Journey of the Maulers – Small progress, big impact
Fiiiiinally! The last blackorc of the team is painted and even if it's just another mini, to me this is a big step forward! The blackorc squad is now complete and the point where I failed in my first attempt to paint up the team has been overcome.
Ulag Elfbita - biting Elves can lead to a certain reputation
Kick-Off 2020
As promissed, instead of closing the year with a summary, I want to look ahead into 2020 with a proper Kick-Off.
I could begin with the usual new years resolution, setting unrealistic goals like not buying any new miniatures before the others are painted and such. But I want to focus on activities that are fun, that are pro-active. And as such, I want to have a good time in 2020. The goal is not necessarily to have a better time, but to keep on having a good time with(in) my hobby. As pictures speak more than words, more of this:
Outlook for 2020 – What’s on Dino’s table…
2019 is history and, as it always is, every new year begins with a series of excellent intentions. For me, however, the list is very short. I could make a lot of great promises to myself, but if we're honest, we already know that this is a wasted effort in the hobby anyway. But as a german saying goes, " Realizing is the first step towards improvement".
For this reason I looked at my unpainted minis and I realized one thing in particular - there are way too many. So the only good intention I have made for this year is not to buy any new minis and to get rid of old stuff I won't paint. The only exception is at the beginning of the year, because I always wanted to have an Ogre team for Blood Bowl and it was already the plan to get the Orc booster for the second season of the Journey of the Maulers project. So my whole shopping list for 2020 looks like this:
- Orc booster for season 2 of the Maulers
- Ogre team
- Ogre booster
First Weekender of 2020
What a week, wasn't it? My Nottingham "Family Matters" Tour 2020 is covered on here and created quite the buzz, thanks for the feedback and especially for breaking the next mark on facebook! In case you missed it;
- Warhammer World 2020 - Hobby Centre, Gaming Area and Bugmans Bar
- Warhammer World 2020 - Exhibition Centre Part 1
- Warhammer World 2020 - Exhibition Centre Part 2
I am quite happy with the pictures from the miniature exhibition, as I brought a long a new gadget that I got myself a few weeks ago. A flexibel lens hood. Got it on Kickstarter, its the Ultimate Lens Hood 2.0, and went for the double pledge, that incl. one for my smartphone as well.
Warhammer World 2020 – Exhibition Centre Part 2
The third part of the coverage on this visit, after covering the Gaming Area, Bugmans Bar, as well as the first part of the exhibition hall, will go for the dark future of Warhammer 40.000. Similar to the first part, this is an addition and update to the coverage from 2018, so you'll find more pictures on these and former exhibits there.
And similar to the Fantasy exhibit, the 40.000 starts early - with some Rogue Trader era goodness and some things that came briefly after that! We have the RTB01 Imperial Space Marines, build and on sprue, along with some amazing scratch build vignettes, covering the final battle between Horus and the Emperor, there were Sanguinus was slain (there is a great poster of that fight from 1990), as well as an Imperial Navy hangar.
Warhammer World 2020 – Exhibition Centre Part 1
Part of the Warhammer World experience is the exhibition centre, with a large gallery of miniatures, vignettes and battle scenes, across multiple rooms and levels. Some parts of the exhibition are updated multiple times during the year, including guest displays. Reason enough to give it another go and browse the displays, for some close ups. To see additional pictures of these and former exhibits, take a look at my visit to the Exhibition Centre back in 2018.
As before, the exhibition starts with the very early days of the Citadel and Games Workshop works in the first corner of the miniature hall. Among those are some of the very first miniatures and books of the 80s, along with iconic vignettes from the early 90s.
Warhammer World 2020 – Hobby Centre, Gaming Area & Bugmans Bar
Here I am, back in very early 2020, once again in Nottingham and once again at the headquarter of Games Workshop, the Warhammer World. But this time not as part of a gents trip, but on a family vacation and I brought along my wife and daughter. My last visit was in April 2018 during our Salute trip, and the first time I was here was in the late 90s over Easter with my parents.
It's the sunday after Warhammer World Open Day 2020, and even within the last one and a half year a bit has changed at Warhammer World. They moved the Space Marine statue (which has been around for at least 2 decades) from the opposite side of Bugman's Bar balcony to the place next to Rhino, just below the Imperial Aquila.
Did you know that they included the Warhammer World and Games Workshop HQ buildings as an easter egg in a Genestealer Cult miniature? Well, now you know!
Cruel Seas US PT boat
In the January 2019 issue of Wargames Illustrated (WI 375) they gave out a free sprue of the US PT Boats (or Torpedoes) for Cruel Seas, and cover an Elco and a Higgins PT boat each. The sprues are the same from the US Navy PT boat flotilla (included there 3 times). I have covered the other two plastic sprues for the game, the German S-Boats and British Vospers already here.
In the mid of World War 2, the US Navy only had 3 squadrons of MTB (motor torpedo boats) or PT boats (patrol torpedo) as they were named in the US. The US Navy had access to the Vospers due to a licensing arrangement with Great Britain, and roughly 146 units were build for Lend Lease and were exported to Allied Powers like Canada, Britain and the Soviet Union. Yet only 50 were used by the Roval Navy and none were used by the US Navy.
And I am back!
We began the new year with a brief vacation in England, with trips to London and Nottingham.
Spent the majority of the time in London, going for a city tour. We had our daughter with us, so this was a family trip and not a guys tour as some of the other journeys I have covered here. Therefore content and focus was a bit different, but I'll come to that later.
While in London, we went for some of the must-haves, parks and squares, that would be accessable with a stroller. While near Hyde Park I came across the Animals in War Memorial, and had to think of of the Man with the Donkey in Wellington, NZ at the National War Memorial. Of course, with my latest interest in the age of sail, and Black Seas, a visit to Trafalgar Square was out of question. And you know about my gusto for burgers, so having the chance to drop by one of the very few Shake Shacks outside of the United States, I just had to.
The Old World – Goblin Wolfriders
Goblins have always had a somewhat unusual stand at Warhammer Fantasy, and with the announcement of the ominous Old World system we'll be revisiting some of these green fellows from times long past. To be exact, from the year 2002, because in that December a Goblin wolfrider army by Dan Tunbridge could be admired in White Dwarf 276 (issue #275 in the US), which was enough inspiration for me to add some goblins to my then Warhammer Fantasy army.