Imperial Knight

I've always wanted to paint one of GW's Imperial Knights and I was able to acquire one rather cheaply this summer. It was almost completely constructed so I just had to finish it up and do the painting. Painting took me a few months. I went with a Mechanicus-aligned House Taranis paint scheme. My paint job is also not the spit-and-polish paint job seen on the box lid, I weathered mine to make it look like it's actually in use. The weapon mounts are all magnetized so I can easily switch weapons (not that I'm actually playing 40K).

In this pic it has the Avenger Gatling Cannon, Reaper Chainsword and the Stormspear Rocket Pod.

In this pic it has the Thermal Cannon, Reaper Chainsword and the Twin Icarus Autocannon.

I forgot to have a 28mm figure for size comparison but it measures roughly 17cm to the top of the carapace.

Not sure what's next on my paint table as I'm busy assembling figures for the Analogue Hobbies Paint Challenge which should be starting in little over a week.

Assorted Figures

It's been a while since I've posted anything, haven't been in a painting mood lately and I've had a number of other things going on.  With the Analogue Hobbies Annual Paint Challenge starting in a few weeks, I have been doing a fair bit of assembling and priming in preparation.  I've only got a few things painted up as seen below.

I'll start off with a group of six insect aliens.

I got these from someone at the club, I have no idea who the manufacturer is. They are made of metal. These have been sitting on my paint table in various stages of painting for well over a year.

Next up are two sets of Frostgrave figures. Figures are all metal. First up is a pair of hyenas that was released when the Frostgrave gnolls came out.

These actually turned out remarkably well (regardless of my shite pictures). I was worried that they would look like my typical crappy animal paint job, but they are quite nice.

Lastly is a trio of giant rats.

Not much to say about these, they're giant rats.

Sitting on my paint table right now is a large 28mm figure that I've been working on for quite a while. Hopefully this weekend I can actually get it closer to being finished.

Fallcon 2017

This past weekend I went down to Calgary for Fallcon 30, a weekend of all things boardgaming! The convention this year had moved and was held at the arena at SAIT. I must say, the SAIT campus is really nice.

Friday

Jonathan and I played Wilderness War. Well, we played the first year anyway. Hopefully we'll be giving this another go soon. The second game of the evening was Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar.

Two of the players hadn't played in a year and the fourth hadn't played before. I was able to squeak out a win in the this one with the new player being close behind. Steve Zanini, the gentleman running the game, was kind enough to have had keychains made for everyone who participated. The keychains have a small wood Mayan calendar on them.

Saturday

Saturday morning saw me participating in a playtest of a game called Defenders of Wessex. In this game the players are defending Wessex against constant Viking attacks. The game was in the vein of Pandemic, a cooperative game where the players are desperately trying to stave off panic in the countryside all the while scrambling together enough forces to destroy the Vikings. We ended up losing the game. I hope this game makes it as it was an interesting, entertaining game.

For the afternoon, both Jonathan and I did not have a game so we pulled out Commands and Colors Napoleonics. We played one of the scenarios from the Russian expansion: Borodino: Shevardino Redoubt.

I played the Russians and was able to keep the French at bay till they finally got moving and then they quickly rolled over me. I need to get this game out more.

And next up was the most anticipated part of the weekend: the auction! As in previous auctions, there was an excellent selection of games up for bid. I was able to get a number of the ones I was interested in.

Now, I need to get them to the table!

One of the highlights of the auction this year was the presentation of the Canadian Boardgame Designer Award. This year, the award was brought in to the facility in the arms of volunteers from the 501st Legion. There was a pair of stormtroopers, a scout trooper, a TIE pilot and another guy in what looked like a modified Clone trooper outfit. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture. See Chen's blog for a pic: http://172minis.blogspot.ca/

After the auction, I played in a game of Mansions of Madness 2nd edition. I wanted to give this game a try to see how it compared to the 1st edition. The game seemed to flow a little smoother, but I have to say I do prefer the 1st edition where one of the players is against the rest of the players.

Sunday

Sunday started with the flea market and I was able to pick up two more of the scenario packs for Mansions of Madness 1st edition for a great price. Besides that, there wasn't really anything else that grabbed my attention.

After that was the last game of the weekend: Formula De. There were 8 people playing and we were racing on one of the tracks in Italy (can't remember which). Really fun game and a perfect convention game. We'll have to see if we can get the guy who ran it to come up for Mayday.

And then it was time to go home!

I'm redoing my upstairs flooring now, so it'll be a while before anything comes off the paint table.

3rd Kefcon

This past weekend I attended the 3rd annual Kefon boardgame convention. This was the first Kefcon I've attended. It was held at the Queen Mary Park Community League (near to Kingsway mall and NAIT). The facility was pretty nice.

Friday evening:

Cthullhu Wars

I played Nyarlathotep and was unfortunately surrounded so I had a slow start. I ended up coming in 2nd or 3rd (can't remember) out of 5 players.

Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia

I had never played the game before but it seemed kind of interesting. Basically it's a worker placement game. I had a bad start and my starting cards were poor and never got used. I ended up getting squashed in this one.

Saturday:

The Castles of Burgundy

There was a couple games that I've had on my radar and have been interested in trying out. Castles of Burgundy was one of these games. Out of the four players, if I remember correctly, I was the only one who had never played before. In the game you collect tiles to add to your personal board. Adding tiles lets you do various functions. Early on I trailed the other players but by the end I was middle of the pack. Because I had picked up a number of end game scoring tiles, I ended up getting a pile of points at end-of-game scoring and won quite handily.

Archon: Glory and Machination

Originally I was going to play Eclipse but as there were only two of us (Craig and myself) we opted to play something else. Two-player Eclipse isn't really any good. Craig had brought out Archon in case another game was needed. Archon is a worker placement game with a clockwork steampunk type setting. I ended up winning this one.

Because Eclipse was a two player slot, once Archon was over I needed to find another game to fill the time. I got in to a game of Zombicide: Black Plague (sorry no pic!). It was the intro scenario and we won quite handily.

Once that was finished I had an hour or so till the auction, so I got into a game of Diceborn Heroes (sorry no pic!) being run by the games designer. This game is a anime-style cooperative fantasy game where the heroes work through a trio of quests to finally fight a boss monster. It was a pretty fun little game and I may pick it up if I get a chance.

Next up was the auction and I came away with a trio of games. I got the Yellow Sign scenario pack for Mansions of Madness 1st edition. As Fantasy Flight is now on 2nd edition, it's getting hard to find the packs I don't have. I think I'm still missing three scenario packs. I also picked up Subdivision from Bezier Games. I really like their Suburbia game so I wanted to get my hands on this. I also won a copy of T.I.M.E. Stories. The impression I had is that it's pretty well thought of, hopefully I can get this to the table soon.

Solarius Mission

After the auction I was supposed to get into a game of Eldritch Horror but the GM was sick so the game was cancelled. I ended up getting into a game of Solarius Mission. This game apparently is unavailable in North America at this time. This game is a worker placement retro space exploration game. It seemed actually quite complicated for a euro-style game. I ended up getting crushed in this game.

The convention also had a bunch of draw boxes for games that people could put purchased tickets into. I bought a few and put them into the draw box for Concordia. I ended up winning a copy of the game.

Sunday:

Hansa Teutonica

This was the other game that I have been meaning to try out. This is a worker placement type game where you place your pieces on roads between cities to try and complete the said roads. You're constantly having to knock off other players pieces from the routes you want( kind of aggressive for a euro!). I was the only one of the four players who had never played the game and I ended up winning narrowly.

Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery

This is a great game and of the four players only one of them had never played. I'll pretty much get into this game whenever I can. We played a full long game and I ended up winning this one.

Overall it was a pretty fun (and tiring) weekend. September is a busy (and expensive!) month. Fallcon in Calgary is in three weeks and Gamealot is on the following weekend in St. Albert. I'll also be playing my first game of Dropfleet on Tuesday at the club's new digs, Red Claw Gaming.

Dropfleet PHR Ships

Been a while since I've posted any figures up. Haven't been in much of a painting mood lately. Anyway, here's my latest painted figures. This is the bulk of the Dropfleet figures I have. FIgures all are plastic. First up is a group of four frigates.

The two on the left are Europa frigates and the two right ones are Pandora frigates.

These are a pair of Orion cruisers.

These are a Hector heavy cruiser (left) and a Bellerophon heavy carrier (right).

The last ship is a Ganymede assault troopship.

On my table right now, are three cruisers (under construction) and four more frigates. I might also do some World War 2 stuff as I think I can knock it off a little quicker. Til next time!

Start of PHR Fleet for Dropfleet

So I've decided to get into Dropfleet Commander and the fleet I've chosen is the PHR fleet. I like the look of the long sleek hulls and they have a nice high tech feel to them. When I first looked at the hulls they reminded me of the long head of the 'Alien' monster. So I decided to paint mine black instead of the standard white.  I've started with a corvette pack as a test-bed for the colour scheme.

Originally I went with a gloss varnish on the black hull but it ended up looking like dog $hit. So I repainted them and have kept the matte black look. They turned out alright I guess. They're definitely no where near the quality of work seen on the Edmonton Dropfleet page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/DFCEdmonton/

I also finished the launch assets pack.

On my table right now are a pair of cruisers for Dropfleet. We'll see how my paint scheme works on bigger ships.

Assorted Samurai

Been a while since I've posted anything. Have been slowly working on some figures and haven't really been in much of a paint mood lately. Hopefully I can pick up the pace. All the figures in this post are metal and are from Kingsford Miniatures. I'll start off with two bases of Teppo (Ashigaru with arquebuses).

Next up is two bases of Samurai cavalry.

And lastly is a mounted Samurai general.

On my paint table right now are figures for Dropfleet Commander. I've decided to get into it and I'm going to be doing a PHR fleet. The figures are amazing and I'm not sure my paint skills are quite up to the task of really showing off these excellent sculpts. I'll be starting with a group of corvettes to test out the paint scheme I've chosen.

Ashigaru and More Frostgrave

It's been a slow month but I finally got a few figures completed. First up is a couple bases for my ongoing lifetime samurai project. These are metal figures from Kingsford Miniatures. This is a pair of Ashigaru skirmish archer bases.

I'm hoping to get a lot more of this project completed this year. My end goal is to have two samurai armies and an Ikko-Ikki army. I've got a couple more Ashigaru Teppo and a couple Samurai cavalry bases on my table then I'll probably switch to working on some Ikko-Ikki bases.

Next up is a collection of Frostgrave figures. Almost all of these are wizards and their apprentices. I'm sure I've got enough wizards to do at least a dozen warbands. I definitely don't need any more! Figures are all metal and are "official" Frostgrave figures.

First set (l to r) is a Beastcrafter and apprentice followed by an Elementalist and apprentice.

Second set (l to r) is a Soothsayer and apprentice followed by a Lich and apprentice.

The last pair of figures is a tunnel fighter and a trap expert.

Next on my paint table (as I stated above) is some Teppo and Samurai cavalry. It will probably be a number of weeks before I get these finished, although with the bloody weather being awful, there's not much incentive to go outside and do anything.

War of 1812 US Units

Recently I finished a couple units of 54mm War of 1812 US units. These metal figures are from All The King's Men. First up is an artillery unit.

Next up is a unit of light troops.

And some closer shots.

Now I just need to get these figures on the table. As I now have Sharp Practice 2, I'll have to give it a go. Next up on my paint table is probably some more fantasy figures.

German Early-War Infantry

The other day I finished up a number of World War 2 German early-war infantry. These figures are plastic and are from Warlord Games.

I have to say that I prefer working with metal figures over plastic. I like the versatility of plastic sets but wow, for me, they take forever to build. Much prefer metal figures and metals I find tend to be better sculpted. At least plastics are cheap!

Next on my paint table are some War of 1812 figures.

More French Vehicles & Fantasy Adventurers

Just the other day I finished up a number of French early-war vehicles. These are from a Kickstarter that Mad Bob Miniatures ran last year. The figures are all resin, but it's not the usual resin I'm used to dealing with. It's like a 3d-printed plastic. I'm not really a big fan of the material, I prefer conventual resin. First up is a Citroen Kegresse P19 staff car.

Next up is a Citroen Kegresse P19 25mm Portee.

Next is a Citroen Kegresse P104 armoured transport.

Next is a Somua MCG artillery tractor/troop transport. This vehicle is kind of big compared to all the others, which is odd.

Next up is a Panhard 179 armoured scout/transport.

And finally this is a Panhard 165/175 armoured car. This is my favourite vehicle of the lot. I'm kind of a sucker for the Panhard armoured cars.

Also this week, I completed a number of fantasy adventurers that will be used for Frostgrave. These figures are all metal and are from a Kickstarter run by Red Box Miniatures last year.

Next up on my paint table is some more early-war Germans and probably some more figures for Frostgrave.