Hoopy Guys

I have been on a kick of obtaining classic gaming materials. Not all classic, vintage, old, nostalgic gaming materials just specific ones as they relate to Dungeons & Dragons and Games Workshop/Citadel. One of those things I'm constantly plying ebay for is the Forces of Fantasy box set that came out a year after the first published Warhammer rules.

I have the Warhammer box set but it doesn't have army lists and that is what Forces of Fantasy has. I've been reading through a digital version of the FoF and came across this in the Book of Battalions...

...if you read in the second paragraph here you'll see early Warhammer was clearly influenced by vacuum cleaner salesmen, which isn't a shocking surprise since you can read stories about them accidentally shipping bacon sandwiches. But even more important is the wonderful Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference about "hoopy guys" and where to hang your towel.

I cannot tell you exactly when HGttG entered my life but I remember it fondly and have read it and all the other connected writings more than a couple times. My wife got me a compiled collection as a single volume a few years into our marriage and I love it.

I think people take Games Workshop and Warhammer too seriously. There is always so much complaining about the company and their products I think it can hurt your own hobby soul. I'm not championing them, but goodness, why not look back to those days when they had fun and try to have fun yourself!

It can't hurt and after all, Bryan Ansell is 100% real isn't he?

Not Dead...what is this the third time?

This blog will be struggling here for a while. I have a lot of challenge in my life at the moment so I probably won't be getting many hobby projects done soon. I'm not going to shutter the blog though; better a single post every month than nothing I think. In my opinion if you emotionally shutter a project you are hurting yourself if that project is an outlet like this blog is for me. In the same vein my hobby isn't thrown aside either, it is just way down the list right now and the days I can get that far down the list then good.

I will probably turn towards stories I write (which may or may not be good) and i'll try to photograph anything hobby related I can get to. Maybe games I get to play, maybe some recent acquisitions that are interesting (such as my Citadel Skeleton Army box from 1988 still in shrink wrap).

Either way something will go up. 

Dark Souls 2

It's that time again...

I'f you've read this blog much  you've seen me reference the game Dark Souls and make occasional comments on my progress. Dark Souls 2 has released, on the 11th actually, and if you didn't know that I forgive you.

This time.

I've made a lot of reference to this game series and the newest release does not disappoint. It isn't the same game as the first, which is an odd thing to say since of course it isn't the same game. But more importantly I mean it doesn't feel like a new cloth on an old table. Much of the mechanics are the same and many of the "objects" are the same but instead of it being a sequel it feels very much like it's own game.

Sure there is all the history, the mythology, the hints at things that happened in the first game and the obvious continuing story of trying to heal a dying world.

But.

It does it in its own way without having to be the first game. If it seems like I'm having trouble explaining this it's because I am. There is nothing hard and definitive that I can point too instead it is an over all feel to the game.

Anyway, it's good, play it if you have the time and money to do so.

Slayers, Aliens, and Life

Hello all!

It has been a while since last I posted, 3 days short of a full month actually, but I've had good reason. My job has been very busy as work picks up, my son had his appendix out, and in general I've been surprisingly busy. I've not had much chance to sit down at the paint table but I did have enough time to finish a couple of models.

My wife, as you may recall, initiated me into the Tyranid collection with this fine model...

...a Venomthrope that is sporting the color scheme for Hive Fleet Clytemnestra! The purple came out a little brighter than I wanted and the other will be closer to black most likely. My wife suggested the name Clytemnestra after hearing that in my personal universe this hive fleet was discovered by Inquisitor Agamemnon. Long story short Clytemnestra killed her husband Agamemnon in the bath after throwing a wet blanket over him so he couldn't fight her.

I've worked out a 1,000 point army to build that come to a little under 50 models. Genestealers, gaunts, a classic hive tyrant, this guy, and a zoanthrope. None of the biggies initially but I have 3 carnifex in various states of dress that I will refurbish for the good of the hive.

Also I finished my dwarf dragonslayer gift...

 ...I am very pleased with how he turned out. I tried to put a little better paint job on him than I would a normal war game model because he is probably not going to see the table in an army anytime. He is a display piece and he'll always hold a place of honor although I would love to find an RPG he fit in just for one session of this guy running through a dungeon.

I'm working on some gaunts, some ogres, and finished the Roman cavalry which I hope to finish up this week. So maybe I can get something up in less than a month, sound good to you too?

Starlog and Exploding Organs

I haven't gotten any hobby work done as of late. I am in the middle of the Romon Auxiliary Cavalry, a Venomthrope, and a Dwarf Dragon Slayer. In the midst of all this awesomeness though my son decided to get appendicitis and spend three days in the hospital. He is okay now and is home safe and sound but it was quite a harrowing experience for us all.

Also, Starlog magazine is not availabe on "the internet" through the Internet Archive. I love nostalgia and this is so much nostalgia it is like a stack of yummy pancakes!

Ogres Go To War

As promised here are some pictures of my first finished Ogre unit.

 The unit consists of 9 ogre bulls with hand weapons, light armor (I guess that is what you call a gut plate and some boots huh?), and iron fists. It includes a full command, which is always funny for me with a unit with only 9 models. But that unit has 27 wounds to it which should make it pretty survivable.

 On the charge the three bulls at the front should get strength 6 impact hits, then the unit will generate 19 melee attacks, then 3 stomp attacks. They have a armor save of 5+ (not much there) and the sword and board parry save as well. I think you could confidently call this a "standard infantry unit" but it prices in at over 300 points.

The tribe I've decided to create my own tribe; the "Tooth Hammer" tribe. My rough background is that they are from the mountains and often interact and work for dwarfs so they have adopted a hammer as a symbol. the banner in the first two pictures depict the "tooth hammer" symbol. I plan for each unit to have its own color to kind of unify the unit but the army itself will only be unified by the red paint/tattoos and the "tooth hammer" symbol. I think this plays into the mercenary background that the ogre kingdoms are supposed to have. In my mind my tyrant pulls together they small bands to serve him but a lot of the time they are off hiring out to fight for others. 

A little extra I wanted to add was back paintings. Each of them has a mountain painted on their back to reflect their home. I'm not all that good at free hand but I think it gets the point across :)

Over all the unit was pretty easy to  paint and that means that in general the entire collection should come together pretty quickly. I have a rough plan so next up is some iron guts but they won't go on the table till a few special figures I have on get done :)

It Is So Dark In Here...

I don't normally promote Kickstarter on here because in general I don't buy into Kickstarters. I did the first Reaper Bones but frankly if you didn't buy into that one you were either a little crazy or wanting to having something to regret in your life.

That said I feel a need to pass on the Kickstarter for Darkest Dungeon...

...if you like fantasy, rogue-likes, Lovecraft, rpgs, and computer games this is pretty sweet.