Salt City Gladiator Games Recap - Part 1

The view from the front, looking at the TO
table -- you can see one of the Henchmen
taking pictures of the table.

Almost all the pictures in this post came from the Intermountain Malifaux Facebook Group -- my phone died on the first day, and I simply forgot to take pictures on the second.  If you're a Malifaux player, or someone simply interested in the game, and in the Intermountian area, please come join us.

Other pictures came from the A Wyrd Place Facebook Group -- if you're into Malifaux, Puppet Wars, Evil Baby Orphanage, or anything else Wyrd, join that group.

The picture of the Henchman Hardcore game came from the TO's Twitter account.  Follow him!


This last weekend was the first annual Salt City Gladiator Games -- a 2 day tournament / convention, featuring Warhammer 40k and WarmaHordes, but with an open play area that had Malifaux, Infinity, Dark Ages, and HeroClix demos and tournaments throughout, as well as speed painting and a painting competition -- and I had the opportunity to attend.  My initial plan was to play both Malifaux tournaments -- which I did -- and get in as many game demos as possible.

The view from the TO's table --
that's Jason Tuttle, the TO, walking away.

Day 1 - Friday, and the Malifaux Henchman Hardcore Tournament

I was lucky enough to get Friday off work so I could get the full Gladiator Games experience, so Evan and I showed up about an hour after the doors opened.  There were WH40k and WarmaHordes qualifier tournaments happening throughout the day, but we weren't there for those games so we had time to kill.  First things first, we checked out the eight Malifaux tables (visible on the right) -- there was a lot of variety, and enough terrain that the Ortegas and LaCroixs weren't going to have an unfair advantage throughout the tournament (there was at least one table without cover through the middle area, which I felt the full force of on Day 2, but one out of eight isn't bad).  After that, and a quick lap of the entire event to see what other games were playing on (WH40k were pretty standard, and I had no idea WarmaHordes played on basically empty tables), Evan and I set up for a practice / friendly / demo game.


As an aside, on our second day, playing a second non-tournament game a full two hours before the tournament started, we were essentially asked by another player why we would bother playing games for fun, instead of standing around waiting for the tournament to start. This player would go on to be the most complained about player in the tournament -- he seemed to intentionally waste his opponents' time during the Henchman Hardcore game through surfing on his phone and calling over the TO for clarification on everything that wasn't going his way, and finished the two-day event by arguing with the TO about how he should have placed higher because of... something...  This is all I'm going to say about him, but it's a sad reality of the competitive scene that there will always be "That Fucking Guy. (TFG)"

During our first friendly game, Evan was trying out his newly purchased-and-assembled Lilith crew so he could get a feel for her before the actual event started.  I don't remember a whole lot about the Strat/Scheme Pool, or our crew make ups, but a few stand-out things happened:

•  I had Kang and Miss Step (the official counts-as-Howard Langston) fairly close together, and Evan didn't like the look of them, so he attacked Kang with a Mature Nephilim.  The Nephilim landed in some trees (his base wouldn't fit between them), got a decent attack off on Kang, and was then decapitated by a Flurry from Miss Step.
• Evan and I both took Frame for Murder, then proceeded to pit our two patsies against each other.  Barbaros and a Gunsmith spent two or three rounds attempting to have the other kill them before a Fire Gamin-caused splash of Barbaros' Black Blood took the Gunsmith out.  Barbaros was then killed by Mei, herself, so we both got full points.

After that we grabbed lunch and picked up Evan's Battlefoam bag and Beckoner model that had been delivered to his house. 

Upon returning, I got a demo of HeroClix in, which was interesting -- you could tell the person who gave me my demo loved the game, but he wasn't great at running a demo, so he spent probably an hour explaining rules and random neat things to me before we ever pitted models against each other.  I wasn't getting it -- I am a person who learns by doing, not being told -- so we ran a 275 point 1 vs 1 game of Ronin the Accuser vs. Cosmic X-23 (by the way, when did she get a last name?).  During that part of the demo, I figured the game out, and it's a lot of fun despite being rules-heavy.  I'll probably pick up a starter box to play with Ninja within the next few weeks.

 

Henchman Hardcore

Finally, it was time for the Henchman Hardcore (again, pictures on the right).  In case you aren't familiar with the format, it's a 20 Soulstone Henchman-lead game with exactly four models per side.  No totems, no summoners, Turf War is the only Strategy, and Assassinate and Make Them Suffer were the only Schemes.

Through some peer pressure, we were able to cobble together a 10-player tournament.  A few of these players had never played Malifaux before, so their first game was going to be their demo.  My first opponent was one of these players -- he had plenty of experience with tabletop games, so he picked things up pretty quickly, and I feel like I did a decent job explaining the game (decent enough that the two Henchmen that were available left our table alone to concentrate on teaching the other new players, anyway).

Evan and I both played against TFG during this, which soured our taste for him (during Evan's game he did the aforementioned phone-surfing, and he called over the TO and decided to make dinner plans during mine), but otherwise it seemed to go well.  We ended up in the middle of the pack, and I got a lucky draw in the raffle and ended up with a M1E Leveticus box set.

We learned that Henchman Hardcore, due to the rapid-fire nature, is NOT a good format for people who are prone to panic attacks.

We finished the night by grabbing food with the Henchmen, and a few other players, and played a couple rounds of Hex Hex at dinner.  All in all, it was a great first day.

#6MMRPC Week 3 Wrap-Up

This week was slow, but I got a few things done.  Most notably, I finished all of Phase 1, and I'm now moving to Phase 2.   In case you were wondering, the final model to assemble was The Dreamer, as seen on the left.

• Phase 1: Assembly.  Get everything I currently have from Malifaux assembled.  I should have most of Phase 1 done by the end of this week.
• Phase 2: Gap filling.  

The first part of Phase 2 was to find an acceptable gap filling medium.  I've used Milliput and Green Stuff (both regular and liquid) in the past, and I've always felt the ROI was really low.  GS can't be sanded, so you have to get it perfect the first time, and Milliput takes FOREVER to sand.

As mentioned in last week's update, I wanted to try Future and baby powder, and I did -- it does dry to a sandable level, but it doesn't naturally adhere to whatever you're filling so I had problems with the dried stuff flaking out of the gap as I worked on it.  Great idea, not an ideal solution.

Moving on from that, I went to super glue (CA glue) and baby powder.  Many posts I saw that mentioned this method said to make a paste and mash it in, but it only gives you a tiny time to work with the paste before the entire batch is solid.  Instead of doing that, I used some brush-on Krazy Glue, and used a small spoon to heap baby powder onto the glue.  That worked great (take a look at Lord Chompy Bits' shoulder, on the right)!  It still takes forever to sand, but not as much as Milliput.  Priming and painting will tell how effective this method is, but I think it's the best method I've found, so far.

Let's hope I can finish this phase before the end of October, as projected.

#6MMRPC Week 2 Wrap-up

Matney here.

This was an interesting week as far as the Six Month Mountain Reduction and Painting Challenge goes -- on Monday, I did as I said I was going to and purchased some Malifaux stuff from my liquidating LGS; then, on Tuesday, my GenCon order from Wyrd showed up, adding ANOTHER crew box (The Dreamer) and another Teddy to my pile.  In spite of that, I got quite a bit done.

On the left, you can see the current state of my oil-painted void-wretch.  I'm sad I'm losing those deep blacks I had, but I like the brighter white -- when I'm done, a water color wash will bring the blacks back, which will be fine.  My biggest gripe on this, now, is that it looks like I'm drybrushing, even though I'm not.

At work, I've been picking away at a super long-term commissioned Dark Eldar -- just the Warriors, right now -- and I don't have a picture to follow up for that (I'm not at work -- I'll update this blog, tomorrow, with pictures of those minis.
Finally,at home I've been grinding away at assembling things.  On the right, you can see this week's haul: Teddy, 2 Convict Gunslingers, 3 Drowned, 3 Crooligans, 3 Fire Gamin, Molly, Rogue Necromancy, and the Necrotic Machine.

I spent part of this week considering my plan of attack for the #6MMRPC, and I've come up with this:

• Phase 1: Assembly.  Get everything I currently have from Malifaux assembled.  I should have most of Phase 1 done by the end of this week.
• The Dark Eldar project will be included in this challenge.  Luckily, everything for that is assembled.
• My personal WH40k stuff won't be included in this challenge, as I'm currently sawing all my Tac Marine legs off to reposition them all, and plan on repeating that process with my Terminators.
• I'm not planning on tackling my Reaper Bones in this #6MMRPC, because that's just outrageous.
• Phase 2: Gap filling.  Yes, this is normally part of Assembly, but I've put it off so long on so many models that it's a legit Phase, this time.  I'm going to experiment with various methods -- I'll have to order some Color Shapers to try Liquid Green Stuff in a way I've seen be successful, but I'm also going to try simple Green Stuff, Milliput, and a mix of baby powder and Future (honestly, I hope that's the most successful -- I hear it's sandable, but it's also damn cheap).  This should be done by the end of October.
• Some models will be used at the Salt City Gladiator Games, so they will jump ahead to basing with or without gap filling.  I won't paint them without gap filling, though.
• Phase 3: Basing.  After all my gaps are filled, I'm moving to basing.  I really prefer scenic bases, so this is going to be slower than the previous two phases -- I plan on only getting one base done per night.
• At this stage, I will be deciding and documenting color choices to make the next step more effective.
• Phase 4: Base coating.  After everything is based, I plan on base coating everything.  No shading, and only the most basic detailing.  I plan on doing this with an airbrush to speed things up, so part of making that successful will depend on how well I document and determine all my color choices.  For airbrushing, I plan on only using colors straight from a bottle to make reproduction easier, but also to prevent wasting paint.  After that, I'll clean up my airbrushed stuff with a brush and do the detailing and smaller areas I couldn't hit with a brush.
• Priming will fall into this stage, too.  Up to this point, I've primed gray with a white overspray, but I think I'm going to move to straight white as it's always proven to be easier to make things darker than to make them lighter.  At least, that's how it has been for me.
• Phase 5: Clear coating. Once I hit this point, I recognize that my process will slow SIGNIFICANTLY, and I'll return to playing with my base coated models.  The clear coat will be to make the base coats more resilient while they're played with.
• This may be as far as I get for the #6MMRPC
• Phase 6: Detail painting.  I want to start painting everything I can in oils, which will slow everything down.  I want to do only a handful of models at a time, one model a night (giving a week per layer to cure), and I don't expect to finish everything I've base coated within the year.
  
  Throughout this process, I'll continue to paint the Dark Eldar at work.  HQs and such will be painted with oil paints, but troops and vehicles will remain in acrylics.  They will be the first models through every step of the process (after a few test models from my own test-model pile. (Note to painters: If you don't have a handful of metal models to test out techniques on, GET SOME -- metal models can be easily stripped with Acetone, unlike plastics, which make them ideal to messing up on.)
  
  This is an ambitious project, but I hope to knock it out.
   

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).

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.

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.