Fighting Fantasy Characters (Warbands Part 5)

My love of Fighting Fantasy has been evident in quite a few posts now and this one takes it a little further - using some of the illustrations from the Trolltooth Wars novel by Russ Nicholson and some of the text which I recently re-read, I've created a small warband based upon the main characters of the story. Firstly I had to source the miniatures and as you can see from the photo, they are a combination of Citadel and Otherworld Miniatures. Can you guess who's who though?:

Our intrepid adventurers assemble in the town square, ready to adventure. From left to right we have; the Mantrapper, Gareth Yaztromo, Nicodemus, Chadda Blackmane, beast of burden and the Chervah

Walking across the town bridge, heading into the unknown. But not just walking; also pointing, waving or loading weapons or just testing out their lanterns or raising dead spells.

Approaching the entrance to Firetop Mountain, our adventurers decide to investigate to see whether the layout is the same of yore. They turn to page 42.

Exploring the dungeon rooms, the adventurers take it in turns to lead and incessantly re-arrange themselves into different positions within the group. The lantern is working and casts some long shadows. Nicodemus' spell takes an age to raise a full zombie. The mule waits by the entrance.

They feel like they are being watched from above as they admire the not so carefully placed dungeon scenery

With the adventuring done, they all retire back to the studio for a quick photo-session, ensuring they show their best sides and line up in a roughly symmetrical way. "Most important character in the center" - they hear the photographer bark at them. The Mantrapper being not best pleased at being the symmetrically opposite of the mule.

So the individuals, first up; Garth Yaztromo.

A slither of descriptive text in the novel provides an insight into his age, beard and attire ie. a slightly faded red cloak.  From the illustrations and other Fighting Fantasy references, he of course has his familiar, Vermithrax the crow; which is a plastic bit (unsure from where) that has been added to the base here. An Otherworld Miniature wizard was acquired as the sculpt seemed to perfectly match the description; in fact I'm sure it was pretty much sculpted to be Yaztromo; the face, beard and garments all allude to the images of him from the books. Therefore an easy choice of miniature and a straightforward paint scheme. I used several thin glazes of red over a flesh colour to create the faded robe effect and a little bit of osl from the lantern. I also had this illustration from the cover of Shadowmaster (the third and final book in the Trolltooth Wars trilogy) to help me out with the colour red and blue colour scheme:

Some other reference images I found that helped inspire me:

For this warband to work in the Frostgrave format, I needed a wizard and apprentice and decided that the Otherworld model I chose for Yaztromo had a slight apprentice like feel to it, i.e, just not as powerful and dynamic as the next model I wanted to use (even though he's not in the Trolltooth Wars). A peer of Yaztromo - yes Nicodemus:

 Now this Mordheim model (actually named Nicodemus itself) has been on my painting wish-list for some time, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to paint him up. I decided to keep the rising zombie from a previous aborted project as I can imagine Nicodemus being powerful enough to control the dark magics without them affecting him. Although it could be imagined that he does appear to have a slightly darkish side from this iconic illustration of him from the City of Thieves:

I think there is more than a passing resemblance in the miniature and in the drawing. Obviously the illustration came first. To add to this dark side I imagined for Nicodemus, I decided to paint him monochromatically which also provided a contrast with the slightly more garish attire of Yaztromo and the rest of the warband. The grey tones also provide a nice contrast with the yellowing, fetid zombie rising from the floor.

Next up is Chadda Blackmane.

I spent some time contemplating which model to use for this brooding character; in the novel he is described as knightly; armoured, broad-shouldered and stocky, with the usual courtly and garish outfit. Obviously he has dark skin and jet-black hair which I could paint onto any model... But in the end I plumped for the old Valten model- perhaps not the most appropriately dressed for the role of Darkmane, but certainly dynamic and heroic in pose and with a mane of hair waiting to be blackened by my paintbrush. Also again, a model I have long since wanted to paint. I like dynamic poses. I went for the fashionably quintessential blue and white striped trousers and strong complementary greens and reds to make him feel quite well dressed. I was tempted to add some insignia to his garments, but decided it would be too difficult and may clutter the model too.

The Mantrapper is described as an elegantly dressed gent, but a lethal, strpping swordsman.

I again returned to Otherworld Miniatures and found a bard which had a moustache, some nice robes and a foppish hat. I removed his lute and added a greenstuffed knapsack to his back to indicate that he is a mercenary and likes to collect gold and jewels (this is certainly referenced in the book and his greed is his demise). In lieu of not painting patterns onto Blackmane, I decided that the Mantrapper must be even more elegant, hence the diamond/stripe pattern on his strides and the circular motifs on his jacket. I went for nicely polished, jet black boots (working with a bit of gloss varnish here) and a light, plain neckerchief.

The Chervah was the most problematic model as his description in the text and from the illustrations is pretty clear.

 I should have taken some time to sculpt a head onto a goblinoid figure, but was starting to flag on this project and decided to choose a model, paint it and move on. I delved into my Citadel lead pile and found an old goblin, with moustache and decided that some garidh colours would help define him as a courtly man-servant. Given the inclination I would have sculpted some pointy shoes, a large, round head and some ruffs too.

Finally to complete the group of adventurers (and even through it's not mentioned in the story) I felt that they needed a beast of burden to carry all the assortment of weapons, provisions, spellbooks etc as they wandered around adventuring.

This model is another Otherworld sculpt and fitted in perfectly with the group. I imagine the Chervah to be in control of the mule. I did a little bit of research on colour and pattern choices for the mules coat and decided that a reddish tanned colour contrasting with an off-white underbelly would do the trick:

I'm currently reading the subsequent novels to the Trolltooth Wars; Demonslayer has Gan the smith's apprentice as a pivotal character, so he may well make an appreance in the future to add to this band of Fighting Fantasy adventurers...

A Halloween Werewolf and my Frostgrave Bestiary Challenge

With multiple projects on the go, sometimes it so happens that painting one miniature can tick a load of boxes. I'm attempting to paint miniatures from a range of different manufacturers and to tie in with Halloween and my Frostgrave Bestiary challenge, I decided to plump for a West Wind Miniatures werewolf. I had to do a fair bit of Google Image research to find the right style of werewolf, having looked at a wide range of manufacturers, as I wanted to avoid the gangly or the overly wolfen versions and instead choosing one that was going through the metamorphosis stage. The head raised into a howl was a winner for me; it's often about choosing a nice dynamic pose for a model - it helps make me want to paint it (believe me there's always enough excuses to not want to!).


So here he is:

I've tried a few different lighting options for photographing this, I wanted it to be quite dark, but still clear. I think the first photo just about gets it right.

In terms of painting, I decided to go for a very monochromatic palette, using almost exclusively blacks and greys with a few washes of beige on the skin. some very dark blue on the trousers and some red and green on the mouth and eyes respectively. The only taxing decision was on the trousers, I initially painted a pattern on his strides, in a medieval stripy way (as you often see) to show his initial background, but it was too distracting and in the end I decided a plain set of blue (jeans!) would work.

The basing was deliberately exaggerated by raising him onto some cork steps to accentuate the vertical height of his pose, add a bit of overgrown flora and the detail of a discarded, monochromatic shield in the foreground. I'll take a photo of him in the dungeon set-up next time I get that out to play with.

Family gaming pt.2: the depths of the castle

The kids have been badgering me to play another instalment of our family gaming, continuing from the last adventure which ended in the adventurers finding a trapdoor in the ruined castle.

For a dungeon based game we used the Heroquest rules as a starting point, but used these houserules:

All characters can walk 4 squares. If they walk 4 squares then they can also complete two other actions: attack, cast a spell or investigate the area

Characters can instead run 6 squares but forgo any other activity

Investigating the area could trigger a wandering monster or the discovery of treasure, traps or equipment

The spell-casting character (oldest daughter) can cast any spell she can think of (she has to use her imagination). For it to be successful she has to use rhyme in her spell incantation and had to roll under a GM determined amount - dependent upon how strong the spell is deemed. She only uses one battle dice in combat.

My middle daughter and young son had two combat characters so could use three dice in combat. My daughter's character also had a mind control spell which she could cast on an 8+ but easier on a weaker character and harder on a stronger character. And she can throw a knife. My son could attack twice..

Plus lots of other rules I made up as we played to help the flow of the game and keep them interested. Oh and treasure was in the form of jelly beans!

The three young adventurers descend the stairs into a dank and smelly dungeon. The walls are lined with moist moss and there are mushrooms growing through the cracks in the cold stone floor.

Son runs ahead eager to explore and smashes open the locked door with his flail. At the end of the corridor he can see a couple of skeleton guardsmen. The female adventurers explore the room hoping for some early treasure. There is none.

The little fella's not phased by the two skellies, "let me at 'em" he cries!

And they were indeed quickly dispatched with a spell and a swing of the trusty flail. The spell went thus:
"Swords and daggers have us all,
Smash these monsters into the wall!"


Middle daughter decides to leave the fighting to the other two and open the door which was mid way along the corridor.

Inside she discovers a chef hard at work making gruel for all the dungeon monsters. In a bit of rpg fun they had a discussion:
Daughter: "can you help us explore the dungeon?"
Chef: "no I'm busy cooking"
D: can you give us anything to help us on our quest?"
C: "No, I'm busy cooking and I know your type, don't start rummaging through my stuff".
D: "You're not very nice!"
C: "Hmph".


The end of the conversation. So what did my daughter do? That's right with her last available action of the turn she rummaged through some barrels! She was given a 7+ roll to make to enable stealth, which she failed and the chef heard her and ran after her! (Some sort of lesson to be learnt there?)

Here you can see her legging it from the angry chef (sideways?)

As the party moves into the next room, they see a wealthy looking man standing next to some gold chests. Without any hesitation they ran up to him and started rummaging through his gold coin! Should I be concerned? Well they should be, the man is actually a witch who had cast an illusion and the chests of gold turned into zombies!!!

A slightly greedy older daughter faces off against a newly revealed witch and some zombies. She rummaged through those chests without even asking and now they're gravestones. The witch continues an incantation of sorts until my spellcasting daughter successfully casts a freeze spell on the witch with the rhyme:
"Frozen in motion that's what you shall be,
because you're a bad witch who smells like wee wee!"

My middle daughter decides to return to the chef and apologise (worried that he may turn against her). He is pleased with her apology and then warns her of the witch who haunts the nearby rooms. When he is told that she's raised some zombies against her siblings the chef becomes enraged and charges off to confront the old hag!

The Chef joins in the melee and soon all the zombies and the witch are no more. He returns to his cooking, concerned that a pot has boiled over. The kids discover some more chests of coin and gain some jelly beans too.

Intrepid son marches on through the adjoining door where a rickety old bridge spans the sewers. An agility roll was passed and he continues onwards.

But on ringing the bell at the portcullis, a giant stinking rat appears squeaking and trying to bite his ankles! Fight! 

Meanwhile his sisters continue to explore the witches room and in their thorough searching of the gravestones they unleash a wight! Thankfully spellcasting daughter makes up a protective spell whilst they attack the undead witch:


"I need a safety bubble to cover us three,
so we can get away from this witch who smells like wee wee"


A slight repetition of the witches unappealing smell, but successful spell casting none the less.

Middle daughter, trying to harvest as many jelly beans as possible, without actually getting involved in any fighting, notices a section of floor above the room. She nimbly jumps up on the successful roll of a 7+ and finds another treasure chest with gold coin, a battle axe and a scared cat (that used to be the witches familiar). But with the witch dead the cat has returned to it's normal self. She names the cat Tigger and they have a new model in the adventurers party (and a few jelly beans to eat).

Having slain the rat with ease the adventurers, led by the youngest boy approach the final room, a splendid throne room. They notice the ornate decoration as they enter but are soon stopped in their tracks by the sound of a whimpering princess and a nasty looking old dwarf with a walking spellbook. Behind all of this is a dead man on a throne and a set of stairs leading up and (hopefully) out.

I was intrigued by how they would approach this scenario, fully expecting my kids to charge in and fight and look for more gems/sweets. But they had a short consultation (away from me) and starting asking the dwarf some questions..:


Children: "Princess are you ok?"
Princess: "I'm scared and I want to go home"
Children: "Dwarf, why are you being horrible to the princess, what has she done to you?"
Dwarf (slightly taken aback): "Well I've kidnapped her and am awaiting my ransom, but it's none of your business"
Children: "That's quite greedy and not very nice. Do you know all the creatures we've defeated to get here? We're not scared of you and just think you're not very nice"
Dwarf: "Well I'm not scared of a bunch of kids and you can't tell me what to do".
Children: "You should be scared!" And on this note my daughter cast a spell to animate the skeleton!!!


"That old skeleton bring him to life,
we want to cause this dwarf some strife"


Now at this point as GM (and Dad) I was so proud of their approach that I let the spell be cast without a roll and decided that yes, indeed the Dwarf was scared by the skeleton and out-thought by the children. He asks to be spared.


My daughters both say yes and my son says no! At this point I let the dwarf run away and my son instead decides to free the princess. And they all get rewarded!


But possibly I got the biggest reward from playing this with them and watching them resolve situations in a range of different ways that showed a growing thoughtfulness (ie from running straight up to some gold, or rummaging in the kitchen when they had specifically been told not to - towards talking and challenging someone down from a difficult situation).


Oh and here's one of my daughter's spell-sheets. I'll be keeping them so she can use them in future games. Next time we're going to try a watered down Frostgrave.

Retinue Table: 8 Mercenaries

Rasham's Forgotten Bandits, aka "The Blotted". An irregular company of hire-swords formed of deserters, rebels and plain besmeared characters; Arthur Rasham brought them together to fight under his disgraced banner, the walking fish. Unfortunately the band is currently comprised of only eight members, as some of the deserters, have of course deserted as soon as new fighting was imminent, but the remaining fellows are a pretty tight group, a rabble joined together for a love of earning money by doing as little fighting as possible. This is partly achieved through wearing a strict uniform of grey and brick red - they look the part and appear to be a successful warband - and have indeed acquired several jobs alone through appearance and charade.  

The uniform itself was pilfered by Rasham's ex-wife, who once worked as a washer woman for the army of the Elector Count of Talabheim. The rest of the uniform is stashed in a cave ready for more possible recruits in the future. It still hasn't been washed.

So in order to stay ahead of their real reputation ("The Blotted") they must be in perpetual motion, hoping to earn coin in many far flung corners of the land. They currently find themselves in a northern territory working for a mysterious, bloated, acolyte; asked to patrol the northern bank of the River Druhx, with the only task being to challenge anyone attempting to cross the small stone bridge. Easy money, they think...

Arthur Rasham. The leader of the Blotted and once a fearsome fighter, renowned for his strength and wavy broadsword. Now he lives off reputation and a silver tongue alone, as he tries to hide the gout from which he suffers from in his right foot.

Old Bill Borthwick. Fought alongside Rasham when a younger man, but has recently developed a worrying habit of losing his weapons and forgetting simple instruction. He has been given the task of banner bearer for now.

Jim "Mustard", Rasham's new right hand man. He thinks the nickname is because he's hot with a sword, his peers know it's because he's so keen to lick the arse of the boss.

Ginge Porter. Likes to work from a distance with his trusty crossbow. Has been known to shit himself so the others aren't too worried about him being away from any possible action.

"Tripod" Smithers, retains his reputation for madness in battle, but due to him losing his leg, became a bit of a liability. Hence why he's armed with a weapon of distance. However the loss of his limb has only added more significance to his nickname, acquired from anyone who has seen him bathing.

Young Toby Clyne. Small time thief, pickpocketer and general annoyance amongst the crew. His ability to pilfer from an enemy makes them put up with him delving into their own scant possessions.

"High Born" Hosty. Always refers to the lie that he was born into money (he believes the lie he was told) and assumes that he should be better off than he is. He takes it out on any enemy who looks wealthy, trying to bring them down to his level with a bloody blow to the head.

"Bright Eyed" Bill Watts. Last Saturday, retreating as quickly as he could through the thick mud, from an enemy he hadn't even got close enough to see, Bill stumbled face first and nicked his forehead with his own spear. Thankfully none of the other lads had seen so his story quickly became one of how he had narrowly dodged an incoming arrow. No one believed him, his cowardly reputation and shitty lying preceded him.

And a close up of the freehand banner, prior to weathering from the Tamiya Mudstick.

So 8 Mercenaries for my Retinue Challenge; only a few more entries until I can call this Lost and the Damned project finished; 3 minotaurs, 3 harpies and 8 skaven to go....