A few smaller critters for Animal Adventures

The march towards Zoe and I playing Raiders Of The Lost Bark for Animal Adventures continues!

I got the last 2 PC/NPC doggies done the other day.  Tedric and Hartley are smaller (much smaller) dogs being a chihuahua and a french bulldog.

I went pretty basic with the paint jobs on these two but I'm still very happy with how they turned out.  Tedric in particular in my opinion definitely leans more to the fantastic side, largely be virtue of the look of the knife being carried in his mouth.  Until we actually play (hopefully this weekend?) this will be the last of the actual dogs for a while.

Having finished the dogs the next step was to get started on some rats which are the main antagonists of the adventure.

These two small rats are actually small add-ons on the Frostgrave Wizards 2 sprues.  It was nice to have a few rats to get started on.  I'm expecting to get a few more rats and rat swarms from my FLGS this Wednesday and then I should be able to get the last of the models done we need for our game.

-Jay

Up On A Soapbox - Let's put one in the win column!

Hi all!

A couple of months ago I got up on my soapbox to complain about late/delayed/false deliver of crowd-funded gaming products http://worlds-in-conflict.blogspot.com/2020/01/up-on-soapbox-thank-you-for-your.html, today I want to share a quick note about a product that arrived looking awesome, and much sooner than I would have anticipated.

Generally I have been very reluctant to back crowdfunds for single RPG books as the shipping cost to Canada tends to be prohibitive.  Having said that a while back I stumbled on a Kickstarter for a Cthulhu-themed D&D 5e one-shot that I thought would be really appealing to some of my players titled "What Happened To Evy Ashwood?"

On a complete whim I decided to back the project, and then I got my survey right as all everything started going crazy with the global pandemic so I figured that although I would certainly fill it out I'd be waiting weeks or even months to receive my book.  I completed my survey last week, my book arrived today!  I haven't had a chance to read through the adventure yet, but the book is physically gorgeous and contains both a 40 page one-shot adventure, and 24 additional pages of mythos inspired items and critters.

A full review will be forth-coming but I wanted to speak up and celebrate a small publisher REALLY exceeding my expectations and delivering a great looking product promptly.

Thanks Midnight Tower!  I am definitely excited to back whatever you have coming next!

-Jay

Getting ready for some Animal Adventures!

After years (holy crap, has it really been years?) of saying we're going to play a full-on D&D game Zoe and I are actually doing it.

With the release of the Animal Adventures lines from Steamforged Games along with some free published adventures on Steamforged's website we're almost ready to rock. 

Zoe has painted her first character.  I'm painting the baddies as well as the other 3 featured player character models in the first adventure.  I've also printed the module and am mounting the encounter maps on foam-core to use with miniatures once we get rolling.

First up I finally finished painting Cerysse the Cleric.

Cerysse was one of the miniatures from the first Dungeons & Doggies set that launched this universe.  I really liked this St Bernard model and I think one of the things about it that really appealed to me is that Cerysse wouldn't look out of place in a non-animal based game as a pack animal for a more conventional group of adventurers.

Zoe painted Cornelius the Wizard.

Cornelius is basically the poster-dog for the Dungeons & Doggies line and features prominently in a ton of the line's art.  Zoe seemed drawn to the cool hat and friendly face.

While we were getting some painting in Zoe also knocked out a wolf that we've had sitting around primed for a while.

Can't remember if this is a Reaper or WizKids model (it was already based and primed) but I'm sure it was part of a familiar pack.

I've got 2 more dogs to do as well as some villainous animal characters and then we're off to adventure!

-Jay

These models as well as the their villainous opponents and loyal friends are available from your Friendly Local Game Store.

Get out and support your friendly local game store

Hi all!

I'm going to climb back up on my soapbox but with what I hope is more positive, and frankly more of an ask.

As we face the current challenge of the day and many of us find ourselves self-isolating local small businesses are struggling as we all stay away from outside contact and the greater public at large.

Your individual health and safety should of course be your main priority but for those of you who are planning a hobby purchase to keep yourselves occupied can I ask for a small favour?  Please make your purchase from your friendly local game store.  Ordering online through a mass product provider is easy but your FLGS really counts on your business and provides you with a hub for your gaming community.  Not only do I REALLY appreciate my FLGS but I (like many of you) am really looking forward to what it will continue providing me with once everything goes back to normal.

I want to be crystal clear; I do not own, work in, or supply any game store, I am merely a grateful customer who wants to see our hobby community hubs come out the other side of our current struggles as strong and positive as they were before all this began.

And now without any further rambling on my part I would like to share a quick, unpaid, promo for MY Friendly Local Game Store.  And if you live anywhere in Canada they can be your Friendly Local Game Store too.  Please check out their website and if there's a purchase in your future please send it their way.

Strategies Games & Hobbies www.strategiesgames.ca in Vancouver has been serving the gaming needs of the greater Vancouver area with 5 star service and an excellent product selection for years.  They have some of the most knowledgeable and friendly staff I have encountered in my 35+ years in gaming.
In response to the current situation they are supplementing their business offering with expanded mail order service (many more items than listed on their website, call or email them for additional info), and curbside pickup for customers local to the Vancouver area.
I'm asking as a longtime friend, customer and supporter that you check them out.  I'll be amazed if after an interaction or two they don't become your first choice for your board/card/miniature/family gaming purchases.

Thanks all, and to anyone who follows me regularly I don't ask this frequently but please reshare this post wherever you can.

-Jay

Review - Byte Me Games MasterPad

Almost since the beginning of the tabletop RPG industry gamers have broken down into two categories; theater of the mind players, and players who use miniatures (or counters or standees).  As much as I enjoy and respect theater of the mind my first choice has always been gaming with miniatures.  Over the years many companies have provided mats, tiles and books to support miniature gaming.  Today I'll be looking at Byte Me Games' MasterPad.

MasterPad comes as a spiral-bound 30 page booklet with full-colour dungeon map sections on one side, and 1" blank graphs on the other side for creating your own maps and tiles sized for traditional gaming miniatures.

My initial impression of MasterPad was instant excitement. I run a lot of games, and consistently do not run them at my own home.  This means more portable gaming accessories are instantly appealing to me.  Once I started delving a bit deeper I found more to be enthusiastic about.  The look of the tiles is nice and clean with serviceable grid markings that don't get in the way or make you overly aware that you are looking at a grid.

One of the things I was actually surprised by was how well the physical quality of the product functioned on the tabletop.  Historically one of the things I have not liked about gaming tile sets is that they are frequently printed on what is intended to be a thick high-quality card-stock.  I say 'intended' because the problem I have frequently experienced is that thicker heavier card-stock tends to warp and curl which makes them almost immediately unusable.  If the tiles curl they no longer link up and function as intended.  MasterPad is printed on heavy paper, but paper none-the-less.  I was initially skeptical of what I perceived as being of lower quality but after heavily using the MasterPad tiles for a couple of weeks the tiles are perfectly flat, and I suspect if they were to warp or distort they could be more easily re-flattened than card.

Overall I think MasterPad is a terrific product and a welcome addition to any DMs toolkit.  Anyone who uses miniatures or has been considering using miniatures but wasn't sure what to use as a gaming surface should definitely get their hands on a MasterPad.

MasterPad is available from Byte Me Games who can be reached either through their website at https://bytemegamez.com or through Twitter at @ByteMe_Games

-Jay