Introducing Zenobius: From Concept to Creation

The Evolution of a Pirate-Trader Character, by Darren Evans

Zenobius emerged as a distinct presence during the early creative stages of Gangs of Rome. Initially envisioned by me as we explored individual fighters, Zenobius originated from casual sketches of a trader infused with a sense of the exotic.

We gave the sculpting brief to Steve Saleh (Foundry, Lucid Eye) and we crafted a character who brought a flavour from beyond the city’s walls.

Over time, the idea naturally evolved, and Zenobius took on a more adventurous, pirate-like identity (with possibly an influence of The Princess Bride). After many scribblings and rewrites, he ultimately became a figure that combined the intrigue of both trader and rogue.

Zenobius is an intriguing character who's rules can be found on page 103 of the Gangs Of Rome book.

When the game relaunched with its second version in 2024, we sought ways to expand the world and narrative. Zenobius, along with his exotic pets, was included along with many other Incola (which we'll look at in due course). 
His animals gave us an avenue to explore additional game interactions and provide a feel of the down to earth backstreets you might have found in the ports and lower class areas of Roman cities.

Jump forward to Rome's expansion and Zenobius, along with his ship "Clytemnestra" and a 'yet-to-be-revealed' crew, provided the perfect vehicle to introduce new regions and stories.

As Gangs of Rome continues to explore the shadowy streets of Republican Rome and its surrounds, Zenobius stands poised to lead players into uncharted territories and rich, unfolding tales.

Darren Evans

Discover more as Darren explores the origins of Gangs Of Rome from game to Characters and the future...

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Coming Soon...

An exciting new chapter in partnership with Sarissa Precision sees a fresh set arrive this August, more details soon...

A brief update from author Andy Hobday (2nd June 2025)

We’ve been asked the question: “Is Mortal Gods getting a Version 2?”
In short, yes… but don’t get too excited just yet! We’ve got a way to go. We’re reaching the end of stock on various printed materials, and at the same time, production costs have been rising. That’s pushed us to think seriously about the next steps.

The core rules of Mortal Gods are great!

We believe the core rules of Mortal Gods are great and don’t need a full overhaul. We want to take this opportunity to make a few thoughtful tweaks. Rest assured version 1 is still playable, your armies won't need changing, we also want to (as time and costs permit) expand the core ranges and add new.

Cards will still be compatible

The good news? Your existing cards will still be compatible. Our current focus is on making the game more accessible, keeping it consistently in stock, and ensuring it continues to grow and evolve over the coming years.

There are plenty of options on the table, and we’re always happy to hear from our fantastic community of supporters. Let us know what you'd love to see!

Andy Hobday

A further update from Richard Carlisle (7th July 2025)

Read Part II HERE

Join the Official Mortal Gods Facebook group & the discussion, HERE

Get started today!

The Barons' War ignites anew with the 2nd Ed. starter set from Andy Hobday and Wargames Atlantic. (Available today from https://footsoreminiatures.co.uk/) Discover what's in the box here...

Take a quick look at the plastic Mounted Knights and Serjeants for the award-winning The Barons' War game available from Footsore Miniatures, the official home of The Barons' War!

Footsore's Mark Farr cracks open a box of Wargames Atlantic plastic Foot Serjeants and makes and paints three new units for his The Baron's War army

Wood, metal, cloth, skin, facial hair and fancy shield designs are the main things you will need to paint in your Dark Age army.

Today I'm going to share with you how I paint the skin. The face is one of the most important parts of a figure so I'm going to be focused there.

Before we start, there are two important things that are going to help us to get a nice result:

• A good modelled and cast figure (and Footsore makes superb ones).
• And thinning down the paint and applying thin layers.

All the paints used here are from Vallejo. Let´s start. 

1.- I like to prime my figures in a light grey (I use Vallejo surface primer grey), and then apply a wash with Umber Wash (73.203), this brings out all the details of the figure.

2.- Start applying the base coat with Flat Flesh (70.955). We can let the previous wash be seen to create some shadows.

3.- Apply a wash to the whole surface with Fleshtone Shade (73.204).

4.- Make a wash with Flat Earth (70.983) mixing one drop of paint with three of water. Apply it to the deeper areas (both sides of the nose, under the lip, the gap with the helmet, the neck...). Then apply a wash with Umber Wash (73.203) to the eyes and mouth.

5.- Paint with Ivory (70.918) the eyes and the teeth leaving a thin outline.

To paint the left eye (or the right if we are lefties) it will be easier to turn the figure upside down. 

6.- Paint the pupils with black. We can paint it in different positions to change gaze direction, but we have to paint the pupil in the same place in both eyes.

7.- Apply the highlights Flat Flesh (70.955). And them another highlights a mixture of two parts of Flat Flesh (70.955) and one part of Ivory (70.918).

8.- Paint two thin lines with Chocolate Brown (70.872) for the eyebrows.

9.- Prepare a glaze mixing a drop of water or medium with a little (very little) of Cavalry Brown (70.982) on the tip of the brush.

Here you can see the difference between a wash and a glaze.

Draw some of the glaze in a tissue and apply it on the cheeks. The first layer will not be appreciable, but with the next layers a nice tone will come out. It´s important to let dry completely each layer before applying the next (we can use a hair dryer to speed up the process) . I usually apply four or five layers.

10.- Now prepare another glaze with a mixture with one part of Flat Flesh (70.955) and one part of Basalt Grey (70.869). Apply it to the zone where the beard is supposed to be in the same way.

11.- Finally outline the face with a mixture of two parts of black and one part of Chocolate Brown (70.872).

Here are some examples of faces painted by using this method.

	I'm from Galicia, Spain, and I'm a military history and modelling enthusiast. I started painting miniatures when I was 9 years old and since I couldn't stop.

Wood, metal, cloth, skin, facial hair and fancy shield designs are the main things you will need to paint in your Dark Age army.

Today I want to share with you my way of painting the wood items. All paints used here are from Vallejo. Let´s start.

1.- Start applying the base coat with Old Wood (310) or Beige Brown (70.875).

2.- Next, draw some thin lines to simulate the wood grain using watered down Hull Red (70.985)  and Orange Brown (70.981) .

3.- Now apply a wash to the whole surface with Sepia Shade (73.200) mixed with some thinner to increase the transparency.

With these the spears are finished, but we can continue working on the shields.

4.- Highlight one edge of the planks with Old Wood (310) and apply Umber Wash (73.203) only in the unions.

5.- To change the shade of the planks, we can apply thin washes of Umber Wash (73.203) on some of them. The more washes the more dark the plank will come.

6.- Finally, we can represent some damage by painting some fine lines with a mixture of brown and black, and adding another thin line under it with Old Wood (310) to increase the volume.

Here are some examples of miniatures painted by using this method.

Changing the colours and washes mentioned here you can obtain different shades. And if you want to represent some new treated wood you can finish your work with a satin varnish.

Author: Pedro Guerra Cernadas

	I'm from Galicia, Spain, and I'm a military history and modelling enthusiast. I started painting miniatures when I was 9 years old and since I couldn't stop.