Workbench: A New Crew and More Elves!

I've continued working on my Runewars elves this week and I am enjoying painting these minis.  There is a good depth to the details and they are at least 32mm which is a great combination for painting.  Makes it a little challenging to mix them in with other minis, but I have enough floating around to field at least 750 points for Erehwon and whole lot more in SoBH so this shouldn't be an issue.

Beyond the two army boxes that I've picked up (at less than $25 for 22 minis, how can you go wrong?), I've also added a box of swordsmen and the command attachment to my collection.  There are still a couple more of the leaders that I'm considering adding but even without these extras, I have enough options available to me with just these figures to field a well rounded army.  Standard for the Runewars line is a variety of poses as well.  Within the infantry units there are four distinct poses, while cavalry and large critters have two poses, letting you avoid the carbon copy appearance that you usually find with cheap miniatures... which these normally aren't.  Unit boxes MSRP for $25 but since FFG dropped the line, the surplus has been lurking on Amazon for over a year now for some great discount prices.  As I've mentioned before, they are a bit larger than your typical minis (kind of the Legion minis compare to the old Imperial Assault minis) but for the price they really are hard to beat.

And speaking of that other line that was abandoned by FFG, I haven't just been focusing on the fantasy side either.  I've been searching around for some sci-fi 28mm minis to put together my own crew for Core Space.  There are a good number of cyberpunk style prints on Etsy that I'm looking at picking up, but I also have my figures from Imperial Assault that have been sitting around gathering dust (like I I tied that all together there?).  I'm not going to try to stat them up accordingly, I'm just looking at the aesthetics of the figures and then I'll make them as my own characters using the Core Space rules.  Their stories have already been told elsewhere so it's time to hear about someone else, such as the crew of the trader vessel, the Avadora.

First up is Captain Delany Peirson (aka Jyn Odan).

I've always liked this figure though I'd though about staying away from it since she is crouched down.  I usually try to stay away from minis like that as it feels a bit like I'm gaming the system by having a figure with less of a profile for LoS.  I like the gunslinger feel that she has though so I decided she is a must have to lead my crew.

To lend a hand in the role of the heavy is Korbin Donham (aka Biv Bodhrik).

I'd already painted him to go into my GoA privateer list as support trooper with a micro-x launcher so he is the perfect to lend some firepower to the crew.

Next up is Ekaf Noran (aka one of the rebel saboteurs) as the tech.

Originally I was going to use Saska Teft as the tech for the crew, but then I saw this guy when I was pulling out Biv's mini.  This is another mini that I've always liked and for some reason the blue skin tone just makes me happy.  With all his additional kit, he is the perfect fit for the role of the tech as well.

Finally I'm going to round out the crew with Fasrak Pas'deral (aka Mak Eshka'rey).

He is another last mini substitution as I was planning on using Hera Syndulla as the pilot for the ship, but Mak is already finished and this is another mini that I like so it only makes sense to use him to round out the crew.

I want to work up some backstories for them all, but that will be for another day.  For now, I glad to have them all painted up and (almost) ready to go.  Plant life might not be the best match for a game that is set primarily on space ships and stations, but it's gonna work for my guys.  They are just taking being green to a whole new level!  Until next time...

Star Wars Legion: I Feel A Disturbance In The Force...

Things have really... slowed... down...  thanks to the flu.  Over President's Day weekend, I managed to get a really extended weekend since I was down with the sickness from Saturday night until Wednesday.  So much fun, let me tell you!

Feeling better now but unfortunately that break has really thrown me off my stride.  On top of that I'm potentially moving rooms soon so I don't want to break out too much stuff yet.  Been itching to set up a table and push some minis around with all the terrain that I built at the end of last year but I'm going to hold off until I'm relocated to minimize my packing.

I did get to watch/referee a game of Legion the Saturday before I get sick and I have to say that I'm really torn.  The game looks great visually and it's Star Wars.  How can you not love Star Wars?  Unfortunately the latest trilogy didn't really hit it out of the park from what I've seen and read, and since it's owned by Disney... well, they are in the market to make money.  They make some great things but yeah, ultimately money is the most important factor for any corporation.  I don't think that Star Wars is going anywhere soon, but what about the license?

Which brings Fantasy Flight Games into the picture.  FFG is a monster in the board game world, the originator of the coffin box games themselves!  FFG managed to get ahold of the Star Wars license years ago and they've been doing great things with it.  X-Wing, Imperial Assault, Armada, and now Legion.  Except Imperial Assault isn't being produced anymore... and X-Wing is in it's second edition now but you can get conversion kits... and recently I'd heard that their digital department either is closing or already has and then I read that X-Wing 2.0 uses an app to track points since the new edition doesn't have point values on the cards.

Have I dug into any of these things deeply to see how much they affect things?  No.  But hearing about them makes me nervous.  I bought a fair amount of X-Wing stuff over the years and for me to use that now, I need to invest $200 just to get the base game and conversion kits for my ships.  That's a lot of money to shell out just to use minis that I've already invested in and how soon is this going to happen again?  And if the digital content isn't supported, how are they going to support the app that is used to track the points to build forces for the game?

But with all that said, Legion is still a really tempting game.  The minis are really well sculpted and have a good variety even within the same unit to avoid the cookie cutter syndrome.

This is the Tatooine board my friend has put together.

There are some great terrain options out there as well, both from FFG and from independent companies that so it's easy to put together a great visual experience as well.  The rules seem pretty solid as well.  FFG likes to go for the literal interpretation of the rules so in most cases just play them as written.  They do a great job making sure that there aren't little nuances that can confuse the issue.

So why not get into it?  Even with the other concerns on my mind, it seems to be a solid ruleset, the minis are gorgeous, terrain options are easily accessible... and it's really expensive.  I'm kind of old school so I tend to look at GW as my gauge for "it costs how much?!?" but it seems like Legion is right up there too, at least for it the standard format.  It seems like the common recommendation with the FFG Star Wars games is "Get two starters" and it does make sense.  You get enough minis for the core of both a Rebel and an Imperial army, two sets of all the movement and range templates, and twice the special dice needed for the game.  All for just $200 retail and the good news is that you only have to buy a few more things to actually have a legal army to play!

Unlike other games, the default size for Legion is 800 points.  Period.  To use an example that I'm familiar with, a standard game of Antares is 1000 points but the have lists for 500, 750, 1000, 1250... I'm sure you see the trend here but the point is you can play a smaller game and have it be legal.  And considering that the army boxes from Warlord have between 500 and 1000 points in them, you are good to go right out of the gate for an $80 investment.  Well, except for the order dice (which you could just get some wooden cubes and write on), a tape measure (which you probably already own), and the rules (the light version of which can be downloaded for free from the Warlord website).

Thankfully FFG has offered an alternative to this by introducing Skirmish level games.  These are only 500 points and play on a 3' x 3' table which are both two big pluses in my book.  I prefer smaller boards (even though I like Antares which really thrives on a larger board) and 500 points should make it that much more affordable, even if it only functions as a gateway to larger games in the future.  I still need to run some numbers in Battlescribe to see just what I'm looking at but it's a start.  Until next time...

Workbench: Spearmen, Space Barrels, and Some Gardening Too!

More progress on the painting challenge but things have been going... a bit... slower...

I've started work on the spearmen that I had drybrushed and I've gotten half of them painted already.

I decided to split knight army up a little bit to add some flavor to the whole thing.  The soldiers in blue are the affiliated with the Crown and will form the core of my army.

In addition to these core troops, one of the two leaders for the army will be Baudric the Red (aka Lord Hawthorne from the Daqan forces of Runewars).

His set comes with a mounted figure and one on foot which will give me some options in the army as well.  Baudric is definitely the more imposing of the two figures so if I field the full army, then he will move into the champion slot.  Beside Baudric is one of the mounted knights that will accompany him, plus I will be painting up a unit of spearmen in his colors as well.

The next items are terrain pieces.  Nothing too fancy but I'm excited to have them to add into the mix.  What are they?

Spaaaaaace barrels!!!  (this is a call out to Table Top Warlords YouTube channel... check them out if you haven't already!)  I'll admit that I have no idea what Kevin made his out of but I made mine from assorted plastic bottle lids hot glued together, then painted.  Quick and easy!

Last but not least, I added some detailing to my plant terrain.  Originally I was going for quick and easy so I didn't bother with any ground cover.  Well, I decided that it was time to change that up so I hit Michael's and grabbed some lichen.

This is just a sample of but you at least get the idea.  It's just a minor touch but I really like how it added some realism and depth to the pieces.  I've been holding off on setting up my full terrain board since I'm going to be bouncing rooms again soon but once I'm in a more permanent location, I'll have to see what I can do.  Still more to do this month but this is a good start for this month!  Until next time...

Workbench: And the Painting Continues!

January is wrapping up and I've made great headway with my painting challenge!  I posted earlier that I was up to 21 minis painted but I've blown past that all the way up to 33!  On top of that, I even made a cheap little "light box" so I can take some better pictures of my minis as I go along.  So without further ado, let's see what I've gotten done!

After picking up my tectorists, I had to grab the next mini that has been on my radar ever since it came out; the Hukk bounty hunter for Gates of Antares.  In addition to the hunter himself, the blister also comes with three angkriz hunting beasts.

These take up a tactical slot and operate together as a unit.  They can also be used by all of the factions, including the Ghar due to their alien nature.  The unit is highly customizable (as long as you have the points that is)  and gives you number of options for the models to go with him.  In my case, I maxed out his drone compliment, giving him a spotter, medi-probe, and two shield drones.

The trickiest thing about these minis is figuring out what to paint which color.  These are completely alien beasties so it really is just up to your imagination.  For mine, I decided to paint the hunter and beasts with bone colored carapaces, while the skin tones are similar to the one paint scheme that Warlord has shown for these critters.  As for the drones, these were an open canvas as well.  Since these are buddy drones that the hunter has picked up over time, it really opens up the palette for them.  I even custom built one of the shield drones just so they would look more ramshackle.

And next is the first mini for my Warlords of Erewhon knight army.  I was originally looking at going with an undead army but it sounds like they're pretty popular at the store (go figure) so the knights were a good second option.

These minis are some of the Daqan outland scouts from the now defunct Runewars game by FFG.  In addition to this set of minis, I also grabbed not one but two core sets so I've got a bunch of minis to work with.  There are a few more figures that I need to pick up to round things out but by the end I should have two full armies for a discount price which is always a plus in my book.

For next month, I've already got a head start as I have 16 Daqan spearmen already drybrushed just waiting for paint so I should be able to push through those really quick.  Of course the Antares Facebook group is trying to distract me with talk about running Zona Alfa reskinned with an Antares flavor.  This sounds like an amazing idea and has me thinking of the possibilities of sci-fi/pulp adventures.  Must stay strong and focus... argh!!!  Until next time... unless I get lost in some long abandoned research station looking for the lost arc of the Concord.  Wish me luck!

Lighting The Spark Of Rebellion

"Okay, I'm going to give up getting more minis for... What?  They're releasing that next?!?"

This is what was going through my mind when I saw the wave 8 line up for X-Wing from Final Fantasy Games.  Not just the Ghost but also the Inquisitor's TIE and the Gozanti assault carrier.  Seriously?!?  Just when I thought I could get out of this game...

The good thing (for me at least) is that this really gives me a direction for my collection.  There are now a good number of ships available for the game but since I want to focus on the beginning of the Rebellion it really focuses my selections.

In the beginning the Rebels weren't using A-Wings or B-Wings.  Both of these were developed later in the war.  Likewise for the TIE Interceptor, Phantom, and Defender.  All of these entered the fray after the Battle of Yavin so even more are ticked off the list.

This does mean that my collection might not be the most competitive but I'd rather focus on the story anyway.  In fact I've already got an idea brewing for a nice little mini campaign but more on that later.  Until next time...