Treasures of Otty's Hobby shed

Afternoon just thought I'd share some various pics of new treasures added to the display cabinets in Otty's hobby shed. I'm hoping I haven't shared them before but I'm sure you'll survive seeing them again. First up, Liam has been working on some Marvel Crisis Protocol villains. He and Ben got very excited very quickly about it. I saw the prices and started to think GW figures are a bargain. You may only need half a dozen models for MCP but they're almost the cost of a Combat Patrol. Still, Liam has done a fantastic job, curse him for his proliferation. He loves the chrome paint, which looks awesome.

But struggles to reconcile it alongside his own passion for NMM, which lets face it, is sickeningly good. I wouldn't mind so much but these 11 figures were a week or so's work! He's like a machine, it;s sickening! 😝

Gamora and Ronan, these have my high-contrast, over-saturated hind-brain tingling. Absolutely stunning.

I'm not even sure which ones these are but they are very cool.

And Nebula, who is equally as cool. He also designed, 3d printed and painted a town house for them, which is fantastic. It will all be brilliant to play with when Ben does his half of the armies.

On top of that he's done an entire SAS Rogue Heroes army for a potential WWII game he wants to play. Not sure what rules system but this convoy rocked up a week or so before the super heroes did.

Not sure what scale it is but there are multiple options for weapons on the vehicles.

It'll be a lot of fun to play with these guys. Otty will be taking care of their adversaries.

They tried to get me into it, as expected, but I didn't have the capacity. Then they threw all those Goblin Town Goblins at me instead! Lots to do in my Hobby Season, it's far from derailed but it's running at full steam right now.

Lastly, what's on the Adeptus Titanicus shelf? Oooh, have some Eldar/Aeldari just appeared from the webway?

Otty has been working hard on his 3D printed and 40k proxies. With the 'Warlord' equivalent Phantom Titan centre stage. A couple of Wraith Lords as Reavers and some old skool metal Wraith Guard as Cerastus Knights

More Cerastus proxies and a couple of 3D printed Revenants to be used as Warhounds.

Some great hobby from the guys. Extremely envious but it's a healthy competitive edge where we're each pushing our efforts. We're all creating some wonderful models and it's great to see them all come together in the shed.

#MESBG Middle Earth Goblin Town - Town and Moria terrain

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Middle Earth Goblin Town... err town. Liam had passed on these pieces for my birthday, I think there'd been some collusion with Otty on this. The two big platforms had been glued together but I could see from Garfy's showcase at Tale of Painters, having them separate was more versatile. So I split them, primed them Red Oxide and then then did a bit of black overspray to get some variety/darkness into the finish.

I probably made this ten times more difficult for myself in how I approached this. A heavy drybrush of VGC Leather Brown.

Then Charred Brown on some of the planks for variety.

I added a strong tone wash on this test piece and then Skeleton Bone drybrush for highlights and I could have almost left it here. But obviously I didn't.

With all the pieces shaded I tried adding some mouldy green planks in, which I thought looked cool.

Then the bone drybrush made them much too light. I think I ended up going back in with a Leather Brown drybrush in places to tone it down a bit.

Meanwhile, I sponged/stippled on some black art acrylic on my Moria pillars to add a bit of texture.

I did the same for Balin's sarcophagus, the stonework on the trapdoors and Leather Brown on the spare scribe and weapon piles.

Lots more was done on the other pieces and the last of the Fellowship.

I then went through the interminable process of highlight all the bones and skulls on the platforms. Mot forgetting all those bits attached to the poles. I added various stains on the wood too, but they don't really show up. Then I varnished the whole thing. I've run out of Army painter Anti-Shine [I don't even think they call it that anymore]. I've been using Miniature Paints Matt Varnish with mixed results. It's been more of a satin finish on figures and definitely was more 'glossy' than matt on the wood. On my Goblins it had even started to leave an almost frosty look on the bases in the recesses. This was something that has evolved over time, it was definitely not as bad when I painted it on or the next day or so. Anyway, with these slightly shiny wooden planks I tried fixing it with my big bottle of Winsor & Newton Matt Varnish. I tried it alongside a bottle of Craft Acrylic Matt Varnish. The consistencies were wildly different, with the W&N varnish being thin and transparent, while the craft acrylic was milky coloured and slightly thicker than normal paint. Testing it on the underside they both made the paint very matt, with the Craft Acrylic making the paintwork just a tad lighter looking [as far as I could tell]. So I went with W&N across the whole surface. To be fair these will have models moving over them so additional protection is worth it. Now I just need to get back to a varnish I am confident in and happy with.

That corkboard will make a display board for or Midweek MESBG tournament. So, that's another thing to do alongside the remaining bits of terrain. And another Great Big Wooden 'BIG BUILD' Stamps of Approval.

Not a battle report - Star Wars Legion Droids Vs Wookies

Afternoon, here we are again with Star Wars Legions. This was a game from a month or so back. It's worth noting that Ben had decided to get a vinyl forest gaming mat to create Endor. This was a controversial decision as Otty is very much against such 'artificial' backgrounds. He's much happier with his own flocked boards, particularly the new ones he'd just completed that were overlooked for this! Much gentle ribbing of this mat followed. For me, I like neoprene mats. I like the sound of dice on them and if it's a cool pattern I'm all for it. This one is OK, but as it's vinyl you can see the reflective sheen, which doesn't help with immersive play. I would recommend it if you're on a budget, but if you can stretch to something more substantial, or build your own then it's worth the effort for a better experience.

Anyway, this game was Droids, with General Grievous.

Including Liam's 3D printed Droid tank.

Versus Wookies, including Yoda, Chewbacca, 

And some Clone Troopers on their BARC Speeder and another unit out of shot on the far right of this view.

As I recall we won the order bidding and managed to get relatively far up the board. Wookies are great climbers, so can ignore climbing checks. Yoda jumped on Chewie's back, which gave us some bonuses and benefits we planned to make use of next turn. However, they also made a prime target and took 4 wounds. Not sure if that's to Yoda or Chewie but those Super Battle Droids and Grievous put the hurt on them. The Fluttercraft had done a great bombing run but had overextended and got wiped out. The second Fluttercraft with the rear gunner did OK, but it was clearly a challenge to get a firing position to use the gun effectively.

Our Clone Troopers on the far left focused on the rolling Droidekas. I knew they'd be nigh impossible to shift off the objective when they stopped and got their shields up. They took one down and wounded the second.

While another squad of Wookies halved the unit of Super Battle Droids facing them in the trees.

Yoda eventually got to General Greivous, for a suitably impressive looking battle with wholly unimpressive results as the Jedi Master was cut down by Grievous - underwhelming.

And that's about all we could fit in in one evening. Once again, entertaining but so slow going. With Yoda gone [maybe Chewie too at this point, I forget] and many order benefits lost with his death the idea of continuing this game next time around was less appealing.

But we persevered and the Wookies got into the Super Battle Droids.

While the BARC Speeder went for Bossk, who'd been a thorn in our sides taking out the second Fluttercraft. It's such and ugly design, but in game it was proving extremely effective.

Three Wookies became the command squad and were out for revenge for the loss of Yoda and Chewie.

They charged down Grievous.

And pulled his arms from his sockets to soothe their loss!

On the right far side a lone Wookie took on a spider droid.

While another squad faced the last of the Super Battle Droids. I have no idea if we won. I think perhaps we did because we prioritised getting on objectives. I'm not sure if we even scored points per round or if it was points at the end of a specific game turn [not that we ever get though many of them]. I think despite our losses we may have swung it our way due to objective control.

But ultimately, it's not about the result. It's two nights of hanging out with these guys and having a laugh!

Painting Points System - I've decided to accept it and think I've succeeded!

Random picture to illustrate painting & keeping track of it?!

Afternoon #Warhammer Community in 2014 I looked in-depth at painting points systems and went round in circles so much, I decided not to adopt one! Over ten years later I'm reassessing if they may be of benefit to me and I think I've come to accept them. Dale's Realm of Warhammer no longer exists but when I thought of points systems I had no recollection of even making that 2014 post. Instead I had spotted WeeMen's own system on their blog. Siph and Lord Halfpenny have been keeping track of their hobby progress since 2009. They follow a very similar scoring system to what I noted down from Dale's, but simplified without all the extra bonuses. Those bonuses proved somewhat defeating for me when I originally looked at them. Although I felt there was some value in scoring certain extras, the sheer amount of them discouraged me from pursuing them further.

So, 2025 and I'm looking at Siph's painting points:

• 1pt - Troop type mini (25mm/32mm)
• 2pt - Termie/Bike type (40mm/50mm)
• 5pt - Rhino/Terrain/Dread/Armiger/ Flyer/AT Titan
• 10pt - Landraider/Drop Pod/Character
• 20pt - Imp Knight/Superheavy
• 50-75pt - Titan (WH50, R/WB60, WL75)

And I am going to adjust it slightly:

• 1pt - 25mm-32mm
• 2pt - 40mm-50mm
• 5pt - 60-70mm / AT Terrain*
• 10pt - Dread / Armiger / Tank
• 20pt - Imp Knight / 40k Terrain*
• 50-75pt - Titan (WH50, R/WB60, WL75)

With only two bonuses*

• * Every terrain project gets a 5 point bonus
• ** Sculpt & paint = double points

There will be some occasions were points are adjusted to suit the effort, but I'm going to find a happy balance as I think worrying too much about it is what put me off way back when. For instance, in 2014 I cited this example: 

• I completed making and painting my Skyshield Landing Pad, this would be a Terrain Feature worth 20pts +1pt for blood, so 21pts total.
• I painted 20 Termagants for 20pts, +10 for the bases, +4 points for completing 2 units and it's debatable whether the glow effect on the toxin sacs are 5pts for 'extra options' or 10pts for a 'gore/weathering' option I would add under FX, but even so it's a minimum of 34pts total.
• A Tervigon, something I said I would never paint again, 10pts +0.5pts for a base, +0.5pts for extra options +1pt for the glow FX +1pt for the blood and +2pts for completing a unit 15pts total.

But in 2025 it would look like this:

• Skyshield Landing Pad, this would be a 40k Terrain Feature worth 20pts. Sculpt & paint = double points so 40pts +5pt bonus for terrain feature = 45pts total.
• 20 Termagants for 20pts total.
• A Tervigon, interesting, because this is bigger than a dread at 10pts, but smaller than an Imperial Knight at 20pts. So in some respects I might include it in the 10pt slot, but make it worth 1.5 = 15pts total.

Bottom line it's what I think it's worth. If something doesn't feel right, then it's not and I can adjust up and down as I see fit. That's why there is a 5pt bonus for terrain. Ultimately, if I'm painting terrain I'm not painting my own army but models everyone will benefit from. You deserve a bonus for gifting your time for the benefit of others. Having a little more flexibility around my scoring makes it less prescriptive and easier to manage. Throw in a spreadsheet with all these points built in and very quickly I've been able to score every hobby season back to 2013/14 [which is where I discovered my previous attempt to keep track]. I'm sure there's improvements to be made to the spreadsheet formula, but I'm no expert. Anyway, adopting the same WeeMen principle of an 'arbitrary 100pts a year [season] to keep the grey plastic/resin tide at bay' I've discovered I've done that every season! Even years where I felt I'd not been productive I did enough. 

Now, I'm not going to beat myself up, even if I don't meet, or exceed that goal. But, it does help to motivate a little bit. Currently this season is the most productive ever. I still have plenty on my To Do List, and also off list that I'm motivated to get done this season. That will feel so special now I can measure it. It's a more tangible achievement. Back in 2014 I concluded that the To Do List and Hobby Season Review was sufficient, but now I think I'm ready for painting points too. It might be a little bit of extra admin but there's definitely added Serotonin in it for me, so I'm well up for that.

Not a battle report - MESBG Orcs Vs Orcs

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PlayingWarhammer with a game of new MESBG. I think this is Azog's Legion versus Azog's Hunters with the main difference being the hunter's ridiculous movement value of 8". Meaning Otty had a huge manoeuvrability advantage. Liam had originally looked at Bolg as the hero but saw the new rules for the Troll Brute, so we switched things up. 

As I have a huge issue with matched play games having missions with scoring points for taking a banner, when not all armies can take banners - I was adamant we take one, because we could. This caused a lot of debate how wrong we were but I think 50% of the missions score this way. Obviously we rolled a mission that didn't, but that doesn't stop us using the re-roll to duels within 3" benefit.

Liam did most of the movement, tactics and rolling in the early turns. Trying to find a way to make Otty's movement redundant. Unfortunately his dice rolling was appalling and he couldn't manage above a three. 

Eventually he handed the dice to me as I've had a run of 'getting exactly what we need recently' but hilariously I was also getting ones and twos! 😂 The Troll Brute had some fun trying to trample through the Hunters.

About halfway through the game we realised we'd not remembered to use the Banner's reroll ability afterall! To make matters even worse we discovered the Legion has a faction rule that means we get can get a Banner reroll over the entire board each turn, or a couple of other benefits instead. This represents Azog's banner orders from The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. So we'd forgotten to use them for most of the game.

The Brute managed to get into some meaty combat with Lurtz eventually. Then Otty took the decision to fire with his archers into combat at the Troll Brute rider [not actually on the model]. Both hit, but both got 'in the way', so hit Lurtz!

He had one fate point left, a 4+ save and this was Otty's role!  😂 

Oh man, it was such a funny game. Once again MESBG delivering fun outcomes that make you laugh so hard. I don't know why this plays so hard with comedy moments. There's something about the game mechanic that makes so many dice roles pivotal and yet offers 50:50 chances that come as such a surprise when it doesn't pay off.

Whatever the reason we're going to keep on playing and having fun.