Ultramarines

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Warhammer 40,000 - Collecting an army for Warhammer can be a massive commitment, particularly if you invest in a specific faction. Some players are happy to just build a 2000 point force and play with it until they find something else they want to play. But most players will pick a faction and stick with it for a very long time. I mean my own space marine force is approaching full chapter strength - I’ll never field it all together but at this point it’s a matter of just having three of each unit option just in case.

This batch of Ultramarines should fill out my friend’s “Primaris” Space Marine force. I’ve been painting elements of this off and on since before COVID hit so he’s got a really solid collection to play with.

Escape From New York

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Board Games - Escape From New York is another board game based on a popular movie from the 1980’s the packaging is very similar to The Thing game I painted earlier this year. I only painted the larger character models for this game because the cops and criminals are really small and are really just tokens in the game.

Under Our Sun

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Board Games - Under Our Sun is a post-apocalyptic themed board game, the miniatures are pretty small but well detailed for what they are. Painting these with contrast paint made quick work of the tiny models.

Here’s a description from the publisher:


Under our Sun is a semi-cooperative, exploration board game set in a post-apocalyptic world.
When a giant asteroid hits the sun, life on earth is suddenly at its mercy. Modern technology is no longer available, and the entirety of the northern hemisphere becomes a desolate hellscape as a result of the ensuing solar storms.
Society’s rules and regulations are replaced by anarchy, and every day becomes a struggle for survival.

As gameplay commences, you will become an integral member of one of the few remaining honorable and socially-minded communities. Players will choose between four unique characters (six with expansions), each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and will head into the wastelands to ensure the survival of the group and fulfill crucial tasks. The game can be played with a fully-cooperative approach, or to make things extra interesting, there could also be a traitor within the group.
Choose one of the missions included in the core box, which are varied according to difficulty, play-time, and strategic approach.

Under our Sun has a turn-based gameplay where each round represents a single day divided into different phases (morning, noon, evening, and night). Explore the area, tile by tile, to trigger events scattered throughout the map. Find precious loot and scavenge for resources to craft unique items in an effort to upgrade both your character and shelter. Engage in life or death fights against humans, animals, or something completely unknown. Adapt to ever changing weather conditions where even the most elementary of tasks results in a fight for survival.

To succeed in this harsh land, players must manage resources, maintain their health, and ensure adequate water supply. Only through collaboration and the use of individual skills, will players be able to achieve survival and reach their ultimate goal (whatever that may be).

Dive into the thrilling and complex world of “Under our Sun,” and become one of earth’s final survivors!

Wordbearer's

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Warhammer 40,000 - I’ve been painting Wordbearer’s for a friend for quite some time now. He’s taking the time to convert 30K models to 40K and building up his Crusade force which is quite good considering we’ve been playing the same crusade for the majority of this edition.

Worldeaters - Angron's Angry Army

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Warhammer 40,000 - The first models I ever bought was a metal three-pack of Khorne Beserkers, they were so cool when I was a kid. I mean angry dudes that just wanted to KILL< MAIME, BURN! really spoke to me at the time. Of course as I grew older Slaanesh became the chaos god I collected, and still do. But every time Khorne models come across my table I remember that first blister pack.

This batch is Angron the Primarch, Kharn the Betrayer and a squad of Eight-Bound, I don’t think these models are going to see the tabletop but rather live on a display shelf.

Lords of Ragnarok

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Board Games - Norse mythology with a sci-fi twist do you really need to know more? Lords of Ragnarok is an interesting game that has so really cool miniatures. The massive statues you have to build during the game are well massive. The characters are interesting variations of the traditional depictions.

Mysthea - Fully Painted

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Board Games - Mysthea is a euro game where you manage resources on an ancient planet. It has some really weird miniatures that were pretty fun to paint.

Waste Knights

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Board Games - Mad Max is one of my favorite franchises so it’s cool to see other takes on a similar theme.

Description from Publisher:
Waste Knights: Second Edition is a post-apocalyptic game of adventure and survival for 1-4 players inspired by cult classics of the post-apo movies and set in dystopian Australia destroyed by experiments of a powerful corporation. Each player becomes a rugged hero, travelling through the wasteland, facing unnatural weather and enemies forged in long-forgotten laboratories as well as experiencing adventures full of dramatic choices and disturbing characters.

The game is adventure-based, with each Adventure branching out into a number of Plots revealed depending on the players’ narrative choices. Each plot offers unique game mechanics and stories that can be found in the Book of Tales – some of them are keyed to a particular adventure, some are generic, but all enable the players to immerse themselves in the setting and make decisions that change the world around them.

Each knight (player) has 2 actions at their disposal, which basically enable them to travel around the continent in their Vehicle, explore the area for ever-dwindling Resources (Fuel, Ammo, Meds), or camp in order to repair their Gear and heal Wounds or Radiation. Each adventure additionally offers a number of unique Plot Actions that let the players affect the story and fulfill their goals.

However, the heart of the game are stories. Each playthrough is based on an adventure found in the Guide. Some of them are co-op, others competitive, others still may end with the players grouping around different factions and forced to fight their former friends. The construction of each adventure offers lots of narrative choices guaranteeing high replayability and encompasses unique setup elements so that the basic game can be prepared quickly and the players can focus on the plot, not the rules.

Bloodborne - Tabletop

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Board Games - Bloodborne is a tabletop game based on a video game. I never played the game but it looks like a cool concept. You play as hunters trying to solve a mystery while fighting various monsters.
I’l painted expansions for this previously and finally got around to painting the core game.

Flames of War Terrain

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Historical - These terrain kits for Flames of War were a bit different than what I typically paint. Pretty happy with the results.

Kill Team - Aquillion

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Warhammer 40,000 - This is the other half of the most recent Kill Team box. These deep-striking guardsmen were quite a terror on the tabletop when they were first released. Since then they’ve been brought back in line as a pretty reasonable squad that can drop in and take an objective while your gun line holds the rest.

The Thing - Fully Painted Terror

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Board Games - The Thing is one of those movies with practical effects that still holds up really well. I remember several board games that tried to play off the whole imposter hiden bad guy theme but none were really miniature games. This one is officially licensed so it has every character from both movies as well as the variations of the monster.

I enjoyed rewatching the film while painting these. The miniatures really capture the feel of the movie.

Dark Eldar - Proxies Painted - Boarding Actions

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Warhammer 40,000 - I’ve been playing with the same group of guys for 20+ years it’s really amazing when you think about it that we still get together once a week to play with miniatures until late in the evening. I imagine most groups have a guy that loves to play but just doesn’t have the time, skill or what have you to get an army together and keeps bringing the same(ish) force he’s been using for 20+ years. It’s still mostly gray plastic or metal, probably missing some parts and every game starts with explaining what is standing in for what this week. It’s just a thing with an expensive time consuming hobby like this.

Well last year (probably right around the time I stopped posting regularly on this Blog) my wife and kids got me a 3D printer. I had been reluctant to get one because it seems like a time consuming hobby that would eat into my already limited time. Well I was right about the time eating but it opened up a whole new world of getting crazy idea for an army or project and quickly cranking things out for a really reasonable cost.

After years of playing against a headless gray army of mismashed Dark Eldar I was inspired to help my friend out. We were playing boarding actions at the time and it seemed pretty reasonable to crank out a 500 point force in a weekend. I dug around and found some reasonable proxy models for a Dark Eldar force and started printing.

After the printing and assembling was done I sorted out a simple three color scheme that would be easy for him to replicate if he wanted to continue with the force. I primed them dark grey and did a heavy dry brush of pallid flesh which gave me a nice base to use contrast paint and metallics to get them battle ready.

At the next game night he was very happy to have a nicely painted force for our boarding action campaign.

Kill Team - Vespid Stingwings

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Warhammer 40,000 - Killteam is a game I really enjoyed in the first edition. I haven’t had a chance to try the new edition yet but many of the teams keep crossing my painting table and I’m starting to think I need to check it out.

Vespids were a cool addition to the Tau line ages ago but they never had very good models. The metal ones were very flat and ugly looking, well this Killteam has really upped the anti with a set of very nice sculpts. I really enjoyed painting these in the traditional color scheme.

I haven’t looked at the 40k rules for the stingwings but I’m sure if they are any good I’ll be seeing more of these models on my table soon.

Raptor Claw Island - Metal Dinosaurs Painted

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Board Games - I seem to have gotten very behind in posting my projects here. I’ve been busy with numerous projects and will try to catch up with the content I haven’t posted. Most of these projects are various board games which are painted to a basic to tabletop standard. Most of the time board game miniatures don’t need much to enhance the experience of the game.

Raptor Claw Island is a game that doesn’t come with miniatures out of the box it uses cardboard standees. It’s part of the Ulaya Chronicles Drowned Earth Miniatures Game and this is a simplified set of rules that serves as an introduction to the larger system.

It’s been quite a long time since I put together metal models and these got me feeling pretty nostalgic for the heft that metal models have. I enjoyed painting these and am pretty happy with the details on the dinosaur models.

Sea of Legends

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Board Games - Sea of Legends is an open world adventure game for 1-4 players that uses a companion app to navigate the various quests you’ll explore. This is the third box I’ve painted and this batch has several of the stretch boxes included.

ThreeTale - Fairy Tale Adventures

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Board Games - Often I get really odd games that I’ve never heard of crossing my painting table, ThreeTale is one of them. The miniatures are a very odd mix of styles that I for the life of me couldn’t figure out what this game is about. Looking it up on Board Game Geek I can see it has a pretty high rating and and interesting description from the publisher:

ThreeТale is a cooperative adventure game for 3 players who choose their fairytale heroes with stories going way back. Each hero has their asymmetric talents. The gameplay’s a combination of variable player powers in the form of virtues, strategic tile placement and a little bit of dice rolling.

As a team, the tree players go through four phases – Prophecy Phase, Past, Present, and Future.

In the Prophecy phase, three scenarios of future doom are mystically revealed, holding hints to help the players draft their heroes. In the Past phase, every hero gets the chance to develop their stats and talents to be mighty enough to save the world from eternal doom. The heroes’ miniatures move through the tile-built board, thus collecting Virtues, Shevitsa and Speed cubes. They also enter Battles, complete Quests and collect Treasures and Artifacts by drawing cards.

Upon completing the Past Phase, the heroes enter the Present, where it is revealed which of the three prophecies will be fulfilled. Then, the Future comes, knocking on the door. Each Future has its own backstory, inhabitants and win condition. What will it take to save the world? Will you battle a mighty enemy, will you aim to gather lots of precious recourses, or will you simply fight for your own survival? Come and see for yourselves…

—description from the designer

Heroes of Might & Magic - Board Game

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Board Games - It seems that I get quite a few games based on video game properties crossing my painting table. It’s interesting that many of them do a decent job pulling mechanics or theme from the source material to create a different experience.

Heroes of Might & Magic does this fairly well, you have a hero that loots town and fights monsters to move through the various adventures included in each expansion box.

Arkies - Steampunk Mummies and More

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Board Games - Sticking with the spooky theme Arkies is a Steampunk Adventure game that takes place in Egypt exploring a forgotten tomb. The game features a large amount of miniatures that were pretty fun to paint.

Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to play this but the description from the publisher is pretty interesting:

History is full of secrets...

As they explore an ancient Egyptian tomb, a team of archaeologists and adventurers stumble upon a mystery that History forgot. To uncover the truth, they will have to delve deeper and deeper in the pyramids, dodging deadly traps and fighting back swathes of monsters running after them. Has the old Pharaoh placed a curse on this expedition? Should some secrets remain untold? This story is now yours to complete...

Arkeis is a cooperative, story-driven, campaign game with minis set among ancient Egyptian ruins.
Each player takes control of an adventurer as they explore a modular board.
Players have up to two actions per turn: search, move, assist an ally or fight one of the numerous dangers waiting for them in the tombs! The results of their actions can be altered by the equipment and character upgrades they earn during the campaign.
They can push their luck at the risk of being cursed or suffering lasting traumas from injuries!
Each character has their own backpack to store their items (and curses) between adventures.
Each scenario has objectives that the players will try to accomplish during the game to earn rewards in the form of key items and upgrades that influence later scenarios.

It will take a team of skilled players to reveal all of Arkeis’s secrets!

Euthia: Torment of Resurection

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Board Games - Euthia is an open world sandbox game that can be played with 1-4 players. It uses a tile system to generate a new world each time you play so you can take your band of heroes and have a new adventure each time. The miniatures are pretty big and decently detailed.