Renegade Open 2016

It has been over a month now since the fourth Renegade Open Grand Tournament. Amazing how time flies when your not being swamped by building terrain for 38 tables, and full time college. If I had full time job as well which I've had the last three, no way I could have finished as much as I did.

This year we had X-Wing, Armada, and Malifaux Friday night, Warmachine Saturday, and Infinity Sunday. All along side Warhammer 40,000 Saturday & Sunday. All totaled 222 people came to the Fantasy Flight Game Center over three days. We are currently planning on expansion of events, both in new games, and number days for other games. With our first meeting for next year, just next week I'll leave Renegade Open 2017 for the future, and we can get to the photo dump for 2016.

Below you have day one of the grand tournament as round was getting under way.

And this was Friday night.

Now for some of the tables.

Day two, calm before the storm.

Now we have some of the infinity tables. Most of these are personally owned by individuals who brought them for the event. The advantage of only having to worry about building and painting one table.  

The table below was one of many brought by Sean Poschel, the man running the infinity event. This was one of many he supplied. This is some of his fathers personnel collection.  

Lastly you see what it takes transport proper sized terrain for a grand tournament. Now this does not show all the Fantasy flight games terrain, and the little from other stores we used but that total was far lower then in years past. Now we just need around triple this for next year. 

And for next year I picked up a few F.A.T. Mats. 

Going into 2017 WaaaghPaca looms close, and Adepticon is less then three months out. I will also be participating in a Horus Heresy campaign starting the same weekend as Paca. So my first priority is to get my Salamanders going as they will be my army for the three previous mentioned events. 

I also hope to start working on my fantasy army as they product has sat fallow for way to long.

Lastly I will return to the Executioners, for I must as it is my life's duty to complete Vanir Hex's 3rd company. As also some crazy times are coming for the imperium, and will need aid of the Emperors heads men.

Below is the first batch of the salamanders to test out how l'll go about them. 

Canned food industrial terrain

Do you have excess non-perishable food containers, or cat food tins? Then I've got the the tutorial for you. First we start with my studio, also known to some as a living room. This is what your home looks like when you are building terrain for a grand tournament, and don't have a a dedicated work space. You can also see some of the pieces in progress we will be looking at today.

   

So this piece will be made up of tin cans, you know the traditional ribbed metal soup can, and the cat food or tuna can. Below you see the template I designed to wrap around the can to add detail and proper suspension of disbelief. Remember, if you are ever going to be building model terrain in the future, to hoard anything which may be ever of use, forever. Such as the cereal boxes I'm making use out of below. 

I left extra room on the right side so once I had cut out the interior openings, and then the whole piece it self if it was to long I could shave off the excess. The height was easy to measure, the circumference was harder as I still have not found my tailors measuring tape. I used the steel ruler, and also just rapped the card stock around it.

Note here, I took a screw driver, and put a puncture hole in the smaller tin for air flow when we go to glue them together. I was going to try and use expanding foam to fill the can, and join the cans together. Then thought it was just be more convenient for everyone if I waited. More on that a little down the way.

The cut out stencil. I have left measurements on it for possible future reference.

Here we have my finished collection of exterior detail, and a finished product. For ease I primed all of the cans first. This is to give a more receptive surface for the glue to adhere to, and help to get all areas shadow before instead of later. I used white glue, doing a light wiggly line along all of the surface area of the stencil. You want to glue the bare side and go from one edge to the next, with a lighter application so it doesn't glup all over when you wrap it around the can. A little will happen but is easy to wipe up. 

As can be seen with the smaller cans, I taped the edges while it dried, and with the bigger cans wrapped a rubber band around the middle. The more rubber bands you have the better.

Here is where we get fancy. You can see the the other can filled with expanding foam. We have done that to give re-forcement for the straws. After the foam has set we drill a hole into the can, the bit you will want to use can be measured by finding the drill bit which fits the snuggest into the he straw opening. I then fitted all three holes with the straw and nuts to measure where the holes should be. I then made a template so I could measure out all of the boards without using the can for every spot.

Then we have a dry fitted can. 

We're ready to start assembly. Here are the tools all layer out. The scissors are for trimming down the straws, the screw driver for making room in the drilled holes as some are going to have some blockage to push out of the way.

Checking to see how long straws will have to be.

Measure out where the cans will sit.

Glue in the straws, just put drops down the hole and a little on the nut.

Then a little glue around the bottom and put it in place.

Repeat a few more times and...

And you end up with one of these. Now painting, well we will see how that turns out maybe this weekend. Just two weeks till Renegade Open. 

Titans shall stride the earth

Seeing if I can get though my back log of topics, and get caught up with where I'm at now. Which is partly behind because I have not much to show for the year. But on with the monumentus post we have here.

Going into Adepticon 2016 I was running the Badab War narrative events that I last posted about in September. Now the siege of the palace of thorns, which I was going off of the forge world mission, traitors gate from IA 9. This mission calls for the loyalist to have a reaver titan, which can be a road block for many. I was contemplating building a paper craft titan over the option of forge world resin as money is an asset I am lacking in. Though who wants to show up to Adepticon with something less then a big kid toy? But then I came across another source. After an Internet search of reaver images I found http://scifiguymodelworks.com 

now this was more within a cost I could get behind currently being finically impaired, and with a deadline looming closer while working and going to school full time. Jim the man behind this wonder of the Omnissiah was in touch throughout the whole process as he finished casting parts and along the line once mailed. On arrival here we see the package.

And a glimpse of the face of the Omnissiah's wrath.

Into the bath goes the Titan.

Here we see the primed model in its various pieces for painting. You can see on one of the guns the pin I made from a wire coat hanger.

The initial base colors, next metal.

From a suggestion another Titan owner I know said, I tried silly putty as a masking tool. Here is the primary areas I need this, the carapace of the Titan. I'm painting it as a war griffon titan, this legion uses a mottled pattern on its upper carapace and did not want to try and fix any over spray.  

And finally, at least for now. You can see a scale shot of the beast. I'm contemplating on how to shade it, most likely an oil wash. I was able to talk to some people about possibilities over the Adepticon weekend. One of which was Brain Carlson who's team, the Adeptus Film Co. Always have impressive display told me a little about his first efforts, and his blog has a bit about it from one of his more recent uses of the technique. Check it out here http://briancarlsonminiatures.blogspot.com/2016/04/tablescapes-urban-streets-tile-painting.html

Siege of the Place of Thorns, Adepticon 2016

Day two, and the Siege of the Palace of Thorns!

Now I have run a few of these narrative apocalypse games, this one is the best yet. To tote my own horn, cause what else is a blog for? Everything went according to plan. The players doing exactly what I wanted them to unbeknownst to them. 

Deployment was timed, and turns were half and hour, allowing us to finish ahead of schedule. The game was also most importantly the game was never one sided, going till the last combat, in the last assault phase. 

I ran the game off of the scenario in imperial armour 9. There was only a few updates to a few rules or features which didn't transfer over well from 5th. Huron was the main objective as well as two objective  behind the fortress wall. I also added objectives on the battle field which were progressively scored. This made loyalest do more then just rush the wall, and the secesstionist sit behind it.

Here we have the secessionist deployment, but where is the Tyrant of Badab?

Loyalist forces. 

A shoot of no mans land.

Loyalist air cavalry entires play, and the smoke plumes start to get used. I ran out around the forth turn, I had brought eighteen with me.

The perspective of a Titan. 

The fighting in the ruined urban area is left mostly in loyalist hands with small pockets of resistance so they used one of there stratagems to redeploy the inquisitorial contingent.  

The tower section where Lugft Huron and his retinue where hidden is collapsed. They must now hold the loyalist spearhead at bay.  

Huron stands atop the rubble as the wave of bodies crash.

Holding the tide, he attempts to make his withdrawel. But is met by the elite of the sons of Corax. He weathers the assault, and stands beaten but not yet broken, surviving the sixth and final turn the Tyrant of Badab escapes into the maelstrom.