Descent 2E | Painting the Heroes

Heroes of Descent 2nd Edition

I’m trying to get my miniatures painted, and I'm starting with the hero miniatures of Descent 2nd Edition! Some are out of shape and I'm trying out the “hot water” trick, but it isn’t working too well. These miniatures are 1-2 cm smaller than the Reaper Miniatures, so let's see what I can do with them

HERO: ASHRIAN

The illustrators did a great job matching with the 3D modelers. As far as the piece goes, I’m pretty happy with it. At a glance, the hair should’ve been more orange, the green should’ve been leafier, and the boots should have been tanner.

I also notice that mold lines were present only after painting. I should've gone through the miniature thoroughly before starting. They were tiny and I was pretty unobservant. I paid more attention to the tiny details of the belt buckles and the leather boots and straps.

They came out really nicely, though you can tell the wash kinda pooled in wherever it did. Might’ve been overdone, from the looks of it. The centre buckle piece could’ve been better, but I didn’t have gold paint at this point and went ahead with yellow.

HERO: JAIN FAIRWOOD

From the get go, some of my colors are too dark. Her purple is fine, but her hair should be redder, her skin should be whiter, and her gauntlets and boots should have a shade more yellow in them. I’m not sure why I’m not observant about the tone of the color until this process, but it’s probably a good thing that I started this reflection if it helps me really see what’s going wrong.

There doesn't seem to be much problems with this piece. I still can't do eyes, and the fabric is generally flat without proper highlighting techniques or washing. My painting's improving. Slowly but surely.

I learnt that painting strokes along the fabric is important to show flow. The differentiation between armor and cloth came across quite cleanly too. The insignia on the cape reminded me of the Attack on Titan emblem. It’s really complicated from the reference picture, and I should probably have used more silver.

HERO: LEORIC OF THE BOOK

One thing I notice about most of the miniatures is that they look good from a normal viewing distance. The more I review them with my macro lens the more flaws I see. It's slightly disheartening, but should not show up during play.

I didn’t have gold paint when I started this, so the trims around his neck and belt buckle were just yellow. There was less color variation here, but a lot more detail work. This figure started teaching me accuracy, which took me some time to get right. The miniature was too small for some details to be printed properly, so I ended up drawing most of it by hand.

I also custom blended the turquoise, which I think was more or less correct. However, Agrax Earthshade (Citadel’s most versatile choice of shade for me) muddied most of it, giving the body a darker, dirty look. Don’t be afraid to eyeball your mixes. Try out weird combinations and you may be able to come up with cool results.

HERO: WIDOW TAHRA

I never realized this hero was female until I observed the chest ornaments close up. It makes sense that they try to balance the genders in the heroes. This is only hero with green skin, kinda feels like the token colored character.

It’s cheating, but the eyes are hidden by her skull, so I didn't need to put so much work to make it look good. The coat’s white lining was drawn by hand, and some details were added by me. The reference for example, didn’t show the hair color, so I winged it and used a nice leather brown.

HERO: TOMBLE BURROWELL

So not only are the Descent miniatures smaller than the standard, they have a halfling. I braced myself for a lot of squinting.

I feel that Descent Heroes use a lot of brown in their color scheme. Despite the base coat being different colors, the accents and details are mostly brown. This character uses 4 different shades of brown.

I posed my thumb beside this miniature just to show how tiny it is. It took longer for this miniature just because I had to pay so much attention to the smaller details. I dropped all my brush sizes, and I became cross-eyed after this piece.

HERO: AVRIC ALBRIGHT

Amongst the heroes, this is my favorite. The colors are nice, and the details are clean. Although, we’ll have to wait for the closeups again. Upon final check, I used more Teal than Turquoise, as the reference picture. Mixing colors is hard.

Love the colors. I should've worked on the shield a bit more. The details were miniscule, and I only managed the emblem, despite there being more details.

HERO: GRISBAN THE THIRSTY

In general, reds are very close to brown, so I faced the same problems I did with the halfling.

I highlighted the axe edge in white to give it the illusion of reflection. I think I should've made the skin slightly pinker. Otherwise, it came out decent.

HIGH MAGE QUELLEN

This was the most difficult mini of the list by far. It might be because of all the details, or the colors blending into each other.

The paints came on a little thick because of how many layers I put on. The clothes overlapped each other, so it was slightly harder, balancing between red, brown, white, yellow. There was also a printing error, where holes were on his face. Factory issue that could've been fixed with a tiny bit of green stuff?

HERO: REYNHART THE WORTHY

For these last two, I had the foresight to now take before and after picture. So at least you'll get to see the miniature primed, then painted.

I dislike this miniature. His right arm is popped out, and the details were not fantastic. The posing isn't good either, considering the reference made him look so suave.

HERO: SYNDRAEL

This mini was simple and distinct. Enjoyed this piece quite a bit.

The most interesting part of this miniature was the shield. I ended up mixing my own brown-yellow-black shade for this, and if I can say, it looks great. I didn’t know how to highlight metallics, and wasn’t sure if gold and white would’ve mixed, so I didn’t go there.

FINAL THOUGHTS

These are the first ever miniatures I've ever done. There are masterful interpretations out there, and mine are not. It's slightly disheartening, but I know I will get better, and it's about consistency and passion for the hobby.

I'm improving visibly and I'm happy with these tabletop standard for now. My group will love these painted miniatures when we play. For the time being, I need better lighting and magnification, because I can't seem to see what I'm painting properly, and the colors are not coming out right either.

Till the next post! Thanks for staying.

My Miniature Painting Journey Begins

*UPDATE FROM 2018*

I finished my Descent 2nd Edition sometime last year and I think the entire gang looks beautiful. It took maybe 100 hours to get all the heroes, basic and advanced monsters out, but I'm super proud of my accomplishment. Check it out!

I'm also glad to say my that looking back at my first few minis, now that I'm at least a good 100 minis experience in, my first minis were horrendous looking. Slowly but surely, I'll get better. I'm happy with my progress for now!

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I decided to get into miniature painting recently, so I thought a progress post would help chart how far I go. I’m not really sure how to go about these blog posts, but I’ll just detail them to explain what problems I’ve had with them.

I got all these miniatures from Reaper at http://www.reapermini.com/. They have a massive selection of affordable minis, go check them out!

As part of my research, I heard that matt -> gloss -> matt varnish is the best protection and texture for miniatures, and it’s supposed to leave them with a satin finish. But… that didn’t happen.

Don't overvarnish your minis. They end up looking like crap.

Satin Varnishes are available. They may not last as long, but they are much prettier. As a preface, I do not have proper lighting or workspace. I sit on my floor, and paint on a stool. It's a pretty miserable setup.

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77054: Galladon, Male Wizard

This was my very first painted figure. I didn’t know how to highlight, shadow, or blend. I used the paint straight from the pot, without mixing down or watering them. The colors came out blockish, and I slathered wash all over it within the hour to cover up problem areas and places that looked too flat.

I cheated on the eyes. Because the hat’s brim was so large, I decided not to care about it and either painted it completely black or white. It can’t be seen in the photo, but it looks bad. Real bad.

77049: Arthrand Nightblade, Elf Ranger

I decided to try out dry brushing for the first time, and I screwed up. I didn't know how to fix it, but I kept the effect because it looked like snow.

When drybrushing, DRY THE DAMN BRUSH.

77091: Nienna, Female Elf Ranger

The dynamic pose of this miniature was amazing, and that was what motivated me to finish them. They all look glossy because of the varnish, so learn from my mistakes.

Colors felt right, but definitely could use more shading. I avoided eyes again and painted them black.

89014: Seltyiel, Iconic Magus

I really liked how this miniature turned out. The colors work well, and I tried my best with the phoenix. It was supposed to be a magic green, but I liked the fire against the blue coat. I should've learned how to do object source lighting, but progress is slow.

Just do what you're able to. And always appreciate your own work.

77151: Darkrasp, Evil Priest

The indentation of the scroll was a challenge. I didn’t know how to make it bright, so I added a red wash and then dry brushed the parchment color.

His skin came out too yellow, I'm not sure what paint I used. The most time I spent on this piece were the chains wrapped around his body. The individual chains had a lot of detail on them.

77047: Goldar, Male Barbarian

I personally despise the work I did here. We needed barbarian in our D&D session, so I decided this piece would do.

Straight away, you can tell the miniature is pretty simple. I couldn't really work out the color scheme, and worked in the skin tone as well as I could, considering how many other times I screwed that up. But the eyes. Sigh.

There isn’t a right and wrong to painting miniatures. Paint your miniature the way you envision it to be.

77174: Leisynn, Mercenary Mage

I also hated this miniature. The book details were troublesome and I didn't know how to do them. I ended up drawing lines. They were horrible.

I tried eyes for the first time. That came out nicely.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Each piece took about an hour to 2 hours. I learned to space out a day for paint to dry to add wash very late down, so most of the wash I used here was applied after the paint touch dried in 15 minutes. They’re pretty good for a first attempt, if anything.

I’ve decided to paint my Descent 2nd Edition miniatures after this. But Reaper Miniatures are fantastically cheap and have an amazing range. Definitely easy to get into without worrying about spending too much money.

Batman: Arkham Knight | Nightmares Fuel My Batmobile

"The pinnacle of the Arkham series"

!!LIGHT SPOILERS!!

So we’ve seen a whole line of Batman Arkham games, and attempts have been made to string all the stories together, without exception to Origins, taking place 10 years prior to the timeline.

The sad thing is, I was satisfied with the conclusion in Arkham City. I was happy with the game ending there, it felt concluded once the antagonist died, yet leaving no catharsis because it wasn't an ideal situation to the world or the protagonist. I liked how they tried to weave in a dead guy into this one too, but there is heavy fatigue dealing with the same antagonist for the fourth time.

Guess who!? Again for the fourth time...

As always, we're given a cast of characters from the Batman universe. There are easter eggs, cameos, minor villains with their story arcs; fresh for 2009, not so much now. The formula is the same, and the antagonist is the same. It's repetitive and no longer welcome.

The cast of heroes in this game is as solid as ever. Commissioner Jim Gordon is in charge leading the PD, we have no less than three Robins in the game, including Nightwing. Barbara Gordon, or Oracle, plays a larger role in this story too. We get to use some of these characters briefly, but more on that in Gameplay.

"I'm too old for this shit."

At first, it may seem as though Scarecrow is the main antagonist, but the Arkham Knight comes into the picture. And while it may seem like this is a new villain we get to explore, ultimately, the "surprise" plot-twist at the end is seen a mile away and I can't even be bothered with the story anymore.

The enemies are really nothing we haven’t seen before. Firefly is setting fires in Gotham, Two-Face is robbing banks, Cobblepot is smuggling something, and the Riddler has set up extravagant, over elaborate traps to kill Batman throughout the city.

No more, please.

The main campaign takes roughly 10-15 hours to complete, and the side missions will push you another 20 hours.  After which the leaderboards, new game plus, and repayable missions will push you through 6o play hours. I grew tired from this game, 30 or so hours in. I don’t want to collect any more riddler trophies. I don’t want to shoot any more tanks that overwhelm me 30 to 1 and kill me in a few shots. I love the franchise, but I’m almost glad it’s the last one.

No more, please.

I AM THE NIGHT! I AM MENIAL TASK COMPLETOR!

The underlining philosophy to every Arkham game to date is Batman himself. It’s his struggle against his morals and the temptation to break them that makes the character so relatable. It's his tendency to seclusion and taking on the responsibility of everything unto himself. It is this quality that has made Batman who he is in the comics, and is what makes the Arkham stories so enthralling to play.

Batman attempts to thwart Scarecrows’s plans to poison Gotham City with his proprietary humidifier machine, coined “Cloudburst” patent pending. Scarecrow also has a larger plan to reveal and then kill the Batman, in an attempt to demystify Gotham’s savior.

However, this simple task would be then made harder by Joker’s blood taking over Batman, making him hallucinate at the worst of times. Joker constantly pesters Batman, rattles him, and is constantly on the brink of taking over Batman’s mind. It’s a persistent threat through the game, and something that keeps a player wondering if what they’re seeing at any time is real or not.

Slowly but surely you start questioning the game, and then yourself.

A very active character in this game is the city itself. Architecture is unique, and the landscape is constantly changing based on the progression of the game. You get to experience different states Gotham goes through, and every shift dramatically changes the way you play.

Arkham Knight, along with everything in it, is gorgeous.

The city is also scattered with red lit watchtowers, drones, and bases to clear. These are owned by the Arkham Knight and these watchtowers are mini encounters by themselves. If left untouched, passing by these places will invite enemy gunfire. Clear these to earn points, and it’s really visually rewarding when the jarring red lights recede as you clear the city of threat.

Waypoints are removed, in place of slightly faster suit travel and the inclusion of the Batmobile. The Batmobile comes with its own sets of pros and cons, but generally, the inclusion of having to travel everywhere manually increases the immersion of the game.

Hit or miss, really.

New villain? Sorry, old villain pretending to be a new villain.

Rife with thousands of identical respawning thugs, Gotham City just seems neigh impossible to clean up once the campaign is over. Of course, a safe city is one that is unplayable, but the lack of change or progression makes exploring Gotham to eliminate threats lackluster.

One of the most exciting and controversial additions to the Arkham Knight game is the Batmobile. It comes with its own combat and puzzle segments, along with Riddler’s weird timed racetracks.

Personally, I think the inclusion of the tank missions is great. I also think there’s too much of it. These segments break form and the monotony of long gameplay sessions. Ninja Gaiden has platformers to slow the pacing of the game down, but it’s not why we play the game. The same goes for this. We bought the game to be Batman, not to drive around in a semi tank mowing down bad guys.

Make side quests fun again.

The cinematics in this game is breathtaking. Immersive and interactive first person cutscenes really sit you in front of the action. They are also seamless and blend perfectly into gameplay, telling the story unobtrusively.

However, there were still parts of the game that bothered me. The game railroaded me into making certain decisions that I felt were circumventable and put in only for the purpose of additional, false conflict. I understand that stories are not easy to write, but obstacles can’t be put into a game as padding to extend gameplay. It’s unethical and takes the players out of the experience.

Many times I felt that Batman wouldn’t have been stupid enough to fall for simple traps, other times why enemies ran away when they were perfectly capable, and HAVE, taken me down in the game before. The disconnect was silly and very jarring.

Uncle Ben! Uncle Ben! How many more origins re-imagining can I take?

My next problem was stakes. This game never took risks. Batman is a serious game, and the levity of his actions come with their consequences. There are many times where the game hints at or pretends to take the leap. This leads to massive internal conflicts that make us connect with the character. But the game decides to be a pussy about it EVERY single time and reveals that nothing is lost.

Batman is about lost. Batman is supposed to be about a man who lives every day with the pain of his dead parents, his broken sidekicks, his destroyed relationships, yet continues to struggle for what he believes in. It’s about a man who never gives up.

I'm sorry, were you trying to make me feel something for a side character?

Yet for half the game, I believed someone to be dead only to be perfectly fine. I believed that I broke the trust of the people closest to me. I believed that I had to suffer the repercussions of my actions only to realize that everything was a field of sunshine and daisies.

Halo 4 wouldn’t be without Cortona’s death. Final fantasy wouldn’t be if Aerith pretended to be dead. But this damn game wouldn’t even let the Batmobile be wrecked for 5 minutes without going “oh bt dubs, we have a spare.” A world where consequences don’t exist is an utterly boring one. Furthermore, the one altruistic death in the game came at a point where the character was not needed anymore. Meaningless.

MEANINGLESS.

"Master Bruce, did you just lose this unique vehicle we spent decades building? It's kay, we gots a spare!"

I know I’m starting to gripe a lot. But with great history comes greater expectations, and this game just falls short. I felt powerless throughout the game. Minor bosses were one-shotting me, I was overwhelmed in tank fights, where enemies had no-scoped wall hacks. I spent an entire night replaying the sniper level because the Arkham Knight had impeccable aim with no time lag to dodge. What is with the balance in this game!?

The thing is, done with care, vulnerability can be put to great effect. The Bane fight in Arkham City was particularly remarkable. It demonstrated how much Bane’s toxin strengthened him, making him an undefeatable adversary in face to face combat. It gave an opportunity for the game to show Batman’s stealth and wit. It was beautifully executed and remains one of the most memorable fights to me.

Less punishing, more challenging.

Done correctly, a game should feel challenging, but never punishing. Dark Souls has had a reputation for being unforgivable. However, no matter how many times I died in Dark Souls, I would never feel that winning was about luck and not skill. I would learn new things from every lost encounter until I as a player grew to overcome the particularly nasty encounter.

The punishing parts of Batman were never like that. I didn’t learn anything from losing, and it felt like I was facing an undefeatable enemy which I only had to pull off a lucky shot to overcome. Defeating a tough enemy never left me feeling like I achieved anything. Instead, I felt drained and pissed at the unfairness of this game as a whole.

A slogfest for tortured souls.

VERDICT

Batman: Arkham Knight is still an excellent addition to the list of amazing and fantastic Arkham games. The story is solid despite lots of railroading, but the combat and encounters definitely need some balancing across the different difficulties. The Batmobile was a welcome addition, despite overstaying its welcome by the end of the game.

You still feel like Batman. You are still a badass and everything. If you like Arkham, it’s a must buy. If you’re new to the series, new is not always better. Arkham City is hands down the best in the series.

7/10