November 2023 Patreon Release

I could've sworn it was January 2022, only yesterday!

Hey there all! Welcome to this month's Patreon release post, which acts not only as a notification that your new stuff is all ready to download, but also as a lengthy ramble covering inconsistently important information about those new models too. Be prepared for anything!

Before we get started though, if you're new here, you'll receive your files via MyMiniFactory, either through an email invitation to redeem your files through their site, or if you already have an account, it'll get added to your library automatically - don't worry if you don't get your files right away, however, as it might take me a little while to issue them, as it's a manual process. Do give me a poke via message here or on Discord if you don't get them within 24 hours - either I've just missed you, there's been a technical issue, or I'm away or ill, but no matter what, please do shoot me a message!

So - new stuff time! Let's start small, shall we?

- Look at those sweet chain-cheeks tho.

Now, annoyingly, this was one of the last renders I did of the evening, and I'm starting to regret not doing all of them with this kinda 'widescreen' presentation - which I confess, I am rather tempted to begin using in future for more of my 'boxart' images. Otherwise everything looks really small.

Anyway, onto the new Skjalos Legionaries!

New, accurately proportionate bodies, with paint-friendly detail scaling, and a better balance of busy detail and cleaner surfaces, with the introduction of chainmail underneath their breastplates, poking out under their belts, ends of their arm sleeves and in their new coifs. In addition, to compliment the industrial look of their newer vehicles, their shinplates, tassets, groin and torso collar pieces have been reinforced with struts, and their shoes and gloves have seen a full overhaul, plus the puttees on their shins have been finished with correctly-folded fabric (a very small detail, admittedly, but it makes me happy).
Most importantly, their weapons are correctly proportioned! Included in this upcoming kit are options for long-barrelled rifles, or short-barrelled rifles with foregrips and bayonets, for your more optimally short-ranged firepower, plus options for shotpistols and flamethrower pistols, and additional options for shotrifles and shotpistols upgraded to blister carbines and blister revolvers. And huge axes. And huge morningstar-style maces. And an assault rifle for the Legionary Headsman.

Oh and there are a total of seven different head options (attached to torsos, unfortunately - it was the only way I could do it - but the torsos now are separate at the waist, so just keep your eyes peeled for future upgrade kits!)

Accompanying the Legionaries is an all new ... transport? Tank? Super-heavy monstrosity? All of the above, in fact!

- The carpool I wish I had when I was at school.

So, yeah, this is an industrial monster truck infantry transport with an obscenely large twin rotary cannon embedded in the front. Nothing says 'defensive weapon' like two barrels that shoot rounds the size of a waste paper bin at high velocity. 

It was about time a second variant of my favourite super-heavy tank, the Anja-Maijen Super-Heavy Destroyer (based on the Skaryssa chassis), appeared, and this time, I've completely remade the entire central section, taking more inspiration from real-world tanks for the front of the hull than usual, and replacing its main gun with a giant rotary gun for... honestly, anything. I can't really picture a whole lot standing up to the punishment of sustained fire from such large rounds. Anyway.

This also comes with an entirely new style of sponson, specifically for the Skaryssa chassis, and more excitingly, a set of twenty crew members! Now, these come in four rows of five, and as you can only place a total of ten models in the rear compartment sitting down, having this many options means you can pick which ones you want to use. They are featured below - and please bear in mind, they're not actually hobbits, they just look that way because they're sitting down and their legs look shorter because they're bent!

I've had a little fun with these, too. See if you can spot the following:

• Two Legionaries holding hands
• One Legionary picking at his ear
• One Legionary who's fallen asleep on the job
• Two Legionaries playing rock-paper-scissors
• One Legionary stamping on another's foot

Hopefully, even if you don't use these on a tank, I hope you can find a use for them in a diorama or something else, since it was quite nice to do miniatures that aren't in battle poses. These will be made available as individual models later on too.

Onto something a little different...

- The inspiration for these was me seeing myself in the mirror as I went to the fridge for food in the middle of the night, in case you were curious.

Though at full height they would easily tower over any human, these Fleshlings' (of the Kingdoms of Mikaelhelde) solidly muscled bodies are distinctly hunched, and ready to stalk, skin and devour anything they happen upon. Unlike the Acolytes, who were once upon a time ago, human, these Fleshlings are born of undeath - the scraps left behind after an Acolyte is granted an Ascendancy (that is, the augmentation of additional limbs from unwilling donors) are given life as eternally hungry, savage monsters. Though largely mindless, jibbering creatures, foaming and drooling whilst not gorging themselves on the living or the dead, they seem particularly to enjoy using bladed weapons to discover what their prey looks like on the inside, and many are surprisingly adept at the use of grenades to accelerate that discovery.

Returning to the realms of (relative) normality, we also have a new addition to the Marshals of Ioke, complimenting their smaller range with some beef!

- Welcome to the future, where guns are cool, but no match for a guy with a stick.

Adding to the nascent Marshals of Ioke faction are the all-new Enforcers in Peacekeeper Heavy Armour (pictured above on the right, compared to puny non-genetically-supersized Skjalos Militia filth), known more commonly as Peacekeeper Teams. Say hello to the first variant of Peacekeeper squads, the 'Storm' configuration - so named for their Storm Mauls and Blast Shields.

Here, they're rendered fancily, with transparent shields as if they've been printed with clear resin, but I've made sure that none of the poses are looking directly through their shields, so if you print them solidly, they won't look odd.

Lastly, but not leastly, the new addition to the Castellans of Ouresa, Cassiopeia, one of the famed Watcher constructs in the armoury of the Castellans. 

Bearing such honourary names as the Spear of Twilight, or the Starbourne Seraphim, Cassiopeia is known to those within the bounds of Ouresa as a guardian archangel, a heaven-sent heroine. Naturally, of course, this is the Promised Land, and we don't have nice things here.

Like all the Castellans, Cassiopeia is driven by the directive to protect humans from outside dangers, but it has been rumoured that she has been given another name by those beyond the borders of their empire - one such as the Reaper of Istaryx, earned for the supposed slaughter of a small city, leaving the streets running red with the ichor of the innocent and the warrior alike. Of course, this is just hearsay, and as we know, the Watchers are just here to protect us. As we know.

This is, as you can see, a fairly substantial model, and is absolutely stacked with detail. And, if you guys are interested to see more, more Watchers will appear in future (that is, if they're received well).

Lastly for this month's offerings are, as promised, a new Welcome Pack - this time, it's the Skjalos Guard's time to shine!

This month's welcome pack includes a set of Wraith Troopers and Hazard Troopers, a Kæyä Assault Transport to carry them. and a Skjalos Marshal to lead them!

You've got a whole bunch of new stuff to print, and I can't wait to see them - if you want to show off your finished prints and models, feel free to post them up in #my-solwyte in my Discord! Finally, If you haven't received an email invitation in a few minutes please send me a message via Patreon or Discord and I'll manually issue you one when I'm back awake!

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your support, everyone!