Wednesday Weekly # 2 - Frostgrave

Hi there Everyone!

Happy Wednesday!

Alright, well, I am going to be totally honest here. I did not get much Hobby work done this week. My WIP table was looking pretty... well... full of the stuff I showed last week. So, last night, I took some time to get a base coat for each of the Frostgrave models I am working on. My idea for these wizards/witches was to define them pretty aggressively with bright colors, because you better believe if you have power you are going to flaunt it. Now, again, this is the sprayed on base coat, with no detail finished at all. I still need to give the models a wash or three, and possibly a glaze to tie some of the highlights together. 

E'Vereta Becot

Saval Dormier

With no further ado, I would like to present my Elementalist, E'Vereta Becot. I thought red was an appropriate color for her, seeing as she will be tossing fireballs literally everywhere. Following her, I have Saval Dormier, her apprentice. Following the elementalist theme, I went with a bright blue to represent ice. The flames he is holding in his hand will also be icy blue. 

Tartus the Crazed

One-Eyed Sue

Now, I am working on three more Frostgrave models, one being an archer for my warband. The last two models I am currently working on are for a friend of mine who will be rolling with the Summoner. I am sad to say, I actually forgot to take a picture of the Summoner himself, but I did get his apprentice. I would like to introduce Tartus the Crazed.

The last model I will show today is a test scheme for the hirelings of the warband. I would like to present One-Eyed Sue. 

Now, I would like to talk a bit in terms of hobby experience from this week. I am happy to announce that I have set up my first Frostgrave games, to be played on monday. We will be using proxy models, and very anachronistic terrain, but we will get to actually play the system a few times, which is awesome. I spent a fair amount of time building my Wizard sheet, so it is completely ready for Monday!

Hope everyone is having a good week! 

Any tips going into a new game?

-Rob-

Showcase Sunday # 2 - Aragorn, and the Masque

Alright, I have to admit, taking pictures is HARD. Like.... Really hard. So if you think they suck, i promise, my professional photographer (My wife) and I are working on it. 

So lets go on with Showcase Sunday, # 2. This week I have decided to showcase two models I painted for my dear wife when I was first wooing here. Thankfully for me, she still married me. 

First up, we have Aragorn, from Lord of the Rings. You all know him, Strider, the lost king of Gondor, all that jazz. I painted him up for a few reasons. Firstly, he is one of her favorite characters from the books/movies. Secondly, I actually really liked the dynamic nature of the model in questions... it screams headlong charge into a band of Uruk-hai to me. 

Some things that I remember being REALLY proud of when I painted this model... The base is badass. This is from right after I learned to build and paint much better display/showcase bases for models, and I was really excited about how this one in particular came out. Another thing I thought really turned out well was the cloth on Aragorn's tunic. It looks worn, dirty even, just vibrant still. I was happy with it anyway!

Now, the second model I painted for my wife is... the Masque. I know, strange choice, but i had a good reason behind it... I think. When my wife was looking through the W

arhammer page at the armies, humoring me, the demonettes of Slannesh actually stood out to her. I know, I know, you are sitting there saying to yourself, what kind of woman likes those scantily clad demons.... well, lets just say I got pretty damn lucky. So when I was looking for a second model to send to her, this HQ unit... with the Corset, screamed at me. So.... I attempted to paint a Demonette of Slannesh. I was pretty proud of my results here as well, I was really proud of how the cloth on her robe came out, as well as the underlying petticoats. Sadly, this model suffered the indignity of mauling by small fuzzy monster of batting piece chewing (Read, Kitten). The model mostly survived, and had some touch ups since.

What do you think of these models from 3 years ago!

Let me know below

-Rob-

Fantastic Friday # 2 - How to RPG and Have a Damn Good Time Doing it

Hey there folks! 

First things first... yes, I know it is Sunday. Yes, I know this post was supposed to come out on Friday. Lets just say life got crazy, and I didn't get a chance to get to it. Or we could also say I just didn't know how to put to computer what was floating around in my head. You know what, we could say lots of things, but I think we should talk about RPGing. 

Role Playing Games. 

Of the paper and pencil variety, at least. 

That is what I am going to talk about today. 

So this is going to be a Part - How To, and a Part - Good Player Etiquette guide to RPGing. Lets simplify, make this Part 1, and Part 2. I have put quite a bit of thought into this, and Part 2 is very derived from Part 1, but it all makes sense together. I think. Or not. Whatever. Apricots. Fandango. The Ministry of Silly Walks. 

Part 1 - How To Role Play

Guideline # 1 - Become your Character - This is the true heart of role playing. You are acting out as this character. You ARE your character. Understand as much as you can about your character when playing him/her/it, so when you are engaged in interactions, you respond not as yourself, the player, but as your character. This can be very difficult, and it definitely takes practice. Ask yourself, what are the motivations of my character? What does he/she/it want?

Guideline # 2 - Never be Embarrassed - You are playing in an imaginary world with imaginary people. There is no room for embarrassment in that. Don't judge people for the character decisions they make, roll with what the DM gives you. And always remember, there are no bad decisions, there are just bad rolls. 

Guideline # 3 - The Dungeon Master is God - The Dungeon master is your best friend and your worst enemy. RESPECT THEM. They are there to bring enjoyment and adventure to your group. It is your job to assist them the best you can in that. That means NOT second guessing them, that means NOT trying to tell them what is and what is not possible. A good DM can craft an incredible story that can span for months if not years of real time. Embrace that. RESPECT THEM

Guideline # 4 - Have Fun - At the end of the day, you are playing a game with friends set in an imaginary world. Set the drama at the door, and embrace the immersion in the experience. Don't be afraid to try things that sound crazy, or off the wall. Think outside the box. 

Part 2 - Good Role Player Etiquette

Suggestion # 1 - Don't Stomp on Other People's Ideas - Always remember that this is a game where teamwork is key. Anyone may have a good idea for how to get past a certain situation. be willing to ask for help, or take suggestions... but don't take all night with it, the game must go on. 

Suggestion # 2 - Don't Meta-game - You know what your character knows. not what the party knows, unless the party shares that information. Always remember to keep track of what your character knows in game. 

Suggestion # 3 - Be Involved - Play the game! If you get to a part where you do not understand what is going on, ask questions. If you need to disengage for a few minutes, step away from the play area. The single most irritating thing to do as a DM is to have to repeat information because players were not paying attention. Heck, most DMs will not repeat information. Pay attention to what is going on. 

Suggestion # 4 - Play as a party - This sounds like a dumb suggestion, but everyone is there to play, so let everyone play. Involve everyone. Discuss plans. Let others try that charisma check. Let someone else talk. RPGs revolve around teamwork, so play as a team. 

Ok, some closing statements here. Now, I am not trying to flame anyone. Heck, I think I myself may be guilty of... at least most of these. But the trick is learning from experiences, and building from them. As well as that, you may have noticed that there are not "Rules", or "Commands". These are Guidelines. Suggestions. They may work for you, they may not. 

I found a great resource for being a great RPGer on a blog, which I will post a link to. 

11 ways to be a better roleplayer

Thank you all!

what do you think it takes to be a good RPGer? Any suggestions or Guidelines to add?

-Rob-

Wednesday Weekly #1 - Frostgrave, Horus Heresy

Hi there everyone!

Firstly, yes, I know it is Thursday. Loads of things have been happening this week, probably the biggest being I started a new job, and have been trying to keep my head on around that. Also, because I suck, and forgot... the batteries to my camera were dead... so... Hey! Welcome to Wednesday Weekly... on Thursday!

I have a couple of things I want to share today! I haven't gotten a whole lot of painting done this week, but I did get some very important things built and primed. I also had an opportunity to play some D&D, so I will share at least one of my misadventures with you. 

First up, lets do some pictures. 

I got some packages delivered this last week with some nice Frostgrave models/bases in them... so I figured my best bet is to go ahead and build them up so I can get right to painting them. Well, the Treasure markers went together easy and quick, so I just painted them up right away. And, well, because I had my airbrush all set up any way, I figured it would be awesome to take care of priming some metal figures as well. I would like to present...

E'Vereta Becot, and her Apprentice, Saval Dormier

I am pretty excited about getting some pigment on these models, the figures themselves actually have quite a bit of detail in them. 

I also have the Summoner and his apprentice, but I may have to take the liberty of naming them at a later date. Picture to follow! I was also able to build one of my archers, I believe this will be One-Eyed Sue

The last projects I am currently working on is two-fold. I am working on a Pre-Heresy Imperial Fist army.... and a Pre-Heresy Emperor's Children army. 

So first up I have a test model with my purple color scheme on it. This is... attempt number 4? I
finally like the gradient of the color though, so I am pretty happy. The real trick will be translating that into bulk models! So first, the test model, then two more HQ units that only have the armor colored. I have given some thought to doing a fine edge highlight
at some points, but am undecided. Thoughts?

My last picture I wish to share is my armor scheme for my Pre-Heresy Imperial Fists. Now, it has taken me a long time, and a ton of research online to fine a scheme that works for me... and so I present my Imperial Fist Contemptor Dreadnought. Not the best pictures, but still working on finding a medium that works best.

And my last little bit, a tidbit from my RPG. I was exploring a room in the basement on a tavern where a Ghoul attack took place... and rolled a 20.... so I found a locked door. Me, being a Bard, thought... well, I better just bash the door down. (Trust me, cross classing as soon as I can). I hit the door once with the pommel of my dagger, and I hear it give way some. I think, well, this is working well. I do it again. Attack roll against door... 1. Strength roll for effect...19. Pommel hits door, breaks lock, embeds itself... in my chest. Needless to say, I was having a bad day. 

I hope your week is going well! Do anything hobby related?

-Rob-

Showcase Sunday - #1 - Aldis Silver-String and a SBD Dauntless

Happy first Sunday of the year, everyone!

Welcome, as well, to the very first Showcase Sunday... a day where I get to show you what I have completed!

Today I have decided to go ahead and show you two separate things. These things are directly unrelated, with one exception... they were each the first of their kind I have finished. 

First up we have Mr. Aldis Silver-String, my ongoing D&D character. Now, Aldis is a Bard... a talker, a singer, a lover. My experiences with him are definitely varied to begin with. We are both learning, if you will. Firstly, Aldis has next to no offensive output... he has to talk his way out of situations. As you may see, he does have a sword, but he definitely does not know how to use it. No, Aldis is very adept at talking his way out of situations. He is quick on his feet, though his mouth does get him in trouble. He is quick to offer help to those in need, but does not take kindly to laws of any sort. He definitely rolls to the beat of his own drum. Or Bittern. Or whatever

As for the model itself, I believe it was a Reaper Mini, or some sort of D&D mini that I got for a campaign we were going to play a couple years ago. I finally got some paint on it about a week ago, and a fairly happy with the result. I was pleasantly pleased with the way the paint flowed on the model, and the way the detail stood out. Now, because of the nature of taking pictures of miniature figures, i was not able to get a good picture of the face, but on the opposite side of his face (This is his good side) Aldis has a scar actually modeled into the flesh of the face. Very cool modeling technique, and looks very cool as well, giving the mini more character. 

The Second thing I am going to show you today is my SBD Dauntless, a US Navy plane from the early years of the Pacific theater of World War 2. Again, this was my first airplane model, but I was very excited about how it turned out. I will say that the frosting on the windows was not intentional, but it really rounded out the model very effectively. The Dauntless was a Navy dive bomber, hence the huge air brakes in the rear of the plane. I was attempting to make it look like it was just pulling out of a dive, and so had the flaps deployed. Really a joy to build and paint. Some parts did not fit together as well as they should, and others needed to be shaved down, but that is all part of the hobby. The painting was done primarily via Airbrush, with some brushwork touch ups here and there. This was also my very first use of Decals, which was cool. 

Thank you for looking! Have a great week!

-Rob-

Star Wars - The Force Awakens -NO SPOILERS-

Well, I finally did it. I went and saw that movie that everyone has been trying to avoid spoiling. Star Wars, The Force Awakens... well... it is fresh, so I figured I had better put down my thoughts about it before I forget about them.

 

First off, before anything, I had heard mixed reviews about the movie. I was trepidatious at best. I mean, sure, it was the quickest movie to reach one billion dollars gross, and its opening nights were bigger than... well... anything. But I was perfectly willing to chalk that up to the masses flocking to garbage that they thought was acceptable. Several Star Wars aficionados I talked to were not pleased, and having seen the movie, they are not particularly wrong about what they were upset about.

 

Let me enumerate. 

 

The biggest complaint I heard about the new movie is how derived it is from all the old ones. Well, yes, it is very very derived. Sometimes it is over the top, yes, but other times it is witty and nostalgic. and that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is exactly why I think it is there... Nostalgia. I think the movie director, and producers were trying to bridge the gap in their fan base, from the people that will only ever recognize the original trilogy  to the people that like the universe for what it is. For me, episodes 1-3 were really not awful. I liked them, actually, though they were nowhere near 4-6. But I am not a hard core Star Wars fan. For a true star wars fan... it seems like the lack of any truly new and unique content is a pretty significant issue. But hey, they have 2 more movies for that.

Here are some of the things that really struck me as awesome about the movie as I watched it.

Sound Design was really great. It may sound trivial, but sound can make or break a movie, and star wars has always had a really great sound track, and this is definitely a spiritual successor to the original movies in this regard. Throughout the entire movie, there was only one point where I thought to myself, "Well, that sound cue was a little over the top... this must be a good guy". Overall, very impressed.

Another thing that was really awesome was the special effect content... the original trilogy is really starting to show it's age, and even the new trilogy is to in the face of new technology, but The Force Awakens really did a great job combining that new technology to immerse the viewer in the movie.

Another silly thing I really enjoyed... the Storm troopers were kind of awesome. It made sense that they were some of the most disciplined, strongest military force in the galaxy.  They started out pretty well put together, anyway. But then we go back to the normal Storm trooper tomfoolery.

Lastly, the Cameos are great. All I will say.

Things I was not impressed by... throughout the time I have had to think about this, I have only be able to come up with more and more that... I was not impressed by. Now, like I said, I did not go into this movie expecting perfection, so my sights were set pretty low. But, as a whole, these are the things that I saw that disappointed me.

First of all... the character development. The character development for 3, maybe 4 or the main characters was truly lacking. I felt like I knew nothing about them, and all of a sudden they were going against their nature. All of a sudden they all could do various things that just... didn't make sense within the confines of their character development... and I expected more. Now, again, there is room for growth, to show where these characters came from, their motivation in future movies. I, for one, fully expect back stories to be fleshed out. But, for a kick off, I expected more.

Another thing that really bugged me after a while was... I know, I hate to say it... how derived it was. There was so little changed in terms origin stories, role within the story, even core planets. it is a great, big, wide universe. Show us more of it. There is really not a lot i can say about it without doing spoilers, so I will stop there.

Regardless, it was definitely an enjoyable movie. Would I go see it again in theatres? Probably not. if I had endless free time, maybe, but as it stands, I don't, and thus, I will not.

What did you think?

-Rob-

State of the Blog Address

The State of the Blog

Ok, I know this blog is very young, and may never go anywhere. But on the off chance it does, this is something I want to make a habit... and Annual discussion of the goals for the blog, and any challenges we may be facing.

And so....

Musings of a Hobby Butterfly

Goals for 2016 -

- 2-3 posts a week for the full 52 weeks of the year.

- Content that appeals to a variety of viewers/readers.

- 10 subscribers... or 1 subscriber

To meet these Goals, I have decided to set up a schedule of content to keep up to date.

It will go as follows.

-Showcase Sunday-

-Wenesday Weekly-

-Fun/Fantastic/Furious Friday-

Showcase sunday will be a place for me to show you completed projects I, or others, have been working on.

Wenesday Weekly will be a hobby update for the week from the following Wenesday, what I am working on, what movies I am watching, what games I am playing.

Fun/Fantastic/Furious Friday will be... well, everything else. It will be the posts I may make about silly things that make me mad, or an awesome game experiance I had. There is no limit to things I may put there.

Lastly, I would like to talk about the challenges I forsee having with this Blog.

The first, and foremost, challenge I will have will be to keep posting. Even on weeks when I am run down from work, getting something, anything up.

The second challenge I forsee is a lack of variety in subject matter for posting.

So I guess I am asking this... If you like what I am doing, or like a particular type of content, Let me know! Comment, post, shoutout, anything. Tell me what you like and don't like, tell me what I can do to improve this Blog!

Thoughts? Comments for the Good of the Blog? Post Below

-Rob-