Kickstarters and Patreons

I used to say I didn't like kickstarter. I still don't think I'm in love with the concept or the service as a whole to be honest but my complete lack of impulse control has now made me up to my eyeballs in it. I recently wrote an intro type article over on Michtoy From the Front about 3d Printing that covers the basics and where I'm at with it which you can read HERE. Since writing that article I've discovered a few kickstarters I really think are worth highlighting as well as dived head first into the wild west that is Patreon.

Kickstarters First

Brave New Worlds by Printable Scenery

I've been a big fan of Printable Scenery for a while now, they have quite a few really neat designs that are already on my tables and after seeing the last kickstarter I told myself "whatever they do next, back the Kickstarter"
Brave New Worlds is a collection of 3 different Themed sets of Terrain. New Eden is an alien/aztec inspired set of jungle type ruins and temples. Sanctuary 17 is a moon base styled set of rooms and corridors perfect for sci-fi gaming. Wasteworld (pictured above) is a post apocalyptic playground with a ton of great options.
The pledges let you choose from any combination of the three, and the stretch goals have skyrocketed through the campaign, including all sorts of amazing scenery to print at home. I have a feeling te Wasteworld one will be the most printed for me, but the reasonable price (around 100 bucks) for the all in pledge made this one an impulse buy.

Ignis Quadrant by EC3D

I'm a big fan of Necromunda, Judge Dredd, and Star Breach. Ignis Quadrant is a pile of 3D printable files including figures, scatter terrain and vehicles. Having recently finished up the Death Ray Designs table and continuing to chip away on both the Zone mortalis Board and Hive City board, I thought there was enough in here to merit the all in pledge. When the campaign ended there were hundreds of files including all sorts of cool stuff to scatter around a table. The All-in pledge was a mere 40 bucks and was worth it solely for the vehicles that I'll add to my 28mm city to make it appropriately cyberpunk. This was the moment in the Kickstarter I was sold:

The creator has two more Kickstarters currently planned; one about sci fi ships and another one for 28mm sci fi figures set in this universe. I'm thrilled with how this was handled and am definitely keeping my eyes peeled for those.

Hexton Hills by Graven Guild

Like the others this is a digital file campaign. Hexton Hills is a collection of 3d map tiles perfect for RPGs, Wargame Campaigns, or whatever else. As a map nerd, I'm frankly excited for them even without a second use. The stretch goals and add-ons have brought the total tiles to over 200 designs and each tile is printable in fdm or resin. My plans include some sort of To the strongest map campaign among other things. Of their modest goal of 2k, theyve just passed 100k in total raised funds. This is a company and kickstarter to keep an eye on and I'll post more about these in the future.

Survivors of Serath by 3DartDigital

This one is a collection of figures and terrain with a fantasy theme. The company that did this had previously done a kickstarter for some really amazing fantasy busts. An early bird special for this caught my eye as at the price point, it'd be worth it for the terrain alone. The stretch goals in this one are a little ambitious but even at the base level I think the terrain alone was a good investment. Some of the figures look great to paint even if I can't think of a good use for them. At the time of posting this one has just reached 90k and most of the stretch goals that enticed me in are unlocked.

A modified version of this article appeared on Michigan Toy Soldiers News from the Front.

High Elves (1) - Project Plans

I've mentioned this a few times before but I've been struggling hard to get motivated through the quarantine. I've found it incredibly difficult to get the motivation necessary to shake the ever looming feeling of "sure, wargame figures are neat but what's the point if I'll never see anyone again." In the span of the quarantine, I've found myself motivated by exactly 3 things. Finally getting my High Elves Playable, a new fantasy skirmish game that's in the works, and 3D Printing Patreons. I'm gonna do some sort of write up on the other two motivators at some point down the road but for now my focus is on high elves.

I do this a lot if you haven't noticed, where I plan out a project and almost immediately lose steam. This is a project that I've been trying to accomplish for a long time. When I first got into Age of Sigmar, I had some left over High Elf stuff from my warhammer fantasy days, all unpainted of course. I slowly aquirred bits here and there through trades and ebay. I'm sure if I took the time to sort it all and point it out it'd be in the realm of 3000 to 4000 points but almost the whole lot is no longer usable in Age of Sigmar.

With the Arrival of  Cities of Sigmar, a lot of the models I fell in love with dissapeared. I was a little bitter frankly, but more importantly the motivation was lost. Most of the project was shelved and I set my sites on other forces.

Heres the new project all laid out. Using the Cities of Sigmar book I've made a 1000 point list, that uses all High Elf models as proxies.

Here's the list generated from the warscroll builder
Allegiance: Order
Cogsmith (60)
Battlemage (90)
Freeguild General (100) - General
Battlemage (90)
10 x Freeguild Greatswords (160)
10 x Freeguild Greatswords (160)
5 x Freeguild Pistoliers (100)
Helblaster Volley Gun (120)
Helblaster Volley Gun (120) Total: 1000 / 2000 Extra Command Points: 0 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 64

The plan model wise is somewhat self explanatory, with the mage and Loremaster being Battlemages. The only model not pictured is the High Elf Banner Bearer who will act as the Cogsmith, rallying the two Volley guns in the form of Elf Balistas. The General will be the Leader from the Skycutter kit and the Pistoliers are going to be Reavers.  

Its a 35 model force all told and frankly I dont think it matters to me if it ever sees the table. I haven't played aos in months anyway but I've always had a soft spot for these models. With the other fantasy game in the works, I thought it made some sense to get some elf models ready anyway so here we are. 

So the plan.

The Lore master is painted but not based. The banner/cogsmith is completely finished.
The Swordmasters on the left are about 70% done, everything else is grey.

The plan as it stands now, is to get the whole army assembled, glued to bases and then painted. I'll do all the basing at the end. I figure in addition to games like Age of Sigmar, this will give me a good start for Oathmark if my copy ever arrives, as well as some models for a skirmish game.

Wish me luck