Derivan Paints are here, Workshop Organization, and 15mm Sci Fi Brigade Pac Fed Armor

The Derivan paints I ordered from Scale Creep Miniatures got here on Saturday. And man those bottles are twice as big as the Vallejo ones. Colors look good, I put some on my fingers and smashed it around to feel it and see how it covers. Pretty nice. Pigment seems to be ground really well. I am looking forward to trying these out. I kinda wish I would have bought some of the yellows and a few more greens and greys. I think I got all of the browns, reds,  and military colors. So at $1.00 a bottle and $6.00 shipping and suprer fast service, I would say if you want some good back up paints, or some good terrain paints, these would be a great choice. Here are some more in depth reviews at TMP and they are very glowing for this discontinued line of paints.

Thanks for great sale Scale Creep Miniatures!

And all the Chaos on the workbench in the Workshop of Doom has me thinking about organization. Check out this guys great setup. Man am I jealous.

Gret use of a CnC machine and some really nice organizational stuff. I have always liked Miniature Scenery's terrain stuff, and this stuff is just as good. Prices are a little high, but that kind of organization really is nice to have.

And Finally, I was given some helpful thoughts on choosing the right tanks and IFV's for the Jasmine Throne/Alien Legion 15mm Sci Fi troops from Khurasan. Mostly that (as was in the orginal comic) that they should be hover/grav units. And I agree, I just haven't had any I like that walk the less Near Future more Space Opera line that I wanted. But maybe these would:

New Pac Fed Armor from Brigade, based upon their original 6mm line. I really like the looks of them and these may have shot to the top of the list.(minus the MaK armor next to them).

Some little progress...

 So last night, I climbed this creaky a bruised ole body back up on that horse and started to paint again. Painting is a mind game for me. And I have to be in the zone to do it well. And much like good writers will tell you, you can't wait for inspiration. You have to write, everyday, to really get good at it, so that when inspiration does strike, you have exercised enough to capture it and ride it out. So following the loss of my father in law, I just hadn't felt like painting. So I hadn't picked up a brush in 2 months, and only then was I painting cause I was painting a gift. So after getting excited by seeing the Portuguese Nappies that Eureka picked up from Victrix, sculpted by Paul Hicks, and various other stuff from the interwebs, I dipped my toes back in the water for a couple of hours last night. I had Season Three of Community on the DVD, a box of Dots, a big glass of ice water and a unit of all YELLOW Spanish Dragoons staring me in the face. Oh well, better dive right in. It took a bit of time to get brush control, and the brushes them selves working in unison, but, when I was done, it felt good to be back in the saddle. I see some time this weekend spent at my paint table to finish the Numancia Dragoons.So here's to being back at it. As sloppy as it was, I still enjoyed it.

Sadly, the state of my brushes is not good.  It took a little bit to get my favorite 2 brushes up and running last night. But at the end they were soldiering through. So I need to go get a couple of new ones to get in the rotation.(and now... a brush rant)

I want to say that I am pretty hard on brushes. I have spent really good money on really good brushes (Sable W&N, Foundry, Reaper Pro, endless others) and for me, I keep coming back to two lines. First is the Reaper Pro line of takalon brushes. Blasphemy #1! I know as a painter I should use sable. I should prefer sable. But ya know what, I hate sable. Too supple, too soft, to blah for me. I use cleaner and soap on my brushes and take good care of them, but I also use the hell out of them, and the sable is always the most expensive and the first to fail. Side hairs, won't hold a point, split tip, you name it. And for all of the advice to keep paint out of the ferrel of the brush, how is that even possible when yo are pallette mixing, and paint a unit of 36 line infantry at a time? So for my money the Reper Pro line is a good value and they last the longest. runner up is Brush Blasphemy #2 - I like Plaid brushes too. You know the ones at Hobby Lobby, or Jo Ann's or Michaels craft stores, that you always get a 40% off coupon for. Yeah, those. They last as long and hold a point as well as my Repaer Pros do. Now when they go, they go fast, but up to that point, they are the tits. And Blasphemy #3, I never paint with anything smaller than a #2. Never. Oh I have them all, I just don't use them. I don't even know what I would paint with the 000 that I have. I just got it cause people said you had to have one. I use a #3 for almost everything, and if it is keeping its tip, I don't have to go smaller. I will admit, for my British, I started using a # 2 to make sure I wash getting definition on all that lace, but that's really it. And if I paint eyes, which I don't do on bulk troops, a good pointed #2 will do it. So like many things, its all about what you are comfortable doing. and I guess I really did listen when an art teacher said, paint with the largest brush you can to accomplish your goal. Done!

Scale Creep Miniatures is having a crazy clearance sale on Derivan Minis Paint. Its a 37ml bottle(about twice the size of Vallejo) for $1.00. I don't really need a bunch of paint, but they had several great and interesting colors, and they have gotten favorable feedback on TMP, so I thought I would pick up a few. And with all this 28mm Nappy, 15mm Sci Fi, and 15mm Fantasy to paint, plus Sedition Wars and Bones coming, you can never have enough paint. When I was done, I had 25 pots in my cart. So if nothing else I have a bunch of new terrain paints. And if I can ever get the boys to paint again, they will have some good paints too. My hope lies in the fact that they have a French Blue that I like for my Nappies. We shall see.

Khurusan Jasmine Throne Foreign Battalion

I wanted these guys so badly when they were teased at us for what seemed like a year. They have been subsequently released, but my focus on Nappies and Kickstarters and such has gotten me away form a massive list models I want to buy from Khurusan, including these.

So I think I will ask for them from the Mistress for an upcoming BDay. Which of course got me to thinking, What the hell will I use for their Armor and transport and support vehicles?

Here are the final figs of the 5 packs of the JTFB:

Great stuff. And I will be painting them like Alien Legion. White Armor, Black Undersuit etc.

So, just rifling around Khurusans site I think maybe this is what I will go with for a start for the vehicles:

The Felid Lion Class Carrier. A storing, robust and big vehicle with all sorts of room for the varied morphology for the various member races of the JTFB/Legion. And the Big Gun Turret adds some flexibility on punching power. Its styling is futuristic, and still sensible, but it is very distinct. I am sure I will have some difficulty matching a Scout/LtTank/MBT to it.

The Khurusan Neo Soviet walkers are great, and may fit in. The roundness of the crew cabin makes it a tad off.

Maybe speeders or trikes from GZG?:

I think the Wheeled alternative to the Lions is from GZG:

I love this model. It also walks that fine line between believable and  SciFi high tech.

 

 

I shall keep thinking on it. Thoughts by you dear reader?

Its an amazing time for 15mm. No doubt. The selection we have now is almost embarrassing.

Sedition Wars - Kickstarter continues to be a success

I just received Wave 1 of my Sedition Wars Pledge goodies. A boxed set of the game, plus the extras for Wave 1: Patch, dice, cards, signed print, bases, and a bunch of extra minis, plus a resin Kara that is sculpted in incredibly fine detail.

Nincely done McVey Studios(always liked Mike's stuff), Cool Mini, and Kickstarter.

Success number 2 for me on Kickstarter. Number three is awaiting the Reaper madness. I was very satisfied with number 1, Zombiecide. so overall, my experience has been quite good. Assuming Reaper delivers on their promises, it will be amazing in Value, and Quality. I am not as bent out of shape about any delays cause this is a drop in the proverbial bucket when it comes to minis. I just hope its a fun game to play.

Inspiration and multi-media

Been in a bit of the blahs on the whole gaming/painting front for the last month or so. Motivation is lacking and this one I am sitting out of instead of plowing through. I know it will change so no worries.

But I have some inspiration from a couple of sources:

First up is Cornwell's treatment of Poiters in 1356, out on Jan 8th. Mine arrived today. I absolutely love Cronwell. As George Martin says on the front cover of my brand new edition says Cornwell writes the best battle scenes of anyone. And I wholeheartedly agree. He always knows the material, he has an amazing grasp of heroism and pacing. I will probably read in a week, if that long. He'll have some of the same old tropes we all love, but man are they written fun and well.

Next is The Road. I didn't see it in the theater. But I knew that I wanted it in my DVD collection. I never read the book(or any of the authors truly dark novels), but this really tugs on a lot of things for me, post apoc, survival, and protecting your son(s). Nobody ruin it for me, I haven't seen it yet.

The Numancia Dragoons stare at me in the Workshop of Doom. I based some 15mm ECW that I needed to do, but still not much progress. I may switch gears and do some 15mm Sci Fi or 15mm Fantasy. We'll see. Keep rolling those dice, and keep your brush wet!

Your First Wargame

Mik over at Miks Minis asked a simple enough question: What was your first Wargame? He got some good responses, and a surprising number of similar ones.

These are Wargame and RPG Dice. It ain't just sixes kids.

Since this is a miniatures focused blog, I'll pose the a similar question, but in three parts:

What was the very first wargame you ever played (board, strategy, or miniature)?

What was the first miniatures focused Wargame?

What was the first Wargame Army you collected and fielded as your own (painted or not, but your own)?

Bonus Question:

What has been your favorite Miniatures Wargame you have played?

Thanks for scratchin the ole brain pan Mik. Fun to think about my own personal start in this hobby.

Here's My Response to my own Questions:

What was the very first wargame you ever played (board, strategy, or miniature)?

As I think about it, I played RPG's first. Before almost anything. They just made sense to me. Red Book D&D Basic. Still am a Red Book and Blue Book Fan. And I know that D&D has its roots in tabletop miniature gaming, since Gygax and the band were heavy duty wargamers.

 But in the end I think it has to be Risk. I played endlessly, with my brother. And solo. And in high school we would play for hours, on two boards(one for ground and one for air power). It always resulted in a fight and almost always resulted in someone throwing board and the pieces going flying. Good Times...

We play online now on a game called Warlight. Its a flash version with some added subtleties and a whole bunch of different maps. Pretty fun and addictive. No board throwing. Check it out.

What was the first miniatures focused Wargame?

It was Battletech. The first version where everyone had just used all the Robotech designs, and the horrible(and glorious) soft plastic miniatures that came in that original set. I was a big model builder, but had never even seen sci fi giant stompy robots as little models. This blew my mind. I loved fantasy and military modeling, but this was something different and dear to my heart. I was hooked. It was a bit clunky, but man I loved those rules.

What was the first Wargame Army you collected and fielded as your own (painted or not, but your own)?

Eldar for Space Marine. The Baron had been on a trip to England. He brought back some glorious new toys in a big box that included little tanks, infantry, buildings, blast templates(revelation). It was awesome. It had org charts. And awesome toys. It was at this point that I completely forgot about RPGing. It had slowed to almost nothing, but at this point it would be over until about 5 years ago. He brought back Adeptus Titanicus. We soon had Space Marine.

I remember the wall of minis in blisters at my hobby shop at college. It was the golden age for Citadel and Games Workshop. I remember ordering my Eldar Titans from Mail Order. Ordering specific loadouts to give a real surprise for the Baron's Warlord Titans with 2 Corvus Assault Pod Arms and all his damn egg shaped drop pods.

All of that was why I started to nostalgicly paint 40k again and quietly collect what I could to go with what I had kept. It was a great game. I love it still.

What has been your favorite Miniatures Wargame you have played?

I would absolutely say that the funnest wargame I have ever played was out of a Wargames Illustrated numbered in the fifties I think. Its called 55 Days at Peking. It was a Boxer Rebellion game. You each were one of the countries legations in the European Compound. Waiting to be relieved or rescued. The Boxers were played by random chance and a quick set of rules by the GM. You were dealt a limited number of cards that had important resources like water, food, medicine, ammo on them. To put out a fire you needed a water card. To reload, you needed ammo cards. You had to negotiate with the other players for cards you didn't have. It was like playing go fish, screw your neighbor and draw poker in a miniatures game. My Bro In Law was a big Colonial Head, so he had everything. Even a purpose built Compound with each legation.The rules that were used are very similar to the way the spawn points work for Ambush Alley. It was great fun and I still remember fighting back tiger warriors on the wall with courage, pluck and a cannon.

Grognards

So I have considered myself a Grognard for a quite a while now. Its such an affectionate term. Old Grumbler. Basically a Grumpy Old Man. Which I certainly am. I know the whole back story of course. Its Napoleon's lovely description of his beloved Old Guard.

The definative image of the Old Grumbler. A Veteran Badass all the way.

Today its been associated with gamers for a few different reasons.

1. It was the veteran grey beards who always knew everything in the gaming circles you ran in. Older dudes with a been there done that attitude. True grumblers, and most not very helpful. Holding knowledge you had to assemble over a lifetime of gaming and research and playing and painting and writing homegrowns(or at least that's what you thought). And you wanted to be that. Count all of those Nappy Guys, Ancients Guys, and Civil War Guys in that group.

2. Its also associated with those of us that choose to play earlier versions of a game even though there is a more recent version. Those of us who do this in RPG circles also are a part of the OSR, or Old School Revolution (or Revival if you like it softer and nicer). Wilder funner times, absolutely frought with nostalgia and rose colored glasses, but also games that were great and engaging in 68 pages instead of 224. See any of the Red Cover D&D Basic Rules, GammaWorld, Star Frontiers, Etc. Or even AD&D 1st Edition or the LBB's(1st Ed. D&D).

3. There are some others. Mostly associated with Video Games and playing on full realism settings with no cheats. Hard core stuff or old stuff.

I always pronounced it with a hard syllable. Grog-Nard. Like Frog-Hard. I had never heard it any other way. I knew it was French, but I never really thought about its correct pronunciation. Then I came across this:


This sent me into a panic. Had I been pronouncing it wrong? Words matter, I tell my children. Pronouncing them right means something. Words are meaning and a reflection of you and your education, intelligence, understanding, etc. I never say 'irregardless'. It bothers me so much ( as you can tell from the blog, I on the other hand don't care about proof reading). So I had to find out if, by my own mispronunciation, I was being revoked of my self appointed Grognard status and Membership Card. And as ususal, the internet has value for something other than porn, videos of people getting hit in the junk, and ads for Spyware software.

Here is the pronunciation of the word Gorgnard --- (gro nyar) .  Here it is pronounced by a Frenchman. I am devastated...Here's my card. Since most of us in my age group were not trained in languages other than English, this may seem stupid to those of you from more civilized places than the Colonies. But I dare you to come to Mizzura and try to wade your way around why they call their ozark town Ver-Sails instead of Versailles and you'll quickly understand.

Now deep down I knew that Grog-Nard was wrong. I knew too much French to think otherwise. Hell I make sure I correct people on the correct pronunciation of Quatre Bras and Ligny when ever I get the chance. I can even count to 20 in French. And I even know some Spanish and Italian. (mostly drinking and fightin words).

So I guess I'll have to bail on being a Gronyar. Who do I give this card to? Is it you Neck Beard and Shorts in Winter? Is it you Affliction Shirt Power Gamer? Is it you Potbelly Flannel reeking of weed? Or you Bespectacled Polo Shirt with briefcase of ancients rules?

Aww Screw It. Let's just game. LONG LIVE THE GROGNARDS (GRONYARS). Now give me my card back Unwashed Dead Eyed, It doesn't work in a Magic: The Gathering game.