Long Weekend

This past weekend was a long one here in the US, due to the Labor day holiday. Typically this would have meant some work on miniatures, or painting, or possibly work on the house, but the family and I went to Santa Cruz to visit some relatives of my wife.

While visiting, we did get three games of Settlers of Catan in. Two regular games, and one with the multi player expansion to allow for six players. There was talk of Cities and Knights, but we did not get around to it. In any case, I did not win, but I was not doing too poorly either. Settlers is a great game, but it can be a little frustrating if your initial placement does not work out as well as you planned, or if the dice turn on you... much like a wargame in that regard.

I also had the opportunity to drop in on the local game store, Game-a-Lot Hobby, which is a fairly even mix of RPGs, miniatures, and board games. I like to browse "local" stores, because they often have slightly different games than you read about online, and there are fewer surprises when you hold a box in your hand. They had the issues of White Dwarf that I did not get, and had an advance copy of the Castle Ravenloft board game, which seems pretty large. The cashier said that it was something like Descent, which she did not really like, but was willing to play again. The store also had a selection of Heavy Gear rules and miniatures, which was completely surprising, considering its comparative obscurity once they shifted to 1/144.

So that is how I spent my long weekend. How about you?

White Dwarf

I got my first issue of the new subscription to White Dwarf this week. White Dwarf, for those few of you not in the know, is the Games Workshop house magazine, which features their three main game systems (WH40k, WHFB, LotR), and some hobby content (mostly painting and simple conversions). For some reason, I got a 14 month subscription, which is a nice bonus, probably due to the conversation I had with the mail order troll, in which it was revealed that they had lost my account information, and thus had never contacted me for renewal. (they sent me some back issues also)

In any case, I have been getting WD for the past 10 years at least, and have every issue back to fall of 1996 or so, which is pretty good. The magazine has certainly changed in that period, mostly as GW itself has changed. The hobby content has waxed and waned, and the number of game systems has changed too, as the various specialist games were introduced, faded, and were replaced, and as LotR was added. Rules in the magazine were banished for years, to only just now make a reappearance. It is also a fairly costly subscription, with yearly subscriptions now up to $80, and "freebies" now long gone.

Still, I like the magazine, and its high quality glossy photography. My wife and I thumb through it together at bed time, and then I read it, and set it aside, mostly forgotten. I still remember some articles though, and with my stack of past issues, I can track down a number of useful hobby/painting guides if needed. So for now, the subscription continues. I will try and post a bit about this issue sometime soon.

In a RPG sort of mood

Inspired by Penny Arcade's articles on sandbox gaming [herein defined as free form gaming with multiple plot threads in a prepared semi-dynamic world], and a general interest lately in content creation, I have been thinking quite a bit about a WHFRP campaign, set in southern Wissenland [the southernmost Elector State in the Empire]. Naturally, it would be supported by miniatures, terrain, and so on. (what good game is not?)

Chasing down information online about this sort of gaming, I read the 24 steps of creating a sandbox, as defined by Bat in the Attic, and immediately started to think of ideas and plot lines and so on to hook my PCs. Looking over a map of Wissenland, I decided that Wusterburg looked like a good center for action, with two rivers, the Black Mountains, and other interesting areas to explore and to place. This will also allow for some ruins/empty territory exploring as the area encompasses parts of former Solland. (Elector State ruined by Orcs in 1707 and now subsumed mostly by Wissenland)

This sort of gaming project has extra allure to me because it combines both world building and obsessive detail, both of which I enjoy. It is also useful at the current time, since the offspring makes any actual at home hobby time fleeting at best, and this can be pursued during lunch hours, with mapping and NPC creation.

Difficulties in creating a WHFRP campaign are many fold. First, I do not have any regular playing group. This could be a way to start gaming with some friends of mine. Second, I do not have all the WHFRP books, and would want/have to get more. For example including Skaven would mean that I need the requisite source book. (That the books are now out of print does not help matters any) Third, I have not GMed/DMed/Storytold before. Fourth, I just do not have much free time, and weekly gaming sessions would exceed the time I have. None of these difficulties are insurmountable, but they do make this project more of a fantasy than it would otherwise be.

In any case, this is where my hobby time has been lately, thinking about striking out into the wilds in the southern empire, righting wrongs, and exploring ruins.

As for painting, I have not touched a brush in months... well, a miniature brush that is. I have painted a patch on a wall, and rolled out some paint in the garage, but nothing miniature wise. I think that 2009/10 will go in the records book as the least productive painting year ever.

More Delays

As expected, the arrival of a newborn to our household has completely shut down any hobby activity. Even the Baneblade has been stalled. Sleep has become a priority, and coupled with the various season finale type television and increased numbers of visitors, there just has not been enough time for the lead and plastic.

I have had some time to register for a few miniature related forums, which is good, because passively reading various posts is good, but participating is better. Naturally, this has also awakened various interests, such as my Neo-Soviet vs. Poland StarGrunt II idea, and terrain ideas.

Sometime... I will have time.

Delays

I had thought that my quick progress on the Baneblade would mean that I would have moved on to painting by now, however, like many projects, it seems to have stalled at the around 60% built stage, this time while I try and decide if I should cut up the engine plate to center the engine block.

The model itself is pretty great, with tons of pieces and moving parts, but it could have been designed slightly better to ease assembly. I need to finish up assembly, create a bit of interior for the tank commander, and then paint.

I also completed storage in the garage for my boxes of miniature related items, since the offspring is going to be using the space which was briefly a hobby room. As part of the move, I had to give up my "converting/building" desk, which is too bad. I did manage to build some of the Rogue Trader/Necromunda/RP figures I had planned on, so I should be able to finish and paint those sometime. That is always how it goes though, finish and paint... sometime.

Resolutions

Some of the fine blogs I follow have been featuring 2010 resolutions. In fact, nearly all of them have had such things.

Never being one to buck a useful trend, here are five of mine.

1. Get in a game or two. In 2009 I played no games, and that is silly when one has 10 armies for several game systems. I need to at least play some solo games.
2. Paint more figures. In 2009 I painted very little, mostly due to moving and so on. 2010 needs to be more productive. Idealy I would be painting at least 10 Olly points per month, which would be 120 figures per year.
3. Figure out figure storage. I already have more "finished" figures than storage, so this is already pressing. Some sort of dust proof plastic boxes with steel sheet bottoms would be ideal.
4. Get hobby room finished and set up. Once the in-laws move out of it, the room needs some work to make it hobby friendly. Fortunately, it will be able to exist in that state for several years.
5. Use the airbrush again. Having used my airbush a single time is a great waste. With several tanks to paint, this seems like an ideal way to proceed, and having the hobby room set up will aid as well.

We will see how I did with them as the year progresses.

In other news, the baneblade has arrived, and over a couple of episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation, I managed to get 90% of it clipped out, and spent some time examining the fit of peices and so on. Very impressed with the kit, but is it worth $99 retail? Doubtful. A 1/35 large tank sells for much less, and has far superior detailing, as well as being a more technicaly proficent kit. On the plus side, I was impressed by the slide molding of the gun barrels. Having to fit together, glue, sand, and then drill out guns is a pain.

2010 Project(s)

Well, I had a single vote on the post about "what should I do pre-baby's birth". Fortunately, this vote was my wife's, so it was the most significant. She voted that I should do something frivolous, such as a Baneblade. Well, her encouragement ringing in my ears, I hurried to the Warstore and made my order. (nicely taking advantage of their holiday sale). So that is settled then, and in about a week, I should have the massive box in my hot little hands.

I have already considered modeling options, and reviewed the White Dwarf with assembly instructions, and I think that I will be modifying the model slightly to more closely match the original Forgeworld issue. This will mean moving the sponsons to the 2/3 position, removing some rivets, and a few other cosmetic changes.

In other projects for 2010, I plan to finish painting the Imperial French Battalion I started in July, finish converting and paint the Delaque gangers, and work on my Steel Legion platoon (mostly painting).

As always, we will see how my plans go.

2009 finished, on to 2010!

2009 was exceedingly busy, what with buying a house, packing, moving, unpacking, and of course 101 home projects sucking up every bit of hobby time. Then the in-laws moved in to complicate things.

While I did not get the game table this year, I did get a ton more hobby space, and was able to work on some projects here and there within the moving and house work. I even painted a bit, although not too much this year.

2010 promises to be busy as well, with our first child arriving around the same time we moved into the house in 2009. So work on the nursery and child proofing will have to be added to the list. Fortunately we do not need to do much in that regard.

So, with this upcoming impact to our lives, I am trying to think of a good project for the first quarter of 2010. Something like finishing an army or a similar project which can be started and finished in 3 months.

Current contenders are:
Paint/upgrade/finish 2000 points of Marines
Paint/finish 2500 points of Empire
Paint/upgrade/finish 2000 points of Imperial Guard
Build and paint a small army from my stockpile, such as Dwarfs, Eldar, or Tau
Buy, Build and paint some new project, such as a Baneblade, or similar.
Terrain
or paint random regiments/squads

Hmm, basically could be anything at this point.

Any ideas?

My Painting Desk

Here is my painting desk, now slightly more organized.

The desk was my great-grandfather's, and originally had a paper sorter in the middle. With some effort, I was able to remove that, and got a spice step shelf to sort out my paint.

The desk is not perfect, because it is slightly hard to store my in progress figures in, but the familial connection makes it special.

Now I just need to paint more... as always. With the cooler weather and with winding down most of the larger projects around the house finishing up, hopefully I will do so.

Festive Sales

As usual, the various smaller miniatures companies are having Christmas time sales to tempt me to spend money. For example, Copplestone is having a 15% off sale this weekend (code word xmas), which would be excellent for someone who wanted to pick up a few packs of, say, Neo-Soviets, or the 10mm Fantasy range. The pound is not quite as low as it was this time last year, but still well below two years ago.

Fortunately, I am pretty resolute in my not spending more money. At least until the FLGS has some sort of sale, then I am snapping a few things up.

In other news, I was able to find a new shelf to fit into my painting desk, so spent some time rearranging the paint and other contents. This, of course, replaced me actually painting. I did take a picture of the desk, so at some point I could post about it. Thinking ahead, see?