Grumpy Gnome

They hold paint much better than some “no name” inexpensive plastic plants I have tried.

I highly recommend them.

There are more photos and information on my blog entry but those are Ridgeback Miniatures Gundabad Orcs. Ridgeback is a company I found on Facebook back when I used to use that platform. I do not think the person behind Ridgeback makes much of the LOTR inspired minis any more but I could be wrong as I am no longer on Facebook.

Thanks for the kind words! It is pretty surprising how expensive GW miniatures have gotten. Most of our collection are second hand from EBay. It is really hard for me to justify paying full GW retail when there are so many excellent, less expensive options to use as proxies given my wife and I do not play at a GW Game Store.

Thank you!

I finally finished some of my Ridgeback Miniatures Gundabad Orcs and Goblin Mercenaries as well as some GW Cave Trolls. More photos and details on my blog… https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/07/05/ridgeback-gundabad-orcs-goblin-mercenaries-oh-and-some-gw-cave-trolls/ Advice, suggestions and feedback welcome!

Brilliant brushwork!

Great work! I like your color palette and brushwork.

Thanks for the kind words folks, they are much appreciated. Feedback, suggestions and advice are always welcome.

Hagglethorn Hollow from Tabletop Troubadour has had a history of difficulties in it’s Kickstarter fulfillment. The factory paintwork left something to be desired so we decided to spruce things up a bit… https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/06/29/getting-hagglethorn-hollow-to-look-the-way-we-want/

Pegasus Hobbies makes some decent factory painted plastic stone walls but I wanted to personalize them for my gaming table… https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/04/26/walls-yes-walls-and-more/ What are your opinions on the Pegasus Hobbies stone walls?

I finally finished my personal touches on the first lot of the Gabrigames Workshop pieces we bought and I wrote up a bit of review with those as well as the second lot we bought… which are still unpainted unfortunately. https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/06/23/gabrigames-workshopa-review/

They are made of a somewhat soft and pliable plastic, very durable. They take paint well and so far have kept it even when bent.

Tired of flocked trees shedding? Do not want to spend as much as Dwarven Forge trees cost? Try Toyvian trees like these ones I found on Amazon. I just finished the 2 medium sized ones, completing my set of 3 small, 2 medium and 1 large. https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/06/21/more-treestoy-trees-toyvian-trees/ They require a bit of work but I think they get the job done. More photos on my blog. And this older blog post talks about how I take them from factory fresh to battlefield ready with weighting the base, repositioning the limbs and painting them… https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/03/26/another-tough-week/ In the top photo are the two trees I just finished. The bottom photo shows the 6 Toyvian trees mixed in with Dwarven Forge and a Games Workshop Citadel Forest.

I was not aiming for a giver and taken description. I do not think it is necessarily selfish to be a guest player. And I think a host player can still be selfish. Bearing in mind that whilst I am not a devotee of Ayn Rand I do not see selfishness as always immoral or malicious. The survey is casual. It is in part to test my own belief that guest players are more common but between forums being filled with folks generally keen enough to be naturally be host players and guest players often being to casual in their gaming to frequent forums, the survey is probably inherently skewed. The real seed that become this thread was the idea that it would be neat if people treated gaming terrain as important as their miniatures and helped build better gaming tables by working together rather than often relying on one person to build the table.

The topic shifted a bit from, “are you a player who brings spare terrain in addition to your minis” to “are you a player who focuses on your own stuff or a player who splits focus between their own stuff and stuff for others”. I know the terms host and guest are imperfect, several people have gotten confused by them. The host aspect is not supposed to be about location but about providing for others.

I think be open and honest about expectations is the best way to avoid having conflicts but some folks can be uncomftable with the direct approach. Good luck with the game!

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I am hoping this thread helps some folks “get the hint” so that others do not have to get “real tired of it”… if you see what I mean. Diplomacy is not my strongest attribute.

Those Bullywugs are brilliant and your Captain Barnabus is outstanding. All of your work is great but those stand out for me. I love your color palette.

It would seem Core Space and Battle Systems are not that popular with the Reaper crowd.

Encouraging voluntary cooperation is what I am thinking. Guiding players into initial purchases…. be they minis, terrain, book, props, tools, whatever …. that are sound investments for long term use, ie things commonly used, replayability, modular, etc. Encouraging new folks to get some simple, generic terrain early on helps foster a sense of responsibility for that “third army” so often overlooked in the rush to get fancy minis. It is a lot like encouraging new larpers to buy a decent quality, simple earth tone wool cloak and basic sword instead of that fancy two handed sword with flaming skull hilt and bright red cotton cape.

We have gotten our hands on more Dwarven Forge terrain and our opinion of it has only gotten better. We love this stuff. If you are curious to read more details about why… https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/06/18/dwarven-forged-part-3-june-restock-loot-haul-and-review/ One question that keeps coming up from DF staff is what else can they make thatbpeiole would want. Is there something DF does not make that you want? And, given their next Kickstarter will focus on city buildings… Is there something about their buildings that you do not like? Something you wished they did different?

Common courtesy is an interesting turn of phrase because there are expectations attached but rarely codified in any tangible way. I guess one way to phrase what I am skiing in this thread is that do you feel it is common courtesy to help create what someone in another forum called often neglected “the third army” of terrain even when you are not the GM/DM or Club/Shop?

Not all games require physical assets. That is true. But let’s not go off on that tangent for now. Let us accept that for the purpose of this discussion that there are some physical assets required to play your intended game. If you were to participate in a game would you provide materials beyond yourself and the absolute minimum you need to participate? On the surface it is unreasonable to force anyone to do anything in what is supposed to be social entertainment. However there are social contracts, often left unspoken, that we all abide to and encourage, ie do not cheat, do not abuse or take advantage of other players. Let me put it like this, as someone brought up in another forum when I asked these questions. Do you provide refreshments for other players, regardless of the location? Is it reasonable for players who spend a certain amount of time and money on their personal gaming materials to spend a percentage of that on gaming materials used jointly or by others? There was a time I thought only to provide myself and my gaming materials. I no longer feel my responsibility ends there and I wonder how others feel about this.