The Skeleton Horde 4: Red Shieldbearers

I made two more skeletons to finish off a command rank of five figures. We now have the red-crested champion, a musician, a standard bearer (kind of), and these two red shieldbearers for the front rank. I'm going to make more champions with plumes/crests of other colors, then pair them up with shieldbearers of the appropriate color so that it's easier to identify regiments. (Red Regiment, Green Regiment, etc.)

With this duo complete, it brings the painting total for January 2024 up to 50 models. This makes it my most productive month ever (though, consequently, a not very productive month in other areas). Skeletons almost feel like cheating here, but there were a lot of other miniatures this month as well. Since my goal for the year is 130 miniatures, this puts me at almost 40% of my goal. Strong start!

Warhammer: The Old World just released, so I went through one of the free Legacy Army Lists, Vampire Counts, and totaled up a use for my painted skeleton horde. They're about 719 points (depending on what the Giant Skeleton proxies for). Neat! With my upcoming plans for more skeletal reinforcements, I'll probably be able to get that up to at least 1000 points, if not 1250.

Corporate Security 4: Riot Guards

Back in 2022, I put together a few squads of sci-fi corporate security forces. I also assembled and started these three soldiers—armed with axes, shields, and pistols—but they languished, forgotten, on the shelf since then. Well, languish no more, corporate riot guards!

The bodies are Stargrave Troopers, the arms are Frostgrave Cultists, the helmet heads are Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder, and the Rudulian head and the shields are Anvil Industry. That's a lot of sources.

This force is good to have for sci-fi or even modern RPG games. In Stargrave, they could be run as a crew with Tekker Captain (Grenadier), Veteran First Mate (Rudulian with Shield), Gunner, Sniper, Trooper x3, Recruit x2, and Chiseler/Hacker (Setla with pistol). Maybe I'll add one more model so that they're a perfect fit for a 4x4 storage tray, but currently there are 15 members of corporate security:

• Sergeant
• Trooper (5)
  
• Agent (3)
  
• Gunner
• Sniper
• Hazard Trooper
• Riot Guard (3)
  

Mordheim: Clan Eshin Rat Ogre and Slinger

A long time ago, I wanted to build a Skaven warband for Mordheim. In fact, I've had a warband assembled and primed after an Ebay find maybe a decade ago. Now is as good a time as any to paint some of them up. The little fellow to the right is a test paint to see how quickly I can do a single model for the warband; he doesn't look great (and he's Agrax Shiny™), but he's good enough, and I can always pick out a few more details later.

The large fellow, on the other hand, I took some time on. This is a Reaper Miniatures "Giant Wererat" on a 50mm base. It's a great stand in for a Rat Ogre—210 points of a 500 point warband! It certainly makes painting up a legal force go more quickly, even if it is painful un-optimized. He has a very limited number of washes applied; the fur on his back and the non-metallic metals are the only things I washed. You can see some black got on his finger in the picture, but I've since fixed that with the appropriate flesh tone.

As I said, the rest of the warband is assembled and primed, so hopefully it will go quickly. And if I want to add someone else or swap something out, I still have four bodies/legs on sprue, with enough swords/spears/shields/heads to make whatever I want. I'd like to thank past-Me for this great Ebay purchase many, many years ago.

WWII British Airborne Paratroopers

A while back, I ordered some sprues from Warlord Games and they sent along a free sprue of the "British Airborne WWII Allied Paratroopers" from their Bolt Action range. These six stouthearted lads are all made from that one sprue.

The six soldiers are equally divided between three with Lee Enfield rifles and three with Sten Gun SMGs.

• Beret - Heavy Red
  
• Pants - Gold Brown + Heavy Sienna (50/50)
• Smock - Heavy Grey
• Gold Brown + Heavy Sienna (50/50)
• Heavy Sienna
• Medium Foliage Green
• Pouches - Stonewall Grey
• Webbing/Belts/Bottom of Pants - Bonewhite
• Rifle - Folkart Coffee Latte
• Rifle metal and full SMG - Gunmetal Grey
• Wash everything lightly with Brown (Agrax)
  
• Redo Bottom of Pants - Bonewhite + Coffee Latte
• Para Wings on Beret - Bonewhite
• Boots and base rim - Black
  

While I don't intend to paint up any more airborne chaps, I guess I could use these in a pulp or superhero WWII game. They came out looking quite nice, but they are time-consuming to paint up.

Marienburg Ogre Bodyguard

I love the Landsknecht Ogres box from Wargames Atlantic. Here's another ogre from that box, painted up for Mordheim. I went with a red, yellow, and blue paint scheme, which is one of the classic schemes for a warband from the city of Marienburg. With their extra 100 gold starting budget, Marienburgers could afford an ogre from the get-go. This fellow is armed with a halberd, which would count as a two-handed weapon, giving the ogre an effective strength of 6 for his two attacks each round. Scary.

The paints to use are as follows:

• Blue (70.925) Dark Prussian Blue (70.899)
• Heavy Red (72.141)
• Heavy Sienna (72.154)
• Gold Brown (70.877)
• Oily Steel (70.865)
• Gehenna's Gold (Citadel)
• Nuln Oil wash (Citadel)
  
• Normal flesh layering colors (Brown and Golden Brown (Craftsmart))

The base is something different. After laying down the Vallejo Dark Earth Texture (26.218), I painted everything black. Then I heavily drybrushed Heavy Charcoal (72.155), did a medium drybrush with Basalt Grey (70.869), and then a light drybrush of Luftwaffe Uniform WWII (70.816), which is a nice blue-grey.  Finally, a super-light drybrush of Deep Sky Blue (70.844). It gives a nice nighttime look that should stand out among my other miniatures.

A Giant Crab

It's always a bit strange when I go from posting something really cool like the Undead Lord to something like this: A Giant Crab. Another model from the Bones 4 Kickstarter, this is exactly what it says on the tin: A Giant Crab. The recipe for this was pretty simple with just various reds, a bit of brown on the barnacles, an Agrax wash, and voila: A Giant Crab.

So, I proudly present: A Giant Crab.

The Skeleton Horde 3: Undead Lord

Every army needs a commander, and now the Skeleton Horde has its own imposing Lord. This fellow is a Reaper Miniatures "Khanag the Slayer" from the Bones 4 Kickstarter. I swapped out the head (which was originally a bit goofy) for one of the Wargames Atlantic skeleton heads since the plumed helmet would both look better and fit better with the rest of the army. In terms of leadership, this Lord replaces the Skeleton Commander (shown above for scale) as the undead entity in charge of the warband. It's been said that the Lord looks born to lead, but it's a nature vs. nurture thing; was he truly born to lead, or did a necromancer just raise him right?

The model stands 75mm tall from base to the tip of the sword. The attached giant rock he's standing on helped with that lift. I mounted it all on a 40mm base, then added a bunch of skulls from my trusty Citadel Skulls box to fill in the space and make it more dynamic. That box of skulls is a gift that keeps on giving, but I think this might be the first time I've used it for basing—which was its intended purpose by Games Workshop.

I used some of the last of my "old" Agrax Earthshade as a wash for this figure, which is why it looks nicely blended instead of shiny and pooled.

Totaling everything up, I now have 45 units for the Undead Army. This puts them just shy of the Embers of Alexandria Cultists' 48 units. I get the feeling that the Undead are going to have reinforcements before too long, though.

• Skeleton Horde (45)
  
• Undead Lord
• Necromancer
  
• Champion (previously Commander)
  
• Hornblower
• Tetsubōne Standard Bearer
  
• Spears (16)
• Archers (12)
• Sword/Shields (4)
• Daggers (6)
• Dinosaur Skeleton
  
• Giant Skeleton
  

The Skeleton Horde 2: Skeletwo Bonegaloo

I've painted 14 skeletal additions to my existing Skeleton Horde to flesh out the basic units. Here are five more archers to bring their total up to 12, along with nine more spearmen to bring their total up to 16. These models are all straight out of the Wargames Atlantic "Skeleton Warriors" box. Despite painting up pretty easily, the skeletons still take a while to finish en masse.

These boney chaps look a little different than the old skeletons, mostly because Games Workshop heavily changed the formula for their "Agrax Earthshade" wash. It functions differently now, pooling heavily and looking shiny/wet. The eventual matte spray varnish should tamp down the shine.

I also painted up a necromancer, which is a Reaper Miniatures "Dreadmere Wight." Presumably, he's helping to summon and/or maintain this mob of skeletons. I've wanted to paint this miniature up for quite some time, but I couldn't settle on a paint scheme until I decided to lump him in with the skeletons. The brass, red, and brown is simple but effective, and the green skin (like the mummies I did recently) is good enough.

Giant Boar

Yet another random creature from the Bones 4 Kickstarter. Here we have a giant boar. He's mounted on a 50mm base.

It's just a pig. 

Oink.

Mummies

I was digging back through the Bones 4 Kickstarter models (there are still so many I haven't painted) and I came across this large, imposing mummy figure. I figured while I painted him up, I'd paint the priestess mummy as well with the same color scheme. I have a number of undead in the works at the moment.

The male sculpt was quick and easy, mostly drybrushing and such. The female had a lot more exposed flesh, which took a bit longer; is she even really a mummy? The mummy wrappings seem like more of a fashion accessory in her case. Still, both models turned out OK.

Maybe these two fine folks can help lead my skeletal horde. Due to the scale difference between Reaper minis and Wargames Atlantic models, these guys are about a centimeter taller than the skeletons and could really stand out on a battlefield.

Yellow Cargo Bots

These two filthy, filthy cargobots have seen prolonged use at an industrial outpost. They're more 3D printed versions of "The Fridge" by Skellify on Thingiverse. I've already printed (unassembled) pieces for two more, but I haven't built them yet.

These two bots are painted yellow, or at least they were when they were factory fresh. Lots and lots of grime has muted the colors significantly, but a new coat of paint isn't exactly a priority in the bowels of a far-flung mining colony.

I really like these big bots, and the price point is great. The STL file was free, and the total filament per bot comes to maybe 33 cents? There are extensive weapon options included with the files, so you could literally build an army of these bots for ten bucks.

Wyvern

This ferocious, fantastic firedrake is a barbed-tail wyvern. It's craning its neck in a strange manner, but overall, it's a pretty nice critter. This is a Reaper Miniatures model from the Bones 4 Kickstarter. It is mounted on a 3 inch base, so it's big, but not ridiculously so.

Also, I think I'm still setting the light box way too bright...

Leland's Fusiliers: Valkyrie, Panther, Jenner, Rifleman, Annihilator

Five mechs join the Fusiliers. Each of these has already been seen in Aka-Oni red, but now they're also painted up in the blue, grey, and orange.

Three of these mechs are Light, filling in a big gap that the Fusiliers had in their low-weight units. I love the Jenner, so it's good to have it painted up and ready to go.

If the Fusiliers can scrounge up seven more mechs, they'll be at Battalion strength. They might just need a dropship or two at some point.

• Valkyrie (30 tons, BV 723)
• Panther (35 tons, BV 769)
  
• Jenner (35 tons, BV 875)
• Rifleman (60 tons, BV 1039)
• Annihilator (100 tons, BV 1625)
  

Leland's Fusiliers Stats
Total mechs: 29
Total tons: 1705
Total battle value: 33,691

3D Printed Cargobot

Here's something new and interesting: A 28mm scale miniature printed on my FDM 3D printer. This is a cargobot. I found the STL file on Thingiverse; it's called "The Fridge" by Skellify. Nifty!

As you can see, the cargobot is a chunky bot. It's mounted on a 50mm base and stands about 50mm tall. The painting was black undercoat, then Americana Zinc (DA304), then some Vallejo Blue (70.925) on some of the central bits. Then I drybrushed everything with Vallejo Gunmetal (72.054). After that, I dirtied it up with some washes and some browns to give it a well-worn industrial look.

I can see the Cargobot (and its upcoming kin) being used as a sort of automated forklift, useful for picking things up and putting things down. This one may find itself a permanent fixture aboard the Twinhammer spaceship, if I ever finish the thing.

Additional note! My wife received a photography light box for Christmas, and I've been messing around with it. It may take a little bit, but once I dial things in, hopefully my photos will look better than ever.

Big Purple Alien and Operative (and Operative's Hologram)

These two (three) scifi figures don't have a lot in common, but they were finished together and the operative can give a sense of scale to the big purple alien.

The big purple fellow is from the Core Space First Born Starter Set, and his name is given as Balcor. In official art, he has white fur over most of his body, but I went with a fully purple look instead. He's big, has a cybernetic arm, and carries an array of tools. The figure is mounted on a 40mm poker chip.

The man in the gas mask with the pistol and axe is a scifi operative. I made a second version in a different pose to try out something new. The second figure is a "hologram" version of the first, painted with Nighthaunt Gloom contrast paint and given a white drybrush. It could also be used to represent the operative while he's invisible. I'd really like to use more of this ghostly contrast paint in the future, since it gives a very nice effect.

Alien Horde 6: Boomer and Large Harvesters

New year, new subspecies of alien monster.

Along with the three Large Harvesters, we have the Boomer Harvester, so-called because it goes boom. Unlike the others, it is done in more orange hues, with bright orange used on some of the... pustules? The big, explosive pouches on its back are made from the egg sacs that were included on the Harvester sprue.

This means I have six regular Large Harvesters finished now. The total size of the alien horde is 32 units.

• Alien Horde (32)
• Rock Worm (2)
• Large Spawner
• Small Spawner (3)
• Spore Mine - Frag (4)
• Spore Mine - Gas (2)
• Spore Mine - Acid (2)
• Large Harvester (6)
  
• Small Harvester (10)
• Boomer Harvester
  
• Infected Crewman

2023 in Review

In 2021, I painted 127 miniatures.

In 2022, I painted 128 miniatures.

Guess what. In 2023, I painted 129 miniatures. The trend continues! The category with the most painted miniatures is the Alien Horde with 28, followed (technically) by the Horror Category with 27; however, 20 of those are really quickly painted zombies, so I hesitate to count it. Following that, we have the Supervillain category with 18; this is probably the group I'm happiest with, but the 13 items in each of Scifi and Terrain are pretty nice too.

Let's take a gander at what I've completed this year, including what I've selected as my Model of the Year.

• Superheroes (5)
  
  
• Baroque Boy
• Brightside
• Magefist
• Scrapper (Model of the Year Nominee)
• Tempest
  
• Supervillains (18)
  
• Doc Brimstone / The Brimstone Kid
  
• Lord Xeno the Eyeless
• Sergeant Orc
• 
  Thugs (3)
• Dr. Chimera (Model of the Year Nominee)
• Snake Eyes
  
• Hactuary
• Chosen Men (6)
• Publius
• Harvest
  
  
• Grenadehead
  
• Battlemechs (13)
  
• Awesome (LF)
  
• Thunderbolt (LF)
• Locust (LF)
• Rifleman (AOI)
• Victor (AOI)
• Banshee (AOI) 
• Wolverine (3C)
  
• Blackjack (3C)
• Rifleman (3C)
• Archer (3C)
• Archer (AOI)
• Centurion (AOI)
• Stinger (AOI)
  
• Fantasy (3)
• Ogre Bodyguard (Retinue colors) (Model of the Year Nominee)
• Ogre Bodyguard with Zweihander (Green and grey)
• Troll
  
• Scifi (13)
  
• Bounty Hunter with Rocket Launcher and Revolver
• Razormouth
  
• Space Landsknecht Ogre Trooper
  
• Space Landsknecht Human Trooper
• Mountain Man
• Purple Alien Sniper
• Setla riding Brontoide (Model of the Year Nominee)
• Green Space Wolf
• Quadcopter Platform Drone
• Crewmember Captain
• Crewmember Security Chief
• Crewmember Engineer
• Crewmember Coward
  
• Alien Horde (28)
• Rock Worm (2)
• Large Spawner
• 
  Small Spawner (3)
• Spore Mine - Frag (4)
• Spore Mine - Gas (2)
• Spore Mine - Acid (2)
• Large Harvester (3)
  
• Small Harvester (10)
• Infected Crewman
  
• Embers of Alexandria (7)
• Spark (Cowboy)
• Ash Assault Rifle (3)
• Ash Shotgun/Sword (2)
• 
  Crimson Herald
  
• Horror (27)
• Hooded Beast
• Blood-Starved Beast
• Zombie (20)
• Giant Nightmare Spider
• Small Nightmare Spider (4)
• Animals (2)
• Giant Crocodile
• Big Pig
  
• Terrain (13)
  
• Fish Plaza Statue (Mordheim) (Terrain of the Year Nominee)
• Ruined Pie Shop (Mordheim)
• Shuttle Alpha (2nd Dynasty)
  
• Landing Shuttle (2nd Dynasty) 
• The Broken Tower (Mordheim) (Terrain of the Year Nominee)
• Small graveyard walls (3) (Mordheim)
  
• Long graveyard walls (4) (Mordheim)
• Graveyard gate (Mordheim)

 〰 Models of the Year 〰

This year's Model of the Year award goes to Dr. Chimera. This model is a great, characterful kitbash that painted up really well and just overall sells the concept. Congratulations, tiny plastic person.

Split off into its own category is Terrain of the Year, because it isn't fair to have tiny models and giant models in the running for the same thing. This year's top terrain prize goes to Fish Plaza Statue. This piece might not be the biggest, but it's absolutely packed with character, from the corner statues to the skeleton sitting on the statue itself. Congratulations, medium-sized terrain piece.

As always, thanks to all of our entrants and we'll see you back here next time! Happy new year!