Ultramarines - Everyone's a Critic, take 2

I'm just getting underway with my new Dark Elf army and am very eager to start blabbing about it here. Before doing so however there are a few loose ends I feel I should take care of before getting too far lost into the world of Warhammer Fantasy. First off I realized that it will take some time until I have anything ready to paint for the Dark Elves so I'm leaving the rest of those Frog Fighters to finish over the coming days. I'll just work on them here and there when I have time to spare. No need to rush them after all and I'm rather excited to begin work on the new army.

Next up, I told Thor of Creative Twilight quite a while ago that I wanted to post a review of his list building tool, Command Center. I will still do a full review but it's too good of a resource for me to keep quiet about it any longer. Command Center is a free, online-based army list construction tool designed for use with Warhammer 40k. It's not meant to replace your Codex or do all the work of building a list for you, like Army Builder for example, as you must initially enter the relevant stats yourself. Rather it facilitates working with the saved information to help you adjust and refine your army lists, as well as allowing for easy access to your army rosters whenever online. Most gamers I know want to own a copy of their army's Codex anyways so why then shell out more bucks on something like AB when you can use Command Center for free? I like it a lot and recommend any 40k player give it a try.

Okay, last on my list tonight is the review of Ultramarines: A Warhammer blah blah blah that I promised a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure at this point most of you have seen enough reviews of the movie and could care less about hearing yet another opinion on it. I will therefore try to keep this brief.

Ultramarines is bad and disappointed me as a fan of the 40k background. The movie itself is a real stinker but I still enjoyed watching it. I agree with most of the catalogue of charges made against the film but all of the artistic and technical shortcomings were essentially what I expected. I'm a diehard MST3k fan and so cheesy, B-movie lameness never bothers me and is something I actually enjoy in the right context. On that level I thought Ultramarines was a lot of fun and could make for a very funny, albeit geeky, RiffTrax episode. And I thought there were indeed some genuinely cool scenes too, so it wasn't all bad really.

What truly disappointed me about the film is that it felt so very small and bland. WH40k has such a rich and evocative background, filled with heroes and villains larger than life doing tremendously momentous things. It's a galaxy replete with warfare, the battles of which are epic and can consume entire worlds. Ultramarines had none of this vast sense of scale and hence left me feeling uninspired and decidedly underwhelmed. The other problems with the movie are at least for me forgivable but as a 40k product what I did not like was the overall mundanity of its vision. There was hardly any of the awe-insprining size or craziness that distinguishes Warhammer 40,000 from other science fiction settings. I'm not positive but I think that's why I was ultimately so disappointed by this movie.

Alright, that's it for tonight. Sorry about flubbing this post and initially publishing it after only the first couple of sentences. Oh well, all part of the diceRolla way I suppose. I'm off to glue some elves together... cheers!

"Serenity Now!" and a Frogs WIP

There are days when it feels so very nice to finally sit down, relax, and paint some space frogs. For me this was just such a day after dealing with a myriad of stresses related to our upcoming move. I'm very eager to get started on my new army for WHFB but before I do that, I want to see these Frog Fighters finished. I've really enjoyed painting them and they are truly unlike anything else I've painted before. Using such bright colors has been a treat as I can't even remember the last time I painted anything orange. This has been a fun way to kick off the new year of painting but I'm ready to move on to bigger projects.

These frogmen certainly have their share of problems but I really wouldn't expect anything more from a range of miniatures called Critter Commandos. Looking at them now I am reminded what a pain it had been to clean off their horribly located flash and mold lines. Also there are some odd inconsistencies with the sculpting itself. For example, half the frog warriors have pupils already sculpted onto their eyes while the other three frogs have smooth eyes without any detail. Further, the two heavily armored frogs have significant and obvious differences between them. Maybe it's intentional, like one of them is wearing an older generation of armored suit, but considering the other shortcomings of these miniatures I suspect this would be an overly generous explanation.

Even with their strange blemishes I still really like these miniatures. It's also been fun thinking about how I can incorporate them into the gaming side of my hobby. As I mentioned previously, I believe Killzone, available for download from Galaxy In Flames, offers the greatest potential for quirky miniatures like these and so that's where I've focused my attention. I currently favor playing them as Space Marines because the equipment matches nicely (guns, jet pack things, full bodysuits), so that way the bigger guys could be used as Terminators as befits their larger bases. Also I think it would be the simplest option considering how familiar most people are with Space Marines and the way they perform on the tabletop, making it easier for opponents to handle this particularly unusual counts-as situation.

I'm now happy with the plans I have in mind but I'd love to hear any other suggestions on how I might make use of these miniatures. They are destined to appear in only the friendliest of friendly games so I don't really anticipate any problems, though I do prefer to take as reasonable of an approach as I can. I have a few other sets of Critter Commandos currently packed for the move which I'd like to work on later this year. With them I'll be able to provide the Frog Fighters with a number of loyal allies as well as an appropriate group of enemies for them to battle against, the dreaded Ratzi Menace.

I look forward to keeping this project handy for when I need a short interlude from my more serious painting interests. I aim to finish these miniatures in a day or two and should then be able to settle into a comfortable hobby groove. That's the plan at least, we'll see how it works.... Until next time, happy gaming!

Frog Fighters WIP

When I started this blog one of the main purposes in doing so was to use it as a way of keeping track of my painting notes. I've had notebooks for this before but have done a poor job in the past of hanging on to them or using them consistently. Since I like to skip around with my projects and always have a number underway at any one time, not keeping up with my notes can become very problematic. Thus my plan to use diceRolla as an online painting notebook was conceived.

Typically with the first WIP post of a new project I would include a complete list of the paints I had used up to that point, broken down for each discrete area of the miniature. As I made further progress these steps would be added and through the magic of the Edit Posts button a fully updated painting guide would gradually be created. (An example of how this ultimately looks once complete can be seen here.) This method provides less than a step-by-step or painting tutorial would but it is enough for me to feel comfortable about leaving a project for a long time without sacrificing consistency in the colors used. And voila... I had a painting notebook!

This system worked well initially but after my unexpected four or five month break from painting last year I neglected to resume this helpful habit. I'd like to say it was just laziness but truthfully I became self-conscious about this practice once I realized how many exceptionally talented painters see my work here. I worried that these "color guides" as I called them would come across as presumptuous or vain if their purpose as being for my own benefit were not understood, so I stopped doing them. I've since come to regret that as I, true to form, failed to take any notes once I started painting again last autumn. In that short amount of time I've already forgotten how I went about painting my nascent Blisstonian 9th army and the currently dormant Rogue Trader crew for Killzone. I'll likely be able to figure those out again but it will require time that would otherwise go to something more productive.

Therefore one of the things I've decided to do with diceRolla this year is return to my former intent of maintaining an online painting notebook. If all goes according to plan, the first WIP post for each new painting project will have a list of colors used, gradually expanding to include every pot of paint touched in the process of working on the miniature. Hopefully this will not be too intrusive as to annoy any veteran painters and perhaps might even prompt suggestions as to how I can improve my painting or choice of colors. And if anyone does in fact find these notes to be in some way helpful to their own hobby, then that will just be a nice bonus.

What follows then is my first color guide of 2011, beginning the year with a selection of Frog Fighters for the game Critter Commandos. Over the coming days I will return to edit this, updating it as I make progress painting these miniatures until completed. This is meant for my benefit but if anyone has questions, please don't hesitate to ask as I'd be happy to help if possible.

Bodysuit: Necron Abyss, Asurmen Blue, Exile Blue, Cygnar Blue Base

Jetpack: Iyanden Darksun, Gryphonne Sepia

Jetpack Bands: Thamar Black, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black

Skin: Knarloc Green, Thraka Green

Eyes: Underbelly Blue

Guns: Thamar Black, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black

Pineapple: Tausept Ochre, Devlan Mud

Base: Charadon Granite

Armored Suit: Macharius Solar Orange, Gryphonne Sepia (twice), Mecharius Solar Orange

Jetpack: Iyanden Darksun, Gryphonne Sepia

Jetpack Bands: Thamar Black, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black

Skin: Knarloc Green, Thraka Green

Eyes: Underbelly Blue

Pistol and Sword Blade: Thamar Black, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black

Sword Hilt: Tin Bitz, Dwarf Broze

Base: Charadon Granite

Armored Suit: Iyanden Darksun, Gryphonne Sepia (twice), Iyanden Darksun, Moldy Ochre

Eyes: Gnarls Green

Hairdryer: Mechrite Red

Before I go back to painting these guys tonight I'd just like to note the bases upon which these miniatures now stand. I tried my best to blend them with their original bases and am reasonably satisfied with the results. I am normally very reluctant when it comes to the greenstuff however so even this is an accomplishment of which I am proud. I wasn't sure if I'd bother with bases at all but trying to paint them without anything to hold onto was too much of a hassle. Now that they're properly based, painting my Frog Fighters has proceeded far more comfortably.

As an unanticipated side effect of mounting them on bases appropriate for WH40k, I'm also starting to have thoughts... terrible, heretical thoughts... about what to do with these miniatures once I've finished painting them. It's been many years since I lasted looked at the rules but I remember Critter Commandos as being something of an awful mess as far as game mechanics are concerned. Therefore if I want these miniatures to do anything besides sitting on my shelf I suspect I'll need to look elsewhere for a viable gaming experience.

Hmm... Killzone, perhaps? Someone call the Deathwatch. ;)

'Ere We Go 2011

Woooo-hoo!! 2011 is off and running and I am as excited as can be to start out another year once again at the helm of the good ship, diceRolla. I've got all sorts of projects lined up for the months ahead and am eager to get things underway promptly. I have high expectations and am optimistic that it is indeed going to be a great hobby year.

I will be making some resolutions for 2011 but only a couple hours ago this evening began considering what goals I would like to resolve myself to accomplishing. I intend on reviewing how I did with last year's resolutions soon but for now I will just say that without a generous degree of creative interpretation, I fulfilled little on the hobby side of things. The non-hobby resolutions, however, were thankfully much better. :) I therefore am going to take more time to think about my choices instead of hastily committing myself to something I might soon come to regret.

The general formula for my resolutions will no doubt be similar to that which many other gamers are setting out for themselves, that of: paint more, game more, terrain more, get better at things I enjoy. Once you've established that it's really only a matter of working out the details. I'm driving to Charlotte in the morning for my granddad's funeral so I should have plenty of time to review my priorities and decide what projects will take precedence in 2011. From there I will determine my resolutions and perhaps this year I might even stand a chance of making it past March with them.

I've already got a start on the first project of the new year, one that I anticipate will be a relatively quick set of minis to finish. In a couple of days I'll know what larger projects I want to focus on for 2011, so this small painting task I've set for myself should keep me busy until then and help sustain the hobby momentum that was building at the end of last year. I recently found an old set of models while clearing out some storage space and decided they would be a fun way to usher in this year of painting and gaming.

Yes. Critter Commandos. And it's all Bleaseworld's fault. I had forgotten about these miniatures until seeing some nicely painted penguin commandos on Steve's blog posted here. I then fortuitously found this box of minis just this past Thursday while packing for our upcoming move to Asheville, with one set already cleaned and primed no less! So first up for painting are a group of anthropomorphic frogs wearing what I believe are supposed to be scuba suits and gear, or in other words, scuba-suited frogmen! Here's an early WIP photo as a preview of what is to come:

The horror... the horror....

I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow so it's time to wrap things up. Thanks again for making 2010 such a rip-roaring good year for diceRolla. Thanks to all the readers and commenters who have offered your own insight and assistance over the last year. And finally I am especially grateful to you members of The Esoteric Order of Jason for your continued support and encouragement. You are a constant source of motivation and inspiration for me and I appreciate very much the interest you have taken in my endeavors. Thank you!

So that's it. I hope this years proves to be a great one for each of you, filled with clattering dice and splashing paint to your heart's delight. Happy 2011, everyone!