The Forest (Early Paint Stage)

Well "The Forest" project is (despite taking 4 days holiday) in full swing. I had 27 new minis arriving so I needed to make sure I had painted at least 27.

The terrain is on hold for a day or two until I decide how I am going to base things*. In my old French Indian Dino Wars phase I had big MDF bases with tubes to slot the tree trunks into; but I am thinking I may individually base the trees.  I tend to also (nowdays) build terrain around storage i.e. can I break it down easily to fit into those A4-width clear office boxes.  

*Any links to good Youtubes of quick forest building is appreciated. No, I will not be hand-making my own trees. No, the trees will not be based on elaborate dioramas that take hours per tree.  I spend an afternoon or two, max - for the whole table. I actually plan to play on my table.

'The Forest' is an ancient, Grimms-style forest, dotted with the ruins of an ancient civilization. I am going to remake a 4x4 forest table, which has ruin entrances. If my men go into the entrance, the game moves to a underground 4x4 table (which I've been using a lot recently). Each biome has different roaming monsters. Games will be typical looking for warpstone relics but as I play with my kids I tend to GM scenarios as we go. 

I kinda envision Pripyat/Chernobyl "The Zone" relic hunting but instead it's medieval "The Forest." I imagine my mercenaries speaking with Russian accents. Here is a nicer description of my project's Excel sheet...

 

I discovered some Mantic skellies during a shed clean. Surprisingly annoying to paint (faint detail) but will be useful monsters/undead warband members....

 

The factions will be:

*Mercenaries/Adventurers. Morally ambiguous. Want loot.

Royal Troops. Tend to frown on incursions into prohibited zone. Maybe spare MESBG rangers. 

*Evil Baron's Men. Well equipped party looking for powerful artifacts. Lots of horses and plate.

Order of Mages. A handful of magicians (WA) and some more lightly armed retainers.

*Crusaders. Maybe some Sisters to please my daughter (and allow Mordheim compatability). 

*Witch Hunters. Anything suspicious will be purged. With fire.  Maybe a sprue of flagellants?

All these generic medieval troop factions are all mostly going to be a box each of WA Conquistadors/Guards, maybe a Frostgrave wizard sprue. $125 Wargames Atlantic

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Barbarians. Tribesman living on/in forest. Vikings with more bows and fur. 

Any of my spare vikings/peasants/Saxons, maybe a few Frostgrave barbarian sprues for more furry cloaks and some female representation. $30 Frostgrave

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Elves. Not keen on humans messing with 'Powers that Should not be Awoken.'

Maybe a box of Oathmark light elves - I don't want to use MESBG's iconic style but can proxy them in the interim if needed. $50

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Goblins. Whilst having unpleasant hygiene and no social skills, these are persecuted refugees who have fled human settlements. Short lived,  lightly armed, but resourceful and very numerous.

Oathmark goblin slaves. The raggedy ones. $50 Oathmark

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*Spider/Wolf Cultists. Collect relics. Enjoy chanting and sacrificing with friends. Often have extra limbs. 

I really really wanted the Warcry spider cultists (I have heaps of MESBG spiders) but I'm going to have to kitbash my own extra arms using my Frostgrave cultist box as they are apparently OOP. I may have some barbarian-themed werewolf cultists too. $0

Tidied up and rebased some cannibals. Not sure where these come from but again; will be useful dungeon fodder or as undead ghouls.

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*Necromancers. Misunderstood, these guys really value the sanctity of human life. They don't think any humans should be risked in the search for knowledge in The Forest. ....Yes, I suppose there is that whole zombie thing.

I have  some rather large Fireforge undead peasants who were pressed into service from local village graveyards, and have just got some Frostgrave vampires... $80 Frostgrave/Fireforge

 

These random minis make 37 painted this week for The Forest. So despite my new purchases I am +10 up in the scheme of things. (I always try to paint more than what I buy). The lead mountain is shrinking steadily from it's pre COVID peak.

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Monsters. At the moment I am scouring through my bitz boxes, and have unearthed a real kitchen sink assortment. Wolves and eagles, skeletons: sure - but I have also found some 15mm aliens to be scurrying carnivorous beetle-thingies, some rats (meant to be Skaven pets) and a wild pig. Pity my Tyrannid gaunts have sci fi bases as one of those would be a terrifying opponent in a dark forest.  Maybe 3D print a big snake...

Some bears on my wish list - as they also can double up in MESG. $25 3D print

*As you can see, I can use most of the minis for my not-Mordheim/Vermintide game I have planned....