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The Weekender XLBS: Building the BoW City of Gold!
July 6, 2014 by dignity
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Trying to explain the dice thing from a scientific point of view. I’m a pharmacist and i’ve looked into the this whole dice rolling thing, and personally i know someone who can throw what ever number they want in 80% of their dice roll with muscle memory and a bit of calculation, (gaming is 0% fun with him) and yes he is a “professional” dealer. Although you might not feel it, a person’s emotion affects a lot of their behaviour on a subconscious level, it might even affect the muscle behaviour when you throwing your dice.
However we also done an experiment with two of my friends, one who has “dominating” luck and one has “bad” luck in our group. We placed 2 different facing down cards side by side, then both of our friends gets to say in another room if the left or the right card is higher in number. (yes its a double-blinded test) The “lucky” friend was able to continuously get the higher card until we reached 1 in 10,000,000 chance and just gave up in the end. Its always things like these that makes you wonder. = )
Advantage of staying up way too late on a Saturday night in the US . . . you get your XLBS on Saturday “night.” 🙂
Awesome table – really like the square idea. Do you plan on making a written tutorial?
I never use camo on my wargaminig minis (Walkers, tanks etc.) simply because there is no point.
Happy gaming summer :-).
Warren,
Some science on our species’ tendency to see hot streaks and patterns where there are none. It’s a great listen.
http://www.radiolab.org/story/91687-seeking-patterns/
We all do it, gamblers see what you were describing a lot.
There’s another pattern commonly found in gambling called the tilt. It’s when a player gets frustrated by their “bad luck” and starts making reckless or bad decisions. A lot of gamers end up tilting when the game starts to turn against them. They have one bad turn, and they start making bad tactical decisions to try and put the broken pieces of their plan back in place rather than reformulate their strategies and adapt to the changing landscape.
Many of these gamers then blame their “string” of bad luck on the dice, but the truth is they put themselves in positions where the odds were against them. They’d need much better than average rolls to win. In their mind it all goes back to the “unlucky” turn that started the landslide, but really they could have pulled out a win if they’d adapted better. But we don’t remember things that way. We think our luck turned against us, and we spend the subsequent turns trying to “compensate” for that bad turn, and they all start to feel unlucky because that’s what we’re fixated on. Pretty soon, you’ve got a total rout on your hands, and it all feels like bad luck.
But really, you just tilted. You had one bad roll of the dice or one bad round, and you let it get to you, and you lost.
I know a guy I play with regularly who does this all the time. He starts out strong and either dominates the table the whole game, or he has one bad turn and then almost inevitably tilts. Every time he wins, he says he had lucky rolls. Every time he loses he says he had bad rolls. But really, he’s just keeping his calm except when things turn against him, then he tilts. Nice guy, but once you find his weakness, he’s pretty easy to beat. Just get one good turn against him. He tends to play denial armies, I think because it’s easier for him to win if he can prevent the other player from ever having that one good turn.
Regarding the fortuitous dice rolls- Perhaps it is less metaphysical and more psychological.- Something like gamblers only remembering their big wins and forgetting all of their losses.
Also, the old saying “fortune favours the brave” is another psychological element regarding much of your hypothesis that is more related to tactics rather than the dices rolls themselves (taking risks is required to take decisive action). I think that it appears that the dice are with/against you because that is the way our minds are wired rather than actually being able to influence the dice results.
On the subject of dice rolls you may be on to some thing. One of our role playing group is famous for his “mood dice”. His ability to hit, make that skill roll or save when it maters is uncanny
Happy Sunday!
I Have seen several cool camo patterns where the painters just enlarged the areas so that the pattern was still there but did not break it up to the point of hiding the details of the mini. I like the camo look, but I buy minis for the cool factor a lot and want to see them on the board. I don’t want my work hidden. I tend to do the larger patterns now myself.
As far as taking a few extra minutes to enhancing a board, why not? Most people do it in some way anyway. If it makes it look better and as believable as possible for a game, I would think it would just make it a better experience for all the players, and if you get a few cool pics out of it, even better.
Happy Sunday!
camo on models… i cannot recall the amount of hours i have spent looking for all of my imperial guard on a gaming table after a game due to their camouflage.
I started collecting guard in my early teens and decided to paint them in ‘true’ DPM, which not only displaced the outline of the miniature but actually hid them from sight, saying that, camo does stop your enemy shooting them, as they forget they are there, problem normally is, I forget them too 🙂
Back when the plastic cadians were released (2004?) there was a comment made in a GW publication (can’t remember if it was the dex or a WD) advising NOT to paint in camo as they didnt want players disrupting the pattern and look of their models.
Now I have over 10,000 points of guard and I have decided to repaint 90% in a more basic colour scheme to help my aging eyes find them in and after the game.
good show
if you are doing WWX I think plastcraft do wild west terrain, but it might be a tiny bit too small as WWX is 32mm (i think)
nice table, and yes sometimes the dice can be like that
The way Sundays are meant to be
The heavy flank tactic was innovated by the great Theban general, Epaminondas. He used it to great effect to destroy Spartan hegemony over Greece.
I knew I could rely on you mate, to give me the low down on where the tactic came from 🙂
What do you think about an article series looking at ‘key’ military tactics and how they relate to the tabletop these days?
We could even pull in a couple of ‘Sun Tzu’ into the mix 😉
I shall ponder and see if I can come up with enough to round out a series.
I was wondering how many gamers who have moved on to historical games have taken what they have learned back to the games they used to play.
Love that Dremmel tool. I have a battery and mains powered Dremmel and they are some of my favourite tools. Might have to grab one of those as well. 🙂
Hobby lab weekender XLBS this week, really instructive (all but that couple of minutes where Warren starts talking about luck and dice) 😉 I don’t know about using sand directly on the table (my other half would kill me if she found sand around the house), I would rather have it glued even if it looks a little more fake.
“all but that couple of minutes where Warren starts talking about luck and dice”
LOL – probably why it wasn’t on the running order 🙂
Just keep those Hooby Labs coming! All your tips on terrainmaking is helping me a lot. Last week I got what I needed to start doing trees. Now you guys are going to get me to do a sandstone table. I’ve been looking at Plastcraft terrain for a while now, and seeing your table just makes me want to get cracking with it.
Gents what you’ve got there is a fabulous Dust Tactics table that has the aspect of a Dust Battlefield table. While playing you will tend to only notice the grid for movement , but a desert when you step back.Operation Babylon is going to look cool on it.
Love the cactus idea for wwx. Ive been looking for them on ebay but they are either wrong scale or look…toyish.
Might get myself some clay and have a go.
@warzan I think you mean a refused flank, a tactic that I tend to use so much that my friends and regular opponents take the piss out of my set up. Still doesn’t stop me doing it if the game needs it though 😉
@lloyd about the red on the walker I wouldn’t worry about that. I have a few books that show german armour with red primed pieces on them, also some of the larger AFVs like the jagdtiger had their barrels painted in a heat resistant grey primer and they were just left that colour. If you want I’ll scan you some pics and ping them to you, but you can certainly add little details like that to make it stand out on the tabletop.
Really cool looking board. It is amazing what you can make out of some basic materials.
My dad rolls dice like a beast. He says something cocky, blows on the dice then throws them with a flourish. He always gets far too many 5’s and 6’s.
And I believe your attitude towards life definitely impacts what happens to you in your life.
I also believe luck is a train and you have to jump in front of it to get any of it – you won’t get “lucky” by just sitting on the sidelines.
Bring on the Dust coverage. Cannot wait 🙂
Another excellent XLBS team. Yes very, very kean on a tactics series. Always interested to see different ideas on winning strategies. Especially interested if there are different tactics for different levels..squad, versus company etc. I’m sure there would be with the huge amount of variables that make our hobby so cool, but I’m sure there also must be some common basics no matter what game, level, or experience. Bring it on please BOW.
Great Video. Also great to see a company making terrain out of PVC.
I have been using this material for over decade and have written some articles on how you can use this excellent material. You can view them here.
http://www.beastsofwar.com/groups/the-burgomeisters-mansion/forum/topic/plasticard-alternative/
and
http://www.beastsofwar.com/groups/the-burgomeisters-mansion/forum/topic/empire-architecture/
Normal plastic glue will not glue PVC, superglue all the way.
@bishmeister Thanks for that article, I just read it and I am wondering if it could be used to build some of my prop pieces. I basicly need thick A4 sheets (I guess 3mm would be perfect) to cut detailed and sharp shapes from, which would be glued to a similar sized brick and recast in dental plaster (basicly imagine a 3D space hulk but a lot bigger). I struggled doing this sort of thing with plasticard and wondering this material would be suitable and easier to cut for something like that?
Warren, I also experience what you described. When I have a better mood or feel when playing a game, I tend to have better rolls. I’m not exactly sure why though, but I believe it happens..i
Do love the weekenders. As someone who rolls dice badly 90% of the time I found the dice segment quite funny. I either need to be more positive or just get my spawny missus to roll the dice for me.
– using sand – only for people with gaming room, for me playing in club or kitchen rather impossible, to much hassle for 2-3 hours game.
– dice gods – im not a religious person at all to be honest quite opposite to it, but I know people that they throws are in general most of the time shite, where I have to say I am very lucky with my throws, too much often to call it coincident.
great table for many games with grid great idea – are the squares same size in deadzone?
Hi guys, good show as usual (now give me a prize 🙂 )
love the table It is amazing. I do not think the dice gods r with me 2 🙁 my dice sucks.
just keep up the nice work all.
might try and do the same to a few gaming tables @ the club 🙂
yet another great show
No problems with the normal weekender but on the BS the picture freezes now and again while the sound remains good (This has happened the last two weeks and I use an I-pad), but once again a great show.
My upcoming gaming week will hopefully be one of the most epic ones I’ve ever had. I’ve been very fortunate to become friends (since the kickstarter) with Mark and Rob from Prodos and will be spending next Friday to Sunday at Mark’s house playing Warzone with them and my best Friend on their boards. So excited!
I’ve no problem with taking a few extra minutes to add sand to the table if it makes for an even more enjoyable game.
+1 for that table again. After a night in the pub with a fellow nerd I *may* just have splashed out on the BoW’s Battlebox and Beyond force for Haqqislam so I’m very tempted to get some of this myself.
All of my Flames Germans are done in field grey for that very reason. I did my falschimjagers in camo jackets and ended up painting german orange around all of the bases because they are hard to see.
In the book Ringworld by Larry Niven (great SF, well worth a read), one of the characters is deemed to have the evolutionary trait as “lucky”. both she and her ancestors had extraordinary luck. Simply put, is is a survival mechanism for some people…
but that is sciance fiction ;P
I would have liked to see many more closeups of the table, and also how to make tumbleweed.
What western game is comlete without tumbleweed blowing about in the wind?
Like the terrain work as always, but just curious…are you sure there are cactus in Babylon/Iraq/Iran? Thought they were only in North America…
As always, keep up the nice work!
They are for Wild West Exodus 🙂
Did you miss that bit or did I not say that in the vid? Lol
Really like the Board. Wasn’t really into the Plastcraft stuff, but you actually made it look pretty good. Might get some of that myself 🙂
Are the cactii going to be painted or just stay that colour?
Painted ofcourse
Maybe you’ve got the outline a new show there “Warren on the nature of the universe” 😛
Personally I always look at like everything being random is just too boring, and if theres nothing “above” the human mind as far as control of the universe goes, well George carlin covered that ” Think how dumb the average person can be. Then realise half of ’em are dumber than that.”
As for temporary details on tables, I do it all the time, though for function rather than form lichen etc to mark the edge of a Forrest, masking tape roads etc, in fact my brother and i started out playing Nercromunda/Gorkamorka etc on a dart board backstop that was essentially a blackboard so we could draw in rivers, ravines etc and a fair number of D&D/ Pathfinder games are still played on that kind of board, so if we’re willing to put in that much imagination playing the game, why not put it in up front while making the board and see what else you come up with using the extra brain power in game?
The last few backstage episodes are problematic in viewing, the stop every few minutes to buffer or fail to load in the first place with server error.
I feel you guys miss by not making your experiments a show, like “tablescapes experimental” you could increase your footage and create an interesting show were viewers can see your successful and failed experiments, it would be as useful or even more than just showing the normal tablescapes were the experimentation has been done and the formulas been finalized.
Experiments would take a huge amount of time if we tried to film it as we’d have to consider filming etc
We do it off camera so we can concentrate on what we’re doing 🙂
I was thinking more of a let the cameras roll without a real consideration in filming, but I can understand what you are saying.
Ohh and what are you viewing on so we can try and test.
I had issues this morning but it looked more like a local issue either with the network or chrome 🙂
WIndows 7 (64 bit) latest update installed, Chrome browser latest updates installed.
Great Video guys thanks, I do like that infinity terrain, and the sand board really looks great. Looking forward to the hobby lab episodes featuring them.
hahahaha….. love it!!!! are you guys on drugs???? The Dice Man cometh…. The backstage pass is worth it just for this :o) Have a great rest of the day…
So when you say you used the same magimix formula as the city table, did you still use. Lack paint, or did you use brown to get a more sandy color?
This may seem like a bit of over-engineering, but for some of our home-designed scenarios for games of Panzer Leader, etc . . . we like to test the scenarios to see if the game (not necessarily the armies) are as balanced as possible. Anyway, one factor to consider is the dice rolling through the game. We actually started recording all results on a sheet of notebook paper and then keying them quickly into an Excel file after the game for an average and comparing the two sides (this wasn’t that had because that game only rolls one d6 for an attack, there are no “dice pools”). Running the same game a few times, with the players switching sides, trying different tactics, and recording die roll averages per game, we were able to work out just how much of a factor luck had truly played in a given series of wargames.
Admittedly, this is a long way from “conclusive data” or a scientific experiment, but . . .
We seemed to find that games that players remembered as really lucky or unlucky weren’t always the the way they remember them. Okay, sometimes they were, that’s the nature of randomness. Sometimes you really do have “hot” or “cold” dice. But these were the exception rather than the rule. Far more often we found that the players’ mood didn’t so much affect the die rolls, but how the received them and remembered them.
Cheerful, enthusiastic, and aggressive players would get good rolls and think: “That’s right, baby! That’s how we do it downtown!” When they’d get a bad roll, they’d say something like “hey, even I can’t be awesome all the time” or “just trying to give you a chance, man,” and quickly forget it.
Unenthusiastic or grouchy players would actually start counting their bad rolls as “proof” of their misfortune, always exaggerating (that’s my tenth “6” in a row!”) , and when a good roll would come, would take the attitude of “it’s about time. Surely I will pay for that later,” and not remember it well afterwards.
It’s hard to block our need to personify the rest of the universe. When something is unfathomable, we fall back on the simple clues and how we would do it ourselves. Just human nature.
The “heavy flank” – “refused flank” tactic is a classic, both in games and on actual battlefields in one shape or another. It’s based on the premise of concentration and achieving a local superiority, or hitting part of the enemy’s force with your whole force. Then, by the time the rest of the enemy’s army has a chance to wheel and engage, your whole force has “digested” the first enemy element and is ready to face the second. Basically, you turn one 1-1 battle into two 2-1 battles you can more easily win.
Like all great tactics, however, it has weaknesses and counters, and requires certain prerequisites that have to be in place to allow it to work.
1) The most obvious is how fast and safely you can cross the ground to engage that first piece. Are your units fast enough to get there before they’re shot to ribbons by enemy defensive fire? Is there cover you can use?
2) The enemy can deny you that free range of movement with measures like barbed wire, minefields, antitank ditches . . . the kinds of things that honestly don’t stop or even damage an attack, just slow it down or channelize it.
3) How fast will the enemy’s reaction be, and how quickly can you destroy that first element? This actually happened to me just last weekend in a game of AA Minis. If you don’t destroy that first element fast enough and the enemy has time to swing down on you with the second unengaged element, not only have you lost your expected 2-1 local advantage, but now you’re in a crossfire as well. Prayer is your best option from there . . .
Am I the only one that is having some pretty severe streaming issues?
Good show, I really enjoyed the parts about your ideas for terrain boards. Do a warsenal table next!
I must say, i can’t wait to see Wild West Exodus on the show. It’s definately my favorite game thus far.
Great show as always. Bit late to the party but what quality of painter were you looking for in your painters for the campaign?
cant wait to see more about the cacti
For your wild west board, why not use the same techniques your posted on making trees to make some tumbleweed, spray brown instead of green, should look great next to the cactus.
I love hearing all the talk about Dust. I’m really looking forward to the show you will be doing on painting the mechs. Your site is so worth the money.
Thanks guys!
Loving the sand board I can see so many possibilities for its use from WW2 to Wild West even for u with some Warhammer Tomb Kings
So happy that there is a bunch more Dust coverage on the way. In regards to the loose sand on the board, I can see the angry mothers now.
I agree with @lloyd about camouflage on models. A lot of my Warmachine friends/opponents paint their Khador armour white, to match a snow/ice terrain theme, or their Cygnar green, to camo with a forest theme, and they find it unrealistic not to do this.
I take their point, but really like the strong red or blue colours of these factions. The colour to me is a rallying point, a symbol of the ideals that the armies are fighting for, and something to identify with.
Dust is rapidly turning into the Kickstarter I’m gutted I didn’t back. Well that and Wild West Exodus… and Kingdom Death. Damn lack of funds
Another great board
Interesting technics on the board. Not sure the mrs would appreciate the sand everywhere
Love the desert board effect, using the Dremel is a great idea it’s just perfect for Dust. Bring on Babylon.
Great looking table. I wonder if it would take a nice stone texture spray instead of gold?
Im painting my Warmahoards models as i watch this. That model would be awesome.
That force you’re looking for…The GM. Keep up that Waaagh! on those dice rolls.
I’m so excited for Servath Reznik, please do an unboxing video. I promise I’ll be a backstager forever.
Cheers chaps, good show, enjoy your camping trip.
Cracking show guys.
Not sure if you’re aware, but with you talking about storing terrain boards in sheds and vans etc, I thought I’d mention that PVA glue breaks down when it gets below 0c, it’s also moisture sensitive (it’s not waterproof!). So, if you’ve got PVA on a board and store it somewhere where it freezes, expect things to fall off. On the plus side, if you get it on your clothes, bang them in the freezer for an hour and then rinse them in cold water.
For dressing, on big games, I’ll offer use scatter materials to blend terrain pieces into a border by hiding their edges giving the table the look of a full custom board. Obviously, how long the board is going to be set up, it’s location and the ability to clean it up afterwards affects whether I use scatter or not.
makes my sunday every week to hear from u guys and loving the table and idears u guys keep throwing in my head. looking forward to the deadzone coverage
Great show guys that dreadball swag is epic
Looks like I’m not the only one who believes in my God’s
Liking the look of the plasticraft terrain am really hoping they venture toward Yu Jing some time soon ;0) I can only imagine the fun stuff they could create.
Thanks for the great show, love the desert board, some nice tips to create one.
The luck of the gods?god with the dice is an interesting subject. While our games rely on strategy and tactics to win, the final result is still dependent on the luck of the dice. That is what makes it a game of chance. You cannot win a game if you roll ones all day long. While this is statistically unusual, it does happen. Back in my adolescence I played two games of rogue trader that lived this example down. I moved a orc scorcher into position on the first turn of one game, (important as they usually exploded in the opponents first turn when shot) rolled the distance, covered all his guardsmen and their command squad with maximum range, then promptly rolled 24 consecutive ones, killing only one guardsman.
In the second game, my space marine opponent had first turn, threw his virus grenade at my leading orc squad, and proceeded to kill my entire army bar one orc with the virus spread. I didn’t count how many 5’s and 6’s he rolled, but it was a lot, but I was too busy laughing at the result. Quickest game of 40K have ever played……..
I just proved to me the game is just that, a game of chance.
OMG Warren – you been watching too much “Deal or no Deal” or something?
Can’t wait for the Deadzone video.
I find that different games give me different results with dice. In Bolt Action I consistently roll 1’s. Time after time after time. The only exception is when I use mortars, where I roll 6’s most often. My gaming mates know not to play on my side when we do WW2.
In Saga or Infinity however, my luck tends to be better.
2ps = the base of all my trees I’ve ever made 🙂
Happy Sunday!!! “This topic is getting dicey”, best line of the show!!! Great show as always guys.
Lloyd, my FLGS still has a ton of AT-43 sitting on a shelf going nowhere. Plenty of monkeys if you’re interested.
love the idea of cactus instead of forests = moment of Guinness
Great show, thanks.
Great table. I will be using your techniques for my two painted armies from the Dust Kickstarter I purchased,
I can’t wait for the dust coverage.
To manage the sand better for the table you could cut a length of PVC pipe into a trough that was the same length of one side. Then when you’re done just hold the pipe on one of the sides and tip the table up.
I really enjoy the XLBS. It is the reason I continued with the backstage pass, the only trouble is I always end up buying miniatures or stuff to make scenery out of after watching it.
Love the table as I said on the other weekender. Nice to know how you did the squares. Will be using something similar for my new necromunda table.
So you guys keep talking about Dust and I want to play it so bad but there’s no one near me that has it! By the way I think your gold on the Haq board makes it look like plastic a little to shiny.
Hi guys,
this is a really nice table. I Like it a lot.
@lloyd
About the Camo. It depends on how you use the models. If you lift it to your eyes and look at the model to enjoy your paintjob, or if you just put it in a Shelf etc. a nice camo can be great.
If you use a model primarly for gaming it´s better to avoid camo. One reason is the effect Lloyd discribed. The model can look wyrd if you look at it from 1-2m distance.
The other reason is: If you play with a desert camo on a winter table….Jungle camo in the desert…..
It´s not working so well.
About the Metallic or not metallic scratches. I myself like to do this in grey´s too. You can really boost the result, if you use a lead pencil on the edges. Use the side of the pencil to “Highlight” the edges. It has a silimar effect as metallic paints but it is less strong. It will leave a nice little shine at the edges. It looks awesome on tanks that should look old or dirty and used.
Love the board and the scenery guys…….will have to look at that material in future as I ‘ve found some of my MDF boards do warp over time which is a pain after you spend so much time building them. Love the ‘squared’ idea to, not only for Dust,( which I’m just getting into), but Deadzone as well as I hate any form of plastic mat/ card playing surface.
Great weekend….keep up the good work.
Personally, I’m a fan of a more hyper-realistic, cartoony painting style (a bit like the old confrontation miniatures). I really like camouflage, but when painted in that style, it makes the miniature stand out more than anything else. And it allows you to break up big, flat surfaces.
As for the luck gods: I totally understand what you’re saying, Warren, but with me it works the other way around. The more I want something, the less likely it is to happen. Take this give away as an example. I really want Reznik, but just because I want him so much, I know I won’t be getting him (although this is your opportunity of course to prove me wrong 😀 )
Love the board, I wish I had enough room to have a permanent one at my home as is I’m working on pieces for a Dust Babylon board to take to local stores.
Yeah…definately need more Dust coverage. I remember the game being released ages ago and didn’t pay much interest, but, i recently won a Axis starter army in our club raffle…and that was it! Dust stuff getting bumped up the painting table list…lots of new interest at our club…..so it looks like it going to take off.
I really like the ‘square’ movement of Dust Tactics…being a player of DEADZONE…the whole idea of moving with squares makes the whole game quicker……never really liked it before until I discover DEADZONE, now, with the BoW ‘squared’ scenery board……its opened up lots of interesting terrain projects!
Didn’t read all the comments, so don’t know if someone mentioned it already, but there was actually a lot of scientific research in the 80s on the topic @warzan was talking about. People (which didn’t know what the lab tests were about) had to play different kinds of dice games against each other or against some kind of computer or even sometimes in coorporation against the game and their luck and motivation state was messured. As I remember correctly, most of the studies weren’t large enough to exclude normal stochastic deviations, but almost every time a group of people, who were highly motivated and found each other likeable, were the most succesful in coorperative games. Also afterwards a lot of the test subjects reported they rolled better, when they were in a good mood and played with nice people.
Of course this is highly debatable and subject to the perspective of human beings, but I believe that on a deep subconscious level you can influence a dice roll. Even being a confident atheist myself.
I would of gone for a router to make the lines on the board, you can change the width that way, which is good for doing gutters/drainage systems as well @warzan @lloyd
Hey BoW
So are you guys planning on sending a contingent out to GenCon then?
Great weekender chaps!
I want your soul!
That extra ‘dynamic’ step for your terrain setup sounds great for a show, like you’re making, or for a big event. But I wouldn’t use it at home or for a game at a gaming club. It just sounds too messy for an environment you’d prefer or are required to keep clean.
Im not too fond of camo on miniatures, unless it’s the kind of “hey, look at me!” camo we see a lot of in wargaming. Like Warren said the best wargaming camo is used to accentuate the vehicle instead of hiding it. I am interested in weathering and other kinds of surface detailing to make a piece more interesting although I haven’t yet taken much time to play around with that.
I’m lookiong forward to see how next Weekender will turn out. A show without Warren sounds unusual and peerhaps a bit quiet. 😉
Gridding the table with the Dremel is a great idea. A Dremel is top of my wishlist for hobby tool wants. That board topped with the sand looks awesome but factoring in the potential mess at home doubled with the fact I don’t have a dedicated gaming space I don’t think I could get away with it!
I have a friend that is hyper competitive. We play card games, spades, hearts, cribbage… a lot and it is so easy to get him frustrated and begin to make poor decisions. I love to play with him, but it can get very ugly sometimes if I continually beat him. Then its no fun to play with him.
I often try to goad my opponents into making beneficial mistakes, like I end up losing a few guys, but it puts his stuff where I want it…. of course against opponents who are better than me, this rarely works to my advantage… but I keep doing it…
No love for Dust Warfare? I know it is in a limbo right now, but I think it is one of the greatest rulesets I have played so far
Great terrain guys, I’ve pledged on the Dust Kickstarter, you’ve given me some great ideas to create some terrain, you could easily use it for Deadzone too with the board divided into squares. Keep up the good work.
Great show and another plus one for the table creation as a hobyy lab. I am definitely goingto give this a try. Before i saw XLBS i noticed in the Dust demo game that the squares were carved in and planned to try something similar ith some 2ft x 2ft mdf tiles inhad cut a while bakc and never used. Just wonderingif a normal dremel type device couldmscore a sufficient groove for creating the grid usign a clamped metal ruler for guidance. Also just realised having googled the wood Warren was discussing its also known as sterling board which is what my game talemsurface is made from. It’s currently all painted blue and I put tiles on top for my gaming or have used it without any tiles as sea but in think I’ll get more use out of it as a desert table so now considering carving the grid straight into the table top ans reprinting desert colours. Any advice for the colours to spray or paint on on – was assuming a mid to dark brown bascoat, heavy patchy overbrushnof sandy yellow colour and some patches of drybrush or spraying of a skeleton or bleached bone colour. ( I have a can of army painter bone sitting around. Anyone else got any good painting ideas to achieve a nice deserts/sandy look. I would look to use it for the same purposes of Dust Tactics/battlefield once the KS stuff turns up and also for Infinity. from. I als experienced a few streaming issues just on XLBS in,last couple of weeks. With the picture freezing or going all distorted with lines but the sound carried on fine and then the picture does eventually catch up. Same thing experienced on iPad gen 1 running iOS 5 and an iPhone 5 running latest iOS (7.1.1 I think ). Loved the asteroids for x wing as well and will be giving them a try. Keep the hobby lab stuff coming its great! Failed trying to make the trees though, think my garden wire wasn’t thick/strong enough. However invested in a “hedgehog” gutter protector- 5m on eBay for just over £5 o it was cheaper than the cheap broom I bought to destroy so looking forward to having another go at tree making once that turns up. Hobby Lab for Infinity planters and getting all the various Infinity scenery sprayed up and looking cool would be good. Cheers guys and keep up the great work. Looking forward to all the upcoming Infinity and Dust stuff. An article like battle box and beyond for the Dust starters would be a great one to get in before the Dust KS pledge manager arrives if you can fit it in!
Also just realised how many typos there were in that last post- my apologies for bad typing, kts terrible when i used the ipad, but there are far too many to go back and edit this late! Hopefully it mostly makes sense :$
Oops
Great show. I like the idea of putting the grid directly on the board, but in a natural way.
What an awesome table. love the flexable nature you guys built in. My son and i are just getting into dust and this just give us tons of inspiration. Great job guys!!!
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. However, try as you might its really hard to avoid the effects of bad dice rolls.
I like the clay cacti. Should be pretty cool once they’re painted up. Have you thought about putting some static grass on them to make them more thorny? Not sure, but it might look cool.
Awesome DUST table. Really wants me go out and make something similar.
Does anyone know why the Tactics grid is such an odd size? I think you mentioned 9.3mm per square.
Dust…Dust…Dust….we need more coverage. Just finished painted some Axis models,(one that I’ve had hanging around for years)..and, they paint up really well. Really got me interest up now. I’ve tended to paint a ‘realistic’ cambo on the walkers with a lot of weathering and battle damage. With the Infantry, I’m sticking to a ‘basic’ WW2 uniform colour…but having fun with the ‘Late Dust War’ add equipment.
new to backstage and these show’s really do keep my inspiration topped up. Nice job
Good show. Any ideas for Skorne themed terrain buildings?
I still have to use more of my terraclips, but it has been working out well for Warmachine.
My optimism while gaming seems to have no effect on my locally famous inability to roll dice well 😛
There are some great stories out there though with the lengths people go with dice from simply picking up a few new dice out their pile because the last ones didn’t roll high enough all the way up to the one guy who went and crushed a die in a vice in front of all the others in the shed at the bottom of his garden…
AT-43… there’s a name that brings back memories. Well, memories of badly executed rules and concepts, but still, the minis looked good.
Remember the Dice Gods favor those who adopt many of their children. Great looking table.
picked up the dust tactics Fantasy Flight updated core set to see how we like the game. I know it really isn’t something to start building an army around but so far so fun!
Interested in how the new armies will work in battlefield and where that takes my gaming.
Fantastic board only missing some Hanging Gardens (of Babylon) Wouldn’t it be great (or messy) to have running water on a gaming table. 🙂 or maybe that’s just an accident waiting to happen.
Thanks for another great show. ‘re the luck with dice I generally can`t hit the side of a barn but come to repeated armour saves on the same man no problem.
One of my friends just took ownership of a gaming store and to support him my other friends ran a painting lab. They tried using a bunch of citadel minis, but didn’t factor in having to clean, assemble and prime the figs before even starting to teach painting. The store came with a fair number of DUST models and I’m planning on running a painting/weathering lab and the DUST models are perfect for this. They come out of the box ready to paint and benefit greatly from weathering effects. We’re going to try a combined buy-and-paint contest, with a painting/weathering lab and then a tournament spanning about two months time to try to get a “total hobby” event/experience for DUST locally.
I find that when I am feeling positive in a game, I let the bad rolls wash over me and move on to the next bit of my plan, whereas if I am negative feeling when I fail rolls I focus on them more and looking back at the game I will remember the disasters more than the great moments!
As you said with the Tyranids, playing characteristically or somewhat gung-ho! helps to remain enthusiatic throughout the game. Also playing the bad guys is always good too as they are supposed to lose, so if you win its a bonus. I always have a miserable time playing space marines as really they never lose and only very often are killed, so when my company gets wiped out its aweful, whereas playing as Tyaranids, fluff wise your just a small piece of the great devourer and if you lose, it just means they prey got away this time.
Another thing I find is that some dice I own (the new 40k apocalypse dice specifically; 125 of the buggers!) have a cool Omnissiah Skull graphic on one side, annoyingly in place of the 1, this means every time I see the cool Skull (why I bought them) it means I have terribly failed a roll.
Because of the skull I remember all the failures of the game (I failed a 1 inch charge with a full command squad and terminator captain recently, and they got obliterated next turn!)
I got so frustrated with the dice and even my opponents would say i needed to burn them that they have been shelved permanently. I bought some laser engraved dice from dice.co.uk with my own custom graphics on the 6 side this time and the feeling of seeing my symbol and knowing its a resounding success is great! and any 1s i roll are quickly forgotten. So, my point is: don’t buy dice with graphics on the 1, unless you wanna feel bad during a game.
Sorry, long post, buy what you were talking about resonated with me!
Many thanks for the tip on using OSB boards for gaming. I have to keep my hobby stuff in the garage, so being able to keep the damp out of my gaming boards is a real blessing. 🙂
Im getting strange freeze ups at times. The image freezes and the sounds dies but the clock still runs. Getting the same in both Fire fox and Safari. Its not at the same places every time. Been able to watch the regular weekender without a hitch,
Im on osX mavrics.
Can’t seem to skip the broken part either. So if freezes early in the show and I can’t continue watching it. It’s a sad weekend indeed.
that table looks bad ass. ive just made my very first gaming table and i have to says it is mights mighty fun. although 10 oclock in the morning became 1 oclock in the morning the next day very quickly. its a great feeling like your creating your very own mini world.
Another good one fellas.
I only recently discovered AT-43 but I really love that game. On the one hand it’s a shame it didn’t survive longer. On the other…if it had I would never have been able to afford to get into it!
Guys sorry when you say plastcraft stuff is kinda fiddly what do you mean exactly? I am just concerned it is too fragile for transporting..
Another nice episode!
That new warcaster for warmachine is what inspired my latest menoth excursion, great prize this week guys!
I suffer from over-abition and realising that having terrain that looks great is better than aiming for perfect terrain that never materialises. Must watch more hobby lab to learn more speed terrain techniques!
PS Hide the leviathan in the wheel well!
When you guys start to do battle reports my quality of life will vastly improve …Beasts of war game tables look awesome!!