Village Attacks: Horror of the Sands - Monsters

With the Yunfakh Hunters and the Town Heroes from Horrors of the Sand complete, the last group I needed to do was the Monsters themselves. And I’m going to be honest, I really dragged my feet on these guys. The hydrophobic issues just make them such a pain to paint. 

Efreet (also spelled ifrit, or afreet) are fire spirits in Islamic folklore and indeed the artwork certainly gives the impression that she is a fire elemental of some kind. As such I was a little unsure how I was going to paint her. I had a look at some tutorials and it turns out, I’ve been painting fire incorrectly. What I normally do is to basecoat with red then do successive highlights of orange and then yellow. Afterall, this is how traditional highlighting works; start with a darker basecoat and highlight with brighter colours. But that’s not how fire works. Fire is brightest (and hottest) at the source of the flame whilst darker (and cooler) the further from the source that you go. 

With that in mind, I painted the whole model in a few layers of Yriel Yellow. Once that was dry I gave it a coat of Iyanden Yellow Contrast paint. This did darken the recesses but it was absolutely worth it given the amount of texture on the Efreet. Once that was dry I then drybrushed the model with Troll Slayer Orange; importantly I gave it a lighter drybrush at the base of the wings and on the face. Then I followed up with another drybrush, this time with Mephiston Red, on the tops of the wings and on the fire swirl/tornado that is the lower half of the miniature. Lastly, I went back and layered Yriel Yellow and a small amount of Flash Gitz Yellow on the face. Overall, this gave the impression that the face was the hottest part of the miniature, which then got progressively colder the further away you got from it. 

At this point I could have called her done but I wanted to add a bit of contrast to the model to break up all those red tones. The figure is actually holding two small flames in two of her four hands, these would be ideal for what I had in mind. To start with I basecoated the flames with Cermamite White before giving them successive drybrushes of Temple Guard Blue and Thousand Sons Blue. I’ll be honest, I initially base coated them Thousand Sons Blue with the intention of highlighting with brighter colours. Old habits die hard I guess! In any case, I did eventually do it the correct way round and the results look great. 

Djinn (or Jinn) might be where we get the word “genie” from but inpre-Islamic and Islamic folklore djinn can refer to any invisible creature not just the wish-granting lamp-bound creature that was popularised by a certain animated film. Contrary to the film, djinn can be both malevolent or benign beings. The one in Village Attacks being undeniably malevolent, he certainly isn’t granting wishes to the villagers that are knocking on the castle gates. 

Normally, I’ll at least try to incorporate the monster’s type colour (yellow in the case of the Djinn) into the model. But on this occasion I decided not to as the artwork of blue skin and red clothes really went well together. So with that in mind I started by basecoating all the skin with Fenrisian Grey, which is a nice blue-grey colour. The skirt and hood I painted with Mephiston Red, and the trim I picked out with Vallejo Pale Sand. His flail I then gave an even coat of Leadbelcher. I then washed the whole model with Nuln Oil.

For the flames I first gave them a basecoat of Yriel Yellow, took about three coats to get an even layer. After that I washed it with Iyanden Yellow and drybrushed it with Troll Slayer Orange. By way of some quick object source lighting I drybrush some Flash Gitz Yellow around the flames and on the Djinn’s skirt. 

Ghouls are so ubiquitous within horror that it’s hard to imagine their origins. As it happens ghouls, like djinn, originated in pre-Isalmic Arabian religions. These demon-like creatures lurk in cemeteries and eat human flesh, often luring hapless victims into uninhabited places. 

The largest area on the Ghoul is her dress so in keeping with her blue monster type I gave her a couple of thin coats of Macragge Blue. I did the trim of her dress in Mephiston Red, to contrast with the blue. For the sleeves and pantaloons I used a couple of thin coats of Pale Sand. I was tempted to paint the tassels on her back and wrap around her legs with an off white like Skeleton Bone but I thought that it would look a bit too patriotic with the red and blue already on the model. Instead, I painted them with a few layers of Two Thin Coats Celestial Blue, which is a nice baby blue colour that worked well with the Macragge Blue. 

For the skin I used Rakarth Flesh, and for her hair and the leather bag she carries I painted with Corvus Black. The faces under her dress, presumably of her victims, I also painted with Corvus Black before giving them a quick wash with Army Painter Red Tone. The trinkets and jewellery that she has I carefully painted with some Scale75 Dwarven Gold. With that done, I gave her a wash from head to leg stump with Nuln Oil. 

Whilst mummies are undeniably Middle Eastern, their concept as a creature of folklore only begins in the 19th century when the French colonised Egypt. And even then, they were more a romantic element than a horror element. No joke, in early stories the mummy (usually female) served as the love interest for the protagonist. Hard to imagine our dagger wielding horror in Village Attacks any anyone’s sweetheart. But by the middle of the 20th century mummies had taken their place alongside vampires as a classic horror monster. 

Rather than attempt to paint in between all the wraps and bandages I just basecoated all of the Mummy’s limbs and face with Ionrach Skin. The bandages and wraps I then picked out with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. The big coat he’s wearing I painted with a couple of thin coats of Vulkan Green. The cloth under this hat and around his neck I picked out with Vallejo Pale Sand. I then used some Incubi Darkness on his hat to add a bit of variety. The trinkets on the hat and around his neck I picked out with a couple of coats of Scale75 Dwarven Gold. 

For the leather bits and the trim on his coat I gave them a coat of Corvus Black. The last few bits on the model were to paint his dagger with Leadbelcher and the flames in his other hand with Warpstone Glow. Then, as with the Ghoul and Djinn and gave him an all over coat of Nuln Oil. 

The bases I did in the same way that I did for the other models in the Horror of the Sands box. That is to say I smothered on some Armageddon Dust texture paint and once that was dry I washed it with Seraphim Sepia, followed by a light drybrush with Tyrant Skull. Lastly I painted the rims of the bases with some matt black.

Four more miniatures done. I won’t lie, I'm glad to see the back of them. The paint beading issue really does just suck the fun out of painting these guys. Which is a shame, because they’re lovely models and I really enjoy the thought that goes into them. In researching these models in the Horror of the Sands box I’ve learned more about Islamic folklore than I thought I ever would. I’ve enjoyed it enough that I’ve put One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales, on my wishlist to read. 

Even so, it might be a little while before I make a start on the dozen or so mini-expansions that I have for Village Attacks. Unless I can find a reliable fix for the paint beading issue of course. 

Boardgame miniatures left to paint: 702

Boardgame miniatures painted this year: 64