"Carnevale: Who has picked it up?" Topic

With the release last weekend (and the full rules, force lists etc free download) who has taken a look?

vesper-on.com/index.php

I think the rule mechanisms look very good (taking the very best bits from other Boutique Games)and the setting is outstanding. The figures look great; expensive as with all these type games, but apart from the Individual Special characters not excessively so.

I am digging through my boxes of unpainted/abandoned RPG figures to see what proxies I already have…. surprising just how many there are in ranges like Reaper, Magnificent Egos and the Grenadier/RAFM Cthulhu figures. Still looking around at scenery options for it, probably going to use some of the RPG card sets.

What do you think of it? Any ideas on scenery options?

For the regulars of the 18th Century Discussion Message Board not aware of this new game:
TMP link
TMP link
link

Hope the producer will realize that to make more income and have their game more widely known they would sell the miniatures separately. The game ('Lacepulp') is at the intersection of two very different sets of players: 18th C. [skirmish / swashbuckling -possibly pirates] gamers, most of them so far ignore Lovecraftian Horror (or are not interested with) and would buy a few figurines, but not the whole game for only a few minis, good as they may be. And symmetrically Lovecraftian 'fans' accustomed to a 1920 – 30 'Pulp' setting (Call of Chtulhu, Mansions of Madness, Strange Aeons…) who will love the 'Deep Ones' but will not buy the whole game for two miniatures.

Regarding complementary / proxy minis, Crooked Dice heads link (specially the squid-faced ones: the have a head swap thread on their Forum to offload heads to other customers or obtaining for more of a particular kind) may allow to turn 'mainstream' 18th C. minis into 'monsters'. Shadowforge / Laughing Monk 'Not Brotherhood of the Wolf' minis

,
Fenryll 'Chasseur de Sorciere' ,
minis from the 18th C. boardgame 'A touch of Evil' link
link
Reaper skinsaw man ( painted by anatoli: link ),
Enigma Katherine (painted by 51.cent 51-cent.blogspot.com ),
Valiant Pimgrim
… and from a different approach Heroclix Harley Quinn
would fit well there.

A similar "private project' was describe din its time on the TMP board link
Generalities about Horror / Pulp in the 18th C.:
TMP link
( = link )

@RobH: Thanks for the heads-up. It interests me, but I did not know it had been released.

@abdul666lw: Thanks for the alternate figure suggestions. There are some interesting figures out there already.

The Collodi Box Set (a gang of demonic puppets and dolls) could also work.

Lists of available Cthuluesque miniatures (monsters) are poste don the Lead Adventures forum:
link
link

For 'official' (uniformed) 'agents' (the 18th C. ancestors of Torchwood and Threshold?) some Privateer Press Cygnar
link
specially their 'Arcane Tempest Mages'
link
link
link
link
link

link
link
do have a fitting 'quasi 18th C. but… odd' look.

I really like that Fenryll figure ('Chasseur de Sorciere').
Both he and the new Master Spy from Reaper would be perfect for the Patricians.

Westwind have packs that would work for the Ospidale faction;
Asylum inmates:

And two different versions of a Frankenstein's monster type of Golem.

Reaper have dozens of suitable models including a Plague Doctor and (IMHO the best) Flesh Golem for the Ospidale. Several options on Wraith types to proxy the Black Shadow and a wonderful Assassin for the Guild forces.

I intend using their Bathalian characters and cultists along with my old RAFM/Grenadier Cthulhu figures for the Raashar.

The old Magnificent Egos range also has several suitable characters: Bloody Rose, 2 different male versions of the Pilgrim (as well as the female one shown above)and an excellent hooded assassin.

I am also considering one of the versions of the Rackham Aberration Prime instead of the Rhinoceros (which is probably the one single element in the Carnevale game that I think does not work)

Plus of course the Wargames Factory WSS Infantry box which provides enough Tricorne style heads to swap any number of suitable robed or cloaked figures like Vampires/Nosferatu. Possibly a bit static (depending on how you repose them) but they could also be used for the military characters.

@ RobH: so promising! Please keep us informed!

Do you have a blog? Your project for sure would deserve one!

Freebooter Assassins link
are perfectly 'in character'

as maybe some minis from other ranges
link
link
Possibly not perfectly 'in scale' with minis from other manufacturers? Yet, while for table-top 'larges battles' soldiers within a regular unit have to look as if wagging a 'clones war', *individuals* for games such as Carnevale can (have better to) reflect the differences of size and bulk of real humans [there would be a difference of some 2.5mm between 1/60 minis of Sarah Shahi and Sigourney Weaver :)]. In such a case the 'discrepancies' of style and interpretation of scale between sculptors are indeed a bonus.

A 'plus' of Carnevale over 'Malifaux' [besides the fact that the shop is not currently closed :) ] is the immense wealth of figurines that can be thrown in: not only all known Cthulhu monsters and then some link, but for the 'humans' the bewildering diversity of 18th C. (or 'quasi 18th C.': even some Foundry female Elves

wear an appropriate dress) figurines. While some Wyrd miniatures scream to moonlight in 18th C. Venice, for instance the "performer 1"
-and of course various monstrosities.
My only regret concerning the Carnevale figurines is that some male 'civilians' are in 'other periods' hats (slouched hat, bicorne, top hat…: the first can pass as part of a disguise, but the others imply that people 'saw the future' to design their costume).

I have also been working on the Foundry Revenant Elves, very good candidates for simple conversions.
I also found this figure at Maelstrom (a Guild of Harmony figure), I think he would be a perfect Harlequin/Pulchinello type.

I do not have a problem with the hat styles in Carnevale (which is set in 1795/96). A form of wide brim "slouch" hat had been known since the 30yrs war and was still common in the 18th Century, particularly as part of peasant costume.
The bicorne was also in use at the time, 1796 sees Napoleon fighting his famous action on the bridge at Arcola, bicorne hat very much in evidence. Likewise in the paintings of the Parisian mob and the barricades, bicornes of one sort or another are evident.
The Top Hat on the Plague Doctor is slightly "fantasised", but not far from a style of hat commonly associated with the profession.

I am very impressed with the level of historical research and background accuracy the designers have put into this game. I asked a question on the Carnevale forum about the Rhino (which, to me, seems like an odd choice for a city based fantasy game) and the designers were able to show period paintings and accounts of a famous example of a Rhino being toured around Europe in the 18th century as a living exhibit of "creatures of the new world". Also evident is the research on the less glamorous aspects of Venetian society which underlies a couple of the "noble" character classes.

And in answer to you question, no I do not have a blog. I barely find time to game and paint these days let alone write about it as well!

@ RobH: too bad! May change with time, hopefully?

I agree with the 'historicity' of the doctor's hat, yet *for visual homogeneity sake / blatant 18th C. 'labeling'* I'd preferred something along this lines:
link

colorful inspiration:
link
link
and possibly

on:

link

(painted by link )

@ RobH: a blog is free, easy -even a dinosaur from the age of mechanical typewriters such as me somehow managed- and requires no maintenance. You post at your own pace. As for 'writing' it takes no more time than commenting / replying on forums and discussion groups (and then you can save on time there, merely posting links to the relevant messages on your blog); don't forget that 'a good image is worth a thousand words', and that one of the major interests of a blog is the images you post on it.
Thus you'd regale us with the progress of your project…

PS: in the same way I agree that bicornes are not out of place (time, rather) in the last decade of the 18th C.: those worn by a few minis there indeed look like those of the French Incroyables

during the Directoire link
Yet, for 'visual homogeneity / blatant 18th C. labeling' I'd preferred tricornes: so much the more as (even if of rather 'fanciful' shape) they are so often part of 'traditional' Venetian Carnival costume:

Then, the Wargame Factory 'generic WSS' plastics are a rich and relatively inexpensive source of tricornes.
link

These are some of the Cthulhu type figures I was considering for the Rashaar.
TMP link

Including the Dark Young which is probably the default look for the Aberration since its appearance in the "official launch" demo games.

Also found another really nice Harlequin proxy (from CmON figures via Maelstrom Games)

Great finds!
Looking eagerly for the blog
Free, requiring no maintenance, allowing to post at your own pace, and the most convenient and reader-friendly support to allow to insert ('exembiggenable') illustrations exactly in the corresponding text!
TMP link

The new Freebooter Assassin female Coscritti link

would probably fit quite well.

And for the 'ordinary people' the 'Pirette' Spitfire would provide some direly needed firepower
link

link

Also Taban has an Arlequinette:

Not very 18Th C., but hey! It's Carnival

Not irrelevant, I think:

link

Some possibility of 'paint conversion' (re. female Arlequin above) there: link
(the minis are available individually)
link
link

.

re. previous post:

With 'normal' ears this one would make an appealing mini ('Emma Peel'? Reportedly standing for 'men appeal'):

Remember: gaming figurines are not intended to be individually scrutinized under a magnifying glass, but to be seen from some distance: essential features are to be *emphasized*

Maybe oversized, but a few Privateer Press minis look as visually compatible with the setting:
link

and from the Everblight
link
link

Some of the 'creatures' look quite 'Lovecraftian': link

link

It was suggested above to use some 'Malifaux' minis here; symmetrically I feel that many Privateer Press minis could be used to play 'quasi-18th C.Malifaux'.

18th C.: LACEPUNK vs Steampunk 'atmosphere'.
The Carnevale rhino link with its mechanical parts / 'improvements'

has a very 'steampunk' look: " the Doctors of the Ospedale, who are a kind of "mad doctors", make experiments."
Indeed, but to give 'Lacepunk' (18th C., the time of the 'Lace Wars') an atmosphere / character / 'feeling' clearly different from 'Steampunk' (2nd half of the 19th C.) I'd seen *biological* rather than mechanical experiments. 'Frankenstein' is early 19th C., and clearly antedates the 'Victorian Science Fiction' period. So much the more as the Doctors of the Ospedale are *medicine* doctors, physicians rather than physicists, biologists but not mechanics.
The GW Tyranids bioweapons are silly, firstly because they seem to imply that the Tyranids have absorbed genes for swords, pistols and guns :)! But chiefly because they are *held* in 'hand'. Now bioweapons are living organisms, actually ectoparasites of the wielder. They have to be fed -totally, in oxygen as well as in nutriments- just in the same way as an embryo is fed through the placenta. Thus bioweapons would not be held but pulled on *like a glove* and root themselves in the forearm of the wielder through a dense network of tendrils. Like the 'Witchblade' . but of bone (for the blade) and flesh (for the 'body') with a -rather disgusting- network of tendrils instead of the vambrace.
Such a biowepon could be the cephalothorax of a giant spider put on like a glove -with the mouth and the poisonous chelicerae, and the 8 limbs; spiders produce their silk -sometimes they use their web like a retiarius' net- and for some throw a cloud of venomous hairs, with their abdomen, but 'bioengineered' why they could not do it with their front half?
These to arm an human; but variations are unlimited. think of a brainwashed human slave, or a gorilla, with the 'unfolding' mouth of the super-vampires of 'Blade 2' + the 'biting tongue' of the 'Alien' creature… The rhino, rather than flexible pipes, could carry on his back a 'biocannon' -the head of the 'spitting' termite but the size of a little barrel, and orientable on 270° …

Cipher Sudios in the 'Anima Tactics' range offers interesting 'Lacepunk-compatible' bioconstructs models (and for that same reason could be used to play MALIFAUX in the 18th C.: TMP link )

and several of the characters, with at most a little 'paint conversion', could well appear in the Carnivale (check by yourself link !):

Some Dark Age figurines could also fit -or or two as 'characters', several as 'bioconstructs':

For a female bioconstruct (for a change), what about Maelstrom (Banelegions)http://banelegions.maelstromgames.co.uk/?tag=bnl-002 'Rose of Ker-Ys':
link

And for a flying one, Arcana 'Night Hunter'?
link

Re 'bioconstructs' for 18th C. Lacepunk substituted to the 19th C. Steampunk mechanical contraptions: TMP link

You guys are a hoot!

You accept the Rasharr and their Lovecraftian beasties from beneath the sea, but quibble over hat styles?

Two words "Fantasy Game"

Thanks for brightening my day.

BTW thanks all for the amazing eye candy posted to this thread. I just wish it was 40mm or 15mm so I could use it with a scale I already game the C18 in.

You accept the Rasharr and their Lovecraftian beasties from beneath the sea, but quibble over hat styles?

Good point
But each of us has his (no many 'her' here, alas!) own prejudices about what can be a 'tolerable departure from historicity'. For me I'm irritated when in a Medieval setting -or an early renaissance one, re. Mordheim'- a 'Witch Hunter' 'has to be' dressed as in Salem in 1692, or a 'Vampire Count' dressed like Bela Lugosi YouTube link
Not to speak of the costume and medieval sword of the 'Headless Horseman'…

And a tricorne immediately 'labels' any figurine "18th C.", re

from link (outstanding blog: Gieburg, a 18th C. Mordheim: link)
and


from link
(beautiful and deadly Direktorix Katarin Lahmia, the 'Night Rider').
And the Wargame Factory box of 'Generic WSS infantry' offers a rich and relatively inexpensive source of tricornes (and other useful bits).

Not tempted by a C18 adaptation of Hellsing Ultimate link ? While I fear there is less choice in 15mm than in 28mm, 'Historical' and 'Pirates' ranges are rich of possibilities if you want to play 'Lacepulp':
link
link
link

Back on topic, for 'Lacepunk' bioconstructs (to use rather tha typically 'Steampunk' mechanical contraptions) some 'beings' from the "'Infinity' combined army" could be used
link

&c…

I have to say that all of these are fabulous. For some more inspiration make sure to take a look at the De Marquis series by Guy Davis. Awesome

link

Indeed the Carnevale team mentions 'The Marquis' among their sources of inspiration.

Btw, plague doctors in 'top hat' appear in the 'Solomon Kane' movie: YouTube link
I'm sure it, as well as both 'Van Helsing'
YouTube link
YouTube link
could be played in the 18th C.
As could 'Pride & Prejudice & Zombies'
YouTube link
YouTube link
YouTube link
YouTube link
be played by the time of Barry Lyndon
(wider choice of minis than for the early 19th C., and the British High Society was for sure already as proud and prejudiced!).

Back to 'Lovecraftian' beings, Titan Forge link 'Skydevil'

and several 'authentic' beings of Tzeentch

are quite Lovecraftian', at least in a 'From Beyond' way
(the flying pink jellyfishes; Google turned only this

and many pics of Barbara Crampton, of course )

Wow….this thread has taken on a life of its own!
Just to bring it back on track a bit the Vesper-On team have started posting pictures of the greens for the Carnevale miniatures on the website.
The painted ones you see in the demos really do them no favours. In the actual metal the miniatures are superb. Wonderful detail, correct human proportions (or Deep One proportions if that is the way you are going) and first class castings. Details you can see on the greens are all visible on the final castings.

Relevant links ('For once', some may comment *wink):
The sculptor of the 'Young Dark' and builder of the awesome terrain used for the demo pics:

link
is part of a team of sculptors trying to sell their work:
link

Not off-topic: for other Lovecraftian monstrosities or 'bioconstructs', the Spanish 'Sphere Wars' range offers 'interesting beasties among the 'Vastagos-de-Kurgan' link

and 'Island of Dr Moreau'-like men-beasts / werecreatures among the 'Adeptos-de-Malesur' link

Wow that thread got lost quickly to answer the first poster the Carnevale minis are all avialable seperatly go look at Mealstrom games or Arcane. The great thing is there are some excellent proxy minis from other manufacturers as well job done

Cool looking stuff but expensive

Vesper-On Games announced a new incarnation of Carnevale

From here
link

Main page
vesper-on.com

Amicalement
Armand