Category Archives: Games

The Trollblood Project Days 4 & 5

Finished Trollblood Armor Close-Up

Days 4 & 5 so far have been a little bit on the slow side. I just wasn’t as into painting these last couple of days due to a death in the family. But I worked on it a little bit and finally got some stuff done.

Day 4, I worked on the Brown Ink  wash and let that sit over night. I wasn’t sure about the wash,  because it came out a little bit darker than I thought it should have, but I let it sit overnight and figured I would see what happened in the morning.

 

The final armor product

Day 5 included the final highlighting. I was still worried about the effects of the Brown Ink wash. Once I started to highlight the armor with Quick Silver, it started to look a lot better.

So, now it’s just drying while I started to primer my army: The Legion of Everblight! This is proving to be a bit difficult, since I live in Washington State and the rain had been off and on for days. I don’t have a place to primer them, except outside, but since it’s been raining like crazy, it’s been a bit of a pain in the butt. However, since there have been a few sunny spots, I am taking advantage of them and primering what I can!

Next up for the Trollbloods: leather work painting. This might be a bit of a challenge, as there seems to be a lot more highlighting for leather work. Highlighting isn’t my strong suit, but I will just try my best and do what I can!

 

 

 

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The Trollblood Project: Days 1, 2 & 3

Primer - Day 1

Previously I wrote that my husband and I are taking a journey into the world of Hordes from Privateer Press. I was really excited about it, but I was very nervous about painting the figures! The first figure I ever painted was a larger Protectorate of Menoth figure, which had larger areas to paint in. These figures are tiny compared to it! So needless to say, I panicked a bit. But after a few quick text messages and a quick counseling session from my friend Tim (who happens to be a pro at painting these things!), I felt a bit better!

So I started by primering the model pieces and then I let them dry overnight. That was day one. Not the most exciting thing to look at, but it needed to be done. I was told the best primer to use was black, as the colors tend to “pop” a little more against the black background. I wasn’t totally convinced of this at first, but the people who told me this had painted more armies than I had, so I shut up, listened and did what they said. (I’m glad that I did.)

Skin Colors - Day 2

 

Day 2 brought on the skin color painting. So I took each of the model pieces and painted the Trollblood Base Color, which is a pretty blue. This was pretty easy and I felt pretty good about it. This photo shows the black primer with the blue skin paint. And yes, the color do “pop” more on the black background, so I was very glad that I listened to wisdom. I did all of the skin base colors on all the model pieces and let them dry over night as well. I wasn’t sure if I would like painting with the blue, but for the trollblood skin base color, this is a great pick.

 

 

 

 

Day 3 (so far): Armor Base and Shading

Armor Base and Shading

The armor base called for a dry brushing technique, which I had never used before. Thank God the Hordes Primal Book explained what this is. (Basically, you put the paint on the brush, wipe most of it off with a paper towel and brush the left over paint on the model in a nice back and forth motion.) So, I did that for the armor base. After that dried, then came the shading. This was the part I was most worried about. I was told previously that my shading and highlighting weren’t that great when I did the Protectorate model. (Granted, it what the first model I had EVER painted, but still.) So I was a little nervous. I started shading just as they showed in the Primal book, but it really wasn’t looking like I wanted it to, so I went back to the dry brushing technique and it turned out MUCH better! The rusty look in the photo above is actually the shading that I did and I am really pleased with how it turned out. To me, when I used the dry brushing technique, it looked more realistic than just outlining the areas.

That’s what I have done on the Trollblood Project so far. Tune in later, so see more painting action!

 

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Welcome to the world of Warmachine

DSC00021

DSC00021 (Photo credit: mutant)

I just bought my first Warmachine Horde army. I am really excited to get them painted and play them. I played a quick demo game of Warmachine and really liked it, so I am pretty excited to start playing it on Monday nights at our local game store, Wandering Havoc.

I purchased the Legion of Everblight. I liked the story behind it and I thought the miniatures were cool looking too. I am not the most skilled at playing heavy strategy games, but I really want to try it out and do the best that I can. I plan on posting pictures of the step by step process of working on my army. But first I have to start on my husband, Brad’s army!

Brad bought the Trollblood warpack and since the store had the paint right then and there, I will be painting his army first. So, I plan on showing a play by play of prepping, painting and eventually playing with the Horde armies.

So, I hope that you will enjoy my play by play of the introduction to Warmachine!

 

 

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World of Warcraft: Who would you pick to play the Lich King?

Cover of "World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise...

Cover via Amazon

If (no rumors yet, just a pondering of mine) Hollywood were to make a movie out of the storyline of the Lich King from World of Warcraft, who would you pick to play Arthas?

I am currently reading Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden and it is really good! I think this storyline would be awesome made into a movie. However, at the same time, I really don’t want Hollywood to mess it up, as they are known to do. So, here’s the question I pose to my fellow WoW players: Who do you think would make a good Arthas?

My personal picks are: Alexander Skarsgard and Wes Bentley are my two picks. Let me know what you think!

 

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Fus Ro Dah for Bacon Lovers

Fus Ro Dah and bacon. Need I say more???

Star Trek Catan

Star Trek Catan

I am really excited to announce that Kosmos, creator of Settlers of Catan , have created a Star Trek Catan. It looks really cool and I can’t wait to play it, however I can’t seem to find either a release date or who is selling it.

I also looked on the Catan website and could not find any information regarding this game, so I am hoping that it is not a hoax.

I really like Catan and it’s really fun to play! Besides, how often can you laugh at “Do you have wood for my sheep?” Just curious, watch this great clip from The Big Bang Theory playing Settlers of Catan!

Steam: or how I came to love PC gaming

Left 4 Dead

Image via Wikipedia

I have never been a PC gamer, I prefer the Xbox or Wii platforms. Back in December a friend of mine bought me Portal and Portal 2  on Steam. I thought I would give it a try. Needless to say, I dig it! The only bummer about Steam is that the ratio of PC to MAC games is kind of weak, but that’s not totally their fault, it’s the developers. So, I had been playing Portal for a bit, when another friend bought me Left 4 Dead. It’s zombies, a little spooky and fun. I found out before I played it that it was a shooter game. (Oh, no!)

Let’s start by saying, I suck at shooters! I am the first person to get fragged in Halo and before I have a chance to respawn, I’m dead again. (Yep, I’ve been teabagged and I am not proud to say that!) So, when I realized that it was a shooter, I was nervous. I suck and I thought I would try it out anyway.

So, I played for about 30 minutes and I discovered that I am good at shooters on PC gaming! I’m still not the best in the world, but I am much better at it on PC than any other platform! While, I’m not quite ready to play Player vs. Player or PvP for short, in Left 4 Dead, I am definitely excited about the party mode! I think I can handle myself well in that arena!

So, if you aren’t sure whether you will like PC gaming or not, try out Steam. The games are fun and affordable and I dig it and I was not a PC gamer before this!

 

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World Of Warcraft Trading Card Game and how I learned to ask for help!

World of Warcraft Trading Card Game

Image via Wikipedia

I am new to the whole trading card game thing, so when the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game got to be more popular at our local game store, Wandering Havoc, I thought “what the hell! Why not!” So that was November 2011. Fast forward to now (Jan 2012) and I still love it! While I am not the best player out there, as I am still learning how it all works, I am getting better and better with each game. I am actually starting to win a few games during tournaments, which never used to happen. The biggest thing I have learned about the WOW TCG is to ask for help. I was missing a lot of easy and killer moves because I didn’t fully understand the cards. So, I ask for help.

As I am not typically one to ask for help, this was a bit daunting for me. But after I did, I learned so much! I even silly things that I would have never thought to ask, like being able to stack abilities. (Which I do like crazy now!) Learning how to build decent and OP (overpowering) decks was fun. I learned to watch my fellow players, especially when they were beating me to see what I could do differently next time.

So, while I’m still not the best player in the world, I enjoy it and I have learned a lot about the game and myself in the process. I’m 106th in the State of Washington (as of Jan 12, 2012) out of 204, so that’s not too bad since it’s the first TCG I’ve ever played!

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Magic the Gathering: The Dark Ascension approaches!

Magic: The Gathering card back

Let me start by saying, I do not play Magic. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, but I like watching other people play and the artwork on the cards are downright amazing! Magic’s upcoming release of The Dark Ascension is right up there with other releases in it’s artwork quality!

The newest feature on this upcoming set is the transforming ability through the card calles Soul Stealer. This allows you to transform your opponent’s creature and then you control it!

All in all, this expansion looks really cool and I will know more about it from my Magic playing friends when it pre releases on January 28th-29th. For more information, or to see just how the transform ability works, head over the here!

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World of Warcraft Trading Card Game: Arena Grand Melee!!!

Arena Grand Melee at Wandering Havoc Games

I had the pleasure of playing in the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game (TCG): Arena Grand Melee on Saturday. Since we had such a big group of people that we ended up splitting up into two groups, led by Ryan Erickson and Brett Robbins (ou fearless WOW leaders). Each table in a free for all against all other players. My table had five players.

What made this game fun were that with each person’s draw a card phase, the Arena Master draws a card from his/her deck. Now these cards can give combat advantages, disadvantages, or just be plain silly. Case in point, at one point we had to phone a friend and the first person to get the person on the phone to say “draw a card” on speakerphone, got to draw an extra card. We also had to stand up for a large portion of the game, or you were out of the game. The other table drew a card that required the first person to touch a card to the ceiling of the room. They jumped up out of their chairs so fast, it was hilarious!

The game was a lot of fun! I ended up winning at my table, which was a total surprise to me, as I never win! So I was pretty happy! The second round was a bit more daunting, as it was a 12 person free for all. It took forever to get to each person’s turn. So, as a suggestion, I would have tables of no more than six or it gets too crazy!

Arena Grand Melee was a lot of fun and I would highly suggest any WOW TCG players to get it for a fun change of pace in your game. We definitely had lots of fun with it!

PS. Forgot one of our other fearless leaders, Ryan Miller! Sorry Ryan!!! :)

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