Hobby update

I've been up to a lot lately in the hobby, both gaming and painting.  While that feels like a great step forward, I've also encountered a stumbling block in terms of sharing my hobby on-line. 

I learned that the last two battle reports that I linked to -- from the blog, from Google+, from WAMP, from Dragonpainting forum -- were a bust, in that the viewers cannot see the Comments alongside the photos.  I write Comments to provide the commentary of the battle report, so without being able to read them, the battle report is just a story-less photo album.  That's a big disappointment, since most of the work goes into writing the commentary, and it provides a large part of the entertainment value.
I've  checked the settings in Google+, and I can't figure out what needs to be adjusted that I haven't already tried.  Irksome, because the audience could see the comments before.  If anyone has any insight, please share!

In any case, here are some of the things I've been up to.

First off, Malifaux Monday is now underway, and it seems like it's going to stick.  The more I play it, the more I'm a fan of the new rules release.  I think it's a step forward for the industry in rules design.  It sets a strong example in how to take an overly complex ruleset and streamline it by layering the complexity.  The complexity is definitely still there, but it can be peeled like an onion. 

Here is my Ramos crew in action.  Howard Langston, the Steamborg Executioner, is farting a steam cloud to hide the crew, while they claim the objective center-ground.

This past weekend, I played another game, this one with a friend who played the Ortega Gang, which I had purchased from Scott Radom, the gentleman who I challenged in the WAMP Ladder painting competition.  The painting challenge featured my Ramos Malifaux crew versus Scott's Ortega Malifaux crew, and we used those same exact crews in the game this weekend!  So the game looked really good, in terms of fully painted miniatures.  But I forgot to take pictures!  Looks like I'll need a rematch.

That Malifaux game was Friday evening.  On Saturday, my friend, Rafael, and I played our rematch of the Storm of Magic expansion for Warhammer Fantasy.  I have photos for a battle report, but until I can figure out a new way to post battle reports, I'll just show a couple of highlight photos.

Here's a good action shot of the Frostheart Phoenix swooping in to wreak havoc on my Spearmen unit.

A view of the overall battlefield.  It's only the top of Turn 1, and the armies are already locked in brutal combat, with the very mobile High Elf army launching forward on the offensive.

This game was a blast.  Literally, actually -- since the Wizard's Tower in the lower-right, was utterly destroyed and left a big, smoking crater, taking out the Supreme Sorceress in the process.  As a matter of fact, before we called time, three Wizards had been utterly vanquished, leaving one Wizard on each side.  It was anyone's game, when we called it.  Lots of fun.

So speaking of the Supreme Sorceress, she's pushed her way to the top of the painting queue.  Here are photos of the Work-In-Progress.  I'm using her as an exercise for painting female skin.  As you can see, she's showing a lot of it!

Jen Haley painted the studio version, and, I have to say, I've gained a lot of respect for Ms. Haley as I've attempted my amateur paintjob on this model.  Jen's blends are smooth as silk, and her definitions are crisp.  Using her version as a guide is a great way to push my own technique and ability.