I received a request from a reader for the deck plans for the Sea Ghost. They came directly from AD&D module U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. Here they are, below. I do not have a template to print, cut, and trace, but it was pretty easy to draw these plans out by hand with the help of a ruler.
I painted this mini with golden armor, silver chainmail cape, and red shield. Then I splattered mud texture (Vallejo Earth Texture) all over it and put gloss varnish over it. The idea is that she is fighting in rain and mud. Now I wish I had kept her pristine, because the paint job on the armor and shield was really nice before the mud…
This is the Druid (not to be confused with the “Druid with Dart” from the same set…) from the Grenadier Wizards Box Set 2001.
This druid takes a different approach, preferring the sword-and-board style. The set insert that I have has this listed as a druid, but I’m sure that in another insert this mini was listed as “fighter/magic-user.” He is a simple mini; mostly just robes and hat. I did my best to push up the contrast on him with the highlighting so that he wouldn’t be so drab and monotone.
This is the Druid with Dart from the Grenadier Wizards Box Set 2001.
The dart that was originally in this guy’s hand was a tiny little limp carrot-looking thing. I debated a long time whether to leave it as original or upgrade it. In the end, I couldn’t stand that silly little droopy thing, so I cut it off, drilled out the hand, and fashioned a new dart with a paper clip segment.
I also couldn’t make out what was supposed to be on the end of his staff. Was it a puff of smoke? An abstract carving? Fire? A creature sitting there? I went with a creature. Druids can get animal companions, and this looks like it could be some little lizard companion. It’s a pretty talented lizard to perch like that on the end of a staff while the staff-holder is jerking it around while throwing darts. It must have a very high dexterity score.
I couldn’t decide what colors to paint this. So I asked by 7-year-old for help. The color scheme is all her’s.
This is the Cleric from the Grenadier Wizards Box Set 2001. (The box insert showing what each mini is in the set was changed several times throughout the time this box set was sold new. Each update of the insert altered the names of some of the minis. The mini called “illusionist” in one insert might be called “necromancer” in another. So what they are called shouldn’t be taken seriously, as it wasn’t by Grenadier at the time. Would be nice to know what the sculptors thought they were making when they sculpted the originals!)
Clerics, in D&D, don’t usually get familiars, the way wizards do. So this guy must be special. The snake is clearly a cobra, given its flared out neck.
I painted him in the manner of a Catholic Cardinal. His beanie and robes fit that theme to a T, I think. I think a priest with at pet cobra is a bit on-the-nose in the priest-as-predator way.
This is the Wizard from the Grenadier Wizards Box Set 2001. This guy, like most of the other minis I have from this set, was sandblasted a long time ago to remove a paintjob I did in junior high school. So I had to try to paint back in some of the detail.
I think the creature on his shoulder is an imp. Back in the original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, a magic-user (as wizards were generically called in that edition) could have one of 4 special familiars, if they were really lucky. Which special familiar you could get depended on the character’s alignment. The familiars were Brownie, Pseudo Dragon, Quasit, and Imp. Imps were only available to lawful-evil or neutral-evil magic-users. Looking up those four creatures in the Monster Manual shows that the imp is the only one that looks much like the critter sitting on this guy’s shoulder.
This was the bonus figure that came came with Red Dragon II. Since he is so very devoted, i used the same color scheme as I used on the dragon.
This was one of my favorites as a teenager. I did not like the snake motif way back then, so I cut the snake off his helm and painted him all black with some silver trim. This time around, I recreated the snake with a paperclip and Testor’s Contour Putty to re-sculpt it. I used hot glue to make flames on the sword. The shield is stuck to his fist by a round knob on his hand and circular hole in the shield. I incorporated that hole by painting an eye motif on the shield.
High Priest Berosos. This is one of the few minis I have ever been able to paint with a bright, rather than drab, color scheme.
From the Grenadier “Encounter at Blood Valley” box set. This set was gifted to me by old friends, and they had painted the other minis. I figured I’d better finish it off.
