Are Zombies and Serial Killers Allowed to be Cute? Puppet Wars Resurrectionists

These models were an experiment for me-- specifically, they were the first models that I didn't highlight at all.

The entire process of using thinned paints over a white base coat was an interesting prospect, and one I feel ultimately successfully fit the cartoony style of the miniatures and game.

Seamus and his Rotten Belle were a lot of fun, mostly because I played with much brighter colors than I typically even approach. I think the mottled yellow to brown on the Belle turned out particularly well.

I think that they're a good example of what white basecoats are most used for, specifically, strong brights.

 These three were fairly interesting, as they were a much more muted palate than the first set. I was pleased with the skin tones and browns on the first two, along with the muddy red-brown.

Bête Noir is the only of these three that I was unsatisfied with: the black wash came out splotchy, and, in the future, I'd do successive dark grey coats to achieve a smoother effect.

Sebastian was a fun mini, but that's mostly because I like his character. The nurse was mostly a success, but I didn't feel great about her syringe: transparency felt out of style with the painting style, and I didn't feel like I captured a good cartoony alternative. That part might need to get redone, as well.

Of all of this experiment, I'm happiest, I think, with the Zombie Chihuahua. It had the subtlest blending, and I felt the gold came out well.

I'm looking forward to repeating this style on the rest of the Puppet Wars miniatures, and think I'll try a similarly pale/cartoony style on my new Infinity models in the future.

A Short Review

As a final note, I feel that the Puppet Wars miniature line is pretty solid. There are a few minis I really loved working on (the Zombie Chihuaua, Guild Autopsy, and Rotten Belle were particularly nice), but I feel like a failing in the line was the miniatures, unpainted, don't have very identifiable silhouettes: when we played our first couple games, they all looked kind of like unpainted blobs. While I believe in painting minis (obviously), a board game is less likely to get painted than a traditional army/gang/etc of miniatures is, so I feel like the minis might have benefitted from stronger forms.

If you like the saturated character and personality that (I feel) defines the the Malifaux line, you'll probably like these, though, similarly, if you dislike Malifaux' sometimes cartoony feel or tendency for flatter poses, these minis might not be for you.

Ultimately, these little guys are pretty fast to paint, and the game's quite nice, if you like the new generation of complex board games (I'll try reviewing that one in the future, once I have some more experience).