Saturday, March 17, 2018

March Update

Hi all,
Wow its a been a long while since I last posted! I have unfortunately gotten out of the rythm of posting and coupled with a painting comission, work and sick kids its meant a long absence of posts. I have been getting some stuff done though.

I just completed a painting comission for some Warhammer guys. Overall I am really happy with how they turned out. I got to do some modelling with some greenstuff which was fun and new.

I added a bunch of thick hair to this one and used the extra to create a broken earth base.

Added a magical whirlwind to the wizard.

Wizard and Daemoness

Wizard and Daemoness gain - The lava base for the daemoness turned out better than I was hoping it would.

Wizard and Daemoness - This is probably the best picture of the painted whirlwind coming of the wizard's hand.

Black Orc Warboss

Black Orc Warboss - I was really excited with house the leather cape turned out.

I have also been very busy working on some 3d terrain in 10mm scale. Once I get a few more buildings designed I will probably put them up for sale on Pinshape or Shapeways. I would really like to do a couple of modular buildings for use with Dropzone Commander but I haven't made much progress with that yet.

Here's a few of the buildings and storage containers I have designed so far. 

I also still need to get pictures taken of my painted Cygnar forces and put them up. I got my Caine's Hellslingers painted as well as a bunch of my trencher units. I have just been slacking in the pictures department recently as well. Hopefully that will be changing sometime soon.

On a different note there is a game on Kickstarter I am really interested in call Architects of the West.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shem/architects-of-the-west-kingdom?ref=discovery
I have backed several of this guys previous projects, (Shipwrights of the North Sea and Explorers of the North Sea), and have really enjoyed them. My family seems to really enjoy the worker placement type games so I am still debating but I think I am going to back this one or at the very least pick it up once its released.

Thanks for reading and I hope to post again soon.


Friday, December 8, 2017

December Update

Well, its December and I just realized that I never posted an update for November. To be totally fair there hasn't been a lot of work done on the hobby front over the past 6-8 weeks. I'm still plugging away at the painting commission I accepted.

I did pick up a few new Warmachine Retribution models: Some House Shyeel Arcanists, a Lys Healer and a Voidtracer.

In addition to that my son, brother-in-law and I decided to started to play both Dropzone and Dropfleet Commander. I elected to start a Shaltari force after some research. I debated between the UCM, Scourge and Shaltari. The ranged firepower and teleportation tactics for the Shaltari eventually won me over. I picked up a frigate box for Dropfleet and I am debating on color schemes. I am very much looking forward to the release of the Battle Fleet boxes.

For dropzone commander I picked up a Shaltari starter box, a Coyote warstrider and a Firedrake. My son has picked up the PHR starter, a set of Sirens and Tritons. I had been apprehensive of trying this game out but I am glad we did. The rules are fairly straight forward and we flew through our first game together earlier this week and had a blast I might add. We ended in a draw as we only had time to play 3 turns and had both managed to claim one objective.

I have also been using my 3d printer to make bases for my new Shaltari hover tanks and for my new Warmachine characters. I have also been working on some 10mm buildings for use with Dropzone. The first couple have a dersert/scavanger feel to them. I would like to do some large apartment or business buildings for a city and have some ideas that I need to design.


I have heard that Warcradle has released some new renders for Dystopian Wars and Armored Clash. From the little that I have read they are mixing the Dystopian Wars IP with their own Wild West Exodus to create the Dystopian Age IP which will have their Wild West Exodus as a skirmish game, Armored clash has become a 10mm land/air game and Dystopian Wars has been revised as a 1/1200 scale naval/air game. Unfortunately with the meshing of game worlds a number of the nations have changed. In particular, my Republique of France appears to no longer be apart of the game world or potentially has been absorbed by the Prussian Empire, time will tell. Warcradle has the a blog detailing some of this.

https://blog.wildwestexodus.com/blog/2017/12/1/unveiling-the-dystopian-age

Sorry I do not have more pictures this blog but I have not had much to photograph to be honest. Once I finish my painting commission I will try to knock out my Retribution or Shaltari forces. I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season. Thanks for reading and God bless.

Friday, October 6, 2017

October Update! Now with more Glacier King

Hello all,
It has been a fairly product few weeks at least until this week. I acquired a plague from a children which knocked me out for half of this week. Quite unpleasant! However, I am on the mend now and beginning to feel human again. Before getting sick I had made good progress on my commission and expanding my old game rules.

Ok, status update. On the Warmachine front I have greatly expanded my Cygnar forces. I haven't really taken any pictures of these guys because I haven't painted the majority of them but so far I think are my favorite faction.

Warcasters
Cain's Hellslingers
Allison Jakes

So far I have enjoyed using both of these casters - One nice thing about Allison Jakes is that I can also take her as a solo, albeit less powerful than her warcaster form.

Heavy Warjacks
Gallant
Centurion/Hammersmith

The Gallant has performed extremely well for me so far though it does not seem to have the best life expectancy. I haven't had a chance to field the centurion but I am extremely excited to do so. I have been debating on picking up a second Centurion/Hammersmith box depending on how it plays.

Light Warjacks
Lancer
Firefly

Both of these have played quite well though I have had better luck with the Lancer so far. I have been considering adding a sentinel to my lights as it would make a good shield guard potentially.

Solos
Katherine Laddermore (Dragoon)
Colby Sterling (Mercenary)
Harlan Versh

Other than Colby, I haven't had a chance to make much use of these. Colby is a mechanic and so has been quite useful the couple of games I have had her in keeping my jacks running. Harlan Versh combos well with Gallant, proving him with an extra focus each turn if within range. Laddermore is just a beast.

Units
Stormblade Infantry with weapon attachments
Sword Knights
Stormsmith Grenadiers
Stormsmith Stormtower

Both the Stormtower and Grenadiers have served me well in previous games. I have not had an opportunity to try out the Stormblades or Sword Knights just yet though I am definitely looking forward to fielding them.

This is where it gets a little crazy though. The pre-orders for all of the new trencher units has recently went up and I could not help myself but purchase a number of them to add to my expanding Cygnar battalion. So over the past week and half I have pre-ordered:
Trencher Express Team PiPlink
Trencher Mechanics PiPlink
Trencher Warcaster Lieutenant PiPlink
Trencher Long Gunners PiPlink
Trencher Patrol Dog PiPlink

As these are all pre-orders I will be receiving them sometime either this month or next month. Not to be left out my wife surprised me with a Glacier King a little over two weeks ago. He is magnificent!

This beast is going to look amazing when painted! My wife sure knows how to pick them! 
I acquired a MOD-T 3d printer recently to help with designing models for my game rules. I had spent quite a bit of time trying to find similar models to use instead but in the end I was never able to match what was in my head with what I was finding. Its been a fun process learning how to use the printer but I also recently discovered it was good for making base inserts which is the pink base you can see the glacier king standing on above.

Here's a pic of the models I designed for some of the 40mm base inserts I have designed so far. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture of them once printed.
Wow, this has a been a long rambling post. I really need to do these more often :) Last thing for this post is the map of the game world I am working on. I'm still finalizing locations and names but its in pretty good shape and I am extremely happy with how it is turning out.

This has been quite the learning experience with Corel Painter Essentials but also a lot of fun. Colored areas denote different nations. Still working on fleshing those out. 
Thanks for reading, I will endeavor to do smaller more frequent posts in the future. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Until next time.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Legion of Everblight - Archangel Painting


Hi all,
I'm Chris's brother in law an while I've been listed on the blog for 2 years its about time I make an actual post. I'm going to try and start posting my some of my Warmachine and Hordes army painting. I'll starting with one of the nicest mini's (IMHO) made by Privateer Press, although you can hardly call it a mini this thing is huge .
Legion of Everblight: Archangel, all assembled.
Bases coated, 1) Home Depot touch of color flat black spray base, 2) Tamiya fine surface grey spray primer.



To start all the skin was painted in Vallejo French Blue, all the scales are done in Vallejo Black and the wing membranes are a mix of Vallejo French blue and Vallejo Signal Blue. All paint was brush applied in several thin coats using a wet pallet. 


I'll update as I make progress on the model. 

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

September Update

Its been a pretty crazy couple of weeks. Between Spartan Games recent closing and the recent craziness of my real life job I have not had a whole lot to post about recently. I did complete painting a Firestorm Armada Terquai Patrol fleet.

I liked the contrast of the red/purple and teal.
I have also recently broken out an old set of rules for a naval combat game I started working on a long while back. I've started working on getting the maps cleaned up and finalizing the rules. My son has already volunteered to help me playtest the different nations and ships. Its been fun to dust off and get back into designing something. One of the reasons I had put it on hold previously was the fact that I could not acquire ship models to match the nations I created. I recently discovered TinkerCAD and Sculptris and have been using them to slowly generate models to use with the game. I will definitely be posting some updates as I make progress.

I recently started a large new painting commission  which will likely keep me busy over the next few weeks. I will try to post some progress pictures as I work through them. Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Firestorm Galaxy Expansion - Further Renders

Hi again! Just thought I would share a few more renders. The kickstarter is just a few hundred pounds short of being funded which is exciting. Its been nice to see the kickstarter regain some momentum, I'm hoping that it will make several stretch goals. Though unlikely, I really hope that the Illosians Stretch goal is made. We shall see.

New Directorate Light Destroyer- Very sleek and dangerous looking to me.

Heart of the Stars - Character Marauder Ship unlocked when funded for most pledge levels.

Relthoza Light Destroyer - I love this model! Definitely looking forward to acquiring these!

Sorylian Fleet Carrier - Very beefy in my opinion and surprisingly awesome looking!

Spartan redid the stretch goals for the kickstarter which seems to have helped with the resurgence of backers. Unfortunately, the campaign pack is no longer being listed as a stretch goal. I'm hoping that it will still be sold at some point as I am looking forward to setting up a campaign in the future.

I'm hoping for some more Aquan or Relthoza renders next but either way I am excited for the expansion sets! Thank you for reading!

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Firestorm Kickstarter - More Renders

Happy weekend all!

Spartan posted some new renders of the Sorylian and Dindrenzi light destroyers. Both of these look fantastic in my opinion. I'm very much hoping to see some Relthoza renders next!

Sorylian light destroyer - I really love the underslung weapons.

Dindrenzi light destroyer - The double rail guns look really good. I like how stocky/beefy this vessel looks. Looks like it hits pretty hard.

The kickstarter is currently at 91% funded and working its way closer to 100%. Within the next few days it should be funded and then we can start working on those stretch goals! Very excited! I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Thanks for reading!