Dreadfull Insomnia Ideas

http://papafakis.blogspot.com/2014/07/oldschool-dreadnoughts.html?m=1

It's hard to be a GW gamer.  I went into my FLG/CS to get some 40mm bases and lady had no idea what I was talking about.  There was a single figure on the shelf that was almost 40 bucks (the admittedly cool AM magos). I am trying to transcend GW brand-loyalty and just move into the realm of having fun and not spending a boatload of cash.  I tried to grab an old school RT dreadnought off of eBay last month. I was good to go right until literally the very last moment and the thing was sniped and it rankled me bitterly. But look at those models: they are a terrific base for conversions, the sculpts are fairly simple and straight forward, and they appeal very much to the old school line in my brain.

I spent the early evening in a fugue of thinking about casting bases and my own figs, just to learn how one does this particular thing.

I want to have a small force made explicitly of non-GW models painted and configured to meet 40K fluff, just for use in RT and Inquisimunda games. Something with beast men and angry robots and some mechanized evil wizards. I think I posted some army ideas some months ago. To my mind, every figure would be a conversion and a kitbash

I could start with these Roman Legionaries I have laying around, maybe. A Fallout NV-inspired Caesar's legions?  The models are slightly smallish but on proper bases it could be fun. Hmm.

Roman las-gun troops, beast men elites, rocket-men fast attack, maybe a couple of big-ass death ray wielding robots. The Laser Legion of Lord Macharius. An original (probably a recast!) of Solar Macharius goes for like 45 dollars on eBay, last time I checked.  He's a worthy figure to kitbash from other pieces, in my humble opinion.

Hmm

Added to my feverish enthusiasm for my GS forces and the table and terrain, what I don't need is more products and inspiration...

Anyways, another dread stand-in for your inspirations

http://maxmini.eu/miniatures/andromech-gothbot-miniature

Man, the problem with sleeping for like 4 hours a night for a couple of weeks is that even when you need and want to sleep it gets to be work. Went to bed at 9:00, up at 2:30...  Damn this phone and its light in my brain!

 

Session Tracker Freebie

Fahhh!  the Quantum Ogre has attacked!  This blog's updates are coming more slowly and less accurately than before... For which I am not expressing guilt - my hobby/gaming is as regular on the DM end as ever, and furthermore as my other awesome blog shows, I am productive after a fashion and keeping it on the learning end and having fun.  But traditional Fantasy/Sci-Fi Dungeon Crawling gaming (as a genre or mode) is becoming less central and more like the sprinkles on a really fun donut LIKE THIS ONE

AS I WAS SAYING that encompasses a lot of hands on and cerebral and social stuff for me.  I regularly run games, but rarely play. Not for lack of interest but when the building of a hive city in my basement and making and painting the inhabitants is the thing, then it must come after family life and leave narrow margins for other things. And of course I prefer to run games more than play on the PC side, these days.  Not because my Hangout community peers aren't great but...  I don't know. I don't see a great number of games I'm interested in playing in for some reason. I think Dave Y.'s introduction to In A Wicked Age really blew the doors off for me.  I think probably Camp Nerdly is a turning point and as my kid gets older and the wife is more into it, I think I'll try to do it more.

Anyways, I MADE THIS. It's a tracking sheet and fairly useful for the kind of game I usually run.  I try to refer to PCs and henchies by name - maybe it helps immersion, I don't know.  GLAMROD THE ELF, WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?  BEWARE THE SACRILEGE!  We all have a little thing we do like this to keep our SAN score up; its use ought to be fairly self-evident. I think when I ran barrowmaze, like 95 percent of the games conformed to this sort of format.  Maybe that's why I am running out of steam on this end for gaming of a particular type.  It seems like all games I've played or run or seen sort of go like this...  Not that it's bad - I always have fun and I think the players do, too.  One little tool in your box of stuffs; surely it's been done and like HEY MAN IF IT MAKES IT EASIER THEN GOOD

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8k5lj5mVs3lT0RCNzU3NE5IQTA

Experiment Success

The Progenitor, Patriarch/Broodlord of the Taint Cola Company

So, I consider the dual-priming method a pretty fun success.  I highly encourage your use of it, if you like easy and handsome results.  I'm happy with my previous attempts at Genestealers, but this new way makes interesting things happen on the model that you might appreciate, too.  Namely, for little in the way of work, you get nice highlights and lowlights (midtones not so great, maybe) and you can embellish those with your style of washes and highlights as you like.  All you need to do is start with black and white primers, then thin down your paints to a glaze, and then off you go.  When the Progenitor's base is done, I will put up a decent pick of him and his scuttling crew.

Observe the differences between the classic Genestealer below left, and her sister to the right, who has been dual-primed.  I like the starker claws on the left but that's about it.  I had serious trouble drybrushing the ridges etc. after priming the model black.  There just wasn't any place to put color on after that.  However, the crevices and lowlights are nicer, maybe.  I'm growing more comfortable with good consistent ink washes and glazes, now, but it's still not something I'm very good at eyeballing.

Anyway, now to finish these and base them as best as I am able... My back is wildly off kilter, and I may save painting and hobbies for tomorrow and just go watch some scary ass movies, instead.

Old-Way of Painting (Left) vs. Dual-Primed Highlight Method

Dual-Primed Genestealers

I'm going slowly on the Cult of Taint Soda, so to speak, but the objects of affection (The Genestealers) are coming along pretty swimmingly.

Trying this dual-priming/pre-shading method I learned from here:

http://www.corehammer.com/painting-classic-genestealers-quickly/

And I like the results enough to keep it up. It seems to me that all the painting I do is a "cheat" somehow but I maybe that's part of the hobby for me. Watching the dry-brushing work, watching the hacking of minis come together.

Beating the system with a subversion

Anyways, we'll see how it goes.

DIY Terrain Progress

I stayed up late last night, again, noodling around and trying things out.  Hot glue was flying and I moved forward with the dual-generators-made-from-kid's-toys. Suitably greebled up and going to flock with some kitty litter/sand/tea combo. I think I will need some matte black spray before I proceed, and maybe a file or something to smooth the edges of the laminate base.  I'll post pictures of that when it's primed and ready.  Meanwhile some shack/platform (shackform?) and a big ass Pthalo Green wall.  These are odd sizes - 2x4's are actually 3 and 3/4 by 1 and 3/4 inches.  Imagine both these puppies liberally slathered in laser-burn, Imperialist Propaganda, and bullet holes.

Also, I've had this Imperial Preacher primed and waiting for paint for maybe 5 years (possibly longer!) and only just late last night got around to sorting him out. My impulse is to use too much wash and I often muddy everything up with one coat too much.  I'll need to sit on it for a little longer and see; maybe I will go back and glaze the shoulder portion of his habit again to get it a little more pink.  Still sorting out skin tones and eyes (after 20 years of painting I know now why I prefer dry-brushed Space Marines. Although I enjoy paining figs I'm not necessarily technically skilled or aesthetically a natural and it takes enough work and patience that I find it aversive sometimes. My eyes don't work like they used too, either...  I have a serious urge to dumpster-dive at work and bring home a dead laser printer to raid its guts.  MUST RESIST.  Just now I found that water has damaged my copy of Space Hulk (well, the components look pretty good but the box has some water damage and appears to have harbored some heretical beetles).  Time to paint all those GS and Termies.  It occurred to me during a brief moment of acrylic-driven clarity that I have a great number of Termies and never field them.  Do I feel like they are cheating, or something?  Gosh, I don't know.  Way back, I think, I always viewed that guy - the one with a jillion termies - as kind of a goat fucker, but now I think it's a matter of inflation and my sins of old are mere pecadilloes.

next: prepping the platforms and gantries