It’s now been 10 months since I agreed to paint up some classic metal ‘stealers and Termi’s to go with a full set of Space Hulk tiles obtained from eBay. 10 months and I’m still not finished, although getting tantalisingly close. I’m the first to admit that I’m a slow painter in general, but this delay has arisen more from a lack of general painting inspiration than any physical slowness. There is however a new box recently dropped that once again has the gaming community abuzz with excitement, or at least has gripped those who missed the last limited edition run; and there’s nothing like a bit of communal excitement to get motivated and gather supplies.
Monthly Archives: September 2014
Tales From the Darkwood Part 1 – A Fighting Fantasy Primer
“The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness—a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild”
Jack London.
Regular readers of this here website will have no doubt noticed that in recent weeks I have been talking A LOT about Fighting Fantasy books. If that has been boring for you, tough luck, because here comes a bunch more. In the anticipation building up to the first ever Fighting Fantasy Fest held in London earlier this month, I got a bit carried away and kind of assumed that EVERYONE reading this blog would at least have an awareness of them, if not share the same love that I have for them. How wrong I was!
I posted a few pictures on Instagram of FF artwork and one of our younger followers quizzed me on just what the hell they were. Similarly, whilst sat in the pub after our Wednesday night D&D session, one of the guys in our group confessed to not knowing what on earth I was talking about when I was filling them in about my little trip to Ealing.
I reluctantly had to acquiese that despite the best efforts of the likes of Jonathan Green and the BBC, there’s still a lot of people out there who have no comprehension of the simple joy of Fighting Fantasy. So guys, let’s talk shall we? Continue reading
Corehammer Armies: Mark Frocker’s Blood Angels
In the latest of our ongoing series Corehammer Armies, CH’s resident explosives expert Gaz talks to Mark Frocker about his rather flipping awesome Blood Angels army. Big thanks to Mark for making the most of what Gaz sent him and for documenting his army with some decent photos, a first for CHA! Continue reading
Breaking Point – Set To Burn review
Nice shoes Dan.
I think at one time or another almost every Straight Edge dude in the South East has done a tour of duty in Breaking Point. Such is the mercurial nature of the straight edge hardcore band, members come and go, edges crumble whilst others remain resolute. Over the course of the last five years Breaking Point have steadily churned out workmanlike metallic hardcore. And though I cannot say I have ever been blown away by any of their previous recordings, as a live band they are A+. Always entertaining, energetic and inclusive enough to serve well as an accessible gateway band for young moshers and edgemen alike stumbling down into the underbelly of UKHC . And really that’s the point is it not? Continue reading
Pesta Approaches: In Praise of Mama Nurgle
Kieron Allender is a bad, bad man. In discourse surrounding the impending END TIMES… thing… for WFB, I happened to hint that I’d happened to consider doing a Chaos army again (as I generally do on an annual basis, presumably when the Stars are Right), and he happened to suggest a way of using the newfangled “half your points can be spent on Lord choices” mechanic and the presence of Chariots in the Chaos Core section to build a very small army. I happened to have been thinking about Nurgle and scratchbuilding/kitbashing, albeit in a 40K context. The notions… sort of… came together, and now my brain teems with notions.
Game Changers: Bleach
This lad needs to learn how to darn.
I spent a lot of time deciding on an appropriate choice for a game changer. Should I pick something like ‘One With The Underdogs’, the first hardcore album I ever heard, or should I pick something like ‘Dopethrone’ by Electric Wizard, that for me totally re-invented the term ‘heavy’ music. Or ‘Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever’ by Explosions In The Sky which opened a whole new door into post-rock for me? Ultimately, I remember I’m too easily influenced, I’m all too often easily impressed by music, so picking from any one of a number of albums, and subsequently genres I’d gotten my dick harder for than a nympho on Viagra was a waste of time, as there were too many to count. Instead, I plumped for ‘Bleach’ by Nirvana.
Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014 – Your adventure starts here!
An absolute goldmine
It takes a lot to drag me away from my home in a leafy Yorkshire village these days. The arrival of the first ever dedicated Fighting Fantasy Fest however, was a temptation I simply could not resist. I had been looking forward to this event ever since it was first announced earlier this year. By my own shameful admission I slept on the Kickstarter campaign for Jonathan’s book on the history of Fighting Fantasy, You Are The Hero! but I was delighted that the book had reached its goals and found its audience and was keen to join all the other errant sons and daughters of Allansia in making the pilgrimage to be a part of the celebration.
Continue reading
Online resources for painters
A quick Google search for almost any painting technique, or ‘how to paint XX’ always tends to yield multiple results. There is a lot to be said for how much effort people put in to creating easy to follow tutorials advising painters how to achieve a certain results. And its not just painting guides. Reviews of products, unboxing videos, colour theory guides, conversion guides, people forming their own painting crews… A lot of people say that the halcyon days of community have long since passed and we’re a far cry from where we were in ’92. While I appreciate how unfair it is for me to say this when there was no CMON, Painting Buddha or Miniature Mentor back then, I am of the opinion that the internet has done nothing but good things for the aspiring painter.
Continue reading