Assembling a PC (part 2)

Time to carry on, although not much more assembling needs to happen.

First and foremost: the power cable

I was looking for a 6-pin PCI-E power connector. Or adapter. Or 6-pin MOLEX adapter. Whatever, it looks like this:

You plug two HDD-power connectors into the 4-pin sockets, and plug the 6-pin socket into the graphics card. Boom! Power.

The bad news is that I don't have any more 4-pin power connectors, so there is no way to install an optical drive right now. Oh well.

Wireless capabilities

I first thought of installing a wireless network card; but of course, the graphics card is so huge that it would not fit. I then researched an external wireless adapter; sure enough, there are some USB-based adapters out there. It's just tough to find a good one, with good enough signal reception, and one that does not just break after a couple months of usage. So for now, I'm OK with a LAN cable stretched across the house.

Sound

I already have headphones; they're comfortable and whatnot. However, I frequently listed to audio books while doing chores around the house, as well as when painting and assembling miniatures. I don't do all of that in front of the computer. Previously, I just moved my laptop around the house; however, that is no longer an option.

Option a. Wireless headphones

I went ahead and bought this: http://sumvision.com/product/akuma/akuma.html

It's actually a pretty sweet deal. All reviewers agree that it's a great product in its price range. 

I can only add that it seems uncomfortable when putting it on at first, but I got used to it pretty fast. I don't even notice it any longer; I can walk around the house, do stuff, or even sleep, with this thing on.

A second thing to add is that its wireless capabilities are great. I can walk around with only minor disturbances from time to time, and it gets across multiple rooms. Sadly, it does not work if I'm out in the kitchen painting. I'm guessing that the intervening bathroom and the multiple tiled walls are to blame. Nevertheless, I'm happy with my purchase.

Option b. Speakers

Now I would have been happy with a simple set of desktop speakers and be done with this, but wifey needs her movies (and I have to admit, watching them on a huge monitor is great - why not enhance the experience with quality sound?), so we decided on something bigger.

My first line of research went into 5.1 surround sound systems. It's already hard enough to find a good one; the market is flooded with products, and reviews are sparse. Fortunately, we have a friend who knows his sound systems. I quickly found out that quality costs a lot (just look at JBL, Altec Lansing or Harman Kardon). Moreover, these things are designed for home cinemas and smart tvs. They don't interact well with a PC, unless you have a dedicated soundboard.

My second line of research went into so called "gaming surround sound systems". Simply put, these are 5.1 systems designed for PCs. The advantage over the other kind of sound systems is the simple 3.5 audio jack input. So I went for this: http://www.logitech.com/en-ca/product/speaker-system-z906 So far, I haven't used it much. Right now, my computer is right next to the couch, and there's no way I can create a surround-setup for the speakers. I'll relocate it to the opposite corner of the room soon, and then we'll be able to watch movies comfortably from the couch. I can say that those few times that I did try out the speakers, they sounded great, and the bass is nice, too.

Epilogue

As any fan knows, a PC is never complete. You can always buy a new accessory, or improve an existing component. I may do so in the future; for now, I'm quite happy with what I've assembled. 

Happy gaming!

How to paint Daemonettes (quickly & for beginners)

I'm continuing the "How to" series, showing off 2 squads of Daemonettes.

 

Introduction

In the spirit of the series, I'll keep the techniques simple and efficient, bringing the girls to a good standard in a short time, and keeping them looking as canonical as possible. I didn't need a trick to tell the squads apart when working on the Seekers. For the Daemonettes, the differing element will be the hair color.

Getting to it

 

Step 0. Extract your models from the sprues and glue them together. Not detailed here.

 

Step 1. Prime your models in white

I've used the same technique for skin color as on the Seekers, so the white primer is important.

This time however, I didn't have full control over priming. One of the squads was bought from eBay, and they were already primed in black.

Step 2. Purple wash

Copy-paste from the article concerning the Seekers:

I don't have a purple light enough to work as a skin color here. I didn't know about advanced techniques (such as layering) back when I painted these models; but even if I did, I was looking for a fairly quick way to do this. (And probably so are you, if you're reading this.)
So here goes: heavily water down Hormagaunt purple until it reaches a wash-like quality. Then apply generously to the model.
I don't have a picture of this, but take a look further down. You can see this color on every model, where skin is visible.

This obviously does not work on models primed in black. I did not want to strip the primer off, because it looked like a thin layer of good quality paint. So instead I painted over a layer of white (well, a couple of layers actually) and hoped for the best.

Step 3. Basecoat

The colors of Slaanesh are purple, pink and black, so I went with the theme.
Bright purple claws complement the toned-down, light purple of the skin. I've alternated between the two purples when painting instruments and banners.
I've painted the armor black on the leathery areas and silver on the metallic parts. I've also used silver for jewels, bracers and anklets.
I used grey for the claws on the feet, as well as some loincloths for diversity.
I painted some of these girls along with the Seekers. It was only natural to use the paint mix concocted for the Seekers' hair for the first squad. The second squad got fiery orange hair.

The squad prime in white.

 The squad primed in black.

As you can see, the black primer doesn't really show, as long as there's enough white to cover it up.

Step 4. Black wash

The trick here is not to bathe the models in black wash. Use an old detail brush for this process, and deliver the wash only where it's needed: claws, armor, hair, face, eventually other crevices on the body.

This pops out the details - eyes, mouth, ears, armor patterns, jewels etc, without darkening the overall skintone.

Step 5. Finish the basecoat

Just a quick sidestep here, to coat the bases in green.

Step 6. Drybrush the hair

Under a generous coat of black wash, the hair looks filthy and messy. A quick drybrush will give back its shine. I used blood red for the pinkish hair, so it got a bright red tone; I just used the original orange color for the other squad.

Step 7. Highlight the details

There are a couple of things to do here.

First, the black wash toned down the red eyes. Using my finest detail brush, I put a spot of paint in the center of each eye.

Edge highlight the claws on the legs.

Edge highlight the claws, instruments and banners using their respective colors (mostly purple). Don't overdo this; it's more like an overbrushing.

Highlight the metallic parts. As with the Pink Horrors, I used a detail brush to put spots of the original color (in this case, chainmail silver) in the center of each detail. This is unconventional (reverse edge highlighting?), but I think it looks good for metals.

Step 8. Drybrush the skin

I really did this just to even out the skintones over the two squads. They were primed using different paints (not just different colors), and it kind of shows through. Also, I were uneven with the black wash, and overly darkened the faces on some girls.

First, I mixed a very light purple (about evenly from Hormagaunt Purple and White):

Then, using an old detail brush, I applied a heavy drybrushing using this color on the all the areas where skin is showing.

It had the desired effect, darkening the skin where it was too white and brightening it up where I got too much black wash on.

Step 9. Basing

I have really stepped up my basing with these girls. I wanted to achieve a woodland terrain, with grass, earth and small bushes - a different approach to the sandy hills of the Pink Horrors.

First, I put on spots where the earth would be showing through. Use an old brush to apply patches of PVA glue, then sprinkle on the flocking.

Once I did this with all 20 of the models, the first ones were already drying. Shake them well to get the excess flocking off.

Then comes the grass. I don't really like this shiny grass that I've got, as it has an artificial look. However, since Slaaneshi Daemons are supposed to exude an aura of pleasant hallucinations, I think it makes sense that their immediate environment is bright and clean. I applied PVA glue to the rest of the base (even to the center of larger patches of earthy terrain), then doused the models in flocking.

Finally, the bushes and undergrowth. I have this flocking which I wanted to create trees with:

It was perfect for the job. The plastic bag actually contains small pieces of flocking. I applied thick patches of PVA glue on the bases, then stuck a piece of terrain on each patch of glue.

Step 10. Sealant

I applied matte varnish on the models, and PVA glue as sealant for the bases. Again, this looks fishy when applying it:

But it dries to a transparent coat and looks fine. It also had the added benefit of soaking through the bushes and drying to a hard finish.

Step 11. Take pictures of the finished squads

Red squad:

Orange squad:

And the whole troupe:

Holiday Break

You may have noticed the sudden resurgence of hobby-related articles in the past few weeks. I took some time off for R'n'R, and nothing relaxes me as much as a good painting session. So I made time for miniature painting, as well as other hobby related projects, and trying out a new game.
Alas, the holidays are upon us. I'll be visiting friends and family, so no hobby work is in sight for a while.
So I wish you all Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays!
Have a Chaos Cookie!

Trying out Frostgrave

Frostgrave is the new hot title in the skirmish department. Let's give it a try!

It is also a great excuse to try out this sweet castle terrain housed by Checkpoint, our FLGS. It doesn't really fit Warhammer 40k, so I never got the chance to use - until now.

My Warband:

• Wizard: Summoner
• Apprentice
• Knight
• 2x Crossbowman
• 3x Thief
• 2x Warhound

Enemy Warband:

• Wizard: Necromancer
• Apprentice
• Treasure Hunter
• 2x Archer
• Warhound
• Thief
• 2x Thug
• Man-at-arms

Scenario: The Well of Dreams and Sorrows

There's a fountain in the middle. If a wizard spends an action next to it ("drinks" from the fountain), he gains 100 experience points. Otherwise regular setup, 6 treasure.

Before the game

We both managed to summon Zombies.

Setup

From left to right: Thief; Zombie; the Apprentice is grouped with another Thief, a Crossbowman and a Warhound; the Wizard is grouped with a Knight, a Warhound and a Crossbowman; and another Thief stands next to the ladder. The plan is to move in and grab treasures on the flanks, while the center pushes towards the fountain.

My team moves into position. Two Crossbowmen get up into the towers. A Thief and a Zombie move on some treasure. Warhounds block the Wizard and Apprentice. The Wizard casts Summon Demon. Rolls 3. Takes 1 damage. Enemy Wizard casts Fog. Also fails and takes damage. The apprentices do get off some spells though.

The necromancer Apprentice moves up on the right side with her escorts.

The opposing team also moves on the treasure tokens, left, right and center. I got the worse deployment zone, with a treasure sitting in the middle, near the fountain. (My own damn fault, mind you.)

The warband closes in on the fountain. The Wizards fails Summon Demon again. The Apprentice casts Poison Dart and cripples the enemy Man-at-arms.

With so many treasures picked up, some critters were naturally spawned. An Ice Spider moves up from below, but the numerous party members of the opposing team take care of it. A Snow Leopard spawns on the opposing side, but just wanders around for the entire game. Finally, two Wolves spawn right behind my wizard, and proceed to attack him.

Being noble souls, the Knight and the Thief move in to help the Wizard, and annihilate the wolves.
The Crossbowmen (and the enemy Archers) spend all their time not moving and taking potshots at the enemies the sky.
My other Thief and the Warhounds kept screening and harassing the enemy. One Warhound engaged the party on the left, but died.
A Thief and the Zombie are moving off-board with their treasures.

As for the opposing party, a Thug, a Thief and the crippled Man-at-arms move off the board with their treasure. The Wizard tried to move on the fountain, but was pushed back. The Apprentice and her escorts hold the other side of the board.

For the third time, my Wizard fails Summon Demon. Luckily, the Necromancer doesn't get off anything useful either. With the Crossbowmen and Archers not doing anything either, we needed to rely on our melee guys to inflict damage.

Finally, I get off a Summon Demon. Well, that's a lot said. I had to sacrifice 4 health to get it off. But at least I have a winged Imp. It immediately jumped on the treasure.
The Warhound engaged the Treasure Hunter, with the sole purpose of keeping him at bay. An enemy Warhound Warspider is trying to do the same thing from the right.

After defeating the Treasure Hunter, the Warhound jumps on the enemy Wizard. I wanted to pin him in place for a turn, and gang up on him to try and inflict some damage.

My Wizard manages to get to the Well and drinks deep.

We played for one more round, but nothing noteworthy happened. The Imp managed to get away thanks to the Apprentice casting Leap. The Knight killed the Treasure Hunter. The Crossbowmen killed my Apprentice. I ganged up on the enemy Wizard, but he Leaped out of combat.

At the end of the day, we each got 3 treasure, for a draw; except that I managed to drink from the fountain. All party members successfully recovered, with no permanent damage. We got off the same number of spells, for identical experience points.
We didn't decide whether to continue these parties the next time or just start new ones; just in case, we rolled for the treasure. I got gold, 6 potions and a grimoire. The Necromancer got 2 grimoires and lots of extra gold.

Home-made movement trays

Ever since I played a game of Warhammer Fantasy when I had to suffer through moving a horde of 40 Bloodletters across a hill, I had been planning creating movement trays. However, I lacked the proper materials - until now.

Previous attempts

I tried to carve a movement tray out of a wooden plank. Of course, they don't sell planks of the required size, so I bought a hand saw and cut it down to size - only to have a rough, jagged edge, no matter how I tried to do it right. Demoralized, I shelved the project.

The proper material: balsa wood

To quote Wikipedia: Balsa lumber is very soft and light, with a coarse, open grain.

For our purposes, this means that a 4 mm thick balsa plank can be cut to size using a cutter. Use a pen or pencil to draw out the required lines, then use a ruler and follow it with the cutter. It requires some practice to keep the blade straight. 

The final product is an almost-perfectly sized plank.

More stuff needed: universal glue (i.e. something that will glue plastic and metal to wood), PVA glue.

Movement trays for Warhammer Fantasy (type 1)

I already have a set of magnetized bases; it's just clumsy to push a horde of models around with no tray. I don't use the square bases for anything else, so the first option was to glue them directly on the wooden plank.

As always, dry fit the components:

Then go ahead and and glue them on using your universal glue.

Put something heavy on this and leave it like that for the night. I had it pressed for a couple of days. Then use the PVA glue sealant technique on the wood, and you're done.

Of course, this option has the shortcoming of using up your magnetized bases. As old people say, you'll never know when they'll be useful. So I tried something that leaves me with the bases untouched.

Movement trays for Warhammer Fantasy (type 2)

Let's glue a magnetic sheet unto the wooden plank; then the magnets in the bases will hold both to the sheet and to the metallic bases of the models. Of course, the link between the bases and the magnetic sheet is a bit weaker, so I used old bits of sprue as a kind of railing on the edges.

Because of the 'railing', your planks needs to be larger than the actual 'footprint' of the models. Sprue holders are 4 mm wide, so for a 20-man Daemon squad, we need a 133x54 mm plank:

The magnetic sheet needs to be of the exact size, 125x50 mm. 

Then prepare and dry fit the sprue guards:

One side guard is a bit longer than the plank. I did not keep my cutter's blade exactly right, so it veered off a bit and this is the result. We'll solve that immediately.

Glue on the magnetic sheet. Make sure to fit it exactly where it needs to go, respecting the boundaries:

Due to the defect explained above, the sheet is also larger than the plank. That's easy to fix. Put the movement tray sheet-down on a hard surface, such as this wooden plank:

Then trace it's contour with a cutter. That should slice off the extra sheet.

On to the sprue guard! Make sure to dry fit.

I used a hobby knife to hack of a couple of millimeters off the side guard, so as to make it the right size.

While working with the plastic, the sprue bits might slightly bend, and then they won't stick closely to the wooden surface. Put something heavy on top, like a pile of books, and leave it to press down. Finally, seal the wood using the PVA glue technique.

Comparison

I tested the movement trays at home. They both seemed to work well enough.

I then used them to transport some miniatures to and from a game of Frostgrave (I mounted the miniatures on the trays, then put the trays inside a box). I came to the conclusion that, for my setup, the type (1) tray is far superior.

• It holds the miniatures a lot better. This one is obvious, as the magnets are glued to the plank. I can safely place the tray at any angle, even turn it upside down, and nothing will fall off. If I shake it upside down, heavier metal models do fall off, but everything plastic stays in place. I can move the other one around, but the magnetic sheet isn't strong enough to hold at steep angles or sudden movements.
• It's easier to mount/unmount the miniatures. The base is glued to the tray; the miniature sticks to the base. When using the other one, there's a tray, a base and the miniature; the base sometimes sticks to the miniature and not the tray, and it has to be removed when placing the miniature on the table.

That being said, if I had glued my miniatures to their round bases, and glued a magnet underneath, the type (2) tray would have been better, as I wouldn't have had to also buy square bases.

But for now, I'll stick to type (1) and manufacture a couple more. Soon to be used in Warhammer Fantasy!