It is a dark time for the rebellion...

I remember starting to get sucked into the buzz around the time when the X-Wing Miniatures Game was being introduced. The early play tests appeared to demonstrate some nice game mechanics and I started to visualize building my own fleets. I am a child of the Star Wars era, the real Star Wars where there are no Three Stooges jokes, no digital muppets, and where Han shoots first. For someone who had their imagination forever shaped by A New Hope, what could be cooler than playing out table-top dogfights between the Empire and the Rebellion? But, at some point before the game's release I decided I had my interest fully invested in Blood Bowl and, at the time, Lord of the Rings LCG, so I let the X-Wing launch pass me by and avoided getting sucked in. Plus, I didn't have anyone else in my gaming circle that had really shown any interest in the game. Those space dogfights would have to remain in a galaxy far, far away. Until now, that is. This past week I acquiesced and purchased a X-Wing Core Set.

I don't think it's worthwhile here to give a full unboxing account. The game has been out for a year and there are plenty of unboxing reports and reviews around the web. But, it's new to me and I'm having a good time with it so far. The pre-painted miniatures are a very acceptable table-top quality, and before my first game I thought a proper game board was the appropriate thing to build to complement the miniatures. The simple board that I built was a made from a black 4' x 3' Elmer's tri-fold display board. I don't expect this board to have a tremendous amount of longevity, but at under $5 I thought it was a very cost-effective way to try out some ideas for customizing a play surface. The star field and nebula are the result of dipping an old toothbrush in paint and splattering the paint on the display board by flicking my thumb through the bristles. I don't think I spent but about 10 or 15 minutes painting the board and I was pretty pleased with the end result. I will probably use the same approach again when I build a more durable board.

After playing though my first game there seems to be potential here. I can certainly see how the strategic and tactical options will open up with the additional of a few more ships. Plus, I really don't see how I can possibly resist adding the Millennium Falcon and Slave 1 to my hangar. In the end, the worst thing that could happen by buying into this game a little is that I'll end up with some really cool Star Wars minis so I have no idea why I was holding out.

Lizardman Team: First Painted Saurus

With the skinks for my Lizardman team, the Scavengers of Scape Ore, completed, I've turned my attention towards painting the Sauri for the team. Here's a look at the first Saurus player that I've finished (except that I need to add a few tufts of grass to the base). I decided to keep the sauri painted with the same green-yellow color scheme that I used for my skinks where the scales are green and the underbelly is a vibrant yellow. I like how the yellow adds a bit of visual pop to the miniature and will hopefully make them somewhat unique on the table-top.

Lizardman Team: Skinks

These skinks are the first players that I've completed for my Lizardman team, the Scavengers of Scape Ore. I will be playing this team in my local Blood Bowl league's summer season. The models are those from the resin Sarcos Team #2 from Impact! Miniatures which I posted about previously. In general, the quality of these resin casts is pretty good, but I did find a few issues on some of the small details with the skinks (baby crocs). Most noticeably, the figure with an outstretched hand had a finger missing on both of the copies that I received. Despite the casting flaws, the sculpts are nice and show a lot of personality. And, at just $35USD for a whole team they're an undeniably good value. I had a lot of fun painting them. I kept a consistent green and yellow scheme for my rostered skinks and painted one skink in a yellow-brown scheme to use as a journeyman when necessary.

Pro Elf Team

Here are a few images of the Pro Elf team that I've been playing my Blood Bowl league's current Chaos Cup season. I was snapping a few pictures this morning of the Lizardman team that I've started working on, and figured that I would post these elves while I was at it.

I didn't obsess over every detail on the paint job that I did for this Elf Team. In general, I'm a slow painter because I try to take time with all the details on a figure. I also have trouble finding consistent time to paint so I end up having to relearn techniques and how I pulled off certain effects. For this project, my intention was to develop some quick, fairly repeatable techniques to be able to produce tabletop quality paint jobs. I wanted to try and paint the team as rapidly as I could while still not being ashamed of the final product that I was putting on the table. They are not likely to win any painting awards, but I think I achieved the goal of making some game-quality players ready for the pitch.

Blitzers

Thrower

Catchers

 Linemen

Chaos Team: Chaos Warriors

These are the chaos warriors that I've finished painting for a Chaos Blood Bowl team. The color scheme that I decided on for this team was black and red. Obvious for a chaos team, I know. I couldn't help it. My general blueprint was to use black for their armor, crimson red for their gloves and boots, and gold for armor accents.

Chaos Team: Beastmen #1

Here's the first beastman that I've finished painting for my upcoming, and still unnamed, Chaos Team. I thought that I'd paint a single beastman first to figure out a paint scheme for the beastmen. I plan on having different skin tones and fur colors for various beastmen, but I figured painting one guy first would let me figure out a general paint recipe that I can try to follow for the rest of them.

Setekh Conversion: Part 2

I finished painting the Setekh (also known as Nekbrekerekh) conversion that I've had in the works.