Quarter 4 & Year End Painting Review 2014

Quarter 4 2014

An up and down year to be sure on the painting front. I knew at the outset that other commitments would curtail my painting opportunities, but what surprised me was to what degree that would happen, and late, how I would be able to get a significant amount more painting done by comparison once those commitments were out of the way.

I initially started with an objective for 50 minis, but that quickly changed when I knew it wasn't realistic based on the first few months, especially when I did not paint anything at all in February. The target was revised to 40 and at least I managed to achieve that. Quite a drop from 2013 when I painted 63 minis, but still better than I thought early this year.

Quarter 1: 10 minis (-3 from Q1 2013)
Anima Tactics: 7 minis
Pulp City: 2 minis
Supers: 1 mini

Quarter 2: 10 minis (-3 from Q2 2013)
Anima Tactics: 8 minis
Pulp City: 1 mini
Batman Miniatures Game: 1 mini

Quarter 3: 8 minis (-9 from Q3 2013)
Anima Tactics: 7 minis (well 7 units, technically 11 minis as 1 of the units comprises 5 models, but I count it as 7 based on units)
Batman Miniatures Game: 1 mini

Quarter 4: 17 minis (-3 from Q4 2013)
Anima Tactics: 7 minis
Zombies: 5 minis
SDZA: 2 minis
Pulp City: 1 mini
Batman Miniatures Game: 1 mini
Freebooter's Fate: 1 mini

My 2014 minis - 45 units/49 minis

2014 totals - 45 minis/units
Anima Tactics: 29 units
Pulp City: 4 minis
Freebooter's Fate: 1 mini
Batman Miniatures Game: 3 minis
Supers: 1 mini
Zombies: 5 minis
SDZA: 2 minis

October, November and December gave me a strong finish to the year, and February was a write-off (the Pulp City Kickstarter ran then, and so occupied a lot of time). I had hoped to finish one or two more in December, but was laid low with a heavy cold for a couple of days when I had time set aside for painting, and just didn't feel up to slapping the hairy sticks around.

As for next year, right now I think a target of 50 is do-able, but only time will tell.

In the year ahead I want to try and paint at least 30 Anima Tactics units, and get into a good chunk of Pulp City Supremes that I have not yet painted. I would like to paint to some more BMG/Knight Models stuff, maybe to play in a tournament if I get the chance. In fact, I have set myself some targets for specific minis ranges, and if I met all of those, then that would be more than 50 minis next year, closer to 60, so who knows how things will end up!

Next year I also plan to start Warmachine/Hordes; I have been interested and considering the game(s) for years without pursuing them, and recently thought I may take the plunge. Which has meant getting some new bits and pieces as well as digging out some minis I already had from the previous edition. I have been prepping a few minis for both in the last few days.

Rob and I also want to finally play Freebooter's Fate as we both have playable Crews, and have both started acquiring potential terrain options.

And as for everything else, I assume 2015 will see my usual ad hoc approach to getting stuff done, although Zomtober 2015 is already pencilled in.

Oculus (SHOC Force)

Oculus is the name I have given this model, which is another from Nexus Miniatures (click for link to the Nexus site), from their SDZA (Super Dinosaur Zombie Apocalypse) range.

Like Razorclaw, Oculus is a member of SHOC Force, and often acts as de-facto field leader for the team. His powers allow him to see across the range of the electro-magnetic spectrum as well allowing him to project devastating short range line-of-sight electro-magnetic blasts using specially developed goggles. There is friction between the straight-laced Oculus and the abrasive wild-man Razorclaw, which causes tension in the team.

I started painting this mini at the same time as the first one, painting the bulk of each in tandem, although focusing on one at a time when it came to the finishing details of each. I struggled with painting the face, but I am leaving it as it is so I can keep momentum for other minis.

Having painted these two, I am looking forward to more SDZA releases using the same uniform motifs so I can add to the ranks of SHOC Force. More generally, I am really happy to have painted a couple more minis, my first two this month, especially after struggling to get stuff painted for so much of the year.

Razorclaw (SHOC Force)

While on my recent painting roll (a pretty unprecedented-for-me 14 minis in two months - not the kind of output I have managed since giving up bulk painting GW stuff), I decided to get some work done on a few minis that would all include a lot of red.

This is the first mini finished of a small handful of minis that I started in the past week. The model is from a new company by the name of Nexus Miniatures (click for link to the Nexus site), from their SDZA (Super Dinosaur Zombie Apocalypse) range. Nexus and SDZA is the brainchild of my friend Drew, aka Doctor Warlock.

As soon as I saw the FON (Freaks Of Nature) Agents for the SDZA range I knew I wanted them, what I wanted them for, and how I wanted to paint them. So I bought the first two, which will be joined by others as soon they are released, and which I will be using for a secret project over the next year or so, and with all to be painted in a matching colour scheme.

For my secret project the mini will become Razorclaw, a scrappy bad-ass feral superhuman who has been recruited as part of a clandestine team code-named SHOC Force (Super Human Operations Covert Force) in homage to 90's comic book super teams with names such as WildC.A.T.s and H.A.R.D. Corps. Razorclaw is fast, strong and tough, and since his recruitment into the ranks of SHOC Force is just beginning to learn of his true heritage as an Unhuman, a secret race of super-powered beings.

Razorclaw is the first of several minis I want in the group, as the secret project I mentioned involves testing as many combinations of 'rules stuff' to destruction as possible, and I would like a selection of minis to help me focus on that, that are not too specifically tied in my on head to anything in particular.

The colour scheme was inspired by VALIANT Entertainment Inc.'s comic book anti-heroes known as HARDCorps (see image right for an example). While I have not copied the scheme wholly, I have used the predominant placement of red, black and white in the best-fit parts of the mini as I saw it, and I am pretty happy with the outcome, even if it isn't my best painting (I have not been painting much red lately so it was a struggle). The next ShOC Force mini should be posted in the next few days.

Meridian Miniatures Webstore Opens

I just wanted to draw attention to this, the launch of Meridian Miniatures new web-store (click for link), as I have backed two of Meridian Miniature's Kickstarter campaigns. It looks like Meridian will initially have 3 ranges:

Steam & Aether: 'Steampunk armies in post-apocalyptic Europe' - now available.

Tooth & Sword: 'Anthropomorphic adventurers of the Chibi kind' - coming early next year.

Terramortis: 'Grim battles in our darkest future' - coming soon.

I am really looking forward to painting my KS Tooth & Sword minis sometime soon, and just wanted to flag up the launch of the Meridian Miniatures store.

Trucco

Last year, my main gaming buddy Rob and me set out to paint up playable forces for Freebooter's Fate, While we have not yet contrived to play the game, we have been talking about what we want terrain wise to do so, and that in turn sparked some motivation from me to paint another addition to my Brotherhood Crew.

I started this mini a week ago and it continues a trend of some recent fairly quick (for me) turnarounds, which is quite pleasing. I don't really have a 'uniform' colour scheme for The Brotherhood, but all rely on a generally dark palette of colours, so I picked that up again with Trucco.

This mini adds another Specialist to my Crew and takes it up to exactly 400 doubloons if used in its entirety. It will probably be a next year before I finish another Freebooter's Fate model I guess, so my Crew will have to be made up from what I have available. Rules-wise the biggest difference between Trucco (100 doubloons) and Apagado (90 doubloons) is that Trucco has a ranged attack with his Throwing Knife.

I have also picked up a couple of 4Ground buildings recently, which we plan on featuring as terrain for our eventual games; I am going to a show next weekend so I will try and grab a couple more if they are available.

Solomon Grundy

Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday, but painted over many days over several weeks! Grundy has long been one of my favourite DC villains, since first seeing the character in the pages of All-Star Squadron in the early 80's.

The character is named after a 19th century nursery rhyme, and for me has always had a very cool history and visual until New 52 shenanigans from DC, which for me ruined both his look, and unnecessarily (in my opinion) changed his origin.

As a kind of super-Zombie, I had hoped to finish Grundy during Zomtober 2014, but that was not to be. He is done now, and adding to my slow-build collection of Knight Models minis. I am a while away from a playable force, but that is due to the force construction limits of the game. You have to include a 'Sidekick' or 'Leader' for your Band, and cannot only use 'Free Agents', despite the fact that Free Agents make up the bulk of the models in the Batman Miniatures Game range. A quibble, and one that probably bothers  me more than other fans of the range.

I am not sure what I will paint next for the BMG range, I will have to wait and see where the fleeting muse takes me I guess - this could be a very slow-burn project, especially considering it has taken me a year to paint four minis so far from the range!

The Watchmen characters should really be something I try and focus on, if only to create a playable force, but time will tell. I could create playable forces from lots of other options right now, but I feel turned off from those other options by the fact that the game seems optimised towards henchmen. That is not borne out by playing though, and I may be completely wrong in my assessment! There is finally a print version of the game coming, so maybe my concern will be addressed there, and Band selection will be freed up a little.

That said, I have and will have a few alternative options to play the Knight Models minis in games with Power Legion, likely picking up Supersystem 4th edition at some point, and also through the development of Pulp City's 'build your own Supremes' rules.

Zombie Groups (update)

In a recent Zomtober 2014 post I mentioned my approach of 'colour triads' for my Zombies; basically the upper body clothing of a set of 3 Zombie minis painted with a matching colour shade, or a set of thematically linked minis like Zombie cops. The idea being that it become a set of models that can be visually picked out easily if required. Basically the principle is ease of identification of sub-groups on the table. It could be used to identify special Zombies etc., depending on the type of game you are playing.

I initially started doing that for running the Zombies in previous edition Pulp City 'Invasion' scenarios, but as it has proven useful in finishing sets of 3 minis,

I have since carried the practice on, especially as it may aid in-game activations wherever they be used, as well as not looking unusual as the horde grows. Of course it is probably irrelevant for a lot of Zombie games, but it works for me, and it also makes choosing paint colours easier.

I have shown some previous Zombie Groups on the blog, and thought it was time for an update, with the 'green', 'orange' and 'black' triads.

I have started the 'white' group if you saw my Zomtober 2014 bonus post. I also plan to eventually paint up some Zombie religiously themed minis, and of course I need more Zombie Clowns for a set or two of those; note I said need there, not want - Zombie Clowns are the scariest of Zombies, hands down. So plenty of groups to tackle in the future!

Roll on Zomtober 2015!

Zomtober 2014 Bonus Mini!

Well, caught up with some retained Zomtober 2014 painting momentum, I have managed to crank out another shambling dead mini before the end of the month, which can be seen here. I started this one while working on the Week 4 entry, and of course it signals the start of another 'triad' (no doubt to be finished next year!).

This is not a favourite sculpt for me; the big hands and other flaws ensure that I am afraid.

I am not sure of the manufacturer - possibly Cold War Miniatures, but their site is under renovation so I cannot verify that.

Despite the flaws I find with the sculpt, it is another Zombie painted, and that means another body for the small horde. I hope I remember to get around to photographing the slowly growing mass at some point soon.

Zomtober 2014 has proved very useful for me, and the primary fruits of the month can be seen here together.

In all, I have painted 7 minis in the last month. From July to September I painted 8 minis in total, so getting a few things done this month has helped my mind set on the painting front, and aided getting minis finished for Anima Tactics too. That means I am looking forward to hopefully painting at least 5 - and hopefully more than 5 - minis over the next two months to maybe finish the year with a small flourish. Time will tell of course.

It has been great to see everyone's output who has participated in Zomtober 2014, hopefully each getting our own rewards by painting things we may have been putting off or need a nudge to do. The spirit and ethos of Zomtober is simple, and we made the only rule simple and manageable so that most painter-hobbyists could get something out of it if they have an interest in Zombie or Survivor minis.

Simon and I were discussing recently doing a summary of participants efforts, so hopefully we will get around to that; until then, once again, "Well done guys". :)

I know I will be back for Zomtober 2015, and I hope many of the same faces and new ones are too.

Dragon Forge Designs Kickstarter

Resin bases. I love them. And one of my favourite manufacturers is Dragon Forge Designs (Jeff Wilhelm). I love the crisp castings and designs Jeff creates, and he is into the final 7 days of a Kickstarter project for a new base style addition for his range.

The project is for his Ancient Ruins II style bases (click for link). If you like handsome bases, very well cast from grey urethane resin, then I heartily suggest taking a look. I have never been anything but pleased with the Dragon Forge Designs bases I have bought, and over the years that has been a lot I am so impressed with them.

Zomtober 2014 (Week 4)

The final deadline is met! This minis was finished yesterday, but was actually started sometime last year but left unfinished until now, mainly because I was struggling with the orange. I am not as satisfied with the orange colour on this as I was with the last of the orange triad I painted (see post here). Nonetheless it is finished and that is the main thing, even if it is far from my best painting. Definitely one to hang around the back ranks of the horde!

The mini clean up was poor on my part, but the casting was a little rougher than I am used to with Studio Miniatures; however it is what it is.

Still, I have achieved all my Zomtober deadlines this year, and I am pleased with that. More importantly, It has also prompted me to paint a couple of non-Zeds (here and here) this month, so that has been very pleasing. The ranks of the Zombies have been swelled a little more, although calling it a horde is being generous I suppose!

I have one more mini that I did some work on today, in between modules for an E-Learning course that has a looming deadline, so I may have a bonus Zed before the end of the month, time permitting.

Most importantly, well done to everyone who has participated in Zomtober 2014; it has been great to see everyone's productivity. :)

Zomtober 2014 (Week 3)

Week 3 was finished on Saturday, and I didn't feel I needed to rush this time. This one was stress free, which was very nice, and the deadline was nowhere near as close as the first two weeks!

It has been great again to see the Week 2 and week 3 posts in the last few days - well done guys.

This is the final Zombie of the 'green triad'; I will post group shot of a few more triads soon. The mini is from Crocodile Games, primarily known for the Wargods of Aegytpus/Olympus lines; they have two packs of modern Zombies which I picked up for their cops, which was before Studio Miniatures did their own cops.

Over this weekend I have done a little more work on another Zed, which means I have 3-4 in varying stages of completion. If I can finish two of those for next week I would be very satisfied.

One happy knock-on effect of Zomtober this week is that it has helped spark my motivation to get some other minis finished (including this one - click for link), which is a welcome bonus, and funnily enough something similar happened last year two; so Zomtober is the gift that keeps on giving at least as far as my painting is concerned. In June to September I painted 8 units (there is a 5 mini model counted as 1 unit for this purpose). In the first 3 weeks of October I have already finished 4 units, and could be at 5-7 by the end of the month.

Quarter 3 2014 Painting Summary

A few days later than preferable, but not quite as late as the last one. :)

Quarter 3 was not as productive as either Q1 or Q2 unfortunately, but I am hoping to recover some lost ground in the next Quarter since I will have finished my course by then (barring any resubmissions I guess!). So I may achieve 40 minis as I thought setting out; anything above that would be a bonus. Zomtober should help to that end of course! There should also be a better balance of minis in the next couple of months with Zombies, Batman Miniatures Game and Pulp City minis in the queue, as well as an accumulation of Anima Tactics.

Left column, top to bottom

• Reindhold (Anima Tactics)
• Arias Vayu (Anima Tactics)
• Gear Mk. Trithemius (Anima Tactics)

Middle column

• Rorschach (Batman Miniatures Game)
• Al-Djinn (Anima Tactics)

Right column

• Claude Valmore (Anima Tactics)
• Type-004: Hellhound/Hellhound (Anima Tactics)
• The Colonel (Anima Tactics)

Zomtober 2014 (Week 2)

This was a rush paint-job to hit the deadline, and I am not ashamed to admit that. Still, despite that, and a pretty crappy mini, it is done, and another walker adds to the meagre horde.

I generally like the Studio Miniatures range of metal zeds, but this is poor and shows off the worst aspects of some of their minis IMHO, with some ill-defined areas, weird lines in parts that don't really make sense, and a flipping huge bobble head.

Since I don't plan to chuck out the 'bad minis' of theirs that I have picked up, it was due for painting, and it was already under-coated, which made it prime choice for quick painting this week.

I only had limited time for this mini due to working on a big final essay for a course, so this is what it is. It is another addition to the newest 'Zombie triad' (the 'greens'), which means I will try and complete the trio next week.

Two weeks in and two deadlines met for me. So far, so good. More importantly, it has been cool seeing other Zomtober works from around the minis blogosphere - well done guys!

Zomtober 2014 (Week 1)

It is week 1, and the first deadline is hit for me; or to put it another way "Oosh!". However, apologies for the ropey pictures.

The cool thing about Zomtober is seeing the fruits of other hobbyist's painting and those posts have started to roll in. Great stuff guys. :)

This year is going to be odds and sods additions. I have tended to paint up triads of Zombies with a linking colour to them; my thought is that in bulk they won't look too similar, but if I have an in-game reason to activate a small group of models, then they are identifiable for that reason.

This is the first of a planned 'green' triad, and I hope to add another to the group in Zomtober, maybe even with the next submission for Zomtober.

So that makes one mini down, three (or more!) to go. I have started work on the next couple, so my only tricky deadline is next weekend as I have a big course assignment to work on over the next week. I am still hopeful I can get Week 2 done in time though.

Oriental Scatter Terrain

All the items in this post are from a company called Wargames Terrain Workshop. All except the bridge were bought with Pulp City games in kind, as I want to be able to 'dress' the table to represent the city's Little Asia district. The statues and torii gate are a useful start I think. I think the pieces could easily be used in a variety of genres and eras of skirmish gaming.

The figures used for scale reference are Kagemaru from Anima Tactics and a Ninja Sensei from Pulp City. Both are on 30 mm bases. The bridge can accommodate bases a little over 50 mm wide.

The reason I am posting about these scenic pieces is to weigh up my thoughts about them, because they can be bought pre-painted, which means they are fodder for the time-strapped gamer.

The prices unpainted/painted are:

• Oriental gate (torii gate): £4.00/£7.20 GBP
• Oriental Statue: £3.00/£5.40
• Pair of Temple Dog Statues: £3.00/£5.40
• Oriental bridge: £6.00/£10.80

So for just under £30 plus postage I ended up with 5 pre-painted resin scenic items, which I honestly think is pretty good value. That said, I have to offer a caveat to prospective buyers. The items were very securely packed, but not securely enough. One upright for the gate needed re-gluing as did the central supports and one central cross-piece for the bridge. I opted to leave the bridge central supports off for ease of use, and the bits I re-glued were the work of a couple of minutes, but I just wanted to flag that issue up.

Despite the problem above, I do like these, and would recommend them, and I am thinking of investing in a second gate sometime soon.

It Is Coming...Zomtober 2014!

Once more the dead lead walks....

(okay, dead lead, resin and plastic, but that sounds less catchy I am sure you will agree!)

Zomtober 2014 is nearly here. The dead will once again walk off painting tables and hopefully onto gaming tables and into figure collections.

Zomtober 2012 was a modest start. Zomtober 2013 really blew up, with lots of hobbyists taking part. The time is upon us to see the dead lead walk.

Stalwart Zomtoberists Rob (click link for his blog) and Simon (click link for his blog) and myself are already on board. Personally this year I plan a hodge-podge of Zeds that I have had in the lead pile for ages.

The rules
The rules are simple. To take part just paint one Zombie or Survivor (or more!) each week, in any scale you like, posting it to your blog by the Sunday (we use Sunday's as the end of each Zomtober week). So that means one or more minis each week on or before the 5th, 12, 19th and 26th of October. Simples.

Anyone commenting on this post will get added to the blog list below (and feel free to do something similar on your own blogs -the more we spread the word, the more can get involved!).

Zomtober 2014 - it is almost time...

Zomtober blog roll:

1. Brummie's Wargaming Blog - Simon
2. Four Colour Super Minis - Rob
3. Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer - me
4. Dead Lead Project - myincubliss
5. Brains and Guts - Lord Siwoc
6. Fiends in Waistcoats -Robert Audin
7. BZA Bob's Zombie Apocalypse in 28mm - Bob Kinnear
8. Dispatches From The Rim - Christopher Sheets
9. Mike's Random Wargaming Meanderings - Mike C
10. Sean's Wargame Corner - Sean
11. Miniature Mayhem - Terry Silverthorn
12. gingerbhoy's painting projects - R. A. E. Gingerbhoy
13. Metal Skirmish - PMMDJ
14. The Lead Will Walk The Earth - Zombie Ad
15. Chris' Miniature Woes - Chris Hird
16. The Lost and the Damned and the Stunted - Dai
17. The League of Extraordinary Gamers - LXG crew

Interdimensional Bestiary Kickstarter (Meridian Miniatures)

Interdimensional Bestiary is Meridian's third Kickstarter, and the second in their (well Andrew May's) world of Steam & Aether. I backed Andrew's last campaign (Tooth and Sword's chibi anthropomorphic adventurers - here), and he delivered efficiently and with lovely casts.

This is quite different to that style wise - think VSF/Steampunk meets Lovecraft to get a sense of what it is about.

The project is already funded, and is only short at 2 weeks, so well worth a look. :)

Yztá Pyramid

This terrain piece is by Ziterdes, and like most of their products is a pre-painted (and pre-flocked) hard-foam. Unlike Tablescape, the finish for Ziterdes stuff is never as high as I would like. That said, and knowing their products tend to be very basically painted, not as well finished as in the promotional photographs, and often have noticeable air bubbles, I still wanted this piece.

Fantascene had done something similar, although I am not sure what material they used. However that piece went out of production a while ago and I wanted something suggesting Mesoamerican pyramid design for Pulp City and Freebooters Fate games, so the Yztá Pyramid fit the bill.

The footprint is approximately 14 inches by 15 inches and it is between 4 and 5 inches high, so it takes up a decent amount of gaming space. The figures used for scale reference are on 30 mm bases and are from ranges nominally 28-35 mm in scale.

In the UK I think prices are in the £33-£38 range roughly speaking. In terms of recommending this, I do like the design, but I have to caution that the pre-paint won't live up to the images Ziterdes use, and there will likely be an number of air bubbles. If those are things you can overlook and this is the kind of terrain item you are looking for, then I think it is a nice addition, just bear those things in mind if you are thinking of buying.

Technobridge

This is a very simple little model kit by Pegasus Hobbies.

It is easy to put together, made out of a hard plastic, and has simple snap-fit lugs which means you don't even need glue.

The build time for this was minimal, although because the plastic is very hard, seams are more awkward to clean than you may expect if you are only used to GW style plastic. Once built, I simply sprayed this with Bolt Gun Metal and left it at that (it was built and sprayed up years ago, so it is a bit dusty!).

UK prices seem to tend to be around £12-13 GBP currently.

Given it is a piece with quite a decent table footprint (the minis used for scale are on 30 mm bases and from 32-35 mm ranges) and is quick and easy to build and paint, I recommend it if it looks like it could fit your needs. I think a lot of tank kits should be able to fit within its width.

River Set

You get 2 of each piece in the River Set

This River Set is by Pegasus Hobbies, and comprises 6 pieces; 2 each of 3 different items.

The set is made from hard plastic and comes pre-painted. The pieces snap-it together with lugs, meaning it can be assembled and disassembled easily, and that individual sections won't slide around. When disassembled the set sits neatly in its box, so is very easy to store.

The 6 pieces when connected yield a river of approximately 43 inches in length. The bend pieces are 45 degree angle. The model used for scale reference is on a 30mm base.

Prices in the UK vary between £16 and £18 (I got my two sets a few years ago and paid £13 for each at the time).

The Technobridge just about sits across the river as shown. Looking at the Pegasus Hobbies site there is the suggestion that there may be additional pieces in the future which add modern and older style bridge options with integral river sections, I think I would pick them up if they appear in the UK.

For the price I think it is a reasonable set, although it is just shy of 48 inches, which may be intentional by PH given many gaming tables will have width or length of 4 feet in inimitable GW style. With a four foot table you are really looking at getting two sets. Despite that, I do think it is good value and I would recommend it.

Cargo Crates (Pre-Painted Hardfoam)

I have a couple of these packs and I think they have been a very useful purchase.

Each pack contains two small pieces and one large piece. The smaller pieces are approximately 160mm long and are 25mm high arranged in a row. The larger piece is approximately 160mm long by 50mm wide. There are a range of variants for each piece so with a couple of packs that gives some varied options. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see that the top and bottom row pieces from each set of three are different.

The crates on the right are two small pieces stacked together

The pieces are available as a pack for £13 GBP from Tablescape's website. They are made of hard-foam and come pre-painted. Given the range of gaming periods they would be suitable for, I think they are a tremendous little set for the time-strapped gamer. From a quality and value perspective, I am very happy with these and would thoroughly recommend them.

The minis used for scale reference are all mounted on 30mm bases and are nominally from ranges between 32mm and 35mm.

Rorschach

The first mini on the blog in a while! This was a 'quick and done' type of paint-job, intended to fit with my BMG minis, but not taking ages to complete.

I was talking with main gaming buddy Rob a few days ago about not getting much done and painting a couple of quite fiddly minis recently, so he suggested doing something easy like a dog. While I had a couple of things in mind, my first thought was this mini, since it would require a relatively simple colour palette, was a one-piece cast (quick to get ready), and was a change from the recent focus on Anima Tactics minis. This was prepped and undercoated the probably took around 2-3 hours of painting in 3 sessions over 2 days. I am happy with the outcome for (for me) such a short turnaround.

The mini is simple enough and nicely evokes Rorschach, although hands in pocket seems a cop-out sculpting wise, since he could have had arms out ready for a fight, and the drapery on the trousers could have been a lot better I think. So far I have painted stuff in very random order for BMG, and this is no exception. I suspect it will be a while before I get a Crew together. Although I love the Watchmen minis, so that could be the first Crew I finish possibly.

I am still a long way off playing the game, and I hope that Knight Models produce a printed rule book (preferably hardback), and that they rethink their game cards. The game cards are an unwieldy size I feel, and do not fit any typical game card sleeves. Worse still, the trimming of some leaves them larger than the standard KM size, meaning they are bent when used for packaging, not a good thing when paying a premium price for a mini in my opinion.Small criticisms, but relevant ones I think.

Quarter 2 2014 Painting Summary

Well, I almost forgot about the Quarter 2 painting summary! Better late than never I say!

It looks like I will be lucky to manage 40 minis this year, which with my coursework workload is 'okay' although I would rather paint more.

May was a poor month, with just one mini painted.

Top row (l to r); click names for links to posts:
Kyler (Anima Tactics)
Lillian Virgil (Anima Tactics)
Tiamat (Anima Tactics)
Aurelius (Pulp City)
Alis Testarossa (Anima Tactics)

Bottom row:
Clayface (Batman Miniatures Game)
Shinobi (Anima Tactics)
Raziel Archetypum (Anima Tactics)
Al-Djinn (Anima Tactics)
Janiel (Anima Tactics)

Tooth & Sword

With a little over 9 days to go, Tooth & Sword is 80% funded on Kickstarter. If any readers have an interest in anthropomorphic fantasy minis, then I heartily recommend taking a look.

Rock Outcrops

Rock Outcrops (BB 545) from GF9

Another recent terrain acquisition, these Rock Outcrops are by Gale Force Nine, and like other Battlefield in a Box stuff are ready to play straight out of the box as they come fully painted.

The set includes 6 sets of rocks and two types of static grass to add as desired. This set is BB 545; there was an earlier set of Rocky Outcrops (BB 521) which had 8 pieces included.

It is easy enough to create rocks etc with foam, but for me, as I have said before, that would take away from the little time I manage to focus on painting my minis. The price is around £16-£18 and for me that is reasonable value as a trade-off for time and materials to do something similar.

One useful advantage of these over a foam alternative that is not immediately obvious however, is that they have a certain heft and weight and so are less likely to get displaced on the tabletop.

As is evident, I like the GF9 Battlefield in a Box range. The quality is consistent, so I know what to expect when picking up a set. Consequently the pieces I have picked up have been good value for me. I like that certain sets go nicely together to allow an expandable range. All in all, highly recommended.

The volunteers used for scale are:
- Crimson Oni (Pulp City)
- Azriel (Anima Tactics)
- Red Skull (What The? Miniatures)

Tooth and Sword Kickstarter (Meridian Miniatures)

Another KS I am backing, and I really hope the project makes it as I love the Chibi meets anthropomorphic fantasy look of the line.

I am in for the resin bundle and will top up if Stretch Goals are met - check it out. :)

Click the image below for the link.

Interviews From The Gaming World

Over the past few years I have conducted a few different interviews with some industry types.  Here are the links to those I have done so far.

The most recent was a brief interview with Carlos B. Garcia, the man behind Anima Studios and the Anima raft of games (including Anima Tactics; click for link to interview). He recently launched the Anima Gate of Memories: Extended Campaign on Kickstarter, as a supplement to the original Anima: Gate of Memories Kickstarter campaign.
As the Anima Gate of Memories: Extended Campaign heads into its final days, Carlos kindly agreed to answer some questions posed by the Anima Tactician (click for link to interview).

I have also conducted a few interviews with creators and developers working on the Pulp City game and on behalf of Pulp Monsters.

Maciej Żylewicz (part 1 and part 2) - the driving force behind Pulp Monsters and Pulp City.

Melvin de Voor - artist, concept designer, layouts and design.

James Van Schaik - sculptor, industry veteran and consultant.

Blasted Terrace & Ruined Fountain

Blasted Terrace

The Blasted Terrace and Ruined Fountain by Gale Force Nine are ready to play straight out of the box. Both can act as centre-piece type scenery in of themselves, but equally both should substitute well for hills, having the right kind of profile to achieve that.

The Blasted Terrace (BB556) was a birthday gift from my best mate and frequent gaming buddy Rob, and a cool addition to the array of scenery I have. I see it as functioning like any typical medium size hill in most games, having a nice profile to block line of sight for human size models.

Ruined Fountain

I bought the Ruined Fountain (BB553) for myself as an extra option and variation. The footprint would make it a small to medium size hill equivalent.

Like the rest of the Battlefield in a Box range they are solidly designed and cast, and neatly painted. The Ruined Fountain has the bonus of the water feature of course. I think that GF9's attention to quality is very good.

In my opinion, based on quality and usefulness, I think they are fine value at around £18-20 GBP.

As with the recent Terrain series of posts, the figures used for scale are:
- Crimson Oni (Pulp City)
- Azriel (Anima Tactics)
- Red Skull (What The? Miniatures)

Mage Knight Castle: Keep

I saw this only recently for the first time, and I thought it was an ideal extra for my burgeoning terrain collection. An OOP piece for the defunct (or is it?) Mage Knight game, and part of the Mage Knight Castle range, there were various sets that went with this Keep. This can be picked up from Ebay for around £20-25 GBP based on some recent listings. I have heard of much better bargain prices if you look around.

There is a click dial with opening on the roof which I decided to fill-in with green stuff and paint over. My painting did not match the original pre-paint style, but it will do. I also painted over the slots where I *think* the walls would connect, to make them look a bit more like arrow slits.

In all a nice little piece that becomes war-gaming friendly with a minimum of fuss and work.

Figures used for scale:
- Crimson Oni (Pulp City)
- Azriel (Anima Tactics)
- Red Skull (What The? Miniatures)