I’ve never been a big fan of GF9’s tokens, and Privateer Press’ don’t work for me either. Both companies’ designs have some shortcomings that caused me to stay away from their products. At first I used Youngwolf7’s tokens, but by the time I picked up the Legion of Everblight I had started making my own.
Samples, Pre- and Post-assembly
Now that the Forces of Warmachine: Protectorate of Menoth book has been released I finally sat down between applying coats of primer to some miniatures to put together some tokens for my Protectorate force. I still had my set from MkI but enough abilities were renamed for me to decide to redesign a new set instead of using Youngwolf7’s design.
I did a little editing to the graphic used on the Privateer Press gallery page to create the background for my tokens, and added some text layers to create what’s pictured above. I used .75″ cubes or .75″ faux scrabble tiles I picked up at the local craft store to give the tokens some width and heft. They can usually be found in the woodworking and scrapbooking departments respectively. Mosaic tiles are another option, but those are concave and/or have an irregular surface, making these better surfaces for gluing.
Since I started this post talking about the issues I have with the PP and GF9’s offerings, I suppose I should go into a little more detail on what I think makes good tokens.
It’s already that time of year again. In a few short weeks Privateer Press Weekend at DieCon X will be upon us. This year the event will feature another Hardcore event again – the first ever official one for Warmachine MkII. There’s not much time left, but I’m behind on getting prepared. This feels oddly familiar.
I have a few lists I’m tossing around to play, but I haven’t even really settled on if I’m playing the Protectorate or Legion. The Legion models I’d want to use are already painted, but there’s still a few key Protectorate ones – like the Hierophant and Covenant – that I needed to get to.
It’s been a while since I last picked up the brush; maybe even a couple months. Painting has always been an enjoyable hobby for me, but lately it’s always seemed like there’s something else I rather do with my free time. Still there aren’t many chances to play in a Hardcore event, so it’s time to buckle down and get to work.
Lately I’ve been neglecting my painting table – cheating on my models with a different craftform. I put down the pewter in exchange for styrofoam and traded in my paint for some spackle. With a little advice from Ulf of Dice-Speak and Game Fusion Studio, I’ve made an initial foray into the realm of terrain making.
A few initial attempts at hills (and Niska’s Skyplex on TV)
I’ve been painting models for years now but I hadn’t really spent any time on the terrain side of the hobby – there’s always been terrain to play on locally and I preferred painting models to fabricating scenery.
Sites like TerraGenesis have taught me the basics of terrain making but I didn’t have any real hands on experience. But over the course of a few nights with a hot wire foam cutter I put together some basic hills. Nothing major – and still in need of some greenery – but after I was happy with the results I decided to move up to something else I’ve been wanting to build for a while now.
I was expecting to see the Exemplar Errant UA in the new No Quarter, but not a new synergy solo for the unit. Granting Hunter to Errants, as well as having both Hunter and Pathfinder himself, really makes him feel like a Strider Deathstalker type model… but clad in white heavy armor?
Don’t get me wrong, I think this guy has some very nice rules that can be especially difficult for an opponent in scenario play. He can sit just out-of-sight behind/in forests and take pot shots, and since he can sacrifice Errants when he dies, stay in an area far longer than a single 5-wound solo would normally be able to.
I had a request as a comment on a previous article to talk about some basic brush care tips. I’m no expert on the topic but I’ve ruined more than enough brushes to know there are a few traps to avoid in order to keep your brushes in working condition as long as you can.
Keep the Ferrule Clean
Anatomy of a Brush
The ferrule of the brush is where the bristles are glued together and held to the handle. If paint is allowed to work its way up into this area of the brush and dry, it will start pushing bristles outward and causing the tip to start losing its shape. It’s best not to dunk a brush completely in your paint when loading it up for this reason. Overloading a brush makes it harder to control the paint to begin with, but by keeping the paint limited to the tip of the brush you’ll also help keep the ferrule clean.
Clean & Condition your Brushes
Once every so often you should clean and use use brush soap (I use this) to help keep your brushes in shape. I use the soap to clean the bristles, then reshape the brushes, coat them in the conditioning soap, and let them sit overnight to condition. This process will help remove any paint from between bristles and even the occasional bit that escapes up into the ferrule as well as replace some of the oils in natural bristle brushes.
Keep the Bristles Shaped
Detail work requires a steady hand and a sharp brush. While the former can only be developed by practice, the later can be quickly lost if you don’t take care of your brush. In addition to the tips above, make sure you don’t abuse your brush when painting with it. Specifically, stippling or stabbing at a miniature with a brush is going to be a good way to ruin the tip. Drybrushing is really hard on brushes as well. That’s why most painters keep old brushes around to do their drybrushing with. I’ll occasionally run a brush perpendicular to a surface to do something like highlighting the edge of an armored plate, but for the most part make sure you’re painting by dragging the bristles along the surface without torquing them in an odd direction.
Don’t Drown Your Brush
When you store your brushes, store them either with horizontally or vertically with the bristles in the air. Never store brushes tip down. Likewise, don’t leave a brush to soak in water or cleaner bristles down either – this will mash the tip and if you leave it in long enough, start to dissolve the glue in the ferrule.
Brush Caps aren’t Trash
Most decent quality brushes you’ll buy will come with plastic sleeves that slip over the bristles. Don’t throw these away – they do a great job protecting a brush during storage or transport. If a brush is covered with one of these caps, the bristles won’t bend or become misshapen as it bounces around in a drawer, bag, or wherever you’re keeping your supplies. Even if you use a pretty safe storage device where accidents aren’t likely, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Those are a few of the things I’ve picked up the past few years. If anyone has any other tips for painters regarding brush care and/or use, please share!
That’s right; I’m doing it. Even after the last two disappointing Protectorate previews I’m going to talk about my hopes for the upcoming Exemplar Errant Officer and Standard Bearer. Errant themselves are solid, and if the Temple Flameguard are any precedent their UA will boost them into the realm of teh win.
In Mk I, Errant were known for their outrageous point costs but now a Protectorate only pays a whopping 5 points for a minimum unit or 8 for a max. For that point cost you can field an efficient jack-of-all-trades unit with at least one ability to help them fill any roll on the table:
When I upgraded my brushes to Winsor & Newton Series 7‘s a few years ago, I started paying more attention to brush care. With the brushes’ higher cost, I wanted to get as much life out of them as possible. For me that meant keeping an older brush around to do my painting dirty work.
Before I started using the S7’s, I was pretty rough with my brushes. I was guilty of all of the brush sins, including things like stabbing at models sometimes with the brush and letting paint get into the ferrule regularly. While this wasn’t a big deal when I was spending a buck a brush, I knew I had to change my habits with the new brushes, but doing so would slow me down. Lets face it – when you’re base coating, dry brushing, or otherwise just trying to lay paint down quickly, doing things right takes more time.
That’s when I started going to the bargain brushes at my local art store. They’re nowhere near the quality of S7’s, but they have one distinct advantage: the el cheapo factor. For a few bucks I could pick up a couple flats for drybrushing and a few rounds for base coating work (especially for my bases; concrete patch chews up brushes quick!).
W&N S7s (left) and the throw-a-ways (right)
When it comes to layering and detail work, I stick with my good brushes, but if I’m throwing down the first layers – like the black undercoat and Boltgun base coat for metals – I can go to one of my workhorse brushes (as long as they still have a decent tip) to get the job done fast. And when I finally mutilate them past usefulness, I don’t have to feel bad about only needing to drop a couple bucks for replacements.
My painting has been progressing slowly but steadily. Nowadays it seems like I can only spend so much time with the brush before I need a break. But I recently made progress on a handful of miniatures so I figured it was time to add to my (lacking as of late) collection of WIP shots.
Rhoven & Honor Guard
First up is Rhoven and the Honor Guard. I posted some initial WIPs of the Honor Guard a while back and since then I’ve made some pretty good progress. The Honor Guards have actually been sitting mostly done for a little while now while I worked on Rhoven himself.
I’m most happy with the lower portion of Rhoven’s robes so far, but there’s still some work that needs to be done. I’m going to repaint the stole for starters; the highlights were pretty borked when I did them the first time. That and some more general cleanup work should make him ready for sealing.
Ye be warned… For the past 2 years the best players from around the nation have descended on St. Louis to participate in one of the most intense and grueling Warmachine and Hordes competitions known to man and beast, including the first official MkII Hardcore tournament. The St. Louis Riverdogs are pleased to announce our third annual Privateer Weekend at DieCon X June 4th through the 6th. This will be the premiere event for the Midwest prior to Gen Con 2010. Privateer Weekend consists of 3 days of spine crushing, cortex smashing fun coursing over more than 7 events. The terrain is amazing. The competitors are top tier in both skill and personality. Here lies the ultimate in gaming. Featured events over the weekend include a specially designed train event by the Iron Agenda podcast, two Steamroller 2010 competitions, an ongoing Tide of War competition, Iron Kingdoms knowledge tests hosted by Capt. Saultydog, and our main event, the first official Mark II Hardcore tournament on Saturday. If this wasn’t enough, the weekend will also feature various painting competitions and a diorama competition.
Complete schedule and details are available on our site, or keep up to date by following us on Twitter. See all the fun-filled convention activities and preregister at the DieCon home page. Registration for DieCon X is only $26.00 until April 15th. After that, registration increases to $31.00 – still an amazing bargain. Online payments will be accepted via PayPal. Those particpating in Hardcore will have an additional 5 dollar fee which goes towards a personalized 2010 Official Hardcore dogtag. Remember to select “PP Hardcore” under the list of Saturday events to reserve your spot today and enter your requested personalization at that time. Our schedule is listed below…
With the release of Prime MkII, I finally went through my MkI faction decks and gold card collections. They’ve all been packed away into a three ring binder. I’m not sure what use I’m ever actually going to get out of the collection again but my packratitis makes it so I can’t just toss ’em.
The cover is a draft of a flier that was put together for the first Privateer Weekend at DieCon 8. I have a similar one featuring Lylyth that I’ll use when I do something similar for my Legion cards.
In a few days I’ll finally have my hands on my MkII version of my Protectorate cards. Even if I’m not completely happy with the layout and design of the cards, they’ll still be better than playing off of the printouts that we’ve been using since the MkII pdf was released.
