3D dungeons, part 2

Following on from this post...

It turns out that Frank is not just a modelling inspiration for yours truly, but also an open-handedly generous and helpful chap. Within a few daylight hours of me emailing him to ask how much silicon he'd needed for his mammoth project, I'd had two detailed replies and plenty of good advice.

First, it turns out he needed FIFTEEN kilos of silicon just to make the moulds (Side note - mold is the American spelling, mould the British - both are used for the black gunk that grows in damp corners AND the cavity to pour plaster or resin into. Fun fact!). Fifteen! A quick scan of ebay suggested that this would come to about £250. Gulp! Add in Frank's estimate that the resin needed to fill those moulds the requisite number of times (just over 25kg), and that's another £300. Or more. And that's assuming I don't make any mistakes, which is unlikely since it would be my first casting project, and without the cost of making the original masters.

Sigh...

Dammit, Frank!

Around about this point in the year (October half term for us teachers), I start thinking about what gaming projects and ambitions I want to set for myself for next year. For painting miniatures, I've got three priorities: more progress on my Chaos project, finish the World's Edge Wyverns bloodbowl team, and crack on with all the space orks I bought over the last month (more on them over the next couple of months as well). BUT, that's not the only part of this hobby that I enjoy, I also like to write and refine rules or scenarios (I'm excited about contributing to Whiskey Priest's dark ages mythology skirmish... thing for example), and increasingly to build terrain.

So, there I was, idly browsing t'internet and pondering future projects, when Frank happened.

[Catacombs] Into the dark

At first it sounded like the petty request of a petty noble with a whiff of undead threat tacked on to get the attention of knight's errant like Sirs Pellas and Owain with their experienced retainers - "I've lost my gemstone and I think the nasty skeletons have taken it!" - but when they realised that the "gemstone" was imbued with scrying power, they knew it had to be retrieved from the crumbling passageways and sprawling ossory beneath the long abandoned summer residence in the Gaddifer hills on Sir Hubert's vast estates.

Initial exploration gave them a good idea of the layout of the passageways:

[Catacombs] First expedition

A few more pictures of this little project while I tidy up the rules before sharing them.

The first expedition laid out, with our brave little retinue ready to confront and banish the undead horde raised and controlled by the wicked necromancer:

[Catacombs] First glimpe

Just one more archer to finish painting before the first squad retinue is complete and ready for photographed action, but this should give you a glimpse into the way the game will look:

From front to rear we have: retainer with longbow, knight with shield and enchanted blade, retainer with lamp and sword (lighting is important in the catacombs), and retainer with crossbow. They're just waiting for another retainer with longbow to catch them up before they open that door.

What menace will they have to face? Well, it's boney...

The pieces and doors are by the excellent Will Meddis of Billiam Babble/Inked Adventures fame. Delightfully oldschool, hand drawn and digitally coloured, I tweaked them in photoshop to match the board piece shapes of a certain famous space-based conflict in narrow corridors, before printing them onto A4 stickers and mounting them on 3mm baseboard (thick card). I'm very pleased with them.

You can get your own Inked Adventures dungeon pieces here - go support him, he's Good People.

More as it comes,
Rab

[Catacombs] Retinues WIP 2

Progress continues apace, by my standards anyway, for the figures needed to play Catacombs, my fan-fantasy-reskin of Space Hulk. I've already got the monsters sorted thanks to last Deadcember's output because hordes of skeletons will take the place of the 'stealers.

Here are the heroes so far:

[Catacombs] Retinues WIP 1

Rather delightfully, new projects (even little side projects) require or allow new miniatures. They are a spur to collecting, modelling, painting. Small projects, particularly those that are self-contained like this, also give a chance to try out new methods or styles knowing that if they prove to be onerous or underwhelming, they aren't going to need to be repeated ad nauseam. Fun, eh?

Here are the retinues for my Catacombs project, in their pre-painted state. I'm not very used to plastic kits, but cutting and sticking three different kits together (Conquest's Dark Age Archers, Fireforge's Foot Sergeants, and a couple of heads from an old GW Bretonnian set) proved rather enjoyable and allowed a certain level of creativity from your truly. They didn't all work out as well as I envisioned, but I tried to be guided by the archery and sword-fighting I've done over the years as I did my best with the nice range of bits in front of me.

The two metal figures, oldhammer stalwarts seeing service, finally, since their moulding in the 80s or 90s, are the two knights who will lead their retainers into the darkness. There is one figure missing from the line-up, the mage. I've chosen a figure that has no company stamp on its slotta base, and merely says "WIZARD" on the other side. He looks decidedly 80s and will fit in nicely.

Speaking of bases, you might have noticed that the figures above have no bases attached to their feet. That's because I'm going to take advantage of the "small project" freedom and try my hand at sculpting some flagstone bases for this lot and then pin/glue them directly in place. I have some Mantic bases that will form the canvas for my putty-pushing.

I'll keep you posted,

Rab

Catacombs teaser

Whatwhatwhat?! This looks dangerously like a new project...

Sprues from Fireforge and Conquest Games (bought from 2nd City Games at a very reasonable price per sprue):