Ridiculous violence in the Underhive!

   After pimping my favorite game of all time to the guys in my DnD group, we had the opportunity to give it a go.  I was so geeked- my gaming group playing my favorite game!!!  

  We started in the Zone Mortalis with the Orlocks and the Goliaths- I was hearkening back to the origins of the game and the first starter box!  But I wanted to keep it in the tunnels as this allows us to focus on the fighters themselves.  The Goliath gangers are focused on the melee side of the game while the Orlocks were sure to bring their guns and even a Harpoon gun.  

  In both of the games that we 'intro'd', each of the gangs did their thing.  The Orlocks shot through the brutes in the first battle and the Goliaths blasted the bikers in the second.  Unfortunately, we didn't play through the close combat rules or group activations yet.  But they got the gist of the game.

  Then we moved over to the newly finished Refinorium terrain and got to play with the 3d aspect, and it was awesome!  We used the same gangs as the previous day to make sure to get a strong grasp of the rules and the personalities.  After all- this is a game of characters!

  Using the majority of the terrain but not including any of the pipes to run the ground, this battlefield was set up to really focus on the vertical movement with ladders and cover at top layers.  In the first battle, the Golaiths were able to charge and damage the Orlocks enough to 'bottle'.  We got to see some amazing moments, however, such as Zed using that harpoon gun to cause mass havoc, a shotgun blast that knocked three of the brutes to the deck, slowing their inevitable charge, and hypothetical injuries that just added to the story.  

  From there, it was only natural to reset the board (we just rotated the table) and to pick out the crews from all of the options.  After all, they were now familiar with the weapons, stats, and alternating action foundation to the game.  And their choices were interesting- Rocky and Zed were kept for the Orlocks, while Skullsplitter and Korg were kept for the Goliaths.  There were some other minor changes to the crews but this battle was focused on capitalizing on those successes.  Unfortunately, it didn't work as Zed's harpoon ran out of ammo, Rocky took so much damage that he simply bled out, and Korg ran rampant over all the bikers!  It was brutal, and it wasn't crew selection.  

  It was an absolute blast and the guys really dug it!  We might be able to set up a campaign and even have some esoteric gangs join the fun (ah, modern technology...).  I am excited to possibly have another sustainable game for the group.  Selfishly, I like gaming!

On that note, Happy Gaming!

The Lion is back

   It has been a long time since I mentioned the First Legion.  They are still my second favorite Chapter (after my Ultramarines, of course!) due to the awesomeness of their storyline.  But everyone knows that the army was not good for a very long time.  Well, that's changed since my last dive.  

  The craziest thing is that their Primarch has recently returned, slapped around Angron a bit, and now unites the Legionnaires as he crawls his way across the galaxy.  Yes, this means even those with the black armor of old are now fighting alongside those in green!  And in the gaming world, the rules make him the most powerful- specifically with the inclusion of "Always Strikes First".  I'm always a little sad that Bobby G isn't as good, even as he wields the Emprah's Sword, but at least the Lion is on my side.

from SpikeyBitz

  That all being said, my son bought the model for his army and then demanded that I paint it for him.  While flattered, I've been so bad at actually getting to the project as it was simply pushed back in priority over and over again.  Well, I guess it might be time to paint him.  

  He sub-assembled the model so that I'd be able to paint the robes underneath and all the details.  This will lead to some fun as I try to to match the black armor that you see above.  Layer-after-layer of bone color and green are gonna be a blast.  

  That's as far as I've gotten right now, but I'm going to be putting some work into it over the next little while.  Even more, I'm going to remember my lights so that I can get better photos!  Stay tuned to see the progress.  

Happy Hobbying!

The refinorium is built!

   This week was all about getting the Sector Mechanicum terrain finished.  In my last post, I showed off how much stuff there was to complete.  It took a little less than a week (because I injured myself and couldn't work as fast as I needed) and my son helped.  We finished it all (at least to a table-ready standard) the night before gameday.  Assembly line process for the win!

  With the painting frenzy over, we did a little 'admiring' before retiring.  In fact, we even got into a stacking battle trying to see who could get their tower the tallest.  My son barely won.  It was a blast taking advantage of that modular nature of all the terrain.  GW knew what they were doing (we both even agreed that we wanted another set...)

  After cleaning up the fallen piles, we discussed our future plans to bring these up to a crazy-awesome standard.  Pipes, hoses, control panels, and other details could be picked out to really 'step-it-up', but it was late and these were ready to be used.  

  There were some things that we didn't paint- all the ladders, the hanging accessories, and even the prometheum pipes.  I didn't plan on using everything and making the most awesome board just yet.  So some stuff was deferred to allow for project roll-out.  

  Next post will be about the games themselves, showing off the terrain in-use.  This counts as another quick project completed with far too little time.  Now I have to find another- oh yeah!  Don't forget that I'm working on the Only War stuff too!

Happy Hobbying!

Only War still going

   This project is now 2 months behind schedule.  I'm a prolific planner but an expert procrastinator, so one can imagine the friction that can cause.  At any given time, I have two projects going at the minimum and this one has been part of the workbench for that long already.  I am worried that my very gracious buddy will think that I'm ignoring his grace.  

  There are some obstacles.  First, my work schedule kicks up during the holidays (physically harder than retail, I tell ya!), then the weather has been atrociously random (humid, then hot, then humid and hot, and now humid and cold- none of it as good conditions for priming models), and I may have just bit off more than I can chew.  Back in the old days, I had an entire shop, and entire staff, and new tools and materials to make everything easy.  Now it's just me, my leftovers, and the one room in my house that the wife let's me get away with bogarting for this stuff.  All of these obstacles are just me making excuses though, and that's not very professional.

  In project management, you learn how apt the "cheap, high quality, and fast, but only two out-of-three" addage is.  Since I already achieved the 'cheap' part (did I mention how humble I feel for my buddy's grace?) and am obviously destroying any hope of 'fast', I need to make sure that this is high quality.  And for that, I am trying out some techniques.  

  This Only War set is packed with detail and absolutely stunning from top-to-bottom.  While certainly less intensive than the GW Cityfight buildings, there is still a lot to paint up.  Because I lack the time to paint in each nook and cranny (crack and crevice or whatever other pair of terms you'd prefer), I'm going to invent my own wash.  But there's some prep to do first.  In my last post about this terrain, you'll note that I already primed the buildings and even airbrushed on the coffee brown color for the bricks.  I then chose two of the ruins with the most universal details to test.

  The first step was adding in the basecoats of the two main colours- silver and brown.  I used Ironbreaker (GW) for the window shades and all the metal reinforcment, and I used Rhinox Hide (GW) for the wooden planks nailed across the windo.  Obviously, there was spillover, so I just mixed some coffee brown and Abaddon Black (GW) together for the touchup.  

  Next up is one of the most important steps in the experiment- I need to varnish these pieces!  And not just any varnish- it has to be a glossy varnish.  The reason for this is so that my home-made wash needs the smooth surface to run across and be wiped away (those that paint with enamel washes know what I'm going for here).  Hopefully, the Rustoleum Universal Clear Topcoat is the answer, but it didn't spray out too kindly.  Here's to hopin'!

  Once that sets and dries, it will be time to pull out the ingredients for my wash.  That will be another post, so stay tuned!  And as always, check this terrain set out and Happy Hobbying!