On the Painting Desk: Finishing off the Tormentors of Telor's Queen?

 

Back to finish off the final miniatures from Spirit Queen's Torment and The Prophecy of Telor.  I finished off the Greenskins and the Undead.  However, that left the forces of Dread and the Abominations.  So about 7 guys.  However, the Dread Warriors, Gargoyle and Wizard I typically paint individually while the Abominations I batch.  That means these guys took a weekend to complete.  

First off, all these miniatures were all ready base-coated and ready to go.  Therefore, I decided to work on one of the Dread Warriors first.  I had the idea of a fallen former King's Guard knight who did not really even know he had fallen.  Therefore, he was not in typical Dread livery, but instead Paladin like Golden armor with a white cloak.  

Thankfully, I have a set of Metallic speedpaints, and one of the colors happens to be Golden Armor.  How nice.  I also wanted to use White for the cloak and Loincloth.  The hardest part was the shield, because I wanted to incorporate the Golden Armor but not the whole thing!  That would be too gaudy.  Therefore, I used Zealot Yellow as the other color.  Finally, I gave it a nice Light Tone wash and based the usual Heroquest way.  

Behold..... Sir Beauregard the Chosen!  Once and future champion of Kings!  I guess I see him a bit like Sir Ragnar but this guy did not make it back.  

As Sir Beauregard was drying I also worked on the Abominations.  I had to go remind myself how I painted them in the Core set and Kellar's Keep.  I used Plasmatic Bolt on their leg plates and tentacles with Abomination Green for the skin.  That was the bulk of these guys.  Their eyes are Zealot Yellow and their teeth and claws are Pallid Bone.  Their loincloths are Zealot Yellow, Crusader Skin, and Fire Giant Orange.  They got a Light Tone wash and based as normal.  

From there, I went back to my last Dread Warrior.  My Core set Dread Warriors were all painted in the colors of a different Chaos god.  You may know them as Khorne, Slaaneshi, Nurgle, and Tzeentch.  Well, I wanted to keep that theme and there was one Chaos God I had not painted.  You know him, you love him; of course I am talking about Malal!  The Chaos God opposed to the Chaos of the Chaos Gods.... or something.  There was a concept and business reason he never made it into the big Chaos Gods club.  

Anyway, one of the challenges of Malal was that his color scheme is not easy to paint!  It is a Black and White checked or Quartered pattern!  I had never done a quartered pattern before because they look like a right pain to paint!  However, with this guy I was going to try it!  I did not want Malal to be left out of the Dread Warrior club..... that would be bad luck! 

I used the Black I use for the base edge to draw a line down the center of the model's chest and helmet.  I made the right side arm and leg white, with the chest black.  The opposite colors on the other side.  I used Grim Black on the black side and a mix of pure white and Holy white on the white parts.  I did the same on the hilt of his sword, and even quartered the cloak.  The shield I followed the design but used Black and White mix.  When I was done, I gave the whole thing a Dark Tone wash this time and based per usual methods. 

That left the female Dread Wizard and her pet Gargoyle.  Again, I had to recall how I painted the last Gargoyle from the Core set.  I wanted that trad stone Gargoyle look.  I turned out really easy!  Runic Grey on claws, teeth, and horns.  Red on the eyes.  The rest was a watered down Dark Tone wash.  Easy-peasy.  

The Dread Wizard I wanted in Magic Blue and Yellow as those were the colors of Tzeentch.  However, I also wanted to add the jewelry in Prismatic Green for a Jade style effect.  I also used Aztec Gold for the metallics.  It is one of my favorite of the metallics as it has a slightly greenish hue.  I finished it up, gave it a dark wash and based as normal.  

With that, I had two of my Heroquest mini-boxed sets finished.  The only carry-over from 2025 is the Jungles of Delthrak now, and I have painted all the Heros and Merc critters from that all ready.  Still a big accomplishment as I am now above 80+ models painted for the year.  

That said, I think I am going to pivot and paint something different next.  I need a break from Heroquest for a bit. 

And here is all the blue-ish and Orange-ish plastic minis from the two sets all painted up.  

Until next time! 

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On The Painting Desk: Prophecy of Telor about the Spirit Queen's Torment

 

I finished off the Frozen Horror so it is time for me to move onto my next set of expansions for Heroquest.  This time, I am going to tackle the miniatures found in the two "smaller" expansions, Prophecy of Telor and Spirit Queen's Torment.  These boxed sets came with alternate sculpts of the main enemies and a new hero each.  I all ready painted the new Heroes at the end of 2025.  

You may recall that these alternate enemy sculpts were new orcs with Hammers, alternate Abomination, some new Gobbos, female zombies, female mummies, sword-and-board skeletons, dread warriors with swords, a female Dread Sorcerer, and an alternate Gargoyle.  These minis were all also cast in transparent plastic.  Prophecy of Telor was an orange-red color, while Spirit Queen's Torment is a bluish-green.  Therefore, I hemmed and hawed about what I wanted to do with them.  Ultimately, I decided to just paint them up like normal minis for the game.  I think they will be more versatile and likely to see the table that way.  

So, that means the first step was to go ahead and get them undercoated!  Will my usual methods work with these transparent plastic figures?  To save time, and kill the suspense; the answer is Yes.  Yes it does.  Here they are after being sprayed in Grey Seer from GW, washed with dark grey wash, and drybrushed with cheap acrylic white.    

For my first painting session, I decided to start by painting all the Undead at once.  It did not matter which expansion they came from, I was going to paint them all together for ease and unity.  I was all ready concerned about matching with my previous minis, so no need to make it worse by splitting these up into smaller batches.  

The mummies are always where I start because they are super easy and you can build momentum quickly.  I painted their eyes Blood Red, any exposed flesh Malignant Green, and then their hair Graveyard Grey.  Then, I hit them with a Dark Wash.  All Undead get a Dark Wash to make them extra scary looking! 

Next were the Zombies.  I painted them Malignant Green flesh and then gave them a Green Tone ink wash.  From there it was simple to paint their dresses, belts, hair and gear.  I kept their hair Graveyard Grey or uncolored and just based.  Then, they got their Dark Wash and basing done.  

Finally, I did the skeletons and for these ladies (You can't really tell with Skeletons, and since almost everything else is a female version these must be too right!) I decided to go off the reservation with my usual paint scheme.  I decided to use Wizard Orb in order try to get a faded Bronze look to some of their gear.  I also used Fire Giant Orange for a rusted look on the metals.  The bones were of course Pallid Bone.  I also used Talos Bronze, and Copper from my Metallic Speedpaint set.  The final metal color was Graveyard grey.  These ladies took the longest, but they came out very different from my usual batch of skeletons.  Not sure my experiment worked 100%, but I will take it.  I never go back and re-paint a painted model!  

   So, after a day of effort, here is where the Undead ended up..... ooooh, scary! 

With the Undead finished, it was time to turn to the Greenskins for this effort. I had 4 goblins and 4 Orcs, all in the same pose.  I batch painted the Gobbos together and then the Orcs together the following weekend.  However, I swear these Orc models are cursed.  When I painted them up for Keller's Keep you may recall that I accidentally spray primed them instead of sealing them?  Well, this time I painted them all using Orc skin as the flesh tone, not realizing until I was done with the models that the flesh tone was supposed to be Malignant Green like the Goblins!  Arrrgggghhh!  Therefore, I went back and reprimed the fleshy bitz and repainted them.  I do not think it turned out that great, but they will blend in a bit better with thier fellows now.  

The Goblin gear I kept mostly Magic Blue and Runic Grey to blend in with the OG Goblins.  Weapons were Pallid Bone, Runic Grey, and Graveyard Grey.  The other assorted straps was either Hardened Leather or Crusader Skin.  The Orcs were pretty much all wearing Graveyard Grey armor which makes it look fierce and iron-like.  I also used some Runic Grey, Pallid Bone, and Graveyard Grey on the hammer's to make them distinct weapons too.  Their tabards were Blood Red, Magic Blue, Zealot Yellow, and Fire Giant Orange to help me tell them apart on the table if I need too.  

That was two weekends of painting down, and a hefty chunk of the models for Spirit Queen's Torment and Prophecy of Telor done.  These took about two weeks, and my painting total for the year is now hovering around 75+ models and they are all for Heroquest!       

Next time, I will get those Abominations and the Dread forces painted from these two supplements.  Once those are done, I will be at a cross-roads.  Do I keep on going on Heroquest, do I switch over to Late Romans, or do I paint up my Travel Battle game as a break?  Keep tuning in to find out! 

Until next time! 

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Heroquest: Prophecy of Telor- Hasbro/Avalon Hill

 

I did not take very good pictures of my copy before I started on the road.  Therefore, please take this publicity still from the creators for your viewing pleasure.  

That probably shows you what is in the box better than I can! However, I have made progress on painting it all up and will share some of that here as we go. 

This is one of the "smaller" expansions for Heroquest.  Therefore, much of what I said about Spirit Queen's Torment will apply to this box as well.  Keep in mind that ALL expansions are designed to be stand-alone with the Core set.  Therefore, these smaller boxes tend to use the miniatures and cards from the core set.... only more of them.  The main draw is the new Hero, the alternate sculpts for enemies, and the new Quests! 

So with that grab your companions, heft your long sword, and don your bracers for it is time to delve into this Quest Pack. 

Things I Like

The big draw for this box is the new Hero and the alternate enemy sculpts.  These had been Kickstarter exclusives but were released with this box to retail.  I think all of this content was part of the Kickstarter, so I am glad they allowed non-backers access to it.  I for one do not use Kickstarter and always wait for retail to see if something has legs to support.  Therefore, I would have been a bit sore if these NEVER came out. 

These enemy minis are the same as Spirit Queen's Torment with one big exception.  Instead of the cool alternate, female Dread Wizard you get an alternate Gargoyle or two.  One is the Warlock's demon-form and the other is a foe.

This boxed set also comes with some Orange, transparent dice.  I think with all the expansions I have now I can easily get a set of dice for all the players at the table.  No more passing dice between players for me! 

This Quest ties closely into the Core Quests.  Melor and his "lore" is a big component and the Talisman of Lore plays a large part in this Quest.  Players will need to have recovered it and still have it for this Quest to make sense.  I do not want to go into details in fear of spoiling it. 

Warlock and Demon-Form

Things I Did Not Like

There are a few new potions in the Alchemy Shop for this one.  Of note is the Potion of Magic, which allows you to recover up to 3 spells you have cast.  Wow, that is pretty helpful!  They also have a few variant healing potions, even to restore Mind Points.  There are also a couple of scrolls you can find, which are one use magic items.  However, not much new equipment, spells or potions in this one.  This is only a "small" expansion afterall.  

It also changes up what happens to Heroes when they reach 0 Body.  They do not die, but fall Unconscious.  Monsters can not loot their stuff, and it gives players a chance to recover the fallen with a healing potion.  This alters game play and the lose/win condition considerably and makes the game much easier.  If you want hard mode, stick with the OG death mechanics.    

This Quest plays with the idea of corruption from Dread Magic as the Players begin to gain access to Dread Magic from the Talisman of Lore.  However, as they gain these powers there is a cost.  I really like this concept a lot.  So, why is it in this section?  Well, because I want to see them do MORE with this mechanically.  After all, all Magic is corrupting even the "good" magic.  I would love to see them expand on this idea of expanding Magic options at a cost in future supplements.  This one is too small for such efforts.  Perhaps mechanics around creating scrolls or learning more spells that have a cost related to Mind Points?  Not sure, but I am sure the clever folks at Avalon Hill can figure something out.    

Again, you face a Villain a couple of times BUT it would be really nice to have a unique villain miniature.  I know, I know, this is a small supplement.  The enemy models we do get are cool, and they are cast in orange, clear plastic.  It has to do with a gimmick in the quest about a spirit bouncing between bodies, but honestly I think most of us are going to paint them up like normal foes to give them more versatility.  The Dread Warriors with swords especially can make good "mini-boss" style miniatures.  That is my plan anyway.  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

Like Spirit Queen's Torment the box art for this is smashing.  They have added some really cool foil effects and it shimmers as you turn it in the light.  It adds depth to the artwork as well.  It is a shame because I don't need all these cool boxes with cool art sitting around!  However, it is hard to toss it away because it looks the business!  

The Warlock is interesting as she is a Halfling, allowing them canonically into the setting.  She also comes standard with a ranged attack of 2 dice, which gives her a utility to Hero groups right away.  In addition, she has three spells, the most notable is the Demon-Form spell which is like the Druid's Shape-shifter spell.  I am not sure how useful this spell will be at higher difficulty Quests, but it is pretty cool and evocative.  Honestly, I think I would have made the character an Elf child rather than a Halfling, allowing her to fit in really well thematically with this Quest, Mage in the Mirror, Spirit Queen's Torment, and Rise of the Dread Moon.  Halflings might give them someplace to go later, but they still do not have a Dwarf-centric expansion so.....   

Quest 3, the Great Stairwell is probably the stand-out quest for me as it cleverly uses the board to represent moving up through a tower.  I did something similar but on a different scale in my homebrew Shadow Across Harbortown Quest (Available to Patrons).  This is an interesting way to add a new "dimension" and a clever use of the board.  

I also enjoyed revisiting Melor's Maze to make this feel like a living and breathing world to get this adventure started.  A callback to the Core Quests if you will.        

Final Thoughts

I think I like this one better than Spirit Queen's Torment and would recommend this one before purchasing that one.  The Quests seems to fit together better and the story is much cooler.  I also think the Warlock is a better Hero than the Bard, but the Bard has its uses.  It builds off the events of the Core Quests, so would work anytime after finishing the Maze of Melar.  For one of the smaller expansions, this one does what it needs to do and gives you more quests to play and Zargon ideas of what else they can do with the core game system.  

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