Res Nova

High Elf Speed Painting 2

2012-01-23T19:45:00.002-05:00

To follow up on my last post, here is the completed Mordheim Shadow Elf warband as they stood at the start of the campaign. All were finished with the quick painting method mentioned earlier, of neatly base-coating the figures completely, and then using various GW washes to provide some quick shading.

While I think this method generally worked, I'm not sure how much I like it on very light, or white, colors. The robes on the archer henchmen, for instance, came out slightly splotchier than I would have liked. No doubt this is probably more pronounced as they are the figures with the most robe showing, but they required some quick touch-up nonetheless to even get them to the point you see here.

Once the warband is complete - it's already expanded by one member since the start, thus requiring that I paint another archer henchman - I'll likely go back and neaten things up further. Paint the eyes, push the red up to some higher highlights, pick out a few high points on the various metal areas, etc.

In terms of gaming, the warband has performed barely adequately so far. Considering their individual high costs, and thus low model count, I've been outnumbered in every game so far, including one against a severely depleted beastman warband. This has left me not only facing overwhelming odds, but up against several scenarios that immediately handicap an outmanned warband - I'm looking at you "Defend the Claim!" But when this warband is firing on all cylinders, meaning I'm actually hitting with my firing, they're a beast, having already bottled out one enemy group in only two rounds of shooting.

Next in the painting queue is the newest member of this warband as well as a start on a Ramos warband for Malifaux.

High Elf Speed Painting

2012-01-16T23:53:00.002-05:00

Given all of the years I have been painting miniatures, the actual number of finished pieces is surprisingly few. Though this often stemmed from wavering motivation, I think I can properly attribute much of this to the nature of my painting style. For the most part I'm a slow, deliberate painter, striving for perfection within my limited skill set. In terms of quality final pieces, this has served me well - I was quite happy with both of the miniatures that I painted in 2011.

However, when you're looking to game with a painted force, two painted figures a year is simply unacceptable. So, starting with my Mordheim warband, I've decided to tinker with some quick painting techniques. While I've made a few false starts at this in the past, those efforts mostly revolved around me trying to apply paint quickly, and as a result, somewhat haphazardly. The explosion in popularity of the "dip method," whether using wood varnish or the tailored Army Painter product, has given a reliable alternative though. Enhancing this style of painting are the current Games Workshop washes, which behave very similarly to the various dips, but give you the benefit of a much broader range of colors, thereby preventing your figure from having a single, overall muddy tone. I've opted for the GW route, and the two figures shown here have been basecoated and await their washes.

The problem I've encountered with this technique - though I suppose the same would be true with any quick painting technique - is that I need to force myself to not abide by my normal, obsessive approach. Slightly painting out of the lines will be covered up by the washes and a figure that is effectively just basecoated and shaded is fine for a gaming figure - at least that's what I tell myself. :)

Damned Bases

2012-01-15T22:52:00.000-05:00

Well, City of the Damned to be specific. I put these 5 bases together the other night for use with my elven warband for the Mordheim campaign that just kicked off in my gaming group last week.

While I had originally planned on basing my figures on the same basic, but easy to replicate, basing scheme as I intend to use with my future Warhammer High Elf force, two things prompted me to put together these much better looking, and much more thematic, bases. First, the prospect of having to paint a massive number of figures someday, and the fact that I'm still not particularly enamored with Warhammer, means there's no guarantee that I'll ever be putting together that High Elf army. So, constraining myself now to a style that might never actually use seems foolish. Second, and more compelling, is the fact that I think round bases are more aesthetically pleasing, especially for skirmish games, and I was also greatly influenced by the basing work done by my fellow gamer, LordFishBane. So with a bit of plasticard, some texture paste, a mix of various ballast and cork rubble, and a splintered popsicle stick, this is what I ended up with. Painted pictures hopefully by tomorrow or Tuesday.

2012 Plans

2012-01-05T01:37:00.000-05:00

Though tardy as usual (at least when it comes to me any my blog), I'd like to engage in the end of the year retrospection and new year resolution-making that all hobby bloggers seem to engage in.

From a hobby perspective, 2011 was a bit of a mixed bag for me. In terms of actual gaming, 2011 was a far more successful year than most in recent memory. Referencing the ever handy BoardGameGeek, I see that I played 51 games this year. That averages to nearly one a week, even if many of those occurred in single sessions in which several games were played. What is particularly interesting is the obvious trend in the nature of my gaming that is revealed in this look back. No doubt influenced by the interests of my wife and family, board games occupy a majority of the list, with 7 Wonders and Settlers of Catan sitting squarely on top. Miniatures games, which have long been my primary interest, account for only 14 games played this year (though hybrids such as Wings of War, Gears of War, Battlelore, Memoir '44, and Battleship Galaxies account for another 9).

Speaking of miniatures, my total output of painted figures for the year - two - continues my lackluster productivity that has typified recent years. That being said though, in painting those two figures I believe I've begun to cement a painting style and set of techniques that I'm both happy with and have brought be some success. As noted earlier this year, the Malifaux figure I painted for GenCon was awarded the best single figure award from Wyrd (for which I'm still honored). Additionally, the Warhammer goblin warboss painted right at the end of the year was voted by my gaming group as the favorite of the Christmas paint exchange figures. The trick now will be to see if I can build on this technique such that I can produce figures in a more timely manner.

2012 should provide no end of opportunities for me to try this out as I have a slew of projects in the hopper. Plans, roughly organized in my intended (hopeful?) chronological order, include:

Mordheim Shadow Elf warband - After having waxed nostalgic on many occasion about the classic GW games that are now relegated to the Specialist Games "basement," my gaming group is finally running a brief Mordheim campaign over the coming month. Campaign kick-off is next week and I still have five elves to get painted!
Infinity Haqqislam - Despite having picked up the core of my force this time last year and spending the last twelve months becoming increasingly enamored with this game, I've yet to even begin assembling more than one figure. However, one of my regular gaming comrades, an even bigger fan of Infinity, is itching to get this into regular rotation and the game seems to have a foothold in one of our FLGS.
Malifaux - Malifaux has continued to be my most frequently played miniatures game and this past year has done anything but dull my enthusiasm for the game. Unfortunately, I still don't have even a single gang painted yet. With a fairly vast collection of miniatures for this game now, settling on which master I'd like to work on first will be my initial task. Will it be Seamus, Nicodem, Collette, or the Viktorias? Will I choose to provide some allies for the Kirai that I painted for GenCon? Of course, I'm also now about a year and a half behind in getting my buddy's Ramos crew completed (sorry Jay!).
Late War Germans - As it seems all maturing miniatures gamers eventually do, I, along with a pair of local buddies, have finally started down the historical gaming path. For ease of entry, both because of our general familiarity with the subject as well as the plethora of kits available on the market, we've opted to start with western front, late war WWII, using the now OOP Mongoose Games' Battlefield Evolution rules, along with supplements from A.D. Publishing. Having been tasked with providing the Germans for our impending skirmishes, I'm not only enjoying assembling some great kits (I'm looking at you Plastic Soldier Company), but also conducting the research necessary to ensuring that color choices, weapon selections, etc. are also historically accurate. I'm no button counter, but I figure that if you're going to play historicals, you might as well make sure that you're doing so in a historically accurate manner.

These are only some of my more well-formed plans, driven by the interests of those I regularly game with. Necromunda, Blood Bowl, Full Thrust, 40K, Heavy Gear Arena, and a myriad of other half-baked ideas escaping me at the moment will all no doubt be clamoring for my attention over the course of this next year. Of course, all of these plans will be contingent on time allowed given the more important activities occurring in my household in 2012 - finally buying a house as well as welcoming my firstborn into the world. 2012 is going to be a heck of a year and I'm really looking forward to seeing where it takes us!

Waaagh for the holidays!

2011-12-20T23:37:00.009-05:00

For I believe the second consecutive year, the weekly miniatures gaming group that I occasionally manage to meet up is running their Christmas paint exchange event. It sees each of the participants randomly drawing the name of a fellow club member for which they will paint one of three figures provided by that member. The idea being that the recipient doesn't know which of their figures you are painting.

The three figures I was presented were the Malifaux Bete Noire, a Warhammer orc standard bearer, and this Warhammer goblin boss on a giant squig. Thinking that Bete Noire was simple enough that it wouldn't be much of a present, and not wanting to try my hand at some free hand on the orc's standard, I opted to work on the goblin. Since we're exchanging figures tomorrow, I think it's probably safe to show him off here now without spoiling the surprise. The flash has accentuated a glossy effect that isn't really on the actual model and the base has been left untouched as the recipient requested, but I hope he's happy with the final product!

GenCon Recap

2011-08-09T01:48:00.002-04:00

As promised in the last post, with GenCon unfortunately over it's time to recap the convention. While I always enjoy this event and cannot recall having a truly bad experience (though those years when I had to cut the trip short due to other commitments were less than ideal), GenCon 2011 seems to stand out as a singularly great experience. Perhaps it was the newly renovated and expanded convention center, perhaps it was hanging out with seldom seen friends, perhaps it was the positive personal experience I'll talk about shortly, or perhaps it was a little bit of all of these things and some, but I know I wasn't alone in this perspective as many of my acquaintances also in attendance noted this to be one of the best GenCons they'd attended. There seemed to be a buzz throughout the convention center, most companies were putting on strong showings, and there were lots of great products to anticipate over the next year.

One of these products, and one which I've talked about several times in the past, was Catalyst Games' "Leviathans." Despite being in development for a maddeningly long time, it looked like the game had been green-lighted for at least a teaser roll-out at GenCon, with a scant 200 copies planned to be on hand and available for sale. Unfortunately even this plan was derailed, as Catalyst informed us shortly before the convention, by the logistical nightmare of working with a foreign printer.

Despite this hiccup they made the best of things, and the large inventory of destroyers, cruisers, and battleships that they had on hand were given away to those who participated in a Leviathans demo, ensuring that the crowds around these demos were deep and actually getting into a game was a difficult task. Sure, the excitement around the demos was no doubt fueled in part by the gamer inclination to gravitate towards free swag, but in doing so Catalyst exposed a large number of people to what I consider to be one of the most solid new game systems out there, thereby maintaining the buzz for the short few weeks until their publisher woes are remedied. As for the ships themselves, the giveaways were of the exact same quality as those that will be found in the final games and, as you can see from the pictures here, are absolutely splendid pieces. Those who criticized the decision to go pre-painted plastic have little room for complaint in my opinion as these will both look great on the table as-is, and re-paint with little difficulty. I can't wait for this one to hit the stores.

With Leviathans not available for sale at the convention, I was able to instead focus my Thursday morning exhibitor hall rush on getting to the Wyrd games booth before they sold out of any of their limited edition releases. It turned out that I had little to fear (though stocks of the Nightmare models and the new book were rather low, if not out completely, by the end of the con) and my mad dash netted me all of the releases I was after for myself and a friend back home. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pictures while passing the Wyrd miniatures display booth so can't share the awesomeness that will be the next several release waves for Malifaux - my Ramos-playing buddy in particular should be very happy.

One interesting observation was the apparent shift that occurred this year in buyer activity between Wyrd and Privateer Press. Whereas you could always count on the Privateer booth generating a massive line of gamers picking up the latest Warmachine or Hordes product as soon as the exhibitor hall opened each morning, this year it seemed that Wyrd had usurped that mantle. Of course this was likely due to the lack of they kind of big release they've had at most previous GenCons, and I am in no no way claiming that this represents Privateer losing market share. They still had an impressive booth and their turnout in the miniatures gaming hall was as impressive as ever, but overall they felt to have a slightly more subdued presence than they have had in recent years.

One company that did have a big splash release, or at least announcement, was Fantasy Flight. Throughout the convention they were running demos of their soon to be released Star Wars licensed card game and X-Wing/Tie Fighter miniatures combat game. I'm obviously a bit more interested in the latter, and if it's at all derived from the Wings of War mechanics (which I love) as has been rumored, this will be something that will likely become a must buy. As you can see from the pic here, the fighter miniatures are pretty sharp too.

While FFG had a number of other releases and previews of greater interest to the gamer community (Blood Bowl card game, Black Crusade RPG, Gears of War boardgame, etc.), the item I was most interested in were the recently announced "Dust Warfare" rules. Intended to expand upon the system developed for the "Dust Tactics" game, using the same miniatures and stat cards, Warfare will provide rules for playing Dust as a more traditional tabletop miniatures game rather than the hybrid board/miniatures game that it is now. This appealed to me as I've always loved the imagery of the Dust universe and the design of the models released in the line so far, but find Dust Tactics to be a stale and uninspiring system. Unfortunately, from the abbreviated demo of the Warfare rules that I tried, I'm not sure that this new game is going to build enough upon Tactics to make it a system I'm interested in. It's still a very simple system and the one innovative mechanic that I noticed, a sort of reaction fire, was built in really more as a balance to the dated you go/I go order of play the game uses.

Alternating unit activation wouldn't disallow the inclusion of this "first fire" mechanic, so why they are adhering to a play procedure style that forces one player to sit idle while their opponent conducts the actions of their entire army is beyond me. But given their track record for miniatures games designed in-house (Mutant Chronicles), I'm not particularly surprised.

That being said, it looks like FFG will still be producing the absolute coolest looking Weird World War II vehicles on the market. They had been hinting that new and impressive walkers would be unveiled at GenCon, and boy were they right, with the models surpassing my already high expectations. The pictures you see here are of the four new walkers shown off at the convention, consisting of two Allied and two German heavy walkers. It looks like both sides will each be getting an anti-tank walker with the Allies also getting one with a massive flamethrower and the Germans an AA walker. There's no question that I'll be getting at least one of these for each side of my budding WWWII forces.

Another company with a surprisingly large presence was Cool Mini or Not, which over the last few years has grown dramatically from primarily a free picture-hosting gallery for miniatures painters to the premier US destination for all sorts of boutique miniatures lines. This year they also had several miniatures games being presented as well. In addition to their long-running Dark Age game (which I finally bought into as its obvious mechanics-homage to my beloved Warzone was too much to resist) and the Soda Pop offerings (i.e. Super Dungeon Explorer), demos of Sedition Wars were being run by Mike McVey himself. I only snapped one picture but, as you can see here, this is going to be a great looking line.

Finally, on a more personal note, I'm happy to report that the Kirai miniature I painted for the GenCon painting competition took first place in the Wyrd miniatures, single figure, manufacturer's category. The range of entries in the competition were spectacular as usual, as demonstrated by this best in show diorama of a halfling fleeing his home as it's destroyed by a surfacing burrowing monster, so I was completely humbled and honored that my figure was chosen. As my friends have already pointed out though, this means I've got to have an even better for entry for next year in order to try and defend the crown.

And to close, a few random shots taken over the course of the convention:

Some late night, pick-up Malifaux amongst friends.

A couple really nice Flames of War boards. The Polish train was particularly cool.

The picture doesn't quite capture the magnitude, but this was a massive game of Flames of War being played on what must have been at least 20 feet of table space.

A nice looking medieval/fantasy village.

A really impressive looking, though perhaps unrealistically cluttered, pirate game.

Kirai Finished & GenCon

2011-08-03T00:25:00.000-04:00

With the countdown clock ticking down to mere hours before my departure for GenCon, I appear to have set a new personal "best" by having my GenCon painting competition entry finished with enough time to spare that I can snap some pictures and present it here.

For those of you unfamiliar, this is Kirai, one of the masters of the Resurrectionist faction in the game Malifaux, which is the game that has been monopolizing nearly all of my time in the miniatures genre for some time now. I had substantially more grandiose plans for an entry in the Privateer Press painting competition, but I ran into a snafu that caused me to scramble to find a replacement. Since I actually play Malifaux, meaning Kirai here will be a model that does more than just sit in my miniatures cabinet, and Wyrd is supporting the overall GenCon painting competition with a manufacturer prize, I figured I'd take a shot at that competition. I'm pleased with how she turned out, but between my work here and on my aborted PP entry I've come to realize that I've more or less reached my peak of painting skill using my current skill set. So I've already committed to, upon returning from GenCon, broadening that skill set.

Not that I'm already looking forward to returning from GenCon already, of course. Despite being my 19th consecutive GenCon, I've still been looking forward to these four days with an enthusiasm that even a convergence of Christmas, my birthday, and an all-you-can eat Chinese buffet could hardly muster. I'll see friends I only get to hang out with once a year, I've got a lengthy list of Malifaux new and limited releases to grab as soon as I can fight my way through the Wyrd crowd Thursday morning, and, my greatest of hopes, I'll be able to bring home a copy of Catalyst's Leviathans game. No doubt my purchases won't be constrained to this scanty list, much to the chagrin of our "Saving to buy a house" savings account, and I'll be supporting the hobby industry widely.

I won't have my computer with me, so the blog will be silent during my trip (not that it's ever been particularly lively), but expect a full report, with pictures, when I return - I've already been instructed that such a report is expected by a few people.

Kirai WIP I

2011-07-27T12:28:00.001-04:00

The Emperor's Hounds

2011-01-18T14:45:00.005-05:00

As noted in my last post, one of my first projects for 2011 will be getting a painted, playable space marine army on the table before the current 40K campaign ends. Towards this goal, and riffing on a color scheme and background concept with which I made a faltering start nearly three and a half years ago, I present the "Emperor's Hounds" in their subdued livery (once again using the outstanding Bolter and Chainsword painter tool):

The early inspiration for the color scheme was that it was one on which I could experiment with the use of the Army Painter dip. Though I'm not sure that I'll make use of the dip over the new standby, GW's Devlan Mud wash, either method should allow for quick, satisfactory results. As noted in the previous post, developing the competence to, and tolerance for, painting quickly is a goal.

Fluff-wise I'm looking for these guys to be fairly generic marines. Alternately dubbed the Emperor's Hounds, Wolfhounds, Warhounds, Devil Dogs, etc., depending on who you talk to, they're going to be a fleet-based chapter that recruits on the move, and thus has no stable home world. By not opting for a single source of recruits, this opens up my options to include marines from all sorts of cultural backgrounds. It would be natural to make them a Space Wolf successor, but I think I'm going to skip the feral nature, keep the furry icons to a minimum, and opt for a lot of classic Rogue Trader-era imagery. Shark teeth painted on Mk. VI helmets, "KILL" and other friendly slogans written on bolters, and plenty of dirt.

With tactical squads forming the core of a marine army, even one as offbeat as I plan on assembling (more on that later), getting a squad of 10 power armored marines cleaned, assembled, and ready for a halfway decent day for priming will be my first task.

More to come.

2011 Plans

2011-01-17T17:22:00.003-05:00

Two and a half weeks is far too along into the new year to engage in the typical hobby blog activity of making resolutions. That and my anemic posting frequency suggests that generalized goals are of little service to me anyways. But a strategy of some sorts needs to be determined. Although I maintain this blog merely as a self-gratifying means of chronicling my hobby projects, rather than as a creature itself that suffers during my long bouts of neglect, I haven't posted since October. And the review of my "2010 Totals" showed that I purchased nearly 100 models while painting a grand total of three. Yes, three. Sure, there's plenty of excuses for my lack of progress - new job responsibilities, XBox distractions, and, most of all, my impending nuptials.

Regardless of the reasons though, at this point I'm simply accumulating "stuff" and not doing anything with it. With a new house on the horizon and the resultant need to pack and move, I simply cannot justify hanging on to a hobby that takes up this much physical space if I'm not actively involved in it. As I have no desire to abandon a hobby that has given me so much enjoyment over the years, I'm going to instead try and whip myself into action by laying out some distinct project plans for this year.

1. Redesign Hobby Area
I've already made some headway on this first task. As my significant other works from home, we've had to arrange a workspace for her, which meant my hobby area had to be moved. In the process of doing that I've begun to reorganize things. Gone are the mass of figures that were either half-started projects or ones I intended to work on "soon." Knives, brushes, files and other assorted tools found homes in drawers and a newly acquired Ikea rolling drawer unit houses things like flock and other basing materials as well as work-in-progress projects.

With the addition of at least one more decent lamp, I should finally have a workstation that will be workable for some time to come. For far too long I've tried to work in a small square of clear space on a cramped desk, but with this reorganization I'll hopefully remove that as an obstacle to actually getting some work done.

2. Scope Out Projects
The main problem with buying figures when not actively working on them is that when you finally get around to that project, you realize that a number of those purchases aren't actually going to be used. For instance, I now probably have far more vehicles for my 40K space marines than I'll actually be able to use in a single playable force. As I've noted in previous posts, 40K isn't a game that I'm intending to invest in to the point of having spare or alternate units.

So, the next task will be identifying the handful of imminent projects (as noted below) and determining what is ultimately going to comprise each of those projects. Even if I don't intend on working on all of the components of a project in the first go round (e.g. it's highly unlikely I will be painting every marine I intend for my final force list at one time), I want to concretely determine whether a figure has an anticipated home or not. If not, it's going to eBay/Bartertown/etc. Though I'm not moving right away, if I can start winnowing my collection while working on projects I'll find myself in that much better of a position when it comes to packing everything up.

3. Initial Projects
Below are the first three projects I intend to work on in 2011. I could have picked others that would have been quicker to accomplish (such as my Uncharted Seas fleet), and thus giving me a few quick "wins" in this mission, but I wanted to instead work on things that would have instant utility. So, each of the below projects are related to games that I'm either actively playing, or have an identified group that I can get a game with.

Space Marines
I've been saying for about four years now on this blog that I am in the process of working on my space marines, and yet haven't done more than post a never-ended stream of color scheme concepts. Fortunately my semi-regular gaming group is just starting a 40K campaign for which getting units painted provides substantial in-game rewards. In an attempt to transmute that incentive into motivation, my marines will be receiving my initial focus.

After toying with a number of color schemes, most of which didn't lend themselves to any quick or efficient painting techniques, I've settled on a scheme that I should hopefully be able to crank out while relying primarily on washes. With any luck this will help shift my painting mindset somewhat and allow me to embrace the idea of painting quickly. While I am far from an expert painter, I'm quick to perceive an imperfection in a work-in-progress paint job, and toss the whole figure in a Simple Green bath. For instance, while I may have only finished three figures in 2010, I started and stripped three times that many.

In my next post I'll lay out the details of this hopefully efficient scheme for my marines.

Infinity
I've long admired the figures in this range, but was able to resist making any purchases as I had nobody to play against. Then, just before the holidays, one of my regular opponents got into this game through a league at an LGS. With my feeble excuse sundered, I used some holiday money to pick up all of the Haqqislam figures that I should need while I learn to play the game. The plan here, unlike the larger marine project, is to blast through the entire force in one bout of painting and I'll be setting myself the goal of not buying anything new until my prior purchases have been fully painted.

Malifaux
That last goal owes much to the lessons learned from getting into Malifaux. As the first new miniatures game that I had bought into in many, many years, I was determined to paint additions to my crew as I bought them. But my Seamus force expanded quickly beyond the starter set with naught but primer on any figures, and GenCon saw me returning with Colette and an entirely new faction (Arcanists) to choose from. The plan here is to stop any further expansion until I have a playable Resurrectionist force (with both Seamus and Nicodem as completed options) and Colette's starter set has been finished.

I also have a small Ramos crew that I promised to paint quite some time ago for a buddy. This long-suffering friend has been gracious in accepting my excuses, but as I'm not only inconveniencing him but denying myself an opponent as I sit on his figures, it's high time I get to work.

So that's where 2011 is going to start. No doubt I'll interject other quick projects here and there, but it's time to get something finished!

Crossed Fingers

2010-10-20T10:52:00.001-04:00

Barely edging out the Malifaux expansion, "Rising Powers," as the game that this year's GenCon got me the most excited about was Catalyst's "Leviathans". A steampunk (I won't say VSF because, as some have correctly pointed out, the era is properly Edwardian and not Victorian) miniatures boardgame featuring clashing flying pre-dreadnoughts, it benefits from not only some outstanding imagery but a solid and easy to grasp set of rules.

Unfortunately, the game is a bit of a piecemeal affair at this point. While the basic rules, stat cards for introductory fleets, and standup ship counters are all available (and at a bargain price at RPG Now!), production costs and company restructuring within Catalyst have seen a proper release delayed for some time now. Of course the game is perfectly playable in its current incarnation, but the promise of a boxed set release, complete with plastic models for the French and British fleets, has had me waiting in great anticipation.

With any luck, that wait has a definitive end now. Yesterday Catalyst announced their intent to have the game released in time for the 2011 Origins game fair. And to further whet our appetites they released pictures of the CAD drawings for both the British and French Type 4 ships. Anticipation is now at a renewed high, and provided they meet this goal it looks like at least a day-trip to Columbus is in store for me next summer.

The GenCon Loot

2010-08-13T23:39:00.004-04:00

I've been back for nearly a week already and still haven't posted a picture or story from this year's GenCon. In brief (far, far too brief), it was simply fantastic. One of the best of the 18 GenCons I've attended. Hopefully I'll get around to posting more about why that was the case.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with some pics of this year's exhibitor haul (get it?):

As opposed to last year, this year's purchases were a bit more focused. The new Malifaux expansion book, the new Arcanist starter set (Colette), the new plastic Malifaux fate deck, and the special, GenCon-only, super-sized Lord Chompy Bits were first day purchases. Reaper Miniatures was also an early shopping destination as I wanted to pick up their con only figure, the new League of Justice & Caeke (not a misspelling according to them) character, and the 10-pack of Mouseling Heroes. Yes, a flood of miniature cuteness.

I also hit a few of my other GenCon regulars, including Dream Pod 9, from which I purchased the latest two campaign books and a blister pack of trucks to use as game objectives. From Days of Wonder I picked up the Eastern Front, Terrain, and Campaign Book expansions for Memoir '44, as I continue to enjoy that game more and more. From Open Design/Kobold Quarterly I grabbed the Sunken Empires and Imperial Gazetteer books. I've supported these guys for some time now as a patron of their various open design role-playing projects (currently a sponsor of the Streets of Zobeck Pathfinder adventure anthology written by the talented Ben McFarland), but they produce generally great stuff. If you're into RPGs at all, particularly D&D 4E or Pathfinder, check them out. Finally I grabbed Dwarven Dig from Bucephalus Games. This is another great manufacturer, this time of board games of a wide-ranging variety of subjects, level of geekiness, and complexity - i.e. they make some great stuff that you could even play with your non-hobby gamer significant other/friends/family.

The pictures above and below are of some of the cooler handouts I managed to snag at GenCon. The deck of cards was a giveaway from Open Design/Kobold Quarterly and each card is adorned with a person, game, company, etc. iconic to the gaming industry. Neat for those of us interested in the lore of our hobby. The baggied figure is the Wyrd miniatures giveaway for purchases of over $100, Nurse Miss Pack. Considering I play Resurrectionists in Malifaux, another nurse is always welcome. Below we have some giveaways from FFG's new WWWII game, Dust Tactics. The decal sheet and one figure were give to each person who played in a demo (I snagged the German character), but the walker was a prize for only those who played their demo on the side that happened to win more games over the weekend. Fortunately I was on the side of the Axis, so this bay boy came home with me. I can't say that I'm overly impressed with the game, but the figures sure are pretty.

Malifaux at GenCon

2010-07-17T14:28:00.003-04:00

The other day, Wyrd announced their GenCon plans, including preview pictures of the new crew boxed sets, individual models, GenCon exclusives, and the first expansion book. It's obvious that my controlled GenCon budget, been built after carefully considering which GenCon releases I'd be unable to resist, has now been obliterated. These new releases, the Colette du Bois crew set in particular, have absolutely blown me away and I'm more excited for this round of releases than I have been in many, many years for any game.

I'll admit, I originally bemoaned the release of Malifaux. I'd always been a fan of Wyrd's style of miniatures, and pessimistically was sure that, in an attempt to produce figures necessary for their game, a lot of the novelty in their range would disappear. It appears those concerns were completely unwarranted as they've produced even more figures that I want for no other reason than to paint. The fact that I can use them in a game is just icing. Good job Wyrd. I'm not one to gush unabashedly, but you've definitely earned my praise.

Victory!

2010-07-17T14:19:00.003-04:00

Just over a week ago, I finally broke my winless streak in games against my bi-weekly group, that has extended for nearly a year now. In games of Uncharted Seas, Malifaux, 40K, and AT-43 I've managed a single draw for my best result.

Well that finally changed last week when my Uncharted Seas fleet, the Iron Dwarves, finally bested their Shroud Mages rivals. What looked like a pretty overwhelming victory for me deep into the game, quickly became much more dicey when his battleship rammed my undamaged battleship and, in two turns of boarding combat, wiped out the crew. While I'm perfectly aware that Uncharted Seas is definitely more of a "fun" game, and doesn't seem to aim for the level of parity amongst factions that more "competitive" games do, I was nonetheless grumbling about the fact that such a quick turnabout could even occur.

So I soon found myself with nothing but a handful of frigates and a badly dinged up cruiser facing off against his ravaged, but still deadly, battleship. The game turned on a final set of dice rolls and the cruiser for which I made a series of improbable rolls, thereby putting the last point of damage on the Shroud Mage capital ship to sink it, will no doubt be sporting a personalized banner when I finally get around to painting them.

Now, with the winless streak finally broken, let's see if that luck will rub off on any of my other games. ;)

Seamus WIP Part 1

2010-06-17T21:41:00.005-04:00

As the group I semi-regularly game with has been on a Malifaux kick for some time now - especially as several of them are participating in the GenCon Malifaux tournaments - I've finally gotten around to putting some paint on my figs.

This guy is Seamus, one of the masters of the Resurrectionists faction. I picked him up as well as his belles when they were first released by Wyrd, well before Malifaux premiered. Possessing the figures already, playing his faction was a natural choice for me. However, his style of play hasn't suited me very well and I'm still chasing a win. Nicodem seems to be one of the more popular Resurrectionist masters so I've picked him up to try out. But I still like the Seamus figure, so even if he never sees the table again, he's the first of my Malifaux figures to find themselves under my brush.

Further work-in-progress pictures to be posted as I get them.

Poseidon Legion Scheme Finalized

2010-06-08T10:25:00.006-04:00

After another few rounds of tinkering with the color scheme for my Poseidon Legion marines, I'm pretty sure I've settled on the following. Once again using the ever so helpful Bolter and Chainsword forum's Space Marine Painter (the 5.0 iteration to take advantage of the wargear options), I came up with the following. Note, the Dark Angels chapter badge is there only as a place holder for the Legion's trident symbol.

First, the basic marine scheme. This will be used on all standard marines, whether tactical, assault, or devestator. The will wear squad type badges on their right pauldrons, though I haven't decided which particular version of the codex symbols I will use. In all likelihood, I'll allow a far bit of variation, suggesting that each marine is allowed to customize his particular squad badge. However, they will all incorporate some type of numbering system along with the squad badge, denoting from which particular squad within a company they originate. The company to which they belong is marked by the number on their left knee pad, which will not vary and will be the same font/style for every marine within that company.

This is a Sgt. of a non-veteran squad. The only distinction from the regular marine scheme is the addition of a helmet stripe, though sergeants will no doubt bear an even more stylized squad badge than a regular marine, likely incorporating some form of personal heraldry.

This is a veteran marine, and thus a member of the first company. All first company marines wear helmets painted in the contrasting orange color, but otherwise their color scheme remains generally unchanged. As all veteran marines that haven't been assigned a squad leader position in another company belong to the first company, there is no need for a company number indicator and their left knee pad remains blank. As with sergeants, vets will display their personal heraldry on their right pauldron that incorporates the squad number to which they belong.

Finally, we have a veteran sergeant. This is an individual who has risen through the ranks to command one of the elite veteran squads of the first company and is likely only a step away from becoming the captain of a company within the Legion. As with regular sergeants, a veteran sergeant wears a generally similar scheme to the men he leads, adding only a white stripe to his orange helmet.

In addition to the iconography noted above, I will likely also select an army badge of some type to apply to the greave of every marine as well as somewhere on all of the army's vehicles. As with Codex marines, this will generally be a temporary badge that ties together the soldiers and vehicles drawn from across the companies and the armory of the Poseidon Legion for a particular campaign.

I will still have to decide on scheme variations for the variety of specialists in a marine army - apothecaries, techmarines, chaplains, librarians, command squads, and honor guard - as I'll want some standardization. For the character types of the first four, this will most likely consist of mostly the basic Legion scheme, with the white, red, black, and blue, respectively, used as an accent color (though I've always been partial to black-armored chaplains, so that character may get more than just an accent). For the latter two unit types, I will likely use the same scheme of whatever company to which they belong. So, for instance, the command squad of the third company captain would use the scheme of a basic marine with a stripe on the sergeant's helmet, whereas the first company captain's command squad would have orange helmets. For the chapter master's honor guard, as they no longer belong to any particular company, I'm leaning towards gold helmets, as used by the Ultramarines and Blood Angels. Though I'm trying to avoid anything overly gaudy in my Poseidon Legion force, it's a pretty small step from orange to metallic gold, so it should fit the theme nicely.

Next time I post on the Poseidon Legion (currently working on Malifaux figures), perhaps I'll even have something tangible to show off! :)

An unfocused gamer is dangerous

2010-05-25T13:32:00.005-04:00

Now that I'm back on the miniatures painting kick, as I noted in my last post one of the things I wanted to do was start focusing my miniatures collection on identified projects and start trimming off the excess. This tied in neatly with re-organizing my desk, which had become cluttered with stalled projects and half-finished miniatures. I'm a "pile and sort" kind of organizer, so the kitchen table quickly began to feel the stress of pounds of lead and pewter piled onto it as I began compiling figs from random miniatures cases, boxes, and other places I had left them "temporarily." Within about an hour I had to stop, as I had simply run out of room. What I was left with, was this:

Sadly, this pile doesn't include any of my marines for 40K, a High Elf army, Cogs and Red Blok for AT-43, a Confrontation goblin army, a box of Heroclix and one of Mechwarrior destined for repaints, my Malifaux figures, a random assortment of blistered Reaper figs, and a smattering of Epic and Heavy Gear stuff. As none of these listed items are painted any more than the stuff in the picture, none of this includes my painted figures either. And I haven't even broken out the terrain, a box of Armorcast stuff pristine in its stinky resin.

To say I was a bit shocked to see all of this before me would be an understatement. But the situation is obvious upon reflection. Without a regular gaming group and a dedicated system to play, the last decade of my hobby experience has been typified by a "Oooh, that's cool looking, I want one," and "Wow, at that price I better buy 5 Starship Trooper walkers." No, I don't play Starship Troopers, but I figured I could use them as something. They'd be great proxy armored sentinels, for instance, for that Imperial Guard army I don't own.

So, now that I can more clearly see what I own, I'll be assigning figures to projects, even those that are only vaguely formed in my mind, but the rest will be hitting the auction block in the near future.

Planning for the future

2010-05-24T14:59:00.008-04:00

As I've reiterated a few times, my miniatures gaming interests are pretty varied, so spending too much time, effort, or resources on any one project penalizes the others. This is especially true with 40K, where a paucity of regular opponents and a lack of great interest in the current incarnation of the rules means I'm planning an army mostly out of sentiment for times past and my love of the setting. This being the case, I'm going to plan out the entirety of my 40K marine collection. This will provide some framework for the project, ensure that I'm not distracted by a new unit or vehicle that doesn't fit within this list, and allow me to start selling off extra figures that don't have a home in the list.

You'll notice that this list includes far more options for certain troop categories than the basic game allows. This is because this is a list of all the figures I'm interested in building and painting, and from this list I'll choose my game time armies. As the marine codex, as with most codices, has most of its really neat troop types in the elites section, the list will be particularly top heavy. You might also note that the list doesn't allow for any of the typical competitive marine force builds. That's also on purpose, as I've come to realize I'm just not all that interested in competitive gaming anymore and I can't justify the time spent painting to produce an army that caters to tabletop effectiveness more than aesthetic appeal - spamming tactical squads and rhinos would get boring pretty quickly, in my opinion.

So, for now, my planned Poseidon Legion marine collection is the following:

counts as Lysander
counts as Shrike
Power Armored Chapter Master/Captain
Terminator Armored Chapter Master/Captain
Power Armored Chaplain
Power Armored Librarian
Master of the Forge
3 man Honor Guard
5 man Command Squad
Convertable Command Rhino/Razorback

Elites

Sternguard Squad

5-10 models w. full range of wargear options
Convertable Rhino/Razorback

Dreadnoughts

Venerable Dreadnought
2 Dreadnoughts
Full complement of dreadnought weapon options for swapping

Ironclad Dreadnought

Troops

Tactical Squad 1

10 marines
Sgt. w. Power Fist, Meltagun, Missile Launcher
Convertable Rhino/Razorback

Tactical Squad 2

10 marines
Sgt. w. Power Weapon, Flamer, Heavy Bolter
Convertable Rhino/Razorback

Scout Squad

10 scouts w. Sniper Rifles lead by Telion

Full set of Razorback weapon options

Fast Attack

2 Landspeeders

Scratchbuilds based on RT-era landspeeder
Full set of magnetized weapon options

Possible 5-10 man Assault or Vanguard Squad

Heavy Support

3 Predator Tanks

2 Destructors w. Heavy Bolter Sponsons
1 Destructor w. Lascannon Sponsons
All sponsons will be magnetized to allow future customization

With my project scoped out, the next step will be to organize the pieces from my collection necessary to build these units. With any luck, other than the landspeeders I should have everything I need to put this force together without spending a dime.

The final tally

2010-05-24T12:33:00.004-04:00

With the voting finished (and thanks to all of you that voted, either here, on B&C, or via e-mail), it looks like the Poseidon Legion held out. Like I noted before, I couldn't always be sure if someone that e-mailed or posted to B&C also voted in the poll, so this wasn't an exact science. But, considering that the glut of chapters that each received 5 votes wouldn't have made my decision any easier, I'm happy that it appears that one of the options seemed to stand out. Here are the final results:

Poseidon Legion: 7 votes
Mithril Drakes: 5 votes
Mentor Legion: 5 votes
Crimson Fists: 5 votes
Purple Marines: 2 votes
Silver Skulls: 1 vote

A few people over at B&C had mentioned an interest in seeing a marine painted in the Poseidon Legion colors. To the right is such an example, though one painted years ago and thus no longer representative of my exact style or current skill with the brush. Still, it should give a pretty good idea of the general appearance I'll be going for.

As mentioned in the last post, I'm thinking of still tying in some navy blue elements to reference the Crimson Fist and Mithril Drake color schemes that I liked. This is still a WIP idea, but as I don't want to overwhelm the basic Poseidon blue that many people noted that they liked, I'm thinking of adding a simple navy colored helmet, likely to the veteran marines of the Poseidon Legion. I had toyed with the idea of using this color variation for sergeants within the chapter, but decided that I ultimately didn't want my marines running around with a "shoot me, I'm important" target painted on their helmet, like the Ultramarines do with their bright red sergeant helmets. To that end, this is the simple modification I am thinking of making (white knee pad will likely be throughout as a field to paint company or squad markings on):

With one day remaining . . .

2010-05-22T19:54:00.004-04:00

Since there's been a slowdown in votes over the last few days, I think I'm going to end the poll early, tomorrow night, so I can actually get down to work on the project. The current voting tally, again including both the poll to the left and responses I received via e-mail and over at the B&C forum, is:

Poseidon Legion: 7 votes
Crimson Fists: 4 votes
Mentor Legion: 4 votes
Mithril Drakes: 3 votes
Silver Skulls: 1 vote
Purple Marines: 1 vote

At this point, unless there's a rush of support for one of the other chapters, it looks like the clear winner will be the Poseidon Legion. As I still like the Mithril Drakes scheme, and a few others made similar comments, I may incorporate some navy blue elements into the Poseidon Legion scheme - helmets on veterans for instance.

So as to give me the opportunity to paint up a Mentor Legion figure or two, I may leverage their background story as testers of new technology and military liaisons to other chapters to include a few such marines, either as veteran sergeants or perhaps the entirety of my Sternguard squad. In retrospect, 2-5 Mentors might even be more than I want to paint, given all of their white armor. ;)

The Tally So Far

2010-05-19T09:25:00.006-04:00

With about 24 hours into the voting, we're beginning to see some clear separation amongst the marine color scheme options. As the poll is not necessarily inclusive of comments e-mailed to me or forum responses to the thread I opened at Bolter and Chainsword, here, I'll keep a running tally the manual way. So far, the breakdown looks like this:

Poseidon Legion: 5 votes
Mentor Legion: 4 votes
Crimson Fists: 4 votes
Mithril Drakes: 2 votes
Silver Skulls: 1 vote
Purple Marines: 1 vote

Ruminating on Color Schemes

2010-05-18T10:55:00.011-04:00

With the upcoming tournament mentioned in my last post prompting me to sit back down at the painting table, I find myself once again confronting the decision that has paralyzed every other attempt to start a marine army - what color scheme/chapter to use. Because space marines are the 40K army perhaps most singularly uniform in appearance (compare the myriad chaos marine cults in a single force, or the range of aspect warrior types in an Eldar host), you really have to make sure you pick a scheme you want to paint. Since I'm very much a narrative-oriented gamer, a good background story is important as well. As I have enough other projects that I want to work on, this is going to be my only space marine force as well.

So, below are snapshots of the various schemes that I currently fancy, or have repeatedly resurfaced each time I consider the project over the years. I'm presenting them here as I'm hoping the community will help me decide which scheme/chapter to settle on. So, in no particular order:

I've loved these guys since they graced the cover of the Rogue Trader rulebook. Since I generally prefer "old school" chapters, and will want to do my marines in a throwback scheme if I choose to go the route of an official GW marine chapter, the Fists make perfect sense. As the title of my last post suggests, I was all set to start painting my marines in blue and red. However, it seems like there's been an explosion of Crimson Fist armies on the 'net. I realize this shouldn't have much impact on me, but it does make the project feel less unique.

Another throwback chapter, I've always though the clean white and dark green scheme of the Mentor Legion looked really sharp. They've got a great background as well. To maintain that old school feel, I'd be sure to use their old chapter badge, an owl's head, rather than the hawk's head now used by GW.

My final throwback scheme, the colors of the Silver Skulls could be used, unmodified, for a few other chapters as well, should I decide I wanted to build my own background. Because the painter program I used doesn't represent metallic colors well, let me point out that this isn't a gray scheme, but metallic silver, which is the biggest perk of this scheme. It will be dead easy to do, letting me quickly churn out an army to tabletop standard.

The first of my DIY marine chapters, the Poseidon Legion have jumped to the front of the line whenever I've considered painting some marines. I think the scheme looks great, and would work well both on the infantry (I've done one test marine in these colors) and bikes/land speeders. However, I'm a big fan of the marine armored vehicles and am not convinced that this scheme would translate well across such large canvases. Plus, as the background I've knocked together for these guys has them originating from an aquatic work, regular use of ground-based vehicles doesn't make a ton of sense.

My next DIY chapter, the Mithril Drakes, introduced in a post a year ago, have a scheme I like enough that I had basecoated a combat squad of marines in their colors. I still think it's a sharp scheme and the silver elements, as with the Silver Skulls, will make for fairly quick painting. The sea serpent motif that I planned to use for the chapter iconography would be fun as well. Please don't let the fact that this guy is more finished than the others (squad and chapter markings, boltgun in hand) sway any considerations. I figured it made more sense to reuse the picture posted before rather than rebuilding the scheme.

My final DIY chapter. There's no particular story or thought behind these guys, but I've always though marines in a deep purple would look good. Add in some tasteful gold bling and the parchment colored pauldrons to give some focal points, and I think this scheme works.

So, thoughts? Comments explaining why you like a particular scheme would be great, but I've also set up a poll to the left that you could use to quickly note your thoughts.

Thanks!

1000 Pts of Crimson Fists

2010-05-15T00:09:00.003-04:00

My bi-weekly gaming group (well bi-weekly for me, as they meet every week) will be running a friendly 1000 Pt. 40K tournament in July. I figure this will be a great opportunity to not only get in a day of gaming, but also prompt me to sit down at the painting table again. Considering that I don't want more than 2000 Pts. or so of marines when all is said and done (I've simply got too many miniature gaming interests to heavily invest time and space to one game/army), this will also give me a solid foundation on which to build the final army.

No doubt this list will be revised as time goes on, but here's what I'm thinking of for the tourney:

-Librarian - 100 pts

-Sternguard Veterans - 230
w. Power Fist, 1 Combi-Melta, Assault Cannon Razorback

-Tactical Squad - 235
w. 5 Additional Marines, Power Fist, Meltagun, Multimelta, Rhino

-Tactical Squad - 145
w. Power Weapon, Razorback

-Predator Tank - 120
w. Lascannon Sponsons

-Predator Tank - 85
w. Heavy Bolter Sponsons

-Predator Tank - 85
w. Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Dead Dogs

2010-03-20T11:26:00.006-04:00

Finally got something painted in '10! These figures, from Reaper, were going to be part of my round 5 entry in the Lead Painter League, had I been able to participate, and will serve in my Malifaux Resurrectionists force as "Canine Remains." I finished all three in about two evenings worth of work (though cleaning and base assembly had been done several weeks ago) and they were an absolute joy to paint. Something about the style of the sculpting and the generally sleek lines of the details suited my painting style very well. Let me know what you think!

Already Stumbling

2010-02-15T14:15:00.005-05:00

So it appears that my big plan for getting on some sort of painting kick has already been foiled. Despite engaging in all of the necessary preparatory steps, including braving the cold to do some priming, I'm not going to be able to even make round 1 of the Lead Painter's League. My inability to recognize conflicting plans meant I forgot that I was going to be gone the rest of this week on a trip to NYC. So that means 5 fewer painting days, which I desperately needed.

What makes this an even greater bummer is that this season of the LPL has been subjected to a new rule forbidding entrants to join in later rounds. Unlike year's past, unless you can make the first round, you can't participate. Hopefully I can use the ongoing LPL as a backdrop for my own painting, and thereby stay motivated, but we'll see how that goes.

Res on Res

2010-02-04T14:59:00.004-05:00

Played a 35 soulstone game of Malifaux last night, for my third total game and third total loss. I'm recognizing a trend here. The conflict featured Seamus (me) against McMourning. Making use of some of my newly acquired figures (notice the significant uptick in "models purchased") I fielded the following:

Seamus
Copycat Killer
Mortimer
2 Rotten Belles
Zombie Punk Samurai
3 Canine Remains

That's only a total of 28 soulstones spent, leaving me with a hefty seven to add to Seamus' cache of two. In my prior two games I've seemed to cycle through my soulstones quickly, and in batches, so having a healthy reserve available to me seemed like the best idea. Although I could have afforded another model or two with those extra points, I'm still not convinced that my plan wasn't a sound one.

I flipped an Annihilation mission while my opponent had recon. Schemes were the Resurrectionist one for me vs. "An Eye for an Eye" for him. Ultimately the game was a draw, ending after the sixth turn in a 0vp to 0vp tie. But it really wasn't much of a tie with only a wounded Belle, nearly dead Seamus, and the Copycat Killer left in my force, against a wounded Necropunk, a healthy Sebastian and Convict Gunslinger, a wounded McMourning, and a freshly summoned Flesh Construct. I realize it's only my third game, and both my opponent and most of this gaming group are veterans of synergistic games like Warmachine, but I just don't seem to be catching on to this style of miniature gaming. Fortunately I like the models and setting enough that I haven't just packed it in yet. But, of course, I am only three games in . . .

Blogging in the New Year

2010-02-01T13:34:00.008-05:00

True, we're now more than a month into 2010, but tardy is better than being a complete no-show. The last month has seen me tinkering substantially with the blog, creating yet another layout and appearance, but has also seen me more regularly playing games than I have in quite some time. As the summary in the left column shows, I've averaged about a game a week this year and have another game of Malifaux scheduled for Wednesday night.

What I haven't been doing, as usual, is painting however. I've resolved to address that failing as well, and to help spur me towards this goal I'll be participating in the Lead Adventure Forum's "Lead Painters' League". I'll let the link to the site take care of the explanation.

Since getting a minimum of five figures painted each week will be a chore, especially for me, I'm determined to plan out at least the first half of my entries, gather those figures, get them assembled and primed, and start painting asap. I know I'm not required to have a new entry for each week, but cranking some figures out is the whole point of this exercise.

So, my planned entries for the first five weeks, taking advantage of the bonus points for the themed rounds (Conan for round 1, zombies for round 5), are:

Round 1 - 5 mixed barbarians from the Chronopia Sons of Kronos and Celtos Gael lines
Round 2 - Uncharted Seas dwarf battleship, 2 cruisers, and 3 destroyers
Round 3 - 5 classic Citadel miniatures chaos thugs
Round 4 - 5 Marvel superheroes (undecided which) repainted from the Heroclix line
Round 5 - 3 Reaper undead hounds and 2 Wyrd Rotten Belles for my Malifaux Resurrectionists

Now, only the Uncharted Seas ships have even been assembled from this list, so I've got plenty of work ahead of me - starting tonight!

GenCon Pictures

2009-09-28T15:20:00.004-04:00

And before I forget, I got the handful of pictures I took at GenCon posted to my Flickr site. Mostly random snapshots of things I thought were cool enough to cause me to think about getting out my camera. In particular check out the outstanding Tzeentch chaos marines army fielded in a 40K tournament. Pictures can be found here.

Cruisers ready for priming

2009-09-28T15:01:00.007-04:00

After another session spent hunched over my desk, scribing tool and X-acto blade in hand, the last of my Iron Dwarf cruiser squadron has had its panel lines sharpened. All that remains is the battleship which, due to its size, alone will likely take me as long as the entire cruiser squadron. Once that's finished, barring a quick once over of the frigates (which will remain unmodified), I need only wash off the newly accumulated resin dust, affix flagstaffs (which will require some putty work to smooth the join), and prime the fleet. Unfortunately the rapid onset of fall and some unseasonable cold, rainy weather means that priming will have to wait a few days. With any luck I'll soon have posted pictures of the ships just prior to going under the brush.

In other dwarf news, could this signal the return of the Squats? I definitely hope so. I've missed the little guys ever since I used to kick them around the field in 2nd edition 40K and would love for my small coven of chaos squats to have some stunties to face off against. :)

In Drydock

2009-09-24T21:32:00.006-04:00

No pictures tonight, simply as they'd be none too exciting. I spent my time rescribing the panel lines on 1.5 of my Uncharted Seas Iron Dwarf cruisers. While most of the panels are defined by prominent dividing lines, a number are sufficiently shallow that I'm afraid even primer will obscure them. I'm not sure if they were an afterthought on the part of the designer, but a fair amount of tedious work is required before they'll "pop".

I've also drilled holes in the cruisers and the battleship to accommodate flagpoles. I wanted to do something to make the figures distinct from the out of the box standard - considered adding bases with sculpted waves, ship's boats on davits, or air vents, all of which one inspiring poster to the Spartan Games forum did - but also wanted to get some paint on these guys so they could join the growing flotilla of painted ships appearing within my gaming group. So banners alone will likely be the only addition. I opted not to add flagstaffs to my frigates simply because I couldn't find a location on them I liked. Instead they'll be painted with distinguishing marking atop their turrets - better for the Iron Dwarf airships to identify them by!

Lillith

2009-09-22T22:46:00.006-04:00

So this was my competition entry for the GenCon 09 painting competition. I originally purchased her from Wyrd games when they were still producing quirky, non-game specific figures. With the release of Malifaux though, Lillith is now one of the Masters of the Neverborn faction. I'm not sure if she'll end up being a gaming figure for me, as I'm currently working on assembling a Resurrectionist crew for Malifaux, but undoubtedly the siren song of yet another cool game will ensure that a single faction won't be enough for me. sigh :)

GenCon '10 - 330 Days and Counting

2009-09-22T22:25:00.003-04:00

So GenCon '09 has come and gone and, like just about every year, I had a great time. Much money was spent, a ton of games were demoed and played, and I walked away with several new games that will likely be taking over my painting table and/or have already started taking over my gaming nights - Uncharted Seas, Malifaux, and Memoir '44. What I didn't walk away with was a place in the GenCon painting competition. I've come to expect this lately as the competition level posed by the elite painters in the hobby are simply too much to compete with. Unlike some, I'm not opposed to the participation of "professional" painters as I recognize it fuels my ambition to get better. Now if only I could find the time to match my level of ambition.

I did however manage a respectable 4th overall placing in the Reaper speed painting competition. Considering the competition consisted of 5 round of 15 participants each, I was thrilled to even qualify for the final round, much less place. And the brief interaction I had with Marike Reimer, the overall winner of the competition and perhaps my current favorite professional painter, made it all the more memorable.

I'll get the handful of other GenCon pictures I took, as well as some shots of my painting competition entry, loaded shortly. But, for now, I'll leave you with a shot of this year's loot pile:

GenCon!

2009-08-11T12:03:00.003-04:00

With only 6 hours of work left, tomorrow's departure for my annual gaming retreat is looming large enough that concentrating on finishing this quarterly report is becoming increasingly difficult. But finish it I must in order to depart, stress-free, for 4 days of self-indulgent gaming.

It's been a bit since my last post, but in that time I have been busy. Besides mini-vacations and a generally hectic summer, I've gotten my first real game of Warhammer in (orcs vs. orcs in which my greenskins walked away triumphant) and actually done some painting! In fact, by the time I leave for GenCon tomorrow, I should have my first completed figure of the year to represent in the tally over in the right column. It's a Wyrd figure, but because I'm entering it in the painting competition, I'm going to hold off posting the completed pictures until after I get back.

Of course the figure isn't finished yet and I leave tomorrow morning, but having to pull an all-night painting session to complete a GenCon painting competition entry is pretty much par for the course for me. With any luck, I'll finish most of her base on my lunch break, leaving a bit less for me to accomplish in my marathon tonight.

Ulthuan Invaders

2009-06-29T15:04:00.005-04:00

Well I truly hope that I end up enjoying Warhammer Fantasy, because eBay splurges have seen my nascent High Elf army multiply in size quickly. A medium size unit of classic Swordmasters, another bolt thrower, a mounted hero, a huge number of archers, and another handful of spearmen are all on their way to join my growing army. I don't think I'm going to bother updating my 2009 pledge totals until all of these new acquisitions arrive. Hopefully the massive, and likely insurmountable, negative total that results will not cause me to fall into a stupor, unable to actually get anything painted this year.

Fortunately, the GW store at which I won with my Grey Knight terminator is having another painting competition with an August 1st deadline. This gives me plenty of working time and I intend to enter all three categories - single, unit, and large model. Provided they arrive from Australia reasonably soon, I'm intending to enter at least a minimum sized unit of Swordmasters for the unit category. I'm as of yet unsure about single figure, though it might very well be one of my High Elf unit champions. As for large model, I'd like to enter the Imperial Guard valkyrie that I had begun work on last month.

Of course, GenCon falls hot on the heels of the GW competition and I'm adamant that I will finally have at least one entry for this year's painting competition. Despite my intention to do so, I've failed to enter anything for the last 2 or 3 years. Since I've had luck in the past, and GenCon features some of the most extravagant prize support of any painting competition I have seen, this is one opportunity I don't want to miss.

Why We Game

2009-06-17T20:52:00.003-04:00

Despite lofty painting goals, I haven't more than looked at my painting desk over the last four months. But a series of recent events have conspired to awaken the gaming/painting bug. First, the Grey Knight Terminator I painted a few years ago (and sadly the last figure I've actually finished), was entered in a local Games Workshop store painting competition on a lark, and took first place. Apparently, one of the figures I managed to squeak past for the win was painted by a Chicago Bronze Demon winner. The sort of affirmation that comes with such a win is exactly what I needed to want to sit back down at the painting desk.

Of course, I need a target for these painting urges. Fortunately, a friend has convinced me to finally give Warhammer a try again (perhaps that's unfortunately). I've made a few false starts with the game, but it never grabbed me the way 40K did. I'm still not sure that the game is exactly my cup of tea, so I was adamant that I at least ensure that I'll enjoy the painting and modeling aspect of the game. This requires an army that I'm particularly attracted to. And for me, this means an army that was current when I was first exposed to Warhammer - i.e. 4th edition era armies. Don't get me wrong, I think many, if not most, of the current Warhammer figures are technically outstanding sculpts. But, a quality figure will never surpass one that elicits a nostalgic response in me. The old all metal Skaven armies, Imperial Dwarves, or pre-King Arthur Bretonnians all fall within that latter category. But none were more important to my early exposure to miniatures gaming than the Jes Goodwin High Elves - and yes this includes the static posed plastic archers and spearmen from the 4th edition boxed set.

While I've had Teclis and Tyrion lying around unpainted for the last decade, I've had to work on finding them a supporting force. This has meant daily visits to eBay, Bartertown, and similar sites, scrounging for figures from this era. So far I've been able to pick up 10 of each of the aforementioned archers and spearmen, as well as a trio of champions, a pair of both musicians and standard bearers, a bolt thrower, and a hero on pegasus. I realize that the latter model is no longer a viable option in the High Elf book (why I have no idea) but I'm sure my opponent will happily let me jury-rig something just to get such a cool model on the table.

So all this renewed inspiration to game has seen me reflecting on my neglected hobby. A post on a recently discovered blog that I like a great deal provided an appropriate framework for this reflection - Why do we (I) game?

The reality, is that I don't really game. It's been seven years since I was actively involved in my hobby. At that point I had just finished the only army that I had ever painted to completion, a 3rd Ed Dark Angels Ravenwing army assembled for the Chicago 40K Grand Tournament (though this army was sold mere months later to help fund my departure for law school). Only a short time before that my time as a member of the demo and FAQ teams for Warzone and Chronopia had wrapped up with the demise of their parent company, Target Games. But during their several years of thriving existence (WZ 2nd Ed. outselling Warhammer Fantasy in the US) my annual treks to GenCon included working the Target booth and I was an active presence in the Detroit area hobby shops. At no other point have I been more intimately involved with the hobby I love.

No doubt, memories of these times are a primary contributor to my desire to pick up gaming seriously again. But in the better than seven years that my figures have been languishing in boxes, the hobby has very much changed, both for me specifically and in general. Like all aging gamers, my gaming group has taken on adult responsibilities and new hobbies and either too busy or no longer sufficiently interested to make the investment of time that miniatures gaming requires. The games and figures are very different as well, with both now benefiting from a high level of polish and professionalism. In terms of miniatures, I think there is little doubt that Rackham and their Confrontation line is responsible for raising that bar. Since, between boutique miniatures producers (Hasslefree, Freebooter, Spyglass, etc.) and garage-sized gaming manufacturers (Corvus Belli, Asmodee, Dark Age), the technical skill of the average 28mm sculpt has increased dramatically, dragging larger manufacturers like Reaper and GW with them. While this has been a boon for the high-caliber painter, it's also lead to the younger, newer members of our hobby snorting derisively at some of the classic figures I hold dear. A decade ago I would have thought it ridiculous that anybody would consider my newly acquired Armorcast Warhound titan a clunker. But Forgeworld has done just that.

But it's not just older models that legions of current forum posters and bloggers smirk at, but the entire concept of the gaming that I find most familiar. 40K and Warhammer have always had their tournament scenes. But recent editions, with their increasingly strict list of available armies, has really encouraged this gaming mindset, regardless of context of the game - either an actual tournament or just "friendly". Online discussion focuses primarily on army construction, and it is generally understood that every army list has entries that are stinkers and are never touched. Just as with collectible card gaming, cookie-cutter army construction is adopted once the effectiveness of the Ork Nob biker, Thunder Hammer Terminator, or Bretonnian air force builds are realized. Gone are the wacky army lists of the 2nd Ed 40K I knew so well (Genestealer Cult? Chaos World?). Even 3rd Ed, which I considered a plague at the time due to its radical changes to 40K mechanics, was a wealth of opportunity for gamers like myself. But gone are Kroot Mercenaries, the Lost and the Damned, Feral Orks, Eldar craftworlds, myriad special rules for all of the founding loyalist and chaos Marine chapters, Catachan Ork Hunters, the Vehicle Design Rules, and all of the other creativity-fostering aspects of gaming at the time.

Now this isn't meant to be the grognard complaint so often seen and heard. I genuinely like 5th Ed 40K and am eager to try out 7th Ed Warhammer Fantasy. But the point of this post was to reflect on why I game/am trying to get back into gaming. The truth is, I'm not entirely sure at this point. However I'm eager to dive back into the hobby and look forward to relating my experiences as I go. Stay tuned!

In the red

2009-01-29T20:04:00.003-05:00

So I'm not doing myself any favors regarding my 2009 pledge. Yesterday a new figure arrived, Cool Mini or Not's limited edition "Army Brat". The figure is a Werner Klocke sculpt, and, typical of some of his best work, the figure is more than a bit cheesecake. But I really liked Klocke's work, and always a sucker for artificial scarcity, the limited edition aspect made it a must buy for me.

Unfortunately, while I was hoping for the figure to be in the 28mm scale of the Reaper models that he sculpts, it is instead in the much larger 30-32mm scale of Klocke's boutique company, Freebooter Miniatures - far too out of scale with most of my figures for her to even qualify as some sort of Amazon. So, she'll probably just end up being a display model for me, provided my respect for her "limited edition" status doesn't see me keeping her locked away inside her blister packaging. :p

I still have a space marine tactical demi-squad well under way on my painting desk and with any luck I'll be in the black by the end of the weekend (I know, I know, I said that about last week too).

Hammer Time!

2009-01-21T22:59:00.004-05:00

The left arm of the Ironclad Dreadnought is done, I think. Based on some CAD artwork that can be found around the net of the Ironclad's seismic hammer, I've gone for a pneumatic type hammer. Rather than the cluster of small heads shown in that concept work, I've gone for a single hydraulic ram.

I've tried to make the ram look well worn, as if it's been smashing vehicles apart of centuries. We'll see how this looks with some paint on it.

As the body of the Ironclad is about to be painted, the seismic hammer arm is being modeled by another AOBR dread.

The 2009 Pledge

2009-01-21T17:05:00.003-05:00

Inspired by pacts on miniature hobby sites like The Miniatures Page and The Lead Adventure Forum, I've decided to create a painting pledge for myself for the year. The idea is to begin tackling the mountain of unpainted lead (and plastic) all of us miniature gamers have. For each completed figure, the painter gets a point. For each purchased figure, the painter loses a point. The idea is to end the year with a positive score, with self-shaming to serve as the motivator to paint and the deterrent to purchase.

I've also included points for unpainted figures sold, as my pledge isn't solely to encourage painting, but to start trimming my collection down to only those things that I value enough to spend time on painting. Pre-painted figures (i.e. AT-43) purchased will not count as negatives, but any work I spend on re-painting them will not count as positive points either.

Although a squad of Heavy Gear figures arrived after the start of the new year, I'm going to choose not to include them as I actually ordered them before the holidays. I'm still starting in the negative however, as I placed an order for a pair of Werner Klocke's Freebooter figures last week (btw, service from Freebooter is great, with the package arriving from Germany in half the time I received an order from the Warstore, which itself is always prompt).

With any luck I'll climb back into the positives by the end of this weekend with a demi-squad of space marines finished. Let the shaming begin!

Ironclad

2009-01-17T00:28:00.003-05:00

With the month halfway gone and the 500 pt painting competition rapidly approaching, I've spent the past several nights clipping sprues, trimming off mold lines, and assembling figures. While most of the figures have been straightforward builds, I decided I wanted an Ironclad Dreadnought in the force. With a pair of the great new Assault on Black Reach Dreadnoughts at my disposal, I got to work.

This is what the front of the Dread looks like out of the box:

After a bit of trimming and filing, I had cleaned the detail down to a smooth base:

Jumping forward a few steps, I present the finished body of the Ironclad Dreadnought. The reinforced plates on the sarcophagus were trimmed off the armor bits from the Imperial Guard Hellhound. The plates on either side of the torso are made of thick plasticard, trimmed to fit, and the rivets were made by drilling small holes and placing short bits of brass rod in them. A hunter killer missile launcher and a fragmentation launcher round out the body.

The next update will hopefully show a finished seismic hammer on the left arm and a hurricane bolter right arm. The latter bit is just waiting on my order from the Warstore to arrive . . . any day now. :)

And I'm back

2009-01-13T10:41:00.004-05:00

Disappearing for months on end seems to be endemic to the blogging society, so I won't apologize for being gone so long. But after finishing school, spending a few months in DC, and starting a new job, I've finally settled back down somewhat and have picked my hobby back up again. I have a slew of projects awaiting me, particularly after splurging at GenCon 08, and this blog will continue to feature my progress on them.

Gone, however, will be the random and unrelated ramblings. I'm working on at least one other web presence which will be the home of these other interests and this page will be the home solely of my modeling and gaming projects.

The first project, once again, is my space marines. After not even making a start with the color scheme presented below, a 500 pt painting competition at my local GW store has prompted me to action once again. And, once again, I have a new scheme that has caught my interest. It should allow me to paint them relatively quickly and yet still look sharp on the table.

The working title for the chapter is the "Mithril Drakes" and the logo will be, obviously, a stylized dragon of some sort. For the 500 pt competition, I will be painting up a 5 man tactical squad, a 5 man sniper scout squad, a basic commander, and an ironclad dreadnought. Expect to see pics of these pieces shortly.

The News Spreads

2008-03-05T00:15:00.003-05:00

The profound impact that Gary and his game have had on our culture has become evident just by recognizing the variety of those commenting on his passing, from the serious - NPR's "All Things Considered - to the much less so - lolcats.

Another empty chair at the table

2008-03-04T19:31:00.003-05:00

Gaming boards around the net have been abuzz with the news - Gary Gygax, co-creator of the D&D game, has passed away. Much of the talk has revolved around the personal interactions people had with Gary. The times they shared a drink with him at a gaming convention, the games they played around his Lake Geneva kitchen table during the game's formative stages, etc. I'm unfortunately unable to contribute to these discussions. Though I have undoubtedly walked the same halls as he did during the dozen or so years I've been attending GenCon, I never once met the man. However, as a quick scan of the posts on this blog will indicate, I was just as deeply affected by the man's work. My oldest and strongest friendships extend back in time to a kitchen table, a pile of books, a collection of oddly shaped dice, and a collective curiosity and imagination that was simply not sated by the stories told by others. While most of these friendships have moved away from gaming years ago, there is no denying their origins.

Despite the fact that the role-playing game label has been increasingly usurped by the World of Warcrafts and Final Fantasies - games that are in fact most easily characterized by their singular focus on combat and distinct lack of player-contributed storytelling - there is little question as to the importance of Gary's contributions and I and legions of others would be much poorer without him.

Never Satisfied

2008-03-02T23:39:00.007-05:00

So, after reviewing my chapter's color scheme the other day, I realized that I wasn't exactly happy with the vet sergeant's scheme and felt that, across all the variations, the scheme didn't work all that well. So, with some minor tweaks, I present to you the current, and hopefully final, scheme for my budding marine army:

Basic Marine & Sergeant

Veteran Marine & Veteran Sergeant

I have been toying with using these guys as a Blood Angels successor chapter. If I do so, I will obviously need to have a Death Company. For that, I am thinking of using the following scheme. The idea is that, after the marine succumbs to the Black Rage, his armor is painted black and stripped of all markings, as he is no longer brethren to his former squadmates. The only indicator of his prior life is the color of his helmet, which designates his one-time status within the chapter. Overtop of this newly blackened armor is draped a red robe that symbolizes the blood lust that now drives him. Yeah, I know, the fluff is a little bit over the top here, but hey, what is 40K if not cheesy fiction?

Finally, the newest version of the Bolter and Chainsword's Space Marine Painter has a bunch of cool new wargear and unit marking options, many of which you can see on the preceding illustrations. Toying around with those, I present a veteran sergeant assigned to assault squad 7 of the second company and a marine officer, perhaps a Lieutenant (back in the days of Rogue Trader, space marine companies had a hierarchy of commanding officers rather than the single company captain of today):

It's like everything I've always wanted

2008-02-26T09:42:00.002-05:00

So, I am currently something of a WoW addict. I still occasionally maintain a Second Life, have dabbled with Eve, and still have characters languishing in unplayed Guild Wars and City of Heroes/Villains hell. And, I am an adult who still gets giddy when he walks down the Lego aisle of a store. Thus, this news has me nearly bursting with nerdy excitement.

Happy Happy, Toys Toys!

2008-02-26T00:35:00.004-05:00

So after a thorough spanking last Tuesday, in which the Predator and Razorback that I had spent so much time assembling were rendered useless in turn 1 - the guy I was playing was a veteran munchkin who, after hearing I was a marine player several years out of practice managed to fit a multitude of plasma guns and missile launchers, not to mention a Leman Russ tank, in his 500 point force - I was back up to Old Guard on Saturday. It was a sad day, as, though our old gaming group was finally assembled again to push figures around the tables of out newly renovated favorite hobby shop, we found out that one of the members of that group just got a job that is going to require him to be gone for months at a time - starting this Wednesday. To make things more depressing for me, is the fact that his first assignment won't end until after I have left the state for my new job. Hopefully we'll make regular attempts to cross paths at Origins and GenCon and the like in the future though.

In happier news, another of my friends brought along his AT-43 stuff and I really got a chance to experience the game. After blundering my way through my initial game making use of another friend's Therians, I came back with a vengeance in the second game chasing some Karmans off the table. The game is a quick and bloodthirsty affair, and my win in the second game was still nerve-wrackingly close. It was a lot of fun though, and after eyeing the figures on the wall for some time now, I walked away with the rulebook, the Red Blok army book, and these two little beauties.

This first one is actually the walker for a pair of named heroes, but fortunately it also has stats for use as a standard vehicle, the Hetman. Though Red Blok play dramatically differently than the Therians, with most weapons being terribly inaccurate and the army as a whole relying on massed, short range firepower, the Weird War II, retro sci-fi look of these walkers, which first drew me to them when I had no interest in AT-43, was too much to pass up.

This second pic is of the Hetman along with my second purchase, a Nakovalny. This is a lighter walker, the chassis of which is used for four differently armed variants. This particular one is an anti-infantry specialist, armed with a pair of light gauss machine guns. Because the same chassis is used repeatedly, the weapons plug into holes in the sides, which both make them poseable and prone to breakage, as you can see in the picture. It's not much of a concern however, as I am planning to mostly disassemble both before gluing them solid and repainting them.

These last two pictures are of my newest toys, found waiting for me on my mailbox when I got home today. For the game Heavy Gear, these packages contain a general purpose squad, two stripped-down Jagers, and a pair of Sidewinders for the Allied Southern Territories faction. When mixed together, this assortment of figures will make for two solid, if basic, general purpose units. I had been intending on waiting to expand my Heavy Gear collection, as I have an entire unassembled Peace River force that I acquired at the last GenCon, but a request by the owner of Old Guard to run a Heavy Gear demo or two for the store prompted me to action. Of course, Peace River, with their highly trained soldiers and cutting edge equipment, typically only get a single general purpose squad for every two of the southern equivalents, but the prospect of learning the game knowing that you are going to be outnumbered two to one might just make the game that much more exciting for all the budding Heavy Gear gamers involved.

One Night's Work

2008-02-18T23:43:00.003-05:00

Ugh, I am way out of practice assembling models. Glued fingers, frustrated curses, etc. But here's my night's work, a Predator light tank and a Razorback APC. I was really debating leaving them most of the way unassembled so that I could later paint the interior, but realized that such plans were so far down the road that I would eventually get frustrated by the models in a loose state. I did hold off on filling the Predator's hatches however so that I could swap out things depending on what the game called for. I should have done the same thing for the Razorback, but I guess I will just have to make do with it being permanently armed with twin-linked lascannons and a storm bolter. Hopefully they perform well enough tomorrow to warrant the marathon assembly session.

And for the final part

2008-02-18T18:54:00.003-05:00

And here's the paint scheme for my marines in Terminator Armor. The B&C painter application isn't as complete for terminator armored marines as of yet, so the red helmet stripe and squad/company numbers that will be going on his knees are not present. Just picture them the same way they appear on the veteran marine in the previous post. I just wish there was a vehicle painter program as well. I just picked up a Razorback to go along with my Predator, and would love to test out how this scheme could work on them.

Speaking of the aforementioned vehicles, assembling them will be my task tonight . . . for I game tomorrow! It's been a long time since I've last moved around figures of my own, and I cannot wait.

Well, actually,

2008-02-18T16:18:00.005-05:00

So the hint I posted yesterday was a false start. I rather liked the color scheme, felt it was rather powerful looking, and was all gung ho to start painting some marines up like that. However, after talking to Julie, she gave me a big thumbs up on another scheme that I had been tinkering with, using the rather overused red/black combination. Still, I echo her belief that these make for some intimidating marines and I think this is the scheme I am going to go with. Using the awesome Bolter and Chainsword marine painter, I present you the four main schemes of my chapter:

Trooper & Sergeant

Veteran & Veteran Sergeant

Hint hint

2008-02-18T01:27:00.002-05:00

Seriously, I am alive!

2007-10-22T23:34:00.000-04:00

Hmm, it’s beginning to look as though a multiple month gap is becoming the normal amount of spacing between a flurry of postings. I promised myself I wouldn’t become that kind of blogger but it appears I failed. I’ve had good excuses though, honestly. The new school semester started, and though I’m taking fewer classes than previously, I’m also now working a steady number of hours per week. The classes that I am taking are also tending to require a greater amount of out of class time than before as well. In particular, I am following the Ph.D. requirements for my information policy class, which thus tasks me with creating comprehensive reading notes on assignments that are typically better than 100 pages a week. Compared to law school that seems like cake, but I guess I’m just no longer in that sort of academic shape.

Speaking of being in shape, another recent timesoak for me has been running. A friend convinced me to join a relay team for the Detroit marathon, and though I was running the shortest leg, my out of shape ass required a fair amount of whipping just to be able to accomplish that. The marathon was this past Sunday though and I am happy to say that our team did rather well – 63 out of better than 170 teams in our category. Go Hi-Five Trotters! It was a great, if painful, experience and I fully intend on making running a regular part of my routine. Next year, the solo half marathon.

Tack on my Saturday obligation to Michigan State football, an occasional foray into the digital realms of WOW and Guild Wars, and frequent visits to the Arena, the favored watering hole of a few of us, and it’s obvious to see where my time has gone.

But enough excuses about why I haven’t posted and back to what this blog was supposed to be about. Unfortunately the Totanem figure shown in my last post came no closer to completion than the application of a first base coat. Coated in nothing but a single layer of dark gray paint is how he has sat on my dresser since early August. However recent events have gotten me fired up to paint again. GenCon was a hugely successful event, even despite having nothing to enter into the painting contest. I picked up a ton more Heavy Gear stuff to flesh out my Peace River force. Impact miniatures had a deal I couldn’t refuse and I walked out with a full Valkyrie fantasy football team. While I immediately suffered buyer’s remorse, I realized it wasn’t a wasted purchase as I didn’t have a Blood Bowl team of any kind beyond the plastic humans and orcs that come with the game. I also picked up a variety of one offs just to paint – a Reaper fig, some cool trenchcoat clad gal from Rezolution, a handful of figures from Wyrd, and the beginnings of a fleet from Ninja Magic. This last purchase has me especially excited as my buddy from down under demoed Full Thrust and I found myself a particular fan of the rules. They’ll definitely be finding a home on my shelf next to Silent Death. I also got to try out the great Ironclad-era naval rules produced by Majestic 12 in a demo run by an old friend who authored the rules. Though I am unsure if that’s a genre I want to get into, the rules gave me tons of great ideas.

Speaking of ideas, I have three playing around in my head that I have great incentive to actually develop. The first is a set of 15mm mass combat rules that has existed as a seed in my head for a few years now. Talking to my GenCon buddies gave me a lot of inspiring concepts as well as a serious kick in the pants to get something produced. In fact, I believe I am reaching the deadline by which severe bodily harm was threatened if I hadn’t sent off early drafts for them to review. The other two products are a bit hush hush right now – yes, I am a dork like that – because both are things that I am hoping to turn into production quality projects. One, which I am working on with my good friend LordFishbane, I am particularly excited about.

But what about painting I hear you say. Have I resorted to nothing but buying miniatures and tinkering around with rules systems? Hell no! My Heavy Gear figures are grumbling to be assembled, my Spinespur thugs are begging for paint before their manufacturer folds, and, in a shocking turn of events, the release of Games Workshop’s Apocalypse rulebook has me so excited for 40K again that I’ve actually purchased a few new space marines and have dug through the refuse of my collection to see what I can scrounge together. Yes ladies and gentleman, after a 6 year hiatus, I am returning to my first miniatures game – though, to be exact, the game has gone through so many revisions since that point that it’s barely recognizable as the same game. It is on 40K that most of my initial painting efforts are going to be focused. Though I was originally planning on doing space marines from the Dark Angels chapter – my first army and still my favorite marines despite GW’s insistence that they now all parade around in silly robes over their powered armor – I have chosen to create my own chapter based upon an awesome paint scheme provided by a dear friend of mine. Thus the Wolfhounds are born and, as I have no desire to labor for hours on end on each individual marine, they will be the brave test subjects for my first forays into the “dipping” method of painting. I’ve seen a lot of really great results from this method and I think the intended color scheme will work well. Of course my character models, of which I plan to have many, will receive this treatment only on their armor (to maintain uniformity of appearance), and even that will subsequently receive substantial brush touchup.

So that’s it fair readers. Within days I hope to have pictures of my Wolfhound test model posted, followed up by progress shots of my army assembly. As I want to get these guys done quickly, I plan on working in large batches, probably assembling the entirety of the force in one go, and then painting to completion a full squad at a time. When all of that is finally finished, my attention will undoubtedly shift to Heavy Gear as I need to get my Peace River force completed before I can justify buying a Southern army for them to face off against. So, wish me luck and feel free to prod me along if you feel that I’m being less than productive.

Over and out.

2 1/2 Weeks and Counting

2007-07-26T00:13:00.000-04:00

While I've always been guilty of procrastinating on my GenCon painting competition entries, I think I'm being particularly bad this year. After planning out a number of entries aimed at targeting those categories that seem to receive the least attention - unit, large model and vehicle - I find myself with enough time to only work on an entry for the most competitive of categories - single figure. The lucky model is a Totanem hero from Crocodile Games' Wargods of Aegyptus range. I painted one a little while ago, also to be a GenCon entry, and enjoyed the process so much I figured I'd try my hand at another one. This time around I think I'm going to try for a light brown, sandstone type color, but we'll so how that goes as the paint goes on. Hopefully by tomorrow night I'll have some basecoat pictures up (properly lighted and with a backdrop of course), as a trip to Nashville this weekend means no painting will be getting done.

Elves

2007-07-16T23:17:00.000-04:00

To Columbus and Back

2007-07-09T10:11:00.000-04:00

So Saturday was a whirlwind trip to Columbus and back to drop in on the Origins gaming convention. A number of my friends - Tom, Jeff, Mark - were already there, having taken the time off to attend all four days of the con, but my work schedule and the amount of time I'll be taking in late July and through August didn't afford me the same option. So instead I was up at the crack of 4:30 and didn't get back to AA until 12:30. All in all it made for a long day, but it was a great time. As usual, the miniatures events were well presented (as you can see in the pics below), I got my hands on a copy of the 2nd Ed. Supersystem rules and got to chew the fat with the creator, and as a group we all bought into a new horror-themed skirmish game - Spinespur. Too be more accurate, the rest of the group bought into it, I just picked up the book with the hopes of using my existing figure collection to play it.

Such a Loser

2007-06-26T00:03:00.000-04:00

Four months. A third of a year. And no posts. Such a loser. Nothing like the depression and heartbreak of an ended relationship, the ensuing personal introspection, and the impending summer convention season to get me back into the swing of things though. As I did last summer, I intend to use my blog as a personal motivator towards getting some painting done. Of course, my Ann Arbor apartment doesn't have nearly the same facilities for my preferred painting setup, so we'll see how that goes.

I can't much start writing a painting blog without determining what I am going to paint, can I? No ma'am. Seeing as how I've recently piled up most of my figures for sale on eBay, keeping only a handful of figures that I either have gaming plans for or simply wanted to paint, my options this year were far more restricted. Additionally, as my target painting competition is the professional painter-dominated GenCon competition, I also knew that I had to pick entries that were in less popular categories. Afterall, at this point painting a figure for entry into the single figure category might as well be just painting that figure to sit on your shelf. Thus, the unit/squad and machines of war categories are where I'm probably going to target, with a large figure or two hopefully fit in there.

In something of a blend of these two categories, though definitely a squad entry, I will be painting up a squad of Dream Pod 9's Peace River heavy gears. I have always loved the Heavy Gear universe and the imagery of its figures, and the new Heavy Gear Blitz rules really grabbed ahold of me at last year's GenCon - which, incidentally, is where I picked this squad up. Yeah, I don't paint very fast, or very often. As I intend on playing Blitz in the future (one of the few minis games I am keeping) I'll also get a functional set of painted miniatures out of it. For now, these models are nothing but loose pieces of unassembled metal. Hopefully by the weekend I'll have assembled, and maybe even primed, pictures. In the meantime, if I happen to come across any other ideas for competition entries, I'll be sure to throw them up, for "someone" to give feedback on.

Excuses, excuses

2007-02-07T00:44:00.000-05:00

This will be a pathetic blog entry, existing more to maintain my bond with the blog than to actually post anything substantive. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time or desire to sit down and write lately. Sure, I've had the ideas, just not the gumption. Between 17 credit hours this semester, two part-time jobs that eat up 26 hours of my free time, and my involvement with the University's Open Courseware project, I've been rendered a zombie in my downtime. Even mightly Muddflek has been neglected as my World of Warcraft icon goes unclicked. In fact, the account, and therefore the existence of my favorite orc warrior, will be terminated sometime in the next week. I should probably feel a bit sad, but I'm really just too tired.

Ah, so that's why they can't win a bowl game

2007-01-08T14:34:00.000-05:00

Watching Michigan end each of their recent seasons, regardless of how stellar they might have been, with a loss to bitter rival Ohio State and then whoever they are playing in whatever bowl game they're invited to has been something of a guily pleasure of late (though I admit that Julie's influence and my enrollment at the school has seen me occasionally rooting for the Skunkrats). Of course, as a Spartan, I can only dream of the day when my team only loses two games in a season, regardless of the games - provided neither are to Michigan. Instead, I find myself voicing the million "If only's" that every Stater does. If only Henne didn't have Braylon Edwards to lob passes to in 2004. If only the rain had continued against Notre Dame. These wishful excuses are part and parcel of wearing the green, and faithfully prompt snorts of derision from every Wolverine, Walmart or otherwise.

So, imagine my glee when I opened today's edition of the University rag to find a letter to the editor by a supportive alumni pointing out what we have all apparently missed. You see, this alumni claims, it's all a matter of statistics. The poor Wolverines have the odds stacked against them apparently, and this fact is manifested in two glaring examples - turf and distance.

As this astute alum notes, only two teams that play on a home field comprised of something other than natural grass have won the national championship in recent years. Power programs such as USC, Notre Dame, Ohio State (and may I add Michigan State) all play on natural grass. As the Big House doesn't contain natural grass, we obviously can't blame the Wolverines for losing to a team whose stadium does. Or something. What our friendly scholar fails to recognize however is a simple rule taught to every high school statistics student - a trend in raw stats is indicative of nothing more than coincidence. All of the programs he mentions are powerhouses packed with tradition regardless of the kind of field they play on. Until I see some research revealing that playing on artificial grass deteriorates a cornerback's speed such that they are left in the dust by USC wide receivers, Michigan fans might want to come up with another excuse.

The other reason given for why Michigan faced an impossible battle in a bowl game was the distance to the location. This is a point I can appreciate, but really only in the regular season. When Michigan State opens their season in Berkley, they won't have spent the previous week sightseeing. Teams forced to travel to Hawaii for the regular season have it even worse. But during the post-season, when most teams arrive to the bowl city early enough to transform their luxury hotel rooms into parodies of their dorm rooms, this just isn't an excuse. Ample opportunity is given to acclimate to the shift in time zone and climate. But by all means Michigan, please stay closer to home during the holidays. The Motor City Bowl and spanking new International Bowl would love to have you as a fixture each year and the Spartans would be more than happy holidaying in Pasadena.

New Year, New Resolutions

2007-01-06T23:50:00.000-05:00

I know you're supposed to make your New Year's resolutions early enough that you can have stated them and begun ignoring them by January 2nd, but after a splendid few days in Pittsburgh seeing the lovely and talented Julie and the early return to school (seriously, what university starts on the 4th?) I never quite got around to it. So I'll do it now. Now, as someone who once questioned the wisdom of 16 year old girls who laid out their lives in excruciating details on the web, I can understand that you, my non-existant readers, would be curious as to why I'd post this, or why you should care. The reality is that you probably shouldn't, but in compiling this list I've been forced to really consider what issues are pressing and, by putting it out here, I'll hopefully add some tangibility to the obligation. So, my New Year's resolutions are:

1. See Julie lots more. I'm not sure the importance of this need can be properly described but I need to work on ensuring that minor obstacles don't derail us seeing each with increasing regularity. The few days I was in Pittsburgh really reinforced how great a person she is and how much I enjoy the thought of spending the rest of my life with her. I'm truly a luck man.

2. Find a rocking internship. My post-law school job search made crystal clear my error in not seeking out practical experience before graduation. Employers are simply not willing to hire somebody based solely on their academic merits, regardless of the caliber of those merits. As I'll be finishing school just four months after my summer internship ends, finding one that opens potential career paths is another critical facet.

3. Rediscover my creativity. Somewhere along the way during the past six years I seem to have lost it. It could have occurred while slaving away in law school, during the frustrating year that I loaded semi trucks while looking for a job, or even earlier when my friends were displaced by a prima donna and her self-absorbed actor friends, but I'm not sure where it is anymore. Gone is the drive to sit down and write, replaced instead by the drive straight to the couch. And this at a time when Time declares "us" to be the person of the year due to "our" redoubled creative efforts facilitated by the accessability of new technologies of production and distribution.

Those would be the big three that have the potential of causing the greatest sea change in my current condition, though I do have the requisite number of typical goals - get back to the gym at least 3 days a week, drop another 2o lbs., get Muddflek to level 60, etc. Ok, maybe that last one isn't exactly typical outside of the geekosphere, but I think you get the idea.

Posner in SL . . .

2006-12-12T21:15:00.000-05:00

'nuff said (provided you're something of a law dork).

Once again

2006-12-05T16:09:00.000-05:00

I should be writing a paper. But this semester has done a pretty darn adequate job of sapping me of any creative juices. Note to self and others, don't ever enroll in a program that prides itself on being practically-oriented. That just means lots of group projects with little objective benchmarks for comparing students.

I was thinking about the coaching change over at MSU and the long causal tail that one firing fosters. Coaching must be one of the most incestuous professions there is. Dantonio coached under Tressel at Youngstown State and at Ohio State when both teams made their championship runs. Between the two he spent some time under Nick Saban at Michigan State. He now returns to State as head coach, leaving his head coaching job at Cincinnati. Now, at least once each season, he'll be standing across the field from his old mentor. And Dantonio's linebackers coach? Tressel's nephew.

Meanwhile, Brian Kelly, supposedly President Simon's first choice for State, is leaving Central Michigan - a team he took from the gutter to the MAC championship in three years - for Dantonio's old job. His first task as the Bearcats' leader? Helping prepare them for their bowl game against Western Michigan - the Chippewas' most hated rival.

What Kind of Geek Am I

2006-11-21T10:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks to John Kovalic's Dork Tidings, a fun little quiz.

You scored as Storyteller. The Storyteller is in it for the plot: the sense of mystery and the fun of participating in a narrative that has the satisfying arc of a good book or movie. He enjoys interacting with well-defined NPCs, even preferring antagonists who have genuine motivations and personality to mere monsters. To the Storyteller, the greatest reward of the game is participating in a compelling story with interesting and unpredictable plot threads, in which his actions and those of his fellow characters determine the resolution.

With apologies to Robin Laws.

Storyteller

90%

Character Player

70%

Casual Gamer

55%

Weekend Warrior

50%

Tactician

45%

Power Gamer

40%

Specialist

10%

What RPG Player (Not Character) Type Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Should be writing a paper

2006-11-09T12:52:00.000-05:00

Law school did me no favors in failing to punish me for my habitual procrastination, so I've found myself more often than not pulling late nighters every time I have a paper due in my courses here at Michigan. Of course, my continued failed resistance to the lure of the 'net doesn't help things either. So, I have to make this appearance brief, but I realized it's been a bit of time since I last posted. So:

1. Check out LibraryThing. I'm writing about it for my "Social Systems & Collections" course paper and have found it to be an interesting, even fun, concept. Look for a LibraryThing button to appear around here before too long.

2. Proposal 2. I really want to write something about Proposal 2, but considering the gravity of the subject, it'll probably wait until I've better collected my thoughts. In fact I want to write something about all of the recently voted-on proposals. But, being a student at Michigan, I've seen the center of the storm around 2.

3. No word on who's going to take John L's place on the sideline. There's lots of talk about Mooch and I've even heard mention of Michigan's defensive coordinator. I can't say either would dissapoint me. As my Dad and I discusses, after four years of a high flying, electric spread offense, perhaps it's time for State to return to a more traditional balanced attack. Caulcrick would make for perhaps the most talented carrying fullback in the league, and with him as a blocker, Ringer, Jimmerson or Khan would be outright deadly. If Hoyer was only a bit more mobile and our offensive line stronger, I might actually find myself advocating an occasional triple option offense! :o

On a related note, Izzo's comments about the role he should have taken in fostering John L's acclimation to State are interesting. I've long advocated that Smith just wasn't getting the support from the school that he needed, with the institution seemingly just assuming that he could fix a bad situation all by himself. I hope that whoever the new guy is, Izzo and the rest of the fixture coaches are there to offer some advice and friendly encouragement.

Four in Twelve (Or the Pain of Bleeding Green)

2006-11-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

Blame it on players who were either too undisciplined to stay out of trouble or too lacking in heart to buckle down and play with abandon when it really mattered. Blame it on a program reputation that can't possibly hope to compete with that other school for the best in-state prospects (and let's not kid ourselves, Sparty doesn't have a chance in the football player factories). Blame it on commentators and fans who predicted a second-half collapse each season and then patted themselves on the back when it occurred. Blame it on assistant coaches who, from a fan's perspective, didn't seem capable of realizing the potential brought in by a head coach. Or blame it on a head coach who seemed incapable of whupping his team's ass when they were in need of it.

These are all aspects of John L. Smith's tenure as Michigan State's head coach. But these are only concerns for historians now, as Sparty has decided to take a different path next year. So, as this post's title notes, the Green and White will be lead by their fourth coach in twelve years next season.

Some say this was inevitable and the program really doesn't have what it takes to be great. As a long suffering fan of State, not to mention an alumnus, I pray this isn't the case and hope that it's just going to take a coach who brings innovation in more than just offensive scheme to turn things around. I wonder if Coach Kelly would be interested in moving up another rung to a big time conference.

Patronage - Egotism or the Public Good?

2006-10-27T11:01:00.000-04:00

So I was a proud contributor to Wolfgang Bauer's first Open Design Project, "Steam & Brass." I haven't played D&D in years now, but I do my best to stay up on the latest news in the gaming community. As a student of copyright and IP alternatives, when I came across Wolfgang's proposal to craft an adventure/sourcebook/etc. selected by a handful of paying patrons, who would also get to critique the product as it was drafted and provide guidance in regards to it final form, I was intrigued. In researching topics for a law school paper I had briefly touched on the idea of returning to a patronage model as an alternative to our stressed copyright system. Thus getting to participate in the execution of such a model - though admittedly on a much smaller scale - was enough to prompt my Paypal payment. Receiving an exclusive module, written by an industry veteran, that credits me was just an added bonus. Or so I thought.

As the first project must have been something of a success, Wolfgang has embarked on a second, which I have once again contributed to. This time, the response has been much greater. Whether it be a greater awareness of the project by the "press" element of the industry, chatter on forums or envious group members who have been eyeing their DM's copy of Steam & Brass, Wolfgang has received a greater response than he did at this time in the first project. Apparently, several of these new patrons, having missed out on S&B, have inquired about the possibility of buying that module. This obviously poses something of a dilemma for Wolfgang. Obviously, the potential for new sources of profit are extremely enticing. However, this project was launched to test the viability of a patronage model, which by its very definition assumes financial support, either in full or enough to prompt iniative, up front. The alternative, creating a product with the hopes that people will buy it after completion is essentially the traditional commercial model.

In what I felt was a very classy move, Wolfgang posed this dilemma to us, the initial patrons. While my first thought was to echo what many others have said - the more people able to get their hands on the work and thereby foster future works is a good thing - I've since begun to rethink that stance. Academically, as noted above, allowing latecomers to purchase the product deviates from the concept of a true patronage model. Of course, while this was an experiment on Wolfgang's part, I recognize that this is a source of income for him and academic implications are probably a distant second, or non-existant, concern.

My second, and less lofty, reason for questioning distribution stems from the slight twinge of irritation I feel when considering distribution to late-comers. As I noted above, having an exclusive product was originally only an added bonus. The possibility of having that exclusivity diluted, no matter by how little, irks me. I realize this is an irrational and selfish response, and I'd like to stress that I'm normally a very community-oriented individual. However, this response really isn't all that suprising when one considers the intent behind historic patronage systems. The wealthy benefactors of the arts didn't commission works for distribution to the public, but to own something unique. The inclusion of these works in museums where all could behold them was a later development. Sure there were privately funded works for the "public good" - one merely need look at the frescoes adorning any a number of European cathedral walls - but these were just as much a marketing tool for the family name than anything else.

While I found supporting this experiment rewarding, at the end of the day it is the possession of something unique that vindicates my decision to be a patron. Sure, the product is of outstandingly high quality, but the reality is that I could only hope for such a result when I first made payment. I was taken with Wolfgang's vision, shared that vision, and decided to take a risk - even if nominal - to see it through. Allowing latecomers to benefit from the gamble of early investors seems somewhat wrong.

Just Don't Do It

2006-10-25T14:59:00.000-04:00

Forgot something I wanted to mention in that last post. Girls/ladies, what the hell are you doing this fall? This style of spandex tight leggings or sloppy sweat pants tucked into obscenely large, often gaudily fur-trimmed, boots is hideous. Compounding the affront is the fact that it appears to be the de facto uniform here in Ann Arbor. I can only hope that this abomination of style hasn't appeared along the banks of the ol' Red Cedar.

Speaking of which, how about that game last weekend? 38 unanswered points?! Largest come-back win in D1A history?! Frickin' beautiful. Of course, we never should have gotten that far behind against Northwestern in the first place, but watching Drew run that hurry-up offense was liking watching a skilled conductor. If I could recommend anything to Dave Baldwin, it would be to go no-huddle from play one. Go Green!

Ornery and Proud of It!

2006-10-25T14:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's edition of the Michigan Daily - the University of Michigan's excuse for a daily rag - contained what I can only guess was supposed to be the heartwarming story of a life-long, San Fancisco-based, Tigers fan who was joyous to find his favorite team in the World Series during his tenure as a Michigan undergrad. I can understand his emotions. It's been 22 years and a new stadium since we've seen our boys of summer in the fall classic. Detroit has fallen on economic woes that we thought were only characteristic of our extended relatives up in Flint and it's good to have at least one community-binding positive to cheer for. The Steelers arguably achieved their cult-like status in Pittsburgh under similar circumstances.

But what bothered me about this article was the perspective from which it was written. A fan from San Francisco? I mean, I'm sure they exist, but the Tigers aren't exactly the Yankees. Or the Cowboys. Or the Lakers. Or Notre Dame. Or any other team that has made a profession out of marketing themselves as "America's Team." And Detroiters like it that way. The infotainment, entertainment and pseudo-legitimate news sources of our nation have used Detroit as the easy joke for years now and, under such a barrage, Detroiters have stopped hating each other long enough to circle the wagons. We hate bandwagon fans. We love that you dismiss our city's gems when casually disparaging it as a dump. And we want you to root for the other team, no matter who they are, so we can stand even more defiantly proud when the Tigers take it all.

Oh, and to my non-existant readers, sorry for the disappearance. I'm back, with a whole new bag of rants.

The Scarlet Letter

2006-06-21T20:17:00.000-04:00

"Good lord, what is that?" Anybody who knows me would likely find that to be a particulary apt question when finding that block letter monstrosity adorning MY blog. Afterall, I'm a third generation Spartan. I own season tickets to Spartan Stadium. A miniature green and white football helmet dangles from my rear view mirror.

But the time has come to announce to the world (or whoever happens upon this blog), that I will be joining the ranks of that most respected - and reviled - academic institution, the University of Michigan. And that block M is going to be something that I'll have to get used to seeing everywhere I turn.

But I swear, if anybody should see me in any maize and blue garb other that a School of Information t-shirt, please jolt my loyalties back into alignment with a thorough dousing in the Red Cedar.

Nothing to see here

2006-06-17T20:58:00.000-04:00

If anybody is actually reading this blog, I apologize for teasing you with the suggestion of a new post with content. Unfortunately, the following is nothing but my use of Blogger's hosting service to get pictures of the following miniatures on the web for others to peruse for trading purposes. Once I get over my current WOW/SL addiction, I promise to get back to posting semi-regularly. Afterall, I have the GenCon competition to get ready for.

Welcome to my cave

2006-05-27T16:40:00.000-04:00

A popular, reoccuring theme on most miniature painting forums is the thread in which forumites post pictures of their painting retreats. Invariably most are nothing but part-time workstations at the kitchen table or some battered desk tucked away in a cluttered basement. However, there are always those handful that make geeks like myself green with envy. Purpose-built shelves sized perfectly for the peculiar dimensions of the brand of paint they prefer. Peg board from which to hang recently purchased figures rather than having to throw them in a grocery bag under the desk. Ample tabletop on which to paint. Enough lights to make a Hollywood B movie set jealous. Optimally designed photo setup. Etc, etc.

While I hope my darn education will eventually afford me such a posh reclusiam, for now I make do with this setup.
My painting table. That tiny sliver of free space you see in front of the crowd of paint pots is where I do my painting. As you can see, less than optimal. Currently being worked on is the unit of 4 Karnophages that were to be my "quick paintjob" experiment. At least the intentions were good.

Staging area and convenient home for my laptop when IMing Julie while painting.

My ad hoc photography setup. It has actually allowed me to achieve better photos than I ever have before. The addition of another flexible lamp will probably make it even more effective. I'd love to get a diffusion box, but, once again, that's a future purchase.

Though not really part of my painting station, I figured I'd include this pic for completeness' sake. The stack, from bottom to top are:

1. Rubbermaid container filled with misc. sprues from plastic kits.
2. Rubbermaid container filled with unpainted terrain - mostly Armorcast.
3. A stack of perfectly sized foam just waiting to be converted into hills, ruined buildings and other types of terrain.

Another recent revived thread over at is the "How Many Figures Do You Own" question. While organizing my collection, I think I might just have to figure that one out. While I know it's probably far less than at its peak, I think I'm still frightened to find out the truth! :)

Return of the King?

2006-05-18T01:13:00.000-04:00

Really not much to say. WTF Detroit? I thought the Pistons and Wings are what we put up with the heat of summer and the decay of fall for.

But, go Tigers! Lord it's nice to be able to flip to ESPN for a recap and see that the Tiggers have notched another win.

107 days until the Green and White kicks off again. I can't wait.

WIP III

2006-05-03T22:01:00.000-04:00

Not much of an update here, just a quick shot of what one of the 4 Karnophages looks like. They're all at this intermediate stage and will probably receive one more extreme highlight before I start toning them down and bringing their colors together with some washes and glazes.

Though I seem to have gotten the hang of using my camera and lighting setup to get semi-decent closeup pictures I have to admit that I'm more than a bit disappointed by the lack of contrast apparent. Ah well, everyday is a lesson, eh?

BTW, completely off topic, but listening to iTunes as I type this, I can't help but note that I have developed a renewed respect for the Ben Folds Five. And Stiff Little Fingers kicks ass. If "At the Edge" doesn't make you want to don a Union Jack and burn cars, you're not alive. Or, at least, not a Spartan. :)

WIP II

2006-05-02T20:15:00.000-04:00

Alright, quick update here. Basecoat, first shading wash, and first highlight coat on all four Karnophages. That's an example of one of them to the left. Though I wasn't sure about it at first, the picture has reaffirmed my concerns that I really need to step the highlights up some in order to get sufficient contrast to make the details pop.

After working on display quality (at least at my skill) figures for so long now, I'm finding this tabletop quality painting stuff to be a bit tricky. I'm constantly tempted to pull out my detail brush and spend an hour on each coat of the figure, but the three others waiting for their turn are enough to thwart such urges. I can't even imagine having an army to do. However, my tendency to instead grab a larger brush and paint in quick strokes has so far been less that satisfactory. I think these figures are going to be a great learning experience for me.

Jotting down a quick list at work today of what my painting targets are, I've decided upon a Warzone focus for a bit before turning my attention to producing some quality terrain for once and finally dedicating a good chunk of time to my GenCon competition entries. To that end, I'm going to endeavor to finish the following in the next few weeks:

4 Karnophages (started)
5 Necromutants
1 Praetorian Stalker
1 Carnal Harvester

You know, as much as I love the Warzone mythos, reading that list I can't help but chuckle at some of those names (Carnal Harvester?!?). :)

Meanwhile . . .

2006-04-30T19:49:00.000-04:00

I have previously complained about Excelsior's efforts in regards to Warzone and Chronopia. It seems I have yet something else to gripe about. Taking my 4 freshly based and resculpted Karnophages outside to prime on a gloriously sunny day, a misstep on my part saw one of the figures tumble off the box I was carrying them on and plummet 4 feet to the ground. Maintaining my senses enough not to lunge for the figure and send the rest of his brethren to a similar fate, I watched the figure fall, confident that the relatively soft, yielding lawn would cushion the fall.

But, it was not to be. To my dismay, the impact was accompanied by a snap and the base spinning away from the figure. Chastising myself for not doing a better job of attaching the figure to the base (which would normally be the cause of such a fracture), I was suprised to find that the figure had instead cracked right at the ankle. Whatever pig iron alloy Excelsior was using to cast their figures, it was less durable then the epoxy used to glue his now bodiless foot to the base.

The amputee was thus treated to more time under the sculpting tool as I reposed him to place both feet on the ground and resculpted the mangled ankle joint. Perhaps foolishly, I failed to go back and take preventive measures to keep the same fate from befalling the other figure with a raised foot. Though I don't make a habit of dropping figures, I'll nonetheless have to take care.

Since this extra work means that I've only just put the first coat of paint on the figures (intending to, but forgetting, to take pictures of the figures with their resculpted joints), I decided to take advantage of my new lighting setup to snap some pictures of another relatively recent paintjob of mine. A Dark Apostle of the Word Bearers chapter of chaos space marines, the figures is made of the Grey Knight character model body, the head of a fantasy sorceror, a plastic power fist and the mace wielding hand of a fantasy chaos knight. As an homage to my old Dark Angels army, a battered and dirty Dark Angels shoulder pad can be seen lodged in the dirt.

Though memory fails me somewhat, I believe this figure was painted between my second and third years of law school - or, almost two years ago. Like my Grey Knight, he was painted just for the heck of it, though I did enter him into a painting competition at one of the local GW stores. He didn't win, but I'm still generally pleased with how he came out. The red and gold areas are a bit flat looking and could have done with some more severe highlighting. The gem on his left shoulder I am extremely pleased with however. I think I managed to pull off the reflective effect pretty well. All in all, I think he makes for a great adversary for my previously posted Grey Knight.

All Together Now

2006-04-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

Helping my Dad clean up some trees he cut down while on his day off and then going for a run through the neighborhood (which, I noted with lung-burning clarity, is far more hilly than a treadmill) kept me from making much progress tonight. But, the Karnophages are epoxied together and to their bases. The reposed figures are in the front row with their original poses represented by their comrades in the back.

I'll let the epoxy harden overnight to be on the safe side (even though it is 15 minute set) and tackle the sculpting, basing materials and priming tomorrow. That coupled with a trip to the D for my brother-in-law's birthday on Saturday means these guys likely won't be seeing any paint until Sunday. With any luck I'll be able to get a good few hours in then and knock out most of the flesh.

WIP I

2006-04-26T23:08:00.000-04:00

First WIP picture here. Figures filed clean of mold lines and flash, scrubbed of any mold release residue and holes drilled to pin their reposed arms on (pin already inserted in one).

Following a night of air drying new biceps will be sculpted on the reposed arms, they'll be based, primed and ready to go. Painting hopefully to begin Friday evening (yeah, I have that exciting of a life that I'll be painting on a Friday evening).

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You!

2006-04-25T21:10:00.000-04:00

So, after a day of reflection, I've decided that assembly lining 13 figures might not be the best way to ease myself out of display painting and into army painting. Thus, I've decided to instead work on a unit of four Karnophages - depraved mutations of human beings that stem from the same storyline as the previously mentioned Bauhaus Hussars. That beauty to the left is an example of one. :)

These guys are something of a mainstay of the whole Warzone mythos, and as such, I had painted a unit of six of them (seen below) way back in the day. My painting style has changed much since then and my skill has vastly improved. Thus, even though I intend to speed my way through these guys, I hope for a far better result.

Never content to leave my toys the way the manufacturer intended them, I've since bent arms in much the say way I had my original figures in order to ward off my most hated of miniature flaws - repetitive poses. Unfortunately, it appears that Excelsior made use of a cheaper, far more brittle alloy than Heartbreaker, and all of my reposing efforts have instead left me with broken limbs. A bit of pinning and resculpting shouldn't take more than an hour or two though, so I'll hopefully have first stage work in progress pics up by the end of this week.

Say Hello to my Leedle Friend

2006-04-24T20:13:00.000-04:00

Yeah, cheesy title, I know. But, it needed to be used at least once.

So, after tinkering with this figure for the last two months (honestly, I was making steady but slow progress the whole time) and a considerable amount of butt-kicking by Julie, I present to you my latest painted figure: a Grey Knight space marine in Terminator Armor.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the figure consists of the body of a classic Grey Knight Terminator model which I've had lying around since I started playing 40K with arms from one of the recently resculpted Grey Knight Terminators. Though the new figures' weapons have a different configuration to the old, I rather like the way they add some bulk to the figure and make him more imposing than the original.

Though you can only somewhat see it in these pictures, I'm particularly pleased with the way the based came out. Built out of layered plasticard, it took more effort than any previous basing attempt. But, I think the results speak volumes for the merits of such an endeavor.

This is a closeup shot of the Nemesis sword. It's my first attempt at duplicating Tom Schadle's style (www.minivault.com) and while I'm generally please with how it came out, it's obvious that i have a lot of work ahead of me yet. It was also a great lesson in just trying to paint a darn straight line which I'm finding my twitchy X-Box afflicted hands are none to skilled at.

All in all, I've got to say that I have really enjoyed painting Jolie and this figure. I've taken far longer on each than I ever have before and it's made the whole process somewhat therapeutic. A far cry from the feverish marathons that I often subjected myself to pre-convention. Of course, the mountain of bare pewter strewn about my painting desk is a distinct reminder that I don't have the luxury to paint at this pace if I'm to make a dent in my collection. Thus, I'll be reversing gears on my next project and assembly line painting 13 Bauhaus Hussars for Warzone. I'll get initial pics up once they've been cleaned and based.

And Once Again Without Any Money

2006-02-24T22:29:00.000-05:00

So, the electronic fora of miniature gaming discussion has been abuzz with the news that Paradox has yanked the Warzone and Chronopia licenses from Excelsior Entertainment. Apparently this decision occurred sometime in January, but it's only now coming out in the wash. It's a shame, but it's far from unexpected.

Though Thom and his various staff at Excelsior had a great love for the game, the company seemed to be in over their head from the beginning. The two games carry a miniatures catalog that dwarfs most of their competitors and EE seemed hellbent on continuing to keep everyone of these figures in production. Not only was this a bad idea due to the aesthetics of many of these figures, it was a bad idea from a sales perspective. Considering how many stores felt they were "burned" by the demise of Target (I'm still confused how the collapse of that company was any worse for retailers than any other), attempting to convince retailers to restock the product was already going to be a challenge. But, when you throw the sheer scale of the product line at them, with no discernable way of determining what would constitute a good introductory stock, you're bound to be less than successful in your pitch.

But perhaps the biggest blunders were the catastrophies known as Chronopia 2nd Ed. and Ultimate Warzone. Now, I understand the desire to leave one's mark on a license as well as the belief that the travesties committed to a game by previous designers needed to be remedied. But, with a company with as few financial resources as EE, investing in the production of these rulebooks was a foolish endeavor. And the final product? Hardly worth the effort due to an absolutely amateurish presentation.

Of course, I'm a bit biased here. As someone who was tied to Target Games in their heyday, and a devoted supporter of 1st Ed. Warzone and Chronopia, I felt EE's efforts constituted the same affronts to my beloved games that they felt the Edinburgh studio had committed. Nevermind the fact that the 2nd Ed. Chronopia rules made blatant use of a rules mechanic I drafted without credit, the games were taken in a direction - both rules and storywise - that I found contrary to my vision. As only a gamer, I suppose there's not much I should expect to be able to do about such situations.

With Paradox's revocation of EE's license, fans of the various incarnations of these games face another period of uncertainty and potential change. Those that cut their teeth on 2nd Ed. Chronopia and Ultimate Warzone will no doubt object when the new licensee takes the games into a direction that they, as gamers, always thought more appropriate. Or even worse, gamers could find their favorite games existing in name only, as these new licensees, completely unfamiliar with the history of either game, simply choose to ride an established - though tarnished - intellectual property in an effort to introduce their own set of rules. Regardless of the outcome, for a long-time WZ and Chronopia gamer such as myself, the outlook is no doubt dreary.

Thus, I once again find myself sighing in disappointment as another cornerstone of my gaming experience comes up for bid and I'm too financially strapped to throw myself into the mix.

The Apocalypse Is Coming . . .

2006-02-17T22:54:00.000-05:00

. . . and the four horsemen will be riding in sponsor-emblazoned Monte Carlos.

Seriously, Nascar. Am I missing something here? I thought it's bubble came and went with the masses of unsold diecast cars bowing the shelves in Walmart's toy department.

But now I can't turn on my favorite local sports radio station without getting Nascar updates and ESPN has Chris Fowler anchoring live from the Daytona 500 a la GameDay style. I grumbled discontentedly enough when college basketball was being given the Fall saturday morning treatement on ESPN, but to see the same being extended to a "sport" that would bore even the most rabid of car-chasing dogs - ridiculous. It's like turning to the Westminster Dog Show and finding that the competition now includes dog fighting.

Of course, this is the same American audience that has chosen American Idol over the Olympics - even after that venerable athletic event chose to pander to the lowest common denominator by introducing a slew of "totally rad extreme" events.

*sigh* I think I'm getting old.

Finito!

2006-02-05T02:16:00.000-05:00

Well, after over a week of dinking around, I've put the final touches to Jolie, glued her arm into place and given her a solid coat of glosscoat. I think she turned out rather well and I learned a number of new techniques in the process.

Julie, I hope you like her.

Next I'll be moving from the fantasy genre into the sci-fi, putting together an old Grey Knight terminator I found in my bitz box. The figure is sans arms, so I'll be updating him a bit by using arms from one of the new Grey Knights. As I've enjoyed this whole blogging process, I'll probably do the same with this fig.

Getting the hang of this

2006-02-03T20:34:00.000-05:00

So, after buying two 100w daylight bulbs and a pair of desk lamps, stealing a pillowcase to use as a backdrop, fiddling with my tripod to get the optimal setup and deleting more pictures than I actually kept, I'm able to offer you these pics of my work in progress Jolie. As you can see, she's most of the way done, with her shoes, belt, lacing and misc. doodads hanging off her bum to finish.

Along the way, I've developed a neat little technique. As I've yet to grasp the whole NMM (non-metallic metal) method, I still do most of my metal work with metallic flake paints. However, as I wanted Jolie's colors to pop, I chose to highlight the gold areas with yellow rather than a lighter gold or silver. I'm very pleased with the results, and will be sure to try it out on a larger area.

Hopefully, finished pics will be posted by this weekend. Until then, check out her bum. :)

Look at that face

2006-01-29T19:31:00.000-05:00

After messing about with my camera a bit, I was able to get this closer picture of Jolie's face. The flash as exaggerated the gloss a bit, but that will be dulled out to a matte finish once I hit her with the clear coat.

Boo!

2006-01-29T18:57:00.000-05:00

I came across these pics while uploading my recent pics of Jolie. They're of the pumpkin I carved for this past Halloween. A bit late, I know, but I thought he looked cool.

Getting there

2006-01-29T18:50:00.000-05:00

I was asked to get an update on my work on Jolie, so here she is. Skin, hair, glasses and face are all done. Tis a shame that I don't have a better camera, or more skill with my current equipment, because the face looks far better in real life.

At this pace, I should be done with her in another week or so. That seems like a slow pace, and even for me, it is. Apparently, law school's impact on my ability to sit still for hours on end has affected more than just my ability to study. I dread the idea of ever trying to paint an army again.

Where were you seven years ago?

2006-01-24T20:35:00.001-05:00

Moving back home after law school has been an interesting experience so far. While finding myself under the same roof as my parents consistently for the first time in nine years and muddling my way through a new city that I've yet to accept as my home has given me volumes to comment on, it's the rediscovery of my past that has proven to be the most interesting. You see, when I left Detroit for law school, I moved a majority of my belongings - those I would have no need of at school - to my parents' place. Since May of last year, I have slowly been sifting through these items and, like an amnesiac peering into a forgotten past, I've found belongings I can't remember buying, or why I bought them, planners filled with important dates and phone numbers, none of which I can place, and stacks of notebooks filled with ideas for screenplays, games and the next great novel.

It was in one of these notebooks that I came across a page of scribbling that unleashed a wave of melancholy about me, washing me into a pool of disappointment. In my pre-law school years, and to some extent today, I had a tendency to write to-do lists for nearly everything. Simply organizing my tasks into an easily checked-off format seemed to provide both the necessary motivation, and feeling of accomplishment, that was necessary to get me off my duff. While most such lists laid out my action plan for the day, or perhaps the coming weekend or work week, some were a bit more ambitious. The page of scribbling that I stumbled upon, was a list of the latter type.

Written at the start of the winter semester of my junior year, this to-do list stretched to graduation and beyond. It promised a busy final year and a half of school, directing me to redouble my efforts as a beat reporter for the weekly rag that employed me, commit to covering news for the college radio station, take an advertising job with the school paper, pursue freelance activity at a variety of local publications and finally set about writing my own, much reflected upon, set of miniatures rules and screenplay. A lofty set of expectations indeed, but all easily accomplished by an ambitious student.

Unfortunately, I accomplished not a one. Within 7 months I would write my last article for the paper, deciding that I didn't enjoy having to cover the boring school board and city council meetings I was assigned to. After only two appearances, I chose to terminate my involvement with the radio station, finding the production deadlines to be too much of a hassle and thinking that my voice sounded terrible on the air. My freelance writing career never took off, mainly because I was too lazy too dig up stories on my own and partly because I was too intimidated to claim to an editor that I was competent enough to do the job. And my miniatures game and screenplay? Those are still nothing but notes in notebooks accompanying this action plan.

Striving to achieve while in law school and being surrounded by peers who were accomplished in undergrad had already made me reflect on my time at Oakland with some regret. Coming across this list compounded that emotion. In retrospect, I cannot understand how I allowed myself to be such an apathetic student and it makes me even more envious of the experiences that my peers had. Julie notes that I still have time to make good on some of these objectives, and I know that my law school involvement makes even the ambitious jealous, but I still cannot help but feel that I pissed away what should have been the most important and formative four years of my life. :(

Wearing nothing but a coat of paint

2006-01-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

So, I'm still learning how to really use the macro functions of my camera, and the picture to the left is the best I could produce. But, as I promised both myself and Julie to use this blog to update my progress I had to make do. Hopefully future attempts will be better.

As you can see, Jolie is still very much a work in progress. The stonework on the base is more or less done, but will no doubt be touched up again towards the end. The underrobe, which will ultimately be a cool white in color, is mostly done, just requiring a pure white highlight or two. The overrobe, which is only basecoated now, will be Spartan green with gold accents.

Future pictures will be better than my ramblings, so I'll get back to work. Again, feel free to comment or criticize.

Lemme tell you about this librarian I know

2006-01-16T23:15:00.000-05:00

As my previous posts have no doubt given away, I'm something of a hardcore geek. We're talking miniature painting, X-box addicted, recovering Dungeon Master. Yeah, that hardcore.

This isn't exactly the easiest thing to disclose to the woman you're trying to woo. The looks of disdain would be classic, if they weren't directed at me. Fortunately, I've been lucky enough to find a gal that not only hits on every cylinder for me (hmm, dirty connotations there?), she has half-heartedly accepted my darker, dorkier side.

In an attempt to cultivate this acceptance, I suggested she try her hand at painting a figure. (In retrospect, maybe she suggested it) Afterall, painting is just painting, right? And, as long as I didn't pick out a BFG wielding death knight space marine, the "That's wierd" quotient should be removed.

Fortunately, she jumped at the idea, and, after flipping through Reaper's online catalog, settled on the figure to the left here. I thought it was a great choice - only later would I realize how fateful the selection was.

You see, my girl is brilliant, and works as a research librarian for a prominent law firm. (That's right, hot and a librarian) The coincidence that the figure that she picked just happened to be a scribe, was not lost on either of us. However, her selection was made based only on the pre-release "green" pictures of the figure, which was unnamed at the time. So, when the figure hit retail, with the name "Jolie" printed on the packaging, I couldn't help but grin. You see, this hot librarian that's been gracing me with her presence, her name's Julie.

Unfortunately, career pursuits have seen the two of us separated by Ohio (all the more reason it has earned my bitter enmity) for more than a year now. With her blessings, and in an attempt to at least create an avatar of her, I'll be painting this figure over the next little while. During this process, both to keep her updated on my progress, and to actually post something to this blog besides my random ramblings, I'll be posting work in progess shots of Jolie. Please, feel free to comment or critique my work.

The Dover Monkey Trial

2005-12-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

Now, I'm no proponent of Intelligent Design being taught in schools. Although the concept itself doesn't offend me - I have a very open mind to the idea of some form of intelligent power guiding evolution - it lacks any of the scientific justification that bolsters the argument for evolution. And the holes that do exist in the evolution theory are not a sufficient enough basis for putting forth an argument that is so insubstantial as to not even be capable of having holes.

That being said, I'd like to put forth an idea upon which your brains might chew. As most people know, the famous 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial" case overturned a law that made the teaching of evolution by John Scopes or any other Tennessee teacher a criminal offense. Though the Dover case once again featured a school district staunchly in the spiritual corner of the debate, the crux of the controversy was the antithesis of that in Scopes. It's interesting to note that just as the Tennessee legislature so confidently stated that creationism was a belief not to be questioned, the PA federal court that decided the Dover case has gone along way towards enshrining the theory of evolution in the same trappings of unquestionability. Just something to think about.

WOW's Arificial Walls

2005-12-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

Warcraft and I have reached an impasse. Or, more accurately, I have reached an impasse within the world of Azeroth. You see, I realize that, as a MMORPG gamer, I have an explorer's heart, rather than a grinder's (grinding being the activity of killing the same beasts over and over again merely to harvest the experience points needed to achieve the next level). I'm more interested in what's over the next hill than I am in what's available for my character at the next level.

Unfortunately, WOW doesn't really allow for this. Access to new areas is often conditioned on your character's ability to defeat the denizens of the region. Naturally, the ability to do so is directly related to the time you've spent grinding. Questing alone is an insufficient source of XPs. So, rather than immersing myself in the minutely detailed world, I'm forced to sprint back and forth between spawn spots, hoping that tonight I'll get the experience necessary to allow me to overcome the level 22 death chickens that live in the next valley. It's frustrating and boring.

While I've been more that happy to focus on character building in prior games - whether D&D or Diablo - I just haven't felt the same about WOW. Perhaps it's because I'm still new to the game, the options seem immense, and I'm not really sure what kind of character end-product I'm striving for.

I'm not advocating that the world shouldn't have at least some sort of level-based walls however. I understand the need to create incentives for players to want to achieve higher levels. Dungeons, ethereal realms and the mountain top aeries of dragons can all still remain the realms of the experienced. I'd just appreciate it if swimming across a river didn't equate a death sentence for my character.

Now, for something geeky

2005-12-02T23:04:00.000-05:00

Hmm, nearly a month since my last post, and little to show of it. As I have a difficult time accepting that personal injury might be my ticket into the legal profession, I've got nothing to show for my job searches.

My digital avatar has been far more successful however, having recently attained 15th level. Yes, that's right, try as I might to fight the urge, I have gotten into WoW. Though I had dinked around with it on a friend's computer a year ago, full immersion has prompted the realization that, outside of Halo, this has been the most addicting gaming experience I've so far encountered. Though, as my Dad likes to point out everytime he walks past the screen, the game seems to entail an extraordinary amount of just running around the wilderness, the open nature of the world and its sheer expansiveness makes exploration far more appealing to me than embarking on any of the quests. I've lost count of the number of deaths I've suffered due to my character falling off the side of a cliff he was never supposed to find himself on or from drowning after exhaustion provides an abrupt end to my attempt to swim across the ocean.

In other geeky news, my post-graduation freedom to dig through my gaming collection, as well as a recent game of Warmachine at a friend's house, have sparked a renewed interest for me in miniatures gaming. Having been out of the hobby for my three years of law school, I had grown relatively disinterested in it and even considered purging my collection entirely. Instead, I find myself the proud owner of a mint-in-box Epic Space Marine Legion picked up on Ebay with a partially assembled Balrog and some primed warjacks on my desk. Yes, gaming's siren call has ensnared me again.

To that end, I hope to track some of my work via posts to this blog - both to generate content for this blog, as well as to prompt me to actually get some work done. Speaking of which, I've got a Balrog to attend to in the deep mines of my basement.

Until next time!

With a hearty sigh of relief

2005-11-08T20:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I received the fantastic news that I had passed the Michigan bar. While prepping for the exam, and the exam itself, were nerve-wracking affairs, the wait for the results was apparently far more stressful on my psyche. I say "apparently" as it was my parents who noted that I had become a bit tightly wound and borderline unpleasant to be around in the past few months.

Needless to say, I'm greatly relieved, and am sure that I'll be in a far better mood for at least a few days now. :)

Unfortunately, passing the bar alone doesn't guarantee you a job. Despite the popular misconceptions, a JD and a license to practice are not the golden keys to high society. So, after a few days of celebratory lounging around, I'll be hitting the pavement (real as well as electronic) looking to drum up some openings. Though I'm currently in Grand Rapids, I'd really like to get back home to Detroit, so will no doubt be starting my search there.

Next post, I'll hopefully have some more good news.

Now Approaching the Intraweb

2005-11-06T14:28:00.000-05:00

After being a blog watcher and 'net lurker for some time now, I figured it was time for me to finally test out these waters which have been charted by so few already. :)

What the purpose of this blog will be is as of yet uncertain. No doubt I'll rant about current events that irk me, rave about my beloved Spartans, give peeks into my thinly disguised dorky center and generally use it as a sympathetic listener.

I'm not sure how one attracts visitors to these sites, but provided anybody has stumbled across this little digital domicile of mine, I'll do my darnedest to keep it current.

Adieu for now.