Merry #miniaturemonday Xmas
I thought, as a gesture of goodwill to all, that I would actually paint something for #miniaturemonday so may I present to you St. Nikolaus of the Britanan Empire from Tor Gaming.
This was a really fun mini to paint, as have all the models from the Relics range.
Pictorial evidence.
Although I have nothing to post for #miniaturemonday that is completed I thought I would at least prove that I am actually working on some stuff.
Missing, presumed gone.
Oh dear, no posts since April. Doubt I will be up for Warmonger of the Year. Just a quick one to say that I’m back and hopefully posting something of interest soon.
Hordes – Gargantuans. Oh My.
Well, isn’t this a nice treat for a Friday.
Mountain King - Trollbloods Gargantuan.
I wonder what the next Hordes book is going to be called 
The agony of choice.
Last night saw the return of Relics to the LGS and, having played a thoroughly enjoyable game, got me thinking.
Salute is this weekend and I plan to pick up Dystopian Wars as well as some terrain for Infinity. How can I ensure that I spend time on all the games I want to play.
One option that has come to mind is to spend 4 week slots playing a certain game; focusing all painting time to that game. This could encourage me to paint whilst stopping that staleness that can sometimes arise when you are spending weeks on the same thing.
What does everyone else do to keep their focus fresh?
Relics Goodies
Yay, happy days. My Relics mug has arrived from Tor Gaming’s Zazzle store.
I look forward to drinking the tears of my opponents from this mug – or tears of laughter as I roll an incredible number of 1′s when I only need 2+ in a game – or coffee
You can find a link to the store on the left hand side of this blog – go and buy a shirt or mug or something and show your support for this excellent game.
Instant Mold
Recently I have been persuaded to play Warhammer Fantasy at my LGS and have picked up the Vampire Counts. In days gone by I used to play Bretonnians and the idea of mixing the two for a themed army seemed like a good one, that was until I realised how hard it was going to be to source the Bretonnian bits I would need for the alterations.
Then I remembered reading an article on Miniature Musings of a Bear about Blu Stuff molding and decided to try something similar.
What I ended up with was InstantMold
This is a clear, plastic type material that you pace in boiling water for a few minutes and then press the item you wish to mold into it or, as I did, press the material over the item you wish to mold. I had much better results with this method.
It only takes a few minutes to harden and then its ready for use.
Here is a comparison shot of an original and a molded copy. There is room for improvement but this one was my first attempt so cut me some slack.
Finally, here is a dodgy photo of a skeleton made with a shield that went slightly wrong and a press molded Bretonnian helmet.
Now to make another 70 shields and helmets and get painting.
Basing the Coryphée
With a 30 soulstone game of Malifaux on the horizon I decided to dig out the Showgirls starter set as a change from Ramos but realised that I haven’t built my Coryphée yet.
These stunning miniatures come as a pair in a blister and their rules allow them to merge into a duet causing both models to be on a 50mm base rather than each on a 40mm one.
Two options presented themselves to me:
- Buy a second blister
- Work out a clever basing method to save funds.
I don’t have cash to throw around so option 2 seemed the obvious choice.
To that end my first job was to raid the local coffee house – pick your brand of choice – and grab a handful of their delightful wooden stirrers. Once home I laid out enough of them to allow a lipped 40mm base to fit on the top.
Now, it is worth noting that a 40mm base fits into a 50mm base and a 30mm fits into the 40mm one, for a 30mm base I use a pound coin as a template but substitute with whatever fits.
I am now left with this
Now just cut them out and file/sand to fit
Lastly, I drilled a small hole into each 40mm base and two in the 50mm on before attaching a 0.50mm pin to the underside of each Coryphée so that I could switch between the bases in order for the Dance Together action to be performed.
Now I just need to try and get around to painting something.
Pounds and Projects
It is around this time of year that I realise there is only 3 months until Salute and I panic about raising funds for my excursion.
Every year there is always something I plan to spend most of my budget on; last year it was VSF and Infinity, the year before was Secrets of the Third Reich, this year it is Dystopian Wars (and maybe 7TV).
The problem is I have such a limited budget I need to have a clear out to get some extra cash and the decision then arises; what am I going to sell?
The VSF from last year is still in boxes but I do really want to paint it. My Infinity ALEPH force has been usurped by my Nomads but it is the only army I have painted everything for, my loft contains the makings of a Pre-Heresy Emperor’s Children force (I don’t even play 40k but it appears to be a good challenge) and I have a German Panzer Army for Flames of War that may never see light again.
A big issue is that people don’t have too much money to throw around after xmas so I never know if what I sell will get what its worth, the second issue is that I am rubbish at getting rid of anything.
I have little doubt something will happen and that I will scrape enough to make a limited number of purchases; I just hope that what I buy this year will at least get used.
#peerpressure – or how do you choose what to play?
In my FLGS 4Tk Gaming on Tuesday nights we regularly run some form of organised play; be it a league or a tournament. We have recently finished a 9 week long league for Infinity the Game and, after a short break will be starting at the end of the month an 8 week Journeyman League for Warmachine/Hordes.
This is fine although sometimes you get so sick of playing the same game week after week that you can’t wait for it to end. When it does though the immortal question arises.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO PLAY?
This is a question that I asked today and was met with the response I would give if someone asked me, ‘Not bothered’.
How do you choose between Infinity, Warhammer Fantasy, Relics, Warmachine, Malifaux, Uncharted Seas, Flames of War. They are the first choices that spring to mind without putting too much thought in and that;s without Dystopian Wars that I intend to pick up at Salute.
The first thought is to play something diametrically opposed to what the last organised event was. Finished a sci-fi skirmish game, give me a fantasy game with blocks of troops filling the table.
Maybe someone could create a random item generator app where I type in the names of the systems I play and it picks one at random; either that or I put the names into one of my many hats.
How about you, how do you decide what to play? Answers below.
