PK-Pro Leaf Punches
On Tactica earlier this year, I got myself a bit of loot, among that one of the PK-Pro Punches.
PK-Pro offers currently three different kind of these punches, with the motives of 4 different leaves each. I got the #2 Punch, as it has more complex shapes and wider leaves. It is not the first time, that I'm working with punches, I have a simple round punch with 25mm diameter, that I use for tokens, you can take a look over here - Knock out? Punch out!
Sweetwater stuff box
There it is again - "the stuff box". These are organized by tabletop wargaming boards, you join in and put your name on a list and the package is shipped from the first to second, from the second to the third, and so on, until it arrives back at the first person who posted it.
Depending on the community, there are different rules for these boxes. You may take some items out, but have to put something in in return of at least the same value. I participated in these in the past and currently two, one by TabletopWelt and one by Sweetwater, the later I'm showing you today.
So this bright yellow mail box arrived wednesday, and you can see, it is filled almost up to the lid with miniatures, sprues and stuff.
Stowaway Solutions
I'm using this organizers / stow-away boxes for quite some time now and I had to get a couple additional boxes to store some of the new arrivals.
I bought these boxes in DIY / home improvement stores before, when they dropped them from their range (as both brands Stanley and Plano originate in the US) I had to look for them online, ending up in ordering third parties (as some sources were incredibly expensive, as they added import charges etc. and ended up way beyond 10 bucks per box...). After some search I found some Plano boxes at an online store for fishing goods for 7,50 EUR each, but managed to get my hands on some Stanley boxes on Amazon for just more than 5 EUR each. Sometimes these boxes are listed as "tackle boxes", in case you're looking for them for your self.
Oldhammer – The hunt – progress update
I am quite happy to announce, that my hunt on the Oldhammer stuff, that I covered a couple of weeks before, was rather successful. Via the introduced and mentioned channels I managed to acquire some interesting kits and spare parts to build the Imperial Guard retro project around.
With the Basilisk it was a bit tricky, as for some reason, the new kit is currently Mail Order only and thus making the used kits "more" rare. As with the Basilisk, one of the main problems are missing parts, like the fence on the rear being incomplete. I didn't care for the crew, as that was added later in the third or fourth edition and not part of the initial release in the 2nd edition. A crew that was important for me, was the one of the Griffon tank. I managed to buy the pair of soldiers, incl. the commlink back pack, and got quite some treasures with them. Yes, that are the old cardboard and necromunda bulkhead terrain pieces. And the stack on the right is vehicle accessories sprues, mostly complete. Believe me, I'm in heaven. Especially with buying older vehicle kits, often the hatches or some parts like that are missing or incomplete.
BLOOD BOWL – Journey of the Maulers: Team Logos
In my article, Blood Bowl: Solo Campaigns, I've talked about how the backstory of a team contributes significantly to the immersion in a solo campaign and that I'm actually following that method in the Journey of the Maulers series. For the fans I already did this, as each of them got a few lines of background. These are usually rather short as they serve as a basis for their character development and can be expanded both narratively and throughout the campaign.
Today, I lay the foundations for the background story of the Maulers as a whole and at the same time I deal with the logo of the team. Draw again a parallel to the real sport template of American Football, it is noticeable that many teams are recognizable by a certain symbol, similar to the heraldry of a knight's house.
I should warn you - today's post does not contain any miniatures, just a few scribbles that have sprung from my twisted, creative vein. But if you like a bit of story about Blood Bowl teams, you can sit back and enjoy the first real chapter of the Maulers' journey ...
Tactica 2019 – Pleasant Anticipation!
It is actually happening! I'll be at Tactica in Hamburg for the first time! I've been to Hamburg multiple times, but never made it during february, when the well known German wargames show Tactica is hosted.
In 2016 we headed with a motley crew to Stahl auf der Heide, the open day of the tank museum at Munster.
Oldhammer – The hunt
The journey through Oldhammer continues. I gave the introduction and the first part of choosing and preparing an retro-project. Next step, get yourself some old miniatures.
But before you start buying, make sure you know what you're looking for. I suggested SoLegends for their vast amount of catalogue pages and beyond that, there are dedicated pages like Collecting Citadel Miniatures, if you're looking primarely for rare or limited miniatures.
One important to thing, when you're buying second hand / used miniatures, especially multi-part, that you're aware that they are multipart. To stay with the example of my Imperial Guard project, it is not that useful to buy a cheap griffon without the crew or a Yarrick without his banner and then spending more money and time on looking for that missing bit. Therefore it makes more sense to buy the complete model and save yourself the hassle. But in somecases it is difficult to be aware, that there are missing pieces, for example with the commlink operators, often the commlink backpack is missing, or the turret armour of the hellhound.
Preparing the limited & collection section
I have a soft spot for show and con miniatures, exclusives and to some degree limited models. Over the years, I collected quite a few of these of the shows and events I visited. In some cases, like at Salute for example, you can buy remaining stock of older event miniatures at the show, and I often use these chances to complete my collection.
Enemy at the table, friend in life
In his annual review of 2018, Dennis mentioned that he wished that the tabletop community in Germany would move closer together again. I liked this section, because I think it's one of the biggest strengths of this hobby, which often goes unnoticed. Enough reason for me to take a glimpse into the past and shed some light onto a story, which only our hobby can tell.
In 2011 I was still quite active in the tabletop forum Tabletopwelt.de, as I finished my career as an active American Football player in the same year and became an analyst for my former team. Of course, all of a sudden I had some more free time and filled it with the hobby, while I worked on my undead team, the Golden Vultures. The following year, I noticed that one of the forum participants was commenting on my Blood Bowl posts quite actively, and during the conversation it turned out that he was active in Football as well. Not only that, he was actually playing for a team in Nuremberg that my own team would encounter this season.
Since I traveled all over Germany for my Blood Bowl project to play a total of ten games and to write some match reports, this seemed like a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone - play some Blood Bowl and coach at the game in Nuremberg the next day.
In the evening I competed against the NAFL Legacy Team...
...and in the morning against the most sympathic Defensive Line player of Nuremberg
Outlook 2019 – The hobbywhip for the boss
While Dennis summarized 2018 in his annual review quite smoothly, I‘ll take a look into the glass orb for 2019 and do what a true hobbyist can do best: make plans and try to do everythin possible that they turn out differently! Accordingly my main point on the list of good intentions for the new year is to stick to my plan!
First of all, there is a warband for Age of Sigmar: Skirmish, of which I have already finished two models and where the progress on the rest is nearing completion.
Afterwards I‘ll take on Dreadball for a while, as Mantic Games was so kind to provide us wit the second edition starter box, as well as two more new PVC teams. Hobbywise there will be more stuff in this department as well, because of course I want to have at least the teams of the starter box painted - and that from both editions, the first and the second.
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