Painting Posthuman Saga: The Resistance and The Outcast

I posted back in January about painting the figures from Posthuman Saga. We continue our gentle romp through the post-apocalyptic wasteland with the two figures from The Resistance expansion and The Outcast promo pack. Let's jump right in with the two characters from The Resistance, in the order I painted them.

This is The Hand of the Pure One. Her character art is nice: bedraggled-looking redhead warrior with staff raised for a strike. The sculpt... well, the more I worked with it, the less I liked it. Apologies to the sculptor, but I'm just being honest here. Her hair rests on her head like a lopsided helmet, her arms—especially the right one —are weirdly scrawny, she has brutish cankles, and there are some kind of J-shaped scars or something on her legs. I got it to a point where it would look OK on the table and then stepped away to the next one.

The Technologist is an interesting character design compared to the others. He's outfitted in some kind of solar panels, hooked into batteries and wires and a "stun wrench." I don't have any idea how he plays at the table since this was a paint-first expansion project, but I like how he has a different look and feel than the other characters. The jumpsuit was pretty straightforward to paint, and I did all the accessories in the same kind of muted tones as the character art, just a little metallic for tonal contrast.

There are just those two in The Resistance. I originally backed the project on Kickstarter with the expansion, since I thought the premise sounded pretty good. Shortly before the project shipped, the creators offered a deal on The Outcast promo. In for a penny, in for a pound. I added it to my order. There's a funny thing about some Kickstarter projects where at the time you spend the money, it's like it just disappears into nothing, like you gambled it away or lost it. Many months later, you get a thing for free at your door. That's not really how it works of course, but that's what it feels like.

In the few games of Posthuman Saga, we have definitely felt the sting of mutation cards. I like the idea that this character, too, is significantly different from the rest, both mechanically and conceptually. I guess the photos don't show his mutated arm so well. I tried to keep it from being too exaggerated, as is done in the character art as well: it is pinkish, not glowing green and purple.

The only other piece here that's worthy of comment is his white jacket. I used to wear a white jacket, handed down from my uncle who, no surprise, wore white jackets. I may have even had two of them. I never wore my jacket through the desolate wastelands, but if I did, I'd probably have kept it clean, you know, to keep myself looking good. That's sort of the story I tell myself with The Outcast. In reality, I still have a hard time bringing myself to heavily weather figures. White is hard to paint, and I think I got a nice tone here. I couldn't see myself risking the look of the figure by hitting it with lots of theme-appropriate weathering. The character art even shows a spotless jacket! I know, I should stretch myself. It would be just as valid to say "It's not worth spending that much time on a figure that will rarely see the table" as to say "May as well practice dirtying this up since it will rarely see the table."

Truth is, I have enjoyed my handful of plays of Posthuman Saga, but it just doesn't seem like something I will be able to play regularly. I guess it goes in the same category as Fury of Dracula: interesting idea, not a good fit for my gaming family. The oldest son would have no trouble with the dark overtones of the storybook, but the younger one—who, for scheduling convenience, shares a bedtime—would be seriously freaked out by some of the imagery. This means there's never really a time to play it, unless I had some adult friends over... but if I did that, this isn't the game I'd pull out. I'd probably go with Rising Sun, whose many beautiful figures sit unpainted.

Here's a little bonus to wrap up this post:

The Maryjane doll came with the promo materials for Kickstarter backers of Posthuman Saga. She's meant for use as some kind of tracker for the solo game, I think. This means she will probably never see the light of day for me. I knew she was a low-stakes paint job, and so I ended up doing her at the table during a family painting session. That is, it was at the table with the family, using a subset of paints, one brush, no mediums or ink washes or glazes. What is this family painting session all about, you ask? Well, I think I'll have more to say about that in my next painting post. Same bat-time, same bat-channel! Or, more realistically, same unpredictable blogging schedule!

Oh yeah, and for those who are keeping track, I fixed my airbrush. I should write about that, too. Always more writing ideas than attention paid to writing...