Thursday, May 25, 2017

Jawa Scavenger, Hera, Chopper, 0-0-0 and BT-1... the new Imperial Assault miniatures




Here are my painted versions of the new miniatures for Star Wars Imperial Assault: the Jawa Scanvenger (from A New Hope); Hera Syndulla with C1-10P "Chopper" (from the Rebels TV show); and 0-0-0 and BT-1 (from the Darth Vader graphic novel). With these figure packs, (and the upcoming expansion) we can see that Imperial Assault is shifting its focus from the original trilogy of movies in order to portray characters from the larger Star Wars universe of prequels, comics, and TV shows. Good move or mistake? 

What do you think?




Above we have 0-0-0 (aka Triple-Zero), the protocol droid that first appeared in the superb Darth Vader comics written by Kieron Gillen. I may sometimes moan about Imperial Assault's shift away from the original trilogy, but boy am I glad they released this miniature because 0-0-0 is a splendid character. Like C-3PO, the role of 0-0-0 is to provide comic relief -- but unlike his golden-coloured twin, he does it by mixing extreme politeness with sadism.



Painting 0-0-0 was a challenge because of his simplicity. Recently, Orlygg wrote about the problem with platemail, viz. it's boring to paint and to look at. This is also the problem with monochromatic protocol droids. Orlygg ended his post with a plea for innovative techniques, and so I decided to experiment with this miniature. I started with an undercoat of black and dry-brushed with Gunmetal, and then a lighter dry-brushing with Vallejo's Metallic Medium. So far, pretty normal. But then I applied a light glaze of black oil paint diluted with white spirit. For reasons that are not clear to me, this created an interesting stippled texture on the miniature which I find quite pleasing. You can see it best with a close-up of 0-0-0's tight buttocks:



I finished off his metal casing by applying some highlights of Metallic Medium. I also tried to add some interest to 0-0-0 by painting on a subtle red glow to his eyes, and a blue glow to his electrically charged palms.




Next up is BT-1, an assassin droid that can hide its weaponry in its shell in order to pass as a harmless astromech.




If anything, BT-1 is even more crazy and homicidal than 0-0-0. As with the Death Star itself, both were developed within the Tarkin Initiative as secret weapons for the Empire. However, BT-1's anti-social programming was so powerful that he killed everyone in the orbital lab where he was constructed, blew up the lab itself and jettisoned himself into space. The only surviving being who speaks BT-1's unique Tarkin dialect of the binary language is 0-0-0, so the two must travel together. 




The fact that the skirmish map included in the BT-1/0-0-0 Figure Pack is named "Tarkin Initiative Labs" is a nice homage to this backstory. 




Above we see the Jawa Scavenger. I have mixed feelings about this miniature. On the one hand, it's nice to see such a classic figure. On the other, the scale of the Jawa is out of wack with other miniatures in the range -- it's not just that he's too tall for such a supposedly small alien, but he's much too fat. He looks more like a hooded dwarf than a lean desert scavenger. But I suppose problems in scale are an inevitable problem when you employ a diverse stable of miniature sculptors (there are 4 different sculptors for these 5 figures).

On the Rebel side of things, first we have the droid C1-10P, also known as "Chopper". He's a highly kinetic droid, and I think this detailed sculpt by Niklas Norman captures his personality. It certainly shows him to be beat-up and patched-up.




In the same figure pack as Chopper comes Hera Syndulla, the Twi'lek pilot and the final miniature in this series.


Hera is captain of the Ghost in the Rebels animated series -- and if you listen carefully, you can hear her being paged at the Rebel Base in Rogue One, at which point she has apparently become a general. 

Hera is another manifestation of the challenges that Imperial Assault faces in rendering a diversity of Star Wars characters in miniature. As a cartoon character, Hera's facial features (and even body proportions) are a steep departure from real life models like Carrie Fisher or Mark Hamill. You can see Hera's original face from the animated series (on the left) contrasted with a more realistic illustration of what she might look like as portrayed by an actor (on the right).



The miniature sculptor, Gabriel Comin, has opted for a less realistic style that it more true to Hera's animated self. That's fine and well, but I don't think her big cheeks, triangular head and rounded body fit well with the rest of the Imperial Assault range. What about you?

In any case, I love Hera as a character, and was happy to get a chance to paint her, no matter what her proportions. However, her head tentacles (aka "lekku") were a particular challenge because of their distinctive markings, and I took a lot of time trying to get the pattern right...





Is it so wrong if I find her lekku attractive?



Friday, May 19, 2017

The Day the Vomit Died - an adventure in Mordheim




I just played my first game of Mordheim! Travis, the proprietor of the superb video blog Hot Dice Miniatures, invited me to his lair to film a battle for this classic fantasy skirmish game. Travis just posted the action-packed video of my orcs clashing with his Marienburgers, and I hope you enjoy the spectacle of two lads with high spirits and higher blood\alcohol levels going at each other hammer-and-tongs. But I warn you, it's not a happy story... for that day in Mordheim was the Day the Vomit Died. 

My orc warband derives from my 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle army, Krapfang's Backwood Bandits. Loyal readers may recall General Krapfang's adventures, including The Bridge over the River Sty and the Battle of Cold Crumpet Farm. Clearly, Krapfang has fallen on hard times, since he has gone from commanding an army of greenskins to leading a small gang of Mordheim thugs. I figure he was the victim of a mutiny -- not altogether surprising, given the fact that he was never a capable general or a brave warrior. 

After his ejection, what would be left to do but assemble a threadbare rump of loyal followers and bring them to the ruins of Mordheim, hoping to make a fortune gathering wyrdstone?


Krapfang's Rump, an Orc Warband

Heroes

Krapfang Toothshyte, Orc Boss with sword, shield and helmet


Grogeye the Incontinent, Orc Shaman


Curtiss Blackdung and Clarence Blackdung, 2 Orc Big 'Uns with halberds


Henchmen

Sludgewit the Troll


Smarmy Spiteater, Goblin with short bow


Ragwort Toothshyte, Orc with axe


I've never designed a Mordheim warband before, but once I realized that the orcs could hire a Troll, everything fell into place. Krapfang's "cunning plans" always revolve around finding a big, hungry monster and then hiding behind it until the enemy is safely ensconced in its digestive tract. I rounded things out with a shaman, two elite warriors and some paltry missile support (in the form of Smarmy the Gobbo). Unfortunately for Krapfang, I had just enough points left over to include Ragwort Toothshyte. She is Krapfang's long-abandoned wife, and she's fastened to him like a hungry leech now that he lacks a phalanx of troops to keep her away.





We played on Travis' fabulous table (pictured above) representing the ruined outskirts of Mordheim. He scratch-built much of the terrain, including sprawling trees, plaster-cast towers and a vast mansion. Not only was it beautiful, but it was the best-lit wargaming space I've ever seen, which made photography a joy.

My opponents were a well-supplied band of Marienburgers named "The Yuppies" who were led by Knock-Out Ned, a fashionable warrior armed with two dueling pistols.




The Day the Vomit Died

We randomly determined the scenario and came up with "Chance Encounter", meaning that the two warbands stumble upon each other while they are both trying to escape from Mordheim with a trove of wyrdstone. There's no turn limit, and each side is trying to bash the other into a rout.

The Marienburgers set up first. Their vastly superior complement of missile troops (a hero with a bow and two henchmen with crossbows) occupied some ruined buildings with a wide field of fire. The rest of their forces fanned out, hoping to root out the orcs.


The orcs bunch up and hide

For his part, Krapfang decided that cowering was the best strategy. There's no way he was going to walk out into the open ground and get shot to hell. So he and his cronies hid in a darkened corner of the ruins, hoping to gank the Marienburgers one by one. Sneaking up on people is not so easy when you have a drooling Troll in your midst, but Krapfang was finally able to creep up on the Marienburger's left flank. As Smarmy ineffectually shot his short bow, Krapfang shoved the Troll forward, hoping he would pass his stupidity roll and mount a charge. 


The orcs continue to hide while Smarmy the Goblin shoots his bow

Things seemed to be looking up for Krapfang -- the Troll was shuffling forward, his shaman successfully cast "Ere we go", and the Marienburger crossbows had not found them. Hoping to overwhelm the enemy, he called for a general charge.

And that's when things went to pot. Sludgewit the Troll failed his stupidity check and forgot to attack the enemy, even as Krapfang and his orcs had committed themselves to an assault. In the building above him, the crossbowmen began to rain down bolts. And the Marienburg leader, Knock-Out Ned, surged forward to help his men.


Sludgewit forgets to remember that he is charging the enemy

The rest of the battle was one confused melee, as Knock-Out Ned sought to contain the orc charge with reinforcements and missile support. For his part, Krapfang was hoping to keep himself alive long enough for the Troll to wake up and save the day. 

And wake up he did! On the next turn, Sludgewit came to his senses and hurtled into the fray, facing Knock-Out Ned himself. Krapfang had every reason for optimism, because Trolls have one nearly irresistible attack: they can regurgitate on their enemies. A Troll's gastric juices will melt a fully armoured man like a wax candle. 

In the coming turns, as the orcs were gradually beaten back, Sludgewit puked again and again on Knock-Out Ned. But the horrendous attacks only succeeded in stunning Ned, or I would roll a 1 on the injury rolls and not even achieve that. There was so much vomit. But all that vomit was for naught.


A confused melee, as the orcs stun but fail to kill their opponents

Meanwhile, the Clarence Blackdung was felled by a crossobow, and then Krapfang himself was swept out of the game by two Swordsman. With Krapfang no longer there to prod him, Sludgewit had small hope of passing his stupidity checks, and would once again forget to fight. In order to save the rest of my warband (and the few pieces of Wyrdstone still in my possession) I voluntarily failed my rout roll and we ended the game.

It was a splendid game: fast, eventful and filled with disgusting gastrointestinal drama. If you enjoyed Travis' video of the game, you should also check out some of his other work, such as his tutorial on building a Mordheim band or his other Mordheim battle reports





For my part, I am excited about finally getting into this game -- it's no doubt the best thing that Games Workshop came up with after about 1989. And although Krapfang was knocked out of the game, he was not killed, so I guarantee: he will be back, and he will be as big a coward as ever.



Thursday, May 11, 2017

The Investigators of Mansions of Madness


A couple weeks ago, I rolled around in the shame and disgrace of shoddily painting all the monsters from Mansions of Madness 2nd edition, the Cthulhu-themed dungeon crawl game. This week, in order to redeem myself (in my own eyes at least, and the eyes of Crom), I present painted versions of all the investigators from the Core Set and all 3 expansions: Recurring Nightmares, Suppressed Memories and Beyond the Threshold




These are 26 investigators in total. As usual, I have discarded the shoddy plastic miniatures that FFG provided in favour of metal substitutes. Where possible, I've used the beautiful Gothic Horror miniatures that Citadel produced in the 1980's when it had the license for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. To fill in some gaps, I use miniatures from Copplestone Castings, RAFM, Foundry and Hasselfree Miniatures. 

Loyal followers will notice that some of these miniatures have already appeared in my posts about Eldritch Horror. That's because FFG always uses the same stable of characters in all their Cthulhu boardgames. But there are a few new faces, like Agatha Crane, Father Mateo or Carson Sinclair.



Mansions of Madness Core Set


Agatha Crane, the parapsychologist painted miniature
Agatha Crane - the parapsychologist



Carson Sinclair, the Butler painted miniature
Carson Sinclair - the butler



Father Mateo, the priest painted miniature
Father Mateo - the priest



Minh Thi Phan, the secretary painted miniature
Minh Thi Phan - the secretary



Preston Fairmont, the millionaire painted miniature
Preston Fairmont - the millionaire


Rita Young, the athlete painted miniature
Rita Young - the athlete



Wendy Adams, the urchin painted miniature
Wendy Adams - the urchin



William Yorick, the gravedigger
William Yorick - the gravedigger




Recurring Nightmares


Ashcan Pete the drifter painted miniature
"Ashcan" Pete - the drifter



Gloria Goldberg author painted miniature
Gloria Goldberg - the author



Harvey Walters the professor painted miniature
Harvey Walters - the professor



Jenny Barnes dilettante painted miniature
Jenny Barnes - the dilettante



Joe Diamond private eye painted miniature
Joe Diamond - the private eye



Kate Winthrop the scientist painted miniature
Kate Winthrop - the scientist


Michael McGlen the gangster painted miniature
Michael McGlen - the gangster



Sister Mary, the nun painted miniature
Sister Mary - the nun



Suppressed Memories



Amanda Sharpe - the student


Bob Jenkins the salesman painted miniature
Bob Jenkins - the salesman


Carolyn Fern psychologist painted miniature
Carolyn Fern - the psychologist


Darrell Simmons photographer painted miniature
Darrell Simmons - the photographer


Dexter Drake magician painted miniature
Dexter Drake - the magician



Mandy Thompson Researcher painted miniature
Mandy Thompson - the researcher



Monterey Jack archaeologist painted miniature
Monterey Jack - the archaeologist



Vincent Lee doctor painted miniature
Vincent Lee - the doctor



Beyond the Threshold



Akachi Onyele shaman painted miniature
Akachi Onyele - the shaman



Wilson Richards handyman painted miniature
Wilson Richards - the handyman


Thanks for looking!