Dark Souls – The Board Game

Hollows are a common enemy throughout the Dark Souls universe and come in many guises. I initially considered painting each model uniquely to reflect this diversity. In the end however, I decided that it would be less confusing for players if each enemy type in the game could be easily identifiable by colour scheme. This is a convention I would stick with going forward and had the added benefit of making each enemy type quicker to paint as I could work through them in small batches.

Three types of Hollow are represented in the core set, Hollow Soldiers, Hollow Crossbowmen and the Giant Hollows. I chose muted tones to block these out before washing them generously with the hobby staple that is Agrax Earthshade.

The miniatures were given a coat of Army Painter Soft Tone before being finished with a coat of Vallejo mat varnish. I adopted this method of finishing for all the models in the set. The soft tone adds further shading to the miniatures and adds to the muted, dirty look common to the Dark Souls universe. The mat varnish is necessary to remove the shine from the soft tone and also adds a further layer of protection to the paint.

The second enemy type encountered in the board game are Silver knights. I again looked to the series artwork for direction. These enemies appear in all three Dark Souls games and their colour scheme varies with type and location. I decided to go with a cleaner, bluish hue to the armour of the Swordsmen, while the Archers armour would be more broken down with brown and green tones.

All of my armoured models were primed with Lead Belcher and given a coat of Nuln Oil to bring out the detail. Further colouration was achieved with washes and light dry brushes. In the case of the archers I used Agrax again while the swordsmen were washed with Darkenhorf Nightshade. A Runefang Steel dry brush added highlights and brought the metallic look back after washing.

These two larger knight models are known as Sentinels. Again they appear in various locations and colour schemes throughout the Dark Souls Video games series. For clarity I used the colour scheme depicted on the unit card which is from the city of Anor Londo location in DSI. Here they can be found guarding the doorway to the final boss battle of that level; ‘Ornstein and Smaug’.

The boss encounter at the end of Anor Londo (DSI), is one of the most iconic of the series, the double boss combo that is ‘Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smaug’. This is the first of two Boss battles included in the Core game. 

This was a very simple colour scheme, achieved by dry brushing over a Lead Belcher undercoat with Vallejo Brass. I used washes of GW Ogryn flesh to add warmth to the metallic finish. The Soft Tone helped define some of the details and also brought a slightly grittier feel to the models.

The Core game includes a second Main Boss battle, this time against the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, from Dark Souls III.

The Dancer’s armour was painted using the same simple techniques I used for the other armoured models in the set. The predominant colour here is Iron Breaker with a Runefang Steel highlight. The ornate armour sections were picked out in Balthazar Gold and Genenna Gold.

The Dancers cape was a little trickier to deal with than the armour. My initial attempt using brushes looked terrible! So much so that I resprayed the cloak areas and did the whole thing again using an airbrush. I was much happier with the airbrushed result.

This was the only figure in the set that I ‘tampered’ with. The original pose was bizarre, the figure looking completely off balance. This combined with my poor painting on the cape led to me pulling the model apart (these models are pre-assembled), cutting off one of the legs and reposing it the best I could!

Sticking with the armoured models we have the first of the two mini bosses, The Winged Knight and the Boreal Outrider Knight. Both of these enemies feature Dark Souls III.

The Winged Knight has quite a tarnished appearance in the video game which I achieved by first dry brushing over a lead belcher primer with brass. I then went back over with a light silver dry brush.

The blue armour of the Boreal Outrider was built up using several layers of Darkenhorf Nightshade wash. Silver dry-brushing was used to bring back the detail between washes and ensure the metallic look was retained. As the Boreal Knight’s attacks feature the Frost status effect in game, I felt this would be a good opportunity to try out some technical paints. I used Valhallan Blizzard from GW to add frosting to the sword blade and some of the armoured joints. On the base i tried to recreate the frost shadow that these knights generate in the video game.

The final two mini boss models from the core game are the Gargoyle and Titanite Demon. Both of these enemy types featured in DSI, though Gargoyles have appeared in various guises throughout the series.

In the original game the Gargoyles appeared almost entirely covered in verdigris. On closer inspection there is a little more going on and I wanted as much variation as possible in order to show off the different textures of the model. In the end I based my colour scheme on a piece of design artwork I found during a search.

I added a verdigris weathering on the bronze armour sections and shield to keep the figure in line with the video games series.

The Titanite Demon’s appear almost black in the original game, with an ore like finish. 

I tackled this character in the same way as the armoured models, light dry brushing and consecutive coats of wash. In this case the primer and dry brush were grey while the washes were Agrax and Nuln oil. This really brought out the stone texture of the model.

The last group of models from the Core Box are the four heroes, representing four of the ten archetypes from the game series. These miniatures are based on the Dark Souls III character art which is depicted on the player boards used in the board game.

Six further heroes are available through one of the game Expansions. For now we have the Knight, Warrior, Herald and Assassin. 

I’ve aimed to paint these models to match up to their player boards, using the same simple techniques as the rest of the set. Like the other models they have been finished with soft tone and mat varnish.

The first of the expansions I’d like to showcase is the Characters Expansion. This set includes the remaining six hero archetypes from the series, greatly expanding the way that players can approach the game.

As you would expect, each hero brings a different approach to combat and favours a different path of character development.

Of particular note are the Pyromancer, Cleric and Sorcerer who bring the three  disciplines of magic to the tabletop.

Additionally we have the Thief and the Mercenary. Finally, for those who prefer to run about in a loincloth with nothing but a plank for protection and a club to bash their enemies, we have the Deprived.

As with the heroes from the core game, my intention has been to match the paint scheme to the character board art as much as possible.

In addition to the six heroes from the previous entry, the Character Expansion includes miniatures representing ten classic armour sets from the Dark Souls series. These can be discovered as treasure items in game, allowing you to swap out your hero model for one of these miniatures when you equip the armour.

Evolving your character is a big part of the Dark Souls gaming experience and its a nice touch to bring this to the tabletop. It would be great to see more of these in future expansions, so that players can further customise their heroes.

The Explorers Expansion is essentially an upgrade for the core game set, bringing new enemy types and encounters, along with 3D scenery to replace the cardboard tokens from the core game box. It also adds a new Main Boss and introduces Mimics to the game.

While the 3D scenery is by no means essential, it is a lot more pleasing on the eye than cardboard tokens. The set also includes the iconic Dark Souls Bonfire, for your party to rest and warm their bones!

The first enemy in this set is another type of Hollow, in the form of the Firebomb Hollow. These guys are a real nuisance as their detonating projectiles are able to hit multiple heroes that are occupying the same node, forcing your party to spread out.

This expansion also brings the Silver Knight Spearmen to the table. The Spearmen are a variation of the Silver Knight Swordsman, playing a more defensive role than their sword wielding counterparts.

While the scenery pieces and new common enemies get a lot of use in the board game, the main event of this expansion is a new main Boss in the form of The Peruser.

The Peruser is a highly mobile and aggressive Boss that Players of Dark Souls II will remember well. As the name implies, he harasses you relentlessly throughout much of the game!

The Pursuer has a much darker appearance than the armoured models to date. His Armour was washed heavily with blacks and browns, brought back with a little dry brushing to create the tarnished look from the video game.

The Explorer’s Expansion has one final surprise in store for players. Mimics can be added as random events throughout your encounters, bringing a further challenge and paying out twice the loot of a regular treasure chest once defeated.

Mimics are certainly one of the more bizarre creatures from the DS universe, faithfully represented here in all their gangly glory!

The Explorer and Character Expansions previously covered are, in my opinion, essential additions to the Core game. With these three sets you have a wide range of encounters, enemy types, Mini Bosses and Main Bosses to test your mettle against, as well as Ten playable hero characters.

The journey does not end here however. The next two sets I’ll be covering open up new areas for the Un-kindled to explore, each bringing a host of new enemy types and Bosses to overcome.

The Darkroot Basin Expansion brings completely new encounters to the board game, featuring enemies and bosses from the Darkroot Basin and Royal Garden locations of Dark Souls I. These areas are characterised by rocky cliff edges overgrown with foliage, and the enemies that inhabit them reflect this colour pallet.

First up we have the Demonic Foliage, which, having no discernible features, was very simple to paint! I used Vallejo Dark Brown for the areas that I wanted to appear woody, with Luftwaffe Green and Camo Green on the more verdant areas.

The Hollow enemies in this set take the form of Scarecrows, armed with Ploughs and Shears respectively.

I wanted the scarecrows to tie in with the Foliage and so used the Dark Brown again on their bodies as well as Luftwaffe and Camo Green on their leafy heads!

To achieve a ‘rotted corpse’ look, I used Camo Medium brown as a dry brush over the limbs and rib cages. This was the colour I had previously used on the flesh of the Hollows.

The real heavy hitters of this expansion are the Stone Knights.

As with all of the models to date, I used very simple washing and dry brushing, in this case over an Army Painter green primer. I used Vallejo Green Grey followed by a mix of Green Grey and Uniform Grey to create the stone armour look. A wash of Agrax was applied before I worked back into the mossy clumps across the figure using a thin layer of German Uniform Green. The sword blades were dry brushed with a little silver over the grey to give the impression of petrified steel.

For the Stone Guardians I worked over a Khaki Primer, first picking out the few details that would not be sandstone in colour. For the Axe head I used German Green Grey again. I used Vallejo Dark Brown, slightly thinned down, over the tree root that makes up the handle of the axe. The bulk of the model was dry brushed German Camo Beige, followed by Wraithbone.

Just as with the earlier expansions, I used Army painter Soft tone dip applied with a brush, followed by a coat of Vallejo mat varnish to finish and protect the models.

Now we move on to the most obscure antagonists in the Dark Souls universe, the Mushroom Parent and Child. I can’t begin to explain the presence of an anthropomorphic fungi family in this realm of the undead. The random nature of some enemies in this game certainly serves as a reminder of the Japanese origins of the series!

For the Mushroom parent and child I again used a Khaki primer. I first painted the mushroom tops with Vallejo Medium Camo Brown, before washing the rest of the model with Agrax (standard). I washed the cap of the mushroom with my old pot of Ogryn flesh to bring out the reds. The body (or stalk!), of the model was dry brushed German Camo Beige, followed by Wraithbone.

With the basic enemy types finished I was able to turn my attention to the heavyweights of this set, ‘the Great Wolf Sif’ who stands guard over the grave of his master, ‘Artorias’.

For me the real star of this expansion is ‘Artorias the Abyss Walker’. Artorias is one of the more fascinating characters in DS law, encountered in a time long before the events of the first game. Even in that long ago time he is maddened and broken from his journey into the abyss.

Artorius’ armour has a brighter finish than the previous Dark Souls bosses, yet still has an aged look that I wanted to capture. I began by dry brushing over Lead Belcher with Bronze before washing the armoured areas with Griffon Sepia followed by nuln oil. The aim was to lay down a base that would leave a tarnished feel to the recesses of the armour.

Once the washes had fully dried I dry brushed back over with Lead Belcher, followed by Iron Breaker. Finally I selectively washed the deeper joints on the armour as well as the chain mail skirts with Agrax.

This model is probably my favourite of the series. The hunched stance and paralysed left arm, hanging limply by his side, the tragic fate of a once great hero.

The final model of this expansion is the Great Wolf Sif. I’m not overly happy with the results here. I feel I could’ve achieved a more natural look by airbrushing different shades into the fur, rather than just washing and dry brushing. I may revisit this in the future but for now I’m going with the maxim that done is better than perfect!

The Iron Keep Expansion, brings another new location to the board game, featuring the enemies and bosses found in the Iron Keep of Dark Souls II. This is a frankly horrible location, featuring perilous drops into lava and occupied by fast moving armoured knights and Archers.

The set includes all three types of Alonne knight, the katana wielding sword knight, the Alonne Bow knight and the Alonne Knight Captain.

As pretty much every model in this set is fully armoured, I was able to prime all of them with Lead Belcher (except for the Smelter Demon but more on that later)!

Once again washing and light dry brushing enabled me to work through these models very quickly. I wanted the different type of knights to be distinguishable from one another so I followed the card art and used Drakenhorf washes to give the swordsmen a blue tint to their armour….

… the Bow Knights were instead washed with a turquoise green, made by mixing Thrakka green into the Drakenhorf.

For the Alonne Knight Captains I achieved a deeper, darker blue by adding black to the Drakenhorf. All three were dry brushed back to a steel finish once the washes had dried.

The final common enemy found in the Iron Keep are the Ironclad Soldiers. As their appearance suggest, these guys are slow moving, hard hitting and tough as hell!

The Ironclads lack the bluish hues of the Allon knight’s and so these were simply washed with Agrax and Nuln oil to the desired depth of colour and brought back to an iron finish with Lead Belcher and Iron Breaker dry brushing. Simple!

Another feature of the iron keep expansion are the crystal lizards. These little chaps appear throughout the Dark Souls series and are a valuable source of titanite ore that can be used to strengthen weapons. The trick is catching them before they run away! These were dry brushed up to a light silver before using Contrast Ultramarine Blue to tint the crystal parts of their bodies.

The first boss of this expansion is Sir Alonne, the katana wielding samurai / knight.

With a lot more detail on this model I took a little more time on him, though the metallic parts followed the same formula as previous armoured models.

The final model from the Iron Keep is the Smelter Demon….

This guy is just huge and really beefy to boot. He also has a sphincter for a face!

Much like a Balrog or Avatar of the Bloody Handed God, the Smelter Demon has a molten core, cooling to a blackened surface. I have never painted this effect before and have to say I really enjoyed the challenge.

I primed the model with a satin white before using my airbrush to blend from white at the deepest points, to yellow, through orange and finally to red. This was done with GW Sigismund Yellow Clear and Mephiston Red Air.

Once the ‘heat’ colouring was completed, I worked over the hard surface areas with Contrast Black Templar. I used successive layers, thinned with medium to darken the points furthest from the heat. I finished this model with a coat of Vallejo Gloss Varnish, thinned and applied through the airbrush. My intention was to add a slight glisten to the surface that would add to the molten lava effect.

The Asylum Demon is the first boss encountered in the Dark Souls video games series and so it seemed fitting that it would be the first Mega Boss Expansion added to my collection. These expansions represent the toughest encounters available in the board game, featuring massive boss models with their own unique gaming tile and behaviour decks.

The Asylum Demons chamber contains pillars which initially seem like a useful place to hide. However the unique mechanic of this battle has the demon destroying any pillar that falls within its attack arch, wrecking havoc on nearby heroes! The set contains card tokens representing the pillars, but I  wanted something physical, so I 3D modelled and printed my own, to add a little gravitas to the arena!

This model is even larger than the Smelter Demon, so I painted the bulk of it with my airbrush, using Vallejo paints over my tried and trusted Khaki primer. 

I used Wyldwood Contrast for the Demons Hammer, thinned but applied directly over the primer. As ever Agrax was used to add shading before a little dry brushing here and there brought the texture back.