So a question was thrown at me recently, to come up with two ideas for videos to make. While I have some idea of what I want to experiment with, I honestly don't have the resources to attempt making them. I started with those ideas last year, but with all that has happened this year, most were abandoned.
But soon after thinking about it, I did come up with an idea, though one I'm not sure if I feel comfortable to make. It's a short film with a mix of random shots and planned ones, liked together with a voice over. The voice is the inner one of depression. While I'm sure it's been done to death already, I would like to give it a shot, but I don't feel comfortable putting it out there publicly when it's done. The reason being is that it might be too depressing or even feel off and I don't want to create things that make people feel worse. I'd like to create positive things that would inspire people, not things that make people feel negative.
I don't know, it's still in the early stages so anything could happen at this point, but I would still like to attempt doing a short film.
Thursday, 1 June 2017
Building an AoS Skirmish Crew
So been looking at the list of available units and their renown costs. Gotta say, Death and Destruction factions got ripped off badly in this. As it stands, having a Moonclan Grots theme isn't really possible when they are just the basic Grot unit for them and the Death faction fairs no better if you wanted any Bats or Tomb Kings. I bring that last part up cause as I mentioned in the last post I did, I pointed out how GW said they would continue supporting those non-production lines in their FAQs, but obviously that isn't the case. Probably more disappointed that they missed supporting the Skeleton Archers, Bats and even the Squigs. How do you not add Squigs?
Despite my rage at this, I was considering using this game to tell the story of the awakening of my Death faction. I admit that the introduction would definitely put me on the back leg as I would have to have Queen Judith as the hero and being a Necromancer, that takes up nearly all of the points in a 25 Renown game. Going through my remaining models, that means either 2 Zombies or 1 Zombie and 1 Skeleton Warrior for the first match and given how the story starts, the 2 Zombie option would be more appropriate (I'll try to get the introduction story up soon). As it goes on, I still have around six Skeleton Warriors to use, but at some point I would reach the point when she would be able to awaken her husband King Nicholas (who is only slightly more expensive then the Queen). Still don't have enough models to build a full 100 renown point crew, but perhaps I'll just have to use stand in models until I can get more.
Also, I do have enough models (old bases and new) to run full crews for Chaos and Order, just preferring to focus on Death at the moment. The only exception to this is I may work on two Rat Ogres I have laying around, a few Chaos Warriors of Tzeentch that are here and there, but mostly slowly working on my Horrors of Tzeentch which I am painting in all sorts of random colours and patterns which are just meant as part of my distressing treatment (and not having to focus on fine detail can really help as you really don't have to care about the outcome and it really can help at times).
Despite my rage at this, I was considering using this game to tell the story of the awakening of my Death faction. I admit that the introduction would definitely put me on the back leg as I would have to have Queen Judith as the hero and being a Necromancer, that takes up nearly all of the points in a 25 Renown game. Going through my remaining models, that means either 2 Zombies or 1 Zombie and 1 Skeleton Warrior for the first match and given how the story starts, the 2 Zombie option would be more appropriate (I'll try to get the introduction story up soon). As it goes on, I still have around six Skeleton Warriors to use, but at some point I would reach the point when she would be able to awaken her husband King Nicholas (who is only slightly more expensive then the Queen). Still don't have enough models to build a full 100 renown point crew, but perhaps I'll just have to use stand in models until I can get more.
Also, I do have enough models (old bases and new) to run full crews for Chaos and Order, just preferring to focus on Death at the moment. The only exception to this is I may work on two Rat Ogres I have laying around, a few Chaos Warriors of Tzeentch that are here and there, but mostly slowly working on my Horrors of Tzeentch which I am painting in all sorts of random colours and patterns which are just meant as part of my distressing treatment (and not having to focus on fine detail can really help as you really don't have to care about the outcome and it really can help at times).
Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Age of Sigmar - Recent Thoughts
So I've been working on my Death faction slowly and deciding what I should and shouldn't put in it. This is more of a future plan then anything else as I'm slowly incorporating various aspects of my old Tomb Kings into the faction. Sadly, the support for them has all but dried up with the coming rules for Age of Sigmar: Skirmish, so how long they'll last is unknown (and without more Bats, not sure how long the armies theme will last too). That brings me to two things, the first being Age of Sigmar: Skirmish and the second being the new Kharadron Overlords.
So first is my opinion of AoS: Skirmish. I love the idea behind it. Not only is it a great introduction to the game, but it makes for some simple, short games that you can have fun with, without having to spend ages moving blocks of units. It's like a less complicated Mordheim in that sense. It means I can focus on creating some nice characters and work on a small scale stories with plenty of fun thrown in (though Death and Destruction got ripped off as far as model lists go).
This then leads me to my biggest problem, the Kharadron Overlords. While their models look nice, the prices show a serious flaw in trying to get people into the game. While I like nice details, affordability is what people are looking towards these days and this faction is something only those in very nice financial situations can get. Lets look at some of the prices:
Special Character - $70
Heroes - $40 (there are four of them, they are all $40 each)
Arkanaut Company (10 models) - $77
Grundstok Thunderers (5 models) - $70
Endrinriggers (3 models) - $70
Grundstok Gunhauler - $84
And the two airships are both $140 (small) and $190 (large)
I can only assume the rules make these more modern models in AoS mean they must be powerhouse punchers, cause it's hard to see why one would invest quite a bit of money into this kind of thing. Yes, I consider this hobby to be an investment cause you put a lot of time and money into it with the expectation to have something to show (an army, enjoyment etc,). Maybe I'm just jealous that we got some nice models and I can't justify purchasing a single hero, even more so now we have AoS: Skirmish. I know such conversations in regards to GW and its competitive pricing died years ago, its just me being frustrated that I feel left out when compared to so many other small miniature games out there.
UPDATE:
So I wanted to talk some more on AoS, but felt it would be better to just attach it here instead of adding another post.
Been looking into what would be involved in Age of Sigmar: Skirmish, cause I actually have a bunch of models from 8th edition and could easily create a warband for each faction, but would need to see if I should add new things to them to work with. Certainly this is something to consider with things like the Death faction I'm working on (like do Bats have costs? Where can I get them cheap? Do I go for a Varghulf?). I recently came up with a question about base sizes and I did get some clarification at my local GW store, but I thought of a few more after writing this original article, the most important one being an issue of which War Scroll to use? Apparently according to the FAQ, you can use anyone you want, though the more recent version should be considered to keep your opponent happy (then again, the FAQ still states that they will continue to support the rules for the discontinued models like the Tomb Kings and given what's in the Death list in Skirmish, it's clear that that's not the case).
I bring this up because if you look a few lines back I mentioned the Varghulf, which has a few rule variants from the ones in the Vamp pdf, the Death book and the Flesh-Eater courts version, the latter being useless in my army due to the rule differences from the Vamp Varghulf version vs the Flesh-Eater Courts version. I can see there being confusions in some games when it comes to rules and it's something I'd like to avoid. That said, it'll be some time before I can get something like that, so perhaps I'll just wait and see.
So first is my opinion of AoS: Skirmish. I love the idea behind it. Not only is it a great introduction to the game, but it makes for some simple, short games that you can have fun with, without having to spend ages moving blocks of units. It's like a less complicated Mordheim in that sense. It means I can focus on creating some nice characters and work on a small scale stories with plenty of fun thrown in (though Death and Destruction got ripped off as far as model lists go).
This then leads me to my biggest problem, the Kharadron Overlords. While their models look nice, the prices show a serious flaw in trying to get people into the game. While I like nice details, affordability is what people are looking towards these days and this faction is something only those in very nice financial situations can get. Lets look at some of the prices:
Special Character - $70
Heroes - $40 (there are four of them, they are all $40 each)
Arkanaut Company (10 models) - $77
Grundstok Thunderers (5 models) - $70
Endrinriggers (3 models) - $70
Grundstok Gunhauler - $84
And the two airships are both $140 (small) and $190 (large)
I can only assume the rules make these more modern models in AoS mean they must be powerhouse punchers, cause it's hard to see why one would invest quite a bit of money into this kind of thing. Yes, I consider this hobby to be an investment cause you put a lot of time and money into it with the expectation to have something to show (an army, enjoyment etc,). Maybe I'm just jealous that we got some nice models and I can't justify purchasing a single hero, even more so now we have AoS: Skirmish. I know such conversations in regards to GW and its competitive pricing died years ago, its just me being frustrated that I feel left out when compared to so many other small miniature games out there.
UPDATE:
So I wanted to talk some more on AoS, but felt it would be better to just attach it here instead of adding another post.
Been looking into what would be involved in Age of Sigmar: Skirmish, cause I actually have a bunch of models from 8th edition and could easily create a warband for each faction, but would need to see if I should add new things to them to work with. Certainly this is something to consider with things like the Death faction I'm working on (like do Bats have costs? Where can I get them cheap? Do I go for a Varghulf?). I recently came up with a question about base sizes and I did get some clarification at my local GW store, but I thought of a few more after writing this original article, the most important one being an issue of which War Scroll to use? Apparently according to the FAQ, you can use anyone you want, though the more recent version should be considered to keep your opponent happy (then again, the FAQ still states that they will continue to support the rules for the discontinued models like the Tomb Kings and given what's in the Death list in Skirmish, it's clear that that's not the case).
I bring this up because if you look a few lines back I mentioned the Varghulf, which has a few rule variants from the ones in the Vamp pdf, the Death book and the Flesh-Eater courts version, the latter being useless in my army due to the rule differences from the Vamp Varghulf version vs the Flesh-Eater Courts version. I can see there being confusions in some games when it comes to rules and it's something I'd like to avoid. That said, it'll be some time before I can get something like that, so perhaps I'll just wait and see.
Sunday, 28 May 2017
Skeleton Archers Up, Thought of the Day
So the Skeleton Archers are now up: Link
Today's been a bust with neck pain and irritating people. Planning to alter the Blog layout soon, probably to alter the Other Works section into a portfolio so I can start adding the stuff I learn and work on up (so an ever growing skills page). Might alter the Miniatures page a bit too along with re-evaluating the Characters page too. Not sure what to do just yet, still stressed out over today and just need to relax and think.
On the positive side, the course seems close to finish and feedback is good. Miniature wise, might work on a mix of Malifaux, Vampires and Mouslings for my next set of uploads. We'll see what this week holds.
Today's been a bust with neck pain and irritating people. Planning to alter the Blog layout soon, probably to alter the Other Works section into a portfolio so I can start adding the stuff I learn and work on up (so an ever growing skills page). Might alter the Miniatures page a bit too along with re-evaluating the Characters page too. Not sure what to do just yet, still stressed out over today and just need to relax and think.
On the positive side, the course seems close to finish and feedback is good. Miniature wise, might work on a mix of Malifaux, Vampires and Mouslings for my next set of uploads. We'll see what this week holds.
Saturday, 27 May 2017
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - More Info
So after watching some vids about The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, it seems that there was more to the trailer then I knew of. So apparently it will be a ten part series that will be a prequel to The Dark Crystal movie.
Now you may know that in my look at an issue of The Power of the Dark Crystal that I hated it and felt it completely ignored important lore elements from The Dark Crystal and said that if people wanted to tell a story in that universe, that it would be better to do a prequel instead of a sequel. Well, that's what looks like happening now. I actually have high hopes for this too as not only did they manage to get back Brian Froud (the man who's visual sketches were the main source for the vision), but that the creatures will be done by the Jim Henson's Workshop. This could really work in bringing back the magic and vision that was the original The Dark Crystal movie and I hope it all goes well.
I can't help it, this is something I'm genuinely hyped for. I would love to see it released of DVD/Blue-ray with a full behind the scenes section, as that is something I would love to see (I am really interested in all those things, so please make it happen).
Now you may know that in my look at an issue of The Power of the Dark Crystal that I hated it and felt it completely ignored important lore elements from The Dark Crystal and said that if people wanted to tell a story in that universe, that it would be better to do a prequel instead of a sequel. Well, that's what looks like happening now. I actually have high hopes for this too as not only did they manage to get back Brian Froud (the man who's visual sketches were the main source for the vision), but that the creatures will be done by the Jim Henson's Workshop. This could really work in bringing back the magic and vision that was the original The Dark Crystal movie and I hope it all goes well.
I can't help it, this is something I'm genuinely hyped for. I would love to see it released of DVD/Blue-ray with a full behind the scenes section, as that is something I would love to see (I am really interested in all those things, so please make it happen).
Villainous
So I only learned of these shorts just very recently, by accident really, but I must say that they are a must see. I really hope the creator Alan Ituriel gets some kind of deal for this as I would love to see more (even if they are just more shorts). The art style and animation is fantastic, the humor is great and the cast of characters are just amazing.
There isn't much these days I get into and I'm always looking for something that really grabs my attention. Well, I found it in this. I do like villains in show here and there, but there are few shows that focus on the villains themselves and this one gets it so right. The cast are all enjoyable in their own way, but damn is the character of Black Hat great. He's certainly the type of villain that I think of when designing villains of my own and I can just see him gaining a huge following. In fact, the whole show seems to be amazingly marketable, certainly from a merchandising stand point and I can definitely see people wanting it.
All in all, I definitely suggest you go out and check it out. I hope to see more of it in the future.
Sunday, 21 May 2017
Creating Characters with Jazza
So got this book a while back (cause I enjoy watching Draw with Jazza and like supporting Australian artists) and while I'd normally review it, it's kinda hard to review something like this. To an beginner artist, this book is great. It teaches the basics of designing a character and while there isn't a huge amount of new stuff for me, it does give me a different perspective when looking into character creation, something that I'll try to incorporate into my work and hopefully design a more in depth profile by looking at things in a more basic view.
Check it out if you get the chance.
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