May you have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year

 

The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-15, New International Version)

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 

May you have a wonderful Christmas (free from overweening bureaucrats taking away what doesn't belong to them!) and a restful New Year!

Twas the Knight before the Night before the Night before Christmas...

 

A Death Knight that is! (bohahahahaaaaaa). OK all puns aside, this dude is a GW Oldhammer Vampire Counts Lich. This model I have slightly modified in order to make it more wraith like so that it appears to hover in the air rather than stand on legs. Its taken some time to paint as I always got some way along completing the paint job and then would put it down. And now its finally finished!

Its almost here. Just a few more sleeps.......

Otherworld Miniatures Standing Gargoyle

 

Here another thing that can animate to scare your players. This thing is an Otherworld Miniatures Gargoyle (Standing). Its a superb miniature, nicely balanced with the wings affixed, and its currently on sale from Otherworld Miniatures if you want one. I highly recommend it!

Might even get another one myself.

Reaper Miniatures Stone Lurker

 

This dude was just too cool not to have one. Its a Reaper Miniatures Stone Lurker (the plastic version). A nice cheap mini to cause chaos and confusion amongst your players when the stalagmite they are hiding behind suddenly comes to life. Not that I would eeeeevvvvveeeerrrrr do that to my players.

I envision this creature "eats" by crushing its victims in its stony maw at the top of its "head" and then leaving the mushy, wet mass that results to slowly seep into the creature. Its slow metabolism means that it only needs to "eat" once every few months or years, depending on the size of its last meal. Hence it can sit dormant for ages before suddenly animating and reaching out to grab a victim.

Reaper Miniatures Anubis Guard

 

I needed some last minute statue decorations for our next game of D&D and I realised that I had these two Anubis Guards from Reaper Miniatures hanging around in my pile of unpainted shame. So out they came for a quick paint job.

Done and dusted! Just in time too for this weekend's game.

Wood Troll by Eureka Miniatures

 

Been making some painted test examples for my force of Woodling Creatures for role playing. This dude comes from Eureka Miniatures and is a Wood Troll from their 10mm fantasy range. I think it works pretty well for role playing as the image above should show.

Pretty simple to paint too. I went with a black base coat spray. Followed by a dark brown wet brush. When dry, this was followed by with a dry brush of light grey. I then washed it in Agrax Earthshade wash. Easy!

I used flock on the foliage areas of the miniature, but you could just paint that green if you prefer.

Time to paint some more of them.

Another Vivimancer monster

 

What does some wire from paper clips, a little green stuff, leftovers from a Mantic Zombie and some hot glue-gun glue get you? Another Vivimancer monster for D&D.

So this thing will be able to extend is limbs in a whip like fashion doing damage up to near/close range and granting at least two attacks per round, although it could use one of its legs also at a pinch. Its tough, sinew flesh will grant it some damage reduction from non-magical weapons. I may even make it able to climb walls easily.

Warmaster Mercenary Ogres ready for battle

 

My hoard of Warmaster Mercenary Ogres is finally completed and on the battle field!

These are the latest recruits to the Ogre Merc's.

One final unit of Bull Ogre Warriors.

A Butcher (Wizard) with walking food pantry and halfling cook assistants.

A Bruiser (Hero) to assist command on the field.

And the Ogre Tyrant (General) for the mercenary band.

Ready for battle. I can feel a battle report coming soon.

Making Tree's for D&D and other roleplaying games

 

https://youtu.be/yEbY4ksmdt0

I just wanted to highlight the excellent YouTube channel DM's Craft. Linked above is one of his videos on making trees for roleplaying using a BBQ stick, paper towel, dunny paper and white glue (PVA glue). Below is one of mine that I made following DM Scotty's process.

Only point I would add, is that it does take some time to complete as you wait for stuff to dry. If, like me, you've also made the trees a little too tall or leaning, you can also hot glue a flat washer to the based of the tree.

I've been doing a few other DM's Craft projects as well, which I'll show off in future blog posts.