Thursday, May 26, 2011

More shelf cleaning...

As I mentioned before, I'm selling off my Cryx collection... which is a TON of painted stuff with a few non-painted units in the mix as well. The ebay auction can be found here! Just as with the last one, everything is being handled by the LGS, the posting, shipping, the whole bit! (So any questions or concerns regarding the auctions need to go to him through ebay)

That said, thanks to all those that placed bids on the previous auctions. All those proceeds helped me get a decent start on my Gator army! With the store credit I get from the Cryx stuff I plan to turn around and start either an all Steelhead Magnus/Damiano merc army or possibly a Menoth army as Feora as well as the new warcaster and character jack has kind of caught my eye.

Hopefully in the coming weeks I can get enough of my Gator models completed and some pics shot!

-EBC-

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Ebay time! Clearing off my shelves...

I've decided to put up a bunch of my models on Ebay through my LGS. It's pretty nice as the shop owner does all the work as far as putting the items, shipping, etc, and I get store credit equal to whatever the items sell for! Anyway, CLICK HERE to head over the store's current ebay auctions and help me feed my gaming addiction!

Just a note of what I have up there:
- Malifaux Neverborn stuff. All painted except the "Dreamer" box set.
- Firestorm Armada painted Relthoza fleet.
- Legion and Retribution stuff for WM/Hordes.

Also, as soon as the current league I am in ends I will also be posting up my Circle stuff as well as my fully painted Cryx army!

Thanks for checking out my stuff!
-EBC-

Monday, January 24, 2011

From a Goldfish to a Shark: Helping new Warmachine & Hordes players get started!



As with any game, new players are often the lifeblood of Warmachine & Hordes, but the sheer number of models and options can be overwhelming. Which honestly is the reason I have not started FoW… there is so much stuff that I don’t know where to start!

My plan for this post is to go through what I typically go through when new players ask me where to begin. Keep in mind, as with everything, these are just my thoughts on the subject. It is by no means completely comprehensive, and you may not completely agree with in some spots. Either way, this is some of what I have been telling some of my local players, and I’m putting this out there in the hopes it may help some other people out there as well.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Pix of Cryx: Warcasters

In the coming weeks, I plan on systematically taking some pics of my Cryx collection. I’m choosing to kick things off with the models that set the overall pace and tone for any given army, the Warcasters.



Coreshade the Cursed, or eGoreshade was one of the 1st Cryx models I picked up as I just loved the model! Despite Goreshade being one of my favorite Cryx characters both model wise and fluff wise, I have actually never used him in a game. Maybe as soon as I get my units of Bane Thralls finished I can give him some time on the tabletop.



It is no secret, Terminus is my homeboy! While I picked eGoreshade up for the model/fluff, Terminus was the Warcaster I have been playing from the start! My 35 pt tourney list for this guy remains undefeated, and much hated by the rest of the guys at LGS. The original Terminus model came with a set of huge mechanical/ruined wings that I really struggled with during assembly. I couldn’t find a suitable way to really pin or stabilize the wings to a point that I was comfortable that they wouldn’t break off. My solution was the wings you see on him now, taken from an old D&D mini, which has the added bonus of making his overall profile a little bit smaller for transporting.



Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast, or eSkarre. I have never been a fan of the Satyxis horns, so I left them off, which gives her a kind of “Dark Elf” look. She has been mainly my caster for smaller games, (and MM/T&C) where her feat can be abused… err most useful. My armies for her tend to build around feedback & backlash, so they are very ani-warmachine in that case.




Finally, Iron Lich Asphyxious… better known as Gaspy! I’ve been playing him the most lately, and I think I’m starting to get a bit of a feel for him. I recently developed a list fro I posted on here, which seems pretty interesting, but I need to get in more games vs different casters to see what it is capable of.

So, those are my 4 casters I currently have painted up. I recently picked up the regular Goreshade model, but I’m just not a big fan of it. Maybe I will get lucky and there will be an alternate sculpt done for him in the future. I also wouldn’t mind picking up Mortenebra, but her numerous thin arms scare me from a modeling standpoint. I also wouldn’t mind picking up Venethrax, which would give me an interesting counter to my eSkarre list. It could be interesting to go to a tourney with an anti-WM list with eSkarre, countered with an anti-Hordes list from venethrax… not to mention, the model is pretty sweet too! But, there you have it, those are my current warcasters! Next time I do a “Pix of Cryx” post it will be of the Warjacks in my collection.

- EBC -

Thursday, January 20, 2011

WM/Hordes Tourney, 1-29-11 Olathe, KS

I've got a tourney just a few weeks away that I figured I would throw up on here...

January 29th, 2011
Registration @ 11 am-12pm
Games Start @ 12:30 pm

* Note * There will not be a break for lunch, feel free to go grab something to eat either before or after registering. There is also a 30 minute window between the end of registration and the start of the 1st round as well…

$5 Entry fee

Prizes include coins for 1st-3rd as well as store credit. There will also be a prize for "Best Painted Army" as well...

31st century Games & Hobbies
2113 East 151st Street
Olathe, KS 66062
(913) 397-7706
31stcenturygames.com



The “Headhunter” format is as follows:

- Single Warmachine or Hordes list
- “Kill Box” Scenario
- 4 Rounds. 60 min + random additional time each round
- Games will last 6 turns
- Turns will be 7 minutes + a single 3 min extension

- Players strive for the fastest caster/lock kill. The winning player scores points based on what round the game ended on. 1st round = 6 pts, 2nd Round = 5 pts, 3rd Round = 4 points, and so on. A loss = 0 points.
- 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place will be determined by a player’s total score, with “strength of schedule” determining any final ties.


The idea behind the tournament is for each player to get the quickest win possible each game. Expect to see overly aggressive, assassination lists in ever game. Games are expected to be fast and brutal! One of the interesting aspect of this format is that a player doesn’t need to have a perfect record to achieve 1st place… a player with a 2-2 record that managed to get turn 2 assassinations in both those games will end up with 10 points total, while a player with a 4-0 record but only achieved turn 5 assassinations each game will only end up with 8 points.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the format or anything else, please let me know!


Also, just a reminder, 31st Century has “Warmachine Wednesdays”, every Wednesday starting at 6:30 pm, which is the perfect time to get in some test games before the tournament. Brand new to the game? Wednesdays are the perfect time to get in a demo game or two to show you the ropes!

Maybe I'll see some you guys there!
- EBC -

Monday, January 17, 2011

WHFB Themed Army Idea



As if I do not have enough modeling projects already on my plate… I have been thumbing through the Vampire Counts book recently, and have come across an idea for a potential future project: a strict Strigoi list. Sure, given all the powergamers and WAAC guys at my LGS this army will get owned, but I have given up on playing WHFB in any competitive form…. the game is just about slingin’ dice for me at this point. So after thumbing through the whole book, these are the models I’ll be limiting myself to:

- Lords & heroes -
Strigoi themed Vampires
Necromancers

- Core –
Ghouls
Zombies
Wolves
Bats
Corpse Cart *A Ghoul has gotta eat!

- Special –
fel bats
Spirit Hosts? (maybe)

- Rare -
Varghulfs *and lots of them!
Wraiths? (maybe)

What you will notice is there are no wights, non-Strigoi Vamps, and any kind of armored undead. The army should seem very feral on the table. The Ghouls will fill out the core slots more than likely, and I will be using Mantic’s Ghouls as they beat GW’s hands down in my opinion! (same with the zombies) GW’s “Bestial/Winged Vampire Lord” will be the army’s general as he does have some armor to set him apart, and he looks less bestial than the other Strigoi. I also plan to do a kind of mini Varghulf with one of the Strigoi vamps as well. For Necromancers, I will be using the Empire Wizards.

Well, that is the basis and basic ideas for the army. I’ve got some stuff going up on Ebay in the near future, so some of the funds could be put towards this project depending on how everything sells.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Portable light box



I found this little gem on ThinkGeek.com, and for $50 I think it may be worth it! I know a lot of bloggers out there (myself included) would LOVE to be able to get some better pictures of their stuff, and maybe this could help!

I'm seriously thinking of picking up one of these in the near future. If you have one of these specific ones from ThinkGeek or from somewhere else, let me know what you think of it!

-EBC-

Friday, January 14, 2011

Firestorm: Drone Class Frigate & Stinger Class Escort

The last two types of ships I currently own, a Frigate and an Escort ship, are finished. With these last two test models done, I’m confident enough in the scheme I chose to give the “green light” on getting the rest of the fleet finished up. Anyway, on with the pics!



The Drone Class Frigates some interesting little “flying triangles”. (Literally) There are 6 of them in the starter box, so I have like 5 more to paint. The one downside is that they don’t fit onto the stands very well, so I’m either going to have to magnetize them, or try to tighten up the spot the stand fits into so it is not so wobbly….



The Stinger class escorts are my 2nd favorite ships in the fleet. (the Shunt R&D cruiser being the 1st) There are now “glowing lines” on them to detail out, so they really show off the mottled effect. Also, I like how arachnid-like the ships are, especially in the bridge area.

Although the test models are finished, I still have 2x Cruisers, 5x Frigates, and 5x Escorts to finish up my current fleet. I also picked up my own rulebook and cards to really get the rules down. (I have had the basic rules in my head) Hopefully I can get in some demo/starter games in the coming weeks to give me some things report on! All in all though, I’m pretty impressed with the Firestorm models, and am eager to get them on the field!

-EBC-

Monday, January 10, 2011

2nd ship done: Relthoza Cruiser

Moving on down the Relthoza food chain to the smaller cruisers. The Relthoza starter came with 3 of these ships, and this is the 1st one off my desk.


** Sorry it is a bit blurry... its hard to take good pictures of these odd shaped ships! **


** Size DOES matter! **

I’m happy with how the scheme is working, but with one downside… I can’t come up with a viable way to differentiate the squadrons… or at least one that I am happy with. I’m thinking I will leave them how they are for awhile and see if squad markings are even necessary after a few games.

So, with another test ship out of the way I will be moving further down the line to the smaller frigates and escorts in the coming weeks. I’m also working on my Britannia fleet for Dystopian Wars, and will post pics of that stuff as soon as I can as well.

-EBC-

Monday, January 3, 2011

Firestorm Armada: 1st Relthoza Test Model

I’ve recently finished my 1st model for my Relthoza fleet from Firestorm Armada. I should say this is actually my 2nd test model as I didn’t like how it was initially coming out, so I stripped it and restarted. The Relthoza are a technological advanced arachnid race, and are the only race in the game that has ships utilizing “cloaking” technology. With that in mind, I had a firm idea of what I wanted it to look like. But 1st, here’s how the Relthoza Battleship turned out:





There were several things that went into my initial. First of all, the whole “cloaking Arachnid ships” instantly reminded me of the “Shadows” from Babylon 5, so I knew I wanted to capture the “Black/Grey mottled” look of the Shadows from B5. The next issue was how to simulate the cloaking ability. The glowing blue lines were my attempt to show that there may be something more to the ship than initially meets the eye. (Although I would love to get my hands on some ships cast in clear resin to be used when the cloaking shields are turned on) I also didn’t like how small the engines were for such a large ship, so I painted up a few more sections on the rear of the ship to represent additional means of propulsion. I’m also happy with how the green afterglow really pops against the darker ship as well as the blue “cloaking” glowing lines.

All in all, I’m happy with how the battleship turned out. I’ve got a smaller cruiser on the desk at the moment as well, and so far I think the above technique will work just as well. I’ll post pictures of the cruiser as soon as I get it finished.

- EBC -