Episode I
A long time ago in a studio far, far away…
No, not that…
Not too long ago in a home studio…
A little better. Maybe.
Wait. I’m going to back up.
We receive a group email about Insider needs for our website, and everyone is throwing out ideas of what they can write up during lockdown. Well, I am in a spot where I don’t quite have anything new that we’re ready to show, but I want to contribute. I also want to start working on some Warcaster: Neo Mechanika, but I am 2000 miles from HQ.
I then I get an idea that ties these two things together.
I present my idea to Mike Ryan about doing a Hobby Insider on Warcaster with the plan to assemble and paint starters so I’ll be ready to demo our newest game when it is clear to do so. He loves the idea—he also assumes because I am an “artist” that I can clean up models and paint, which is far from accurate. But I wasn’t going to share that info; it could affect me getting Warcaster early.
My biggest issue is going to be getting the models.
So, let’s back up even further. It feels like a lifetime ago when I was asked to attend European Masters in Brno, Czech Republic, at Black Oil Gaming and Social Club, where Vladimir Kokolia and his crew hosted me as an artistic guest. An amazing experience! But my point is not to go on at length about how fantastic the games were or how incredible the food that Vladimir prepared for all of the attendees was but to show how it ties in to this terrible Hobby Insider.
The man organizing the event was none other than our very own (now) Bob Watts. And son Ian was there as well, and we had a great time together (to say the least), but again there’s a point here: all of those crazy shipments with random loot and stylish notes in them that customers are getting right now are from the very same Ian…which means I had an inside track at HQ back in Washington to get models sent to me in Missouri.
See, I had a point.
So now, the first starter I am working on is the Iron Star Alliance.
There have been several reviews on these models already, but I wanted to add how easy they were to assemble and how great they look. I’m excited to get them on the battlefield for some actual games, but first I need to hobby by assembling my new loot!
My desk and hobby mat see a lot of work—none of that fancy, pristine studio editing here! I have my Iron Star Alliance starter assembled: a Firebrand warjack, 1 Paladin Weaver solo, 1 Paladin Commander solo, and a Paladin Enforcer Squad.
I got them assembled really quickly—the models are super-clean and require almost no extra work beyond making sure the pieces are in the right places. I assembled my Firebrand just like the art work/studio assembled theirs. I don’t know the full rules yet and didn’t want to guess, and I didn’t magnetize for a few reasons:
- My plan is for ISA and Marcher Worlds to be my demo sets.
- Really, I’m a lazy gamer.
Besides, everyone knows I favor Aeternus Continuum as my main Faction choice, so I’m keeping my demo sets simple.
Next, I washed them and hit them with a coat of primer—which means I’m finally ready to put some paint on them.
But I have no idea what my color scheme will be yet!
I’m off to ponder this, work on sculpting some AC for later this year, and start gearing up for a return to sculpting Legion of Everblight…
While I’m thinking about it, you might want to go ahead and get your alt MW Coalition Weaver model while you still can. Then you can get in on some Warcaster model preparation as well…
That’s it for now. Episode I is now complete.
Episode II will strike back soon…
