Dark Souls - The Board Game

With the basic enemy types finished I was able to turn my attention to the heavyweights of this set, ‘the Great Wolf Sif’ who stands guard over the grave of his master, ‘Artorias’.

For me the real star of this expansion is ‘Artorias the Abyss Walker’. Artorias is one of the more fascinating characters in DS law, encountered in a time long before the events of the first game. Even in that long ago time he is maddened and broken from his journey into the abyss.

Artorius’ armour has a brighter finish than the previous Dark Souls bosses, yet still has an aged look that I wanted to capture. I began by dry brushing over Lead Belcher with Bronze before washing the armoured areas with Griffon Sepia followed by nuln oil. The aim was to lay down a base that would leave a tarnished feel to the recesses of the armour.

Once the washes had fully dried I dry brushed back over with Lead Belcher, followed by Iron Breaker. Finally I selectively washed the deeper joints on the armour as well as the chain mail skirts with Agrax.

This model is probably my favourite of the series. The hunched stance and paralysed left arm, hanging limply by his side, the tragic fate of a once great hero.

The final model of this expansion is the Great Wolf Sif. I’m not overly happy with the results here. I feel I could’ve achieved a more natural look by airbrushing different shades into the fur, rather than just washing and dry brushing. I may revisit this in the future but for now I’m going with the maxim that done is better than perfect!