Forge of Ice Entelodont "Skull Pig"

Sculpted by Matt Gubser.

"What big teeth you have..."

"Gznort!"

Alex Bates at Forge of Ice is brilliant at coming up with bizarre minis that I don't know I need until I see them. This entelodont, sometimes falsely called a "hell-pig" or "terminator-pig", is just such a miniature. Alex had asked me to design a few bases for him so I used my laser cutter to create a tile pattern and then sculpted vines to show an ancient civilization being overtaken by jungle.

As part of my compensation for the bases Alex sent me two of the entelodonts so I quickly assembled and painted one. Assembly is a breeze, pin the head on and add a bit of green stuff to soften the join. Then just drybrushing and washing to capture the fur texture. I based the color scheme on this excellent rendering by Masato Hattori.

The base was painted and then had static grass and jute twine added.

Overall this is a solid mini that reads perfectly as the overpowered beast it's meant to represent. Matt truly captured the musculature and forward motion of such a beast. It was a blast to paint.

Mummies and Pterro-Man from Forge of Ice.

My northern brother Alex Bates recently sent me a package of his newest Forge of Ice minis to check out. The Forge has some of the most creative minis going as they seem to be following some dark logic and twisted narrative of Alex's imagination. He's making up a story with these, he just hasn't let us in on it yet.


First up in this batch are four creepy Nyarlathotep possessed mummies. These poor suffering buggers are being torn apart by sprouting tentacles and don't seem to be enjoying it very much. These are sculpted to a true 25mm scale so are a bit small compared to other miniatures. But they match up perfectly with the pre-painted Arkham Horror minis so I can see them being useful with these.


Painting these was a blast. Basic damp-brushing then Citadel Washes followed by picking out more detail with simple layers. A coat of 'Ardcoat gives the tentacles some slime.

The possessed mummies with a couple of Arkham residents.

Basic attacking with tentacle.

Tentacle with mouth and nasty little teeth.

This fellow seems resolved to his fate.

And the creepy crawler mummy. Being a fan of Resident Evil
I decided he needed a massive eyeball popping out of his back.

You ever have one of those days?

Next up is one of the Pterro-men. From Alex's description:

"The Pterro-Men rule whatever parts of the Lost World that they inhabit, using their mystical/mental powers to enslave the brutal prehuman races that inhabit the land..."

This flying terror has pulp villain written all over him. With his sinister and commanding pose I imagine him ordering forth great flocks of pterosaurs and quetzalcoatlus to attack foolish interlopers. Why? Because I imagine stuff like that all the time is why. Jeeze...

I love being a miniatures hobbyist in this day and age because we have so many choices for interesting miniature subjects. Alex is keeping this idea going by creating some very personal miniatures and sharing them with us.

Check out The Forge of Ice miniatures here: http://www.forgeofice.com/