Post Salute post

hi all

An off schedule, very quick, rough and ready Post salute post (I'll leave the dissection of the day to the experts). This was my first major show and what a show it was! I don't remember who did what and I'm just going to post a load of pictures of the demo games of which there were loads, all of good to excellent quality and the ones that I played were fun including Bushido which, despite my recent posts was my first game of it! It was awesome and I'm glad I got a faction before, I also bought a second faction immediately after playing which will be featured as and when I get them done (I still have a few more posts from my Temple of Ro-Kan faction yet). I also played Wacky Races based on the cartoon from the 70's - loads of fun! And a 54mm Napoleonic game by Victrix - the minis were amazing. 

I managed to spend a ton of cash, although I could have spent a ton more! The discounts I got were amazing all on games I wanted to spend money on - no frivolous spends for me. As well as a new Bushido faction I grabbed the Saga rule set, a game I've had my eye on for years, an Anglo-Saxon starter set and accessories. With Rich and Chris also buying Saga stuff it looks like a little project is forming with each of the guys promising to contribute their Saga saga (!) to this blog, something to look forward to I hope.

Anyway the first pic is of all the swag I grabbed from the show including Saga, Bushido, Hasslefree and bizarrely some kangaroos....... The rest is of the demo games and the last is a pic of the nerdy travellers

my swag, ignore the tray at the top, that's a build project i'm working on 

Bushido - demo walk through

a sci-fi/steampunk nautical game

a massive Napoleonic, the board was a spray-painted rug and looked superb as flowing meadow grass

A huge Halo participation game

this looked amazing (can't remember the game though)

54mm Victrix Napoleonic

Team Yankee,  no different to Flames of war I guess

something to do with the Congo I think

Gates of Antares

GW - boo, hiss!! actually this was one of the most lacklustre games.....

ACW - Warlord (I think)

this was a mix of all sorts of models/manufacturers

dropzone (I think)

the bridge of the starship enterprise

a steampunk game, not sure of manufacturer

each pod on this scratchbuilt ship was a dropzone tank!

an Indian railway skirmish

Pike and Shot

Battlestar Galactica!!!! oh yes it was!!!

Wacky Races

A Vietnam game (not sure which)

Lion Rampant

Nerds Assemble!!  For those that don't know I'm front and centre

Enjoy

dGG

Ps my apologies to my fellow bloggers, I missed the meet. I was there I promise but for some reason never connected, i guess it doesn't help not knowing what you guys look like in the flesh. Maybe next year! i'll wear a red carnation instead of my Zombie t-shirt....

Kintaru and Salute

Hi all

Last post before Salute, after which my bought figures to painted ratio will be badly skewed....  :-) I'm going to see if I can get another faction for Bushido and some other bits as well as playing as many new games as I can, what I'm really looking forward to though is meeting up with fellow bloggers! Those awesome dudes who bring a little bit of what's going on in their gaming world to us, inspiring us with their great figures and glorious games (of course i mean other bloggers rather than myself). I know I have started at least three new gaming systems since I started blogging!! See you at 1pm guys!

Anyway....

once again I bring you an addition to the Temple of Ro-Kan faction i am building; the fisherman Kintaru, here is his blurb from GCT studios website...

As trouble and unrest sweeps across the Jwar Isles the unlikeliest of heroes are emerging to support the Temple of Ro-Kan. Kintaru is one such man, a peasant more at home fishing the rivers and lakes of the mountains than fighting. Nether the less he has given the strength of his arms and his keen eye to protect that which he holds dear. 

Kintaru was painted in my now familiar temple paint scheme, on the website he had an orange robe so i figured he was a failed initiate and answered the call.  So he got a robe with a purple stripe that had obviously seen some use, khaki breeches and sandals and a bamboo fishing pole.  his base is made to represent a jetty from balsa wood and PVA to represent the water, a little moss clump finishes it off, the bucket on the base comes with the figure and contains fish which i have chosen to have on its side, spilling its contents and some blood onto the decking.

Kintaru will be used in a support role, either backing up Seiji or another medium hitter to bolster their attacks.

hope you enjoy

dGG

16:41 (+25)

figs bought:painted (difference)

The Dojo - finished

Hi all

as regular readers of this blog will know I've been building terrain for my Bushido, a few days ago i posted WIP on my dojo and i'm happy to say I finished the piece recently, well I say finished what i mean is that it is playable now! I need to add some kind of curtains to the pagoda as it looks really odd sized in order for it to be playable as a piece, with curtains it should make it look a bit more acceptable.

rice bowl and pottery

As regular readers of this blog know I like to add some homemade details to my builds just to add some realism to the table and satisfy my sense of cinema.  The vase, cup and rice bowl were made out of putty and shaped (poorly) by me and painted to represent Japanese glazing, I went for Kanji (Japanese symbols) representing the five elements in Japanese culture - Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Void (or heaven) The bowl was filled with ballast that i painted white after it was glued in and the chopsticks are made from a split matchstick.

movable doors

The doors, as always, gave me some trouble, I wanted them to be fully moveable so they had an impact in play, I could have glued them in place and they would have looked great but played poorly. I did play with the idea of putting them on rails and i might do that in any future build (if any) but felt that it looked a bit odd with bits of matchstick sticking up from the floor which would have been my only option at this stage in the build.  Instead then I just mounted the doors on balsa bases that can lifted and put in place, a bit basic but hey it works!

full on shot, the pagoda roof is deliberately high in order for a fig to be placed in it! needs curtains

As i said earlier the pagoda is a little tall looking but I wanted to be able to put minis in their as the model needs to be fully playable, but i may stick some curtains on it to give it some class...lol

The pagoda is marked with Kanji for the elements with one on each aspect of the walls and Void facing the heavens i.e on the roof. you can just see a "poster" by the entrance to the dojo with the word Bushido in Kanji written on it and again the elements (this is a recurring theme).  In the picture below you can see the door in place more clearly.

Seiji turning up early for his training

early morning sun

the interior is a single room or "Moya"

With the roof off you can see some of the interior detail and more of the Kanji scattered around the walls.

Seij working out, not sure why he brought the bamboo in with him...

Master Po's master-class in session

some detail note the spilled Saki from the overturned cup

The pic above shows more of the interior detail in better light! For the posters I soaked white paper in used tea bags (plenty of tea drinking when i'm building..) to give it that time worn look before painting on the Kanji, in this case it once again spells out Bushido as well as the elements and the Temple of Ro-Kan.

The Tatami (or mats) is made from an old, out of date (but not used) crepe bandage that I found in my first aid kit at home, coloured with Vallejo Khaki.  The pottery was added and i used a puddle of PVA glue to represent the spillage of Saki (rice wine).

Master Po knows how to fill a classroom!

so that's it, another fun but time consuming build completed. I need to get some objective markers sorted next so I guess it's time to exercise my web-fu and find some interesting pieces for conversion.

hope you enjoy.

dGG

Master Po

Hi all

back in with some more Bushido models for my Temple of Ro-Kan faction. Here is some blurb on the fine, fat fellow from the GCT website...

Master Po’s return has caused quite a stir in the halls of the temples of Ro-Kan. His jovial presence has lifted morale of every monk from the initiates, to his fellow masters. Po’s manipulation of Ki belies his rotund appearance allowing him to be deadly in close combat, many have been caught cold as the big man lands hammering blows

So here is my interpretation of the Master himself

Po with planking for his base, but armless at the moment though....

front facing

side view showing the perfect poise of Po

I painted Po in my chosen traditional orange robes (Vallejo Orange Brownm washed in Carroburg Crimson) with a red edging, which I will be using to identify the ranks of attainment for my monks - purple for initiate, white for monk, red for master.  His breeches were painted with Vallejo Khaki and washed in Citadel Agrax Earthshade as are his sandals.  The Sugegasa (traditional bamboo hat) was painted in a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Khaki and Saddle Brown and then washed in Agrax Earthshade.  I did try to rosy up his cheeks a little with very watered down crimson ink. The jade bracelet was painted using Citadel Moot Green and washed in green ink.

Po is a hard hitter in the game and he will be my enforcer, putting down the opponents dangerous characters with his hammer strikes.

hope you enjoy

dGG

ps my painting to bought fig ratio is looking really good at the mo but with Salute this weekend that is set to come to an end.....

16:40 (+24)

figs bought:painted (difference)

The Temple of Ro-Kan - initial models

Hi all

Bushido has been getting a lot of attention from me recently, which is a bit surprising as I currently don't have anyone interested in playing it in our local group.  what I am hoping is that if i produce some good terrain and paint the already stunning miniatures well then I will lure Chris, Rich or Damon into getting a faction or two....

For those of you who don't know it, Bushido is a game by GCT Studios.  I lifted this blurb straight from their website, which is excellent btw.

Bushido is a game of savage battles, of cunning stratagems and last-ditch defences, and where debts of honour are paid in blood. In Bushido, the fate of the world hangs not on armies but on individual heroes, men and women of extraordinary capacity, attuned to the all-permeating life force known as Ki. This force is the very fabric of the universe, and those with the appropriate training or natural talent can tap into this energy source and gain seemingly superhuman powers. In the world of Bushido, the delicate tapestry of Ki – and thus the universe itself –is threatened by the forces of imbalance, and it is up to you to protect it – or help rip it apart. In a game of Bushido, nothing less than the universe itself is at stake. Are you ready for the challenge of the Way of the Warrior?

Bushido is an oriental fantasy tabletop miniature battle game for two players. Each player commands a force of no more than a handful of individuals, represented by 32mm metal miniatures. These forces meet on the battlefield and the commanders (the players, that is) try to outwit, outfight and outlive the opposing force and fulfil their battle objectives while denying the enemy theirs. If you have played tabletop miniature games before, Bushido falls into the ‘skirmish game’ category: all miniatures represent individuals and your force consists of a small group of unique characters rather than a big faceless army. A game of Bushido is fast-moving, flexible and filled with strategizing, counter-strategizing and counter-counter-strategizing. Your tactical acumen is important, but as dice add an element of randomness, so too is your ability to think on your feet. A typical game of Bushido takes between one and two hours to play – more if you are new to the game, less if you are a seasoned veteran.

Could not have said it better!!

I only have the free downloaded rules off of their website although I will probably splash the gaming tokens on the full rule book if I can persuade some additional nerds into playing.  That was enough though to convince me that the game was worthy of a play and to collect a faction (although the 60% reduction for Black Friday helped too!) and the faction I got was the Temple of Ro-Kan.  Now a couple of reasons helped me form the decision on which faction to collect, let me start by saying all of the GCT miniatures for this game look amazing, literally ALL of them!! so there was no help there in making a decision.  I hadn't played the game so tactically I didn't have a clue which faction suited my game play or temperament - that will come later I guess. So it was down to two things really, price - Wayland Games were offering varying discounts and Temple were consistently high and I liked the idea of a bunch of mystical monks kicking some Oni (demon) ass!  The temple has high kicking monks who can manipulate the very elements, Kitsune (fox type spirits), kami (elementals) and even a Gorilla!  this is very me indeed!  Each figure comes with a card with all of it's statistics and special skills so all your info is to hand.

Anyway, to the first of the models off of the production line.  I wanted a consistent paint scheme that would tie the eclectic look of the models together, to that end I plumped for a traditional orange for the robes/kimonos/battle dress. Some of the models wouldn't get to wear monks clothing so this would be challenging so if they were to have orange somewhere about their person that would be job done for me!

First of all we have Seiji, here is his blurb straight off the website - 

Like all monks of the Temple of Ro-Kan, Seiji is following a path and element that he was always destined to. Still in the early years of his training this calm and relaxed monk is already showing signs that he will become a great defender of the Jwar Isles, and an asset in the struggle against the chaos. It is told that Seiji sat under the Grand Father tree for a full cycle in meditation, quietly becoming as one with the forest around him and in a deep communion with the sacred Kami. 

Seiji was painted in a slightly lighter flesh tone than I normally use to represent his Asiatic heritage, but I still used citadel's Tallarn flesh and shaded it with Reikland Flesh, just adding more highlights. His breeches were painted in Vallejo Orange Brown and shade with Carroburg Crimson and the sash was Citadel Iyanden Darksun shaded with Seraphim Sepia. To the base I painted some white lines to help in the game determine facings (its obvious with Seiji but not others, so i thought I would be consistent) I also added some small rocks and sand to represent a Zen Garden, which I will be building at some point. I then added bamboo shoots just for fun...

Seiji will be used as a good all rounder, fending off dangerous characters and taking out weaker opponents.

Next up we have the Minor Kami of Fire and Water - 

The extent of the unbalance facing the world is highlighted by the emergence of these minor Kamis. While they are a mere shadow in comparison to their godlike brethren they nevertheless have brought their not insignificant powers to bear in the name of the Temple of Ro-Kan. They allow the monks to do what they do best

Kami of the Morning Dew is not my best ever painted figure but there is only so many times you can repaint a blasted model.  I just could not seem to get him how I pictured him in my head!  Essentially he is Citadel Mordian Blue with Drakenhoff Nightshade and then highlighted, I used Citadel Hawk Turquoise for the Kami's eyes.  I wish I could say I was totally satisfied with him but never mind. The only thing I couldn't do was get some orange on this model.

Kami of the Evening Flame however, I am satisfied with!  I have never painted so much flame before so decided to look up how to on t'internet.  I found a cracking tutorial by Laszlo Jakusovszky  here with a brilliant explanation of how fire looks and then his step by step guide. Now I will say I don't have the paints he uses so had to rely on what I've got and adapt so my apologies to Laszlo for this interpretation.  the paints I used are Citadel White Scar, Vallejo Sand, Vallejo Orange Brown, Citadel Seraphim Sepia and Carroburg Crimson.  For the base I tried to make it look like coals/embers with a couple of hotglue spikes as flames (not as happy as I could be with those).

The Kamis will be good for holding objectives and lapping up the VPs

Here are some group shots, the first is the base coats.

The beginnings of my Temple faction around....a temple!

hope you enjoy

dGG

16:39 (+23)

figs bought:painted (difference)

The dojo - WIP

Hi all

Over the last few weeks (it's taken me a while due to a long run of nights) I've been making a building for Bushido.  It's still a work in progress but I thought I would show you the basic building to give you a flavour of what it will look like.  I wanted to try to stick to some kind of historical accuracy, so googled Japanese feudal buildings for reference material. I also looked on the Bushido website and there was an interesting building(s) by one of the forum dwellers there.

So here we are, Japanese architecture was heavily influenced by the Chinese and other Asian cultures.  Partly due also to the variety of climates in Japan and the millennium encompassed between the first cultural import and the last, the result is extremely heterogeneous, but several practically universal features can nonetheless be found. First of all is the choice of materials, always wood in various forms (planks, straw, tree bark, paper, etc.) for almost all structures. Unlike both Western and some Chinese architecture, the use of stone is avoided except for certain specific uses, for example temple podia and pagoda foundations.

The general structure is almost always the same: posts and lintels support a large and gently curved roof, while the walls are paper-thin, often movable and in any case non-carrying. Arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gable and eave curves are gentler than in China and columnar entasis (convexity at the center) limited.

the main building, sorry about the photo, but it was a rare bright day! 

For the main building, which will consist of a single room called a "Moya" I used foamboard for the walls, although a little thick for traditional paper construction Japanese builders also used other materials for the walls as they were more often than not non-weight bearing (the weight of the roof taken up by specialist support brackets called a "Tokyo") I used coffee stirrers as the frames for the walls. Houses were commonly raised off the ground with large verandas and an all encompassing roof which is often half the size of the building. So I reached for the coffee stirrers once more and laid out a floor space supported by balsa posts. I wanted the roof to be detachable so the interior is fully playable so I hot glued cross beams on the support posts to form a frame. I then made a corresponding frame for the roof. Using coffee stirrers to form a curved roof to give it a Far- Eastern feel, I then cut rows of tiles and laid them across the beams.

the floor plan

cutting the floor planks

ready to go (this was not enough....d'oh!)

the veranda and main floor

the roof frame work, note the curve of the tile supports

cutting the row of tiles was the most laborious part

progress

a curved roof tile, this would be covered in filler and shaped

the finished roof and pagoda that will cap the roof.  Master Po and Kintaru also being based show size comparison

I made a little set of steps for access to the building before making a little platform/pagoda on the roof for a lookout, I know this is a little less traditional but I wanted to add a bit of da Gobbo's character into it and in all honesty I wasn't sure how I was going to finish the roof (a plain cap was just too boring!)

So far, so good? Thoughts and comments welcome.

dGG

Toxic waste site

hi all

Continuing my recent terrain building splurge, I thought to start a post apocalypse themed objective, although it could be used in any modern setting really. With this in mind I looked to my resources to see what I could come up with (frugal gaming at its best). What I found was some scrap MDF, some drinking straws and some old till roll holders.  This is what I decided to do with them.....

Behold my toxic waste dump. The upright pipe is actually the plastic tube used to hold electrocardiograph (ECG) paper that I took from work, rather than just throw it in the bin after the paper ran out. Capped with a foam lid with drinking straws as secondary pipes, I finished it with a  wheel taken from a cheap car toy that I will rough up later for scatter terrain in my ATZ gaming. The barrels were till roll holders cut in half and filled with polyfilla to represent ooze. Polyfilla was also used to build up the sides of the dump.  The toxic waste dripping from the pipes and barrel was represented by hot glue and the "water" is a resin I've had knocking about for a while. One bonus of the resin was a fly landing on it at some point during the curing process, which "fossilised" it, bad for the fly but looks fab on the model....(I know, I know I'm a bad person, but I didn't do it on purpose!).


spot the fly trapped in the resin

Painting it was fairly basic even for me, the pipes all Mithril silver and rusted up, the "pond" bed was painted in Vallejo US Olive Green and had random lighter green and yellow swirls. While the resin was curing (and before the fly!) I dragged some green and yellow ink through it to create a 3D effect. 

Overall I'm quite pleased with the effect although I wish I'd been a bit more subtle with the painting under the resin, also the resin hasn't cured so well in some places leaving a white film, although this does look a bit toxic its a lesson learned to be a bit more patient and pour it in a couple of thin layers rather than one thicker layer.

Hope you enjoy

dGG