The Cynical Seven - Desperados Gang

"The liquor's all gone boys..."

Finished up my Desperados gang for Dead Man's Hand. Just a few pics to share as I didn't get too many to turn out that great. :-/ These guys took me awhile, but they were fun to paint. Hopefully just as fun to play.

 

Definitely my favorite set of minis from Great Escape Games. I love the great variety of the figs, each seems to have a story to tell. From the post Civil War veterans, the gunslinger, to the Mexican and Native American members. Still working on their individual names. :-)

They'll be hanging out south of the border for now. Hoping to get my first game in soon. I've got a few things I can borrow from my WW2 North Africa terrain, but should get some more done in the next few months. Working on some DMH tokens as well.

Cheers,

Jason

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Tacos, Rum, and Pirates!

"Abandon hope all ye who enter here..."

"Jacob you swab, urry up. It's late in the afternoon."

Jacob looked up the hill at his fellow cutthroat Gillman. "You always a' worrying Gilly. Oh, It's getting dark, you spilled salt, it don't look right." Jacob laughed as he moved a crate.

Gilly sneered back which abruptly stopped as he saw new sails past their ship on the horizon. "Whosis' that mate?..." Gilly pointed.

Jacob looked up and saw the triangle sails of a small vessel. Barbary pirates for sure. "Thistles and blood, Captain Payne is gonna need us back to arms" Jacob spat. "We need to leave".

Jacob then turned and looked past Gillman to see an open chest. "Gilly you crab, don't be opening the booty. We need to go."

Gillman looked back at the chest. Gold treasure sparkled in the late sun. He turned back to Jacob "I didn't open it ya swab, you forgot to shut it."

"No he didn't" came a crackly dry rasp.

Both Jacob and Gillman turn to look up the hill past the chest into the cemetery ruins. Sailors with dark clothes began to walk toward them. Jacob and Gillman pulled their swords but almost dropped them in horror as the approaching sailors came closer into view.

"Open the rest" the dry rasp came again from the dark sailor fanning his sword. Then, his tricorn hat turned up to reveal a skull for his head. His whole body was just a skeleton beneath his shambling pirate-ware.

The undead pirate tilted it's skull and pointed his sword, "And no, you two will not be leaving..."

 

 

A few Fridays ago my buddies Chris, Eric, and I got together for a little pre 4th of July fun. We ate some yummy tacos, played a quick game of Pirate Dice, drank some margaritas and rum, turned on some sweet tunes, and spent the evening in the Age of Pirates. 💀

 

Eric wrote the nice intro story above and set up the scenario. A basic treasure grab with five chests spread across the island topped with an old abandoned (not really 👻) graveyard. Four contained items we could use, the fifth contained snakes! (YIKES) Whichever pirate crew possessed the most treasure at the end of ten turns won. :-)

 

As mentioned in the previous post, we used a home brew set of rules we call "Age of Pirates," and the same pirate crew set up. Fifteen total with a captain, quartermaster, three mates, and ten crew/cutthroats. Again, every captain had a special rule along with the quartermaster having a special item or rule as well.

 

Coming to shore in their ships (both equipped with working cannons) was Chris's Barbary pirates lead by Captain Sayyida al-Hurra and Eric with Captain Robert Payne and Payne's Company. Guarding the island graveyard and the treasure was none other than Grim's Shadows lead by Captain Captain Grimaldus Shade. 💀

 

After a super fun evening, ten turns of pirate on pirate action, and lots of laughs and fist bumps... Grim's Shadows held three treasure chests while the other crew each held one. Both Captain Payne and Sayyida al-Hurra feel to the blades of Captain Grim and his crew. 💀💀

 

Thanks again to Eric and Chris for the awesome times and great game! It took a few years to get Grim's Shadows back into action again. Hopefully there will be more spooky adventure again soon. :-)

 

Enjoy all the pics!

 

Jason 💀

 

 

The cruel Barbary pirates come to shore.

Pirate dogs are the best!

"They say Captain Payne can't be killed..."

Blunderbuss!!

Oh noes! Another blast!

I spy more pirate action in the future! :-)

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Grim's Shadows

 Fifteen men on the dead man's chest

Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! 

 

Meet Captain Grimaldus Shade and his shadowy crew. "Captain Grim", his Quarter(Necro)master Ezra Nyte, and his three Skull Mates lead their skeleton crew on eternal adventures on the dark seas.

Captain Grim (right) & Ezra Nyte with his special spyglass (left)

The three Skull Mates

I painted these Black Scorpion miniatures rather quickly before going to AdeptiCon in 2019. I was my first time trying a black and white monochrome color scheme. I relied mostly on the Andrea Color black paint set, which made the process go even quicker. All in all, they turned out just fine and have great visual effect on the tabletop. :-)

The Shadows

My friends John and Eric put on a huge multiplayer "treasure grab" type pirate game that year. Although my newly painted Shadow Pirates didn't fair too well, it was tons of fun all the same. We used a home brew skirmish rules set that are based heavily the Age of Sigmar ruleset. Everyone brought a crew of fifteen that included a Captain, Quartermaster, three Mates, and ten crew. Each captain had his or her own special rule and the Quartermaster might have a special item/something as well.

AdeptiCon 2019

I finally got to take semi-descent photos of these guys today. The black/grey scheme and stark contrast to the sandy bases makes it hard for the pics to turn out right against a black or white background. Red seemed to work better.

"Dead men tell no tales..."

I recently got the chance to break them out for a game again, but more on that later... This post can serve an introduction of sorts. Someday maybe I can actually paint up a ghost ship for Captain Grim and Company. ;-)

Cheers,

Jason

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Viking Bondi and Priestess

Now in color!

Adding 8 more Viking Bondi ("Warriors" in Saga Age of Vikings) to my Viking Warband. This time with color. ;-) You might remember, my original warband has all black and white shields. The plan all along was to eventually paint up another warband, etc. with colorful shields and mix the two. The ultimate goal is to have a large skirmish force as well as a small army (using movement bases) for Hail Caesar! games.

After doing much of nothing hobby-wise last year and packing and moving, Wargames Foundry Vikings are always great fun to paint. They certainly help build some painting momentum when you're having trouble getting going again. :-)

 

I always find it funny that the "Bondi," the Norse farmers and tradesmen, are the fashion darlings of my army. The Hirdmen are mostly covered in chain-mail, but these guys and gals get to show it all off. :-) The only thing that slows down the painting process is picking out the outfits for each fig. Ha!

Along with the hobby drought, its been awhile taking pics and using my light box, so I'm afraid these didn't turn out the best (The WIP photo from the previous post is probably better). All in all, I'm pleased with the new recruits, and I'm hoping to try out packs of 12 warriors in future Viking Age Saga games. Taking full advantage of "Valhalla" on my battle board.

Along with the 8 Bondi, a new Viking Warlord has been hanging out on my painting desk for awhile. She might have to wait a bit longer, but I'm keen to get her and her standard bearer painted all the same.

Throwing in a couple of pics of my Viking Priestess (the new ones didn't turn out :-/ ). I painted her awhile ago, but haven't shared her on here I think. Fun fact: the little rock with the runestones on the back of her base was saved from the "Old Hag" mini that was part of my original Viking army for Warhammer Ancient Battles.

 

Sacrifices were made...

Vito Corleone would be proud

Well, on to finishing up my Old West gang and maybe some WW2 Hungarians after that. More on that later though. ;-)

Cheers,

Jason

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