Lunar (1) - The Haul

 Oh look, It's another "Matt posts a pile of stuff because he has no impulse control" Post.

 This time it's Lunar by, you guessed it, Blacksite Studios. Lunar is a skirmish game set during the Cold War on the moon. It's roughly 3 to 5 figures a player and is all about fighting for resources on the moon. There's a campaign, lovely components and great resin figures.

Inside the starter you get dice, tokens, a rulebook and 10 figures as well as the cards to play with everything. Unlike Violent dark this set also comes with some clips to track all the stats with. 

The resin sets are basically a bag full of options. The game isn't WYSIWYG so I opted for stuff that'd be fun to paint and look at. The figures didnt require much clean up and went together nice. 

 Unlike Violent Dark, we got a game in already and I'm actually interested in playing more of the game. We got one game in at the "small" size and actually really enjoyed it. I was a little skeptical after our test game of Violent Dark that maybe DLB was a flash in the pan but I think VD just needs some ironing out and am going to finish painting it but wait until theres more content to revisit it. 

Next time I post about Lunar, I'll give some thoughts on the game as well as showcase what got painted already. Long story short though, this ones a winner.

Experimenting with Slap Chop and Modulorka

Hi, Long time no see.
I won't bore you with the details but it's been a busy while since I've seen you last. I changed careers, moved, and got married since I last sat down to write an actual article. Needless to say, I had a busy year. Let's dive right into the topic of discussion though and wrap with some thoughts on what's next at the end. 

If you're like me and you tend to put YouTube or miniature podcasts on in the background while you paint, you've almost definitely heard of SlapChop painting by now. The term seems to have been coined by The Honest Wargamer and you can see his original video here. Long story short the technique is as follows. Prime Black, Drybrush grey and then pure white, finally slather the mini with "contrast" paints. I put contrast in air quotes now because the technique is definitely not limited to Games Workshop's official contrast range and will definitely work with other companies equivalent ranges (like the new Army Painter Speed Paints or the upcoming Vallejo Xpress Color)

 

When I first saw this I was skeptical. My first thought was definitely something to the effect of "yeah, its called painting, why bother with the fancy names?" I'm a big fan of contrast style paints and my biggest criticism comes down to the marketing approach of "one thick coat" not being the whole story. I think like any other paint, its a tool and it should be used "correctly." The main focus of the technique is to get stuff on the table, in a reasonable amount of time, to a decent standard.

As I mentioned, this is pretty topical now, with several content creators all posting their take on it. I wanted to give it a go myself but was looking for a project to use it on. This Video by Miniature Hobbyist popped up on my feed right around the same time This Video popped up by On Table Top. GorkaMorka, 3d printing and a quick project all in one go. The stars have aligned. Modulorka is basically a free to play Ork on Ork skirmish game. Currently free to download, they also have a kickstarter and a patreon going if you want to support them. The free rules bundle comes with a single ork infantry figure. It took about two hours to print and came with both supported and unsupported versions. There was a super minor defect on my print that is more than likely my settings but I left it as it looked more orky to me anyway. 

 I printed, cured and then cleaned up the pieces and then followed the steps as instructed. Black, grey, white primer applied I began with the slapping.

 I used the relatively new Gutrippa Flesh for the skin, and then Snakebite Leather, Wyldwood, and Black Templar for the majority of the details. I was originally going to paint the club the old fashioned way but settled on the new Garaghak's Sewer. I wasn't willing to skip metalic paints however and painted all of those details with 3G Gunmetal. I also painted the base in my usual methods with a block paint and few layers of drybrushing. 

Here's the kicker. It's just like using contrasts normally but I think generally speaking the results are a lot better. In particular what this method did to the skin, club, and boots, I'm thrilled with. Some issues that stood out are the usual issues with contrast, you still need to be wary of pooling and the reality is some colors simply don't show up over dark surfaces (like the skeleton horde I used on the teeth.)
 
As I said earlier, I was a little hesitant when I first came across this whole viral sensation. Not necesarily because I didn't think it would work but more so because it was sort of being sold as a one stop shop in the same way contrast was originally. Theres still certain things I'll always paint traditionally (mostly metalics) but in general I was pretty pleased. I used the brushrage app while I painted and the whole model including the base and drybrushing was less than an hour. Now that I've done it once I could easily cut that time per model down drastically and I definitely think the added step of drybrushing is easy enough that I can't imagine using contrasts over just a white primer any more. 

It gets better

After painting this guy, writing this article and sitting down to another paint session I did an entire starter force for modulorka. All 4 guys including the bases came in at 1 hour and 46 minutes once I had a scheme. 

 

This was originally written in October of 2022.

Violent Dark (1) - Intro and Other Games April

 Hello

No secrets here that I'm sort of a fan of Black Site Studios. I think the stuff they make is neat. Our game of the year on the podcast the year it was released was Don't Look Back (second edition preordered already) and I have most of their games. There's a neat push right now through several content creators for what is being referred to as "Other Games April" this Miniac video sums it up but basically its a spotlight on indie games. In honor of the event and because I never touched this stuff after the first week, I decided I wanted to focus in and try and get my Black Site Games on the table this month if at all possible. DemonShip is coming (not soon enough) and we're going to start with Violent Dark

I backed this project through the BSS Backroom program which is a sorta-kickstarter program. I backed the second highest tier as I didn't think I needed the mdf terrain. At adepticon last year I picked up most of the other releases I didn't have. Here's the haul

Violent Dark is a co-op and solo focused space thriller in the vein of aliens. You control 4 crew members, theres missions, its got fun looking rules that I'll cover once the game's hit the table. 

Aparently I got as far as assembling the core set and getting paint on two pieces. It looks like I printed the bases for most of the crew but as the FDM printer is currently down, I've got a back up plan for the rest. 

The aliens we're a very slight disapointment. Mostly, I wish they fit on the bases provided. The resin is a touch spindly and bendy and they just don't sit nice on the slightly too small bases. I'm not sure how I'm going to paint these yet. You do get a ton of bits for them which is neat.

As a part of the initial buy in, and available later, there are a few expansion type pieces. One of these is rogue synths which adds a new type of threat. 

There was also a vac-suit and xenos hugger type of expansion

The xenos one comes with new rules for the threat. These are almost definitely my favorite sculpts in the set.

These expansions came packaged in the same bags as the bonus minis. The bonus minis were a few more crew, some turret guns and this cat.

After digging everything out I got most of everything built save for a couple aliens and the turrets. I also opted to leave the synths in the box for now. The plan is to get this on the table soon so we're going to start with an alien and two more crew as a minimum. 

Will report back soon

Deadzone (1) - Mazon Labs Starter

 I picked these up at Adepticon 2023. I actually got home from the show on Sunday, unpacked the car, and primed them. I wanted to crack these out as quick as possible so the majority of the heavy lifting is contrast paint. This project ended up taking about a week all told. I thought I'd end up finishing them on Monday but ended up not picking up a brush for most of the day and opted to just chip away on these throughout the week. We're just going to need to deal with some god awful photos for a while as well folks. The lighting in this area is just not good for this but I'd really like to continue blogging.

  I don't have a ton of love for these figures. They were all one piece castings except for the leader who was 3 resin pieces. As mentioned I let the contrast do the lifting and wanted to crack them out pretty quick. We also managed to get a game in where they lost pretty harshly. I'd like to get a few more games in before I move over to veer-myn as a more permanent home. Still, a nice quick project to kick off some painting mojo. While working on these I chipped away on a bunch of other stuff putting either finishing touches or dents in other projects so it was nice to be at the desk this much. In no particular order are some shots from the game (I lost 12-0) and some "close ups" (I know they're bad). I'll plan on taking a few nicer photo booth photos when I finish more figures for the faction down the road but for now its progress

As an aside, This is another goal on the list 

 Play Deadzone

 

On to the next project

Adepticon 2023 Haul

 Hello.

2 posts in one day. Crazy right? This ones super quick and dirty. We went to Adepticon for Saturday and part of Sunday. I spent a fraction of what I thought I would this year. I had a couple key purchases in mind and was sort of surprised at just how much stuff was out of stock or vendors didn't bring. I was also surprised at how many vendors were there with booths but no, or very little, actual product. 

Heres the haul.

First of all, I set out with the specific intention of purchasing the Firefight Veermyn Starter box. No one had it. Mantic told me they sold out of everything veermyn except one vehicle on Thursday. These things happen but it was a touch disappointing to find that out.

I ended up ebaying one from the show but for obvious reasons its not in the photo. 

The surprise highlight was Demon Ship. This is a nice quick "microgame" from Malev Minis (thru Blacksite Studio) I've been following the progress of on instagram. I got a chance to demo the game with Malev himself and had him sign my demo copy. What I was not expecting was to be able to preorder the set from the booth. I was told it would ship in a couple weeks and I'm gonna cover the game in full when it gets here. It was a definite Highlight of the show for me though.

I picked up a couple packs of figs from them as well but didnt go to heavy as theres a second edition on preorder now and I wasn't sure what would translate and how.

I also picked up some eightbound and a couple chibi figures from Impact to put on my shelf. Five Leagues is a solo/coop fantasy game. My wife was interested in rangers of shadow deep this time last year but we've found the figure and terrain requirements a bit of a road block and I'm wondering if this might be an easier sell.

The angry chicken is a con exclusive mini and scenario for conquest. 

Finally with money still burning a hole in my pocket I picked up two sets of Mazon Labs for Deadzone. I was not expecting these to be single part casts (except one figure) and theyve already been cleaned, primed, and by the time this posts at least partially painted. 

I also got a sweet leatherface bust from Black Heart but don't have a good pic at the moment and I also picked up a Game Envy wet palette which was sold out but will ship soon I'm told.

We did try a few games and I will give super brief thoughts below

Demon Core - No relation to the above game. This is a "warcry like" skirmish game in development from Bestiarum Minis. It was great to meet the designer and we chatted at length about having a great excuse to finally print the figures. More on this in a month or two when the patreon or kickstarter is announced.

Creature Caster Judgement - A year ago I would've bought this in a heartbeat. Now a days I'm more aware of what will hit my table and I just can't imagine I'll ever play it. I enjoyed the demo but ultimately passed. If its at adepticon next year I may cave. I really wish this was out before Aristeia as I really only have room for one of these arena type games and this was a little more fun.

 Hobgoblin - This is a mass battle game from the creator of Gaslands. I got to meet the other author (whos name I don't remember, a fact I feel awful about) who is also the editor of Blaster Mag. The game was neat but frankly uninspiring. It seems to be a mass battle game with generic units where you can points buy keywords. I loved the system in Fantastic Battles but this isnt anything new. What was inspiring was the demo giver's army. 3d printing from One Page Rules, he had a nice sized beastman army. I will probably pick up the rules based on simplicity but we'll see what the kickstarter looks like.

All in all, I had a great time catching up with friends and looking at inspiring stuff. "visit a convention" was on my list for the year, though I'd still like to attend an event before years end where I play a game or two. 

Follow up posts coming soon.

Checking in on Hobby Goals

This will post while I'm at adepticon presumably screwing the whole list up and making all sorts of lofty mistakes.

 Though I didn't adhere to my original plan of "roughly two goals a month" I have been making steady progress on a few of these goals. Here is the updated list with some break downs

End the year with a sub 200 Golf Score

    The year of course is not yet over but as of this writing we're sitting pretty at 141. This was after receiving an all in pledge on yafsiga and selling off my Conquest Spires and AOS Slaanesh force.

Begin the Lord of the Rings Ringbearer Campaign

    I did paint a couple more figures for this and actually (using the mines of moria plastics) have enough to play the first scenario.

Play Spectre Ops

    Purchased a box of Wargames Atlantic Afghans and the digital conversion set from WAA

Print and Paint two sets of Team Fortress 2 Figures

    Printed one and a half sets and put paint on at least 4 of the figures.

Play To The Strongest with painted 10mm figures

Finally Try Age of Hannibal

    Both this and the goal above were waiting on bases to continue which have since arrived.

Play a game of A Song of Ice and Fire with a painted Baratheon Force

Finish 2k points of Old Dominion for Conquest and play a game

Completely Paint 2 complete factions for Crisis Protocol

    I have assembled everything in spider foes and am about halfway through painting it all. 

Finally Try Moonstone

Finally Try Mad Maximilian

Play at least one game of Necromunda

     Managed to play a game with my wife in February

Try Necropolis28

Try Mordheim

    3d printed an entire warband of witch hunters and roped two friends into a test game in april.

Play a Game of War of the Ring

Play a game of Horus Heresy

Finish at least one Cabinet piece (resin probably)

Play both Sludge and Turnip

Try the new edition of Kill Team

Play Never Mind the Billhooks

Attend one tourney or play event

Finish my Death ray Designs City Board

 

Now heres the bad news. This list was the original list that I had hoped to acomplish this year. Unfortunately (as one is to do with such severe hobby ADD as I have) there are a few other tasks I really want to try to knock out this year

Try Verrotwood

Finish my 3d printed Boarding Action board

Try One Page Rules Age of Fantasy Skirmish

Play a game of Brawl Arcane 28

Sculpt Print and Paint something of my own

Try Conquest First Blood

Try Battlefleet gothic and OPR equivalent

Play Deadzone

I know its awfully ambitious of me to add things to the original list when we're not even out of march, the list is barely cracked and some of these are completely unrelated or rather extravagant. I am who I am and I am want to give it a try.

Goal Completed - Try Moonstone

 So the wife and I had a chance to get some gaming in this past weekend and I had just put the finishing touches on the Moonstone Starter box I've been working on since lord knows when. I'm not generally one for an after action report but the game basically came down to the roll off for first activation of the final turn. It was a super close game with my wife playing the Goblins and me playing the humans. I went ahead and started prepping Boulder to add to my collection and something about the figure has grabbed me in a way figures haven't grabbed me in a while. Expect more photos of moonstone stuff down the road

Here are the contents of the two player starter box. I'll do a quick write up sometime soon about how i did the bases because they weren't a lot of effort and I'm very happy with them.  

As a starter set I think its a great buy, you get just enough to decide if you want to buy further and as a contained experience it was enjoyable. It has super unique mechanics and played quickly.

I managed to actually get a second game in as well and have some further quick thoughts on the rules. I think the game is really solid but I'm not sure where it sits on my shelf. I enjoyed it quite a bit and absolutely loved painting the models but with a lot of boutique games I feel like the sweet spot is "a group who plays where everyone has their own faction/collection" and with this game I simply can't imagine a group where a few people go in on it. Maybe it exists better as a convention style multiplayer game? I think the game is an underrated gem but I do sort of feel like I understand why I haven't spoke to anyone else playing it. Thankfully I love the figures enough that I'm happy with my small (and probably still growing) collection but I do wonder how often I'll end up playing it. 

I'd like to try a 3 player, a 4 player and maybe a campaign game before I decide if it will hit the table or go into the cabinet but I just adore the figures so much that I may just paint what I have. Either way this completes one of my self challenges and for that I'm happy. 

As a totally unrelated aside, I think my biggest road block to blogging has been pictures. I really want to get this thing rolling (case in point this was originally written on Jan 28.) but the room I paint in now is terrible for photos, and it always seems like such an ordeal to drag stuff upstairs just for photos. I've already easily done more hobby so far this year than last year in total but you'd never know it from lack of social media posting.