Acrylic Paradise

Being a bit of a magpie, combined with the number of different markers/tokens used in Infinity, it was inevitable that I would end up with a few bits and pieces.
I started off with a simple order token set from my favourite token shop Chimeric Designs. After playing a few games, I got the feel for what other tokens I needed for my Morats. I also added a purple Lieutenant order to make it easier to differentiate from the regular orders.

From left to right - Irregular, Impetuous, Spearhead, Link leader, Harris link, Command, Prone, Regular Order, Lieutenant order (later replaced with a purple token), Suppression. There is also a ruler which is handy for movement skills rather than the tape measure.
I love this shop, the guy that runs it is always really good, and the suppression tokens weren't available, he mocked up a design and added them to my list of other tokens and then invoiced me for everything :)

Next up, I wanted some Silhouette markers and found these via a quick wesbearch. I really like them, and they match the colour of the other blue tokens I have. They also had some generic infinity tokens which happen to have the Combined Army Symbol on them for whatever reason, but I couldn't really say no :)

Lastly I wanted some weapon templates. I knew that the smoke markers are the large blast template but the websearch which gave me the templates also had a nifty feature for smoke markers. The marker goes down, and then fits inside the large template if the zone of coverage needs to be checked. Very handy :)

I almost regret getting clear weapon templates, but I wanted them to match the smoke and they look nice at any rate.

That should be it for now, I cut out the card markers that came with the drone box as I don't really know what they are or when they would be used but if it turns out they are required a lot for the drones, I will pick up some acrylics from Chimeric Designs.

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Canned

I recently picked up some scenery that I have been on the lookout for a while. I saw these bad boys, and later these but was reluctant to order something fragile from overseas and risk damage after paying a decent amount in shipping/customs. I dismissed the idea pretty much entirely until I stumbled across this ebay listing. At that price, I couldn't resist and bought a set of 3 plain ones and a set of 3 with the walkway.

Don't get me wrong, I'd much prefer the Promethium Forge kits, but at this price, these are absolutely fantastic. They were a little tricky to assemble, and the 'instructions' were just pictures of the parts and the finished product, but once I had done one of each, the rest was fine. I really like the look of these, and have some green stuff fans and vents cast up from instamold ready to embellish them with as well as ideas for painting and weathering for the cans.

Again, for the price I love these kits and think they look great. I'll probably set them up in pairs or threes to mix up the two different types. These will also do just fine for either Infinity or Necromunda.

I'm going to start grabbing bits for an infinity table each payday hopefully, to spread the cost a bit. This ebay seller is going to be doing kits for vertical cans so I hope they look like what I'm after and I will probably grab those too. Especially since I have pretty much all the Morats I want (for now!) and definitely have enough for a lot of choice at 300 points.

Thanks for Stopping by
Lofty

Options

In the midst of assembling Grey Hunters ready for 8th edition, I realise that not only do i not currently know what specialist weapons are any use, but I also have no way of knowing what will be useful in the next edition.
Luckily for me this was on the same night I was looking for a cyclone missile launcher that I could use for my terminators as they get very limited weapon options it seems. Enter Anvil Industry who I've seen banded about a fair bit for alternate space marine parts. They had just what I needed on both counts.

I've just now sat down to test the multi option special weapons, and I'm really very impressed. The (optional extra) magnets are snug in the indents on the pieces and the resin is very clean and well cast with good detail, I managed to cut, clean and glue one complete 'carbine' in under 5 minutes.
I'm really very pleased and would highly recommend these guys to anyone looking for similar options, or any other space marine type options to enhance their forces, or for a change from the standard GW options :)

Token Gesture

When I decided I was going to take the plunge into M2e, I was watching a lot of the Guerilla Miniature Games videos on gameplay, and hobby aspects. If you haven;t checked them out, you really should by the way. One of the reviews on the channel was for a token set for various conditions, and scheme markers etc. As luck would have it, we were planning a trip to the US at the time, and I emailed the store on etsy  to see if they would be happy to ship to our hotel in the US rather than me paying some silly money to get them delivered to the UK.

The token set is very comprehensive, and has everything you would need for your games. The only faction specific thing about the sets are the colour and the scheme marker logo, there aren't options for extra poision markers if you play ressers for example. The markers are high quality engraved perspex, they look great and are very durable to boot. The one and only complaint I have is that the paper which covers the perspex whilst its being cut is an absolute pain to get off the intricate engraving on some of the pieces. I used toothpicks, as they are soft enough to not scratch the plastic, but there are still some sticky marks on some of my counters that I'm not sure how to completely remove.

The activation markers are probably my favourite part of the set, and the Scheme markers just flat out look great, the logo is very well done. The status effects, like burning, focus etc come in sizes by miniature base, and can sit flush around the base should a model be affected by more than one condition, which I really like rather than multiple tokens next to multiple models bases.
I'd highly recommend picking this set up if you are stateside, or don't mind the international shipping, as it's a very comprehensive, themed set which you won't need to add to any time soon. High quality, great looking stuff :)

As always, this is my own opinion and I haven't earned anything by linking and reviewing.

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

The Scenic Route - All Mapped Out

For quite a while now I've been wanting some gaming mats for our home Malifaux scene. I originally had some picked out on Playmats.eu but with the GBP being as weak as it is at the moment, there was seemingly never a good time to order these.

So after Xmas I finally decided to take the plunge and get hold of some. After some quality searching by my wife, we came to Deepcut Studios (who incidentally also made my Warmachine Tourny trays way back when). In an idea to save on shipping from Europe, I originally ordered these from Wayland games, who had them in stock when I ordered but then two days later put the whole order on hold without getting in touch and letting me know why (I have a very strong opinion of Wayland Games which I wont discuss here but feel free to ask). So after cancelling this order I went directly to Deepcut studios and ordered Direct and the mats arrived in 4 days from Lithuania (for a lower total GBP price I might add).

We chose between us the Medieval Ruins & Muddy Fields mats, and a carry bag for storage/transport. After receiving them we promptly used them in a game and snapped some shots of the Muddy fields below :)

The first shot shows the markings on the mat designed to show the measurements required by any and all Malifaux schemes/strategies; Centre line, all available deployment zones, centre marker plus 6". These are clearly marked but not so distinct as to ruin the overall effect.
The print quality is fantastic and the mat looks great all by itself. It looks even better with the scenery all set out and it was great to play on. The markings worked just as intended and saved lots of faff measuring for objectives etc in the middle of the game. This is doubly useful as it means you are able to see specific measurements without using a tape to check them and potentially giving away your intent to your opponent.

I am over the moon with these and would definitely recommend them to anyone in the market for playmats for Malifaux :)
Again,I haven't been sponsored at all for this review and everything is out of my own pocket.

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Hot Desk

After saying how pleased I was about keeping to regular blog days, I go and miss the one I planned for yesterday... :(

To be fair I had all the photos and some of the draft written, but I've not really been well (headaches, earaches and now tinnitus which is really enjoyable..)

So on the the show anyway.

I had plans this year to look again at my desk setup for my hobby area. I did have in mind that the cats would be allowed in the study when we weren't at home, so everything should be easy to get out/put away with minimal fuss, but I think the reality is that they cant be trusted in the study full stop unsupervised as they are tricksy and curious :p
So I originally had all my paints and miniatures in the wooden drawers I bought from IKEA (Moppe)
which can be seen below the new paint racks.

I had been looking at some paint racks for a while, and eventually settled on some I found whilst looking for some MDF terrain bases (which we will be looking at in a later blog). I would have loved the corner workstation combo (with drawers) but that would be too deep for that side of my desk, however the paint rack did fit almost perfectly on top of the drawers I have on top of my desk.

Everything is a lot more easily accessible now and I think it's a much better use of the space. I know the tall rack is almost empty, but I'm just waiting on a delivery of dropper bottles so I can transfer my Citadel paints into them.

The paint racks arrived flat of course and required some assembly with woodglue.

The base of the tall rack had a part which was broken in transit, but this was a small part of the base which is now hidden after assembly and not weight bearing so no harm no foul. Very simple to assemble and barely need the instructions.

The tiered rack was a little more confusing. All the parts are labelled on the instruction sheet, but the design of the rack looks to have changed since these instructions were written/printed so when I was trying to tick off parts I should have vs parts I did have they don't quite tally up. With a little help from my wife though I managed to realise that I had all the right parts, after which assembly is completely fine.

For the price, I would definitely recommend these, they look great, are sturdy and do exactly what they need to .I f you have the luxury of a bit more space, the different combos available for paint racks and drawers etc are fantastic.
The website also has some really nice scenery for multiple games systems, which looks fantastic (especially the light up stuff!)

Lastly, I haven't been sponsored at all for this review, and everything is out of my own pocket.

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Product review - Basius Texturis Kickstarter

Turns out I can't work the Scheduler very well here on Blogspot...

I originally wanted this post to go up on the 24th to avoid complete silence over the holiday weekend, but it didn't publish when I set the scheduler to do so. Ah well :) see below anyway.

I backed a kickstarter this year for a greenstuff moulding base system. I have long been a fan of making my own bases, but I saw something similar to this system around on the internet and thought it was a good compromise between making my own bases (as opposed to buying resin bases/toppers) and saving time by making the process a bit easier.

I wont mention what I thought of how well the kickstarter was handled, as apparently delays on that platform are the norm rather than something to be annoyed about. Some creators probably handle expectations better than others too I guess.

I pitched in for 6 of the new pads mainly for Malifaux but I also grabbed two for Infinity, as I love the game system and the models even though I think I'm destined never to play it.

The pads arrived needing a good scrub with hot soapy water, as either the resin or the release agent smells unpleasant to say the least. Even now they have a strange aroma.
The detail is fantastic, very crisp and varied throughout each of the ones I have.

I went with a trial run for this on the metal Sam Hopkins I got for Xmas (along with a convict gunslinger card. 'Party Boy Hopkins' has become some kind of weird in-joke with my friend, long story). I wasn't sure about how the recess in the base would affect the process, so I used a circle cutter to cut the right sized plasticard circle to fit in the indentation.
I loaded up said circle with greenstuff and laid it face down on the pad in the area I wanted the texture from. I pushed this down using a spare 50mm square base to get even pressure after thoroughly wetting both the pad and the greenstuff.
I left it for a minute or two then carefully pried the plasticard away from the pad. There wasn't much overhanging the plasticard which is great. After it had cured for a few hours, as greesntuff requires I glued it to the base. and pinned the model as I usually would.

The only problem I had was that the plasticard circle was maybe 1/1.5mm too small, so I added some sand to cover the gap between greenstuff and the base, and it looks fine in my opinion, and I've learned what to do and what not to do for the next time I use them.

These are well worth checking out now that the kickstarter has ended, maybe even some of the larger products from their similar range if you want lots of variation on one theme.
Watch out for these featuring on at least a few models coming up :)

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty