It has been about four years since my wife and I experienced our first foray into the world of Descent. The mission was “First Blood”, which serves as the tutorial for the Shadow Rune campaign. Food was being stolen from a farmer’s field by a group of goblins led by a two-headed giant (or Ettin) named Mauler, and our heroes were tasked with putting an end to his devious plans. We were successful, and we were hooked. Perhaps it is fitting that the last core set monster to hit my painting table was also the first that hit my gaming table.
Being among the first monster groups released, the Ettins are rather basic in their gameplay. Their role as tanky bruisers is exemplified by a relatively large amount of health, decently strong dice pools for attack and defense, and modest movement stats befitting their 2 x 2 miniature base. The Reach keyword allows them to attack from one space away (giving them some much needed range), and the ability to Throw heroes adds some tactical options for the overlord. Used cunningly, Throw could allow a hero to be thrown behind a screening wall of monsters, separating him from his comrades and singling him out for a beating. If positioned appropriately, they could be lobbed into a space containing lava, resulting in an instant KO. Unfortunately, these exciting possibilities were rarely realized, and the most that the ability accomplished was to inconvenience the heroes, forcing them to spend a few extra movement points on their next turn.
As far as the core box miniatures go, the Ettins are definitely among the best in regards to sculpt, detail, and casting. They still have their issues, however. The model appears to be cast in five parts: the legs and loincloth, the torso and right head, the left arm, the right forearm and club, and the left head. This segmentation leads to some rather unsightly gaps, primarily between the upper and lower parts of the torso. The attachment site for the left head also proved problematic, due to some rather wonky skin folds that are sculpted in the area. There was some superglue overflow from production (similar to that I described on the Merriods) which found its way into the recesses, leaving a rough, bubbly texture.
It is my firm belief that boardgame manufacturers take a perverse pleasure in placing mold lines in the most detail heavy, hard to reach areas possible for the sole purpose of frustrating painters. In the case of the Ettins, this included the aforementioned neck wrinkles, the fur cape along the upper back, the wrapping on the forearm, the helmets, the horns, and all the fingers and toes. But seriously! There are huge areas of flat skin on this figure, and not a mold line to be seen. But find a nook, cranny, or any kind of texture, and there they are. I did what I could in these areas, but I’m still not entirely satisfied.
As usual, the master was differentiated from the minion by different colored accessories. For the minion, I tried to make his loincloth look like a scrap of an old tarp, weathered and faded. While the reference art shows the central feature of the right helmet to be metallic, I chose to interpret this as a gemstone. Even though the area is actually concave, I think I managed to pull off the look adequately. The master received the standard red accoutrement, including the loincloth and gemstone.
Although I applied the flesh tones in a near-identical fashion before the clothing was painted, the contrast generated by the red and green really affects the overall cast of the skin.
The Ettins possess the Mountain and Cave traits, so I chose to paint their bases to look like a snowy mountain pass. It was difficult to capture this in the photographs, but the snow does have rather convincing blue shadowing under the rocks. This looks much more three-dimensional in person.
Overall, I am pretty satisfied with these miniatures. I love the way the two heads appear to be arguing with each other, and I think the skin looks fairly lifelike. I especially like the shadowing and highlights on those big, flabby backs. Now that I am done with all of the monsters from the base set, I get to set my sights on the heroes and lieutenants! Those miniatures are soooo small, but I have seen some very nice renditions from other artists. Can’t wait to see how mine stack up against the rest. Until then….
Flesh:
Base coated with VGC Heavy Skintone (72.140). A layer of VFP Base Flesh (74.004) was added in the recesses, and then blended into the base coat with a 1:1 mix of the two colors. Layers of VMC Beige Red (70.804) and VFP Natural Flesh (74.006) were added and blended into the other colors, working towards highlights with the addition of VFP Highlight Flesh (74.008). The brightest highlights were approximately 2:1 Highlight Flesh and Natural Flesh.
Hair:
Base coated in VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822). This was blended into the flesh tone along the border with the addition of VFP Base Flesh (74.004), followed by some light coverage of pure Base Flesh to soften the transition. The individual hair was picked out with a 1:1 mix of the German Camo Black Brown and VMC Green Brown (70.879), followed by highlighting certain strands with pure Green Brown.
Horns:
Base coated with VMC Green Brown (70.879). Some shade was added to the ridges with a mix of Green Brown and VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822). Linear highlights were added toward the tips with progressive mixes of Green Brown and VMC Ivory (70.918).
Ropes:
Base coated with VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822). The individual strands were then picked out with VMC Green Brown (70.879), followed by very selective highlighting with a 1:1 mix of Green Brown and VMC Beige (70.917).
Skulls:
Base coated with VMC Khaki (70.988). This was covered with a layer of VGC Bonewhite (72.034). Highlights were added with a mix of Bonewhite and VMC Ivory (70.918), and the teeth were picked out with pure Ivory.
Brown Fur and Club:
Base Coated with VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822). A second base coat with VMC Chocolate Brown (70.872) was added, with the GCBB acting to darken the recesses. Next, a layer of VMC Flat Earth was added to the individual hairs, followed by a highlight layer of Flat Earth mixed about 1:1 with VMC Dark Sand. The transitions between these colors were all softened and lightened/darkened with mixes of the three colors, creating a bit of a gradient from the upper surfaces to the lower ones. Although the same colors were used for both areas, the fur received more liberal amounts of the brighter colors while the club remained quite dark.
Steel:
For this model I used my standard non-metallic metal approach with VMC Black (70.950), Schmincke Titanium White, VGC Cold Grey (72.050).
Green Loincloth:
Base coated with VMA Green (71.329). (Model Air paints are pre-thinned for airbrush use, and I find the consistency rather annoying for my normal painting method. In order to use them, I put the paint on dry parchment paper over paper towels. This “reverse wet palette” wicks some moisture out of the paint, making its consistency more like regular paint.) Some shading was applied with a 2:1 mix of the Green and VMC Black (70.950). The mid-tone was built up with the addition of VMC Khaki (70.988) to the Green. Some VMC Green Grey (70.971) was added to this mix for highlighting.
Red Loincloth:
Base coated with VMC Burnt Red (70.814). Some darker shading was added (especially in the inaccessible crotch region) with the addition of a little VMC Black (70.950). A layer of VMC Dark Red (70.946) was added over most of the cloth. Next, a desaturated red mix was created using equal parts of VMC Carmine Red (70.908) and VMC Khaki (70.988). This was applied to most of the cloth again, acting more as a base tone than a true highlight. Final highlights were added with the addition of some VGC Bonewhite (72.034) to the previous mix.
Forearm Wrap:
This was done entirely with VMC German Camo Black Brown (70.822) and VMC Ivory (70.918), working from a pure GCBB base to a nearly pure Ivory highlight. I have found that GCBB has an interesting purple quality when lightened with Ivory, which creates an oddly cool yet dull off-white color.
Base:
Ground:
Base coated with a 1:1 mix of VMC Dark Rust (70.302) and VMC Black Grey (70.862). A layer of this base tone mixed about 1:1 with VMC Khaki (70.988) was stippled over the entire area, followed by this second tone mixed about 2:1 with VMC Green Grey (70.971).
Rock:
Base coated with VMC Black Grey (70.862). Highlights were sketched in with VMC Neutral Grey (70.992), then blended back into the shadows with varying mixes of the two colors in a simple gradient.
Snow:
The areas of snow were base coated with VGC Glacier Blue (72.095). This was covered with stippling of a 1:1 mix of Glacier Blue and Schmincke Titanium White. Finally, pure Titanium White was brushed into streaky areas where the snow would catch the most light. In some areas, additional shadows were glazed in with a very small amount of VGC Night Blue (72.019) added to the Glacier Blue, and then blended down into the Glacier Blue again.
DarthTom's Gaming 