Harrow'e'en on Ophatran Secundus

 

Excerpt from Esoteric Pilgrimage Destinations of the Gothic Sector, Volume 7, by Adept Matthias Laetorius. 

The attentive reader has likely deduced that the citizens of Ophatran Secundus celebrate an unusually high number of holidays, some of which can be traced to the pre-industrial era of the planet, or even to Holy Terra. One such event is Harrow’e’en, celebrated in ancient times as a harvest festival and tied to primitive ideas about the nature of spirituality. Harrow’e’en now coincides with the traditional yearly arrival of the Emperor’s Tithe Fleet, and is celebrated a day before the first voidship docks with the orbital stations above Ophatran Secundus.”

The arrival of the interstellar voidships cause many  citizens of Ophatran Secundus great concern. The local Ministorum Preachers teach that the veil between the Empyrean and reality is at its thinnest on Harrow’e’en. Hostile warp entities are said to cling to the ships and make their way to the planet surface on this day. Pious citizens  practice reciting prayers and charms in the preceding weeks to protect themselves. They must put their warding phrases into practice if they happen to meet the ‘Spirit of the Warp’ and its attending procession as they go about their daily business.”

 

 

Within each neighborhood, a particularly pious citizen dresses in a fearsome ‘Spirit of the Warp’ costume, and is accompanied by members of the Adepta Sororitas. The Sisterhood round up and test citizens who happen to be outdoors, to make sure they can recite their prayers correctly. Successful recitations are awarded a purity seal, and those who have neglected their duties are taken to be chastised and re-educated. In some districts, children that successfully recite their prayers to the Spirit’s entourage  are awarded fanciful costumes and roam the streets, seeking out citizens for the procession to round up.”

The Swamplands - Rangers of Shadow Deep

After finishing the Broken Stairs board it was time to move on to the "Swamplands", a 2x2 board with 8" of deep water. I used a piece of matboard, so that it was flat and could tuck under the stairs slightly.

It was easy to do- a layer of clear Plasti-Dip to seal it; brown and black spray paint with some flock sprinkled on, followed by painting with acrylic craft paint and a little more flock on top. Last, a coat of polyurethane to seal it up and make it look glossy, and a second coat of poly on the deep water.

View from opposite edge- the party prepares to move into the deep water. The raptor, Ladyhawke, inhales noxious fumes and passes out. Lewinna carefully places the ailing bird into her pack.

Vicious fight at the water's edge- the knight flounders in deep water. Lewinna prepares to cast a spell of Transference but the knight makes it out in time.

Gabriella pulls a treasure chest from the muck.

The wardog is felled by a gruesome swipe by the zombie. It recovers later, but develops psychological scars. Ingrid, the recruit, also takes a grimy claw to the face and is taken out... she loses an eye as a result.

Sadly, Ladyhawk does not recover, and Lewinna takes a moment to mourn her friend.

Easy Briar and Brambles Terrain

This is an older build I neglected to post. I needed a bunch of briar and bramble terrain for a Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario, and wanted to make something that figures could move into or through. 

I settled on making flat 'area bases' using Hardboard (Masonite) cut to ovals and irregular bean shapes, and textured them with sand and wood filler. They were then painted with craft paint- dark brown, drybrush medium brown, and final light drybrush with a light brown. 

The brambles are made with one of my favorite materials, the green furnace filter that I use for all sorts of things. I teased and cut it apart to form loose briar like forms and spray painted the patches brown and gray.

The next step is gluing on flocking material- I use Woodland Scenics. I went with a variety this time. 

The final step is a liberal spraying of "Plasti-Dip" Clear, to seal it all up and keep the flock on the brambles.

I don't glue the bramble patches on- they're just set on top so that they can be moved around to accommodate miniatures, yet the 'difficult ground' area is marked.

Rangers of Shadow Deep - Broken Stairs - Custom Board

I had been mulling around building a 3D board for a notorious Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario, the "Broken Stairs", for quite a while. Essentially, the rangers and companions descend into the shadow deep using a treacherous staircase, all the while being beset upon by giant flies. When the 2021 "Build Something" contest was announced on the Lead Adventure Forum, I decided that I would take on the project, as it was the next one in line on the campaign my friend and I had been playing.

I started with a paltry 20 degree slope, and scratched it as not threatening enough. Next pictures are of the build process. The main structure is 'gatorfoam', which I love using for terrain. Then, lots of insulation foam, foamcore, and spray foam to build up shapes. It is all tied together with bathroom toilet tissue and Mod Podge. Sand was mixed into the paint layer to provide a little more texture here and there. Painting involved washes, flicking paint, drybrushing, and spot painting, with a few tufts and some flocking as well.

Bird nest made from greenstuff and furnace filter, pressed into an Instant Mold.

 

 

 A few pics of the final product.

 

Action shots from the game:

Watch your step...

Gabriella the Duelist skillfully dispatches a fly.

Giant fly takes a vicious bite out of the wardog, taking it out of action.

 

Ladyhawke inspecting the nest. 

All in all, this was a resounding success and the height really helped pull off the threat of falling (literally too, not a lot of room to place figures!).

Since this was a lot of work for a single scenario, I'm hoping to get this to some conventions and will likely use it as a scenic backdrop.

Obligatory scenic shot, with a Photoshopped background...

Thanks for looking :)

Hydra Miniatures - High Magus - Belus - Dragonmen

Recently completed painting some upcoming 'Retro Raygun'  releases from Hydra Miniatures - Belus, the Imperial High Magus of Marduk, and some Dragonmen. Pretty cool miniatures!

Trench Shrine - Alltag40k Prize

At the tail end of 2020 there was a contest on Instagram called "Alltag40k" which prompted the participant to create a kitbash or conversion that fit the theme of 'Everyday in the 41st Millennium", with themes of "Work, Play, or Pray". My entry was the "Grimdark AV Cart" posted here:

https://miniatureextravaganza.blogspot.com/2020/12/imperial-citizenry-alltag40k-black-crab.html

I ended up winning first place and it turns out there were prizes, in the form of scratchbuilds by the organizers... and I ended up with a sweet one, by @wickermanminiatures. Here's what I received:

I love all the little details- clever touches like different openings into the shells, the use of the smallest nativity scene I have ever beheld, votive offerings, candles, skulls in the mud... just great. It took a few months before I had time to get paint on it. I have to admit its a little weird painting someone else's build!

A WIP showing beginning layers- I still hadn't decided on colors for uniforms on the trenchers.

Final product:

 

 

 

All in all I'm quite happy with how this turned out, and hats off to the builder who very generously gave this beauty up as a prize!