Burrows and Badgers update 4

So finally finished the Undead starting warband. As it stands, these are the models will be used, though if more Stable Ghasts get made before I run this crew then I'll work the list around adding one as the second in command.

Leading them is the (former) Lord Alessandro Von Ottington the Second, a once noble (if heavily flawed) Paladin of a holy order who was cowardly (his words) murdered out of jealousy. The truth is more that he was a somewhat ruthless individual who tended to upset other noble families, but more so his own. He was 'removed' due to the risk he posed and for the safety of all around him. That was a long time ago and when his corpse suddenly woke up one day, he felt the need to seek revenge, if not for his murder then for the fact he was dumped and buried in a ditch and not in the family crypts.

So far the only other character named is his second in command, a Stable Ghast (who is currently the Mist-Ghast fox model), who goes by the name Sir Gradee. Lore wise, Sir Gradee will represent Lord Ottington's right hand man and the one who carries out his Lords orders with a cruelty that is second only to that of Lord Ottington himself. The Mist Ghasts themselves don't have names as they are just servants to Lord Ottington and he cares not to learn the names of such simple servants.

While this may seem like a rather evil and dark crew, they are mostly played up as a joke. Despite all his power and his arrogant nature, he is sort of a bumbling fool who's original downfall was because he was too blinded by his own entitled and vain view of himself. Death hasn't changed that and if anything, has only made it worse. Sir Gradee is smarter and more capable, but his unquestioning loyalty to his Lord means that even when successful, Ottington's own plans still fail to some degree.

While I'm slowly accepting of the flames I've painted, I thing the ground lighting is still terrible. This is just part of learning to accept my limitations and just appreciating that I managed to complete a project. This time I actually remembered to take note of all the paints I used so that when I eventually do start to add more Mist-Ghasts down the road, I know which colours I used in this project (Sorry, photo still isn't as good as it should be. Probably need better lighting setup). 

A big thank you to Michael Lovejoy, who was able to answer my questions about Stable Ghasts and now that I have had it confirmed that they can use magic and ranged weapons, I feel even more excited to see just what I can do with this Warband. I'd like to play this allegiance as more of a misadventures series of events, where the games feel like that if win or loose, it's the story that plays out that is the real joy to be had. 

Burrows and Badgers update 3

So the release of 2nd edition has really boosted my creative spark (despite how terrible a year it's been for me) and has given me the motivation to at least get some painting done. With the Mosston Village River Defenders starting force now complete, I have started expanding beyond that. While I wait for the starter sets to go back into stock, I have decided to work on other stuff in between (sorry if the photos are a little blurry, sort of rushed for time. Will try to have better ones in the next update).

The first thing that needed to be finish are the three objective markers you need for each warband. I used two from one of the objective marker packs, but felt the sleeping mouse might be too much for me to do as I try to get through my massive painting pile, so instead used a small treasure pile from a D&D pack I bought years ago when I was wanting to make terrain.

I feel like these markers are a great in telling a story for the warband as Mosston is a sort of tiny village where traders can stop and rest on their travels. These markers represent the various stuff that could belong to traders that the warband needs to protect in order to return them to their owners.

Beyond that, I have started painting some Undead in order to build an Undead warband. I've completed three so far with various levels of success. My overall problem is that I'm far too much of a perfectionist and as a result I rarely get anything done, so my overall goal is to achieve a point in which I can say "that's good enough, let's finish it".

So far I think it's going well. Given how hard things have become for me, I must say that I'm quite happy with how this is turning out. I still have three more Mist-Ghasts (Hare, Squirrel and Mouse). This would technically be enough for a Ghast only band, though I will eventually add more to them soon. I do want to try and add a green light onto the grass, but still not sure if I should attempt it. As for names and story lore, I'll work on that a little more once I've completed the warband.

Overall, this has been a rather productive month, given the situation, and feel happy with the direction these models are going in.