Another mini I’ve been looking forward to painting for a while is the Azure Forest MVP, A’teo Adysi, and I’m very pleased with how things went…
Inspiration hit when it came to the threat markings and I think it adds a wee bit more character to the mini, although I did realise after finishing it up that he has 360 vision which really means it should go all the way round the base 😦
One of my favorite models from the Deadzone range is the Chovar Psychic and I’ve just got round to getting mine all painted up…
It really is a cracking mini and was a lot of fun to paint, ending up easier than I expected. Painting the tentacles separately from the body definitely made things a lot simpler and I would reccomend this to anyone tackling this chap in the future 🙂
Over the weekend I managed to get in a fair amount of hobby related awesomeness. The annual show here in Edinburgh, Claymore, was on and whilst there was a fairly good amount of games on show, there was two in particular that caught my interest…
Mars Attacks
Mantic games came along to the show and were showing off their latest offering, Mars Attacks. The models on show were fantastic, with some truly exceptional paint jobs and really make me regret not getting anything else from the kickstarter other than the Dreadball team.
Being a backer did net me a digital copy of the rulebook however and I’ve been slowly digesting it. I’ve found the easiest way to describe it is as Deadzones weird little brother. It’s much simpler than Deadzone but shares a lot of the same mechanics. It’s the character of the game itself that set’s it apart, taking a much more light hearted approach than most wargames. It’s not uncommon for a herd of flaming cattle to rampage randomly around the board for instance :D. The models were great to get a look at as they are cast in PVC, something Mantic have said they will be using much more often in the future(both Xtreme and Dungeon Saga will be using this material). They look really well detailed and dynamic considering they come as one piece, and I think the painted figures really show that this material does the job.
Firestorm: Planetfall
The second game to catch my eye was the upcoming Firestorm: Planetfall from Spartan Games which see’s massive ground forces fighting it out in the Firestorm universe.
This really caught my eye due to the scale of the fights and the scale of the miniatures. I’ve missed massive battles since dropping 40k and this looks like it would be a perfect replacement for many reasons. The scale is much better suited for the size of the battles, the models are great (especially the leviathans) and the cost seems to be about the same as the rest of Spartans range so not silly money. Now to keep an eye on news about when this bad boy will be released 🙂
Axis & Allies
To follow up one the fun had at Claymore I headed round to a mates for my first ever game of Axis & Allies. Wow. I really enjoyed the game as it’s basically Risk Advanced and really look forward to getting more games of this on the go. It’s fun just because of the alternate history aspect that comes into play. For instance playing as Japan I managed to invade much of the USA, where as the Russians nearly wiped the Germans of the map.
Deadzone
To finish of a great weekend I got a game of Deadzone on the go. I’ve not played in a couple of months so my opponent and I were a little rusty but a good time was had. Inevitably my Rebs lost yet another battle to the plague(I really hate mortars), but it et me try out the Kraaw and weapons team that I had yet to field and chat to a couple of new players who I’ll be playing soon. It also inspired me to get to work on my own Plague, which so far have had a few trial schemes but nothing solid. Now I’ve got a scheme down I’ll be getting stuck into them good and proper 😀
I just received the BATTLEZONES: SCI-FI RUINED DISTRICT from the nice people at Mantic Games, so I’d thought I would share my thoughts as I worked my way through a box, building and painting up a few new buildings for my Deadzone board 🙂
Out the Box: First off here’s how the sprues look straight out of the box:
You get 4 of these…
…and 4 of these…
…as well as a sprue of the connectors common to all of the Battlezones terrain.
As we’ve come to expect from this kinda terrain it’s very nice stuff. Strong, detailed and easy to get together :). It’s a nice variety as well allowing all kinds of ruins to be built from this set alone, combine it with some of the Urban terrain and you could make some truly unique buildings for any game. For Deadzone everything you get is perfect, suits the game really well and is the perfect size and shape for it. For other games it’s a bit more restricted as it sticks to a 3″ x 3″ cube format, although a little extra work and you can make them into any weird and wonderful shape you wish.
Building: I had a few ideas spinning around as to what I wanted to build up with these. A couple of small ruins would be perfect to act as individual sections of cover or positioned in the right spot, separated parts of the same building :), and I wanted to see what could be made up only with this box, so I started cutting and gluing and got these…
The terrain only needs a wee bit of cleaning up, a few sections where they were clipped from the sprue as well as getting rid of mold lines in the hole connectors would be slotted into. You get a few rubble sections that act as a connector, which you can see in the top left of the picture. It’s a simple but cool piece that adds to the overall look of a ruined building nicely.
There was also a couple of sections that allow for some free-standing rubble. Here’s how they look straight out of the box with a smidgen of glue (they come as two halves that slot together)…
Combining with the Urban Box: I also wanted to create a couple of bigger buildings like the Bar and Cafe that I’d worked on previously. Something with character, which meant (to me anyway)it should be a target, something that the Council would want rid of in the event of containment protocols and therefore ‘ruined’.
The first idea was a coms station of some sort and after fiddling about for a few hours I put this together…
I managed to make it almost exclusively with bits from the ruins box and spares bits from an Urban district box. Anything I couldn’t find a suitable piece for from the Battlezones parts I used a few varieties of plastic bit’s and pieces instead, most of which I got from the local hobby shop. I’m going to continue adding some extras onto this building to help increase the character.
After all that I still have a fair few bits leftover to do another building, which in my head at present should be some kind of lab or medical centre, have to see what I can do…
My 5th Dreadball team, the Irn Bruisers, and their coach have now been finished and here they are:
I used the Gabe model for my coach, Mr. Barr, as I happen to have one spare who will eventually get done up for use as an MVP
As you can see I made up a logo for them imitating their inspration, the great drink that is Irn Bru. I also tried out some clear paints on the bases for something a bit different. I did this with a mix of the red and yellow from the Tamiya clear range. I’m pleased with the result and think it will be something I’ll do again in the future with some different colours 🙂
Next up will be some MVP’s 😀
I’m back! After a wee break from hobby things in general I’ve jumped back in with getting some of the Dreadball stuff sitting about unpainted finished and the first thing I wanted to do was my Zee team, the Irn Bruisers!
If you’re at all familier with a certain Scottish soft drink you’ll know exactly where I got the inspiration for these guys 🙂
I just wanted to let you all know there won’t be much hobby goodness posted here over the next couple of weeks, since the wife and I are now on our much overdue honeymoon. For the next two weeks we’ll be chilling out in Italy without a miniature in sight 😦
In the mean time why not check out brueckenkopf-online.com for a wealth of hobby awesomeness 😀
I’ve decided to post a wee gallery at the end of each month to show a roundup of the hobby prohjects I’ve completed in that time. This is so people will be able to get a look at everything in one place, but also to give me an idea of what I’m getting through. I’m also looking to try at least one new hobby method each month, such as the icicles I tried this month, to add to my hobby skills and hopefully this will encourage me a bit more.
So without further ado, here’s what I’ve done this month…
Gideon Lorr is finished, kind of. There’s still a few bits and bobs I’d like to add to him, but I’m away for the next two weeks so it will have to wait until I’m back :). Here’s how he looks…
Just a few small details and the bases and these chaps will be done and dusted. Take a look…
DeathWatch Studios 