As big a minis hobbyist as I am, my main hobby interest is roleplaying games. I also do an RPG blog which unfortunately doesn’t get as much traffic as this blog. So, I thought I’d plug my Game Machine blog here.
If you are a fan of roleplaying games, please check it out!
I’ve been pretty busy lately but still have found the time to paint some minis.
Deathwatch – I painted these Deathwatch Space Marines in a fit of enthusiasm for the new RPG. They’re based on the pre-generated characters in the Free RPG Day Deathwatch adventure.
We’ve got a Blood Angels Devastator, an Ultramarine Apothecary, and a Space Wolves Tactical Marine.
This Space Wolf is a minor conversion. The head was bald but I molded some hair on with some putty.
I used shoulder pad decals for the Blood Angel and Ultramarine, but didn’t have any for the Space Wolf, so I painted his insignia on free-hand.
Next up, a test paint of a Spriggan Spug Warrior. I’ve been meaning to invest in a platoon of these guys for Stargrunt. I wasn’t so happy with my first color scheme, which was a lighter blue. This final blue came out all right. At first I painted the eyes green, but the red looks better I think. I dunno, I’m not lovin’ that blue as much as I would like.
And finally, the minis I’m using in my Godlike RPG scenario. The characters are pilots, or they can fly (yes, it’s that kind of game).
The Marine is by Reaper, and the pilots are from the Hasegawa 1/48 scale WWII Pilot Figure Set. I’m struck by how close the plastic pilot figures are in size to the metal Marine. I might look further into using 1/48 scale plastic models as sources for stuff for my 28mm gaming.
I did a quick job on these dudes, and while not the best, they’ll serve my needs quite well. I was pleased with how they came out, especially the Marine. I tried to do the 1943 camo pattern on his shirt – looks kinda crap up close but at table distance, no problem.
And I realize I forgot to take some pics of all the 1/300 scale planes I painted up for this game as well! Oh, well, I’ll save it for tomorrow.
I went to EndGame, Oakland’s 2nd Annual Miniatures Bazaar on Saturday. It didn’t seem as varied as last year – perhaps everyone sold off a lot of stuff last go-round? Anyway, only Josh had any real variety (the rest being almost entirely GW stuff), and he had some good stuff!
The first good deal I got was these Old Crow Lancers. One assembled, the other still bagged, for $15 for both (they’re normally $32 each less shipping). These will definitely be making an appearance in our Stargrunt games!
Also from Josh, I picked up a boxed set of the old Starship Troopers Cougar Exosuits, which are now quite hard to find and expensive when you do find them. $10 for the set. Unfortunately, it had 5 right arms and 3 left arms (there are 4 exosuits). Mongoose quality control FAIL! I’ll figure something out though. I really like these minis – the exosuits are some of the best power armor in 28mm ever made, even if Mongoose did make them.
And now for something completely different – I am also an avid RPG player and I picked up some Hasegawa 1/48 scale pilot figures for a game called Godlike (it’s a WW2 game with super powers, kinda like X-Men meets Saving Private Ryan). I sometimes use minis for this game, and these figures will be used to represent player-characters in the game. I’ve stuck them on their bases and prepping them for priming.
That guy on the right there is obviously not part of the set. He’s U.S. Marine by Reaper Miniatures I believe, though I’ve forgotten the exact title.
All four of these guys will see some paint in the very near future.
Finally, I bummed a couple Cthulhu figurines off my friend Wayne. These dudes are made by FFG and I’m going to put the big one on top of my alien pyramid when I finish it. The smaller ones maybe go on the corners.
And finally, I’m working on a Spug warrior from Spriggan Miniatures. Just trying to get a color scheme down. No picture yet – I’ll post one when it’s done. Painting up a force of Spugs is going to be my next big project once I clean up all these little ones.
Today was Free RPG Day. I got myself a copy of “Final Sanction” the free intro adventure to the upcoming Deathwatch RPG from Fantasy Flight Games.
Finally, finally, finally, gamers have what they’ve wanting for over 20 years – an RPG focused on being a Space Marine! Hoo-ah!
Anyway, it has four pre-generated characters. A Dark Angel Assault Marine, A Blood Angel Devastator Marine, A Space Wolves Tactical Marine, and an Ultramarines Apothecary. The scenario itself has planetary defense forces, rebels and yay, Genestealers. This has become my new project!
When I run this (and I will run it) I’ll use my trusty Pig Iron Heavy Infantry as the PDF, my Pig Iron Kolony troops as the rebels, and my Space Hulk Genestealers. For the Marines, I got the individual Marines I needed from a friend. I needed to do a bit of converting, particularly for the Space Wolves guy. But when I’m done, they’ll all look pretty much like the artwork of the characters in the adventure booklet.
The paint schemes should be easy to execute. The Deathwatch are drawn from various Space Marine Chapters, and the basic armor color is black, so I get to practice highlighting with greys. Seems like their left arm and shoulder pads are a metallic color, like steel. They also wear their original chapter color and insignia on their right shoulder pad and knee pads.
Will post pics once I have them painted of course!
You And What Army? 