Bushido Best of the Web #2 and Other Game Updates

I got another Bushido Best of the Web for my recent Bushido board, checkout the link. You can see I did the usual elevated legs feature so there is room for cards, books, figs under the board and it generally makes it nicer to sit and look at, even with LOS checking. I had to spend a lot of time with the trim cut outs around the water features and I definitely learned a few ways to do this better next time, when it comes to trim and finishing.

I hang out on the Bushido the Game group on Facebook, if you are looking for an active, fun scene for all things Bushido. Join us!

I talked with Odin at GCT about the board, which was really, really cool (thanks Odin!) and I used the voucher I got from him to order some 4Ground hovels for the board, which should be sweet and in shortly. I have been wanting to build a board with "teddy bear fur" for some time, so I can start by playing with the fur roofs 4Ground supplies, meant to look like hay or thatch.

Let's see, what else have I been up to?

I made a pig sty for Bushido. Why? Why isn't everyone, really? It is a simple piece that adds difficult terrain, breaks LOS and adds theme. Don't know why but the second I got into Bushido I said I am building a sty. My buddy John said I need to make a drunk villager in there with the pigs. I think I will.

40K: Been played 8th and really loving it, but like a lot of things, not playing it enough. Trying to cast up some custom Chimera turrets and build out two non-heavy weapon squads for some lower point/high-agility objective takers. Oh! Both are armed with Plasma Rifles, having been sent to me as a gift by my buddy Major Downer over at the Imperial Guard Message Boards. If you play Guard in 40k, go check out that community. Thanks for the figs, Major!!!

40K Defense Line: I bought the Imperial Redoubt to go with this old set of Forge World defense line I have had forever. Not really into finishing this all at once but I am chipping away at it. So much Nuln Oil...

Valhallan artillery tractor: This is a Dust model lightly modded to be a light errand lorry. Again, this is a theme piece and looks good with the Valhallans, especially equipped with a handy snow plow for managing the airfields of Hammerfall V.

Scatter stowage/containers: My buddy Joe at Rocketship games offers 3D printed terrain and this set is particularly awesome for 40k, so I did up a set. Joe has a Kickstarter running called Kolony, you should check out. It features great printable terrain suitable for 40K and Infinity. I backed it, so should you!

Valhallan Barracks: I added in some DUST quansets as barracks to boot, easy adds and really dress the board well. Note that I used super glue to add acetate windows, simply letting the fumes of the glue "frost" the windows. I love efficiency. You could also spray the acetate with Dullcote but this was faster and more fun just to see the random frost patterns set up. 

I also snagged a Banebalde kit for US$75 which I should probably build soon. The club usually has an Apocalypse game in January. I guess I should order a second set of sponsons? Gotta get the new Codex to see what load outs there are.

Strange Aeons: Picked up some classic Ral Partha Vampires! I remember lusting after these at the Willow Grove Mall in Pennsylvania in the 90's. glad I finally got my hands on them for Strange Aeons games, not that anybody has a Threshold team strong enough to cope with the Nightstalkers.

Stuffed Fables: I am dying to get this game and paint up that stuff. So, hopefully soon. PDF of rules are free online already! Check it out at Plaid Hat Studios

Imperial Assault: With Legion looming in the distance it is easy to forget I have a lot of IA to paint and play with. At a family function I got into a conversation about Legion killing IA; I don't think it is going to happen, if anything, Legion may drawn in players that don't end up caring much for the scope and hobby demands of Legion games and maybe they go IA, and enjoying that much more. We'll see. I will likely want to start the IA queue for this after I see Last Jedi (got my tix already!)

Robotech: I haven't done much here but pulled out the last of the Regults I need to do to get the base missions going. Looking forward to playing this and painting up some Zentradi female power armor too. I have had this game too damn long to not have played it. Sigh.

As always, follow me on Instagram for more frequent posts on Yeti doings: sarcophagi_yetisyell

Hope ya'll are productive and having fun!

Best,

Yeti

Star Wars Imperial Assault: Han Solo and Shocktroopers

So here is what's great about Imperial Assault from the hobby perspective. The figures have good sculpts and really benefit from some paint... they pop on the board in a really satisfying way. While you can adjust poses and bends with hot water, it doesn't really pay to clean up the models in a complete way that is slightly alarming to a seasoned mini painter; the material is just really hard to work with and trimming flash is like failing a sobriety test. That said, it leaves you in a cool place to challenge yourself to paint fast and try new things since there isn't much to be done about the material used.

With that in mind I have been letting the campaign dictate my painting schedule and so, as we progress through the campaign I usually tackle a few minis a week. For the side mission, "Sorry About the Mess" I needed Solo and an Elite Stormtrooper unit done up. So I simply put them on the table ahead of the impending game and knocked it out.

There is a ton of source material to paint from and that has been a ton of fun for me, instead of the usual fretting about designing color harmonies and sourcing or mixing colors. For the most part, I toned stock colors and built up highlights again.

I had about 2.5 hours to paint Solo and about another night to get the Elite Stormtroopers-Shocktroopers finished. In all, a ton of fun and they look the part on the board. The only real issue I had was the humidity was bonkers in Philly, so the Troopers and Solo got a bit frosted when primed.

Again, I threw caution to the wind and just got it done... pretty happy with the speed and outcome and I am knocking out a handful of figures every week. I have more Stormtroopers on the table along with Kayne Somos and I am mostly done the box set. I will be done the entire box set plus multiple expansions by mid September.

Star Wars Imperial Assault: Chewbacca

My game group played The Spice Job mission Saturday, so I painted Chewbacca up Friday in anticipation. Many people are saying that painted models win games, so it must be true as Chewie was a walking carpet of destruction in the game and seriously fun to paint.

Star Wars Imperial Assault: Painted Figs with Litko Bases and Re-Posed ATST

Here is some more painted Imperial Assault I have been working on the last 2 weeks for our ongoing campaign which I am running with my cousins and my son. These sculpts are fun to paint and have decent detail but clean up could be a nightmare with flash if you are counting on making these showcase paint jobs. So, don't bother. Color adds so much to the game and a tabletop painting standard is more than enough to bring it to life. I added Litko clear bases too, which I really like on these models. I used a jeweler's saw to remove the figures from their bases. I'll close this post with a few other in-game shots.

Gideon Argus

Mak

Diala with brass rod saber blade

Gaar

Stormtroopers and Scout Trooper with EWeb

Imperial Officer

Royal Guard

Darth Vader with brass rod saber blade

Imperial Officer #2 conversion/General Weiss on Foot (Weiss is magnetized at the waist so he can be mounted in the ATST)

ATST, reposed

Weiss mounted in his Experimental ATST

Star Wars Imperial Assault: Gaarkhan

Just a tabletop quality Gaarkhan here to continue with the box game painting... Diala, Gideon and Mak are on the table as well as some of the Imps themselves. I converted the ATST so we will see how that looks in the end, which should be soon. I'm using all of this as a warm up for some Khador I am stuck on.

I was asked if re-basing the figs on clear bases takes a lot of time. Answer: Nope, not really. The only funky fig I ran into with that was getting the feet of the ATST off the base but more on that later. Stay tuned, I should have a few updates this week of the work I have been up too, including some WIP diary from the 6'x8' Libertyhammer airbase board I built last month.