Hey Sportsfans,
Today I'm going to talk about the next steps. So last update I actually got off my butt and painted stuff. Not only that, but you got pics! Well since then, I haven't done too much more. However, I have been planning. You see I've been working with Menucha (where I did the painting at their Scrap and Sew retreat) and got them to try out a one day Model and Painting retreat. I put the word out locally about it and am now just waiting for the event to be on the Menucha web site (www.menucha.org).
This one will only be a one day retreat, no overnight. First of all, that cuts down on the cost quite a bit. Just $34 a person, which buys you a whole day of uninterrupted modeling and painting, and a good lunch as well. Not too shabby. Why a retreat? Well some times you just need to get away. I've got a family. There is always something that needs my attention at home, be it the wife, kids, pets, or house. With a retreat, I get to go someplace away, remove any distractions, and get real work done on my hobby. Thankfully for me, I have a wife who fully gets that and has no issue with me taking the day. Pro tip to other hobbyists out there, send your spouse on a retreat first for something they love. After that, there is no way in the world they can deny you your own. :)
The other part of the retreat is to connect with your fellow hobbyists. Lets face it, about the only thing better than working on your models, is to hang out with friends working on your models. This also gives you a great opportunity to learn tips and techniques from others, and to share your own. That is what I'm currently trying to work out. What do I want to bring so that I can share with others if interested?
The first obvious choice is to finish my Italians. I still need to do a little painting (facial hair, maybe eyes, and lapels), dipping, and finish the bases. As much as I want to show my dipping technique, those suckers require a full day to dry and aren't easy to transport after being dipped. So that really isn't practical (though I probably will bring a couple for demonstration). I also own an airbrush, but concerned with mess and clearly don't want to get paint on anything inside. I'll probably decide on it once I know what the outside conditions will be. If it is nice enough, I'll just take it outside and use it on some terrain pieces.
But what do I want to actually work on? Well, I did say I had some warmaster empire I wanted to do. I think that might be the next step for me. I really love that game, and I want to get more armies painted so that the table looks great when I do play. Still, I have a month until the retreat. That bolt action call is pretty strong though too. :)
Until next time...
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Avanti!
Hello Sports Fans,
Have I got a treat for you. I painted stuff. Oh, you heard that right. I painted stuff. And not just like one thing....oh no sir, a whole bunch of things were painted. Proof you ask? Oh, I got your proof.
So lets step back in time a little shall we, to my previous post where I talked about Warmaster and Bolt Action.....and how I needed to paint my Italians... Well, for once, I actually went and did it. Not only that, but I took pics!
Here is a quick pic of my Italians getting built and having the bases ready. I use a pumice material that Velljo sells. Been using it for Flames of War for years, works really well for bolt action bases too.
That's the jar there. Goes on easy with a modelling tool. You can even sculpt it a little, so I was able to make tire tracks and the like. Sweet stuff.
Then I busted out the Army Painter Desert Yellow spray primer. Of course, it has to freaking snow on the day I need to prime. Well to ensure the best coverage that I could, I first made sure my primers were warm. I then went into my garage and set up a priming station. I put down some 2x4s, created a backstop with cereal boxes, and then had little portable heater fans running across the board. I'd spray the models, then use the fan to dry them. Worked fairly well considering it was 30ish degrees outside.
Next up was a test model. I wanted to make sure what paints I wanted to use and how it would all look. Now my plan is to use Army Painter dip on these models as well. However, for the test model, I used their strong tone ink for his wash so I would have some idea of how the detail would pop. Not too shabby (NOTE: pic is just of basecoat, ink not applied yet) :(
Toss in two solid days of painting at a crafting retreat, and there you have it, a fully painted Italian army ready for dip and basing. Well, almost. I forgot to bring a red paint with me so I wasn't able to do the lapels or helmet detail. Also, apparently their grenades were red too, so a few guys need touch ups there. Oh, and I need to do the glass on the goggles. So like 95% done. I got 39 infantry done, the howitzer and crew, a MMG and AT gun, and then the Autoblindo and the M14 (decals needed).
Not only that, but I then had time to put together some MDF terrain from Dave's Wargames. I kickstarted his project a while ago, but never got around to building the stuff. Well it is nice. I didn't take pics of that unfortunately, but I just fit the buildings, not glued them....so maybe my next update will have me finishing those guys off.
Had a great weekend (yay crafting retreats) and just really happy with the progress on my Italians. My first painted Bolt Action army baby! Woot! And I just bought the DAK starter army...so maybe those guys next??
As always, until next time....
Have I got a treat for you. I painted stuff. Oh, you heard that right. I painted stuff. And not just like one thing....oh no sir, a whole bunch of things were painted. Proof you ask? Oh, I got your proof.
So lets step back in time a little shall we, to my previous post where I talked about Warmaster and Bolt Action.....and how I needed to paint my Italians... Well, for once, I actually went and did it. Not only that, but I took pics!
Here is a quick pic of my Italians getting built and having the bases ready. I use a pumice material that Velljo sells. Been using it for Flames of War for years, works really well for bolt action bases too.
That's the jar there. Goes on easy with a modelling tool. You can even sculpt it a little, so I was able to make tire tracks and the like. Sweet stuff.
Then I busted out the Army Painter Desert Yellow spray primer. Of course, it has to freaking snow on the day I need to prime. Well to ensure the best coverage that I could, I first made sure my primers were warm. I then went into my garage and set up a priming station. I put down some 2x4s, created a backstop with cereal boxes, and then had little portable heater fans running across the board. I'd spray the models, then use the fan to dry them. Worked fairly well considering it was 30ish degrees outside.
Next up was a test model. I wanted to make sure what paints I wanted to use and how it would all look. Now my plan is to use Army Painter dip on these models as well. However, for the test model, I used their strong tone ink for his wash so I would have some idea of how the detail would pop. Not too shabby (NOTE: pic is just of basecoat, ink not applied yet) :(
Toss in two solid days of painting at a crafting retreat, and there you have it, a fully painted Italian army ready for dip and basing. Well, almost. I forgot to bring a red paint with me so I wasn't able to do the lapels or helmet detail. Also, apparently their grenades were red too, so a few guys need touch ups there. Oh, and I need to do the glass on the goggles. So like 95% done. I got 39 infantry done, the howitzer and crew, a MMG and AT gun, and then the Autoblindo and the M14 (decals needed).
Not only that, but I then had time to put together some MDF terrain from Dave's Wargames. I kickstarted his project a while ago, but never got around to building the stuff. Well it is nice. I didn't take pics of that unfortunately, but I just fit the buildings, not glued them....so maybe my next update will have me finishing those guys off.
Had a great weekend (yay crafting retreats) and just really happy with the progress on my Italians. My first painted Bolt Action army baby! Woot! And I just bought the DAK starter army...so maybe those guys next??
As always, until next time....
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Jesus Christ I've been lazy
Hey Sports Fans,
Needed a break at work, which means you get an update. And by "you" I mean me, since no one else reads this darn thing...except maybe Don..shout out to Don! :)
Okay, so here we are, over a month since the last update. Ouch. I could blame holidays...but I won't. I've just been lazy. That being said, there were the holidays and then some. So I must have done something right? Well as a matter of fact, I did.
I got invited by some local Warmaster players to throw down some dice. I brought my Chaos and Orc armies as they are the best painted that I own so far (neither painted by me of course). I went with Chaos as they hit nearly exactly the point limit we were going for. We played a nice 2v2 game where the forces of chaos were competing to hold multiple points of interested against an unusual orc and empire alliance. Had a great time. My chaos did well for the most part, obeying the majority of my orders. My MVP was a unit of harpies that totally harassed the orcs and goblins for two turns, slowing their advancement. However, I chose to attack when half of my army was still trying to catch up, which led to the destruction of my leading battalions. Oh, and I played the Revolutions rule set for the first time. Jury is out on whether I like it better or not. I have some suggestions. :)
Then, incredible as it may seem, I went to another friend's house and played Bolt Action. I brought my brits, germans, and italians, everything I had ready for the table. Again, played a 2v2 game where my Brits and some American paras faced off against Germans and their Bulgarian allies. This was pretty much a pure infantry game since we were only using 500pts per nation. I went with a MSU style army that ended up with 11 command dice. Whenever the axis went, the Bulgarians seemed to get pulled first, and as such, they got shot to hell by the allies, thus allowing the Germans to advance untouched. However, the sheer amount of pin markers thrown out by the brits soon left the Germans alone to face the American firepower. The allies were able to take out the threats of the advancing axis units, and cross the field to their objective without too much drama. The highlight of the game had to come in the first turn. The US fired a small mortar at a 10 man Bulgarian squad and scored a hit, killing two men. The next die drawn was for the Brits, who also had a light mortar in the area and fired at the same squad. Another hit, and three more deaths. Poor Bulgarians got shelled to hell. No worries though, the dice gods exacted their payment for that luck by causing the Brit sniper to miss every shot. Not fail to wound...no...not even a single hit.
What a day. Yes, that was all in one day (love you wife!). I had a blast. I really enjoy Warmaster and Bolt Action. And the guys that I played with (not against) were great. Fun was had by all! And isn't that how its supposed to be? So...that has left me on a huge Bolt Action kick. I am currently working on my Italians (cuz they are dead sexy) I'm wrapping up assembling the rest of the units for them, adding my pumice to the bases, and then will hopefully have them all primed before my birthday weekend. That weekend, I will hopefully have time to paint the majority of the army with at least a base coat and have the infantry ready for dipping. I will do my best to take pics and post them up next month.
Oh, I also started working on my warmaster empire, but they are on hold until Italians are done. Woot! Until next time folks. Keep gaming.
Needed a break at work, which means you get an update. And by "you" I mean me, since no one else reads this darn thing...except maybe Don..shout out to Don! :)
Okay, so here we are, over a month since the last update. Ouch. I could blame holidays...but I won't. I've just been lazy. That being said, there were the holidays and then some. So I must have done something right? Well as a matter of fact, I did.
I got invited by some local Warmaster players to throw down some dice. I brought my Chaos and Orc armies as they are the best painted that I own so far (neither painted by me of course). I went with Chaos as they hit nearly exactly the point limit we were going for. We played a nice 2v2 game where the forces of chaos were competing to hold multiple points of interested against an unusual orc and empire alliance. Had a great time. My chaos did well for the most part, obeying the majority of my orders. My MVP was a unit of harpies that totally harassed the orcs and goblins for two turns, slowing their advancement. However, I chose to attack when half of my army was still trying to catch up, which led to the destruction of my leading battalions. Oh, and I played the Revolutions rule set for the first time. Jury is out on whether I like it better or not. I have some suggestions. :)
Then, incredible as it may seem, I went to another friend's house and played Bolt Action. I brought my brits, germans, and italians, everything I had ready for the table. Again, played a 2v2 game where my Brits and some American paras faced off against Germans and their Bulgarian allies. This was pretty much a pure infantry game since we were only using 500pts per nation. I went with a MSU style army that ended up with 11 command dice. Whenever the axis went, the Bulgarians seemed to get pulled first, and as such, they got shot to hell by the allies, thus allowing the Germans to advance untouched. However, the sheer amount of pin markers thrown out by the brits soon left the Germans alone to face the American firepower. The allies were able to take out the threats of the advancing axis units, and cross the field to their objective without too much drama. The highlight of the game had to come in the first turn. The US fired a small mortar at a 10 man Bulgarian squad and scored a hit, killing two men. The next die drawn was for the Brits, who also had a light mortar in the area and fired at the same squad. Another hit, and three more deaths. Poor Bulgarians got shelled to hell. No worries though, the dice gods exacted their payment for that luck by causing the Brit sniper to miss every shot. Not fail to wound...no...not even a single hit.
What a day. Yes, that was all in one day (love you wife!). I had a blast. I really enjoy Warmaster and Bolt Action. And the guys that I played with (not against) were great. Fun was had by all! And isn't that how its supposed to be? So...that has left me on a huge Bolt Action kick. I am currently working on my Italians (cuz they are dead sexy) I'm wrapping up assembling the rest of the units for them, adding my pumice to the bases, and then will hopefully have them all primed before my birthday weekend. That weekend, I will hopefully have time to paint the majority of the army with at least a base coat and have the infantry ready for dipping. I will do my best to take pics and post them up next month.
Oh, I also started working on my warmaster empire, but they are on hold until Italians are done. Woot! Until next time folks. Keep gaming.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Phenomenal Cosmic Power!.....itty bitty battlefields
Hello Sports Fans,
What is on the agenda today? Well as the title somewhat hints at...what has itty bitty battlefields? Well Warmaster of course! That's right, we are back talking about Warmaster, one of the all time favorite games to come from GW. Released back in 2000, during the heyday of GW (in my humble opinion), Warmaster brings the fantastic armies of the Old World into 10mm goodness.
Warmaster unfortunately was dropped by GW quite a while ago along with most of their Specialist Games range. However, the Living Rulebook is still available on the web, and fans have released a set of rules called Warmaster Revolution. Also, there are some other manufacturers that make 10mm fantasy minis that can be used for Warmaster as well. So while considered a "dead" game, it is still possible to enjoy it.
Back when I started with Warmaster, I immediately went with the Undead army. Now at that time, in Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Undead book covered both the vampires and the Khemri armies all in one book. The Warmaster undead though were all Khemri forces. In fact, they really expanded on the types of units in Warmaster, beyond what was in WFB. The army had it all. Beyond your normal infantry and cavalry units, the army had chariots, flying carrion, a bone giant, and the sphinx. And it also had two artillery units as well. To me, it was a very complete army and just looked cool on the table.
Well, I got to bust them out of the storage box and lay them out on the game table once more. I suckered Robert into a learning game, just using starter box forces. Robert choose to use the Orcs and Goblins that I had. Out of the various starter armies, those two are actually close in points, and both were painted. I set up a nice 3x4 area for our game, gave him a rules primer, and off we went.
I won't bore you with the details as it was a learning game, but what I will say, is that it was lots of fun, it looked great, and we ended up with a nice tie at the end. In fact, despite Robert failing about 60% of his command roles, he still forces my army to retreat off the table. I was lucky enough to kill/hurt enough of his stuff to tie VPs.
Lately, I went a little crazy and started buying up more armies. I've had three for quite some time, my undead, orcs and gobs, and a chaos army. I've now added a high elf army and an empire army as well. Unfortunately for me, Warmaster has truly become a collector series now, so prices are way higher than they used to be and people that sell are typically looking for collector value. But like I said before, if you don't mind using 3rd party figs, there are some out there, and they do look good. But for now, I have plenty of models to start painting and getting ready to play.
Well, until next time folks.
What is on the agenda today? Well as the title somewhat hints at...what has itty bitty battlefields? Well Warmaster of course! That's right, we are back talking about Warmaster, one of the all time favorite games to come from GW. Released back in 2000, during the heyday of GW (in my humble opinion), Warmaster brings the fantastic armies of the Old World into 10mm goodness.
Warmaster unfortunately was dropped by GW quite a while ago along with most of their Specialist Games range. However, the Living Rulebook is still available on the web, and fans have released a set of rules called Warmaster Revolution. Also, there are some other manufacturers that make 10mm fantasy minis that can be used for Warmaster as well. So while considered a "dead" game, it is still possible to enjoy it.
Back when I started with Warmaster, I immediately went with the Undead army. Now at that time, in Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Undead book covered both the vampires and the Khemri armies all in one book. The Warmaster undead though were all Khemri forces. In fact, they really expanded on the types of units in Warmaster, beyond what was in WFB. The army had it all. Beyond your normal infantry and cavalry units, the army had chariots, flying carrion, a bone giant, and the sphinx. And it also had two artillery units as well. To me, it was a very complete army and just looked cool on the table.
Well, I got to bust them out of the storage box and lay them out on the game table once more. I suckered Robert into a learning game, just using starter box forces. Robert choose to use the Orcs and Goblins that I had. Out of the various starter armies, those two are actually close in points, and both were painted. I set up a nice 3x4 area for our game, gave him a rules primer, and off we went.
I won't bore you with the details as it was a learning game, but what I will say, is that it was lots of fun, it looked great, and we ended up with a nice tie at the end. In fact, despite Robert failing about 60% of his command roles, he still forces my army to retreat off the table. I was lucky enough to kill/hurt enough of his stuff to tie VPs.
Lately, I went a little crazy and started buying up more armies. I've had three for quite some time, my undead, orcs and gobs, and a chaos army. I've now added a high elf army and an empire army as well. Unfortunately for me, Warmaster has truly become a collector series now, so prices are way higher than they used to be and people that sell are typically looking for collector value. But like I said before, if you don't mind using 3rd party figs, there are some out there, and they do look good. But for now, I have plenty of models to start painting and getting ready to play.
Well, until next time folks.
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Dark Secrets in the Warp
Hello Sports Fans,
I just finished celebrating Thanksgiving. Got a nice four day weekend out of it, so right there, it was a win. That being said, it did help to remind me how much better I have it this year than last year. Last year, I was unemployed and not feeling very good about myself. Now I have a decent job, learning stuff, and taking care of my family. So much to be thankful for. I kind of wish we celebrated it more than once a year just to help remind me.
So what's up with the title? Well, it was inspired by Space Hulk Deathwing. A buddy of mine saw that he had an Enhanced Edition in his steam library and wanted to check it out. Apparently back in May, the company that made the game released an updated version of it, and gave it for free to everyone who bought the original. Sweet!
As I had, I had the new game too. So we gave it a spin. Space Hulk has always been one of my favorite PC games ever since the original way back in the Stone Age. Back when GW computer games could be counted on one hand. This current version is pretty spectacular. The level designs and attention to detail are just amazing. The new version has also optimized a lot of the code and made it run much smoother. Not only that, but they also added in new replayability content and have kept adding new things. Right there it makes me glad I bought the game and supported the company. Hopefully they are working on a bigger expansion that I can pay for. I like supporting companies that do good things for the players.
For those that don't know Space Hulk, it started off as a board game by Games Workshop. It was interesting because it could be played solo. You were in charge of a squad of terminator space marines and needed to achieve objectives within a giant space hulk (a conglomeration of space ships and other debris mushed together, floating through space). These hulks could contain valuable items or secrets from ages past, but they also held dangers, and specifically, the threat of genestealers. Genestealers are part of an alien hivemind race called the Tyranids. They infest these hulks and use them to spread themselves across the galaxy.
GW has greatly expanded the tyranid race, and specifically the genestealer side of them. They have a whole army called the Genestealer Cult for 40K (which I own). Its full of different units now instead of just genestealers. Focus Interactive (the company that makes the video game) have added these into the game and even expanded things a little beyond that. Not only are you fighting genestealers and hybrids, you are facing aberants, warriors, and broodlords.
Deathwing refers to the First Company of the Dark Angel space marine chapter. Dark Angels normally where very dark green (nearly black) armor. They are one of the original founder chapters of the space marines. The Deathwing are all terminators, and their armor is bone white. The Dark Angels have a secret that they keep from all others, and are driven by it. The game has a fantastic campaign and storyline that fits right in with this chapter and their heritage. I enjoy the briefings for each mission and the various plots that are introduced within the missions. It is all very well done. If you are a fan of the 40K lore, this game does it justice.
I've played a little bit of the campaign. It is very challenging. But the best part so far is the co-op multiplayer mode. Up to four players can join together to face the swarms of genestealers and complete the missions. The game gives you a nice choice of terminators to choose from, with lots of options to customize their weapons and traits, as well as even visual skins. My friends and I have been playing this past week and it is a lot of fun. We die about a third of the time, and are only playing on normal difficulty. All in all, we are really enjoying this updated version.
If you like 40K and enjoy challenging shooters, you need to check this one out. Normal price is only $20 on steam (you can also get it for PS4) and is frequently on sale. Great value for your money (in my opinion).
That's enough for now. I'll get back to miniature games next time. Hmmmm might have to bust out some genestealer cult models for painting....
Till next time.
I just finished celebrating Thanksgiving. Got a nice four day weekend out of it, so right there, it was a win. That being said, it did help to remind me how much better I have it this year than last year. Last year, I was unemployed and not feeling very good about myself. Now I have a decent job, learning stuff, and taking care of my family. So much to be thankful for. I kind of wish we celebrated it more than once a year just to help remind me.
So what's up with the title? Well, it was inspired by Space Hulk Deathwing. A buddy of mine saw that he had an Enhanced Edition in his steam library and wanted to check it out. Apparently back in May, the company that made the game released an updated version of it, and gave it for free to everyone who bought the original. Sweet!
As I had, I had the new game too. So we gave it a spin. Space Hulk has always been one of my favorite PC games ever since the original way back in the Stone Age. Back when GW computer games could be counted on one hand. This current version is pretty spectacular. The level designs and attention to detail are just amazing. The new version has also optimized a lot of the code and made it run much smoother. Not only that, but they also added in new replayability content and have kept adding new things. Right there it makes me glad I bought the game and supported the company. Hopefully they are working on a bigger expansion that I can pay for. I like supporting companies that do good things for the players.
For those that don't know Space Hulk, it started off as a board game by Games Workshop. It was interesting because it could be played solo. You were in charge of a squad of terminator space marines and needed to achieve objectives within a giant space hulk (a conglomeration of space ships and other debris mushed together, floating through space). These hulks could contain valuable items or secrets from ages past, but they also held dangers, and specifically, the threat of genestealers. Genestealers are part of an alien hivemind race called the Tyranids. They infest these hulks and use them to spread themselves across the galaxy.
GW has greatly expanded the tyranid race, and specifically the genestealer side of them. They have a whole army called the Genestealer Cult for 40K (which I own). Its full of different units now instead of just genestealers. Focus Interactive (the company that makes the video game) have added these into the game and even expanded things a little beyond that. Not only are you fighting genestealers and hybrids, you are facing aberants, warriors, and broodlords.
Deathwing refers to the First Company of the Dark Angel space marine chapter. Dark Angels normally where very dark green (nearly black) armor. They are one of the original founder chapters of the space marines. The Deathwing are all terminators, and their armor is bone white. The Dark Angels have a secret that they keep from all others, and are driven by it. The game has a fantastic campaign and storyline that fits right in with this chapter and their heritage. I enjoy the briefings for each mission and the various plots that are introduced within the missions. It is all very well done. If you are a fan of the 40K lore, this game does it justice.
I've played a little bit of the campaign. It is very challenging. But the best part so far is the co-op multiplayer mode. Up to four players can join together to face the swarms of genestealers and complete the missions. The game gives you a nice choice of terminators to choose from, with lots of options to customize their weapons and traits, as well as even visual skins. My friends and I have been playing this past week and it is a lot of fun. We die about a third of the time, and are only playing on normal difficulty. All in all, we are really enjoying this updated version.
If you like 40K and enjoy challenging shooters, you need to check this one out. Normal price is only $20 on steam (you can also get it for PS4) and is frequently on sale. Great value for your money (in my opinion).
That's enough for now. I'll get back to miniature games next time. Hmmmm might have to bust out some genestealer cult models for painting....
Till next time.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Goodbye to a Legend
Hello Gentle Readers,
Two days ago marked the passing of personal hero. Stan Lee, creator of many Marvel heroes, died at the age of 95. I grew up reading comics..a lot of comics. My brother and I had started reading them when we were very young. He was the collector, and me, well I just loved reading them. They were always such a great escape. And our house was a Marvel house. Oh we got the occasional DC comic, but by and large, it was Marvel all the way. I must have seen Stan Lee's comic image a million times over the years within those comics. I'd even read the letters section of the back too. I don't think I could have separated Stan from Marvel.
As an adult, I was thrilled to see the Marvel soar in the movie theaters. You never knew if a "superhero" movie was going to do well or not. Growing up, DC pretty much ruled in terms of success. But finally Marvel got rolling well with the X-Men. All of a sudden I was a little kid again sitting there, watching my heroes come to life. And then Iron Man came out and the whole genre was redefined again. It is the Golden Age of Marvel movies. And in ever single one of them, Stan "the Man" Lee has his cameo. And quite truthfully, it never seemed campy or bothersome. It was a real joy to see him in the movie.
You don't realize how much happiness something has brought you sometimes. Stan's death really impacted me. This man, who was such an integral part of all this joy in my life, is now gone. Even though I never met him, or could say I knew him, his creations are a part of me. Reading those comics helped to define me. His passing brings me real sorrow.
Godspeed Stan.
Two days ago marked the passing of personal hero. Stan Lee, creator of many Marvel heroes, died at the age of 95. I grew up reading comics..a lot of comics. My brother and I had started reading them when we were very young. He was the collector, and me, well I just loved reading them. They were always such a great escape. And our house was a Marvel house. Oh we got the occasional DC comic, but by and large, it was Marvel all the way. I must have seen Stan Lee's comic image a million times over the years within those comics. I'd even read the letters section of the back too. I don't think I could have separated Stan from Marvel.
As an adult, I was thrilled to see the Marvel soar in the movie theaters. You never knew if a "superhero" movie was going to do well or not. Growing up, DC pretty much ruled in terms of success. But finally Marvel got rolling well with the X-Men. All of a sudden I was a little kid again sitting there, watching my heroes come to life. And then Iron Man came out and the whole genre was redefined again. It is the Golden Age of Marvel movies. And in ever single one of them, Stan "the Man" Lee has his cameo. And quite truthfully, it never seemed campy or bothersome. It was a real joy to see him in the movie.
You don't realize how much happiness something has brought you sometimes. Stan's death really impacted me. This man, who was such an integral part of all this joy in my life, is now gone. Even though I never met him, or could say I knew him, his creations are a part of me. Reading those comics helped to define me. His passing brings me real sorrow.
Godspeed Stan.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Paths of the Warmaster
Hello Sports fans,
November already. Sheesh, where does the time go? So...what's new? Well, Orktober ended up falling really flat for me. GW hypes the crap out of it, and basically you got a "meh" value box game and a few new models. The freaking codex doesn't even hit stores until the next month?? Here is how much the universe hates me... I could have bought the codex and new cards through the mighty interwebs for a discount...but then I'd have to wait a bit. So instead, I decide to do the good thing and go to my LGS and put them on hold there. Well sure enough, they somehow didn't get their order filled. So here I am, still waiting on the stuff, and having to pay full price. #FirstWorldProblems
Why am I moaning over it? Because I was actually excited about the new codex and stuff. I really like the orks. Ever since 3rd edition came out, I loved the direction the army took. They are unapologetically brutal but in a fun way. How can you not love the orks?? So I'm just bummed that I am still waiting on the codex.
Besides that, my friend Robert has finally gotten his Vanguard stuff from Mantic! Not sure if he got all of it, because he threw in quite a bit of money for extra stuff, but hopefully he got the bulk of it. Also, the friend that he is, he apparently got me a rulebook for it! So now I'll have something more to read...on my stack of rulebooks that keeps seeming to grow.... :(
So...new orks....now vanguard....and I'm really feeling very unfocused in my hobby life. Somehow everything is shiny and catches my attention, pulling me this way and that, but never long enough to apparently do anything but buy stuff. You want to know how unfocused I am right now? I bought Solo the other day (way after it was released) and watched about five minutes of it...paused it..and then just walked away. Me...Joe Star Wars...walking away from a Star Wars movie that I've only seen once or twice. What the hell??
So to that end, I have decided that I need a project...a project that I will commit to and see through. And somehow it has to be different from all those other projects I've started and committed to. But God help me..I need this. I need to work and finish something. This hobby needs to be more than just a temporary distraction for me. So...then what kind of project? Well...believe it or not, I want to start a painting project. I feel the need to paint. I have all these lovely models...and they are grey. I want to paint.
My first and obvious thought, was to do orks. New book...tons of models, lots of options for me..so no shortage of materials...and no outlay of money. That being said, there are a few reasons not to do orks. First off, Robert has been playing them for 40K when we play, not me. So would be a bit odd to paint models and then not use them, well unless I want to play orks too..which I could...but...seems weird.
And then on the Ordo Fanaticus forum, someone posted up in the Warmaster thread. And yes, now we get to the title of the post. Warmaster. I've recently dropped quite a bit getting a few more armies in my collection, most of which are unpainted. So then the idea popped in my head...why not work on some warmaster? I've got three armies at least that need painting....and I don't need whole armies...just say a good 1,000pt starter for each one. Small models, not a huge amount of actual space to paint. Plus, once I get them done, then I'll have lovely painted forces for people to borrow.
Is this idea set in stone just yet? Nope, not at all. But it seems like a decent idea. The real issue is to find something reasonable and practical for me to do. I really like Warmaster, so painting it up should hopefully be fun and rewarding.
Another possible idea would be to paint up a Vanguard warband. But as I don't have anything for that just yet, we'll have to wait and see. Almost a shame my warmaster orcs are already painted...that would have been perfect. :)
Whelp....there's your update. I have a post in November. Yay! Hopefully this game plan actually pans out for once. Until next time...
November already. Sheesh, where does the time go? So...what's new? Well, Orktober ended up falling really flat for me. GW hypes the crap out of it, and basically you got a "meh" value box game and a few new models. The freaking codex doesn't even hit stores until the next month?? Here is how much the universe hates me... I could have bought the codex and new cards through the mighty interwebs for a discount...but then I'd have to wait a bit. So instead, I decide to do the good thing and go to my LGS and put them on hold there. Well sure enough, they somehow didn't get their order filled. So here I am, still waiting on the stuff, and having to pay full price. #FirstWorldProblems
Why am I moaning over it? Because I was actually excited about the new codex and stuff. I really like the orks. Ever since 3rd edition came out, I loved the direction the army took. They are unapologetically brutal but in a fun way. How can you not love the orks?? So I'm just bummed that I am still waiting on the codex.
Besides that, my friend Robert has finally gotten his Vanguard stuff from Mantic! Not sure if he got all of it, because he threw in quite a bit of money for extra stuff, but hopefully he got the bulk of it. Also, the friend that he is, he apparently got me a rulebook for it! So now I'll have something more to read...on my stack of rulebooks that keeps seeming to grow.... :(
So...new orks....now vanguard....and I'm really feeling very unfocused in my hobby life. Somehow everything is shiny and catches my attention, pulling me this way and that, but never long enough to apparently do anything but buy stuff. You want to know how unfocused I am right now? I bought Solo the other day (way after it was released) and watched about five minutes of it...paused it..and then just walked away. Me...Joe Star Wars...walking away from a Star Wars movie that I've only seen once or twice. What the hell??
So to that end, I have decided that I need a project...a project that I will commit to and see through. And somehow it has to be different from all those other projects I've started and committed to. But God help me..I need this. I need to work and finish something. This hobby needs to be more than just a temporary distraction for me. So...then what kind of project? Well...believe it or not, I want to start a painting project. I feel the need to paint. I have all these lovely models...and they are grey. I want to paint.
My first and obvious thought, was to do orks. New book...tons of models, lots of options for me..so no shortage of materials...and no outlay of money. That being said, there are a few reasons not to do orks. First off, Robert has been playing them for 40K when we play, not me. So would be a bit odd to paint models and then not use them, well unless I want to play orks too..which I could...but...seems weird.
And then on the Ordo Fanaticus forum, someone posted up in the Warmaster thread. And yes, now we get to the title of the post. Warmaster. I've recently dropped quite a bit getting a few more armies in my collection, most of which are unpainted. So then the idea popped in my head...why not work on some warmaster? I've got three armies at least that need painting....and I don't need whole armies...just say a good 1,000pt starter for each one. Small models, not a huge amount of actual space to paint. Plus, once I get them done, then I'll have lovely painted forces for people to borrow.
Is this idea set in stone just yet? Nope, not at all. But it seems like a decent idea. The real issue is to find something reasonable and practical for me to do. I really like Warmaster, so painting it up should hopefully be fun and rewarding.
Another possible idea would be to paint up a Vanguard warband. But as I don't have anything for that just yet, we'll have to wait and see. Almost a shame my warmaster orcs are already painted...that would have been perfect. :)
Whelp....there's your update. I have a post in November. Yay! Hopefully this game plan actually pans out for once. Until next time...
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