Recent Haul - Kentauroi

Malifaux Kentauroi
Wyrd Games


Continuing the survey of my recent haul we have these "Kentauroi" from Wyrd Miniatures for their game Malifaux.


In terms of the Malifaux lore, these are technically constructs, as they have been created by the Resurrectionist Guild from the corpses of both humans and horses, instead of being a reanimated true centaur.


But, I don't play Malifaux so - they can go suck it! These guys will take their place in my undead Classical Greek army as part of my growing undead centaur herd. I remember back in the early 90's, when I would have given my left arm for some of the few undead centaur models out there. This was 1990-1993. There was no internet. We had to find out what miniatures were out there by looking through paper catalogues! And there was no ebay either. If you missed something, it was gone. I so desperately wanted those Grenadier skeleton centaurs that I saw in the catalogues, but they went out of print in the early 90's and I couldn't get them. The horror!


You kids don't know how good you have it. Now, I'm up to my ears in undead centaurs. Grenadier, Ral Partha, Rackham, Dark Horse, Die Hard, Dead Bard...


In any case, I may not play Malifaux, but Wyrd does a good job of scratching my various itches. These centaurs are sculpted in dynamic poses and are well detailed for a set of plastics. And they've got a very "wild" feel to them that makes them look like they've galloped down from the Thracian hills!

 

WIP Undead Classical Greek Army - Mage, Peltasts, Cavalry and Creatures

Some more work on the undead 5th century BCE greeks. The first set of pictures is of my main magic user for the army, Hekate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft and necromancy (and crossroads...). Hekate is traditionally portrayed as possessing a single body, with three faces, or as a triple-bodied figure. She also is usually depicted carrying two torches and is accompanied by one or more dogs. The figure itself is a simple conversion. It was originally a prepainted D&D miniature; the "Skull Lord" (Demonweb #27). I'd been looking for a magic user for my Greek army and when I saw this triple faced figure I immediately thought "Hekate"! The prepaint is ok, good enough that I won't redo it for the moment. One of the hands was already in an open position so that was easy. The other held a staff made of bone, but it was easy to snip off. I just glued into place two torches from Ristul's Extraordinary Market. I then just plopped down two extra skeletal dogs that I had hanging around from the old Grenadier Fantasy Lords #157 "Undead Scouting Party".

The second set of photos is of a unit of peltasts. Peltasts were lightly armed and armored missile infantry that would skirmish in front of the phalanx. Troops are based for the game Piquet: Scramasax. Light infantry/skirmishers are usually based with four stands, two figures to a stand for a total of eight models to a unit. Here we have two groups, one is a set of skeleton satyrs with bows (taxotai) from Mythic Articulations. Mythic Articulations has produced (at my behest!) a few of their larger models in 32mm format which can be found at their Etsy shop. The other group is a set of regular human psiloi (javelineers) with pelta (the small crescent shield that gives peltast their name). I built them from the Games Workshop Vampire Counts Skeleton Regiment boxed set. I snipped off the spears from the plastic skeletons and replaced them with some javelins from Magister Millitum. Additionally, the pelta were from Magister Millitum as well. I still have to do a bunch of painting for these figs.

The next set of photos are of my unit of light Thessalian cavalry. Greek armies from this period did not emphasize cavalry, with the exception of the Thebans, but frequently Greek city states would hire mercenaries for this purpose. The figures are Eureka's Skeletal Horse and Rider w/Ancient Greek Weapons (100SKL06a). They're primed with a bleached bone primer and then dipped in Armory's Strong Tone Quickshade. Unfortunately, although Greek cavalry did use spears, they did *not* use hoplons, so I'll eventually have to replace the shields with pelta or something similar.

The next set of photos depict some of the mythical creatures I field in this army; two undead cerberuses and two undead chimera. The first cerberus is the fantastic sculpt from the now sadly defunct Rackham miniatures; Cerberus of Acheron. I've had it for years and it's one of my favorite pieces. The paint job consists of a primer coat of black that also acts as the base coat. From there, bone color is applied directly to the bones with the rest of the flesh and muscle being dry brushed over the black base. The second cerberus is the Reaper Cerberus, Hound of Hell (03423) by Julie Guthrie. It's a "meh" figure. Again, it's primed in black with a dry brush for the flesh and fur.


Lastly, there are the two chimera. Both are from Wyrd miniatures, the first being the old Rogue Necromancy metal sculpt and the second being the newer plastic resculpt. Like the other creatures, there is a layer of black primer, with base colors painted directly over. There is some dry brushing for the feathers on the wings, and a light sepia wash. I like how they turned out generally, but I am going to have to go over the eagle parts again because the purplish look doesn't inspire.

The Skeletal Samurai Host Gets a Big Addition

Asian Dragon
Company: Mythic Articulations
Part #:
Sculptor: Brian Richardson
Released: 2014

Check it out! I've been collecting a medieval skeleton samurai force for years now. The backbone of the host is those old Clan War skeletal samurai and bowmen. I've also supplemented with old Grenadier and Ral Partha skeletal samurai and ninja as well as filling ranks in from newer companies like Wyrd, GCT and Zenit.

And while Wyrd, GCT and Zenit are doing a good job of giving me some undead creatures; Oni, Gaikotsu and such - I have always wanted to put a dragon in there. Obviously, dragons are integral to eastern society myths, symbolizing power and royalty. Having an undead samurai force that incorporated eastern mythological creatures but lacked a dragon would look completely out of place.

The problem is, despite the fact that I have a TON of skeletal/undead dragons, they are all western style dragons. You can't just plop a western style dragon in a a far eastern army. Eastern dragons are typically portrayed very differently from western ones (You know... you've been to Chinese New Year!). Instead of a large, hulking dinosaur-like reptile, eastern dragons look more like lithe, sinuous snakes with four legs. Unfortunately, no company I know of has ever made a skeletal or undead eastern style dragon.

Enter Mythic Articulations. Sculptor Brian Richardson produces a wide range of models portraying skeletons of "cryptids", weird mythological (or supposedly real) hybrid animals combining features of various species. And he creates them as basically "anatomically correct", coming up with creative ways to fuse the anatomies of say, a bird and a horse (Pegasus). I just recently bought the Asian Dragon to happily fill the void in my skeletal samurai army. At last!

Mythic Articulations isn't actually a producer of wargame miniatures however. Richardson has created these figures as anatomical models of various cryptids that are meant to be display pieces. He sculpts them virtually using Zbrush and then has them printed on a 3D printer to sell on Shapeways or Etsy.

Because they are display pieces, they are printed at a size that is much larger than the 28-32mm standard. The Asian Dragon, clocking in at 9 inches long, is a perfect fit for the skeletal samurai host, however. Also I plan to incorporate some of his other models into my armies, at least the ones that are rightly "giant" creatures - wyvern, minotaur, this lovely depiction of the Jersey Devil (which will make one awesome Major Demon).

But there are other sculpts which I'd love to incorporate that would simply be too big to use in my armies, such as the unicorn, the Pegasus, the harpy and the faun/satyr. Man, It'd be killer to mount a Bellerophon/hero on the back of that Pegasus if it was the right size! Or an Empire style hero on the back of that hippogriff (although - as a giant creature, I might get away with using the hippogriff as an independent monster).

But hello! We are entering the age of 3D printing and custom miniature making. Richardson designs the models on a computer, so he can easily change the scale of the sculpts and create an infinite number of poses. The problem is, the 3D printing technology is not quite at the level where you can effectively print his designs in 28mm. They're too fragile at that scale and the printers cannot print that thinly.

However, Richardson is open to doing some modification of his original design work in order to make the sculpts more robust (but a less realistic) so they can be printed in 28mm scale. Who knows? I might be able to field those skeleton satyr psiloi I've been yearning for faster than I expected!

Rogue Necromancy - Wyrd Miniatures

Rogue Necromancy
Company: Wyrd Miniatures
Part #: WYR2050
Sculptor:
Released:

This is an interesting piece from Wyrd Miniatures for their Malifaux line of miniatures.  The Resurrectionists for Malifaux are definitely undead, but run the gamut from steampunk to Japanese mythology.  In fact, I am using some of the models for my samurai brigade.

I'm not sure why this figure is called "Rogue Necromancy".  What it is, in fact, is an undead chimera.  A monster from Greek mythology.  As such, it has a place in my Undead Acheans brigade.

The figure is a multi-part metal miniature, with the serpent and goat heads being separate, as well as one of the hind legs.  My original package mistakenly lacked the sprue with the hind leg.  An email to Wyrd miniatures was enough for them to kindly send me a new sprue at their own expense.

I haven't painted this up yet.  It will be a bit of a challenge as it requires some decent skill at blending.  But, after I get it put together and painted, it will look outstanding screening my skeletal hoplite phalanx!

Dark Hammer - Undead Samurai

Undead Samurai
Company: Dark Hammer Miniatures
Part #:
Sculptor: Johney
Released: 2013

OK.  Dark Hammer is a brand new company, which again, seems to be more of a boutique outfit than a company making whole lines of miniatures to fill out your armies. This piece, which comes in both 28mm and 54mm scales, is a limited run.  Supposedly, only 100 will be made.  That's a bit of a bummer and I hope that we will see more cast, and more undead designs from Dark Hammer in general.  So why did I immediately buy this piece when I saw it up on Tabletop Gaming News (other than the fact that at a 100 piece limit I thought it wise not to tarry)?

1. It's flippin' epic!  It's just a great sculpt that captures the weary despair of eternal undeath.  See how the samurai sags in the saddle?  The bowed head.  The weary pointing arm. The nagita hanging limply in the other hand. The armor is intricately and beautifully sculpted. The mount a perfect mixture bone and rotting flesh.  The tattered banner attached to the crooked back. Just a winning piece all around.
2. I'm in the middle of putting together an undead medieval samurai force (brigade, but may be able to expand into an army depending on how much Wyrd and Zenit eventually put out). So this piece was a natural fit. The thing I need most is undead samurai cavalry. I have several of the Clan Wars Lost Moto, but not yet enough for a unit. I might be able to fit this guy into that unit but it would be a stretch. They just look too different design wise. But he'd make a good hero, or even a brigade leader. His weary pointing stance pressing on his skeletal compatriots onward toward their objective.

Dark Hammer has some concept art up of a skeletal Egyptian chariot on its web page so hopefully we'll see that soon.

Of course, skeletal Egyptians are as common as dirt.  I myself have an entire army of nothing but skeletal Egyptians.  So, I'd much rather see their talents applied to making more undead samurai.  It seems to be a growing niche.