Painted Shadows of Brimstone miniatures featuring Western heroes, monstrous enemies, and Depth Track expansion.

When the Frontier Fights Back

Some board games give you a handful of models.

But not the Shadows of Brimstone. It gives you a full box of Western heroes and horror creatures, which look like something straight out of Stranger Things.

Recently we had the opportunity to paint the miniatures from Shadows of Brimstone: City of the Ancients and Swamps of Death.

Join us on this journey through the game. As we tell you more about it, take a look at our painted miniatures.

What is Shadows of Brimstone?

But before that, let’s find a little bit more about the game itself.

Shadows of Brimstone is a cooperative dungeon-crawler board game set in a Wild West. Basically you choose your hero, and you can start to explore ancient mines, and fight some monsters. There are some RPG elements, as you can level up your guy (or girl), equip better gear and so on. At the every start of the game you chose a scenario which will determine the look of the depths, and will describe all possible events during the gameplay.

The most interesting thing to do in the game is… to go down. The deeper you are, the worse enemies you will encounter. You can see it even on out pictures: first you find some small spiders, to face huge demon-like buddy at the end.

A Boxes Overflowing With Trouble

Speaking of heroes and enemies, this isn’t a game with tokens, which makes you imagine things. When you’ll open the box for the first time, there will be a lot of plastic, looking back at you.

So, what models you can find in the Shadows of Brimstone?

Heroes: From the Gunslinger and Lawman to the Saloon Girl and Preacher. Each core game includes four unique heroes, with even more available in expansions.
Enemies: monsters from another world. We’ll let the images do the talking: there’s A LOT of them, each with its variations.

There’s even more! As an add-on, you can purchase the Shadows of Brimstone Depth Track, which… well, does exactly what the name suggests. Each level brings deadlier threats and greater horrors.

The Posse That Stands Against the Dark

You have a lot of options to choose right Shadows of Brimstone hero at the start of the game. We’ll just name the 8 main protagonists from the City of the Ancients, and Swamps of Death core games, but there are more in other boxes, and expansions.

Bandido or Bandida – your explosive guy/lady. High tequila vibes.
Gunslinger – marksman, great for players who like to keep distance.
Piano Player or Saloon Girl – Close combat and support roles. Experience gathered from the bar fights probably.
U.S. Marshal – Tank-like class, great to control bigger waves of enemies.
Indian Scout – great for hit-and-run tactics, for those who choose speed over brute force.
Lawman – a bit more all-around version of Marshal: good at close and distanced combat.
Preacher or Nun – 100% support class, blesses and buffs.
Rancher – Another all-around class, but with more close combat abilities.

Each hero brings a unique playstyle, adding depth to every game. So feel free to choose, and switch them from time to time, to finally choose one of your liking.

The Kind of Monsters That Linger in Your Mind

As we mentioned before, Shadows of Brimstone doesn’t do basic enemies.

First of all, they vary with size. On lower levels you will find smaller stuff, and some undead. But the deeper you go, there are more enemies, and they are way bigger: tentacles reaching from underground, and huge demons.

Like, you need to appreciate the variations of monsters in this game. Every box comes with different variations, which matches the overall vibe of the box.