What I painted in September 2020

Another month gone by, and the printer is back up and running, though at a lower rate then before due to back to work full time.

Never the less, things did get painted, in more modest numbers as the previous months, but the pile of shame keeps getting assailed.

The first model to have been finished this month, is the lady Eowyn, shieldmaiden of Rohan.

While the mighty elven warrior Glorfindel also joined the painted forces this month.

And even more Elves join the fray, as with these 3 Galdhrim warriors, I can now field the Lothlorien battle company as well.

On a larger scale scenery level, the Moist Vaporiser was done, ready to be placed on the tables of Star Wars Legion.

While this piece was finished for a more jungle or ruined style table setup

More scenery came about as two more of those chinese trees forest where based and finished.

Talking scenery for 6mm, these pieces have been added for Project Far Side this month:

Not in 6mm, some Dungeon Tiles have been prepared for when the DnD campaign can finally start.

And 6 more movement trays for my forces of Middle-earth have been rounded out as well...

I also printed out and painted 28 rocks of various sizes, for a planned game of Rangers of Shadow Deep somewhere in november.

That means a total of 89 models have been rounded out, now to prepare for... Orktober!

Project Far Side: Update 4

Here we are, with the 4th update on this insanity project of building 7 tables worth of 6mm terrain.

Now, it has been a while, as in the past two months printing and painting had been severly reduced due to work picking up again after the pandemic, a heatwave, 2 holidays (I'm on one actually now as I type this) and my nozzle getting a thorough clean-through.

But in the past weeks, I picked up the brush again (though at a more limited rate obviously) and while also painting up some other things, the terrain has received some good attention none the less.

For the Tatooine table, two rock formations and an observatory, as well as a turbo laser turret.

My alien jungle saw some plants

The demon world had some progress as well this update, with demonic cave entrances and hag trees 

 The Cyberpunk world saw no less then 20 new stores added.

While for the Naboo / fantasy table only a small belltower was painted up though, I decided to give it a "Santorini" feel to give some contrast on the table.

 

So that's the newly added scenery for this month.  October won't see any additions though, as I'm going to jump into "Orktober" and as such will be painting, well, only orcs for the next weeks... 

SBG Issue 8 - Spring 2019

My all time favorite fanzine has arrived in the current edition of the game with the Spring 2019 issue, so of course all is focussed on the edition of the game we love playing these days.

But as always, that isn`t the only thing in the magazine, as there are some great columns in this issue, including one on... how to lose your games!

The magazine starts as usual with the Editorial as well as the SBG Towers, giving a look at what goes on in the community, followed by the Hobby Blog to show what the team is up to.

The first column, Dawn of a New Age, takes a look at how the various iterations of MESBG have been impacting the gaming life of himself and his longest standing opponent, including the impact of real life issues like "work" and "growing up".

In the Dr's Corner, Damien muses about how Matched Play games and tournaments at one time became his focus, but also on how that didn`t have the required feel good he thought it would have had.

The Art of the Wooden Spoon is an article that tries to help you mitigate the bad feeling one can have for losing, and how to take it in style and with great fun instead.

Build Me An Army on the other hand takes a totally different approach, namely thoughts on building the most effective armies for the Tournament Scene, focussing around the heroes only type force.

The battle report this month is themed around the Fields of the Pelennor (of course, how more fitting could it be!) and uses the Fog of War scenario.  To keep the reader guessing, the secret objectives and why they where chosen before the game are detailed a few pages beyond the report.

The final article this issue is a Painting Masterclass on Theoden, the awesome model that comes in the newest edition starter box.

Another superb issue, and I quite liked the columns this month, preferring casual and narrative play myself for the rulesystem.

Because in the end, don`t we all want a good story to tell?

The Haul Report 248

 The legendary Bandobaras Took has arrived, one of only two Hobbits in history to ride an actual horse (the other being Frodo... and only in the book) by himself.

And he also invented the game of golf in his finest hour!

So I picked one up from an italian eBay seller for about 5 euro, good deal for my part.

On a printing level, I completed the final piece for my river this week.

And bought some blue acryl paints for when I tackle it as well... 

I also printed a Giant Vulture for Rangers of Shadow Deep, but by putting it on 200% (I didn`t pay attention to the actual size, just wanted to make it big enough) the heroes are going to face a GIGANTUAN Vulture lol.

The final print of the week is this Viking Hut, excellent for fantasy tables. 

Finally, Dark Realms released another great stl for the Arkenfels Patreon of this month, with a bridge gatehouse that goes in between the bridgesections.

A calm week as such, and now I`m leaving on holidays so next week won't be much busier either :-)

2.11.0.0

On the Painting Desk 162: readying Orktober

So, the desk has been invaded by Orcs for the upcoming Orktober, a month in which I really hope to finish quite a lot of the evil minions.

Now, as I'm leaving on a holdiay for the week, I already set them all ready, and hopefully the first thing during the month I'll finish is that half painted band of Moria Goblins.

 

Because that would mean another Battle Company finished...

Now, I'll also be painting up (well, and print first) a lot of movement trays during the coming weeks as such, and dedicate the final days of the month probably to them, but for the rest I hope to get this weekend the dragon completely finished (and as such he will be the only non pure orc painted during that time) for an Instagram painting challenge.

So let's start this last weekend of september with undercoating all that is still needed...

2.11.0.0

A trio of Galadhrim Warriors

Well, nothing to fancy today actually, just three brave Galadhrim warriors (also known as "Haldir's Elves" as they fought on the Deeping Wall... in the movies) for my forces.

Though I will be painting the rest of the unit (and then some) up in the future, these three guys complete the Battle Company for Lothlorien now.

One armed with a spear and shield, while the other has the Elven half and half sword, they can perfectly support each other for more dice that can hit harder due to the half and half being used tzo handed, making a fearsome combo even in those small scale skirmish games.  And the archer just pops down enemies as they approach...

And slowly but steadily I`m getting through those companies as such... as now 12 stand completed out of the 38 in the book.

Rockworks

This month, I have been printing mostly aimed at starting the second Mission for Rangers of Shadow Deep, with a river and mostly rocks being needed.

And as such, I spend the past sunday painting up a lot of boulders, as it needs to cover a decent part of a 2.5 by 2.5 table according to the scenario.

While Orktober will make it so that not much will be added to the scenario requirements just now, I aim to actually play out the scenario during the few days off I have in november, in between babysitter duties.

The rocks are of a variety of shapes and sizes, and painted with Amsterdam paint for the first layer (Paynesgrey) with a Neutral Grey drybrush, then a light highlight drybrush of Vallejo Sky Grey.

And it gives me a serious boost in scatter terrain for Middle-earth as such as well...

Orb of Zhur

One of the final pieces I had lying around that I had printed for me in the pre-Ender days, this large tentacled orb is a good centerpiece for scenarios.

The model itself was a freebie found on Thingiverse (a real treasure trove for wargame scenery on the cheap), and looks both on place in fantasy as well as sci-fi tables.

Produced as such by the excellent Dutchmogul, a user on Thingiverse you really should check out for all his fantastic RPG material and more on there, it is a pillar topped by tentacles, holding some orb or egg like ball.

I went for a purplish colour, to have it contrast nicely with the grey of the pillar and green of the appendages, wgile the runes where topped with Enchanted Blue for a metallic like glow on the,.

A real lovely piece of you ask me, that will look good on any jungle or ruined style table, even as the object for some adventure.

Glorfindel, Lord of the West

Mighty Glorfindel, the hero reborn...

Perhaps the mightiest of Elven warriors ever to walk Middle-earth, eclipsing even the likes of Elrond or Gil-Galad, fair haired Glorfindel is a legend amongst the Free People.

While he was instrumental in leading his people out when Gondolin fell, he fought mighty Balrogs, and even though he went down in those days, the gods revived him for his selfless sacrifice.  And now he walks in Rivendell, the Last Homely Home.

Even though left out in the movies (his biggest sequence in the book was rewritten with Arwen instead coming to the aid of Frodo), he is included in the Rivendell army list, and that makes Noshi a happy camper.  This classic model is unarmoured, but his immense Fight skill and special rules will make you lucky if you can actually hit him in combat, as he is prone to winning duels with whatever the evil forces throw at him.

I went for really light hair on him, as well as a light grey tunic in order to make him stand out on the table, a true central figure of an Elven force.

One can only imagine how the Quest of the Ringbearer would have gone had he indeed been allowed to join the Fellowship...

The Scouring of the Shire

Today, I am taking a look at the classic version of this supplement for the Lord of the Rings game, released back in 2004.

Now, the current one that was released last year is on the "to do" list as well, so you can expect it here as well, but let's first dabble in history with this 64 page volume.

The Scouring of the Shire back then was the 4th supplement released for the game, and is based completely on the books.  The trilogy movies ended after the crowning of Aragorn, but the book went on as Saruman (who hadn't fallen of Ortanc) had invaded the Hobbit lands and brought industrialisation and slavery with him.  So our four brave Hobbits returned home and went on to free the land of this evil, with Merry and Pippin having their shining moments here as generals of the resistance.

The tome is well presented, starting out with some background and a map for the conflict, followed by the profiles for our intrepid heroes, as well as a whole slew of characters and warriors from the Shire.

We also get a painting guide for the little folk next, on how to go to work on your very colourful force of what are basically militia and peasants.

The evil side is far more limited, with Sharkey and Worm (aka a depowered Saruman and his servant Grima), as well as the ruffians he orders around.

The Scouring of course features a heap of new scenarios, tailored for small forces and small tables.  For example, the very first, Maggot's Farm is taking place on a 2x4 table, and you need Maggot and his three hounds on one side, and 5 ruffians on the other.  Ideal for a relaxed kitchen table game!

One of the mighty weapons in the Hobbits arsenal are traps and pitfalls, and the next section takes a look at how they work and how you can make some for yourself, because you will need those for future scenarios in the book.

There is also a guide on making hobbit holes, though that can be done easier these days since the Forge World "frontage" kit was released.

The final section is the Appendix of The History of The Shire, in which Bandobras Took and his allies take on Golfimbul, and invents the game of golf in the same go!

A fine little book, and the scenarios are still inviting to have a go even with the current rules and stats, as the MESBG core engine remained the same over all it's incarnations, compared to GW's other systems.

Licenses have their benefits!

The Haul Report 247

Release the river!

This week mostly saw me print more pieces for the river I am building.

The pieces, about 20cm each, take around 9 hrs to do with my settings, so with a week of holidays behind me I am actually churning out the last section while you read this.

It will then be painted up in the first place to serve as the river from the next scenario I`m planning for Rangers of Shadow Deep (once all forces and terrain are ready, check this blog for the report), and of course afterwards will go into my Lord of the Rings terrain collection.

Talking LOTR terrain, Pinyo from Dark Realms Forge released a few new houses for the Arkenfel expansion theme of this month, a lovely house ideal for a setting like Osgiliath.

So not much actual shopping has been done, but never the less some good stuff has been added as a result.

On the Painting Desk 161

So I started cleaning out the desk this week, and prepare for Orktober as such.

But before it will be flooded with Orcs of all sorts, I commenced painting on this little beast:

The Moria Dragon, which I am painting up for an Instagram painting challenge.  While I have no ambition or hopes at all to get through the selection to Top 8, it is nevertheless a good motivator to get some things done.

The deadline is the 9th of october, so I`ll see if I get it done by then!