Secret Weapon Miniatures: A Review

As a preface to this review, this encounter took place a few months ago.  I am just now getting around to writing about it.  The product mentioned below seems to no longer be available from their website, but I would assume the same quality from their other products.

I ordered the Secret Weapon Miniatures Infected Village bases for my Mordheim Skaven warband.  I ordered two sets since Skaven can get up to twenty guys in the warband.  The shipping was timely and inexpensive.

Image courtesy of http://blog.secretweaponminiatures.com/

When I got them I was impressed by the quality.  They bases have a nice heft to them, they're not flimsy at all.  They stand slightly taller than a standard base and the edge is not bevelled (more room for detail that way).  I had to do a minimum of trimming flash and washing to get them ready to go.

As I was cleaning the bases I noticed that I had only 19.  I double, triple counted and emailed MisterJustin and told him I was short one.  I had already worked out which of the ten it was I was missing and was prepared to show him which one, expecting only to receive the missing base.  I was surprised when I received an email back saying that he was sending me a full set of ten!

This is a great example of customer service.  He responded to my email promptly and sent the new bases out without delay.  I recommend Secret Weapon Miniatures if anything for their customer service.  They have a wide variety of products, not just bases.  They've been adding a lot of terrain lately as well as creative additions to terrain like buffalo skeletons.  I will certainly be buying from them again.

Two Blogs That Need More Followers

Forever Alone

First off I'd like to thank Zero over at Hive Zero for his contest in the which I was the only entrant!  So naturally I won.  The contest was to send in your best painted Blood Angel model (no vehicles).  I submitted my Brother Claudio.  The contest ran for a whole month and I was the only entrant?  How many people play Blood Angels?  In the words of Gob Bluth, "Come on!"

The prize is Death Angel, the Space Hulk card game by Fantasy Flight Games.  He has another copy, so follow his blog for updates.

The second blog I'd like to plug is a new one by one of the guys in my area, Col. Dracus.  He is in the process of creating a homebrew Space Marine chapter using various 3rd party add ons to create a really interesting chapter.  His basing scheme is one of the most unique I've seen.  I'm currently painting a Forgeworld Huron to serve as his chapter master.

Don't let these blogs be Forever Alone.

Harlequin Shadowseer

Here's a Harlequin Shadowseer that I did on commission.  This one was hard to paint.  There's a lot of detail and the finecast was full of bubbles that I had to fill in.  There's about a bajillion gemstones on it as well as the freehand pattern on the leg.

Warhammer+Minecraft

My incomplete Lustrian Temple

So I've been playing a ton of Minecraft lately.  I would love to try the multiplayer out, to build something huge with a dedicated group.  What I'd like to do is build cool Warhammer Fantasy/40k type things, and perhaps even hold pvp battles in them.

To that end I've been experimenting with running my own server, though I want to wait until 1.8 comes out so I can get the new biomes and such.

If I did start a multiplayer server with the purpose of working together to build something Warhammer related, would there be enough of an interest to do it?

I would intend to keep the server free to join but with donations optional (running a server isn't free).

A Quick Late 'Ard Boyz Report, Nids Take Third

I brought my Nids to 'Ard Boyz this year and though I had to borrow from two different people, I still don't think my list was as tight as I would have liked it. Here's what I took:

Parasite
Doom+Pod
Hive Guard
3xVenomthropes

10 Termagants
Tervigon
10 Termagants
Tervigon
10 Genestealers

3x Spore Mines
3x Spore Mines
30 Gargoyles

Trygon Prime
Tyrannofex
Tyrannofex

Looking back I think I'd rather have another Tervigon and two more Trygons instead of the T-Fex. However, the Gargoyles+Venomthropes is a golden combo. If you string them out right, you can still get the cover save while still moving full distance. The formation looks something like a T.

Anyway, my first game was up against the other Nid player in the store, from whom I borrowed the Venomthropes. He has an all-drop list. He managed to drop a pod of warriors in behind my lines and nearly killed my traitor, but only because he whiffed his rolls pretty bad. I didn't kill his traitor either and got a minor victory.  Had he killed mine I would have taken a minor loss.

The second game was up against Orks. Ed from LATCS was running a Battlewagon army. For some reason he put everything except his Lootas in reserve. That sole fact allowed me to win the game. I advanced with everything and on his turn two realized there's no point in going after his objective as it was only worth one point as opposed to the other quarters which were worth two. Ed's army came in piecemeal but even then I couldn't stop all his battlewagons. I don't think I killed a single one. However, I did slow him down. His Lootas were also on fire, rolling a 3 on their D3 every time and hitting well over 50% of the time each time they shot. They took out my Hive Guard, put 5 wounds on a T-Fex and killed a Tervigon. We only got to turn 4 (two horde armies will do that to you) and I held my objective plus the center one while contesting his.  If he had started on the board there's no way I could have stopped him in time. That netted me a massacre, however if the game had gone on I'm sure I would have lost.

The third game was against Chaos. The game was pretty rough and tumble and I had a hard time killing his vehicles. I may have killed one. I immobilized his Land Raider with a lucky hit from a Broodlord but couldn't finish it off. He killed a lot of my stuff and I got a minor loss.

In the end I took third. I ordered a Ruins of Osgiliath terrain piece as it's a cool piece and could be used in Fantasy or 40k, plus Mordheim.

I learned that I'd rather have the extra Trygons and another Tervigon as my HQ. I also learned that I'm going to need at least two more boxes of Termagants, not to mention at least two boxes more if I get the third Tervigon.

Painted Lictor

For this guy I did an experiment to speed up my painting.  Instead of mixing each layer of highlight individually, I created batches and bottled them so I can use them again.  Furthermore I reduced my highlighting layers to three for the carapace, skin and claws.  Normally I do about 7 for the carapace, 5 for the claws and 4 for the skin.  Some models get more layers (like my Malanthrope), but to speed things up I wanted to push how few I could do and still get good results.

The carapace isn't as bright as normal, and I may add one more layer back.  I may have to use a slightly different technique as well to make the blend better.

Tyrannofex Conversion

After months and months of sitting on my desk it's finally done.  I picked the Carnifex kit as my prize for Fantasy 'Ard Boyz Prelims and intended to make a Tyrannofex, so I've had it on my desk since April.  I found this conversion very difficult.  The hardest part was the upper carapace.  I used Instant Mold to make the cannons.

Originally I was going to have his claws gouged in the ground like a Biovore for support, but I couldn't bear to cut the claws off at the tip.  I like them too much.

All I have left to do to finish the Tyranid range is the Doom of Malan'Tai and a Tyranid Prime.  If I beat GW to the finish line it will be a sad day, as I am a slow worker and the book has been out for a year and a half.  Next on my workbench though is a Skaven Mordheim warband!