Finished Yme-Loc Farseer & Windriders...

Recently I finished up the Farseer & Windriders from my Start Collecting box, and despite a couple of struggles, I overall pretty pleased with them!

Finished Yme-Loc Fire Prism

Hot off the line from the Forges of Vaul, I just recently finished up my Fire Prism!  All in all, I'm pretty pleased, especially when you factor in that this basically constitutes a "test model" for not just the paint scheme, but a test for several new painting techniques that I'm hoping to develop as well.

#WIPWednesday - WH40k Aeldari WIP

I often post pics on Twitter under the hashtag "WIPWednesday" along with a lot of other hobbyists on there, so I figured I would also post a few WIP shots on here as well.  Sort of as a way to keep everyone up to date...

Recently, I decided to return to the hobby via Warhammer 40,000, mostly because I really enjoyed the models from a pure hobby standpoint.  I also wanted to do things a bit differently this time around, to focus more of my attention on the hobby/painting/modeling aspect, to really step out of my "comfort zone", and try my hand at different techniques. 

** Bear in mind, these are very "Work In Progress" and are nowhere near being completed. **

Back, after a brief hiatus...

** Don't worry, this isn't meant to be a grumble piece.  Actually, the opposite!

After a brief hiatus of 2 months of having nothing to paint, (cuz I painted ALL THE THINGS) and not gaming either (cuz the fun/effort ratio was way off), I recently had a bit of an epiphany, and have started to step back into the hobby.

Imperial Assault: Return to Hoth finished models.

Last week I finished up all the models from the Return to Hoth expansion.  From start to finish, the project took me exactly a week, which is not a bad bit of progress.  "ForceFriday" a few weeks ago has really rekindled in me, my love for Star Wars, and I've just been continuing to roll with it!  Anyway, on with the models!   First up, the rebels:

My easy method for painting eyes...

Every now and then, I see someone comment how they don't paint the eyes, or CAN'T paint the eyes for various reasons .  Usually, following it up with that it is too hard, drove them insane, or whatnot.  I see where they are coming from, painting eyes can be very tedious, and may not be noticeable at all from a distance, BUT it really does add a lot to a miniature whenever someone gets up close to look, and it doesn't have to be that hard... at least, not in my opinion.

Just go online, and I'm sure there are countless videos showing all sorts of methods, or tips and tricks, but here is MY method, one I devised myself awhile ago.  It basically boils down to that I find it's much easier to paint paint the eyes early in the face process, followed by cleaning up around the eye and just being careful moving forward, than it would be get a perfect eye as a last step without any mistakes.  I found it much easier to repair the shape, and paint around the eye than to get it right the first the time.

I'm going to demonstrate, using a graphic of Mr. Charlie Chaplin as a bit of an aid, only because I don't have any faces to paint at the moment.  I should also note, that even though you don't need to be extremely tidy with this method, I'm using a fine tipped, detail brush.

Let's assume this is "step 0" your primed model, face ready to paint!

WIP Wednesday

A quick shot of what's currently on my painting desk at the moment... lots of Imperial Assault stuff from the "Return to Hoth" expansion.  I've been in a big Star Wars mood since "Force Friday" a few days ago....

Place your bets on how long it will take me to finish these guys...
-WuhSawBe-

Blood & Plunder: Painted English Militia

Recently, I decided to give Blood and Plunder from Firelock Games a go.  I picked up an English starter for myself, and some French stuff for my daughter.  (She's a little Francophile)  Ive also been taking the time with this to try and teach her a little bit about the basics of miniature painting, base coats, layers, and inks mostly.  Above, you can see how her French leader, Francois L'Olonnais, turned out.  She did a lot of work, but wanted me to do some of the detail stuff like his face and the blood on his sword.  She's now also working on a couple of her units to go along with him.

On my end, I ended up going these guys, start to finish, in about a week.... or 3 full seasons of Black Sails, which I watched on Hulu while I painted!  I also had a lot of fun researching 17th century English forces, a subject I knew next to nothing about prior to starting Blood & Plunder.

STOP playing unpainted! STOP the Miniature Abuse!

Every time you bring an unpainted army to the table, a baby bear dies...

Something's been bugging me lately, and really ruining the overall fun, immersion, and enjoyment of the gaming hobby for me personally.... and that is the prevalence of "Miniature Abuse" that I see every time I visit the LGS in the form of playing with unpainted minis!  It's time that we, as a collective gaming community, come together and set a new standard bar of what is an acceptable level of painting before a miniature can see time on the tabletop.  Otherwise, what's the point the hobby aspect of this hobby?  Maybe I've just turned into a "paint snob" after my 25+ years of gaming experience...

Test of Honour Painting Update

A little while ago, I finished up my Scorpion Clan (from the card game Legend of the Five Rings, or L5R) that I planned to use in Test of Honour.  Another bit of a rush job, simply cuz I was tired of having them on my painting desk.  As for the 2nd army, the Phoenix Clan, I pawned them off my 7 yr old daughter to finish up.... seeing as they were her's anyway.  So, once again, I'm out of miniatures to paint, and I'm 100% fine with it.  Anyway, here's what I finished up...

CONGO BSAC Painting update

A month or so ago, I rushed through painting my British South African Company for CONGO.  I rushed, mainly because they were just being shelved anyway, and I wanted to clear them off my painting desk.  That said, I still think they turned out fine....

(Models are from Northstar btw)

First up, the leader of the ill-fated Shangani Patrol, Major Allan Wilson.  I'm running my BSAC as an "expedition" force in the rules, and this will be my main leader.  (Running him as a "Retired Officer") He came both on foot and mounted, but there are no rules for mounted models currently in the game, so I've saved the horse and rider.  (Maybe I'll convert it into a statue of some sort)  I went with the basic uniform based off of some of the research I've seen, and all of my BSAC will be in various browns with white shirts.

Up next, the scouts...

What's New With WuhSawBe?

On my desk at the moment: SAGA, CONGO, and Test of Honour...

I may be slowly easing back into the tabletop side of things, but still pretty heavy on the Video Game side: Halo and Pokemon....

Halo LootCrate #5 - Unboxing/Review

I do always love it when my latest HaloCrate drops on the doorstep!  As usual, I'll be going through the Crate's contents, piece by piece.....

=== +++++ ===SPOILERS AHEAD

YOU HAVE BEENWARNED=== +++++ ===

What's New With WuhSawBe? ( LONG )

KC ComiCon 2017...

Some miniature progress, though hobby time has taken a backseat as a bit of the old "gamer-woes" has creeped in.  Halo, Pokemon, ComiCon and more in this "what's new" post...  Hopefully, this wont be too much of a "downer" post.

Finished Test of Honour Terrain

Recently, I took a bit of a break from painting my regular models to finish up my PlastCraft Teerain that I plan to use for Test of Honour.  All in all, I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

What's New With WuhSawBe?

Facehugs for all!

First off, Happy Easter everyone!

Romans vs Goths: 6pt SAGA AAR

I took so many pictures from my last 6pt game of SAGA, I figured I would do a bit of an After Action Report (AAR) from it.  By my count, this was my 6^th time playing the Romans, and I faced off against the Goths for the first time.  (also form the A&A book)  I didn’t know my opponent’s exact composition, but I THINK it was something like: 

Warlord
3x Units of warriors (5,5,6)
3x Hearthguard (5,5,6) 

While I brought:Warlord
2x Units of Bowmen (8,8)
2x Units of Warriors (8,8)
1x Unit of Hearthguard (4) **Filler unit
1x Unit of Levies (12) 

**As I mentioned before, I want to drop the HG for another Levy unit + Ballista 

What's New With WuhSawBe?

A Full CONGO Column in 3 days!

So little, and yet, so much has happened this last week....
(Going out of my usual order this time)

CONGO Update

As I said earlier, I've recently started up CONGO by Studio Tomahawk, and have a bit of an update on some hobby progress.  After doing a bit of research, I've settled on doing the British South African Company and the Matabele Tribe as my two forces.  I'll start with what I had picked up a week or two ago, which was a blister of Adventurers and Hunters from Northstar.

This pants-less chap is my Column's guide.  Based on reading about him from Northstar's site, he's a hunter who's preferred hunting garb is just a shirt/shoes.  I mean, if you think of tribesmen at the times, running around and hunting without pants isn't *that* strange.  In the game, he's supposed to know the terrain, speak the local language, and be able to set up trade and baggage handlers.  He seems like he'll be a good fit for all that!

What's New With WuhSawBe?

My Roman Warlord ain't to be messed with!

Hobby wise, since finishing up my intial 6 pts of Romans for SAGA, I've dove straight into CONGO.  I started out painting up a Guide and some Adventurers for my Expedition team.  I've settled on doing a British South African Company vs Matabele Tribe theme for my CONGO stuff.  I've been watching stuff online like the Rhodes minis series and the Shangani Patrol movie from the 70's, to get some inspiration.  After busting through my initial 4 models in about a day or so, I went out to the LGS and picked up a handful of BSAC Blister packs from Northstar, and a Zulu box from Warlords.  The nice about it all is that out of the one Zulu box, I managed to come up with a column (i.e. army) just a few points short of a full 100 pt column.  (Just need a blister of 2 more guys)  So yeah, $30 is all it took for me to get an ENTIRE army in CONGO, cant' beat that price!  I've since assembled the force, which took me longer than expected!  Hopefully painting them will go quicker.  I've also started assembling the BSAC as well.  They were more expensive, at about $9 a unit, and so far, I've got a small, 50 pt column for them.  My plan is to focus on the Matabele first, getting a fully painted army onto the table, and then switch over to completing the Brits.

6 pts of SAGA Romans are DONE! (For now)

Recently, I finished up 6 pts worth of Late Romans (5th Century) from the SAGA Aetius & Arthur book.  All of which were built from a single box of Gripping Beast Plastic Late Romans and a box of Dark Age Warriors.  (With parts to spare)  I've loosely based them on the 20th Legion in Britain.  Very quickly, I'll go through some of the elements, and share some of my thoughts...

What's New With WuhSawBe?

I'm much too busy....

This last week or so saw my daughter and I playing a bunch of games, in addition to some hobby progress...

CONGO: So it begins...

SAGA Late Romans - Painting update

 Recently, I've started up a 5th Century Roman army for SAGA, built out of a box of Gripping Beast Plastics Late Romans and a box of generic Dark Age Warriors for the British auxiliary.  My goal is have a point of models completed each week, which means I should only need 6 weeks in total to have the army tabletop ready!  So far, I'm on schedule!  I've also coe to realize that I do not really enjoy having to paint an entire army at once, simply because it feels like it adds a lot of pressure to speed things along, and I end up rushing a bit.  I've always considered myself more of a gamer, than a painter, I just happen to really HATE playing with (and against to an extent) unpainted stuff, but I'd still rather not rush!  (Like I have been)  Thus far, I've finished up the Warlord, a unit of Bowmen, and a unit of warriors...

What's New With WuhSawBe?

This week's "HOTNESS" for me....

Been a bit busy the last week or so, hobby wise....

NO disintegrations... 

On the modeling front, I picked up Boba Fett and IG-88 for my daughter, and although I asked if she wanted to help me paint them, she decided that I should paint them instead... so I did!  I joked online about how IG-88 was the most difficult model I've ever painted, equally as hard Necrons... in reality, he took me all of 20 minutes at best!  I've also been working rather heavily on my Late Romans for SAGA as well.  My goal is 1 point of troops per week, and so far, I've been hitting that goal!  Thus far, I've finished up the warlord, a unit of bowmen, and a unit of warriors, and I'm currently working on the 2nd unit of bowmen.  I've also come to the conclusion that I really do not like buying an entire army in one swoop, as it really makes me feel like I have to rush the models and get the army completed, as I hate, hate, HATE unpainted models on the tabletop.  I'd rather have a small, painted force, that I slowly add onto, a single unit or two at a time.  Something to keep in mind for next time....

New Poll: Should I return to 40k with the next edition?

Posted up a quick poll at the top of my blog, with a simple question:  IF I were to pick up 40k with the next edition (8th edition), what force should I collect?  (plus I left an option for the 40k haters out there!)  The poll will run until the start of June, 2017...  SO PLEASE VOTE!

Keep reading If you'd like to know more...

What's New With WuhSawBe?

"I'll just add afew happy lil' spase mareens over here..."

It's been a few weeks, so here's a bit of an update:

... and these are not even all of them!

On the Hobby/Modeling front, I picked up some Rebel Commandos for Imperial Assault, and quickly painted them up.  I've also gotten back into playing SAGA, as you'll see below, and with the release of the A&A book, I dove headfirst into the Late Romans!  I picked up a Gripping Beast box of plastic late romans, and some dark age warriors to run as romano-british levies.  (my Romans are going to be one of the last legions to pull out of Britain)  I've had to order a ballista for my force, and I've also got to get my hands on some Renedra bases for my 2nd levy unit.  But yeah, I've been assembling things like crazy all last week, and have begun painting. (All while watching various shows featuring Romans to keep me inspired)  I've finished up the Warlord already, but I'm waiting for more of the army to be completed before showing him off.  This is a pretty big undertaking, compared to some of my recent projects, and I suspect I'll be working on these guys for a couple of weeks...

Halo Lootcrate #4 Unboxing/Review - On the right track?

HaloCrate #4 - Halo Wars 2 themed!

The last HaloCrate from Lootcrate seemed to be much of an improvement of the previous crates, and while they still seemed to struggle with their shirt designs, they seemed to be improving.  So, how does the 4th HaloCrate, with a Halo Wars 2 theme, stack up?  Is Lootcrate still on the right track?

As always, it should be pretty obvious, but.... SPOILER ALERTS below!

What's New With WuhSawBe?

** Blogger is doing something weird with the background and text.  Sorry

Imperial Assault: Painted Core Box Models!

Fully painted and ready for a fight!

Recently, I've been playing a bit of Imperial Assault (Skirmish mode) with my daughter, and I also just finished up all the models from the Core Box set!  Personally, the game itself (skirmish mode at least) is a lot of fun, the board is small so it doesn't require a ton of space, the gameplay is easy enough for my 6 yr old to pick up without sacrificing tactical gameplay.  I was also impressed by the speed of play, despite having lots of models on the board, and not to mention all the various configurations and combos you can come up.  There is even a small deck-building aspect that comes into play with the command cards and building your command deck.  Oh, and there are multiple versions of some of the models within the core box, the ones with grey bases are basic versions, while the ones with red rings on their bases are more elite versions or of elite characters.  (you'll see both versions below)  I also wanted a very basic, untextured base that would be uniform throughout all the models, so I went with a simple, dry-brushed grey color that wouldn't distract too much form the actual models themselves.

Model wise, they weren't too bad.  All one piece plastics, except the AT-ST, but even he was all push-togteher pieces.  The level of detail isn't on the same scale of the typical miniatures game, but that is ok too, as they really are simply boardgame pieces.  Cleanup of the mold lines and such isn't the easiest on these, and you'll be able to tell from the pictures.  They are made of a soft plastic, similar to the cheaper plastics from Mantic or the Battletech box set, in that you can take a hobby knife to them, but a hobby file just seems to shred them up and can cause a further loss of detail.  Just keep in mind that they are boardgame pieces and work them to a tabletop standard and I think you'll be happy with them once they hit the table.  **EDIT: The expansions I picked up seem to be a better in terms of both mold-lines and the material feels a bit more firm...

Enough talk!  My daughter has taken a liking to the Imperials, which means I tend to end up playing the Rebels or the Scum/Bounty Hunters.  So, I'll start with the Rebels from the core set....

1st painted minis of 2017, TANKS/FoW!

I recently picked up the TANKS Sherman vs Panther starter kit, and while my daughter claimed the Panther, she graciously let me have the 2 Shermans for myself to paint!  I'm labeling this as both TANKS and Flames of war, as the nice thing about the game produced by GaleForce 9 and Battlefront, is that the tanks can feasibly be used in either system.  (which is good, because I have a TON of Panzer IV's painted for FoW that I have yet to use!)  Anyways, here's how they turned out:

What's New With WuhSawBe?

Father vs Daughter game of TANKS!  Chaotic good fun!

Finally, I have a little bit of something to talk about!

I've been in a major gaming drought for the last several months.  I haven't had any miniatures to paint, haven't bought anything tabletop-gamer related, and I haven't played anything either.  It has been extremely demoralizing, hobby wise!

Well, I finally decided to make the 30 minute drive to the game store.  I live less than 2 miles from a game store, but it is pretty bad, only carrying MtG and GW products, and even then, they are often out of stock of the latest hotness, and it seems to be a bit overpriced.... so I drive 30 minutes to the much better game store!  (Where they almost literally have anything a gamer wants).