A Change of Heart?

So, I just stumbled upon something I didn't expect I'd ever see, and it gives me hope that Games Workshop can pull themselves together and possibly even stop the meteoric decent of their stock prices since the release of Age of Sigmar.  And it's even an AoS line of products.

Now, lately, if I've been getting my weekly dose of White Dwarf, it's been in the WD app, but it's been on the fritz lately, and I'm not gonna pay for something that doesn't work when it's supposed to.  So I haven't read White Dwarf, or the list of this week's new releases.  So imagine my surprise this morning when I log onto my computer, load up the email GW has sent me today, and down at the bottom of this page is a link to the new Storm of Sigmar box coming out in four days.  I look at it and I'm not sure what it is.  Age of Sigmar already has a starter set,  then I happened to look at the price tag.  $33.  My mouth dropped.  Thirty three dollars for a starter set from Games Workshop?  I've never paid less than a hundred. 

So I clicked on the picture to find out more.  Sure enough, it's real.  And with it, two beginning paint sets for fifteen dollars each, one for the Stormcast Eternals in the box, one for the Khorne Bloodbound.  There were also expansion boxes, or fillers if you will, for fifteen dollars as well.  These fillers are just repeats of minis in the Storm of Sigmar box, but hey, three Storcast Eternal Liberators for only fifteen is a huge savings over the usual set.

And what these little boxes really show is that Games Workshop is seriously trying to sell their game.  Now, I complained lately that the Generals Handbook seemed like too little, too late, but with a price of entry that is waaay easier to swallow, these things all together give me a glimmer of hope that GW might be able to turn AoS into something decent to play, that people won't feel ripped off by.  Now if only they can retcon and repair some of the awful back story (I'm looking at you, Seraphon)!. 

Enhancing D&D With Miniatures

When it comes to D&D, I'm always driven to go back to it's roots.  I'm not great at keeping track of distances in my head, and its always easier to crawl a dungeon if you have something visual to keep track of which halls you've been through and which doors you've opened.  So, when I DM, I use miniatures to march across a map. 

Now, I know not everyone uses visuals in D&D.  Some people think it ruins the world building and keeps people from using their imaginations.  But I'm a builder, and when I build worlds, I'm very literal about it.  When I tell a story, I want people to see the world I'm making the way I see it, and miniatures help that happen.  I've even gone so far as to craft buildings and objects that the players interact with, helping to show scale and design. 

So, if you're a DM, and you've never used miniatures before, I suggest you try.  If you don't want to spend the time painting them, D&D and Pathfinder both have pre-painted minis to use.  And if you're a fan of Warhammer, and you've got the old square-based pieces, many of those work great.  If you're really ambitious, Wizards of the Coast once made a D&D themed minis game called Chainmail, ebay or amazon are full of old, metal miniatures.  So go ahead, give it a swing.  You might be surprised at how much you like it.

Another Quickpic

So, as I have been DMing my first D&D campaign these last few weeks, my unpainted minis have been getting a little bit of attention.  I needed a wolf for a specific part of our campaign, and this guy has been sitting on my self for almost a year now.  He's not very high on details, as most old D&D minis are want for, so I decided he needed a bit more flourish on his base than I usually give my D&D pieces.  Some slate, some grass tufts, and a little bit of sand and drybrushing, and his base is looking very wild.  I'm also considering doing something more with his eyes, but can't decide, what do you think?  Catch you next time with a quick pic.

The Right Tools for the Job (Part 1)

So, I've been building models of one variety or another since my childhood, and I've been building and battling tabletop minis since about 2000.  In all that time, I've used a lot of different tools to build my minis.  Everything from scissors and scraps of wire and PVA glue to where I sit now four different glues three brands of clippers, a file set, myriad brushes, for different hobby knives, my favorite scraper, and slew of other model-building tools.  As time has marched on I've found things that work, (like I said, my favorite scraper) and things that don't (SCISSORS!), and I would like to share some of the successes and pitfalls with you now.

So, to start off with, I'll cover clippers, as that is probably the first thing your little plastic miniatures will ever see.  I can't stress enough having the best pair of clippers you can afford.  I'm sort of a fanboy of Citadel Fine Detail Cutters, but its really because I've used other brands before, and even scissors as I mentioned earlier, and they really work the best.  First time I clipped a model free of its sprue with them I was in love.  If the thirty-three dollar price tag is too much to swallow, a decent second is the Army Painter Precision Side Cutter.  Though not nearly as sharp as the Citadel, they will work fine.  And if neither of these is readily available to you, before you go using scissors on your models, get a cutting matt and an X-Acto knife, and gently cut the bits off the sprue.  Just trust me on this one, almost anything is better than scissors!

If you're working on metal miniatures, your first tools are going to be a little bit different.  You'll need to get some small metal cutters, most likely from a hardware store, and a set of metal needle files.  Now, metal miniatures are kind of going the way of the dodo thanks to costs, but its still good to have the needle files on hand for plastics too, so they are worth the investment.  Here you have a few more options for model-level files, Testors, a company that makes mostly model paint, has some for sale in retail outlets, and the Army Painter also makes a nice set of three different types of file.  And of course, Games Workshop makes a Citadel pair of files, but I'm kind of torn here.

With the files, Games Workshop only makes one type of file, in two grades of roughness.  These are spade files, and while a spade file will cover about seventy percent of your filing needs, its not always the best option.  The Army Painter's set comes with three types of file, all in the same grade of roughness.  They have a spade, a rat tail, and a triangular file.  Where as the extra shapes of files is nice, they are only rough files, and its horrible when you shave just a little too much off of one of your miniatures because the file is too coarse.
The next bit you need to worry about glueing your models together.  What you use to do this depends on what material your models are.  So my personal solution here has been to acquire both sets of files and be happy.  Testors set looks like it has a whole plethora of different files, but I haven't found the money or the need to purchase yet another set of files, so I can't speak with authority on theirs.

That was way too much of files. Sorry, but I think it needed to be covered.

So now that we've covered what you need to get your miniatures off their original packaging, lets discuss what you need to keep them held together; glues.

What glue you use will depend on what the material you're joining is.  If you're making plastic minis you'll be best off with plastic model glue.  Once again Testors, Army Painter, and Citadel all have options.  They are all the same stuff, so what's available and cheapest will probably be best for you.  What you need to know about plastic glue is how it works.  Plastic glue creates strong bonds by actually melting the plastic and reforming it.  So if you don't want to terribly maim your miniature, use a tiny, tiny bit.  As little as it takes to get a good bond.  Now, this comes in thick and thin variates, and I prefer the thick as it doesn't run everywhere and ruin your model, but different situations call for different things, so use what works best.

If you're joining metal or resin minis, you'll need super glue, or cyanoacrylates.  I will first put out a warning, these are slightly toxic, so use ventilation, and will instantly bond skin.  They also immediately harden when they touch cotton based clothes, hardening them and causing them to crack like glass or plastic.  Please be careful with this stuff!  When it comes to super glue, you can't beat the price of brand name Super Glue, as its cheap and works great.  Without discussing other tools from the next article, all I have to say on this now is that without a brace, you'll need to hold together the pieces of your miniature you are gluing together for about thirty seconds to a minute to get the bond to hold itself, and then wait a couple hours before you do much more to the model.

In part two of this series, I'll be covering the rest of the tool kit you'll need to seriously work on tabletop minis, though with what you have here, you've got most of what you need covered.  See you in part two!

Warhammer TV

So, I'm always out looking for things that can help other people enter into the hobby of tabletop gaming more easily, and when a friend of mine bought into Warhammer 40,000 with a Start Collecting Skitarii box the other day, it got me thinking where to point him to get things painted.

The first thing that came to mind was the Youtube Channel, Warhammer TV.  Its the official channel of Games Workshop, and they have videos on new releases, game play-throughs, and a lot of other things.  But the thing I return to the site the most for is the paint tutorials.  The tutorials on the channel aren't for expert paint jobs, but for the beginner who has no idea where to start, or how to paint their favorite color scheme for their favorite army.  They work you up through some of most basic paint jobs up into some intermediate level things, like mixing medium with colored paints to emulate blending.

For myself, I don't learn a lot from the videos other than new paint schemes, but I find that as I listen to Duncan and Emma describe the process of painting a miniature, I'm galvanised in my drive to get my miniature done.  Honestly, most of the miniatures I've finished lately have been because I've been listening to those two.  So, go ahead and give it a try, and see if Warhammer TV and the paint tutorials don't inspire some new works from you.

That's all I've got for today, and see you again soon.

A Failure to Commit

So, it finally happened today.  Actually, yesterday, but who's counting.  With the announcement of the General's Handbook, Games Workshop caved to player demands. How you ask? They placed a points value on Age of Sigmar miniatures.  Kind of.  They only made it a subset.  You can agree to use that set of rules instead of the original.  Not sure how the whole thing works, and not gonna pay to find out.  Don't think it'll fix the game.  You're still going play AoS, right?

Sorry for that chaotic first paragraph, but that jumbled thought process Games Workshop makes you feel that disjointed.  Their continued insistence to press ahead with Age of Sigmar despite declining player interest and lagging sales is frustrating. Their attempts to draw in more players, but still not give them a game they want is confusing.  And the terrible story is just infuriating.  So, I'm just going to put down on record today that I'm not sure if AoS is going to survive one more year, let alone two.  So, if in 2018 Games Workshop is still pumping out miniatures for AoS, I think I will finally fully commit and purchase the starter set and a whole line of Stormcast Eternals, as apology for not believing in them.

And to gripe a little further, the book feels a little like a cop-out anyway.  The inclusion of multi player rules seems a little weak, as I didn't know that was something that took a lot of extra regulation.  Defend your allies and attack your enemies, total victory points at the end.  Its not much more difficult than single player.  And what should be the coolest part, the Path to Glory rules, were already released for chaos back in December, where many people already paid for them.  To ask them to pay again seems a little crass.  It could have just been released in the app or as a PDF online, and given out free like the base rules.

Needless to say, this isn't a product I feel any need to purchase.  Even though it does come at the incredibly reasonable price of only $25 for a Games Workshop publication.


Do any of you have any thoughts on where you think AoS is going?  Let me know in the comments.