Eventually, I reach the focus of my Frostgrave project, the magic users Mizuki and Ryuhime.
Frostgrave is all about the Wizard in charge.
Even the Apprentice, unquestionably the second most important figure in the game, is an extension of the Wizard, rules mechanically speaking. Every other character on the board is an expendable mook.
It was suggested to me that the Frostgrave “Illusionist” would suit a ninja Smoke Out vibe, so I decided to go with that.
I figured that I have played very many games where magic users are glorified weapons platforms, so a style over substance type would be also more memorable, so Mizuki and Ryuhime are illusionists.
L to R: Citadel, Clan War, Citadel, Hasslefree, Citadel
As most of my Shonen Knives models are old Citadel miniatures I had originally planned to use old Citadel figures as my Wizard and Apprentice. None of the Citadel figures that I could get my hands on currently were as good a match as I had hoped though.
Conveniently, fellow Scale Creeps Antipixi and Captain Crooks each supplied me with figures for the project, two of which turned out to be precisely the sorts of models that I was looking for to lead the buntai.
Ryuhime
Ryuhime – the Apprentice – is a dainty Hasslefree sculpt. The fine detail is as sharp as I expect from Hasslefree figures and the pose and outfit are perfect for my purposes.
Like Mizuki, Ryuhime is apparently unarmed, but that’s ok. The Frostgrave rulebook mentions that Illusionists often do not appear to be carrying weapons, seemingly forming their armament from thin air.
Mizuki – “Rivers of blood and mountains of corpses will not stand in our way.”
SPOILER: the following contains spoilers for 47 Ronin (2013)
Two factors made this Clan Wars/Legend of the Five Rings “Demon Bride of Fu Leng” model a shoo-in for my magic user:
“Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?” “Not a chance!” said the giant insect.
1) “Beauty” and “Monstrous Form” – each spells that make the caster difficult to target or approach – are a mainstay of the Frostgrave Illusionist spellbook. The Demon Bride of Fu Leng model manages to be simultaneously beautiful and monstrous, perfect.
Being in the middle of metamorphosis also explains a little of the height difference between the 30mm Clan Wars range and the short, old school figures that make up much of the rest of the force. Its like, totally magic dude.
“Dont… freakin’… move… There is a… massive… spider on your hand!”
2) 47 Ronin is a flawed but entertaining movie with some lovely production design and costumes. I wanted this model to echo one of the parts of the movie that I enjoyed most.
For me, one of the highlights of the film was the shapeshifting witch and the incorporation of her kimono into the special effects showing her powers. At the end of the movie the character changes into a dragon for a boss battle, as shown below:
I liked the idea of my magic user model possibly being in the midst of a shift from human form to dragon form. Because I wanted to lock down what colours the various parts of my dragons body were before I painted my Sorceress in mid morph, I painted my Celestial/Oriental Dragon beforehand.
I don’t know if the visual connection will ever be used as a plot hook in one of my games, but it was a pleasing part of the process anyway.
Although I was painting these two figs in my free time for a week or so, I still ended up having to rush them a little to get them ready for gaming get-together. The floral motifs of the kimonos on these figures are a bit crude as a result. Onwards and upwards, I hope to get that sort of motif looking a little tighter then next time, but for now it will have to do.
Yet more pseudo-feudal Japanese, pop-culture themed toy soldiers next time.
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2016, Fantasy, Frostgrave, Shonen Knives |
sho3box 
I really like how they turned out. The green blends into your warband while popping out as a contrast colour at the same time.
Very nice mesh with the dragons too.
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Thanks hosercanadian!
Green is part of the palette on the majority of the models, but just a very small part. The plan from the beginning was to incorporate some green robes onto some characters, to make them stand out while still not breaking the palette.
It was fun to do that with these two 🙂
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They look great, very nice work.
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Thanks Warburton 🙂
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They look superb, fabulous shade of green.
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Thanks mikeland82.
I have a fondness from painting that acid green, so it ends up featuring somewhere in most of my projects.
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Stunning cheetor! This pair provides a lovely focus for the force visually and thematically. I love the fact that the green robes instantly push these to the front, with the ninja and Samurai dropping back into the shadows.
Great job.
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To date the ninja are the only miniatures in the force that do not feature that green somewhere as a spot colour. I was tempted to work it in somewhere but I couldn’t find a way that didn’t seem very contrived.
But essentially the green was intended to be present on most figures and occasionally used more on characters.
Being reserved with that part of the palette until now paid off I think.
I’m glad that you like them axiom 🙂
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Having seem them first hand I can confirm they look as good in-hand as they do here. The tightly controlled palette on the entire band keeps these two gals linked as part of the force while obviously being the big cahoonas of the group. Great work.
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The morphing sculpt was a happy coincidence and tie-in with 47 Ronin was something that I made up as I went along.
I can take full credit for the green character thing though. Projects like this are ALL about a planned out and rigidly applied palette. I get a kick out of these two being the first proper realisation of that aspect though.
Thanks for the feedback Mr S.
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Lovely! Looking forward to seeing these in the lead and putting some musket balls in them.
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Its so on Mikko. Pirates Vs Ninja can only have one result.
Make peace with your ancestors outlander…
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This calls for a classic reply: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anEuw8F8cpE
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Oh man, these are soooo good. Love the green ‘n’ purple, love the detail on the kimono, and talk about perfect models for the task – elegant yet menacing! Having the wiz mid transformation is such a good idea dude, and the whole group together looks brilliant. Love it!
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Thanks Alex.
A few elements came together rather nicely, they fell into place a bit. Getting the two figures from mates helped a load too, they just jigsawed in conceptually.
Im glad that you like them.
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This is excellent, you’ve added a great visual contrast with these two green gems and the vibe of the shonen knives stays undisturbed and very tight which is a wonder to see.
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Thanks Asslessman. I imagine that more green will creep in as the force expands – but keeping it tight at the start stops things from going out of control too early.
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Woooooow! So beautiful! There is some delicate grace coming out of these, they are delightful. Damn nice work!
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The freehand could be better, but on the table the force looks good, and thats what matters most.
Thanks for the feedback Suber 🙂
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Lovely paint jobs on those, and I like how they make the mooks… look like mooks. (possibly also an illusion)
The Perrys have a couple of packs of civilians that might be nice additions…
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It is fun to have the characters stand out from the mooks, but I dont like it when they look entirely unrelated to them. I think that I got the balance right with these though.
I have a set of Perry civilian farmers. I didnt know that they had another pack, I will take a look.
Thanks Lasgunpacker.
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Not sure how I missed the ork, but . . . that’s a great bunch you have there. And the eight foot tall bug-woman wizard is a very nice crowning touch.
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Well you know what they say, it ‘aint over ’til the eight foot tall bug-woman lizard emits a pheromone trail that her different minion castes use to follow her to combat.
Thanks for the feedback David 🙂
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