Issues with WWX Poll/Backer Created Minis

Ok well I am having issues getting the poll set up for my WWX posse. I have six choices listed in the last post but for some reason the poll gadget on blogger will only allow me to poll four questions. When I hit the add question option it just does nothing so I guess I have to cut two from the rotation right from go. I will consolidated the Jesse James into one choice and as much as it pains me drop Geronimo. Please vote which you'd like to see painted first and help me make up my mind.

The other day Outlaw posted the second of their three backer created minis. During the Kickstarter campaign Outlaw had one back decide they wanted to create a mini for the line and would buy one for all backers over a certain level. This was really amazing and the concept art for that mini was really cool. Later on Outlaw announce there would be two other backer created minis for purchase. The sculpts for the later two have now been released and Killingsworth is suppose to be revealed at Duelcon in a few weeks.

While both of these minis are cool I have to say I love the way The Wraith turned out. He is very Frank Castle like and I love the pose. OK enough for now gotta try and grab a nap before work. One again please vote and help me make up my mind.

Please Help: Input Needed

One of my Kickstarter purchases should be shipping in about a month or so and I am looking to get some feedback from y'all. The Kickstrater I am referring to is Wild West Exodus which takes place in an alternate wild west which has sci-fi, fantasy, and steampunk elements. I have been really excited about this project since I first saw it and have a couple local buddies coming along on the journey with me. While I am really excited to get these minis and begin painting I am having one heck of a time deciding where to start. Currently in the game there are 5 factions available: The Union, Outlaws, Warrior Nation, Enlightened, and the Lawmen. I will be receiving elements from all 5 of these factions as part of my Kickstarter pledge. Here are photos of the bosses I am considering building around. I did not include Wyatt Earp of the lawmen as Mickey aka DieselDM is most likely going to start with the lawmen and I didn't pick either boss for the enlightened as Nick only pledged enlightened and will be playing them. Here are my choices

 

UNION

Abe Lincoln of The Union army. He comes available with two sets of arms for different poses but this is the one I will be using hands down. Grant is the other option for Union at this time but Lincoln is just too cool to pass up and will be painted/played before Grant. I am not sure of the direction a Lincoln posse would take at this time.

OUTLAWS

 

 

Here are my current options for outlaw bosses. At the top you have Billy the Kid. He come accompanied by two hired hand bodyguards. If I build a Billy the kid force I think it will be some characters and more basic grunts. Next we have Jesse James. Mr James comes in two sculpts as seen above. The original at the ready pose and the alternate shooting pose. If I do a Jesse James posse it will contain mostly characters I think consisting of his brother Frank and Cole Younger.

 

WARRIOR NATION

 

 

Last but not least we have the Warrior Nation being led by Sitting Bull (wolf) and Geronimo (bear). I am not really sure which direction this posse would take but love both minis.  

 

Ok so there are my choices and I am looking for y'alls help in making a decision(s). I will most likely work on two posses at the same time as I am entertaining the thought of being a deputy (think press ganger) and will need two painted posses for demos. I will be posting a poll for voting (once I figure out how) and will see where we stand in a months time (hopefully when my "little men" arrive.  

 

If you would like to see more of the minis available in the range at launch take a look at http://www.wildwestexodus.com/ and you can see most of the minis in their rendered state and some in their fully painted state.  

The First of Many

Over the next 2-6 week the Cave is expecting multiple packages as many of my Kickstarters are going to start shipping. The include (in expected order) Zombicide season 2, Wild West Exodus, Rivet Wars, and Relic Knights. I cannot decide which I am looking forward to the most but right now I think I am leaning toward WWX seeing as I am thinking about building my own table (more on this later).

While not from a Kickstarter I did received two packages the other while I was napping. Let look at the goodies shall we?

My first box was from Privateer Press and here are the contents:

I haven't unwrapped this beauty yet but as you can tell it is the Butcher3 limited edition box set. I have loved since I picked up black and white copy of Prime a decade ago (good God where does time go). When I saw the new Butcher I had to have him and since I am a sucker for all think "limited edition" or "exclusive" I had to have it.

The rest of the box was a classic mauler, the new Gencon Booze mini (to go with the Kiltlifter and last years minis), and a the web excluse pHaley (more on her at a later date)

My second box was from good Mr Larsen at www.discountgamesinc.com my favorite online retailer. This was part of a pre-order I place about a month back.

Here is a second fell caller, a second thumper crew (for Gunnbjorns theme), and an exemplar errant UA

 

Next up a pretty Menoth battle engine

Last but not least the pre-ordered item: Warmachine: High Command. The only thing that would have been better is Hordes: High Command :) I have been really excited about this game and cannot wait to take it for a test spin. I am trying to line up a game night next week with some buddies to kick the tires and see how she plays. OK that's all for now time to hit the sack. The next few weeks should be really geektastic with all my new toys coming. Updates as they arrive.

Not a Complete Wash

Hey all long time no write. Well August has been a blur and nearly over. I have had very little hobby time between work/family/life in general but as the title states the month has been a total wash. I haven't been able to play much (maybe 2 games this month) but I have been doing a lot of listen/thinkmachine. I have also been playing around with the airbrush a little. Here is the extent of my recent (August) hobby time.

A few months back one of my local guys Les aka Oxyguy asked if I would base coat his Galleon (think I forgot to take photos) with my airbrush. I was more than happy to do it for him as I love using the airbrush and like to help out when I can. When I dropped off the basecoated Galleon another buddy asked if I would mind laying down the blue basecoat on his storm strider and Stormwall. He said he had no time table so I was more than happy to do it. I decided I was going to try and do the shading and highlighting on the blues and not just the basecoat. I figured if I was going to experiment the strider should be my test subject and not the 'wall. Here is the strider in its current state. The photos are a little washed out but I have to say am I pleased with the blues and hope Nick likes them as well. I know he only asked me to paint the blue but I am tempted to finish this guy up as I have enjoyed working on it an want to see it to completion.

I have to get ready for work so that is all for now. When I get a chance I need to go and give the Stormwall the same blue treatment as the strider. Hopefully see y'all soon.

A Tale of Two Grissels

In one of my last posts I showed some WiPs of Grissel1 in her early stages. I haven't had much painting time lately as I picked up a bunch of hours at my other job last week to cover some holes (stinks working on weeks off but extra hobby money is nice). After starting Grissel1 I decided I should try and paint Grissel2 at the same time to keep them as uniform as possible. Once I made this decision Grissel2 went into the stripping solution (using Purple Power currently) and the wait began. I have to say this may have been the best strip job I have seen as nearly all the paint came off perfectly. After that she was primed via the air brush and base colors were painted both with the airbrush and with standard brush. Here is their current status:

 

The metal was airbrush on and was painted with VMA gun paint. The red were airbrushed with VMA mahogany (you can see the overspray on the metal). Skin was painted with my trollblood base color, tartan with Froundry drab, red was paiunted with VMC burnt cad red leaving some mahogany in the cracks.

I drybrushed the heads of Resounder with my typical trollkin stone set up: P3 thornwood green, P3 bastion grey, P3 trollblood highlight, P3 Menoth white highlight. I will need to paint in the metal sections still but they look ready to roll.

 

Here are the girls next to each other. Man does Grissel1 need a resculpt. I am toying with changing the skirt section on Grissel1 to red like on Grissel2 but I don't know. Thoughts?

Color Me Disappointed

A few months back I (finally) subscribed to NQ via PP so I could get it mailed to the house and have it earlier than street release. Today when I woke up the wife informed me I had something in the mail and low and behold it was my first home delivered NQ. I knew, from the photo of the cover on PPs main page, that this issue was going to have a new trollbloods theme force....Yay. the first thing I did was flip to the theme force....OK Calandra cool and it was all down hill from there. I have to say meh I was not too excited (I kinda like the PoM one). If you haven't seen a copy of the new NQ the force looks like this:

Calandra theme force - Evolutionary Elementalism

Beasts: Mountain King, Storm/Slag/Pyre/Winter trolls
Units: KSB, Runeshapers, Warders
Solos: Runebearer, Runeshaper solos, Whelps

Tier 1 - Beasts are -1pt (OK always welcome)
Tier 2 - KSB starts with more Fury based on number of Runeshapers units/solos (Poor mans runes of war. Runeshapers are full cost and still FA:2)
Tier 3 - 3 different lights, lights get AD (So one storm, slag, and pyre I supose. AD beasts is goo but do they really want to be up in in?)
Tier 4 - Mountain King: choose a warbeast, all models get its animus first turn (limited utility IMO. If you had access to an axer I'd be far more excited cause rush one everything...nice. Immunity fire for all? Meh)

I may be missing something but it has aspects of runes or war but nowhere near as good. You have to take the mountain king if you want any real armor cracking. All in the all the list feels off to me. I have to say in the game of NQ theme forces Doug Seacat >> David "DC" Carl. Family Reunion >> Evolutionary Elementalism
Step up your game "DC" :)

Let's Get Ghostly

At the end of last year Badger released their own line of airbrush ready paint. At the time the released there was a bunch of reviews popping up on youtube but I couldn't find a lot of retailers (at least one I deal with) that carried the line. A large portion of the line seemed repetitive to what I had so I wasn't overly interested except for a group of paints they call ghost tints. These are clear acrylic paints that appeared to have some really cool possibilities. After the initial urge to buy died down I kinda forgot about them for the most part with only the occasional thought of "hey I bet those ghost tints could be cool on X"

A few weeks back Andrew over at Schnauzerface minis released a Rhan tutorial and it got me thinking about the tints once again (you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm9f3mjkuhU ). I have decided I cannot pick up anymore factions so that helped me keep from buying a Rhan and trying to replicate Andrew's work. Then local player Bloodyarcane said he was starting up Ret so I told him when he picked up Rhan I'd paint it if he wanted. One thing leads to another and I ordered the 12 ghost tints through amazon and they arrived today:

There is a pretty nice spread of colors but I definitely see myself using some far more than others. I am not sure when I will get around to trying them out but look forward to seeing how they turn out.