Into the ruins of war...

   It has most certainly been some time since I posted.  Admittedly, this blog became a tertiary priority after work and adult responsibilities (as a hobby should).  However, still being barely an adult mentally, I never stopped playing with my toys and having a bit of game and hobby time wherever I could.  Emperor knows my sportsball teams are all tragically failing this year...

  Over the past year and some, we've enjoyed tons of 40k in 10th edition (I even have a few drafted posts about it, but never got around to the pesky proofreading and editing stages, so in draft-form they sit), and not with my typically tally of victories.  But those commiserations will be other posts. I've also been running a DnD campaign that has been outstanding (if not chaotic).  But that is on hiatus due to the holidays.  That will give me time to go even deeper into this crazy world I've created- so they can destroy it all (as gamers do)!

  Conflicting schedules and just weekly exhaustion prevent many dice-rolling contests, but hobbying on things can still scratch that itch and that's just what we've done.  Recruiting my wife and son (also my common gaming opponents), we dove into the Cityfight terrain for our 40k games.  (There's a huge reason here, but you'll have to drudge through my progress first to understand why that suddenly became a priority.)  These old GW Cityfight ruins are the focus of the majority of our 40k games and yet they sit unfinished.  With all the detail and the impact the rules for ruins have in-game, it was a shame and I decided that this was to be our urgent priority.  

  First, I cut a ton of bases from hardboard (or MDF).  Then, I dug out the 'ol arts & crafts bag and found the hot-glue gun.  I even dug out some old ruin walls that GW used to sell in a blister pack, some old Forgewold craters, and even a couple bits from the buildings themselves, and glued them into the bases to add 'grit'.  It's very tempting to fill the area with tons of debris and rubble, but it does bear remembering that you have to move models around.  Most importantly, I wanted each base to reflect a ruins, and the placement of the walls and building themselves really mattered.  This is to enhance the 'modular' nature of this terrain.  

  With a metric-ton (not literally- calm down!) of white glue (Elmers PVA- every parent already knows) and 25 lbs. of sand (that time was literal), we covered the bases inside the buildings and over all details.  It dried, we dumped and brushed away all the sand (we use that much to create the weight needed to hold the bases flat as the liquid dries and curls it) and it left behind a perfect platform for the next steps.  

  First came the sloppy basing of black paint all over the bases and even the bottoms of the buildings.  Layer after layer of the basic, acrylic craft paint from the Walmart isle was allowed to dry and soak all the way through the sand as a sealant.  Next came a heavy drybrush of the Pewter Gray color from that same acrylic brand over all the sand and craters.  Large, soft brushes and no care for the buildings on top, other than leaving some level of shading underneath were the tricks.  

  After that, I busted out the airbrush, struggled mightily, and finally got the floors painted in a way to contrast them from the bases and the buildings' walls.  I really need to practice with that thing more...  Finally, the flat parts of the bases outside the buildings were based heavily with Asphalt Gray as they were meant to be the sidewalks and 'blocks' that the buildings sit on.  Again, this is to enhance the modular nature of the terrain.   

Already playable in my mind!

  Now I had to bring the buildings themselves to life.  With the trusty bronze, bone, black, and silver, there was some basecoating to be done.  And it took a while.  Three sets of hands and a long night led to the washing step, which was the expected Agrax, Nuln, and Sepia.  But there were still some little details that needed to be attended...

  One of the buildings had a huge gap on the base behind it.  This would not look good on the tabletop unless there was something going on.  I decided that a 'loading zone' would be appropriate for no real reason, and the stripes needed to be painted before the pavement itself.  With a quick dash of yellow, I could finally get to the sidewalk part.  Note that I stippled the original Asphalt gray back over my sloppy lines to make them worn and faded already.  

  The finishing stages involved that artistic skill and personal touch that makes any terrain a worthy battlefield.  I started by drawing grids on the asphalt, giving the impression of our own modern sidewalks in front of and around buildings.  Using watered-down black (I don't want the lines to be perfect) and then highlighting those lines with a brighter gray (the pewter gray from the sand drybrush), I even went so far as to add the occasional crack or broken 'tile' to add that realism.  Then over all that was a progressive stipple of lighter grays within each square to accentuate everything and add weathering...

  A final trace of dark gray around the edges of the bases and the buildings were finally done!  It only took moving four states and two decades of time to finally finish this.  It was embarrassing that this wasn't done.  There was more work involved, especially on the wife's newer buildings and my ancient Shrine of the Aquila.  But I'll show those off later.  

This looks WAY better than our old boards!  A little paint goes a long way...

  We FINALLY completed this Cityfight stuff.  We have been playing with it for years, but it was always just a little underwhelming.  That was because there was some 'abstract' aspect of having destroyed walls just laid out on flat ground.  These buildings needed bases.  During my service in the Emprah's armies, I was taught that a beautiful battlefield motivates armies.  Which leads me to the reason this all became a priority so suddenly.

   Some of you may remember when I helped start a gaming group at my local comic shop.  Some of these guys became my buddies and became strong leaders in that group, advancing it until it became a very strong community that persists even after everyone moved out and on.  One of them (easily the coolest guy of them all) even went on to create a new community in his area and then start a company to address that most important part of a wargame- the terrain!

  This buddy (remember that I try to protect people's identities) is amazing and has always had a passion for everything!  He has a huge heart and an even bigger smile and always makes everyone around him happier just for being there.  Imagine a gaming group with someone like..  Now imagine that this passion translates into some of the best terrain you'll ever get.  When I received this stuff, I could instantly note my buddy's passion.  The quality is amazing!  

  Note how meticulously packed this box was.  The terrain is not heavy as it's printed, making it very easy to transport.  Better, the terrain is not frail and can take some handling- especially important for modular terrain that gets shuffled around the table between rounds.  And the details are crisp.  I will be sharing more images in the next post, but this teaser pic will show already some of the amazing detail.  My first impressions were beyond excited, as this was even better than I expected.  

  Please go check them out- my buddy's site is called "Only War" and is very much worth the visit.  A beautiful battlefield motives armies, and this stuff is beautiful.  I strongly suggest it and will be ordering another set soon (you only need one set for a full-size tournament layout, but I want another because of the quality alone).  And the creator is one of my buddies and an amazing person to boot!  More to come...

As always, Happy Hobbying!

  

Workers are going home...

   My last many posts have been about the construction project I've adopted- the new TTCombat terrain for our Necromunda games.  And we've finished this set this weekend!

  It's not the best paint job.  In fact, I decided that the rust-effect is the best as it hides the brushstrokes and adds that color that I was looking for.  This also matches the theme all too well considering that the Underhive isn't known for its pristine appearance.    

  We also took advantage of the airbrush for the grey and yellow.  It was a great learning experience as getting the paint to the proper consistency takes practice.  Unfortunately, we still have some learning to do and it turns out that yellow is even more difficult through an airbrush than with a paintbrush.

  For quick work with little experience, I'm pretty happy with the results.  Let's see:

  After layers of copper and silver came the sprayed layers of yellow.  That wasn't fun.  Then came the rust...

  Hours of work, including a little bit of weathering, and boom!  We now have something other than walkways and furnaces to battle over.  

  Remember that this is only one set of the Slum Blocks and one set of the Slum Stacks.  I still have more to build and paint, but this already presents enough terrain to have a good battle.  Have you been working on the setting of your games?  Let me know in the comments below.  

My name is not Jonas.  Happy Hobbying!

Construction update

   It's been a busy week and I've only gotten one game of 40k in, so I don't have too much to report.  But I've been hobbying a little and got some primer on the buildings.  

  It took two cans of primer to get all of this stuff caught up.  I found out that MDF absorbs paint so much that I had to prime to prime to prime before I can even consider putting paint on.  The thick puddles of primer on the surfaces made me nervous until I returned a couple hours later to find the wood-brown color still poking through.  Wow.

  But now that I'm up to this point, it's time to start considering the colors.  I'm even going to recruit my daughter to help as she's artistic and I have an airbrush that we all need practice with.  

  I'm really excited to have some Settlement-worthy terrain for my Necromunda battles.  I even realized that this new stuff is just as good for the Underhive as it is for the Ash Wastes.  And remember that I have way more to build, so I can even differentiate the two settings if I need to...

  This leads me to the first model built out of the Ash Wastes.  It was very, very fiddly and the pieces are so tiny that cutting off the frame-nubs was very stressful for me.  But the stress was very rewarding as the model is really awesome and reminded me of building fine model airplane kits when I was a kid.

  I kept the driver and gun-caddy separate so that the model is easier to paint.  Also, having a spare quad just lying around the battlefield might be a tempting reason for the gangs to scuffle...

  The battlefield is coming!  Have you been working on anything?  Let me know in the comments below.  Happy Hobbying!

Construction Progress

   I've never heard of a construction company putting out a progress report for the public before, but I'm going to be different- I'm going to show pics of the progress!  We've spent the last week just building these wonderful kits and it's been a blast.

  I spent a few dollars on this stuff and was quickly amazed when it showed up only a couple weeks later (remember, this is European).  I stashed it for a week, posted a blog about it, and then got to work.  In the span of a day full of distractions, we got to work.

  My favorite part of the project is that my wife jumped in headlong.  I gave her the giant air turbine and opened the instructions on the website and let her go.  She didn't have the confidence since she's never built this kind of terrain before (to be fair, I have very little experience with MDF terrain as well).  But she had no problems and I came home from work to find this:

  Super awesome!  And the scale is huge, meaning I can even hide Land Raider tanks behind it!  This is key as my terrain collection isn't exactly overflowing with LoS-blocking stuff...  Speaking of blocks- I spent that time working on the much simpler slum blocks.  In total, I built 15 separate buildings that can be stacked.  Including platforms and walkways, this is perfect for those populated areas of the Underhive.

  If I'm going to use it for a particular game, I need to test the scale.  Let's see how a Space Robot from Space looks: 

Perfect!

  Now that I have those built, I have to consider painting them.  I've done some research and it appears I am going to have to prime them before painting them.  Besides the overwhelming amount of ash dust from the laser-cutting process staining my hands, it also turns out the MDF also absorbs paint like a magical artifact.  This worries me as the detail isn't deep or wide, meaning it will basically disappear after that coating.  While I ponder the plan for this, I will spend more time building the rest of the kits:

  Have you been working on terrain lately?  Let me know in the comments below.  

Happy Hobbying!

Construction Season

   We've all been really busy at work lately.  With employees having personal needs and growth coming on like a tsunami, I haven't been able to lay down paint or even push some warriors around for the dice-toss.  Any of you that live in a big city knows that this isn't Spring or Summer; this is Construction Season.  The seas of orange cones and parked yellow tractors fill the various (and busiest) roadways.  The traffic patterns are my hobby time in this metaphor...

  Fortunately, those construction zones haven't stopped the money-spending, and the results of some recent purchases have arrived.  If you've kept up with the blog, you'll remember that I love terrain.  Because I'm not a creative person, I prefer to purchase terrain rather than build it (although I do have skills in that due to years of service to the Emprah).  And with my focus being Necromunda recently, slums and such have been the focus of those expenditures.  

  My favorite brand making terrain right now is TinkerTurf.  I've mentioned it before.  This week, I received the newest batch from their latest Kickstarter product.  The first set was based around stilted walkways and gantries while this one is focused on walls and defenses.  After all, where am I going to set up the market stuff that GW released recently?  This company made the terrain with Necromunda in mind and I happen to be a 'mundan!  You can check out their website and see their fantastic products here.  

  Speaking of the Underhive- not every environment is platforms and rickety crossings.  Sometimes, there might even be habitable structures there!  Getting bored with the mad dash across elevated levels, I went searching for hab blocks and slum stacks and found them.  This time, it was from a popular company known as TTCombat.  If you visit this link, you'll see why this terrain was perfect for what I was thinking.  With a good paint job and set up copying the movie "Ready Player One", this can really capture the slums of the Underhive mood that I'm going for.  Shootouts and gang raids tend to happen in settlements, they say...

  Once work and life settle down a bit and I return to the workshop, construction season will start.  I may not have the cones (well, I do, but in a bit of a smaller scale), but there's going to be some disruptions to traffic as work begins.  That's all I have for the week!  Anyone else out there working on terrain, sprucing up that battlefield, creating a new setting for war?  Let me know in the comments below.  

Happy Hobbying!

The things my wife is into...

  I can proudly say that my efforts over the last two decades has paid off.  My wife is a hobbyist.  But it's rather strange the things that she enjoys...

  First off, she's much more into AoS than 40k.  In fact, she has an equivalent amount of undead as I do Ultramarines (and I have the high credit card debt to prove it).  While I have plenty of Fantasy armies (Aelves, Free Peoples, Slaves to Darkness, Greenskins), she can equal most of them with just skeletons and ghosts.  Worse, her Legions of Nagash and Nighthaunt are already mostly painted while I have exactly one model painted from my Ironjaws.  It's embarrassing. 

  Second, my wife loves 'fantasy' more than scifi.  This is obvious not only in the point above but in her D&D choices and even board games that we play.  The best example I have is the Joan of Arc game, where she is not interested in the massive French cavalry charges or royal intrigue that drives the story.  Oh no- she wants ghosts and skeletons and zombies and werewolves and the Devil (in whatever form)!  There seems to be some consequences to all those years of work...

  Finally, she's imbued with the luck in games that I, AN ACTUAL GAMER, don't seem to enjoy.  While I have been known to do well in tournies and even help some others refine their style, she just wins.  Like, doesn't even know how she does it wins.   Undead making FNP saves like champs, hitting with every attack from a Harbinger unit, and even playing soccer with a Knight against hordes of renegades!  It can be frustrating, and my son is more often the victim than I am (which may explain his disdain of AoS). 

  I've done such a good job of dragging my wife into the hobby that she's even started a blog.  In this blog, she discusses all sorts of things about life.  I took notice when she posted some work that she'd done, because it was more undead that already gave me nightmares.  And she did a fantastic job at it.  This Mourngul, courtesy of my buddy in his quest to see me lose hard and often, has been in the wife's army a number of times already and I've found the only way to handle it is to stay very far away.  It won't die and it puts out insane damage.  Check it out!

 

  She did a great post on her blog all about it and I recommend checking it out.  My love of the hobby and posting about it has rubbed off on her- SUCCESS!  And that Mourngul does not look friendly...

  Have you had any impressive 'conversion' stories like this?  We know wives and partners can often be resistant, but so can friends!  Let me know the story in the comments below.  

Happy Hobbying!

If I can't play, I'll watch...

  Well, it turns out that I forgot to plan for a post today and I've got to come up with something extemporaneously.  And all this while I listen to Matt Mercer lead his party through a goblin town...  That made me think that I could write something about my RPGs, but I haven't had the opportunity to play in some time.  I've been scouring the blogosphere just looking for something to get excited about, but the conspiracies and exceptions to Star Trek, X-wing, and even some of those video games doesn't really do anything for me.  I've even pulled out some older games, like Heroquest, just to enjoy a short spat of nostalgia.  But again, nothing that I can randomly write about.  So what shall it be today?

  What about the state of 40k?  We recently finished with the largest tournament and the ITC circuit- crowning a new champion until next 'season'.  Everyone seems to have an opinion on the game after that and it's not often positive.  I want to respond every time and remind people that it's a game and that there are plenty of other boxes on the shelf if 40k is so bad.  But I find that gamer-nerds are obstinate at best (remember that I'm one of them, so I speak from a position of authority- proving that very point!) and my opinions will do nothing to shift theirs when we disagree.  You all know that I LOVE this edition of the game, so I'm not going to waste time trying to prove it.  As we can see, that almost got me excited enough to post about it, but it still wasn't enough.  So what next?

  Ooooh, I know!  While I get to play 40k almost every week (it's good having a captive audience- the family!), I still like to watch other people playing as well.  It's not only a way to learn tactics, but also to learn about armies that you may not play.  Better, it gives a great understanding of how others feel about the game.  As I mentioned above, many gamers out there seem to hate 40k and that makes no sense to me.  So watching others enjoy this game as much as I do is always a welcome plus.  Here's what I'm going to do- I'm going to list all the sites that I typically watch battle reports from so that you can enjoy them too.

Guerilla Miniature Games

  This is the site for someone I know personally- Ash.  He used to work for the Emprah like I did and he knows his stuff.  Ash invites buddies over and plays all kinds of games.  My favorite part is that he also brings out some of the 'oldies' and plays them as well.  For us old and crotchety gamers that have done this for a few decades, it's nice to see some of those long-forgotten gems.  Also, Ash's production quality is outstanding! 

Miniwargaming
  Our neighbors to the north (WAY north of where I live) also happen to do a fantastic job.  Matt, Steve, and the rest of the boys are very energetic and not altogether the most refined gaming group.  They may get a rule or tactic wrong here and there, but they have beautifully-painted models and terrain and they aren't trying to break the game when they play.  In fact, Steve is my favorite by far as his enthusiasm is downright contagious. 

Mountain Miniatures Gaming
  Speaking of Steve, he's got his own channel and still takes advantage of his connections with MWG.  Fantastic models, terrain, and oodles of excitement over every die roll makes these battle reports great to watch!  He knows his rules very well and is very good at explaining things to his opponent without sounding condescending.  He's just too much fun to miss out every week. 

The Long War
  If you're looking for higher-end competition and a bit of machismo, then this is the site to visit.  In fact, my son is a 'Veteran' (meaning that he's a paid subscriber) and gets tons of cool access and even some baubles for signing up and staying a member.  Kenny, Rob, and the rest of the guys are obviously very focused on this and even have a weekly podcast that can illuminate much of the tactics and ambiguous rules for gamers that aren't the rulers of their local 'meta'. 

Critical Role
  This is a bit non-sequitor, but I'm a D&D player deep underneath the grimdark armor and I have to get my RPG fix once in a while.  I've been listening to Matt for years (he even looks like me and my brother, but with longer hair and no glasses- that's a handsome fellow!) and he does what I do.  In fact, he and I share the same DM style (we're talking voices, acting, deep-dive stories, and even props from the party!) and that makes me love watching him even more.  And the group he plays with is... odd, which only makes it better. 

Frontline Gaming
  Getting back to the minis and grimdark, this is a group that was specifically involved in the development of the current game.  Reece, Frankie, and the rest of the boys were tapped by GW for playtesting and design and their impressions bring that background to the fore.  They understand the principles behind some of the rules designs and they are also highly competitive.  Looking for authoritative opinions (with some negative thrown in so it's not obvious that they're stumpers for the evil empire) or unique insight in 40k will bring you to these guys. 

The Basement Collective
  These two brothers are absolutely what I think this hobby could use more of.  They NEVER complain about the rules of the game (despite one of the brothers losing hugely when he does), care more about the models and the terrain, and generally just enjoy the gaming aspect of it.  They constantly try to entice people to subscribe to the channel with great prizes from tons of different miniatures companies, but I don't even think it's necessary.  These brothers illustrate the enjoyment of gaming more than anyone else on the interwebs, and it shows. 

Tabletop Tactics
  The best!!!  Spider, Bone, Stig, and Beard are all amazing!  The British lads spend a great deal of time getting ready for their weekly 'free view' battle reports and do much more for subscribers.  They are also partnered with GW (although I'm not sure that they were playtesters like the guys listed above) and so get everything just a bit early, which leads to batreps or podcasts that are just as useful as educational tools.  They know their stuff and Spider brings a sense of dignity to the group that is missing on many channnels.  Better, their battle reports are so much fun that I find myself yelling, crying, laughing, and screaming right along with them.  Best, they are competitive OR fluffy, and they'll let you know just how their armies could be built for tournaments.  It doesn't matter if you are a hardcore gamer or a beer-and-pretzels type, this group gets both!

  In case you can't tell, I watch lots of battle reports.  It's a great way to procrastinate from schoolwork (which I have no more of- woohoo!) or housework or even hobbying, especially if the batrep is that engaging.  My tournament-oriented buddy even watches many of these while hobbying, because you don't have to watch to learn.  Sometimes, just hearing is enough...

  While I have major problems with the excessive hateraid for this game, these are the sites that restore my faith in gamers.  If there's only one channel that I would suggest to watch for battle reports and tactical advise, it yould have to be TTT (Tabletop Tactics).  But every one of the sites I listed above has their charms and attractions, and some are even better at tactics or production value.  I can tell you that TTT is my favorite for sure.  Check them out and let me know what you think or if you have any sites that you frequent. 

Happy Gaming!