A Great Many Things…

Hey again y’all! Been a while… again. This bout was just due to life getting in the way of gaming, but in larger ways that I am accustomed to. Since our last time together, a dear friend and coworker had passed away suddenly due to the big C, which was far worse than I think he wanted us to believe, apparently. This compounded with work piling up during our busiest season, and on top of all that, your boy is married! Let me tell you what: if you think painting is time consuming, try planning your own marriage top-to-bottom. At any rate, I’d be happy to do it again but happy I won’t have to.

Now, you aren’t here for excuses, you are here for hobbying. With that in mind and with the wedding out of the way, it is full steam ahead. While this is largely a Malifaux blog, I have decided to get into airbrushing a bit for the sake of larger projects and models. This has led me lately to some Age of Sigmar and the new edition of 40k, but you won’t see much of that yet. Maybe a Wight King soon, assuming I don’t leave this in limbo forever again.

Planning my wedding caused a lot of lost gaming and painting time and the rust hasn’t all fallen off yet. Got some games in, but still haven’t really felt that old ‘click’ of savage miniatures obsession, but I know it’s bubbling up somewhere. With that said, I’ve got a little hodgepodge of models I’ve been painting here and there, aiming for some variety and experimentation to liven up the creative juices. I hope you enjoy these and I hope not to leave you hanging for a long while again. I hope to see you guys again soon!

Current work in progress, Marcus the Beastmaster. My first real attempt at an African skin tone.

A damn-near-finished Amelia Bathory, a limited edition alternative to Nicodem. In total honesty, I have never liked any of his sculpts so this was a very fun project to work on.

Hail to the King

Well, your boy came in third! Not too bad considering it was my second organized Malifaux league ever. I have to admit I thought I could pull it out, but I am the sort to get my hopes up a little. I did manage to get in a game with the reigning King of the Hill, though, and learned the title is honorable. He crushed me.

This time, we played on a modular board that the King designed himself. Gremlins faced Gremlins, with the King bringing Ulix and his herd of pigs to meet my Brewmaster and Moon Shinobi for some drinks. Highlights included a first turn War Pig summon who promptly started ripping up my crew, Trixiebelle accidentally shooting and killing Burt, and Lenny trying to be my scheme runner.

It was ugly, and I learned some new things. I’ve got a game tomorrow and may have to play grey this time… *shudder* See you then!

 

Back From The Unhealthy

Yo!

Bet you thought I quit, eh? Nah. I had some health issues to attend to. Apologies for fewer and fewer updates are very commonplace on the blog lately, so I only would really ask you to understand that it was difficult getting here from time to time. I haven’t been feeling very well. Nothing entirely serious, but nothing really small either. I even tried to write this last night but my laptop died, in case you wanted another excuse. Anyways, let’s get on to business, and recap with each other.

 

This familiar setup gets a little spice later in the post.

We finished up a Rapid Growth league lately, and a few of my games were three player. We have been doing this commonly and I later on get a little tired of it. Here you see some of my Gremlins, led by Som’er. I find most of the time in these three player games, I spend most of the time just trying to get the hell out of my corner. There’s always action in the first turn, and I am starting to find it bogs everything down a little.

Anyways, I actually think my chances are pretty good for taking the trophy back to the Bayou for this one. I got a lot of wacky achievements done, although I also started to dislike the format a little, as I am not yet a good Malifaux player, honestly. I found that even the little achievements were causing my opponents to not play as they naturally would, and I did not find myself learning anything new. I eventually just tried to win in a real, “honest” sense, and I wound up pulling out one achievement for winning a game without killing any enemy models. I’d say that worked out.

 

My first Brewmaster game, including me actually getting drunk. However, Brewy himself betrayed me on an important flip by instead offering me a sample to try, as well.

I finally got some games in with Brewmaster, and I was actually pretty impressed with how things worked out. He was annoying, he was debilitating to enemies, and he held down a Rogue Necromancy, a Hanged, Cassandra, a Peacekeeper, and more through the course of a few games. The Gremlin faction has been inviting to me, although I am reluctant to continue taking them in more competitive formats.

I also was finally tired of my setup with just a 3×3 green felt square with some very rushed terrain, so I acquired my own Mat by Mars in my absence from you. I wanted something… I guess you could say noncommittal? I went with the Abandoned City theme, with bricks and cobblestones being overgrown by nature. I figured a variety of terrain could fit on it, and it has been a great investment that I have been meaning to make for a while.

Here’s the mat with my buddy’s terrain from earlier. Mine is considerably more shoddy, but I am working on it!

 

Anyways, it is good to be back. No more empty reassurances that I will be immediately back for more tomorrow, but it feels good to be a little more on track. I’ve missed this, and I found it harder to return to as time went on. Oh, hey, I forgot to mention: I also received a commission for a friend. He gave me my pick of the remaining Crossroads Seven in exchange for assembling, basing, and painting Envy. I’ll stick around for that, at least!

Gremlin Steps

Hey guys! Short update today, nothing that is finished but I have been working on some Gremlins and wanted to at least prove that progress is being made. Please excuse the cat hair on Som’er and any out of place paint or brush strokes, as they’re all works in progress. The seam on Som’er’s face is driving me crazy. However, we’re closing in on some finished stuff, so stay tuned!

 

 

Fed After Midnight

Trying to stick to my guns, I spent a great lot of time on minis this weekend. I binged on gremlin assembly Saturday (still giving dirty looks to my Skeeters) and binged on painting Sunday. I decided to speed paint the gremlins and get them off the table, also hoping to get in a game with them soon. The experience painting Orks seriously paid off and I had managed to bang out a lot of green gremlin skin. Of particular note is Lenny, who will be featured below although he is only a work in progress. Hey, aren’t we all?

Although I started the year dedicated to Ressers, I have to admit that the sudden boon of Gremlin models and the charm they all have is really starting to sway me. Som’er is quickly becoming a favorite without even having a game with him under my belt yet, Lenny is a dream to paint, I can’t get enough of making bayou bases, and I actually like a lot of the old metals. It is the only faction I have declared for anything, so far.

Anyways, I have beaten around the bush for a while now. Days, even. Here is Lenny, still in progress. Expect more soon, as I’ve gotten paint on several Bayou Gremlins, Sammy, Francois, and Som’er himself. See you guys soon.

 

Apply Pressure

Hello again! Got another entry here for you folks. Trying to get back up to the near-daily updating that I started this whole thing with. Someone who has been to this blog before may recognize that I am a little flighty and direct all of my passion onto one thing until it sort of fizzles out. This blog was a project to help keep me on task and now I’m not even keeping on task here! Well, your boy got a game in this past week and, while it was quick and dirty, it really got me buzzing to play again.

Now the title of this entry isn’t entirely snappy, but here’s where it comes in. I am finding that the scorn of others is a terrific motivator. It’s what got me involved in the TriState Faux League and now I am using it to get some projects done. There is a local league set up and of all things, I declared Gremlins. Now, besides Brewy and McTavish, I don’t have any Gremlins done. I did manage to whip together a Gremlin Zoraida list to play with in the meantime, and now I’ve stuck myself in a position where I’ll have to get this stuff assembled, painted, and played. I’m really looking forward to Som’er’s classic Bayou Gremlin spam. The pressure to get it all together is officially on, as my next game is in almost 48 hours from now.

Now on to our game!

It’s a little crude, but I am head-over-heels in love with the modular bricks.

 

Yeah, so I played some unpainted stuff. Sue me! Here we have a 26 SS battle with very simple lists. Zoraida (Tarot Reading, Crystal Ball), 2 Moon Shinobi, Bayou Gator, and a Waldgeist against Molly with two Hanged. My opponent intended to summon the rest (and boy, he sure did!)

We are playing with Rapid Growth rules, which are like an… umm…. rapid slow grow league with wacky achievements. This game wasn’t played to be won, necessarily. It was played to be wacky.

Highlights include:

-Playing a turn with my awful hand revealed

-Giving my opponent half of my stones to play with

-Finding accidental synergy between a Moon Shinobi attacking a Voodoo Doll (who relents), killing a Hanged outright on the first turn

-Running in my last Shinobi in an attempt to be tabled

-Score for being tabled

-Have an opponent start with three models and end with more than ten (I encouraged him, I love Maniacal Laugh)

 

Honestly, I’m not sure what to expect going forward. I guess I can expect some wacky games where my awful record won’t matter as much as all the zany BS I can pull.

Luckily, I’m a master of BS.

But what can you expect?

Gremlins.

Lots.

 

 

 

The Holiday Haul (or, “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Declare Ressers”)

Hey again kiddies. Now that the holiday seadon is well and truly over and I have gotten over a hell of a cold, let’s start getting this blog back to some regularity. Not a ton of progress, but a good bit of news that will ensure I keep pumping out content. Now, we do not know each other personally, so I’m happy to set aside the esoteric and altruistic rewards of the holiday season and get straight to the goods. Let’s see what your maniac author managed to acquire lately.

Now, I did describe my Black Friday order earlier and don’t want to bore you with that again, but to sum it up: Ressers, Neverborn, one Gremlin. I’ve decided to shelve my Neverborn for the most part this year, just for the sake of keeping me from overwhelming myself. That said, I had intended to go Ressers and am now, incidentally, also going Gremlins. The God’s honest truth is that I just don’t think I’m a very good NB player, so I’m looking for a new flavor that goes a little better with my style of play.

Now, the Ressers were a plan but the Gremlins, much less so. I’ve always dabbled, and my McTavish is probably the most featured fig on this blog, so it seems pretty natural. When my fiancée hooked up a Burt Jebsen, Som’er Teeth box, and Ama No Zako for funsies, I knew I was in. Within a day, I would also own Gracie, four more Bayou Gremlins, and a Hog Whisperer. Throw in a Slop Hauler and I’ll be happy with Gremlins for a while. I also obtained a Seamus box, a Tara box, Toshiro, a Spawn Mother, Simulacrum 29, Night Terrors, and a plastic Datsue-Ba because my metal one is becoming something of an adversary (oh, see what I did?). Honestly, I feel like I’m omitting some pieces, just to prove how much is on my plate. Now, on to actually playing.

We’ve started a local league with monthly tournaments, as well as a slow-grow weekly tourney. Also, my friend from my latest “game” post will be back this Sunday, so there’s lots of models to paint and lots of games to play. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

Barbaros

Hey kiddies!

Well, I am back from that little holiday break and I am returning with a metric crapload of work to do. I have obtained more than several miniatures in my holiday adventures, received my long-lost Black Friday Wyrd order, and came into a good chunk of change to get some supplies with.  I wound up getting a few Gremlin boxes from my fiancée, only furthering the magnitude of my bayou projects and also started the first batch of Resser models in my collection, alongside beginning to work on Bad Juju and nearly finishing the limited edition Barbaros! I have found that I often will come out of that hobby block absolutely rabid to collect and paint, so there’s a lot to be done and a lot on the way in terms of progress.

I actually was initially disinterested in the Resurrectionists faction, as it seems every game has their standard undead faction. It is so ubiquitous that it leaves me feeling a little bored. Honestly, these couldn’t be further from that idea. All of the models have a lot of character, every undead monster is unique in a way. I’ve particularly fallen for my Necropunks. My only issue now is needing to restrain my urge to get more, and having to balance that with the extreme curiosity of what other crews in the faction I would like.

Now, I’ll let you in on a secret: most of these posts are written throughout the day. Since the earlier bit, I’ve actually come into a Seamus box. So that part about restraint? Forget it. Malifaux is unique in that having more minis provides an in-game advantage of having more to cherry-pick, and I can’t resist a good deal.

Now that I’ve rambled, you’ve earned a picture!

Here is my alt Barbaros. I have always loved this guy but never used him, never bought the box he was in. Now that I’m about to switch my “main” faction, so to speak, to Ressers, I was happy to finish off the year with this one. Some touch ups are necessary, but I think we can say he’s just about finished. On the table, he has several different ways to shove models around, and one to demand attention to himself. He’s not the meanest beater you have ever seen, but he can take a spot on the map and hold it.

Next to Barbaros is a Necropunk that is actually almost finished. Since we have last met, I have actually worked on quite a bit. Prepare to see them soon.

Until next time, and I don’t mean several days from now, have fun you guys.

Back in Business

Hey guys. Happy to report I am over the hobby block, as I got a very good little game in today with a new friend. My fiancée knows the guy, and we apparently have several mutual friends. As luck would have it, he grabbed up a starter set for Malifaux and sent me a message out of the blue, looking for a demo. Honestly, it’s just what I needed.

We met at the shop today while picked out some Necropunks and a pewter Carrion Effigy for my future Ressers. I brought some Neverborn, not yet knowing he had the starter, but we decided just to play a standard game with the starter models.

As far as first games go, this was smooth as butter. I had a great time fielding Doc Grimwell, but the MVP was absolutely Angel Eyes, who carefully took apart my models whenever they were stuck in engagement. My opponent was very apt and showed shrewd card management when the need was there. All in all, a great game. Granted, I had lost, but I think it’s more fun for someone to win their first game.

That said, its time to get more models done, and no more procrastinating or feeling sorry this time. The Resser backlog is already building, this Bayou Project® really needs some tackling.

Hobby Block

Hey guys. I feel the apologies have come very often lately and it is not because of a lack of interest, but rather the ebb and flow of everyday life. There is also two bits of bad news. One in my personal life where I have learned that a very close friend is very sick. It’s been harder on me than I thought it would be and it basically sealed the deal on my second piece of bad news. This affects the blog directly, I am afraid, but I’d rather address it here in an entry than let it fester until I have something else for you guys. The truth is, I’ve got some serious hobby block.

 

I feel like hobby block is a real killer in this… erm… hobby, particularly. I am experiencing it with less regularity as I expand my skills and try new things, but it can be very hard to motivate yourself to sit down for a few hours and get things done. In many cases, it can still feel like time wasted because you may not necessarily be accomplishing a lot. Honestly, one of the best cures I have heard is to do what I have been doing: pick up a half-finished mini and bang it out. In that case, your efforts are “instantly” rewarded because you have a finished product immediately at the end of your session. It isn’t like spending two hours working up the layers on a robe only to seemingly accomplish little. Datsue-Ba, I am looking at you. Luckily for me, I still have some things to assemble with more boxes on the way, which always seems to mood-swing me back into miniatures mania, getting me way too excited again. I am considering stashing most of it, still sealed, and pretending I am picking them up “brand new” when I go to the back room to pick out something new to work on. With those on my mind, let’s get to what I attempted to work up lately while under the crushing boredom of hobby block:

 

-Took two hours to glue together a single Hanged model because the ropes were snapped on the sprue.

-Spilled a misshapen bottle of superglue on my chair/lap.

-Gave myself my second glue-related burn when I desperately reached for a handy piece of foam to mop up superglue. Turns out they react.

-Have foam fused to my fingers for at least a full day.

-Spent two hours painting/ruining my metal Datsue-Ba in preparation for my Ressers to arrive. Get almost nowhere painting her robes. Retired a wash that I have decided I hate.

-Worked up a new blue wash.

-Bought Realistic Water to pair with my Water Effect. Decided to try and combat hobby block by making a piece of terrain to try it on.

-Made what is, by far, my worst piece of terrain yet. Waste materials and decide to quit while ahead.

 

 

Which leads us here, to this rather boring article about how uninspired I have been feeling. I guess it is good to get it out. Looking back, it hasn’t been for a lack of trying. I am looking to get a game in on Sunday and maybe meet a new friend to show the game to, so it’s likely I will be back to my gushing, miniatures-crazy self. If the online tracking does not lie, I should have at least something come in today. There is content ahead, I promise!