Fun Friday # 4 - The Rise of YouTube

Hi there everyone!

Happy Friday!

YouTube. 

YouTube is so prevalent in our culture now...you can find anything on there. 

In some cases, that is a bad thing, with embarrassing things that you did in high school posted for the world to see. But for the most part, the majority of videos are constructive and informative... especially when it comes to hobbies and Video games. You can find a tutorial for anything if you look hard enough, from 4 other people who had the same issues as you. YouTube is also a fantastic way to discover new things. I want to talk about 3 major aspects that I use YouTube for, and why I think it is a great thing. 

The first thing I want to talk about is miniature war gaming. There are millions of different videos on what games to play, how to play them, what models to get, how to build/paint the models... the varieties are endless. Perhaps the biggest reason why I am always interested in building, painting, thinking about these things is because I watch videos all the time about these games. I have two main groups I watch, Miniwargaming, and Guerrilla Miniature games. Both of these groups cover a fairly wide variety of games, and cover other aspects of the hobby as well, from hobby showcases to rules discussion, with all sorts of battle reports in between. Perhaps the best thing about these channels is the wide variety of games they run. I have discovered Infinity, Frostgrave, Bolt action, and Age of Sigmar because of the battle reports posted there. 

As for video gaming itself, I have to speak to the success of the Let's Play Crew over at Rooster Teeth. They have a huge channel, and a big company just based on YouTube channel awesomeness (And Merch). The Videos they make are humorous and enlightening, and really showcase the games they are playing. I can not tell you how many games I have picked up because I watched them play them. I also have to send a shout to the group of streamers who play War Thunder, Phly Daly, and Baron. When I was really into War Thunder, those are the guys I watched to show me how to play right. They are who I watched when learning a new aircraft. 

Lastly, Magic the gathering has a huge following on YouTube. Perhaps my favorate thing to do, if I have a lot of time, is to watch though past Magic championships. The way those guys play, and the decks they build... they are so intense, scary even. Interesting to watch, and hear the commentary following, however. 

Do you watch anything on Youtube?

Anything peak your hobby fancy?

Let me know!

-Rob-

Wednesday Weekly # 4 - X-COM

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Ok, going to be honest, got nothing done model related this week. If you were hoping to see something like that, I am sad to say you better keep scrolling. 

However! If you want to see what I have been up to this week, stick around! I am going to tell you about it!

First off, talking about Friday! Got a chance to play in the first session of a hopefully ongoing campaign for 13th age. We were on a boat. It was awesome. I nearly drown, and did get thrown into jail. Again. That happens a lot to my characters in RPGs. Clearly has more to do with how the world reacts to me, rather than how I react to the world. 

Anyway! Something else nerdy I have been doing this week.  I have spent the last 5 or so days watching an awesome show called The 100. I actually posted about it on Friday (Sunday). Really an interesting show, I wholeheartedly encourage you to check it out. 

It is Winter in the Pacific Northwest, so that means Rain and Rain and Rain. As such... my hobby space has developed a leak in the roof. So I spent my Sunday trying to rectify that issue, to no avail, though I may have slowed it some. 

In the extra time I have in there, I have been playing the heck out of X-COM. I recently discovered the Long War mod, which extends the game exponentially. Love X-COM... one of my top three games. 

Anyway, how was your week?

Do anything hobby related?

Have a great week!

-Rob-

Sunday Showcase # 4 - Warhammer 40k Orks

 Happy Sunday everyone!

Today I thought I would show off a few Orks I painted up for a buddy, in the Freebootas colors. 

Now, as I am sure you can tell, I am still working on my photography. 

The Ork Boy I painted first, nearly a year ago as a test piece for the army as a whole. I was testing my ability to paint skin tone, as well as the extra little bits that go along with it. I was happy with the tone of the green, as well as the contrast i was able to achieve on the muscle tone.

Now, the War-boss I painted up as a Christmas gift for the same friend. Again, tried using more advanced techniques for getting a good coverage all over the model. I was also trying to make it look more realist, so I did quite a bit of dusting with lighter tones to simulate more light hitting the raised parts of the model. 

Thank you for looking! 

Have a great week!

-Rob-

Fun Friday # 3 - The 100

Happy Friday everyone!

Television is a tough thing for me. It is difficult for me to sit down and commit to only watching a show for any amount of time. I just don't have the attention span. So, when something grabs my attention... it is a big deal in my book. Enter.... The 100

The 100, a show I found on Netflix... well, I am intrigued. Definitely goes hand in hand with the current Sci-Fi kick I am on for my reading. 

The show takes place about 100 years in the future, in a world where nuclear holocaust was a reality, and life on earth is thought to be unstable because of radiation. A group of space stations from different nationalities ended up banding together to create the Ark, a massive space station that holds around 2400 people. The problem is that the life support systems are failing... so in order to see if Earth is survivable again, the Ark sends down 100 of it's juvenile delinquents to the surface. 

I really enjoy a whole lot about this show, but some things really stand out to me. For one, the special effects they use to show certain events happening are really awesome. Really well done, without being over the top, A la Battlestar Galactica. Another thing I really like about this series is how it approaches livability in an overgrown earth with no infrastructure. The kids realizing they have to figure out how to survive, and how the heck they are going to do it seems really well documented, and a natural progression. Another interesting thing about this series is the types of beings they meet on Earth. Without giving too much away, they meet several different tribes of humans... not all willing to help. 

So far, the only thing that is bugging me about this series is how quick people are to change nature. i mean, sure, I understand about pressure of survival, and having to make difficult decisions... but it doesn't make sense to me when a person has gone though several tough situations and sticks to his guns the whole time, before changing on something that has no where near as much impact. 

Have you seen The 100?

What do you think of it?

-Rob-

Wednesday Weekly # 3 - Terrain!

 Happy Thursday Everyone!

I know, I suck. Working on it, I promise. 

So, my update for this week is a follows... I have been working on terrain for various things. I also got to play some Dungeons and Dragons, but I may talk about that a bit later. 

Terrain. Terrain is so important in miniature war-gaming. It builds your atmosphere, assists your narration, and enhances your experience. And, frankly, I have very little terrain I am actually happy about. Sure, I have some line of sight blockers, but just not enough to add variety to my gaming tables. So... that is what I am working on these days. First up, I have a couple of ruins that will be using primarily for Frostgrave, though they will work for anything. Again, work in progress, I still need to add texture, and detailing before painting.

I chose to use packing Styrofoam for a couple of reasons... I had quite a bit of extra narrow, rectangular pieces, and they seemed to work well. I also thought that maybe the foam bubbles from this size would look like cobblestone... I guess we will see after I get some paint on them. 

On this last one, you can see I included an Imperial Fist Sergeant to model sizes. Again, I should be able to use this terrain in Warhammer 40k battles, even if it is just an ancient castle setting. I will be showing off the other Imperial Fists I have painted in a future showcase post. 

Lastly, I finally finished painting a mesa piece I worked on about 4 months ago... two more to go, though I did get one done. I was imagining a strange stone plinth, with a glowing chaotic rune emblazoned on it. I think it looks pretty cool, and works pretty close to what I want. I also was thinking it would be pretty striking on the battlefield, and yet still block line of sight. 

What do you think?

Have a great week!

-Rob-

Sunday Showcase # 3 - Grey Knights

Good afternoon everyone!

Today I thought I would showcase a Grey Knight Strike Squad I painted up for a good friend of mine. First things first, some good things to know. This is not the first group of grey knights I have painted... the first group was some of those old, pointy pewter models that Games Workshop was still selling 4 years ago. And let me tell you... they were bad. I recently stripped them with the intention to repaint them in a scheme that would actually match this group. 

Now to talk some about this group itself. This is the first group that I would truly consider my "Commission" pieces. This was the top of my quality for that time, about 2 years ago. These were completely brush-painted, with some subtle blue painted into the recesses. Each of the shoulder pads were free handed so they are each unique for the model. For the bases, I was going for a Shale/Basalt look, so went with grays over a cork base. At some points this worked well, but looking back it is pretty one dimensional. 

For these models in particular, the one thing I was truly proud of was the force weapons... the dry-brushed crackling weapons actually came out really well. 

Just to add a bit, I do have additional pieces i will eventually add to this squad. The first being that Original strike squad, re-painted of course. I then have a second strike squad that is built and primed. I also have a Terminator/paladin squad to build, and am working on the Man himself, Kaldor for the HQ unit for the army. All told, with everything painted, this will actually be a pretty sizable army, turning in just around 1500 points. 

Thank you for looking!

Have a Great Week

-Rob-

Furious Friday # 2 - The Sword of Shannara

Hi there everyone!

Welcome to my second fabulous Friday... though if you may have noticed, this is a Furious Friday. 

This is for a few different reasons, but I will get to that shortly. 

Now, today I will be talking about the Sword of Shannara series, by Terry Brooks... a series which was recently given life by MTV. Let me preface this by saying... I watched the pilot for the series, and the production value actually looks pretty incredible. I will perhaps expand upon my feelings for that at a later date, but for now, I need to rant about this damn book. 

OK, firstly, there is 26 books in this series. The first chronological book in the series is called the Sword of Shannara, and that is what I will be talking about today. In terms of the actual Shannara chronicle, this book come about at the halfway mark, maybe a little earlier. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, thousands of years after our modern era. Don't let that statement fool you, this book is high fantasy, elves, dwarves, gnomes and all. The justification for that is a stretch, but somewhat believable. 

Hang on, I need to make one more preface to this post. I have not finished this book yet. I fully intent to, but I need to clear my mind of some of this... vitriol first. Ok, that warning finished, I will continue. 

Two things really irritate me about this book. Irritate me so much I am struggling to enjoy this book. 

The first thing that really irritates me is the way Mr. Brooks writes in this first endeavor. I hate his narrative style... he jumps characters to abruptly, changes perspective with little to no indication of change. It sometimes takes several sentences to realize... crap, we are talking about that guy now. I think I am going to come up with a name with this narrative... I am going to call it a Virus Narrative. This "Virus Narrative" goes as follows. He will be following a singular character, following what they are doing, sometimes talking about what they are thinking... then when that character interacts with another, all of a sudden the narrative switched to the second character. It is pretty frustrating.  

Second thing that frustrates me to no end is that the story concept for this book thus far, about two-thirds of the way through the book... is that it is nearly an idea for idea copy of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring. Just a few character comparisons for you. 

Chosen One - Shea/Frodo

Best friend who stays because loyalties? - Flick/Sam

Magic user that guides party and randomly leaves - Allanon/Gandolf

Really douche bad guy everyone thought was dead - Warlock Lord/Sauron

The scary black beings that are evil and searching for chosen one - The Skull Bearers/Ring Wraiths

If that was it, fine. But no, the story concepts are the same. Wizard meets chosen one, tells him of his danger. Naive chosen one and buddy have to leave home because scary baddies are closing in. Hard travels till they reach a nearby town that has someone that can help them. Eventually reaching the safety of a realm of a different race... where the wizard meets up with them again, and holds a council of races to decide that... a small group of people can complete the task together after a journey. 

Are you kidding me? Literally, concept for concept copy of Lord of the Rings. 

Now, I do have hope for where this story is going. I am really hoping it will shortly divert in the ideas, because as it stands I am truly struggling to read this. 

Now, I want to make it a habit of including some good things that I have found in the book. 

The one good thing I care to talk about at this point... is the created world of the book, the setting. I am engaged in the background story, the world. 

And with that... I think I will end this rant. 

Have more to add? Have some good things to put in? Feel free to comment below. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Rob-