November Output

November was fairly productive, even a few more models finished than the previous month.

4 Skeleton Archers painted, one Leader rebased.

3 Skeleton Catapult Crewmen painted-

5 Revenants/Skeleton Guards painted.

2 Small Tents painted.

1 Mines of Moria Aragorn painted

4 Mines of Moria columns/pillars painted-

1 Warhammer Quest Barbarian painted.

2 Gravestones painted.

1 Mines of Moria Peregrin Took painted.

2 Middle-Earth Rangers painted.

2 more Gravestones painted.

Another 2 Gravestones painted.

Yet another 2 Gravestones painted

1 old Metal Magic Rogue rebased and repainted/paint repaired-

Yet another 2 Gravestones painted.

1 Mines of Moria Meriadoc Brandybuck painted.

1 Ranger of Ithilien rebased and repainted/paint repaired.

If I have counted correctly, I painted 35 models and rebased and repainted/paint repaired 2 old models in November.

That's OK, I think. December will see a lower count, as I have a lot of iconic pop culture characters and other nice stuff lined up in the pain(t) queue, and they will need more attention than some of the rank.and-file I did in November.

New Blog Record

It seems that we are reaching new heights this month. I gather that some of the hits must be from spiders/bots due to the renewed acrivity, but still.

When actively blogging, it's always fun to watch the statistics and try driving up those numbers, so I am pretty pleased to experience this on my second active month after a long hiatus.

Thanks to the readers for showing interest, and ... well, the bots are going to bot, anyway, methinks.

October Output

Taken into account that I came back to the hobby some days into October, I think I have been relatively productive.

Four games played, one of them a solo introduction game, which took me several days to work through, as I had to refer to the rulebook a lot until I had the basics down.

During the week up to the Hell'O'Weekend I prepped, based, and painted up almost an entire sprue's worth of Renedra headstones (17 in all), and a resin pile of skulls I got from a small independent manufacturer some years ago (I sincerely don't remember whom).

These three guys got some TLC and joined my Army of Darkness, hurling stuff at their mortal antagonists.

The archers were a direct consequence of the games I've played, as I felt the need for packing some ranged punch against the mortal instruments of Law and Order.

Finally, this venomous arachnid finally got ready for the table. I started rebasing it onto a large washer a LONG time ago, but in the process of removing from its old plastic base, I broke one of its hind legs, and I kind of dreaded the task of getting it fixed back in its proper place. As it turned out, it was a bit fiddly, but I am pretty chuffed with the final result. It seems that my Undead Host will comprise a Monster Unit next game 😃

All in all 31 minis painted, and one big creature rebased (and quite a few prepping/painting and/or rebasing WIPs on the side). Not too shabby, innit?

Re-furnishing the Study

This is where my Pain(t) Station desk used to be

I have not been doing much on the hobby front lately; first of all because we went on our annual family camping vacation the last two weeks of July, and then because it is so hot here in Denmark that it takes a lot  of guts to do anything but cower in the shadows.

Last weekend though, we spent packing and moving stuff from my late Mother-in-Law's estate outside Haderslev, and I have been busy emptying my trusty old desk in order to replace it with the somewhat larger and nicer desk formerly belonging to my, also late, Father-in-Law.

I also took the opportunity to organize some of the mess along the radiator under the windows (I have placed the bookcase 15-20 cm from the radiator, and as it has legs, I expect some kind of convection to happen when the radiator is on). Some of the figure cases are all but empty, and as soon as I have removed the last minis from them, I shall sell them off to free some space.

I have built another filament spool tower for the Prepping Station. I now have LotR minis on the right one, all kinds of mixed stuff on the other.

Yesterday I finally got the new desk put in place. I can store most of my paints in and on the desk, now, and as the Miniaturicum paint rack fits behind the elevated desktop, I am going to put something underneath it to be able to reach it while working - and I am going to print some racks to sit beside it, as there is plenty of room left.

So, next up is to find some suitable STL models for the extra racks, and boxes or the equivalent to elevate the racks.

In two and a half week we have Lea's postponed confirmation, and I shall be busy making preparations for it (moving stuff out of the living room so we can set up tables for the celebration, tidying up the garden and coutyard, etc., etc....), but after that, I expect to find time to work on the Smials for Frodo's Quest (and other projects).

June Sets Another Record

I would not have thought it possible, had anyone told me three months ago that May and June would see so many hits on this blog, but June saw even more hits than May, and I feel a bit humbled by it.

So, again, thank you all for viewing - it gives me a lot of motivation, which is sometimes much needed, when life, work, and family does not always 'click' as one would like it.

July is vacation time, so expect me to take a break from posting gaming stuff - instead I shall try to get my vacation reports up to date little by little (but this year's planned trip to northern France will probably set me back once more).

May Sets New Record

Last month saw a tremendous rise in the interest for this blog, and I owe my readers a heartfelt thank you for taking the number of pages shown through the ceiling; it is great motivation for me to see that somebody actually find my work interesting enough for taking an extra look - a motivation that is needed for a gamer who has no gaming buddies living just around the corner and thus must do a lot of planning to actually get to play with his toy soldiers (although the addition of solo gaming now means a slightly higher frequency of actually played games).

So thank you very much for viewing - without you I would have no reason for writing this blog!

What a Mess...

For those of you who wonder, what all the fuss clearing the prepping station is about...

Slowly Recuperating

I have been down with a nasty stomach-flu ever since last Monday, and I am only just starting to eat regularly again (hope to be able to resume work Wednesday, had to skip a couple of worknights last week).

Needless to say, my hobby-mojo has suffered badly, and with only a fortnight left before Anna's confirmation, I shall not have much time to spend on gaming stuff until after that event.

Well, at least I finished both the Skeleton Marathon, and a full six-points Viking warband before getting bogged down...

GoB: Argonor's Army of Darkness - Points Recalculated

According to the Living FAQ, the points value for the Skeleton Warrior unit is wrong in the God of Battles rulebook, and should be 10 instead of 8 😒

This means that I now have a Main Force total of 64 points, and still a Command & Support total of 48 points.

What it also means, though, is that my 36 points infantry phalanx is now 40 points 😠 - AND that it is nigh impossible to raise Skeleton Warriors 😡, unless I have misread the rule - which I am going to read again very thoroughly one of the next days.

Blood Eagle: Another Civilian Line-Up

I am busy re-basing minis, so here is a photo of all the objective markers which are ready for the table.

Blood Eagle: Civilian Line-Up

Five objectives ready for Horisont VIII.

Some of you may have noticed the absence of the decorative tablet woven bands that are normally the hallmark of the Dark Ages. It is not because I do not want to decorate these minis, but because I do not have the time to dabble with detail like that, as Horisont VIII happens in only one week from now, and I have more stuff that I need to get ready before that (I may not even manage to finish more than one additional civilian mini, as I have to re-base half a score of minis to be able to bolster the ranks of the defenders, and possibly the relief force, too). I may go back at a later time and pick this or that mini to paint some additional deco on, but for now, plain fabrics will have to do.

Blood Eagle: The Civilians - Status

First four done, at least four more to paint. I may be able to finish another two this week, as I have all of tomorrow, and then the late afternoons the rest of the week (save Saturday, as we have tickets for the local sports club's jubilee event with a show by a couple of well-known Danish stand-up comedians) - and the rest of the minis I have primed do not have a lot of detail to be painted, but mainly plain clothes. The last two will probably have to be base-coated only, as I also have to re-base the Dwarves.

Clearing the Dinner Table

Yesterday, most of my hobby clutter had been moved to the new prepping area in the study/office, and it looked like we would soon once more be able to use the dinner table for its original purpose.

Today, however, I used the table to sort my Tomb Kings purchase from Friday afternoon, and until I have got sufficient boxes for getting them stowed away, the table will stay cluttered...

Reconfiguring my Workspace

Lately, out living room dinner table has disappeared more and more under my hobby-clutter, and as my wife's temper has worsened accordingly, I considered it wise to do something about it.

My dedicated elevated table-top for tinkering with minis and models has been sitting idle on the central table in the study/office/hobby-room for more than a year, and I figured that I should make it accessible, so that I can both prep and paint in the same room.

While waiting for the girls to return from school, and the wife to return from work with the car, so that the girls and I could get on the road to Horsens, I sorted the contents of some boxes from under the table, got rid of some stuff that was not needed any more, and moved the elevated tabletop into the position shown below.

I can now just turn my bureau-chair to switch between the prepping station and the pain(t) station, and one of the lamps on the central table doubles a work lighting and photo lighting (you can see my photo set-up to the right).

And my usual painting set-up. I am going to put up some narrow shelves on the wall for storing some paints, and shall probably get some vertical storage racks from Burn In Designs, if I can figure out which type fit the most kinds of bottles/pots.

Well, I still have some work to do, before the dining table can be used for its mundane purposes, but at least there is light ahead.

Attic Attack IV: The Gaming Parlour

Just a couple of pics to show how far the preparations have come. The small table to the left in the back is reserved for a DreadBall pitch, and the empty table up front can be used for painting/modelling, sitting around drinking beer, eating, whatever (if no games arrive that need the space).

I have not planned for any boardgames, but if participants wish to play such, things can be re-arranged (or I can get a table or two from Harald Nyborg Friday afternoon or Saturday morning)-

Blood Eagle: Status Report

Right now I am at work (night watch), and do not have access to my camera to back this post with a Picture, but I managed to get the vikings (plus a WGF Zulu War Brit infantryman) primed, before we went to a restaurant for dinner (wife's birthday).

Here in Denmark, we have a short Holiday Friday-Sunday, so the next three days I shall probably spend most time with my Family, but I may get to squeeze in a bit of base-coating.


Well, maybe...

Interlude

Well, I spent most of the day sorting out my household accounting/budgetting, and then got stuck in front of the computer reading forum and facebook.

BUT, I also managed to dig out some minis I am going to re-base and paint (at least some of) for the first actual High Moon game - AND, I have also ordered some packs from Foundry to have some stuff to flesh out the town.

Tomorrow, hopefully I should get stuck in and get some work done!