Valhalla - A Different Kind of Wargame

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Board Games – Usually the point of a war game is to destroy your opponent, Valhalla turns that around and wants your warriors to fall in glorious combat.

This isn’t a miniatures game, isn’t a pretty pure board game with some large miniatures for certain scenarios. The sculpts are nice and add some atmosphere to the game.

Here’s some info from the manufacturer:

The end is coming and greatest warriors are standing to fight. To die in glory and reach Valhalla.

Valhalla is a card game with dice placement mechanics. Each player takes role of a Jarl who builds a team of warriors and equips them to fight. In battles player roll dice to activate warriors and play special tactic cards. The winning party sends their activated warriors to Valhalla, and whoever has the most points at the end, wins the game.

The game puts a classical "war game" concept on its head. In Valhalla the goal is to win a battle and send winning warriors to Valhalla.

Custom dice add randomness and excitement to the game, and wide variety of Jarls, warriors and battle tactics ensure great replayability.



The Edge: Dawnfall - Father of the Sun

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Board Games – I never really understood the draw of deck-building/miniature games it always seemed to me that the two concepts don’t mesh well together. Awaken Realms is challenging that belief with The Edge: Dawnfall.

From the manufacturer:

The Edge: Dawnfall is a dynamic, miniature and card battle game with elements of territory control (gathering crystals) as well as campaign play. Each player controls unique units with special abilities that can be enchanted with special spell or progress cards.

Players win the game in solo or co-op mode by completing plot conditions of the scenario, or in the competitive skirmish mode by gaining advantage of 7 Victory Points. The game is set in the original post-apocalyptic universe of The Edge and features 6 factions with very different backstories, game styles and aesthetics.

I haven’t had a chance to paint the core game yet but if this expansion is any indication this game is very cool.

A Different Custodes Look

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Warhammer 40,000 – Purple and gold just look good together, I was very happy that this Adeptus Custodes project uses a different color scheme than the traditional gold, red and black. I’m just getting back to a regular 40K rotation so I’m not sure what the sudden interest in Custodes is all about but this force is so nice looking that I’m tempted to look at building a similar force. (Probably won’t but who knows)

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On the "Hotlist" – Nemesis Board Game

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On the "Hotlist" – Nemesis Board Game

Board Games – Often I’m a bit behind with the “hotness” when it comes to board game projects. I imagine for some players, they want to confirm a game is good/enjoyable before having it painted. While other players will have massive back-logs of games they want painted just on principle that a painted game is more fun to play than an unpainted one. (A concept I whole-heartedly endorse)

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Custodes Dominate the Meta?

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Warhammer 40,000 – I’m not sure this headline is entirely accurate, but it seems like it could be the case given the number of Custodes projects I’m seeing has increased significantly.

This project is all resin from Forgeworld, painted in the traditional color scheme.

Warhammer Underworlds - Bone Reapers and Or'rucs

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Age of Sigmar – Some of the best designs for miniatures are coming out of the Age of Sigmar line, taking the property from a generic fantasy setting to something that reminds me more of the Masters of the Universe mis-mash of stuff.

Of Mouslings and Men

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Dungeons and Dragons – Having your character class as a cute animal miniature seems to be a more of a thing in recent years. I’ve painted plenty of sets of Dungeon Doggies and Catacomb Cats, but this is my first set of Reaper Mouslings. These little guys are very cute and there’s enough variety of them at this point that you could run a full campaign or even mix them in with some of the Mice and Mystics models for some variety.

Iron Hands Successor Chapter - More Marines

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Warhammer 40,000 – This Iron Hands Successor Chapter just keeps growing. Just when I think I’ve painted the last of it my client finds a few more marines that he needs done to match. Which is great since I love this color scheme and it’s relatively simple to keep unified over the course of several batches.

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REVIEW - Jungle Cruise - Board Game

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Jungle Cruise is a really nice looking game!

Jungle Cruise is a really nice looking game!

Board Games – I’ve always loved the Jungle Cruise, the idea of exploring the jungle always stuck in my head as something really cool when I was a kid. Indian Jone, Romancing the Stone and all the rest of the films of the genre really stuck with me. I remember my first trip to Disney riding this at night as one of the last rides we did, I was probably in about third grade and at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

It looses a bit of the magic as an adult but it still holds a place in my heart. The recently released film looks like fun and I can’t wait to see it. Earlier this year my wife and kids gave me the Jungle Cruise: Board Game as a gift. The game is based solely on the ride and not the film property.

First off the game is beautiful, the components are sturdy, well designed and cohesive. I was super excited to get this game out of the box a try it. I own Jaws which was made by the same company and really love the look and feel of that game as well as the mechanics of play.

My first play-through was a two-player game and it became apparent very quickly that this game s more of a roll and go experience. Very few of your decisions in the game matter. You have a bunch of things to do, move around passengers, search for clues, choose your speed, pick the dangers and roll to avoid them . Ultimately it comes down to who gets to the end first with the most “chosen” passengers.

The game is thematic and full of the terrible jokes from the ride, it’s not strategic and is almost completely luck based. For me the theme is strong enough that this will make it out to themed game night every now and then or just as a simple game that gets the family around the table.

Shadows of Brimstone - More Expansions

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Board Games – I’m sure I’ve said it before but Shadows of Brimstone reminds me of RIFTS/GURPS, in so much as it appears to be a mis-mash of any crazy thing you could imagine happening. I’ve painted aliens, cowboys, natives, crazy monsters and space stuff so it was no surprise when a dinosaur, rock people and rats made their way to my table.

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I honestly have never played the game or read a ton about it, but the models are all decent quality hard plastic that have just enough detail to make painting quick and simple.

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Gloomhaven - Jaws of the Lion

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Board Games - Gloomhaven is a massive game and it’s popularity has spawned several expansions. Jaws of the Lion seems to be more of a “prequel” geared toward a casual crowd.

Hardened mercenaries working together to achieved their goals, is the way the game is billed.

Dark Souls - Expansions Fully Painted

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Board Games – Dark Souls is a project I’ve been working on off and on for some time now. I’ve finally been able to finish up all the expansions for the game.

This last batch includes the Last Giant, Gaping Dragon, Black Dragon, Explorers, Phantoms and Adventurers and the Iron Keep.

Marvel United - Kickstarter Exclusives Part Two

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Board Games – Now that things are getting back to “normal” in my part of the world we’ve been able to resume a weekly game night with another couple. Our go to game is Marvel United we’ve played several games each night and have yet to tire of it.

The game is really fun and the cooperative nature means you can easily have a whole group of people around the tale giving input about how you can beat the villain. So even though the adults are playing the game it’s easy enough for the kids to jump in and figure out what’s going on. It’s rare to have a game that flips this easily and still keeps both groups entertained.

I’ve been using a mix of Contrast Paint and traditional techniques on these Chibi miniature and am really loving the results.

WWII - Axis and Allies

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Historical – Americans and Afrika Corp squads for Bolt Action.

Yet Another Glorious Day In the Corp

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Board Games – Another Glorious Day In The Corp is starting to feel like Groundhog Day. This board game is proving to be very popular among my clients, which is great because I love the property and the minis are well done.

Aliens - The Cute Version

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Board Games – Gale Force 9’s Aliens game has been pretty popular with my clients, I think I’ve painted 2-3 sets at this point. From what I’ve read the game is very fun but has limited re-playability since it follows the events of the film very closely. I’ve heard the game is loosely based on an older game that’s very hard to track down by Leading Edge Games. One of my clients was able to track down not only original game but the expansion as well. Rather than use the cardboard standees that came with the game he’s going to use these really neat chibi-style mins.

Space Wolves - Snowy Savages

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Warhammer 40,000 – I’ve painted several Space Wolf forces over the years, each one of them follows a similar color scheme and style to this latest project. One of the nice things about well established chapters is the depth of lore and the fully realized look of the army. Once you figure out how you’re going to cary out the look it’s pretty straight forward.

I always start with a slate grey color as my base, it’s a lighter cool grey color that I then apply a heavy wash over using Nightshade. You can get a similar look by applying the Contrast Space Wolves grey, but I tend to stick with tried and true techniques I’ve used before. The yellow is Iyanden Darksun which when you’re painting yellow is a lifesaver, a quick wash of Cassandra yellow really bring out the color. To paint the pelts I combined Contrast colors with traditional techniques.