Remember remember the 17th of September...

So I was feeling a little poetic today with the title, sue me.

Hello sports fans, we are back again for another random post from the depths of my gaming life.

So last night I partook in a D&D encounters event at a local LGS. This was not my first time. I actually was there years ago when they first started encounters. It was really quite something actually. I would take my daughter with me and that first season was really something special. That first season our table had the same players and DM every night.

Now it is years later, and I am trying to go again. The original LGS where I went is so popular, that unless you can get there two hours early, you can't get a spot at the table. Which is kind of a bummer. So when a new store offered it, I finally decided to give it a go again.

Let me tell you right off, that apparently I am now the 'old man' at the table. This is really disheartening and quite a surprise to me. I get that I'm 44, but I never really thought of myself like that. When I was in college, the creepy old guy that was still playing was that age. And here I am, sitting at the table, and the DM calls me "sir." I mean really, part of me wanted to excuse myself from the table, apologize for being there, and leave abashed.

I've always had problems thinking of myself as my actual age. Perhaps that had something to do with being the youngest in my family. I don't know, but there is a huge part of me that still thinks I'm in my twenties...early thirties tops. And here I am looking around the table and realizing that I'm the oldest one there. It was a little off-putting to be quite honest.

But stubbornly I stayed, and I had a good time. This latest season is quite a bit different from past ones, and the players at the table (all adults) did more roleplaying than I expected. I'm actually looking forward to going back and playing with them again. Despite all this war gaming stuff I post about, D&D will always be my favorite game.

Shogun Miniatures

Hello Sports Fans,

So as part of my commitment to playing Kings of War, I finally ordered a large set of movement trays from Shogun Miniatures (Link). I learned about them a few years ago actually, but never pulled the trigger. They make these metal trays that have curved edges on three sides. Since Kings of War has set unit sizes, it made sense to invest finally. I ordered a large number of varying tray sizes and a set of 20mm square magnetic bases.

Well yesterday my order finally came in. I am not disappointed. It took about 10 days from payment to delivery, exactly as Andrew from Shogun predicted. Now the average price worked out to be around $2.30 a tray. But as I said, it was a large order, a total of 45 trays in all. That is not too bad. And I know what you are thinking, "Damn Brother G., that is a lot of trays." It is, and truthfully they aren't all for me, just most of them. :) But if you are going to buy metal trays, you might as well get a lot for what you need.

Remember, I have lots of armies, and plan is to magnetize them, and then store them on the trays within plastic bins. So there is a method to this madness.

Anyways, back to the trays. Pics will be coming later today, I just forgot to take them before I left home this morning.

This is what $80ish gets you in trays

Some close ups.

Comparison with my old trays.

So the trays came in two types of metal. I'm assuming that the depth somehow determines which steel to use. I kind of like the dark grey steel better. Seems like I won't have to paint it ahead of time as it will sort of just blend in as opposed to the reflective steel. The trays are firm, not bendy at all. I have no concerns as to whether they will do well with plastic or metal minis on them.

I loaded one up with the magnetic bases that I had ordered. The dimensions are spot on. These things are going to make my life so much easier. As to the bases I ordered, they look pretty good. They are completely square cut, so no sloped edges like GW bases. I think that will give the unit a nice cohesive look without those gaps you typically see. The thickness is just under the lip of the trays. So I figure after putting on basing material and flocking, they should pop out just over the lip. I bought these for a bunch of ungors I just got that didn't come with bases. Those are light plastic models so I think these will work well for them.

All in all, I am very happy. I would recommend these to anyone wanting to invest in trays. As to the magnetic bases, I think they will work well with plastic minis. I am not too sure how they would do with heavy models or a large base since they aren't that thick.

Till next time...

Need to get priming

So it is now September and that means my priming days are going to be few and far between. However, this week in the lovely PacNW, we are supposed to be hitting the 80's which is about near perfect for priming models. If I don't get some done, then I'm going to be stuck with painting projects that aren't what I'm focused on.

So today I will be priming two models when I get home. I'm going to grab two free company models to use as test subjects. My empire army is going to be purple and yellow. However, I don't want a dark purple or a bright yellow, so I'm going to go with a more mustard/desert yellow and a lighter purple. The reason being is that both shade much better than the standard color. I'm all about dipping or keeping things to a simple wash.

Call me lazy, but I just don't have time to do blending. So if I can get a good effect with a base coat and a wash/dip, then that is what I'll go for. Besides, I can try to detail it up afterwards a little too.

So this week, my goal is to prime and paint two empire free company models. One based purple, and the other yellow, but otherwise they will be getting the same color treatment. I'm expecting that the yellow primer will work better because it will get covered by the purple paint much easier than trying to cover purple with yellow.

So here we have the two primed models. In sunlight, they don't look too bad. However my fear is that the purple is too dark for what I want, and the desert yellow just isn't quite yellow enough. However, we will paint them up and see how it looks.

I do have an airbrush and have yet to bust it out. So if the easy can primer fails, well I guess I'll have to give it a go. That seems scary to me. I will have to reach out to other local airbuurshers to see if someone is willing to hold my hand. :)
So look for another update later this week with progress pics of the models. Also, if I'm really lucky, I'll get in another game of Kings of War and put up another battle report.