Tau Suits

I began collecting Tau miniatures when GW released them in late 2001.  I think it was the Crisis Battle Suits that attracted me to collect the army.  The suits reminded me of Robotech mecha.  I remember the army didn't play well on the table, it was weak in every aspect imaginable.  I placed my Tau army away in storage and moved on.

Today I enjoy the painting and building part of the hobby, and play games once in a while.  I wanted to update my Tau army, and give it a second life.  I spent many hours assembling and posing my Tau.  I believe the original Crisis Suits were to static and cried out for motion.  I used green stuff, pins, and after market bits to help give my Tau some variety.

I do own one of the new Crisis Suit boxes that came out last year.  The new suits designed well. The problems I address above are not present on the new suits, which is a good development for the kits.  I look forward to putting the new suits together when I find time.

The unique bits were designed by Jon Paulson of Paulson Games, whose bits can be found on Red Dog Minis website.

The Butcher

I painted up The Butcher from Kingdom Death: Monster.  I like this model, its dark detail makes it a creepy experience to paint.

Back from a long hiatus.  My last entry took place in January of 2015.  Last year was special, I got married and that took center stage.  Happy to say my excellent wife and I have completed our first year of wedded bliss.  We are still getting the hang of things, we are sticking to the three C's communication, commitment, and compromise.  Now that our home has settled into a steady pace, there's time to do extra things such as this blog.  I'm going to give it another go.

One of my favorite miniature games to date is Kingdom Death: Monster. I enjoy the way the game is set against the player, always looking to cut your session short.  The game play is unforgiving, if you make a mistake, your party will pay the consequences.  That alone makes ever victory a cause for celebration among the survivalists.  The only thing better then a hair raising game of KD:M are the nicely detailed miniatures included with the game.  When it comes to the models Adam Poots the game designer, hit it out the park.  Below you will see a few of my painted KD:M models, they were an absolute pleasure to paint.

Good bye to 2014, and hello 2015.  Last year was full of interesting personal events.  The highlight being my engagement to a wonderful woman.  I purposely reigned back my hobby time, to give more attention to my relationship.  I enjoy my hobby, but love my woman.  We are looking forward to getting married in early 2015.

I had a good hobby year.  Spent the majority of 2014 painting up a Tau army for the Independent Character's Hobby Progress Challenge 2014.  I pushed myself to complete the challenge, even when things got busy.  This year I plan to do a personal 1 hour a night hobby commitment.  'From small beginnings come great things'.  

I had another successful run of the West Coast Podcast Alliance T-shirt.  The first WCPA T-shirt had a Independence Day feel to it.  I wanted a complete departure from that theme for my second shirt.  I wanted to be bold with the design, and understand if people feel it has dark undertones.  This time I went with a revolutionary theme for the shirt. 

   

I dabbled in other game systems, even going as far as challenging Juston TSB to see who could paint up a small group for Warhmachine and Hordes.  I lost that challenge, because I could not find the extra time to finish the miniatures.  I did complete a Malifaux Ten Thunders crew for a friend of mine.  I thought the Wyrd miniatures are a pain to put together.  They are full of detail, and look good once they are painted up.  

I was able to finish another squad of jump marines for Blake of Life After the Cover Save fame.  

I don't know what 2015 will hold for me hobby wise.  I am ready to jump into putting together some of my many plastic kits which are collecting dust in my hobby closet.  I am also going to jump into some new game systems, and expand my gaming options for 2015.  Right now I'm ready to try some of the games I backed on Kickstarter, among those games are Relic Knights, Rivet Wars, and Dead Zone.  I also have miniatures ready to go for Infinity, Warmachine, and Dark Age.  

It's the beginning of the year and I'm ready to get started with my hobby.  I'm optimistic on where 2015 will lead me.  Two things I am going to try out for the first time are a Kanban Board, and resin casting.  I have 12 months to figure that out.  Cheers to everyone, and see you soon (ish).  

Battle Foam review.

There are many different products a miniature war gamer can use to transport their armies from home to hobby store.  Some of the more popular brands are KR Mulitcase based in the UK, and Tablewar Cases located in the USA.  Both of these manufacturers put out a good product, and have earned the trust and business of their customers by putting out a durable and practical product.  I probably would have bought some KR, or Table war cases in the past if I hadn't found Battle Foam cases years ago.  Once you have invested in a particular case manufacturer, odds are you will remain with them out of convenience and brand loyalty.

I own Battle Foam cases, their products are durable, and well though out. Battle Foam has a two part system.  First you need to buy a bag, which comes in many sizes and colors.  Then you need to purchase the foam trays that will be holding your miniatures in place during transport.  You can go with their generic foam trays, or create your own trays using their custom foam tray creator.   I have used their custom tray creator in the past, and my trays arrived to my specifications.  Battle Foam also offers a discount to active and former military members, you will have to show them proof that you are serving or have served.  I think Battle Foam offers a good product, and if you are searching for a case to carry your miniatures around, take a look at Battle Foam. 

(All we are saying, is give peace a chance)