Workbench Update - Yet More Work in Progress.

We seem to have several different strands and ideas going on at the moment with different projects our group keep discussing. The ideas range from WW2 skirmish (we now effectively have enough figures painted for anything up to platoon level, even pushing to company level with a little more work!) to Darkest Africa (the Zombie Master has a large amount painted already) via the occasional fantasy figure (probably for RPG stuff) or Rob's 15mm Sci-Fi game.

In among this I have still managed to add bits and pieces to the growing collection of Dark Ages stuff. I would guess we now have enough painted figures to be getting stuck into a few games (approx 80 vikings and 60 saxons plus a handful of villagers) and really want to actually get gaming with them! Other than one playtest game, "The Battle of Ulvik Fjord" we haven't really had much chance to schedule in a proper session. Perhaps over the Christmas period...

 Anyway I thought I would put a quick update of a few bits and bobs I have going on in the background.

First up is a few Viking horsemen I previously picked up from Simon of The Big Red Bat Cave.

I have cleaned, based and undercoated the five of these chaps so far. They are pretty far down the list of 'stuff to do' but I thought I would make a start. Nice Foundry figures that don't seem to be available anymore, so many thanks to Simon for them.

Next is the old Citadel C28 FF12-2 Mountain Giant with Battle Axe.

Really like this figure - not a great paint job (one of my old attempts) but passable. I have now based him so just a little bit left to do. And yes, that's a couple of Scorpion Men in the background.

Next is the progress I have made on the Foundry cart.

Based and first layers of colours done. As you can see, I based the two oxen together on a round base and the cart on its own one. I wanted to seperate them from the cart itself in case the scenario demanded it and felt it offered a bit of flexibility.

Really enjoying working on this!

Finally a quick snap of the 'Metal Chocolate Box Lid of Painting' and the delights held within.

In the selection above are the Monks of Glastonbury from my previous post plus a menagerie of various Foundry and Gripping Beast farm animals and the next batch of Saxon villagers, again a mix of Foundry and GB. At the back/right of the shot are the two Reaper werewolves. Still not progressed on the first one but finally got around to basing and glueing the second one. He took a bit more work as his right arm fits at a funny angle - I managed to avoid pinning but needed a copious amount of greenstuff to get it looking right!

Workbench Update - The Black Monks of Glastonbury.

Not a lot done lately but finally made a start on the Redoubt monks. Whilst browsing various figure manufacturers to add to the lead mountain I found yet more monks to add to the growing congregation!

Brother Thomas (on the right) and the newly arrived Brother Cuthbert lead the monks in prayer.

The new recruits joining the Redoubt monks are the 'Brothers of Shrewsbury Abbey' from the Black Tree Design Feudal Characters range. They are Brother Cuthbert and the three from the front row in the middle. They are really nice sculpts and could pass in pretty much any period.

 Cardinal Bertrand and the monks.

So far I have only managed to base them and get the basic flesh done but they looked so characterful I couldn't help take a couple of pictures! Cardinal Bertrand is probably dressed slightly too late for the dark ages period we are setting out games in but I thought I might as well paint him up too as I was working on the rest. With the black undercoat they currently look a little like a group of particularly serious Benedictine monks. Brother Thomas looks much like a Franciscan friar in his brown robes. This of course made me think of the classic book/film 'The Name of the Rose.'

Brother Thomas investigates the murder of Brother Adelmo whilst the horrified monks look on...

The story takes place in Northern Italy, during the early 14th Century A.D. Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his novice Adso of Melk (narrating as an old man) arrive at a Benedictine abbey where a mysterious death has occurred ahead of an important theological Church conference. William, known for his deductive and analytic mind, confronts the worried Abbot and gains permission to investigate the death – a young illuminator appears to have committed suicide. Over the next few days, several other bizarre deaths occur, and the two gradually discover that everything is not what it seems in the abbey.

Diabolic? Murder at the Abbey!

The title of this blog entry comes from an old Ars Magica supplement about the famous Glastonbury Abbey, a house of the black robed Benedictines since Saint Dunstan instituted it in the tenth century. The monks have fallen to diabolic corruption that threatens to overwhelm them all.