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New Toys! Part 3 – Dreadball

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Dreadball-Logo

Now this one isnt exactly a new game, as I have been getting on with this for a few weeks ago. I have however got some new goodies for it, and also managed to get 4 games in over the last couple of days, so I thought I’d show you where I’m going with it next and how the games have been.

I’ll start things off by saying that this game is freaking awesome! All of the games I’ve played have been an absolute hoot, and I think that comes down to the simplicity of the rules. It’s a very easy game to pick up, which means your not constantly bogged down with double checking rules, stats, etc. This coupled with the fact the game is incredibly fast paced just creates a great buzz when playing, especially when you’ve got the right opponents. As I’ve said I managed to get in 4 games with the Marauder team and luckily won every single one :D, I didn’t expect this team to be up to scratch and the original plan was to ebay them once complete, but I’m gonna stick with them for at least one league and see how I get on.

In between games I did manage to get the ref painted up, and also invested in the acrylic token set to replace the fairly crappy ones from out the box. These are well worth the money, they are good solid tokens and with the use they will see the card ones just wouldn’t last:

Dreadball Refbot

Dreadball Refbot

Acrylic Tokens

Acrylic Tokens

Up next will be a new team, the Z’zor…

Z'zor Team

Z’zor Team

I really like the design of the models, and think out of all the current teams these ones will offer the best oppertunity for a funky paintjob. Seems I got a bonus box too, as I had one extra guard in there. Score :D. I’m gonna go for a really bright green scheme on these guys, stupidly bright I think, but that will be after a commission for these guys…

Robot Team

Robot Team

The Client is looking to have them done in the same scheme as the Chronium Chargers, so will be going along the same sort of lines as the ref above, but with some additional embellishments to help ’em stand out.

New Toys! Part 2 – Dystopian Wars

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dystopian-wars

Next up in the way of new toy’s is naval battles in Spartans Dystopian Wars.

I’ve had my eye on this one for a wee while now, as it steadily grew in popularity. With a mate recently starting his own Empire of the Blazing Sun force I thought it was the perfect time to jump on board(sorry, couldn’t resist the pun :D). I set out over the last couple of weeks to settle on a force I wanted to play and was suitably impressed with the range on offer. All of the forces have an excellent range of models and stick to a particular theme, but the one that really popped out for me was the Antarticans. They have a really alien and advanced look which I fell in love with immediately, but its the airforce for them that solidified that this was the force for me….

Antarctican Aerial Battle Group

Antarctican Aerial Battle Group

The flying ships are just too damn cool, and I cant wait to get stuck into the painting, and then set about blowing up the Japanese with lasers (that’s right Dave, all of your ships are going to die!).

I knew I needed something other than the above though, it is primarily a naval battle game after all, so also invested in the following box…

Antarctican Battle Flotilla

Antarctican Battle Flotilla

I’m really impressed with the product you receive out the box as altogether it must have taken less than half an hour to get all those models ready for undercoating. Mold lines are to a complete minimum, or missing entirely from everything but the metal models, and the detail present is fantastic. It’s going to be weird doing a force with absolutely no basing required though, until we start getting into ground forces that is.

Having had a wee read through the rulebook I think this may take me a while to get my head around but there does seem to be a good presence of players at the local gaming shop (including some Spartan play-testers), so hopefully I can get some help from the guys in the know. I’ll let you know how I get on…

New Toys! Part 1 – Infinity

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Infinity_300Dpi_Orange_BluecopiaAs I mentioned yesterday I’m looking to get into a few new games systems, with a primary aim of painting something other than 40k models :), the first of which is Infinity.

A fair amount of mates have been getting stuck into it over the last few weeks, and tend to have nothing but praise for whats looking to be a great game. All that said I’ve not had a chance to play it myself but have picked up a few models to get me started…

Caledonian Starter Pack

Caledonian Starter Pack with William Wallace (centre)

Given the choice of models I had to go for the kilted radges, as not only does this give me the perfect opportunity to paint up some tartan but also I get to take William Wallace to lead them! The models are pretty stunning, with the level of detail being above par, and nothing really needing cleaned before putting them together. Was pleased that they are actually kilts, pleated at the back, as I expected just a flat surface all round.

The plan is to get going with these guys until I’ve had a few games and have a better idea as to where to expand to with the force. In regard to painting I’m planning on naming each of the folks in the force so that each one will have a specific tartan related to their clan, and this will give me the chance to paint as many varieties of tartan as I can, bonus!

Come back tomorrow to get a look at the next batch of awesome toys that I’ll be working on :D…

Dreadball team finished!

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Been distracted from my painting this week by a combination of new toys, no deadlines, and more gaming than usual. Managed to get one game of reffing which helped me nail down the rules to a good degree, and played a game against a mate, his first game. Made all the more better as it took no time for him to learn what he was doing and gave me a more challenging game, in the end beating me by 2 points. All this confirmed that Dreadball is indeed an awesome game and I can’t wait to play more. Gonna try and get more games in this week, and get a we write up of what went down 😛

In the time I did get to some painting I finished of the Marauder team, although I still need a name for them(any ideas folks?). Can’t say I’m not happy with the way they’ve turned out, but I’ll let you judge ’em for yourself 😀 :

Marauder Team

Marauder Team

Marauder Team

Marauder Team

I decided to stick with the green displays on these guys, but inspired by sho3box, will be using a different colour on each of the teams I do (I have three planned). The plan is to use a colour that compliments the main scheme I’ve picked for the team.

In other news I’ve decided I need to diversify and get some models from some other ranges on here. I’ve always been stuck into 40k and would really like to try different aesthetics in sculpting and fluff, whilst also showing I can paint more than just grimdark sci-fi :). Over the next week I’ll give you a taste of whats in the works…

Dreadball Marauders Test!

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Got stuck into a couple of the marauder players, a guard and a jack, from the boxed game today in order to get an idea of a colour scheme for the team. This is what I came up with:

Guard

Guard

Jack

Jack

Obviously they arent quite finished yet with some details here and there needing added and some work on the yellow and black sections, but overall I am very pleased with the colour scheme. Especially pleased with how the digital numbers on the backs look. Gonna carry this across all the Dreadball teams I work on, with a more race specific number marking appearing on the shoulder guards, so for these guys something fairly messy and slapped on looking.

Would love to hear what people think of them, and any changes/additions you think could be made?

Hydra’s Finished!

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This afternoon has been spent getting the last bits and bobs on the Hydra’s done, which means they are now done and dusted 😀

Completed Hydra's

Completed Hydra’s

Completed Hydra's

Completed Hydra’s

Will be getting a few more detailed images of them over the next few days, individual shots from all sides and such 🙂 Then it’s on to the next project (still making up my mind as to what that will be :-/)

Hydra Progress Update 2!

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More work has been done on the Hydra’s this week, with the main hull and metals done, and the red started.

Hydra's WIP

Hydra’s WIP

Hydra's WIP

Hydra’s WIP

Once the red is complete it’s only the details and adding some dirt to the tracks to do, so should be complete fairly soon. Then its onto an option of things, might be a dreadball team, more Tau or even something completely random…

Hydra Progress Update!

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I now have a good start on the hydra’s, the main hull colour and the battle damage are just about done:

Hydra's WIP

Hydra’s WIP

Hydra's WIP

Hydra’s WIP

I’ve used a common method of salting for the battle damaged, and found it a lot easier the more tanks I’ve done. The basic process is as follows;

  • Apply undercoat, once dry paint the hull the colour you want showing through. In the instance of these tanks I’ve gone for an orangy/brown rusty colour.
  • Then its a coat of hairspray whilst applying salt, this not only helps the salt stick to the areas you want it, but also helps ensure the underlying colour does not scrub off.
  • Once dry it’s then time to apply the main hull color, black in this case, and highlight it up.
  • Again, once dry, its time to scrub off the salt. I used an old toothbrush and some warm water for this.
  • Once this is done you have what is pictured above (hopefully ;)).

I have noticed a few deposits of salt still left, so going to do a bit more scrubbing today and then get on with the next stage 😀

Fire Warriors Finished!

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Finished the second lot of 5 Fire Warriors this afternoon, whilst waiting for bits of the Hydra’s to dry, and here they are:

Fire Warriors

Fire Warriors

And here’s a shot with the whole Gang 😀

Fire Warrior Squad

Fire Warrior Squad

Getting so close to my gaming target now, I’m sweating in anticipation(This could be in part to the unusual heatwave we are experiencing in Edinburgh). I have a box of Fire Warriors which should now be ready to pick up and after them all I need is a one more battlesuit. But before that I have the Hydra’s to do, of which I’ll be popping an update up over the weekend…