“Blax the Kleric’s top ten of 2022”

Sadly, for those hobbyists anticipating another posting featuring some of Dick Garrison’s well-painted miniatures, this particular article will doubtless be something of a disappointment due to it maintaining the annual tradition of Roger penning a piece on my wargaming website “Fantorical”, and me once again taking the reins of “Rantings From under The Wargames Table”. The past twelve month have certainly caused Roger to produce an eclectic range of painting subjects, most notably due to his monthly Advent Challenge, so it’s taken some considerable willpower to tie this ‘Best In Show’ down to just ten figures…

 

(10) “Reaper Miniatures” – Middle Eastern Style Werewolf (June 17^th): I just love how well Roger has captured the Arabian feel of this Werewolf, with his choice of chocolate Brown, Plum, Copper and Gold. The creature looks like he has just stepped out from the pages of “One Thousand and One Nights”, and would doubtless have given the Forty Thieves a good thrashing if they’d attacked him. I also like the highlights on the monster’s pants and all the “bling” which has been painstakingly picked out.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/06/17/weird-hands-is-it-a-werewolf-thing-advent-challenge/

 

(9) “Reaper Miniatures” – Space Henchman (July 16^th): Coming completely out of the blue for Roger’s Sci-Fi Month Advent Challenge, this pink-hued gargoyle attracted my admiration for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the skin pigmentation is excellent, and along with the featureless face, strongly reminds me of the super-villain Parasite by “DC Comics”. Whilst secondly, Roger has done a super job of picking out the minion’s “Hawaiian shirt”.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/07/16/sci-fi-month-advent-challenge/

 

(8) “Wargames Terrain Workshop” – Mongrol (April 23^rd): Sculpted by green-stuff artisan Dave Stone as a gift, this towering A.B.C. Warrior looks awesome. Roger has really gone to town trying to match his paint scheme with the colours depicted within the pages of “2000 A.D.”, even adding a “chin chain” and “forehead badge” to the miniature when he spotted them inside the comic books. A top present from Dave, which Roger has definitely done justice to.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/04/23/the-gawk/

 

(7) “Reaper Miniatures” – Skeleton Pirate with Knives (August 15^th): If there’s one thing I try to avoid at all costs it is striped trousers. Yet Roger continues to show he’s able to handle a technique I find extremely difficult, with consummate ease. Indeed, not only does he apply some deft lines to this undead pirate’s ripped trousers, but he also applies his well-practiced technique to the skeleton’s headscarf too.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/08/15/three-fins-one-donein-advent-challenge/

 

(6) “Reaper Miniatures” – Giant Weasel (March 13^th): Whilst I’m personally a big fan of large furry animals to paint – as they’re ordinarily pretty straightforward to paint. I tend to stick to using just one colour for their fur. Roger on the other hand went from dark brown to white on this badger-faced weasel, and absolutely nailed the transition between the strongly contrastingly colours. I also just adore the look on this creature’s face. It’s so cute yet speaks of the beast scoffing you up in one should you drop your guard.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/03/13/in-the-night-garden-advent-challenge/

 

(5) “Oakbound Miniatures” – Judge Chico (Nov 27^th): Having completely failed to paint this very figure myself some years ago, I was absolutely delighted to see Roger provide it with such an astonishingly good paint-job after I sent it to him. This model looks every bit the Mega-City One Judge the sculpt deserves, and I love the green he achieved for the gloves and boots mixing Shamrock, Olive Green and Stone Green together to create the clothing’s different tones.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/11/27/being-judge-mental-movember/

 

(4) Self-sculpted – Jason Voorhees (May 21^st): Dripping in both death and decay, Roger has done an excellent job in painting so iconic Horror flick character. However, what is truly awe-inspiring about this Chibi figure is that Roger sculpted it himself using Green-Stuff. Such first-class talent with the modelling clay makes this model a winner in its own right. But then coupled with the aforementioned paint scheme really helps bring it to the fore in my mind. Plus, I happened to paint a Jason figure myself this year – so know what a pain to pigment that hockey face mask can be.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/05/21/voorhees-a-jolly-good-fellow-monster-mayhem/

 

(3) “Reaper Miniatures” – Human Paladin Evil (January 5^th): There’s little I dislike more than intricate trim over an entire model. Yet with “Krass”, Roger has caught every little bit of the Chaos Knight’s complicated armour with a winning combination of Copper and Bronze. Alongside the mighty warrior’s turquoise, this contrast works extremely well, and is definitely a palette I plan to replicate should I ever muster up enough patience to pigment my Nurgle Chaos Space Marines.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/01/15/a-pair-of-baduns-advent-challenge-paint-what-you-got-challenge/

 

(2) Self-sculpted – Captain Kremmen (June 24^th): I still remember enjoying the old Kenny Everett cartoon series Captain Kremmen, and so became completely entranced by Roger’s postings in which he catalogued how he managed to craft the sci-fi hero out of Green-Stuff. In addition, he has definitely captured all the colourful confidence of the Star Corps officer with his brush, and one can almost hear the late great comedian’s voice issuing from the figure.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/06/24/kremmen-of-the-star-corps-forgotten-heroes/

 

(1) Wargames Foundry – Hammerstein (March 20^th): Perhaps I’ve been slightly swayed in making this my preferred piece of the year by it being one of my favourite comic book characters of all time. But Roger did such a first-rate job in capturing the exact colour scheme of the A.B.C. Warriors’ leader with his combination of Chocolate Brown and Orange, that it wasn’t a difficult decision. He’s also gone to some extreme lengths to get the robot’s A.B.C. badge as accurate as possible, even adding some Red and Lemon Yellow to the insignia’s bar/stars underneath. Terrific stuff.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2022/03/20/spread-the-word/

 

Obviously, there are many other models which Roger has either crafted, converted or painted to perfection over the past twelve months which have unluckily been bumped out of these choices. So I would heartily recommend that you go back and spend some time pouring over the postings I haven’t mentioned in this Top Ten as well. Happy New Year.

Simon

As usual I’ll just stick my oar in here at the end to say a big thank you to Simon for taking time out of his “Analogue Painting Challenge” preparations (The best of luck mate and sooner you than me!) to do this, I always love seeing what he’s picked , and I even agree with….some of them 😉. And I’ll finish by reiterating Simon’s wishes for a very good year to you lot out there. Here’s to a prosperous and well painted new year!

Now please head over to Simon’s blog and read my “Top Ten” of his output for the year.

Cheers Roger.

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