Mantic - Skeleton Regiment

Skeleton Regiment

Company: Mantic

Part #: --

Sculptor: Bob Naismith??

Released: 2010

Here is my crack at this skeleton regiment from a new company on the scene, Mantic.  Mantic produces a number of sets of plastic undead, including zombies and ghouls.  But of course, that need not concern us.  For my purposes, Mantic produces boxed sets of “revenants” (armored skeleton infantry), archers, skeletal cavalry (epic), skeleton war machines and this set of ordinary infantry.

Mantic is taking a shot at eating into GW’s market share by producing high-quality plastic regimental boxed sets for a fraction of the price. 

You get several plastic sprues with enough body parts and weapons to make 20 infantry models.  The bodies are split into several different leg and torso designs.  Some of the torsos have arms with (hand) weapons already mounted, but most of them have open hands to mount any of the available weaponry.  Several different skull designs are also available.  Given the amount of variety, it is easy to customize figures so that no two look the same.

The figures come with an innovative basing system.  The models have a textured, round base that looks like a normal (non-slottabase) miniature that is uniform in size.  Also included in the box are 20 individual 20mm square bases with divots in them to hold the miniature base.  This system I’ve only seen in miniatures by Metal Magic, but it’s extremely useful as it allows you to simply use the miniatures as sculpted or mount them for war-gaming.  It also allows you to position the figure so you can better arrange your forces.

I painted these figs using the brown wash method that I've been experimenting with.  I based all the bone parts using Aged Bone while basing all the clothes and armor with black primer (as my usual standard).  When the bone was dry I covered it in a wash made from Shield Brown which turned out pretty good.  I was originally intending to dry brush the clothing, but it's fine detail made that difficult.  I ended up applying the dark reds and greys directly, and applying the brown wash.  I also painted the armor pieces directly with Aged Pewter and, again, used the brown wash. 

The problem was, although I liked the brown wash on the bone and metal (it gave the metal a sort of rusted feel), I didn't like how it looked on the clothes.  It made them look dusty more than anything and rather washed out.  So I later applied a wash of black ink to the clothing.  That had the effect of diluting the brown and providing for more contrast in the folds of the clothes.  It came out OK.  I still have some touch up work to do on these like painting the bird and the gore on the standard bearer's head - but it's pretty much a done set now.

General command rank

I love this guy!  I figure we can presume to know how he met his end.

Standard bearer.  Although there is a musician in the ranks, I gave him a bell to wield rather than a sword.  Note the raven picking out some of his brains.  The standard is also customizable.  You can put anything you want at the top.

I still have to do the feathers on his helmet.  And the eyes.  These skeletons uncharacteristically have eyes, instead of empty sockets. I have to go in there with some glowing red.

Musician with a big-ass horn.  Note the skull spirit flowing out of it.

More ranks.

Even more ranks.

More ranks.  With a new recruit, just for fun...

Competing Painting Philosophies

There are basically two different ways you can paint skeletons.  One is what I term the “black base” method and the other the “brown wash” or “brown dip” method.

Back when my friends and I started war-gaming, way back when Communists walked the earth, it was difficult to get information on how to paint, and we learned by a lot of trial and error.  You must remember, not only was the Soviet Union still in existence and Milli Vanilli were respected Grammy-winning artists, there was also no internet.  (Ok, there was internet, but no World Wide Web, and if you wanted to get a picture from USENET you had to download 5 files – which took 4 to 6 months.) 

So for a very long time, I really had no concept about inks or washes, much less how to use them.  I hit upon the “black base” method very early on.  Basically, you paint a basecoat of black onto the skeleton.  (Soon I graduated to black spray primer.)  After the base coat dries, you paint the ivory/bone color directly onto the bone sections of the figure.  If you wanted to save time, or certain parts were teeny-tiny, you could dry brush the ivory/bone onto the figure.  (Oh happy day when I found out about “dry brushing”).

The second method, which I started trying after I learned about washes, was the “brown wash” method.  Essentially, you do the reverse.  You undercoat the skeleton with an ivory/bone color, then apply a thin brown wash.  If the wash is the perfect consistency (not too thick to make the bones brown, but not too thin so enough brown remains in the cracks) you have a nice, natural looking decaying skeleton.

Although I learned how to use both, I have kept with the black base method for the most part through my painting career.  The reason is this; the direct bone to black contrast makes for a more “cartoony” looking figure.  It’s like the effect of a Halloween costume where you have a black shirt with white bones printed on it.  The brown wash gives a much more natural appearance that looks better overall, but here’s the catch; it only looks better up close.  Yes, skeletons painted with the brown wash look more real when you hold them up to your eyes.  But most of the time, when your figures are on the table top, they are not close.  They are 6 or 7 feet away.  It’s here that the black base method shines.  The high contrast that makes the model look cartoony up close allows for a better look (to my eyes) when they are on the table-top.  The naturalistic look of the brown wash method gets lost and just doesn’t look as good.

It’s a taste thing.  In any case, as I will show, I’ve recently been experimenting again with the brown wash method – both for reasons of speed (it’s faster) and maybe because I’m not actively playing anymore.  It’s fun to try everything!

Reaper - Golgoth the Ancient

Golgoth the Ancient

Company: Reaper

Part #: 03357

Sculptor: Kevin Williams
Released: 2009

This has become my new favorite piece.  Well cavalry piece at least.  It is a dynamic sculpt by Kevin Williams from Reaper that was released sometime in 2009.  It’s been sitting in my box waiting to be painted for a while.  It’s a pretty large figure, creeping into the 35mm range and is mounted on a 40mm base.  That pretty much prevents me from using him in a normal cavalry unit, but given his general awesomeness, I’d probably commit to using him as a cavalry brigade commander or individual hero anyway.

Epic...

I painted him and the horse using the black base method, directly applying the bone color later and finishing it off with a brown wash over the bone parts.  The armor is Reaper Pro Paints  “Aged Pewter” with a black ink wash over it.

The really interesting thing about this piece, and kind of what makes it generally epic aside from the full plate on a rearing charger, is the fact he comes equipped with a flaming spear.

This was actually completely unexpected.  All of the pictures I’ve seen of this piece has him equipped with a sword.  But when I broke open the blister I found 2 weapons on the sprue, the sword and a spear.  But as I examined the spear it seemed to be wrapped in something and I couldn’t figure out what it was.  Was it cloth… some sort of tattered battle standard?  After a time I realized it was flame!  The guy had a freaking flaming spear! 

Given this, I can’t imagine who would make the decision to go with the sword which is pretty pedestrian.  It’s a freaking flaming spear!

He's got a freaking flaming spear!!!

The problem was, I didn’t know how to paint flame.  I don’t have any other pieces which incorporate fire, except for an awesome Rackham skeletal demon that is holding a goblet of fire.  And I really dogged that one up by just painting the flame red.  More so, I didn’t even have any of the colors really necessary to paint fire.  As the owner of a Skeleton Legion, my palette runs to pretty drab colors.  Bone/ivory (natch), black, dark reds, dark greys, various shades of brown and some metallics for armor.  That’s pretty much it.  I didn’t even have a pure white in my stock.

So, I set out to learn how to paint fire, and using my google fu found some pages with some good tips on painting flame.  Then I sent away for some good fire colors using Reapers Pro Paints, and waited for them to arrive.

Once everything was set I started with the experiment, painting the entire spear in a base of "Pure White" to brighten the colors that were to follow.  Over the pure white went a layer of "Clear Yellow".  Following the instructions I had found I then washed it in a "Fire Orange" wash (fairly thick) and then once that dried, another wash of "Fire Red" (much thinner).  Then I frosted some of the tips of the flame with a dry brush of "Pure White".  I’m pretty happy with the effects I can’t wait to use them on some other models.

This close up with a flash gives a harsher light, but gives you a better feel for the flame effect.

Like I mentioned, I’ll probably use him as a cavalry brigade commander for one of my medieval armies.  I figure I’ll also equip him with a magic weapon as well.  Piquet: Scramasax isn’t very big on magic items as they tend to dominate the battle too much (we’re looking at you Warhammer™).  However the latest edition before the project was abandoned does include some rules for minor magic items.  He has a freaking flaming spear fer crissakes!!!

Wargames Factory - New Plastics

I just bought today a new set of plastic miniatures from Wargames Factory.  They came out with this set of skeletons a few months ago.

The general concept revolves around an ancient Greek theme, ergo the hoplon and xiphos.  Very evocative of Ray Harryhausen’s Jason and the Argonauts, which is kind of the gold standard in undead presentation.  

Back in the 8th century B.C. they didn't have CGI...

The figures in the set are in multiple parts, allowing for high customization like the GW or Mantic plastics.  However, since the torsos and heads of the figures are not armored, I am not planning to fit them in with the phalanx of Eureka hoplites in my ancient Greek brigade.  I think better to use them in a generic light infantry capacity, outfitting them as peltasts or perhaps with a mix of weaponry that can stand in any facet of the Legion.

Best thing about the Wargames Factory figs, $20 for 30.  Compare to the Mantic Skeleton Regiment: about $20 for 20.  Or better yet, the Warhammer™ Vampire Counts Skeleton Warriors: $25 for 10!  Great googly-moogly!

Two Recent Acquisitions

I just recently snagged two old out of print figures from ebay.  I’m pretty sure I actually have these two figures.  My problem is I don’t have a database of what I have and my memory is fallible.  In some sense, I’m hoping to use this blog as a visual reference for myself.  In the case of these two models, I figure you can never have enough anyway.

First up is a zombie gnoll, from the now defunct Chainmail Miniatures line.

When they had the license for D&D, Chainmail put out a nice series of undead figures that were especially useful to fill out non-human races.  You don’t see many examples of non-human undead, which is a shame, since I believe that the best part about playing the Skeleton Legion is that you get to kill your foe and then make him rise up and fight for you against his former comrades!  Therefore, I’m of the opinion that every model released should have an undead equivalent. If I ever get adept at sculpting, high on my priority list would be a set of skeletal High Elf eagle riders.  One can dream.

In any case Chainmail made some nice undead meta-races like dwarves, orcs, and troglodytes (lizard men.)  I believe this is the only example of an undead gnoll ever produced.  So I can either collect enough to create a full unit (12 figs) or slip them into my Skeletal Chaos Legion as beastmen or weres.

Due to its unique nature, it gets past my “nothing but bone” rule.  As do a number of particular monsters such as dragons or trolls.  But that’s pretty much it. Strictly speaking, this is not actually a zombie gnoll.  It's a construct, specifically, a flesh golem.  Ergo, the four arms and two heads stitched together onto the model.  Of course, it could also be interpreted as an undead creature of chaos.

Chainmail miniatures were multi-part and unfortunately very fiddly.  But I think that can be overcome now that I use green stuff as bonding agent rather than just super-glue.

Next up is a figure from way, WAY back.  A Citadel miniature from before they had slottabases!  And before GW was the marketing steamroller it is today.

This is a skeletal samurai that I will incorporate into my Skeletal Medieval Samurai brigade.  Mostly made up of Clan War/Legend of the Five Rings samurai figs, but also a sprinkling from other companies; Grenadier, Ral Partha, Citadel.  I’m always on the lookout on ebay for that old Grenadier skeletal samurai command blister from the early 80’s (Fantasy Lords #173.)  It is one of the few blisters (maybe even the last) I do not own from Grenadier.  Also, I’m always on the lookout for the “Lost Moto” blister of samurai cavalry for L5R (#13-121.)   I have one blister, but that’s only 2 figs and not enough for a full unit of cav (8.)  Therefore, I am relegated to using them as brigade commanders.  Valiant has begun re-releasing the Clan War figs, but sadly, no Lost Moto yet.

New Armored Skeleton

New miniature from the unfortunately named Willy Miniatures.

A small outfit from Germany, they specialize in the rather niche market of fantasy football miniatures (literal fantasy.)  Therefore, the new miniature is unarmed, seeing as how he is supposed linebacker or something.

I'm not a fantasy football player by any stretch (who is?) but many of their models can easily do duty in a fantasy army.  They can easily be converted to hold a weapon, or maybe just stand on their own with solely their mighty fists of fury.  This one actually has a spiked gauntlet already.

It's a nice sculpt, and will fit into any of my heavily armored units, either in my standard medieval skeletal army or perhaps my smaller chaos skeletal army.  (I take outlandishly armored figs and sometimes form them into a chaos knight unit or two.)

Just to note, Willy Miniatures bills this as a "wight", following a number miniature companies that call any heavily armored skeleton "wights".  Wights are ethereals. A proper wight model would be a skeletal upper half with an etheral, ghostly mist for the lower half.  This is an armored skeleton.

Fifty Bucks???

What I mentioned in that last post, that GW would find some sort of way to charge $40 for one single plastic war sphinx?  Yeah, I was optimistic.

Five-Oh smackaroos

GW truly is the Microsoft/Starbucks of the gaming world.  How can anyone, especially younger players, be reasonably expected to shell out 50 dollars for a plastic model?

And those interesting skeletal knights?  Riding the cobra constructs?  Fifty-Five dollars for three!

Sorry Timmy.  We can't go on vacation this year.  But I was able to build a sweet unit of cobra riders!

Fortunately for GW, being gripped in the depths of OCD, I'm far from reasonable.  So I'll definitely be buying  all the new stuff.  But this has been the problem with GW since time immemorial and a big reason why my friends and I moved away from Warhammer and eventually to Piquet.  I certainly hope that one of the companies that trail in GW's wake like Gamezone or Mantic will make similar, alternative models for people who actually want to, you know, just play with toy soldiers.

New Tomb Kings!

Well, time to break out the wallet come May.  Games Workshop, makers of Warhammer™, is coming out with new a new Tomb Kings book for 8^th edition.  And with a new book comes delicious, delicious new models. 

Warhammer™ may be a sucky game, but I still collect the figs – and GW can certainly put out some nice models.  And these new figs are certainly… interesting.  Definitely out of the box thinking from GW.  Skeletal knights riding cobra constructs?  I have to admit a certain uneasiness concerning a lot of these figs since many aren’t strictly skeletal.  A lot of them are constructs, or golems, like the previous ushabti in the Tomb Kings line.  I accepted those as part of my fantasy Middle Kingdom Egyptian Legion because the heads were skulls, and beautifully crafted skulls patterned after the Egyptian gods; Anubis, Horus, Set, etc.  But some of these may be too out there for me.  Like the war sphinxes?  Definitely constructs.  Beautiful ones surely, but not skeletal.  Of course, one of them has a howdah with skeletons in it.  So that may be a possibility.  But those snake constructs?  We’ll have to see. 

And then there’s the new Tomb Guard set. That looks nice.

I like the fact that all these are in plastic, which is rapidly becoming my favorite medium.  Not only is it way cheaper than pewter (and with GW you need to save every penny you can get.  They’ll STILL probably find a way to charge $40 for the war sphinxes) but the plastic sets just allow for a wide variety of customization.  We’ll have to see what the detail is like.

There’s rumors of a new plastic catapult set and bone giant as well.  With these I can probably field an entire Middle Kingdom Egyptian undead force.  All the previous GW figs, plus the ones I have from Gamezone, Reaper, Crocodile Games and half a dozen other companies give me an army of such size that I couldn't fit in an augment of ancient Greeks or Romans even if I wanted to.

Sweet.

In the Beginning

This is my joy.  This is my curse.  This is my splendid obsession. 

I’ve been a miniature collector and war-gamer for well over 20 years.  Much longer into my adulthood than those around me think normal or healthy.  I claim only in my defense an endearing eccentricity, a steadfast refusal to grow up, and touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). 

In our modern age, where the quirks and eccentricities that were formerly the preserve of darkened basements or specialist clubs are now on display for the entire world (is this not what the Internet was invented for?) I figured it was high time for me to put my own wares out there.  This blog will be a catalog of my current projects, news about undead miniatures and, eventually, a discussion about every figure in my awesome Skeleton Legion.  This will take some time.  I have literally thousands of unique figures.  Additionally, I am currently overseas living in Iraq where I have spent the past seven years.  Most of the Legion is locked up in storage so I can only display the figures I have had shipped over here.

Every story needs a beginning and now is as good a time as any.  Throughout high school and into college, my friends and I played D&D in lieu of dating.  I role-played “socially”, meaning I did it mainly as an excuse to hang out my friends and I was never really that much into it.  (I did however, enjoy our GURPS Cyberpunk and GDW Space:1889 campaigns.)  I was never that guy who bought all the rule books and supplements and stuff – because I just wasn’t that interested.  I did have a decent number of miniatures of various types though, more because I thought they were cool than for any other reason.

We sort of fell out of role playing in college, and one day, in 1990 I think, I was hanging out  in Mike and Clay’s apartment, which they shared. (I have never forgiven them for not allowing me to cut a hole through the wall from my apartment, which was on the opposite side, into their hall closet.  How sit-comy would that be to be hanging out and have the annoying neighbor pop out of the closet randomly?)  We weren’t really role playing anymore and one of us, I forget who, said something like “We really should do something with all these miniatures we have lying around.” 

I had no idea what war-gaming was.  To me, miniatures were for D&D.  But Mike went into his room and pulled out a beat up boxed set of Warhammer™ 1^st edition (that’s right – 1^st edition kids) that he had got as a present or something a few years before.

We divided up our miniatures by race; Mike took everyone’s dwarves, Clay took everyone’s orcs, I took everyone’s skeletons.  And damn if demonstrating your tactical brilliance by beating the snot out of your friend’s army wasn’t damn fun!

We all chipped in to buy the latest edition of Warhammer™, which was 3^rd edition.  That was that giant hardback volume for those of you of an age who can remember.  It was way more involved and detailed than 2^nd edition and we had many afternoons of fun with it.  And with repeated playing of 3^rd edition, and “arms race” began to develop.  Because even back then, Warhammer™ was all about having the right “stuff” rather than tactics.  So someone would buy a dragon, and then everyone would have to buy a dragon, because, Mr. President, we cannot allow a dragon gap! 

What my compatriots didn’t count on however, was my propensity to become obsessive about certain things.  Like America during the 80’s bankrupting a Soviet Union (which actually existed then) through a massive military buildup, I would dominate my adversaries by building the mightiest Legion ever seen!  I would pore over the catalogs from Grenadier, Ral Partha and Citadel, looking at the skeleton figures, determined to possess all of them.  I did not think “Yeah, if I can get that skeletal cyclops, I can really fuck up Clay’s day!”  No, I wanted them all!  I needed them all!

Originally, we had a “bring what you have” rule.  In other words, we didn’t play with armies balanced by point values.  You just brought what you had to the table.  Real armies weren’t balanced, so why should ours be?  Eventually, Mike and Clay had to abandon that as they couldn’t possibly keep up with my OCD.  I still want that massive “bring what you have” battle one day though!

And thus, began a two decade obsession.  We’ve moved on to different rule sets as the faults of Warhammer™ became more evident.  Currently we play a fantasy version of Piquet (that’s for another post.)  I also have a side interest in other genres than fantasy; specifically steampunk/VSF and pulp era.  But really, I don’t get to play much of anything these days.  I still collect though.  If a company comes out with new skeletons (in 25mm) you can be sure I’ll buy them.  I also troll ebay constantly, looking for those few old, out of print figures I still need.  If there is a figure I need, don’t bother going up against me.  Seriously, save your time.  These days, living in Iraq and not having much to spend my money on, it is easier.  But back in the day when I was in grad school, there were times I would go without food in order to buy miniatures (I had to import all those epic Rackham figs from France – this being before they had an American distributor.)  I also paint when I get the chance, and will be detailing projects here.  I’ve gotten pretty good over the past 20 years, not that I could do it professionally.  But we always had a rule you could only field what was painted, which was incentive to get good and quick (although we sometimes cheated by allowing “primed” figures.)

Everyone’s got their little interests and hobbies.  This blog is dedicated to mine, and maybe it’ll be therapeutic.  I hope you enjoy it, and contribute to the discussion.