Inktober 2023: Papercraft RPG Characters Day 5 and 6 Map and Golden

 Hi!

Here's the next two days worth of Inktober, Map and Golden.

Map resulted in a pair of Imperial cartographers preparing to explore distant lands and make some detailed charts of them:

I must admit that these aren't my favourite duo that I've made thus far and I may well redo them in the future into something that I'm happier with but they're done and dusted and will do the job for some NPCs if nothing else!

Next up, here's a pair of golden Paladins prepared to smite the uncouth and look fantastic whilst doing it.

Heavily inspired by both classic Custodes and High Elves, I really like how they turned out, especially with the bold white outline instead of the black one I've been using previously. While it may make figures stand out against backdrops, I can't help but feel it looks bolder and results in brighter looking figures which I like a lot!

We shall see what the next few days updates result in but I think I'll be sticking with this new approach for a bit and see where it takes me.

In the meantime, All the best!

Inktober 2023: Papercraft RPG Characters Day 3 and 4 Path and Dodge

 Hi!

Apologies for the lack of update yesterday but due to unforeseen circumstances I couldn't post but I'm back with two days in one in the form of days 3 and 4 of Inktober!

First up there's day 3's prompt, Path and I ended up putting together a pair of pathfinders armed with bows, swords, cloaks and big floppy hats!

I do like how the two turned out and may rework them into a more refined final piece in the future as they've both got character despite being such simple little illustrations.

Next up there's day 4's prompt, Dodge.

I settled on a pair of bandit mask wearing dodgy types who can act as general purpose thugs in scenarios that require low level muscle. 

Of the two, I think I prefer the female bandit as she's got a bit more character than the guy.

Lastly here's a shot of the two pairs next to each other:

I'm really enjoying the challenge but worry I'll not be able to keep up as I've been busy at work and the man flu I've been wailing about hasn't really lessened much so I'm still feeling pretty rubbish.

It has to be said that this challenge is giving me much more motivation to get back into painting miniatures though as I've managed to paint some of the 1:72 archers I picked up and have also finished a couple of bits and bobs that have been sat nearly finished for ages now and I'll post a bit of an update this weekend with some of the miniature stuff I've been working on too but until then, All the best!

Inktober 2023: Papercraft RPG Characters Day 2 Spiders

 Hi!

I'm currently suffering from a bad case of the dreaded man flu so my update is a wee bit late!

Todays prompt is Spiders so I decided to draw up a pair of spider cult assassins to menace my characters.

Armed with envenomed daggers and using spider silk garrottes and other villainous accoutrements I quite like how they turned out but suspect I could really do with adding a bit more shading in to make the figures pop as despite adding some when I drew them, the prints seem to have faded a little which is a bit of a shame.

Hopefully I'll be feeling a bit less grotty tomorrow as its been really difficult to concentrate on getting these little guys done but we'll see how I get on!

Inktober 2023: Papercraft RPG Characters Day 1 Dream

Hi!

Its been pretty quiet here over the last month or so as I seem to be going through a bit of a hobby hiatus at the moment as I've been so busy with work and so knackered that I just don't have much energy for hobby shenanigans when I get home but its October so that means Inktober has rolled around again!

Instead of drawing character portraits or Rusty Robots, this year I decided to put together a bunch of tiny standee characters with each prompt giving me a pair of heroes, villains or monsters to add to my collection of papertech gubbins!

To get the ball rolling, here's the first entry in the form of a pair of Dream Mages:

Dream Mages

 

Dream Mages specialise in entering the Dream World and are equipped with horns of sleeping powder to aid in their travels. I rather enjoyed making the little guys as they're pretty quick and easy to draw up and put together and hopefully I'll have a load of handy figures for RPG games by the end of the month.

They're a little bit rough but I quite like how they turned out and we shall see what the rest of the month brings and how I get on with the project.

In other news, I nipped into a local hobby shop in Broughty Ferry called Space Craft which has been there for some time now but I only discovered it the other day. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was with a good selection of wargaming and model kits. On top of that it was bright, clean and well laid out with excellent staff who were cheerful and friendly without being overbearing.

I ended up picking up some 1:72 scale Hundred Year war figures with a vague idea of putting together a Lion Rampant army on a budget.

I didn't really enjoy cleaning the soft plastic that the figures are made of but they're surprisingly nice figures and I'm working on painting up a unit to see what they turn out like. I also picked up a box of Napoleonic figures in the same scale which I want to convert into a Turnip style project at some point and ended up spending £17 which got me nearly 90 figures which should keep me entertained for some time to come!

I've tons of stuff that I really want to work on, especially as my rulebook collection keeps expanding, giving me ever new ideas for games to try out but as we get closer to the festive season, I suspect my time is going to really be at a premium but we'll see how things go!

Until next time, All the best!

Planet 28 Papertech Gaming

 Hi!

Just a quick post today as we're heading out for the day. 

I've managed to play a couple of games of Planet 28 using my standees and following a bit of soul searching about not using 'proper' miniatures, decided that the fact that I've actually managed to play a few games outweighs the fact I'm not pushing lead or plastic figures around a table.

The board I'm using is about 16''x24'' and pretty heavily covered in terrain to give my cardboard warriors something to hide behind and I had a really enjoyable time, first with two a side and then with four which I think is the maximum this size of board can cope with as the action got bloody very quickly but it resulted in a quick and decisive game with some really exciting moments.

Farpoint Salvage

My salvage team held the field both times but it was a close run thing as the mercenary team had heavier firepower than the crews pistols and it was more luck than anything that saved them. One got badly cut up by a warrior woman wielding a machete while the second got shot in the face with a shotgun but rolled high on his armour and their accurate pistol fire ended up forcing the mercs to retire.

Mercs

I'm really enjoying being able to put together a full warband of 8-10 figures in a single sitting and actually see them in action and am hoping to put together some action packed games in the not too distant future and plan on creating some theme packs for folks to try out using Planet 28's open licence to present a warband with stats, a little bit of themed terrain and portraits and backgrounds for each.

It may involve one release every month followed by a mini campaign featuring said forces duking it out over some shenanigans too.

Speaking of which, I've made myself some Leviathan style Goblins:

Yes they look nothing like traditional Goblins but its how I think of the desert dwelling Gobbos of Aeroth!

I've still got a few more to finish off so I've got a full enemy list for Five Leagues from the Borderlands but I'm quite pleaded with how the little guys have thus far turned out and I'm really looking forward to trying out Five Leagues too!

Hopefully I'll get the force finished soon and get chance to put together the second enemy for my warband to face as well as some roadside villains too but thats a post for another day so in the meantime, All the best!

Planet 28 Standees

 Hi!

Here's some pics of my Planet 28 standees that I've been working on over the last few days.

I've been finding myself wanting to play lots of different forces and instead of spending ages collecting all the stuff and painting it, I've settled on making some standees so I can get some games in!

Unlike my other Planet 28 standees, I've made these guys double sided which really makes for a more effective style than the single sided ones I've used previously and its been a really fun experience to make lots of little warbands too.

While this isn't as satisfying as an actual miniature collection, it is making it more cost effective than me going and buying stuff and hoping to eventually get around to painting them and as the gaming budget is pretty much non existent, its keeping me entertained and allowing me to enjoy some much needed hobby time.

Thus far, I've settled on some PDF troops and vehicle crews who will be taking part in my Hathor campaign once I get chance to restart it.

I'm also thinking of making some Orky standees to allow me to add some old school style Boyz to menace my adventurers and to allow me to play some 2nd edition 40k on the cheap and if all goes well, I'll eventually have some figures for each of the classic 40k factions.

I'm not sure how I'll go around making vehicles but I'll keep experimenting with the 2d style to see what works and what doesn't.

I've made these approximately 35mm scale so if folks want to print out their own, they'll need to resize them slightly to 28mm scale.

I'm really pleased with how my female pilot trio turned out and suspect they'll be making quite a few appearances in the campaign, possibly getting some naval troops to back them up too.

We shall see if I can't get a game or two in over the course of the week and see how the standees work out in practice as I'm champing at the bit to get some gaming now that I've got a quick and easy way of adding together forces!

If folks would like to see any particular characters or forces, give me a shout and I'll see what I can come up with.

In the meantime, All the best!

Five Leagues from the Borderlands: Aeroth Style!

 Hi!

I've been having a hankering to delve back into fantasy gaming as I've concentrated almost entirely on the sci-fi side of things for a while now but my ongoing tinkering with solo RPGs has got me to thinking of dipping my toe back into a fantasy setting.

With this in mind, I looked through my collection and was rather surprised by the dearth of fantasy stuff in it. I've got a handful of odds and ends and enough of my own sculpts to play games like Brutalquest which only need two or three figures a side but I've really not got the time to spend sculpting lots of stuff so after a bit of head scratching I've put together some papercraft standees.

Unlike my previous attempts which were quick and easy fixes with artwork only on one side and no careful trimming, I researched some of the rather fantastic stuff that folks have done on the web and decided to try doing front and rear artwork as well as cutting them out and I do think its a huge improvement over the originals as they both make better visual representations on the board and don't stand out like the older stuff I've made.

Coupled with some heavy black outlining, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out and look forward to making some more, namely villains!

I must admit that I am getting close to capacity in my display cabinet for miniatures so suspect that this approach is going to be making more of an appearance over the coming months, especially as the hobby budget is still pretty much non existent. These guys will be able to be kept in a small box and stored safely ready for use.

I'd hummed and hahed about making some tiny troop style heroes but while the little guys are fine for mass battle or large skirmishes, I feel they were sorely lacking in the character I'd want for my warbands. Similarly I'd looked at 15mm scale but was surprised to see that the cost of the tiny guys is actually more than a similar number of plastic 28mm figures from ebay and as already mentioned, I don't have the spare cash for that!

These are my first attempts and I've tried making some of the poses a bit more dynamic and I'm really enjoying the experience of trying to push my drawing as well as looking at a more complete view of my adventurers.

I'm hoping to get my enemy figures sorted out asap so I can try working towards getting a game at some point in the next few weeks and I've decided to have a try of Five Leagues from the Borderlands by Modiphius as I've watched quite a few videos of it now and really like how the game builds a narrative of a small warband exploring an area and facing a variety of foes and it looks like quite a bit of fun too!

I'm still planning on using Brutalquest as its such a great wee system but I want to keep working on exploring my collection and feel this is a good opportunity to do so.

I'm not discarding 'proper' miniatures as my sci-fi collection has tons of stuff to use and play a myriad of games, factions and whatnot but I do rather enjoy being able to combine my love of drawing with my hobby!

Hopefully I'll have another update in the next few days showcasing some villains and if I get the process down right, I'll include some sheets of characters and villains for folks to download but until then, All the best!