Frog, n. A Reptile with edible legs. – Ambrose Bierce
While Ambrose Bierce, American writer and civil war veteran, is not wrong, failure to mention the other edible family members of the reptile species is doing them a disservice. Alligator, snake, Krayt dragon, and turtle have all been enjoyed by throughout time and space. These, however, are not your standard frogs and friends.
Introducing the 4th Divisional Frogs of the Great Pond. Perhaps they have traveled from the stars in great space ships filled with lush rain forests or maybe they have mutated and grow from spilled green ooze; while we do not currently know their exact origin, they will defend the Great Pond from any and all forces of chaos.
Overview
This is a ribbit of a passion project that spawned from one of those googling adventures, “28mm wargaming models”. Combined with being able to use that force in Age of Sigmar and here we are. I have never played Age of Sigmar, and this was a great opportunity to scratch that fantasy itch having just put a sense of a book end on some World War II forces.
Given my preference of converting and building models over painting… this forum seems like a great way to set some deadlines and commit to actually finishing some models instead of buying new ones.
The general theme of the army is, “Cute Critters and Terrifying Monsters”, also the name of my garage band. In any game system, I very much enjoy not doing the “norms” and also try to put some perspective on what we are doing, playing with toy soldiers. Immersion is great and all, but sometimes you must come up for air. Frogs can hold their breath for between four and seven hours.
Goal
Since just committing to painting 100+ model army sounds so easy, the first steps are going to be getting back in the painting groove. Since moving in the summer, I have finally been able to make the ultimate hobby work bench and it is about time to spill some paint. Each grouping of frogs will be themed differently, a tribal approach.
There will be many more units and figures to show off, but these are two groupings I am looking to finish for the first goal.
Lily Hammers: These will be based on the “tomato frog”. This pattern will let me get some airbrush muscle memory back. I plan to lean heavily on the airbrush for 90% of the base flesh colors and then do the elaborate patterns and camouflage with a brush. Many of the units in this project will be pulled from Eureka, in this case it’s the Frogs with Mallets.
Musketeers: Poison Blue Dart Frogs will be the tribe for these frogs. Again, working getting some big, bold layers on and then fine tune the smaller patterns. As with the Lily Hammers, models are from Eureka.
I have some bonus goals but I will show those off if I get my act together. I will leave you with a quote from the Great Pond Leader and General, and a collection of mood inspiration for this project. You have been warned.
Here’s some simple advice: Always be yourself. Never take yourself too seriously. And beware of advice from experts, pigs and members of Parliament. – Kermit the Frog
Chicago Dice 