Paint what you got Update #2

    I haven't played any Battletech since I first was introduced to it, which was probably about a decade or so ago. Right around the time I picked up the Introductory Box that these mechs came from. But I am really enjoying painting these miniatures up, especially now that I have paint schemes picked out for each Great House. 

House Davion - Davion Guards

Zeus, Battlemaster, Quickdraw, Dervish and Vindicator

    Picking out the mechs for each house, I went with a more balanced approach. Mixing heavy, medium and light mechs. I say that, but this particular lance has mediums and heaviest without any light mech. I do have some extra mechs to paint up from buying blind boxes and the random Star lance boxes, so I should be able to fill in the holes as I go.

House Kurita - Sword of Light

Grasshopper

    Here is one such hole, now House Kurita has a heavy mech to it's name. Just need a medium mech now.

    Jumping in feet first into the painting, I began painting up a Clan Ghost Bear lance as they had a sorted history with House Kurita, fighting several wars within their territory. 

Clan Ghost Bear

Panther, Awesome, Dragon, and Enforcer

    I guess these aren't technically "Clan mechs" but I guess these are salvaged from war, especially that Dragon. Dragon mechs are synonymous with House Kurita, being a battle standard for their army.

    And to finish off with a non-battletech miniature, here is Ariane from Zombicide. 

Zombicide Wulfsburg - Ariane

     Only three more characters to go for Wulfburg and I will have all my Zombicide finished up. For Battletech, I have two more great houses for the intro box and 2 lance boxes, 2 blind salvage boxes and a couple odds and ends from a lot I bought awhile ago. Will I paint it all? I might just do the 2 lance boxes and salvages after the intro box. We shall see!

Next on the Hobby Desk!

More BATTLETECH!!!!!

Paint What You Got Update #1

    This year I want to get better at posting my finished miniatures as I paint them. Usually the case is that I want to complete a unit before posting. Can't post this mini, he doesn't have his base done! Now what colour of base.... etc.

    So these miniatures are leftovers from last year that just needed a couple minutes to finish up that didn't quiet make it into 2024.

    First up is some quick Battletech buildings. Cleaning up the Hobby room I came across some packaging that I intended to use for building in Battletech. Still have the packing, I might make something more hex map friendly. These could be used for Mech Attack! if the rectangle bases are too unclear for opponents.

    My brother came over for a paint night in December. He was painting up his newly acquired Battletech A Game of Armored Combat TM Box. I decided to grab my own unpainted/ foolishly painted ( this is a Clint, I should paint it like Clint Eastwood in The good, the bad, and the ugly...) mechs. Reading into the universe of Battletech, I decided to paint up a lance, four mechs, in the colours of each of the five major houses. Well, four, as I painted some mechs up as Clan Ghost Bear, who has a sorted past with the Draconis Combine.

Draconis Combine - Sword of Light

Cicada, Jenner, Spider, Whitworth

    This lance would be used for scouting, or a quick strike. I will be painting up a Grasshopper to add a heavy class mech for options. A standard game of BT is usually around a Battle value 2.0 of 6K or higher if you want a longer game, you could also use tonnes as a points system but I am told it's less accurate to the mech's actual fighting power. For this lance's BV 2.0 it would look like:

Cicada - 659 

Jenner - 875

Spider - 622

Whitworth - 982

Total: 3138

    The Grasshopper would add an additional 1,400 to get close to a standard game, but a lower BV might be good for a learning game with my brother.

    Before Christmas I had started to paint these older plastic Chaos Space Marines for Space Hulk as advisories. There was a fan made rules for all the factions, splitting the factions up as horde or tactical, dictating how they played. Sweeping the internet, I found they have been taken down as a C&D  action. I have found some more traditional rules for Space Hulk here. 

My original idea was to paint up a 10 man squad with a matching colour scheme, but I changed my mind, deciding to paint them as one off enemies that could be encounted on a derelict hulk while fighting off tyranids.

Chaos Space Marine Captain and special weapons marine.

Two The Scourged Chaos Space Marines

Tzeentch is my least represented in my hobby collection. I really enjoyed the lore of The Scourge. They hunted heretics for inquisitorial questioning. Hundreds were found guilty, some innocently killed. They preyed to the emperor for divine guidance to know when someone was lying. Tzeentch answered their cry for help, blessing the chapter to hear all the truths of humanity. The chapter soon went mad from the lies they were fed by mankind. I'll probably paint up more Scourged Marines as well as a sorcerer and some cultists.

Heroclix Sentinel

Had this one on or near the Hobby Desk for sometime at about 90% done. It is now done. I do have two more to paint up as well. I sculpted a mouth on it that is similar to the sentinels in the 90's X-men animated series.

Electra for scale

Next on the Hobby Desk

I have more Battletech to paint up and some projects that need only an hour or so more time to finish up.

New Years Resolutions!

     So, I did go a bit overboard with miniatures at the end of 2024. I would say that I won't do that again, knowing myself, I have a hard time saying no to a bargain! My pile of opportunity has a lot of miniatures that I have been/ still are excited to paint, it's a matter of reminding myself of what I could currently paint without spending a dime!

    Looking at my 2024 resolutions there are some that started off well then interest waned. Here is a summary of 2024 goals:

1) Paint what I got! Started off well. Around June I saw a really good Haradrim lot on Ebay, which was the first major purchase. 

2) Schedule gaming nights: With Rachel and I working shift work this can be tricky. I have gotten board games semi regularly woth my brothers and I have also joined a monthly Descent campaign that is ending soon. The plan is to transition to Gloomhaven, which I haven't played despite it's glowing reviews. Seemed daunting to me. Matt, who is running it, suggested to buy a new copy or start from where his family stopped playing. The gaming group wasn't too particular about starting fresh, so we will be in the middle of a campaign when we start.

3) Learn Easy convention games: The local FLGS Comic readers hosts Prairie Game Expo quarterly throughout the year. I had planned to run something for it but it somehow always scheduled on a day I or my family were busy. Finally, in October I would have been able to go, they lost their convention location. Guessly, I'll need to find a small group to convert into wargamers on my own. I also didn't read/ play much of the smaller games. 

4) Solo wargames: I did test out Song of Blades and Heroes, One page Rules firefight and Blackstone Fortress. Had about three games of BsF but didn't get fair in any of them.

    Now, what's next for 2025? I think my goals are similar, but I want to focus a bit more on focusing my painting to things that I'll immediately play with.

     I did paint up all of my Zombicide Black Plague, it was nice to be able to play it with all the miniatures painted up. There are a couple of board games that I'd like to see completely painted up, Rising Sun, Unmatched and Resident Evil 2 come to mind. 

Let's get to the Hobby goals!

1) Paint what you Got!!! Like I said, my pile of opportunity has lots of exciting projects ready to be started, so let's get them finished! And if I am not excited about a particular game, mini, terrain, then maybe it's time to sell or trade them off. Rachel mentioned that she would like to play Unmatched. I currently have Adventures, and Jurassic Park (Raptors Vs. Ingen & Dr. Saddler Vs. T-Rex) and just acquired Cobble & Fog as I heard it was out of print. 

2) Schedule Gaming nights: Rachel suggested to bring back the two game nights a month from 2022. I should make a point of rereading rules and setting up nights in advance to make sure we keep to a schedule. Plans on the calendar are set in stone. 

    Gloomhaven/ Descent nights are still be scheduled every month if possible. As well as, my friend, James, wants to get a Stargrave campaign going, so I'll need to fit that in too. Plus my eldest brother, Shawn, is getting into Battletech. With book keeping and complex rules, Shawn was thinking of learning the game in smaller 2 mech per person narrative style games. I haven't played in over 8 years, I will need a refresher too.

    If I can find a local group, I would also be interested in running some one off RPGs, but that's lower on the list of items.

3) Learn Easy Convention games: I would enjoy going to local conventions to show off Song of Blade and heroes, Space Weirdos, One Page Rules Firefight etc. With Prairie Game Expo in limbo, this will probably be on me to start up. Maybe I could rent out a room in the library monthly? In Regina, I feel that a lot of wargamers stick to non-indie wargames. I would love to run an Inq28 event, a movement in the community that focuses on rules light, narrative heavy gaming set in the gritty dark corners of the 40k universe. I just need to start a narrative.....

4) Dungeon 23 Community Event: Dungeon 23 started in 2023, but has continued throughout the years since. Simply create one room in a dungeon every day throughout the year. By the end of the year, you'll have a mega dungeon on paper with summaries of each room. For mine, I will be switching to 40k instead of fantasy with a focus on different setting elements each day. A hive city, Space hulk, planet, and major characters that inhabit each.

5) Solo Games: I'd like to start doing a more narrative focused for the solo wargames I play. I also want to do more board games solo. Mage Knight, Shadows of Brimstone, Conan (which has a solo variant) and Firefly all would be interesting for me to play through.

So there we have it. Goals are set, ready to tackle 2025!