Dreaming of Lock and Load – Spriggan WIP

I sat down this Saturday determined to make up for a few days of non-painting. Not counting Sunday, I have managed to maintain an average of an hour a day of painting. We’ll see if it turns out to be enough, or will I have to step it up?

The Spriggan (started here) got a bunch more work today, although a lot of it was metals in areas that will be covered or occluded by other parts of the model. I was listening to a bunch of podcasts while working (finished up Lost Hemisphere Radio ep 25 which I’d started at work on Friday, Extra Time MLS podcast, some Nerdist goodness and a couple of smodcast episodes). I must have been caught up in one of the Nerdist stories as I realised suddenly that I had been painting a wreck marker for ten minutes, without really meaning to. I didn’t know my subconscious had such a defeatist attitude! Who plans for their jacks to be destroyed? I have sentenced my subconscious to a gulag in Hellspass so that it may contemplate its failures. As punishment for not warning me when I wandered off track, I ripped off the spriggan’s shield to more easily paint the shoulder and arm. That’ll show him. (more…)

Dreaming of Lock and Load – First Hardcore Kill Box Game

I headed down to One Stop Shop in Tinseltown mall after work today and who did I find, but Ben, with his freshly painted Cygnar. Ben graciously agreed to play a kill box scenario under the hardcore rules, something that neither of us had ever done. We pulled out 50 point lists and ended up with a tier 4 epic Nemo list against a tier 4 Butcher list. These lists are from memory, but hopefully Ben will chime in if I got something grossly wrong…

• Butcher of Khardov (-6 pts)
• * Sharkie the Devastator 9 pts
• * Llama the Marauder 7 pts
• * Kodiak 8 pts
• * War Dog 1 pt
• Kossite Woodsmen, minimum, 4 pts
• Man-o-war Demolition Corps, full, 9 pts
• Man-o-war Shocktroopers, min, 6 pts -1 tier discount
• Widowmakers 4 pts
• Widowmaker Marksman 2 pts
• 2 x Manhunter 2 x 2 = 4 pts
• Yuri the Axe 3 pts

Opposite me on the far side of the table was old man Nemo and his zappityzapzap mczappity squad.

• General Adept Nemo (-6 pts)
• * Thunderhead 12 pts
• * Hammersmith 8 pts
• * 2 x Firefly 5 x 2 = 10 pts
• * Squire 2 pts
• Storm Tower – zero – zip -nada – free as in beer!
• 2 x Storm Guard, minimum, 6 x 2 = 12 pts
• Journeyman Warcaster 3 pts
• * Charger 4 pts
• 5 x Stormsmith Stormcaller 5 x 1 = … wait… what? I mean 5 pts. Really?

(more…)

Dreaming of Lock and Load – Spriggan – First steps

A bunch of the Vancouver folks are heading down to Privateer Press’ Lock and Load in June and I eagerly signed up with them. I have always regretted not participating in gaming conventions, so this year I decided I’d seize the opportunities rather then hem and haw until it was too late. I got this idea in my head when I was staring at the events schedule months ago that I would participate in the hardcore event. I believe, at the time, I had a grand total of two painted Khador models… But since that crazy thought ran through my mind, I haven’t been able to shake it. I make no claims to being a good player, but I do know something about myself as a gamer (or in general, even). I can make clear and sound decisions under time pressure and I also feel like I learn much more when I’m under the gun and make a mistake. I like playing games where time is a consideration – Blood Bowl, for example.

The idea of a strictly timed event pleases me greatly. And hey, some stupid sucker has to enter these hardcore events and get slam-bang-ssassinated in under 4 minutes, vaulting yet another player into internet stardom on the Privateer Press forum. That stupid sucker might as well be me. And as an added bonus, I will have a strong incentive to paint my models, and keep painting! And in that vein, I have a small painting update. (more…)

Reminder: Strategies League continues April 3rd, through April 24th

Don’t forget folks, Strategies Games has a ladder league running continuing tomorrow, April 3rd. From Strategies newsletter here are some additional details:

• Models must be fully painted
• Players need to supply their own dice, rulebooks, etc
• 25 to 29 points on April 3rd. Ask staff for details.
• New players welcome
• Play as many games as you like.

The action is scheduled to begin at noon.

Cheers!

Introducing Sharkie the Sharkjack

A few weeks ago I was looking at my partially assembled Devastator and imagining terrorizing women and children my opponents while pushing around a jack with a shark fin and teeth painted on it. In my minds eye, these faceless foes cowered in abject terror as a uttered such battle cries as “LAND SHARK!” and chanted the theme from Jaws. A few hours later, I was describing my day dream to some of the folks who were assembled at Connection games. I wasn’t there to play, but rather shoot the breeze for a while before running off to do other things. One of the professional painters of the area, Chad (profile on Vancouver Gamers: http://www.vancouvergamers.com/index.php?action=profile;u=36 – blog: http://chadspaint.wordpress.com/) just happened to be making an appearance while I was blathering on.

Luckily for me a small spot opened up in his painting schedule – long enough for a tabletop quality job on a jack, and Chad pinged me with an offer to mod and paint up Sharkie for me. As a birthday gift for myself, I decided to take him up on the offer, particularly since Chad’s brush skills would do the angry-jaws art much more justice than mine would. I have now in my hot little hands the finished product. Without further ado, I give you Sharkie the Devastator.

I can’t wait to get Sharkie out on the table. I’m pretty pleased with the way the jack turned out. I know I’ll be using the piece as a visual reference as I work on my highlighting and shading techniques. Thanks Chad!

Result! Man-o-war shocktroopers completed

I spent a handful of hours over the last three days pushing to get my Man-o-war Shocktroopers finished. Minus a few touch-ups, base markings and some ash waste over the sand, they are complete! I’m pleased with how they came out, though I’m still trying to figure out how much or how little to highlight, and where. I was much more judicious in the application of the purple wash over the reds, so it doesn’t look quite as slapdash as Llama the Ramma’s red areas. Next up in the painting queue is a jack, either a Juggernaut or a Spriggan. I’m leaning towards the knight in battered armour, but I digress. As usual, the photos are taken with seemingly random settings to ensure that none of them come out perfectly, but at least they’re not cell-phone snaps, right? Check out the results:

I think I will celebrate with a scotch (runs off to raid the stash). Ended up with Caol Ila 12 year. It has the brininess of all the Islays but with some of the sweeter notes I expect of a Highland malt. The finish is an odd blend of peat and some lingering flowery taste. This particular bottle has already scared off some non-scotch drinkers, but I find its hybrid nature growing on me. Cheers!

The long road to a painted collection

I’ve seen this going around on those internets, among the other warmachine bloggers, like @Gingerk1d on his blog GK-Workbench (post: http://gk-workbench.com/?p=3069) or @oconlan on his blog FarFarAway (post: http://www.farfaraway.org/blog/2011/03/23/painter-or-gamer/). Check out their painting progress – it’s impressive. Both of them are very skilled hobbyists so make sure to check out their old posts too. @oconlan posed the question “Painter or Gamer?” See if you can figure out which I am:

So…. yeah. I will use this as a badge of shame to drive me to paint more than my usual 10 models a year – I’ve already hit that this year between Blood Bowl models and Warmachine / Hordes stuff, maybe I’ll even hit 20 whole models! Painted! IN ONE YEAR! Start looking forward to 2037, when I finally catch up with my model-buying proclivities.

In other news, I put a couple of coats of red on the Man-o-war shocktrooper leader, as well as getting colour on his head and the chest emblems. Some washes and highlighting are all that remain, I’m going to try and get to that tonight. A pic will follow once he’s finished (and his savagely removed arm reattached, of course).

Cheers!

PS: The above image was generated using http://www.forwardkommander.com/. Great online tool for list building and managing your collection! If you haven’t checked it out, you owe it to yourself to do so.

Steamroller tourney and next slow grow league @ Connection Games

Press Ganger Geist has been rallying the troops during a slow grow league at Connection Games on Renfrew. As a wrap-up for the league, a steamroller tourney is being run this weekend, Saturday, March 26th!

All are welcome, even if you did not participate in the league. Details can be found here: http://www.vancouvergamers.com/index.php?topic=2789.0

Click on through for the whole skinny, but here are the highlights:

• SR 2011 rules, 35 points, 2 lists
• 3 rounds
• $5 entry fee
• Prizes! Certificates for 1-3, 1st and 2nd will receive gift certificates and there will be a door prize as well, so anyone can come away with something, regardless of placement

Sadly, I already have plans for Saturday otherwise I would be all over this. I will bug Geist to take some pictures of the action and will also bother him for the results! Good luck to all the participants!

Geist also announced the next phase of the slow-grow league, up to 25 points. It will run from March 28th to April 17th. I’m going to get in on this one, I think. Details here: http://www.vancouvergamers.com/index.php?topic=2792.0

See you on the other side of the table!

Painting update: Shocktroopers WIP

Hey there internet. I know it’s been a while, but I want you to know I don’t hold it against you.

I have been engrossed in Dragon Age lately (first finishing Origins, then Dragon Age 2 that I received as a gift for my birthday) and this has detracted from my efforts to paint. Finally guilt overwhelmed me and I decided to spend a couple of hours paying attention to my semi-painted man-o-war shocktroopers. I have finally finished the base coat (with the exception of the head and emblems on the leader). Woo, progress!

I noticed that I had missed a few parts in crevices, particularly around the leader’s shoulder. In a fit of rage and superhuman strength, I tore off the offending arm and happily fixed up the wide missed swathes. Mental note: when I get to my second unit of shocktroopers, who are waiting patiently in their box, I will prime and paint them partially assembled. Things will probably go much faster!

Enough blathering, here are two cell-phone pics I snapped:

I always feel better when paint covers most of a model, but the dull red of the GW foundation red doesn’t really look great. You can see a fully red section on the shields to contrast. Hopefully I will find time tomorrow or this weekend to work on the red overcoat.

Until next time, internet. I’ll try not to leave you alone so long this time.

Shattered Grounds: Windless Wastes Final Standings @ Connection Games

Anthony, the manager at Connection Games on Renfrew, has passed along the final ladder standings for the Windless Wastes league run at the store. The Warmachine and Hordes player base has really grown at the store lately and there are even a few more players who for one reason or another didn’t sign up for the league this time around, but are planning on joining up next time. Without any further ado, here are the final standings

1. Jesse (Circle) – 67 pts. (aka Blockbuster)
2. Mark (Circle) – 61 pts.
3. Chad (Trollbloods) – 49 pts.
4. Tynan (Circle) – 44 pts.
5. Shane (Cygnar) – 44 pts.
6. Luigi (Retribution) – 38 pts. (check out Luigi’s blog!)
7. Stephen (Legion) – 37 pts. (ed note: game report between myself and Stephen here)
8. Victor (Retribution) – 33 pts.
9. Jason (Mercs) – 33 pts. (ed note: game report between Smiles and myself here)
10. Pras (Skorne) – 31 pts.
11. Jeremy (Trollbloods) – 25 pts. (ed note: Lawless Monk – game report between Butcher and Borka here)
12. Paul (Khador) – 21 pts. (ed note: that’s me, Subhedgehog – also, I think I was the cutoff for those that played three games or less – those above got more games in over the course of the league)
13. Lucas (Cryx) – 16 pts. (aka PG_Geist)
14. Uehen (Khador) – 15 pts.
15. Ben (Cygnar) – 14 pts. (aka bwafer)
16. Angus (Trollbloods) – 13 pts.
17. Ryan (Mercs) – 11 pts. (also known as Ryan on vancouver gamers – take a peek at his blog)
18. Grant (Minions) – 9 pts.
19. Alex (Minions) – 8 pts.
20. Mike (Cryx) – 8 pts.
21. Kevan Thompson – 0 pts. (thank you for signing up even though you didn’t have time to play any games!)

Quite a diverse mix of factions, though I wonder what conspiracy got three Circle players up into the top 4? Also fairly notable, this is the first league or event I have been in with more than a handful of people participating where the Protectorate of Menoth was not represented at all! There are apparently a few Menoth players lurking in the woodwork, so hopefully we’ll see some heretics being burned next time around.

I had three great games this league and I hope to get more action in a few weeks. See you all on the other side of the table!

« Previous Entries