"Hola amigo, I come to suck your blood!"

When I saw this new game from Joseph A. McCullough, I knew before even reading through any article that I was jumping into it head first and for a very deep dive.

I have never played Frostgrave or Rangers of Shadow Deep, and I did buy Stargrave, but the background story did not create any interest – it was not my cup of tea (I actually prefer Rogue Stars from Osprey).

The theme of The Silver Bayonet (from now on to be referred to as TSB) was something I was already invested in.  I love Napoleonics and gothic horror is one of my preferred genres. The movies Captian Kronos, Brotherhood of the Wolf and the Brothers Grimm are all fan favourites of mine. The project picture is from the movie Necromancer (2020) and is also gothic horror set in the Napoleonic era.  It is a slow burn but worth the watch in my opinion.

As the astute reader can tell from the title of the project, the setting will be within the Peninsular campaign for the time being.  Later on I will expand it into the French and Hungarian arenas.

I have recently received the first miniatures I have ordered for TSB.  I bought the early bird offer from Northstar miniatures, that is the book and the three teams – as well as figures from several online sellers but they have not arrived yet.

I also have some miniatures from my own collection which I will post as I start to paint them up. I hope this blog will help get more hobbyists into the game.

The miniatures that have arrived are from Heresy Miniatures.  They are truly lovely miniatures, they have that old school feel that I love so much. If I were to venture a criticism, I would say there is a slight problem with the fit of the joints. Other than that, they are worth every penny I spent on them.

The ghouls are definitely my favourite.  I have rarely seen ghouls that were so well sculpted – especially the Ghoul King.  I also find the ghoul children very disturbing, thus perfect for gothic horror.

Next up are the maggot men.  I wanted these firstly because they are spectacular and secondly it gives me the opportunity to design my own monsters.  I was thinking of designing them off the ghouls. Maybe slower but with poisonous bites? We’ll see. They did have a bit of flash and do need some serious clean-up.

You can’t have Napoleonic gothic horror without vampires, so I got two.  The first is the vamp standing proudly and defiantly.  He comes with 3 head choices.  I went with the most monstrous head because I wanted to show him in the process of changing into the second vampire I bought.  This vampire has fully changed into a man-bat creature.  I envision this transformation as a combat form.

Witches, cultists a demon are next.  I know there are cultists, but I am not sure if there are any witches? My book has not arrived yet! Whatever the case, I will make her fit in.  You can get the witch with or without the caldron.

If you have ever seen Ghostbusters, then you know were the doggie comes from. You should also understand why I could not resist getting it.  I will be using this as my demon.  The cast does suffer from fitting issues and the cast had several airbubbles, but nothing serious.

The last mini is a priest holding up a cross and holding a mace.  This is a quaint little figure and since the French team from Northstar does not have a religious figure, I think he will fit in well.

And that is all.  The next post I will show some of my Reaper Miniatures for TSB.  I also have a little preview. Until then – adieu.

NR