Spanish Bombs

Hello again, sorry for the long delay between posts, but I recently finished some schooling, so I was more than a little busy for a good month or so.

Since then I have been able to get a little more work done on my Carthaginian army. Playtesting with blank bases has lead me to believe that drilled medium foot are an excellent option if they can be fielded in units with some close combat competence. The drilled Mercenary Scutarii option in the Carthage list seemed to fit that bill well and playtesting produced encouraging results. So during a recent purchase from the lovely folks at 50 Paces I scooped up enough Scutarii to build my lists maximum 12 bases. Once again the quality of Corvus Belli models astounds me, and these have been a pleasure to paint.

I also upgraded my phone to a smart phone and its camera has a macro mode, so I snapped off a couple in progress shots when the light was good to see how things look. It will likely take some practice to get photographing my miniatures dialed but now that I have better equipment I think that will be a fun process.

Here you can see both of the battlegroups stuck on Popsicle sticks a couple of coats in. I intend to paint these chaps up in simple matching tunics. Sure many of these men would have had different coloured tunics, but the going theory seems to be that unbleached linen tunics with red or purple trim where the most common. Since there is a bit of debate as to whether the purple was really purple or rather a scarlet, I figured I would paint one Battlegroup in each.

D&D story arc one complete, thoughts and rants part one.

Recently our group polished off the initial story arc that I had presented as a rather leading option at the onset of the campaign. Not only does that mean these characters are now free to act and travel as they see fit, but it also means that I can blog about aspects of its content without spilling the beans. With that in mind I will be withholding a large amount of the PC aspects of the game itself and the more specific chunks of the narrative. In my mind collective storytelling deserves some privacy and consideration and as such I will instead focus more upon the meat of the Campaign rather than attempt to encapsulate its ongoing narrative.

An obvious concern when starting a new roleplaying group is facilitating the initial meeting of the party. When starting the planning for my current group, I only narrowly avoided overthinking this initial and ultimately almost meaningless fact to grave consequence. As this would be the first paper and dice roleplaying anyone in the group had attempted aside from myself, I would not be DMing for a group that would have any prior knowledge of not just the game itself but also of the setting of the game and how their characters and their PC’s backgrounds would be influenced by those things.

At first I was deluded with far too many overly complex metaDM ideas that pulled the players and plot by the nose thusly avoiding the initial and (apparently) cliché meeting in a Tavern. As someone who has been playing this marvellous game since late childhood I have only recently come to a rather levelling realisation about gaming that not only shocked me but also laid bare the main factors in my choosing the two games I currently enjoy (D&D 3.5 and Field of Glory) and my lack of enthusiasm for the formers recent update(s), and my waning interest in 40k.

Many games particularly some that have recently received updates (ahem), are heavily geared towards enticing the new gamer. The games are both easy to learn and easy to master, without too much depth or complexity to seem overwhelming. Although this makes perfect sense to your average executive selling a game it makes almost none to someone playing it. When viewed from within the perspective of the gamer, one would only spend a small and shrinking amount of time learning the game. If a rulebook or (gasp) rule system where to be engineered more for the new gamer than the gamer that is currently playing the game it would completely miss it’s basic function.

These games are little more than a wondrously constructed and mutually consented to set of physics and random circumstance and the rulebooks they are contained within should serve primarily as a resource to reference for clarity during the game. Lovely introductory fluff and simple game mechanics are no substitute for a good index and enough depth of thought to the rules to allow flex when flaws are encountered.

Keeping that in mind I thought it would be more beneficial to the long-term group dynamic if I kept 3 things in mind during the initial gaming sessions of this group.

· Some fancy pants crackpot scheme to avoid Pub themed clichés would likely cause long term damage to the PCs development both as a party and as individual gamers.

· Even if the PCs met in a bar, they would be clamouring to think of reasons to justifying their presence and limitless background potential would be squandered on a gimmick rather than occur organically through PC thought and interaction.

· Balance must be maintained between providing subtle plot nudges to motivate the PCs and allowing enough room for them to play and grow.

With that in mind I thought a good way to do that would be to provide a setting and a situation and simply see how the players reacted within them. It would be up to them to slowly start to piece together their characters backgrounds and later decide what it was that drove them to Guildton in the first place.

As no one had played D&D other than me, I was given a pretty loose rein. Given my library and previous knowledge I decided to start the Campaign in Faerun, and since my idea for a plot required a significant amount of isolation I thought the Galena mountain range in balmy and scenic Damara would do just fine. I then cobbled together a small hill fort hanging from its fingernails to a small yet deep harbour on the Northeast shore of the Moonsea. Founded by the Starlight Guild (chartered and headquartered in Melvaunt) just shy of 2 years ago with the intent to prospect, process and ship iron Guildton is the kind of grimy roughneck boomtown that makes frontier justice seem restrained. Populated almost entirely by guild employees and independent prospectors, the 200 or so souls that make up Guildton’s population are cut from a similar unskilled and likely desperate cloth. With such a small and focused population the only opportunities offered within Guildton are steady employment and appalling working conditions. Thankfully our erstwhile PCs where only present long enough to be offered a job by a senior Guild representative to recon a ruined tower that has recently received the tender repairs of what appears to be orcs.

Although brief and rushed to accommodate a poor time estimate in character generation, in hindsight it actually allowed for enough open ends to facilitate later character development and was enough of a nudge (ok bullrush) to get things down to the dice and choices that make up the game in decent enough time. One disappointing non-result on a random encounter table/day’s trek and they were concealed on a ridgeline reconnoitring a group of orcs who exhibit uncharacteristic discipline and craftsmanship.

The Horrors of cautious gaming

Last summer a buddy of mine and me hid out at his cabin in the Mountains of central British Columbia for a weekend, in between hiking and making unhealthy meal choices we got in a game of checkers. Neither of us were sure when we had last played checkers, with him even pondering if he ever had. But since I had played untold numbers of Axis and Allies, Risk and Battletech games against him in our youth I knew I was in for a good scrap.

I could not have been more right, the game ended within about 10 turns with an impassable stalemate and neither of us losing nor taking a piece. Still not sure what to make of that game, but I finally got some photographic proof.







For the record I was black and he was red.
Anyone ever have this happen to them before?

Thankfully this sort of thing doesn't happen in miniature wargaming, and never could in D&D as every group I have ever played in had zero problem finding people/critters/chiefdoms to stab, blast and or loot.

Blatant product placement or product review rating scheme?

Recently my trusty old craft knife crapped out on me, it is an often used and little mentioned hobby tool and as such a replacement was definitely in order. While out foraging for sustenance with Ella, I took the opportunity to duck into a local model Railway shop. Looking through their racks of exquisite hobby tools, I came across a knife that really caught my eye.

Being a tradesman who was raised by a tradesman I have a huge appreciation for quality tools, and a defining mark of such tools is depth of thought in design. One of the failings of my previous knife was the placement of the threads to haft the blade at the spot where it meets the handle. Although initially this design seems perfectly logical, during use the slight variations of force applied by the fingers fall directly upon the haft and slowly loosen the threads. Not only is this frustrating, I can see it becoming dangerous. I already have enough scars on my hands from work I don't need them from my leisure, skateboarding and road hockey aside.

Oddly enough one of the best priced knives was designed with this in mind. The threads that tighten the blade are (likely via Gond's will or some type of threaded shaft) accessed at the aft end of the handle. Glorious.

It comes with quite the little quiver of blades too. Curved, point, offset (for scoring, which is on the task list) and a saw blade, which I might take fishing.

And the best part?

$6 Canadian.

That's value.

Zona Soft Grip Knife Set, you get my first 5 out of a possible 5 on a 5sided die. Comfy, solid, good leverage, scandalous price, multiple blade options and a sturdy vial to house them, I am more than impressed.

Guest Post

A good buddy of mine is a Canadian ex patriot living in Japan right now and since we gamed together for years a good chunk of our emailed correspondence is Nerd related, the rest is.... well Hockey. Recently he came up with something hilarious so we figured we should post it here. Enjoy.

Pies Iesu domine, dona eis requiem . . . Whack!
In a recent side conversation Mr. Misanthropy and I have been
discussing that other obsession that all us gamers share
(aside from nerding it up). You know it, Mr. Misanthropy knows it, I
know it, and Rich Burlew knows it well (Oots#136 It's Not a Gaming
Session Until Someone Quotes Monty Python). We can all do the
Constitutional Peasant in our sleep or maybe that`s just me.

But have you ever really thought, how well would the Pythons do in a
gaming environment? I think the answer is not very well. Those pasty
Cambridge boys would be chopped into bait faster than you can say Fish
Slapping Dance. But one of their immortal creations would easily
survive and terrorize even the most hardened group of gamers.

So here, for your enjoyment and edification is the Fiendish Vorpal Bunny:


Fiendish Vorpal Bunny
Tiny Magical Beast

Hit Dice: 4D10-4 (18)
Initiative: +5
Speed: 30ft
AC: 18(dexterity, dodge, tiny size)/ touch 18/ flatfooted 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/-5
Attack: Bite 1d4-3 (15-20)
Space/Reach: 0/0 ft
Special Attacks: Keen Vorpal Bite, Pounce
Special Qualities:
Damage reduction 10/fire, Low-light vision
Saves:
- Fortitude: +2
- Reflex: +8
- Will: +1
Abilities:
- Strength: 3
- Dexterity: 20
- Constitution: 8
- Intelligence: 3
- Wisdom: 10
- Charisma: 3
Skills: Jump +8, Tumble +8
Feats: Weapon Finesse (Bite), Dodge, Mobility
Environment: Cave of Caer-Banog or cold mountains
Organization: Single
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: Rare collectors copy of Monty Python Shooting script
Alignment: Always Neutral

In Combat:
Keen Vorpal Bite: The Fiendish Vorpal Bunny bite is its deadliest
attack. On a successful critical, the bunny`s bite decapitates its
victim with no save possible.
Pounce: On a charge the Fiendish Vorpal Bunny can make two attacks
instead of one.

Love Ellas camera you can actually see the eye patch. That ballast is dry tomorrow and is getting the rocks and the grass it needs to finish them entirely. Then it's on the the Gauls. Somewhat intimidated.

New Command Pics

Ella swung by this weekend and snapped some shots of the nearly completed HQ bases. Sure they still need wee rocks and static grass, but the hard part (painting) is done so I am more than happy. Got a good game in with the D&D group too, likely be blogging about that later this week.

These first two shots are of Maharbal/Subordinate Commander #2.

Son of Worst Pictures Ever !!!!

And here is (apparently) Maharbal. I really need to get a Camera with a Macro lense.

Puck drops in minutes, cheers for now.

Go Canucks Go !!!!

Worst Pictures Ever ?

Here is my likely last attempt to use my Cameraphone for blogging. Thankfully Ella is coming over this weekend and owns an actual camera. But I promised proof none the less, here you can see Mr Barca himself at an early stage in my baseing technique.

Punic HQ complete

Well I just put down the brush on the HQ requirement of my Field of Glory army. I made three bases, which is all I really see myself needing, if I do go for a 4th HQ it will likely come with an allied force.

The first one you have already seen, is a generic Punic commander with appropriate Carthaginian cavalrymen accompanying him. In hindsight this base (and all the others I entered in the painting comp, sigh) has way, way, way too much static grass, but if you account for my clumsiness this problem may resolve itself.

The first of the new ones is a Corvus Belli Numidian Cavalry Command blister painted up to with the commander in Punic skin tone and his attendants representing Numidian veteran cavalrymen. This will be field or troop commander who will likely run the odd flanking maneuver and hopefully pulling off a decent Maharbal impersonation. I figure the subordinate commander is the guy overseeing the reconnaissance missions so he might as well bring the best people for it with him. Bonus part of painting these guys as such is I can paint another blister up entirely as Numidians and use them as an allied HQ, not only would they look distinct enough to avoid confusion they would also save me 5 points. Sweet.

The final base took months, I guess it's my centerpiece and I definitely over thought ever step of the way. Stepping back and putting down the brush was a huge hobby epiphany for me. In all honesty I have been poking at this base since the Comp. And that was before Thanksgiving, Canadian Thanksgiving !!!! (October 11th this year), and I still have to wait for their glue to dry before I even start basing them. For these guys I pulled out all the stops. Top of the line White and Black horses, seasonal and stylish Gallic noblemen as bodyguards and I even greenstuffed up an Eye patch to make the man himself, Hannibal Barca. Or failing that (in situations not specific to the 2nd Punic War) they can easily jump in as another one eyed Punic General, (Regulus? Too soon?) and stand out from the other 2 chaps. The greenstuff was a pain, it but almost worked.

Pictures to come tomorrow when there is better light, but it's after midnight here in Southwest Canada, so good night for now and take care.

2010 Year in Review

So a little over a year in and the often neglected blog is still alive, a fern on the balcony watered weeks apart yet somehow slowly blooming. As the name of this blog implies I didn't at all expect it to last this long, but 13 months later it is still here. Clocking in at 43 posts that's an average of 3.3ish per month, that's a bit more than I even thought I was posting. As a plumber in the service end of the industry, I never know how late I will be working, always start before dawn and often have issues with hand fatigue/injuries that stand in the way of painting and/or more cerebral brain functions, but with my newly founded 3.5 D&D group neither of those attributes will be required so there is likely to be a flood of D&D content once the group gets rolling.

With a years worth of hindsight comes some introspection and here is some of the more positive aspects of blogging and some areas I would like to improve on.

Things to improve on and about this blog:

• More posting.
• More painting.
• More gaming.
• More scenery.
• Going to add some product reviews.

Things that make me love this blog:

• The motivation it proved even though I went until December before I found a gaming group, this is key cause even though I was basically gaming in a vacuum it still was a blast.
• Finding and enjoying other blogs from gamers worldwide.
• The sense of community with other bloggers with similar interests worldwide.
• The hits I get from the oddest places. Hola Columbia !!!

Sure I didn't finish the Carthage army in a year, but I didn't rush it, painted better than I thought I was able and quite surprisingly entered a painting comp !!! Sure I only got a couple of games in and none of them were of even normal size, but I did play some sweet new boardgames and have a new D&D group on the go so all in all it was a good year.

Goals for next year are to keep adding to the Carthage army (maybe some Spanish troops would be in order), and start another army. I have narrowed it down to two choices, a Late Republican Roman army that I may model up as the 9th and 10th legions, or a Middle Republican Roman army as an in period pairing for my burgeoning Carthaginian army. Tough call but all three of the those armies can share a lot of troops (ie: Numidians, Gallic Horse, Spanish), and I can easily see myself having a Roman army from both periods. To be honest I want a Roman Army from almost all periods. Cost and availability may be a the deciding factor.

All in all a great year and an even better start.

D&D 3.5 game 1

Ahhh..... that warm comfortable feeling of a game you haven't played in years, like sliding into a nice warm bath (with a bottle of Malbec, and {Canada's sexist D&D player} Mandy Morbid), or playing a sport your competent at with a team at your level against drunken toddlers.

Played the first session of the new D&D campaign tonight, went far better than any of us were expecting. Sure we didn't get into a fight but that is due to the PCs having brains, reconning the enemy and setting up an excellent ambush. Two dice into our next game, the trap is sprung and orcs are getting stabbed in pairs if not dozens.

In my last few gaming groups I have been blessed to be surrounded by motivated, intelligent and courteous gamers, and although only one of 4 PCs has even played a paper and dice RPG before, we seem to be off to a good start. Lots of high level tactical thinking, character intraspection and a heaping portion of desire to game right off the bat.

Needless to say I am more than a little stoked.

And you wouldn't believe the kinds of characters these guys came up with. A Svirfneblin Rogue, Air Genasi Wizard/Fighter, a human Wizard with designs on Techsmith and/or Mystic Theurge, and get this...... a Minotaur Monk, talk about left field characters with obvious depth. Sure we are starting with an ECL +3 Svirfneblin, an ECL +2 Minotaur, an ECL +1 Genasi and a 4th level Mage so game balance could be an issue, but in my brief experience in D&D (all the way back to the red box) I have found that it is far easier to just throw increasingly meaner monsters at an over powered party than tinker with the tender sweet breads of game mechanics. That being said I have to keep a nervous eye on a certain Svifneblin with 7 hit points. Game changing disadvantages make characters, never break them. Been there, loved it.

How on earth does a 30 year old man continuously spell Svirfneblin right and never get experience right once? Sigh, I think spellcheck is my DM.

Also starting a gaming group on the first Lunar Eclipse on a winter Solstice in almost 400 years of almost make me feel like a devout Heathen. Normally D&D won't turn you into a Satanist, but starting tonight....?....it might already be too late.....

Ignorant movie reviews, Hobby Synergy and further excuses?

Our world gets smaller everyday, interconnections between people and things seemingly far apart are revealed to us almost daily now. This fascinating quirk of human experience seems to exist on all scales, and yesterday a film did so for me. The dice of girlfriend/boyfriend movie selection fell as 6s right at my feet and I raised them victoriously and selected "Centurion", it seemed perfect, it was about the failed Roman conquest of Scotland, and it had Dominic West from the Wire in it !!!! Not only was I entertained, but I realised that this film overlapped into my hobby world in two ways.

Obviously I am a historical wargamer who prefers the ancient setting, but aside from that most of my hobby time of late has been spent planning a new D&D campaign. That's where this movie really shines. The historical accuracy of this film wasn't at all a motivating factor in my renting it, but I was actually surprised by how well this film did within its budget. They didn't just give a passing notice to the right hats and armour, they also had them hanging their swords and Pugios the right way, and don't worry you get to see them use both. In all honesty I get the feeling that this movie changed around an expensive table in a meeting somewhere, and there were aspects that seemed to be out of key with the quality of the cast. However the cast was astounding, Pilums in the air for Liam Cunningham as Brick, he played the part of a blooded veteran soldier to the narrow hilt of a Pompeii Gladius, his apology mid-film alone was leveling. I look forward to seeing him stab other people in future films.

Aside from the historical shopping list of cost vs realism this film was an ideal example of a well run D&D campaign. No really, bear with me. Apart from any use of magic and fantastical beasts this movie was a well tuned gaming group 2 years and 8 or so levels in. The brutal trek back from enemy lines was perfect in tone and pacing, Les Stroud would be proud. It's far too rare now to see a violent movie that attempts tension without relying solely on startling you. It's not the type of movie that is going to change film, but it doesn't embarrass itself, and remains a very satisfying action movie. You just may have to consider its gore, as the frequent and well fought swordplay often lead to realistic results.

Good movie, expect a HUGE increase in D&D posts from here on in, as well as the usual FoG craptacularism. But I can't really post D&D related home brewed content until I drop the first adventure on my hapless friends. (Que maniacal villain laugh)

Re-Animated !!!!!

I must have picked up a level in Necromancer at some point in my rather varied career path, as I amazingly managed to piece my computer back together with the parts of lesser computers. In celebration of that fact I sat down and threw together a 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons monster loosely based upon my computers recent resurrection. But feel free to reuse it to represent anything that your Campaign/Hackfest calls for, something with legs might be infinitely more intimidating.

Small Re-Animated Object
- Undead Construct

Hit Dice: 2d12 + 13
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30ft
AC: 15/13 touch/14 flatfooted
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+5
Attack: Slam +2 1d4 +1
Space/Reach: 5/5 ft
Special Attacks: None
Special Qualities:
- Single actions only, Damage reduction 5/Slashing, Darkvision 60 ft
- Undead traits
Saves:
- Fortitude: +0
- Reflex: +1
- Will: +3
Abilities:
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 10
- Constitution: 0
- Intelligence: 0
- Wisdom: 10
- Charisma: 1
Skills: None
Feats: Toughness
Environment: Home or Workplace.
Organization: Pair (chair)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: Neverwinter Nights save files, rare Born Against bootlegs.
Alignment: Always Chaotic Neutral

Sorry about the delay, but now that I can type on a real (ly old) keyboard I beat I will post more.

All your base are belong to Flock

Sorry about the delay between posts again, but my PC died a sudden and seemingly painful death. He will be missed. A traditional Viking funeral will be held at New Brighton Park as soon as I have found a way to get my Neverwinter Nights saved files and (YEARS AND YEARS !!!!!!) of writing off of it. The family requests a private service, in lue of flowers please send wood and nails for a boat.

Although I haven't got any pics I have been working. I have finished getting the bases for my entire army up to the standard of the 5 elements I entered into the painting contest. It was a bit of a slog because I had to address several rookie mistakes and start the process from about the 3rd step. That being said, I did learn a lot and have settled on a basing technique that I will be using from now on. Even at my clumsy skill level I am getting rather realistic results using about $15 worth of Woodland Scenics Ballast, Talus and Static Grass, they almost look like they are marching across some semi-arid agricultural ground. I am getting all kinds of scenery ideas.

More to come.

Final Contest pics

Evening I hope this email finds you well, it sure finds me well, I got a job.

But onto the Nerdom that this blog was made for, I did indeed enter the contest on Saturday, unfortunately due to a previously planned family event (which ruled) on beautiful and scenic Vancouver Island, I was unable to attend the event in itself. But I did get a good look at the other entries, and wow were they good. Like scary good, like redefining the limits of human motor skills good.

I myself did not win a thing, (didn't think I would) but am infinitely more happy that I entered. I have struggled with painting models in the past and the fact that I actually went through with it feels like a victory in and of itself. The whole experience in itself was a huge dose of inspiration. I definitely learned alot of interesting things about painting at a smaller scale just by looking at the other models in my category. I also made sure to pick up some pointers from the painting Yoda that runs the store, as he has massive experience in painting 15mm Celts.

Here is some pics, and check out my new and improved basing techniques. It took a lot of research, and a TON of trial and error, but I think it adds a lot to the models. More on that later, now I have to get to bed.

Take care,
Goodnight.

p.s. My blogger stats tell me I am getting hits from as far away as China and Columbia ?!?!?!?!

Ni Hao and Hola Amigos !!!!
Feel free to comment I would love to hear about your hobby ventures around the world.

Painting contest thus far

Afternoon folks I hope this post finds you well.

Sorry for the delay between updates but life threw a couple of curve balls at me lately and circumstance dictated my attentions be else where. If your curious, I was laid off and then got a chest cold so bad it damaged my lungs. September has been so fun, but at least Hockey is starting soon. I also got to escape to a friends cabin in the Mountains of British Columbia, it was calming and nearly as spiritual as the unintended spirtquests my medication was sending me on a couple weeks ago.

In between all that drama I did manage to work on my first Command base which is one of the 5 bases I will be submitting to the contest. I put infinitely more time on these chaps than ANY single model I have thus far in my 20 + years of gaming. Untold amounts of careful inking and dry brushing went into these bad boys, and by my estimate they are nearly done.

Yesterday Ella swung by and snapped off some pics, and since she not only has a better camera, but actually knows what she is doing with it, I think they turned out pretty sweet. Next step is figuring who else is going with the Command base, thinking one elephant, one base of team Linen Cuirass, one of Numidian horse, and then I don't know maybe another base of the Linen chaps to add depth to the presentation of their unit, or possibly a base of Numidian Skirmishers.
Hmmmmm........

Painting contest WIP shots 2b

Painting contest WIP shots 2a

Splitting these shots into two posts.

Not dead, still deluded......

Sorry about the delay between posts, but life has an odd way of forcing you to pay attention to it at the cost of fun. As you may recall I had a friend in town from Japan, and although we didn't get a chance to physically play FoG, it did figure heavily in our conversations, when he returns to Canada we will be undertaking a map based campaign. We used to do so in 40k and it invariably makes for a better game. Lately I haven't really had the time to paint and as such didn't post, but this weekend I had a whole Saturday to myself (and the laundry machine), and got started on my next project.

I started working on the pre-requisite Command elements for my army. For the first base I used the basic Carthaginian command pack, which I picked up from 50 Paces, this company is great not only do they sell 15mm historical models, they also stock magnetic bases and are conveniently located not far from my apartment. Their prices are awesome and their customer service is exemplary.

Here is a link to their site:

http://www.50paces.com/catalog/index.php

I kept the paint scheme close to that of the rest of my army, with the subtle addition of some purple and gold on the standard itself. These little touches I think add a fair amount of character by their contrast with the rest of my army. The Carthaginians made a lot of money in the manufacture and exporting of rare and astoundingly expensive purple dye, couple that with a solid (or more likely plated) gold standard and they serve to convey a huge amount of wealth. Sure purple was so rare it was almost invariably restricted to Royalty, but it isn't too far fetched to see a commander of the army of Carthage sport purple tones.

The pics below are only work in progress as I am lavishing these bases with previously unseen amount of effort not only because they are an obvious focus point for my army but also because of a new goal, something I have never attempted before.....

Blame the heat of late August cooking my poor cold adapted brain, but I have decided to enter a painting competition. That's right the good folks at Strategies Games are holding their 4th annual Immortal Brush painting competition, and there is a small scale historical category !!! So after much deliberation, (not to mention friendly goading from the lovely Ella) I figured I would give it a shot. Now keep in mind that I am no Dave Taylor or Scott MacPhee, and doubt I will win, but I won't let cowardice stand in the way of a bucket of fun so between now and October 2nd I will be painting and repainting and rerepainting until I have 5 bases that I think both look good and are a decent representation of my army. With that in mind this new Command base is already out to an early lead for base one.

Here is a link to more info on the comp, its near the bottom of the page.

http://blog2.strategiesgames.ca/

here is a link to their main page,

http://www.strategiesgames.ca/STRATEGIES/

Feel free to drool all over their amazing board game section. I love this shop, they always have all the new stuff, and are more than willing to answer any questions. I frequently raid the owners brain for painting advice, he is not only a very, very talented painter he is also eloquent enough to explain complex techniques in simple terms. He is the origin of my ever faithful 3 point painting stance, as I have a crazy low blood pressure and shake constantly. Two of my favourite things about that shop are the used RPG book section (keep 3.5 alive !!!!) and all the cool little gaming aids they have that many other shops don't. It is truly a gamers shop run by people that love games.

But I digress, here is some pics pardon my crappy cameraphone and lack of Macro lense.