More Rabble

I just polished off another six cultists for the Choleric Order of the Yellow Bile to accompany the previous half-dozen. Everything that went for that batch goes for this one, really! The one exception is that, to mix up some of the arm options, I introduced some arms from the Ghost Archipelago Crewmen (the guy with the raised club) and the Oathmark Human Infantry (the swordsman).

This latter figure was the particular bane of this batch of figures (there's always one!)... I originally wanted to give him a sword and shield to match the Templars but just couldn't get it to work the way I wanted. Before the right arm seen here, I glued on - then removed - two others. And a shield. Were it not for the fact that I need 18 cultist figures and the Fireforge Living Dead Peasants box comes with 18 figures, I would probably have binned him and moved on. As it is, a compromise was found and the model has grown on me - the awkward lurch with the right arm stiffly held tight to the side kind of works given the army's theme...

Just six more of these guys to go, and I think I'll be using more of the Oathmark, Frostgrave, and Ghost Archipelago arms to avoid excessive reptition. There are more than enough weapon options in the Fireforge kit, to be fair - I'm just not a huge fan of some of them. I'm also considering doing the last six with spears to lend even more variation to the unit as a whole.

Before that, though, a little palate-cleanser...

The Choleric Order of the Yellow Bile...

• Poxwalkers – 10 pestilence-ridden demons
• Plaguetouched – 5 half-demonic berserkers
• Dirty Frank – blind king of the sewer-dwelling Wretches (20, here and here)
• The Faithful – 2 Magisters and their flock of cultists (12 of 18, here)
• Hunters – 5 scouts and saboteurs
• Templars – 9 soldiers of the Cult Militant, led by their Grandmaster

...and friends...

• Ghoul King, bloodthirsty savage

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: Croc Dude

There's not a lot to be said about this chap. He's a big, humanoid crocodile. He's a repainted D&D pre-paint. He's never been used in a game. He's just got to be useful for something, someday.

I am particularly pleased with his eyes. Turns out, I CAN paint eyes... when they're on 50mm-tall figures.

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: The Prussians

This was an abortive attempt to do some VSF gaming! I managed to paint up five models before getting distracted by something else. Still, they're nice models, and I really wish that I'd done more. They aren't so old, and are probably consistent enough with my current style that I could revisit them. All they'd probably need are some basic infantry/guards...

This walker is actually the second incarnation of a Warzone Bahaus mech that I have painted. The original, metal model found a home in my Neo-Soviet force. This is a plastic model from... somewhere. Maybe the short-lived Warzone CMG? It's ridiculous, but it does fit perfectly.

The other members of the gang are mostly Privateer Press Warmachine figures (a Khador mechanic and some Cryx mecha-zombies or something), but the ratty little guy on the right is from the AE-WWII range of Weird World War II figures. He's a lovely little figure, and this isn't the first time I've painted him.

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

Rabble

They have been LONG overdue, but I have finally painted some basic cultists to accompany the Choleric Order of the Yellow Bile.

In truth, the delay has really stemmed from not being able to settle on the figures to use. Frostgrave cultists were the obvious option, but lacked the crude, improvised weapons that I really wanted (I kitbashed a couple of test models using GW Skaven and Night Goblin weapons, but wasn't satisfied with the end result).

At Salute in April, I managed to pick up a box of Fireforge Games' Living Dead Peasants from their new Fantasy line and knew that I'd found my cultists. These guys are zombies (a 'living' peasants kit is coming in due course) but still armed with tools - axes, a scythe, a sickle, etc. They're ragged and wretched, and with the exception of a couple of heads (one that's half-skull and one with a raven plucking out an eyeball), everything works perfectly as plague cultists.

Unlike the Templars, I didn't want these guys to look too uniform, so I kept use of the 'cult yellow' to a minimum (the cowl on a single figure) and expanded the role of a couple of colours that I'd previously only used sparingly. They blend in nicely with the rest of the cult while still looking rough-and-ready.

There are three male and two female bodies on the sprue... but only two female heads (hair swept left and hair swept right). I like having both male and female options, but I do wish there were more heads. Fortunately, the arms don't have that problem - they fit on the male bodies as on female bodies. Even for 28mm Fantasy figures, some of the weapons are a bit big - there's a sickle and some pruning-style blades that just don't do it for me. I sawed one of them down into a knife, though, so they'll still get used somehow!

The box comes, somewhat oddly, with 18 figures, so I'll be painting these up in batches of six, and I reckon I'll stick to using the 'cult yellow' on one model per batch. As all my other 'units' are organised in multiples of five, I've decided to split them into two groups, each one led by a Cult Magister. I've updated my 'army list' accordingly.

The movement tray comes from Warbases and, while I'm unlikely to field the force in this way, they make storage so much easier and, most importantly, I love the feel of unity it gives the army. I've sorted out trays for all the units (save for Dirty Frank, who is a unit of one). They even made me a custom tray to accommodate the tiny Wretch...

The Choleric Order of the Yellow Bile...

• Poxwalkers – 10 pestilence-ridden demons
• Plaguetouched – 5 half-demonic berserkers
• Dirty Frank – blind king of the sewer-dwelling Wretches (20, here and here)
• The Faithful – 2 Magisters and their flock of cultists (6 of 18)
• Hunters – 5 scouts and saboteurs
• Templars – 9 soldiers of the Cult Militant, led by their Grandmaster

...and friends...

• Ghoul King, bloodthirsty savage

*** 
Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: The Giant

This miniature was to be used as a proxy for a slave giant in an Ogre Kingdoms army. I'm pretty sure it pre-dates my move down south, so I must have painted it at least 12 years ago, if not more. It might, therefore, be the oldest figure I still have in my 'to-hand' collection (I suspect there might be older stashed away somewhere at my folks' place).

It was from Vendel, who are no more, and I have no idea who, if anyone, has acquired the range. It's a big old lump of resin, really nicely detailed, and I much prefer it's simplicity to more over-the-top giants.

The basing was a mix of flock and kitty litter. I really liked the end result, but hated using and painting it.

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: Neo-Soviets

Joe got my nostalgia all a-quiver with his recent blog post about some of our past wargaming exploits. I dug out some figures I must have painted about a decade ago that I still had knocking around in a box somewhere at home. While I was shocked at how I used to paint (it's so bright!), it did galvanize me into taking some new snaps of some old figures, so here begins an irregular series of wargaming retrospectives: From The Vault.

First up, Neo-Soviets...

I think these saw a single gaming outing (not unusual – I tend to paint more than I play), a game of Savage Worlds Showdown, if memory serves, probably Weird War II or something. They're nearly all Copplestone Castings, which are an absolute joy to paint.

The Command Group

The command group includes one of my favourite SF figures – the commissar-type aiming the pistol (at left in the photo above). This is the third time I'd painted the figure – I have the (vastly inferior) second iteration knocking around somewhere, but the first has long since gone AWOL. The flag is a bit of printer paper, torn rather than cut to appear a bit ragged. Looking at it now, I wish I'd used scissors...

The Infantry

I'm sure I had every intention of painting more infantry, and cannot remember why I didn't, but here we have four basic infantry. I do love the SFed AK-type assault rifles.

The Support Weapons

Two LMGs and two tankhunters to accompany four infantry is a cracking ratio, and made for two incredibly potent four-man fireteams.

The Snipers

Ah, the snipers. These were my favourite part of the whole force, thanks solely to the ghillie suit effect I achieved by gluing static grass to them. It was a pretty terrifying prospect, having painted the minis to what I deemed at the time to be a decent standard, but I'm still pleased that I overcame my last-minute nerves and slapped on the PVA. The one on the left has an overall-style suit, while the one on the right has a cape.

The Mech

This is the only piece in the force that isn't Copplestone – it's an old Warzone Bahaus walker of some description with a Soviet Head from... somewhere. Looking at it now, I see I missed one helluva mouldline on the gatling gun. Oh well.

The Yetis

I cannot recall why these appeared in the force, but there they are. More Copplestone figs, and my favourite 'hairy hominid' miniatures, bar none.

So there we have it. An odd little force, but one that I did enjoy painting. This might also be the first force for which I used polyfilla for the basing – it's certainly one of my early efforts (I moved away from the dirty grey basing to a more generic brown – I can't remember why exactly, but I do like the contrast it offers).

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.