Among other Things

Sihedron Rune

So, those unfortunates who read my last post may remember that I signed off by stating that I had caught everyone up on all of my hobby related goings on.  That wasn't entirely true.  As of next month, I'll be restarting my Pathfinder game that had to be put on hold due to the birth of my son.  Hopefully we can finish this adventure path up in good time.  I'm eager to run the lads through the current AP, Wrath of the Righteous.

Rise of the Runelords, however, has been good to us.  The group isn't "completely" full of weirdos and feaks (characters that is, my friends are all relatively normal) and I'm really enjoying our weekly sessions.

Also on the agenda is yet another 40k project.  While I have a few outstanding tasks I'd like to get sorted out with the Salamanders (Storm Eagle mainly), and a brand new Necron army in the works (some dumb ass decided painting them white would be a good idea...), my wife got me a Deathwing army for Christmas.  That last statement may not be entirely correct.  I saw a Deathwing army for sale, asked her if I could get it, and her reply was: (long pause) "Merry Christmas".  Hey, I'll take it, I have no shame.

It came with Belial, a Terminator Librarian, a command squad (with a spare Apothecary), a squad of 8 DW Knights, and 2 squads of DW with Assault Cannons.  That comes to 1500 points.  I added two more squads of DW with Cyclone Missile Launchers to round it up to 1850-2000 points.  I've always liked the idea of a DW army.  Its small, only 36 models, even without considering vehicles.  I don't actually plan on considering vehicles as that defeats the purpose of a small, compact, elite force.  When you have north of 12k of Salamanders, moving that herd is draining.  This force will fit into two 2" Battlefoam trays with room left over.  It's nowhere near competitive, but again, that's not why I got it.  I suppose you could say I have "Large Army Fatigue".  I'm sure it's a real thing, just look it up.  I plan to have the armor air brushed, and then I'll sort out the details later on.  I'll post updates as I get them, but I'm wondering when I'll have time for the Necrons let alone these lads...

Speed Painting- TSE Style

This past weekend I attended Cape Comic Con in my home town of Cape Girardeau, MO. As this was a work weekend for the lion's share of Team Snake Eyes (and also the celebration of our own Chosen1's arrival upon the Earth), there wasn't much point in organizing one of our fabulous 40K events. For that you'll have to wait til October (7-9) and Brewfest.

Can you find the miniature painter?

Instead I was offered the opportunity to set up a table and demo my miniature painting skills. I basically got to sit in the hall, ogle girls in skintight and revealing superhero and anime costumes, visit with passers-by, and paint. But wait! Don't hate me yet!

While there I acquired a couple of new commissions. One of the Team's friends came by on Friday and asked me what I would charge him to build and paint a Stormraven for his Blood Angels. I gave it a bit of thought, asked him what level of detail he'd want, and shot him a price. He stood quietly for a moment looking at the ceiling. Then looked down at me. Then back up, thinking. After a fairly uncomfortable couple of minutes like this, he said he felt I was undercutting myself. I mumbled something about probably and the economy sucks, yadda yadda. Then he countered by doubling the price I'd shot him and stating, "I want to see what you can do."

DEAL!

I have the 'Raven in hand and my lovely and talented sprue monkey (i.e. Wife) has already begun prepping the model. A bit premature, maybe, since the customer doesn't really need the model before our big Apocalypse game at Brewfest in October, but spirits were high after a great start to the weekend and the con, so we went with it.

On Saturday a couple more moments of pure awesome (tempered by a bit of sad panda) revealed themselves. Our FLGS, Championship Games, had a booth set up. One of the owners walked over to my table with a cardboard box of sturdy build and median capacity. Inside was the store's entire stock of unopened P3 paint (around 50 pots of paint with few duplicates and several bottles of inks and washes in all). I was told the box was mine for fifty bucks.

Ever seen a fat man leap? I'm sure it's not pretty, but....

This was also how I found out the store was closing. After three years, I'm truly sad to see it go. But I'm also friends with the owners and I know this is the right decision for them and their families. Rumor has it that someone else intends to open a new store so the future isn't completely bleak. Thanks Shane and Trace for facilitating our habits. And for keeping Febreeze handy.

Also on Saturday I was approached by one of our Pathfinder Society-playing friends. She handed me a gnomish druid mini (by Reaper), and asked me to paint her (the mini. Painting Wendy might be fun, but...). It was bare metal on a plain square plastic base, but the mini had been cleaned so prep-time was minimal. I shot her a very reasonable price (friend discount and a bonus discount because I know her husband HATES gnomes) and took custody. Upon arriving at home that night (Saturday) I flocked the base and primed the mini.

Sunday morning I woke up (a tad late), packed up the few things I hadn't left at the Con, and arrived and got set up by 11:15. At 3:15 I handed over Ginger.





The customer squealed, her husband shook my hand profusely (I'm sure the extra hard grip was simple exuberance), and everyone oohed and ahhhed. The payment was by that point simply a formality. I haven't had this much fun painting a mini in a while. I pushed myself to get it done before they had to leave at 6 pm (they aren't local), and I think I did okay. Maybe there's hope for me as a speed painter after all.

OH! P.S. If anyone is on Facebook and is interested, I have set up a fan page for my painting studio. Feel free to "Like" Tiny Heroes Miniature Painting, and if you want to add me (Larry Snodgrass), that would be cool too.

Source of Inspiration

We've all got something that "does the trick" for us when it comes to inspiration. Do I love Patton? Yes, as a matter of fact I do. Do I love sweet riffs on the electric guitar? My years of camo pants & flannel shirt grunge support in the late eighties/early nineties can attest to that. Patton playing a sweet riff on an electric guitar? Some things are just too awesome to speak of in polite company. This weekend K-Boy is running a Pathfinder game to test the challenge rating of the Asmodeus Mirage scenario. Aparently some folks ran through it in Cape Girardeau and ran screaming from the table. This is, of course, my kind of challenge. For those who may not know, I have been playing Dungeons & Dragons for over 27 years. That statement is not a boast of my abilities, rather its a testament to just how much I love the game. The only habits I have participated in for longer are eating and breathing. Both the game and my play style have evolved over the years, running down the long line of traditional stereotypes. I have been a role-player (no larping, that's just not my bag). I have been a roll-player. I always like to "win" the challenge, however, regardless of what that challenge happens to be. So when I hear about something being "hard" or "impossible" or "written only to drive the players before them and hear the lamentation of their women" I am instantly intrigued. The guantlet has been dropped, and I have answered the call. I will enter the fray this weekend playing a non-standard bard, and I expect to have a fantastic time telling all those naysayers how I succeeded where they didn't...and oh yeah, I did it with a bard named Babba Ganoush. ;)

Oh, Larry and I will likely work on our Warhammer 40k project since we're already behind...

Edit (12/15/09): Our party did remarkably well in the Pathfinder scenario. There has been another scenario that caused a stir recently (DM'd by my buddy Partho no less) that routed a group of players. Of course, I must now play it to see for myself, if the scenario was poorly written or if the players were ill prepared. Oh yeah, we didn't get anything done on our Adepticon army, but I have four days until my semester is over...