Honor Friendship and Deceit

While I've spent much of the past two weeks writing, participating and thinking about gaming, there just wasn't any room for blogging! I guess that's a good thing?

Two weekends ago, "Group A" went for a double header. A Saturday game that started at 1:00pm and didn't end until 9:00pm.... On Sunday!

It's my game-face!

Now before you get any wild ideas, we did break for food, stretches, conversation and a bit of TV. We also returned to our respective homes and got a good 8 hours sleep between Saturday and Sunday but for a brief moment in time, it was like middle school where all that mattered was "what's going to happen next?"

And what happened next was nothing short of great storytelling. The setting was a desolate wasteland in a pocket dimension linked with the planes of hell - an immense fortress on an equally immense chunk of rock floating freely in a vast nothingness. The land was parched and dry, geysers of boiling blood dotted the landscape and all around wandered wretched demons and devils, scrounging what they could outside the fortress walls.

The party was a ragtag group of adventurers with little in common, linked only by mutual respect and over a year of adventuring together. They've helped each other through thick and thin and now, they were really in the 'thick' of it. They were in search of a devil named Kulkus the Deceiver. They were to find him and kill him.

-The Cast-

Blanklee, their resident fighter is a mountain of a man. Born in the snow covered lands of Viklingr, he is as hardy and strong as he is ugly and socially inept. Months prior, in a moment of weakness and poor judgement, Blanklee made a deal with Kulkus. Overcome with guilt, Blanklee went back on the deal and turned himself over to the church. After a formal heresy inquiry and with a little help from his friends, he was released from custody under one condition - that he seek out and destroy Kulkus the Deceiver.

Karl Steimer is a battle-priest and the group's unofficial morale officer. Often going off on lengthy tirades about the dangers of evil and of mankind's need to be free of temptation, Karl is a model follower of the human deity Albrich Vul. He stood by Blanklee's side during the entirety of his inquiry, risking his own career on the actions of his companion. 

Gertrude Saddylmoor was once the well-to-do wife of a wealthy adventurer-turned-celebrity. When he was ruthlessly murdered before her very eyes she swore revenge and trained in the ways of stealth and combat. With the help of her friends she sought out her husband's killer and avenged his death. Children in the city of Sessovir tell tales of her exploits. Not knowing her true identity, they gave her the name "Black Widow." Gertrude also stood by the side of Blanklee during his trials, using what political and social influence she had to pull strings.

Alvernus "Alvi" Thornwuld was a modest priest on a simple pilgrimage when he joined up with the group of adventurers. Thinking it would be safer to travel with "experienced professionals," he found himself thrown into one dangerous situation after another. Typically in the back lines during combat, Alvi has saved the day on more than one occasion, mustering his courage and risking life and limb to keep his new friends alive. Alvi's knack for good fortune has earned him a position as a kind of "mascot" for the party.

-The Game-

The players were only one part of a much larger force. An Imperial force known as "The Order of the Destructors" were waging a large-scale frontal assault on Kulkus' fortress. During this time the party was to infiltrate the stronghold from below, gaining access via a little known cave located on the underside of the floating island. They were accompanied by an Imperial Demon Hunter and a sorcerer with celestial bloodlines. The adventure led them through spider infested caverns where Blanklee was swallowed whole by a gargantuan fiendish spider and ancient catacombs filled with ravenous undead who cackled in glee as the party fell into their various traps. The imagery on the walls and armor worn by the dread grave knights hinted that this place did not always reside here, but may have been ripped in entirety from the prime material plane. 

Breaking through the catacombs they found themselves in the lower levels of the keep. They battled their way through the torture chambers and prison levels, freeing an imprisoned friar in the process. Reaching the surface levels they remained inside the fortress, although they did peek out the door to witness Kulkus' secret weapon, an immense two headed giant! Cursed with the blood of fiends, the beast was a tower of muscles, tusks and weapons.

They quickly made their way up Kulkus' tower, dispatching guards and ruining his alchemical laboratory, slaying the infernal alchemists and ransacking their potion stockpile. Unfortunately one of the alchemists escaped, giving Kulkus ample warning to their intrusion.

When the party finally ascended to the open roof of the tower they found Kulkus waiting with a host of minions from lowly lemures, to wizards and bearded devils. Kulkus boasted and laughed at the party, offering them wealth, power and titles if they would only bow to him. The heroes refused and engaged with the forces of evil.

 The setup.

The battle was hard fought and their wounds were grievous. Blanklee was surrounded by devils and fighting Kulkus' new champion - a fighter of similar abilities to Blanklee himself. Every hit he scored was healed quickly by their foul cleric. Blanklee on the other hand, bled freely from many open wounds, his own clerics preoccupied with combat elsewhere on the rooftop. Gertrude was trapped in a dome of ice with a cluster of low level minions, effectively preventing her from helping her comrades and the sorcerer was attempting to locate Kulkus, who had conveniently turned invisible.

 Gertrude trapped in an ice dome, behind her Blanklee is quickly overwhelmed.

Discouraged by his lack of progress, Blanklee's strength of spirit was fading. He watched his companions struggle against the tide of evil and his player - a long time roleplayer and friend named Jim- had a hard decision to make. I could see it in his face and I knew something was up when he pulled out a coin and flipped it while still maintaining his character at the table. Jim passed me this note...

Johann Dangles -called 'J. Dangles' by the players- was a player character in a previous campaign. He has since become evil and is the main "Big Bad Evil Guy" in our game world.

 Fortunately for the players, a few of them spoke infernal and relayed the message to everyone. The table was stunned. The brief silence was broken by Karl who ordered retreat. A devil and his minions were one thing, but with Blanklee against them, they knew their chances were nil.

Karl grabbed the now unconscious demon hunter and ran down the steps, hoping to somehow escape the cursed place with Alvi hot on their heels. The sorcerer cast featherfall and took a leap from the tower to land on the bridge below. Blanklee, now a villain under player control followed the sorcerer in the hopes of cutting off Karl and his former allies. Free of fear thanks to his own ring of featherfall.

 Gertrude surrounded and alone.

Gertrude was left behind, having just escaped the dome of ice and with no chance against such a formidable force, she took a running jump from the tower with no means to slow her descent. She grabbed hold of Blanklee betting that she could "hitch a ride" but he easily pushed her off, leaving her to plummet to certain death.

With a little quick thinking the sorcerer cast a pit spell below Blanklee before slowing Gertrude's descent only moments before she hit the ground. The party used their limited time wisely, escaping while their former fighter was trapped within the pit. They barreled through the fortress and ran straight out the front doors to find what was left of the Destructors standing victoriously over the massive corpse of the two headed giant. Blanklee, no match for an army of trained clerics and warriors returned to his new master at the top of the tower.

His new employment was not long lived though. Kulkus made contact with a plethora of devils, begging for reinforcements. He was denied at every request except for one. A tall skeleton in dingly black robes appeared and offered aid and reinforcements on behalf of his master. In exchange he wanted only one thing - Blanklee. Kulkus, already having a suitable champion willingly made the deal.

The party, now short one 'killing machine' have regrouped and on their next adventure will venture back to the tower to slay Kulkus and destroy his domain once and for all.

Ugh, sorry for the long post but it was an interesing game! Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to sum up this past weekends game which was equally exciting.

Until next time, happy gaming!       

Crocodile Rock!

Our home-brew campaign features an Egyptian inspired race which are far removed relatives of the elves. One of our players (Tom) is a monk of this particular race and has had a hard time finding a suitable figure to depict his character.

Surfing around the mini sites I stumbled onto crocodilegames.com. They have an excellent selection of figures in their online store, including Egyptian/fantasy themed armies! After browsing around for a bit Tom and I decided on a figure for his new character.

My wife was kind mega awesome enough to order it for me today while I was at work. Unfortunately she ordered the wrong one by mistake. I can't blame her - the product numbers were easy to mix up. I wanted WGE-140 and she ordered WGE-114. Phonetically, they sound very similar and I have been known to talk fast when excited.

The wrong (but still cool looking) figure. Image property of Crocodile Games.

I sent an email to Crocodile Games when I got home from work asking if I could swap out the products. My better half pointed out that they were both at the same price-point so I figured I would give it a shot. No harm in trying, right?

I imagine him saying "I love you this much!" Image property of Crocodile Games. 

Right! I received an email back in short time from Chris telling me it was no problem and that they would swap the figures out! I didn't have to amend my order or "return and re-buy" or any nonsense like that. I know it probably doesn't seem like a big deal to most folks, but I've had my fair share of nasty customer service experiences in the past so this was a pleasant surprise.

I'm excited to see how the figure turns out. I'll be sure to post an image when it's done. I'm considering picking up their Necropolis Guard set as well. They would make an excellent themed hit-squad or group of assassins (who may or may not be hunting down Tom's character, shh!).

On a side note, I was going to originally write " I received an email from a sales rep named Chris..." but after browsing the "About Us" section on their website it seems that I may have been talking to the head honcho of the company! Pretty cool stuff!

Until next time, Happy Gaming!

I tried to resist. I really did.

So I caved in. I ponied up the hundred bucks and bought into the Reaper Bones Kickstarter. We're talking over 200 minis for $100! That's less than fifty cents a pop! The amount of paint needed to color all these guys will easily cost 3x as much as the figures themselves. I don't even know where I'm going to put them all!

This is what it must feel like to be a hoarder.  Here's the current list of figures that are included in the vampire level package.

  I also foresee many motorcycle Sophie figures popping up on eBay in the near future.

In other news, my "completed" monster list for my compendium is up from 6 to 8! Almost there!

Until next time, happy gaming! 

Where Does the Time Go?

I swear, it feels like I lay down to bed on Tuesday and wake up on Thursday! Weeks seem to fly by and while I get a good amount done, it never seems like enough.

This past weekend we traveled north about 5 hours to Sinnemahoning, Pennsylvania. My mom has a cabin tucked away in the woods where we spent the weekend 'getting away from it all.' It was a pretty good time. A lot of driving and a lot of good country food!

Bent tree or portal to another dimension? OOOoooOOOhhH.

The highlight of the weekend was our visit to the Austin Dam. Rather than ramble on about our vacation, you can read about it by clicking here. While pictures can give you a good idea of what it looks like, you really need to see it in person to get the whole experience. If you are ever in the area, I suggest you check it out!

 Brutal

 

In other news, my wife and I did a whole mess of painting last week. We plopped ourselves in front of the TV and cranked out almost twenty mini's! Here's a few of them for your viewing pleasure.

 The ill fated wizard my cousin played. I had just painted him and then (of course) he died

.

 A man in stocks with some jerk kids.

A pair of ogres. The bottom one is Part of the Reaper Bones lineup.

My friend Noah actually made this figure!

Nobody here but us evil wizards!

We've got our Group 1 game this weekend and to be honest, I am completely unprepared. After fending off an underground town from demons, the group cleric has decided to temporarily remain behind and help the townsfolk rebuild their homes and their faith. (In reality, Kevin -the cleric- is getting married!) That leaves us with Blanklee, a brutal fighter trying to redeem himself through religion and Gertrude, a wily thief with a knack for trap finding. Ideally I would like to have the town implore them for help. In it's current state the town would be vulnerable to any number of nasties ready to pounce on opportunity. This would give my players something to do and keep them close to their cleric for future adventures. At this point any ideas or suggestions are appreciated. I'm close to pulling the last resort (gasp!) digging out an old Dungeon magazine!

Besides that, I'm pretty booked up for the next few weeks with games and home renovation. I'm looking forward to the games, the renovation on the other hand, is getting expensive...

Until next time, happy gaming!     

A Weekend of Miniatures

Throwing caution to the wind, my wife and I decided to take a short road trip this past Saturday! We hopped in the car and ventured northwest along Interstate 78 until we reached the small village of Shartlesville Pennsylvania. 

Now you may be asking, "What could possibly be of interest in Shartlesville, PA that would warrant a spur of the moment road trip?" I can answer that with a simple image.

 This Place!

Roadside America is a wonderful attraction that boasts "The Worlds Greatest Indoor Miniature Village," and having nothing to compare it against; I'm inclined to agree! It is 8000 square feet of small town America (circa mid century) in miniature scale. The models are extraordinarily detailed, the push-button animations are a blast and the constant whir of HO scale trains is a delight to behold. 

The photo isn't great, but click it to get an idea of how huge this place is!

Better than the display itself - it's the atmosphere of Roadside America that really shines. Once inside I had the strange feeling of being pulled into a different time. As far as I can tell, nothing has been modernized since the late 60's or early 70's. While most modern attractions focus on getting the next big thing, the owners of Roadside America seem more interested in preserving the integrity of Laurence Gieringer's original creation - a lovingly handcrafted miniature world.

Reminds me of "Leave it to Beaver" 

While the miniatures and dioramas I paint and create usually fall into the fantasy genre, it doesn't prevent me from appreciating the time and effort that has been put into this monumental display. Constructed from actual wood and cast metal parts, the miniature village was built in an age before plastic pieces, foam-core boards and dremel tools. A brief look at his photos and the in-progress models that Mr. Gieringer left behind remain as a testament to his skill as a miniature maker and an artist.

 Dungeon or miniature model of Virginia's Luray Caverns? You decide!

If you ever venture into Pennsylvania, I highly suggest making a stop at Roadside America. I enjoyed it so much, I'd even go with you!

Until next time, happy gaming! 

Ps. Here's a few more images for you to check out. I apologize if they are a little fuzzy, I'm still trying to figure our camera out. If you like what you see, make the trip!

 

Boss Fights!

I know my posting is sparse, but I console myself in knowing that I haven't been writing about gaming because I've been too busy playing games!

Our "group one" game happened two weeks ago and it was fantastic. Blanklee, Karl and Gertrude have continued their journey toward the Sunderforge, where they hope to destroy a fiendish artifact. They stopped off for a brief moment at a grey elf settlement, where they were to meet an an emissary of the red elves - who was waiting for them. He would escort them through the Weirdwood: the warped and haunted remains of the once great red elf forest.

Unfortunately for them, the settlement had been overrun by a band of demons summoned to hunt down the party and take Blanklee to hell. They faced off against a horde of lesser demons, defeated a fiend hunter who had been tracking them for days, helped out the remaining townsfolk and finally destroyed the demon leader, a terrible vrock by the name of Gul'tuch.

The players facing off against a group of dretches. (no dretch figs, settled for slaves)

While the game itself was fun as normal, the players made it really clear that the boss fight was the cherry on the sundae. I had done my best to build a little suspense. NPC's warned them of the vicious creature ahead, and since even the minions were no pushover, the party had some real fear running through their veins. For the first time among this group of players, I actually heard them utter, "You know, we got what we came here for, we can just leave and not mess with whatever's behind that door."

Fortunately, they decided to stay. They couldn't let this monster kill the rest of the townspeople. They buffed up with spells (something they almost never do!) and kicked in the door, steel swinging. The fight went pretty much as planned. There were two human/fiend minions in the room with the vrock; one to act as healer and the other as a diversion. Two players went after the bait while the rogue pursued the healer. Meanwhile, the Vrock began a strange and violent dance in the center of the room. As the two minions fell, the Dance of Ruin completed, blasting the room with damage and nearly destroying Alvi (the NPC cleric and unofficial group mascot) in the process. The party rallied themselves, healed their wounds and threw themselves against the creature. While they did take a fair amount of damage, a series of incredibly lucky saving throws allowed them to win the day with no casualties!

In other news, my good friend Jim -player of Blanklee- has started his own figure wall project. A few months ago I discussed my process of using old typesetting drawers to display my minis and Jim has started his own similar similar project. Below is a preview of whats to come!

At the top is a troll he just started working on. It'll look totally badass when finished.

Until next time, happy gaming!
 

     

My Favorite Monsters: The Otyugh

We had a great, I mean GREAT game this weekend, which I hope to touch upon tomorrow. Tonight however, I would like to discuss one of my favorite monsters: the Otyugh!

What could possibly be so disgusting even an Otyugh has to facepalm?

Squat, hideous, tentacled, sharp toothed and repugnant of odor, the otyugh is everything a dungeon monster should be. They feed primarily on the refuse and decaying matter found in dungeons. Bodies, garbage, offal and other viscera are delicacies to these filthy creatures. Upon discovery of their tendency to eat "unwanted leavings," my gaming group bequeathed otyughs the dubious title of "sh** monsters." Since then the lowly otyugh has become somewhat of a party mascot, appearing as often as possible - and with such memorable names as 'Engelfart Humperstink.' 

 "If you excrete it, I can eat it!" This is my otyugh mini. I confess, there's a few corn kernels on the back side.

While they eat carrion and feature all of the great 'monstery' qualities, my favorite aspect of the otyugh is that for the most part they are pretty laid back dudes. They aren't evil, in fact, more often than not they are neutral. And better than that? They don't howl and shriek, but are capable of regular conversation. Otyughs frequently make deals with dungeon dwellers, exchanging protection services for payment in... well.. you know...

Poop.

Fortunately for the world at large, otyughs are mostly solitary. I don't think an otyugh society would be enjoyable for anyone and I shudder to think of their system of currency. So next time you need a spare monster to drop into a dungeon, don't forget the good old otyugh! Personally, I'm thinking of a quest revolving around a mid-level otyugh ranger NPC. The possibilities are endless!

Until next time, happy gaming! 

 Bonus picture! A close friend of mine (and player of games) started this giant purple worm about two weeks ago which I finished up for him. That's teamwork!

I'm STILL not dead! lus Reaper bones!

Things are moving along with our home renovation, unfortunately we are pretty much confined to living in one room of our house and that does not make for a very inspiring atmosphere gaming-wise. I also think all the junk food is starting to get to me. Without a kitchen or even the room to use a hot plate we have been eating out a lot more than I'd like to.

I have logged some time on Skyrim which has been enjoyable and Tom came over last Saturday for a mini painting session.

And he brought a special surprise!

He came over with a few figures from Reaper Miniatures "Bones" line.

Reaper is by far my favorite mini producer. I shudder to think how much money they've taken from me but every figure is great and I have no regrets. I still remember leafing through my first Reaper catalog, drooling at the metal madness within those pages.

The new figures in their "Bones" collection are not new, they are figures from their normal line cast in plastic and EXTREMELY inexpensive. The details are not quite what you see in the metal figures but they are detailed enough, durable and did I mention... cheap?!

My only gripe is the "no priming"claim they push on their videos. Tom and myself opened them right away and went straight to painting. We hold the figures with our fingers instead of a small stand and found that the paint rubbed off very easily from normal handling, as such, I recommend priming or dulcote before painting.

All in all, they are a great value and I recommend checking them out at Reapermini.com!

Until next time, Happy Gaming!

I'm not dead yet!

I know I haven't been keeping up with my postings as of late and I apologize but things have been pretty hectic around here. Aside from some personal stuff, we have a contractor coming in tomorrow to start demolition on our first floor. I'm excited for the final result, and a little more than nervous to have strangers roaming my home while I'm at work.

As a means of self medication I have begun work on painting the twenty orks that came in that warhammer set from my last post. I don't know how wargamers do it! I enjoy painting, but painting the same thing over and over becomes tedious. I've changed it up here and there, but when it comes down to brass tacks, they are all the same figure.

Anyway, I've got to get to bed, don't want to be cranky at work in the morning.

Until next time, Happy Gaming!

Wargaming and Free Junk!

I have been thinking about giving wargaming a shot. If you ask any of my friends they can tell you that my dream is to one day open my own gaming store - and if there's one thing that all shops have in common, it's Warhammer 40k. Well, that and Magic tournaments. Fate must have heard my call because my cousin Ed recently discovered an old box of 40k rules and minis collecting dust in his basement. Apparently his sister's boyfriend left it there years ago when he lost interest in the game. Knowing how much I enjoy miniatures, Ed was kind enough to give me the set free of charge!

Not too shabby!

Now I know the rules are outdated, but I'm pretty sure you are allowed to use old mini's in the newer games. Plus how cool would it be to show up and field an army of old school figures? Anyway, once I get these painted up I think I'll head to my favorite game store and see if I can't learn to play.

As a bonus, the box also had a bunch of pieces from other games. I know the small red pieces in front of the 40k box are pieces from the game "Tower of the Wizard King" because I used to own it! I actually use those same minis as statues in our Pathfinder games. I don't know what game the other pieces came from but they include skeletons, orcs, mummies, an ogre, a snake priest and a strange temple looking piece of scenery with a goofy sword feature. I think I'll add a bit of debris and paint the whole thing up as a diorama or better yet, for use in a future game!

Until next time, Happy Gaming!       

TPK's and Painting Oldies

Well things have been busy since my last post. Saturday's game went great - if by "great" I mean that I slaughtered the party with a group of measly low level warriors. There was nothing I could do about it. All of our rolls were out on the table and I just rolled super high all night. As the final PC stood against my remaining 4 warriors, she was confidant that they couldn't overcome her AC even though her hit points were low.

Oh how wrong she was.

The warriors attacked: 16, 16, 20, 17! Brutal attacks that rendered the already wounded fighter dead. I did feel a pang of guilt, but this was part of our Group Two game, a campaign that is intentionally combat heavy and savage. The adventure was taken from an old issue of Dungeon magazine and although simple, was surprisingly fun. I like running old modules under Pathfinder rule sets, the new skills really add flavor to the game.

On the miniatures front I am currently painting my way through a variety of older miniatures I have lying around. While I am okay as a painter I feel like I am really on the edge of a breakthrough in the skill department. I recognize that my paint jobs are a little harsh and chunky, now I just need to learn to improve the technique. I am going to try painting slower and I really need to learn how to blend colors. I am considering upgrading my paint set (which is admittedly from a fabric/craft store) to something a little more miniature specific, maybe Vallejo paints. Any advice is appreciated. Here are a few of the figures I completed...

A two headed Ettin. I decided to make the eyebrows flesh colored, to look more caveman-ish.

The Gnome King. This figure came mistakenly in a box set of Grenadier minis called the Tomb of Spells. I couldn't have been more pleased with the mistake, I love this figure.

A young Dragon. I painted this figure to match a large dragon I painted not too long ago. Perhaps there will be some continuity in a future adventure?

 

And lastly, one of the figures I painted for the fortress diorama I created a few weeks back. I put him here just to show how great the figure is. It's from a company called Red Box Games. I really love their line of figures and plan on getting my hands on more in the future, although I should probably paint the twelve or so figures of theirs that I already purchased at my local gaming store. This figure is by far my favorite and is not available for purchase on their website which is a real bummer. I found painting him so enjoyable that I would probably buy him four more times just to practice different color schemes.

Plus how can I not love a company that makes a mini that looks just like me?

Until next time, Happy Gaming!

You know it's gonna be a bad month...

Well things have gone from bad to worse. Not only did we have to shell out four hundred bucks for a plumber, but I was much more ill than I realized. I made a trip to the emergency room at around 3am this morning where they pumped me with fluids, took x-rays, blood work etc. Turns up I was dangerously dehydrated so they kept me there until 9am with all sorts of tubes and needles stuck in me.

It was not pleasant.

They eventually sent me home with a prescription and suggested sleeping as much as possible. I had no problem filling that order, especially after taking the medicine they gave me, woo!

On a side note, I have an inkling that my boss at work may not believe me. Granted, I'll be taking both my doctor's note and plumber's bill just to cover my bases, but who knows how they will take it. It's times like this that I wish we could just pack up and move somewhere with universal healthcare and greater worker's rights. I shouldn't have to to be afraid to call out of work in an emergency.

But I digress...

In my spare time I haven't been doing much game writing, as my brain was a little fevered. Instead, I did a bit of painting and put the finishing touches on a group of figures intended for the small diorama I displayed a week... (two weeks?) ago.

  Ta-daah!

I think my painting skills are improving as I do it more and more. I really liked these figures, and while I've never played any GW tabletop stuff, they reminded me of Khorne's berzerkers so I painted them in a similar scheme. 

In addition to the rank and file, I wanted the leader to stand apart. I painted his helmet gold, gave him icy blue eyes and a magical weapon. This is my first attempt at blending colors together for a magic effect. I don't think it's too shabby.

Anyway, it's late and I need to get to sleep. Let me know what you think!

Until next time, happy gaming! 

The Ever Rare Weekday Game!

A few of us got together tonight to finish up what was left of Saturday's game. I can't spoil it for other players who weren't there, but we can say the results were... interesting.

And as promised here are a few pics of a recent project. It isn't complete, I have a small squad of miniatures intended for it and a bit more touch up to do, but it should give you an idea.

Early shots

After priming and base coating.

After a dark wash.

After some details and snow.

Like i said, it isn't quite finished. I've knocked some of the snow off so it isn't so chunky and messed with a few other details. Sorry for the poor picture quality, I took them at my table and was too lazy to get the light or tripod.

Until next time, happy gaming!

Wonder Woman and Customer Service

My wife presented me with an early birthday gift today!

Very early - my birthday isn't until April 7th!

She managed to score me a Dragon Lords Spectral Dragon from Grenadier Miniatures mint in box with all of the original paperwork! I can not describe the levels of awesome contained inside that box. I have yet to photograph it so in the meantime check it out over at the Lost Minis Wiki by clicking here! I believe it's from 1985.

In other news, Chessex emailed me back concerning my issues with the battle mat I purchased. They were very prompt in replying and told me I could send it in for an exchange! I made sure to send along a few photo's so they could see the issues I was having. Good customer service is a rare thing these days so getting such a fast and positive response was a great treat.

Until next time, happy gaming!

Painting Tonight

I decided to sit down tonight and paint my way through some of the miniatures I have lying around. Tonight I went ahead and painted a whole mess of slave figures that I acquired almost ten years ago!

I couldn't fit them all in the photo, but you get the idea...

I can't really claim ownership of these figures, they belong to my good friend Noah. He gave them to me so I could paint them, but shortly after receiving them I moved from my apartment and they sort of "disappeared." As you can see though, I found them and gave them a more respectable shade than primer black. It's nothing spectacular, but I'm glad to have painted my way through such a huge chunk of my unpainted stock. Since they were all the same molds, I decided to change a few poses and added some of my micro dice to a few figs as props. I would love to see how they would turn out if I really dedicated time to each figure, but reality dictates that kind of commitment to be unreasonable.

The figures themselves are "slaves" from the game Rumble in Antarctica. The game was a strategy tabletop game featuring the band GWAR. Right out of highschool, I was obsessed with GWAR and still listen to their music today. (Click HERE for thier site!) Here's a brief excerpt from their history...

Eons ago, there existed an elite group of chaos warriors who ravaged the galaxy with a boundless hatred of all things alive. They were called the Scumdogs of the Universe, and they grew in might and fury, the greatest weapon in the arsenal of their cosmic Master.

But they became too powerful, and too defiant, and for their cosmic crimes were banished to the most insignificant planet in the universe…the seething mudball known as Earth.

I wish I could find the miniatures of the band members themselves. The sculpts were excellent. Noah had actually given me a set of them to paint as well, but I fear those are lost in time. I would like to build a diorama or small set to show them off.

Speaking of dioramas, here's one I created not too long ago. It's strange, I don't play wargames but I love to make terrain for them. I kind of settled in a middle ground by making small scale dioramas to display painted miniatures. Enjoy!

  Made to display a necromancer figure. The sign reads, "Cursed be this place."

As always - good night and good gaming!

 

A Weekend Haul!

It doesn't happen often, but occasionally things seem to fall together in perfect harmony. Among my friends it is usually followed by a phrase from a certain popular television show: Everything's coming up Milhouse!


This Friday was definitely a Milhouse moment. After work I had to stop by the post office to pick up a package that missed delivery the day before. Upon opening it, I discovered it to be the Ultimate Magic guide from Paizo. My wife ordered it as a surprise gift for me, hooray! Pleased with my new tome, I picked her up from work and took her to our favorite Indian restaurant in West Philly. I swear I could eat that stuff every day of the week.

After leaving the eatery, we decided to seek out a local game shop in the hopes of finding a new board game to try and to buy a tub of brown wash. Since our last visit the store had changed locations - but after a little searching we managed to find it. It wasn't the largest or most well stocked store but it did have a thriving room full of MTG players. None of the games on hand jumped out at me, although my wife was extremely interested in the card game Kittens in a Blender. Which I must say I might pick up after reading the reviews.

Moving on from the games, I wandered over to the wall of Reaper miniatures. Perusing the selection I noticed a large cardboard box sitting on the floor and inside of it? Classic minis! While excited, I restrained myself to only a few. I've already unboxed them and taken a few photos. Here's the haul...

Ral Partha Anti-Hero 1987

Ral Partha Dwarves 1995 (reissues from 1976-79)


AD&D/Ral Partha Sligs 1990


RAFM Warrior Ghoul (date unknown)

RAFM The Ghost 1995

I'm a bit of a fanatic. I love painting and using miniatures in-game. There's nothing like pulling out a new figure and plopping it on the grid. The look on players faces when they say 'What is THAT!?" never loses it's charm. I can't wait to get these guys primed and ready to go! Unfortunately I still have about 30 figures in front of them already primed and with adventure writing, work and lets not forget real life, it may be a while before these guys even see a brush.