Reaper's Warlord Figures: Work in Progress

So...while I wait for my Romans and Carthaginians to make it across the pond, I have been working with my new found friend, Reaper Master Series Paint. Of course trying out this paint would only be proper on new figures—so I bought the starter box for Reaper's Warlord and augmented the figures that come in the box with standard bearers and musicians for the factions provided. I took off this week (Thanksgiving week) and have been lazing around the house experimenting with the Reaper Master Series Paint instead of doing yard work (any excuse to avoid yard work is a good one in my book).

NB: These photographs were taken with a Canon XT w/ 50mm Macro in a light tent. The tent was lit from the sides and above by two 150w (equiv) daylight balanced fluorescent lights. The figures were lit by two incandescents, one on each side at about a 45 degree angle. The objective is to provide “flat” light to show off the layered painting technique. They were Photoshopped only to convert from RAW to JPG and reduce the size for uploading to this posting; no other alterations were made.

This is the front of the command group. The castings are pretty well done. Minimum cleanup required. The Triad system is hard at work on the faces, cloth and armor (yes there is a metallic paint Triad). You can see that the leader is taller than the other figures. This is by design. His size is actually a factor in the game.

Here we see the back of the figures. In some ways the back of the leader, Lord Ironraven, is more detailed than the front. All of the @*&%&*!!!! straps for holding the plate armor in place are sculpted.

This close-up of the musician will give you an idea of the detail that is sculpted into these guys. It’s pretty impressive, even for “heroic scale”. You’ll notice that I painted eyes on these (I don't on my historical stuff). They are fantasy figures and the troops (units) are so small at 8-9 figures that I can afford the time and effort. Besides when your army consists of, perhaps, a couple dozen figures at the most in a big game, each figure is out there for everyone to see.

I didn’t put quite as much effort into this one as the leader figure, I still need to go back and touch-up. See where I slopped black paint under the belt? Yikes! That’s what I get for trying to paint under the influence of caffine! The armor needs more shading under in the shadows. It’s particularly noticable under the calf of the grieves. I’m not real happy with the horn either. It needs to be more shiny (but not too much).

Lord Ironraven is obviously in progress. His hair is just blocked in and the spear haft and scabbard aren’t painted yet. If you look closely you’ll see all kinds of errors and touch-ups that need to be corrected. (See the metal bit on the end of the scabbard that I forgot to metalize?) I think the face came out pretty good though. The lighting in the pictures is flat to bring out the shading that the Triad system enables. This face is a good example. I base coated in the darkest color; did the eyes along with the touch-up around them; then the next lightest color for all but the deepest shadows like the cheek recess; then the highlight for the cheek bone, temples, and nose. I have to admit it was pretty easy, technically, but it was mentally exhausting because of the concentration needed for brush control.

Here’re all those blankety-blank straps I was was talking about each one is highlighed and outlined! What a chore, but the result is very nice. The base gament underneath the armor I wanted to look like deer skin and it came out pretty good. I’m not happy with the blue cloth though. I’m going to have to blend a lot more. Since it’s such a prominent feature of the model, I will have to use a wet blending technique. The same is true of the haft of the spear. It’s huge and it used to balance out the pose so it can’t be ignored or given half measure.

Ah well, work continues. The command group is, by far, the most difficult part of this faction (that’s what they call the opposing sides in Warlord). The rank and file are simple tin cans (like the standard bearer) and wear a simple tabbard which will be painted like the hornist’s. The other faction that came in the box is undead. They’re simple skellies with huge swords. They are going to be really, really, easy. Their command group is an armored guy with no face because of his helmet and a vampiress—that will be the challenging figure in that faction. The musician is interesting in that he’s playing a fiddle and the standard bearer is a reaper.

My Game Table on the Cheap

One of the things that I have always wanted was game table. I have a room that was being used for "storage", if you know what I mean. It's big enough to handle a 4x6 table with walking space around all four sides. In the picture below, you can see that I'm using cheap bookcases for pedestals to support the tabletop. I think these are made by Sauder, but to be honest I've had them for so long I really can't be sure. Anyhow, I outlined the table on the floor with masking tape to ensure I got everything aligned right. The boards under the bookcases are plain white, cheap, pine. Their purpose is to keep the bookcases stable on the carpeted floor. You can see that there is a huge amount of storage under this table and in the bookcases.

Here's another view of the same stage of assembly. It gives you a little better idea of the space around the table--not much, but enough.

This next picture is the four bookcases with a 4x6 chunk of plywood on top. This is pretty heavy stuff, 3/4", but it's pretty cheap since it doesn't have to be finished. B-C will work just fine. Most DIY stores will give you one cut for free on every piece of lumber. I had them do it on their big saw to make sure it is straight. After I put the top on the bookcases, I coverd the edge of the plywood with a couple of layers of wide masking tape to prevent picking up splinters. In the picture I've unrolled my Geohex mats, one on top of each other. It's great to be able to store these flat! The Geohex mats are slightly larger than 4x6. That's a good reason to use unfinished ply for the tabletop; it "grips" the underside of the bottom mat and keeps everything from moving as you brush against the overhanging mat fringe.

I want to be able to use the table for other things as well, like my miniatures photography so I also got two 3x4 pressboard sheets. I decided to use two for ease of handling. They go on top when I need the table to sort miniatures or set up my light box for photography. Not shown in this picture are the two $10 metal stools I got from Wal*Mart (which fold).

So there you have it. My game table. Cheap, simple, and easy to disassemble when you need the room for that unexpeceted relative who shows up. The table top and masonite go behind the bookcases which get moved against the wall to make room for the guest air mattress.

Reaper Paint-and-Take & NMM

02297: Kaballah the Colossus is the figure I picked to use for the Paint-and-Take. I highly recommend that, no matter what your skill level, you take part in this if you have the opportunity.

This past weekend I had some free time Saturday morning before setting up a big Napoleonic game at Millennium X in Round Rock, Tx (you can see the pictures here: http://huzzahm10.blogspot.com/). I decide to take advantage of that time to get a little tutorial on painting NMM (Non-Metallic Metal) from the guys at the Reaper booth where they had set up their Paint-and-Take table.

The Paint-and-Take is a way for Reaper to introduce people to their paints, brushes, and miniatures. I had been talking to the Shawn about their "triad" system which matches three colors to provide a base color, deep shadow, and highlight. I have been using various brands of paint like Adikolor and Vallejo, and I use a similar method except that I mix my own to arrive at my own "triad". This isn't a difficult thing to do with a little knowledge of the color wheel and a few tricks like knowing that red and green make gray. However, it is an advantage to have most of the mixing and matching done for you. Furthermore, when painting lots of figures or adding to an existing group of painted figures, having a "triad" provide consistant results.

So, since I have no experience with the Reaper "triads" and no experience with Reaper paints I took my place at the Paint-and-Take. I was instructed to pick a figure and take a seat. There were a buch of different Reaper figures that had been cleaned and primed (white) available. I pick an Arabian fellow that I thought I might actually use sometime in the future and took my seat. Ron, who was conducting the session handed me a "0" brush which was in pretty good shape considering its public use, and bade me to have fun.

I did the typical thing blocking in colors highlighting, and dry brushing to see how well the paints did and I was pretty impressed. The paint has a slightly creamier texture than the Vallejo that I'm used to and it stood up well to extreme thinning (with the tap water available). It also dry-brushed well though I did have to work at getting the brush dry enough.

I had had a conversation with Shawn in the Reaper squad the night before about the various paint sets they were selling and, in particular, one that had caught my eye. It was a set devoted to the technique of using regular flat colors to trick the viewer's eye into thinking that they are seeing shiny metal (this is the same thing that happens when you look at an oil painting--the cover of the latest Reaper catalog is a good example). Shawn was good enough to come over when he saw me at the Paint-and-Take table and give me about twenty minutes (an eternity in a convension venue) of one-on-one instruction in this technique.

The resulting figure is here for you to see. This took about an hour (including the instruction time on NMM). Shawn painted the front of the blade and I emulated his technique on the back. Obviously, this is going to take a lot of practice to perfect and there is just so much one can do in an hour with a single "0" brush. But I'm satisfied that I got a good start. I did buy the set (which now included the superior "Master" paints rather that the original "Pro" paints).

Notice the armor and how the painter tricks the eye into think "metal" with a few colors and skillful placement of highlights and shadows. Examining real world shiny objects and how the light plays on them helps a great deal.

Note that the paints have be replaced with Master series paints. There is a cross reference in the box for the colors used in the in the instructional brochure inside.

Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes

This is an account of my first attempt at the solo adventure The Case of the Pacific Clipper by Dave Arneson written for use with Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes™ by Michael Stackpole. I need to tell you right off the bat that, while this is an older game, it is still being sold by Flying Buffalo, as is this adventure book. Read no further if you have any intentions of playing this adventure yourself. However, if you are curious about just how bad a player I can be, read on and you’ll not be disappointed! But before I start in on recounting the play itself, let me give you a little background on my personal history with this particular game.

A few years ago I became interested in role playing games (no, not those kind, the kind you play with paper, pencil and a few oddly shaped dice!). As I started playing, first GURPS™, then Dungeons & Dragons™ I got interested in older games and games that weren’t fantasy based. One of the genres in which I am always interested is spy stories. I’m also interested in pulp fiction. I guess early exposure to Bill Barnes and his airmen hooked me on that. So I started collecting old games more as a collecting hobby than as a player. MSPE was only one of many games that I acquired over a short period of time. I looked through it and put it on the shelf with dozens and dozens of other games.

Fast forward to the present. In my never-ending quest for reading material while traveling on business, I chance to pick up Tunnels & Trolls 7th Edition™. When I read through the rules I was quite taken with the simplicity and presentation. The tone was light and fun which hit me like a breath of fresh air after laboring to learn lots of detailed rules in the two afore mentioned fantasy games. As I did my usual web search for additional material and as I collected several out of print solo and guided adventures, I discovered that T&T has a modern variant—you guessed it: Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes™!

I quickly sought out and acquired almost everything that was printed for MSPE which includes the solo adventure: Mugshots #1: The Case of the Pacific Clipper, Mugshots #2: Taking Care of Business, The Adventure of the Jade Jaguar, and the guided adventure Stormhaven. The only thing I’m missing is the Raid on Rajallapour solo adventure. These sat on my bookshelf until this weekend. I’m preparing for yet another business trip and with a convention to go to in a couple of months, I don’t want to spend too much money while I’m gone. I’ve decided to take MSPE with me and try out this solo adventuring. People with whom I’ve spoken, have praised Tunnels & Trolls™ solos, after all. Since I also had some appointments to keep this weekend that were going to keep me from painting the figures I need for the convention, I thought I’d take a few minutes to collect the materials that I’ll need and take a moment to look through them.


That quick look, turned into playing a couple of turns which turned into a short game (I told you I’m not very good at this yet!). So here is the game that I played—as short as it was. The basic structure of these solo adventures is based on “paragraphs”. A passage in the story has a number, tells a bit of the story (including combat and skill tests), and presents options which will lead to other paragraphs. Success or failure determines which options, if any, you may select.


The prologue to the adventure describes the Eureka detective agency in San Francisco where I work. The phone rings; it’s Mr. Grooch of Pan Global Airways seeking to employ an investigator for the airline. I elected to meet with Mr. Grooch to find out more about the job he wanted done. After taking the ferry to Oakland an then a trolley to Alameda, I arrived at the Pan Global offices.


Ushered into Mr. Grooch’s office, he explained how several mysterious incidents had occurred involving Pan Global Airways flying boats in the Pacific over the past year. The latest incident was the disappearance of one of the airline’s employees on Midway island. Mr. Grooch asked me to find out everything that I could and then get on the next flight to Midway. His secretary provided me with dossiers on the passengers and crew which I read and digested in short order.
I then decided to nose around the sea plane base for awhile. I was admitted to the base by the guard and tool up a position where I was able to observe the clipper. After a couple of hours, I saw two men slip past the guard and disappear into the plane.


Following them, I climbed the ladder (a level 1 Luck roll) to the flight deck where I saw the two men tinkering with navigation console. Unfortunately they see me too. I try to get the jump on them but fail (level 2 Speed roll) to get the free attack. They both jump me. One of the brutes is pretty good with his fists (Pugilism skill 1 add) and has brass knuckles (2D6 + 3 adds) while the other has a rather large wrench (aka, club 3D6 plus 1 add). This means that these mooks will be rolling 5D6 + 5 adds. I’m defending myself with only my fists (1D6) plus my personal Hand to Hand adds of +7. This one-sided fight goes very badly and the bad guys end up scoring a total of 27 to my paltry 11. The difference is taken from my CON (which was 16) leaving 0.
The game ends with the case unsolved and my body being discovered floating in San Francisco bay.


This whole experience occurred in eleven paragraphs and it only took about 15-20 minutes to actually play. Of course, there was the time needed to look up the rules on combat to make sure I got it right and the time to generate the character. All together, though, the time spent was about an hour.

I guess the most surprising thing about the game is how I was drawn into the story from the beginning. Even though I failed miserably, at my first attempt, I can’t wait to get to my hotel room tomorrow night and have another crack at it. I’m also impressed with the combat. In truth, it was so quick and simple that it doesn’t get in the way of the story and there’s virtually no pause to figure out who did what to whom. That’s my first impression, anyhow. I only had one skill test and one combat. After I play again, I will have a much better idea about how the game mechanics play.


As for the adventure, I can say that the writing and presentation are top notch! Besides the solo adventure, it also contains a GM section including stats for the NPCs, maps, and GM guidance. Solo players are warned not to read that section if they intend to play the game, so I haven’t. After I have a couple of cracks at this solo, I’ll read that section as this adventure plot has all the makings for a great GM guided game.

Pirates of the Spanish Main RPG

So one of the new games I picked up in San Antonio this past week was Pirates of the Spanish Main from Wizkids written by the Savage Worlds folks at Pinnacle. It's loosely (very loosely) based on the collectible miniatures game by the same name from Wizkids. It's certainly not a historical simulation by any stretch.

Being based on the Savage Worlds game engine, the mechanics are pretty straight forward. Actions attempted have a Target Number of four (4) which must be equaled or exceeded on a Trait die. Trait dice range from a d4 (very low odds of sucess) to a d20 (extremely high odds). Player characters (PCs) and important non-player characters (NPCs) get to roll a "Wildcard" d6 allong with their Trait die and take the higher of the two. Of course, the die roll can be modified by the GM for circumstances or by the game rules governing the situation. Trait and damage rolls are "open ended". That is, if the highest possible number is rolled on a die than that die gets rolled again and added to the first. If it happens again, then roll and and add again. Keep doing this until the maximum number doesn't come up (still add that number though).

Pretty darn simple mechanics, I'd say! Although I've yet to have an opportunity to play a game using the Savage Worlds mechanics, rules just don't get much simpler than this! Judging by the apparent popularity of Savage Worlds, a lot of people think so too. Ok, so if the basic mechanics can be explained in one paragraph. and Pirates of the Spanish Main does it in two pages, albeit more throughly than I have, what's in rest of this 255 page, $39.99 book?

Fluff! But it's great fluff! The sort of background and detail that on can really sink one's teeth into. On the other hand, there's not so much that it's overwhelming. However, its presentation order left me somewhat confused at first. The rule book launches the reader into character trait definition including modifiers before the game mechanics are explained. The result is that neophyte gamer has no idea what he's reading about until page 71. Much of the information before that is without applicable context and therefore cannot be easily retained. A gamer will read the first seventy pages, then read the games rules section, and then have to go back and reread the first seventy pages! This sort of fundamental mistake is typical of writers who know their subject too well and play testers who are too familiar with the game mechanics. As it is, the game rules are located between the chapter entitled The Age of Piracy and the one entitled Life at Sea. Did the publishers just make careless mistake dropping the game mechanics in the middle of the background material?

As poorly laid out as the book is for beginners, the information itself is valuable and well written. Kudos to using a type font big enough to be read without a magifying glass! I guess having the space to use reasonable sized print comes from having a simple game system that needs far less explanation than others.

All in all, though, I think that I will enjoy playing this game. I'm certainly enjoying reading the material now that I've figured out how the book is (dis)organized.

N.B.
I have Savage Worlds but I didn't remember it. I read the book when I first bought it, but haven't looked at it since. It is laid out exactly the same way. Apparently Pirates of the Spainsh Main just used the same basic structure and table of contents and filled in the pirate stuff. It would have been a good plan if Savage Worlds was, itself, laid out in a order condusive to learning. I find this sort of problem pretty common in RPG writing...come to think of it, this problem is pervasive in the game industry as a whole. Someone needs to send all these writers, proofers, and editors through a Technical Writing course to learn how to write instruction manuals, which, after its all said and done, is what game rule books really are.

New and Varied Interests

I guess I'm an eclectic gamer. I seem to be able to get interested in just about anything I pick up in a game store. Last month I went to visit my gaming buddy, Ed, In San Antonio. He had arranged for a game in Houston to play Wellington Rules; the game we intend to GM at Millennium X in Austin come November.

While we were playing, we also were scouting out the stock in Little Wars, the store that had graciously given us the space to play. Ed spotted some good looking 1:144 model aeroplanes and brought then to my attention. They turned out to be the models used for playing Wings of War the WWI flying game by Andrea Angiolino and Piergiorgio Paglia published by Fantasy Flight Games. We snapped up the planes that Little Wars had and a copy of Wings of War: Watch your Back and Wings of War: Burning Drachens.

It didn't take us long to figure out how to play. The mechanics are quite simple; soon Ed and I were circling around each other laying movement cards out in rapid succession. Whenever one or the other found an aeroplane in his arc of fire "Thaka-thatka-thaka!" was heard and damage taken by the unlucky (or in my case, inept) pilot.

It took us one game and we graduated to the optional special damage rules. These provided more color to the game. There are effects that result from taking a damage card with a special icon like engine damage, stuck rudder, etc.

I didn't mean to turn this into a review; there are plenty of those out on the net already. I meant only to convey how rapidly Ed and I were sucked into this game and how much fun it is.

Speaking of fun, while I was in San Antonio, Ed insisted that I take some issues of Dork Tower that he had laying around. I, of course, was aware of Kovalic's art and the comic but really hadn't paid much heed to it. The comics were free and so I started to read. This is funny stuff and very much adult humor. I mean adult in that it deals with grown-ups like me dealing who are afflicted with being gamers interfacing with the rest of the world. It's sort of a Dilbert for gamers.

So, after the trip to SA, I find myself in a game store, Kingmaker Games, in Augusta GA and I espy Kobolds Ate My Baby! Super Deluxx Edition by Chris O'Neill and Dan Landis. It's illustrated by John Kovalic and published by Ninth Level Games. This small hardbound book is only $14.99 and features Kovalic's cartoons (so it must be good!) so it went home with me. Just readin the rule book was hilarious, I can't wait to introduce it to my group.

Now I find myself back in San Antonio visiting Dragon's Lair with Ed who points out Dork Tower issue number thirty-six. It contains an adventure for KAMB!SDE (their abbreviation!) entitled Vosh, Slod and Bail go to White Castle. I won't reveal too much of this (for obvious reasons) but suffice it to say that King Torg (All hail king Torg!) sends his top three minions to find the mythical "baby" burgers supposedly located in the white castle in the land New Jersey.

I picked a couple of other new things too, but I'll save those for a later post.

Hello

Hello all,

This is a place where I talk about the various things that interest me in the hobby of gaming. I game whenever I get the opportunity. I play all sorts of games: RPGs, Historical Miniatures, card games, board games... You name it and I'll give a go.

Anyhow, for time to time I like to talk about what I'm doing and why. Comments, snide remarks, and heated debate are all welcome here. You will find that, for the most part, I've got a pretty thick skin and I won't shy away from an argument.

So that's about the whole of it. Just a place on the net to babble.