Seriously, you want to use the glue gun. The glue gun will glue shit together. Yes, it's hot, but then, you aren't a real scnery builder until you have your first third degree burn. Ahh, nothing like scalding hot glue melting your skin. You take it off, but it takes a bit of you with it.
Alright, problem. Crazy glue, sucks, doesn't work half the time, and won't bond to a lot of surfaces (but man it bonds skin like nobody's business). Better glues take longer to dry. By the way, Mod Podge is king of the White glues. It takes an hour to dry.
Here's where the glue gun comes in. It will hold something for awhile. It is not a permanent solution, but it will definitely hold something for long enough so that the E6000 or the Gorrilla Grip will dry. That's why you use the glue gun.
I'm not sure if this will work for little miniatures. I imagine that the gloopy mess of the glue gun is prohibitive, but that's really not my department.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
More paiting big stuff
The first thing you need to know about painting big things is that you have five stages of highlighting, so beyond anything else you do, you are already going to be highlighting five stages. Maybe you want to do more. Fine. But five's pretty good.
Those stages are: Base coat. Oh I know what you're saying, the base coat isn't a highlight, it's the base. Very good, but not really. The priming is the real base. Don't screw around and make this harder than it has to be. Spray paint it black. Use Krylon, or whatever, if there's no styrofoam involved. Use Design Masters or H20 if there is styrofoam (neither of these paint lines will melt styrofoam, except for Design Masters Black) Then you paint over that. Probably in really dark grey.
stage 2: Overbrush- Overbrush is what happens when you make sure the brush isn't dripping but you don't care whether the whole area gets painted. Yes, you're still slathering on the paint, but you couldn't care whether it gets in all the cracks.
stage 3- Overbrush with crappy brush- Either a foam brush or a stenciling brush. You're looking for a crappy brush that will barely hold paint. Obviously if it holds less paint than your good brush, it will spred less paint too. You can buy a bag of stenciling brushes at Michaels for about $2 for a bag of $20. By the way, when I say good brush, I mean a pack of brushes 4/$2 you buy from hardware stores. You're wasting your money buying anything better than that.
Stage 4- Drybrush with good brush- Do the drybrushing thing, just like you normally would. It's a little harder with a big brush, but don't worry about it, you just need less paint than before.
Stage 5- Drybrush with a crappy brush- It's really here when you'll figure out the ingenious nature of the crappy brush. I swear all of those effects you've been trying to do for years, the crappy brush does them naturally. You'll say, "wow, it only deposits paint on top edges!" Yes, that's because it's a crappy brush. Remember Monstro's motto: you don't need talent when you have the right tools.
Now as for how to paint. You should prefer downward strokes from the top of the scene to the bottom rather than attempting to paint in all directions all over the model. Remember light FALLs. And therefore, the top should be lighter than the bottom. Also, you're going to want to lighten large flat spaces. Steps 1-3 are technically still your shadow stages. Large flat areas really don't have shadow on them.
Mostly, take no time. Honestly, the quicker you go painting large things, the better. You can overdo this, and for most 40k painters, that's the real temptation. I can paint a road in about thirty minutes, most of which is spent shuffling pieces.
Good, now all you have left is the metalic bits. Test out all your silvers to find out which is lightest and which is darkest. Paint the thing the darkest. Good, now you'll want a reddish copper. That's rust. wash the thing in rust, running a wet brush down the flat parts of the silver thing to keep them clean. Great now take your really bright silver (or if you have a silver pen this will work even better) and put a straight line through the middle of all the flat pieces. Whallah. You're done.
Those stages are: Base coat. Oh I know what you're saying, the base coat isn't a highlight, it's the base. Very good, but not really. The priming is the real base. Don't screw around and make this harder than it has to be. Spray paint it black. Use Krylon, or whatever, if there's no styrofoam involved. Use Design Masters or H20 if there is styrofoam (neither of these paint lines will melt styrofoam, except for Design Masters Black) Then you paint over that. Probably in really dark grey.
stage 2: Overbrush- Overbrush is what happens when you make sure the brush isn't dripping but you don't care whether the whole area gets painted. Yes, you're still slathering on the paint, but you couldn't care whether it gets in all the cracks.
stage 3- Overbrush with crappy brush- Either a foam brush or a stenciling brush. You're looking for a crappy brush that will barely hold paint. Obviously if it holds less paint than your good brush, it will spred less paint too. You can buy a bag of stenciling brushes at Michaels for about $2 for a bag of $20. By the way, when I say good brush, I mean a pack of brushes 4/$2 you buy from hardware stores. You're wasting your money buying anything better than that.
Stage 4- Drybrush with good brush- Do the drybrushing thing, just like you normally would. It's a little harder with a big brush, but don't worry about it, you just need less paint than before.
Stage 5- Drybrush with a crappy brush- It's really here when you'll figure out the ingenious nature of the crappy brush. I swear all of those effects you've been trying to do for years, the crappy brush does them naturally. You'll say, "wow, it only deposits paint on top edges!" Yes, that's because it's a crappy brush. Remember Monstro's motto: you don't need talent when you have the right tools.
Now as for how to paint. You should prefer downward strokes from the top of the scene to the bottom rather than attempting to paint in all directions all over the model. Remember light FALLs. And therefore, the top should be lighter than the bottom. Also, you're going to want to lighten large flat spaces. Steps 1-3 are technically still your shadow stages. Large flat areas really don't have shadow on them.
Mostly, take no time. Honestly, the quicker you go painting large things, the better. You can overdo this, and for most 40k painters, that's the real temptation. I can paint a road in about thirty minutes, most of which is spent shuffling pieces.
Good, now all you have left is the metalic bits. Test out all your silvers to find out which is lightest and which is darkest. Paint the thing the darkest. Good, now you'll want a reddish copper. That's rust. wash the thing in rust, running a wet brush down the flat parts of the silver thing to keep them clean. Great now take your really bright silver (or if you have a silver pen this will work even better) and put a straight line through the middle of all the flat pieces. Whallah. You're done.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Painting big stuff- the philosophy
First of all, painting scenery has very few of the same artistic components as painting miniatures. There are reasons for this, but before I go into those, simply, think about what you want a miniature to look like. You want that space marine to look like the light of the emperor is upon his reflective armor. Every edge highlighed up to the lightest shade of the base color before it becomes white and everything on the miniature describable as "rich."
This philosophy is fine. As far as painting is concerned, it comes from the romantic school, where what you are painting is, essentially, idealized versions of the warriors of the 41st millenium. You're not painting gritty realism. I rarely see a space marine that doesn't look fresh off the drop pod. The armor doesn't look 10,000 years old and dented by hundreds of rounds of bolter fire. No one so much as has mud on their boots. There are no drowned out effects. Hell, what your going for when you paint a miniature is that the miniature looks like the paint is still wet. Look at White Dwarf and you'll see what I mean.
There's nothing wrong with that. Miniatures are meant to be painted as if they could be picked up and examined and someone will raise cries of oooh or ahhh. It's just that you're not going for any of those kinds of things with scenery. Every so often you see someone paint a building the same way they'd paint their war hero, and well...it just looks cartoon-esque. I mean, you're making a hill--does the light of the emperor really fall on hills the same way it falls on Brother Captain Sterne. I think not.
The thing is, scenery isn't painted (generally) in the romantic school. The reason is that you've seen a building, you've never seen a space marine. You can romanticize a space marine much more easilly than you might a building. Most 40k scenery is based off of scenes from the world wars. Again, you can see actual pictures of those things. Objects that have been in a warzone for a couple of days are generally covered in dust, can you imagine what they look like having survived shelling for a few centuries?
The other source that 40k draws its scenes from is sci-fi, but sci-fi is pretty standard stuff. Scenery is either earth tones (Tantoine, Pitch Black, Starship Troopers) or grey scales (Death Star, Terminator, Aliens). --For a good combination of both, see Dune or Universal Soldier--. Most things drawn from sci-fi are HUGE in scale("that's not a small moon"). It is better to think King Kong (the over the top Peter Jackson version) than it is to think Braveheart. Braveheart scenery is perfect for Fantasy, not for 40k. Hell, in Empire they aren't on an icy continent--even Antarctica is too small. They have to be on Hoth--an ice planet.
So big, and rather simple in color. Simple color has the added effect of really making the details on the miniatures pop...and after all, they're the one's you're spending lots of time (or money) on painting, right?Keep in mind the tenants of this philosophy. Quite a few miniatures are already on the verge of looking busy all by their lonesome, put them on a giant checkerboard crazy looking building, and they clash. For Orks this tends to not be as much of a problem. They're kind of supposed to clash. But for imperial stuff, the scene can quickly look like a carnival, and unless you're playing Harlequins, you don't want that.
Keep in mind, however, that when I say that colors should be "simple"--I am refering to the number of colors on the palate, and not on the actual painting. You're still going to have to do a lot of highlighting and shadowing of grey. You're still going to have to pick colors that go together. And, despite what I'm saying, there are still some color choices that you'll have to make. If everything's grey, after all, think how much a single yellow object will stick out. Sometimes, you'll want that.
This philosophy is fine. As far as painting is concerned, it comes from the romantic school, where what you are painting is, essentially, idealized versions of the warriors of the 41st millenium. You're not painting gritty realism. I rarely see a space marine that doesn't look fresh off the drop pod. The armor doesn't look 10,000 years old and dented by hundreds of rounds of bolter fire. No one so much as has mud on their boots. There are no drowned out effects. Hell, what your going for when you paint a miniature is that the miniature looks like the paint is still wet. Look at White Dwarf and you'll see what I mean.
There's nothing wrong with that. Miniatures are meant to be painted as if they could be picked up and examined and someone will raise cries of oooh or ahhh. It's just that you're not going for any of those kinds of things with scenery. Every so often you see someone paint a building the same way they'd paint their war hero, and well...it just looks cartoon-esque. I mean, you're making a hill--does the light of the emperor really fall on hills the same way it falls on Brother Captain Sterne. I think not.
The thing is, scenery isn't painted (generally) in the romantic school. The reason is that you've seen a building, you've never seen a space marine. You can romanticize a space marine much more easilly than you might a building. Most 40k scenery is based off of scenes from the world wars. Again, you can see actual pictures of those things. Objects that have been in a warzone for a couple of days are generally covered in dust, can you imagine what they look like having survived shelling for a few centuries?
The other source that 40k draws its scenes from is sci-fi, but sci-fi is pretty standard stuff. Scenery is either earth tones (Tantoine, Pitch Black, Starship Troopers) or grey scales (Death Star, Terminator, Aliens). --For a good combination of both, see Dune or Universal Soldier--. Most things drawn from sci-fi are HUGE in scale("that's not a small moon"). It is better to think King Kong (the over the top Peter Jackson version) than it is to think Braveheart. Braveheart scenery is perfect for Fantasy, not for 40k. Hell, in Empire they aren't on an icy continent--even Antarctica is too small. They have to be on Hoth--an ice planet.
So big, and rather simple in color. Simple color has the added effect of really making the details on the miniatures pop...and after all, they're the one's you're spending lots of time (or money) on painting, right?Keep in mind the tenants of this philosophy. Quite a few miniatures are already on the verge of looking busy all by their lonesome, put them on a giant checkerboard crazy looking building, and they clash. For Orks this tends to not be as much of a problem. They're kind of supposed to clash. But for imperial stuff, the scene can quickly look like a carnival, and unless you're playing Harlequins, you don't want that.
Keep in mind, however, that when I say that colors should be "simple"--I am refering to the number of colors on the palate, and not on the actual painting. You're still going to have to do a lot of highlighting and shadowing of grey. You're still going to have to pick colors that go together. And, despite what I'm saying, there are still some color choices that you'll have to make. If everything's grey, after all, think how much a single yellow object will stick out. Sometimes, you'll want that.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Cities of Death- Battle report
Chris and I played Deamonhunters versus Thousand Sons on a Cities of Death board last night and I have to say, even with my second forray into COD, I really really like it. There's something of the grittiness of Rogue Trader in it but with the rule clarity of 4th ed.. We played the second level up on Firesweep mission, so it was essentially capture the flag with five ruined buildings and one intact building (a water cooler). I think my major victory came the very first roll of the game when my dreadnought got firefrenzy with the Inquisitor's squad in his sight (twin linked las cannon and havoc launcher). After that, it was all sort of downhill for the Emperor's finest.
However, Chris and I had loads of fun. I think we had more fun being in a city then we did playing the game, but we both kind of came to the same agreements and I thought I'd share them with you.
First of all, if you're going to take special building stratagems (like ammo dump or medical facility) then take them all in the closest building. Chris kind of spread them out and it just ended up taking too long to get to the building that would have allowed him to re-roll to wound rolls.
Second, range is never better than punch. You're just never able to get a long shot off. So, if you have the choice, I would suggest always going for the punchier short range weapons, or even better, load up on hand to hand troops--they will come in immensely handy.
A spin off on this is that dreadnoughts seem to be far more useful than vehicles. Your average tank is going to get within charging range before it can get its shots off, and that means its opened itself up to some of the more powerful weapons in the game.
Third, we decided that at least one grey knight in any squad should be armed with a thunder hammer, because, man, they can't do shit against dreadnoughts. Oh, I know, this is their downfall, but its a huge downfall. They are supposed to be bad asses, but they never seem to come through. If you're playing daemonhunters concentrate on the army that they're running around with. Think of it as an IG army that can get terminators or a space marine army that can get crazy personalities, but don't think of it as a daemonhunter army with some people tagging along. You'll be wondering why you have no las cannons and you won't be able to stop the predators, the Land Raiders, or the Dreadnoughts.
I'm still curious to see what my Eldar do in the city fight. I think next week we're back to a 2 on 2 match up, so we'll see then maybe.
By the way, I got the booby trap stratagem. It was absolutely awesome. I think it killed one guy, but who cares. I had booby traps everywhere! If the rules allow, get it twice.
However, Chris and I had loads of fun. I think we had more fun being in a city then we did playing the game, but we both kind of came to the same agreements and I thought I'd share them with you.
First of all, if you're going to take special building stratagems (like ammo dump or medical facility) then take them all in the closest building. Chris kind of spread them out and it just ended up taking too long to get to the building that would have allowed him to re-roll to wound rolls.
Second, range is never better than punch. You're just never able to get a long shot off. So, if you have the choice, I would suggest always going for the punchier short range weapons, or even better, load up on hand to hand troops--they will come in immensely handy.
A spin off on this is that dreadnoughts seem to be far more useful than vehicles. Your average tank is going to get within charging range before it can get its shots off, and that means its opened itself up to some of the more powerful weapons in the game.
Third, we decided that at least one grey knight in any squad should be armed with a thunder hammer, because, man, they can't do shit against dreadnoughts. Oh, I know, this is their downfall, but its a huge downfall. They are supposed to be bad asses, but they never seem to come through. If you're playing daemonhunters concentrate on the army that they're running around with. Think of it as an IG army that can get terminators or a space marine army that can get crazy personalities, but don't think of it as a daemonhunter army with some people tagging along. You'll be wondering why you have no las cannons and you won't be able to stop the predators, the Land Raiders, or the Dreadnoughts.
I'm still curious to see what my Eldar do in the city fight. I think next week we're back to a 2 on 2 match up, so we'll see then maybe.
By the way, I got the booby trap stratagem. It was absolutely awesome. I think it killed one guy, but who cares. I had booby traps everywhere! If the rules allow, get it twice.
A Funny Story About Game's Workshop
So, there are two game stores in my area where one can purchase 40k merchandise. Both are twenty minutes away in opposite directions. One, Griffin Games in Greenfield (everything's a field in Massachusetts) absolutly rocks. It's what you'd expect in a game store: big selection, numerous titles, four tables, book cases full of scnery, etc.. The other is a GW store in a mall. It's one of those tiny stores too. It has two tables, both are maybe 4'x4', and I'm stressing maybe. And they generally have a game set up so that they can teach barely intersted (and slightly astonished) people how to play the game by pitting a squad of space marines versus a land speeder.
The other day I contacted both stores to determine whether they would be interested in my services. The guy at Griffin Games was out on vacation so...cross your fingers...but the guy at GW was in.
Me: "So, do you guys ever have people make scenery for your store."
Them: "No."
That was about it, but it reminded me of a funny story which I would like to now share.
Okay, so the funny story happenned awhile back. I had managed to purchase two Obliterators off of Ebay and the third one arrived in the mail but it was the old kind (will those work as Termies?) and so in my disappointment, I broke with my plan to slowly build up my Obliterators on the cheap. No, I don't play Iron Warriors (grumble grumble frickin' cheaters grumble).
So, I walk into the GW store on a Saturday afternoon and it's loaded with twelve year old guys who could probably come up with better shit to play on at their house, but you know...it's a GW store...it's official. So anyway, they're all huddled around a table watching a squad of Orks charge...whatever (anything's charge range if the table's small enough!) and there's a mother and her son on the other side of the store, and the son is attempting to convey to his mother how necessary it is for her to buy him a Necron battleforce or some shit like that, and the big owner of the store (and I do mean big!) is attempting to run the battle for the kids while two register jockeys in their red shirts (which is unfortunate because the store is just outside the exit of Target and it really looks as though they've escaped, or that Target has started selling 40k stuff). Anyways, the two red shirts are up there looking smug because they know if they were playing the Orks they would have charged a different enemy. Yey team.
So, one spots me over at the shelving unit marked "Chaos" and he siddles up because I'm the first male adult he's seen in the store for a while. I am obviously NOT a mother listening to some argument that ends with her $60 lighter, nor am I one of the kids at the table, of whom only one will buy a Terminator and that will be that for this week. Oh no no no, I have money. I can afford to spend bucku bucks. Just as importantly, I look like I know what I'm doing. Chances are I'll be buying something impressive. So, here he comes, offering "Can I help you?"
I resist the urge to plead, "Look, I used to play Squats, now I play Eldar. You're not going to discontinue that army too are you?" After all, this red shirt, he is not the face of evil. He is, at best, a Nurgling to Grandfather GW in Nottingham or some crap where they have absolutely lost their frickin' minds.
This is what I honestly say to him, "Hey, yeah I'm looking for the Obliterators. I've got two, I need a third. I was trying to, you know, wait for one to come up on cheap on Ebay..." he looked around nervously hoping that no one heard me mention the dreaded E word, "but I'm tired of waiting. I'll tell you, with prices in these stores going up and up, it's hard to justify buying the lead, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do. I can't paint the Obliterators unitl I have that third one, so I guess I'm willing to break down and pay the $20."
His reply, no shit: "They're $25, they raised the price last week."
And that was when I kind of lost it.
"My God, is the company going out of business."
He looks around knowing that the trouble is starting.
"$25 for a piece of lead are you crazy? I could cast twenty of them for that price."
Really, it's getting ugly and he hurries me over to the register as I go into good old days mode. "I remember when I could buy twenty space marines for $30 and Rhinos came three to a box for $25." Which, by the way, they did.
He rings me up and I walk out of there with my $25 miniature with the stares of confusion from a group of twelve year olds, and a nice mother who suddenly realizes just how senseless her son has become. Hopefully she bought him that Battleforce on Ebay.
Anyways, two weeks later I go to my game night and who should show up but the red shirt guy who was trying to usher me out of the store. He tells me that he doesn't blame me, that he doesn't much like GW either and he doesn't mind that people are mad at the company.
The thing is though, he doesn't really mean it, and I launch into another tirade about how GW going out of business would be the best thing for the game. You'd finally be able to afford the minis and there wouldn't be the threat of another "edition" of rules every two years.
It is then that I find out why the GW employees are so fiercely loyal to the company they work for. They pay for bits by the pound. They pay like a tenth of what the rest of us pay. That's their employee discount. That's crazy.
I'm fairly sorry that the GW store does not want to buy my scenery. Mine looks better than there's. Had they said, "come on down and we'll take a look," they could of put me on payroll or at least given me the employee discount, but too bad.
Last time we were in there they had three deli trays from a dollar store put together with four cardboard tubes from wrapping paper that were supposed to be elevators and all of this was set on a black base with clear glossy plastic over it. It looked horrible. I said nothing. I stay to their display case now looking at the miniatures all lit up with beautiful day bulbs (which isn't exactly a trick, but it's sneaky nonetheless). My wife looked at the scenery and said, "You should tell them how to make scenery honey." I thought the red shirt standing next to the scene was going to choke. He'd built it and up until she said something he was all but beaming with pride.
The other day I contacted both stores to determine whether they would be interested in my services. The guy at Griffin Games was out on vacation so...cross your fingers...but the guy at GW was in.
Me: "So, do you guys ever have people make scenery for your store."
Them: "No."
That was about it, but it reminded me of a funny story which I would like to now share.
Okay, so the funny story happenned awhile back. I had managed to purchase two Obliterators off of Ebay and the third one arrived in the mail but it was the old kind (will those work as Termies?) and so in my disappointment, I broke with my plan to slowly build up my Obliterators on the cheap. No, I don't play Iron Warriors (grumble grumble frickin' cheaters grumble).
So, I walk into the GW store on a Saturday afternoon and it's loaded with twelve year old guys who could probably come up with better shit to play on at their house, but you know...it's a GW store...it's official. So anyway, they're all huddled around a table watching a squad of Orks charge...whatever (anything's charge range if the table's small enough!) and there's a mother and her son on the other side of the store, and the son is attempting to convey to his mother how necessary it is for her to buy him a Necron battleforce or some shit like that, and the big owner of the store (and I do mean big!) is attempting to run the battle for the kids while two register jockeys in their red shirts (which is unfortunate because the store is just outside the exit of Target and it really looks as though they've escaped, or that Target has started selling 40k stuff). Anyways, the two red shirts are up there looking smug because they know if they were playing the Orks they would have charged a different enemy. Yey team.
So, one spots me over at the shelving unit marked "Chaos" and he siddles up because I'm the first male adult he's seen in the store for a while. I am obviously NOT a mother listening to some argument that ends with her $60 lighter, nor am I one of the kids at the table, of whom only one will buy a Terminator and that will be that for this week. Oh no no no, I have money. I can afford to spend bucku bucks. Just as importantly, I look like I know what I'm doing. Chances are I'll be buying something impressive. So, here he comes, offering "Can I help you?"
I resist the urge to plead, "Look, I used to play Squats, now I play Eldar. You're not going to discontinue that army too are you?" After all, this red shirt, he is not the face of evil. He is, at best, a Nurgling to Grandfather GW in Nottingham or some crap where they have absolutely lost their frickin' minds.
This is what I honestly say to him, "Hey, yeah I'm looking for the Obliterators. I've got two, I need a third. I was trying to, you know, wait for one to come up on cheap on Ebay..." he looked around nervously hoping that no one heard me mention the dreaded E word, "but I'm tired of waiting. I'll tell you, with prices in these stores going up and up, it's hard to justify buying the lead, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do. I can't paint the Obliterators unitl I have that third one, so I guess I'm willing to break down and pay the $20."
His reply, no shit: "They're $25, they raised the price last week."
And that was when I kind of lost it.
"My God, is the company going out of business."
He looks around knowing that the trouble is starting.
"$25 for a piece of lead are you crazy? I could cast twenty of them for that price."
Really, it's getting ugly and he hurries me over to the register as I go into good old days mode. "I remember when I could buy twenty space marines for $30 and Rhinos came three to a box for $25." Which, by the way, they did.
He rings me up and I walk out of there with my $25 miniature with the stares of confusion from a group of twelve year olds, and a nice mother who suddenly realizes just how senseless her son has become. Hopefully she bought him that Battleforce on Ebay.
Anyways, two weeks later I go to my game night and who should show up but the red shirt guy who was trying to usher me out of the store. He tells me that he doesn't blame me, that he doesn't much like GW either and he doesn't mind that people are mad at the company.
The thing is though, he doesn't really mean it, and I launch into another tirade about how GW going out of business would be the best thing for the game. You'd finally be able to afford the minis and there wouldn't be the threat of another "edition" of rules every two years.
It is then that I find out why the GW employees are so fiercely loyal to the company they work for. They pay for bits by the pound. They pay like a tenth of what the rest of us pay. That's their employee discount. That's crazy.
I'm fairly sorry that the GW store does not want to buy my scenery. Mine looks better than there's. Had they said, "come on down and we'll take a look," they could of put me on payroll or at least given me the employee discount, but too bad.
Last time we were in there they had three deli trays from a dollar store put together with four cardboard tubes from wrapping paper that were supposed to be elevators and all of this was set on a black base with clear glossy plastic over it. It looked horrible. I said nothing. I stay to their display case now looking at the miniatures all lit up with beautiful day bulbs (which isn't exactly a trick, but it's sneaky nonetheless). My wife looked at the scenery and said, "You should tell them how to make scenery honey." I thought the red shirt standing next to the scene was going to choke. He'd built it and up until she said something he was all but beaming with pride.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Upstairs, downstairs.
If you've ever watched someone really play gin rummi then you have some inkling of what it is to design a lot of scenery all at one time. First of all, you have to understand the constraints. My workshop is about 12'x10'. It's tiny. I do most of my work on a card table and the space on my desk. I have little 1x1 1/2x trays that I move around with my various projects on them. I am able to paint in the living room, which I do while I'm watching my son. I store most of my materials in my attic, which is about four times the size of my workroom, but I can't go up there when my son is sleeping. So, when my son is sleeping, I can't go into the attic, and when he's awake, I watch him 50% of the time. Meanwhile, anything that involves a hot knife, resin pouring, spray painting, or baking, is done on my back porch. Mine is a second story apartment. Meanwhile, as it is impossible to store certain materials upstairs because of my son and his sleeping (well, he's 9 months old so cut him some slack), I store the materials that are vital to my trade in the basement or, as is the case now, I let them collect in my anchorite cell hampering my every movement.
Did I mention that I'm claustrophobic?
On any given day, I run up and down probably twenty flights of stairs. Not bad for an aesthmatic I'd say. Meanwhile listen to this:
River
2 sets of city ruins
2 sets of ice craters
2 sets of glaciers
1 set of road
2 sets of brick walls
2 longhouses
death world
ice wals
2 spires
ice hill
Jungle
Pine forest
This is my list of stuff that I'm currently working on and that are close enough to completion as to require only one or two more tweeks. That's 19 things! And most of those things contain multiple parts. I've counted 'Death World' as one thing, but clearly it isn't one thing. It's 13 plates!
So, the question then becomes, how in the hell do I do it. Good question. The trick to this is, strangely enough, performing like tasks. I look a the list and I try to determine from what I see how many of these products are going to require me to cut styrofoam. Great. That means downstairs. Okay, what else can I do downstairs?
Today I cast road pieces and sanded them flat on the ends (that's downstairs work). I spray painted them (also downstairs). I put "ground" on the river bank (not technically downstairs, but the basement is becoming the place where I put down large ammounts of things that need plaster of paris or hydrocal--the basement has a sink, but it lacks a drain...go figure). I also put flock on the walls, the same flock needed on the river banks, so it was...downstiars, that's right. And then I went upstairs, and while my child played in his play pen and we watched "Reading Between The Lions," I painted glaciers so that they would be really white and not blue.
And then, out of nowhere, I made the pine forest, which might have been a mistake as I think people are getting a little tired of the ice world stuff. Yes, it may be time to move on.
My point is that this is reminiscent of the game Gin Rummi where people move cards around to make their stuff. I find that I'll start the day with two projects and then quickly, while I'm waiting for the hydrocal to dry, I'll find myself making a hill, and well, as long as I have to spray paint a hill, I might as well cast some rock walls real quick, and there's no sense casting just some rock walls, why not cast some gothic bas relief plates so that I can make a bunker, and now I'm gluing, so I might as well... It can be days before I get back to the original thing.
Aye.
Did I mention that I'm claustrophobic?
On any given day, I run up and down probably twenty flights of stairs. Not bad for an aesthmatic I'd say. Meanwhile listen to this:
River
2 sets of city ruins
2 sets of ice craters
2 sets of glaciers
1 set of road
2 sets of brick walls
2 longhouses
death world
ice wals
2 spires
ice hill
Jungle
Pine forest
This is my list of stuff that I'm currently working on and that are close enough to completion as to require only one or two more tweeks. That's 19 things! And most of those things contain multiple parts. I've counted 'Death World' as one thing, but clearly it isn't one thing. It's 13 plates!
So, the question then becomes, how in the hell do I do it. Good question. The trick to this is, strangely enough, performing like tasks. I look a the list and I try to determine from what I see how many of these products are going to require me to cut styrofoam. Great. That means downstairs. Okay, what else can I do downstairs?
Today I cast road pieces and sanded them flat on the ends (that's downstairs work). I spray painted them (also downstairs). I put "ground" on the river bank (not technically downstairs, but the basement is becoming the place where I put down large ammounts of things that need plaster of paris or hydrocal--the basement has a sink, but it lacks a drain...go figure). I also put flock on the walls, the same flock needed on the river banks, so it was...downstiars, that's right. And then I went upstairs, and while my child played in his play pen and we watched "Reading Between The Lions," I painted glaciers so that they would be really white and not blue.
And then, out of nowhere, I made the pine forest, which might have been a mistake as I think people are getting a little tired of the ice world stuff. Yes, it may be time to move on.
My point is that this is reminiscent of the game Gin Rummi where people move cards around to make their stuff. I find that I'll start the day with two projects and then quickly, while I'm waiting for the hydrocal to dry, I'll find myself making a hill, and well, as long as I have to spray paint a hill, I might as well cast some rock walls real quick, and there's no sense casting just some rock walls, why not cast some gothic bas relief plates so that I can make a bunker, and now I'm gluing, so I might as well... It can be days before I get back to the original thing.
Aye.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Night fight Tonight!!
Okay, so Tuesday last, I went to play 40k as I always do, except that I knew we'd be a man down as one of our regulars had headed out to S.F. to hang out with his wife's family.
When I got there, one of the other regulars bowed out of the fight because three way batttles are kind of dull and that left me playing Eldar versus my buddy Russ who plays IG, and Russ suggests that we play this new scenario that he found that he really thought looked good. The scenario allowed for reserves, no deep strike, no infliltrators, but most importantly it started as a night fight and on turn four you rolled a dice, on a 4+ the sun came out and the night fight was over.
It sounded good. Let me say that. I love the idea of a night fight because it means that tanks aren't going to be as important. People with long range weapons just don't get to fire all the way across the board and the hand to hand troops are more likely to get in close before they can be fired upon. Or so I thought.
Here's what I learned. First of all, the Eldar (ex rulers of the universe) have yet to master the highly technical advance of the searchlight. Whereas, the IG have a searchlight every third man or so. All those tanks pretty much get searchlights, the IG player need only highlight a squad and everybody on his side can annhialate you.
As it turned out, I needed to worry more about cover more during a night fight because the IG could see me, and I couldn't fire back because they were always out of range. Oh sure, I could rush across the battlefield (not a very strong Eldar tactic), but I still wouldn't be able to open fire until I was within 21" on average.
The game lasted something like 30 minutes. It was a route. I managed to destroy one sentinals multilaser, but it didn't matter because it still had a search light.
I think the bottom line is that night fights have tactics to them, but not the one's you'd expect. The game becomes about annhialating one foe at a time. Shining down one search light so that one vehicle is vulnerable and then unleashing with everything on the target it illuminates.
This is well enough for most armies. IG excel at it, but if you're playing a night fight battle, leave the Eldar at home. They can't get searchlights so they're pretty much just waiting to get destroyed. They can only attack the thing that hit them with the searchlight, and if they're fighting IG, that target will always be a Chimera (because its expendable) or a Leman Russ (because very little can kill it). The hundreds of little guys out there will stay safe for most of the battle.
When I got there, one of the other regulars bowed out of the fight because three way batttles are kind of dull and that left me playing Eldar versus my buddy Russ who plays IG, and Russ suggests that we play this new scenario that he found that he really thought looked good. The scenario allowed for reserves, no deep strike, no infliltrators, but most importantly it started as a night fight and on turn four you rolled a dice, on a 4+ the sun came out and the night fight was over.
It sounded good. Let me say that. I love the idea of a night fight because it means that tanks aren't going to be as important. People with long range weapons just don't get to fire all the way across the board and the hand to hand troops are more likely to get in close before they can be fired upon. Or so I thought.
Here's what I learned. First of all, the Eldar (ex rulers of the universe) have yet to master the highly technical advance of the searchlight. Whereas, the IG have a searchlight every third man or so. All those tanks pretty much get searchlights, the IG player need only highlight a squad and everybody on his side can annhialate you.
As it turned out, I needed to worry more about cover more during a night fight because the IG could see me, and I couldn't fire back because they were always out of range. Oh sure, I could rush across the battlefield (not a very strong Eldar tactic), but I still wouldn't be able to open fire until I was within 21" on average.
The game lasted something like 30 minutes. It was a route. I managed to destroy one sentinals multilaser, but it didn't matter because it still had a search light.
I think the bottom line is that night fights have tactics to them, but not the one's you'd expect. The game becomes about annhialating one foe at a time. Shining down one search light so that one vehicle is vulnerable and then unleashing with everything on the target it illuminates.
This is well enough for most armies. IG excel at it, but if you're playing a night fight battle, leave the Eldar at home. They can't get searchlights so they're pretty much just waiting to get destroyed. They can only attack the thing that hit them with the searchlight, and if they're fighting IG, that target will always be a Chimera (because its expendable) or a Leman Russ (because very little can kill it). The hundreds of little guys out there will stay safe for most of the battle.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Ebay=Sketch
Not to bite the hand that feeds me or anything, but man, Ebay is sketchy. Honestly today I received two emails. The first, a guy who took a month to pay me for the $200 worth of scenery he bought, wasn't there to pick up the package. According to him, the box sat on his stoop until the Post office picked it back up and sent it back to me. This would have been a month ago, and I have yet to receive the box.
Ahem...does the U.S. mail really pick stuff up that sits on someone's porch too long. I mean, I know that UPS will do that if they require a signature or something, but the USPS has an option for that sort of thing, which this guy didn't take. Theoretically, the box should have stayed on his porch from now until doomsday.
My guess is that someone walked along and stole it.
In any case, because I was the one who sent him the package, evidentally, this is my responsability. He's wondering how I can fix the problem.
On the other hand, in the second email, there's an object that arrived broken. It happens sometimes, that's why I advise insurance. I don't think after today, that "option" is going to be optional anymore. So, I'm writing this guy back telling him that I can replace parts, if he wants to send it back to me, I can fix it, etc., and then I notice the date. The guy has had this particular item for a week. A WEEK! He hasn't noticed that its broken for an entire week?
The worst thing is, I'm really trying to do business with a certain ammount of trust. I want to be the guy who sells you a product and then stands behind it. Unlike the Dell computer I'm currently typing on, I want my things to have some sort of reliable fix-it man face behind them. I want to tell the guy that as soon as I get his package I'll send it back to him. I want to ship out spare parts to fix the guys broken scene.
But then, what if the package is sitting in the guy's living room and he just wants more stuff? What if the guy just wants two pieces of scenery for the price of one? What then? There's a fine line between customer service guru and sucker.
The bottom line is that if you're going to sell on ebay, you kind of have to be a hard ass. There's really no two ways around this.
So my answer now is that I will refund anything, but I want the item back, and I'm not paying for the return shipping. That's pretty fair I think.
Ahem...does the U.S. mail really pick stuff up that sits on someone's porch too long. I mean, I know that UPS will do that if they require a signature or something, but the USPS has an option for that sort of thing, which this guy didn't take. Theoretically, the box should have stayed on his porch from now until doomsday.
My guess is that someone walked along and stole it.
In any case, because I was the one who sent him the package, evidentally, this is my responsability. He's wondering how I can fix the problem.
On the other hand, in the second email, there's an object that arrived broken. It happens sometimes, that's why I advise insurance. I don't think after today, that "option" is going to be optional anymore. So, I'm writing this guy back telling him that I can replace parts, if he wants to send it back to me, I can fix it, etc., and then I notice the date. The guy has had this particular item for a week. A WEEK! He hasn't noticed that its broken for an entire week?
The worst thing is, I'm really trying to do business with a certain ammount of trust. I want to be the guy who sells you a product and then stands behind it. Unlike the Dell computer I'm currently typing on, I want my things to have some sort of reliable fix-it man face behind them. I want to tell the guy that as soon as I get his package I'll send it back to him. I want to ship out spare parts to fix the guys broken scene.
But then, what if the package is sitting in the guy's living room and he just wants more stuff? What if the guy just wants two pieces of scenery for the price of one? What then? There's a fine line between customer service guru and sucker.
The bottom line is that if you're going to sell on ebay, you kind of have to be a hard ass. There's really no two ways around this.
So my answer now is that I will refund anything, but I want the item back, and I'm not paying for the return shipping. That's pretty fair I think.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Terrain rules redux
Man, I just read my previous post and it was both long winded and complicated...the one on cover saves. So, let's try that again. I'm taking the level 1,2, and 3 from the regular 40k book. So, level one miniatures are like wripper swarms, level 2 is your regular miniature, and level 3 is a big miniature (a dreadnaught or a tank). Fine.
And I am also taking from the rules that if a level two terrain, say, sits between two level two miniatures, it blocks line of sight. Good so far?
On my boards, level one terrain is up to 1 1/2" tall, level two is between 1 1/2" and 3" and level 3 is above 3". Fair?
Alright, here's my problem. Officially if troops (level 2) are standing behind a level 2 hedge, they cannot be shot at nor shoot over. If the hedge were considered area terrain, they could move into it and then fire (so long as they were within 6" of the edge) but just on the other side, they would be blocked completely. The problem is that a hedge can be conceivably entered. The model of the hedge might even accomodate this, but what about a wall. Can a 1 1/2" wall not be taken as cover and be fired over? See the difficulty?
Also, the other problem is that quite often we play with ruined slabs of something or other or overhead things. Terrain that you can see through in spots but not everywhere. Should that block line of sight?
If your answer is yes to those questions then you're probably okay with the regular rules. But I don't know, I want the interaction between the minis and the terrain to be a bit more complex.
I think that the answer may very well be to divide terrain up so that it does two things (at least), it can block LOS and it can provide cover, but it does not necessarilly do both. What I'm saying is that you might define a plate of ruined buildings that are little more than skeletons as level 3 cover but unable to block LOS at all, or maybe they block line of sight at level one.
I think the way you figure this out is that you put a mini behind the scenery. If you can't see his knees when he's behind the scenery than the scene blocks LOS at level one. If you can't see the head, then it blocks LOS level 2, and if you can't see a space merine dreadnaught behind it then it blocks LOS level 3. If you can see these things, but there's still a whole bunch of stuff here and there, or you can't see these parts of the mini looking through the scene from every angle, then it will still provide cover to the level of the scenery's height.
Maybe say that vehicles can't get "hull down" unless LOS is blocked at level 2.
I would also say that scenery that clearly isn't area scenery (like a wall)--scenery that cannot be "entered", can be taken if it is equal to the miniatures height and the miniature is within an inch of the scenery. So, a unit of space marines lined up at a level 2 wall, would be able to shoot over it, and the enemy would be able to shoot at them. The wall would provide a cover save but it wouldn't block LOS. Of course, the unit would have to declare that they were "taking the wall"--I wouldn't make it automatic that just being within an 1" of this kind of cover would immediately make you a target.
That's what I think I was going for with all that crazy tech language.
And I am also taking from the rules that if a level two terrain, say, sits between two level two miniatures, it blocks line of sight. Good so far?
On my boards, level one terrain is up to 1 1/2" tall, level two is between 1 1/2" and 3" and level 3 is above 3". Fair?
Alright, here's my problem. Officially if troops (level 2) are standing behind a level 2 hedge, they cannot be shot at nor shoot over. If the hedge were considered area terrain, they could move into it and then fire (so long as they were within 6" of the edge) but just on the other side, they would be blocked completely. The problem is that a hedge can be conceivably entered. The model of the hedge might even accomodate this, but what about a wall. Can a 1 1/2" wall not be taken as cover and be fired over? See the difficulty?
Also, the other problem is that quite often we play with ruined slabs of something or other or overhead things. Terrain that you can see through in spots but not everywhere. Should that block line of sight?
If your answer is yes to those questions then you're probably okay with the regular rules. But I don't know, I want the interaction between the minis and the terrain to be a bit more complex.
I think that the answer may very well be to divide terrain up so that it does two things (at least), it can block LOS and it can provide cover, but it does not necessarilly do both. What I'm saying is that you might define a plate of ruined buildings that are little more than skeletons as level 3 cover but unable to block LOS at all, or maybe they block line of sight at level one.
I think the way you figure this out is that you put a mini behind the scenery. If you can't see his knees when he's behind the scenery than the scene blocks LOS at level one. If you can't see the head, then it blocks LOS level 2, and if you can't see a space merine dreadnaught behind it then it blocks LOS level 3. If you can see these things, but there's still a whole bunch of stuff here and there, or you can't see these parts of the mini looking through the scene from every angle, then it will still provide cover to the level of the scenery's height.
Maybe say that vehicles can't get "hull down" unless LOS is blocked at level 2.
I would also say that scenery that clearly isn't area scenery (like a wall)--scenery that cannot be "entered", can be taken if it is equal to the miniatures height and the miniature is within an inch of the scenery. So, a unit of space marines lined up at a level 2 wall, would be able to shoot over it, and the enemy would be able to shoot at them. The wall would provide a cover save but it wouldn't block LOS. Of course, the unit would have to declare that they were "taking the wall"--I wouldn't make it automatic that just being within an 1" of this kind of cover would immediately make you a target.
That's what I think I was going for with all that crazy tech language.
Dawn of War- evil Eldar tactic
Well, I officially played my first on line game against total strangers and it was...every thing I feared it would be. Honestly.
Now I know, I know. I'm a newbie. I'm so new that you have no idea, and to tell you the truth, there's a reason I'm a newbie. I don't want to play against random people. I want to play against a computer the way that God intended video games to be played.
But, unfortunately, they don't really make games for people like me any more. It's the multi-player option that sells the game. Witness Doom 3. What a disapointment.
And so, I figured it was time. I'd after all beaten both Dawn of War and Winter Assault on the highest settings, how bad could it be?
So, I called up my friend Russ, who plays IG at our usual game and runs a computer fix it business, and we tried to connect. But of course, my computer has three firewalls, and the wireless router is connected to a gateway and the gateway is connected, evidentally to Bill Gates who then tells me that I can't play on line. The only other option is game spy, and well...Russ can't play on gamespy with his copy.
But I can, because I am an honest person. I knew there would be an advantage in there somewhere. So, I get on gamespy and quite suddenly find out that something is wrong. I produce, no shit, a squad of scouts, and my base begins to be assaulted by wave after wave after wave of marines. So someone's cheating. Then I play another guy and I lose. Fair and square I'm thinking, but the third game is a four player game...I think. I don't know, my support never showed up and when I went over to see what the hell he was doing, he appeared to be making Defilers. No troops mind you, just Defilers.
This was the point at when I stopped playing on Game spy and began again to play against the computer. Man, am I good with Eldar. Also, I've managed to get games going against my friends (I just had to reload the game and get rid of those pesky patches), but they've got a bit of building up to do, I think.
Alright the Eldar tactic, and this is fricking viscious, is to teleport in pretty close to their base with your bonesingers, build a webway portal and then just start building turrets...not late in the game; first thing. They'll never get more than a squad out before they lose their armory if all goes well. And even if they do, a turret can take out a commander before it goes down. Especially if the bonesingers are repairing it. Plus, you can hide them in the webway portal, if needs be to protect them.
Now I know, I know. I'm a newbie. I'm so new that you have no idea, and to tell you the truth, there's a reason I'm a newbie. I don't want to play against random people. I want to play against a computer the way that God intended video games to be played.
But, unfortunately, they don't really make games for people like me any more. It's the multi-player option that sells the game. Witness Doom 3. What a disapointment.
And so, I figured it was time. I'd after all beaten both Dawn of War and Winter Assault on the highest settings, how bad could it be?
So, I called up my friend Russ, who plays IG at our usual game and runs a computer fix it business, and we tried to connect. But of course, my computer has three firewalls, and the wireless router is connected to a gateway and the gateway is connected, evidentally to Bill Gates who then tells me that I can't play on line. The only other option is game spy, and well...Russ can't play on gamespy with his copy.
But I can, because I am an honest person. I knew there would be an advantage in there somewhere. So, I get on gamespy and quite suddenly find out that something is wrong. I produce, no shit, a squad of scouts, and my base begins to be assaulted by wave after wave after wave of marines. So someone's cheating. Then I play another guy and I lose. Fair and square I'm thinking, but the third game is a four player game...I think. I don't know, my support never showed up and when I went over to see what the hell he was doing, he appeared to be making Defilers. No troops mind you, just Defilers.
This was the point at when I stopped playing on Game spy and began again to play against the computer. Man, am I good with Eldar. Also, I've managed to get games going against my friends (I just had to reload the game and get rid of those pesky patches), but they've got a bit of building up to do, I think.
Alright the Eldar tactic, and this is fricking viscious, is to teleport in pretty close to their base with your bonesingers, build a webway portal and then just start building turrets...not late in the game; first thing. They'll never get more than a squad out before they lose their armory if all goes well. And even if they do, a turret can take out a commander before it goes down. Especially if the bonesingers are repairing it. Plus, you can hide them in the webway portal, if needs be to protect them.
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