Looking That Gift Horse Right In the Eye

A painting contest... a video contest... and now another opportunity!
Faeit, one of the big 40k blogs out there, is going to be hosting guest articles on their site! The only limitation to this is that it be related to wargaming, and it sounds like 40k is preferred. Still, what an opportunity to get my name out there!

I had a several ideas jotted down in my notebook for future posts, and I think a few are unique enough to warrant a spot on the blog. I won't give too much away, but my top three ideas are

• Plato and Painting Theory
• A humorous look at what I've learned after a year of wargaming
• Terrain On a Budget
• A guide for creating a unique gaming table

"But wait," I hear you say, "you haven't even decided on a table yet!"

And that's where you're mildly wrong! After a lot of searching through images and watching videos, I think I have an idea that will allow me to create a table that allows me to integrate terrain directly in to the table (without just having a building awkwardly sitting on top of it) while still allowing me to keep it modular and relatively easy to transport.

I'll be back another day with some sketches and ideas, but for now I'm glad I can let you know that the table has been moved up to an amorphous idea!

I'll be honest, I'm not sure I can handle many more opportunities. The past few days have been so exciting, today doubly so because as of today, I've gone an entire month without missing a single daily blog post. On my second week I was feeling a bit overwhelmed about producing about 350 more posts. But here I am, pumped to see where the blog goes and ready to go another 11 months without missing a post.

As always, thanks to those of you who have stuck with me as I fumbled around, and I hope you'll stick with me as things continue to improve and bring you great, geeky content on a daily basis. 

See you tomorrow... and I think you'll see me too!

So Many Contests!

Yesterday I talked about the Wyrd Miniatures contest I will be entering. Today I found another contest that I have a hard time saying "no" to.

MiniWarGaming.com posted a contest today, and I really want in.



The rules are pretty basic: make an epic wargaming video. If you win, you get a huge amount of to-be-announced prizes, plus a $500 shopping spree in their store.

The categories are:

• Battle Reports
• How To
• Short Film
• Stop Motion
• Machinima
• Everything Else

The only requirement seems to be that the video is good, maybe even epic. Easy enough, right? Ha! Have you met a geek before? We are created to be obsessive about our hobbies and we can't help but throw ourselves in to something we care about. People will go nuts with their videos!

But despite my odds, I really want in on this thing. I don't have a dynamite idea that will secure 1st place yet, but I think I could make it happen. I have a good group of people I can bounce ideas off of, a supportive wife, and an appropriately obsessive personality that will let met work on both contests without abandoning my other responsibilities.

I'm off to the drawing boards now. The ideas so far are

• Live-action battle report using real people
• Music video
• Humorous stop-action film - "I hate my player" support group for models who... well, hate the people who play them.
• full-blown 3d CGI special effects spectacular with voice-acting from Patrick Stewart, Samuel L. Jackson and Morgan Freeman!!!

The last one may not be doable before April 30th, but the other ideas are workable! Let me know what you guys think, and hit me up with any ideas you may have. After all, if I win I won't be the only one getting prizes...

See you tomorrow!

A Humble Hope For Help

So... I generally avoid using the Blog(s) for things like this, but wide nets need to be wide.

I'm looking to get in touch with people in the book-publishing business, specifically video-gaming related stuff but really at this level any inroad would be a good inroad; but there's a pretty wide disconnect between the digital press world and the print world, so... don't really have any idea how to do that.

BUT I'm betting I've got at least a few friends/followers/fans/colleagues reading these things who might have some tidbit of advice/direction/access to offer; so if that describes you please feel free to pop said info into the comments here (or, if you prefer, a way in which I could contact you to get it.) Any little bit helps, honestly :)

Thanks you.

Enemy

hat-tip: Polygon

Below, video of U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee. Mr. Alexander's stated position therein: "I think video games is (sic) a bigger problem than guns, because video games affect people." Alexander is known as a "moderate" and "bipartisan" within the Republican Party - which frankly says more  about the Party (i.e. you can be this backward and still not be backward enough) than it does about him.

This would be the honorable Senator's website, while this would be the section for contacting his political operation. In case any fellow Americans would like to (respectfully and non-abusively) offer him their thoughts on the matter.

Oh, and Tennessee-based readers? He has to run for re-election next year. His recently-announced likely opponent is named Larry Crim, whose website can be found HERE. Just sayin'.

Can Dreams Come True?

Several days ago I made a post about my goals as a painter. Well today I found an opportunity to pursue one of those goals!
One of the forums I frequent is WAMP. It's a well-known place dedicated to painters, and because of that status the website gets a lot of unique opportunities. One such opportunity comes in the way of painting contests sponsored by miniatures companies.

Today I found a contest I'd been hoping to see for several months. This one is hosted by Wyrd Miniatures, and it's a company I've had my eye on.

As the name suggests, Wyrd Miniatures produces some unconventional games. Their original miniatures game, Malifaux, has since spawned a board game called Puppet Wars which uses those same characters as toys.

I won't lie, Wyrd produces some twisted-looking models. Some of them are ripped right out of Tim Burton's fantasies:

While others are almost Wonderlandian:



While I'm not the sort of guy who would get Cthulhu tattooed on his back, I will admit that the miniatures fascinate me. Some of the models are a bit extreme for me, but overall I think they're very well done.

So when I saw the contest announcement, I knew I was in. So that's why I'm announcing my entry here. Now, no matter what, I have to enter. And if I don't? Well I guess I'll giveaway a painted Wyrd model, so I'm stuck painting one no matter what!

So expect an update about once a week until that March 24th deadline approaches. I feel like I should go big on this one and make a full-blown diorama, but that may be a bit much. We'll have to see what happens as the clock ticks down!

See you tomorrow!

Feeling Sick and I Still Feel Good

When I started this blog-a-day thing, I wasn't sure how it'd go. Friends had been nagging me last year about posting more content.

"It's coming" I'd say, and that was the truth. I had content to write, but I don't think anyone would want to read it. But you guys have shown me that maybe I do have something worth saying.



My viewer count has been pretty consistent. If I solely post to my Facebook page I get about 20 views. It's not amazing, but it's still exciting.

On posts where I link it across multiple forums, such as my Kraken progress, I hit about 60. I still struggle to get the word out because I have a hard time just slapping my links across the internet.

But overall, this had been a great start to my journey. Remember how I talked about how the flu may hang me up and get you guys a giveaway? Thanks to the handy-dandy Blogger app, I can talk to you guys in between bouts of sleeping, nausea, and reading the latest Brent Weeks novel.

So thanks the encouragement while as I approach the one month mark of my blog-a-day challenge. I can't wait to share all the content I have planned, so keep checking back everyday.

See you tomorrow!

Dreaming Big - Building a Gaming Table

Several months ago, a friend introduced me to the idea of Realm of Battle Gameboards. Essentially, these are 2x2 boards with grass and hills build in to them. They're great because they are an easy-to-store gaming area that adds a greater sense of immersion than a green felt cloth draped over a table.

Since $300 is a bit high, we started talking about "do it yourself" options. We found several guides, but it never left the "what if" stage for us. However, since then I've always dreamed of having an elegant board to play games on.
The problem with a project of that size is that you need real motivation to get it done. My game group has more than enough terrain pieces already, so I never felt compelled to push ahead with a huge project like this. But with my Coat of Paint BatReps begging me to be made, I find that I have a great excuse to finally plunge ahead and make some great looking terrain for my at-home use!

As always, I'm stuck on the direction I want to take. Making several 2x2 boards similar to Realm of Battle is the easiest route. With that I can do hills, deserts, barren wastelands, etc., which will accommodate almost any sort of extra terrain I want to put on top of it. However, easy isn't always fun.

I've also seen people go a bit more extreme, with things like trenches or rivers that span across several boards. The best part about these is that natural geographical features are integrated in to the terrain, so you don't have a piece of river terrain sitting on top of grass. There's nothing wrong with that, but preformed features add quite a bit to the immersion.

The final option is a static table. This is great because it's the ultimate immersion. In addition to buildings being built in to the table and looking natural, you can add so many tiny details that you wouldn't have otherwise. Here's a jaw-dropping example of a board that could still be modular, but requires no extra terrain and is really made to look one way.




If storage weren't an option, I would love to go this route. Unfortunately I have two kids and a wife who won't give me her half of the closet, so I think a modular table with separate terrain is my current limitation for what I can keep at home. One day I think I'd like to build something extreme for our gaming group, but for the purposes of having batreps at my house, it just isn't meant to be.

So now it's a question of what sort of terrain I want. I'm thinking of going industrial, since it would be usable with both Warhammer 40k and Warmachine. There's a lot of quality tutorials for building ruined buildings and whatnot, plus it would be easier for me to tell a story with buildings as opposed to forests. Plus I just like fighting over a ruined city more than a random place in the wilderness. If I were a WW2 gamer I may change my mind, but I want to take full advantage of my sci-fi/steampunk armies.

So at this point, I'm open to ideas about what people like to see in their city terrain. A large ruined building is the go-to answer, but I want something more than that. My gut reaction is to build a series of buildings that are progressively more destroyed as they go. However, I don't like moving around huge objects to get to the action.

Blowing holes in a bunch of walls would be the easiest solution, but I want more terrain features than just buildings. I plan on making sandbag walls and rubble piles, but surely there's more I could use! So let me know what you guys would like to see in the batreps, or just some objects that belong in a city warzone.

See you tomorrow!

Coat of Paint Battle Reports - Which Style?

With the possibility of a camera in the near future, I thought it was time to talk about the details of my Coat of Paint Battle Reports.

When I got in to wargaming, I spent a lot of time on YouTube and forums looking for ways to improve. After a few days, I started seeing people throwing the term "bat reps" around. After sheepishly asking what they meant, they explained battle reports to me.

The term is pretty telling. A battle report will usually be a written retelling of a game with photos taken of key events. It usually gives a turn-by-turn analysis (usually glancing over the inconsequential details), including die rolls, unit movement, how they interacted with terrain, etc. Here's a basic example.

My preferred battle report style, however, is a full-blown video report that does the same thing. These are a bit more diverse, and I find some methods better than others. Most video bat reps use a banter style report, which basically puts you in the room as the game is played. It's entertaining for people who have time for a longer video, enjoy hearing the players banter, and are knowledgeable enough in the game that they don't need explanations of the more intricate rules of the game.

Here is the best example of such a style. This has a much higher production value than you'll usually see because this is done by a big name channel during a tournament's final match. Typically you'll see the full duration of a game, with edits done only during long stretches of "dead air."



On the other end is a very concise style that better resembles the written style. This is my favorite kind because it gives the commentator a lot of control over the video. Large snippets can be cut down, movement can be sped up, crucial explanations can be given, and for the most part it allows a 3 hour game to be finished in 10-20 minutes.

The down side to these is that you're being read a script and given the facts. It also puts a lot of pressure on the commentator, because you can't just record a game, edit out a few minutes of unnecessary content, and post it. You need to record the game so that you know everything that happened when you watch it (which means explaining every action out loud), then you need to go back, edit the video down to the bare essentials, and then make sure you adequately explain what's happening without the on-screen action getting away from you.

Here are two examples. The first is from MiniWargaming.com which I think popularized this style. The second is by WarGamerGirl, who has taken MWG's style and pushed it beyond its limits.

WarGamerGirl's style is a bit longer, but tracking the damage and such is worth the extra time.

So you can see how difficult it can be to get these things off the ground. I'm still undecided about which style I'll use. One is quick to post but long to see, the other is quick and easy to digest, but takes a lot of work. I imagine I'll test both and see which I prefer, so be sure to give me feedback before and during the process. I may even try a few written ones, but I find them dreadfully boring to read, so that may be a "for emergencies only" style.

And that's the state of the bat reps so far. I'll be back with final details once I figure out the specifics, but I thought you guys would be interested to see what's coming up.

See you tomorrow!

The Great Rayzini Predicts Gatecrash

Gatecrash releases for Magic tomorrow. Odds are good that I won't make a release event, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on the different guilds and how I think they'll stack up in Limited play.
Keep in mind that I'm not a Magic pro, and I've never tried making predictions before. This is a new process for me, but I hope something valuable can be found here.

Orzhov - B/W
Orzhov is an interesting guild. They combine the lifegain of white with the slow ability damage of black, and combine them to create a potential snowball effect. Take a look:

I had to check this, but you can only activate each ability once per spell. That's the downside. However, Orzhov is swimming in cheap spells (1-4 cost), so casting a 2 drop on turn 5 may not put you as far behind as usual.

In constructed play, I think this will be a very powerful mechanic. If you can establish yourself with a few Extorts and then start casting cheap control spells, you can slowly whittle your opponent while creating a cushion for yourself.

In limited, I'm not so sure. Limited doesn't have as much card interaction, which is to say that most damage is dealt by turning creatures sideways. That means that every turn, you'll likely have creatures swinging for your face. That leaves you with a few options:

1. Pack some removal spells and use them wisely. I'd suggest either splashing blue for this, or go WUb or BUw and go for heavy control with some light Extort damage.
2. Lots of creatures with big butts that your opponents can't attack through. If you sit behind a wall and just let your opponent bleed out, be ready for everyone to hate you for taking so long.
3. Play BW aggro and use Extort as a convenient ability when you can afford it. This may be your best bet in limited, as you'll rarely have wasted mana.

I think Orzhov can do well with number 3. It's a shame that you won't get to use your shiny new guild ability as a main strategy, but an extra 1-2 damage each turn can be enough to sway the game.

Dimir - BU

Tricky old Dimir. This time they're promoting recycling in the form of their Cipher ability.

I'll break it down. You cast the original spell, and then exile it. You then choose a creature and encode it with the exiled card. When the creature deals combat damage to a player, you can cast that encoded card for free. Keep in mind that the spell is considered being cast, so it can still be countered. But still, if you have an unblockable creature, you're casting the spell every turn until they can draw some removal.

The thing I like about this is that it makes blue very splashable. Since the guild mechanic lies in instants and sorceries, you are free to build your creature base however you want. You could get away with only a handful of Cipher cards, and you'd rarely be disappointed when drawing them. And considering the cost to cast most of them, you should consider only bringing the ones that can serve as a win condition (see Stolen Identity above).

I'm having a hard time deciding how well this guild will do. The mechanic seems built for limited since you will be winning by dealing combat damage. At the same time, the cards are heavily costed because of the Cipher ability. If your opponents catch on to your plan, they will save their removal until you get a creature with Cipher on it.

Fortunately those spells will be limited, but you run a high risk of wasting mana on an overpriced spell, and odds are very good that you'll only cast the Cipher version of it once. To that end, make your Ciphers matter. Cheap is safe, but it will also likely be a wasted card slot.

If you're going Dimir, remember to pick creatures that will be able to deal damage in the mid-to-late game. Having a swarm of 2 or 3 cast creatures won't last very long when your opponent is swinging through every turn while you try to ramp up to 4 or 5 mana. Plan to win on turn 5 or 6, not turn 3.

Along with that, pay attention to your mana. This is a time where missing a mana drop on turns 1-4 can be devastating, because you're giving your opponent one more turn to get set up for your big spells. Use dual lands if you get them. Gates may be a way to go, but I still see them as missing a drop that turn, so have care with how many you take.


Gruul - GR
Gruul say "RAWR!" and that's how they want to be played. Gruul love being turned sideways and beating something in the face. To that end, their mechanic holds zero surprise:


I like Gruul. They're straightforward, and they make your opponent respond to you. You either play a creature that's made to do damage, or you use Bloodrush and fuse them with one of your own creatures for one turn. If you're a newer player, Gruul isn't a bad way to go simply because you'll ask yourself two basic questions:

• Are my creatures big enough to attack and do something to my opponent? If yes, attack.
• Can I attack, cast Bloodrush and then do something? If yes, attack.

That's not to say that Gruul will be simple to play. When do you pay 3 mana for a one-time boost vs paying 2 more mana and having them for good. Neither option is wrong, but it's up to you to determine which is most advantageous both initially and in the long run.

Bloodrush is a fantastic combat trick, and I think it's the guild that will elicit the most profanity from its opponents. Like Dimir, you have some cards that are usually overcosted by 1 mana to make up for their incredible ability. Unlike Dimir, you'll only be playing one of them, so that price can be hefty.

Here's how I see it. With Bloodrush, each creature becomes a beatstick on the field or an uncounterable creature-pump in your hand. You could, if you chose, play nothing but creatures and still do decently. Why play a sorcery that has no chance of becoming a creature?

I wouldn't recommend it, but that's what I love about Bloodlust. Every creature in your hand can be put on the field to pummel your opponent, or reserved and used to save a creature from death, or pump that 2/2 that your opponent doesn't block.

I included the two cards above to illustrate the good and bad of the guild. Initially it seems great no matter what. If you Bloodrush the Ogre on turn 5 or 6, you'll probably be doing it on an already beefy creature. If you can give +3/+3 and double strike do something that's at least 3/3,  you're dealing 12 damage and probably ending the game. But if you don't, you're left with 1 less card and no creature to show for it. And in a deck that will rarely be holding cards, you could be left empty-handed with some (below) average creatures that your opponent can deal with.

A problem also comes in the form of "chump blocking." Unless you have kept your opponent on the ropes all game, there's a good chance they'll have a few creatures to absorb your damage. If your 3/3 is blocked by a 1/4, are you really going to waste a 6 mana creature to kill it?

And that's the fine line that Gruul needs to walk. Your best cards are meant for the late game. But if you wait until then, you'll have a hard time justifying using Bloodrush when you would probably be better served by playing it in creature-form.

Make sure you're setting yourself up for a big finish. You'll be doing chunks of damage here and there, but in the end you'll probably be taking your opponent from 10 to 0 in a single turn. Keep the pressure on your opponent, and remember that any creature you leave back to block is less damage that you're pushing through. And with minimal defensive tricks, that's a dangerous strategy to attempt.

I think Gruul will do well against opponents who can't keep up with them. They'll be able to outrun Orzhov, and will have enough tricks to stop any Dimir creature that isn't unblockable.

Boros - RW
Ah Boros, the guild I learned Magic with. I'll skip the prolonged nostalgia and jump right in to their very flavorful mechanic:


At first glance, the mechanic seems amazing. Limited loves attacking creatures, and Boros gets even better because of it. Attacking with 2 other creatures gives you a boost that is way above the cards mana cost, and none of the cards seem overcosted because of it.

However, this isn't battle-cry. The benefit goes to that creature alone, leaving your other creatures in the cold. On one hand, it makes most of your creatures a good draw no matter what turn it is. On the other hand, this mechanic makes removal spells incredibly potent.

Let's look at an idea scenario. Turn 1 Boros Elite, Turn 2 Daring Skyjek, Turn 3 _____. That means that these creatures won't be getting their Battalion benefit until turn 4. Until then, you have to sit idly by while your opponent attacks you knowing that you wouldn't dare block and let a creature die.

Then on turn 4 you're ready to attack. But at the end of your main phase, your opponent announces something like these:


That means that you are either swinging into their untouched mass of creatures with a 3/1 and maybe a 3/3, or you're waiting until turn 5 or 6 to attack with 3 or 4 cheap creatures. I don't like it.

Boros is a good mix of red and white. Cheap, aggressive creatures are great looking, but the Battalion mechanic requires 3 of them to attack to really let them shine. And even if you get 3 attacking, odds are against you ending combat with all of them alive.

Against slow decks like Dimir, you can get a strong lead if you don't miss a drop. Just make sure you pack a strong finisher for turn 4 or 5, and plenty of ways to get their creatures out of combat.


Simic - UG
UG? More like UG - LY, and they don't have no alibi mechanic!


But uh... they sure are awesome.

Let me get this out of the way - I think Simic are the nastiest guild in Ravnica. They're a bunch of mad scientists sitting around and turning everything in to one, big Lovecraftian mess. That being said, I love this mechanic.

At first glance I was underwhelmed. Eventually everything will max itself, because you can only have so many creatures that are bigger than something with 1 or 2 counters on it.

But then I realized that it's based on power or toughness. That means that your 1/1 with two counters on it can get one more when your 1/4 defender hits the field. This guild just doesn't seem like it can have bad draws as long as you don't have an empty field.

And the colors for it are just right. Green is all about boosting, and there are several ways to make creatures even bigger when they hit the field. Blue loves control and card advantage, so you can find several ways to get another counter on everything you control.

Let's go through a hypothetical early game, assuming every creature you play has Evolve.

1. 1/1 (0 counters)
2. 2/1 (0) 1/1 (1)
3. 3/3 (0) 2/1 (1) 1/1 (2)
4. 1/4 (0) 3/3 (1) 2/1 (2) 1/1 (3)

On turn four, you are swinging with a 4/4, 4/3, and 4/4. That's insane and a bit unfair.

As always, removal hurts this deck. But with evolve, everything is basically the same. Your card from turn 1 and turn 3 look the same right now, so the only way to impact this deck is heavy spot removal or mass removal.

I think Simic is the guild to be. They can get some damage through in the early game, have beefy enough creatures for mid-range, and since you're green you can stick a few big finishers in for good measure (and more Mutation triggers!).

So that's my amateur predictions for tomorrow. I'll be keeping my eye on the reports to see how I did, but I have no doubt that my Simic prediction is pretty good. Let me know what you think, and if you go tomorrow be sure to let me know how your guild performed.

See you tomorrow!

Your Daily Reminder That Ralph Nader Is a Terrible Human Being

BTW, have you watched our New Episode yet?

Anyway... Ralph Nader - the man who helped give you 8 years of the George W. Bush presidency - has declared "violent" video-game producers to be "Electronic child molesters."

Screw you very much, Ralph.

Everyone Loves a Rant

I really wanted to paint today. But since our furnace was being replaced and the house never got above 50 degrees, I thought it best not to completely ruin a model with paint splatters. Instead I decided to assemble some Grey Knights that have been sitting around my shelf for awhile. And boy oh boy, did they remind me of what I hate most about this hobby...

Freaking. Mold. Lines.




Here's a quick rundown on mold lines. When dealing with anything made of plastic, odds are that the piece was made from two different molds that were pressed together. The result is similar to trying to put pressure on a Sloppy Joe that's just a little too full.



The plastic squishes out between the two molds, leaving a super fine line of plastic around the majority of the model.

The resulting mess is then left for me to clean up. That may not seem so bad in theory, but if you're trying to cut a straight line across a surface that's not straight, the process can end with gouges, nicks, or an uneven surface.

At a tabletop distance (i.e. more than a foot away), you can barely see the work when the gouges are filled in and the model is painted. Nobody cares, because it's an inconsequential thing, and I only see it because I'm 6" from the problem when it happens. But for those antagonizing ten minutes when you're trying to get rid of a 1/2" line that refuses to succumb to your hobby knife, it's the worst thing in the world.

And that's what my day looked like during my down time. Granted my job was still made worse by the cold because my joints stiffened, and being cold gives me a record-breaking lack of tolerance for small, frustrating things. But still, the fact that I spend nearly as much time scraping spindly little lines off the model as will I actually painting them is ridiculous.

I cleaned the parts for 5 multi-part models today, and I probably wasted 2 hours doing it. The worst part is that they aren't even done; I still have all their decorative pieces to cut off the sprue and get cleaned up. And those are nice and brittle, so I can look forward to a super-glue-and-green-stuff-a-thon when I get to those.

The worst part is that there's nothing that can be done. It's like wanting to go to a tournament at the local gaming shop, knowing you'll be dealing with... the smell.



If you want to enjoy part of it, you have to deal with all of it.

So there's my rant for the month. I'll be back with something a bit nicer sometime tomorrow. Until then, I'm putting out the offer of free painting services in exchange for completely cleaning the mold lines off my models. I kid you not.

See you tomorrow... if my house doesn't burn down from me taking a blowtorch to anything I see with even a hint of a mold line on it.

Kraken Ain't Easy

I came down from my euphoria and found ways to improve the Kraken's base.

When discussing terrain and basing, I often reference telling a story. I don't just want it to look good, I want things to have a reason for being there. So when I looked at this, I couldn't come up with a reason for it looking the way it did.

From a distance, it's hard to tell the green stuff is supposed to be grass. It's just too fine, and almost looks like the stuff leftover from mowing the lawn. That's not to say the material is bad, but it just doesn't work on its own. It was also far too sporadic; the area is supposed to look somewhat unkempt, but the way the patches were laid out looked too planned. Real grass grows until it has a reason to stop.

The water, while good looking, was too flat. I don't mean that I needed to create ripples - instead, there needed to be more than just water and a bank to make up the mini swamp. It felt like it was trapped between being a newly-formed puddle, or something that had been there for awhile.

To fix the grass, I started off by adding some static grass. Rather than being miniscule green cubes, this stuff looks like actual blades of grass. I didn't take it to the edge of the green turf; instead, I wanted everything to coalesce from the edge of the base. To better achieve that, I added some of the turf closer to the edge, and put it around the swamp bank. Rather than looking like grass was growing unevenly for no reason, now things started looking like the base was ripped straight from the world.




The pond was a simple fix. If I had my way, I'd turn back time and add a small log (i.e. a stick from outside) to the water. Instead I opted to add a very simple piece that was a 100% improvement. I took 3 pieces of paperclip, painted them green, and added a bit of epoxy to the ends. When they're dry they'll be painted brown to look like cattails. Now it's clear that this bit of swamp has been here awhile, and helps to add a bit more depth to the Kraken.


I really like how the base has come together. You'll get to see the finished cattails in the gallery, but I think this will be my last blog post on the subject. I've had a blast putting my process into writing - it became a much more cerebral experience, and I feel like I was able to make more direct decisions about what I wanted to do because I knew I'd have to tell you all about it. I'd like to do this again during my next big project, so I hope this hasn't been too much of a bore. But thank you for being a part of this process with me; it was great to share more than the end product of a project.

See you tomorrow!

Wonderful 101

Well! "Wonderful 101" is undoubtedly the most "video-game-ish" looking video-game I've seen in quite sometime. I run hot or cold on strategy games, but I'm damn inclined to pick this up...

ALSO: Brand-new episode went up today, so go watch!



This was announced at today's "Nintendo Direct" briefing, which also included the unsurprising (but never the less welcome) news of a new 3D Mario, Mario Kart and Smash Bros. to be shown off at E3 in June. Also shown off: Another "Epic Yarn" installment, this time starring Yoshi, an HD remake of "Wind Waker" and "Mother 2" coming to the (Japanese) WiiU Virtual Console.

EPISODE 81: "Let This Be The End"

New episode, now available on Blip:

Our subject this week (inspired in part by Mr. Croshaw) is whether or not we really, really need yet another generation of new individual consoles...

Take it away, Liam Neeson

It's (possibly) done! These aren't the gallery photos, but I was too excited to wait.

Here's a closeup of the piece he's standing on. I built it up to be more exciting than it is, but I had the idea to use it I was unequivocally excited to see it done. The piece itself comes from another Privateer Press model known as eButcher, which is likewise a piece he stands on.

The Kraken is from one of four main armies from Warmachine. The other three armies are Cygnar (blue), Menoth (white), and Khador (red). Yes, I tricked myself in to painted Khador once again, but it was more than worth it!

After the glue dried, I sat back, put my hands behind my head, and took a deep breath. This model was the biggest largest single undertaking I've had as a painter. It was big, it had a lot of story that could be told, and it was up to me to do it right. I'm not often proud of my accomplishments, but this is a piece that I'm genuinely satisfied with the job I did. Everything went well, my hard work was rewarded, and I picked up a few new techniques in the process.

But what did I mean about "possibly done"? I'm not sure I'm done with the base yet. It looks good, but I want to do something more with the water. I'm picturing a small cluster of reeds or cattails. I don't want to push the envelope too far, but I feel like I need to add 1 more thing somewhere... I'll let you know once I've had a chance to come down from this ebullience and look at it with a more critical eye.


See you tomorrow!

Swamp Thing Better Run!

Things have finally picked back up with the Kraken! With his body all painted up, it was time to move on to the base.

While I was painting up a super-secret part of the base, I kept thinking to myself "yeah, the Kraken would look great standing atop [redacted] on some regular dirt and grass, but wouldn't it look even better... in a swamp?" And since I have a bad habit of needing bases to look good, I put away all my basing materials and started working on the swamp!

I started off with some epoxy. I was originally just going to do a large puddle, but once I looked at it I realized how silly it'd look to have a mound of dirt around a puddle and then particles of dirt making up everything else. So I decided to just smear the whole thing in epoxy, leaving the puddle alone so that I could give it some depth later. While that was drying, I dyed a few batches of Realistic Water to find the right color for the water. I let everything sit overnight to harden up and prepare for the final lap.


The next day I back at the base with some umber paint. I really wanted to shoot this through my airbrush, but I'd have to mask the edge of the base perfectly. I'm sure it would have been fine, but I didn't want to cover a bit of epoxy or miss a bit of base and have the colors be off. I also smudged the epoxy over small bits of the base so that a messy, untamed swamp wouldn't look perfectly circular, thus making masking even more difficult. So I went old school, blew the dust off my basecoat brush, and got to work.

 After an hour it was dry and ready for a dry brush of Bestial Brown to bring out the raised areas. I then lightened the brown and hit the highest pieces to bring them out. I checked the results of my realistic water test and settled on 2 drops of light brown/green ink and 1 drop of black. I mixed that up and poured it on the base. Despite its name, Realistic Water has a lot of surface tension, so I had to keep going back to the edges and make sure everything was smooth.


And that's where I'm at. I saved a bit of the water so that I can poke it to test if it's ready, which will save me from messing up the base. I also had some epoxy left over and made a small prototype of a sandbag wall. If that goes well I'll have a tutorial up soon.

Tomorrow I'll hit the base with some vegetation, mount the Kraken on the super-special piece (which I'm building up for more than I should), and then he should be ready to go! I'm very excited to see this thing completed. Everything about it has gone so well, and I can't wait for the customer to finally get it back.

See you tomorrow!

Is It Drafty In Here?

My Return to Ravnica draft is done. This is the second draft I've ever done, so it was a bit intimidating going in, but my experience was much different than my first time.

For those who aren't familiar with a draft, I'll break it down for you. In a typical draft, eight people will sit down with three packs of cards. They open their first packs at the same time and choose one card from that pack. Then everyone passes to the left, and take another card out of the pack they just received. This continues until every 15 card pack has been emptied. The process then starts again going to the right, and a final time go back to the left.

Once all cards have been drafted, you sit down and build a 40 card deck out of them, which includes the 17-18 lands you need to play the cards in your hand. Once that's done, the night continues in typical tournament fashion.

I still remember my first draft. It was sometime in late 2006; Time Spiral was getting ready to hit the shelves, and there was a huge pre-release event going on at a hotel downtown. When I got there, I was on sensory overload. It seemed like there were vendors and sign-up tables everywhere, and the number of players sitting at the rows of tables reminded me of a packed school lunch room.

I wandered aimlessly for a bit until I came upon a table where people were talking about drafting. I asked a worker about it, and he basically told me what I told you. I had little idea what I would be doing, which would be worsened by the fact that you aren't allowed to talk while drafting, but I slapped down my money and signed up for the event.

Short story made shorter, it went very badly. I had no idea what good cards were, so I just grabbed a variety of mana costs in green, black and red and crossed my fingers. The hardest thing about drafting is getting a good mana base. Lands produce mana, and you need specific-colored lands for each mana color (red, green, blue, black, white). I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed five of each of my lands and called it a deck. My first match had a very nice guy who kept reminding my to slow down and take my time. I think he knew he had me beat, so he let me take back horrible plays and tossed out a pointer here and there. My second game went very quickly, with the dialogue consisting of "hey," "your turn" and "good game."

This time, however, I was ready. I was in a relaxed environment with a knowledge of the cards I'd be encountering. We only had 5 players, so we did 5 packs each, which actually gave better odds of getting good cards.

As cards were passed, I was struggling against my nature. I was hoping for a green-white Selesnya deck, but at least 3 others were going for white so I was struggling to get anything good. The best drafting strategy is to get good cards on the first pack, and from those cards decide what colors you want to play. "Forcing" a deck means entering the draft with a specific set of colors in mind; it's dangerous to do because you end up settling for sub-par cards, but I really wanted to get my way!

On pack two, however, my mind was made up for me when I saw this:



In my group, there's a joke I don't understand where someone will yell "game changer!" when something big happens. In my head, I was shouting it until I was hoarse.

Allow me to explain. On turn two, you play this card and it becomes a 1/1 creature since it's the only Creature - Rat on the field. As my friends discovered, that's not terribly intimidating until the rat starts breeding.

On turn 3 you activate its ability, creating a copy that has the same ability. Now you have two 2/2 rats on the field. Still not intimidating, but people start catching on.

On turn 4, you have three 3/3s, next turn you have four 4/4s, so on and so forth. The problem with this is that if you don't have a way to kill all of them, they keep coming. Killing the original rat doesn't matter, because his buddies all have the same ability. And in a draft, massive creature removal is hard to come by.

Game changer.

So in the end, I had a black/red deck, with a splash of green for my Sluiceway Scorpion and Deathrite Shaman (which was a baby game changer).

Round 1 - Fritz
Before the game started, I was a bit crestfallen when I heard my first opponent was to be Fritz. He's a great guy, but there's been one universal truth to him every since I joined the group: Fritz is my perfect archenemy.

If you look at the greatest archenemies in fiction, they share something in common. They match the protagonist's strengths while playing on their weaknesses.

-The Joker and Batman: Both are highly intelligent, and one is always capable of being a step ahead of the other. However, the Joker also knows how to exploit Batman's weaknesses, and that's what makes him a challenge. In a way, they are too similar, and that's what makes the Joker so dangerous.

-Holmes and Moriarty: Intellectual equals on every level. Every situation is a drawn out game of chess, with the final move being the deciding factor.

Basically, Fritz is my Moriarty. We are similar in so many ways, and that lets him push me like no one else because he challenges my strengths and weaknesses at the same time. Sometimes it's great because I have to work for every win, but other times I just want to be left alone and either dominate my opponent or be steamrolled by them. This point will be heavily displayed when I start filming Warhammer and Warmachine battle reports.

So when we sat down from one another, I shouldn't have been surprised that we approached out decks with the same goal. He built a fast aggro deck that let him take out my creatures if they got in his way. I built a mid-range aggro deck that focused on controlling the early turns so I could start dropping big dudes on turn 4 (or, you know, Pack Rat).

Unfortunately, Fritz didn't get a chance to challenge me. I was too timid at the start of our two games and kept hands with 2 mana sources. An ideal hand has 3 or 4 so that you don't have a lot of high-cost cards with no way to pay for them. So our game was over with a demoralizing defeat.

I was pretty frustrated, because my deck should have done so much better than it did. I had spent so much time preparing for this event, and it looked like it was going to be over because I simply failed at building a deck. While waiting for my next (and possibly final) match, I spent some time shuffling my deck and drawing starting hands. What I realized was that my deck could survive some early damage as long as I had the mana to cast my spells later. That meant having 3 or 4 lands in my starting hand.

With a newfound resolve to "do it right," I moved to my next game with a score of 0-1.

Round 2 - ChrisChris had been out of the game even longer than I. He played Magic during one of the earliest sets, and despite being only a few years older than me, I think of him as the Father Time of our Magic group.

I knew he was running a deck that focused on gaining life and inevitably running out the clock with a higher life total than his opponent. My deck would likely have a couple heavy-hitters trying to reverse that strategy, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to outrace him.

I don't remember the play-by-play, but I know I got to see Pack Rat shine. Without a consisted way to stem the tide of my Rat's rabbit-like replication, that one card was all I had to play. Overpowered? Without a doubt.

1-1

Round 3- Fritz Returns
And it was back to Fritz. I'd seen my deck function flawlessly, so I felt a little better going in to this round. Our first game was insanely close, and we both smiled at the end of it. I lost, but it was the kind of loss I often get from him - I could have won, but I made a small error here, or he out-maneuvered me there.

Game 2 and 3 blur together. In one of them, Fritz's deck failed him pretty hard at the start. And in a deck that basically jumps at your face from the start, it was rough. In another one, it was the same as game 1 with a different outcome. I bobbed and weaved, I played smart, and I earned a victory in a very close game.

I felt good. Even if I lost my next game, I'd defeated my greatest nemesis fair and square (with some help from Pack Rat), and it felt great.

2-1

Round 4 - Zach
Zach is the new guy in the group. He's worked for EA and was a tournament organizer for Halo. Enough said.

Zach was rocking a blue-white control deck. It was ballsy, because control decks require every piece to work fluidly to control what your opponent is allowed to do. Along with some life-gaining abilities, his deck was doing rather well, and I was nervous.

Sadly for Zach, his deck hated him. I knew what his deck was capable of, but it just wouldn't give him the cards he needed. He got some good control going by making me pay mana just to attack, which meant less mana for the cards in my hand. But when he needed spells, his deck kept giving him mana. It was a bummer for him, but we still had a fun game.

3-1

Final Round - Thomas
Thomas is an enigma. He is the most easy-going guy to play against, and I'm pretty sure I rarely beat him. Games with him are just so relaxed that it takes several days before I realize I've lost, so it's hard to tell. However, Thomas plays to win, so I had to match him.

For our first game, I seemed to get my power cards out one turn before him. Easy-going as ever, he scooped up his cards and we were off to game 2.

Game 2 was one of the greatest games I've ever played. I got my Pack Rat breeder going, and I was sure it was over. However, Thomas surgically removed my threats one by one until we were down to his final turn. My three rats and a few other creatures outnumbered his, and they were swinging for lethal damage next turn. But I only had 2 life left and I knew his deck had too many tricks for me to feel comfortable about my lead. He drew the card for his turn and smiled. I knew he didn't have any direct-damage spells, so I leaned forward in anticipation.

Three rats at 3/3, and one got hit with this:

My 3/3 rat got hit with -2/-2, making him a 1/1. That meant he would live until my next turn. So as Thomas passed the turn, I hemorrhaged for 2 damage and lost an epic battle.

But it wasn't over yet! This was the deciding game. We both knew each other's tricks, so it was nothing more than a battle of wits mixed with a bit of luck.

We drew our starting hand of 7 cards. Thomas struggled aloud while I debated my hand internally. Two lands... the same hand that made me lose to Fritz during out first games. I needed to be aggressive, but if I drew a new hand I only got 6 cards. If that was bad, I'd have to go down to 5 cards. Against Thomas, I needed every threat I could muster.

We both decided to mulligan, and kept our new starting hands of 6 cards. We battled it out back and forth, but I was able to get ahead in the creature race and sealed the deal.

4-1.

Being 1 game away from losing the entire tournament kept me on my toes, that's for sure. But one thing truly worked to my advantage: I was dedicated to winning this tournament.

During the weeks leading up to our draft, I absorbed every piece of info I could that would help me improve my drafting abilities. Every minute I painted I was listening to podcasts dedicated to drafting (thanks Limited Resources!). Several times a day, I'd take a few minutes and use a draft simulator to do a mock draft against AI opponents. While I never played the decks, it was crucial in helping me understand the importance of not forcing a deck, as well as how you shouldn't count on rare cards to make a good deck for you (despite the opinion of the entire group, who swore I had every rare card that was opened).

I spent hours preparing to win. However, this wasn't winning for the sake of winning. At the end of the tournament we laid out all the rares we got in the packs, and everyone would take turns taking cards they wanted. One thing I've always wanted for my decks were dual lands - these are essentially 2 colors in 1 land. These are worth a lot to me because they're universal. Any green-white deck I build in the future will benefit from a green-white dual land. So I wanted to get first place simply because I wanted to have first pick of the dual lands.

It was great to see my hours of hard work and study pay off. It was different from the days I've poured in to painting because it's difficult to quantify my success. If I got 1st, I'd know it was worth it. If I didn't, then did it matter? That's probably a narrow way to view it, but if I don't succeed then have I not failed?

But honestly, winning didn't mean that much to me (which isn't uncommon). I took home three dual lands and my Pack Rat superstar, but I had a great time getting them. I had some great games with friends, and I finally got to play against Zach, Perhaps greatest of all, however, is the billboard-worthy photoshop image Zach made me.



I don't know about you, but looking it at reminds me of eating chocolate for the first time.

See you tomorrow (with a Kraken update)!

Back to the Motherland?

After being honest about my feelings for Khador, I decided to throw myself in to a painting project to see if I could re-ignite my love for the big red machine.

I'd been working on the Behemoth between projects ever since I got my airbrush. It was nice not having to paint a red basecoat again, but I had a hard time getting excited about finishing the model. After my post two days ago,, I decided to give it one last hurrah.

I'll admit it, I had fun. It had some new bits to it I'd never painted before, and I enjoyed weathering the armor and using some new undergrowth basing material (seen on the rock). I also took this opportunity to test drive my Tin Bitz, which is the brownish-bronze metal seen on the back of the hands and on the smoke stacks

I think the worst part about this guy was getting a decent photo - he has so many angles where this piece or that wants to gets lost in the bigger body. And when the only bad thing about painting a model is photographing it, you know it was a good piece.

But still... it was just another Khador warjack. I've done them before, and I have plenty more waiting for me to do it again. I paint my own models for fun, and I think I need an extended break before Khador is going to be part of that rotation again. I'll have some Grey Knights to paint once I get around to assembling them, plus I'll have my commission work occupying my time (including an upcoming project I never thought I'd be excited about!).

So that's that, I suppose. I gave it my best, and painting was just as relaxing as ever, but I don't see Khador getting much love in the near future. I really want to finish the army by the end of the year so I can cross something off my list, but I'm in no rush.

In another bit of exciting news, I'll be participating in a Magic draft this evening - my first since Time Spiral back in 2006! I'll have more info on drafting on a followup post, but for now wish me luck.

See you tomorrow!

Giveaway #1 - The Results

The results are in. Who's the lucky winner of the $5 gift card to Miniature Market?



Congrats to the winner! This is far from the last giveaway I'll do. Another one is coming up at 50 likes, so put the word out! I'll also do random giveaways as the mood strikes, so keep watching Facebook for posts and updates.

See you tomorrow!

Dreams of a Painter

Everyone loves lists! As I've been jotting down ideas, I've also noted things I'd like to accomplish that don't exactly fit in to a blog post. Random ideas have started turning themselves into lists, and I'd like to share some of them with you.



As a painter, I've spent a lot of time dreaming of where I'd like my skills to go. I never set goals for myself per se, but once I had a notebook in front of me they just started writing themselves. So here's my running list of goals (so far!):

Paint an entire army
Now technically, I achieved this one when I finished my first batch of Khador. But since then, I've added to the army and I hate fielding something that's not painted. Granted this is a bit at odds with yesterday's post, but I'm so close to having everything painted that I really want it to be done.

Of course when I finish painting the army, I imagine I'll grow restless and buy a new piece for it. At least I'll help keep food on Privateer Press's table!

Be featured in a gallery or magazine
This one is true of any artist. We love what we do, but it's hard to turn down acknowledgment for our skills. This isn't necessarily a pride thing - being featured for your skills is a great way to know where you stand in the art.

With so many miniatures painting websites out there, it's not too hard to imagine the possibility of accomplishing the goal this year. Especially if I can...

Win an online painting contest
There are so many of these things out there that I've been too cowardly to enter. They're often hosted by a miniatures company, so my excuse is always that I don't want to buy any more models, or I don't like the sculpts, etc. But as a painter who's still growing and learning, contests are an intimidating thing.

One of my favorite places to relax and munch on some eye candy is WAMP. This is a place that's by painters, for painters. You can find great pieces of art on places like DakkaDakka, but I've always felt like WAMP was a place to really see the greats. One of the best things about them is that they are always running contests. I've been waiting for Wyrd to run something so I can finally find an excuse to buy their stuff. However, I think it's about time I cowboyed up and started entering every contest I can.

And with an audience who will get to enjoy a giveaway if I win, I know you guys will be nothing but encouraging!

Get involved in a charity event
This one hit me today. I was going through my paints to see what I'd need to buy for an upcoming project, and I ran across this cute little thing.

I received this in a larger lot, and my wife still pokes fun at me about painting a pink army. But why not? Surely there's a charity painting event somewhere out there. A quick Google search didn't turn up much, but I know I've seen someone's "charity army" painted up in pink before.

I think it'd be neat to take a game like Warhammer or Warmachine and paint one model from each army. I'm picturing a diorama of some kind, but who knows. I'm a sucker for charity events that have something fun attached to them, so I'm really hoping I can get involved in something like this.

Discover a new painting technique
Zenithal seems to be the hot technique that people are excited about. When you prime your model, you spray grey and white at higher angles to simulate how light would hit your model. From there you just do a thin basecoat so that your highlighting shows through and has a more natural look. Seems obvious, right?

As I understand it, the technique is relatively new to the wargaming community, having been passed down to us from the military modelers like a divine proclamation. In hind sight, it seems like something that should have been obvious - working smarter rather than harder is a driving force for many discoveries.

Or what about Lester Bursley? He showed us a way to make our own washes at a fraction of the price that Games Workshop charges. True that this discovery probably came after hundreds of dollars in trial and error. But if you ask anyone how to make washes, there's a high probability that you'll be given this link.

Like the zenithal lighting technique, I would love to discover something that should have been obvious to everyone. Obviously this is a far-flung hope, but at least it will keep me innovative!


So there it is, five goals that I'd like to accomplish. Can I do 4 of the 5 this year? I'd like to think so. Although it would be the least time-intensive, winning a contest is actually the most intimidating goal. Working hard and giving my work to someone else to be evaluated is tough - especially going up against people who have 20+ years of painting experience on me.

But hey, it's situations like this that call for playing underdog music at full volume!

At this point, I'm sure you've thought of some painting goals of your own. Don't leave me standing here alone - share them below!

See you tomorrow!

Commitment Issues

I glared at her from across the room. She sat there quietly, as she always did. Nothing about her had changed. Same clothes, same hair, same skills. Heck, I'm pretty sure she hadn't even gained any weight. But I just couldn't stand to look at her anymore.

Maybe I'm the one who's changed. When we started out, I had no idea what I was doing, and she was safe. I never worried about surprises, and it was nice. For a time. But now I've outgrown her, and I'm ready to move on.

Sorscha, we need to talk.

When it comes to gaming, I'm terrible about sticking with one thing. When I played World of Warcraft, I played almost every class to maximum level. Unfortunately, only two of them saw the end-game raids.

When I quit Magic years ago, I had at least 10 decks sitting in my box, and only one of them was in danger of being competitive.

I quit playing YuGiOh because the deck I spent countless hours testing and fine-tuning came in the top 3 in local tournaments too often, and it bored me. 

It's not an issue of commitment. My biggest problem is that I want to be good at everything a game has to offer. In Magic, there are hundreds of themes to build. Many are terrible, but I love the idea of building and testing them out until they function properly. Of course once that happens the deck is tucked away while I start again with a new deck.

And now in Warmachine, I feel like I've run my course with my current army. I don't win with them consistently (especially lately), but I think that's because I did so well in the beginning that I never got to experience the struggle of figuring out my army. My favorite part of any game is that incremental increase in skill and knowledge, and I wasn't prepared for doing well from the start. I've tasted enough victories with them that I no longer push myself to improve.

Don't get me wrong, I love Khador; I've even learned to love their goofy hats that were almost a deal-breaker when I was first choosing an army.

Take off that stupid hat!

But for nearly a year, they've been my only option. Obviously my intro was hyperbole, but the core idea rings true: I'm just not as excited to fight for the Motherland as I once was. At this point, as with YuGiOh,  I'd just stop playing the game because I don't want to invest any more in to the game.

Unfortunately, I love Warmachine! It was my introduction into wargaming, it's the army I played while making friends, and those models are responsible for awakening the ravenous painter I never knew existed. Because of that, I can't just stop playing (although I sort of have already), but the idea of fielding a sea of red isn't appealing.

So I found myself doing what I did a year ago: I dug through the Privateer Press forums and looked at armies. With some experience under my belt, it was easier to understand the pros and cons of each army, but it felt just as difficult as the first time because I knew exactly what I was looking at, and it's easy to find a good thing about any army!

Thinking back over all the times I saw a model and said "oooh, I'd love to paint that!" or seeing a model in action and loving what it does, my options started narrowing pretty quickly. An army's lore needs to interest me too. But as I've learned with my Orks, sometimes an army's story isn't enough, so that wasn't a driving factor.

So after spending too much time looking at models, gameplay, and lore, I think I've found an army that will take me on the next part of my journey:



I don't plan on getting any Circle of Orboros any time soon. I think we have this as a "house army" in our game room so I can take it for a spin and try before I buy. But for now, it's just nice to know that I can look forward to a new batch of Privateer Press models that I don't need to paint red.

And before people grow concerned about my marriage, don't worry. This expensive character flaw only applies to things that aren't integral to my life. Besides, can anyone ever be too good at being married?

See you tomorrow!

No Fear

I'd like to spend all day engaging people about this, but the fact is I have a shit-ton of deadline-driven work to do that's only going to get done if I got media-dark for a few hours. So this will have to be all from me about the big Obama gun laws speech today.

I imagine the number-one thing anyone wants to hear from me is how I feel about the President calling for "more research into violent video-games" as part of his big set of plans/proposals. Honestly? I hated hearing it. It cuts me to the bone when otherwise intelligent, reasonable people I happen to support have to jump and join that particular political dance; especially when I strongly suspect that they're better than that. I would prefer that the President had said "some have called for more attention paid to a link between violent games or movies and gun deaths, but the fact is that research has already been done a hundred times over and the link quite simply does not exist and continuing to call for it distracts from the real issue; which is guns and the obscene power of the Gun Lobby."

I'd have liked to see that, and maybe someday I will, but it wasn't going to be today.



The fact is, enough of my fellow Americans are paranoid enough (either through their own deficiencies or because they lack the necessary clarity and intellectual confidence to not be swayed by the propaganda of the NRA and their ilk) to give real traction to the meme of Obama/democrats "coming to take all the guns!!!;" one that only gets stronger if said propagandists can claim that they and their issue is being "singled out." That they and their issue should be singled out is beside the point - "singling out" sounds bad.

Thus was Joe Biden obliged to invite representatives of the movie and game industry (Why not books? Oh, right - older/out-of-touch people aren't scared/confused by books) to his various summitts - even though he's smart enough to know that the "link" doesn't exist - in order to affect the image that guns and gun-rights weren't "alone" in being called to the principal's office. And thus is Obama obliged to namecheck some illusory need for violent games "research" even though he's also smart enough to know better and saavy enough to know that even if he did buy into (for example) the "desensitization" fallacy, actually making any moves that even smelled of censorship would lose he and his party their crucial support among GenX/Y voters.

But here's the rub: "Calling for more research," in Washington-speak, translates to "we pretty-much garauntee nothing will come of this." It is, quite simply, a smoke-screen - a way for the President and his allies to appear to take the "broader solution" nonsense seriously while they get about the real business of breaking the back of the Gun Lobby in order to make U.S. gun laws slightly more sane.

Would I prefer that this hadn't been part of the speech, even as I recognize it as little more than rhetorical sleight of hand? Of course I would. I also wish he didn't have slip into maudlin reassurances about "Our Creator" at the end, or that he didn't need to feign four years worth of "evolution" on his support for gay marriage. I welcome the day, soon to come, when we look back on today's notions of "violent" movies and games causing real violence with the same "this was actually a THING??" horror and sadness with which we react to Calvin Candie's phrenology speech in "Django Unchained."

But that's not realistically going to happen today, and progressives, young people and especially gamers among them need to recognize that before they think about dismissing and turning their backs on an administration that - where and when it actually counts - has been (and is likely to continue to be) largely on their side. The perfect mustn't be the enemy of the good.

Pride Before a Fail... and Upcoming Content!

While waiting for the stuff to arrive for the Kraken's base, I could hear my Behemoth begging for some TLP (that's Tender Loving Paint, naturally). While I was working, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was too clean. I think spending so much time beating up the Kraken has altered how I like my models to look.

I decided to add some battle damage, but I was confident I remembered the steps for painting it on. I was wrong.

My aggravation may not be obvious, so I'll try to quote what went through my head when I looked at it:

"I think I just painted silver-lined poop on my Behemoth."

I didn't want him to look as weathered as the Kraken, so I tried making it appear like he'd been involved in several battles over the years. I didn't want a full-blown rust effect, but he needed to look used. In my head, I pictured some old paint chips from ranged weapons or spells. It should be obvious that he hadn't been to a Khador mechanik in awhile.

Basically, I got my steps backwards. I was supposed to do shrinking layers of black-bronze-silvers. Instead I did a dainty layer of silver and then slapped some Tin Bitz on it. Blech.

So I went back and followed a guide I'd used in the past, and I'm so much happier with the results. Bear in mind that it has a bit of work, but the color layers just feel right.

Yay! He still has plenty more damage to take, but I wanted to share my lesson in humility. It'd been awhile since I'd used this method, and I should have saved myself some time and refreshed myself on the technique.

I'm really hoping to get some work done on the Kraken tomorrow. It's just sitting there on my shelf, so sad and baseless. Fingers crossed!

I also wanted to let you all know about some upcoming series I'm excited about.

• Coat-of-Paint Battle Reports (working title). Normal battle reports, but if my opponent wins they get a model painted for free. So if you're around the Des Moines, Iowa area get in touch with me!
• Relationship advice! I'm a bit of a geek; my wife is not. We've spent over 5 years learning to live with my addictions, and I think we've both learned a lot. Hopefully I can give some helpful advice for you or your ungeeky partner.
• Terrain On a Budget. My post about investing in a game to enjoy it was hard to write because I love budgetizing. While I stand by my article, I think it's also important to show that you don't have to pay top dollar for everything in a game to enjoy it. I have always wanted to write a series of articles where I build nice-looking terrain with inexpensive and/or everyday items, so look forward to this one.
• Into the Unknown - Investigative Reporting. I'm mostly sharing this one because if I don't, I won't be held accountable and therefor won't do it. The world of the geek is a big one. I play video games, card games, and tabletop miniatures games. I enjoy the occasional board game and comic book, but that's about as far as I go. But there's so much out there that most geeks won't touch. Bronies, LARPing, cosplay... there are many hobbies that exist on the fringes of geekdom, and I've always wondered at the fascination people have for them. Truth be told, I don't want to do it, but I think it would be a blast for you all to experience with me and my handy-dandy camera (that I still need to get).

So those are the highlights of my idea notebook so far. Some have me excited, some have me terrified. Let me know your thoughts, and hit me up with any ideas for future content. We have 340 posts to go, so there are no bad ideas!

See you tomorrow!