Monday 30 May 2016

"...It Is Not Strictly Necessary For A Wizard To Have An Apprentice."

"Essentially, the apprentice is learning his trade from the wizard..."
 This 28mm model of a Witch’s apprentice is manufactured by “North Star Military Figures” and can be bought together with his wizard as code FGV110 from their “Frostgrave" Range.  Initially armed with a staff, this “second-spellcaster” will hopefully be worth his cost of 200 gold pieces by providing my warband with “a huge degree of tactical flexibility.”

Because I wanted this figure to be similar in appearance and colour to the one photographed within the “Frostgrave” rulebook published by “Osprey Games” I undercoated him with some “Citadel” Abaddon Black before working my way up his numerous furs using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. In addition I painted his tunic with “Vallejo” Heavy Violet and washed it with “Citadel” Druchi Violet.
"A warband can consist of no more than nine figures (ten if you count the wizard!)"
In addition to his wolf-pelts the mystical apprentice also seemed to be adorned with a red waist-sash and polar bear headdress, so I painted his girdle with Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson, and then his ‘crown’ with “Vallejo” White and “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. The animal skin was then dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” White, and had its bright teeth picked out with the same colour.

Having finished my apprentice I have finally completed my Witch’s initial warband for “Frostgrave”. Lead by a certain young Cimmerian Barbarian called Conan, this fledgling party of adventurers should bring me both glory and gold within the ruins of “the great city of Felstad”. Costing 500 gold pieces my hired followers consist of an Apprentice (200 gold pieces), two Crossbowman (50 gold pieces each), a Templar (100 gold pieces) and a Barbarian (100 gold pieces).
Engineer's Guild WIPs - These mechanical players all need their joints and armour painted next
With my “Frostgrave” project momentarily shelved, I have subsequently turned my eye towards trying to paint a team of “Steamforged Games Limited” miniatures for their medieval sports game “Guild Ball”. Sadly I have found my actual enthusiasm for my remaining Union players somewhat lacking, so thought I’d tentatively ‘dip my toe’ back into the genre’s waters by trying my hand with a few of the mechanical constructions fielded by the Engineer’s Guild.

As a result I have assembled, undercoated and dry-brushed the striker Velocity, her “Season Two” team-mate Hoist, and the club’s mascot Mainspring, in an effort to get the “Guild Ball” mojo flowing again. All three of these “Mechanica” should prove fairly simple to complete, once I’ve picked out their metallic areas, and will hopefully thus galvanise me into doing some more figures over the next few months.

26 comments:

  1. it's been a while coming but the warband was worth the wait in the end. More Guildball, you really are a glutton for punishment aren't you Simon. Nice looking fig's though.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing these "Frostgrave" minis in a BatRep or two, now they're finished. I'm actually hoping these particular "Guildball" minis will be somewhat easier to finish, and spur me on. Fingers crossed ;-)

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  2. Great looking warband. I love the barbarian and templar...two of my favourite Frostgrave figs. Funnily enough I recently sent off the witch and apprentice to Matt as I intend to use them as Skraeling Shamans for Blood Eagle and Hyborian Pictish Shamans for Open Combat!

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    1. Cheers Gordon. I too favour the Barbarian & Templar as two of the better "Frostgrave" minis. I'm sure Matt won't disappoint you with the Witch & Apprentice. Loads of character in those sculpts.

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  3. Nice work, the mech look very interesting

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    1. Thanks Martin. I like the look of the mechs a lot.

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  4. The warband looks great Simon, worth the wait :-)

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    1. Cheers Andy. Glad you think so cause its certainly been an especially long wait indeed!!!

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  5. Good stuff Blaxy, they look great :)

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    1. Thanks Chico. Been a bit of a slog, as you know :-)

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  6. That's a mighty fine war band you assembled and those guild ball sculpts look amazing!

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    1. Cheers Michael. The "Guild Ball" sculpts were a bit of a swine to put together tbh. Not quite "Knight Models" pain. But not far off. Still hopefully they'll be worth it once the paint has dried.

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  7. And the warband is complete! After your last post, I took a look at my witch's apprentice figure and it appears to have the same flaw, as the staff is supposed to be separate. Bummer.
    And those mechanoids/golem are lovely - dark brown wood with brass fittings?

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    1. Ah... it must be an especially bad batch or something Jez. I got mine with the Nickstarter so perhaps that's the issue? Even so, he's painted up pretty well and hopefully the Polar Bear head will draw the eye rather than the miscast. Silver and gold fittings for the Mechs I believe :-)

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  8. Damn nice looking warband Simon!

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    1. Cheers Fran. Glad its over... though I do have some additions waiting in the wings ;-)

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  9. Your Frostgrave war-band looks very impressive. I hope they perform well for you. You seem to have as many painting projects going on as I do. But of course, variety is the spice of life, isn't it?

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    1. Many thanks Bryan. I'm hoping they do well in my "Frostgrave" games too. For now though I have to get my head around the rules, so they'll probably be a couple of 'Conan' BatReps to come where I simply try out a few scenarios against some of the beasts lurking within the icy ruins.

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  10. You persist in tempting me with Frostgravey goodness. Sweet looking warband, Simon.

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  11. Nice work dude. Ahhh Guildball must not looooooooooook! Dammit to late will look lovely when done. I am feeling the pull also but to many nice models to choose from at the moment.

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    1. Thanks Simon. Far too many nice minis out there at present. An annoying number tbh. Still this is the Golden Age, so we'd best enjoy it and horde like mad ;-)

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  12. An apprentice may not be mandatory for a Frostgrave warband, but I would strongly recommend one! The only comment I would have about your selection is that there aren't many people in the group to carry treasure. Remember that a treasure carrier is pretty much unable to fight; I like to have some cheap, otherwise useless guys to haul away the loot.

    On the other hand, if you can kill all your opponent's figures then there's no need to carry anything anyway...

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    1. Cheers Hugh. I do have two (double-handed weapon) soldiers to paint, so I can swap my Templar out when needed, so that may help a little. Always glad to get some advice from someone who plays a lot of "Frostgrave" and your BatReps have certainly helped me push these minis along. Indeed I doubt I'd have finished them if not for your excellent AARs.

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  13. Apprentice looks ace! Fits in just fine with the rest of your intrepid city delvers.

    Really like those Guildball sculpts. Very dynamic and appealing to me. Painted as you have thus far I am liking these earthy tones, makes them definitely look suitable for steampunk.

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    1. Thanks Dai. Much appreciated. Hopefully I'll be able to do some "Frostgrave" BatReps in the near future, and show off my warband's potential.

      Velocity and Hoist are really good, cracking sculpts and its a pity there isn't a simple automaton team (or that you can have multiples of these two). They are though, as you quite rightly say, perfect for Steampunk gaming.

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