In keeping with the new direction of this blog, I thought I'd take a minute to describe some of the stuff I've been working on and where I'm headed with my hobby.
First, I can breathe a huge sigh of relief, as my computer is back in working order. I had a true bastard of a problem that was finally resolved and let me say that I am readily ashamed at how big of an impact the downtime had on my efficiency and attitude with regards to my modeling and painting. I got a lot of work done, and felt great about what I had done, but the entire time working I had this unshakable sense of my missing computer, and how inconvenient things had become for me. Boo Hoo, right?
Anyway, it's fixed and now I just have to find a missing camera charger so I can get some damn photos of my works-in-progress in this space.
Speaking of which, the workbench has hosted a number of different jobs this week, from hired guns (bounty hunter, PDF deserter, ratskin scout) to gangers (three OI-FU members) to terrain (a wall with gate and watchtower, a couple of ruins/barricades from foam packing materials) and the results so far have been really enouraging.
I've tried some new techniques on the bounty hunter - I did a pseudo-German-style camoflage pattern on the trousers, which turned out really well - and a County Cork tartan pattern on an OI-FU member - which, to my chagrin, looked like crap and eventually was painted over.
I've also been making heavy use of the Payne's Gray wash technique in my miniature painting and terrain. For those of you not familiar with this method, it's pretty straightforward and easy to acheive great shading and definition from a simple basecoated model. If I can get myself organized I might try to do a quick tutorial writeup here to show the method and the results it can yield even for an amateur painter like myself.
For those more eager readers, check out Dakka Dakka's tutorial section. There's some amazing stuff there.
The OI-FU will finally be revamped and ready for play for the meetup on July 12 - I'm in the home stretch, and it's a good feeling. It's been far too long a road for this project, and I just hope the end result looks worth the wait. The members Liam the Shootist, Cillian, and "Chickenhawk" James are almost complete, they need to be detailed and fixed to bases, and that's that, save for painting and attaching weapons to the whole of the gang.
The terrain work is tending towards the post-apocalyptic, for several reasons. First, I LOVE ruined and/or abandoned buildings; there's a massive opportunity for playability, details, and dark humor. Second, while I am a current fan of Necromunda and don't plan on giving up the game any time soon, I recognize that other games exist and that I may want to give them a shot. Therefore, I don't want any blatant "hurrrr GAMES WORKSHOP hurrrrr" stuff strewn about. I'm trying to build it all from scratch. I've looked at sources like Fallout (1-3), 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead (2004), I Am Legend, Left 4 Dead, Mad Max/The Road Warrior, , etc. where society has just stopped, leaving the infrastructure to die a slow death.
The result of this sudden (often violent) halt is recognizable-yet-drastically-different versions of things like roads, apartments, houses, offices, etc. as well as the patchwork shantytowns that might crop up. Especially interesting to me is the variety and juxtaposition that can occur where purpose-built structures are modified or adapted to fit a new use or role. It's great to think of, say, a sandwich shop that's had its windows smashed, with tables upended and used to secure the building against raiders, or undead, or what have you. Or the burnt-out high-rise whose third floor has been equipped with a sandbagged machine gun bunker out the window, ready to repel a direct assault.
At any rate, the table I want to play on looks like any number of societies and cultures have moved through/fought over/scavenged/settled the ever-loving crap out of the area, leaving their mark in the form of soaring towers and gutter-cities, with bullet-holes, crashed vehicles, and craters to mark the changes of power.
Okay, that'll do it for me for now. Feel free to remark on your ideas of hobbying, gaming tables, whatever comes to mind, and maybe I'll get a few ideas out of the exchange.
Cheers.
02 July 2009
29 June 2009
New Happenings!
Necromunda in Reno is still alive and doing pretty well, if my thoughts on the subject are to be believed.
The game mentioned in the last post went really well as a refresher for our existing group members, and as an introductory game for a potential new member. A friend of one of the members has played Warhammer 40,000 in the past (he mentioned playing games a number of years ago), and he got a taste of a Necromunda game, playing my Cawdor gang Nex Manus Imperator against the Delaque gang KFC's Voodoo Posse. The result was a four-round loss for the new guy and NMI but he enjoyed himself immensely and we had a good game all around, the four of us helping to explain the game mechanics and make suggestions, as well as talking a fair amount of trash and cracking jokes.
Hopefully this will be a more or less permanent addition to the club roster. In addition to this new player, I've gotten word from a couple of Necromunda gamers in the area who just got started playing and have expressed interest in meeting up to have a game or two. With this in mind, I'd like to extend the invitation to other interested gamers in the Reno-Sparks area (or further out if you feel like making the trip).
Our meetup will be taking place at Heroes Hobbies and Games on Baring Blvd. in Sparks, NV, on Sunday, July 12 between 4:00pm and going until closing time at Heroes (about 9:00). We're hoping to get two games running at once, but we will run at least one game regardless of turnout. If you are interested in joining us, I'd love to know about it, so feel free to leave a comment for me here at the blog with some contact info, and I'll try to coordinate as best as I can.
Our group has four table-ready gangs available along with a handful of creatures, hazards, and hired guns, but if you have a gang available (table-ready or not) please bring it along, as well as rosters, notes, etc. I hope that this gaming session can serve as a bit of a recruitment Q&A as well as a meet-and-greet/orientation, so even a casual interest in the game is welcome.
Well, that's it for the time being but keep an eye on this blog. I'm having problems with my PC at home, but once that's sorted I hope to post up more frequently and include some workbench photos as well as proposed "permanent" hired guns and other rules ideas I've been mulling over.
Cheers!
The game mentioned in the last post went really well as a refresher for our existing group members, and as an introductory game for a potential new member. A friend of one of the members has played Warhammer 40,000 in the past (he mentioned playing games a number of years ago), and he got a taste of a Necromunda game, playing my Cawdor gang Nex Manus Imperator against the Delaque gang KFC's Voodoo Posse. The result was a four-round loss for the new guy and NMI but he enjoyed himself immensely and we had a good game all around, the four of us helping to explain the game mechanics and make suggestions, as well as talking a fair amount of trash and cracking jokes.
Hopefully this will be a more or less permanent addition to the club roster. In addition to this new player, I've gotten word from a couple of Necromunda gamers in the area who just got started playing and have expressed interest in meeting up to have a game or two. With this in mind, I'd like to extend the invitation to other interested gamers in the Reno-Sparks area (or further out if you feel like making the trip).
Our meetup will be taking place at Heroes Hobbies and Games on Baring Blvd. in Sparks, NV, on Sunday, July 12 between 4:00pm and going until closing time at Heroes (about 9:00). We're hoping to get two games running at once, but we will run at least one game regardless of turnout. If you are interested in joining us, I'd love to know about it, so feel free to leave a comment for me here at the blog with some contact info, and I'll try to coordinate as best as I can.
Our group has four table-ready gangs available along with a handful of creatures, hazards, and hired guns, but if you have a gang available (table-ready or not) please bring it along, as well as rosters, notes, etc. I hope that this gaming session can serve as a bit of a recruitment Q&A as well as a meet-and-greet/orientation, so even a casual interest in the game is welcome.
Well, that's it for the time being but keep an eye on this blog. I'm having problems with my PC at home, but once that's sorted I hope to post up more frequently and include some workbench photos as well as proposed "permanent" hired guns and other rules ideas I've been mulling over.
Cheers!
19 June 2009
OOC - A Change of Pace
Hello again any steadfast readers...
After another several months of no updates, I wanted to announce some recent developments.
First off, the current narrative of Sump's Drift has been delayed to the point of fragmentation and after consulting with the other gamers in the campaign, we've decided to reset the scores and start again. We'll keep the setting and main plot, but this time around we're more sure of the direction we want the campaign to go and we all feel that it will be easier going this time around.
Second, this blog is going to change along with the campaign. Past blog entries have dealt almost exclusively with In-Character accounts and had little to say during downtime, which I have to admit is where most of the work and development took place. I'm looking at this "reset" as a chance to redirect the blog to accommodate the work that goes on behind the scenes, including looking at modeling, sculpting, terrain builds, thoughts on gaming, and ideas for Necromunda in general. I want to keep this blog going but it was a lot of work to maintain the character of the storyline without getting burnt out. This way I can throw in battle reports as they come, but in the meantime I will be posting WIP shots, completed pieces and models, and ideas for characters that come up between games.
Third, our group is FINALLY free to have a game this weekend, so we'll get at least a few pics of our meetup into the blog. Hopefully the few of you who still pop in to see what is(n't) happening will get a bit of a surprise.
So to sum it all up, the blog will be changing but I think the new direction will untimately be for the better. I'm not expecting a massive following or anything, but it'll be nice to take a broader look at this hobby and all it encompasses.
Cheers,
The Sump's Drift Campaign
After another several months of no updates, I wanted to announce some recent developments.
First off, the current narrative of Sump's Drift has been delayed to the point of fragmentation and after consulting with the other gamers in the campaign, we've decided to reset the scores and start again. We'll keep the setting and main plot, but this time around we're more sure of the direction we want the campaign to go and we all feel that it will be easier going this time around.
Second, this blog is going to change along with the campaign. Past blog entries have dealt almost exclusively with In-Character accounts and had little to say during downtime, which I have to admit is where most of the work and development took place. I'm looking at this "reset" as a chance to redirect the blog to accommodate the work that goes on behind the scenes, including looking at modeling, sculpting, terrain builds, thoughts on gaming, and ideas for Necromunda in general. I want to keep this blog going but it was a lot of work to maintain the character of the storyline without getting burnt out. This way I can throw in battle reports as they come, but in the meantime I will be posting WIP shots, completed pieces and models, and ideas for characters that come up between games.
Third, our group is FINALLY free to have a game this weekend, so we'll get at least a few pics of our meetup into the blog. Hopefully the few of you who still pop in to see what is(n't) happening will get a bit of a surprise.
So to sum it all up, the blog will be changing but I think the new direction will untimately be for the better. I'm not expecting a massive following or anything, but it'll be nice to take a broader look at this hobby and all it encompasses.
Cheers,
The Sump's Drift Campaign
28 April 2009
OOC - Status
Well, it has admittedly been quite a while since our campaign and blog have seen any attention. Thanks mostly to real-life commitments and busy schedules on the part of all of our campaign members (of which there are, after all, only 3) as well as conflicts in the distribution of spare time throughout, we've not had a game in two and a half months.
Unfortunately this trend is likely to continue for another few weeks, as I deal with work and the other campaign members focus on college finals and massive projects at work.
Fortunately, I have been able to eke out a bit of work on modeling, painting, and building of models and terrain pieces, and I plan on uploading some photos of this stuff over the next few days, if not tonight.
Future plans for the campaign include:
Thanks to any and all persistent readers, and updates to the blog will resume fairly soon.
Unfortunately this trend is likely to continue for another few weeks, as I deal with work and the other campaign members focus on college finals and massive projects at work.
Fortunately, I have been able to eke out a bit of work on modeling, painting, and building of models and terrain pieces, and I plan on uploading some photos of this stuff over the next few days, if not tonight.
Future plans for the campaign include:
- Enforcer squad from our member who ran the Voodoo Posse
- Armed Response/Security Team conversion project
- Newly-reworked Orlock Iron-Forge Union gang
- Lots of terrain painted up and included in bat-rep pics
- More bat-reps, new threats to Subsector 19, and hired gun NPC system
Thanks to any and all persistent readers, and updates to the blog will resume fairly soon.
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