These were pretty simple - since they're wearing leather trenchcoats, I was able to use inks for most of the model. Unfortunately, I have been pretty unimpressed with their performance in games...
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Khador Widowmakers - Painted
I painted my Khador Widowmakers the other day:
These were pretty simple - since they're wearing leather trenchcoats, I was able to use inks for most of the model. Unfortunately, I have been pretty unimpressed with their performance in games...
These were pretty simple - since they're wearing leather trenchcoats, I was able to use inks for most of the model. Unfortunately, I have been pretty unimpressed with their performance in games...
Monday, August 29, 2011
Just an FYI...
...convention season has left me a bit behind with my painting, modeling & writing - I'll be switching new blog posts to Tuesdays & Thursdays for a few weeks instead of the usual Mon./Wed./Fri. while I get caught up. I have some BIG painting projects, scratchbuilds & tutorials coming up, look for them soon!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Board Games: Don Quixote
I found a good deal in the "50% off" bin at Barnes & Noble the other day:
A couple of times a year, Barnes & Noble has a sale to clear out excess inventory - it usually starts at "30% off" and increases 10% every week until the stuff is gone. The sale usually includes a couple of decent board games, and the guys over at BoardGameGeek usually give a heads up if there are any decent titles - this year, the standouts were Don Quixote and The Adventurers. I checked the B&N near my work as soon as I heard about the sale, but they were cleared out of board games. A couple of weeks later, my wife went to meet a friend at a different Barnes & Noble, so I tagged along - I was surprised to find three copies of Don Quixote still in stock at that store! It's a decent little tile-laying/settlement-building game, and is good for 1-4 players (my wife & I are always on the lookout for board games that are 2-player friendly). I look forward to trying it out, and at the price I paid it's a welcome addition to my collection...
A couple of times a year, Barnes & Noble has a sale to clear out excess inventory - it usually starts at "30% off" and increases 10% every week until the stuff is gone. The sale usually includes a couple of decent board games, and the guys over at BoardGameGeek usually give a heads up if there are any decent titles - this year, the standouts were Don Quixote and The Adventurers. I checked the B&N near my work as soon as I heard about the sale, but they were cleared out of board games. A couple of weeks later, my wife went to meet a friend at a different Barnes & Noble, so I tagged along - I was surprised to find three copies of Don Quixote still in stock at that store! It's a decent little tile-laying/settlement-building game, and is good for 1-4 players (my wife & I are always on the lookout for board games that are 2-player friendly). I look forward to trying it out, and at the price I paid it's a welcome addition to my collection...
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Kovnik Grigorovich - Painted
I painted up my Kovnik Grigovich model:
Kovnik Grigovich is cool unit attachment that can make motivational speeches every turn, that give some very cool buffs to allied units. He got the same paintjob as the Winter Guard, pretty much, since that's who he rolls with - I would have liked to give the face/hair a lot more attention on this model, but impatience got the best of me. There are tons of seams/details on the coat (the back of it, too), and all his medals, etc. - I was just ready to be done with this model.
Kovnik Grigovich is cool unit attachment that can make motivational speeches every turn, that give some very cool buffs to allied units. He got the same paintjob as the Winter Guard, pretty much, since that's who he rolls with - I would have liked to give the face/hair a lot more attention on this model, but impatience got the best of me. There are tons of seams/details on the coat (the back of it, too), and all his medals, etc. - I was just ready to be done with this model.
Monday, August 22, 2011
New Board Game: Merchants of the Middle Ages
I found a pretty good deal on Tanga the other day:
(For those of you unfamiliar with Tanga, it's a "one-deal-a-day" site, similar to W00t, but frequently features board games). Recently a flood of titles from Z-Man Games, one of my favorite publishers, began appearing on Tanga - apparently Z-Man has been sold to French publisher Filosofia. (Not too worry, word on the street is that Zev is staying on as an employee, and availability of titles shouldn't be affected much). Merchants of the Middle Ages is one of the better-reviewed Z-Man titles, but Settlers of Catan is the only game most people think about when it comes to the "resource control" family of games. The game is beautiful and the pieces look to be high-quality, I look forward to playing it!
(For those of you unfamiliar with Tanga, it's a "one-deal-a-day" site, similar to W00t, but frequently features board games). Recently a flood of titles from Z-Man Games, one of my favorite publishers, began appearing on Tanga - apparently Z-Man has been sold to French publisher Filosofia. (Not too worry, word on the street is that Zev is staying on as an employee, and availability of titles shouldn't be affected much). Merchants of the Middle Ages is one of the better-reviewed Z-Man titles, but Settlers of Catan is the only game most people think about when it comes to the "resource control" family of games. The game is beautiful and the pieces look to be high-quality, I look forward to playing it!
Friday, August 19, 2011
War Dog - Painted
I finished painting my Khador War Dog:
As I mentioned previously, the War Dog is cool attachment for your warcaster that pretty much lets him move wherever he wants, without having to worry about free strikes. I modeled a drop-off on the base, so he looks like he's jumping down off a ledge This is because the pose looks kinda silly if he's on flat ground - I see what the sculptor was going for, and I appreciate a dynamic pose as much as the next guy, but it just looked odd - like he was doing a one-legged "paw stand". Some readers commented on the previous post and asked about converting the dog to different pose - I think this would be really difficult, as the way the back legs are positioned would require major re-sculpting. (Not that I'm not up for a challenge, but I was in a hurry to get him table-ready, so I went with this solution).
As I mentioned previously, the War Dog is cool attachment for your warcaster that pretty much lets him move wherever he wants, without having to worry about free strikes. I modeled a drop-off on the base, so he looks like he's jumping down off a ledge This is because the pose looks kinda silly if he's on flat ground - I see what the sculptor was going for, and I appreciate a dynamic pose as much as the next guy, but it just looked odd - like he was doing a one-legged "paw stand". Some readers commented on the previous post and asked about converting the dog to different pose - I think this would be really difficult, as the way the back legs are positioned would require major re-sculpting. (Not that I'm not up for a challenge, but I was in a hurry to get him table-ready, so I went with this solution).
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Board Games: Castle Ravenloft & Seafarers of Catan
...as I mentioned in my post about Origins 2011, I was fortunate enough to win a promo pass for GenCon this year. Unfortunately, the wife & I had already bought our badges, and getting one refunded & re-buying a badge with the promo pass looked like it was going to be an exercise in frustration, so I floated the idea of a mutually advantageous trade out there to some friends - one of them was thinking of going to GenCon anyway, and had a few board games on my wish list:
I've heard nothing but good things about Castle Ravenloft and have been thinking of picking it up for a while. Sefarers of Catan has actually been on my convention shopping list for a few years now, but the wife & I kind of hit the point of burnout with the Catan games last year, so I haven't been in any rush - this copy is still in the shrinkwrap, and now I have all the expansions to the base game.
I've heard nothing but good things about Castle Ravenloft and have been thinking of picking it up for a while. Sefarers of Catan has actually been on my convention shopping list for a few years now, but the wife & I kind of hit the point of burnout with the Catan games last year, so I haven't been in any rush - this copy is still in the shrinkwrap, and now I have all the expansions to the base game.
Monday, August 15, 2011
New Airbrush Compressor
I was browsing Craigslist the other day and came across an ad for some airbrush stuff - I went and checked it out and wound up getting this compressor for a song:
It's a Testor's compressor that has a much stronger motor than the Harbor Freight compressor I've been using - it's also got a built-in cooling fan & runs a bit quieter than my current one, which is nice. Sitting behind it in the pic is a Paasche single-action airbrush that the guy threw in - this will be handy when I want to spray varnish or Future acrylic wax, but don't want to risk gumming up one of my good airbrushes...
It's a Testor's compressor that has a much stronger motor than the Harbor Freight compressor I've been using - it's also got a built-in cooling fan & runs a bit quieter than my current one, which is nice. Sitting behind it in the pic is a Paasche single-action airbrush that the guy threw in - this will be handy when I want to spray varnish or Future acrylic wax, but don't want to risk gumming up one of my good airbrushes...
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Butcher of Khardov - Painted
I finished painting my Butcher of Khardov warcaster:
...although Karchev the Terrible was the first warcaster that I bought outside of the Battlegroup box, it turned out that I liked the playstyle of The Butcher a lot better - I've been using him almost exclusively, and I got tired of playing with a primered model every week, so I decided to paint him up. I'm pretty pleased with how he came out, considering that I wasn't going for a competition-quality paint job or anything. I find myself using a lot of Citadel Tin Bitz on my Warmachine models, as it really seems to fit the steampunk aesthetic in general, and the grimy, industrial feel of the Khador forces in particular - funny, because although I love the color, I never really found a good place to use it in my 40K armies. I also learned a few tricks for painting/shading faces at the classes I took at Origins this year, and I think they really helped on this model...
...although Karchev the Terrible was the first warcaster that I bought outside of the Battlegroup box, it turned out that I liked the playstyle of The Butcher a lot better - I've been using him almost exclusively, and I got tired of playing with a primered model every week, so I decided to paint him up. I'm pretty pleased with how he came out, considering that I wasn't going for a competition-quality paint job or anything. I find myself using a lot of Citadel Tin Bitz on my Warmachine models, as it really seems to fit the steampunk aesthetic in general, and the grimy, industrial feel of the Khador forces in particular - funny, because although I love the color, I never really found a good place to use it in my 40K armies. I also learned a few tricks for painting/shading faces at the classes I took at Origins this year, and I think they really helped on this model...
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
GenCon 2011 Trip Report, Pt. II
Saturday
On Saturday the wife & I both overslept - we had a game of Carcassonne scheduled for 10AM, but missed it. We decided to take it easy for most of the day - we went out exploring around Indianapolis a bit. When it came time for lunch, we wandered over to the Hyatt-Regency and went to One South, which was completely deserted:
This was actually one of our best meals of the trip - I got the Italian beef sandwich, and my wife got the pastrami:
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and spent an hour or so in the pool & hot tub. After a bit, I headed back over to the Dealer Room to see what trouble I could get into - I actually had some money burning a hole in my pocket, as there was a quite a bit of stuff that I was planning on buying that wasn't available; as I mentioned before, I wasn't able to get a Crokinole board, and nobody had an Inquisitor Karamazov model available. I had been considering Descent or Twilight Imperium from Fantasy Flight, but didn't see copies of either at their booth. I had expected Super Dungeon Explore from Soda Pop Miniatures to be available at the show, but it was still a pre-order only. I stopped by the Catalyst booth to get a copy of Levithans, but it wasn't out yet either. Eventually I wandered by the Battlefoam booth - I had picked up a P.A.C.K. 216 at Origins to organize all my paints & tools, but I had a few dozen that wouldn't fit - I decided to pick up another one:
I originally requested two of the trays for Vallejo/Reaper paint bottles, as I've been moving more towards Reaper paints, and one P3 tray instead of the tool tray that is usually included with the 216 - they were sold out of the P3 trays and offered to ship it to me, but instead I decided to go with a pluck foam tray, as I really don't see myself winding up with 50 bottles of P3 paint (I have over 150 colors of GW / Vallejo / Reaper / P3 / Rackham paints already). With the pluck foam, I can customize it to carry all the "miscellaneous" bottles into one tray. I also almost talked myself into buying a P.A.C.K. Mini, just because every time I look at one I think of a thousand uses for it. but decided to hold off for the time being.
Next I headed to my only painting event of the day, Painting Non-Metallic Metals: Practice and Theory with Zach Lanier. This was by far the stand-out seminar of the convention for me - I always intend to try painting non-metallic metals, but I've always wound up getting intimidated and just using metallics and a wash. Zach laid out the process in a very logical, easy-to-understand manner, and I feel much more confident about giving it a try. We had some time left over at the end of the class, and Zach was able to give us a demonstration:
He also let us drool over his collection of award-winning models:
After the seminar, I decided to head back to the hotel room - I actually had a ticket to play in the Privateer Press Iron Arena, but was feeling pretty beat, so I cashed the ticket in and went to get some dinner with the wife...
Sunday
On Sunday the wife & I woke up early and got everything packed up and loaded into the car, since we had to check out of our hotel by 11AM. We moved the car to the parking garage at the Circle Centre Mall and headed in for our last day of Gencon.
It's become a bit of a tradition for my wife & I to play a game of Munchkin when we go to conventions, and this year was no different - we headed to the Steve Jackson Games area for a game of Munchkinomicon:
This went exactly as a game of Munchkin should, with everyone progressing pretty much equally until someone got to level 9, then everyone would team up and deliver a beatdown to said player. Me & another guy got pretty close, but he won in the end (actually because another player didn't have anything to play besides an "all clerics go up a level" card - most unsatisfying loss ever). After this game, the wife told me "If you want to go to the Dealer Room, this is your last chance." Of course she didn't have to tell me twice! I swung back by the Battlefoam booth, as by this point I had talked myself into the P.A.C.K. Mini:
I also swung by the Reaper booth, as I wanted to pick up a set of their awesome Mousling figures:
They also had a pretty good deal on a GenCon-exclusive "basic colors" paint set - I picked up one of these, as I'm going to be replacing my GW & Vallejo Game Color paints with Reaper & Vallejo Model Air as they run out.
After the final lap of the dealer room, we went to the mall and grabbed some lunch, then hit the road - another GenCon in the bag!
General Thoughts About GenCon 2011
-As I said, there was a lot of stuff I wanted to buy that wasn't available, or companies that weren't there - really, guys? You're going to skip GenCon?
-The layout of the Dealer Room was kinda screwy - there were whole areas I think I missed because the layout was weird.
-The swag bag was a slight improvement this year - it included a Magic deck, True Dungeon token, a full retail copy of Rift (strange choice, but whatever), and a coupon for a free D6 from Crystal Caste. (At Origins, and at previous years at GenCon, they just threw a D6 in every bag - this year, you had to go to the Crystal Caste booth & redeem the coupon. I didn't bother, since the GenCon die was identical to the Origins die this year).
-The Fantasy Flight booth was awesome. The Wizards of the Coast booth kinda sucked.
-I didn't get a chance to check out Space Marine, because the booth was hidden in one of the weird pockets of warp-time in the Dealer Room.
-It was kind of nice to see WizKids with a substantial convention presence again.
-The new spaces at the Indiana Convention Center are nice, but since they didn't use a lot of the old space (the entire Exhibit Hall "D", several of the ballrooms, etc.) the con actually felt more crowded than in past years.
-If you bring a rolling suitcase or stroller into the Dealer Room, we should legally be allowed to kill & eat you.
...and that's about it for GenCon 2011 coverage. That puts and end to all the "major" conventions of my season, but I'll be going to at least one more regional convention this year!
On Saturday the wife & I both overslept - we had a game of Carcassonne scheduled for 10AM, but missed it. We decided to take it easy for most of the day - we went out exploring around Indianapolis a bit. When it came time for lunch, we wandered over to the Hyatt-Regency and went to One South, which was completely deserted:
This was actually one of our best meals of the trip - I got the Italian beef sandwich, and my wife got the pastrami:
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and spent an hour or so in the pool & hot tub. After a bit, I headed back over to the Dealer Room to see what trouble I could get into - I actually had some money burning a hole in my pocket, as there was a quite a bit of stuff that I was planning on buying that wasn't available; as I mentioned before, I wasn't able to get a Crokinole board, and nobody had an Inquisitor Karamazov model available. I had been considering Descent or Twilight Imperium from Fantasy Flight, but didn't see copies of either at their booth. I had expected Super Dungeon Explore from Soda Pop Miniatures to be available at the show, but it was still a pre-order only. I stopped by the Catalyst booth to get a copy of Levithans, but it wasn't out yet either. Eventually I wandered by the Battlefoam booth - I had picked up a P.A.C.K. 216 at Origins to organize all my paints & tools, but I had a few dozen that wouldn't fit - I decided to pick up another one:
Next I headed to my only painting event of the day, Painting Non-Metallic Metals: Practice and Theory with Zach Lanier. This was by far the stand-out seminar of the convention for me - I always intend to try painting non-metallic metals, but I've always wound up getting intimidated and just using metallics and a wash. Zach laid out the process in a very logical, easy-to-understand manner, and I feel much more confident about giving it a try. We had some time left over at the end of the class, and Zach was able to give us a demonstration:
After the seminar, I decided to head back to the hotel room - I actually had a ticket to play in the Privateer Press Iron Arena, but was feeling pretty beat, so I cashed the ticket in and went to get some dinner with the wife...
Sunday
On Sunday the wife & I woke up early and got everything packed up and loaded into the car, since we had to check out of our hotel by 11AM. We moved the car to the parking garage at the Circle Centre Mall and headed in for our last day of Gencon.
It's become a bit of a tradition for my wife & I to play a game of Munchkin when we go to conventions, and this year was no different - we headed to the Steve Jackson Games area for a game of Munchkinomicon:
This went exactly as a game of Munchkin should, with everyone progressing pretty much equally until someone got to level 9, then everyone would team up and deliver a beatdown to said player. Me & another guy got pretty close, but he won in the end (actually because another player didn't have anything to play besides an "all clerics go up a level" card - most unsatisfying loss ever). After this game, the wife told me "If you want to go to the Dealer Room, this is your last chance." Of course she didn't have to tell me twice! I swung back by the Battlefoam booth, as by this point I had talked myself into the P.A.C.K. Mini:
I also swung by the Reaper booth, as I wanted to pick up a set of their awesome Mousling figures:
They also had a pretty good deal on a GenCon-exclusive "basic colors" paint set - I picked up one of these, as I'm going to be replacing my GW & Vallejo Game Color paints with Reaper & Vallejo Model Air as they run out.
After the final lap of the dealer room, we went to the mall and grabbed some lunch, then hit the road - another GenCon in the bag!
General Thoughts About GenCon 2011
-As I said, there was a lot of stuff I wanted to buy that wasn't available, or companies that weren't there - really, guys? You're going to skip GenCon?
-The layout of the Dealer Room was kinda screwy - there were whole areas I think I missed because the layout was weird.
-The swag bag was a slight improvement this year - it included a Magic deck, True Dungeon token, a full retail copy of Rift (strange choice, but whatever), and a coupon for a free D6 from Crystal Caste. (At Origins, and at previous years at GenCon, they just threw a D6 in every bag - this year, you had to go to the Crystal Caste booth & redeem the coupon. I didn't bother, since the GenCon die was identical to the Origins die this year).
-The Fantasy Flight booth was awesome. The Wizards of the Coast booth kinda sucked.
-I didn't get a chance to check out Space Marine, because the booth was hidden in one of the weird pockets of warp-time in the Dealer Room.
-It was kind of nice to see WizKids with a substantial convention presence again.
-The new spaces at the Indiana Convention Center are nice, but since they didn't use a lot of the old space (the entire Exhibit Hall "D", several of the ballrooms, etc.) the con actually felt more crowded than in past years.
-If you bring a rolling suitcase or stroller into the Dealer Room, we should legally be allowed to kill & eat you.
...and that's about it for GenCon 2011 coverage. That puts and end to all the "major" conventions of my season, but I'll be going to at least one more regional convention this year!
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