Idols, Altars, & Sacred Spaces, oh my!

    Primitive Idols as Objective Markers for Saga - I love how these Bad Squiddo ones turned out!

Now that Historicon is over, it's time to set my sights on what I need to prepare for my next convention: Advance the Colors 2022 at the Clark County Fairgrounds, Oct. 7-8, 2022. I will be running a Saga tournament there for the second year in a row. Last year, we had 16 players and this year I am hoping to increase that to 24. 

    Plaster or resin stones with spare 28mm figures and you have a Pagan or Christian Idol/Altar

One of the challenging parts about running a Saga tournament is organizers are expected to provide the battlefields and terrain. In this case, it means I should be ready to have a dozen tables of relatively matching terrain for each round. I'm probably a bit anal retentive on making it fair, so I want each board to be as identical to the next one as possible. The terrain will be preset, and each round it will be changed out to provide the players a new tactical puzzle. So, if I need a large hill in the center of round two's board, for example, that means I need 12 large hills! Last year, I prepared for eight matching pieces of terrain of all the different Saga types -- fields, bogs, ruins, rocky ground, etc. So, I need to up those numbers some, obviously.

    These resin 'Toothy Skulls' have been in my unpainted resin bin for years...now they'll see use!

I took care of the hills at Historicon, purchasing a dozen very affordable hills from Pastimes on the Square's booth in the Exhibit Hall. I will count out to make sure I have enough styrene pieces pieces to plop trees on for Woods, but I think I am okay there, too. That means I need to pony up some more of the other four types -- yikes! I guess I'd better get busy on that!!

    A couple of wooden Buddhas & a resin snake atop plaster bricks make good looking idols

One of the scenarios that I am running in this year's Saga tournament is called "Wrath of the Gods." It was developed by Joe M of the Northern Tempest Saga Podcast. It features three objective markers which are meant to represent idols, altars, or something similar. Prior to coming back from Historicon, I had plenty of "loot" type of objective markers, but only about a half dozen that could be considered idols. I dug through the closet where I store my various unpainted resin and terrain odds and ends. I found quite a few that I could use as idols. What's more, I found plaster stone tiles that were the exact dimensions required for an objective marker that Tim P had given me a few years ago. Adding in the plaster bricks I had left over from my friend Dave Z's generosity years ago, and I could do quite a few with zero new purchases!

    Bad Squiddo Games' Enchanted (or Angry?) Tree Stumps as they appear on the package illustration

So, I sat down and started Tacky Gluing pieces things together. Resin skulls were attached to plaster stones, and appropriate looking idol heads were glued to the 40mm square stone tiles. I also went through my 28mm unpainted lead looking for things I could use as statues. These would be placed atop platforms made from the resin stones. Before I knew it, I had 14 altar-like objective markers assembled. Another six were created using a purchase from Historicon -- the Bad Squiddo Games "Enchanted Tree Stumps" package I had bought at the Badger Games. I used green stuff to bond the incredibly cool looking resin stumps to the top of a large Acheson Creations tree stump. Once placed atop the larger stump, the leering faces of the "Angry Tree Stumps" looked like a seated tree god or spirit. Or maybe they were a primitive wooden  idol lost and forgotten in a forest? I was incredibly happy with how they turned out. Yes, if I tell you that I used green stuff to bond the two together, and then carved to look like bark, you will be able to find the "seams", so to speak. But they look like they belonged on top of the stumps. Very sacred grove looking, I thought!

    I used green stuff to attach the tree stumps to a larger tree stump and they look like seated idols!

Once they were all constructed and put together, I spray painted the whole lot with Krylon acrylic matte black. Then I did my usual thing that I do for terrain, and went over the entire surface with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. Painting these was SO easy and quick. For the stone ones, I started with a dark gray dry brush, then followed up with a light gray one. That was it - a coat of clear acrylic matte and they were done! 

    I had only five large tree stumps, so this one sits alone on the ground (flocking still wet with glue!)

For the Enchanted Tree Stumps, I began with a Howard Hues Camo Brown dry brush. I followed that up with a light khaki colored dry brush highlighting. Then it was time to get creative. The picture that accompanied the pack of stumps showed them painted up with the faces in various colors. I tried to make it look like paint had been daubed across the wood, sticking to the highlights but not sinking into the crevices. The eyes I painted a bright light green. The mouths or maws were done in a darker red brown. I used a number of different colors for the faces, including Terra Cotta, faded blue, darker green, lighter green, and reddish brown. 

    Another of the resin cobras and a Norse and Celtic looking figure atop stone altars

I was very happy with how the faces turned out. I looked at the pieces, though, and decided the colors of the faces looked a little chalky, and needed a good dark wash. I did a black wash over the entire piece and was even happier with the results. I had only five of the large Acheson tree stumps to be the seated bodies of the tree spirits, though, so one had to be attached to a circular base and flocked. I have a feeling these models will appear in non-Saga games -- perhaps as warnings to trespassers that they are entering a sacred grove protected by a savage tribe!

    Two more resin skulls I've had sitting unpainted and an African looking statue

From start to finish, this entire batch of 20 objective markers took only about four days of a couple hours work each day. This brings me to a total of 26 markers. I'll need 36, as each board has three of these. So, before October I have 10 more to do. I've got the formula down, so I imagine they'll go fast. 

So, what's next for me? Two things are fighting the idols for space on my painting desk right now. One is the last two stands of my 28mm Mongol army for Saga - the warlord and the kettle drummer. Each stand will have two figures on it and are primed on my desk as I type this. The other thing is a Sarissa Precision trailer home. More on this hopefully soon. It has been sprayed black so is almost ready for the brush! Stay tuned for more updates as I use these last two weeks of summer to squeeze in as much work on projects as I can!