You probably already know this - I'm a big fan of markers to help keep track of what's going on, in fact I need to start making some for my Dark Angels and various Psychic powers for my Librarian. I believe so strongly enough in the benefit to the game I give my markers away FREE and together with my Patented method of constructing themarkers:
Print
Apply double sided tape to back
Stick
to mounting card [I use black card which is black all the way through,
alternatively a black Sharpie or other marker will make the edges really
cool looking]
Carefully apply sellotape to top if you want them pseudo-laminated
Cut out with craft knife/scalpel
Amaze your friends and enemies with these awesome markers
everyone can look cool, unlike those 'wound dice' users who are definitely uncool [Ben]! That said I know some folk like a more premium product, want something more durable and are happy to pay for it and I stumbled across these two in my regular 40k surfing. This has been a 'draft' post for a long time so I thought I'd just share them in case folk didn't want my own Freebies or even the awesome free ones at From the Warp, Realm of War or even Graven Games
www.bcmarkers.com produce these nifty markers, obviously made from unfurled bottle caps 'bc' get it? They're printed and attached to the cap with a domed clear plastic cover to protect them and add the 'premium' finish you may be after. I have to say the graphics look particularly detailed, there definitely looks like a lot of effort and skill has gone into these.
Alternatively http://battlemarkers.com use a different process - badges [or buttons I think they called in the US] these are made without the pin in the back. They look really durable and a very high finish, the graphics are also top notch and they're quite well priced too.
Both options look pretty good to me, if you're in the market for these sorts of things, their only problem is they're both roughly 1" in diameter. Wound counters are going to be a bit bulky at this size on the battlefield, psychic powers about right. It does mean your less likely to lose them as they're much bigger than my tiny ones but if you have that concern you shouldn't be paying for something that could be considered disposable anyway.
Right, that's got me down to 20 draft posts remaining...
With Double Trouble fast approaching I've started to get a little anxious about completing my Ravenwing. I think the bikes are achievable but the Dark Talon is looking less likely, but I'll give it a go. With that in mind when I went into the ManCave intent on 2nd highlights on the Marines I immediately found a diversion task and started highlighting the black on my Imperial Knight! But I go with the flow, so however much I'm telling myself this is not a priority I do it anyway as that's where my muse is. So I was working on the shin pads, I've done the 1st and 2nd highlights and with the shin on the right you should just be able to see how far down the highlight goes. Whereas the shin on the left has since been shadow blended, with a mix of thinned black and dry brushing, admittedly the picture isn't perfect but you should be able to see the difference.
As I was about to get back onto the bikes I thought it was a unfair not to do the Pauldrons as well. This time the shadow blended one is on the right and the highlighted one on the left.
Sure, its very subtle but it's definitely better with the shadow blend.
Luckily after this I was able to bring myself to highlight some Ravenwing, I was able to complete three sets of 2nd Dark Reaper highlights and work on the cloak of the second Sarge so I wasn't completely naughty. Now I just have two marines to highlight and I can move on to a new stage, hopefully without any detours, at least not just yet.
Having stalled so close to the finish line on the Sergeant I thought bringing the rest of the bikes up to speed was important. Despite the enjoyment I had with the Sarge there was definitely some hesitancy in moving these forward. I found Sarge really easy to do and I was constantly saying to myself how can I have been put off painting these bikes and yet here I am a few days later with exactly the same mind-set. Whether this is to do with the fact there are five of these I'm not sure but to try to push on through the inertia I decided to break the process down. All I would do here is the first set of highlights on the bikes in the first sitting and then then next session was the marine.
As you can see these broad strokes on the large areas are pretty easy to do. Although they take up more than half the surface area of the model with so few highlights they're quick to do. The Marine is probably about 30% of the model, but the extra detail and smaller parts means they represent about 70% of the effort. The problem with making this realisation is that once I achieve the bike highlights I still know I've 70% remaining to do, which again is not good for my mental approach. I mean I'm sure I've explained this before but half the battle in painting is mental. When one is sat alone in a shed late at night surrounded by unpainted figures and projects 'in progress' the mind wanders and you have to try to contain these doubts and fears, even if they're about trivial toy soldiers. The challenge for the hobbyist is overcoming these hurdles and the rewards are that rush of achievement when you do beat them
That said I will push on with the Dark Reaper 2nd set of highlighting next. Then pick out any details, like the Ravenwing symbol with their first base colour. With these details blocked in I will undertake the task I enjoyed most on the Sarge - shadow blending. Trying to use black to shade the highlights so they blend into the black better. The detalis already in place the shadow blending will help tidy up any edges. Then it'll be on to the pin highlights and all the rest of the details, can I get it done for Double Trouble? Probably yes for the bikes but the Jetfighter...?
What is Double Trouble?
Double Trouble is a Warhammer 40,000 doubles tournament with a difference. Instead of writing an army list together with a partner, each player will write their own 750pt army list from a single faction of their choice which becomes their "Force". Before the first round you will be randomly assigned a doubles partner combining your "Force" with theirs to form an "Army". You'll then play against another random pairing and their "Army". The allies chart will not be used, therefore all combinations will be treated as Battle Brothers.
At the start of the next two rounds you will be assigned a new random partner. This means you'll get to play three games with 9 different people and hopefully a good variety of armies.
OK, so that may or may not float your boat, I can understand that a doubles tournament with your mate is one thing but here you're going to be paired up with strangers and not just one but three of them and face other strangers too, six of them, urgh! No, not urgh, but yay! I have to say I love this concept, for someone who often finds the social interaction at tournaments a little frought I'm looking forward to this opportunity immensely.
Let me explain, I'm not shy by any means and much like my endless prose I can talk the hind leg off a donkey. However, in a tournament situation, even the relaxed ones, that kind of goes out the window. I get pre-occupied in running my army, making sure I don't forget what I'm doing, what needs to happen, recording the battle for reports, transporting the horde from one table to another etc. All the time I'm running on nervous energy, being clumsy and trying to have a good time too, which involves a lot of stupid jokes and silly narratives forged at my expense. On top of that I'll have people pass by and casually praise my army which then feels a little awkward because I don't feel I can respond much, as it's rude to my opponent.
Then inbetween games I don't really get to spend time with other hobbyists because usually I'm last to finish and any spare time I do have I'm ringing the wife or actually looking at the armies on display or trying to buy something from an on-site store [there usually is one].
So the reason I'm doing this is because I've kind of done it before, back in July 2013 I did some 'blind gaming', not gaming without sight, gaming with someone I'd never met before. I'd spotted a thread on Warpshadow asking for a Battle Brother. Someone had a pair of tickets to Warhammer Worlds pairs tournament and his wife was unavailable and regular gaming buddies could potentially be working. So I made a leap of faith, travelled all the way to Nottingham to meet a guy I didn't know and spend the day gaming with him. We had an amazing time, we came second overall, got nominated for best army and we've since kept in touch on Facebook. Best of all Dan is actually going to Double Trouble so it's going to be great to meet up with him and see his new Adeptus Mechanicus Army. I expect our reunion to be somewhat like this ;)
Now, there is definitely a chance that you could be paired with someone you may not get on with but Alex's format does mean that might only be for th one game, of course it also means you would have to give up a great partner too, if you get on really well. Either way I think this is a really cool way to meet more people and mingle a bit more than usual and given the very limited points and army options [no LoW or fortifications] you have at your disposal it seems much harder to take obscene lists.
So I'm really looking forward to this, none of my gaming crew can make it but given the nature of the event, and seeing Dan again, well I'm hoping to come away with some great games and interaction [lets face it my Dark Angels aren't going to rule the battlefield so I'll take my enjoyment where I can get it!]
Marc has just sent me this picture of him holding the 40kaddict terrain competition prize. He's already started to discuss his plans for the beast on his blog - http://oldschoolg4m1ng.blogspot.co.uk so if you haven't already hop on over and check it out. Personally I think he should paint it in the colour of his son's PJs they're pretty dapper!
Anyway, Marc will be doing an unboxing of the Knight, he's been after one for a long while so he's justifiably excited and I can't wait to see the crazy things he's got planned for it. A big thank you once again for all those that entered, voted and clicked on the adverts - you all made this competition happen and I look forward to doing some more in the future.
So the Sergeant hit a wall, darned object source lighting, it seems to be hit and miss
The problem with this is the opacity of the paint. The Acrylic Vermilion has some very weird properties, it thins down with water but doesn't actually become more transparent. Unfortunately those areas where it's applied thickest also behave oddly in that when you try to manipulate the paint it actually peels off like some fluidic skin, leaving the lighter coated areas tinted [as intended] but those areas that require more colour strip back to the black almost. Of course my impatience got the better of me and I just kept on at it until I'd put too much paint on. I mean it's not bad, but it's not right either. It's too red, too opaque, less like a red head lamp and more like someone's daubed the bonnet with Hammer Horror fake blood!
But overall it's definitely within the same palette as this picture, so if I can fix the OSL I'll be happy.
I'll take a break from finishing him off, do the rest of the bikers and hopefully refine the OSL process so I'm happy.
When we left it last I'd traded one of the very first models that formed part of my son's army, that I since 'appropriated' [look, I let him live in my house I donlt owe him anything!]. I knew that Otty was just a little uncomfortable to take something that was painted, he'd said that these Broodlords were seeling for quite a bit on ebay, hence why he'd asked me to trade, so I took it as a challenge.
I managed to see this lot at auction and put in a bid for £5.10 [with £4 postage]. I honestly though I'd missed out becuase even when you;re a winner it asks you if you want to make a higher bid and at first glance I'd assumed I'd lost and moved onto looking at something else by the same seller. The fact was I'd won, so I can swap this Broodlord for the one I already gave Otty and I've also got 14 Genestealers... yay!? Oh crap, add that to the 31 I'm painting the 50+ cultists and my eventual plan to get the complete set of Space Hulk ones... too many Stealers. I did think to sell them but they're already shadow-washed in my colours! We'll see what happens.
Anyway, the other lot I was looking as was a double sized Citadel case, just with no foam inserts. I was only interested in it because there was a couple of minutes to go and it was only at a tenner.
The foam isn;t an issue as I'll eventually be getting different foam sizes to try to accommodate some of my weirder shaped models and this was going to be perfect. Postage was £6 but if I got the Stealers combined postage would be awesome :) then I thought I'd missed the Stealers :( then I was notified just as this was closing I'd got them :) I put my bid in and got it for £10.50!
I contacted the seller to see about combined postage and the next day he'd slashed the Stealer postage so it was going to cost me just £6 delivery with a grand total of £21.60! That's pretty cool, he didn't have to do that [although that's what I would have done]. I'll be sure to write him a glowing review.
Eight Genestealers new are £15 from Element Games so I consider this a pretty cool bargain. However, how on earth do I explain this to the wife? This is coming in the post and I can't explain it away like Renegade - 'it's not mine, half is Liam's and half is some guy's in Australia! 'Sure it is husband dear...'
Hopefully I can re-jig stuff in the Mancave to accommodate this...
