C-o-o-o-o-o-n! (pronounced Khan)

Hi All,

Just sharing my excitement! It's official, I've booked tickets for the boy and I to Kublacon 2017.

It will be the first honest to goodness convention for the both of us, we even got the wife and daughter to sign on, but they're going to meet up with family and do stuff in San Francisco.

My main purpose is to scope out what's going on out West and see about potential for future Oldhammer in the New World (Western States Chapter) events. Secondarily it is to introduce my son to more gaming and both of us to meet and play with Thomas Foss of Skull an Crown. I've been an admirer/lurker of his large wooden figure stuff for a long time. I like how kid friendly his stuff is and am especially looking forward to trying out his new jousting game.

We'll be on the lookout for other interesting games and will have last years Oldhammer T-shirt on for at least one of the days.

Now just to figure out what other stuff I need to bring for a pick up game with Dai and maybe Lasgunpacker when I get up by Sacramento.

Later.

Dormur finished

Hi All,

I finished the Reaper 25th Anniversary figure from February, 01601 sculpted by Julie Guthrie. The photos are more quick snaps with my cellphone. The lighting was not great. I need to tidy me hobby area so that I can set up for more studio quality shots. The list of figures that need a re-shoot is growing.

Here he is finished, except for adding the pupils.

I mostly don't do pupils, but when I do I use this XS Faber-Castell PITT artist pen. I believe the tip is 0.2mm. I bought mine at the JoAnn's craft store.

Trying to show you the eyes.

A grainy close up, but you can see the eyes. Argh, I see paint overage and missed spots I didn't catch.

This was my entry for the March painting competition at the LGS, I'm leaving out the F for friendly because I'm not really getting the feels from this competition. I was just trying to get more involved in the game store and using the comp as a means to do so. When I dropped off my figure I asked the guy if the next figure was available and what it was.  wanted to know because I'm trying to collect all the 25th Anniversary figures and I only have a week lefft to purchase the next one if I want it. The guy was gruff and said no it's not available and I wouldn't tell you what it was if I knew. I said I wasn't trying to gain an unfair advantage, but didn't elaborate on why I wanted to know.

Honestly I've tried to be happy go lucky about this competition and step up to painting outside my comfort zone, be it choice of subject or rules for how to paint the figure. But if you're going to treat me like I'm an asshole I can save myself the 40-50 minute round trip to your store and just buy everything I need online. Have a nice day.

The rules, which I found out on a spur of the moment trip to the store and by coming across a random comment in my facebook feed, were no basing and only 8 colors. Some people did a really interesting job with that. I probably should have taken a picture but I forgot to.

These were my 8 colors, the illegible one is Reaper Walnut Brown 09136. The purple was craft paint. I used one metallic (Tarnished Brass) and ended up using the intense brown because I just couldn't get a different brown I liked from the three I was already using.

Anyway, I'll tell you more about upcoming plans in my next post.

Paint Table Saturday 177 - Not finished, but close

Hi All,

Making progress on Dormur, I've gotten up to 7 colors, trying to decide how I can get the leather color I want without going to an 8th color to achieve that.

I can't tell if the strange texture in the cloak is my paint or the sculptors finger prints.

I've helped my son clean up and glue together two of his Chaos Space Marine Terminators. He's too nervous he's going to stab himself with an xacto knife.

We've got a band performance and then Dragon Boat racing later today so I'm hoping to push and finish Dormur tonight and tomorrow. I need to start moving forward.

Thanks for looking.

The Emporium of Rogue Dreams - The Abdul Goldberg Challenge

Hi All,

Approximately a year ago the Facebook group, The Emporium of Rogue Dreams, ran a little competition to come up with your own Abdul Goldberg miniature. For those who don't recall, Abdul is mentioned several times in the scenario generator in the back of the book.

This was the genesis of the zine article I compiled, but I felt that I needed to do justice to all the entries, not just the ones from North America.

So here are JPGs of the pages I put together. All of the pictures and text are the property of their owners. Special thanks to Rick Priestly for taking the time to comment on each submission.

Enjoy.

A slight complication with Dormur

Hi All,

So a little wrinkle in my plans to paint the Reaper 25th Anniversary figure of Dormur for the Imperial Outpost painting competition.

I found out yesterday that we were only allowed to use 8 colors. At first I freaked out. I had already put three base colors on and had about 20 colors out on the table. I've been using the Reaper Triad system more and more and even using craft paint shades as triads. This approach obviously wasn't going to work.

At first I though about not bothering to enter the figure. I don't expect to win, but if my primary objective of getting more involved in the local store leaves me without key information as to the rules of the contest, there seems to be little point in participating.

Somebody from the store (the owner?) replied to my question about the rules and apologized. There was some talk of getting my entry fee back, but I have the figure and the cost wasn't exorbitant. He mentioned going oldschool and using black and white to mix up shades and highlight. I was already considering grayscale and other options so I decided to have a think and a google search about it.

So I found this thread on the Reaper forums. Guy painted a whole figure with 3 colors, looks pretty good. I also re-found this PDF from yaktribe of using washes to paint figures. I think he used about 7 washes and one paint.

So here's Dormur. Flesh is Bronzed Shadow 09259, Cloak is Uniform Brown 09127, Ghostly Apparitions is Sky Blue 09018. The Sky Blue is the only one that is a highlight of the triad, the rest are the shades of their triad. So I did a test in my notebook of mixing Walnut Brown 09136 and Pure White09039 to get he shades and highlights. This would give me three more colors to work with.

Repeat of the picture from last post, showing colors used.

Sorry for the lighting, just a quick snap at the breakfast table. The center (more square) patch is the base color and then sloppy blends with Walnut to the left and White to the Right. I'll have to break out the wet palette to even attempt to do this right, but I'm feeling more positive about challenging myself to do this.

Wish me luck.

Paint Table Saturday 176 - On a Sunday again.

Hi All,

The last few days have been busy with a quick trip up to Northern Arizona and a track meet yesterday out in Buckeye.

So in other words, I did not maximize hobby time this week.

Here's what's on the table:

I've gotten some new paint organizers, so I took the nail polish racks off the back of my desk. I'll show those some other time.

In preparation to play Brutality with my son we dusted off his plastic Chaos Space Marines. Sorry Blue, they're Newhammer. The kid picked them on his own.

The Imperial Outpost store painting competition figure. It's the Reaper 25th Anniversary figure of Dormur. My plan is to try my hand at OSL. I've done it once before on those Rat Ogres, but it was too subtle. I may try JB's glowing eye tutorial or at least take inspiration for the colors from it.

Lastly we have those Gretchin I owe Dave B from last year. The get a few licks of color every now and then. I also need to dig out last years Curt Geld, if you recall I skipped this year's Analogue Hobbies Painting challenge as I had no mojo.

I hope to show you some progress this week.

Thanks for looking.

WFRP 2nd Ed - Dreams of Araby

Hi All,

We just had a quick trip up to Northern Arizona and saw Rattlesnake and Upper Antelope Canyons, Horseshoe Bend and the Dinosaur Tracks. A fun little trip around Page Arizona.

I've got a lot of hobby in the pipeline, but for now I'll leave you with the brief episode we had for WFRP after our session got screwed up by Daylight Savings time.

The following was written by our current note taker, Andrew, fellow Oldhammerer and author of the blog Acceptable Radiation.

Dreams of Araby

The whole trip was supposed to take only a few days, yet about two weeks north of the Three Feathers, the coach was still trudging on to Talabheim. The coach slowly comes to a stop and Alysia knocks on the coach door. “There is a tree in the road. I am going to attempt to take a path around it. Have your weapons ready,” she says in her gruff Kislevite accent. Vincent decides to ride atop the coach in case of trouble. As the coach rolls along the path, a field of black flowers appear. Suddenly, Alysia shouts “Black Lotus, cover your mouths!” She quickly wraps her face in cloth soaked with Kislivite Vodka. The party, however, is not so fast and quickly falls into a gentle slumber.

When the party awakes, it is oppressively hot. They are in a home, but everything seems foreign. The smell of spices is in the air and voices can be heard outside, but not in any language familiar to them. Alysia is not present, either. Vincent pulls back the sheet covering the window and is hit by even more heat. Everything outside is exotic. The people have an olive complexion, their clothing is bright and colorful but also long and loose, and in the distance was a giant dome of, what appeared to be, solid gold. 

Lukas, being the least used to dealing with heat, begins to drink water from the pitchers laid out on the room’s small table. He immediately feels refreshed. The rest of the party follows suit. Sally notices the smell of salt in the air, indicating that they may be near the sea. It is agreed that they will search for a merchant that may speak Reikspiel, when Leopold remarks that such “would be the best course of action if this is real.” 

From behind them, they hear “It is not real.” When they turn around, they see an elf. He is dressed almost as colorful as the locals. The elf explains to the party that this is a dream and he was consumed by it as well. The elf explains that we are currently in Lashiek, the capital of Araby and warns the party that “if anyone dies, we might all die.” He also notes, in a surprisingly causal manner, that if he could find the dream, demons from the warp may also be able to find the dream. 
Upon hearing this, Vincent immediately leaves house in search of a solution. To everyone’s surprise, as he leaves, he simultaneously enters the home in a single, fluid motion. This appears to interest the elf, who announces that it must be a time loop. Without a clear direction the dream will not let anyone do anything. At this point, Lukas suggests that the giant dome of gold must be the key as it is too conspicuously large to be anything else. This time, when the party leaves, it works. The elf gives each member of the party a talisman that, he says, will allow them to communicate with the Arabians.
As they approach the dome, the party is approached by a group of men that are clearly palace guards. The guard with the finest clothing and most impressive mustache approaches the party and exclaims that they have been looking all over for them, but inquires as to the location of their instruments. Upon seeing blank looks in response, he remarks something about northerners always drinking too much. The elf is nowhere to be seen.

The guards escort the party to their room and tell them that they will be expected to perform in one hour and they should clean up. He also makes it clear that if they fail to entertain the Sultan Jafar, it would be hazardous to their health. When the party enters the room, the elf is already there. He states that it appears that no one can see him. 

Lukas sees the instruments and picks up a harp. Knowing that it is a dream, he concentrates on believing he can play. Sadly, he fails miserably. At this point, Lukas decides that if he’s going to die, he’s going to die clean and bathes with the provided cleaning supplies. The rest of the party also bathes. When finished, they dress themselves in sets of fine Arabian clothing that was provided. After cleaning himself Lukas tries to play the harp again, and again, fails. Suddenly, Leopold suggests that everyone should try every instrument. This works, everyone seems to find an instrument they can play. 
However, the party still cannot play well. The elf suggests that maybe the party should choose a song to play together. Vincent sees a chest and Leopold opens it. Inside, they find some imperial clothing, bottles of wine, and, most importantly, sheet music. Vincent concentrates on the paper and realizes he can read it. Eventually the rest of the party is able to do the same. They pick a song dedicated to Manann. After three or four tries, the party is playing pretty well.

Suddenly, they hear a knock on the door. The guards inform them it is time to perform. After being led through the palace, the party enters a grand hall. Inside are people from all over the known world, not just Araby. However, the party notices that the imperial clothing is a bit outdated, and the elf realizes that we are not in the present time. One of the guards informs the party that if they perform well, this could help with relations between the two nations as they are led onto the stage.

A man walks out to introduce the party after spending many minutes pontificating on the perfection of Sultan Jafar. Afterwards, the party begins to play, to the delight of everyone. After their performance, the Sultan is clearly pleased. Servants bring two chests full of gold as payment. However, just as the party bows in thanks to the Sultan, they wake up in the coach. However, they find they are wearing fine Arabian clothes and have a talisman in their pockets…

XP Awards

Sally = 140 + 20 (characters) + 20 (province) + 15 (religion) +10 (star sign) + 10 (doom) + 0 (ideas) +50 (3 feathers) + 5 (race)
Lukas = 140 + 20 (characters) + 20 (province) + 15 (religion) +15 (star sign) + 10 (doom) + 10 (ideas) +50 (3 feathers)
Vincent = 140 + 20 (characters) + 20 (province) + 20 (religion) +10 (star sign) + 10 (doom) + 5 (ideas) +50 (3 feathers) + 5 (arm wrestling)
Leopold = 140 + 20 (characters) + 20 (province) + 15 (religion) +15 (star sign) + 10 (doom) + 5 (ideas) +50 (3 feathers) + 30 (record keeping)

So hopefully I'll have my trip pictures processed soon and maybe a snap shot of the table for Paint Table Saturday 176 (?) tomorrow.

WFRP 2nd Ed - Rough Night at the Three Feathers (part 2)

Hi All,

Next installment, the conclusion of the scenario.

First, here's a picture of Lukas and Leopold preparing to righteously murder some cultists. "For Sigmar!"

Rough Night at the Three Feathers (part 2)

The situation is dire, it is half an hour after midnight and Vincent is in serious trouble. His knife has been found stuck in the back of Bruno Franke, champion of the Countess Marie Ulrich Von Liebowitz. She is cousin to the Countess Emmanuelle Von Liebowitz, Elector of Wissenland.

Lukas has been locked in Bruno's room and the rest of the group are returned to Vincent and Leopold's room and placed under guard. Sally, Vincent and Leopold try to formulate some kind of story that will save Vincent's life and who could have possibly taken Vincent's dagger. We all decide that it must have been stolen from his room during the brawl when everyone was occupied elsewhere. The plan is to tell the countess that the scribe had hired us to investigate the nature of the gentlemen following the Countesses' caravan. We discovered they were cultists, and brought them to the Emperor's justice without hesitation.

At 1AM a servant comes and takes us, under guard, back to the Countess' room. Her room is luxurious, soft bed, over stuffed chairs, wine and dresses hang all around. She invites the group to make themselves comfortable. Lukas is there. She apologizes for having to lock us up but says she had to make it look like we were being held responsible for the death of Bruno. She acknowledges that no one would be stupid enough to leave their own dagger at the scene of a murder. She feels that it is all the work of Dammenblatz. She is on her way to Kemperbad to have her champion fight to prove her innocence in the death of Dammenblatz's father. The father drowned in a bowl of punch at her party, but Dammenblatz has accused her of witchcraft, a very serious offense. She believes that Dammenblatz's agent will now try to assassinate her new champion, Lukas. “You will spend the night in Bruno's room to lure out the murderer,” says the Countess. Vincent asks “Do you think the people who did this are members of a cult?” She thinks not.

Each member of the group is allowed one weapon and one other item, the weapons must be small and able to be used in the confines of the room. Lukas and Vincent take their daggers and armor. Leopold takes his trusty club and armor, while Sally takes his skillet and shot sword. Genaro takes his club. The plan is for Lukas to pretend to seep in bed while the rest of the group hide around the darkened room and wait for the assassin. Lukas is in bed, Sally is underneath the bed, Genaro hides near the fire place while Vincent and Leopold hide on either side of the door.

The waiting seems eternal. The stress of the long day and night starts to wear on our adventurers and Lukas and Genaro fall asleep. After about 20 minutes Lukas and Leopold hear a strange sound. It seems to be coming from the walls. We then pinpoint it. It is the fire place! Lukas, Leopold, Vincent and Sally then see a dark figure emerge from the fireplace and move effortlessly through the room in the darkness. They obviously know the layout of the room.

The group springs into action, Lukas starts to get up and Sally crawls from under the bed. Leopold raises his club overhead and shouts “In the name of Sigmar and the Countess!” As the person turns and tries to run back to the fireplace, Vincent opens the door and lets in light from the hall. The assassin is dressed as a servant of the Three Feathers! Genaro awakens and tries to tackle the murderer. He has a loose grip on him but the assassin is pulling away. Leopold attempts to help Genaro but trips over an ottoman. The assassin shakes Genaro off and narrowly escapes a blow as Sally's skillet clangs of the fireplace masonry. Lukas untangles himself from the bed sheets and flies head long into the attacker. He is knocked down but begins scrabbling up the chimney. With one last gasp Lukas makes a final lunge, grasping the assassin by the leg and wrenching him back into the room. The perpetrator has been caught and the guards rush in and restrain him. We are allowed to go back to our rooms and rest.

At 4:30AM we are all gathered into the great room by the Countess. The assassin is bound and gagged and everyone except for the Priests of Morr and the bounty hunter woman are there. The innkeeper looks angry and in disbelief. There is a cry from upstairs and the servant rushes back down. The Priests of Morr are all dead and there is a headless corpse in the coffin in their room. It is noted that the woman was seen riding away at speed about a half an hour ago.

The Countess says “The assassin was hired by Dammenblatz, and he will hang for this murder! Hand him over to the Road Warden. You may all return to your rooms. I will continue on my way to Kemperbad.” She offers Lukas the job of being her champion, but he respectfully declines. Vincent goes up to the room where the Priests of Morr were staying to help clean up and administer last rights. The Carnage in the room is terrible, the bodies appear to have been rent by some kind of beast. The bodies are buried correctly.

We have an early breakfast and all our possessions are returned to us. In addition to the money we earned from the scribe, the Countess gives us each 50 gold crowns. She says to look her up if we are ever in Nuln. Vincent tells her his real name, hoping that she will speak on his behalf should the unpleasantness in Nuln ever catch up with him.

Olesia greets us at the carraige. “Ready to continue? It is only a few days to Talabheim.” It is a beautiful day, but we are all tired from our long night. Before the rocking of the carriage lulls us to sleep, Vincent recalls that Talabheim has many laws, tolls and taxes. He hopes that the Countess' gift will be enough to get us around the city.

We will always remember our night at the Three Feathers!

(Thus ends my stint as note taker.)

I also keep on forgetting to welcome new followers. Michał Górzański is our GM for these sessions and runs the blog It Always Rains in Nuln. I don't know who sprinks is and I believe I know Phil Otep from the G+ group 1/72-20mm fantasy minis for rpg. If you have a blog or website please let me know and I'll link to it.