Top Ten Manufacturers Of 2019 - A "Fantorical" Viewpoint

There can be little doubt that 2019 was a wonderfully surprising year for my painting, with the sudden emergence of several new miniature ranges which somewhat shockingly overshadowed my usual mainstay manufacturers. “Lucid Eye Publications”, “Modiphius Entertainment”, “Fantasy Flight Games”, “Knight Models”, and “Kitbash Games” all arguably came out of nowhere to challenge the annual dominancy of my traditional Big Four - “Warlord Games”, “Wizkids”, “Black Tree Design” and “Games Workshop”, and as a result made this period my most productive ever.

In addition, there was a noticeable increase in the amount of Fantasy-based models I pigmented that weren’t from the Mortal Realms of “Age Of Sigmar”. Science Fiction and super-hero figures have repeatedly governed my hobby-time over the past decade, yet due in large to the characterful sculpts of the “Toon Realms” range, Skeletons, Treemen, Spiders, Knights and assorted forest-bred wildlife increasingly ‘cropped up’ on my online shopping trolley too…

No.10 - "Wizards Of The Coast" - "Star Wars Miniatures Game"

There can be absolutely no doubt that I would never have painted anything concerning either the "Star Wars Miniatures Game" or "Wizards Of The Coast" during this year if it wasn't for the generosity of Phil Curran, who along with a formidable array of other science-fiction based miniatures, kindly gifted me an enormous Commerce Guild Homing Spider Droid and four Super Battle Droids. Indeed, despite owning a significant box full of models from the collectable miniatures tabletop game, I have predominantly focused on simply re-basing the figures in the past, not re-painting them. However, I felt it was only right to put my brush-tip to these lovely sculpts as soon as possible, and score some much needed points during the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge as well.

No.9 - "Crooked Dice Games Design Studio" - "7TV"

Despite having played numerous games of "7TV" by "Crooked Dice Games Design Studio" when the "cinematic style" skirmish game first came out several years ago, it wasn't until the end of 2019, with the release of "7TV: Apocalypse", that I finally became enamoured with its second edition. As a result, except for a quartet of Gabriel Hounds, I barely picked away at the Lincolnshire-based company's range until the very end of the year, when I finally finished a partially-painted female X-Commando who had been lurking in my queue for months, as well as their excellent Protoplasmic Terrors.

No.8 - "Reaper Miniatures" - "Chronoscope"

Whilst my plans to host a campaign loosely set in James M. Ward and Gary Jaquet's mid-25th century “Gamma World” never materialised, the science fantasy world did encourage me to pigment a plethora of models from "Reaper Miniatures" Chronoscope range. These varied from some distinctly "Dungeons And Dragons" stalwarts, such as the Gelatinous Cube, Stone Golem and Mind-Eater, through to some surreal adventurers, like Sherlock Holmes and a Deep Sea Diver, as well as the formidable "Bones" sculpt of Ape-X.

No.7 - "Warlord Games" - "Doctor Who: Exterminate!"

Quite possibly the biggest disappointment of 2019 was the utter lack of new releases by "Warlord Games" for their "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" Miniatures Game. Admittedly, this absence of fresh sculpts did offer the opportunity for me to pigment my quite considerable backlog of time travelling figures, but without the persistent 'buzz' of new foes to fight I soon found my enthusiasm dwindling for what is a somewhat overly-clunky rule-set. As a result, perhaps my most notable success was completely painting the range's "Tomb Of The Cybermen" set, complete with its Cyber-Leader for the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Challenge.

No.6 - "Fantasy Flight Games" - "Star Wars: Legion"

Undoubtedly one of the biggest surprises of the year, especially considering how poorly my attempt to paint the Minnesota-based company's previous "Star Wars" game had gone, was the sheer number of figures I completed for "Star Wars: Legion" by "Fantasy Flight Games". Initially wowed by the attention to detail on the range's dynamically-posed Wookie Warriors, I soon transferred my attention over to the Dark Side of the Force, by applying my brush-tip to the likes of General Maximilian Veers, some Imperial Royal Guards, a complete squad of Imperial Death Troopers and Emperor Palpatine himself.

No.5 - "Games Workshop" - "Age Of Sigmar"

Two significant-sized projects lead to me pushing through a considerable number of "Games Workshop" models for "Age Of Sigmar". On the one hand I added enough Bloodletters and Heralds of Khorne to allow me to field a 1,000-point strong Blades Of Khorne army for the miniature game's second edition, and on the other I stubbornly forced myself to complete enough of the Nottingham-based manufacturer's overly-complicated plastic figures to deploy an Iron Golem warband for "Warcry".

No.4 - "Wizkids" - "Heroclix"

Ever a stable part of my annual output, my interest in super-hero based gaming surprisingly didn’t really ‘take off’ until somewhat late in the year, with my sudden determination in October to clear my painting queue of eight old(ish) Ultron Drone figures. Before that point I had simply been 'picking away' at the pre-painted plastic figures, momentarily fixating upon the Spaceknight Firefall's fearsome battle against a clutch of Dire Wraiths, before flitting over to the odd "HorrorClix" miniature such as the Reaper of Souls and a Carnage Bot.

No.3 - "Modiphius Entertainment" - "Star Trek Adventures"

Having become increasingly frustrated by the extraordinarily long delays affecting their Robert E. Howard’s Conan Role-Playing Game Kickstarter, which was supposedly meant to deliver in June 2016, I actually once swore I would never buy another “Modiphius Entertainment” product again. But then the London-based manufacturer released their “Star Trek Adventures” miniatures and I quickly found myself neck deep in Borg drones. Two fully-painted boxes of the Collective later, as well as a half-strength raiding party of Romulans, and even I must admit that the 32mm scale resin figures had an enormously positive impact upon my productivity during 2019.

No.2 - "Black Tree Design" - "Doctor Who"

Enthused by a lengthy series of battles using some homemade rules and my desire to potentially field numerous opposing factions, as well as an increasingly nostalgic love of classic “Doctor Who”, it was perhaps inevitable that I would continue to steadily work my way through this ageing company’s (back) catalogue. A formidable force of Sharaz Jek Androids, Silurians and Monoids all helped motivate me throughout the year, and even kept my passion going when the delivery service of “Black Tree Design” left a lot to be desired, courtesy of some incredibly poor communications and month-long delays.

No.1 - "Lucid Eye Publications" - "Toon Realms"

Perhaps my biggest success of 2019 was the completion of a small-sized Undead army for my “Lord Of The Toons” project using the “Dragon Rampant” rule-set. Produced by “Lucid Eye Publications”, a company I was initially utterly oblivious to, this force of skeletons and spiders greatly contributed to my success during the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, and maintained much of its momentum for almost the entirety of the year due to a positively frantic release schedule. A genuine surprise genre, this particular range also got me as close to doing batch-painting as I have been in almost a decade of hobbying…

"Nine He Gave To Mortal Men..."

"...Proud and great, and so ensnared them."

These four 28mm scale "white metal figures" of Lord Rascal's Ghostly Wraiths are produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be bought from the company's "Toon Realms" range. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, I have painted them to represent the "dreaded ring-servants of the Dark Lord Sauron in Middle-earth" so as to field them as a 'Lord Of The Toons' Bellicose Foot unit (Reduced Model Unit) for “Dragon Rampant” by "Osprey Games".

Originally I had planned to simply paint these figures in exactly the same way as I've pigmented all my ghosts, using a white undercoat with plenty of green shading and simple white dry-brush. But having seen the 'official' paint-job on the now OOP Twilight Ringwraiths manufactured by "Games Workshop", I thought I'd try a distinctly bluer palette, so therefore primed the quartet with two layers of "Vallejo" Steel Grey.

'Lord of the Toons' - Faramir and Boromir face four of the Nazgul

The Fallen Kings were then 'muddied down' with a wash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, before being dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Steel Grey, and an even lighter touch of Heavy Bluegrey. With the bulk of the spectres finished, I subsequently 'picked out' their grotty gloves with a combination of "Vallejo" White and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and their eyes with a dab of  "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

I also layered their teeth with a dash of "Vallejo" White, and decided to imply a haunting look in their somewhat softly-detailed faces by adding a splash of "Citadel" Druchii Violet just beneath their eyes. This colour sort of replicated the facial make-up I spotted the actors wearing when they appeared in Peter Jackson's 2001 epic fantasy adventure film "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring".

"Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures" WIPs - The Bone Golem has been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

Despite still having another four of Lord Rascal's Ghostly Wraiths left to finish, I've momentarily turned my attention towards a considerably larger-sized figure from “Wizkids” impressive Nolzur’s Marvellous Miniatures range. This Bone Golem is absolutely packed with detail with all its skulls, ribs, leg bones and grisly cartilage, but should look pretty impressive on the tabletop once I've found the time to pigment all its fleshy areas.

In addition, this latest "Dungeons & Dragons" model has encouraged me to dust down the five adventurers I planed to use for an "Expedition To The Barrier Peaks" campaign a few years ago. Consisting of such notable treasure-seekers as a Gnome Infiltrator (with repeating crossbow), a Half-Elf Sorcerer, and a Lizardman Warrior, these 'Out Of Production' miniatures were all made by "Wizards Of The Coast", and predominantly came from the company's discontinued "Chainmail" range...

"Do Not Meddle In The Affairs Of Wizards..."

"...For they are subtle and quick to anger."

This 28mm scale model of a wizard sat atop a dice whilst smoking a pipe is produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and was actually sent to me as a free "Gifty" with one of my recent orders. The figure is arguably not quite as cartoonish in style as the manufacturer’s other “Toon Realms” sculpts, but I thought it would still make an excellent statue/objective marker for “Dragon Rampant”.

In addition, I wanted the opportunity to try my hand at a somewhat waterlogged stone figure, in order to test out a possible palette for a much larger figure I plan on submitting to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. As a result the miniature was super-glued upon a 28mm “Games Workshop” circular base, before subsequently being permanently attached to one of the 40mm thin-lipped circular bases I use for all my objective markers.

"Toon Realms" WIPs - Lord Rascal's Ghostly Wraiths are slowly having their gloves, eyes and teeth painted

The magic user, along with his 'stone' plinth, was initially primed using two coats of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey, washed with a mixture of “Citadel” Nuln Oil, Biel-Tan Green and Agrax Earthshade, and dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey. I then went back with some extra "Citadel" Nuln Oil and 'picked out' some of the dice spots which weren't quite as visible as I wanted.

Significantly more time-consuming a mini-project has been the eight Lord Rascal's Ghostly Wraiths by "Lucid Eye Publications" I have slowly been progressing. Having primed, washed and dry-brushed the "Toon Realms" spectres, I foolishly thought that the bulk of my work was done, but have since discovered just how hard it is to 'grind out' sixteen "Vallejo" White gloves and assorted teeth. As a result I've split the work down into two groups of four figures, with the first lot now rapidly approaching completion. 

"Marvel Crisis Protocol" WIPs - The Black Panther needs all his suit's Vibranium to be 'picked out'

Long time sufferers of this blog will undoubtedly know of my love for all-things super-hero based, so will probably appreciate the dilemma "Atomic Mass Games" have caused me with their release of the "Marvel Crisis Protocol" miniatures game. For a while I have managed to stay reasonably strong, and keep my painting queue clear of the Minnesota-based company's multi-piece hard plastic figures, yet that has now changed with the recent arrival of their Black Panther character pack...

In fact, I've become so enthused with the sculpt that I have additionally assembled the expansion set's Killmonger miniature too, and hope to slowly paint my way through two forces where each side has a clear arch-nemesis on the opposing team. I'm also rather keen to pigment a few of the range's models which I don't own as either OOP "Knight Models" or "Heroclix", such as Venom, Okoye and Shuri...

"One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor."

 "It's Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs."

This 28mm scale "white metal figure" of Sterling The Wandering Knight is produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be bought from the company's "Toon Realms" range as an adventurer "for use with The Caverns of The Frog King Adventure Module." Sculpted by Steve Saleh, I have painted him as Boromir, the eldest son of Denethor II, so as to be able to field him as a 'Lord Of The Toons' Hero (Single Model Unit) for “Dragon Rampant” by "Osprey Games".

Originally primed with two layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black,  the older brother of Faramir was treated to two coats of Ironbreaker before being drenched in Nuln Oil and dry-brushed using (more) Ironbreaker. I then 'cleaned up' his shield with some additional "Abaddon Black" and treated his sword hilt and helmet to a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Gold and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

The Thing and Black Panther make short work of an alien warrior and some stalkers

The High Warden of the White Tower had his face initially 'picked out' with some "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, and was subsequently washed with "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade before receiving some "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone highlights. Finally, his belt was given a lick of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter", whilst his feathered plume was pigmented "Vallejo" White and later splashed with Pale Grey.

I'm hoping to attend the LVL Up Gaming Store in Bournemouth at least once a month this year, and took advantage of my most recent visit to trial some quickly thought homemade rules for H.R. Giger's aliens. Initially I had panned for the slavering extra-terrestrials to face off against an increasing number of "Marvel Comics" most famous superheroes, but rather embarrassingly forget to bring the Avengers statistics with me.

The Human Torch lights up the alien menace with a series of fireballs

As a result, we had to settle for a series of smaller-sized skirmish games across an industrial furnace complex which arguably far better suited the super-powered long range abilities of the Fantastic Four (and Black Panther) than it did the somewhat faster, but vulnerable at a distance Xenomorphs. Fortunately, such disadvantages didn't stop some 'stand out' moments occurring within our games, such as The Thing charging straight into the nearest alien warrior and relying solely upon his thick brick hide to protect him from the creature's acid blood, or the Black Panther dispatching a gaggle of nightmarish stalkers only to then later succumb to his close combat injuries.

Perhaps the evening's biggest star though was Johnny Storm, whose 'untouchable' flight ability definitely helped Mister Fantastic's super-group keep the aliens at bay whenever they seemed likely to break through the line of heroes through sheer weight of numbers. Able to fly almost within touching distance of the Xenomorphs, the Human Torch repeatedly whittled down the fast-approaching warrior drones with a hail of fire-balls, and certainly gave me food-for-thought as to how I could better balance flying units within my homemade rule-set "M.I.S.S."...

"Theoretically, The Corpse Of Any Living Creature Can Be Turned Into A Zombie."

"But, for whatever reason, most necromancers find humanoid subjects to be far easier to reanimate."

This 63mm tall metal model of a Zombie Snow Troll is manufactured by “North Star Military Figures” and can be bought as code FGV316 from their “Frostgrave" Range. According to Joseph A. McCullough's lore for the Frozen City these undead monsters are “a popular choice for a death mage looking to add a little strength to his forces”, and whilst zombie trolls are “not quite as tough as their living counterparts”, they “are still creatures to be feared.”

Although I’m a big fan of Mark Copplestone’s official paint scheme for the miniature, I actually thought the palette chosen was a little too dark-skinned for my taste, so I primed my model “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey in the hope of becoming reacquainted with my preferred zombie colour scheme from six years ago.  The living corpse was then drenched in “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green and dry-brushed using some (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey.

"Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures" WIPs - The Earth Elemental has been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

I also decided that I wanted the troll's shaggy fur to be brown, so applied a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade to the large clump of hair partially covering its back. For the rotting behemoth's visible intestines, I first applied a layer of "Vallejo" Squid Pink and then washed its guts with "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. Some of this Shade spilt onto the monster's rancid flesh, so I used a piece of sponge to dapple the area around the gash in the creature's side with even more Carroburg Crimson.

This technique seemed to work well to suggest the skin was mottled and bruised, so I extended my sponge-work across the figure where appropriate. I then tackled the beast's huge partially-exposed skull by layering it with "Vallejo" White, shading it using some Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter", and finally dry-brushing it with (more) "Vallejo" White. Once dry, I similarly treated parts of the bone to some "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

"Toon Realms" WIPs - Lord Rascal's Ghostly Wraiths are ready for a series of lighter dry-brushes

Finally, I 'picked out' the troll's eye socket with a dollop of "Vallejo" Heavy Red, and then sponged on plenty of "Citadel" Bloodletter across areas of its decomposing body, head and matted fur. With the gore finished, I glued a double helping of "Citadel" Snow around the plastic 40mm circular base in order for the hulking zombie to fit in alongside the rest of my "Frostgrave" collection.

Working on such a considerably-sized figure has momentarily given me a real taste for pigmenting large models, so with some gusto I have also been working on a plastic Earth Elemental from “Wizkids” increasingly impressive Nolzur’s Marvellous Miniatures range. In addition, I have taken receipt of eight Lord Rascal's Ghostly Wraiths by "Lucid Eye Publications", and immediately primed, washed and dry-brushed the "Toon Realms" ghosts...

"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...

"Gondor! Gondor, Between The Mountains And The Sea!"

"West wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree fell like bright rain in gardens of the Kings of old."

These eight "cartoon scale" white metal figures of King Victor's Men-at-Arms are produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be bought from the company's "Toon Realms" range as a pack of four identical miniatures. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, I have painted them all in the colours of Gondor so as to be able to finally field a twelve-model strong unit of (Heavy Foot) Minas Tirith Knights for “Dragon Rampant” by "Osprey Games".

Initially undercoated with two layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, the Third Age warriors were dry-brushed using some "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal in order to bring out some of their large cloaks' detail, and subsequently washed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. The soldiers' boots were then treated to a touch of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, whilst their sword hilts and belt buckles were given a lick of Gold.

"O proud walls! White towers! O winged crown and throne of gold!"

Both of these areas were later washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Finally I 'picked out' the Men-at-Arms' helmets, neck armour, chain-mail and shield emblems using a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil, and eventually dry-brushed these parts with (more) Ironbreaker.

Setting aside my 'Lord of the Toons' project, I have managed to 'endure' my first taste of "skirmish combat in the Mortal Realms" using my Iron Golems against the Untamed Beasts. Perhaps unsurprisingly things did not go terribly well for my "Warcry" warband, as there are clearly some formidable synergies to understand in order to utilise each factions' special abilities and Runemarks.

The Iron Golems appeared to be repeatedly outnumbered in their skirmishes, even when helped by a Chaotic Beast

There also seems to be a significant amount of luck to be found before the game has even started, as a result of the random terrain layout, victory conditions, twist deck and battleplans; most of which are drawn prior to any battle-hammer being swung in anger. In my first game, I disappointingly discovered just three of my hapless fighters along one table-edge would be facing the vast majority of my opponent's force, and to make matters worse, they immediately needed to push through this wall of bristling weapons so as to avoid being instantly removed from the game as casualties because they were within 4 inches of an edge...

Needless to say, the trio were quickly butchered before help could arrive; albeit my duardin armator making a stand rather than fleeing for his life, wasn't the smartest of strategies on my behalf. Unfortunately though, I felt the second scenario was similarly stacked against me, as my opponent had to just outnumber me at a single objective marker every turn so they could destroy some of the battle's way-points. Simple stuff when my warband was distributed right across the battlefield, whilst the Untamed Beasts' formation was significantly more concentrated...

“To Isengard With Doom We Come!”

"To land of gloom with tramp of doom, with roll of drum, we come, we come..."

These eight 23mm tall "cartoon scale white metal figures" of Grove’s Shrubs are produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be brought from the company's "Toon Realms" range. Sculpted by Trish Carden to be the Shrub Henchmen for Yewan the Treeman, I actually thought these miniatures would make some excellent-looking Ents for my ongoing 'Lord Of The Toons' project using the "Dragon Rampant" rule-set by "Osprey Games".

Initially primed with a double layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, the talking trees were 'immersed' in "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and later dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, as well as (the somewhat lighter) "Vallejo" Heavy Brown. I then 'picked out' their leafy beards using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Green and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green.

"Some of my kin look just like trees now, and need something great to rouse them."

Finally, the ancient shepherds of Fangorn Forest had their eyes 'dotted' using a tiny spot of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre" and the fungi living on their backs treated to a lick of "Vallejo" Heavy Red. These oyster-shaped toadstools were subsequently shaded using a splash of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, before each ensemble was tidied up, courtesy of either some additional “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna, Heavy Brown and/or dash of “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade.

With two units of Lesser Warbeasts completed, I also turned my attention to one of a handful of free miniatures “Lucid Eye Publications” have kindly sent me as part of my recent orders with their company. These figures all consist of the self-same wizard sat atop a dice whilst smoking a pipe, and whilst not quite as cartoonish in style as the manufacturer’s other “Toon Realms” sculpts, they certainly seem to still fit the genre quite nicely.   

"A dark power has found its way back into the world."

As a result I’ve decided to utilise the models as statues/objective markers for my games of “Dragon Rampant”, and paint them so as to represent a variety of materials. To begin with, I thought I’d prime the wizard with some "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and subsequently treat him to a double coat of Brass. The figurine was then heavily washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Brass.

To give the idol some ‘weathering’ I applied plenty of "Citadel" Nihilakh Oxide over the miniature, and later ‘blended’ this in with the rest of the colour scheme by giving it a second dry-brush of "Vallejo" Brass. Lastly, I pigmented the 28mm “Games Workshop” circular base beneath the wizard using “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey, as well as a mixture of “Citadel” Nuln Oil, Biel-Tan Green and Agrax Earthshade, before dry-brushing the ‘stone plinth’ with more “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey.

Top Ten Miniatures Of 2019 - An "Undercoat" Personal Choice

Well 2019 has come and gone and there were lots of highlights to remember. We had the end of the Star Wars trilogy trilogies, Avengers Endgame saw the stunning sacrifices of Black Widow, Iron Man and Cap and I think there was an election! In terms of the miniature painting hobby some highlights included the Clone Wars coming to "Star Wars Legion", the superb "Warcry" from "Games Workshop" and the great new "Marvel Crisis Protocol" game from "Atomic Mass Games".

It also means I get the chance to review the miniatures painted on the "Fantorical" blog for the year. And what a year it was too, with a huge output making my choices very hard indeed. My choices are a personal opinion based on a variety of factors, such as the painting, the imagination used and of course the rule of cool! So, without further ado onto the list, in reverse order of course!

No. 10 - Borg by "Modiphius Entertainment" - August 16th

These Borg are part of a much larger force painted over the course of the year and these ones just stood out to me. I think the paint scheme has done a great job of capturing the menace of these iconic "Star Trek" villains and the collective as a whole has been a great project for the year.

No. 9 - Punchline by “Kitbash Games” - January 10th

This miniature is from a "Kickstarter" project and uses several superhero/super villain tropes to come up with a great looking figure that has been painted very well in my opinion. I like the paint scheme of this one enormously making it an easy choice for the Top Ten.

No. 8 - Imperial Royal Guards by "Fantasy Flight Games" - February 7th

These stunning miniatures are from the original "Star Wars trilogy" and are the personal bodyguards of the Emperor himself. I chose these because, a) they are from Star Wars! And b) they are a great exercise in painting red. I find red quite a tricky colour at times and these miniatures are an example of how to paint the colour effectively!

No. 7 - Deinonychus by "Copplestone Castings" - December 15th.

These miniatures are great sculpts and I just adore the painting. The colours used are very natural (if we can say natural for a species that is extinct and we don’t know what the colour of their skin was!!). I just think these look really great overall and would look awesome on any dinosaur themed game!

No. 6 -  Skeleton Swordsmen by "Lucid Eye Publications" - December 8th

The whole "Toon Realms" range has featured quite heavily on this blog but I just adored the skeletons. A simple enough colour scheme but done so well they just stand out as the pick of the bunch for me. The bone colour has been painted superbly in my opinion and looks fantastic. Just a cracking group to look at!

No. 5 - Romulans by “Modiphius Entertainment” - September 27th.

Another "Star Trek" entry in my Top Ten. I just like everything about these: the sculpts look great, the paint scheme really captures the look of these enigmatic villains and overall they look great! The skin and faces have been painted really well on these miniatures and the colour scheme really reflects how they look in the television series.

No. 4 - Drathro by "Black Tree Design" - July 25th

I just really like this miniature. It is from the "Doctor Who" television show and has a look about it that I just adore. The paint scheme looks deceptively simple but the metallics have been painted superbly in my opinion and make the whole thing so memorable. I think Simon has really mastered painting metallic and I am jealous of the way he paints them as they look so realistic. A great looking mini!!

No. 3 - Iron Golem Armator by "Games Workshop" - October 4th

The whole "Warcry" series of miniatures has really caught my imagination this year as they are well sculpted and really capture the different facets of chaos in the Warhammer universe. There are eight Iron Golems in the warband who are heavily armoured in a really distinctive style and this duardin (dwarf in old money!) is my pick of the bunch. The metallics and the red armour are just great on this mini. I know that the painting process on these particular miniatures has been a bit of a trial but in the end they have turned out great.

No. 2 - Wookie Warriors by "Fantasy Flight Games" - January 18th

Another "Star Wars" entry in the Top Ten. The wookies are one of my favourite alien races in George Lucas' universe and these miniatures look awesome and capture the “walking carpets” brilliantly. The paint job on these minis is really good. The fur has been painted brilliantly and the accessories and weapons have been picked out so they don’t get lost in the vast amount of hair!! Great looking unit.

No. 1 - Hexgorger Skulls by "Games Workshop" - April 19th.

These models are from "Age of Sigmar" and are prayers summoned onto the battlefield by the followers of the Blood God, Khorne. They look awesome in my opinion. All of the elements have been painted brilliantly: the bone looks tremendous, I really like the shading and the way it gives the appearance of aged bone, the blood flowing from them looks really effective and overall they look stunning. They are a real centre piece model that will be a stand out in this army. A great bit of painting that has resulted in a fantastic model that has stuck in my memory since I first saw it.

Well that concludes my Top Ten and the reasons behind them. Happy New Year to all the readers of “Fantorical”.

“I Dunno What The Hell’s In There, But It’s Weird…”

"You see, what we're talking about here is an organism that imitates other life forms..."

These three 28mm scale resin miniatures of Protoplasmic Terrors are manufactured by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and are part of the company’s Villains and Monsters product line. "Bubbling, amorphous masses of viscous matter, these surging, formless horrors are the product of vile experiments or the consequence of terrible, unholy rites” and rather reminded me of the lethal Black Pudding from “Dungeons & Dragons”.

As the trio of huge oozes come as multi-piece kits, they were initially assembled by having their separate tentacles super-glued in place on to their writhing bodies, and subsequently primed using a couple of coats of “Citadel” Abaddon Black. I was actually in two minds at this point as to what colour to predominantly pigment my mutable creatures, as I didn’t think painting them pure black (or even “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal) did the detailed sculpts much justice.

"One other thing, I think it rips through your clothes when it takes you over."

However, I did rather like the idea of a hapless adventurer seeing little else but some teeth and an occasional eye suddenly peering out at them before being horribly consumed, so ultimately decided to heavily dry-brush each “bubbling, heaping pile of thick black goo” with “Vallejo” Charred Brown, and then washed the monstrosities using plenty of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Each Protoplasmic Terror’s maw was ‘picked out’ using “Vallejo” White and later stained with some splashes of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade.

In the past I’ve usually simply ‘spotted’ such dungeon dwellers’ eyes using a dollop of “Vallejo” Heavy Ochre and a dash of “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade. But on this occasion, I wanted the majority of the voraciously hungry monsters’ eyes to have some intelligence behind them, so resultantly turned to my new Psycho Wargamer Brush by “The Army Painter” to dot a few pupils with a little “Citadel” Abaddon Black instead.

"Toon Realms" WIPs - One of King Victor's Men-at-Arms, Sterling and King Victor's Royal Guard

With the month soon coming to a close, I’m still hoping to get the vast majority of my Gondor/Fangorn Forest army finished for “Dragon Rampant” using the “Toon Realms” range of figures by “Lucid Eye Publications”. The main bulk of this force will predominantly consist of some Heavy Foot, and despite having already painted a blister of King Victor's Men-at-Arms, I still have need of another eight miniatures to bulk out the unit to its maximum strength.

In addition, I also need to pigment a further five models from King Victor’s Royal Guard to act as the Guards of the Tower of Gondor. I finished a test piece based upon the Minis Tirith warriors’ palette earlier in the year, and am keen to get the rest of the force finished as I now have my eye on painting a second unit of Elite Foot utilising the bright blue and white colour scheme of the Knights of Dol Amroth…

"That Punch Would've Killed Anything..."

"Nul is one of the powerful Worthy warriors serving under the Serpent."

This 63mm tall plastic “Wizkids” figure of Nul is miniature number 106 from the Marvel “Heroclix” Fear Itself expansion and depicts the Breaker of Worlds following his escape from the magical hammer his father, Cul Borson, had transformed him into. "A problem for the latest incarnation of the Defenders", the 'living avatar of evil' first appeared in the July 2011 issue of “Fear Itself” and was created by Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen.

Bestowed with super strength, the god was super-glued upon a 40mm circular base and primed with three layers of “Citadel" Abaddon Black so as to make the sculpt's surface as smooth as possible. The immortal then had his eyes and sharp teeth 'picked out' with "Vallejo" White and his mouth subsequently stained with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

"The Hammer of Nul fell to Earth after the Serpent called a series of hammers to awaken the Worthy."

With such a simple paint-job completed, I thought I'd spend some additional time pigmenting the infamous Hammer of Nul, which originally "fell to Earth after the Serpent called a series of hammers to awaken the Worthy." This disconcertingly bendy plastic model was super-glued to one of the 40mm thin-lipped circular bases I use for all my objective markers and undercoated with "Vallejo" Dark Sand.

The entire weapon was later washed with a fair amount of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and dry-brushed using some (more) "Vallejo" Dark Sand. Finally, I applied a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter" to its straps, and used a couple of coats of some watered-down "Citadel" Abaddon Black to part of its head and long handle.

"Toon Realms" WIPs - Eight of Grove's Shrubs are currently being progressed

Due to the generosity of Curt Campbell's administration this straightforward pair of miniatures has won me my first 10 points for the "Tenth Analogue Hobbies Analogue Painting Challenge". In addition, I have met the event's early stipulation of having "an entry submitted within the first month" and therefore avoided being dropped from the significantly large Challenge roster until its end in March 2020.

As a result I am now looking at making some significant progress on my first 'proper' submission to the AHPC in the guise of eight Grove's Shrubs by "Lucid Eye Publications". These "Toon Realms" sculpts will help 'fill out' my collection of Entlings to the point where I'll be able to field two units of Lesser Warbeasts as part of my Gondor/Fangorn army for "Dragon Rampant"...

“The Dead? Summoned? I Knew That.”

"Fight, and I will release you from this living death!"

These four "cartoon scale white metal" figures of Lord Rascal's Skeleton Warriors (many more shown) are produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be bought from the company's "Toon Realms" range. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, the quartet are the final models needed for a full-strength Undead Spearman (Heavy Foot) unit I plan to field as part of my Necromancer's ever-expanding “Dragon Rampant” army.

Initially primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Dark Sand, the miniatures were thoroughly washed in "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and heavily dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Dark Sand. I then applied a much lighter dry-brush of “Vallejo” White over each decaying soldier so as to suggest how the passage of time had bleached their fleshless bones.

"We fight!"

I pigmented the skeletons’ boots and spear-shafts using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade, before ‘picking out’ their spear-tips and shield emblems using a little "Citadel" Ironbreaker and splash of Nuln Oil. These metallic areas were later given an additional ‘lick’ of Ironbreaker simply to provide the weapons with a noticeably sharp edge and ‘highlight’ a little of the bosses’ raised detail.

I also painted each of the warriors’ shields in either "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Heavy Blue, Heavy Violet or Black, and later tried to dirty these all up with a few drops of "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Finally I used a small amount of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown to differentiate their spear-straps from the rest of the hand-weapon, and shaded them with a layer of Strong Tone Quickshade by “The Army Painter”.

"Warcry" WIPs - The Dominar is slowly getting all his chainmail and armour 'picked out' with metallics

With my twenty six point evil “Dragon Rampant” army completed, I am now spending an increasing amount of hobby-time focusing upon the final few figures required to ‘fill out’ my Iron Golem warband for “Warcry”. In particular I have been working on my group’s Dominar, whose progress has significantly benefited from my somewhat recent decision to paint the Chaos warrior’s brass armour first, rather than leave the numerous metallic areas until much later on.

As a result, I have been able to quite rapidly work my way up the formidably-detailed model, starting with his heavily armoured legs, groin and gut. Of course, much of this ornately-detailed plating and chain-mail still needs to be tidied up prior to the “well-rounded fighter” receiving a wash of “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade (and perhaps a lick of Flesh Tearers Red Contrast paint). But this process, in my mind at least, appears a far faster way of getting the figure finished than having my brush carefully navigating its tip around his previously-painted areas of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and “Citadel” Ironbreaker…