Stuff

I've been far more busy/active than it may appear from what posts are up lately... although a lot of that has been video games, so I don't know if one would call that "busy" LOL.  Video games, more comics, possible YouTube show, real-life work... you know... the usual.

Finished CCC Yellowjackets Demolitionist

That makes 6 finished, and only 1 left.

M42

Dilemma:  I am in love with the fluff, background, and setting to the Warhammer 40K universe.  I am not in love with the game itself, nor GW's various practices.

So what's a fan to do?  It's been over a month since I aired some of my grievances in this post.  A month and a half of staring at cabinets full of 40K miniatures.  Each shelf reminding me of a particular project unfinished.  They're always unfinished.  Grand thoughts of collecting 2,000 pt. armies turned into buying sprees, then assembled models, then partially painted armies.  Even the models weren't the full 2,000 points most of the time, due mostly to the changing editions and codices.  Changes of those magnitudes meant portions of my already assembled/painted armies were less viable, and sudden additions to codices meant new models, keeping me in a constant state of consumption just to keep up.  Like a Warhammer 40K version of the Red Queen Hypothesis, haha.

I had mentioned before a thought that had occurred to me as a possible solution to this.  I was going to watch and see how GW handles this rules edition.  Will they update all the codices before shifting editions?  If so, I could snatch up the various 6th ed codices and just play 6th ed, regardless of future updates.  Remove the constantly changing environment, as it were, so that progress made in various armies actually felt like progress.  It would be foolish of me to put all my eggs in that basket, though, so let's look at an alternative...

Finished CCC Yellowjackets Incinerator

5 Yellowjackets members complete, only 2 left to go!

Neat projects around the 'tubes

Just a quick post to highlight some of the neat stuff some other bloggers are working on that have caught my eye...

DEI GRECI

Klaus over at Dei Greci has been working for quite some time on this amazing steampunk airship.  The craftsmanship and attention to detail at work here is nothing short of fantastic.  Go check it out.

IDICBeer 40k

IDICBeer has begun work on the Forgeworld model for the Eldar Avatar.  I've had my eye on that model for years now; I love everything about it. Unfortunately for me, back in the day I didn't have the money to buy it... nowadays, the current LOS rules in 40k make the model especially difficult to field, as it gives you a major disadvantage despite how awesome it looks.  Fortunately for me, I get to follow along in IDICBeer's progress and live vicariously through him ;)

Tale of Painters

Garfy over at Tale of Painters has been building a Necron Tesseract Vault that looks absolutely stunning.  I love following the large projects, mainly because I rarely get around to doing them myself.  It's very satisfying to see it come together piece by piece like this.

Fix That Leak!

Based on FTL: Faster Than Light.

One of the things that always struck me about that game stemmed from the fact that your ship's evasion rate drops to zero if the pilot leaves his station (without upgrades, that is), but the same is not true of other stations.  This means that in a battle whenever shit goes down on the ship, the pilot is the last guy you want to send away from his station.  I often imagine him as a lazy asshole because of that, sitting up front, sipping his coffee like a goddamn jackass.

Finished CCC Yellowjackets Sniper

That's 4 down now and only 3 left before the entire Yellowjackets team is ready to deploy!

Crowdfunding Projects

The two crowd-funding projects I mentioned last month are almost done, and both surpassed their goals!  They both close out tomorrow, so this is your chance to hop in last minute!

RAFM's Call of Cthulhu miniatures is well into their stretch goals and they've started adding new miniatures to the line.  Check out this investigator model:

I want that model just to paint, roleplaying game or no.  Here's their link on indiegogo.

Warmachine Tactics is also winding down on its Kickstarter project, and they've more than doubled their stated goal.  I'm happy that not all of the stretch goals are purely related to the video game, as they are known for their miniatures as well.  Check this mini out:

Again, like with the above Cthulhu mini, I'd buy this just for the fun of painting it, period.

Faster Than Light

I was cued on to this game by a friend of mine some time ago on Steam.  It's a fun space-themed strategy game in which you control one spaceship and its crew.  Rather than fly it around like in a sim, you micro-manage the crew and systems in the hopes that you can overcome your obstacles and survive.

FTL has a bit of a reputation as being a brutal game in which you don't "win."  That was partly what encouraged me to try it out.  I love me some Dwarf Fortress every now and then, and trust me: you don't win Dwarf Fortress.  So the idea of a space version of that game seemed kinda awesome.

Finished CCC Yellowjackets Assault Leader

3 down, 4 to go to finish out the CCC Yellowjackets team.  Assault Leader Danny Williams reporting for duty.

If you're curious how I painted him, the process is pretty much the same as that used in the Heavy Assault.

Skyrim

So I got the urge to play some Skyrim the other day (It's been easily over a year since playing it), and I always seem to find myself drawn in to some side quest or another to the exclusion of all else.  Last playthrough I ended up the Archmage of Winterhold and made it my personal quest to find all the legendary masks.  First time through, I literally followed the story quests without any sides.  Ended up being the least interesting route to go.  Flavoring the experience with some side quests seems to make things incredibly more fun for me, at least.

Here's an example.  I started my new game the other day... and after telling myself I'd play as something I'd never played as before, I ended up choosing a Nord and deciding he'll be a warrior who also casts magic (just like every playthrough except the archmage one, lol).  Upon reaching Whiterun, I thought "you know who I never really payed attention to?  The Companions.  Let's go see what they're about."