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UPDATE:
Crassus done!




Very fast paint job on this guy, but pretty happy with how he turned out. Used washes/glazes for about 90% of the work, with a little drybrushing on the fur and traditional brushwork for his snout and mouth. Nice model overall, but the claws on both sets of limbs were sort of a mess (two broken off completely, a few not very well cast). Ultimately a real pleasure to paint.

He's pretty cool as a game piece as well: he's technically a two-card beast, meaning once you "defeat" the first card you pull out the second and play that one, but he's got the skill Unruly in his second phase, which makes him a living hazard for the rest of the match (the second card doesn't count in terms of list-building). So if you take him in your cohort he could help you a ton in the first part of a game and then wreck your face in the second! He needs very careful decision-making to make the best use of him.

Wow, you did an amazing job with the fur on that bear miniature. As for the original Crassus model, well, it looks pretty good except for the head. The eyes are WAY too high up on its face and the nose is just wrong.

Now that is truly stupendous, as is the gorgeous work on the lady snake hybrid (forgive my generalising!). Very impressive stuff sir

Crassus looks good. It is interesting to watch the darkening of the colours across the four or five stages you photographed. Is there much work hidden between the photos?

Wonderful work. I am really tempted to get a couple of the cohorts right now with their sale and free shipping over $75. Are three man teams good enough for starters? Do you usually play 3v3, or do you go bigger games? Just the thought of designing an arena is really tempting me right now.

ShadowsAndDust wrote:Wow, you did an amazing job with the fur on that bear miniature. As for the original Crassus model, well, it looks pretty good except for the head. The eyes are WAY too high up on its face and the nose is just wrong.

Cheers - thanks for the kind words!

Ragsta wrote:Now that is truly stupendous, as is the gorgeous work on the lady snake hybrid (forgive my generalising!). Very impressive stuff sir

Thank you!

Arakasi wrote:Crassus looks good. It is interesting to watch the darkening of the colours across the four or five stages you photographed. Is there much work hidden between the photos?

Not really - the idea I went with was lighter colors first, then darken them along the way. That sort of layers the colors in and allows for a little of that yellow/gold to come through even after I've added so much brown and black. Maybe I should do a video some day to show the process...

Theophony wrote:Wonderful work. I am really tempted to get a couple of the cohorts right now with their sale and free shipping over $75. Are three man teams good enough for starters? Do you usually play 3v3, or do you go bigger games? Just the thought of designing an arena is really tempting me right now.

Thanks, Theo. 3x3 is totally fine, though I find things open up a bit with 5x5. I was a Kickstarter backer, so I got a lot of random parts to start with, then added to them over time, so my thinking/process has been different than others'. I think a couple starter sets would be a great way to start.

UPDATE:
Monkeying around with some new Arena Rex terrain...

First, a duelling circle for the Duellum scenario:

It's a cool scenario, where two fighters face off in the center of the circle while the rest of their cohorts battle around them. There are a few special rules that sort of force you to focus on the duel as much as possible, which adds a little drama, and once one of the duellers gets pushed out of the circle they are fair game for everyone else. (It's supposed to be 5 inches across but mine is based on an old CD so it's more like 4.8 inches.)

Added a little blood trail to hint at a bit of a story too.

Next, some spikes and coals:


The spikes are pretty obvious, but the rock piles will be painted like burning coals - both will be Wounding Hazards in the arena (i.e. they cause damage when fighters are pushed into them). Might also experiment with some "burning condition" rules...

Anyway, feedback is always appreciated!

I hear good things about Arena Rex, i.e. that it is super fun, and you are doing your best to make us all buy into it! Great looking models, and some fun wounding hazards (which sucker in those of us who love such bits and bobs). They should be paying you some sort of commission (even if you don't like their dreadful bear model)

Thanks for sharing

 IGtR= wrote:
I hear good things about Arena Rex, i.e. that it is super fun, and you are doing your best to make us all buy into it! Great looking models, and some fun wounding hazards (which sucker in those of us who love such bits and bobs). They should be paying you some sort of commission (even if you don't like their dreadful bear model)

Thanks for sharing

No problem - thanks for the positive comments. I just do it all for the love of the game, though.

UPDATE:
A little more terrain for my arena...

Dueling circle:


Dais:

(Old CD, orange juice lid, sand, and miscellany)

Arena center options:


Hot coals:


Also got a handful of gladiators about 20-30% done, but didn't get pics yet. Next time!

And as always, any feedback is good feedback. Thanks for looking!

I like the cracked earth effect in your circle, and the Tropicana lid is brilliant.such a well thought out table and accessories.

 Theophony wrote:
I like the cracked earth effect in your circle, and the Tropicana lid is brilliant.such a well thought out table and accessories.

Cheers, Theo. I wanted something to break up all the sand for the center of the circle so I'm glad it works for you.

And I was literally just thinking today about making a second more authentic round arena, and how to plan it so the terrain elements could be cross compatible. Might be a cool project to document...

 Gomez wrote:

 Theophony wrote:
I like the cracked earth effect in your circle, and the Tropicana lid is brilliant.such a well thought out table and accessories.

Cheers, Theo. I wanted something to break up all the sand for the center of the circle so I'm glad it works for you.

And I was literally just thinking today about making a second more authentic round arena, and how to plan it so the terrain elements could be cross compatible. Might be a cool project to document...

It just might be subscribed to if your thread was not already . If you have a 3D printer they have files for a not-playmobile arena. It’s why I’m so tempted, but it would just take forever to print due to size.

That terrain for arena rex is really great, I particularly like the hot coals and the dais.

Theophony wrote:

 Gomez wrote:

 Theophony wrote:
I like the cracked earth effect in your circle, and the Tropicana lid is brilliant.such a well thought out table and accessories.

Cheers, Theo. I wanted something to break up all the sand for the center of the circle so I'm glad it works for you.

And I was literally just thinking today about making a second more authentic round arena, and how to plan it so the terrain elements could be cross compatible. Might be a cool project to document...

It just might be subscribed to if your thread was not already . If you have a 3D printer they have files for a not-playmobile arena. It’s why I’m so tempted, but it would just take forever to print due to size.

The size of that thing is what has kept me from trying to track down a copy. I think I'll mimic the base of the arena I have for my next version: pink Dow styrofoam, MDF base, etc. I like the effect of the pits it allows me to have, but it's not SO big that I can't store it easily. As cool as it would be to have the walls and viewing boxes, I really have no idea where I would put it in my house when not in use. So, it's a non-starter unfortunately (despite how cool it is).

Tyranid Horde wrote:That terrain for arena rex is really great, I particularly like the hot coals and the dais.

Thanks - I don't play as much as I'd like, but I'm never at a loss for ideas. Glad you like them!

Also, here's the latest on the WIP painting front:

That's Septimus (on foot), Septimus (rider for Nero), Aquila, Archidamos, Theophania, and Hagal that I've been tinkering with (plus both version of Cato and Hroka plus their mounts just behind them). Still a long way to go on all of them, but hopefully posting them here will give me a push to get them all finished sooner rather than later.

As always, questions, comments, critique, etc. are all appreciated! Thanks for looking.