3D Print Skarburn Zapdakka for Blackstone Fortress
One of the fun things about Blackstone Fortress is that you can have NPCs tag along. Now this is something I haven’t worked into a game yet, but I really want to give Skarburn Zapdakka a try. A brief blurb about Retinue Characters is available here: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/12/03/blackstone-fortress-building-your-retinuegw-homepage-post-1 If you can get your hands on old White Dwarf Magazines, or the 2019 Blackstone Fortress Annual, you’ll have all the details. You play a mission to “unlock” the new characters, then they can hop into your outer space adventures. Skarburn Zapdakka appeared in the October 2019 White Dwarf. I’m sure GW a Flash Git model can be procured, but there aren’t many available for less than $30 US. Though I do really like the “Flash Git with Targeting Squig“. So instead of dropping real money on a real model, I went with an amazing 3D print from Lost_Heresy: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/ork-big-shoota I think it…
Combat Arena!
We got a new (old) game on the table last night: Combat Arena. It’s the sci-fi successor to Gorechosen. Blackstone Fortress fans will recognize the Escalation heroes. However, this game was released in limited locations. Mainly available from Barnes & Noble in North America. We only had two players, looking forward to getting a full 4 player game going sometime. My favorite thing about the game is that if something bad happens to you, generally something else good happens. It makes the competitive (rather than cooperative) nature of the game less harsh if you take a dozen wounds!
Callis & Toll – Saviours of Cinderfall
Callis & Toll have rules up on Warhammer Community. Though I’ve never read any of the books, they look like a fun group of adventurers. They’re ideally suited to go up against the ghouls in White Dwarf 498-499. We now have a ton of heroes with Cursed City rules. It’d be great to have some more rules/adventures with other factions. Skaven maybe? How about orks? Dark Elves are always nasty. Here’s the video from Always Board Never Boring. Individual Character Rundown Armand Callis (Stalwart, Human, Order of Azyr, Saviour of Cinderfall) No surprises here. Callis wages absolute destruction. Hanniver Toll (Executioner, Human, Order of Azyr, Saviour of Cinderfall) Deadly, but less tough. Witch Hunters are cool. Lyssa Revenya (Blade, Human, Soldier, Saviour of Cinderfall) Very fun to play. We house-ruled the grapple to allow her to zip to visible locations, rather than limit it to the current board. Mistress Verentia,…
Diminishing returns and when to stop painting
When to put the brush down and walk away, you gotta know when to quit! So you’ve assembled, you’ve scraped, you’ve filed, you’ve glued, you’ve sanded, you’ve primed. Don’t stop here, you’re not done yet. You’ve base coated and things look UGLY. This looked better when it was bare plastic! Add a wash or shades and it’s looking better. Now you’re on to adding some highlights, maybe some fancy stuff, a gem or two. Now we’re talking. This mini will fit into a merry warband now. But should you keep going? No! Stop here! You have too many minis to paint and if you spend more hours on this mini (and all of your backlog) you’ll never get anything done! Put it down and back away! Now back yourself back to the table because you have more minis to paint! Get cracking!!!
White Dwarf 496 – The Cities of Sigmar Cursed City Heroes
These characters are a fun refresh for Cursed City. They come from three different sets: Freeguild Marshal and Relic Envoy, Alchemite Warforger, and Freeguild Command Corps. In addition to the 3 things below, I find the subtitles on the cards interesting. The original heroes in the box also include vocations (Soldier, Priest, Death Scholar, etc.), and we get a few new ones on these cards. There is no current game mechanic (that I know of) that relies on you being a Whisperblade vs a War Surgeon. Is that trait intended to be a portion of some larger/additional aspect of gameplay? I feel like GW could release a book (similar to WHQ 1995 Role Play) that could VASTLY expand roleplay, no additional components necessary, it’s a great box. Now, there’s nothing to stop us from doing that ourselves, but (zombie voice:) we must obey the marketing! And GW generally does a…
Squig attack!
Got these guys for Christmas last year. Always good to finish a fun project.
Check out this awesome UR-025
From reddit, painted by bunface123.
Why are models fun, and what is nostalgia?
Toy soldiers are a very British thing. Britains began in late 1800s, and European tin soldiers date back to the early 1700s! These toys are famous the world over, though sadly out of production now. So it stands to reason that a British company currently leads the world in model soldier production. Games Workshop, consciously or not, is the modern standard bearer of a legacy that goes back hundreds of years. So why are they fun? What is nostalgia anyway, and why to people feel it and/or seek it out? It seems like nostalgia for model wargaming and GW products are talked about so frequently that you’d think GW produced nostalgia themselves. And in some ways, they do. I imagine any entertainment company deals with nostalgia in some form or another. Disney has to maintain and update their parks to bring in and entertain guests. But they can’t change it…
The phantom rule that will make Blackstone Fortress a bit easier
As opposed to Cursed City, Blackstone Fortress doesn’t say what to do with your inspiration points between adventures. That omission is intentional. It is meaningful silence. I wish rules in Blackstone Fortress and Cursed City were more positive. Positive in that you can feel them click, that the rules say to do something, not that they don’t say to do or not do something. It’s easier to read the rules and see what they say, rather than look for what they don’t say. I feel like it’s rules writers being clever and conserving their words, but their unexpected novelty is easily overlooked and can dramatically affect gameplay. In Cursed City, you’re rolling a D12 to get Inspiration Points. In Blackstone Fortress, it’s a D20. We get Inspiration Points soooo rarely! How often are you going to roll a three or less on a D20? Not that much. Another example is…
Modern miniatures and the uncanny valley
I’d like to revisit a topic I talked about a couple weeks ago. Modern Games Workshop models. This is a controversial topic because people are passionate about both old and new. It’s really great that people have found things they genuinely enjoy, and I do not meant to diminish anyone’s interest in anything. This is a longer article than I usual write, so if you want to skip right to the uncanny valley section, it starts in section 3. I’ve been trying to psychoanalyze myself as to what drives my personal preference in miniatures. Opinions and biases are 100% subjective. I am in no way saying something is right or wrong. I’m going to be talking about my own personal preference. I’m sure this won’t ingratiate me with anyone. To break it down, I’d say there are 3 factors driving my preference toward older miniatures. All of those are real…