October 25 - Terror of the Lichemaster: Mikael Jacsen's Zombies

"And whosoever shall be found,

Without the soul for getting down

Must stand and face the Hounds of Hell

And rot inside a corpse's shell"

Thriller - Rod Temperton

A horde of ten zombie 'dancers'

Mikeal Jacsen with his flaming hair and his horde of zombies is typical of Games Workshop's humour in the eighties.

Jacsen is another hard to find and expensive mini. I'm going down the route of just using a nice Undead mini, at least for now*.

The horde is only ten zombies, so it should be easy to complete in October, and I've certainly had plenty of practice painting them recently.

But I'm strangely short of actual Old School zombies. I can only assume that I sold or gave away what I had. I distinctly remember painting up some of the old Fantasy Tribe zombies back in the eighties; one even had an axe head stuck in his head! I'd have been using them for RPGs rather than for wargaming. I've no recollection of disposing of any of them though, ah well.

I do still have eight random zombies from various manufacturers. As with the skeletons, quite a few need some repairs.

But I've also got ten West Wind Zombies from their Vampire Wars range.

Initially I was put off by the rather odd poses of some of them, but then I remembered, these are Mikael Jacsen's zombies, they should be dancing! 

With that in mind, they should do just fine.

Painting 

Unlike my Rangers of Shadow Deep zombies or the D&D ones, I'm not using Speed/Xpress paints for the bulk of them. Instead, I'm going back to my usual base coat, sharp highlight and then wash. Because I want to emphasise their undead nature, I chose a few different base colours for the flesh. I used Vallejo Scorched Brown, Vallejo Extra Opaque Charcoal, VGC Dwarf Flesh and VGC Glacier Blue. They all got some sort of highlight, VGC Stonewall Grey for the dark skinned zombies, and at T'Other One's suggestion I stippled a bit of light green in places.

The flesh was then washed. I used Army Painter Quickshade Green, APQ Military Shader and Vallejo Game Wash Green, pretty much choosing the shade at random.  These have mostly worked out fine, though I think some look better than others.

Just a step to the left (oops, wrong film)

And lean back...

Two female zombies

The last two zombies

Clothing was done as standard, and given a wash in Marine Juice to provide the shading.  Little details such as some blood staining (Vallejo Special Effects Dried Blood), especially on the ones that seem to have been shot in the stomach, plus the odd bone, exposed muscle, and the guts on two of them finished of the painting. They all got a drybrush of VGC Earth on the legs to dirty them up a bit.

Basing was standard. I like this more desolate look for the undead, and I'm sticking with it for the rest of the force.

I enjoyed painting these minis, but I can't ever see myself painting hordes and hordes of them. I'll admit that I rushed them towards the end, partly as I wanted to get them done before the end of the month.

All parents and necromancers know that you shouldn't have favourites amongst those you've raised, but I do really like the bride. I painted some of the hair detail as flowers, that extra colour helps the mini to pop.

What's Next?

That's the Undead for the first two scenarios done, and all in October too. Admittedly, I don't have minis that match the leaders, but I do have proxies that will do for now.

I've already got sufficient dwarves painted for the mine, but I do need to paint the Bogles for the second game.

I also need some terrain. 

Terror of the Lichemaster was the first Village pack, and included a lot of buildings. As previously mentioned, I've got the dwarven stuff already, though the mine needs a bit of work and some bits like spoil heaps and maybe even a mine cart track will add to the look.

I've already started on the buildings for the Bogel's Farm, but there are a few extra bits that I need, such as hedges and an area of higher ground like a low, flat hill, useful for Ashak Rise as well.

Beyond that, there's the rest of the Undead for the Defence of Frugelhoffen, and the defenders of course. I'm short a few zombies, but I've got all the defenders, or suitable substitutes. They all need painting of course.

Plus yet more buildings, though I don't have any of these already built.

I may never actually get around to the stuff for the third game, at least not in the near future. 

But I've managed to get a reasonable number of undead finished, and within October too.

* I've already mentioned Antediluvian Miniatures 'Undead Heroes', I've also seen some great looking STLs, but not having 3D printing facilities I'll pass.

I've considered doing a bit of converting, I'm still looking out for suitable base minis.

October 25 - The Terror of the Lichemaster: Ranlac the Black and his Skeletons

A while ago I showed a collection of skeletons of mixed provenance, many requiring repairs.

These, plus some more intact minis, are now painted and ready.

24 Completed skeletons

Ranlac 

I must say, though, that I'm not trying to paint or convert anything specifically for Ranlac (or worse, buy him - there's one on eBay at the moment for an eye watering £48*, and that's less than a third of the asking price for Kemmler). Instead, I'll simply use the lich, it's by the Perry's, and from the same range as Ranlac, and I painted his cloak black, so it'll do for now.

Repair Work 

I didn't get chance to repair all the damaged minis, I started simply, pinning and gluing the arm back on the Citadel 'Shaman'. He was part of a job lot of damaged undead off evilbay, perhaps the previous owner was going to repose him?

Various weapon replacements needed pinning; I used a very fine drill bit and brass wire (can't remember the size, sorry). This was thin enough to pin plastic swords, and should hopefully be strong enough to hold everything in place. 

I took the parts from my sprue pile, specifically the Mantic skeleton sprue for swords (suitably chipped and aged) and the flail, and the Oathmark Goblins for the spears/spear heads.

Painting 

This was pretty straightforward. Priming with Vallejo German Green Brown Surface Primer, then all metals in Vallejo Game Color Gunmetal. 

Bone in VGC Bonewhite, leaving deep shadows in the primer, cloth as required and all wood and leather in VGC Charred Brown.

Then a black wash on the metals and in the eye sockets, followed by extreme highlights everywhere else; White on the bones, leather brown on belts etc. Normally I edge weapons and armour, but this is supposed to be old and decaying gear; besides, it'll get some rust effect later. I do use VGC Tinny Tin and Brazen Bronze to give some interest on some hilts, pommels, buckles etc. Finally, those lighter 'wood grain' stripes on weapon shafts that I still struggle with.

Then everything is given a wash of Sonic Tonic (Marine Juice). I wasn't sure if this would be dark enough, but I think it looks fine. 

Some of the boney lads are given a few extra details (shield designs, for example, and it makes a nice change not to deface them with orc symbols) or extra highlights. Minis with bare heads get a white drybrush on the skull. All the metals are aged, either with VSX Dry Rust/Rust or Verdigris.

Basing the Horde 

The skeletons were all superglued on 25mm round bases (GW slotta bases). The chap with greatsword without a base got pinned to a bit of plastic foamboard first, so he's now standing on a rock.

Any obvious slots showing were covered by masking tape, and the step between the slotta base and the mini's flat base was smoothed out somewhat with acrylic modelling paste.

The texture is Geek Gaming Scenics Arid Plains to which I added some dry grass tufts,  I was going for a less lush look than my dwarves,  elves etc, and I think it works well. Definitely a look to keep throughout the Undead.

The Miniature Manufacturers 

This is an eclectic bunch, most are minis I already owned, though I did buy a couple of small job lots of skeletons of evilbay. 

Citadel;  most of these are pre slotta minis, but the Shaman (looks more like a clichéd 'caveman' to me) is a later C17 skeleton.

Citadel Skeletons L to R; Fantasy tribes skeleton, C 17 skeletons (including Finrum the Lich) and later (1984) C17 skeleton Shaman

Ral Partha; just two of these.  If I don't find anything better for Mikael Jacson in the next game, the chap on the left will do. 

Ral Partha skeletons

Grenadier; very nice minis these, most were from the job lots, though I had a few already. They are very nicely detailed, the ones wearing armour have obvious damage, dints and gashes, presumably where they took their fatal wound. Three are from various Fantasy Lords packs, the four on the right from the Undead Lords of Khomar-Lolth set.

Seven Grenadier Skeletons

Harlequin Miniatures, sculpted by Roy Eastland (now available from Northstar), I had to ask the Old School Miniatures Facebook group brains trust for ID. 

I do remember buying these at Something Wicked,  Huddersfield's premier games shop from the 1980s through to the 2010s, probably for use in RPGs.

Five Harlequin skeletons

Mythic World, now available from Broadsword Miniatures, another random purchase from some time in the past. I recognise the other minis in the pack, so presumably I once owned them as well, I wonder where they got to?

Plus a Citadel Fantasy Tribes skeleton that was in hiding for the earlier picture.

Mythic World and Citadel

Prince August; I cast these myself from Prince August moulds. I must have had loads of them at one time, many of them not very good casts.  Still, these are OK, and have painted up well. 

Three home cast skeletons

Just a quick mention on design. Skeleton miniatures have a potential weakness at the ankles, far more so than most minis. While painting these I was fascinated how different designers have approached this issue.

Some, such as the Harlequin skeletons, have an extra point of contact with a spear or similar. Some rely on armour and equipment, such as a long scabbard to add strength (I've a Grenadier skeleton that I'll try and add greaves to).

Perhaps my favourite are the two early Citadel C 17 skeletons. They both have a weapon shaft in the right hand and the left arm has its sleeve ripped so that ribbons of cloth hang down, providing that extra strength. Clever!

I really enjoyed painting this wonderfully eclectic collection. More than enough for the first game in The Terror of the Lichemaster. It gives me a couple of units for other games of WoE, with weapon options. It's tempting to look out for a few more, just to make up full units with two handed weapons, spears, armour etc, but that sounds like a dangerously slippery slope. 

I don't have any missiles yet though, which is something I'd like to add for games beyond the campaign.

What's Next?

That's a nice collection of skeletons. More than enough for the Attack on the Mine, but I thought I might as well do all my skeleton infantry at once, at least the ones I managed to repair. I've a few more minis needing to mend, and a load of more recent Harlequin skeletons, but they can wait until it looks like we're playing the final scenario. 

So next up undead-wise will be the ten zombies for the Attack on Bogel's Farm.

*A certain seller notorious to Oldhammer collectors, I shan't name them has Ranlac for ove twice this price!

Rangers of Shadow Deep: The Infected Trees

"Scenario 2: The Infected Trees

Examining the bodies of the zombies, along with the other clues from the village, left little doubt.

The village had been attacked by some horrific species of giant spider, whose venom reanimated the dead. Thankfully, such creatures move slowly. Likely, they will have retreated to the nearest shelter to slowly feast upon the missing villagers.

Your duty is clear. Taking just enough time to patch up your wounds, and make a quick pyre for the dead, you set off after the spiders, following their faint, but unique tracks. 

After nearly a day’s pursuit, the tracks lead into a small forest. Chances are the spiders are not too deep in the woods. You must find them, destroy them and any nests they might have made, and, if you are

lucky, rescue any survivors."

The MEGAforce finally got around to playing the second scenario in the first mission. 

All four of us were available, so we each chose one of our Rangers from our previous play-throughs of the first scenario and took either a Recruit or a Warhound from a previous game. The rationale was that all the earlier games had happened and the various Rangers met up on the way to the Trees. Four then took a Companion each to investigate, while the rest returned to base escorting the rescued Survivors.

L to R: Omoranti, Bostol,  Portus Fell,  Gendrin,  Ranger Bob, Wuffles, Valdar and Haflas

L to R: Omoranti, Bostol,  Portus Fell,  Gendrin,  Ranger Bob, Wuffles, Valdar and Haflas

The Infected Grove

I set the game up ahead of time, using my Nest Trees and pretty much all the rest of my tree collection. Sadly I didn't really have any other suitable terrain to provide cover and make the going difficult.

The Infected Trees with lurking spiders

We'd not got together for a while, so there was a lot of chat and too few pictures.  Here's a brief account of the action.

Opening Moves 

The Heroes advanced, already sighting Giant Spiders ahead. Early shots took out a couple, and Valdar was able to target one of the Nest Trees with a Fireball, burning both it and the Spider hiding in it.

The only setback was both Omoranti and Bostol being Poisoned by a Spider (Grim couldn't roll less than a 17 in the first half of the game, great when it was for his Heroes, less good when he rolled for the Spiders).

The first couple of Cocoons held corpses, but in the third was an elderly woman. At 87 she wasn't going to let mere spiders stop her!

The Heroes investigate, meeting venomous spiders and Nest Trees, and destroying them all

The End Phase 

The Rangers continued their mission. Wuffles was attacked by a Spider, but a rare shaft of light through the canopy drove it off. Sadly the noble hound then fell to a Zombie after sniffing one of the remaining cocoons.

The final cocoon held another villager, but it seemed the danger wasn't over. Two more trees were Infected, but Valdar dealt with one with a Recalled Fireball and as set fire to the other.

With no more cocoons to investigate, and any remaining Spiders hidden away, the Heroes returned to base, stopping only to help Valdar and Gendrin, who had managed to get themselves caught up in sticky spider webs.

All clear!

Aftermath 

Everyone gained a level. Portius Fell was already level 1 from the first game, so now she's improved her shooting (all that practice on poor helpless spiders).

The rest of us are now level 1 and have honed our Skills ready for Tor Varden.

And Wuffles survived his encounter with the zombie.

Summary 

Well that was a lot of fun. 

The Mission wasn't as difficult as I anticipated, and I set up for the Challenge Level after reading suggestions in the Rangers of Shadow Deep Facebook group.

Initially, everyone kept their Ranger and Companion together, but we soon got into the swing of things and had folk helping out where they were most useful.

My experience was, perhaps, jaded slightly by having both my Heroes Poisoned, so down to one Action a turn. I felt I added little to the game from that point onwards, it's a good job the rest of the company were up to the task.

Mistakes Were Made 

Although the system is an easy one to learn, I still got some things wrong. 

Despite using a Fast Play Sheet, I messed up the second move. This meant that we were moving far too fast (especially Ranger Bob and Valdar, with their base move of 7). We got to the Nest Trees too soon, and took the initial four out of the game relatively early (Fireballing a tree and spider was nicely cinematic though).

I was also rushing through the Event Card results, not reading them properly, so I missed placing the spider and treasure tokens along with the new Nest Trees. Doh! This would have delayed setting fire to them.

But the real reason the scenario seemed relatively easy was the 'spider shooting gallery'. This was down to my not placing any low cover. Bushes and such would have helped the spiders survive until they could contact the company.

If that sounds a bit negative, it's not meant to. Everyone commented on how fun it was, and the ease of learning the rules (excepting mistakes) helps the story to stand out.

Looking Forward 

T'Other One had to use the Barbarian for Bob, as I have surprisingly few male Rangers painted. I'll correct that soon.

I must also make more low cover, bushes, rocks etc; I'm sure they will add to the next scenario. 

I also need to start assembling the minis for Mission Two.

"Only hours after you arrived back from destroying the nest of spiders, you received a message from your commanding officer. Contact has been lost with the beacon tower of Tor Varden, and it is presumed to have been overrun.

You are commanded to round up what men you can and proceed with all swiftness to Tor Varden to ascertain the truth. If the tower has fallen, learn what enemy forces now occupy it and harass or eliminate them as opportunity presents."

October Monthly Challenge; The Lichemaster's Undead

October Challenge 

It's traditional in Hobbyland to either paint orcs in October (Orctober), or do something spoooooky ready for Halloween.

I've done a couple of Orctobers, last year sorting out 6mm orcs for Fantastic Battles and in 2021 trying to paint as many different orcs as I could.

Orctober

So with the maxim "a change is as good as a rest", I decided to do something Undead. After all, I've had plenty of practice recently with my D&D skeletons and zombies.

But what?

As an old Grognard with a liking for the second edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles scenario packs, the obvious answer is The Terror of the Lichemaster*. 

Ulterior Motives

Just as with my Orc's Drift project, this is really just an excuse to collect and paint some undead.

Unlike Orc's Drift, I'm not really trying to collect the recommended minis. Anything vaguely similar will do. There'll be several different manufacturers, and I don't think I'll find anything to match the main characters anyway. They do crop up occasionally at silly prices, but I'm happy to save my limited hobby cash for more, cheaper, stuff.

I don't know how far I'll get in one month, but it'll be fun to see.

Planning 

Here's a brief rundown of what would be required for the full campaign, should I be mad enough to try that.

The Assault on the Mine; Ranlac the Black (skeleton champion), twenty skeletons, Gimbrin Finehelm (dwarf hero), dwarf miners.

The Attack on Bogles Farm; Mikeal Jacsen (skeleton champion) ten zombies, the Bogles (five human settlers), Samgaff (halfling) and Fritzy (psycho dog)

The Defence of Frugelhoffen; Heinrich Kemmler (necromancer), Krell (undead hero), twenty skeletons, ten zombies plus the surviving undead from previous games, twenty spear armed villagers, twenty bow armed villagers and five additional characters, Rialta Snow (elf), Albi Shutz (human champion), Grimwald Calaco (human anarchist), Antonio Epstein (lovestruck human chancer) and Gim Grundel (halfling).

That's quite a lot for the final game, but the preliminary games should be quite achievable. 

I'm not really seriously planning on collecting everything, (well, not at the moment anyway) but I do hope to paint a small force of undead for games like Warlords of Erehwon, and if I can run the first couple of games using WoE, that's a definite bonus.

A True Tyke

In the spirit of saving time, money and effort, there's a lot of crossover with the Orc's Drift project. The Linden Way Militia will provide the spears and some of the bows for the defence of Frugelhoffen, the villagers provide the Bogels, and the dwarves from Ashak Rise provide Gimbrin's miners.

I've got the dwarven mine buildings already from the Second International Townscape Challenge (I've even got the mine head that I built when I first got the pack, it just needs a bit of fixing up) and I painted a suitable dog for Fritzy when I was experimenting with hobhounds (the recommended mini is a different one of the four AD&D Blink Dogs, I'm sure Fritzy won't mind).

I've also got an actual Rialta Snow, "Star of Stage, Screen and Warhammer Scenario", and suitable minis for most of the other heroes.

As for the undead characters, Antediluvian Miniatures do a pack of suspiciously familiar undead heroes. Tempting. 

The Bare Bones

Needs work

So here's the start of the undead, some random skeletons from various manufacturers. These include Citadel, Grenadier, and Prince August, the result of decades of random collecting and a couple of job lots from evilbay. I rather like the disorganised look with no standard of arms or equipment. They are different heights and build too, which helps sell the story that these are skeletons animated from all over the place, rather than a trained military unit brought back from the grave.

Many of them need repairs to get them battle ready, so it's off to the bits box for some weapons and other gear. I've got nine more that were more complete and are now primed ready for painting.

Altogether this lot should get me sufficient for the first battle.

Painting 

I'm aiming on keeping the painting fairly simple, after all,  many of the minis are little more than bones and weapons.  

I'm keeping it more 'traditional', in the manner of my old school orcs, so base coat, highlight and wash, with whatever extra detailing is required.

*I intended taking part in Dave Stone's Apocalypse Me challenge this month, and the undead hordes are ideal. But for reasons he explains on his blog, he's got more important matters to deal with. I wish him well; think of this as continuing his great work in the hobbysphere.