This Is Not A Test: Marshal's Report: Interlopers!

The following are the Marshal's report of recent occurrences of peacekeeper activity from events at or near to Games & Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD. All reports are provided directly from the surviving ranking officer and are considered accurate and true.

Marshal's Report

Gardia and Clonekeepers engage with We're all God's children and the Exiles

Interlopers!
Reported by: Marshal O'Halihan
Date: November 18, 2086

Unit Details

Marshal O'Halihan
K-9 Handler Mutt
K-9 Units Dawg & Cagney
Officer Flynn
Officer Scullin
Specialist Aedus
Depend 'o Bot Volkstöter

Activity Report

The Gardia in an effort to expand the controlled areas reached out to a nearby peacekeeper organization, the Clonekeepers which we can only assume are the descendants of the 501st Old Line Garrison. To start building out coalition, we moved out on a joint patrol operation through what were expected to be an abandoned outcrop of buildings. We quickly discovered otherwise.

Clonekeepers Advancing

Rumors have been flying over the past month about the encroachment of some Mutant Cannibal Clans ($3.99) coming down from the wildlands and hills. As the Gardia approached the "abandoned" ruins we spotted a group from one such malformed and monstrous family. I am not sure how the Exiles made contact with this clan, calling themselves We're All God's Children, but they came into the area apparently looking for relics. I don't know if they were hoping to find something or if this maternally led clan were lulling folks into the pantry.

Immediately after seeing the approach of this mutant cannibal clan, K-9 handler Mutt immediately put the mutant Clutch down. He was being used as a meat shield by the much larger psycho Sweet Release. Unfortunately as soon as Clutch was dropped he was again on his feet after the Psychic Husk used her powers of healing. While it wasn't immediately clear how the Psychic Husk was being controlled, we later discovered that the Grandmother was controlling her. Mutt remained persistent and was able to eventually take Clutch down. Cagney and Dawg were sent forward immediately to engage and attempt to use speed to get to the matron of the clan. Once through the initial defenses, Ma and Sweet Release immediately set on Dawg. At the same time Chippy managed to get a shot onto Cagney that immobilized her.

While the Gardia engaged God's Children, the Clonekeepers crept along, but were held down largely from a storage tank that was leaking low levels of radiation and the well positioned and covered raider band, the Exiles.

Exiles Searching Ruins for Relics

The fight between the Clonekeepers and the Exiles was a slog and both were held down by position and the leaking radiation. The Clonekeepers suffered a number of wounds as did the Exiles, especially after Officer Flynn was able to engage with his assault rifle. He managed to take out one of the bigger brutes of the group, but the identification information was not available. Additional intelligence is needed from this band of raiders. The Exiles also seemed to have some sort of waste wolf with them that after being hit by one of the Clonekeeper officers seemed to frenzy.

The Gardia moved to work around some light industrial buildings, probably that of a pre-fall construction company, but were immediately met by a couple of large waste wolves which seemed to be pets. As Specialist Aedus engaged the wolves and unleashed his flamethrower on them, he was hit with a vile spray of blood and body fluids from the mutant Gimpy. This seemed to enrage the waste wolves who viciously attacked Specialist Aedus.

The new Volkstoter unit was put through some tests as well, but with the range needed to engage the enemy it was not entirely up to the challenge. The combination of distance, number of opponents, and bite/tearing strength of the waste wolves proved too much. Once the Volkstoter was knocked down, the waste wolf was able to dislodge an electrical wire which immobilized the unit.

Ma and Her Boy Take Dawg Down

After searching the area around the construction company and the construction trailer, a few of the mutants (Ma and Granny) laid down a large volume of machine gun fire on Marshal O'Halihan, wounding him and forcing him back to cover. Since the Clonetroopers were pinned and locked with the Exiles, the Marshal called for a regrouping and general engaged withdrawal from the conflict. The Marshal has determined that battle report analysis and additional input are necessary to determine the next steps and best approach to handle each of the groups.

Post Activity Update

As is the hectic nature of battle there was a lot of confusion as the group looked to make a safe exit. The Renegades were able to make away with K-9 unit Dawg. As one would expect the only desire was ransom and they immediately made their desires known to the Gardia. Resources are never abundant in the wasteland and kidnapping is a standard means to gain additional barter script. Dawg has been too valuable an asset to let go. Even with the tight reserve levels, there was no question as to paying the ransom to recover Dawg. This has been entered in to the ledger and plans for reconciliation are underway to ensure that the exact toll is paid by the Renegades.

Specialist Aedus Roasting Wasteland Wolves

Once the unit was again made whole, there was some time to recover from the conflict and make an assessment of the new threats and potential allies in the area. Specialist Scullin and Officer Flynn were recognized for steady improvement and skill with firearms. The K-9 team and their approach to unit cohesion, aggressive engagement tactics, and advances skills in combat were noted specifically. All recognize Mutt's toughness in combat and his ability to remain engaged when under heavy fire. Dawg's ability to avoid harm was noted again and Cagney's tendency to engage multiple enemies at one time.

Officer Flynn Engaging the Exiles

Specialist Aedus was brutally attacked by the two Wasteland Wolf pets this Mutant Cannibal Clan brought. He is under continued surveillance to see if he will recover fully from the engagement. Some of the other members of the unit mentioned his discussing recurring nightmares since the attacks and there is concerned that he may suffer long-term issues with flashbacks.

Continued Development

In order to help push myself and to continue to grow and develop, I decided to take on a number of new things. I created an artist page for Layfield Paints on Facebook. This will be a place that I share in process items and hopefully additional photos of projects that can't be included here. If you are so inclined, please join up there as well. I am also working on a set of scenarios for This Is Not A Test, developing a new card game idea, learning to sculpt, and working on my first commission. This is a lot of new things all at once, but I am trying to keep scheduled and have fun with it.

BIG NEWS!

In the next few weeks, the This Is Not A Test rule book will be taking a major leap. While the rule book is incredibly well done, it has been held as a pdf for quite some time now and so Worlds End Publishing is looking to make it available as a hard bound book. The pdf version will still be available which means the game is still an incredible steal and affordable to start playing, but who doesn't love a good rule book? So keep you eyes open and join the This Is Not A Test Facebook page so that you know when it goes live. I'll be sure to post an update when the Kickstarter campaign launches. If you didn't notice, we got to see the proof of it at the last campaign game and I was stunned. It looks great, feels great, and really takes this game to the next level.

BLACK FRIDAY DEALS

Dragon Forge Design. There are a number of companies offering some great savings this week. Dragon Forge Design will add to your total order depending on what you purchase. Get $5 on a $25 order, $15 on a $50 order, $25 on a $100 order and $50 on a $250 order. Great deal if you want to pick up some bases, objectives or terrain. This offer is good for the entire week of Thanksgiving!

Secret Weapon Miniatures. What is being called "The Blackest Friday Ever" is a combination of offers for 10-50% off of products. This is not a Black Friday only sale, you will have from November 25th through December 1st to make your purchases.

Wyrd Games. The webstore for Wyrd Games is down until the start of the Black Friday sale. From November 26th through December 2nd Wyrd will be offering a bunch of different things. There are give aways if you spend more than $150 or more than $300. There are a bunch of special offers that are not usually available and there are a set of pre-releases that you will be able to order. You draft your shopping list from this Wyrd Black Friday forum post.

Games Workshop. The local stores will have some special packages that will only be available to Games Workshop and will be cheaper than buying the components at the FLGS. Additionally depending what sets you get, you and potentially a friend may qualify to get a voucher for additional products. If you shop online there are the Christmas sacks (2 types) which are randomly selected when you spend $150. No sign of savings over at Forge World though.

Warlord Games. Happy Tanksgiving from Warlord Games. This year between November 23rd and 30th you can celebrate by saving 20% when you purchase three Bolt Action vehicles.

Battle Foam. Once again Battle Foam will offer tremendous discounts on the bag lines, pre-cut foam trays, and sets. Between November 27 through 30th, you can save 15-60% off products. I currently have three of these bags that I have picked up at different points over the last three years and love them. These are fantastic and fit any gaming/hobby need.

A bunch of online stores are also having Black Friday sales. Groatsworth is giving a 15% discount if you use code: BLACK15 on Friday.  Miniature Market is offering 50-90% off a large selection (1500) of products from November 23rd through November 30th. Frontline Gaming has a bunch of stuff on sale, including 20% off F.A.T. mats

Small Business Saturday! Don't forget that the Saturday after Thanksgiving is Small Business Saturday, so hit up your FLGS and give them some love and support. There are usually some deals and special events and if not, give them enough support that it happens next year.

Building a Titan, a Legio Crucius Warlord Titan build by Dave Taylor Miniatures

Legio Crucius Warlord Titan by Dave Taylor Miniatures

Background 

Dave Taylor has been wowing us for many years with his abilities be those in developing game content, modelling, painting, putting together articles and photo layouts. He has been a stalwart supporter of the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation with donations of time and energy to countless armies.

Mars Pattern Warlord Titan

I've had the pleasure of knowing Dave for a while and what can I say he is a great guy and strong supporter of the community. I took the opportunity to take his Liber Metallica class at AdeptiCon which was fantastic. I'll be implementing what I learned there as soon as I get my act together.

Dave is looking to expand what he can do and provide for the gaming community. To achieve this goal, he has started a new and grand project to build and paint a Mars Pattern Warlord Titan. Dave will be exploring and experimenting with really powerful magnets, airbrushing, and creating/applying custom decals. He will share this process while also experimenting with a number of platforms including YouTube video sessions, Facebook posts, Instagram photos, blog posts, and Google Hangout chats. Some of these are entirely new areas for Dave, so we will be learning along the way. You can join along for the ride and help make this possible by supporting his Patreon campaign which you can read about in the Supporters section below.

The project is expected to take approximately 6 months, so you will get many insights to how someone of the talents of Dave approaches a build of this scale, selections of palette and process for painting large scale and detail. No doubt there will be countless and valuable tips for your own hobby work and with the level of interaction proposed by Dave, there will be plenty of opportunity to discuss everything in detail to increase the benefits for everyone.

So far Dave has posted up two great videos for the project with additional videos to be posted as he goes along. You can see more information about the number of posts and videos which increase as his support increases. I've included the first two video posts below so that you can take a look at some of the content that already exists and have an idea of what will be coming later.

The first video (above) is on the background and start of the project and includes a thorough unboxing of the many boxes included in the Forgeworld shipment. In the second installation, Dave covers the process for separating the resin pieces from the cast blocks including a walk-though of the tool selection, cutting and filing of mold lines. He goes on to handle how to process the pieces and prep them for assembly and painting steps.

Build associates

Fallout Hobbies

Fallout Hobbies - Ron Gamble at Fallout Hobbies has signed onto the build to provide custom decal sheets. I had the chance to spend some time with Ron at NOVA Open this year and picked up a few of his decal sheets. Not only does he have a great stock set of decal sheets, he will help you develop any custom set of decals for your personal or business use. I have a plan in place to have custom pin-up decals created, once I get my wife on board, for use on my air support. Prices are incredibly reasonable, especially for the custom sheets which come in at $35 for the first with the design help and then $15 per sheet thereafter. Definitely check out his site and support him as well. As a bonus if you become one of Dave's regular supporters Dave and Ron may help you design a custom set of decals for your use.

The Artillerist

Full Borer Miniatures - Chris Borer has signed onto this build and will be sculpting up a new crew set to man the Warlord Titan. This will be the second pairing of Chris and Dave and the previous match was for a NOVA Open Charitable Foundation army which brought us The Artillerist. The Artillerist was designed as the Master of Ordinance for the Steel Legion Imperial Guard Army that Dave painted up. I have this miniature and will one day get it painted up, but you can see the quality of this piece. For a fully painted version and more on the history of the piece, check out The Artillerist gallery.


Secret Weapon - I've long been a fan of the work done by Justin and crew at Secret Weapon. I spent a lot of the last AdeptiCon helping out at the Secret Weapon booth. I also took a weathering pigments seminar with Justin, which was really fantastic. Secret Weapon will be providing the base for this Titan Warlord. Need a base for any of your projects, well Secret Weapon has 875 different base options.

Supporters

This is not brought to you by the letter N and the number 5. All support is provided by YOU! and me and the rest of the gaming community.  This is a rather large project and as such will require quite a bit of time and effort and to help defer the costs of all of that, Dave has set-up a Patreon site where you can support the build.

In return for your support, you can get in on some great video blogging on the project and open communication about the project with Dave and the rest of the supporting community. Now this isn't your local PBS or NPR station, so no mugs if you support, but there are some great rewards for your monthly patronage. Here is the information for each level provided you support each month through the end of the campaign.

• $5 - Name painted on the titan and a small decal sheet from Fallout Hobbies
• $10 - Dave will help you create a custom Fallout Hobbies' decal sheet and the previous
• $15 - Invitation to the bi-weekly Google Hangout and the previous
• $20 - One Titan crew member miniature by Chris Borer painted by Dave and the previous

Now, I know you don't think it could get better, but it does. There are also monthly support thresholds built into the project. So if monthly patronage gets to

• $300 - Increase to 3 videos per month and 6 blog posts
• $600 - Increase to 4 videos per month and 8 blog posts
• $1000 - Increase to 6 videos per month, 10 blog posts, and build a shipping crate for the Warlord!

Go with the flow... Games Workshop Promethium Relay Pipes

Games Workshop Promethium Relay Pipes

Promethium Relay Pipes Kit

Now that I have cleared the environmentalists off the sidewalk, it's time to install a pipeline. Promethium is not an environmentally friendly material, but more importantly it is not heretic friendly and so we are going to keep it flowing.

Now that I have read some of the Gaunt's Ghosts novels, I have decided to build a series of tables that are inspired from battles/scenes from some of those novels. I may play with some of the details, but these novels are the inspiration. The first pieces I picked up were the Ironheart Artisans Fuel Storage Tanks (Single Can and Double Can). Well in order to fill up these tanks, I have to keep the promethium flowing and the Games Workshop Promethium Relay Pipes ($37) are the start to that.

Long pipes

The kit is designed so that it can only be assembled in way. There are 16 pieces for the main components of the pipes. There are an additional 14 caps of different styles that mimic closed doors and open vents. A rules addendum comes with the set that provides for the use of the pipes in the game. The final assembly with yield three long pipes, four short pipes, and one control module.

Control Panel 

Each set of pipes costs 40 points. All of the sections must be placed in contact with at least one other section. There is a completed set of rules for use as cover, damage, and some special rules. Any non-vehicle flamer within 2" can tap into the pipes to increase from Assault to Heavy or from Pistol to Heavy and the weapon gets the Torrent special rule to the end of the phase.

Small Pipes

The details of the kit are rather good. The kit is one of the simplest to assemble. There is a lot of flexibility to how the pieces can be fielded.  The end caps provide lots of options, but if you don't glue them on, there is a good chance that you will need to keep putting them back on the pipes during a game.

Control Panel

As with all Games Workshop pieces, there are Gothic accents, but I think these have pushed it too far. The pipes are covered in skulls, and spikes which though keep with the theme are excessive. Personally I would have liked to see these be a bit more industrial in design and more practical. I suppose in the 41st millennium the Ministry of Civil Engineering has no concern for the maintenance staff.

While I do like the set as pieces and the concept of tapping into them on the battlefield (a nice surprise when I opened the kit), I am looking to add some additional pipes that are not as heavily accentuated. These additional pipes will be made with supplies purchased from Home Depot, but that will be for a later post.

This post is pretty small because the set is simple overall and I am preparing for my weekend at NOVA Open this weekend where I will be running This Is Not A Test demos. If you are there, please come by Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for a demo and maybe some games. When I am not running demos, I'll be working on a blog post of the NOVA Open experience and working on painting some figures. Look forward to seeing you there and be sure to go to the website and get your NOVA Open Charitable Foundation auction tickets.

It takes and Ironheart to get organized

Ironheart Artisans' Paint Rack

Quality brushes

Paint brush components

One of the biggest issues I have it keeping my brushes organized and at the ready. Recently I decided to invest in some Windsor and Newton Series 7 Sable brushes after experiences at Adepticon 2014. As such wanted the proper way to store them and keep them organized. Now for those who aren't aware, the proper way to store a brush is horizontally not vertically. The reason is simple, it prevents any water and paint remnants from getting into the ferrule. This will allow the brush to dry without the bristles spreading from the base out. Be aware of this if you are already using the Games Workshop Paint Station or any number of paint racks or a good old cup.

Paint brush rack

Description

Individual kit pieces

The Ironheart Artisans' Paint Brush Rack is a kit made from laser-cut MDF that is simple enough to slide together. The rack has curved hooks that will allow it to hold 8 brushes (or tools if you are a modeler). As with all of the Ironheart MDF pieces, it can be assembled with or without glue and is stables on a tabletop. The rack stands about 6.5 inches tall and is 3.5" x 4.5" at the base. The sloped design allows you to easily grab the brush you need with ease.

Step-by-step assembly

Top support addition

The assembly of the rack is pretty simple, but I've put together a step-by-step pictorial on assembly since detailed instructions are not included in the kit. This really is an easy kit to put together, so there are plenty of ways to get to the end, but here is what I did.

Rear arch addition

I started by connecting the two risers with the top cross piece. The top cross piece slides up from the bottom to the top into two notches built into the risers. I only did this to give is stability to allow for the rest of the assembly. As you can see in the photo the rack is well branded with the Ironheart Artisans logo.

The next step was to add the rear arch to the base. The arch has a notch cut out of it that slides into the nothces on the bottom of the bottom rear of the riser pieces. This gives stability to the rear of the rack with some additional style to the rack.

Front support addition

The front of the rack also receives an additional support. The bottom front support connects to the riser in a notch where it slides from top to bottom. This is also branded with the Ironheart Artisans web address.

Final rack assembly with two W&N brushes

The final assembled piece holds eight brushes neatly with easy access. The rack will easily accommodate any brush that is at least 4 inches (10.5 cm) across measured from the ferrule to the end of the handle.

This is another great offering from Ironheart Artisans and I'll be looking to add another to the collection soon to hold the sculpting tools (dental picks). It is a good feeling to add a little more organization and structure to the painting table.

Geek Nation Tours - Day 1

Geek Nation Tours - AdeptiCon 2015

Day 1, Wednesday March 18 - Welcome to Schaumburg, IL

Teras Cassidy and Me

This was my first trip to AdeptiCon, but luckily I was joining some friends who have been multiple times and was facilitated by Geek Nation Tours (facebook). This was also my first experience with Geek Nation Tours and it was excellent. Teras Cassidy has put together a fantastic tour organization and helps with all arrangements including hotel stay, food, transfers from/to the airport, flights, Adepticon registration, and meeting lots of great people in the industry. 

I was lucky enough to have some sage advice from friends and since I was flying, I didn't pack everything I owned for the weekend. This, as it turns out is a really good thing, because what I did pack was too much. I packed up some of my Victorian Guard, which I had plans to paint, but then never did. I packed up my Star Wars stuff, but then never played. In fact, I ended up only playing two games, but more on that later.

I got to AdeptiCon (hosted in the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel) the day before the convention. While watching my Facebook and Twitter feeds, I noticed requests for help setting up some of the vendor booths. Now, as a reminder, AdeptiCon is very small even with the recent years of growth. I wandered down to see if Secret Weapon Miniatures needed help, but they were pretty much set. Then I wandered around to get a feel for where everyone was going to be stationed and when I went around the corner, there were all the good volunteers packing AdeptiCon swag bags. I figured, I was going to get one, so I could pitch in a bit. 

After about 10 minutes of packing, this cheery English bloke pops up next to me to pitch in as well. That bloke was Andy Chambers. We finished up the packing, received an incentive for our hard work ($5 off DSG games miniatures and a $10 voucher for concessions) and when all the bags were packed just stood there. Now I knew that later in the week, Andy was to be having dinner with us as one of the Geek Nation Tours events, but I am an opportunist. I asked Andy what he was doing and then we went to the bar to meet up with the rest of the group. 

Ironheart Artisans Blast Template

Well here are some other benefits to booking with Geek Nations, we got our registration done by Teras and that meant that we didn't have to wait in line for registration. You can order drinks from Sal's Beverage World and they miraculously are waiting at the hotel when you get there. I picked a case of Murphy's Irish Stout and a case of water. We also received some great Geek Nation Tours swag, including a branded long-sleeve tee, an Ironheart Artisans 2"inch blast template with markings for a 1" blast as well. Alex has done lots of other branded templates and objective markers, if interested definitely check them out. The latest and greatest is the add-on sets for Mantic's deadzone Kickstarter. 

That evening, we had our first Geek Nation's dinners. This was in the hotel and was, overall, pretty good fare. Following dinner and a plethora of announcements, we played some Warhammer 40,000 RPG. I had the honor of playing with some great folk in a Horus Heresy setting with guest GM Adam Fasoldt of Masters of the Forge (facebook). While the original idea was we would be a dinner and during the evening become acolytes, it turns out that an untrained psycher can easily unleash enough craziness that we were clearly heretics. The game was lots of fun and especially heretical, but in the end we all managed to escape alive though barely and I'm not really sure actually alive.

Final AdeptiCon haul

During the 40k RPG event, we also received our AdeptiCon swag, which included an AdeptiCon pint glass, AdeptiCon t-shirt, 10 tickets for the AdeptiCon Charity Army Raffle, and a load of armies and other gaming pieces.I'll have plenty of additional log posts to cover all of the loot I got as I get through assembly and painting.

How could it get any better than beers with Andy Chambers, well the convention hasn't even started (and we had lots of beers with Andy Chambers).

Hope to you see you at the next AdeptiCon,
Chris

Resurrected this old GW Mummy

After painting up the Reaper Bones Cleric for the challenge, I decided he needed someone to fight. I resurrected this GW mummy I had started quite some time ago. I picked up some Citadel Nihilikah Oxide and some Vallejo Dark Rust model wash. I used both all over and started the base using the Citadel Blackfire Earth texture paint. I did a modest dry brush with some Citadel Iyanden Darksun. Going to add some Gale Force Nine Arid Static Grass to finish it off. This was fun and I am very happy with it...of course comments welcome.

Imperial Guard Sentinels

I am working on a set of Imperial Guard Sentinels and wanted to get some feedback on one concept. Over the weekend while hanging with the guys and playing some D&D, I spent some time taking some Valkyrie pieces off the sprue and mock up the assembly. I decided to use the middle pods for this mod to a sentinel. This has been floating around in my head for a while and is based on the Zhentradi missile pod guys from Robotech. Not sure how I feel yet and may have to mod a little more.

Goblins are coming!

Thought I had a clear week to get some serious painting completed... I mean how often does the wife leave town for a week. Instead the week started with a sick one year old followed by a sick me. Well I finally managed to keep my eyes open and pull myself off the couch to sit down and base these goblins. I used the new Citadel texture paint Stirland Mud to add the mud texture and followed that with some Battlefields Highland Tuft - 6mm.

The Citadel texture paint is pretty thick stuff. I definitely will need to do a lot more work with this texture stuff. It may take a stiffer brush, but I found it hard to add to the base and with even the tiniest amount of water it was as thin as regular paint. That said there is a good amount of texture in the paint and the grains are very fine. I am sure some highlight in it will bring it together. Here are a couple of shots, let me know what you think.

Aaaaaagh! Goblins!

I finally pulled out some old figs that were sitting around primed for a long time. Originally these goblins were for my kids to paint, then the Reaper Bones came and they get much cheaper figs to paint. Well for these goblins I tried to stick to a pretty simple color scheme. Skin is GW goblin green, bleached bone teeth, mechrite red eyes. Charadon grey, bestial brown and vermin fur for clothing, brown wash and devlan mud washes. Shields were a simplified cal than brown with a moon Ivanden dark sun. The eyes are mechrite red and teeth are bleached bone. The shields were washed with devlan mud. Only non-GW paint is the golden brown from the Reaper Master Series for ropes. They were fun and I got them done quickly (well for me) and hopefully I get to finish basing and put them to play in a D&D game soon.