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Thursday, June 26, 2014

Paint Brands for Miniature Painting

Acrylic paints are the most common type of paint used in miniature painting. Other paints not only work for miniatures, but are better at some things when it comes to miniature painting. That said, this article will focus on acrylic paints.

Acrylic paint is a coloured pigment suspended in a liquid polymer medium. This make acrylic paint more resistant to constant handling than some other types of paint yet it does not stain things the way a dye would. Wet acrylic paint can be both thinned and cleaned using nothing but water. Dry acrylic paint may be scraped off or cleaned using a degreaser. Acrylic paint dries faster than many other types of paint. There are additives one can purchase to extend the drying time, but this article is not about additives.

The brand most people in the hobby are familiar with is Games Workshop. The paint is available practically anywhere one can buy a Games Workshop model. They are good paints, but expensive. They are easy to work with, come in a wide variety of colours, and dry more quickly than some other brands. It is a solid choice for a primary paint line and for some it is their only option if they do not want to buy all their paint online. The two areas where Games Workshop paints excel compared to other brands is their metallic paint and washes. You can make washes using inks, medium, and water, but this is a much easier solution.

Craft paint is probably the other paint that is easiest to get in the USA. Apple Barrel is the craft paint I have the most experience with. There are many brands out there, but the ones I have used are all fairly similar. Craft paints normally have a lower pigment density than the paints formulated for the miniature painting hobby. They can and do work for miniature painting. They do require extra coaxing however. It takes more passes than other brands of paint to get a smooth transition as the pigment spreads out a lot so can be a little chalky.


These terminators were painted with an Apple Barrel paint as the mid tone for the blues. I have since updated the scheme to use Games Workshop paints as it makes painting the models easier, but if your only option is craft paint then it is possible with extra time and effort.

Coat d'Arms is produced by the same manufacturers as the old Citadel (Games Workshop) paints. They still use the white flip top lid with the old pot. The paint is very similar to the newer Games Workshop lines that came after the contract ended, but does not dry as quickly. This is a great option if you are wanting an out of print paint or ink that Games Workshop no longer carries. For most people Coat d'Arms is an online purchase only, although I hear there are some locations that carry their paint locally. Some of the colours are great, and others not so good. I think a lot of the talk about how reds and yellows are hard to paint are holdovers from when this company was manufacturing the Games Workshop line. Their yellows in particular are extremely streaky and oily. Then again, that can work for you. An old leather formula I used was to streak the yellow over black then wash the area in chestnut ink. I think their inks are a great product.

Rumour is that the same manufacturers of Coat d'Arms also makes Privateer Press' P3 paint line. I do not know if that is true or not, but I have heard it from a few different sources. The pots appear to be made by the same company at least, but the formulas are quite different. P3 consists of a liquid pigment mixed with a liquid medium where most other acrylic paints use a dry pigment suspended in a liquid medium. This means P3 paint is less likely to separate and is easier to mix together when it does. P3 has a longer drying time than most other hobby paints. The most influential individual on how miniatures are painted in the USA (Mike McVey. He was basically the lead on how both Games Workshop and Privateer Press painted their studio models and has written books on the subject) helped develop this line of paints with two brush blending in mind. I love the P3 line. If you are wanting to experiment with two brush blending then it is the easiest line to start with aside from metalic paints which tend to work well no matter the brand. The line is great for blending of any sort really and is slowly becoming my main brand. The paints are also moderately priced for the amount you get. I know some people do not care for their metallic paint. It does go on a little thin, but once you get a few coats built up it is some of the best looking metallic paint out there.

My experience with Vallejo is rather limited. Most of my time spent is with the Game Colour line. I am not the biggest fan of Game Colour. It chalks up more easily than other brands in my experience. The paint is highly resistant to wear after drying however. I hear that Model Colour is a better line of paint for the hobbyist, but is slightly less resistance to wear and tear. I have yet to try Model Colour as Vallejo is not a brand readily available in my area. Both lines are sometimes referred to as a dry paint. They also have a Model Air line. These are paints intended for use with an airbrush straight out of the bottle. The metallics in particular are interesting even if painting with a brush as they tend to use a smaller metallic flake than other metallic paints.

Reaper makes an interesting line of paints. I have more experience with their Master Series Paint HD line than their regular MSP line. I love the MSP HD line. The price is low and there is a lot of pigment in the paints. The MSP line tends to have more additives than other paint lines. The MSP series is exceptional for layering paint and is practically tailor made for doing so. There are some products they carry such as brown liner which are good products that are hard to find an equivalent in other brands. One interesting note is a lot of the MSP line comes in triads. This means you have three colours that are known to work together for shading, mid tones, and highlights. I have heard that the triads are great for those that are colourblind and want to paint their own models. There are colourblind model painters that do exceptional work using the triads. Nobody would know they were colourblind just by looking at their models.

While not an acrylic paint line, Secret Weapon Miniatures makes a line of washes with a lot of versatility. If you want to use a lot of different washes but do not care to make your own then Secret Weapon washes are a great option. Even colours you never thought of using such as Baby Poop have a lot of utility. Secret Weapon Miniatures made me rethink what colours make for workable washes. Secret Weapon washes have stronger pigment than Games Workshop washes and can be thinned if needed.

There are a lot of brands out there aimed at traditional artists. Most of these are much thicker than the paints sold specifically for miniature painting. Many miniature painters work with acrylics thinned almost to the consistency of watercolours. You will need thinning mediums to get most artist's acrylic to a point where it does not clog details on miniatures and not separate entirely. There are a variety of thinners and mediums out there to use. I know Liquitex makes quite a few and you can get a lot for cheap. Golden makes a line of fluid acrylics. You will likely want to still thin it down depending on paint technique being used. I do not recommend artist acrylics for new miniature painters unless that is your only option. It is possible to use artist acrylics, but they tend to require extra prep work where the brands formulated for miniature painting does some of the work for you. Additionally, many acrylic paints are non-toxic. I do not advise it, but if you spend much time in the hobby you may obsrver someone licking their brushes. Artist Acrylics may contain toxic materials for use as a pigment. Between that and the possibility of using other types of paint at some point it is probably not the best idea to add brush licking to your muscle memory while painting.

I think that covers the easiest brands to obtain in the USA. I can not speak on access to paint lines in other countries. I did not cover Andrea Colour as I have no experience with it. I hear good things about the line. They also have some really interesting sets that I keep wanting to try but have yet to do so. For instance, the NMM and Black sets both intrigue me.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

A Starter Buying Guide for Miniature Painting

Not everybody that plays miniature games becomes involved in the painting side of the hobby. Miniature painting is merely one side of the hobby and not necessary for enjoyment of the games involved. The inverse is also true. One does not have to play miniature games to enjoy painting. They are two separate hobbies that coexist within the same space. There are many painters out there that do quality work at a low price and some companies sell prepainted miniatures. I do not think that everybody that plays miniature games needs to learn to paint. It adds an extra barrier to the entry of the hobby for many people. I do like to see painted models. They add variety and character along with making it easier to differentiate between models from across the table. I do not however feel like everybody should have to paint their own if they do not want to or can not for any reason.

This article is to help those that would like to get in on the ground floor of miniature painting but do not know where to start. My hope is that this post will cover enough of the basics to get somebody completely new to the hobby the materials they need to begin enjoying miniature painting while keeping the initial cost down.

Picking what paints to buy can be challenging. Even a starter set of paints in many lines lacks some of what I would consider the basics. Before we get started, please keep in mind these are some of my opinions. My opinion on any given topic is likely to change as I accumulate more information. Nothing here should be taken as facts so much as they are suggestions using my current level of experience. I will be talking solely of acrylic paints designed with miniature painting in mind. There are other options out there, but these paints are probably the easiest way to get started in the hobby.

My first piece of advice is if you are looking to paint one uniform force and have no interest in painting anything outside of those models for now then pick colours to purchase based solely on the army choice. Most of the advice I will provide in this article is more directly aimed at those that want to paint a variety of models with different colour schemes. Please feel free to ignore colour suggestions from the rest of the article if going this route.

To me, the basic colours of a starting set are a strong red, blue, yellow, green, black, and white. I do not recommend desaturated versions of these colours as you can tone them down by mixing them together or simply adding a bit of black and/or white to the colour. Red, blue, and yellow are the primary colours when mixing paint. Green is a bit harder to mix a vibrant green than either purple or orange so it is the first of the secondaries I suggest buying. Green is a primary colour when mixing light and there is some evidence that suggests our eyes translate everything on a red/blue/yellow/green wavelength so it could possibly be a primary colour. For painting discussions however, it will almost always be presented as a secondary during any talk about colour theory. The only important part to take away from this for now is that mixing to a high saturation green is harder than the other secondaries.

Now, those six colour are what I consider bare minimum if looking to paint vastly different models. You can get a lot of variety by mixing just those six colours and will make mixing easier as you add to your paint collection if you keep with the hobby.

Next I would pick up a flesh tone, a rich brown, and a medium steel metallic if you want to use metallic paint. A wash or ink can also be useful. A wash is a high pigment liquid that is thinner than the paint. It is generally designed with settling into the recesses of the model, but can also be controlled to tint an area as well. Brown washes are probably the most used with black coming close behind. Expanding on these, my next picks are a purple followed by orange. Orange is so easy to make from red and yellow that it is the last suggestion I have for these purchases.

That leaves us with a twelve colour starter set if you go pick up everything suggested so far. I recommended at least getting everything except the metal and wash if you do not want to use either. Different paint brands behave in their own manner, but for now use whatever acrylic paint is available to you. You can mix different lines so picking up a colour from a different brand later will be no problem. I am working on another article that covers different acrylic brands I have experience with. You can wait for that article if you like, but to start I feel paint brand is less important than paint colours.

The one item that I consider essential to miniature painting that is not covered here is primer. You can get a can of Rustoleum for cheap. Walmart brand has a primer for around a dollar. It only comes in grae, but grae is a nice primer colour to learn on so is not a problem. The other common primer colours are black and white. Which one works for you really is a matter of experimentation. The hobby brands can be nice, but tend to be expensive for what they offer. I find the hobby brands hold more per can, but the price can be as much as four times the cost of automotive primer. Many award winning painters use sandable primer brands intended for automobile use so check car part retailers or automotive section of a local store.

Superglue and a knife of some sort are also recommended for model prep. I used a paring knife from a multi-pack at a dollar store for years. Hobby knives or XActo blades are fairly cheap and work great. Eventually you may want some files, saws, sanding paper, and putty, but a knife and some glue to assemble the models are enough to start. I recommend scratching up the surface where two pieces meet to help give the glue a better grip. Later on you may get to the point where you are using a bit of rod to reinforce joins (pinning), but for now scoring (scratching up the surface) will provide a better hold than gluing smooth surfaces together.

You will need brushes as well. I recommend synthetics for now. I love my kolinsky sables, but they are expensive and easy to burn through if used for all painting. Jabbing a brush into crevices to make certain you get into everywhere or drybrushing can both be rough on brushes that are designed primarily for watercolour use on a surface with a low tooth.

Synthetics start with great tips, but will curl before too long. You will go through quite a few of them, but they are much cheaper and more widely available. There is a lot of discussion on brushes out there and I may do an article myself at some point. The big benefits of synthetics is they are cheap, readily available, and while the point lasts are great at putting paint exactly where you want it. Natural hair brushes can be a bit more floppy, can start with worse point unless it is a really nice brush, but are better for blending and keep what tip they do have longer. That said, there are Golden Daemon winners that only use one or the other so both choices or a mix of the two are completely viable. I feel that synthetics offer the better option at lower price points which is why I recommend them when starting.

You can extend the life of either type of brush with some brush soap. I use Master's which is cheap from any art supply store. Before that I used shampoo and sometimes conditioner. It's not vital to get brush soap when starting as you can use shampoo, but it is definitely something you will want if you delve into higher end brushes.

From here I suggest playing with what you have. See what colours you can create by mixing your collection. What colours are easy to mix and what is hard? When you are ready to expand buy colours you either use a lot of, like the colour, or is a colour that you find difficult to mix from your existing colours. Once you get mixing down you will find there are a lot of colours out there that you do not require unless you want it for a time saver or you think it's pretty.

I hope this helps anybody that is interested in getting involved with the miniature painting hobby. I know this is a lot of information if you are coming at the hobby fresh. It should provide a strong base to build off of as you continue forward in the hobby however so I hope the time it takes to read this is worth it for you.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Demystifying Disabilities

Non-hobby post incoming.

It has come to my attention that as a blogger that makes use of a mobility aid, a wheelchair in my case, I am obligated to blog about everything to do with disabilities. Normally, the topic of [Blank]ing with Disabilities is supposed to take over my blog completely. I am too lazy for that so you will get this one post for now. I may blog on something or other in relation to having a disability in the future, but feel that everyday life is a bit dull to be a regular part of the blog.

I guess the first thing you need to understand about people with disabilities is that we are all the same. There is nothing that separates us from one another just like all brown eyed people are exactly the same.

The second thing is we love to inspire people simply by virtue of our existence. It can be extremely flattering once we realize we motivate someone by no virtue of our own and doing nothing beyond trying to live a life.

Third, we are all sexually dysfunctional. Nothing down there works for any of us. Anybody that tells you differently is perpetuating a myth or lives in a fantasy world of their own creation. Males are incapable of achieving an erection and females never experience a real orgasm.

Fifth, disabilities should be overlooked or ignored. Just as with other burdens like alcoholism, we should just pretend disabilities are not there. A disability is not something to be worked on or kept in mind when associating with others on either side of the interaction.

Sixth, physical disabilities help hide the fact that there is always a mental condition as well. This means we are likely to be bad at simple things like counting.

Seventh, those of us in wheelchairs are amazing dancers with the besterest of moves. No joke.

Eighth, our disabilities define us, but are not a part of us. They influence no aspect of our lives yet encompass everything we are.

I hope this helps clear up any misconceptions our lessers may have concerning those of us living with disabilities.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Slideways Squirrels

I promised a gaming/hobby blog. I was writing a paint blog, but the camera is not available right now. Anybody that wanted to should be able to take the information in this post and run their own version of Slideways Squirrels. All that is missing is some background material and custom character sheet I made up.

I mentioned a couple of times a FATE game I had planned for running at a local game store. The game fell through because I felt the store did not need another game on the official RPG night because more people decided to GM games after the store expanded. I thought I would share some of what I was working on in case anybody else wanted to use it, but not share so much that it would ruin the experience should I decide to dust this off in the future.

The idea for the game was built around the fact that a local game store had more players than the small number of GMs could accomodate on the official RPG night. I did not want to run a d20 game as that was one area where the store had steady GMs both for RPG night and for Pathfinder Society on Sundays. Also, due to the way people arrive or leave at different times during a game session I wanted a means of instantly bringing people in and out of the game besides the classic means of simply ignoring the fact that the character was not there earlier in the scene.

I came up with the basic idea that the player characters were placing their consciousness into the bodies of people from other dimensions. If a player showed up part way through the session then their character would transition into a nearby NPC. If a player needed to leave early then their character wakes up and leaves the NPC body. If a player was unhappy with their character back at base then it could easily be explained why a different character was doing the sliding. I ended up stealing a lot of ideas from the television programs Sliders and Quantum Leap with one major exception. The player characters were never looking for a way to get home which means I could borrow from other sources, but not use what tends to be the main storyline typically associated with the setting.

I discussed the idea with one of the owners to see if they were okay with the basic premise for the game being ran in their store, and also to find out if there were any systems they wanted to see played more in the store. The owner suggested both FATE and Savage Worlds. I looked at how to handle the story from a mechanics point of view. In the end I decided on FATE even though I had a system working in either.

I had a player pack with what the characters know about the world, information the players might want before they decide to play or not but their characters might not know yet, contact information, and what to expect from my GM style as well as some guidelines for possible character creation during the first session for both the FATE and Savage World versions. They both need some formatting work still or I would upload them to share. It also presented some of the questions I was planning on asking during the character creation session so I could determine what players were comfortable with. Some of the basic questions were things like were they okay with having their characters slide into the body of somebody of the opposite sex or that of another species? Do the players feel that magic might be appropriate in alternate dimensions? Are there any subjects they never want to deal with in a game such as slavery or hate crimes? Everything would be kept to PG13 standards as the game was run in a store, but there are many subjects you can brush up against that cause people to not want to play any more. The final section of the player pack was an attempt to openly encourage feedback even if it was done by talking to one of the store employees instead of directly to myself as the GM. I tried my damndest to let people know I would do my utmost to not take the feedback personally.

The basics of the background equated to the Earth the player characters are from is being terraformed. The populace at large is becoming aware of the issue and starting to panic. Synthumanics Inc have created a technolgy that will let a person transplant their consciousness into the body of someone from another dimension. They fly in the player characters as experts in their various fields to run operations in these other dimensions. One thing I did set up beforehand was that Synthumanics Inc has no way of monitoring what exactly occurs during these trips so after each session I would have asked the players if there was anything they were consciously not including in reports. As long as all the players aggreed to not report something, then Synthumanics Inc and the government officials responsible for the contracts financing the project would never find out.

Now that I have a preamble long enough to be its own post, lets get into the mechanics.

Each player character would have a High Concept and Trouble aspect as per normal FATE. We were using approaches from FATE Accelerated instead of the skill system in FATE Core. We were using the two stress tracks from FATE Core. Every player character would have a third aspect. For the third aspect I would have a player other than the controlling player describe a situation. The owner of the player character would control their actions during that story and we would attempt to create an aspect from it. I had a series of questions prepared such as, "What drew the attention of Synthumanics Inc to the character?" or, "Who caused the most trouble for the character?". Basically I was trying to ask questions I had which I felt were not covered by the first two aspects, approaches, nor stunts at this point in creation. Each player could come up with a fourth aspect if they felt their character was lacking something crucial not covered by the three. I limited the number of aspects player characters started with partially because there would be different players showing up to a game many weeks, and partially because of what happens when a player character inhabits the body of somebody else.

Each time the player character slides into a body I give them an index card. On that card are at least one aspect, and a full set of approaches. The player character uses their normal approaches under most circumstances. The main reason for them getting the host's approaches is it gives them a surface impression of how the NPC might normally behave in a given situation. There are times the player character may want to mimick what they feel the host would do. So a more forceful character that inhabits the body of somebody that is careful might want to use a careful approach if attempting to handle something the way the NPC would even if the player character's careful is a lower approach than the player character is used to acting. The exception is when tagging or compelling the host's aspect. When that happens something about the host comes to the surface and the host's approaches are used.

So that is basically it for the mechanics side of things. If a player comes in part way through a session I could jot down an aspect and approaches for one of the NPCs present in the scene that was running and hand it over where I would have cards ready before the session for those that came in during the first scene in another dimesion.

The game was broken up into seasons. I had enough content that would likely be safe planned for the first season. The first season consisted of the pilot episode (character creation and a short bit of play to get players used to the mechanics of the game and some of the concepts for the series) followed by twelve more episodes. The first full episode was going to be the Sochi Olympics as the game was scheduled for about a week after the end of the Olympics. The first scene was the player characters sliding in on the plane while the USA team was circling the airport to land. I am likely scrapping the idea as the reason it was going to be the first full session was a matter of timing. I might rework it if a session in the future falls near an Olympic event however.

Everything else is details. There are many details, but this is essentially what is required to run your own game of Slideways Squirrels.

Do We Need Feminism?

This is one of those more mature discussions. If you only come here for gaming or paint talk then you might want to skip this blog post. This post contains none of that though I am writing a follow up blog post right now that will contain hobby talk. This is my personal blog. There may be times I openly share things other people consider personal. This is one of those times. Some may also consider this post to be disturbing in nature. If you have any doubts, then please look at the tags before reading to see if you want to read on those topics or not. I am uncertain how else to preface this to warn people that might not want to read it.

There's an internet meme I see from time to time where males share a picture of themselves holding a sign with a pithy phrase along the lines of, "XXX is why I need feminism." The idea behind the meme is an interesting one that is clearly designed to grab attention, but does little to really get into the details of why these men feel the need to do this.

I grew up surrounded by women with the only men around being those I had seen in school which were few and far between from my scattered memory. Both my mother and step mother were strongly independent women that proved to me time and again that men were not needed. I never felt the desire to really get to know my father outside of a passing curiosity so never understood the need of other children for that connection. My sisters have all grown into radiant women I am intensely proud of. There are many good things I have learned being brought up in this manner.

One downside however was that I grew up feeling there was something fundamentally wrong with me. This was not the fault of any individual, but an accumulation of years upon years of never quite being as wholesome as the people around me. I came to believe there was something inherently evil about myself.

There came a point in my life when I spent some time with a person that grew up being abused. The fact she was a female was often times used as a focal point for that abuse. I had maleness directly pointed out to me as the cause of many of humanities troubles. I had never associated with other males outside of other children in a classroom setting so there were no examples of either good or bad men in my life for me to compare myself to. This individual still had a lot of hurt from growing up female, and events from her life as an adult did not help matters.

I came to believe that my sex was a problem. Not just for myself, but potentially for society in the future as well. I became extremely despondent as I could not think of a solution to the problem. Suicide was not an option because that would leave others to clean up my mess after me. Being male was my only option no matter how wrong it was.

We were talking one time and it was another discussion on how males cause many of society's problems. I sank further into myself so I would not have to face my own wrongness when she put a knife down in front of me. There was a solution. We talked for a long while after that. I did not even realize I had picked up the knife until she was taking it away from me. I had not yet earned the right to cleanse this evil from myself.

This happened on more than one occasion. Each time I would be talked into picking up that knife or a pair of scissors. Each time I would come away ashamed that I was still unworthy to remove this sin from my body. I truly did come to the point where I felt I would never be a whole individual as long as I had a penis. It was not a desire to be a female so much as it was a need to no longer be male.

A couple of years ago somebody posted a news article on some forums about a woman castrating her husband. I made an off colour comment about how all men deserved it at some point or another in their lives. It was not until people responded to that post that I began to realize that not everyone felt that castration was a viable option to the problem that is men. Not only that, but manhood in and of itself is not a sin.

Thankfully, I was amongst friends whom I was able to openly discuss things with so I could more easily understand where they were coming from. I went from childhood up into my thirties believing that castration was not only an option, but something to strive for and actively earn. I never truly realized how alone I was in feeling this way. I understood on an intellectual level that castration was illegal, but beneath the surface I still believed that all these men walking around were carrying the same shame I had for all those years. That is what being male meant to me.

There are many things that people never talk about. Most of them are uncomfortable topics. Some of them are so common that everybody assumes these things do not need to be talked about while others are so uncommon that most people never experience those things at all. If you never talk about these things then it is hard to know which is which so you can come to the assumption that something you take as common is an experience not shared by many. The inverse is true as well. Just because you are going through something does not mean you are experiencing it alone or that there is not somebody available to help. Find somebody, anybody to talk to about anything and everything. I did not even realize how deep my issues with my own sex went until it came out in the open.

I do not know what it is like to be a woman having never been one. I do know what it feels like to be made to feel like there is something innately wrong with yourself due to your sex. I also do not know if feminism is something the world needs or not. It is a step however, and we need to take steps to move away from where we are at. I definitely prefer feminism over standing still. If feminism makes it to where fewer people grow up feeling their sex is a vile thing to be ashamed of then I am for it.

Oh, and before it comes up, the person that intensified and focused my feelings on maleness being a blight upon the world was not a feminist. She was an abused individual that needed help and was reciprocating her experiences back into the world because it was all she knew. I can hardly blame her for amplifying my own feelings at the time.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Where's the Kibitz?

It has been a while since this blog has seen an update. If I had any readers I would hazard a guess they might be curious what has been causing my apparent inability to blog. In short – nothing.

I have already posted the last thing I have painted up on the blog. I have not picked up a paint brush since then. Sometimes I can paint, and sometimes I can not. The past couple of months has been one of those times when I have been unable to paint. I tried a few times, but I simply did not have the control in my hands that I require to paint miniatures. This does mean that all those models in my shame posts have been left virtually untouched along with Abuela Ortega and my Kanban board is frozen at the moment. This does not shame me like it did before. It's only shameful when I am capable of painting and I do not.

Obligatory gaming related picture to break up the text.

The last post also saw the start on discussion concerning an in store Fate RPG. This fell through. The reason I was going to run the game was because there were not enough GMs for all the players that want to play in store on Wednesday nights. This situation has changed since the question was first put to me however. After going in a few Wednesdays I realized there are now enough games to where they could comfortably spread six new players between the existing games while me pulling even three players from the other games would leave the existing games on the thin side.

I do not know where this leaves the blog. It really does not have an identity of its own outside of a place for me to put my thoughts. I keep considering posting some more serious topics, but I am uncertain if that is a direction I want to take the blog in or not. Right now my roommate is out of town with my camera so even if I do manage to paint something before she returns I will not be posting any pictures for now.

There is a new Warhammer Fantasy League firing up, but I do not think I will enter as it is a lot of models to lug around at the end. It takes me more than half an hour to pull 2500 points of Greenskins out of cases and set out on trays. Maybe if I actually get around to magnetizing all the bases. I kind of fell out of the Iron Kingdoms Escalation League. I had three months in a row where I failed to arrange to play a game with the people I was matched up for challenges, and the times I showed up for days I should have been able to get a pick up or checkmark game I would be the only Warmachine or Hordes player there. I am less worried about that with Warhammer Fantasy as I know I am practically guaranteed at least one Sunday a month to get a game or two in, but I am trying to decide if I want the hassle of transporting that many models or not.

So that is pretty much it. Like I said, nothing is going on, so there has been nothing to write about. I could always pick a topic and write away, but I am not certain I should. I would not expect another blog post for at least a couple more weeks and probably longer. Posting about paint jobs is sort of silly without images to illustrate what I am talking about. Pretty much the only other things I have been up to are daily routine stuff and playing World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Marvel Heroes, and Civilization V.