Headed to the cleaners? Its time to join the league

Now the league base game is a little bit of a mixed bag. The good guys the dungeon master play are very militaristic and coherent to a degree, The wandering monsters that can be also used are all over in regards to the look and feel – but then they are wandering monsters at the end of the day. The bad guys who the players play are a real mixed bag full of unique character and details. Consequently I focused my speed painting efforts into the good guys, with plans to spend more time using traditional methods on the player characters due to the unique details and sculpts, and where players will be interacting and touching the game most.

The other beautiful thing is that there is volumes of smaller minis here that were easy wins, however some have only a sculpt a mother could love. Looking at you Drakon with a maaaassssiiiiveee underbite.

Speaking of which lets detail the painting

Cavern Dweller

Pallyd whych flesh (Citadel) Washed with thinned Druichii violet (Citadel) and dry brushed with the base colour. Once this was done I then went in and painted the claws and teeth London gey, highlighted with sky grey, the mouth once again was screamer pink. The fur was copper brown (Vallejo express colour) a lovely warm coppery brown. Chains and shackles were blackened barrel.

Battle Lynx

Basilicanum Grey (Contrast) Dry brushed with Adminstratum Grey (Citadel). Copper from Vallejo model colour heavily washed with agrax earthshade (Citadel) The under armour was painted English Uniform (Vallejo model colour) to tone down the sheer volume of copper armour on this big pussy cat.

Baby Lynx

Basilicanum Grey (Contrast) Dry brushed with Adminstratum Grey (Citadel) Even I will admit these models felt like cheating.

Baby Underbite drakon

Lizard Green (Vallejo Express colour) Stone Grey Deatails such as horns and toes, and golden yellow from Proacryl for the eyes. Mantic, I would loved to have painted the mouth like the other baby drakon, however all of my sculpts were missing a lower jaw, I’m unsure if I just got dud models or they genuinely all shipped like this. Its loveable in its on weird unique way

Baby Drakon

Airbrushed Reflective green (Vallejo model colour) Mouth painted emperors Children (Citadel) and Stone grey details. I forgot to take notes on this scheme so can only be so sure. I think the eye was averland sunset as a change,

Owl Bears

Had 3 coats of snakebite leather contrast, before being drybrushed with US Field drab (Vallejo model colour) and Brown Sand (Vallejo model colour)  as a final step. The beak was deathclaw brown (citadel) Highlighted with tau light ochre (citadel) and then a mix of tau light ochre and Iraqui sand (Vallejo model colour) Mouth was screamer pink highlighted with pink horror (Citadel). Eyes were averland sunset highlighted with sand yellow, claws were german grey (vallejo model colour) and the pads on the feet VMC Black

Minotaur Defenders

Copper Brown Fur, Retributor gold (Citadel) armour with agrax earthshade wash, Mystic Blue (Vallejo Express colour) Tabards, Ushabti Bone (Citadel) horns with a wash of skeleton horde contrast. Black templar cotrast was then used for the hooves along with VMC Black for the leather strapping. The warhammer was painted with vallejo model air steel and a heavy wash of nuln oil from citadel.

So with sirens wrath mainly being an aquatic theme I had licence to run riot and paint however I saw fit. I went with a variety of bright punchy colours as seen across nature. I am also throwing the Knucker into this section, because to me the model screams giant sea serpent.

Knucker

Snake Green (Vallejo Express Colour) – a colour I am totally in love with and will be purchasing. Skeleton Horde belly scales, Screamer Pink (Citadel) for the mouth, Pallid Whych flesh and a seraphim wash for the teeth (Both citadel) and Golden yellow for the eye courtesy of proacryl.

Depth Horror

Deep Purple (Vallejo express colour) scales, Cardinal Purple (Vallejo express colour) for the belly, Martian Orange (Vallejo express colour) for the fins. Anchor chains are blackened barell and the wooden parts Wyldwood contrast. Teeth are the same recipe as the Knucker above as is the eye

Nokken

Akhelian Green (Contrast) Light Sea Grey (Vallejo Model Colour) drybrush, White Grey (Vallejo Model Colour Drybrush)

Placoderm

Stormy Blue Skin (Vallejo Express Colour) skin tone, Gharaks Sewer (Contrast) for leathers, Militarum Green (Contrast) Kelp Skirt, Skeleton Horde bone details such as spear tip and armoured cod piece, Blackened barrel spear shaft.

River Guard

Sotek Green followed by a Coelia Greenshade wash (Citadel for both) for the skin tones, Black Lotus (Vallejo express colour) for the hood, whilst it is a nice blue black shade it isn’t a true black hence black templar featuring in a lot of the other recipes. Snakebite Leather (Contrast) for the blow pipe, Gharaks Sewer for leat wrappings and pouches. Red velvet (Vallejo express colour) for the feather details and finally Black from Vallejo model colour for the eyes,

Pond warden

Luftwaffe Cam Green (Vallejo model colour) for the skin airbrushed over the zenithal, Velvet red for the tabard. Snakebite leather for the body armour, Wyldwood (Contrast) for the shield and baton. Bronze (Vallejo model colour) for the metallic parts, Stone grey (Vallejo model colour) for the strapping, and finally skeleton horde for the bone detail on his back. His eyes are also black, and his mouth a combination of emperors children (Citadel) highlighted with squid pink from Vallejo game colour

So across these minis I tried to go for a consistent look and feel. I utilised the same colours where possible to almost give a militaristic feel. Mainly utilising drab colours with just an occasional punchy colour to vary it up.

The hero Colour schemes are as follows.

Sauceror

Sigvald burgandy (Contrast) on the cloak, Black Templar (Contrast) Trousers, Guillaman flesh (Contrast) skin, Blackened Barrell (Foundry) for the pot, Nuclear Yellow (Vallejo Express) for the food, Zandri Dust (Citadel) highlighted with Ushabti bone(Citadel) for the blonde hair, Flat earth (Vallejo model colour) for the shoes and wood under the pot, Red Leather (VMC) for the socks, and finally a combination of both express colour oranges and a wash of a blood letter glaze (Citadel) for the flames

Greedy Guts

Guillaman flesh for the skin, militarum green (Contrast) for the trousers, Skeleton Horde (Contrast) for the apron. Blackened barrel for any metal work or chains, Black templar wrist wraps, London grey highlighted with dark sea grey for the hair (Both VMC) and finally Copper (VMC) thrown onto some other details for some contrast

Feast Master

Templar White (Vallejo express) Chefs whites, Highlighted with white grey (VMC) to improve the colour, Guillaman flesh for the skin tone, Militarum green apron, Sigvald burgundy wraps and trousers, Gahracks sewer (contrast) for leather boots, Red Leather for the sausages, Snakebite leather (Contrast) for the wooden chopping board across his back and finally Flat earth for the cigar in his mouth.

Knights

Wasteland Brown (Vallejo express colour) fur, Black templar saddle, militarum green top, guilliman flesh skin, skeleton horde trousers, sigvald burgandy towel and the blonde hair is Zandri dust highlighted with Ushabti bone

Undercooks

Templar White Chef whites, highlighted with White grey. Black templar leathers, militarum green trousers and apron. Wood (Vallejo Model air) and london grey hair highlighted with dark sea grey

Storeguard

Militarum Green Tabard, Gharaks Sewer Boots, Skeleton Horde Trousers and Bandana, Guilliman Flesh, Black Templar leathers, Wyldwood Pike Shaft, Blackened Barrell knife.

Game Hunters

Militarum Green Cloak, Gharaks sewer back pack and trousers, Guillliman Flesh skin, Sigvald Burgandy shirt, Blackened barrell gun and pan, Flat earth hair with a little buff (Vallejo model colour) to highlight it. Stone grey for the bedding roll and wood for the gun stock

Currently sat writing up these blog posts late on the 20/6/23 thinking why did I leave it so late to capture pictures and document my process. Part of it is me personally, the other half is I am however always biting off way more than I can chew. So here is the comprehensive list for those that want to know how I did.Totalling up from the kickstarter excluding any 3d terrain there is 125 Pcs to paint at a minimum.

March 30^th 1 Mini (Shreddin’ Bhette) painted for a competition and is therefore not included in the count. I have however routinely each week spending about 5-7 hrs across 2 sessions. One on a Thursday night whilst streaming over with a mate on youtube, the other being a few hours on a Sunday evening.

So in the grand scheme of things we have approximately 90 hours spent on this little lot with an odd couple of hours elsewhere or calling it early to prevent burnout.

Entirely Finished Miniatures

Base Game Miniatures

Battle Cat x 1

Baby lynx x 10 (2 sculpts), Baby Drakons x 10 (2 Sculpts), Owl Bears x 3, Minotaur defenders x 3, Cavern Dweller x1

No Half Measures Expansion

Feastmaster x 1, Greedyguts x1, Sauceror x 1

Under-cook x 4, Game Hunter x 4, Storeguard x 4, Knights x 4

Sirens Wrath Expansion –

Depth Horror x 1

Nokken x 3, Placoderm x 3, River guard x 3 ,Pond warden x3

Knucker x1

For a total of – 61 Fully finished Minis

Minis with colour on them

Base game

Crazed Gunslinging Dwarf, Insane Sorceress, Goblin Ninja, Priest Hunter, Odur, Tin Can Krink, Darkskull, Mother infernal, Alia the stalker, Barthamus Crowe

Drakon Hunter, Master Hunter, 4x Treemen, 4x Elf Archers, 4x Elf spearmen, Drakon Handler, 3x Werebadgers, 3x Harpies, 3x Tribal Warriors

No Half Measures Expansion

Stewards x 4

Sirens Wrath Expansion

Baby Gigas x 6

For a total of – 44 minis with some form of coloured paint, some are nearly finished require a few details or the base to be done others have just a couple of colours blocked in such as the armour and shields on the spearmen.

So for the amount of time spent on this project I have finished nearly half and got colour onto another 3rd of the project. For me that is absolutely insane, I will usually spend several hours per individual model. However utilising contrast type paints has taught me with the correct preparation work of a high contrast zenithal, or utilising m airbrush where possible I can get results I am happy with in less time. Admittedly these are not up to my usual painting standards, however they are board gaming pieces, and furthermore are not the crispiest or best detailed models due to the PVC material.

Currently sat writing up these blog posts late on the 20/6/23 thinking why did I leave it so late to capture pictures and document my process. Part of it is me personally, the other half is I am however always biting off way more than I can chew. So here is the comprehensive list for those that want to know how I did.Totalling up from the kickstarter excluding any 3d terrain there is 125 Pcs to paint at a minimum.

March 30^th 1 Mini (Shreddin’ Bhette) painted for a competition and is therefore not included in the count. I have however routinely each week spending about 5-7 hrs across 2 sessions. One on a Thursday night whilst streaming over with a mate on youtube, the other being a few hours on a Sunday evening.

So in the grand scheme of things we have approximately 90 hours spent on this little lot with an odd couple of hours elsewhere or calling it early to prevent burnout.

Entirely Finished Miniatures

Base Game Miniatures

Battle Cat x 1

Baby lynx x 10 (2 sculpts), Baby Drakons x 10 (2 Sculpts), Owl Bears x 3, Minotaur defenders x 3, Cavern Dweller x1

No Half Measures Expansion

Feastmaster x 1, Greedyguts x1, Sauceror x 1

Under-cook x 4, Game Hunter x 4, Storeguard x 4, Knights x 4

Sirens Wrath Expansion –

Depth Horror x 1

Nokken x 3, Placoderm x 3, River guard x 3 ,Pond warden x3

For a total of – 60 Fully finished Minis

Minis with colour on them

Base game

Crazed Gunslinging Dwarf, Insane Sorceress, Goblin Ninja, Priest Hunter, Odur, Tin Can Krink, Darkskull, Mother infernal, Alia the stalker, Barthamus Crowe

Drakon Hunter, Master Hunter, 4x Treemen, 4x Elf Archers, 4x Elf spearmen, Drakon Handler, 3x Werebadgers, 3x Harpies, 3x Tribal Warriors

No Half Measures Expansion

Stewards x 4

Sirens Wrath Expansion

Baby Gigas x 6

For a total of – 44 minis with some form of coloured paint, some are nearly finished require a few details or the base to be done others have just a couple of colours blocked in such as the armour and shields on the spearmen.

So for the amount of time spent on this project I have finished nearly half and got colour onto another 3rd of the project. For me that is absolutely insane, I will usually spend several hours per individual model. However utilising contrast type paints has taught me with the correct preperation work of a high contrast zenithal, or utilising m airbrush where possible I can get results I am happy with in less time. Admittedly these are not up to my usual painting standards, however they are board gaming pieces, and furthermore are not the crispiest or best detailed models due to the PVC material.

Our local gaming club hosts a monthly competition to motivate painting around a theme. And to allow us to mine the mountain for random projects to push along the line. However I bent the rules as far as I could. The theme was contrast/contradiction. Lets just use contrast paints get as much entered as possible and go with the flow. Below are my entries to the comp which was Aprils theme judged on our first session in May.

We have the Knucker, Depth Horror, nokken, greedy guts, the storeguard, the under cooks & game hunters. All painted across a couple of live stream, and Sunday evening sessions for comp. Later in the project I will be going over the units individually with the recipes.

I used a significant amount of Vallejo express colour particularly on the Knucker & Depth horror miniature. Being my first time using the product I am pleasantly pleased. Overall the consistency is similar to contrast including in how the product pools and dries, however with a longer working time. This is both a blessing and a curse to some effects, particularly when handling models and only having a few minis to batch through at a time

Right from memory I think this arrived at some point in 2021 but with covid and everything else its been a bit of a blur. I cleaned up some of the models primed a couple and did some experimentation with some contrast paints last year. I also have a case I bought from battlefoam in 2021 at UK games expo that I have modified to store the entire collection in one place. Last spring I finished priming and added colours to a couple more minis without anything having ever reached a finished stage. I have finished one mini to date for a painting competition at my local gaming club earlier this year.

Enough is enough and because a bit of self deprecation is always funny, I know this has jumped ahead of #whataboutassasinscreed, but technically this arrived first, not that it usually makes a difference in my hobbying priorities.

Not the best pictures I know but at least thats everything either in tray or as a single, but photographing it was equally a nightmare as the miniatures are grouped by size over faction/campaign setting so there is the odd halfling etc with other minis. Its also showing where I’m starting from which is all primed with a couple of colours down on a few minis.

This is probably the most ambitious I have ever been with a project to date, over 100 minis a tight deadline (for me bearing in mind I’ve had 48 ironjawz to paint for about 5 years now) and a totally blank canvas with not alot of inspiration outside of mantic pictures to reference. Way outside of my usual hobby 4 walls, but then again it is meant to be a spring clean challenge not a walk in the park. So follow along for my recipes, corner cutting, painting on hard mode and whatever else happens while I slog through this lot. Either that or league of infamy is taking me to the cleaners.