Vikings!!!

Since I hadn't painted for something like five months, I thought I'd start out with something light for my return to painting.  I've had these three half-finished vikings sitting on the side of my painting table for something like eight months - I thought I couldn't screw them up too bad...

They are all from Wargames Foundry, from one of their hordes deals I picked up ages ago.  The shield decal is from Little Big Men Studios, which I have never used before.  It didn't sit exactly right on the shield, but looks okay.  I'll get used to using them, well hopefully I do as I have a lot of them.  ;-)

Sorry for the crappy lighting - I'm still working out where to set up my photography table.

I think some of the inspiration toward completing these has come from my reading some viking books as of late. 

 

I read all of the Viking trilogy.  They were okay...it kept my interest but it didn't really do it for me.  

 

 I wanted to like The Whale Road...but didn't.  I made it about a quarter of the way through it and then gave up on it.  I don't know if it was his style of writing of what, but it just wasn't my thing.

But there was one book that REALLY got my viking juices flowing....

I wasn't expecting much from Viking Dead, but I ended up loving it!!!  Lots of good fight scenes - the boat-on-boat fighting in this one part really stands out in my memory.  The ending caught me totally off guard, but I dug it.  Read it and let me know what you think.

On my painting desk right now are three more vikings and some Infinity Haqqislam models.

Man Cave Complete!!!

I'm finally back home for a while!  Woo!  And my man cave is complete!  Wooooooo!  :-)

 

It's still a bit messy as you can see.  I just finished building a shelving unit to hold the company miniature stock, which will make my life a lot easier.  I bought a display cabinet today and will try and get it assembled tomorrow.

Prepped on my painting table are some new miniatures I purchased while I was up north at work.  There are some Empire of the Dead, Secrets of the Third Reich and Fistful of Kung Fu miniatures prepped and being spray painted right now.  Hopefully I'll have pictures of some newly painted miniatures up in the next couple of days.  Now to figure out where put my photography table...

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver (Book Review)

Hello!  It's been a long time since I posted here and it's not because I haven't been wanting to!  I'm still stuck working out of town.  :-(

Hope is near, though.  I have a regular cross-shift coming out shortly and will be actually able to spend time at home soon.

Even better news is that MY MAN CAVE IS COMING!!!   Wooo!
The construction guys have started working on it and will hopefully be completed in a few weeks.

A quick update - I listened to Dark Matter by Michelle Paver on my phone (with the Audible app).

A good mix of spooks and atmosphere, I enjoyed this book very much.  It's one of those stories that sticks with you days afterwards and I had the ship captain's "Ja" (said while intaking breath) in my head for weeks!  That speaks volumes as to the narrator's skill, whose character voices were enjoyable to listen to.  It's a slow-building spooky story, so don't expect things to be jumping out at you all the time.  It's worth the wait though, the parts when he is alone in the cabin is creepy as hell!

Shadows in the Mist

One last post before I leave for three weeks.  I just finished Shadows in the Mist, a novel by Brian Moreland. 

It was one of those books where I had a hard time putting it down.  I finished it in a few days, and stayed up later than I should have in order to read just a little more!  

For those of you who like Weird War II, this book is for you.  I won't spoil it, but the concept is pretty cool and it's suspenseful and action-packed.   You really get to like the characters and care about them.  Moreland is a great writer and I've read a few of his works now.

 

2013 in Review

2013 was a good year for miniature painting and gaming!

I did more painting last year than I ever have!  My output really increased when I stopped worrying about getting it just right, and to just enjoy myself.  I like that sense of accomplishment when you finish a miniature or get that last unit done before a game!

Here is what I wanted to accomplish last year:


Plans for 2013 are:

1. Keep painting the Gothic Horror-themed figs - Accomplished!  I have more gothic miniatures painted now than I ever thought I would get done!
   
2. Playtest the horror ruleset I've been working on for my company, Harwood Hobbies - Didn't get this one done.  I made some progress on the rules but that's about it.
   
3. Finish my accounting course asap and get out of my current job - Accomplished!
   
4. I'm considering starting and Indiegogo campaign to get the miniatures I had sculpted a few years ago into production and put onto the website.  All I'm lacking is the funding for production, so shouldn't cost too much to finish off.  I think this will be a go for 2013, but will have to finish my course first to get the time to do this. - Didn't get this done, but am seriously thinking of doing a cultist kickstarter (see below for more details).  I did scrape up the funds to get the previous sculpts cast up and have the master castings and half of them painted by Simon.
   
5. Work on my 15mm Assyrians - I've started this and hope to have all of the miniatures completed by the end of the year - Didn't get this done.  I'm not saddened by this as I got a ton of miniatures painted last year.  I'm still interested in getting these done so they go on my list for 2014.
   
6. Try to keep a budget of $50-75 a month on miniatures - I SO didn't accomplish this!  ;-)  With the new job paying a lot more and me burning through painting the miniatures I spent more than this budget for last year.  

Plans for 2014:

• Finish my 15mm Assyrians.  I really want to get this done this year!  I have all the miniatures and the bases, but just need to get them painted.

• Have the Gothic Horror rules playtested.  I have it mostly done, but just need to polish it up.

• Get the Cultist Kickstarter going!  I have a few miniatures sculpted already and would like to get the funding necessary to make a good sized variety of them.

 

• Finish my French & Indian Wars force(s).  I have all of the miniatures and have got about 10 or so painted, but I'd like to have a good sized force done by the end of the year.
• 6mm Modern & WW2.  My wargaming friend has recently gone to only 6mm, so I will have to work on finishing up my modern Soviets and start on a WW2 force - probably German.
• I have a hankering for Weird War II - I'll probably work on getting some of those done this year too.

Of course, most of this depends on me getting my man cave finished - the longer it takes to get done, the less painting I will do.  So depressing!  ;-)

All in all it was a pretty good year for gaming!  I'm extremely happy with my painting output over the year, the highest it's ever been!

I'll be going up to northern BC for work on Monday, so I will be away for three weeks this time.  They're short staffed, so I have to work more - but that means more money for me!  :-)

The Tractate Middoth on BBC

Last night I had a chance to watch the new video of the M.R. James story The Tractate Middoth. 

I thought it was a very good adaptation of the short story, with lots of atmosphere and memorable characters.  Of course there isn't ever going to be a movie that completely replicates the story exactly, and this version has its bits that doesn't jive with the original.  Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend you spend a half hour of your time and get into some M.R. James goodness!  :-)

Moving!

Sorry everyone, but there will be a lack of updates in the near future.  We're moving to a new house and I won't have the man cave in order for a while.

Have a great Christmas Everyone!  :-)