Personal Challenge Update

 Hi!

Just a quick update this morning as we're off to the Lake District for a wedding so I'll not have chance to update until next week and I figured it was high time I updated my Personal Challenge project log!

First up, I've managed to grab myself an incomplete copy of 2nd edition 40k for the princely sum of £2.99. It's got Codex Imperialis, Wargear in perfect nick and lots of the templates, cards and whatnot from both the original box set and Dark Millennium. There's still lots of odds and ends to source including the original rulebook but as it's a slow burn project, I'm not too bothered as I'll pick up the stuff I need when I see them.

As I've already mentioned, I've been slowly basing up the cardboard ruins from the original box and they made a bit of an appearance in the battle report in my last blog post:

They're based on mounting card with EVA foam used to make the stone slabs and a bit of green flock to match the green tables of yore. I've still got loads more of the terrain to finish but I must admit its pretty tedious but I'll complete it when I can. I used a grey artists marker to go over the white edges of the cardboard which does improve the look somewhat too.

Figures wise, I already have a load of the original mono pose Orks and Gretchin from the original set that I traded a chap in Singapore some old plastic Battletech stuff many moons ago and while I don't have the original 20 Orks or 40 Gretchin, I've got enough to keep me entertained and create a decent sized Ork warband.

I'm supplementing the originals with some of the newer plastics which I've had lying around for ages (the older stuff is far more fun to paint by the by!)

As for the forces of the Imperium, I've already painted up some of the EM-4 Miniatures Space Rangers that are nice and cheap and have the same monopose charm as the old Space Marines so will be painting some more when I get the chance to flesh out my two squads of Marines.

Having progressed thus far, I must admit that I have mixed feelings about the project. On the one hand, its been great fun and reminding me of those nostalgic days of the 90's when I was playing 2nd edition at my friends at high school but on the other hand, I'm also beginning to wonder if I should select a different game as an army focus.

Games Workshop has a huge following and 2nd edition has been seeing fresh love from many quarters of both the Oldhammer community and Youtubers alike but there are so many other great games that nobody plays with fascinating forces that were great fun back when they were released but now largely forgotten apart from by nerds like me who still pore over the old books and have the odd miniature for sitting painted in the cabinet. What about bringing some notice to these fine games that are sadly gone but still worthy of a bit of love?

A fraction of my rulebook collection

I'm not sure what to do at the moment as I do wish to get my solo 2nd edition challenge completed but think I may modify it somewhat so I end up with a painted approximation of the original game so I can play some retro 40k when I want but at the same time feel that once I have that objective done, I want to move onto looking at doing something similar with other games that have fallen by the wayside.

Tiny Void Junker Troops

With this in mind, I've been cracking on with my tiny troops Void painting and have got enough stuff painted up to play a game or two so will post a battle report and review of Void when I get back from my mini holiday and with the tiny troops it will at least be a visual representation of the game rather than using counters which is always more pleasing.

Moving forward, I think I'm going to construct tiny troops for each of my long forgotten games so that I can showcase how each plays and if any really catches my imagination, I aim to paint up a squad or two of a force from them and incorporate them into my own reimagined Imperium so that the amazing creativity of the original game designers, artists and sculptors who produced them can live on in spirit and once again these long lost games will see use!

I've got an entire shelf of rulebooks of old and forgotten games, newer indie stuff and file after file of PDF's for games that really deserve some love so we shall see what I can come up with in the coming months and I've also got 2nd edition of Planet 28 to look forward to which is fast becoming my game of choice and allowing me to incorporate all the old and random figures in my ramshackle collection into small warbands that are getting regular use.

I guess I've rambled on enough and really should be getting on with the more important job of packing the car so until next time, All the best and if there's an old game you'd like to see featured in tiny troop battle, give me a shout and I'll see what I can do!

Still Alive and Personal Challenge Update

 Hi!

It's been a bit quiet here over the last month or so as I've been busy with all sorts of other things which has resulted in less hobby time than I'd like but I wanted to post a bit of an update on the state of Tales From Farpoint and some of my personal challenges that I've set myself!

First up, I've been beavering away drawing portraits for Planet 28 and have quite a stash of characters to work with and will be working on getting them all statted up for an upcoming campaign in the near future!

I have noticed that I need to source some generic low level goons and a few random encounter villains and NPC's but want to hang on for the moment as I am trying to put together the background to the campaign and am perusing my collection as well as the interwebs for suitable stuff but every time I think I've settled on something, a different idea comes to mind and I can't find the traction I need to settle on the figures I need to get and then sit and paint a small encounters worth of them.

I've also not been entirely idle with the 40k project that I've been waffling about for the last few months and have managed to pick up an incomplete 2nd edition boxed set for the princely sum of £2.99 which contained most of the ruins, books, templates and a smattering of other bits and bobs. I still need to replace my long lost 2nd edition rulebook and need to print out my own vehicle cards, wargear and whatnot but I am getting the classic cardboard ruins based up and looking a bit more presentable!

Once I've got them all done, I plan on posting up some pics but it's a bit slow going as the basing process isn't the most exciting thing to do but the finished pieces are looking a bit better than just loose stacks of card.

One project that I've not got any further with has been my Rangers of Shadowdeep SD scale stuff but I do hope to get back to it at some point once inspiration strikes again...

I've also got loads of other projects in various stages of advance but no doubt I'll flit back to them in the not too distant future as is my wont but I'm rather enjoying the sci-fi shenanigans at the moment and will be concentrating on that until something else strikes my fancy!

Hopefully I'll get back to a more regular update in the coming weeks but in the meantime, All the best!

A Personal Challenge

 Hi!

I've been really busy with work and other assorted gubbins and with a sketchy back hobby time has been decidedly limited this last few weeks but I've been looking at the Old World Army Challenge and the Warhammer 40k 2nd Edition Army Challenge III with increasingly covetous eyes and am thinking that I may issue myself a bit of a challenge to do something that would probably run the course of this year, namely to collect and paint an old school themed 40k army.

What's this madness I hear you say, and I must admit that it does feel a bit silly as I am a confirmed solo gamer these days and have the attention span of a goldfish so flit from project to project almost constantly but there's been something really pleasing about watching the assorted wonderful armies slowly form over the months and it got me to thinking that I'd like to have a go myself.

As much as I'd love to join one of the established challenges, I am fully aware that I'd probably fall at the first hurdle and fail said challenge miserably as I have so many other bits and bobs on the go at once so in keeping with my solo gaming, I think I'm going to do a solo challenge for my own enjoyment and if it turns out, all the better.

Before I go mental though, I do want to set myself some parameters though as I am not wanting to 1, suffer a loss of hobby mojo, 2, spend a fortune and 3, end up with a pile of unpainted stuff that will sit for the next ten years in a box.

But how do I do proceed? Well I'm thinking I want to collect an army that looks and feels 1st/2nd edition but doesn't necessarily use period models as they're getting increasingly hard to get hold of and expensive and I hate the process of stripping the paint off old figures. Instead I plan on using whatever I have to hand, modern figures and ebay bargains and bodge the whole thing to see if it can be done and make to look the part. I'm also wanting to strictly manage and limit what I'm picking up and only getting more stuff once the current batch is completed and stashed in my display cabinet.

With this in mind, I will need to look through my old rulebooks to see what force I might choose to start with but I suspect it's not going to be a horde type of army like Orks, Tyranids or possibly even Imperial Guard but I may end up surprising even myself...

Would the completed army ever get used or is it more of a voyage of a madman? Only time will tell with the success of the challenge but I'm aiming to post up progress reports once a month showing what I've managed (or not!) to do.

In the meantime, All the best!