Things that go Squeak in the night

My workdesk has seen some shit. Maybe its all of the dirt textures I've fallen in love with this last year, or it could be a result of my green cutmat being buried underneath a pile of glue tubes and movement trays. No matter what way this accumulated grime and scoring came to be, this week marked a new technique for marring my surface. 

As is no surprise to anyone who's been reading for a hot minute, this month has had me elbow deep in Turnip 28, especially given the three boxes of Perry Plastics I showed my Insta-Fam. Since my Sons of the Mandrake now have three core units and then some, I felt like it was time to start a second army for them to face off with, (especially since finding someone else who plays is super unlikely.)

These eight are the beginnings of the Marismen, an Originally English force who's coat of arms bears the Maris Piper potato for which they are named. While I'm still working out the details of this faction's fluff, it is safe to say that this force also participated in the War of the Twisted Root, perhaps even finding themselves in direct conflict with our Sons of the Mandrake. 

That said, I have had some gears turning with all my personal research, and with all of the excellent art that's been populating the Insta of Mr Moustache himself, Max Fitzgerald. 

This is his illustration of a Roving Confessional Carriage. Mounted on two mighty wheels, this mound of earth and root pulls itself along with its front growths, and doles out blessings and consolation... and maybe other things once the curtains close. After soldiers return from their confessional, many of them experience a short term amnesia wherein they forget everything save their devotion to the cause. This includes a distinct absence of anxiety, but an increased predilection towards violence, making their countrymen wary of their company. In multiple cases when affected soldiers are not sent into combat shortly thereafter, they've initiated bloody and destructive skirmishes within their own encampment.

Is that all canon? Probably not for Turnip28 proper, but its how I've decided to run with it. 

And run with it I did. Earlier this week I prepped some sort of unusual bases, (but not the most unusual bases I've used,) gluing together six cavalry bases, and four 20mm squares, and then slathering them in Vallejo Thick Mud. Rad Oldhammer Youtuber Nergling suggested some bases that were lipped to avoid the puddle base effect, (so that each soldier doesn't seem to be perched on his own personal hill, ) but the damage was done. Besides, its not like I'll be basing any cavalry for Squarehammer anytime soon...

Well, like I said, the damage was done, so I went about doing some more damage.

And after enough damage was dealt, a potato started to take shape.

My Carriage is a mighty big potato, and while I've failed to take adequate step by step photos for a proper tutorial, here's an extremely slapdash guide for making your own.

Forgive me. With five spare minutes, I'd like to see you guys do better.

My rendition of this concept stole bits from the new Adeptus Sororitas box, the 6th ed WFB Humans v. Orcs boxed set, some baskets off the Pack Mule Air Squid from Alternative Armies, and then everything else under the sun.

Luckily, I had plenty of concepts to play with. Enter the Root Rats

Nic Evans and Max both churned out awesome renditions of these vegetable-rodent hybrids. Some of them are really cute, and others are heckin' horribible. I went for a mix of the two in my sculpting. I pictured these as swarms of hungry but well meaning critters who follow the armies looking for their scraps, and by scraps I mean bits of soldiers that they wont miss too much. They kinda feel like dogs to me, but creepier, and better at scuttling.

For the most part, these chittering Catherines are just some Procreate putty pushed and pulled in the right directions. Sloppy, but they didn't need to be so detailed to begin with. Once they'd cured, and I'd slapped a couple extra bits here and there, I painted them up and boy did they look the treat. I threw down the big red book as a backdrop to really pop the greens, and also to remember that these guys could easily double as rat swarms for those Skaven babies, erm... if they were on 50mm squares instead.

Such is the curse of loving too many systems.

Oh well.

Such is life. Life, and turnips. And also rats.

Thanks