Hybrid Sentinels from Descent 2E

Sometimes, when you combine two things, you get something much better than either of the first two things. For instance, a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup (or tree, given that it is Christmas time right now) is at least ten times better than peanut butter or chocolate alone. Owlbears are notoriously cool. And sharks with frickin’ laser beams are obviously superior to the individual components. Unfortunately, I don’t think the same pattern applies to the half-dragon Hybrid Sentinels in Descent 2nd Edition’s Lair of the Wyrm expansion.

Nobody knows exactly where they came from, but there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that hybrids are a force to be reckoned with! They walk like men, fly like dragons, and devastate anything in their path. While their sense of honor and duty may not be understood by most people, they have both in ample supply and will fight to the death to defend their kin.

Let’s face it dragons are powerful, intimidating, and exotic. Men are just… men. And this is entirely evident by the abilities of these monsters. Flying? That’s a dragon thing. Thick armor? Also more of a dragon thing. And Fire Breath? All of the interesting aspects of this enemy come from their dragon side, but they are just watered down by being half human. To make matters even worse, Descent already had a dragon hybrid in Belthir, a Lieutenant from the core box. But his is somewhat different from that of the Hybrid Sentinels, who have horns but lack a tail. They do get a +1 damage bonus to attacks targeting Heroes with Might attributes of two or less (Prey on the Weak), but this doesn’t really compensate for their other flaws. They’re not bad, per se, they just feel a little uninspired. But hey, at least they’re not more spiders…

The miniatures for this group are also rather lackluster. The swords are all bowed, the filigree is poorly defined and asymmetrical, and their faces are not well sculpted. Even more frustrating, however, is the amount of space that is difficult to reach with a knife or a brush. It is very hard to render non-metallic metal armor when there is a giant shield or wing in your way, but these obstructions are not so close that you can get away with leaving these areas in shadow. Still, they didn’t take all that long to paint, and turned out reasonably nice in the end.

I chose to paint the Minions following the color palette of the reference art.

For the Master, however, I was inspired by a texture sample I saw on Pinterest.

I really liked the contrast between the orange highlights and greenish-blue shadows. I was unsuccessful in recreating this look, but the final result was still rather striking.

I can’t really say I enjoyed the process of painting this group, but I’m happy with the end results. One more hero to go in this small box expansion, then on to another Hero and Monster collection. Stay tuned for more!

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Due to an abundance of areas that were difficult to reach with a brush, the entire figure was covered with VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822)This ensured that there would be no spots of bare plastic visible at the end.

Green Skin:
The green dragon flesh was base coated with VMC Refractive Green (70.890). A shade tone was created with equal proportions of Refractive Green, VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822), and VMC Dark Sea Blue (70.898). The major forms were lightened with a 1:1 mix of Refractive Green and VMC Golden Olive (70.857), followed by a 1:2 mix of the same colors. Highlights of pure Golden Olive were applied to the brightest areas. Some tonal variation was added with a 1:1 mix of Refractive Green and VMC Orange Brown (70.981) and lightened with a 1:2 mix of the same colors.

Steel:
The steel armor was painted with a standard non-metallic metal approach using the following colors: VMC Black (70.950), VMC Medium Grey (70.987), and VMC Ivory (70.918). Tonal variation was added with the inclusion of VMC Orange Brown (70.981) to the midtones.

Red Cloak and Trim:
The areas of red were base coated with a 1:1 mix of VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822) and Vallejo Nocturna Fantasy Pro Sanctuary Red (74.020). The major forms were then picked out with a 1:2 mix of the same colors, followed by pure Sanctuary Red. Highlights were applied with a 1:1 mix of Sanctuary Red and VNFP Inferno Red (74.022), followed by point highlights of pure Inferno Red.

Orange Skin:
A base coat of VMC German Red Brown Surface Primer (70.605) was applied over the German Camo Black Brown. The main forms were picked out with a 1:1 mix of German Red Brown Surface Primer and VMC Bright Orange (70.851), followed by pure Bright Orange, and then a 1:1 mix of Bright Orange and VMC Sunny Skin Tone (70.845). Point highlights of pure Sunny Skin Tone were applied sparingly. Some tonal Variation was added with a 1:1 mix of German Camo Black Brown and VGC Turquoise (Also known as Falcon Turquoise) (72.024).

Black Armor:
The Master’s black armor was painted with a standard non-metallic metal approach beginning with a base coat with a 1:1 mix of VMC Black (70.950) and VGC Turquoise (Also known as Falcon Turquoise) (72.024). This was lightened with the inclusion of VMC Medium Grey (70.987) and highlighted with the inclusion of VMC Ivory (70.918).

Blue Cloak/Trim:
The blue areas were base coated with VMC Dark Sea Blue (70.898), and shaded with a 1:1 mix of Dark Sea Blue and VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822). The major forms were picked out with a 1:1 mix of Dark Sea Blue and VGC Turquoise (Also known as Falcon Turquoise) (72.024), followed by a 1:2 mix of the same colors, and then the addition of an equal measure of VMC Medium Grey (70.987). Point highlights were applied with additional Medium Grey added to the previous mix.

Skulls:
The Skulls were base coated with VGC Khaki (72.061), shaded with mixes of Khaki and VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822) and lightened with mixes of Khaki and VMC Ivory (70.918).