Hobby Update: Herd Tree Herders

I have some hobbying posts to catch up on! Next up for the Herd are two powerful Tree Herders. The models are variants of Verdant Ancients, originally from Archvillain Games, but I purchased mine via Crypt Monkey Games on etsy.

Ta-da! The overhang is ridiculous.

Judging by the pictures from various vendors online, they seemed like they should fit on 50mm bases. Technically the feet do, and the bodies look good at this scale. The minis came with unique bases though, which are HUGE and don't even fit nicely on 75mm squares. It's a bit of a shame, as the bases would have protected the swords, but yeah, it's just not reasonable for wargaming, and I didn't want to run these with exceptional base sizes option. Additionally the bottoms of each of the scenic bases are bowing out, so.. even if I wanted to use them, there would have been some issues to affix them to any base. Best to just leave them for now. They might make good scatter terrain in a skirmish game or something though, so I tossed them into a box.

See? The scenic bases are just too massive.

The minis came with scenic bases, but the bases barely fit on 75mm squares! They are HUGE. It's a bit of a shame, as the bases would have protected the swords, but yeah, it's just not reasonable for wargaming, and I didn't want to run these with exceptional base sizes. Additionally the bottoms of each of the scenic bases are bowing outward, so.. even if I wanted to use them, there would have been some issues getting them to not roll around a base. Best to just leave them for now. The bases might make good scatter terrain in a skirmish game or something though.

The first. I will probably run this one the most often, as the sword is mostly off to the side.

Instead of the scenic bases they came with, I resorted to scraps of insulation foam, following the steps for my craggy hills, but on a smaller scale. Even with the protective glue / Mod Podge coat, the foam still has enough give to hold the oddly shaped feet (which were meant to slip neatly into specific spots of their scenic base). Each mini is taking a step up, so that foot got superglued to the foam rock, and the other foot got glued with normal white glue to the base and snow effect, to hopefully prevent the yellowing side effect we finally seemed to track down with the Forest Shamblers. 

The second. The sword is positioned as best I could, and unfortunately the creature is closer to a 3/4 profile than I would have liked. I might change the facing if/when the sword breaks.

I am expecting the swords to break eventually, so I tried to keep the painting simple. It's mostly all cheap craft paints: a base coat of burnt umber, then dry brushing Deathclaw Brown, and then went back to the cheap craft paints with beige and grey dry brushing to finish them off. Keeping it to just a bunch of dry brushing should be able to help camouflage any repairs needed down the line. The cycloptic eye was just whatever blues I had nearby; the exact coloring there wasn't important to me. Just a darker watered down base layer for a bit of a glow, and a brighter blue applied more sparingly and centrally to sell the effect. 

On the table, these are expensive, but do seem to offer a lot for a Herd player. They have a good number of attacks, CS3, and with Scout, Strider and Pathfinder, as well as a smaller, monster-sized base, they should be able to hit what you want them to and survive a strike back from your opponent. They are Fearless, and with Defense 6 and 18 for their Rout Value, they should be quite difficult for your opponent to dislodge with certainty. They seem like great anchors for the Herd's lines. With Radiance of Life and Surge, they look like they could be nice supporting pieces as well, though generally I think it will be best fight stuff with them first, and only look to support in fringe cases. There are cheaper ways to get Surge and such if you need it.

The Tree Herders also have a unique upgrade option, promoting one of their kind to be the mighty Wiltfather. This boosts some stats, and swaps out Radiance of Life to gain Cloak of Death and a Vicious aura to Verdant units, like the Shamblers and the Hunters of the Wild. The Wiltfather looks  like a neat unique character and worth checking out at some point. 

Wiltfather or no, the Herders are expensive units. They do seem like strong options for the Herd, but running even one is quite a commitment. Testing needs to be done! We'll see how long it takes the swords to break!