Injury and new SHINY things!!

Yes, I have been quiet for quite some time...again.Well, life happens to throw strange curve balls sometimes and you just have to enjoy the ride. I had a very hard training period and because of my lack of recovery methods (like stretching etc.) my whole right arm become inflamed and I ruptured my brachialis tendon. So all activities with my right hand become quite restricted. No worries though, life is about learning and I indeed learned my lesson here.

While I coudn´t build or paint anything I had more time to read and search for new projects. Two of them really captured my attention and made my wallet scream. First is the Rum&Bones Kickstarter which started somehow slowly but is now going to very interesting direction with a new faction and all. If you haven´t checked it out, do it now!!

Second upgoming game is The Others - 7sins by Guillotine games and Studio McVey. Holy sh*t those miniatures are fine! I immediately though about horror style Zombicide game when I saw Jason Hendrics showcase the sculpts alongside the Zombicide miniatures!! That guy really knows how to push puddy around!

I think Rum&Bones will steal something like 200 dollars from my wallet and I can´t even imagine how expensive the The Others kickstarter will be (it is rumoured to be Kickstarter). Well, as I said, life is a strange creature and you just have to enjoy all of it´s gifts (no matter if those are sometimes costly)!!

Ron and Bones is back? No, behold the Rum & Bones!

There are few things that I regret in my hobby career (and in life actually) but one thing is that I never invested in the Ron & Bones game by Tale of War years ago. It had magnificent figures which oozed atmosphere!

I don´t know anything about the game mechanics but I read somewhere that it was the one downfall of this game. So that opportunity was lost! But BEHOLD, (have you noticed that I like to use this word) one of the industry´s giants, CoolMiniOrNot, bought the rights of this game and is bringing it back with a new, cool and innovative name, Rum and Bones!

The figures seems to be slightly different in style but are still very appealing. You can read the early review from the Bite The Dice. If the rumours and the current trend is right we will soon have a new Kickstarter coming our way. I don´t like the idea because that means I HAVE TO GET THIS GAME!!

Pimp Your Zombicide!

On a few occasions I have mentioned that I´m planning to make some custom mission, objectives and characters in to the Zombicide. My initial plan is to add modern soldiers with humans-fight-back and rescue-type of missions.

Well, clearly I´m not the only one how sees the massive potential of this game and I have to say that the guys behind Castles & Cooks have done a really goof job. I think I just have to buy the miniatures and try these! Click the pictures for details and more characters!

 

Hey, come on. Who wouldn´t want to battle the zombies with Batman?

 
I love this stuff!!

Until it feels right..

When I build my harbor houses I remember that somebody asked me why it took so long to finish only three houses. I said that I call the project finished when it feels right. Now the same is happening with the Zombicide survivors. I try to follow the character sheets colors but still try to work as fast as possible. The funny thing is that when something doesn´t feel right I just can´t let it be.

I painted Watts trousers brown and moved on but there was something wrong. I pondered it for a while and decided that the brown on the trousers was too cold. So I opted for warmer color, Bestial Brown. The difference is not huge BUT it felt right immediately.

Bestial Brown on the right

Bestial brown on the left. Here you can see the difference better

Well whats the point? The point is that although this correction took only 5 minutes, imagine how long it takes me to build or correct something big or huge when "it doesn´t feel right"? So don´t ask me when the harbor TABLE is ready =)

Slow progress

It´s really annoying when your own mistakes and laziness creeps up with you after some time. Now that my painting table is in order and I´m back painting some miniatures, I constantly have to stop and maintain my paints because they resemble more snot than paint. This of course have happened because I obviously haven´t had the time and effort to do something about my large collection of paints for quite some time. Yes, it would take some time to do this every now and then but in hindsight it wouldn´t be a annoying little problem when painting.

Well, live and learn. Here is Watts at the moment.

Must...buy...X-Wing...

I have had a little temptation to invest some cash to the X-wing and I have to say that watching this battle doesn´t make the decision NOT to buy any of the ships any easier...

Very nice miniatures

I received a while ago little baggage from Statuesque Miniatures and have to say that I´m very pleased about the quality of the miniatures which came in that baggage. The miniatures are from their Pulp category and are named "Lillie Poots" and "Frothing Loonies". Here is what I got:

As you can see these are metal and Loonies come with standard bases and Poots have a smaller round base. The details are very good and there is very little mold lines. Here are the Loonies

You have two sprues where to chose the heads and there are really good expressions on the faces

 Here is a close up:

Then there is the "Lillie Poots". Again very nice little miniature and has that "where am I" or "whats there in the darkness" feeling to it!

I bought these for some thematic Zombicide mission and now that I have seen the quality of these miniatures I have to say that I´m little sad that I didn´t also order these miniatures at the same time:

I´m pretty sure that I will purchase these also because my mind just explodes from mission ideas just by looking at these miniatures. Well, have to paint the Loonies and Poots first. And the Season 2 survivors. And the Season 2 Zombies. And work on my harbor board. And finish the gate. And maybe start the 3D-board for the Zombicide. And try to live, train and spend some time with the family. Hmmm...and sleep. 

But hey, it´s good to plan well ahead! 

Painting Zombicide Season 2 Survivors.

I finally got my hobby hut in order (it took almost three weeks) and because it´s now clean and really invites you to do something I immediately got the new survivors out and started painting.

The fun side is that now I also have to paint the Zombivor version, not just the survivors. I think that I will tackle two survivors at a time so four minis under the brush at the same time.

 I really think that the details of these minis are exceptional in spite that these are rather soft plastic. When compared to the Season 1 survivors the Guillotine Games have really pushed the quality forward. I remember that Wanda from Season 1 was quite bad but every mini in Season 2 seems to be ok.

I have used white under paint before for important figures and I used it here also. White gives a nice "pop" and brightness for the colors and this way the survivors differ nicely from the masses of zombies (which have a brown base coat and a heavy dark wash). Now days I use white glossy spray paint from the local hardware shop because it´s cheap and I think that the next layer of paint spreads really well over it.

First survivors who get the paintjob are Grindlock and Watts!

I like to follow the paint scheme from the cards with the figures so that the aesthetics of the game remain. So first the white, then the base colors and finally some highlights. Nothing fancy or time consuming. Here is a line up after the base colors:

These will rock!!

If you do something, do it right!

I have to say that Demigods Rising is really turning out to be a fine investment. The game looks superb and the miniatures should be quite outstanding BUT the guys behind it send all the backers a Print-and-Play version of the game!! Great!

Well of course I don´t have anybody to play it with but the idea is rather pleasing if you consider that the actual game will be shipped some where near next summer. Now you can see all the cards and other details and although these could change, it´s nice to tinker around with these. I can really see that this will even more build the hype around this game.

They also are building up a forum for the backers to discuss and give feedback of the game. This kind of activity really deserves an applause and as a backer you really think that your opinion is wanted and heard (no matter what the reality is).

If you commit yourself to something, do it right from the start and you can even get something out of it! 

The fever rises!

Darn. Although I just wrote that I have but the Zombicide 3D-board on hold, I made a dirt cheap find at the local flea market and I´m sure that you can gues in which game these would be quite perfect. Darn..

 
On top of this, Hasslefree miniatures has had a restock of the soldier miniatures that I was eyeballing. Darn x2..

If I had the time..

Well, what would I play if I had the time and some dedicated opponents? When I want to reset my brain from daily activities and all of the normal stuff I often, if I´m not working out, I browse through interesting games. I keep a list in my mind of these games in a hope that someday I will be able to own and play them. What are the top games that I haven´t played? Here is my top list(which is evolving constantly):

X-Wing

Star Wars, enough? I love the mechanics of the Wings of War (which I own) and what I have been reading through internet is that the mechanics in X-wing follow the same principles in a more complex way. All the different equipment´s and pilots make the whole thing even more interesting.

Miniatures are a huuuge plus for me and because those are pre-painted it wouldn´t  be another painting chore when acquired. Of course I would paint them, no doubt about that, but you got the idea. It would be also cool to paint your own galaxy in which the battles would be solved. There are inspiring examples of this on the internet and here is one of them from the DakkaDakka forum:

Mage Wars

In 1987 I won my first ever boardgame from the local fishing competition, which by the way was my last fishing competition to date. I was the only competitor in my age group and because I won, I had the opportunity to choose between VHS-player (yes I know that most of the readers don´t know what I mean, but that´s why google was invented youngsters) and a boardgame Warloc, the game of dueling wizards! My father wasn´t really pleased when I showed what I chose.

I loved the game where up to six wizards battled over supremasy and I like the game even now. It has a really nice eighties feeling about it. As soon as I saw the Mage Wars, I knew that this would be the rightfully successor of the Warloc after almost thirty years! My decision was carved to the stone after Tom Vasel, who´s taste of games seems to be very close to my, give it a straight ten and name it one of the best games in 2013. Remember that I haven´t actually played this game BUT I have read all the rules and watched play throug´s from youtube etc. so I know something about the mechanisms.

Only thing that keeps me from buying this game immediately is that it has no figures. If it would have some figures I could justify the buy by saying that it´s more a hobby project than a game that I can´t play for ages because I don´t have a opponent. I have used this tactic successfully against my rationality many times (Zombicide Season 1&2&3, Demigods..).

Star Wars, Imperial Assault

Star Wars, enough? This is a no-brainer for me. Because it has very cool miniatures it´s more a hobby project than a game that I can´t play for ages because I don´t have a opponent (sounds so familiar, eh?).

I think that this will be the next big FFG game with lots of new miniatures and mission backs in the footsteps of "quite" popular Descent. This also very strongly tickles my brains hobby side "could this be made in 3D?"

Ok, there is my three top games that I would love to play if I would have the opportunity. There are plenty of interesting games flooding the market now thanks to Kickstarter and it´s almost impossible to keep in pace with all of them!

Time goes too fast..

The gaming weekend came and went too quick as always! When you really immerse yourself in to the games the time just flies and when you have this kind of occasion once in 6 months it feels like an eye blink. That doesn´t take anything away from the experience but still feels too short.

We played many great games (unfortunately Warloc didn´t make the cut) but Zombicide was, like so many other times too, the king of the hill. It´s quite odd that a game can create even cinematic moments so often and Season 2 didn´f fail us! The thrill last for the whole game and now with the Zombivor-rules nobody has to be a side viewer for the rest of the game if grim reaper happens to cut you down early. I´m not going to bore you with a gaming report so here is just some photos:

Season 2, mission 1 starting There were few problems about the mechanics that I have to solve some way.

Who wants to go first?

Mission 2. Notice the basketball "players" in the left who just wait for somebody to free them to the hunt!

How about that, both fences were destroyed consecutively! SWARM!

Things looked little bit grim but behold! Glass bottles and some gasoline in the same room. Let the world burn!!

I also had the chance to photo some of my earlier works which are located on my friends bookshelf.

The trophy cup of our yearly Lord of the Rings Yber tournament.

I ordered these figures from UK and I still think that these rock! Can´t remember the game where these figures are from?

The great Mumakil from the Lord of the Rings SBG. Seems that one ear is lost in the fierce battles

Demigods:Rising

I mentioned earlier that I packed up the Zombicide Season 3 with quite a hefty amount of cash. I originally planned just to get the base set but soon realized that there were just too much cool stuff to leave on the shelf and therefore my Visa got a really bad beat down! After this I swear that I wouldn´t pledge anything BUT BEHOLD, something always comes up!

Demigods: Rising had me already with the fantastic figures and the artwork ( I´m a sucker for beauty) but when I saw the Beast of War´s preview of the game mechanics I realized that I had to get this game. Only down side of all my recent boardgames and new-bought games are the fact that I don´t have any playing company in my area. If there would I think that X-wing would have been ordered long time ago to our household.

Well why did I then order Demigods if I don´t have a playing company? Well the figures are one thing but I really hope and wait that my son will be my next hardcore gaming buddy. He is only three at the moment but we have already played chess and ticket to ride (with heavily modified rules) with a great pleasure. Of course he has been with me when I´m painting so his really interest about miniatures also. It´s funny to think that this vision will maybe happen in three to four years at the earliest but that doesn´t bother me.

Although I don´t have regular gaming nights, this weekend will be different as I will navigate to my former hometown and meet my ex-gaming group. There will be fierce battles in Zombicide Season 2, King of Tokyo and maybe my old favorite Warcraft: The board game. I´m looking really, really, forward to this weekend!

3D Zombicide board

When I first got Zombicide Season 1 and got hooked to it badly (and still am), I almost immediately decided to make an 3D-board for it. When I get fired up on something I´m always really burning!! I ordered a box of foamcore boards and cut twenty mdf-boards which would be the bases of the city tiles. Fortunately faith but some minor obstacles on my path (a baby girl) which directed my attention away for a while.

When Season 2 and now season 3 game knocking, I found that the fire still burned inside me. I still had all the materials so why not start the whole project? Blessed be that I´m heavily in to finishing my harbor board and I soon realized that this project would just be something that, at this time, couldn´t be finished. It would be also hard to decide which season would I build. I have played the Season 1 through and now starting to play season 2. I know that this would be a looong project so before the season 2 boards would be finished I would have finished the season 2 game play and maybe starting the season 3. Therefore the the season 2 tiles would not be in good use for a while.

These are the reason that drove me to put this project on hold for a while. I think that I will consider the project again when I buy these Hasslefree soldiers and start to play some modern wargames, I have visioned that I could somehow combine these figures with Zombicide and play somekind of military mission in it!?! Also Force on Force could be played with these soldiers and the 3D-city tiles. Well the future will tell!

Because I won´t tackle this project we can just marvel one hero who did and with a magnificent style! God bless internet! Make sure that you go through the whole thing, it only gets better!!

Lien from France is the wizard behind these masterpieces

Preparing for the loooong winter

In the middle of all the projects I finally started one of the big ones which has been postponed for too long, the rearrangement of my working station. There are three reasons for this.

1. My son is showing some interest about painting and building stuff so of course I will make a place for him beside of my own
2. I need more storage space for my hexes and the town gate so I upgraded one of the cabinets for a bigger one
3. The winter and the cold is coming and that means that it´s almost impossible to paint the underpaint outside for the minis and terrain so I have to have a painting station inside. This means that I have to purchase a spray booth also because I use an airbrush. I will buy this one because it fits nicely on my desk and it has the extension hose which leads all the bad microparticle-stuff outside. This way my son can also try the airbrush safely.

Everything started with some screwing, measuring, mistakes, swearing, doing again, planning and all the usual stuff which occurs when I start to do something. 

I will also relocate the lights, my music speakers and all the cords. Now it´s the chance to make the place well worth of spending some quality hobby time!

Zombicide Season 1 fully painted!

Finally got the time and energy to shoot all the season 1 miniatures. You can find the pics from the Zombicide-page on the right.

It´s always funny to photograph your own miniatures because it gives you some self respect that you have really complished something worth of photographing. Here is my homemade photo set-up:

Sadly I have lost all my backround papers so I had to shoot against white. Have to find those before next shooting session.

Now that the Season one is painted and played through it´s time to start the Season 2! I think that this one is little bit faster to paint because many of the zombies have the same prison outfit ans there fore the same paint scheme. I also backed up the Season 3 so there will be lot´s of zombies to paint in the near future!

Sometimes you just don´t think things through, part II

Well, sometimes all the little irritating stuff just happens at the same time.

After the little drilling accident I fixed the well and glued the magnet in to it´s base. After the glue dried I tried the well on to the well-hex and go figure, the magnet was glued upside down so it rejected the base! Splendid!

I but the well aside and started to do some painting because you can´t really mess up when you paint the base coat. But behold, just if something looks good after the construction it doesn´t mean that it´s easy to paint. What did I think when I build this one with the torches and all?

Sometimes you just don´t think things through...

Thinking process after the situation:

"So you really, really, thought that it was a good idea to use power drill on your half ready, fully handmade and fragile foam terrain object?"

Small chores..

Well, the painting continues..

While the paint dries I had to figure out something to do. I have planned to use magnets here and there and though to give those a try. 

At the early stages of planning I decided to make all the tall objects removable to make the storage of the hexes easier. There will be some pilars and it was easy to try the magnets here. So some drilling, a magnet and a metal ring, glue and some waiting to give the glue some drying time.

When the glue dried I realized that the bond between the magnet and the ring wasn´t nearly as strong as I hoped. The pilar dropped off as soon I tilted the hex. What a shame. I decided to try two magnets with the base of the statue and this was much more better.

This is a minor setback because I had planned to use the exact combo of magnet+ring on the hexes but that would be a hit and a miss if even a small pilar can brake the bond. It will be quite costly to use two magnets so I have to think about this little bit further.