Crusader's Retreat

I got to spend the afternoon gaming at Crusader's Retreat.  It's a new game shop over at 32nd St. and Thunderbird.  A buddy of mine and I went over, and I got to throw down a LotR battle with the store owner, Dave.  He ran Uruk-hai scouts, with Ugluk leading the way, against my Erebor dwarfs, captained by none other than Gimli.  We played "Seize the Prize" to a draw, leaving my dwarfs undefeated and unsuccessful all at the same time.

As I said, we played at Crusader's Retreat.  You can check them out on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002973537936&sk=info, and I think he said his website/blog will be up and running soon.  There are good tables for gaming, with terrain being made for various games.  The owner is very friendly, and the store is coming along.  Check it out if you're in the area and support your local game store!

LotR: Legolas, Gimli, and Imrahil

So I'll probably have regular posts in the near future, displaying models I have painted.  I wanted to show three heroes I have almost finished.  I will surely be highlighting more, but they are more or less done.

Legolas

Gimli

Prince Imrahil

I also did some more work on the bases of my dwarf warriors.  I really like what it adds.

So, a few models down, about a million to go!

LotHS Photos

Months ago I started playing Legends of the High Seas with a friend (who happens to have authored the game). I painted some figures, and I thought I should post some pictures.  Most of these models are from Old Glory, but there are also models from Black Scorpion and Privateer Press.  I didn't get around to finishing some of the bases, but it's a good start I think.

 

Avast!  The full blown battle of two pirate crews!  All buildings were my first attempts at modeling terrain.  Some turned out to my liking.... while some didn't make this picture for other reasons, haha!

So this is a look at the first game I got hooked on.  Lots of fun!

Dwarfs

So I finally got some pictures, but I should get more soon.

All the time in the world.....

Recently being laid off has given me an abundance of time to work on painting.  I have finished my first box of dwarf warriors, and I am currently working on the heroes from the Fellowship list that I got with the Mines of Moria set.  I started by painting Gimli, since I will most likely be using him with my dwarf list (and people say I don't plan ahead, lol).  As I'm still starting out, I looked up pictures and examples of paint schemes for Gimli.  While these were somewhat helpful, I found it a little more difficult to find the exact model of Gimli that I had.  Most were Gimli posed with his two-handed axe held sideways, but the model I have has Gimli with a one-handed axe in each hand.  Also, there was no cloak on my model, which is where I ran into problems.  I couldn't find a good example of how the armor pieces for upper arms could look.  As a result I used a burnished gold, that turned out to be too bright for my tastes.  However, it did give me an opportunity to learn how to "fix" paint jobs without just painting over completely.  It turned out okay, even if it is still brighter than most I have seen.  But I like the accent those armor pieces bring, and ultimately it should be about whether you like the model, paint job, and everything else.  I have yet to finish his base, and will post pictures once I finish Legolas and Aragorn/Strider (since the three "hunters" are my favorite characters).

On a side note, I have now played only two full matches of LotR against friends, and I'm currently 2-0.  Some might say it was my friends being nice to the noob, and some might say that the match up of Wood Elves vs. Far-Harad (with no range) in a battle of attrition was a little one sided.  All I have to say is.... they're probably right!

P.S. Still working on getting pictures up, but it should get there soon, lol.  Don't judge me.  It causes blindness!

It begins.....

Just having started the hobby of wargaming, I figured I'd give blogging a try.  I'm just now starting to finish some painting projects that will leave me with a small army for Lord of the Rings.  I also have a good group of pirates that are used currently for Legends of the High Seas.  Being the genius that I am, I took the time to start this blog on which I planned to post pictures of my painting projects, I took pictures of said projects, ..... and that's where it went wrong.  My camera "worked" only with a very delicate touch (I swear I had to talk nicely to it as well), I was unable to initially locate the components to transfer the photos to the computer, and once I did I found out the data was somehow corrupted during the process.   I guess 10 minutes of sitting on a table is bad for a camera.  So, all that being said, pictures are coming soon.......