Monday 20 November 2017

Dracula's America Supernatural Creatures 01

In Dracula's America there are many supernatural creatures, some of which may be summoned and others which may be randomly encountered during a scenario. In this post I'm going to review four of them, three summoned creatures and one encountered creature.
At the far left is a Temple Snake. A terrifying form of Voodoo-Spirit also known as Grand-Zombi, a Temple Snake takes the form of a gigantic serpent topped by a grinning human skull, which breathes sheets of supernatural fire upon its victims - its favoured prey being the corrupted Undead of the Dark Confederacy. A Temple Snake is a Major Entity with the Fearsome exploit. It has a breath attack with a 4" fire corridor. It can be summoned by Congregation Arcanists only. Note the Voodoo doll with a pierced heart tied around its body.
Next in line is the Swamp Baka. Malignant Spirits forced to inhabit a hulking, roughly humanoid form crafted from the decaying plant and animal matter of the swamps, then bound to the will of a powerful Houngan, Mambo or Bokor of the Congregation. A Swamp Baka is a Major Entity with the Fearsome, Hard to Kill, Lead Belly and Tough exploits. It ignores rough ground and may unleash writhing tendrils, using the rules for a Lasso. A Swamp Baka may be summoned by Congregation Arcanists only.
Second from the right is a Sasquatch, which can appear as an Unwelcome Guest on the Supernatural Events table. Sasquatch are elusive guardians of the wild and are terrifying foes when roused to anger. It has the Fearsome, Lead Belly and Supernatural exploits and when Shaken, gains the Mean and Ornery exploits. It ignores the penalty for moving through forested rough terrain. It always ignores Native American models, and cannot be deliberately attacked by them in return.
Finally, is the Wendigo. Feral spirits of winter and hunger, the Wendigo are the twisted souls of mortal men and women who committed cannibalism in life. Now, they possess a craving for fresh meat that can never be sated. A Wendigo is a Minor Entity with the Fearsome and Ornery exploits. When they fight against a Shaken opponent, they gain the Mean exploit. Wendigo can be summoned by Skinwalker Tribes Arcanists only.
Each of these figures cost £6.00 from the North Star webstore. Apart from the Wendigo, they are all one-piece castings. The Wendigo comes in two parts - head and body. They are an interesting collection of figures. My favourite is the Swamp Baka.

20 comments:

  1. Interesting collection of entity's Bryan and very nicely painted

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  2. Super supernaturals Bryan and you've done a brilliant job on them :-)
    My stand-out favourite is also the Swamp Baka, and I'm still not too enamored by the Wendigo mini, but hey, who knows what they REALLY looked like ?!
    I just picked up the "Bullets For The Dead" dvd in Asda for a fiver - looks like an interesting 'weird west' movie ;-)

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    1. Very much appreciated, Greg. I agree that the Swamp Baka is the stand out figure here. Actually, I rather like the Wendigo. he wasn't how I thought he'd look but this version has certainly grown on me.

      Sadly, I haven't seen "Bullets for the Dead" but I will check it out. Thanks for mentioning it.

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    2. Errata: "Bullets For The Dead" is only three quid in Asda - I just couldn't resist it at that price, especially since the title is tagged "Cowboys V Zombies" ;-)

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    3. I can see I'm going to have to pay my local Asda a visit, although knowing my luck, they'll have sold out of it.

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  3. I really do like that Swamp Baka. Such a cool miniature and it has painted up great.

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    1. Many thanks, Roy. Another fan of the Swamp Baka - cool!

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  4. Cracking looking gribblies. I really like the Swamp Baka and the Wendigo sculpts.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. The Swamp Baka appears to be everyone's favourite. :-)

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  5. Wonderful painting and posting Bryan, especially as I think three of the sculpts are rather underwhelming imho. The Swamp Baka is particularly awesome-looking, and you've captured a great Swamp Thing/Man-Thing look to it. I am though surprised at how restrained you have been with your gore effect on the Wendigo ;-)

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. The Swamp Baka was a joy to paint and seems to resonate with everyone.

      This may be hard to take in, but I can do restrained gore effects! "Chuckle!" :-)

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    2. LOL! What are your thoughts on the sculpting of the other three minis? I must confess to much preferring the look of the "Reaper Miniatures" version of the Wendigo.

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    3. I'm not overly impressed with the Temple Snake. I don't see the human head its supposed to have. The Sasquatch is okay, but nothing special. As for the Wendigo, as I said to Greg, he's growing on me, even though at first I was unsure about him.

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  6. It might also be worth a look on "Newline Design" website as Sean does some Mythic Wild west figures. He used to carry a lot more in a different range as well.

    A fearsome bunch set to trouble my sleep tonight no doubt. Nicely done.

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    1. Thanks, Clint. I have looked at the Newline Designs webstore before and indeed, I bought some of his Mythic West male and female vampires, which I showcased when I previewed my Red Hand Faction a short while ago. Still, I appreciate the heads up, mate.

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  7. They are nicely painted as always but the figures don't do that much for me. I agree with you that the swamp figure is the pick of the litter. Maybe not the best sculpt I've ever seen but it gives me a Bernie Wrightson vibe and that is a good thing. In my lead pile I have figures I can dig for but I think I'm coming up a blank on the sasquatch. I have a good reaper wendigo though I wish I had the AE:WW2 one. It is is perfect. While I might like to get the swamp thing I can't justify it because I have a metal malifaux swamp ju-ju that is lying fallow. I've been painting up things for Dracula's America but with the Gothic figures I got from Bad Squidoo I'm really tempted to turn back the clock and set a story in Europe in classic Hammer style. Have you seen the Deraj figures she started carrying? They would make beautiful Cossacks or Carpathians! I fund a Westwind Vampire Wars blister for a reasonable price on Ebay so I bought it on spec to figure out if they will scale well enough with the rest of my collection. I really hope they will fit in because they are cool looking models.

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    1. Hi, HP. I've seen your painted figures for DA on the Lead adventurer's Forum and very nice they are too. I also have the Bad Squiddo figures you've been showing. I think setting DA in Europe would be a great idea. You should definitely go for it, mate. Yes, I have seen the Deraj figures and I agree with you about using them as Cossacks or Carpathians. I have a few West Wind Vampire Wars figures myself and I've found that they mix in rather well with the official DA figures.

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    2. Thanks Bryan, That's excellent new on the WW figures. They are a little old school wonky as far as the sculpts go but they have loads of character so I really want to get them in there. I must get some of those Deraj figs but they are pricey so it may be a ways off. Luckily I have lots of other things to paint. I managed to find a pretty solid black friday deal on GF9;s D&D line Van Richten and Esmerelda so I will have another intrepid hunter and a lovely gypsy apprentice. I see her as a circus knifethrower or some kind of flashy fighter as a compliment to the stodgy old professor.

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    3. I don't have a lot of West Wind Vampire Wars figures but the ones I do have are very nice sculpts.
      Van Richten and Esmeralda will certainly fit in very well. Good for you for getting them so cheaply. I like your thinking on their background.

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