Kings of War/Vanguard Naiads 1

I've got some paint on the Naiads I showed here.  They are currently mostly basecoated.
As I mentioned, I am using these four as test models for paint schemes; they will also be part of a Trident Realms Vanguard force (or Forces of Nature, I suppose).  I had some ideas for colours before I started.  I wanted very light coloured armour (the official Mantic Naiads have this, and I think it works).  I didn't want the same skin colour though, something more alien perhaps?
Also, given that I have loads of these to paint if I am going to have a decent sized army, I was looking for a colour scheme that would be quick to paint; that means something that will look good with just a wash on top of a base coat, with possibly one highlight for heroes (I can always go to town on single minis later).

In order to test this without painting loads of minis I used the remains of the sprue. I undercoated  several arms and tried combinations of various pale colours such as bone for the armour, and varieties of greens and blues for the flesh.  In the end I chose the colour scheme shown below.  It's VGC Glacier Blue for the armour and Army painter Turquoise for the flesh.  With a coat of AP Soft Tone wash it gives a result I am happy with.  The blue tint to the armour, when washed, takes it away from the bone look that a lot of my trails gave, and I like the turquoise skin, with the wash it has a greyish tone which reminds me of sea creatures.  If I want a bit more definition I can always give it a highlight before washing.

Here are the four test minis, with the base coats pretty much done.  All that's left are the quivers on the Heartpiercers and various bits of belt and strapping.  I've painted the 'hair' and the nets the same colour at the moment.  I imagine the nets to be made of a tough seaweed, and I'll give them a browner tint with washes and lighten the green with a highlight.  the 'hair' will be washed to move it more to a bluer tone.  Metal is bronze or gold, steel would be useless for sea dwelling creatures.  I may go over some of the shell decorations on the armour in silver though, to give a difference between minis and eventually units.

I have to decide if I give the armour and flesh a highlight before washing.  Given that these are for Vanguard, and are likely to be looked at more closely, I probably will.  I may well skip this step when I am painting full units though.

The flash emphasises the blue-ness of the colours, it's not quite that extreme in real life.

And talking of full units, here are nine Ensnarers, built and undercoated.  This will make a troop.  I will do them in troops, its easy to put two together for a regiment (and I'll miss the command off troops intended for the backs of regiments), and easier for assembling on the base as well, though since I am building the base separately, that's not quite as big an issue as it was  with my orcs.

Empty Box!

I've just realised that I have an empty box!  The square box actually got emptied a while ago when I finished the mine and cave tiles.  I'd used it to clear stuff away into prior to the Christmas season, but it is for my purposes empty.

This means Trident Realms have a box.  I'm going to get a handful of the Naiads assembled, both as Heartpiercers and the Ensnarers.  I'll use them as experiments for colour scheme prior to starting my Kings of War regiments.  The single minis will do for Vanguard.  I'll need a Centurian as well, but I'll wait until I have a colour scheme I like first.
At the moment I am thinking of an off white for the armour, as I picture it as enchanted shell, and a turquoise for the flesh.  Metals should be bronze or copper or gold, so as not to rust in the water, some verdigris might look good though (and give a green for spot colours, though this might be too close to the flesh tones I will experiment with)
But first, assembly.

Four Naiads, assembled with wire pegs added so they can be pinned to bases, adn to make them easier to handle.  This is more important when I'm doing a unit with a separately built base.

RECON Haul

I'm just back from Recon, Wakefield Wargames Society's annual show at Pudsey Civic Hall.
I always enjoy this show, it's local, and I remember going to the very first one in a church hall somewhere Headingley way.  It's small enough to get round and feel you've seen everything, but large enough to have a good selection of traders and games.

This year the show seemed a little subdued, and I felt (only a personal observation) that there were far fewer younger punters.  Still, there was plenty of chat and I met up with friends and had a great time.
For a while I have been considering a new Kings of War army.  I was tempted by Force of Nature, but eventually decided on Trident Realms of Neritica.  Mantic do some very nice models, and the force list is already in Vanguard, so I could have a skirmish sized force (and experiment with paint schemes) and a matching army.  I've already picked up a few bits on eBay, but have been eyeing the mega army set with little hope of affording it.  Well one retailer (Mighty Lancer Games) had it at half price.  'Ker-ching'. That, and a few more discount purchases, and I'm well past what I wanted to start the army and am well into that 'second 1000' that gamers plan for after they have enough to put on the table for a small battle.

Trident Realms army set with added Wyrmrider.  Plus a Reaper Bones Coral golem, ideal for the Coral Giant in the list.

Of course, I haven't forgotten the box system.  I currently have no empty boxes (keeping 'cross' empty for a couple of possible RPG requirements), but I hope to empty Star before Christmas, so the Trident Realms can go in there, or rather a unit or two can, along with the Vanguard force, as a new project for the new year.

I had planned to get some more Greeks in 15mm, but by the time I'd finished buying Trident Realms stuff, I thought I'd better stop spending.  I did pick up one other nice thing though, a set of Medieval Musicians.

Depot Battalion's Medieval Musicians.  These are from Colonel Bill.  Whilst not 100% accurate, it's nice to see someone making musicians, and at least they are 'wielding' roughly accurate instruments.