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Meet Salchow and Lutz! Lutz there was originally marketed as Space Dwarf Leader 2, from Black Cat Bases' Moonfleet Miniatures line (The same line that produces the Mole People from Sirius/Smoggers, http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/83535-spacefuture-mole-people-from-sirius-mortar-crew-black-cat-smoggers/&tab=comments#comment-1770652). I got him along with Space Dwarf Leader 1 whom I repurposed as a zeppelin commander ( http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/82097-pic-heavy-zeppelin-crew-feat-59041-deadlands-noir-patent-scientist/&tab=comments#comment-1740661 ) This little bearded fellow with peaked cap, shoulder tabs and an absurdly oversized gun makes a dandy Soviet guard. His comrade Salchow is from Brigade Games, BG-AWE013, listed as"Woman with pistol, winter coat/hat" and I wasn't about to pass up that fine Eastern European fur hat! I painted her up with garish paisleys, grey hair, and a pinched greyish face. She is a good spy/infiltrator mini. Very small though, even for 25mm scale. And here's a group shot of the Slavic/Eastern European pulp crew!

More nautically-inclined figures! This beautifully-sculpted old salt is from Artizan's Thrilling Tales: Curse of Fairhaven. (He also comes in a 3-pack of Eccentrics, if you also want a swami and a top-hatted vagrant with a meathook.) I give you: Mad Jack the Lighthouse Keeper! The next two are from Black Cat's Fishermen. Old Elias, forever with pipe in hand, and Dockside Dan, a handy man with a chain who will not take anyone disrespecting the sweater his old ma knitted for him. And lastly, the cabin boy, Mikey. He was part of a cheap, poorly pre-painted ArtMinds Diorama Family Set that I got on impulse (because 4/5ths of them are EXACTLY the Rick and Morty family, and Reaper has a Mad Scientist that is exactly Rick). This is the fifth guy; I didn't repaint him, but those eyes are perfect for a young man from Innsmouth before the Change takes place.

Some more fine citizens of Innsmouth! These are from Black Cat's line of Deep One Hybrids. Casting quality is sometimes an issue with Black Cat, but in the case of these horrible chums, that's more of a feature than a bug. Here's a couple more employees of the fish-packing plant: And some of the local fishermen/fishmen. BONUS! For a Call of Cthulhu game, I made a business card:

The Red Planet is home to more than just the age-old Martians and the newly-arrived Reds. Its sands--and the sands of many another planet, and the echoing, dripping corridors of many an abandoned spacecraft--are home to the fearsome Crawlers. An ancient and cosmopolitan species of non-host-specific invertebrate parasitoids, they are a Galacteer's worst nightmare. Much smarter than a mindless hive, much more vicious than any technological peoples, they seek out new life and new civilizations and promptly turn them into incubators and meat. They have enough intelligence to hate you personally, but neither ego nor sense of self-preservation enough to fear you. It is unclear if they are sentient as we understand the term; certainly, it is not a sentience that produces art or invention, literature or recognizable religion. They are aware of their incessant, gnawing hunger, and desire to expand, infest, spawn, and devour. They do not make, but repurpose and appropriate the works of others to further this goal. Spacefaring cultures tell stories of the distress beacon recently activated on a centuries-old derelict; the spacesuit, mirrored-visored, reaching out to you with no heat signature; the colony always advertising free land for new colonists, but never sending back video feed. It is not impossible that they are the descendants of an ancient bioweapons program. Specimen 80040, the 'Primarch' caste. Psionically control other castes; can mindjack or psychically blast humanoids as well. Astral Flensing is said to be a fate worse than death. Specimen 50062, "Exarch" caste: Specimen 80038, "Centurion" caste. The scythes on a full-grown member of this caste can bisect a Titanian shellback in one stroke. Oh. Oh no. That's not a Martian academician at all. That's a grotesque travesty of the Martian form, still wearing its host's formal robes. Specimen 50288, a member of the "Mastermind" caste, newly eaten free of its host/prison/chrysalis. And here's a new specimen, this one with crushing pincers. Its paralytic tentacles are currently withdrawn, but its ovipositor is unsheathed and ready to implant a stream of glistening eggs. (This is Black Cat Bases' 'Craboid Alien,' whose carapaced form seemed similar enough to use.) They can't survive on Venus and they've never been reported from Europa and that's about the only good things you can say about them. Here's a serious infestation:

More of the Mole People!! Here we have this faction's Deep Command: the clan's chief, the loyal bodyguard with a blunderbuss, and their local religio-thaumatic hierophant. I wanted the robes of the chief and hierophant to reflect their elevated and sanctified positions. Again, look at all the expressiveness on that chieftain just from the body language! And here are some Mission Specialists: the Far-Scanner, the Demolitions Expert, and the Aerosol Medic. (The sculptors probably wanted that guy to be a suicide bomber, but this is MY game here.) And here's the whole crew! Again, wonderful little pig-rats, and a faction that doesn't come pre-packaged with decades of cultural resonance. Welcome to New Xibalba!

Black Cat Bases has a "Mr. Big" in their civilians/townsfolk line, and I thought he'd do fine as John Barlow, businessman, impresario, patron of the arts, and nightclub owner. Our investigative journalist in the peach dress, and the newsy hanging about, are again from Murch's Pulp News Hounds. The young flapper in the peacock ensemble is from Eureka. She was actually one of the first minis I tried freehanding! You can tell Mr. Barlow's patience with Miss Imelda's questions (regarding how, exactly, his new venture is being funded) is running short.

Maybe the butler DID do it! He's got shifty eyes, and with employers like this...plenty of motive. Butler is from Black Cat townsfolk, if memory serves. Lord Snoblaugh there is one of Eureka's Pax Limpopo personalities, Wellyn Shaftesbury. (chaise-longue is also Eureka), and we all know and love 60036, the Visbaronetness.

And here we see the manor's inhabitants and staff outside on their spacious grounds. Sir Autumnheath and Rigsby the gamekeeper are played by an RAFM Call of Cthulhu Professor and a Black Cat Townsfolk, respectively. Meg the chauffeuse and Mister Price the groundskeeper are again from Artizan's laudably expressive Thrilling Tales. The car is a Star Wars-themed promotional vehicle, but the lines seemed perfect for the subject. "I say, Rigsby, almost had that dashed fox, what?" "Went to earth in Betton Woods, he did, sir, and if you'll take my advice, sir, that's where you'll leave him. The folk around here tell some queer tales about this place, and won't none of them venture in after dark, not for love nor money neither." "Superstitious twaddle, Rigsby; gin-addled old wives' tales. We 'boys of the bulldog breed' are made of sterner stuff, I should hope!" "Ay, sir, but all the same it don't feel canny. Air smells off somehow here." "Evenin's comin' on, Meg. His Nibs ain't back yet?" "Nay, Mr. Price; Himself took off a-hunting down yonder with the gamekeeper out by Bettonstowe." "That's powerful close to Betton Wood, innit? Won't no good come to the master nor anyone, he goes a-pokin' in there." "..." "Egads, Rigsby, what is THAT? SHOOT IT!" "I am shootin', sir! It don't do no good! Run, sir!" "Suppose as it might be good to go and fetch 'em, afore aught comes to harm, eh Meg?" "Suppose as you might be right, Mr. Price." Also featuring a very special guest appearance from an RAFM Dark Young, and Reaper's own Cairn Wraith as the Statue.