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Monday, September 10, 2012

Vampire faction - Empire of the Dead

Over the weekend I finally got my first faction finished for Empire of the Dead; the Nosferatu, or Vampire Faction. I present some pictures of how they turned out here:


The whole Faction arrayed, led by the Graf, with Consort and Guardian following, backed up by three Thralls and two Bat swarms.


I must admit I painted this faction first , thinking it would be quicker than the Gentleman's club, as two of the elements to paint, the bats, were pretty much just a quick grey dry brush and black wash and done!

The Gentleman's club is next on the painting table...


The Graf...


The Consort...
The Guardian...
The three Thralls...


The two Bat swarms


And a comparison shot, (for 'the Baron' as requested on Lead Adventure Forum, sorry for delay): just showing how the Brigadegames Paroom Station Prussians, match with the WestWind sculpts:


The Prussian is mounted and a simple steel 20mm washer. I will probably get some of the WestWind 30mm round bases to use as a sabot base while using the Prussians as Zendarians for EotD.

I have so far played a couple of simple games of EotD pitching the Vampires against the Gentleman's club, and they have been great fun. Looking forward to more, and I'll post some pictorial battle reports once the Gentleman's club figures are done.

Just to get enthused for more games I watched a couple of great movies over the weekend;

Van Helsing


Set in 1887, a classic Gothic horror monster bash, embellished with modern day CGI to bring the genre kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
Jackman plays a great and solid part and Beckinsale is always a pleasure to watch her strut her stuff across the screen. I liked the pseudo 'JamesBond' link to set the ball rolling with the 'Cardinal' playing 'M' and David Wenham as the friar 'Q'.
I was really impressed with the versatility Wenham has shown in his acting, from the brooding warrior Faramir in LOTR, to this small scurrying terrified friar. Great stuff.
Vampires, werewolves and Frankensteins monster in one movie - whats not to like. I could even watch this with my young son, who wasn't scared by the monsters who has 'seen it all before'...

From Hell


Set in 1888 London, Depp plays inspector Abberline, trying to solve the Ripper murder case as it progresses through London's Whitechapel area... A much darker and sinister movie than Van Helsing, and not one for the younger viewer. I enjoyed this for it scene setting stuff and inspiration for Victorian London terrain making. I have always enjoyed Depp in the various roles he has played and Robbie Coltrane is another favourite, he plays a great sidekick role.

Two great movies, though differing in style, to enthuse you for a bit of Empire of the Dead gaming!






23 comments:

  1. These look awesome! I've really got to get it in gear with EoD. This post is good inspiration to get my stuff on the painting table.

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    1. Thanks Jerry, it really is a fun little game! :-)

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  2. Beautiful work especially the pale skin.

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    1. Thanks Fran, a subtle change from the regular flesh tones; it was a base colour of GW fortress grey, then the brown wash then worked back up with Fortress grey then final highlight with elf grey which is a very pale blue/grey

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  3. Very nice miniature painting! It must be interesting this EotD game. I hope to see your battle report posts soon!

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    1. Its a great game , and very similar to LOTR SBG in play style so you would easily understand it. Great setting too!

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  4. The Gentleman's club are my favorite-those are going on my wish list. Nice job of painting all these up Scott.

    I've seen From Hell, but not Van Helsing. Now how did I miss something with Hugh Jackman in it, I'll never know!

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    1. Thanks Anne. I am making good progress with Gentlemans club , and may even have a go at doing some plaid
      Ah yes, Mr Jackman, I can understand his rugged appeal, though thankfully I find the charms of Ms Beckinsale far more alluring ;-)

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  5. They look rather dam good mate. I'm painting the Lycaon's at the minute and have the Brotherhood sets to start on.

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    1. Cool, thanks :-) I plan on getting the Lycaons too, and a mate is thinking about the Brotherhood... though he may proxy with his old Mordheim figures...

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  6. I've been thinking about this game too, but so far have resisted! Your warband looks great and indeed those two movies are super!!

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks Chris. Resistance is futile! Give it a go ;-)

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  7. They are wonderful Scott, great job Sir. Two great movies too, although I seem to remember Johnny Depp's 'Mockney' accent a little off putting.

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    1. Thanks Michael :-) I can see where you are coming from but I didn't find it too bad ;-)

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  8. Very cool, Scott! Excellent work on the Faction. (As weird as it sounds I really like the bats!)

    'From Hell' was excellent, but 'Van Helsing'? I found it really, really awful. If Ms Beckinsale had not been in it I probably would have stopped watching - but she compelled me to watch, I couldn't help myself!

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    1. Thanks Curt :-)

      I can see where you are coming from about Van Helsing...

      When they brought out Dracula with Gary Oldman, I loved it and was thrilled the genre would get a modern make over... Frankenstein followed with De Niro, another good one... next came The Mummy, but the focus shifted from one of Horror, to Action/thriller/comedy... still a good movie in itself but no longer 'Gothic horror'... This was the same with Van Helsing... I think I didn't see it first time round because from the trailer it was too 'unbelievable' and again the action romp, rather than horror...

      But now with the EotD game setting, I can enjoy the movie for what it is; a Gothic action romp, with a bit of comedy thrown in... which Beckinsale makes all the more watchable, though I preferred her in Underworld with that rather tight fitting costume... ;-)

      Back to the movies, I am glad they tried to maintain the horror Gothic angle when they re did the Wolfman with Hopkins... which I quite enjoyed until the final showdown of wolfman vs wolfman, which I found a bit silly... I'd have preferred the cliche final silver bullet takes him out...

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    2. Yes, Mlle Beckinsale has single handedly promoted a worldwide appreciation of vinyl garments (Well, half the world anyway...).

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    3. Van Helsing was only good for the eye candy and likewise for Underworld, but nor much more. From Hell was actually an awesome movie and you could probably put some like Sleepy Hollow. nice Gothic Horror.

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    4. Harsh Sir, very harsh! ;-) - I'll have to check out Sleepy Hollow, can't recall if I saw that one...

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