Miniatures Blogging and Websites

[Scott Tortorice]

Beasts of War

Anybody familiar with the Beasts of War website?

http://www.beastsofwar.com/

I am really impressed by this site! It's sort of like the IGN of the miniatures world. They seem to cover everything, complete with lots of videos! Very impressive!

I haven't registered yet, but I think I will. Now, I just need to find the time to actually start working with some minis rather than just thinking about rejoining the hobby. Probably won't happen until the Christmas rush is over, though. Hope I'm still interested by then.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: Beasts of War

Here's a sample vid:

[video=youtube;97ACo5IBg1E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ACo5IBg1E[/video]

I actually think they do a better job with vids than IGN!

 

[Scott Tortorice]

The Wargame Vault

Has anyone ever heard of The Wargame Vault?

http://www.wargamevault.com/index.php

It is:

...the largest wargame download store with a huge selection of wargame rules, paper armies and wargame terrain, strategy board games, miniature painting guides and more.

I have to say that I am starting to feel like a kid in a candy store! The miniatures community seems to have taken a massive leap forward during my lost decade. Minis of all sizes and types from numerous manufacturers (with many at price points far below GW :yummy, more rule sets - particularly sci-fi tactical rule sets! :bounce: - than I could ever hope to read or use, and now I have discovered the world of cardboard/PDF miniatures! I am tempted to give this a go one day! And I know just what game to try it with:

ALL HAIL 2012's OGRE: SIXTH EDITION!!!!

http://www.sjgames.com/ogre/products/ogre6e/

Now the Ogre is back . . . in a gigantic new "designer's edition" that will be the crown of any game collection. Three giant-sized mapboards cover Ogre and the follow-on G.E.V. Shockwave. The game features oversized full-color counters for regular units . . . and the Ogres and buildings are huge 3-D constructible models!


The rules have been completely revised and reorganized into a rulebook, a separate scenario book, and a handy player reference sheet.


Yet Ogre remains easy to learn and quick to play. The basic game takes only a half-hour . . . but you'll want to play again and again. And, with the two geomorphing Ogre maps and the new overlays, an infinite number of scenarios are possible.

View attachment 35117

I hope to have my metal minis finished by then.

Is this idea of cardboard minis a growing trend?

I haven't been this excited about gaming in a while. Once upon a time, PC gaming seemed to be overflowing with fresh ideas and approaches...but no more. Now it seems all the creativity is in the world of minis.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Re: The Wargame Vault

Cardboard/paper minis seem to have been growing but I think they might be looked down upon by the old school gamers, but then again who cares what others think as long as you are having fun. You can also get alot of excellent paper terrain for cheap if you don't want to build your own.

Here is a great source paper terrain - http://www.paperterrain.com/

Here is a link to a lot of free paper figures etc. although of lesser quality they still work - http://www.juniorgeneral.org/

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: The Wargame Vault

Cardboard/paper minis seem to have been growing but I think they might be looked down upon by the old school gamers, but then again who cares what others think as long as you are having fun. You can also get alot of excellent paper terrain for cheap if you don't want to build your own.

Here is a great source paper terrain - http://www.paperterrain.com/

Here is a link to a lot of free paper figures etc. although of lesser quality they still work - http://www.juniorgeneral.org/

Thanks for the links! I particularly like the Paper Terrain idea. I saw it demoed in a few videos and thought it was a great idea.

There are so many great minis ideas out there. It is interesting that over the last week I managed to fill out a bookmark folder with interesting mini websites (vendors/fan sites/blogs [yours included ] without even trying. To put it in perspective, my minis bookmark folder has grown to be 2/3s as large as my PC gaming folder in a week. I suspect that tells you something about which hobby is thriving and which is moribund.

Sigh. I really think video gaming is heading for a crack-up.

Nice new rig, BTW. Sharp looking. Seeing how neat the wiring is, I suspect you did this before.

 

[kawaiku]

Re: The Wargame Vault

I've been visiting One Monk Miniatures for my paper minis. I downloaded a bunch for free (check out the "Hoard" section, some awesome user created stuff there!). I discovered it while browsing BGG's print n' play section.

Oh and a little segway from the paper mini topic but here are two miniature companies you might be interested in (not sure if someone has already told you about them). Khurasan Miniatures and Micropanzer Wargame Studio.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Re: The Wargame Vault

There are so many great minis ideas out there. It is interesting that over the last week I managed to fill out a bookmark folder with interesting mini websites (vendors/fan sites/blogs [yours included ] without even trying. To put it in perspective, my minis bookmark folder has grown to be 2/3s as large as my PC gaming folder in a week. I suspect that tells you something about which hobby is thriving and which is moribund.

Sigh. I really think video gaming is heading for a crack-up.

Nice new rig, BTW. Sharp looking. Seeing how neat the wiring is, I suspect you did this before.

My mini favorite folder is huge as well. Sometimes when I need some inspiration or motivation I just start clicking through the links to see what I've saved because there is no way I'll remeber it all. Although I do have about 5 or 6 sites I check regularly.

Thanks for the compliment on my rig. Actually this is the first time I've ever built a computer. I followed some good tutorials and did alot of research so I was quickly informed about good cable management. Now you could see the back side of the computer with the case side off it would be a different story, its a total rats nest of cords but nobody ever sees that

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: The Wargame Vault

My mini favorite folder is huge as well. Sometimes when I need some inspiration or motivation I just start clicking through the links to see what I've saved because there is no way I'll remeber it all. Although I do have about 5 or 6 sites I check regularly.

Which sites do you check regularly? I know TMP must be one of them.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Re: The Wargame Vault

Which sites do you check regularly? I know TMP must be one of them.

Yeah TMP I hit almost everyday faithfully, after a while I even got a paid membership so I could use PMs and the marketplace. I've got some great deals there.

As for the rest, here you go:

http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/ usually features a link everyday to some topic in the hobby, a couple of my tutorials on my blog have been linked to from this page

http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/ wargaming news about the latest and greatest products and sales

http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/ great source for tips and inspiration for terrain

http://blogs.tabletopgamingnews.com/ links to a large assortment of wargamings blogs as they post, my blog is a registered memeber of this site

And finally one of the great things about having my blog with blogger is I have dashboard page that I can see all the news post from the blogs I subscribe to. If you don't have a blog with blogger I believe you can use google reader to do the same thing.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: The Wargame Vault

I've been visiting One Monk Miniatures for my paper minis. I downloaded a bunch for free (check out the "Hoard" section, some awesome user created stuff there!). I discovered it while browsing BGG's print n' play section.

Oh and a little segway from the paper mini topic but here are two miniature companies you might be interested in (not sure if someone has already told you about them). Khurasan Miniatures and Micropanzer Wargame Studio.

OMM looks like an interesting site. I might have to explore this paper thing my closely.

Khurasan I came across the other day. I think they were mentioned over at TMP in regard to one of the 15mm sci-fi games I'm interested in (I'm conflicted between Gruntz, Tomorrow's War and 5050 New Beginnings. Fortunately, I won't have to make a decision until I get my Ogre minis done).

I'm not familiar with MWS. His website is interesting, but I am not clear where he is going with his line. Is it going to be tied to a specific rule set?

I am thrilled to discover all these low cost mini manufacturers because if I had to deal strictly with GW (or Battlefront, for that matter), I probably wouldn't get very far into the hobby. Their prices were always high, but now I find them to be ridiculously so.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: The Wargame Vault

http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/ usually features a link everyday to some topic in the hobby, a couple of my tutorials on my blog have been linked to from this page

Seems like a good site. Bookmarked it myself!

http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/

http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/ wargaming news about the latest and greatest products and sales

I already discovered this one. I like it a lot.

http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/

http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/ great source for tips and inspiration for terrain

Interesting, and can come in hand.

http://blogs.tabletopgamingnews.com/ links to a large assortment of wargamings blogs as they post, my blog is a registered memeber of this site

That's a good site, too.

And finally one of the great things about having my blog with blogger is I have dashboard page that I can see all the news post from the blogs I subscribe to. If you don't have a blog with blogger I believe you can use google reader to do the same thing.

Yeah, I have a blogger account. I already joined your blog and a bunch of others.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Might as well make a master thread for good websites for miniatures.

A good blog I have found for sci-fi miniatures is Dropship Horizon:

http://dropshiphorizon.blogspot.com/

This site does an excellent job of covering the sci-fi scene.

 

[kawaiku]

In regards to One Monk Miniatures I'd say I got very lucky and downloaded almost their entire catalog for free before they slapped prices on them, though, like I said before you should browse the Hoard section. The community has put together some really nice looking... minis. And the thing I like most is that the paper minis are cheap (from my experience building a WWII game I discovered on BGG).

And I took a look through Tomorrow's War at a FLGS the other day and it looked good. I read a few reviews and it seems like it's a solid system. Here's an AAR and a Review if you haven't seen them already.

I am thrilled to discover all these low cost mini manufacturers because if I had to deal strictly with GW (or Battlefront, for that matter), I probably wouldn't get very far into the hobby. Their prices were always high, but now I find them to be ridiculously so.

And I have to agree with you on this. I love GW's line but it's just so damned expensive. I'm amazed at how high they keep raising them, it's forced me to curb my army lists I plan on building for both the WHFB's and WH40k.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

In regards to One Monk Miniatures I'd say I got very lucky and downloaded almost their entire catalog for free before they slapped prices on them, though, like I said before you should browse the Hoard section. The community has put together some really nice looking... minis. And the thing I like most is that the paper minis are cheap (from my experience building a WWII game I discovered on BGG).

I definitely gonna have to try my hand at paper minis one day. Just for variety if for no other reason. It would also give my color printer something to do.

And I took a look through Tomorrow's War at a FLGS the other day and it looked good. I read a few reviews and it seems like it's a solid system. Here's an AAR and a Review if you haven't seen them already.

Haven't seen those. Thanks! Once I finish with OGRE, I'm going to have to take my time and decide which 15mm sci-fi system I want to start with. I really like the fact that regardless of which system I use, I can bring whatever minis I have with me. It makes the time and effort to paint these things seem less...futile.

And I have to agree with you on this. I love GW's line but it's just so damned expensive. I'm amazed at how high they keep raising them, it's forced me to curb my army lists I plan on building for both the WHFB's and WH40k.

Yeah, I finally understand why so many companies make Warhammer look alike minis. But you have to hand it to GW: I imagine they could go sue-crazy against many of these imitators because they look so darn close to the real thing. I guess GW understands that these imitators serve to promote their IP as much as they do. Smart guys.

 

[kawaiku]

I definitely gonna have to try my hand at paper minis one day. Just for variety if for no other reason. It would also give my color printer something to do.

So true! Not to mention they're cheap (no need to buy all the paints and what-not) and you can print as many as you like and use them in many different games. And same here, I've been thinking of putting mine to use as well... though I haven't found a good system to play them with (well except maybe with Mordheim or some such other skirmish system that I don't know about (anyone have any suggestions?).

Haven't seen those. Thanks! Once I finish with OGRE, I'm going to have to take my time and decide which 15mm sci-fi system I want to start with. I really like the fact that regardless of which system I use, I can bring whatever minis I have with me. It makes the time and effort to paint these things seem less...futile.

Which ones were you looking at again? And Tomorrow's War book looked fantastic. And I also agree that I like the fact you can use any minis made from other companies. I think it would be great for campaigns and the like if and when people get around to them.

Yeah, I finally understand why so many companies make Warhammer look alike minis. But you have to hand it to GW: I imagine they could go sue-crazy against many of these imitators because they look so darn close to the real thing. I guess GW understands that these imitators serve to promote their IP as much as they do. Smart guys.

Sue-crazy!? Yeah... they are. I've heard stories over at the BGG how they went around crushing games inspired by GW's games and with that fan-made inquisitor movie being put together I've noticed a lot of people were worrying that GW would crush that as well! But again... those prices =/

 

[Scott Tortorice]

I've been thinking of putting mine to use as well... though I haven't found a good system to play them with (well except maybe with Mordheim or some such other skirmish system that I don't know about (anyone have any suggestions?).

I recently stumbled across this playtest version of a new system called Legions of Battle. It might be what you are looking for:

http://www.crusaderpublishing.com/LegionsofBattle.php

Which ones were you looking at again?

Gruntz, Tomorrow's War, and 5050 New Beginnings. I am thinking of exploring them in that order as I hear Gruntz is nice and simple, TW is more complex, and NB is more of a wargame/RPG hybrid. Of course, as soon as I finish my Ogre minis, I need to start working on my beginner's set of DUST Tactics. So...I've got a years worth of minis lined up at this point.

And Tomorrow's War book looked fantastic.

Yeah, I've been hearing good things about it. I like that you can get a hardbound edition, too.

Sue-crazy!? Yeah... they are. I've heard stories over at the BGG how they went around crushing games inspired by GW's games and with that fan-made inquisitor movie being put together I've noticed a lot of people were worrying that GW would crush that as well! But again... those prices =/

To be fair, the movie issue was out of GW's hands as, under German law, if GW didn't defend their IP they could lose it (or that was the explanation that was given. I sort of believe it because GW had commented favorably about the fan film, so it would be odd that they would then change their mind and shut it down). GW might not be completely innocent, but I suspect if they were Paramount Pictures, 75% of all fan sites would already be shut down and all those look-alike minis would have been confiscated by now. So I think GW has been lenient on most matters.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Anybody familiar with 6Sided Gaming Blog Network?

6Sided provides free blog accounts for wargamers. Just like using blogger, but your blog is in a shared space so you benefit from more traffic. Follow the links below to find out more or to see the latest blog posts and comments from our growing network of wargaming, warhammer and RPG blogs.

Seems pretty popular:

Our members seem to have been very productive during 2011. In the past month, for example, they have created 579 new blog posts. That's going some!

The real surprise was overall traffic, though. In the eleven months since we signed-up our first blogger, the blogs in our network have received a total of 1,057,456 unique visits. That is massive.

Might have to check it out.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Anybody familiar with 6Sided Gaming Blog Network?

Seems pretty popular:

Might have to check it out.

I've kept an eye on them since they started. However, I still have not seen much of a reason to switch to them from blogger. There are two downsides to my point of view. They have way less storage than blogger and I like to put up bigger pictures for people to click on so I could run into a problem down the road. Also as far as I know if I switch they can transfer over my blog from blog (although no guarantee everything will look the same and be in the same place). Secondly I do not believe there is a way to transfer my followers to the new blog as well so people who read and comment on my blog now would have to figure out how to follow me on that network. Still I have heard good things so I continue to keep my eye on them.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Yeah, for an established blog, there really isn't any reason to switch just yet. But for a new minis blog, it could be a good way to jump start a following. For me, I like to keep a blog as a way of getting new people interested in a hobby. So creating a minis blog in a minis community sort of defeats that purpose...on one level anyway.

 

[prymus]

One of my favorite Hobby stores, Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove, CA. Lots of great books and boardgames, a skew of minis both Historical and Fantasy/aSciFi, isles of models, and a decent selection of terrain, and Radio control stuff and historical collector figs(lots of 12" WWII figs). Great place and I always try to get there when in SoCal. Very Friendly folks and nice website. If you don't see it they will track it down and order it for you. Another store on the web I order from is "The War Store". Niel is a great person to deal with and their prices are very competitive. They have the new 15mm items from "The Plastic Soldier Co." Have not yet purchased any yet but they look very nice and the prices are great. One of my all time favorites though not really a "Hobby" store, is "On Military Matters". HUGE selection of books magazines and rules, covering practically any period you could wish. Always outstanding service and fast shipping. Enjoy