Wednesday 5 June 2013

Victoria Seacrette

I mentioned in an earlier post my sudden fascination with the business of dungeoneering.

Now I can't rightly say where this predilection originated, but it certainly has been fueled by a few forum and blog photos that I've been admiring over the last few months. I'm not even really sure about a rule set for dungeoneering yet - all I know is that I want to be able to do it if the opportunity arises.

And chief among the requirements for dungeoneering is the Adventuring Party. That is, a party comprised exclusively of adventurers.

Fantasy adventuring parties are often stereotypical - their constituents easily categorised. We all know that fantasy ladies are swimsuit models and even though their save is 2+ (or they have AC 3, or however you want to represent a very good armour save), they appear to only wear a chainmail bikini, and some sort of belt upon which to hang their sword.

Often, there is a barbarian. If present, he must have a two handed sword, otherwise he will turn into a pumpkin at midnight.

Dwarves are always doughty and dependable, staying away from wizardry and sticking to the honest business of chopping things up manually. Their honesty stretches even further - we don't often come across dwarf thieves or assassins in the adventuring line.

Elves flounce about the place with daggers and longbows, slaying their enemy from afar whilst flickign their hair in the wind.

Heading up the party is always a fighter. Heaven forbid that the smartest chap (stereotypically the wizard, one supposes) would lead the party - we need the biggest, meanest one to do that.

Recognise this party? So do I.

So I thought my adventuring party would try and change that around. Where possible, of course - in some cases, I couldn't find figures available for what I wanted to do, in other cases, breaking the stereotype meant invoking an even worse stereotype, so I've avoided that.

And also, I still had to like my party. No point just doing it to break moulds, you know.

Anyway, enough chit chat, lets have a look at the figures. Today I present to you the young Victoria Seacrette, adventuress extraordinaire:


As you can see, she is fully clothed. Its all very well and good to go prancing about in your bikini whilst practicing at home, but nobody remembers adventuresses who couldn't proceed because they couldn't get through the stinging nettles hiding the entrance to the dungeon.


Also, she's...er...big boned. Shops at specialist stores, if you know what I mean. She may still be a swim suit model, but we're thinking about plus size catalogues here. Still, plenty of muscle helps adventuresses carry all the gold for that all important gym membership!


Victoria is clearly a fighter. In this case, I've allowed her (as if I had a choice!) to be the party leader, because I quite like the idea of a practical, homely, maternal sort of character mothering the rest of the party around. She's always right and she always knows what to do.

Victoria is a Hasslefree miniature known as Liberty. It's tricky to find a plus size adventuress out there - as is required by the stereotype, fantasy females are traditionally naked, but even those that aren't are in pretty good shape. I love the Hasslefree range and they do have plenty of glamour models to choose from too, but they have a super selection of bulky ladies too.

I've been exploring other figure manufacturers simply out of the awareness that Citadel classic figures are going to become rarer and rarer. I'm fine for a few years, but much like carbon fuels - the sooner we start thinking about alternatives, the easier it will be later.

Some action shots, seeing as how I've set up the stage:

Victoria dares the goblin to come closer...

Victoria inspires a man to hold firm against a rampaging troll...
Story wise, I haven't thought about it much, but I think that Victoria is the oldest child of the Seacrette family. The family is middle class - well off, but not titled or holders of much political sway. Her sisters are all small, delicate ladies, far easier to marry off than she ever was. She is headstrong and capable, two things that terrify so many men of the old world. Instead, she has elected to explore a life of adventuring, keeping options open on any 'real' men she happens to meet on the way.

Finally, if you look at the pictures closely, you'll see that poor Victoria doesn't actually have an amazing paint job. This is a combination of trying to paint quickly, a ragequit and the fact that I think I'm going to need glasses as I just can't bloody make out what the hell it is I'm painting anymore. The ragequit happened as a result of trying to paint the same bloody line five or six times before I realised there was a raised 'rim' on the shield that was confounding me.

*sigh*

Anyway, she'll do. I'll only varnish once the whole party is complete, so there is time to go back and neaten up.

15 comments:

  1. Coooool. I spent most of 2012 playing HeroQuest, it was my first foray into retro gaming, I just love adventures! Let us know what rules you like the look of too, I would value any tips on choosing a set.

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    1. I've yet to start a 'selection' process, but there was even a part of me that suggested mashing some of the existing (well, now OOP) rulesets together to get some sort of framework together that was still compatible with WFB3. I want to be able to use the party in much the same fashion as you did in your last battle report.

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    2. That was great fun! It was heavily GM dependent though, which is why I keep an eye out for for alternatives. I might have a go at codifying what I did with that game and put it in a post, to see if the community can grow some good WHFB3E skirmish rules without resorting to full on WHFRP (which is hard to organise these days and involves more dying in a rabid dog ambush in dung-filled alleys than I prefer).

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  2. Hey Gaj, Victoria looks great! And she seems also to have a nice calming effect on her male companions...I love that last picture.

    I know what you mean about eyes, over the last six months my eyes too have undergone a subtle transformation that makes the fine detail work even more of an interesting challenge. Oh well, best to think that it just leads to new adventures in painting styles and approaches.

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    1. Adventures? More like shenanigans, if you ask me :)

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  3. Great simply great...hahaaha. I love the way you present this wonderful model. And yeas you are right when it all come to stereotypes..
    I mostly play battles but this would be a great idea for a leader figure.

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  4. Nice work - I think she looks great. Does she get to roll Double D6 in attack...

    Love the back story too, but you left out her secret weakness for lacy lingerie ;)

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    1. ...Double D6... - best pun ever. I bow to your pun-fu mastery.

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  5. Gaj,

    I guess we will be able to talk if you are still up for a game this weekend....but for now I would suggest Song of Blades and Heroes as a skirmish/adventuring rule set. It is simple and flexible and probably my favourite rule set after WFB 3rd ed.

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    1. Just checked with the Minister Of The Interior and we're still good for the weekend. Heard lots about SOBAH - knobgobblers suggesting sounds very interesting too.

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  6. Song of Blades also had its dungeon expansion Song of Gold and Darkness... which is pretty useful for taking warbands underground.

    Now I'm wondering what might set apart a Warhammer-themed dungeon from the more mainstream D&D ones. More rats and bad smells, fewer magical gewgaws I'd think. Some non-rancid food might be a glorious find. As far as I know my halfling is still down in that sewer looking for his cheese wheel....

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    1. Yeah. For the amount of time they've spent down there, we're gonna need a lot more than 100 GP!

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  7. I like your Victoria and the quick but effective paint job you've given her. Still I wouldn't mind some stereotypical chainmail bikini on this one ;)

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  8. @all
    Cheers chaps, nice to see that we're all politically correct (Dunno about you, D...) and accepting of the new and equal roles women can play in dungeons.

    Although I wouldn't suggest that young Victoria be burning her bra any time soon...

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  9. Very cool figure, Hasslefree is great. I too like the option of the fully clothed and larger female models.

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