New year - Hobby Resolutions 2018

Hello out there whoever still read this! It's been a couple months since my last update and not much has happened on the hobby front. After "finishing" The Greenboyz I didn't get much more painted in 2017. 

The last tabletop gaming I did was playing in 2017 was at Underworld Cup where I decided to quit playing Blood Bowl. 

Okay maybe not entirely... though I do feel the need to cut it out of my life for a bit. I had some of the worst luck I have ever had in that event and it was just an onslaught of misery. Lots of fun hanging out with my friends but the time spent in game was pretty dismal. Maybe we'll see things turn around after I attend Adepticon this year and play in the Stupor Bowl for the first (and last?) time. 

Most of the fall/winter was spent passing my college courses. And I accidentally ended up with a piece in a monthly art show too? 

Self Portrait 2017 - Charcoal on paper

Still chipping away at an illustration degree! This next semester will be spent studying Photoshop and illustration history. While I am still not entirely enthused by any of my work I am learning things as I go. Have a couple comic projects in the works that I am excited about for 2018 and beyond. 

On the gaming/painting front I did manage to get a game of Gloomhaven going with some friends. We're about 4 scenarios in and having a lot of fun. I'm playing the Brute character who likes to smash things first and ask questions second. His name is Sledghe. 

This box is over a foot thick and weighs about 30+ pounds

Most of the party beating on the first boss encounter

In what has become an annual tradition it is time to look back at the 2017 Hobby Resolutions and set some new ones for 2018. From last year...

• Play games more regularly (I played games here and there. I wouldn't call it regular)
• Paint at least one miniature to tabletop standard each week (I didn't paint one mini each week but I did paint well over 52 minis over the course of the year)
• Don't buy more miniatures than you paint (Yeah... not even close)

Alright so one out of three isn't so bad right? Now here is a list for this year!

• Play games more regularly:
  Games with Furry, games at events, Gloomhaven almost weekly should have this covered.
• Paint at least 52 minis to tabletop standard during the year:
  And keep track of them! I feel like having a visual record of the work is important and helps motivate me (and possibly others) to get those minis painted!
• Finish painting at least one Warhammer army:
  Most likely this will be my Nurgle army. I have a great start on it. Just need to buckle down and paint some of the larger pieces and new stuff. 
• Don't buy more miniatures than you paint:
  This will be tough but I have managed to hold off on many minis I already want. I don't think I will be able to go without picking up the CMON Hate minis going up on Kickstarter this month. And the new Nurgle stuff coming from GW will also get me for at least a few. 
• Update this blog weekly:
  Should be easy with photos of painted minis and regular gaming right??

Of course working against all of these things are - life, work, school, band, reading, and drawing! Looks like I will have to be better about using my time (and watching less crappy TV). 

2013 Hobby Resolutions check-in.

Well I meant to get to this earlier in the year. Time flies when you buy a new house, change your job, and start having a social life with friends and playing games!? Since we are 31 days from the end of this year I thought it would be useful to see how I have fared in the "Hobby Resolutions" department.


Here is the list I came up with for this year way back in January:

• Update this blog at least twice a week all year: Did pretty dreadful at this. I updated at least twice a month!! Does that count? Part of the lack of updates comes from me spending time on my radio show(s) and the blog I run for that. Part of it is just not getting around to it. 

• Finish painting all of the Blood Bowl teams I have started: Hah! Nice one. Actually I did okay at first - got my Orc team painted, still haven't finished my Lizardman team, then went and added a Halfling team, some Elves, some Skaven, and got minis for an Underworld or Chaos Pact or something team down the road. In short. Nope.
  

• Play some WHFB somewhere, somehow: Even the new WoC book couldn't help me with this one. I did make a new space in my new home for playing games like this!! Does that count?

• Attend as many Blood Bowl tournaments as possible: Again not so great here. Missed out on Zlurpee Bowl and a few other close by events I had planned on attending (including the second Jingle Bowl coming up this weekend). I think my count for the year is... 3. Terrible!! 

• Win an award in Blood Bowl league or tournament play: While I still haven't won any awards at a BB tournament I did manage to take the 3 season Chaos juggernaut the Khorne R'Backs to the KUBBL 5 championship and win. It was a close fought thing at times but the powers of Khorne paved the way in blood.
  
• Complete 12 monthly painting pledges at the Ogre Stronghold: I have managed to do this quite nicely! Except I didn't post my pledge in Novemeber I did complete it.

So there you have it. Not too shabby. In between the lines there I did pick up Necromunda and started assembling and painting a Goliath gang. Also worked on a bit of Streetbowl stuff. Also bought a house, moved, and changed jobs. Also started 3 different RPG groups/campaigns! And started doing my radio show twice a week! So it has been a busy time for sure.

In between painting hobby update ...

Wow! It has been a few days since I last updated. I have been quite busy looking for a place to live, painting models, and playing Warhammer. Mostly painting.

Been playing a lot of games lately with tournaments every weekend this month and the local escalation league going as well. Trying to cram in as much gaming as possible before I leave this kick-ass scene. Next one is this Saturday which will be a 2,250 event. I will be bringing my Ogres, using an intentionally "bad" list to see how I do. My intention is to try out some of the commonly used items/tactics Ogre generals seem to like but I normally avoid. We'll see how it turns out ...

I don't know when I will have the time to get a lot of painting done again in the future (as I am in between jobs) and I have a few events coming up that require painted models (which are currently just primed).

I've also decided to keep track of how many models I purchase vs. paint this year in an attempt to get all of my unpainted/unassembled models done before I buy more. It's called "the pledge" and you can see my current status on the side bar to the right.

As of this writing I have - Bought: 0 and Painted: 20.

I am in the process of finishing another 20 models, plus a few Ogres and Gorgers/spawn, and I have yet to buy anything! We'll see how long I can keep this up.

In other (good) news I placed 1st in a local Team Tournament here in Austin last weekend - bringing home both Warriors of Chaos and Beasts of Chaos regiment boxes for my next army project. While the urge to build them is strong I refuse to work on them until I finish my Vampire Counts and Ogre Kingdoms!

Speaking of which, I think the paint on my models is dry. For those who crave more entertainment I leave you with this beer review:

Deschutes Brewery - Cinder Cone Red

Beer Type: American Amber

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a variation of the classic Deschutes label and a mountain/volcano. Beer poured a burnt orange color with a thin head that quickly faded with some slight lacing.

Smell: Plenty of sweet caramel malt with a bit of roasted malt as well. Something a bit floral and "spicy" comes through but I can't say what it is...

First Drink: Just like the aroma, this beer is sweet followed quickly with some hops, a bit more caramel flavor, and ending on a bitter note.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied and a bit creamy, the overall sensation is a bit dry though.

Last Drink: The bitterness carries that same indistinct "spicy" flavor as the aroma. Must come from the hops they use in this brew.

Drinkability: There is a lot of things going on in this beer. It features a complex level of flavors that I find both confusing and refreshing.

Notes: This is one of Deschutes seasonal offerings, only available from April to June.

Verdict: 3.75 out of 5. Good beer, but the bitter note is a bit strange in such a sweet beer.

Links: Beer Advocate and Deschutes Brewery.

Return of the Beer Gut Tribe!

We have returned! The Beer Gut Tribe is back on the warpath and looking for new blood to spill. There is pillaging and drinking to be done, and we be the ones to do it!

I have changed up the overall look of the blog, hopefully for the better?

In my absence from this gnoblog I have been quite busy, but not for reasons that are particularly interesting or fun. I have not played a real match with the Beergut forces since last month (when I lost quite badly to Greenskins), but during that time I did bear witness to two separate Generals trying their hand with the fat bastards. Neither of these battles went well, and both parties swore off the Beer Guts claiming, "I will never play the Ogres again!".

This did not go a long way in easing my fears that the Ogre Kingdom army just isn't quite what I had hoped it would be. It did go a long way at easing my own self esteem issues related to the game, and now I know there isn't a whole lot I could be doing differently. Picking the right unit for the job, and getting good dice rolls is 90% of the game. With more practice I think I will eventually get the "BIG WIN" I have been wanting so very badly.

During my time away I also moved from a small 2 bedroom apartment into a much larger 3 bedroom house. This new house should prove quite useful for tabletop gaming as I have my own room dedicated to my many hobbies (PC gaming, music recording and creation, and Warhammer), and I intend to build a modular "gaming table" so I can have more frequent games .. hopefully in the comfort of my own home. Work will soon begin on finishing the construction phase of my Ogres, with Yhetees, Gorgers, Butchers, and a Scraplauncher all on the docket.

I am toying with the idea of running a unit of Long Drong's Slayer Pirates in the Beer Gut Tribe as a Dogs of War entry to the army. There is just something so cool about these guys, and I think they fit in quite nicely with the overall Beer Gut Tribe "fluff", being a bunch of drunken mercenaries and what not. My only fear is that getting this one unit of Slayers may lead me to create an entire Slayer army, something I wouldn't mine owning but don't necessarily feel like purchasing. Ah well ... such is life.

Not a terribly exciting entry, I apologize for that, but look forward to more progress pictures and new battle reports in the coming weeks. My small Warhammer group is growing and it looks like we might be kicking off a "paint and play" style escalation campaign in the very new future (hopefully with some new, as of yet unseen, armies to play against!). Stay tuned ...