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Wow, you really keep on churning them out, nice work! Those robots do loo super cute indeed; what was you issue with the halflings? they seem like decent models?

Awesome Lando!

So, I'm getting the impression that Brew Dog is the IPA center of the universe...

Pah it's canned true IPA is draft or at least bottled......

CommissarKhaine wrote:Wow, you really keep on churning them out, nice work! Those robots do loo super cute indeed; what was you issue with the halflings? they seem like decent models?

Thanks buddy. I don't have an issue with the Halflings per se, it's just that this was the second time I got the fig in the calendar. I think the individual fig is ace, just no use for two the same.

aku-chan wrote:Awesome Lando!

Cheers chum!

Gitsplitta wrote:So, I'm getting the impression that Brew Dog is the IPA center of the universe...

Nah I'm just working my way through their calendar it's funny, I remember 20 years ago it was really, really hard to get a good IPA. Deuchars IPA was the only Scottish IPA on draught and it's foul (IPA on draught is historically a challenging thing, as the whole point is that it matures in the cask in the hold of a ship). These days, there's plenty of great IPA (draught, bottle or can) but there's a lot of adulterated rubbish also that uses hops to hide poor flavour. Williams Brothers' Joker IPA is probably the best draught there is, but Brewdog's Punk IPA is the backbone of their business and very commercially available. Plus, I have shares, so I get discount online and in their bars.

Llamahead wrote:Pah it's canned true IPA is draft or at least bottled......

Very true lol.

I had a very pleasant afternoon with my kids. I got Onar Koma, dangerous mercenary hero, painted

All the while using slave labour to prime:

#thisistheway

Saturday's advent, as you may have spied, was this:

I don't like sours at the best of times, and now I know what comes out of the Grinch's anus. That Martian is another matter entirely, amazing fig and perfect addition to my Martian coaching staff - his brain is a little big for the Mantic plexi hoods but I'll manage, I'm sure.

Today, however, is another matter:

I don't know what a spiky IPA is, but I'm excited to find out love the citizen figure. *Edit- turns out a bitter edge. Lovely.

The boys attempted to boost some Spice from the Hutts:

They did ok, not brilliantly. But then, Chewie never did manage to pull off a successful enough job to throw the Hutts off Han's trail.

Had a big zoom catch up with my best bitches (as they refer to themselves), a group of fellow Scottish media teachers. Good to have some human contact, after a fashion at least Meanwhile, I got on with the other heroes

Davith Elso, young Jedi

Fun with OSL

Shayla Varan

Might've painted her as Bo-Katan

Speaking of repaints

Saska Teft as Dr Aphra

Given that they did her psychotic droids, the least one could do is her. Tsk. I'll use her as an elite ISB agent I think.
Hmm, who's this scoundrel?

Verena Talos, essentially a gender switched Han.

Not everyone's a fighter

Murne Rim, Ithorian agent

He's great in game. Terrible physically, but can give orders to enemy figures
And collected team of Rebel Scum

Just leaves the Rancor. Loved every bit of this. Sadly, one of my mates is threatening to print me extra stormtroopers

The older boy also started teaching the younger AoS...

Went fairly well despite a not inconsiderable amount of rage quitting.


Meanwhile, tiny madam Halfling has loved being able to paint figs:

Not bad for a 4 year old.

And I got some paint on a Repeat fig too:

I'm Bat Man! Well, Bat Beast Boy

All the best my friends, stay safe in these strangest of days.
Graven

Lovely models, and my condolences on that first beer, glad the second one came out better! And a double mini in an advent calendar is a shame indeed. Random is random I guess.

Please drop an email to Reaper, and they'll fix your advent fig problem in a jiff. They have /awesome/ customer support!

--Brian

Star Wars IA stuff is v cool, I have been thinking of picking that up to play with my boys

The IA models are really coming along nicely.

I know Luke’s APS had a video on Howe to prime any time of the year, and being from the UK, he might give some insights so you can release your slaves .....or task them to other chores .

Nice to see all the work you have been doing. A lot to catch up on.

Great that the kids are so involved and making the most out of the stay home situation.

Just have to concur with the rest about the IA minis, very well done Graven. Good to see the gravenspawn having fun with minis and gaming. Keep up the great work and stay safe.

You seem to be churning through the IA figures nicely. How far off are you from complete now?

CommissarKhaine wrote:Lovely models, and my condolences on that first beer, glad the second one came out better! And a double mini in an advent calendar is a shame indeed. Random is random I guess.

It's not a big deal, tiny madam loved painting it and I've got an extra if I want to do one. More importantly, it's really got me thinking about Reaper figs to pick up for myself for random projects.

Briancj wrote:Please drop an email to Reaper, and they'll fix your advent fig problem in a jiff. They have /awesome/ customer support!
--Brian

Well, technically it's Mighty Lancer Games in the UK, not Reaper themselves, that do the calendar.

Slinky wrote:Star Wars IA stuff is v cool, I have been thinking of picking that up to play with my boys

Do it, it's great for Dad-gaming, and even when things go wrong, it still feels fluffy, which is great game design. It's also very easy to tweak things: so, for example, I swapped out a couple of imperial things from that last mission (which is from the base set) to add in the Weequay and Gamorreans from the Jabba's Palace set as it just made sense. Sadly, the Rebel Scum are about to get attacked by elite Imperial troops in their supply base. In the main game it's Royal Guard and the Royal Guard Champion but to my mind that doesn't feel quite right (as if they'd be away from the Emperor hunting down ragtag rebels) so I may switch them out for a mix of Elite Regular and Heavy Stormtroopers with Kayn Somos, the Stormtrooper commander - although the Royal Guard Champion is PARTICULARLY terrifying in game - he's like one of Snoke's Praetorians, so I have to keep the power balance right.

Theophony wrote:The IA models are really coming along nicely.
I know Luke’s APS had a video on Howe to prime any time of the year, and being from the UK, he might give some insights so you can release your slaves .....or task them to other chores .

Ach, it's ok. I have plenty to be going on with. Also Reaper plastic does not respond well to sprays. Keeps em busy

Solar_lion wrote:Nice to see all the work you have been doing. A lot to catch up on.
Great that the kids are so involved and making the most out of the stay home situation.

Well, it's that or ACTUAL murder

Yorkright wrote: Just have to concur with the rest about the IA minis, very well done Graven. Good to see the gravenspawn having fun with minis and gaming. Keep up the great work and stay safe.

That's certainly the aim, on all counts

endtransmission wrote:You seem to be churning through the IA figures nicely. How far off are you from complete now?

Just the rancor, in terms of what I own. I've finished adding some bones to base (there's a Kroot skull on there too ) so just waiting to prime. Otherwise, we'll see what Satan brings

Got a fantastic early Xmas gift from Kitbash games:

Meep the space monkey and Kyla, which I'll be using as Detective Chimp (or possibly an agent for Hellboy) and Terra from the Teen Titans.


Monday's haul

Milkshake IPA? Tropical at that?!! Stop messing with my beer damnit! And a chibi. I hate chibis. I knew there would be one, it's inevitable. For all my interest in Japanese culture, just not a fan of the BESM kawaii aesthetic etc. I'm even indifferent on FunkoPops, even though I have a couple (gifts - a Lando and a Batman). Still, girl-spawn thinks it's cute, so it's another for her. I suspect I will fill the back and steal the bat wings - you never know when you need a set of bat wings - and the cobblestone base is rather nice too. Priorities

Tuesday - last day of school!

Now that's some haul. Elvis Juice, but lethal. And a Klegg! Well, a space lizard, but perfect for a Klegg, the vicious alien mercenaries from Dredd. If I were being niggly I might put it on a 40mm base (looks a bit daft with the overhang) but meh. I picked up the Strontium Dog rules - same ruleset as Dredd, but has the custom creation rules - so can knock together stats for the killer Croc (ahem). Slicey-slicey oncey-twicey!
In fact...

Better base, better beer. Well, better than the tropical travesty (it wasn't awful, actually, just like drinking fizzy pineapple).
Not much on the paint slab atm. I want to spend decent time/effort on the final DC figs - lots of cape work means lots of wet blending, so actually need time to do so (granted, no wet blending required for Red Hood, but as Rebirth Jason is my favourite, I want to do it justice). I'm hoping that festive lockdown will give me time to do so. Speaking of comics, I've massively downsized my pull-list for DC, as the backlog was starting to stress me out (much to my wife's amusement #nerdworldproblems), so now it's just Batman, Detective Comics, Hellblazer, Red Hood, Nightwing, Green Lantern and Far Sector. I realise I have read the last 75+ issues of Flash out of a weird sense of obligation, and both Wonder Woman and Superman have really gone downhill. It's interesting that there is ZERO chat about Endless Winter - yet another BIG DC CROSSOVER TM - partly because it's getting overshadowed by Future State, partly because of crossover fatigue, I suspect. I am looking forward to getting back into IDW (Transformers, Canto), BRPD and new Star Wars comics, which I've totally lost track of.
Off now till... 6th, depending on what they decide. So Xmas, here we come!
Graven

Lovely job on the Ithorian! Always wanted to know what they were called. Only played IA a few times, but I played a similar support-type character and had a blast. The OSL job on the young jedi is great too.

I'm on the record as a fan of milk stouts (on nitro if possible), so I'm happy with a milkshake-type beer; but a milkshake IPA is not for me. Thank you for taking on the burdens of beer review, we appreciate the sacrifices you make!

Don Qui Hotep wrote:Lovely job on the Ithorian! Always wanted to know what they were called. Only played IA a few times, but I played a similar support-type character and had a blast. The OSL job on the young jedi is great too.

I'm on the record as a fan of milk stouts (on nitro if possible), so I'm happy with a milkshake-type beer; but a milkshake IPA is not for me. Thank you for taking on the burdens of beer review, we appreciate the sacrifices you make!

Cheers matey! The mix of characters makes for a great game - everyone's got something to do. Granted, I think Hellboy does it BETTER but IA has its charms.
I prefer an oatmeal stout or porter, myself. The consumption of the beer is a cross I must bear. Speaking of which, my mother provided me with a couple of proper English ales along with our Xmas wine (noice), the Spitfire you see above (from my home county in the Home Counties) and Marston's Pedigree (a fine London bitter). Comforts of old indeed. Where I grew up we had 3 pubs (a Shepherd Neame - they of Spitfire - a Marston's and a Harvey's (that one literally at the end of the road) within a ten minute walk, so you grew to appreciate an English ale.

I *suppose* I had better paint something.

This is the way.

Season 1 Mando. Not quite NMM, but a lot of those principles.

Capework

Slightly concerned the Child looks more evil than cute

Detail on the crib.
Overall, very pleased. Used an extremely limited set of colours (VJ air black, air mahogany, deck tan and Arctic White, livery Green for Grogu and a speck of air blue for Din's shoulder and wrist details), all blended. I've been avoiding washes and drybrushing for the SW stuff as a whole, and I think it's paying off in the aesthetic overall.

Today's penultimate advent haul:

I love a good bystander figure. And how fitting, given the comments about stout above. The tendency to lean into the chocolate on stouts is not my favourite, but I'll give it a bash.
Still, appeals to my movie nerd:
Layer Cake is one of those great underrated movies, broke Daniel Craig into the mainstream, plus Tom Hardy, Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney all on top form (and great direction from Matthew Vaughan). Craig and Vaughan were originally picked to collaborate on Thor off the back of it, funnily enough. So referencing it with a beer definitely appeals
Xmas is coming, and I've yet to start the cooking slightly concerned that I'm giving myself a lot of prep tomorrow, but I'm sure it'll be FINE...
Graven

Had a lot of catching up to do, great stuff as always. Loved the OSL on the young Jedi and your boy's shirt which, if I'm not mistaken, spells "this is not a moon"? And mad respect for the painting skills of your daughter at age 4 My boys aren't yet interested in working with brushes, may try that out again next year, I have some minis I really don't need they can practice on.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
The older boy also started teaching the younger AoS...

Went fairly well despite a not inconsiderable amount of rage quitting.

Graven

This is what I like to see!

Did the older one play fair?

Top beer choice

 inmygravenimage wrote:


Slightly concerned the Child looks more evil than cute

Well that's just children, innit? Great job on Mando and Baby, i like the brown base to the white crib and the armor, fits the gritty, lived-in Star Wars vibe.

Good luck on cooking prep! That Layer Cake beer is tantalizing. Hope it was a successful drink.

 Slinky wrote:
Top beer choice

Now this is advertising.

Viterbi wrote:Had a lot of catching up to do, great stuff as always. Loved the OSL on the young Jedi and your boy's shirt which, if I'm not mistaken, spells "this is not a moon"? And mad respect for the painting skills of your daughter at age 4 My boys aren't yet interested in working with brushes, may try that out again next year, I have some minis I really don't need they can practice on.

raise em right yeah, it's a fully operational battle station on it

Fifty wrote:
This is what I like to see!
Did the older one play fair?

He did, though made some very gracious... Errors

Slinky wrote:Top beer choice

Faversham's finest when we were under 18 we were allowed to drink outside at the Ostler's Hook (not the name of the pub, but a metal pinion sticking out the wall in the car park), owing to an historic by-law that allowed stable hands a jar for their time standing by waiting to attend the horses of the rich. Decent excuse for a drink if you're 16

Don Qui Hotep wrote:

inmygravenimage wrote:
Slightly concerned the Child looks more evil than cute

Well that's just children, innit? Great job on Mando and Baby, i like the brown base to the white crib and the armor, fits the gritty, lived-in Star Wars vibe.

Good luck on cooking prep! That Layer Cake beer is tantalizing. Hope it was a successful drink.

Now this is advertising.

Thanks matey, a valid point and I'm as you like it! That was absolutely the aim, it was done over dark grey prime and then all lined with mahogany for that exact reason - hurrah! I've not risked the beer yet, though the Elvis Hammer was astounding, possibly the best of the lot (so far).

Got an AMAZING supply drop from Mantic. I'd ordered a few 1st ed refbots but one of them was missing an arm. No biggy, I'm using them to be a rogue broken bot team but happened to mention to warehouse manager in the group chat. Then this happened:

That's ... Some refbots speaking of which, whatever happened to the broken bot?

Boiling water is my friend. One prone refbot!

Oh! Also, this came:

Really looking forward to digging in. First impressions are it's VERY pretty. Merry Mantic Xmas! I think 2021 is definitely going to favour Fantasy between this, Moonstone, Jaws of the Lion and Shadows of Brimstone.

I bought WD yesterday for the first time in forever. I got it for the (delayed) Aeronautica stuff on looted flyers and tau human allies. Interesting, but hardly justifies the cover price. Still, has got me thinking, and I have plan

And the final advent:

I must've been a good boy this year (or perhaps a clever girl) to get the one Reaper mini I really wanted from my mlgadvent calendar - and a lovely brew as well! Now Beast Boy can be a dinosaur!

Today will involve food prep, tidying and Xmas crafting. Doubt there will be much nerding.

Best of the season, to you and yours,
Graven

I love how you keep churning everything out, it's hard to keep up just reading . That carnosaur is a lovely model indeed, and loving the little baby Yoda (just finished S2 of The Mandalorian, loving every second of it).

Enjoy the festivities!

Great stuff there. I sort of lost track of DC shortly after New 52 started, I'm more of a Marvel guy due to the digital subscription. There are some really good Star Wars comics at the moment.

Did you get the IA card from last month's WD by the way? If not, PM me your address and I'll stick it in the post as I have no need.

Ooh, Armada looks really cool. Excited to see your opinions, I've been low-key looking for a good naval game every since Dystopian Wars went belly-up. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

CommissarKhaine wrote:I love how you keep churning everything out, it's hard to keep up just reading . That carnosaur is a lovely model indeed, and loving the little baby Yoda (just finished S2 of The Mandalorian, loving every second of it).
Enjoy the festivities!

It's a great show, very satisfying. And thanks man, although I doubt 2021 will be quite so productive

endtransmission wrote:Great stuff there. I sort of lost track of DC shortly after New 52 started, I'm more of a Marvel guy due to the digital subscription. There are some really good Star Wars comics at the moment.

Did you get the IA card from last month's WD by the way? If not, PM me your address and I'll stick it in the post as I have no need.

I am the opposite, I know enough about marvel to be conversant at the level of your average nerd but no more, really. As for DC, OTOH, I am pathetically über nerd. And, thanks, you're an absolute gent sir

Don Qui Hotep wrote:Ooh, Armada looks really cool. Excited to see your opinions, I've been low-key looking for a good naval game every since Dystopian Wars went belly-up. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Afaik there is a new reboot if dystopian wars? But just opening armada and it's so pretty. The mat is huge - 44x30 - enough tokens, but not FFG quantities, some MDF ones for faction specific stuff (nice), different coloured bubble wrap around the ships and bits for the 2 fleets (genius), no bubbling, warping or other casting issues I can see; first impressions are very positive.

Well Xmas has been... Interesting. Turned on my fan oven to bake cinnamon rolls, and it wouldn't heat past 50 degrees. I have double oven but this has been... Interesting... my top oven is a bit temperamental so I unscrewed the thermometer from my BBQ and put in the oven instead. It held 160 despite being on full blast... Turkey was ok. Bit of juggling, but ironically for the first time ever everything was ready EXACTLY on time and, I might add, delicious. Not bad for a 6.5kg Turkey in an oven that barely fitted it.

On the plus side, I got this:

Wife is evil. Evil I say. I'd actually decided AGAINST a printer, and she gets me this?! Wicked woman. So dutifully ordered myself a curing chamber off Amazon, a bit of an indulgence but it's not like I paid for a printer Her sister got me RotJ Luke Skywalker for SWIA, whilst my folks got me (amongst other oddments) Aeronautica Tau assets and (randomly) Lego Minions - odd, but cool - and a flagon (yup) of St Ayle's golden ale, which was glorious. There's hope for them yet I also got a nerd drop from erithromycin of a custom carry case for gaslands along with a LOT of new toy cars to customise. I haven't really done much Gaslands in a long while so some toy cars might be fun.
Sometimes though, the toys we get ourselves are most glorious: I was seriously chuffed to find a promo anniversary red hood (well played, targeted Facebook advertising) for a decent price, and because he should be on a 40mm base decided to customise accordingly. Hopefully it will look... Ace also picked up the tokens and buildings from Strontium Dog for a song, so that was a nice wee bonus.
Hope likewise your festive season has been successful,
Graven

Not that I can really keep up with all you get done but have to comment on The Child and Mando. They look great Graven plus that Christmas haul should keep you busy for 2 weeks.
Keep up the great work, and should you need a Yanks review of some of those beers...

Welcome to the future, where we have magic boxes that turn goo into amazing miniatures! Can't wait to see what you start cranking out with that, there's such a smorgasbord of great stuff out there.

Those board games look beefy. you'll have no shortage of stuff to paint in 2021, even before the printer!

Well Xmas has been... Interesting. Turned on my fan oven to bake cinnamon rolls, and it wouldn't heat past 50 degrees. I have double oven but this has been... Interesting... my top oven is a bit temperamental so I unscrewed the thermometer from my BBQ and put in the oven instead. It held 160 despite being on full blast... Turkey was ok. Bit of juggling, but ironically for the first time ever everything was ready EXACTLY on time and, I might add, delicious. Not bad for a 6.5kg Turkey in an oven that barely fitted it.

Nicely done! With us it's usually venison this time of the year, but the principle remains the same: cooking is is equal parts art and science in my opinion

It's a great show, very satisfying. And thanks man, although I doubt 2021 will be quite so productive

Somehow I doubt that last part

Congratz on the haul, and your wife's level of evil is admirable. I can relate, mine loves adding too my pile of shame, usually with an aspect of the hobby I'd tuned down

Ohmygosh... 3d printer in your hands! Dakka just became a much more interesting place!

I’m glad you have given into the printing universe .

You can do more than just make cookies

A whole new world!