Victoria Miniatures

I have long loved the picture of the Battle Sister Seraphim using twin hand-flamers against the killa kan in the back of the old Witch Hunter’s codex, a work that was executed by the incomparable Victoria Lamb.

Apparently Ms. Lamb has now started up her own minis company, and is doing some REALLY nifty work – I am particularly a fan of the penal legionnaires and the highland guard.  I have a ton of Cadian torso bits, so those legs might be the perfect way to get my chaos guardsmen off the ground (not to mention finally use all those bits….).

I’m Back!

Some of you might have noticed that I went away for a while.

For those of you who don’t know, this is because I was hired in Sept. 2010 by Games Workshop to be one of their retail employees.  I was originally hired as a Hobby Specialist (“Red Shirt”), and was promoted to manager when my boss resigned.  I did not want there to be any question that I was behaving ethically while in my position, especially seeing as how I was treated to advanced news of releases that were not even always common knowledge in the company, so I figured it was time for this blog to go on hiatus. I was there for about a year, but I eventually came to the conclusion that I could not in good conscience continue to work for a company who conducted business their way.  I’ll not go into details, but I doubt I need to – you’ve heard the stories, and too many of them are true.  I’m done venting to friends and family, and I really want to keep this blog positive and fun, so I’ll leave it at that.

In any case, I’m back!  In the year I was gone, I thought about what I would put here if and when I could do it again.  I eventually came to the I really want this to be a place for gamers of all stripes to come and see new stuff, share news, and show off what they are doing.  My health prevented me from posting as much as I wanted to last time, so I should be able to do something more regularly, including my own works in progress.

I also will soon be creating “open posts” for you folks to post your own stories and gaming links to; if one or more of them catches my eye, I’ll make a post of it, so be sure to give me a link that my hat top can send people to!  Finally, be warned that this is a FAMILY FRIENDLY blog – cursing, sexual content and general misanthropy will never make it into the comments section.

Have fun, be good, and go game!

 

New Inquisition Minis?

I was snooping around the GW web store again today, and I saw that the Sister of Battle boxed set, the Sisters Repentia boxed set, and the Arco Flagellant boxed set were added to the Grey Knight boxed set as being unavailable for purchase.  Despite rumors that the Grey Knights might be simply pulled and the Inquisition armies mothballed permanently, I doubt that they would pull the Repentia and Flagellants from the web store as well.  Here are my thoughts on all of these.

Really, what is the appeal of this?

40k players are always plagued by the stereotype that they are incapable of considering complicated tactics, the subtleties of command and control, and that their thinking only works on the “bigger guns=better tactics” level.

This reputation is not undeserved, I suppose, but pictures and events like this one (from the daily GW blog) don’t do anything to help the problem:

Giant Tank Battle, or Advanced Chutes and Ladders?

I mean, seriously?  What kind of tactics are being used here?  The most essential element of warfare, maneuver, is completely useless in this situation.  There is no cover, no tactical deployment even.  None of these tanks will ever have to move, or even pivot, to do their job.  No measuring, no moving, just rolling dice.  A friend of mine likes to call games like that “advanced chutes and ladders,” and I agree with him in this case.

I don’t want to sound like I’m telling other people how to have fun.  If this is your thing, go for it I suppose.  I’m just (one) confused as to how this is appealing, and (two) concerned that GW is looking at events like this and ‘Ard Boyz and thinking that these mindless grinders are what the game should look like for everyone.

Blogs I Like

Over the last few months, I have been putting together a list of blogs that I like and that have posted good stuff continuously over time.  The blogroll on the right is okay for a start, but I thought that it was high time to update it.

First on the addition list is Warpstone Pile

Run by a guy in Virginia that I only know as Rushputin, I first came across WP when I was looking for some skaven conversions for a commission.  This guy’s stuff blew me away, and most of it wasn’t Skaven!  Always on the lookout for techniques to copy (honestly, its a compliment), I kept on going back and found out that he’s a genuine guy who, while beig a tournament player, seems to have remembered the most important thing about tournament gaming: namely, that your are playing GAMES and supposedly having fun.  It’s a breath of fresh air reading his stuff, so you need to check it out more.

Next up is Musings of a Metal Mind

A blogger blog, meaning that I have a heckuva time leaving comments, it is still something I check a few times a day.  I am, again, unfamiliar with the author, but his work speaks for itself.  I found it while looking for tank conversions and found that he had done some scratch-built chimeras and Leman Russes that totally blew me away.

Then I saw the Tyracons, and I had to keep seeing more.  I won’t spoil the surprise by blabbing on about it…but have you considered how cool it would look to see a hive fleet be absorbed by the necrons?  Heh…pretty darn cool.

The third is not a very personal blog by any stretch, but is still quite good.  Some of you have been asking me in real life how I know so much about upcoming releases and obscure miniature lines.

Well, I won’t give away all my secrets, but I will share Tabletop Gaming News with those of you who haven’t yet heard about this incredibly cool site that seems to have its finger on the pulse of all the gaming releases I wanted to know about – even the ones I didn’t know I wanted to know about.

That’s enough for tonight.  I’m, not feeling good, but when I am again, and I find something good, bet that I’ll pass it along.

Woof.

4th Edition Kill Team Lives!

I love small games.

What can I say?  I’m a roleplayer at heart, and though I do love the fiddly feel and look of a bunch of toy soldiers running around, it’s getting to tell a story with them that really gets me going on my hobby.

It is this reason that I decided to keep my 4th edition 40k rulebook, and why I have never felt the need to buy the 5th edition hardcover: 4th edition was chock-full of special rules, scenarios, and even came with the expanded rules for playing kill-team missions.  5th edition came with a bunch of (essentially) ads for GW products.

The rules for 4e kill-team aren’t available anywhere that I can find legally, but PDFs are floating around the net if you just have to get a copy.  The 5e “kill-team” mission from the Battle Missions scenario book is a decent substitute, but as I was looking for a small-scale game I could play on a campaign basis, 4e kill-team had the extra rules and complexity that made it possible to do without a ton of work on my part.

To that end, I got a couple of buddies together before our Bible Study last week, and we had a go at the game.  Enjoy the pictures (after the fold), and then I’ll talk about my opinions.

Fantasy Noir and D6 Adventures

Well, some of you might know I’ve been working for some time on an RPG setting that would combine fantasy and film noir stories, a setting I call the Dark Renaissance.  The basic setting has remained the same for about 4 years now, though I’ve gone back over and over again trying to figure out what engine I wanted to use to power it.

MaxMini Bionic Bits

Found some interesting bionic bits soon to be released by MaxMini, a European resin miniature company.

I think the heads are the best parts of the sprue, but I’m thinking Col. Straken conversion for the other parts?

MaxMini Bionic Head Bits

Quantum Gothic Miniatures

I found these guys while trawling the web, and thought you folks might be interested in seeing them too:

Quantum Gothic

Here are a couple of nifty pieces that I like:

Quantum Gothic Missile Launcher

Quantum Gothic Watch Tower

I like that these things work well with the 40K universe, but don’t just seek to copy it.  They are fully usable in any gothic sci-fi setting, and even have that steampunk feel to them that makes them perfect for a clockworks and arcana game as well.

Deathwatch RPG preview at Free RPG Day!

Have you been interested in the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay games (Dark Heresy, or Rogue Trader), but been itching to play a Space Marine too?

Have you been following the trickle of Deathwatch RPG news from the Fantasy Flight website?

If so, be at Pwner Games this weekend for Free RPG Day.  I’m running the Deathwatch Preview Adventure “Final Sanction” from 2PM to 6PM, as soon as there are enough interested people to get a game in.