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Kromlech – Wizard’s Workshop Bookshelf Done

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Its taken much longer than I anticipated but I finally got the bookshelf done. It drug on and on, which is why I didn’t update last week. It felt like if I showed the progress then, it wouldn’t be all that interesting to see it done. So here it is, finally finished with the exception of one touch up I forgot to take care of before taking some photos.

With how long this one took, I can’t say that I’m fired up to paint another but I will have to get a second one done eventually. I now have a piece of Kromlech terrain painted for each terrain size in-game and while there’s more that I need to paint, I can probably try and play Hellboy again with the new terrain soon. I also feel comfortable starting to work on the “moving diorama” I’ve referenced in the past so at some point soon, I’ll try and get going on that. Before I change gears and talk about other things, here is a photo I took using a Hellboy mini to show the scale of the bookshelf. I think they work pretty well together and the bookshelf makes for an attractive piece of background scenery too.

When I haven’t been painting, I did manage to get another game of Arkham in. I purchased some more sleeves so that I could start playing some of the Dead of Night expansion with the base game of Arkham Horror: Third Edition. I played the one scenario that I have yet to beat in four or five tries now, Echoes of the Deep which features Mr. Cthulhu.

I mixed in the encounter cards from Dead of Night (to help solve some repetition in the base game) and tried out two new investigators: Roland Banks and Kate Winthrop. Roland Banks is pretty interesting in that he can spawn extra clues instead of gaining remnants which makes getting clues quite a bit easier. It also can make him more powerful in combat with this unique investigator ability. Kate is very good at getting and research clues so I thought the two would make a strong team.

And they did, for the most part. I managed to destroy two of four possible barriers (which in turn weaken Cthulhu and make him more feasible to kill) and landed six damage on the big green boy as well. If I remember correctly, he only had four hit points left when I lost. If I had gotten a little more lucky, I might have finally won but alas, Cthulhu reigns supreme yet again. Overall, I thought the expansion material that I used, the encounter cards and two of the new investigators, made a positive impact on what is a very difficult scenario. I had some pretty good luck and got strong items at a couple of points but I still couldn’t quite manage a win. At least I’m getting closer and closer to victory. My plan is to get some more sleeves and try out the new Dead of Night scenarios next. I can also see that I really need to get some kind of organizer as the cards are overflowing and its taking longer to setup a game now than before so that is something I will try to work on when I can squeeze it into my budget.

Finally, I’ll talk about something that I rarely discuss and that is sports. I can’t say that I was expecting it but World Cup fever has hit Chateau Kuribo in a big way. I used to be quite the soccer/football fan until I got a full-time job. After that, my freetime was compressed and so I stopped watching soccer for the most part because something had to give. I would watch the Premier League and was a Man City fan before they got really good when Pep Guardiola took over management duties. I’m also unsurprisingly a fan of Team USA in the World Cup. I have to admit though, recently I have felt jaded about our team and wondering if we’d ever be great. We got Jurgen Klinsmann, who was a great manager, (and its awesome that he still seems to support our team despite him being German) and we’ve had great players in the past but we’ve never had a mix of great talent and coaching all at once. Team USA won through heart and hard work and not a high level of talent. It would also be painfully obvious that we couldn’t beat teams like Germany, Spain, and France because they were on another level talent-wise.

Its too early to tell but so far, Team USA looks like they do have the talent to go somewhere this year. They’ve been really impressive against Paraguay and Australia by controlling the ball for most of the game and scoring goals at an impressive clip. I’ve never seen us do those things this well and I have hope that we might actually get somewhere in the tournament. Hiring a good, proven manager, instead of using American coaches who lack experience and pedigree was the right move and while the greed of FIFA is a real bummer with the beautiful game at the moment, its nice to see Team USA finally look like they’re going to do something. Truthfully, we’re also extremely lucky to be playing games at home as I would imagine quite a few people around the world would enjoy rooting against us thanks to our President.

Even my wife is into this year’s World Cup and she does not care about sports at all. Her home country, is competing for the first time in 50 years and they had a torrid time in the 1970’s to say the least. They didn’t score a goal and lost every game convincingly. Congo has made its citizens proud thus far with a well-earned draw against Portugal and it would be great to see them in the knockout rounds as well. It would certainly make many Congolese proud in a way they deserve and rarely achieve on the world’s stage.

While I was planning on talking about a new miniature I purchased, which will be a bit of a surprise, it hasn’t turned up yet, so I will save it for next week. I look forward to discussing that and I will probably do something a bit different painting wise this week as I’m ready to mix things up after working on that bookshelf for so long.

47 thoughts on “Kromlech – Wizard’s Workshop Bookshelf Done”

  1. Excellent finish to the bookshelf Jeff, should add a lot of character to the scenery for your Hellboy games. Sounds like you are getting closer on beating the scenario, and after all Cthulhu should be a tough opponent ! LOL

    Couldn’t comment on the soccer as I never watch it, I could probably have more of a conversation on last seasons NFL or wrestling ! LOL

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      1. You’re going to get deported to the US if you keep talking like that John haha! 🙂 Try watching a bit of baseball, if you think soccer is boring!

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      3. There are exceptions to the rule! A lot depends on where you grow up and what teams are good during that time too. I know that had a big impact on what sports I care about even now in middle age.

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    3. Cheers, Dave! You’re not wrong about Cthulhu either haha! Its only fair that he or it is tough. You’re the NFL’s dream, Dave. They’ve been working hard to find non-Americans to take up the sport for quite some time now. The real question is: If you can suplex your opposition instead of tackling with your feet, would that draw you into soccer? 🙂

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      1. Probably not, as they can’t take a tackle without becoming a drama queen, imagine how overly dramatic they would after a clothesline ! LOL To be perfectly honest the women footballers are a lot tougher than the men ! LOL

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      2. Haha, well I was going to suggest that rule change to FIFA but I guess its a lost cause! I haven’t watched much football in the last five years and I’ve been impressed by how much less diving there is compared to how it was ten or so years ago. Diving was rampant to be sure, especially players from certain parts of the world. The old hit the turf and roll around as much as possible was definitely in effect! Who says wrestlers are the only ones that can sell haha!

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  2. That bookcase is so wonderfully painted! The details really show and though given your previous projects I am not surprised- I still was agog at such masterful work. Big kudos. As for World Cup, glad you both have something to share! I’ll catch a bit on TV too

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    1. Thank you for the kind words. It does make the long painting time worth it when people are impressed by the final results. Team USA will be glad to have your support and hopefully they are able to make a run in the tournament this year, for once!

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    1. Cheers, John. Now that is a commercial! Very imaginative and pretty dark too. There were some great players starring in it too. That was a just a little before I got into soccer but I still recognized them and appreciate what kind of careers they had.

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  4. Super job on the bookshelf! I won’t claim to be glued to the world cup but I’m certainly keeping half an eye on it, it’s been so long since Scotland have got anywhere it would be rude not to! Good luck to the Congolese too – I’ll cheer for them when we inevitably get knocked out! 

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    1. Thanks, mate and always good to hear from you as I know you’ve been busy! Scotland suffered a bad loss to Morocco the other day. I wasn’t expecting that one at all. I think the Congolese will be happy to have you as well! They’re definitely one of the underdogs of the tournament thus far.

      I don’t know if word would have traveled to your part of the world but Americans seem to be very surprised that Scottish people can drink a lot of beer, actually do wear kilts, and are friendly and good-natured people. That has made it into World Cup news coverage here and its a bit embarrassing to me because I would think that would be fairly obvious but apparently not to some Americans anyway!

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  6. The bookshelf looks great! I’d be keen for a photo of the game set up next time you play. It must be looking pretty excellent by now!

    I haven’t been following the World Cup much I must say, do you have any games played near you? Would be an interesting experience to go to one (although who knows what the prices look like).

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    1. I’m planning on it! I struggle to take high quality photos of Hellboy because the map tiles tend to have a glare and a board game doesn’t have the amount of terrain that a wargame does so you can see bare table in the photos as well which breaks the immersion a bit. With that said, I have no choice but to take photos considering all the effort going into this mini-project! It will probably be a little while yet before I play. I have a week off work next month so that seems like the perfect time to break the game out.

      Unfortunately, the closest game is in Kansas City which is an eight hour drive away. Not impossible but not close by either. FIFA apparently hates the Midwest as that is the only venue in the middle of the country. A former Chicago mayor claims that FIFA wanted a lot of money to have a city host any games, which is probably sadly true. The ticket prices are brutal as well. I think I saw that a little while ago the cheapest seats were $400 for the less popular games which is insane. That’s probably roughly 3x or 4x what NFL tickets cost these days so FIFA has sadly gotten greedy and is pricing a lot of people out of attending which is a shame!

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  7. Thanks for the shot with the Nxxx next to the bookcase, I didn’t realize the size if it before! Nice job as usual and interested to see what you purchased.

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    1. You’re welcome! The bookshelf is pretty big and wide when it comes down to it. I bought something that is out of left field so I look forward to sharing the new miniature too.

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  8. I don’t know how I missed the update here, but that bookshelf is amazing!! You’ve done a fantastic job, so I’m looking forward to seeing a fully-painted game in the near future 🤪 Hopefully that’ll inspire me to get it painted…!

    Yay for more Arkham, too! I’m a big fan of Roland in these games, but every time I’ve played him in third edition, he’s met an untimely end… Hopefully you’ll have better luck in the Dead of Night stuff, that’s such a good expansion! You’ve got me wondering if I need to sleeve mine now, though…

    And while I have no interest in the sport-balls, Jurgen Klinsmann was a blast from the past, there!! He used to play for Manchester United when I was in school, and I seem to remember him being a popular figure!

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    1. Thanks, mate! The miniatures I use will be fully painted anyway. I doubt every piece of terrain that hits the board will be unless I use the Mantic terrain I was using previously which I might do. Either way, I will do my best to inspire!

      Roland is a good character in the Card Game too. He’s just a fun monster killer and I think he’s better than Tommy Muldoon and Michael McGlenn at least after one playthrough. Sadly, nobody is exactly a tank in Third Edition and I find it tough to get a combat-oriented character all the way through the game without dying! I sleeve everything I own, pretty much so the cards stay nice and crisp. Is it a great use of my money? Maybe not, but it satisfies some part of my collector brain 🙂

      Did he play at Man U?! I didn’t know that but it makes sense as he was a good player from all I’ve heard. He seems like a genuine and kind person to me both as a US coach and now just a supporter of the team. I think he might live in the US some of the time so that might help explain his fondness too. Either way, it is nice to hear that Jurgen was beloved in England too!

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      1. I tried to sleeve up Outer Rim but it broke the insert I have, having all those sleeves in there. Very sad times! But looking at my board games, stuff like Eldritch Horror has survived beautifully well up to now (I’ve had it since release), so I’m trying to let some things go! But I do have a LOT of sleeves leftover from the Outer Rim experiment, and I should really do something with them..!

        I definitely look forward to being inspired by more Hellboy from you, anyway!

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      2. That is a bummer! I’m looking for an organizer for Arkham Horror: Third Edition and sleeves are something I’m trying to account for. I don’t want to buy something that won’t fit a sleeved copy of the game, in other words. I imagine you’re fairly careful with your games (as am I) and so that definitely helps though you never know what might happen so that is why I opt for sleeves.

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      3. If you find something, let me know! I’ve pretty much given up at this point – it all fits inside the core box (unsleeved, admittedly!) so for now I suppose it’s okay. I’d love to get something though. I got the Folded Space inserts for Dune Imperium and Outer Rim, and they’re beautiful – it’s just that Outer Rim one is so jam-packed, it couldn’t cope!!

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      4. When I get one, I’ll let you know how it is for sure. That is a bummer about Outer Rim! You’re making me a little nervous about buying one now 🙂

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      5. Hopefully there’ll be something more suitable out there! It probably helps that FFG have admitted the game is ‘done’ now, at least 😕

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      6. Indeed. I don’t have to worry about new stuff anyway. I think we’ve come across the only situation in which no more new stuff is actually a good thing!

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    1. Thank you, mate! That’s very kind of you to say. Next time I’ll hope you’ll say that about elf or dwarf or something even more exciting than a bookshelf 🙂

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