An older, more prestigious, or "exalted" rendition of Eric the Squire.

Miniature Review

Eric was sold as part of the Goblin King Games King's Coffers 2025 where they sell limited edition miniatures. I remember coming across the page a while back and knew I had to get him, and was lucky enough to get him while he was still in stock on the day.

I really love animal mounts like Doug the Flatulent, so Eric is another great edition. The huge rhino beetle is a really cool idea and looks great as a mount. Eric himself is also a great sculpt, he has very fancy armour and I love the smiling mask. The lance and banner also gives him a good amount of extra height.

Painting Techniques

Beetle Carapace

After a black basecoat, silver was mixed individually with three different colors: purple, green and pink. These were painted in straight lines at random to create an iridescent look. Next Leviathan Purple, followed by Black Templar were applied to tone down the brightness of the beetle and bring it back to looking black with a sheen rather than fully silver. Finally the different silver mixes from before were ading back to the sharpest highlights to emphasise the iridescent glow.

Beetle Eyes

Steel

Gold

Cloth

Wood

I painted the wood Deck Tan, then washed it with Skeleton Horde. Next I painted a number of wavey lines using Cygor Brown to create the grain of the wood, then when over most of it with Morghast Bone and finally White, leaving some very thin lines of the darker brown. I then washed it all again with Seraphim Sepia to help pull it all together, then finally went back in with Morghast Bone and White to highlight the most raised areas.

Leather

Basing - Stone (The Shades)

Ammo By MIG

• Turned Earth Ground

Geek Gaming Scenics

• Fields of New Zealand

Basing - Grass (Dominion)

Ammo By MIG

• Turned Earth Ground

Geek Gaming Scenics

• Fields of New Zealand

Army Painter

• Battlefield Rocks
• Meadow Flowers Tufts
• Woodland Tufts
• Lowland Shrubs Tufts

Gamers Grass

• Highland Tuft Set
• Green Meadow Set
• Dry Steppe Set
• Various Flowers

Siege Scenics

• The Verdant Collection - Spring
• The Solstice Collection - Summer
• The Amberfall Collection - Autumn
• The Frostveil Collection - Winter

I started by using the mud texture to create a slightly uneven ground on the base and added some rocks while it was still wet so they sunk into the ground. Once dry I applied a layer of the New Zealand fields flock over the top to give it a grassy, rocky look. I then applied a range of tufts and flowers.

Roundup

I'm really happy with how the beetle came out. The iridescent look is really cool and it looks great when rotating it around and the light catches it in different ways. I also really like the bright pink cloth, it gives a nice contrast to the darker carapace of the beetle. The wood also came out pretty well, I like the way the grain turned out. As I was painting it I kept thinking I could just drybrush the raised areas, then remembered it was flat and I had created the grain myself.