Skaven Update #5

Good news! I finished a unit! I went back to my rat swarms and finally finished them! Yay! They come 2 to a blister but in the game you're only allowed a maximum of 5. Go figure. But the sixth model didn't go unused. I repainted it to look like a plagued rat swarm- an upgraded version of the normal rat swarm. It's a pretty specific mini and I probably won't ever use them due to the new edition rules. But, since I painted one, I'd like to pick up another blister to make a nice size unit. Maybe when the new Skaven army book comes around...

Skaven Update #4

Oi! Five months since the last post?! Well here's what I've done so far...


Finished a unit of giant rats.



Almost done with this unit of Rat Ogres.



Another unit of Rat Ogres almost done.


I'm currently working on this guy.


And this is about 2/3 of my Skaven collection in varying states of completeness. Shortly after this photo was taken, I became overwhelmed and quickly packed them away. Waaay back in the closet.



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Now playing: Coldplay - Strawberry Swing
via FoxyTunes

Skaven Update #3

First Skaven update of the year!

Finished painting a unit of slaves. Next I'll have to do their bases.


I also started a few other minis. Yes that is a dwarf you see. I got it free in a order I placed from GW. They used to put in a free random mini with your order. Unfortunately, they stopped doing that.

I applied a different technique on Veskrit the Assassin's skin and it appears to stand out more than the skin on the slaves. Should I go back and touch up the slaves? Maybe going back to the clanrats also?

I recently talked to buddy of mine and began to reminisce the good old gaming days of Warhammer Epic. I think it was just called Space Marine back in the day. Anyway, the talk got me looking for the minis and found this...

It's suppose to be a Slasha Gargant(wow, things you remember) that someone made for me. I don't think I was able to afford the actual mini at the time so this happened. There were a couple people that scratch-built me a couple of Gargants so I could play the larger games. After looking at this now I'm not quite so sure whose this Gargant this is.

How much is that PS3 in the window?

I recently read an article about upcoming PS3 titles that's due out this year and let me tell you it's going to be excruciatingly tempting for me to just go out to Best Buy and buy a system. Coming out this year: Burnout: Paradise, Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII, Metal Gear Solid, and Grand Theft Auto IV. I'm all excited(borderline giddy) seeing these games get released as I am a huge fan of their PS2, PSOne and even their SNES versions (Sorry, I never did play the NES version of Metal Gear; I was a Sega Master System kid).

Thinking it through though, I'd have to still pick up the $500 system in addition to the games I really want- at $60 a pop! Ouch! That's $800!!! Even with the recent tax rebate it doesn't look worthwhile... especially if I'm still happy playing games like Puzzle Quest, Disgaea, and Final Fantasy XII on my PS2. Looks like I'll be waiting yet another year which is fine by me.

Bonus!

Hi folks! Hope you had a wonderful holiday. I know it's been awhile since I posted anything so here's something that happened recently that I wanted to share.

A few weeks ago I had bought a GamesWorkshop Warhammer Giant box at a local game store(LGS) as a gift for myself(woohoo me!). About a week ago I finally opened the box to check out all the nice pieces. As soon as I opened the box I noticed I got 2 of the same sprue! What a downer! I was ready to start brainstorming on how to build this beast and this happens?!?! I quickly imagined the idiot who packed the box. Then it dawned on me that a couple of weeks had already past and I wasn't even sure I still had the receipt. Of course, as I was about to prepare myself to dig through a week old smelly trash bin I looked over and it was right underneath the box itself.

The following weekend I brought it over to the LGS hoping to painlessly and quickly exchange my worthless box with another. Needless to say they didn't have one. I was now forced to call GW customer service, postponing my 'giant brainstorming' (pun kinda intended) even longer. I was already dreading the call- anticipating rude operators, long waits, and an even longer shipping time.

So I called. I told my story, gave my personal info, and the operator told me I'll be getting a box in the mail. I was quite surprised how much we had covered in such little time. The conversation sounded like it was about to end when I soon realized that he didn't ask which pieces were missing. I quickly blurted out the missing pieces to him before anybody hung up. The operator then informs me that they don't give out pieces for this model so he's just going to send me another box. Wow! And just like that GW went up several notches on my cool meter.

And after a few short days I got my brand new complete Giant box! Thanks, GW Customer Service!

On a side note... I didn't realize GW changed the packaging for the Giant box. The replacement box I got was thinner and the art was changed from landscape to portrait view.

Off topic... Progress on my Skaven has been really slow these past few weeks. I only managed to paint a rank of slaves. It wasn't even a complete paint job. I actually just drybrushed 5 minis. Well its progress, right?

Skaven Progress #2

I've been able to do some painting over the past few weekends since Thanksgiving. Here's what I've got on my table so far...


I still haven't done the final step(putting on the static grass) on this clanrat unit yet. I'm not sure why I'm dragging my feet with these guys either.


I worked on my slaves a bit more. I finished overbrushing(heavy drybrushing) them and also put an ink wash over the whole unit. I'll probably either start base coating certain parts or drybrush a lighter shade of brown next.

I've also finished basing all 5 of my rat ogres(2x 5th ed. and 3x 6th ed.), started base coating an old grey seer mini, and this guy...


Although he looks a tad bit washed out in the pic, I do like how he turned out. At least I finished something these past few weeks, right? :)

Geek Nite VII

Had another great time at the annual Geek Nite this past Thanksgiving break. It was technically called 'Nerd Night' in the invite but I think Geek Night is better suited. Every year a bunch of geeky guys hang out to do one thing- play boardgames. There was also an XBOX 360 it the corner and movies playing in the background, but ultimately we aim to play boardgames- play boardgames until the wee hours of the night. GN7 for me lasted 'til 3am.

First game I played was Wings of War. It's the third time I've ever played and I really like it. It has great simple(really simple) mechanics and its a blast to play everyman for himself. Unfortunately, the guy who owned it hadn't bought the other expansions which limited the number of players(we were hoping to play 6+) and hadn't or wasn't willing to teach us the expanded rules. It was unfortunate because I was really aching to learn more. I'd definitely buy this game if wasn't for the WWI theme- just doesn't interest me. Don't get me wrong the production quality is great and I'd play this in a heartbeat, I just don't care for biplanes is all. Fantasy Flight did recently put out a WWII version of WofW and that I could pay for... unless of course one of my friends is willing to buy it :)

The second game was MagBlast, another great quick game by Fantasy Flight. A bit chaotic and random for my taste but it's still loads of fun with friends.

The third game was Tannhauser which I brought. Wasn't sure how it was going to turn out since it would be my first time to play it and there were 8 of us willing to play. Overall it was ok. I didn't play with all the rules which was a bit of a bummer but with 8 players playing for the first time- it could get overwhelming. I don't think I can see this game played with anymore than six with the option of using soldiers as community pawns. There are just too many characters and items with specific rules. First game run thrus are usually rough and I do like the game so hopefully I can play this again with the full rules.

The fourth game was another game of MagBlast. Not sure I should even count this as my fourth game since I was taken out before I got to take my first turn! Yeah , like I said before, "chaotic and random".

The last game I played was Ticket to Ride. It was the first time for me to play. Great game. Like the first game, Wings of War, it was simple and fun to play. Funny enough I also didn't care for trains. I might however make an exception to this because of how easy the game is but complex enough for adults that I could see myself pick this one up. Here's hoping one of my friends picks this one up too :)

Until next year!