Mage Knight: Board game Overview

I got Mage Knight the boardgame a while back. It's a game I think I don't have changes to play very often, but something just intriqued me enough to warrant a purchase for myself.
First edition of the game was also sold out very quickly, and from what I have read the second edition is also pretty much sold out now. (there are some shops that still have it in stock I am sure).
I have heard a rumor that a third printing of the game is due later this summer (july/august, but again, this is just a rumor, But it is definitely coming as it seems to be selling fast).

My copy of the game is of the second edition, although the editions seem to be pretty much identical.

Anyway, this is just an overview of the game and it's components:

Mage Knight -  Boardgame:

Game is being praised quite a lot lately on boardgamegeek. For those of you who haven't heard of it, it's a game where you take control of a powerful Mage Knight and explore the world. It has the basic RPG/adventure elements where you fight monsters and try to develop your character with better loot, spells etc before taking on the final challenges. It also includes some very interesting mechanics and has very little luck involved, so you have to rely on your decisions.

Game can be played cooperatively or competitive, and it can also be played as a solo game. (solo rules are included in the game).

Anyway, let's take a look at the components.

The box insert:

Fits pretty nicely. My only complaint about the insert is, that he cards are printed on a pretty thin stock so they need sleeves. And from the look of it sleeved cards are not going to fit on their place in the insert.

Mage Knights:

Miniatures are pre-painted, and the quality is what you see here. For a boardgame I think they are pretty nice out of the box. (I am tempted though to give them a wash or two and maybe some highlights.)

Game also comes with four miniature towers on Clix -bases. These towers represent cities that you can conquer in the game once you get powerful enough to take them on.

Tower:

Again, a drop of wash would show the details a bit better. These towers are on Clix-bases, the number showing the difficulty -level of the current city.

The cards, as I allready said are printed on a pretty thin cardstock so you might want to sleeve them. Artwork on the cards in my opinion is very nicely done.


Game is being played on hexacon tiles, which you place once you explore the land further. These tiles also have nice artwork, and they are of good quality and thick cardstock.

Map:

Game also comes with a lot of other stuff that I am not going to go on detail here, such as a bunch of tokens, custom dices, plastic crystals, etc. Everything in the box is of nice quality in my opinion, although nothing extraordinary.

All in all I am happy about my purchase components-wise, and I have a feeling I end up liking the game as these kinds of games usually interest me.
That being said I haven't actually played the game yet, so I can't give a deeper analysis just yet. If this is something you fancy, check out more about the game on boardgamegeek.com.


TabletopCop

Khador Gun Carriage

Wohoo it's finally finished!

Without further explanations, here it is:

It was fun to paint something bigger for a change. (Although the horses almost drove me nuts). It's pretty nice looking model and feels heavy once you pick it up.

I decided to paint it looking like it just came out of the factory, so I didn't put any battle damage on it. Only thing that I did was give it some dusting with black pigments, to simulate the guns residue getting everywhere.

Putting it all together once it was painted was a chore in itself. The carriage and horses are pinned with 8 pins to the base. One pin for every wheel and hoove that touches the ground. (and the horses are pinned to the carriage as well).

Spent so much time with this one that I think it's going to be included in most of my lists for a while. :p

Anyhow, fun model to paint and it definitely gives you some of that "centerpiece -model" feel.


TabletopCop

Picked up some Cygnar

Picked up some new stuff a while back after a long hiatus:

But the "big" thing is, that I yet again branched out to a new faction:

I just had to get the battlegroup as it was on sale. I am very tempted to get the Stormwall also as It's a great looking model.

I allready assembled the minis (minus the Ironclad), but I haven't started painting them yet. Have to decide what kind of bases I want to do to them first. :)

Stryker is a very nice sculpt, I am pretty impressed on Privateer Presses plastic minis.

Right now my mind is set to finish my gun carriage before I start anything new. It's pretty far along, I just need to do some basing and highlights etc.

A lot going on regarding the boardgames also, as I recently acguired some new stuff. More on those later in more detail.

Anyhow, still alive and kicking. Just been very busy lately. (Man I am so waiting for my vacation, still have to wait for two weeks though).


TabletopCop

Diablo 3 - Collectors edition

It arrived!

Don't think I will be able to paint any miniatures atleast in the next few days. :p

I got the CE -version of the game. It has a lot of cool stuff:

The skull is pretty small but nicely sculpted. The paintjob is done just by drybrushing, so I might end up putting some paint on this also. The soul-stone clicks nicely on its place with a magnet.

The other content:

I don't dare to look at the artbook or the behind the scenes as I am afraid of spoilers. The book is big, and as you can see it has a hard cover which is nice.

Started playing with a barbarian. Awesome game, go get it now! :)


TabletopCop aka Orsus the barbarian.
(Yes, in the spirit of the butcher of Khardov) :p

Harder & Steenbecks Infinity Solo -airbrush

A little spotlight on the airbrush that I am using to paint my miniatures.

About a year/year and a half ago I decided to get an airbrush. I read a lot of info on different airbrushes but eventually I got Harder & Steenbecks: Infinity Solo airbrush. (I first noticed it when Les from Awesomepaintjob.com used it in one of his videos).

It comes with incredibly small 0,15mm nozzle. You can paint very small areas with it which fits miniature-painting perfectly. Downsize in this ofcourse is that it chokes up rather easily, so you have to keep the concistency on the paint very thin. I have a few most used paints in different pots, but usually I just mix up my paints straight in the cup. Few drops of water and a drop of paint, and sometimes a drop of retarder to longen the drying-time.

I only have the 2ml paint cup for this, but it has been more than enough on my projects.

It's not the cheapest of airbrushes but you get what you pay for. So if you are looking for a A-grade airbrush I can whole heartedly recommend this one. (There are multiple A-grade airbrushes to choose from but this one is the only one I have personally used).

Pics of the airbrush:

Now a good quality airbrush ofcourse needs a steady stream of air to support it.
I paint inside my "computer room" -so I needed it to be as silent as possible and it had to be indoor-usable. Small size is also a plus so I can store it away. This ruled out the big ones with a tank.

Eventually I got a Sparmax -compressor which is made for airbrushing:

I didn't notice to put anything next to it to give a size comparison, but it is small. Since it doesn't have a tank it's always on when I paint, but it's pretty silent. It has a regulator for the airflow, and a moisture trap fitted out of the box which is nice. So far it has been working perfectly for my needs.


Airbrush is a great tool in miniature painting. It takes some practice but It's easy to set up and get going once you get the hang of it.

Thx for looking, and if you have any questions feel free to drop a comment. :)


TabletopCop

Small update on what's going on

Uh. Been very busy with the work lately so I haven't gotten anything finished. Therefore I apologize for the lack of pictures lately. :/

Two more days at work and then I have some more spare time to put some paint on. I have a few ongoing projects that I hope I can finish soon and post pictures.

On boardgames, I have something planned also. I placed and order on the much praised: Mage Knight, which from what I read allready sold out again. The first print run sold out in less than three weeks, and the second print apparently got preordered before it had a proper chance to get to shelves.
Surely though there are some retailers that bough a bunch of copies, so I am sure there are still many places left where you can order it.
Hopefully I get the game soon. When I do I'l take some pics also. I'm pretty sure I'l end up pimping the miniatures that come with the game. :)

Secondly, I finally got a word that my copy of Super Dungeon Explore -should be on it's way to me at the end of this month. I placed an order at the end of 2011. So it's a game that I have been waiting for a while now, and I can't wait to put some paint on those miniatures. (and play the game as well) :)

I also took part in the open beta of Diablo 3 a while back, and man was I hooked. I am now eagerly waiting for the 15.5 release.. I have a CE -edition of the game preordered and I plan on spending a few spare days with the game when it launches.

But for now I feel like my cat...

... so I am off to bed.

I'l keep you posted, thanks for looking!


TabletopCop

Dreadfleet

Phewh.. finally some progress on the Dreadfleet.

Got this game at launch. I have yet to play a single game, but I just had to have it because of the miniatures. I'm not going to play this with unpainted miniatures, so might take a while to eventually get that first game up. :)

Anyway first ship ready, the Heldenhammer:

I also allready started painting the Bloody Reaver. My objective is to paint the ships in the same order they appear in the campaign.
I try not to get too carried away with the details but still get some nice results.


What do you think of the game/miniatures in general? From what I've read it's a fun game if you don't take it too seriously. And the miniatures are awesome. :)


TabletopCop