SDE: The Witch Queen

Introduction

I'm supposed to be writing up a battle report for my first game of Congo, but it's taking too long.  Battle reports are a lot more work to prepare than other types of blog article!

In the meantime, here's a model for Super Dungeon Explore that I completed a few weeks ago.  I've been meaning to show it ever since then, but just haven't got round to it.  Oh, well, this one won't take long to publish...

Beatrix, The Witch Queen

Beatrix the Witch Queen is a boss-level villain, sold as a separate expansion for the Super Dungeon Explore board game.  She comes with 6 little ghosts that are used in the game as a form of Creep; they're not deployed alongside her and consequently I've not bothered to show them this time.

Beatrix rides on top of a wheeled pumpkin that is drawn by two black cats.  I think that the camera flash has picked up something strange in the cats' paint, because they appear to be medium grey in some of these pictures.  In real life, they are much darker than that.

This is quite a large model; it's a puzzle to me how the designer managed to fit so much onto a standard, large-sized SDE base.  Some of the nooks and crannies were quite hard to reach with a paintbrush, especially around the underside of the pumpkin.

I would prefer my models to come unassembled, but these more recent SDE pieces are glued together and "ready to play" out of the packet.  That can lead to some strangeness, such as the cats' feet not touching the ground.  I did consider trying to glue them down (using clamps), but in the end I decided that the tension on the model would be too great and something would probably break if I did that.  in the end, I decided that the witch's magic probably allows the cats to fly through the air!

So, Congo next time, OK?

Super Dungeon Explore: Stilt-town Zombies

Introduction

Fresh off the painting table this last week: more Super Dungeon Explore figures.  This time, it's the Stilt-town Zombies warband.  Why are the called that?  Well, apparently the local villagers build their houses on stilts so as to provide themselves with some protection from this group of marauders.  Oh - and this warband consists of zombies!

Spawn Point

All SDE warbands have either 1 or 2 spawn points.  These are the places where the rest of the warband comes from, so it's important for the heroes to destroy them as quickly as they can.  For a zombie warband, the monsters come from a Grabby House - a deserted, rundown cottage that has been overtaken by eerie crystals and glowing lights.  Models close to such a spawn point gain the Grabby attribute, which means that the heroes cannot break off combat or move past them.

Shamble Priest

The leader of a zombie warband is a Shamble Priest.  It's not clear whether he/she/it is undead him/her/itself, or is just plain evil.  Either way, this character has some debilitating ranged magic powers and (as might be expected) the abilities to create fresh and encourage existing zombies.  As well as a bizarre sense of fashion...

The Zombies

There are 3 classes of minion in a group of Stilt-town undead.  Firstly, there are the huge pudge zombies.  It's not often that you'll come across a model in a game which has Disgusting and Gross attacks & attributes, but here is one such creature.  Since the Disgusting attack is ranged and poisons all opponents in a straight line, I think it's fair to say that its exact nature is best left to the imagination.  Similarly, when a pudge is destroyed it makes an immediate attack against adjacent enemies, so I imagine that it bursts and sprays them with innards or something like that.  Best if you don't think about this too much...

The second class of zombie minion in this group is the stealthy Prowler.  These are somewhat unusual (for a zombie) in that they're very fast.  They also have an ability which can heal the Shamble Priest if they (i.e. the prowlers) inflict any wounds.  Sounds useful...

Finally, here are the classic zombies; in this setting they're called Swampies.  Individually they are fairly slow and weak, but they do have the grabby and mob attributes.  This means that the heroes cannot retreat from a fight once they have engaged and that the zombies get extra attack dice for each other member of the mob.  Don't get caught; they'll swamp you!

Finally

You can tell from this group shot that I painted the shamble priest some time before the rest; the model's base is quite different.  Actually, I finished the zombies themselves a few weeks ago; it was only the houses which remained incomplete until this week.  Did I mention before how much I dislike painting crystals?  They're quite common (indeed, universal!) on spawn points for Super Dungeon Explore...

SDE: Heroes and Pets

Introduction

Here are some more chibi miniatures that I have painted recently for Super Dungeon Explore.  I know that such figures don't appeal to everyone, but this will probably be the last such post for at least a while; my painting speed has slowed right down.  Partly this is due to the unseasonably hot weather we've had for the last week or so; I really don't feel like spending much of my free time in a small, stuffy work room!

So, on with the show...

Heroes

To start with, the Thundervale Huntress is a very large model for a hero.  She's a centaur, but has horns as well as a horse's body.  A bit strange, but then there's nothing particularly normal about anything in SDE, so it'll pass.

The game art had the huntress with blank (glowing?) eyes, but I decided that I didn't like that too much.  Instead, I just went for a regular human eye.

Next, we have the Fae Alchemist, an elf who specialises in maniacal chemistry.  She (yes, once again it is a "she") is laden down with various flasks and bottles.  In the game, her various potions range from the slightly experimental to the highly dangerous!  A bit of a loose cannon, if you ask me.

I'm not at all happy with the way that I've painted all of the flasks on this model.  Apart from that, I think that she's my favourite of the heroes presented here.

Finally, Princess Emerald is a steampunk-styled big game hunter.  She's an excellent ranged support character with some abilities that can cripple an opponent, but she won't do so well in melee.

This model is unusual in that she only has one foot touching the base.  I had wondered whether that might prove to be a weak point, but so far there is no sign of drooping or breakage.

I've just noticed that I've got a bit of frosting on the base; the paint must have been ever so slightly damp when I varnished the model.  That's probably because I've been experimenting with acrylic flow medium for my washes; it takes a long time to dry properly.  Bother; I'll need to fix this model up!

Pets

Super Dungeon Explore v2 has rules for pets.  Basically, these are creatures that you can rescue; they will then assist your party, though their powers are limited.

Pet cards can be shuffled into the treasure deck; should the party draw one then the pet is theirs!  However, treasure cards are already rare and there are many other items in the deck, so it seems to me that pets won't be found very often, if ever.  Pity...

Anyway, here are the 6 pets that come with the Forgotten King v2 starter set.  I've got a 7th one (the undead rabbit from the Stilt Town Zombies expansion) on the painting table at the moment, but he won't be finished for at least 2 or 3 days:

The Colonel	Admiral Fuzzybottom	Mr. Chompers
Lord Gruff	Miss G. Snorts	Madam Hilde

Well, they were fun to paint, even if I suspect that they'll see little game time.

Conclusion

Next time, something completely different!  I don't know what yet, so if you have any suggestions then I'm listening...

SDE: Fireflow Denizens

Introduction

In my last post, I suggested that I might show some more Super Dungeon Explore figures.  Since that suggestion wasn't met with howls of protest, here we are.  This post describes the Fireflow Denizens, a band of assorted creatures that live in or near the lava rivers of the caverns of Roxor and don't welcome visitors.

The Spawning Point

As with all SDE warbands, the Fireflow Denizens have a spawning point for use during the game.  In this case, it's a mysterious crystal, wreathed in flames.  Dark magic indeed...

Can I say at this point how much I dislike painting crystals?  There are tutorials on the web for doing this (though they seem mostly aimed at computer art rather than 3-D miniatures), but I've found them over-complex and long-winded.  This is my version of a crystal, distilled from such online advice, and it caused me a lot of frustration whilst it was being painted.  Even now I'm not totally convinced that it looks right...

Blaze Beetle

One of the largest critters in this warband is the Blaze Beetle.  Apparently, these creatures tunnel through the hot rocks and occasionally break through into the caverns.  Yes, they can shoot flames from unlikely locations!

I've broken my own rule about copying the publisher's artwork when I painted this beastie.  The animal itself appeared to be made from flame in the game's reference card, but I'd had enough of painting flames by that point.  Instead, I went for a metallic blue body, though it hasn't come out quite as iridescent as I would have liked.

Ember Hounds

The Ember Hounds are described as "concealed by a cloud of ash", yet the sculpts and the artist's rendering clearly depit them as creatures of pure flame.  I've followed this pattern with my own painting.

It's fairly obvious even from just looking at them that these models are unbalanced; they're very front-heavy.  I had to add weights into the bases before they would stand at all reliably.  Even then, it doesn't take much to topple them over.

Burning Gels

The last of the flame creatures in the set of Fireflow Denizens are the Burning Gels.  These are large, evil, (un)living fire monsters.  They were something of a challenge to paint, mainly because the models are mostly large, featureless expanses!  Additionally, it was significantly difficult to reach into the extremities of the mouths with a paintbrush.

Fire Gels

So, what happens when you kill/destroy a Burning Gel?  Well, it turns into 2 Fire Gels!  All the heroes can do is break up the creatures into ever smaller bits and then stamp them out too.

All Together

To allow the sizes of the various models to be compared, here is a picture of the entire warband.  I think they're my favourite group so far, at least from the SDE monsters that I have painted.  Mind you, just wait until I have finished my Kodama (plant warriors); they might just become my new favourites once they are done!

I note that several of these sculpts have been reissued as part of the V.2 Mistmourn Coast warband, where they play the part of fog/mist monsters.

This week I have been mostly painting...Chibi

Introduction

Recently I've been painting some heroes and villains from the Super Dungeon Explore board game.  Now this isn't (quite) the first time that I've displayed such miniatures - my Rock Top Gang can be seen in part 1 of my "6 Projects" series - but I think I'm beginning to get the hang of these figures.  There are some differences in the way they're painted from more "realistic" models that I have completed.  More on this later, but first here are some example Chibis:

Marie-Claude

Marie-Claude is a hero who comes with the Stilt Town Zombies box set.  She's supposedly an innkeeper who runs the nearest establishment to the zombie infestation; this makes her a tough woman quite capable of dealing with anything from Saturday night drunks to maurading zombie hordes.

By complete accident, the paint on the back of Marie-Claude's frying pan makes it look as if the pan has a big dent in it (it's actually flat on the model).  Could this be a head-shaped dent after Marie-Claude has flattened some opponent?  You decide...

I'm very pleased with the way that this model turned out.  She was my first human (or humanoid!) chibi miniature and as such the model could have been awful.  Not so, I think.

Questing Knight

Next up is the Questing Knight.  He comes from the Forgotten King box set (i.e the starter set for version 2 of Super Dungeon Explore).

The Questing knight is slightly unusual in that his face is covered and cannot be seen.  Apparently, the original chibi were characters designed for low-resolution computer or arcade games quite some time ago.  It made sense to exaggerate the head so that facial expressions could be made out, even when the entire character was only a small number of pixels high.  Or so my 19 y.o. son has told me...

Since the Questing Knight is wearing a full-face helmet, there are no eyes to paint.  This probably makes him a lot easier to finish than the other figures in this article!

Royal Warden

Another character who comes with the Forgotten King starter set is the Royal Warden.  He's a sort of cross between a Tax Collector and a Bow Street Runner (i.e. early policemen, bounty hunter and/or detective).  As such, he has the full force of the law behind him and some "arresting" powers in the game!

Although I'm pleased with the way that most of this model turned out, I'm still struggling a bit with the bases.  I cannot bring myself to cover the moulded detail with flock, but equally my quick "paint + wash" technique isn't producing a great result.

Jack Scarecrow

My 4th model tonight is a villain rather than a hero; a mini-boss, to be specific.  Note that the model comes with stats to use him/it as a hero instead, but Jack Scarecrow is sold as a separate mini-boss and that's how I'll be using him.

I'm really not pleased with the way the pumpkin's eyes turned out.  The trouble is that I just cannot figure out how I might have done them differently...

Usually with these models, I've noticed that the illustration on the game card(s) is a pretty close match to the physical model.  However, Jack's neckerchief is sculpted very oddly, as if it was just part of his shirt or some other piece of clothing.

As with all of these models, I've attempted to follow the colours and patterns on the game card fairly closely.  This is not because of some lack of imagination, but rather because it makes it easier to associate the figure with the relevant card when playing a game.  For that reason, I've attempted to replicate the red/white checked neckerchief from the card's illustration, despite the model's little oddities around the neck line.

Conclusion

There are some significant differences between the way I paint "regular" 28mm figures and these chibi models.  I hadn't really appreciated the need for this change of style when I attempted my first warband (i.e. the "Rock Top Gang") and I think it showed in the disappointing result for them.  Now that I'm getting the hang of it, here's what I've noticed so far:

1. Eyes are important.  Indeed, they might even be the most important parts of the model! Paint them well (there are many tutorials on "chibi eyes" to be found on the internet) and the rest will follow,
2. Chibi are essentially cartoon figures.  They work very well with block colours applied using simple layering techniques (e.g. base coat, darker shadows and lighter highlights).  I've had less success with complex blending or washes; the results just don't look right to me.
3. Colours need to be vivid.  This is a situation where the bright, primary colours are more useful, so put away most of those subtle, natural tones.  I've also noticed that hair colours can often be very unexpected: Marie-Claude above has grey-green hair and the Royal Warden's hair is red .  Not orange or ochre, but bright scarlet.  Didn't notice that, did you?