3D Printing Is About To Hit Mainstream Gaming

by SandWyrm

Several weeks ago, I got into a conversation with Hight, the owner of Sinclair Games (our FLGS), about 3D printing. Which included showing him my previous post on the female ganger minis that I'd bought from Shapeways. He was pretty impressed and wanted to find out more about it.

Cue a couple of Wednesdays ago, when I walked into the store to see him playing with a brand new filament printer (The Robo 3d above) which cost him around $800 on Amazon. He was downloading terrain models from Thingverse and trying to figure out how best to print them. With mixed results, but much enthusiasm. He's fully on board now with the idea of 3D printing replacing traditional metal/resin miniature production. He's just frustrated at the lack of usable models out there. 

But that's getting ready to change in some interesting ways...

Kickstarters, The FTC Can See You Now!

By CaulynDarr

You can't hide forever

The FTC came down on the creator of The Doom that Came to Atlantic City kickstarter, and they've got a warning for other creators out there using crowd funding.

Kickstarter: The Gift that Keeps On Giving... Disappointment

By CaulynDarr

Except for this, this was awesome.

Consider me off the Kickstarter train.  Two bits of news dropped pre-Gencon this week that pretty much invalidated all the little remaining value I still had out of two of my largest Kickstarter investments.

Dust Dramas Part MCLVII: Only Matthew McConaughey Can Save Us Now

By CaulynDarr

Maybe you thought this was all behind us.  I mean, wasn't Battlefront sending the last check?  What could possibly still go wrong?  Many things, my friends.  Many many things...

Dust Dramas Part XXVI

By CaulynDarr

And like sands of the hour glass, these are the days of our lives.

Dead game is dead at this point.  Last week Paolo sent out a message saying Dust Studios relationship status went from "It's Complicated" to "Single".  Battlefront took their time, but responded with a full salvo using American arty rules.

It looks like both sides are so far in the weeds they don't see their way out anymore.

Kickstarters, maybe not so great a thing for gamers

By CaulynDarr

Long story, start reading here,

Last summer when I saw that Battlefront was running a Dust Tactics Kickstarter, I went into immediate nerd rage mode.  I wrote a nice flame post on it, but deleted it before posing.  I was fairly sour mood when it came to Kickstarters at the time.  Robotech Tactics was quickly approaching a BS singularity, and I was getting a bit jaded about the whole concept.

But I figured it was Battlefront.  They'd have their backers backs; the Warstore pre-selling all the SKUs at a better price DURING THE KICKSTARTER thing notwithstanding.  All my bluster would look like another negative hit piece by an angry fan boy who just likes to piss in peoples' Cheerios(it is cathartic).  Well, I guess to paraphrase the great Captain Sparrow; there will be no living with me after this.  Thanks, Battlefront. 

So what did I almost say 8 months ago? 

Gav Thorpe Is Making A What?

by SandWyrm

There's an Inception joke hiding in there somewhere, I just know it!

While forcing myself to finally learn the full wonders of Twitter, I stumbled upon what GW Alum Gav Thorpe is up to these days. It seems that Gav is creating a fantasy wargame... on a computer... that looks like a tabletop fantasy wargame. There's an Inception joke hiding in there somewhere, I just know it.

Stay Classy Palladium

by CaulynDarr

The Admiral is not amused

Man, I sure know how to pick Kickstarters.  This one for Robotech Tactics has turned into a real cluster frak.  One of the implicit understandings of a Kickstarter is that backers get the product first.  We put down money months to years in advance for a product that may or may not live up to expectations.  All because we want to see a cool idea come to life and be part of it.  And, if the implicit promise isn't enough for you, there's also the times when the creators make it explicitly:

In the end, you, our Kickstarter supporters, will be the first to receive a wonderful product that we hope will make you grin and provide endless hours of enjoyment. Thank you for sharing our dream. You, your pledges of support and unbridled enthusiasm are very much appreciated.

Emphasis mine.  So of course what is Palladium doing?  They are planning on selling at Gencon before they ship to backers. 

More Relic Knights Photos

by CaulynDarr

Marikan To and a Serpent Priestess (Space Marine for scale)

The Noh faction for Relic Knights is turning out to be one of the better executed ones.  It helps that they are the monster faction and are about twice as large as any other model.  I've got all the models from the Noh and Shatter Sword factions assembled(except for one Shattered Sword figure that was miss-packet with two torsos and no sword).

Amelial, the Void Herald

by CaulynDarr

I'm about 85% done.  There's still some clean up to do on her wings and base.  I might also re-do the faceplate of her helmet.  It didn't turn out quite like I wanted.  

Lots and Lots of Toys

by CaulynDarr

So, yesterday this came in the mail for me:

Only took about 20 months to get it.

I'll save the review for when I get some miniatures painted.  The PVC plastic and soft features led to some mediocre results.  It might not be so bad depending on how the minis take to paint.

But then, this morning I got this:

4 Z-95s, 2 E-Wings, 2 TIE Phantoms, 2 TIE Defenders

So I think I'm set for gaming purchases for a while.  Oh, wait, who am I kidding.