BMG: Playing Catch-up (Pt 2)

Hooo-boy!  Now that I’m actually writing again, I’m super keen to get it all written up and ‘out into the wild’ as it were.  As I mentioned in part 1 of this series, the Long Halloween event was split into 2 events – one at the end of October and one at the beginning of November.  After Kev had claimed his victory in the first event, Scarecrow’s plans for Gotham had become derailed somewhat.  This event was Scarecrow’s last chance to see his plan succeed...

BMG: Playing Catch-up (Pt. 1)

Hey all!  Long time no see eh?  There’s been a lot of things going on hobby-wise for us here at the Triple Helix Project, so much that I’m kinda at a loss about where to begin.  As a means of making things easy, I’ve decided to start by doing a couple of write-ups about the various events that I’ve been a part of / run over the last few months which will no doubt take a couple of articles to do.  At the last count, I’ve been a part of at least 6 events (4 of which are Batman related), all of which deserve a decent showing I feel.  So feel free to grab some popcorn, put on some relaxing mood music and let’s just jump right in...

BMG Update: Sidekick Pre-Season Training Session

Hey there everyone!! After a brief absence, I'm back behind the keyboard, once again intent on bringing you updates of my hobby projects and stories of my gaming adventures.  As might be fitting for my return, this article intends to do a bit of both...

BMG Update – Are you Ready to Rumble???

With our second BMG League continuing apace, I decided it was prime time to organise and host a Batman Tournament at the end of June.  With just over a month until the big day, getting everything organised ahead of time would be paramount to its success.  Without wanting to throw myself in the deep end right off the bat (heh! punny...), I decided that this event was going to be a one-day affair with three games being run before crowning a winner.  To be fair, I was quite inspired by another gaming groups tournament format and used it as a framework for mine (which is code for ‘I loved what I saw so I changed some details and stole the rest for my own event.  Speaking of which, the Player’s Pack for my event can be found here).  Looking over their own players pack, it’s pretty clear that the crew over at LvL Up in Bournemouth have got some stellar ideas and if I had the opportunity I’d take in one of their events in a heartbeat.  Check them out if you get the chance; our hobby is strongest when we’re all looking out for one another after all.

Gotham City Streets Mk II – Weathering

While the construction of my latest Gotham table continued, I decided to try my hand at implementing two more elements to the table – 

• Stamped concrete pavement
• Weathered Concrete

After all the work that was put into the constructionprocess and the painting, it seemed like a bit of a cop-out if I didn't try and make this table as cool as it could possibly be.  Besides, I felt that the concrete was too light in colour and could benefit from a bit of weathering.  Armed with my trusty felt-tip pen and numerous small containers of powdered artist’s chalk, it was time to dive in. 

Gotham City Streets Mk II – Painting

Sourced from http://www.aneelneupane.com/cityscapes/ 

Continuing the progress I’ve been making on my latest gaming table (first part can be found here) I’ve begun the painting process that will hopefully transform this table into something spectacular. 

BMG Update: Gotham City Streets Mk II - Construction

As some of you might be aware, part way through last year I attempted to create a modular BMG Board that used magnets to hold everything together while also providing me with what I thought would be an almost endless stream of variations as new board sections were created.  No plan survives initial contact with the enemy though and after a while it became readily apparent that I needed a new strategy.  The pieces I had ordered didn't fit quite right, nor did the pieces that I had cut to act as the ‘pavement’ to provide a distinct recess for the road sections to pass through.  In the end, I decided to admit defeat and look for a new approach.  A new opportunity arrived in the form of a sizable piece of MDF coming into my possession that was close to the dimensions that I required for a Batman table.  Sure it was a little larger, but that’s all part of the fun right? With a surface to work with, it was time to play Town Planner...

Batman Update - On the Case (Pt 2)

Continuing our look into alternative storage options for your BMG miniatures, we look at what happens when your collection gets so large that it can no longer be contained within the books.  When you reach this point, it is an entirely legitimate tactic to go out and buy yourself a dedicated case from a specific bag making company (personally I'd recommend either Battlefoam or KR Multicase if you're going to go down that route), or you can be daring and utilise those skills you initially developed while working on the book case (punny I know...) to take your storage potential to the next level.

Batman Update - On the Case (Pt 1)

Hey all!  After spending quite a bit of time focussing on RL stuff, I’ve finally gotten some time to sit down and compose my thoughts regarding some of the progress I’ve made on one of my (many) BMG projects I have currently going on.  Of the many irons I have in the fire, the first one I wanted to cover was my attempts at creating viable alternatives for storing and transporting BMG miniatures.  

BMG Update - Welcome to Foamcordia

There's little doubt in my mind these days of the importance terrain plays in a miniature wargame.  As I've written previously, I feel terrain is an essential element in the creation of a universe which allows players to maximise their enjoyment of the game and lose themselves for an hour or three (if not longer!!).  After spending a considerable amount of money on miniatures recently, I came to the realisation the desire to forego allocating funding for terrain and choosing to rely on the collection of 40K terrain at my disposal wasn't going to butter the parsnips for much longer.  While it gave us a varied and quasi-flexible board, it just wasn't Gotham.  I knew that I'd be buying a large collection of MDF terrain, but that wouldn't be for a while so I needed something to stand in for the meantime.  What the hell was I going to use???

Batman Update: The Masked Man

There are few villains that have inspired me more-so than Bane.  It seems that the more I learn about him, the more I am inspired by him hobby-wise.  When I initially ordered by League of Shadows game, the Tom Hardy Bane was my immediate next purchase before also settling on ordering Talia to complete the happy family.  Without a doubt, Bane was my favourite villain our of the Christopher Nolan series and having the opportunity to field him in game is an absolute treat.

Batman Update: Crikey!! Killer Croc Emerges

Pic done by the very talented grimbro over at Deviantart.  

The other week I found an offer on one of the various Facebook Buy / Swap / Sell groups that specialise in Batman Minis.  Specifically it was for Killer Croc who was NIB.  Eager to see how the big lug would go in my band, I went over to Bat-Builder to see if they had any articles specifically related to his use in game.  Lo and behold, the good people over at Critskillpeople have done just that.  After completing the article I promptly inquired about the model.  A few messages later, Killer Croc was in the mail, hurtling towards by location at the speed of a starving croc descending on some unsuspecting prey at a watering hole (or at least as fast as Auspost could manage).  Upon arrival I was greeted with the wonderful sight of a vastly oversized blister pack containing the reptilian thug nestled safely inside.

Batman Update: Bringing Colour to the Shadows

Stolen from dribble.com

In what seems to be a mass-burst of hobby mojo, I've started painting my League of Shadows gang and have been pleasantly startled at the speed that they're coming together.  The initial hesitation I'd normally feel when I approach a new painting project is nowhere to be seen which has meant I've been able to dive in with both feet.  I'm not sure what has allowed me to put aside these hesitations, but I'm not going to question its absence right now; a gift horse scenario to be sure.  Perhaps I've just been inspired by Shia LaBeouf

Batman Update: Raising Gotham

With my efforts in painting miniatures bearing considerable fruit, it was time to get started on building an actual gaming table to play on.  BMG runs an unusual table size (at least unusual for me) of 90cm x 90cm which is a bit of a departure from the old 4’ x 4’ table I’m used to playing on with GW games or Wrath of Kings.  Armed with this knowledge, I set out designing a gaming table that would allow me to bring Gotham City to life...

Batman Update: A League of our own

Stolen from http://www.hdwallpapersimages.com/

With the local enthusiasm for Batman at an all time high, I wanted to organise an event for the local gamers to encourage them to get involved and immerse themselves in the hobby.  The aim of this was two-fold – to encourage those sitting on the fence to jump in and have a go and to assist those participating in the event to build their armies and learn how to play the game.  The question remained however, what was the best way to help everyone get involved?  The answer was simple – organise an escalation league for the local club.  League are one of those wonderfully engaging events that combine the best part of all the aspects of the hobby and smashes them together to create something truly magical.  Unfortunately Knight Models does not currently possess a readily available league pack so I needed to make my own (roughly translated: I stole a bunch of ideas much more creative than I and moulded them to fit the BMG system. 

Batman Update - Joining the League

Once the past week I've been determined to build all the models I have for my League of Shadows gang so I can start playing some practice games in against the upstart Joker Gang being run by Nathan.  With the almost limitless opportunity for narrative play, I have no doubt that these early games will be the beginning of a long-running campaign for control of Gotham's seedy underbelly.  With that in mind, the more resources I have at my disposal, the likelier it is that the League will be able to establish a beach-head / power-base.

Hobby Update - A Quick Trip to Gotham

Sometimes there are games that sweep you up and spirit you away and before you fully realise  what's going on, you've bought an army and am planning a table to go with it.  This was my reality two weeks ago when I was talking to my mate Nathan about the Batman Miniatures Game.  In a space of 12 hours after the discussion he'd visited the site, perused the miniatures range and downloaded the rulebook.  In the process he'd also convinced me to download and browse the rulebook for myself as well as join a couple of Facebook groups related to the game.