Week In Review: More Frosty Core And Murder Hobos!

And another week is in the books!  The question is what did I manage to get done this time?  I'll admit that it feels like less than last week but this is also my 5e week which does take up part of my schedule.  Even so, I'm feeling pretty happy about the progress I made so let's take a look!

BrushFu For Core Space

Two more for the horde.. of random civilians!

Picture is a bit washed out but hopefully you get the idea

These last two are a corporate and a kid.  Only logical for a cyberpunk style game, right?  You've gotta have a corporate in the mix somewhere for things to be truly cyberpunk, and the kid just seemed like a fun addition.  This model is also available on a hoverboard which could be an interesting twist as well.

And that takes me up to nine civilians... or workers?  Since I have Black Star Rising, I can throw that little twist into the game as well, which I think will add an interesting depth to the game.  And as for the miniatures, I really like them.  These are printed by BrushFu Studios, but the sculpts themselves are from Papsikels. I love the variety of the sculpts that they offer, and I've really enjoyed painting up the minis that I've purchased.  I can't help but notice that the first batch I'd received seem to be larger than the second batch.  I kind of wonder if they might have been 32mm instead of 28mm but either way works for me.  If anything it gives them a mix.  After all, we aren't all the same size, right?

That said, it felt like the details were easier to pick out on the larger figures which makes sense in the most basic way, but it seemed like the sculpts are probably designed to be printed at 32mm height.  The 28mm still look good, things just seem to get a bit cramped on them which makes sense.  Think of a river running between two mountains.  At one height, it is clearly there but if you move higher up the detail of the river starts to fade until it becomes a meaningless line between the two ridges of the mountains.  Now translate that analogy to a fold between pieces of clothing and hopefully you can see what I'm getting at.

Next I want to mix things up a bit and grab some aliens.  There's a collection called Novus Landing which has got a great mix of civilians, bounty hunters, merchants... I think it'll add an interesting dynamic to the whole collection.  The store that I'm looking at for these, Resonating Prints, lists all of these minis as being 32mm so I want to see how they compare with my current collection.  Plus I'll be honest, I'm just having fun painting up all of these civilians and populating an imaginary world.  How can you have a fight in a bar without their being anyone else around?  Or in a market?  It just doesn't feel right so adding these characters just feels right, even if they just stay in the background.

Devastators for Core Space

Back in the beginning of the year, I put paint onto my Purge for Core Space.  I'd painted up the harvesters and devastators in the same color thinking that they would be easy to tell apart.  After playing a few games... yeah, not so much.  Instead, I decided to fall back to the original color scheme (at least partially anyway) and I repainted my devastators red.

And man are they red!  The Menoth white that I'd painted them with was a perfect base.  I'd thought that between the off white color and the shade that was on it that the red would be darker but this definitely works.  I did consider painting the heads white but I like the way these pop.  Really need to get this game to the table again soon, especially with all the new minis.  Really need to make some stat cards made up for them soon, or at least rework the ones that I've done.  The captain seems to be about right, but I think some of the crew need to be toned down a bit.  Might work on that this weekend.

Auril the Frostmaiden for D&D

I also wrapped up painting the three forms of Auril this week as I got paint onto her third form, known as the Winter's Womb.

Compared to the other two minis, this one felt like the details weren't quite crisp enough.  They are still there, but no where near as pronounced as the ice shards on the Maiden or the fur on the Crone.  This is also the smallest of the minis which is saying something as the other minis already seemed kind of small.  Even so, they were fun to paint and interesting change of pace for me.  Plus, they led to me picking up another trio of minis but I don't want to post about those yet.  I don't think that my friend even knows about my blog, but I don't want to spoil the surprise in case he does.

The 5e Waterdeep Murder Hobos

Last but not least, we had our biweekly 5e session and man did it get dark!  We've really been trying to stay clear of the law but this week... yeah, it's gonna be rough.  There was a gang fight that quickly escalated ("What do you mean we are doing non-lethal attacks?") followed by a visit to a shopkeeper.  My connection lagged out when we went to his shop, and when I got the connection back a couple of minutes later we were killing him.  Ummm... okay?  I guess?  Thankfully we have several players that can heal.  As long as he didn't take enough damage for an instant kill, we should be able to salvage the situation... maybe...

And that about sums it up for this week.  As I mentioned, I want to work on stating up some of the Core Space characters so I can get that to the table again next week.  Plus I have some terrain that I need to put together for my next Five Parsecs scenario...  really feel like I need some canals for this one... so we'll have to see what I can get together.  Until next time...

Random Updates: More Brush Fu For Me!

I've been sitting on another order with Brush Fu Studios for a bit now, and since they just started a 20% off sale it seemed like the perfect time to pull the trigger on it.  In my first order, they were nice enough to throw in a bunch of cyberpunk bases which I really appreciated.  I wasn't planning on using them at first but I'm glad that I decided to.  Rather than just hope they threw in more freebies, I ordered 10 of them so I'd have them on hand just in case.

Next there is a droid waitress, a street kid, a techie, and a corporate woman.  These are all minis that I want to incorporate into my Core Space/Five Parsecs universe that I'm working on building up and they will be interesting characters to have floating around in the background.  The kid could be some kind of informant, the techie is a store owner, the corporate is a Mrs. Johnson, and the waitress... probably just for the background but she seemed like a fun addition.

The last two minis in the order just seem like they will be fun to paint.  One is definitely an homage to the Knight Sabers from Bubblegum Crisis.  Might not be too easy to incorporate into the game but I think it will be fun to paint.  And then there is the dwarf barmaid pinup.  She doesn't fit in with the rest (in case you didn't notice) but she amused me and she was only a buck.  Easy way to kick the total up to get free shipping so why not!

I'm still waiting on this order to ship, but I'm very happy with the other prints from Brush Fu so I don't mind.  I have another set of minis that I ordered as well which I'm currently working on, but more on those soon.  Until next time...

Core Space: Family Picture Day!

So I was hoping to squeeze in a game but time is tight.  Still wanted to post something and I've been thinking about the pics of my minis that I posted earlier this week.  They were close up pics and I'm the first to say that I'm not a display quality painter.  Could I be?  Eh... Maybe?  But I enjoy painting for fun so that's more than enough for me.  I don't do have bad painting for table top quality though so I thought I'd put up a pic of them in their "natural habitat".

The Core Space terrain makes for a perfect backdrop, not to mention general scenery as well.

Also thought I'd take a couple of closer pics as well.  In the first one we have our fearless crew... plus the Space Ex courier.  For when it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight.

And in the second we have our random NPCs... at least the ones that I have so far.  I want to do something to better define the top of the goggles on the vendor but overall I'm really pleased with how they all turned out, and they are definitely good enough for for table top quality.

Next week, I'll be bringing down my Runewars/Warlords of Erehwon minis so I can work on them some more along with my 40k orks.  Why 40 orks?  Well, we'll deal with that next week.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Cyberpunk Miniatures

I set up the paint station and BOOM!  Instant painted minis!  Well, not really... but I've made some great progress.  I already had three of them mostly done, but I went back and touched up the bases to dress them up.  Pretty happy with the results as well.  First up are the new crew that I bought for Core Space.  I might use them for Five Parsecs as well but either way here they are.

I'd picked these four out months ago but hadn't finished them off.  These minis are quite a bit larger than the figures from the Core Space game, but I really like the aesthetic of them.  Still need to figure out the names and such, but this is a really good start.  I also get a kick out of the cyberpunk Aang on the left.  I hadn't noticed the arrow on his head or the glider on the back when I bought it but it's a fun little touch.  I'm pretty pleased with the bases as well.  The two with the black lip are separate bases that the seller threw into with my orders and visually I think they are a nice touch.  They are available separately now so I might pick some more up on my next order.

The other two that are finished are the first of my "bystanders"... and yes, one of them is a dog.

I think the lady will be a good Miss Johnson/informant and the dog... well, it's a cyberdog.  What's not to love?  I'm thinking maybe he can be like Ein from Cowboy Bebop.  There is another dog in the BrushFu shop as well, so I might have to get this pup a buddy.

On top of these these two, I have three more that are still in progress.

To the left is a courier, and I'm really tempted to go with FedEx or UPS inspired colors for him.  In the middle is your friendly neighborhood knockoff vendor.  What a watch?  He's got a fine cyber-Rolex for ya.  The last mini isn't a print, it's actually an old Tau ethereal miniature from... a long time ago?  I think he will work great for an alien priest of some kind.

I feel like I'm on a roll with these dudes, so I'm looking forward to working on the last three.  Plus, I'm already putting together another order to give me more narrative options.  I've also still got the nameless hero minis to get some paint on as well, so between all of that there should be enough to put together an interesting story or two.  Just need to figure out if I'm just going to use the Purge for the big bad or look for another option to give some variety.  Interesting things to consider.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Curses! Foiled Again... Plus a Cyber Samurai!

Well, it looks like I might have to run Stewie and his green companions.  I was called out on a post for the event so it's time to take another look at the US list I was considering.  All in all, it is a very basic list.  An inexperienced 2nd LT with a minder, three inexperienced infantry units, and Stewie... plus a medium machine team and an engineer squad with two BARs and a flamethrower.

Yep, very basic.

To be fair, it wasn't this bad before.  I originally had just inexperienced squads with a bazooka, plus Stewie.  Then I saw that the engineers can take a flamethrower, and things quickly escalated.  Add another couple of BARs just to make them really ridiculous.  Drop the bazooka like a bad habit and slap in a cheap MMG...  It's so ridiculous that I really feel like I need to run it. LOL

And as for the Cyber Samurai... he would be another mini from BrushFu Studios.

The front view of the mostly finished cyber samurai... still need to finish up the base, plus add some other color to his right hand.

Very clean print that needed almost no clean up.  The only negative thing I can say about this mini is the sword was bent when I received it.  What's that?  Which sword?  Oh... the one that broke of when he did a kamikaze leap out of my fat fingers at the floor.

And the back view of the same.

Unfortunately the material was extremely thin and the floor won the day, but I still like how he looks.  I'd thought about clipping off the rest of the hilt, but it has a nice, ornate feel to it so I decided to leave it on instead.  What's it supposed to be?  Who knows, but it works for me!  Overall, another figure that I really recommend from BrushFu for the printing, and I'm looking forward to working my way through the rest of my order.  Until next time...

Random Updates: BrushFu, Badger Games, and Erehwon Assembled!

Last week was a big one for hobby, not because I was able to get a lot done, but because I had a lot delivered!  First off was an order I placed a while back with BrushFu Studios on Etsy.

My perusing of Etsy started in the beginning of the year, after I got Core Space.  I was looking for cyberpunk style miniatures and Etsy has a good selection of them available.  I stumbled across BrushFu Studios and liked what they had to offer but unfortunately they were taking a break at the time.  Still, my hobby was slowing down at the time anyway so I added to my cart and just let it sit there until they were back.

When they did open back up, BrushFu was right up front with the fact that they had a lot of orders to fill and to expect orders to take three weeks to ship.  I was in no rush and I really appreciated the honest about this so I went ahead and ordered.

Fast forward about two weeks and I received a shipping notification, and then the minis themselves a couple of days sooner than the USPS predicted.  I haven't had a chance to really start working on them, but I did check them all out and even gave them a wash to I can start work on them.

From what I have seen, the prints are very clean and crisp.  There are a couple of thin strands from the printing but they will be easy enough to clean up before I get to painting them.  All told, I had ordered ten minis.  Three of those came with bases attached but they threw in eight cyber bases as well which I wasn't expecting.  All in all a good shopping experience and I've already got a bunch more minis queued up in my shopping cart for my next order from BrushFu.

About the time that package showed as shipped, I started see people posting about the Stargrave Nickstarter coming in which got me wondering if might might arriving soon.  I tried to log into the Badger Games website but couldn't remember my password and the system wouldn't let me reset it.  A couple of quick emails to them, and they had it sorted out then my package of goods was sitting on my doorstep!

I don't have pictures of these sets, but I did take a quick look at each of the sprues and man are there a ton of options!  Lots of heads, weapons, and various little gribblies, plus the Nickstarter comes with a sprue of gnolls and cultists for even more options.  Looking forward to getting these into the que at some point and fleshing out my options for Core Space and Five Parsecs From Home.

Last but not least, I even managed to do a little bit of actual hobby! Ages ago I started buying miniatures for a couple of Warlords of Erehwon armies using the now defunct Runewars figures.  I'd made a bit of headway before I was called back to the home office last year, but since then it has just been in a holding pattern.  Last night I decided that I might as well at least assemble the figures that were sitting on my table in baggies and it wound up being a pretty impressive looking horde.

Of course I still need to paint them all but at least now I have a better idea just what I have which is handy.  I had been thinking about getting some more of the crossbowmen and scouts but I'm thinking this is good enough, especially since this isn't including all the spearmen I have as well.  I also did some quick math on the points and just these figures were just shy of 1000 points (minus the wizard and priest at the front, and the standard bearer and musician which don't have stats).  Adding in the leader, champion, spearmen, and rune golems to the mix and it's gotta be around 2000 points which should be more than I'll ever need... in theory anyway.  Now I just need to paint them... along with the Nickstarter...  and the printed minis...  Oh boy...  I think I better start painting again soon!  Until next time...