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The Elk’s Rider and Board Game Excitement

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It has been a fun week painting wise as I’ve finally been able to tackle the elf in earnest and see some real progress. I’m excited to share this week’s progress even if it is only one picture.

There were a lot of fine details to work on this week but I have to say that I’m generally ecstatic with how its looking. The armor looks so smooth and nice. The feathers look fantastic (other than a little touch up or two I see I need to make now. And thankfully, the cape which I’ve been working on the past couple of days looks nice too. I went with pure glazing which I don’t enjoy doing all that much. It requires time, patience, and repetition and that is something I’m not always able to give. One thing I will say is that painting capes in Warhammer is MUCH different than in LOTR. The capes in LOTR are way smaller and you need to use smooth layers to get them looking nice (which most painters can’t or don’t do as I think it is a specialized skill that is hard to learn). In Warhammer, you need to glaze capes to get things done right because the surfaces are larger and flatter than LOTR. Its funny how a different game or setting can require different skills like that.

Unfortunately for me, I still need to do the backside of the cape which has more detail to it and probably will be a bit trickier. I’ll be glad when that is done. The same can be said for the tassels which you can see already have some stressed plastic in them from me hitting them while painting. Hopefully I don’t break any off before I can get this done. Once the back part is painted, I should be able to get this and the leg piece from last week assembled on the elk. That should be nice to see.

I do have a couple of rapid-fire board game things to discuss so here we go!

I found out that The Hellboy Board Game I bought does not have the rulebook like it should. I contacted the eBay seller and they said they would try to get Mantic to send one. If that fails (and I suspect that it will), I’ll have to print out a copy which is not going to be as nice. Definitely a bit of a bummer with that and I was hoping to get a game in soon but having to print off the rulebook may slow that down a bit.

I drafted an article about Arkham Horror: The Card Game this week because I wanted to write about how much I’m enjoying it and truthfully, this year, I’ve rarely written anything besides painting progress articles. Those don’t draw much attention beyond the usual readers. While I obviously appreciate everyone who visits this website (and even more so those who kindly comment every week), it is nice to see people beyond our little community come check out my site and hopefully enjoy the content here. I think writing some gaming centered articles will help attract them. So I hope that those of you who regularly comment don’t mind me sharing those with you. Don’t feel compelled to comment on those articles if they’re not of interest or you feel like you don’t have anything to say. I’m writing them for fun and for people who are also a fan of Arkham Horror mostly though I do think some of you who visit regularly will enjoy them too. We’ll see as I get a couple posted in the near future.

Finally, I’ve created a bit of a list of board games I’m interested in. Here are some of the ones I will own in a perfect world with unlimited money and storage:

Fallout Board Game – This one is probably self-explanatory since I love Fallout. It seems like a fun adventure game where you can explore the world of Fallout and level up your character just like the video games. I may have already bought an expansion for this game because it is going out of print so this game might be in my collection sooner than later!

Vampire: The Masquerade Chapters – I LOVE Vampire: The Masquerades Bloodlines on the PC. What a classic game that is. The mood and style of this RPG is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The board game looks pretty fun as well though it has been released yet even to Kickstarter supports so this is one I’m excited for when I can get my hands on it.

Bloodborne: The Board Game – Another one where I love the video game its based on. To get all of the expansions is $500 and takes up TONS of room. I really want all of this game or none of it (totally rational, I know) so I don’t know if I’ll get it even though I suspect that I would love it and enjoy painting all of the minis.

Resident Evil 2: The Board Game – This game captures the Survival Horror feel of the video games and while RE2 isn’t one of my all-time favorites, I think this one could be really fun. It might also be the one game where the minis are low quality enough that I don’t feel like I need to paint them.

Kingdom Death: Monster – Clocking in at $400, this is about as deluxe of a board game as you will find. It is reminiscent of Dark Souls and looks amazingly fun to play. I don’t have the cash on hand for something like this right now but one day, I will hopefully be able to pick it up and give it a try.

Experienced board gamers might notice a trend in my board game interest. Most of these games have minis (which is not good for my backlog!) but more significantly, they have a good degree of luck and are considered Ameritrash. That’s right Europeans, keep your lukewarm beverages, metric system, terrible monarchies, and lengthy histories to yourself! Give me ice in my drink, super size my combo at my favorite fast food restaurant, I will only watch the dumbest Hollywood movies, and I only recognize feet and inches for goodness sake, because I like luck in my board games and wargames! 🙂 Wargamers might find it funny but there are many board gamers who demand minimal luck (dice rolls are too luck based for example) and they gravitate towards “Euro” board games. I really like theme and narrative myself and will be focused on games that offer plenty of that going forward. I think that will align with many of my reader’s interest and it could be a nice niche for me in the future as I continue to explore and write about board games. I’m looking forward to it!

28 thoughts on “The Elk’s Rider and Board Game Excitement”

  1. That Elf is glorious mate. Those colors work so well and your technical skill is superb. I am in awe of your artistry.

    I know I am something of a Joe McCullough fanboy these days but considering what you have said you like in games I think Rangers of Shadow Deep would be a good fit for you. Solo/Co-op narrative focus with a lot of random chance. Miniature agnostic. Generic terrain requirements.

    Sorry to hear about that issue with the Hellboy manual but I agree, you most likely will need to download and print it. I am curious to hear if Mantic proves me wrong.

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    1. Thanks, mate! I really appreciate your kind words as always.

      In regards to Rangers of Shadow Deep, I think it would be a good fit for my interests except for the fact that I don’t have a large collection of fantasy terrain and would need to make a lot, in addition to needing to paint some miniatures (not that I mind that part!). That is why I’ve stayed away from it. I think other than that, it is a great looking game and I think you’ll have a blast playing through it. I would consider picking it up down the road when I get more Fallout terrain done as that is really all that is stopping me from playing that quite a bit more.

      I don’t have a lot of hope on the Hellboy rulebook too. I may just have to follow up with the eBay seller to see what he knows as it has been a while since I spoke to him.

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  2. I know I’ve said this before, but your painting is impressive, certainly well beyond my skill levels.

    Your tastes in “Ameritrash” boardgames is right in my wheelhouse. I can’t be bothered with Eurostyle gaming games, gotta be rolling dice and moving miniatures (preferably in inches!).

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    1. Thanks, Eric! You are too kind. As I often say, it just takes practice, patience, and a desire to improve to get better in this hobby so keep at it with your Marvel stuff and you never know where you’ll go.

      I’m glad to hear it isn’t just me who likes Ameritrash games and to not like them is un-American quite frankly!!! Now let’s go to Krystal and get some sliders and watch Nascar (when we aren’t board gaming)! 😉

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  4. Fantastic work on the Elf Jeff, I can fully appreciate what you’re saying about glazing and the time it takes, so can appreciate all the layers you’ve had to put in to achieve that cloak.
    What a pain with the Hellboy game, I do hope you get a good result.
    An interesting selection of boardgames to choose from, and can see why they would be in your choices.

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    1. Thanks, Dave! I reckon it took me something like 5-7 hours of glazing which is about 4-6 more than I would have liked to have spent haha! I’m glad it has turned out in the end.

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  5. I had to smile to myself at your US versus Europe comments! 🙂 As an engineer, I am just so glad I work in metric units ’cause otherwise I’d find calculating anything a nightmare! As a wargamer, however, inches take a lot of beating as a unit of measurement!
    The elf really is looking good mind you, but please try and get him finished before you buy that stack of games that we all know are on your shopping list! 🙂

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    1. I’m glad you liked those too, John! 🙂 I had a good bit of fun writing them though I think some of them apply more to the continent as Brits like to say than England but I couldn’t help myself.

      I can only speak for my generation (which is older millennials, I suppose) and while I was taught feet and inches and the metric system, I learned feet and inches first so that stuck. If we did things the other way around, Americans might actually learn and use the metric system but if they do what they did with me, its unlikely!

      I made the mistake of looking back to see how long I’ve been working on the Elf and we’re going on three months now which is WAY longer than I expected. I really do need to get this project done soon even if I can’t really rush it at the same time. It is certainly giving me food for thought for how I handle projects in the future!

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  7. Huh, didn’t know there was such a thing as European vs American style of boardgames, guess I need to expand my blog reading away from miniatures. Are there board game blogs?
    Continue to be amazed at your painting skills, is the red on the broken sword details or suppose to be blood? From what I can see, doesn’t add to the overall figure. My clumsy hands and painting would have broken that figure many times over.

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    1. It really is a thing though I suspect you’d be like me and prefer American style to Euros but who knows! There certainly are board game blogs out there (and quite a few people are wargamers and board gamers) but I don’t follow many. Justin, who often comments on here, runs a good one at: https://thesolomeeple.com/. The best source to learn about board games is poking around on Boardgamegeek.com. I would recommend looking at the top-rated games for the Thematic category which are mostly “Ameritrash” ones including some in my list.

      It really does look like blood, doesn’t it? That is just a bit of red paint that I spilled on there. That will be covered up by another piece when I glue it on. Unfortunately, I think what you’re seeing on this model is what a lot of the newer MESBG models (at least the ones that GW makes, maybe not Forge World) are going to look like. So you and I are just going to have to get used to them!

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  8. Wow – the crest on that elf man! You just keep knocking this right out of the park. It may have taken you three months to get this far but the results speak for themselves, take your time and even if it takes another 3 years it’ll be worth the wait. 🙂

    Bloody annoying about the Hellboy rulebook, fingers crossed that gets sorted out for you. Some very interesting looking games there too – I thought as soon as I saw the Fallout one that it would be the one to tempt you. Not sure I agree with you about using inches to measure things though. I mean, it was fair enough back when you were a colony, but you’re a proper, grown-up country now. When I look at America I see so much potential, even though you don’t have a monarchy like a real country you could be a global superpower if you put your minds to it – but you hold yourselves back with this silly, outdated system of measurements. Sort yourselves out eh! 😉

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    1. Thanks, mate! I really appreciate your kind words. I will continue to stay patient though I may take a break soon as the back side of the cape is already starting to sap motivation from me and I just started yesterday.

      You know me well on Fallout and there really are a lot of board gaming options, especially for people who wargame. I guess that’s why our mate Azazel is always bouncing between wargames and board game minis! 🙂

      Now, setting aside the fact that these former colonists kicked you lot out (with a bit of help from the French) and never looked back, you have to be careful that you aren’t using Americanisms like knock it out of the park and then arguing for us doing the opposite of Brexit 😉 I do wonder if we use feet and inches just to irritate the rest of the world. It really does seem to work, if so! 🙂

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  10. Wow, that Elk rider is just amazing! Keep up the good work.

    Actually the thing I noticed about your board games wish list is that most of them are games based on some other property rather than being a stand-alone theme. That said, it certainly is quite a list and I’d love to get my hands on a few of those myself.

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    1. Cheers, mate! I tend to do that with my board gaming and wargaming. I collected and painted LOTR minis and then I went to Fallout for wargaming. It only makes sense that I’d end up doing more of that with board gaming. I do think it can be more fun to collect minis from something you know and enjoy, not unlike you’re doing with MCP! 🙂

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      1. Totally agree, it’s important to have a hobby that you can get excited about. What better way to do that than combine your interests, in your case by getting (eg) Fallout and board games in one glorious whole?

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  11. Man, I’ve run out of superlatives for describing this awesome work of art!
    Can’t wait to see him come together with the Elk…

    Some good games in your list, quite different to AH: The Card Game that you’re currently playing. Kingdom Death Monster is the one I really want, but at such a price? Lovely minis though!

    Damn shame about the rulebook. Hopefully Mantic will send you one out – I’d chase them up yourself rather than rely on the seller, though they may charge you postage.

    Thanks for the mention in the comments Jeff, much appreciated, cheers.

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    1. Cheers, mate! This project is getting closer and closer to being done but we’ve still got a few weeks if not a month or so to go, I reckon.

      I figure that with the cost of AH, I better not take on another card game like Marvel Champions, even if it is tempting! I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one interested in Kingdom Death: Monster. The cost is high but what is off-putting is having to pay for the game and not really being sure when you’ll get it. If I could buy it outright and know that I’d receive it soon, I probably would.

      You’re very welcome on the shout out too 🙂 Its well-deserved!

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      1. I know what you mean. I’ve too many games crying out for expansions and so I only concentrate on one or two at a time. MoM and Eldritch have been my main focus as we get a lot of time in with those games, but it does knock the wallet a bit.
        I love the ‘idea’ of the game Kingdom Death Monster and the miniatures are superb. As for the game itself, I would really like to play it before forking out the princely sum they ask for it.

        Thanks again, Jeff.☺️

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    1. Thanks, Mark! I appreciate your kind words and everyone else’s, for that matter. I’m guessing they don’t do any board gaming at your club? I would have thought you’ve got some potential players right there, especially with the crossover between board games and wargaming but perhaps not.

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