Black Seas USS Essex | Hobby & Season of Scenery

The USS Essex has been languishing half finished for a few months now, so I decided to finally buckle down and just get her done. She's an American frigate who gained some notoriety for her daring raids in the Pacific during the War of 1812. Her career came to an end at the hands of the Royal Navy in Valparaiso, Chile.

Battle March: A Quick Jaunt in the Old World

I know, it's been a little bit. I've had work travel, family visits, and the World Cup all going on at once so it's been a tad difficult to do a lot in terms of the hobby. But, I've actually managed to squeeze in a few sessions of some games I've been meaning to play for a while. One of those games, obviously by the title, is Warhammer The Old World. But not the usual, big battle format. Instead we played Battle March, Games Workshop's attempt to cut down the glut into a manageable weeknight game format. Were they successful? My first impressions of the game after the jump. 

Tyranid Hormagaunts | Hobby

It's been a long time since I've done an type of army painting. Most of what I've done has been one off models or skirmish warbands. So it took me a little longer than I was expecting to churn through 10 of these hormagaunts. Really makes me look forward to when they immediately get wiped off the board in turn 1 of a game. 

X-Wing and Lethality in Beginner Games | Gaming

Recently, I ran some re-introductory games of X-Wing for my gaming group. Everyone has played before, but it has been some years. So many in fact, that the last time they played was first edition. To keep things easy, I decided to simplify matters and only fly pilot cards, no upgrades at all. Ordinarily I would say this logic is rather sound and helps avoid feels bad moments, but in this case I actually think it was a mistake. 

How I Painted 3rd Edition Tyranids | Paint Recipe

Like many Tyranid enjoyers, I find the cover of the 3rd Edition Codex to be a particularly evocative cover. It just has this look to it that oozes aura and dread that a seething mass of ever-hungry aliens with exude. As such, when it came time to pick a color scheme for my escalation league Tyranids, it was an easy choice. I actually used the hobby section of the 4th Edition Codex to find the right colors, so don't ever get rid of your old books! 

Gaming | Advance! 2026

And just like that a whole 'nother year has passed and we're back at Advance!, the local wargaming convention put on by the San Diego Historical Miniatures Wargame Club (SDHMWC). Once again, while the focus is definitely historical, there are a ton of other genres to match whatever flavor you're looking for. I was able to stay a little longer this time around, so I got some more games in than last time plus I managed to enter some minis into the painting competition. 

Review | 1490 Doom

Recently, I tried out these neat little skirmish game, 1490 Doom. It's set in a an alternate history in the titular year, where a miasma known as the creeping death has emerged, forcing everyone to seek shelter high above. This translates to the game rewarding the team that can get to the highest position, with some scenarios even forcing you to climb or suffer the consequences. We played a more simple introductory game with three players. 

WIP | Tyranid Bioforms Detected

It's been like what, pshht, I don't know, almost 3 years since my last 40K post? And in the post before that I was talking about how much 40K I was going to play (spoiler alert: none). Where do I find myself since then? A ton of Mordheim, a smattering of other games like 1490 Doom, and a whole fleet of little ships. I guess I did play some Necromunda, which is in the same universe. Hated it though. So why am I picking these models up again? Well, the game group I play with all of the time is planning on slow grow campaign using One Page Rules (OPR) Grimdark Future, which is to say a simplified clone of 40K. I finally had an excuse to get some work done. 

Hobby | A Graveyard of Splinters

Closing out the last bit of Dreadfleet for now before my focus shifts elsewhere, I've completed three of these neat little shipwrecks that'll make for some excellent scatter terrain in Black Seas. There's quite a few islands and wrecks included in the game, but these three are perhaps the easiest to pass as historical. 

Hobby | Mechanical Horrors of the Deep

With the ghost ship now painted and completed, I had one more major piece of nautical folklore to add to Black Seas. The kraken is such a famous bit of lore, so much so that I'd be remiss if I didn't include one. Luckily, Dreadfleet also has a kraken model, albeit of a mechanical variety. Very 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea-esque. One could almost see Captain Nemo piloting this about.