Bear-All Showcase – MephistonAG

Welcome to the latest Bear-All Showcase.

As always head to the original post for more info. But for now let’s have a look at Dave and his answers, here we go…..

Bear-All Showcase – jdmickleburgh

Welcome to the newest post of the Bear-All Showcase. As standard for these please check out the whys and whens in the original post to see if you want to take part.

So time now to see our latest contribution this time from Jon, here we go…..

1. Name (alias) – Jon, @jdmickleburgh

2. How long have you been into the hobby?

This is my second stint in the hobby, first was ’98-’05 then left after discovering girls, then started again in Jan ’10.

3. How were you introduced to the hobby?

I was always into fantasy, my parents raised me on a diet of fantasy literature and Star Trek. Me and my brother were also into story telling and would make up involved stories. We were on a family holiday in Cornwall, I was 11, he was 9 and we saw some GW models in a toy shop window and thought they looked cool. It took a while before we realised there was a game that went with it…

4. Has that same attraction changed over time?

Yes and no. My favourite part of the hobby, before painting and gaming, is still creating stories within the games. I have players on my blood bowl teams who I know will never EVER pick up the ball, even on a 3+ with a reroll. And I know I have one death marshall who is luckier than the others and can always be relied upon. But I have developed a love of the game mechanics which I didn’t have when I was younger. I love working out the odds of something happening beforehand only to realise that it is irrelevant and that I’ll still pick the most fun option. It’s never been about winning though. In my head I’m always winning.

5.Can you put collecting, building, converting, painting, gaming into order of preference please

Gaming, painting/collecting, building/converting

6. Why is gaming your top preference?

Gaming for me is the be all and end all of this hobby. Painting is fun, sure, but I’d play games using different coloured bottle tops as different models. Plus gaming is the most social of the choices. This hobby is all about having great times with great people.

7. What does a bear do in the woods? Find the pope (hard to find as well)

8. What was the first miniature you ever bought/painted?

Wood elf archers, box of 10, all identical. Beautiful.

9.  Do you still have it? Yep

10. What is your favourite ever miniature?

On a fluff basis it would be either Squig Hoppers or Fanatics. On a model basis… I dunno

11. Bacon OR Sausage? Vegetarian sausage please

12.  What was your first gaming system? Warhammer fantasy (isn’t it everyones?)

13. What gaming systems do you currently play?

Malifaux and Blood Bowl. I’ve finally got enough local players of Malifaux to get a game whenever I want one at our LGC. Plus the thriving Blood Bowl leagues mean you HAVE to play that. Although I’m not too good. 2012 season: Orcrington Stanley (best name ever)– Played 5, lost 4, drawn 1. Washington Furskins – Played 4, Lost 4

14.  What is your favourite system you have ever played and why?

Malifaux for the awesome fluff and the mechanic. My partner is disabled and finds constant dice rolling difficult but now I can lose at home as well as at the gaming club (this is why partners should not be allowed to join in they suck the luck right out of you).

15.  What do you look for in a new game?

I try not to look at new games or I’ll end up wanting to spend money on them (Give in to the shiny)

16.Is toast really that lethal? Only in the hands of a true master.

17.  Can you put these into preference – Miniatures, Fluff, Rules

Fluff No.1, other two tied.

18. Why is fluff the most important?

If I want to really get into a game the fluff needs to be topnotch. If the rules aren’t good you can change them/make up your own, if the models aren’t good then use different ones.

19. Original or re-made? Reheated

Thanks to Jon for answering the questions but now its time for what we all really want;

The Showcase

Soapy Bearbox – Neglected Toys

Welcome to the first of the Soapy Bearbox guest posts big thank you to Owen (aka twitter name @oconlan) for taking the time to be the first. So handing straight over to him and his post – Neglected Toys

Us wargamers tend to be a fickle bunch. How many toy soldiers do you have sitting on a shelf or stashed away somewhere that haven’t seen battle in a long time? Whether it’s that new model smell, the fresh modelling/painting challenge or simply some cool new rules, the latest releases always have a strong lure. There are others reasons too that a model, unit or army can sit unused. For example, if you see yourself as a competitive player you may find yourself gravitating towards the ‘better’ models, the models you know you can get to work. You may have a preferred play style or a local gaming scene that favours certain types of models.

At different times I’ve found myself in this rut, where I get caught up in the new releases and neglect my old toys. I think I’ll use my Legion of Everblight as an example as there are four quite forlorn looking warlocks sitting on my shelf. In the run up to the Irish Masters I almost exclusively used the three warlocks that were leading my lists – Saeryn, Absylonia and Kallus. These and their respective armies are tightly packed into my army case as they see a lot of tabletop time. They were definitely chosen for competitive purposes and because they fit my preferred melee-focussed play style. After a bit of reflection I realised that these warlocks have dominated my games since MkII of Hordes was released. It’s easy to see why Saeryn has gotten a lot of play – she is one of Legion’s best warlocks and one of the best warlocks in the game. She and Absylonia share something in common – an affinity with beast heavy forces, so you can see my play style coming through there. Kallus is the new kid, a curve ball in my list selection. Again he’s melee focussed, but this time he favors a force made up mostly of infantry.

Glancing again at the shelf it’s clear why two of the warlocks, Lylyth and her Epic version, are sitting there. Both are ranged focussed warlocks and while I have a lot of ranged troops it really isn’t my preferred style. I like charging and power attacks. That’s not to say my armies never include ranged options (it’s hard to resist the Striders!), but I’m not excited by the idea of a ranged heavy force. Since this article is about those neglected toys maybe I should give them a try… I might learn something.

The third shelved warlock has two things in common with the Lylyths – she is Fury 5  and is also a bit one dimensional. Rhyas must be terribly jealous of the attention I lavish on Saeryn. She should fit my play style, right? She’s a melee centric warlock, but Rhyas is a warlock I haven’t taken the time to figure out. I think I’ve fielded her only three times. Maybe I’m being put off by the Fury 5 stat.

The final shelved warlock is Thagrosh1 and I think he’s there for a different reason to the others. I overdosed on him in MkI and haven’t managed to get back to him. He has all of the right ingredients – melee focussed with a high Fury stat, so there is really no excuse not to revisit him.

If I look at my other factions I see both versions of Irusk, Epic Butcher, Sorscha, Harkevich and Fiona hav all been neglected. They’ve all be shelved for different reasons, but now is the time to get them out to play. How am I going to do this? I’m going to roll a die of course! Here’s my D10 chart -

Whenever I have a friendly game or campaign coming up I’m going to roll a D10 and starting building my force from there. As these neglected warcasters/warlocks see more play I’ll either reroll on the chart or remove them entirely.

Maybe it’s time for you to reinvigorate your gaming by bringing some of your neglected toy soldiers out to play…

Until next time,

Owen

Thank you again for a great piece from Owen and what is the take home message. But let any of your minis gather dust as at one time they were all shiny.

Bear-All Showcase – elfordminis

Welcome to the next post of the Bear-All Showcase. As standard for these please check out the whys and whens in the original post to see if you want to take part.

So time now to see our latest contribution this time from Adam, here we go…..

1. Name (alias) – Adam Elford @elfordminis

2. How long have you been into the hobby?

Been painting since the times of Nagash. Started gaming with Dwarfs in 6th, then had a break until 8th and restarted my gaming and painting.

3. How were you introduced to the hobby?

A friend of mine when I lived in London a long time ago!

4. What attracted you to the hobby all that time ago?

At first it was painting. I’m quite creative and was a way to show it.

5. Has that same attraction changed over time?

Nope, I’m still a painter at heart and do a lot of commission work but recently really into gaming. Going to my first tournament on Sunday the 1st!

6. Can you put collecting, building, converting, painting, gaming into order of preference
please?

Painting, converting, gaming then joint building collecting.

7. What does a bear do in the woods? Shit

8. What was the first miniature you ever bought/painted?

The first model I bought myself was some of the metal 6th edition Thunderers. Lovely models.

9. Do you still have it?

Sadly I don’t, I will pick a few models up soon just to paint some.

10. What is your favourite ever miniature?

I have a few. The Dwarf Lord with the axe and his helmet by his side and Archaon. Both stunning models!

11. What is it about that one, which makes it your favourite?

Archaon is just a beast. So detailed and imposing.

12. Bacon OR Sausage?

Bacon. I think the smell of it is the only thing that will turn a vegetarian!

13. What was your first gaming system? Warhammer Fantasy

14. What gaming systems do you currently play?

At the moment, I’m solely GW. I play WHFB and Blood Bowl. I also have a few 40K armies but don’t want to learn too many rules until the new edition comes out.

15. What is your favourite system you have ever played?

Its got to be Warhammer Fantasy.

16. Why?

Fantasy models… Magic… Dragons and monsters… Whats not to like?

17. Can you put these into preference – Miniatures, Fluff, Rules

Miniatures, Fluff, Rules

18. Why is miniatures the most important?

As a painter foremost, I want to paint fun and good-looking models.

23. Finally extra ones for those that work in the industry in any format
a. Is working with miniatures all day cool?

It’s not bad, sometimes drags doing 50 Vampire Count Ghouls. Only so much of the same colour until you get bored.

b. Is it harder to find time to do the hobby when the hobby is the job?

Yes! Took me a year to finish this Skaven army of mine!

c. Are you slightly more insane because of it? I like to think I’m not

Well thank you to Adam for taking part but now for the bit you all really came to see the SHOWCASE I shall pass back to Adam.

And remember if you want to see more of his work head on over to his blog

I decided yellow as it was a very different colour. I decided it before Clan Scurvy was shown. Now every one says I’m Clan Scurvy when I’m not. I wanted a bit of a broken streets theme with the bases. The Hell Pit has less broken streets as he is the first line of attack so he’s causing the destruction in the town of the Empire.

Soapy Bearbox

From the site that has given you the Bear All Showcase and Bungles Blogging Bonanza may I present to you the Soapy Bearboxes.

It is a simple concept really, I want you the community to write for me in other words I am looking for people who fancy writing a guest post for this blog related to the hobby it can be literally about anything as long as you remain positive about the hobby being critical is OK but do it with a smile on your face

There are no word limits no deadlines no clue just waffle/rant away to your hearts desire.

So if you have a topic you want to talk about and don’t have a blog or you do but you need the drive to get it written then please use SBB as your channel to achieve this.

You can contact me on mmb2010@hotmail.co.uk and remember

Bear-All Showcase – jgross65

Welcome to the next post of the Bear-All Showcase. As standard for these please check out the whys and whens in the original post to see if you want to take part. So time now to see our latest contribution this time from Joe, here we go…..

1) Name (alias) – jgross65

2) How long have you been into the hobby? about 5 years

3) How were you introduced to the hobby?

by accident – I had finished painting Battlelore and was looking for something new. At that time I was playing DoW, so getting Black Reach was natural ?

4) What attracted you to the hobby all that time ago? the miniatures are great (best way)

5) Has that same attraction changed over time?

no, the minis got even better – I have to keep myself from buying to many … (no give in)

6) Can you put collecting, building, converting, painting, gaming into order of preference please

painting, converting, painting, gaming, painting, collecting, building

7) Why is painting your top preference?

painting was/is one of my hobbies – not limited to minis. I like the challenges posted by painting the minis and the quiet/concentration needed to do that.

8) What does a bear do in the woods? what everybody else does in the woods

9) What was the first miniature you ever bought/painted?

Depends on the definition of miniature .. I guess the minis of the Battlelore system count for that

10) Do you still have it? yes I do, stored in a box and waiting for me to play again

11) What is your favourite ever miniature? the green knight of the Bretonian army

12) What is it about that one, which makes it your favourite?

It looks fantastic – the rearing poise of the horse, the barding swayed by the movements and the knight about to strike down an opponent

13) Bacon OR Sausage? T-Bone steak ? (I shall allow this one)

14) What was your first gaming system? Battelore – a command and color clone

15) What gaming systems do you currently play? Warhammer fantasy and Battlelore

16) What is your favourite system you have ever played? Warhammer fantasy 7th edition

17) Why?

it does a reasonable simulation of a battle allowing everybody to strike – and whoever attacks strikes first. Dropping that in V8…

18) What do you look for in a new game?

no overpowered characters or monsters, no “kill em all” spells like the dreadful 13th spell of the skaven (I like that spell ).  And most of all : cool minis and realistic models – no Yughio style stuff !!!

19) Is toast really that lethal? only if it’s black

20) Can you put these into preference – Miniatures, Fluff, Rules

Minis, rules, fluff

21) Why is miniatures the most important?

they are the one’s I’ll spend most of my time with for painting them

22) Original or re-made? just the real stuff

If you want to see any more of Joe’s work then head on over to his tumblr thingy

And now time for The Showcase so I will hand you back to Joe to add a few bits here and there, enjoy;

No orc army is complete without night goblins and squiggs, the bigger the better ..

The boar boys are pretty cool models, given you lots of opportunity to shade, highlight etc.

their older cousins with the boss and a self-made banner (my first)

Trolls are a must have, here are two with custom paints and matching bases

where this one got a second hand stone axe

That small diorama is my favorite one, I tend to set all war machines on this style of bases

this is the beginning of my modular gaming table – with some troops on it. Whoever can/will join this project is welcome