This is not a problem that suddenly arose when Kingdom Death came along, but it’s a problem that they turned to 11 with the ridiculously sexualized “pinup” minis they included in their Kickstarter solely to entice people to spend more money. The pinup options have absolutely no other purpose. It’s the lowest common denominator of advertising and while it worked, their success doesn’t make it any less objectifying.
Go read this. If you still think pinup mini’s are OK, fine. But at least I tried.
I hereby declare 2013 as the Year of Mordheim.
Not much to say at the moment, I’m afraid. So here’s a little horrible something I made in Photoshop.
My Changeling was featured on Games Workhop’s blog today. My fifteen minutes of fame.
Things will get quiet for a while around here, as I’m going on vacation. If you miss me, look me up on Twitter or Facebook!
Here’s a Skaven Warlord I posted a WIP of a while back. He took third place in GW Stockholm’s The Fang competion last month.
Photos by the incomparable Martin Peterson.
Quantum Gothic makes a range of resin terrain that I’ve had my eyes on for a long time. With defense lines and bunkers being a big thing in 40k 6, I caved in and bought some of their armoured walls, a wee bunker, and a missile launcher. The casting is really good. I’ve seen some evidence of torn molds here and there, but nothing a file didn’t fix.
The last picture shows the same length of wall as GW:s defense line kit contains – 28 inches. Quite a lot. The bunker is way too small to be a bastion. I still like it, and don’t regret buying it. I intend to use it and the walls as normal scenery as well.
Just one warning. To get rid of the mold-release, I used the same procedure I do with Forgeworld kits: soak for two hours in degreasing detergent and then scrub with a toothbrush. That wasn’t enough here. I had to redo it and still had primer peel off in some spots. Quantum Gothic seems to use particularly nasty mold-release, so beware.
Other than that, I can heartily recommend them!
Here’s another golden-oldie-vacation-repost. Since I first posted this guy, he won second place in GW Stockholm’s painting competition The Fang in 2011.
This orc is proof that models don’t need to be “dynamic” to be good. The grounded pose makes him more powerful than if he were screaming his lungs out.
The skin is based with Camo Green, and shaded with various amounts of Devlan Mud, Camo Green and Scorched Brown. Highlighs are Camo Green and an old favourite of mine – the now OOP Bilious Green. I then finished off the skin with Bleached Bone and some glazes of purple ink.
The red bits look really striking, but were deceptively simple to paint. Just Scab Red, Devlan Mud and Blood Red, with some yellow mixed in for the dragon scales on his loincloth.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, by LEGO Games / via Brickset, Brickipedia
This looks startlingly like Memory, a game I hate with a passion. I still need it, for reasons.
Noise Marines are Chaos Space Marine foot soldiers deeply dedicated to the Chaos God Slaanesh who are most commonly found in the Emperor’s Children Traitor Legion, but also in other Slaanesh-devoted Chaos Space Marine warbands such as theFlawless Host. Their trademark is the use of devastating sonic weaponry that confuses and demoralizes enemy forces in a wild show of “deafeningly loud, psycho-sonically and pyrotechnically explosive attacks.”
The Noise Marines were inspired by a song with the same name, by British rockers D-rok. Their only album was released under GW:s record label Warhammer Records.
No matter how cool you think they are, remember where your Slaaneshi fire support troops come from. Sleaze rock.
Now I’ve got the song stuck in my head. Please get it out. Get it out get it out GET IT AAAAAGH-
You should read this book. You owe it to yourself. 100 people who make their living creating a variety of gaming products, each of them writing about their favourite game of all time.
I’ll give you a taste of the names that are in there.
A foreword by Reiner Knizia. Richard Garfield on Dungeons and Dragons. Gav Thorpe on Hammer of the Scots. Jack Emmert on Warhammer 40,000. Gary Gygax on Metamorphosis Alpha.
I only have two caveats. Let’s get them out of the way.
Depending on the writer, the prose does get a bit dry and/or flowery at times. And of course, every essay is a shameless celebration of the game in question.
The writers, however, are sufficiently different in style from the next, so nothing feels repeated. And the games covered span a variety of genres – you’re certain to find anecdotes about something you’ve played and loved in the past. I, for one, have fond memories of Brittania, which I have played exactly twice. That was fifteen years ago, but now I’m longing to pick up the new edition and get a game together.
Nostalgia, however, is a powerful and dangerous vice. And this tome – clocking in at some 400 pages – is sure to introduce you to some new games as well. The editor, James Lowder, has done a great job at showing the depth and breadth of the creativity inherent to our hobby (he’s also responsible for a brand new companion piece about family games).
The book fits perfect as a piecemeal read. Since the essays are short (three or four pages, at most) you can read them whenever you have a little time, on the way to work, before falling asleep, while waiting for the ink wash to dry.
Hobby Games, The 100 Best was published by Green Ronin in 2007, and can be bought from their webstore. A European alternative is Leisure Games, where I got my copy. I bet Amazon has it too.
As a bonus teaser, check out Matt Tarbit’s visual companion, with all the games’ covers.
This post is nearly two years old, but the book is still as good as when I wrote the review.
Tentakel 