A long-awaited game of Blood Moon, the Rangers of Shadow Deep expansion is still on the cards.

One of the many things that have been holding us up has been a lack of the miniatures recommended to play the game.

Naturally, wolves and werewolves are part of those recommendations. I was able to pick everything here up from Otherworld, who are one of my favourite miniature companies.

The big guy is actually Grendel from the Beowulf saga, but I thought he’d work well as a werewolf.

I also needed some giant flies and a companion called Orla, which are now painted up. Oh, and a pond, too – I got some nice 2D neoprene terrain to take care of that.

We’ve played through three Rangers of Shadow Deep scenarios to-date, and it’s definitely one of my favourite games.

• The Deserted Village
• The Infected Trees
• The Bridge Guards

I’ve talked a fair bit on the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast about my miniature painting process. I consider myself a very limited painter, but with these techniques, I get results that I’m very happy with.

First up, I apply the basing to the miniature. I know for many hobbyists, this is one of the final parts of the process. I like to do it early because I feel it helps with the overall consistency. I use Vallejo Ground Texture which turns rock hard after about 12 hours. I find it stays on much better than a sand/PVA glue combo.

Then, I undercoat with Chaos Black, before applying what’s known as a zenithal highlight, using either the Wraithbone or Grey Seer sprays. This technique involves applying a few short bursts from above the miniature, and gives the effect of natural light and shadow.

Then, I cover the entire miniature in the Citadel Skeleton Horde contrast paint.

The “colouring in” stage falls easily into place after that. I’ll add colours where they are needed (again, using Citadel contrast paints) but I try not to go overboard. I use Plaguebearer Flesh on the grass, which has also benefited from the zenithal highlight earlier on in the process. I’ll then finish up with a bit of traditional Goblin Green around the base edge.

And that’s it. Not a lot to it, and I won’t be troubling Golden Demon any time soon. But I find this an efficient, satisfying, and satisfactory way to paint miniatures.

I recently painted up some of the excellent Junior Townsfolk range from Midlam Miniatures. As always, they’re full of character, and were a lot of fun to work on.

There is a time, before they are sent to be apprentices or a life of responsibility, when the young folk of Midlam can play freely in the streets, happy with their games regardless of the dirt and squalor.  Others, though the entrenched poverty of their families, find themselves from an early age, forced in to a life of servitude.  Some will go on to become craftsmen, artisans and nobility, others may cast off their heavy duties for a life of adventure. – Midlam Miniatures’ Junior Townsfolk

As I mentioned recently on the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, I got these kiddos as part of my preparation for a game of Rangers of Shadow Deep – the Blood Moon supplement, to be specific.

I’m going to stat this gang up as a warband at some point, either for a game of Song of Blades and Heroes or Frostgrave. I like the thought of them taking on a group of hardened chaos mutants or daemons, and – maybe even at all costs – winning.

I decided to give my old Krell, a bit of TLC. Mainly, because I’d bought an undead chaos warrior from Diehard Miniatures – one of my favourite Oldhammer miniature companies. I thought he might’ve been made as a bit of a homage to the original Lord of the Undead.

Vulcan the Chaos Reiver was another Diehard purchase.

‘Goatsy’ was a Midlam Miniature. I’m going to add him to our Rangers of Shadow Deep party.

This wee armoured goblin champion was from Midlam, too.

Then back to Diehard, we have Pandora the Chaos Reiver.

A vulture for Rangers of Shadow Deep, courtesy of North Star Military Figures.

That’s what I’ve been up to recently, anyway. I talked more about the painting of these on a recent episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, so be sure to take a listen if podcasts are your thing!

I’ve actually got through quite a few miniatures since my last painting update and photo dump. The latest batch are all from CP Models, one of my favourite Oldhammer-style miniature companies.

These Near Future Mercenaries would fit right into a game of Necromunda.

The Zombie Grey Aliens are a part of my Undead Stargrave Crew.

Fed Troopers – Terran Federation Security Troopers armed with automatic weapons.

Future trench warfare figures. Loosely based on World War I troops but with a near-future twist.

The mercs are led by this “Detective for Hire”. If I remember correctly, he came as a generous freebie miniature with my order from CP.

More mercs.

I liked painting these guys. They had a good variety, without being over the top.

The other (more uniformed) squads were fun too though, and I got through them quickly, without opening many paint pots at all.

Anyway, there you have it. Thanks very much for taking the time to have a look. And whilst you’re here, why not check out the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, too? It’s like Citadel Contrast Paint for your ears.

Does that sound like a good thing or a bad thing? I’m not quite sure…

Doing an Oldhammer miniature companies roundup was always going to come at a financial cost. The latest company I decided to pick up a batch of cool and interesting minis from was Diehard.

Diehard Miniatures create metal wargames miniatures. The company started as a collaboration of 3 sculptors back in 2014 (Tim Prow, Chaz Elliott and Drew Williams). With the assistance of Richard Luong for the initial artwork and concepts, Diehard has expanded its artist stable to include Chris Walton, Johan Egerkrans, Kennon James and Jody Siegel.

I’ve been working on building a crew for Stargrave and I’m going for an undead theme.

I loved the look of these skeletal astronauts, and they were fun and easy to paint, too.

There’s a brilliant range of undead miniatures on the Diehard site which cater to both sci-fi and fantasy.

Joining the bony ranks of this crew is an undead Space Marine, also from Diehard.

No “here’s what I’ve painted recently” roundup would be complete without something from Midlam, either. This guy is a crow shaman and he’ll act as my crew’s “medic”.

Another character from Midlam is this demon who’ll be used for my dungeon crawler games.

Back to Diehard for another dungeon denizen, this guy is a Satyr.

Have you ever wondered why undead creatures persevere in their attempts to play wind instruments?

Another company I buy from a lot is CP Models. This trooper is part of a group of 5, so I just need to get his pals painted up now.

Finally, I painted up the last two Blood Bowl beastmen that I found in a box a while back.

So that’s what I’ve been up to recently on the hobby front. Well, that, and running our new Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast. We’ve had some great conversations on there recently about Oldhammer, Herohammer, and old White Dwarf mags. Have you listened yet?

Painting and has been a bit slower recently due to the better weather, easing of restrictions, and a few other commitments taking up a bit of my free time. Nevertheless, I’ve still managed to get another wee batch of minis finished up, starting with these Chaos Space Raiders from Diehard.

I came across these guys whilst researching options for Rogue Trader-esque Stargrave crews. They’re big chunky marines with a fantastic Oldhammer aesthetic.

Jadus Blakk’ here was the hardest miniature I’ve ever tried to photograph. There’s quite a lot going on with him.

You can pick him up for £6 on the Diehard Miniatures site.

With those 4 big exhaust pipes, he’s hardly what you’d call an Eco Warrior, eh? I wonder if his suit’s a nightmare to get through its MOT.

Back in May I painted some Chaos Dwarfs. I had another one of these obnoxious little guys in my to-do pile, so here he is.

Not to be out-tusked though, it’s a Boar Man from Midlam Miniatures.

I paint a lot of miniatures from the Midlam range, they’re definitely one of my favourite companies. I go on about them a lot though, and I don’t want to ‘boar’ you… 😐

So I’ll move on to another company I’m always banging on about – Knightmare. Here’s two more splendid tusks, too, sported by Commander Tusker himself.

I’ve built a lot of skirmish warbands from the Knightmare range, including Beastmen, Chaos Warriors, and Goblin Archers.

Swinging back round to the Diehard Space Raiders too, here’s Amorbis Zoon’…

I did him “a bit Nurgly”, if that’s an actual term.

So there’s the fruits of my labour this past month or so. I’ve plenty more to be getting cracked on with this summer, but for extra servings of my finished work, check out Chaos, Cultists, & Blood Bowl Beastmen, as well as From Battlemasters to Dungeon Masters.

I’ve been on a bit of a roll with my painting recently, and it’s largely down to Midlam Miniatures. They’re one of my favourite miniature manufacturers, and I talk more about them in my Oldhammer Miniature Companies article.

My projects recently have been fairly straightforward. Collect and paint any fantasy miniatures I like the look of for either skirmish-level or dungeon crawler games.

Midlam’s Kraken Cult collection have such a great Lovecraftian vibe to them. I’d painted up some Kraken Cultists already, but I wanted to try a few more with slightly different colour schemes.

I see Midlam are now Kickstarting more Kraken cult miniatures. The way I’m going I’ll end up with enough of them to make a full Warhammer Fantasy Battles army.

Moving away from robes and slithering tentacles, I’m also a sucker for a Chaos Warrior. Not those joyless modern types though. I mean real Chaos Warriors.

The first one I’ve named Brother Rust. He’d have fitted in with my retro Chaos Warrior warband, but alas, he will never know them.

I’m not sure if the second guy is an actual Chaos Warrior or if he’s just cosplaying as one. Another lovely little miniature nonetheless, though.

So these guys will all go into the mix for future dungeon crawler adventures. They’ll make ideal opponents for my party of heroes.

This Cave Lurker reminds me a bit of the old Ambull from the Citadel Combat Cards.

And speaking of Citadel, let’s temporarily leave the Midlam universe. I found a pile of old metal Blood Bowl beastmen in a box in the attic last year. I very nearly stuck them on Ebay, but I decided to paint them up instead.

I’ve got 9 in total, so this might well be an excuse to complete a full team and hunt out a copy of the game.

Back to Midlam, these two guys are pals of the Cave Lurker. I actually managed to prime, paint, and base them both in one single day.

Same with this guy. I wonder if he’s related to the big sweetcorn salesman?

‘Rocky’ here could easily pass for a Rock Demon in Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle series.

As for this lad, I wonder how he’d have integrated into my old lizardman army. We will never know because I sold the thing.

So that’s my latest work from an unusually productive period. I’d just recently finished a batch of miniatures including some Battlemasters greenskins, Chaos Dwarfs, and an old Warhammer 40k Hero.

Next up on the painting table? Would you believe it… some more Midlam Miniatures…

Well, not quite “masters”… minions, more like… these Battlemasters baddies are coming to a dungeon near you…

I’ve just finished painting up my latest handful of miniatures. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I’ve been dabbling with Dungeon Saga. I wanted to populate the dungeons with my own unique miniatures, so I have formed up a party of heroes, and some Lovecraftian horrors to pit them against.

I had a few miniatures from the classic Battlemasters game of my childhood lying around. I decided to put an orc-goblin duo to work as dungeon minions.

I added the shields to give the miniatures a bit more depth. I am not 100% sure where I got them, but I think it might’ve been Knightmare. You can find out more about Knightmare in my Oldhammer miniature companies post.

This Chaos Dwarf is another old monopose plastic miniature getting a lick of paint and a fancy shield. I found him in my nephew’s Lego toybox of all places. His spear is slightly bent, probably an injury inflicted by a Lego batman or something. He looks slightly better than he did, in any case.

I didn’t put the Chaos Dwarf in the dungeon because I’d already been painting this fellow. I am sure I got him from CP Models.

Not had enough 90s throwbacks yet? Fair enough. We move from Battlemasters to Warhammer 40k, and the pious loudmouth that is Redemptor Kyrinov, Confessor of the Ministorum. He’s backed up by two Warmonger Miniatures’ Plague Apothecaries. This is all part of my sci-fi dystopia project.

Kyrinov will be placed in responsible charge of these endoskeleton miniatures from Terminator Genesys.

That’s all for now, though. We’re all waiting to see who comes through that dungeon door next. Will it be more Battlemasters characters? Someone from HeroQuest, perhaps?

Remember to check out who’s already down there in my Dungeons & Badgers, Populating a Lovecraftian Dungeon, and Dungeon Saga posts!