A Long, Strange Road

Six months is enough of a break, Get back to work, slacker.

First off, thanks very much to those of you who have emailed and made sure that I am still of-this-earth. It is nice to feel a part of a global community of like-minded individuals.

I am, in fact, still hard at work painting- it's just that much of the work I have been getting done minis-wise of late has seemed less-than-sharable via this blog. I've been exclusively performing all those mundane tasks that I know all serious hobbyists will nod their heads knowingly about: re-basing warbands (no, NOT for that!), prepping Kickstarter reward packages, and painting minis for other people. These things take time, and they are not the most exciting of topics . . .

Whatcha starin' at?

I have managed to get through two batches of commission work since the last time I wrote. Avid readers of this blog (hah!) will remember that I had given this up earlier in the year to focus more on my own collection. Well, the money is too good and I need too much of it, so it's back on that wagon for ol' VeronaKid.

The first group was this set of beholders. I can't imagine why my client would possibly need so many considering the monster represented is usually a unique addition to a D&D campaign, but hey- these were fun as hell to paint up. My favorite of the batch was certainly the Julie Guthrie-sculpted Reaper version in purple here in the back-left:

The three goofy looking guys that are painted in aqua were also great sculpts, although I have no idea what company or sculptor they come from.

After polishing them off, my client sent me this sweet batch of elementals and constructs, which I just finished off last weekend:


I know the picture here is dark, but I never managed to shoot a decent one of this batch before I sent it back. The huge rock guy in the top right is a killer sculpt from Reaper, and this one in particular was the Bones plastic version, so I assume it is very inexpensive to pick up. My favorite from this batch though is definitely the Albion Fenbeast who is right in front of the rock-hulk. The summer GW campaign that he came from was one of the highpoints of my own personal gaming career. That summer, I must have played WHFB at least three times a week with a really great group of guys. Good memories, and a great sculpt.

Other than that, as I mentioned I have been re-prepping older minis of mine for use as various Skulldred warbands. These were originally all based in very hap-hazard, non-matching manners (different basing materials; some round, some square, some hex-based; etc), so I am trying to "tidy up" the collection, so to speak. Plus, it's cheaper than buying new minis!

Here's shots of a few representative minis from each of the war bands my various family members play in our weekend games:

My older boys' early (Asgard) Goodwin barbarian horde

My recently painted up Skaven

Mostly Reaper lizard men, who usually are mercenary baddies

A couple members of my little guys' greenskin toughs

Wifey's Reaper Amazonians. I can't recommend this line of sculpts enough. Brilliant.

That's really about it. Life has been far too crazy to do anything like actually play games with any of these figures, but I hope to remedy that soon.

Riiiiiiiiiight.

I have to say, I am very amazed at the thunderous silence in this community (and it's associated blog-o-sphere) over the new Warhammer "Age of Sigmar" stuff. I would have expected a much louder outcry along the lines of "See??!!! We knew they would ruin it!!!" I would think that the quiet murmurings simply indicate that old-timers have long since given up altogether. I, for one, still check the GW site frequently. I wouldn't dream of purchasing a plastic figure at their prices, so I haven't ordered anything from them in probably five years now, but I do think, actually, that the new game indicates a step or three in the right direction. Smaller forces encouraged and therefore a smaller initial investment required to participate? Check. Easier-to-digest rules (a la Skulldred, or SOBH) which in turn encourages a younger audience? Check. Elimination of ranked models which in turn eliminates fiddly maneuvers and the subsequent "wait an hour while your opponent moves his entire army" syndrome? Check. It really does feel that the new game is headed back towards its more narrative-driven roots and away from things like Death Star units, killer combos, and out-of-control magic phases.

I do applaud GW for once for not just making the game more bloated and (worse) more exclusive. Blow it up and start anew. Good job.

Hope you are well, wherever you might be. Take care, leadheads. Hopefully the next post here will be before the winter holidays roll around again. :)

Firers at the Ready

Another Sunday afternoon, another brief hobby update. Managed to tidy up the last remaining dorf crossbowmen this week, so the army is very nearly done. If I keep telling myself that, hopefully I will put the wrap on the whole thing sooner than later, right?

Dwarf Crossbowmen; Hasslefree (left and center) and Reaper (right)

The first two in this pic are yet more squeeky-clean sculpts from the talented hands of Kev White at Hasslefree. The last fella is my final Reaper dwarf, again looking a bit "heroic" in scale for my tastes, but that's the basic schtick for humanoids in the Dark Legends line.

Here's the full unit, arranged skirmisher stylie for your perusal (and my documentation):

 

Trompin' through the gravel of Ye Olde Worlde. P-Choo! P-Choo!

Wish I had something more important to say than "Hey! Look what I done!" Not feeling particularly deep or wordy these days.

Hope your world is either suitably characterful or 'orribly grimdark, whatever you fancy these days. Take care, brethren.

The Little Ones Win Out

Nothing world-beating to report this week. My dwarfs have been eyeing me guiltily for the past few weeks, as if to say, "Hey, dum dum- remember us?" I did start this blog originally with the completion of their army firmly in mind, and I have sadly drifted from them over the last few months. So, just to remind them that they are indeed loved, I added three very heavily-armored crossbowmen to their ranks this week. I know they'll appreciate the effort. Sculpts by Reaper.

After these, all I have left to complete the army is another six infantry models (including three crackers from the Perry Bros. / Fantasy Tribes era), a beer keg-laden baggage train, and two ancient gyrocopters; after that, they'll be off to visit a 3rd edition Warhammer tournament near you. You wouldn't happen to know of any, would you?

Sigh. If only. In any case, thanks for the look in. Take care, brethren.

And So It Begins

The family and I kicked off our Barrowmaze campaign this afternoon. Pretty much just background info, familiarization with character sheets and equipment, etc. so far, but it is very nice to be back playing again instead of just painting. As much as I love the creation part of the hobby, it gives it all a sense of purpose when dice start rolling and decisions start getting made. Yeehaw.

On the painting table this week, I was able to bang out two quick and dirty projects. The first were the next three dwarf crossbowmen. All three are from Reaper, and all three set new standards for the term "28mm Miniature." Huge, huger, and insanely huge.

I also think I found a fairly decent answer to the question "What should I do with these minis from that lot deal that I don't think I will ever want to paint, and all of these silly hex bases?" Answer: put 'em together and turn 'em into statues for using as dungeon scenery, of course.

Pretty much all of these are either duplicates or extras, and my guess is we all have a pile of these lurking in the shadows of our lead piles, no?

That's it for the first week of December. Hopefully my next post will feature pictures of dungeon delving in action. Cheers, lead brethren.

Busy Days

The last few weeks have been a wonderful flurry of hobby activity for me. I feel like I have my mojo going very strong again, for the first real time since I stopped painting for other people.

Right after my last post, I started in on DM prep work for the family's upcoming delve into Greg Gillespie's Barrowmaze. After studying Greg's maps and keys for the dungeon, I knew that it was going to be a challenge to adapt it to a miniatures-based dungeon crawl. Greg's maps are very well designed and layed-out . . . but building them as a floor-tile dungeon would be next to impossible because they are so cramped. I took Greg's designs, cut a whole bunch of floor tiles downloaded from the Skulldred site and mounted them on foam core, and then re-laid out and re-keyed the "major" encounters to match the rooms and passages that I could easily build. It will make for a slightly less realistic dungeon lay out, for sure- but I think that it will be a lot more playable as a tabletop game. I plan on posting pictures of the games, as I know some of you have expressed an interest in Barrowmaze.

After studying the random monster tables for the various environments, I decided I was a little light in the dungeon vermin department, so I picked up a couple packages each of Fire Beetles and Giant Scorpions from Reaper and painted them up one evening last week. Again, since they are destined to die in droves, the paint jobs are quick and basic, but I was pleasantly surprised at how decent they look. Especially considering that these are Bones minis, and barely broke the $10 mark for the whole group of twelve. Definitely a good value.

Everyone's favorite gland donators

Roll save v. poison or die

About the same time that I ordered these guys, the Red Box Games kickstarter was wrapping up, and I was a pretty big backer of that project. The minis that Tre sculpted during the last few days of the campaign as stretch goals were so good that they drove me to search around the inter webs looking for older minis he had sculpted. I came across this great Not-So-Little-John priest type from Reaper, and fell in love. Readers of this blog will certainly know of my weakness for beer guts on minis.

Gotta love scale differences

He is joined here by a Dwarf from WOTC's Chainmail range. This guy is way too big to use in my WHFB Dwarf army, so I mounted him on one of the flagstone bases from Fenris and he will ultimately be a PC in Barrowmaze. I think the rest of the family will be rolling up new characters fairly frequently, as the dungeon is pretty deadly. The color scheme for his armor (yellow and black) was inspired by my older son's favorite soccer club, Borussia Dortmund (he happened to walk into my painting room wearing his jersey just as I was gazing at the mini trying to figure out how to paint him up). It was a nice excuse to use my favorite yellow painting technique again- a dark ochre base shaded with a heavy flesh wash and then highlighted up by adding in bone white. The cleric will make guest appearances as an NPC. I have an inkling he may be drunk fairly often. But just look at that whoopin' stick!

Hope you are well, wherever you might be- enjoy the last of your turkey sandwiches if you're on this side of the pond. Cheers, all.

All Hail the Dwarfmaster

Just another quick update/documentation post today showing a couple of dwarfs to add to the growing horde. It felt good to paint up a couple of stunties again for the first time in a while- painting big boots and beards is like slipping into a comfortable old pair of slippers for me.

The fella on the left is from Heartbreaker, and is a fairly recent (post-2000) Kev Adams sculpt that will fit in nicely with my second edition Bugman's unit. The sculpt is so well done that I wonder if calling Kev the "Goblinmaster" is actually shortchanging him. One thing I have definitely noticed over the years about Adams' sculpts is that he never seems to get lazy on his minis; even places that no one would be reasonably expected to see on a finished, painted mini (places like underneath arms held snug against the body, or undercut areas beneath tunics) Kev will continue to lavish detail. It's quite admirable, and when you combine that ethic with his considerable ability to bring character to a little lead figure, well- it's no surprise he is a legend. Well deserved.

The pretty little lady on the right is a female dwarf ranger from Reaper. Although I haven't done it the justice it probably deserves, the face is one of the best female faces I have ever had the pleasure of painting up. So, another earth-toned addition reports in.

I am definitely wishing I was in Baltimore at the moment, with my fellow yankees at OITNW. There's always next year, right?. Can't wait to see all the blog updates.

Cheers, brethren.

How to Maintain Momentum?

I feel like I am in a good groove at the moment, banging through painting projects without ever feeling like I am slavering away over the painting table. I really want to maintain this momentum, but I am not sure what it is that I am doing differently. I normally either feel like I am not getting anything done because I am not spending enough time on projects, or I find myself not wanting to paint because of burnout. This whole good momentum thing is driving me nuts, 'cause I don't want it to go away.

A good problem to have, I know.

I've managed to get a few items from my own collection done, once again with spare paints on the palette during drying stages of commission work. Here's the next three dwarfs for the Warhammer army, another three crossbowmen that actually rounds out the first skirmishing unit of 10. Progress!

Scale differences, I damn thee

I am fairly chuffed with the way the Hasslefree mini in the middle turned out- I am diggin' the orange leather/green fabric combo which, I must admit, was total luck- just the way the ink combined with the light brown paint I used. Again, I am so impressed with the cleanliness of Kev White's sculpt. There's just no other way to describe it than "clean." Very well defined but simple detailing, perfect balance and realism in the stance. I am very, very happy with the purchase there. The Bob Olley Reaper sculpt on the right a little less, but he's growing on me. And that Perry Bros. FTD on the left looks like some sort of deranged mountain man to me. Funny and characterful but a bit odd.

I also banged out a pair from my Otherworld pile. Words almost can't express my love for this company. Richard from Otherworld has bent over backwards both times I have ordered from him now to get me what I wanted, and he's thrown in plenty of extras into both orders. The sculpts are perfect- they actually make me think of my Infinity minis in their level of detail and nice proportions. No flash, incredibly minor mold lines to scrape, multi-part models that fit together with a minimum of filling. . . just all good. The owlbear has good, deep patterning on the fur which begged for drybrushing, and the backpack on this hireling is so detailed it's almost crazy to think about.

Dungeoneering is heavy work

Maybe more like a "GoldenEagleBear," perchance?

Finally, on the commission front this week, I got to paint beds. As in, the things you sleep in with the sheets and blankets and pillows on them. Pretty much all there is to say about that.

Zzzzzzzz

Cheers, wherever you might be.

Locked and Loaded

As I mentioned in my last post, I was able to work on dwarfs during drying times in between coats while working on the armory-related pieces. I got the finishing touches completed last night, varnished them up early this morning before work, and here they are, ready to join their brethren:

Thwang!

From left to right, these fellers are a Citadel Fantasy Tribe, Citadel "C" series, modern Reaper, another Citadel (actually a "reject" model from the 2nd version of Bugman's Rangers, if I am not mistaken), and finally one model from Hasslefree.

When I was collecting the dwarfs, I always ogled the Hasslefree dwarf section- Kev White has such a nice, clean style- especially with his stunties. I will admit I was a bit surprised when I got the minis in the mail, though- they are much more of an "honest" 28mm scale, as you can see standing next to the Citadel mini above. He is far more akin to Citadel's Lord of the Rings models in his proportions- no oversized head or hands, very "realistic" looking armor- but ranked up, he fits in just fine.

Last thing- is it just me, or does the dwarf heroine in this group remind you of Uma Thurman from the Kill Bill movies? Every time I look at her with that sassy stance, I hear the eerie whistling theme from those movies, and I imagine her wasting dudes who dare to stare at her (admittedly) abundant assets. :)

Good night, gents.

A Sort of Religion

So, Sundays are normally the "game days" for my family. Saturdays are usually pretty packed, and Sunday morning we tend to get all the pre-week chores done, so Sunday afternoons are now reserved for getting out some sort of board, usually a pile of miniatures, and having a scrum.

The game of choice over the last six months or so now has been Pathfinder. Back before we started playing, I read a bunch of modern rulebooks for D&D, and they just didn't do it for me. Pathfinder also feels a bit too detailed and book-keepy, but I felt like the d20 system would be easier for everyone else to grasp as they are all first-time RPGers. If I had it to do again from the start, I would probably choose either the original version of AD&D or maybe even Warhammer Roleplay. Alas.

Here's a pic of the family's party. My older son (12) is the big half orc tank. My younger son (4) plays the ninja. . . of course. Wifey leads the party as a half elf cleric, and they are joined by the NPC summoner and her Battlecat-esque familiar "Sambo."

Half orc fighter, cleric, summoner, and pet are from Reaper; the ninja is an Anima Tactics fig

So far, we've played through one and a half modules, just to ease into the system. It's definitely been a very fun learning process for everyone. But every Sunday, like clockwork, my youngest starts asking to take out the minis and dice, so it must be working.

When there are no other players locally, you breed your own I guess.