Minaret (or Observatory?) and Butcher's Stall

    My medieval/fantasy town just got a new building -- a minaret...or observatory??

At Historicon, I picked up this 3-D printed Arab Mosque Minaret from my friend Ron at Diabolical Terrain. I thought it would look great in my medieval city -- maybe as an observatory instead of a minaret? It would definitely be a change of pace in styles of buildings, but it's stone texture would make it fit in, as well. I also picked up this Street Bucher Shop from the Shantytown line that my buddy Kirk at Miniature Building Authority makes. Although it is a fraction of the size of the minaret, it has so many details that it would end up taking twice as long to paint up!

    This mosque minaret from Diabolical Terrain is TALL -- 15.5" from bottom to crescent!

Let's start with the minaret, though. It comes in several pieces -- a hexagonal base section, a round upper section, and the rooftop. Although I glued the roof to the upper section, I decided not to permanently attach the two tower sections together. It is really tall (15.5"), and I felt it would be both difficult to store and to transport that way. So, I drilled two holes in the bottom of the door pillars of the upper section and inserted thicker brass wire (cutoffs from my spears). I super glued those into the holes I'd drilled, then marked where those wires would touch when I set it on the platform atop the base section. I drilled matching holes in the platform so that the wire would fit into the top of the hexagonal base section and keep it stable while sitting on the tabletop. I didn't want some to bump it and the whole tower crash down on miniatures or other scenery!

    Birds-eye view looking down from the top of the tower to the streets far below

Once this was done, I primed the entire structure with Krylon Fusion Matte Black, and followed that up with my usual 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. I had decided to go with a gray stone look so that it would match the rest of my growing medieval town. I did a dark gray wetbrush over the black, and then followed that up with a medium gray dry brush on the stones. I did a final highlighting with a very light gray in a few spots where the sun might strike the structure most noticeably. 

 

    My medieval/fantasy town just got a new building -- a minaret...or perhaps an observatory?

Now it was time to decorate it! Mosques and minarets in Islamic architecture are usually always fancy. Blue seems to be an almost required color, so I went with bright coral blue and very light green. I did these in an alternating pattern on the stone archways all around the building, so the pillars of stone went blue-green-blue, etc. This was definitely the most time consuming part of this model. It was worth the effort, though. As I finished more and more of the archways, I began to be happier and happier with how it was turning out. Once all the blue and green decoration was complete and dry, I did a very light gray dry brushing of those colors to make it look a little weathered. I didn't want it to look chipped and falling apart or abandoned -- just a little more sun-bleached. 

    I took advantage of some 'blurry detail' on the sides to cover it with moss growing up the tower

I'd noticed while dry brushing that the detail on two faces of the lower hexagon was more blurred. Almost like it was hot and had melted. However, my friend Mike S pointed out that perhaps the lower, hexagonal section of the model was originally intended to be a corner tower. And the smoother sides were where they joined the walls? Perhaps -- I had not considered that! I'll ask Ron when I see him in October (he will be coming, as usual, to Advance the Colors 2026 in Springfield, OH. Anyway, I decided to disguise this intentional or unintentional blurring by going over this area with Dirty Down Moss Effect. Once dry, I painted white glue onto about half of the mossy area and added in Woodland Scenics Blended Grass. So, the "blurred areas" would actually be where vegetation was growing up the tower sides. I felt that was a good solution.

The last part of the structure to paint was the globe and crescent atop the minaret. When I bought it from Ron, I was thinking of sawing that off and putting something more generic atop the roof so it could be something besides a minaret. However, a crescent works very well for an observatory, too, doesn't it? I painted both Iron Wind Metals Ancient Bronze first. I gave them a gold highlight, and then added an even brighter metallic yellow light shining metal effect on the uppermost parts. Once dry, I gave them a black vehicle wash to "blend" the highlighting together and give it a less pristine look. All in all, the minaret ended up taking very little time to paint, as it turned out. So, my medieval/fantasy town continues to grow with the addition of a "observatory" (or minaret).

    This Miniature Building Authority Street Butcher Shop packs in lots of detail & features

The MBA Butcher's stall came in four pieces -- the three walled, open air structure of the stall, roof, metal wire with hunks of meat hanging from it, and a stump with meat and a cleaver atop it. I decided to be clever and paint the stall first, before hanging the wire, putting on the roof, or gluing down the stump. That way, my brush wouldn't have to get around or under things blocking my brush's access to the areas behind. The walls and roof of the stall appear to be corrugated metal applied in various patches. I like the effect of different colors of metal sheets on a run-down structure, so painted each separately, let them dry, and dry brushed them. Once the interior and exterior metal walls were done, I did the table, boxes, meat hanging from the walls, etc. I used Iron Wind Blood Red for the meat, and added in highlights of brighter red, too. The table, boxes, and such were painted brown as wood, with a few other colors here and there. 

    Perfect opportunity to break out my butcher figure to photograph alongside this cool piece of terrain!

Once the stall itself was completed, which took more than a week doing bits here and there, I attached the wire with its hunks of hanging meat. It set nicely on rests for it on either side wall. I painted it and then glued down the stump (which I had worked on while doing the stall). Finally, I did the bottom of the roof and glued it into place. The roof's top was also cast to look like it had several pieces of corrugated metal, so I had to do those individually and dry brush them, as well. There was one final step, though. I used my Dirty Down rust effect liberally over the interior and exterior walls on the corrugated metal. I've found if you brush some of the liquid solution on thinner and other areas dab it more thickly, it gives a nice variety of rust colors. Now, finally, the roof could be glued down (and rusted), as well. 

    I think the 'Rust Effect' from Dirty Down does great weathering & making things look run down

The entire piece got a black vehicle wash to give it more of a grimy, "street butcher" appearance, too. I used my Blended Gray Ballast for a gravel effect on the base, giving it a black wash also to darken it. That is the basing effect I go with more often in modern street terrain and scatter. DONE...finally! As I said, it was definitely a labor intensive piece of scatter terrain. Unfortunately, the corrugated metal means it can't really be used for my medieval town, but it will work just fine with any of the modern or even post-apocalyptic terrain that I have. It is definitely a nice looking piece -- and not expensive, either!

    This plastic toy well ended up painting okay - not as nice as items from MBA, of course!

The last scatter item on this post is a very, very old plastic toy well that has been sitting in one of my boxes for decades. When I was getting the Diabolical Terrain Town Well painted up, I was reminded of it. I decided to get it out, mount it on a round MDF  base, and prepare it alongside the others. It was painted with a mix of my base coat and dry brush method for gray stone and brown wood. I gave it some Steel for the metal mechanical parts and some flocking and leaf scatter on its base. Not the prettiest and most detailed piece of scatter, but it will be yet another water well for my growing medieval town. 

    Even though you can see the flaws close up, this well will look fine on a crowded medieval tabletop

This update finishes off the massive batch of scatter and terrain that has been crowding my desk over the last several weeks. Currently, there is no terrain or scatter waiting to be painted. So, I will have to remedy that situation first thing, tomorrow morning! Stay tuned for another update on the miniature painting kerfuffle (as my friend Allen likes to say) that I had this week. No painting disasters, but a moment of panic did ensue!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 179

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: 75 

Some Scatter Terrain & an Alien Monster

    Town scene set up with my 3 new pieces of scatter -- the shrine, town well, and campfire logs

For the last month or so, batches of scatter terrain in various stages of painting have been mixed about on my desk. As I get to a stopping point on whatever figures I am working on, I pick them up and do some more work. Maybe I'll add a base coat, dry brush - whatever. However, it feels like there is little organization, so that's why this update seems to have little rhyme or reason to it.

    'Town Water Well' from Diabolical Terrain - assembles nicely and paints up very easily

One of the scatter pieces is a Town Water Well that I picked up from Diabolical Terrain at Historicon last month. Its four pieces glued together very easily with two-part epoxy. I decided to permanently attach the wooden lid to the ring of the well, as I couldn't envision a need to have to remove it during a game. It isn't big enough to fit a figure inside, and doing it in one piece would make it go much faster. I spray painted the well with Krylon Acrylic Matte Black, following that up with my usual 50/50 mix of black paint and water. Once it was dry, I decided to start with the wooden parts using my normal wood recipe. That is a dark brown wet brush, Camo Brown dry brush, and khaki highlight. Then I did the stone base with two dry brushes of a medium and lighter gray. Finally, I did the details. I decided to paint the wooden tiles of the roof in a light blue, weathering them with an even lighter blue. I finished off the metal bits with Iron Wind Metal and Bronze. The tiny bits of rope you could see I did in a lighter brown with Dun Yellow dry brush. The town well received a black vehicle wash to complete it. I really like how it looks, and am glad I picked it up from Ron at Diabolical.

    I modified this 'misprint' from Miniature Building Authority by adding in the saint in the shrine

Next up was a 3-D printed shrine that Kirk from Miniature Building Authority had sold me at a deep discount because it was a "misprint." One small corner of the roof of the shrine had not printed well and was turned up. I added some pieces of craft sticks to that corner to make it look like it had been damaged and shoddily repaired. Once again, I started with the wooden part of this structure. I used the same recipe as above on it. The tiles on this model looked more like standard ceramic ones, so I did them in a red brown with Middle East Flesh dry brush. I picked out some metal bits on the structure in the same Iron Wind Steel and Bronze as above. I also painted the cobblestones stone surrounding the shrine as above, too. With that, the exterior of the shrine was finished.

I decided to add a miniature to the interior of the shrine. I searched my unpainted lead collection, looking for something that could perhaps pass for a saint. I wanted it to be a little roadside shrine or one in a square in a town. I finally found this miniature, which for all the world, looked like a Byzantine noble lady. I base coated her black, and then followed my normal stone recipe for her. I glued her in place, then unhappy with which of the four sides of the shrine she was facing, popped her off and reattached her inside. And yes, this statue counts as a miniature painted for the year! I really like this little MBA shrine, and plan on adding it to the tabletop with the Diabolical Well next time I set up my medieval town.

    This campfire ready to be lit came with my Bad Goblin Games campfire & bonfire purchases

This campfire in ready to be set aflame actually came with the two Bad Goblin Games scatter pieces I finished up a week or so ago. I guess it was included as the "Before" and the LED-lit campfire is the "After"? Not sure why someone would expect that to be included, but the folks at Bad Goblin are awesome. This type of extra touch fits their personality, for sure! I'm really excited that they are coming this October 9-10 to Advance the Colors 2026! Anyway, I think you can guess how I painted this pile of logs surrounded by a small ring of stones. And you also see why these all were finished around the same time, as I was doing lots of stone and wood on these pieces. I'm sure I will find a use for this campfire on the table in one of my games, someday.

    Pre-painted hot dog cart a friend gave me years ago -- I did some weathering on the tires & cart

Yes, that is a hot dog cart! My friend Derek from Indiana bought it for me as a birthday gift a couple years ago with a bunch of other cool, modern scatter terrain. It is probably a little small for 28mm scale, but hey -- it's a hot dog cart! Do YOU have one for your miniature tabletop? Boy, that sounded a bit like my friend Keith...ha, ha! Well, if you're my friend Bill who I will be visiting in update New York next month, you do have one! And it was his post on Dice, Doubloons, and Random Musings about his own hot dog cart that inspired me to get this one readied for the tabletop!" This pre-painted piece is either plastic or resin. I am not sure which. The tiny metal pole holding the umbrella up was probably the trickiest part -- gluing the pole in and then making sure it was set in place without too much lean. After it was all assembled, I thought it was a bit bright, though. So, I did some weathering on the cart with my black vehicle wash to tone its bright, plastic look. I also painted the tires dark gray and added lighter gray highlights. Otherwise, they were too Matchbox car shiny black plastic. So, I DID do brushwork on this, but the signage, little hot dogs, condiments -- all of that, came pre-painted. Still, I'm glad I finally got it ready for the table. Thanks, Derek!

    3-D printed 'Megaguirus' which will stand in as the next alien monster for 'Critter Control' to fight 

And finally, the other miniature in this batch. When I attended Cincycon 2025 earlier this year, I was searching for minis I could use for alien monsters in my solo games of Majestic 13. At the booth of my friend John from JS Wargamer Printing, I found two I could use, including this one. It was labeled Megaguirus, which is apparently a Kaiju that fought Godzilla at some point. It certainly looks like one, but next to a 28mm miniature, its size is a perfect alien monster for my Critter Control team to fight. In fact, the whole reason I pulled it out and painted it up was because I was getting ready for another game. I rolled up my opponent and this figure seemed perfect for the alien my team would fight.

    Closeup of my 'Rakire Winged Hunter' -- I used a bumble/dragonfly look to its paint scheme

Thankfully, the wings are already in place and it is a one-piece print. The only gluing needed was to attach it to an MDF base with a piece of piano wire. There was already a notch on his underside, but my piano wire was probably a bit too thin for it to fit firmly. The whole time I was painting it up, the creature wanted to rotate slowly around on its post. After attaching Megaguirus to hits base, I did my usual Krylon black spray to prime it, hoping to strengthen the fragile nature of 3-D prints a bit. I went back and forth in my head on what color scheme to use. I never did a Google search to see what Megaguirus is supposed to look like. Remember, this wasn't supposed to be a kaiju. According to Majestic 13, it is a Rakire Winged Hunter!

    Back of the model, showing the detailing I did with my micron pen on the wing fabric

I finally decided on a metallic brown and Iron Wind Steel alternating banded pattern -- kind of like a bumblebee's stripes. I painted the entire model -- except the wings -- Steel first. I added the alternating pattern of Metallic Chocolate Brown in, adding in gold highlights on the spikes, talons and such. I painted his six smaller legs Pewter, and gave them black striping, as well. I left the wings for last. I decided continue the metallic brown for the "fingers" of the wings, so to speak. The thin material in between I first painted pale yellow. I drybrushed it white and was immediately unhappy with the look. So next, I decided to give it a faint orange wash. I liked that color much better! Finally, I did an image search on dragonfly wings and found some pretty cool photos. I decided to mimic the veining or pattern on on one of the pictures with my smallest nib micron pen. I really, really like how the wings came out. This afterthought is actually my favorite part of the model -- even more than its yellow jacket looking eyes.

    Hungry yet? A look at the other side of the cart with its drink case -- nicely frosted window!

I worked on this figure during breaks between painting my Valkeeri faction and the almost completed Viet Cong women soldiers. All together, this small group was perhaps not worth their own update. However, I decided to go ahead anyway and take pictures and write them up. I'm happy with how all of the pieces of scatter and the miniatures came out. Doubtless, this post will be followed quickly by those V.C. fighters in the next day or so. Definitely soon!

    Another look at the town scene and my newly-painted scatter terrain

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 173

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: 75

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

Blood on the Streets in 'Troubled Council' Game at Drums at the Rapids

    Town Council ruffians battle monks & citizens loyal to the church in the medieval town of Vespugia 

Would the outspoken Father Leowulf be "priest"-napped by the forces of the Town Council? Or would the controversial priest remain free to criticize the aristocrats of the town for their treatment of the rencnt refugees in Medieval Vesupugia? Each faction in the fight had its own particular way to earn victory points, in addition to capturing Leowulf or helping him remain free. Most would be using the unrest in town to settle old scores or improve their position. Over the course of two games at Drums at the Rapids 2026, the vocal Father remained free in one game and was dragged off to face trial in the other. 

    A band of ruffians with ill intent are led by House Catrine through the muddy streets of Vespugia 

I have been tweaking the rules I used for the game, which are based off of my Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities. I was inspired to do so by one of my internet friends, Cat, who uses them to run an incredibly scenic and popular series of games based off of the same inspiration for my rules -- the 1979 cult movie classic, The Warriors. We are both members of the Lead Adventure Forum, and she responded to my post asking for suggestions for a fast-playing miniatures skirmish game for up to six players. Cat cited Mean Streets as the perfect set, with quick and easy command and control, a simple combat system, and a tiered array of fighters from the toughest to the wimpiest.

    Friday afternoon's players with the Town Council on the left & the church defenders on the right

Inspired by her suggestion, and by the desire to run a cooperative Fantasy skirmish game for my Sunday Evening group, I began tinkering with Mean Streets. After several days down the Fantasy "rabbit hole," I emailed Cat and a couple other friends my ideas. They responded with suggestions and I've been steadily tweaking them after each game. One of the first ideas I discarded was a separate Combat Ratings for figures vs. melee and ranged attacks. Keeping it at one CR made it more streamlined and reduced the "one-shot kills" that were happening in our first play test. From player input, I changed the rules for disengaging from melee and how to calculate range modifiers. I have to say that after three games (which include the two at Drums), I'm fairly happy with the results.

    House Stronghelm's men make a stealthy advance through cover of the market towards the cathedral

It is a bloody game, with characters usually being taken out  after several turns of combat. Occasional "one swing" or "one shot" kills still occur, but that is not the norm. Of the three tiers of characters, the toughest (Heroes) take four wounds, Companions take three, and Followers two. However, if a character's score is doubled or tripled, they take more than one wound (two and three, respectively). I also have steadily increased the number of figures each player controls up to eight per faction in my Drums games. Of course, this game was a two-sided battle rather than a free-for-all, with up to three players per side. On Friday night, I had a full table of six players, while on Saturday morning there were only four of us. It plays very quickly, which I like for a convention game. As I get older, the idea of a six hour game at a con is too much for me. I much prefer games being over in three hours, which includes the rules and scenario explanation. It was even faster on Sunday with only four players. We were easily done in two hours.

    Attackers intent upon "priest-napping" dart past a stable towards the center of town & the church

Friday's game probably took about two and a half hours. An intense scrum broke out at the church wall, with four of the factions involved in it. This was precipitated by the aggressive and immediate charge of the Town Council forces towards the cathedral, attempting to get over its stone walls and onto the church grounds. The Franciscans, loyal to Father Leowulf, and House Duncan, a staunch supporter of the church, tenaciously defended the walls. The Duncans did not even break off when their nearby home was torched and set afire by their bitter rivals, House Catrine. In the end, the defenders held the church walls, though that holy ground was stained by the blood of numerous combatants. 

    Friday's massive scrum as the attackers tried to fight past defenders & get over the church walls

Much as it happened in our Sunday Evening playtest, the Dominicans proved to be the wiliest of the church's forces. They convinced their brother Franciscans to turn over Father Leowulf into their "safekeeping." The black-robed monks immediately dragged the vociferously protesting priest to their corner and off the table. It appears Father Leowulf will now be delivering his sermons from a Dominican church instead of a Franciscan one! Though the Town Council's forces wrong-footed Leowulf's defenders with their quick assault, their dice deserted them early on and remained AWOL nearly all game long. Time after time, their players rolled ones and twos on their 1d8 combat rolls. 

    I was happy with how the table looked with the medieval buildings I've been painting up recently

Eventually, after repeated losses, two of the Town Council's forces had dropped below half strength and had to take morale checks. Since this occurred on the same turn that the Dominicans absconded with Father Leowulf, the demoralized forces of the nobles decided to call off their attack. They realized they had no chance of success at one of their objectives with the priest off the table. Jenny, as the Dominicans, was the highest scoring player on the winning side. I felt bad for the attackers as their rolls just never seemed to improve. But hey! That's miniature wargaming for you!

    House Stronghelm dashes up to the walls intent on grabbing Father Leowulf, seen here at the doors

In the morning, the game took a decidedly different turn. Ted and I, as the Town Council forces, made a steady but stealthy advance. The Dominicans marched forward quickly, singing hymns and swinging their clubs, crosses, and cudgels. The Franciscans were a bit more slow, though. So slow, in fact, that my forces -- when presented with a turn of great command & control activation rolls -- darted forward, leapt the walls or opened the church gate. House Stronghelm's ruffians grabbed Father Leowulf, and dragged him around the opposite side of the church from where the Franciscans were advancing. Meanwhile, a companion and Follower from my force formed a wall and blocked the rescue force from chasing after the "priest-napper", holding double their number for several rounds of combat. 

    Once the priest was grabbed, 2 ruffians blocked the Franciscans from quickly chasing after him

Rather than wade into combat, my Hero stayed near the middle of my forces, controlling the action. In Malevolent Streets -- as I'm calling this variant -- you combine the command dice you roll for each figure that is within 6" of the leader. That way, you can select the higher rolling dice and assign them to those who need more actions, while giving the lower ones to figures for less important actions. This allowed me to assign the maximum 3 action "6's" to the Companion who had Father Leowulf in his grasp and he steadily moved further and further away from the Franciscans. Meanwhile, the rest of my forces were blocking them from mounting a rescue attempt. 

    Meanwhile, House Faroli exacts revenge upon the turncoat soldier leading the Dominican forces

Meanwhile, Ted, as House Faroli, was exacting a bitter revenge on the captain of the Dominican force. This veteran soldier was formerly an employee of House Faroli. However, the noble house claims the soldier absconded with some of their funds and defected. Their secret objective was to cut down the turncoat. Ted's opponent, Steve, was the unfortunate "balancing" effect for the Town Council's poor dice rolls the previous evening. His ones and twos were making up for all those rolled by the opposite side in the previous game -- or at least that's the way it seemed! Soon, the Dominican force was in disarray, their leader cut down, and the monks and soldiers hired by them were fleeing from the table. The forces of the Town Council scored their first victory in three games! Ted, with both his secret and open victory conditions satisfied (the captain cut down and Father Leowulf in our hands), AND lots of kills (+1 Victory Point per enemy figure killed), was the clear winner of our game. 

    Father Leowulf howls mightily as he is 'priest-napped', urging the Franciscans to come rescue him

Even though they lost, both Heidi (Franciscans) and Steve (Dominicans) praised the game. They liked the simple rules and felt the game flowed very quickly. I received lots of praise from my players on both days about how my medieval town looked, as well as from passers by. So, I chalked up my first two medieval town skirmishes up as a double success -- the players had fun and the Mean Streets tweaks provided for an enjoyable and fast-moving game. I'm not sure when I will run the rules next, though. The next convention I am scheduled to run games at is Origins Game Fair, June 17-21. I'll be running my Surviving 'Nam game there six times at the Columbus Convention Center. In the meantime, I will keep working on the fantasy aspects of the rules in anticipation of using them again soon!

        Poor Father Leowulf - have the nobles found someone to 'rid' them of 'this meddlesome priest'?

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 99

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 

A 'Cottage' for my Medieval Town...A Big One!

    From the 'Misty Hollow' line of Medieval/Fantasy buildings, the humbly-named 'Cottage'

I've always thought of a cottage as a relatively small, rural building. I recently picked up a 3-D printed building from a new source while at Little Wars 2026. Phalanx Games & Sundry carries the Misty Hollow line of medieval/fantasy buildings. This one is called simply "Cottage," but at two stories and a soaring, peaked roof, it is the little cottage that could! Don't get me wrong -- these are gorgeously designed buildings, with all kinds of neat details like weather vanes on the roof, metal cupolas, and a combination of building materials in its construction, including wood, stone, brick, and stucco.  

    I really like the variety of textures -- wooden beams, stone, stucco, brick, wood tile roof & more!

Although these are more expensive than Rich Brown of RRB Minis is selling me the Ferisia line of 3-D printed buildings, I always try to support the vendors at shows that I attend. So, in addition to four ziploc bags full of MDF bases from their buckets, I snagged this cool building to add to my growing medieval town. An interesting twist is that the windows, door, and weather vane come in a ziploc bag and you must attach them yourself. Unfortunately, my bag was short one of the windows, so I left it open until I could scratch-build a replacement. It is very nicely printed with deep details, particularly in the wood grain. It fits together easily, and feels sturdy -- except I imagine that if I drop the roof on the weather vane, it will snap off easily and be a goner...ha, ha!

   I think the pink...er, salmon stucco turned out really nice & blends well with the red window panes

I did my usual Krylon Fusion matte black spray primer followed up (once dry) by a 50/50 mix of water and acrylic black paint. Then, I had to sit back and decide on colors. The roof is composed of wooden tiles -- modeled to look like some of which have "fallen off," exposing the wooden boards beneath. There is both stone and stucco in its construction, with exposed brick beneath the stucco. On the inside, there are stucco walls with wooden beams. The floor on the first floor looks like it is some kind of decorated tile, while the upstairs is wooden. There is a wooden staircase on the first floor leading through a rectangular hole in the floor of the second. Interestingly, the windows on the website picture are a different style than the ones I had included.   

    Nice look at the roof tiles and the pale green coloring I added to their worn, wooden look

I began with the wooden tiles of the roof, which is a lot of the surface area. The building is designed with what I call "dormers," places where it projects on from its main axis -- each with its own little roof. The effect is a very cool and interesting looking. I decided that the wooden tiles have faded over the years and not been repainted recently. So, I did a medium brown wet brush over the black prime, followed by a craft paint Khaki highlight. I set the "dry brush" aside, and picked up a finer point brush. I used a faded green "mossy" color to pick out lines of color on each roof tile. It was time consuming, yes, but I thought it would give a great effect to have a faded, worn roof effect. 

    2nd Floor of the Cottage, which certainly deserves a more grand name than something so simple!

The heavy wooden beams that frame the roof I painted in dark brown, then after it had dried overnight, added a dry brush of Camo Brown. I also used that color on roof boards where the tiles were missing. Once again, I waited for it to dry, and then I did a Khaki highlight on the beams. There is so much rich woodwork in this building's design, I wanted to bring out the full effect of the colors. In fact, doing the woodwork and beams was the most time consuming part of this building.

    1st floor of the cottage -- I really like the recessed pattern printed onto the floor & wooden staircase

Simultaneously, I was working on the interiors of the first and second story sections. I always like to finish the interiors first on buildings before I start on the exteriors. That way, I can grasp it by exterior while painting the interior, and vice versa when I move on to the outer part of the building. I chose a Maple Sugar craft color for the interior stucco, and then once it had dried, highlighted it with a very light tan. Next, I picked out the wooden interior beams with same dark brown/Camo Brown/khaki that I used on the wooden beams on the outside. For the window frames and diagonal "leading," I chose a darker, Moroccan red. The tiled floor I painted a orange-brown color, with a Maple Sugar highlight. Then I did a dark red wash over the floor to tone down the brighter color and make it look less like the color of the walls. I really like the effect of the floor pattern.

    Narrow frontage of the cottage, with the door that swings open and closed

Moving on to the exterior, I painted the stucco surfaces on the outside in a salmon color. What?? You're painting a building pink, Mike? A faded pink stucco is actually not that uncommon, plus I planned to dry brush it so it ended up being a very dulled-down pink. Moving on to the stone, I decided to try to paint the stone sections in contrasting colors. One block would be a dark gray and the next one would be light gray. Kind of like the alternating bands or stripes of color on the stone archways of the Great Mosque/Cathedral of Cordoba, Spain. There was a danger that this would be one step too far, with all the other decorations on this building. However, I thought that the way the stonework was designed, it could work and give a clever accent effect. So, I did a very dark gray base coat on all the stones first. The dark stones would get only a medium gray highlight, while the lighter stones would receive a light gray dry brush to look much lighter. You be the judge whether the alternating stone pattern worked well or not!

    This 3-D printed building, bought from Phalanx Games & Sundry, fits together very well

For the stucco, I painted it a salmon first, followed by a khaki dry brush. Through the years, I have found that color combo gives a nice faded rose look. Of course, all of this was after doing the exterior woodwork in the same trio of wood colors of the roof, and the windows in their red. Because I liked the photo of this building on Phalanx Games' website, I copied their two-tone metal cupola and weather vane. All parts received a Steel base coat, then Pewter highlights for the silver/steel sections. The Bronze sections were painted bronze with a bright gold highlight to hopefully give the effect of the sun gleaming off its metallic parts. I did a black wash on the building to tone it down and keep it from looking too bright. I also felt this would tie the whole building together.  

At Little Wars, this building had caught my eye. I like it even more all painted up! I'm sure it will add to the look of my medieval town tabletop. Hopefully, the mish-mash of various manufacturers I've used for the buildings end up improving the look of the tabletop, not something that detracts from it. What do you think? 

    Only part of the building that I'm not crazy about is the flat, featureless dragon wind vane

So, what else is on my painting desk? The next batch of Elves is underway. It feels like its been a long time since I painted Elves, but I'm sure it really hasn't been. As for terrain, I'm not sure if I am going to start on another of the large buildings I have or wait till I pick up some of the smaller ones that Rich will have ready for me at the show. Stay tuned to see what I end up deciding!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 176
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 99

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 7
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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