Secret Bits Site: Shapeways

Matney here, talkin' about bits.  Specifically, an unlikely bits site.

In the last few years, 3D printing has come a very long way -- gone are the days where every printing step is painfully visible, and highly-detailed resins plus the availability of free modeling software like Blender are allowing 3D modelers (who may not have the slightest skill with green stuff) to print off some incredible bits, minis, and terrain (sometimes even as sprues, which is hilarious to me since they don't start out as an injection mold).

Shapeways is a 3D printing site, allowing its users to upload 3D models that they will then print to order.  Over the last year (I don't have proof, but a year ago I was looking for the same thing and found significantly less than I did this year) the custom bits market on Shapeways has blown up, where you can find just about anything.

Looking for Rhino doors for your Ork Lootas? Shoulder pads to make your vanilla marines stand out? A Fleur de Lis dozer blade for your Immolator? A dragon/demon/Tyranid model that none of your friends have EVER seen (see the picture)?  Throw 28mm in Shapeways' search box and go to town!

The only real downside I've found to Shapeways -- besides the prices, which are almost GW in nature -- is that most artists only carry one or two things that are applicable to any given hobby.  Sure, there are exceptions, but you'll have to actually spend time looking.

But, in case you don't feel like sifting through all of that, here are some excellent links for you:

• Admiral Duck Sauce - Alternative SM models, a couple neat head sprues
• DW Toys - Backpacks, weapons, stuff for your DIY terrain to look a little better.
• BlackBits - Dreadnought weapons and top hats (for your fancy IG, I guess).
• Custom Minis - Shoulder pads galore.  A few weapons, a few heads, and some other random bits, but this is THE place to find shoulder pads.
• Wolfhound Jack Designs - Dozer blades for SoB, IG, and SM.
• Vandil - Ork parts for Imperial vehicles, among other things.
• Dynath - Mostly weapon sprues, but some interesting mech bits are in there, too.
• GangWar Miniatures - Some great terrain pieces, as well as some female minis that would work well as Guard.
• ArtisticFiend - A single sprue of Marine stuff and a couple Storm Shields.
• Random Bits - Not so random as it looks like some interesting Necron alternatives, and some weapons.
• Custom Bitz - The demon/dragon/Nid posted above and some good looking wings.
• Saberwar 52nd Century - Chaos flamers, backpacks, and a pair of heads that will keep your bare-headed marines from looking like white supremacists.

 That's just the first few things I found, and I would wager money that there is more out there.

Lemme know if you end up buying anything -- I would love to see how it turns out (And I'll let you know when I buy the dozer blade and probably the dragon thing).

Battle Report: 200 Pt. Kill Team and 1520 pt 2 on 2

Matney here.  Last week, I showed you my DA/SoB roster for our 200 point Kill Team game that we played on Saturday.

None of us had played Kill Team before, and it's kind of a toss up whether we will again.

In addition to my DA/SoB army, Erock played Chaos (I didn't get a roster from him), Ammon played 10 Necron Deathmarks that were 100% identical (and I believe 100% stock), and Aaron played Grey Knights.

In our first games, Erock and I faced off while Aaron and Ammon faced off on the other side of the table.  Erock and I started out pretty evenly -- he killed my Seraphim in Turn 1 with a lucky shot, then our Terminators even destroyed each other on Turn 2 (a pair of sixes To Wound and a pair of ones for the Armor Saves.   He destroyed my Repentia on his half of Turn 2, then in Turn 3 I cut his Berserkers in half with my Retributor's Heavy Flamer (one burst from my half, then a Wall of Death when he charged her).  Unfortunately, that didn't save her life.

At the end, it came down to three of his Berserkers and his Sergeant against my Space Marines, where he whittled me down.

On the other side of the table, Aaron tried to sneak his Knights around buildings while Ammon took the opportunity to get the high ground with his snipers.  It was a slow game, and one that I didn't get a lot of information off of, but Ammon won.

In the second set, Ammon and Erock faced off (I honestly don't know who won, there), and I faced Aaron.  I dropped my Repentia for another Space Marine (I know I had a backup plan, but I nixed that).

We both started by sneaking around buildings -- I got my Space Marines into the same high ground Ammon used the round before, and covered the middle ground with my Sisters and Terminator.

My Terminator took out his all but one of his Terminators, my sisters took out most of his Grey Knights, his Terminator took out my Seraphim while his remaining Knight wiped out all but one of my Space Marines, so my Terminator bashed in his Terminator with a Thunderhammer, and it all came down to one of my Marines, my Retributor, and my Termie bashing on his remaining Knight in assault.  It was probably Turn 9 when the dice gods gave me that 1 on his save I was waiting for.

After that, Erock stated that he didn't really enjoy Kill Team, and Ammon suggested that we play a 2 vs. 2 1500 point game.

Erock and Ammon teamed up with Chaos / Necrons where Aaron and I teamed up across the table with Grey Knights and Dark Angels -- I took the Dark Vengeance set, minus the Librarian plus Belial to fit the FoC.

Turn 1 was where it started going downhill for our side -- Erock and Ammon killed off all but one of my bikes, I don't believe we killed a single thing of theirs.

Turn 2 I Deep Striked my Termies right in front of the Chaos Space Marines holding an objective (also, right in the middle of the battlefield), and Aaron wanted to keep his in reserves longer, but the dice predicted he'd drop his Terminators right behind mine.

So, for the next two turns, our 11 Terminators took EVERYTHING they had.  Monolith, Deathmarks, the Land Raider...

After they killed all 6 of mine and 2 of Aarons, we called it a night (we'd been playing for 8 hours, and it was 11:30 PM).

The two things I learned from this game are: Sisters with flamers are AWESOME, and I need to be more efficient with my Fast Attack.

Weekend Update: November 2-4, 2012

Taken from TSR Info

Matney here.  Most of our geek-stuff happens on Friday and Saturday nights, which is also where we have the least amount of time to keep the blog updated, so I'm starting a new series for Weekend Updates where I'll briefly recap everything and link to the more in-depth blogs.  Welcome to Weekend Update #1!

Stop Looking at me like that!

"This used to be such a nice place"

 So we started our multi-gm pathfinder game on October 27th. We began in a tavern somewhere close to the border of Barbarianania (not it's official name). The players were there to do a bit of searching in hopes of finding some clues about the location of fragments of an ancient tablet with the power to seal the rift in the lands of the damned (Barbarianania). While Ammon searched for clues, Hillbone decided to find a fine maiden to spend the evening romancing. He hefted his mighty D20 and gave it a hearty toss..... he rolled a 1. 

HEY! DO YOU WANT TO DANCE!!

Hillbones masterful display of social ninjitsu effectively decapitated any chance of  an innocent dance, with ANY girl in that Inn. His Rape Eyes sealed his fate. Only Lord Busey could best such a noble display of criminal intent. 

Luckily Ammon was able to get the information necessary and the party is off to Barbarianania. Stay tuned for session 2.  

Kickstarter: Bombshell Babes

Dave here, with my second Kickstart post.  Sometimes I stumble across Kickstarter projects after they've run their course, as is the case today.

Today's Kickstarter-I-wish-I'd-backed is Bombshell Miniatures' Bombshell Babes a series of miniatures somewhere between the iconic pinup girls, Rosie the Riveter, and the near-cliche action movie femme fetale (the creator says "strong women," and I'm sure that's a better description than the one I just gave).

What sold me was that, even though they're female minis made by men (and somewhat sexualized because of that, but I'm a straight guy and I kinda like that thing), they have a mini with birthing hips (who is either pregnant, or has a post-pregnancy gut), which is a demographic that's incredibly under-represented in female miniatures.

It also helps that they're excellent minis.

As of this writing, the project is over and funded, but they're still accepting donations (which they'll reward as though they're Kickstarter pledges) through Paypal. Even if I can't help support it -- which I would love to do -- I plan on picking up the minis when they hit retail.

Paths Through the Mists: The Story So Far (Part 1)

Wikipedia

Matney here (Yeah, I'm going to start doing that... no one knows me as Dave, anyway).  As I mentioned before, I'm running a Ravenloft game every other Friday night, and tonight is our first game back after almost two months hiatus.

(This series contains spoilers for Neither Man Nor Beast and Hour of the Knife. Also, it may contain spoilers for any of my players.)

WH40K Kill Team: Matney's Roster

The Sacred Rose by CELENG (DeviantArt)

Dave here.  This weekend, Eric and I -- as well as a few friends -- are going to spend some time playing some Warhammer 40k.  Specifically, 200 point Kill Teams.

You can find rules on Kill Teams all over the place online, but the common theme is that they're 200 points and that you can pay the per-model price for less-than-standard sized units (Want only a pair of Space Marines?  Sixteen points each!).

Back to Basics: Demon pt. 4 - Drybrushing

What I wouldn't give for a good lightbox, today.  None of my pictures seem to be showing what I did.

I was able to pick up a drybrush from a local ceramics shop, Sue's Ceramics in Layton, UT, today, which has allowed me to get back to the demon.  First off, I'm kind of excited to have a ceramics shop fairly close, because I've wanted to get back into that and finish a Christmas village for myself (would any of you have any interest in seeing that?  Leave a comment), but it also means I know a good place to get dedicated drybrushes.

So I'm back in business!

Kickstarter: Assimilation Alien Host by Edward Fortae

Dave here.  If backing Reaper's Bones Kickstarter didn't already tell you so, let me say, I am an avid Kickstarter fan.  Part of me does it in hopes that there's some magic Kickstarter karma that will allow whatever projects I start to succeed, but the main reason I like doing it is because I like giving away my money I really want startups to succeed.

A project I'm currently backing is Assimilation Alient Host by Edward Fortea, which I was turned onto by Dark Future Games.

Edward Fortea already has a history of creating excellent minis over at Troll Forged Miniatures, including some excellent alternative Tyranids, Demons, and some great fantasy miniatures, and he's looking to expand his line of worms.  Recently, my D&D group fought a carrion crawler, and I used a Purple Worm mini to proxy it, so I already had worms on my mind.

As of this writing, the Kickstarter project has 16 more days -- it's already fully funded, and now he's just working on stretch goals.

Back to Basics: Demon pt. 3 - Washes

Dave here.  In Part 1, we saw my first base coat -- where I thought the mini was a gargoyle. In Part 2, I did a proper basecoat for a demon, and experimented more with the flow of my paint.  Now, in Part 3, I'm going to talk about my very first attempts at washes, ever.

They Call Me..... Erock

     So, My name is Eric. I was affectionately defined ass a crasshole (crass asshole) by my long time clan of like minded nerd cohorts. I earned this illustrious title due to my need to speak my mind and always point out the elephant in the room no matter how much every one wants to ignore it...and i'm kind of a dick (but always in jest)

     

One of my painted minis

     I am an avid Table Top RPG player. My first love is  Warhammer 40k. I have a stupid huge collection of miniatures, most of which are unpainted (because I have a stupid huge collection). I love everything about the game. The story behind the armies and universe enthralls me. Everything is done in ridiculous proportions, and they wield weaponized chainsaws for crying out loud. It's hard to beat the visceral enjoyment that is gained from hitting some one in the face with stick covered in moving rape spikes. Sounds like win win to me. 

    I go to school and stuff too. Ya know, and other boring things that don't involve gaming       

Multi-GM Campaign, Part 1

*Picture isn't from last night, or even this campaign.

My main gaming group has been playing together for about 12 years, now, and we recently decided to attempt a multi-GM game after reading this post over at Roving Band of Misfits.  We're using Sly Flourish's Fiasco-Style Relationships (mentioned at RBoM, and we rolled both directions, just like RBoM), and Some Space To Think's NPC Relationships (also mentioned at RBoM).  Really, we're just ripping off Roving Band of Misfits.

Back to Basics: Demon pt. 2

*The model looks WAY better in this lighting than it does under scrutiny.

Two blog posts in one day... if this wasn't the third post, total, I'd feel like I should say, "don't get used to it."  Except I just said it, and it's true that you shouldn't get used to it.  I just had a lot of spare time, today.

I hit the demon with Liquitex Burnt Sienna and Liquitex Raw Umber on its body and horns, respectively.*  I got a much better flow out of my Burnt Sienna, and thought I had it figured out until my Raw Umber was too runny.  I need to remember I can add more water, I can't remove it, and water is WAY cheaper than paint.

Back to Basics: My return to paining minis

When I first started playing tabletop RPGs, I was hugely into painting my own minis.  It was cathartic, it was something for my D&D group to do when we weren't rolling dice, and it probably helped that my mom family had recently gone through a pretty obsessive ceramics phase which left us with lots of paint and brushes.

When I discovered girls, however, I put down my brush and it's been about fourteen years since I've put paint to primer.  However, I never really stopped thinking about it -- I guess that you kind of stick with the things you know you liked, even if you're not actually doing them.

About Matney

Hi, I'm Dave Matney (and this is my nephew Dean -- I'd normally keep him out of it, but this is probably one of the best recent pics of me), and this is my geek blog.  I run a severely outdated music and sound blog at www.davematney.com, where I've been trying to post things related to only my music, sound, film, and video game work, and I've had virtually nowhere to talk about what I do on my nights and weekends.