Tauwolf Posted January 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Well, it's been awhile since I've done any updating. Aaaaaand that's because it's been awhile since I've focused on PW. I'm trying to get back into the groove, though. This past weekend I got together with Fullborer and LaFemmeGeekita for some disturbingly brutal puppet warring. I again ended up being the first to be taken out of the game. Lesson learned: in a 3-player game you DO NOT want to be either the first to look powerful or the first to show weakness. The first will get your opponents tag-teaming against you, and the second will turn them into sharks with blood in the water.... I was the victim of both, lol. I also started my custom board project this week. I'm still hashing out exactly what I want to do, but I got the board scanned and prepared in photoshop, and some extra graphic elements done. I'll be using the scanned image, resized to about 133%, and laid over laser-cut hexes. I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel, I just want a board that gives the puppets a bit more breathing room. I'm hoping to get some painting done this week, and maybe a game or two over the weekend. If I paint, I'll post some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullborer Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 Greetings Puppets and Puppettes! It’s been a freakishly busy month, but I’ve managed to finish about 2.5 more puppet conversions for my Adepticon shoe box. That's well over half and I'm into the home stretch, conversion-wise. Game-wise, Hans the Mechanical Moleman is pretty much a no-brainer choice IMO, especially with Marcus. A low activation number and a fantastic set of bonuses for hanging out on/in an impassible hex? Yes, please. You could make a decent argument for bringing two Molemen (but I only have the one mini). Truly, the only time I don’t have him on an impassible hex is when I’m en route to an impassible hex (or to a different impassible hex). Heck, little Hans here came within one card flip of taking Tauwolf completely out of our last game in the second turn. Mostly that was Tauwolf not paying attention (LaFemmeGeekita is distracting), but had he not flipped a low enough card to activate a Teddy before Hans could go, well, he’d have lost even sooner! heh… I’d rank this conversion as “minor”, but Hans had very little work done as I really, really like this little guy. I cut off part of his base to make him stand up straighter, gave him a button eye (like everyone else) and added some different hoses to his back. I’m fairly sure I mentioned these before, but the Dragon Forge cast-metal guitar strings are just so darn useful. Lastly, I swapped his non-dominant drill arm for a weird (not Wyrd) saw from my extensive bitz box and cleaned up the joins with a bit of putty. Stay tuned for the next episode where I convert something a bit more extensively. I’m not going to guarantee you’ll like the results, but I’m sufficiently pleased with myself not to care what you think. So there. PS: stupid hat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tauwolf Posted February 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 Heck, little Hans here came within one card flip of taking Tauwolf completely out of our last game in the second turn. Mostly that was Tauwolf not paying attention (LaFemmeGeekita is distracting), but had he not flipped a low enough card to activate a Teddy before Hans could go, well, he’d have lost even sooner! heh… ......... Stay tuned for the next episode where I convert something a bit more extensively. I’m not going to guarantee you’ll like the results, but I’m sufficiently pleased with myself not to care what you think. So there. Ouch, that's just cold.... It's true, though! I can't wait for the next update. Trust me guys, the next mini is the best of the lot. I got to see it tonight. Soooo good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePandaDirector Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 I do love my Moleman (even use him in my Malifaux Marcus crew), and can't wait to get more, like what you did with it, but agree it's already a lovely model. You could maybe convert a submerged Moleman if you think to field more than one.. Can't wait for more updates, inspiration for all us stuffed animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tauwolf Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Can't wait for more updates, inspiration for all us stuffed animals. My custom board is coming along quite nicely, if I do say so myself lol. I should have some pics up sometime in the next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullborer Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 I do love my Moleman (even use him in my Malifaux Marcus crew), and can't wait to get more, like what you did with it, but agree it's already a lovely model. You could maybe convert a submerged Moleman if you think to field more than one.. Can't wait for more updates, inspiration for all us stuffed animals. thanks - I did seriously consider making a special base with the planks partially torn up - like he was burrowing up through the floor - but decided to save that for Moleman #2. it will differentiate them nicely I think... :1_Happy_Puppet1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tauwolf Posted February 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Hey everyone! It's a good day today, for a couple of reasons: 1) I finally won a game of Puppet Wars last night (4-player, even!) 2) It was on the debut game of my new custom board, which... 3) was finished yesterday, just in time for our game night. :1_Happy_Puppet1: crappy pic: size comparison: Decent close up: I used 3cm laser-cut wood hexes from Litko, carefully glued to a thin sheet of wood (I think it's birch). I scanned the board, and increased the size by 15%. I only wanted this board to be slightly larger, to give the puppets a bit of elbow room without taking up much more table space. After painting the board, staining the hexes, and adding a coat of minwax to seal and protect the wood, I carefully cut out each hex and applied them to the hexes using decoupage. Another coat of minwax to protect it, a matte spray to get rid of the gloss and glare, and it's done. As for our game last night, wow it was a grind.... Hey Nilus, we were talking about Adepticon, and wondering if you put any thought into the time it takes to play as you add more players. A two player game can be finished pretty quickly, but we haven't played a 4-player game that lasted less than 2.5 hours, and it's normally more like 3+. Also, 3-player games tend to really be two-player games - right after the two players finish ganging up on the unfortunate 3rd who shows some weakness. With that in mind, we thought maybe you may consider doing two rounds of 2-player (which should only take a total of 3 hours if things are kept moving), and the 3rd round a 4-player game. That will still have the tournament running pretty late into the day, but we'll have a 1-hour cushion before the end of the 40k championships (which tend to run like clockwork) so we can run over our allotted time a bit if needed. Being a Sunday afternoon event, and with people wanting to get on the road, I'd hate for people to not enjoy their final game of the weekend because they're feeling rushed. I'm not sure a 5-hour block will be enough for the 2-3-4 player format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 I agree with the time length, and it may be that almost all of my larger games have included at least one person playing the game for the first time, but I think the shorts 3 - 4 player game I have had has been 2 hours. I have gotten some fast 2 player games in about 30 mins, but the typical for that has been 1.5 hours as well. I think some of this, at least on my part, is playing far too "safe." So, I have been coming up with ways to make faster Master kills, which should speed things up in theory. I know when I finally make that decision to throw my Master out there with a small group to either kill or be killed, the game moves far quicker. Plus, remembering that I can always send someone over (bad juju) to man handle the master off his/her workbench and steal it (ending the game if they just have the one) could help on the time front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilus Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 I'll consider it. I will be honest that my Puppet Wars tournament experience is currently at 0. So we may consider the two rounds of two player and then a 4 player game. Most events are running till 5 on Sunday so we can probably go over if needed. And if no one objects we could shift the start time to 10 AM as well. Let me chat with my team and see what we want to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tauwolf Posted February 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) Yeah, 10am start time would help, too, and looking at the Sunday morning schedule shouldn't conflict with anything else (besides sleeping off an extra-fun Saturday night haha!). ---------- Post added at 03:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:14 PM ---------- Nilus, how will the tournament be scored? Just curious. Edited February 10, 2012 by Tauwolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaFemmeGeekita Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Whew! Long time no post. Sooo.. 8 weeks to Adepticon... 9 puppets to paint... yeah, this could get messy. But! Here is my first finished puppet, one of my dynamic duo of Ronin. In other news, Tauwolf and I should be playing a match tonight or tomorrow to work on some new finesse-y bits. I think I've finalized my Pokey Vik list, so we'll see how it works out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleeper00 Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Thanx guys. Another good post on a very interesting thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullborer Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Whew! Long time no post. Sooo.. 8 weeks to Adepticon... 9 puppets to paint... yeah, this could get messy. But! Here is my first finished puppet, one of my dynamic duo of Ronin. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3717[/ATTACH] In other news, Tauwolf and I should be playing a match tonight or tomorrow to work on some new finesse-y bits. I think I've finalized my Pokey Vik list, so we'll see how it works out! I really like this model, and the paint job just enhances that. but of course, I have a few notes - err - "opinions"... (I may have even more when I see it in person) it's a really tiny model, so I think there could be a little more difference in tone between the skin and the hair. IIRC the Malifaux ronin this is based on has dark skin in on the card, but I think a little light layering/highlight would go a long way. I'd probably put a few tiny "outline" highlights on the edges of things like the collar, the cuffs, the trailing edge of the coat, that sort of thing - it should auto-magically make the shadows seem deeper by comparison and define the shape of the coat in the process. maybe add a dab of spot-color to the googles? I'm thinking mid-green for color contrast, but not so much that i detracts from her actual eyes. as for the base, well... that's just brilliant! (obviously I'm biased there) :1_Happy_Puppet1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullborer Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Greetings Puppets and Puppettes! Wow, time flies. Its T-55 days until Adepticon I have a crapload of things still to do, but that’s cool. If not for deadlines, I’d never finish anything. I suppose its crunch time. Today’s post may well be my favorite conversion of the crew (so far), but its a lot of work for such a minor pawn, even by my standards. nevertheless, I really like the results. We’ll see if you agree. Game-wise: As you may know, I’m focusing on my Marcus crew, so a Witchling Stalker is a bit of an odd choice. I’d argue that a puppet that can refresh and stitch up your other puppets is valuable to anyone, especially when combined with Marcus’s “Everybody Share!” fast Action that shuffles Rips around – give one puppet a rip to stitch up some-puppet else. Then the Witchling can stitch up the injury safely in the backfield (if needed). At least that’s the theory. Seems to be working OK. Conversion-wise: This one’s all theme for me. The Witchling has two Abilities – “filled with coffee beans” and “trust me, I’m a doctor” - more than enough to work with. maybe too much. He got all the standard little tweaks, like cleaned up cloth and stitches where the casting was a little suboptimal and getting one button eye (crew theme). I added a bit more to his hood - pulling it down over his eyes and giving me an impression of pseudo-eyebrows. And naturally, he's on one of my planky bases (you can check the site in my sig if you're interested in getting some of your very own). The first big thing I did was get out my saw and remove that huge butcher’s knife from his back. It definitely matches the art and Malifaux version well, but isn't as medically-themed as I wanted (since he’s a “doctor”). So I filed a strip of ABS plastic into the shape of a scapel and tied that to his back with a bit of sculpted twine (the chains also fell victim to the saw). Since he’s full of coffee beans, I fabricated a tiny cappuccino cup and saucer from plastic tube, ABS sheet, and putty. Naturally, I had to cut off his right arm and rebuild that to hold the little saucer. Putty replaced the cowl that covers that shoulder and obviously, I had to add a hospital name badge to his cowl. It ought to be just big enough to paint “Joe” on it… In addition to being old-timey slang for coffee – "Joe" is also the name of one of the most highly caffeinated artists I know, and my first green-putty sculpting instructor. You can check out some of his varied works here. So I present Dr. Joe, Witchling Barista. Stay tuned next time for a high-effort/low-payoff conversion that will make you wonder how I ever get anything done… I guess that could be said for a lot of things I convert... :1_Happy_Puppet1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 ...that's awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePandaDirector Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I don't drink tea or coffee, but damn would I like to have the good "doctor" around anyway. In short - amazing! I have also had the intention of fielding a Witchling Doctor (or Doctor Stalker) in a Marcus-Lucius-Guild Hound toybox, and it's going to be painful resisting some kind of conversion, considering that most conversions I attempt end painfully anyway =] I've said it before, but this piece particularly makes me want to reiterate - you are an inspiration good sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilus Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Love the conversion. Looking forward to see it in person in just 50 or so days(wow is it that soon, I got get building and painting ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themurphyfella Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 Oh man. I laughed at the conversion and laughed even more at the description. You have a knack for comedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bohemian Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Love your conversions, much more than I'm into for such a small figure. I would love to see a fully painted crew at some point. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilus Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Question for everyone. So as someone mentioned it sounds like the even might need some more time. Right now its 11 to 4 Would anyone object to starting an hour early at 10 AM? Anyone have a problem with going till 5 PM I am thinking about adding an hour on each end with the idea that we can always end early if needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tauwolf Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 I have no problem starting early, and I was planning on going till 5. ---------- Post added at 04:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:49 PM ---------- Whew! Long time no post. Sooo.. 8 weeks to Adepticon... 9 puppets to paint... yeah, this could get messy. But! Here is my first finished puppet, one of my dynamic duo of Ronin. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3717[/ATTACH] This is a really nice looking model. Has a gritty look, very much in the malifaux art style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullborer Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Greetings Puppets and Puppettes! With a few games under my belt (and my Adepticon shoebox undecided) I began to feel like I could really use a second Sidekick in my shoebox. It’s not that Joss wasn’t pulling his weight - he totally does - but I figured a little branching out wouldn’t hurt. I’m OK with out-of-suit Pawns, but I’m less sanguine about out-of-suit Sidekicks; which left me with Misaki, Rusty Alyce and the Hooded Rider. Tauwolf and LaFemmeGeekita both make pretty regular use of the Hooded Rider, and DaveyP painted a fantastic version of that puppet, so… Game-wise: There are a lot of dangerous puppets out there - Puppet Wars is an adorably brutal game at times - but I’d put Rusty Alyce up there with almost any of them. I originally drafted her because there’s only one Tomes Sidekick at present and I’m not wild about Misaki’s discard-to-activate-or-commit-puppet-seppuku activation cost. I’ve only used Alyce thrice now, but this little puppette has a lot of potential. Our last game (on Tauwolf’s enbigulated new board) had her getting so much attention that she literally make a ¾ circuit of the board, tearing apart puppets as she went. I lost eventually (overextended and teamed up on), but it was fun. Conversion-wise: I’m not sure what I was thinking. I took a saw to her right leg and mechanical arm to do a little re-pose, but ended up putting her back together almost exactly the same way she was! She might gotten a slight shift of weight onto that leg, and her big-ol’ arm might be a little touched up, but ultimately, the changes are exceedingly minor for the time and effort. Her other side got a more obvious result from the saw – the gun arm came off, was pinned back in a different position and cleaned up with putty. Reinforcing my inability to leave well enough alone, I added a magnet to her gun and wired it to a battery-fanny-pack on her belt. Maybe the magnet shoots off her gun like a taser and the coiled wire drags her over to the metal-puppet target? Maybe not. It doesn’t have to make too much sense – she’s a puppet after all. [shameless self-promotion] It hit me last week that Alyce’s conversion might have been a subconscious result of this model (sculpted last year and tweaked into production last month). Their poses do bear a slight resemblance... All in all, this puppet’s conversion ended up taking a LOT more time than I’d expected and I’m a little irritated with myself over the skirt/leg thing, but I do like how she looks and it will be fun to paint her tattered skirt in some kind of plaid (exact tartan TBD). But given the amount of time I’ve taken on conversions (ie: even more than I’d expected/planned), my next progress post will be a real game-changer. Even I didn’t see this one coming. I should have, but I didn’t. My learning curve remains flat as a board. :1_Happy_Puppet1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePandaDirector Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Love it! =] While I have a not-so-secret love for Misaki I like what you did with Alyce (I'm sure her lean has changed..) I hope you never learn your lesson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tauwolf Posted March 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2012 Well, my Adepticon shoebox is set. It looks like I should have everything done for Adepticon. Seamus - painted Bete Noir - painted Hooded Rider - not painted 2 Punk Zombies - primed and next to be painted 2 Rotten Belles - painted Purple Teddy - painted Green Teddy - not painted My thoughts on the shoebox: - I usually use Hooded Rider as an early game threat. I count on his Giant Glowing Sword to enable Seamus to be a late game offensive asset. - Bete is an all around good puppet, and in 3 or 4-player games her upgrade side is very difficult to deal with for your opponents. It costs Seamus a rip so it can't be abused, and needs to be timed just right to spoil your opponents' plans. - Punk Zombies = work horses - Belles = slightly less effective work horses but good late game activations when you should by all rights be out of puppets. - Purple Teddy will never see the board. He's only there for the benefit of the.... - Green Teddy. Sprint + big toothy mouth equals dead puppets. I've gotten better about only using him when I need him. I used to rush him up too fast and he wouldn't last long. I realized today was the "3 weeks till Adepticon" mark. Felt a pang of stress about that haha. Doesn't help that I really want to be home painting but I'm stuck at work on back-to-back 12 hour days. Oh well, such is life. Gotta pay the bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaFemmeGeekita Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 Well, here we are, about 20 days from Adepticon aaaand... I just finished model #2. I'm progressing a bit slower than I anticipated... At least next week is Spring Break (hooray for being a teacher!) so I'll have plenty of time to catch up. The skin tone on this guy frustrated me BEYOND BELIEF, so when I finally got it to a point where I was ok with it, I forced myself to PUT THE PAINTBRUSH DOWN. I'm sure that's a fullborer rule somewhere. I've also decided to leave all of the bases for last, so they are uniform in appearance, hence the gray planky base, courtesy of http://fullborerminiatures.com. In other news, Tauwolf and I played a 1 on 1 game last week, which I won after a drawn out dancing match ("I'll take this workbench!" "Ok, then this one's mine!" "Fine, I want this one too." "Then this one is mine." "CURSE YOU!"). We should both be in prime condition for the tournament! I can't wait to meet everyone at Adepticon! I'm getting excited! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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