Akiosama

Thanks Gailbraithe. I stand by my response as written. My 2 yen, Akiosama

I think one other thing that needs to be added to this discussion about "continuing to play the stuff that's already in print" is that the availability of product - the original stuff or new material - influences what the general player population plays. Yes, there are a lot of people who like older editions of D&D - in fact, I just heard the words "You're wrong for playing anything not 1e." Personally, I grew into the game on 2e, which still holds a lot of charm for me, but I do think that 3.x was a very good system, too. The thing about 3.x that makes it even better as a system is the OGL. While I maligned the OGL when 3.5e was the current edition, because it seemed like everyone was writing 3.5e stuff and publishing it. There was so much out there to keep track of, and it made the DM's job that much harder, unless they were willing to take a stand on which splatbooks were valid - and this is even after limiting books by which campaign setting they came from, sometimes. (Curse you, Forgotten Realms.) But now, it's really the OGL that's making it possible to have the RPG environment we have - at least when it comes to the decision regarding 3.5e v. 4e. Play what you want! Pathfinder, as well as many other publishers, big and small can still support 3.5e in their own ways. They can make games similar and market them to an audience that will be at least somewhat familiar with the mechanics (Spycraft or Fantasycraft, anyone?). They can still publish stuff for generic D&D 3.x. It's still very accessible, in ways that 1e and 2e aren't. I think while people may have their own opinions about 4e, it's going to switch to 3.x v. 5e in the end. The lack of support of older editions, and the accessibility will be killers for 4e, despite there being quite a few products out there now. Once 5e gets going, even if it's not that great, I can't see 4e maintaining any sort of major presence once WotC stops making 4e product, especially given the lack of OGL for 4e. I really wish WotC hadn't dropped the .pdf versions of their out-of-print 1e, 2e, and 3.x products on sites like Drivethrurpg.com. While it's not necessarily a lot of money for WotC, it did allow them to keep previous editions alive, and keep the D&D name going for people who enjoyed the game irregardless of which edition was current. My guess, however, is that the products were pulled in favor of supporting 4e, and that making it harder to get older editions would push newer players towards 4e, where the actual money was to be made. And proof of support of previous editions killing the player base for those editions in this sort of product? Look at all the editions of Warhammer and Warhammer 40k out there. Despite being able to 'play with the materials already out there', and prevalent griping about how 'new editions ruin the game', I rarely see people play with a previous editions ruleset, even if they own most of the books for that edition. It seems that almost as soon as it is released, the player base, at least in my area, shifts to the new edition. Granted, this may not hold as true for actual RPGs as opposed to the miniature stuff, but I haven't seen a 1e or 2e group in a while, and most of the 3e players are playing Pathfinder now. There are a few 4e games, though, and I thought that was good to see for the future of D&D as a franchise. One other thing to consider, is that this can work in the other direction too. BattleTech, for example, was a pretty dead franchise once FASA was bought out by Microsoft and support for the non-video game version practically ceased, but now that Catalyst Games (formerly FanPro) is publishing for it again, it seems to be regaining some popularity on the gaming table. Support for the game by the industry is important - it gives players a more common base to work from, and it's the players that drive this whole endeavor. My 2 yen, Akiosama EDIT: Hmm... I didn't know about the new GSL - the OGL for 4e. Anyone know if it's being used much by writers out there?

I found them at my local hobby store and began picking them up because at the time there weren't really any cost-effective general fantasy figures out there. I was trying hard to avoid GW - I thought the commitment was too much, and when I did get into WH/40K I was right. I was collecting AEG's Clan War at the time, and the figures for that game were somewhat pricey - not expensive, but not cheap. Reaper's stuff seemed like a really good product, as the figures were very well done - I think I was grabbing up every Sandra Garrity figure I could at the time - covered a wide range of types, and always managed to catch my eye with something new every time I went to the store. I think it was that, and Talin's Sophie that did it. (Heh.) I remember grabbing the first Christmas Sophie with a huge grin. (Unfortunately for me, it's still in its blister, I believe. I can be so diffident when it comes to my skill at painting.) I have a bunch of old Reaper minis which I swear I'm going to use for painting practice, but despite the fact that I probably bought them for $3-4 each, I still feel they're so well crafted artistically that I haven't gotten myself to sacrifice any to the learning experience. Ah well. Lots of good memories with Reaper figures. They're still some of the most economical and unique figures on the market and I still get them every chance I get. Now, if only I could find a local shop that stocked their paints. Thank goodness for the internet. My 2 yen, Akiosama

No idea what the time frame is, but I have as my priorities on my list: Cryx Battlegroup Cygnar Battlegroup Warmachine 2-player Starter Set So really, all the new plastic battlebox sets for Warmachine. Funny - most of the original versions aren't painted yet either, and I have those all, too. And I plan to play eventually? And lots of Mouselings and Sophies purchased last year. I'm not ambitious. My 2 yen, Akiosama

Very nice work - I'm doubly impressed with the shade of purple you chose. What did you use to get that purple? (Triply impressed that you still play Talion Charter, too. Not that the models aren't awesome, but the support has been lacking in the last book.) My 2 yen, Akiosama

Hey Reaper peeps, Love the new holiday mini for 2011 - an ornament is a unique format to bring to that table and I can't wait to order mine. (Well, I sorta can, 'cause I'm waiting for a particular day to do so - the Twelve days is a great idea. Heh.) But looking over the news post on the ornament, I saw that Tim's concept art for the mini was fantastic. (Not that that's unusual for him, his concept art is generally great, but his Xmas Sophies are doubly so.) So I ask you guys at Reaper - Can I haz 2011 Xmas Sophie desktop? Thanks in advance, Akiosama

1) Paint, paint, paint. This is the one tenet of miniature painting I fail at the most. You can read/watch all you want regarding this hobby, but until you put brush to mini, it's all meaningless. 2) Save your first minis. Irregardless of how bad you might think they are, save your very first minis. It's inspiring to see where you've come from and where you are now. I still have a very poorly done 2nd Edition Space Wolf mini somewhere in my mini-case that reminds me where I came from. (Truth be told, I did some stuff right on that miniature, I think - such as pretty good masking for the red-yellow tooth design on the shoulder pad. But overall, the basecoat was really poor - it looks faded out due to the white undercoat.) 3) Try new stuff. Don't just do what you're comfortable with. Experiment. Try to duplicate styles and techniques of artists you admire. Even if you don't get exactly what you set out for, you might learn stuff. Always be seeking out things to learn. Don't stagnate. 4) Don't be afraid to go back and fix things. Learned that one from Anne and Jen. It's surprising how discouraged I would get if I made an error while painting something, or missed a mold line after I started basecoating. It would almost kill the mini for me before. 5) Have fun. Always try to enjoy this - it's a hobby. Even if you 'have to' paint models because you're playing a game, mix it up with models you want to paint. A hobby's not a good hobby if you don't enjoy it. My 2 yen, Akiosama

Other than Jonathan Coulter ("Code Monkey" and "I Feel Fantastic") and some Shinedown ("Devour", "Second Chance", and "If You Only Knew"), not much music. However... My playlists - Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold The Hallowed Hunt - Lois McMaster Bujold The Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks Cetaganda - Lois McMaster Bujold Yep. That's my iPhone's audio collection. My 2 yen, Akiosama

Actually, the TAG suits (the small-mecha exoframes) look to be based off the LandMates from Appleseed. There's a lot of head design for the TAGs that resemble LandMates and even Briarios' head (with the rabbit-ear-like antennae). Except for some of the drones, it has much more the feel of Appleseed than Ghost in the Shell. Not to take anything away from either series - both are great SF manga. As for the anime - the newer Appleseed presentation wasn't good, IMO. I didn't like the CG of the characters. Looked weird. The older OVA stuck to the manga a bit more, even if Shirow had creative differences with the animation studio in the end. Ghost in the Shell - the movies (Oshii's work) is very Oshii-esque, and while ok movies, doesn't stick to the canon that well. He did the same thing with Patlabor, back in the day, for the movies, and they're very different from the manga and the TV series. GitS - Stand Alone Complex - the TV series for GitS is much more like the manga (first series). Pretty well done, decent stories and good use of mecha/weaponry, save maybe the weirdness of the Tachikoma. As far as I've seen, it's nothing like Man-Machine Complex (GitS 2), as Section 9 and most of the characters from the first series barely show up. Take what you like - other than the recent Appleseed, I'd say most of it is very watchable. And both Appleseed and GitS seem to have elements in Infinity. My 2 yen, Akiosama EDIT: Damn, I need to read the dates of posts more. Anyhow, if there's anyone still reading this - hope this helps!

I was fortunate enough to pick the Darksword Miniature's DVD this weekend - the one with Anne and Jen - and I've been enjoying it quite a bit. Other than no 'play all' feature, the DVDs are great - packed full of lots of helpful tips and instruction. I'd highly recommend it - and I'm looking forward to finishing up the third disc soon. But I wanted to give Anne a special shoutout for her module on Color Theory. It covered most of what I needed to learn about color theory, something I asked the Reaper painters about a couple months ago here to cover in a 'how-to'. It was a great, concise, yet in-depth explanation of the 'why' of color theory, and it's probably the most helpful module that I've seen in the video so far. (Not to take anything away from Jen - her cloth tutorial on sheer fabrics is terrific, too. ) Oh, and to find out that Derek paints a rough painting of his models before he paints the figure to check for color harmony? Wow. So, if you haven't seen this set yet, I'd highly recommend it. (And now I have painter's envy, too. If only I could meet weekly for painting tips with painters like Jen and Anne. But alas, I live in California.) My 2 yen, Akiosama

While I will admit that I've not used it more than once, and it did a great job, Testor's Dullcote gets a lot of press online. Also, if you want to protect your minis as much as possible, I've heard that putting a gloss coat on and then dulling it with a matte sealant works better than a matte sealant alone. And Ferox's suggestion is something I've heard in multiple places. Privateer Press even talks about it in their 'how-to' painting sections on metallics in their 'Forces of WarmaHordes' books. My 2 yen, Akiosama

I'd imagine just what would be necessary to clean any sort of paint of that type. (i.e. Acrylic cleaner to clean acrylics, enamel thinner to clean enamels, etc.) My 2 yen, Akiosama

Zug zug! Oh, and I learned that there are little actual programs inside my computer fighting for their lives each time I play a game. I wonder how many I've derezzed due to poor play. My 2 yen, Akiosama

Congratulations! Omedetou! My 2 yen, Akiosama

Whoa, whoa, whoa... wait a sec... only 1 life UP? What about the green mushroom? Oh, and to add that to the list... Eating green mushrooms will give you a life! (Super Mario Anything) But you always begin the game as a human with no class. Heh. (Munchkin Anything) My 2 yen, Akiosama

Some other things to remember: Always thin your paint. Better to be too thin than too thick. Too thin can be worked with. Too thick can really mess things up. Paint... paint... paint. Don't get too caught up in looking for advice and reading/watching videos without doing it. I've been collecting miniatures since BattleTech 2nd Edition, reading about how-to-paint since 40K 2nd Edition, and painting... um... only about a dozen or so minis? Not a good way to do it. Limit what you buy and use what you have. It keeps the cost down, and makes you paint more, rather than saying, "I'll paint that when I get that color/new brush/new tutorial/etc." Develop a skin regarding your minis - everyone will have an opinion and criticism. Think of criticism like a buffet - there's a ton out there, you can take all you want, but leave what you don't want. Learn to not be afraid of mixing paint. It'll be your best friend. Further, I'd recommend - if using layering - using a bit of the previous layer's color in each successive layer's color mix to maintain smoother color transitions. If you're doing units/armies, test a scheme out on one figure first. It sucks to paint up a unit of 10, only to find out when you're done that you hate the color scheme. Find reference photos - both of miniatures and of real-life subjects - that will help you see what you're trying to do on the figure. Set up a place where you like to paint, and try to make it a permanent place. Nothing worse than itching to paint, looking up, and realizing you'd need to take some time to set up, and then looking at your gaming console/PC/book/other entertainment, and saying "Well, I could do that in a pinch, with less effort." Paint what you enjoy. Don't force yourself to paint what you don't want to at the beginning. Or, if you have to, due to games rules, intermix models you want to paint with those you have to paint. Gotta keep it fun. Last, don't toss your beginning models. Nothing more inspirational than seeing where you've been before and comparing it to where you are now. Good luck, and welcome to the hobby! My 2 yen, Akiosama

Things I have learned from fiction: Do not be a mentor - you must always die in the end, in order to make the main protagonist stand on his/her own two feet - unless you're Gandalf Greyhame. Do not be part of a George R.R. Martin series, unless you want to die. Watch out for left-handed swordsmen, just in case they're not really left-handed. Whether or not I intended to destroy the enemy's flagship/homebase, I will not utter the word "Oops," when I did. Constant thrust = Constant velocity in space. More to come as I think of them. My 2 yen, Akiosama

This too. =) http://www.renovationsf.org/music-dances.php My 2 yen, Akiosama

And off-topic, but in case you're interested, Jen Haley also has another video coming out from CMoN. My 2 yen, Akiosama

Anne, Just wanted to say congratulations on the upcoming tutorial video coming out - I'm looking forward to it, given my recent hope for more 'how-to's from you. And Jen Haley seems like a nice person to work with, too. I can't wait to snatch it up. Congratulations again! My 2 yen, Akiosama

Here's a great one. Jen Haley rocks. http://www.paintrix-miniatures.com/articles.php?&art=8&page=1 My 2 yen, Akiosama

Also, don't knock using acrylic gesso if you're open to brushing your primer. It's pretty forgiving, you can mostly slop it on without losing detail - the only thing you have to watch out for are the occasional air bubble while putting on the dry gesso or a pinhole-size gap in the gesso itself (from the gesso shrinking back slightly when drying - and they really are tiny, tiny holes). It's cheap, easy, and the results are pretty good, from what I'm seeing. It's gotten some mixed reviews online, but mostly positive. It comes in black or white, and takes ink pretty well if you want it to be a different color. Give it a shot. I'm trying Liquitex Acrylic Gesso (white) cut with 25% Matte Medium and 25% water and it does decently in one pass, and very well in two. It's a bit rougher than GW's Skull White on the surface, and paint sticks better to it, I think. It's given me the smoothest overall basecoat I've made so far. And it's not really humidity-sensitive like spray painting can be. Good luck! My 2 yen, Akiosama

Try starting in the Tutorials Guide stickied at the top of this forum. Also, in The Craft on Reapermini.com, there are some great basic painting articles by Reaper's Derek Schubert from years ago that really show what basic techniques can do. Further up that list is a good article by Reaper's Anne Foerster on how she painted up a Christmas Sophie which shows what good layering can do. Past that, there are some good articles up on the classic Brushthralls.com site, focusing mostly on Warmachine/Hordes miniatures, but can be applied to anything. Lazlo Jakusovszky has a great 3 DVD set called Hot Lead that can be bought online. MiniatureMentor.com has some good videos for sale, as well. Games Workshop's How to Paint Citadel Miniatures is a good resource, too. And lot of information can be found on CoolMiniorNot.com. They also sell a collection of their older articles in a guide for pretty cheap and it's full of good stuff. Last, get out there and just paint. Don't hesitate to read and try something. It's in the experience where you'll get better. Take it from someone who's been collecting minis and reading for over 15+ years, but is only really starting to paint. All the reading in the world can't replace putting brush to mini and doing it. Oh, and the best piece of advice? Save your first couple minis for always, no matter how poor you think they are. The progress you can see in your work is the best motivator. Welcome to the hobby, and good luck! My 2 yen, Akiosama

In regards to the Miniature Mentor tutorials, they do a decent job of showing painting technique in regards to painting areas of a miniature. The Jen Haley one in particular is a good tutorial for color selection (with such a really limited palette - since it was about painting a monochromatic style) and for freehand design work. Those two things are where the video shines - because it's easy to see while she's painting, the hows and whys. Also, she paints very differently than other MM painters, like Laurent Esposito Mas, who did their basic painting video. They're both great painters, but the techniques differ greatly. Laurent, for example, uses dilution to control the thickness of his paint, primarily, while Jen seems to use thicker paint but varies the pressure on the brush. Some of Laurent's painting, especially first coats of any of his layers resemble staining - which would be akin to painting with washes - with many, many coats. Jen uses far fewer coats with thicker paint, and despite that, her detail work is phenomenal, and she doesn't have problems clogging up detail, like I've seen with painters who don't dilute their paints very much. It's great to see multiple artists' techniques. Even Natalya Melnik's techniques are fascinating to watch. The problem is that she doesn't put much explanation behind her techniques, and (a bit more of just something that irked me a little) starting the tutorial with (paraphrased) "While you won't be able to paint like me after watching this, you might get something out of it." is not a great way to lead in your viewers. That could be attributed to language, but it just struck me a bit off. (The disc was filmed in Russian and dubbed over into English.) After all, it's a $50 disc set. I won't say it's horrible, but you have to figure out a lot more on your own in the Melnik video. Hot Lead and MM's discs are easier to follow and give you more whys, which makes those products feel more complete. Only flaw to Hot Lead is far too many transitions. There are times where it feels like Lazlo switched to a new section in the middle of a series of thoughts. Otherwise, the video is a great tutorial - especially because he starts with basics (painting with washes and drybrushing) and shows you can do decent work with those techniques, and then adds in the more advanced techniques like blending and layering and shows how much smoother the results can be. Just keep in mind that information doesn't replace experience. I'm learning that one the hard way after 15+ years of buying figures but not painting. I've been reading for all those years, but I've got maybe two dozen figures painted. That's not good, since I have a closetful of minis to paint from multiple game systems. But I'm learning. Even this old dog's trying to learn new tricks. My 2 yen, Akiosama

Check out this article by Chrispy off of CoolMiniorNot. There are a lot of fleshtone recipes here and they're pretty good - with representative photos, too. (Some very nice... *ahem* Where was I? ) http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/1310 In any case, this ought to help get you on a good track for it. Hope your model comes out well! My 2 yen, Akiosama