Fubarnii Caravan : LPL6 Round 7

Well I got edged out again in the Lead Painters' League challenge in round 7.
It was closer than the week before, but not close enough ;)

I was up against a nice set of Victorian Gentlemen Explorers. My World of Twilight Fubarnii Empire caravan & guards wasn't quite like bringing a ham & bacon sandwich to a kosher cooking contest, but some genres do seem to come with a slight handicap. Maybe more like bringing pizza to a BBQ?
Can you tell I haven't had lunch yet?

I've been enjoying the LPL, it's definitely got me to revisit some of my sadly neglected projects.
Twilight is top of the list for that: I love these minis!  Must find time to continue work on them.
And they've just released some new minis too.. some more Dhogu, the more 'primitive' nomadic tribe and some new Devanu: the slightly dark & shadowy nation.  All beautiful... must get some Dhogu especially, they look great fun to paint!

So on to my Fubarnii Caravan:

Some close ups of them:

After week 6 I dropped from 2nd place to 11.  Yikes! My Cavemen took quite a drubbing despite being well received. After week 7 I held at 11, despite a loss.  I got a lot more vote points from it, since the votes was within about 10% or so, but it's the total wins and bonus points that seem to matter most.
Looks like I'll have another narrow loss again this week, so we'll see what happens for the leaderboard then.

Despite not winning this round I am really happy. Why?  Because I get to keep these minis!  ;)
If I end up feeling like I'd rather have my minis than those I faced off against I have to come away feeling like I won. They were excellent Victorian Explorers, but I'm so pleased with how these fun quirky guys came out, and to finally get some paint on them and have a direction for further work on the Fubarnii military?
That's a victory for me!

Looking ahead I'm still not sure what will get entered for week 9, but I have something I'm getting a huge kick out of for week 10, the final week, the theme of which is 'Maritime': anything about ocean going adventure where you need 2 opposing teams and a large additional miniature. It is so hard to keep this under wraps! I don't know if I'll win, it's another 'odd choice', but for me, this LPL is all about painting a variety of stuff and get a foothold on or progress in different projects.

More to come!

Twilight Traveller Issue #2, free E-Zine is up!

Second issue of the Twilight Traveller free E-Zine is up and can be found here:
Twilight Traveller Issue #2, hosted by Pyre Studios.

-Painted by Ben Brownlie.

What's not to like about a free scenario & new rules for newly released miniatures?
Including rules for one of my favorite miniatures in the range: the Hunter and Graku, pictured above.

This guy is just full of character and cute as toast.  By the look of it, very useful on the battlefield too!
With late-placed advanced deployment, he's sure to put a wrench in the opponent's plans. And if you start to miss running Devanu beasts like Grishaks when you play Fubarnii, now you can get the best of both worlds, since this hunter can activate up to 4 friendly beasts, and these hunting Graku are no slouches.

I'm looking forward to ordering this guy & some beasts!
I finally made my selection for my prize of 2nd place in the Twilight painting contest...was very tempted to choose this guy & 4 beasts, but Mike offered to send some pre-release minaitures and I just couldn't pass that up. But I won't be able to wait forever before getting this guy and some others. 

Twilight has a new logo, & new minis & e-zine!

World of Twilight has a new logo!

I like it.  Very spiffy indeed. Captures the feel of it's universe, lots of nice detail, but not overdone in a way that is hectic and confusing, like many intricate logos fall into.  It's also very colorful, which moves away from a lot of the sketch-style art I've grown accustomed to, but it's not a bad thing at all. 

What else is new?  Their first free E-Zine! Get it here:  The Twilight Traveller. 

Nice mag with stories, scenarios, previews of upcoming minis, stats for new minis in the game and the last painting competition. Cool stuff!

And some new minis: some out now, some heading out soon:

Fubarnii Noble. Looks fun to paint!

 

Lots of new miniatures!

Twilight continues to grow: 3 viable factions now, which continue to all have new miniatures being added to them, and a 4th faction coming around the corner: the nomadic dhogu. 

The newest miniatures seem to only be available at Pyre Studios store. And everything but the newest releases also available from Hasslefree.  I still have a good portion of a Hasslefree voucher I've been delaying using, hoping to apply it to some of the newer releases of Twilight, they might get them, so since I've already 'bought' them (sort of) I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

Twilight is probably my most cherished neglected project.  I really do want to paint them, demo some games for some people, get others interested or at least willing to play, but I set my painting standards very high for myself with my Devanu, and now I feel I can't just 'knock out' the other factions.  So they are waiting for more time or when I don't have pressing needs for getting the minis finished for the hobby gaming I am already involved in.  But I'll get to them. 

World of Twilight is linked under the "Places to Go" on the left hand column. 

Twilight: Clash of Cultures: Fubarnii Knight & Delgon Strider

A Brave Fellow...

So I finished painting the Delgon Derak-Strider conversion for the contest over at the World of Twilight forum, and even got a rival for him painted up.  I wish I had more time to paint more Twilight minis- they are a real joy to paint, but all I've had time to do is these two this month, adding a little bit of paint here and there in between the several concurrent commissions I've got on the bench: when I need to let some glazes dry or think about a color choice I've added a bit to these to fill the time or cleanse the creative pallet.

I'm liking the interaction between them.

I'm just now realizing this is not just the first Delgon I've painted but also the first Fubarnii!

Looking forward to painting the forces.

Twilight Conversion: Derak Strider

World of Twilight announced a painting competition last month, and I haven't had any time to do anything for it until today when I squeezed in time to make a conversion I've had in my mind for a long time now.

I'm really not big on competitions actually, at least not competition for the sake of competition, but a small casual one that is friendly and an excuse to motivate people to paint more is definitely something I can appreciate and get behind. It runs to the end of June, so if it strikes your fancy head over to the World of Twilight Forum.
There is a link on the left column under 'Places to Go'.
<----

I'll be trying to find time to get this conversion painted by the deadline.
I wanted to make a Delgon Strider who's armed with a Derak weapon (think: primitive flame thrower!)


From the first I saw of the Striders I thought "Oh, that is cool!"
A steam-powered enhanced mechanical set of legs.
Wallace would be proud!

Striders come armed with a glave, but since the derak is more common in Delgon lands than the Fubarnii empire, I thought it made a lot of sense to have a powerful missle fire weapon to back up a strider scout patrol.

I began with a Delgon Strider, which I purchased from Hasslefree Miniatures, pictured from their site here:

I snipped his weapon & head off, added a Derak weapon and Derak user's goggled helmet head, and green stuffed a parka hood for him.
Fairly simple but I'm happy with the result.

A few other angles:

A to Z: World of Twilight

Have you heard of The World of Twlight ?

If you haven't it is high time that was corrected!

First of all it has nothing to do with sparkling vampires. The sooner that nonsense fades from world culture's memory the better.

But it also has nothing to do with vampires of any sort.  Yet it is a fantasy setting.  For that matter you won't even find elves, or orcs, or goblins, or dragons, or demons, or dwarves... and as much as I love dwarves, it is o.k.: it really is.  There are an abundance of good games & settings for those things.

This is something else.  Something highly original.  Unique.  Inspired.  Addictive.

The World of Twilight is a setting of a terrestrial world populated by several egg-laying races that have a look about them that makes me suspect that Jim Henson & Brian Froud are a couple of gods in an alternate dimension overseeing their dinosaurish chosen peoples.

High praise well deserved.  Creator Mike Thorpe has created not just a game and some appealing sketches, but fleshed out an entire world with histories and cultures, and more in store than has been revealed yet.

So what is it about?

The setting:

There are three main factions currently, with a couple more (at least) planned.

The Fubarnii are small in stature, bipedal, and let's face it: cute.
They are the protagonists of the setting, though to be fair, the others see themselves this way too.
They have a culture and technology reminiscent of Medieval Europe. In the past, they were slaves of the Devanu, but they secured their freedom and have built an empire of their own.  They rely on well trained troops, and coordinated attacks to prevail in battle.

The Devanu are the villains. Larger and physically much more powerful than the Fubarnii, they are fast and fierce. The Devanu have a social structure that reminds me of lions: dominated by an alpha male, with several capable female hunters and youth that are still quite dangerous.  They also use Grishak hunting beasts, as well as flying beasts and surely more to come.

The Delgon are a rival civilization, of the same species as the Fubarnii of the Enpire. Their culture is dominated by shadowy priests and an even greater reliance on the devices of the engineers.

The Game:

The game is a fantasy skirmish game that is scenario-driven.
The rules are free as pdf on the World of Twilight website: so you have nothing to lose in checking them out!

I quite like this game.
Not to sound too much like the D6G, but it has an Innovative Mechanic. Several actually.

For one thing, players 'alternate' activation.. but not truely alternating, because activation is determined by drawing activation stones from a bag: if your color is drawn, then you may activate a model, or selection of models if able to command more than one with the one you select.  Then another stone is drawn.  Likely there will be some back and forth, but it does allow for the unexpected, and any game that makes you plan for the unexpected is a good thing!

Combat is determined by casting rune stones. In simplest terms, unit types have a certain amount of stones they may cast and can chose either defensive or offensive stones which when cast will either come up successful or not.  Both sides do this in combat, and as you might expect, successful defenses and offences cancel each other out. If there are more successful attacks than defenses then damage is done, toughness checks are made and results are determined.

But that isn't all.  Model types have various skills they can chose to use, some of which require using a limited resource this model has.   This makes for even more tactical choices.  But not in the way of some games with 'one trick pony' overpowering/game changing skills. On the other hand, many games feel like a pretty dice game, where it's more about how many high numbers you can roll than your strategy and tactics, but not this game.  There is a real depth: if you enjoy tactical challenges you will be pleased. This game has the perfect balance between chance and tactical selection of skills.

The game is also based around scenarios, so it has a lot more behind it than 'line up and see how many get killed the fastest'.

The Miniatures


I'm a minis-junky, so this is important to me.  It isn't hyperbole when I say it doesn't get any better than this.
The miniatures are quality in every way: in design, sculpting & casting.  The only drawback issue I found was the original Fubarnii knights have spears that are thin to the point that I've had trouble with them bending.  But looking on the forum I see that is being addressed and newer ones will have thicker spear options if you prefer.

It's hard to evaluate style objectively.  Actually it's probably impossible by definition.  So all I can say is that I love these miniatures.  From the first sight of them on TGN a couple years ago I knew I was going to buy them.

They're sold by Hasslefree Miniatures and currently there is no distributor in North America.  But the folks at Hasslefree are really good people and shipping has always been fast for me.  Plus they often throw in little bags of candy!

The price point is high, but that's to be expected for a boutique miniatures line.  But considering the quality and highly original look, they're easily worth the cost, and it is comparable to some of the other metal miniatures for popular skirmish games, so you shouldn't have any sticker-shock.  Besides, you don't need many miniatures to play the game.  The large introduction set Hasslefree offers is more than enough for many good games, and includes two factions.

The other important concern many have is "Is it an active product?" The answer is Yes.  They've had several new releases this past year and looks like they have even more coming soon.  They'll be adding light cavalry for the Fubarnii, shock troops for the Delgon, a new juvenile for the Devanu and an entire new faction is in the works too.   I get the impression that the creator loves this project so much, that it isn't going away, one way or another, it is going to go forward and expand.

There is also Brandlin's terrain specially designed for Twilight.  If you weren't following his amazing terrain board he was making for Salute this year, get over to his site to check it out and his products.  I have my eye on some of those: they're on my list.

Here are some of my Devanu:


You will also find an entry for these under the 'Twilight' tag, here on my blog.



I still have to paint my Fubarnii... work has been keeping me too busy:


And I have a plan for a Delgon force too, they are also great miniatures (painted picture from WoT site):


To wrap it up:

Would I recommend this game?  Yes. 10 out of 10.

If you enjoy fantasy skirmish games and find tactical challenges rewarding, then this is a good game for you.
If you want to try something different than yet another Tolkienesque setting, then this could be the refreshing change you're looking for.

If you like games like Songs of Blades and Heroes, Mordheim or Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, then this will stretch your field command skills but still be light and enjoyable.  If you enjoy games like Malifaux or Warmachine, you'll be comfortable with the type of decisions you are called upon to make, yet can relax from some of the micro accounting required and be rewarded by being fast on your feet with the unexpected activation orders.

Aesthetics and Quality of the Miniatures: Excellent.  10 out of 10. 

They are highly original.  I am not overly fond of miniatures that are covered in detail for the sake of detail.
These miniatures are very well done, without superfluous detail and are a joy to paint.


If you haven't tried the game, download it, run it with some proxies to get a feel for it.
Check out the World of Twilight sight, forum & Hasslefree.
I hope this game & range grows in awareness and catches on.  Quality & Talent should be rewarded.

Devanu Done

The Unfinished Project challenge at TGN concludes in a couple days and while I didn't finish my unfinished project, I did finish one of the two factions I had set as my goal. So, not bad really.

My project was for the Fubarnii and the Devanu, the first two factions (of three currently) for the World of Twilight game. I'll do a thorough review of the game and miniatures at a later date, but for now the short of it is I am a big fan of both. In the meantime, I'll just focus on what I've finished: the Devanu.

The Devanu are the villains of the setting. They have a cruel intelligence and once ruled an empire which enslaved the Fubarnii until the Fubarnii overthrew them, winning their freedom and establishing their own empire: Sparticus is green with envy. The Devanu now live on the outskirts of this civilization, preying on the Fubarnii whenever they get the chance.

The Devanu faction is a multi-species warband. It is also an 'elite' force: higher valued & fewer models than the Fubarnii faction. This is great for anyone who wants variety for their painting project, has less time, wants to focus on a small number of miniatures or wants to spend a bit less money... or all of the above. The Devanu are led by a male, Kopa, and it is typical to have a female or two (though small games may have just 1 adult Devanu). The females specialize in herding either packs of hunting beasts, Grishaks, or their own young, Jenta. There is also now an aerial species, the Kosok.

On to the pictures!

Kopa, leader of the pack.

Sempa: Only one pose so far, but wasn't hard to convert a bit to get pose variety.

Jenta: same situation with the poses, though it sounds like a new Jenta sculpt may be ready for Salute 2011!

Grishaks: Aren't they cute? Sure, but they're fast and deadly.

Kosok: Death from above!

Deadly clan on the move.