The Bare Bones

Something of an Undead theme this week as i've finished off Big Trev's Khemri Liche Priest and Battle Standard Bearer.

Same technique. At the just washed state on the left and with detail and highlight below. Hopefully there's you can tell the difference other than the state of the bases!

I'm pleased to have them all done and it's been interesting to paint some Fantasy figures for the first time in a while.

I've found myself scouting various Warhammer websites during lunch-breaks, especially Chaos Dwarves for some reason, but I still couldn't bring myself to play again.

It's a shame but the thought of actually playing a game makes my skin crawl. Hmmm :( I'm fairly that these boys will be appearing on a E-Bay page near you sometime soon. Says it all really!

Meanwhile on Tuesday night "down the Club" Ian donated us two packs of luxury choccie biccies and Charlie's dice donated me my first victory of the Uncharted Seas campaign.

It was just "one of those games" for Charlie. Wasps had similar against Bath last Saturday, though it hasn't cost Charlie a semi final place.

Not much he could do and I did FEEL suitably for him as all gamers have. Not that this stopped me taking the win.... as all gamers have!

I've pretty much decided to FINALLY get stuck into Space-Hulk, those figures are just SO excellent and I actually WANT to be playing the game. BIG difference!!

I've also had my eye on one of Hasslefree's Halflings to use for D&D when we swap over from Star Wars.

Anyway, it's payday and I fancy a curry.

Merry long weekend to you all!!

Aw, Mom your just jealous it's the BEASTIE BOYS!!

Two posts in one day! Just as well i'm sat down really.

I've finished Big Trev's nurgle bits and the two Khemri priests have had thier coat of wash.

I'll be having 10 points for the Nurglings, 4 for the big lad and 6 for the Champions to hit my big 2o for the month. Back of the net!!

I'm not quite sure what to go for next. Possibly some X-Box time and then FINALLY onto Space-Hulk. Revell's snap-kit Millenium Falcon could also be useful for the roleplay :)

Meanwhile, i'm off to the Wasps / Bath game at Twicks on Saturday which is great, though it does mean that i'll miss Salute which is a real shame. My wallet my thank me though and I do get a pre-match Wimpy!

Oh well, into every life and all that.

UPDATE: (26/04/2010)

I was really unhappy with the previous pics so having read the Fanatic article that Jon was good enough to copy me and having spent a few quid on some new light bulbs i've retaken them with the last light of the day and a white background. Much better :)

I need a HERO!!

Reading through 2000AD one evening not so very long ago I came across an advert for a new UK publication "from the makers of SFX"..... COMIC HEROES!!

After checking several local branches of WHSmith on release day I eventually made an online purchase. 'Twas a fairly hefty £8.99 but a set of 2000AD fridge magnets were promised and I AM WEAK.

A few weeks later I pulled a well suffed A4 envelope from my post box and was quickly regressed back to a child at christmas. Quite a regular occurance to be honest.

This is what I got:
A big double sided A0 poster, new Batman and Robin on reverse, Wolverine Origins comic, 2000AD fridge magnets and 130 pefectly bound pages of Future Publishing's full colour best.

It's a quality publication, as one might expect, with potential regular slots such as Your Guide to..., The Art of....., Retrospective..., Comic Icons as well as all of the News and Reviews that you'd expect.

This month's guide was to Write for Comics. The discussion about story arcs and three part scenes I found particuarly useful for roleplay.

This week's session started slowly due to character progression and plain old chat. As such, not a lot of action took place as we got to the "kick-off" point a bit too late in the evening. I believe I may have picked up some pacing tips :)
As a recent returnee to the Fanboy fold it's doing an excellent job of reminding me of the strips that i'd pore over for hours as well as highlighting some of the newer titles that have risen during my hiatus.

There is a strong movie cross-over theme with Iron Man, Kickass and Superman heavily featured and my feeling is that it may be a little mainstream for some. I'd have to pick up a copy of Comics Interantional to compare but that hasn't happened in many a year.

Instead i'll wave it a couple of more hardcore mates and see what they think
I did have to make a call to chase it up and the particuarly helpful chap answering let me know that it's a one-off market tester at this point. The reason for a 4 week delivery time was however due to the level of interest and having to print a second run!

Next month's Issue 2 is on sale Tuesday 15 June and contents are, according to the small print, subject to change. Personally I want to be parted form my cash again so go and by one the lot of you :)

Guess who's Back??!!

With a return to real to real life and a change of office at work, a better one though, it's just a WIP post for the mo.

As mentioned previously i've FINALLY got around to finishing off Big Trev's bits and motivated primarily by speed i've been using GW's foundation paints range as much as possible to see what results I can get.

It should be noted that all of the figures here have had thier washes applied, pre-highlight, and might be looking a bit dark as a result.

Overall, i'm well impressed! The foundation paints, with their high loading of pigment, give good strong colours, even through the wash. For context I should also say that I have applied one level of pre-highlight prior to the wash but the results remain the same.

It seems similar to a dip result, not that i've tried, but without the nasty gloss residue.

The current look might be a bit cartoony / manga for some people but that's all subjective.
I can see how you could quite happily leave the figures as they are but even basic highlights will produce a much improved result.

It's been interesting to use the same technique across models of different sizes, the six bases of Nurglings are waiting for wash. Unsurprisingly the technique is equally valid.

Been a working weekend so it's a day off Wednesday to finally score some painting points.

Tuesday is the next Star Wars night and my plans are a little more sketchy than usual so .

With the upcoming break in proceedings I need to leave things set up for the next chapter.Up until now it's been learning the nuances of the rules and the system whilst getting some character to the characters. It's all good.

Meanwile Wasps have been turning on the style for our usual last gasp run in to the play-0ffs! Even better :)

Welcome to Carthage, MIGHTY CARTHAGE!!

But do mind your step....... in more ways than one.

The current president's palace backs onto the site of Carthage and you have to be careful where you point your camera. Our guide joked that you could extend your holiday significantly in a 6 star facility, but that there weren't any excursions!!
Back from the vague sunnyness of Tunisia I shall not bore either of you with the details of my mild headstroke despite minimal tanning and shall become much more TOY related.

Whilst out on several trips to forts and ruins of a primarily roman nature I regailed the missus with my knowledge of the many wars that took place across Tunisia. She's a very lucky girl.

Whilst waxing lyrical about Phonecians, Romans, Berbers and the Deutches Afrika Korp, I realised the full scope stretching from the 1st Punic War through to the DAK surrender around Tunis.

Amongst the tat of the Souks and the realisation that no local would EVER shop in them I realised how much I missed playing historical.
I remembered my 10mm Dacians throwing themselves in a frenzy at Shaun's Legions and all those 15mm Greeks I lovingly painted up for Impetus only to play half a dozen times.
My 25mm WAB Berbers were another favourite that went the way of the B&B after objecting to the clunky, overburdened ruleset and the unwashed masses who shoved thier army specific rules in my face.

Indian hef-a-lumps, Byzantine heavy cav, Alexander and Hannibal, Rommel and Monty. Inspiration is a wonderful thing when it first stikes but like Lady Luck can dazzle and then disabuse you and your wallet in no uncertain terms.
So, with clash of spear on shield and rumble of tracks rolling around my head I caught the flight home in a whistful muse back to Star Wars, Blood-Bowl and a riot of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

Games that I actually PLAY!

A happy holiday :)

It's a long,, hard life...

This time tomorrow I shall be jetting my towards a sun-kissed week in Tunisia :)

As such, Mr Christian was good enought to host a Good Friday session of Star Wars roleplay round at his place. Hosting levels were excellent and I proceeded to stuff my self stupid as any good GM should.

We played out the current mission, a shipjacking with a twist, over the course of the afternoon and a very close run thing it was indeed.

Abandoning the stealth and deception shown on previous occasions, though Ian's stealth rolls didn't help the boys went for an announced frontal assault!

Despite some reasonable hints being dropped no-one had caught on to the time sensitive cargo being somewhat "live".

A fair bit of friendly fire ensued, once again, which resulted in some severely damaged "cargo" and Aarron successfuly strafing Ian in the back!

The Betty's crew fought back hard trashing a skiff, a speeder bike, Jon and Mr C. With the attack stalled the shuttle went airborne witht the battle continuing in it's cargo bay.

A natural 20 put down Big Vin, the Betty's captain, and my natural 1 saw Bo the Bruiser fall back out through the closing hatch!

Another skin of the teeth result sparked conversation about the challenge level set, though we are using a lot more of the rules these days. Working the numbers saw the final battles total CL "Challenge Level" one point higher than the groups total levels. Fair fight then.

On the way home Charlie and I we chatting about how to vary the make-up of opponents in terms of quality versus quantity. With a group of six level four players I now have 24 CLs to play with.
A combat droid is CL 1............
So far today i've cleaned the flat, cleaned out the fridge and got myself 90% packed. The last few bits include my somewhat eclectic reading material for the week. I'll also be packing a pad to scribble down any EUREKA moments........ it's a small pad!

We played the first round of the Uncharted Seas campaign on Tuesday night and myself and Aaron were one of three draws. I'm finding the fleet construction a bit limiting as I continue with my cruiser theory.

I'm thinking of adding a pair of heavy cruisers and dropping catapults all together but Aaron should thier indirect fire value in a particuarly pointed manner. Decisions!!

I've also managed to get plenty of paint onto Big Trev's stuff. I've used as many of GW's foundation paints as possible for speed and with washes drying the results so far are very encouraging.

Anyway, i'm off. Pester you some more later :)