The Captain's Log Returns - Oldhammer Lizardmen Project Begins

When I first started this blog, I often had odd editorial's filed under the "Captain's Log" tag. As time has gone by, I've dropped a lot of the odd little articles that I used to do, some more due to a lack of time than anything else. Some I'll bring back with time (my terrible fiction will never die!), but it seemed a fitting title to use for this little snippet.

There have been a few years that I've considered entering one of GW's Golden Demon competitions, but I never really had a project in mind. I'm a good painter for sure, but I'm not really up to the standard of those people who spend their whole hobby in search of painting perfection and spend hundreds of hours on every model. The truth is that I don't have the stomach for it, and I've got  enough other things to be getting on with that I don't have that kind of time. With that in mind, my chances of winning anything are pretty low.

That said, it's one of those things that I'd enjoy doing, and would be a great place to test some techniques and work on some skills. I've often thought that it would make more sense to enter something that was more of a personal project - something I'd create to own and enjoy.

So, a few days ago, I got to thinking about my first army - 1990s Lizardmen. I've wanted to revisit them for a whole long time, and to have a go at stripping and re-painting some of the most characterful miniatures of the day. I know that most people probably have no recollection of what the sculpts even looked like back then, but a lot of the metal models were actually really nicely formed and had a lot of character. They'd also make a great palette for experimenting with bright tropical colours and jungle flora, which is something I've never done.

I also absolutely loved the diorama that was made for the Armies Book in 1997. As a kid, I spent what probably amounted to weeks of my life staring at pictures of that thing. It was just amazing at that time, and I recently had the chance to see it in person at Warhammer World too. I started thinking about the 40k Shadowsword that I painted, which was sort of a childhood dream since Epic came out, and I thought - why not really live the dream?

As most people don't remember the models of the time, here's a picture of that famous Diorama featuring them. 

Taking the basic idea, I thought that I'd have a go at making a prehistoric (get it, because they're so old) Lizardman diorama. Something like a jungle scene - a rocky temple backdrop for 2 sides of a base with a sort of central pond. Maybe a waterfall. My old Slann could be relaxing in a temple thing with a view of some type of fish hunting going on below. The idea would be relaxation, they've earned their retirement by now and deserve to enjoy it! I've got pretty much every model from the generation, so a Terradon sailing by somewhere in there, and a submerged Salamander would be easy enough. I'll probably add a bit of a sub plot in with some baddies sneaking up, but I'm still working on that part.

So, earlier today, I clambered through the darkest cupboard of doom. After being assailed on all sides by forgotten childhood memories, Goosebumps books and an old Nirvana cassette tape that nearly bludgeoned me to death; I finally reached my prize. A big box of ancient Lizardmen!

Upon opening the box, perhaps because of the bludgeoning, I became almost convinced that I was in an episode of American Pickers. Yep, I was junk drunk and surrounded by rusty gold. It had the patina, and the price was irresistible!

Oldhammer for the Oldhammer God! I won't be able to use everything, but I wanted plenty of options!

Anyway, I grabbed a bunch of the good stuff and prepped it for stripping. What happens next, who knows, who cares, but at the very least, I expect to enjoy painting a few very deserving models. With any luck plans will work out and I'll get a cool piece I can keep and display with all my favourite childhood models in it - and that'll be pretty priceless. I might even put in a few in-jokes (that Slann needs his Forbidden Rod and Amber Amulet combo for sure!). If it goes well, I'll enter it in Golden Demon just to put a smile on some faces that remember the good old days.

Original metal skinks! Collect the whole set. I know I did!

In some ways, these are the models that I owe a lifetime of fun to. They had hundreds of battles back in the day; probably thousands. I think it's time they retired with the full battle honours they deserve!

Hobby Pitfalls - 10 Things Not to Do!

This picture has nothing to do with the topic. I'm just resurrecting a classic. Jessie and Chester said it best.

So, when you've been around this hobby long enough you see some junk and some stuff; I wouldn't recommend it!

Hobby Pitfalls - 10 Things Not to Do!

1) Don't leave your paintbrush tip down in the water pot!

I know that water pot looks like a nice clean place to leave your paint-covered brush, but leave it in there too long and the water is going to seep into the bristles and wreck them. If the brush is tip down, the contact with the bottom of the pot will splay everything out and leave you with a useless twig headed with something that looks like the ass-end of a witch's broomstick.

Wash it out in the water, re-point the head and then put it back in the little plastic sleeve it came in for next time. You'll thank me for it later.

2) Don't leave bare metal/plastic/resin showing because you were going to paint it grey/metal anyway!

I actually remember an article in an old White Dwarf advocating leaving the new "white metal" on show as it was such a nice metallic tone. I've seen the same thing with plastic though, and occasionally I see marines that are supposed to be grey in bare plastic with one or two yellow details painted on. I feel like it shouldn't be necessary to pint it out, but don't do it. Don't even think about it. Are you thinking about it? Train your mind!

If you want grey, use a grey primer and then paint over it. Trust me the finish is going to be a lot less embarrassing, and you'll be able to effectively add washes and things to get a better tone too. Plus, that sprue-grey isn't fooling anyone.

3) Don't touch someone else's models without asking!

People can be quite particular about their models, and they don't necessarily want your sticky peanut-butter sandwich fingers all over them!

Lets be honest, people's miniatures have a lot of their time and effort put into them, so it makes sense that they value them. Even the crappiest battered and chipped grot might be their favourite, so remember to be respectful.

4) Don't be a bad sport!

We've all seen it. That guy who gets all bent out of shape and upset when he loses. You don't want to be him, it's embarrassing and takes the fun out of the game for everyone.

Worse than that though, it the guy who cheats, and who everyone knows is cheating, and who then brags about all the games he's won. Well, I've got a news flash for you buddy; everyone knows and they're not impressed, so knock of that junk right now!

5) Don't think that you need a wet pallet and a Windsor and Newton Series 7 to paint!

I encourage everyone to try everything in painting, but conventional internet wisdom seems to boil down to telling everyone that they need to be using a Series 7 and a Wet Pallet. How this myth got started, I'll never know, but I have absolute faith that the people recommending this stuff have never actually painted a model to a standard that would be deemed acceptable even among 12 year olds.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with either item, and I'm painting with a Series 7 detail brush myself. The thing that annoys me is that this isn't beginner stuff. You don't need expensive brushes and techniques to get a good finish. If you're just starting out, you'll probably knacker your first brushes anyway, and you don't need a wet pallet or a Windsor and Newton fancy pants brush to learn how to apply basecoats, washes and maybe have a go at dry-brushing. The rest can come later.

6) Don't think you can't paint out of the pot!

Open up that pot. See that little thing in the lid that looks a bit like a tray. yeah, there's nothing stopping you from adding in some water to the paint right there and then painting with it. Heresy? I call it living on the wild side. It's how we did things in the 90s and you too can learn this master level secret technique. Paint with your honour and you will win.

I did it. Dare to be different.

7) Don't do freehand without thinking!

"Yeah dude, I was thinking of freehanding like a wolf or something right across his face … and then like a blazing sword right across the shoulder guard … with lightning bolts and junk".

Stop right there weekend warrior, that sounds like a bigger mess than Giorgio Tsoukalos' hairdo. You need to plan things out and then draw them out before you approach that model with the paint brush, or you're about to make a big mistake. And if you suck at freehand, then don't do it. It works for me.

8) Don't build large resin models without pinning them!

Should be a given, but pins are really essential for large heavy parts. Resin tends to be expensive and fragile too.

9) Don't buy more than you can handle! (and don't fall for those new releases!)

Easier said than done, I know that much. You need to have  reasonable chance of finishing this stuff. I always see people clambering for the next box-set, but next week's set is last week's forgotten memory or unfinished project. Don't get tricked into backing yourself into a hobby corner as it can cause burnout as sure as anything else. Nobody likes to look at their huge "to do" pile and realise they'll never see the end of it. I've known a lot of people who end up selling unopened kits by the dozen for armies they never even started, and all it does is cost them money and cause misery.

That said, sometimes you need a change of pace, or just deserve a present. Just try to be sensible about it!

10) Don't buy competitive units just because they're powerful! 

The rules change so often that it really is pointless to power play like a freak unless you're a dedicated tournament player. After a long time in the game, I've seen a lot of armies hit eBay 5 minutes into a new edition because they were created only to abuse an obviously under costed unit. Remember the Dark Eldar Venom Spam? If you don't, it's probably going pretty cheap right now. Just remember to pack them full of Trueborn with blasters!

The good thing about a balanced force is that as the power levels of different units wax and wane, the force tends to remain more or less level and perfectly playable in any edition.

11) Don't use exclamation marks on the end of every sentence to try to make an impact!

If you've made it this far, I salute you. You've run off the bottom of actual advice and reached the reflective part of the article where I consider my own writing style..... Not really.

Y'know this week, I was walking to work. I look down the road, and there's a car full of stuff parked up by the pavement. As I approach, I notice a few things on the ground. It looks like makeup or something. A few more steps and my eye follows this trail of so called "breadcrumbs". Then I see it. Right in the middle of the footpath; this big honkin' flesh coloured dildo just flappin' about in the sunshine. It's times like those that inspire me to write Bungo. 

Ok, not really but it did happen and it was weird. Well, the flapping part was pure artistic licence, but the rest is true.

Oh, and number 12 would've been - Don't make 40k/Jamie Oliver crossover memes! (No matter how diabolically delicious it may seem at first)

100,000 Hits - A Benchmark in Blogging

Well, I finally got to 100,000 hits! I haven't been very active on the hobby front for a month or two, as I've been taking a bit of a break from all things Wargaming related to focus on a few other hobbies that I have going on at the moment.

Regardless of all that, I logged in this morning to the rather pleasant news that Tabletop Apocalypse was still chugging away and that over night Google had delivered the hundred or so hits that I needed to reach 100,000.

I would say that I feel surprised at how successful things have been, but honestly when I started, I figured almost anything on the internet would generate thousands of hits regardless of how interesting it was; I mean there are a lot of people out there and they use the internet a lot right? Blogging should be easy .... right?

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. That said, I get a few hundred views most days now, but when I started it was hard to get a few dozen. In particular, the fiction seems to go down like a wet balloon with several holes in it, but as I enjoy writing it, it won't be going anywhere soon. I guess nobody really wants to read infantile comedy fiction on a blog that is mostly about painting.

Advertising wise, that ad for Play Asia has generated a wallet-crushing $2 of store credit for me. Maybe in another 10 years, I can get something in the sale. Well worth the effort! On the upside, winning the GK competition has left me with a rather large backlog of free anime figures to paint ... probably at least 2 years worth...

Overall though, I'm calling it a win. I haven't been posting a lot lately, as like I said, I've been on a bit of a break. With Christmas on the horizon, I'm sure there will be a few miniatures coming to drive me out of temporary retirement!

Thanks to anyone who reads the blog regularly, as I doubt I would still be posting without  regular commenters and fellow bloggers. If there is anything you'd like to see more of, chuck a comment below and I'll see what I can conjure up! (People want a lot more Bungo the Barbarian right????....right???)

Chaos Posts All Week - the 2nd Wave

About a month ago, I ran a week featuring some of my old chaos conversions; with fresh miniatures every day. It made sense at the time, as with 8th almost out, everyone including myself was locked into a bit of a hobby holding pattern of sorts that didn't seem to be going anywhere fast.

With the new edition out, I've been on a building and painting spree. Just for fun, I thought it would be cool to do a second week of posts, but this time to feature new miniatures every day. I've got plenty of great new conversions to share with you all, as well as some new painted miniatures, and all manner of delights.

With that announcement out of the way, welcome to the first day of my new Chaos Posts. I recently finally finished this Aspiring Champion. The model is slightly converted, as I swapped his Power Axe out for a raptor Chainsword. It's a great model though, and will look extra great standing out the front of the unit in this edition! ( I was never much of a fan of those realistic casualty rules as it was just a bit convoluted and involved). He is pictured with my converted shirtless marine and a chosen with a beaky head swap. Let it never be said that I don't have an eclectic collection!

I've been hard at work converting the rest of his squad and getting them ready for some paint, so check back tomorrow to see what I managed with a set of the new Plague Marines and a whole lot of elbow grease!

40k 8th Edition - Thoughts After My First Game

Like a lot of people, I got my first proper game of 8th in this weekend. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by the rules.

As this was my first game in the new edition, I thought it would be fun to kick it off with one of the most classic matchups around (well, for me anyway); Chaos Vs. Tyranids!

It might seem like an odd combo to some, but my brother and I have been playing these two armies since 4th Edition, so by now the battle is familiar ground. We both know the forces really well, and despite all of the edition changes, the armies are as valid as ever thanks to the fact that we've never been "power players". Lets just say that a lot of people laughed at my all autocannon Havoc squad, but not anymore as at S7 with a -1 armour modifier and 2 wounds a hit they are face-poundingly good. My noise marines had some improvements too, so all in all it is beginning to look like Chaos might finally make it out of the Codex Dog-House.

Rather than go through a full battle report, I'd just like to share a few pictures from the game and my thoughts on some of the new rules; as a few things surprised me. There were even some things that I thought I would hate, but that I actually thought were a lot more balanced than I originally suspected.

Power Levels
I don't know about you, but I was really dubious about this system. Essentially "Power Levels" are a very basic points system that simplifies the points values and includes the upgrade costs all in one number. A basic example is a unit of Chaos Cultists are now 3 "power levels" or my unit of Daemonetttes were 5. The Predator was 10. I thought this would be horribly unbalanced, and I'm still sure that you could abuse it, but I was willing to give it a go. We played 50 power levels, which seemed to be roughly equivalent to about 1000 points, or maybe a bit less.

Interestingly, we put the armies on the field and they looked balanced. The balance stayed all of the way through and it was a very close game that ended in an equal 5 points each from the new objectives. I just about sneaked the victory as I had more units left, and we called it quits before the last few Tyranid Warriors were killed. It was also nice to play absolutely WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) without feeling like I was taking it in the pants for having picked some non-optimal options.

While I'm still sure that you could abuse the power levels to squeeze out some power, for friendly games I think it could be a winner, and it certainly was simpler. As most of us have been playing for some time and have a lot of odd options that we've built over the years, it is nice to be able to get them back on the field again without worrying too much about the cost.

Full points costs are still included at the end of the Index, so that is still an option, and I think for tournaments it would be necessary, but I think a lot of less competitive games will benefit from the "pick up and play" style that power levels provide.

Opposed Ability Checks for Weapon Skill and The Combat Phase
Yep, the ability chart is gone, so hitting in combat is the same as shooting now; with just one flat roll. I really wasn't sure about this one, so I was relieved to find that it didn't make much difference in game. Things that are good in combat are still good in combat, and maybe a bit more reliably so.

I was more concerned about the removal of initiative; especially as a Slaanesh player. Handily my Daemonettes had a rule that basically gave them "always strikes first" like the old days. I do wonder how this will pan out for other armies though; particularly Dark Eldar and others that relied a lot on initiative to make the effective in close combat. I guess we'll see as I doubt they'll keep handing out strike first rules to everything.

On the upside, challenges are gone, which to me is a great thing, as I never saw them used once when it wasn't a foregone conclusion, or just a way to circumvent a dangerous weapon (If you don't know what I mean, then you haven't had your power-fist wielding sergeant challenged by a hive tyrant just to get rid of the only weapon in the squad that could feasibly give you a chance of fighting back). Good riddance I say!

Faction Keywords and Formations
Formations are gone, praise Jesus for that one. They were a good idea, but in practice were so broken and confusing that the game was mostly ruined. I also never liked the push to include "more" of everything all the time and go bigger constantly, as it was a bit much for the kind of games that I enjoy. In their place we have standardised constructions from the rulebook that still allow you to do some interesting things (like load up on Fast Attack or HQ choices). They don't give massive bonuses though, so they seem fairly balanced and more aimed towards being thematic.

The Keywords system seems to be lifted entirely from Age of Sigmar. Handily, for my purposes it seemed to work really well, and I finally got the chance to add some Slaanesh Daemons to my list without bothering with the old rules for Allies. I knew that working on those would be a good idea eventually.

Overall Impression
Well, I have to say that my first game was a very positive experience. It seems that things are back on track, with decisive combat and good in-game balance. The new miniatures that they've released are really nice too, so although I didn't buy one, the box set is probably a good place to start if you are new to 40k, or just like the minis.

I'll be interested to play a few more games, but I get the feeling that the fun factor will be higher and that at least for the moment things will be a lot more balanced. We'll see whether any rules gaps emerge, but for the moment, I think this could be the best edition yet.

I'd be interested to know how other people are finding it though, so leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Salute 2017 - Blazmo's Big Day Out

One man, one model, one mission ... oh, and one now rather empty wallet. It must be Salute 2017 then. I entered the painting competition again this year too, but more on that later. I figure that the best way to start is with a big exciting shot:

I like to keep the angle low so you can see the board and not the punters, as Salute is always a major sausage fest... oh, and yes, that is a Warlord Titan.

This picture shows just one part of an amazing 30k display put together by the South London Warlords themselves. There was an awesome array of Heresy stuff on show, and I had the opportunity to get rather close to this lovely Warlord Titan. I don't envy the guy who had to paint it though as that thing was pretty big!

That right there is a Contemptor (the tiny dot on the right!)

Just for fun, I'm going to feature interesting facts under the title of "Top Secret Info" throughout this article. These are all things that I discovered on the day by chatting to people about what was going on, so hopefully even if you read other articles on Salute, you'll still learn something!

Top Secret Info: The Titan has light up LED lights on its head; fairly obvious from a lot of pictures. I got to talking so some of the guys though and apparently, it also has a working War Horn - with speakers mounted in the head. Rumour has it that it's quite loud too (although apparently not loud enough to penetrate the heaving dirge of Salute's crowds!)

There were also a lot of display games going on. I particularly enjoyed this Infinity game. that featured a very cool set-up with a huge Mag-Lev Train arrayed as the central piece for the scenario.

Top Secret Info: The train is made by TT Combat (Troll Trader) and is available from their website. Its track was actually a plastic piece of insulating conduct junk (whatever that plastic box stuff is called they put over wires in offices!)

Needless to say, I had to drop by Anvil Industry:

 

Interesting stuff from Anvil this year. They had a full display set up with some really well done Afterlife miniatures on show. They also had the full Regiments/Trench Fighters Range with them (my personal favourite) as well as a demo game going on; on the bonnet of a converted Land Rover! (no really a full size vehicle with a turret and everything). That one in particular seemed to be a great hit with the kids. 

 

Being the generous guy that I am, I took the opportunity to give them a gift; namely the 5 men that I had painted for the Trench Fighters review (see the review here). I know people will think I've gone mad, but they weren't really for an army I collect and were just going to sit in my display case gathering dust, and I figured the guys at Anvil might appreciate them. They were very well received!

 

If you head over to facebook, you'll see my original pictures heading up their facebook page. What a vote of confidence for the blog!

 

They re-join their brothers in arms. Ready to invade Anvil HQ! (sorry about the blurry shot)

Top Secret Info: According to the Anvil team, they weren't expecting to make any money from Salute as they already spent all of the profit on their shiny new stand and display! Also, the super secret part was they they're thinking of opening an actual physical store at some point in the future. Good luck guys!

I also had the pleasure of entering Eavier Metal's Speed painting event. The goal? Paint a zombie in 25 minutes. Here's a picture of two of the finest entries around...

I'll be honest, both painting and photography could be better (not to mention sculpting - where did these things come from?). The interesting part was that it gave me a chance to try out Army Painter's range paint range. It turns out that they're rather interesting - with a notably long drying time and an almost oil-based type feel. They do dry rather smooth though and the pigment is good. I might have to buy some in the future to experiment with as they are a whole different thing compared to GW and Vallejo, and really feel like paints designed to wet-blend with.

The speed painting was great fun, and was a real highlight of the day. The perfect way to rest your weary feet after a few hours of shopping, and to test your skill a bit too. Also, the running commentary was pretty funny, and certainly made it a memorable experience. Fun for all ages.

Top Secret Info: The Eavier Metal Guys host their own painting competition called "Eadbanger III". I'm assuming that means that this is their 3rd year or something...

I also got to have a go at painting one of the zombies from Mantic's new game based on The Walking Dead. These were much nicer miniatures, and with no time limit it was a great chance to relax later on in the day. I got to keep both of the miniatures that I painted for these events too, so that was a big plus-point.

Painting Competition

There was also the big painting competition going on. I took my entry down and got her in the case early on. Unfortunately the picture quality isn't that great through several inches of hardened super glass (also known as a cabinet door).

I've taken some better pictures at home which I'll feature in a separate post, as I don't want to clutter everything up here with them. I was very happy with the end result.

Unfortunately, I didn't place in the end, but I never really expected to. Interestingly, it became all the more clear why when I looked at the judging categories for the first time; with points given for emotional impact and other things that I never even considered. I normally just go for badass or "look at my shiny new bolter", so that was a bit of an eye-opener.

Next year it'll be a crying mime on a dragon then!

Freebies

Not content with just good prices, some stores also gave goodie bags to the first customers (limited numbers). In addition to the bag I got on my way in, I was treated to an extra bag of goodness from Troll Trader after spending over £30 in their store on scenery (more on that later because the deals were literally jaw dropping). This list isn't exhaustive, but it gives you a taste of some of the things on offer. Don't forget about the 2 free zombies I got earlier either!

In the Salute Bag, I got a figure for Freebooter's Fate, which actually looks like a pretty well-detailed plastic piece and the Salute 2017 figure, which looks like a horrible metal mess with a flag (so about the same as every year then! It really is one of those rare models that could be improved through the use of high-yield explosives). I can't complain though as it was free and like I said, the Freebooter's Fate one does look pretty nice.

In the bonus TT bag, I got a free set of resin miniatures (one from their new game Rumble Slam - a miniature fantasy wrestling game, and some bonus promotional bits), the rulebook for Deadzone, and a pre-coloured card building, which is always nice.

Well, that about sums it up for now. I'll be back later with a post about the miniature I entered in the painting competition and some more on what I bought on the day. Until later then...

Salute 2017 - Pre-show Preamble

Well, the fated day is upon us and I'll be well on the way to the venue by the time this post goes live.

True to form, I finished my painting competition entry with mere seconds to spare. It might not be perfect enough to win, but I'm happy with it, and I think I exceeded my original goal, which was to expand my knowledge of Non Metallic Metals and to have a go at the technique in detail. So wish me luck with that.

I'm keeping the final product under wraps, but you can see it in person in the sci-fi single miniature category. I even managed to nab a plinth to put her on in the end, so I was chuffed about that. I actually hate plinths in principle - the model comes on a base already! I wanted to be taken seriously though, so for £3.99 I figured it was worth it.

A picture from where I was at a week ago.

Personally, I'm hoping to get a lot of shopping done too as there are literally hundreds of retailers at the show; meaning that it's a smorgasbord of deals. Last year I had great fun shopping, so I hope it'll be as good this year. One of the great things is the opportunity to go to some shops that normally only exist online; like Anvil or the always popular Forgeworld. There are also a lot of terrain manufacturers there with a lot of stuff that you don't see every day. Coupled with the participation games and displays, it should make for a hell of a day out.

Salute Painting Competition Panic!

With less than a week to go till the big event, I'm determined to be finished on time; although the jury is still out on what the quality of my entry will be in the end!

For those who missed it, Salute is the biggest independent Wargaming convention in the UK. Fairly obviously, this means that the painting competition is the second biggest around (after Golden Demon). A few months back when the Triumvirate of the Imperium was released, I decided to try my hand at painting up Greyfax for the competition. If you missed it, the project was designed to push the limits of my skill by stretching my painting to the max. For some insane reason, I decided to paint her wholly in Non Metallic Metals (a technique that uses regular colours to replicate the look of metallic objects). I even did a tutorial on the technique as I understood it. My intention was always to enter the finished mini in the competition when the time came.

So, now the time has come and I'm frantically trying to finish. On the upside, I have a doable amount left. On the downside I still have a long way to go. At this point, I don't expect to place in the competition, but I'm still determined to at least finish. My goal was to try and make the cut for the finals, so fingers crossed for that!

The Condemner Boltgun in particular mocks me with its unfinished yellowish mediocrity!

The problem is that the more I look, the more I see that I need to do! Oh well, no sense in complaining about it now... better get back to painting...

If you missed the article on painting NMM, you can find it here:

http://tabletopapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/how-to-paint-non-metallic-metals.html

Dynamic Miniature Photography

Some of my followers might have noticed a difference in the last few articles; I've started to add in scenery and other elements in an effort to spice things up and get a more dynamic look.

The change was inspired partially by Forgeworld books that often feature set ups designed to look like battlefield photography, but also by the narrative contained in evey game. After all, things just look so much more exciting on the battlefield than the display cabinet!

I thought I'd share the type of setup I was using to get these pictures, and also a few thoughts in general about the process. One of the fun things about these shots is that they are a bit of an excuse to throw good practice in the bin; put lights where you want and use funny angels. Even a little blur can help; especially in creating a difference between the foreground and background. I've been really happy with the results, and it can certainly make for some striking pictures, without much effort really.

Traditionally, when taking pictures, I use quite a high angle to capture the bases and other details, but for these shots, going in low at eye level or even looking almost directly upwards can give some surprisingly cool results - they also take the bases out of shot which helps add to the realism.

It can be fun to do opposing sides too; which adds a bit of drama and helps forge a little narrative. It doesn't take a lot of scenery either, and for all of the Anvil shots I used only 2 GW ruins and a small crater that I built some years ago out of a spare bit of hard-board and some polly-filler!

A little sepia tone effect can go a long way!

Ultimately, you can have a lot of fun trying to make your stuff look "real", and I'm planning to make pictures like these a regular feature; after all we all have some great collections and it's a cool way to showcase them.

I'd love to see more dynamic shots from other blogs too, so consider this a personal challenge to you and your camera!

1 Year of Tabletop Apocalypse!

Well, it really is an auspicious day around here. The blog just turned 1!

It seems like as good a time as any to look back on how things are going. So far, I've published a total of 158 posts (I suppose this one will make 159). That is one hell of a lot of writing, and its funny how things can really sneak up on you. I wonder how many words it has been by now, I know that The Chronicle of Bungo alone has hit the 10,000 word mark recently. Speaking of 10,000, at the moment the blog is generating just over 10,000 hits a month. Not bad when you consider how it all started with a joking telephone conversation about how I should start a blog.

I don't really involve myself in social media, so most of my blog hits come via the various reels on other people's blogs and Google; in that way, the growth in my audience has been very natural. I've also had a few helping hands along the way, and some of the blogs proudest moments have been when I've been featured by Wargames companies, like Anvil Industry, hell, I even made it into Raging Heroes' news letter once! The Better Know a Blogger article on St Andrews Wargaming certainly didn't hurt either.

There are a few things I'd like to improve though. I write all of this stuff either at work, or on an I-pad, as I don't even have a laptop or PC these days. The problem with that is that I can't create decent graphics, or even adjust anything at the moment; leaving the site in a kind of limbo, when I would really like to update the look a lot. Small niggles aside though, it seems to be going well, and more people are reading it than ever, so I shouldn't complain.

Several months back, I did an article called "The Best of Blazmo" showcasing some of the best bits on the blog up until that point. It seems as good a time as any to revive it again, so let's take a look at some of my proudest moments from the last 6 months (in no particular order!):

1) Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard

2) Completed Pan-O Force

3) Raging Heroes, Sister Celenia

4) Converted Chaos Defiler

5) Genestealer Cult Force

6) The Grot Battlewagon

7) Anime Figure

8) Greyfax in NMM

9) Finished Squaduary Entry (Anvil Industry Regiments)

10) Dark Eldar

Well, that about does it for now. If you like what you see, don't forget to follow the blog or check back later for more. Also, don't forget to leave your birthday wishes below!