JP on Minis

Daleks! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE

2011-09-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

In case you did not know, I am putting together another Doctor Who RPG. I won a few Daleks on Ebay and painted them up. I chose the black and gold motif, for the early Daleks. These Daleks are for me, and not commissions.

I really like how they came out. Enjoy

EXTERMINATE!

More Commissions for August 2011

2011-08-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have a few more pictures of commissions I've done. Those were for my good friend Jeff Peters. I am particularly fond of the metal on those minis. It took like 4 or 5 different color, but it look very beat up and almost rusted. I really like the way it came out. Plus, this is the first time that I painted large numbers of big monsters all in one go and made for a unique experience.

Commissions for August 2011

2011-08-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I've posted anything... I've been busy doing a number of painting projects. Here are my latest work.

Commissions for July 2011

2011-07-13T11:22:00.001-07:00

Been a while since I posted here but I've been a busy bee. I have a done a number of paint jobs for my good friend Jeff Kokx of Enchanted Grounds. Jeff wanted to surprise his wife with a couple of nice paint jobs.

The pictures aren't great (the plaid are hard to see), but they should give you a good idea of the minis.

This character is called Luna, gnomish bard in the Pathfinder Society campaign. She is inspired by the purple-haired girl in Kick-Ass. I'll admit I haven't seen the movie, but Google Images gave me the look. I added the Rune of the Open Road on her shield.

This character is called Selah, a Varisian oracle of life in his Kingmaker campaign.

This character is called Nocci, a monk on his Rise of the Runelords campaign. This one has a lot of color layers, mostly subdued but the finish is very nice. The white hair - something I rarely like to do because white hair is hard to nail - turned out very nice... Very layered: light gray, then magic dip, then a series of dry-brushing with various thickness of white. Came out real nice.

Finally, the weasel... Well... It was simple and looks pretty good.

Thanks to Jeff and Heather for the pictures.

Warmachine: First Game with Rhulic (dwarves)

2011-06-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, I set up a play date with local game celebrity Dale Kunz so he could teach me to play Warmachine. From previous posts, you know that I have been gradually amassing my collection of Rhulic Dwarves. With a small but growing collection, I contacted Dale (who kindly offered) to teach me the game.

So after his Warhammer Fantasy game, we threw down for a quick intro. What could be more classic than elves versus dwarves!

Ever the geek, I searched the internet for tactics on the army. It didn't look good. The small warjacks (which Dale kept referring to as gunbunnies) had a very bad rap. Same for my driller. My infantry did get some praise. At least.

After the quick demo, we then settled for a second game today (Sunday). For Sunday's game, we would use more than we did in the previous one. Now there would be infantry. In short, I would put everything I had on the table. A staggering 24 points (actually 31, but Gurten has a +7 modifier, so 24).

For those who are not used to Warmachine, every player has a mage, called a warcaster, killing the other warcaster is the goal of the game. Warcasters are tough and harder to kill then other units. Another element that really makes Warmachine stand out is the inclusion of warjacks. These warjacks are large constructs that you have to handle. There are a lot of combinations and although those minis are very cool, one can make an army without any warjacks at all! That did surprise me a little, but I like options.

The game is very... very fast and brutal! I did not expect that much to be honest. In one charge, he destroyed almost all of my infantry, pretty much nullified my driller and laid a major smackdown on my caster. Then with the four grundback gunners (gunbunnies) turned on his caster and shot him to bits.

Post-game talks, I had to admit that I was certain he had my a$$ wrapped, sealed and cooked on a nice plate. Then a lucky move and shoot and bang - pun intended - he was blown away. His caster biting the dust.

Dale is a great teacher and his insight was very pertinent. I strongly recommend any newbie to set up a game with him. I do not consider myself to be any good at the game yet, but enough that I can offer myself as a target to other players to beat up. Hopefully get better.

Thanks Dale.

Edit: Corrected Dale's last name to Kunz.

Old Commission

2011-06-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

This is a mini I did for my friend Homer sometime in 2009. This is his Pathfinder society character, the pawnbroker (and capitalist venture specialist and cleric of Abadar) Zebulon Byalot. As an added bit of fun, I made a banner for him too!

Doctor Minis Done

2011-05-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I have been bitten by the Who bug. Through Ebay, I was able to find some Classic Doctor Who miniatures. A little time later, I now have two Doctors (Hartnell and Troughton, the first two doctors).

Along with the Doctor, I got a miniature of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, a character who was heavily featured in the early 70s, and a character I really took a liking to.

Someone pointed out to me that the actors for all of those characters have gone through their next regeneration...

Happy day in Taldor

2011-05-26T07:50:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, the Theocrat my fellow Venture Captain from Las Vegas - whose soul belongs to Taldor - painted some very nice miniatures. Looking at his work, an idea formed in my mind about a great moment in Golarion's history.

So I set off first composing the vignette then painting it. And thus I present to you the most interesting moment in Taldor's long and rich history, "Happy Day in Taldor" shows the surrender of Taldor to the Satrap of Qadira.

Dreaming of becoming a writer...

2011-05-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Almost a year and a half ago, I wrote an article for Wargames Foundry and blogged about it. Somehow, the article seems to have been lost in the ether and I had lost hope in becoming a published war games author (much to my chagrin I must add).

Fast forward to this morning... To my great surprise and happiness, I have a message from Wargames Foundry asking me about the article. It lightened my day! Maybe my dream can be realized! I'll let you all know as soon as I have information to share.

[Warmachine] Rhulic minis painted

2011-05-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

As I was building my NeoExodus collection, I traded a number of minis and ended up with the core of a Rhulic (dwarven) army. So I Ebay'd and got a few more. Painted them up, and here they are! Never having played the game, all I can say is that I really love the aesthetics of the army. Plus I never played a dwarf army before. Here are the first units of my nascent Rhulic army! There is a warcaster and some heavy infantry.

You can see more pictures of those minis (and those) on my Wonderpage

Commissions done: Pathfinder Characters

2011-05-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

In spite being doped out of my mind (with gout in my right foot), I managed through coffee and a few of a prayer to complete a number of painting projects that had been laying on my painting table. Most had been "nearly done" for a few weeks now, missing either flocking or a few final touches. So... without further ado, pics of my latest commission work.

You can see more pictures of those minis (and those) on my Wonderpage

Tomorrow, I should have a few more ready to go!

More Commissions to come!

2011-05-16T21:05:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update... I have a received a number of commission to do this month. I currently have a base coat on all those minis and will be magic-dipping them either tonight or tomorrow...

The first is Kevin French's future halfling wizard. To say that Kevin and I have a long history is a euphemism. From almost coming to blows to spending 15 hours in a car ride from Denver to Wisconsin, many miles and hours have turned us into good friends.

Next is a Shalelu the elf ranger from the Pathfinder range for Alyssa. I am always amazed at the ease with which the Pathfinder range paints up. The lines are crisp, clean and just paint up so easily. I was asked quite simple to make her blonde, and to "surprise" her. Sounds much easier. though I think what I have thought she will like.

Next is a warrior based off of Rovag the Knight. The request for the paint was "red armor with gold trim". So I immediately thought about the warriors of Khorne in Warhammer. The question that remains is "what red to use"? GW's Blood Red would be too flashy, Red Gore is a tad deeper but still he is not a warrior of Khorne, so I went for the darker Scab Red which I enjoy quite a lot as it gives a rich color and a more "natural" red for clothes (unless you are painting red coats or piping, I prefer a darker red). That one was set. Excellent.

My final commission, was perhaps the most complex. Based on the half-elf rogue. My client had some specific requirements. Nothing over the top (black cloak, white fur brown gloves and boots). The toughest thing is to paint last areas of black. For some unknown reason, I have a strong aversion to painting black on large surfaces (such as a cloak), so I'm planning on cheating and come up with a dark blue color... Blue is nicer and creates a much richer color than black.

The last mini I am working on it not a commission. Rather it is the first iconic for NeoExodus, a female P'Tan based on Reapers' cat girl.

So here is a quick update and preview of what I'm working on.
JP

Painted Warmachines

2011-04-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

As I have been working on NeoExodus, I have bought a few minis from Privateer Press' WarMachines/Hordes range. Here is the first series of minis I have painted. Simple scheme, but I think it works.

Painted Samurai !

2011-04-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

More painting pictures! I have finished a few more samurai and here they are. Since painting them, I really want to play one or create a small samurai skirmish game. Of the minis below, two are from Clan War (the one with the tetsubo and the green dual wielder), the others are Reaper's Classic Samurai.

Pathfinder Goblins Painted!

2011-04-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

Okay so it’s been quite some time since I posted some pictures. But the long wait has ended. I finally not only put the last touches on the goblins, but I managed to take pictures too!

Painting Update March 28 2011

2011-03-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

I spent my Saturday at Gamers' Haven playing Warhammer Ancients, then Legends of the Old West, and finally I sat to watch a game of Ambush Alley. Two millenia of history in one day!

Sunday I did work on my painting. I managed to finish all eight of my Pathfinder goblins, minus the base (which I generally do when I have 10-20 minis and do a batch at a time). So I embarked on my samurai. I was in a bind, because although I expect those miniatures to be used in mostly fantasy setting, I planned to make them look as historical as possible. This meant research.

Research is a part I really like because I constantly learn a number of (mostly useless) facts. In this case, I spent a few hours browsing the web and going through old Osprey book and illustrations. After refreshing my memory on the exploits of samurai greats like Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, I came up with a few design and notes on how I would paint my five samurai.

The first thing is that base warriors, tended to have a more uniform look while Samurai commanders and leaders wore wildly colorful outfits. This served many purpose, but mostly it allowed them to be recognizable from afar. Another element is that it allowed them to display wealth. I see my samurai characters as "adventurers" so they would not be of the more uniform type. Each would have to be unique.

Next came the choice: what color to paint them? Samurai wore a variety of color, although a dark, lacquered red (close to GW's Scab Red) color seemed to be quite common. Black, gold, yellow and white were also common. That's a pretty narrow palette... However, one I can handle and make something nice with. To supplement and add extra color to the models, I took extra inspiration from Legend of the Five Rings, which has also produced awesome samurai art. Not historical, but it would work.

An hour later, I had my hand covered with black, red, green and white. But my samurai were on the way (at least two of them).

That's today's update folks!

On the painting table

2011-03-25T12:48:00.001-07:00

As I am waiting for my Warmachine and Doctor Who minis to come in, I have begun to work on a few miniatures I've been meaning to do for a while now. Among those, I have Crocodile Games' Goblin pyros, Reaper's Pathfinder Goblins, but also a few characters, which I hope to sell. These PCs include 5 Samurai (three from Reaper's Classic Samurai set and two remnants of my Clan War set), two pirate ladies and two spell casters.

I will be posting pictures here when done.

As of last night, the goblins received a first coat of paint and were dipped. Now I have to go over them a second time to add accent, put on finishing touches like eyes and other details. Should be good fun to complete!

The characters have some paint... mostly skin. I modeled some sashimonos on the Samurais just because... well sashimonos are cool!

I'll post some pics once the minis are dry and done.

More Commissions

2011-02-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

At the last PFS in CoS, a newcomer Steve asked me to paint a mini for his barbarian. He asked for a blue and yellow theme. I like the end result.

I have been painting this Alain the Iconic Cavalier. This miniature will be used for my own character, Alexite von Crispin-Thrune. Alexite is a Bard/ Rogue/ Cavalier/ future HellKnight.

Commissions February 2011

2011-02-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

Here I painted two miniatures for Pathfinder Role-playing. The pictures - as usual - do not do the miniatures justice.

The first one is a Taldan Oracle of bones fighting with wands. I painted this one for my good friend Kerney.

And this one I painted for my own character, a gunslinger for Paizo's playtest of Ultimate Combat. I will have play test credit for my participation at Neoncon.

DND Minis are gone

2011-01-13T12:49:00.001-08:00

I‘m sure you know by now, but the D&D minis line has been officially discontinued by WotC.

To me, that won’t change anything. I have not bought a single pack of D&D minis (since 2003), all those I owned came from either prize packs or friends giving me stuff. I paint my own minis something I really enjoy doing. So the plastic pre-painted minis were not for me. I knew many friends who really enjoyed them and used them, and frankly it made the game more attractive… Colorful minis look nicer than a dice, a coin, a jelly bean or a Hello Kitty key chain. Don’t laugh, I saw it.

After many, many rather unsuccessful attempts at bringing miniatures to market for D&D, Ral Partha, Chainmail, and other partnership never seemed to work for them. Whereas other companies, such as Reaper Minis, made some very nice minis, they were not being official D&D miniatures. In 2003 they found a format that worked, and it took off like a cannon. The first collectible sets offered both monsters and PCs. The fact that they were collectible – with hidden content added to their attraction. I remember days when we would hold LG weekends at Valhalla's and they would sell out of any minis they had as people bought them by the dozen.

I didn’t buy them, but liked the fact that others did. GMs now had entire collections of representative miniatures. It kept my hobby going and local hobby store owners fed. Somehow I managed to get a few minis myself, through a series of events. I still own most of the dragons I had. Their dragons were well-sculpted and awesome. (See this post on dragons for more thoughts I have about them). The fact that I did not care for the 4e green dragon doesn’t change the fact that I still own one.

When 4e came out, they announced the end of the D&D minis tournament format. Again, I didn’t really care because I didn’t participate in it. Then they canned the format of minis they had. WHAT A MISTAKE! I thought. They re-formatted the line to offer PC boxes (3PC / box) and monster boxes (8 monster / box). While I am not privy to the exact number, I am pretty sure that the numbers were nowhere what they been a few months before.

Why?

As a player, I could look at the box of minis (because they’re of clear plastic) and buy only the box that has the character that fits me best. I don’t have to buy any monster, and even have 2 spare characters I can either trade or make new characters with. Similar to the Reaper model, but with minis with terrible paint jobs… Why would I buy that, when I can buy more minis from the Heroscape set for about the same amount…

Now that I’ve ranted about this…

If there is one thing that WotC has taught me is not to underestimate them. They are the kings of the gimmick and if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. I fully expect them to come up with some new mini deal/ scheme. Anything they can sell with the brand, they do.

Perhaps they are planning on doing something like Paizo did with their iconic characters: license them to a minis company. Wouldn’t be a bad idea... Perhaps even link further with Heroscape? It would make D&D minis available in Wal-Marts and other such big stores. Give the brand more exposure.

Perhaps come up with a new D&D cartoon deal and sell toys based on the cartoon. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as the cartoon from the 1980s, but you never know. It might definitely be a way to re-brand D&D to another generation. With the popularity of The Clone Wars, Fox’s Animation Domination (The Simpsons and Family Guy), South Park and Adult Swim on Cartoon Network… There might be something there.

I will wait and see. Lucky for me, I have all the minis I need… until I go to my FLGS and buy more…

Commissions

2010-11-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

Over the past two months, I have been doing a number of commission work for friends.

October Works

This was made for Sarah who gave me the miniature as a challenge.

November Works

This was made for Collin to use as his shadow companion.

This was made for Kenton to use as his sorceress cohort.

Blood Bowl on the PC

2010-11-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

It was early in the 90s when I bought a second hand copy of Blood Bowl from Le Valet d’Coeur in Montreal. I paid 5 or 10$ for it, but the box had everything I needed, including additional minis. It’s been more than 15 years and I still love the game. I was very excited when I hear there was a European company that created an on-line version of the game. My major concern was that, like many of Games Workshop’s computer version of their game was that they would be similar to the game, but still very different, much like the previous Blood Bowl game (which I still own).

So I spent some time wondering about whether I should get it. And I finally did.

The reason I wrote this post is because I saw the game for sale at my local Walmart. I felt all giddy just seeing it there. It is a GREAT game. Though I am not familiar with the latest version of the game (but I was proficient enough to catch on), it’s still the Blood Bowl I fell in love. You can easily play against the computer just like you would on a table-top, which was my main concern. The graphics are fine, the game is fast enough. Some teams are very challenging to defend against.

I won’t go over all the features of the game (I haven’t tried the Real-Time Version). But it’s really great. I have been playing my Orkland Rayderz in a number of competitions and my Passing offense is still ranked at the top. I love playing Orks in Blood bowl. You can really build a team the way you like.

I have been thinking about painting up my Blood Bowl minis just because of that game.

If you don’t have it, RUN to get it! Seriously! There are Elves, Goblins, Humans and Dwarves waiting for you to maim them!

WAAAARGH!

Warhammer Historical is no more

2010-11-12T10:58:00.000-08:00

Yep, you heard me right. WH has been dissolved by Games Workshop as an entity. Late in 2009, they announced that the product line was going to be absorbed by Forgeworld. They got rid of all of WH’s personnel: Rob Broom in 2009 and his assistant earlier this year. This in itself was cause of concern, but at the time, WAB 2.0 was being promised "soon" so I assumed Forgeworld would take it over and make it great. However, having my WAB 1.0 books already, most of the supplements I wanted and few people to play with, I felt the impact of such news to be limited.

This leaves me with three questions. Does this mean the game stops producing content? Does this mean the end of Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB), my personal favorite ancient rules set? Is there a future for WAB at Forgeworld?

New Content

Seeing the silence of Forgeworld on any new WAB product, the lack of effort they put in to the brand or any products, the endless delays in releasing products. They seem to have alienated some of their top writers in Allen Curtis and Jeff Jonas by either not responding to them or simply delaying everything through slow response time.

Good thing is that the WAB online community is filled with the authors of the WAB supplements and a lot of good people. Shout out to the WABList Yahoogroup.

End of WAB?

I think GW (Forgeworld and GW are interchangeable term IMO) is killing the brand as a whole. It is stupid and makes very little sense to me, but then again who can really claim to understand GW’s reasoning? I tried and after a short trip at the asylum, I gave up and just went with the flow. Stupid is as stupid does, which pains me greatly to say because I have enjoyed GW products and games for over fifteen year by now.

They have a brand that is seen by many as quality and community-friendly, and they cut it out. Perhaps it is not making the same amount of money as their 40k or Fantasy lines, but I know of few people who hate the line. Many prefer other games, and that’s fine.

Future with Forgeworld?

Seeing how Forgeworld won’t sell through my local story (thus giving me easy access to the product), I see little future for the brand. It will die out. It may hold itself in the UK for a while, but I see its US market dying.

This one is short. Forgeworld taking over anything is like executing a death sentence. We won’t see anything new. We won’t see much support. The game is dead as far as GW is concerned.

Really the End???

If you were expecting anything new for WAB, then yes.

Oddly enough, this move comes at a time where WAB is more attractive than ever, with hard plastics are both plentiful AND affordable. Players who balked at the idea of spending hundreds to build an army may now do so at very low prices. 40$ gets you 60 hoplites! That’s like the core of a Greek Army!

What about Imperial Romans? 30$ gets you 50 of them! Call it 120$ and you have a highly versatile army. The versatility increases a thousand folds if you are willing to do a little conversion work. For the Classical period, call it 500BC to 500AD, one can model so many armies: from the legions of Rome, to Alexander’s phalanxes, to some strange hybrids like the Carthaginians, the Mithridatic war, the Jewish rebellion, the conquest of Gaul. So many choices!

Stupid is as stupid does, sir.

Halloween Delights

2010-10-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I went to Gamers' Haven here in Colorado Springs with my eldest daughter. During that time, she found a pumpkin monster in the Reaper Miniatures rack. Like most fathers, I'm a sucker for little girls' blue eyes. (I'm whipped)

Here is the monster, once painted.

Bargain bin treasures

2010-09-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Whenever I go to a hobby shop, I always look for the bargain bin. Many treasures lurk therein. Things I would not be willing to pay full price for, but also things I do not always look at on my regular peregrination through local (and not-so local) hobby shops.

Yesterday, I looked at the bargain bin at Bonnie Brae Hobbies in Englewood (south Denver). To my very pleasant surprise, I found a box of Zvevda’s Cursed Legion (Roman Skeletons). HALF-PRICE! I grabbed the box and did not let it go until it was purchased and out of sight of everyone!

A few years ago, I happened on a website that had them. The idea of sending any money to Russia was not very appealing and after looking for local sources, I gave up and the undead Romans were relegated to the back of my mind.

Now I have them… My legions will never be TRULY defeated!

New Wargaming Blog

2010-08-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

My name is JP Chapleau. I was born & raised in Montreal, Quebec (that's in Canada). In 1993, I entered Sherbrooke University (http://www.usherbrooke.ca/) where I graduated in Computer Engineering in 1998.

After that I began work and I have lived and worked in Japan (2 months), Paris France (1 year), Dublin Ireland (2.5 years), Quebec City (2 years) and now I have been in Colorado Springs, Colorado since 2005.

I live with my lovely wife, Julie, two daughters Josiane & Marie-Katherine ("Kitty") and son Jean-Patrick.

I am most known for my involvement in Role-Playing and Miniature gaming. My miniature gaming love affair really started in the mid-nineties when the Donjon Maisonneuve opened in Montreal. That game store was the first one to include gaming table and to host games there. For the first time I saw and admired painted armies, terrain and different games. I was hooked (but broke). Around 1996-97, I took the plunge and finally bought Warhammer 40,000. It’s a love affair that’s been going on since. In the years since I took part in a number of tournaments and competitions from Paris, France to Dublin, Ireland to Ft Morgan Colorado. I generally do okay.
These days, though I still enjoy the occasional 40k game, I much prefer playing ancients (with Warhammer Ancient Battles being my favorite ruleset).

This blog will include entries and rants about things I like, things I dislike and what I'm doing these days, but also the occasional historical article and reference to support my war gaming addiction.

I admit that this blog was started to allow me to focus on war gaming only and have my other blog JP on Gaming focus on my other love, table-top RPGs. Thus separating the two will allow you, the readers to focus on those articles you want to read.

Enjoy