Frostgrave

Frostgrave is the mini hit of the summer, and I have certainly fell under its spell. Part of its appeal was that, like Open Combat, any miniatures could be used. With plenty of Reaper Bones on hand, I bought the rulebook, and passed on the official wizard and soldier minis.

That was the plan, but the book was illustrated with so many beautifully painted miniatures that I gave in and ordered the box of plastic figures from Brigade Games.

The sprues are well stocked with so many options that one could assemble all 20 with no noticeable repetition. The two handed weapons (great sword, battle axe) will be in my next batch.

Here is my planned warband - a Sigilist wizard and his apprentice, both from Reaper. The plastic miniatures are closer to the 28mm standard used by historical manufacturers. In fact, many of their arms and weapons will fit with Gripping Beast's plastic figures. I'll post some examples next week. But as you can see below, many fantasy manufacturers tend towards the taller side of 28mm (really 32mm). The two don't necessarily look out of place together, but there is a noticeable differential. 

I have also been busy assembling some Frostgrave terrain from my Hirst Art blocks. One of the nice things about building ruined terrain is that I don't have to use clamp and guides to line up the blocks straight and true. Buckled walls, gaps and other irregularities are the desired outcome in this case.  

Holy Vindicator

Here's a mini from a friend of mine that got the collecting bug recently. He painted up a neat color scheme (Superman, right?) and I added some washes and highlights.

Minotaurs

Now that the Minotaur is a semi-official PC race for D&D from the online Unearthed Arcana, I thought I should paint up my Reaper Minotaurs in case any of my players wants to try one.  I am generally not opposed to creature races and I generally like "kitchen sink" campaign settings, but...the Minotaur is way out there. 

The is the Minotaur from the first Reaper Bones. Very Greek, looks like something Kratos would fight.

From the second Reaper Bones are these two Minotaurs. On the left, is a failed experiment.  I wanted a white bull as a Minotaur, but I struggled with the armor. I probably should have gone with an iron black look, but a did a blue glaze over chainmail silver and arrived at a neat way to do metallic colors. It still doesn't look right for the bull, but on another figure it would work. On the right is a basic gladiator type, pefect for a PC barbarian or fighter.

And from the back...

Other beastmen types:

The goatmen might make a good substitute for smaller, PC sized Minotaurs. Keeping them as goatmen, you could replace the Goring Rush feature with a Climb feat - move up rocky and sheer surfaces at normal speed.  Less practical than the Minotaur, but a cool companion for a mountain dwarf.