One of the biggest challenges in gaming is balancing the realism with abstraction. Too much realism devolves into rule-heavy slog-fests. Heavy abstraction bears fruit much faster - you get right to the fun of the game. But over time, its all the same repetitive blocky shape and reality gives way to loopholes.
Let's focus on heavy abstraction and how its used to represent "getting hurt" and "getting better".
The most common measuring stick for getting hurt is the hit point system. Healing comes from different sources. Fantasy games usually lean on clerics with godly spells. Modern and sci-fi games may lean on devices like a stimpack which may soon have a real life equivalent.
But both types usually have a fascination with food where the abstraction gives way to the loophole. Eating an apple could arguably heal a hit point or two. But why would a bushel of apples in one sitting become nigh magical healing devices?
It's not like this is relegated to a few games -- this is a weirdly popular mechanic. The near-dead character stumbles away victorious from the boss battle to open a chest with a chicken dinner in it, which fully restores all health. Or mid battle, the gamer can live pause to rifle through inventory to eat an apple. OK sure - eating properly aids the healing process, but only with proper rest. If I've been shot in the leg, pigging out on power bars isn't going to make the wound close.
Let's focus on heavy abstraction and how its used to represent "getting hurt" and "getting better".
The most common measuring stick for getting hurt is the hit point system. Healing comes from different sources. Fantasy games usually lean on clerics with godly spells. Modern and sci-fi games may lean on devices like a stimpack which may soon have a real life equivalent.
But both types usually have a fascination with food where the abstraction gives way to the loophole. Eating an apple could arguably heal a hit point or two. But why would a bushel of apples in one sitting become nigh magical healing devices?
It's not like this is relegated to a few games -- this is a weirdly popular mechanic. The near-dead character stumbles away victorious from the boss battle to open a chest with a chicken dinner in it, which fully restores all health. Or mid battle, the gamer can live pause to rifle through inventory to eat an apple. OK sure - eating properly aids the healing process, but only with proper rest. If I've been shot in the leg, pigging out on power bars isn't going to make the wound close.
I've been reflecting on all this when looking at Malifaux's slop haulers, and wondering if they creative team at Wyrd have decided the loophole is great source of comedy. Slop Haulers are gremlins that haul buckets of vegetable matter and swill around so they can be tossed onto fellow pigs (and gremlins). To heal them. In mid-battle. We've gone full-in on the next level of abstraction: you don't even have to stop and eat - just get slathered in tossed vegetable matter.
Though admittedly, it's tonally accurate for the Gremlin faction...
So onto the figures themselves. The expressions on these two poor saps look like they are shouldering the unsung hero spot of any gremlin crew. I'm going to make it clear they are trudging through the swampy mud to keep their allies going.
So onto the figures themselves. The expressions on these two poor saps look like they are shouldering the unsung hero spot of any gremlin crew. I'm going to make it clear they are trudging through the swampy mud to keep their allies going.
Pig feed doesn't look like green slop to me. Wet yes - but it should be made of grains and oats and the like. So I'm going for a "mash" look. But it needs to be wet too. Sounds kind of gross. So a great reference would be the most disgusting school lunches in the world. Done. Reaper's Palomino Gold and Khaki Triad would work well but I'm going to sprinkle in some FolkArt equivalents.
As to the second hauler (without the hat), he seems to be carrying an oil drum. Where they got oil drums in Malifaux, who knows. But let's make the most of it. I wanted to avoid modern colors and thought this one in the background was closest to a Victorian color palette while still looking old.
Slop Hauler Color Scheme
- Skin - Base: Reaper Fair Skin and Reaper Worn Olive, Shadow (Wash): Reaper Worn Olive, Highlights: Reaper Moldy Skin
- Shirt - Base: Reaper Concrete Grey, Shadow (Wash): Reaper Moldy Skin, Highlights: Reaper Bloodless Skin
- Gloves - Reaper Darker Greys
- Buckets - Base: Ceramcoat Autumn Brown, Shadow (wash): Ceramcoat Cinnamon
- Hat and Pants - Base: Reaper Ashen Brown, Shadow (Wash): Ceramcoat Dark Forest Green
- Old Oil Drum - Base: Apple Barrel Wedgewood Green and Reaper Ashen Brown glaze, Highlights: Reaper Dusky Skin Highlight and Wedgewood, Reaper Ruddy Brown toward rims
- Pig Slop - Base: FolkArt Ochre Yellow Shadow (Wash): FolkArt Honeycomb wash, golden brown shadows, Wet Blend: pools of Folk Art Fawn, Reaper Tusk Ivory
- Leather - Base: FolkArt English Mustard, Shadow (Wash): FolkArt Walnut Brown glaze
- Suspenders - Base: Reaper Military Grey
- Muddy Bits - Shadow (Wash): Ceramcoat Autumn Brown
Being that these guys traipse through the mud weighed down with containers of swill, I didn't pin the mini down like I normally would. Instead I used my spackle (for mud), made the impressions of their feet into the base, solidified the spackle with some watered down white glue, and then super-glued them right on.
Slop Hauler 1 didn't need a lot of green stuff. I glued the one bucket to his elbow. I didn't have the same options with the other one (which I would regret later).
Slop Hauler 1 didn't need a lot of green stuff. I glued the one bucket to his elbow. I didn't have the same options with the other one (which I would regret later).
When ever you have two hands that meet together, you are sure to run into a lot of gaps. This was no exception as his left shoulder looked like it had been dislocated. Serious scultping work and sanding.
Priming used Army Painter's Uniform Grey, then black wash and drybrush white. This is where craft paints normally work better for me - as the "dry part" usually easier to get. But I got it too wet and got this mess. Worse yet, the drybrushing sheared the other bucket right off the mini. A lot of swearing this night.
Weird detail - on the right you can see this gremlin is not wearing a knit cap. He's wearing a doo-rag as evidenced by the flap of material under his carrying stick.
Weird detail - on the right you can see this gremlin is not wearing a knit cap. He's wearing a doo-rag as evidenced by the flap of material under his carrying stick.
Stoopid bucket.
Here on Slop Hauler 2 you can really see where the white drybrush should have been dryer. Still - a little more black wash helps. Not unfixable.
First coats on Slop Hauler 1...
...and his stoopid bucket.
In progress shot of #2 with the straps unpainted.
Slop Hauler one with washes completed.
Slop Hauler 2 with washes completed.
A few notes about the oil drum. Considering the Malifaux setting is supposed to be late 1800's / early 1900's, a gremlin carrying on oil drum is a serious anachronism. Why the sculptor didn't decide to use an actual wooden barrel...
Anyway, color scheme... Black would blend in. Blue would clash. Thought green would be to similar to the skin tone... Until I found a good reference for a weathered oil drum. Then I was in on it.
Past experience says once a thin plastic piece has snapped, it's just a matter of time before it breaks again, especially when you're manually moving it along a game board. So I a made little hot glue strand to support the reattachment of the bucket. Some tuft pieces will do it's job on hiding it. But first...
... making the base look like wet, goopy mud. I just added some Vallejo's liquid water to the base, being careful not to get directly on the feet
A little heavy glaze of mud color (Ceramcoat Autumn Brown) on the feet and a tiny bit of mud spatter. Then hide that hot glue support with a tuft of grass.
While painting the figures while on the base saved me the aggravation of having to put pins in those tiny gremlin feet, my thumbs unfortunately wore away at the bases.
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