Scrapjacks: Solo/Cooperative Salvage Operations in Deep Space

Last month I teased a new project. Well time for the reveal, it's Scrapjacks, a new game from Stalker7.

Scrapjacks Quickstart cover, artist Andrew Dordor, internet image

Specifically, I aim to put together a set for playing the Quickstart, available on Wargames Vault for my favourite price, free!

I found out about Scrapjacks from Gunbird*, of 20mm And Then Some. He's kitbashed some great 'jacks, and I fancied trying something similar. This was before I even looked at the rules.

As an extra challenge, I'm going to try and do everything with stuff I've already got (with the exception of the new helmets from Anvil Industries).

So What Do I Need?

I'm starting from scratch, so I'll need four 'jacks, one of each type, plus some potential opposition; six Raiders and six small maintenance 'bots.

I'll also need two twelve inch square boards, four doors, eight 'points of interest'; basically stuff that can be searched, and two objectives (computer terminals to access the next board section). Some obstacles and barriers might also be useful.

Scrapjacks 

There are four different types of 'jacks. Torch; gets things open, Rigger; gets things working,  Patch; fixes suits and 'jacks, and Yard dog; deals with any opposition.

To make these I've a few different sprues to choose bits from. I got various Stargrave sprues  (Crew, Troopers and Mercenaries) which will provide the bulk of the components. I can also take bits from various Warpath kits, especially the Enforcers and the GCPS Infantry. The heads will, of course, be the bubble helmets I got from Anvil Industries.

Raiders 

I might base the Raiders on the GCPS Infantry, possibly switching out the weaponry for Stargrave stuff. Alternatively, I might find something useful amongst my unpainted Dreadball teams. 

If I weren't doing this on a budget,  I'd use the Stargrave Scavenger sprues or Wargames Atlantic's Cannon Fodder. 

Another possibility is to add weapons to some spare Star Saga scientists (actually, they'd make pretty good 'Jacks as well).

Bots

For the maintenance bots I'm using the Mechanoids Dreadball team. I've had them since they first came out and done nothing with them yet; here's a chance to get some use out of them.

Scenery etc

I've some old Fat Dragon Sci Fi floor plans that I can print off for the boards, and spare Star Saga accessories and general scenery bits I've collected over the years will do for the points of interest.  When the game comes out in full, there's be some optional official floorplans as well, but I'm making do for the Quickstart.

If I get around to adding walls or barriers,  I've plenty of Deadzone stuff and a box of 'Platformer?' terrain which I've never got around to using. 

Playing the Game

The Quickstart is, by necessity, a shortened form of the game.  It's pitched for solo and co-op play, so I'll give it a go myself and see how it plays before investing in the full game.

I'll let you all know what I think when I get around to trying it.

One nice thing about the booklet is the way it is often presented as a briefing to prospective Scrapjacks.  Vaststar Recovery Group run a franchise system, and a lot of the instructions are presented as if to new franchisees.

What's Next?

So that's the plan. First up, I think, will be the Scrapjacks themselves. 

I'm looking forward to the kitbashing, it's been great fun doing the Rangers and companions, and this promises to be similar.

Update!

As of 4th March, the full game is available, either a PDF via Wargames Vault or a hardcopy via Amazon (though currently US only).

*Gunbird also put me on to the Five Box System, he's a great inspiration

Scatter Terrain Bushes

Rangers of Shadow Deep Mission Two (among others) calls for a good amount of cover and suggests boulders and bushes. 

I used Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge to prepare the stuff for this mission, but as I got on to the terrain, time was running out, so the cover had to be quick and simple.

The new shrubbery

Construction; Basic Shapes and Texture 

A while ago Grim gave me some spongy packing foam, not the really soft stuff used for storing minis, nor expanded polystyrene - this is fairly rigid, but still flexible enough that it shouldn't damage easily. It cuts easily with knife or scissors so I cut some to vaguely blob like bush shapes.

To add extra weight I inserted random screws in the base of the bush shape. The foam is soft enough that this can be done just by twisting and pushing with fingers.

I used hot glue to fix them on to foam board bases (the plastic stuff used for signs, not the XPS/card sandwich I use for buildings). In some cases I hot glued extra bits of foam on top to give a more rounded shape. 

The basic structure

The bush shapes were then coated with PVA glue and covered with dark coarse turf. I used a combination of scattering it over and pushing it on to the glue on the shapes to get full coverage.

Sealing the Texture 

Left on it's own, the turf texture would quickly rub off, so the bushes were sprayed with isopropanol and then watered down Mod-podge was dripped on to seal everything in (in theory). This takes a while to fully dry, I might save any more for the Season of Scenery Challenge in summer.

At this stage I also added a sprinkle of lighter coloured turf to add some variety to some of the bushes. 

The sealing stage = messy

Once everything was dry, a quick burnt umber to neaten the bases and done. 

They are very simple, but they do the job. I'll certainly make some more, they're great for skirmish games like Rangers of Shadow Deep, and I suspect they'll turn up in Middle Earth as well.

Once I've a large number done I might add a bit more detail, such as extra texture on the bases, and perhaps a bit of drybrushing to highlight the foliage. 

Green Fingers 

A note of warning. I used cheap turf - entirely appropriate for this low budget project - but the dye used isn't fast. It runs when wet, especially when sprayed with isopropanol and slathered with watered down Mod-podge. You can see the runoff on the photo above. 

If you're tempted to make some yourself, either buy dye-fast turf or put plenty of paper down, including a top sheet of baking parchment (otherwise the bushes will just stick to the surface). Once the Mod-podge dries, it should be protected from further moisture and resistant to shedding the flock.

Paint What You Got Challenge 25/26 Roundup

Well that's Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge over with until December. 

I set myself a couple of goals: paint the minis for the second Rangers of Shadow Deep mission and paint the minis for the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game storybook Fellowship of the Ring,  or at least the first half. I did a breakdown of the requirements in December if you're interested. 

How Did it Go?

I'll confess that I didn't manage everything, but I did manage a lot of it. Let's have a look at what I did manage. 

Rangers of Shadow Deep Mission Two 

I assembled (taking advantage of Anne's 2026 Miniature  Assembly Challenge for extra impetus) and painted 15 plastic gnolls, 1 metal gnoll Shaman and a kitbashed Ranger and a Reaper Bones Vulture. 

Gnoll sergeants, shaman and vulture

The gnoll 'staff'

The Warriors

Six gnolls running away?

Gnoll archers

'Dum-de-dum-de-dum-de-dum'

The gnolls go together pretty well, and bits from other Frostgrave kits can be used, as I did with the great axe for one of the sergeants.  If/when I build the remaining sprue, there's a two handed hammer on the Barbarians sprue that I think I'll use.  

While they were fun to paint, I regret making the decision early on to use as many different colours on the cloth as I could.  

Another Ranger (of the Shadow Deep)

Kitbashed from many sources

The ranger is made up from bits from the Frostgrave Barbarians sprue and the Oathmark Human Infantry sprue, with the scabbard from the Light Infantry set.

I also painted a couple of resin tents and a resin piece with fallen lög, shields, backpacks etc. for the gnolls' camp. These are from Scotia Grendel; nice models, if, perhaps, not quite 'gnollish'.

The campsite

Nine homemade bushes for the first scenario in Mission two.  These were a quick build, there's a full description coming sometime soon.

Ranger and gnoll hide and seek among the shrubbery

The second scenario requires a lot of scatter terrain for the inside of the tower.  Here's a start, but I'll need a lot more.

The crates and the board use Crooked Staff Print and Paste textures; the Build Along Dungeon for the floor textures and 19; Chests and Crates for the crates.  There are many similar products available; I like the Crooked Staff stuff as its cheap (Build Along dungeon 1 is, I believe, free, and the rest are pay what you want) easy to make and generally relatively low on ink use and I like the art style. 

I may print off some more floor texture and base the crates in small groups once I've built some more. 

Fellowship of the Ring Journeybook 

This was the big disappointment.  I managed two Rangers of the North, that's all. These took a lot longer to convert than I anticipated, it's my own fault for being too fussy (or too tight to buy the actual minis). 

I enjoyed building and painting them, and I'll continue with them, but possibly with a more realistic timescale. Once I have enough finished, I'll do a post discussing how I make them, and possibly why I bother. 

And yes, I know the bases are untextured; I'll do all nine at once when they are finished.

Two Rangers of the North

"Shadow Deep? What's that?"

Hints and Mysteries

In my last post I suggested that I had a unit painted for my undead that I was keeping secret.  Well, on closer inspection, I haven't finished the shields, so you can rest easy on that front Dave.

Challenging Fun 

Once again I really enjoyed taking part in the challenge and thanks to Dave Stone for all the work he puts in to organising this and the Season of Scenery challenges every year.

If I didn't finish everything I wanted to, it's my own fault for either being too ambitious or too distracted, especially as I've had a lot of rehearsals to fit in as well for April concerts.

What's Next?

I'll continue to prepare stuff for Mission Two, and I want to get more MESBG stuff done, but I promised something new for March, so expect some Deep Space action soon.

Paint What You Got Challenge 25/26 - Photo Finish

Today's the final day of Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge and, while I haven't finished everything I planned back in December, I've got to a straight edge, so I'm calling it done.  

This is what I've managed to get painted in the time allowed.

The Finished Haul

I'll do a longer post soon, discussing the minis, but for now, here's a photo showing it all*

*Actually, there is more. I've got a unit done for my undead for Bodvoc's Dark Shadows campaign, but I'm keeping them a secret for now.

A New Project for March

These arrived in the post today from Anvil Industries, part of a little project I'm planning for March. 

Mystery heads

I'm not saying what it is yet, but, with the exception of these heads, I should be able to source everything from my existing collection of stuff. If you want a clue, it's a Quickstart version of a game currently in development. 

Feel free to guess what I'm planning in the comments (Bodvoc, you already know, so hush).

Paint What You Got Challenge, Two Weeks to go*

Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge finishes on the 26th of February, so how am I doing?

Well it could be better, a combination of other tasks and obligations (not to mention concert rehearsals) means that I've not had as much time hobbying as I'd like. 

Still, I'm well on with the gnolls for Rangers of Shadow Deep. 

Progress so far

I've finished the first batch of five gnolls, plus another five from the ones I built for Anne's Miniature Assembly Challenge.  I've also finished off the last little bits on the vulture and the campsite bits.

Ten Gnolls

 

All the minis were painted with Army Painter Speedpaints.  I was looking for fairly washed out colours, old cloth that the Gnoll have stolen or scavenged. I think Speedpaints work rather well for this. 

I prepared the first five with a grey prime, black shade and white drybrush.  For the second batch I primed in light brown, washed with Army Painter Strong Tone and drybrushed with Vallejo Game colour Off White (the campsite was a test of this). I'd hoped it would give a warmer effect, but I'm not convinced there's much difference.  

I've also changed slightly the way I did the metals.  I used VGC Chainmail after the bulk of the Speedpaints were applied, then shaded it with Gravelord Grey.

I might add a few extra details, such as teeth and claws, but they'll do for now. 

Gnoll Archers 

The shooty gnolls. These are armed with bows, but I've a couple more with crossbows to paint. 

Four gnoll archers

Twang

Gnoll Soldiers 

The fighty group.  There's a good variety of miscellaneous weaponry here. I thought about shield designs, but then I see them as crude wooden construction.  Anyway, the gnolls don't care.

The warrior section

Gnoll Sergeants and Recon

Gnoll sergeants use two handed weapons, there are two options on the sprue.  I like the idea of the hood like cloth denoting rank, I just wish I'd thought of it when I built the first sergeant with the axe, but I've kept the red theme in  his eyepatch. 

They are accompanied by their vulture.

Sergeants and vulture

I'm pleased to have got these done, but they were, at times, a shore.  Part of the reason is my decision to go multi-coloured on the clothing.  I think I over did this, and I got a bit obsessive in trying to make the different models look as different colour wise as possible.  I'd have been better off choosing three distinct colours and applying them over all the minis.

What's Next?

I've the remaining five gnolls, plus their shaman already started, and three rangers to finish too, one of the Shadow Deep, and two of The North.  I'd like to get some more done, but I think time is going to run away with me.  I wonder if I can claim the Julian Defence again?

* Probably considerably less by the time this gets posted.

January Update: Anne's Miniature Assembly Challenge Results

I joined Anne's 2026 Miniature Assembly Challenge near the beginning of January with the aim of building enough Frostgrave gnolls for the second mission, converting some MESBG Rangers of Gondor into Dunedain, and possibly building a couple more minis. 

How did I do?

Assemble miniatures, gnolls, a ranger, and two different rangers

Well I managed ten more gnolls, more than enough, but it finished off the sprues. 

I also built an extra Ranger, nominally for T'Other One to use when we tackle the second mission.

Dunedain

The Dunedain were less successful; I finished two, but they were more work than I anticipated. 

Two converted Dunedain

both with backpacks

I wanted them to look sufficiently different to the Rangers of Gondor, so I decided to do away with any masks, shift the quiver to the hip, remove the sort of tabard thing and add extra equipment.  This was inspired by the official miniatures from GW. 

Alas I didn't take any pictures of them prior to converting them, but you can find plenty of pictures online if you're interested. 

The masked head on the firing ranger was removed with a razor saw and replaced with a bare head from (I think) the Frostgrave Soldiers sprue. I used quivers from the Oathmark Human Infantry sprue and concealed the mess made by removing the back quivers with Frostgrave backpacks etc.

I filled in the gaps with a 50-50 greenstuff and milliput mix, and made some attempt at showing the straps, but it's not perfect. 

I didn't complete the required nine Dunedain, and never started on the Dark Emissary I'll need for Boðvoc's Dark Shadows campaign, but even so I'm pleased.  I've got plenty to paint in February for Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge. 

I missed the target for several reasons.  The Rangers were far trickier than anticipated (and I realised that I was short of four minis anyway). I've also been busy playing a lot of music, which has been glorious (Renaissance town bands and verse anthems among others), but hasn't helped assemble anything. 

If Anne runs the challenge again next year,  I certainly want to take part. 

And a Show

I did manage to get to York Wargames Society's Vapnatak on 1st February.  

My haul was modest, but useful. 

Vapnatak haul

I picked up five more Rangers of Gondor, so that's one excuse gone (see above). Seven monotone Skaven,  in case I ever get around to Vengeance of the Lichemaster (the seller threw in a skeleton missing it's slotta base,  but that's not a problem. 

I also got a selection of the old WotC prepainted Star Wars minis. 

Apart from the second hand stuff I got some more d10 dice for games of Warlords of Erehwon. 

Warlords of Erehwon, the Map of Albion (Dark Shadows Preliminary Game)

Boðvoc and I played the first game in our Dark Shadows campaign.  To get us a bit more used to the rules and how to use our armies we played a preliminary game where both sides raced to get a map to the mysterious isle of Albion. 

Boðvoc used his tin cans dwarves and I used my new undead. 

The Scenario 

As host, and campaign organiser, Boðvoc came with a suitable scenario: both sides were trying to find a thief who had stolen a chart showing a safe route to the mysterious (and misty) Isle of Albion. 

Six tokens represent possible hiding places for the thief, a unit contacting a token reveals it, with a 1 in 6 cumulative chance it will be the thief with chart. 

We each had 500 points, which doesn't buy a lot of dwarves.  My secret weapon was a Carrion Beast, which you can see painted in the previous post. I thought something fast would prove useful grabbing objectives. 

Apologies if the following focuses more on the undead than the dwarves, you can read Boðvoc's account over on his blog.

The Field of Conflict 

The battlefield was suitably busy; ideal for this sort of skirmish. Cliffs blocked the far end if the table, as seen on the photos  -  these were actually the old modular plastic hills from Citadel stood on their side! A track leads along the length of the battlefield to a couple of fields and a farm house, with a hedge extending the line of the track.  A couple of low hills flank the hedge near the centre of the table,  and a couple of woods and a large hill dominate the near end of the table. 

There are a couple of boggy areas, near the cliffs and at the end of the hedge, and minor ruins scattered around. 

Objective tokens were placed in both bogs, both fields, one of the woods and on the rocky hill. 

The undead moved on from the left and the dwarves from the right. 

Opening Moves 

Once both sides had deployed it was clear that most of the action would be over near the cliffs. 

The two sides face off

Initially, both sides moved forward towards the objectives. Makhar boosted the skeleton spears, increasing their number to nine, otherwise it was simply a case of making progress towards the objectives.

Two turns in

The dwarven archers occupied the nearby woods.  They searched in vain, no sign of either thief or chart.

Makhar climbed the hill with his bodyguard.  No sign of the chart here either.  He took advantage of his position to inflict a Chill Wind on the dwarven axe troops, killing four.

The zombies shambled forwards, keen to feast on dwarf. To their left, the skeletons advanced into the field. Hiding in the crops was the thief, and, more importantly,  the sea chart.

Over near the cliffs the Carrion Beast circled round and dropped a rock on Amlodi.  The dwarf hid behind his beer barrel, one of his drinking chums was less fortunate. 

The action hots up, the chart is in bony hands

Main Battle

Shaken by the loss of one of his guard ("he owed me a pint"), Amlodi Forkbeard did little more than check his beer barrel for leaks.

The skeletons withdrew from the field, accompanied by a nervous rogue clutching the map. 

The dwarven infantry moved up, hoping to catch the skeletons with the prize, while the zombies shuffled ever closer.

Makhar scrambled down the hill and caught the dwarven guard in another chill wind, but they were made of sterner stuff and largely shrugged it off. They were less fortunate when the Carrion Beast dropped rocks on them, losing one of their number. 

The dwarven archers shot at Makhar and his bodyguard,  but caused no casualties. 

The undead take shots at the dwarves who desperately chase the the map

The Carrion Beast continued it's bombardment of the dwarf guard, taking out another, as did Makhar's Chill Wind. Seeing the skeletons withdraw with the chart, the necromancer decided to make the dwarves pay for their presumption. Hopefully it would delay any attempt at dwarven expansion into Albion. He ordered the zombies to charge the dwarven guard.  Despite acquitting themselves well, the dwarves were spent from their previous casualties and broke, the survivors fleeing the battlefield. 

The dwarven axes then charged the remaining zombies to avenge their kin and wiped them out. 

Desultory shooting from both lots of archers caused no casualties, but both sides suffered somewhat (a pin each).

The Dwarven Guard have gone to the Halls of the Stone Ancestors, the zombies are destroyed, and neither side's archers are up to much

End Phase 

The dwarven archers crouched down in confusion (failed Order test). Both Makhar and the Carrion Beast slew a dwarven axe, but the dwarves had the effrontary to charge the necromancer.

Dwarven axes vs Makhar and his guard

One of Makhar's bodyguard was smashed to bits by the axes of the dwarves,  but their earlier casualties caused them to break. They kept their discipline,  and withdrew in good order.

The skeleton spears continued their withdrawal,  keeping the chart safe.

Gradual whittling down of both sides

The undead gradually retreat.  Makhar tries a final blast of Chill Wind on the remaining dwarven axes, but they shrug off the effects. 

With no way of catching the skeletons with the chart, and unwilling to risk more dwarven lives (according to some, because his beer barrel had sprung a leak), Amlodi Forkbeard sounded the retreat. 

The Chart is safe in Makhar's hands

Well that was a hugely enjoyable game. I did wonder what Boðvoc has done to upset the dice gods: his luck, especially to begin with, was shocking.  Amlodi failing a Command test when he needed a 9 or less, for example.

Conversely, my rolling was good, especially early on, and I managed to cast every spell, though not always terribly effectively. 

It was my first game using my undead, though I did face them when T'Other One squashed my orcs with them back in November. I was pleasantly pleased with their performance, though a lot of the success was down to avoiding the dwarves.  The scenario helped a lot here, I'm sure I'd have struggled in a straight up fight. 

The Carrion Beast seemed very powerful, essentially being untouchable, as it stayed away from any dwarven missiles.  I predict a lot more archers and rangers, and probably some magical support in the dwarven lines in the future.  

What's Next?

The next scenario is The Mists Recoil, actually the first one in the original campaign.  It's an odd one, designed for individual skirmishing minis using a  system akin to Mordheim. It pits boats full of attackers trying to land opposed by three war machines and a tiny garrison. 

We'll not be trying to do individual minis; so far we are looking at the three war machines and 200 points of undead against 600 points of dwarves in boats.  This may change of course. 

I need an undead champion to lead my skeleton crew, fortunately I've already got one part painted.  I've also got some Grenadier war machine crew, and a complete Skull Chucker catapult.  I'm looking out for potential war machines for the crew, or perhaps some scratch building?

At some point I must paint a banner for the Fantasy Lords standard bearer I painted in December.  Boðvoc has a Spoils chart, and my undead got a magic banner granting Command 10 to all units within 10".

Citadel Carrion Painted

I finished this lovely Oldhammer mini in December, but I've kept it secret until I could surprise Bodvoc with it in our first Dark Shadows game (more on this in an upcoming post).

Initially I thought the mini fairly dull.  To be honest, pretty much just all vulture feathers and flesh, and a black robed mini skelly didn't inspire me.  Looking for inspiration online showed lots of images of nearly black minis with very little else to grab the eye.  I dragged it out of the unpainted undead pile because I wanted something fast and flappy for my army.

As I looked closer I appreciated the details, its a nasty, rotting smelly corpse that still flies.  It has patches of wing missing any feathers, the leathery skin still allows flight.  There are areas where flesh and skin are missing completely, the neck is exposed down to the spine, and the head is mostly bare skull and beak.  Even the underneath has the organs exposed, along with a couple of ribs.

I don't think I've done it justice, but I've had fun trying.

Undead bird after your chips!

Flap flap flap

I'm sure those should be on the inside

I really enjoyed painting this beast, hopefully it was a pleasant surprise for Bodvoc as it strafed his dwarves, or tried to.

What Next?

I do have a few more secret projects for the campaign, expect them when they've had their first appearance on the table top.

Otherwise,  I'm in the middle of Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge,  so I'll be plugging away at that until February 26th. 

PWYG 25/26 and AMAC 26 Further Progress

I'm around three weeks into Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge and a couple of weeks into Anne's Miniature Assembly Challenge.  

So how's it going?

PWYG

Well it's been a busy week outside of the hobby (lots of music), and I've done very little painting, so PWYG has been a bit in the background apart form a bit more paint on those zombies.  I haven't even managed to finish of the 

AMAC

I have managed to assemble another five gnolls, finishing the plastic gnolls I wanted for the second Rangers of Shadow Deep mission.  There's still the Herbalist/Shaman, but he's the metal model I got at RECON last year, so doesn't count for the assembly challenge.

The next batch of gnolls

Four of the gnolls are pretty standard, I used the crossbows this time, rather than bows. For a bit of variety,  I used the greataxe from the first Frostgrave Barbarians set. It fits pretty well on the gnoll bodies,  and the bits of armour help sell the idea of the sergeant being a bit tougher. The arms are a bit more muscled than the gnolls, but I guess the sergeants get first dibs on any protein?

Whats Next?

I want to get soem Dunedain built for the early scenarios in the Fellowship of the Ring book.  These will be kitbashed, based on the GW plastic Rangers of Gondor.  I plan on adding a few bits from various sprues to make them look less like the Rangers of Ithilien, so hopefully they count in the challenge.

I've a couple more minis I'd like to build too, more on those later.

PWYG 25/26 Progress Update, and More Challenges

Well, two weeks into Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge, so how's it going?

Here's where I've got to so far. Nothing is actually finished, but I've got a fair bit of painting done. I'm waiting for suitable weather/a varnish restock/better light to complete the current batch.

I've also joined two more challenges, one of which shouldn't interfere with progress, the other has caused me to change the order in which I do things, more on this later.

The Tower, First Batch 

The first five gnolls

I started with a sprues' worth of Frostgrave gnolls; five minis. In this case I built two fighters, two archers and one sergeant.  They should all be quite easily identified by their equipment. 

I used a combination of Speedpaints and Xpress paints on these.  I'm sure I could achieve a better result with base coat, wash, highlights etc, but nowhere near as quickly. 

The gnoll's flesh was a 1:1 mix of Army Painter Speedpaint Sand Golem and Pallid Bone.  Once thoroughly dry I added Vallejo Xpress Paint Copper Brown for the shaggier hair, principally the 'mane' and head. I added a few spots of this on the less hairy skin areas too, after all, they are supposed to be hyena type humanoids. 

The various bits of cloth bandage and wraps were a 1:1 mix of APS Pallid Bone and White. I wanted this to stand out from the skin colour,  which just Pallid Bone wouldn't have done. I'm considering going over this with a grey colour,  for even better contrast. 

The various cloth colours came from my APS collection, often mixed with Pallid Bone for a more realistic look.

As of this post, I've still to finish these gnolls, but it's mostly the little details. You know, the ones that take the longest.

Three Reaper Bones

As I was painting the gnolls, I added three Reaper Bones to the batch; another Shadow Knight (in case we use the Challenge setting), a Vulture for the first scenario, and an elf, simply because I seem to be short of male Rangers; in that cloak, his fey features aren't obvious. 

The vulture is just about finished; Speed/Xpress paints again, with a few Vallejo Game Color paints for a few little details.  The wing tips are red as, apparently, the forces of the Shadow Deep do this as part of a ritual to control the birds.

Happy campers

I've also done a bit of scenery.  The first scenario calls for a gnoll camp; I had planned on making up some crude tents and perhaps a campfire.  Then I found a couple of resin tents and a log with adventuring gear. These are from Scotia Grendel Productions, and were given to me by Grim many years ago.  I'm missing the campfire, but hopefully that will turn up eventually.

They were given a quick wash in hot soapy water, then I tried a slightly different prep for the Slapchop. 

I gave them a prime with Vallejo German Green Primer,  then a wash of Army Painter Strongtone,  and finally a heavy drybrush of Vallejo Model Color Sand. 

Then it was a case of various Speedpaints and Xpress paints as required. 

The change to the priming and washing was to try and improve the colour in deep shade areas and to give a warmer look; appropriate, I think, for the canvas and the tree. 

I like the results, and I'll experiment further. 

The little details, such as shields, bottles etc were painted in using my normal minis paints.

These are nice models, though perhaps not quite how I imagine gnolls to go camping.  The shields are either Crusader shields (I have tried to make this less obvious with my colour choice) or a Celtic design,  an odd combination. 

Ten assorted zombies

Finally,  I'm continuing with these ten zombies for my Warlords of Erehwon undead.  I started them before Christmas and they are a mixed bunch of manufacturers. 

Like the zombies themselves,  progress continues slowly. 

More Challenges?

I found out about Anne's 2026 Miniature Assembly Challenge from Dave Stone's blog. Essentially, it's to assemble minis, something that I planned to do anyway.  The challenge runs until the end of January,  so I'm weighting my mini building this month with the hope that I can do the bulk of the painting in February. 

To this end I'm building all the gnolls for The Bridge Guards scenario, and I might do the Dunedain for the first couple of The Fellowship of the Ring scenarios as well.  I'll convert some of the plastic Rangers of Gondor, so hopefully they'll count as assembled too. 

I've also got an individual mini or two that I'd like to get done, but these are very much extras.

So my pledge is to assemble ten more gnolls (might as well get three sprues worth done).

Plus 4 to 9 Dunedain, depending on how many I can find. 

And as a bonus I'd like to kitbash a Dark Emissary for Bodvoc's Dark Shadows campaign. 

Assembled Gnolls

Here's five more gnolls,  assembled and ready for painting.  There's nothing special about them, though I've swapped bodies for the archers and warriors for a bit of variety.  I'm keeping the body with bits of armour for the sergeants, and this time I've given him one of the hooded heads as a badge of rank.

Five assembled gnolls

Bonus Ranger

Whilst looking through my sprues I found a cloaked Frostgrave Barbarian. I like my rangers to wear cloaks, so with a bit of shaving off of various teeth and other trophies, plus a head and arms from the Oathmark Human infantry sprue, here's another Ranger of Alladore.

A new ranger

What's next?

More assembling, obviously, but I still plan to get some painting done this month; I might as well get the stuff I've started finished, and I've a game pencilled in with Bodvoc for the end of the month for which I need to finish off a unit (and paint from scratch a new mini, but I haven't 'got' it yet, so it doesn't count for PWYG).

Oh, and one more challenge

Rantings From under the Wargames Table has challenged hobby bloggers, follow the link for details.

Here's his suggested list of blogs to at least glance at.  There's a lot, but I've found them to be interesting and entertaining, I'm even following some of them long term now.

Azazels Bitz Box

Bogenworld

Carrion Crow Buffet

Dead Dicks Tavern

Fantorical

Gisby’s Gaming Blog

Guru Pig

Imperial Rebel Ork

Just Needs Varnish

Leadballoony

Mark A Morin

PM Painting

Pat’s 1/72 Military Diorama’s

Skinflint Games

SP’s Projects Blog

The Imperfect Modeller

War Through The Ages & Other Dark horrors

Wargames sculptors blog

Anne’s Immaterium

Dragons Of Lancasm

Fawcett Avenue Conscripts

 The wargaming erratic

The bovine overlord

not quite mechanised

And, of course, the aforementioned Rantings From Under the Wargames Table

To these I'll add: 

Realm of Chaos 80s, ideal for  Oldhammer stuff

The War Crow, run by my long time friend/opponent Bodvoc

And good friend T'Other One's Vault of the Undead, (not just undead)

Please give them a look, and follow them if there's anything of interest to you. 

Speaking personally, the best thing you can do is to leave a comment.  It gives me a boost to know that fellow hobbyists like what I'm doing, and really helps inspire me to do more.

And if you like the idea of the challenge, the details are on the original post.