On the Painting Desk: Return to the Frozen Horror!

The large box expansions for Heroquest definitely do not skimp on the miniatures.  I probably have enough miniatures now to play full-fledged wargames with them.  I know I can use them for skirmish wargaming.  I have plenty of Orcs, Undead, Ogres, Wolves, furniture, and other odds and ends.  These sets are also really useful for Fantasy RPGs too.  The downside of such large box sets full of goodies is that it takes me a while to paint them all up!  That brings us to today's post!  Look at that transition, what a professional!  

I got started on Frozen Horror and worked on the monsters and doors.  That left me to tackle the Mercenaries and the Big Bad himself.  The last batch took me about a weekend to complete.  This weekend I got started on the mercenaries that you can hire to help you get through the Quest.  It is not for the faint of heart.  

Before starting, I wished I had Wizards of Morcar because that also came with a bunch of mercs.  I wanted to get them all batch painted up together.  I am pretty good at batch painting, it makes sure they all fit in together, and would take out a big chunk of my Pile of Potential.  Too bad I have not been able to find Wizards of Morcar.  Hasbro/Avalon Hill sort of botched the release with their distributors and it came out before Christmas when it was not supposed to release until March.  Now, everyone seems sold out of it.  I really hope that Hasbro decides to re-release it, because I do not want another Rogue Heir type situation.  However, I get the sinking feeling that I may never see Wizards of Morcar available again.  Oh well.  I guess that gives me time to get the rest of my Heroquest expansions painted up and spend my money on other games. 

Anyway, I did my usual undercoating and the like.  What, you don't know what my method is yet?  Oh, their maybe some folks new to the blog?  Okay, I undercoated them with GW Grey Seer, gave them a dark Grey cheap acyrlic wash, and then drybrush them with cheap acrylic white.  This method really helps the SpeedPaints shine. 

  ^^^ That should give you an idea of what they look like when they are ready for paint.  

The keen eyed among you might notice a couple of Mercs from Jungle of Delthrak.  Yup, I am painting up the Man-Bear-Pig with this batch.  I will save the Dino for a palette cleanser when I work on the Frozen Horror himself. 

So, I got set to paint with my Mobile Painting Station.  In a surprise to no one, I am mostly using Armypainter Speedpaints, some regular Armypainter paints, cheap Acyrlic paints from a Bog Box Retailer, and the new SpeedPaint Markers.  I painted all the skin tones first using Barbarian Flesh, Monster Brown, Fair Maiden, and Tanned Flesh to give me a variety of skin tones.   

 It you know about how I batch-paint, I typically start with the boots and paint upwards from there. For boots, I used a combination of Hardend Leather, Sand Golem, and Crusader Skin.  I then went up to the pants and start painting lowest layer first so skin --> boots/shoes --> pants ---> shirts ---> Outerwear ---> armor ---> belts and straps ---> weapons and gear ---> and I save the fun of picking hair colors for last.  

I used a wide variety of colors for the clothing including Highlord Blue, Slaughter Red, Zealot Yellow, Orc Skin green, Fire Giant Orange, and some dark Purple color.  You know, all the classics.  I wanted each Mercs to look like an individual and be distinctive on the table.  These guys are not part of a military unit afterall.  This variety slowed me down a bit.  

I tried to stick to three main colors for metals.  First I have good luck with Graveyard Grey and Runic Grey for a non-Metal Metal look.  From there I also mixed in the occasional, Zealot Yellow,  Broadsword Silver or Hoplite Gold.   Those last two are from the metallic Speedpaint set. Since most of the metal in my Heroquest is not a true metallic I stuck with the non-metallics mostly.    

The Man-Bear-Pig I painted with a thinned Sand Golem, then a thinned Holy White.  From there I drybrushed Skeleton Bone from the non-speedpaint range.  I painted his claws Pallid Bone, eyes Blood Red, and his teeth cheap acrylic white.  I also painted the pads on his paws with Grim Black.  

For hair colors, I stayed pretty conservative today.  These are not main characters, they are mooks!  I don't want them to hog the spotlight!  I mostly used Dark Wood, Sand Golem, Grim Black, Graveyard Grey, and one got Zealot yellow and another got Fire Giant Orange.  See if you can find them in the group photo! 

That left them with all their basecoats on.  They were looking pretty.  I gave them all an Armypainter Light Tone wash to fill in any gaps.  Once that was dry, I did any touch-ups or finishing touches.  For example, the Man-Bear-Pig I drybrushed some white on his chest.  Others I highlighted to bring the colors back up where they needed it.  

From there, I painted their bases Runic Grey and gave them the traditional Black Trim.  Once it warms up a bit more, I will spray them down with a protective coat.  Here is where the Mercs ended up.....

Boom!  In one day I had painted a dozen+ guys.  All that was left of this expansion was the Frozen Horror.  However, I decided to leave him for another weekend effort.  A dozen miniatures in a day is a respectable days work!  That means I have painted over 50+ Heroquest models this year.  

Sounds impressive but I still have to paint: 

- The Frozen Horror Himself

- Jungles of Delthrak

- Prophecy of Telor

- Spirit Queen's Torment

- G.I. Joe Heroscape 

Man, that is a lot of stuff to paint.  A bit daunting as I need to build and paint some Late Rome stuff for Osprey now too.   However, if I see Wizards of Morcar I am not waiting.  

Until next time! 

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Wargame Design: Kitchen Table Games

In recent years, the idea of "Kitchen Table Games" have seen a surge in popularity.  What is a Kitchen Table Game you ask?  Well, it is a game that can be played on a smaller playing surface.  Notably a kitchen table that is about three-feet long and two-feet across.  Of course, this is a change from traditional wargames as they typically use 6x4 foot tables or larger. In today's world, getting access to such large tables can be problematic.  The rise of these smaller table games is a natural reaction to these problems.            

In my current "Mobile" situation the idea of Kitchen Table Games is much more appealing to me.  I no longer have access to my 8-foot by 4-foot table.  I have made a few smaller table games in my days, but I typically only go 3-feet by 3-feet as the smallest.  The realm of smaller board games is a new realm for me.  

Thinking about "Kitchen Table Games" leads me to speculate about a few ways to approach the "problem" of scaling down a game.  Many games have all ready tackled these ideas:

Odin's Ravens

1. Reduce the Size  

In this scenario, I mean reducing the actual size of the miniatures that you are using.  I.e. if you are playing a model-vs-model skirmish game instead of using 28mm models, you use 10mm models instead.  You keep the relative relationship of range to movement the same, just different, smaller, measurements.  

2. Reduce the Scale

Here, I am talking about reducing the scale of the battle.  I.e. instead of focusing on unit-vs-unit in the conflict you focus on model-vs-model.  Instead of warbands of 10-12 models, your reduce the scope down to 4 or fewer.  

For example, the game Doom 1490 has a tight focus on only a handful of models for a full game.  

3, Bathtub It

This is an old practice in wargaming where you modify the ground, unit, or even time scale to fit the scenarios. This can include telescoping, rubber banding, time-warping or other tricks to distort the size of the battlespace relative to reality in various ways.  

For example, the Portable Wargame makes use of this technique.  

4. Set Spaces

A technique where all games take place in the same general space.  This is typically some sort of arena like a gladiator game or sports game.  The arena can always be the same general size.  

For example, Heroquest always uses the same board for a variety of adventure types. 

An example of a set-size

5. Abstracting 

In this situation, you intentionally misrepresent the connection between factors on the table.  Such as the minimizing or changing the relationship between movement, range, and speed.  As you modify these relationships you can adjust the size of the table with such tricks.  

For example, Kill Team makes use of this technique to allow games in the Warhammer 40K universe in a small play area.

 

6. Scale of the Game fits the Reality

The final trick I can think about is to find a reality that fits the scale of the game.  This means choose a situation to play-out that only requires a small space.  Think of situation such as the gunfight at the OK Corral, a single samurai duel, or something similar in scope.  

For example, Blood on the Sands is a game of gladiator combat between 1-on-1 combatants.

The Games: Blood and Spectacles

7. Zoom In

Just zoom in real close to the action.  Maybe a huge battle is going on but the game is only interested in a small, close-up piece of the action.

For example. arguably this is how Warhammer 40K: 2nd Edition handles things.   

8.  Ready for the Close-up

Similar to the Zoom In, except all the action is intentionally up-close and tight.  The game has a very tight and focused view on just the action that it needs to see.  Everything is up close and personal, almost cinematic in focus.  

For example, a game like Warriors of Athena uses this trick to keep the play area small.   

Kill Team

Final Thoughts

This is just a general primer on tricks or tips that Wargame Designers can use to create some compelling or interesting Kitchen Table Games.  This can include a tight focus on realism or a much more cinematic approach.  This can include various tools to play with related to how you use The Designer's Triangle.  The key is deciding how you want to make your game fit the space limitations of a Kitchen Table and commit to the bit.  

Until next time! 

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!