I'm not dead yet...

I haven't fallen off the world yet.  More to come this weekend.

Irons in the fire

So many irons in the fire the last few weeks, it's been crazy.

However, to give you something to bide your time, here's my Reaper quarterly contest, Sir Conlan.

First Bones mini I ever painted, and the material stacks up well against anything else.  Very strange not to use primer though.  Very strange indeed.

A friend of mine has a much better photo setup, and now that I've been able to pick his brain, mine will get better too.  Much better (which I will tell all of you about too).

Buddy

Today my daughter's bearded dragon, Buddy, passed away.  Not a happy day in our household.  She was so happy to get him, she saved her own money, learned everything she needed to and finally, here he was.

Some say reptiles don't make very good pets.  I'd say they're wrong, though to each their own.  He grew pretty quick, and eventually made for a good hat.

He was a pretty happy dude.  Enjoyed chasing crickets in his tank for breakfast, lounging on his log and looking out the window, and coming out to roam the living room and say hello to the cats.

He could be pretty cuddly too.  In the evening when it was time for bed he would happily crawl up into the crook of your neck and sit there, slowly falling asleep.  Put a blanket on him (it kept your body heat in for him) and he would lie there as long as you'd let him.

Most days I'd go in to say hi and give him a scritch on the top of his head or a nice stroke.  He enjoyed that, closing his eyes and revelling in the attention.

Climbing was something else he enjoyed.

He was a special guy, and it's been heartbreaking this evening.

Here's to you , Buddy.  Love you.  We'll miss you.

Ironclad approved

Over the last few months (and by last few I mean September and onwards), I managed to get a fair bit of painting done.  That, of course, when I wasn't working, doing family things or otherwise engaged.

From the cabinet comes my warjacks from the journeyman league last summer, who contributed to my 'best painted' award at the end.

For starters, the Ironclad.  A heavy warjack with a quake hammer and open fist.  The colours are very traditional Cygnar, which is one of the things I was initially attracted to.

The blue is the Cygnar Blue base shaded first with Exile Blue then Exile and Umbral Umber.  Careful on the blue/brown mix as you want to avoid muddiness.  Then use Cygnar Blue Highlight in several layers (increasing the mix of highlight until you're pure Cygnar Blue Highlight) with a finish layer of Highlight mixed with a touch of Morrow White.

The gold is Rhulic Gold shaded by brown ink/Sanguine Base mix, then some Umbral Umber into that mix for a final wash.  Clean up with Rhulic Gold again and highlight with Shining Gold.

The steel portions are pig iron followed by a mix of Exile Blue and Armour Wash.  Add in some Umbral Umber for a final shade (not too much or it gets 'muddy' looking).  Highlight with Cold Steel and Quicksilver and done!

Normally I paint from the inside out, meaning the areas recessed farthest in get done first.  In this case it was eyes and boiler grille first, using Heartfire and Ember Orange to give it a warm, firey glow.  The arcane bits in blue on the hammer are Arcane Blue with blue ink and Meredius Blue, using Morrow White for the mix.  Dials and gauges on the back are Hammerfall Khaki  with Morrow White.

The Cygnus on the hull was tough as yellow is a pain in the butt sometimes.  However, keeping the paint fluid and gradually building up from Rucksack Ran to Cygnar Yellow and beyond with Menoth White Highlight made it stand out nicely.

The bases on all of them are a wet layer of Umbral Umber (somewhere between a wash and paint) to get into all the recesses.  This is followed by a heavy drybrush of Bootstrap Leather and a final touch of Rucksack Tan.  Two thin lines for front/back facing and a cleanup of the black rim and the base is done.

Here's his buddy the Charger, a lovely 'jack with a dual cannon and a hammer for squashing those who get too close.  Same techniques on this one, and I think he looks rather spiffy.  Ready to lay some smack on the enemies of Cygnar.

Finally, a group shot with Major Beth Maddox.

And two more photos of the warlock mini from the previous post.  A bit better photo quality.

Warlock model

Here's some photos of a warlock model I completed for Reaper Miniatures' quarterly contest. How it works is the previous winner selects a mini ($10 or less) and anyone who wants to paint one up and submit a single photo can do so.  Winners are judged by amount of likes and you get a prize for the online store.

Here's the one I did for the contest.  I went with something different, in that yellow is a colour I very seldom use.  Yes, I use it for trim and a bunch of other smaller things, but never to date as the largest part of a model.  Honestly, it turned out better than I thought.

The base coat is P3 Heartfire paint, with Bloodstone and Brown ink used in various amounts for shading, and highlighted with Cygnar Yellow and Menoth White.  The actual contest winner was a splendid model, well deserving of the honour.  As my my guy, well, my photo quality was crap, which I think hurt me. The colour is way too yellow-ish in the background.  Next time I will have to work on the lighting.  Nevertheless, it was fun to do and I anticipate doing more of these, if for no reason than to push my painting further.

Happy New Year 2017

Tomorrow there will be miniatures posts.  Mostly while I try to sort out a better photography setup.  Plus there has been quite a bit of painting since the Journeyman league and other chances to paint.

That said, happy new year to all in 2017 and I hope your holidays were good.

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.

Star Trek Beyond – A Review

We finally got out to see the new Star Trek movie, and frankly, I was impressed.  Full disclosure: I am not as much a fan of the new (Bravo) timeline as I am of the original (Alpha) timeline, with TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY.  That said, I have been entertained by all three new Star Trek films to date.  In fact, I found Beyond to be the best of the three.

There will be some spoilers ahead.  You were warned.

Firstly, about Beyond it and of itself. This one seemed to have the best balance between activities for all the crew.  No one was neglected, and no one stole more spotlight than normal (let's face it, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are still the big three).  I liked Scotty's scenes and the guest stars were really good in their roles.  Jayla in particular I thought was a really fun character.  The action was well paced and neither too fast (such as in the first one) nor was there any dragging parts.  Well done to the writers, director and editor on this one.  I also found that each character started coming into their own, rather than being a slight caricature of the previous incarnation in the original series and films.  While they can't seem to go a single movie without showing some emotion on Spock, it was well handled.

The film itself gave some serious fanservice to the timeline that wasn't erased by the first film.  The USS Franklin is the same class of ship as the NX-01 Enterprise, captained by Capt. Archer.  They even talk about polarizing the hull plating and using phased array cannons.  Very nice to see, and it ties the movie into the greater Star Trek multiverse.

This one also had a pleasantly independent storyline.  It wasn't a less-effective remake of The Wrath of Khan (looking at you Into Darkness), and also wasn't loaded with heaps of backstory like Star Trek (2009).

Another good point is that J.J. Abrams was only a producer on this one.  While he's a decent director (not as hot as he's made out to be), he shows no respect for the established milieu of a world he goes to play in.  This showed in his blatant disregard of even the most basic treknology, and was also apparent in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  This film was much more true to the Star Trek milieu and felt much more like a Star Trek story.

While Star Trek's place is better served on television, this film was a solid addition to the new timeline and really set them on their own course into the new unknown being created in this film series.  While there might be some quibbles,  I recommend it highly to fans and casual fans alike.

It will be interesting to see the adventures of the new Enterprise-A.  (Though at this rate they'll need more of the alphabet.)

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.

Batman v Superman - A Review

We went and saw Batman vs. Superman today.  Yes, there's a bunch of critics saying it's no good.  I'll say it for the record, that I generally don't put much faith in critics.  Not unless they've got a proven track record of tastes that match mine.  As an interesting aside, for book blurbs, every time the late, great Anne McCaffrey gave a good review, I enjoyed the book.  Same for film reviews.  So, I went in wanting a good, fun movie that played with some of my favourite characters.

I'll keep things general, though there may be some spoilery bits below.

The story was generally good, and the filmmakers kept the flow tight, which was good.  I was afraid this might have become bogged down with backstory to get everything sorted out such that Superman and Batman would be at odds.  However, they kept the story moving, and all the pieces came together.  There were a few instances where they could have exposed more of the backstory prior to the main events, but overall it kept things moving.  In the first third to half the movie, there were some dream sequences that were way overused.  Could have better spent this time on detailing out the actions of the main characters.

They kept to the backgrounds of the characters, and it was nice to see all the events of previous movies captured in the greater continuity.  Marvel has done a great job of this in the Avengers series, and hopefully DC/WB will do the same.  One thing stood out, though, and that is the bat branding?  (as in Batman branding criminals with a bat)  WTF?!  That one thing was so totally out of character it threw me.  A small detail, but seriously folks.  Do you read your own comics?

The big bad fight at the climax was as over-the-top as you'd expect.  However, because of the characters involved, it totally worked.  Very much right off the page of a comic book.  It was also good to see each playing to their strengths.  Batman was smart, Superman the big, shiny hero and Wonder Woman the badass warrior.

Speaking of Wonder Woman, YES!!!!   Despite having very little screen time overall, I loved the character, loved the look, loved the actress.  More!  She actually was one of the highlights of the film.  Gal Gadot brought her to life with a bit of sass, a bit of savagery (look at her face when she gets back up after being smacked by Doomsday - she's relishing the fight) and brings some gravitas to the role.  Can't wait to see her solo film.

I at first was wondering how much of the movie would be the leads pummelling each other over something silly, but the plotlines were built up well,and it was believable that they would be at odds.  If anything, the film could have been longer in order to build up more of the backstory (instead of the fool dream sequences), but there's only so much time in a movie.

Batman is portrayed really well by Ben Affleck.  In fact, the most important part of that role is Bruce Wayne, rather than the Bat.  While I was concerned about casting, to be honest he took the role and worked it.  He was serious, intense and carried Batman's grimness without it becoming one-dimensional.  He was also completely intelligible, which is a big improvement from The Dark Knight Rises.

I think the length of the film made it difficult to involve every character they wanted to, such as Lois Lane, Perry Mason and Alfred, but again, it has to serve the flow of the film.  Props to Jeremy Irons for his portrayal of Alfred, as he brought the sarcasm to the role that Alfred has in the comics.  He also got to play the "Penney Two" role he so often does on the page.

The villain, Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg, was perhaps more whacko than I would expect.  In this film it worked, but it was a bit jarring for those who know Luthor from the comics.  (I admit, I read the Bat-books but not the Superman books)  From what I've seen on the page, Luthor is normally more calculating. For those who aren't comics readers, the difference is minor and he makes sense in the story.

Finally, the cameos of the other Justice League members were pretty cool.  It was good to see the others noted.  Jason Momoa (of Stargate Atlantis fame) as Aquaman was a treat, and watching Cyborg come to life was interesting.  My only disappointment was the Flash.

Here's where I digress from a direct review, and talk about the overall film-TV continuity.  In my mind, the flash should be played by Grant Gustin from the TV show.  Not just because that show is awesome, but in order to develop the greater continuity.  Marvel does this between Agents of SHIELD and the Avengers films.  If Sif shows up in the show, it's the same actress and the same events as in the Thor films, for example. By the same token, the events of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman should appear in the various DC shows.  For example, Supergirl should feel some of the effects of this movie.  Word to DC/WB: tighten that continuity, and it will be even better.

So, overall, great movie, four out of five stars from me.

Edit: The soundtrack was excellent.  When Wonder Woman enters the fight, it gets awesome.

Dragons Don't Share update

As March break draws to a close, I managed to get some work don on Dragons Don't Share, the beautiful "miniature" from Reaper Miniatures.  I finally got all the terrain pieces cleaned up and ready for painting.  I added some sand to the base for some additional texture.  It looks really strange in the picture with the two-tone appearance, but the first coat of paint will sort that out.

Here are the terrain pieces, starting with the ruined stairs:

The next is the tower ruins, which has a top and bottom.  I'm leaving them unglued, so they can also be used as wargames terrain.  No way to handle models inside the tower if the top was glued.

Add to that, our intrepid heroes, who are trying to make an honest (?) living:

I grant, the photos aren't great.  The parts are also white-on-white-on-white, which doesn't help.  Once there's some paint involved, they'll look much better.  My desk also isn't a good photo studio, but it will work for this update.

Now we add the dragon herself:

This model is absolutely fantastic!  The assembly was smooth, only a slight bit of putty work on the right wing where it joins the body.  Otherwise, everything fits together perfectly.  Well done Reaper.  She's also a good looking dragon, with a solid body, beautiful wings, and a pose that just oozes anger.  The base is also a cool terrain piece.  While I haven't glued her down yet to facilitate painting, she'll end up stuck to the base.  There will be some putty work needed around her feet, but otherwise, the model fits up really well.

Combine all the pieces, and you have the final result:

The terrain pieces all blend together at their bases so the parts all come together.  Again, the white-on-white model doesn't photograph that well (and my skills as a photographer aren't anything special) but you can see it makes for an evocative diorama.  

Here's a close-up of the warrior mini about to become lunch!

That's it for now.  I have a few models I want to get off my painting table first, then it's time to start adding colour to this beastie.