Ulix and Old Major give a bunch of pig control, but they’re also big targets, and may not always fit into every list.  Enter the Whisperer.

Only one contact point, which is easy enough to get level.  Time will tell as to how well it holds up to being manhandled during gaming and transport.

As a bonus, the box comes with a unique Piglet sculpt.  I had a blue mohawk for a few months in college, so I couldn’t resist giving this little guy one.  The giant seam lines on the underside show up more in the completed model than I thought it would.  I wish I had spent the effort to fill it.  Alternately, you could paint on some stitches and call it a stuffed Piglet.

With all the Piglets potentially in play, they need to be easily distinguishable.  When I painted the original set, I thought the poses would be enough.  As it turns out, the two standing ones look too much alike.  So I refurbished one.  The blood either comes from a well-placed Pigcharge, or perhaps he was just Birthed.

I now have seven Piglets to choose from, which ought to be enough.  I’m pretty happy with how distinctive they all look.

With Ulix out on the field, I needed more Piglets.  There’s only three poses available in plastic (four if you include the one with the Hog Whisperer).  The metals are a different enough visual style that I’m not interested in mixing them.  So it was time to get creative.

First up, Belted.  Based loosely on a real breed of pigs, he stands out pretty well while still obviously being a piglet.

Bessie is based more on cows, but still recognizable.  The wash comes off looking dirty along the top, however.  Perhaps a brown would have been a better choice.

The Ulix story and story encounter in Crossroads features a Golden Piglet.  It’s also a super easy paint scheme.  Done!

After picking up some pigs last year, I figured I ought to go all in with the pig controller and summoner, Ulix.

Ulix is a bit of a tricky model.  He has three connection points to the base (foot, peg, and cane), but only one is big enough to pin.  As a game piece, he’s a ton of fun.  When Hunting Bow goes off well, it can be truly amazing.  I haven’t done well with his summoning upgrade, though.  I find I spend far too many resources summoning models that then have a hard time getting into the game.

I figured Old Major ought to be an old-timer, so I gave him some liver spots.  I’m not convinced it works, though, versus having measles.  In game, he makes the pigs far more controllable.  I wish that pigs could choose not to charge other pigs, rather than being illegal targets.  I often want to charge myself for extra movement, and then relent/cheat into irrelevant damage results.

I think I went too soft on the highlights for Penelope.  In the photo it looks okay, but in person it’s kind of just a black mass.

As I try to do with repeated models, I try to make something different about each model other than the pose.  For the Wild Boars, it’s the hair down the spines.