Scatterbrain

Defiance Games hard at work

2011-09-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm trying out the new improved Blogger software with this one. Its all a bit shiny in the back end.

Defiance Games has just put up a picture of what they've been working on. Looks good so far. The presentation on their site is top notch. What will the figures be like? If you are going to do semi realistic figure like these where are the pouches and gear that hang off modern soldiers? This one looks like he's just jumped out of a vehicle where he's had all his gear stowed.

Some random Games Workshop paint jobs...

2011-08-19T05:05:00.000-07:00

I've had the pleasure of having a fellow disciple join me in my workplace. I'm bad for his wallet as he gets all sorts of crazy ideas from me. Here's some of his painting and interesting conversions.

World Eaters Chaos Space Marine Terminators. All with lightning claws. All have the WE symbol handpainted on their right shoulder pad.

Looted Wagon with gretchin on the main gun. Steering? Aiming?

Dark Eldar Grotesques. Some lateral thinking here to avoid the one model pose GW has released.

Bloodbowl wood elves

2011-08-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't be complete without a Treeman...

Woody, get it?

warhammer magic dice 2011

2011-08-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

Having grabbed a pack of the Storm of Magic dice today i thought i'd continue with the dice posts. These were the mixed set with one of each college of magic coloured dice and a little black dice bag. i think you can get single coloured packs too for the specific colleges in warhammer. They are a limited run so if you want some snaffle them up.
Plastic, about twice the size of a standard GW dice, with a very light feel in the hand and what looks like some kind of brown wash over the dice to bring out the texture. I cant see them getting used much as they'll be a pain to read. The pips on the other sides are small skulls.

Another frog...

2011-08-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

We found this one sitting on the front door step yesterday. A burrowing frog? It looked like he'd eaten a large snail.

and some more dice...

2011-08-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

Beastmen dice, Space Hulk dice, some greens and a tiny little die from my Grandfathers shed. I keep these seperate to the others as they are bigger and not quite so useful for gaming.

Dice dice dice

2011-08-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

The Angry Lurker pointed out a blog called Gothridge Manor with a dice post so here goes

A few dice that i have hanging around.

Quality control was asleep when this little timber dice went through the paint.

And a few larger 6 sided dice, D10's and a lone D4 i forgot in the first photo.

I cleaned out a heap of multiple sided dice about six months ago to a D&D player so all my D20's and weird ones have gone to a better home. Dice are one of those things people will pick up and look at just to get the feel of them in their hand. The pink ones that spell the word dice are those i take to away games as they very rarely get lost.I just realised there is another tin somewhere...

Latest White Dwarf offerings - August 2011

2011-07-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well it's Saturday morning and White Dwarf issue 380 has hit hobby stores. Like it or loathe it this is the advertorial for all things Games Workshop so here's a run down on release info and what's in the shiny new thing.

Vampire Counts - new model in the combination Vampire Lord / Ghoul King on Zombie Dragon / Terrorgheist. It's another big plastic kit in the vein of last months dark elf release. There are also two new plastic single kits being the Tomb Banshee and Cairn Wraith. I've said it once and i'll say it again. These single plastics are the future of what they should be releasing. That and Forgeworld being main range :). These models get official rules updates in the magazine.

New Chaos Demons Battalion / Battleforce. No new models just a box set.

New Terrain in the shape of the Garden of Morr. Its a Cemetary in plastic with a lot of useful pieces for 28mm gaming with a statue, fencing and the crypts. Looks very useful. Did i mention i thought this would be useful?

There's a new Herald of Tzeentch and rereleases of Vlad and Konrad Von Carstein in resin. I showed this issue very briefly to a colleague this morning who's a mad converter and he was frothing about the standards for both Tzeentch and Khorne which appear in three blisters.

What is it with Dark Eldar? They get some more love with a model each for the Ur-Ghul and Medusae. I dont know any of the other ranges that has had such a complete overhaul and continued support from GW.

Games Worshop continues with the excellent work they've been doing this year with their FAQ's introducing a thing called The Shrine of Knowledge. The latest is an amendment to the power scroll item. See the games-workshop.com page for this one. There's an ad for FFG's Dark Heresy RPG and notice of the Space Marine collectors edition. No model = :(

LOTR actually gets a bit this month in the form of a cavalry article. It runs through the basics then goes into more detail with Light and Heavy Cavalry.

A couple of battle reports covering the Garden of Morr and Storm of Magic, Jervis Johnsons ramblings, Hall of Fame and a modelling workshop on the Dark Elf Black Dragon are in there. Sisters of Battle get the first half of their White Dwarf codex release but no new models. boo hiss. There is an interesting pose of the Penitent engine standing on one leg. How they managed to move this from the workbench to the photo table without it snapping at the ankle I don't know.

Wargaming magazines what next?

2011-07-19T06:06:00.000-07:00

Its a tough market for print media and English language wargame magazines are no different especially with their niche market and competition from the Internet.

Magazines like Dragon disappeared into the net years ago while Wargames Illustrated was taken into the Battlefront stable and despite increasing its Flames Of War coverage for obvious reasons i think continues to provide a good read with availability though many newsagents here in Australia. Battlegames another small wargaming magazine made the transition to both print and pdf issues some time ago which gives us worldwide access outside of the capitol cities where Ive only seen it in gaming shops.

Games Workshops White Dwarf is a little bit different being totally in house with no outside content apart from brief mentions of the other IP licences. Its having a bit of a reposition with GW's tightening of release information and possible return to White Dwarf rule releases. If you listen to the Internet at all White Dwarf in particular may be suffering from a dropping readership, have a look at BOLS with Brents latest piece although like anything based on incomplete figures we can only speculate. It seems that around here it's disappeared out of the newsagents too. I would imagine White Dwarf will get a new lease of life with the Hobbit movies around the corner and their signing of the licence deal for those figures.

Miniature Wargames has managed to stay independent and is a magazine I've seen only rarely in Australia with the newsagent coverage being nonexistent. They are trying some different things out with their latest being trial issues of June and July 2011 published on the Internet. The link is here http://www.exacteditions.com/miniaturewargames so wander over and see what they are doing. There are some of the older issues there to have a look at as well. I've spotted a couple of pieces that I'll have a read of.

The way they are handling it is by offering magazines to view online and on Apple and on Android devices. You can download and print individual pages but unfortunately due to copyright they cannot allow the whole magazine to be downloaded.

All these publications have to struggle with getting relevant content that isn't readily available on the Internet and when they are physically printing copies getting the advertisers to make it worthwhile. So if you happen to make an order based on a lead from a publication give the supplier a heads up on where you got that information.

Quick review Rango

2011-07-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

The kids and i got this movie last night from Blockbuster on DVD so here's the quicky review.

Number one its not a kids movie rather its a big kids movie that kids can watch and get a laugh from but they aren't going to get all the references. Number two if you like Johhny Deeps antics you'll probably like this as it seems to have been written for the crazy shtick that he does in so many of his movies.
The premise is that chameleon falls out of car gets thirsty looks for water and ends up saving the little town of Dirt with some amusing interludes in between. The animation is fantastic with great detail and it'll take a couple of watches to catch all the stuff that goes on along with all the side gags.

The mariachi finches work in nicely along with the hick moles that provide the big fight scene. The cast of baddies including bill nighy as the rattlesnake is great although ray winstone didnt get much of a go apart from the flame face scene.

I'm going to use the Angry Lurker scale and give this a 3.5. downgraded a bit for not having more kid stuff when that was how they were selling it here.

Storm of Magic goodies from Games Workshop

2011-07-09T04:46:00.000-07:00

Storm of Magic sees the release of some new items including the finecast Cockatrice, the new Storm of magic expansion and new monsters including the amazing Black Dragon with Dark Elf rider options. The Vortex templates are a bit of a disappointment even though they are cool colours, made of tin and come in a pack of six but because they are a large blast size rather than the dark eldar small blast size which means we can't use them as web way portals :(.

But the stand out for me has to be the new plastic singles including the dark elf sorceress, tzeentch sorcerer, chaos sorcerer and necromancer. They've snuck these through with very little fanfare but this is where the future of the company lies rather than with finecast or the metal ranges as we have known them. Price wise they are reasonable for GW with a $22 AUD tag.
They are packaged in blisters completely enclosed, so no more tatty cardboard for retailers or bits dropping out the back, which you can turn around and see the product with a good sized colour photo on the front.

One thing that struck me while i was writing this is the lack of bits in the sprue. One figure with one specific way of putting it together. I was so excited I bought the chaos sorcerer so tomorrow I'll pull him out and take some photos.

The latest and greatest from white dwarf july 2011

2011-06-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

Games Workshops White Dwarf may be seeing a bit of a come back with more rules specific to it and a push from Games Workshop for the keeping of secrets till release date.
When you add this tightening of information to the Black boxes having met their demise it should make White Dwarf a bit more relevent for players of their games. You'll notice that many of the normal spruikers of their wares on the internet have clammed up as the information has dried up and i've been careful to keep this article until the 25th which is the release date for White Dwarf in Australia.
So to the juicy bits.

release info on

three new plastic monsters/mounts including chimera, manticore and black dragon, the black dragon in particular looks amazing

cockatrice in finecast

two boxes with two plastic scenic pieces each for storm of magic

four single figure plastic sorcerors

vortex templates (or webway portals if you like) in six colours

funky magic dice in assorted colours for the lores of magic

battle magic spellbook
re releases of Lammasu and Great Taurus (both originally chaos dwarf specific), Dark Emissary, Truthsayer and Fenbeast (from the Albion campaign, i can't remember what that was called off the top of my head) and a what might be a new scuplt of a Cold One all in Finecast.

and right at the back, eight of the classic magic figures available again although by the looks they are still in metal rather than being reproduced in Finecast

Storm of Magic - expansion for magic in warhammer with lots of stuff on Storm of Magic of course but importantly the Chimeras stats are here

an article on the last batch of new Dark Eldar models with some prep tips for Finecast, general talk and a bit of painting information

Cities of Death for Warhammer 40000 gets a makeover with notice of an FAQ and errata document, presumably to come through the website, with a new strategem for each race and four new scenarios in the pages of July's issue

not a sausage for LOTR although THQ, Black Library, Fantasy Flight Games and the Art of War Promotion all get a mention

Quick review Too Fat Lardies summer special 2011

2011-06-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

This latest special contains 129 pages with lots of interesting stuff here drawn from the melding of minds that is the Too Fat Lardies and their supporters. Its available from the Too Fat Lardies webstore.

french indian war La longue carabine supplement - Sharp Practice - 16 pages
v beach gallipoli 1915 scenario - if the lord spares us - 5 pages
wave goodbye (france 1940) scenario - I Aint Been Shot Mum - 5 pages
riverine warfare in vietnam - Charlie Dont Surf - 7 pages
brown water delta rules supplement - CDS - 10 pages
napoleonic battle in spain 1811 scenario - Le Feu sacre III - 5 pages
rogers rangers french indian war scenario - La longue carabine - 5 pages
russian / german scenario 1943 - IABSM - 4 pages
brown water scenario - CDS - 3 pages
Coastal patrol ruleset for WWII - Coastal Patrol - 16 pages
Black night scenario - CP - 2 pages
On company business french indian war scenaro - La longue carabine - 3 pages
frigate actions scenario - Kiss Me Hardy - 4 pages
mesopotamian (iraq) 1920 - through the mud and the blood - 6 pages
platoon forward bonus scenario - platoon forward - 1 page
part two of the mission to rescue il duce - IABSM - 4 pages
brown water scenario - CDS - 3 pages
Storm of dice (WWI) - higher level interpretation of if the lord spares us - 6 pages
Storm of dice scenario (WWI) - storm of dice - 3 pages
building WWI woods - not specific ruleset - 6 pages
the volga ferryman - bag the hun - 8 pages
WWII british/german scenario - IABSM (blitzkrieg supplement)- 4 pages

In my opinion this special suffers from a lack of clarity. There are a number of articles where it's unclear what rule set they are for although the contents page does list the ruleset. Which is ok if you are in the know but to a casual reader dipping their toe in the Lard it seemed like it would be a bit confusing.

The detail presented in the scenarios is done a different way each time which again is ok but seemed like it might have been done better with a standard format and more time put into getting the information across.

Did i think it was worth the money? Yes. It holds a similar amount of information to the paper magazines i occasionally buy and i'll be reading it again for the bits i'm interested in.

Could it have been done better? I think so. When i was in High School I had an English teacher who encouraged us to write rough drafts for essays which were then put away in a drawer for a couple of weeks. By the time you got them out again you could clearly see the problems with the structure. This Special could have spent a little time under the mattress to good effect.

Dark Eldar Talos, Scourges and Venom on the painting block

2011-06-02T06:30:00.000-07:00


Three Dark Eldar units from this months Games Workshop black box. Venom, Talos and Scourges. Assembled ready for undercoating. Current metal Squat...er, Ratling for size comparison.

I had some trouble getting the lower hull of the Venom to sit flush.

Which could have been partly the curved sprue.

Dark Eldar Scourges ready to accept arms. I've blanked the arm sockets with blu tac which saves a clean up.

Dark Eldar Scourges with two shard carbines, blaster, heat lance and Agoniser / blast pistol combination on the leader. There are five carbines on the sprue. A Dark Eldar player has already snaffled the spares from these.

I'm making some progress on the Venom and Talos. The Talos will get its six little torso arms when the rest of the body is painted. Both of these have some very fragile parts.

Some more random photographs

2011-05-21T03:43:00.000-07:00

These little frogs keep popping up.

Sunrise over our place.

Western Desert reading - Bardia

2011-05-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Bardia: myth, reality and the heirs of Anzac by Craig Stockings.

I borrowed and read this book a little while ago and have kept it hanging around while i got round to blogging it. Its not the sort of coffee table ra ra Anzac book that has been spewed out lately but is well researched and written.

It basically covers the battle for Bardia in January 1941 where Commonwealth forces attacked the small defended town and for the loss of 130 killed and 326 wounded captured 35000 or so Italian prisoners. Being an Australian its always been on my radar as the main assaulting unit was the 6th Australian division but this book really goes into the why and how of the Italian defeat.

There is a lot of background on the events leading up to the battle, the battle itself and the aftermath. Craig Stockings covers a lot of ground that fills out this period and theatre of the early war especially with regard to the Italians and their preparedness to be part of an axis alliance. He also shows how the British and Australian armies had partly learnt from the first world war, as many of their leaders were veterans, especially here with a deliberate assault on a defended position but still had a way to go with armour and its use. The planners were well aware that tanks were vital but his explanation of events show how unsupported infantry struggled against entrenched and committed Italian troops. The British army was still learning this lesson in Normandy when they were only just adopting combined units.

This is a book that will be on my list to get out again and reread because there is so much good quality information contained in it.

5/5

A Dragon Stug IV arrives

2011-04-22T06:17:00.000-07:00


The Dragon Stug IV with a Deagostini/Altaya Panzer IV for size comparison.

No markings apart from crosses on the sides and rear of the hull. If i had to nitpick the only thing that lets this model down is the tracks which don't sag like the real ones would.

The main gun actually elevates.

detail, detail, detail

A lovely model down to the periscopes for commander and gunner. Even the triangles for the side skirt holders to hang off are really fine and this model is a tribute to the skill of the assemblers of these models.

I picked this model up from Mil Sims in Melbourne for $16 while i was down there visiting the parents. Its one of those shops which has had a strong internet presence for a long time which continued on from their paper based catalogue in the days of snail mail. For me its one of those places i seldom get to go but always enjoy putting around in the store. I've just found out they are having an Easter Saturday only sale too, bugger.

Coat d'arms german WWII paint set colour uses

2011-04-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

colours in the set and their uses

102 black - early war boots, ammo pouches, early war webbing
227 field grey - tunics
503 military green - mess tin, summer uniform (reed), possible zeltbahn base colour
505 green grey - early war trousers and tunic, helmet
515 black green - bare helmet & gas mask case
516 iron grey - early war trousers & tunics
518 field blue - luftwaffe field division uniform or trousers
521 army green - gas mask cape , summer uniform, late war mess tin
525 uniform grey - early war tunic, late war tunic and pants
533 slate grey - tunics, possible ammo puches

take this with a grain of salt and experiment

Quick review Repo men

2011-04-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

I saw this movie last night on DVD and was pleasantly surprised at the content.

Jude Law and Forest Whitaker are great in this sci fi story that wanders along pretty predictably until the end. The premise is that they work for a company called the Union which sells artificial organs and has the ability to repossess them if you fall behind in your payments ie cut them out of your still living body. Its shot really well without seeming to have to resort to crazy CGI effects and seemed to be "believable" and in context all the way through although if you stop to think about what they are doing your head is going to spin.

There are plenty of little bits through the movie that give it a really well crafted feel like the bit where he comes speeding off the freeway and all you see is the overhead shot of cars crashing, the fat man in the street scene and the fight scene at the end which had a lot of similarities to the stuff that's in the Milla Jovovich's Resident Evil movies. I feel they handled the explanation to this really well at the end of the movie.

I'm going to use the Angry Lurker scale and give this a 4. It was that good.

Quick review Battle Los Angeles

2011-03-23T04:31:00.000-07:00

I went along and saw this last night after umming and aaahing over whether i would bother going to see it on the big screen. My reaction was that i liked it but its not one I'll go after when its comes out on DVD unlike lets say District 9.

It's got plot holes that you could drive a truck through but they kept the action up and i didn't feel i had to leave before the credits rolled.

interstellar race invades earth and forgets to install redundant command and control system
aliens are here for water but come onto land to get it
alien weapon platforms don't have protection for the operators

There were some bits towards the end that just got a bit silly like the scene and dialogue in the Humvee when they shot the alien off the hood and they did blow a lot of stuff up.The aliens were different from the norm look wise but reacted like badly scripted AI shooter aliens which was a pity as they could have been much more menacing and were only really effective at the start of the film. They weren't too over the top with the corny American rah rah stuff although it was just there below the surface trying to come out.

Its a film that reminded me of the original Stargate which was the gateway to the Stargate franchise, so when is the series coming out?

It was a bit Jekyll and Hyde too with the first half being shot like a sketchy fast paced doco. and the second half more like a paper cutter war movie.

Did i mention they blew a lot of stuff up?

Grey Knights quick thoughts

2011-03-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts on the Grey Knight imminent release before i burn out the door to work.

the terminator models are sweet and a big improvement on the old metal models and there are 13 heads on the sprue! thank you GW.
i have seen some comment on the internet that people are dissapointed that there is not the wow factor of say the blood angels release. i feel that is being overly critical because there is a big difference. blood angels were a major leap forward in design especially if you include the space hulk figures while GK are simply new plastic figures with the (almost) same design as the old metals.
i am not personally excited about the dread knight as a figure. when you compare it to say the penitent engine it looks like a lego man or a baby carrier as i saw someone remark. Its big though which is cool when you stand it underneath a valkyrie or stormraven.

Oops forgot WIP shots of Arachnarok spider

2011-03-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

I just happened to look at the blog and realised I'd forgotten to post some more shots of the Arachnarok spider.

Coming along nicely. And as i mentioned I'm going blind painting these little blighters. I've just realised I'm three short so back out to the garage to fish some more out.

I've also been very busy priming various miniatures for the painting table.

A mixed batch here with Valiant plastics at the back, Games Workshop Grey Knights and Orcs in the middle and Pegasus 1/76 Germans on the left with some Warmodelling 20mm there for Bill at TMP.

More goblins or how i went blind painting tiny teeth.

2011-03-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

I've got a handful of Night Goblin spearmen to get done from the last Warhammer boxed set. Who was it that sculpted so many teeth on the little blighters?

These came to me undercoated and partly (badly) painted but without being glued to their bases or with any flash removed. I've been experimenting with painting them unbased but have to admit i'm not a fan. Blocking in the different colours has taken some time with a brown (GW Devlan Mud ) wash down the spear and GW Thraka Green on the flesh.

Now that they are on their bases the teeth and eyes have gone on.

Ready for the dentist and optometrist.

I've got to the point where they are glued down, tonight is getting them on their bases, sand and undercoat applied and ready for base base coat in the morning.

PVA and sand applied to bases

Softly, softly, catchee spider

2011-03-01T02:53:00.000-08:00

First Devlan Mud wash on the Arachnarok carapace, Skull White for the legs and various colours on the tree.

Worked on the base and tree last night then made a little progress on the Arachnarok spider this afternoon. Cooked tea, moved half a meter of gravel which a neighbour has kindly dropped off and now i'm off to bed. Tomorrow is a day off so in between cleaning the house, looking after the five year old and moving the other half a meter of gravel I'll try to get this close to finished. Phew.

Savage Orcs WIP

2011-02-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

The pesky varmints from Games Workshop are almost done. Everything is painted, only some detail work including tattoos, base grass and a matt spray to go.

I've still managed to miss the lip ring on the drummer, at least all their toenails are painted.

Orcs & Goblins Arachnarok spider gets a base

2011-02-26T22:17:00.000-08:00

The big spider is getting his base coat and I'm fiddling with the base while its drying, GW Savage Orc for scale.

I've been working on Games Workshops Arachnarok spider today. All of the colour schemes I've seen have been a bit safe for want of a better word. Although i've just spotted this one on Warseer by Tokamak. Mine is going to be a lot brighter than the black, red, and yellow headed ones I've seen on the internet from GW so far and some thought has gone into what it will look like. Whether or not i can pull it off remains to be seen.

Someone on the internet had mentioned it will be easier to paint with the legs off and i agree but having already rushed into putting it together that option wasn't open to me. Definitely paint the spider separate to the base as this is going to make it a lot easier to reach fiddly bits.

While the basecoat was drying it seemed like a good opportunity to get the base and tree support together. The rear legs of the spider locate into two holes on either side of the tree. Its a nice piece in itself with the snack Goblins and tiny little mushrooms growing out of the tree.


The tree support made up of three pieces. It's important to dry fit it to the base to get the spider to sit where you want before you glue it down. Put it too far forward and the spider will be way out the front of the base.

Only the rear and second leg pairs contact the base. B2, my five year old, called the bases of the second feet "skull shoes".

The front and third pairs of legs are the articulated ones giving you a little latitude with the final position.

Once I'd glued the tree down i tested the spider again and did a little final move of the tree before the glue set. The legs needed to be slightly pinched together to get them to sit in the holes.

GW Savage Orc progress

2011-02-25T04:44:00.000-08:00

The Big Stabber showing the neat way the designers did the mount for the blade. The mould line is a little annoying at this point :p

Savage Orcs WIP, those on the left have their basecoat, two in the middle have Goblin Green and the four on the right have a wash of Thraka Green.

Games Workshop Savage Orcs WIP

2011-02-23T03:15:00.000-08:00

Savage Orc boys with their main colours blocked in.

I'm painting up the Savage Orcs from the next black box for the Orcs & Goblins release. My normal fairly leisurely painting timetable has been put aside and I'm going hell for leather on these and the Arachnarok spider to get them into the display cabinet before the release date. Its amazing how often you miss out a figure when you are batch painting and end up with one out of ten with no toenails.

First impressions of the figures are that they are well thought out with some features that I haven't seen such as the tongues being molded onto the necks and the heads with open mouths being hollow so they fit together. I did find it necessary to trim tongues where the mouth was closed to get a good fit on the neck stub.

Savage Orc Big Stabber crew with their lettered shoulders.

Savage Orc Big Stabber crew arms.

The Big Stabber with lettered tabs for the Orc hands. The spear tip has a hollow where the log the Orcs are holding goes either side of the stone.

The Big Stabber is an interesting experiment allowing two figures to be joined together and fielded on a cavalry base.

There are options on the sprue to do spears/shield, bows or two hand weapons. No extra heads which is a bit of a bummer for converters but there are a few extra orcy bits fitted in. These sprues should swap parts easily with the new Savage Orc Boar boys which are due for release at the same time. A 40K player who saw these was drooling over the Ork possibilities especially the standard.

The Arachnarok spider with its undercoat and the Savage Orcs about half way through their paint job. The small spider is from the last Warhammer boxed set, I'm using them to test paint patterns for the big boy.

Assembling Games Workshop's Arachnarok Giant Spider

2011-02-18T03:58:00.000-08:00

I'm putting together and painting an Orcs and Goblins Arachnarok spider for my local FLGS and I'm taking notes and photos as I go.

First off its really struck me as a well made kit, the folks who are on the computers designing these for GW have really hit their stride with an attention to detail that has the parts fit well enough to almost snap into place.

The only section that had me scratching my head so far was how the legs should attach to get them in the right spots but as i dry fitted them it became apparent that there was a sweet spot that had them locked into place. Put the leg into the correct socket and give it a little bit of a twist and push and you'll see what i mean.

The Arachnarok sprue with forest goblin for scale.

The abdomen side piece complete with little spiders riding along.

Four pieces to get to this stage.

The top of the abdomen about to be glued in.

A face only a mother could love.

The fit of the pieces is exceptional.

The front right of Games Workshops Arachnarok spider showing the four leg sockets. the squarish peg hole on the abdomen is the brace for the rear leg.

The giant spider is a pleasure to put together but I can't wait to get it to the point of starting the paint job. I can see a lot of these turning up at Games Day this year in Sydney.

NB: no night goblins were harmed in the production of this article (yet!).

A quick meal

2011-02-01T04:02:00.000-08:00

I ended up being at home by myself for an evening last week. Which is unheard of with two small children and wife. So i promptly nicked off for a long MTB ride only coming back as it got dark. When i got back i was hungry but time was getting on so i whipped up a quick meal.

Ainsley Harriot's branded instant foods have popped up over here over the last few years and the flavours are usually to my taste so they are quite often in our cupboard for emergencies.

Couscous is a sort of pasta for want of a better explanation that only requires boiling water to heat it and rehydrate ready for eating. You can buy it plain and add flavours but these small packs save a bit of mucking around.

Leftover roast chicken, snow peas, spring onions, pre mix couscous and funky little Kumato grape tomatoes.


Ainsleys' Moroccan Medley Couscous in the bowl ready for hot water injection. This little bowl takes our smallest saucepan lid.

Heat pan, throw chicken in then snow peas and spring onions, get some colour and heat into these ingredients.

Pop tomatoes in last, i prefer them to be just heated through rather than mush.

A knob of butter gets cut into the moisturised couscous after its sat covered for five minutes then its ready to go.

Complete, yum.

The only thing i would have added was a dollop of yoghurt but it certainly hit the spot.

Brickvention 2011 and The Warrnambool Model Train Show 2011

2011-01-19T04:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, after the last couple of weeks I'm going to have to have a rest from nerd activities. First there was the Warrnambool Model Train Show then the boys and I went down to sunny Melbourne for Brickvention.

Brickvention is a Lego convention that has been run in Melbourne for a number of years by volunteers and had also been advertised in the latest Lego Club magazine with the footnote being that the first 50 Lego Club members through the door would receive something special. We've been planning on going for the last couple of years but never made it because of other commitments. We made the effort to get there at 9:30 thinking that would be early enough but didn't make it there early enough to even get in the first two hundred!

By the time we got to the front door (about 45 minutes from Russell street) the line ran right around the city block and started at the front door.

Providing some much needed entertainment in the line and rattling their cups for charity were the guys and girls from the Terror Australis Garrison dressed up as various Jedi, Stormtroopers and assorted Rebel scum.

Anyway we made it in after the boys were very patient to find the Melbourne Town Hall jam packed full of Lego fans big and small. Lots of displays some of a mind boggling size, a few stalls selling various Lego bits which it was really hard to get too in places and some very entertaining setups including Star Wars, Trains, Pirates/ Vikings/ Island. I managed to grab some Lego City Train minifigs, B1 got the Harry Potter Bellatrix Lestrange figure and i finished a series 2 collection for one of the ladies i work with.

Some of the Lego 12 volt trains were really rocking along

I'm not sure why B2's finger kept moving towards the Lego.

Lots of details i didn't spot on the day like the crows on the power pole in the bottom right of picture.

More rain...

2011-01-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

Even the frogs think its wet, this little fella was hanging on our front door last night. Possibly Litoria ewingi the Southern Brown Tree Frog. We have this dark brown version and a pale one with green stripes living in our yard.

Coat d'arms World War II German paint set

2011-01-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

I'm doing some 20mm WWII German figures up for TMP and i thought this might be a good chance to try out some new colours in a range of paints that I've been buying occasionally from Maelstrom in the UK. So they've turned up but now i have to work out what each colour is designed for as the descriptions are vague and they don't seem to match other colours even using silicon dragons excellent color match software. Black Hat miniatures in the UK are the distributor? for this paint range and they have a pdf download which gives some idea but doesn't seem to cover all the colours in the pack.

Colours in the set are numbered below with the suggestions from the Black Hat pdf:

102 black - boots
227 field grey - ?
503 military green - zeltbahn base colour
505 green grey - helmet
515 black green - gas mask case
516 iron grey - early war trousers
518 field blue - ?
521 army green - gas mask cape (this is a bit strange as I've yet to see a figure with a cape being worn)
525 uniform grey - early war tunic, late war tunic and pants
533 slate grey - ammo pouches

Also needed would be a flesh, 509 (brick red) & 514 (pale green) for the stripes and pattern on the zeltbahn, brown for late war boots and water bottle cover, green and white for early war shoulder patches and insignia.

Colour chart from Black Hat Miniatures website

Olympian Games in Canberra sell these paints although they don't list this set on their website and have a good jpg of the WW2 range shot through the bottom of the bottles.

Cardinal Hawkwood has kindly put in his opinion and taking that and what my own guesses are the revised table might look something like this:

102 black - early war boots, ammo pouches
227 field grey - tunics
503 military green - mess tin, summer uniform
505 green grey - early war trousers and tunic
515 black green - bare helmet & gas mask case
516 iron grey - early war trousers
518 field blue - luftwaffe field division uniform
521 army green - gas mask cape , summer uniform
525 uniform grey - early war tunic, late war tunic and pants
533 slate grey - tunics

Black library reading over the holidays

2011-01-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of reading over our Christmas holidays. Not least because I happened to find a cache of Black Library books which had just come into our Warnambool public library. These include four books from Sandy Mitchell ( Alex Stewart) who is the author of the Dark Heresy series and the Ciaphus Cain series as well. I'm liking his writing style.

Currently I'm plowing through the Ciaphus Cain omnibus. These omnibus books are great value with three novels and a couple of extra short stories thrown in.

During a trip down to Geelong I happened to walk into an Angus & Robertson bookstore and was very surprised to find a pile of current release Black Library books on deeep discount. Standard novels for $5 AUD and the omnibus editions for $10 AUD. Two bags of books later I was a very happy shopper.

A big shout out to the posties of the world

2010-12-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

I've had stuff come through the post from the UK, the US even Germany this year as well as all over Australia. All of it has arrived in one piece most of it very quickly. This is the time of year in the western world when the postal workers really get hammered with all the Christmas stuff getting sent. So nice one guys and girls your efforts are appreciated.

1:72 Somus (sic)

2010-12-01T05:45:00.000-08:00

A neat little three man tank from the French army of WWII. The display base that this vehicle was on had Somus instead of Somua.

1:72 Matilda II's Deagostini and ?

2010-12-01T05:41:00.000-08:00

The tank on the right arrived today in the post from Hong Kong with a Somua 35 and the Stug from the previous post. Nearly identical to the Deagostini Combat Tanks Collection vehicle I received last month. It isn't as well made with the smoke launchers and a few other bits including the exhausts cast as part of the body or turret rather than as separate parts.

The unknown vehicle on the right has the id stripes that were a feature on some real life vehicles.

Revell British 8th army soldier for scale.

I've had a look about for possible producers for these three tanks but have so far drawn a blank. Could they be rejects from the factory that produces the vehicles for these part collections? They just look too similar to CTC vehicles, even down to the tank numbers to be a coincidence.

The tracks on the Deagositini vehicle (right) are much more accurate.

1:72 die cast armour arrivals Stug III

2010-11-30T20:07:00.000-08:00

Stug III auf G drivers side.

Commanders side

View from the rear showing the deliberately bent shield on the top mounted MG. The painters have also missed the rack of spare tracks at the rear between engine deck and fighting compartment.


Rear view showing the crooked spare road wheel and the unit insignia which looks a bit like an elongated x on a shield.

Games Workshops store finder doesn't get updated?

2010-11-18T04:27:00.000-08:00

Its frustrating when you try to offer a service and expect some help from a reasonably well run company which you are buying increasing amounts of product from and they just cant seem to get it right. The Games Workshop Oz store finder doesn't show the two stores in Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia. Only the one which has been stocking less and less as the store that isn't listed goes nuts with their product. AAAAGH! Jeez guys give me the access and i'll fix it myself.

Renedra Barrels

2010-11-15T03:35:00.000-08:00

Released under Renedra's Generics label, I picked these up from Warlord Games with a few other bits that arrived today. There are five wooden barrels and five casks on two sprues in a chocolate brown plastic (grey is available) in this retail packet. Each barrel has two halves and goes together smoothly although the two rings around the center of the cask don't quite line up.

The smaller casks which are 1 cm in diameter just before putting them together.

The smaller of the two is a gunpowder keg sort of size while the larger is more of a small wine size. Both have squarish sides rather than the very bowed wine barrel sides. These are great little scenery enhancers both for fantasy and historicals and a pile might even be useful as an objective. Perfect for all the pirate games that people seem to be playing .

Halo Reach Actionclix figures

2010-11-15T02:57:00.000-08:00

B1 received the latest release Actionclix that he's been sweating on. The figures are the Spartan Noble Six team from the Microsoft Halo Reach game. I only really looked at them very briefly as they are over scale for 28mm sci fi and pretty soft in the detail department. One thing i did notice was that the sniper rifle on the figure in the blister was truncated while the picture showed a much longer version. B1 was trying to get the game to work but couldn't work out why the clix weren't making sense. Then he realised the clix insert had been put into the wrong figures at the factory. Doh! 5 minutes later he was in business.

The Real Thing - 80 Pounder Gun emplacement

2010-11-13T04:38:00.000-08:00

I thought this might be interesting for those late 19th century wargamers. These guns were put into Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland in 1889 to defend against a possible Russian invasion. The Portland gun and emplacement were restored in 1984 and give a good idea of what an emplacement of the day would look like.

From the rear


The site would have dominated the bay below it although modern day industry seems to have gotten in the way.


Door to the left of the gun.


Date stamp on the gun.


The magazine and lamp passage doors to the right of the gun.

B1 and B2 man the gun.

The Real Thing - Grant Tank in Australia

2010-11-13T03:34:00.000-08:00

M3A3?5? Grant tank on the side of the road at the entrance to the now defunct Melbourne Tank Museum on the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria.

Side doors indicate an early model as it was deleted as a weak point in later tanks. The 75mm barrel seems way too long but may be the M3 75mm gun as indicated on page 21 of the surviving Grant tanks PDF.

Two tone Australian camouflage.

Hull front

The Museum closed in 2005/6 and the two Grants in the collection were sold to a private collector which means I took these photos a long time ago.

The Australian War Memorial states Australia received 754 of these from the United States during 1942 and according to the research done by Paul D. Handel on Anzac Steel they served until 1955 in some reserve units. Because they were part of British/ Commonwealth orders they were fitted with the lower height British spec. turret.

I've spoken to an older local here in Warrnambool who can remember the local Army reserve unit (CMF?) having at least one which they used to drive from the old barracks which was at the site of the current South West TAFE campus up onto the sand dunes to fire at the reef out to sea on the weekends.

Pegasus German Army Infantry 1939 Review

2010-11-10T03:36:00.000-08:00

Pegasus Set 7499 straight from the box

I've been aware of these for a long time but haven't ever seen them in the flesh until I managed to get some into my local FLGS. Images of these are really hard to find as well at least partly because of the woeful Pegasus site. Plastic Soldier Review has come through again with their review and photographs of the assembled figures which is here.

42 figures in 20 multi part poses depicting early war German soldiers.

MG34 on the left and the German anti tank rifle on the right which probably represents PzB 39 due to the cartridge cases mounted to the rear on either side of the breech.

Crawling figure, probably the worst figure in the set which says something of the quality of design.

The design of the set is brilliant with quite a few kneeling / crouching poses. All weapons have slings attached which is difficult to achieve for one figure let alone a whole set. The only figure i thought was a bit wrong was the crawling figure above whose helmet sits up high on his head. I'll trim the second ones head down so it goes a bit lower.

not enough bases, which is part of the design but just plain odd
hardish plastic which seems to be taking normal plastic glue well
as always the MP40 is over represented but there are some nice poses here
only 1 wounded figure and no officers or mortars which has allowed more variants of the basic troops
these figures are very similar size wise to the Prieser 1/72 figures to the point where I have used an arm from the Preiser set 72501 to modify one of the Pegasus figures
rifle grenade and ATR are included

All in all a great set from Pegasus who also have a set of German paratroops and French WWII figures which seem to be stalled in development.

A Wargaming opponent

2010-10-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

I was doing my usual Saturday afternoon gig with the Games Workshop stuff at the local FLGS when one of our counter staff said there was a man to see me. "A man ?" I said, thinking that I had no outstanding debts as far as I knew. It turned out it was a semi local looking for a wargame that wasn't Warhammer. Nap's, ACW and WWII were mentioned. One thing I have avoided like the plague is Napoleonics because I know just how many figure purchases that might lead to. ACW isn't really something i'm interested in although a pick up game could be entertaining. My interest was piqued though. Which leaves WWII.

WWII 20mm would be my scale of choice because I already have enough figures here without any extras. Although 15mm is enticing because of the sheer range available again its a slippery slope to another scale and range of figures I have to find homes for. But what ruleset to play?

Having come home and ruminated about it IABSM suddenly came to mind. It's a copy of rules that I've had for a little while but have had no reason to play so I may suggest these. Cheap as chips with room for gentlemanly discussion and period specific adjustments to the rules. Not for rules lawyers apparently so we'll see how I go with the sales pitch.

The I Ain't Been Shot Mum website is over at Lard Island.

Halloween in Australia

2010-10-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

What is it with an US holiday getting rammed down our throats? This year the supermarkets have gone into overdrive and it just leaves me wondering when they will try Thanksgiving.

When the wheels stop turning...

2010-10-13T03:54:00.000-07:00

So i was riding along doing a couple of laps of the local park on my trusty Mountain Bike when a poor gear change resulted in the chain snapping. Huh? was my first thought as the pedals suddenly became very light and that tell tale sound of the chain running out onto the ground registered. Luckily all the parts were still hanging on, my trusty chain breaker was handy and I had it back together in about ten minutes.

My trusty no name chain breaker on the left and a Topeak one on the right.

Which leads to this post which is going to deal with Chain breaks, how to avoid them and how to fix 'em.

Bike chains come apart for a number of reasons. Wear will weaken a chain to the point were they will pop apart under shifting tension, stuff can get caught in them and twist them apart for example trail debris and poor or incorrect joining of the chain can also create a weak point that will come apart under stress.

How do you avoid the splits?

keep your chain and chain rings in good condition and by that i mean clean and lubed with your choice of lubricant, they will wear quicker on a mtb rather than a road bike as all the crud does them no good
when you're changing gears avoid putting too much stress on the chain by planning for shifts
use a good quality chain that's designed for the chain rings you are using

to be continued...

Green Zebra Pasta in Albury

2010-10-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

The family and I wandered up to the New South Wales Border to do a spot of business and some catching up with family friends at the end of September. We had an action packed weekend and then extended trip back through Rye on the Mornington Peninsula. While we were in Albury I wanted to go for at least one meal at the Green Zebra as B1 and B2 both enjoy their pasta. Unfortunately it's been a while since i've been there and they aren't open on a Saturday night. Never mind, we wandered in the next morning for breakfast.

Street signs with the snazzy Green Zebra logo

Caffe Latte with a little squiggle

B2 enjoying his fresh juice.

Poached eggs and bacon, handmade fresh bread and a little squiggle of sweet reduction. This photo was taken with my phone and doesn't do justice to how awesome this looked, smelt and tasted.

French toast with bacon and real maple syrup. Thick slices that were actually fluffy with the perfectly cooked egg mixture.

I will admit I did a couple of nights work for Paul and Wendy a long time ago. It could even have been last century as it was not long after they had set up. But I don't think that means I have a bias without good reason. They employ good staff both in the kitchen and out the front and their passion for food shows through. Paul's organisation borders on the obsessive although you don't really appreciate this until you see inside the tiny cool room that the cooking staff work out of. Recommended eating although its tight inside if you're lugging a kid in a pram.

Pegasus City Ruins 1 final build

2010-09-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

Pegasus City Ruins 1 completed. The ruin with the checkered flooring on the left has had the full treatment. Two or so extra coats of paint than the plain one. All holes and join marks filled and sanded flat. The tops of the columns have been built up to represent the torn edges.

Pegasus City Ruins 1 painted and coated with two coats of White Knight Crystal Clear Acrylic "Satin"

The finish and fit on these is good straight out of the box but with a little care and time they can be something you'll really be showing off.

The small upright broken off the building on the left

I'd also love to see another part of the building with a staircase and landing to access the second floor. Well thought out by the manufacturer with a solid feel the only niggle would be the small window bead that will break. And if that's the only thing wrong with a kit you must be on to a good thing.

More novels from the Black Library

2010-09-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

Ive just put down "Soul Hunter" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden which is a nicely done book on the Night Lords Traitor Marine Chapter. I was almost hesitant to start reading it because i thought it would be too full of hack slay chaos blah blah blah. Well written with a mix of Heresy era background and present day (40K) writing this book was a relief after a handful of Black Library books that seemed to be loyalist propaganda rather than good stories.

From the smattering of "void" battle and ship boarding actions and characters that seemed very real with their conflicting natures to the revelation of the poor state of the Chapters resources this book seemed to be thoroughly thought out and written as a novel rather than a cookie cutter Chaos manuscript.

As several reviewers have noted on the Black Library website this book shows a Chapter less afflicted by Chaos because of the reason they left the Empire of Man. I would hazard to say they are almost closer to the depiction of the Fallen in Gav Thorpes "Angels of Darkness" than to the other Traitor Space Marine Chapters. My recommendation is get the book is you want some more perspective on why one of the "less" corrupted Chapters went over to Horus and into the Eye.

I'll have to watch out for "The First Heretic" which is coming in November.

Pegasus City Ruins 1 review and build

2010-08-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

These Pegasus plastic kits have been available for a few years but living outside major metro they are a bit hard to spot in the flesh. Information was hard to track down partly because of the abysmal Pegasus website. As near as i can tell Pegasus are a large retail store in the US who have their fingers in a few pies with some 1/72 or 1/76 plastic kits being of interest to me and then this Gothic building series in 28mm. With their website concentrating on R/C kits and add ons its a little hard to get accurate information on what these kits can do. There are two Gothic building kits with this one being the smaller ruined version, a bridge and a cathedral/church type building.
I was lucky enough to be in the LFGS when the rep who handles Pegasus called in and I jumped up and down till some were ordered (didn't take long though).

The Pegasus City Ruins kit in its raw state moulded in a darkish grey plastic.

On opening the box i was impressed to find no sprue, so what you feel when you pick up the box is all kit. The larger Gothic building is impressive just on the weight alone. From an environmental point of view they should be congratulated as there is no waste at our end and presumably the sprues go back into the melting pot at the production end.
There are twenty solid pieces in the ruins kit with the only fragile bit being the small window bit on the top right hand corner of the piece you can see above the glue pot on the left of the photo above (that was a mouthful). Its well designed with no electrical cabling at all making it suitable for both fantasy and sci fi applications. It also pushes together without glue.

As this kit was going to be a gaming piece and display model in the store i've put it together in two ways. The first is glued and painted straight from the box the second has been glued and modified to give a more realistic feel.

Gothic city ruins pushed together for a test fit.

Built straight from the box with a basic paint job its very satisfactory.

After undercoating and putting the first coat of Grey on i realized there was still a flash mark inside the window frames so out came the small file.

And its at this point that i realise that i've misplaced a few photos.

Blood angels Necron rematch

2010-08-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

The ideal 20mm/1:72 WWII sprue

2010-08-09T06:11:00.000-07:00

I got to thinking the other day what would be the ideal setup for a 20 mm hard plastic sprue for wargaming.

I could start with some parameters.

German Heer, summer, mid war, one sprue, approximately 15 - 20 figures per set. Some separate heads and weapons. Bases may be separate but figures should have a peg to attach. Figures to fit a platoon (zug?) without heavier weapons. So mg 34 or 42 on bipod mounts. Rifle grenades? Possibly 50mm mortar.

So MG on the ground prone or kneeling on a bit of ground with the gun propped up. 2 crew.

MG on the move with two crew.

Riflemen kneeling, firing/grenades or observing, some of these could double as mortar crew. x 6

Nco's with seperate arms, mp40 or ppsh, map case, pointing etc, 1 kneeling, 1 moving.

Riflemen moving with weapons ready or ammo for MG and weapon slung. 3 - 5

Seperate arms could have grenade/ bundled potato masher/ teller mines/ ammo boxes/ extra weapons/ dinner (chicken). Seperate heads would include caps/ bare heads/ helmets and covered helmets.

Valiant have had a pretty good go in the last couple of years. Their Classic German Infantry page is here. The set was put together specifically for the Rapid fire ruleset. You get four riflemen advancing, an mg 42 on tripod (2 crew), a soldier carrying an mg42, a radio operator, an officer, several nco's with mp40 and five figures with seperate arms for the variety of included weapons. 17 figures per sprue. The only draw back I can see is the scale they are bigger than most plastic 1:72.

The Plastic Soldier Company is looking promising if he can deliver true 1:72 scale he'll be on a winner. My t34/76 are waiting with their engines idling for the appearance of the Russians. Having been lurking for months? I've finally found a photo of the test sprues on the net at Benno's figures.

A new direction for White Dwarf?

2010-08-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

The latest edition of White Dwarf, Games Workshops magazine, which is number 368 has turned up here.

Lots of stuff on Daemons for Warhammer and Warhammer 40000 to tie in their new plastic releases. Articles on heroes of legend in War of the Ring, magic for the new 8th edition of Warhammer, John Blanche and Jervis Johnson get bits and finally there are two articles that cover modelling and painting. The twisted landscape modelling workshop covers chaos terrain and uses a fair bit of the plastic terrain available from Games Workshop. The painting masterclass covers the new plastic Daemon Prince with a focus on using fades along with a small bit on fading colours generally and varnishes. Both of these are top quality pieces of work.

What stands out to me is the apparent switch to focus on single themes for an issue of the magazine. This seems to have started from last months issue with the 8th edition Warhammer coverage were there was no Warhammer 40000 or middle earth coverage at all. I had another long time player remark that he wouldn't have bought it if it hadn't come through his subscription.

One thing I look forward to in this magazine is the painting, modelling and showcase articles. Over the last 2 years they have improved out of sight and have really shown some quality painting techniques especially. They seem to be going for a harder sell on the rules with bigger battle reports which are less interesting to me along with a glossier newer look to the magazine. Which makes sense i suppose as its a company apparatus for expanding sales.

Necrons win a game!!!

2010-07-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

1750 points of Necrons vs Blood Angels
Dawn of War and the Capture and Control mission
Disastrous first turn with a monolith wrecked again from the Landaiders Lascannons.
Veil of Darkness lord teleporting into terrain and taking a squad of Necrons with him.
The game ended on turn six with the Destroyer bodied Lord making a run for the opposing objective to contest it and two squads of Necrons sitting on their home objective after Assault Marines moved away!

"Enforcer" omnibus novel

2010-07-20T04:50:00.000-07:00

Another Omnibus edition has come into my posession from the Games Workshops' Black Library. "Enforcer" by Matthew Farrer. Who like Henry Zou also happens to be an Australian author. The softcover contains three novels and some extra bonus material. This author seems to really know his Warhammer 40000 background as there is so much of the detailed mechanics of the story that rings true with what i've read of the background setting.

The first book "Crossfire" reads almost like a "standard" detective story set in the dark future with lots of shootouts between the Adeptus Arbites heroine Shira Calpurnia and the baddies. The second "Legacy" was the stand out for me with a couple of pretty good twists although the actions of the tech priest seemd to jar a bit with the actions of an supposedly intelligent character. The third book "Blind" ran on from consequences of the ending of the second but took a completely different twist.

These Omnibus editions are great value at a little under the price of two regular paperbacks.

Necrons get another run

2010-07-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

This time against blue smurf Ultramarines who won by a narrow margin. The tin men made it to the end of the game (turn 6) with one Necron left to phase out time. I lost a Monolith in turn 2 which was more than a little frustrating. But i did cripple the Space Marine Vindicator in return. Highlights of the game were my opponents ten man squad of Terminators running from the field :) and the Destoyer Lord coming back from Terminator smack down then taking out a five man squad of Assault Marines.

Thoughts for next time are don't get rushed into shooting. It was getting late in the evening though. If i'd remembered to teleport one of my last squads of Necrons closer to the objective it could well have been a draw.

The rules for how the Monolith is used are still causing some confusion for me. If says in the FAQ that it deep strikes from reserve when available then a squad of Necrons which are available from reserve can come through the portal in the Monolith same turn and go 2" as if they were hopping out of a vehicle. I suspect a lot of it is 4 th edition codex being twisted to fit in with 5th edition Warhammer 40000. I can't wait for a new codex.

I've also been working on getting the two second hand Monoliths that i have painted to a reasonable standard. Its a slow process as there are a lot of very straight lines on both to be dry drushed and touched up.

Both have had their "handles" popped off. I won't put them back on till i'm almost done with the painting. The Monolith on the right with the brass fittings had a dodgy metallic blue paintjob on the sides which i've been working on covering up. Its saving grace was that the Necron rods haven't been glued in place so i can work without fear of painting over them. It was also the better assembled of the two with the black one having some joins not quite touching.

Necrons have a run against the Blood Angels

2010-07-07T05:43:00.000-07:00

My ever optimistic Necrons have just had a 1750 game against Johns Blood Angels. Army Builder EX made putting the Blood Angel list together a breeze too with the computer alongside the table.

Necron of the match has to go to the Necron Lord who dispatched the Librarian Terminator HQ then held up three units of Marines before using the Veil to get out of dodge only to mishap back into Johns hands and be put right back where he started to be finished off next turn.

The Necrons managed to come very close in a game of Annihilate with the final score being 5 to 6 in the Blood Angels favour. My two Monoliths fared very poorly with some average dice rolling on my part and some excellent work by Johns Landraider.

Goliath stick insect comes to visit for the holidays

2010-07-02T05:54:00.000-07:00

Charlie the Goliath Stick Insect has come to visit from B2's kindergarten for the holidays. She doesn't do much just eats eucalyptus leaves and drops big rat sized poo.

Pretty cool colouration when you get up close.

I mentioned that Charlie had come to visit to big dan and he drew me a picture of a bug egg. So when i was cleaning out the tank I had a look and sure enough there they were. 13 eggs from a week or two. big dan has them in the incubator at the pet shop so we'll see whether we get teeny stick insects in a little while.

A win for the Necrons against Imperial Guard

2010-07-02T05:40:00.000-07:00

I've been playing 1500 point games of warhammer 40000 for a while now as it seems to me to give a game that's not too crowded on a 6 x 4 tabletop. The GOB is practicing for a tournament in Melbourne at the end of July which uses 1750 point armies so we've just had a go with my beefed up Necron list against his latest Cadian Guard list. With the extra 250 points an extra Monolith gets to make an appearance. mwmwmwmwmw ha!

Turn 2 - Imperial Guard missile launchers wondering why there is now a Monolith parked outside their position with its guns pointing in the window.

Casualties mount for the guard on turn 4 - 5. Destoyer Lord and Necrons on left have just wiped out Stormtrooper squad and the Lord turns to the Sentinels which have already lost one of their number to massed Gauss fire. The first Monolith is taking a lot of hits.

The second Monolith makes an appearance, Guardsmen are winnowed down, and the Lord and Flayers move on to a Leman Russ on the right. The game had ended at this point with the result being a win to NECRONS on points.

The view from the necrons lurking safely in the ruined building.

Novels and reality

2010-05-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

I've been reading again a bit lately and a couple of books have caught my attention.

"House to House: an epic memoir of war" by SSG David Bellavia is one i've had from my local library.
It recounts the experiences of the author who served in the US Army in the battle for Fallujah in 2004. This book had some really interesting ( and horrific) stuff in it but seemed a bit disjointed almost like some of it had been cut out or rearranged. John R. Bruning (a military historian) shares the writing in this one. i couldnt put this one down until i'd finished it.

Along those lines i picked up "Ground Truth" by Patrick Bishop in a discount bin. It's a book about 3 Para's return to Afghanistan in 2008. A very different book by a journalist rather than a soldier and one which explores some of the wider issues that the British army is facing as it fights a war which has reshaped the lives of all servicemen and women from that country.

I've also just read a couple of books released by the Black Library and set in the Warhammer 40000 universe.

The last book in the Ravenor Trilogy "Ravenor Rogue" by Dan Abnett. The first two i got from our local library and i liked them so much i bought the Omnibus when it came out. A great read, lots of twists and turns but maybe just a little bit too long.

"Emperors Mercy" by Henry Zou who is an Australian author also features an Inquisitorial band in the lead roles. He leaves it nicely open for a sequel at the end too. I felt this book dwelled a bit on the suffering of the population for a Science Fiction novel.

On the workbench this week...

2010-04-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

Paper shipping containers, wrapped over some packing foam I had squirreled away they will make excellent 28mm scenery.

Sometimes I get distracted. I drew the plan for this shelf unit at least two months ago but only managed to get the shed cleared of projects to get it done now. All recycled chipboard from a motel that was stripping out kitchens and a clothes shop that was being refitted, screws are from pallets that i've broken down. The only waste from the boards was the small pile of offcuts and the pile of sawdust in the foreground. It's designed to go into my FLGS with a Games Workshop paint rack fitting into the centre, GW cases in the bottom and brushes on the top. I've done some more work since the photo was taken and it needs at this point one more piece of trim (i'll have to buy that :() and a coat of paint. B2 is measuring it up.

On the painting table. Necrons, Orks and another squad of Imperial Guardsmen. Task for tonight was drybrushing metal and ground colour for the bases. This is a night time shot with the daylight fluorescent lamp and overhead Halogens. During the day I paint out in our enclosed veranda. I use the bread board out of looong established habit. I can still remember mum saying I could borrow it to cut on as long as it came back to the kitchen.

I finally have my airbrush set up and working at a reasonable pressure and this has resulted in lots of primed figures getting done en mass.

40K miniatures on the paint block.

2010-04-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

Imperial Guard Cadian repaints from a mixed bag Ebay buy. Poorly painted and assembled they've had a few arm and equipment swaps and then some major painting to get them to this point. They are almost there with a final highlight touch up to be done on helmets, guns and armour. Unit transfers and static grass to finish. Their Sergeant is assembled but at a bare plastic stage so i may wait till he's at this stage to finish them off . I'm trying to get a waxed or rubberised cloth look to the uniforms similar to an NBC/early gas suit.

A Games Workshop Space Marine Crimson Fists Dreadnought about to place the flamer template of wrath onto the Orks. All are again repaints from Ebay. The dreadnoughts arms are unfortunately glued still rather than swivelling but at least it had a reasonable weapon selection.

Trying out the new(ish) Necron army for Warhammer 40K

2010-03-30T04:43:00.000-07:00

I picked up a large number of Games Workshop Necron figures on Ebay last month and have had the chance to try them out over a couple of games with the GOB. More than enough figures to create a 1500 point force with handfuls left over. Not the best mix possibly but most had a half done paint job so i could throw the living metal straight into battle.

Game 1

Lord with destroyer body hiding on top of a building after taking some wounds from the Librarian and terminators to the right of photo. the remains of a scarab unit fleeing mid photo and two units of Necrons about to get pounded by the Ultramarines between the two buildings.

The Vindicator you can see midfield proved to be a pain in both games. There was a Heavy Destroyer left behind the construction vehicles on the right which I completely forgot in the carnage.

The result of rapid firing and close combat on a squad of Assault Marines. If they could have had him too all would have been well. But no. There was a Dreadnought to the right of the photo and he piled in on the next turn helping to wipe the Warriors from the table.

Game 2

Poor leadership led to the Veil of Darkness being used very badly in the first game. The second game went almost as badly with the lord and accompanying warriors almost ending up off the table as you can see at the extreme top of this photo and the next.

Necron man of the match went to the Lord with Destroyer body who put paid to two combat squads and a chaplain virtually by himself.

I will rethink my tactical use of the Veil of Darkness, rejig scarabs and there is a Spider on the way too.

Warrnambool Model Train Show 2010

2010-02-28T03:15:00.000-08:00

The Warrnambool Model Railway Club members and their families who run this scale model train show in Warrnambool, Victoria over the weekend of the 9 and 10 January really need to be congratulated. That a small country club has run this for 11 years is just fantastic and a testament to their dedication to providing access to the hobby outside metro areas.

I managed to take my camera along this year and got a few snaps of different exhibits which come from around the state.

The Tottington narrow gauge by Allen Ogden was a great little scene down to the vegie garden in the right hand side of the box. He was having some issues with the switch to let the train come back and you can see him here adjusting it.

Tottington engine in B & W

This little explosives car (HO?) by Peter McDonald appealed to me and was a real treat down to the shotgun on the passenger seat. It runs with the motor apparently built up under the explosive safe.

To give you some idea of the size there is a CD to the right of this picture.

Pine Valley an N gauge layout by Andrew Cray and Amanda Fern. Here Andrew drives from the control and staging yard. About (very loosely) 1/100 th for the wargamers out there.

B1 looking at some scratch built HO railway buildings being put together by Colin Konig. Each of these buildings had the internal detail as well! Absolutely exquisite, you can see one going together at rear.

Random dice

2010-02-14T19:30:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when you get bulk things off internet sellers you get some really random stuff. Anyone got any idea what this dice is for?

Games Workshop Tyranid Ripper Base

2010-01-27T04:30:00.000-08:00

A bit of paint doodling here. Some plastic rippers on a 40mm base. There should be five there but one went missing at some stage in the last house move.

Pinning Miniatures

2010-01-27T04:22:00.000-08:00

Being able to pin miniatures is a skill that benefits anyone putting together multi part gaming miniatures. Metal figures especially acheive much greater tolerance to strain. It allows you to strengthen glue bonds that have a low shear strength and in this case allowed me to fix a ruined necron figure. The blade and part of the haft had snapped off above his hand.

I'm using a pin vice here with a 1 mm drill bit. The first piece I attempted was down into the hand. Unfortunately the scoring on the shaft allowed the drill to snap the handle again but luckily the little part came out just like a little bead. Here you can see it on the paperclip which will become the pin.

Building the modular wargaming table top mark I

2010-01-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

The GOB has asked me to put together some modular tabletops which will rest on trestle tables for Warhammer / 40 K games. The board size will ideally be 4' x 2' with three bolting together to form an 6' x 4' table. We had discussed a High Density foam layer with scenery constructed permanently on top and the initial discussion involved plans for 18 boards but i'll start with one set (3 boards) and we'll work from there.

The photo above shows the pieces for the first board mocked up for size. The biggest problem is the size of sheet material here. If it has been cut in the USA then it will be in feet but if it's been made here it will be metric and thus a little short in every direction. Construction will be pine as it's pretty cheap running at $0.97 AUD a metre here.

Thinking music here...

I decided to go with 3mm MDF which has come from the US and has been cut into 4' x 2' sheets. I'd prefer ply for its extra strength but aren't prepared to wear the waste of cutting down a big sheet. Not to mention cutting the sheets by hand.

Board one screwed together. I toyed with the idea of using a long board down the middle but this double brace going across should be stronger and uses up scrap from around the place.

And an example of how it will work on a trestle table. With another one or two bolted to it shouldn't move too much. I've now nailed and glued the top on and that's sitting in the shed with some weights on top.

Japanese riding from Perth to Cairns arrive in Warrnambool, Victoria

2009-09-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

Its been a busy couple of weeks here with our house move and the resulting re organising. No time for miniatures and a lack of high speed Internet access has reduced my net time as well. Some more Space Hulk figures turned up in the mail courtesy of Under The Couch with the excellent Tyranid Broodlord being one of them.

The most entertaining thing that's happened today was when I was looking out the back window and noticed two heavily laden cyclists pulling off to the side of the highway. Watching the pantomime brought a smile to my face as the second cyclist pulled a tiny pump from his panniers. As B1 and B2 were getting a bit stir crazy and I thought the guys might appreciate the offer of a bigger pump off we went through the vacant block to the side of the road with our track pump. It turns out they are riding from Perth to Cairns and are 2 ½ months into their trip. Which they were calling a holiday.

That's just mad.

My first game of Space Hulk

2009-09-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

Well it's out. The eagerly awaited re release from Games Workshop, Space Hulk.

I got the chance to play three games today on the GOB's set. thanks again to him for bringing it round and running through the game.

My first impressions are that there is a lot of stuff in the box, the board sections are to my eye a little cluttered and this may be what other internetsi have been talking about when they have mentioned the board pieces are shiny. If you look at them from the side you can't see what's going on. It's just a little distracting.

The marine and genestealer pieces are good especially the marines with fine chain and scroll work. Although we were using some painted genestealers from a previous generation. We played the first mission on either side then played one of the more complicated missions.

The marines needed to flame the room on top left, the librarian one move from completing the mission.

Working out how the terminators need to divide as they go along helps too.

The first mission played with me as the genestealers, the flame template took out one at the far end of the section and the 'stealer took two steps and flattened the flamer marine. Game over.

The second mission we played introduced the assault cannon. Note to self : don't assault up a long corridor onto the assault cannon. It got close with the Terminator having to reload but chewed up half a dozen 'stealers and allowed the marines to seal all the entry points.

We didn't end up using the sand timer as both of us had no problem keeping things moving. i imagine it would make a difference in a competitive game.

The bitz people are hard at it as well. One of the guys i've bought from before is Under The Couch and i notice he's still got a few pieces from the Space Hulk box although the Space Marines seem to have gone pretty quickly.
Note he has been restocking and adjusting his prices a bit so well worth a look (3/11/09)

A Mr. Miyagi moment

2009-08-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

I had a Mr Miyagi moment when B1 decided to help me with some Games Workshop miniatures that had been having their paint dissolved in the tub of Simple Green.

Skaven progress and a metal rat ogre

2009-08-25T23:20:00.000-07:00

A metal Bloodbowl Ratogre that has had the head from the old Headsplitter miniature added to it. The only thing i don't like about this miniature is the silly tail club. Coming along nicely.

The Clan rats get their basing material. Sand and PVA.

Skaven clan rats make it to the painting table

2009-08-25T15:15:00.001-07:00

I bought these clan rats many years ago (10?) at Mind Games in Geelong to enter in a painting competition. I managed to get them together and there the project stalled. Two of the regimental bases make them a lot easier to handle. I was struck by how as i was painting the toes ( figures on the left) they really appeared to take a leap in how finished they were. It really seemed to define them.

These are older plastic figures from Games Workshop and when you handle them you can see how they lack detail on one side especially their feet. These are from the days when there were metal pieces included for the command group. Over the years they've fallen off as i didn't pin them at the time so now i'll have to track down the bits or find some plastic substitutes.

In the background are two rat ogres from GW, Headsplitter and a Bloodbowl player.

Mr Bean

2009-08-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

B1 thought this was pretty funny and needed to be on the blog. Rowan Atkinson's character is pure genius and the animated version captures him pretty well too.
The gif is normally animated but doesn't seem to work here which is a shame.

On the painting line

2009-08-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

Having packed away the painting table for B1 to have his own room again and now packing to move to a new house I'm reduced to a couple of boards that i can stash in the cupboard.
I tend to paint in batches and with multiple batches running at the same time to reduce boredom.
Just before i took this photo i realised that i was one DA short. What i've done is started on the Ultramarines and used one of the undercoated DA's in that count. DOH!
Above you can see three squads of Games Workshop Space Marines from the Dark Angels and Ultramarines chapters, a Bloodbowl Rat Ogre, some Gnoblars (a small goblin), Dave the Fu!uk Orc and a base of Tyranid Rippers.

Most of the Marine figures are secondhand plastic miniatures some of which have been stripped with Simple Green. Others had reasonably sound black undercoat so i've just painted over that. Above are three of the bare headed DA Marines, the figure on the right still has his basing material unpainted.

This is a classic Goblin Ballista miniature that has languished partly painted in my cupboard for a long time. I'm almost happy with it, perhaps a bit more highlighting and some green bits on the base and she's done. The figures to go with it are painted I just have to track them down.

Dave the Fu!uk Orc

2009-08-11T04:16:00.000-07:00

Dave the orc finally gets his armour put on after being bought from the frothers unite site so long ago. He really is an ugly so and so. Sculpting wise he's fantastic except for the breastplate which seems to have been a bit neglected for detail. I'm going for a more traditional brown or "black " orc skin rather than lurid green and the grey is the base for a bit of subtle NMM painting.

Valiant GI's based up

2009-07-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

I put these Valiant American Infantry together a couple of weeks ago but hadn't got around to posting the photo yet. You can see the 16 figures after they've been mounted on small washers with the .30 cal gunner sitting on his bum. There was a fair bit of thought involved in getting some special poses out of the set. To me there just weren't enough firing figures so the kneeling firing figure in the back of shot is a bit of a kitbash to get an extra firing pose and i've tried to get as much movement as I can out of the rest of the multi part figures.

Broken Again

2009-07-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

Well i've managed to "fall" off a ladder at work during last week. One of those moments when you think why is the ground coming to me? Result one broken shoulder, not as Humerus as you might think and a nasty bruise that goes from the front of my shin under my ankle and out the other side. But on the bright side i can still paint although i cramp up so only two or three at a time.

Valiant WWII GI's on the cutting table

2009-07-06T04:10:00.000-07:00

All in all i think Valiant have done pretty well, the company have now got four sets of these figures at the same scale specifically designed for Rapid Fire. Could the Russians be next?

The figures i've picked up from Wargames Illustrated have been mentioned in the internet press as being big for 1:72 or 20mm. In my opinion after seeing them they are more like "heroic" 1:72 or 25mm figures. The 16 figures per sprue are similar in height, being 25mm to the eye, to the Revell Panzergrenadiers set which are some of the tallest 1:72 figures i've used but the Valiant's are much bulkier.

The Garand rifles and heads seem to be oversized (for 1:72) while the other weapons seem pretty good apart from the BAR which is on the skinny side. The mortar and belt fed .30 cal MG are awesome sculpts with a wealth of fine detail. Minor complaints would be that some of the hands firing weapons aren't quite realised as well as they could have been and there seem to be too many SMG's and not enough crew figures (with pistol holsters or M1's) or arms carrying stuff. Not enough crouching firing figures either.

One thought I had was if they did another sprue to complement the set what could go on it? The current sprue has six spare heads but only one headless body. So you could put one to five headless bodies. What about pairs of arms, perhaps covering ears (mortar number 2), setting mortar fuse, carrying more ammo boxes, crates of grenades? throwing grenade? Some more crouching figures would be nice. A BAR fired from the shoulder (without the bipod) and a more realistic operator for the MG. He looks like he's on the firing range the way he's sitting with head sticking up. Trenchcoat or poncho equipped figures could be handy too. An 81 mm mortar?

Wargames Illustrated in Australia

2009-06-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

I've not long ago received some copies of Wargames Illustrated with the complimentary miniatures on the cover. The 1:72 WWII figures from Valiant and the 28mm Naps from the Perry Brothers. I have to keep reminding myself that i really don't need another period to collect so i'll pass the Naps on shortly. I was interested to get the Valiant figures as i had read reports they were out of scale and didn't want to spend the money on a complete box (and postage) to find out.

Its interesting to see the different route that they've taken with the two sprues. The Perry Brothers sprues are made by RENEDRA which is run by a veteran/s in the plastic manufacture biz. The plastic they use looks similar if not identical to what GW uses. It carves well and bends, a little, before it snaps. And will bounce when it hits the ground.

Valiant have used a much stiffer material more similar to the older Hasegawa or Prieser figures. They are able to make really fine pieces with this material it seems. You only have to look at the shovel handles on the backpacks or the mortar assembly to see what they've achieved. The drawback is it's brittle, for example i lost the muzzle off the standing Thompson gunners smg when i dropped him on the table during construction and the mortar bipods leg broke in half as i was cutting it from the sprue. Plastic Soldier Review have an interesting article on these figures as well.

Wargames Table installed

2009-06-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

The table made from scrap has made it to Toyworld Warrnambool and had two or three games played on it. The paint on the surface has suffered under dice and scraping miniatures so a retouch and varnish ( I'll do the sides at the same time) will be in order soon.

GW Decals AAAAAAGH!

2009-05-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

I was putting some decals on the shoulders of these Dark Angels Space Marines and i'm really having trouble getting them to sit properly. It drove me that nuts i attempted painting the squad symbols on some of them and then ordered some DA shoulder pads from Horde of Bits in the States. I've found a couple of tutorials on decals at Bell of Lost Souls and Cento Industries.

Big Red turns into Big Green : wargames table construction

2009-05-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

The edges go on the wargame table, i actually had to buy two long bits of timber for this :). A bit of putty in the screw holes and some builders sealant in the edges and joins to neaten things up.

A bit of pink primer on the surface and the inside edges. Obviously at this point i threw out the idea of leaving two red strips at either end.

A cover of light green (Folk Art 644 Grass Green) then some squiggles with a darker colour (Folk Art 726 Green Meadow) and a few smudges of Kaiser Colour "Mud Puddle" which is very similar to GW Graveyard Earth.

I used a small roller and blended the three colours together.

The almost finished result. The bottom of the table is reinforced to prevent twisting. The edges now need to be finished.

Cleanish Painting Table and Big Red

2009-05-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

I cleaned up! It'll never last though.

And for project of the night... Big Red. Recycled timber and screws, designed to sit on two square tables that are at Warnnambool Toyworld. I had to use new glue though. The tape measure is extended out to 6' and its just shy of four foot wide. You can just see the 28 mm figure on the table. The timber came painted, the plan is to leave two strips of red on either end for reserves/dead figures to reside. I will have to buy two strips of timber for the edge tomorrow. Then the painting begins.

The chaos that is my workspace.

2009-05-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

nycjadie on TMP asked about painting areas so here goes. Calling this a workspace is probably stretching things. More of a .. meditation chamber. Note knives and paints are on top of the cupboard because the three year old fancies himself as an artist.

WIP Goblin

2009-04-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

A little plastic goblin followed me home from work so onto the painting table he goes. Love the little squig.

Simple Green Test - White Metal

2009-04-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Having finally found some of this cleaning compound I rushed out to the vault and found some volunteers to be cleaned. There was a foaming applicator included as you can see above, not really useful for what i'm doing but the sides are marked for mixing ratios so i may use it in future if i decide to go with a weaker solution.

The simple green was applied neat without any water. My next attempt will use a 1:1 mix with water. A small plastic container with lid was used, with in this case marines dropped in and it was left with the lid on for 6 hours before i checked it.

The volunteers, Legion of the Damned Space Marines with a nasty coat of paint, worth almost nothing in this state.

The results after six hours and a gentle brush below.

Results after 12 hours and a vigorous brush, the interesting thing is that the Simple Green hasn't broken the glue joints on a chaos arm that was thrown in as well. The missile launcher body has also not been stripped where the glue has covered the undercoat. The two smaller pieces have not been dipped to show just how much paint came off.

Simple Green miniature stripper

2009-03-31T05:46:00.000-07:00

Well that title should up the hits a bit.

I've long heard about Simple Green and its ability to strip paint from toy soldiers but until now i haven't been able to get my hands on any.

I have been using spray on oven cleaner which is pretty nasty stuff.

My first test has resulted in paint coming off when brushed with a nail brush after only six hours. Near complete paint removal has been had overnight. I'm really impressed with this stuff and will attempt plastics with the next batch to go in the soak.

New year new courses

2009-03-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Its been a busy week with a Bike ed. course run by Wilcare on monday and tuesday and another session of the Cert. IV in Training and Assessment run by Warrnambool TAFE on wednesday. In my travels for work i've attended a lot of TAFE's and have always been fascinated at how they work. Sometimes things run well and sometimes the frustration level builds when parts of a course just don't seem to run smoothly.

Posting a PDF that is unwritable for students to complete an assignment then altering it to a Word format that may cause issues for students without the latest software would be a good one. A lack of clarity on how and when an assignment is to be submitted is another.

note: shooting my mouth off before i think something through seems to be this week's speciality.

Netbook Computers for schools

2009-03-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

b1's government primary school is in warrnambool, victoria. Our school has opted to take part in a trial program to enable all students to have access to notebook computers. Sounds good.

But i have some thoughts. Just looking at the spin from the government and the company supplying the note books here http://tiny.cc/JEs3d it makes me wonder what they think the kids are going to do with the computers that they aren't doing already with the technology available to them. It might be a case of the adults being behind the ball again.

Previously there were 4 computers per classroom (although being networked there was often one that was having some time out) which required teachers to manage the access to make sure everyone had a chance to have a go at what they were using the computers for. One thing we have noticed is our son's interest in playing the computer games that were available through the internet at school in their "free time". He does have access to the internet and plays pc games on our computer. It's more fun when you have some little boy energy going on in a classroom.

One of the problems they have had at our school is chewing through the allocated internet hours when the kids play games (especially those that use Flash) and were download hungry (note that's just with 4 computers per class). Is there going to be a monitor on the system to identify the computers that are using up the hours? (Each computer can be identified on the network)

Noone i've spoken to seems to have noticed that the government is now asking us to pay directly for computers although not in full. Its cheap if you were looking at buying a notebook but we weren't. A retail price of $900 has been talked about but here http://tiny.cc/L8kXW we seem to have the real price of $468. An awesome saving for the government. We already have one computer at home. The kids at our son's level (grade 3) don't currently do homework but there was much talk of what could be done at home? Those without internet connections might feel they have to pay up or have their child left behind. Parents who aren't techno savvy are going to have problems understanding just what is needed.

We've already had the discussion along the lines of when the notebook comes home it goes into the loungeroom along with the other pc until you get allowed access to it the same as our current pc.

I'll add some more to this as i think of stuff.

Website working

2009-02-25T04:32:00.000-08:00

I've just about finished transferring the old Warrnambool Mountain Bike Club website over to Joomla (www.wmtbc.com). Quick and easy. My only peeve would be the clunky interface for uploading bulk images.

Otherwise awesome. Now back to some paid work.

Every now and then

2009-02-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

You come a cross a figure in the boxes and you think where did that come from?

The top one is a Citadel wood elf mage but which one?

The lower figure looks like a Citadel sculpt but the scale is out, so it may be from a boardgame of some sort.

And it is, thanks to TMP member Jake B, it's an Ogre piece from the game Darkworld. ?? How did that get in the figure boxes.

Gangers work in progress

2009-01-29T04:49:00.000-08:00

Gangers and juves with a imperial guard/militia feel.

Bloodbowl match tie

2009-01-27T04:12:00.001-08:00

The Australia day bloodbowl match ended in a tie with 1 TD each. I was pretty happy with this as every time I've played against these dwarves I've been beaten to a pulp.

Have a look at where the ball is. Top right hand corner, on the TD line.

The next dwarf to touch it pushed it into the crowd causing it to bounce most of the way back to the center.

Bloodbowl win

2009-01-24T13:18:00.000-08:00

Well after a few games of bloodbowl i finally managed to score a touchdown. 2 actually. I had to go up against a Khemri team to do it though.

Ebay extravaganza

2009-01-22T12:32:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy week on the ebay front with a lot of stuff going in to the store and a lot more to come. With two collections to reduce the biggest time waster is just correctly identifying stuff. I have two pile of epic scale stuff, more necromunda, early heroquest figures and more painted figures among others.

Postage continues to be an issue with a need to estimate the cost accurately and not underestimate the cost and be out of pocket. I'm sure this has resulted in me quoting higher than i should on some items.

After having 1 item lost ( and refunding the cost) in my last round of sales I'm very wary of sending items without registering them with Australia Post.

Its amazing how much easier it is when ebayers use the cart system and open communication rather than just relying on the psychic connection.

Mmmmm... lovely paintwork, Inquisitor retinue

2009-01-17T05:09:00.000-08:00

Really nice stuff, the servo skulls are cool too.

OrcsOrcsOrcs

2009-01-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

Lovely Lord of The Rings Urak Hai to be added to the ebay pile.

Genestealers

2009-01-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

These Genestealers have been added to the pile of stuff for Ebay. Not my painting unfortunately. The backs look a bit like a redback spiders marking.