Take a second to breathe...then prepare for what's next

Preparing for the near future

Preparing for the near future...

Sometimes, you need to clean house and get ready for the next set of activities. In a few months, I am expecting to pack everything up and move from Maryland to Florida, the Orlando area specifically. In order to start the process for myself, I decided to take some time over the last few days to get a bit more organized and to prepare for the next few weeks. On top of that though, I have been working to prepare some items for play testing a set of scenarios that I wrote up for This Is Not A Test.

This Is Not A Test Playtest Preparations

After editing the Mutant Cannibals Supplement ($3.99) release for This Is Not A Test, I was inspired to create a set of scenarios for release. The original idea was a combination of my location, an offhanded comment someone made, and my upcoming move. While the materials are not ready for general discussion yet, I will be play testing them over the next couple/few weeks with Joey McGuire and a couple of other guys in our regular Wednesday night campaign games. There will be Marshal's Reports to come from those, so stay tuned and get a glimpse of releases. 

A Trip to Reaper Bones Crate and Barrel

Reaper Bones Barrel and Crate

In order to prepare for the releases though, I need to get some staging done for the scenarios. One will require a good number of barrels and crates. I immediately turned to the Reaper Bones Kickstarter sets to see what was available. I had these two and went right to work on them. The barrel ($2.29) was base coated with Reaper MSP HD Golden Brown followed by a wash of Vallejo European Dust. The two rings were painted with Citadel Tin Bitz. While that was a nice two tone, I had to make sure that the shadow from the rings was sufficient and give it a little more depth. An additional wash of Citadel Athonian Camoshade did the trick. I then touched up with some highlights of the Golden Brown. 

I wanted the crate ($2.79) to be a darker seaside looking object and not an ammo crate, so I went with a dark wood. The base is Army Painter Oak Brown. This was pretty dark, so I washed with the European Dust to lighten it a little. Over the top, I did a two layer dry brush. The first layer was the Reaper MSP HD Ash Grey. The main highlight was the dry brush of Vallejo Khaki. 

A Little Tectonic Craft Studios Swamp Shelter

Tectonic Craft Studios Swamp Shack

When you are in the swamp or the wastes, it is always wise to keep a shelter. Now it may not be much, but if it is all you have than there's no place like home. I turned to a piece I got from Tectonic Craft Studios during NOVA Open 2015. This was a piece that they offered at NOVA Open and a prime example of why you should get to conventions; there is always some exclusives that you can get which find a way of being useful. 

 The shack looks great, but it didn't have sufficient texture to look like a bunch of boards slapped together to make the shack. I gave it a base coat of Vallejo Mahogany Brown which I went over with Vallejo Oak Brown. This was done to break-up the overall flatness of the building and to give it some additional texture.

Rear View

To interior of the door, I had to make a door stop. I did this with some Magic Sculpt two-part resin epoxy. While the interior is playable, I didn't want to do too much as it would be ruined with repeated play. To the front of the door, I used a little spot of the resin epoxy to make a rope handle for the door. I painted up the rope with Vallejo Leather Brown.

Since this is a swamp shack, I decided it had to have some foliage around it. I picked up some Army Painter Swamp Tuft and added that sporadically, but it wasn't enough. I wanted to add some height as well and went with the Army Painter Poison Ivy to be growing up and around the shack. The  base had been painted with a solid grey color, one of the Reaper MSP HD options which didn't look anything like a swamp.

Front View

I received a BrokenToad Fresh Mud pigment bottle ($5.00) from Ironheart Artisans a while back. This is a great color and this was the perfect test case for the material. It is every bit as good as the stuff released by Secret Weapon Miniatures, so I recommend you check them out. I mixed the pigment with the Secret Weapon pigment fixer that I had so I could use the subtractive method and effectively paint the bottom. I think the final look on the mud is fantastic and look forward to more opportunities to use this pigment.

Medic! Dragon Forge Designs Medical Supply Objective

Lots of scenarios require objective markers. Many are designed to that you have to control the objective and defend it to gain the victory points. For me, I was less interested in making characters hold something that I was finding ways to ensure the battle is quick and deadly.

Dragon Forge Designs Medical Crate

The Dragon Forge Designs Medical Supply Objective ($5.00) was perfect. I got this from a promotion that was run where if you spent $40 the marker was included. The box was base coated with Army Painter Oak Brown. A wash of Vallejo Brown Wash was added then highlights of Reaper MSP HD Concrete Grey were added by dry brushing. The skull was painted with Reaper MSP HD Splitered Bone which was washed with the Vallejo Brown Wash. The stones were painted with Citadel Chadaron Granite followed by a dry brush of the Concrete Grey. The base was painted with Reaper MSP HD Woodland brown. When the entire thing was done, it all received a wash of the European Dust. The cross on top was painted simply with Vallejo Deep Red. After the washes, I touched this up so that it was clearly red. This is a perfect objective marker and one that will be a perfect for the upcoming play tests.

One more thing!

I decided to grow what I do and created a Layfield Paints Facebook page called. If you are interested in seeing additional photos, please click the link and give it a like. It will have in process shots and some other things as I progress through things.

Jupiter City's Newest S.E.n.T.R.I. Response Team

Sunday, September 18, 2046 

Jupiter Gazetteer

Jupiter City's superfits S.E.n.T.R.I. RaReTe in Glasston 

Hardesich Enterprises protecting tomorrow

By: SANDRA THOMPSON and MARTIN FALLSWAY

Captain

Yesterday, at the entry gate to the Hardesich Enterprises complex, Mayor Mason presented the latest in the S.E.n.T.R.I. defense system for Jupiter City. A new S.E.n.T.R.I Rapid Response Team (RaReTe) to provide a more advanced tactical response and force protection was activated in Jupiter City's Glasston area. The team is loaded with the latest technologies from Hardesich Enterprises.

According to Mayor Mason, "This team will bring merge the latest in defense capabilities from Hardesich and communications integration by NexTek to ensure rapid, focused, integrated response to any emergency." While it was clear that the unit is part of S.E.n.T.R.I., Commissioner Browning indicated that his staff were fully integrated into the response system and would have access to this team as a new resource to better protect the city and greater metropolitan area. S.E.n.T.R.I staff did not make comments or take any questions at the event.   Following the announcement, RaReTe loaded into a set of custom trucks and departed for the S.E.n.T.R.I. operations center.

CONTINUED AFTER THE BREAK


Jupiter City Sparks Sign A Prospect  - The Sparks offered a development deal to baseball superstar, Noah Layfield, this week signing him right after his 2015 Fall season debut with Lake Shore Blue Bombers. Noah skills were on display as he went 2-2 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Not a one-sided player and definitely a sign of confidence, he excelled at multiple positions on the Sunday afternoon game. He started at center field, played catcher, and finished up as the game's closer. The Blue Bombers played the Blue Blast in what turned out to be a hitters duel ending in a 30-30 tie after five innings.

READ MORE IN SPORTS C-2.

Making of RaReTe  

Sergeant

The RaReTe team is composed of a six-man strike force, that will be supplemented and grown to meet the current needs of Jupiter City. So let's talk about how this team was assembled. I previously provided the base model information in the Defending the Pacific Northwest from Jupiter City...S.E.n.T.R.I forces article. These figures have also been used for almost all of the This Is Not A Test games as my Gardia force.

All of the models wear a base uniform, which was painted up with Reaper MSP HD Military Grey. These tactical uniforms are designed to keep the body cool with a composite polymer which includes a Kevlar-like fabric to protect against bullets and blades. All of the officers are equipped with some amount of armor. For the standard officers, the armor is a lighter body armor, suitable for most engagements. The tactical officer equipped with the flamethrower has some armor which is supplemented by sets of flame retardant pads to protect against heat and fire. The sergeant of team is equipped with similar light weight gear, but has his helmet clipped to his belt. The last of the unit, is the Captain, who is geared up completely with heavy tactical armor. The armor base is a Vallejo Model Color Black Grey. This armor was washed with Secret Weapon Soft Body Black to add depth.

Flamethrower

All of the weapons had a base coat of Reaper MSP HD Midnight Black which has a purplish color to it. This works well with the black weapons. I went back over them with some Vallejo Gunmetal Grey to add some weathering. For the flamethrower, some Vallejo Model Color Gunmetal Blue was also dry brushed onto the ends to give it the look of metal that has reached very high temperatures.

The helmets were painted up with Reaper MSP HD Ash Grey.
These were washed with Vallejo Dark Grey Wash.The googles/visors of the helmets were painted first with Vallejo Grey Blue then hit with a highlight of Reaper MSP HD Concrete Grey. The trim on the lenses and other trim was painted with the Gunmetal Grey to give a metallic look.

Officer

The Captain and Officers have backpacks with some equipment. The air canisters were painted up with Citadel Chainmail as were the badges on the chests. The main part of the backpack was painted with Reaper MSP HD Field Grey as were the ties on what look to be sleeping bags or something similar. These were painted Reaper MSP HD Woodland Brown.

The tanks on the flamethrower's back were painted with Citadel Fiery Red. These tanks have highlights of Citadel Chainmail. All of the backpacks has some little lighted screens/buttons which were painted Citadel Mechrite Red or Citadel Enchanted Blue. Touches of ammunition and other things were painted up with various

All of the models were based on the Techtonic Craft Studios TekDech base crowns. I wrote up how these were painted and give a review of these base crowns in the I'm all about that base, bout that base, it's Techtonic article.

Officer

For This Is Not A Test, these officers represent Road Marshal O'Halihan's Gardia, a Peacekeeper warband. What is labeled as Captain above is Road Marshal O'Halihan who is a rough and tumble character, but with all the best intentions. He is motivated as a protector and one who wants to get back to the ancient times. In other circumstances, he would have been a Preservationist. But when the need was greatest he stepped up and to protect those who needed it most.

The Sergeant figure is what I use as my K-9 Handler, Mutt. This is a great figure and gives the appropriate look of a specialist for the police. Mutt is in charge of two K-9 units, Dawg and Cagney. Dawg is a Reaper BONES miniature which was previously discussed in the Marshal's Report: The Night Has Eyes. I have a slew of additional dogs from various manufacturers that will be added to the unit as I can get them painted, but the first to get done is a representation of Cagney.

Officer

The last three that are used are regularly are the officers. These are the Rank & File Officers of This Is Not A Test. These officers are your typical group and I have a cadres, named Flynn, Murphy, O'Brien. I usually use the flamethrower officer for Officer Scullin, but this won't work much longer. Officer Scullin uses a shotgun, but recently I picked up a flamethrower and will be adding a tactical officer to the mix soon.

New BONES will be painted up soon to grow the Gardia/RaReTe units. Protecting the wasteland or future Marvel city take tenacity and guns and these guys have both.

When the wife's away... a convention to play! NOVA Open 2015

NOVA Open 2015 

NOVA Open is a fantastic convention in Arlington Virginia. This is a tournament focused convention for wargamers. There are a series of tournaments for the typical games (Warhammer 40,000, X-Wing, Infinity, Malifaux, etc.). The convention has a charitable foundation associated, so there is a lot of gamers doing good for others. This is a great place to meet and talk with lots of great painters, industry professionals, and fellow gamers.

Seminars

Raffa Picca and me

NOVA Open offers a series of workshops that are a mix of demos and hands-on. These courses are taught by some of the industries best. This year's instructors included Justin McCoy (Secret Weapon), Roman Lappat and Raffaele Picca (Massive Voodoo), Dan Cotroupe (Tectonic Craft Studios), Eric "Terrain Guy" Cacace (11th Company Blog/Podcast), Justin Gibba (Malifaux E2), Chris Michaels (PoweredPlay Gaming), Gutier Lusquinos Rodriguez (Corvus Belli), Caleb Wissenback (CK Studios Painting), and the host of it all Mike Brandt (NOVA Open CEO/Whiskey & 40k). Seminars cover a wide range of areas including terrain building, clay modelling, painting techniques, air brush techniques, object source lighting, and LEDs. The weekend pass is affordable at $40 for the four days, games/tournaments are affordable priced and each seminar runs around $20 on average to cover supplies and instruction. I only attended one of the seminars, Sculpting Conversions, taught by Raffaele Picca. I'll have a separate write-up on that class and my attempts to sculpt some conversions coming soon.

Vendors/Demos

This Is Not A Test Demo Board

A few local vendors come into the hall to support modelers and hobbyists. Grex had representatives who supported a speed airbrush contest, but also had new product demos available. Tectonic Craft Studios had some very nicely done laser cut terrain pieces. I picked up a a bunker that will be reviewed soon, Dan also through in some laser cut base mounts which are pictured. Fallout Hobbies, who recently had a successful Kickstarter campaign, offer a wide range of decal sheets and also offer custom decal design and production at very reasonable prices. A custom sheet is $35 with additional at a reduced cost. These sheets were $15 each or two for $25. Potter Whimsy had a lovely set of hand crafted wood products (bowls, wine stops, mugs) which make for perfect gifts to the spouse who was abandoned on kid duty for the weekend. This Is Not A Test, Star Wars Armada/X-Wing, and Halo were available all weekend. I spent the weekend helping Joe McGuire out with This Is Not A Test demos all weekend. I'll have an additional post about a 4-person This Is Not A Test Demo soon.

Swag

NOVA Open Swag

Gamer Grass sheet

For the lucky 400 who register first (I was number 395), you get a nice little swag back. This year the swag bag was a NOVA Open branded lunch bag that contained a bottle of water, small bag of chips, some Air Heads, a granola bar. Additional NOVA Open swag included a pen, shot glass, tape measure, and coasters. Fallout Hobbies provided a sheet of small flame decals with a coupon to get a free sheet with the purchase of two others. I'll have a review of those coming in the near future as well as my foray into applying decals. Kromlech provided a sprue of bits which included a couple of shoulder pads, an orc head, a bolt pistol, and an Egyptian style head. Gamer grass provided a small set of grass tufts, which will be added to some miniatures very soon. Secret Weapon included a sewer works base with a 15% off coupon. Army painter provided a a quick gaming guide with an insane detail brush. Corvus Belli provided a printed quick start rules booklet for Infinity with a pin. Some tiny rare earth magnets were provided by Amazing magnets. Some other companies provided coupons; Bombshell miniatures (15% off), Greenman Designs ($5 voucher), PoweredPlay Gaming ($5 voucher), Systema Gaming (20% off).

Capital Palette

The main painting competition is the Capital Palette. This is an open style painting competition, so model brand and style are not restrictive. There are a wide range of categories and entries include individual models, busts, units, and dioramas. The instructors (Massive Voodoo and Secret Weapon) provided a number of busts, painted figures, and dioramas for display. Pieces were entered throughout the weekend and voted upon Saturday evening. Each attendee is able to cast one vote for the fan favorite contest.

NOVA Open Charitable Foundation

One of the greatest components to the NOVA Open is the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation. The organizers and gaming community have taken a number of charities to heart and support with raffles for an few armies (Alatoic Eldar, Sons of Orar Space Marines, Flames of War Battalion Piechoty, and Seven Malifaux Warbands). Roman Lappat (Massive Voodoo) provided one individual model (Zeta the Barbarian Babe) and a bust (Forever Young) and Corvus Belli Studios provided the studio model for Maverick from the new USAriadna Army Pack release. A series of silent auctions were also available, which included painted units, individual special models, artistic prints, some fantastic coasters, and some premium instruction video access. All auctions and raffles are support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, and the Fisher House Foundation. All models for the armies are painted by a consortium of professional painters who donate time to provide amazing pieces.

*UPDATE*  Silent Auction Wins! 

Astra Militarum Cadian Shock Troops

Cadian Sergeants

I completed this post before the results of the silent auction. I had bids for a set of Astra Militarum Sentinels, a set of Cadian Shock Troops, and a Grey Knight Interceptor Squad. Unfortunately, I didn't win the sentinels. I did though win the others. Since I am building my Guard army, I decided to bid on those two components. This set of Cadians is painted at an tabletop level. The color scheme is fine, but there are no painted eyes, some of the details are not painted, and there is a very basic set of washes applied. I am happy to have them and may do some additional touch up work to them, but at the price and for the charity it is all fine.

The Grey Knights have a much better level of detail and though I don't play this army and probably would not, the paint job and look of the squad made them enticing. The level of detail is quite good on the models and they are at a better tabletop levels. The levels of wash is pretty heavy in some places, but the highlighting on the lettered shoulder pads is good and the gold counters with the steel armor well.