Wargaming Tradecraft: April 2013




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Yes, Bell of Lost Souls and others are down...


...and my traffic is up. Because I'm writing again, or because people are hobbying instead of reading news? Guess we'll never know... I'm not a news site, but there seems to be a lot of rumours circulating at the moment, so I thought I'd do my part to put some of them to rest. Yes, Bell of Lost Souls is down right now, but it's supposedly due to technical problems that are "looking mighty suspicious by the hour." according to their official announcement, which you can read for yourself:
http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?31218-BoLS-FRONTPAGE-STATUS-Official-Announcement

General pointing of fingers seems to be the posting of pics from an unreleased White Dwarf which seems to be the reason Faeit 212 is gone. ( http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512c/notice.cgi?NoticeID=928410 ) Tabletop Fix has also announced they'll no longer be covering GW products: http://ttfix.blogspot.ca/2013/04/public-service-announcement_30.html

Now, there's a lot of people pissed off over this, but it's actually one of the areas where I can't help but back GW. Some people are arguing that White Dwarf is just a monthly catalogue that GW wants you to pay for or that other designers post pics of upcoming stuff for free... doesn't matter... point still remains that it's copyrighted / "secret" upcoming works that GW doesn't want leaked until they're ready to display them. You can't really fault them for taking that stuff down. If someone started reposting articles from my blog, you can bet I'd take action.

That said, I don't fully understand what is and isn't "fair use" and what breaks "news" sites get for posting anything their sources provide them.

It does highlight a chilling trend that Google has with taking down data and not providing proper means of responding to take down requests. (Yes, BoLS is supposedly a "tech" problem, but even they seem to be getting a "suspicious" run around" from Google.) Google has even begun denying users the opportunity to respond to take down requests on YouTube and has even admitted that they have agreements with some media partners so that even if a video is taken down mistakenly, they won't re-enable the content.
( http://www.newmediarights.org/copyright/DMCA/youtube_refusing_honor_dmca_counter_notices )

Anyways, I guess BoLS is working on the issue AND looking at getting private hosting where takedown channels must be handled more formally.

[UPDATE]

They're running again, down for about a day, maybe less.. official word is still "technical difficulties".
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/05/bols-returns.html

Building Tin Cans into Trees


This is the base for the Tin Can Tree project.. over the next few weeks you'll see how to turn this into a beautiful forest scene with tall trees, a waterfall and clear waters. This part was provided by the store / our local press ganger.

To begin, all you need is some thin wood, which you can get relatively cheap from most hardware stores. Even press board like MDF (Medium-Density Fibreboard) will work, but can be more susceptible to moisture and warp. Cut it to whatever size you want; large, small, or even a wavy pattern.

The tin cans are just recyclables which end up glued to the base but you could even use pop or juice bottles and really anything you like. Caulk was used to attach the cans to the MDF. It's a strong silicone (rubbery) glue that'll hold heavier duty stuff together. [Read more on Caulk and glues]

There's still plenty of work that needs to be done though, and this post will lead up to just before we actually start painting.

[UPDATED] Just Glue It


This is just a note that I've updated my page talking about glues to include caulk, a heavier duty compound.

Just Glue It

Tin Can Tree Project




Recently, my FLGS held a competition to build some terrain, all entries being donated to the store. Such a great way to get the community involved in helping a store build up it's terrain selection!

We were provided a wooden board with tin cans caulked to it. TheWife grabbed me the large one and I've taken it as an opportunity to do a whole bunch of tutorials I've been wanting to for a while.. specifically, a bunch of water effects stuff, but also opportunities to demonstrate plenty of other handy supplies and techniques.

That's basically the reason for lack of updates recently... building the terrain, putting the pics together and such... I'm also having trouble shifting gears back to minis after this project, compounded with playing a whole bunch of League of Legends with buddies from back home.





Here's what you can expect in the upcoming weeks:



Click on through to see all the final photos.

[Updated] Parents Guide to Tabletop Miniature Wargaming




Recently I was contacted by a games store called Phoenix Games, located in Lake City, Florida, asking if they could use my Parents Guide to Tabletop Miniature Wargaming as something they could hand out to parents in their store.

Honestly, I was both floored and flattered that they'd want to do something like this... I think it's just awesome. Both for parents and young gamers, but also to see material I've created used this way.

Soooo... I did them one up and not only took it as an opportunity to clean up and edit the document, but also created a PDF of it.

If you're interested in doing the same / similar, I ask you to please send me an email first. You can find my email linked to the right of this webpage or located in the PDF itself.

Take a read of the original article and find the PDF


First trailer for the Warhammer 40k LIVE ACTION Movie!

Guess this explains GW's moves recently... Finally, a full production, multi-million dollar movie from Games Workshop that looks AWESOME.

They've really gone all out on this trailer! Wow! Just wow! It's hi-res, so give it a moment to load. (I had to hit refresh a few times because of how many people are watching it)


(April Fools)