OMG! Stuff Is Getting Done!

Sorry for the late update.  I've been trying to work as much as I can on the Warsenal terrain pieces and am pretty happy with the results I've gotten.

Yesterday I finished up the Warsenal Square and Angled Planters.  They came out pretty well, I think.

The Warsenal Containers have been a whole 'nother animal.  I decided that I wanted to weather the crap out of them and do some stencil work as well.  Yesterday I finished the weathering powders and prepped them with salt and hairspray.  Today I shot them blue and tonight I've been hand cutting stencils for the doors, half of which I've already shot.  Tomorrow I'll be doing the stencil for hazard stripes and shoot that.  I hope these are done and ready by this weekend.

~Syko

Warsenal Terrain Review

A few weeks ago I attended Duel Con II.  I had a great time and recommend it to anyone into Warhammer 40K, WarmaHordes or Infinity.

While I was there I had the opportunity to meet the Warsenal guys and bought a few of their terrain kits.  I was very impressed with the pieces they had on the Infinity game boards and look forward to exploring those more in the future.

Once I got home and had a chance, I started assembling the kits I got from them.  I was very, very impressed with the quality of their kits and how simple they were to put together.  I was also impressed with their customer service as I discovered a flaw with the acrylic parts on the Angled Planters.  I emailed them and within 24 hours they had replacement parts out to me.  It's always disappointing to find a flaw in a kit but it's great when the manufacturer goes out of their way to correct the error.

The kits I got didn't have any directions with them but they are so simple they really don't need it.  They went together so well and most everything fit perfectly.

Here are the kits I assembled and links to the Warsenal page where you can find them.  Note, I purchased two of each kit.

Large Shipping Containers and Small Shipping Containers

 Square Planters and Angled Planters

In all I really like these and am looking forward to getting some of their full buildings in the near future.

~Syko

Impudent Mortal's Tabletop Gaming Terrain Part Deux! - A Review

Back in June, Walt from Impudent Mortal began his second Kickstarter project.  I had been so pleased with the first that, being a terrain junkie I had to get in on the second one.

At some point during the move, my buildings arrived and the box got shoved in a corner along with all the other boxes of cool stuff that still haven't had anything done with them.  Once I got my hobby station to a point I was content with it, I pulled out the box of mdf goodness and got to work.

The first thing I really like about this offering was the option to leave out the puzzle pieces.  I really didn't enjoy having to basically build the model twice so this was a major plus to me.

In this product line, Walt has expanded quite a bit.  You still get a lot of similar style buildings but now he has released "L" and "T" shaped buildings as well as the "Epic" buildings that make a great centerpiece for any table.

For the most part, this is a great offering from Impudent Mortal.  The buildings go together quite well and there are a ton of great bells and whistles and options to make each piece stand out.

If I had any complaint with these, it's that you have to watch a video or view photos of finished buildings in order to figure out how to build them.  I am aware that it's a pain in the butt to print out a diagram and package it with the product.

If you find these interesting and want to look into them for yourself, you can find their third Kickstarter here which has already been funded and still has 25 days to go.  It seems to be very Infinity themed and while I really like the Holographic Advertisement Set, I'm afraid the price is more than I'm willing to spend on it at this time.

Here's some shots of what I got and have assembled.

~Syko

The Triumphant Return!

Greetings loyal readers!

I just wanted to take a moment to give an update.  I know it's been forever and a day (3 months to be exact) but I've been crazy busy.

We are back in the US and have bought a house in the vicinity of Austin, Tx and have been getting that all situated.  You wouldn't believe the amount of crap we have!  Currently I am working with a small set up for my hobby station and am waiting for the paint trays from Burn in Designs to arrive so I can get started.  I have a ton of half finished projects that I want to get back to plus lots of new stuff.

I went to Duel Con last month and had a very good time.  I didn't participate in any tournaments and only brought Dreadball with me which I demoed for several people over the weekend.  Great fun.  Mostly I just hung out with the Freebootaz but I did get to watch several demos of Wild West Exodus, which looks amazing as well as got to purchase some great terrain from Warsenal.

I've had a ton of kickstarter orders arrive over the last few months.  Dreadball Season 2, Kings of War, Impact Miniatures - Chibi Dungeon Adventures, Impudent Mortal's Tabletop Gaming Terrain and Powered Play all sent me packages and I am super excited to dig into all of them as I have time.

So, I will be having some reviews in the near future, some pics of my hobby area and of course, some pics of models that I am working on.

~Syko

All Things Must Come to an End

From July 2004 to June 2007 I was deployed as a contractor in Bagram Afghanistan.
In January 2009 I deployed again, this time to Camp Phoenix in Kabul Afghanistan.

Before the end of July, 2013 my time here will be done.

Seven years of my life has been devoted to supporting the troops over here.  My small part was to give the ones on my base a venue to play wargames.  Over the last 4 years I've had over 30 gamers come through our little group and I've enjoyed knowing each and every one of them.

What does this mean for the blog?

I'll be honest, for the next several months I'll be extremely busy.  There is the small matter of our being homeless and having no cars (3 Harleys but no cars) so I'll be busy getting all that set up.  I'll also be learning the ropes in my newest job endeavor.  For the last several years I've dreamed of opening a game store.  With the economy and the way the manufacturers are treating the mom and pop shops, this doesn't seem like a good time.  Plus, I have a family business that needs help so I'll be stepping into that.

All that said, other than a short burst here and there, this humble blog will likely not be updated much for the next several months.  Once I'm back expect massive amounts of hobby related posting.

See you all soon

~Syko

I'm Baaaaack... for now

Hey, hey wargamers!  I'm back!

Well, actually I've been back for about a week and a half but I'm back in the hobby.  I have a lot of exciting news this week and some great updates to share.

First, vacation was great!  I logged almost 4000 miles on the Harley over two weeks and got to spend some quality time with my daughter who graduated from high school while we were there.  I also got to go to Wargamescon and meet some great people from the community.  It looked like a great event but since I was just travelling around and didn't have time I just wandered around and got to talk to some cool people and see some amazing models.  All in all, very cool.

Secondly, my uber hawt wife and I have decided that we are calling it quits over here.  I've spent every morning for the last week packing and mailing boxes home.  We are planning to be back in the states again around the first of August.  This means I can probably make it to Duelcon this year (yay!) and actually play (double yay!).

The third thing is a bit of a downer for me but it's also positive overall.  It looks like the game store is in an indefinite holding pattern.  I was convinced that I needed to help my brother take care of the family's business.  My brother is 62 and his health isn't too great so he needs help and I'm the last member of the family that can take over.  The money is potentially very good and this is my future inheritance so I better take care of it.

On to the hobby.

I have shelved the World Eaters for now and will get back to them when I am back in the states and have access to everything I need to make them work for me.

I decided to start painting my Dropzone Commander Shaltari models this week.  I started priming them white but then realized that white primer on white resin/plastic doesn't show up.  Instead of setting up the airbrush I busted out my green Army Painter spray primer that I smuggled a few years ago.  Once they were primed green I airbrushed them yellow using Minitaire Irradiated Yellow.  I should be done with base coating by Monday.

Next up I took a small commission right before I left and had to buy the model while I was home.  This week I assembled it and magnetized it and got it all ready for paint.  I give you, the Tau Riptide!

Last but most certainly not least, while I was home GW released what is, in my opinion, the sexiest plastic model kit they have ever produced.  I had to have one just to paint and happily dropped the $115 for it.  I got the Eldar Wraith Knight assembled and magnetized over the last two nights and am really happy with it.  I hope to get it done before I leave.

As you can see, between getting everything boxed up and ready to leave the desert and my hobby projects... I'm a busy Syko.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Tonight my uber hawt wife and I will start our journey to the states and will be home for a month.  As a result I'll likely not be posting much during the next 30 days.

In hobby news, I worked on my World Eaters vehicles and Contemptor the other night but didn't get as much done as I would have liked.  I also ran into a major issue.  While I was doing the weathering on the Contemptor, the paint and primer in a few areas started coming off and I was left with bare resin in about three places that I could see.  I think I may strip the model when I come back and start over.  The Rhino and Predator didn't seem to have the same issue so they will get finished when I get back.

While I'm home I'm going to try to get some games in at my FLGS and go see many friends around the country.  I'm also going to be spending a few hours at Wargames Con in Austin and hope to meet a bunch of new people while I'm there.

See you in a month.

~Syko