Dystopian Wars Sea Mat, Attempt #1

   The following picture is of a piece of cloth that I purchased and dyed, hoping to create a useful sea mat for Dystopian Wars. The color of the lighter blue does not show up well - it was originally white with blue zebra stripes. I think it is too busy, so it may be back to the drawing board, with $18 worth of materials down the drain.

   Anyone have any ideas how to tone it down? Should I hit it with some spray paint or something? Or is this one chalked up to experience and start over?

   Have any of you created a good sea mat yourself? I want some wave pattern in it, smooth finish, not rough canvas weave, felt, or flannel. Any tips for me?

Warmachine Update # 4 Plus Handgunners

   I managed to finish a few things tonight: the Cygnar Warcaster and a unit of twelve Empire handgunners from Talabheim. The handgunners have been languishing on my painting table for several months now - maybe even a year. So I am glad to be done with them. The warcaster also finished off the starter box of Cygnar models that Zach gave to me. Early, no less! I had promised to try and have them done by the end of March, and here it is with a week left to go in February. Miracles never cease.

   Enjoy the photos, and, as always, any tips or comments are appreciated.

Cygnar Warcaster - Don't recall the character name, honestly.

A view of his Steam-Magic Armour Powerplant

Command Group (Flute and Standard)

These are added when not using the unit as a detachment.

The "Violent" Violet Regiment

A Sharpshooter takes deadly aim...

   I think the handgunners will normally serve as a detachment, but I wanted to be able to field them effectively as an independent unit, hence the standard bearer and musician.

Store Report: Tier One Games

TIER ONE GAMES

FM 517, Dickinson, TX

   If you are familiar with the South Houston gaming scene, Tier One Games is located in the same place that Predator Games once occupied.

   If you are a card gamer, this may be your place. Lots of Magic and Yugioh. There were a few Warhammer 40K players in the store as well. Minis-wise, they had about a dozen box sets of 40K, and that was all.

   One thing I did like about the store was that the windows were not totally covered, so light and curious passers-by could see in.

   At that point, I run out of positives. The space is small and cramped. They have a lot of folding tables set up for card games. They had a fairly large crowd for a Sunday evening, but none of them were aware that a convention was going on in Houston over the weekend. Many could have used a closer relationship with soap and hot water. The store smelled bad.

   I was hoping for the change to create a new FLGS for me, as they are only a five minute drive for me. However, I won't be going back, at least not until the store changes hands again.

"F"

OwlCon 2013

   On Saturday, I decided at the last minute to go into town for OwlCon, the annual gaming convention held at Rice University in downtown Houston. Overall, I had a good time, so I thought I would share my thoughts.

   I played in two games, one in the morning and one in the evening. The morning game was Dystopian Wars. Each player was given a force out of the naval battle group box set. I had a Federated States fleet. I enjoyed the game overall, enough so that afterwards I went shopping for rules and minis (more on that in a minute). We ran out of time, but my fleet had only lost two frigates and my opponent's was down two squadrons, including his cruisers.

   I then had several hours until my next game, so I hit the dealer area. This was pretty disappointing. There were only three booths directly selling games, and two of them were more focused on board games. There were three or four steampunk costumers, and they offered some nice things, but nothing in which I am really interested. The Mechwarrior pods were back, and that's neat. But, overall, I was disappointed in the options. No one had any Dystopian Wars rules or minis, which I would have probably dropped $100-150 on.

   I spent an hour or so at Reaper Miniatures' sponsored Paint N Take. That was fun, and I now have a mouse Indiana Jones mini, which is kind of neat. Had a good conversation with my fellow painters about technique, style, and life.

   Steve Jackson, of Steve Jackson Games, gave a Q&A session, including a demo box of the upcoming OGRE 6E. It is huge, and I can hardly wait for my Kickstarter copy to arrive. That took up an hour, but well spent.

   The food was better than usual. There was a Greek grill that made gyros, shwarma, and falafel. The gyros was okay - the tzatziki was disappointing - but the chicken shwarma was fantastic. The dolmas were tasty, too. Back to gaming...

   My son Dane was dropped off by the memsahib at 8:00, to partake in the game of Gutshot! Mike Mitchell, a friend and one author of the game, was game master, and we have something of a tradition of playing in his OwlCon game. It was a last man standing free for all. Sadly, Dane and I were the first two eliminated. At least this time I put some lead into someone, even if I failed to take them down. When Feelthy Sanchez, bandito and pistolero extraordinaire, bit the dust, we headed out.

   My only purchase at the convention, other than entry fee and food, was a copy of Arkham Horror. I got a slight discount, and have had my eye on it for a while. We are hoping to play sometime this week.

Problems Painting Resin

   I hate resin vehicles.

   No matter how many times I wash them, I can never get all the mold release off. So, when I spray them their base color, the paint does not adhere properly. Sometimes, not at all. Sometimes, you get this leprous effect.

   I just tried, again. I am using hot water and dish detergent with a toothbrush to scrub into the corners ans such. Washed twice. Rinsed under running hot water. Dried thoroughly. Spray with Army Painter desert armor color (Flames of War British vehicles). Paint starts to do that 'pooling away' thing.

   Grrrr.....

   So I tried shooting with my preferred undercoat for metals, black Krylon primer. And lo and behold, no problems. I think I have solved an old problem for me - hit it with the plastic approved Krylon primer and then go back with the real undercoat color. Once the black dries, I will go try it.

   Just thought I would share this tip.