Bayou Boss Froth

Squee! I got 'em Pa! The Bayou Boss has finally is my sticky mitts and I couldn't resist started sticking them together. Here's a quick look at the sprues and what I have been up to so far.

 The model I was most excited about was Lenny. I love the concept and rules wise he could be useful. Making the model was a dream. The Mould lines were not a major issue, I swear that one of the arms had none visible, I even got someone else to check for me. The bits went together perfectly and it was largely obvious where things went, though one thing is the dent in the piglet, who is adorable, is to slot onto Lenny's side, not to rest on the hand which is molded onto the pig. One thing that was laughable was the tiny pig tail, shown below, which was individual. It came on a tab though so it went on fine. I generally have no issue with small parts, just make sure you are building models somewhere that you can find dropped things!

Next up I built the Skeeter, another thing that I was desperate for this box for. So first of all the models are gorgeous. It looks amazing, what else can I say! There is no chance on hell, however, that it will fit on a 30mm base. Some people on the internet have suggested making it fly, but for me it is completely wrong pose for that. The other thing is that the legs are a bit of a bitch! I suggest not trying to fit the end blocks into the groove like a jigsaw but focusing instead on the grooves that the legs fit into. It's a bitch.

The parts are a little spindly on the sprue, one of the antenna snapped as I tried to remove it (I think it was already broken though) but other than a little snap everything went together well and still no lost parts.

Next onto the models I haven't built. Firstly the Bayou gremlins. I don't have any particular need for more Bayou Gremlins, I haven't used all 8 in one game ever, but the models are so sweet. The one with a pipe is my favourite. I was laughing over the fact that one of the models' hat is in two pieces separate to his head but as I said before it doesn't bother me. I started to think about this and it might be because, as you can see on the plastics, Wyrd have put quite alot of shallow details onto their models. I don't know about plastic molding processes but might things be in separate pieces because they can't manage shallow and deep details?

Next up is Som'er. I am not entirely sure what I am going to do with this guy. He's had loads of stick on the internet and I am not entirely sure why. Honestly, I prefer, from the artwork anyway, the old metal alternative model but I think this one is head and shoulders above the original. People have said that he is in a weird pose, but he is just running. Not what I imagine the portly gremlin doing, but that's not that weird really? So I am half tempted to build and paint him to prove a point. However, I do already have the metal alternative Som'er and having recently seen the new Ulix artwork I though he could easily become a proxy for the hogfather. A decent bushy beard, peg leg and bow and he's away. Aghh! Decisions!

Last but definitely not least we have the lovely Johanna. What a beauty she is. People have mentioned that hammer is a bit small for melee 3" range, but I have always found the combat ranges in Malifaux arbitrary at best. The hammer suits the model down to the ground, it's beautiful. She might also get some game time with the Gremlins, it's their only access to condition removal and could be fun alongside the piggapult (fire someone, then remove paralysed!)

Right, that's it from me today. Big thanks to +Andrew Richardson and @Worhamma for providing some excellent service despite major problems caused by the distributer. Tomorrow, what gaming madness I got up to after I picked up my shiny new toys! 

Space Marines

Recently I have felt that Malifaux simply does not give me enough elbow room for hobby projects. I really only want to work on one faction at a time and only really want to paint plastics which means that Wyrd are not producing miniatures fast enough to fill my painting needs. Thus, because I felt like guns and rolling dice recenty, I decided to paint some Space Marines.

 I am not interested in getting back into GW stuff, I don't want to buy the rulebook, but I might push the power-armoured flares round the table every now and then. Really I just fancied painting them.

 After researching this and that, I opted to go with my own chapter 'The Blades of Dawn' (not the primarch) which I made for a competition a long time ago. Here's the model I found in my bits box:

I fancied doing a half or quartered scheme though, so I decided that the normal marines who don't wear cloaks will have the light grey/white as half of their armour.

 Above you can see my first test model for the scheme. I am liking the purple, although it's much brighter than my previous model, but not so sure on the white. I wanted to paint the white in the same style as the purple, because I though armour should stay the same reflectiveness etc. but I don't think it works. Also, I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to base them so I made two options. Which do people think is better?

It's weird going back to 25mm bases.

 To finish up I have a couple of questions. Would people like a painting guide for this guy? I took pictures as I painted so you can see all the steps, but I figured there was no point of people weren't interested. Also, do people reckon there is a market for just painting up figures to sell? I don't want to specifically go for commission because I don't want to put deadlines on my hobby ( a sure way to kill enjoyment, I think) but it might be good to paint things and try and make some money from it.

Thanks for reading.

Rampage Review

 I call this post a review, but it's more of a froth. On Sunday, in addition to getting a game of Bolt Action in, I was able to play a game of Rampage that one of the guys was kind enough to bring down. There is almost always at least one board game going on at Worhamma, so if you've not been and just want to see what's going on, it's worth coming and having a go because there will be something you can get involved with.

 So what is Rampage? It's a board game for up to 4 people where you take the role of monsters and destroy/ devour a city. That's right, there stereotypical young boys game of destroying cities was made into an actual board. Awesome, right? Well, it get's better. The game is really physical, in order to move your monster, for example, you flick your playing piece. Your monster can do a breath attack and to do that you literally blow onto the board. You can even throw nearby trucks by flicking them aswell! The aim of the game is to destroy buildings and eat the people inside, if a person falls onto you area and is not on the building or sidewalk you eat it and put it in your pile.

 As you might imagine this can cause some carnage, wooden people go flying across the room as you physically break down a city! There are penalties for sending things across the room, so people tend to be less ridiculous... unless you are me and are just in it for the mindless destruction.

 The game gets better with masses of special cards to enhance your monster. Everyone gets one character card, one power and one special power. For example, you could end up being a punk monster who gets extra benefits from eating businessmen and old men.

 As you can probably tell, I had a great time. I lost, but had so much fun doing it. I think it takes you to release your inner-child, but who doesn't want to be a bit silly every now and then.

The game retails at £45, but you can get a copy at Worhamma for the discounted price of £40.50. When I last spoke to them, they even had a limited edition copy left so you get stickers for the people inside. Get in contact with them @Worhamma on twitter or follow this link for them on facebook.

 I cannot recommend the game enough, it was so much fun!

Variety and WAAC

 Yesterday I went to the local club Worhamma with the intention of doing something a little different. As you might be able to tell, I have been playing Malifaux near exclusively for about a year so a bit of variety helps to keep things fresh and exciting. Fortunately, the scene at Worhamma is really good and people seem to be up for trying new things. There were games of X-Wing, 40k and various board games going on. I opted for some Bolt Action.

 I have never been a World War II fanatic. It's an interesting period of history, but I almost feel like people obsess over it. I got into for two reasons. Firstly, there was a decent community building up and I wanted to break the GW stranglehold. Secondly, I am obsessed with Soviets. I know that seems counter to what I just said about not being a fanatic, but I feel that Russia is like another world. I am more interested in the revolution than true 'Soviets', but it's good enough for me!

 There hasn't been masses of activity in the system for a little bit, but when I suggested it as a bit of a change a few people have had their interests piqued. It's a good side game and I think that's how we are beginning to look at it. The rules aren't complicated. You hit, with modifiers, and wound just like GW, but it has a really good mechanic for pinning which makes it a really interesting and involving game.

This Sunday I played Scott, it was his first game using the rules but seem to find it easy to get stuck in. I probably got some rules wrong but we both had a great time. Some key moments were some Birtish commandos charging into my people's militia and butcher them to a man, only to be counter charge by a SMG squad and being butchered in return. A British mortar was able to zero in it's first shot and obliterate a sniper position, but the second was able to withstand repeated sniper and mortar barrage.

 I am glad I had so much fun playing the game because it has given me more incentive to paint the army for my paintathon, 24 hours of painting to raise money for MacMillan Cancer support and WAAC. I received my first sponsor yesterday, I am very grateful to Adam Sellers. Please join him and help a worthy cause.

You can find my 'Just Giving' page here

Thanks everyone for reading.

Malifaux Mat, showing off

This weekend I finished another Malifaux Mat. For those who haven't seen them before, they are made out of wall paper and split into two 3' by 18" sections. If you look back through my previous blog posts you can see how I made them. This latest mat also makes use of the textured paint I make aswell.

With this mat I tried to keep the important lines. What I mean by that is that the paths (on either their edges or the centre line) show the deployment zones for flank and corner, the turf war and recon areas, and the centre lines of the board, diagonal or orthogonal. The terrain fits in the gaps pretty well, apart from the two larger pieces, but I don't think they look out of place.

I have now, however, run out of the roll of wallpaper I was using. However, for £4 I am pretty chuffed at getting 4 mats. With the swamp board I worked on with Nate, which has a wooden back instead, I have 5 Malifaux boards.

 So that's me for today, just a quick update on how the terrain is coming. I am going to have to go buy another roll of wallpaper, but it's hardly a major financial investment.

Not a Bad Thing: Terrain Progress

Not a Bad Thing is running on the 13th September at Worhamma, Sunderland. You can find more details for the event on its facebook page or on the Wyrd Forum page. We had a great time at our last event, 'The Good, The Bad and The Fated', it was a great crowd and had a great atmosphere, make sure you don't miss out on this one!

 For this event, the numbers have been upped to 32 and I have stepped up to make some boards to play on. Today's blog post is just reporting some progress on the boards.

First up I have my Wild West mining board. All of the laser cut terrain is from TT Combat and is kindly being let by my girlfriend. The rocky out crops have been cut from pink foam kindly gifted to me by David Golden which has been cut by Nate Zettle's hot wire cutter (damn, I am a cheap skate) and then hacked at with a knife.

I am pretty chuffed with this board layout and proportions of terrain so it is just a case of painting it. Jen will be painting her MDF terrain so it is just a case of getting the colours right on the mat and rocks.

The second board I have been working on for the tournament is the dining hall board. I have added some taller stage sections since people have last seen it and on recommendations I have also added some private booths.  I still think that it's not enough, however.

I do have some more tables, though, so I can make another table forest easily. The main problem I think is terrain that will block LoS. I intend to make some curtains or vanity screens to go around some of the table sections. I think with those additions it should be fine, but please let me know what you think.

Finally I thought I'd throw up some pictures of terrain I did for Vince Usher as a favour. I don't know if it will feature at the tournament, but its what I gone and done so y'all can look at it all the same.

Well that's everything from me, apart from one more picture I am going to squeeze in. Ta ta for now.

WAAC Paintathon update

A while back I made plans to take part in @docbungle's charity rally 'Wargamers All Against Cancer', or WAAC, which is raising money for MacMillan. My plan is to do a 24 hour 'Paintathon' where I have to paint 100 models.

 Initially I had intended to try and get a few people involved in my plan and get some space in a local hall. However, I have not received any interest from people locally wanting to get involved and when I have tried to hire the local hall for the bank holiday weekend in August I found that it was already booked.

 I am not giving up, though. I will simply be challenging my body to resist sleep with the easy temptation of my own bed. I will do the Paintathon at my own house. This will also allow me to be accessible via skype for almost the whole time so people can check that I am still awake and hurl insults or whatever they fancy.

Of course, anyone who is still interested in getting involved is more than welcome. If you are local, I live near Durham, you are welcome to come to my house to get involved, just beware, obviously, I only have so much room! Also if you live far away and still want to help money for a worthwhile cause then we now have the ability to skype! Bonus.

Of course, the most important way to get involved is to donate money. Cancer effects everyone close to it, not just through health issues but also emotional and fiscal strain. A bit of support at such a difficult time means everything. This is why MacMillan deserves our help, so please pitch in in any way you can.

You can find the link to my just giving page here

Thanks for reading. If you want to get in contact with me about this my email is connorbarker520829@gmail.com. You can find me on twitter @proximocoal and just using my name should find me on facebook. I hope to hear from you soon.