From SylvainR: 28mm Big and Huge Monsters for D&D (200 points)

 

Our little reference heroine in a horde of big monsters, hard to spot like Waldo, can be found in the red circle. 

Because I was so close to complete a big project, I put the pedal to the medal last week and was able to finish the last of my D&D miniatures. There are lots of pictures in this post and I would forgive you if you want to skip to the end to see the photo of the whole D&D project finished. But let's get the ball rolling...

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Batch 1: an owlbear, a winged gorilla, a unicorn and a cockatrice. Since the unicorn doesn't have a rider, let's count it for 5 points. Let's count all the monsters here for 5 points each for the sake of simplicity. You will note that the owlbear is drooping, touching the ground with its arm, but the miniature was supposed to be standing on one leg. That's what happens with vinyl; the effect of gravity makes the models, especially big ones, droop over time. I used gloss varnish on the big eyes of the owlbear, increasing its "cuteness" by a factor of 10!

 

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Batch 2: a bulette (or "land shark"), a slaad, a war troll and a gorgon (or "brass bull"). Let's count the tall guys as 54mm figurines (10 points) and the 4 legged ones as 28mm cavalry without riders (5 points). I decided to paint the land shark as if it were construction equipment, kind of yellowish. For the gorgon, I used "patina" wash to enhance the brass look. I used the same recipe for the brass dragon that you will see later on.

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Batch 3: two ugly ogres (one is two-headed), a stone golem (or "earth elemental") and a treant (or "ent" or "wood spirit"). Let's count them all as 54mm figurines (10 points). I glued some flock on the stone golem and the treant to simulate moss. 

 

  

 

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Batch 4: a griffon, a wyvern (or "jabberwocky"), a black dragon and a chimera. Let's count them as 54mm models for 10 points each. I decided to use blue hues for the "feathery" parts of the griffon and I think it turned out OK. Again, the weak vinyl is causing the model to droop heavily. Eventually, I might have to add a little nail for support, as I did for my river troll. For the jabberwocky, I wanted to achieve a "weird" look with raspberry and pink colors while highlighting the teeth and claws with coral white.

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Batch 5: the heavies, a silver dragon, a gold dragon and a brass dragon. I would like to count them as 28mm vehicles for 20 points each. Note that, because dragons are known to cause devastation, I created bases with scorched earth and burned tree trunks.  It also helps emphasize the dragons themselves since there is nothing else to look at. No, I haven't become lazy with my bases (sweating heavily). For the brass dragon, I used the "patina" recipe trialed on the gorgon. It creates the effect that the dragon seems quite ancient.

 

 

 

 

 

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The completion of the 3 dragons also means that I have finished my D&D project. I want to thank again JeremyM for the great exchange of models, a few years ago. Above, you can see the whole collection of heroes, NPCs and monsters, most of them were featured on the painting challenge over the last few years.

 

Before I sign off, I just want to showcase a model from the collection that is special to me because it was a retirement gift from the bargaining team of which I was part. We were negotiating a new contract for our colleagues but my retirement day came before we could reach a final agreement with the administration of the university. My team knew that painting miniatures was my hobby and that I was a D&D player, so they bought me a "Nightwalker" from Wizkids. On the box, over the name of the miniature, they put a sticker stating: "Human Resources" (because we were negotiating with HR for the new contract). Ha ha! Very funny! Anyway, I wanted to paint this huge demon in a unique way, as if it was from a "negative" universe. The painting scheme looks weird and if you look at the base, it seems dirty, but a "negative" image reveals the expected normal colors and shading for the demon and the base. Just another fun way for me to spend my retirement... 

 

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Points claimed: 

Batch 1:  4x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 20 points

Batch 2:  2x 28mm foot @ 5 points + 2x 54mm foot @ 10 points = 30 points

Batch 3:  4x 54mm foot @ 10 points = 40 points

Batch 4:  4x 54mm foot @ 10 points = 40 points

Batch 5:  3x 28mm vehicle @ 20 points = 60 points

TOTAL: 190 points

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 Wow Sylvain, you must have most of the whole Monsters Manual by now.  What a fantastic collection of DnD foes.  Love those dragons, excellent work on the metallic tones.  I also love hoe batch one appears to be taking some demented aerobics class "give me 300 reps".  I also love the HR figures, although I've found that HR can sometimes be tamed and become an ally if you approach them properly.  I in a generous mood so I've round you up to an even 200.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From SylvainR: 28mm Horde Monsters for D&D (185 points)

There are only 4 weeks left to the Challenge and it would be great if I could finish my D&D project before the end. With some extra effort, I was able to finish 3 batches of horde monsters for this week.

First, we have three Myconids (or "Shroom People" as my daughter would say) and 3 weird monsters.

These two "mouths", I realized it later, were in fact the two parts of the same monster. Oh well, I guess it gives me two monsters for the price of one. But I will count these two as only 1x 28mm figurine for 5 points.

It took me a while to find this very alien looking creature in the Reaper catalog. It's called a "stone lurker" and is known as a "roper" in the "Monster Manual". Dwelling in caves, it mimics stalagmites and feeds on heroes (like any decent monster).

These guys were a blast to paint. The "papa shroom" is supposed to be a king according to the Reaper catalog. I like how these mushrooms are covered with mushrooms. It's like a recursive structure ("mise en abyme") in literature.

 

 

 Next, we have a bunch of seven classic orcs. I painted their skin green, in the GW tradition.

These orcs are quite tall, but not tall enough to be considered 40mm. Above is the orc boss, who seems to have collected the clothes of defeated enemies. Originally, his shield was covered with hands and body parts cut from his enemies, but I scrape those off because I would like young crowds to play with these minis. Instead, I painted a "scary face" on the shield.

I assume that orcs don't take good care of their weapons, so I added lots of rust on them and on their armor as well. The rust creates a nice contrast with the green skin.

The big guy in the center might have been sculpted as a zombie orc (or orc zombie?), because his body is covered with gushig wounds that I ignored. Anyway, I painted him as if he was "normal" to complete the war band.

 

The final batch is a clan made up of various "beast-men". I decided to paint them together with similar techniques, to save time.

All these "beast-men" are quite big and I would like to count them as 40mm figurines, if allowed by Minion PeterD.

First, we have three of the "goat-kind". 

Then three of the "bull-kind", or minotaurs.

Next, we have a beast-troll (Reaper lists it as an "Ice Troll") and a man-bat (batman!). The troll is 60mm tall to the top of the horns and will be claimed as a 54mm figurine.

Two brave centaurs that will be claimed as 28mm cavalry.

A bunch of 5 identical bugbears.

And three more bugbears to complete the clan.

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Before signing off, a quick battle report about the first game of the Gabbiano-class corvette and MAS boats I painted last week.

The mission was to escort two freighters and a tanker across the Mediterranean Sea, leaving Naples to resupply and refuel the Afrika Korps. Captain PeterD was in charge of the protective squadron.

 

In no time, enemy torpedoes came a-plenty from five British Vospers. With some clever dodging, the corvette survived, but many "eels" hit the ships behind, putting in jeopardy Rommel's conquest of Egypt. It was a fun game, packed with action, but we could definitely use more playing surface. Heck, the table's width was exactly the length of five freighters!

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Points claimed:

3x Myconids (28mm foot at 5 points each) = 15 points

3 2x weird monsters (28mm foot at 5 points each) = 10 15 points

[Note that the two "mouths" are counted as one]

7x Orcs (28mm foot at 5 points each) = 35 points

3x Goat-kind (40mm foot at 7 points each) = 21 points

3x Minotaurs (40mm foot at 7 points each) = 21 points

2x Centaurs (28mm cavalry at 10 points each) = 20 points

8x Bugbears (40mm foot at 7 points each) = 56 points 

TOTAL =     183 178 points

Thanks for reading!

 

A fantastic bunch of monsters Sylvain.  I concur with Sophie on the Shroom people, easier to say and spell and suits them way better.   I get kind of a Seven Dwarves vibe from them, as if they're singing Hi Ho as off to work they go.  

I will count the two mouths as two monsters, since that's how you painted them.  I'll also agree with counting the larger critters as 40mm and the centaurs as cavalry.  Toss in a coup e points for the fine details on the Shroom people and I make it 185 points.  I assume that the scantily clad young lady was there for scale purposes.

Thanks for posting the AAR photos from our recent game.  I enjoyed taking the convoy role, even if I did feel like. sitting duck in a shooting gallery.