Category Archives: Fantasy Gaming

D&D Monster Manual 9: Castle Ravenloft Zombie Dragon & Werewolf

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Another couple of the Dungeons and Dragons Boardgame models today. The Zombie Dragon and the Werewolf. Both are decent sculpts, though nothing outstanding by my standards.

Castle Ravenloft “Zombie Dragon”

The Zombie Dragon is a reasonable beast, though details are a little soft in places. It’s also undersized to my eye, for a dragon at least. Dragonling perhaps, but not a full fledged dragon, undead or otherwise. A zombie dragon is, apparently a distinct thing from a Dracolich. I guess that’s a Dragon who is a Lich, rather than a Dragon who is a Zombie. I guess perhaps Dracoliches can be the ones who animate Zombie Dragons. I’ve still got to finish painting the Dracolich that came with Ravenloft, so enough about that for now.

Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft – “Zombie Dragon”

Since this thing is (or used to be) a Dragon(ling), and also a Zombie, I went for a kind of traditional green palette, knowing I could stay dark on the carapace while highlighting the majority of the skin to a really pallid, desaturated green, so the carapace and wing membranes would provide a harmonious contrast. Of course, the other contrast that I wanted to have nice and strong was that of the blood, gore, viscera, exposed muscle and so on.

D&D Zombie Dragon showing off its sexy abdominals.

The beast doesn’t look like it’s been dead for all that long, as there’s not a huge amount of decomposition on the model so far. I mean, the details are pretty soft, so it’s easy enough to go other way, but I thought the head looked a little sallow as opposed to being made up of exposed bone. This is why I painted the eyes as hollowed-out but bloodied sockets. As though the crows and carrion-eaters had picked them out of the skull, before reanimation had occurred.The midsection and exposed ribs were again a bit soft, so I used some tube-putty to create some intestines hanging out of the chest/midsection cavity, along with a relatively fresh trail of viscera and blood being left in its stride.

D&D Zombie Dragon leaves a trail of its own gore in its wake.

All of the exposed wounds were finished with Tamiya Clear Red, and the trail of dripping gore was made up of the same Clear Red along with some Water Effects.

Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Werewolf

Castle Ravenloft “Werewolf”

The Werewolf also, is a simple figure. Again on a par with an average Bones model. Very much a 5/10 sculpt and model, in my opinion. I went for grey rather than brown, since grey rather than brown wolves and werewolves fit the pseudo-gothic-horror aesthetic of something like Castle Ravenloft for me.

Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Werewolf

Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal!

The incredibly awkward pose and posture doesn’t do a whole lot for me, either. Interestingly, this werewolf is female. Though she only has two breasts, that are completely covered in fur, rather than six-to-ten teats. Not something I’d thought about much before.

Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Werewolf

A close-up of the Werewolf’s head.

We all know that there are actually painters out there that really can make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. I’m not sure if I consider myself one of them, but I know that I could have made this model look better than it is. The question, as always is whether it would be worth the time invested. In this case, I did a little with facial markings and called it good enough.

Size Comparison – Ravenloft Werewolf, Zombie Dragon and Chronopia Guy.

In the end, these two are simply used as Bossed for the Ravenloft box. In theory, both could have a place in a Kings of War Undead army, though I’ve got better (Confrontation) Werewolves that I use for that game, and better ones from Citadel, Reaper, and even Mantic that I can use for everything else. The Zombie Dragon would need proxy-stats for a creature much less nasty than a proper Dragon to be of use. Obsidian Golem stats of some kind, perhaps?

77256: Brass Bull (Reaper Bones)

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The moment I saw this model in the Bones II list, I knew I wanted to buy it. Marouda likes Bulls, as she’s a Taurus (not into astrology, but likes the animal and imagery). As I’ve written before, the Brass/Bronze Bull is a thing with a strong Ancient Greek heritage. As much as I like the Foundry Model, this one is a good bit bigger, and as such, more impressive. Incidentally, this model is a Bob Olley sculpt, and a nice one at that. I started this a little over a month ago, after starting a brief survey on how to base it.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Reaper’s Brass Bull. You can sort of see the glowing eyes I gave this one.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Now, I know that most Reaper Miniatures are essentially “counts-as” models for various Dungeons and Dragons beasties. What was interesting to me was when one of my friends was over for Friday Night Zombicide, and saw the part-painted model on my paint desk, and remarked that he recognised it as a “Gorgon” and talked about it turning enemies to stone (ok) via a breath attack (huh?) Now, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge D&D guy, and to me “Gorgon” always meant a snake-woman of Medusa’s Ilk. Medusa being the name of a specific Gorgon, rather than the name of the snake-haired woman’s race. Because, you know, that’s what they are.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

This shot shows off the freehand Hoplon shield. I’m quite proud of it.

So I did a bit of Googling the next day. I found that, yes indeedy, a Brass (or Bronze) Bull is a proper D&D Monster that petrifies its foes via a breath attack. Huh. Still, it required a bit more reading to figure out. Eventually, I found this blog post by F.Wesley Schneider (of D&D and Pathfinder fame) who explains it all in a way that makes it all make sense. It’ll still never make it a Gorgon to me, but I can absolutely understand and respect the reasoning behind it, as well as the many years of legacy to those who play and are familiar with D&D. It’s much the same kind of acceptance as my own to bright green Orcs, which was not something I’d ever considered or pictured before my introduction to and immersion into Warhammer in my early teens.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Showing the discarded Kopis sword.

A couple of flank shots. When I saw the photographs of these I noticed a small amount of wear (already!) on some of the scales. I’ve gone back to retouch those bits and will be giving them a bloody decent shot of varnish tonight and tomorrow.

Wargames Foundry Bronze Bull, Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Sizing comparison.

Finally, a size comparison shot. We have Stabby McStab, the Chronopia model, the Reaper Bull and finally, the Wargames Foundry Bronze Bull. While the basing does make a difference, the Wargames Foundry bull is significantly smaller. I’ll still manage to work out a use for both in the eventual Mythical Greek Army. I’ve got some ideas, and both bulls would remain very nasty opponents. I might add some flower tufts to the base of the Reaper model, though. I like the contrasting effect that flowers have with such a terrifying monster of Brass and Steel!