Thinking Outside the Box

It's been a busy week for Knight Models . First up was the announcement of the upcoming release of their new Marvel Universe Miniature Game . This will use a new system, different to that of the Batman Miniatures Game . Some details about the MUMG can be found on Facebook or over on Ian's blog here . It's interesting that it's a new system, but not entirely surprising. Many fans of the Batman game had discussed whether or not to bring in more powerful characters like Superman, and if in fact they could even be properly represented in the BMG system. With the web-supplement for a Spiderman Miniatures Game made available in December by Knight Models, many of us thought that this was the Marvel game and were happy that it was largely compatible with Batman. I'm a bit conflicted on the announcement about the Marvel game. In one sense, a new system does allow for a better representation of powers and abilities without having to worry about puny humans like beat c...

I have a few more repainted-n-rebased Heroclix figures for use in SuperSystem and possibly Batman Miniature Game . Black Mask This one was pretty quick and some of the work isn't really visible, but I know it's been done so... - dry brushed the suit and head w/ dark grey - painted neck to match skin on wrist - painted the gun and briefcase - went back in with pure black on shoes, gloves, pockets and lapels - black wash on everything - added traffic lines after a quick dry brush on the base to give a bit of 'pop' Once he was finished it occurred to me that if I were to print out his card for BMG, I could actually field a Black Mask crew with Branden, some crooked cops and whichever generic henchmen I wanted. I've not used Branden and a few SWAT figures in a game yet so it could be worth a go. Lex Luthor I already have a Lex in a prison jumpsuit that was used in one of our games of Supersytem 4th edition. I've had the scientist outfit fig...

I received the Poison Ivy starter box in late November. They seemed like such a nice change from all the police I had done last time, so it immediately jumped to the top of the painting queue for my  Batman Miniatures Game  collection. The plants are characterful and assembled quickly and without fuss. A small pass over the joints with some contour putty and they were ready for painting. After I brushed on some grey primer I got to work. I don't usually use a lot of greens, so the plants went through several stages of greens, washes, dry brushes and various highlights. I don't know if I'll be able to recreate this look but I'm unconcerned for now, as there are no other plants available for Ivy anyway! Ivy herself is one of the few one-piece models that I've seen in the range. In fact other than Bane from his starter set I can't recall any other models that are a single piece. If I had one complaint about this particular box it would be that Ivy is a...

These certainly weren't what I was planning on being my first finished models of the year, but I was passing some time over the weekend and picked these out of the lead pile. I wanted to make some monsters that I've never used in my games of Strange Aeons and they'd been sitting around primed for a long time. There are two different sets, the first one is the original pack of ghouls from Uncle Mike's line of Strange Aeons miniatures. I'm not sure if these are still in print. The other batch are from RAFM 's "Call of Cthulhu" line. I bought them so long ago I can't actually remember if they are ghouls or some other kind of beasties. I painted them with the same skin colours, but even so they don't really look like the same kind of creatures. You can see what I mean when they're all together. The dude with the book could stand in with the UMW figures in a pinch. They're fine miniatures all 'round and will get some time on ...

When I got my first shipment of stuff for Dreadball from Mantic Games  and played a few games I was hooked. It's hard to believe it was over three years ago! The models, especially the early seasons, are a little fiddly and some folks don't like them, but I do. I think they are nicely sculpted and affordable, and the game itself is very solid. If anything they're almost too detailed for my skill set to do them justice. Of course being a sports game I needed to come up with team names and colours. They should be bright, with high contrast, and have a logo of some kind. But what to do...? My first team didn't start out with a name, simply a couple of colours that I chose thinking they would look good. I ended up with the "Avion Yellowhawks". Why 'Avion' you ask? Well, because I'm a child of the 80s who grew up watch poor quality animation that were thinly veiled toy commercials. Anyone remember Masters of the Universe ? You know, He-Man and Sk...

A long while back I purchased some paper-craft terrain packs from WorldWorks Games and Fat Dragon Games to make buildings and scenery for my miniature gaming. I've only built a fraction of stuff from those purchases, and the pieces that get the most use are the buildings. There are various car models in there too, which I have used from time to time. The biggest challenge with them is that they're rather time consuming to build. The vehicle options from them are varied in what's available so I started looking to toys and model kits to supplement my collection. The big discovery for me was the EagleMoss collection of Batmobiles that some folks were using for the Batman Miniature Game . Since finding out about those I have acquired a substantial collection, and I think they're really great looking. My only complaint about them is the lack of working wheels, but it's a minor thing. I'll post up some photos of my batmobile collection another day however. My c...

This is a really tough one. The start of a new year always brings about people making resolutions or at the very least trying to make changes in their lives. I generally try not to make sweeping resolutions because quite simply, I feel that's setting oneself up for failure or disappointment. Large goals or achievements, in my opinion, are the result of small, deliberate steps towards that goal. Last year superhero gaming took the front seat for me: Batman Miniatures Game , Pulp City Supreme Edition and even Supersytem 4th Edition to some extent, all became regular parts of how I spent my hobby and gaming time. The biggest culprit for me was the Batman Miniatures Game . I went in on this in a BIG way in 2015. With the delivery I received yesterday, including objectives and street scenery, I've acquired over 120 figures for the game. Most of these figures are built and primed already, but on the down side I have only painted 14 if you exclude those same objectives and stree...

December is a busy time for me, but with some vacation time booked, I was looking forward to getting a few in-progress items knocked off and finished before the end of the year. Mother nature had other plans for me however, as I came down with a cold the first night of my vacation. I still have that cold now, but it's finally loosening its claws and I do hope to be rid of it in short order. So here's what I got done built in December, despite being sick for a good third of it. It all ended up being building, green stuff and basing, as I didn't finish painting a single model in December. (Well, unless you count the Orks, which I had essentially done in November, so...I don't.) At least I honed in my focus on two games: Batman Miniatures Game and Pulp City. - Built Ra's & League of Shadows starter box (4) - Built BMG comic Ra's, Talia & Nyssa (3) - Built BMG ninja booster pack (2) - Built BMG Shiva starter box (4) - Filled all the gaps on al...