Some Villains for 'Devilry Afoot'

Continuing on with my 'Devilry Afoot' dalliance, here are a few Villains and Monsters for our brave heroes to face and overcome (or get made into wet bits scattered about the moors).

First up we have the Count along with three of his brides. These are from Crooked Dice, through their MyMiniFactory store. Lovely models and a joy to paint.

One thing you gotta say about Dracula, the dude's always been solid with the ladies. Look here, three wives! Wow, right?! All at the same time and not at each other's throats... Well, yeah, anyway. Now, I figure you either have to be French, Mormon, or the Prince of the Undead to pull that one off.

The slightly yellow-greenish cast of his skin is on purpose to drive home that he's not entirely human.

Nothing says lady-killa like a purple velvet jacket and red-lined cape.

Devilry Afoot has a profile for 'Bogeymen' with a relatively open interpretation describing them. So, I decided to go with two variations, one a good ole scarecrow (from Reconquer Designs) and the other a creepy AF harlequin/jester (from Bestarium Miniatures). 

The scarecrow was fairly straightforward, but I took a little bit more time with the harlequin as I wanted a more desaturated look to him. He was great fun to work on.

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

17th Century Heroes for 'Devilry Afoot'

Hi All!

As some may know know (or I'm sure can commiserate) I'm a little, um, 'diverse' in my hobby interests. Italian Wars to Forbidden Psalm, Napoleonics to Turnip28, WWII to Burrows & Badgers, I like to cast my net wide and far. The same goes for rules and ideas for games: my mind (and library) are bursting with them, often to the detriment of forgetting other, perhaps more important things.

So in this vein, one new set of rules that has piqued my interest lately is Nic Wright's 'Devilry Afoot'.

This is a very nice, compact set of gothic horror skirmish rules set in the much-troubled 17th century. Similar to 'Hametsu', I really like that it's cooperative and requires a very modest figure count. Each player typically has one Hero and perhaps one or two followers. In 'Devilry Afoot', players are set against classic horrors of the period such as witches, werewolves, vampires, etc. I've not rolled it out to our gaming group yet as I wanted to have a few heroes 'oven ready' for the guys to choose from - and so here we are.

The rule book itself is a wonderful 128 page hardback which contains the rules,  character/beastie profiles and about a dozen scenarios for players to have fun with. I believe these are self-published but I found my copy on Amazon (boo!) and a PDF version is available through DriveThruRPG. Highly recommended.

Here are the first five heroes (all 28mm) I've painted-up for 'Devilry Afoot'. Four of the five models are from Bloody Miniatures. Several worthy Challengers have already featured these figures in their excellent posts, and so here are my efforts.

A cavalry trooper cheering his mates on.

A calm squire, smoking his pipe and waiting with his blunderbuss.

I really enjoyed working on these figures as they have great character and just enough detail not to get you into trouble. I also appreciate that they are cast in metal which appeals to my small, lizard brain on these heady matters.

A soldier from the Continent prepared with his long arm.

A lightly wounded gentleman with his dragoon pistol at the ready.

One of the five figures originates from my Dutch friend, Sander. Sarah and I met up with Sander and Arthur in Antwerp a year or so ago, and during lunch he gifted me this wonderful figure of a rat catcher that he thought I could make good use of. 

It was a very apropos gift, as rat catchers spark some nostalgia for me. I had just turned 20 when we received Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay at our game store in Winnipeg. At that time (I think around 1986), I was very used to fantasy RPGs having the typical wizards, fighters, thieves, etc., but then WFRP introduced totally new characters such as Troll Slayers, Agitators and... Rat Catchers. Mind. Blown. I absolutely loved it, and my first character was a poxed rat catcher with a peg leg, hemp bag and a spade as a weapon. It was brilliant.

Of course, like a dullard, I threw out the figure's packaging before noting the sculptor/manufacture, so if anyone knows the provenance of this mini let me know in the comments. Anyway, its a terrific model with loads of detail (rats galore, as you can imagine) and I had a terrific time painting him up. He'll be a worthy character in our games such as 'Devilry Afoot'. 

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

Entry #18 to the AHPC - 10mm English Civil War Horse and Pikemen

In the continued push to get a few more projects off my desk before the Challenge deadline, here are a couple bases of 10mm English Civil War figures.

These figures were acquired many years ago at Cold Wars from AIM Miniatures. I think they are now available through Miniature Figurines/Matchlock Miniatures in the UK.

These castings are technically listed as 10mm, but they are actually closer to 12mm. It's a bit annoying as they really don't mix well with other 10s. Nevertheless, they are nice figures, and since I do have a good mob of the little blighters, I'll probably stick to my guns and build my two armies around them.

Due to my irrational aversion of al dente spaghetti spears, I've clipped off the soft metal pikes and replaced them with florist wire. It's a fiddly process, but I think the figures look better for it.  

While the cavalry has Parliamentary orange sashes I've tried keep this collection 'neutral' in their colours and banners so they could stand in for either side.

There was a lot of hand-wringing over how to base these (I know, First World Problems), but in the end I decided to go with larger single bases, as I like the chunky look and they are easier to handle on the tabletop.

I had hoped to get a couple 'sleeves' of shot done for this submission, but they are still half-done on the desk (sigh). They'll have to catch up with their mates sometime in the summer. 

For the King! / For God and Parliament!

From Millsy: 28mm English Civil War Royalist Cavalry - Sir Tyldesley's Regiment of Horse (101 points)

From Millsy:

I think I may have overdosed on the works of the Evil Empire. This weekend I was faced with the choice of yet more Space Marines or I could turn my hand to something different. In the end it proved to be a bit of a no brainer and so I got stuck in and finished off Sir Thomas Tyldesley's Regiment of Horse for my ECW project. The army is quite large, close to 260 figures already and I'm planning a bit of a royal review when done soon.

Sir Thomas Tyldesley was a stout Royalist and long term supporter of King Charles and was present at Edgehill. He raised regiments of foote, horse and dragoons. He continued to fight through all three civil wars and at times served under Prince Rupert. He never once surrendered to the evil crop headed rebels and his light was only extinguished in 1651 when we was finally killed in action at the Battle of Wigan Lane. Today his memory lives on through re-enactment by Sir Thomas Tyldesley's Regiment of Foote.

These are Renegade Miniatures from their lovely ECW range which is unfortunately currently unavailable. Luckily I bought enough to make two units well before that happened. The remaining figs are currently also in progress and should appear here presently. These paint up a treat, with plenty of prominent detail and nice poses in the riders. The command are particularly nice with nice chunky sashes and a Dutch coat for the trumpeter. If I have a gripe at all it's that the horse poses are very similar with the exception of the head position. Still, it's a minor quibble and they rank up well.

I've painted these in my usual style - horses with a black undercoat and riders with white undercoat. The black base gives plenty of help with the reins, etc. on the horses and also a nice dark coat colour for the various browns and greys. I love painting horses and tend to go a bit mad for variety but the result is worth the effort. The riders are base coated in a variety of colours before a combination of dip and inks for shading with highligts to finish off.

Next up, Rupert's Lifeguard AND Regiment of Horse.

Ah, we haven't seen much ECW this Challenge so this is a nice change of pace. Lovely work Millsy. I've always liked the Renegade models for this period so I hope they come back again soon. Wonderful work here. I particularly like your horses - nice variety of colours which keeps things interesting.

Tyldesley's Horse will give Millsy 101 points (the extra pip is for the lovely banner). Well done & God Save the King!

From JamesB: 28mm Romano-British Cavalry, SYW Artillery & 54mm ECW Shotte (499 points)

From James:

Thank you Curt for a great winter Challenge, may I present my last entry for this year. First up I offer a unit of Romano British Cavalry (see above and below) from Foundry Miniatures.

I ran out of time to create the standard but I am happy with my shields, these complete a Foundry Army deal I painted for my friend Bernard. 

Next up is my effort to shoot to the top, I have been gunning for that all Challenge but I may have run out of batteries (ok enough puns). 6 Cannons from Front Rank for our French SYW army 4 of these are battalion guns and the last two are bigger pieces.

The last entry has been inspired by Kev and his 54mm entries, I picked up these figures a couple of years ago with a plan to use them to encourage my niece and nephew into gaming but they were not needed as with both their Grandad's wargaming they decided it was a super cool thing to do.

So I offer my last figures: 21 54mm ECW Musketeers I have painted these as the NMA so I can now say I have painted the MNA in 3 scales in pre-history I did them in 15mm, I still own a 28mm army and now 54mm.

So there you have it.  By my calculations I have complete 646 figures in this challenge making it an average of 7.1 figures a day. Can I take this chance to say a huge Thank You to Curt for creating this competition it has been a blast. I hope to catch up with many of my fellow Ronin at Salute this year, till than guys keep your brushes sharp and you paints wet.

Peace James Brewerton Ronin #17

Lovely work as always, James. Those 54s turned out brilliantly (dip?) and I also really, really like that unit of Romano-British cavalry.  Top shelf stuff.

These lads, both great and small, shields and all, will give James a very impressive 499 points - just enough to slip past Chris.  At least for now (bites fingernails in anticipation)...

Thank you James for participating in the Challenge and keeping us inspired with both the incredible quality and quantity of your work. Bravo!

From KevH: 28mm Wars of the Roses & 54mm English Civil War (300 points)

From Kevin:

Here we go, I'm back. Now, first up Wars of the Roses Shire Levy Bowmen (Oxfords). 28mm Perry's. 20 miniatures with command from various townships within the Earl of Oxford's shire. All bows are strung. Flag by me.

Followed by more 54mm, as promised. Figures by "A Call to Arms" plastics. The first 6 stands of Green Regiment Shotte to go with the previous Green pike.

Another wonderful selection of figures from these two periods by Kevin. The archers are brilliant but I have to say that I'm really taken by these 54mm figures - they look just amazing.

This selection will give Kev a base of 280 points but I'm adding a little extra for the work gone into stringing the bows and the custom banner. Well done!

From KevH: 28mm Wars of the Roses & 54mm English Civil War (366 points)

Kev sends in two units in two scales from two English civil wars...

From Kev:

First up are more WotR. Oxford's bills retinue with command.  28mm Perry plastics. I decided to go with the Star Livery for the billmen. I will probably go with the blue boar for the Archer unit and maybe both with Oxford himself. 24 figures in total (4 ranks of 6 figures).

Followed by 54mm Heavy cavalry unit for the English Civil War. Another addition to my small collection. Their are 12 mounted figures in typical Cuirassier armour. The Armour is dark with only a metalic glint. 

All figures are plastic and by "A Call to Arms". The only modified figure is the rider with the cornet. He is from the ironsides set, but I think fits in well with the unit. 

Time to work on some infantry now, I think (Musketeers).

Excellent work Kev. I really like the dark armour effect you've achieved with both of these units - very nice. 

These lads with their attendent banners will give Kev 366 points and placing him within the top three. Well done!

From KevH: 54mm English Civli War Pike Block & Artillery (340 points)

From Kev:

First up is a 54mm ECW pike block. The figures are "A call to arms" plastics with a few minor conversions and re-posing. This will be my Green Battalia to add to my Blue and Red so far. Musketeers to follow.

They are based for Englands Fury, (F&F ecw variant). There are 24 figures in total, 8 bases of 3 figures.

Followed by a 54mm ECW cannon with four crew. Once again by "A call to arms" with some minor head swaps, this puts my total at three guns now with 3 more to follow.

The third is a 54mm ECW mounted officer. Once again a modified Call to arms plastic figure.

This is awesome! I love this 54mm stuff and must, MUST get some!  (I think it would be brilliant for garden wargaming...)

This group will give Kev an impressive base of 320 points and I'll add 20 more for the banner and conversion work. Bravo!