Spaceship and Planet

I can't find any of my painted minis for Battlefleet Gothic so this unpainted ship was pressed into early duty for these test pictures. I plan on making use of the various scales available for 40k-based games through the Specialist range and this is my first attempt at representing something that is supposed to be in space. The background seen in these photos was provided by my painting station and a plastic ball my daughter plays with so I'm confident it will look better with a proper backdrop and props.

Orks and Marines

These are from a set of photos taken last September for a post concerning a pair of teams for Killzone. The Orks and Space Marines are very old miniatures and were painted a long time ago but they are still some of my favorites. I would like to write a battle report for one of their engagements and illustrate it with lots of dramatic pictures.

Uh-oh, I'm running out of pictures. Hmm... what to do? Also I think I've exhausted the "Effects" button and don't know what the next step is in my learning process. I would like to setup a little scene to try taking new photos but it's so busy now with Christmas and getting ready to move to Asheville. Perhaps I should wait until after the coming weekend.

Monster Horde

I really like painting monsters, they're some of my favorite miniatures. I'm fully onboard for Hordes because of the game's emphasis on huge, crazy, killy beasts and its wide catalog of awesomely monstrous miniatures to collect and paint. I'm still only in the earliest stages of learning the game and building up my collection but I am keen to delve further into the system. This year I managed to get a modest start on my Circle Orboros army which I look forward to continuing on in the new year in addition to getting my Skorne army underway. Oh and there's also the Gatormen for my Minions army to paint. As ever there is much to be done. :)

The background for Hordes (and Warmachine) lends itself very well to the type of pictorial storytelling in which I have become so fascinated. When I was introduced to the Privateer Press games I was turned off by the fact that all their casters and warlocks are named characters with rich, developed personal histories. I was so accustomed to the blank-slate nature of most HQ and Heroes units found in Games Workshop armies that I was very wary of playing a game lacking creative latitude in this regard. A couple of years ago I began to appreciate the Privateer Press approach to leader models for its own unique merits, understanding finally that in this way each game has a personalized backstory built into them. This will serve nicely I believe in providing the setup for lots of potential stories set on the continent of Immoren.

Apparently even Kaya the Wildborne can have trouble dealing with those grouchy Gorax warbeasts. They're just so quick to anger, it cannot be good for their health. It is a good thing she knows how to contain such savage outbursts. There is never a boring day in the Iron Kingdoms.

The Legend Effect

Tonight I looked at those fantasy style pictures taken not too long ago related to the completion of some Citadel Woods. I'm still working more with the "Effects" button, this time trying out the antique gizmo. From what I can tell so far, WHFB loves antique. I feel it gives them a legendary tales from a bygone era sort of quality. Also I think it's neat that it makes my sunny, green trees appear autumnal. Interesting... very interesting.

With Dawn Patrol of the Dead I've been focused on using light to show the time of day, but with this development I am now considering the possibility of indicating the time of year in which a scene takes place. If so then I would like to do something that shows the passage of time over a much greater span, like A Year in the Life of a Bretonnian Farmer or something. You see him in one scene planting seeds and fighting goblins, next he's hiding from the Wild Hunt, then guarding his harvest from ravenous beastmen. Finally you see him trampled into the snow by a noblemen as greedy henchmen carry off everything and set fire to his house. Lol, now that would be fun. :)

That last one might do a passable job as being shown in moonlight as I am getting a definite nighttime vibe from it. Looking again at the rest of these I really do believe that the antiqued photos have that "Time of Legends" feel to them and that it works well in a WHFB setting. Science fiction most certainly has its legends too so I think this will have use with 40k as well considering the depth and richness of that game's history. I also see potential for using something like this for memory or flashback sequences which would be neat. I don't know, maybe that's getting too deep into it at this point considering I've only been at this for a little more than a day. I do tend to get ahead of myself, don't I?

Technical Issues

Hmm, some problems appear to be popping up. Everything was going along fine until loading times slowed appreciably and now certain images look broken or screwy to me. My satellite internet provider is terrible and I remember this happening before on diceRolla when working with large numbers of pictures. This is why I thought it best to keep my experimenting here as I sort these issues out. I don't know why this problem happens, if it affects the way other people see things on the blog, or if it is just due to the lousiness of my internet service. Oh well, I don't have any answers so I'll just keep messing around I suppose. Back to the atom mill for me.

This next set of images are from a batch I used on diceRolla back in October in a sort of thank-you note to Col.Hessler of SADOUKAD 16. This was right around the time when I was first becoming really aware of the potential for narrative in photographing miniatures. It is interesting to return to these photos from even just a few months ago with new purpose. On these I have continued my testing of the "Effects" button.

I'm excited about the prospect of putting together a story using my 'Nids, Hive Fleet Hydra, and the new Raptors marines I am now collecting. In fact I'm really interested in attempting to chronicle all the wars waged across my tabletop, especially those for 40k, WHFB, and Warmahordes. That seems like it would be a fun new twist for my hobby. All of that will have to wait quite a while though as I would have lots of painting to do, both in miniatures and scenery, in order to do it well. That's okay as it will give me plenty of time to learn more about photographing my miniatures and working with the pictures on my computer. No need to worry, I'm sure I'll get the hang of this eventually....