I am writing a BOOK!

That's right, fellow blog fans! I've decided to write a book about painting wargaming collections. It will be going to Kickstarter this Friday, March 16, at 3pm EDT (which is 7pm GMT, 12pm PST, and 6am on the next day for those of you on the east coast of Australia).

What is going to be in the ARMIES & LEGIONS & HORDES book? 

I'm glad you asked. I'm going to be writing down a lot of my thoughts and philosophies on the army building and painting process in the hope that it will be helpful for everyone who has occasionally struggled with finishing an army project. I'm going to take an in-depth look at Inspiration, Goals, Expectations, Planning, and Motivations - with the goal of helping the reader to be able to map out a path to success for their own projects. This book will also be "game system agnostic", the principles described can be applied to any wargaming project, regardless of genre or period.

I'm also going to be putting together some photo-heavy features of armies and projects I have completed over the years along with a few completely new projects. The list looks something like this:

• Sci-fi Mass Battle – 40K Genswick 33^rd Rifles

• Sci-fi Skirmish – Dark Age collection and terrain

• Sci-fi Big Project – 40K Warlord Titan
• Fantasy Mass Battle – Warhammer Nuln Empire army

• Fantasy Skirmish – Fabled Realms collection and terrain

• Historical Mass Battle – Napoleonic British collection

• Historical Skirmish – WW2 American collection and terrain

• Post-apocalyptic Skirmish – This Is Not A Test collection and terrain

What is the Kickstarter for?

I would really love to see this as a printed book. I'm running this campaign to help fund the creation of a 120+ page hardback book, so that's really the focus. I want to keep the campaign very simple and focused on "The Book". There are six reward levels - one is the obligatory $5 pledge for thanks, and the other five are for a PDF version of the book or a printed version of the book, or some combination thereof.

Stretch Goals are focused on adding some of the other armies that I have created over the years.

What prompted you to write this book?

As a part of the services I offer through Dave Taylor Miniatures, I was laying out a rulebook for a friend (Disposable Heroes II for Sinister Laboratories). I had also taken the photos and was editing the book as I went. The key thing I remember was thinking "I'm really enjoying this. Seeing all the elements come together. This is something I really like doing."

So, with the skills to take photos and design and layout books, I just needed a subject to write about. They say "write about what you know" and with over 10,000 miniatures painted since 1991, the topic seemed pretty obvious. This book isn't a "How to paint..." book. There are plenty of those on the market from great painters. This is a new kind of book that focuses not on the techniques, but the psychology and planning behind big projects.

What's next?

I'm sure I've forgotten something, so when I think of it I'll post again, but really all I'd like to do know is ask you to pledge your support when the campaign goes live, and share the hell out of it with all of your wargaming friends. If we can make this a great success, I'm going to be able to explore lots of other cool ideas with other talented folks and bring their dreams to life too!

Check the campaign for ARMIES & LEGIONS & HORDES out on Kickstarter from Friday, March 16th!

We have a winner! and some Armies On Parade stuff

After consulting with Falk over at The Black Crusade 2012 to confirm all donations, I counted up the number of entrants (38) and headed on over to random.org. After punching in the numbers in and hitting enter, it came up with number 25.

Congratulations to Kayle! As the 25th person to enter, he wins the army : ) Please get in touch with me Kayle so we can arrange getting the army to you.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Here's a look at the final models I painted up for my Armies On Parade entry in Chicago. I was thinking that my army was fairly esoteric, and that I really needed to push that even more. Enter the "hobby horses" for the Procession of Morr. Based on the bodies of Ka'Daai Fireborn, and using the heads from Black Knight horses, and arms from Chaos Spawn. The feathers on their heads are from the Empire Greatswords. Oh, and plenty of greenstuff.

Not only were they interesting to create, they drew a LOT of confused looks and questions at Games Day. The most common question was "What are they in your list?" It was interesting, if people got an answer like "Ogre Ironguts" they were able to start to come to terms with their weirdness. However, if they couldn't fit them into a framework they started looking for other answers, even suggesting the army was a Vampire Counts army and they were Vargheists or something similar.

Interestingly enough, if you step back and look at the army all laid out, it could very easily be translated into a Vampire Counts army...

Here's the last shot of the whole thing (without the Wizard Lord and "hobby horses"). Scuttlebutt at the show said that I came in third. It also said that James Wappel's army came in second. You can check out his entry development here.

And, of course, first place went to the amazing surprise entry of J.J. Marino's Dark Eldar. You can see them here. Not only was J.J.'s army a real crowd pleaser, he was a nice guy to boot.

Until next time, keep painting!

Cheers
Dave

Off to Chicago for Games Day!

Just about 12 hours until I head off to Chicago for Games Day 2012. I'm looking forward to catching up with a bunch of friends, chatting about painting toy soldiers, eating some steak, drinking a few beers, and throwing down in the Armies On Parade and Golden Demon competitions.

It has been a bit of a busy month since the AOP in-store qualifiers, but I did manage to get this guy finished. After the show, I'll go back and add a little more freehand work, but he'll do for now.

Here's the travel case, packed with most of my Procession of Morr, plus a few Golden Demon entries like my Thundertusk (on a new base).

And here's a teaser of the final unit I'll be adding to the Procession.

So, if you are going to be at Chicago Games Day, please stop by the Armies on Parade area and spend a bit of time checking out all the entries, giving the respect deserved to each army, then cast your vote for the army you think is best. Failing that, of course, you can just vote for mine ; )

I'm off on vacation immediately after Games Day, so I'll be relaxing by the pool or on the beach, and having fun teaching my daughter to swim : )

DON'T FORGET THE COMPETITION!

Keep an eye out for a blog post on Saturday about my celebratory Blog Competition. Not only did this blog pass the milestone of 1500 followers, but it also passed 1,000,000 page views too! (if only I had a dollar for each one of those!!!).

The competition will be a big one, with a relatively random chance for anyone to win the prize!

Cheers
Dave

I haven't been idle

I'm planning on adding a few more models to my Armies on Parade entry, just to give it some extra oomph for those folks who take a close look. On of those models will be a Wizard Lord mounted on a warhorse. Mounted wizards often look a bit awkward, as if they should be behind a desk rather than perched precariously above an equine steed.

For the last four or so years I've been in love with the Venerable Thaumaturge model from Gamezone Miniatures. He looks like he's at home... because he's behind a desk. So, I decided to make a "Citadel only" version of the model.

There are parts from an old Bretonnian Questing knight, Empire Wizard sprue, and a few bits and pieces from the Flagellat sprues. Plus plasticard and greenstuff, of course.

And here's the start of the Iconoclave diorama I've been thinking about since Adepticon last year.

I'm going to be busy!

Cheers
Dave

The War Altar of Morr (or maybe the Morr Altar?)

So, last week I promised you some more photos of the War Altar. Well, here they are.

Constructed with parts from an Arcane Fulcrum, a Garden of Morr, two War Altars, and ten Flagellants, this things weighs in pretty heftily on the "Oh my goodness, I spent how much on this?" scale of things. Not to worry though, I'm really happy with it : )

The wings are from the War Altar kit, and if you look closely you can see the names of some of the Empire gods on there, including my favorite - Morr!

The base is made from two of the 100x100mm Temple bases from Dragon Forge, and the chains attaching the flagellants to the big hunk o' wood are also from Jeff. Thanks for your sponsorship of this project!

Using Flagellant bodies and "plague Doctor" style heads I sculpted (as had cast), I added another five men to get this beast of a thing to move. I may eventually go back and add a few more.

You may have noticed all the open hands on the "pushers". They came from the "pullers". I had to clip nine of the ten open hands off the guys in the stocks, and replace them with fists. That was fun, I can tell you. Here's a shot of the guy with the one remaining open hand, I like to think he's waving to the kids in the crowd this thing no doubt attracts.

BLOG FOLLOWERS


In other news, this blog is only 29 followers away from cracking the 1,500 mark. That sounds like a nice milestone to put together some kind of giveaway. Well, let your friends know about my blog, and when we crack that 1,500, I'll give some cool stuff to you folks who enjoy my hobby stuff each week.

Cheers
Dave

My Leitpold the Black

I was really excited about finally getting this guy painted. It is such a wonderful sculpt from Forgeworld, so beautifully detailed, and incredibly well cast. It was quite unlike the Finecast models I've had to deal with. He also painted up wonderfully quickly. I was able to take him primed to War Games Con, start painting him on Thursday night, paint him a bit more on the Friday night, wrap him up on the Saturday morning, AND get him entered in the painting competition. Unfortunately he didn't grab a prize, but I'm still pretty happy to use him as an Empire Captain in my Army of Morr.

Tell me that face doesn't just exude arrogance!

Thanks for checking him out.

Cheers
Dave

Result!

So, the qualifier at the store yesterday was a good result for me! Not only was there another competitor, but he was a nice guy who had done some great work. Neither of us had an entourage to vote for us (unlike other locations, I hear) so it came down to a close 6 to 5 vote.

Above you can see the tarted-up photo I shot last night under my lights. Below is the best shot I got of Jon Cosper's Salamanders on my phone on the day. I didn't lug my good camera and tripod there as it seemed I might be the only entrant, so my apologies to Jon.

I took a few other shots of some of the cool elements of Jon's army, including his Techmarine Dreadnought. I'll post those up in the next couple of days.

Also coming will be some more photos of my War Altar of Morr, completed on Friday night with the addition of five more "pushers". The base (actually two bases glued together) and chains are from Dragon Forge, thanks for the support Jeff!

And with Leitpold The Black completed, I should be able to squeeze out another post for this pompous and arrogant miniature (you'll see what I mean when you see his face).

See you in Chicago!

Cheers

Dave

The Display Board of Morr (and AoP qualifier tomorrow)

I've just wrapped up the last models for the Armies On Parade in-store qualifier, so I'm all ready to go tomorrow. Unfortunately Mike, the store manager, let me know that no-one else has mentioned bringing in an entry, so my army might be lonely on the day. Of course, the store will be full of folks in a 40K mood, so I guess we'll see how it all goes down.

Anyway, here are a few more photos of the board. Thanks again to the guys at Dropzone Games for their sponsorship!

And if you'd like to see the army that'll win at Games Day Chicago in four weeks time, check out James Wappel's army here. ; )

Cheers
Dave