Getting back on track recently, with some more traditional dungeon denizens; to whit - all that creeps and crawls !
A range of the gross, horrifying and down right disgustingly ooze-laden critters that would frighten any self-respecting adventure party, have climbed their way up onto the workbench, and squirmed their way under the paintbrush……
First up, some very Old-School blasts from the past that have been part of the Lead Pile for a very long time - the dungeon low-lifes sculpted by Barry Minot for Pendragon Miniatures:
http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Image:Minot-pen-PD58.jpg
These are a selection of six horrid bug-like things, that although for 25/28mm miniatures, scale well as larger insectoids alongside 15mm:
Now the good news is, that these and all their companions are back in production at the Wargames Design Workshop - that have a great range of long-oop designs, and they are cheap as chips, to coin a phrase !
Alongside offerings from Dixon and QT Miniatures, the Pendragon catalogue is a goldmine of nostalgia - if you like somewhat lumpen, odd-looking minis - just right for my dungeon, I say !
https://wargamesdesignworkshop.co.uk/product-category/our-brands/pendragon/?orderby=price
Well worth a scroll through, if you’re looking for something unusual…..
Accompanying them, and from the same stable, some ‘acid spitters’, that I’ve painted up as a giant caterpillar and a pair of maggots, seen here with two of Alternative Armies’ superlative slugs:
https://wargamesdesignworkshop.co.uk/product/pack-of-3-acid-spitters/
https://www.alternative-armies.com/products/549-giant-slug
Enough to give anyone nightmares ! - I went for a fairly true-to-life paint scheme on these, rather than something more Fantasy-looking, as to me all these sculpts are close enough to pass for the real thing - but I have some more left over in case I want to add more variety later.
Next up, some straightforward Games Workshop plastic spiders and rats - the latter are nice and toothsome, and the former have enough detail to allow you to finesse them as much as you like - I just went with a simplistic yellow-kneed tarantula look - as a confirmed arachnophobe, these also have the advantage of not looking too realistic !
Having made a small water feature earlier, I thought it deserved at least one self-respecting inhabitant, so made use of some 3D printed items I got from a seller on EBay, to produce an octopus, a fearsome land-crab, and a rather glum-looking giant toad:
Finally, for something a bit different, I had a bash at Irregular Miniatures’ 15mm Lurker mini - probably one of the better sculpts in their range - I guess it’s designed for HOTT-like shenanigans, but should not be out of place as a hidden assassin-type in the dungeon - he might not be as creepy as the above, but it is definitely crawling !
Lots of fun was had producing these, and hopefully they will get quite a lot of use as random encounters in any adventure - I think there’s always room for these before introducing anything more exotic.
Talking of exotic, the final flourish is the inclusion of a Plague Icon from Fenris Games, which I’d like to think of as some sort of summoning apparatus for all of the creatures - an object that attracts or sustains them, that could be a plot point that a party might have to destroy or deactivate:
Ostensibly for 28mm, I think another nice fit as an object of interest alongside 15mm:
https://fenrisgames.com/shop#!/FGCTH24-Plague-Icon/p/46775396/category=8719520
Fenris’ stuff is a bit on the pricey side, but always beautifully produced, all sculpts sharp and clean, with some really interesting and unique designs.
Next up, some more Dungeon dressing - namely, Dead Dudes !
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