Strange Aeons: Best Soundtracks

ia! Aw-yea! Cthulhu is fhtuckin' rockin'!!!

As I've been working on Strange Aeons models, reading Lovecraft and generally making To Do lists for Strange Aeons terrain, I have also found some pretty damned good soundtracks for inspiration. Where Akira, Glory, Halo and Band of Brothers were my go-to for playing my Imperial Guard, I caught myself casting nets upon Spotify for eldritch soundtracks and what clamored aboard is well suited to the quasi-sane sound-scape of horrific madness.

Here's what I have so far, in no particular order. Feel free to suggest and I'll update the list. The list is Spotify-friendly...

1. Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer
2. Van Helsing,  Alan Silvestri
3. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Wojciech Kilar
4. Third Eye Open: A Tribute to Tool
5. Sleepy Hollow, Danny Elfman
6. Pictures at an Exhibition, Modest Mussorgsky (Prague Symphony Orchestra)
7. Fargo Soundtrack
8. There Will Be Blood Soundtrack
9. Gangs of New York Soundtrack 
10. Master and Commander Soundtrack
11. Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack  
12. The Mummy Soundtrack Jerry Goldsmith
13. Independence Day Soundtrack Nicholas Todd
14. Jurassic Park, John Williams
15. Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2, Hans Zimmer
    
16. Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3, Various
17. The Aviator Soundtrack Howard Shore
18. Blackhawk Down Soundtrack, Hans Zimmer 
19. Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack, Hans Zimmer
20. Master and Commander, Christopher Gordon, et al 
21. Captain America Soundtrack, Alan Silvestri
 

 

Battlefleet Gothic: Hashing Things Out

After a few small games I realized that for me, I dislike the Battlefleet Gothic Bearing Compass. I don’t dislike others using it, I just get tired of using the compass and accidentally nudging a model. I tend to use a laser level for movement too, so hash marks seemed smart and could speed up my turn while taking a bit of the fidgetiness out of the game.

The problem was I have a ton of ships already finished so I had to come up with a way of making the marks in a clean fashion. I played with masking with frisket paper (too risky), print decals (looked bad) and gluing on raised dowel (too laborious.)

In the end I went with a chisel point Sharpie and a template jig I had laid out in Photoshop.

I printed out the template on heavy stock and then cut the square out. I then tacked it to a manila folder. 

I connected the lines of the template across the manila, to help line things up better. I made a register’s mark forward, for the bow of each ship.

Using the cut out of the square from the template, I removed one triangle to make a line guide for the marker. I painted it grey-green so I could see the template on the dark base. I put my register marks on there so I could use it on small and large bases. From there, gaming nature took its course.

Since the bases were Dullcote'd and matte, the sheen of the Sharpie ink sorta pops but you could dull coat that if you wanted. It occurred to me halfway through the Chaos fleet that I could’ve used a Red Sharpie for a more opaque ink that would’ve been purple over the deep blue of the base. I may do that for the Eldar ships or just keep it consistent, not sure right now.

Overall, I am pleased. I wasn’t crazy about losing some of the blend-in-ability of the bases to the hash marks but they are definitely more enjoyable to use in a game and still look clean enough that it doesn't pull away from the paint jobs too much.

Here's a shot with a lot of flash so you can clearly see the hash marks.

More pics can be found in my Photobucket: http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/ap3xg3rm/General%20BFG/

Eldar Abyss 3: Meh

Well, the color matching went well on the Battlefleet Gothic Eldar ships (see Eldar Abyss 2, below) and then I added the iridescent tinting medium to the sails, expecting that would pull it all together. I'm crestfallen. I think the medium would probably do its job best when mixed into the paint instead of a skim coat. As it stands, it is a subtle effect and really understated compared to the pop of the bright green sails. I'm still leaning towards the purple scheme though.

Opinions?

Battlefleet Gothic: Torpedoes

 I got my hands on some first-gen BFG ordnance sprues which I think may have been early versions of Chaos fighter craft, as they were shown in the first Warp Storm and seemed lined up as a flight of fighters, not torpedoes, in the picture. The casts were so bad I just turned what I could into torps for the game. Nothing fancy, but nice to have.

Eldar Abyss 2

Dice color? MATCHED.

Eldar Abyss

I had originally intended that my Eldar ships look like the "UFO's" from The Abyss but by choosing green for the solar sails, I moved away from that. While looking at the Necron fleet sitting in a box I realized that I had crossed the streams, so to speak, in using GW's Scorpion Green with the Eldar. I was planning on using that for "Necron glow" when I paint the 'Cron fleet.

My buddy Joe knows that I have this obsession with finding dice sets that match my army color schemes and true to form, I picked up a cheap Chessex set that matches my Eldar fleet scheme well. Seeing the purple/blue/mother-of-peal dice was a hint to maybe try and tie the scheme back toward The Abyss.

To that end, see the color matching tests I did off of the Chessex dice above. It's a tricky match because you have to get the tones right one level up on the value table, to account for it coming down again when I add the iridescent tinting medium on top, which adds a lot of sheen and that mother-of-pearl look. I'm going to do up a test Eldar frigate in the paint method above but then paint the solar sails in these matched colors instead of green and see what it does for the overall look. After that test ship is done I'll post it and you guys can let me know which you prefer.

Add clever Space Marine vs Eldar caption here.

Battlefleet Gothic: Virtual Planetoids

Forge World or Death World

Next up, some planets for BFG. These were originally made by an old friend named James but they were really busted up by the time they got to me, so I repaired, remounted and repainted them. The Earth-like planet only had mild touch ups and embellishments but the Forge World and Penal World were complete repaints. The Forge World/Deathword was just a meteor but I painted lava onto it for some jazz hands. Each of these are mounted on standard bases.

Agriworld

Penal World

Battlefleet Gothic: New Year, New Fleet

Happy New Year!

I finished this battlegroup over the Christmas holiday break and sealed them on New Year's Eve. At some point I know I want to add another paint feature to the ships, like painted running lights, but I met my goal of a Navy fleet before the year was out, so I'm happy to have them as-is for now.

The Phoenix, a Mars Class battlecruiser, amidst an Eldar raiding force.

BFG: 1K Point Eldar Fleet Done

Here is an Eldar fleet I finished up last night. It comes in around 850 points without compulsory Pirate Captain/rerolls and is a mix of what I think works well and what I actually own. With the Pirate Captain and 2 re-rolls, this list is an even 1k pts. From the top, clockwise: a Shadow class cruiser, a flight of Nightshade missile destroyers, an Eclipse carrier cruiser and a flight of Aconite frigates.

On the priming stand is another Eclipse and a Void Stalker to up-point the group to about 1500 points.

From there I have another Shadow cruiser, more escorts and another Void Stalker to run out at some point.

WTF WIP: Eldar Fleet

Stand to and prepare to be bored! Engage Eldar Poetry Slam!

I have no idea why I am painting Eldar ships. With so many other things more practical waiting to be done than space elves for a game nobody will play with me... well... it doesn't make sense.

But, I do like painting them and the gratification is pretty instant since BFG can paint up quickly and I can make starship noises in my basement for a reason, unlike the other times. Church is awkward in that way too.

So with the Shadow cruiser already done and the Eclipse plus escorts almost finished I guess I can hook up a brother with that mission when the Eldar come to the Imp's rescue vs. Chaos.

The 2011 Eldar Poetry Slam will feature appearances by Big Daddy Mensha Khaine, Adam Hicks, Sabrina Le Beauf and special guest host, Langston Hughes in a Spirit Stone

Battlefleet Gothic WIP: Eldar

I inherited a box of BFG from my buddy Wil less than a year ago. In it were "some Eldar ships." Yeah, I did the math last night, there's almost 5000 points of Eldar fleet in the box, most of it still in blister.

So, in addition to the Chaos and Imperial fleet I have in process, I did a test Eldar Shadow cruiser to get the color scheme/paint list figured out. I'll probably get it to tabletop quality since that is the only hope I have of any of it being painted to completion as a fleet. That said, I like the scheme. It's easy, fast and reproducable since it is mostly drybrushing 3 distinct colors and no mixing colors at all. The highlights on the solar sails is thinned white painted along the edges and then the Scorpion Green basecoat glazed over it again.

BFG WIP: Terminus Est WIP

A’ight, The Est is coming along. I pinned the old raptor jump packs to the hull which was a fussy pain in the arse.

Today I’ll add some green stuff/bitz details to the gap aft of the stem, cover up the pins with some green stuff Nurgle sacs on the "wings" and then it’s off to primer land this weekend.

And…

I tell you, the stuff a guy gets into waiting for a Valkyrie kit he ordered to show up....