Zombie Week: Day Zero

Day Zero... The dead are rising from their resting place, deep in the darkest corners of my hobby cabinet. I need a quick fix that can only be gained from a completed project (too many slow burners at the moment). Zombies will be the first to give me that pleasure of completeness.

If zombies are raised from the field of battle, then shouldn't there be some non-humans in the mix? Thanks to Titan Forge, there are zomblins and undead trolls!

I've had these undead knocking around for a while and it was by chance that I remembered the plan I had to give them a very simple but effective paint job: quick undercoat, shade, highlight, shade, highlight, bang in a couple of signature touches... done. 

I've always like the idea of doing undead as if they are glowing with necromantic energies, which is the only thing giving them any coherency. The rules support this, so why not the paint job? Let's see if I can achieve a necrotic-bile green glow across the whole army.

That Was The Week That Was #11

This week's round up highlights some fun looking miniatures that are due to be released in the next couple of months. They all rate highly on my want-o-meter. 

1. Titan Forge have added to their demonic range with some rotten beasts. The highlight is this princely lord character model that would grace any fantasy battlefield:

2. Mantic are fulfilling on their promise of a summer of Kings of War with a batch of new budget friendly minis. I'm quite taken by these werewolves:

3. Finally, Maxmini has released these rather nifty looking Necrohounds, which could be proxies for a range of 40k type...

thingies.

Have Titan Forge Produced The Perfect Nurgle Heldrake?

I'm not a fan GW's robot chicken so I'm keeping an eye out for potential Heldrake substitutes for my Nurgle chaps. Now along comes the undead wyvern from Titan Forge. Goodness me this looks like a fun model! In truth, it's a few steps away from being perfect - the zombie dragon is probably where I'll look in earnest - but I'll keep a look out for the price of this when it's released on 21st January.

Climbing Sprue Mountain #2 - Vampire Counts

It's the second day of the ascent of sprue mountain and it's time to take a look at my Vampire Counts. As you can see from the photo, I'm using models from several ranges and I've assembled maybe a quarter of everything in the box - a box that, sharp eyed punters will notice, initially housed the Mantic undead army deal.

The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty thousand years. And grizzly ghouls from every tomb are closing in to seal your doom (maniacal laugh...)

The Mantic rank and file undead are great value and pretty good minis too. Given that a Vampire Counts army can't escape being formed as a shambling horde, Mantic provide a cost effective way of achieving this. I've added Lords and Heroes from the GW range of plastics and finecast, along with some of the Mantic undead characters. In addition I have a few more GW figures to add to the mix, including some grave guard and a few of the excellent LotR miniatures. The Titan Forge Flesh Reapers will stand in for crypt horrors, while I'll be using a range of minis (including the female ogre from Foundry pictured on the left of the sheet of paper) as spirit hosts.

Although I've started to paint a few of the grave guard I'm currently giving the whole paint scheme a rethink. I want to do something different for each of my armies so that I get the maximum challenge, interest and enjoyment from the hobby. For the undead I'm thinking of how I can get them looking as if they've swathed in the glow of foul necromantic sorcery. A mixture of that effect alongside a good dose of rot and decay should fit the bill nicely. Overall I'm going for something quick that will look striking on the tabletop - should make for a good few winter evenings of work! 

Titan Forge Launch Their Indiegogo Campaign

Titan Forge have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for a planned undead greenskins fantasy army. Their ideas look fabulous and as an owner of some of their 'zombins' I can tell you that the quality of their work is top-notch. Take a look here and lend them your support if you're able.

Titan Forge Flesh Reapers, Zomblins and Bases - Out Of The Box

My first package from Polish company Titan Forge arrived this morning, so here's a quick out-of-the-box review...

Everything arrived in well presented blister packs, apart for the larger miniatures, which came in their own box. All the pieces are good quality resin and I couldn't see any miscasts or problems on first viewing.

Here are the zomblins - zombie goblins. I really like these. They're very inexpensive and even come with their own scenic bases. The sculpts capture the humour of the Night Goblins very well and blend it with the downright silliness of the shambling horde: the fellow dragging his own arm is great, but my early favourite is the one with the exposed brain (far right in the picture).

Here are some of the 40mm scenic bases, showing a rather decrepit graveyard. Plenty of detail on each of these so they could be used as simple unit-fillers.   

These are the Flesh Reapers - kind of flesh golem ghoulish chaps. They have a pleasing scale, meaning they could be straightforward stand-ins for the GW Crypt Ghouls, while retaining some sense of humanoid-proportion - they look like they could've been patched together from various cadavers.  

And finally, the 40mm scenic base that was supplied with the 20mm set (see the Zomblins above). This will make an excellent objective marker or unit filler.

Overall then, excellent minis and bases - very much looking forward to seeing what Titan Forge bring out in the coming months. 

In Praise Of Miniatures From Polish Manufacturers

I am so impressed with the quality of Polish miniature manufacturers. Spellcrow, Titan Forge, and obviously Scibor (among of few others) are blasting the way for fantastic looking models at reasonable prices. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to pick up a few more models from these jolly good little companies and give them the thorough reviews and praise that these deserve.

These are the models I'm thinking of picking up...

Titan Forge Flesh Reapers

Spellcrow Minotaure

Scibor Dwarf General