MT, PB and I got together for a days worth of miniature gaming last Saturday. We decided to focus on the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game this time. Continue reading
Filed under: Game Rules, Games in Progress | Tagged: 2000AD, 2011, Dredd, Judge Dredd, Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, MT, PB, Sci-fi | 4 Comments »
Following on from last weeks post showing photos of my games room I thought that I would put up a couple of photos of my painting area, just for the sake of completeness. Not strictly a workbench I suppose, but whatever.
Workbench July 2011
The slightly crooked picture above shows where I paint. I have natural light from the left for when I need it and the lamp for the rest of the time.
I used a lower table for years but the constant leaning forward was taking its toll on my back. It used to look like this…
Workbench April 2010
Therefore earlier this year I bought the rather vulgar tall bar table thing shown in the first photo and the photo below. Its not the prettiest (I particularly dislike the chrome leg and the nasty plasticy look of the big honking lamp) but its functional.
I intentionally chose a small table as while I work I slowly tend to cover all available space within arms reach with paraphenalia. If I physically limit the size of the work area then I am forced to tidy the clutter more often, so it doesnt get too badly out of control.
Clutter is definitely the worst thing about the hobby. Whether playing, painting or storing my hobby stuff, there is always clutter: its impossible to avoid, yet I still hate it.
Desk and Paint Storage July 2011
Alongside the table is the cheap plastic drawer set that I keep my paints in. Four drawers have paints in them and the other two have flock, PVA, transfers, varnish and some other odds and ends that are used when painting figures. Glue, files, sandpaper and anything else to do with figure assembly and preparation are stored and used in the man cave.
Its a functional space, but not a pretty one. As my painting area is located in the living room we both see it every day whether I am painting or not, so I am currently on the lookout for ways to make it a bit easier on the eyes. I may tackle the issue at the same time that I sort the Man Cave out properly, likely in September with a bit of luck.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Donogh at Land War in Asia is running a fun competition. One of the criteria for entry is that I highlight three of the posts from his blog here.
Land War in Asia: Ambush
1)
First up is a shot from a recent post about modern Afghanistan gaming. The only modern gaming that I do involves zombies, so its safe to say that I dont really game in the modern period. Its all cheesy sci-fi for me in one form or another.
Therefore I think that its worth noting that this post grabbed me anyway. Mainly this was due to all of the nice details that are worked into the terrain. I like the numbered objective markers, the dusty, dirty die cast car and the like. The overall impression from the table is fantastic.
Land War In Asia: A Good Day To Die - Setup
2)
Another desert game although this time its not set on this planet. Again it is the coherent look of the whole table that appeals to me. From the troops to the vehicles to the outcrops to the buildings all of the models look like a matching set.
Although I have been pushing in that direction with my stuff for a while my tendency to flit around the place regarding my projects can often make for an less coherent look on the table than I would like. Therefore I am envious of Donoghs harmonised set-ups and enjoy checking them out.
Land War in Asia: A Good Day to Die - Scenario
3)
Lastly, the post illustrated by the image above shows the amount of work put in to one of the games set-up on LWiA.
Its safe to say that I am the guy in my gaming group that drives things forward and generally does the majority of the prep work for our gaming. I dont tend to go into the detail shown above though, although it pleases me to see that some people do.
So, thats enough shilling for one day 😉
Filed under: Editorial, Games in Progress | Leave a comment »
I spotted some photos of fellow enthusiasts Man Caves in a couple of different places over the last few days and so I decided to put up a couple of photos of my toy room that I took last year.
The Man Cave
The shot above is taken from the corner of the room by the door. It shows the place in pretty much its normal state: not very messy but with a fair bit of work in progress stuff on the table.
If anyone was bothered (which they arent) it would be possible to work out how mentally frazzled I am at any given time by examining the condition of that area. The state and density of the contents of that table is often analogous to my mental state at a given time. I am only half joking about this.
The table itself is an 8 x 4′ sheet of MDF sitting on the bench that the carpenter put together to work on skirtings and banisters etc when the house was being built in 05/06. I asked him to leave it there as a stop gap until I got a “proper” table… which still hasnt happened.
More Man Cave
Another shot of the table with some ape, zombie and alien miniatures that I was working on roughly a year or so ago. I do almost no miniature painting in the Man Cave although preparatory clean up and assembly work always takes place in here, along with the painting of terrain or vehicles and the like.
Somewhat self evidently that table is where my tabletop and board gaming pursuits take place.
Miniature Cabinet 1
The miniatures cabinet here was given to me for free by a redecorating florist, as long as I would take it away myself, which I did.
I need to organise some more brackets and shelving for it at some stage. I reckon that I could get another two rows of shelves into it if I could work out who and where to go to to get the right bits and pieces. Maybe I might get around to it this autumn.
There are lots of figures of various quality on show in that cabinet with my Sin Eaters Chaos Space Marine army on the bottom left and my Iacon Eldar on the bottom right.
The top shelf has loads of stuff on it dating back as far as the mid eighties right up to a year or so ago. It consists of 6mm Epic stuff, Blood Bowl teams, some Elves, some Lizardmen, some Robots, some Grey aliens and loads of other bits and pieces. I have plenty more in storage too waiting for some more shelf space.
Miniature Cabinet 2
The second smaller Ikea cabinet houses my more recent stuff. This photo is a year old now though, so its a bit out of date in terms of its content. This cabinet has worked out well and I plan to get one or two more along with more consistent shelving for the entire room later in the year.
Lead Storage
The boxes in the corner here contain some of my shamefully large unpainted lead mountain. The less said about that the better.
Mostly Comics
Mostly comics on these shelves along with some of the assorted toys and Optimus Prime helmets and other bric a brac that dorks like me tend to accumulate for unclear reasons.
Rules
This set of shelves is largely rulebooks and game related magazines etc. It will become slightly neater once I reorganise the room in a month or two (after the now obligatory trip to Ikea).
I have done a little work and reorganisation to the room since those photos were taken and I plan to do a large overhaul in the autumn. I will probably revisit this topic then.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: 2010 | 6 Comments »
While I have yet to hit the painting slump that I often get at this time of year, progress is still slow, so I dont have anything to post today. I do have a few miniatures close to finished, but seasonal distractions have taken priority,
Weather permitting I should be able to get some photos of new stuff up by this time next week.
I also have a weekend long session of the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game with MT and PB planned to start this Friday, so I will have a few photos of that too with a bit of luck.
Filed under: Editorial | Leave a comment »
Not a big update today, but some cute stuff nonetheless I reckon. Continue reading
Filed under: Miniatures, Terrain | Tagged: 2011, Dredd, Judge Dredd, Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, Post Apocalyptic, Sci-fi, Standard Falls | 5 Comments »
Police Brutality
More Judges today, this time from the best-of-the-best, 80% mission mortality rate Holocaust Squad. Continue reading
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2000AD, 2011, Dredd, Judge Dredd, Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, Justice Department, Sci-fi | 6 Comments »
Street Division Judge and Tech Division Judge
Continuing on from the Mega City One Project post, my first pair of Judges for show are from Mongoose.
They are Gangs of Mega City One figures rather than Judge Dredd Miniature Game figures. That distinction is significant for only one reason: casting quality. Mongoose got a lot of deserved grief for the sub-standard quality of the casting of many of the figures that they released around the mid 2000s and there were casting problems on each and every GoMC1 judge figure that I bought. I can personally attest for the quality of the figures that they have released for JDMG though, they are cast to a much higher standard.
The Street Judge worked out fine, but I love the Tech/Tek. Something about the miniature and the colour scheme and its application makes it look like he came straight out of a comic. Which is fine by me.
SJS Judge and Street Judge
Next is another pair of Mongoose Judge miniatures. In addition to the fairly standard Street Judge is the SJS (Special Judicial Squad) Judge. SJS judges function as internal affairs, MP types. As their quarry is highly trained Judges, SJS judges are particularly bad-ass.
SJS judges have been depicted with various different uniform colours and features. The look above is my favourite as while they definitely have that judge feel, the grey eagle design makes them unique amongst all of the other specialist and street judges: perfect for an outsider like a member of the SJS.
Street Judge and Psi Division Judge
Another two Mongoose judges: a Street Judge and a Psi Div Judge.
I have mixed feelings about how the Psi judge came out. I am as happy with the uniform as I am with any of the other judges and I am particularly pleased the figures red hair. It looks quite a bit like real red hair, rather than the more fiery colour usually used on miniature gingers.
On the other hand I find painting eyes harder than ever these days (I think that I need a new prescription for my glasses). It took me several attempts to get these ones even to the barely acceptable, astonished expression that they have now. I also foolishly attempted to add something that looks vaguely like freckles (similarly to how ex-judge DeMarco is depicted in the comics) to the cheeks, which didnt quite work. In fact in conjunction with the miniatures rather prominent top lip it made her look a bit like a cat.
But I am just obsessively moaning really. She doesnt look *that* bad.
Riot Judge and Judge Giant
The first pair of Foundry Judges.
As a rule the Foundry judges have crisper detail than the Mongoose ones. The Foundry proportions are a little odd I reckon, with quite large heads. They also often have somewhat peculiar poses. They are nicer to paint than the Mongoose figures that I have painted so far nonetheless.
I can imagine some scale purists having issues with mixing figures from the two manufacturers. I dont think that its worth worrying about: on the table the difference are close to non-existent.
The characters represented here are cool. The Riot Judge carries a Riot Foam cannister, which is a signature judge support weapon.
Pic from Wikipedia
The judge on the right is Judge Giant. Two generations of Giant have featured in Judge Dredd stories (three if you count the civilian Jetball player who fathered the first Judge Giant). It isnt specified which Giant this is, although the MkI Lawgiver pistol suggests that it is the first Judge Giant.
Ppenultimately, those of you with an eye for judge uniforms may notice a couple of things about the scheme that I chose. Artists have always had some leeway with how they represented the MC1 Judge uniform over the years, both its physical shape and dimensions and its colours.
Originally Dredd was a black and white strip, with colour versions of him being shown on the cover of 2000AD and centre spreads. This has meant that Dredds undersuit has been depicted as blue, navy and black over the years. Similarly the shoulder pads were always yellow from the strips inception in the late seventies right through to the nineties, when gold started to appear (at least, thats how I remember it). Whether this yellow was supposed to represent gold or not is one of the mysteries of the four colour priniting technique. So basically, there isnt a definitive uniform scheme.
I dont mind this. I think that leaving those details vague helps to keep the character somewhat legendary, somewhat mythological. Usually when a setting like Dredds starts to lock down too many details it starts to collapse in on itself. Keeping it vague suits me.
Lastly here is a shot of the nine judges that I have painted so far. I get a big kick out of seeing a project about a setting that I have enjoyed my whole life taking shape like this 🙂
They are the Law
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2000AD, 2011, Dredd, Judge Dredd, Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, Justice Department, Sci-fi | 4 Comments »
Judge Dredd
I am a lifelong fan of Judge Dredd and 2000AD. With the release of the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game I have decided to put my paint where my mouth is and get a set of figures influenced by the setting ready to go. Eventually all going well I hope to get my own miniature chunk of Mega City One made and populated for gaming in. Continue reading
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2011, Dredd, Gangs of Mega City One, Judge Dredd, Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, Justice Department, Sci-fi | Leave a comment »
sho3box 