HP Lovecraft

In the eldritch confines of my study, I unearthed a diminutive relic of unspeakable provenance—an accursed miniature that defied the feeble constraints of mortal comprehension. The blasphemous sculpt depicted an otherworldly figure, a ghastly visage that whispered of realms beyond the ken of human perception. In the sickly luminescence of my dimly lit chamber, the colors upon my palette seemed to shift and writhe, revealing cyclopean landscapes and nameless horrors. The twisted sculptor, a shadowy adept in the forbidden arts, had rendered the accursed author with a fiendish precision that echoed the cosmic malevolence of the Great Old Ones. As I gazed upon the diabolical creation, a palpable chill gripped my very soul, and I could discern the spectral murmurs of eldritch entities weaving their inscrutable tales within this infernal masterpiece. The mere act of contemplating the arcane artefact threatened to plunge my psyche into the abyssal depths of cosmic horror, leaving me teetering on the brink of sanity.

I tried out ChatGPT for the above paragraph- horrifyingly good.

Here's a fun figure from Impact! Miniatures. I originally got him as a Blood Bowl coach. They've captured his eldritch chin.

HPL and his friend LP Hovercraft

"I am Providence."

Howard Philips Lovecraft age 43 (1934)

Mansions of Madness: Path of the Serpent

I've painted the monsters and investigators from the latest MoM expansion, Path of the Serpent. The monsters are a bit more pulp/ Indiana Jones than cosmic horror, but they're still nice figures.

Investigators

 

Ursula Downs, explorer

Leo Anderson, expedition leader

Daniela Reyes, mechanic

Norman Withers, astronomer

Monsters

Ancient Basilisk

Temple Guardians

Serpent People

Feathered Serpents

Mansions of Madness: Horrific Journeys

I painted the figures from the latest MoM expansion, Horrific Journeys.

There are four investigators: Trish Scarborough (spy), Jim Culver (jazz musician), Silas Marsh (sailor), and Agnes Baker (waitress).

Trish Scarborough, Jim Culver, Silas Marsh, Agnes Baker

There are some human, humanoid, and eldritch monsters:

Warlocks

Dimensional Shamblers

Hunting Deep Ones

Formless Spawn

I'm pretty happy with the Warlocks' suits. I went dark grey with a black wash and highlighted with a mid-grey. The Formless Spawn is supposed to be an amorphous tarry black blob- I highlighted it from above and then washed it down with a black wash. It's big: on an 80mm base.

The quality of the figures is leaps and bounds ahead of where FFG used to be.

Mansions of Madness: Sanctum of Twilight

I picked up another expansion for MoM recently- it came with four figures that were quick and fun to paint.

Charlie Kane is the avuncular, charismatic, and helpful politician.  Modern popular culture teaches you not to trust politicians, but he is the exception and decidedly a Good Guy. He's is a very useful figure for all sorts of games.

Charlie Kane

Lily Chen is ready to crane-kick those eldritch horrors right between their squamous rugosities. She gets bonuses for being unarmed. Her traditional dress ended up being more orange than I had intended. Reds, yellows, and oranges are the hardest colours- I think I'm getting better at yellow.

Lily Chen

The Wraiths can shift through walls. I rebased them on Renedra 40mm rounds.

Wraiths

I've had a few games of MoM recently, which have been fun. We actually won!

Mansions of Madness: Streets of Arkham

I've painted up the figures from the latest Mansions of Madness expansion, Streets of Arkham. The quality of the sculpts has greatly improved compared to the first edition.

First, the investigators. Tommy Muldoon is the rookie cop. He's got something of a young Peter O'Toole going on in his cheekbones.

Tommy Muldoon

Finn Edwards is a bootlegger. His face is great, but didn't photograph well. I tried to paint him carrying a bottle of illicit whisky, which was tricky.

Finn Edwards

Diana Stanley is the former cultist with a heart of gold. Her face is a little featureless, unfortunately. I gave her green details, as most of my Cthulhu stuff has green in it. I quite like how the candle flame and wax look.

Diana Stanley

Marie Lambeau is a jazz singer who learnt about monsters and spells from her grand-mère in the bayou. A lovely sculpted face.

Marie Lambeau

Not all the foes they face are supernatural: the hired guns with their derby hats became some clichéd Irish hitmen under my brush. I enjoyed layering their trenchcoats.

The skeletons are suitably 19th century with their watch chains and waistcoats.

My favourites are the Star Vampires. These are invisible creatures which can be heard faintly tittering, and become visible by being filled up with their victims' blood. They're a chaotic mess of teeth and tentacles- perfect. I based them on 60mm bases.

Star Vampires

Finally, the Lloigor. It is some sort of invisible reptile thing, and I'm not really fond of the sculpt- it is a monster designed by a gaggle of schoolkids. It's got two legs, four arms with claws, four arms with pincers, eight eyes, a pincer on the tail, armour on the back of its neck, floppy looking spines- it really reminds me of the Black Beast of Arrgh! I persevered with multiple thin layers of grey, and am satisfied with the outcome. It's big- I based it on an 80mm mini-disc.

Lloigor

Mystery Investigators

These intrepid souls are perfect investigators for Kooky Teenage Monster Hunters. I can also see them in a Mansions of Madness adventure- maybe where instead of going mad, you run away, or need to have a sandwich.

"Help me pull off Great Cthulhu's head- why, it's just that old Mr Lovecraft!"

These are from Hasslefree, and I really enjoyed painting the brighter colours. They were my entry for the AHPC VII theme round 'Character(s) and/or Scene from a Movie, TV Program, Book or Piece of Music', and I'm pleased to say I received third place!

Mansions of Madness monsters

There are a variety of new monsters in Mansions of Madness 2nd edition. The bases they come with are, like the first edition, truly awful. I rebased and painted the figures and added them to my eldritch collection!

The Hunting Horrors were stuck to Citadel flight stands I had had lying about for years.

The rioters come three to a base, but I've left them individually based for use in other games if necessary.

The cultists are the first edition ones, so I didn't re-do them. The High Priest of Dagon is a little too fluorescent, and I may do some more work on him.

The deep one hybrids really came to life with a blue-green lower lip, and some dodgy eyes. Suitably batrachian!

The child of Dagon looks more like a zombie.

The deep ones were easy to paint with a mix of green and blue washes. I wasn't a fan of these initially, but now I think they're my favourite.

The ghosts were easy to paint, with a green wash over white.

The star spawns are suitably large whilst somewhat static in pose, but look fine after a green/ brown paint job.

Here's the second edition content, and the combined first and second edition.

Ia! Ia!

Mansions of Madness investigators

I was pleasantly surprised when FFG announced a new edition of Mansions of Madness at the end of July. I played the first edition a few times, and pictures can be found here and here.  

 

 

 

The new edition is an undeniable improvement and comes with eight investigators.

 

Wendy Adams, urchin

   

Agatha Crane, paranormal investigator

 

   

Carson Sinclair, butler

   

Preston Fairmont, millionaire

   

Minh Thi Phan, secretary

   

 

Father Mateo, priest

   

 

Rita Young, athlete

 

 

William Yorick, gravedigger 

 

The new edition can be used with first edition map pieces and investigators. Here is my entire collection of investigators!

 

Mansions of Madness investigators

 

Next time: the monsters!