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Theophony wrote:Don’t they have magic duct tape to fix wands? Made by magic ducks .

Cool looking maulerfiend.

Anvildude wrote:Nah, they just patch it up with some spell-o-tape.

monkeytroll wrote:Is that a type of tricky backed plastic?

The potter stuff, then.

First and foremost, cleanup on these was a breeze. The combination of new material and new casting process is leading to exceptional quality with minimal prep required. Builds are very easy, no gapping really (tiny bit on the unicorn's spine, but that's it).

On to the models! Apologies, I've not yet done the Order of the Phoenix, the Weasley twins or Dumbledore's army.

Hogwarts Professors (minus Umbridge)

Stunning sculpts. Just amazing. Now at this point, I reckon £35 for 4 character models is fair. They all terrifyingly good, and versatile, in game: Snape is of course Potion supremo plus dual faction Hogwarts/Death Eater, Umbridge a Death Eater, Lockhart is Hogwarts with access to Dark magic, and McGonnigal is just a very very powerful (Power 3) light wizard, although doesn't have Animagus, which is annoying (neither does Peter Pettigrew, which is idiotic).

Speaking of which (witch...)

Peter is perfect, Bellatrix... doesn't look like her. It's a decent version of the BOOK character but given that part of the USP is that these are as much collectors' pieces as gaming pieces, I think they've missed the mark. Both are pretty nasty in game, with Unforgivable Curses as their innate spells.

Lupin, and his werewolf form:

Lovely models, and proper value for money on this one. This is a good example of KM doing it right with multiple cards, including a version of the werewolf for the event deck also.

Hagrid is a massive figure:

Great version of him. I love that in game his umbrella gives him the ability to cast spells as normal. Fang's pretty decent too, very cheap for extra damage output.


Slytherins next. Family values:

The Lucius is a particularly impressive sculpt. Narcissa is very good in game, and a lovely pose, but I fear fragility. This Draco is a Death Eater, and not bad at all; good to have a proper second version (looking at you, Lion Hat Luna).

And indeed here he is with his cronies:

Draco and Goyle are spot on, Crabbe not quite. They're good in game, dual faction Hogwarts/ Death Eater - and absolutely should've been in the basic game. Essentially mirroring the Potter crew, this would be far more logical for both standard and co-op play.
Finally, house photo:


And the Adventure packs:

Nice enough model I suppose. But it's just a generic unicorn, albeit big (60mm base).

The troll:

Same height as Hagrid. Not bad, very movie accurate.

And the Dementor:

Very nice model.
Scale shot:

Oh, yeah, made a Commissar poxwalker, just cos.

I honestly don't feel that the Adventure packs offer much value. £35 each for one fig, a scenario card, and a couple of other cards (for the event deck and detailing stats). Now if they'd come with, oh, I don't know, cards for the ADVENTURE deck say, I'd be more sold. The Dementor is a cracking sculpt, and genuinely interesting in game, so it's probably the best bet of the 3.

I've also been assembling some bases of Nurglings, because they're just comedy gold.

And whilst tidying (well, sort of), found this guy.

He is, I think, a classic fantasy lich that had a club maybe? I painted him 30 years ago, or thereabouts. I think he deserves a new lease of life in service to Papa, so a new weapon beckons, amongst other things he's now got a Scion backpack, just for looks.

Away at my folks' for a few days. Going to try some Wings of Glory and Gaslands with my boys if possible.
Ta-ta,
Graven

The HP figs DO look really nice , maybe I can get my wife into.......nope she wouldn’t be enticed as its a game .

I imagined the poor unicorn with a gap in it’s spine being in one of the dog wheel chair things . Squeeking around the woods. My cousins have dachshunds and they wind up with that crippling back injury all the time and they have one in a wheelchair .

Enjoy the Carnage . You need to rock some monster jams music while you guys play .

Hello all, and a happy 2019 I hope, to you all.

 Theophony wrote:
The HP figs DO look really nice , maybe I can get my wife into.......nope she wouldn’t be enticed as its a game .

I imagined the poor unicorn with a gap in it’s spine being in one of the dog wheel chair things . Squeeking around the woods. My cousins have dachshunds and they wind up with that crippling back injury all the time and they have one in a wheelchair .

Enjoy the Carnage . You need to rock some monster jams music while you guys play .

I'm trying to convince my wife also. No luck so far.
See I just imagine the unicorn getting the blood drunk out of him by Voldemort
Foo fighters an excellent soundtrack to the car-nage. Really liking it

We've been away over New Year at my parents' with limited signal, so hence the silent running.

Still, some holiday fun with the boys for new year. Top Trumps, Chess, Double Feature (a movie guessing game) and Exploding Kittens all featured heavily. We've played Sabacc - really good, surprisingly so actually. If you see it on the cheap ("Han Solo Card Game") it's a fast and dirty poker analogue. Especially good if you gamble... responsibly

We've also played Wings of Glory. Well what a wee cracker of a game that is! WWI version, Albatross vs. Spad XIII. Easy, Intuitive and really quick to learn/play. But bit of a bugger to get stuff for it turns out. We've played a few Dogfights (very evenly matched), a mission to take photos of an enemy position (bit dull), and a mission to bomb an enemy position on the trenchline (excellent mission).

I do like a game with properly done prepaints, if nothing else.
Looking forward to the rerelease for Tripods and Triplanes (Martian Invasion rules), just around the corner, which has the added bonus of making the full game rules free

Tried Gaslands. Bit more complex than Wings.

Again, both boys loved it, though the older boy felt it was a wee bit crunchy out of the gate, whilst the younger loved it unconditionally straight away.

He's the silver car here
I'm pretty sold on it too. Free gaming (well ok £10 rules) rocks.

Immediately after this my kids conspired to Wreck me (Red).
I'll delve deeper into the rules but I love the conversion potential here.

2018!
I'm not going to do a full, month by month 2018 recap, but here's some thoughts:
1) Built, painted and completed a 40k army which my friends clubbed together for 40th birthday, in the space of 6 months. That's got be a first. I'll try to get an army shot done in the next couple of days.

2) Got into new weathering techniques, partly as a result of the above. Learned about powders and played with salt weathering.

3) Started getting my kids into 40k. Probably unwise but there we are.

4) Painted a lot in terms of quantity, but less so in quality. A big part of this year has been getting Dreadball teams on the pitch, and so I've not been so focused on the higher quality for, say, Batman.

So hobby goals for 2019 then.

Daemons etc for Nurgle. I've got Mortarion, maulerfiend, plaguebearers and chums, cultists and a couple of bits to do.

I have pretty much a year's worth of BMG to paint
That's a bit grim but I'm generally not going to let my shelf of shame bother me. I've been asked to be a mod of the main BMG group. Apparently I know what I'm talking about.

Likewise I have the Harry Potter stuff to do. I'm a bit torn on this because I have had no less than 4 (4!) serious painters offer to do them for me. I'm tempted, but unsure. Against my principles! but I have so so much plastic crack to do.

Dreadball still got the rest of my MVPs to do. I have 4 unpainted teams also but I'm most likely just going to give at least a couple away to promote the hobby and ensure gaming buddies

Which is next resolution. Some actual gaming. Part of the reason for enlisting the children has been to this end, but I definitely want to do more gaming in my own house with my mates this year. I don't really mind what we play, but anything is better than nothing. Everyone is sold on Dreadball, so that's to be encouraged. And. Hobby is how I stay sane, in an increasingly hostile work environment.

And Gaslands will I think be my latest distraction

Later y'all
Graven

Very much looking forward to seeing HP minis and Gaslands develop.

One of my local game stores may have Wings of Glory stuff, would you like me to look?

--Brian

Happy new year and cannot wait to see your demons!

youwashock wrote:Very much looking forward to seeing HP minis and Gaslands develop.

See? It's comments like that which mean I have to do the HP minis myself!! honestly I'm really excited about the Gaslands too, and I'll be reviewing most of the "Friends of Gaslands" (the various component companies affiliated with Osprey - because free stuff is the best stuff )

Briancj wrote:One of my local game stores may have Wings of Glory stuff, would you like me to look?

--Brian

Och that's really kind of you Bri but reprints start shipping in march afaik so I can probably wait. Thanks for the thought amigo.

Zid wrote:Happy new year and cannot wait to see your demons!

I have to build my Armigers as well, for which I blame you and your awesome blog entirely! Not sure how to do their faces yet, I suspect one will get a Beast of Nurgle face but not sure about the other. And a happy new year to you too!

 inmygravenimage wrote:

Zid wrote:Happy new year and cannot wait to see your demons!

I have to build my Armigers as well, for which I blame you and your awesome blog entirely! Not sure how to do their faces yet, I suspect one will get a Beast of Nurgle face but not sure about the other. And a happy new year to you too!

Armigers are the business, i need to take mine out for a stroll soon... haha. The beast of nurgle idea sounds great, cant wait to see what you come up with!

Well in the end, I didn't go with the beast face, didn't work for me. But still, here they are, my Armigers:

First and foremost, stages of this kit are almost as annoying as building a chimera but never mind. I left off all the leg and arm/shoulder armour, as well as some power doodads and the exhausts as I wanted to modify them heavily, obviously, with the remnants of my bloat drone and the whole of a feculant gnarlmaw.

Obviously more gs work to be done, but you get the gist just now?
Gearing up for work again can't really complain, it's been a decent break. Not got as much done as I like but, then, when do you ever? Got a dreadball team I want to get painted up, the Rebs, a hodgepodge alien team that are a bit of a nightmare to play. But hey, they have space frogs.
Later
Graven

Well if we get space frogs then we will forgive the lack of using the beasts face......not really, but it sounded nice.

Gnarly looking armigers, need to get back to mine sometime. Gnarlmaw pads are a nice idea.

Hope it wasn't too painful removing the base from that tentacle, not attempted it yet.

Theophony wrote:Well if we get space frogs then we will forgive the lack of using the beasts face......not really, but it sounded nice.

I did actually try it but it looked rubbish.

monkeytroll wrote:Gnarly looking armigers, need to get back to mine sometime. Gnarlmaw pads are a nice idea.

Hope it wasn't too painful removing the base from that tentacle, not attempted it yet.

Not at all, dead easy.

Any suggestions for what else to do to them gratefully received btw.

Nurglings, when in doubt add more nurglings .

Looking forward to another year with you Graven. Keep up the fine work.

Theophony wrote:Nurglings, when in doubt add more nurglings .

I would do but they've almost all been appropriated to make the swarms. I've picked up a couple of sets of Lord Felthius from Conquest #19 (seriously, £16 instead of £50 for 8 terminators? Ok then) and that gives me more, so a couple may make it onto the big bad bots.

Gitsplitta wrote:Looking forward to another year with you Graven. Keep up the fine work.

Thanks bud. Hope the public servant hell gets better; we're in our own version of that, which will probably lead to industrial action, but at least we're getting paid at the moment.

In the end, I kept it pretty simple, just adding the odd tentacle, twisted root and strip of skin here and there.

So, they are are now both primed, and can sit on the shelf of shame next to Morty (note to self - rename the Maulerfiend Rick ) where they will fail to get painted any time soon

I still need to add some experimental sticky strands of goo with UHU glue (thanks to monkeytroll for that tip) - the hollow circles/semi-circles on the base are to (in theory) look like burst boils...

I really should be painting my Rebs for the Dreadball challenge but I'm having a hard time getting my head round them they are started, but there's not much to see, because I'm just blocking atm - most of the alien skin tones are done; now, onto the brown cloth. However, also on a Dreadball note, my mates are very keen to get into the game, so I'm hoping for some serious neodurium action in the coming months - makes giving away 4 of my 5 remaining unpainted teams (!) more palatable (well, technically, it's just 4 teams, but I have a full double set of the Rejects).

So, meantime, I did up a set of objectives for general use in whatever game you care to name:

Nothing amazing, just practical; I do love how generic Deadzone scenery is. Surprised how super-shiny Nuln Oil is, though it gives great depth; we actually got it for the boy to shade his Raven Guard (which are starting to come together, pics soon). I wonder whether to make the canisters two distinct sets (the crates have either yellow or red triangles) also. Can I count these, together, as the first model painted in 2019

Got a bunch of lovely 3D printed wheels, tyres and shocks from Kyamsil Designs for Gaslands:

The spiked wheels are undoubtedly my favourites Need to start looking seriously at pimpin' my rides Those will probably go on my SLIME cars (the faction that is Fury Road - War Boys analogue). The other factions are IDRIS (Cult of Speed), MYAZAKI (ultra-sleek futuristic techno cars), WARDEN (prison cars), RUTHERFORD (big guns, big armour, and all that americanism) and MISHKIN (the mad scientist ultra tech). So WARDEN or RUTHERFORD are also good options. I've not tried popping a chassis or wheels from a Hot Wheels before so that'll prove interesting. Apparently a drill is the way to do it; that's not at all hazardous to my health I'm fairly sure cutting that axle and threading a paperclip through also viable. Experiment ahoy! Attempting to get all this stuff lined up for a big magazine article on Gaslands, so hopefully this will be a good learning experience

On we go,
Graven

The two big mothers are looking great especially now they are primed.

Make sure to hit Gaslands website and sign up for notification emails. Extended time four came out a few weeks ago and now there are extra vehicle types.

and Truckasuarus .

There are flat and gloss versions of Nuln Oil, as I've discovered. Which one do you have?

I use them both... the gloss version is great for giving a grimy or oily appearance.

Theophony wrote:The two big mothers are looking great especially now they are primed.

Make sure to hit Gaslands website and sign up for notification emails. Extended time four came out a few weeks ago and now there are extra vehicle types.

and Truckasuarus .

Ooooooooh yeaaaaah.

Briancj wrote:There are flat and gloss versions of Nuln Oil, as I've discovered. Which one do you have?

Just says Nuln Oil shade

Gitsplitta wrote:I use them both... the gloss version is great for giving a grimy or oily appearance.

Hmmmmmmm. Mebbe. I do love my VJ smoke though.

Not much progress on the dreadball team. Just can't feel it, don't no why.


So I chopped my tainted cohort a bit.

Now they each have an axe and a combi plasma (more GS required, obviously).

Traded off my second set for a nos squad of reivers for the kids. I'm such a sucker.

Started my Gaslands. I love classic hot rods/rat rods

Lovely bits from Kyamsil Designs. Reckon these are going to be Slime (War Boys) as they get bonuses for side "rams" I'm going to make 3 rat rods, 2 as "cars" and one as a "buggy". Rat boys are coming! Now, to look for old skaven icons

Later
Graven

If it just says a nuln oil, then that’s the regular, the gloss specifically says Gloss and was just released recently so the older style like coke and coke classic .

Theophony wrote:If it just says a nuln oil, then that’s the regular, the gloss specifically says Gloss and was just released recently so the older style like coke and coke classic .

Good to know ta.

So, a very quiet weekend, not much done. I did, however, come up with a theme and more of a plan for my Gaslands gang. SLIME, as a faction, have the Perk: Pinball - take a free move after you sideswipe. Given that I'm building rat rods with wheel blades, and SLIME are usually Green as a sponsor colour, I present to you... the Pinball Lizards!

Obviously not yet painted However, definitely feeling it. Inadvertently kicked the hornets' nest on the GL fb over the rules for side weapons, and now we're waiting on an official ruling. For now, however, this a Car with side rams (1 build slot) and extra armour (other build slot), plus pistols and Molotov Cocktails for the crew (this might change with the new crew weapons rules, though, or I'll add a smoke dispenser with my remaining point).
Here's the start of the second Car:

Gone for a more aggressive look with 18mm tires on the back and 14 on the front, rather than 16mm on both like the other one. No spikes yet for this, the chaos racks don't look quite right. However it has the skull on front regardless.
And my first "buggy" has started:

Counts as a buggy because it has an internal roll cage, I'm thinking of big front shocks also to make it look... bouncy. Needs a ram though, because plan for it is Buggy w. Exploding Ram (yeah, it's a Kami-KaRzi). I also need to find another similar Hot Wheels rat rod buggy so I have two (giving me a full 50 can team). I suppose I could just add spikes to the front, maybe? or maybe have big leaf springs and mount a ram on that?

And Boy #1 is getting on with his Raven Guard, at last:

Eyes need dotted, purity seal needs colour spot / writing, sepia washes needed, but he's getting there. He's also thinking of adding XIX to every model; I think he'll get bored of that pretty fast though

I'm going to try to persuade him to do a black rim base, I think it'll just look neater. We've got a few more to brass detail and prime up (2 Inceptors, 4 Hellblaster, 4 Intercessors) and then we can start to think about planning a couple of tactical squads (I have no idea what's what these days, so they'll probably just get a Rocket Launcher and a Plasma Gunner) to build next. BUT I'm going to force the boy to paint, damnit! Good habits and that. I'm getting nowhere with painting my Dreadball stuff, just can't muster the interest which is weird. I think it's because I've just got so damn much to paint at present - much like I can't think about building my new Batman stuff. There's no way I'll get them done for Friday, for the contest deadline, but such is life.

On a bit of a Dreadball note, however, the next LoER contest is about Sports, and so that has got me thinking. My initial thoughts are a launch tower for Ultimate (a hexagonal column, essentially) or a dice tower that will house the commentators also. However, the contest requires you incorporate some genuine piece of sporting or board gaming element (non-miniature) into it so I'm a bit stumped. I shall mull it over.
Hey ho
graven

Nice to see you plugging away on a variety of projects graven. Tell your son he's done a good job on the Ravenguard... but they need a black rimmed base. First it'll give them more of a finished look, second it'll tie in with the color of the marine.

Gitsplitta wrote:Nice to see you plugging away on a variety of projects graven.

you mean, nice to see hobby ADHD in full swing

It isn't that I don't LIKE them, it's the COST. The one Citadel bottle is worth maybe 10 bases? Far better to you to mix up a larger bottle yourself, and give THAT to the lad.

Cheers!

--B.

I’d have to dig out my copy of the game, but can’t The Australian crew take motorcycles? Ramshackle Games makes good bikes that fit the scale, so if your wanting to up your crew size that would be one option.

Buggy starts look interesting, and that's a generous motor pool to start with

Briancj wrote:It isn't that I don't LIKE them, it's the COST. The one Citadel bottle is worth maybe 10 bases? Far better to you to mix up a larger bottle yourself, and give THAT to the lad.

Cheers!

--B.

Meh. It's his money No, you're quite right, and easy enough to do.

Theophony wrote:I’d have to dig out my copy of the game, but can’t The Australian crew take motorcycles? Ramshackle Games makes good bikes that fit the scale, so if your wanting to up your crew size that would be one option.

They can indeed, and that's an awesome idea, because now I have visions of bikers with exploding lances I think I'm actually getting some sample 3D printed bikes from Mad Cars to review so that's something to work on

monkeytroll wrote:Buggy starts look interesting, and that's a generous motor pool to start with

Indeed! I'm not sure I'll be using all of it by any means

but it's good for sparking ideas.

Speaking of which, I figured out what to do with my buggy:

So, more csm spikes, for the ram this time, a couple of small leaf springs behind the rear wheels with phatties on, and some tiny 3D printed springs for the front shocks - I need to make the rods for these, again it'll be just paperclips, but you see where we are for now.

And finally got on with my Rebs, the Serenity Browncoats:

Crappy pic but was in a rush this morning. I have actually realised what my problem with them is: it's the rubbish plastic casting. The metal Yndij MVP (creamy coloured guy, second from front left) was a lovely model to work on, but just highlights how pish the old Mantic plastics are. When you've got a range of obscure random aliens, trying to squeeze loads of detail onto a poor cast is not a good idea. But, I'm really happy now with my various alien skin tones, especially the turquoise frogs, and the Yndij has feathers matching his team-mates. Bless. I shall call him Mal

I am like a leaf in the wind, see how I fly...
Graven

Good work on all the things.

Cars looking good.

Dr H wrote:Good work on all the things.

Cars looking good.

Cheers! I did a bit of swapping of hubs, because the open-top version is a bit more buggy-like to my mind, and I found another 30s hot rod bod:

And the big jeep also has a great rat-rod vibe with its tricked-out pipes, and the new wheels give it a distinct look (Jeeps and Cars are now different in-game). That roof is crying out for a ridiculous gun (possibly even a Ridonkulous Gun, which is a genuine in-game weapon) or possible a cupola. I've got crew and bits coming from Dice Mechanic Games (as well as Mad Cars), so that's going to give me enough drivers etc to finish this lot off. The orange rod might need a new daft engine, too, but again, there will be bits for that. The only slightly annoying thing is I'm out of Chaos spikes but, luckily CSM rhinos are coming next month in Conquest

Surprisingly, I finished my Rebs Unincorporated team, the Serenity Browncoats, in time for the current DB contest.

Even more surprisingly, once I turned the corner, I really enjoyed both painting them and the finished look.
So, Ralarat Strikers (Space Frogs) - they jump


Gaelian Jacks (Centaurs) - they're crazy fast


Sorak Jacks - slower, but tougher hard to steal to the ball from

Particularly happy with the OSL from their dreadball gloves.

Prone markers


Rin Guard and Team Captain, Galdo

I've just noticed I need to fix Galdo's lenses on his goggles


And an MVP, A'teo, an Yndij


Lovely model, great in game, fast and brutal, really good at taking down walls of guards.


Really happy with them as a team. They're very difficult to play, and a bit underpowered (plus, I'm a guard short), but that means that they'll probably see quite a lot of use as they're an ideal team to take against people learning the game. I might need to give them an MVP guard, as their defence is really fragile right now (Sorak, the purple ones, kinda double-up, but still - there's a reason their the models for the prone markers!) and it's a good excuse to start on my other MVPs. The Enforcer (MVP Guard) is already painted, but fluff-wise he's the diametric opposite of the Rebs, so that ain't happening

So 11 more models painted in January, which makes... 12

Priming season is done for now, as winter is coming. It's a good excuse to paint stuff
Adios,
Graven

Sooo... what are the cars for again?