A Week's Worth

Still a bit under the weather, and I will probably have to give up the club's second Binge Weekend. But I did get some minis done this week.

Belatedly for President's Day (but can still find use for it later this bi-and-a-quarter-centennial year), I built a Paperboys George Washington and a regiment for him to review.

The command base isn't quite finished, because I decided to use the extra individual officers on the page for once. The typical "unit" that can be assembled from a single page from any of Peter Dennis' Helion Horse-and-Musket books is of four bases, one of them with one of its two strips replaced by a "colours and drummers" strip, thus 32 men plus one extra on a bit of card out in front of the command base. This leaves over one strip of four musketeers and typically two individuals, like an officer and sergeant. I chose to make five bases, with the "center" being the colours strip behind the two leaders, for a total of 38 men and a more even-looking unit.

I misplaced the command figures, or rather I suspect the cats did. You'd think a messy desk would deter pets from jumping on it, but it actually attracts them...

So I'm working on two more units, and swiping officers from a third. Eh, whatever. Using my new, incredibly sharp Beaditive scissors is surprisingly relaxing after a long day at work.

The second project I did this week was a unit of five "bloodreavers" from the 1st-edition Age of Sigmar beginner box I started years ago. I'd undercoated them already, so they were ready for the paint pens, and only required seven colors: skin, bone, black, grey, red, silver and gold. (No brass color.)

"Blood for the Blood God, or something..."

A bit messy, but tabletop ready once I add a bit of texture paint to the bases. I'm not sure gold really works for the brass, perhaps the sandy-orange "non-metallic" would be better. The large tips also made it hard to avoid coloring the silver, though depending on the texture I could turn the pen sideways and sort of "overbrush" the gold onto it. Gold borders first and silver insides second might also be a better order, and I'll try that when I get to the other three (more heavily armed) Chaos Warriors.

Finally, I received tonight a Warlord Games Pike and Shotte starter box, with 70 infantry and 12 cavalry, enough for small skirmishes, or full forces for Pikemen's Lament. I was prepared for the fact that bases aren't included, though I haven't found 20mm ones yet for them. (Even with its "Old World" Warhammer, GW's smallest rank-n-flank bases are 25mm.) However, I found the Warlord models have small puddle bases which might work for game-experimentation.

Haven't found much on Samurai-period uniform (only two pdf pages on painting the Warlord figures so far) though I am tempted by the comic-style Mifune colors: 

How did I miss these new action figures?!

Lookit, We Painted Something

... On the one hand, the paint-and-take program I ran today was chaotic.

On the other hand, the kids (and parents!) were enthusiastic and clearly enjoyed themselves. I had several ask to do a second figure. Several parents asked for more information about Warhammer and I gave away a few of the magazines, which contain coloring sheets, background information and simple game rules. I also suggested they look for painting videos on Youtube, but cautioned them about the Grimdark theme of the games - as long as they stick to the painting videos and avoid showing their kids the lore, I probably won't get any complaints!

Pro-tips for doing a public painting program with small children:

• Have extra experienced painters at the table.

That's it, really, but the fact that there was only one of me and, at times, a dozen or more people crowded around the painting table meant that:

• I spent most of my time replacing dirty paint water.
• I couldn't spend enough time going over the basics, which in turn meant...
• ...That people were sitting down while I was away from the table sidetracked by something else, and making a mess.

I wasn't expecting quite that many people at once, nor was I expecting to keep getting sidetracked. Next time I'll train a coworker or two on the basics.

When I do this with the teens, I usually only have a handful, they're all starting at the same time, and they're all paying attention. Doing it as a "drop-in" event is, as I said, chaotic when all the painters are newbies. My normal procedure is to make sure everyone has a brush, an undercoated mini, and starts out with one (1) paint bottle. Open the bottle, draw a little paint from the cap (or, with Army Painter bottles which I am learning to prefer, squeeze just a little), mix it with a bit of water, and start painting. Even better is if I have a mini of my own to demonstrate each step. With just a few kids (and there were a few older ones and parents too) I could clearly explain the "two thin coats" thing.

This worked alright early on, before we were crowded and when most attendees were in our auditorium looking at live critters brought by a parks authority. Everyone could see and everyone paid attention.

Later, it was a real scramble. The younger kids were impatient. Painting directly from the pot isn't that big a deal, but opening the pot wide and pouring it directly onto the table is. Mixing it in the bottle... was, in hindsight at least, hilarious. At least I hadn't paid for the bottles! We had some "one thick coat" minis, and I scrambled for paper to wrap them in for the ride home because obviously they weren't going to dry.

At least no paint got on the floor, and coworkers convinced me to put two layers of paper on the table.

Ah, kids.

Pictures!

Setup: Magazines and an action figure for inspiration,
minis, paint, water and wet-wipes.

Some of the results:

So, yeah, reasonably successful. One coworker was optimistic about the possibility of painting skeletons or building zombies for Halloween. I'll burn that bridge when or if I get to it...!

Slapping on the first paint...

Just Skeleton Bone primer and one coat of Greedy Gold
so far...

Two things I need to consider for next time:

• Using gold spray for undercoat rather than painting it on over another undercoat - especially if I'm to have kids doing this. (or silver for Necrons, green for orcs, etc)
• Using my desk and desk-light rather than my (admittedly larger) dining table with overhead light. Couldn't see too well.

I'm planning to follow the Warhammer Facebook channel's procedure, at least so far as I can with basic Army Painter colors. I've got their Speedpaints for the non-metallics and am looking forward to trying them, but those to be used in any library program will be Citadel Base paints. Shouldn't look too different in the end, though.

AOS construction

Obtained some glue, brushes, and more paint, so ready to build and undercoat the Storm of Sigmar set.

Building the AOS minis was messier than I remembered. Construction has always been my favorite part of the "hobby," but Games Workshop has sharply reduced the customizability of their models. These are monopose, so it took a little work to make sure they were assembled correctly. They are also designed in such a way that you almost have to puzzle them together - for example one of these figures has the back and one leg matching up with the other leg and one arm!

Next step is basecoating (with Army Painter Skeleton spray), but I've just remembered my bottle of regular Skeleton-colored paint is at work, so won't be able to touch up right away. It's dark out anyway...

More Deliveries

Life is still crazy, and I will be taking a break this week for self-care. Which may or may not include some gaming stuff for relaxation; as you're about to see, it will require further purchases.

I picked up the 1st edition Warhammer: Age of Sigmar box.

It was actually cheaper than the original price, and came with free shipping, so I jumped on it.

To my surprise, however - having bought the similarly-sized 40K starter that came out about the same time - it did not contain push-fit figures, nor "one-rule-at-a-time" scenarios, nor painting tips. It'll be a bit more work.

I haven't built anything plastic that wasn't push-fit in years. That's kinda the point of the Wofun Paperboys, after all.

I only cut out one before realizing I'd need
to sort them...

The rest of the contents.

The rulebook is not as beginner-friendly as the 40K starter; it contains the full rules of the game as they were at the time, and the included scenarios do not take you "step-by-step." Probably no point, as none of the included figures have shooting weapons or magic; simple heroic abilities are provided for commander figures. The scenarios do start out with smaller units and simple objectives, and are on larger tables than the 22x22inch paper "boards" provided these days. They are progressive, so that by the end you are using all four units, and a simple campaign bonus is included - if one side wins a Major Victory, they roll on a bonus table and may use that bonus once during the next game.

My next purchase from my Friendly Local Game Store (I recently discovered one about six miles from work) will be plastic glue, and some paint - most likely Army Painter, as I am assured they are of similar quality to Citadel but half the price. I am tempted by their version of Contrast, but the (excellent) painting guide I've found online specifically for these figures is pre-Contrast - the usual base-shade-highlight combo.

Colors required:

Khornate Chaos

• Black
• Brass
• Red
• Skin

Stormcast Eternals

• Blue
• Gold
• White

Both

• Tan undercoat spray (which I need for the Warhammer Alliance stuff anyway)
• Metal
• Brown
• Pink

My other delivery was my long-awaited copy of X-treme Dungeon Mastery, second edition, which finished its Kickstarter shortly after I started this blog. 

Though I've had the e-book and e-audio version for a while now, my hard copy and custom character drawing by Schlock Mercenary cartoonist Howard Tayler was in the very last shipment - probably because my character request was more complex than most:

What I was hoping for was a city-guard recruiting poster for my "Queen's Own Troubleshooters" campaign at work. Not a bad result. This will go inside the cover of my campaign binder - if I ever get the campaign back off the ground, which at present doesn't look likely anytime soon.

Finally, Lexi got another couple boxes to play with:

At least someone's happy!

Another delivery

Ordered a handful of gaming tools and bits from Games Workshop, and received them remarkably quickly for the free shipping (I was quoted nine business days, got it in three).

• Some 25mm bases for the Ork Boyz I've been sorting.

• A drill to help assemble the metal Ork Nobs. I've never needed to pin a mini before, but superglue isn't working this time. The tool doesn't come with instructions, so I'll need to find some and learn to use it properly. Probably also need a vise.

• A painting handle. Might seem superfluous, but I've watched it in action on Youtube for a while now, and I understand the appeal. Looking forward to trying it.

• A painting-water cup. I threw it in mostly to get to the point of free shipping, but it's got a couple of handy features. Scores in the inner face to keep your brush pointy, and a curious "lip" that can hold a brush or two out of the cup (all those reminders of not leaving them in the water or smushed against the bottom!).

• And a free book - a sampler of five short stories from the latest series. A fine taster for the Warhammer worlds - when I finish it I might try passing it around the teens at work.

Running ragged

Three weeks of not wanting to do anything except sleep, stare at the computer or read when I got home from work.

Two still to go.

The one good day of the last few weeks was when I received the Games Workshop "Warhammer Alliance" box. Here's the contents:

Ten base paints and a dozen starter brushes. The package didn't
come out of its box intact.

Box packed with twenty-four sprues, each with two push-fit minis.
They can also be pressed off the sprue - no clippers needed!

Card terrain, rulers and tokens. Sadly, the fold-points aren't
scored, which makes them harder to fold.

A dozen basic dice, same as the ones that come in the commercial
starter sets.

Two assembled sprues. The Marines are easy, the Necrons a 
little more spindly. I'll probably undercoat with a tan or
bone color.

A quick skirmish played through as an example.

Not pictured: Some nice laminated paint palettes, one in each magazine. The magazines make it clear these are aimed more at the under-12 crowd, but as I said, this was the ONE good day and I dunno when (or if) I'll get a chance to get something going with the kids or teens. They certainly won't be used as intended by the series of activities within, and the teens are more interested in gaming anyway. The most likely end for them is a paint-and-take I'm planning during our Summer Reading kickoff. I've also got Fort Wagner to run this month - if only I can get three hours straight and an audience!

We have talked desultorily about reinstating the weekly gaming period - maybe combining it with the board-gaming we're already doing with younger kids - but so many other things are going on I haven't had a chance to think about it. The theory is that if we run DnD every week for months on end, the early weeks will see little activity but interest and notice will grow as we keep doing it. But we need to make time for it.

One other thing I did get from work - these War of the Pacific
ship prints. The masts are too supported and unusable, so I'll have to 
find another solution.

Finally, I ordered another small batch of foam hills, which were listed delivered online but not in my mailbox or at my door. Gotta report them lost - hopefully they will have been shipped back to the maker. Urgh.

Have a happier weekend.