Turnip28 - 5th Deathcap Line Infantry Tester

 It's been quiet on the Mumblings of late. I've been deep in the mud of Cyst, the setting for the eccentric, delightful game; Turnip28. A dystopian Napoleonic body horror wargame with vegetables. 

I've spent the last couple of months assembling a regiment of these curious folk. There's a heavy Jim Henson/Terry Gilliam vibe, which is a big draw for me. The official minis are all 3d prints, which I've combined with various other kits, Perry Napoleonics French and Agincourt sets in particular, to produce my little force of muddy malcontents. 

So, after an epic of sawing, gluing, kit-bashing and green-stuffing, the entire regiment is built and ready for the brush. Below is my first tester for a unit of fodder, private Thomas Buttoncap of the 5th Deathcap Line. 

Thomas is quite gaily attired, as you can see. A lot of the Turnip28 minis you see are doused in mud and grass, which isn't for me. I like the toy soldier aesthetic of Napoleonics, so I've chosen quite a vibrant uniform colour scheme and then weathered it down a bit. Most of the grime comes from his rusty metals. 

I'm painting the next batch of fodder at the moment, and I must say, the T28 minis are great fun to paint. Detailed, but that detail is easy to read and paint. 

More Turnip posts are inbound as the regiment progresses!

You can delve into the greasy world of Turnip 28 yourself by joining Max FitzGerald's Patreon. The rules are free and there are a lot of stls you can  download to print your own troops. you can order physical models at:

Shop: https://finura.dk/vare-kategori/models/turnip28/

UK Shop: https://www.haychdee.com/

MMF: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-turnip28-captain-grod-405501

The new kickstarter, The Shattered Lance, starts soon. 

Get in that mud, you maggots.

Undead - Vampire Knight

Today we have a miniature I've been slowly ticking over in between other projects. It's taken months of five minutes here and ten minutes there to complete him. But finally, Stephane Dreux, vampire knight, is finished.

This fellow is a mounted vampire knight by Reaper Miniatures. I picked up the model many years ago. I originally started him to use as my champion in games of Full Tilt (and I still may) but life got in the way and he never got finished. Rather than have him linger in the half-done box, I resolved to just pick away at him when I had a minute. 

He's a metal model, and required a fair bit of clean-up and some lance repair. Colour-wise I used Juan Hidalgo Miniatures' 'Eavy Contrast - Blood Dragon Vampire Lord tutorial (mostly) for the knight's armour. The horses armour I got from the Citadel Colour App for Blood Dragon horse armour. I wanted a darker, more sombre red for the horse armour.

The black horse was a bit tough, as I wanted it to have some reflection to simulate the sheen from a horse's body. The lance I painted as a kind of semi-fossilised bone. The shield is black, but has a few gradiated coats of red glazes. All the tackle, straps and belts etc. are worn brown leather. 

Purple cloth, some aged brass and a vibrant orange jewel for contrast finishes him off. 

Stephane Dreux is another long-serving character in my armies. A former knight of Bretonnia cut down and turned into a Blood Dragon vampire, he amps up the self-pitying anti-hero schtick to eleven. You can read more about Stephane in my old page on the Horde of Dreux. Here's a snippet:

When Stephane grasped the grail it burned him terribly, but he would not release it. His body smoked and blackened as the new-born vampire clung onto the holy object. He wanted to die rather than exist as a perversion of the man he had been only scant hours before. As he burst into flame the lady moved to save him. Aregisel was built over a spring sacred to the Bretonnian deity, and she had sensed the host of men battle valiantly against their enemies. Stephane had defended her shrine until he had been transfixed by his enemies blades, and she resolved that his fate was not to die in agony and failure.

Oh yeah, feel that angst. I bet he broods a lot on cliff edges.

Anyhow, there you go, that's another Mumble in the bag for now!

Sláine 5 - Skull Swords Pack 3

Today we have YET MORE Skull Swords. This time carrying the feared repeater crossbow. These are my third and last pack of Skull Swords for now. Three packs of these murderous ruffians should be plenty for any scenario in the game. They'll be giving it a bit of this in a few weeks:

Now that I have enough troops and a couple of Skull Sword champions, I can start adding some of the more esoteric Drune units. One or two Badb to keep Feg safe might be the next port of call. 

But not right now. I have more than enough troops painted for the Slaine get-together myself and my gaming buddies have planned for March, where nine(!) warbands will clash on the sacred soil of The Land of the Young. Here's the whole warband:

So, that's two packs of Skull Swords with hand weapon and shield, one pack with repeater crossbows, two Skull Swords champions with hand weapon and shield, and Slough Feg. 

Let's take a look at them in a more natural setting eh? Chilling out at one of Drunemeton's many idyllic sacrificial circles.

So, with the Drune warband in the bag (unless I decide to add yet some more champions) it's onward to the next project!

Sláine 5 - Skull Swords Pack 2

The first three miniatures of 2024 come leaping into action! I've returned to my Drunes for Sláine, having neglected them for over a year. I've got a big Sláine  weekend coming up in a March, so it's time for reinforcements. You kind of need a few packs of skull swords for Sláine to hew through, in fairness.

These lay partially painted on my shelf for almost a year, so it's very nice to get them finished. 

I'm still using mostly Contrast paints over Wraithbone spray for these, as that's how I painted the others. The way I use Contrast has evolved a bit since I started my Sláine project, but I want these to stay consistent, so I'm sticking to the original technique for now.

This new pack of skull swords gives me nine Drunes in the warband, which is 62 points. Enough for a middling size game. I'm planning on another pack with repeater crossbows and then a couple of Babd to keep Feg safe. I'd like to have about 100 points to play with eventually, for a few options.

For Crom Cruach!