Saturday, December 31, 2011

Smooth-On Mold Making Kit Review on YouTube

YouTube's dungeonmastermark (not me) has a new video review of the Smooth-On Mold Making Kit.  Enjoy it here!



Thursday, December 29, 2011

Witchfate Tor and More

YouTube's dreamspiritwar has a great video highlighting the Games Workshop Witchfate Tor including a custom base for the model. Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Hot Wire Foam Rocky Mountains from Lizard Landscapes

YouTube's LizardLandscapes has a very nice new video on YouTube showing the process of fashioning some foam into a mountain range.  Check it out!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Terrainaholic "Apocolypse Gaming Table - Arctic Wasteland"

While I was digging through YouTube's excellent videos by Terrainaholic the other day, I ran across his "Apocolypse Gaming Table Space Marines and Tau vs Necrons in Arctic Wasteland" vid and I thought it might be a perfect wintertime holiday offering.  So, Enjoy!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Terrainaholic "Have Fun Collectables" Marathon (2009)

A couple of years ago, terrainaholic did a series of videos showing his 24 hour build of a table for his friend John at Have Fun Collectibles in Galesburg, IL.  Enjoy!







Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Squidgybridge Miscellany

There's a few new videos from YouTube's squidgybridge that I thought were all useful but ould share a blog post here since they are also short.  Enjoy!



Monday, December 19, 2011

WotC VT Testing

I'm not sure how many have already discovered this yet but if you don't have a DDI account with WotC but you have a friend who has a DDI account with WotC then you might be able to get in on testing the new VT by getting that friend to include you in one of their ten codes.  More info here!


Saturday, December 17, 2011

Orboros vs Trollbloods Terrain

YouTube's bluetablepainting uploaded a video to recap their in-house Orboros vs Trollbloods tourney game but while watching it I was intrigued by the simple and effective terrain pieces they had on the table.  It's basicaly chucks of styrofoam with some runes carved in, and cut corners, painted as rocks and piled high on top of irregularly shaped foamcore board bases then sprinkled liberally with flocking (add some lichen to taste).  A few have some gnarled tree trunks.  Pause the video from time to time and check out how easy it would be to make some of the set pieces they have in use.  Enjoy!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Terrain Guy "Flames of War - Scenery Supply Unbox"

Some excellent videos on the Flames of War scenery can be found on theterrainguy's YouTube channel.  It's a four part series.  Enjoy!




Tuesday, December 13, 2011

"Warmonger Vblog Infinity Nomads" Video

There are some very nice minis, quite detailed, in the Infinity Nomads set report from Warmonger.  Check out a few in the video blog.  It includes some very good painting tips!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Plastic Model Paint Stripping Video

One of the regular questions I hear newer minis painters ask one another, perhaps due to not being satisfied with their early efforts, has to do with stripping paint off of figures.  Lucky for us, YouTube's squidgybridge put out a video on the subject in October and has just added a follow up with a "second look."  The products mentioned in the videos are mostly UK brands but one I have had luck with here in the States is Simple Green, in which I soak the minis overnight and then use a soft plastic bristle brush, like a toothbrush, to remove whatever loosened paint hasn't just floated free of the figure.  As he mentions in the video, Pine Sol works well and unlike Simple Green, seems to have more re-usability, but I have yet to try that personally.  Enjoy!


Friday, December 9, 2011

"Reaper Minis TV 085 - Contest and Reviews of New Releases"

On the YouTube channel ReaperMinisTV you'll find their latest video which discusses a contest being run on GameTradeMagazine.com whereby if you enter before December 27th, you are eligible for a random drawing.  If you win, Reaper Minis will design your character as a miniature.  Very nice, indeed.  Also, they show off a new tree ornament featuring their mascot Sophie.  They've also added some figs to their Nativity Scene line, some new Pathfinder minis, and a new Intergalactic Marine for the Malifaux line.  Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Terrainaholic "1st Star Wars Battle Report Videos"

"It is on!" begins terrainaholic as he reveals in video form his series "1st Star Wars Battle Report."  Enjoy!







Monday, December 5, 2011

"Let's Cut Foam" Update!

Carlo of YouTube's Let's Cut Foam (Their blog is here) has an update on their YouTube channel situation and some edited videos which include diagrams and more consistent information of the usage of tools for foam cutting processes.  Check it out!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Terrainaholic "Lizard man port city"

You've got to check out the excellent work terrainanolic has done on his Lizard man port city.  It's lizardlicious!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

"How to Make a D&D Passage Way" from bensrpgpile2

YouTube's bensrpgpile2 posted a video last January that I just discovered that makes excellent use of Hirst Arts molds to construct modular hallway pieces with a bit more flavor than normal.  Check it out!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Terrainaholic Recaps the Trinity College Gameday Nail-Biter

Terrainaholic and the Hobbit had an excellent time running and playing a Dwarves vs. Zombies scenario for the annual Trinity College Gameday over the Thanksgiving weekend and recaps the photo finish in this YouTube video.  Enjoy!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Holiday Themed Terrain

I stumbled across a very cool YouTube video from zensuke2 highlighting his 40K battle for Christmas from last year and figured if others wanted to do something similar they'd need to start planning now.  It features great edible terrain including gingerbread bunkers, buildings and ruins, licorice razorwire, and even Christmas cookie trees.  There are even some holiday themed miniatures.  Check it out!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Terrainaholic "1:50 Scale Dwarf Ship Review"

Terrainaholic has added a new video detailing the 1:50 Scale Revell Viking Ship model which he is using to make a Dwarf warship.  Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

"Medieval Village Diorama Part 2" from epicfantasy

Over on YouTube, epicfantasy (StormtheCastle.com) has continued his video series on building a Medieval Village Diorama with Part 2 focusing on terrain basics.  Check it out!

Monday, November 21, 2011

TerranScapes - Flexible Road Set Prototype

YouTube's TerranScapes has a new video on a "Flexible Road Set Prototype" that terrain aficionados should find useful.  Mike is looking for feedback, so be sure to weigh in with your ideas and inspirations.  Enjoy!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

TerranScapes - Amon Sul

YouTubes TerranScapes is doing some cool stuff for an Amon Sul set up.  Check it out!


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Hot Wire Foam Factory Rock Crawler Terrain

While not strictly about miniatures terrain, this new video from Hot Wire Foam Factory on RC Rock Crawler Terrain Making certainly can be inspirational on making more intricate terrain for wargaming and tabletop RPGs.  Check it out!


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

"How to Paint Every Miniature" Video Series

There's an interesting painting series on YouTube on "How to paint every Miniature" that, if you can get past the unusual voice of the video artist (you'll understand what I mean right out of the gate), has a lot of painting information and tips.  Stick it out and watch the full series.








Sunday, November 13, 2011

Terrain Studios from rhqTV

There's a new Terrain Studio video posted to YouTube from rhqTV worth checing out.  Enjoy!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Battleboards Wargaming-Terrain

Located in the UK, Battleboards has a plethora of terrain options and accessories to choose, and from which you can also gain inspiration for your own creations.  Check them out here!  They also have a Facebook page here.




Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Center Stage Miniatures

There's a website for figures I've just discovered called Center Stage Miniatures and they have quite a few interesting sculpts to check out.  Actually, Jeff Dee was discussing Secret Skeleton Miniatures on Facebook, and how the lizardmen they sell would work well in his Tekumel games, and that link led me to Center Stage.  There are cool figures all over those sites, so be sure to take a good look around the whole place.  Here are some of their pics . . .



Monday, November 7, 2011

TerranScapes Wash Comparison

There's a cool new video on YouTube from TerranScapes on wash comparisons that painters are going to find very informative.  Check it out!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Reaper Miniatures Inspiration Gallery

If you've never checked it out before, do spend some time looking over the wonderful work highlighted on the Reaper Miniatures Inspiration Gallery.  There are tons of excellent minis painted by staff and fans to help you gain inspiration for your own painting work.  Here's a few to whet your appetite . . .



Thursday, November 3, 2011

bluetablegaming Dreadfleet!

The gang at bluetablegaming had a Dreadfleet game and the cameras were rolling . . .  Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Tainted from Thistle Games

The excellent David "nedjer" Morrison of Thistle Games is producing a new RPG with a bit of the old and a fresh twist of evil called Tainted.  You can read more about it in his latest blog post here.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Dungeonstone Skull Gate

Dungeonstone has a lot of very cool, reasonably priced 3D dungeon sections but they have just released one that I find particularly cool.  It's a Skull Gate with a working portcullis.  Check it out here!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Pinning Larger Minis

rhqTV of YouTube has posted a new Dice Down video which includes a very useful section on pinning larger models with brass rods.  It lasts from 02:40 - 06:27 of the 21 minute video.  Check it out!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

terrainaholic Oshcon 2011 Videos

YouTube's terrainaholic visited OshCon 2011 and made some videos of the terrain and other sights to be seen . . .




Monday, October 24, 2011

Modular Terrain from TerranScapes

A new video on YouTube from TerranScapes instructs on making a 24" Modular Board Set for LOTR.  The video includes tips on making an inexpensive static grass mix (details and url in the video notes). Enjoy!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Miniatures Outlet for Inspiration

There's a website called All the King's Men - Toy Soldiers that has a ton of excellent images of miniatures and terrain products worth checking out.  Granted, this is a store site and not Medieval Fantasy related, but there's definitely some crossover here that makes it worthwhile so it won't be wasting your time, even if MF is your only or main interest.  It's mostly scaled for 54mm but with things like the river and the bridge, it just means they will be bigger for 28mm scaled figs.  Be sure to take a gander at the work area pics and the terrain tables.  Here's some of the pics . . .





Thursday, October 20, 2011

New TerranScapes Video

Here's a new TerranScapes video on "Swamps and Ruined Chapel" from which you can snag some ideas for your own terrain.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Gamers: The Next Generation

Just a quick shout out to the Valle family to thank them for joining in the fun at the EN World Chicago Gameday 30 last weekend.  I found out just how much fun they had at the Surcoat Medieval Fantasy Combat Minatures Game in the morning when Richard posted on Facebook to let everyone know that once they got home his two boys got right to work on their own system.  They plundered the family set of Memoir 44 for terrain and figures then created rules for movement, attack and defense factors.  Good on you, Valle family, for taking tabletop miniatures gaming into the future!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Minas Tirith Paper Castle

YouTube's epicfantasy has posted a new video on how to make a Minas Tirith Paper Castle.  Check it out!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Medieval Village Diorama Part 1

StormTheCastle.com's epicfantasy of YouTube fame has begun a new series on how to make a Medieval village diorama.  Part one is available here -

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Games Plus Miniatures Auction Finds (Part 2)

I picked up some minis at the Games Plus 2011 Fall Auction (their 55th auction!) on Sunday and posted some the other day that I could not identify.  Here are some more that have me vexed, also, including a giant and five "demonic" figures.  Photos show front and back of the lot.


Monday, October 10, 2011

Games Plus Miniatures Auction Finds

I spent a little time yesterday at the Games Plus Fall 2011 Auction and picked up some minis on a good deal including some I cannot identify.  If you recognize these and can let me know who made them and their names, I'd appreciate it.  In one lot there were nine figures, 25/28 mm, all metal, six that require slotted bases.  One is a big fellow who looks kinda ogre-ish and is hanging onto a victim, two others appear to be a type of lizardman or maybe gnolls, and the other six are either demons or satyrs with the mark of GW (Games Workshop) from 1997.



Saturday, October 8, 2011

Hot Wire Foam Cutter Info (.com) Update & TerranScapes

Carlo put together his Fall update and it includes a lot more on terrain than just for foam terrain makers.  I'm having trouble linking this in the usual maner but it can be found here.  Also, from TerranScapes on YouTube, I thought this video might be of general interest to Hot Wire Foam Factory fans since it is a review (but subscribe to TerranScapes, too!) and I have added a few follow up reviews here that they have done -








Thursday, October 6, 2011

bluetablepainting on YouTube

Here's a rather hunorous approach that bluetablegaming takes to answering fan questions on YouTube.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Terrainaholic's "Converting spiders to a fantasy format"

YouTuber Terrainaholic has a new video on "Converting spiders to a fantasy format" taking dollar store spiders and skull rings to make an evil combination creature.  Enjoy!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Old Mini Love Month was September?

Seems I heard about this a little later but it does give me the opportunity to show a lot more in terms of videos, since I can also add in the response videos.  Apparently, Matao0661 from YouTube declared September as Old Mini Love Month.  He made a video, posted it on YouTube, then asked others to follow suit.  There were nearly a dozen responses, some of fairly decent length, and I'll comment on some of them in this blog post here.






Friday, September 30, 2011

Dwarven Forge

Since mentioning Hirst Arts the other day, I would be remiss to not mention the other premium dungeon terrain manufacturer Dwarven Forge.  Most of their products come premade and prepainted, so you pay a bit more, but if your budget allows for it, these models are excellent.  Here's some pics I took at Gencon Indy -






Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Hirst Arts

Just a quick shout out to the good folks at Hirst Arts.  I have yet to drink the Cool Gaming-Aids but have always admired their products.  While they don't have the same portability as battle maps and tile sets, they certainly go a long way to setting the scene an the mood when they can be used.  Here's some pics from their site highlighting one of their contest winner's creations called the Lava Bridge . . .


Monday, September 26, 2011

Wargames Factory

I've mentioned Wargames Factory in passing before but thought it might be nice to revisit them in their own blog post.  Everytime I've looked their way for figures, I've been impressed both with the quality of the sculpts and the prices.  Recently I was rethinking a new army idea for Hordes of the Things, a Viking army idea, and turned toward their Hammer of the Gods line for some major filling out of the troops.  For my purposes, I can not only use their armored and unarmored Vikings, but can press some of their Saxon figures into service.  With 32 figures in each set for just $19.95, you get more than enough with just a couple or few sets to build the main portions of your army.  Sure, they need to be built but that just means more variety in the poses.  Here's some pics from their site but check them out more extensively on your own when time permits,




Saturday, September 24, 2011

Terrainaholic's "Ice crystal stand with new dragon"

Looks like terrainaholoic has a new video this week with one of his creations.  This one is a simple ice crystal tableau for a frosty dragon he picked up a Michaels Hobby and Crafts store.  Enjoy!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

My Weekly Game - Griffins & Grottos and The West Road Warden

My weekly game group has been helping me out playing through one last campaign of Griffins & Grottos before it releases in October. We've been playing through The West Road Warden adventure which releases this next week, so check that out. For the release, it is set up as a Narrative Adventure, a new product line for CMG, that makes it simple to use for any Medieval Fantasy roleplaying game system. More on that tomorrow, so stay tuned. I'll also have a one-shot of Griffins & Grottos at the next EN World Chicago Gameday on October 15th, 2011. It's the ten year anniversary of the gameday, number 30, since we do three of them each year. If you can make it to the event, please do sign up and give it a try. I'll have some pregen characters and no experience will be necessary. If you played any d20 games, you'll pick this up quite easily.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Microsoft Surface Version Two

The Microsoft Surface is improving by leaps and bounds with their new partnership with Samsung. According to the latest Gizmodo.com article, some of the changes include a 40-inch, rather than a 30-inch, screen and the "five cameras  set up to capture the reflections of infrared light cast by fingertips and specially tagged items and devices" have been replaced by Pixelsense, "transistors that can see in the infrared spectrum and embedded them right into the pixels within an LCD panel."  This lowers the physical depth needed by the devide from nine inches to less than half that.  Although originally designed by concept to lie flat and accessed in a horizontal mode, from 360 degrees, like sitting around a shared table, the new thinness and feedback from consumers like restaurants with space considerations has prompted some development in setting up the device in a wall mounted configuration, which requires new thinking on software and applications that have limited end user access demands.  Anyway, we'll have to see if this develops eventually to the point where we see some FLGSs adding a Surface or two to their game room setups.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Hordes of the Things - Ally Battle

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the desert.  My ally, a Goblin Army, and my Dwarves worked hard last turn to keep the advancing armies at bey.  It worked fairly well, too, but for one territory we could not retake.  It was a desert territory the Goblin Army and my Dwarves had faught over prior to becoming allies.  He had a distinct advantage, in that the enemy had no retreat, and early on the Goblins were well up but the dice were not with him when it came down to finishing the enemy off.  In his own words -

I chose to go at his left (where his shooters were) with my warband and beasts and shooters while holding the center with my 3 riders, 2 hordes, a shooter (in my dune) and my flyer. In the first 6 turns he angled his knights and rider out into the center of the board, attempting to pressure my left flank. However, I made a line of 3 riders, the hordes in a column and 2 shooters to his front, while holding my right (in front of the hill) with 2 beasts and a warband. Meanwhile, he threatened the dune to my left with a warband while his general (warband) stayed nearby with a shooter he had slid from his left.


Well, during turns 7, 8 and 9 I ran my 2 beasts all the way from my right flank to my left and into the dune. Turn 10 was the critical turn. [My opponent] had not seen what I could do with the beasts and reacted poorly, leaving his warband in the dunes while his general and shooter anchored his right flank near the dune. He made the bad error of moving his shooter into his line instead of backing it to support hi warband. He saw this problem too late and got a bit panicky, moving his flyer to the rear of my line to barker (Zone of Control) my 3 riders (one of my riders was my general). In my part of turn 10 I moved a shooter to get at his flyer with no recoil and L'd his warband in the dune with my beast and shooter. He lost both stands and his right flank was laid bare.


The next 2 turns had him marching backward as I advanced, hemming in his right flank and setting up the assault. Seeing his predicament he launched his one rider into a flank attack on one of my riders (which exposed his rider to counterattack the following turn) and we traded the riders.


Turn 16 came to be. He had used 65 minutes and I had used 35. His General being a warband hanging on the right end of his line, I attacked with general rider to his front, rider in support and flyer attacking his rear, along with another rider to neutralize his knight overlap and my beast right in front of his shooter (behind his right flank) in order to block his barker for my flyer. So, he doubles my beast with his shot (roll is 6-2). But, I have a 4-2 on his general, no retreat (72% chance to win the game)...he rolled a 3....I rolled a 1...push. No problem. in his turn he is so bad off on this flank that he could do nothing to stop the same battle again. So he throws a knight at one of my shooters in the center. 3-4 and he rolls a 6 to my 3 and picks up my shooter. No problem, I am 4-2ing his general again with no retreat (72% chance to win the game)...he rolls a 6, I roll a 3. No problem. On my turn I attack his general again...with no retreat and a 4-3 (58% chance to win the game). He rolls a 6, I roll a 1....


Now things have changed a bit. He has run 2 knights up to support his general and he L's my right most rider, killing it while he shoots my flyer down, which has been on his general's rear. But I kill a shooter in the center and we are both down 10 points in my turn of turn 18 ( I have about 15 minutes to go, he has about 3). I cogitate and set up a 4-3 no recoil on his knight (with my shooter in the center) in the center to win the game (58% chance)....he rolls a 6...I roll a 2. Now, I cogitated a bit because by moving my shooter to get at his knight I was leaving it a bit exposed to another of his shooters who could move to shoot me with no recoil. But, I did the math and there was a 17% chance that I would not kill the knight and he would kill my shooter with his shooter......... So, in his turn he moved the shooter where I thought he would.....and rolled a 6....to my 2...winning the game for him.


Even when you have a distinct advantage, there is a slim chance the dice will not roll your way, and such are the fortunes of war.


Friday, September 16, 2011

MACE 2011 - Convention

There's a tabletop gaming convetion in the Carolinas that as been around for about fifteen years and caters to all sorts of gaming tastes.  It is called MACE.  Located in High Point, NC, and held this year at the Best Western High Point, it will run for three days this November Friday the 11th through Sunday the13th.  This is fairly early for me to be blogging about an upcoming convention but this year they share the hotel, and region, with two other large events, Ms. NC and the Special Olympics, so rooms are going to need to be booked quickly.  Check it out if you can make it, but check it out soon!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

LURCH! The Zombie Chess Game - Convention Gaming

Over the last couple of years, I've taken LURCH! The Zombie Chess Game around to a bunch of locations including Gencon Indy and Little Wars, the Midwest HMGS convention, so that I could see how it played with various gamers.  For the most part, I taught the Basic game and then allowed the players at the table to determine if they would add in some Advanced rules and maybe play some of the expanded scenarios.  I've found that the familiarity of the board and simple movement, as well as the attack options, appealed to gamers.  It was quickly learned and enjoyed.  Sometimes, we even had some impromptu tourneys.  Here are some pics from the events.







Monday, September 12, 2011

Classic Wargaming

If you love miniature armies, then go check out the Classic Wargaming blog run by Phil Olley.  His blog motto, Forward to the Past, gave me a chuckle right away when I stumbled across it but the stunning pictures of his armies, and some armies of others, left me breathless.  For those living in the UK, or who don't mind paying a little extra for shipping, it appears he often sells whole armies that he has built and painting, a real treat for those who want a great looking tabletop table army but either don't have the time or don't feel they have the skill to put one together on their own.  He also has a zine called The Classic Wargamer's Journal published since the Summer of 2010.  Here's a couple of the pics he has up at the blog -





Saturday, September 10, 2011

NAV-CON 2011

Just wanted to remind folks who might be interested that NAV-CON 2011 is coming up October 8th, this year.  There' a nautical theme to this one day gameday and military personel are especially accomodated.  It takes place at Oak Creek Centennial Church & Community Center (Salvation Army), 8853  S. Howell, Oak Creek, WI 53154.  Follow the link and check out the details to see if it is something you can add to your gaming schedule!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Chainmail Games at GaryCon III Last March

I realized that I hadn't added any pictures specifically of the Chainmail game (a re-imagining pf the The Battle for the Brown Hills) from last March at Gary Con III.  It was great fun and our forces of Chaos defeated the forces of Law, and even dealt with a wandering dragon at the end!