Print Story Leveraging Synergy July 14-July 20
Wizards and Hobbits
By atreides (Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 10:51:18 AM EST) (all tags)
More building and painting.  Will it ever end?


Well, it was close, but still a fail this week.  I was just too occupied to flock anything this week.  On the upside, I accomplished the other 2 parts of my goal for the week...

I did, in fact, paint my remaining wall section and I built those two side towers.  Heck, I even painted them so now I have a really awesome looking city wall thing.  I'm thinking that maybe I should make some kind of gate house since a wall is useless unless you have a way to enter through it.  That and I'm thinking of making a damaged, partially collapsed wall section because it might look interesting. 

My flock making project has slowed a bit.  I have two batches, one green and one white, to finish before I should make anymore.  I wish I knew where to find an old school flour sifter.  You remember?  The ones with the big can and the trigger/lever that would sift a bunch of flour at a time?  That would be awesome for this. 

The 40K campaign I'm playing in is winding to a halt.  One of the players has accomplished the big objective and the only way to stop him from winning is to make the guy right on his heels win instead.  Unfortunately, I lost because instead of going after the main objectives more aggressively, I tended to get into more fights.  Once it got to a certain point, I was so far behind score wise that it was all but impossible to catch up again.  Oh, well.  I will consider that an object lesson for the future.  We're planning on having an Apocalypse game (one of the really big games) to put the cap on the campaign and then we're going to switch to 5th Ed.

On another note, I played my first 5th Ed game Saturday.  It wasn't bad for a teaching game.  I foresee certain problems that will arise in 5th Ed.  Horde armies are going to be king, I think.  There are going to be fewer wins and more draws.  The new line of sight rules, while alright for beer and pretzels play, are going to be a problem.  And a lot of people are going to have to make some new terrain because of those rules.  In fact, I'm about to make a hill making tutorial for the play group site for people who might be reading and new into things.  I'll try to do that over the next few days.

Lastly, my goal for this week is to flock a bunch of minis, paint one other thing (building, mini, whatever) and start work on that gate for my big ass wall.  And that's all I think I'm going to say about that.

< Oh oh groans out for ha ha ha | We do the weird stuff >
Leveraging Synergy July 14-July 20 | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 hidden)
Wall and Tower Fashion Don'ts . . . by slozo (4.00 / 2) #1 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 11:11:46 AM EST
 . . . #1: horizontal stripes.

Makes the wall look wider, fatter. Gives it the 'bloated' look. Whatever happened to 'scattered brick menagerie', or even the oh-so-90s 'vertical wooden spikes' look? Ayways, you might want to some up and down patterns to add the appearance of height, in order to thwart the use of ladders and such. As such, the wall looks . . . ahem . . a bit wide in the saddle.

#2: yellow
It might look bright and sunny for a short summer season, but these days, what with long sieges and protracted conflicts abounding, better to go with a more traditional, imposing colour. Earthy reds and browns with a dash of ivy, perhaps. Standard dark greys go with anything. Or, you could even go for this season's hot new look, coyote brown.

Anyways, just an opinion from an old brick and mortar fashionista.

Good advice from Better Homes and Strongholds... by atreides (4.00 / 2) #2 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 11:16:56 AM EST
Add bad lighting first. by nightflameblue (4.00 / 0) #4 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 11:41:17 AM EST
Leds in the center and above each tower. Those big bright ones of weird colors. Maybe make each tower spout a fountain of red light above it too just to be sure it's distasteful enough.

Hellz yeah, I think I just got an idea to make some quick cash.



Having been to Marfa and subjected to Judd... by atreides (4.00 / 0) #5 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 12:33:01 PM EST
...I am more than happy to make money off mocking his work.

He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.

Warhammer Online ... Craft by debacle (2.00 / 0) #6 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 04:08:48 PM EST
I'd love to play, but I have no idea where to start. Most important, is Warhammer as east to play online (pbem) as, say, D&D?

IF YOU HAVE TWO FIRLES THOROWNF MONEY ART SUOCIDE GIRLS STRIPPER HPW CAN YPUS :OSE?!?!?!?(elcevisides).

Where to start? by atreides (2.00 / 0) #7 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 08:32:32 PM EST
Find an army you think is interesting and start buying some.  As for pbem, well, not so much.  More importantly, do you like Warhammer (fantasy large formation battles) of Warhammer 40k (futuristic skirmish/battle)?

He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.

[ Parent ]
40k most likely by debacle (2.00 / 0) #9 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 01:49:04 AM EST
A fan of the necrons. I've read the rulebooks, etc, just not so keen on dropping a couple of hundred just to play the game.

IF YOU HAVE TWO FIRLES THOROWNF MONEY ART SUOCIDE GIRLS STRIPPER HPW CAN YPUS :OSE?!?!?!?(elcevisides).

[ Parent ]
If I may make a suggestion... by atreides (2.00 / 0) #11 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 04:25:13 AM EST
On September 6th, the 5th Edition starter set Assault on Black Reach comes out for around $60.  It'll have some Marines, some Orks and the current ruleset.  Try it out.  You might like the models or the painting or any of that.  If you like it, you may want to spend more.  If you don't, you're out $60 for the set and, if you don't have any paints or anything, maybe another $30-40 on other stuff. 

He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.

[ Parent ]
Plastic or metal? by debacle (2.00 / 0) #12 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 04:29:27 AM EST
I have a thing against painting plastic minifigs, especially ones that cost just as much as metal ones.

IF YOU HAVE TWO FIRLES THOROWNF MONEY ART SUOCIDE GIRLS STRIPPER HPW CAN YPUS :OSE?!?!?!?(elcevisides).

[ Parent ]
In this case, they're plastics... by atreides (2.00 / 0) #14 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 05:54:15 AM EST
...but they're much cheaper than the normal GW costs.  I'm getting the set myself because the Marine half of it alone is worth the cost.  Most of the Necron stuff is metal though some of the more recent stuff (Flayed Ones, Pariahs) as well as the basic line troops can be found in metal.

If you're really trying to not spend any money, GW probably isn't the way you want to go.  You can find deals but it's not as easy now as it was when I started.  I figure I have about 9-10K points of Marines (an average battle is 1500/side, a big battle is 3K/side) and have probably spent about $1000-1500 over the course of 9 years (though some were gifts, etc).  A lot of this was gotten back when you could find things cheap on eBay (before it was a business model) or could get 40% discounts online (before GW nipped that in the bud.

When it really comes down to GW, some of their plastics are worth the cost but much of it is more of a supply and demand thing.  They have a lot of demand, but if they glut the market then they have vast amounts of sales at once, but no sustained buying over time.

If you're really interested in good metal stuff that's not terribly expensive and really interesting to paint, I recommend Confrontation.  I'm a little too beer and pretzels for the system, but the minis were pretty awesome and easily half the price of GW stuff.  I also hear Warmachine is pretty good for price and a lot of fun, but I haven't tried it.  It's more like mech combat.

He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.

[ Parent ]
The city wall... by chuckles (2.00 / 0) #8 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 11:30:52 PM EST
Is this for some sort of model railroad project you're building?

"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin [...] would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities"
Sort of, but different... by atreides (2.00 / 0) #10 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 04:19:04 AM EST
Instead of trains, futuristic armies fight there...

He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.

[ Parent ]
sifter by clock (2.00 / 0) #13 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 04:33:54 AM EST
you should be able to get one at just about any kitchen store.  i see them all the time.  you could also just get a sieve and tap the stuff through.  it works fairly well for flour and powdered sugar.


I agree with clock entirely --Kellnerin

I've got a small sieve and a tealeaf ball... by atreides (4.00 / 1) #15 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 05:57:20 AM EST
...I'm looking for finer and/or easier and faster to use.  One baking try of flock takes hours to sift out into coarse and fine the way I'm doing it.  I figure with a sifter, I could cut time and effort on the basic work in half or better.  I'm just afraid that if I go to a kitchen store, it'll be really expensive and, for this, I don't want to pay that much.  I mean, it isn't for food prep or anything, if you follow me...

He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.

[ Parent ]
I don't know how cheap cheap is in your world. . . by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #16 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 06:22:14 AM EST
But I know for any of my hobbies a good tool is worth well over what this costs, even factoring in shipping. I see dozens of them in that price range on google.com shopping.

[ Parent ]
Whoah! by atreides (2.00 / 0) #18 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 06:39:42 AM EST
Cheap is a number that I haven't really had the time or effort to research yet.  It's been my experience, though, that other than the cheapest most ubiquitous things (pots, baking sheets, knives), anything for cooking is going to be expensive because it's for food and people who want to do such things want the experience as well as the utility or some kind of crap like that.

That being said, <$10 is perfectly fine as far as I'm concerned.  Thanks!

He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.

[ Parent ]
No problem. by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #21 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 07:29:08 AM EST
Google shopping is awesome for stuff like that.

[ Parent ]
true... by clock (2.00 / 0) #17 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 06:23:37 AM EST
...but you do sift flour before you bake your cakes, right?

...right?...


I agree with clock entirely --Kellnerin

[ Parent ]
I would if I baked cakes... by atreides (4.00 / 1) #19 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 06:40:12 AM EST
why do you hate... by clock (2.00 / 0) #20 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 07:13:31 AM EST
...tasty goodness?


I agree with clock entirely --Kellnerin

[ Parent ]
This from the guy. . . by nightflameblue (4.00 / 1) #22 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 07:29:40 AM EST
who used to end every post with "fuck it, who wants pie?"

[ Parent ]
Because, from what I understand... by atreides (4.00 / 1) #23 Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 07:34:04 AM EST
Leveraging Synergy July 14-July 20 | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 hidden)