Side Quest

 & Goblins Done

Managed to finish off the last couple of goblins for the goblin unit. Which brings them up to twenty and this completes the ones I had sitting on the paint bench. The last two were one of the classic hobgoblins from Oakbound and a repaint of the Citadel 80's Giak from their Lone wolf range. 

I then went onto a bit of a side project. Which is to start map out the entire book of the City of Thieves from Fighting Fantasy. To be honest I have tried to do this a couple of times already (most notably during lockdown in the UK) but I have never managed to finish it*

*Now up to 166 out of 400.  

Yep, this is the battered and well read original from 1984

This is the book that really kick started my fantasy hobby journey. I had already read the Hobbit by this stage but this is the true starting point my collecting of Citadel minis back in 1984 (?). After a mate at school showed me a copy and I was hooked. 

I played this book obsessively trying to defeat Zanbar Bone until I finally realised I had taken the wrong turn whilst in the City of Thieves and missed getting one of the vital ingredients to defeat him. After that many other gamebooks followed and just a few Citadel minis... 

So I suppose the question, why do this now? Well one of the challenges (a much younger me) had when I was playing these gamebooks is that is was easy to miss a vital choice because you can't see it all mapped out and I thought it would be good finally see it all in one go. And as I have already found, Ian Livingstone did not make easy even if they were supposed to be for kids!

Rob 

Armies of Evil

Finished the Necromancer & Started on Some Goblins

So, I managed to get some sessions in this week and finished off Vonatar the necromancer, evil villain and poster boy of the second Lone Wolf gamebook - Fire on the Water. After deciding to paint him up using the  paint scheme in Gary Chalk's drawing, I decided he would need a base to match. i.e. wooden decking of a death hulk. This proved to be a bit more complicated than I was planning because he is mounted on a solid base and I had to shave down the planks to fit around him and sit nicely around his robes. However, once started you got finish. Now I still need to make a 40mm base for him but since the 20mm is the deck of a ship then 40mm one will have to be the same...

Anyway, attention for the moment has turned to finishing a group of 20 goblins for my Midgard armies project. Now, these minis are mix of Oldhammer C13 goblins, Oakbound ones from the 2024 calendar and a few other randoms. 

Since I enjoyed the first pack, I bought some more for a Friday nights entertainment.

Rob 

The Other Necromancer Arrives

With Age Appropriate Friends

Time for Lone Wolf to spring into action!

While I was away on work, Vonatar  turned up. So, I just had to get him unwrapped and for a over forty year mini he is in great condition. I have already decided he should be painted up to match the Lone Wolf cover art by the excellent Gary Chalk. And be mounted on a 20mm base which fits on a larger 40mm base. So, he can join the forces of Midgard as either a lowly minion or a as a powerful commander. 

Plenty of opportunity try some nice strong beers while I was away... 

Rob 

The Other Necromancer

It was an Honest Mistake!

So, I deliberately have not bought any minis to build out the Midgard armies as I reckon I have already got mostly finished armies already. However, I did plan to get a new Necromancer mini to lead the undead army  as I have had my eye of an alternative version of Heinrich Kemmler by Knucklebones minis. 

The excellent mini by Knucklebones minis

I really like the original Citadel version but they are of course going for silly money and the Knucklebones version is a very nice alternative. I have seen him available on eBay, so I decided it was time to get one. But as I looked for looked for the Knucklebones mini, I came across a different necromancer which I wasn't expecting. 

The necromancer Vonatar from Lone Wolf, part of the classic 80s Citadel Lone Wolf range. Which edges me closer to completing the Lone Wolf set (only three left to get, guard*, guard captain* and the helghast) . Since these minis go for really silly money, I had sort of given up completing the set. But just goes to show it is worth the time to keep looking. 

*both of which I had until the early 2000s - Doh!

Now do I still need the Heinrich mini? 😉

Rob 

Finishing & Starting Stuff

 Finished the Last Giak

So I have finished all of my current collection Lone Wolf figures, there are still a few more to get but their  'normal' prices means I will watch and wait. There are plenty of other interesting projects out there which my money will probably be spent on first.

So next up is the group shot of all the miniatures in my collection. 

The whole gang. 

This group has  taken over twenty years on and off,  so cover multiple types of my styles over the years. So despite the differences I quite like the fact they don't all look the same. One of other  perennial questions is around basing and certainly those recently painted figures were based to fit into current armies and groups. 

So on to the next projects.

Started Something New

Just completed the first of the Pixie Riders from Miniatures (oakbound.co.uk), a great little figure who fits in nicely to Fae army. I have another two to complete and hopefully will be start of light cavalry unit.

The Pixie leads the sprites into battle
(Playing around with the light)

Stuff in Progress

I haven't forgotten my Thistlewood project but fancied a bit of a change of pace. So looking through my buildings collections. I have done a bit of tidying up of my 30 year old buildings and started to build a few more to complete the ones necessary for the scenario. I can't do any further work on this house until I get some more coffee stirrer sticks!

Its the first time I have used egg box cardboard for the tiles and I am really impressed by the result. It didn't start out to be a crooked house but once I noticed it, I decided to work with it. A lot of old houses are not perfectly square and few odd angles are perfectly normal.

Progress on Buildings so far.

Rob 

Lone Wolf Gourgaz

 Close Up Shots

Rob 

Lone Wolf Nidnuks & Emerald Prince

Only One Lone Wolf Figure left & the Emerald Prince

Easy Prey?

So I have nearly painted all of the figures in my Lone Wolf collection. Only one Giak left to paint. Whilst I will keep an eye out for the remaining figures. The prices are usually beyond what I am prepared to pay so my collection is almost finished for now My Lone Wolf collection Picture.  Anyway the two Nidnuks have now been been finished. These Nidnuks  are small mouse men who act as scavengers in the Lone Wolf world. 

The figures are really small, only about 10mm high. So time for the small brushes!

Gary Chalk has done a couple of pictures (One shown below) of them for the Lone Wolf books. Which nicely capture the spirit of the characters. I am not sure that these sculpts quite meet the high standards of the drawings. Fortunately other figures in the range do a much better capturing the spirit of the books and Gary Chalk's illustrations. 

Nidnuk Chieftain by Gary Chalk

Finishing off Some Fae

After my Fantasy Warriors game, last month. I was inspired to finally get round to finishing off one my Fae units, The Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt was missing the leader of the hunt - The Emerald Prince. In the game, the Wild Hunt couldn't finish off the Grateful Dead A Finely Balanced Encounter and fight lasted nearly all game. So I think the leader of the hunt would have helped tip the balance in favour of the Wild Hunt. This just leaves the sprite unit from my original Fae army plan. Maybe I might get them finished before Christmas...

I chose a classic Mark Copplestone wood elf warchief  from Grenadier (via Fornlorn Hope). As with all of the elves in the Fae army. I have avoid going for 'normal' flesh colours, so as the name suggested I went all in with the colour green. Which was an interesting change to stick to a smaller range of colours. He looks a bit darker in the photos than in 'real' life but overall I think he fits the bill. However, I would of liked a couple of extra different greens. So I could do with a wider range of paints. It is always more exciting to buy figures but a few more paints is a must over the next few months.

Rob  

A Very Rotten Bandit

 A Bit of Rot and Rustling

Early evening rustling

The latest of my Lone Wolf figures has been the bandit. Unfortunately he seems to have suffered a bit lead rot. He was a figure that I purchased off of eBay already painted and sat on the shelf for a number of ears before painting.  He had the paint removed and I did attempt to paint him as part of the duel series however I gave up because at the time I thought was unremoved paint but I now realise was lead rot. Which was giving a rough surface around the recesses of the model. 

When I painted him the first time, I did think the paint removal (lead rot) wasn't great but it really showed up as I painted the model. Interestingly the figure was a very dark metal colour which i assume means the lead mix was bit off. As most my other figures from the same period are a much light metal colour. 

This is the only one of the Lone Wolf figures, I can't find the a Gary Chalk picture on which it is based. 

Pre Paint Stripping!

The paint was removed again, any light scraping to remove the remaining paint just damaged the figure.  So figure was cleaned with soap/water/old tooth brush and an loose material removed. Fortunately it  is still be mostly in the recesses. The figure was then  re-undercoated.  I decided to go for a darker scheme to try and hide some of the damage. Overall I am ok with the final result given the state of the miniature. 

After all this excitement! There is only one solution...

Rob

Flight From the Dark

 Lone Wolf Returns

I'm on a bit of a Lone wolf Miniatures roll, having painting  more figures this year than the last twenty years put together. So with Lone Wolf painted, I have four figures left, so I think its time to finish painting the rest. It would be good to get the rest of the set (& I will keep my eyes open) but the prices are just to high to justify spending that much on just four more figures. Especially when there are many other great Oldhammer figures for much less money. I am glad I got these ones when the prices were ok. 

I tried go for a colour scheme which fits a ranger. With a bit of dirt as he can't he too clean living in the wilds. The original drawing has a bit too much green, so I decided to limit the green to the cloak only. Using browns instead.  

Almost alone in the wilds

The Classic Gary Chalk Lone Wolf drawing.
Its is pretty clear to see the drawing
was the inspiration for the figure. 

A bit of mud on the cloak

Fighting off Giak raiders

My entire Lone Wolf collection

Rob

LW1 Giak Attack Finished

 After not painting these figures for years (decades), I sudden found the motivation to finish them. I know it was not many figures but they never seemed to get to the front of the queue until now. It is probably because I am not rushing to finish an army at the moment. Just adding bits as they come along.

So the last two

Maniac Giak

Giak Warrior

Gourgaz was the first to be painted (in the nineties) a and I would like to have another go at him as my painting style/skills have changed significantly. But I am not going to strip this figure But I might be able to get one more...

Anyway with the Giak Attack finished, I have a few other Lone Wolf figures left to paint and in particular Lone Wolf himself. 

Rob 

LW1 Giak Attack (Very Slowly)

Taking My Time

Finished Giak No.4 from the 1980's Giak Attack Boxed set. I have had this set since from at least the Nineties but have never got round to finishing it. I have managed an odd figure every now and again. So they all have widely different painting styles. But at this stage I plan to keep them all different. The banner guy has sat half painted for at least a year, so it was finally his turn this afternoon. I even painted both sides of the banner which is always a bit of  a strain for me. 

Thirty Years of Progress...

Gourgaz Attacks

As a small reward, I plan to finally paint Lone Wolf himself once I have completed the last two Giaks.

White Dwarf 59 November 1984 - The One with the Troll & Female Magic User 

Cover by Peter Andrew Jones

She doesn't seem to be carrying much equipment for a dungeon bash but this seemed standard for the period.  You may be wondering why I have posted this apart from its obvious charms. But there is a point, it is the first pictures I could find of completed Lone Wolf figures including Lone Wolf, Prince Penethor and the Giaks. The figures were included in the regular Tabletop Heroes section of White Dwarf written by Joe Dever & Gary Chalk. Back when White Dwarf only had two pages devoted to miniatures - one page of colour pictures and one page of painting tips and topics. Seems crazy now! 

Another excellent Gary Chalk illustration
which seems to be the starting point for the miniatures. 

Rob