What I've been reading

Well, actually I've been listening as much as I've been reading.  I like to listen to a book while I paint or build models.  It keeps my mind occupied while I'm painting (especially assembly line painting) and the book motivates me to get back into the man cave so I can find out what happens next.

A few weeks ago I finished listening to the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher.  I'm a big fan of the Dresden Files series of books, so I decided to give his high fantasy work a look.  These books are really good. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Tavi and various others as the world around them faces multiple crises and eventually possible extinction.  The world he makes, while being loosely based on the Roman Empire, is different enough with enough vaguely referred to history that it is very deep.  The series also has enough magic of a type and drama to keep most people happy.  I think you should check it out.

I've also been rereading (listening) the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan.  I originally started these books shortly after the Eye of the World, the first book in the series came out.  Unfortunately, the books never seemed to stop and the story started to meander and lose direction.  Now that the story has finally reached or is reaching a conclusion I wanted to go back and go through the whole thing.  All of these books are massive, so I decided to listen to what was available from the library and read the rest.  This is still at least a year long project.  If you have never read these books, you really owe it to yourself to give them a try.  Even though there are a lot of them, they (for the most part) are so well written with so much depth and detail that it would be a shame to not at least sample the world Jordan created.

My First Solo

I finished my first Warmachine solo model today.  I've been working on the Errant Seneschal for about a week.  I always over detail my minis and I've been told that it takes too long for me to paint and as such I'll never get an army or faction done.  But I don't care how long it takes, because it's fun.

I'm pretty happy with this guy except for the banners.  This was my first attempt a two brush blending.  The shadows turned out not bad, but the highlights look like ass.  I was very close to repainting the whole banner and starting again, but it was late in the evening and I decided I could live with it.  Besides, it will be a reminder to keep working on this technique.

Oh, and an apology for the pictures.  I decided to play with my fancy camera's settings, so the pics don't always turn out perfect yet.

The Malaise

If you happen to read this blog you will probably notice that the posts have been few and far between of the past several months.  I've been trying, but there seems to be a basic lack of motivation.  I've done some thinking and the lack of motivation seems to stem from a recent lack of passion for nerd stuff in general and table top gaming in particular.

The reasons for this malaise are many.  Earlier in the year I was working a second job and just didn't have the time or the energy to do much in the way of painting, listening to podcasts or even playing the games.  I got the job so that I'd have more money for hobby, but didn't end up having any time to hobby.  A bit of a catch 22.  So the job went bye-bye after Christmas.  Unfortunately, the damage was done and I'd gotten out of the groove.

Another reason is the disintegration of the local gaming group.  For the first year of its existence our local gaming group was doing pretty well and had very good attendance.  Then things started to tatter.  I live in an area where the local industry is oil and gas.  Winter is the busy time for the people in the O&G (not Orcs and Goblins) industry and they are often working long and irregular hours.  This past winter it was hard to get any games in but with the same couple of people all the time.  I have only played 3 games of Warhammer since Christmas and I haven't played Warmachine in nearly 6 months.  When you're not playing you start to lose touch with the game and the interest begins to wane.  I still enjoy painting and I've been doing lots, I just set them on the shelf when their done.

I think I'm tired of playing only High Elves.  I started playing Warhammer with High Elves around three years ago.  I made a promise to myself that I would finish my army before I started into another.  However, this far into the adventure, I'm still not quite finish.  I am finding I'm getting a bit tired of running an army that is becoming more and more difficult to play.  There is also no sign of a new book on the horizon.  Boredom is making me kind of blah about the hobby in general.  I had decided to wait until the Brettonians came out, but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon, so I'm back to the drawing board.

Luckily, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm starting to get more regular games in.  The club has moved to a new home and has some members returning as spring approaches.  I'm going to make a push on the elves and I'll start a new army in the fall.  I'm listening to podcasts from around the hobby again.  Hopefully, you'll see a difference in the blog in the coming weeks and months as I slowly regain my passion for the hobby.

New Toys

I just got some new bits and pieces to play with.  First, I received Elven basing kits from Cool Mini or Not.  They come with various broken down statue bits to add to bases or movement trays.  Since the theme of my High Elf army was in an abandoned city of Ulthuan, I thought they would come in handy.  They look pretty cool.

The second thing I got were these small gears.  They are not actual watch gears, they are produced for scrapbooking.  My wife is a scrapbooker and she found a packet of these ones for a reasonable price at Michael's.  There are some brands that are quite large and expensive that you want to steer clear of.  I think these will be brilliant on the bases of some Warmachine minis.

Another Tick Off The List

Well, I've managed to tick another mini off the To Do list.  I sat down for a couple of evenings and did up this Vassal of Menoth.  I'm reasonably happy with the job.  It isn't fantastic, but it isn't shameful either.

Next on the list is my magnetized heavy warjack kit.  I've really enjoyed painting individual models lately.  I like that I'm not doing the same thing over and over for hours upon end.  I also like that fact that within a few sessions, I have something finished.  This doesn't bode well for my still unfinished High Elves.  I have a few units yet to finish and the thought of it at this point makes me droop a bit.  Maybe over March Break I'll be able to find the energy.