WIP Fields of Strife (Patreon)

Long ago, back when I was still streaming, I started slowly assembling a couple muscle warriors at the beginning of every show. This lasted almost right until the end, very gradually I built up a small crowd of Warcry figures intending to make a close packed battle scene, challenge myself a bit on a high model count in a relatively small space.

  In the beginning, the field was flat.

It was a quick mock up, I still had models left over and I needed to make sure their equipment wasn't too entangled. I also needed some dimension and texture. It was simple enough to grab a piece of bark, some cork board, and something I hadn't used before, Vallejo Earth Texture, which looks like peanut butter but man..It doesn't smell like it.

The earth texture was fun to work with, I didn't waste bottles and bottles of glue and you can also style it a bit. It takes on the texture of the tool you're applying it with to some extent. So tapping in foot prints and such is possible and really easy. I still added a few pinches of slate, twigs, and various bits for atmosphere, can't skip on those little details but I also had to be sparing as it was about to get very crowded.

Once this first layer was dry I did some test fitting. It was all so simple when the earth was flat. I knew I may want to add a little space and definitely another pass of the Earth Texture to Level the ground out on the hill.

A little more space was needed and I also wanted to add a little more to the silhouette. It's a scene on a round base with many viewing angles. I want the viewer to appreciate all of that but it will also need a final resting point. 

The two points of driftwood will serve nicely to lock that in place and a little cork extension gave the Axeman room to do his thing. The main Character of this scrum will be the Darkoath Warqueen. My goal is to create fantasy battle scene in that classic 80's style. I want to control the temperature and hues of color to create a warm spot light at the center of the base and over her. The rest of the models will have colder colors introduced as I move to the outer edge.

That's my plan at least, everything can change. It may come out a little more subtle than imagined. It will be an interesting project that will have me asking a lot of questions and I'm happy to take that journey :)