Back-to-School Beginner's Malifaux League

/
GG_beginersleague.jpg

I'll be running a four week beginner's league at Gamer's Gauntlet. This is a great chance for new and old players to get started with the game. The league is set up to award players for building and painting a table ready force.

 

Each week players can score a number of league points by playing games and painting models. Each point equates into a lotto ticket for the prize draw at the end of the league. The league is FREE to join and will begin 9/11/12. Weekly scoring sheets should be turned in by 10:00pm Tuesday each night of the league and the final drawings will take place 10/2/12 you must be present to win.

Gamer's Gauntlet is located at:

20564 Hall Road 

Charter Township of Clinton, MI 48038

(586) 412-6677

 

League play takes place 6-10pm Tuesdays.

On the painting table ... MERCs

/

MERCS – Several guys in my group have picked up MERCS starter boxes and have asked me to paint them up for them. The first one to come across my table is the USCR which I ironically just finished painting my own. Luckily my client didn't want the white color scheme and wanted something primarily red and black. Taking this cue I decided to base them on the old Soviet Flag. Red armor, with yellow marking and black/grey cloth with a deep brown leather for the pouches.

For the bases I chose to use my "Imported from Detroit" asphalt bases I think they work better with the support details that the models are standing on then my ice bases. Learning from painting my own it became obvious that the models have too large of a footprint to mount to jagged edges without some significant tweaking and gap filling. 

To paint these up I blocked in the red areas with a deep crimson, the areas that will be black with a dark grey and the pouches with a chocolate brown. I've found the easiest way to paint black cloth is to paint it a dark grey and wash with one or two coats of black. This adds the natural looking shading and is easier than trying to paint the highlights directly. Of course after the wash I go back in and pick out the highlights anyway but it's easier to see them after the wash as well as making the blending feel natural.

The red armor plates were painted the same way as I did with my sefadu, after the crimson base coat I used and earth shade and baal red to deepen the tone and then went back in with the base to pick out the edges. Once that dried I used the fluorescent any color red highlight I have to make the highlights pop. Next I'll add some simple yellow striping to denote the squad members.

 

Just Kicking It - Backing something cool

/

Relic Knights - While I'm not a huge fan of Anime, I do appreciate some aspects of the genre as a whole. I'll occasionally que up what ever the current title or series is available on Netflix instant que to have on while I'm painting. Inevitably it gets distracting as I have to watch more than I paint as the dialog is far less interesting than the visuals.

Currently on Sodapop Miniatures is running a Kickstarter campaign to release the Relic Knights line in plastic. While I've watched various projects go up and get funded I have always been on the fence about buying something before it's made. This time I decided to not miss the boat on all the bonus freebies and back the project.

From the gameplay videos I've seen the game is very fast paced and uses a card system to "pay" for attacks and blocks. This is very different then anything else I've played and I think it could be fun. The models are gorgeous and for the price of a single resin Relic Knight model you can have a full faction, for a little more you get two plus a book and tons of bonuses. If you haven't checked it out yet I suggest you do soon, there's less than 16 days left on the project.

Garage Sale! - Sweet Deals

/

Warmachine/Hordes – As I haven't played a single game of either system since 2009 I've decided that it's time to part with my Legion of Everblight Force. I hope that I'll find a buyer that appreciates all the hard work I put into the force and will buy it as a full lot. There are more photos in the gallery section.

I've added a "Buy it Now" button in the online store for the asking price of $650 shipped anywhere in the U.S. I've also added this to Bartertown to increase the exposure. I don't want to break it up as I feel this is ideal for a player looking to quickly get into the game with out having to assemble and paint a ton of models. If you have a reasonable offer please email me. Also I'll sell outside the U.S. but we'll have to negotiate shipping as it's going to be farily expensive.

I'm also clearing out the shelves to make room for new product check out the online store for more great deals including some unclaimed commissions, overstocked items and other great deals. I'll be adding more throughout the month so check back often.

These great deals end September 3, 2012 so don't wait.

On the painting table ... USCR

/

MERCS – The next Megacon I've decided to tackle is the USCR. From what I've seen of them on the table I'm not sure they fit my playstyle but with a small scale game like this it's helpful to have extra factions around. Most people I've played a few games with either really like the system or hate it. A good chunk of them don't want to invest in yet another mini game so having somthing for them to borrow means more nights that my group will play MERCS or at least consider it for the rotation.

Assembling these models was fairly simple as most of them are one solid piece. The mold line fall in an odd place on the "kicking guy" and were tricky to scrape/file off. Otherwise I didn't have any major issues with the models. As I plan on mounting them to clear bases I lightly glued them to the slotta bases they came with for priming and painting.

I like the look of the studio models so I decided to mimic that paint scheme. The cloth portions of the models were based with khaki, the pouches all with a bright brown and the armor with a light grey. After a quick wash of black on the grey areas I had a better idea of where the highlights would need to go. While the wash dried I worked on mixing up a white color using a light grey base, titanium white, some blending medium and water. This works well when I want to paint in layers as I can slowly build up to the final color with minimal additional shading.

After getting the majority of the paint work done I clipped the models off the tabs and pinned them onto my Rock Bases. This set was cast using clear resin like the Ice Pillars I've done in the past. Mixing some snow flock, white paint, tacky glue and a little water I created a paste that looks like snow. After applying it to the base I covered it with loose snowflock and let it dry overnight. After dusting it off you have a pretty convincing looking snow cover.

I'm trying to track down some star transfers to finish these off as I really don't like freehand symbol painting if I can avoid it.

One step closer ... MERCs

/

MERCS – I finished up the sefadu Megacon the other day. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. The tribal markings on the helms were tricky but I think keeping a simple pattern makes them less busy. To do the yellow I thinned out some Tau Sept Ochre and lightly outlined the pattern. Once I was happy with that I added a second coat of the Ochre to thicken the lines. I then went in with a bright yellow and added some hightlights to make them pop a bit more.

I added some tall grass stalks to the bases. I think it feels close to the photos I've seen of Africa or at least is a good facsimile. As with all my models I added some felt to the base to help keep them from tipping over on an uneven surface and sealed them with a matte clear coat.

Next up is the USCR on crystal clear Ice Bases. Eventually I'd like to own all the Megacons. MERCS probably won't ever be my main game but the small model count and fast paced game length makes for a great once in a while game. I find it really enjoyable to paint a single six man squad. It's not enough to get burnt out on, but just enough to tie together with a single paint scheme.

If you'd like to learn more about MERCS the quickstart rules are online here.

Doctor's Orders

/

Malifaux – Dr. McMorning is one of my favorite masters, however I don't play him as often as I like because Seamus and Kirai get most of my table time. This week I decided to try something different to see how it would work. In an attempt to get in more  games for Dead Heat my group has been playing mostly 25 stone games, so I set up a game against a Guild player to try of this experiment. 

Read More

Video Killed ...

/

Random – I suck at Video Games. Although I really enjoy the immersive experience of the Xbox 360 and the immediate gratification the games provide, I'm just terrible at them. 

I was going to post a review of Saints Row The Third, and then realized anyone who would care would be like,"Dude you're about 9 months late." So no review coming. The game is sweet and really fun but like I said in the opening paragraph I suck at video games, hence I've barely scratch the surface of the story in this game and spend lots of time just driving around breaking stuff. (Honestly I did the same thing with the entire Grand Theft Series, never really made it very far and got distracted by all the other cool stuff to do and remain confined to the first "Island"). What I like about Saints Row is the map isn't locked so I can go where I want and do what I want.

It's convinient that if I get tired of randomly exploring the city I can just call up on of my Saints and they'll give me something to do. Last night I played through that crazy Genki thing killing mascots and dodging traps. Weird as hell but super fun. I also randomly came upon a helicopter mission, which I failed miserably at but I didn't have to complete it to keep playing the game. This is super important to me as I have very little time to spend playing video games and when I do I just want to play for a while and come back to it later. I think that's part of the reason I like fighting games very little commitment needed (unless you play online, then you just get pummeled if you don't practice).

Rambling on ... I'm not sure where I was going to go with this other than to talk about a video game that I really like, which I don't have enough time to play seriously. A friend of mine puts aside the hours of midnight -2 am to play video games while his family sleeps, this seems like a good idea until you realize sleep is necessary especially when you no longer live on Red Bull and Doritios. So I've decided to try and get a few hours in every few weeks, this will be a good break from painting and terrain building without seriously hampering my progress.

Sometime I hope to get a chance to play Borderlands, Red Dead Redemption, Space Marine and several other games that are sitting in the shrinkwrap waiting for me to play. Once I do look forward to another semi-relevant review.

If you have any other games you think I should have sitting in my que to maybe play someday let me know.

It's Growing ... Gamer's Gauntlet Demo Nights

/

Malifaux – The turn-out for demo nights seems to be growing steadily. Which is pretty inpressive since the store still doesn't stock the game. (Soon I hope, let them know you'd like Malifaux and MERCS stock by emailing them here). I had about seven players on Tuesday with several people interested in demos. 

This week I brought out the desert board for a change and it seemed to catch the attention of most of the people who came into the store. With an odd number of players I had a group that played a three-way encounter. Collette vs. Zoraida vs. Perdita. They played shared treasure hunt and Zoraida came away with the win (8 points), Collette was a clse second with 4 points.

Some of the guys that tried out MERCS a few weeks ago came back with full crews, the battle maps and token sets this week as well. I'm glad to see that game is catching on as well as it's my favorite way to round out a night of gaming. Although watching them play on a 2D mat was a little odd looking it seemed to work out fine and made it much easier to transport then my boxes of terrain and tables.

Setting up your own demo night:

• Talk to the store owner and see what night they have space available. 

• Explain the system you want to demo, if the store doesn't stock it currently ask if they do special orders. Also ask if they'll start stocking the game if you can generate interest. 

• Prepare a demo table, if the store doesn't have terrain available or the terrain they have isn't appropriate or impressive. 

• Have several crews/models painted up for use

• Bring enough supplies (measuring devices, stones, cards, dice, markers, tokens) for several people

• Have other experienced players on hand to assist with longer demos

• Talk to every person that comes by looking, be friendly and ask general questions to gauge their interest. essentially you become a salesman for the game, your commission is a good community.

• When someone expresses an interest in learning more, do a quick demo of mechanics, then offer a longer demo if they want to learn more. (if you have a crowd it's helpful to pass them off to an experienced player for a "full" game.

• Promote the night, posters/flyers posted in the store, post on forums, join web groups and post there. If you don't get the word out people won't know to come in. 

• Stick with it, the first few nights you might have a weak turnout, but stick with it and eventually more players will show up.

Jungle Fever (A MERCS Three-Way)

/

MERCS - After my regular Malifaux Demo night, a few of the guys stuck around to play some MERCS. Since I already had a swamp board set up we decided to play a three-way game in the swamps.

Prior to the game starting we set-up some ground rules so the game didn't devolve into shooting from your deployment zone.

• No shooting from your deployment zone turn one

• Plants are infinitely high tubes originating from the base

• Set-up is as close to an equilateral triangle as possible

• Last man standing wins

I chose to play my KemVar, leaving the sniper on the bench. My opponents played Keizai Waza and sefadu. For the deployment I set-up two groups of two MERCS and the Heavy holding my deployment zone, in what I thought was the perfect spot to cover the board. (having forgotten the ground rules we set-up during deployment, it wasn't as sweet as I thought).

he game played hard and fast with the Waza player spreading out over the board, and sefadu coming at both opponents with a two pronged attack. I was able to neutralize the Waza sniper with my demo. Once my Heavy was set and overwatching things got interesting. I unloaded with him and killed (2) sefadu, (1) Waza and my assassin because of his sweet position. This also triggered two overwatches from the sefadu and Waza players which finished off the carnage my Heavy started.

The sefadu Demo took out my Leader and Monkey Wrench with several salvos of Fire grenades. After another crazy Overwatch trigger fest the sefadu player was eliminated and I just had my Heavy and Demo left. The cagey Waza player creeped up taking advantage of the tree cover (which I forgot blocked LOS completely) and was able to pick me off for the win.

The more I play this game the more I love it. I can't really see it as a competitive game, but as something to play just to relax and have fun it's really worth the low cost of entry. We were discussing this after the game and realized that for the amount that I paid (several price increases ago, remember when Rhinos were less than $30) for the transports in my Space Marine company, you can have all the factions, battlefoam bag, terrain mats, GF9 Tokens and rule book for this game. Think about that for a minute. 

 

Window Pain (More progress on Downtown Malifaux)

/

Malifaux – In an effort to speed up my building process I decided to build some window frames. Initially I planned on buying some plastic rod and an miter box to cut and assemble each window. Unable to find a miter box I liked at the few hobby stores I visited I decided to wing it and make the cuts freehand. After ruining several attempts when the plastic wiggled, I decided this was a terrible idea.

Luckily while I was at the craft store picking up more Shrinky-Dink paper, I wandered into the jewelry aisle. Every now and then you can find some interesting charms that work well for terrain project. I happened to find some mini photo frames that were exactly the size I wanted for my window. After getting over the ridiculous price they wanted I remembered the pocket full of 40% off coupons I had and made my way to the register.

Getting the parts home I realized I would need to cut and grind the hoops off the top of the frames. I also would need to cut some rod to make the window panes. (no 45° cuts here) I realized that purchasing a bunch of these and hand crafting each one would be cost and time prohibitive, so I made four versions of windows and prepared them for casting.

I considered casting these out of clear resin but decided against it for this project as the buildings are not going to be functional. Cutting holes into gatorboard is tricky and I dont' want to risk destroying what I've already built to reverse engineering a lighting plan. 

These turned out pretty good and I think I'll offer them up in the Online Store once I have a sufficient stock cast up.

 

On the Painting Table ... Sefadu

/

MERCS – Having found a great deal on the Sefadu starter box, I've added another faction to my MERCS collection. Sefadu are the African faction that specialize in diamonds and have ties to the CCC. I haven't got them on the table yet but from the cards and what I've seen online they specialize in moving fast and getting into melee combat. 

After washing the parts I cleaned the mold lines and flash. I was a little disappointed to find that my set had some flaws in the sculpts. This was noticeable on the loin cloths for two of the models. It was easy enough to scrape off the "fuzzy metal" and smooth out the cloth. Assembly wasn't to difficult although the heads have a fairly small attachment point so getting them to stay in position was a little tricky. (I'm not sure if my trick of holding the model close to a 100 watt light bulb actually does anything, but it seems to help when I have issues with glue setting ... or at least my brain tells me it does).

I used my rock bases to mount the models to. I'm finding this design works for lots of different terrain depending on how you paint it. (the clear version is awesome for ice bases, email me for more info). I did need to put a few extra notches to accommodate the sculpts. 

I decided to follow the basic "official" color scheme rather that go with my gut and paint them like the MAXX, as I have several "purple" armies I didn't want to add another. I painted the cloth of their shorts with a Khaki color from the GW foundation range, their new color range doesn't match up exactly so I'm glad I have several pots of this lying around. Next I went in and painted the armour plates with a crimson color. I'm not sure exactly if their skin is meant to be showing or if they are wearing a body-stocking, so I went with painting them in a dark flesh tone. The remainder of the models were painted a dark grey with some metallic highlights.

At this point the base colors are done. A few quick washes will add enough shading to have them ready for the tabletop. Since I'm not in a rush to play MERCS at the moment I'll take the time to go in a detail these minis out to completion. This will include adding the yellow "tribal" markings to each model in a bright yellow color.

Warhammer 40K Sixth Edition - Ever Hear of a Press Check?

/

Warhammer 40K – While I didn't plan on picking up the new edition of the 40K rule book, as I'm not currently playing the game (love the fluff and models, but other games are more interesting to me at the moment). I was at Great Lakes Hobby and Train, getting some plastic parts for my Malifaux project and noticed they had the book in stock and on sale for a decent discount.

Of course GW ships these all shrink wrapped now so you can't look inside. All the copies they had at the store had the same issue with the corners bending slightly. Now big deal right? Annoyed with this "minor defect" I make my purchase and take the book home. Later that evening I crack the shrink wrap and sit down to read through my $75 giant book. That "minor defect" with the shrink wrap bending the corners, well it also is inside the book the top right corner of every page looks to be dog-eared and bent.

As I'm flipping through the pages enjoying that fresh printing smell, some of the pages looked off to me. Upon closer inspection I notice that the registration is completely off, so on several pages the images are ghosted and look like an old-school 3D poster.

As a graphic designer who specializes in printing I'm appalled that this would ever be released to the public. In my copy their are about 15 pages that have major issues. On some pages it appears the magenta plate is off register so there is a pink shadow, and on others it is the cyan so their is a blue shadow. The black plate seems to be fine as I haven't notice a major issue with the text (except when they are in a  box with an image). These are noticeable with the naked eye and are so bad it makes it hurt my eyes to look at the pages. How this could have slipped through a press check is beyond me, let alone past a competent pressman (Then I looked at the back cover "Printed in China") and whoever printed this book needs to seriously reevaluate their quality control.

I've contacted Games Workshop's Customer Service Department and have yet to hear back from them. I'm hoping that this is just an issue my my book. However the corner issue existed on every copy at the shop where I picked mine up.

Other than the terrible quality control the book is really nicely laid out. I can see where some of the added cost came in with the gatefold pages. While they are cool and it's nice to see the art so big, they don't add much to the book other than some added costs to the end consumer.

I haven't had time to thoroughly read through the changes and new fluff but the basic layout and design of the book looks great (apart from shitty printing). 

UPDATE:
After sending and email and calling the customer service department (and waiting on hold forever). I'm happy to report Games Workshop is sending me out a replacement copy. Say what you will about GW's business practices, when it comes to sending replacement stuff out they're really good about it.  I'm hoping it was only a small portion of the print run that was affected by the registration issue and I'll post an update when I get my replacement.

UPDATE:
So my replacement copy came in the mail over the weekend. The registration issues aren't as bad in this copy and the corner bending is less noticeable. I'm still disappointed in the overall quality of the printing, but at least this won't give me a migraine looking at it.

Book Review – The Primarchs

/

Warhammer 40,000 – I recently finished up the latest Horus Heresy novel, The Primarchs. This is an anthology by several writers each detailing one of the Primarchs of the original Space Marine Legions.

The first short story revolves around Fulgrim, Primarch of the Emperor's Children Legion. I've always liked the background of these deviant marines and as such was excited to read more about them. This story doesn't disappoint. Develing deeper into the depths of depravity these worshipers of Slaanesh have fallen into, the story focuses on whether Fulgrim is himself or possessed by a daemon. Overall it's a really good read and is far darker than most of the other books.

The second story is about the (yawn) Iron Hands Legion. I don't know if it's the legion or the author but this is a long drawn out tale that doesn't ever pick up steam. I've never liked the idea of the Iron Hands, flesh is weak we're robots nonsense; it seems far to one dimensional. Ages ago I read another novel about the chapter (note: Pre-Heresy they were legion, Post-Heresy loyalists are smaller chapters) and didn't get into it. Although it could just be the writing style, I can't get into Nick Kyme's work no matter how hard I try. Essentially the story focuses on the bull-headed nature of the Legion and how Manus Ferrus's need for glory drives him to get beheaded at the Hands of Fulgrim during the dropsite massacre. With most of the anthologies there are going to be some chaff, this is it.

The third tale focuses on the Dark Angels and Lion El'Johnson's paranoia. Seeing everyone as a possible traitor after his encounter with Konrad Cruse in an earlier short story, the primarch of the first legion makes his way to a secret Mechanicus lab to stop the Death Guard and Iron Hands from stealing some warp technology. I enjoyed this story as there was plenty of action, encounters with daemons and a little more background info on some of the named characters from the codexes.

The final story revolves around the Alpha Legion infiltrating themselves to route out a leak. So far I've really enjoyed any Heresy book they've been part of. While it can get confusing in the earlier books with everyone being refereed to as Alpharious and/or Omegon. This short actually give names to some of the other characters so it's an easier read.

Overall the anthology is worth a read, personally I'd skip the Iron Hands story but the others make up for it.

Building a Brothel

/

Malifaux – The downtown board I started a while back is looking pretty bare. Having found a little extra time I decided to revive this project and begin building the individual structures. Looking at the overhead view of the table, I've identified (5) sections that require structures to look complete.

(A) Central multistory structure – This will be the brothel, I'm going to base this while section of town on the Red Chappel District so it makes sense for Seamus to have a safe house in the area. This building will cover the two levels of the board. I'm not going to detail the interiors, but will add some balconies for model interaction.

(B) City Block 1 – This with be several store fronts connected with a catwalk/balcony. I'll have an alleyway or two with stairs leading to the next level.

(C) Bridge – Will connect the two halves of the table to increase interactivity between the various areas.

(D) Dockside structures – Similar to the store fronts up top this will flesh out the lower street level. 

(E) City Block 2 – This with be several store fronts connected with a catwalk/balcony. I'll have an alleyway or two with stairs leading to the next level.

As the central structure is going to be a defining piece for this table I decided to start there. After taking measurements, I cut some gatorfoam to shape for the walls of the structure. Using some glue and pins I put together the walls, and dry fit it into place to be sure it fits snug into the gap. 

After the base structure drys it will be time to add some detailing. I like the idea of a Tudor style building mixed in with the look of the old Mordheim terrain. I happen to have a bunch of the corner pieces that will help add some additional texture to this structure.  The timber and plaster look will mesh well with some more modern looking brick and stone stuctures to indicate the rapid growth and renewal of Malifaux city proper. 

On the painting table ... Dead Men Walking

/

Malifaux – Continuing my Summer of Malifaux I've been pulling out some of my less used models to get them fully painted. Having just finished some Guild guard for my new demo crew I decided to paint up some Guild Autopsies. Most people find these to be far to situational to be included in most Resurectionist lists and the fact they don't drop Corpse Counters is disheartening.

However I find them to be flavorful additions to the game and particularly when setting up a story encounter they are fun to play. A decent ranged attacked can change the game and sometimes McMorning needs another gun around. (yes I know Desperate Mercs are cheaper and do a better job, but what about after you've killed them?). 

Essentially these were painted in the same way as the Guild Guard. The coats are Adeptus Battle Grey foundation, washed with black and highlight with a cool grey. The pants are painted crimson, washed with earthshade and baal red, then highlight with a bright red and a fluorescent any color red highlight. 

The skin was based with a pale flesh tone and washed with purple then highlighted with my special zombie skin mixture. I toned down the highlight with a light wash of ogryun flesh. After the final highlights I went in around the eyes and open wounds to add some red wash. 

In the Spirit World

/

I've decided to play each of the Resurectionist masters for several games in a row during the Dead Heat campaign to give each of them a chance to shine.

Given the stormy terrible weather and being slightly grumpy from being soaked, I decided to run Kirai. (nothing like matching the mood of your master, insert brooding sad face.) I was bit nervous as my opponent wanted to play a quick 25 stone game and Kirai is a little light on hitting power at that level. (unless the cards go your way).

Using the my Hell Dorado: Blood Falls board we decided to play a game in the Mines, and flipped Alone in the Dark (models that fail morale duels are killed). The strategy was Shared: Slaughter (sigh ... ). I announced Assassinate and Kirai's Master Specific. 

My List:

Kirai

(5) Seishin

Shikome

Spirit of Lost Love

Dave's List:

Rasputina

Convict Gunslinger

(2) Ice Gamin

Sabertooth Cerebus

Essence of Power

I won the initiative first turn and moved up a Seishin (repeat until he's done activating). Activating Kirai I cast in the Spirit World to move to a Seishin, then Swiriling Spirits the Shikome right in front of Rasputina (her prey). The Shikome activates and beats on Rasputina, causing him to burn through most of his stones trying to stop the damage. 

Turn two he wins the initiative and uses Raputina to take the Shikome down to 2 wounds (I hate overpower BTW), burning through the last of his stones in the process. I activate Kirai and Summon Ikyro, and another Shikome. Rasputina gets eliminated and the Cerebus eats a Seishin.

Turn three the gunslinger kills the wounded Shikome, and gets wounded by Ikyro. The other Shikome eats an Ice Gamin and Kirai heals up (with the help of the Spirit of Lost Love). 

I forgot to take notes on the last two turns but it came down to Kirai, Lost Love, (2) Seishin and another summoned Shikome versus the Gunslinger.  Once the Gunslinger was down to a single wound Kirai spirit worlded in a cut him down with the hedge clippers.

The game was pretty fun and Dave was pretty surprised at how mobile Kirai is. I got lucky drawing a decent Mask each turn as well as a Crow. In games where that doesn't happen it's unlikely that Kirai will be swooshing around the board as much or getting off the summons she needs.

On the painting table ... Lawmen

/

Malifaux – I've been going through my demo kit to be sure I have all the most up to date materials and realized I sold off all the Guild crews I typically demo with. Luckily I still have a Lady Justice crew as well as a nice contingent of Guild Guard. They are however not quite up to the standards of the Seamus Crew I like to use for demos so I needed to get painting. Finishing my Resurectionists is going to take a back seat for a minute.

While I've painted the Guild up in numerous colors in the past for commissions, for my personal crew I feel that the black, grey, red and brown scheme is going to be the best look. Since the Guild is a governmental body I decided to stick with a uniform look for all the models. (minor exception for the more characterful unique models). 

A good "first look" demo usually consists of a master and one or two minions. I prefer to run Seamus with a few Belles against Justice with some Death Marshalls. So they are the models I focused on finishing first. The models were already based coated and shaded when I got back to this project, however the color scheme didn't fit with my new direction. So I stripped them down and started over. 

The coats were all painted with Adeptus Battle Grey, I really like how the foundation paints work once they've been significantly thinned down. The pigment covers nicely and at the proper consistency it goes on smooth. The reds were all painted with a deep crimson I had mixed up for a Khorne army I painted as a commission last year. I really like this color as it shades well with Devlan Mud and when I apply my "any-color red" fluorescent highlight it looks pretty sweet.

Mid-way through my saturday of painting I ran out of Devlan mud and had to drive over to a local store that stocks GW paint. And unfortunately they didn't have any of the old like left so I picked up the new version, now called Earthshade Shade. It works pretty much the same although without the funky smell and a slightly browner hue.

For the bases I used a mix of Dragonforge Trench bases with the Wastland bases. I think the combination gives a nice badlands/ghost town feel. For the grass I used Army Painters grass tufts, these are really great as it gives you a nice clump of grass that is standing up and ready to apply. I never quite understood the process of static charges to make your own tufts, so dropping $5 for a pack with enough grass tufts to do a small army is well worth the price. I just wish they had a larger variety of colors available locally.

After a solid day of painting I was able to finish up Justice, The Judge, (3) Death Marshalls, (2) Guild Guard, The Executioner, and a Guild Austringer. The color scheme seems to work well and they look good as a group. I'm not sure they are bright enough to catch the eye of any painting judges but they look good on the tabletop.

Movie Review – The Woman in Black

/

Last night I finally got around to watching The Woman in Black. This made its way to the top of my Netflix que and sat around for almost a week before I had time to watch the film. I had high hopes as it's a Hammer Film and I typically like their films.

The setting is really great and provided me with some ideas to use in future Malifaux terrain projects. I really like the idea of a mansion out on a road that is under water for a good portion of the day. The overgrown cemetaries and buildings are full of character and interesting shapes. 

I found the creepy dolls and toys in the nursery particularly interesting and might use something similar in a Nightmare based terrain set.

The story was a decent ghost story with a few interesting twists. The pacing was a bit slow in parts and if you weren't paying close attention some visual cues get missed and the story will feel disjointed. (Which i think is intentional)

Overall The Woman in Black is worth a watch if you like period films or a good ghost story without a ton of gore. I don't feel compelled to own this or watch it again, however if it happens to be on TV when I'm painting I might leave it on.

 

Tuesday Throwdowns – Malifaux Demo Nights

/

Malifaux – The first Tuesday Throwdown at Gamer's Gauntlet went well. I think the store was surprised at the turn-out. We had six players actively playing as well as a decent number of on-lookers who were interested in learning more about the game.

I brought two tables with me to the event, my Swamp Board and the Qi & Gong Tavern. Having both an indoor location and an outdoor location is healpful for demo nights as it show off the variety and story driven aspect of the game. Next week I'm going to need to bring more tables as the Warmachine terrain doesn't quite fill the tables enough for Malifaux.

The highlight of my games for the night was a quick 25 stone game against Lilith, in which she took Seamus down to one wound, I popped Killjoy next to Lilith to take her down to one wound, forgetting about Black Blood and killing Seamus in the process. Luckily a Necropunk was able to Leap in and deal that last wound to Lilith.