'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.

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.

Photo Setup Improvements

Finally got about to trialling a new setup for miniatures photography.  Took two desk lamps and replaced the bulbs with 'daylight' grade LED bulbs.  Massive increase in brightness and a bright white hue as well.

The result: a dramatic increase in brightness and proper colour.  Witness below, some Eldar models (three warlocks and a Bonesinger).  Much better colour than some previous photos.

This last one I cropped it a bit and touched the brightness up a hair, so there's room to improve.

Granted, still needs some work on tweaking the grey behind (it's actually a white page).  I have some references for setting the white balance on the camera, so that will be the next step.  This was a simple setup on the gaming table with the models on a bright white piece of paper, and two desk lights aimed at them camera A/B style.  Keeps the shadows to a minimum.

Some Reaper Miniatures minis had the same effect, though backing away a little and zooming in seemed to work a bit better.
A lovely rogue mini that just yelled 'red' at me when I was choosing the colour.

The photos are much better, you can see the green mildew at the base of the stone wall.

This Succubus was a tough one to paint.  Flesh tones, especially on a model that is little else, are harder than they look.  Turned out fairly well, though in my experimentation I found a slightly darker skin tone I can use in the future.  More of an olive-skinned look.

I'm going to have to revisit this guy's varnish a bit.  He's a bit shiny, and I'm not sure what happened there. The photo came out well though.

That went well, for some quick experimentation and a very quick setup.  More fiddling around is needed but I'm on a much better path than before.  This post is Ironclad-approved!

Slinging Paint

A few quick hits as I sling some paint on the last day of the Thanksgiving weekend.  Working on a bunch of things, though I realized if we're planning to play Pathfinder next Saturday, and I'm away at sea the whole working week, then I had best paint up the miniatures I plan to use.  Sorta makes sense...

The lighting isn't great, but there's a bunch going on here.  From L to R, there's a dragon's wings, some Daemonettes of Slaanesh for my Hedonites army, a succubus figure (with detached wing) and two mummies for our next Mummy's Mask adventure path session.  Somewhere back there are the two pilots for my Space Marine Land Speeder for my Blackbirds Chapter of Space Marines (also Warhammer 40000).

Some detail on the mummies and succubus.  And a well used paint palette.  I need the mummies for next week's game, and the succubus is there to work on while I wait for ink washes to dry and such.  Seldom do I only have one model (or group of models on the go) at one time.  Usually there's a few things so I'm always filling the time while other stuff is drying.

Over to the 'working desk' I've got the aforementioned Land Speeder, then a sphinx model I'll need for a future instalment of Mummy's Mask.  Then the green dragon (Reaper's Everblight) who is the owner of the wings above, the Fane of Slaanesh (a terrain piece for Warhammer Age of Sigmar) and a unit of Seekers of Slaanesh, the next part of my Hedonites army.

That's the state of the desk right now.  Going to sea for a week I hope to get back to some writing but we're preparing for a big deployment next year, and as a HOD (head of department) that means lots and lots of prep work.  [sigh]  And it will be bouncy this week (4-5m seas)!

See y'all in a few days...

Painting progress

Over the last few weeks I've made some progress on painting.  First up is the finally-finished Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter.  It's on the far right, and pictured with the 1000 points of Eldar I've been working on for the Warhammer 40k builder's league at our local game shop, Everything Games.

Doing this builder's league, for me at least, was a way to push more painting, and get more models done.  Given that the league is over, but I've managed to paint quite a few things, I'd call it a mixed success.

A closer look at the Hemlock, showing the painted cockpit.  This model fits together great, but those smooth, curvilinear surfaces take a LOT of coats of paint.  Will have to use an airbrush for future models like this one.  Still, it turned out rather nicely for the efforts.

However, there's still more to do to finish the 2000 points of models for the league (or, more appropriately, my own goal).

That whole shelf needs to be done, less some of the unprimed guys at the back.

However, for now I'm working on a bit of a palate cleanser, a mini for my D&D warlock character in the campaign we play weekly after work.

He's coming along nicely, and it's always refreshing to paint a model that is more 'freeform,' in that there's no uniform, no specific colour scheme, just a chance to play with colour choices and painting techniques.

After this guy, it's back to the grind with my team of Imperial Guard for the Kill Team game, as well as the ruined building terrain pieces (one of which is pictured behind them, sprayed grey for a basecoat).

After that, maybe back to a dragon I had started before the builders' leagues took all my painting time.

She'll be a green dragon, though I've always liked the Larry Elmore style contrasting belly scales, so I went with a nice, deep yellow.  The base and wings are in front, separate so as to get all the hidden areas.

Along with all that, there's the Age of Sigmar builder's league, so I've got a bunch of Seraphon to paint up for that one...

Warcasters and other miniature goodness

Another hiatus, and another long dearth of posting.

For those who might care, it happened that my later summer/fall got slammed with waaaaay too much work.  After my boss retired I took his duties for a month or so, then went full bore into teaching for 6+ hours a day, every day for most of October and half of November.  I'm still digging out from the pile, but am managing to leave (mostly) on time.  It's been a treat.

That said, prior to the madness, there was a Warmachine/Hordes Journeyman League held at Everything Games this past summer to coincide with the release of the Warmachine and Hordes mark III rules.  As such, my youngest and I participated in the league and had an absolute blast.  For those not in the know, a Journeyman league involves building your force from a starter box (essentially one warlock/warcaster and from two to four warbeasts/warjacks) to a mighty army of 75 points.  It also served to bring us up to speed on the new rules which, while not super different from mark II, had a few key changes.  Mostly, it sped up gameplay and made for more aggressive maneuvering and action, so overall, mark III gets a resounding thumbs up.

The league gives points for defeating opponents as well as painting miniatures over the course of the league.  You get a point per week for each win, as well as a point for having more painted (that means completed) models than the previous week.  The scenarios change as well, forcing you to give up your one-trick tactic and do something different.

Overall, a lot of fun, and I met a lot of cool players at EG who I would happily cross swords with again.  Sadly, the final tournament didn't happen as only three people showed up.  However, my youngest daughter took the Destroyer award (for most games won) while I took the Creator award (for best painted).  Out of a field of 20 or so, I'll take that!

Speaking of painted, I made good progress on my models for my Cygnar force.  First off is my warcaster, Major Beth Maddox.  She is new to the mark III release, and while it took me a game or three to start getting the hang of her gameplay, she turned out to be one of my favourite warcasters.

As a Stormblade turned warcaster, she is full of electro-goodness.  This gives her good synergy with other units, such as Stormblades or warjacks like the Firefly.  Frankly, she does a great job supporting an elite troop and several warjacks, by the end of the league I was really enjoying her and her battlegroup.

I do need to work on a better photo setup though.  Ah well, one thing at a time.

More model photos to follow, and a dissection of the list I finally developed during the league.

Gamemastering - just do it

Gamemastering, that is, being the game master (or dungeon master, for those D&D players out there) for a roleplaying game is not something done easily.  I've been playing for thirty-one years, and over those years I've been the gamemaster (GM) since day one.  Starting with the red box Basic Set back in 1985, I've helmed countless games.  I like to think I've become rather skilled at it, if my players are to be believed, but I'm not providing this information to brag, only to provide some context in that I know a bit about what I'm talking about.

First rule of gamemastering: just do it.  Get out there, take charge at the head of the table and run a game.

I leave that on its own line, because that's the most important part.  Gamemastering is, by and large, a performance skill.  I don't mean actual performance, though that helps and can be fun, but rather performing the act of running the game makes you better at it.

"Yes, yes.  Thanks tips, glad you're on that for us." you're thinking.  And in some ways you're right. Practice makes perfect and all that.  However, I've seen people be overwhelmed by the task of running the game, with all the story details, character details, monster/opponent details overwhelms them, because they aren't used to channelling that flow yet.  That's the real core of the practice part.  You've done it enough times that some things become mental muscle memory, and you focus on the action going on in a particular scene.  That's what happened over the many years I've been GMing.  Now I make it look easy, because I've been over the hard parts.  That said, I'm always learning and tightening my game.

If you're a new GM, one thing you need to accept is that your game will not run perfect.  Hell, I've been doing this for 31 years or so, and my game sessions aren't always perfect.  If it goes well, you and the players have fun, and you get to tell a group story, then the real goal has been met.

There are two areas that, if you pay attention to them, can help your first (or latest) session go well:

Materiel:

• The adventure itself - whether written notes, a published module or something in between, you need this
• Dice - if I have to explain this...  (mind you, have plenty)
• Pens, pencils, erasers - include extra for 'that guy'
• Paper for making notes, maps, etc.
• A gamemaster screen - yes, I've known GMs who don't use one.  It's creepy and weird.  As a player I don't want to know what's going on there, and as a GM I like to have the privacy to keep things surprising
• Campaign notes - even if it's your first session, have some idea of who the heroes are, where they are, and what is happening around them

Optional materiel (depending on game system):

• Vinyl game mat marked in squares - for those games like Pathfinder which work well with minis for combat or situations where you have to ask "where, exactly, does your character step?"
• Markers for said mat
• Miniatures
• Props - this one varies, but sometimes, the right prop at the right time works wonders

Preparation:

• Read the adventure.  Oh, you wrote it?  Read it again.  Be prepared for what happens in it.  Think ahead to the NPCs and how you want to play them.
• Make sure your notes are organized.  No one wants to wait while you flip for the random factoid written on the 35th post-it note stuck in your spiral-bound notebook, half the pages of which are scattered on the floor around your chair

It sounds like a lot, but really it's not.  Have the tools you need, and be familiar with the adventure you plan to run.  That way, when the players do something oddball, or a foe dies easier than planned, you can adjust because you know what else is there.  You know that if they whip through one encounter, the guard trolls in the next chamber are probably going to come to investigate.  If you misjudged their power, you can add an extra enemy or two to some encounters (or take them away).

And now a note for players:  cut the GM some slack.  I'm not saying put up with a terrible game, or not give some feedback, but when you know your friend sitting behind that screen is taking their shot as a beginner, understand that they're not going to be as smooth as your regular GM.  He or she will say "give me a sec, have to check something..." so be patient.  If they need to do a retcon here and there (yes, just because the baddies forgot to take your weapons doesn't necessarily mean it was planned that way).  Give them a chance, and they'll tighten their game.  Until one day when they forget to take your weapons it will be intentional, and that encounter, my friends, is like an open book exam.  Bring your worst because you'll need it.

More musings on the fine art of roleplaying games to come, but remember - gather your tools, plan your adventure, and get stuck in and do it.  Practice will make you perfect, and you'll have fun doing it.

Unboxing - Epix Haven Terrain

Here's another Kickstarter I threw in on.  A feed popped up from the Pathfinder Society facebook page, and the miniature terrain buildings from a Norwegian startup called Epix Haven looked pretty good.  When they said these buildings were true 28mm scale I figured I'd go in for one, maybe two.

Well, they arrived (back in the spring) on time and in great condition, thanks to the packing methods.  Each piece has it's own box.  The two I kickstarted for were the Freestanding Tower and the Tudor House.

Let me first say, before I let the photos do the talking, that these are awesome.  I mean really awesome.  So many buildings out there are not true 25/28mm scale, and while they're perfectly usable, these have full interiors with 1" grids marked in the surface texture.  That makes them good for wargaming and roleplaying games.  They are also super impressive and beautifully detailed and painted.

Now for the pictures...

First up is the packaging.  Every single one of these comes in it's own box.  And not just any box.

Each one comes in it's own full package, packed in tight-fitting foam to keep it safe.  Here's the Tudor house:

Take out the upper floor piece on the right and you see the packing job on the smaller pieces:

Take all the pieces out and you can see the difference true 28mm makes:

The miniatures in the photo are a few human-sized ones from the Pathfinder Battles range.  You can see the scale of it already.  The chimney is attached to the roof by magnets built into the parts already.  The upper floor is on the left, the ground floor on the right, and there's even a set of stairs.  This adds to the sense of scale:

The Tudor house is just waiting the heroes' next bar brawl.  Add that to the bar set from the latest Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn expansion and good things will happen.

The stand alone tower is just as impressive.  Packed the same way:

Each segment is one of the floors of the tower.  The stairwells are packed inside each level, and assemble as shown (again with the built-in magnets):

You can see the 1" squares inside.  Ignore them and you've got perfect wargames terrain.  Note the warrior in the third photo.  Again, true 28mm scale.  The 'stick' on the right is a flagpole that goes on top (left off for photos).  The Tudor House in the background shows scale as well, and just how awesome a layout you could do with more of these things.

Look carefully in the windows and you may even see the archer in there.  

Ironclad approves!

These terrain pieces are premium models, and while not cheap, their price is certainly competitive for what they provide.  Without question this is a case of getting what you paid for.  Thankfully I got my pieces at Kickstarter prices.  Would that my budget was larger I'd have the entire castle.

In summary, these terrain pieces are fantastic.  They are high quality, well-painted resin that match the most common scale out there for RPGs and wargames.  You can't go wrong with laying some of these sweet pieces out on your table, and frankly, I can't wait to use them.