Quick update... Shadowrun Mage Heroclix Repaint

I worked on the second half of the heroclix figure that I used for my Troll character figure.  She started as a Red She-Hulk figure (hence the skin color) that I repainted and added magic effects via 3d printing in clear resin.  Yes, I've accomplished what cheap prepainted miniatures did in 2006!  Hey, it's still a first for me.

I'm happy with the detail and color of the clear resin (that I colored bluish via a wash to less than stellar results).  Somehow the figure didn't seem too dark in tone despite having jet black hair and clothing but now seems like it after I repainted her in dark grey clothes.  I keep debating whether I should strip the paint off completely as it shouldn't damage the resin itself as people have been using acetone to clean resin post printing in the post-Covid rubbing alcohol shortage.  For now, I'll leave her alone but I may revisit this figure at a later date.

Still alive.. and making RPG character models!

It's been a few weeks of silence so I figured it was about time to show signs of (hobby) life here on the blog for the world to see!  While I haven't been a busy bee like Ashley over at the Paint it Pink blog (link), I've done a small bit during the past month.

I finally got around to some easy painting with a redo of some heroclix figs I picked up a while back for RPG characters.  One was initially for the Starfinder campaign that I'm in but I decided to go with my Krogan character instead of this Suli-jann Solarian.  The original fig is the Caiera clix model from the Planet Hulk series that I rebased and repainted relatively quickly.  I'm not entirely happy with the results though (too much wash in the armpit for example) but I've already overcoated the models and don't want to strip them completely to redo it.  The second one was a troll personal assistant character (think half bodyguard/half butler!) for use in Shadowrun.  That one came from a Hulk clix double model that I converted with a troll-like horn and a more appropriately sized 3d printed pistol.  He actually came based alongside a Red She-Hulk model that I can also convert into a Shadowrun character model as well so you may see that sometime on the blog as well.  Hopefully I've improved my eye technique since my Lt. Googely Eyes Hussar model; I really did have to make the eyes tiny in ever shrinking steps despite my gut instinct to get the result above instead of what happened before.  This is just average work and not even my best by far but it's basically a single weekend's worth of effort from start to finish (including drying time!) and more importantly completed work unlike my ever growing 3d printed pile of unpainted shame.  :)

Additionally, I printed out both of the 40k Lieutenants previewed in my last post but the Space Wolf was marred by multiple misprints.  I was testing out a new slicing program that apparently requires more manual supporting of models than I initially expected based on youtube reviews.  The Blood Angel did turn out well but I plan on redoing his loincloth icon as it wasn't extruded enough in the print unfortunately to be much of a visible detail after priming/painting.  I printed him out at a smaller traditional marine scale (32mm) so I may still assemble him and leave the revised version for a possible later full scale 40mm primaris fig.

Now I just need an RPG group...

A while back I finished my first of the 3D printed Mass Effect figures but never got around to photographing him.  I'm happy to report that in person the facets from the 3D model printing aren't visible at all at any normal distance and I dare say that their visibility is also reduced even in the zoomed in flash photography below as well.

As with my previous fig pictured next to him, I decided to embellish the paint job with the closest things I could find to Blood Pack markings, 40k Ork decals.  I'm about half way done with the sniper figure as well from my second batch but I just can't get the paint job to look how I want.  The fine details evident on the printing really are shallow and I'm not happy with how they're turning out so will probably be stripping the fig and restarting it sometime this week.

I've also stumbled accidentally across an RPG conversion that is exactly what I was looking for in the first place... a Mass Effect total conversion of the 5e D&D ruleset.  I had been considering doing something less ambitious myself with either the Shadowrun or Eclipse Phase rules (and in the past had even done some preliminary work in that regard) but nothing on the scale that the folks at the link below have been working on.  If you're interested in Mass Effect and like the 5e ruleset, definitely check them out as they've got gear, biotics, aliens, and almost everything else worked into playable rules!

Mass Effect 5E

As a final tidbit, I posed my Krogan mercenary up with some other figs I've had for a while.  It seems that he was hired to explore some rumors of a Rachni hive and collect an egg for hit patron to sell but has found something much worse!  :)

State of the Blog Address (2018 in review)

Well, another year has gone by and so it's time for another year in review post.  I'll start with what amounted to the majority of progress on my blog... digital hobby publishing.  Starting with Star Trek tabletop gaming, I worked on over a dozen sheets under my SHIELDS UP! house rules (link here) divided up between the current Star Trek Adventures RPG by Modiphius and the classic FASA Starship Combat games.  This is where the bulk of my updates are for 2018 and, while I myself haven't tried any of them out in actual games, some other players have reported using my fan ship designs in their own campaigns.

Additionally, I tried my hand at some very basic programming and developed some custom ships (link here) for the fan made computer game version of the classic FASA game along with a tutorial for getting it all working (link here).  All in all, I'd say that I was significantly more productive in that virtual realm compared with typical tabletop hobby work albeit with almost no difference in the "games played" metric described above (excluding single player missions).

When it comes to actual hands on traditional hobby work, I frankly didn't accomplish much.  In 2018, the only miniatures that I worked on were the painted Winged Hussar pictured in the center below and another converted/built yet to be painted.  I had hoped to finish off a half painted Tau broadside suit conversion I worked on a few years ago but never got around to it. 

I hope to do better next year but realistically I said the same thing last year in my previous review so I won't hold my breath.  While I did visit the local games store a bit more in 2018 for RPG reasons, I only ended up playing a single miniatures game after an RPG session.  That definitely puts a damper on any larger hobby plans leaving me with the occasional conversion project (like my RAFM minis or Winged Hussars).  In the next month, I do plan on painting some of my 3D printed figures as part of the last phase of my review of them.

Next we have a mix of the two categories above in my Shapeways miniatures printing.  I relearned by brute force trial and error how to pose and modify existing models (although actual modelling is still far beyond my grasp) and mostly successfully printed out physical miniatures.  I did hear back from Shapeways about the misprint in my order and am awaiting my reorder of tweaked figures.  I do plan on covering the reprints as well as painting up several of the figures for use as well.  If time and budget allows, I also hope to place another later on in the year for my first ever custom starship miniatures including hopefully a ship or two featured in my SHIELDS UP! house rules.

Finally we have the miscellaneous updates.  In between the above, I've recounted my truthful experience in backing the failed Robotech Tactics miniatures kickstarter (link here), reviewed Artel W's series of boutique 40k themed miniatures (link here) as well as the Star Trek Discovery Season 1 (link here), reviewed the Starfinder RPG and my unsuccessful attempt at starting a local group (link here), and even covered the history of my blog's title (link here).

All in all that makes 26 updates for 2018 or roughly one every two weeks or so on average.  In reality, they came more in fits and spurts with May being a month without any update.  In addition to hopefully doing a bit more hands on painting in 2019, I do also hope to post a bit more regularly or, at a minimum, not completely miss any months on the blog.  As stated above, I do hope to finish off some existing miniatures on my painting table (like my 40k Tau broadside linked here as well as my recent 3D printed figs).  On the digital front, I don't see myself coming out with too many ships but I am considering publishing an updated 2019 edition of my TOS Recognition Manual (link here) if I can come up with a suitable Romulan ship to add to the roster.

I don't know if this type of review is informative to any potential readers but I do feel that it (at least temporarily) helps to focus my efforts for the upcoming months.  Regardless, see you all in a few weeks with my next 3D printing update and thanks again for reading!

Blazing the Oregon Sector Trail with the Pioneer Class

It's been a while since I converted a Star Trek player ship but a recent flurry of activity in the FASA community made me want to scratch that itch again.  With the release of the Ops book next for the Star Trek Adventures RPG, I decided to release similarly themed ships starting with the Pioneer Class Utility light cruiser.

I'm a big fan of Cryptic Studios' Agents of Yesterday Expansion for Star Trek Online (link here!) and I decided to convert their Pioneer Class cruiser for both the venerable FASA game as well as the current Star Trek Adventures RPG.  Apaskins1991 over on deviantart has a huge gallery of Trek ship art and I was lucky enough to have him let me use his Pioneer class art for my sheets.

There isn't a whole heck of a lot of information about the Pioneer beyond that it's a light utility cruiser with a smaller crew complement than the larger, more famous ships from that era.  I imagined it in my FASA backstory as a light and fast ship able to perform many of the same roles as the larger Constitution but with a still impressive but shorter tour duration (perhaps a 3 year mission instead of the famous 5 year mission of the Connie).  Over on the STA side, I focused the build on more peaceful activity with a relatively even split amongst science, medicine, and engineering with less tactical capability compared with the Constitution class of the same era.

As always, let me know if you find any typos or other issues or just have any general feedback.  For full size versions of the image, just right click and open them in a new window or just download the PDFs if you prefer.

Pioneer Class FASA pdf link

Pioneer Class STA pdf link

Edit: After finding JAFisher44's work (link here) in modelling classic FASA designs in 3D for my follow Derf Class sheet, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he also worked on a Pioneer model as well and was willing to let me use it for my sheet.  For those who prefer 3d model art to the classic orthographic drawings, here is a version of the sheet with that instead.

 Pioneer Class (3D model version) Link

Summer Hobby Update

It's been a while since I did a full hobby update but I finally have enough to report in.  Over on the tabletop hobby side, I've got a few pots slow cooking on the stove at the moment.  The release of Kill Team for 40k got me a bit excited about the tabletop game universe again.  It's a skirmish level ruleset that you can simply plug and play your existing 40k army figures into.  I've started to parcel out a dozen or two figs from each of my main 40k armies into a separate carrying case to use with Kill Team (and also double as RPG figs as well potentially).   Additionally, I've started to collect some more bits and figures to build a few more of my Winged Hussars custom chapter.  My goal is to have a combat squad of five primaris marines for Kill Team as well as an RPG character model.  While the overall look will remain the same for the Winged Hussars, I will be testing out a few variant bits like shoulder pads and tabards to fine tune the look with the next few figs.

At a recent game store swap meet, I also managed to trade for a two dozen figures (mainly 40k Kill Team figs) that included a few Rafm HG minis.  The big draw for me was a broken mostly complete (no head antenna) Kodiak gear.  I still haven't painted any of my previous HG Rafm conversions from last year but I just couldn't resist getting the original version of the Kodiak to complement the Destroyer Kodiak I built last time.

A while back, I mentioned that I was joining a Starfinder RPG campaign but that fizzled out after two games.  We didn't have a dedicated GM and no one else was interested so I volunteered on a strictly temporary basis.  Unfortunately, the "space fantasy" feel of Starfinder's setting and mechanics wasn't for me.  I wanted a full scifi rpg and it instead felt more like D&D in space.   My offer to transition the group to Star Trek Adventures were unsuccessful as the non-traditional nature of the setting (i.e. not-a-murder-hobo simulator) wasn't as popular as I'd have hoped.

The Wrath and Glory Warhammer 40,000 RPG is coming out soon and I picked up the free introductory adventure.  I'm a bit concerned about the depth of the rules/options in the core book due to the ambitious breadth they're attempting to include.  I can't help but feel the ruleset would have been better served by focusing strictly on Imperial campaigns instead of also adding in barebones chaos and xenos options but I'm leaving final judgement to after actually trying out a session as GM.

A Dastardly Duo Approaches!

I initially focused on custom hero/player ships for the Star Trek Adventures game as obviously they'd see alot of play if used and the pickings for the TOS/TMP eras were pretty slim in the core book.   Equally slim though were the choices for adversaries in those eras and the subsequent expansions haven't really broadened the choices either outside of the TNG era.  As such, I decided to stat up two of my favorite ships from the classic FASA game for use with Star Trek Adventures.

Luckily for me, Brad Torgersen has a treasure trove of classic FASA ship images on his STSTCSOLDA website that he reworked to modern standards and graciously allowed me to use them.  Here are what I will call my dastardly duo double pack... the D-10 Command Cruiser for the Klingons and the V-7 ECM Cruiser for the Romulans.

PDF Link

I've included a section for breaches on the sheets using the NPC quick damage rules format.  If you prefer using the full player character ship damage rules, just pencil in the first few letters of the system damaged in each box instead of filling it in.  And, just in case anyone out there is playing a "villain" campaign and would like to use either of these as their player character ship, just add 2 points each to the systems and the departments divided up however you want and then choose two additional ship talents.  Once you update those stats (and any dependent ones like shields and weapons for example), you'll have a fully capable player character ship to use for your Romulan or Klingon crews.  As always, let me know if there are any typos that I missed or mistakes in the ship construction and thanks for checking this out. 

Starfinder RPG and Dead Suns Campaign First Impressions

We had our first game and it was... interesting.  We played the introductory Dead Suns Part 1 adventure path by Paizo with a party of 5 players and a decent mix of races/classes/abilities (two soldiers, one operative, one envoy, and one mystic).  About the only core role/class we were missing was a technomancer i.e. space wizard equivalent.  The setting and rules are so so and what you'd expect from Golarion in space overall but the balance in the adventure path was off (even factoring out mistakes made by the GM that artificially inflated the difficulty).

First off I'll comment about the general overarching game mechanics.  They're pretty much what you'd expect from a D&D3X style system and it's easy to catch on to the basics if you're familiar with the older variants.  That said... there are many significant changes like being able to multiattack with penalties as a full round action without having to first unlock the second attack at high levels.  There are also minor changes like diagonal movement costs and magic missile not scaling with level.  For vets of multiple prior related editions, remembering whether the second diagonal costs normal or double movment (which seems to flip flop between various editions).  All in all, it's familiar and comfortable but certainly not revolutionary or groundbreaking in any way.  It's D&D3X in space for better or worse. 

The art in the books though is full color and top notch assuming you like the style (which I do).  The races introduced feel different and are most certainly not just the old fantasy tropes with a "space" adjective added in front of them.  If you do want to play those legacy fantasy races, the core rulebook does include them later on in the rules but I'm glad that they're not the focus.  Each class is unique and varies enough from the old fantasy equivalents to feel like they're their own thing. 

Unfortunately, I find the setting to be a bit of a let down despite the above.  It's basically an advancement of the old Pathfind Golarian setting which admittedly I was never a fan of it but neither was I critical of it.  There are new races and planets like I mentioned but the core setting and default start is basically just a big space station right above Golarion (or more correctly where it should be as it disappeared) and there are other planets that are just fantasy tropes in space (like the planet of space undead ruled by space lich overlords).  Maybe it's just me but I kept finding myself thinking "oh, that's just the space *fill in the blank* equivalent".  That's due in large part because of the actual Golarian/Pathfinder parts ported directly over as well as those just heavily influenced by the fantasy setting.  I would personally have preferred a completely independent setting but I recognize the obvious potential business benefit of leveraging a previous industry sales leading game (Pathfinder) for easy conversion into your new project.  While that gives the game relatively easy access to a large playerbase right out of the gate, I can't but help feel that the setting and game will suffer for it in the long run.  YMMV.

Finally we come to the Dead Suns adventure path.  In short, as an old 3.X GM and player for years, I found the balance in the adventure path to be suprisingly off but a large part of that was because of two big mistakes by the GM that inflated the difficulty unncessarily.  The first encounter after the players introduce themselves to each over is CR4 (and that's assuming you think that rating is accurate..see below).  Your first interaction before any real roleplaying with NPCs is to get your feet wet with an "Epic" difficulty level encounter for 1st level characters and presumably new players to the game.  The GM was supposed to only attack us 1/6 of the time but he must have missed that part in the setup (and combined based on common sense two encounters into one the next time). 

Regardless of his mistakes, the CR 1/2 (as in one half) street level gang thugs we were facing had the equivalent stat wise of dex 18 weapon spec and focus shooting.  No big deal, right?  Just use some social skills to beat the encounter nonviolently, right?  Yeah, they also had the equivalent of Cha 20 and full class skill rank in intimidate to boot.  Their actual stats were nothing close to that but their end bonuses for both attacks, damage, and some skills were significantly higher what was possible for us as 1st level player characters.  They were markedly better than CR1 opponents should have been let alone the CR1/2 individually they were listed as.

The GM commented that his main group had a very hard time with the scenarios as well.  I asked another Starfinder GM and he said that Paizo does that with most of the official encounters and that he personally actively encourages his player to NOT fight but find away around combat.  That wasn't an option for us in the first encounter as it was literally scripted that the shooting started right as we arrived and we were caught in the crossfire.  That trend continued throughout the game and the Deus Ex NPChinima had to save us yet again later that night in the next big encounter.

I'm willing to give the game another try (and will actually be Gm'ing next time as we convinced the GM to join us for a single game only).  Although we didn't reach 2nd level yet, I forwarded the group a "loan" of 300 xp to reach 2nd level to see if the equity between characters and published encounters is more balanced later on.  I suspect I'll still have to adjust on the fly some of the crazy bonuses down a bit though but we'll see.  All in all, at best the experience overall was mediocre although I will admit that it was nice to sit down at a table with fellow gamers and do anything for the first time in years.  I'd give the game overall 2 1/2 stars so far but the Dead Suns campaign only 2 stars due to the perceived lack of balance for a supposedly introductory 1st level adventure.