The End of the Golden Age - Berserk tribute models

Kentaro Miura's series has directly and indirectly been the source of quite a bit of entertainment over the years, and so I wanted to acknowledge his work. These models are slightly rougher than I'd intended, but I didn't want to wait until this project was complete, whenever that came around.

Three tons of him. - Kingdom Death Sunstalker review

As I sometimes do, this is a hybrid hobby article and review. 

In short, I have a love/...meh relationship with this expansion.

A Light at the End - Kingdom Death Nemeses, etc. Also, custom gear.

Starting off, the Twilight Witch is one of my biggest disappointments with Kingdom Death's 1.5 Kickstarter: I think it, and the non-pinup "Twilight Cloak" survivor model, could so easily have been included as part of the postgame mechanics/gear, with a more interesting survivor addition than the young and old survivors, neither of which are especially mechanically relevant.

I liked this old design so much that I actually made a gear card for it:

One: You Lock the Target / Two: You Bait the Line... - Kingdom Death Manhunter Expansion Review

The Manhunter is I believe Kingdom Death's smallest expansion (not counting ones without monsters). Appropriately, this will be one of my shortest reviews.

The Muck and the Mire (and some other places) - Cragheart, Mindthief, and Gloomhaven continued campaign (part 2)

Everyone's favorite character design was the Cragheart, but the model was a little lumpy and unspectacular, so I decided to do some radical surgery.

Starting Your Career as a Paid Killer - Gloomhaven Tinkerer, Spellweaver, and Game Sessions

Trying a new game and a new aesthetic is always something of an experience.

Is that You, Santa Claus? - Kingdom Death Gold Smoke Knight and Campaign years 26-End

Here's some holiday cheer from an ancient fat guy trimmed in white fur who comes to judge all the little guys, once a season!

The Ghost of Kingdom Death 1.3 - The Watcher and campaign years 21-25

Remember when the Watcher was the Big Bad?

Gone Fishin' - Kingdom Death Survivors and campaign years 16-20

Well, I've been away for a while: turns out, a trip, a nasty cold, and a bit of overworking can do that.

Starting off, a few survivors that didn't fit anywhere else.

Advanced Footwork - Kingdom Death survivors, and campaign years 10-15

The Brawler armor is one of my favorite little survivor kitbashes. The only actual cutting and sculpting was from adding the crest/rack thing to his back and adding a little musculature around his shoulders so he didn't look like a doll/action figure. However, I felt like I hit the right place with the slightly back-leaning upright boxing pose, that looks just a bit unnatural, despite being the best way to box.

Pedomorphic Pachyderm - Kingdom Death Gorm Review

Who's a big boy? That's right! You're a big boy!

Time for a review of Kingdom Death's Gorm expansion.

Crowning Achievements - Kingdom Death Dragon King and Campaign Conclusion

It nearly slipped by me I'm hitting my 500th post... well, I had to do something a little bigger for that, didn't I? (Note the 35mm model on the bottom...)

Creepy Crawlies - Spidicules and Kingdom Death Campaign years 5.1-10

The Spidicules was one of my favorite minis from the first Kingdom Death KS. I've griped plenty about how impractical it turned out to be, which is why it's not still a favorite, but think it's a cool model, and think its little spiderlings are just charming, in an ugly sort of way. I'm particularly happy with how all their eyes came out.

Everybody Knows that the Bird is the Word - Codenames Review

I don't like "party games." I don't like yelling (or buzzers), interruptions, timers, or social stuff relying on poor information or hidden teams. That certainly doesn't mean I don't like having a good time in a social situation, and there are still plenty of times where I like things that become those things*, but what it actually comes down to is that I hate when those elements are essential to the game rules or the inevitable outcome, because I don't really like things that are that high energy.

So, when I had Codenames described to me as something along the lines of "There's lots of yelling and guessing who's the spy, and who doesn't like party games?!" I was skeptical, to say the least.  It basically sounded like the least enjoyable parts (most parts) of Taboo, Pictionary, and Bang!, rolled in to one mess, maybe with some Apples to Apples mixed in, where I'd tolerate a few rounds and then beg off.

Fortunately, that turned out to be a poor description of Codenames and, despite any reservations, in a few rounds, it became my favorite light-weight guessing game, which isn't saying a lot, but the fact that I actually bought a copy the next week does.

Given the game's popularity, I expect that party gamers are well aware of the game, but this strays well outside my normal interests and reviews as mostly a fan of strategy games and thematic games/RPGs, so is worth a review from a different perspective.

A New Light on the Horizon - Kingdom Death Gorm and Campaign (year 0- 5, modified)

So, I finally got around to painting some Gorm survivors.

Angels of Death - Deathwatch Blood Angel and Dark Angel

Zameon Gydrael has a pretty classic Dark Angel sensibility, and really gave me a bit of nostalgia- I hadn't thought about my collection in years, but they were one of my two Marines armies when I was a young 'un.

I Guess You're Gonna Have to Go Wake Him Up Now - Dark Souls Titanite Demon

Okay, honestly, I never really understood these guys. Why are they missing their leg? I mean, sure, whatever, headless unnatural monsters, sure, but why a leg? Is this subtly explained in gear or did someone just think it was cool? Was it originally a specific boss and maybe it was unique or others were designed with other parts missing and slightly different stats, but it then got turned into an entire race of metal monsters that were missing their same leg? Are they supposed to be dismembered in the same way, or did they all have a design flaw, or maybe there was just a race of lightning monsters bred with only one complete leg because some necromancer was lazy and said "good enough." IDK, it's just bizarre, and not really in a way that fits my sense of horror or thinking outside the box, more... confusing, I guess, than anything else.

(If anyone actually has an answer, I'm genuinely curious, that wasn't just random banter for the sake of it...)

Okay, on to the model. With Dark Souls being practically monochrome, I've been playing with lots of slightly different hues- the Titanite Demon has a lot of purple and a little green in its shades, so that isn't color balancing issues you're seeing above, but how I painted it. I thought his texture turned out pretty neat.

Party Time! - Dark Souls Player Classes

The Warrior's bulkiness is pretty appealing-- I think they're probably my favorite of the four base classes, with a pre-action pose and a fair bit of weight.

The Workers are Revolting! - Deathwatch Overkill Genestealer Aberrants and Hybrids

Yeah, yeah, I know, hardly a new pun...

Dungeon Romp - Warhammer Quest Silver Tower Review

Silver Tower is, well, as the title suggests, a bit of a romp. It's certainly in the tradition of a dungeon crawl, but simple and easy enough that it's a very casual experience.