Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Bruegelberg: My First Mini

Finished my first Bruegelberg miniature. He's a laborer, and will be a dandy addition to any RPG crowd scene!





And here's scale comp with my D&D Half-Orc Ranger (from Reaper):




Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Nobody Asked Me, But....

Being an occasional feature where I share my thoughts on various gaming related topics.

  • Strange Aeons is really cool! Not such a surprise that I think this--especially if you've read my last few posts, but it bears repeating anyway. I'd love to see what Mike & Co. could do with another genre, or even see them adapt the battle against the Elder Gods to other settings, like ancient Roman Britain. Fancy some "Worms of the Earth" skirmish?

  • My buddy Rico and I are working on a fantasy RPG of our own. It will use a heavily modified version of the FUDGE rules, so we will release under OGL License if and when we get to that point. Although FUDGE dice will be an option, I think we're going to use a D6 - D6 mechanic made popular in many FATE-based games. I am always working on a few projects at once, so I'll provide semi-regular updates on this as we move along. Don't want to give too much away until we have more to show for our work!

  • I turned 41 earlier this month, and aside from marching ever closer to my ultimate oblivion (comforting thought, I know), I did get some lovely gifts from friends. Among them were some of the awesome Lead Adventure Bruegelburg fantasy civilians. I'll be painting at least one of these great minis up this week and posting photos of him here.

  • We're playing D&D 4E this weekend picking up our Forgotten Realms campaign and returning to Neverwinter. Now that we're at 3rd level, things are getting even more interesting.

  • Steve Long and Darren Watts are leaving Hero Games. Sad news. Both guys are true pros and I wish them all the best!

  • I have to admit that the new Necron plastics really entice me. I know that a fellow whose blog I follow and really like, Rushputin has sworn off of them due to problems with the list and background, but since I was never a fan before, I am not sure I'll have the same issues. We'll see. I need to sell off or trade my Tyranids before diving into another 40K army. I have the Orks (3,000+ pts.), and I will never part with them. But I don't have the desire to play the Tyranids much anymore.

  • It may seem like heresy to some, but I am really starting to like paper minis! There, I said it. The sort of stuff put out by OneMonk Miniatures really grabs me. I may experiment with using them in some of my RPGs when I get a chance. Plus, it's a heck of a lot cheaper to get some nice paper minis made in this style than it is to get 3D minis made. As much as I love collecting and painting minis, there is no cheap way to get your own made.

That's all for now! I promise more pics of painted minis later this week!

--Scott






Saturday, November 26, 2011

Strange Aeons: Kung Fu Tussle!

My rule book arrived, and it is a thing of beauty! A little, spiral-bound, full color wonder of a tome, and on first blush, very well written. Cannot wait to dive into some games!

Looking at the listings for agent teams, I was pleased to see a Kung Fu Expert as an option--so pleased in fact that I went to my backlog and dug out a Pulp Figures Chinese gangster! This guy required the removal of his open right hand (meant to hold a polearm) and I replaced it with a closed fist from a miscast SuperFig I had laying around.





This guy's name is Kuan Po, and he makes the fourth member of my now very much international team of Threshold Agents.






I do think the next member of my team will be both female, and American! More on that in a later post.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Strange Aeons: Getting to the Fight!

I understand that Strange Aeons does not have detailed vehicle rules; that's fine. We're not after a rules set for crash derby or drag racing, but when I build a force, I like to build a story around them. I figure my Threshold Agents get to the scene of cult activity in a junky looking truck that conceals their true nature.

A while back I picked up an old toy, added some Sloppy Jalopy wheels to it, and then painted it for gaming. This truck will make a perfect vehicle and terrain piece for our SA games!







Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Strange Aeons: The Russian Is Coming!

Whenever I make Pulp crews, no matter for what game, I like to go for an international flair.

I also think Pulp warbands should have a scholarly type or two. When I came across this Blue Moon Russian Agent in my backlog, and I thought, there's my scholar! Olof Neski will be my Threshold team's linguist, but I also figure him as a pretty solid brawler as well.







Once my rules arrive, we'll see just how he stats up, but I am liking the flavor he'll add to my band!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Monday, November 21, 2011

Strange Aeons: A Stalwart Sikh Ally

I'm a firm believer that every rugged pulp character needs a stalwart ally! The leader of my Strange Aeons warband will rely on the solid support (and well-oiled Bergman) of Satbir Singh!

The name "Satbir" means "true warrior," and this man is just that!









And here is a comp shot with him and Hogarth Smythe (my team leader):



I actually painted Mr. Singh a few years ago, but I just re-based him for this project. He is a nifty conversion of a Bob Murch Pulp Figures Chinese trooper with an Old Glory NW Frontier Sikh head.

Later this week, the team gets some wheels, and maybe a new member or two!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Strange Aeons: Building A Force

My buddy Rico and I are thinking about getting into the Strange Aeons Cthulhu skirmish game.

I've been looking for something to get me inspired over the last few months, and I am hoping this does the job! After a quick flip through his copy of the rules, I ordered a copy for myself!

So while waiting for my rulebook to arrive, I dug into my backlog of unpainted miniatures to start building my first group. I a found an awesome figure from Blue Moon's American Agents pulp pack, and painted him up today!

Here he is:








I'll be showing off more figures and stuff as the week goes on and my warband grows!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Thursday, November 17, 2011

MechWarrior Dark Age Re-Paint: Centurion

Just for something different I did a quick re-paint of a Wizkids MechWarrior DA Centurion 'Mech.

This one will go with the other stuff I've done in this style.







This might get me going working on RoboFire again, but whenever I finish a rule set (as I've just done with B&B), I go into a bit of a post-project malaise).

No matter what, it was fun to get this done!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Blasters & Bulkheads Released!

Blasters & Bulkheads arrives! Joe Dragovich did a bang-up job on the layout, and a number of play-testers stepped up and did yeoman work to make the rules really tight. Thanks to those guys, you can get the rules from the usual suspects linked in the Shameless Commerce area of this blog (upper left corner). Retail is $9.95 for 101 color pages, and also includes a printer friendly B&W version.

As it stands, it is only PDF, but one never knows about future print editions.

Thanks for your patience and encouragement over the last few months!

And thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Monday, November 14, 2011

Off The Shelf: Armies Lost in the Warp

I've painted a lot of armies in my time in the hobby, and I have sold off a lot of armies too!

The other day I came across this pic:



This was one squad from a Redemption-style Warhammer 40K army that I did back in the early 2000's. It was primarily composed of Necromunda Cawdor gangers. Sold it off to some fine fellow years ago, but I hope it's still out there battling for the Emperor, somewhere in the Warp!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Thursday, November 10, 2011

15mm Sci-Fi: Mixing Scales

We took a lot of pics for Blasters & Bulkheads, but I particularly like this one. It shows again how you can take a figure from one scale (a 28mm Mage Knight fig) and place it with a 15mm sci-fi infantryman (Blue Moon Nova Patrol), and get a nice result. This works particularly well with monsters, as shown in my recent post with the 15mm fantasy stuff and the D&D Minis scorpion.

Anyway, here's the pic:



We hope to have the B&B rules out by Sunday, so keep your fingers crossed!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Blasters & Bulkheads Preview Page Shots

Blasters & Bulkhead is almost here! Joe Dragovich has been hard at work on the layout of the rules, and I am now going through the final product proofing and checking for last minute goofs. We're also still waiting on the cover, but that should be showing up any day now.

In the meantime, here are a few preview pages to whet the appetite!











I'm extremely pleased with Joe's font choices and page designs--they really evoke aspects of the Space Opera genre! We'll also be releasing a "stripped down" version that will be easier on printer cartridges. You'll get both versions when you purchase the PDF. Final page count looks like 100 pages, and the price will be $9.95.

Again, this is a PDF only release that will be available through my usual online partners. If all goes well I think we could have it ready by week's end. We shall see!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Hordes: Fenblades and Friend

I've got a small Trollblood army for PP's Hordes game, and for a while I've been meaning to complete these Fenblades, and so I am in the process of doing so!

This post also includes shots of a completed Stone Scribe Chronicler.







Much as I love Madrak and crew, there's a chance this army (when finished) will go to a friend of mine. I love my Minions Barnabas force, and I am finding I can only keep the rules for one PP army in my feeble gamer's brain, so that will be the one for keeps.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Thursday, November 3, 2011

It Came From My Backlog: Armorcast Steam Walker

While rooting through some stuff from my backlog the other day I found this nifty resin steam walker from Armorcast. I bought it at Origins 2002 and sat unpainted until now. Just a quick and dirty, rusty scheme, but it is now ready for use in any number of games.

Check it out!









The turret rotates and the legs come off, so it's pretty easy to store. With it being resin, it is also light and fairly chip resistant.

Here's a comp shot with a 28mm Mage Knight re-paint I did:



And here's a shot with a Rebel Minis 15mm sci-fi trooper:



He might scale better with 15mm stuff!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

15mm Fantasy: Mind Flayer Attacks!

I've had this old Ral Partha 15mm Mind Flayer for years, but now I've finally pulled him out and painted him up!

A great little figure that scales well with current 15mm/18mm offerings.





Here's a comp shot of him going against a Copplestone Northlander:



I wish I still had the rest of the monsters from this Mind Flayer's pack, but I can't find them! I think Reaper has some 15mm monsters coming up in December, so we'll be watching for those!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott