IHMN Dreadful Fighting Monks

 As a slow burner project I have been creating small groups of figures for use in games of In Her Majesty's Name (IHMN). One of the forces that I have recently created is a group of monks loosely based around the Dread Monk list in one of the IHMN supplements. 

A dreadful bunch of mele armed clerics.

The rank and file monks are from Red Box Set 72086 Russian War Monks (click here for the PSR review). The Abbot (centre wearing the skull mask) is from Caesar Miniatures Fantasy set 103 - Undead (click here for the PSR review) and seems to have a suitable air of authority.

Abbot with firelock armed monks.

The war monk figures could also work as cultists (click here and here for my IHMN Cultists), but the Dread Monk list offers a different range of challenges to the cultist list. Besides, having both forces allows the possibility of having scenarios that pit Dread Monks versus Cultists!

The complete group so far - an abomination of monks!

In addition to the monks I decided to base up a couple of mummies that I had lurking around, as I figured that they might prove useful at some stage. Additionally I hope to be able to use them with The Silver Bayonet.

The three plastic Mummies in the rear of the picture are from the set of pieces provided for the Egyptian faction in the Eagle Games board game  Age of Mythology (click here for further information from PSR), while the mummy without headgear is a metal figure from Elhiem Figures.

IHMN Japanese Infantry

I have been over the past two years slowly painting and basing figures for use with "In Her Majesty's Name" (IHMN). Even slower than this process has been my updating of this blog with that progress. 

The basic Infantry Section

IHMN is very flexible in its approach to creating teams of adventuring bands for use in the game. One of the supplements for the first edition of the game "Sleeping Dragon, Rising Sun" (SDRS) provides a basic list for a group recruited from the Japanese Army. 

I tried to replicate a uniform that captures the feel of the IHMN period rather than a perfect match for the Boxer Rebellion.

I did consider using the Red Box Japanese Infantry from their Boxer Rebellion range (PSR Review here), but I was rather unimpressed with the figures. instead I opted for using the metal Japanese Infantry from Stan Johansen Miniatures' Boxer Rebellion range (click here for more details).

A hastily formed firing line.

The Japanese lists in SDRS offer a number of possibilities for adventuring groups that allow a nice mix of traditional elements, modern elements (products of the Meiji restoration), and weird 19th century mad science elements. I am already starting on some steam powered walkers to supplement this Japanese force. 

Infantry cautiously advancing

IHMN also allows for the addition of Sumo Wrestlers to some of the Japanese lists, so I thought that these painted old Grenadier 25mm Sumo Wrestlers would be a prefect addition to the force mix.

Grenadier Fantasy Lords - First Series Set 178 Sumo Wrestlers

Even more imposing when provided with effective leadership!

I also think that the size difference between the 20mm Infantry figures and the 25mm Sumo Wrestlers helps create the fell that these wrestlers are at the top end of the human size spectrum - even to the point of being the beneficiaries of  cutting edge scientific discoveries from the University of Toyko that have surpassed the efforts of Dr Jekyll's original formula.

Tcho Tcho Goblin Hastur Cult

 As a quick break from my 100 Days Napoleonic project, I decided to finish off a project that I started last year - namely completing painting up figures for "Children of the Tattered King" a Hastur cult for In Her Majesty's Name (IHMN). My previous post dealing with these cultists is located here, and it in I hinted at my idea of using GW Night Goblins as Tcho-Tcho cultists.

Looks like Bak Bon Dzshow is back on the menu boys!!

Naturally this would mean yellow would feature heavily in the paint scheme:) The fleshtone was a nice pale clay colour, with a heavy brown wash appliedd in an effort to tone down the yellow and make everything look dirty.

Tcho Tcho bow in the foreground blocking the view to the spearblock behind.

While the Tcho-Tcho don't feature in the background material provided in IHMN, the nature of the background doesn't preclude the introduction of elements of the Cthulhu Mythos (click here for a basic primer on the Mythos). Indeed, IHMN is flexible enough to accommodate material from a variety of sources.

These banner holders will work as specialist wielders of arcane powers. 

The intent is to use these figures against both 28mm and 20mm forces. In 28mm the figures will use a Hastur cult flavoured Pygmy list with the Tcho-Tcho being the bulk of the force using Pygmy stats, while in 20mm I am making a custom list where the figures will represent the more robust purpose bred combat monsters that some backgrounds have the Tcho-Tcho breed for war. Naturally the 20mm list will largely consist of the cheaper, and more expendable, human cultists detailed in the previous IHMN post.

These fine fellows are intended for use as either leaders or champions.

The internet is full of different interpretations of how Tcho-Tcho can be dealt with in games, and how they can be used in a manner that doesn't rely on the usual tropes.  A nice discussion on this can be found here, and here. It should be noted that the only certainties regarding the Tcho-Tcho is that they seem to originate from Leng, are non-human (but may have interbred with humans at some stage), and when ever and where ever they manage to establish settlements on Earth, they are feared and despised by their neighbours.

Cannon Fodder Garden variety armed cultists.

Of course this raises the possibility of Tcho-Tcho communities across the world, each with their own distinct culture that has resulted from interacting with human neighbours, while still maintaining a core set of cultural characteristics that are uniquely Tcho-Tcho.  

Five more cultists, for a total of nine spear.

The more I look into this, the reater the possibility of me grabbing a copy of Delta Green, GDW's Dark Conspiracy RPG, and seeing if I can get something suitable worked out for a nice game of Stryker.

Children of the Tattered King

It has been over a year since my last blog post, but even before then, output had been sporadic over the previous two years.

A tattered yellow King and mustard robed cultists. 

Despite the lack of blog posts I have been active playing games, making models, and painting figures. I just haven't posted anything to the blog - despite taking pictures with the intention of doing so:)

One of the games that I have been playing is a rather fun Steampunk skirmish system called 'In Her Majesty's Name'. Naturally, I have been building various quirky forces in 20mm rather than move to another scale.

Cultists from the Stan Johansen Road Warrior range.

The system allows a great deal of flexibility in creating forces, so I decided to create a force themed as a Hastur cult. One of Hastur's manifestations is 'The King in Yellow', and one of the titles that is used to refer to this manifestation is that of the Tattered King (although it might be more correct to say avatar - however I am no expert on the mythos).

RAFM The King in Yellow figure from their Cthulhu Miniatures - Classic range.

Given the above, I though that a good name for my cult would be 'Children of the Tattered King' as it captures the vibe of the RAFM figure. Originally I was going to paint the cultists yellow, but after the difficulties I encountered painting the king yellow, I felt mustard would work for the rank and file cultists.

A nice mix of weapons - my favorite is the chainsaw.

The Stan Johansen cultists are full of character, and are equipped with a wide range of equipment. I am tempted to order the cultists with  heavy weapons, as they would make a nice addition to the rest of the cult. They are however shorter than the Elhiem Hooded Cultists that I am going to use as high status members of the cult.

A trio of crossbow wielding cultists.

To disguise this issue, I have mounted the Stan Johansen on MDF bases, rather than the washers I have been using for other figures. I haven't completed basing the cultists - they will get a basing similar to that of the RAFM figure.

The figure on the far right may be used as either an engineer or crew for a mechanical construct.

Plenty of gun packing cultists too.

 Another group of Hastur worshipers and generally unpleasant folk are the Tcho-Tcho people. I intend to use GW Night Goblins to represent them as their teeth and size (relative to 20mm figures) match some descriptions of the Tcho-Tcho, and they have a distinct style of clothing.

GW Night Goblin that I am going to use as a Tcho-Tcho.

The Tcho-Tcho are often described as being red skinned, but so far I have gone with a pale skin colour, but I might experiment with some red skin colours to see what they look like.