wet brush dark brown, dry brush Camo Brown, highlight Khaki). 

    Close up of the very cool balcony & roof of this newest of my medieval town buildings

I went back and forth on what time of metal to make the roof trim, and finally went with Iron Wind Metals copper. Roofs made of copper were a thing at one point in our history, and I also decided that the inhabitants of the house would keep it burnished brightly and not let it fade to green verdigris. For the roof tiles, I decided to go with a faded craft paint called Leprechaun Green. The tiles received a light green highlight, as well. I also decided to do a slighter darker green on the window frames and lintels of both levels, as well as the "shield" around the axe decoration and the frame of the doorways. This color was called Seminole Green, and was probably the most time consuming part of doing this model, since I was doing both the inside and outside for each window. I also did the usual Steel and Bronze for the metal parts for the doors. 

    First floor of the interior of the Brunbir Blazeforge House -- I love the stairs!

    2nd floor of the house, with door leading to the small balcony & trap door to 1st level

I finished the building off with a black vehicle wash. Although many of the Ferisia buildings are technically labeled "Dwarven," this one was the first with an overtly Dwarven look. With the window panes being in a runic shape and and the axe decoration on the roof, it definitely says "Dwarves" to me. However, the building is not so overly Dwarven to  prevent me from legitimately using the house for a human town, as well. All of the little touches and decorations really make this building stand out, and it is definitely one of my favorites that I have purchased from RRB Minis & More.

    This side view gives you a look at the decorative elements that make this a 'Dwarven' building

On to the miniatures! Most of the figures in this batch of eight have been sitting in my unpainted lead drawer, primed and with their flesh base coated for more than a year. At some point, I was painting medieval civilians. I must have prepared these, then midstream decided that I had enough (or ran out of time). Six of them are Reaper Bones minis, with its soft plastic. The shouting baker is Old Glory, as I already have one of them painted up. The last one, an ox handler, may be Gripping Beast. Compared to the super-detailed and decorative Warhost Elves that I've been painting, these seemed to go very fast. I used a mix of faded and dull colors for all except the noble ladies and priests. They got brighter colors and a bit more decoration. 

    2 Noble ladies from Reaper and a couple townsfolk -- baker is Old Glory & other is...??

I'm not sure why Reaper made the noble ladies so freaking tall, though, but they tower over the other figures! Oh, well. Maybe they have high heels on under their long dresses? These were probably the most simple of the batch, and were fun and easy to do. I wanted to make their dresses somewhat decorative, so I went with a contrasting border and -- of course - dots! Lots of tiny dots!! The two churchmen I decided to paint up as priests rather than monks. For one, they don't have the "bald spot" in their tonsure, but do have the Norman "bowl haircut." Plus, I already have plenty of 28mm monk figures, but very few priests. Along with the brighter colors, I gave their robes and mantles a border with decoration. I really like these portly-looking figures and am glad I painted them up. The town women in aprons are also nice figures.  I probably should have modified them, though. Their pose appears to be holding something up in the air (chicken for sale?), but both hands are empty. Rather than rush into painting them right away, I should have added something to these models, but unfortunately I did not. 

    All 4 figs are Reaper - I like the portly priests and the stout common women in their bonnets

I used a variety of relatively faded and simple colors for their clothes. Same for the Old Glory baker, though I admit I looked up images of the first one I painted up earlier to make sure the two weren't "twinning" on the tabletop...ha, ha! The last unidentified townsman I did in faded or dull greens. I also could have put something in his open hand (which I think is supposed to be gripping the lead of his oxen). I wanted more flexibility, though, and left him open handed. This batch of eight figures will be perfect for either my Medieval (or Fantasy) town games.

    I definitely need more scatter for my medieval town - this Bulletin Board from MBA is a good start!

Simultaneous with these buildings and miniatures, I was painting a number of other miscellaneous town scatter pieces, including this MBA Bulletin Board. I think it intended for more modern games, but notices could easily have been pinned up in the center of town during earlier times, as well. Speaking of which, since I wanted to make it usable for either, I decided to not go crazy on the notices themselves. No "Wanted" posters or notices that might otherwise date it. So, the script is all tiny slashes, lines and blobs done with my smallest nib micron pen. As fun as might have been to call out one of my Sunday Night gamer friends for cheating on a notice, I decided not to do so. I painted the frame of the board with my usual (above) wood recipe, while the tiles on the top were done in red-brown with a Middle East Flesh highlight. I added a large rock to the base to give it some visual interest, and not call attention to the fact it is on a big base. The papers pinned to the board were done in a slate stone color, highlighted white, and given a brown wash.

    This Celtic cross will be a nice, free standing scatter piece in town, as will this dead tree

Also included in the scatter was this larger, MBA Celtic Cross A. It is printed with a wide enough base so that it doesn't need a separate base. It was actually the first of all of this scatter that I finished. I gave it my standard stone recipe and simply added some flocking. I likely picked up this resin 3-D print at a convention Kirk was attending and bought it because I wanted to thank him for supporting our hobby so faithfully. I believe the scraggly, bare tree is a 3-D print from A Critical Hit. That means I likely bought it either at Cincycon or Origins Game Fair. I found a likely base size, added in a rock, and whipped through this, as well. I did a black wash over my standard wood recipe, hoping it would give it a more dead and gray look. 

    This 3-D printed boulders and crags were picked up from my friend Rich at RRB Minis & More

Finally, there are some round boulders and crag pieces that I bought from RRB Minis & More at different times during the last year. I noticed in setting up games on my desert mat that I don't have a lot of appropriate terrain pieces to put on it. So, these got a Khaki colored spray paint, a very light tan drybrush, and finally a brown vehicle wash. I thought about putting tufts on them, as well. However, I flet that would "size" them and lock them into 28mm scale (admittedly, most of my games). However, these pieces can work for other scales, too. They simply become larger boulders or crags!

    I have very little terrain that looks good on a desert board, so I picked these up from Rich at a con

Yes, this is a big update with lots of stuff! I must have enjoyed the experience, though, as I have an encore of more medieval town scatter on my desk. In addition, I have the final (REALLY this time!) batch of Warhost Elves. which I've started on. Not sure what I will do next for an "old" batch of figures. I have a game in mind for the Hydra Miniatures Pulp Sci-Fi figures I've bought and painted only a few of. Perhaps it is time to start working them in? Stay tuned, and we'll see!

    These boulders are fairly generic - I left them un-based so they could be used in a variety of setups

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: 33

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

Elves Battle the Bonefish Band in 1st Game

    Midpoint of the game & the battle of Elves vs. Orcs hangs in the balance, the Elves up 2-0

With the arrival in town of Mick (screen name "Aethelflaeda was Framed") from the Lead Adventure Forum, I offered to host him at a local store for a game. He agreed, and we met at Roundtable Games in Dublin, OH, on a sunny afternoon. I decided it would be a perfect opportunity to christen my Wood Elven army for Dragon Rampant! with its first battle. Keith and Jenny came along and squared off against each other, alongside us with Vikings vs. Fire Giants. I gave Mick the choice of using the Bonefish Band or my newly-painted Elves, and he chose the "orcses filth...". 

    Left wing of the Elves deployed for battle, with intermixed archer and spear units & cavalry

The battlefield was dotted with medium-sized patches of woods, but otherwise had plenty of open areas. Interestingly, the DR! troop types I use for the Bonefish Band (Bellicose Foot, Elite Infantry, and Greater & Lesser Warbeasts) are all more proficient at fighting in the woods than the ones I chose for my Elves! I was fielding four units of "Light Foot: Mixed Weapons," which gives them the ability to shoot out to 12", decent at defending in melee, but slower in woods. They also fought at a slight disadvantage if in woods, too. Instead of hitting on a 4+ on each d6, they hit only on 5+. However, their armor inside the cover of woods would go up from 2 to 3. Hmmm...do I need to rethink how I field these guys? 

    Large wolfpack infests the forest opposite the Elven right wing, howling & eager for battle

My plan was to advance most of my units in the open, with only one making their way through the central woods. Two of the foot units also had Level 1 spellcasters within their ranks, and one had the army general. The other units in my army were one of flying Lesser Warbeasts -- Birds of the Forest (which I gave Weak and Cowardly). It made since that normal sized birds of prey wouldn't hit as hard as wolves or bears or such creatures. The Cowardly ability let them Retreat a full move instead of half, which might keep them alive a little longer. The final unit was Elven cavalry fielded as standard Heavy Riders.

Elven left wing begins to cross open ground towards the woods where 2 units of goblin archers await

Surprisingly, Mick decided to not move after his deployment, and instead await the advance of my Elves. Both his units of goblin archers garrisoned a large woods near his center baseline. The Wolfpack guarded another woods on his left, while the orcs (armored Bellicose Foot) deployed in the gap between the trees. His trolls were initially deployed on his right, but they reversed direction and marched around behind the large woods to where the army general and his bodyguard of Elite infantry were stationed. My Elven host accepted the Bonefish Band's invitation to advance and began to surge forward with my four units of mixed weapon foot -- or tried to do so. My right flank unit refused to advance for three turns (failing to roll a 5+ on 2d6). The other three units struggled to move forward in a coordinated line, too. Not a good start!

    Armored Uruks, hooting and eager, also impatiently await the advance of the Elves in the center

Eventually, I would have to come within his goblin archers' greater 18" range to close within my own 12" one. Plus, I would receive archery fire in the open vs. his goblins in cover of the trees. As I advanced, I shifted to concentrated two units against his right hand goblin archers, ensuring the other unit was at long range while mine were within short of their target unit. Although the Elves took a few losses advancing and during the archery duel, their concentrated fire drove off their target unit of goblins when Mick rolled a very poor Courage test. One unit down! 

    Elven foot on the right are reluctant to advance, despite the support of the Birds of the Forest

Meanwhile, the wolfpack began to edge forward on his left, finally loping out of the woods after seeing my wizard-led foot unit on my right fail to advance multiple times. The central Elven foot unit eventually made its way to the edge of the woods. Measuring the range, I decided to advance some of the lead figures beyond the trees. Most would remain inside the woods, though, so we would be in cover. However, we would fight with the negative modifier in melee. I hoped that the armor increase would be enough to make up for it.

    When they reached the edge of the central woods, the Elves prompted the wild charge of the wolfpack

The wolves caught sight of the Elves, who were within their "wild charge" range, let loose a howl and raced into contact. Each unit inflicted two casualties on the other, which meant the wolves had to withdraw. They backed up only half a move, though, which left them within short range of my right hand foot unit (who had finally advanced). They let loose a volley which caused a casualty or two, and Mick promptly flubbed another Courage test. Two units of the enemy had fled the field -- the Elves were feeling triumphant! In case you think I was being a poor host to Mick with his dice rolls, his failing of morale tests was about done for the game. The momentum was poised to shift, unfortunately.

    Meanwhile, on the left, armored Uruks slam into the Elven general's unit inflicting many casualties

One of the Uruk units wild charged into my general's foot unit. Mick made up for crappy dice rolls and rolled 11 hits (3+) on 12 dice, which took the Elven bodyguard unit down to half strength (they had lost one earlier to goblin missile fire. This was dangerous, as all units in a warband that loses its general take an immediate Courage test. I backed the general into the woods so that the goblins couldn't "dink" them with archery. I probably should have pulled him back even further, as events will show. However, things were still looking up when the Elven cavalry galloped in and drove off the armored Uruks who'd savaged their general's unit. This was probably the high water mark of my army. We had destroyed two enemy units and lost none.

    Down to half strength, the general's unit falls back -- but not far enough, as we shall see...!

The Wolfpack was soon replaced by the Trolls, though, who had been steadily advancing towards the center. In this game, the Trolls did not do their usual "bird watching" trick of failing to advance, and instead continually moved forward and were soon within charge range of my Elves in the forest. I feel that the Trolls were Mick's key unit in this game. Greater Warbeasts fight well in terrain, and they promptly charged the Elven foot unit in the woods and drove them back. This took them within the wild charge range of my Birds of the Forest, who were waiting in the rear for such an opportunity. They would end up charging the Trolls twice, both times failing to do much damage (Trolls are Armor 4, so four hits need to be rolled to cause a single casualty).

    Elven cavalry charge in and drive off the Uruks as the general's band ducks into the woods

Meanwhile, the cavalry had counter-charged another unit of Uruks and driven them back, as well. Both his Uruks were down five figures (which means -5 to Courage tests, but Mick's troops were rallying quickly and avoiding the catastrophic Courage failures that plagued him earlier). Things got worse for me when Mick cleverly charged the Trolls into my general's depleted unit. Mick had yet another amazing roll and shattered the already depleted unit. It promptly failed its Courage test. The most effective unit I had in position on the board at that time -- the cavalry -- were the only ones to fail their Courage test. That meant they had to sit in position and rally, ending up being charged by the Trolls, who were definitely on a roll.

    Elven high water mark - no losses, but 2 enemy units destroyed & 3 down near half strength

My remaining units on the right and center combined on the trolls, driving them down to half strength.  Mick was having no more catastrophic morale rolls, though. Anytime he failed with a unit and it went to Battered status, it promptly rallied on the next turn. When the Orc warlord and his bodyguard advanced into the center and charged the Elven foot unit sheltering there, the game was up. The Bonefish Band is a deadly attacking force, with four units that hit on 3+ on each 1d6 when they charge. The remaining Elven foot were slowly being hammered and their ranks withered by charges of Trolls, Uruks, and the Bodyguard. 

    'You like birds, Trolls? How about these!' Forest birds of prey twice charge into the trolls but do little

The Elves were eventually overwhelmed. While the morale of the orcs, goblins, and trolls held firm, mine slowly faltered, and units peeled off and ran for the board edge. Mick never lost another unit after he was down 2-0. Although Elven archery and cavalry charges caused casualties,  the orc warlord kept an iron grip on his troops and they simply outlasted the Elves. Meanwhile, the Elves -- with their own general gone -- succumbed to morale failures and fled the field in defeat. Despite initial successes, we were unable to maintain the momentum, and our ranks were devastated by deadly charge after charge.

    Cleverly, the orc warlord sends the trolls to kill off the Elven general, causing Elven morale to falter

The failure of the Elves to be able to defend terrain as I have them fielded is a concern for future games. I thumbed through the Dragon Rampant rule book looking for perhaps better troop types to field them as, but found no immediate solution. I will have to ponder it more and see if I can come up with anything. It could simply be they are simply not a good match for the potent Bonefish Band. Keith has lent out an Elven army with mixed weapon light infantry and they are 2-0 under. We shall have to see. If any readers of my blog are Dragon Rampant players, I'd love any suggestions!

    Heroes of the game, the enemy Trolls then follow up and slam into the battered Elven cavalry

Otherwise, it was great getting in a game with Mick. We tentatively made plans to meet again when he comes up next summer. Dragon Rampant is always fun -- I have actually played two games relatively recently that I did not get a chance to write up here on Lead Legionaries. Prior to Historicon, Jenny, Allen, and I did a three warband on three warband game to introduce new players Alex and Eric to the rules. At Historicon itself, I taught my buddy Jason how to play, pitting the Bonefish Band against his Dark Elves in a slaughterfest. DR! is always fun, win or lose!

    Knowing victory is at hand, the warlord of the Bonefish Band wades into the seal the Elven defeat

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 152

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 29

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62

So, I Lied -- NOT the Last Elves!

    Last of the spear-armed 28mm metal Elves from Warhost -- one more batch & the army is done!

This batch of six Elven spear from the Warhost line was supposed to be the final figures in my Dragon Rampant army. However, when I saw a pack of "Elven Guardians" for sale at Badger Games booth at Historicon, I sighed and picked them up. So, this is the next-to-last group, instead! Despite the week or so layoff from painting for Historicon, they painted up fast enough. These are probably the most heavily-armored of the Warhost Elves that I've painted so far, many having armor covering their forearms in addition to a greaves, hauberk of some sort, helmet, and shoulder armor. Since the armor is a two-step (three really) process, that means these figures take a bit longer. Throw in the shields, too, and the spearmen are easily the most time-consuming infantry in the army.

    Closeup of two of my Elven spear -- these take more time because of the armor & shields

I did these identically to my other Elves -- priming then with Liquitex White Gesso, doing their flesh, then armor, then clothes. The armor gets a base coat of Gunmetal Gray craft paint, then a gold over it (but leaving edge lines of gunmetal). The third step is to take some metallic yellow and hit the highlights of the armor pieces to help produce a gleaming effect. Once the armor was done (or re-done, in the inevitable cases where I missed an armor part), I was on to the tunics and vests. I picked out six lighter greens for the tunics and six darker greens for the long vests. Each gets a dry brush highlight over their base color.

    I really like the variety of shades of green in my Elven army's color scheme -- very woodland!

Thankfully, there isn't as much equipment festooned on these figures -- just a knife blade in a sheath and a pouch. So, this part went relatively quickly compared to the archers who add in a quiver to the items strapped to their bodies. You may have noticed I did not use the 3-D printed, fancy spearpoints that Warhost includes in their packs. I finally decided that it was futile to do so. Too many will break off during games, and that will just saddle me with more repair work on the army which I'd rather not have to do. When spear point breaks on figs with the 3-D tip, I will simply scrape off the remnant of the point and repaint the brass wire as the spear. Yay -- something NOT to look forward to doing...ha, ha!

    I like the subtle varieties of armor style and poses, crouching, thrusting overhand, etc., 

I really like how this batch of shields came out, though. For most of these leaf designs, I added in a second accent color on the leaf's surface, this time. I also varied the colors of the veins in the leaves. The designs themselves were still done with my .005 black micron pen, though. Once the outline is done, I just "color it in" with paint. I also like the colors I picked out for the shield surfaces, too. All in all, this may be my favorite batch of shields for the army. And likely, now that I think of it, probably the last ones I will have to paint! The Elven Guardians carry two-handed halberd-like weapons, so no more shields there!

    Small band of Elven spear defend a bluff inside their woodland realm from invaders

The eyes came out fairly well on some and fairly borderline on a couple others. I honestly feel that the way I do my eyes on my 28mm figures looks nice when I execute it properly. When my depth perception is off a little, though, or the detail isn't as crisp, they are less inspiring. I try to avoid the overly-large "Googly Eyes" that unfortunately appears on many of my older figures. Hey! As I get older, that's one aspect of miniature painting that I think I have consistently improved on! I may not paint stripes, tartans, or checks as well as I used to do, but I think eyes and shields are getting better.

    Another look at the different leaf patterns I did on the shields of this batch (maybe my favorites?)

So, what else is on my painting desk? I have a HUGE batch of medieval stuff on there, combining miniatures, scatter, and another building. They are all coming along very nicely, though, and hopefully I will be following up this post with that one soon. The medieval figs are mostly Reaper Bones civilians, with a couple (I think) Old Glory metal ones, too. They're all "old" figures, so count for my alternating New and Old from the Leadpile. After that, I will doubtless paint the Guardians and REALLY be finished with my Elven DR! army. Stay tuned, more on the way!

    Final look at the one of the last batches to be painted up this army made mostly of Warhost figures

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 152

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 29

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62

Historicon 2026 Purchases

    Painted version of the complimentary figure pack (& flag) for HMGS members attending Historicon

Well, my regular tallies of "Acquired vs. Painted" appears to be working! I just returned from Historicon, and I feel that being aware of my numbers made me more conservative on my purchases. This is particularly the case when it comes to miniatures. The only purchases I made were for active projects -- no "Oh, those look cool...!" purchases. Well, maybe one of those! Anyway, I'll do my usual and show some pics and provide some links of what I picked up last week while at Historicon. No picture of me currently suffering mildly from some "convention crud" (cough, sore throat, and overall tiredness and headache), though. Most of the pictures are from the websites of the companies I bought them from. All painted figures pictures are actually currently unpainted. Speaking of which, zero flea market purchases.

    My purchases from Brigade Games -- a modest 6 figs, including my one 'impulse' buy (Hillbillies)

My first stop was to visit my friend Lon at Brigade Games. He carries my First Command Wargames rules, and is interested in carrying Surviving 'Nam, as well (once I get printed copies in stock). I picked up only a handful of things from him, including my one impulse purchase. So, let's start with them! I saw this pack of four Sharpshootin Hillbillies from Copplestone and couldn't resist them. Ostensibly, they will be for a convention game I will run one of these days featuring a shootout at a trailer park. I guess they could be replacements, though, for my Critter Control crew in my Majestic 13 solo games! I also snagged a few monsters from the Dracula's America line for my Devilry Afoot games set in Franklinton. I will be restarting those games up by Fall, at least, only having run one for the Sunday Night Gaming crew, so far. The first was a Sasquatch miniature, and the second monster was a Manitou. Both will likely show up eventually as enemies for my players. The final purchase was my annual restock of their North Star wire spears.

 

    This slender, 3-D printed, octagonal tower at Diabolical Terrain's booth really caught my eye!

My next stop was at the booth of my friend Ron Weaver from Diabolical Terrain. Besides trading international travel stories with him, I also told him how happy I was with the Pacific Huts I bought from him at Advance the Colors. I've painted one of them up and the other three are in the queue for more Vietnam games. Although so much stuff looks good in his booth, I was trying to be conservative in my purchases. So, I picked up this Arab Mosque Minaret, which I intend to convert to a slim, medieval tower by lopping off the crescent. Shades of the First Crusade, eh? It is a very cool, 3-D printed piece that will look great painted up, I think. I also grabbed his 3-D printed Town Water Well. I am short on scatter for my medieval town, and it will be a perfect thing to add personality to the table. I was tempted by many other things at his booth, but know that I will see him this Oct. 9-10 in Springfield at ATC 2026. If you want to pick up some of his stuff, see him there!

    My purchases from Badger Games were also conservative -- coyotes & these Elven Guardians

A few steps away is a booth that I can get lost in for a long time -- Badger Games. Like Brigade Games, they have a HUGE catalog of figure lines they carry. They can't bring everything to conventions, but I always find something there I could use. The first and easy pick up was another pack of Elven Foot. This Elven Guardians pack was not available when I bought my army earlier. They echo the polearm wielding elves from the Lord or the Rings flashback scene, so I decided to have them. I will have to do something with their very weird face masks, which remind me of the Late Roman cavalry faceplates they sometimes wore. The only other purchase (See? I was restrained!) was a pack of coyotes for my Devilry Afoot horror games -- or whatever else could use some coyotes in!

    More cool LED scatter from Bad Goblin Games! I picked up a Bonfire, campfire & 4 lit mushrooms

Hidden in the back row of the Historicon's vendor area were my friends from Bad Goblin Games. Brian, Liz, and Michael were all there -- Michael Love's Fire & Bronze game was the first one I played in on Thursday. I love their inexpensive, easy-to-paint 3-D printed scatter. The fact that many of them light up with provided LED lights and batteries makes them all the better. There's something about a flickering fire, or pulsating glow on a miniatures tabletop that provides that extra touch to a game! Speaking of which, I picked up their large Bonfire, smaller campfire, and four different types of lighted mushrooms bases. Why? Well, eventually I want to get back to playing solo adventures with Sellswords & Spellslingers and continue the story of the Splintered Band. The mushrooms will make a perfect Enchanted Forest for my anthropomorphic adventurers to explore! Incidentally, Brian & Liz will be driving up from Florida to be a vendor at Advance the Colors 2026. So, plan on picking up some of their cool stuff there and playing in their awesome Trailer Park Apocalypse game!

    What is a convention without a stop at Miniature Building Authority & visiting my friend Kirk?

I stopped in and visited with my friend Kirk at Miniature Building Authority several times throughout the convention. Over the course of the days, I picked up a number of scatter items from him. This time, I did not buy any buildings -- chiefly because I haven't painted up any of the last three or four I bought at ATC! Once again, me trying to rein in my purchases and be relatively conservative with my money this time. One item that caught my eye was his Street Butcher Shop from his Shanty Town terrain line. This resin piece is relatively timeless and I will be able to use with anything from my medieval to modern games. I also picked up Celtic Cross A to toss in with an upcoming scatter batch that I will be painting. The rest of the items I grabbed were in his 3-D "Misprints" box he has started bringing to shows. Most of them, I had to ask him where the flaw was -- I couldn't see any mistakes. So, I picked up another of his Water Buffaloes, a fountain, a crossroads shrine, and several bundles of straw. The buffalo is for Vietnam, of course. The others will all be great for more needed scatter for my medieval town. Kirk is another of the vendors coming to Advance the Colors -- so make your plans to attend today by signing up on our ATC TabletopEvents page.

    I was hoping to find some Huey helicopter door gunners, and look what I found at Age of Glory!

Speaking of my Vietnam games, guess what I found at Historicon? I bought two packs of Empress Miniatures Door gunners for my 3-D printed Huey helicopters from Steve at Age of Glory Wargames. The pack includes four door gunners, so two packages will cover all four helicopters I bought from my friend Ted Bender (only one is painted, so far). I really like the variety of poses in the pack, so will likely begin working on them immediately after the Elven army is finished. Incidentally, Steve said he is interested in carrying my Surviving 'Nam rules, as well. I will be reaching out to him as soon as I have a stock of printed copies on hand. 

    This is a picture of only about half of the Cigar Box mat I purchased for games in a medieval town

My final purchase was a 6'x4' fleece mat that I can use for larger city games or even Dragon Rampant matches. Battlefield Terrain Concepts had a large selection of mats and I picked out one that could be used for either games amidst a ruined city, or an active city, or whatever. I was actually in need of one for the times I host multiple DR! matches side by side. Most likely, though, it will be used for larger games in a medieval town or city.   

All in all, I was happy with keeping my purchases down compared to previous years. I have altered the tallies for each category of Acquired vs. Painted below. I'm still in the green on two of the categories (Terrain and Scatter). I just set myself back further on miniatures, but drawing even is almost a surety assuming I don't make a huge purchased before the end of the year. So, I guess that means I need to get painting on that batch of Elven spear! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 146

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 29

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62