Hobby Weekender 7/09/2018 – A Hobby Weekender is Never Late

[elessar2590 18207xp 3]

Welcome one and all to another weekender! Explanatory blurb shamelessly cut and paste below:

Welcome to the hobby weekender, a place where anyone is welcome. This is a collaborative, chatty thread. Not an exclusive thing or elitist. Please join in and enjoy a friendly welcome. Main rules are don’t be a dick, engage with others, and do not discuss religion or politics. Post your progress, answer questions, chat to people, post up some music, and enjoy the show. Points get awarded and we have a sort of winner at the end.

Some questions to get the ball rolling:

1) How important is pose-ability and variations in your minis? Are you happy to have a “Clone” army or do you prefer mixing it up a bit?

2) Do you have a single Miniature or Group of Miniatures that you look at and say “Wow that is the best thing I’ve ever painted/converted/??? Why and if you can please share them with us.

3) Are you a Hobby Butterfly or do you tend to find a game system and stick to it? How many Game Systems is too many?

Please post tunes and hobby pledges (aspirational pledges are fine) and if you haven’t joined in on the thread before please do feel welcome and jump on in

Also there are bonuses for the following ‘Achievements’:

·         Most Valuable Player (most engaged with topic)

·         Fire Starter (topic starter, encourages the member circulation)

·         Hobby Champ (most hobby over the weekend)

·         Meme Lord (ryhmes, funnies & memes)

·         Pun-Tertainment (best pun)

·         Brush Licker (painting & terrain)

·         Headliner DJ (most eclectic music)

·         Armchair Commander (weekend battle reports)

·         Community Usher (helpful & engaged)

·         Storyteller (weekly discussion & story)

Points will be awarded by me for posts, most likely in what would appear on face value to be a random and happenstance manner, but rest assured, there is a highly scientific method utilised to determine point allocations.

Some Classic Australian music for you this Weekend

(This one a staple of every Australian Drunken party)

[evilstu 15298xp 3]

Hey look! Classic rock tracks from back when pubs used to play live music! /shakes head in disgust at the current state of affairs… 😛

@elessar2590 thanks for hosting this week. and a big thanks to @woldenspoons for hosting us last week 🙂

First up, questions..

1) How important is pose-ability and variations in your minis? Are you happy to have a “Clone” army or do you prefer mixing it up a bit?

Really depends on the game system and the size of the army. I prefer some poseability as a general rule – I don’t want to buy a box set of ‘dynamic’ posed single piece sculpts that look the same as everybody else’s, but at the other extreme I don’t want to be gluing together 7 to 10 pieces a mini if I am doing a large scale project. So I guess for smaller ‘skirmish’ sized or styled games then I’d look for poseability and scope for customisation to make each mini more of an individual. Once the piece start count ramps up a little though… Let’s just say I wouldn’t consider Napoleonics if Warlord and Perry didn’t have 3 part minis (body/backpack/head). Having said that, the Perry and Warlord minis have enough variety in their stances (even when sculpted ‘at the march’) so that they don’t look too same-y. Not sure how I would go if they were all identically cast.

However, I will admit that having to go through this process for a single 35mm mini did break me:

http://robotech-rpg-tactics.wikia.com/wiki/File:Vf-1_battloid_assembly_3.jpg

 

2) Do you have a single Miniature or Group of Miniatures that you look at and say “Wow that is the best thing I’ve ever painted/converted/??? Why and if you can please share them with us.

I have a couple of minis that I spent some time on last year which I would consider to be my current ‘benchmark’ but I know I could do better if I took my time. I do have some nice mnis stashed away for a rainy day (or month…)which I will look to tacking when I’m bored of batch painting high volumes of wargaming minis. First one is a Reaper Bones frost giant – I wanted to play with detailing leatherwork and also had a bit of a go at NMM and black and white on the beard and furs. didn’t really spend too much time on the skin tone (I think it was a basecoat and a single thin highlight?) but it still turned out looking OK given there were other details to focus on.

And this guy was a Confrontation lini that I wanted to use as a Necromancer on my (now stalled) Kings of War undead army. He was quite good fun to paint 🙂

3) Are you a Hobby Butterfly or do you tend to find a game system and stick to it? How many Game Systems is too many?

Given It’s a family thread I will politely describe myself as ‘promiscuous’ with regard to hobby 🙂 I’ll happily jump into projects, dabble for a bit, park them and then come back to them years later. I think you would have to have a very specific mindset to play the one thing continuously without it becoming ‘stale’. How many games systems is too many? If there were such a thing it would probably be when each game was no longer unique – as in each game was just a mash-up of elements of other games. From a personal perspective, I guess if I was buying games and never getting around to unboxing them or reading the rules then I’d probably take that as an indication that it might be time to start unwinding the procurement a little… 🙂

Pledges this week will be to paint up a test Ork and to mess about with green stuff to see if I can convert vanilla space marines to look lies Salamanders. Likely to be other stuff I might get to but not going to overcommit this weekend 🙂

And tunes:

 

 

 

 

 

[a27cromwell 3188xp 4]

Muti pose figures all the way for me . The Bolt Action  WW2 plastics  are great for kit bashing and creating your own troops . These 2 pairs are the same bodys from the BA German FJ set , but I have used various arms ( Russian , early war German , Panzer Grenadier as well as parts from the FJ set to give me a Panzerschrek team and a MG crew. Panzershrek converted from the US plastics bazooka , and the MG gunner uses the extra arm from the BA plastic 251 Half track

My best miiatures  are usually the last ones I’ve built / converted . With both Warlord and Rubicon releasing new plastic vehicles monthly almost , there’s always something to work on . 

I don’tplay any  games really , just like to build troops and tanks , but if I ever did it would probably be Bolt Action .  Sorry don’t know how to post music , but I’ll agree with your choice of the Angels , Cold Chisel and the Tatts ,( looks like my record collection ). This weekend I hope to finally finish my FJ tank riders , I know I said that last week , and the week before , but this time I mean it …maybe

[biggabum 4565xp 2]

Hey all. And thanks for hosting @elessar2590

Sadly the wife is ill at the moment so may not be able to participate much this weekend, although we are hoping to get a game in on Sunday. What? I don’t know yet but probably Batman or WWX…. at the worst we’ll try and do Blood Bowl or Dreadball.

@evilstu Wow, I can see why you love those Mini’s mate, both are fantastically well painted. I think my favourite it the dwarf though…. no the necromancer…. no the dwarf….. nope cant make up my mind.

@a27cromwell Excellent stuff from you again. I reall do like the way you paint your tanks.

Right the questions:

1) I’m with @evilstu on this. I think it depends on the game and scale. Skirmish games, yes I like a little poseability on the Mini’s. Large scale games like the Old WFB or 40k I dont think it matters so much. In truth tho, I have this terrible tendancy to make all the mini’s look the same no matter how much variation is in the kits.

2) Mmmm The best Mini I ever did was way back when I enjoyed painting more, A high Elf prince on a Dragon. Sadly I no longer have the model as I sold it along with all my other GW mini’s. I originally put it on ebay with a starting price of £15 but it actually sold for £95. I’ll have a sort though my current Mini’s and put up some of my favourites.

3) Definately a butterfly. I’ll buy and collect for one game and then flit on to another and play that for a bit and then after a while flit back to another game then concentrate on that for a while before flitting off to another game. It gets expensive. Current games We flit between are, The Batman Miniatures Game, Wild west Exodus, Bolt Action, Malifaux, Warmachine, Saga, Dropzone Commander, Blood Bowl, The walking Dead, Dreadball, Grind and Zombicide. Gathering dust at the moment are Mercs, Horus Heresy, Flames of War, Monstepocalypse, Sedition Wars and Project Pandora. I wont list the ones we have played but have sold off for various reasons, we would be here all day…. yep butterfly.

 

[mageParticipant 20596xp 2]

Thanks for hosting @elessar2590 it is sincerely appreciated.

 

1) How important is pose-ability and variations in your minis? Are you happy to have a “Clone” army or do you prefer mixing it up a bit?

 

Hoo. That’s a good one. So, possibility is great for me. I love it. I can convert armies. Especially plastic kits. Stuff like frostgrave human soldiers, space marines and world war 2 Americans are great for this. However it is time consuming and a bit of a barrier for newer players to game. Also, they tend not to be as dynamic as some sculpts in metal or resin designed for more mono pose, unvaried poses. As for clones, I do not like it at all. Anyone remember old GW kits like this?

 

https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MjkwWDQwMA==/z/bykAAOSwnLdWtYQ3/$_20.JPG

 

Dreadful. But the technology has gotten better to be fair:

 

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-IE/Etb-Castigators-With-Gryph-Hound-2018

 

And the price is right. These though, despite varied heads and shields are quite ‘same-ey’:

 

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-IE/Seraphon-Saurus-Warriors

 

The only Clone army I want is from the Republic era for Star Wars Imperial Assault! J

 

2) Do you have a single Miniature or Group of Miniatures that you look at and say “Wow that is the best thing I’ve ever painted/converted/??? Why and if you can please share them with us.

 

My Dark Elves for AoS. Most recent big army I painted. They are tied with my Iron Hands, which were done years ago to a less good standard (I refuse to use the word ‘bad) which are at BATTLE COMPANY STRENGTH. Yes, I have a battle company of Space Marines 100 Strong and Codex Compliant.

 

The Dark Elves were just something I executed well with my paint hobs, newer paint ranges and something that coalesced in my mind for a while. Im still not going to win painting competitions but they are my best army I have ever painted, I think.

 

Mage’s Age of Sigmar Dark Elves

 

3) Are you a Hobby Butterfly or do you tend to find a game system and stick to it? How many Game Systems is too many?

 

I used to be a hobby butterfly but now I make goals. I usually do a big project like a an army, a boxed game, board game, starter set, or something for a campaign. Or a terrain set. A few years ago it was different. Now I tend to focus on one thing or game and get playing. That said, I still sort of am a hobby butterfly.

 

Recently, or rather for the last year or so, ish, I’ve been working on a project. The idea is I plonk down four 1,000 point AoS armies (Dark Elves, Ogres, Stormcast, Khorne Chaos) fully painted, with fully painted terrain, on a board or map/matt. I then GM the game for four noob friends to get them interested or the very least playing and having fun. The four armies are done. Im waiting on some spray paint in the mail now so I can start working on the ruins from this (though I kind of want a second one):

 

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-IE/Realm-Of-Battle-Blasted-Hallowheart-2018

 

This project started in 1st ed, and I am now awaiting the current General’s Handbook in the mail as well as objective markers for said game. I’m also tempted by Baleful Realmgates, a terrain kit. The objectives might be for another game down the line as to not overcomplicate the game. I may also do little scrolls with orders from generals or base, and have a fancy container for them; props to add another level and layer to the game.

 

While I wait on all that stuff in the mail (and think about the new stuff) I am working on Arcworlde, Batman Miniature Game, and other bits and pieces. Frankly it’s a nice change of pace from painting up four armies back to back (more or less) since before last Christmas. Less of a grind, shorter goals, quiker but smaller yields of completed models.

[mageParticipant 20596xp 2]

My pledge this weekend

 

Game: Arcworlde

Type: Skirmish, Warbands

Genre: Fantasy, Terry Pratchett Inspired

Force: Albionnican Empire (human good guys)

 

Painting:

———–

• Colonel Brontide x1 (Special Character)
• Froststream Guards x3 (they have wooly tall hats)
• Wizard x1 (beard and staff are mandatory)

 

Assembly (no priming with my son around who follows me around like a shadow 🙂 )

—————————————————————————————————-

• Sergeant x1
• Foot Knight x1
• Flamelancer x1
• Albionnican Captain x1 (my second Captain* but an alternative pose)

 

*Technically my fourth with two in my collection being special characters on top of this guy. Then again, Brontide is a Colonel…)

 

Here is my music:

 

[elessar2590 18207xp 1]

@evilstu Those minis look great definitely something to be proud of.  I like the little Gremlin on the Necromancer’s Book, it contains the unholy secrets of raising the dead, rituals to bind the souls of the ethereal and Gremlin slobber.

10 Points for FIRST!!!!! a further 1 point for not shouting FIRST!!!!! plus 10 Points for the questions/music and 4 points for the 4 pictures.

@a27cromwell very nice I like the “Hans comin-zee here I need a Bipod”. I wonder how badly an MG would mess up your hearing from even a 2 second burst?

Those are some very nice tanks.

10 points for the Hobby and 5 points for the 3rd Post.

@biggabum Sorry to hear about the wife hope she gets well soon. Hopefully you can get a game in, I’ve played Batman only once but it was a fantastic game.

7 Points for the questions

[elessar2590 18207xp 1]

@mage You managed to post just as I did. Next year Star Wars Legion will be covering the Clone Wars which I am very excited for being a massive fan of the TV Show. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

1 Point for Great Minds thinking alike.

10 points for the Answers and Music

5 points for the Pledge

As for myself I’m off to my local gaming group tomorrow to try out the new Middle Earth SBG Rules. I quickly painted up my heroes Theoden, Eomer and Eowyn so at least they’re painted.

[mageParticipant 20596xp 2]

@elessar2590

 

Cool haha.

 

Wow, Clone Wars next year? Tht’ll be great. We can finally settle the age old debate of Stormtrooper Vs Clonetrooper. Also, as a setting (lets face it, the prequals were rubbish) the Galactic Republic era wasn’t bad as a setting goes. Lots of options for Role-playing (moreso) and wargames (more armies) than simply fighting an already established and powerful galactic regime. I think this is great news. I want one of the Clonetrooper Tanks and some comandoes all led by a Jedi Knight!

 

Best of luck at the gaming group and enjoy the SBG rules. Heroes look fantastic. Gonna get them based before you go? At some stage Ill touch up my Rohan army that I painted in the early/mid 2000s.

 

Im going home soon ish, going to bed, and waking up, recovering for the rest of the day like a zombie or some sort of spectral apparition. Im hungry but also the thought of eating makes my stomach feel unwell.

 

Also, come Monday, my son will be gone back to his mum’s for school. My friend Mike will be popping down and we will be continuing with his Star Wars Legion set. We will most likely finish the basecoats on his rebels and move onto washes and layers. The Imperials will need a little more priming but Darth Vader will probably be finished. THEREFORE, my pledge will be different Monday, and again Tuesday.

 

Pledge Breakdown

 

Friday – Sunday:               Arcworlde (aiming at completing my pledge within this period)

Monday:                              My friend’s SWL (I might try and so some of my own stuff at the same time)

Tuesday onward:              TBD** (I have paints and primers to arrive, depending on what does or does not arrive in the mail re primers and paints, I am out of Mephiston Red and it’s a go-to colour for me)

 

**There are a few possibilities here: GKR, BMG, more Arcworlde, AoS, LotR and 40k to name a few.

[mageParticipant 20596xp 3]

Set-up for my game of Arcworlde against @irredeemable where we play round 2. Will I win again or shall the score be settled? Lets find out!

 

 

Miraculously, Bayourk Chieftain ‘Pierce-assed’ Pete survived being riddled with arrows in the previous fight with the humans. Spending a fortnight healing, aided by the Brewboys and Witchdoktas, he was eager to get even. They scouted the land and waited for the humans. They watched. Waited. Silent. The time would soon be right…

 

Captain Hawthorne had been going over maps in his tent while the men rested after setting up camp. They were tucking into their provisions after a long day on the march back to Fort Gamford. One of the men let out a shout. The Captain ran out of his tent. With his training he swiftly ordered his men to take up arms and enter a line formation. He hadn’t got a bearing on the situation yet but better to be ready and find out than the opposite. Thankfully he hadn’t retired for the evening yet and still wore his armour and blades. The sun was going down, and over the other side of the ruins against the orange light of the summer sun the Bayourks sprinted toward them.

 

 

 

The Albionnbicans barely took the hill before the Bayourks reached their lines. Further back, Hawthorne attempted to set up a few fire corridors, attempting to make the best of their position due to the brutally swift attack of the Swampfolk. He was a sharp man, and given the situation and time he felt best to set up makeshift no-man’s-lands. The Bayourks were deadly in a fight, and they would be killed in straight up melee. Hawthorne, an expert with the blade and Valedictorian at the Fontaine Fencing College in his youth, would rather fight a raging bull in a bareknucked boxing match.

 

The Chieftain was eager for revenge, making short work of two Halberiers but not coming out unscathered either.

 

 

Hawthorne knew he could not save his men if he joined the fight. He weighed up the situation in front of him. At best, and coldly, he could use their sacrifice to flank the chieftain, potentially, with slim odds, winning or at least buying time for the rest of his men.

 

 

The Albionnicans however, were spread thin and faced a two-pronged attack:

 

 

To be continued…

 

Will the Albionnicans stand firm? Will the Bayourks feast on man-flesh? What will become of Captain Hawthorne? Tune in tonight at some point!

[mageParticipant 20596xp 2]

Ive been painting reinforcements:

 

 

A hasty pic of my workstation so as not to be empty handed

 

 

I start my second Griff Hound, Ice Claw!

 

[evilstu 15298xp 1]

@a27cromwell wow, all of those tanks look great! And good luck with progressing your tank riders too 🙂 Nice conversions on the infantry too – you must have quite the bits box by now then?

@biggabum hope the missus is feeling better soon. Nice to hear that your paintwork was that well regarded that you got such a nice price for it on Ebay 🙂

@mage you sort of threw me with the reference to 1st ed – I guess I still sort of mentally process Aos as sort of 9th ed WHFB rather than something different… Nice to hear your son likes to spend time with you 🙂 Nice start on the batRep 🙂 Arcworlde does look like a lot of fun. I probably should read more Pratchett… Have only read Good Omens and Wee Free Men. GF has quite the sizeable collection but I tend to spend most of my reading time reading rule/source books 🙂

@elessar2590 yeah good point – my oversight. I really should go and amend my post to read first… 😛 Yes the gremlin was fun. There was actually a second ne on top of the necromancers axe but he didn’t really show up in the photos I posted. Nice work on the LoTR characters! The barding on Theoden’s horse is really nice!

Got a little stuff done today. Messed around with greenstuff enough to know I can probably get away with converting marines to look like salamanders easily enough bu sculpting scaled tabards. Not so sure re the flames on the legs and scaly skin on the shoulder pad that I was originally considering but will give it a bit more practice and see how we go.

Test scheme on an Ork – doesn’t look this dark IRL but if I am going to dip the mini I think I will have to brighten it up a little more otherwise the varnish will pull the tone too far back towards the dark green. I might go for an olive green base and work in a more yellow ochre highlight as I blend up.

And then got distracted progressing historicals…

In positive news my printer is now behaving itself. Before and after photos of the same print job follow – can you spot the difference? 😛

[woldenspoonsParticipant 3557xp 1]

@evilstu that is quite some difference. I kind of like the wrong sacks though.

[sundancer 42985xp 1]

First of: thank you @elessar2590 for taking the weekender bullet.

Second I did a little bit of hobby yesterday but I won’t have much time the rest of the weekend so don’t be alarmed if I’m silent 😉

Current WIP

Though Solo and his merry men are partially assembled I don’t have time right now to get them primed. Maybe Monday.

[oriskany 60771xp 1]

Epic!  @elessar2590 is hosting the Weekender thread!  Amazing!  Okay, let me try to post something here.

<b>1) How important is pose-ability and variations in your minis? Are you happy to have a “Clone” army or do you prefer mixing it up a bit?</b>

Honestly, not at all.  I am a “rank and file” player, I actually don’t like the wild “bayonet / musket-clubbing” poses many miniatures have these days for skirmish games.  Give me guys in either shoulder arms pose, or shooting from the shoulder or knee pose.

I will insist on “pose-ability” for tanks, however, i.e., the turrets must be able to turn.  The games I play require it to be clear where the tank is facing and where the turret is facing.

I guess that  goes for BattleTech, too.

<b>2) Do you have a single Miniature or Group of Miniatures that you look at and say “Wow that is the best thing I’ve ever painted/converted/??? Why and if you can please share them with us.</b>

Best thing I’ve ever painted?  Not kidding here, that’s usually whatever I’ve just finished painting.  I’m still relatively new to mini painting and by no means an expert, so I guess I’m still improving. 😀

I guess my best tanks so far are still my 15mm Magach, IDF, 1967 Six Day War:

I always like to put some kind of “Easter Egg” in many of my minis, in this case it’s the serial numbers on the back fenders.  Those numbers aren’t random, they’re the dates for the 1956, 1967, and 1973 Arab-Israeli Wars.

As far as conversions go, I have none.  But I do have some pretty epic scratch-builds if I do say so myself.  I’ll save them for another post.

<b>3) Are you a Hobby Butterfly or do you tend to find a game system and stick to it? How many Game Systems is too many?</b>

I used to be the opposite.  Only Panzer Leader (or its sibling games).  All Panzer Leader, all the time, substitutes are but pale shadows.  Since joining Beasts of War I’ve dipped my toe into Flames of War and even Bolt Action, really like Battlegroup, rediscovered Valor & Victory.  I’ve rewritten / purposed TSR Battlesystem for American Revolution, and of course always tinkering with Darkstar for sci-fi.  I’ve plunged back into BattleTech as well, but … kind of remembered how silly-complex that system can be IF YOU LET IT GET AWAY from you.  Stay focused and disciplined with what is and isn’t allowed, though, and it can remain an infinitely playable and enjoyable game.

So maybe a butterfly?  But if so, a small one.

[Author]

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