Congo: random Forest Tribes figures.

Introduction

I'm really keen on Congo (the new "African Adventure" wargames rules from Studio Tomahawk).  After all, the authors have a fine pedigree, having already written the very popular SAGA and Muskets and Tomahawks.  In addition, the European exploration of the Dark Continent is a subject that I have found fascinating since my university years, when I read large numbers of books by H. Rider Haggard and umpired long-running games of the old Source of the Nile board game.

To scratch this itch, at the recent Claymore show I bought the newly-published Congo rules as well as a pack of assorted natives and another of Askaris, all Foundry miniatures.  I've now painted up many of the natives and it's these that I'll be showing below.  They will add to my existing North Star "jungle cannibals" to form the basis of a Forest Tribes force, though I haven't quite worked out how that will be organised yet.

Warriors

"Pelt", "Hangout" and "Scar"

"Bluejacket", "Grandpa" and "Pithy"

  I've got a fair selection of tribal characters here, all of whom are easily recognisable as coming from Foundry's "Warrior Characters - DA064" pack.  There's a slight problem with that pack, though.  Since each tribe would probably have been distinguished from its neighbours by having its own hair style or type of shield, I can only suppose that these guys are all from different tribes.  Well, I won't let that bother me too much (and who knows, I now have the starters for 5 or 6 different tribes I could collect!)

The Boss

The big man and his special advisor

Here is the tribal chieftain.  This time, the figure is from North Star, though his advisor is another Foundry casting.  The chief is dressed in a somewhat unlikely "Hollywood Cannibal" style, with a grass skirt and a bone through his nose.  I don't think this would have been seen anywhere in 19th century Africa!

It's also fairly obvious that the chief has somewhat paler skin than the other figures I am showing today.  I started to paint him many weeks ago and I must have used a different recipe for the dark wash that was applied over the basic skin colour.  Oh, well - I'm not going to repaint him.  I've got a spare Foundry chieftain that I can paint up if this guy's costume and skin colour start to annoy me too much.

All Together

This adds another 8 figures to my Forest Tribe; a.  Along with the 15 North Star figures I painted earlier this year that makes 23.  I've still got a few more models to paint, but these are mostly auxiliaries or decoration (the war drum, the chieftain's favourite wife and daughter, the witch doctor...).  A basic "column" for Congo would probably need about 30-35 models, so I'm still a little short.  Now let's see - should I go for archers, tribal muskets, fierce cannibals or hordes of young warriors?

For the First Time in Forever...

Introduction

Well, it seems like forever since I painted any models!  Actually, I think it's only about 2 months, but having recently got my workbench sorted out (the Big Tidy, I thought it would be nice to build something once more.

This wish to start making things again coincided with my birthday earlier in the month.  On that occasion, I was delighted to receive some figures from my family.  I'd previously pointed my wife very firmly in the direction of North Star Figures (definitely one of my favourite distributors) and amongst other things I received a pack of "Young Fire Elementalists" from their own Fantasy Worlds range.

The "Young Fire Elementalists" turn out to be 2 young women; one is wearing a long dress and windswept cloak while the other has what looks to me to be a Norwegian-themed dress and hooded cloak.  I've decided to name them "Elsa" and "Anna"; these names just seem to fit.

Elsa

Elsa is in an ankle-length, clinging dress and has a lightweight cloak around her shoulders.  At least, I assume that it's lightweight from the way it is billowing in the breeze.  She has long hair, worn in a single braid that comes forward over her shoulder, and is striding forwards purposefully with arms held back and head slightly lowered in concentration.  Perhaps she's about to cast a spell on someone?

I decided that a pale blue would suit the gauzy cloak very well and that her dress should be turquoise.  Both pieces of clothing needed to look satiny and shiny, so I added a fair amount of silver paint into these colours.  Elsa's hair is an off-white, making her look quite the ice maiden.  No fire wizards for me!

Anna

In contrast, Anna is wearing a long skirt, a bodice and a winter cloak with a fur-lined hood.  The model originally had one hand raised, holding a pillar of fire.  I decided that I'd prefer the model to be less obviously a sorceress, so I replaced the cast-on hand with an open plastic one (from a female zombie kit, if I remember correctly).  It now looks as if she's about to burst into song, or is perhaps reaching for a small songbird or other woodland creature.

For Anna's clothing, I went for dark, rich colours.  Her skirt is blue, the bodice is black with a gold trim and the cloak is burgundy red and has a black decoration along the edge.  She's got red hair, though possibly this is a touch darker than I had intended.

Conclusion

I've no idea when, how or if I might use these figures.  Sometimes I paint things just because they're fun to do - and I certainly enjoyed building these two models.  Even my daughter has expressed more interest in them than she usually does about my models...