Willy

One other way that works well is to put a layer with tint down, and then add clear layers over that. You can give it some nice depth that way.

You could probably go even shallower. I have had good luck painting the bottom surface and filling in over it with clear water effect. If you do choose to tint, be very sparing!

Without buying hollow bases or cutting your's out, then getting the depth of water effect you are looking for will be tricky. Vallejo makes a Still Water that I have used a lot for water effects. Painting the base with greens and browns, layering on the still water (it contracts a fair amount), and then stippling the top with both a texture paint and a green mixed with gloss medium might get the effect you are looking for. Adding stumps, branches, grasses, and cattails before you add the water effect also will help create the atmosphere, even if the 'water' isn't exactly perfect. Show us what you come up with!

I agree that one or two in a gun line is a reasonable option. I started a campaign this last week with one plus two BG's and the extra shot helped in 2 turns out of 3. The extra 2" was nice to have as well. They might not make it in every time, but for some schemes they are good insurance.

I have been using some of the old Dream Blade minis as proxies for IM. They are easy to cut off their bases as the plastic is soft and they take new paint pretty well. They have a good selection of screaming mouths, tentacles, piles of worms,etc.

To answer some of the questions, I think it is a nervous habit, or something to do with his hands. Sounds like the consensus is that it veers severely towards bad form in casual play, and is right out in Tournament play. I will bring that up with him next time we play ... Thanks everyone!

I was not sure if this is an actual rules question, as I can't find a rule saying one should not shuffle during a turn, but this has come up at our FLGS. After the turn starts, shuffling, drawing etc completed, we have a player who constantly shuffles and reshuffles their deck. They are not shuffling in their discard pile, just handling the deck over and over. The rules state that after a player shuffles their opponent should have a chance to cut the deck, but no one has asked. No one thinks the player is neccesarily cheating, but I suppose that is a possibility in some folks' minds. The shuffling bothers some players, but not others, and I was wondering if this had come up in other venues and whether there were protocols or game etiquette guidelines that we may have missed. Should the bothered players just ask to cut every single time (20-30 times a turn), ignore it, or something else?