My editor window is showing that somehow a Comic Sans derivative is being used in my carefully curated layout, which is probably karmic punishment for falling off the planet for two months. Hopefully, that’s just a bug, because I know how people feel about Comic Sans.
I’ve been working on some chaff to fill out some encounters for Five Leagues from the Borderlands, which has become my preferred way to game lately. I have energy issues due to the organ disease, so sometimes the only way I’m getting any games in is on my own. Besides, I’m pretty good company for me. It’s not a bad thing!
Say what you will about Games Workshop, they make a nice zombie. Perhaps a little overdetailed, but they ooze character. The plan is to hit these guys with a blue underspray, red overspray, then highlight everything with a lemon yellow drybrush pass. This helps me see the details a little better, and is far more forgiving for my painting style!
Then it’s just a matter of picking out some areas that I want to add color to. With these two, I went a little more overboard than I planned, but I’m hoping to dial it back a little and let the undercoats do some of the heavy lifting for me!
Next week I’ll be sharing some Marvel work as I move that collection out!
Corvus Belli excels at offering outstanding lore for their wargame settings, and fantastic miniatures to live out the conflicts represented in that lore on the tabletop. Infinity’s lore has been a lot of fun to follow over the past decade, and Warcrow is proving to be even more fun only a year or so after launch.
Early color blocking over a red a purple underpainting layer, which is really making the main colors pop! The Summoner on the right should be ready to show off soon!
Take the Northern Tribes, for instance. Here be orcs. They don’t expect to live long, and rate their value by what they can take at the point of a spear. They live in some of the harshest climates of their world, and share that space with the Varank, outcast elves that ended up in the frozen wastes.
Bones, bones, bones…
The Orcs of the Northern Tribes are shamanic people, and look to a Wrathmane to lead them in good times and bad. One such Wrathmane is Alborc, who is criticized openly for his willingness to work with the Varank.
Layering in some highlights on the bone armor and mail skirt, and starting the NMM on the sword. I really hate NMM, but wanted to give it a shot!
Alborc has had visions his entire life that he will lead his people to a better life, but only if he brings the Varank along as allies. Which means you not only get to play really awesome orcs in Warcrow, but some very cool Nordic Elves as well.
The finished Alborc miniature in all his glory!
The sculpt for Alborc is very dynamic, but, as it’s from the earlier offerings from Warcrow, I don’t think Corvus Belli had dialed in the casting process for Siocast as well as they have now. With those growing pains in play, Alborc suffers a little from casting artifacts that can make him a little hard to assemble.
One of the other negatives to siocast is that it is surprisingly brittle! Here you can see a shoulder tusk that broke while I was trying to nudge it a little after gluing. Lesson learned!
There’s also some duller aspects of the sculpt here and there, and I really do think that’s part of the early siocast work. The newer boxes of Siocast minis I’ve picked up from Corvus Belli for Warcrow have been fantastic.
The biggest challenge for me on this project was letting the underpainting exist in the final paint. The subtle pops of purple and red shining out seem really obvious up close, but from a distance they’re adding a lot to the overall tonal feel of the miniature.
Still, Alborc assembled and painted is AMAZING. These figures are so detailed and fun that I find myself looking for ways to challenge myself a little, so for my Alborc I went with a purple and red underpainting layer. I don’t have much experience with this, but holy cow… I love the results!
Now I just have to balance a mad desire to do nothing but Warcrow minis for a while! There’s a lot of grey from a lot of games in my backlog, I can’t get obsessed with just one game, hahahah!
Grimmleigh's Lab 