77017: Skeletal Swordsman (Reaper Bones)

[scipio.au]

Since Marouda is building an Undead army for KoW, and was interested in practicing/learning how to paint more gooder, I dug out the undead Bones figures from their first Kickstarter. I'd already knocked up the 6 archers for a missile unit, and so suggested these Swordsmen and Spearmen as easy/simple/fast figures to teach my method of doing bone. It's much easier to paint "naked" skeletons than clothed or armoured ones, that's for sure! They got up to about half done - the point of starting to highlight the bones after base coat and wash, when Marouda chickened out(!) because she was intimidated by picking out the bones, so they sat on my paint desk taking up space for 6 months or so.

Now that I'm starting to paint again, and starting on her Mythic Greek army, I had an idea while cleaning up the Wargames Foundry Greek Undead (think Jason and the Argonauts) and noticed that the Bones Spearmen have Dipylon-style shields. I decided then to pair these bones figures up with the Foundry Undead Swords to make a full unit of 12 (20) for her Kings of War forces. They can obviously do double duty between Mythic Greeks and Generic Undead. Unless of course the Mythic Greeks are fighting the Generic Undead. Then they'll have to choose a side!

 

 

So anyway, there's absolutely nothing special about the paintjobs on these. I finished them off over 2 days that were mostly spent playing Far Cry 4, and the final touch was adding some of Warlord Games' Greek shield transfers and rimming the shields to give them more of a Hoplon look. Since these figures are pretty ...shall we say basic. We chose unexciting transfers for them. They'll be the rear and centre-mid ranks of the unit, and so will mostly be hidden by their nicer Foundry brethren once the unit is set up. They're being shown mostly due to wanting to document what I get done this year a bit better than I did last year, and also to share my opinion on these models. Only changes to the models has been mounting them on Proxie Models 25mm round bases so they fit in with the rest of my armies and doing the usual sand & putty combo - and slicing off the shield bosses to make them look a little more like Hoplon-style shields. Obviously helped a great deal by the transfers, and surprisingly, even more so by the simple act of rimming the shields in a simple Hoplite-style.

 

 

As models go, like many Bones, these do what they say on the tin, in a very basic manner. I'd really only recommend them for roleplayers. If you're playing D&D and want some cheap and cheerful skellys for your adventures, then these are a perfectly serviceable way to go. They even work okay if you're the kind of roleplayer who never paints their models, or just gives them a wash to bring out the detail. For wargamers, and obviously those of us more focused on painting, there are many better options out there. Still, I already owned these, they pass the three-foot test, and they've now gone from Unpainted to Painted, and we know that every time a miniature gets painted, a Kitten gets their Wings, so it's all good.

 

[Baphomet69]

Love the Greek treatment, it definitely evokes "Jason and the Argonauts"!

 

I don't know why, but I never even thought about using transfers or decals on fantasy 28mm...I'm sold!

[buglips*the*goblin]

Nice use of transfers, they look fresh from the hydra's teeth!

[scipio.au]

Yeah, I usually like to freehand shield designs, but I've got a ton of transfers from my Warlord Historicals, and to try and freehand to the degree of those transfers on what are basically low-importance paintjobs on low-importance figures would just be a crazy waste of time. Anyway - the shields look reasonably good and manage to draw the eye away from the Skeletons, so they've done their job there!

[naponatom]

O love the greek treatment, but is there a skeleton of the Beyoncé tribe over there? (the one with the black shield)

[seej]

The shields are great, and definitely add some individual character to them.

[scipio.au]

I understand that the Ancient Greeks were huge fans of both Beyonce and Destiny's Child. And yep, there's a definite influence from Jason and Harryhausen there. 

[Loim]

Really excellent job on these. Thanks for sharing. 

[CashWiley]

I understand that the Ancient Greeks were huge fans of both Beyonce and Destiny's Child. And yep, there's a definite influence from Jason and Harryhausen there.

I also see the Cornelia Marie's emblem in there.

[scipio.au]

I had to google that one!