This is the final batch of investigators for FFG’s Mansions of Madness. They come with the Call of the Wild expansion which I just got last Christmas.

Bob Jenkins, Mandy Thompson, Amanda Sharp, and Monterey Jack

Bob Jenkins, the salesman. Probably the most fun character in this expansion. He has an unlimited supply of Jack Daniels which he can drink to get stunned and heal one sanity. So he should be the last to go insane, but he will also be very drunk and have considerable trouble solving mysteries and fighting Cthulhu’s minions.

Mandy Thompson, the researcher. No dry brushing here, just washes. The proportions of this model are much better than those of some other female investigators (e.g. Carolyn Fern).

Amanda Sharp, the student. As with most models, I stuck to the color scheme used in the artwork of the Fantasy Flight games (sorry for the blurred shot).

Monterey Jack, the archeologist. If you like to hunt down the Mythos with an Indiana-Jones-like character, this is your man! He has no bull whip, though.

These four investigators come with the Forbidden Alchemy expansion.

Darrel Simmons, Vincent Lee, Dexter Drake, and Carolyn Fern

Darrel Simmons, the photographer. Another investigator painted quickly with very satisfying results. He is really fun to play, being able to film other investigators killing a monster in order have all investigators improve their combat rolls against that type of monster.

Vincent Lee, the doctor. His medical equipment needed a steady hand painting. The doctor’s bone saw is a cool weapon to saw away at stunned monsters. Instead of shading the white shirt I opted for black ink to produce a more dirty look.

Dexter Drake, the magician. I wanted to add some color so I painted the bow tie red. I’m not quite sure if I am happy with that. The blue is a very old Nauseating Blue from Citadel, one of the first colors I bought back in the 90s.

Carolyn Fern, the psychologist. I have yet to find a way to paint spectacles so they don’t dominate the face. Also, one fold at the back of the dress got a little bit too dark in the lower part; I later figured that the ink flowed down the fold as the model was drying. So I now take care to place the models in a position that allows the ink to dry uniformly and stay in place.

Here come the remaining four investigators from the Mansions of Madness base game.

“Ashcan” Pete, Gloria Goldberg, Kate Winthrop, and Michael McGlen

Ashcan Pete, the drifter (and Duke, his dog). I like the cigar and the worn face of this “Tippelbruder.” Also, this is probably the most realistic jeans I ever managed to paint. Drybrushing really does miracles when you want to create a worn look.

Gloria Goldberg, the author. I painted the folds of the dress black because the black ink had little effect. Now the contrast is a bit too stark but it looks OK from a playing distance.

Kate Winthrop, the scientist. Since this model is very flat, blacklining was the technique to make it look more three-dimensional and alive. Alas, I forgot to remove the ugly molding line at the leg. Also, I changed the way I painted the base from just black to brown with black ink. This way it looks a little bit less like a pedestal and blends well with most game tiles.

Michael McGlen, the gangster. Another model that comes out really well after just adding black ink and doing some drybrushing. The white collar and sleeve ends serve to break up the overall dark appearance.

Mansions of Madness has been one of my most popular FFG games of recent years. Due to its simple game mechanisms and limited game length it is a good game to introduce casual gamers to the joys of more immersive, thematic board games. Having painted models on the board makes it even more attractive to people who are used to pushing around cubes and other abstract shapes.

There are eight investigators in the base game plus four in each of the two expansions available. Starting with the base game, I will introduce all sixteen investigators in groups of four.

Jenny Barnes, Joe Diamond, Sister Mary, and Prof. Harvey Walters

Harvey Walters. One of the investigators that I really enjoyed painting. Just applying base colors and adding wash produces a very satisfying result. He took me probably under two hours to paint. Being used to painting Warhammer character models, which usually take me five plus hours, I almost felt bad finishing the model in such a short time.

Jenny Barnes. I took some more time in highlighting this model’s dress since there was not much else to paint.

Joe Diamond. Another easy-to-paint investigator. Lightly drybrushing the pants and jacket and highlighting the edges was all it took to finish the model.

Sister Mary. This model was a pain in the neck to paint. Drybrushing the robe didn’t work, so I had to highlight it. The face looked funny after applying the wash to it, and it took some time to get the eyebrows right. As with many female investigators the faces are not modeled too well (partly because they are very small). Also, next time I would do the shoulder piece in brown rather than red.