Minis & Modeling Monday - Renaissance, Ristuls, & Container Tokens

Over on renaissanceminiatures.com, they have a ton of very cool minis and in particular these ships here.

Also, on ristulsmarket.com, check out the excellent minis and accessories they have on offer here.

Finally, on thingiverse.com, there's always something there to enhance tabletop games in a minis kind of way like the "Boardgame Tokens for Container" here.

Minis & Modeling Monday on MFWARS.com 

A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
crafting buildings and paper Models,
and other non-terrain stuff for the tabletop.

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The Sunday Miscellanea - Sound Hexes, Shadowrun Laptop, & 3D Carcassonne

Over on interestingengineering.com, they introduce us to wall-covering hexes that have "heat-insulating, heat retaining and sound-absorbing properties, and are made from an environmentally-friendly material."  They'd also make great walls for a game room or might even be usable on the table top.  Learn more here and check out the full range of colors from Baux here.

Also, on kotaku.com, they have a "Portable PC Inspired By Shadowrun's Cyberdecks" here.

Finally, on boardgamesenhanced.com, they feature some "3D Printed Carcassonne Board Game Tiles" here.

The Sunday Miscellanea on MFWARS.com 

Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com

not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.

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The Sunday Miscellanea - Game Geeks #235 Gaming and Technology

Not long back, Kurt Wiegel from GameGeeksRPG.com posted a video to the YouTube channel sparking the conversation on Gaming and Technology.  Enjoy!

The Sunday Miscellanea on MFWARS.com 

Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com

not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.

Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!

Wargaming Wednesday - Wargaming on a Budget by Iain Dickie (Book, 2010)

I recently picked up a copy of Wargaming on a Budget by Iain Dickie on one of my Half Price Books forays.  I often snag the gaming books from the UK when I see them in HPB and have found some real gems here and there.  The reviews I spotted on Amazon about this book left me wondering if it was worthwhile, as they generally suggested the advice within was either outdated or not detailed enough for anyone who wasn't just starting out in the hobby.  But at the six dollar price I was going to pay, I felt it was a risk I could take.  It's very rare not to come across a new way to look at problems or find more elegant solutions and approaches to hobby gaming even in the most basic book.  As I work through it, I'll be sure to pass on any new advice or innovations I encounter.  It can be checked out on Amazon here, although the copy I have has a different cover as seen below.

Wargaming Wednesday on MFWARS.com 

A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.

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Hero Forge Customizable 3D Printed Tabletop Miniatures Kickstarter

Take a look at the already well-funded Customizable 3D Printed Tabletop Miniatures Kickstarter from Hero Forge.  It looks like a real turning point in how we set our gaming tables.  See more here!

3D Virtual Tabletop Information

A recent CNET.com.AU article on the 3D Virtual Tabletop gives lots of info on this new technology.  See more here!

High Tech Six-Sided

A recent article on Kotaku.com featured an unusual six-sided die.  See more here!

The Future of Miniatures - Not So Fast!

Nick Allen's recent article on Gizmodo.com discusses the current state of 3D printing for the home.  Read more here!

3D Modeling Escher

Although it intuitively seems incongruous to take what is meant to a two dimensional rendering of an impossible three dimensional space and then try to represent it in a three dimensional medium, it seems that won't stop some Professor Gershon Elber and the researchers from Israel’s Institute of Technology, Technion, from trying.  The article (here on blog.stratasys.com) and accompanying video from last August give more detail.  Enjoy!

3D Vitual Tabletop In the Offing

Keep an eye on 3dvirtualtabletop.com for more information on their new offering as we continue forward in 2012.  And enjoy this video!

DICE+ @ E3

There's a good article over on engadget.com about a new accessory "rolling" out at E3 called "DICE+" which you can read more about here.

Air-brushing 101 from RHQ-TV

YouTube's RHQ-TV has a new video called "Air-brushing 101 | Warmachine Objective Markers | RHQ-TV Episode 83" which you can check out here!

The Makerbot Replicator

Makerbot Industries recently unvailed the latest in thier line of three dimensional printers called the Makerbot Replicator.  It nearly doubles the size of potential 3D output from their earlier model.  Making your own minis for your tabletop gaming might still be a bit expensive but this technology can only get better.  Their YouTube video tells us more.

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!

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!

"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!

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.

Multitouch Table

There are some great videos on how to build five types of multitouch table surfaces.  Check them out on YouTube -

ePawn

ePawn?  Okay, I'm listening and liking.  Well, here is the affordable gaming tabletop that I have long wished to see be made avalable.  The question for me will be how easily can it be programmed and can individual encounter files can be produced and included with adventures and settings?

According to gamespot.com . . .

ePawn Arena
- Available early 2012 for approximately $400The ePawn Arena is one of the more curious devices at E3 2011. The Arena is a 23-inch touchscreen that responds to pieces (like chess pieces or miniatures) with electronics embedded on the underside. Each piece can be treated as a different unit, in the event you’re playing chess or a tabletop game, it will be able to differentiate a plane from a tank, and a king from a queen.
Games programmed for it will be able to tell which direction unit are pointing and even how far apart they are. If we take a tabletop war game as an example, a well programmed game will be able to determine whether a unit is in range to fire, and whether rendered obstacles are in the way. It can also generate graphical effects like smoke or blood if a unit is hit.
ePawn will likely come with embeddable electronic pieces, so you can use your own existing pieces, in the event you have your own well-painted miniatures