Ray of Paint Studios

Painting a Quality Shoe

2014-11-20T20:11:00.000-06:00

Those who follow me on Facebook know that I'm either not dead, or I have hired someone to occasionally post photos of painted models to make you think that. Although there is no shortage of gaming news to discuss, it's still slightly awkward to just throw out my thoughts with no intention of receiving any kind of back-and-forth dialogue. So despite all my best intentions of continuing to blog, I think my large spans of silence this year will attest to the contrary.

That being said, I do have something worth talking about today, and it's mostly a broad response to people who keep accusing me of charging too little for my commissions.

A Painter Emerges

When I first started my journey in to wargaming, I swore I couldn't paint. My handwriting is atrocious as it is, but I remember taking some art lessons from a local church lady when I was in high school and I'm fairly certain I made her feel like art had just died. I had once even tried painting a figure for my brother-in-law to use during our D&D campaign and... well, if you know anything about painting just imagine what would happen if you primed a model white and did a single, thick layer of cheap acrylics. For those who don't know much about painting, suffice it to say that my model would have given some real competition to a toddler's abilities.

So in the end, I really had no business picking up a paintbrush. However, my group had a Warmachine slow-grow league, and there was a trophy for whoever could get the most painting points. Knowing I wasn't going to get the trophy for games played, I decided to jump in and try my hand at painting my newly-acquired Khador.

Fast-forward a few months and I've churned through most of my army, devoured YouTube tutorials, and fallen completely in love with the hobby. I don't remember how the conversation came about, but one night I was talking to my buddy Josh and he asked me if I'd be interested in doing some commission work on some Bane Thralls for his Cryx army. At the time I was terrified because I had never had someone pay me for a skill so I had to figure out what to charge while simultaneously trying my hardest not to ruin someone else's stuff. To top it all off, I tried to make sure I found a balance between charging a fair price for my time and an affordable price for someone who wanted to throw money at me for doing something I loved.

Fast-forward a few more months and I've decided to look in to making this whole "commission painting" idea a real thing. I spent hours researching, asking advice, comparing other businesses, and trying to figure out where I could fit in this niche market that seemed to be saturated with other commission artists who were already established in the business...

The "Why" of Commission Painting

I want to pause here and discuss why I'm posting all of this out of the blue (you'll see why that's funny in a moment). As I've been following painters on YouTube and Facebook, joining painting groups, and stalking around forums, I've started taking specific notice of something I've started calling a "price-to-quality ratio," which is the idea that people paying X amount of dollars should expect a certain level of quality inreturn. Recently I'd become a bit dismayed at the prices I've seen people quote for results that, I feel, are far below the price paid.

Before moving on, let me say that I'm in no way trying to smear anyone's name. This market is pretty small, and I understand that it can be dangerous to appear to have sour grapes about another painter. However, this feeling of disappointment and frustration regarding price:quality has actually very strongly informed how I handle my commission business, and it has always been on my Facebook page and my now-defunct website, and that is this: "I'm dedicated to bringing you quality work at affordable prices, because I believer everyone should be proud of how their army looks."

Perhaps you've never even paid attention to that, but this reality is what drove me to become a commission painter. As I was originally researching other painters, I realized that while some people were giving a fantastic price:quality service for display-quality work, it was still wildly unaffordable for many responsible adults with families. Some painters seemed very liberal with their definition of "tabletop quality," and others had talents that were so advanced that they simply had to charge more money because of the time it takes to create something that is acceptable to them. In the end, however, I felt that the majority of people who wanted something as simple as a good tabletop-quality paint job for a fair price were left in the cold. However, it wasn't until I started learning more about Blue Table Painting that I decided I had to be different.

In a nutshell, BTP is often called "the Walmart of commission painting" because the myriad of complaints on the internet are about the lack of quality in their work. However, what set me off wasn't the quality of the work (they're speed painters, and precision isn't a thing in that world), but that they were charging at least double what others were charging and delivering work that was far below what others would produce for that price. Thus the whole "Walmart" comparison seems inaccurate because their price:quality is actually pretty balanced - you pay nothing and get junk in return!

Now I'll admit, lately I've been a bit down about my business because I know I could charge more for what I produce, and with going back to finish my college degree (by the way guys, I'm finishing my college degree!) I've been even more negative about my business model. I see what other painters charge for work that's comparable to mine and want to just cave in and match their prices. Then, a few weeks ago, a YouTube video reminded why I'm so proud of what I do.

It's long, and there are actually two follow-up videos to this, so let me sum it up: this guy spent a hefty amount of money to get BTP's higher-end paint jobs. I forget the price he quoted over the course of his 3 videos discussing the subject, but I think it was well over $1,000. And what he got it something that, honestly, I would be embarrassed to produce for even half that price.

For those of you who were with me through my 2013 blogging journey, you know that I'm not the sort to speak poorly of someone. But after reading other horror stories in the comments, and watching this guy's videos and seeing everything he had to go through , I was furious. By the time I had to stop reading because I was so frustrated at how people had been treated, my wife got home from work and had to listen to me rant about people being taken advantage of just because they lack the time or talent to paint, but really want to enjoy having something nice on the table.

As we talked, she reminded me that this is why I started painting in the first place. The things I was so frustrated about then, as a commission painter, are the exact same things that had solidified my decision to be a commission painter in the first place! When I was just a baby painter looking to branch out beyond my one friend, my sole desire was to reach those gamers who had families, students loans, or other responsibilities and couldn't afford these services. I wanted people to spend money and walk away not just feeling like they didn't get ripped off, but that it was money they'll never regret spending.

That's what I lost sight of. I forgot that I'm not a commission painter to make big bucks, but to provide a service that I care about to people who would otherwise have to make the choice between a swarm of bare metal, or spending money that would be better served elsewhere just so they could get in to the story and theme of a game. I realize there are many who would say that it's a fair choice to have to make, especially in America where capitalism is king. I'm not knocking that, but at the same time I don't really think that way. I want to help people, and in a weird way I feel like putting paint on miniatures is one of my own little ways of doing that.

A Quality Shoe At a Fair Price

I spent a good amount of time thinking about all of this, and especially wondering if I finally had something worth blogging about. As I said in the beginning, I've had several people feel like I charge too little for the work I do, and I've even found a little extra in my final payment (which is always so humbling!) However, I finally decided to write this after hearing a story about a cobbler.

One day I was driving and listening to a sermon by Matt Chandler. At one point he told a story about Martin Luther which I'd never heard before, but it seemed incredibly relevant to what I'd been thinking about:

---------
Martin Luther is famous for starting the Protestant Reformation (not fighting for civil rights in America!). One day he was preaching in a town and was approached by a man who had recently become a Christian.

"What should I do now?" he asked, assuming that he should now become an evangelist or a minister.

"What do you do now?" asked Luther.

"I'm a cobbler" the man replied.

"Well then, make a good shoe and sell it at a fair price."
---------

And there it is. Commission painting isn't about maximizing the money I make, minimizing the amount of work needed, and hoping no one complains too loudly. Like any work, my commission painting is about being genuine, working hard, honoring the Lord, and caring about you guys enough to give you great looking armies at a fair price.

So in the end, that's why I hope to always be accused of under-valuing my abilities. I want the work I create to be a positive experience for everyone involved, and for you guys to take something I paint and proudly use it to crush your opponents!

Whew, that was a lot. Thank you to anyone who genuinely made it to the end of this! Although I've alluded to it over the course of my year of blogging, I think it was important to explain that there is a large amount of intentionality with how I do things.

Also, let me says that I'm so appreciative of anyone who has allowed me to provide you with a single model or half an army. I love knowing that I get to be a part of your gaming experience, and your excitement at the finished product is always the boost I need to prevent my wife from dismantling the chaos that is my painting area!

See you... the next time I have something worth saying!

Checking In - I'm Still Alive

2014-04-01T11:06:00.001-05:00

Well, I definitely didn't stick to my "blog-a-month" goal. The first two weeks of 2014 saw me having mini freakouts because the clock would read 11:45 p.m. and my immediate thought was "Oh no, I haven't blogged today!" Once I got over that, however, I found myself not wanting to write much at all. I felt free from my obligation, but I was also incredibly burned out, and January was my first chance to actually have a bit of respite from blogging.

February came and went... that's really the only excuse I have there.

I started this post at the end of March, but I thought there would be a beautiful irony to posting an "I'm back!" post on April Fools Day. But here I am, finally coming back to say "hey" and get caught up with everybody. A handful of people have been asking if I was coming back, and I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement for me to keep writing. As I sit here staring at my Blogger page, I realize just how much I've missed you guys.

My 2014 gaming has been simultaneously boring and ever-changing. As far as video games go, I've barely touched Titanfall, the game that I was heralding as the be all, end all of shooters. I blame CoD Ghosts for killing shooters for me forever. Other than that, my Xbox One has served as a glorified Netflix host.

Tabletop gaming has likewise been a bit lackluster. We started our slow-grow league in my group, and my timing apparently couldn't have been more awful. While the first night had a good turnout, the remainder of the league has had a low amount of attendance. But hey, it's been a good opportunity for me to get my feet wet with running an event!

For the league, I've finally picked up my Skorne and tried to learn them. I've been holding off on painting them for several months, and it was super exciting to finally start my Assassin's Creed theme! Here are just a few of the more successful pieces I've done (and a couple other commission pieces that I really enjoyed!):

However, my success in painting is in no way connected to my success in playing them. After around 10 games, I only have 1 legitimate win. One win happened because I completely misread Anatomical Precision, and the other came when our Cryx player needed to roll a 3 on damage to kill pMorghoul, and he didn't boost because, really, what were the odds that he'd roll snake eyes? A lesson in not trusting statistics was learned that day! I don't know what it is about Skorne, but I've never understood how they work. I figured it would start making sense when I got past the theory stage, but after putting them on the table I'm still not figuring out how to make my beasts anything more than a rocket that gets counter-punched the next round. Maybe I need to apply more Molik Karn?

As for the bigger changes, our gaming group is going through a pretty big shift. For the first time in years, the group will be moving to a public gaming area instead of playing in a basement. If you're familiar with the Muse on Minis podcast, we'll be moving to their store (though playing on a different night). In addition, I think life has finally caught up to everyone and forced us to rethink our ability to game every single week. So we're trying out a bi-weekly Warmachine night. What does that mean for the off nights?

More games! Although I enjoy games like Warmachine and Malifaux, things like IKRPG and board games are much more enjoyable for me because they don't pull out my competitive side nearly as much. So on the nights we aren't doing Warmachine, I'll be able to start up the new IKRPG campaign my group has been asking for, learn High Kommand, teach people Netrunner, and basically get a wider exposure to all the games I hear people talk about. I'm hoping this will also get me more excited for Warmachine, because now I don't have to look forward to losing every single week.

As for painting, there hasn't been much going on. Real life has been keeping me fairly busy, so I haven't been getting much done. I've enjoyed doing what painting I can, but I'm definitely in a bit of a slump. I have been wanting to try out an exaggerated anime style on my Malifaux models, but there's a good deal of research I need to do before I'm ready to give that a shot. I'm excited to paint up my small Gator army that I got many months ago, but I think I should hold off until I paint or sell my Skorne first.

Other than that, I don't think 2014 has had much else for me. So what do I have planned for the future? I want to finally do the Warmachine 101 series I talked about last year. I was a bit too busy last year to devote much time to it, but without a set writing schedule it will be easier for me to get that all put together and posted on the site. I have a few topics that have been running through my head, and I think I'll do another "Warmachine Rules Mistakes" post, since that is hands-down my most popular post from last year. If anyone has a topic idea they'd like me to cover, let me know! I'm much more motivated to give you guys something you want to see than to just make stuff up and hope it's good.

So how has your 2014 been? Anything new in gaming, or is it just the same old stuff?

Giveaway Results

2014-01-01T16:52:00.003-06:00

And here we go! I'm going to try taking at least a week off from blogging so I can start shaking the habit of doing it everyday, but I have two drafts started and a few ideas rattling around so don't worry about me disappearing entirely. If there are any topics you guys would like to see, be sure to let me know!

See you next time!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! It's a great way to stay updated with my blog posts and take part in giveaways.

The End of My Blogging Journey

2013-12-31T18:06:00.002-06:00

This is it guys. After an entire year of blogging, this is the last one in my challenge. It's been a lot of fun, and I want to thank all of you for joining me on it. The video is about 26 minutes long so you may want to play it in the background, but I think it's a nice capstone to the entire year.

It's hard to believe this is done. I'll post a quick giveaway results video tomorrow, but otherwise I'm not too sure what my blogging schedule will look like. I'm always willing to discuss any topic you guys want to see, so let me know if you have any ideas. Make sure you follow me on Facebook since I'll still be posting links to my posts and interacting with you guys on there, so keep an eye out!

See you in 2014!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

My Next Year of Gaming

2013-12-30T22:15:00.003-06:00

2013 was a bit bland in terms of gaming offerings. Although I made a lot of personal progress as a gamer, I felt like my selections were pretty slim. As I look to next year, I'm practically overwhelmed at all the great stuff I'll be playing, both new and old, as well as a few things I'd really like to try squeezing in.

Video Games

Titanfall: Perhaps the game I'm looking forward to the most. I'm not a Halo or Battlefield player, and CoD Ghosts may have finally killed the series for me. However, I love competitive shooters. Titanfall is coming at a perfect time, although I wouldn't mind seeing it sooner. The story is told during the multiplayer, meaning I don't need to carve out 10 hours if I want to understand the story behind the maps I'm playing on. The gameplay looks really solid, guns seem to do the same damage as CoD guns, and the Titans look like a powerful, but balanced, strategy to bring to any match.

Hearthstone: I've missed playing a solid trading card game. I like Magic, but boy is that game draining on the wallet, especially if you have any hope of staying competitive. Although Hearthstone is still in beta, it has absolutely scratched that TCG itch, all without costing me a cent. Although you can pay money to get cards faster, the game features an excellent way of acquiring some of the most powerful cards without having to pay. Plus the draft game type is an absolute blast, and playing well means you can play it indefinitely without having to grind out "quests" to earn credits. I look forward to Hearthstone's release, as I think this game will be my go-to as I wait for other games in this list to release.

The Division: This one could see failure of epic proportions, but I remain very optimistic. Playing a game of survival with friends, battling against AI enemies and rival teams, seems like a blast. The heavy use of cover opens up a lot of strategic possibilities, and also gives the developer many opportunities to create memorable battles. The gear thing has me a bit confused as it sounds like dying will let people rummage through your stuff, but if gear isn't a chore to acquire it could add a fun risk/reward system. My only worry is that I won't have enough people to play with during my erratic play schedule, and I don't know how fun it will be to work with complete strangers in a game that seems to greatly reward cooperation.

Destiny: As info has trickled out, I've become a bit less excited for this game as it sounds like a more serious version of Borderlands, complete with a rather mundane endgame that has you grinding for mildly-improved gear, playing PvP, or... well, that seems to be about it. Hopefully they have something in mind to reward players who are dedicated to the game and beat it quickly (right SWTOR?!) instead of leaving people with nothing to do once they've finished. Still, everything up to the end of the game sounds loaded with lore, combat, and a lot of sweet gameplay possibilities.

Watch Dogs: I lament that I have to wait until 2014 to enjoy this, but alas. The game looks loaded with strategy, eschewing typical shooting for a more cerebral experience. I hope the hacking element can stay fresh and creative, although there is a definite risk of it becoming like the summoning element from Bioshock Infinite where you only really have a handful of combat options. Still, the story looks fun, the gameplay seems unique, and it could be one I play several times. The fact that it is somehow connected to Assassin's Creed 4 has me further intrigued. Speaking of which...

Assassin's Creed 4: AC3 was without a doubt the worst big-name game I've ever played. After I beat it I texted my brother-in-law, a fellow AC fan, and told him I was sending him the game in the mail so he could enjoy my misery. After hosting several internal rants, I decided that I was just done with the series if that is the kind of garbage they were going to release. When AC4 released, I paid 0 attention to it. On a whim I decided to look around and see how people compared it to AC3, and was surprised to see that it was almost as good as AC2, the best game in the series. I'm curious to see where the story will go after the huge conclusion of the previous game, but the more I think about it the more I want to play the game, even if I just rent it for a few days and plow through it.

Dark Souls II: Can lightning strike twice? Dark Souls was amazing for its punishing-but-fair difficulty, but also for the deep sense of mystery that penetrated every pixel of the world. Story was handed out in vague bits of dialogue and details on weapons, and creating a small community that was dedicated to understanding the world. Months after release, Dark Souls received a patch to enable a sissy difficulty, and that act has me worried that DS2 will lose something as it goes from an obscure game that slowly built momentum, and launches a followup that many more people are looking forward to.

Tabletop Games

Warmachine: No surprises here. Warmachine is the game that got me in to wargaming, and it has practically ruined me for any other game. I have a Skorne army I've been saving up for a league, and I'm excited to finally take them for a spin. How much I play is really dependent on my back, and I may have to start fielding beast- or jack-heavy lists to minimize the amount of stuff I move.

Malifaux: If you've been paying attention recently, you knew this was coming. After spending all year watching the game from afar I finally dove in and played. The rules are excellent, the models are beautiful, and I've been really enjoying the fluff. I'm still waiting for the euphoria to clear before I decide just how good the game really is, but it's definitely a winner in my book and I can't wait to work on starting a community for it.

Games I Hope to Play

Android: Netrunner: I've played this several times with my wife and have loved every game. The asymmetrical gameplay, with each player having a different set of advanced rules, is unique and adds a lot of creativity. The cyberpunk flavor adds a lot of fun to the cards, and although it's a bit of an obscure game I think it's one that any hardcore TCG player would love.

Zombicide: Admittedly I don't know much about hte game, but it seems to be the best zombie board game out there. After being let down by Last Night on Earth and... some other junky game, I've been hesitant to really hope for a good zombie game. The fact that this game is rarely in stock anywhere speaks volumes to how worthwhile it is. I don't know that I'm willing to pay the $80 entry fee for the game, but I really hope I can track someone down who'd let me play a game with them.

IKRPG: Despite only playing a few games, it's been requested that I revive our game this summer. I love DMing, and merging D&D with Warmachine is a fantastic experience, and one that I hope to recreate for my friends.

High Command: I'm not a huge fan of deck building games, so my desire to play this is based purely on the intellectual property attached to the game. The game has gotten a lot of positive buzz, so it seems like it's a good game in its own right. Even if I only play it once, I really want to see what it's all about.

Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare: PvZ as a 3d shooter sounds awful, but everything I've seen makes it look like an impossibly good game. The classes of zombies and plants are quirky, making them feel like their tower defense counterparts. I don't know if this game will be good enough to retain a dedicated following, but it definitely looks like a game worth playing.

Elder Scrolls Online: I almost didn't include this because I know I won't play it. But I also said the same thing about WoW last year, and I found myself lost on Azeroth for 2 months this summer. I played a small bit of the beta, and while it feels like a typical Elder Scrolls game, it's also a bit dependent on the typical MMO fare of "go here, kill that." Although games like Skyrim and Oblivion aren't averse to those quests, doing so in an MMO very much removes that feeling of you being a lone adventurer carving their own destiny, and instead feels like another excuse to grind out some more levels. I've pretty much dusted my hands of anything related to a standard MMO, and I instead plan on focusing on more unique offerings like The Divison and Destiny.

Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: Despite Skyward Sword ruining the series, I really want to go back and enjoy the Zelda games in their purist form. This would of course require me to get a 3DS, which isn't high on my priority list, but doing so would open up a lot of handheld games I've missed out on over the years. I doubt it's in the cards for 2014, but it's still going to be on my mind!

Infinity: My group flirted with the idea of playing this game, but I found the rulebook to be very poorly written, so I never really pushed for us to play it. Malifaux has shown me how fun a game of dense terrain can be, and Inifinity is the game of dense terrain. The rules system seems very weird, and I think the game is like Amish Friendship Bread where you need someone who already has the game to show you how to play, otherwise there's a lot of work ahead if you want to figure it out yourself. [The bread thing was a bit off-the-wall, but my wife has been going bananas over making that stuff so it's an incredibly relevant comparison to me!]

Any 10-15mm game: I don't know why, but playing a tiny war game sounds like an experience I don't want to miss. Flames of War is pretty popular if the overwhelming number of terrain tutorials is any indicator. Dropzone Commander has also caught my eye, but it sounds like the rules are pretty dense. Still, I have some DZC ships a friend gave me, so I wouldn't mind painting them up for my gallery and trying out the game as well.

Fire Emblem: A bit of a weird one to end on, but I really want to play a recent Fire Emblem game. I don't remember the last one I played, but I've been craving another good grid-based game after beating XCOM several times. I've been waiting for the Wii version to go on sale, but as with all good Nintendo games it's impossible to get it for a cheap price.

2014 is going to be a good year. Tons of great games are releasing for consoles and PC, and my tabletop gaming will hopefully be better than it has been the past few months.

What will your next year of gaming look like?

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Rage Against the RNG

2013-12-29T20:20:00.001-06:00

Before getting my Hearthstone beta invite, I had watched a few live streams and read some strategy guides so I could better understand the game. One term that kept popping was "RNG," or "Random Number Generator." I knew the term, but I had never given it much thought until recently.

I first ran across the term when I was playing XCOM. When performing actions, I knew a number was rolled behind the curtains to determine whether or not I'd succeed. One thing I noticed was that if I had a turn go horribly wrong and I restarted a mission, I would still basically succeed or fail my actions in the same order. I hit the internet to figure out what was going on and discovered that programs don't really like on-the-fly randomness, and instead will pregenerate a series of numbers, and those numbers will be used based on the order they were generated.

This was a bit disillusioning for me, because up to that point I'd assumed that there was true randomness to everything that happened, and nothing could be exploited. I even quit the game for awhile because I felt like I'd been lied to all these years! Of course anyone who's played XCOM can tell you that you can't stay away for long, but since then the reality of RNG has made games of random "dice rolls" a bit less lustrous in my eyes.

So what does that have to do with Hearthstone, or gaming in general? Because when I was reading through some beginner guides, one piece of advice that really stuck out was "Don't get mad at the other player. Get mad at the RNG," meaning that both players are working in a state of randomness, and no matter how poorly a game goes it's not the other player's fault that fate smiled on them or urinated on you. As I thought about that statement, I realized that I (and many others) have misplaced our frustration during a game.

Think about it - whenever it's a critical moment in a game, what happens when we draw a worthless card or biff on a crucial dice roll? Some people can move on without missing a beat. Many, including myself, get flustered. We get mad at our opponent, ourselves, or the game. "I hate this game" is one of the most pout-filled, immature, whiny phrases that I mutter to myself whenever things aren't going my way. I try not to get mad at my opponent, but it's usually open season for me, my models/cards, and the game itself.

However, we all forget who's really to blame - that stupid RNG. When it comes to drawing cards and rolling dice, players who don't cheat leave everything up to chance, with statistics being the only tool we have to manage the fickleness of chance. We try to outplay our opponent, but in the end success and failure is left up to chance.

Of course nothing about that is new, but I've finally realized the implications of it. When things go poorly, maybe I'm not always to blame. Maybe the game isn't broken. Maybe my model isn't cursed. If there's anything to be made at, it's chance, and I love that.

Randomness can't be fixed. At best it can be planned around, but considering no one created "chance" like they would a game, and chance isn't a being that makes decisions on who will succeed, it feels silly to even get mad at it. And although RNG is an artificial recreation of chance, it too is something that we can only accept.

This realization has actually been very encouraging as I've been playing Hearthstone. Although deck building and strategy play big parts in the game, sometimes things simply don't work out. In Arena, which is a draft format, I had one run where I went 10-3 with a Paladin deck because I was able to draft some great cards, and during critical moment I drew the exact card I needed. I was lucky to use a Paladin deck in my next run and went 5-3. Two runs later I used Paladin again and went 1-3. I didn't change as a player, and the game didn't change its rules. RNG gave me some bad card choices, bad opponent matchups, or bad draws. Maybe there was something that could have been done, but even if I'd made the perfect choices it's still possible that there's not a thing I could have done to prevent losing.

In one way, RNG can feel unfair because it sucks not to be in control of one's success. However, I'm also discovering that it is an oft-ignored, but totally worthy target of our ire when a game goes sour. By that logic I suppose we should also attribute good games to it, but for now I think I'll settle with accepting that randomness happens, and sometimes a bad game is an anomaly and no reason to beat up myself or the games I love.

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

My Top 10 - 2014 Resolutions

2013-12-28T20:43:00.003-06:00

New Year's Eve is coming up, which means I need to make a whole bunch of promises to myself that I'll never keep, right?

At the beginning of the year I told you guys that I typically hated New Years resolutions because self improvement should start when you realize it's needed, and not on January 1st. This blogging journey also sort of started as a New Year's resolution, and it's one I've been able to keep. The reason I kept it isn't because I have amazing self control, but because I used "giveaways for missing a post" as a means of keeping myself accountable. It gave me a clear objective, and consequences for failing my goal.

I'd like to do something similar for 2014. I'm not going to do something every day, because this goal was pretty stressful to maintain on a day-to-day basis. Nor do I want to do something over-the-top, because I don't like setting unachievable goals. Instead I thought I'd use my favorite series, My Top 10, to help me set up some goals for next year. So here are My Top 10 goals I plan to accomplish next year.

10. Participate in a tournament
Let's start off with the one I least want to do. I don't care for tournaments because they tend to bring out the worst in people. There is a prize on the line, and people will either try to cheat their way to victory, or just lose all sense of decency. Now I imagine the majority of people are pretty chill during tournaments, but there's always that one bad egg that can tank the whole experience. I've spent many years avoiding that level of competition, and as a result I think I've demonized the experience more than I should. I want to participate in a tournament not because I want to win, but because I want to revisit the entire tournament scene and accept that it can be a fun environment.

9. Make a video battle report
I've wanted to do this since the beginning of the year, but blogging every day had me avoiding some of the heavier projects that would take me several days to complete. This year I want to go for quality over quantity, and that means I am ready to start adding videos to my collection of gaming content. WarGamerGirl and MiniWarGaming are my inspirations, and I don't know if I could make anything less than the quality of commentary that they give. The video and audio may suffer, but I definitely don't want to "phone in" my reports.

8. Attend a gaming convention
My wife is awesome, and has wanted me to attend one of these for several years. Despite it being a group of geeks, it's still a large group, and so I've been hesitant to commit myself to going. 2014 is going to be a year of new experiences, and what better thing could I add to experiences than to attend a gaming convention? Cost is always an issue, but I just discovered that Iowa has a convention called Demicon near me. And did I mention my wife is awesome? Because the convention is on her birthday, and she has given me the green light to attend it if that's the convention I want to attend this year.

7. Get enough non-nature terrain to cover a board
I like having terrain at my place for the occasional game. But if there's one thing I'm tired of seeing after watching an endless amount of battle reports, it's nature. Hills, trees, rocks... they're easy to make, they're universal to almost any game system, and as a result they're everywhere. I'd really like to make a theme of terrain at my place, with a lot of variety. I'm feeling a steampunk/wild west theme, with a few pieces that are heavily steampunk, somethat are heavily cowboy-ish, and some that are a light mixture of both. The theme would work with anything but the most fantasy of games, and it would give me a chance to have some fun and make some unique pieces. Otherwise I'll go with an industrial vibe, which would let me have fun with my foam cutter and make a bunch of ruined bricks, barricades, and whatever else I can think up.

6. Play a non-solo game once a week
When I was brainstorming with my wife, she suggested I play a tabletop game every week. While I'd love to do that, I just can't safely commit myself to something that requires me to transport an army to another location and spend a few hours there. After some talking, we modified it to playing any multiplayer game once a week. Whether it's a long, face-to-face game like Warmachine, a competitive shooter like Titanfall, or just an online chess game, I want to stay connected to other gamers. This will probably be the hardest to keep up, but like attending a tournament I think it will help me better appreciate spending time with other gamers.

5. Enter a painting contest
I don't foresee winning anything but a local tournament, but darn it I need to cowboy up and enter one already. My first one won't be anything crazy - I'll paint up a model and enter it. Done. Once I get addicted to painting contests, because they'll force me to push myself beyond my limits, I know I'll start getting more creative and skilled with my personal and commission painting. And if I happen to win a contest in the meantime, that's just gravy.

4. Paint 4 starter boxes for each game I'm interested in
I have painted up a new Khador starter, I have a Cyriss and Circle box started, and I have a Menoth and Trolls starter assembled and ready for paint. For Malifaux I'll have my Guild's Judgment box, plus I already have most of a Hamelin starter painted from a contest I was going to enter earlier this year. If I make these my focus during my painting free time, I can get this one done very quickly. Which will be good because I want to...

3. Apply as an official volunteer community coordinator
No surprise here, right? I'd love to be a Press Ganger or Henchman and help bring a community together for a game I love. The only thing holding me up right now is getting support from a local gaming store. I think my local shop already has a representative for Warmachine, but Malifaux is barely present. Either way, I know my LGS is pretty open on Saturdays, and since that's my only free day to play games I'm pretty sure it will be a piece of cake to finally make this goal happen.

2. Learn 3 new painting/modelling techniques
This one will probably go hand-in-hand with entering contests. I hate being at rest with my skills, and nothing makes me happier than pushing myself to learn new things. One technique I'm going to perfect is blending. I have the raw ability, but it needs a lot of refinement. I want to learn at least 1 modelling technique, whether it's basic conversion work or creating an amazing base. Working with oil paints (instead of acrylics) has been on my mind for awhile, so I may have my three techniques figured out already!

1. Blog at least once a month
The real plan is once a week. I said once a month simply because I can see myself bottoming out in January. Although I've loved this experience, it will be nice not to wake up every day and have my first thought be "I need to figure out today's topic." At the same time, 365 posts has made blogging a part of who I am. As I said with my video battle reports, I want to move away from hammering out post after post, and instead focus on making some quality stuff for you guys. Videos will probably become more prevalent, longer posts will be more common, and I may even proofread my stuff! I like to think that reading some of my posts has become a regular part of the week for many of you, and knowing that my writing is of interest to a handful of people is what's kept me going for much of this journey.

Bonus goal!
I'm definitely doing another charity this year. Knowing that my painting could be used for a good cause was, without a doubt, the greatest experience I've had in gaming.

So there it is. I'm still debating on whether I'll have a "punishment" for missing my goals. I mean really, other than blogging there's no way to know whether I've passed or failed until December 31st. I want to figure out something to keep me accountable because I know if I don't, it will be too easy to just shrug my shoulders and say "oh well" if I don't do everything. I'd be grateful for any ideas on making sure I keep myself working towards accomplishing this list!

And what about you guys? What does 2014 hold in store for you as a gamer?

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Orange-Flavored Armies

2013-12-27T18:21:00.002-06:00

My kids have these frozen juice bars that are pretty delicious. Whenever we all have one, Dad gets stuck with orange because no one else will eat it. When I'm sharing Starburst with my wife, I have to distract her in order to grab a red or pink one out of the pile, because I'm the only one who will eat orange or yellow. At this point I've consigned myself to always taking the flavors that no one wants, because someone has to eat them.

As a kid, it always perplexed me that companies would make the flavors no one really wants to eat. Wouldn't a bag of red and pink Starburst sell better than a bag where you only get half the pieces that you like? Apparently not as much, because Starburst has done just that, yet I rarely see their Fave Reds at a store. And while I've thought about trying them, the idea of not having those "blah" flavors somehow lessened my excitement for eating a fistful of the good stuff.

I couldn't find anything on the psychology behind including those flavors, but I'm sure there's a marketing brilliance behind giving consumers less of what they want by sticking them with stuff they don't. Whether it makes it more savory to eat the gross stuff and finally enjoy the good pieces, or it somehow leaves us wanting more because we don't feel like we get everything we want, there's something to be said for the effectiveness of not giving in to the demands of everyone wanting nothing but the best.

I think this applies to games as well. In any game, having choices will inevitably have at least one option significantly disadvantaged compared to the rest. Whether it's a character-driven game like Warcraft or Leage of Legends, or something with several units like Age of Empires or Warmachine, there is rarely balance between every single option. Of course it's entirely possibly that perfect balance is an impossibility without seriously diluting everything, but I would argue that even if it were possible, it would be a bad idea.

In addition to making a choice based on what looks "fun," I think many players choose their character or army based on the power level assigned to it by the community. My inescapable teacher mentality will always have me hanging around newbie areas for games I love, and there's a flavor of question that will always come up. "What's the top-tier option right now?" Games are competitive, and people like to play the best, especially in the beginning, in order to do well and soften the learning curve.

Of course it's not always someone looking to play the best. Sometimes someone wants to avoid the top-tier option due to a sense of pride, wanting to avoid seeing the exact same army against them, or just because they know that the best option now will usually get hindered in the future in order to keep the game evolving. Communities will always have a list of choices in order from best to worst, and people will always be looking to those lists to find a choice that lines up with where on the scale they want to be.

Sometimes people don't care what the most powerful army is. Many times people are interested in investigating the least-represented options. I think these people are the most interesting, because they're willing to start the game with an understood handicap, and from day one they will fight an uphill battle in order to even contend with the other armies. The reasons behind this mentality are numerous - they enjoy hard-fought wins, they're gaming hipsters, they want to prove that an army isn't that bad, they want to stand out.... or like me they've consigned themselves to eating the orange Starburst.

The reason I think this imbalance is key to a good game is that it appeals to people who don't choose solely based on gameplay mechanics. In 40k there's a noticeable difference between Necrons and Sisters of Battle. In Warmachine, it's Cryx and Minions (two armies my buddy Josh places, incidentally). In Malifaux, I'm lead to believe it's Neverborn and Gremlins.

Yet despite the chasm separating good from bad, each side has huge supporters. I have a secret crush on the Gators half of Minions in Warmachine. There is a phenomenal blog called Rot N Roll that is dedicated to tactics, lists, battle reports, and anything else related to Gators. Although the author doesn't have the win ratio of a Cryx or Legion player of equal skill level, he is no less passionate about playing and teaching about the faction he loves, despite people claiming that it isn't even a real faction!

No matter what game you play, the oranges will have a small-but-dedicated following. There will be tactics articles, passionate posts, angry rants, and everything else that proves people don't look at their favorite faction and say it can only be good when it's as good as the rest. There may be suggestions on improving it, but Minions players don't want an easy option like a Haley + Stormwall combo, they just want to be able to have a chance, no matter how hard they'll have to fight to win. It's not just because they like the feel of it - deep down, some people like their bottom-tier choices because they're considered bad.

And of course, there's the obligatory "you can't appreciate the good without seeing the bad."

That's why I think balance, while necessary to a degree, shouldn't be an absolute goal. Players want options in terms of looks and flavor, but also in terms of overall power level. Someone winning with the best is hardly surprising. When someone wins a tournament with the supreme underdog, you know they're a good player. We like our options, especially when all options aren't created equal.

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Art Appreciation

2013-12-26T17:14:00.002-06:00

For the majority of my life, I didn't really care about art. I could admire it like anyone else, but I never really understood what made art something to "ooh" and "ahh" over. When I started painting miniatures, I also saw my perspective on art completely change.

Last night we went to have Christmas with the in-laws, and I think I spent 45 minutes talking to Amanda's grandfather about his art. He showed me copies of several of his pieces, and I found myself able to see the small details that added up to the entire picture - things like shading and color gradation are the first things I noticed, and from there I'd start taking in more and more of the picture. Compare that to a few years ago where I'd look at a picture and have no real idea how it was done.

Last month I also found myself enjoying a video I never would have care about before.

The video has a group of graffiti artists who are unleashed on an abandoned warehouse. The entire time I watched it, I wasn't paying attention to what they were creating so much as how they were doing it. I was admiring the subtleties that made a piece really stand out, and how every piece created a piece of art.

I've had people refer to me as an "artist," and I've sort of balked at the idea. I've never been good at art. I tried taking an art class in high school and finally quit because I was pretty sure the teacher was going to throw me out because I wasn't progressing like she wanted. I've always admired people who can make things that are beautiful to look at, and had accepted that I wouldn't be one of them.

With all of that, the idea that I love painting miniatures boggles a lot of people who knew me growing up. While I'm probably not ready to win any painting competitions, I know that I love art more than I ever have. I'm understanding color theory, I'm always trying new techniques, and I've had a few people compliment my painting. I can talk art theory with people who do more standard styles of art, and I don't feel like I'm a toddler trying to play in the major leagues.

It's kind of exciting to think about. I've always enjoyed the arts, but I mostly stuck to writing or hands-on things like origami. Realizing that I understand art because of my painting makes me wonder if I did accidentally stumble in to a small bit of artist-hood, even if I will never be able to paint something on a blank canvass.

To you painters out there, do you find yourself appreciating other art after learning to paint miniatures? Do you consider yourself an artist, or just someone who paints little dudes? I'm still not ready to call myself an "artist," but I'm curious to hear how the rest of you see yourselves.

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Am I Getting Too Old for This?

2013-12-25T13:00:00.000-06:00

I received a text from my wife the other day because my mom wasn't sure what sort of gift card I'd like. "Miniature Market!" was my reply, just like last year. Before that it would always be Gamestop, and before I got a Nintendo 64 it was probably Toys R Us.

At a certain point I started feeling weird about asking for gaming stuff. Guys in my family were asking for fishing equipment or NFL stuff. Me? I wanted geeky stuff. I wanted a Legend of Zelda wallet and a strategy guide for Oblivion. Other people my age ask for gift cards to Walmart, and I ask for an excuse to expand my hobbies.

I feel like it should bother me. I mean I'm asking for stuff that a kid might be asking for. And of course games are for kids, right? But that's why we rock - we are who we are. I've said before that rooting for a game you can't impact, and that doesn't impact you (or at least shouldn't despite the rage I see online), every week seems no less weird than spending several hours enjoying a story that culminates in you slaying a dragon. I mean really, all hobbies are weird, yet geeks are expected to believe that collecting comics is somehow less mature than collecting sports paraphernalia.

To all of that, I say "Bah humbug." I like who I am, and I will still get excited when my great-great grandchildren visit me in the nursing home and bring me a copy of Assassin's Creed 92.

I hope you guys have a great Christmas and get something really geeky (because how else can you have a great Christmas?) No matter how old you are, remember to let that geek symbol shine bright!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Desolation of Smaug - A Neverending TV Show

2013-12-24T22:28:00.000-06:00

[While I don't necessarily give anything away that you can't infer from commercials, it would probably be best to watch The Desolation of Smaug before reading.]

Tonight I took my mom to see the new Hobbit movie. As I was watching it, I couldn't help but feel like I was watching an uninterrupted, high-production TV series.

The first movie caught a lot of flak because nothing really happened. Now I had no real issue with the slow pace and lack of plot development because a Tolkien story deserves an entire movie to set up a sweeping story. Sure it took about an hour before the adventure even started, but I was happy to watch it because I knew it was a necessary process.

However, all of that assumes that the next movie goes somewhere. In the span of 2 1/2 hours, "The Desolation of Smaug" didn't really do much of anything. It started a few new subplots, but nothing from this or the previous movie got wrapped up. They walked, there were orcs to put down, a dragon to slay, and a king trying to reclaim his throne. Everything that happened in the first movie is still up in the air by the end of the second.

Although I enjoyed the movie, I was disappointed that I spent 2 1/2 hours watching what felt like a continuation of the first movie, with no sense of completion or identity. It felt very much like a tv show, where there was an overarching story (reclaiming the mountain), but in between continuing that story there are a lot of side stories showing off the world and the people living in it. However, very little of that serves as more than a vehicle to keep the characters on screen until the season fina... er, third movie.

Now compare that to the LotR trilogy. Each movie was part of a grand story, but they also had their own identity. The Fellowship of the Ring established characters, created the fellowship, and then split them up. One even died! The Two Towers had the establishment and completion of the Helm's Deep battle, as well as some stuff involving Frodo. The final movie was huge and capstoned the first two movies, but still felt like its own entity. They were all self-contained movies that were good in their own right, and fantastic when seen as a trilogy.

So far the two hobbit movies haven't had much happen. There have been some side quests, but no main stories have been wrapped up. The only thing the characters have started and completed is a lot of walking to various destinations, where they'll always have a zany adventure before moving on. That's not a movie, that's several episodes of a TV series. So far the two movies haven't had their own major story arc that was developed and completed in a single movie. The second movie could have cut a completely unnecessary fight involving a creature we've already seen in LotR to make room for completing one of the stories (or further explaining a tie-in to the LotR), but instead just gave us a bit of fluff that wasn't terribly exciting. Instead the 2 1/2 hour movie gets so close to completing something, only to cut to a picture of Peter Jackson holding a sign that says "Psych!"

Now you could argue that people are coming down hard because the LotR set the bar too high. While that may be a motivator for some, I do think this movie has proven that taking a single book and expanding it in to 3 movies might have been too much. We're getting a new tour of Middle Earth, but so far the movies feel like what they are - an 8 hour movie split up in to three chunks, or a marathon TV series.

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the new trilogy. I enjoy Tolkien's world, and the endless depth of lore always leaves me wanting to learn more. I would gladly watch the first two movies again because they are packed with information about the world, and since I find Tolkien's writing to be very dry I've never been able to immerse myself in the world as much as I'd like. But despite my love for the movie series, I do think it deserve the criticism it's received regarding its pacing.

Now to cross my fingers and hope I get the first Hobbit movie for Christmas tomorrow!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

My Top 10 - Posts of the Year

2013-12-23T18:11:00.002-06:00

I have about one week left for my blogging journey. Over the past 350+ days, I'd like to think I've had a good post or two. There has been a lot to comb through, but as I took my trip down memory lane I managed to pick out a few of my favorite posts over the past year. I'd really love to hear any posts you guys have enjoyed as well!
10. "Setting Goals and Giving Swag"
The post that started it all. This entire journey started because on January 1st, one of my former writing students post a video of her brother doing a backflip every day last year. I was so inspired that after watching it, I showed it to my wife and told her I wanted to do something similar. So on a whim, I decided I would take this blogging journey. The idea of it hadn't even entered my mind in 2012 - this entire journey was decided over the course of a few hours. And yet here we are! December 23rd without a single missed post. I even had to change my own rules and do a monthly giveaway as a "thank you" to my readers because I knew I wasn't going to let myself fail this one.

9. "Dreams of a Painter"
Earlier this year I laid out some goals I had for myself as a painter. After finally writing it out, I felt compelled to really start pursuing them. Out of the five goals, I was able to accomplish one of them twice! This year I was able to donate a small Menoth army to Clash for a Cure, as well as a Behemoth to Battle for Hope. Next year I'd really like to win a contest, so wish me luck on that one!

8. "Gamer GIFs" volumes one, two and three
I had a lot of fun with these, but searching through hundreds of GIFs in a single day wasn't very sustainable. I'd really like to get back to doing these when the mood strikes, so look forward to some more Gamer GIFs in 2014!

7. "WarmaChess - Stalling Out"
Although a less meaningful post for most readers, this one held a huge personal revelation. My buddy Zach has been playing chess with me to help me sharpen my gaming skills, and through that I realized that despite enjoying aggressive play, I'm really more of an attrition player. That has really changed how I look at a lot of my gaming, and has changed how I play games - not just Warmachine and chess, but it's even affected how I've been playing Call of Duty. That bit of insight has made me more methodical in my decisions, and overall I feel like I've become a better gamer because of it.

6. "Escaping Escapism"
This one was probably my most somber post of the year, but it was also one that I think a lot of people could relate to. When things in life would get overwhelming, I'd subconsciously try to escape in to gaming until I could suppress the stress enough to continue on. When my grandfather passed away this year, I finally accepted that tendency, as well as my need to change it. I don't think that could have happened without this blogging journey, because writing every day has forced me to really get to know myself and analyze why I do what I do.

5. Music for the Geeky Mind
This one didn't get many views, but it was one of my favorites to write. Although I'm not a huge music guy, there are certain songs out there that can really get my imagination rolling. There are so many great songs out there that could inspire entire books, and I think gamers are well-equipped to fully appreciate the creativity put in to music, and the imagery created from it.

4. Community-Focus posts
I tried to narrow this one down, but alas. Almost every month you guys could be guaranteed something - a rant and a post about community. Of all the people in the world, I truly believe gamers have the greatest potential communities. The problem is that our passions often cause us to be some of the most fractured. My local gaming group was pivotal in helping me handle (and by God's grace be cured of) severe depression. Because of that, boosting the gaming community has become very important to me.

Some of my favorite community posts this year have included "The Wiggity-Wack World of WYSIWYG," "Fixing Player Toxicity," "Get a Life," "We're All a Little Mad Here," "What Does It Take?" as well as my confession about wanting to actually coordinate a community myself!

3. "Being Married to a Gamer"
Maybe this is cheating since I didn't write it, but it was definitely one of my favorite posts of the year. My wife had been working on a fun post, and had been conspiring by taking photos while I was gone, or tricking others (including me!) in to taking photos for her. Although the post is pretty lighthearted, I think a lot of gaming spouses can agree that there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to living with us crazy gamers!

2. "Starting Them Young" series
This year I saw my daughter, Emma, finally becoming a bit of a gamer. I did some posts about her buying her first miniature, painting it up during her first painting lesson, and then using her miniature in a few adventures using the RPG Kids rules. Every gaming parent know that there's no greater thrill than when your kid starts showing interest in your hobbies, so seeing her go from playing with Barbies to asking if she can play with my dice has been a dream come true.

1. "Is WAAC Whack?" series
I did this 3 part series early on, but as soon as I wrote it I knew it would be hard to top. I got quite a bit of buzz from the community, many of whom had some very kind words to say about the series. Writing this also opened my own eyes, as the entire series was really a personal exploration of why I game. The 3 posts have totaled about 1,200 views, which has been quite humbling. I want to do more series like this in the future - I've done some deeper posts here and there, but it's usually hard to spend a single day organizing, writing, and rewriting a post until I'm happy with it.

There have been so many posts I've enjoyed writing that it was hard to really pin them all down. Admittedly there a few where I was so tired, sick, or whatever that it was definitely written just to write for the day. Those were few and far between - I took great care to try to make my daily posts interesting, relevant, and diverse. I hope you guys have enjoyed taking this journey with me.

Whether you've been here since January 1st, or you just got here, I'd love to hear about your journey with me. Have there been any posts you've really enjoyed? Have you had any of those "Huh, I hadn't thought about that" moments? I'm curious to hear whether all this typing has been able to have a positive impact on someone!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Malifaux - First Impressions

2013-12-22T18:13:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was a pretty wonder-faux day. A day faux-ed with new experienced and faux-filled wishes. I faux-nally got to play Malifaux after a year of waiting, and it was Mali-velous.

Okay, I'm done with the puns. But they were fun!

Seriously though, I'm really happy with the game. Last week I was asking around my LGS about anyone who plays Malifaux, and it turned out that a worker had a casual group that played on occasion. I was told to call him when he came in later that day, we exchanged contact info, and finally set a time to meet up and play my first official game.

After chatting a bit, we set up our board. I know Malifaux is a terrain-heavy game, but I had no idea how much that was true until he told me to imagine a tic-tac-toe board, and we'd each be putting some terrain in each "square" of the board. He grabbed a few huge pieces, and the Warmachine player in me started cringing at just how much terrain he was expecting us to bring. How on earth was I supposed to maneuver around a board with so little open areas?!

Brent brought Ressurectionists. After I told him how Seamus, The Mad Hatter is my favorite master in terms of fluff, we went about randomly choosing our goals for the game. I had briefly read over each of these during my rulebook marathon, I assumed they were fairly mindless and didn't require too much thought. Boy was I wrong.

First we picked a strategy, which was a shared goal for each of us. At the end of each turn we scored a point if we controlled two 18"x18" quarters of the board, meaning we needed to have 1 or 2 models in an area. Further complicating things, we had 5 random schemes (mini objectives) that we could secretly choose from with the option of revealing them to gain extra points if we fulfilled them. I don't remember all the options, but I chose a scheme that required me to place markers on the center line of the table, and another that required me to keep one of my models alive until the very end.

After choosing those, we built our crews. Much to my enjoyment, Brent brought Seamus against me, while I of course brought my Lady Justice crew, with several upgrades made to beat Resurrectionists. I took photos for a possible battle report so I won't spoil the ending, but let me say that the game is much more strategic than I imagined. We traded blows for a bit, but Brent was slowly building his way towards setting up a strong goal-oriented presence on the board. My Warmachine history told me that I could worry about the objectives once I had crushed him enough, but that was definitely a mistake.

When the game ended, I was on top of the world. I remembered my rules fairly well, and by the end of the game I almost felt competent as a player. Despite each of us trying to win, the entire game was light-hearted and enjoyable.

Later that night, I also got to play my buddy Josh for his first game of Malifaux. More Ressurectionists for the Guild to put down! Things went pretty slow at first since we were both new, but by the end I feel like we both had a good grasp on the rules. He shredded my Lady J with his vicious Punk Zombies, and I put down a never-ending tide of Mindless Zombies on the other half of the board. We had a lot of fun, and despite having to drive through a baby blizzard and having my windshield-wiper motor die after 10 minutes, I was so glad I finally got to play the game at my group.

I'm reserving full judgment until I play a few games, but so far I love the game. The rules are straightforward, with the complexities being left up to the individual models' rules instead of a dense book. I love the emphasis on terrain, especially since it actually served a strong purpose in both games that I played. I thought I wouldn't like premeasuring, but it removed so much frustration and disappointment that can instantly an otherwise enjoyable game. The battles felt thematic, with each crew bringing a unique flavor that required me to play strategically against my opponent, rather than just trying to work around my opponent so that I could make my list do what it's supposed to do.

The game was definitely worth the wait, and I can't wait to dig deeper in to the game. And now that I've officially played a game, I think it's about time to get my crew painted up!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Bringing a Sword to a Bomb Fight

2013-12-21T10:40:00.001-06:00

Warning: this entire post was done using voice to text while driving. Iowa is going to get up pretty bad snowstorm tonight and I don't know if I'll make it home in time to write an actual post, so I'm leaving this here for now. When I get home tonight I will edit it, so if you can read this morning I wish you luck in trying to translate all the awkward words.

I think I figured out the perfect metaphor to explain why I don't have the biggest winning record. While I'm sitting there trying to have a game of individual sword fights, my opponents are usually building ball I realize this last night when I played my buddy John and hurtsone last night. I was busy playing small ball – killing his minions trying to deal some damage etc. Meanwhile he was always building towards a bigger plan it would end of the game in his favor. This isn't some new revelation for me of course, but I never realized just how different The game to play out when I am picking individual battles in gaining small wins wow my opponent is working towards a bigger goal even if that means losing a few pieces. Long time readers may recall that I don't likely's, and I hate the idea of acceptable losses. In any game, of course, you have to lose something if you're playing a remotely balanced game. I'm not opposed to losing pieces, and I've even gotten better about throwing Smallpiece is a way to make bigger games later. However I'm still not building a bomb – I'm bringing a sword to a bombsight and expecting the way. It doesn't work, I'm finally starting to see why throughout the game I will feel like I'm doing quite well – killing pieces I'm gaining advantage and overall I'm doing better than my phone. The problem typically comes from my actual bill, I think. I don't build with that grand finish in mind. I have a very micro view of of the game I want to play, and as a result I can't have a big winnings game because so much of my resources are stacked on turn by turn picture's. In theory I feel like it should work, but like I said I'm finally starting to see the bigger picture and how I need change my game. Don't get me wrong, even fighting for small victories is an improvement over the years, but I can't let that be my only goal. Instead of gaining small advantages and control of the board, I need to get small advantages that work toward paving the way for my big finisher. Building bombs in the game requires a sense of control and ownership over what's happening, and realizing that some things are going to be lost as long as it's not things that help me build my ball. This feels like a pretty big change to Inc., and I'm not sure how I'm going to do. However, I'm realizing that this is one of the biggest differences between how I and my friends play. I think it's why I struggle so much with strategies and tactics – it's because I don't have anything to work towards with the list organic that I brought.

I remember in my days of magic, people would start would suggest I build start building with a win condition in mind and then filling things and from there. I think it's time for me to start doing that, rather than just putting in fun pieces that I like that I know can win, and then just filling in with other things that might fit. Everything should have a purpose, and I need to start figuring out what those purposes are, and building to maximize those purposes. I feel like everything else will flow smoothly after that, my biggest goal needs to be to constantly remind myself to have the bigger game in mind. I need to stop swinging swords, and start looking for explosives!

Don't Play Games With Me

2013-12-20T20:30:00.003-06:00

Although I cant' find the article, in the past I'm pretty sure I've talked about how I feel about someone quitting a game before they lose, robbing the other player of their opportunity to beat their opponent, rather than just winning from a forfeit. While there are circumstances where I think it's perfectly acceptable, HearthStone has given me a new pet peeve - my opponent refusing to win because they know they can't lose.

Before I go in to this, I want to point out that I haven't played many games against other players in HearthStone - 15 at the most, and I've only won 6 games. Of those remaining 9 games, I've had 3 people mess with me instead of delivering the killing blow, and it drives me nuts. I'm at 5 health while they're at 25, I have no creatures and they have 4. I have 1 card in my hand and they have 5. There is nothing I can do to win the game at that point without having some unreasonably powerful card, and even then I wouldn't count on a win for another 2 or 3 turns.

Rather than just ending the game so we can both move on, they insist on dragging it out by playing every single card they can, destroying my creatures instead of me, and generally being a jerk about the whole situation. I realize not everyone who does this means to be a jerk - some of them may just want to pull off a combo or see if they can draw a card they want before they finish me off and not even realize that there's another person sitting there bored out of their mind while they giggle to themselves. But the fact is that I am sitting there, knowing there's nothing I can do because any attempt to regain control of the game will get crushed.

Of course I wouldn't have to deal with it if I weren't so stubborn. I could just concede the game, but I can't make myself do it. I like seeing games out to the end unless conceding will save me a lot of wasted time. However, when a game gets to the point where I'm one move away from losing, conceding feels like pouting.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't as annoying as dealing with most people online. HearthStone's chat consisting of 8 premade responses means I'm never quite sure if I'm dealing with an idiot. Of all the things that could happen, someone dragging out a game really does rank pretty low. But I'd never really been annoyed by this until it happened to me more than once every few months.

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Rest Time Reviews - HearthStone (Beta)

2013-12-19T22:59:00.001-06:00

Rest Time Reviews is a series for those with limited time to play video games. While I'll discuss the game as a whole, I also focus on whether or not a game is literally a waste of time. This RTR is all about HearthStone!
I've been waiting for this game to release for quite some time. Despite swearing off WoW for the rest of my life, I still like the universe and Blizzard still makes solid games (sans Diablo III's release). Plus I've been wanting a decent digital trading card game that wasn't Magic, and up to this point the field has been pretty disappointing. When I saw my first HearthStone commentary from an early version of the game, I knew I'd found my game.

Last night I finally received an invitation to their closed beta, and I haven't been disappointed. I'm not terribly far in to the game, but I've experienced everything outside of building/playing decks using the best cards, so I think I can give a fair assessment of the game so far.

What's it about?

First of all, the rules are very similar to Magic. Two people face off using one of the 9 core Warcraft classes. Using a mix of cards only available to that class, as well as neutral cards that can be used by anyone, players build a 30 card deck that can only have 2 copies of a single card. Players then alternate spending mana to summon creatures or cast spells, all with the end goal of setting your opponent's health to 0. So far there are no alternate win conditions, but I have a feeling the game has room for advanced decks with hard-to-achieve win cons down the road.

What sets this apart from almost every game out there is resource management. Games always have some way of pacing what players can play so that they don't drop their best creatures on turn 1. Instead of making you juggle your own resources, you get an amount of mana equal to the current turn. On turn 1 each player gets 1 mana to spend, on turn 2 they get 2, and so on. It makes games very predictable, it makes the limited resource accelerators very potent, and overall I feel like there's much less frustration because random chance has hosed my ability to play my deck properly.

What do I do?

Much like World of Warcraft, you level each of your classes by using their starter deck, or one of your own creation. I don't know if there's much point in leveling a character outside of the class-specific cards you unlock each time - most of them are very thematic and generally pretty good, but even a level 1 character can have a decent deck from cards that have been unlocked in packs (more on that later).

There are 3 different modes in HearthStone.

Practice lets you choose an AI opponent to test your deck against, letting you test a deck's concept against easier opponent's and give you decent character XP as you go. Unfortunately no gold can be earned here, and XP gains become pretty minimal after level 10.
Play (yes, Play) pits you against a random opponent in a ranked or casual game. This is a good way to get gold and XP if you can win, but losing gets you nothing.
Arena is my favorite so far. You pick from 1 of 3 randomly chosen classes, then create a draft deck. You are given 3 cards and asked to pick 1 for your deck, and continue on until you've made a 30 card deck that cannot be changed. You are then randomly paired against opponents until you lose 3 times or win 7 times. At the end of this you are rewarded based on your performance. My two times in the arena had me a 1-3 and I got two prizes each time (gold and cards), so I imagine you get a prize for entering and a prize each time you win. Note that these games don't need to be done all at once - a game takes 5-10 minutes, and I played my 8 arena games over the course of last night and today with no fear of timing out.

Collecting and stuff

Building up your collection in the game is pretty simple. Card packs can be purchased for gold or real-world cash. Each pack contains 5 cards with a guaranteed Rare, Epic, or Legendary card. These packs aren't class-specific, and I've opened several packs that had no love for the Mage I was playing at the time. There doesn't seem to be an ability to trade cards with players yet, and I'd honestly be fine if it were never implemented so that there's never an easy out for building an uber deck.

Remember how I said a deck could only have 2 of a single card? HearthStone has a way to manage any excess cards in your inventory. Extra stuff can be disenchanted for crafting material, which can be collected and used to purchase better cards. The value of the card compared to what you get from disenchanting is pretty lopsided, but it's not like you're doing anything else with the cards anyway.

Pay to play? Get my torch and pitchfork!i

I hate free-to-play models, because all the good content is severely limited for people not wanting to spend needlessly. HearthStone definitely wants you to pay, but I think they perfectly toe the line between "pay to win" and "play without paying." By that I mean I think it will appeal to all audiences without leaning too heavily one way or the other.

Entering the arena costs $2 or 150 gold. If you do well enough in the arena then you supposedly get enough gold from winning to pay for another round. I, however, don't have that luxury. So I play against regular opponents, but the winnings from that are pretty slim. The other way to earn gold is through daily quests, which today had me winning 3 times in Play mode and dealing 100 damage to my opponents. The payout for that was 10 and 40 gold, respectively. So you can see that it's not a simple thing to just grind out the Arena, which is the funnest aspect of the game. At the same time, it's not so impossible that playing it is a rare thing - it just requires you to play a lot of regular games and win, which... is really the big point of playing a trading card game in the first place!

That being said, using money to buy pack puts you well ahead of the curve. I played my friend's deck tonight, and there were a ton of powerful cards in there that weren't close to anything I had in my deck, and that's because he splurged and bought packs. I think the game is compelling enough to warrant paying real money for it, especially if a trading system is ever enacted. Still, there's nothing that can be obtained with real money that can't be equally obtained with hard work. It may take longer, but it also means you get to savor the game longer, and good cards become even more meaningful.

The time investment

The big idea behind these reviews is to evaluate whether a game is making the most out of a player's time. If I only have 20 minutes to sit down and play, I want to make the most of that time. HearthStone passes this test with flying colors. There are minimal menus, letting you enjoy the majority of the game looking at the beautiful artwork. Deck building is relatively easy, though understandably more time consuming if you don't use the suggestion feature. Combat is straight to the point, all abilities can be read by hovering over a card, and I'm rarely left confused about what's going on.

Final thoughts

HearthStone is a great game. Magic has lost its pizzazz because I rarely interact with the opponent's creatures. In HearthStone, you have to pay attention to what your opponent puts on the field or you'll lose. All classes are very flavorful, but there seems to be enough versatility to let you flex your creativity. It's pretty competitive from what I've seen, and decisions are meaningful and strategic, rather than inevitable and mindless.

I'd encourage you to sign up for the beta and check it out.The open beta starts early next year, but there's certainly no harm in enjoying such an awesome game sooner! It's going to take me quite awhile to be competitive, but when the iPad version releases I'll be able to dedicate a bit more time in to my stubborn, miserly ways.

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Math vs. Instinct

2013-12-18T20:13:00.001-06:00

7s to hit has become a nightmare in Warmachine. Before April of last year I paid little heed to the numbers of the game and instead ran a free-for-all on rolling dice.

"I need a 4 to hit? I'm not going to risk missing - boost!"

"Dice minus 8 on damage, and your model has 3 boxes left? I'm feeling lucky, punk."

"My power is equal to the armor of your knocked-down warjack? Let's boost like there's no tomorrow!"

The math guys are undoubtedly shaking their heads in shame right now, because I was throwing statistics out the window in favor of gut feeling, as though my senses are somehow so in tune with the universe that I can sense when I will or won't roll against averages. There was no rhyme or reason to my decisions to boost, I just went with what felt right and assumed that there was no right or wrong choice.

So what happened to break me of that? I read an article about that filthy subject called math, and it totally changed how I looked at gaming. The article was written by TMage from Muse on Minis, and it basically explored the math behind when you should or shouldn't boost. Before reading it I treated the game like a chaotic mess of unimaginable results. I mean realistically, the odds of me rolling two 6s is the same as rolling two 1s, so how could math ever be useful?

What I'd forgotten is that dice aren't just valueless images. If every side of a die was the same value, then I'd have equal chances to roll any combination. But when I realized that I needed to factor in the value of the dice, I realized that I was wrong when I told my math teacher I'd never use math in real life.

There are two values that every Warmachine player should remember, even if you never do anything more with dice math: 7 and -4.

Statistically speaking, the average value of rolling a die is 3.5. Thus the average roll of 2d6 is 7, and that's a good baseline for remember when to boost an attack. If you need an 8 or greater to hit, it's important to boost. If you're hitting at 6 or less, save your resources for boosting damage or buying more attacks.

Damage is treated in a similar manner. If you're subtracting 4 or more from your damage roll, boost it to roll 3d6. If you're subtracting 3 or less from your damage rolls, save your resources for buying more attacks.

7 to hit, -4 on the damage roll. That's your basic guide to boosting.

Now of course, that comes with a lot of caveats, and that's when I lose control of my math. Warmachine isn't based on averages. There are some targets that you attack because there's nothing else to do. There are others that must die. Sometimes you could be rolling pure dice on the damage roll, but you needed a 14 3d6 to even hit them, and you doubt you'll be able to roll that again.

That's where players can go one of two ways. Some players can juggle all the math explained in the linked article. Those are the guys who will appreciate these two brilliant tables from an article on probabilities from SteamForged.com

Of course dice math isn't just a solid boost/no-boost scenario. You need to weigh percentages and decide whether you're likely to hit with several attacks so that you can sustain your damage output, or if you should secure the attack by boosting it, then boosting the damage if you get through. There are people who can look at these tables, internalize them, and use them to drastically improve their game by leaving little to gut reactions.

Those people are monsters, but they're also the most likely to be top-tier players. The rest of us can only remember 7 and -4, and we have to leave the rest of up to that fickle thing called instinct.

I have to look at a fight I'm about to pick and figure out where I fall on the 7 / -4 plan. If I'm running averages all the way through, it's a piece of cake. Of course I'm always tipped one way or the other, either they're easy to hit but hard to kill, or vice versa. In that case I have to let the importance of the fight give weight to my decision. Do I need this thing to happen? Then I'll make sure I hit and leave little doubt about doing damage. Can I live with missing an attack or two? Then I'll buy attacks and maybe boost damage so that I can accomplish something.

And that is when I hate 7s to hit. It's such a troubling number because I trust that I'll hit on 6s, and I trust that I'll miss on 8s. But 7s feel like they're up in the air, and falling on the wrong side of the odds can mess me up because if I'd just boosted, things would have worked out!

I feel like I have good control of knowing when to boost damage though. Boosting the attack is so hard because if that misses, nothing happens. But with damage, all that madness is behind you and you just have to decide how much oomph you want. I've seen people boost damage on an easy attack and average damage, dealing 1-2 extra damage and leaving them down one attack.

I don't like doing that because despite statistics, there's always a chance that buying that extra attack could cause my dice to catch fire and let me deliver a debilitating damage roll. Now instead of boosting an easy damage roll and dealing 3 or 4 more damage, I use that to buy the extra attack and deal 6-9 more damage. It doesn't always happen, but I know that it's possible and I'm always willing to let my gut guide me a little bit if it means I can throw my hands up in triumph because a gamble paid off.

People will use as much or as little math as they want. I'm awful with numbers, so I doubt I'll ever go beyond my two numbers. However, I really do think it's important for people to at least remember those numbers if they want to step up their game. Throwing dice and not trying to increase the odds of success can be a lot of fun because it's so random and dynamic, but at a certain point I realized it was limiting my ability to use skill in a game because I left too much up to chance. By learning to harness just a little bit of math, I saw my success rate rise. Not enough to overcome my bad strategies and funky lists, but it was a start in the right direction!

I hope this wasn't too much of a bore. I hate math, but it does have its uses. If this is your first time seeing this, I'd encourage you to use 7 and -4 in your next few games and see if you feel a bit more in control. And if you do, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Gaming Stole My Words

2013-12-17T22:49:00.001-06:00

Tonight I was talking to my wife about some flowers I got for my daughter after her Christmas concert. I don't remember how it came up, but I accused her of having a secret reason for wanting to cut the stems of Emma's flowers, to which she replied "Well that's one aspect of it." Immediately my mind sarcastically replied with "Aspect of the Hawk?"

For the less damaged out there, Aspect of the Hawk is an ability in World of Warcraft, one of many different Aspect of the _____ abilities the Hunter class can use to enhance themselves. After spending nearly a year playing a Hunter and juggling aspects, that word is now forever associated with Aspect of the Hawk.

Sadly, that's not the only word that has been corrupted in my mind.

Whenever I hear someone reference the island of of Granada, I instantly hear the screaming soldier from Call of Duty 4 whenever someone would throw a grenade. So famous/annoying is that sound that it's the first one in this clip.

Whenever the word "war" is left hanging in the air, I must finish it with the intro to Fallout 3.

If something is effective, it must do 1.5x to 2x damage, because that's how Pokemon works. If something must be caught in large quantities, "Gotta Catch 'em All" starts playing in my head.

If a high pitched voice says "Hey" or "Listen!" I'm feeling the urge to swat at a stupid fairy. In a cruel twist of fate, my son likes to say "Hey" and "Listen!" when my daughter is ignoring him...

If an outdoor location is dangerous, I see an old man cautioning me about going out alone and then giving me a sword... only to send me out alone anyway.

When there's talk of cake, I want to inform people that it's likely a lie. If someone asks if I'm still alive, I'm soon serenaded by the sweet voice of GLaDOS.

Any reference to bubblegum takes me back to the days of Duke Nukem.

The ding dong you hear when entering a gas station triggers "Seeeegaaaaaa" in the back of my head.

Any utterance of Latin has me listening for Requiescat en Pace, the phrase uttered by the protagonists of Assassin's Creed whenever they'd kill an important target.

Don't utter "Would you kindly..." around me or I'm liable to bludgeon you to death with a golf club. Of course my legal defense would have to be "A man chooses; a slave obeys." [man I want to play Bioshock again!]

When I tell my kids to finish something (usually cleaning up), "Finish Him!" booms in my ears. I've yet to see them uppercut their dirty rooms in to a spike pit, but I'm sure it'll happen one day.

Whenever I'm the first to do something I want to scream "First blood!" Instead of killing two birds with one stone, I want to throw something and shout "Double kill!"

And of course, anytime someone says "Here we go!" it's immediately filtered through my brain to sound like Mario.

That's my clip-heavy way of saying that gaming culture has very much infected my daily conversations with people, but it's so entertaining that I can't imagine wanting to fix it.

So what are your trigger words? What can someone say or do to bring a game reference to mind? And I want to hear some feedback so I don't feel like a total maniac!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

Xbox One - Three Weeks Later

2013-12-16T17:44:00.002-06:00

It's been about 3 weeks since the Xbox One dropped. The other night one of my wife's coworkers asked how I liked it, because he was on the fence about getting one himself. With Christmas around the corner I thought I'd share my experiences and overall impressions with the next generation of gaming.

The most important question is whether you get the most bang for your buck. At $500, there's a lot to live up to. Although the system is still young, is it worth it to buy one now?

So far, I don't think having a next-gen console has remotely improved my gaming life. I blame this on the lackluster launch titles and horrendous user interface. I still use my system for Hulu and Netflix, and the occasional game of Call of Duty. If there isn't an exclusive game you want to play, you can safely hold off on picking one up until the better titles are getting released.

I know some will disagree with me on the launch titles. CoD, BF4, Forza, Dead Rising... Those are big names. The problem is that they don't break new ground with the console. They are all popular series, and as a result it's just more of the same. Ryse and Killer Instinct are new, but the idea of Ryse doesn't knock my socks off, and I'm not Killer Instinct's target audience because I hate 2d fighting games.

As for the user interface, it's just a mess. I still can't figure out where to find certain menus, the game library is frustrating to navigate, the Kinect still required me to repeat myself in a quiet room, the darn thing wants to pick up ALL noises and movements that have nothing to do with me, and it is impossible to join party chat with a friend. The only time I play CoD is when my buddy Zach is online, and we spent 90 minutes trying to figure out a way to chat without having everyone else listening in. He finally had to use Skype on his phone, because everything is so screwed up that people can listen to me while I use the Skype app on the console!

And of course, waiting is always good because you never know how well the first narc of consoles will work. The RRoD fiasco of the Xbox 360 launch still haunts gamers, and it's impossible to say whether Xbox One will have a high mortality rate as well.

So with all that bein said, do I regret my purchase? Not one bit. I definitely haven't gotten a lot of mileage out of it, but I have it. When games line Watch Dogs and Titanfall release, all I need to do is pick up the game. I won't have to fight to find the system because no one has any in stock. I haven't gotten $500 of work out of it yet, but as I look at the list of games releasing in the next year, I know that it's a worthwhile purchase.

If you don't have any games you need to play right now, I don't think you need to scramble to pick up a system immediately. January and February will be the ideal times, because March is going to be a very good month. So if you couldn't afford one yet, or if everyone is sold out, I really don't think you're missing too much. The Xbox One's launch played it very safe and didn't release any blockbusters, but that will al change in the coming months!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

My Top 10 - Settings

2013-12-15T18:26:00.000-06:00

As always, sick days mean a TV binge. I decided to finally take Too Human for a spin, and found myself enjoying it after 10 seconds. The show it set in 2048, with has androids and whatnot roaming about. I'm always down to enjoy some near-future fiction, but of course that's not the only setting I'm a sucker for!

Steampunk
The Days of Mythology

Alternate history/Parallel Universe

Dystopian Future

High Fantasy
Post-Apocalyptic

10. Western - Red Dead Redemption
This setting is very hit-or-miss. I love the idea of a semi-lawless society, where morals are ambiguous and someone is always out for revenge. Plus there's always a shootout that doesn't have machine guns or explosives (unless someone is using dynamite!). The setting always has the classic trappings of any other setting, but their technology is so paired down that it actually feels fresh. Sniper rifles are just rifles in the hands of a sharpshooter. Chases are dependent on a living creature's endurance. And the body count created on the way to justice is relatively low, but each death is usually a character we know rather than a faceless soldier. It's a very pure setting that can be dreadfully boring, or decently entertaining.

9. Sci-Fi - Battlestar Galactica, Warhammer 40k, Mass Effect
The inclusion of this setting on my list of top 10 really depends on my mood. It's such a popular setting that the great pieces are diluted by a sea of mediocrity. My biggest beef is that the lazy authors will find a bit of technology to fix any problem, seemingly making up their own rules and robbing the characters of development and struggle. Still, when a story does sci-fi right it can be absolutely amazing. No matter how advanced technology gets, sci-fi shows that people will still struggle with the same issues no matter where they are. People betray, war is a constant threat, disease always threatens to wipe out humanity, hard decisions must be made, and someone is always struggling to be a hero. The setting just gives us a completely new way to imagine these struggles.

8. Eastern Legend - Jade Empire, almost any anime
I love eastern mythology. It offers up so much good stuff in its stories, and it's always a nice break from our more traditional fantasy. Unlike many other mythologies, the gods don't play a huge part in these stories - that job is left to ancient weapons, folk lore that comes to life, unique magic, and everything else that coalesces into a fascinating setting. I'm usually a fan of historical settings, although I'll admit that the "lone samurai/ninja who faces a world of magic and mystery" has gotten tiring. Modernized shows like Bleach, Death Note, or Yu Yu Hakusho give that same mystical feeling, but does so in a less-explored time period.

7. Cyberpunk - Netrunner, Deus Ex
Similar to sci-fi, but humanity is practically on the endangered species list. Technology and artificial intelligence control the world, and governments or corporations control them. In the midst of this, the hero is usually part of a resistance movement to either topple "the man," or just struggle to survive in a world that doesn't believe in freedom. There's usually a lot of hacking and techno-babble involved, but I love the whole vibe of never being safe, yet never backing down from doing what's right.

6. Steampunk - Warmachine, Dishonored
I can't explain why steampunk is so interesting. The world is dirty, the future is bleak, and dying painlessly is the best someone can hope for. Still, a world run by cogs and steam creates something completely unique. The best part about it is that it borrows from so many other genres, and it never feels out of place. You can have a western flavor, add a dash of high fantasy, throw in a bit of World War 2, then add some zombies for good measure and somehow everything mixes together to create an amazing world.

5. Mythology - 300, God of War, Percy Jackson
I've been a fan of Greek mythology since my adolescent years. My mom got me a book about the Pantheon, and from there I was hooked. It wasn't until my later teen years that I started paying attention to other ancient mythologies, and I soon found myself enjoying something from everything. Petty gods impacting the world, demigods walking among us, and a world filled with mythical creatures to be slain never seems to get old. The heroes of these stories always overcome the most amazing, impossible struggles in order to do fulfill some destiny. Whether it's saving the world, saving the person they love, or just fighting because they must, the heroes of these stories are made of something incredible.

4. Alternate History/Parallel Universe - Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Supernatural
It all comes down to engaging in a "what if?" story. These stories take the past or present and turns it upside-down. What if the South won the Civil War? What if monsters were real today? Heck, what if the history we do know actually happened very differently? Instead of crafting an entirely new world, I love when someone takes familiarity and lets me experience it in an entirely new way.

3. Dystopian Future - 1984, Portal, Red Faction, Equilibrium
This can be plugged in to almost any other setting, but I put it as its own setting because of how powerful its stories can be. Utopic societies are boring. Keep your harmony and give me dissonance! Everyone is worried of a nightmarish future, and these stories take society's fears and crank them to 11. The government is in absolute control, and emotion is usually stamped out. What began as a quest for the good has become corrupted, leaving a few privileged people in power while the rest are hardly better than mindless drones. It's a terrifying thought, but it's so hard not to enjoy seeing that terror brought to life.

2. High Fantasy - Like I need to tell you
Wizards and dragons and orcs, oh my! Most of us started with stories like these, and odds are that it is responsible for most of us being the geeks we are. Like sci-fi it is quite diluted, but fantasy is a lot harder to screw up. As long as it's not loaded with cliches from beginning to end, I think most people are at least tolerant of almost any decent fantasy story. We've all dreamed about living in these worlds, and I can't get tired of reliving that desire over and over again.

1. Post-Apocalyptic - Fallout, zombies, Darksiders
Have you looked at your house and wondered how it would stand up to a horde of zombies? I have, and I need to move. Have you ever wondered if you could survive without the comforts of society? I have, and I don't like it. The idea of seeing everything we know taken away in an instant scares us. I'm not just talking about war - I'm talking about the entire world being reduced to one rule - every man for himself. There's no hope, there's nothing to work for... all you can do is survive, and maybe get revenge on someone who wronged you. There's always a touch of hope somewhere, but it's usually snatched away at the end, letting us know that this world really is hopeless.

Sorry for the brevity on some of these - I'm quite ready to go to bed and wake up feeling better.

So what are your favorite settings?

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

How I Passed the Bar Exam

2013-12-14T19:05:00.002-06:00

I'm proud to be a rules lawyer. I try not to be one of "those guys," but I do try to know all the rules of a game so that my opponent and I can play a fair game based on skill, not a poor understanding of the rules. And despite any good game having a fair amount of rules, my means of learning them is actually a pretty simple process.

It really started back in my days of Magic. Up to that point I'd played games like most people - I get a tenuous grasp of the rules so that I can play a functional game, but when it comes to the more advanced rules I'd either leave it up to my opponent to know, or just play wrong. I found myself getting very frustrated because someone could tell me I was playing a rule wrong and I wouldn't really have any way of knowing if they were right.

Magic was the first game I learned through hands-on experience, rather than sitting down with a rulebook first. I found myself getting very confused because the information I was receiving didn't flow very well, and I was still confused about the most basic rules of the game. My buddy suggested I sit down and read over the rules several times.

So I did. On a whim I grabbed some cards and used them as visual aids as I read through the rules several times. After that I played a few games by myself, referencing the rulebook for each move to make sure I didn't do something wrong and start bad habits.

It worked. In about three days I completely understood the rules, including how the special rules of each of my cards. My strategy was still pretty terrible, but I at least lost according to the rules!

After that I treated most games the same way. I'd do a few days of research and learning before playing with someone, and things would always go smooth. Whether I was playing someone who already knew the game, or teaching them myself, rules were rarely an issue and things didn't have to slow down so we could reference the rulebook every few minutes.

The big test to this method came when I wanted to learn Warmachine. Up to this point I never needed to learn a really thick manual. But Warmachine is huge, and there was a lot to get through. I didn't quite have my 3 day mastery, but by following my usual pattern I was able to get a firm grasp o the rules relatively quickly.

My first step was to just read the rulebook. I accepted that I wouldn't really understand everything, and that I'd be lucky if 50% of my reading even stuck. The point of this was to familiarize myself with the rules, learn some terms, and figure out what I understood immediately vs. what concepts barely made sense.
The next day I'd read through it again, and any time a different page was mentioned I'd bookmark my current page, read the rule or term on the referenced page, and then get back to my reading. For example, if I was reading about the rules of charging, and it said "A model cannot charge over a linear obstacle (p. 50)" I'd turn to page 50, read about linear obstacles, then go back to the rest of the rules on charging. This helped me start tying all the rules together, putting all the information together rather than having it be fragmented throughout the rulebook.
After that I grabbed some models and moved them around the table, following step-by-step to make sure I understood everything I was doing. This started making the rules less abstract by letting me actually interact with them. I'd basically just have a mirror-match, proxying pSorscha and pretending my Juggernaut was a Destroyer so that I could learn warcaster/warjack mechanics, as well as melee/ranged combat.
I'd then go back and reread the rulebook, reading the highlights of rules I understood and rereading areas that still gave me trouble. After a decent time investment over 4 or 5 days, I probably knew 90% of the rules. Cavalry and situational rules weren't concrete, but I could easily play a game without much of an issue.
Once every week or so, I'd quickly go through the rulebook to refresh myself and see if I could pick up on a rule nuance I hadn't noticed before. The more I saw the game in action, the more the rules made sense and stuck with me as I read them. Rather than understanding them in theory, I could read a rule, remember how I saw it in action, and let it stick. This was also a great way to make sure I was playing the game correctly, because there are a lot of subtle wording that can lead to a lot of confusion in game.

One key aspect of my learning-while-playing was to check any rule that I or my opponent questioned. Whether in game or when I went home, I made to check any rule that was disagreed on. Doing that helped me better understand things like flight or incorporeal, and asking on the rules forum gave a bit more authority to a rules decision that someone else wasn't clear on. The big thing was to make sure that no rules were left unclear - that led to me making several posts in our Facebook group either explaining a rule, or apologizing for giving a bad ruling.

And that's how I became my group's rules lawyer. It's a lot of information to absorb at once, but I've found it to be the best way to learn a game. And of course this probably isn't relevant to some people - I'm a hands-on learner, so putting those rules to work is where everything coalesces for me.

While everyone's learning method may be different, I think it's critical for everyone to do their best to learn a game they play consistently. Some people may wait until they're fully committed before learning, and I think that's fine. But when someone has been playing a game for a year and their only learning has come from a few demos, it's very frustrating and keeps them from ever improving.

Knowing the rules lets you know how to exploit them, and that leads to some of the most interesting game moments out there. Remembering that knocked-down models don't block line of sight gives you a completely new strategy to work with. Understanding the difference between "advance" "push" and "place" effects can be the only thing that lets you keep a model alive. Tabletop games have so much depth to them, but that depth can't be explored until the basics have been mastered.

I hope you guys enjoyed the mini history lesson. I never really realized I had a method until I got the Malifaux rulebook and found myself reliving my days of learning Warmachine. Reading, rereading, doing solo games against myself, pestering experienced players with loads of questions... it feels good, and I feel ready to teach the game before I've even played against someone!

See you tomorrow!

A Community of Twits (Or Is It Tweets?)

2013-12-13T17:13:00.006-06:00

[First things first - I've added something to my final giveaway, so click the link at the bottom of this post to see that video.]

A few days ago I was frustrated because I am so excited about Malifaux, but there was no real online community to speak of. Never one to be satisfied with disappointment, I decided to ask the community where the party was at - I was so used to forums, but I knew people had to have a water cooler tucked in some deep recess of the internet. Silly me, I just didn't look hard enough.

One suggestion was A Wyrd Place on Facebook, which has nearly 450 members. Already I've seen more action on there than the Malifaux forums, so that was a great suggestion. It's a bit intimidating to just jump in, but at least I get to see some chatter!

Another suggestion is one that was made on during my newbie Q&A with the Through the Breach podcast. Twitter... one of the only things in the world that makes me feel old. I don't like being confined to 140 characters because I'm quite wordy (like you guys didn't know!) It also bothers me that all these stupid celebrity fights are done through passive-aggressive tweets, which has always established Twitter as a place for whiny teenagers.

Honestly though, I just don't understand Twitter. I set up an account when I began commission painting because my friend Chris, who guided me on most of my good business choices, recommended I do so. So I did, and I made one tweet, then basically forgot about it. I've tried following conversations on there, but the interface confuses me and I sometimes can't figure out what people are responding to, making me wonder why a one-on-one conversation is being done in a public place.

So when I was told that all the cool cats are hanging out on Twitter, I thought I my Malifaux days were done already. I'm 28 years old, I can't learn all this newfangled techno-hoosical whatnot! But I figure that if I can get a firm grasp on Malifaux's rules in 2 days, I can handle this Twitter stuff that 8 year olds can use. One awesome thing is that Malal on the Wyrd forums actually did a shoutout tweet for me, asking people to follow me on Twitter so I could join in on the community. Let's just say that the response to that was so overwhelming that I had to put my phone on Do Not Disturb because I was getting so many notifications about new followers.

Honestly, the only time I've felt that welcomed in to a community is when I joined my gaming group. Despite being the internet, people were welcoming me and asking me questions about what faction I was going to play. Despite my typical glacial pace when it comes to integrating in to a group, I even asked a question about Malifaux today, hashtags and all!

So to the Malifaux community, I apologize for my hasty judgment about your activity. I still don't understand Twitter, but at least I figured out how to drink the Kool-Aid and join in on the fun.

And as an added bonus to everyone, I've made it possible for you to get 2 entries in to my final giveaway! After your primary entry you will have the option of tweeting about my giveaway. See that? I can figure this stuff out!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore, a painting project, and more! Click here for details!

DoomSanta - Let It Snow!

2013-12-12T21:07:00.004-06:00

With time ticking down, my Secret Santa project had to be more of a sprint than a marathon. But he's done, and I'm pretty happy with how he turned out. I decided to leave the end of his staff white, because I just couldn't figure out a way to make it flow with the rest of the piece.

After sealing him up, I mixed up some snow and put it on the base of DoomSanta and my Khador battle box. I'm not really sure what happened, but after drying a few areas turned a light brown. Here's some discoloration on Sorscha's base.

I decided to take this opportunity to try something I'd never done before, because I'm clearly not a smart man. I washed the snow in blue, hoping I could hit it with a heavy drybrush of white to give it a bit of depth. I didn't want too much blue because it might look like a Smurf relieved himself at DoomSanta's feet...

It took a few layers, but I managed to leave just enough blue peeking out so that it's not solid white, but there isn't so much blue that the snow seems tinted.

I'm glad I went festive with this. I hope my Secret Santa-ee (or whatever he's called) is happy with it. I think I hit the right amount of fun while still making sure he's not so cheesy that I wouldn't want to play him. Honestly, I think the "Nice" list on the ground is what pulls it all together - without that I think the whole model would look incomplete. Either way I had a lot of fun, and working with that much Green Stuff gave me a lot of lessons on using the right amount of pressure and being careful about accidentally bumping an area and messing it up.

As I teased on Facebook today, I'm going to be adding a couple more prizes to my final giveaway. I won't do a separate post about it, so check Facebook for a link to that as well.

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore!

Final Giveaway Announcement!

2013-12-11T19:16:00.003-06:00

I'm trying to go out with a bang for this month's giveaway. Make sure you tell your friends about this one!

You can enter the giveaway here. After entering, you can earn 1 extra entry via Twitter.

And here's an update to the prize list!

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This is my last month of guaranteed giveaways, so don't miss out on a free copy of Super Dungeon Explore!

DoomSanta - Hoarluk, the White-Stubbled Warlock

2013-12-10T20:39:00.000-06:00

If you missed yesterday's post, you owe it to your insanity to read my little poem.

Progress didn't happen as much as I'd hoped. My airbrush compressor still isn't back, and I absolutely hate painting red by hand. I don't know what it is, but red and yellow tend to require up to 10 coats before things are smooth. And if you accidentally get a dot of black on it and don't notice until it dries, tears tend to get shed. I decided to bypass some of that frustration and use Army Painter's Pure Red primer spray. I usually prefer the Dragon Red for Khador because it's a deeper color, but since Santa likes it jolly I went with something a bit lighter (and close to Khador Red so I don't need to do custom mixing).

I spent some time trying out different ideas, but I think I've settled on white armor with red runes, a red sash, and then white stubble instead of a full-on white "beard." Had I been brave enough to sculpt a beard things would be different, but as-is I just didn't like the look of taking something that was obviously a chin and pretending it was a beard.

I may go back to his staff if time allows. I tried getting the runes to look right, but something about how they're shaped just made it look messy with the white shaft. Looking at it now, I think I want the lump on the end of his staff to look like fruitcake... the trick will be to avoid making it look like feces with colored bits thrown in. Green may also be an option - I could keep the runes red and have it look like holly.

Otherwise I'm pretty happy with how he turned out. I really like breaking up all that red with his white armor plates just for sake of visuals. It somewhat takes away from the Santa looks since he should be decked in red, but I think it has enough going for it that it can take the hit. I also want to hit Hobby Lobby and see if they have some sort of miniature mistletoe I could dangle from his staff, but stuff like that can be done after painting if time allows.

Up next is highlights and shadows, the Nice list, details on his face, and things should be good to go! I'm obviously going to make a snow base, even though I'm a Scrooge and hate the snow. I'm undecided on whether I'll paint "DoomSanta" on the front of his base, or leave it the standard black. Part of me wants to heap on as many jokes as I can, but at the same time I don't want the joke to get tired by feeling like I'm nudging people and yelling "Get it? Get it?!"

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways.