Hobby Weekender 8/12/2018 – I think we accidentally stepped in December…

[evilstu 15298xp 3]

In the beginning, before the start of written human history, there was a contents page. And before that, probably that page that has all of the legal disclaimers, publisher info and publication history. And possibly a nice dedication from the author to all of those individuals who helped them compile their work and supported them in achieving their dream. And maybe the inside fold of a dust jacket with extracts of notable book reviewers relating how much they enjoyed reading this volume of written human history. But look, that’s not the important bit. The important bit is that somewhere after the start, possibly way towards the back, is the saga of the Hobby Weekender. So without further ado…

Intro blurb (including this bit) shamelessly cut and paste below (again again ) :

To the uninitiated, this is a virtual hobby hangout here on the forum. It is something fun and silly with a little more ‘oomph’. Its not just show and tell with your models. Its chatting, getting to know one another, community building. Think of it as a sort of club like hobby session. Everyone is welcome, of course, and there are a few rules to abide by. Let it go as OT as you like with chatting with folks. BoW is a special, unique community, and this little weekly thread is a tradition on these forums. Though not for everyone, if you are still reading and keen, then it is for you. If not, best click out.

We do a few things on this thread that usually lasts from Friday or Saturday til about Wednesday or Thursday. My say is final in this silly little corner of the internet. Fear not, for this is your safe place against the outside world of flame wars, trolling and all that other crap.

 

(1) Make a pledge for the weekend. It can be painting, assembly, priming, converting, background writing, terrain, you name it. Just gotta be relevant to hobbying or gaming.

(2) Chat with people. Be friendly. Do get to know one another, be kind, provide positive reinforcement and constructive criticism. Do not post up your real name, credit card, bank details or home address info.

(3) I will list out questions. Answer them. Longer answers = more points. Also, points are being assigned to something else as it confused some folk for a while.

(4) Awards will be given out at the end of the thread and you shall be awarded XP, added to your account profile by the wonderful @lancorz . Think of him as the ever vigilant Batman of the forums who keeps a careful eye on the status quo, but also acts in a way, like Alfred; with a calm disposition and the attentive nature of a concierge.

(5) Scottish Pub Law rules: no discussion of religion or politics**. Keep it clean. Behave. Be nice, be kind. Walk away if you get angry. Don’t be a dick.

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)

Note: All points are awarded in fictional currencies…

And there are weekly questions to get the conversation going. So, for this week:

Suggest a game for which you wish had an active and locally accessible group of gamers. Just to make it more interesting, make it a game other than the old GW games – we can take WHFB, Mordheim, Epic or Battlefleet Gothic as a given if you like…

Suggest an idea for a game theme (don’t stress too much about game mechanics) that could translate well to or inspire a stand-alone board game?

What is one small discrete aspect of your hobby that you have flagged for self improvement, or you wish you were better at. Do you have a game plan to achieve this? If so, what is your intended approach?

For the Sci-fi genre, do your like your novels/films/games populated with alien races or do you prefer tension between factions comprised entirely of humans or their descendants? Why? Same question for Fantasy – do you prefer human kingdoms with a sprinkling of shamans, wizard and blessed ancestral swords or do you prefer to have elves, dwarves and trolls rolled up into the mix?

[horati0nosebl0wer 19645xp 3]

Woohoo! Dropbear time seems to be reasonable for my timezone, though a full day ahead. Thankfully the Internet can time travel this way.

I pledge to have half of my most recent commission done this weekend and try to be most of the way into the other. Its nice to have some leeway from Xmas with the client.

As far as gaming for regular host of people I’d be happy to have Malifaux. Bloodbowl or Mordheim would be interesting as league/campaign play over a long term.

As far as a game theme I’d be partial to a wild west tactics game. I’ve been fooling around with Hard West on Steam and it might make for some tabletop fun with chibi characters or PvP like Brutality.

A small and discrete aspect of hobbying I’d like to improve? Seeing as there are technically minded people here and being aware of ‘discrete mathematics’ being a thing I’d probably not have much to add to my short list of “Paint better”. There is no set game plan other than keep doing and be organic 2ith development.

With sci fi conflict resolution I’d say that having alien races would be good. It adds to the potential of what might be as humans have reasonable expectations for thoughts/actions. Aliens give the improbable possibility and allows the Uncanny Valley issue. David from Prometheus is a great violation of that in Covenant as he’s shown to be an absolute sociopath by human estimation which contrasts his human appearance. With obvious aliens we approach new situations with a “known unknown” mindset. In some of the same you can see the Uncanny Valley of folklore/fantasy with great leaps in retellings of different tales from game settings like the World of Darkness writings to movies such as Hellboy.

[biggabum 4565xp 2]

Had a pretty busy week this week… the wife is finding all the stuff I told her i’d done and making me actually do it. So again time is limited this weekend, although saying that, I should be able to get a game of something in.

I need to get some games under my belt now because after Christmas I have a fair bit of Mini painting to do with the stuff we’ve got Matty and some of the stuff i’ve been bought. Mmmm maybe its time to dust off the Airbrush and get some paints.

Mmmmm…. I think Wild West Exodus would be the one I would go for if anything. The problem around here is that there are a few really small groups (I wouldnt call them clubs) that play stuff other than Gw but they don’t seem to cover WWX and even if they did accessibility would be difficult because they tend to be very young players (14-18yr olds). Personally I would like to see more small groups of older gamers that diversified but locally in my age group it seems that the only options are either GW exclusive groups (40k) or Historical (small scale Napoleonics).

Having just binge watched the third season of The Last Kingdom I think that would actually lend itself very well to a number of different style board games. You could go the way of a Risk type game, expanding territories, forging allies fighting battles etc, or a character driven game following the adventures of Uhtred as he tries to recapture his home of Bebbanburg.

I think I would like to be better at scratch building. I see some old junk and have an idea, but actually getting the idea that I pictured in my head onto the work bench and to look anything like I planned never works. Hell I cant even get things to look right following tutorials. The fantastic model I see in the tutorial just looks like painted junk when i’ve finished with it.

Actually I dont mind either. If the game is good and fun I dont mind what the factions are and if they are all Human or not. Mind you I dont think there are many Sci Fi/Fantasy games that have solely Human factions in them. Even GoT has Dragons and the White Walkers. In fact I can only think of MERCS. Even WWX has Aliens and and Shapeshifters.

[evilstu 15298xp 2]

OK, have spent half the day arm wrestling with my printer – following a strip down, clean and rebuild it now seems to be cooperating. Temporarily at least… nearly 3 hours into the current print job and no issues so far, so will check again in the morning. That sort of usurped my hobby time today so no progress or anything to show.

I am liking the look of those new Death Troopers for SWL. Probably still not enough to tip me over into jumping in but it is really good to see some variety starting to creep in in the factions now.

@horati0nosebl0wer Malifaux would indeed be fun, and I can see BB or Mordheim making a good ongoing tourney style game.Wild west tactics as in building railroad lines and accumulating a cattle empire? Or more of a small scale gunfight gang style game? Are you able to say broadly what your commission is? 30 seasonal gingerbread men for pledge and responses.

@biggabum oh no! Your scheme in ruins! Hope the catch-up chores don’t take too long 🙂 Yes the GW stuff does have the advantage that it’s pretty much a ‘universal language’ as far as gamers are concerned. Fingers crossed there is a bit more diversification in your local area at some stage. Haven’t checked out Last Kingdom yet but from what I know of it I could see it translating well to a solidly composed board game. Scratchbuilding is good like that. if I build something and look at it all I see are my mistakes. If somebody else looks at it they seem to think it’s fit for purpose. So maybe you are being a bit rough on yourself? We are all our own worst critics after all.  30 seasonal gingerbread men for post and responses.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19645xp 3]

@biggabum I think that the age differences tend to show what the OTT crew tried to address with the posed question of ‘Are big army games dead?” in one of their videos. I would say that there is a great deal of attachment and devotion to army building and collecting which would be more relevant to the mindset of devoted older gamers. A crop of youngbloods that are cutting their way through the gaming world have a great deal more to look into now with so many games and can flit between factions that suit their fancy in smaller numbers of figures. I saw it with how a small game store pushed smaller games to keep sales of whatever was new/interesting as a means of seeing what stuck. Honestly that’s how I got started with my Ramos crew for Malifaux in seeing the gaming from time to time and knowing that one box and a deck of cards got me in on the fun. I bought a book later to read the rules and fluff as it grew on me.

As far as games it all boils down to what the local group has latched onto. I really have no burning interest in Warmachine or Hordes but the models are interesting so I purchase the occasional mini here or there. WWX just hits a cross section of history and fantasy that might not be for most people. The historical gamers might be willing to take a crack at it over others in the same vein as Dust or Konflikt ’47 have their appeal. I’d approach them and try to sell the thought along the lines of Harry Turtledove fiction as the great “What if…!”

@evilstu I think that a grid based western gunfight game would be fun. Super Dungeon Explore really got to the heart of what 90s gaming in that vein was while pulling from the 80s Legend of Zelda. My mind goes back to Final Fantasy Tactics and their job classification system which might be a fun twist on the game. Mix and match base jobs from say a system like Ryuutama and cross them with more esoteric/advanced classes in Deadlands.

The commission I’ve been putting off working through consists of a pair of thri-kreen and some rat swarms from the Wizkids Nolzur’s line as well as Tonga, Gorilla-Man (02454) from Reaper minis. I’m not overly motivated but its been better since I took a short hiatus in order to build bases and work on the sculpting side of things. Its always a back and forth deal of making/modifying and covering with colors.

Now I’ll be arming myself in case these seasonal gingerbread men decide to animate for some reason. I’ve seen the film Krampus to be wary and am versed enough in animated movies to be able to take care of such threats.

 

[limburger 21704xp 2]

hmmm gingerbread … if it is anything like the ‘taai taai’ I eat a lot of when given a chance then I need not worry about any of them becoming alive 😉

@evilstu : arm-wrestling with a printer ? How many arms did it have before you started ? 😉

I doubt I could limit myself to one game, so for me my (current) set of games would be :

– blood&plunder / oak&iron : pirates … who doesn’t love pirates ? arrh!

– Dropfleet commander / Dropzone commander : the cross-over potential is awesome and it is space combat at a proper epic space scale

– Carnevale / killteam : small skirmish games with great narrative potential that are easy to get into to attract new players

– Bolt-action / Flames of war / Battlegroup : got to have some historicals that are easy to learn. Plus it would allow a change of system while not having to change your army.

I probably own enough armies across all of those systems to get a small club started LOL

Game theme ? Part of the reason why I tend to back kickstarters … I see lots of projects with interesting themes/gimmicks already. For example the idea of a boardgame equivalent of Alien/Aliens is already covered by Nemesis kickstarter (core game arrived yesterday). And Reichbusters does the ‘Wolfenstein’ as a tabletop game bit already.
If I were to think of one myself it would be a WW2 or modern warfare equivalent to Killteam/Carnevale/Mordheim.
ie : a small scale skirmish with a campaign option. Think of movies like Kelly’s Heroes and Dirty Dozen or a tv-series like Band of Brothers and tour of duty.

Stuff to improve ?
My game sorting/stacking skill …everything is in a big stack and ‘sorted’ based on time of arrival.
Storage is becoming a challenge.

I also need to improve my painting/assembling (or rather : getting started and maintaining momentum), which would help with the storage situation.

Also … time … I need more of it. Anyone got a TARDIS I could use ?

Anyways … that’s also what I’m doing hobby-wise this weekend (and the next).

[dawfyddParticipant 11926xp 3]

Finished off the Leviathan for my Deathwatch. Willpost some answers to the questions later, for now I’m back down the well to paint up some battle-brothers for him 🙂

[woldenspoonsParticipant 3557xp 4]

@limburger Sure, Warlord Games have you covered.

[limburger 21704xp 1]

@woldenspoons : that one isn’t bigger on the inside though 😉

[richbuildsParticipant 918xp 4]

Howdie folks – been away from the bench over our fantastic summer doing some hiking. Picking up where I left off by finishing off my Seraphon Saurus Warriors. I’ve just picked up the Strikehost Battleforce so that’s me pretty much sorted for over Christmas…

Really glad I didn’t do these all blue like the GW boxart. It would have bored me silly. Just the bases to finish and tidy.

 

I’ve also been continuing with my Fallout table. I’ve been putting some modular ruins together…

And keeping with the Fallout theme, I’ve started putting some paint on a Brother Vinne NotABOSPaladin.

[biggabum 4565xp 2]

@evilstu Nah the catch ups arn’t taking long at all… especially as they’re up to my usual half-arsed standard.

@evilstu and @horati0nosebl0wer I can only think  that the age thing is down to when a lot of us owd guys got into gaming there was only really GW or Historical. With GW having a presence in most towns its just more convienient to pop into town with the wife and let her go do her thing while they pop into GW for whatever. I think that tends to be my only gripe with not playing GW games anymore, haing to wait a few days for my stuff to arrive (In our town there is a GW store and one hard to find Hobby store that is more focused on kits, RC Aircraft and Miniature Railways than games).

@dawfydd wow, excellent paint job sir, really liking that.

@woldenspoons What can I say other than …..

@richbuilds Very nice work sir. The Seraphon look excellent but the scratchbuilt ruins are just fantastic.

 

[biggabum 4565xp 2]

Well We did get a Game of WWX in today… it took a while with all the breaks we had to take to sort stuff (the wife) out, but we got there. Todays game wasn’t against my usual opponent though, as Chris decided he wanted a game using his Enlightened Posse’s. So a 2000 pt Lawmen Vs Enlightened ensued.

Chris did well, considering it was only his third game, but he struggled a bit with not knowing his faction very well. A few more games under his belt and he will be one to watch methinks.

 

[limburger 21704xp 2]

I was reading about a project involving a table with leds ( https://tweakers.net/reviews/6729/bouw-je-eigen-ledtafel-duizend-ledjes-en-draadjes.html ) and in the comments they mentioned a gigantic building sized variant from 2000 …

Aside from showing how technology has evolved it had this :

source : http://blinkenlights.net/blinkenlights

https://infocon.org/cons/Hack%20In%20The%20Box/HITB%202005%20-%20Malaysia/proceedings/BT-Tim-Pritlove-Blinkenlights-Arcade-Project.pdf

yep … old skool hacking. ‘computer chaos club’ …

 

[mageParticipant 20596xp 1]

Okay, been out two nights in a row. Gonna bed now. Tomorrow shall consist of house tidying, relaxing, wrapping presents and painting.

 

For now my pledge is:

 

• Work on the small bit of Goblin Town Scenery I have
• Try and work on the Goblin King’s throne
• Try and work on the Goblin Scribe
• Work on Radagast
• Prime stuff
• Assemble Mordheim arrivals in mail.

 

Thats it for now. I might do more, depending on how stuff works out.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19645xp 2]

Got my December Acolytes built and mostly based.

@limburger If you eat them before they can get up I’m good with that. Its just a creepy thought to imagine the scene from ‘Mars Attacks’ that shows Pierce Brosnan as a disembodied head but replace that with a gingerbread man freaking out and having him bodily roll about and screaming. Horror movies can really be messed up if you start to put your head on how to turn them into RPG scenarios. Now about that sign… all I can think of is Dr. Otto von Scratchansniff from the series Animaniacs.

@dawfydd Its good to see your mechanical monstrosity continue to develop. The color shift looks like a good contrasting color but definitely would be better in person.

@richbuilds those lizardmen and terrain are great. The painting was very well done. I’m guessing from my phone image that the Fallout plasticard is in the 3-5mm range of thickness for you to be able to get the rod in as rebar. I can also assume there were a few times you barely nicked yourself with all those gouges in the sides. I’m glad to see someone else enjoying Brother Vinni minis like me. I’ve yet to get around to my wasteland adventurer of the NotNCR Veteran variety but I think I should now that I see more Fallout goodness.

@biggabum Good to see tableshots of play. I wondered if WWX was as terrain heavy as Malifaux to play a decent game.

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