Unboxing: Resin Terrain from Worldsmith Ind.

I received my Kickstarter rewards for the campaign by Worldsmith Industries for their Resin Gaming Terrain. Check it out.

Unboxing: Dreadball Xtreme!

Today I received the Wave 1 shipment of the Dreadball Xtreme Kickstarter. So here's a brief unboxing to show you what came.

Toughest Girls of the Galaxy up for Preorder

Raging Heroes unveiled their new website today and they also have the first set of figures from their Toughest Girls of the Galaxy line up for preorder to ship on Dec 10. Three from each faction, the faction mascots, and also the Lulus. There's also set bundles for each faction and a "I want it all" bundle with all the figures and also the coasters.

Assembly: Cerastus Knight Castigator, Part 4

Final assembly diary entry! Woot! Had to get this done for an Escalation Tournament game on Wednesday. The pic above is where we left off. So, on to the final arm!

Assembly: Cerastus Knight Castigator, Part 3

Finally had more time to work on this. So we are starting on the arms. More specifically I am going to start with the left arm which is the gun arm. The reason being that, despite how poseable this model is, the gun arm is more static due to the large gun ammo belt. I suppose it could be heat warped to fit differently, but it's not something I feel comfortable tackling. As a result, it is going to heavily dictate the final position of the torso.

Assembly: Cerastus Knight Castigator, Part 2

So now I tackle the leg assembly. This was a bit more difficult due to how I wanted it positioned. As you can see above, I hacked apart the body of a Wave Serpent to use as base decoration. This would prove to make putting together the legs more challenging than I initially thought. It also caused some other obstacles that I will have to rectify.

Assembly: Cerastus Knight Castigator, Part 1

Yay! It finally came! It took a day shy of four weeks from the time I ordered it to when it arrived. Three of them in transit. Must have gotten stuck in customs. I have it now though, and I can finally start work on it. Unlike other Forge World models, this actually has pretty decent instructions. However, I thought a pictorial assembly guide may still help.

Loot Call!: Arcadia Quest Kickstarter Unboxing

I received my Kickstarter reward today for Arcadia Quest, the chibi miniatures board game from Cool Mini or Not and Spaghetti Western Games. So here is my unboxing of my shipment!

Gerantius Complete!

Just a quick update. I got Gerantius completed. Above, the model was complete but not the base. Here is the completed base:

And here he is standing together with Amaranthius.

This will be my 750 point list for an Escalation Tournament at my local GW store. Gerantius will be run as a vanilla Knight Errant obviously. I am waiting on the delivery of my Knight Castigator from Forge World, so my Knight army will be growing again very soon.

Work in Progress: More Gerantius

Gerantius is now built to the point where he's ready for priming. I need to put some sticky tack on the glue points first. A new escalation League will be starting at the local GW soon and I'm doing Knights as my army, so I got to get him finished. We're starting at 750 points, so one of each Knight puts me at 745. Obviously I'm not going to run Gerantius under his special rules until later in the league.

Kickstarter: Basius 2 and More Root Dice

I was looking through Kickstarter recently and came across a couple new projects I thought folks in the miniatures hobby might be interested in.

Finally... Shelves!

Seriously... FINALLY! I went and got an inexpensive plastic shelving unit. Remember my post showing my hobby room with piles of stuff everywhere? If not, go refresh your memory.

WIP: Imperial Knight Gerantius Early Phase

Having finished Amaranthine a little while ago, my next project is Gerantius. While I haven't gotten too far on him, I figured I'd show what I was doing base wise with him.

Forge World: Knight Acheron Rules Posted

The Cerastus Knight Acheron is the latest offering from Forge World. The unit is up for sale now (£170 like the other Cerastus pattern Knights) and it's rules are posted as well. (link takes you straight to the PDF) Is this the mastiest of the FW Knights?

Spartan Games: A New Boxed Set and A New Game

Spartan Games has some more goodies for us. A new 2-player starter set and a whole new game system.

Miniature Market Sale: Last Day

I just found out about this and thought I would pass it along. Miniature Market is having a clearance sale that ends today. They are offering 5, 10, and 15x reward points on different items. Even on some GW stuff. If you're like me and order from them a lot, this would be a good way to stockpile those reward points. I just wish it wasn't ending a day before pay day! If you want to see the GW stuff offered, you will have to download their Excel spreadsheet that lists everything. The link is in the small rotating ad on the left side of the screen. They're a great company and I cannot recommend them enough.

My DIY Space Marine Chapter Idea

Artwork by The Chamba on Deviant Art

I'm digging back to my childhood on this one. If you don't recognize the characters in the artwork, it's The Silver Hawks. An 80's cartoon about high tech intergalactic police fighting against organized crime. So here's what I plan to do with them as Space Marines.

YouTube Video Tutorial: Painting Chibi Eyes

In Honor of Arcadia Quest shipping soon, I found this video on a basic technique for painting Chibi eyes and thought I would share it. I know I need it.

Dreadball Xtreme: Additional Giant and Other Extras Unlocked Post-Kickstarter

This lovely critter is called the Kravastor. It's an additional Giant that was unlocked from additional funds received post-Kickstarter campaign for Dreadball Xtreme if you have it at Rampage level or Higher.

Additionally, they have unlocked prone figures for all 12 teams being released for Xtreme, all the way to season 6, and are including components to convert figures to Keepers.

Also, this is the current version of artwork for the pitch in Xtreme that is currently with play testers.

Kickstarter: Wizard's Gambit Dice

There is currently a Kickstarter for a set of dice called The Wizard's Gambit. It ends this Friday (9/26/14). I backed it as i thought these looked great for using as magic dice in my games of Warhammer Fantasy. $14 gets you a set of 6 D6 or $15 gets a full polyhedral set. There are many other levels for the campaign offering multiple sets as well as some prototype sets the creator is working on (I think the Bloodspatter set looks awesome!).

So check it out. It's already funded so no chance of it failing.

Ninja Division: Ninja All-Stars and Karate Fight! Announced

In a press release, Ninja Division indicated they would be releasing two new games. Ninja All Stars is slated for a late 2015 release in conjunction with Cipher Studios (makers of Anima Tactics and Helldorado). Still being so far off I wouldn't be surprised to see a Kickstarter for it in the future, but we'll have to wait and see. It says it will "will feature fully assembled, high quality miniatures, and an exciting community driving [sic] style of gameplay, building up your team of elite ninja, and competing for honor and glory against rival clans." From the picture, the minis will be in the chibi style we've seen from such products as Super Dungeon Explore, etc.

The second game is Karate Fight! which is a card based game (no minis) in the same fictional Takoashi University universe as their previous card game Tentacle Bento, a game that was in its second printing but, even so, still shows out of stock (I have a copy fortunately). Karate Fight! is described as "a fast playing game of wits and reflexes. Battle your schoolmates in this 2 – 4 player afterschool rumble featuring the lovely students of Takoashi University." It is slated for a Fall 2014 release.

This press release was originally from August 22nd, but I thought I would point it out in case folks hadn't been watching for news from Ninja Division.

Relic Knights: Elite Dashboards on Pre-Order

Ninja Division has announced that they are taking pre-orders for Elite Dashboards for their game Relic Knights. These are high quality cloth, rubber backed playmats for placing your cards. From the sound of it, they sound like large mouse pads. They are available for each faction. More information on their website.

Unboxing: Space Hulk

In the future, there is only claustrophobia

I picked up my pre-ordered copy of the 2014 re-release of Space Hulk. I have never played it before but I have a lot of friends who have and they all have fond memories of it and say it's a great game and they wished they had never gotten rid of it. So, when GW offered a limited release of it, I jumped on the chance to pre-order it. In addition, the pre-order from GW came with a free art print of the cover art which was nice. Something to hang in the hobby room. Anyway, on to the unboxing!

Forge World: Rules for Questoris Knight Magaera Posted

Hot on the heels of the Knight Castigator rules, Forge World has posted the rules for the Knight Magaera. The model is also up for sale for 110 pounds. This is a Mechanicum Knight that works off the standard GW Imperial Knight chassis, so the kit includes the main chassis from the GW model with the resin parts to make it a Magaera.

My First Imperial Knight Complete: Amaranthine

Ready for battle!

Ever since my surgery I hadn't been able to really paint because I couldn't stand sitting for any length of time. I have managed to make it through recovery and decided to finally tackle painting the partially constructed Knight on my table. So here it is above, the completed Amaranthine.

Knight Castigator Rules are Posted!

The rules for the Cerastus Knight Castigator have finally been posted by Forge World. So get you a copy! The link will take you directly to the PDF.

380 points. It has Flank Speed like the Lancer. It's Ion Shield is like a regular Knight shield. Standard stat array. It's gun is a Twin-Linked Castigator Bolt Cannon, Heavy 8, S7 AP3, 36". So that gives you a decent chance of firing at flyers in an all Knight army. It's sword is S10 AP2, not D. However it has a couple neat abilities: 1) Deflagrate which basically means for every unsaved wound on a regular attack it causes an additional automatic wound on the same unit. 2) Tempest Attack is a special (i.e. Deflagrate doesn't count) attack that happens at I2 and auto hits every enemy in B2B with the Knight. 3) Sunder, so you get to re-roll armor penetration.

All in all, pretty nice rules. I want to get me one.

Tutorial: Space Marine Plasma Coils

Another tutorial. This time, the subject is Space Marine Plasma Coil Glow. I have seen plenty of tutorials on this, but they all seem pretty involved to me, having many steps and gradient highlighting. If you're a lazy painter like me, you want something quick and easy that looks halfway decent. So read on because I think I have the technique for you.

Airbrush Tip: Pre-Mixing Paints

 Vallejo Model Air is a nice product as it's a smaller sized pigment and comes in a handy dropper bottle so you only have to put into your airbrush what you need. Unfortunately, it doesn't have all the colors you might need. So I set out to make my own! What you see above is a bottle of Citadel Sycorax Bronze, pre-mixed into a dropper bottle. Here's how you can do it.

Kickstarter: Resin Terrain

I try to stay away from Kickstarter... but I can't. Sigh. Anyway, here's my latest miniature related find.

Basing Technique: Resin Sand

We're all familiar with basing models. Techniques range from really simple (glue and flock on a green painted base) to really complex multi-step variations. I want to show one method I found that is pretty quick and easy. I don't use it on all my models, just some. What you see in the picture is Liquitex brand Resin Sand. It's a gel medium meant for painting on canvas. This is going to be our basing medium.

MaskFX: First Try

I mentioned in a blog post on 7/12 that I had purchased a 15mm mask for doing digital camo called MaskFX. (pictured above) I finally got all my Vallejo Model Air paints and I gave it a whirl. So here's my review and test run with the mask.

Mantic's Prices Heading Up and a New Kickstarter

From the latest Mantic Newsletter:

However, with massively fluctuating exchange rates at the moment, our Euro and US Dollar prices have had to come under review. Whilst we’ve been absorbing the cost to the best of our ability, regrettably we are going to have a price rise.

After a fight between Orcy and our Finance Director, we’ve managed to hold off any price increase to the 1st August. We have not put everything up and we have tried to keep the rise as low as possible.

So get your orders in before 8/1!

Also, in the Newsletter, they're gearing up for a Kickstarter for a new game called The Dwarf King's Quest. Likely to be very similar to their existing game: The Dwarf King's Hold. A miniatures based, scenario driven board game. So if you're interested in that, be on the lookout for it.

Relic Knights Unboxing: Cerci Speed Circuit Battle Box

I recently bought the battle box for the Cerci Speed Circuit faction from Relic Knights. I have always been interested in their miniatures (since I love anime) and I recently got a deal on someone's Kickstarter that had Cerci and Noh minis, but it was lacking the Battle Box for Cerci so I got that first. So here's my unboxing of it.

Updated Imperial Armour 4

In Forge Word Bulletin #25, Chris from Forge World announced that at their upcoming show appearances they'd have the new updated Imperial Armour 4: The Anphelion Project. Check out the link to read the announcement. Everything it is updated.

Dropzone Commander Tournament Rules

Hawk Wargames recently (July 1st) released a PDF with tournament rules support for DZC. It was a quiet release, only showing up in a news post on their forum. You check out the forum post which contains the link for the free PDF file. The PDF has scoring info, as well new scenarios to use in a tournament setting.

MaskFX and Stencilis

MaskFX from Critical Mass Games

So I mentioned MaskFX and Stencilis in my last post, and I wanted to give them a little show case as I think these are going to be quite useful in my model painting. First up is MaskFX.

Good Used Deal and Other Recent Happenings

Been a while since I posted. I've been laid up after having back surgery to rid myself of sciatic pain from a badly herniated lumbar disc (lift with your knees, kids!). As such I have had lots of time to deal with my backlog of minis, although since I'm not allowed to sit for very long, I haven't been able to do any painting. I did get an airbrush for my birthday and I then bought a compressor. Stupid me though... I got a Grex airbrush and bought a Paasche Compressor not realizing the difference would be an issue. Realizing I didn't have a hose, I ordered a Grex hose. It turns out Paasche uses a proprietary fitting on its regulator. So I bought an adapter... which apparently only works from Paasche air hoses to a Grex air hose. Grumble, grumble... . So I bought a Paasche air hose. So hopefully by early next week I will at least be able to do airbrush base coats and such which I don't have to sit to do.

Dystopian Wars: Operation Shadow Hunter 2-Player Starter Set Unboxing

I just recently got my Operation Shadow Hunter 2-Player Starter Set delivered to me. So here is my unboxing report for it.

Dystopian Wars: Army List Updates

Spartan Games released today (6/20) updated rules for the forces of Dystopian Wars to bring them in line with the new 2.0 rules. You can get them from the Spartan Games download page.

Loot Call!: Firestorm Armada: Storm Zone - Battle for Valhalla 2-Player Starter Set Unboxing

I actually got this a little while ago, but between Origins and other pressing matters I hadn't gotten around to unboxing it and posting about it. So without further ado, I present the unboxing of the Firestorm Armada 2-Player Starter Set by Spartan Games!

Origins So Far: Infinity, DZC, And D&D Attack Wing

so I'm at Origins again this year, in Columbus, OH. I forget how many times I have come at this point! I thought I would offer up some images of my time here so far.

Spartan Games: Dystopian Wars 2-Player Starter Set

Hot on the heels of the Firestorm Armada 2-player starter set with the 2.0 rulebook, Spartan Games released, at the end of May, a 2-player starter box set of Dystopian Wars titled: Operation Shadow Hunter.

Loot call!: Dropzone Commander 2-Player Starter Set Unboxing

So I recently placed an order for the Dropzone Commander and Firestorm Armada 2-player starter sets and I received them. So here's my unboxing of the DZC set.

Loot Call!: Kingdom Death Satan and Pin Up Collection Unboxing - Slightly NSFW

I recently received a few things in the mail. For this update, I will be showing the Unboxing of the two Kingdom Death model sets I got.

Loot Call! - Or Should I Say: I Got Looted...

So... odd title, yeah? Well, I just got something that makes me feel like I was the one that got looted because of how much I had to pay for it. What is it? You wanna see?

Newest Addition to My Hobby Room

I recently purchased an Acrylic Wall Rack for my hobby room to hold my paints. What it is originally meant for is holding bottles of nail polish. However, it's perfectly sized for holding my paints. Vallejo, Army Painter, GW, and P3 all fit in the rack. I don't have them all in there yet, what you see in the picture is just the stuff that was on my work table. I have more in a plastic toolbox that will be nice to get rid of so I'm not always tripping over it. Nit exactly sure how I want to organize it yet. For now I have shades, glazes, and dry paints on top, then metallics on the next level, technical, then layers and bases... trying to put them together in some semblance of grouping by color type. I'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, if you have a dedicated hobby area, you might want to consider this as a means of getting the paints off your work surface and opening up more space for yourself.