Preventing Krakatoa

If you haven't noticed, there's been a lot of earth tremors, volcanic eruptions and other seismic activity going on, but none of that compares to the shake up that's been happening in the JP household these last few weeks.

To say I've been stressed would be an understatement of galactic proportions and while my head is still pounding as though Thumper is doing a number right behind my eyes, things have improved somewhat.

The downside is that all this means the painting I had planned just won't be getting finished. At least not by my original deadline. It's piling on more pressure that will really make me blow my stack (stop sniggering, I didn't mean like that!). Also right now I just can't seem to concentrate longer than 30 minutes, so I'm taking a bit of time off.

And by time off I mean just painting up 4-5 models a day instead of aiming to do a full regiment.

I'd like to think I'd have gotten the Orcs done in the week as promised - the Army Painter method really helps speed things up dramatically. Still with 20 days to go, there's more than enough time to get the Orc Force finished - these are the last of the models that need painting; once done, its getting the terrain sorted.

So... bit disappointed but at least my head didn't go Krakatoa...

Getting The Posters Ready

Here's a sneak peak at the poster I'm going to be putting up in a few places round Long Eaton and on the 'net. Still a work in progress but it gives you an idea what I'm aiming at.

Future posters will have more specific details (what games are going on and times, requirements for entry etc) and will be sent out via email to all members as well as being posted up online and in the local hobby shop.

Getting Organised

There's a lot of stuff going on at the minute, both personally and professionally and so finding the time to promote the club across many different platforms is becoming a bit of a strain. Not only that, it takes time away from other tasks such as painting or building terrain and I feel dilutes the message I'm trying to get out there.

Even worse, because various accounts can't be easily linked for a multitude of reasons, the constant need to cross-polinate a blog post or share the latest pictures of new models or the venue runs the risk of becoming spam.


We don't like spam unless its deep fried, served as a burger with chips and a cold beer.

So as well as posting here on a regular basis, you can follow our Twitter accounts for all the latest updates.

Jonathan_Peace for various ramblings about being a freelancer, movies and games.

WP_GamesClub for the latest news from the War & Peace Games Club.

And please, keep following the blog. As time goes on I'll find a way to update it to include great picture galleries, and maybe even a forum for club members.

Cheers
JP

Orc Week - Day 3 Rained Off

Orc Ax seeks 5 more mates...

Yesterday was a bit of a washout for various reasons, none of which I'll go into here as this is a place of fun and enjoyment and yesterday... wasn't.

Anyway, that means no painting got done, however, fret not - it just means today I'll be painting those Greatax AND the Orc Flagger.

I just learned as well that the Ax Orcs now come in unit sizes of 10, 20, 30 and 40, not the 15 I currently have all made up and on their new movement tray. So that means making another tray plus finding 5 more Orcs somewhere.

I'll have to rebase the Dwarf Kings Hold ones I think.

Luckily I love rebasing... ;)

Getting Stuck In: Making Wargaming Hills

Getting the club up and running needs more than just painted models, dice and tape measures. It needs games tables and more importantly, terrain to cover it. As an impoverished freelance writer, getting this together on a very strict budget has meant a little creativity on my part, but that's all part of this great hobby that is wargaming.

Rather than stress about finding the cash for Games Workshops extremely expensive yet, without doubt, great looking terrain pieces, I chose to go old school and make my own. For just £6 (scrounged from my penny jar after saving up for about three weeks) I was able to buy some card and thick foam and make 6 medium to large sized hills.

Orc Week - Day 2 Orclings

Here they are all done up in their finest ready to go annoy the heck out of their enemies.

So far 2 days and 2 units of seven painted up. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going as today it is the turn of the Greatax Troop. I'll try and get the post done later tonight but real life is getting in the way quite a bit lately so expect another retroactive post in the morning.

Cheers

JP

Orc Week - Day 1 (Part Two)

As I'd suspected, real life got in the way of a planned day of painting and by the time I got home, all bothersome and worrified, all I wanted to do was sink into a huge bottle of beer and stay there for the rest of the century.

Instead, I painted Sparkfang:

Sparkfang Painted
(yes I know the pic is a bit blurry)

This is an Avatars Of War model, a Goblin Hero, which I am using to lead my Orcs into battle. From the current Orc army list, there is a character named Wip who is a half-Orc shaman. That fits in nicely with the background I have for the Orcs in my little part of Mantica - a Goblin shaman named Sparkfang who uses his sneakyness to rise up and take the power away from a particularly inept Orc Krudger named GoreGutt.

I painted the model fairly quickly - about fifteen, twenty minutes. Normally on a character I would take a lot longer than that but I was feeling pretty down and just blasted through it so I could go soak in the tub for a year or two. Not the best of my painting, I'll grant you that, but certainly good enough for a few games.

Once all the armies are done to gaming standard I can start going back through them adding in the extra levels of highlights to bring them up to tournament standard - just in time for the KOW tournement in February next year, then :)

Orc Week - Day 1 (Part One)

Today is a very hectic day with lots of personal stuff going on so I'm going to have to split the post into two. Part One (what you're reading now - fancy that) is a quick overview of this project and a look at the models I've got lined up to paint, while Part Two (fingers crossed) will show the fruits of today's labour.

SparkFang's Orcs

This force of Orcs for Kings Of War is a little different in that A) it is led by a Goblin and B) it is only 600 points. But even so, there is still a lot of models for such a relatively small amount of points, enough for a pretty good game of Kings Of War. Factor in a few magical artefacts and it is probably closer to 700-800 points.

So, what have I got to get painted up:

Sparkfang
A Goblin Shaman-Chief
blurry pic just for Andrew ;)

Orc Flagger
Custom built flag - ie cocktail stick

15 Orc Ax regiment
With full command

Orc Gore Chariot Troop
With full command
Made from GW chariots with Mantic Orcs

20 Orc Greatax Regiment
With full command
(and more cocktail stick flags)

10 Orc Greatax Troop
With full command
note the red skin - that was a test but I'm not happy with
it and going back to classic Orc greenskin.

Orcling Troop
Nasty little buggers

The Plan

is to have these all painted by the end of the week. I'm not sure if it's going to be a regiment/character a day or painting one colour across the entire army per day (ie today it's doing all the green bits). I've some personal errands to run first thing today which will keep me away from the office for several hours so I'll give it a think over.

Part Two will show which way I've decided. I think.

Maybe...

Next Week On War & Peace

Lots going on (as per usual) so Monday will see either a lengthy post or several small ones showing what's been going on behind the scenes as I gear up towards the launch of the Games Club. Here's a little snippets of some of the things I'll definitely be talking about:

1. Elf Army
2. Undead Army
3. Dwarf Force
4. Painting an Orc Force in a week
5. Launch Night Events
6. VIP guests at the Club
7. Terrain and how to make it on a budget

Tickets are starting to fly out now that we've announced Ronnie will be at the Launch. We are limited to 30 people (Elf & Safety), so make sure you don't miss out. 

Cheers

JP

Buy Your Tickets Here

$10'500 and rising...

The Mantic Kickstarter has blasted through its initial goal of $5000, exploding through the first stretch goal of $7500 and has now totally decimated the $10'000 stretch goal.

This shows the great benefits of crowdfunding:

• Open Communication -  no stony silence; engaging with the target audience
• Market testing - If the gamers want the product, they'll fund the project. If they don't they won't.
• Cut Out The Banks - no high interest repayments from having to get a bank loan (nigh on impossible) to fund the project
• Greater Control - no having to answer to shareholders with stupid price hikes.

Okay, that last one may just be a blatant dig at a certain other company, but the rest stand. Crowdfunding is a brilliant way for creative's in many areas (film, music, games etc) to take control of their own projects and destinies, to see their dreams become reality, funded by their target audience (ie gamers) rather than corporate banks who impose heavy charges etc.

I'll be writing about this in detail in a future article as there is a lot of ground to cover, but for now I just wanted to say a huge well done to the Mantic Team, and those who are actively supporting.

You can see the live updates over their on the right...

Cheers

JP