A detailed account of my various commission/hobby projects.
Warhammer 40,000 – The Death of Soup has forced some of my clients to revisit their army lists and comply with the newest FAQ. Having to have everything be related on a deeper level than just their Super-Faction keywords means they need more models to take advantage of the same strategies.
Read MoreBatman Miniatures Game – Back in the 90's I remember reading the Preview Catalog about the Knightfall Story Arc and being so excited. Back then everyone was going to get rich off collectiong comics with all the "ground-breaking" stories being told. Paralyzing heroes leads to killing heroes leads to crazy-ass costumes with tons of pouches and extra pointy bits the 90's were EXTREME.
Read MoreBoard Games – My board game clients are always bringing me something new and different that I I've either not played or not heard about, but wind up intrigued by the models. Stuffed Fables is one of those games. The concept of a family friendly game that takes place completely on a self contained "book" that also acts as a board is intriguing. I might need to do some more research into this game as it might be a good fit for my kids.
Read MoreKingdom Death – My own Kingdom Death campaign seemed to have faltered after the Screaming Antelope murdered most of my party, and since that day most of my play group has been interested in other things so I haven't had a chance to go back into the boutique nightmare horror realm that is Kingdom Death.
Read MoreWarhammer - I have a few models up for sale on eBay at the moment. One of the services I offer my clients is to sell models either for a percentage or for painting credit on a larger force. Occasionally I'll have commissions that were never collected or test models that didn't make the final list.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 – The Escalation Campaign is over. Unsurprisingly Chaos lost. In the final battle I used a different Chaos force than I had been using to represent the Nightlords abandoning the system with the meager spoils they claimed just as Chaos re-enforcements meandered onto the scene. Given the once sided nature of the campaign it was inevitable that Chaos would turn on itself.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 – Cadians are always a popular choice, particularly for a basic 3C + Wash paint job. Castellan Green, Agrax Earthshade and some metallics make quick work of these bad boys.
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Warhammer 40,000 – The Black Legion commission I periodically do work on continues to supply a steady stream of models to fill out any options he doesn't own yet. At this point the models I've seen are less common for bulk painting so the models tend to be a bit more unique.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 – Escalation Leagues are typically a sneaky way to get people to finish off a force or get a reasonable amount of models painted. Which is great because typically you win the war against gray plastic thorough escalation. Tying it into a campaign system is just a bonus.
Read MoreMalifaux – This group is sealed and ready for a trip down-under.
Board Games – Shadows of Brimstone (the chronically mispronounced game "Shadows over Brimstone") has a ton of expansions. Most recently I painted up the "Allies of the Old West" expansion. This added a few miners/outlaws, a black smith, pack mule and dog to my client's collection for the game.
Read MoreNecromunda – I've always loved Necromunda, the idea of fighting in a the slums of a giant city with a small gang is just so cool. The original game (and it's nearly identical reprint) was incredibly fun even though their were some noticeable issues with the campaign system and the common problem of some gangs growing to fast for anyone else to catch up. The newest version of the game seems to have addressed those issues and introduced some new ways to play.
Read MoreMalifaux – I have a regular client that sends me stuff after Gen Con each year and doesn't need it back until the following year. This is really cool as it gives me plenty of time to work it in, but somewhat bad because I tend to push it back for hotter deadlines.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 – One of the coolest (or most annoying) things about 8th Edition 40k is list construction. The Keyword system means you can cherry pick the units you want to build whatever force you want. From a thematic aspect this is very cool as it can represent the disparate forces abandoned to the darkness after the Great Rift ripped the galaxy in two. Which means it's feasible to have several units of marines traveling with the remnants of a guard regiment being led by some group of Imperial Heroes with a Knight backing them up. Or recreating odd pairing that you see in Black Library books all the time. For instance I'm reading Death of Antagonis right now and am tempted to pick up a Canoness to run along side my Imperial forces. It's not super strong but could make for a cool narrative.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 – I don't think I can extoll the virtues of making up your own force and color scheme in 40k enough. The flexibility it affords and money you can save in the long run is really worth it. Of course you'll occasionally get somebody who gives you the side-eye every time you say successor chapter but whatever that will happen regardless of what you do.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 – If you build a list to table an opponent in 2-3 turns you will win 90% of your games this is the sad truth with most tabletop games. Weird missions and other things to improve tactics so players play to the mission are great. But when the final score doesn't matter because you have no models left does playing to the mission matter?
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Warhammer 40,000 – After last week I'm not sold on the Juggernaut Lords, they did ok, but I'm not sure they are my style. If the Knight wasn't there I think they would have been shot down early in the game.
This week I'm going back to the Raptors and Tzeentch Daemons. The reality is this is the style of force I wanted to play when I started putting together Night Lords and I should have just stuck with it. Sure there's tons of stuff I could do with the Chaos keyword but thematically scary stuff dropping out of the sky to stab you is what I wanted.
This week for 74PL I'm running:
Tzeentch Vanguard
Daemon Prince w/impossible Robe and Daemonspark
Flamers (3x)
Flamers (3x)
Flamers (3x)
Screamers (3x)
Giant Chaos Spawn
Giant Chaos Spawn
Night Lords Outrider
Sorcerer on Bike
Raptors (5x) w/Flamers and Combi-Flamer
Raptors (5x) w/Melta and Combi-Melta
Raptors (5x) w/Melta and Combi-Melta
Warp Talons (5x)
Cultists w/Autoguns (20x)
Not a whole lot of command points with this build. I'm not sure I'll be deep-striking many Daemons this time. Honestly I shouldn't have to everything moves at least 12" but the cultists so closing the gap in mass should be easier. One of the things I've noticed with trying to alpha-strike constantly is a.) my opponents expect it and b.) if things don't go perfect those few units you dumped in are unlikely to survive.
Warhammer 40,000 – It's always weird to me when a Chapter Tactic that has been traditionally overlooked suddenly becomes really good. With the Raptors successor chapter using their special character rules combined with their parent chapters tactics you have a very potent gunline or alpha strike with the best of them.
Read MoreDreadball – Mantic Games. the kings of making a budget minded version of someone else's IP. Well at least that's what they used to be known for. Need a cheaper fantasy army that looks different check out Mantic. They've grown leaps and bounds since they started out but I still always get that store brand feeling with most of their games. I haven't had a chance to try out Walking Dead yet, but from what I've seen it might be the game that breaks Mantics mold for me.
Dreadball was a futuristic sports ball game that seemed to be a rift on Blood Bowl. The difference being I actually enjoyed the demo I played of Dreadball. Not enough to invest but it was fun. That is until they announced the Kickstarter for Dreadball Extreme. Prison Rules seemed up my alley and I was excited.
After the Kickstarter wrapped and the core box was delivered there were delays and changes to the rest of the releases for game. Extreme ceased being it's own game and became more of a optional way to play the core game.
I got as far as reading the rulebook on this one. The negativity from the Kickstarter boards killed any excited I had for the game and it sits shelved. I had hopes of bringing it out eventually, but with a fresh version of Bloodbowl as well as Guild Ball; I think that niche market is flooded.
Is Dreadball still kicking in your area? Was it EXTREME enough to survive? Let me know in the comments below.
Warhammer 40,000 – This week my Night Lords faced off against Space Marines and Sisters of Battle/Inquisition. Since the Inquisition was involved it's pretty easy to twist the narrative to accommodate a three-way carnage game.
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