The Painted Thumb

This past weekend we held our Winter is Coming!  Warmaster tournament.  We held a previous tournament back in 2012 where Mark R. won the tournament with his Dark Elf army. For anyone unfamiliar with Warmaster Fantasy Battles, this is an older Games Workshop game. The armies come from the Warhammer Fantasy setting. The figures are all 10mm and represent grand battles between two division-level armies. The figures from GW are out of print but they were of high quality and look really nice on the battlefield. There are variants of the rules for historical games (Ancients and Renaissance) and there are a few games that use similar mechanics (Blitzkrieg Commander, Future War Commander) This year we had good turnout of six players.  Not bad considering the age of the Warmaster rules. The selection of armies was very good as there were only two players (Chip and his son Alec) who both brought dwarf armies. We also had a great venue in Weyland Baptist university.  There were many students

My budget for buying new miniatures is small compared to other hobbyists. At least, that's how it seems to me. I've got friends who show no hesitation when a cool new game comes out. They'll purchase the starter set, including a second or third faction just so they can get a feel for the various armies/teams/warbands before deciding their favorite. Eventually, all the figures and terrain and manuals and whatever else ends up on the metaphoric 'lead pile'. God bless these early adopters! They help promote new games and maintain energy in the hobby. But, that's not me. My budget just doesn't allow for that kind of frivolity. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just being a tightwad. (BTW, I still don't have my own Flames of War army and have been borrowing armies all this time. Curses!) So, I've built up my collection by attending flea markets and by making some excellent trades. For example, a friend posted a request for some round, plastic 40mm bases f

Hello! Hope everyone had a safe and fun Christmas and New Year's. Now that we are solidly within the new year, I wanted to review 2013 and make some goals for this blog in 2014. The review of my 'games played for 2013' log on BoardGameGeek shows: Its pretty clear where my emphasis has been this year.  It troubles me to see lots of Fantasy and SciFi themed games with very little historical games (except Flames of War). Until now, I would of categorized myself as a historical gamer.  Maybe because most of my friends are historical gamers.  Noticeably absent are any versions of Warhammer.  Sorry, ...Homey don't play that game... though Epic 40K has peaked my interest. On to painting:  I've made better progress in 2013 but still have a ton of projects to complete. Repaint the Warmaster High Elves, paint and base the new figs Build some winter terrain for use with Warmaster. Touch up the 'Sons of Liberty', HotT army Complete the 'Sons of Liberty&#