Zorcon's Word

Troop Troupe

2011-12-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

All of the following figures have been painted for quite some time. I had intended to post them as soon as each squad/group was completed. But with all that has been going on in RL, I never got around to it. So, I present to you 5 different groups of minis that were used in our Dark Heresy campaign and most of them are eventually destined for my IG "Tattered Outpost Defense Force".

Pulp Figures Gasmask Cultists 1 plus a Weird Villain
(click on image to enlarge)

These cultists are my least favorite of this posting. I wanted the "purple" robes to be a black-purple and it horribly failed on that front. Plus, while I really liked the figures, I just could never get into painting them. I didn't try very hard on the bases either... oh well they served their purpose.

WH40k Catachan
(click on image to enlarge)

In an experiment, I had these guys (plus about 15 other figures) painted by Trevy's Painting Table. I paid him $1 per figure to essentially "base coat" the models, and I spec'd out the colors. When I got the models back, I added more detail and did the bases.

The figures after the "base coat"

Trevy is a great guy for taking my project, and he did an adequate job (which was perfect in this case). However, I doubt I will use his service again as the time saved on the painting table was lost waiting to get through Trevy's production schedule. And to be honest, it just doesn't feel right as a hobbyist. I thought I could justify it by equating it to the comics industry--It is not uncommon to have a junior artist/team block out flat color on a page (a flatter) followed by the actual colorist who creates all the shading, rendering, and special effects.

RT era Penal Legion
(click on image to enlarge)

Here are 5 Rogue Trader era Penal Legion. I have 5 more that I scooped up on eBay earlier this year. I painted these guys up in traditional colors and a typical grassy base.

RT era Imperial Guard
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I also painted these guys in traditional colors. I only have 3 other guys that are of this style and I am looking to round out a squad of 10. I did a slightly different treatment to the bases--I only used very coarse ballast. It is an interesting look.

Necromunda Redemptionists
(click on image to enlarge)

The guy in the middle is a Grenadier miniature Adeptus-B donated to the gang. Another friend bough the Redemptionist box set a long time ago, and I have sort of inherited it. I have about 10 more models to finish the gang, but these will do fine for Dark Heresy.

WH40K Adeptas Arbites
(click on image to enlarge)

And finally, here is the first squad of my small Adeptus Arbite gang/force. I have 2 other 6-man units, and three counts-as Rhino's that I last discussed here. A litle birdie told me we might be seeing some of these guys in an upcoming Dark Heresy session--and in our particular situation, it could be very bad!!

I tried to paint the bases like asphalt with road surface markings--I am not entirely happy about them, but they are acceptable for now.

Well, that's all for now, the holidays are around the corner, and I hope everyone has a happy and healty rest of the year. Until next time.

Finetuning a Risky Venture

2011-12-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

(click on image to enlarge)

As mentioned in other posts, I have been working on a map for Risk. It is loosely based on the PC game Risk II with a few additional territories (above the 5 territories already added in Risk II). Mainly I was attempting to prevent the castle strategy. But after an initial design, I wanted to make the map more esthetically pleasing and "in the style" of an 19th century map.

About a month ago, I ordered a set of Lord of the Rings Monopoly pieces to replace the (now inappropriate) modern cities and capitols from the 2008 edition (Revised) Risk. I planned on using the "hotels" (fortresses) as the capitols, and the "houses" (strongholds) as the cities, but now that I have them in hand, I am not sure.

I am also working on creating my own set of rules (beyond a 2-player variant from the last post)... I guess the most appropriate name would be Risk, Revised Edition 1.5. I am including elements from Risk II, Risk Legacy, and various incarnations of standard Risk rules (both official and variants) over the last 30 years. After I complete the map and get a better handle on the new set of rules, I will throw it out to those of you that pretend to read what I write! :)

My Dark Heresy Cadre of Acolytes mk 3

2011-12-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

(click to enlarge image)

Well, it's time to update our group glamor photo. The last incarnation of our group can be found here. Harold has completed his mk 2 version of his character, and we have added a new player.

We have just completed rank 5 and will gain our first advances from rank 6 at the end of our next session in 2 weeks. Here is the breakdown of our group:

Denathor (Adept) - WH40K IG Master of Ordinance by Zorcon
Venris (Cleric) - Converted Necromunda Redemptionist Leader by Zorcon
Kaarl (Tech-Priest) - Custom figure by Adeptus-B
Quintillia (Assassin) - Converted Warmachine Eiryss, Angel of Retribution by Harold Mackinnon
Nickodemous (Imperial Psyker) - Converted Dark Age Bane Leader by Zorcon
Ren (Scum) - Converted Dark Age Forsaken Coil by Zorcon
Skull Servitor - Skull Servitor by Zorcon

(click to enlarge image)

Future upgrades: I *still* have a Techpriest Enginseer ready to paint for the mk 2 Tech-Priest, but the player has yet to take any mechadendrite advancements!! Plus, I discovered he wont be sporting an Omnisian Axe or a manipulator, so this guy will need to be modified after the player makes his final choices. I am also getting very antsy to make a mk 3 version of my character, but will wait until I get a force sword and better armor.

Two Risk or Not Two Risk

2011-12-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

In my opinion, Risk has some inherent problems, but it is still a game with a bunch of little guys (ie fun to play with).

I have managed to put my hands on the Risk rulebooks from 1980, 1993, 2003, 2008, and 2011. As far as game play, they are almost identical with only minor tweaks to troop reinforcements (how many you get per turn) and starting number of troops.

In '93 they introduced missions, and each proceeding set "improved" the mechanics to some degree. The '08 set significantly retooled of the mission system, plus they added cities and capitols. They also changed the official way to determine starting territories.

One element I thought strange was that the most significant changes between all 5 sets of rules are in the 2-player rules variant ('08 doesn’t even cover it). Within that sub-section, the biggest differences are whether or not to include neutral armies, and whether or not the allies are passive or aggressive.

I recently picked up the 2008 set because it had cities and capitols (unique to the set). But I will be playing this mostly with my son, and it didn’t cover how to play a 2-player game, I looked at how the other sets handled it. My old '78 set had 2-player rules (without allies), the ’93 set added 1 neutral ally, and the ’11 set is the same as ‘93. However, the '03 rules include a very extensive set of instructions for including multiple aggressive neutrals/allies.

After reading through all these editions, I made up my own rules!! Essentially, I blended the '93 and '03 rules in the framework of an '08 game (cities, capitols and enhanced objectives/missions). I am really pleased with how it all turned out. This is a PDF of what I came up with.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I also started working on a custom map for Risk. I like it, but have decided to take a dramatic turn in direction. I will share my progress in a later post,

(click on image to enlarge image)

I like what I have done so far, but have decided to take a completely different approach. I will share what I come up with another time.

Dark Heresy Character Showcase - Scum

2011-11-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

(click image to enlarge)

Here is my "recent" project for the "probie" in our Dark Heresy game. A scum from the planet Fenris. I really like how this turned out with some fairly simple conversions--and the player if happy too!

Image taken from internets without permission

The body of the miniature is a Dark Age Forsaken Coil. I added a WFB dwarf warhammer to the head of the weapon, and used bitz from a chaos vehicle sprue to add some heft and warhammer bling!

(click on image to enlarge)

I added an ancient Rogue Trader era space marine bolt pistol as her sidearm, and a cape from my bitz box.

(click on image to enlarge)

To emphasize the connection to Fenris, I added some trophies from the Space Wolf sprue to her shoulder and hip (not pictured) and a Mordheim bit to her belt buckle. Lastly, I swapped the head for a WHFB elf head.

For the base I used my standard basing sand mix. I painted the ground a ruddy brown, and the larger rocks a purplish-grey. Next I added a custom mix of dark static grass and finally some leaf scatter from Skullcrafts.

Well that is about it... I hope you like it and that you come back to see more...

Bygone: Non-Player Character Sheet v2.2

2011-11-28T12:27:00.000-08:00

H6ere is another character sheet from thee past. I used this for both cohorts and BBEG. I used a different color than for the PC's sheets so that it would stand out on the table or in a player's packet.

(click on image to enlarge)

I think this wraps up my series of D&D 3.x character sheets. I have other drawings and player aids I plan to share in later posts. I hope you liked what you have seen so far!

(WH) 40KRP in Cin..cin..atiiii

2011-11-26T13:43:00.001-08:00

Image taken from the internets without permission

I think of this show, more specifically the last verse of the opening theme song, when I think of Dark Heresy and the other WH40K Role-playing Games. Not that it has much to do with WH40K or role-playing, its just that in my head 40KRP triggered the memory of WKRP, and it is now forever ingrained in my mind and the two will always be opposite sides of a coin.

Anyway, the actual reason for his post is to share a project I am working on. I have undertaken cataloging the various items, skills, adversaries and such in the WH40K Role-playing Game system. So far, I am almost through Inquisitor's Handbook (plus a few other tid bits).

This is not a new concept for me. I took on indexing all of the D&D 3.x books both from WoTC and third party publishers. In total, I managed to index over 400 books. The directory still resides at www.d20directory.com. This time around however, I do not plan to include specific rules definitions. I only intend for this resource to be a reference to book and page number with a few categories included to improve sorting and filtering. I realize a database program is probably the better application to use, but I am much more adept at Excel.

With no further ado, here is the beginnings of the WH40RP Rules Directory. I hope you like the project and I comments and suggestions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T12:31:00.001-08:00

Well, this was supposed to be my Halloween post. RL has just been to consuming. So this is now a Day of Thanks post! I really appreciate all my followers and I hope you and yours have a great holiday!

Now, on to the fun stuff!! Below I have a brief synopses of what I have managed to work on over my absence from the world wide web... hope you like it!

My GM requested I make a graveyard
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My GM ran a special Halloween themed Dark Heresy encounter on the game session just prior to Halloween. Unfortunately, mostly due to my character's actions, the encounter never occurred in the graveyard (it stayed in the crypt below ground), so the terrain was never used! Oh well, it will get used eventually. I will explain how I made this in a later post.

Rel, our new scumer
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We have recently added a new player to our Dark Heresy game. In a future post, I will show all the conversions to this model, but for now I will say there is a head and weapon swap.

Remote Comm Unit
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Back in this post, I showed a WiP communications console. Here it is ready to be painted. I will also discuss this piece in more detail in a later post.

Trailer progect
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I am rally not sure where I am going with this one. I am half inclined to remove the element (an old school transformer toy) from the yellow trailer and just scratch-build a box-trailer. But on the other hand I could build a box trailer without the toy trailer, so why not just keep going to see what I end up with?

Image taken from the internets without permission

Finally, I have a project to complete for my GM--Convert 12 of the above HeroClix models to Rak'gol's for our future Deathwatch games. I have all the bitz (various tyranid arms) ready to go, and just need to find the time.

Risk Reward

2011-10-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! It’s been awhile since Ihave posted and a ton of things have happened. (Note to Ron: This is not an apology!!:P) The most significant change in my life has been moving my mother-in-law inwith us. I converted our barely used dining room to my new office (FYI, thefamily room functions as a dining room), and the old office is my in-laws roomnow. She has Alzheimer's. It was my suggestion to move her in as the previoussituation was just not working. I am now a stay at home care giver *and* dad.At times it is an easy job, at times it is tough. But we are holding strong.

On to lighter news, my Dark Heresy campaignis plodding along at about 1 session a month (the best my group can manage),but I am having a blast!! We are planning to start our next session earlierthan usual (by about 2 hours) and to drink less beer (so the last 2 hours isproductive!!). We have also added a new player to the mix and I will showcasethe work I did on the miniature in a later post.


My 1980 version of Risk with Roman Numeral pieces (Image taken from BoardGameGeek.com without permission)

The other day, my son and I played hisfirst game of Risk. He is 8 and has ADHD, but did really well for his firstgame. However, about 3/4's the way through the game, my son looked at me andsaid "Daddy, I am a boy who plays with soldiers, not a boy who plays withclock numbers." I about fell out of my chair laughing. We finished up the gameand I spent the next two weeks researching how I could supply soldiers to my versionof risk.

After spending most of my time pouringthrough what boardgamegeek.com had to offer, I decided to get the pieces from the 1993 version of Risk, and the entire 2008 version of Risk for the new rules and components.

Pieces from the 1993 version of Risk
(Image taken from BoardGameGeek.com without permission)

Pieces from the 2008 version of Risk
(Image taken from BoardGameGeek.com without permission)

The 2008 "revised" version adds major and minor objectives, along with cities and capitals, plus rewards for completing objectives. It has also balanced the reinforcements rules. The only real "down side" is that the armies are simply arrows!?!

After about a week of searching, I found what I was looking for on eBay for a great price. The items arrived, and my son and I have played 2 more games of Risk. However, I found the 1980 2-player rules to be too simplistic, the 1993 version was the same but introduced a neutral ally, and the 2008 version doesn't even have a 2-player option!! Fortunately I was able to download the 2003 version of the rules because it has an extensive active neutral rules set.

I am working on writing up rules essentially blending the ’93 and ’032-player variant within the mechanics of the '08 rules set. Once I have it finalized, I will discuss it in a later post.

My OCD kicked in and I also started working on a new map heavily influenced by the PC game Risk II. When I get further along, I will post it.

Its good to be back in the blogosphere!!

WIP: Imperial Dwelling

2011-06-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

(click on image to enlarge)

Here are some closeups of one of the buildings from my Imperial City Project. It is intended to be a dwelling for a VIP/government official, or it could be a middle class apartment complex. The back side is fashioned to be the "back ally" entrance, or it could stand in as a minor Adeptus Mechanicus building.

(click on image to enlarge)

As you can see, the roof and the second floor are removable to allow for interior movement. I'm not sure yet if and to what extent I will detail the interior.

(click on image to enlarge)

The large pink blocks flanking the stairway is my attempt at bridging esthetics and functionality. The balsa wood stairway is visually appealing, while the pink foam board blocks allow for 6 figures to be placed on the stairs.

I hope you like it.

[Edit] Oops... I forgot to say that the building is also removable from its base...

(click on image to enlarge)

Happy Birthday

2011-06-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

Image taken off the internets without permission

WOW! I made it to 2 years! I was out of town the actual day my blog hit "2", and I forgot to switch this post from draft to scheduled. Oh well... I can still post it retroactively on the correct day!!

The past two years has brought many RL challenges, and forced me to change my priorities on more than one occasion. But I really enjoy sharing my hobby and experiences. So I hope to be here in 2 more years!

Building an Imperial City

2011-06-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks, I have had a small set back with my meds, accomplished some heavy spring cleaning around the house, and went out of state for a family reunion. However, I still managed to get some hobby time in. About a month ago, Adeptus-B requested I provide some Imperial buildings for an upcoming encounter in Dark Heresy. So I set myself to task. Following is an in-progress set of photos of the first 6 buildings.

(click on image to enlarge)

I plan to make more buildings both intact and destroyed. Ultimately, I would like to densly cover an entire 4'x8' table with the "blocks" set on a 45°. This will require some triangle shaped "half-blocks" and I have an idea how to accomplish this.

In future posts, I will show staged WIP pics of the individual buildings. Some of the buildings will come appart at each floor and will have interior detail.

Poll Results

2011-06-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

Here are the results to the poll that I ran durring the month of May.

If you were to buy a new set of RPG dice, What would you most likely buy...

5% Individual Dice
5% In sets of 6
20% In sets of 7
5% In sets of 10
0 A large mixed lot
20% All one color
20% Sets of colors
5% Buy on-line
5% Buy at FLGS

Thank you to all who contributed!

7th Anniversary

2011-05-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

Seven years ago today I launched a website called Games of Zorcon. I set out with a plan to showcase my favorite games -- Primarily through developing and sharing resources, but also itemizing complete product lists.

The main categories of the site are:

d20 Directory: A [near] complete index of all D&D 3e/3.5 rules.
Battle Planner Images: A library of images for use with Battle Planner-- A tool to build and manage collectible armies and decks.
Accessory 411: A list of my favorite gaming accessory companies.
Magazine Index: A primer of indexing articles from game magazines.
Other Interests | Comics: A showcase of original artwork.
Gameography: A Gaming resource for my favorite games.
Bikini Karate Babes: Part of the Gameography section, I created over 100 virtual trading cards and computer backgrounds all based off the video game Bikini Karate Babes. I even started a fan website called The Elysian Crown.

While I haven't contributed to the site in quite a while, the site is still relevant and useful. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Bygone: Spell Book Record Sheet v2.3

2011-05-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

Another D&D 3.5 contribution. For the Wizards, I made a sheet to track all of their spell books and spells within. Each column is a separate book.

(click on image to enlarge)

There is not much to say about this one, and it has very low usage compared to the other sheets. But if you would like a PDF, click here.

Terrain Showcase

2011-05-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to maximize my terrain, both in versatility and storage. After some brain storming and sketches, I came up with the following.

A grouping of area terrain bases plus a few individual
dead tree terrain pieces. Rocky terrain in the background,
Swampland in the foreground.
(click on image to enlarge)

I started by making 4 large oblong shapes slightly larger than a group of CDs out of 1/8" MDF. Next I rounded all the outside edges along the smooth side. Then I glued small strips of balsa wood around a tracing of a CD to create a small CD sized divot. Next I used wall spackle to fill in all the areas between thee balsa wood and the edge of the MDF. Finally, I added a few pebbles, some sand, painted and flocked them.

Multiple dead tree terrain bases. In the foreground, an area
terrain base with the terrain pieces removed.
(click on image to enlarge)

For the next stage, I based specific terrain types on old CD's. For example, dead trees, swamp, rocky outcroppings, jungle trees, etc. I made 5-7 CD of each terrain type. The CD sized terrain is easier to store, plus they can be used individually or inserted into one of the large MDF terrain bases to represent area terrain.

To add more versatility, I also made one "dangerous" version for each terrain type. This allows me to signify mundane area terrain as having an additional effect either before the game, or randomly during the game. Here is a list of the "dangerous" terrain:

Dead Trees - A Haunted tree (seen in the second pic above)
Rocky Outcroppings - An abandoned sacrificial well
Swamp - A lurking submerged monster
Jungle Trees - A large Venus Human Trap plant

Poll: RPG Dice

2011-05-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

I just started a new poll. I would like to get a better idea of what people's RPG dice buying habits are. Do you buy them in sets, or individually? Do you buy all one color, or in multiple colors? Would you buy dice on-line or from your FLGS?

Cast your vote now!

Bygone: Spell/Power Record Sheet v2.3

2011-05-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Continuing with my series of Bygone posts, here is a sheet for D&D 3.5 casters. Any character that had spells or powers uses this sheet as the main character sheet has no accommodations at all for casters.

(click on image to enlarge)

There is only one side to this sheet. I fond a second side to be unnecessary. If you would like to download a printable PDF, hit the link here!

Repository

2011-05-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

I have began creating an on-line repository of all the gaming resources, publishers, and manufacturers I have come across over the last "few" years. These links are stored in various locations on my computer. As I was trying to find a link earlier today, it dawned on me that it would be a great addition to this site to combine and update my list of links.

At the top of the page you will see a new menu bar under the header. Currently, there is a page of links for Resources, Publishers, Manufacturers, and On-line Stores. I have tried to organize everything into useful categories-- In some cases the same link appears on more then one page and/or category.

I also took this time to begin to layout a formal gallery that I will begin to populate in the near future.

Bygone: Magic Item Cards v3

2011-04-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

My second D&D 3.5 campaign was set in the high magic world of Eberron. I wanted magic items to feel like a commodity, so I created these baseball card sized sheets and printed them on card stock. Except for consumables items like potions and scrolls, ALL magic items were represented by one of theses cards. My players really enjoyed the tangible items.

(click on image to enlarge)

For the consumable items, I used inexpensive plastic poker chips with colored dot stickers on each one. I wrote the name of the item on the stickers. Each player had a felt bag to keep their poker chips in (I also used glass beads to represent various key items), and 9-card plastic holders for their magic items. Ideally I would have also had something to represent coins, but at the time I never could come up with anything inexpensive.

Here is a link to a printable 18-up PDF file.

This was an overall success in our group. However, it did add more prep time, and caused a lull in the game when a random item was encountered.

Games of Zorcon

2011-04-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have uploaded a ton of dice to my ebay store. Actually, it's more like 10 pounds! Check out the links in the upper right.

Post #100

2011-04-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have had 100 things to say... well this one is blatant self indulgent!! I have had a lot of fun, and I hope to see you all at post #200.

To keep the theme... here is a shot of the figure cabinet in my game room.

(click on image to enlarge)

New Paint Bottles

2011-04-29T17:00:00.000-07:00


Looking in the bag of now empty bottles. (click on image to enlarge)

Over the last month I have been slowly converting my paint from pots/flip-tops to dropper bottles. About a year ago, I bought 30 empty Vallejo bottles. They cost me about 80¢ each, and at the time I decided that it was cost prohibitive to swap all my paints. Fast forward to about a month ago... I found these on eBay. I bought enough (including the 30 Vallejo bottles I already had) to switch from pots to droppers.

From L to R: eBay bottle and Vallejo bottle.
(click on image to enlarge)

I am organizing my colors into groups of four. This gives me the option to paint a dark or a light triad (depending on weather I choose the 3 darkest colors or the 3 lightest colors of a group, or to use all four colors for a more detailed model. In some cases, I already had all four colors to make a group. In other cases, I either mixed a color to bridge a large shade gap between 2 colors, or I simply added white to make a new light color.

There were no issues pouring paints directly out of the pot and into the dropper bottle. However, the inks and washes were very problematic. It was so difficult not to get more on the table than in the bottle, I attached a small bit of tubing to the end of a large syringe. It worked perfectly with all of the inks, but was a total mess with the more viscous paints.

Using a syringe and small bit of tube made filling the bottles
with ink very easy.

I'm almost done-- I still have about 20+ bottles to finish. I took some "in progress" pics, and will show those as well as a "completed" pic in a later post.

Admittedly, this was a very tedious task to complete. Another factor is cost-- I spent about $45 on empty bottles. However, I think it was worth it.

Bygone: Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Character Sheet v2.3

2011-04-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

Since uploading my Dark Heresy and Deathwatch Character sheets, I decided to upload the character sheet I made for D&D 3.5. However, while digging up the file I suddenly realized I had developed quite a bit of gaming aids for our D&D campaigns. So I am starting a new series of posts called "Bygone" focusing on projects prior to starting this blog.

To start it off, here is the Player Character Record Sheet. In future posts you will see record sheets for spell casters, NPC's, combat reference, and spell books, in addition to Magic Item Card, Maps, and Illustrations.

Unlike the WH40KRPG Character Sheets I created, the D&D Character Sheets are business only-- No pretty borders here!

(click on image to enlarge)

If you like them, here is a link to download a print quality PDF file. Let me know what you think!

Dark Heresy Character Sheet v3

2011-04-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

After creating the Deathwatch character sheet (found here), I found some areas to improve the Dark Heresy Character Sheet (including some errors).

To hilight the changes...On the front I added 2 "pips" under Characteristics for the Ascension advances. Also under Characteristics, I added a small box to denote unnatural traits. I added space under the skill Secret Tongues as is is a skill group. I included Exotic Weapons Training (WT) under Talents and Packages. While on the back I added more space to the Influence section. Overall I tried to add a line or two to each section.

(click on image to enlarge)

Here is a link to download a print quality PDF. It is set up with crop marks to print on an 11" x 17" (tabloid) sheet of paper. After trimming, there will be no white boarder. However, there should be no issues printing this file to a standard 8.5" x 11" paper size.

Deathwatch Character Sheet

2011-04-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here is my first crack at a Deathwatch Character sheet. This has gone through very little playtesting, so I'm sure there will be some revisions in the future.

I really debated weather or not to list out the Space Marine Implants and Power Armor Abilities. In the end, I believe that including a check box and adding blank spaces at the bottom was the best decision.

The Squad/Solo-mode Worksheet is still in progress.

(click on image to enlarge)

Feel free to use these sheets in your campaign. You can download a print quality PDF of the character sheet here. It is set up with crop marks to print on an 11" x 17" (tabloid) sheet of paper. After trimming, there will be no white boarder. However, there should be no issues printing this file to a standard 8.5" x 11" paper size.

Games of Zorcon

2011-04-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

I had an unfortunate setback with my medicine that sidelined me for almost a month. I am much better now, and have been productive for about a week now.

While I didn't get any painting or modeling done, I did manage to complete a few projects. The biggest one was to re-launch my eBay store. I shut down the store almost 2 years ago (with a fair amount of inventory left over) due to health reasons. I have listed 10 items so far, and already had some buyers! Currently, I will only sell off inventory and select items from my personal collection-- I may re-open an account with my distributor in the future. You can see that I have also added a gadget to the right that shows the most recent listing.

The other project I started was to convert all my paint pots to dropper bottles. About a year ago I found a source to buy empty Vallejo bottles, but I recently found this source. These bottles are a much better price. I am about half way done, but will discuss the whole process in a later post.

Another project (or projects) I completed was a new Deathwatch character sheet and a v3 Dark Heresy character sheet. I will also discuss these more in depth in a later post.

Future projects include a number of buildings and NPCs for Dark Heresy/40K.

Lastly, I had a few posts in the works before my illness, and I will finish those up in the next few days.

Dark Heresy Scout Vehicle Complete

2011-03-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished scout vehicle. Check out the previous post about this project here. My 7 year old son got a hold of this just before I took the picture and dropped it-- breaking thee antenna. So I guess it's technically not finished! Actually, I am thinking about adding some weathering and road grime at some point in the near future... we'll see!

(click on image to enlarge)

About 30 minutes before our last Dark Heresy session began, I decided to quickly paint up some stowage. They are not glued on, they are just sitting on the rack.

A GW ammo crate and dual fuel tanks plus a Tamiya 1/35 scale
Military Miniatures tent.
(click on image to enlarge)

As a finishing touch, I stretched my free-hand skills by adding an aquilla to the spare tire cover. It's a little crude, but it gets the point across.

My Dark Heresy Cadre of Acolytes mk 2

2011-03-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the group as it was originally formed. We have since lost 2 players due to scheduling conflicts. We will probably reach rank 5 in 2 session.

Denathor (Adept) - WH40K IG Master of Ordinance by Zorcon
Venris (Cleric) - Converted Necromunda Redemptionist Leader by Zorcon
Kaarl (Tech-Priest) - Custom figure by Adeptus-B
Quintillia (Assassin) - Warmachine Captain Kara Sloan by Harold Mackinnon
Nickodemous (Imperial Psyker) - Converted Dark Age Bane Leader by Zorcon
Skull Servitor - Skull Servitor by Zorcon

Next upgrades: I have a Techpriest Enginseer ready to paint for the mk 2 Tech-Priest, but the player has yet to take a servo-arm advancement!! Harold is already looking for a mk 3 assassin.

Dark Heresy Character Showcase - Cleric

2011-03-12T22:50:00.000-08:00

I finished converting and painting our Dark Heresy cleric. Check out the WiP post here.

The cloak is a base of GW Iyaden Darksun Foundation. Then a layer of GW Bleached Bone covering almost the entire area, leaving only the deepest recesses. Finally I highlighted with GW Skull White. The vestments are a base of GW Hormagaunt Purple Foundation with a layer of GW Leviathan Purple Wash. I then added another layer of Hormagaunt Purple, followed by Reaper Elderberry, and finally a 60/40 mix of Elderberry and Skull White.

(click on image to enlarge)

Well... I'm not sure what else to say about this figure. I think it turned out great! Actually in hind sight, I would have added grenades or a melta bomb instead of the scrolls (as the player has an affinity for things that go BOOM!).

I wanted to base the figure on a marble (or granite as it turned out) floor with gold detail. I used 4 classic chaos shields. After the glue set, I trimmed and filed the shields around the edge of the base. I then filled the holes with putty.

(click on image to enlarge)

I painted the marble (err... granite) with random short strokes of reds, browns and oranges, with alternating layers of thinned Delvian Mud ink..

(click on image to enlarge)

I also have the mk 2 psyker and adept finished and will add an entry about them in a later post.

Mutants in a Frontier World Village

2011-03-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

In our Dark Heresy campaign, we recently investigated a small village just outside incorporated land on a distant frontier world. We knew through inquiries, that something afoul had occurred in this place. We also suspected that a (now dead) Rogue Trader, that we have been retracing his steps, had visited this place.

The picture above was taken with my phone as my wife had the camera (sorry for the poor quality). I circled where the PC's are located plus there are a number of "mutants" afoot. Following is a retelling of the session...

We made it to our destination (the abandoned village, Crimwell) after 3 overnight stops at small towns. We split room, food and fuel costs (all 5 of us stayed in a single room each night to save money). Very little was discovered until we arrived at the last town. Mostly it was back story, but we did learn a bit of info on the local sheriff and a rich land owner (this will come into play next session).

There was a canal with a neglected dirt bridge that looked very unsafe about a half mile from Crimwell. So we decided to have Quin and Kaarl guard the vehicle, while the rest of us hoofed it to the village. We kept comms open. As we approached Crimwell, we hid in the tree line and sent the servo-skull to scout things out.

After the all-clear, Nic threw on his cameoline cloak, activated his chameleon power and headed out after the servo-skull. He found a "fresh" horse head on a spike at the center of the village. Denathor and Venris came over to check it out.

We scoured the village, and came across a room above the saloon-- it appeared to be a room for rent. On a desk, we found notes that appeared to be an attempt to translate Cowlee (the language the Vermillion Codex is written). Nic stashed the papers in the false bottom of his backpack, and Venris torched the building with his "holy" flamethrower. We heard bestial noises nearby in the woods.

Nic went out after it, with the servo skull leading the way. The servo skull found it first and got whacked-- hard! Nic came upon a humanoid creature smashing the damaged servo skull on the ground. Nic quickly dispatched the creature and ran back to the village with servo skull in hand.

Reinforcements were called in. Kaarl managed to get the truck safely over the canal, and by the time Kaarl and Quin arrived on the scene, more sounds were heard from the woods. Before we could prepare for an assault, we saw 5 humanoid creatures emerge from the woods.

Venris torched two... as well as another building. Nic took out a couple too. One managed to charge Nic and Denathor. Fortunately, Denathor managed to act as a speed bump and allowed Nic to pump 5 shots of dum-dum bullets from his Hecuter pistol.

Nic and Venris advanced towards sounds in the SE side of town. The last creature charged Nic, but the attack was parried. Nic tried to finish the thing off, but found it slow going with being limited to single shots. A shot rang out from the tree line behind us, hitting the creature. Venris advanced and took a shot, missing his target but hitting Nic.

Quin tried to find the shooter in the woods, but before she could find a target, the shotter dropped the last creature. It turns out the shooter was the sheriff, whom we drove past on the way to Crimwell. We exchanged pleasantries after cautiously approaching each other. He is in cahoots with the rich land owner, but we are unsure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

We ended the session by taking some boards from a building, bolstered the bridge to make it safe to cross, and followed the sheriff to meet the land owner.

Flames of War - First battle

2011-03-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

(click on image to enlarge)

After a few scheduling hic-ups, Laertes and I finally had our Flames of War battle. This was simply a "training battle". We wanted to get the rules down, and didn't put much effort into strategy or tactics (well, at least I didn't!).

Fortress Europe was the book we pulled our forces from, and I detailed our army lists in this post. We played on a 4'x4' board with some hills to break LoS. We chose to play the Free-For-All mission.

Here are a couple of thoughts on the battle:

The US stabilizers were nice, but with the German Veteran troops, I needed 5's to hit (6's at long range).
Even with the extra firepower the US forces had, the German armor was tough to crack.
We completely ignored the objectives and slugged it out in the middle of the board.

We made a some mistakes throughout the game. Here is a summary:

Morale Checks. If I shoot at your team of 3 tanks, and I destroy 1 and make 1 crew bail out, there's no morale check, because the team is not below half strength. The number of tanks that can fight (one) equals the number of tanks that are destroyed (one). The tank whose crew has bailed out does not count in the calculation. If another tank was bailed out then a check would be required.
Protected Ammo. The protected ammo on the Panzer IV's would have meant that they should have re-rolled every failed roll to re-mount the tank.
Allocating Hits. Once the hits have been allocated across the unit, THEN we start rolling saves and firepower rolls to destroy or bail out. But we're rolling for a specific team or tank. If a tank that is bailed out gets another bailed out result, it has to take a Motivation test or be destroyed.
Company Command. We probably should have had our company command "join" one of the other platoons. They're like independent characters in Warhammer, although if you have the company commander in your unit you are then able to re-roll any failed Motivation test. So not only would we have had 5 tanks firing as one unit, but we would have been able to re-roll the unit tests and the bail out tests.
Objectives. We only placed one objective (not 2) and we placed them in our own deployment zone (not the opponents)

It was fun, and we are planning to try another match, this time with more effort in defense!!

Dark Heresy Scout Vehicle WiP

2011-03-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Almost ready to paint
(click on image to enlarge)

This is a scout vehicle for our intrepid throne agents. Our Dark Heresy group was sent to a frontier world equipped with a means to easily get around. I expect we will have 3-4 more sessions on this world.

It was originally going to be one of my Arbites counts-as Rhinos.
(click on image to enlarge)

This is a toy Iron Man car I found at a Dollar Tree store (the green one is a Hulk car).

I didn't like the back end, so I decided to remove it. I used a Dremel tool with a cutting disk.

Cutting off the back end.
(click on image to enlarge)

I Decided to remove more. The original back end had a taper that I wanted to get rid of.

Removed the taper.
(click on image to enlarge)

I used plasticard and spackling paste to fill in the hole I created. I didn't want a "pick-up" style bed, but more of like a "roof-rack".

Rear shot of the almost complete model.
(click on image to enlarge)

Resin Bases Review Redux

2011-03-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

BioTech Bases-- There are 12 sculpts in the range.
(click on image to enlarge)

These are 25mm BioTech Bases from Micro Art Studio's vast range of bases and figures. I picked them up in late January along with some Iron Brotherhood miniatures. I only picked up the 10 bases and 8 figures-- not enough to make a squad in 40K or a gang in Necromunda. These will be used as future NPC encounters in our Dark Heresy campaign.

Micro Art Studio is a boutique company in Poland. They have a nice looking website, but I found it a little difficult to navigate at first. Once I got my order processed, shipping took 23 day-- more that I expected, but in hind site, it was acceptable.

The bases themselves are great! The bottoms are sanded flat, and there is no flashing. I have not found air bubbles anywhere-- a top notch product all around!! I highly recommend you check out what these guys offer!

I tend to prefer a more flat texture/detail to my bases, but I love the look of these bases. I will be using these bases with the Iron Brotherhood figures. So with 2 extra bases, I should be able to match figure to base without too much hassle.

Communications Console WiP

2011-03-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

Here is something I started working on, it is a communications console. I will use it as an objective marker in WH40K and in our Dark Heresy campaign. Its a pretty simple assembly project.

A communications console.
(click on image to enlarge)

The main piece (the purple and silver part) is a stripped down body of a Transformers Constructicon (mixmaster, I think) that I had when I was a kid.

The top section is most of the Imperial Guard vox-caster from the Apocalypse Command sprue (the antenna has been cut off).

The "feet" are cut down Space Marine teleport homers. I used the top part of the homer as sirens for my Adeptus Arbites (counts-as) Rhinos.

The control panel is a piece I bought from a 3D print on demand store that I discussed here.

On the back is the antenna I removed from the IG vox-caster and a bit that came with the Imperial Bastion kit.

Dark Heresy Character Sheets revised

2011-03-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

Back in this post here, I shared a WH40K role play character sheet that I created. It was meant to be compatible with "all" WH40KRP games-- only Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader at the time. But now that Ascension and Deathwatch is out, and the announcement of Black Crusade, I decided to perform a minor face lift.

While compatible, the core WH40K role play games are not suited to a common character sheet. So I decided to make a sheet for each game. I have completed the Dark Heresy sheet, and have started working on one for Deathwatch.

(click on image to enlarge)

The above images are not suitable for printing. You can download a print quality PDF of the character sheet here.

Dark Heresy Character WiP - Cleric

2011-03-01T14:27:00.000-08:00

Venris, the cleric-- ready to paint.
(click on image to enlarge)

Ive been working on the mk II figure for the cleric in our Dark Heresy campaign. I am still a bit "green" when it comes to sculpting, but I am very pleased how this project turned out (even though it was not very complex).

I started off with an old school Necromunda Redemptionist gang leader. This was a simple head and weapon swap. I managed to get the original head off in usable condition for a future conversion. I replaced it with a Dark Angels hooded Space Marine Head. The stock of the melta gun was too integrated into the figure for me to remove, so I decided to cut the gun in two, just in front of the trigger. I then cut a flamer in a similar fashion and pined and glued the two parts together.

The original figure.
A Necromunda Redemptionist Leader.

Then I added a small brass etched Inquisition symbol from Forge World on his chest, and another one on the back of the book.

Lastly, I sculpted a simple chain necklace attached to the Inquisitorial medallion (see first pic, above).


A little green stuff to fix the missing vestments/collar and to better merge the flammer with the back half of the melta gun. (click on image to enlarge)

Overall, this project exceeded my expectations. The figure looks completely different and is more appropriate to represent the cleric.

I welcome questions, comments and/or critiques.

Flames of War

2011-03-01T00:53:00.000-08:00

Two Panzer IV G tanks take on 3 confused M4 Sherman tanks

Laertes picked up Flames of War last week, and we are planning to play an introductory battle on Friday. He will be taking control of a German force and I will be fumbling my way through with a US force.

We both like big armored machines with guns, so we are opting to play tank companies. Which also works because we don't have any miniatures for Flames of War! Fortunately, I have a small collection of Axis & Allies miniatures, so they will be substituting in for the "real" models. While the A&A figures are less detailed and less historically accurate, they are apparently the same scale as FoW miniatures.

The army lists have been chosen (limited to figures on hand)-- Laertes will have 8 Panzer IV H tanks and I will be sporting 11 M4A1 Sherman tanks. The total points will ring in at 760.

German Panzerkompanie List
1 Company HQ, 190 pts
   2 Panzer IV H

1 Panzer Platoon, 285 pts
   3 Panzer IV H

1 Panzer Platoon, 285 pts
   3 Panzer IV H

US Tank Company List
1 Company HQ, 140 pts
   2 M4A1 Sherman

1 Tank Platoon, 205 pts
   3 M4A1 Sherman

1 Tank Platoon, 205 pts
   3 M4A1 Sherman

1 Tank Platoon, 205 pts
   3 M4A1 Sherman

Wish me luck... I'll need it!

Need Help Looking for a Bit

2011-02-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

I need help locating this bit. I have been searching eBay and the bits stores, but have had no luck at all. I believe this is a spotlight from the vehicle upgrade sprue one version prior to the current one.

Space Marine/Imperial Guard Spotlight/Searchlight
(click on image to enlarge)

I am willing to trade or buy (I only need 1). Can anyone out there help me?

List Building: Imperial Guard

2011-02-15T17:19:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to make a rag-tag, or eclectic looking IG army. I was never sure quite how to do it (or when I would so), but I have been collecting the models for 15+ years. As evidence, here are a few pics...

The root of the inspiration is the last ditch effort to defend an outpost or some other important location. I envision the force to be comprised of the local enforcers/arbites, remnants of planetary reserves, desperados, prisoners, conscripts, special forces, kill teams, and elements of the local administratum. Because of our Dark Heresy campaign, I only recently thought about including an inquisitor and/or rogue trader-- either a counts-as company command squad, or an additional inquisitor ally squad.

This is not meant to be any sort of competitive tournament list, just a casual fun list. Except for the 2 chimeras, I have everything listed. The Arvus Lighter is a scratch build project, primarily for use in Dark Heresy.

3000 Pts - Imperial Guard Roster

HQ: Company Command Squad (11#, 375 pts)
Rogue Trader or Inquisitor?

4 Company Command Squad (Carapace Armour; Krak Grenades; Medi-pack; Regimental Standard; Vox Caster; Plasmagun x1)
1 Company Commander (Melta Bombs, Power Fist; Plasma Pistol)
1 Astropath
2 Bodyguard
1 Master of Ordnance
1 Officer of the Fleet
1 Chimera (Turret Heavy Bolter; Dozer Blade; Hunter Killer Missile; Pintle Storm Bolter)

: Ministorum Priest (1#, 60 pts)

1 Ministorum Priest (Eviscerator)

: Techpriest Enginseer (2#, 95 pts)

1 Techpriest Enginsee
1 Servitor Unit (Plasma Cannon x1)

Elite: Kasrkin Squad (11#, 260 pts)
Special Forces?

9 Storm Trooper Squad (Flamer x1; Grenade Launcher x1)
1 Storm Trooper Sergeant (Power Weapon)
1 Chimera (Turret Heavy Bolter; Dozer Blade; Pintle Storm Bolter)

Troops: Infantry Platoon (54#, 492 pts)
Planetary Reserves/Garrison

2 Platoon Command Squad (Vox Caster; Flamer x1)
1 Heavy Weapons Team (Missile Launcher)
1 Platoon Commander (Power Weapon; Plasma Pistol)

7 Infantry Squad (Vox Caster; Meltagun x1)
1 Heavy Weapons Team (Heavy Bolter)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol)
7 Infantry Squad (Vox Caster; Flamer x1)
1 Heavy Weapons Team (Lascannon)
1 Sergean

3 Heavy Weapons Squad
3 Heavy Weapons Squad
3 Heavy Weapons Squad
20 Conscripts Squad

Troops: Cadian Squad (10#, 135 pts)

9 Veteran Squad (Demolition Charge; Melta Bombs; Vox Caster; Meltagun x3)
1 Veteran Sergeant (Melta Bombs)

Troops: Gaunt's Ghost Squad (10#, 142 pts)

9 Veteran Squad (Camo Cloak; Snare Mines; Vox Caster; Plasmagun x1; Sniper Rifle x2)
1 Veteran Sergeant (Camo Cloak; Snare Mines; Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon)

Troops: Penal Legion Squad (10#, 80 pts)

9 Penal Legion Squad
1 Penal Custodian

Troops: Adeptus Arbites Squad [WH] (7#, 152 pts)
Local Law Enforcement

5 Adeptus Arbites Squad [WH] (Flamer x1)
1 Veteran Arbite [WH] (Auspex)
1 Rhino [WH] (Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Searchlight)

Troops: Adeptus Arbites Squad [WH] (7#, 165 pts)
Local Law Enforcement

5 Adeptus Arbites Squad [WH] (Grenade Launcher x1)
1 Veteran Arbite [WH] (Brazier of Holy Fire x1; Auspex)
1 Rhino [WH] (Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Searchlight)

Fast Attack: Armoured Sentinel Squadron (3#, 255 pts)

1 Armoured Sentinel (Lascannon)
1 Armoured Sentinel (Lascannon)
1 Armoured Sentinel (Lascannon)

Fast Attack: Rough Rider Squad (5#, 90 pts)
Desperados

4 Rough Rider Squad (Meltagun x2)
1 Rough Rider Sergeant (Melta Bombs; Plasma Pistol)

Heavy Support: Leman Russ Squadron (3#, 570 pts)

1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2; Dozer Blade; Pintle Storm Bolter)
1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2; Dozer Blade; Pintle Storm Bolter)
1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2; Dozer Blade; Pintle Storm Bolter)

Heavy Support: Arvus Lighter (IA) (1#, 105 pts)

1 Arvus Lighter (IA) (Armoured Cockpit; Flare / Chaff Launcher)

Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com

Arbites (counts-as) Rhino WiP (part 2)

2011-02-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

(click on image to enlarge)

I got a little bit of time in on my Adeptus Arbites (counts-as) Rhinos. I added the remaining bitz to the prototype, and was able to complete the the other 2 vehicles as well. It was surprising how much time I spent planning and experimenting during this project. This isn't the first time I used poster tack to temporarily hold parts/models together, but it is to the extent used here.

I decided to trim down the smoke launcher tubes--
a little more than half
(click on image to enlarge)

Side-by-side comparison to a mk1 Rhino
(click on image to enlarge)

Hopefully I'll have all three painted up later this week.

To see the development of this project check out:
Arbites (counts-as) Rhino WiP
Adeptus Arbites

[3-D] Print on Demand

2011-02-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

I first heard about this little company, shapeways.com from the Daily Illuminator over at Steve Jackson Games. As Paul Chapman said, the dice are very inciting.

After looking through their site for a couple of hours, I decided to order a few of things-- 3 dice and a sci-fi wall detail.

Pinwheel Die 10 (item on shapeways.com)
(click on image to enlarge)

These dice are amassing!! I ordered the White Strong & Flexible material. They can easily be inked and/or painted. However they are a little light in the hand for my taste for game use. If I were to decide to use the pinwheel dice in a game, I would prefer to get another set in metal-- Yes! You can have these babies printed up in stainless steel, antique bronze, or other metals. Some items can be printed in glass!!

Tocrax Ten-Sided Die (item on shapeways.com)
(click on image to enlarge)

This is another design marvel. However, as a die it is a little too out there for my taste... it will have to settle for residing on my "interesting dice" shelf.

Wall Computer
(click on image to enlarge)

The last item I ordered is a computer console/wall section. It was only available in the transparent detail material. Unfortunately, I can also no longer find it on their site. I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but the original image showed the piece on top of what appeared to be a GW wall section.

Resin Bases Review

2011-01-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

I recently received 2 shipments of resin bases that I had purchased to add to my existing Necromunda gangs. I wound up shopping at 2 different companies to get the styles of bases I was looking for-- Tech-Deck from The Dragon Forge (for my Goliaths) and Scrap Yard from resinfx (for my Scaavys). I have never used resin bases before, but about a year ago I purchased some Swamp resin bases from Kerr & King for a Warmachine Cryx force that Laertes bought for me.

Both The Dragon Forge and resinfx shipped their products quickly-- they arrived in about 11 business days. When I opened the packages, I was pleasantly surprised as both companies sent extra bases (a 60mm base from The Dragon Forge, and five 25mm bases from resinfx).

The Dragon Forge bases were crisp and free of bubbles. The bottom of the bases had not been sanded, but it was unnecessary as they are smooth and flat. There was a little bit of very thin "flashing" that easily flaked off with my finger. Overall, these are an excellent product!

A sampling of the 25mm and 40mm bases from The Dragon Forge

(click on image to enlarge)

The 60mm "freebie"

(click on image to enlarge)

The resinfx bases need a little bit of clean up. While the bottoms were sanded flat, the base edge has some "over cast" along the ring that will need to be sanded and/or scraped off. I noticed a few bubbles, but they were very minor. I am very pleased with these bases.

A sampling of the 25mm and 40mm bases from resinfx

(click on image to enlarge)

The 25mm "freebies"

(click on image to enlarge)

Of the three products, the Kerr & King bases are the least impressive. The bottoms are not flat, and will need sanding, and there are multiple bubbles on almost every base (although fairly easy to fix). Also, there is a fair amount of "over cast" on a number of bases. I want to be clear that I do not think these are an inferior product-- they are perfect for my Cryx warband, but in comparison to the other two companies' products, these bases fall just a little short.

A sampling of the 30mm, 40mm, and 50mm bases from Kerr & King

(click on image to enlarge)

Kerr & King also have a selection of large and small wreck markers for all (most?) Warmachine factions.

Blood Bowl Legendary Edition (Part 2)

2011-01-23T15:23:00.000-08:00

Screen-Cap of team after adding a lineman.

(click on image to enlarge)

OK, I started playing a campaign and I'm 7 games in (part way through the second tier/period). Here is my team as it was initially built.

Greenskin Packers (Starting Line-up)
1x Troll
4x Black Orcs
4x Blitzers
1x Thrower
2x Goblin
1x Re-roll

I wanted to ground and pound with the Orcs, but sheesh, I cant get a break and play vs. any soft teams!! While you could say the Dwarves are the "weakest" team I've played against in regards to strength (# of STR 4 & 5 players), the team I played vs. had a Death Roller (STR 7)!!

Throughout Period 1 (including playoffs) I received between 200-300k in pre-match inducements as I had the lower team value. Once I hit the second period, I am much closer in team value to my opponents.

Period 1:
Win vs. Dwarf 2-0
Win vs. Ogre 2-1
Win vs. Undead 1-1

Period 1 Playoffs:
Win vs. Dwarf 2-0
Win vs. Ogre 1-0 (sustained 1 serious injury)

Period 2:
Win vs. Undead 2-0 (sustained 1 death and 1 injury)
Win vs. Khemri 1-0 (sustained 1 injury)

The last game I played was unbelievable! I received the kick-off, and started trudging slowly up field in my typical wedge along the sideline. The Khemri coach managed to squeeze someone through, after a blitz from a Blitz-ra Star Player. On my next turn, I had to move the ball carrier out of a tackle zone and failed the dodge roll. The fans threw the ball into the middle of the pitch, but I did manage to scramble and we exchanged possession twice with no movement on the pitch throughout 5-6 turns. I finally broke away on the 8th turn and fell one square short of a TD, pushed it once, and failed. First half ended 0-0.

In the next half, I kicked off deep, almost landing in his end-zone, and rushed up field. I managed to create a big jumbled up mess he couldn't get around or through. I was able to knock over the ball carrier on the 15th turn, scooped up the ball, and was just able to run it in for a TD on turn 16!! That was a close one!

So far, there have been 4 pitch invasions (out of about 16 kickoffs)... those SUCK!!! However, I think my opponents have taken the brunt of the results.

I really wish you could export/save/keep game stats, even if it was only a w/l record vs. what races. It keeps a good set of player stats by season and by career, but I'd like to be able to reference a team's past games.

While I've kept up with the Blood Bowl Living Rules Editions over the years, there are some teams that I never played or played against. I typically need to see teams (or fleets, gangs, or squads) "in action" to really understand what their capabilities are... uhm... my first enfcounter with Kemri... 4x STR 5 Tomb Mummies!! (while this is not as good as 6x STR 5 Ogres, the Ogre teams have snotlings!! :P ...which actually aren't that bad any more-- 3 snotlings taking down an orc blitzer is a little humiliating)

Kemri have reinforced my opinion from all the way back to second edition Blood Bowl-- I still hate with a passion, playing against Undead!!! Plus, I think Kemri are worse!! I've never played with/vs. a Vampire or Necromantic team, so I'm not sure how I feel about the later two undead teams.

Oh... BTW, the team that is missing in the video game is the Chaos Dwarves. (Laertes main team in the board game)

Blood Bowl Legendary Edition (Part 1)

2011-01-22T13:03:00.000-08:00

The latest edition of the Blood Bowl video game is a MUST BUY for any fan of the game. I had been watching the progress of the game on their website very early on in development, and was extremely excited to get the game. However, I was disappointed in only 9 playable races in the initial release. I decided to bide my time until an expansion came out to include all (or most) of the races found in the board game.

So far, I have only played a couple of games in the "classic" mode (turn-based), but it is amazing how well they captured the feel of playing the board game. There are 20 playable races, lots of customization, dirty tricks/weapons, and all the pre/post game campaign rules.

The "classic" mode was enough to sell me, but there is also a "blitz" mode (real-time) that I haven't even looked at. I bought Laertes a copy for Xmas, so we will be testing out the online "blitz" mode in the near future.

Arbites (counts-as) Rhino WiP

2011-01-21T18:08:00.000-08:00

I mentioned the Arbites (counts-as) Rhino in my last post: Back on the Bench. But since taking the picture, I received the eBay bitz I was waiting for.

Using some Poster Putty (actually any brand tacky putty works), I added the remaining bitz. However, I'm not happy with the placement of the smoke launchers, and I'm not sure what to do.

(click to enlarge image)

I'm also not sure about the door handles. I may draw/paint them on instead of adding a bit (what you see in the pic is a handle from a Land Speeder Storm). If I can fit it on, I will add an Aquillia hood ornament too.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Back on the Bench

2011-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Well, 2010 was quite a year! Know one had any idea how long my recovery would take-- but I wont rehash everything here (I'll have links to the posts discussing it at the bottom of this post). I've got a lot to share, so I expect this is going to be a monster post.

The only gaming I have gotten in over the last year is a handful of sessions of Dark Heresy (run by Adeptus-B). I am playing a Psyker and our group is a few hundred XP into our 4th rank. There are 5 players left after 2 had previously dropped out of the campaign. We play about once a month. Here are a few highlighted encounters.

On a forge world, an abandoned platform about a mile off shore.
We land in an Aquillia Lander to assault the heretics.

(click on image to enlarge)

On a feral world, we set up an ambush in order to capture the
leader of a small group of poachers. I started a detailed
description of the encounter in this post: Ambush!
(click on image to enlarge)

On a frontier world, we approach a disabled wagon on the side
of the road -- as expected, it was an ambush!
(click on image to enlarge)

On the modeling front, I started about 1-2 weeks ago putting in some quantifiable time on the work bench. Nothing really to completion yet... its all WiP. Even more than ever, I have a very short attention span-- I'll paint a mini for a few minutes, then grab a different mini to pin on a arm and hand, then dig through a bitz boxes looking for the right piece for something else, then I'll go back to the original mini and add a little more paint. (all this in between repairing my son's toys and organizing the garage!! :) )

The first images are for a squad of Rough Riders. These were in my "to do" pile for a few years, but Adeptus-B recently asked if I had any cowboys on horses for a future encounter-- this was the best I could come up with. Although, I decided to equip them as a unit of Rough Riders rather than random cowboys... which makes them a little less fitting as cowboys. The reason for that decision is that I would love to complete an IG army representing a small out-world "last stand" planetary defense (ie hodge-podge army).

Rogue Trader era Rough Riders as given to me by Laertes.
(click on image to enlarge)

After some minor conversion work (arm and weapon swaps),
and adding 2 Rogue Trader era IG jet bike riders to horses.
(click on image to enlarge)

In a previous post, I have mentioned my small Adeptus Arbites force here: Adeptus Arbites. I managed to mostly complete one of the counts-as rhinos. Again, this was a request from Adeptus-B for use in Dark Heresy. I still plan on adding badging, some recently acquired eBay bitz, and possibly adjusting the placement of the brush guard.

A Dollar Tree toy with some bitz and paint.
(click on image to enlarge)

I have worked on some minis specifically for our Dark Heresy campaign as well-- Version 2.0 for our adept and my character, and a servo-skull. Nothing of note on the servo-skull, but on the two player character minis, this will be the first time I have temporarily mounted the models on something to make handling easier. I will also be attempting Ron's (from FTW) technique of painting "inside out".

This one is essentially done-- just need to spray with matte clear
cote and then gloss the metal bitz.
(click on image to enlarge)

Our group's psyker mk II (a Dark Age Forsaken Leader) and
adept mk II (a Games Workshop Master of Ordinance)
(click image to enlarge)

Well, I think that covers most of it. I did score some OOP Space Fleet minis on ebay to add to my Battlefleet Gothic fleets, but I'll cover that in a later post.

If you want to read more about what Ive gone through, Ive mentioned it in these posts: Going on Hiatus, Back on my Feet... Sort of, Recovery Round 3, and Still Here!

Ménage à Trois

2010-10-03T23:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick post with a pic of some of the stuff Adeptus-B has created for our Dark Heresy campaign (the terrain will perform double duty in Necromunda battles).

Center-front is our beloved boss, Inquisitor Montag. Flanking left and right are yet-to-be-encountered NPCs. The lighting effect applied to the psyker/sorcerer is fantastic!! The near background is a small utility vehicle, and the building they are all standing on, as well as the building in the far background are true to the style of Necromunda.

Imperial Time

2010-09-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

I was at my local watch/jewelry repairman the other day to have a bracelet fixed. While I was waiting, I spotted pieces to a watch face and mechanism on his work bench. I noticed the "pip" for the 12-spot was missing and asked the craftsman if that was a work in progress, or was something destined for his "bitz box". As you can see above, I came home with the watch face and added a few Forge World brass-etched adornments.

I plan to use this as a clock on the exterior of some yet-to-be-built administratum building.

Pulp Figures Order

2010-09-15T23:13:00.000-07:00

I recently placed an order with Pulp Figures and the package arrived the other day. We needed some NPC's for our Dark Heresy campaign, so I picked up a pack of Gasmask Cultists Troops 1 and Weird Villains 1.

This was my first order from the company and I was quite pleased with the items received. I was really surprised that one figure in each pack came with 2 hand/gun options. Very light mold lines/flashing are present on only a few pieces. The metal is hard and does not bend easily (I consider that a plus, but for any conversion work it would be undesirable).

I wasn't too concerned with the figures looking smallwith the larger heroic-scale minis commonly produced today -- 1) Much of my collection pre-dates 3rd edition WH40K and 2) its OK (IMO) that NPC's are smaller/less-dramatic than our PC's. Well, it turns out the Pulp Figures line are right to scale in height next to other figures I had on hand. However, the head and hands are more realistically scaled than most GW/Citadel figures, and that is what is more apparent to me in a side-by-side comparison.

Pictured lect to right:

1. Gasmask Cultists 1, Pulp Figures
2. Imperial Catachan, Citadel Miniatures
3. Rogue Trader era Pirate, Citadel Miniatures
4. Necromunda Redemptionist Leader, Citadel Miniatures
5. Necromunda Orlock Juve, Citadel Miniatures
6. The Crimson Scorpion, Pulp Figures

Ambush!

2010-07-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

Our group waiting to ambush the enemy!

My gaming group gets together 1-2 times a month to play Dark Heresy. During our last session, we only had time for a short encounter and some minor bookkeeping and narrative. Here is an overhead shot.

We (most of us) decided to help out a bounty hunter capture a wanted man. This is our group (minus 2) setting up an ambush for said marauder leader and his crew. We just stole their truck (in the foreground), drove it a few blocks away, and waited for them. The bounty hunter stayed back to follow them along an alley. We timed this attack to coincide with a raid (A bunch of angry natives of this planet were trying to rescue a sacred beast on the other side of town).

[picture placeholder]

I must say that this attack was executed to near perfection. Quintillia waited for the leader to enter the killzone and just as she was about to fire, the leader spotted our ambush (hence "near perfect"). Our bounty shot first and hit!! Fortunately, the building absorbed enough of the blast that Quin still got her shot off -- a solid hit. The rest of the marauders scattered to the side streets - one of them within 3 meters of me!! Point blank full-auto burst from my autopistol sent the marauder flying back 9 meters in a red mist (best shot of the night IMO!!). The marauders started to break at this point, and Karrl and the bounty hunter took out a second grunt.

[picture placeholder]

On the fourth round, Karrl, Quin and the bounty hunter ganged up on the leader and subdued him. The bounty hunter took the prisoner to the enforcer's station, while we looted (and later sold) everything else. We did our best to make this attack look like it was part of the violence from the planet's natives.

Still Here!

2010-07-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

I'm still around, but lately not very active in the modeling/gaming hobby. About a month ago I started getting double vision. My docs are still working to find the cause and hopefully it is not the tumor returning.

I have a building project that I have been trying to finish up for a Dark Heresy encounter run by Adeptus-B, but i get fatigued quickly and sometimes get headaches too. Needles to say it is not done yet.

In the mean time, Adeptus-B has finished compiling the story to date for our Dark Heresy campaign. It turned out to be very long, so after he breaks it up into a few smaller chapters, I will take some photos of re-staged encounters and post everything here.

Zorcon

A spaceport in the outer rim...

2010-06-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

At our next session. my Dark Heresy group will be landing an a somewhat desolate spaceport on a desert-like planet.

I mentioned in this post that Adeptus-B is planning to make enough buildings by our next session to densely cover my entire gaming table. All his buildings will be made with packing material, so I decided to keep with that theme when I decided to add my own "little" entry to the project.

The above pic is the building's current state. I have (and will be) taking pics throughout the building process These will be included in a later post. The elevated rectangular "roof" is not the landing pad, but a area for smaller buildings to be stacked. Adeptus-B said the spaceport has a "Mos Eisley" feel to it... so think of a small Docking Bay 94 (where the Millennium Falcon was docked in Mos Eisley)

I am also making a second building with the Mos Eisley style in mind (although not with packing material per se)...

Happy Birthday

2010-06-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

Well, my blog is 1 year old! Its been a lot of fun, and I hope I am still sharing my hobby with you all next year!

Here are a few pics of some Dark Heresy NPCs made by me friend Adeptus-B.

Walls & Barricades Complete

2010-06-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

I actually finished this project about a week and a half ago, but took some pictures I didn't really like. The delay in re-shooting and posting was brought on by my vast health improvements and taking on a number of home renovations projects.

This was a really fun project and I look forward to using them in a game. Adeptus-B will probably find a use for them in our Dark Heresy campaign too!!

I made six 6" sections in total, with two "heavily" damaged. Originally the two damaged sections were going to be gates, but I later decided against that.

I also added the static grass to the electric posts...

My next project will be to add to Adeptus-B's Space Port project.

You can find out how I built the cyclone fences in the first part of this article over at Walls & Barricades.

Space Port part 1

2010-06-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

Just a quick introduction to this project. In Dark Heresey, we are going to spend a little time (Read: more than 2 sessions) in a space port (sort of a Mos Eisely feel). Adeptus-B started churning out these buildings for our encounters. He wants to cover my gaming table (about 3.5' x 6.5') with various sized buildings, only leaving alleyways and thoroughfares. This is one of the small buildings, and there are about a dozen so far.

All of the buildings are made from packing material, with some being based on 1" pink foam board. A few of my smaller Necromunda buildings will be peppered in as well.

I will get pics of the other buildings up in a later post. Once it is fully assembled, I will take a few pics of the entire table.

My Dark Heresy Cadre of Acolytes

2010-05-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

(click on image to enlarge)

Adeptus-B has recently taken the reigns from me as GM, and after running a 10 year long D&D campaign, I am very happy to be in the player's chair. We just finished our 7th session last weekend, and finally completed a "trial by fire" mission. The prize: To become full fledged acolytes of Arelius Montag!! We are in the first part of out third rank, and have yet to earn out inquisitorial rosettes.

Above is a group shot of our cadre (from left to right):

Kaarl (Tech-Priest) - Custom figure by Adeptus-B
Aleric (Arbitrator) - Reaper Nova Corp Soldier by Zorcon
Denathor (Adept) - Custom figure by Adeptus-B
Quintillia (Assassin) - Daemonhunters Death-Cult Assassin by Zorcon
Nickodemous (Imperial Psyker) - Talisman Astropath by Zorcon
Venris (Cleric) - Custom figure by Adeptus-B
Varn (Skum) - Necromunda Scabbs by Zorcon

Everyone will receive an "upgrade" figure at some point (when appropriate). I am playing the Psyker, and as soon as I get Psy Rating 3, Ill swap to a new mini.

My best and oldest friend is playing the cleric and we have a great rivalry brewing. I am excited to see how this plays out! We are also both in the running for leader of the cadre to add even more tension between us.

Ill write-up a synopsis of the campaign in a later post.

Walls & Barricades

2010-05-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

I Just (nearly) completed the above electric fence terminals. They are pretty simple... only need to add some flock to finish. All I did was take the models off the sprue and glue them to a 40mm base, added some rocks and basing sand, then painted them. I worked on these while I was finishing up a cyclone fence project I started a few years ago...

Items Needed (for each section of fence):

2x Large Craft Sticks (tongue depressor size)
3x Small Cylindrical Beads (approx 1/4" dia.)
2x Wooden Skewers
1x Barricade from the Battlefield Accessories Set
1x Section of Household Screen
4x Penny Sized Washers (or pennies)

Because craft sticks warp easily (heck, some of 'em come warped), I always sandwich 2 together with the grains/warp running opposite. I do this with all my wall barricades (as appropriate) as the craft sticks are 6" long and make a nice uniform base. When doing a bunch of them at the same time, I'll stack them all up and use 3 "C" clamps to hold them together while they dry.

After they have dried, I take them apart and clean the edges - sometimes glue will run out the sides. Then I glue the washers (2 between each post) on to give the final piece a nice weight, and keep the center of balance low.

Next, take the Barricade from the Battlefield Accessories Set and strip the 4 main prongs from the model. This will be used as the posts for the fence. I use hot glue to attach them to the craft stick base. Then I used some pre-mix spackle (any basing putty will do) to hide the washers and glob of hot glue. After drying, I glued on some mixed basing sand.

At this stage, I cut the skewers to length, cut the beads in half (down the length of the cylinder), and cut a rectangular shape out of the screen. I eyeballed all the dimensions for each fence section. NOTE: Make sure the section of screen is cut at 45° so they create a cyclone fence diamond pattern -- not squares!

Lay the model on its side. Position the screen on the flat side of the posts. Then place one crossbar (skewer) in position and glue. I used super glue for the quick set time. Repeat for the second crossbar. Lastly, take the "C" shaped half beads and place them over the crossbar at each post... so it looks like a bracket holding the crossbar to the post. I have already primed them black, so its paint and flock left to finish.

I will probably add some bullet holes before I paint them. You also might be able to make out that two of the fence sections include some damaged (like someone has cut there way through). I'm not sure I like how they turned out (hence no pics) and I'm waiting to see them completed.

It's good to start getting some stuff off the project shelf again. I hope to keep it up!

PREVIEW: I started this project a few years ago too -- this is the stage I left them at. These pieces are "Dragon's Teeth" or anti-tank fortifications. I have 6 in total and will make a how to post about them when they are finished.

Red Heads Win!

2010-05-17T02:59:00.000-07:00

I'm Baa'ack!!

In the beginning of my gaming experience, I was a roleplayer (D&D), then I became a wargamer (WH40K), and eventually I fell to the darkside and became a [collectible] card-player (MtG). The time I spend playing these games ebbs and flows. But whatever game is on the playing table, the hobby of painting miniatures has always occupied part of my spare time..

Now, being well into my recovery, the last 2+ weeks have been fantastic! However, I just have not been able to put together enough stamina and/or motivation together long enough to get back to the worktable and work on anything of note.

My son Marcus with a hermit crab in hand.

What I *have* done over the last few weeks is spend time with the family. In particular a 2 night stay at the beach. I have also gotten back into Magic the Gathering after a 10 year absence from the game - Spurred on by Laertes, although it did not take much coercing.

I never played in a WH40K tournament... and I never even played a single game at my FLGS. However I have played MtG at my FLGS, at tournaments, and even took 8th in state. As I re-learn the game with slightly different rules and completely different cards, I came back to a familiar deck type - Red Deck Wins.

The deck type Red Deck Wins is an aggro-style deck that has remained popular and dominant in various forms and at various times in Standard format tournaments. The basic concept is simply to play the most aggressive creatures and most efficient burn spells to win as quick as possible.

My current deck looks like this:

Lands
14 Mountain
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn

Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
3 Plated Geopede
4 Ball Lightning
4 Hell's Thunder

Instants
4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Searing Blaze

Sorceries
3 Elemental Appeal
4 Earthquake

This is a recent incarnation. Most noteworthy, I added the pay 1 life lands, although the sideboard is still in flux. I'm not ready for it yet, but after some more playtesting with Laertes, Ill try this puppy out at a local tournament.

Leveraging Time (or Figure Fluffing)

2010-04-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

This may be sacrilegious to some of you out there, but I hired a painting service to paint some of my miniatures. Now hold on there before you come at me with your sprue cutter... let me explain.

Since I have been out of commission healing up from surgery and getting my strength back, I have not yet been able to do any painting myself - heck, I haven't even been able to safely get to my my painting table without assistance until last week. So about 3 weeks ago, I contacted Trevy at www.trevyspaintingtable.com and asked if he would be interested in an unusual request. He agreed, and I sent him 20 figures (5 plastic Catachans, 5 plastic Orlocks, and 10 metal orc Blood Bowl figures).

Group shot of the entire order.

In a former life, I was a comic book colorist. I worked in Dark Horse's internal coloring department for about 5 years. In order to streamline the process and improve consistency, we had the pages fluffed/flatted prior to going to a single colorist (to add all the rendering and effects). Flatting is simply laying down flat colors behind the artwork. This allows the colorist to more quickly select areas to render, and from a production standpoint allows one colorist to easily complete one book (improving consistency).

Essentially, that's what I hired Trevy to do - flat my figures. I asked for his Level 1 service (without a varnish or any base work). I sent the figures assembled, so my cost was only 50¢ per figure! (plus S&H both ways). This will allow me to complete my figures much quicker! The shots in this post are the pics I was sent to approve the order. I don't have the figures in-hand yet, but at this point it is exactly what I wanted! Once I get the figures, I will add shadow and highlighting, and then base them properly, then finally matte varnish them.

Catachans and Orlocks
These are for my Dark Heresy campaign and are stand alone squads.

Blood Bowl Orcs
These will need to match the 10 other figures on the team.

I will show complete before and after pics of this project in future posts.

These will be the first figures I own that have not been painted by me (If you don't count the pre-painted D&D and Star Wars miniatures) and is a little weird when I think about it. Please check out Trevy's site and see what he offers.

I think this is a great idea if you need to speed paint an army, or if you have entirely too much stuff on your project table! Base coating is my least favorite part of modeling, so I am really happy to have tried this idea. What do you think? Is this something you would consider?

Recovery Round 3

2010-02-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

(Image used without permission)

I am finally home (again) after over a month in the hospital (minus a brief 6-day trip home). This procedure was only supposed to be a 3-4 day stay, but it turned into 3 surgeries, and a total of 12 days in ICU & 23 days in a regular hospital room.

I still have another week or two of recovery at home. During this time, I am not supposed to lift more than 5 pounds, cough, sneeze, sit up more than an hour at a time (or as tolerated), avoid stairs, or do any strenuous activities.

Over this endeavor, I have had many days to ponder my current projects (plus my desired future ones), and when I get back up to "painting strength" I will be re-prioritizing the "work bench que". However, right now the stairs to my garage (and my workbench) are more of a deterrent than my wife is (who stayed home from work to make sure I don't over exert).

Back on my Feet... sort of

2010-02-14T23:52:00.000-08:00

Well its been a week since I came back from the hospital, and I finally had the strength to get out to the workbench last night. I've spent 3.5 weeks on my back after 2 surgeries (there is a chance I am going back for a third next week), so I'm a little week in the legs right now.

I spent a few hours last night and a few hours today painting. I didn't worry too much about completing any challenges or working on armies... I just painted what caught my eye.

The first thing I worked on was a small unit of RT era Penal Legion troops. The sergeant and 3 of the troops were acquired in the 80's and I recently picked up the other 2 troops from Laertes. They will perform double duty as Dark Heresy NPC's and members of a Rag Tag IG army I've been brewing up.

These guys were painted with a base coat, 3 layers of washes (2x Devlan Mud, 1x Badab Black), and then "highlighted" with the base coat.

I also worked a little bit on the wholesale repainting of my BFG Space Marine fleet by repainting a squadron of Hunter class destroyers, and painting 2 Grey Knight Strike Cruisers. I ordered the cruisers from Forge World about 2-3 years ago and I never got around to assembling them. The destroyers were ordered from GW around the same time, along with a pack of Gladius and Nova frigates and all three squadrons were painted straight away.

Battlefleet Gothic on the Brain

2010-01-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

Another subject that has been keeping me occupied over the last few weeks is Battlefleet Gothic. Lately I have been trolling Google images and blogs, sketching out some plans for new terrain, and making plans to improve my existing terrain (a bunch of foam balls painted brown and glued on flight stands).

I have some Armageddon Sector ships and some Rogue Trader ships burning to get out of the box and get painted too... I may have to appease the pewter gods later this week.

There are three shelves of my "project organizer" dedicated to BFG: Imperial Fleet, Space Marine Fleet, and Generic (orbital platforms, space stations, rogue trader, terrain). I pulled all 3 shelves out to re-inventory what was done and in progress. Then I started assembling some of the ships from my stash.

[Edit] I wrote this yesterday, and scheduled it to post later today. But I got a little over zealous with things... there are far more projects than I mentioned in my last two posts that I actually worked on. This is a quick list off the top of my head of stuff that that I pulled out and started working on yesterday:

1. Aquilla Lander - I combined some of the smaller pieces of the Crashed Aquilla Lander terrain piece to make 3 pieces total. I traced the shapes onto foam core , and started gluing them to their base.

2. Blastscape - I started trimming the flashing off the edges.

3. Necromunda Objective Markers - I worked a bit on 5 objective markers discussed in this post.

4. Fences & Walls - I fussed around with a WIP cyclone fence project and some resin tech walls.

5. Bases - I trimmed excess plasticard off of WIP urban bases for my Adeptus Arbites squads.

6. Hills - I recently bought a new foam cutter and experimented with cutting out different shapes and textures. I have had a "P" shaped foam cutter for years, but before Xmas, I purchased a straight "I" shaped cutter.

7. Necromunda Terrain - I have a bunch of small (about 60-80 mm) terrain pieces for Necromunda. They are mostly stacks of crates and oil drums that we position around the board to add cover and they are based on square patches of plasticard. I decided it would look better to trim the plasticard to the shape of the actual foot print of the pieces. Since I had bashed some of the terrain to work on my Necromunda objective markers, I had some loose pieces, plus I have some new WIP pieces. I played around with combining different pieces to create both small and large finished pieces.

8. Drones - I assembled (and magnetized) 4 Tau shield drones from my stash, and completed assembly on the 4 converted WIP shield drones. I completed 2 WIP marker light drones, and started 2 converted marker light drones.

So much for taking it easy until surgery!!

Dark Heresy Character Sheets

2010-01-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

We only played 2 sessions of our new Dark Heresy campaign before my health issues put it on hold. But during the break I have managed to finish up a custom character sheet. I made it compatible with both Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader.

The border art, logo and background watermark are IP of Games Workshop and/or Fantasy Flight Games.

Designing character sheets is something I have always done for the campaigns I have played in. Back in grade school (and 1st edition D&D), I bought paste-up boards from a local art supply store and hacked up photocopies of "official" sheets, then used a tech-pen and straight edge to create my own character sheets.

[Edit] Here is a link to a PDF file of the character sheets. It is set up with crop marks to print on an 11" x 17 " sheet of paper so there is no white boarder (required trimming). However, there should be no issues printing this file to a standard 8.5" x 11" paper size.

WIP: Necromunda Objectives

2010-01-06T22:50:00.000-08:00

I am still waiting for my surgery to be scheduled, but I'm getting a little stir crazy in the meantime. As I sit reading blogs, and writing army lists the temptation to get back to the workbench was too strong to resist. I spent about an hour the other day, and a few hours today working on some objective markers.

As typical of my nature, I often start projects before I complete the ones already in progress. So I did not work on my TOEMP projects, or my Tau army, or even any WH40KRP NPCs. I was inspired to work on Necromunda terrain. I started by making sketches of buildings that were never finished by adding detail, or making changes to parts I didn't like. Then I started digging around in my terrain boxes, and pulled out a few small pieces. I decided to make some Necromunda objective markers in the same vain as my Tau objective markers, that I could also use for an IG/Arbites force.

I wanted the Ammo Dump to look like a pallet of supplies that the looters were chased off in mid raid. The painted parts were lifted off existing terrain pieces.

This is a rat coop. It could also house blood beetles, giant slugs, blind snakes or mutant dogs. The door slides up and down and is removable. There is room for a std figure, so this could be used as a makeshift prison for a rescue mission too.

For this piece, I took a hatch that wasn't based, or attached to anything. I simply added some detail and a partially demolished bulkhead.

The waterstill is mostly unchanged, except for adding a valve and faucet, and mounting to a detailed 60mm base.

The last piece was a computer terminal that was inspired by the scene from Star Wars where Old Ben was on the Death Star turning off the tractor beams. I have evolved it into a coms tower.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-21T12:01:00.000-08:00

Id like to wish all of you a Happy Holidays! The zorcon household has a big weekend coming up: Christmas Eve with the maternal side of the family, Christmas Day with the immediate family, Saturday with the in-laws, and Sunday with the paternal side of the family. My son will be getting presents and toys faster than he can open them!! :)

I am still on a "Medical Hiatus" for the next few weeks, but I am doing well and getting lots of rest. I will be having major surgery at the first of the year and expect to be back to painting and babbling about it a few weeks after that.

Take care, and may you and yours have a great new year!

z

Going on Hiatus

2009-11-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

Due to RL medical issues I am forced to go on an indefinite hiatus. I hope to be back to modeling, gaming, and blogging very soon.

Pot vs Palette

2009-11-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

I have had a post about paints rattling around in my head for the last few weeks, but Ron over at From the Warp beat me to it when he recently posted on the subject - The paints I use everyday. This has inspired me to finally get my thoughts down.

4 GENERATIONS OF GW PAINTS

POLLY S, REAPER, P3, AND VALLEJO PAINTS

CUSTOM GREY TO COMPLETE A TRI-COLOR GROUP

BRAND:
I originally exclusively bought Ral Partha / Poly S Paints. I am pretty certain these were the same product, but there was a branding and/or packaging change at some point. I still have a few of these bottles around. The primary reason I switched from Poly S to GW was I had about a 2 year hiatus from the hobby, and when I picked it up again, all my paints had dried up. I needed to replace an entire set of paints!! At the time, I had a 25% discount at a comic/game shop, and that store only carried GW paints (vs the hobby store that carried a variety of brands, but with no discount). So I chose the less expensive rout, although I did buy a few key Poly S colors that the GW range didn't cover.

Even though I "converted" to GW paints, I haven’t been exclusive to a particular brand since my original set of paints - I have picked up various colors from different brands mainly to complete tri-color groupings that the GW range does not cover. That said, my set of paints is still about 80-90% GW.

I like the Reaper Pro Paints and Privateer P3 Paints, and will continue to buy colors from those lines. The Vallejo Paint's dropper top is a big turn off for me, but the paint performs well. There are still a few colors that I have been unable to find, so I have custom mixed "large" quantities (enough to fill an empty paint pot) for repeated use.

VARIOUS BRANDS OF PRIMER

PRIMER:
I used to brush white primmer on all my miniatures. At the time I was living with my parents and painting in my bedroom, so it was the most practical option. Later, when I started using spray primer, I used grey (and I have no recollection why). I'm not sure if that's what was available, or it I deliberately chose grey over black or white primer.

For the longest time now, I have been using black primer. I find black is more "forgiving" when painting fully assembled figures - all those little places you can’t see or reach with a brush are left in dark shadow. If you have a really opaque base color to start with, I find it unnecessary to layer white under lighter colors.

I just recently started priming with colored spray primer. So far I like the results, but it looks like it is not an all-purpose solution.

A CONVENIENT PALETTE

PAINTING FROM THE POT

METHOD:
I prefer to paint straight out of the pot - Its how I started and its what I’ve always done. As such, I prefer the lids that screw off, rather than flip up. However, I'll admit that this “habit” slowly dries out the paint, and I occasionally have to "revitalize" a color by thinning it back out with a little water. It is also important to occasionally clean out the lid if you are a "pot painter". If you don't, the dried paint flakes off and pollutes the bottle with small dried paint chunks.

I have some of the newer (and really old) bottle styles that have an "eye-dropper" top. I do not like this style of bottle at all. Not only because of my preference to paint directly from the pot (or lid), but because I am terrible at guessing how much paint I need - I always squirt too much out and waste paint!

Sometimes, because of a particular need, I can't simply paint out of the bottle (ie custom color, wet blending, etc.). In these cases I turn to my table surface before I grab a palette... for me its all about what is the quickest way to get the job done. Heck, I have even used my finger as a mini palette!

CLEANING OUT DRIED PAINT

VISCOSITY:
Some colors (especially my latest purchases of GW paints) are way too thin for my taste. To correct this, I let them sit out for a bit with the lid off to help the paint "cure". My original Poly S paints never had this problem, and were my overall favorite paints for opacity and thickness. However, they were also the worst for longevity - sometimes the caps would rust or the paint would completely dry up.

The new GW Foundation paints are very similar to those Poly S paints in both thickness and opacity and I'm glad I picked a set up.

AIR BRUSH INK

5 GENERATIONS OF GW INK/WASH

GW GLAZE, WONDER WASH, P3 INK, AND VALLEJO INK

INKS:
Before GW released their first foray into inks (aka washes), I used airbrush inks. I scored 4 8-color sets at 75% off from an art store that was going out of business. I really liked these, and had a lot of success with them. However, there was one draw back... they were still soluble after drying. They had to be applied as the last step before varnishing, or else you faced a big mess trying to paint over it.

I really liked the 1st generation GW inks (even *with* a dropper tip). They were a perfect combination of brightness and translucence. The 2nd generation inks were not as good - they more easily dried with "water spots". The 3rd & 4th generation inks/washes were more opaque than the previous predecessor, and when thinned with water they tended to spot.

About a year ago I picked up a set of Wonder Washes. I liked them, and tended to use them over GW inks of similar colors. After reading so many blogs and forum posts about the latest 5th generation inks/washes, and how great Badab Black was, I picked up a bottle. I liked it so much I ran out and bought a complete set. So far the colors that I tried work great.

VARIOUS PAINT ADDITIVES

ADDITIVES:
The only additive that I have extensively used is a retarder. For wet blending, this is hands down better than simply adding water. The retarder does not change the viscosity of the paint (allowing for potential spotting) and it effects the opaqueness of the color much less. Most importantly, paint with retarder takes much longer to dry than paint diluted with water - making of the wet blending easier!!

Other additives that I have picked up, but not really put to the test is pearl, metallic, and crackle mediums. These have limited use, but I will give them a go sometime.

POWDERS

POWDERS:
Recently, powders have become very popular. But they aren't new. In the mid 80's Ral Partha released a 6-color set of Dragonscale Metallic Powder. These came in a 6-piece stackable compact, and have a consistency of eye shadow. (They also came individually packaged with a dragon miniature). These were a fun product and worked perfectly for armor and... dragon scale!!

I have not yet tried the rust and weathering powders out there.

CUSTOM BASE GLUE

VARIOUS BRANDS OF CRAFT PAINT

BASES:
I use a 50/50 mixture of black craft paint and Elmer's glue for gluing sand to my bases and terrain. I do this for 3 reasons. First, adding paint thins out the glue a little bit, making it easier to brush on, but doesn't dilute its adhesive quality. Secondly, it becomes a sort of undercoat making subsequent layers of paint easier to apply.

For terrain, I only use craft paint. This is not an economic descision (although craft paints do cost a fraction of hobby paints). Craft Paints are more durable, and have a laytex consistancy when dried. This creates a much more durable surface.

GW MATTE VARNISH AND STONE TEXTURE

MATTE AND GLOSS VARNISH

FINISHING:
I prefer a matte look to my figures, so I use a spray matte varnish to finish off my models. No particular brand or type - I use what is inexpensive or easy to acquire. The most common matte varnish I have used is a companion that came with spray stone texture.

I have had an issue with GW matte varnish fogging (and heard tales of the same). This typically occurs when trying to put down too thick a layer in one pass. The clear cote's that come packaged with the spray textures have given me the best results in look and durability.

After a model has been spray varnished, I go back and brush on gloss varnish to all the metal and shiny bitz. I use this technique mostly on fantasy model's armor and weapons, but I have used it on some of my sci-fi range as well.

CORRODED BB"s

BB, 4mm BEAD, 8mm BEAD

CARE:
I add an agitator to every bottle of paint. Back in the day, before I new better (and because they were "on hand") I used BBs. Over time the BBs corroded, discolored the paint, and caused particulates to form.

I now use 4mm Non Magnetic Hematite Round Beads in my hobby-grade paints. These are larger and a little heavier than BBs (I use 1-2 8mm beads in the larger bottles of craft-grade paint). The inability to add an agitator is another reason why I dislike the dropper tips.

TOEMP CHALLENGE #6 - Playing Catch Up

2009-11-12T01:31:00.000-08:00

I joined the TOEMP group late, so I missed out on the first 6 challenges. So, I would like to go back and complete these missed projects. The first "Catch Up" project will be challenge 6. This was a tough challenge - lots of options and bonuses:

TOEMP CHALLENGE #6 - COMPLETE 10/20/09
Option 1: Units of Troops and/or Elites/Special in any combination (135 pts) - Req: Use a new technique from the Easy Section of Individual Challenges
Option 2: Unit of Heavy Support/Special (Any pts) - Req: Use a new technique from the Moderate Section of Individual Challenges
Option 3: An HQ/Lord (Any pts) - Req: Use a new technique from the Hard Section of Individual Challenges
Bonus Challenge: Complete either a unit of Troops (50 pts), the largest model you own (Any pts), or a unit of Fast Attack/Special (Any pts)
INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGES – HARD
A Full On Conversion.
Every Painting Technique You Know.

I am choosing Option 3 - A Commander Shas'o/el with 2 drones plus 2 bodyguards. The commander is going to be a full on conversion using pieces from a yet-to-be-chosen mange robot model. I have a small collection of said models and a few still in the box.

I also plan to do something I have never done before - paint the models before they are fully-assembled!! Specifically, I will assemble everything except for the arms.

Drone Project

2009-11-11T03:50:00.001-08:00

I came across these 2 figures in my bitz box a little while ago. They are from a boxed set of robots from Grenadier circa mid 80's. These 2 were painted up in my Aquamarines (my brand of variant Ultramarines) colors and used as Imperial Robots in a few 1st edition 40k Games.

As I am preparing to build a new Tau commander, I thought these might make some interesting drones to go along with him (a shield and marker drone).

TOEMP Challenge #7 - Complete

2009-11-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

Finally they are finished!! This is my second unit of crisis suits, and Ive actually been using the team leader from the first squad as my army commander... so I guess that means painting up a proper commander is now in order.

[edit] Forgot to mention that I didnt like the look of the blue tipped Plasma cannon, and went with a black tip on all three.

Here's the points breakdown for this challenge:

STANDARD PAINTING POINTS = 6 pts
Bikes/Cavalry, Large (40/50mm bases): 2 painting points each

ADDITIONAL PAINTING POINTS = 6 pts
Icons/Symbols/Marks: +1 painting point per model
Eyes/Lenses/View Finders: +1 painting point per model

TARGET POINTS = -3 pts
Missing Deadline: -3 painting points

TOTAL = 9 pts, 2 tallies

Not sure if I can claim freehand on this unit or not... The squad markings are hand painted, but Im already getting 3 points for them as symbols/marks, and I don't think they are that complex to be worth 15 points... I'll have to wait and see what the TOEMP gang says!

Other Posts related to this article:

Static Grass

2009-11-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

I tried to use static grass years ago, using a bottle of Woodland Scenics' Wild Honey Static Grass Flock. I didn't like the results at all and shelved the material and idea for years. What I later figured out was I should have mixed different colors together to create a blend. About 2 years ago, I picked up some of Games Workshop's Glade Grass Static Grass. I tried it and didn't like that result either - the color was way to bright for my taste. Then I decided to try to mix my own blend.

The Glade Grass, is not just a mix of greens - there is also rust, orange, and tan among others. Since it was already a rich blend of colors, I started with Glade Grass as my base, and added Woodland Scenics' Burnt Grass and Wild Honey.

I ended up with a muted palette, but it still had depth. The ratio is approximately 50% Wild Honey, 25% Burnt Grass, and 25% Glade Grass. The result is what I now use on my Tau bases.

TOEMP Challenge #7 - Update 2

2009-11-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't quite finish the unit... but was very close. Here is the status as of midnight Friday. Some edge highlighting, the lenses, drybrush the boulders, and static grass and I can call this done. This may be technically "done" as far as the challenge is concerned, but they aren't done in my eyes, so I'll take the -3pts for missing the deadline.

I tried something new on this project, and I'm not sure I like it... the blue tip on the plasma cannon. I'll either paint the other 2 to match, or "undo" the experiment.

Overall I'm pleased with the turnout, and how quickly I got done what I did. Not the best quality nor at record breaking speed... but "good" quality none the less! Ill have these done by Sunday, and will look forward to Challenge #8. In the mean time, I will probably look to tackle the past challenges!

Other Posts related to this article:

TOEMP Challenge #7 - Update

2009-11-06T02:54:00.001-08:00

Well, I made a MAJOR gaff yesterday!! I glued all the magnets in the wrong way!!! I cant believe it!! A stupid mistake and it set me back quite a bit to fix it.

After resolving that issue, I primed and basecoated the unit. For the first time, I used Krylon® Fusion for Plastics® Satin Boot Brown as the primer, which is nearly identical to GW's Calthan Brown Foundation Paint (the color I happen use as base for may Tau).

Ill try to finish these tomorrow with the midtone and highlight... and hopefully the bases.

Ion Cannon Mod

2009-11-05T19:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a simple conversion I did to a Tau Ion Cannon. I never liked the "stubby" look of the out of the box version so here is my attempt at fixing it.

First I took a 1/4" tube and a 1/4" I-Beam from my bitz box and cut them to the desired length of the extension. Then I trimmed off 2 of the "legs" of the I-Beam, turning it into a channel, or U-Beam. Even though there was an additional step, I chose an I-Beam over a U-Beam because the I-Beam "legs" are tapered and fit flush with the tube when placed.

I then glued the tube into the channel, sanded the seam flush, and added little bit of putty. I flush mounted the extension to both the base and end of the barrel. I decided pinning was not necessary if I used CA+ thick gel glue.

TOEMP Challenge #7 - First Look

2009-11-04T18:41:00.000-08:00

TOEMP CHALLENGE #7 - ENDS 11/06/09

Option 1: Unit of Fast Attack/Special (60 pts)
Option 2: An HQ/Lord (60 pts)
Option 3: Unit of Elites/Special (55 pts)
Bonus Challenge 1: Objective markers
Bonus Challenge 2: Command Vehicle
Bonus Challenge 3: Special Character w/ optional custom spec/datasheet
Bonus Challenge 4: Scenery

I chose Challenge Option 3 - A unit of Elites. At this stage of the competition, with only 2 days left, the only Bonus Challenge I would even consider is a small piece of scenery.

Today, I got the unit for my first TOEMP Challenge cleaned, assembled and magnetized. I will primer these before I crash, so they will be ready to base coat and highlight tomorrow. Then I will add details and finish the base the day after that.

The wargear and weapons make this is a 196 point unit... It will be a fireknife unit (missle pods, plasma rifles, and multi trackers) with a shas'vre team leader.

I've gone pretty gung-ho on my Tau with magnetizing all the battlesuits and tanks. Each Crisis battlesuit get 4x 1/8" dia. x 1/16" thick, Grade N42, Nickel Plated magnets, and all wargear and weapons get the same. But if they are too small, I use a 1/16" dia. x 1/32" thick, Grade N50, Nickel Plated magnet instead.

My Son's Second Army pt 3

2009-11-04T17:10:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update... I finished up the 2 test models I posted about here.

I simply added a highlight to all the non-metalic colors and finished the base with a mixed sand.

Back to Bases pt 4

2009-11-04T05:47:00.001-08:00

This is truly a first for me. I have dabbled with green stuff before with minor conversions, filling in gaps, or completing a simple existing element on a figure, but I have never "sculpted" anything from scratch.

Last week, Laertes and I were talking about what base style to use for his tyranid army. I suggested a kind of Gigeresque bio-alien ground covering, and was inspired to mock-up an example.

This was surprisingly relatively quick and easy to sculpt. I am very pleased with how it turned out.

I started with a small ball of green stuff and flattened it into a rough shape that I liked. Then I pushed in the pod holes. Once I was satisfied with the those, I added small grooves on the interior of the holes, and stippled a light texture to the exterior. Finally, I added a few beads (pods) in some of the pod holes.

There is one pointer I can offer. In the past I have used water to keep my tools from sticking to the green stuff. The problem is water only works once or twice, and then it is necessary to dip your tool in the water again. A while back I came across this tip on the web (I apologize to the original poster for not remembering who)... but KY Jelly is more viscous and lasts much longer, to allow you to freely keep sculpting.

I painted the exterior with Scaly Green, then a mix or Scaly Green and Bleached Bone, and finally blending to pure Beached Bone. The interior is painted with Macharite Red, then a mix of Macharite Red and Bleached bone, and then blended to Bleached Bone.

This is the 4th style of detailed bases I have recently worked on - I'll call it Alien Ground. I don't think they will see use in Laertes' army. But even if that's the case, I think my modest pile of genestealers will eventually be running across this ground!

Previous Posts in this series: Back to Bases Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Back to Bases Showcase: Deck Plating & Sandstone Tiles

2009-11-03T23:10:00.000-08:00

I completed a minimum squad's worth of bases for 2 of my custom base themes - Deck Plating and Sandstone Tiles. I tend to do very well with assembly line painting, and actually prefer working on at least 2 similar models at the same time. That coupled with usually not remembering how I accomplished something a few weeks down the road, mass-producing these bases has not been a huge challenge.

For my Necromunda Goliaths, I will need a total of 21x 25mm and 2x 40mm bases for the gang, another 3x 25mm bases for Hired Guns, plus a few extras for future additions.

I plan to keep most of the bases very similar to the 6 above, but the 40mm and about 4x 25mm bases will be "exotic" with more detail or a "special scene".

I am still not sure where I will use these bases, but will probably do at least 4 more regardless of where I end up using them.

Previous Posts in this series: Back to Bases Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

A Tale of Even More Painters

2009-11-02T23:57:00.000-08:00

On Monday I joined the Tale of Even More Painters blogger group. Over the last few months, I had seen various posts here and there about these "TOEMP" modeling challenges, with this acronym that in my head sounds like temporary toe (not sure if I can satisfactorily explain that so I will leave it alone).

This group sets a painting/modeling challenge about twice a month for either a WHFB or WH40K project. Each challenge is different and is broad enough in scope to apeal to each contributor. I look forward to taking on these challenges and getting to know this great group of hobbyists!!

I will be starting off with Challenge #7 already in progress, but haven't chosen my submission yet. As there is only a few days left in this challenge, I will probably grab something already in progress.

Units in Crisis

2009-11-02T04:14:00.000-08:00

Ron over at From the Warp asked some of us Bloggers to talk about our "Must Have Unit". I am currently playing Tau, so will answer the question from that perspective.

I have always been first and foremost a Space Marine player, all the way back to 1st edition. However, about 3 years ago, when Laertes and I started talking about playing 40k again, I decided I wanted to try something new - the Tau caught my eye. I really liked the anime style to this army, but what really got me hooked was the battle suits. At the time, I didn't know anything about the Tau. It had been years since I played 40k, and I had never seen a 3rd edition Tau Codex. But I could tell from the images I saw on the web that these battle suits were a very versatile weapons platform!

Once I picked up the 4th edition codex, and started reading the army list, I was excited to field as many battle suits as I could! Unfortunately, after having 5 games under my belt with Tau (between 4th and 5th edition), I still have not successfully utilized them. My beloved suits have been the first to fall in every game!

The problem is, I apparently don't know how to use these guys on the battlefield... I think it is because of how I categorize the units in my head. In Space Marine terms, they look like a dreadnought and are fielded like terminators - but they are a far cry from either! I also suspect that the versatility of their loadout is making it difficult for me to focus on what their role should be in a particular battle.

So, maybe I should try to conquer my failing by fielding an all-suit force. Laertes and I are planning on one more 750 point battle before we up the points limit of our games. Here is a first try at a 1000 point battle suit themed force.

HQ (104 pts)
1 Commander Shas'el; Fusion Blaster; Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Hard-wired Target Lock)

Troops (140 pts)
6 Fire Warrior; Pulse Rifle
1 Devilfish; Burst Cannon; 2 Gun Drones

Troops (140 pts)
6 Fire Warrior; Pulse Rifle
1 Devilfish; Burst Cannon; 2 Gun Drones

Elite (150 pts)
3 Crisis Battlesuit; Burst Cannon; Missile Pod; Multi-Tracker

Elite (162 pts)
3 Crisis Battlesuit; Fusion Blaster; Missile Pod; Multi-Tracker

Heavy Support (300 pts)
3 Broadside Battlesuit; Twin linked Railgun; Smart Missile System; Drone Controller; Shield Drone x2

The list that I have fielded in my last to games is posted in their respective battle reports <here> and <here>.

My initial thoughts for this new list are that there wont be enough targets for the opposition, and the suits are still gonna fall fast.

Tau Objective Markers Showcase

2009-10-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

I have completed the first 3 of my Tau objective markers: A power station, a fuel depot, and a comm tower. These are the first army themed objective markers I have ever made, however I did make a few generic markers for Necromunda. You can check my earlier WIP posts about the Tau markers <WIP 1> and <WIP 2>.

POWER STATION: In hind sight, I think the power plant may be a little small, but I do like how it turned out. Although, keeping it on a 60mm base I'm not really sure how much bigger I could have made it.

FUEL DEPOT: This is my least favorite of the three... I should have done more modifications to the cap that I used as the basis for this piece... All I can see is the cap with some bitz glued to it!

COMM STATION: This is my favorite objective marker so far. The original plan was to have a technician interfacing with the console, but I opted for versatility and left a clear space on the base to place a figure.

Back to Bases pt 3

2009-10-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

The fourth installment to my themed base project is called City Streets. I will definitely use this style of base on my Adeptus Arbites.

This is a very simple and quick conversion.

I covered one-third to two-thirds of the base with a piece of 1/16" plasticard. Then I glued 150 grit sandpaper to the plasticard and 100 grit sandpaper to the other part of the base. I used a small piece of standard window screen to make the storm drain.

I painted the asphalt Chaos Black and drybrushed Shadow Gray. The sidewalk is based with Ash Gray (Reaper Pro Paints) and drybrushed with Fortress Gray. The storm drain is Tin Bitz with a little bit of Dwarf Bronze. Finally I painted the grooves in the sidewalk with Armor Gray (Reaper Pro Paints) and Fortress Gray.

See the first two installments:
<Back to Bases pt 1> and <Back to Bases pt 2>

Attack of the Six-Toed Monster

2009-10-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

A number of years ago, while I was preparing for a gaming session of Dungeons and Dragons, I was attacked by a giant feline monster. Following is the documented account of the story.

My players were going to be delving into an ancient dungeon complex, and I had recently purchased a modular dungeon system made by WizKids (under their MageKnight line) just for this adventure.

After I built a portion of the dungeon, I set up a fake encounter to try out how the practical aspect of playing out a combat in a 3D environment. I expected (and hoped) it would be much different that simply drawing on a battle mat.

I continued building more of the entrance level of the complex, and making sure that there would be adequate space in each room for the designed encounters. Ill have to admit that I got a little involved "playing with toy soldiers" at this point, but hey... I was having fun!

Suddenly the table shook!

Pieces flew all over the place... figures fell down... wall and floor pieces scattered! I panicked and scrambled to pick up the mess.

Then it happened...

The foul beast showed herself!

She was huge... looming above the dungeon!

I tried to rescue my soldiers before the feline creature began playing her terrible "cat and mouse" game with them... or even worse... before she ate them!!

But before I could do anything the creature entered the dungeon.

She circled the complex claiming her new territory.

Then... I couldn't believe what I was witness to...

The foul beast sat down to take a nap!

A true story inspired by the holidays... Happy Halloween!

Back to Bases pt 2

2009-10-27T01:25:00.001-07:00

Here is the third sample of my basing experiment - Deck Plating. The first two tests can be found at this post: <Back to Bases pt 1>. I like how these turned out, and I will probably re-base my Goliaths in this style, rather than use them on some newer 40K models. I never liked what I did originally with my Goliaths - I used sand and painted it blue.

I made these bases with 1/16" plasticard and plastic canvas mesh. I used a small file to add panel grooves, and 1/32" dia plastic tube for the rivets.

I have considered resin bases in the past. There are a bunch of really great options out there. In fact there is a toxic waste set (cant find it at the moment) that I am (was) really close to getting for my scavies.

Back to Bases

2009-10-26T11:48:00.001-07:00

I have not been the type to go all out on my bases. partly because I would rather spend the time painting another figure, and partly because I like the clean look of just simple sand. However, lately I have been experimenting with different coarseness of sand/ballast, and mixing custom blends of static grass.

Because my house is the central gaming hub of our group, I have been the GM in out RP games for the last 10 years, and I am the most prolific painter of our group, my figures are usually the ones out on the table. In the past, even if a figure screamed to be based a certain way (say for example on a stone dungeon floor or a wood tavern floor) my fantasy figures are based the same way (from my khorne army, to my D&D characters, to my Talisman figures).

In some perverse OCD requirement in my head, all my fantasy figures have to be based similarly so all the PC's and all the monsters "match". I'm not sure why I don't have this hang up with my sci-fi minis. However, I still never go too far from ballast/static grass.

So, this weekend, I worked up 2 sample "themed" bases - "Urban Wasteland" and "Sandstone Tiles". Ones that I could repeat as needed.

Now, I almost never model a base before the figure is painted, and even more rarely do I do it before the figure is even ON the base. For me, this was a very strange process. It will take some getting used to. I really like how the "Urban Wasteland" base looks, but I'm not confidant how a figure will look on it - the surface is very uneven. I'm not sure how I am going to mount a figure on this...

I also worked on a third style of base I thought would be easy, but turned out to be more difficult than these two. It will be a split of deck plating and metal grating.

Trouble with Terrain

2009-10-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

I currently have 4 2'x2' foam boards to use as a playing surface. They were originally created for Necromunda, and I simply textured and painted the bottom side as grass/dirt. I will soon need a 4'x6' area and at the very least will need to make 2 more 2'x2' boards.

However, I have grown to not like these boards. I sandwiched 2 1" thick insulation boards together, allowing for an "embedded" sewage/sludge river on the Necromunda side. Stacked up these make an 8"x2'x2' cube, and will be 4" thicker with the addition of 2 more boards. This is not easy to store nor to transport from garage to house.

So I have a plan to make a new (more) modular surface, using foam core as the base, with 1" foam board added for depth. I decided on 10"x20" tiles instead of 12"x24" tiles for 2 reasons:

I can get more tiles out per sheet of foam core, and a cleaner cut edge on the foam board.
It will be much easier to box and store

The trade off is having a "non-standard" board size. For small 40K games and Necromunda it will be either a 40"x40" or 50"x50" area, and for standard 40k games is will be between 40"x70" and 50"x80". Im not really sure of the impact, a few inches either way would make, but the closesest size would be 50"x70".

It will cost me $24 in foam core and $13 in foam board to make all of the tiles above. (Paint and sand extra). Pretty reasonable price, and a a very modular surface.

What are your thoughts?

-- edit
I picked up the foam core today (the art store even trimmed them to size for free!!) I have enough foam board on hand to complete this project, but will need more sand and paint. I also mocked up a 50"x70" table using my current hill pieces.

Tau Objective Markers WIP pt 2

2009-10-23T13:42:00.001-07:00

OK, I got three of the objective markers assembled and base coated...

COMMAND/COMMUNICATIONS TOWER: I decided not to include a mini on this piece. However, I did leave a clearing on the base to allow a figure to be placed by the little fly-out control panel.

FUEL DEPOT: The plastic cap that makes up the core of this piece, didn't take the paint well... I probably should have washed it first!! On the other hand, zap-a-gap didn't like it either, so it may not have mattered. As a precaution, I pinned all the add on bitz.

POWER GENERATOR: This was the easiest of the group. Although, I probably should have painted the inside of the hatch doors before final assembly.

If you missed it, here is <WIP 1> to this project.

My Son's Second Army pt 2

2009-10-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

I have had most of the figures accumulated for my son's second army for quite awhile now... an Ork Horde. Recently, I scored the bitz for 3 runtherders off eBay. Much like my son's first army there are some guidelines I am sticking to:

All plastic
Extensive use of "uni-body" models (especially ones already in my bitz box!!)
Conversions are limited to arm swaps and backpacks
All conversions need to be pinned
Some eBay purchases are OK (unneccessary for the first army)

Essentially its gotta be kid friendly, durrable, cheap, and quick. You can see some samples of what I did with his first army <here>. I dont have as many orks in my bitz box as I did space marines... plus my goal is to create an army of equal points value (1500), so I have had to turn to some interesting places to fill out this army. My first endeavor was using all of my (and some of Laertes') old Blood Bowl orcs with a choppa and slugga arm added (<sample>), which I scored 30 pair for about $8 on eBay.

The second task was filling out the ranks of existing ork and gretchin models from the 2nd edition box set. I now have enough gretchins (and runtherders), but I am still about 10-12 orks short for the second unit of boyz. The army is currently two-thirds the points of where it should be:

Warboss (black reach)
30 Boyz (blood bowl conversions) and Nob (black reach)
30 Boyz (2nd edition box set) and Nob (black reach)
30 Gretchins (2nd edition box set) and 3 Runtherds (eBay)
12 Stormboyz (multi-part boyz bitz) and Nob (black reach)

To fill out the rest of the army I will probably use my black reach deffkoptas and some looted rhinos. I could do a unit of bikes, but I was saving those for my ork army!! Some custum killer kans would be fun, but may be too delicate for the 6 year old abuse they will have to endure.

I did a quick test the other day for a new (to me) painting technique for this army. In hind sight, I wish I had chosen a different chapter for my son's marines. Both armies being predominently green is a bit of a problem. So I decided to try base coating the orks in their armor color. I bought a can of Krylon® Fusion for Plastics® Satin Boot Brown paint (thanks to Laertes for doing the leg work on research).

After the "primer" dried, I applied a layer of Devlan Mud. After that dried, I drybushed a layer of Boltgun metal and then just a little bit of chainmail. I like how it turned out... and its fast!! At this stage, I only have a base color for all the non-metal parts. I will probably apply a wash and 1 layer of hilight.

On a side note, this color is also perfect for my tau... I probably wont use it on the troops as the it coats a little thick, but I will definately use it on my new objective markers, and maybe a tank or two.

Tau vs Necrons (750pt) II Battle Report (Zorcon's Perspective)

2009-10-23T01:25:00.000-07:00

Here is my second attempt at writing a battle report. Even though more time had elapsed between the first battle and writing that report, I had taken better pictures during that game to help remember and show everything that happened.

Battle Report Zorcon (Tau) vs Laertes (Necrons) Round 2
OK, this is our rematch. I was a little unsure of my list, but we decided to keep our lists the same for one more battle (although, Laertes did make a minor wargear change to his lord). I will definitely be revising the list for our next game.

I still do not have my head wrapped around the tau. Too many years with marines, and not enough games are under my belt in the “current” rules environment (3rd-5th edition). In my head during a game, I “convert” my tau units to marine equivalents. For example, in my first couple of games I treated my crisis suits as light dreadnaughts, and in my last couple of games I treated them as terminators. I realize for many reasons this is a really bad idea, and I’m working on that…

Zorcon: 750 points of Tau
1 Shas’o with missile pod, plasma rifle, and multi tracker
9 Warriors and Devilfish with disruption pod
9 Warriors and Devilfish with disruption pod
2 Crisis Suits with burst cannon and fusion blaster
1 Hammerhead with railgun, smart missiles, decoy launchers and disruption pod

Laertes: 750 pts of Necrons
1 Lord with resurrection orb
11 Warriors
10 Warriors
3 Destroyers
1 Heavy Destroyer

After the last game (battle report by <Zorcon> and <Laertes>), I really wanted my crisis suits to perform better. I knew Laertes would be targeting them with his destroyers, but I hadn’t really come up with a plan yet.

Mission: Secure and Control / Deployment: Pitched Battle

Setup:
We rolled a 2 for the Secure and Control mission, so we both had one objective marker to place, and did so in our respective deployment zones. Like the last battle, this was a low point-value game, so we opted for a 4’ x 4’ board. Also like last battle, Laertes won the roll and chose to set up first.

Laertes lined up his forces along the edge of his deployment zone. To his left was a unit of warriors guarding an objective, then his lord with the other unit of warriors in the middle. To his right he placed the destroyers, and far right was the heavy destroyer.

I chose to reserve both units of firewarriors , but only one unit in its transport. I placed the suits and railhead to my far left behind a hill. I seized the initiative and got to go first!

Turn 1:
My first turn was pretty quick. The suits were not in range to jump-shoot-jump at the destroyers (and I was not ready to advance them), so they stayed put. Actually, my plan was to make Laertes come to me. All I did was take a shot at the heavy destroyer with the railhead, and missed.

Laertes advanced his lord and unit of warriors towards my objective. He then slid his destroyers and heavy destroyer to the left. The destroyers caught a glimpse of one of my suits and managed to take it out. The heavy destroyer hit but failed to wound the railhead.

Turn 2:
Most of my reserves showed up – both units of firewarriors and one fish. I placed the fish with troops next to my objective and the unit of warriors to my far right. I decided to make a move for the forest with my suits and get a better position to thwart the destroyers. The railhead took a shot and missed the heavy destroyer.

Laertes unloaded the mighty firepower of his devastators on my suits and took them all out. His heavy destroyer hit and stunned the hammerhead. His lord and warriors advanced but got hung up on a fence mid field.

Turn 3:
No reserves came on board. In hindsight, I made a mistake here. I should have advanced my railhead, but since I couldn’t get to a point to target the heavy destroyer out of cover, at the time, I didn’t see the point. So I didn’t move, shot at, and missed the heavy destroyer. My fish dropped its load of troops and drones at the objective and made a screening advance towards the necon’s front line. I then moved the other unit of warriors up to my objective.

Laertes didn’t move either unit of warriors. The unit by the objective shot at the fish, stunning the crew and taking out the burst cannon. The unint in the middle of the field shot at my warriors holding my objective, scoring a few wounds. He then swung the destroyers towards his front lines. Lastly the heavy destroyer hit, but failed to damage the railhead.

Turn 4:
Again, no reserves showed up. I tightened my units around my objective, and shot at the lead necron unit, causing a wound. The railhead took a shot at, but missed the heavy destroyer.

Laertes returned fire on the railhead, and again failed to cause any damage (seeing a pattern yet?). The destroyers continued towards the middle of the board. The forward unit took out a few more firewarriors guarding my objective.

Turn 5:
Not surprisingly, my last devilfish showed up! I placed it as far forward as I could keeping it between the destroyers and my objective. My forward fish tried to tank shock the necron lord and unit of warriors, and then pushed forward to contest Laertes objective. My hammerhead finally took out the heavy destroyer. I regrouped the remaining firewarriors around thee objective, preparing for a charge by the necrons.

Laertes advanced his destroyers and nearly completely wiped out my firewarriors, the few survivors fell back. My devilfish was destroyed by heavy fire from the warriors, freeing up Laertes’ objective. His lord and warriors near the center of the board advance towards my objective.

That was the end of the game. Lucky for me as one more turn would have definitely turned into a loss.

Result: Tactical Draw (Zorcon 1 / Laertes 1)

It wasn’t until the end of the game that I realized a mistake I made before the game even started. When I assembled my hammerhead for the battle (adding all the wargear and weapon loadouts) I accidentally placed burst cannons instead of SMS in the drone sockets. I can’t say this had a major impact on the game, but there were one or two turns I would have been able to fire them.

Once again the destroyers owned my suits. But what bothers me most is that freaking back and fourth with the heavy destroyer. Even though I eventually took him out, I spent the entire game to do it (and the same in game 1). I consider that exchange a loss (in both games).

In a weird way, I consider this game a win for me. In the last two games, comparing our armies, Laertes has the game won on paper:

1 necron lord and 21 warriors vs 18 fire warriors and 2 devilfish (Laertes wins)
3 destroyers vs 1 crisis suit commander and 2 crisis suits (Laertes wins BIG)
1 heavy destroyer vs 1 hammerhead (Laertes wins on point exchange)

So any result that is not a loss for me is a moral vicory!

PHOTO NOTE: I'm not sure what happened, but in a few of the pictures, the lower right corner was black. I copy/pasted a corner from a different shot, and you may notice a double image of the hammerhead.

Tau Objective Markers WIP

2009-10-22T02:23:00.000-07:00

Any of these objective markers will be great in a standard game, but I did keep the Key Building Strategem from Cities of Death in mind while designing them.

WEAPONS DEPOT
I used a prescription bottle, a gun drone, and some legos. Think of a gun/equipment locker meets drop pod. This will be a great Ammunition Store Strategem.

CRASHED ESCAPE POD
This is part of a Batman Happy Meal toy and some tau commander bitz. I will use this for a Sacred Ground Strategem.

BACTA TANK
OK, this mock-up is a little crude... it will get better. Lots of found bits, and spare model parts in this one. Obviously this will be used for a Medicae Strategem.

COMM TOWER
This is the top half of my first attempt at a Sensor Tower based of the one by Forge World (found <here>), with a few tau bitz added. This marker could either be a Command Center or Observation Point Strategem.

FUEL TANK
The base of this is piece is a cap from a can of shaving cream with obligatory tau bitz. This is the Fuel Dump Strategem.

POWER GENERATOR
I used the toes from an old model robot, devilfish side hatches, and wooded discs to make this piece. Another obvious one... I'll use this for a Power Generator Strategem.

Tau vs Necrons (750pt) Battle Report (Zorcon's Perspective)

2009-10-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

Well, this battle report is a "little" out dated... but it has been sitting in my draft box half complete for $%^& weeks! I finally got it together to finish it…

Battle Report Zorcon (Tau) vs Laertes (Necrons)
This was our first 5th edition game. We had the rules down better then we when we dipped our toes in 4th edition for the first time (IMO anyway). I still need more games under my belt in the same rules set to get a better handle on what units can and cant do (especially mine).

Since 1st edition 40k, I have always been a jar-head (weather playing my custom blend of marines or charging into battle with Khorne). So when we decided to try our hand at playing 40k again a few years back, I decided to try something different and started building a Tau army. I played them in all THREE of our 4th edition battles, and continue with them in our 5th edition games. Laertes switched it up, so rather than facing his Witchhunters, I was facing his Necrons.

Zorcon: 750 points of Tau
1 Shas’o with missile pod, plasma rifle, and multi tracker
9 Warriors and Devilfish with disruption pod
9 Warriors and Devilfish with disruption pod
2 Crisis Suits with burst cannon and fusion blaster
1 Hammerhead with railgun, smart missiles, decoy launchers and disruption pod

Laertes: 750 pts of Necrons
1 Lord with resurrection orb
11 Warriors
10 Warriors
3 Destroyers
1 Heavy Destroyer

Right from the start, I think Laertes has a slight advantage here. This was the first time I have ever faced Necrons (any, not just his). On the flip side, Laertes has seen my Tau across the table top 3 previous times.

Mission: Annihilation / Deployment: Pitched Battle

Setup:
Because of the low point total of out forces, we chose to use a smaller 4’ x 4’ battle board. We will upgrade to a larger board when we increase the point totals. Laertes won initiative, and set up first. He set up everything in his left quarter centered on a dead forest. I set up next, with my forces spread out: Suits, Fish, Railhead, and Fish. All troops were tucked away in their transports. Neither of us had any non-standard deploying units.

Turn 1:
Laertes advanced his destroyers and heavy destroyer, taking advantage of an intervening hill. The heavy destroyer took a shot at the hammerhead with no effect. The warriors and lord remained in/behind the forest.

I sent both fish down opposite flanks, with the suits following the fish on my left. Even though his heavy destroyer didn’t hurt me, I cautiously moved my railhead tight behind a hill, giving up a shot.

Turn 2:
Laertes sent the destroyers across the battlefield after my suits, destroying the commander and wounding and elite. His heavy destroyer again shot at the hammerhead with no effect. One unit of warriors advanced in preparation for on of the fish, and the lord and other unit of warriors stayed in the forest.

I had the fish on the right flank drop its load a turn too early, so the warriors were too far away to unleash all their fire. The fish and suits to the left continued to advance. The suit’s burst cannons were no match for the destroyers, and the fusion blasters were out of range. My railhead took a shot at the heavy destroyer and missed.

Turn 3:
Laetes sent the heavy destroyer in for the kill and made a move for the rear armor of the railhead. But again he hit and failed to penetrate the massive armor of my tank! The destroyers shot at my suits but caused no damage. The lord and warriors in the forest returned fire on the warriors to my right and killed a number of firewarriors sending them off running. His other unit of warriors lined up for the impending “fish of fury” maneuver and managed to take out the fish’s burst cannon.

I rallied the remaining firewarriors, and moved the fish into range to pick up the survivors. My railhead spun around, and unleashed all its firepower on the heavy destroyer killing it. My crisis suits pulled off a jump-shoot-jump maneuver taking out a destroyer. For the first time, I was successful in performing the fish of fury and sent a hail of fire at the necron warriors… netting ONE necron!!

Turn 4:
Laertes closes in on my fish and firewarriors on my left with his destroyers and a unit of necron warriors taking out about half. My guys are resolute though and hold their ground. His lord and warriors in the forest stay there.

My remaining firewarriors fired into the necron warriors, but only wounded one (and he came back later). My suits and hammerhead shot at, and closed in on the destroyers, but caused no wounds. I sent the fish with 4 warriors to the left along my deployment zone.

Turn 5:
Laertes continued pushing forward with the destroyers and necron warriors and eliminated every single firewarrior. His lord and warriors in the forest remained in place.

I withdrew my firewarriorless devilfish. My railhead took out a second destroyer. The suits regrouped behind a hill, and the other fish continued along my deployment zone.

At this point I figured the game was over, but the dice said we needed to continue this game one more round.

Turn 6:
Laertes advanced on the empty fish. The destroyer managed to get into LoS with one of the suits behind a hill and took a shot, causing a wound, removing a model. The necrons in the forest sat down and broke out lunch.

I disembarked the gun drones on the empty devilfish purely for KP prevention. My remaining suit withdrew. The railhead parked behind a hill and took a pot shot at and missed the last destroyer. The fish in my deployment zone hid behind a hill.

Again, the dice decided they didn’t want to go back in the box, and forced a seventh turn.

Turn 7:
Laertes moved the destroyer on top of a hill in position to take out the gun drones and did so successfully. His necron warriors tried to blow up the fish, but not surprisingly failed. And the lord and crew in the forest finished up their lunch.

The railhead took out the last destroyer, and my crisis suit managed to wound one necron before the game finally ended.

Result: Laertes Wins (Zorcon 2 KP / Laertes 3 KP)

That’s the nuts and bolts of our first 5th edition battle. Overall, I think I was being too timid with my vehicles, and overreaching with my suits. I also have no idea how to contend with the necrons’ superior toughness, armor and “I’ll be back” rule. Maybe I’ll figure it out for the rematch.

Blood Bowl Showcase: The Dwarf Warhammers

2009-10-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

OK, Ill be honest. This post is a deliberate attempt to delay finishing my 2 neglected battle reports vs Laertes' necrons, as I am finding it very difficult to sit down and write the battle report(s)... so now back to stalling...

Blood Bowl is probably (nah... definitely) my favorite Games Workshop game. It wasn't my first introduction to GW games (maybe third or forth), but it was one that captured my imagination, and one I was good at.

The Dwarf Warmammers are one of the iconic teams portrayed in the fluff of the game . This team was primarily played by one of my friends. At the time, there was only one other member of my group that was into modeling, so I wound up buying and painting almost everyone's team(s) - although one buddy did split the cost of figures with me. I didn't mind as I like painting as much as playing, and I consider myself an avid collector, and a "consumerist".

Even though my gaming group rarely plays this game anymore, I keep tabs on the living rulebook found at GW Specialists site, <here>. Over the years I have occasionally gone back and updated a team to comply with the current rules set. Primarily this was refreshing the paint job, adding the support staff, but sometimes included repurposing and/or adding new player positions.

In the case of the Dwarf Warhammers, throwers, catchers and linemen were phased out, while 2 runners and 2 troll slayers were added to the roster. The team in its current form (LRB5 rules set) has 15 regular players.

9 Blockers (plastic Dungeon Bowl linemen and 2nd edition metal blockers)
2 Runners (repurposed 2nd edition kickers)
2 Blitzers (converted WHFB regiment dwarves from the "original" white plastic box set)
2 Troll Slayers

They are supported by 5 secret weapon players/starplayers to round out a team of 20 players. Except for Ironjaw, these are all 2nd edition figures.

Deathroller
Boomer Eziasson
Grim Ironjaw
Flint Churnblade
"Tin Man" (this guy is from the WHFB range, and has been a counts-as ogre ally, counts-as second deathroller, and also a homebrew secret weapon)

The more "recent" additions to this team are in the support staff. Early on, other than the occasional cheerleader, casualty, or fan figure I came across, I never bothered with representing "off-the-pitch" characters. It wasn't until I played 3rd edition, and started following some of the fan forums, that I bagan to fill out the support staff.

Assistant Coach, Coach, and Casualty (used as an Assistant Coach)
Wizard and Apothecary
3 Cheerleaders

Historically, (within my gaming group) The Dwarf Warhammers have won more games than lost, but they are considered a 2nd teir team. Weather this is due to the team, or the player(s) is for a separate discussion.

This team is probably my most "complete" Blood Bowl team. But I have 5 others that are a close to "complete"... The Greenfield Packers, The Black Water Oilers, The Chaos All-Stars, The Bright Axes, and The Darkside Cowboys.

Gaurdsmen and Timescape

2009-10-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 groups of figures I just finished for our Dark Heresy campaign. Five 1st edition era Imperial Guardsman, and 5 characters from the 2nd edition Talisman expansion Timescape. The guardsman are just simple paint jobs, based of the original guardsman paint scheme. I dug the Talisman figures out of the game box and "freshened" them up.

Adeptus Arbites

2009-10-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

I have had a portion of this project on my "to do" list for many years. Adeptus-B and I were very active playing Necromunda for almost 2-years, and I was looking to create a new gang. It started with some old 2nd edition plastic space marine scouts that I wanted to convert to a unit of Arbites with power mauls and suppression shields. After converting the first one, I gathered up the remaining bitz needed to convert the rest of a squad. I will add a post later about what I did to convert them.

Later, I picked up a handful of actual Arbites from GW mail order. Unfortunately we stopped playing Necromunda before I got around to them. Well, now that we are playing Dark Heresy, this project not only moved to the top of the list, it has greatly expanded.

I should point out that I have an obsession to make my figures as multi-purpose as possible. This is one reason why I tend towards "generic", similarly styled bases on all of my minis. Only recently have I began to be more creative, but I still try to keep them somewhat "uniform". But it is not just the bases... for fantasy, I kept mindful that my orcs and goblins should be able to fulfill the role of many types of D&D encounters as well as units in a WHFB orc army.

What I have now is 3 character models, 3 5-man units, a bike, and 3 (counts as) rhinos. These will easily be able to function in a wide variety of roles in Dark Heresy, as a very tough gang in Necromunda, or as a detachment to any Imperial-themed army in WH40K.

I found the vehicles at a local Dollar Tree and added various bits from mk1 rhinos, vehicle accessory sprues, and other odd pieces (I will discuss the details in a later post). Amazingly, they have the same foot print as a mk1 rhino. I envision 2 of them as "hummer" style troop transports, and the other as a command or communications vehicle. One of the character models is lightly converted from the Battle For Macragge set, and I have an old GW Judge Anderson and bike from the Judge Dredd line. I wanted to include a cyber-mastiff and handler in this lot, but I can't buy the cyber-mastiff separately from GW anymore. Any ideas?

As I get farther along, I will add some conversion posts, and a then final completed force.