Marvel Crisis Protocol, Miniatures, skirmish games

The Wake-Up Call

As some of you may know, I have been grappling with a rogue pancreas since the end of 2023. The pancreas is a bit of a diva, and when it feels like it’s being mistreated, all hell breaks loose.

Four major abdominal surgeries and tens of thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses later, I’m, a not in the best shape. The body is still strong, but that pancreas has it out for me. And that’s okay. It’s part of me, and I forgive it for behaving the way it has. But, as time goes on, I am becoming more and more aware that a peaceful descent into old age is probably not in the cards for me.

And that’s okay. We all do the best we can with the cards we’re dealt, and I have had a brilliant go at it. I will continue to do so. Life is such a precious, fleeting thing, and I’m going to wring everything I can out of whatever is left of it, whether that’s three or thirty years

Two weeks ago, a younger friend of mine passed peacefully in his sleep. Honestly, that’s a gift. I’ve had a lot of friends die, and this one was the first that hasn’t been something tragic and avoidable. He will be remembered well, and at no point will anyone be torturing themselves wondering whether they could have done something. It was simply his time, and he went peacefully and well loved.

What a fucking gift. I love that for him, and for his family. He’s leaving a whole where he was, just like we all do when we move on, but it’s a life that will be looked back on with joy.

Except there is one little thing that needs to be sorted by his lovely family, and that hit home harder than anything.

He was a collector. A MIGHTY collector. He had a good job, he was single, didn’t have kids, owned his own home, and had no conflicts when it came to dropping a thousand dollars on a limited edition Transformer.

His family buried him yesterday. Today, they’re tackling the house, and his collections. Frankly, they’re buried. His sister send a message- “his desk is just covered in boxed Optimus Prime figures”.

How do you help someone navigate that? That’s just the freaking desk.

I’m looking at my own collection. I’ve already down-graded greatly, but there’s still probably a thousand unpainted minis in that collection, and if I hadn’t had to stop working because of The Diva, there would be more.

As much as I adore this hobby, the thought of my wife texting a friend about how many zombies are sitting on a shelf above my desk right now is heart breaking. No one should have to go through that.

I know from other friends that have passed that collections are largely worthless once the person that collected them is gone. My grandfather’s prized stamp collection was un-wanted by everyone in the family, and we settled on a few hundred bucks just to get the metric ton of stamps out of the way.

Another friend of mine passed a decade or so ago, and his nieces and nephews inherited some cool toys and some graphic novels. Everything else was either donated to schools, and when the patience was worn thin, straight to the landfill.

I don’t want to put my family through that, no matter what time I have left. As weird as this sounds to type, it sounds even weirder to say it aloud- I can’t in good conscience put anyone I love through that. For the first time in 40 some odd years of miniature collecting, I think it’s time to make a clean break.

That doesn’t mean that I’m getting out of the hobby, it just means that I need it to mean something more than it has. I’ve been going through a small mountain of painted (and a larger mountain of unpainted) miniatures, and most of it simply needs to go. I’ve had some success posting some on EBay, which helps the medical bills, and some are just finding new homes with friends.

What stays behind will be more personal to me. Necromunda and Mordheim were always my favorite games, so that’s what stays. Anything that can be adapted to those games, or homebrews of those games, may have a chance at staying.

Everything else? That’s a distraction, a dalliance from a fevered hobby addled brain, a nice distraction from the monsters that are making sure our children inherit a Mad Max movie. It’s all in some stage of going or another.

This is hard! I’m navigating a lot of emotion over some of this stuff, and realizing a lot of that is addiction. That’s fine, I can work through that. Still, it’s way harder than I ever anticipated.

To rip the band-aid off, I started with stuff that I have always found some comfort in, mainly the X-Men and Avengers figs from Marvel Crisis Protocol. Finding new homes for this stuff doesn’t diminish the joy I found in painting them, and maybe their new owners will pick up on some of that joy when they get them.

I’ll be shifting the emphasis of my posts towards this process a little more, and posting the results of what actually stays as well. I have some ideas for kitbash projects that will be a lot of fun, so stick around! It’s going to be a hobby rollercoaster around here!

Take care, friends.

Leigh

Star Wars Legion

Star Wars Legion: Moff Gideon

Star Wars and I are old friends. I was seven years old when the first movie came out, and I really, really wanted to see The Rescuers. My dad really, really wanted to see Star Wars. Since it was his birthday, we saw Star Wars, and I was in a funk until that opening scene on the Tantiv IV hit my impressionable little brain, and my poor dad has probably wished we went to se The Rescuers ever since.

In all of the Star Wars media I’ve consumed, I’ve really only hated one installment, which I will leave out because if it’s your favorite I have no intention of harshing that enjoyment for you. But everything else I’ve watched had something in it that I genuinely enjoyed, whether it’s Baylon Skoll in Ahsoka or Boba Fett riding a Rancor in Book of Boba Fett.

My rule for Star Wars is a simple one: What would that kid in 1977 think of this? Generally, that kid would have been shrieking like a radioactive gibbon rampaging through a jungle gym.

The Mandalorian brough out one of my favorite villains in all of Star Wars, with Giancarlo Esposito bringing a fantastic level of mustache twirling to his portrayal of Moff Gideon. When he showed up with a squad of Death Troopers and his modified TIE fighter, that internal seven year old was speechless. TIE fighters can do that with their wings??? HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT?

Moff Gideon also shit his pants when Luke showed up to take Grogu on a playdate to the Lil’ Jedi Temple of Doom. I would have done the same. What a cool, calculating, and cowardly when needed villain! Of course a Jedi would freak that dude out!

The old miniature that Atomic Mass Games produced for Star Wars: Legion was one of the first hard plastic kits they put out, and the likeness on the 35mm model is actually better than the Shatterpoint version. Plus, you get the option of pistol OR Darksaber, and since I like to have some general utility in my models, he’s packing his pistol.

I really took my time with him. Darker flesh tones have been a struggle for me, since in reality we’re not just talking about brown tones. There’s some cool purples and warm ochres in the skin, and I really wanted to do this sculpt justice.

Cat hair is a feature, right?

He also has very pronounced eyelids, which this sculpt does a good job capturing. I wanted to make sure to show Gideon with that “bored but still going to kill you” look that made him so cool in the first place.

And, of course, I had to take some pics with him leading a couple of riot control troopers, I can’t wait to get some Deathtroopers together for him!

Warhammer 40,000

Warhammer 40k: Returning to Fenris

I heard something the other day that stuck with me, especially when thinking about the state of modern table top miniature gaming.

People don’t know what they like, but they like what they know.

That pretty much sums up my feelings about Warhammer 40k. It’s not an elegant rules system, the release schedule is predatory, but the miniatures look great and everyone knows about it, hell, most of my friends grew up with it. Getting them to come up from the Warhammer 40k mines is like pulling teeth.

My Space Wolves commander as he was originally painted

So, in the interest of continuing my gaming hobby with some really nice people that I enjoy hanging out with, I begudgingly started up a Space Wolves army, and had a good time painting the first 1,000 points. But I was kicking and screaming the whole time, I promise!

Last week, though, I saw someone’s army that had been painted up like medieval knights, and I fell in love. I decided to go back and start making these Wolves work for me. If I’m going to play 40k, I might as well enjoy what I’m painting, right? So, I went in and darkened up the armor, making the grey/blue more of an accent. And I’m very happy with the results!

I also decided to re-paint the gold as silver, which really adds a lot of contrast to the armor and allows any warm colors, which I’m keeping for leathers, furs, and skin tones, to really shine. Now, to finish up the other 20-some odd space vikings!

Marvel Crisis Protocol

Marvel Crisis Protocol: Frankenstein

Way back in the 1970’s, there was something of a horror renaissance going on in the comic book world. First, you had legends like Bernie Wrightson creating things like Swamp Thing for DC, and second, you had a veritable gold mine of public domain critters ripe for plunder, like Dracula and Frankenstein.

This stuff was also heavily influenced by the early heavy metal and rock scenes that were taking hold in popular culture, so you get guys like Frankenstein rocking the blue jeans and furry vests!

I was a little too young to read a lot of this stuff, and preferred my comics soundly focused on peeps in tights punching each other and worrying about their aged relatives. But, as I got older, I fell in love with all of it, from the EC black and white anthologies to the pure schlock of Marvel’s monsters.

I really love the look of this Frankenstein from Marvel Crisis Protocol, and he’s a solid kick-off to my Midnight Sons faction!

I also got to spend some time reading up on improving my photography skills while in the hospital, so I’m excited to share some improved pics! I was never happy with how my pictures turned out, so seeing them nice and vibrant like this is making me happy for sure!

Progress Log: Total MCP Minis in Collection: 107 Total Painted: 44

skirmish games

DIY Wargaming: Fleshing Out a Character

Circling back to my Wargame Heartbreaker*, I’m realizing the only way I can test out what I’m working on is by creating some characters and letting them fight it out. Drat. What a drag… how ever will I survive the fun?

I’m going to start with my Witch Hunter Captain. We’ve seen him before, he’s a dashing lad and should be entertaining to stat out!

Here’s the stats as they currently stand:

-Movement (MOV): Usually 6″, can be more or less, never less than 4 or more than 12 without use of powers.

-Melee (MEL): Fighting in close contact with an enemy

-Ranged (RNG): If it shoots or fires something, this is the parent stat for using it.

-Willpower (WILL): Used for break tests and deflecting supernatural attacks

-Endurance (END): Used as the base for figuring out Hardiness, and for working out how much damage a model can take.

-Strength (STR): Base score used for determining damage dealt in melee combat. (Strength+weapon damage)

Finally, his Wound Capacity (WC) is derived from his END stat.

For the Witch Hunter Captain, I want him to be above average (d6) in a few areas, and I want him to have a few perks and hindrances that give him that witch hunter energy.

MOV: 6 MEL: 8 RNG: 10 END: 8 STR: 6 HRD: 6 WC: 8

Skills: Perception (6), Stealth (4), Faith (8), Intimidation (12), Persuasion (6), Taunt (8),

Weapons: Sword, Hellbringer (signature flintlock pistol) Range: 5/10, AP 1, DMG: 2d6, Reload 2

Armor: Thick Leathers (armor 2)

Perks: Signature Weapon (+1 to RNG with Signature Weapon), Arcane Protection (-2 on offensive spells cast against this model), Command (grants +1 to allied WILL checks within 12″), Fearless (immune to fear effects and spells)

Hindrance: Suffer Not the Witch (+1 to MEL and STR attacks against spellcasters, cannot break from combat or retreat.

That’s an awful lot to digest, and I still need to work out a points-buy system, but it’s a beginning. Now I need to work out some opponents and make sure everything flows okay.

If you’re interested in seeing the rules system I’m cobbling together here, let me know in the comments and I’ll share my progress with it!

Again, apologies for the lack of minis progress, I’m still on the mend from the fourth major abdominal surgery I’ve had in the last 2 years!

*The team “heartbreaker” was originally coined for games that were designed to be “better” than the game that inspired it, most often Dungeons & Dragons back in the day. The term was a little mean-spirited when it was coined, but I kinda like it!

skirmish games

DIY Wargaming: Pillaging from the Best

I’ve been going on a lot lately about wanting to build out a game system that works for me and my tabletop preferences. If you’ve read this blog at all, you’ll know that I’m frustrated with a lot of what Games Workshop calls rules these days, and that I’ve found a lot of other games that are too hot, too cold, too firm, too soft, and nothing that’s just right. Yup, I’m Goldilocks. And none of these damned bears have anything I want.

Just your standard group of Beastmen, Beastmen who need stats! (from my collection)

I spent the better part of February valiantly trying to hammer out my own system, jabbering like a hundred crazed monkeys clanging away at the keyboard. And just like those metaphorical monkeys, I produced a mighty heap of, you guessed it, gibberish.

Game design, it turns out, is really tricky. I’m not an un-clever person, but the web I was weaving myself into was getting pretty sticky. I was getting stuck. I should ease off on metaphors…

So, like many people before me have done, I am going to pillage my way through stacks of inspiration that are currently lining my bookshelves. I have collected a massive library of game rules over the years, so I have plenty of sources of inspiration to draw from!

After going through everything, I think a bit of what I am looking for can be adapted from the Savage Worlds role playing system. It’s a universal system that is setting agnostic, and I like the base mechanics. After spending a little time under the hood, I think that stripping out the RPG elements and focusing on the stuff I like will give me a good framework to build off of.

Is there a way Cyberpunk dudes can fight Beastmen? I guess we’ll find out! (from my collection)

One of the things I was working on in my own homebrew system was a way to use different polyhedral dice to represent skill levels and attributes. Savage Worlds does something similar, but they’ve been at it for 30 years and have done a bit of streamlining that flows a lot smoother than the aberration I was building.

Basically, each Attribute or skill is ranked as d4, d6, d8, d10, or d12, with the higher numbers being better than lower. Since Savage Worlds is an RPG, there’s a ton of skills and special effects baked into the system, some of which work with a table top skirmisher, some of which absolutely don’t. That’s fine, I can work that part out. Mostly I’ll be using the Attribute system as a springboard for everything else. I’m throwing about 1/3 of that out, though, because it’s a little clunky for the flow I’m looking for on the table.

At the end of the day, I want a system that lets me put Cyberpunk assassins, Beastmen, and murderous orphans on the same table. Not all the time, mind you, just when the spirit hits me! (from my collection)

There are aspects of other games, like Relicblade, Necromunda, Mordheim, and Frostgrave that I’ll be adapting as well. The biggest challenge currently is developing a points buy system to give some approximation of balance, but that’s not going to be impossible… I hope!

Apologies for the lack of minis progress in this post, I am recovering from surgery and can’t spend much time sitting at my paint station yet!

skirmish games

Fantasy Skirmish: Witch Hunter Warrior Priest

I’ve been working on building out a Witch Hunter warband for fantasy skirmish games, and with the Captain done, it was time to move on to the Warrior Priest.

The Warrior Priest I fielded in Mordheim 25 years ago was a big bruiser with a two-handed warhammer. Going through the Hexbane’s Hunters warband from Warhammer Underworlds, I realized the big hunter with the mega axe could be converted without too much fuss.

I took a two handed hammer off of a Chaos Raider, then worked out the haft so that it fit the arms of the hunter. It was a pretty simple conversion and really brings back the way my old Warrior Priest, at least in spirit!

I kept to the same tones as the Captain, then put on an oil wash for this guy. After that was settled, I went back in for some highlights, then drew an “S” on his forehead. You know, for Squidward.

Here’s the Witch Hunter group so far!

Fallout Factions

Fallout Factions: The Disciples, part two

Continuing to work on my Disciples warband for Fallout: Factions! I’m adding another base mook and a leader model this time around.

First up is a basic raider with a gun, grenades, and knife. I didn’t mess around too much with it and just did base colors with an oil wash on it.

The kneeling figure is Dixie, one of the lieutenants of the Disciples group. She’s particularly blood-thirsty, and has a ton of hacked up corpses just hanging around her barracks. Sadly, the resin on the base got hacked pretty good when I was trying to trim the pour gate, but I don’t think it ruins the figure.

I’ll be using Dixie in Fallout: Factions as a random leader or fill-in trooper, depending on the situation. Here’s the group so far!

Star Wars Legion

Star Wars Legion: Empire Riot Control Squad, part two

Getting back to the Empire Riot Control Squad from Atomic Mass Games, we’re taking on the energy mace troopers today! Once again, I’m a huge fan of this entire box set.

These dudes remind me a lot of the electro mace trooper from The Force Awakens, so having two of them for this squad is pretty cool.

Painting them up wasn’t too bad, either. I went with a straight white undercoat, then used an oil wash to add the shading. The oil wash was two parts Payne’s Grey to one part burnt umber, then a liberal amount of white spirits to dilute.

Energy effects were a blue speed paint over silver, then general white highlights over the whole model after picking out the eyes and helmet rim in black. Some light damage effects on the shields, and I think I’ll call them done!

These guys look pretty cool with the KX Droids!

Marvel Crisis Protocol

Marvel Crisis Protocol: Beta Ray Bill

When I was in my early teens, Walt Simonson was working on the Thor comics for Marvel. He went really hard into the whole Cosmic Fantasy aspect of the character, and somehow managed to stay incredibly close to the design aesthetic established by Jack Kirby. As a comics smitten kid with a penchant for doodling, I was smitten.

Somewhere along the line, Thor did something dumb, and Odin, being Odin, decided that Meow-meow needed to go to someone else, someone more worthy. So, the hammer made its way to Beta Ray Bill, a Korbonite warrior who was, as it turned out, pretty worthy. Look at this cover… it’s still metal as hell four decades later!

Atomic Mass Games released Beta Ray Bill for their Marvel Crisis Protocol game a couple of years back, and the box has been sitting neglected by me since then. I did paint up Ulik recently, and Bill was my reward for being a good boy and posting consistently through January and February.

Gaze upon the freaking MAJESTY of this sculpt! When you have something this amazing to work with, the miniature pretty much paints itself.

I still sometimes forget that this miniature line is part of a game and not a series of DIY collectible figurines. I guess it’s all in your mindset, right? Nightcrawler from the X-Men is up next!