The Snow Lord wanted it to be a challenge - so instead of the usual Minifigs Napoleonics he gave me a Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon project. This was a Kickstarter game that I backed last year. It's from Awaken Realms, a group out of Poland with a great track record of producing story driven games. Tainted Grail appealed to me because it is co-operative and can be played solo (important, as I am the only one in my family that really likes board games). The full pledge included a whole bunch of plastic minis - twenty monsters in this Monsters of Avalon box alone. There are heroes and menhirs in the main box and more monsters and more heroes in the other expansions.
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| Wyrmtangle and Underbrush Wyrm |
I haven't got very far in the story yet - it is a sort of souped up choose your own adventure. I've failed a few times playing solo with one character - and subsequently found out through the Facebook group that picking two or three gives you a better chance. I haven't met any of these six monsters yet.
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| Wolfwalker - some skulls for the count |
The world of Tainted Grail is a kind of post apocalyptic Arthurian place with many twisted monsters such as the wolf with exposed insides and the Wyrdbear - with all its insides on the outside. Spot the liver. Mwahahaha. Plenty of Blood for Blood God technical paint was used.
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| Wyrdbear |
The wyrding is a mist that can only be kept at bay by various menhirs dotted around the landscape. Where the menhirs fail, the wyrd produces these strange distorted creatures. Creepy.
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| The Slaugh |
I went for a white walker look on the Slaugh - as it reminded me of snow zombies and had all the disembodied hands reaching out of the ground. I've not yet found out why the Hammerbeak is stuck full of rusty weapons and arrows - but it was fun to paint - the photos (sorry about the focus) haven't done the drybrushing much justice. Maybe I should do some more.
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| Hammerbeak |
This shelf started out empty on December 20 - and there isn't much space left on it. I was hoping to do one entry for every room... but time is short so I may have to settle for less than a completed dungeon.
The shelf of self esteem
Nevertheless - I made it to the Altar of the Snowlord and claim my prize - twice, as this puts me over my Challenge XI target. Thank you Snowlord for the challenging project - with no Ospreys to draw on, and limited monster experience, I have a lot to learn about colour and techniques for larger models. I'll enjoy painting the rest of the Monsters of Avalon - in Challenge XII or beyond?
6 monsters ranging in height from about 50-80mm so I'm scoring them at 10 points a piece plus 20 for the room.
Fantastic beasts, and now we know where to find them*. You've done a smashing job on these big monsters - I particularly like that Wyrdbear.
I've scored these as 54mm foot, plus a few extra points to cover those that are a bit bigger.
Tamsin
* I haven't read the book, nor seen the film, but do know the title!