Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion - Level 5 Unlocks

Just when you thought we were done with Gloomhaven content, I unlocked something else. Whilst Jaws of the Lion doesn’t have the breathtaking number of unlocks and miniatures that normal Gloomhaven does, it does have it’s own small set of boxes to open once your character gets to level five. As always from here on out, there are spoilers for Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. 

I had no idea what to expect, in Gloomhaven you at least know you’re going to be unlocking (mostly) characters through Personal Quests or various other means. Part of me wondered if it might be enhancement stickers, or some new enemy standees. I certainly was not expecting a brace of new miniatures. The miniature for each class ties in with the level five ability that they unlock, as in a departure from normal Gloomhaven at level five you only get one card instead of the usual two. If you’ve scrolled this far then you should have seen the spoiler warning, so this is your last chance to turn around. 

The card and associated miniature that each class unlocks are as follows:

Hatchet gets The New Favourite ability and an axe token miniature. As the name might suggest the The New Favourite is an upgraded version of The Favourite and the miniature can be used in place of one of the little class tokens. To be honest a rather lacklustre unlock, nothing the Hatchet doesn’t already have. Sure using a plastic miniature in place of a small cardboard disc is alright but it would have been nice to get something new. 

To actually paint the miniature, I painted the handle with Vallejo Khaki before giving it a coat of Wyldwood Contrast paint. The axe blade I painted with Leadbelcher, I picked out the knotwork and gem on the back with Scale75 Dwarven Gold. I then washed them with Nuln Oil and painted the gem with Blood Angels Red Contrast paint, as it gives a nice vibrant colour. The skull I painted with, unsurprisingly, Army Painter Skeleton Bone. I was a little unsure what to do with the base as this is one of the few Gloomhaven miniatures (so far) that has a scenic base. Or at least, not just a flat disc for a base. In the end I applied the Stirland Mud as thinly as I could so as not to cover up the rocks. Once that was dry I washed both the base and the skull with Strong Tone, and followed that up my drybrushing both with Tyrant Skull. 

Voidwarden’s unlock is the Stand Fast ability and the ward miniature. Stand Fast looks like a fun, if limited, ability. Drop it into a room and it will mitigate a fair chunk of damage by forcing enemies within three hexes to attack with Disadvantage, especially with the Voidwardens' ability to load up the monster deck with Curses. That being said, once placed the ward can’t be moved, and as Gloomhaven features a lot of moving from room to room any use of the ward will be highly situational.

To paint the staff, I took inspiration from the box art, which makes me think these unlocks were hidden in plain sight all along. For the main shaft, I basecoated it with Corvus Black, before washing it with Nuln Oil and edge highlighting with Mechanicus Standard Grey. For the flame, and cracks in the ground, I gave them a couple of thin coats of Warboss Green. The flames I then washed with Warp Lightning Contrast paint. I then drybrushed the flame and the upper part of the staff with Moot Green; the latter served as a very quick and dirty object source lighting. I then drybrushed the top of the flames with Yellow Ochre to provide a bit more contrast. For the base, I carefully applied some Stirland Mud texture paint around the cracks. Initially I tried using an old brush but Stirland Mud is very thick and goopy, like real mud I suppose, but gave up and ended up using the Citadel texture tool to apply it. Once it was dry I washed it with Strong Tone and drybrushed the base with Tyrant Skull. I was tempted to do something more with the cracks but in the end I left them as is. 

Voidwarden still rocking those crazy eyes….

The Red Guard gets the Sand Devil ability and corresponding miniature. Of all the unlocks this one surprised me the most. The Red Guard does have a slight desert theme with his ability names but it’s easy to miss, so I certainly wasn’t expecting a little dust storm! The Sand Devil itself functions a little like a summon, in fact a little better than a summon. It can’t be attacked and you control the movement, whereas in normal Gloomhaven summons die easily and are reliant on monster movement rules. The downside being that it only moves two hexes per turn and only does one damage. 

The paint job for the Sand Devil miniature was probably the easiest of the four. Initially I wanted to give the whirlwind a red tint to match with the Red Guard but in the end I couldn’t make it work. I settled on painting the whole thing with Vallejo Khaki, washing it with Seraphim Sepia and drybrushing with Vallejo Pale Sand. Essentially, the same way that I paint my desert bases. For the base, I used my usual Stirland Mud texture paint, trying not to obscure too much of the detail with it. Which I then washed with Strong Tone and drybrushed with Tyrant Skull. I still wasn’t happy with how it turned out so I went back and edge highlighted the swirls with Vallejo Pale Sand. 

And lastly we get to the Demolitionist who unlocks a Mech Suit! By far the coolest looking unlock in Jaws of the Lion. The ability itself is pretty cool as well: increases your maximum hit points, heals ten health and gives you a shield of one for the rest of the scenario. What I wouldn’t give to have this on my Red Guard. 

Knowing that this miniature would feature a lot of metallics I decided to prime it in black rather than the Uniform Grey that I used for all the other miniatures. For the metallics basecoat I used Vallejo Metal Colour Magnesium, which is similar to Leadbelcher but flows really nicely through an airbrush. The bulk of the armour panels I painted with a couple of thin coats of Scale75 Old Copper, I then picked out some random details with Citadel Balthasar Gold and Scale75 Dwarven Gold to give the model a bit more visual interest. From there I moved onto the cockpit and pilot. What little of the Demolitionist is showing I painted in the same way as the non-mecha model: Vallejo Khaki for the skin, Screamer Pink for the bandana and Evil Sunz Scarlet for the ear muffs. The controls I painted with a couple of thin coats of Corvus Black. Once that was done I washed the Demolitionist with Strong Tone, then the entire rest of the model with Nuln Oil. Once that was dry I carefully painted in their eyes with Squid Pink. Last but not least, for the base I slapped down some Stirland Mud Texture paint, washed it with Strong Tone and drybrushed it with Tyrant Skull. 

And there we have it, another four miniatures complete. These Gloomhaven unlocks sure are coming thick and fast. Hopefully, things should settle down soon enough and I can focus on some other boardgames. Maybe I’ll make a start on the Mansions of Madness miniatures. Or perhaps the mountain of models in Zombicide: Invader?

Boardgame miniatures left to paint: 731

Boardgame miniatures painted this year: 35