A Spot Of Commerce

Please excuse this bit of commerce on the blog, but we're running a 20% off sale on all PDFs on Wargame Downloads and Saber's Edge (this excludes Chaos In Cairo and The Department).  Anyway, if you've been hankering to try one of our rule sets, or to try another one, now's a great chance! Sale runs until midnight, tonight! 

Thanks!

--Scott

Two Minis, 90 Minutes

I was fortunate to have a lot of folks I know help me out on the recent Goalsystem Delves Kickstarter we ran. Some of them were colleagues in the large public library system I work in, and don't game regularly or know much about gaming. Two of these folks, Don and Wes, each pledged for a single miniature. Small pledges, but important nonetheless for us to maintain momentum and continue adding backers.


Yesterday morning I had some time before work and I went to pack up their minis for inter-office mailing, and I just could not do it.  I could not send these two guys I know so well and work with unpainted metal. What would they do with them?  Throw them in a drawer?  Anyway, I had 90 minutes before catching the train to work, so I resolved to speed paint these two figures (the Half-Orc Monk and the male Halfling Adventurer) to the best of my ability and let the chips fall where they may.

I wanted them to have figures they'd be proud to display on their computers or a book shelf. Anyway, I am pretty pleased with what I got done in 90 minutes.

Not bad for starting with un-based, un-primed, bare metal, huh?  One of my most effective tactics is having a small fan right next to my painting station. This allows me to dry stuff quickly between stages.

Anyway, I've painted these figs so often (maybe 5 times?) in the last 3 months I could probably paint them blindfolded!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Warhammer 40K: A Second Cultist

Got a second one done!  I love drum-fed guns, and this guy has a cool one! Probably an old autogun!  Wish I had these models when Necromunda was all the rage.

I'll try to get at least one more done this week.  We shall see! 

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

GW 40K Chaos Plastic Cultist

I was very happy to see GW's release of the $10 plastic Chaos Cultist boxed set.  I've been meaning to get the main 40K boxed set that has all 20 cultists, and I will, but this will tide me over until I do!

These are some of my favorite GW plastic releases in recent memory. Pure skirmish-gaming gold!

Got the first one done today!

I used Army Painter Uniform Gray primer and went from there!  Just stuck with a simple pallet that I will likely follow on all subsequent cultists. These guys will be ideal for In the Emperor's Name skirmish games as well.

The plan is to paint at least two more this week, but we'll see.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Star Wars re-Paint: Transdoshan Elite Merc

The Transdoshan Elite Merceary (Dark Times, Uncommon) is another solidly sculpted figure from one of the latter runs of the SW line.

I re-did the jacket and flesh, and based him up.  He's ready for action!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Off The Shelf: Reaper Grave Digger!

Been battling painting project ennui of late.  There are a number of factors involved, but I have yet to seize on a project to break myself out of my slump.  At least I am still writing and doing rules stuff, but my miniature gaming work has fallen off.

The last few weeks have seen me sustaining myself on RPG-related project work, and I will continue to do re-paints and re-touches until I can find something to sink my teeth into.

Anyway, since today is Thanksgiving, I thought it might be cool to dig into my miniature cases and pull out my favorite pilgrim-hat mini--the Reaper grave digger (and his able assistant). 

Here they are!

I painted this pair way back in 2005 or so. I used them for Chaos In Carpathia and other games. Still two of my favorite paint jobs and minis in my collection.

Thanks for visiting, and Happy Thanksgiving! 

--Scott

Star Wars Minis: Bomo & A Jedi

Sunday I had some time to do a couple of quick re-paints and touch-ups on two recently acquired Star Wars miniatures, Bomo Greenbark (Dark Times, Rare) and a Jedi Watchman (Dark Time, Common).

Both minis are excellent and will make great Star Wars skirmish and role-play pieces!

I did not touch the Jedi's cloak, but I did re-paint the battle fatigues, flesh, and hair. Bomo's flesh was re-done, and I cleaned his mold lines and re-touched his clothes.

All told, a pair of excellent SW figures.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Shadowrun: Initiation Time!

Two, four, six, eight, now it's time to Initiate! My character (a Mystic Adept) and Tony's character (a Magician) get to Initiate this weekend during Episode 6 of our Shadows of Mumbai campaign. In SR, Initiation is a subtle way to spend karma (experience) and get more powerful, and one of the ways you can describe it in-game is with a quest.  Initiating as a group can be more cost effective, and it has the added benefit of involving more players.

I borrowed the story for our quest from an old Legion of Superheroes storyline from the 1980's involving Timber Wolf and the legacy of Karate Kid.  With Kid's death, Timber Wolf had to travel to the place where he was trained and plant a flower in spot considered anathema to all life. The hardest place in the world.

This story is collected in "The More Things Change" Legion trade. If you think you might have a comic shop near you, take a trip there and pick it up. Check it out; it's good. 

That's sort of what Tony and I have to do on Elephanta Island in Mumbai.  There's a shrine to Kali there where nothing grows, and it's guarded by a powerful Shadim--an evil spirit essentially.  We have to plant a flower there. Then we initiate.

I planted the seed of this tale in the last session I ran a couple of weeks back, so now under Andrew's watch it will bear fruit, or the spirit will horribly maul us!

We'll see!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Star Wars Miniatures Sci-Fi Survey 5

The Rodian Black Sun Vigo (Universe, Uncommon) has since its release been one of the most dynamic and cool looking Star Wars miniatures in my collection. He's a bit small, so if doing a head swap, you'll need to carefully select an appropriate head for him.

The one pictured below has been touched-up and re-based, but otherwise looks a lot like one you'd pull from the package or acquire on eBay.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Star Wars Miniatures Sci-Fi Survey 4

Today we re-visit the SW Miniatures Survey feature, where we find three very distinctive aliens suitable for use in other sci-fi games like Traveller, Ashen Stars, StarSIEGE Event Horizon, and many others!  First, a group shot:

Shistavanen Pilot -- Uncommon, Universe

Verpine Tech-- Common, Force Unleashed

Rodian Blaster-for-Hire -- Uncommon, Legacy of the Force

As you can see, all three come strapped and ready for action.  With a head swap, the Rodian could easily fit into Shadowrun, but in terms of general utility, the other two make great fodder for most any sci-fi game that features intelligent aliens.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Warmachine: Juggernaut

Every now and again I go back and work on my Warmachine Khador force. It's a slow burn kind of thing.  Last week I polished off my plastic Juggernaut warjack.  I think it important to mention just how good these plastic kits are.  Whatever detail they lose from their old metal versions is more than made up for by the easy of assembly, durability, and over utility of the plastic/resin versions.

Anyway, here he is!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Shadowrun: When Bugs Attack!

Insect spirits are one of the most dangerous foes a character can face in Shadowrun, and I have shown off my Roach Spirit earlier on this blog.  But what other models to use?  How about Heroclix Brood models?

Yes!  These nasty aliens from the X-Men comics make perfect materialized insect spirits or their transformed servants.

Check them out!

Hasti's fellow runners better show up or he's in for a hive of trouble!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Mumbai Revealed: The Eicher Guide

 I thought I would feature the resource that has helped to make the Shadows of Mumbai campaign such a success.These Eicher guides provide amazing, street-level maps of locations in their given city.  In the case of Mumbai, I was able to generate the last session's primary adventure locale (Elephanta Island) simply by browsing the book and then doing some follow-up research.

Multiple indexes allow the user to easily locate shrines, restaurants, and other spots both notable and mundane. 

If I ever do have the good fortune to travel to Mumbai one day, I will surely bring my Eicher guide along! 

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

From the Backlog: Foundry Street Violence

I've mentioned my shoebox of discarded projects before, but yesterday I happened to be rooting through there and found a half-finished mini that could prove useful in tonight's Shadowrun game, so I pulled him out and finished him.

Here he is!

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Shadowrun: Shadows of Mumbai Episode 5 Prep

What's better than having a great night of gaming to look forward to over the weekend?  Having Thursday and Friday off from work to prep for it!  I always save a bit of vacation for the end of October and beginning of November.  It's my favorite time of year, with my second favorite holiday (Halloween) leading into my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving) later in the month.  And I just love the Fall.

Anyway, Episode 5 of Shadows of Mumbai goes off tomorrow night!  There will be thrills, chills, and some revelations as the storyline advances forward.  Hopefully my players will be on their toes!

Last night I prepped a new NPC, this one for Rico's character.  She's his new animatronic companion, since his character's flesh and blood companion betrayed him, then met an untimely end. Rico's character, a renegade street doc who goes by the name of Hermes, now trusts no one outside of the runner group, so he had Lynx, the group rigger, and Verdun, the Troll hacker, juice up an artificial companion. I used the Heroclix Hope Taya mini (Superman, Uncommon) for her, and here she is:

She required minimal work, just a flesh re-paint, and a re-base. Also did her boots and glasses.

With all of the rampant drug use and the other stuff going on, our Shadowrun campaign would likely receive an NC-17 rating, but I can assure you all that it's tastefully done.  Really, trust me on this one.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

D&D Harbinger Fire Elemental!

 I've wanted this mini since the Harbinger D&D minis set first came out years ago.  Last week my buddy Dave unloaded some of his pre-painted stuff, and I was lucky enough to snatch him up! 

I immediately decided to re-base him on a GF9 45mm MDF round. Now he's ready for action in Shadowrun as well as Goalsystem Delves!

Hasti better watch out, messing with this dude could get him burned! 

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott