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

Hi everyone,

So I started to paint up and convert my French team first, simply because I like the models a bit more than the rest.

I started out first with my favorite – the veteran hunter straight out of the movie Brotherhood of the Wolf. The next model was the cuirassier.

I decided to do extra work on these figures, because I like the game theme so much and also because after painting a whole army, it was nice to take my time with these models. I also decided to go with the colour schemes presented on the sight.  This did away with research and allowed me to simply enjoy the painting process.

I also did some light conversion work on another cavalry model.  These are French Dragoons, for anyone who does not know, and they happen to be one of my all time favorite troop types in the Napoleonic era.

French Dragoons were a bit of a jack of all trades and could operate as heavy cavalry, light cavalry, skirmishers as well as infantry.  In this instance I wanted this dragoon to be another heavy cavalryman, but the problem was that they did not were a breast plate.

To get around this, I went the ahistorical route and decided to give him an armoured arm from a Perry miniatures knight and a shield from a very old GW sprue.

The figure is presented here in its mounted and unmounted forms.

Next up are the officer and Grenadier, but that will be maybe sometime next week.

Happy holidays and stay safe.

NR

Like the title says.  The Reaper minis have finally arrived and I have opened them up and I am going to catalogue this here as part of my journey into TSB.  I have also finally received the book along with the three teams – and I am slowly putting things together and going through the rules.

So I bought a selection of vampires, werewolves, an ogre and coffins and I took several pictures of them in their blister packs with their info, just in case someone is interested in buying them as well.

I got the ogre as a gift from my seller on Ebay.fr, since I am a regular.  I think it would look good as a troll. The coffins I will use for terrain.

Getting right to it, first up are the vampires.  Since I am going for a Hammer Horror feel in a Spanish environment, I bought these classical looking vampires. I think they suit the feel well.  I bought the vampire holding the girl from Ebay.fr, and it came without the blister.

Next up are the werewolves.  I have to admit they are all good looking wolves, and they all would make excellent alpha-werewolves, but I am a bit concerned about the scale.

I am gravitating towards the metal one.  It has that Lycan look from the movie Underworld. It also has more or less the right proportions. The only problem is that you don’t find werewolves with that kind of head.  I hate to say it, but this is a one of a kind model.

The gray one is nice but rather large – the ogre-sized type of werewolf one finds in fantasy undead armies.

I want more than one werewolf, and the others need to be slightly smaller so I can represent one alpha and his pack. I will have to look around a bit more and see what else is on the market.

The white plastic werewolf is also very nice. The only problem it has in my opinion, is that its head is a bit narrow.  Other than that it is fine.

The image gallery below shows a scale comparison to one of the veteran hunters.  Which one do you think fits the best?

Last but not least is the vampire hunter.  The model is very finely sculpted and not as bulky as the Northstar miniature figures, but I still think he fits in well enough.  The detail of the face is very hard to pick out.  Hopefully it will look better after priming and painting.

That is it for now.  I have ordered two miniatures from Lucid Eye Miniatures for TSB as well.  They have a 25% Black Friday discount at the moment, so I thought it was a good time to grab a deal.

I wont be posting the miniature teams from Northstar, as I am sure everyone who is interested in TSB already has seen them or owns them.

So until my next post, take care and play on.

NR

When I saw this new game from Joseph A. McCullough, I knew before even reading through any article that I was jumping into it head first and for a very deep dive.

I have never played Frostgrave or Rangers of Shadow Deep, and I did buy Stargrave, but the background story did not create any interest – it was not my cup of tea (I actually prefer Rogue Stars from Osprey).

The theme of The Silver Bayonet (from now on to be referred to as TSB) was something I was already invested in.  I love Napoleonics and gothic horror is one of my preferred genres. The movies Captian Kronos, Brotherhood of the Wolf and the Brothers Grimm are all fan favourites of mine. The project picture is from the movie Necromancer (2020) and is also gothic horror set in the Napoleonic era.  It is a slow burn but worth the watch in my opinion.

As the astute reader can tell from the title of the project, the setting will be within the Peninsular campaign for the time being.  Later on I will expand it into the French and Hungarian arenas.

I have recently received the first miniatures I have ordered for TSB.  I bought the early bird offer from Northstar miniatures, that is the book and the three teams – as well as figures from several online sellers but they have not arrived yet.

I also have some miniatures from my own collection which I will post as I start to paint them up. I hope this blog will help get more hobbyists into the game.

The miniatures that have arrived are from Heresy Miniatures.  They are truly lovely miniatures, they have that old school feel that I love so much. If I were to venture a criticism, I would say there is a slight problem with the fit of the joints. Other than that, they are worth every penny I spent on them.

The ghouls are definitely my favourite.  I have rarely seen ghouls that were so well sculpted – especially the Ghoul King.  I also find the ghoul children very disturbing, thus perfect for gothic horror.

Next up are the maggot men.  I wanted these firstly because they are spectacular and secondly it gives me the opportunity to design my own monsters.  I was thinking of designing them off the ghouls. Maybe slower but with poisonous bites? We’ll see. They did have a bit of flash and do need some serious clean-up.

You can’t have Napoleonic gothic horror without vampires, so I got two.  The first is the vamp standing proudly and defiantly.  He comes with 3 head choices.  I went with the most monstrous head because I wanted to show him in the process of changing into the second vampire I bought.  This vampire has fully changed into a man-bat creature.  I envision this transformation as a combat form.

Witches, cultists a demon are next.  I know there are cultists, but I am not sure if there are any witches? My book has not arrived yet! Whatever the case, I will make her fit in.  You can get the witch with or without the caldron.

If you have ever seen Ghostbusters, then you know were the doggie comes from. You should also understand why I could not resist getting it.  I will be using this as my demon.  The cast does suffer from fitting issues and the cast had several airbubbles, but nothing serious.

The last mini is a priest holding up a cross and holding a mace.  This is a quaint little figure and since the French team from Northstar does not have a religious figure, I think he will fit in well.

And that is all.  The next post I will show some of my Reaper Miniatures for TSB.  I also have a little preview. Until then – adieu.

NR