GW Space Wolves diaroma

GW always has awesome dioramas. Here's their latest:

Assault on Magnir's Crag

Very Elaborate Dwarven Forge Dungeon

http://www.dwarvenforge.com/dwarvenforums/viewtopic.php?id=3066

Very cool! The scary thing is, I'm looking at the scenery pieces in the pictures (other than the DF stuff) going "Yeah, I've got that...and that...and that...just painted that..."

The past is the future

Complaining about the costs of our hobby is common among us gamers, and always has been, as the letter below illustrates. What's interesting is that prices haven't changed all that much in the past 12 years (using his figures). RPGs and minis tend to be higher (though not by a whole lot, and you can still get some RPGs for $30), but supplements in the $15-$30 range are still common.

I am concerned with the ever-rising prices in the gaming industry. I understand that prices rise due to inflation and such, but some of the prices I’ve seen recently have driven me to write this letter. A little over a year ago, a pack of lead miniatures with four figures cost $4.00. Now, a pack of two or three miniatures made from lead-free metal costs anywhere from $6.95-$8.95 or higher. There also is a need for more common monsters and such to be produced in a wider variety of poses. Games also have been affected. The average price of an RPG now is close to $30.00! And supplements for them average from $15.00 to $30.00 also. I know that the companies making these products are in business to make money, but how can you get people involved in a hobby that keeps getting more and more expensive every day?

- Dragon #213, Jan 1995 (Forum letter)

Warhammer Building Set Mini Review

I recently picked up Games Workshop's Warhammer Building Set. I hadn't planned on getting the big box, but I had store credit to burn and, as they say, I couldn't afford not to take advantage of the savings!

The full set (which may not be available anymore; I believe it was a limited release) contains one Watchtower, one Chapel, two Walls and Fences sets, and a Fortified Manor (which is really a Watchtower, Chapel, and Walls/Fences with some extra pieces to combine the tower and chapel and some extra walls for the manor's court).

I've been very slowly assembling the buildings and have primed all the walls and fences; a few of the latter have been painted. Once painted, they look pretty good, though I highly recommend following the picture on the box and covering the bases with static grass. The bases have little definition and look crappy otherwise.

The towers and chapels glue together fairly well. I was surprised, as I expected more flimsiness, but they fit nicely with few gaps. The gaps can be filled in with "green stuff" or some other filler. The instructions from GW are a little ambitious; they instruct you to glue together multiple parts of walls at the same time. I found it easier to do sections at a time (i.e.; the four bottom parts of the tower walls), let the glue dry sufficiently, and then do the next section (i.e.; the four upper parts of the tower walls, glued to the lower parts and each other).

There are tons of little extras to add: hanging ornaments, rifles for the tower battlements, statues, flagpoles, wooden supports, alternate windows, etc. They transform the buildings from simple affairs to the baroque structures you see in Warhammer pictures. There's also enough extras that you can apply them to other buildings you might make or buy.

I won't be painting the buildings until spring, but I plan on having the fences and walls done by the end of winter. Overall, I'm pleased with the set and recommend it if you're comfortable with assembling and painting the components yourself. Note (for whatever it's worth) that I'm going to be using mine for D&D since I don't play WFB.

Nerd Wars Revisited: WoW Players, Guess What - You're Dorks Too

I was perusing this thread on the WoW forums about the new WoW miniatures game, and a couple comments made me laugh:

That's a pretty expensive game of Dorks and Dragons you have there.

It looks like Geekfest 08. Count me out.

'Cuz, you know, countless hours playing WoW isn't a geek activity or somehow is "cooler" than people who play D&D.

I just love people with attitude "my nerd activity is less dorky than your's".

Mini-Review: Eslo Terrain

I recently had some Paypal funds burning a hole in my pocket, so I finally decided to try out a couple products from "Eslo", a German company, distributed in the US through the Tin Dictator. The two pieces I ordered are discussed below. Both are 25/28mm scale.

Woods with Log (also here): This seemed like a decent piece, a good wilderness item. For the most part, it's nice - it looks like it does in the picture. The base is nice and sturdy as well and sits flat. The biggest problem is that the trees ship apart, which makes sense. However, the bases for the pine trees are glued not to the bare base but on top of the static grass. And there is no flat place to glue the deciduous tree that isn't covered with small "rocks" or grass. I suspect the trees are going to fall off after a little use; I'll need to figure out a better way to secure them. I'm a little disappointed in that, as well as the fact that it could have been packaged such that the trees could have already been assembled, given that this piece cost $23. But otherwise it's nice.

Monolith (also here): This piece is nice, looks pretty much exactly like the picture. No further assembly required. It'll look good on the gaming table once I find something to use it for.

Would I buy Eslo again? Very likely, at least for pieces without trees. With trees, I may look elsewhere. On the other hand, I plan on getting started on some of my own scenery soon, so there may not be a need.

I have some more money from selling some D&D miniatures (~$58 for Driz'zt? I can't believe people will pay that...well, more than that because I sold it to a dealer and I know they'll resell it for more than that), so I picked up a couple of 15mm pieces from Crescent Root. I'll post about them when they arrive.

Reaper Pre-Paints and Gamer Elitism

Found out today about this: Reaper is going to be doing pre-painted plastic figures, similar to DDM from WotC, but non-random. I think it's great. I don't feel like going into details, as people in the thread are doing that quite well enough. Basically, if it gets more people into the hobby (or keeps others there), that's great.

Will I be buying any? We'll have to see about the quality. I have to admit that I recently have turned sour on the DDMs. Personally, they're a little too much like toys for me, versus decently-painted metal figures. Other people don't think that way and are very much in the DDMs, which is great. Does it make sense to have a prejudice against one guy of little monster guy versus another kind? No, not really. But as I said, that's my personal feeling. I'm not going to condemn someone else or lament the "death of the hobby" because Reaper is doing pre-painteds.

Unlike some of the commentary I've seen about this announcement. It's akin to the old "RPGs will kill wargaming" grognard elitism, or D&D edition wars, or "CCGs will kill RPGs", or "MMORPGs will kill RPGs", etc.

First of all, get with reality. If this is where the hobby is going, it's not because an evil corporation has it out for you. Times change, trends change. There's no indication Reaper is getting away from metal, regardless of how people want to spin this. And if they do? They presumably would do so because it's in their best interests. Unfortunately, the elitists would rather see a company go under than change to do something they don't like.

Second, get off this attitude of "Well, I put the time into painting and basing my figures, so I shouldn't have to play with someone who just cut corners with pre-painteds." Games are about having fun. If people want to play that way, that's their preference. If you don't want to play with them because they're not as "hardcore" as you, then don't play. But don't condemn other people for not liking the same things you do. Or waiting to dedicate the time you do to your hobby. Besides, if someone can paint half-ways decently, they're almost always going to have better-looking minis than someone who's using pre-paints. If nothing else, you can mentally gloat about how superior your miniatures are.

The real question to ask if you're concerned about the future of unpainted metal is this: How many people who currently buy miniatures will move their dollars over to Reaper's pre-painteds? For the most part, I don't think we'll see an exodus of the painters to buying pre-painted plastics. If you paint miniatures, you do it because you want to, and those people will continue.

Remember: games and hobbies. Some of these people treat them like they're life or death.

Okay - the CRD is pretty cool

I had no plans on getting WotC's Colossal Red Dragon miniature. It didn't look all that great, and for $75? Too much. I did pick up the Gargantuan Black Dragon, since that was more reasonably priced ($30). That one didn't impress me with the pictures I saw either, but when I saw it in person it was pretty cool.

Then I saw a CRD in a local game store. Dammit...

$75 was still too much, so I went to Amazon, where (with shipping) it only came to $56. Still pricey, but closer to an acceptable price (I was hoping to get one for $50). Yes, I know you're supposed to support your FLGS, but as I said, at $75 I wasn't going to buy it anyway. And given everything else I buy at the local game stores (3.5 books, d20 stuff, Reaper figs, Flames of War stuff, scenery, paints, etc.), they're not hurting for my business.

Anyway, while I probably will never get the chance to use the dragon in my games (either one, actually), it's still very cool and worth having.

The New Dwarven Forge Set

I guess the "mystery set" DF has been hinting about is what's advertised in the back of the latest issue of Dungeon: A Medieval Building Set. Basically looks like the dungeon room set, but with wooden floors and walls with exposed timbers and white cracked plaster. There are walls with windows, a few doors, and a bookcase/secret door piece.

Cool idea, but it doesn't quite look right to me; I think there are too many timbers when you put the pieces together. But since I'm a MasterMaze lemming, I'll still probably get it. I believe I suggested something like this years ago, so I probably have a royalty check coming anyway...

What I'd really like to see are pieces to add to the dungeon sets so they can be used to make castles - like walls with gothic-arched windows in them, or wall pieces with battlements.

Great Mapping Tool for MasterMaze

If you use MasterMaze scenery from Dwarven Forge, you'll want to visit this site. It contains tiles for MasterMaze for a program called "Tile System" (originally created to make maps for FFG's Doom game). The "photos" sets work the best.

It's nice to find this kind of thing - it saves me from having to write it myself.

Painting Miniatures...for Victory!

OK, I'm a total geek (but I think that's pretty clear from the site):


(Source for the original posters)

I was proud of myself for finishing seven Flames of War miniatures this weekend so I got all geeky by Photoshopping (actually, "PaintShopProing") some old WW2 posters. Not the best editting job, but I don't have all day...

In case I didn't mention it before, I've recently started playing Flames of War, the World War II miniatures game. I haven't gotten too deep into it yet but it's pretty entertaining. Only one of my other friends is currently playing but we've got some other folks showing some interest. This weekend I finally started painting my army (American tank company). I was surprised at how quickly it went compared to the time it takes to paint my fantasy miniatures. Of course, my fantasy mini's are quick a bit more detailed, being 25-28mm, while FoW figs are 15mm (and I would never prime a 25mm figure all in black unless it was dressed head-to-toe in armor!). And I'm not going to win any awards with my paint jobs, but they look decent enough - certainly better than bare metal and resin or primer. I've actually done some basing too (which I've never done, though I plan on doing that with my fantasy miniatures in the future as well). So far I've finished a platoon of five M4A1 Shermans and a couple bazooka teams.

Still a lot to go (rifle teams, M3 half-tracks, M10 tank killers, 105mm howitzers, etc.). But for as quickly as they paint up, I expect to have my tank company done relatively quickly. Wish I could say the same for my Reaper figures...

Axis & Allies Minis Sizes

From an ENWorld post:

"The stores in my area are having the same problem with the Axis and Allies minis game. I know at least one store that has given away an entire case of starters and boosters because no one wants it. Wizards made a huge mistake in not making it to the same scale as the DDM and SWM lines. A lot of people would have loved to use the figs for a modern game."

and

"I second the Axis and Allies. I don't know who may be using it in this area, but the fact that it's not built for 28mm scale has totally mixed any desire for me to buy them."

I'm not sure how you could use WW2 minis for a modern game, unless by "modern" you mean "1940's". Also, the vehicles, tanks in particular, would be huge and cost-prohibitive for most people. And let's face it - the people that would play A&A mini's want tanks. Not infantry, not jeeps - tanks. Tanks are badass.

If Avalon Hill* made a mistake with the A&A minis it was not making them proper 15mm scale and to scale with one another. That way they would have appealled to the Flames of War crowd as well. The sculpting isn't nearly as good, but being pre-painted is a very attractive quality to a lot of people. Plus, looking at the preview of the next A&A set, you could get some interesting figures that FoW doesn't have available (Chinese, Polish, and Romanian units aren't available for FoW, and the selection of Japanese units is pretty sparse...).


*: Technically these minis are AH-branded, though it seems a little surreal to consider that AH is a subsidary brand of WotC...

Cool Custom Miniature

Check this out.

A little small, but pretty cool. All it needs is the bodies of two dead lizardmen.

T'Raukzul is done

I had started a longer post about this Reaper miniature, but I had another window open in Firefox that hosed the entire session. I hate that - I'll have a few tabs open to different pages and if one gets screwed up I lose the entire app. I love Firefox, but when that happens (and it's not uncommon), I get annoyed. Hurry up and fix that, hippies! Yes, I'm complaining about free software - free software that's better than IE. I don't care - I demand satisfaction!

Anyway, T'Raukzul is cool. Expensive, but cool.

Deathknell: Yes, I got a beholder

That is one sweet looking figure.

Just bought my first six boosters. Unfortunately, only three of the rares are ones I wanted: Beholder, Boneclaw, and Thaskor. And none of those were really on my "really want" list, though I'm definitely keeping the Beholder. Which is apparently worth $40+ if you buy it individually on-line! (At FRPGames, at least; I recommend them, though, as I've had good luck with them in the past...just ain't worth spending that kind of money on a rare fig!).

The rares I didn't want are the Spectre (looks like a statue to me), the Dwarf Samurai, and the Valorous Prince. I'll probably try to trade those away, though I may keep the Spectre.

Sundry Bits Again

Actually "Sundry Bits" could be the name of a weblog. Not found of that, though, so I'll just use it as a post title. Feel free to use it for your own blog if you want.

World of Warcraft: My biggest timesink right now. Little consolation that the same holds true for most of the people I play with right now! The problem isn't the game itself but that I'm spending too much time on it, though I can't really say I'm spending more time playing WoW than I did, say, Morrowind or Knights of the Old Republic. Still, though, it's a fun game. And addictive. The most important thing, though, is that my Undead Warlock is almost level 34.

Deathknell: Looking to be pretty nice (and I'm not talking about the starting town for the Undead in WoW). Lots of people didn't care for the Aberrations series, and I'd have to agree that it wasn't one of the better sets. But what I've seen previewed on the Web so far for Deathknell looks good. And more monks! Up until now, I didn't have many at all...

Mythosa Chronicle: Number 9 is being proofread and should go up in the next few days.

That's about it for tonight. Back to Warcr- Well, maybe something else and then bed...

D&D Miniatures Update

Just picked up a bunch of boxes of Aberrations. Overall, pretty good. I've seen people complain about the paint jobs, though they don't seem that bad overall (the gibbering mouther is quite good), but they may have gone down in quality as I think about it. The sculpting is continuing to improve, though. The gnoll and man-at-arms re-sculpts are in particular superior to Harbinger.

If you're interested in trading, my H/W list is up-to-date at maximinis.com. The link is http://www.maxminis.com/hwlist.asp?user=MythosaAkira

Giants of Amazing Luck

Picked up four boxes of the latest WotC miniature series: Giants of Legend. First box I opened: Huge Gold Dragon. Second box I opened: Huge Red Dragon. Time to hit Vegas before this streak cools... ;)

I also got a Treant and something I'm not going to name since the players in my campaign read this blog (don't want to ruin the sense of surprise...though the mention of the Huge Red above undoubtedly has them groaning). I do have to say that each of these series is better than the last. As always, a well-painted Reaper fig beats the pants off these mass-produced plastics. But the sculpts in GoL are not too shabby, and the paint jobs are impressive for what they are (case in point: the Grick, which is Common, is very nice).

Now I just have to get off my backside and get back to painting the metal figures I have queuing up...

Blasted Games Workshop - they've come out with a really nice looking "Make your own terrain" book. I refrained from picking it up today at the local FLGS, but I'm really tempted. The problem is finding the time to make the terrain and paint it. Lack of time is why I use stuff from Dwarven Forge and Miniature Building Authority rather than make my own scenery from scratch or things like Hirst Arts' molds. Don't get me wrong - I love the MasterMaze pieces and the MBA buildings (and I'm lucky enough to have a wife who doesn't discourage their purchase - being a gamer as well, she even encourages some of them), but I'd really prefer to make my own stuff. Unfortunately, I have too many hobbies and obligations to have the time for that. Of course, we're all busy, so the phrase "I don't have time" really means "It's not high enough on my priority list". So what I really need to do is re-evaluate my priorities...