"The Guards Of The Gate Were Robed In Black..."

"...And their helms were of strange shape, high-crowned, with long cheek-guards close-fitting to the face..."

These five "cartoon scale" white metal figures of King Victor's Royal Guard are produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be bought from the company's "Toon Realms" range as a pack of four miniatures. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, I have painted the warriors in the colours of the Guards of the Tower of Gondor so as to field a six-figure strong unit of (Elite Foot) Guards of the Citadel for “Dragon Rampant” by "Osprey Games".

"...And above the cheek-guards were set the white wings of sea-birds."

Initially primed with two coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, these personal bodyguards to the twenty-sixth ruling Steward of Gondor were dry-brushed using some "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal and subsequently washed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. They then had their boots and spear shafts layered with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, and their belt buckles, spears and helmets delicately dabbed in Gold. All of these areas were later washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade to dampen down their pigment's vigour.

The Tower Guards' helmets, armours, chain-mail, shield emblems and spear-tips were treated to a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil. These parts were later delicately dry-brushed with (more) Ironbreaker. Finally, each knight’s linen surcoat and feathers were ‘picked out’ in “Vallejo” White and ‘shaded’ with a tiny amount of Pale Grey.

"Toon Realms" WIPs - Sterling has been washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and then dry-brushed with Ironbreaker

Despite having now finished enough "Toon Realms" figures with which to field both a 26 point Undead and opposing Gondor/Fangorn army for "Dragon Rampant", I still have a couple more models manufactured by "Lucid Eye Publications" which I am working on, most notably a characterful sculpt of Sterling the Wandering Knight. This marvellous looking miniature will make a good proxy for the eldest son of Denethor II, Boromir, for my 'Lord of the Toons' project, and having already been primed, shaded and dry-brushed, just needs some of his details to be 'picked out'...

"Kings Of War" WIPs - The Ahmunite Pharaoh is slowly having all his armour coated with "Vallejo" Gold

Significantly far less agreeable to pigment has been the leader of my Empire of Dust "Kings Of War" force, an Ahmunite Pharaoh. This metal 'Lord of the Two Lands' by "Mantic Games" is proving particularly difficult to progress on account of the flimsy nature of its two hand-weapons, which persistently seem to want to bend in half with just the slightest contact from my paint brush.

Indeed, I've already lost count how many times the figure's Egyptian khopesh and 'axe' have almost snapped off whilst I've been applying the tiniest amount of verdigris to the undead corpse's bronze hand-weapons. In addition, despite heavily watering-down my "Vallejo" Gold and applying it as multiple thin coats, the sculpt's soft detail is still being lost, and as a result I have already abandoned my plan to 'highlight' some of the ancient warrior's armour with a smidgen of Turquoise...

“At The Beginning Of This War, Megalomania Was The Only Form Of Sanity.”

"Politics is more dangerous than war, for in war you are only killed once."

This 28mm scale model of Winston Churcill is produced by “Warlord Games”, and came free as a special edition figure when I ordered the "Bolt Action" Second Edition Campaign book "Operation Sea Lion" direct from the Nottingham-based manufacturer's web store. Sculpted to represent "the most stalwart of British Prime Ministers" during an inspection of invasion defences near Hartlepool, on July 21st 1940, the single cast figure comes armed with a .45 calibre Thompson Sub Machine Gun. 

Initially, I had contemplated simply painting the miniature predominantly black, and just giving "the roaring lion" a dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal in order to provide some straightforward shading. However, having spotted a colourised version of the politician carrying the Tommy Gun and wearing a distinctly grey pinstriped suit, I decided to prime the model using some Dark Grey instead.

"Doctor Who" WIPs - A Time Wars drone, the Dalek Interrogator Prime, and a Dalek Scientist

The former army officer was then washed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Dark Grey. I did momentarily consider trying to 'draw on' the formal suit's eye-watering vertical pattern, but quickly chose to leave well enough alone, and instead just 'picked out' Churchill's shoes and hat with a couple of coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

Winston's hair, cigar and rifle butt were pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Whilst the rest of his firearm was treated to some "Citadel" Ironbreaker and a splash of Nuln Oil. Finally, the member of parliament had his handkerchief, shirt and cuffs marked out with a tiny amount of "Vallejo" White.

"Empire Of Dust" WIPs - The swarms contain scarab beetles, scorpions, snakes and large flies

Sticking with "Warlord Games" figures, I have made some significant progress on three of their plastic Daleks for the "Doctor Who: Exterminate" miniatures game. Two of the Mark III travel machines actually follow those of the Dalek Interrogator Prime and Dalek Scientist as imagined in the audio plays by "Big Finish", whereas the third will simply be a slightly converted Time Wars drone.

Lastly, I've based and primed an Empire of Dust swarm regiment for the BlackJack Legacy Slow Grow "Kings of War" Army Challenge. Originally I had thought these three square stands of scarab beetles would be a reasonably simple way to attain 60pts for the tabletop. But once I'd actually perused the metal sculpts in more detail, it has quickly become clear that each base contains far more than just the stout-bodied insects...

“Iron Golems Were Constructs Made Entirely Out Of Iron.”

"These iron behemoths were very powerful, thanks to their magic immunity, [and] poisonous breath attack..."

This 54mm tall model of an Iron Golem is produced by “Wizkids” and can be bought from their Nolzur’s Marvellous Miniatures range. “Highly detailed… primed and ready to paint out of the box”, the artificially constructed creature made its first appearance in the original 1975 "Greyhawk" supplement written by Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz, and “could take a hero’s head off with a swipe of their arm.”

Amongst the strongest types of Golem, the figure was originally treated to a couple of coats of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and subsequently dry-brushed quite heavily with “Citadel” Ironbreaker. I then drenched the entire animated object with “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. This helped blend the brown and metallic paints together so as to create a rusty, time-worn look to the large creature.

"Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures" WIPs - The Iron Golem was primed, dry-brushed and washed

“Three times as strong as a Flesh Golem”, the model was dry-brushed with (more) “Citadel” Ironbreaker and dabbed with “Mig Productions" Extreme Rust Wash. This product produces a nice rusty orange stain, so specifically targeted the miniature’s joints and gaps between its armour plating. The entire ensemble was then light dry-brushed with (even more) “Citadel” Ironbreaker in order to help blend the Rust Wash in with the metallic areas.

Where I was unhappy with the stain’s final result, I went back in with some “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and then simply (re)dry-brushed these tidied-up areas with “Citadel” Ironbreaker. I also had the chance to try out my new Psycho brush by “The Army Painter”, courtesy of applying an incredibly thin line of “Vallejo” Dark Vermillion into the Iron Golem’s two very narrow eye slits. Finally, because I wanted to try and draw attention to this area, I then applied a line of “Citadel” Ironbreaker to the construct’s eyebrows…

"In times of war, the mages will raise the husks and remains of the creatures that inhabited the dunes..."

In addition to my latest “Dungeons & Dragons” figure, I’ve managed to finish off a significantly smaller model in the guise of a 28mm scale skeleton for my Empire of Dust “Kings of War” army. However, rather than exclusively populate my Spearman unit with well-armed bleach-boned cadavers, I’ve started the ten-figure regiment off with the deceased animal corpse that can be found on the “Mantic Games” plastic Undead Skeleton Troop frame.

Primed with a double coat of “Vallejo” Iraqi Sand, the two-piece creature was shaded with The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade and dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Iraqi Sand. I then gave the critter a much lighter dry-brush of White, before picking out its collar with a combination of Gold and Strong Tone Quickshade. According to an old "Mantic Games" 2009 news post entitled "Pet Wars!", the skeleton is meant to be a dog, but as my Undead force will have a distinctly Egyptian feel, I figured it could be a cat…

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Kings Of War" January 2020

"The souls of the damned are released from their prison to drive the unit towards its foe."

This month's themed attempt to reduce my mass of metal, plastic and resin models has been significantly fuelled by the BlackJack Legacy Slow Grow Army Challenge over on “Facebook”. Weighing in at over two hundred participants the eight month long event has been created to inspire gamers to paint a 2,000 point army for “Kings Of War” by “Mantic Games”, and will see me desperately try to pigment an Empire of Dust force at a (probably overly-ambitious) rate of 250 points per month.

For once though, I’m actually off to something of a quick start, having already finished a metal Casket of the Damned for my first unit of Skeleton Warriors. Costing 10 points, this army special upgrade will accompany my ten-figure strong infantry unit across the battlefield, and once per game, allow me to "roll an additional six dice" when "this unit is targeted by a Surge spell..."

"Kings Of War" WIPs - The Ahmunite Pharaoh is slowly having all his details 'picked out'

The 28mm scale miniature comes inside every "Mantic Games" Skeleton Regiment box, and was primed using a double layer of "Vallejo" Gold before being heavily washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. I then dry-brushed it with some (more) "Vallejo" Gold and gave parts of its relief sculpture a splash of colour using a lick of Turquoise and "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade. Lastly, in an attempt to show the ravages of the desert sand upon the 'prison', I dabbed (even more) "Vallejo" Gold over the container's front facing, so as to give the impression of its pigmentation fading across the aeons...

Of course, every army needs its leader, and considering the decidedly Egyptian feel to the Empire of Dust, I have gone for an Ahmunite Pharaoh. The multi-part figure was actually something of a pain to assemble, as its kit comes complete with the additional components to turn it into a High Priest; and all of them are unbelievably delicate to handle. Indeed, I actually ended up having to significantly pin the fellow together, as super-glue alone simply wasn't providing a strong enough bond between his limbs and torso to survive even the most timid of touches.

Wargame Hobby Bingo

Disconcertingly, I've suffered similar problems assembling my actual Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Spearman too, where the generic plastic undead legs and torsos don't really seem to like being bonded with the Empire of Dust metal components. Each separate body, head, shield and even occasional arm, has literally needed to be left overnight before I have been able to add an additional piece to the precarious ensemble. And such a long-winded build has proved both incredibly time-consuming and deflating...

Assembly frustrations aside, I'm also hoping to maintain my positive progress with the Wargame Hobby Bingo Challenge squares I set myself five months ago. I've somehow managed to haphazardly complete ten of the tasks without paying particular attention to the trials themselves, and most recently successfully achieved both 'painting a new unit that can be used in multiple game systems', as well as 'adding a new unit to your army, and completely painting it before using it on the battlefield' with my "Games Workshop" Iron Golem warband for "Warcry"/"Age Of Sigmar", and some (as yet unposted) "Lucid Eye Publications" Grove's Shrubs for "Dragon Rampant.

"The Progeny Of A Dire Wraith's Doomed Love For An Earthwoman..."

"...Young Jimmy Marks appeared perfectly normal..."

This 52mm tall plastic “Wizkids” model of Hybrid is miniature number 35 from the Marvel "Heroclix" Avengers Assemble range and is based upon the super-villain James "Jimmy" Marks; a Dire Wraith/Human hybrid who fought both Rom the Spaceknight and the uncanny X-Men. Created by Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema, the "half-mutant" possesses telekinesis, telepathy, transformation, as well as superhuman strength, and made his first comic book appearance in the April 1981 issue of "Rom".

Removed from his 'clicky base' with a sharp modelling knife, Jacob Marks' offspring was super-glued onto a 40mm circular stand, and undercoated with "Vallejo" Squid Pink. The model was then washed with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade and Carroburg Crimson, before being dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Squid Pink. Finally the grotesque figure had his large luminous eyes 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre and "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade.

"Victrix Limited" Grenadier WIPs - The Frenchman is slowly having all his equipment blocked out with black

With such a reasonably 'simple' subject finished, I have found myself with a little extra time to progress the first of my Grenadiers for my "Portable Wargame" Napoleonic French force. As with my Fusiliers, this particular model is one of four figures I assembled over six years ago, but unlike my "ordinary line infantry" I only need to paint a quartet up in order to represent my regiment's elite company.

Interestingly, I seem to have decided upon a white undercoat for this particular foursome, as opposed to my usual "Citadel" Chaos Black, and resultantly, I have started 'black-lining' all the different elements of the soldier's equipment, straps, uniform, baggage and bottles rather than 'pick out' all the "Vallejo" Dead White parts as I've done in the past. Time will tell whether this change in tactic will help speed up my progress on the "Victrix Limited" project or not, but I'm hoping that I'll soon have worked my way up the Grenadier's instantly recognisable bearskin.

Wight WIPs - The two Undead Kings are slowly being dry-brushed and having their armour 'picked out'

My enthusiasm for "Kings Of War" by "Mantic Games" is also currently running particularly high, doubtless aided by the superbly sculpted Wights I am currently working on. I have been extremely tempted to simply leave my test 'warrior king' well enough alone, having applied my usual ethereal combination of watered-down "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green and Agrax Earthshade over a "Vallejo" Dead White basecoat to the piece. But having given the matter some thought, I'd decided to try and make parts of his (doubtless) rusty armour and weapon far more tangible.

For now though I have simply added some "Citadel" Abaddon Black to areas of the Wight, in preparation for a future application of Ironbreaker. I've also, having eventually determined how I want to paint the trio, started applying my ghostly washes to the regiment's second combatant, and in doing so noticed how much more of this model's armour, weapon and shield I believe I'll be able to make corporeal.

"Work Gangs Carry Weaponry Adapted From Mining Machinery..."

"...A kind of compression device called a mass compactor."

This 28mm metal Boromite Ganger is manufactured by "Warlord Games" and comes as part of the Boromite Work Gang boxed set for "Beyond The Gates Of Antares". "Supplied unassembled and unpainted" this extra-terrestrial miner is the first of five miniatures I require in order for me to field a 123-point Reflex Armour-wearing Work Gang armed with Mass Compactors and Implosion Grenades.

Initially undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, the figure was washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and then had a layer of Chaos Black applied over all its weaponry, ammunition packs and hip-flask. The alien's metallic areas, including its firearm's nozzle, were subsequently treated to a combination of Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil, whilst its Mass Compactor had its hand-grips and main body slightly corroded with a light touch of "Mig Productions" Extreme Rust Wash. Finally I 'picked out' the weapon's power lighting (and visor lenses) with "Vallejo" Heavy Khaki and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green.

Hybrid WIPs - Jimmy Marks has been primed, washed and dry-brushed

The Boromite's pouch was painted using a mix of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre, Heavy Red and "Citadel" Abaddon Black. This reddish brown was then washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Lastly, the model's yellow(ish) armour, his "separate multi-functional nanite receptor nodes" and mining tool's distortion compensator were carefully coloured by heavily washing a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre with some "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade.

With my latest "Beyond The Gates Of Antares" figure finished, I have turned my attention back to another of my plastic "Heroclix" models by "Wizkids". Having so recently finished four Dire Wraiths, I thought I'd spend a little time progressing the half-human, half-dire wraith Hybrid, known as James "Jimmy" Marks. Significantly pinker in colour than his father, this super-villain has already been primed, washed and dry-brushed, and is now ready for some detailing...  

Wight WIP - The supernatural creature has been primed, washed and dry-brushed

Lastly, I somewhat fallen foul of a desire to play some sort of mass-battle game, and resultantly have turned to "Kings Of War" by "Mantic Games" to 'scratch' this particular 'itch.' Unsurprisingly one of the first things I have done is purchase the second edition of the "mass-battle fantasy wargame" rule-book and been rather encouraged to see just how few miniatures it takes to actually field a tabletop worthy army.

To begin with I am therefore going to paint-up an Undead force, requiring just a regiment of Wights in order to 'unlock' two troops and either a war engine, monster or hero. The beauty of selecting the "once mighty warrior kings" is that they are large infantry, so I only require just three models in order to create a fully-fledged regiment; as opposed to twenty skeletons, ghouls or zombies...