From Sander: Mansions of Madness (180 points)

Hoi,

Christmas has come and gone and since my last post I haven't been idle. Today I'd like to present you some figures for a boardgame called "Mansions of Madness". I am told it is a nice game with great tiles, but the figures are horrible and the basing system is a drag too. The game is set in a Lovecraftian world of Cthullu-calling detectoring. A group of adventurers (the players) enter a Mansion to prevent the Apocalypse from happening or some such other. The adventurers and monsters they encounter are placed on big black bases that have slots to hold information cards but completely cover the great artwork of the tiles that make up the Mansion/ board. 

My friend Roel disliked the bases and the figures and asked me what to do about them, probably knowing I would cave in and paint them up for him as well as put them on clear acrylic bases. 

The figures are really two dimensional (apart from the two large Cthullu's) and the details are really really shallow. So I must admit this is not my best work but I am happy with how they turned out all the same in the end. 

The adventurers:

The top two pictures show the male heroes: a rich man, an archeologist, priest and a detective.

The last two pictures show the female figures: A girl with a candle (both Roel and myself got a distinct Alice in Wonderland vibe off her) a scientist, a librarian (she looked like Velma to me) and a sportswoman.

The monsters and NPC's:

They are pretty self-explanatory to me, but just some quick notions about them: the two leathery winged monsters really reminded me of Minocks as featured in the Star Wars films, the cultists I painted with different stripe colours and masks so you can play them with different ranking within their cult if you wanted to. And the two ghosts and zombie reminded me of Michael Jackson's Thriller, and I hate that song...

Now let's get back to those bases for a minute shall we? I was daunted by the clear acrylic bases and specially gluing anything on them, but last Challenge Curt explained what glue he uses and I ordered it from Green Stuff World since I needed some of their produce for this year's big and SECRET project anyway, you can find the glue HERE. Using that worked like a treat and there's nothing to it, but cleaning away the glue-strings it leaves behind so why not try it yourself? Yes I am looking at you Young Master Douglas! 

The bases themselves were lasered at the school where I work as we have a laser cutter standing by. 

So in the end, Roel got his figures and I gain 180 points (36 x 28mm figures) for the Challenge!

Cheers Sander   

_____________________________

No, you haven't been idle at all, Sander. Wow! This is a load of work to have been done in such a short time - bravo! We're big fans of Mansions of Madness here as it's cooperative, and has this clever app feature that keeps track of the game's mechanics and plays the nasty 'Mansion'. 

I agree, the map tiles are great, but many of the figures are a bit soft in detail. That being said, I think you've don a marvellous job on the set, and I especially like the punchy colours you've used. I also think your decision to go with clear bases was perfect for this game as it allows one to easily see the tiles beneath the figures (and I'm delighted that the glue I suggested worked well for you). A laser cutter at school? How neat is that!!

190 points (I've added a few points for the big lads) will streak you ahead on the roster, well, for at least the time being. :)

- Curt

From Barks: Why did it have to be snakes? (54 points)

I've finished the snake-themed baddies from the latest Mansions of Madness expansion. They're fairly quick to paint, but didn't really capture my interest- they're just not Cthulhu-esque enough for me. I like the splash of colour they have.

Ancient Basilisk

Temple Guardians

Serpent People

Feathered Serpents

I've put in some of the investigators for size comparison. I reckon 5 points for the smaller figures, 7 for the guardians, and 15 for the big chap?

5x small 25

2x medium 14

1x big 15



You might not have enjoyed painting them, but they are cracking paintjobs nonetheless. I think your suggested scoring is quite reasonable, so I've gone with that.

TamsinP

From Curt: Diana Stanley 'The Reformed Cultist' for Mansions of Madness and a Trip on Sarah's Balloon (5 Points)

Hi All,

As I've been away for the past week I thought I'd get my eye in with a small entry for Sarah's Balloon. Here's Diana Stanley 'The Reformed Cultist' from 'Mansions of Madness'. 

'Reformed Cultist'. Such a great tagline. Really, who wouldn't want that on their CV for 'past work experience'? 

Diana's special ability allows her to tangle with particularly nasty monsters with minimal sanity loss. All this being said, her strength stat is fairly low, so she needs a heavy-hitting spell or a spiffy magic item to really make her tick along. She's best run by an experienced player who knows how to finesse her abilities, otherwise she'll be more of a burden than a benefit to the party.

Not learning from past experience, I just picked her up and started painting without really looking at the character card. The results weren't as bad as before, as I at least got her auburn hair right, and besides, I reason she'll still be pretty distinctive on the tabletop with her long hooded robe and howitzer shell-sized candle. 

Next Up: Sander's Sand Dunes! 

From Barks: Lady adventuresses (20 points)

For my second trip in Sarah's Balloon, I've got some tautological lady adventuresses.

First I have two characters from Mansions of Madness. Ursula Downs is an explorer, and Daniela Reyes is a mechanic. I thought her chequered shirt came out OK.

Ursula Downs

Daniela Reyes

I also painted Leo Anderson. I gave him some grey around the temples.

Leo Anderson

Here they are with fellow investigator Norman Withers, painted earlier this Challenge.

On the Path of the Serpent

Second, I have Rogue Trader Neyam Shai Murad. This is a gorgeous plastic figure and was fun to paint. I particularly like the servo-skull reloading her six-shooter.

Rogue Trader Neyam Shai Murad

4x 28mm: 20 points

Sarah's Balloon: second trip

Skull-o-meter™: 2

Cumulative Skullz: 20


Wonderful stuff Barks.  Your MoM stuff is great and you are capturing these characters very nicely.  Also glad to see the Skullometer getting some use on the final figure.  But my go man you've several ballon rides worth of ladies here, why not pace yourself, spread them out thinner and get some better ballon mileage?
PeterD

From Curt: Marie Lambeau 'The Entertainer' from Mansions of Madness (5 Points)

I think I'll take in the sun and the surf at 'Douglas' Shallows', so here's my fare for Sarah's Balloon: Marie Lambeau 'The Entertainer' from 'Mansions of Madness'.

Marie is a creole jazz singer, originally from The Big Easy, but now based in Arkham. In the game she benefits from a very solid stat line paired with an awesome special ability, one which allows her to cast a spell at the start of her turn without having to spend an action. This is huge in a game where players are always nibbling their fingernails deciding on how to spend their two actions per turn. Paired with the right spell(s) Marie can be an invaluable addition to the party.

Again, I've tried to follow the art on the character card. For a bit of additional colour I gave her a pair of Dorothy-Red pumps. Oddly, the basing was a bit of a swine this time around, with me having to go through three of the blighters to finally get it right. More a lack of patience on my part than anything else. 

Next up: Douglas' Shallows!

-Curt

***

I really love these character figures that you do Curt.  I appreciate you matching the colours to the character cards as well, as I have some friends that make up their own colour schemes and while many look great, I find it really distracting looking at my character sheet and then instinctively looking for something that matches on the game board and not finding it.

I am still not sold on clear bases (even though I am the one that cuts them for you) as I find the glare distracting on them, but if there is one thing I have learned about gaming and painting over the years, it's that everyone likes and dislikes different things!  So keep using them since you like them, and since I make some cash off you using them :-)

Regardless of the base, I love the character and think you have caught her essense completely.  I look forward to playing with these sometime soon.

- ByronM

P.S.  For a guy that walks so much in real life, why does it seem that your online character is averse to walking a single step on the island???

From Barks: The stars are right (35 points)

A quick visit to Piper's Peak as I sled downhill. This is Norman Withers, astronomer, from Mansions of Madness. His telescope allows him to 'have a peek'.

I've just received a portable light box from Green Stuff World, and these are the first pics. I used the black cloth backdrop- I think it was Curt who noted that jewellers display their wares on black rather than white settings. I do like my figure shoots in their 'natural setting', however, so took a few with some game tiles. Advice gratefully received!

1x 28mm 5
Piper's Peak 30

From DaveD . I do like that figure - that's a fine beard ! Nice job Barks

From Curt: Amanda Sharpe 'The Student' from 'Mansions of Madness' (15 Points)

Hi All!

As I need to book balloon fare to Awdry's Atoll, I present to you another resolute heroine from 'Mansions of Madness'.

This is Amanda Sharpe, 'The Student'. 

Amanda's a bit of a miss in MoM as her special ability is focused purely on solving puzzles. This is not bad per se, in fact it can be quite handy at times, but unfortunately it's an activity that only plays a very small part of the game so she often ends up not pulling her weight. 

Like many of the MoM characters, Amanda is also featured in other Cthulhuesque games from Fantasy Flight, and her other renditions are often far more powerful (in 'Elder Sign' she is perhaps one of the most kickass characters in that game). Oh well, you can't be the belle of the ball all the time. 

This all being said, here she is, bespectacled, fresh-faced, in a green jacket and grey skirt. Clutched to her chest is a red-bound book - maybe a university textbook, a novel perchance? But perhaps it is something entirely more significant and sinister...

Amanda should give me 5 points, and with this being my sixth trip on Sarah's Balloon she'll provide me another 10. 

It can easily be deduced that I am irredeemably slothful as I've not yet traveled a step on any of the island roads! This is probably for the best, as with Lady Sarah's in-flight stores of champagne I'd be too smashed to attempt to stagger down any of these foreboding paths. :)

-Curt