Zeus on the Loose

Really liking the new Greek Mythology range by Foundry. Their prices are always a good bit on the steep side for those of us who live in the USA, but their quality is always excellent.

The Argonauts, Harpies, Centaurs, Satyrs, and Chimera are particularly well done.



Check out the whole range here...
Foundry Greek Mythology Range

Zen Again: The Unpainted Minis Pile

I've been collecting miniatures wargames figures for over 30 years. During that time, I've amassed quite a collection of little men, be they plastic, pewter, or white metal. I've never taken the time to count them, but I easily have a few thousand of the tiny buggers.

Roughly half of the minis I own are painted. While I've painted my share of figures over the years and really enjoy the artistic process, a simple lack of time has resulted in my purchasing the majority of my painted minis off of eBay or from vendors & flea market traders at HMGS East conventions.

Lately, I've been trying to make more time to paint miniatures. I've done more painting in the last few months than I've done in a very long time, although my output is still extremely low in comparison to those highly devoted mini hobbyists out there. Anyway, at least I'm trying.

Recently, I finished a pretty cool piece of terrain; a Viking long-house (Acheson Creations). It came out well. I'm currently painting 2 regiments of Swiss Gnome arquebusiers (12 minis in all) and they're about 70% complete. I'm also 95% done on a trio of Troll spearmen (Privateer) and a River Troll (Citadel), with just some final detailing work to do. I'm also 85% done touching up a large group of Reptilian Cavalry (GW), and 35% done with a huge Dire Troll (Privateer). So real progress is being made, and it feels good.

That leaves the "other half" of my collection, the unpainted masses who have yet to see action on the fictional battlefields arrayed across my dining room, and whom have never been shown off on a shelf or in a display case. Poor bastards. This afternoon I took a look into the large tub of blister packs that I had. It amazed me as to what was in there, so I took a few pics. Check this out...

Within this tub of figures there are minis from Crocodile Games, Eureka, Bronze Age, GW / Citadel, Reaper, Black Orc, Foundry, Mirliton, West Wind, Otherworld, Alternative Armies, Fenryl, Privateer, RAFM, Irregular, Brigade Games, Marauder, DragonRune, Heartbreaker, Grenadier, Kenzer & Co, and Ral Partha.

Wow... So many cool figures! What should I paint next?

Perhaps Wargods Sebeki (gator-men) or those nifty Eureka frogs? Maybe some Barbarians from Bronze Age, DragonRune Orcs, or Sidhe celtic elves from Alternative Armies?

How about that classic limited edition Thrud the Barbarian from Citadel circa early 1980's? Or what about those awesome pig-faced orcs from Otherworld?

The list seems endless. And what's even scarier; I have another large box of unpainted boxed-sets to boot (Warhammer stuff, Dwarf Wars, Ral Partha Gnolls, Front Rank medievals, etc.).

Ah, the life of a veteran wargamer; so many unpainted figures, so little time to paint them all!

Zen Again: Hot Lead Painting DVDs

Listen up miniature wargaming geeks! If you enjoy painting miniatures (toy soldiers), then you should check out the HOT LEAD website today.

Master-painter Laszlo Jakusovszky has created a series of instructional videos aimed at both newbie and veteran painters.

The Hot Lead series is comprised of 3 DVDs (1 basic and 2 advanced videos) that give you that "up close and personal" look at miniature painting. Trust me, that's something (close-ups of actual techniques) that's usually either missing or not all that nicely done in some of the other mini-painting videos I've watched. So I'm very eager to see what Laszlo has to offer.

Even someone like me, who has been painting casually on & off for 15+ years can learn some new tricks from a master.

The entire set of videos provide 8 hours of instruction. Price for the 3-disc set is $40 + shipping. That seems quite reasonable for a niche product of this sort. Let's face it, when you're used to paying $20 bucks or more for a movie DVD, it seems to me that 8 hours of instructional video for $40 is a LOT of bang for your buck.

I'll report on these videos sometime in the future once I get them and watch them. Until then, if anyone else has watched the Hot Lead DVDs, please feel free to leave a comment on this blog and share your experiences with me and everyone else who stops by for a read. Thanks!

Zen Again: Midgard Models

For those miniature wargamers out there who like me, enjoy purchasing nicely painted miniatures on eBay to add to their collections and supplement their own painted models, I wanted to alert you to the fine work done by Midgard Models (eBay is = midgardmodels).

These guys are located in Venezuela and do a great job painting fantasy miniatures and offering them at reasonable prices on eBay. I've bought several pro-painted minis from them in the past, including 2 recent purchases that I'll show right now.

The first, and most recent purchase, is an Orc General (or Hero) which is absolutely fantastic. Here he is in all his grisly glory...

I believe he's a Citadel (Games Workshop) model, and he'll make a fantastic Orc General for the marauding Odessian armies in my Sword of Severnia wargame. He's quite an imposing presence on the tabletop, sized more like a Troll or Ogre than a standard orc. The rock-like base is exquisite.

My second MidgardModels purchase (from 8 weeks ago), was this splendid Troll Lord...

He's a Reaper model and would serve as an excellent Hero. The shading and highlighting, terrific basing, and nice blend of colors makes him really stand out.

Both of these models were marked as "Master Painted" and were in the $20 to $25 price range, which is reasonable for expertly painted special characters of large size.

So if you find yourself short on time to paint, or overwhelmed with way too much stuff to paint, you owe it to yourself to check out some of the minis for sale on eBay. Prices and quality vary widely for painted miniatures on eBay, but I gladly recommend MidgardModels for nicely painted figures at fair prices. Expect to wait around 3 weeks to get your figures if you live in the USA since they're coming from South America. But it's well worth the wait.

Oh Thanis, How Lovely art Thou Skeletons

I've done a little dabbling on eBay recently, although not too much as I've been spending most of my free time preparing for my rotisserie baseball auction coming up on April 5th.

I got sniped on some nicely painted WarGods Spartans (damn West Coast auctions just kill us East Coast folk who don't stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning), and backed off a couple of other really nice fantasy minis that wound up selling for fairly expensive prices. I just can't see paying $75 bucks or more for one masterfully painted 28mm mini unless you're a very serious mini collector and intend to show these little gems off in a display case somewhere. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for high quality and I admire the top-of-the-line masterworks, but I want to play games with my figures too. The thought of having 3 or 4 heroic minis, worth a collective $300, get chipped or broken during a wargaming session is too much for my fragile mind to bear.

I did end up winning one auction, however, and this little pewter lass is a real beauty. Her name is Thanis the Bonecaller, and she's a female necromancer from Reaper Miniatures. She was painted by Mark Engle (KimEngle is the ebay id). Here are some pictures of this gorgeous mini:

I've got to admit that I've never thought of a necromancer as "sexy" before. Typically, they are gaunt, fallen wizards adorned in tattered robes and often with a hefty case of "face rot". Thanis is more along the lines of a succubus, beautiful yet deadly. She could also serve as a "good" (non-evil) necromancer or witch, raising fallen soldiers to fight on behalf of a noble cause (similar to the dead coming to the aid of Aragorn in the Lord of The Rings)?

All I can say is, "oh Thanis, how lovely art thou skeletons". You slay me girlfriend.

Ogre Power!

Sheesh. This time of year is just crazy for me. I've been so busy with work lately that writing to this blog was put on the backburner for awhile. Hopefully, things will calm down a little so that I can write more often. Anyway...

About the only fun, game-related thing I've done in the past 2 weeks involved an eBay purchase of some painted miniatures. I won an auction for a warband of 5 Ogres from the GW Dogs of War range. These were painted by Phoenix Painting Service (Oriental Dragon Trading Co.) of Hong Kong. Yep, that's right, I took my first ever plunge into buying stuff from the orient.

These babies are colorful, well detailed, and full of character. They look just fantastic in the flesh. Here are a few pictures of the Ogre boys:

And here's a shot of their heroic leader (in the center)...

Another cool thing is that these guys are on magnetic bases, which is perfect since that's exactly how I base my figures (i.e magnetically based minis on metal-atop-wood movement stands. Niiiice.

Until tomorrow, when I hopefully squeeze in a preview of things I'm eyeing at Cold Wars this coming weekend, peace to all you Ogre Lovers out there!

Zen Again: The Cheap Way to Go Big

No this isn't another advertisement for cheap male enhancement drugs as the title may suggest. Rather, today's topic concerns finding inexpensive, yet good quality fantasy wargame miniatures of the VERY LARGE and HUGE variety.

I must admit that when it comes to collecting wargame minis, especially fantasy figures, I'm extremely eclectic. The thought of building a 250 to 300 model army comprised entirely of orcs or barbarians is not something that really grabs me. I'd much rather have my bunch of 300 figures consist of 40 orcs, 40 beastmen, 40 lizardmen, 40 elves, 30 hoplites, 25 knights, 25 ghouls, 25 anubis warriors, 10 trolls, 10 minotaurs, 10 heroes and wizards, 3 giants, and 2 dragons. I want diversity dammit! The more variety, the better!

But variety does have a downside. Gamers and collectors who crave more & more variety often find themselves chasing after lots of different models in an attempt to own at least a few of every creature that ever raised its ugly head and marched across a fictional battlefield. I confess that I'm guilty of this. I say things like, "God, those Front Rank figures in the 100 Years War range are just beautiful; I must get some.", or "Those new Ghouls and Spartans from Crocodile Games are a must buy!", or "I love the Trollbloods in the Privateer Press range, maybe I should buy a few boxes?". And on and on it goes. It's a Pokemon-like addiction -- you just gotta catch 'em all. But catching them all means spending loads and loads of money. Once reality sets in, you realize that you can only buy what you want most and can actually afford.

Here's where the issue of BIG models comes into play. Those large dragons, giants, dinosaurs, and other nasty monstrosities typically cost a heck of a lot of money. Not to mention, if you paint them yourself, a lot of time goes into the modelling & painting of these suckers. Many casual gamers feel that it's just not worth it, so these larger models never end up appearing in their collections. But there is an alternative; a cheaper way to obtain some very cool large models that saves both money and time. Say hello to pre-paints.


I know what some wargaming purists will say: they hate pre-paints. I say to them, you can always give these pre-painted models a "touch-up or enhanced look" if you're that anal retentive about it! Oftentimes, you can achieve amazing results with a simple 2-step approach to these models:

1. Apply a brown or black ink-wash to shade the model. This is especially good for light colored models like giants with exposed flesh or behemoths with gray/tan/whitish skin.


2. Drybrush a lighter shade than the model's main base-color onto its high spots to highlight it. For instance a medium or lighter brown shade is great for drybrushing over Tree Men who often have dark brown bark skin.

For those of you who aren't that fussy, don't worry about it. Some pre-paints, such as the range of McFarlane Dragons are so well painted that most diehards would agree that you don't need to do anything to them -- they're already beautiful as-is.

Let's start with the biggie of them all: DRAGONS. Dragons are the beastly rulers of many a fantasy world. There are many really cool metal dragon miniatures on the market, but if you want to save a lot of time & money, there's no better bet than to look into purchasing pre-painted dragons from these sources:

• McFarlane Dragons = Todd McFarlane, creator of the Spawn comic, makes a series of dragons that are absolutely fantastic. These beasts work extremely well for 28mm to 30mm fantasy wargaming. Not only are these dragons big and menacing (like a dragon should be!), but the dynamic sculpts, quality paint jobs, and attention to detail are truly excellent. These figures can be found in KB Toys, Toy R Us, Fao Schwarz, and eBay for around $8 to $13 per model. That's a steal. These are my absolute favorite pre-painted models available, and every fantasy gamer should have a few in his or her collection.



• Schleich = German company Schleich produces an excellent range of 90mm knights. These are great for large-scale skirmish gaming. Within their Knights range, they have a very attractive Green Dragon priced at about $15. I own one of them and he's great for fantasy wargames. Highly recommended. I've found Schleich figures available at Target, AC Moore, and Fao Schwarz, and online at Michigan Toy Soldier.
  
• Papo = This french company is similar to Schleich in that it makes a nice range of 90mm figures for a variety of periods and uses. You will find several dragons under their Tales and Legends range. You can find Papo figures in AC Moore, Michaels, and online at Michigan Toy Soldier.
  
• Safari Ltd. = A maker of educational toys, Safari also makes a really nice range of dragons that are worth checking into. They've got Red, Green, Chinese, and 4-Headed dragons that are sweet looking and affordable. They're also available in your local craft stores such as AC Moore or Michaels.

For everything else in the way of monsters or gods, there are several sources available. My particular pick is the D&D Miniatures line. While the paint jobs are spotty in some cases, I've found that the painting on the larger models is often more attractive than on their standard (humanoid sized) minis. This is especially true of the more recently released sets. Because D&D minis are collectible, you cannot just go out and buy a box and get exactly what you're looking for. So to find specific large monsters that interest you, you're best bet is to look at eBay, where's there's a large secondary market for D&D minis. Also, the prices on eBay are usually much lower than what you'll find at online shops that sell single minis (such as Paizo.com).

I've got a couple of very nice D&D monsters that I would feel okay using as-is. I plan on doing some touch-ups (as previously described) to a few of them when I get the chance. But for the money, you can't beat getting a decent looking plastic giant for somewhere in the $10 to $20 range, rather than buying an ultra-expensive GW giant that takes a good bit of effort to put together and paint. To me, time is money. I've already got more stuff to paint than I have time for, so any affordable time saver is very welcomed.

McFarlane Toys also has some very cool models in their fantasy/horror ranges. They're much too big for use in 28mm to 30mm wargames unless you want to use one as a GOD or TITAN. Gods should be much, much larger than life and terrifyingly impressive. If you want to scare the bejesus out of your foes, imagine summoning a Haunter of the Pits (from the Conan series) onto the battlefield! Criminy, I think I just soiled myself!

Finally, check into Safari's dinosaur ranges for some nice prehistoric terrors. The scale may not be 100% perfect, but hey they're MONSTERS after all -- big is always good when it comes to these guys!!! They're also great if you play Giant Monster skirmish battles.

I hope my little foray into the world of cheap, pre-painted monsters has been enlightening. It really is possible to bring some terror to your battlefield without breaking your bank account.

Zen Again: Foundry Miniatures Painting Guide

In this age of global data and information, you only need to hop on the Internet, type some keywords into Google, and you'll quickly find plenty of web sites that share helpful tips and techniques on one of my most loved hobbies: painting miniatures (toy soldiers). This post isn't about those free tips sites, although that might make an excellent blog post in the future.

While the web is truly a fabulous resource of knowledge, there's still something stimulating about sitting down with a good book. It's a hell of a lot easier on your eyes for one thing, and it's much more relaxing to curl up on the couch or in your bed with a book than a laptop. Anyway, I'm digressing. There aren't really that many outstanding painting and modelling books aimed at miniature wargamers that are both instructional and chock full of gooberlicious toy soldier eye candy. The Foundry Miniatures Painting and Modelling Guide, however, is one such book.

How do I know this? Well, I really don't confess to being intimately familiar with the Foundry Guide. My experience with it consists of briefly paging through it at the Historicon 2007 wargame convention, oogling the delicious photos, noting some interesting instructional passages, and then finally, noting the very expensive price tag of the book. It was priced at over $50. Yikes! That's a heckuva lot for a book that I'm not really in desperate need of.

I've been painting miniatures off and on for many years, and while I'm certainly no Kevin Dallimore, Matt Verzani, or Marike Reimer, I can give a mini a decent looking paint-job. Still, I'm always eager to brush up on helpful tips from the pros, as artistic mastery is a lifelong process for most folks. So without a doubt, I really wanted the Foundry book. It has that undeniable coolness factor that draws you in. Kevin Dallimore is a brilliant painter. But in July my thought was simply, "I guess I can wait until the book goes on sale." Good news to all your painter/wargamers out there: that time has finally arrived!

Instead of a $50 book, the Foundry Painting Guide is now available for $26 from Amazon.com. You can't beat half-price. So I think I'll be taking the plunge and picking up this baby soon, or at least putting it on my Christmas List at a bare minimum. For anyone else who wants to improve their painting skills and/or learn the 3-level painting technique that superstar painter Kevin Dallimore uses to produce those lovely figures you see splashed across the web pages at the Foundry Miniatures site, then this book is for you.

Zen Again: MKP Game Mats

Monday Knight Productions manufactures a series of game mats geared specifically towards tabletop wargamers. These heavy duty felt mats are available in both hex and square-grid patterns, and come in two basic sizes: 3 foot by 3 foot, and larger 4 foot by 6 foot mats.

The standard green game mats, which are airbrushed and flocked, run about $50 for the large 4x6 mats and half that price for the smaller 3x3 mats. They also sell mats with sea and sky colored backgrounds for naval and airplane games respectively.

I also discovered that MKP sells "plain mats" (not flocked) where the grid pattern is printed directly onto the felt. These mats sell for just $28 for the large 4x6 size, and only $14 for the smaller 3x3 mats. That seems like an awesome deal. I'm very tempted to buy one of the larger plain mats and will be seeking them out at the upcoming FALL IN! convention.

You may be wondering, what's the advantage of gridded game mats? Here's my perspective.

I own a 4x6 foot, grass flocked battlefield made out of a material similar to heavy duty foam board. I received this as a Christmas present about 2 years ago (pretty cool eh?). The battlefield comes in 3 separate sections, each 4x2 feet long. This provides a very nice looking battlefield, it's fairly lightweight, and I'm happy to own it. But like so many traditional tabletop wargame battlefields or coverings, it lacks a grid pattern. Some wargame purists abhor grid patterns, seeing them as something which corrupts the visual spectacle that is a beautiful wargames table. So they wouldn't see anything wrong with my grass flocked battlefield. I fully understand their viewpoint; aesthetics are an extremely important part of miniature wargaming.

But from the viewpoint of a "practical wargamer", gridded mats have one big advantage over plain, un-gridded terrain boards: they really speed up game play. Instead of measuring move, charge, and shooting distances with a ruler, you simply count X number of hexes or squares when manuevering your troops on a battlefield containing a hex or square-grid. The more measuring that you can eliminate, the faster the game plays.

Unfortunately, the majority of miniature wargames are not designed around the concept of hex-based movement, so you might have a very difficult time finding an enjoyable game system that can take advantage of a hex-gridded game mat. That's why I prefer the square-gridded mats.

With a square-grid of 1 inch or even 2 inches, horizontal and vertical movement of your troops is greatly simplified. You can count off squares or grid-points instead of measuring in most cases. The only time that you really need to break out the measuring stick/tape is when your units are positioned at weird angles. So while you won't really eliminate 100% of the measuring, you will reduce it drastically and help speed up the game. And the best part is that there are many wargames which are designed to measure movement in 1 inch or 2 inch segments, so you'll have plenty of game systems to choose from.

In my Sword of Severnia fantasy wargame, which is still under development, distances and ranges are measured in inches. Also, units aren't just a loose collection of models, but rather, all of the models in one unit share a common rectangular base or movement tray. This is similar in concept to the idea of "elements" in a game like Hordes of the Things or Vis Magica. So the 1 inch or 2 inch MKP square-grid mats would work quite well as an underlying battlefield in this game system.

I already own a hex-gridded felt game mat from Hotz Artworks, and I really like it a lot. The Hotz mats are definitely worth a look as well. The price for their 4x6 mat is in the same ballpark as the MKP mat, although they only offer 2-inch squares rather than both 1 and 2 inch varieties.

For more info on the MKP mats, check out these links:

• Plain Mats
• Flocked Mats

Have fun!

Zen Again: Wargame Markers

Attention miniature wargamers: How do you track casualties, wounds, or loss of strength points in games where figures aren't removed from their units/bases when damage occurs?

There are lots of possible options for tracking damage, including the use of good old fashioned pencil & paper (i.e. recording casualties/wounds on an Army Roster Sheet). But for those players who like to visually track damage on the tabletop, another approach is needed. Here are a couple of good alternatives that I've recently come across for you toy soldier gamers out there.

Mini Dice:

I recently stumbled across a website called DealExtreme that is selling a pack of 100 mini dice for $1.90 a set. For less than $4 bucks plus shipping, you can snag all the dice you would ever need to track damage in the vast majority of tabletop wargames. How cool is that? And they come in an assortment of colors, which is always handy. I need to get me some of these babies!

You can find the dice here: http://tinyurl.com/3cqwgo


Litko Aerosystems:

If you've never heard of Litko Aerosystems, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Litko manufactures and sells as wide variety of miniature bases, movement trays, magnetic basing, templates, and status tokens & markers. Their Skull tokens are particularly cool looking and great for tracking casualties/wounds/damage-points.

Litko also sells some really awesome looking blast markers & smoke markers, and their other tokens are quite nice as well. I've been meaning to pick some of these up, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. With the holiday season approaching fast, perhaps there's no better time than now to make an online order?

You can check out Litko's product line of tokens/markers by going here: http://tinyurl.com/2ueelw

Zen Again: AT-43

Is it finally time to give sci-fi gaming an honest shot?

My wargaming buddies will vouch for the fact that I'm a devout fantasy wargamer at heart. I've been collecting & painting miniatures for close to 30 years and have a fairly large and eclectic collection of fantasy minis from a wide range of manufacturers. Part of my collection also includes historicals, usually from the medieval or ancient periods where my main interests lie. But aside from an oddball figure here & there and some HeroScape stuff (robots), I don't own too much in the way of science fiction miniatures.

Don't get me wrong, I think sci-fi wargaming is a cool, especially for skirmish games. But what has been stopping me from getting into that period all of these years has been a combination of time and money.

I have a rabid fascination with nicely painted fantasy miniatures and enjoy collecting them and forming them into sizeable armies for use in mass-battle games. But without a doubt, you can sink mucho money into this hobby if your aim is to collect high quality, professional looking toy soldiers. Many gamers decide that rather than spend gobs of cash to buy pro-painted figures, they'll paint the minis themselves. This is a much more affordable route to go, but the tradeoff here is time. I really enjoy painting, since it lets me use my artistic talent in a fun way. But I simply don't have as much free time as I used to. I would guess that I spend 20 to 24 hours to complete a unit of soldiers to my level of satisfaction. That's a good chunk of time; as you can see I'm not a speed painter!

So unless you're independently wealthy or retired, you're limited in the number of periods & genres that you can get into. Fortunately, the wargaming hobby is starting to undergo a major change. From HeroScape to Reaper's new Legendary Encounters range to Rackham's AT-43 and revamped Confrontation game, the era of "pre-painted" miniatures is upon us. In my opinion, this is a great thing for the wargaming hobby. It will bring more outsiders into the hobby because the barrier to entry has really been lowered. With pre-paints, it doesn't cost as much to acquire painted minis and you don't need to spend any time painting them. For those of us diehards who still love buying traditional metal minis, oogling expert paint-jobs, and the self-expression that comes with the painting/modelling hobby, we now have a cheap & fast way to expand our wargaming interests into other periods & genres which were previously too costly or time consuming to get into.

That brings me squarely to the topic of AT-43, Rackham's science-fiction skirmish game that features pre-painted models. I've read several reviews of this game online and in wargaming magazines and it seems pretty promising.

AT-43 doesn't appear to have the tactical depth and strong command & control feel of the fantasy wargames that I most favor (especially when compared to my own Sword of Severnia game). But you know what, that's okay with me. There's room for all kinds of different games, with varying degrees of depth & weight. While I may love to really dive into a deep wargame as my main pastime, a light game of HeroScape with its very simple rules is a hell of a lot of fun. My guess is that AT-43 will fit into the medium/light category of skirmish wargames. And for me, that's exactly what I'm looking for: a fun complement to the deeper games that I play.

But what makes AT-43 most attractive to me are its pre-painted models. Rackham is known for its cool sculpts. While these sci-fi models don't have the crazy French-flair of their fantasy range, they're very cool in their own right. Here are some of my favorites:



I don't know about you, but I think these are really cool looking figures. The space apes are just awesome!

I doubt that the factory paint jobs will meet the standards of these showcase minis, but I've heard they're very solid "tabletop quality" miniatures. That's all you can ask for in a mass-produced range.

It won't be long until I take the plunge and pickup some boxes of these babies.

If you haven't heard, Rackham has been in the news recently, and the news wasn't all that good. From the sound of things, it seems like they're experiencing some financial troubles and are in the process of restructuring the company and refining their long-range business plans. I sincerely hope that they get things turned around, as their move to pre-paints is a bold move and one which many gamers are clamoring for.

On the plus side, they recently made a deal with Fantasy Flight Games here in the USA. Fantasy Flight is one of the most popular board game publishers around and their excellent range of games is growing quite rapidly. If you've never heard of Descent, War of the Ring, Citadels, Tide of Iron, Arkham Horror, Runebound, Fury of Dracula, Blue Moon, Wings of War, then where in the heck have you been the past 4 years? They are also starting to distribute the fine World Tank Museum miniature tanks from Japan, and are coming out with a 54mm collectible minis game called Mutant Chronicles soon. So I don't think Rackham could have picked a better partner to team up with than FFG. That move will ensure that these fine minis get plenty of exposure in North America.

Anyway, do yourself a favor and check out AT-43. It may be just the game to get you fantasy, ancients, napoleonics, and WWII wargamers into the world of sci-fi in a way that won't kill your pocketbook or eat up too much extra time.

Zen Again: Otherworld Miniatures

I recently stumbled across a range of 28mm fantasy minis made out of pewter that got me so excited that I giggled like a little school girl. The figures are manufactured by a british company called Otherworld Miniatures (http://www.otherworld.me.uk/store.html).

For those of you who were gaming in the good old days when Dungeons & Dragons was in its infancy and you didn't need a PHD to learn how to play it, you will be simply amazed when you see these minis. Not only is the sculpting absolutely beautiful, but they are dead ringers for those classic images of devils, giants, and orcs that graced the pages of the early editions of the D&D Monster Manual.

The pig-faced orcs are particularly cool. When it comes to orcs, I'm partial to more traditional-looking goblinesque orcs such as those made by Games Workshop, Foundry, or West Wind.

The snout-faced nasties from Otherworld have a style all their own, and really deserve to be considered as a separate entity from standard orcs. They're truly irresistable, and so neat that I'm contemplating creating a separate race of pig-men creatures for the Sword of Severnia tabletop wargame so that players can field units of these unique and colorful creatures in their battles. Check out some of the images of these critters:


















The only downside of these minis for American wargamers is that they're priced in British Pounds rather than US dollars, and the price-per-figure cost is on the high-end of the pricing spectrum.

That said, the sculpting quality of these figures appears to be top-notch and the uniqueness of these figures makes them an attractive buy for collectors and veteran gamers looking for a nice change of pace from Games Workshop world domination. It's always good to support the smaller companies in our great hobby.

You can purchase the minis from the company's web site: http://www.otherworld.me.uk/store.html

Zen Again: Scapeliciously Good!

If you're a fan of HeroScape (http://www.hasbro.com/heroscape), there's no better time to put your gaming geek-o-mobile into overdrive than right now. Just look at all of the scapeliciously cool stuff that's being released for this much beloved miniatures wargame.

Wave-7
In mid-to-late August, the newest 4-set expansion pack for HeroScape called Fields of Valor was released. This set includes:

• Templar Knights = 3 mounted Knights with a strong "crusader" feel to them.


• Fiends & Vampires = 3 very nasty looking Gargoyles and some deadly blood-sucking Vampires.


• Spearmen & Riflemen = 8 Ashigaru soldiers (Japanese); 4 spearmen and 4 gunners armed with arquebuses.


• Heroes of Elswin = an eclectic mix here of Elven Sorceress, Ninja, Vampire heroes, and a Soulborg hero (Cyborg).

This looks like an excellent expansion set. The Knights are my faves of the bunch (a cavalry squad was long overdue), and the Vampires, Gargoyles, and heroes are all quite attractive additions to the game as well. I'll be scarfing up all of these very soon.

Swarm of the Marro (Master Set 2)

Just released about a week ago was the brand new Swarm of the Marro master set. The new set includes a couple of refurbished heroes (Sgt. Drake and Raelin to name two popular characters), a few new characters, and a whole lot of Marros (aliens).

In my opinion, Master Set-2 isn't nearly as cool as Master Set-1, but I would have wanted the 2nd set anyway for the additional terrain. But geez, that giant Marro behemoth is just too damn cool to pass up. I'm not sure what his stats are yet, but he looks like he'll kick some serious valkyrie booty.

Wave-8

But wait, there's more! Coming this Fall to a toy store near you is the Wave-8 expansion set for HeroScape called Defenders of Kinsland. This 4-set packs includes Elves (4 elven magicians including one riding a hippogriff), Marro Cavalry, Militia & Wolves (English musketmen from the Revolutionary War and a wolf-pack), and Heroes of the Molten Sea (assorted heroes including a Samurai leader, Templar lord, and Elf wizard among others).

This looks like another winner, especially for those of us who like to use our HeroScape figures in other tabletop wargames as well.

Ticalla Jungle Set

Another terrain set is also planned for a late-2007 release. You'll soon be able to augment your forests, bridges, lava, tundra/glaciers, and castle with jungle terrain. Very cool indeed.

And finally...

MarvelScape

For those of you who want to scratch your superhero itch, the new MarvelScape game was released this summer. I enjoyed comic books as a kid and love comics-inspired movies such as Spiderman and the X-Men. But I never got into the whole HeroClix thing mainly because collectible games are not really my bag. I like to know what I'm getting ahead of time. That makes MarvelScape, a non-collectible game, a very interesting & tempting little game. Plus, the quality of the pre-painted figures will surely be top-notch.* I think given time, this game will equal and perhaps even surpass the popularity of HeroClix in superhero gaming circles.

*[Mini Rant] -- Yes, yes I know, I know... Pre-painted minis are never as good-looking as what most experienced wargamers can produce with their own paints & brushes. But people who complain about pre-paints are really missing the point. I enjoy painting, but with my free time at a premium, I don't get to do it nearly as much as I'd like. So I welcome the chance to augment my own painted creations with pro-painted stuff that I buy at shows or on eBay. And I certainly don't mind adding some pre-painted stuff to my collection if it's "tabletop quality" as well. It's a huge time-saver.

But listen up wargaming elitists, there's a large throng of gamers who could care less whether they ever touch a paint-brush in their life. For those folks, pre-paints are the perfect solution. They're affordable and look a hell of a lot better than bare-metal minis! The opportunity to buy toy soldiers and game with them right out of the box will help expand the wargaming hobby into sectors of the gaming world that were heretofore untouched. Reaper and now Rackham are starting to take the hint. And I'll bet that the huge success of HeroScape had a lot to do with their decisions to introduce pre-paints into their own product lines.

[End Rant]

PS: My favorite place to buy HeroScape stuff online is House Mouse Games (http://www.housemousegames.com). Check out the site when you get a chance.

Peace out!

Zen Again: Dragonblood Lizardmen

Ooh... Ahhh... Nicey Nice Nice Nice!

All of you fantasy wargamers who love to parade marauding bands of lizardmen across the tabletop, now is the time to sit up and take notice! Dragonblood Miniatures (http://www.dragonbloodminis.com) has created a new line of 30mm Lizardmen warriors which are available for pre-order from their web site. The minis officially become available in September.

Just take a look at these sweet little nuggets of tin:

Now, I know that the average wargamer is not going to be able to paint these puppies anywhere near as beautifully as the folks at Dragonblood did. These figures are absolutely gorgeous!

If my Spidey Senses serve me correctly, the owner & brains behind Dragonblood Minis, Eric Louchard, used to paint and sell professionally painted miniatures on eBay under the name of the "Lone Brushman".

I always admired Eric's work, but since his stuff was showcase quality and usually sold in the $100 per figure range (or more), I never bought any of them since that was out of my price range. But I must say now that Dragonblood is selling their own line of metal minis, I am very tempted to purchase some of these. Yes, I already have more minis than I'll ever paint in my lifetime, but jeez, these are so damn cool!

Dragonblood is selling a set of 15 lizzies for $50. That would be 3 units of Warband for the Sword of Severnia (TM) fantasy wargame that I'm currently developing. That's good value for such excellent sculpts.

You can find out more about these lizardmen by going here: http://www.dragonbloodminis.com/Lizardmen_warriors.htm