Top Ten Miniatures Of 2021 - A "Rantings From Under The Wargames Table" Viewpoint

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, or so the song says, however regular readers of Simon’s illustrious blog may feel differently, as it is in fact the time of the year where that idiot from another blog is let loose to bring you his personal (and sometimes controversial) opinions as to what were the ten best miniatures featured here at “Fantorical”. This year really does seem to have flown by, so it’s nice to make a cup of tea, sit back and spend a few hours in the company of one of my favourite blogs, perusing the plethora of perfectly painted figures and quickly running out of superlatives with which to describe them. So here in reverse order is my “Top Ten” (feel free to have Alan “”Fluff” Freeman’s voice in your head as you read them).

No. 10 - Bruce Lee by "Mondo Games" - January 19th

Now who doesn’t love “Enter the Dragon”, I know I do so I was more than a little pleased to see this excellent rendition of the master of “Jeet Kune Do”. The figure is a cracker posed as he is in the classic movie pose, and Simon’s usual high standard of painting and shading has brought out all the details on his musculature and trousers stupendously well. I have a friend who is both a gamer and Bruce Lee fanatic, so a link into this page emailed to him resulted in a sale for Mondo Games, perhaps Simon should be on commission!

No. 9 - Abraham Lincoln by "CoolMiniOrNot" - May 24th

To say that we jump from one genre to another here is a bit of an understatement! Very like “Forest Gump’s” infamous “Box of Chocolates” you really do never know what you’re gonna’ get. It did however still surprise me when “Honest Abe” first appeared, especially as he was armed with an axe and sawn-off shotgun, but I guess if you’re fighting “Zombies”… I suppose I should mention that this figure is for the very cool game “Zombicide”, and that should explain everything, as you’ve come to expect the colours and shading is spot on here, but I think it’s the brooding and slightly crazed look in his eye’s that elevated this chaps painting in my opinion and secured his place here amongst this vaulted company!

No. 8 - Yeti by "Zealot Miniatures" - April 16th

It’s like no Yeti I’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t distract from just how excellent this miniature is! The simplicity of the sculpt just makes the great work Simon has done on the contrasts with the fur and the gaping black maw stand out all the more. This is in fact the second Yeti painted this year (well technically the other one was his also brilliant, White Gorilla, but between Simon and his followers we decided it was better suited as a Yeti anyway!!). Looking like it just walked off of the set of “Scooby Doo” had it not been for the professed £10.00 price tag I would have been ordering one of these 40mm tall beasties for myself.

No. 7 - K98 Rifle Team by "Battlefront Miniature" - September 25th

Simon has painted lots of lovely 15mm WWII Germans this year (If lovely is a word you can use to describe Nazi’s!). Anyway, all of the diminutive plastic chaps have been extremely well pigmented and each group applied to a nicely textured base to boot. A real trip down memory lane for me as one of the first “theatres” I dabbled in was WWII, albeit in 20mm, and using the old “Rapid Fire” rules as opposed to the “Flames of War” battles these chaps will be fighting with. So why this group over any other others? Well it was a hard decision but I just liked the camouflaged helmet cover on the chap in the front row if I’m honest.  

No. 6 - Immolator by "Kitbash Games" - June 12th

It wouldn’t be a roundup of Simon’s output for the year without at least one “Super Hero” and he’s knocked out another “doozy” here with his take on a Kitbash figure, that in what seemed to be a bit of a trend this year he re-named as “Mistress Mississippi” so as to include her in some “Weird War II” gaming. However, whatever name you choose I loved the vaporous emissions around her hands and feet, that so nearly covered her whole body till it was decided (wisely in my humble opinion) to paint her in the glorious green and dark flesh colours you see above, and to top her off a smashing pair of inhuman green eyes, a great alternative interpretation of a smashing figure.  

No. 5 - Fungal Giant by "Rocket Pig Games" - July 28th

So we come to the first of two “Giants” in my list this year, I have to say I was immediately struck with this wonderful miniature, upon reading the text I was surprised to discover that it was in fact originally sold as an STL file that Simon then had printed out via “Etsy”, as I usually don’t have any great love for CGI figures. Though small for a “giant” at only 37mm tall (Still a fair size for a mushroom in 28mm scale!), I think it is Simon miraculous painting that has really brought this figure to life, the colours though muted are perfect and the slight “pop” of colour on the “actual” fungus growing from his torso, works so well! He looks a proper treat, and I’m sure he’s a “fun guy” to game with (sorry, but I had too!).

No. 4 - The Enemy Commander by "Tangent Miniatures" - September 10th

Simon as I’m sure regular readers will atone is a bit of a fan of the silver screen, be it large or small, characters from programs and films of our youth (well mine anyway) often make guest appearances on the pages of this inimitable blog, so I guess it was inevitable that if someone produced figures representing characters from the eighties sci/fi classic “The Last Starfighter” they would end up on here at some point. Once again Simon has taken what would have been a simple red one piece costume, and elevated it brilliantly with shading and dry-brushing, then picked out his details superbly well, so that what we ended up with was a version of “Lord Kril” that could have just walked out of the set, of the movie, from the moment I saw this I thought “That’s going to be in the “Top Ten” this year”.   

No. 3 - Stone Golem by "Zealot Miniatures" - July 12th

Last year I got moaned at by Simon for not including his “Walking Statue of Waterdeep“ in my top ten, well though not one to be swayed by popular opinion I have included this granite gargantuan this year. Though called a “Golem” I would venture that this second entry onto my list by Zealot Miniatures at 90mm tall is more of a giant myself. This is a corking resin sculpt replete as it is with its Dwarf like appearance, But I have to say that it’s the truly wonderful painting that is the biggest draw for me, Simon has shown on numerous occasions that he’s a master of convincing stonework, and this is a perfect example of his craft, but when you add in the sublime work on the oxidized brass of his bracelets, and the wonderful “glowing” eyes (something I’ve always shied away from myself), not to mention the snowy base work, this is a really great miniature. 

 No. 2 - Adder by "Catalyst Game Labs" - July 5th

I have long had a soft spot for Battletech, as it was a game we ran as a campaign back in my games club days, So I was thrilled when Simon started showing some of the new 1/285th scale models on his blog, and also intrigued to read that he planned to use them is another of his “Weird War Two” settings (honestly he seems to have so many different ones of these, I can’t keep up with them all!). Each miniature has been a joy to behold, and the way he has blended the marking from actual WW2 vehicles and units around the vastly different shapes of the “giant robots” has been ingenious to say the least. Of the ones he’s painted up so far I think my favorite has to be the “Adder” pictured above, all the various colours just work so well in the locations he’s applied them, I love this and it nearly topped the tree, but just missed out to my final choice (however if he’d finished the “Marauder” he is currently working on it might have been a different story!!).   

No. 1 - Benny the Bat by "Mongoose Publishing" - October 6th

And so we come to the end of my list, and the top banana this year came in the month the rest of us were busy painting the undead, Simon however (even though he was running Zom’tober this year) was instead putting out truly wonderful miniatures like this (and some Zombies). Benny the Bat is a lesser known character from the Judge Dredd comic strips, and I have to say wasn’t one I was familiar with, but that didn’t stop me from being mightily impressed with the final result of some tip top brushwork, as usual the shading is sublime, the colours perfect, the moustache bushy, and the subject matter typically Simon! One of the great things about visiting here is finding stuff you never knew you wanted, and even though it often appears to be “Out of Production”, you still find yourself looking for it across the net. This chap is a perfect example of this, so rolling all these factors together makes “Benny” my number one choice for 2021.

So that’s it another year over and another collection of top quality painting and interesting miniatures all arrayed on one of my favorite blogs. As usual there were many “nearly” figures that didn’t quite make the cut, but did make my “not so” short list, so I have a few honourable mentions before I go - “The Twig Fiend”, Oola Blint, The Slayers, Grave Gnasher, Paladins (I can see I’m going to get it, for not including these!), Apes, Blood Bowl, Red Skull, Mother Russia, Slimer and so many more…..

You know what don’t just take my word for it, make yourself a cup of tea sit back and work your way back through the “Finished Figures” category under the header above and see what I get all excited about. It is always a good read. Plus you’ll learn stuff you didn’t know and see some wonderful figures you probably never knew existed (I know, I have used wonderful a lot in this post, but it is the “Most wonderful time of the year”, as I said at the start!).

As usual I’ll finish, by thanking Simon for allowing the lunatic’s to take over his asylum for this brief time, as well as taking time to raise the writing standards over on my own humble blog, along with you lot for taking the time to read this (bearing in mind that you got this far of course!), I can’t wait to see what he comes up with in 2022!

Cheers Roger.

N.B. You can visit Roger's excellent wargaming blog and see both his excellent output, as well as my own Top Ten of his 'best in show' here:

"Rantings From Under The Wargames Table"

“Warfare" Loot 2021

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - A Raging Brute, Divine Mortal and Kobold

This past Saturday I decided to make a trip to the Ascot Race Course, Berkshire, in order to attend the Wargames Association of Reading’s annual show “Warfare”. This two-day event is one of my favourite shows of the year, and was doubly exciting as for the first time in my memory it wasn’t being held at its usual home of the Rivermead leisure centre in Reading.

So major change of venue certainly seemed to help the numerous traders have a bit more elbow room than normally, and whilst the Bring and Buy sale location was somewhat difficult to reach – at least without some guidance from the show’s staff – it was definitely easier to reach the main tables so as to see all the second-hand miniatures being sold. Sadly, I didn’t feel the same could be said for the parking though, which was strangely off-site in a muddy, cordoned off area, which also resulted in punters having to cross a well-used main road during a nasty downpour.

"Tangent Miniatures" WIPs - Two of eleven Enemy models and NY Serpent

Purchase wise, I got off to be a bit of a flyer with “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, who had a lovely display of all their goodies spread across quite a sizeable area. A couple of their more recent figures quickly caught my eye, such as a resin Raging Brute and a metal Divine Mortal. Both of these models have already been pinned together and primed in preparation for the upcoming Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC); albeit the resin ponytail on not-Goro snapped off surprisingly easily whilst I was simply dusting the multi-limbed ensemble down in my grit tray.

In addition, I couldn’t resist picking up the company’s eight-figure strong 28mm Kobold Tribe. These “craven reptilian humanoids” are one of my favourite dungeon dwellers, and as smooth-looking, single-cast sculpts look set to be a lot of fun to paint in the near future. The horde come armed with a mixture of swords, spears and shields, so have already been efficiently based and undercoated ready for the AHPC.

Three buildings from the now discontinued 10mm range by "Escenografia Epsilon" 

One of my other favourite visits was to “Tangent Miniatures”, where I delighted to be able to swap nine Enemy Commander figures I inadvertently received from them a year ago, for some Enemy miniatures instead. This was superb service, in my humble opinion, as I should have double-checked the order twelve months ago when I first received it. But luckily, the manufacturer were an absolute pleasure to arrange the exchange with. Indeed, I was so impressed, that I ended up buying the remaining Enemy models they had, as well as NY Serpent from their Escape Artists range.

Finally, my biggest buy came from “Pendraken Miniatures”. I already own several of their pre-painted 10mm scenic kits by “Escenografia Epsilon”, so ended up coming away with several more bags when I discovered that the terrain was being discontinued. Despite being a little larger in size than my 1:285 scale plastic “Battletech” models by “Catalyst Game Labs” I figured the different resin pieces would easily allow me to populate a suitably varied 3’ x 3’ battlefield for my upcoming Weird War Two campaign…

“It Takes More Than A Sceptre To Rule, Xur...”

“…Even on Rylos.”

This 28mm scale metal miniature of an alien invader is produced by “Tangent Miniatures” as code TN23 The Enemy Commander from their Space Warriors range, and consists of a single cast figure. The model makes an excellent proxy for the evil Lord Kril from Nick Castle’s 1984 American space opera film “The Last Starfighter”.

The Kodan was primed using a double-helping of “Vallejo” Heavy Red, shaded using some “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson and dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Red. I then picked out the extra-terrestrial’s boots, helmet, belt and the front of his officer’s tunic with “Citadel” Abaddon Black. To be honest, I wasn’t too sure about the footwear being non-red, but went with the colour as it made the Armada’s leader stand out a bit more, and matched the colours used on the movie’s never released line of action figures.

The Germans and Americans battle across a stretch of water and an area of woodland

For Lord Kril’s final steps I applied a combination of “Vallejo” Gunmetal” and “Citadel” Nuln Oil to his somewhat elaborate-looking belt buckles, as a little “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna to the alien commander’s lower face. This area was later treated to a splash of Strong Tone Quickshade by “The Army Painter”. Lastly, I went back and re-pigmented the veteran warrior’s retinal tactical screen with a bit more “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson.

Stepping away from painting, I have managed to get a couple of ‘quick’ games of “Flames Of War” in recently, simply to see just how the World War Two rule-set by “Battlefront Miniatures” works for infantry. We only used the “Hit The Beach” Starter Set Quick Start Core Rules, and ignored any formation rules to allow us to pitch several 15mm teams (stands) of German Panzergrenadiers against an American Parachute Rifle platoon.

Despite some fierce hand-to-hand fighting by the Panzergrenadiers, the Americans win the day

The first game was set up across some un-traversable water, a small piece of rough terrain and an area of woodland, and was designed for us to try out the different effective ranges of our various weapons. Needless to say, I was rather pleased with the high number of dice potentially rolled by my MG34 teams, especially when they hadn’t moved. However, that didn’t save my Germans from eventually failing their motivation roll and fleeing the battlefield following a series of poor saving throws.

Disappointingly, my Panzergrenadiers continued to perform poorly under fire throughout our second skirmish, albeit we did manage to work through the rule-set’s very bloody Assault phase with a few units. Of particular note was a scrap just outside some woods, which almost resulted in a German win when a Panzerschreck anti-tank team successfully defensively fired into the face of some oncoming American paratroopers. However, the damn Yanks dodged the formidable discharge and somewhat shortly afterwards victoriously forced my forces from the field again.

“The Griffin Was Originally Classified As A Heavy BattleMech.”

“Combining tremendous speed and firepower in one frame the Griffin briefly dominated in this role.”

This 1:285 scale pre-assembled plastic model of a Griffin is made by “Catalyst Game Labs” and currently can only be found together with the Wolverine, in the company’s BattleTech: Beginner Box. There are actually numerous ‘official’ Regimental Paint Schemes for the Kallon Industries manufactured mech. However, as I plan to employ this particular sculpt as a Japanese Mitsubishi class War Walker for an upcoming Weird War Two campaign using some homemade rules, I decided to go with a predominantly yellow palette.

“Combining good striking power, endurance and speed” the 40mm tall figure was initially undercoated with “Vallejo” Japanese Uniform WWII, shaded in “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade, and dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Japanese Uniform WWII. As I wanted the machine to somewhat represent the look of the Empire’s old carrier-based fighter, the Zero, I then ‘picked out’ the machine’s knees and shoulder-pads using a combination of “Vallejo” Luftwaffe Camouflage Green and “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green. These areas were later carefully dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Luftwaffe Camouflage Green.

"Each Flesh Hound is larger than a fully armoured Space Marine."

The Griffin’s cockpit windows and hands were pigmented in “Citadel” Abaddon Black”, whilst it’s right-handed Fusion Particle Projector Cannon (PPC), drum-mounted Delta Dart LRM-10 launcher and elbow joints were ‘picked out’ with a little “Vallejo” Gunmetal and a splash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Finally, I took two war flags of the Imperial Japanese Army and applied the Rising Sun transfers by “Decal Details” to the top of the mech’s shoulder-pads.

With the first of three Japanese Weird War Two walkers I currently have planned finished, I’ve found enough time to also complete a second base of 6mm scale Flesh Hounds, which used to be produced by "Games Workshop" for their tabletop wargame "Epic". These tiny chaotic beasts of Khorne were primed using two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red, washed using "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and delicately dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red. Their back spines and head crests were then ‘picked out’ using some “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

"Tangent Miniatures" WIPs - The Enemy Commander has been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

In addition, I’ve started work on the second of my Weekly Challenges, randomly chosen via a deck of playing cards. This time round I’ve got to paint a single 28mm model, so thought it might be a good opportunity to ‘crack-on’ with another science fiction figure by “Tangent Miniatures”.

Due to my already completing The Enemy from their Space Warriors range, I decided to base and prime The Enemy Commander. As with the (not) Rodan I’ve previously pigmented, this sculpt is heavily-influenced by Nick Castle’s 1984 American space opera film “The Last Starfighter”, and should make an excellent stand-in for the alien leader, Lord Kril…

“Flesh Hounds Are The Powerful Daemonic Attack Dogs Of Khorne.”

“They dash into combat at high speed and tear their foes apart with razor sharp claws.”

These three plastic 6mm scale Flesh Hounds used to beproduced by "Games Workshop" for their tabletop wargame "Epic", and disappointingly are now long Out Of Production (OOP). However I was fortunate enough to stumble across a small tub of these daemonic canines from the second-hand stall, “Lesley’s Bitz Box”, whilst visiting "Colours" at Newbury three years ago, and thought I should finally paint up a single unit as a pilot piece.

Before I could even begin to apply a brush to these tiny figures though, I needed to make some repairs to a couple of their spiked tails, which had somehow been broken during their storage. In the past I’d have probably just dumped the damaged dogs in the bin. But as these models are apparently rather difficult to acquire these days, I was willing to spend the extra time fixing them up with a little drilling and an application or two of plastic glue, rather than just throw them away.

Xenomorphs - Made up of figures from "Ground Zero Games" and "Pendraken Miniatures"

Once mended the trio were all super-glued onto a thin strip of wood, and primed using two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red. They were then washed using "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and very carefully dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red. I subsequently 'picked out' their back spines and head crests with some “Citadel” Abaddon Black and their teeth with a combination of “Vallejo” White and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade.

With my tiny test base finished, I have found the time to also complete six more 15mm scale metal miniatures by “Ground Zero Games”. These Xenomorphs are available as code SG15-X01 from the company’s Stargrunt Infantry range, and were super-glued in pairs upon three medium-sized plastic “Flames Of War” stands by “Battlefront Miniatures”.

"Tangent Miniatures" WIPs - The Recruiter has been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

The vicious extra-terrestrials were undercoated with a double-helping of “Citadel” Abaddon Black. They were then somewhat softly dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey, before being given a wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil in order to help tone down their highlights and better blend them in.

Lastly, I have based, primed, layered, shaded and dry-brushed another 28mm metal miniature by “Tangent Miniatures”. The Recruiter/Conman is from their Space Warriors range and delightfully bares more than a passing resemblance to Centauri from Nick Castle’s 1984 science fiction flick “The Last Starfighter”.

“Delta Beta Two At Six.”

“Delta gamma three at five.”

This 28mm scale metal miniature of an alien invader is produced by “Tangent Miniatures” as code TN19 The Enemy from their Space Warriors range, and consists of a single cast figure. The model makes an excellent proxy for a Kodan from Nick Castle’s 1984 American space opera film “The Last Starfighter”.

As a result the figure was primed using a double-helping of “Vallejo” Heavy Red, shaded using some “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson and dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Red. I then picked out the aggressive extra-terrestrial’s visor and belt buckle with a combination of “Vallejo” Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

"Catalyst Game Labs" WIPs - A Stormcrow, Griffin and Wolverine

Finally, I applied a little “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna to the alien’s lower face, and later gave this area a splash of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade mixed in with some Strong Tone Quickshade by “The Army Painter”. I did consider using this colour combination on the model’s bare hands on, as per Lewis Galoob Toys’ abandoned action figure range based upon the aforementioned movie. However, the ‘official’ costume photographs and picture stills clearly have the soldiers wearing red gloves, so I stuck with that notion for this initial test piece.

In addition to my “Tangent Miniatures” sculpt I have also continued to make some progress on a handful more “Battletech” 1:285 scale plastic models by “Catalyst Game Labs” for my Weird War Two project. I have been recently focusing on three mechs suitable to represent the forces of Germany, Italy and Japan on the battlefield, but have since added a fourth formidably-armed machine to bolster my Soviet forces too.

"Battlefront Miniatures" WIPs - A German Machine-gunner and his Loader

The Stormcrow, Griffin, Mongrel and recently started Wolverine are all at different stages in their respective paint-jobs, but most are now in the position of having their metallic areas, such as weapons, exhaust ports and the odd joint, getting picked out. I’ve also decided to add some green to my Japanese Mitsubishi-class Medium war walker to help break-up its predominantly yellow palette.

Lastly, I’m just finishing off the last couple of figures for a MG34 and K98 Rifle Team for “Flames Of War”. These 15mm plastic Germans, produced by “Battlefront Miniatures”, consist of a Machine-gunner and his Loader, and will complete the first of six four-man stands I require to field a full German Panzergrenadier Platoon alongside my already painted Company Headquarters, Unit Leader MG42 Team and Panzerschreck Anti-tank Team…

"Anyone Can Win A Fight When The Odds Are Easy!"

"It's when the going's tough -- When there seems to be no chance -- That's when it counts!"

This 40mm scale plastic figure of Spider-Man is produced by “Atomic Mass Games” and can be found inside the company's Marvel Crisis Protocol Core Box. Assembled using ten separate pieces, not including its stand, the model depicts Peter Parker's alter-ego standing atop a piece of exposed steel girder.

The miniature was initially primed using two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red, shaded using "Citadel" Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red. I then 'picked out' the Web-slinger's legs and torso with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade.

"Atomic Mass Games" WIPs - Venom and two Black Widows

In order to tackle Spider-Man's pre-modelled circular stand, the street pavement was primed with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, layered with "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. It was subsequently dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey using a make-up brush, and additionally 'dirtied up' around the debris with some splashes of Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter".

I painted the steel beam Web-head's feet are clinging to by giving it a coat of "Citadel" Ironbreaker, shading the girder with Nuln Oil and later Reikland Fleshshade, before carefully dry-brushing the lump of metal with (more) Ironbreaker. As a final touch I applied some dabs of "Mig Productions" Extreme Rust Wash into some of the nooks and crannies.

"Tangent Miniatures" WIPs - Ford and Fiesta Focus, Artemis McGown, and Austin Allergro

With Spider-Man finished, I have spent some time undercoating the "Marvel Worldwide" tabletop game's two different sculpts of the Black Widow, and made a little more headway on the somewhat complicated white web markings criss-crossing around Venom's muscular chest. I'll be pigmenting the two different incarnations of Natasha Romanova in decidedly different palettes, with the intention of potentially pairing the two up against one another in a narrative campaign; something easily done as the current Black Widow in the comic books is a clone of the dead original Russian spy.

Lastly, I have based and primed some more of the Cosmic Travellers by "Tangent Miniatures". These figures are clearly inspired by the 1981 BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", but for my own sanity's sake I intend to have them all wearing some rather plain looking attire rather than all the tweed, stripes and checker-patterns colourfully-captured on the costumes seen on the small screen...

"I Think You Ought To Know I'm Feeling Very Depressed."

"Pardon me for breathing, which I never do anyway so I don't know why I bother to say it..."

This 28mm scale metal figure of a Companion Droid is produced by “Tangent Miniatures” and is model number EY-0R3 from their Cosmic Travellers range. Clearly inspired by Marvin the Paranoid Android from the 1981 BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", the automaton is a single-cast piece and can also be bought as part of a five-figure bundle deal.

With the automaton super-glued onto a 25mm plastic round base, it was primed using some "Citadel" Abaddon Black and subsequently treated to a double coat of "Vallejo" Silver. I then washed the entire figure in "Citadel" Nuln Oil before dry-brushing it with (more) "Vallejo" Silver. Finally, I dabbed in the robot's eyes using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - The Skeleton Warrior has been washed and dry-brushed

I had actually planned to 'pick out' a number of the android's joints and buttons with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, but soon realised that the detail on the excellent-looking sculpt wasn't quite sharp enough for my skill with a paint-brush. Indeed, after a few failed attempts I even decided to avoid trying to get a tiny line of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand onto one of Marvin's chest panels, and simply re-painted over my repeated splodges with some additional Silver and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

Having finished the first of my Hitchhikers I have settled down to assembling, basing, priming and washing several more Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Spears by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". I was originally thinking of simply painting the odd figure or two in between some of my other projects, but with the imminent arrival of "Frostgrave: Second Edition" in August, I've suddenly found myself falling into a bit of a Fantasy mood.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - The Skeleton Champion, Leader and Spearman

Indeed, I've actually dug out all my old "Frostgrave" rule-books by "Osprey Publishing", swooped upon a few outstanding tomes on the second-hand market, and even started thinking about assembling a third warband using some "North Star Military Figures" models. However, having perused the twelve skeleton models by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" I suddenly thought they'd make an excellent-looking band of Undead treasure hunters instead.

As a result I plan to utilise the hooded leader from the company's Skeleton Warriors 1 blister as my wizard, the wolf-pelt covered cadaver from Skeleton Spears as the group's apprentice, and the heavily-armoured brute from Skeleton Warriors 2 as either a knight or templar. The rest of the warband can hopefully be made up from the rest of the skellies; albeit I'm tempted to convert a couple into carrying a bow/crossbow...