Proper photos soon =)
Ace
FLAK, FANTASY and FRUGALITY...
Thursday, 29 May 2014
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Temple of Terror... finally
But first, some new acquisitions...
A good friend at work was generous enough to give me these lovelies...
1/24 Tamiya car kits? Oh yes... I know just what to do with these... a little bit of Mad Max inspired lunacy is called for I think... =)
Also on the table...
My one and only Infinity miniature (so far) - started working on this wonderful sculpt last week, its going pretty well I think? I always find it exciting to start painting/modelling something you haven't tried before, you sort of try a bunch of techniques that worked on previous minis, find that wont suit, rip your hair out for a bit, then go back to it and make up a new approach on the spot!
I'll update when she is all done =)
Here are the first four of my Goliath gangers after a few layers have gone down. They're going to be a LOT more colourful than this when done... trust me. (Incidentally, the Juve - third from left, is one of my all time favourite miniatures ever. I dkw...)
Speaking of gangers here is the next member of my 'Red Cross' gang for post apoc stuff. This little guy originally sits on the back of an R75 BMW Afrika Corps bike... he's moved up in the world (funnily enough to another GERMAN vehicle... hmm) More pics later!
Ok so
#14 Temple of Terror
Bit of a forgotten book I think, this one. When I first picked it up to begin this review I realised I had probably only read it the once as a lad. Not an auspicious start...
A wee bit in and you find yourself surrounded by some familiar guff, however.
Yep, Yaz is back and so are the Dwarf's from StoneBridge! Basically you're playing the same schmo who rescued the Warhammer from Darkwood forest in "Forest of Doom" and have been hanging out lapping up the hero status ever since! Well probably something like that, anyway you get yourself tangled up in a quest to race an evil dude with a cool name (Malbordus, very evil and quite cool sounding) to a place in the Desert of Skulls and destroying his hidden artifacts before he can use them to armageddon the crap out of everything. Right, so get to place, fight baddies and break stuff someone else wants.
Easy?
No.
There are a few very interesting twists in this one, I wont spoil them apart from to say that looking for the artifacts becomes a sort of gambling game when a MESSENGER OF DEATH is sent after you and hides his infernal letters of DEATH at points you might expect to find a very important item.
The bastard.
Other than that the book is a very solid Ian Livingstone affair, lots of good locations and fights, some great enemies and useful items.
One of the more esoteric baddies to beat up is this blighter. I know, crocodile with lily pad hands was what I was thinking too...
As per Ian's usual approach the book is light on actual puzzles and revolves more around good character interaction and direction. That being said it is a much easier book to get through than say, DeathTrap Dungeon, I think I went through that six or seven times before I found the Gem I was looking for!
This guy was my favourite encounter.
Shall I talk about the art?? I usually do!
Bill Houston provides us with the interior illos for this book. And very nice they are too. As the first 'desert' themed adventure of the series you'd expect the book to be pretty heavy handed on the eastern themes and Aladdin pants, and you would be right! Not that it matters as the Lost City of Vatos is beautifully captured and populated by Bill, especially with this lovely Lady...
Ah, my dear my dear. If we only had 400 sections together... but you are too evil and twisted I think
...and the blasted Dwarf's still need saving. So much to do, so few sections to do it in...
Speaking of twisted and evil, this is our mate Malbordus. One of the better entrances for a villain in these books.
The cover is again delivered by Chris Achilleos, and again references a scene that doesn't make it into the book? Who cares. Its a good pic and pretty much sums up what welcome you can expect in Vatos!
Sorry if this has been a bit of a ramble, too long between the read and the write, and I'm totally buggered =(
Read it, look at the lovely pictures and enjoy =)
Ace.
A good friend at work was generous enough to give me these lovelies...
1/24 Tamiya car kits? Oh yes... I know just what to do with these... a little bit of Mad Max inspired lunacy is called for I think... =)
Also on the table...
My one and only Infinity miniature (so far) - started working on this wonderful sculpt last week, its going pretty well I think? I always find it exciting to start painting/modelling something you haven't tried before, you sort of try a bunch of techniques that worked on previous minis, find that wont suit, rip your hair out for a bit, then go back to it and make up a new approach on the spot!
I'll update when she is all done =)
Here are the first four of my Goliath gangers after a few layers have gone down. They're going to be a LOT more colourful than this when done... trust me. (Incidentally, the Juve - third from left, is one of my all time favourite miniatures ever. I dkw...)
Speaking of gangers here is the next member of my 'Red Cross' gang for post apoc stuff. This little guy originally sits on the back of an R75 BMW Afrika Corps bike... he's moved up in the world (funnily enough to another GERMAN vehicle... hmm) More pics later!
Ok so
#14 Temple of Terror
Bit of a forgotten book I think, this one. When I first picked it up to begin this review I realised I had probably only read it the once as a lad. Not an auspicious start...
A wee bit in and you find yourself surrounded by some familiar guff, however.
Yep, Yaz is back and so are the Dwarf's from StoneBridge! Basically you're playing the same schmo who rescued the Warhammer from Darkwood forest in "Forest of Doom" and have been hanging out lapping up the hero status ever since! Well probably something like that, anyway you get yourself tangled up in a quest to race an evil dude with a cool name (Malbordus, very evil and quite cool sounding) to a place in the Desert of Skulls and destroying his hidden artifacts before he can use them to armageddon the crap out of everything. Right, so get to place, fight baddies and break stuff someone else wants.
Easy?
No.
There are a few very interesting twists in this one, I wont spoil them apart from to say that looking for the artifacts becomes a sort of gambling game when a MESSENGER OF DEATH is sent after you and hides his infernal letters of DEATH at points you might expect to find a very important item.
The bastard.
Other than that the book is a very solid Ian Livingstone affair, lots of good locations and fights, some great enemies and useful items.
One of the more esoteric baddies to beat up is this blighter. I know, crocodile with lily pad hands was what I was thinking too...
As per Ian's usual approach the book is light on actual puzzles and revolves more around good character interaction and direction. That being said it is a much easier book to get through than say, DeathTrap Dungeon, I think I went through that six or seven times before I found the Gem I was looking for!
This guy was my favourite encounter.
Bill Houston provides us with the interior illos for this book. And very nice they are too. As the first 'desert' themed adventure of the series you'd expect the book to be pretty heavy handed on the eastern themes and Aladdin pants, and you would be right! Not that it matters as the Lost City of Vatos is beautifully captured and populated by Bill, especially with this lovely Lady...
Ah, my dear my dear. If we only had 400 sections together... but you are too evil and twisted I think
...and the blasted Dwarf's still need saving. So much to do, so few sections to do it in...
The cover is again delivered by Chris Achilleos, and again references a scene that doesn't make it into the book? Who cares. Its a good pic and pretty much sums up what welcome you can expect in Vatos!
Sorry if this has been a bit of a ramble, too long between the read and the write, and I'm totally buggered =(
Read it, look at the lovely pictures and enjoy =)
Ace.
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Getting there!
Sit tight, loads of stuff on the way.
Now if I could only devise an escape plan I could get out of work early...
Now if I could only devise an escape plan I could get out of work early...
Friday, 25 April 2014
A friend in need...
Is a friend who needs some modelling help! This looks like a job for... SUPER MODELLER MAN!
But seeing as he isn't here, I'll have to do it.
A friend of mine needed a model with a pesky fall-off style lance arm pinned in place, can't have heroic figures losing their appendages mid battle!
Pretty basic bit of clean up and drilling...
...stick a bit of paper clip in there, stabbing yourself repeatedly with the sharp end...
...add some super glue and... Voila! She is fini!... and your fingers are firmly stuck together!
Job number two was a little bit more involved and has seen my first bit of actual miniature sculpting... ever! Another friend wants to get in on the Necromundan action and has an ultra sexy Escher Heavy with the Heavy Plasma Gun, except she's missing the gun! Can't have that!
I've made plenty of Chaotic alterations and added things like hair and cloaks to miniatures in the distant past, but never actually tried modelling human limbs! (thank God Necromunda mutates people left right and centre...)
Here's the mini with her original ad in WD. Got to love that 90's paint job! Hopefully he will keep it bright with his repaint!
One paper clip, a bit of brass tube and some greenstuff later...
Add arms with Tamiya epoxy... total nightmare to get them right!
And there you have it! One more or less completed Escher Heavy, no longer with Plasma armament but with new, er, improved stubber/auto cannon! (Just look at my grubby thumbnail, shocking!)
Ok, that's it for the moment, um, as you were...
Ace
But seeing as he isn't here, I'll have to do it.
A friend of mine needed a model with a pesky fall-off style lance arm pinned in place, can't have heroic figures losing their appendages mid battle!
Pretty basic bit of clean up and drilling...
...stick a bit of paper clip in there, stabbing yourself repeatedly with the sharp end...
...add some super glue and... Voila! She is fini!... and your fingers are firmly stuck together!
Job number two was a little bit more involved and has seen my first bit of actual miniature sculpting... ever! Another friend wants to get in on the Necromundan action and has an ultra sexy Escher Heavy with the Heavy Plasma Gun, except she's missing the gun! Can't have that!
I've made plenty of Chaotic alterations and added things like hair and cloaks to miniatures in the distant past, but never actually tried modelling human limbs! (thank God Necromunda mutates people left right and centre...)
Here's the mini with her original ad in WD. Got to love that 90's paint job! Hopefully he will keep it bright with his repaint!
One paper clip, a bit of brass tube and some greenstuff later...
Add arms with Tamiya epoxy... total nightmare to get them right!
And there you have it! One more or less completed Escher Heavy, no longer with Plasma armament but with new, er, improved stubber/auto cannon! (Just look at my grubby thumbnail, shocking!)
Ace
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Welcome to Space Crusade!
Finally!
Space Crusade is all finished! I don't know how many of us managed to complete our boxed sets of Space Crusade and HeroQuest; but I can say that at long last I am amongst them!!
Space Crusade was my favourite of the two games, not because I thought it was better, the two are completely different ideas (HeroQuest is a dungeon crawl and Space Crusade was a direct tactical competition) but because it always made me break out in a sweat about 20 mins in!
It didn't matter if you were playing the Marines or the Alien player, the hyperventilation would set in the minute the blast doors opened!
That being said I have always enjoyed playing the Aliens more, against three determined Marine players it becomes a hell of a challenge =)
Here are a few shots of the minis, my apologies that some of the pics are a bit blurry =(
The Blood Angels. When equipped with Boltguns sporting COMBAT BLADES they make a lightning fast assault force.
The Imperial Fists. The most annoying of Marine Chapters with their SUSPENSORS. Basically a team of heavy weapons guys moving as fast as bolter guys do!
The Ultramarines. Princes among Marines, the bravest of the brave, loyal to a... Yeah so obviously my personal favourites =)
And here to spoil the day for the Marines. The bad guys!
The Grotty Gretchin! Usually used as cannon fodder or to stop drafts.
The Orks. Tougher than a steak dinner after the third re-heat, and just as ugly!
Oh now were talking, the Chaos Androids. Packing one of the more eclectic ranged weapons in the game, no slouches in close combat either. The appearance of one of these guys is usually enough to send an entire marine team running...
And this is how you get your own back as the Alien player. You use your own Marines. I've had these evil gits go toe to toe with a Marine team and win. Game winners and life savers (well, unless you are a Marine player I guess...)
The Genestealers (for some reason renamed 'Soulsuckers' in the video games??) You might not get to place them as you would your regular troops but man are they useful (when they FINALLY decide to join the battle...)
The crown jewels of your Marine eradicating defense force... The Dreadnought! (or 'noughts' if like me you managed to find two!) They may have a passing resemblance to ED209 but kick much more ass! Remember though to always, always, always! have them accompanied by some lesser troops. It doesn't matter what they are, just keep a power sword/power glove/meltabomb wielding Marine Sgt away from them!
So there we go. One fully painted box set of HeroQuest and now one of Space Crusade!
Each set was made up of two boxes, one being my original from waaaaayy back, and the other being more recently discovered. Out of the two projects the Space Crusade minis were by far the more difficult to finish satisfactorily. The nature of the pieces being multi-part and the number of models with existing paint jobs (in relation to the almost untouched quality of majority of my HQ figures) meant a lot of searching for usable parts and some hefty cleaning up. But overall I'm really pleased =)
Managing to get nine marines per chapter was a real boon too as it means no having to swap weapons on painted figures, and getting two dreads was awesome! I wonder if I will ever get to use them at the same time... (evil smile...)
Here's whats on the butchers block this week.
The guys are interested in having a go at reliving our teenage years with a bit of a Necromunda bash!
Very excited about this as I never got around to painting my mighty Goliaths. Maybe I can even include a missile launcher this time... hmm
Hopefully it will all come together and we'll have a five way campaign going with everyone talking smack and stabbing one another in the back like we used too... Ah, them was the days...
Lastly, here's a shout out to a fine fellow I used to game with from those heady days of adolescent spottyness.
These two adventurous types were painted in the space of a dull, rainy afternoon over at my mates place. My effort is on the left, a fancy fellow with a feather in his cap and cow shit on his feet (probably...) My friends model is the other and I think showcases his extraordinary talent for turning out unique characters with almost no effort (the jammy git!) I cant tell you how much he taught me about miniature painting, he just did it like no one else!
I miss you Eb. I hope you are doing well.
Ace.
Space Crusade is all finished! I don't know how many of us managed to complete our boxed sets of Space Crusade and HeroQuest; but I can say that at long last I am amongst them!!
Space Crusade was my favourite of the two games, not because I thought it was better, the two are completely different ideas (HeroQuest is a dungeon crawl and Space Crusade was a direct tactical competition) but because it always made me break out in a sweat about 20 mins in!
It didn't matter if you were playing the Marines or the Alien player, the hyperventilation would set in the minute the blast doors opened!
That being said I have always enjoyed playing the Aliens more, against three determined Marine players it becomes a hell of a challenge =)
Here are a few shots of the minis, my apologies that some of the pics are a bit blurry =(
And here to spoil the day for the Marines. The bad guys!
So there we go. One fully painted box set of HeroQuest and now one of Space Crusade!
Each set was made up of two boxes, one being my original from waaaaayy back, and the other being more recently discovered. Out of the two projects the Space Crusade minis were by far the more difficult to finish satisfactorily. The nature of the pieces being multi-part and the number of models with existing paint jobs (in relation to the almost untouched quality of majority of my HQ figures) meant a lot of searching for usable parts and some hefty cleaning up. But overall I'm really pleased =)
Managing to get nine marines per chapter was a real boon too as it means no having to swap weapons on painted figures, and getting two dreads was awesome! I wonder if I will ever get to use them at the same time... (evil smile...)
Here's whats on the butchers block this week.
The guys are interested in having a go at reliving our teenage years with a bit of a Necromunda bash!
Very excited about this as I never got around to painting my mighty Goliaths. Maybe I can even include a missile launcher this time... hmm
Hopefully it will all come together and we'll have a five way campaign going with everyone talking smack and stabbing one another in the back like we used too... Ah, them was the days...
Lastly, here's a shout out to a fine fellow I used to game with from those heady days of adolescent spottyness.
These two adventurous types were painted in the space of a dull, rainy afternoon over at my mates place. My effort is on the left, a fancy fellow with a feather in his cap and cow shit on his feet (probably...) My friends model is the other and I think showcases his extraordinary talent for turning out unique characters with almost no effort (the jammy git!) I cant tell you how much he taught me about miniature painting, he just did it like no one else!
I miss you Eb. I hope you are doing well.
Ace.
Saturday, 5 April 2014
Where am I up to?
About here...
Ah, the sweet smell of Dulcote... Nothing better than finishing off mini's and rushing off late to work in the morning!
Here's about half of the Space Crusade mini's all done, the front rank of my aborted High Elf spearman unit and a couple of my Post Apoc models. I started the Space Crusade stuff about 4 years ago so the painting varies wildly =) The High Elves are a current project that I have picked back up after nearly 10 years! Time flies eh?
Here's the only rank I have to hand (the rest are in varying states of completion in storage) Very much looking forward to finishing this army for a bit of WH action.
One of my 'Red Cross Gang' fighters. I never got a chance to play 'Dark Future' and have always been interested in Post apoc gaming so figured I'd get a few vehicles and guys together, then torture my friends into playing against me!
Originally this guy is an Italeri German Wehrmacht figure from an Afrika Korps kit (I think?)
I sometimes read that people think 28mm figs are close to the size of 1/72? Nah, not even close!
Here's a new thing! (and an old thing...) I've always wanted to make up my own sculpts at 28mm/54mm scales so I'm giving it a go! Very excited to see ho this turns out (probably eye hurtingly bad but hey...) Using one of my ANCIENT Eagle Warriors for scale, this is hopefully going to be a large alien for 28mm stuff or normal sized xeno/mutant for 54mm/1-35 stuff. This photo was taken about 2 days ago so the enthusiasm is still going strong, will have new pics of the progress soon!
(Look at the funny colour Enchanted Blue goes under my painting lights. No wonder I cant blend properly...)
A few up and coming Rogue Trader mini's L-R Mutant Jokaero weapons carrier, Tiger Claws Space Marine Field Police, Wastelands Preacher.
And some more! These guys were destined to be additional Space Crusade Chaos Marines but now will find new life in Rogue Trader as Renegades and Traitors. Lovely!
There's more on the table but thats all I will show for the moment. 'Temple of Terror' is going well (Fighting Fantasy #14) so will hopefully have a review next post.
See you then =)
Ah, the sweet smell of Dulcote... Nothing better than finishing off mini's and rushing off late to work in the morning!
Here's about half of the Space Crusade mini's all done, the front rank of my aborted High Elf spearman unit and a couple of my Post Apoc models. I started the Space Crusade stuff about 4 years ago so the painting varies wildly =) The High Elves are a current project that I have picked back up after nearly 10 years! Time flies eh?
Originally this guy is an Italeri German Wehrmacht figure from an Afrika Korps kit (I think?)
I sometimes read that people think 28mm figs are close to the size of 1/72? Nah, not even close!
Here's a new thing! (and an old thing...) I've always wanted to make up my own sculpts at 28mm/54mm scales so I'm giving it a go! Very excited to see ho this turns out (probably eye hurtingly bad but hey...) Using one of my ANCIENT Eagle Warriors for scale, this is hopefully going to be a large alien for 28mm stuff or normal sized xeno/mutant for 54mm/1-35 stuff. This photo was taken about 2 days ago so the enthusiasm is still going strong, will have new pics of the progress soon!
(Look at the funny colour Enchanted Blue goes under my painting lights. No wonder I cant blend properly...)
There's more on the table but thats all I will show for the moment. 'Temple of Terror' is going well (Fighting Fantasy #14) so will hopefully have a review next post.
See you then =)
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Some small photos...
of some small (scale) things!
I will apologize in advance for the poor quality of these shots, I only had a few minutes after a rather good RPG session to take them!
For anyone interested, here is my Italian States fleet as it currently stands.
The Pride of the fleet, my 'never ever been used and not likely to be' Battleship!
Unlike these poor little guys. The oft sunk Frigates...
My big beautiful carrier. Oh how often it has been boarded and captured by unfriendly Germans...
A terrible shot of my deadly tiny flyers. Underestimate at your peril...
My personal favs have to be my dirty little Destroyers. Subs and attacking flyers beware =)
The most dangerous units in the Fleet are my Torpedo bombers, huge range and an almost infinite ability to get blown out of the sky...
The always useful and constantly blamed Cruisers. One out of three of them is bound to end up sucking the whole game.
Last but by no means least, my beautiful attack boats. So small as to seem no threat at all... until they sink an enemy Battleship or two! (then they are subjected to a form of Naval genocide by opposing flyers...)
There you go!
Hopefully we'll be having a big four way bash soon and I can show you the Fleet in action against the other nations inferior (but somehow usually victorious...) navies.
Cool, have fun till then! =)
Ace
I will apologize in advance for the poor quality of these shots, I only had a few minutes after a rather good RPG session to take them!
For anyone interested, here is my Italian States fleet as it currently stands.
There you go!
Hopefully we'll be having a big four way bash soon and I can show you the Fleet in action against the other nations inferior (but somehow usually victorious...) navies.
Cool, have fun till then! =)
Ace
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