Dungeons and Dragons - Eat Sunlight, Vile Undead!

After a long hiatus, my gaming buddies and I are getting back into a D&D campaign. The difference this time being that I'm moving from behind the DM's screen into the players seat. And what better way to make this transfer than painting up my own individual mini for my PC!

My character is a paladin (side note: I started playing D&D back in the days of 2E, when such classes as the paladin and bard were virtually unatainable due to random attribute generation, so I'm taking this opportunity to play one) and I've chosen Reaper's Dark Haven miniature 03010 Silas, Male Cleric to represent him. Here he is painted up:

I like this figure a lot, because while he may seem static, I feel there is a lot of character sculpted into him: the many pouches would indicate he's well-versed in adventuring, and his hands on his hips ooze self-confidence. I'll probably give him a much more paladin-sounding throwback name, such as "Thaco the Thoughtful" and have him shout such prose as mentioned in the title of this entry, since D&D is after all heroic fantasy and paladins would be expected to shout such before charging head-first into his enemies!

Warhammer 40,000 - My Beginnings and Succumbing to Chaos

The first real "tabletop" miniature game I got into was Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K). For those that don't know, WH40K is one of two games (WH40K being the sci-fi version of the original Warhammer fantasy game) published by Games Workshop, said company being the grandaddy of the modern tabletop gaming hobby.

As a young teenager in the mid-90's, I can remember heading down to the local gaming store (which my wife presently refers to as the "nerd store" and which I now term it as well) to pick up the latest Dragon or Dungeon magazine and watch the regulars for hours as they battled over a felt-draped table decorated with stryofoam hills and model trees. This was in the heyday of 2nd edition, so all sorts of craziness would occur, with multiple templates placed and cards played (and that was just the psychic phase). I had begun to save up allowances, birthday cash and odd job income and picked up the boxed set, which was the beginning of my Blood Angels. After getting a job a year later, 3rd edition had come out, and the Blood Angels grew. Soon enough, my Terminator Chaplain with twin lightning claws and Death Company retinue were bringing death to any one who asked. However, the taint of chaos soon overcame them, and it led them down the path to the worship of the ruinous powers. From this point on I became a chaos marine player.

As I got older however, I was more interested in girls and sports and cast aside miniature wargaming. It would not be for another ten years that I would get back into the hobby, the taint of chaos never leaving...

For those not familiar, Chaos Marines are those space marines that turned their backs on the God-Emperor of Mankind 10,000 years ago an waged a galactic civil war that to this day still burns on. This event, the Horus Heresy, is pretty much the most important event in the background fluss of WH40K. Gamewise, Chaos Marines are very similar to their loyalist bretheren, but have greater cutomization due to the fact that they've learned a thing or two about warfare in the 10,000 years they've been around. The chaos god Tzeentch figures prominently in the army, as I've always been a fan of the Thousand Sons and the back story of the Lord of Change.

This is the first Troop unit for my Chaos Marines: a unit of Thousands Sons. These marines are the autonomous shells of the fallen legion, cursed when Ahriman sent them through the Warp to escape Prospero. Gamewise, they are basic Chaos Marines, but have an invulnerable save, fire off inferno bolts (which have a greater punch then regular bolter rounds), and are led by a Thousand Sons sorcerer.

This is the next unit of Troops for my army: your standard Chaos Marines. I've given them anIcon of Tzeentch to have an invulnerable save similar to the Thousand Sons, and have equipped them with two plasma guns. Being able to take a hit, fire on the move and rapid fire all their weapons, with 4 hits being able to pierce even terminator armour, this makes them great anti-troop specialists.

This is my first Elite unit: a Chaos Dreadnaught. Dreadnaughts are very similar to their loyalist counterpart, having the broken body of a marine entombed deep within its core. However, while the Emperor's marines believe such a fate to be an honour, chaos marines believe to be a curse, and those that suffer this fate have been driven insane. Gamewise, this means they occasionally go crazy and attack the nearest unit, whether friend or foe!

Last we have my HQ unit: a Chaos Sorcerer. Chaos Sorcerers are some of the most powerful psychics in the game, and by adding a Mark of Tzeentch to him, he become even stronger when wielding magic. He can have more than one psychic power, the Disk of Tzeentch makes him a great assault specialist, and he can bolster this assault with his plasma pistol and force weapon.

I have a few more units tucked away that I need to get to, and hopefully I'll have these up in the future!

Dungeons and Dragons - My Entry into Gaming

I thought I'd start off this blog with my first foray into the world of gaming and perhaps one of the greatest influences on modern miniature gaming in general, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). I think I was about 10 years old when I first played D&D, which started with my friend having some made-up rules inspired by his experience playing. Out on the school playground, we had a basic dungeon crawl where ogres were slain and gold was collected, much to the chagrin of our grade 5 teachers, who thought that inspired devil worship (this was the 80's at the time).

Now I'm sure some of you are thinking "D&D, that a roleplaying game!?!?" Yes it is, but in it's original form, Chainmail, Gary Gygax created a ruleset to play with the fantasy miniatures he had created himself. D&D has come a long way since then, using miniatures to a small (think 2nd edition) and large (3rd and 4th edition) degree. While a lot more than just the use of minis has changed in the evolution of D&D, I think that it's latest format is it's greatest. Gaming has changed a lot over the years, and many new formats have managed to knock D&D off it's throne of gaming supremacy. D&D 4th edition has realized this, and has incorporated certain elements of these gaming formats into the game, make a game that is easy pick up and streamlined.

Currently I run an on-again, off-again campaign in the Forgotten Realms. There are many companies that produce generic fantasy miniatures, but my favourite producer is Reaper Miniatures. I like Reaper for its dynamic poses, and that it's models pay homage to classic fantasy archetypes while giving them a modern spin. Below are some of the minis that I have used to represent the heroes and villains in my game.

Above is 02514 Kang, Half-Orc. I've painted him as a traditional orc in the Forgoteen Realms, giving them grey skin as opposed to the traditional green. I've yet to use this miniature in the game, but I think I'll drop him in as some sort of sub-boss, or a major villain's right hand croney.

This is 03053 Ibycus, Satyr. I used him as an NPC in our first adventure, where the PC's had to win a skill challenge to have him join the party. He was a bit too overpowered at this stage in the campaign for fighting enemies, but hey, that's what you learn on the job of being the DM!

Next we have 03285 Dynis, female elf thief. I haven't used her either, but I figure she'd make a gut advisary or ally for the PC's in a place like Westgate or Waterdeep.

This is 03040 Hobgoblin. I used his as the final encounter villain in our first adventure. I've done a minor conversion on him, replacing his sword with a triple-headed flail from another Reaper weapon pack. The best part was I had done this conversion before picking up Adventurer's Vault, which stats out the triple-headed flail as an exotic weapon!

Lastly, we have 03304 Zarion Bloodnail. I've used him as a mini for a PC miniature, who is the fighter of the group. Our campaign is set in Cormyr, so what better to represent a future Purple Dragon then giving said miniature with the dragon wing's shield purple highlights!