'Anthology' weekend

 So a few friends in our gaming group have decided to have a weekend of 'other' games.  In lieu of our regular Pathfinder or Starfinder games, we have figured on having an 'anthology' weekend, where we each get to preview a new RPG that the group hasn't played.

So far, the others are bringing Delta Green, Cyberpunk, and Call of Cthulhu.  Each should be pretty interesting, and I've never played any of those games of any previous version.  

For me, I'm bringing Torg: Eternity.  The revised edition of the old West End Games multi-reality RPG.  This new one maintains the basic rules of the orignal, while amping the action to eleventy and giving a lot more depth and awesomeness to each Cosm.  

For those who may not know, Torg was designed by the original Star Wars RPG company, West End Games, back in the early 1990s.  The idea was that other realities have invaded our 'Core Earth' to steal our possibility energy, as ours is the richest the Reality Raiders have ever found.  To do this, the invading Cosms overlay their reality onto ours.  So, in parts of North America, the Living Land has overlaid our reality with a primitive one, where technology doesn't work.  The characters take the role of Storm Knights, those fighting the invading High Lords to beat them back from our reality.  

I'm looking forward to running the game.  Back in the 90s, it was one of our go-to games, and it suits a cinematic, action-movie style that is a lot of fun.

Hopefully we'll have some new campaign ideas by the time we're done.

Tyr's Last Ride

 Today we took Tyr for his final ride.

His ashes are now mixed with Star in the urn for both of them.

It was a rough day, though necessary.

We had a chance to send him off, and this time there was no way I wasn't staying with him.

Fly free, my man.  See you in time.

Slammed by work and life

 What a week (or two!).

Tried to get some writing done, and maybe a bit of painting but was just slammed with work stuff, life stuff, and a whole bunch of conflicting schedules.

I did manage to get out to see John Wick 4 with my eldest, and we both loved it.  Phenomenal soundtrack too.  Will have to have another watch of that one, and maybe give it a review soon.

Only two weekends left for skiing, which is sad, but then we transition into the camping season.  Time to get the new trailer out and in the field.

Until then, keep your guns at hand, your dice warmed up, and your miniatures looking good.

Painting work

 Happy March to all you who still might stop by.

For today, I offer some progress on the miniatures painting front, with a grab bag of interesting models.

First off, a sphinx model from Reaper Miniatures, taken from one of the Bones kickstarters, a great model that I used for the Mummy's Mask adventure path for the Pathfinder RPG.  I was really pleased with the way her face turned out, and the wings came out perfectly.  Matches the cover of Volume 3 of that AP, the character of Tetisurah, guardian of the Tomb of Chisisek.

She turned out really well.  A mix of GW, Reaper and P3 paints throughout.  If anyone is interested in details on the colours used, comment below and I'll list the paints and techniques.

Next up is a barbarian on her sabre-tooth lion, from Hasslefree Miniatures.  This was purely for fun, and I got to play with some skin tones and the fur on the lion.  More of a Frazetta look here, and a truly beautiful miniature to paint.  Again, GW, Reaper and P3 paints.

Still need to work on my photo technique.  I was a bit distant with the lights, but didn't realize until I had downloaded the photos so they're all a bit brightened.  The focus isn't perfect on some either but next time I'll do a better setup.

The next is a quick Bones Basilisk from Reaper.  Done up for that same Mummy's Mask campaign.  Nothing crazy here, but a fun mini to paint and get on the table.

Next up is a Hasslefree mini from the Matt Dixon Kickstarter.  Another example of why skin tones can be hard.  Smoothing the highlights on flesh tones takes some doing, particularly for nudes.

A great mini to paint though.  The sculpts from Hasslefree are fantastic.  Again, all the minis here are a mix of GW, P3 and Reaper paints.

A rogue-type mini next.  Bones so there's some softness in the deep recesses, but otherwise a solid mini.  Not sure what he's stealing, but he's definitely working hard to get away with it.  The cloak turned out beautifully (P3 Bastion Grey as a base) and was a lot of fun.

Finally, a character made from Hero Forge, the custom mini company.  I went in on the Kickstarter when they first started up, as I was working up a character for a Pathfinder campaign (Serpent's Skull adventure path) and there aren't too many halfling clerics of Shelyn out there, armed with glaives.  Turned out rather well, to be honest.  

And that's all for today.  Actually painted up a bit of a storm over the past few months, in and around that pesky day job and whatnot.