A detailed account of my various commission/hobby projects.
Board Games – Incursion was a great game, the only real issue with the first edition was how expensive it was to get the metal miniatures and the challenges of storing them. I was lucky enough to pick up the core box of the first edition ages ago and finally got my metal set of minis painted when the pandemic began. Its funny that I painted the second edition almost a year later.
Read MoreBoard Games – Wolfenstein 3D was a big deal when I was a kid, as I’m sure it was for anyone reading this. The first real First Person Shooter it was pretty amazing at the time. Of course then came Doom and Quake and the plethora of of FPS games and now you have millions of people screaming at each other online about some kid sniping them. Ok so maybe I want to rethink that nostalgia train
Read MoreIncursion – Having finished the base sculpts I was working on I've assembled the German Starter box of models for Incursion. The models went together easily and there was very little flash and mold lines to clean up on the models in my box.
Hans was probably the most difficult of the models. The pipes require some bending to get them to fit properly, and a rather delicate. Also the ball joint on his harpoon arm didn't really have an obvious attachment point so it took a bit of trial and error to get the arm properly mounted.
Both Greta and Ilsa have extremely delicate legs so removing the tabs from them took some time and patience. I was impressed with the join for Ilsa's arm as it fit perfectly in the hole and required no additional drilling.
I'm looking forward to painting these models up. I need to prime them and the weather has been uncooporative as of late. usually I'd just go to the garage to prime them but with a baby in the house I'm concerned about the fumes wafting in.
Incursion – Over the weekend I finally made it out to pick up some miliput (similar to greanstuff but cheaper and not as easy to use). I had run out a few weeks ago an stopped at a model train store to pick some up. They didn't have any but the clerk insisted that squadron putty would do the same thing. Never having used it I picked it up to give it a try. No mixing must be easier right? To be brief and get back to the point, this stuff is crap, it might work great to fill smooth line line on model tanks and what not, but for miniture modeling it's far to soft. The stuff is the consistency of snot and smells like nail polish remover. In short I'm not a fan.
Back to the point having picked up some two part epoxy I spent the weekend sculpting bases for my Incursion models. After looking at all the squares on the gameboard I decided to stick with a simple tile pattern. After mixing up a blob of the epoxy I pressed and smoothed it onto the bases. To eliminate the finger prints I smoothed them over with a bit of water, setting them aside to set up for a minute or two I dug out my scuplting kit. The tools I have are labeled for wax scuplting but they work really great on the epoxy. The key is to keep your tool moist so it doesn't stick and tear (insert life lesson here).
Using the flat edge I carved the basic shape of the tiles into the base. After that I used the flat edge to give some texture to the base. I used a dental pick to add some hairline cracks. After the putty cured I went back in with a blade to add more cracks and chips.
To mount the models I removed the tabs from their feet with a pair of clippers and filed them flat. Using a pin vise I drilled a hole in their feet to insert a brass rod and glue them to the base with Gorilla Super Glue.
Incursion – This is one of those games that had been on my radar for a long time, but the 2-player limitation always prevented me from picking it up. Last year Grindhouse Games had a sale on the box set for $15, a price that could be justified even if I only played the game once in a while. Once the box arrived I was really impressed with the quality of the card board components and the art is amazing (Keith Lowe is the artist that does the art for MERCS). Reading through the rules it seemed pretty simple and quick to play.
Players alternate turns based on a bidding system which also regulates the number of actions they can preform during a turn. Within the main rulebook are multiple scenarios that provide plenty of replayability. Combined with the ability to chose a different force each time you'll be able to get plenty of use out of the basic box. There is an expansion available for players that need more models and missions.
I did receive the German model set and hope to get them assembled soon. While the models are really cool and well detailed they aren't necessary to enjoy the game. They are a bit pricey if you can't find them on sale but, I feel like they will add to the overall experience and I've seen a few examples online of 3-dimensional boards that bring the game to a whole 'nother level.
Essentially this plays very similar to a Weird War II version of Space Hulk, with the option of keeping the cost down by leaving the models out of the core game box.
