Sephea, Executrix Champion - Arena of Blood

Here's my last painted miniature of 2018, Raging Heroes' 'Sephea'. As has been the tradition for the last couple years, I try to get everything I have primed finished up by the 1st. I painted quite a lot of terrain and miniatures over the last month to meet my self-imposed deadline. I'll be posted more stuff soonish as time permits.

Honestly I wasn't super excited to paint this one since I don't like the resin Raging Heroes uses, it doesn't accept primer easily and I've tried quite a few brands, washed the resin, let it 'de-gas' for weeks, etc. etc. She was originally just a test mini for priming.

Anyway about a quarter of the way in I really began to like where she was headed and I really like how it turned out. Not sure what I'll use her for, but I based her to match my Wyches for the Arena of Blood. She may come out when a Wych avoids combat for two rounds or something.

Arena of Blood Dark Eldar (Drukhari) Wyches

I wanted a second set of Drukhari *cough Dark Eldar cough* Wyches for my Arena of Blood game, so that people can play as teams, or have some options if two people want the same type of gladiator.

These Wyches are from the Cult of Strife and are opposite sex from the previous set. Pretty much straight out of the box other than the Hydra Gauntlet Wych, who has an old 3rd edition torso, and a custom falchion sword since that's not an option anymore. The razorsnare might be from the Scourge kit.

The Beastmaster is a conversion that pays homage to the old 3rd edition Beastmaster look.

The head is a wacky one from 3rd edition- believe it or not, I shaved about 1/8 inch of hair off the end! He's got a greenstuff cape and fur stole as well.

The weird beast is a metal figure, I think it was from Mega Miniatures. I can't find any details on it. Looks like the sort of thing Dark Eldar would put in an arena battle.

 

My favorite of the bunch might be this Hellion. I used a 3rd edition head and torso, and matched the color scheme of the illustration on the counter for the Arena of Blood game included in White Dwarf.

I also knocked out a 'new version' Beastmaster on the skyboard. I may make a Razorwing Flock for the arena someday.

Arena of Blood Build

Arena of Blood Miniatures Set 1

Dark Eldar Arena of Blood 3D Game Board

This post details the construction of the 3D Dark Eldar Arena of Blood board I built. Arena of Blood is a mini-game found in White Dwarf #229 (1999) which introduced simple rules for Dark Eldar Wych gladiator fights. I really enjoy building 3D game boards and I've wanted to make one for this game for many years. I finally started it around January 2017 and just finished the last figures for it. All that remains is to finish the sheets for the characters. 

 

The original game was played on a fold out map (included in the magazine) that had all the stats and specific rules for the characters. GW even incuded stand up card markers for the Wyches, although I assume they wanted us to buy the actual miniatures :)

The original map has murder stakes scattered throughout, plus the players add additional ones. I didn't want mine to be permanently attached, with the idea that there may be times we don't use them, or have monsters that need more space. 

 

 

I started off the project by casting hexes with 'Merlin's Magic' plaster, using a silicone mold I bought from Keebler Studios (now out of business). I had two issues with the mold- first off, the sides were not perfect 90 degrees from the base so they didn't nestle up precisely. I had to fill in the gaps later with joint compound. Second, the mold tore about half way through casting and I was able to limp it through. I'd never had a silicone mold tear, so I'm assuming Keebler used different rubber than Hirst Arts.

After casting I hand painted them all to look like marble, which actually wasn't as time consuming or tedious as it sounds. The hexes with a border have a washer imbedded in the cast (the murder stakes have a magnet in the bottom) and serve to break up the monotony a bit.

 

I designed the wall and blade shapes in Adobe Illustrator, tracing the edge of a Dark Eldar sword as a starting point. The plan was to send this file to a laser cutter. The blades are acrylic and the wall decor is thick card.

These quantities and sizes ended up being slightly wrong by the way. Luckily my laser cutting acquaintance is a nice guy and put up with me submitting three orders :)

  

  

 Here you can see the structure coming together, using Gatorfoam and foamcore.

  

 

  

Painting blades. I planned to go with a dark gunmetal to contrast with the walls and floor, but I wasn't sure about that and asked some people for advice. Some friends convinced me to go with gold, which is more opulent and decadent-looking. I think that was a great suggestion. 

 

 

'Murder stakes' are cast resin with laser cut acrylic blades. I designed the shape in TinkerCad, a free 3D modeling program that is super easy to use. I had the shape 3D printed using Shapeways, after which I made a simple gravity drop silicone mold and cast them in resin. The six slots were just a little too narrow and the biggest pain of the entire build was having to go back through and sand them all a little wider so the acrylic blades would fit...

The last step was filling gaps in the assembled walls with Bondo, sanding the heck out of the top edge surface, and painting it black.

 

I am close to finishing the new character cards (which were originally on the printed map) and hope to get some games in soon :)

Lead Painter's League 11 - Round 7 - Dark Eldar Arena of Blood

Apologies for taking so long to post my LPL 11 Round 7 entry. I was waiting until I had all the figures for the Arena of Blood game painted up (there were still three to complete after the initial photo). Sadly, this entry got absolutely slaughtered in the competition. I had a feeling I would lose anyway but not that badly ;)

 

Arena of Blood is a mini-game found in White Dwarf #229 (1999) which introduced simple rules for Dark Eldar gladiator fights. I was a big fan of the Dark Eldar in 3rd edition and had quite a large army at the time. I have had a desire to build a 3D version ever since. I finally started it around January 2017! I will put the WIP and arena build pictures in another post, as it could get lengthy.

The original game was played on a fold out map (included in the magazine) that had all the stats and specific rules for the characters. GW even included stand up card markers for the Wyches! Players place 'murder stakes' around the arena and then chaos ensues.

I decided to go with the newer Dark Eldar sculpts because they're so much better looking than the 3rd edition versions.

  

 Splinter Pistol and Knife.

Hydra Gauntlets (Hydra Knives in the old days)

  

  The Hellion is a  simple kitbash using a 3rd edition head that I believe is from the old Raider kit.

The Beastmaster is a more involved conversion, because the Beastmaster in Arena of Blood is on foot instead of riding a skyboard. The legs are from a plastic Wych, the torso and upper right arm are from a Warlord Games Zulu, the head is from a metal beastmaster, and the right hand was originally from a Heroclix figure. After I had him painted I realized that in Arena of Blood he has a splinter pistol, so I swapped out the hand. The skin wrap, backpack thing, and tubing are ProCreate (sort of like Greenstuff).

The Khymera is metal and I was not sure how basing him on the clear acrylic would work. I ended up leaving a post on the foot that is inserted into a hole I drilled into the base. Luckily it doesn't stand out.

I need to come up with stats for this guy (armed with dual razorflails) as this weapon combo didn't exist in 1999.

I wanted a shorter sword than the regular DE power sword for the Razorsnare/Falchion Wych- which no longer exists in 40K. I think the sword is from the Frostgrave Cultists set. Tough looking gal, no?

That completes a full set of Wyches for the game. I have more built because I want a male and female for each type, and from different Wych Cults. These ones are in the scheme of the 'Seventh Woe'.