“Hola amigo, I come to suck your blood!”

I have finally started to paint up my monsters.  I started with the ghouls because I have play-tested them a lot and I have currently moved on to different monsters.  This way, I have all the time I need to focus on these handsome fellows.

Since I am a very lazy person at heart, I wanted to find the easiest way to get these done.  So I went with Reaper’s Master Paint Series.

Reaper Miniatures sell these paints in sets of three and are usually themed according to subject – in this case ghouls.  They cost around 10 sterling for a blister pack of three paints.  You can also buy them as single bottles.

The initial test result was appropriate but very dull!

Therefore I decided to shade with violets and purples  to shake things up a bit.

Below is a picture of the big Grendel model with the base colour of the ghouls to the left, and to the right a ghoul at the final stage.

You can see how the violets and purples change the body colour landscape dramatically.

That’s all for now.  I will continue to paint more ghouls for the time being, but I am working on other stuff that I will post up soon.

Until then, have fun and stay safe.

NR

Hi everyone,

Today I would like to present an expansion on the Dark Wolf profile. I only added an alpha to the pack and a dire wolf, but it is amazing to me how much of a difference it makes.  I find that the games I have played are more tense and desperate for it. A caveat, as always, is that I have only played solo games.  I have yet to try these (as well as the other profiles) in normal adversary games.

The first two pictures are of my unfinished wolves with primer and a first coat of paint.  The second shows the size increase of the species.

DARK WOLF PROFILES

The first up are the alpha dark wolves.  These bad boys have an extra point of melee and  two points of health.  A small upgrade but significant enough to make them stand out. You can only ever have up to two alphas in a game (consider them alphas from different packs).

Next up are the Dire Wolves.  I envision these wolves as semi-sentient and extremely evil creatures that hunger for human flesh.  They are also frequently confused for werewolves or shape-changers.

I gave them two points on melee and four points on health on the standard dark wolf profile, in order to make them truly fearsome opponents.  I increased their courage to +1 to reflect their semi-sentient and aggressive nature.  Since they are so huge, I gave them the ‘Large’ attribute to counteract their speed.

You can only ever have one or two dire wolves, preferably only one.  I have used two in a three part campaign, where the heroes do not know that there is a second dire wolf.  Consider the campaign story similiar to the man-eating lions of Tsavo!

Last, but definitely not least, are the common dark wolves.  These remain exactly the same as the core rulebook.

Once again, I hope you try these out in your games and I if you have any improvements – please let me know.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

I just finished up painting the original crew of my French Bayonet Team.  I really enjoyed the experience, and spending time on one miniature instead of six at a time was a nice change of pace. I want to start painting up some hostiles in in order to mix thing up a bit.

The last model of the team was my Mama Voodoo, the group’s occultist.  I also diverted slightly from the original painted job.  I wanted all the models to have some Prussian Blue to tie them together.

Nonetheless, I am going to add some Swiss, Italians and Polish to the team in the future – just to add more colour and diversification.

Foe next week I want to post some more profiles and I will start work on the Ghouls.

Until then stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

Today I have two more minis from my French Team.  These are the Vivandiere and the Supernatural Investigator.

I left the Supernatural Investigator with the same colours as the artwork, but with the Vivandiere, I decided to divert slightly and make her a bit more colourful.

All I have left now, from the original Northstar miniature French Team, is the Occultist.  Hopeful I will find time to finish her off this week as well.

Until then have fun and stay safe.

NR

Hi everyone,

Today I would like to present another ‘expansion’ the the bestiary profiles in the game.  This time I have expanded the ghoul’s profile and added a new monster as well.

NEW  GHOUL PROFILES & ATTRIBUTES

The first up are the Ghoul King and the Ghoul Leader.  The nature of these creature’s entries are the same, they just have better profile states and the Ghoul King has Very Strong attribute instead of only Strong attribute. The Ghoul King model is the Grendel miniature from the Otherworld Miniature range.  It is currently on sale and selling at 50%. Grendel was an eater of men, so I thought he would fit the role nicely.

You can only ever have only one Ghoul King and Ghoul Leader anytime in a game.

Next up is the Ghoul Toddler.  This little brat of a ghoul is more of a nuisance than a menace, unless you put him in a nursery and he ends up eating the other children. To reflect this I took away the Strong attribute and gave it the Irritant attribute.  I also reduced the power level of the Ghoul profile.

Last but not least, is a new character I named the Herald.  This is a rat-man like individual who goes into towns and villages searching for freshly buried individuals for his Ghoul King master with his enhanced sense of smell.

When cornered he calls upon swarms of rats to come and cover his escape by harassing his assailants. I have also added profiles for the Herald and his rat swarms in the attached PDFs.

I hope you find this interesting and give them a try.  I found that they add a lot to the game.  The best way to use the Ghoul King, in my opinion, is in a 3 scenario campaign where he shows up in the last scenario.

In the next post I will have more painted miniatures. Until then play on and stay safe.

NR

Hi everyone,

I finished off two more members of my Silver Bayonet team, between work and games.

They are the Grenadier and the Sapper of the French team.  I painted them up in the same style as the others – i.e. using a stippling technique.  I think the gritty look it produces suits the mood of the background.

That’s all for today.  I will try to find the time to post up more diversifying profiles like the cultists of the previous post.

Until then,

NR

Hi everyone,

I would like to present some extra profiles for scenarios in games of TSB.  After playing a lot of solo games during the Xmas shutdown, I wanted to increase the stakes and diversity of the monsters available.

Today I am presenting my cultists which I have used to good and interesting effect.  I have not finalized any scenario just yet, but anyone can use them as is in their own scenarios.  Below I have two PDF’s with the profiles and a new weapon.

NEW CULTIST PROFILES

The first up are the leaders – the Magos and the Magos Acolyte.  You can only have one of each in a scenario at any time.  So if the Magos is in the game and dies, you cannot bring in another Magos.

The Magos and the Magos Acolyte both have access to spells, with a few modifications.  The Manipulate spell allows a cultist to reroll one die during its turn.

The Magos Cult Leader also has the attribute Skinshift.  This attribute allows the Magos to become a possessed figure.

Next up are Cult Bodyguard and Cult Assassin.  These are the fighting arm of the Cult. Like the leaders, you can only ever have one the them in the game.

The Cult Bodyguard has a +2 to its Melee stat and a modified attribute ‘Hard to Put Down‘.  Once per game (after the Bodyguard has been hit), when calculating the amount of damage the Bodyguard receives, you may force the enemy to reroll  the Power or Skill die causing the damage.

The Cult Assassin has a +1 to its Melee and Accuracy as well as the attributes ‘Master of Cover‘, and ‘Nimble‘.  They also have a new weapon – a throwing knife (see the PDF).

The last entry is the Cult Priest.  They are basically higher level Cultists normally from the upper classes of society or with higher education.  Their profiles are the same, but they gain the attribute ‘Medic’. They can be distinguished by more elaborate robes. You can only ever have up to two Cult Priests in a game.

The last are the cultists as presented in the main rulebook.  These are the riff-raff, brainwashed fools who think they are the righteous warriors of the apocalypse.

I have only played solo games until now; but I find that introducing the Bodyguard, the Assassin and the Priests into the game via the clue markers makes for better play.

The Magos and the Magos Acolyte I like to place directly onto the table near their sacrificial altar or summoning circle.

I hope you find this quick article interesting and helpful.  I will be posting more of these profiles for Werewolves, Ghouls and Vampires.  I just need to play a few more games before posting the profiles.

Have fun!

NR

Hi everyone,

I had some free time this week and I have been working on several projects, one was TSB – currently my favourite game.  I have played the solo scenarios numerous times and I have come to the conclusion that I prefer TSB with solo or co-op formats.

So the next figure I painted up was my brave and determined leader – Capitan D’Arlock. He is named after the lead in an animated series I used to watch when I was a kid. I actually have two more leaders, but today it’s D’Arlocks time in the spotlight.

I also did some work on some conversions  for my Silver Bayonet team.  These include another Grenadier and a mounted Hussar.  I could not find a suitable dismounted hussar version, but with the help of some knowledgeable community members I think I have found a solution – you know who you are ! (OK, OK Sribbs and Avernos!)

With all my conversions for TSB – I wanted to add some character and make them slightly ahistoric. So with the Hussar I added a simple crucifix as well as on on the horse.  The grenadier took some more work. He looked slightly smaller compared to the Northstar minis, so I ’embiggered’ him and gave him a holy symbol/weapon. Over-the-top yes, but cool certainly.

My next post will be slightly different.  After playing so many games in such a short time, I have started to add stuff to the game to make it more difficult and challenging for my brave and desperate heroes.

Until then, keep rolling those dice.

NR