Gallery: The Nightmare Legion

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones ...

Time for another photo gallery; this time it's my skeleton army for Hordes of the Things, more formally known as the Nightmare Legion but usually referred to as my skeletons.

Magician general (necromancer) @ 4 AP                            4
Artillery (skullchucker catapult) @ 3 AP                             3
Spears x 4 (Nightmare Legion) @ 2 AP                              8
Shooters x 4 (skeletal archers and handgunners) @ 2 AP    8
Lurker (skeleton arising from the grave) @ 1 AP                  1

The magician general is an old (pre-1990) Citadel necromancer.



This Citadel skullchucker catapult serves as the artillery element.

These four spears elements came from Citadel's Nightmare Legion boxed set.

These four shooters elements are a mix of Citadel and Marauder metal figures.

Closeup of the stand of handgunners.

These old sculpts sure had character, didn't they?  This one serves as the lurker.

Now joining the fleet ...

Since the ice and snow here in Texas shut down most of the state, I didn't have to go into work Friday.  Instead of making it a productive day of painting, I spent my time off watching TV and surfing the Internet.  Late that evening, however, I did get some painting done. 

I finished off two Terran starships from the Starfleet Wars/Galactic Knights range: my Valiant-class galactic dreadnought and the second of two Samurai-class destroyer leaders. 

I painted the GDN in my default Red Fleet paint scheme, and added a fourth color, a little metallic copper, on top of the other three.  Since this is such a large ship, I felt it warranted the extra hue.

Because I'm trying to get two fleets out of my Terrans, I painted the DL in the Terrans' alternative White Fleet colors (actually burnt umber, mushroom, and linen).  I'll post more extensive photos in future gallery entries.

GK optional rule: Hyperspace jumps

Inspired by a similar rule in Full Thrust: Cross Dimensions, I came up with the following optional rule for tactical use of the jump drive in Galactic Knights:

During the movement phase, instead of using thrust to move the ship, change facing, or move the drift marker, the player declares that ship is spooling up its FTL drive.  The ship may launch missiles and launch or retrieve fighters, but may not use any other weapons except light batteries for point defense.

At the beginning of the drift phase in the next turn, the ship activates its jump drive in an attempt to warp out/jump into hyperspace/go to ludicrous speed.  The player then rolls a d10 and subtracts 1 for each critical hit the ship has taken and applies the results:

• 1: Hyperdrive explodes; roll d10 and subtract the ship's profile: ship takes this many critical hits.
• 2-3: Hyperdrive destroyed; no other damage: ship may move normally during the movement phase.
• 4: Ship fails to jump; ship may move normally and try to jump again next turn.
• 5-10: Ship jumps as normal

NOTE: This table only applies to hyperspace jumps attempted during combat.  This is because the energies discharged during a battle can disrupt the jump drive.  Jumps made before or after a battle, for campaign purposes, do not need to use this table.

What are some other optional rules you think need to be addressed in this (or any other) starship combat game?

Tutorial: Entomolian Attack Carrier

My Entomolian cruisers need something to escort, so I also painted an Ent carrier.  It's pretty much the same method I used for the cruisers, but slightly different because of the large, flat surfaces on the larger ship.

Once again, I start with the ship primered in flat black:

Next, drybrush green in front, blue (or blue-violet) in back:

Then, metallic peridot on the bow, metallic periwinkle on the stern.  I kind of press down on the brush for a slight stippling affect in order to bring out the grooves on the carrier deck:

After that, metallic emerald green goes on the rear half:

Next, metallic plum in front, blending in with the third coat in back for an organic look--there's no hard-and-fast line where one shade ends and the other begins.

Finally, I highlight the bridge superstructure (starboard) and the smaller flight control center using yellow ochre, bright yellow, and metallic gold:

And here you go, another Entomolian attack carrier ready for action:



Tutorial: Entomolian Cruiser

Sometimes I use more than three colors to paint a miniature starship.  For example, with the insectoid Entomolians I wanted to go with an iridescent look, like the carapace of a beetle.  It's the same concept as how I paint my Terran ships, but I enjoyed applying additional colors.

Again, I start with a flat black coat of spray paint for a primer:

Then, Americana Blue (or Blue Violet) on the rear half and Anita's Fathom Green for the front:

On top of those go the Folk Art Metallic Periwinkle (back) and Metallic Peridot (front).  It's OK if the colors overlap a little in the middle; that just smooths out the blend and makes it look organic:

Next, Metallic Emerald Green (from Folk Art) on top of the rear colors.  Again, there are no hard borders for any color on these ships:

And Metallic Plum in front--although I might have overdone it a little on this one:

Finally, I highlight the bridge with successive drybrushes of Yellow Ochre, Bright Yellow, and Metallic Inca Gold (all Folk Art except the Bright Yellow, which is Americana):

As seen below, this paint scheme gives the bugs a colorful look without a painstaking effort on my part, and I find it enjoyable to use a greater number of colors:

How do you paint your insectoid aliens' starships?

Tutorial: Painting a Terran Ship

I've been asked about my painting technique, so here's a quick tutorial for how I paint my Terran starships.  First, I prime the ship with flat black spray paint (no hobby store brands; I just use Rust-Oleum or Krylon from the local hardware store):

Next, I drybrush the ship in the darkest color of the tripartite scheme I'm using.  Again, no special game store paints; just craft paints from hobby stores.  In this case, for the Terran Red Fleet, I start out with Anita's brand Rust Red (which actually looks sorta brownish to me):

Next, I drybrush the intermediate hue.  Here, it's a much brighter True Red from Americana:

Finally, the last color, lightest of the bunch.  Here, the Metallic Antique Copper from Folk Art gives a nice glowing effect to the ship:

It's not gonna win any awards, but I paint to a tabletop standard--and this ship looks pretty good on the tabletop:

My three-color drybrush technique is a quick method that allows me to field large numbers of starships on the gaming table.  But it's not the only way to paint.  What are some of your methods of painting your spaceship miniatures?

Completed Star Bombers

Has it already been over a month since I showed you my work-in-progress pics of my star bombers?  Well, I finally finished up the half-dozen ships I had decided to get creative with.  Instead of spray-painting them black and then drybrushing in my usual Terran paint scheme, I primered these in gray and decided to go in a different direction.

This craft still bears the green calibration markings applied at the Boeing plant.

This repurposed star bomber flies for the Texas (Third Republic) Department of Public Safety

This vessel bears the colors of King "Petty" Richard's probability racing team.

This unarmed ship is a luxury yacht for an unnamed trillionaire from Deneb.



The feared Cappellan Raiders also appropriated star bombers for their use.

A few models were even sold to the Vogon Construction Fleet.

I'm not sure if I'm all that pleased with how these came out.  Still I had fun trying something different, and it's nice to challenge myself every once in a while.