Raiding the Dusty Wastes

Yes there is a need for another figure!

With as fantastic as this is so far, and on the mention of Zebraoutrider that an army is never done, I had to add another figure to the fray.

I know there is a limit to how many beasts and monsters you can field but here I have options. I’ve purchased Ashana the female djinn (SKU 44012) from Reaper Bones as just such a piece. The figure falls in line with the fire and air theme I’ve set down now. As I also have an inspirational color scheme I hope to make the tabletop be more or less an opportunity to get ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from my future opponents.

With the colors blocked in for both the djinn and the male efreet I’ll be soon pushing through the mortar and giant scorpion rider.</span;>

I received a Golden Button for this project just as I was finishing up the paint for these figures. I threw on the matte varnish and tufts the day after. I await the arrival of my dice tower in a couple of weeks so I’ll press on to kitbash and paint the mortar and crew. I also have some small amount of work to do with my leader on the extra large scorpion. The 80x50mm base is set to go as I have so many good monsters to run on the 90x120mm ovals. Soon enough it’ll all be on a table for playing games.

As aquick aside I’m pleased with the shoulder pad modification for the efreet as a copy made with Apoxysculpt. I also am surprised about the djinni as it’s lammelar armor and not scale mail. Live and learn.

I might just even surprise people with stuff that’s been laying low for a while. I’ve got a couple more armies in the can ready to work through just like this.

I’ve taken a shining to the Arabian fat-tailed scorpion (Androctonus crassicauda) in my decision on a color scheme. The lethal little guys just work for the idea of a large monster that one should be vary wary of. As we learned in ‘Clash of the Titans’ (yes, the remake) respect should be given to them at this size.

I was reminded of when I was a kid in Italy and got to play about with a male stag beetle while at a summer camp. The black carapace fading into deep red feels like it fits. I’m debating on whether to weather the chitin once I get to the painting. Right now the rider has my attention in the remodeling.

As the Heart of the Scorpion, Hasn has made a friend in the dry wastes that has become his beast mount. I did some overhaul for the Gripping Beast figure in order to make a seated version by cutting off the legs entirely and resculpting. Originally I had used a set of cavalry legs buy, after a happy accident, I went to work with greenstuff.The pin I have running through the bottom of the figure proved to be helpful in painting sub assemblies as I didn’t think it would’ve been possible fully assembled.

The rich color of the scorpion’s carapace wasn’t as difficult as I thought to try and catch. I base coated using VMC Red Leather (70.818) over a white prime. On top of that I put down Blacker Lotus from the Vallejo Xpress line which came out OK and I went back to lighten it all up with some highlights. I’m damn glad to see it done and finally able to be playable. Initially, after getting the model, I didn’t have the courage to paint it. Now with a few other big meanies down, in retrospect, it wasn’t so bad a task.

One scorpion deserves another and because Alternative Armies had them available this larger than life mount has some tiny pals to bring along on its merry way. Oh no, the previous levy of scorpions was not enough to include in my force so here we have some “reasonably scaled” arachnids for fun and profit (something like step 2 with the South Park underpants gnomes).

With the duel between @sundancer and @brennon I have thrown in to provide my own support for terrain construction for better looking boards in the community. It was a simple idea for a dice tower that has been made manifest for the magnificence of the mighty Hasn al Qlb al Akrab.

It really does the job well but I’ll need to get the dice holding pen(?) landing zone(?) remade as it came to me in a seriously warped state despite being shown that it was all set to go from from the printer.

As always I have inspiration for the work buy it all boils down to how involved I want to be as I wind down this project. Can I actually say it’s winding down as I keep doing stuff?

Still plugging along I’ve managed to keep the material printed for the dice tower/terrain piece. I just need to varnish it and I’ll be happy to call this piece done. Now, with Giftmas preparation almost wrapped up, I can dust off the last models and say I have a completed army of my own. Ugh.. damn the fact I have more in line for the future. As I’ve heard it said… “That’s a problem for future me to deal with”.

Giftmas is sorted and time to wind down… or so I thought.

Egads! A runner up position!?! That means I need to work on this project and finish it. Ehh…. right after the Big Book of Battles addition I thought about and decided would be great thematically.

What is an Arabian Night’s tale without some sort of caravan? I’d say that the SAGA scenario for defending them would be jut a bit bland if you don’t spice it up like a good lamb shoulder.

I’ve decided on using 80x50mm bases (I have a few to spare) which are perfect for the scenario. I’ll have a pair of camels on two which will be lead by a couple of merchants. The figures are Gripping Beast pack camels and some lovely old Reaper models in metal. The last figure which leads the lot would be a Gripping Beast Muta’tawia leader and a group of Middle Eastern goats. Seeing that these are a specific breed I went and searched them out online.

This will be wrapped up one day before Lloyd paints Rome.

Ok, I’ve gotten serious about drawing down this project to a close and have finished the first mini featured. No, it wasn’t what Ben received on the mail but it is the same figure from Reaper.

On to more stuff as I get prepped for the new army for the new year.