Non-RPG Tabletop
It's high time we move on to some manmade and dungeon-style basing, since that's where the juicy stuff often happens. (Whatever my attractions towards a drawn-out storyline, full of excitement and plot twists, rich with characterization, and replete with a host of colorful places, sometimes I just want to pretend to kill shit.)
In Part 2 of our miniature painting series, we touch on forests and other exotic bases that can make your miniatures more vibrant. I've covered several dry outdoor terrains, but not some of the more important ones: muck and water. Muck adds appeal to any adventure, and the same handy rule of thumb applies to miniatures. We'll cover these and more in Part 2...
Difference. We cherish it. But just like playing one RPG doesn't make us sufficiently different - we've got to play different RPGs, and play them differently - sometimes garden-variety miniatures just seem too garden-variety, too vanilla, too much of some bland-meaning but inappropriate-sounding food metaphor. Just going ahead and painting the little guys is one good way to set yourself apart. (Remember: a well-painted figure or army is always a moral victory.) But a couple of relatively easy conversions or additions can jazz up a relatively ordinary mini even further.
The Visions in Color show (ViC) is an online show originated by Dominic Heutelbeck (a German miniatures painter of no small talent) and hosted on his painting website. I recently interviewed Bob Lippman, a long-time participant, Jason Moses, who's only been able to join in once, and Dominic via email to see what they had to say about this unique show.
There's conflict over the best way to prime a miniature, which goes to suggest that people will fight over any damn thing that has more than one option available. And while this perhaps doesn't have the broad, metaphysical qualities of a debate like Coke vs. Pepsi (vs. RC vs. Chek Cola vs. etc.) it's just the thing for the mini-gamer who's sick of the typical: a balanced approach.
They say that being married changes you. One of the little changes that I have experienced since marriage is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My wife is a fanatic for the show. I had never watched it, but now she has me absolutely hooked. She is still much more the addict than I could ever be, but I have to admit that I look forward to every new episode. It was her intense love for everything Sunnydale that led me to buy the new Buffy boardgame for her.
Risk'n'Roll 2000 from Parker Brothers dubs itself "The Dice Game of the New Millennium". But when you can win a game with one roll, could it also have the shortest playing time around? Find out how to add Magic: The Gathering into the mix to make it a little more interesting and strategic.
