One way that a board game can generate a bit of variety and interest in its enemies is to distinguish between run of the mill grunts and their leaders. Descent splits every monster group into Minions and Masters. Imperial Assault designates entire deployment groups as either Normal or Elite. Individual monsters in Gloomhaven have a similar Normal or Elite system. But these games all use the same miniature sculpt or standee to represent these enemies, requiring a different color palette or base to signify the difference. While this certainly keeps production costs down, there’s something extra special about a game that uses unique sculpts for “boss” versions of the standard monsters. And with the Against the Ogre Horde expansion, HeroQuest does pretty well in this regard.
Throughout this campaign, the heroes must face the formidable Ogre Warriors (hulking brutes with very strong attack and defend stats compared to standard HeroQuest enemies). In addition, there are three unique Ogres with even more impressive attributes waiting to crush the intrepid adventurers (the Ogre Lord, Ogre Chieftain, and Ogre Champion). Although all three use the same two-part body construction as the standard Ogre Warriors, they each have a different complement of weapons and a unique head-sculpt that marks them as especially dangerous. Here is where these miniatures really shine, in my opinion. The original HeroQuest miniatures always had the perfect balance of whimsy and detail, and these Ogre Bosses are no exception. Be it the Champion’s leather hat that is pulled down over his eyes, or the popeyed squint of the Lord, these sculpts are charming and brimming with character.
They did present a bit of a problem for me in terms of color choices, however. They obviously should have fancier clothes than the boilerplate Warriors, but I didn’t want them to end up too garish or flashy. What really guided my decision, in the end, was the problem of the Chieftain’s mohawk. It is such a punk 1980’s look, and did not seem particularly in style with the rest of the game. And, being somewhat unimaginative, I could only see one inspiration for this particular design. So the Chieftain became the human version of Bebop, necessitating that the Lord become the human version of Rocksteady.
And from there, it was just a matter of buckling down and painting the minis. The bodies were a chore, as they are full of large planes that were difficult to highlight effectively (and I already painted four other copies of these parts as well). But the heads and weapons were a delight. Everything was rather straightforward with no surprises.
Overall, I’m thrilled with how these guys turned out. Vibrant colors that aren’t too gaudy, quirky expressions that read very well, and nasty looking weapons that I would hate to be struck with. A fine addition to my HeroQuest collection. On to the Wizards of Morcar, which will be the last expansion for this game. I simply cannot hope to get either of the other expansions at their price, and honestly, I don’t think those miniatures hold up to the others anyway. Until next time…
Black Pants and Belt:
Base coated with VMC BLack (70.950), layers and highlights with progressive mixes of Black and VMC Green Grey (70.971).
Red Shirt:
Base coated with VGC Heavy Red (72.141). Shade with 1:1 Heavy Red and VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822). Layers with VMC Scarlet (70.817), and highlights with 1:1 Scarlet and VMC Ice Yellow (70.858).
Brown Pants – see Ogre Warriors
Yellow Shirt:
The entire shirt was base coated with VMC Japanese Uniform WWII (70.923). Shade was added with a 1:1 mix of Japanese Uniform WWII and VMC German Camo Medium Brown (70.826), and blended up to the base coat with a 2:1 mix of the same colors. Highlights were applied with VGC Pale Yellow (72.097), then blended down to the base with mixes of Japanese Uniform WWII and Pale Yellow.
Red Pants – see HQ Zombies
Blue Shirt:
The entire shirt was base coated with VMC Luftwafe Unif WWII (70.816), which served as the deepest shade. The major forms were then picked out with GC Steel Grey (72.102), then blended down into the shade with mixes of Luftwafe Unif WWII and Steel Grey. Highlihgts were applied with a 1:1 mix of Luftwafe Unif WWII and VGC Wolf Grey (72.047), followed by point highlights of pure Wolf Grey applied very sparingly.
Dark Skin:
Base coated with VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822). Layers with progressive mixes of German Camo Black Brown and VGC Heavy Skintone (72.140), highlights with pure Heavy Skintone.
Skin:
The skin was blocked in with Vallejo Panzer Aces (VPA) Flesh Shadows (70.343). This was kept in the deepest recesses and borders, but most of the area was basecoated with a 1:1 mix of Flesh Shadows and VPA Flesh Base (70.341). Major forms were then lightened with pure Flesh Base, followed by a 1:1 mix of Flesh Base and VPA Flesh Highlights (70.342). Highlights were added with a 1:2 mix of the same colors.
Wood, Leather, Ropes, and Bags:
These areas were all painted with the same four colors: VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822), VMC Chocolate Brown (70.872), VMC Flat Earth (70.983), and VMC Dark Sand (70.847). The wood and leather leaned heavily to the darker tones while the ropes and bags leaned toward the lighter tones.
Steel:
The axes, buckles, and belt studs were painted using a standard non-metallic metal approach with the following colors: VMC Black (70.950), VGC Wolf Grey (72.047), and sparing use of VMC Ivory (70.918).
Black Metal:
The maul and bladed gauntlets were painted using a standard non-metallic metal approach with VMC Black (70.950) and VMC Ivory (70.918). These tones were kept far towards the darker side in order to avoid over-highlighting).
Purple Hair:
The mohawk was base coated with Vallejo Fantasy Pro Imperial Purple (74.025). The individual tufts were then picked out with a 1:1 mix of Imperial Purple and VFP Blueberry (74.031), followed by pure Blueberry. Highlights were added with progressive mixes of Blueberry and VMC Ice Yellow (70.858).
DarthTom's Gaming 