Thursday 5 May 2016

"Life's Full Of Questions Isn't It, Batman?"

"Though, naturally I prefer to think of them as riddles."
These two 28mm plastic pre-painted "Wizkids" miniatures are part of the five-man "Heroclix" criminal gang I'll be fielding along with the Riddler in my "Cosmic Cube Wars" campaign. As with their fellow colourful colleagues, both figures have been painted in colours similar to those worn by Edward Nygma's alter-ego, so as to represent members of the Mole Hill Gang. The models consist of a Lackey (number 019 from the "DC Comics" Hypertime range) and a Thug (number 013 from the "Marvel" Infinity Challenge set).

Obviously each miniature was essentially painted in the same way, by having their trousers, tops and hats treated to a combination of either "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and "Citadel" Druchi Violet or "Vallejo" Heavy Green and "Citadel" Thrakka Green. Any metallic areas, such as the belt buckle, shades and crowbar, were given a coat of "Citadel" Ironbreaker before being washed with Nuln Oil. The Thug's skin colour was created using a coat of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and a wash of “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade.
"A riddle a day keeps the Riddler away."
Ordinarily I don't tend to go into too much detail as to the specific rules I'll be using for my models until their Battle Reports (BatReps). But as these minions will be one of the 'pilot' forces in my first mass super-hero battle using the "Age Of Sigmar" ruleset by "Games Workshop", and there seems to be a little interest in how I'll actually be using them on the tabletop, I thought I'd pen my thoughts below:

As the Mole Hill Gang will essentially be made up of a combination of unarmed and crowbar-wielding goons, I have differentiated between the two by giving the Lackeys 5+ (To Hit) and 3+ (To Wound) and the Thugs 4+ (To Hit) and 4+ (To Wound). The Lackey converted in order to hold a pistol will be the group's Leader so will be able to make two attacks rather than just one). Each members basic statistic's line will be 6" (Move), 6+ (Save), 5 (Bravery) 1 (Wound), 1" (Range), 1 (Attack) and 1 (Damage). No model will be able to Rend.
Crossbowman WIP - The soldier's crossbow needs finishing, and then his head completed
The Riddler will be a unit in his own right, and along with his great intellect will wield a lethal blade-tipped cane. In order to try and replicate his distracting riddles and proficient ability with his weapon the super-villain will have a 2" (Range), 1 (Attack), 4+ (To Hit), 3+ (To Wound), -1 (Rend) and D3 (Damage). The 'Warscroll' I have selected for Nygma will also provide him with a Pithy Comeback - allowing him to make one additional attack with his cane if charged in the same turn, and "Riddle Me This" - a dice roll which will either cause a hidden Riddler explosive surprise box to detonate within 13" of his model, or dumbfound an opponent to the point where they'll receive +1 to all wounds made against that unit until the next Hero Phase. The rest of his basic statistic's line is 6" (Move), 5+ (Save), 6 (Bravery), and 5 (Wounds).

Having finished my Riddler's minions, I have made some good progress on the second of my two "Frostgrave" crossbowman. This multi-part hard plastic miniature by "North Star Military Figures" will cost my Witch just 50 gold pieces to join his warband. But has proved incredibly time-consuming to paint due to my poorly thought out placement of several bits of equipment. Indeed both his weapon and dagger have really tested my brushwork's patience on account of their angles and close proximity to one another.

36 comments:

  1. Great-looking Riddler gang!

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    1. Thanks Gordon. I might add another five to them at some point. But not now :-)

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  2. Excellent work on the riddler thugs!

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  3. Great job Simon and fabulous to see the gang together like that.

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    1. Thanks Michael. Glad to see them done, and now on to the first "Cosmic Cube Wars" BatRep!!!

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  4. So good to see the Riddler and has gang together. Nice colour coordination on them.

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    1. Cheers Bryan. The purple is especially nice to use as it blends in well (once washed) with my black outline technique.

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  5. Brill job on the Riddler gang they look great together!

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    1. Thanks Simon. They've come together well. I may well expand the gang later. But they'll suffice for now :-)

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  6. Nice looking gang dude :-)

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    1. Cheers Andy. A nice simple little mini-project.

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  7. Please, go into gaming detail.

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    1. I will indeed DaftPhully, as there certainly seems to be an appetite for this project :-)

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  8. Inspired by you, I have converted a Molly Hayes clik out LIKE yours, but have her holding up a Dalek, instead.

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    1. Delighted to hear it. Sounds awesome!!! Any chance of a photo and link?

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    2. https://twitter.com/DaftPhully/status/727251803880878080 With ia little bit of luck, this is it.

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    3. That is AWESOME DaftPhully!!! :-) Lovely brushwork and colours, and what a great backdrop too. Splendid stuff indeed.

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    4. I like to photograph the minis in front a postcard. Thank you for the inspiration.

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    5. Great idea with the postcard and you're welcome. Love the Doctor Who "Zombicide" stat cards too :-)

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  9. Nice little colour co-ordinated gang Simon, sorry no blog post from me this weekend as I've been stuck down with illness all week.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger, and I hope you're making a swift recovery. I certainly missed my Saturday cuppa with one of your rantings I must say.

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  10. That Riddle gang looks great, well done. :)

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    1. Thanks PulpCitizen. It'll be good to get them on the tabletop.

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  11. I'm glad we got the gang together. Gotham, will be ours! Yours. Yours, I mean.

    :)

    Poor E Nygma - I have a feeling he'll not fare all that well against the other more powerful heroes searching for that Cosmic Cube.

    Persevere with the Xbow man! He's looking better with each update!

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    1. Cheers Dai. I think Edward will struggle somewhat when compared to some of the other characters I plan to use in the "Cosmic Cube Wars". Though he should be okay for the first game and five wounds may well mean he'll stick around for a while.

      I have indeed stuck with the Crossbowman, and he's now finished. Just my partially painted Witch's apprentice to go and my "Frostgrave" warband is complete :-)

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  12. I`m really interested how you get that (what I call)`old school` semi glossy look to your figures. Do you just use a a semi-gloss varnish or do you have some other secret? Me, if I want that look, I tend to use matt varnish, but build it up layer after layer (about four layers sometimes) to give it a sort of Porcelain effect.

    Really nice. I`m all inspired to want to dig out my old Heroclix bits and bobs now, and get painting and playing.

    Steve :))

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    1. Steve, the answer is simple, I currently use "Vallejo" Gloss. However although I brush it on, I then dab it off with another brush, so it doesn't pool anywhere.

      I actually got back into painting minis by reading "Toy Soldier and Model Collector" magazine (and even ended up writing an article for them), and loved the gloss look of the soldiers. That actually made me PVA my minis rather than varnish them, until I found the minis so detailed I was clogging them up, so then moved to using Gloss Varnish.

      Glad you like the "Heroclix" re-paints. My fave mini range ever!!! :-)

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    2. Thanks for the swift reply Simon, and yeah I really DO like them. Oh WOW another person after my own heart. I make a lot of my own minis (Prince August home cast moulds) and I always slap on the non matt varnish for those.... just HAS to be done to get that `toy soldier` of yester-year look I so crave.

      Vallejo, hmmm interesting. There is a huge hardware/farm shop less than a mile away from us, and I will look out for that next time I`m in. I currently use spray on Rust-Oleum `Crystal Clear` either matt or semi gloss (depending what I am using it for), but I know they have that in gloss as well. Its so easy and fast to apply.... like, 20 miniatures in 30 seconds: but I do find the semi gloss a little hit and miss, often not glossy enough for me. Never thought to use full gloss. Maybe that the secret right there.

      Love the re-paints, keep it up mate.

      Steve :))

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    3. Cheers Steve. Please do let us know how you get on with the gloss. "Coat'd'Arms" is another one I'd strongly recommend too. I also use the "Games Workshop" gloss, but find that can pull the ink/washes off the model when I dab it off.

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  13. Agreed about the GW varnish, which is a shame as GW paints, primers, and purity seal is THE best otherwise.

    :)))

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    1. I do though still use it to gloss over the Abaddon Black base edges, so they're nice and shiny too :-)

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  14. would you say that hero/horror clix figs are gloss? Semi gloss, or matt?

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    1. I'd predominantly say matt. But I have certainly own some where part of the model is probably gloss (in order to create some effect or look). For example the Snake Oil Salesman is predominantly matt, except his shiny black shoes and the black cobra sat atop his shoulders.

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  15. Yes, yes, of course. I`m not sure why I thought they might be semi or full gloss. I hadn`t seen any clix-y figs in a long time and somehow had built up in my mind that they were shiny. I am looking at the Snake Oil Salesman now and can see what you mean.. Actually that's pretty cool isn`t it, mixing matt with gloss. It really makes the figures stand out as unusual.

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    1. The wet-look effect is certainly one I've often thought of trying on some of my minis. But obviously as I gloss everything, a matt model would stand out somewhat. It is an effect that several "Heroclix" minis use to good effect though :-)

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