Tutorial | How to Take Photos of Your Miniatures

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with miniature photography. On the one hand, capturing the details of a well painted mini is absolutely important, and requires a white or black background to get those crisp photos. On the other hand, that background is boring as all get out. Minis are cool, but minis belong on the battlefield looking cool. They are part of the scene, and that conveys a story to the viewer that you don't completely get from a static, solid color background. In this post, I'll show you how to take cool miniature photographs, even if you don't have your own studio. 

Tutorial | How to Make Raised Platforms for Mordheim or Warcry

For about the past month I've been toiling away at creating some raised platforms for wargaming. This is terrain suitable for Age of Sigmar, Warcry, Mordheim, Frostgrave, you name it. I wanted to add some verticality to my games while holding onto some modularity so that my game boards don't all look the same. I've included some WIP pictures in previous posts, but I have now fully built, painted, and photographed my platforms. I have to say that I'm really happy with how they turned out, and now I'll show you how I made them, plus some glamor shots at the end.

Narrative: Court of the White Lady, Lore and Rules for Play (Spooktober)

The grand finale to this year's Spooktober event is here, and much like last year, I'll be covering the lore of one of my Age of Sigmar armies. This is now the third part in the series, which has thus far covered the kingdoms of Heldenmarch and Ravenmarch. 

Ravenmarch, the progenitor to Heldenmarch in the Silverlight Realm, is now a cursed land in conflict with the lands of the living. However, the country is not a monolithic entity, and there are conflicts and wars, even amongst the dead. This post will dive into the history, conflicts, and even rules for brining the foremost of these factions to life on the tabletop: The Court of the White Lady.

 

Tutorial: Upgrading the Reaper Miniatures Encounter at Gallowgard (Spooktober)

Get your spooky brushes and clippers, and welcome to the second annual Spooktober event! Like last year, I'll be focusing on miniatures and terrain that fit in well with my death armies in celebration of Halloween, one of the funnest times of the year and (in my opinion) the gateway to the holiday season. In the third post of the event, I'm posting a tutorial of even more terrain in a similar vein to last week's build. 

 

Hobby Table: Shadows of Ravenhome (Reaper Miniatures Bones V) (Spooktober)

Get your spooky brushes and clippers, and welcome to the second annual Spooktober event! Like last year, I'll be focusing on miniatures and terrain that fit in well with my death armies in celebration of Halloween, one of the funnest times of the year and (in my opinion) the gateway to the holiday season. In the second post of the event, I've created terrain to match my homebrew lore: the ruins of Ravenmarch. 

Tutorial: How to Make Swamp Terrain - Creating the Bogs of Darmstadht

Curious as to to how I build some of my Age of Sigmar terrain pieces, convert models, or how I plan armies and paint schemes? Then welcome to the Space Dinosaur Tutorials, where I teach you how I do what I do. This tutorial covers how I made swamp and bog terrain for my games of Age of Sigmar. 

Tutorial: How to Make a Miniature Diorama Photo Booth

One of the coolest parts of the hobby for me is taking immersive pictures of my painted miniatures, like the kinds you seen in my narrative posts. The way I created the background was to print a large stock photo, glue it to a foam core panel, and propping it behind the terrain and game mat. While this worked fine, it was annoying to use as the picture would fall often and I had to shoot at very specific angles to make it work. I also tried out using a lightbox setup, but I wasn't satisfied with that look either. So I made a new photo booth instead. I took some pictures and I'll provide steps on how I made it. 

Narrative: The Tragedy of Old Ravenmarch, Lore and Rules for Play (Spooktober)

The grand finale to the Spooktober event is here, and is it a big one. This is the second part of a series diving into the lore of one of my Age of Sigmar armies. 

Ravenmarch, the progenitor to Heldenmarch in the Silverlight Realm, is now a cursed land, and this post will dive into its history, conflicts, and even rules for brining Ravenmarch to life on the tabletop. 

 

Narrative: The Kingdom of Heldenmarch - Lore and Rules for Play

Today's post is the first in a new series that covers the lore of one of my armies that I use to play in Age of Sigmar. I have done something similar in the past, but much of that lore has been developed in the years since, so now I can do the concept justice.  

Although the models are from Age of Sigmar, the lore has taken on a life of its own, with some liberties taken here and there. You could always consider the Silverlight Region to be a pocket realm in the grander Age of Sigmar scheme, which would help explain why some names carried over (cough Heldenmarch cough). I want the feeling of the Old World mixed with Age of Sigmar, so this is the result. 

Narrative: Giants of Menhir

Today will be a quick post covering a nice little picture I was able to snap after a game with my brothers. The set-up was a 3-way battle for the tower, with Stormcast/Giants of Menhir vs Anvilgard/Amber Fiefdoms vs Slaves to Darkness/Skal Flats. 

Narrative: Ambush in the Forest

A hiss of tortured metal tore through the evening air, its echoes lingering for longer than it should. Higgs knew, one of his men would not be returning. Not in any recognizable manner, at least. He risked a glance out into the void that was the coming night. Shapes fluttered in the periphery, restless shadows unnatural in their movements. A pale face blossomed from the night, its skin devoid of flesh. Witch light fluttered and danced amidst empty eye sockets. Clutched within skeletal hands was a cruel scythe, blade covered in the ichor of the recently departed. The creature's mouth opened, and silence overtook the forest. Then came the rest.