Monday, August 10, 2020

Blackstone Fortress: First Group of Heroes

For me, one of the nice things that has come out of these strange times is re-connecting with distant friends via online tools like Zoom, Google Meet and FaceTime.

Earlier this summer Greg put on a brilliant set of sessions which featured the GW stand-alone game 'The Burning of Prospero'.  The defined area map-tiles of that game really lend itself well to online play and so, encouraged by Greg's efforts and other talented hobbyists, like Barks, I thought I might take a stab at something similar using Blackstone Fortress.

 

As a result, over the past month or so I've been madly painting all the figures and hosting a few sessions of the game for friends. It really is a fun game and it's done a great job in getting me out of the painting doldrums, which often sets in after the hurly burly of the Painting Challenge.

Anyway, I thought it high time that I post a few images of the figures that come in the base game. So here are the first group of four heroes that I did up.

From left to right these are Espern Locarno, Janus Draik, Taddeus the Purifier and Dayak Grehk the Kroot mercenary. 

All the miniatures in the set are plastic multi-part, push-fit figures, and I have to say they are absolutely amazing models. Wonderful detail, great character and really a breeze to put together - I doff my hat to the designers at GW as they really hit it out of the park with these minis.

As I wanted to get up and running with the game really quickly, I set a goal that I wouldn't spend more than 60 minutes painting any one of the miniatures. I found the YouTube tutorials from Midwinter Miniatures to be very helpful, and for the most part I managed to keep to my target - blocking-in with bold colours, using lots of washes and amping them up with some punchy highlights.


This all being said, I did spend a bit of extra time on the bases to add some visual interest with rusting I beams, broken piping and bits of detritus. I kept the basing colour pallet similar to my other 40/30K stuff so they could be used in those games as well.




I'll post the next four heroes sometime soon and then feature some of the creepy denizens of Blackstone Fortress.

Thanks for dropping by and have a great week!

Curt

23 comments:

  1. Great work Curt. These are all excellent figures, but I find the navigator to be a favourite. Well done.

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  2. Hear, hear! Great work on all of them. I also found the navigator to be a standout model in the group.

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    1. Thanks, it must be the natty helmet (a fetching design, but a bit challenging going through narrow doors).

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  3. Fantastic quartet! Just got this game on the weekend for some solo gaming (Cos yeah, virus and everything) and I too am very impressed with the quality. Excited to get the game going.

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    1. Thanks Dai. It's a great game and perfectly suited to solo play. Great looking Dieppe project btw. Quite like that Churchill MkI.

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  4. Very nice- the Skull-o-meter approves!

    I particularly like the Kroot and the rusty basing is very effective. I look forwards to seeing more!

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    1. Thanks Barks! I have a bit of a soft spot for the Kroot as well.

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  5. They look great in person too and I’ve enjoyed playing with them in person.

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    1. Thanks Pete! Yes, you've been having a great run with 'Taddeus the Purifier'. It must be the post-game relaxation in the Excruciation Chamber that keeps bringing you back. :)

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    2. Quiet contemplation time interrupted only by my own screams!

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  6. Great stuff, I have this game system on the shelf to eventually get too as well. Your making it stick out that much more when I venture to the basement. Great work on them Curt!

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    1. Thanks Terry! The game is great fun and well thought out - highly recommended.

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    2. I also want to thank you Curt for putting me onto tha Midwinter Miniatures video series. Watching them may just get me to try some speed painting!

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    3. Great! I'm glad you found his tutorials as handy as I did.

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  7. Outstanding work on those models dude!

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  8. Very nice indeed! I like the navigator's ski tone, definitely slightly unsettling.....

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    1. Skin tone!? I thought it was a mask or part of his helmet... Ooops.

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  9. Well if they are speed painted I'm even more impressed, gorgeous work!
    Best Iain

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  10. Absolutely brilliant! I do like the skin tone on the navigator, makes him quite unnerving and captures the fact they aren’t quite like normal humans....

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)