Painting Report, March

Not much finished.

Well, I actually did really well for my VSF projects. Got all of those finished in the nick of time for the month. But Warhammer suffered to a lot of terrain projects and stuff. All I finished was 9 Empire halberdiers and the Stegadon. I also painted two BattleMechs (a Phoenix Hawk and a Panther).

I did manage to get a lot of work done on the new blog (this one!). And the new European fields mat is nearly done. A good bit of terrain work accomplished. Photos tomorrow, I promise. Just too tired to go get the camera and download pictures right now.

As far as the poll goes, I guess there will be a few more labels. I'll try not to go too crazy with subtopics.

Next month's goals are:

• Paint two more BattleMechs
• Paint BattleTech coolant trucks, SRM carriers, and Manticore tanks (2 each)
• Finish BattleTech factory complex and defense turrets
• Finish 5 Kislev horse archers (about 80% done now).
• Finish Grandmaster of Blazing Sun Knights (about 95% done now)
• Finish halberdier banner carrier (need to print banner and clear coat).
• Finish Euro-field mat
• Paint ten Masked Minions for VSF (25mm)
• Paint four Masked Minion gun crewmen
• Paint one smoke launcher (VSF artillery - poison gas!)
• Paint ten halfjack automatons (more VSF)
• Paint ten halfjack 'mines'.

Wow. That is a lot. We'll see if I can manage it! The list helps keep me focussed, though, and if I can get the VSF things done... well, that pretty well ends my Automaton army (excepting one conversion vehicle that I need pieces for still).

WarTech BattleHammer

I have mentioned before that my sons and I are getting into two new genres these days: Warhammer Fantasy Battle and BattleTech. Now, I like the settings for both, but I got to thinking how cool would it be to combine them?

I'm starting off the setting with the Empire. Essentially, the Empire is a large volume of space roughly in the center of the galactic arm. It has been divided up into a number of smaller (though still quite large) regions. these include Reikspace, Middenspace, Nordspace, Wissenspace, Stirspace, Talabecspace, Ostspace, the Ostmark, MootSpace, etc. One region for each of the provinces in the Warhammer Empire, you see, usually substituting the word 'space' for 'land.' Each of these regions has many planets within them. These planets take the place of the various cities and towns of the Empire in Warhammer. So, Bogenhafen is a planet within Reikspace. Altdorf is the Imperial capital planet. Nuln is a major industrial planet, and so on.

Each region or planet's Mechs will be painted up in the WFB state color schemes.

I figure the Knightly Orders can be semi-autonomous units, with fortress planets as bases.

Orks will be wandering raiders, mostly, based off planets out on the fringes of the Empire. Dwarfs will also have heavily fortified industrial planets in systems loaded down with asteroid belts and such. Wood Elves will be based on naturalistic planets, hidden within nebulae and such instead of a forest. Brettonia will be added, similarly to the Empire. Tilea and Estalia too.

For the other evil races, I have thought of the following: Dark Elves and Chaos are easy, just locate them in the appropriate stellar geography. Skaven are troubling. Maybe a lot of beat up vehicles and only a few Mechs? But where to locate them? Dark planets? Subterranean in human planets just seems a little... maybe in asteroid belts or gas giant moons in the systems. Undead are a problem too. Zombie Mechs? Not very sensible.

So it isn't perfectly worked out yet. But its the germ of an idea that may be fun.

Quantum Gothic - Beautiful Stuff!

Quantum Gothic is a British terrain manufacturer. They make some really nice looking resin 'gothic' 25mm sci-fi terrain. But to be honest, I think most of it could easily be used for VSF gaming. When I finally convince my wallet that I have not been abusing it (this may take a few months), I want to remember these models. I especially have my eye on the forcefield pylons pictured below, the comm array (aethergraphic relay stations, anyone?), and the watchtower. The other bits are not bad, either.

Note: Photos taken from Quantum Gothic website for illustrative purposes only. Free advertising!

I found these fellows sort of by accident whilst rummaging about on TMP tonight. And my wife thought I was wasting time. Harrumph!

Those pylons are just screaming "Professor MacGlarrigy's Galvanic Defense Field Focussing Array Pylon" to me. Venus needs these to keep out the dinosaurs. To quote Doctor Henry Cavor, "Imperial! Absolutely imperial!"

Royal Xenological Society, Vol. 5

Rosa venusica manticora

"Venusian Manticore Rose"

Shown above is a photostat of one of the more dangerous plants on Venus: Rosa v. manticora, or the Manticore Rose. It is so named for several features it shares in common with the earthly rose bush. First, it has a red coloration like the common variety of Earthly roses. Second, the odor of the blossom is quite similar to that of the common rose. However, the Manticore Rose has a single smooth stem with only one blossoming head, unlike the thorny thicket of stems typical of the common rose. It would seem that, lacking this defense (of thick sharp thorns), the Manticore Rose would be easy prey for herbivorous creatures of the rainforest.

The actual truth is that most creatures of the Veiled Planet's jungles know to avoid getting close to this plant. You see, the large bulbous blossom has the ability to fling a volley of sharpened thorns at any creature that approaches within a dozen feet. These thorns, beyond the damage caused by their needle-sharp points, are also envenomed. Observation of some of the larger Venusian lifeforms indicates that they may be immune or merely irritated by these toxins (as humans are to various stinging nettles), or that their thick scaley hides have developed to the point of virtual immunity. We thin-skinned denizens of Earth are rapidly overcome by the potent poison. The toxin puts its victim into a deep comatose state.

Doctor Nigel Clive of the Agricultural College of Texas, the Texican scientific group's chief botanist, believes that the plant feeds on the remains of small creatures that are overcome by the toxin and fall to the ground near the root system. These animals perish of malnourishment while comatose, and their bodies decompose, feeding nutrients in to the soil.

There is no known antidote for Manticore Rose poison. Two Texican marines are still comatose months after being poisoned. Travelers to Venus are warned that if they smell roses, they should proceed very cautiously.

Let Me 'Splain...

To start off, if you know me, you know I suffer from GRADD. Gaming Related Attention Deficit Disorder. If you don't know me, now you do.

I game in all sorts of ways, or work on a wide variety of gaming projects. I play Napoleonics. World War II. VSF (in multiple scales!). BattleTech. RPGs. Warhammer Fantasy. Wild West. Car Wars. I make terrain. I paint. I write. I watch videos and read books related to all of the above. And I blog about them. In multiple forums, on multiple blogs.

I call this the "scattergun" approach to gaming. It has to do with how my brain works, constantly jumping from idea to idea and across genres. My wife marvels at why I save a lot of little bits of plastic packaging and beads and wire and all sorts of things and actually make stuff out of those.

I asked some friends if they thought I should consolidate my blogs (I have three currently, and had a fourth previously). Some said "YES!" Others said no. So I thought I would give it a go. I'm starting with two of my smaller blogs: Warhemorrhage Fantasy Battle and Gaming Terrain. Everything else will get thrown in here as well. I even have a guest speaker or two that I will be letting post here. Hopefully, it proves popular.

Fans of the other blogs don't need to worry too much. Victoria's Boys in Red is not getting deleted. But I will import most of it here, and double post. The other two blogs will no longer be updated, but I am not deleting them yet. Call it a 90 day trial, if you like. If this combined blog does not prove popular, I will break back out into the others more.

One other thing I am going to try to do here is keep the number of labels minimal. Basically, general genre and scale labels instead of super detailing. I personally like super detailing labels, as it makes specific subjects easier to find especially in archives. But a two-foot long list of labels seems excessive as well. This will be my first poll subject, I suppose: to detail or not to detail - that is the question!

Well, that's about it for right now. Expect more - a lot more! - soon.