It ain't hard to love a bard

Gedly of Lamneth, Bard

28mm 

Gedly of Lamneth is my D&D bard character.  I've been playing using a converted plastic figure until now, but I finally sprung for a custom HeroForge mini I designed, depicting him in mid-performance.  He's quite a rock star!

Nothing like an impromptu street jam...

More Common Folk

Build-a-Villager

28mm 

Actor, weaver, sailor, and midwife/witch

The common folk.  NPC's.   Joe Six-Flagon.  Whatever you call them, they make up most of whatever fantasy universe your game takes place in.  A while ago I posted some medieval-type peasants I adapted from Agricola game figures... but these characters are assembled from Wargames Atlantic's amazing "Villagers" box, which is 24 figures' worth of amazing customization options!  "The single most creatively fulfilling sprue I’ve ever built" according to Goonhammer's review.

I did a couple more with slight modifications after I took the group photo:

Stoic street philosopher 

Jewel thief

A remarkable mix of characters... And still only 1/4 of the box 😮

The Common Folk

Medieval Peasants

28 mm

"The courage of those who work the land is born of long days of labor in the hot summer sun and the cold winter wind. It is the courage of the Earth itself." - MTG 'Yoked Ox' card

 

I've long wanted some ordinary European peasant type figures, and I saw these "Agricola" board game figures at the store I knew they were perfect!

There's a man carrying gourds, a woman with grain and a baby, a boy chopping wood, a woman feeding ducks (my favorite!), and a brewer or cider maker carrying a barrel.  All salt of the earth types suitable to be bystanders or helpful NPCs in a fantasy game.

I actually speed painted these, they were finished in about six hours after I came home from the shop.  The simple quality reflects this, but it suits them.

Welcome to Dark Souls

Dark Souls Fighters

28mm

I picked up a deeply discounted set of "Dark Souls" boardgame figures a while back, and they're FUN.  Interesting designs, and easy to paint.  I know almost nothing about the game, so I've been painting these with few preconceptions.

"The Deprived"

This is one of the starting classes in the game.  Initially weak, but able to use almost any equipment they find.  I imagined him as a Spartacus-like escaped slave rebelling against his former masters.

 

"Knight of Catarina"

This is an NPC character you can rescue in the game, and also a cool set of armour you can use yourself.  I like the unique bulbous look!

"Adventurer Armour"

I don't know what the weird crystals are, but they were fun to paint as a vivid contrast to the rest of the figure.  The weird helmet is based on one given to Henry VIII by... some real weirdo?

"Black Iron Armour"

A stalwart figure.  I sponge-painted the purple on the shield and really like it!

"Vulture Knight" 

This one's actually a minor conversion of the Black Knight Armor using a GW bird skull since I didn't like the original helmet.  I also added a matching skull boss on the shield.

Now, only eleven more miniatures in the set, to work on at my convenience 😄

Wizarding Lookout

Town Wizard's Tower

28mm scale

"Knock, loudly."

Not every student of the magic arts dwells in a cryptic spire the mountains, or a guarded dungeon lair.  The town wizard occupies a converted watchtower or station house, secure from unwanted interruptions, but able to conduct business serving the magical needs of urban dwellers.  Magic doesn't come cheap but, for the right client, modest spells can be exchanged for clean laundry or a roasted pig.

This terrain piece (slash fantasy dollhouse 😁) is an original design by me, using printed terrain resources mostly from Crooked Staff Publishing and Dave Graffam Games.  The rugs are from a Wayfair ad 😄.  I had a lot of fun putting this together, adapting parts which were intended for completely different buildings.

I can't recommend Crooked Staff Publishing enough. He's absolutely brilliant, this is someone who can design a paper kit for almost anything, and thoroughly encourages people to branch out and use his kits in ways that are creative and unique.  The bookcases, table, and stools here are all his paper designs.

A local courtesan stops by the wizard's office for a contraceptive cantrip and a sympathetic ear.

Mess with the honk, you get the bonk

Goose Hydra

28mm scale

"I do not like the cobra chicken"

A friend had this fun, deranged model printed for me as a birthday gift.  It's from Yasashii Kyojin Studio on My Mini Factory.

Stately Strumpets

Brinewind Doxies

28 mm

Brinewind... a bustling port city where traders, mariners, and adventurers arrive, weary of the road and with gold in their pockets. Many professions, including the oldest, flourish by catering to their needs, and lightening those purses.

Colorful umbrellas, a traditional gift from favored regulars, are the trade symbol of the Strumpets' Guild.

I had a lot of fun painting these figures, "Brinewind Doxies" from Reaper. Between the skin tones, the hair, and the sumptuous, folded dress fabric, there's a lot to work on, and the sculpts imply some interesting personalities.

The building is "The Widow's House" from Dave Graffam models.  I added the balcony for the strumpets to lure patrons.

The dead rise again!

The Headless Horseman!

28mm scale

In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen, black, and towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some gigantic monster ready to spring upon the traveller.

The ghostly Hessian rides through Sleepy Hollow again, seeking a replacement for his head, shot off in battle!

This was painted as a gift for a horror- and Halloween-loving friend.  I don't do mounted figures very often, but this was a pleasure.  The dark, glossy black coat of the horse came together surprisingly easily, and it's just such a dramatic figure overall.  Dark undercoating did a lot of work towards the mood here too.  

I have no idea where the figure itself is from, I received it in an exchange many years ago.

Skeleton Warband

28mm

 Do this rattling squad of undead freebooters obey the foul will of some evil overlord?  Or do they roam of their own accord, seeking to pillage and kill?  They may be "lowly skeletons" but don't ever underestimate their menace...

A fun assortment of Reaper figures, led by Rictus the Undying.  The three mooks were modified for character with the addition of various items, and a weapon swap.  I especially like the axeman with the afro, he's inspired by "Brook" from the anime One Piece 😁

Life in the Mythos

Priest of the Yellow King

28 mm

“This is the thing that troubles me, for I cannot forget Carcosa where black stars hang in the heavens; where the shadows of men's thoughts lengthen in the afternoon, when the twin suns sink into the lake of Hali; and my mind will bear for ever the memory of the Pallid Mask. I pray God will curse the writer, as the writer has cursed the world with its beautiful stupendous creation, terrible in its simplicity, irresistible in its truth--a world which now trembles before the King In Yellow.”
― Robert W Chambers, The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories

This cultist of the King in Yellow is a piece from the board game "Mansions of Madness".  I made the crude idol he worships before in the style of a similar one that appeared in "True Detective".

Crawling One

28mm scale

“Great holes secretly are digged where earth’s pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl.” - HP Lovecraft, "The Festival"

Crawling Ones are created when dead wizards or evil mystics die and their remains consumed by masses of worms and invertebrates.  Their evil life essence possesses the mass of creatures, forming a humanoid mass of squirming horror.  This is another "Mansions of Madness" figure.

The Innsmouth Look

Innsmouth villagers

28 mm

The secluded village of Innsmouth.  Odd rumors about its peculiar folk abound in the area around, but the village is isolated by a great marsh surrounding it, and the most... unwelcoming attitude of its residents.  

And a peculiar folk they are. The village is run-down and shabby, one might almost mistake it for abandoned except for the odd figures shambling through the streets.  Figures with a very distinctive faces: bulging eyes, large batrachian lips, receding foreheads.  Certainly rather inbred, but with a suggestion of something else too...

These characterful Lovecraftian figures are from the Mansions of Madness board game (sweater guy) and EM4 miniatures (thin man).  Lots of fun to bring them to life, even though they're not "flashy".

Student Sorcerer

Zimone, Magic Researcher

28mm

Some magic users bumble about in dusty sanctums with dried frogs and herbs. Some pore through ancient books seeking to uncover the old knowledge of others. And some, like Zimone, seek to determine an underlying structure of it all: the reproducible mathematical patterns that bind together every spell from simple fireworks right up to demon summoning... the science of magic.

Zimone is a "Magic: the Gathering" miniature, and the chalkboard is scratch built.  I had a lot of fun with this one 😁

Speed paints

Both these figures were painted using the underpainting and glaze technique I've been practising to try and do "quick, fun" paint jobs.  It results in satisfying deep contrast (eg. my WWI style Tau) but I think I'm learning to use it for a variety of subjects, both "grim/dark", and more brightly coloured.

Wererat Duelist

28 mm

With his two blades, he'll challenge you to defend his honor, or the last slice of pizza...

Ghoul Queen

28mm

To her, you ARE the last slice of pizza.