Salute Saturdays: Taban

I do like Taban's post apocalyptic skirmish game Eden. I really do need to finish painting up my Jokers gang so I can play my darling wife.

I narrowly avoided a recent crowd funder they ran for a board game called "Escape". I managed to hold back because I haven't finished painting my existing gang.

There are just so many gorgeous miniatures they've done. They had trouble crowding them all into the space they had available!

I have a small group of the creepy evil clown faction. Because evil clowns.

They also have a load of weird post apocalyptic mutants, zombies and beasts.

Sim has the killer robot faction, called ISC.

These are, I think, a new faction of humans, recently escaped from their robot overlords.

And another newer faction - who I don't know the background to yet.

I want the creepy walking robot puppet theatre. I really, really want it. It took so much self control not to pick it up on the day!

Salute 2014 - Miniature Companies: Old Friends

I'm breaking down my Salute posts into something coherent and . . . aw, who am I kidding? This is the only way I'll get my Salute posts done at all. Aiming for coherency is just pushing my luck.

This post consists of photos I remembered to take during the day, so is rather erratic in its coverage and focus.

So first up are Heresy. They of the Dragon. In short, Heresy have been making a Dragon model for absolutely years. There have been epic number of delays, and the pre-order backlog is currently sitting at 164, with a handful actually sent out.

But they are still going, not dead, and starting to do the resin casting by hand, one by one. I have the utmost respect for that determination in the face of adversity.

This chap is the Netherlord, one of their old metal sculpts, redone in resin to help pay the bills. You may be guessing already that Sim had a teensy bit of a budget slip at Heresy. Some day she will not be painting a titan commission and hit some of her own backlog!

One of Sim's favourite purchases from last year, Troublemaker Games were there again this year. In addition to Timeline 300, they are now working on Defeat in Detail, which is a 6mm Sci Fi wargame with plastic pieces. It successfully funded on Indiegogo during the year, and there were plenty of examples available, which I'll be showing off in a later post.

There was also Taban. I was super tempted by the Puppet Master and the Escape board game, but I decided to leave that for another day.

I liked JoeK minis' stuff last year. This year I bought some! He's also planning a Kickstarter soon.

There were also a couple of miniature folk who we already know who I didn't take any photos of. Forge World unsurprisingly got a ton of my money, but didn't have any miniatures on display that I saw. Hasslefree also gleefully parted my darling wife from her money in a pretty cheerful fashion. Sphere Wars is also something I really want to get into - I'd signed up to demo games for them, but had to back out as work has gotten super busy. We also said a quick hello to Warploque Miniatures, who had a lot of the Kickstarter models for Arcworlde on display. Studio McVey remain awesome people who put out excellent stuff, although this year I didn't pick anything up - I still have to paint the one I got from them last year!

The Kickstarter Problem

I have a Kickstarter problem.

I don't think anyone who knows me will be even mildly surprised by this statement. I've 'properly' backed five Kickstarters, with another three on behalf of my wife for various reasons. Last week, I got my first ever Kickstarter fully delivered - which has motivated me a little to have a little talk about the Kickstarters I've backed.

(I've had an Indiegogo campaign fully deliver, but this post is long enough as it is, and I've already talked about it before.)

Oh no, wait, I haven't got all that Kickstarter yet. I just went back to the site to get the information to start putting these posts together and . . . I haven't got all my rewards yet.

So, still 0 for 5 on delivery so far...

So, the Kickstarter delivery which prompted this crazy post was the download notice for "Girl Genius and the Rats of Mechanicsburg". I pledged as a minion, so I got a shiny medal, a game, and a bunch of digital art.

The digital art is the bit I just realised I don't have yet. Not sure if it was delivered and I missed it, or if it hasn't been done yet.

The game itself? The voice acting and your little avatar are lovely and very pretty, with some nice cartoon-y artwork (it is based on a webcomic, after all). The mechanics are a bit . . . awkward at times. It's the sort of thing I'd download for free or a few pence, but not get super inspired by. I'd probably not have noticed it if it wasn't for the tie in.

I probably won't back computer game projects in the future - at least, not for the computer game rewards.

Funded: December 2012
Target Release: May 2013
Actual Release: March 2014 (ish)

Through the Breach was my first Kickstarter. I was utterly broke at the time, so only pledged for the Core Set. I do wish I'd been able to afford to go in for the full monty on this one and get All The Things, but financially, it just was not an option.

I did also pledge early, which earnt me a limited edition figure. Well, it will do when it finally ships. The entire project got delayed by Malifaux 2E, which was frustrating, but Malifaux 2E is also pretty awesome, so I'm not too narked about it.

I have had a partial delivery on this one, though. Wyrd sent the backers a PDF copy of the rules (along with a lot of beta versions along the way) as soon as they were ready. I'm still waiting on the physical copies of the books and the mini, but they will be along eventually. I have, sadly, not yet found the time to run a game.

Funded: January 2013
Target Release: September 2013
Partial Release: March 2014

Maki Games Kickstarter for plastic terrain was the first full wargaming Kickstarter I backed. It is Maki who are responsible for my unhealthy interest in collecting model shipping containers. I suppose there's worse things to be interested in.

And this is what I'm waiting for. Two of the most ridiculously "blinged out" shipping container models you will ever so. They are covered in skulls, and absolutely perfect for 40K. They suffered a hefty delay with their engineer falling ill but have been up front about that with the backers, and are giving regular updates to show what's going on. I am super excited about this one, and can't wait for the final delivery.

Funded: June 2013
Target Release: November 2013
Not yet received

I have mentioned Arcworlde on the blog before. Their website is down while the Kickstarter gets sorted, but I'm sure it will all be back up again soon enough.

I got a couple of warbands and the rulebook, so I could play with my darling wife. She's gone undead pirates while I've gone with Bayou Orcs. Their original plan was to deliver in February 2014, but they are currently running a little late.

Funded: September 2013
Target Release: February 2014
Not yet delivered

T5: Tile City was a recent Kickstarter for HDF terrain. These are pretty common at the moment, because people have realised they can buy a laser for their garage and off they go - and that initial outlay is perfect Kickstarter fodder. This one was going on at the same time as the Underground Lasers terrain Kickstarter, but for the sake of sanity and available money, after a lot of thinking, I went with T5.

Ooh, they have shipping containers. That's pretty! I don't understand why everyone doesn't find a well put together shipping container model gorgeous. However, I was incredibly strong about this and did not bulk out my pledge with some shipping containers as well as the core thing I was going in to get.

This is the set I went for - not the boards underneath, but the building. I'm getting a higher detailed version of this due to stretch goals, but it's a lovely modular art deco look that no-one else I'm aware of is really doing, and is really suited to laser cut terrain.

Funded: March 2014
Due: September 2014
Not overdue yet

In summary: Kickstarter (and Indiegogo) is a cool way to support companies who might not do something otherwise, or might not release as much. Do not pledge with any delivery date in mind. These are mostly start ups, and successful campaigns will end up getting swamped. Other times, illness or rookie errors like "forgetting to book your slot with the caster" will lead to delays.

There is another big danger. Stuff does not immediately arrive. That means that you have "hidden backlog", and the act of backing the Kickstarter doesn't necessarily associate in your brain with a big box of stuff you're going to need to assemble and paint turning up on your doorstep. Sim has more Sedition Wars models than she can count due to a runaway success. And that's before you talk to anyone who pledged on the "Vampire" level of the Bones Kickstarter...

Little parcel in the post

Strategically placed card to obscure my address...

I was very pleased this morning to receive a knock on the door from our postman. I had been expecting a little parcel from Wayland Games after receiving a despatch note. I'd actually ordered these back on 4 November, but unfortunately some of the items had been out of stock and needed ordering from the manufacturer, and took a while to arrive.

I'm also trying to avoid delivering parcels to work any more. They are asking us to cut back on that as it is a perk, and recently some people thought it'd be a bright idea to have a new bike and an ironing board delivered there, among other things. I like that perk for when I need it, so most non urgent parcels can go to my home address!

And here are the contents! A number of Eden blisters from Taban. Not all of them are mine, mind you - several are for my wife's ISC faction.

And here they are - I've got the "Bamaka" bases for my Jokers, and Sim has the "Scrapyard" and "ISC" bases for her killer robots. I'm hoping to get down to some serious painting and modelling over the Christmas break, and as I've prepped up a killer clown for painting, I'm glad these made it before the postal service vanished for the festive season.

Eden: Endings and Beginnings

I had originally planned on posting about my little excursion to Darksphere on Sunday to go to a painting day, where I met up again with Max von D and Marta from Platoon Britannica.

I planned on showing off my newly finished Imperial Beastman, who is finally done.

Then a package arrived from Europe today.

My stuff from the Eden Indiegogo Campaign had turned up.

So plans went out the window.

The original plan had been for much of what I got to be Sim's Christmas present. As it was, I got her a small thing then, and this now - although she now has Battle for Alabaster nearly here now.

This is all Sim's stuff - a box of scenery, three limited edition pieces of scenery, and two ISC robots.

I've now read the rules of those robots. I may regret getting them for her. They are going to eat my Jokers for breakfast.

The scenery box

Still, it wasn't entirely presents for Sim. I had bought myself things!

I have started a Joker's faction for Eden myself. My 100 point (standard sized) force consists of four models. Although one is a pair of tumbling acrobats which looks like a nightmare to put together.

There are also two Askari (another faction) which Sim or I will pick up at some point when we are in a mood to do so.

So, here's the cards for my faction - a pair of tumbling acrobats, a ringmaster, a mime and a clown with a vacuum cleaner.

What could possibly go wrong?

One of the cards was unintentionally in German, but I know from Taban's reputation that this will get sorted out with no problems.

I am enchanted by the book. It is mostly the world background and faction details as the rules are very simple, and the rules for each model comes with that model.

For those of you used to Games Workshop's slick production values, you will spot a few foibles. There is nothing wrong with any of the pictures or the layout. That's lovely. But it seems that Taban's translators have decided to stick with the unique style which Taban's self translated work carries.

Now, I'm being a bit tongue in cheek here. My French and German is shocking compared to the Taban crew's English, and that might be why I find the wording issues endearing rather than infuriating. No "Read as Written" Games Workshop player will tolerate the instruction to play on a 60 metre square board (not 60 centimetres). None of the important paragraphs have been left in the original French by mistake. And no, "Category" doesn't have an "h" in it, nor "Ireland" two "I"s.

But these little tweaks, which will undoubtedly really irritate Mohand, actually make me love this game even more. It makes me laugh, and nothing actually stops me playing the game or makes it harder. The book remains absolutely gorgeous, the miniatures are works of art, and I hope to have a lot of fun running around causing anarchy in this wonderfully dreamed up post apocalyptic world.

I also got a nice signed art print. Not the book cover as advertised, but a better one. I may share it later. That's totally me loving it so much I'm holding off on sharing, not that I forgot to take a photo of it. Honest.

Some work in progress pictures

I have, sadly, failed to complete anything more before the end of the year.

Still, I thought it would be good to give some work in progress shots of where I'm up to so far.

The teeth obviously need work, but I've started
base coating the bone and horn.
I need to decide what I'm doing with the eyes...

Happy with the fur on the back.
The fur on the back of the legs needs more contrast.

And the right leg needs a little clean up too

Just the strap left to do here!

The corpse tokens - bases by Secret Weapon

You can see here that I missed a large blood flow...

The next stage is washing the corpse parts

These ones still need the lighter colour adding first.

So, I did manage to achieve something over Christmas, but without anything finished, as I'd have liked. There's still a good deal of progress, which I'm happy with.

An update in the Christmas aftermath

I had a wonderful Christmas break, and I'm feeling very relaxed. I took some painting up to my parents' house. I did not need to sneak away from my parents, although there was a very helpful guide  to escaping your family provided by Joeyberry for those who need it.

I got a few gaming related presents which I will mention here. The non gaming related stuff was also lovely, but this is my gaming blog, so you only get to hear about the gaming related things!

The first thing to mention is the board game Lords of Waterdeep. I've played it before and enjoyed it, so happily added it to my Amazon wish list. The premise is that you are a significant figure in the D&D city and to try and take control of the city, you gain political capital by sponsoring adventurers to complete quests for you. I would heartily recommend it!

Sim got me a Dark Vengeance set, which is wonderfully generous. My only panic is that it will stuff my painting progress this month! I have some plans, though, and intend to do a little bit of kit bashing to deal with the few duplicates in the box, which should be fun. Have I said how wonderful my wife is enough yet?

Finally, I got Imperial Armour Aeronautica. It maintains Forge World's high standards, and I'm very happy with it. It does favour the Imperium over the Xenos and Chaos, but that doesn't affect me much. The campaign is a nice filler, but I don't really expect many people to actually be using the rules and missions from it given the number of fliers you'd need to be able to do anything with it!

You should see a little more hobby in the blog from the progress I got over the holiday season. I hope everyone had an excellent holiday period, and has a wonderful New Year.

Christmas Treats

So, with the intent of sharing some Christmas cheer and inspiration, I thought I'd share a few blogs and sites I've come across recently which have been impressing and inspiring me.

Do You Have a Flag? and Palladian Guard by Headologist and Colonel Scipio
I have mentioned these blogs in the past - they've been the inspiration for my creative writing (I hate the word 'fluff') around my army. I also see some awesome modelling and kitbashing going on, and even better, they're both Guard players!

Inquisitor 28
Legion of Plastic
Spiky Rat Pack
Tears of Istvaan
Oh my goodness.
Each of these four blogs turns me into a slightly embarrassing fan boy. This is the kit bashing I've always had in my head as to what I want to be working towards, but I've never seen it done so well or in such quantities. The fact that they're also playing Inquisitor in 28mm just adds to the mild hero worship I'm currently suffering from.
These four blogs are my absolute "best of the 'net" right now, and I think for good reason.

Indiegogo and Kickstarter Campaigns
If you were wondering what to spend your Christmas money on...
I already spent a bunch of money on the EDEN Indiegogo Campaign, which is going to make up Sim's slightly late Christmas present when it finally arrives...
My wife is a massive Eden fan girl, and the campaign reward doesn't just cover her Christmas present, but also my starting a faction. When this all arrives, expect some happy blog posts as I to through all the shiny things.

We then have the Kingdom Death Kickstarter, which is tempting me but I am trying to resist. All the miniatures are very pretty, and the game concept looks interesting. I'm not normally a fan of horror games but the idea of trying to build a community of survivors in a horror world is quite appealing. It's co-operative, it can be one player.

I totally failed to resist Through the Breach: A Malifaux Roleplaying Game, though. I'm holding off right now and trying to be good and not go too mad on what level I'm supporting. I think it really comes down to how much I can save and whether I get enough cash for Christmas to get me a higher level of Stuff. There's plenty of time left, though, so its not something that is worrying me too much yet.

And while on the subject of "It must be mine" craziness, I know it is only a matter of time before I buy Only War and as many of its supplements as my budget allows. I just accept it as a sad reality of life and move on. :)

And as a final note: I get most of my miniature release gaming news from Tabletop Fix, and all my GW rumours from Faiet 212. I don't really bother linking to them much, and definitely try not to repeat what they say - if you want the news with regards wargaming, go there.