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A word to the wise

"Ask not the Eldar a question, for they will give you three answers, all of which are true and terrifying to know." - Inquisitor Czevak Turns out, the answers are; "Oh, just a few days", "Our friends will be here shortly" and "We have quite the appetite".

Thursday 30 January 2014

Jes Goodwin Prototype Jetbikes

Time for an update!

With a stint of bad health lately, I just had these images turn up in my inbox to brighten my evening, from Navin over at Paintedfigs.com.

I picked up a bunch of these a few months ago and sent them off to Navin's bunch for colouring in :) and I have to say I like the way they came up. Only the gems on the canopy to go (blue/green), and the little suckers will be stamped out en mass. On to the pretty pictures!



Looking forward to seeing these as a group in the near future :)

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Terraforming, Eldar style... And an appearance from Vincent!

Well it has been a few days (or perhaps a couple of weeks...) since I last updated this blog and figured whilst rebuilding my work laptop, now would be a great time to do so.

So what has been happening? Well a few things in the background, actually.

First up, Elliot from CustomTerrain.net has been going nutters getting the mountains and dry riverbed polished off for the Eldar Planetscape. Elliot's now up to the stage of working out how to do the Eldar runic tiling for the Webway Gate mosaic placements. Here is a sneak peak of how things are progressing so far;


For more details (and buckets of images!) you can find the full project log here.

And as for Vincent, well this gem appeared in my inbox a week or so ago, at first I completely missed it (stupid Android not showing attachments *grrrr*), however, without further ado... the twin OOP Rogue Trader Farseers. You make me a happy man good sir;


Stay tuned, word on the street is sample images of the Jes Goodwin Jetbikes will be in shortly from Navin's entourage at PaintedFigs.com (hot on the tails of the Shining Spears!).

Thursday 9 January 2014

Gaming on a budget (Now for something completely different...)

Today I figured that I'd write something a bit different from the normal Eldar related postings.

With the new Nids being released and other costly goodies (Black Library, i'm looking at you with your $175 comic book), a LOT of people have been upset by the ever rapidly increasing costs Games Workshop advertise as their recommended retail price (RRP... perhaps RIP one day).

Given over the last 17 years i've amassed close to 120k of Games Workshop miniatures, I thought i'd weigh in and publish some pointers on how I did it with very little cash and living in Australia (those who want to use the minimum wage argument, need a wake up call).

*Disclaimer - This is not a rant. Whilst I love the creative teams at Games Workshop, I do not support the general business strategy at all (which is why i'll buy their product... my way). I know there are a lot of very unhappy employees at Games Workshop that do not agree with the business practice, however continue to strive on because they love the hobby as much as we do. That, in a nutshell, is why I continue to support them, and them alone. 

......

In the last decade, there has been a massive shift at Games Workshop to claw at every penny they can (and rightfully so, being a business). What has a lot of people up in arms is how this has been achieved. Starting with price increases well above what we term CPI, the trade embargo and  introduction of Finecast (a cheaper medium, with a far lower consistency of quality level than metal) which jacked up cost, you can understand why folks are a little upset.

HOWEVER... this article is for those who wish to keep playing the game, pick up their odds and sods etc whilst not invalidating their investment by giving up (due to prices/geoblocking/etc). When the cost of items got too much for me, I was not one of the people screaming "stuff it, i'm out" - adaption and sourcing cheaper offers for the same products became my priority.

So where did I get my "plastic crack" fix? Well see below...

1. Overseas Discounters - Being an Aussie, I looked to the UK and USA for products - which came in at about 60% cheaper than the local pricing (yep, that's shipping inclusive) - such as;
  • From the UK these stores were Maelstrom Games, Wayland Games and other smaller shops. 
  • In the US it was Mega Comics and Games (they no longer stock GW by the way), The War Store, various eBay suppliers etc.
Now, I know if you're an Aussie, the first thought that comes to mind is "But we've been geoblocked! We can't get goods that way anymore!". And yes, as someone with a trade account in the USA, I've read the terms and conditions (for both distributor and retailer). Sadly, for those of you who aren't up to speed, the GW policy is "If we catch you supplying our goods to other countries, no more stock for you! ONE YEAR! - well indefinitely". This is where point number two comes in...

2. Trade Sites - First up, I have to give props to both the Americans and Canadians of Bartertown.com. A nicer more generous bunch of folks I could not find, and if it wasn't for the good people i've dealt with over there, I certainly would not have the miniature joy I have today. Trade sites are the best place to get a decent bargain and also very RARE items that simply can't be bought in stores. So here's the list;

  • Bartertown.com - US focused trade site
  • WargamerAU.com - Australian based Forum with a Buy/Swap/Sell function
  • Dakkadakka.com - US based forum equivalent of WAU
  • Warseer.com - Another US based forum
  • eBay.com - I put this one last, because prices are generally inflated - Note: Discount Games Store sells US product to Aussies at about 20-25% off the US RRP
3. Miscellaneous - Ok, I have a few sources that don't really fit into the traditional discounter or trade site bracket that i'll list below;

  • PaintedFigs.com - If you're looking to get your miniatures painted commission style, then you can buy the GW kits from them for 35% off the US RRP quite easily. The only catch is you should do the right thing and have it painted by them in the process.

4. Third Party - Well now that the Chapter House case has pretty much defined what can/can't be done in terms of creating new models or add-on kits, a lot of smaller companies are filling in the gaps. For example, the Russian Jetbikes in my Eldar Warhost. I won't go listing a bunch of names here, just a few to give an idea;
  • Chapterhousestudios.com - We're all pretty familiar with this company due to the press it has received
  • Sciborminiatures.com - These folks mostly make add on kits, i'm particularly impressed with their range of model bases
  • miniaturescenery.com - These folks picked up the slack and made terrain affordable (well at least in Australia) by producing MDF kits etc
  • Etc...
There are LOTS of options out there, you simply have to spend 10 minutes on google looking around. The various community forums are also a great place to post a question, as someone else has undoubtedly tried looking for the same thing - and found it!

5. The Unmentionable - Yep, since March 2011 when Games Workshop unleashed a trifecta of doo doo at their customers (a price increase, geoblocking and Finecast.. with its own price increase), a new force entered the market. Recasters... and lots of them. While it is of ethical debate as "to purchase, or not to purchase", they still exist and simply due to the fact they prove Games Workshop has priced a lot of its customers out of reach.

Monday 6 January 2014

The Vincent Returns... Starseer WIP

Given i've been on my back the last two weeks with a stuffed knee (it involved Gardening... don't ask), having this WIP image of my old OOP Rogue Trader Farseer turn up in the Inbox today certainly lifted my spirits.

The theme on this one is a star/galaxy setting (for the cape), which I reckon Vincent has pulled off very nicely. Seems I spoke too soon when I thought it may be closer to the end of the month that i'd hear from the lad! :D

Without further ado;



Navin from over at PaintedFigs.com also got back to me, with the news that sample images of the Jes Goodwin Prototype Jetbikes will be on their way close to the end of this week. So very much looking forward to those. Oh and the Swooping Hawks now have a theme set, so they may be very hot on the tail. Shining Spears, Jetbikes and Swooping Hawks all coming in soon - I best get the next batch off soon it seems.

Last but not least, Elliot from CustomTerrain.net also contacted me to say more pretty pictures of the Eldar Planetscape are due end of this week or early next :) perhaps a few concept sketches of Eldar terrain (the kind GW toyed with, yet never bothered to produce) may have got the ideas flowing ;)