Et tu Albino Rat?

Finished one more rat for Zoe's Animal Adventures game last night.  This time I guess he's a 'boss rat'.

This is another rat from the Malifaux/Through The Breech Brotherhood Of The Rat box set.  Although he's the same size as the other rats he's posed up on his hind legs which I felt made him stand out (no pun intended) more.  I really like the pose on the model and I feel like he'll be a memorable character based largely on that alone.

In addition to the endless parade of rats I also started on some undead for future Animal Adventures outings.

These little guys are one of the extra bits that comes on the Mantic King Of War skeleton sprues.  I thought I had a ton of these but so far have only been able to dig up two.

And please remember that these miniatures and many more are available from your Friendly Local Game Store.

-Jay

Rats!

I can now officially say I'm past the half-way point of getting models done for Zoe's Animal Adventures game!

Her PC and 3 NPCs were all finished by my the time I published my last post and that just left me with 11 models worth of baddies to paint.

I needed a half-dozen rats as they are among the principal antagonists of the early Animal Adventure modules.

These particular rats came from a box set that was a dual purpose Malifaux/Through The Breech scenario pack entitled 'Brotherhood Of The Rat'.  These guys are getting done first but 4 of the remaining 6 figures from that box should feature in an upcoming game for me as well.

Obviously I went really basic on the paint jobs on these guys but I think they're certainly adequate and should provide some suitably scummy opposition for Zoe's heroic dog adventuring party.

Somehow I've gone from getting to play virtually no D&D since the start of the year to having two different games scheduled for this coming week...but more on that shortly.

And please remember these figures along with everything else you need to go adventuring from the comfort of your own home are all available from your Friendly Local Game Store!

-Jay

My first figures for Wolsung SSG

Today I painted the starter box for the Inventors faction for Wolsung SSG.

Wolsung is a steampunk-fantasy-skirmish game that I would say falls halfway between Malifaux and Warmachine in terms of being low vs. high fantasy.  Wolsung feels a lot more grounded than either of those other systems but also includes 'classic' fantasy races (elves, dwarves, gnomes...especially gnomes, etc).  I just downloaded the free rules from Micro Arts Studio's website so I don't know much about it mechanically yet but I know it looks cool.

I started off by painting the Inventors starter box and that's probably exactly what I'll use in my first game.  I have three more single figures (and another one on order) I can paint once I've had some time to digest the rules and figure out what next should look like.

The leader of my inventors team is Thorvald Nielsgaard.  As far as I can tell the two most important things about Thorvald are that he has a giant punchy-fist and that he's Scandi-weigan.

Next up is Alice Tinkerly.  What's funny to me about Alice is that when you collect miniatures you buy a lot of similar stuff (I own multiple lines of space cops for example) but usually that's because it plays to one of your interests.  Somehow unintentionally I've ended up with at least four different steampunk-lady-mechanics for four different systems.

There is also an unnamed lab assistant who seems to be posed like a left-handed baseball pitcher.  The lab assistant also allows me to bring the purple-drank into another one of my miniature collections.

Last but definitely not least are the models that made me choose the Inventors as my starter; the lab golems.  To be honest when I first looked at the box I assumed they were Tuxedo-bots which just seemed like the coolest thing ever.

The other thing I'm stoked about with the Wolfsung figures is that some of my friends keep talking about playing Through The Breech and all of these figures would work for that as well.

It's super-humid outside today so my next choice of paint project will be based on whatever is already primed on my desk.

-Jay
 

You've got a bit of red on you...

I've got a bunch more post apocalyptic miniatures sitting on my desk right now waiting to get some paint but I decided to take a brief break and paint up a Malifaux fig for a game (which I then forgot to bring to the game anyway).

Rafkin the Embalmer is a model that pairs up well (thematically at least) with McMourning and the rest of his 'hospital' staff.

Rafkin embodies the best of the horror and murder themes of Malifaux.  He makes his way through the world by presenting himself as a loyal servant of the Guild while secretly practicing the necromantic arts in the morgues of the city.

That was my slight detour from the apocalypse, back to the wasteland tomorrow.

-Jay

Free mustache rides!

The third of Lucas McCabe's upstanding gentleman adventurers is now done!

The McCabe box came with three 'Wastrels' who are basically men of privilege who have wasted their gifts and now survive on the fringes of society while indulging in the occasional spot of ultra-violence.

In addition to the three Wastrels that came in the starter box I was able to use my 2015 Iron Painter winnings to get the Miss Anne Thrope miniature, so hopefully she will be showing up here tomorrow as well.

-Jay
 

I'm back again!

Hi all.

Wow, its been almost a full month since I posted last.  No tales of busyness or mayhem I just lost my painting mojo for a bit.  I hit one of those walls that's very similar to a new hobbyist trying to get started (I don't have time, I'm not going to finish, there's too much to do, etc) so I'm going to be easing my way back into the swing of things with a few easy wins.  Translation things I started but never quite finished and/or models that are fairly monochromatic.

First up is a Wastrel for Malifaux and/or Through The Breach.  I started running a Through The Breach adventure last year that featured all three Wastrel models fairly heavily but never got to any of the combat encounters they were needed for so they ended up on the perpetual back burner.  One got finished and the other two have been sitting half done for months.

This is the second of my three Wastrels but I have since acquired a fourth.

I'm not sure if this fig will see the table for Malifaux or Through The Breach first but either way he feels like a useful addition to the collection.

-Jay
 

Project Plans For The Next 3 Weeks

Honestly I should probably stop stating my plans because every time I do I end up not entirely following through.  Having said that I have an event coming up that I want to use as a deadline to get some more stuff done so here's my plan for what that looks like.

FROSTGRAVE
I should be able to play Frostgrave one more time before I have to hit the road for work.  For the next scenario from Thaw Of The Lich Lord I will need 4 pillars/columns which will be some cake pillars I'll be painting up and then adding to my scatter terrain as well.  In addition I need 6 Armoured Skeletons which will be represented by Mantic Undead Revenants.   Once I get a few more of those done they will also be joining my Age Of Sigmar Vampire Counts.  That's all I need but I suspect I will try to do a few odds and ends to add to my wandering monsters as well.

Also at the end of the month Lords Of War here in Oakville is hosting a Wizard & Apprentice painting contest.  Speaking honestly I never expect to do that well in painting contests but they are a great way to push yourself to get some stuff done by a fixed date.  The plan is to get the Soothsayer and Apprentice done before the end of the month.

BATMAN
On February 6th my local FLGS will be hosting their 1 year anniversary and is running some mini-games for people to participate in.  For the Batman event each participant is invited to bring in a single character up to 150 points.  I just picked up The Wonderland Gang so even though he's only 75 points I'm going to get the Mad Hatter done up to play with.

MALIFAUX
As part of the same celebration at Lord Of War on February 6th they will also be hosting an Enforcer Brawl.  This is basically a free-for-all where everyone fields a single Enforcer model.  I've got a bunch of Enforcers done but again this is a great push to get something new done.  I'm planning on painting up a Mature Nephilim that I will be needing for a Through The Breach campaign this year.

Well that's the plan.  Will I get it all done (for a change)?  I hope so.

-Jay

Happy (early) Halloween!

Let 'The Night Of The Carver' begin!

One of the things the folks over at Wyrd have added to the second edition of Malifaux is story based encounters.  Some of these encounters come as pre-packaged box sets (The University Of Transmortis being the first one) and some of them revolve around one special character or model who features centrally in a scenario.

The Carver is a Neverborn model that has it's own scenario in Malifaux and has also had a Through The Breach one-shot adventure written around him.  The Carver is one of those new takes on a horror classic that Wyrd seem to do so well.  This time a scarecrow that seems to go one step beyond the stuff of basic nightmares.

I had really hoped to be able to play Night Of The Carver around Halloween but unfortunately it's just not going to work out for me this year.  However on the plus side I've had the good fortune to loan the model out so at least some other players can make use of it and play a cool scenario appropriate to the season.

Best of luck to everyone facing down The Carver this Halloween....you'll need it.

-Jay 

First Thoughts - Through The Breach

I finally ran my first game of Through The Breach tonight and I wanted to share my thoughts on it.

First up I had a strange realisation as I was getting to run the game; this is probably the first completely new RPG I've tried in years.  Every other "new" RPG I've played in at least the last 10 years has more or less been a variation or derivative of D20 Dungeons & Dragons, it was really odd to suddenly find myself doing something completely fresh and new.

For those of you not familiar with the game Through The Breach is the RPG set in the world of Malifaux.  Malifaux has a great backdrop and really well developed art and background so it was super-easy for my players to understand and visualise the world around them.

The big adjustment for gamers who have experience with traditional RPGs is that in Through The Breach none of the Fatemaster's (that's the person running the game) actions outcomes are random.  Basically everything an NPC does has a set value assigned to it and the players actively oppose all the actions of Fatemaster controlled characters.  I found this to be an outstanding mechanic because it meant that every player was actively involved in every action as opposed to sometimes sitting back while the Fatemaster pushed the action.

The one downside is that as new players I didn't feel the game was immediately and automatically intuitive.  There were a couple of occasions where I wasn't 100% sure we were using skills and making flips correctly but I'll figure that out before our next game.  I felt like a few summary charts or cards could have made things a bit simpler but maybe that's what the Fatemaster's Kit is for (I haven't picked that up yet).

I won't go into the details of our adventure as it is part of the ongoing Nythera worldwide event and other groups will still be playing through this adventure for a few more days and I'd hate to spoil anything.

Overall I really enjoyed the game and will definitely play it again.

-Jay

Yep...pretty sure this means I'm an Arcanist player now...

If wrapping up the Oxfordian Mages the other day wasn't enough I finished 3 Fire Gamin tonight.  So that feels like I'm an Arcanist player now.

These were fun (and easy to paint) basically being living fire elementals/imps.  One thing I did differently than I would normally do on figures like this is that I didn't actually use ANY red.  I basically worked through 3 shades of orange and then used yellow to pick out the actual flames.  It's a very basic colour scheme but it looks very tidy and creates a pretty sharp effect, I'm happy with it.

Oddly enough there is a very slim chance I'll actually need these models in the game that I'm playing but I know if I didn't get them painted then I would definitely need them.

-Jay

Wizards!

Lately for someone who doesn't play mages in RPGs or use a lot of wizards in wargames I feel like I'm suddenly painting a lot of spell-caster models.

Today's addition is for Through The Breach although I'm pretty sure this along with a couple of more projects looming on the horizon means I'm also now becoming an Arcanist player for Malifaux as well.

The Oxfordian Mages are a set of 3 Enforcers for Malifaux who provide some spell-casting in a crew beyond the usual Masters and/or Henchmen.  Their background is really cool, they're basically magical students of minor ability from Earthside (the real world of 1901ish) who find their powers greatly amplified when they cross over through the breach into the world of Malifaux.

Conceptually I like these figures a lot and they really feel unique and not like something you're going to find in other model ranges.  The other thing I hadn't really thought of initially is that a long time ago (a year, maybe two) I mentioned I was looking for young male human wizard figs for fantasy RPGs and I'm actually pretty sure that if I need one now I'll be using the Oxfordian Mage in the running post with the purple flames creeping up his arms.

The paint job ended up being a little rushed as I need these and three other figures for a game I'm playing tomorrow but with the exception of the brown looking a little flat I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

There should be one more Malifaux/Through The Breach update tomorrow and then back to Frostgrave for a day or two.

-Jay

Nythera rolls on....

Another week gone by and a bit of work done on updating my Malifaux collection for Nythera and some work done on adding a few things I need for Through The Breach.

First up I just wanted to highlight one of the great things about campaigns/tournament play.  I've had my last 3 unpainted Resurrectionist models sitting on my desk for months because as I moved through various games and projects I just never really circled back around to them, last night 2 of those figs got painted, it's great sometimes to have that extra little push to get you to do something that you wanted to do anyway but kept putting off.

So we'll start with 1 new figure sitting side by side with a re-based figure.  When I started painting for Nythera I did something I almost never do which is to pick a new basing scheme for an already existing force.  Sybelle and the Dead Rider got the cool textured bases from Secret Weapon miniatures and then became the leaders of my Ressurectionist force.  Fast forward 2 games and all my stuff on my old basing scheme looks a little week next to them so I've decided to go back and re-base some stuff.  I re-based the Nurse with the large syringe and then painted the second Nurse to go with her.  They're pretty basic (and one of them almost single handedly cost my me last game) but they're a great addition and as it turns out I will need them in an upcoming Through The Breach game....more on that later.

Next I still had my 2 Onryo from my Kirai box set unpainted, and once again I needed one of them for Through The Breach.  I had started these figures a couple of months ago and what was funny in the end is it took me less than 20 minutes to finish this one but for some reason I had been putting it off for a long time.

And lastly something that's a bit new for me but I will be doing more of over the next couple of weeks, this is a counter/marker for a game.  I can't say what for just yet but all will be revealed in another week.  Traditionally I have been one of those players who uses bases/coins/glass beads/whatever for counters and markers in games but Frostgrave has really encouraged me to step that up.  I got some treasure chest for that game and now I'm going to start creating some more visually interesting stuff for other games as well.

That's it for today, I have 6 more models that NEED to get done by Wednesday this week and then after that I should be able to talk more specifically about exactly what some of this stuff is/was for.

-Jay

Somebody hasn't been updating their blog lately.....

It's been one of those odd breaks again.  The truth is I've been doing a reasonable amount of 'hobbying' but I haven't been blogging much lately.  Same old same old, still struggling with photography issues and clearing workspace....some day...some day....

Lately I've been focusing on getting stuff done for three games; Age Of Sigmar, Frostgrave and Malifaux/Through The Breach.  I'll show you what's gotten done in the last week and then we'll talk about what's next.

First up; NECROMANCERS!

Painting Necromancers is nothing new for me, having many different undead and horror themed armies for different games.  What was different this time out is that these figures were assembled and painted for Frostgrave but made it to the table in 2 Age Of Sigmar games before I finally circled back around to Frostgrave.  Both figs are made out of the Empire Wizard kit with a bretonnian archer head thrown in to make the apprentice appear hooded.  These figures are fairly basic but I'm really happy with how they turned out and so far they have been HUGE contributors in the three games they've played in.

Next up: Bretonnians.....I mean Frostgrave soldiers....

I picked up some bretonnian men-at-arms a while back with the intention of using them for Warmachine or Iron Kingdom roleplaying, once I really saw how they scaled with Privateer Press miniatures I abandoned that idea.  I will be using some more of these figs for an upcoming RPG but in the meantime they made great troopers for Frostgrave.  Having painted a bunch of them now though I can't help but wondering if my Vampire Counts should have some men from Mousillon working for them as well........

Last but not least; Nythera campaign for Malifaux

I had to paint up a henchman to lead my forces in the Nythera campaign for Malifaux and having just picked up Seamus' box I decided on Sybelle.  While I was at it I also added the Dead Rider to give me a decent beat-stick for my Resurrectionists.  The bases on these models will be the basing for my Malifaux stuff going forward, now the question is just what to re-base......

That's got me up-to-date on games I've been wanting to play.  My next three projects are:
1.  Nythera Through The Breach.  This is pretty straight forward, I'm committed to running the first scenario for the campaign in 10 days, I need to get a bunch of stuff done by then.  Model selection and deadline is bascially non-negotiable.
2.  Batman.  I've got a bunch of the Batman stuff from Knight Models and I want to get it done and start playing.  The good news is I really only need to paint 5-6 figs so as soon as my current Nythera stuff is done I should be able to crank it out.
3.   A Red And Pleasant Land.  I need to get some fairly odd miniatures done for my next D&D game set is Zak Smith's Red And Pleasant Land.  I'll leave it at that until I start working on stuff but if you think Alice In Wonderland meets Dracula you won't be too far off.

-Jay

Hello old friend.....

After my latest poll to determine what I should paint next ended in a tie I found myself with Dark Debts and Shadows Of Redchapel in my hands trying to decide which one I would actually paint.

I'm running a little sleep deprived right now and to be perfectly honest I don't even remember putting the Dark Debts box back on the shelf, but Seamus was calling to me and he's been good to me in the past so who am I to argue?

This means I'll be getting back in the Seamus business (that's a pretty dirty business by the way) and in conjunction with the new campaign rules I'll be featuring the lovely Madame Sybelle as my Henchman.  For those of you not familiar Sybelle is the charming lass with the purple mask on the box art.

I'm looking forward to returning where I started in Malifaux, it should feel like I never left.

-Jay

Time once again to tell me what I'm painting next!

Hi all,

Lords Of War Games  in Oakville is running another Malifaux event this fall and I've decided to take another vote on what crew to paint to play in the campaign.

This will be part of a global campaign called Nythera played both as Malifaux and Through The Breach games.

It looks like I'm going to run Through The Breach games but I'm going to use more Malifaux games as an excuse to paint another new crew.  So once again in the spirit of Malifaux I have decided to let the fates (that's you people....you're the fates) decide what I'll be playing painting in the game.  I've narrowed my choices down to three crews, you can vote in the comments section below or through the comments on my Facebook page and same as last time which ever crew gets the most votes wins and I will paint it and use it for the entirety of the campaign.  Voting starts now and closes at noon on Friday August 28th.

The three choices this time out are:

The Relic Hunters-Guild

The Relic Hunters narrowly lost out last time around but they are still awesome looking models that I will get around to painting at some point.  Thematically having a character who reminds us all of Indiana Jones leading an exploration mission would be pretty cool.  The big plus side with The Relic Hunters is that I already own the figures so I wouldn't have to buy anything (so maybe don't vote for this Chris & Jay) and one of them is even already painted!  The downside for me is that I already own the figures so it doesn't give me an excuse to pick up more figures.

Dark Debts-Neverborn

I've started collecting some Neverborn models to play Defence Of Innocence with later on and it occurred to me a few weeks ago that if I just got a master I would also have a workable force.  Jakob Lynch is a degenerate gambler who sells not only his soul but the souls of others for one more chance to come out ahead in Malifaux.  I'll be honest that I know next to nothing about the rules for this crew but they look cool and isn't that what really matters?

Shadows Of Redchapel-Resurrectionists 

The original metals of these figures are what I started with when I originally got into Malifaux.  In a world filled with supernatural monsters and horrors from beyond space and time Seamus stands alone as the thing most citizens of Malifaux are terrified of.  Playing a force led by Seamus would be like coming home for me and I know the mere idea of him strikes fear into some of the opponents I played in first edition.  I had originally decided to stay away from Seamus when 2E came out in the spirit of trying something new but I just can't stay away....

Those are the three choices.
If you follow my blog what do you want to see me paint?
If you're playing in the campaign what do you want to play against?
Do you want me on your side, or do you want my bad luck playing for someone else?

Here we go again!

-Jay

More Vengeful Spirits!

I finished up the two Seishin the other day but I've been struggling to get better pictures of them.

Basically this is another case (like my Arbites and Judge Dredd models) where I've gone with some really dark colours and when I photograph them they just turn out black.

Can anybody suggest either a reasonably priced camera for macro-photography or an add-on for an iPhone?  I have a light box and it doesn't seem to help so I'm pretty sure what I need is better camera hardware.

-Jay

Kirai and her spirit....I want to say....friends?

Got my next two Vengeful Spirit models done tonight.  These models represent Ikiryo (a monstrous manifestation of Kirai's soul) and her Lost Love (the ghost of the governor of Malifaux's son).

These are the two figures in the box that are probably the most thematically connected to Kirai.  I painted Ikiryo to match Kirai so they very much appear linked and although the Lost Love is a spirit I painted him up very much like my more traditional undead.

So far that means I've got 3 of the 7 models from the box done so I feel like I'm in good shape to have my new crew done by Friday!

-Jay

Kirai; Molly's super-best-friend

Last night I got off to a good start on my new Malifaux crew for Gaining Grounds; Vengeful Spirits.

I choose the crew based on the Assault On The Gray Lord scenario/fiction from the Malifaux Crossroads rulebook.  Basically the story depicts Molly and Kirai  as vengeful forces laying waste to some really bad people in Malifaux.  What's cool about it is that it sticks with the idea that Molly and Kirai are both unhinged and lacking in moral compass but it still lets them be the heroines of the story.  One of the other things I really liked about the Vengeful Spirits box is that although it's still Resurrectionists it really does represent some figures and ideas that are completely different than the rest of that collection.

I started off with Kirai because unlike most of the other crew boxes where you can use 50-75% of the models with another Master there are only 2 figures in the entire box I can use if Kirai is not in play.  So it just makes sense to get her done first.  I'm happy with how Kirai turned out but less happy with how she photographed (that's becoming a theme for me), her dress is a very light green (but looks overly yellow in the picture) and the flowers on her dress and in her hair are a very light purple which contrasts well with the darker colours they are set against but somehow they seem washed out and dark in the photo.

At any rate I'm happy to have gotten started and if all goes to plan (does it ever?) I should have this crew done in time to game with this Friday.

Wish me luck!

-Jay

Take Back The Night DONE !!

I finished my last Crooligan in time for my first game with Molly as my Master yesterday.

Unfortunately due to a late start I only got the chance to play about two and a half turns so I didn't get to try out all the fancy rules but I've got to say this is one of the fastest moving crews I've played with so far.

Tomorrow I start on Kirai and hopefully next Friday I'll get to play a full game!

-Jay

Creepy, evil children....

One thing Malifaux seems to  do better than any other game I've played is conjure up images of innocence corrupted.  I still remember when I first got into the game facing Baby Kade (yes, an actual baby) and it seemed far more disturbing fighting a demon baby with a knife than any actual giant monsters in the game.

Fast forward to now-ish and I've got two of my three Crooligans done.

 

The Crooligans as I mentioned before are evil lost souls serving Molly in Malifaux.  Now that I've started painting them I've really warmed up to these figures as they are something unique and give my Resurrectionists something different than the traditional undead war gaming forces.

This leaves me with my last Crooligan and my last Nurse to paint.  Hopefully I'll get those done before the weekend because whether I do or not I'm moving onto my Vengeful Spirits box set once the weekend hits!

-Jay