Review: Kings of War counter set

© Mantic Games

As you all know, I am a big fan of Mantic Games and their attitude towards our hobby. So I was also on board when the second Kickstarter for Kings of War went off. One of the many things I got there is the two player counter set.

At first I thought: What a rip off. It is made from plastic and the looks aren't very appealing. And even more annoying: There was no explanation what the different symbols and colors mean. The only useful thing I saw was the Arc of Sight template and also the round counter is quite nice. The ruler is "OK"ish but I have a very good measuring tape.

In my last game I gave them a try, but since there was no clear explanation what the symbols mean, I just made something up.

© The nice forum guy who made it

Oh if I had found a forum thread earlier. Someone also had these questions and some while ago put down a chart of the symbol and their meanings. Sadly I cannot find the thread anymore because it is more than a year old... It would have made my live so much easier. That is why I have to share it here. Twitter followers may have seen it already yesterday.

So I now have to revise my opinion on those counters quite a bit: As part of my pledge they are pretty cool. You get enough tokens for 2 players, 6 objective markers a Arc of Sight template (which you can also use in other games), a turn counter and a 6" plastic ruler (which most likely is only interesting for new players who don't own their measuring tape yet).

I don't know if I would buy the set though. With 15£ (or 25$/25€) this is not really cheap and is in direct competition with a lots of other sets out there (even Mantic selling one which looks much better). But if you can get your hands on one with a discount I think it is worth thinking of (that is if you are into Kings of War).

Ok, so this mutated to a review. In the beginning I just wanted to share the chart. But more content is always good, no? Hope you enjoyed it.


So long,
Paradox0n

Review: WarMage MDF bases - Part I

Yesterday the postman brought me a small package which surprised me because I didn't expect one. As he gave me the package with the comment: "This is no package, this is a letter" i was really curious what is in there. But as soon as I opened it and smelled the odor of burnt wood, I did know immediately what awaited me there :)

So today I will show you the MDF leaflets from WarMage, a German company which somehow specialized in lasercut MDF pieces. I first saw the stuff on Brückenkopf and as it was not added to the shop after a week I got into contact with them. I got a very fast reply on my questions and Nils (the owner) seemed to be a nice guy. And since there was not only the small base version but also two other ones (as he told me, the salesman he seems to be), I opted for a bigger version, containing 3 leaflets and having place for roughly 31 pieces of  trees and rocks.

For me it is the first time that I have some lasercut stuff though I have already some experience with MDF pieces :) So I will describe my impressions I got from the product from here on.

The leaflets are bigger than a DIN A4 paper and the cuttings are very clean and as far as I have seen precise. There are no leftovers in the cuts, therefore the pieces are secured with crepe tape to hold everything in place.

The MDF is ~3mm thick and therefore sturdy enough for even the roughest gameplay. If you count in that the design is a layered one, where you have a base and glue on a second layer with the slots for your trees, that should be more than enough.

As you can see in the pictures, there are 3 types of bases and with my chosen package you can build: 

- 2 times a big 5 slot base with 40mm slots

- 3 times a small 3 slot base with 40mm slots

- 4 times a small 3 slot base with 2x40mm and 1x30mm slot

I primarily bought the stuff for creating some nicer and more flexible wood pieces, but it looks as if I can play around a bit and do also some rough terrain with rocks or something completely different (since I only have 9 ugly old trees).

But that will be something for another part :)

Hope you liked the first impression.

So long,

Paradox0n

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by WarMage in any kind, I bought the stuff myself, it was not given to me for a review.

Review: Army Painter Warpaints Inks

Finally some hobby time again. And to start off I will do a review which I postponed now quite a long time. With my slow switch away from Citadel paints, I was also looking into something which could replace my washes which slowly dwindle away. Since I didn't like the Vallejo Smokey Ink (and thus stepped away from all their inks), I ordered me some Army Painter Inks, because I heard only good of them. And whoop here they are :)

The Inks (or Shades) come inside those handy dropper bottles and contain 18ml of fluid. That is 1ml more than the Vallejo bottles (17ml) and 6ml more than the Citadel pots (12ml). Price-wise I can't really tell the difference, because I got them in a set and with a discount but a short look at one of my shops its ~2.75€ for AP vs. ~3.20€ for GW. For completion, Vallejo Inks are roughly at 2.50€. So there is a huge difference here. But price is not all, thus I switched into painting mode and prepared a test.
Fun fact: I also have some very old paints left (Chestnut Ink anyone?) which had 17.5ml bottles and where around 3 Deutsche Mark (today something around 1.60€). And that was already an expensive price at that time because I bought them at my LGS without discount or anything :)

For testing the paints, I took a very old Skaven shield sprue and primed it with my trustworthy Vallejo Gray Primer (a review you will find here). After that had dried I just applied a coat of each color to one shield. No diluting, no wet palette, nothing. Straight out of the bottle. And to be honest: I liked it. I have the feeling that they are a bit more diluted than my old Citadel Inks.
If they have less pigments, that could also explain the price difference, but I can't evaluate that. The Inks dry out dull, no shine to see, also not on the Strong/Soft/Dark tones.

With a special eye on the Soft/Strong/Dark tone I tried to compare them with the old Devlan Mud and stuff. They come pretty close, maybe event a perfect replacement. The only thing I see is that if you want to replace old Gryphonne Sepia with the Soft Tone you will miss the slight reddish tone of Gryphonne Sepia. But that could also be because of the gray primer (and no metal basecoat). Dark Tone is a good replacement for Badab Black and Strong Tone for Devlan Mud. Please don't ask me how these colors are named in the new Citadel range, I honestly have no clue and I don't care anymore :)

Following a more detailed view of the colors, without the bottles:

Green | Red | Blue | Purple | Strong | Soft | Dark | Pure Primer

Conclusio

To make it short: I like the Army Painter Inks. For me they have just the right consistency to play with. If you want to have it stronger, you can always shade twice. With the dropper bottles and the right price, I think they are the perfect solution for me. And if you use already Army Painter paints they match perfectly to this color range (and colored spray primers).
There if you are in search for a new Ink, give them a try.
Hope you liked that review, I am interested if you share my opinion, have different experiences or use completely different paints.


So long,
Paradox0n

Hobby Magazines - Ironwatch Issue #17

Issue #17 of Ironwatch Magazine, the Mantic Games Fanzine has arrived yesterday.

This time it is pretty Kings of War heavy and includes topics like:

• Kings of War Tactica
• Tutorial on how to make an orc hut
• Painting step-by-step of the Goblin shaman
• The first part of a new short story
• and many more

I personally like the articles about the painting and terrain best, because I can't use all the Tactica and new model rule stuff since we don't play Kings of War. And I like that there are again many pictures of Mantic miniatures, on some you can see what you can make out of them.

If you haven't checked already, take a look, its free and fanmade and totally supported by Mantic (so you'll see lots of images).

So long,
Paradox0n

Review: Painting Buddha - Season 1.1:Target Identified | Tale of two painters

Alllriiiiight!!! So we start directly with an insider you will understand if you have watched the first three DVDs with Ben Komets :) After watching the 6 DVDs I was completely smashed and to be honest: I had some difficulties to find a way how to describe this set and writing a review about it. Not because it is bad, on the opposite, but because it has many different things to see AND you have two different painters who have a somewhat different approach to painting those two wonderful miniatures I already wrote about.

So where to start? Perhaps some general stuff first...
The set is completely in English with subtitles in English, German and Spanish. You get a DVD set from two painters with pretty different approaches how to paint exactly the same miniatures. Ben does everything "by hand" where Rafael starts with using an airbrush.

The menus are in English and describe the parts which are painted of the miniature (not the techniques though).
Both painters are setup straight in front of the camera and Zaphod does some Q&A while they are painting. These comments from the OFF are sometimes pretty funny e.d. that is where the ALRIIIIIIGHT!!! comes from :) Maybe here is some space to optimize so that the painters are watching a bit more into the camera and not to the side where Zaphod and/or the self-monitor is placed. Telepromter effect you know? And one odd thing I noticed: The aspect ratio of the filmed material seems to be a bit off on my TV. Some parts of the screen is cut off, I tried to fix it with on-board possibilities of my TV but nothing worked. On my PC everything works fine.

Review - Laptop cushion as paintstation

Today I want to show you my new painting station which I can use if I paint in front of the TV. Since my wife has to sit alone in our living room when I paint or tinker and we only have these evening times together, she bought me thisthingy which she thought would be cool for painting at our TV desk. Normally this is a laptop cushion with a pencil- and cup holder. And a small LED lamp. The lamp is powered by batteries so no need for some nasty cables. The surface is somewhat rubberized so the stuff on it won't slide around.

So what will I gonna do with this thing? Slot for pencils = slot for brushes, slot for cups = slot for water pot and rubberized surface to keep my painting pots and wet palette on place. Check! I did some testing with arm position and the like and it seems pretty decent either lying on the table or resting on my legs. The LED's give a rather cold light, no clue how near or far away from daylight this may be... But for some basecoloring or stuff it is more than enough. The light also is so focused that I can paint while my wife is watching TV and we could spend some time together. And maybe it can motivate me for some more hobby time :)


So long,
Paradox0n

Review: Ramshackle Games - Dunny & Drill

Today Labschi brought me a small package from Ramshackle Games, some late birthday presents which took some time before they finally arrived in Germany. It contained the "Dunny" and the "Boring Machine". The two pieces were pretty good protected with thick layers of air cushion foil. Therefore everything was undamaged and ready to be prepared and reviewed.
The resin is somewhat heavy (much heavier than I thought) and had a really bad smell on it. On touch you could feel the thin film of abherent which had a somewhat slimy feel on it. But after cleaning it with some dish soap both the slimy feeling and the smell was completely gone.

Painting Buddha - Season 1.1:Target Identified | The Miniatures

After unboxing the Season 1.1:Target Identified set and having all the stuff lying around I decided to split my review into different parts because it really would be too much text for only one post. Additionally the box contains of 6 DVDs with two different approaches to painting the miniatures (and the base) so I will cover them later after I watched them completely and have a better and more general opinion of all the stuff (my first impression is a very good one). The miniatures are delivered in a small metal box with the Painting Buddha logo which is sealed with a sweet, little sticker. As already said, these small details give me the feeling that there are people at work who love(d) what they are doing. At this point of writing I notice that I completely forgot to take a picture of the miniatures inside the opened box, but you can see it on the overview picture in my first glance post if you want.

Painting Buddha - Season 1.1:Target Identified | First glance

Wohoo a long awaited package finally arrived: The Painting Buddha - Season 1.1:Target Identified DVD set is finally in my hands.
This boxed set was a birthday present from my wife and although it was marked as sent from Monday on it only arrived yesterday...
But nonetheless I am really happy that this thingy now is mine. And I couldn't wait to unpack this box. As you see the postal package is tightly packed with no air to move for the box. Unluckily the stuff inside wasn't protected by airfoil or something like this but luckily the content wasn't hurt even if the package had some small damages.

So what is inside? Inside is a personalized letter (addressed to my wife since it was a present), a certify card with the dvd number and a "hoopy" "Thank you" from the 3 producers, a small brochure with "How to prepare the miniatures", a small brochure which introduces Painting Buddha and their goals and targets, a pretty cool, sealed metal box with the minis (and the optional base) inside and the DVD box.
I REALLY like all the fine details you can find here, e.g. the metal box is sealed with Buddha stickers, the brochures are of really high quality. On the first look this stuff really holds the promise of "we do this with love and passion".

I can't wait to remove the protecting foil of the DVDs an risk a first look. But first my wife had a Tupperware Party and we had to prepare some stuff and clean up everything :)
So stay tuned for a closer look into this box.

Cya,
Paradox0n

DVD Review - Miniature Painting Secrets with Jennifer Haley

Finally I had the time and the muse to write my next painting DVD review. As promised I will have a look at the "Miniature Painting Secrets with Jennifer Haley" from CMON. The set contains of 2 DVDs and says it contains about 6 hours of instructions in roughly 8 chapters.
By now you should already know who Jennifer Haley is, I did a tribute to her work a while ago.
The DVDs are in english and the painting footage is dubbed with music.
After seeing the trailer of this set I was really curious. If you missed it you can watch it directly here in all its beauty:

DVD Review - Painting Secrets with Natalya

Lucky me had the chance to get my hands on some painting DVDs for this weekend and spend some hours watching and enduring some of the stuff I saw there :)  I will start with the "Painting Secrets with Natalya" DVD set from CMON. The set was published 2011 contains of 4 DVDs and says about itself that it contains over 13-15 hours of instruction depending if you believe the printed cover or the product description. You can divide the set into roughly 5 chapters where Natalya tells you how she paints her miniatures. If you wonder who she is, maybe you know her from her artists name Alexi-Z or go visit her page now. Since Natalya speaks russian, the DVD is either in russian or in english (with voice over on the portrait parts). The painting footage is dubbed with music.

I like her work and after seeing the trailer of this set I was really curious how this set would turn out.

Hobby Magazines - Portal Magazine Issue #31

The new Issue of Portal Magazine has arrived:

Portal Magazine Issue #31

This issue contains following stuff:

• Guide To Painting the Stonehorn with We7
• Grular Invader,Alkemy and Reaper reviews
• Golden Thrall Report
• Painting Avatars of War Orc Shaman
• News, new releases and gallery

Review: Vallejo Surface Primer

Since priming is an absolute necessity when its about painting miniatures (oh these old sins when painting with Revell emaille paints didn't need that) I thought of trying out some primers myself. I have spray cans of Games Workshop (black and white for doing a 2k priming), a brown primer from Army Painter (too many Skavens to work with) and shortly after I bought myself an airbrush I also bought the Vallejo Surface Primer in grey. This is a waterbased Poliurethane Primer which can be directly sprayed from your airbrush or if you want painted on with a brush. It comes in three sizes: 17ml, 60ml and 200ml. At my hobbystore of trust the big one costs around 12€ which is pretty much the costs of the GW primer. The bottle is designed to let you pour the primer directly into the paintpot of your airbrush which is pretty neat since that is exactly what I have bought this stuff for.

Hobby Magazines - Skavenblight Gazette #14

Skavenblight Gazette #14

Since a few days Issue No. 14 of Skavenblight Gazette is published, therefore time to have a look at the sneaky-plaguish Skaven magazine.

This issue pretty much is under the sign of the plague. It has some pretty pictures of Skaven miniatures a article how diseases spread and a HowTo "fire your Plageclaw Catapult" which shows you how you can make the model "fire" (by adding some springs). Pretty geeky :)

The most interesting article this time is for beginning Skaven players: Building an army. It contains the thoughts behind an army project and how the author plans to build up his host. He also explains some of the units and how he sees their usefullness.
Not sure if I as Skaven player myself would agree with him in every point but it is a nice start nonetheless.

Pretty short issue this time. But since this stuff is completely fanmade I will surely not moan but thank the guys for writing this issue.

So long,
Paradox0n

Hobby Magazines - Ironwatch Magazine

On my journeys through the web I found another Fanzine which immediately caught my attention, namely the Ironwatch Magazine. This is a magazine made by Mantic fans with the support of Mantic itself. Not long ago Issue No. 9 was published. Time to have a closer look at it!

A case of brushes

For a long time I cramped up my brushes just in my painting box together with my paints, knife and all the other stuff. It didn't matter if they were detail brushes or old, frayed ones used for drybrushing. But with my new Da Vinci brushes I couldn't do that anymore: I cringed to "throw" them into this mess. I really feared that the bristles will get damaged, even though I have them protected by the plastic caps for the tips.

Hobby Magazines - Portal Magazine Issue #30

Magazine time again. Issue #30 of Portal Magazine arrived in a complete new layout.

This issue features:

• Guide To Contrast Tutorial
• Kabuki,Reaper and Studio 38 Reviews
• The Wamp Awards 2012 Results
• News,new releases,and gallery
• Mini Radar and Socialise

Review: Kings of War - Rulebook

As I was one of the backers of the Mantic Kings of War Kickstarter I got a nice package a few days ago. In there where the first part of my Abyssal Dwarfs (more of them later) and the printed version of the Kings of War Rulebook. I thought I'll do a short review about it so here it comes!

Front view of the cover

Back view of the cover

Review - Warhammer Battle Magic

Hey there, since I have shaky hands at the moment (fever and outer temperatures of arround 35°C aren't a good combination), I can't paint and concentrate on doing some reviews of stuff that arrived in the last few weeks. I'll start with the Warhammer Battle Magic cards from Games Workshop.
For the older of us, not to be mistaken with the old Battle Magic of the fourth edition :) 

Warhammer Battle Magic cards

Review: Feldherr XL figure case

Whether you attend a tourney or need some secure space to storage your miniatures, you need a bag, case, storage for your loads of miniatures. My choice fell on one of the figure cases from Feldherr. The Feldherr XL to be precise. The case has room for 252 figures and if you choose the smaller foams it seems there is even place for one complete level more, so you could store arround 280 miniatures. But this will only work if you have small miniatures, even with my old Skaven and the bigger models I would not use the smallest foam trays.

Feldherr XL figure case