TSHFT Pictures - Report to follow

The month of December has been incredibly busy and hectic in our house so I haven't had a chance to really sit down and write up anything yet. I have had some requests for these pictures though so wanted to get them up sooner. I apologize as I have not had time to even review them let alone edit them. Enjoy

 

 

Twelve days of Warhammer

My Husband reminded me tonight I hadn't posted about the 12 days of Warhammer I talked about on BOLS.
Before I got a chance to get the 12 days started for him he decided he wanted a Lego Advent Calendar instead.

I got the idea from a forum a couple years ago where they did a Warhammer advent calendar inside a carry case. Each day they received a new model and in the end had  a bunch of models and carry case. It's a great idea and I wish I could find the link to it but it was a few years ago I saw it.

WFB Scenarios - as used at Kippers'

I promised Fantasy scenarios that were used for Kippers' and then didn't make sure they were posted here they are...Unfortunately I am having issues with the PDF so am uploading as picture files if you would like me to email you the PDF shoot me your email address or email me at kippersmelee@gmail.com.

WIP: Ultraforge Giant

Ultraforge has some beautiful models. Several years ago we bought their Treewoman model and this fellow. I painted the Treewoman some time ago and love how she turned out, I can post her later for your viewing pleasure but this model was left undone.

He is not finished yet but I am having a blast relearning some techniques and practicing my freehand. The tattoos are hard to do for someone with limited sketching ability like me.

I love how the flesh turned out, I spent days studying the models we did in our Masterclass sessions with Mathieu Fontaine and remembering everything I could about what he taught us. The biggest thing was circles.

There is still a lot to do but maybe if I post him as a WIP I will keep plugging away.

Have to do school drop off will post again later :) 

Let it Snow!

Let it snow!

We got our first snowfall today and I haven't decided if it is a good thing or not. I was very interested in painting one of my empire guys and working on a sketch of the display board that I intend to use so that I can figure out how to do bases because at the moment I have not figured that part out 100% to my satisfaction yet. The only problem is that the area we use for painting is surrounded by windows and it's cold! My toes are already cold so instead of painting I am curled up under an electric blanket trying to warm up my feet with a crochet project in hand...not a dice bag but a Christmas Stocking. Not enough of it is done to show you yet, but it is coming along.

Is this Christmas season affecting your hobby time?

The Secret is Out

So between crochet projects, tournamnents and daily life I have been working on a secret army...it is slow going. My Brets have been my army for so long I feel like I am cheating or giving up or something. Alas I know it is more because I need something to paint that was not blue and red.


I am doing an Empire army.

Here's my problem: I really do not want cavalry and I really want an Imperial Griffon and Landships.

I have decided to do Landships and a Marienburg army using a whole lot of Forgeworld but I am struggling with settling on a solid army list. A 60 man horde of Halberdiers, 2 landships and what else....

Ring in with your opinions.

Photo Booth Uses

Been trying it get my photobooth figured out so I can take pictures that are under better lighting...I think I figured it out (finally).

I seriously think that photo booths are not as simple to use as people insist and as I have used it myself and seen others use it and have become more convinced that is the case. The lights have to be in the right spot based on the type of lights you have, the background needs to be right...so many factors!

The booth I bought I thought would be way easy to use with it coming with different color backgrounds and lights but turns out you still have to be able to think hahaha

Camera settings make a difference too. The last photography class I took was a black and white film class, we learned all about aperture, shutter speed and more...do you think I remember any of it? Convinced my hubby's to buy me a digital SLR for Christmas  a few years back, love it but could still use a refresher course with it.

Snapped a few pictures yesterday, mostly of the turret by hubby painted up over the last few days. Is it bragging to be proud of the stuff he paints? One of these days I will dig out all his tanks and planes and post pictures of them, but for today it's just the turret and a Death Korps guy he finished. 

Color scheme is always hard to choose and when Todd decided to paint his Death Korps and repaint his Guard it meant choosing colours that worked together but also gave each army individuality. The terrain, though, we wanted to keep pretty consistent so that it works well on the gaming table. 

Enjoy the pictures and we will post others over time...and if you know of a good iPad app for photo cropping and editing let me know because I need one.

There's crafty...then there's Crafty

I finished a couple crochet projects this weekend...and by a couple I mean 6 dice bags, a blanket, and Mouse toque and a couple Christmas crafts with the kids. It was a very productive weekend.

Making and selling these dice bags has become a neat little hobby and with every one it think they are getting better just because I am more confident with the pattern. Here's a couple pictures of the latest bags done.

In Review: Kippers' Melee

"See, that is what happens when a mom runs an event" was a frequently heard comment at Kippers' Melee the weekend of October 25-27. It had nothing to do with being a mom, I promise, not even the rice crispie squares and peanut butter cookies--Bard please say a huge thanks to your wife for me if you haven't already :)

I admit to being really nervous Friday when I drove down to Nanaimo, for the first time in my life I did not know exactly what to expect or how an event I planned would go. It left me with no hunger and a lot of anxiety. Turns out that I had nothing to worry about.

Friday we kicked off the weekend with Magic the Gathering Events. Having never, ever in my entire life played Magic or been to a Magic event I really relied on Ben from Dice Bag Games and the Event Judge Callum to tell me what they needed, and to make sure the event happened. I was just there to collect money and hand out convention ID badges. I learned a lot about Magic that night. We held a Standard event that had 8 guys and followed it with a Draft event that had 10 guys (estimated since I  don't have the numbers in front off me while I type this). 

I had close to 40 people show up to help with setting up the hall for the weekend. I was expecting three and was overwhelmed and thrilled with the help. There were a few glitches with the floor plan I  had developed but some quick tinkering and we got it all sorted out. After set up I was starving and exausted and intended to go back to the Ramada, I swung by Tim Horton's for a sandwhich and hot chocolate before bed and wound up sitting in watching the Magic gaming for a while longer and discovered a crew of guys playing various board games as well: Warhammer Quest and Pandemonium among others.

Saturday morning dawned bright for me. I was at the hall for 7:30 with Fantasy check in at 8. We tapered the sign in and start times for all the events so that we did not wind up with a back log of people waiting to sign in. It worked. Sign in went smooth with the only glitch being uneven numbers for Fantasy and 40K. Both myself and Darren from Real People Games were prepared to play if need be but it left our registration table unmanned. We had some help from the other event coordinators with that as they helped out by making sure everyone for their events got checked in just fine. 

We had Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and Magic events going throughout the day and in the evening we ran Malifaux and X-Wing alongside the Magic events.

Because I was playing in the events I didn't get a chance to take as many pictures as I would have liked to of all the events so if anyone reading this has some of any of the events I would love a copy emailed to kippersmelee@gmail.com

If anyone has any battle reports they would like to submit to I would loe to read them. I know home my games went....my new army list was terrible hahaha. I tried an almost completely peasant army but I also tried a Lord on Pegasus so I could take 2 units of pegs. Terrible idea with as few pegs as I was able to take, it would probably work a lot better with 5 or 6 pegs minimum in each unit, though I would prefer at least 8. The Lord waas also dead by turn 2 of each game but the surprise to me was the success of my 60 man Men at Arms unit. It survived so well I have been continuing to use it.

Somehow I got roped into playing X-Wing too. Haha. I h my first X-Wing tournament and the first time I used a B-Wing, and Hawk. I lost all three games there but it was a great time socializing with everyone and learning my new ships.

Sunday morning, tired from the day before we were back Sunday morning for more Warhammer, 40k, and Warmachine.

We started out at 8 with two games to make the day end early enough that everyone could get home relatively early. Our awesome guests helped with clean up as they finished up their games by gathering the terrain in one spot, stacking chairs and tables and then buggered off for something to eat. Everyone was back in order to participate in the awards.

A big thanks to the organizers of the TSHFT tournaments who donated a ticket to one of their events to each and every Warhammer and 40k winner, as well as Real People Games, Dice Bag Games, Paul P and the GottaCon crew, Callum, Brody, Chumphammer, Black Talon Regiment, Curious Comics, Secret Weapon Miniatures, Soda Pop Miniatures, Imperial Hobbies, Dan M of WCP and everyone else I am forgetting at the moment. Our gamers, friends and everyone else who came out to the event.

I learned a few things for the next time, and was pleased to award our assorted prizes to the winners of each event. 

Pictures and links to standings to come...

This weekend: Kippers' Melee

For those of you reading my blog starting next week I should be back to a normalish writing schedule with things to say. That's because this weekend is Kippers' and after Kippers' life can return to normal.

I am currently sitting in a room surrounded by ID badges, players packages, laminated pages, a mound of prizes....I am hoping there is room in the car for it all.

My kids are glad things will soon be back to normal because they want to paint again and with colder weather upon us here in Canada it's a great time to get paint stations and craft areas set up.

All I need to know in life I learned from Star Wars

I wish it were true, but although I love the movies I am not so die hard a fan that I know all the ships and pilots by name. I can't look at the latest Lego kit and know that the planet represented is Endor not Tatoine. I don't remember which episode the Vadar cut off Luke's hand in. 

But despite all of this I still enjoy the game X-Wing put out by Fantasy Flight. I play Rebel: typically with Luke right in the middle of everything with R2 to keep him alive. And now the new wave has hit, I bought the ships and have barely taken them out of the package.

Our favorite game shop, Dice Bag, got us hooked on it and when we heard about their grand re-opening X-Wing tournament we made arrangements. I didn't actually play in the tournament, I had been away at work and decided to spend some time with my kids but we all drove down so my hubby could play. 

It was interesting to see the various builds people were using and shocking to hear someone say they had striped and painted theirs so they would be more acurate to the movies. I personally like them the way they come. Here are a few pictures from the day: one of the store owners had just got back from GenCon and had the new ships for us to see as well.

If you haven't tried it you should.