New Delays

So there will be a slight delay on those uploads. A family issue has come up and I'll definatly be away this week and the beginning of next week. I hope to catch up quickly, but given the situation I won't make any promises as to when those projects and uploads will be ready.

Second to Last Wild Ones Update

So the Wild Ones models are done, somewhat. They are finished to the point that I've stopped painting, I'm not skilled and to try and any attempt to 'fix' them will just make things worse. I'm hoping the Hounds will be in by Wednesday and I can get straight into working on at least two to finish the full crew off. So why haven't I done a shot of the finished models and uploaded them?

Well, I asked in the Old Cranky shot if adding scenery was better then just while card and the response was a big yes to scenery. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to buy new scenery or a mat, so I'm doing the next best thing and making a scenic stand to shoot them on. This means making a small board to display them on with a few coloured pieces of paper on the side to give a desert feel (I don't have access to a printer yet, so no scenic backgrounds unfortunately).

As of this moment, I am working on making the ground the same way as I did the bases, with wood filler that's had black paint added to darken it, a thin layer of brown paint (I'm running very low so I had to skip parts) and finally a black wash layer to give it an even darker look. This will help when the cracked earth paint is added tomorrow. From there it's down to how much I want to add to the base. A few rocks and a bush or two of dried grass, perhaps a broken wooden sign or something. Might have to sketch up some ideas as to what to add as I don't want it too blank, but I don't want to overcrowd it too. Sometimes minimal gives the maximum effect.

What I will do is do a light progress of creating it as an article, which I will upload along with the pictures of the miniatures. Perhaps it will give me (and even yourself) ideas for creating more improved scenic pieces (this is a rushed job after all).

Miniature Wargaming - The Endless Variety

So recently I've been wondering about what one can do in miniature wargaming. Since the events of the End Times and having the chance to experience a variety of different games, this is something I've been wanting to talk about and having talked to the guy an my local newsagent (who sells a number of miniature wargames at his store and plays a few different games), now is a great time to do so. I want to talk about a few games that have caught my eye, either by their models or game styles, but for this I won't really talk about games of 40K/Age of Sigmar/Malifaux as I already have experienced them and I want to focus a little as an outsider looking in. So here we go.

Warmachine vs Hordes

So I've seen both these two before, but it was my local guy who showed me their starter sets and told me a little about them. What I find very interesting is that there are now rules that can have an army from one game fight an army from another. That's amazing. The idea of having such a means is one I find very interesting and only serves to enhance the game, allowing players to fight one another with armies that at one time, could not.

While I don't really want to get involved in another big army style game, I do like the look of two of the factions, the Cryx from Warmachine and the Legion of Everblight from Hordes. The Cryx were described to be as a sort of Cyberpunk cross Necromancy faction, while the Everblight are more based of the Demonic in nature, thought both sides seem to have some Elvish nature to them. Both sides have some awesome looking miniatures, though sadly the best ones are the more expensive ones. The Cryx are in the starters pack, which ranges around the $135-$145 mark, so not too bad and something I may look into further down the line.

Marvel/Batman

These games are more new-ish (the Marvel one more so) and is probably the only game in which you'll probably spend more money on scenery then on the actual models. These games are small skirmish ones, with two sides going against each other in combat. The Batman games usually have the good guys verses bad guys, with one player picking his team to go take out one of Gotham's various crime gangs. The Marvel one has you with a set team from one of their three factions, Avengers, Mutants (a.k.a X-men) and Guardians of the Galaxy. Here you do toe-to-toe in a super hero fight, from throwing opponents into buildings, tossing vehicles at enemies or simply going for a good old fashion beat down. I've seen a battle report or two on this game and it does look incredible, but as I pointed out, you do need a bit of scenery for a good game.

It's style and rules means you could implement them into other shows, like Dragonball Z for instance. There is a great potential now for shows and movies to move into miniature wargaming thanks to games like these.

Dropzone Commander

Perhaps I was too quick about my scenery comment above, as I had completely forgot about this game. To simply put it, Spaceships and Mecs, what else is there to say. The game have a few factions, with various air and ground units as you battle through cities and the like. Ground infantry is basically a single unit, with most being things like Mecs, Walkers and Tanks. There are a number of large and small air units too. I don't know much about this game, but I have seen some amazing game boards done for it and the miniatures themselves look quite nice too.

Alien vs Predator

More like a boardgame style, it does seem a little expensive to me. Shame, as I really do love Aliens and Predators. Never seen it played, but it does emphasize my point that you can turn a franchise into a miniature wargame and allow people to experience it in a whole new way.

Guild Ball

Everyone remember when Games-Workshop did Blood Bowl, cause it seems GW seemed to have forgotten it. So much so, that another company decided to make a game about factions fighting is a combat ball sport and it seems to have taken off. Again, another game I don't know much about, but the miniatures do look very good. Maybe I might paint one at some point.

Overall

There are so many more out there, but these were a few that caught my attention. More so, they have given me plenty of ideas of what a person can do with a few simple ideas. Think about it, you can take your favourite show/movie/comic/game and turn it into a game. Just alter a few rules and get a few miniatures. Even better if you know someone who can do great 3D models as with the rise of 3D printers you could create a basic model and pose, print, paint and away you go. Custom rules and a few playtests, one could create a good fan game to share with friends. If you have your own characters and stories, you can modify them to make a miniatures game to share and expand. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination (and copyright law. Some companies don't take too well to fan games).

My Time Studying - A 10 Week Overview

So we are about to start week ten of my time studying a Diploma of Screen and Media (Visual Effects) and I just want to put up a little recap. This is more for myself then anything else, so feel free to skip this one.

I've learned a number of things, like the basics of storyboard art, visual manipulation, sound editing, 3D construction and video editing. All things that have proven to be very interesting, if a little difficult. Sadly, my condition is a serious concern as it has resulted in me not keeping up at times and at one point, having a violent Anxiety attack, which ruined my day to no end. So far I have passed the first set of assessments, though as we now have only six weeks until the next set are due, the pressure just seems to keep building up.

The latest one is to create a movie title sequence from a movie you like, but it has to be different from it's one. This means you have to be creative with it, but still keep to the formula of what a movie title entails and that it must be like other movie titles before it (as in, you need some reference material to show that similar styles have been done before, or else it may not feel like one). Naturally, I'm going to do one based on my number one favourite movie: The Dark Crystal.

That said, it's easier said then done. I'm already in the planning stages, with ideas that must be story boarded and a short 3D piece to test create to see if my main idea works. The one problem with being a creative person (something I'm sure you have all experienced at one point) is going in over your head. My idea is a big one, but I am unskilled, short on time and my mental health isn't exactly helping in solving issues that may occur. I need to have a backup plan (I have one, but it costs money for props, something that may be an issue - guess that means I need a backup-backup plan then eh?) and focus to get things done.

Overall, I have seen boundless potential with what one can do with the knowledge that this course can bring, but I'm really feeling the strain that doing it is also causing. Will do my best to remain as positive as possible, with the hope that perhaps I might get the chance to use such skills in a few videos soon enough.

Divergent Paths Is Almost Upon Us

So the promotional material and base rules for the Divergent Paths campaign is now up. It will involve a series of story games which follow three new human arrivals from the Breach, a snarky practical joker, an inquisitive child, and a self-righteous man. As such, each faction is trying to alter the fate of these individuals. At the end of each story encounter, the faction with the most wins will grant that character a special ability. By the end of the campaign, the fates of these characters will have changed and the consequences will be felt as each character will become a model who's stats and abilities will be determined by this event.

This sounds very interesting, three characters who will be reforged into something different based on the actions of those involved. I just hope people play more for the fun of messing with them then actually trying to win a factional victory like the last world campaign. It will get boring real quick if we keep seeing the same top three of Guild, Arcanist and Ten Thunders over and over again.

Also, quick update on the Wild Ones. For the most part, I have only one more Ramone to complete and while their paint coats aren't the best, I'm overall happy with what I've done. The Hounds still haven't arrived yet, but with luck, I'll have them done by the end of next week. The plan is to have the full 50 Soulstone group painted up of photos, though I might be busy next weekend too, so we'll have to see what happens. Also, noticed a Bayou Gremlin has gone missing and two Bushwackers and the Lucky Effigy were not finished. Working to fix that up, though I admit that my Effigy looks like he's a football supporter who stole the cloths off a dead clown. I can't tell if he's disturbing or disgusting.

Wild Ones Crew Setup

So after looking over a number of models and rules, I think I've got my Wild Ones 50 Soulstone crew final setup complete. The list goes as follows:

Master - Mounted Rollins (Counts as Mounted McCabe) - Soulstone Cache - 4
                       - Glowing Saber - 2SS
                       - Elixir of Life - 2SS
                       - Strangemetal Shirt - 1SS

Totem - Iggy Pup (Counts as Luna) - 4SS

Henchmen - Cherri Bomb (Counts as Sidir) - 9SS

Minions - Elli Ramone (Counts as Mounted Guard) - 8SS
             - Patti Ramone (Counts as Mounted Guard) - 8SS
             - Miss Anne Thrope (Counts as Wastrel) - 4SS
             - Brutal Effigy - 4SS
             - Guild Hound - 3SS
             - Guild Hound - 3SS

        Total Cost - 50 Soulstones

While I did discuss the benefits of the combination of Iggy, Hounds and Mounted Guard, there are a few more to go with this option. I chose the Effigy not only cause it was cheep (and looks bloody awesome), but it can be useful to trigger a slow on enemies and to help keep Rollins alive longer. Miss Anne, being a Wastrel, allows for more movement in the use of the upgrade tossing, plus her tactical ability is very helpful. In fact, the only character I haven't figured out is Cherri, mostly cause I haven't played this crew before. With a few Upgrades tossed her way, Bodyguard seems like a good choice. I will most likely keep her and Iggy as backup. Iggy needs to be well protected at first cause if she goes down, then the Hounds regain their Insignificance rule, which can be a real pain early in the game.

Again, the look and feel of this crew list matches well, but I won't know much about strategies until I actually use them in games (or someone else uses them against me).

(Quick update: Both Iggy and Dismounted Rollins are done, the remaining four have all been coated is a base colour and are at various stages of completion. I'm away this weekend, but should have them finished by next week. By then the Hounds will have shown up and I can quickly complete two to have the group set up for photos.)

WTF Youtube, Dangerous Waters Man

We are entering dangerous waters with this shit here man. I can understand wanting to keep some of the hate filled troublemakers out, but this is overstepping the boundaries. The system is already unfair in it's treatment of it's users with it's failed Copyright system, allowing the large companies to abuse it without fear of consequences (well, until it actually goes to court, but even when they loose it's no real problem for them), but what are the chances that videos from these companies will be targeted by this new system.

As it stands, many media companies have their videos on here and many of them are monetized. Some of there big and popular ones go against these guidelines, but many of us feel they'll be passed over in exchanged for targeting smaller channels. Hell, I don't know if any of there systems could be classed as legal in some countries and it's only a matter of time before one country makes that decision. This is another form of trying to shut off both creativity and free speech. Yes, some people should not have the right to post videos and the like cause they're out to harm other people, but Ad friendly? Has any of these guys looked at ads lately? Some involve things like sex, abuse, offensive meanings, gambling and drug use. Ads are not ad friendly by that standard. Much of the entertainment we watch on Youtube has swearing, sexual innuendos and the like, but you cut them off and your cutting off an audience. A very angry audience.

This would not only cut off the livelihoods of a number of great content creators, but those that work for them. Remember that many of the big names (and smaller channels) have other people work for them, people behind the camera, extras and most importantly, Editors. If the channel can no longer make ad revenue, then those who work behind the scenes will loose there jobs too. Such a blow would be very bad publicity for Youtube and Google and could see many content creatures change formats. Cutting ads from the big channels (and a tone of smaller ones) would also hit Youtubes bottom line. They are literately cutting their own throats with this shit. This does not make sense, not from a moral one, a business one or hell, even common sense. There is no explanation to justify this, no reason to explain why they chose to do this (and no, Ad friendly non-sense. T.V has violent, offensive, swearing shows and they have ads. Hell, the news has gambling ads in ad breaks). I don't know who is in charge, but clearly someone needs to explain to them that they need to stop following this self destructive path, before it's too late.

(I know I've gotten carried away with this, but it's hard to see a positive to content creation when all those who do good suddenly find their work restricted financially. Doesn't help when big companies continue to get a free pass, yet the hard working smaller channels are getting punished. It frustrates me to no end).