Hire A Crew: Children of December (Rasputina)

Yes, I have a Rasputina crew for sale! Funny story this one, find out more after the break!

Commission: Why So Seamus? (Shadows of Redchapel)

Recently I received an exciting commission offer that's taken me a bit longer than usual to achieve (testers and research on one hand, and health issues on the other) but I'm personally chuffed with the results. 

The commission? Shadows of Redchapel with a Joker theme (from Batman)!

Hire A Crew: Dark Debts (Jakob Lynch)

This week, in between painting commissions and hospital/doctor visits (nothing overly serious, just considerably uncomfortable) I managed to paint up a Jakob Lynch - Dark Debts crew.

This crew is always troublesome for me. I really like Jakob Lynch's back story, and a part of me always wants to hold onto him and his crew, expand it with some Beckoners, Mr. Graves, Mr. Tannen, and maybe some Depleted, and have it as a B-Side Crew.

Malifaux Masters (Tactica): Colette Du Bois

Today I'm breaking the program and jumping madly ahead with the Malifaux Masters series, and looking at Colette and her crew! I was intending to work my way gradually through Wave 1 first, but a thread appeared on Colette up on 'A Wyrd Place' (mainly because I put it there...) and I wanted to share the responses, because they were amazing.

It's worth saying before we continue that what follows is in my own words, but that most of the ideas came from one David McGuire. After the break, we'll examine Colette and her crew in a very different manner to the rest of my Malifaux Masters posts. This one is less of a card breakdown, and more of a Colette Tactica.

Box Backgrounds - Wave One Arcanists

Hot on the heals of the Malifaux Masters series I wanted to scratch another little itch of the community. Both on the Facebook group 'A Wyrd Place', as questions on Twitter and real life, I've been asked a few times what the fluff is for [Insert Model Here]. I should add that 'fluff' is a commonly used term for 'background story' in video games, tabletop wargames or other media where the 'history' is fictional. 

In answer to these questions, I thought if do a very quick rundown of the models in each Arsenal Pack as a very quick and basic look at who they are, and where they're from. These blog entries in no way compete to actually reading the full background of each character (found in Malifaux, Rising Powers, Twisting Fates, Storm of Shadows, and Malifaux 2nd Edition). Those books also contain wonderfully written stories and little snippets of information about the world itself. 

Anyways, starting with my Faction of choice, The Arcanists; here's Wave 1!

Reconnoiter in the Badlands

Monday night is Red Steel Gaming in Preston, and once again, I had received a challenge of a game of Malifaux, against the same opponent who had taken Sonnia Criid in the previous report. So we agreed on a time, drew up our game and prepared for a dust up!

...well, at 50ss it was technically a scrap, but hey!

Malifaux Masters: Lady Justice

This time around on Malifaux Masters, I'm going to take a trip Downtown to the Governor General's HQ and have a look into The Guild. Specifically, Lady Justice.

The Star Theatre

Today I built and painted my Showgirls crew. Okay, so Colette Du Bois herself was already built and painted, but here's the rest of them!

Colette Du Bois

Malifaux Masters: Seamus

Today's Master of choice is, again, something a little different. Mad Hatter meets the Joker with more than a splash of Jack the Ripper thrown in. Yes, it's the malevolent and mischievous Seamus of the Resurrectionists.

The Powder Keg

Recently Games Workshop have been at the forefront of some worrying social media developments. Globally, hobbyists and staff members alike have voiced concern over the companies decisions recently that seem to many to be putting the business beyond the community that supports it. Whilst certainly, I understand that sometimes the community has to make sacrifices for the business so that the business can continue to support the community (the one man store model, as an example) there are sometimes events that make my mind boggle. I genuinely believe that my insistence on supporting the community was instrumental to my dismissal from the company back in December. 

The Lure of Chaos

With 7th Edition 40K due to hit the shelves tomorrow (or in some cases, at 00:01 tonight) I've been trying to think about where I will go in the new Edition. I've not had a look at the new rules, nor do I particularly care about broken combos.

Malifaux Masters: Lilith

Rolling on from the success of 'Malifaux Masters: Rasputina', I thought this time around I'd switch faction to my old B-Side crew, and discuss a little about the Mother of Monsters, Lilith, of the Neverborn Faction.

Malifaux Masters: Rasputina

For a while now I've toyed with writing some short articles about some of the Malifaux Masters as a kind of guide for people who are interested in those Masters - either as a guide for beginners taking their first steps into the world of Malifaux, or for those looking to try a new Master, or those preparing to face that Master.

Where better to start than the first Master I ever used and, of course, an Arcanist (my chosen faction!).

Rasputina.

Foundry VS M&SU

Another Monday, another great evening at Red Steel Gaming Preston, another awesome Malifaux game - and this time around, it was a little different.

Hire A Crew: Killjoy

The latest in SFStudio's pre-painted miniature sales is none other than Killjoy!

The Outcast 'undead Neverborn' character who hits like a truck of bricks! An absolute joy to paint too!

This model is now available for purchase! Message or comment for details!

Monster Lab Miniatures

Compared to many other tabletop wargames like Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 and Dropzone Commander, Malifaux uses a lot of counters. First off, most Schemes require the placement of Scheme Markers, living creatures drop Corpse Markers, constructs drop Scrap Markers. In the Squatters Rights strategy you need Squat Markers. Then you have to keep track of conditions like Burning and Poison, place Ice Pillars or Flame Walls...

There's going I come a time when you just can't handle that all with blank 30mm bases, trying to remember which is which. So I turned to a different approach with a company called Monster Lab Miniatures. 

Hire A Crew: Open Graves

In addition to the usual commission services, StormFront Studios also builds and paints crews and boxes of models purely to sell on. The latest of these is the Nicodem crew box for Malifaux.

Warhammer 40,000 7th Edition - First Thoughts

Tonight, Games Workshop have put up the new Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (7th Edition) for Advance Order. I don't work for the company anymore so I have seen very little of the new rules besides leaked photos of White Dwarf and the videos that they have put up on YouTube. I also have very little money, so I have been unable to Advance Order it myself.

Still, I thought I'd have a gander at the new products and share my thoughts.

Commission: Hired Swords Expanded

It dawned on me today that I've not even mentioned my commission painting work on here, let alone shouted about it or shown off much of the work - and that simply would not do. Don't worry though, I'm not about to go into a full business rant, that's not how I do things.

Instead, I wanted to showcase projects here once I'd completed them. So, without further ado, here is the Expanded "Hired Swords" Crew commission I finished yesterday!

By My Reckoning

I've already stated that Malifaux is my new found love, and I've given strong reasons for it - an entire blog post, in fact. I've talked about how the game works, and shown off some of my models (though I've since gone back and made the bases a little more interesting) but I've never really given much comment on how I play, or specific examples of some of the neat little tricks the game encourages.

I played a game on Monday night that highlighted why I love Malifaux, and whilst you won't find a full battle report after the break, you will find a discussion of the game and examples of why I love it. 

Battle Brothers

This weekend I journeyed from Blackpool back down to Nottingham for the Warhammer Battle Brothers event; a doubles tournament at Warhammer World, where I was partnering up with a very good friend of mine from back in Epsom. A few of the other Epsom gang were there too, and it was great seeing them.

Find out how the weekend went after the break!

How I Paint: Flames

I'm often asked about my painting, and I've been compiling an FAQ for a while; it might even make the light of day eventually. Beyond the usual "How do you paint so fast?", one of the most common questions is as to how I paint fire and flames on my models, and I must admit that I see an awful lot of models where the flames just aren't believable and it really lets the model down on what may otherwise be a very pleasant painted miniature. That's not to say I always get it perfect...

Now, of course, this is how I paint flame, and that in no way makes it the only way to paint flame. In fact, you may find this method may work with your miniatures and painting style, but it may not. Just as I once saw a tank wonderfully airbrushed and weathered with a commander poking out the hatch painted by hand in bold, bright colours, a mix of techniques and styles can make a jarring effect, and not in a good way. In that example, the tank looked gritty and real, the commander by contrast looked overly clean and cartoony. Both facets were exceptionally well painted, but together they just did not mesh. My style tends to be quite... heroic, in the sense of comic books and animated films. Grit and realism is not my thing, so if that's what you're looking for, sorry. Back to Google, and good luck!

Still here? Cool. Let's show you how I do it.

Elitism

Today I wanted to talk about something that has bothered me for a long time. I've touched on it before when I talked about the social nature of our hobby, but now I wanted to take a more in-depth look at the canker at the heart of our hobby.

Elitism.