is actually relatively recent, delivered in around December 2024. They're also pretty unified in aesthetic, drawing on Woodwose and Green Man imagery from around Europe.
For the Woodwoses (and the Demi-buer), I wanted to do something experimental. I knew I wanted them to be wielding bronze weapons and shields, implying a primitive naturalism, but for their skin tones I wanted to try something out. I intend to basecoat using a variety of greens, then hit them with a fleshtone wash, highlight with the same green + an off white (Elfic Flesh). I figured it might create a greenish-tone flesh effect, something like what
.
That didn't really work, though - it just made the green go brown because of the reddish tinge in the flesh wash. So after this didn't work as expected on the first two, I shifted to using thinner and more targeted washing and it turned out much better - as you'll see.
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| Demi-buer |
The Demi-buer comes from Ana's earlier Folk Horror kits. I love this little weirdo and have been looking forward to painting him for years - just couldn't decide how. Finally making a decision felt very good, and he took no time at all to come together. Look at this little freak. Hell yeah.
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| Woodwose |
The first Woodwose sculpt, and the first experiment with the greens. I love how he came out, and I really like his tarnished, bronzed shield.
I initially kept the greens I used in a little pile, intending to name them with each miniature in this blog post but uh... have now forgotten which was which. So it's a mystery for all time.
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| Woodwose |
The leaves on that shield turned out nicely, didn't they? These were done with more traditional greens, dark then wash then highlight then glaze, as a way to tie everyone together (and with the 'shaman', see below).
You can see a little scrumpchy bit where the varnish did something horrible; I've now fixed that, don't worry.
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| Woodwose |
I think this guy's base was Citadel's Moot Green, and you can see that it's where I got careful about the shading so that he turned out bright as hell. Hell yeah.
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| Woodwose |
My favourite of the Woodwose sculpts, hands down.
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| Woodwose |
I love his beard, even if it conceals his dick.
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| Woodwose |
I think this was Vallejo's Green Brown maybe? Much browner and earthier than the others, but really love the colour in the end.
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| Beastfolk |
God
damn these sculpts rule. I painted these up using
Wilhelm's now-old pestigor tutorial, one of my favourite methods of doing bruised, mutant, odd flesh. I wasn't sure what to do with their eyes, so I kept them white - and then in the end that created such a wonderful, creepy effect that I just kept them like that.
Can't emphasise how
wonderful the experience of painting these was.
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| Treefolk and Idol |
This whole post is going to be me gushing about the sculpts, in case you aren't already aware.
I modified Wilhelm's tutorial for these treefolk, going ligher on the dark colours and using more green washes and glazes. I deliberately kept the model I think of as the chief (whitebeard) lighter and paler, to emphasise his age and dark wisdom.
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| Treefolk |
This figure isn't gendered in the slightest, but I think of it as female - possibly the lack of beard!
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| Treefolk |
I sort of kept their faces a bit bluer to emphasise that the aren't carved wood, but actual people-things, and I think it works..?
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| Green Man Idol |
This isn't an idol, but a living, animate thing. For Mordheim, I would use this as a Shaman (see below), but it could work for loads of different things in other horror games.
I really enjoyed going to town with washes, glazes, gentle dybrushing and some terrain effects on the stonework, making the thing an ancient and glistening stone, wet with rain and other things. The green of the idol itself is the same as the shields.
The effect of the face seeming both living and inanimate is all the sculpt. Ana knows her stuff.
pleased with all those water stains!
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| Treefolk |
I think of this as the chief, with his big bushy beard and more weapon-like limbs. Not much else to say - the wash-heavy techniques mean that all the work is in the sculpt itself. I'm just the delivery mechanism.
So, these were finished back in early September. I think had the next guys on the table, doing them in bits and pieces between some Heresy Death Guard:
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| Folk Horrors warband |
These aren't
all of Ana's folk horrors - I still have some decision paralysis! - but it is a big chunk of them. Inspired by folk costumes across Europe, I love how ambiguous much of the range is. Are they horrible Warhammer-style mutants? Weirdo cultists? Regular folk engaging with their historical traditions? Who knows...
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| Herons - Death |
When I started doing these, I promised myself I would push away from my favourite colours and techniques and then immediately didn't do that. I did manage to not paint the skulls of these two in the obvious bone - the left is a few layers of blood effects (
something I've done before) and the one on the right is a few layers of yellow washes and glazing. I was in a
Sun Rot mood.
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| Heron - Death |
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| Heron - Death |
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| Herons |
The robes for all six Herons were done in layers of washes, going very hard to try to get a unclean black effect like the one I achieved for
Mother Skaïth. It didn't work quite as well, probably because I was impatient and didn't let the layers dry properly. They still turned out okay, and it's more interesting than the usual black/grey or black/blue.
I did wind up painting all the skulls bone, though.
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| Heron - Deer |
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| Heron - Horse |
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| Heron - Cow |
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| Heron - Stork |
..except this guy, where I got an interesting red and creepy yellow eye going, good for me.
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| Bellmen |
Based on southern European folk costumes, these were some of my favourites to paint. After a little agonizing, I went with the
Wilhelm Method again for their skin and fur; are they horrible monsters with greyish fur, or are they men in nightmarish costumes? What's with those hooves..?
Bronze for the clubs and decorations; this ties them in with the Sylvan warband, letting me mix both groups for various horror games (thinking specifically of Sun Rot, actually).
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| Bellman |
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| Bellman |
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| Bellman |
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| Bellman |
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| Rag Devils |
These are apparently based on Hungarian Busó costumes. The masks are wooden and a single piece, so I decided to see if I could get a solid, warm, tone - which I think I managed. The teeth are painted an off-white, and we can't see what's under them... are the black gloves and feet cloth, or flesh? They're based on Google Image results for the costumes, but...
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| Rag Devil |
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| Rag Devil |
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| Rag Devil |
Love this guy's expression!
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| Bezub |
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| Hiver |
Bezub and Hiver were painted together, probably to be run as Mutants or Possessed in Mordheim. I really love Hiver, who is apparently based on a Croation folk costume. I've painted their bodies as fur and the heads similarly as they're so close in design (although Bezub is clearly straw and not a beehive). The implication is the Bezub is a child, which is pretty grim. If you feel weird, maybe he's a halfling.
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Sixhorn
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Sixhorn was very simple - white, little drybrushing, and then claws and horns using the washes technique from - you guess it, the Wilhelm Method. It lets them come out a little more organic than my usual bone/horn techniques...
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| Roga |
Which was very important for Roga, who is 90% horn by volume. I was really anxious about her at first, but I trusted the wash method and it worked out really, really well. (her skin was also done with that technique, of course).
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| The Ooser |
Similar to the Rag Devils, this horrible guy is based on the
English Ooser mask. His red is a little more faded than the Devils' and his mask has been painted. He clearly has no arms, and it's unclear if he's a horrible spirit or a guy in a really uncomfortable costume.
I don't know where I got the idea that the mask itself was yellow and I'm not completely happy with it - but it's painted and it's striking enough for a warband leader.
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| Bear |
This was a fun one. I hesitated over doing this for a while, as I lost confidence in my original plan of 'use some of your brown contrast paints'. Bringing up some images of brown bears on a photo site eased by concerns, and he took about twenty minutes to paint (if we exclude drying times). A flat brown on the pads then hitting him with various contrasts, lighter on the head and belly, letting them overlap here and there, and then an overall thinned brown wash. Black claws, dark brown nose. Done.
..except there is a rectangular gap under the head with a vaguely fleshy tone in it. This I did with a few washes, highlighted white and then a medium glossy varnish. It doesn't photograph well, but it does make the thing unsettling if you look too closely.
This is clearly a slightly worn bear costume, but... is it a
person wearing it?
Anyway, I've also sketched together some Mordheim warbands for these two gangs. They would also work in Sun Rot, Verrotwood, Forbidden Psalm or any of a range of horror/fantasy skirmish games. Very pleased to finally have these done!
Sylvan Warband (Beastmen)
Chief (Treekin): 2 x club
Shaman (Idol): Knife
Bestigor (Treekin): Club, knife
Bestigor (Treekin): Club, sword*
3 x Gor (Beastfolk): Two-handed clubs
6 x Ungor: Club, shield
1 x Chaos Hound
TOTAL: Depends on whether my opponents accept my representation of the gear!
*The clawed hand looks like it could catch a blade to represent the parry.
Folk Horrors (Cult of the Possessed)
Magister (Ooser): Knife
2 x Possessed (Sixhorn + Rosa): Knives + mutations
2 x Mutants (Hiver + Bezub): Knives + mutations
2 x Darksouls (Bellmen): Club, shield
2 x Darksouls (Bellmen): Two-handed clubs
4 x Brethren (Herons): Knives (maybe swords?)*
2 x Brethren (Death): Knives (maybe clubs?)*
3 x Beastmen: Two-handed clubs**
TOTAL: Depends on whether my opponents accept my representation of the gear and
*The Herons could have swords (for the pointy heads) or clubs (for the round heads). For the literal-minded, the gear is under the robes; otherwise it's just easy to remember visually!
**One has two big fists instead, but the other two have clubs and - hear me out - if it bothers you, pretend he fights like William Shatner.
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