Sù-Jián Immediate Action Unit Finished!

<Transformers noise>

You might (or probably not) remember my first monthly wrap up back in September last year where I showed a WIP shot of my Sù-Jián. Well... I finally finished it. Only took five months! When I first saw the model I wasn't sure what to think of it, it's weirdly spindly almost avian looking in its combat form. The mobility form is more traditional, having a lot in common with the Yáokòng series of remotes. However, as I saw more pictures of it I started to like the weird little bird robot. Sure it seems kind of awkward, but also deadly and fast. And when I finally bought it I was very happy with how it looks in the flesh! A bit tricky to put together though.

Combat form.

I have this idea for a general colour scheme for my Yu Jing, or the Chinese parts anyway. The light grey-blue is the first common denominator with camo green being the second. This is more a guide than a rule so there are some deviatons here and there if it feels appropriate (Daofei and the Japanese for example). I also have in mind to make remotes and TAGs in a darker blue grey  and off-white colour scheme which made me think good and hard about how to paint the Sù-Jián since it's more like heavy infantry than a traditional remote. In the end I decided for a monochrome look with dark grey/black steel structure with light blue/grey armour plating and I think it worked out fairly well. It's certainly not colourful but it feels right in a way. Not entirely happy with the "eyes". As they're sculpted they're not more than slits so no lenses or anything to paint, but it simply looked to dull when they were just black holes. Oh well. I would like to add some details in the form of some small text and symbols though. I might have a look at some Gundam decal sheets or something (although preferably they'd be in Chinese, not Japanese).

Mobility Form.

On the table the Sù-Jián is unique in Infinity as it is the only model (so far) with the Mechanical Transmutation ability meaning it can shift between its two different forms. The smaller mobility form is very fast and can climb any surface quickly while the humanoid combat form is slower but gives it higher accuracy. The armaments consists of a Spitfire, a light flamethrower and a Panzerfaust. So... it's a formidable weapon platform that should be able to reach its intended destination quickly and have the means to keep it once there. I'm looking forward to trying it out... perhaps together with the (even faster!) Aragoto Senkenbutai!

When taking the pics for this I thought it would be fun to take a groupshot of what I have finished so far:

Pretty decent group of soldiers! And since I have the light infantry pretty much taken care of (for now, Keisotsu Butai awaits!) I can concentrate on the fun stuff like heavy infantry, remotes... and TAGs. :)

Read More

9 comments

February Releases for Infinity!

Two posts in one day? What is the world coming to?! I usually don't post simply about new releases but I just might start to with Infinity since the models are so damn good looking! So lets have a look at what February brings us!

First out we have a Myrmidion armed with a Spitfire for ALEPH. My knowledge about ALEPH units is minimal at best but I know the Myrmidions are close quarter shock troops and looking at their stats they seem pretty darn formidable. Not linkable but I'm sure that will change once ALEPH get their sectorials. I quite like the Myrmidons in general and this model in particular. The pose might look static at first glance but to me it seems like he's just spotted his next target and is bringing the Spitfire up to hose it!

We had already seen the Jotum as a preview on Beasts of War and I must say it's simply lovely looking! Contrary to popular opinion I'm not all that impressed by the other PanO TAGs. Both the Cutter and the Dragoes are excellent models, but the design haven't appealed to me. However, the Jotum really does! Big and brutish is just up my alley! I also like that you can see that it's based on the same chassis as the Dragoes, just a lot heavier.
It just might have become my favourite TAG and if/when the Svalarheima sectorial is released I'm getting one... if not sooner.

Nomads get some reinforcements in the form of a Reverend Custodier with boarding shotgun. The Reverend Custodier with combi rifle was released a few months back and while I liked the design I thought the pose was a bit plain. Cool in a way, but not particularly action-packed. Now we get this boarding shotgun toting babe and the pose is great! While the boarding shotgun might not be my first choice of weapon on this figure it certainly looks great. Love the flaring coat! Also, I think this is only the second shotgun carrying model released for Nomads. Neat!

 Well, well, well... what have we here?! At first glance they look kind of like the arachnids from Verhoeven's Starship Troopers, but they are in fact Yu Jing Yáopú Pangguling remotes. These are the Baggage remotes that all factions have and can be used to up the retreat limit of your force. They are also the only way to get an EVO repeater in a Yu Jing army so they're certainly a welcome sight! I like how the models are similar to the Yáokòng while still being completely different! To me they look more fragile although the stats say otherwise. These will be sitting on my workbench in the near future...

To round out the bunch we have a Zouaves armed with a rifle, D.E.P and assault pistol for Ariadna. We've only seen the sapper variants before, armed with HMG and sniper rifle. Here we have a model that can represent any of the other options reasonably well. With all the flashy releases for the other factions it can sometimes be easy for the Ariadna releases to get overlooked - there's no power armour or TAGs or REMs. They look just as good though and with their more contemporary look is often more easy to relate to. This guy with his heavy backpack and DEP over his shoulder simply looks real to me. It's the pose as well of course which manage to transmit both weight and movement. And the assault pistol in his right hand is just icing on the cake. Good stuff!

An excellent month for Infinty players I must say! The models I'm most happy to see gaming wise is the Yu Jing remotes, I've always wanted an EVO repeater. They also plug the second to last hole in the Yu Jing miniature line. Woo! As for favourite model from a miniature perspective it has to go to the Jotum. It simply manage to push all the right buttons for me. Awesome in every way!

Oh, and you might have noticed that in some of new pictures you can see the new marker and measuring tool from MAS. Which is kind of cool. :)

Read More

1 comment

Adding Non-40k Vehicles to Imperial Guard

Last week I discovered that the images in my post about my old Imperial Guard Steel Legion army weren't working for some reason. I sat down and re-uploaded them again so now they're back for your viewing pleasure. Also last week I learned that a few work collegues has got back into 40k. They bought a battleforce (or whatever they're called these days) each and have started painting and playing. Although I'm not really interested in 40k as such, these two events combined made me think about ways to "complete" my Imperial Guard. Partly so I actually could play 40k with them if I ever wanted to, and partly so I could use them with other rule systems. Tomorrow's War is what comes first to mind, but there are many others of course.

Normally I wouldn't be very enthusiastic about using 40k models for a different system, they are simply too intrinsically connected to the setting, but if there's one faction that could survive the transition it would be the Imperial Guard. Sure, the skulls and the grimdark are there, but not to such an extent as most of the other races. Of course I would like for the army to still be usable in 40k so there's that to consider too.

So looking at the army as it stands now (one platoon with four squads, a command squad and some stormtroopers) what I would like to add are some vehicles. I have another platoon command squad, some heavy weapons and a few more infantry here and there, but before painting those some vehicles would be nice. Making this into its own army I want to avoid any GW vehicles as those are what really make the army scream 40k. For the chimera at least I wanted something with wheels and as I was discussing my ideas on Twitter @hungryclone suggested the Chimera conversion kit from Chapterhouse Studios, putting wheels on it. But while the idea is interesting it simply looks... silly. The dimensions are all wrong, making it look more like a toy than a tank. I could see it as an Ork vehicle, but not for the guard, especially not my re-envisioned army.

What first sprang to my mind was the Hunchback APC from Antenociti Workshop. It's a vehicle I've had my eye on for use in Infinity and I think it might be a bit too hi-tech looking for the old guard. It could work though, depending on the paintjob. Then there's the Kabardin as well, also wheeled and perhaps with a more fitting design. Either would look great I think but I wanted to look around some more before coming to a decision.

Old Crow has a lot of nice stuff as well! The vehicles are generally a bit more "boxy looking" but in a way I quite like. The Claymore Heavy APC is the most obvious choice of course, but it might be a bit larger than what I had in mind. The different turret options are very nice though! The Trojan Light APC, clocking in at 115mm, is fairly small but I like the utalitarian look it has and you can't argue with the price! Speaking of size, what's the lenght of a Chimera? I tried to google it but couldn't find a good answer. Anyway, another Old Crow option (and the one I like the most) is to go with the Dragoon half track. It's 135mm long so a bit larger than the Trojan, but not as large as the Claymore or the Antenociti vehicles. It feels very fitting as the Steel Legion has a kind of space-nazi vibe to them, and it would certainly make for a unique looking force!

If I go with the Old Crow vehicles there are a number of different options for turret and weapon systems which should let me represent most of what is available for an Imperial Guard army (although I might have to forego sponsons on the Leman Russ).

The Ironside from Pig Iron Productions is an alternative as well. Big and chunky is nice, although it doesn't have as many options available to it as the Old Crow stuff and it's tracked instead of wheeled. It's certainly the most 40k-ish looking of the bunch but also the priciest which is also something to take into consideration.



So, as you have probably figured out by now I'm leaning heavily towards Old Crow. While I do like the Antenociti vehicles better they don't fit as well as the Old Crow stuff. I think I'll reservere them for my Infinity table (and 15mm Mars of course!). However, I'm sure there are other manufacturers out there that I have forgotten. Would love to get my hands on the old Kamodo APC from DLD Productions, but they went under a few years back. So, any other neat sci-fi vehicles out there I should be aware of?

I might have written this as if I'm right about to put in an order, this is far from the truth though. This is one of my far, far, faaaaar off might-never-happen projects and is more of a thuught experiment than actual project. This might change of course, but don't hold your breath. :)

Read More

2 comments

Vrooom! Aragoto Incoming!!

Aragoto Senkebutai! My very own bôsôzuku!!

Really happy to be back painting my Infinity miniatures! I actually started on the Aragoto Senkenbutai in September last year but only painted the rider. For some reason I put off painting the bike and got started on my Su-Jian instead. I had decided to make it bright red and since that has always been a difficult colour for me (give me dirty reds anytime!) I think I was a bit daunted at a subconscious level. However, after having been inspired by mine and Anders' painting meetups I decided enough was enough and tackle the miniature full on!

I really wanted a nice bright "Honda red" that didn't go into orange or pink highlights so I scoured the internet for different painting formulas and found a few pertaining to Blood Angels that seemed to do the trick fairly well. They usually involved inks though which is not something I usually work all that much with (at least not in this way). It's a technique I've been wanting to practice though, so inspired by Spacejackers guncrabs I gave it a go. I used Vallejo's Carmine Red mixed with a little bit of grey on a black undercoat and after a couple of coats it looked pretty alright. Then it was time to break out the inks. This was pretty much me just experimenting and seeing what worked and what didn't. Although the initial impression was a bit dirty, a combination of red, brown and black inks worked best. Here's the initial result:

As you can see it looks a bit darker and "dirtier" than I was aiming for originally but this was mostly due to lack of contrasts. I did add a few additional highlights here and there, but what was really needed was some contrasting colours to bring out the brightness of the red.

This miniature has a lot of detailing that might not be apparent at first glance. 

It took longer time to paint than I thought initially.

Love the look of the Yu Jing Spitfire! I really hope we get some more releases 

using it in the near future (Shang Ji anyone?).

As you can see the colour scheme is pretty much copied straight from the official CB miniature. Normally I try to avoid this as it feels a bit boring. But sometimes it just looks too good not to do it! The next one will be blue though, and if I get a third it'll be green. I think of Aragoto riders as very individualistic, almost rivals on the battlefield, so giving them that kind of racing vibe is the way to go. :)

Overall I'm really happy how it turned out and that I managed to beat the red into submission! It's fun working more with inks although I really need to practice the technique. This miniature holds a few firsts as well; my first 40mm-based Infinity mini, my first Spitfire and my first properly based Infinity mini! I really need to get my hands on some regular 25mm bases so I can start rebasing my infantry. However next up is the half-finished Su-Jian!


Oh, and on a completely different note, here's a thing:

Read More

7 comments

Some heavy support for the EarthSec

For the Gruntz painting competition I painted one of the EarthSec/UNSC HAMR teams and the other day I finished the rest of the pack; another HAMR team and two GMS(L) teams.

When painting the first sniper I felt I needed to do something to make it stand out a bit (besides the huuuge rifle itself!) and on a whim I tried making the barrel and magazine a very light blueish grey, almost white. I rarely plan when I paint but do things on the fly and most of the time it works out. This time my friend Anders thinks it looks weird, but to me it feels right! First off it makes the figure stand out, making the heavy ordnance easier to locate, and secondly it breaks up the green/orange/black colour scheme of the rest of the troops. Personally I also think it gives the weapons more of a hi-tech vibe which I think fits these miniatures.

I did the same thing with the autocannon barrel on the APC as well as the missile launchers and I think I will go back and add some white to the SAW as well to make it more distinct and keep with the white=big gun theme. Speaking of the APC I'm happy with how well the red dust came out on it. I've been tempted to pick up some of those FoW dust cloud thingies as well. Not really sure what use they would be during an actual game, but they might look cool.

The Gruntz contest also required a commander and I put one together using a squad leader from the Orion heavy infantry and two miniatures from the UNSC command pack. I also took a backpack from the new NAC power armoured infantry and added an aerial to it to make the comms officer stand out better. I'm quite pleased with the result and I'm glad my EarthSec forces finally have a proper commander. I just have to give him a name! :)

At the moment I'm finishing up some more regular infantry as well as a number of SAW gunners. After that we have two MicroPanzer Seekers that will finally get painted! They are such great models and I feel kind of bad that it has taken me this long. Then there are two more APCs and a couple of light tanks. After seeing some very nicely painted Blowers over at Fawcett Avenue Conscripts I'm seriously consindering getting a couple to use as MBTs for the EarthSec.

However, before getting that far I think I'll have to return to paint some more Infinity miniatures. Yesterday me and Anders sat down together to get some painting done and he got the base colours done on his Alguaciles. This is awesome in several ways! Mostly because Anders simply haven't painted anything in years (not counting some terrain) so it was a lot of fun seeing him back with a brush in his hand. Also, it will certainly make our Infinity gaming more pleasing to the eye. Besides, that red/orange sheme should give my troops at least a +1 to hit. Hehe!

Anyway, this fired up my Infinity motivation. I have a half finished Su-Jian and an Aragoto who's done but missing his bike. This cannot stand! I will be painting on my own of course, but I also hope that we can make these kinds of communal painting sessions into a regular feature. At least once per month or so.

I've also been eyeing those sneaky aliens of the Combined Army...

Read More

4 comments

My 15mm Plans

EarthSec troops guiding a group of archeologists to safety during a rebel attack.

A bit like my recent post on spaceship battle games and miniatures that interest me I thought something similar for 15mm sci-fi might be in order. I have a few different projects cooking that all tie together in the miniatures being used.

The Miniatures
Mars is what got me started with 15mm in the first place. I have always been fascinated by the red planet and had just read Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars trilogy so it all fell together very naturally. What I've painted most of so far are the Earth Sectorial Army, or EarthSec, using mainly GZG's UNSC infantry combined with some power armour troopers from Blue Moon and Amakudari Seekers from Micro Panzer. I've been using hover vehicles from GZG as well, although I think I might get some Blowers from Old Crow as main battle tanks. The part of the Mars rebells will be played by the Sahadeen infantry from Rebel Minis with walker support from Khurasan and vehicles from Critical Mass.

Power armoured infantry assaulting, backed up by light infantry and their AFV.

To be able to combine models from all kinds of ranges and manufacturers like this is one of the great strengths of 15mm I think. I love the feeling you get when you have this idea in our head about how a force should look and perform and you don't have to compromise! More often than not what you have in mind is available somewhere at least. I've got stuff from seven different manufacturers just for the two forces above! This great ability to customise can be seen as a disadvantage as well though. I have a couple of friends who would be reluctant to start playing 15mm sci-fi simply because there are so few ready made armies, or codices to show you how your army should look. While I see that as a good thing I do remember back when I had similar feelings - in some way it didn't feel like a "real game" if it didn't come with a number of pre-determined armies. I guess I had GW to thank for that kind of square thinking. Anyway, back to my 15mm plans!

So, the Mars rebellion is purely human-centric, fairly low-tech (relatively speaking) without any weird aliens or FTL engines. However, since there are so many nice looking miniatures out there I naturally felt that I had to expand a bit. So I'm getting a bunch of non-prawn Crusties and Control Battalion. I'll be doing pretty much a straight rip off of District 9 when it comes to the prawns, complete with off-white guns and dark blue walkers. They'll also get some heavy support from some larger walking tanks from Ravenstar Studios. The Control Battalion will play the role of thr traditional sci-fi Sinister Corporation™ - oppressing the little people and generally doing evil corporation stuff. They'll be supported by the Lion super heavy transport and the Locust patrol truck. I see them mostly as a para-military force so probably no proper tanks for them. I've been toying with the idea of using the Chewks as some kind of symbiote species with the Crusties so we might see some of those in the future as well.

Sinister Corporation™ super heavy transport.

Then there's my Colonial Marine side project as well. Using Exterminators and Space Demons from Khurasan with a Konami Aliens APC. I'm not sure if I will do the red Mars basing for these guys or some interior basing instead for use in dark, infested corridors...

Of course, there are a lot of other miniatures I would like to get my hands on in the future. Reading Tomorrow's War made me want to put together some future Russians using Khurasan's Nova-Republik (or perhaps the recent releases from Armies Army!) with vehicles from Micro Panzer. I would love to paint myself a small force of Garn and recently I've been thinking about making a true hi-tech force with antigrav technology using vehicles from GZG (like this) and post human infantry from Blue moon. Rebel Minis' Titan Marines would also make excellent Kerberos Panzer Cops/Jin-Roh inspired soldiers. Ahh... so many ideas, so little time.

The Rules
There are a lot of rule sets available for 15mm gaming; Stargrunt II, Gruntz!, FUBAR, 5150: Star Army, Tomorrow's War, Fast and Dirty and Future War Commander, just to name a few. Actually, there'a much more comprehensive look at the different rules available over at the Dropship Horizon. Highly recommended!The two rule sets I'm focusing on at the moment though, are Gruntz! and Tomorrow's War.

Gruntz! is written by Robin Fitton and is a great toolbox for creating pretty much whatever you want with a robust unit builder available. I've tried it a little bit and like what I've seen so far. It feels traditional in some ways while adding some more modern mechanics as well. As I imagine it Gruntz! is probably what I will use for slightly larger games involving quite a few troops and vehicles.

Tomorrow's War (that I'm currently reading) is a lot more detailed and is more "gritty" in a way. I think it has a higher introduction threshold than Gruntz! but does reward you for persevering. I will probably use it for smaller conflicts featuring mainly infantry. The system has a number of things in common with the venerable Stargrunt II although it also uses an action/reaction system similar to Infinity!


Of course I would like to try all the other systems as well, but there's a time and place for that later. At the moment I'm focusing on Tommorow's War as I'm learning the rules. For the first time my friend Anders has expressed a slight interest in actually trying it. I think it's the high production values that won him over (he's one of the guys I talked about above. Hehe!).

The Terrain
I have miniatures and some cool rules, but I don't actually have any proper 15mm terrain. I intend to remedy this during the spring. I bougth a 90x90cm Zuzzy mat last year together with some sulfur mounds that I will turn into the surface of Mars! Recently I bought a set of Colonial Settlements from GZG that will serve both as rebel homes as well as Crustie shanty town. I think this will prove enough of terrain to get started playing. I'm looking to add some rock outcroppings and some proper hills as well though. What a realistic Mars board will be missing is soft cover like woods or bushes. I've been considering making some anyway for use on a terraform-in-progress Mars as it adds a lot to the game. Most likely I will make some different alien plants as well for when we're not specifically playing in the Mars Rebellion campaign.

Archeologists about to explore Mars.

The more hi-tech sci-fi buildings from Blue Moon are definitely something I would like to add, although they are a bit pricey and I'm wary about the shipping cost. Then there are the new/upcoming buildings from Brigade Models as well that I really like. Oh, and lets not forget the System Infinity from Sarissa Precision that will supposedly be released in 15mm scale as well. Hmm...

The Moment
So... what am I doing right now? Well, I'm "finishing" my current collection of EarthSec miniatures and then I will get cracking on the Crusties. Hopefully I will get started with the terrain as well simultaneously. A lot of it is probably destined for the Lead Painters League so don't expect to see anything until next month though.


The goal is to paint the forces needed for the first scenario in Tomorrow's War (Lost and Found) using the UNSC and Crusties. While the UNSC are almost done I haven't really started on the Crusties yet.

That's all for now! I hope I've inspired some of you in some way to maybe try out 15mm gaming yourselves! Also, I definitely need a better camera.

Read More

7 comments

January Wrap Up

The first month of 2012 is over and I think there will be some more mini-gaming in the future. Both with spaceships and small metal men.

Mini and Board Games

• I played a four player game of Runewars at the start of the month. Two of the players were new so it went on a little longer than normal and then I could claim a surprise victory thanks to some sneaky underhand tactics (what do you expect from a bunch of demon worshippers?!). It reminded me how much I like the game and made me decide to get the Banners of War expansion. Also, I think I've finally made up my mind to cut the long 8 piece in half so the entire game plus expansion fit into the small box.
• A few days later we had a wine and board game night where we played Mall of Horror and Cyclades. It was the first time for me playing Mall of Horror and I quite liked it, although it might be just a little bit too long for what it is. But fun nevertheless! It was great getting to play Cyclades again as I've always enjoyed it although I lost the last few times I've played it. Instead of playing aggressively like the last times I played defensively this time which I think suits our turtle-oriented gaming group better. I was down to just one island for most of the game, but that - ironically - made me very rich and in the end I could use the pegasus to ferry a surprise army to take my second Metropolis. Victory!
• We tried A Game of Thrones, second edition for the first time as well. Only one of us had played it before while the rest of us fumbled about, trying to get to grips with the whole diplomacy aspect. In the end we had to end the game early after only a few rounds but I'm really looking forward to the next proper game. Hopefully we'll know what we're doing by then!
• I had a quick game of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game with Anders and we tried The Hunt for Gollum adventure pack. We still both only used monodecks (tactics and leadership) and got absolutely battered by all the locations in the beginning. We powered through though and by the end I could muster a nasty amount of willpower so we actually managed a win! I got all inspired and bought the next three adventure packs in the cycle. Should be fun to try them out! And start some proper deck building as well...
• I think mentioned that Karl Johnson provided me with an electronic copy of his starship battle game Task Force Zeta for me to review on the blog. I tried the first couple of scenarios with Anders and Niklas (using just the basic rules) a couple of days ago and had a lot of fun! I think it might be a good middle-ground game; a certain amount of crunch and granularity but still quick enough to allow you to field a decent force. Next up we'll start trying out the advanced rules, and hopefully I won't get so severely thrashed!
• Just a couple of days ago a package with Force on Force and Tomorrow's War arrived and I'm eager to explore them more. Although Tomorrow's War is supposed to be a stand-alone product I've heard from several people that it can be confusing if you don't know Force on Force, so I got both. However, I'm not sure if I should start with TW and just use FoF as a reference or simply start with FoF. Advice?
• Last but certainly not least we finally managed to get a full six player game of Twilight Imperium going, with both the expansions! Although there were two new players we decided to just dump them into the deep end and go full out. And we had a blast! Sure it took about nine hours, but it was a great ride! I played as the nomadic Saar and thought I did pretty well until I made a crucial mistake by not reading my secret objective card properly (Master of the Gates). I revealed my hand too early and was then pretty much out of the running. In the end it stood between the Hacan and the Winnu with Hacan managing a win by having claimed more public objectives. It was very even though, with everyone being within a point of each other. Certainly looking forward to the next game!

Painting and Modelling

• The thing that I have both been dreading and longing for is upon us - the Lead Painters League! At first I thought I actually wouldn't try to enter this year as I remembered how drained I felt at the end of those ten weeks, but then I also remembered the sheer amount of stuff I managed to get painted and decided to give it another go! More than likely my 15mm Mars theme will carry through this year as well (with some other stuff thrown in here and there of course).
• My fellow blogger Andy, of the Creepy Corridor, was one of the earliest commentators on this blog and we've supported each other through the fiberoptics through our gaming hobby. A couple of weeks ago I got a cryptic email from him, asking about my address and "don't ask". Intrigued I complied and a few days later a small but heavy box arrived. I was perplexed to find it contained not one, not two, but three Babylon 5 EarthForce Omega destroyers as well as a Nova dreadnought, an Explorer, a couple of Orestes monitors and a Cronos attack frigate! Pretty much the backbone of an EarthForce fleet. Finally I remembered that one of our first exchanges was about me liking the Omega destroyer and Andy saying that he'd send me one some day. The best thing about blogging is the people you come in contact with and the community you create together. And sometimes awesome things like this happens! Thanks Andy, I'm looking forward to painting these bad boys. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up in the LPL. :)
• Not really painting or modelling but I finally caved and ordered a double-sided space mat from Hotz mats. Enhanced space on both sides and 1.5 inch hexes on of them. I talked to Eric and he said I was in luck as they were just about to start a new space mat run, so hopefully he'd be able to send my mat by the end of this week. Now I just need some more asteroids and a planet or moon...
• And finally some actual painting! Yesterday was the deadline for the Gruntz! painting competition that germinated on the forums. I had planned to participate but kept postponing my actual painting, only doing small pieces here and there. So yesterday when I came home from work at 10 in the evening I sat down to finish it! It took a few hours but I'm happy with the results (above). I had intended to paint one of my MicroPanzer Seekers, but realised that I didn't have the time. I settled for the APC instead which was very quick to paint! The HAMR team was fun to do as well as the commander.

Video Games

• Been playing less SWTOR recently. Not because I'm not enjoying it, but the first feeding frenzy has passed so now it's more moderate play. Got my bounty hunter to 42 and my agent to 22.
• I also played some Deus Ex again and I wish they'd make some more DLC. I quite liked The Missing Link and would love to play more as Adam Jensen. Anders has also finally started playing Mass Effect (he's had it four three or four years) and it inspired me to pop ME2 into the xbox and play my Infiltrator a bit more. Just a month left to the third, concluding part. Eek!

Other Geekstuff

• Finished listening to The Neutronium Alchemist, the second book in the Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton. It's quite different from the first, not as intimate, but also very good! By now you can start seeing where it's all heading towards but there are still many loose puzzle pieces out there. I always start thinking about Diaspora and what a cool adventure this would be when listening. I think I might steal some things when we make our cluster. I've decided to take a breather after this book so now I'm listening to the final book in the Leviathan trilogy. Quite a difference going from Hamilton to Westerfeld I'll tell you!
• I watched Real Steel and thought it was pretty fun mix of Rocky, The Iron Giant and general father-and-son-movie. Silly, certainly, but also pretty cool! I just have a big soft spot for robots. 
• To balance out the happy sillyness I watched Soderbergh's Contagion and I thought it was great! I hear comments about it being boring and that there's no antagonist. I sat riveted from square one and loved the whole realistic take on a true killer virus. The only thing I didn't like was the dismissal of the internet and the "blogosphere" (duh) as something for crazy people, while you get the true stories from TV and newspapers. I never realized Soderbergh was such a luddite.

Roleplaying Games

Nothing this month I'm afraid. Still eager for more Mouse Guard as well as Diaspora and The One Ring.


Alright... bring on February!

Read More

9 comments