Zombies 3: Faster Zombies

Just barely missed posting these in Zomtober, but here are six more quick zombie miniatures. Like the previous batch of zombies, these are from are the Zombicide "Walk of the Dead 2" expansion box of zombies. They're also painted in much the same way as the previous box. These six aren't really staggering around like the other zombies, though; they have places to be and brains to eat. With the previous batch, this makes an even dozen of the better quality zombie miniatures completed.

The Skeleton Horde 8: Heavy Cavalrymen and Friend

Four more Skeleton Heavy Cavalry units join the other one I finished recently, completing the unit of five. They're painted in the same way as the first one. This batch includes (from left to right) another regular swordskeleton, the captain, the musician, and the banner-carrier.

With them, however, is a lone infantry skeleton. He's more dangerous than that would imply, however, because he's armed with an RPG-7 rocket launcher! Look out! When asked why such a creation exists, the only answer given was: "The rules state that the summoned skeleton can be equipped with any hand-held weapon." 

Zombies 2: Better Zombies

I previously posted about painting zombies back in 2023, but some higher-quality zombies have recently shambled their way across my painting area. These are from one of the Zombicide expansions, the "Walk of the Dead 2" box of zombies. These miniatures are better than the Zpocalypse models in practically every way: size, material, poses, detail, etc.

The skin is Vallejo Extra Opaque "Heavy Warmgrey" with a wash of Vallejo Flesh Wash (or, since it's labeled as "Carne," Vallejo Meat Wash). After that, a little bit of brown wash in the eyes and mouths (and scattered around the rest of the model), followed by two tiny dots of white for the eyes. The rest of the clothes are whatever colors I thought would look nice, but generally muted colors except for the red on the angry punk zombie. The base is painted with Vallejo "Luftwaffe Unif. WWII", with the rim done in my traditional Vallejo Black (70.950).

One last note: The zombie in the blue suit is the same figure that I used when I painted up the supervillain Fiasco. Twins! 

The Skeleton Horde 7: Heavy Cavalryman

One skeleton cavalryman rides into battle. This is from the Wargames Atlantic "Skeleton Cavalry and Chariots" box. This is the first one completed from a batch of five. They look nice, but they're kind of fiddly to put together, especially when it comes to attaching the rider to the horse. I ended up needing to mold some very simple saddles from green stuff in order to increase the surface contact area so that they'd stay on. I'm not particularly fond of the models, due mostly to the difficulty of working with them, but they do work. There are ten horses in the box, but only five armored rider bodies. You can have uniformly naked skeleton riders (ten in the box), but not ten uniformly armored riders. So, that's definitely a negative, too.

There are ten "standing" bodies in the box, presumably to man the chariots, and I've made up four of them as spearmen to join the ranks of the rank and file. This puts the two spearman regiments up to 15 skeletons each.

The total size of the Skeleton Horde is now 60 models, aiming for 63 models when the other four armored skeleton cavalry units are done. Quite the horde!

Supervillain: Braincase

With an oversized skull mask and a regular-sized chainsaw, Braincase is a fairly run-of-the-mill villain. Inspired by famous slasher movies and villains, this madman attempts to recreate the on-screen evil in the "real" world. Presumably, the heroes stop him before it goes too far.

The name, "braincase," just means the skull, but it's close enough to "headcase," which is defined as a "mentally unbalanced, unpredictable person, especially one who displays aggressive behavior." This is, in the broadest sense, a pun, or play on words.

One of the reasons Braincase isn't a top-tier villain is that he's not particularly distinctive. He's got a red hoodie, a skull mask, some nice sneakers, and that's pretty much it. He's probably more of an ambush hunter than an actual fighter, too.

The model is built primarily from the Male Survivor sprue of the Project Z game, but the normal head options were ignored, replaced for a skull from the Citadel Skulls box (much like the Devil Mayfair). Not much else to say here. I didn't have an orange I liked for the chainsaw, so I mixed (far too much) Vallejo Bloody Red and Sun Yellow to get the right shade.

Black Goat of the Woods

Unlike the Dark Spawn which came in the same box, the Black Goat of the Woods was a fine figure to paint. Another four-inch-tall Elder God from Cthulhu: Death May Die, is has a good sculpt and pose with a number of well-defined core elements to work with.

There are colors painted on this model. The only interesting bit is some new Vallejo Game Color Wash Red (73.206) that I splashed onto the arms and a couple of smaller bits. It's a very potent paint, and I'll need to be more careful with its application in the future.

With this figure done, I now have two Elder Gods ready to go: the Black Goat of the Woods and the big, sleepy Tsathoggua. I really should clear some space and get this game on the table; it would be a shame not to at least try out playing it.

Also, having painted up this devilish dude, I feel like I should find a Doom Slayer to paint up in case this fella starts getting any ideas.

Dark Spawn (Six of the Thousand Young)

I'm sure that designing miniatures for large-scale production is difficult, balancing aesthetics with price and construction realities. When I say that these Dark Spawn from Cthulhu: Death May Die are poorly designed, I mean that only insofar as their ability to be painted is lacking. The masses of branches or tentacles on top, along with some of the underbelly areas, are difficult to reach to apply a base coat, let alone detailed painting. In light of that, I went with a very fast, drybrush-heavy, sketchy, and dark paint scheme to hide the worst of it. This is not a great paint job, but these are not great models for painting.

All that said, these monsters are finished and perfectly usable on the tabletop, and I can move on.

Gugs

This batch of bifurcated baddies is another duo from Cthulhu: Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown. They are called Gugs. They're another striking monster design, even if I'm not entirely sure how the long, spiky tongue is supposed to work.

I went with dark blues, starting with a base of Heavy Charcoal (72.155). I then worked up with some mixtures of Dark Prussian Blue (70.899), Luftwaffe Uniform WWII (70.816), and a dash of Deep Sky Blue (70.844). The base red is Carmine Red (70.908)*, and the teeth, claws, and bones are Bonewhite (72.034). There was a brown wash on the claws, teeth, and bones, and the furry bits of the critters got a black wash.

*It turns out that Vallejo discontinued their Game Color Extra Opaque line of paints some time ago. This means that when I run out of staples like Heavy Red, Heavy Charcoal, etc., I'm going to need to try to find replacements. The Vallejo website is not helpful in this regard.

Fishers from Outside

Here are two more C:DMD:FotU monsters. Each of these is an oddly named "Fisher from Outside." These creatures apparently hail from one of Lovecraft's poems that I am unfamiliar with. Biologically, they make sense, at least; no crazy tentacles here. The fisher is a monoptic monoped. I did surgery on one of the two to remove the strange, wrapped tongue; I think it looks better without it.

Colors are weird combination of Vallejo paints: Heavy Kakhi (72.145), Beasty Brown (72.043), Heavy Ochre (72.150), Heavy Brown (72.153), and Bonewhite (72.034). There are a few reds on there, too, just as an accent color.

The Unnameable

The problem with painting up a series of indescribable, unnameable horrors is that they really do all just blend together. It's a writhing mass of spikes, tentacles, and suckers--so what? And what kind of name is The Unnameable, anyway? It works better in a story like Lovecraft's than it does when you have a literal, physical miniature in front of you. If you can name the rest of these eldritch monsters, what makes this one special? It's just lazy.

And speaking of lazy, my paint job for this miniature is also lazy, even for me. Over the black primer I did a layer of Citadel Nighthaunt Gloom (contrast paint), then a wash of Nuln Oil for definition. Then, progressively lighter drybrushes of Vallejo Ultramarine Blue (72.022), Oxford Blue (70.807), and a mix of the Oxford Blue with Pale Grey Blue (70.907). I then threw on some purples and greens to give it some variety. The creature is meant to be unobservable with the five senses or something similar, so I avoided any bright pops of color; whatever this thing is, its ever-shifting appearance is all in your head. Since it's an indescribable "The Unnameable" and all.

Dhole

Another big monster from the C:DMD:FotU box, the Dhole is... almost four inches tall. Other than that, I'm not really sure what I'm looking at here, even after painting it. Some kind of alien snake, possibly with fur? The H.P. Lovecraft wiki describes them as "huge, slimy worm-like creatures, at least several hundred feet long. Because they avoid daylight and are covered in viscous goo, their features are nearly impossible to discern." Well, this guy seems a lot shorter than that, but I can believe the goo part. In any case, big monster.

Having no clue what to do with this, I just slapped down greens and drybrushed on some yellows and whites. The mouth and its three tongues are a spectrum from Vallejo's Heavy Charcoal through Heavy Blue to Deep Sky Blue. The eyes are random mixes of Heavy Blue and Deep Sky Blue. Bish-bash-bosh, throw on a wash and it's done. Not too impressive, but good enough for a random, inexplicable creature. I can see this getting used as a space monster in a scifi game.

Cultists, but in Green this time

The Cthulhu game miniatures included these ten (semi-blurry) cultists, and my understanding is that most of the game scenarios use them in some fashion, but I really just enjoy painting up more cultists for my heroes to punch--for justice!

Strictly speaking, these ten cultists are not monopose, since there are three poses. Thus, these tripose miniatures are nicely detailed, but not so much so that they couldn't be batch painted. I completed all of them over the course of one uneventful Saturday.

While I already have a cult in red robes (the Embers of Alexandria), I wanted to try something else for these evil folks and opted for a basically all-green palette. Over the black primer, I did a layer of Vallejo German Camo Extra Dark Green (70.896), which has seen a surprising amount of use lately. On the upper part (the veil?), I used a drybrush of Vallejo Heavy Grey (72.145), which I mixed with Bonewhite (72.034) for an even lighter highlight. For the main robes, I used a drybrush of Heavy Green (72.146), just to bring in some saturation. The gems(?) on their tassels and the bookmarks on the books are Vallejo's Goblin Green (72.030), which really is just the classic Citadel Goblin Green. The browns are Ceramcoat Burnt Umber (02025). The gold is Citadel Gehenna's Gold, and the blades and such are Vallejo Gunmetal Grey (70.863). Everything then got a wash of Nuln Oil. The eyes were given white dots because the black emptiness I originally tried didn't really work.

So there we go. More cultists. Between these, the painted elder god, monsters, and investigators, I guess I have enough painted to actually play Cthulhu: Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown, but I don't really have the inclination, time, or space to play Cthulhu: Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown right now. Maybe later this year I'll try out Cthulhu: Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown. (Cthulhu: Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown is a very long name.)

Ghasts

Here are five monopose Ghast figures from the Cthulhu: Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown game. I like the style and the pose, but I've never been a fan of groups of figures that are all the same pose. I guess C:DMD:FOTU is more of a board game than a real tabletop miniatures game, and they do work for what they need to do, but they still look pretty samey.

The paint job is a drybrushed layers of Ceramcoat Burnt Umber (02025), Craftsmart Brown (288274), and Craftsmart Golden Brown (228273). Then, the hairy parts got some Vallejo German Camo Extra Dark Green (70.896) and a light drybrush of Vallejo Bonewhite (72.034). Those hairy bits then got a light wash of Nuln Oil to dial back the bonewhite. I did the eyes as bright yellow dots, and then these ghasts were done.

I always enjoy monsters that are mostly drybrushing, because they can be knocked out pretty fast and still look pretty good.

Tsathoggua

Tsathoggua, the Sleeper of N'kai, is not a creation of H.P. Lovecraft, but rather of Clark Ashton Smith, like any number of the "mythos" creatures that are included in Cthulhu: Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown. After all, there are only so many original eldritch things described in Lovecraft's own writings (he did write a story about Tsathoggua after Smith created it). I'm not familiar with the lore behind this entity, but it looks striking.

One might pause before describing an inconceivably powerful elder power as "chunky," but Tsathoggua could hardly be described as anything else. This titan squats down, compressing his six-limbed bulk in sedate recline. There are eleven eyes across his body, six in relatively the normal position on his face, one on each knee and (primary) elbow, and one large central eye in the center of his chest. He's definitely a strange, watchful creature. Though, he does look like he could use a nap.

The paints are just a lot of browns and drybrushing. I then went with light blue irises on the white eyes to make a pop of color stand out. This figure falls into the "good enough" category, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

(Pulp hero for scale.)

Amorphous Scions

I recently received the Cthulhu: Death May Die: Fear of the Unknown game that I kickstarted (for the minis) back in November of 2022; the project was successfully backed more than two years before I received it at the end of December of 2024. That's a ridiculously long wait. In any case, I cracked open the big box right away to check out the miniatures, and they're generally of good quality, both in terms of design and actual manufacture (which isn't something you can take for granted with products from CMON).

Looking at what figures to paint, I opted to start with something quick. You know you're in for something interesting when the name of the creature is "Amorphous Scion," and these little fellows more or less deliver. I drybrushed them half and half with a green side and a bluish-purple side. Depending on the angle you're looking at, it's basically either one color or the other. It's kinda nifty. Then, after picking out the teeth with Bonewhite and using the shiny new-formula Agrax Earthshade to wash the whole model, it was pretty much complete.

The Skeleton Horde 6: The Corpse Cart

This bone wagon is a bit out of left field, but I think it's pretty cool. I saw that Vampire Counts armies in Warhammer: The Old World can field a unit called a Corpse Cart. What an inspiration! While my version looks nothing like the official model, it's a fun kitbash.

The parts for this little chariot come from all over. The cart itself is a Reaper Miniatures Pig and Cart. I've previously posted the pig. The cart came filled with molded-in vegetables like pumpkins and such. I put a bunch of bone bits over them from the Wargames Atlantic Skeleton Infantry sprue and the Citadel Skulls box. The wizard himself is largely Wargames Atlantic, but the hat and hourglass are from the Frostgrave Wizard II sprue. The left arm is from the Frostgrave Cultist sprue. The wizard is rising from the pile of bones like he's a part of it, perhaps suggesting a regenerative ability. The skeletal horse is from the brand new Wargames Atlantic Skeleton Cavalry box. Finally, I printed the base on my 3D printer. It's 50 mm by 100 mm to match the size of the Corpse Cart in Warhammer. That's a hefty kitbash!

The Skeleton Horde is now 54 models.

The Skeleton Horde 5: Green Command and Red Bannerman

Here are the Champion, Musician, Bannerman, and Shieldbearers for the "Green" regiment of skeletal spearmen. I decided to just try simple paper banners for the banner bearers, and they worked out well enough. I completed the red bannerman along with the green.

With the sixteen "basic" spearman I've built thus far, I have two regiments of 13 (5 command + 8 basic) skeletons each. Not a very round number, but it tells me I need 14 more basic spearmen to get both regiments up to 20 models. Goals!

This batch brings the total for the Skeleton Horde up to 53 models. They are now, officially, my largest force after beating out the cultists' 48. Great work, bonefellows.

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.

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.