Durham

Its been while since I last posted. This is partly due to the fact that I am getting aclimated to living in another country, and partly due to the fact that I have not painted a miniature in the last month and a half.

That being said I figured that I would post some pictures of my new home, for the time being. Durham is a beautiful place, an idyllic english town settled into some pristine English countryside. There is apparently a rather large wargames club here that I may check out on Thursday.

Until then, enjoy the pictures.

Some Lazy Sunday Lord of the Rings

Yesterday my extended family came down to see me of to England. It was great to see everybody and I got to play a quick game of Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle game with my cousin. He picked up the rules quickly as we battled over an ancient Dwarven shrine.(You may recognize it as my HOTT army camp.)

We played on a 2' x 2' latex mat made by Zuzzy(link below). I usually use this mat and terrain for Hordes of the Things. It was a littel out of scale but worked in pinch. I really liked playing SBG on the 2' x 2'. It completely changed the dynamic of the game. You really have to plan you moves and pick your fights very carfully. I would like to try another game using a lot more terrain.

Zuzzy Mats. The mat in this post is the 2' x 2' verdant fields.

http://www.zuzzy.com/

Steel Corridors in the Steel City

This weekend I returned to Pittsburgh to visit some friends and game at my favorite purveyor of fine miniatures, Phantom of the Attic in Oakland. My friend Stuart was kind enough to teach me the new edition of Space Hulk. It was a dark day for the Imperium of Man as the emperor's finest were sliced and diced into a fine pate by the alien genestealers. I had a great time, but needless to say, I lost horribly.

I was really impressed by the production values for the new set. The tiles were solid, but did tend to warp. The miniatures are beautiful and the rules fast and furious. I'm a bit regretful that I did not jump on this set when it came out.

Bald is Beautiful

Here are some Sci-fi miniatures that were recently sold in the great lead purge of 2009. They are "Slicks" from ERM miniatures. I really love these figures. I was always a fan of the Delaque miniatures for the game Necromunda. There's just somthing about a gunweilding guy in a trenchcoat that screams Sci-fi to me. The Slicks are really sppoky sculpts that have a variety of gaming uses.

These miniatures were really fun and easy to paint. I tried to make it look as if they had black coats with glowing patterns and trim, and I am really pleased with the result. Above are the ones that I sold. I still have a few of these that I am going to keep for my own collection.

Some Steampunk Inspriation

http://www.clockworkquartet.com/

Here is some inspiration for you steampunk wargamers and RPGers out there. This group performs what I would call "Steampunk Ballads". They only have two songs, but their production values are good and the performers are talented. These songs get me in the mood to do some Gothic Horror miniature gaming.

Steampunk Ipod Work in Progress

Here are some scans of the finished woodwork. I think the carving on the back is a little crude. However, I'm very please with how the clockwork in the back turned out. I'm debating on how finish the wood work. I'll probably end up staining it and topping it off with urethane to give it that classic wood finish.

The final brass work has been a bit problematic. I can't find brass that's thin enough to work with. I'll probably have to wait until I visit Pittsburgh later this month and buy some at the art store.

I'm also not exactly sure how to finish the top edge. I would like to fashion it after the top of a pocket watch, with a metal loop and a winding knob. I'll have to go back to Michael's to look for suitable beads.

Short Hairy and Naked

Today I present one of my 10mm HOTT(Hordes of The Things) armies, Feral Dwarves(or pre-hold Dwarves 1200B.C.E - 900B.C.E. if I'm feeling snooty). I wanted some Dwarves, but not the standard Tolkienesque Dwarves that everyone fields. I began to wonder what Dwarven civilization would be like before the formation of complex states(i.e. Dwarf holds). I imagined it would be something between ancient Celts and Polynesian natives. Essentially, a warrior technocracy that was heavily into ancestor worship.

I built an army using 10mm Warmaster miniatures from GW, The giant yak is a mage knight miniature with a scratch built howdah. The giant heads on the stronghold were carved out of polystyrene foam.