The Zoidyssey – Adventures with Warriors of Athena

First of the Gods and I’ve started with Zeus in his aspect as “The Lightninger” or “Zeus of Lightning”.  Ready to smite the upstart mortals and maybe an unruly god or demigod as well.

Lovely resin model from North Star Figures.  We had “electric” as the word of the month for the PaintComp so this was a obvious choice for me.

In order to dress the table, particularly for any scenarios that involve a temple or devotional focus, I needed a suitable building.  Many actual temples that we have in the archaeological records are huge, much larger than would be useful in this small scale game.  On re-reading The Argonautica (Jason and the Argonauts) they make frequent stops to sacrifice and honour gods and heroes at small shrines or mausolea.  Fortunately for us Sarissa Precision have a kit for just such a building.  They also have statue plinths, a rectangular one and a square one in a single kit.  I got both kits and put them together.  Construction of these kits is relatively straightforward although I always seem to make a minor error of part or order of build at some point so not the most zen experience.

Then for some statues.  I had the Foundry Theseus and the Minotaur set and they are truescale 25mm so not a good fit for the 28mm minis I’m using.  I thought they would make a nice statuary pairing, a good thing to go on the rectangular plinth.

I didn’t have anything suitable for other gods or heroes.  Then I got lucky.  At Legionary on Saturday I spotted a takeaway tray with some metal miniatures in it with £5 as the price.  I picked them up for a closer look and found 13 Chiltern Miniatures Greek gods, godesses and heroes.  These were from a range of 40mm miniatures depicting most of the Greek panoply.  They have a distinctive sculpting style, being quite chunky and simplistic in style.  I was very happy to hand over my fiver and away home they came.

On further inspection I can identify Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hermes, Athena, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Nike and the semi-divine heroes Theseus, Perseus and Achilles.  There are two female gods that are harder to identify.  The kneeling one I think might be Persephone and the other with the wide spread arms and flowing hair might be Nemesis.  I’m pleased with the distinct suulpting style they have, it differentiates statues from people very effectively.

Painting commenced.

Painting the buildings

The buildings were undercoated in Halfords grey then oversprayed with a cream colour.  Once dry they got a liberal coat of Howling Sand Speedpaint and then a drybrush of Vallejo Bonewhite acrylic. The tile roof was done in slate grey using several coats of Runic Grey Speedpaint.  The Speedpaint doesn’t settle or absorb into the surface evenly giving a very naturalistic colour variation.  I added some Krautcover Sands of Sparta to the base of the shrine and then some Jarvis Scenics creeper in the summer colour.  I may recolour this in green at some stage but I’m happy with the autumn/winter look for now.

Painting the statues

I started with a zenithed undercoat, white over black.  Then I went in with Talos Bronze Speedpaint over the entire model.  This is quite a strong copper colour so will be good in the recesses and darker areas.  Over this a drybrush of AP Warpaint Fanatic Emperor Gold.  Then a mixture of a few drops of this with the same quantity of Vallejo Metal Gold and Vallejo Metal Copper.  This gives a bright ‘new bronze’ colour.  The ancient Greeks painted their statues or applied gold leaf, even to the bronze ones, so the dark green patina that we are used to looking at examples in museums isn’t what the ancients were used to.  Instead the exhibit Bunte Götter (The colour of the Gods) gives a well researched example of how they might have looked.  The issue for us miniature gamers is that painting style lacks detail and if we painted our miniatures like that they would resemble old fashioned toy soldiers.  So as a compromise I’ve gone with a new bronze finish.  It is at least quick.

Here’s what everything looks like.  As you can see I’ve used the statues to show a shrine to the hero Theseus.  I can depict a shrine to any of the gods or heroes that I’ve got models of, just by swapping out what I put on the plinths.

I’ve assumed that I’ll need a range of objective markers and bought a load of different packs from Crooked Dice.  I painted the rest of them today.  I’ve used a range of materials and techniques here so they all look special.  Of primary interest for this game system will be the Medusa head and Hydra’s teeth you can see at the front.

The last of the Argonauts except for Mopsus the Seer who is coming soon.

Jason son of Aeson.  Favourite of Hera.  Leader of the Argonauts.

The game makes extensive use of treasure tokens.  Some are quite specific, like the Cyclops skull I have already finished.  Most are generic so I went with these six which come from Crooked Dice range of objective markers.  I’m hoping I won’t need more than six generic ones for any single scenario.  I’ve got more to act as specific objectives which could fill in if needed.

Speedpaints for the wood and parchment.  The pottery was done with acrylics in a terracotta shade and then with a little white blended in for a lighter finish.  Gold was done in the muli-layered approach used on the Argonauts armour.  Silver was Darkstar Bright Steel highlighted with Vallejo Metal Pale Burnt Metal.

3/4 of the way through the Argonauts now.

This group includes one of the sons of Boreas, the North Wind.  This one I’ve decided is Zetes.  The classical description of them is that (like many Greek gods and heroes who could fly) their wings are on their heels.  Let’s not let that stand in the way of a good sculpt though.  Also potentially controversially I’ve included Atalanta.  In many versions she isn’t included in the group but I think that plays too much to classical misogyny and have included her, the only woman on the crew.

I started on some scenery and ordered some cake pillars which seems to be the common approach that many players have judging by the Facepage group. I got a box of four on eBay for around a fiver including postage, cheaper than Amazon.

A lot of players have gone for ruined temples or pillars and that’s fine but I think a new looking set are fine too.

After the usual zenithed primer I went over everything with some thinned Pallid Bone Speedpaint and then drybrushed on some Bonewhite acrylic.  Finished and ready for the heroes to explore.

Crooked Dice order arrived and my heroes are completed with the addition of three women.  My character, Zena Warrior Princess, Gabrielle the Thief and Atalanta the Huntress.

Firstly there is the main hero of the party, and my character, Zena the warrior princess.  Zena has chosen the life of adventure and with her friend Gabrielle has gathered a small band of warriors to follow the will of Athena and take on the challenges that threaten the rule of order in the world.

Zena is the Divine Mortal miniature by Crooked Dice.  She has been painted in Speedpaints with her skin and armour overlaid in acrylics in the same manner as the Argonauts form earlier in this project.  She is equipped with a hand weapon and a throwing weapon called a chakram which I’ve represented in the rules as a javelin.  She has light armour and although not represented on the model I paid for a shield as well.

Zena’s best friend in Gabrielle and she has been given the Thief profile.  She was also painted in Speedpaints with the leather dress done in Hardened Leather and the rest of the model as per the Argonauts.  She gets a hand weapon and not much else in terms of physical equipment although she has several abilities.

The final member of the party is Atalanta the Hunter.  She has a bow and hand weapons.  She was painted in a pastel Speedpaint and then everything else as per previous miniatures.

Nearly ready for the off now.  A bit of scenery and terrain to put together and I still need a harpy and a couple of satyr warriors for the first few scenarios.  Here is the whole party together.

The first quest needs 3 cyclopses as the main opponents for the warriors.  I’m in the group for the game on facepage and another member there, Wojciech Walichnowski has created lists of the opponents needed for each quest.

I have the animals already.  I’ll work on the satyrs and harpies next as they are present in other quests.  Here are the 3 cyclopses:

The one in the middle is a Reaper miniature and is listed as a giant goblin who comes in a pack with a goblin shaman rider.  The other two are by Alternative Armies and are resin casts, not the most detailed but very inexpensive.  I converted one by changing his right arm position and covered it up with some shonky greenstuff work to rebuild his shoulder which isn’t particularly noticeable in the finished miniature.  Painting was the same as the giant cyclops.

The game uses objective markers and tokens but none are provided officially.  Clues are marked onto the board and the warriors then test by drawing playing cards to see what they have discovered.  As there are a few other things which might need tokens (like marking temporary status injuries like poisoning) I have bought a generic set.  I chose the 7TV markers by Crooked Dice.  These are pre-coloured MDF and are small and unobtrusive as well as having a good selection of generic symbols on them.  Great price too, only £7.  The blue ? ones will be used to mark clue locations.

The first scenario of this quest calls for some specific objective markers which may or may not be found by the warriors. For those who don’t want spoilers look away now.

The cyclops skull is from Crooked Dice.  They do a fantastic range of objective markers, more of these later.  Bony Matter Speedpaint highlighted with Bonewhite acrylic.

The large bloody stone hammer I had to make myself as there isn’t something this specific available to buy.  It is easy enough.  I took a piece of sprue from the giant cyclops kit.  Clipped out the section I wanted.  I carved the surface with a craft knife to give a rough-hewn look.  The stone head and strappings were made out of greenstuff.  I find it easier to make a long thin snake which is then wound round into position and flattened to give the look of leather strapping.  Painted with acrylics and some Blood for the Blood God effects paint after it was varnished.

The game needs three cyclopses for the first quest.  I prefer the style of the Harryhausen cyclops from the Sinbad movie and found some from Alternative Armies and Reaper.  They will have to wait though.  Today I have painted a “chonky” miniature for the March PaintComp on the forums here.  I was aware that X-Plus does an occasional run of 1/35th scale Harryhausen plastic kits.  Last week an ad appeared on my Insta telling me that there is a new run available and they were cheap, less than £50 including postage.  I ordered it immediately and this is what I got:

As you can see assembly was pretty straightforward.  The only thing to watch is the legs fitting onto the groin piece – I found it was better to do the back half of the leg first then slide the front of the leg on afterwards.

It comes with a plastic scenic base.  I won’t use that and when we take it away the model is 240mm tall foot to top of horn.  That definitely qualifies as “chonky” as far as I’m concerned as it’s the biggest miniature I’ve made for a wargame.  I was a bit concerned he might be too big but I looked up the giants that GW sell and they are 180mm tall.  They also cost £135.  You can buy three of these kits for the same money.

I painted it using a fairly loose technique of wet blended speedpaints over a zenithed undercoat.  The primer was applied which helped highlight any mould lines or gaps from the build.  These were addressed with green stuff and then the model re-primed.

Technique

I work from the darkest part of the miniature to the lightest.  On this model that means starting with his hooves and then working up his legs before blending into his skintone at his midriff and probably using a couple of skintones, one for the darker areas and one for the lighter.

The mixes were made up in advance in plastic blisters as follows:

• Darkest tone – For the hooves and then the very bottom of the legs and up the inside of the lower legs.  I started with neat Noble Skin on the hooves and then added Dark Wood for the deepest fur tone.
• Lower fur tone – for the front of the lower legs and inside of the upper legs and in the creases in the groin.  A drop of Dark Wood and then 60/40 Sachel Brown and Burnished Red.
• Midtone fur – Front of upper legs except the areas hit by the highest zenith.  About 2/3 Ruddy Fur with the other 1/3 made from the previous mix.
• Highlight areas and along the transition to the upper torso – Straight Ruddy Fur with a drop or two of medium in.

Skintone

• Darker tone – undersides of arms and in shaded areas of zenith.  A 50/50 mix of Goddess Glow and Howling Sand.  The transition between fur and skin was wet blended with this as well.
• Lighter tone – 75:25 Howling Sand to Goddess Glow which goes over everything else.  Some small patches of the darker tone were dabbed onto some of the lighter areas, where the tone looked a bit plain or samey and blended as looked best.

The wet blend is great for use with Speedpaint because of its longer drying time compared to regular acrylics.  The key is not to work too much between the different colours or you will lose the distinction and worse might deepen the tone enough to cover up the zenith underneath.  Coats of paint need to be thin enough to allow the zenith to continue to show through.

Finally the club was Dark Wood underneath and Bony Matter on top and then again blended along the transition.

As I was going along I was comparing with a still from the film.  The skintone on mine is lighter and gives a more lizardlike look which I was happy with so decided to keep.  If I’d wanted it to look screen exact I would have added some Pastel Salmon to the light tone mix.

Details were enhanced with some Strong Tone wash into the creases of the neck, face and eye.  Nails painted with Sand Golem and then Bonewhite acrylic over that and I sketched the eyeball in with some white.  The horn was neat Bony Matter with Bonewhite highlights.  As you can see I had a go to see if it could be photographed against my background book.  It can, just, if I tweak my shot angle up a bit 😀

The next day I came back to it having given the Speedpaint plenty of time to dry.  It can rub off if you aren’t careful with a plastic model and work on it too soon.  You always see some spots that got missed.  I’m not sure why this happens but I see it regularly on large areas that have been speedpainted.  Retouched with the appropriate blend.

Spent some time detailing the face.  Murder Scene Speedpaint inside the mouth and very heavily thinned with water for the lips.  The eyeball was repainted white, keeping an outer edge with the darker wash.  Then a circle of dark brown acrylic for the iris and inside that the pupil was painted black.  When this dried a couple of tiny white reflection dots went at the top.  Teeth were blended highlights from the base colour up to an ivory white.

Quick check against the screen close-up.  Happy, so done 🙂

I based the model on a 120mm fronted mdf base.  It will also be used as a monstrosity in Midgard. Soil of Sparta Krautcover enhanced with some cork rocks and tufts.

Finally posed with the current completed adventuring party.  It feels like I might need to roll-up some new companions shortly 😀

As a final point I counted this model as the equivalent of 8 regular 28mm miniatures for my tally of painted things.  I am definitely not in the Gimli school of “that still only counts as one” when keeping the count of my annual output.  That reasoning is also why one 6mm/10mm/15mm man does not count as ‘one’ for the tally Ben 😀