What I Learned at Adepticon

Adpeticon has come and gone, and I've (finally) recovered from the Con. Before moving on to GenCon and the other summer cons (as well as getting back to painting) I wanted to share my thoughts about what has become the best miniature wargaming con in the land.

Adepticon is still the premier wargaming con, bar none (you've heard that already).  Don't believe the blogs and what not- the tournaments are only a small part of the experience. Though most of the events are tournament related, most of the players are just here for the experience, meet up with old friends, and games in a well organized area. Its still a Gentlemen's Gaming Con.

Just an 'average' hobbyist army! No, this was seriously cool DE army display board.

Special Operations: Kill Zone was a blast. You can read more about that here.

Giving away a Battlefoam Bag is a recipe to get 1,000 gamers to line up hours before registration begins. I was especially thankful for getting a VIG badge. I'll put that on the list for next year as well! On that note, the Adepticon swag bag has already been a thing of legend. Please keep it that way. Well worth the trip, just to get the bag. This year's special miniatures were nothing short of awesome.

The only camera I used was my iPhone 4GS. No DSL-R for me this year. And the pictures I got were just a great as any with my big camera. As an added plus, the iPhone was with me everywhere and I wasn't constantly looking after my big camera making sure it didn't sprout legs and wonder off.



No need to carry that big camera around anymore fellas!


Registration for an event is purely optional. Despite most events (at least 40K related) being sold out months ago, there were a lot of no-shows for nearly every event. Its certainly possible to show up early and get in an already full event. Trust me. I did it for several events!

In a sense, this event has become "Lobby Con" for me. Two nights we sat in the Lobby drinking beer and eating (usually pizza) just hanging out, seeing old friends, making new friends, and just talking to other hobbyist. Just hanging out seems to be a very reasonable way to spend a lot of time at Adepticon.

Unidentified friend enjoying Lobby Con... very

The Team Tournament still remains the highlight of the weekend. The amount of awesome armies and awesome people will never be forgotten. Three of our games were spectacular. And while one game fell flat, the team captain sought me out the next day to apologize and promised a better game next year if were to ever play. So sign me up, we'll be back again for the Team Tournament.

Big Display armies for the Team Tournament. This from our friends at the Axis of Ignorance.

Our Team- Hot Wings sporting dual Raven Wing armies. Complete with custom templates we gave out to our opponents.

Justin of Secret Weapon Miniatures is a stud teacher. It was my only hobby class this year, but was well worth getting out of bed on Sunday for. You'll be seeing plenty of weathering effects in the coming months. Everyone should do at least one hobby event every year. You will grow as a hobbyist, promise!

Mr. Justin.



My Death Wing terminators and my 'old' rust effect.





It would be cool to see more "small" vendors in the back halls. Battle Ready Figs and Techtonic (laser cut MDF) had booths set up. But I could envision small vendors with unique hobby supplies or supplements with a very low cost, fan friendly set up. The main vendor hall was nice (as always) but I am interested in seeing what the small guy has up his sleeve.

One of about 1,000 Psy-Bolt Dreadnoughts.

I just love the Chaos fliers. Come on GW and give us some flyer love this summer!!

I was shocked to see the 'lack' of hobbyist involvement with Warmachine. No doubt there were lots of players present, but the amount of cool looking armies was low. In fact, there were many unpainted models. In contrast Warhammer Fantasy and Flames of War had as many players, with many fantastic looking armies. Malifaux remained small, but had a dedicated following. The new Dust Tactics/Warfare game was constantly drawing people's attention. It will be interesting to see what happens to the game in the next year or so. Mantic had their new space dwarves and space 'rats' (i.e. skaven) on display. Expect to see even more 'counts-as' armies next year!





I expect to be painting some of these soon. I've been wanting to do Space Skaven for nearly a decade now.

Dark Eldar First Look, Part II

For the past week, we have all been watching the official release of the Dark Eldar on the games-workshop.com site. I think the internet community needs to give GW some props with the coverage the have been giving the Dark Eldar miniature release. Being able to hear what the miniature designers have to say about the design process and seeing the artwork and early tech designs is awesome. It really gets my nerd engines rev'ing!

Ok, enough of that. I was a bit bearish in the troop models, but that is because I knew there was some awesomeness coming with the vehicles. Lets start with the model I had the biggest hopes for, the raider. Now I know that people are worried about an AV 10 open topped vehicle, but damn these things are some looking. Jes and the boys kept the space pirate image from the prior edition and turned up the volume to 11. I love all of it: the big sails, the guys riding on the side ready to jump off at any moment, and the forward gunner... all great.

Next, the Reavers. I love the 'racing' helmets and gives these guys a good MadMax feel to them. These are sleek rides that according to the early rumors will be covering 40K tables in the next year. Just one thing about them, if you read the text these are based off the 'new' Eldar jetbikes. No wonder they look so similar to the rumored images from a couple of years ago. 

Lastly the Hellions. In their first edition, the models were a joke. All metal and looked dumb on the table. Sorry, but nothing looked realistic about them. The design team was understandably limited with the tech of the time, and now those limitations have been removed. These models have surprised me the most with the realistic motion poses and the dead 'ard pirate look to the riders. Seriously, these guys give me the creeps just looking at them. I think a lot of credit needs to go to Jes and his team for making the Dark Eldar look like Space Elf Pirates- close enough to the Eldar that you recognize their past, but with enough modern goth pieces to make them look distinct and know that evil is coming on the horizon. 

Its official, I can't wait for the DE to arrive!

First Impressions: Dark Eldar

For the past several months, I have been eagerly awaiting the new Dark Eldar miniatures. One of the things that has intrigued me over the years is that the Eldar a painters army and that a new version of the Dark Eldar could spark a great number of painting opportunities for the average gamer.

Thanks to Games Workshop's daily blog, we have some great pictures of the new DE as well as some bitchin' concept art! However, my first impressions of the models have me less than excited for the new range. First off, the sculpting is very good. However, the warriors don't have any special pizzaz that make me want to run out and get them. Secondly, the paint scheme is very average. Black armor with sharp, bright highlights. Kinda boring to be honest, and it does nothing to make me want to paint up pirate space elves. Sure painting the armor will be a skill challenge, it will probably feel like a chore on the twelve warrior.

Image from G-W.com

The warriors squad have too many static poses. While I like the squad leader and the reflection of Eldar iconography on the suits, the warrior squad looks awfully bland for new plastic box that is over ten years in the making.

Image from G-W.com

However, in today's update we get some Witches. Now, we are talking. Dynamic posses, pirate elf skin, and some cool armor elements. Jess Godwin on the site talks about the gladiator style armor, and I like it. No, I love it. Giving the witches a gladiator feel makes them feel gritty, dirty, feral, and deadly in combat. Which is what these models ooze, especially with the studio paint scheme. Still not a fan of the black armor with sharp highlights. However, we will have to see what the painting community does once we get these models in our hands. 

Image from G-W.com

At the moment, I am neutral on the new models. I am waiting for the vehicles before I make a final decision. The leaked photos from Games Day UK showed me a lot of promise- Jaba's Barge with pirate flags, which is what I have been wanting for sometime. 

Oh, and the rules. Who cares... this is a painting and modeling blog, not some silly tournament blog. :)