I’m happy to report that this week has been much better than the previous one. The “leaky” window seems to have been fixed and nothing bad happened for once in a few weeks. I also tried to be deliberate about doing things that I would enjoy to help lift my spirits. The first thing I worked on was pretty straightforward and not terribly exciting. Its another section of Farmer’s Fence which I did not glue correctly when assembling it. There should be a gap between the bottom piece of wood and the dirt but I wasn’t paying close enough attention apparently. An easy mistake to make but not a fatal one. I can always have some fence like this and some correctly assembled too. That’s three down but I’m going to need quite a few more before I can hope to use them in a game.
I also started working on some terrain for Hellboy because I’d like to be able to play it with fully painted terrain this year, if I can. I’m working on the biggest piece of terrain now and that is the Wizard’s Desk. Its multi-tiered and will take a little while to fully complete. I started working on the larger piece and ran out of Agrax Earthshade so I stopped which is a bit of a shame. It really needs edge highlights for you to see it start to come together. As it is now, it looks decent but is certainly missing something.
Once I ran into that dead end, I started on something even more exciting and that is some crystals/gemstones on a piece that goes with the desk. If you’ll permit a very short story, about five or so years ago, I had an idea to paint a Necron Lord with fiery colors instead of the usual green and steel colors that Games Workshop favors. This mini came with crystals on its base (and has apparently been retired because I didn’t see it on GW’s website). Unfortunately, I knew less about painting back then and botched a couple parts before giving up on it altogether. The biggest issue I had was that I couldn’t figure out how to paint crystals well. I haven’t tried any since then, surprisingly and this was my chance to try and rectify a previous mistake and learn something new.
There isn’t a ton of advice on how to paint crystals out there but the best information I found is by Vince Venturella on Youtube, which is no surprise, because he is a great servant of the hobby. He shares his knowledge generously to anybody who wants it which is truly admirable. Between his Youtube video and doing some photo referencing, I was able to work out what I wanted to do and I’m happy to say that it came out pretty nicely. Its not quite competition level painting but its still up there.
The one thing I would say about crystals is that having them be a little bigger and not too clumped together makes them a lot easier to work on. Getting smooth blends with maximum contrast wasn’t possible on some of these crystals because they weren’t tall enough. I have some more ideas up my sleeve to make this desk look cool so next week I should have some more interesting things to share with you.
While I’m still slowly catching up on comic books as part of the Reading Crisis of 2026, I was slightly diverted into rereading a series that I really enjoyed in the past and kind of had forgotten about. I thought I’d talk about the series here briefly and also explain why it makes me think of a dream wargame/board game that may or may not ever get made.
The series I read is Mouse Guard. Have you ever heard of it? Chances are probably not. Despite being around for ten plus years, it has had a really infrequent release schedule, partially because it is created by one man alone which is not an easy feat. Mouse Guard is a fantasy story about anthropomorphic mice that live in a fantasy setting where humans don’t exist or at least they never appear in the stories. If this sounds like Redwall, you’re not wrong! It has a lot in common with Redwall but I think it stands on its own as well. The main reason for this is the art and the way it uses scale to tell exciting stories.
I don’t know if Mouse Guard is realistic from a scale perspective but animals that would eat mice are huge in comparison like this snake. There’s also a fight with a snowy owl that is pretty epic. It makes you feel for the mice and what their up against and in a way, connect with nature. When you consider the mouse and what it goes through, it makes you realize how vast and interconnected nature is. These are also underdog stories which pretty much everyone likes too. For me, there’s a great sense of adventure in Mouse Guard which is my favorite part. I love that in Lord of the Rings and have found very few fantasy series really provide that same sense or feeling. Mouse Guard delivered it for me as I reread it for the first time since around 2014 and I enjoyed it so much, I’m thinking about hunting down the rest of the series now. It isn’t too hard to do that because there’s only 4-5 collected editions that have been released. This is really small and manageable compared to the vast majority of comic book series. So if you like these kinds of stories, I’d definitely recommend Mouse Guard. I think I enjoy it more than Redwall though I only read a couple of those books and felt burnt out on them as a young man as they get kind of samey. I’m pretty confident that Mouse Guard doesn’t have that problem.
That brings me to my dream game. I would love to see someone take Mouse Guard (or something like it) and create either a board game or wargame version of it. I know there is Mice & Mystics, which is a board game that is similar to Mouse Guard but it is fairly simplistic from what I hear and it is an older game now. Dungeon crawlers have innovated quite a bit since Mice & Mystics was released. Another game that is semi-related to my idea is Burrows and Badgers. It is a miniature wargame that focus on anthropomorphic animals but its more of a warband campaign game in the vein of Mordheim. I don’t think that format gives the same kind of feelings of adventure that a Mouse Guard-style game would provide. The challenge in my mind is making miniatures that capture the scale properly. Neither of the games I mentioned have tiny protagonists facing off against really big enemies and while I understand the technical challenges with making 10 or 15mm mice against maybe 54mm or 75mm scale enemies, it would look awesome being played and really bring that setting to life. The real problem would be terrain which is already kind of sparse for Burrows and Badgers unless you use generic fantasy terrain. All this is to say, I don’t think that my dream game is terribly likely to happen but it would be amazing to see and fun to play, if it ever did happen.
Kuribo's Painting 
Nice progress on that furniture, and those crystals look awesome! Running out of Agrax is such a show stopper for me that I tend to always have a spare on hand, it’s saved me a few times already.
Mouse guard looks very cool, I might have to look for it. I know you’re more into wargames, but Mausritter might be worth looking at, it’s a roleplaying game, but the scale element is very much present from what I’ve read. It would be interesting to make a miniature game out of it, you could almost do it at true scale, with mice being not much bigger than say a space marine and playing with real household items as terrain.
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Thanks, Nic! I’m glad to hear you do that too because I generally buy paints before I run out of them too and so I have a “pile” of about 10 on my desk right now where I pre-emptively bought a replacement and haven’t opened it because I don’t need it yet. I feel a little crazy having them sit around like this but now I feel like it isn’t so outlandish!
Mouse Guard is worth hunting down if you like the art. The story’s good too, especially if you like things like Redwall but the art is special and I think that is why I prefer it to the Redwall series overall. Funnily enough, there is a Mouse Guard RPG that got made, if you can believe it! I know nothing about it but it does exist and shame on me for not mentioning it.
Mausritter looks pretty good to me and if I was playing RPGs with anyone other than the computer (ha!), I’d definitely give it a try. I like what I’m seeing about scale and environments on their website. That is a great way to tackle the subject and it gets you as the player or GM (or are they called CheeseMasters in this RPG!?) thinking! Thanks for bringing this to my attention and maybe we’ll see more products in this space in the future!
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Funnily enough I had a panic moment yesterday when I thought I’d actually run out of Agrax myself! I couldn’t find a new pot and was thinking: just after commenting I always keep a spare, classic! Turns out I did have a spare bottle, and it was stored in a sensible spot but my eyes had just hopped over it when I first looked.
As for Mausritter, who knows there’s been quite a few adaptations of TTRPGs into video games over the years, so you might get to play it yet!
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I’m glad you had a spare! It usually takes 4-7 to get a replacement for me via the mail so that is a real hobby setback. Video games could adapt mouse-based games nicely. Instead of God of War, it could be God of Mice, for example haha
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Great post mate. Those crystals are banging. Love them. As for the rail, don’t sweat it, over time muck and crap builds up and eventually touches the bottom rail. Plus a really low one stops lambs escaping.
I do know MouseGuard. I haven’t read all of them. I have a couple knocking around somewhere. I have a vague recollection of one having a snake as his mount. We played an RPG where basically we were anthropomorphic woodland creatures going on quests. We used a standard ruleset (Advanced Fighting Fantasy) from what I recall).
I got given Tail Feathers years ago. It it is a mice and mystics add on. Some nice miniatures in it. But as you say scale is the problem.
On the PS5 I am playing Smalllands. I am a little pixie in a massive world after the humans have disappeared. Hornets and wasps are terrifying.
Plenty of 3D printable stuff out there for Miniatures. I have some Duncan Shadow and Goonmaster stuff. Mainly got them for the kids to paint in the Geek club.
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Thank you, mate! That’s a great point on the fence. I didn’t think about it but having some inconsistencies might actually be realistic in this case (for once!).
Glad to hear you know Mouse Guard and even have a couple volumes. I’m debating getting the hardcover books but I haven’t decided either way yet. My storage space is limited so it might be better to preserve room for more minis and terrain.
I have heard of Tail Feathers and the guy who designed Mice & Mystics also made a post-apocalypse game with small critters which is a more recent game and I admit, a bit more tempting to me.
I haven’t heard of Smalllands but a video game version of Mouse Guard would be great, come to think of it.
I shouldn’t be surprised that some 3D sculptors have already added to the “Redwall” miniature space. That is great to hear and I will check out the ones you mentioned. I wouldn’t mind painting something like that just for the fun of it.
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Fantastic progress Jeff, agree that having some fence touching the ground works perfectly, so no foul there, the gems look excellent, with the white edge highlight, stick to edges that the light would hit, and leave the ones in the shadow, this will make it look more realistic.
Nice to have a nostalgic read through a comic book run you enjoy, and being inspired is a cool thing, as for an actual game, the easiest way would be to get the mice from a current game, and then look at kids toys for the predators, as you’ll find them a lot bigger. As for scenery what would you need other than fields and hedges ?
Good to hear you’ve had a better week in real life.
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Cheers, Dave. I’m glad that the fence mishap isn’t a problem in the end. I think your suggestion for the gems is correct. I found it harder to darken the edge highlight color gradually than I expected but I agree that its a bit too bright in places. It makes it look a little more cartoony than realistic, I think you could say. I will definitely try and remember this for the future though I may try and adjust it a bit with a glaze or two as well. I’ll give it some thought and see what I can do with it.
That’s a good idea on implementing kid’s toys. I wouldn’t have even thought of that but it would fix the scale issue. 3D printing might be good too but I don’t have a printer so its not a great solution for me at the moment.
The terrain is definitely more complicated as in Mouse Guard, they live in houses and castles but they’re mouse-sized. In the second volume, they have to sneak through a weasel tunnel that is probably best understood as a Middle Eastern-inspired Mines of Moria. So some creativity would definitely be required and the scaling of the miniatures would need to match the terrain decently well. Of course, you have to ask yourself the question of how specific or generic do you want your terrain to be. Specific terrain looks cool (like Luke’s house on Tatooine or Yoda’s hut on Dagobah) but its hard to “transport” those to other planets and situations at the same time.
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Those crystals look fantastic! I don’t think I would ever want to even try 🥴 Well done with the furniture as well, it’s looking great – I shall look forward to hearing about your game of Hellboy later in the year, at any rate! It’s definitely a good idea to focus on the stuff that you know you’ll enjoy, I can definitely second that!!
Mouse Guard sounded familiar until you explained what it was, and I don’t think it’s something I’d come across before. But it sounds good, I don’t think I’ve really considered anthropomorphic animal miniatures before, but that does seem like a fun idea! (Incidentally, I can remember Mice & Mystics coming out, so seeing you call it an old game gave me a horrible feeling 🤣)
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Thanks, mate! It isn’t as hard as it initially seems which might explain why I failed a few years ago, I reckon. I hope to play Hellboy this year, I may have to bend on painting all the terrain first or it will be late in the year which is unfortunate. I’ve been in a gaming mood as of late and Arkham Horror Third Edition is the only game I have that I can play right now so that’s not ideal.
With your interest in fantasy and comic books, I wasn’t sure if you’ve heard of it or not. It is a family friendly book overall but there’s a lot of violence and some surprising deaths which make things feel “real” or as real as talking mice can be anyway 🙂
Its hard to believe that Mice & Mystics is an old game now. I remember when that wasn’t the case too. I think it is pretty simple compared to modern dungeon crawlers which is why I’ve never seriously considered buying it, despite loving the theme. A more modern (and slightly more complex) version of that game would get my attention though!
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Well hopefully you can get everything done for it, or at least, everything that you need done for it, before you get a game in. There’s definitely something to be said for having a fully-painted experience of course!
I think I’m going to keep an eye out for those mice, anyway. Maybe I can get the kids interested in games that way… 🤞🏻
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I may end up having to bend on that and maybe just get most everything done, we’ll see. I’ll at least have a decent chunk to try out anyway.
That is a great idea! Mice & Mystics is family friendly and I’ve heard a lot of positive response from those who play with their kids so you might enjoy it as well.
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The models are coming along nicely. I like the crystals in particular!
As for Mouseguard, you might be best off adapting something designed for generic gaming – maybe something like Rangers of Shadowdeep?
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Thanks, mate! Its a bit more of a multi-week project than I initially expected but I’m enjoying it so far.
That’s a great suggestion. Mouse Guard could definitely line up with Rangers of Shadowdeep. I hadn’t thought of it but I’m glad you mentioned it!
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As a nice little bonus, RoS is also designed for solo/co-op play!
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That’s a very good point. It removes the need for game design on my part which is a bonus in my eyes too.
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Nice work on the scenery, Jeff! 🙂 The crystals look really good!
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Thanks, John! It was nice to try something new.
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I know that it’s a tiny bit of a tiny piece of terrain, but wow – those crystals look incredible! You’ll have to find lots of opportunities for your minis to battle it out in wizards’ studies so it can be shown off as much as possible. I did initially wonder if this post was going to be about that tiny fence as it’s the first picture and wondered how much work even you could put into so minor a sculpt!
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I like your thinking! I could maybe work it in to some Conan gaming in the future come to think of it. I’ve got a lot more of those fences to work to be able to use them in a game so I wish I could get the fence done a little quicker, truthfully!
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Well they do say the best fence is a good offense… or something like that anyway ;P
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That is a rough one, mate haha!
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