Descent - Major Project Part One

Board Games – So far this year I’ve tackled several major board game projects, Descent brings 60 models to my table. A classic dungeon crawl Descent was a big deal when Fantasy Flight released it. I remember listening to the D6 Generation podcast and the opening bumper always had a reference to this game. Essentially it allows for you to play DnD without needing to come up with a story. Since this was released there have been countless variations on a similar theme, some that use AI decks to eliminate the overlord element and others that just run with the player vs. team mechanic.

The models for Descent are close to 20mm scale not quite the standard scale for Tabletop games but good enough to have a good amount of detail on the models. To batch paint something this large I start by separating the models into similar colors, with a game like this that has illustrated cards it’s important to make the models match the cards or at least have the same general tone so players can easily identify their pawns.

After separating the models into red, blue, yellow, green, purple and brown piles I began putting down a base coat of the primary color. After that is done I paint all the metallic bits followed by any other large areas of color. Once the primary color blocking is done I apply a wash which does two things, first it shades the model in preparation for the final details and secondly it helps to pull all the colors together. For example looking at one of the knights the model is primarily plate mail with a blue cloak, by applying a dark blue wash to the whole thing instead of a black wash the overall look of the model is more cohesive. Once that dries I go it to paint the flesh and other details.

To help tie everything together I used Games Workshops Technical Textured paints for the bases. While it’s not cheap like sand or gravel, it is easy to use and provides color and texture in one step. With larger bases you can easily mix the textures to get some unique effects. After the texture paint dried I put a black rim on each model to help set them off.