Cozmo's Games & Stuff

So I figured I'd do another documentation of how I do my models...this time, with a sprue to finish 5 man Space Marine squad.

so we start off with raw sprues.

first off, I cut off the bits I need, starting with legs and bases




After cleaning the mold lines and mounting to the temporary painting bases




next up, bodies




Assembled and cleaned




Mounted to the legs




heads on next



then arms/weapons



Jump-pack bits




Cleaned and assembled



and that's it for day 1....the marines will be painted as you see them, jump packs will be painted seperatly, shoulder pads will be added/painted after the rest of the mini is complete.
next up, touch ups and fixes, and primer

 Cabinet's and stuff....

Originally I was going to pickup a Gauntlet cab and modify it for my needs...

 

 but opted against that, instead preferring to have my own, semi custom design

Still torn/working on a cab design...right off the bat, I loved the look of the UA II cabs, but I recently found another design, that I'm liking the "angular" look of.

a fair bit more work will have to be put to that yet, to finalize a design

Artist (my very talented cousin) has been commissioned to do up all the art needed (lots), no art to show you yet, but the theme will be primarily vector art / geometric abstracts/ Fractal / Space ish.  His idea is to incorporate some of the cosmic and abstract elements into a scene with some generic illustration, like a Space Viking or Space Wench Pirate.  I have no tie or great love to any one system or game, so generic it will need to be.  One element that will be recurring, though not always a prominent feature, will be my game group's logo

Well...in all my surfing I discovered something that i just had to have...I spent months researching and trying to figure out the best way to do it......Yesterday i finally decided to jump in with both feet....

* name yet to be determined 

So...been following some "build your own" type sites and some others for a while...Decided today, it's time to get this ball rolling.

and so, it begins....my foray, into a PC based, emulation based, game cabinet.




some quick back history, games from "back in the day" like pac man, asteroids, dragons lair ect. are available online, however, to play them you need special software that "emulates" the game's native environment, on your PC, these are called emulators. duh...emulators exist for almost all game systems...ranging from the old PONG systems, to the Atari 2600's and all the way up to PS2's...all of these games/emulators can be loaded on a PC, with the right software to run it all, you can play all your old time favorites.  With the right equipment, since it's a PC based system, you can also play any PC games you wish....so in essence, what you end up with is the ultimate game system, with hundreds or even thousands of games at your fingertips.

Of course a fair amount of work is involved, in getting the proper equipment, construction, setup of hardware,software ect.   you can buy "premade" systems, but they cost a fair bit, and just like a pre-built PC, you can never get exactly what you want....so....I've decided to build my own.


First purchase, made today.... NEC XM29 Plus...I'd been looking for one of these for a while, most "arcade" type monitors, are built for much lower resolutions, down to 320 X 240, then a standard computer monitor...this works great for the arcade games, but is brutal for using as a PC desktop, and it's not often that they will do even a minimum of 640X480...so when using a pc based system, this presents an issue.  Additionally, arcade monitors are typically 4:3 CRT's (the big old TV tubes, that you can't even buy anymore)  Some people just use a LCD computer monitor, but the issues there are you either limit yourself, to a 20 inch 4:3 screen (they don't make LCD's in this ratio any larger then that) or they use a larger "wide-screen" LCD, with the issue being, huge black bars on either side of your arcade games, and a much wider cabinet needed.  Some people use old TV's, but these present their own issues, with connections, and resolution ect.  Some people limit themselves to just the arcade classics, so a low to medium res arcade monitor works for them.  I of course have to "have it all" so the search was on....something that would look good, an arcade authentic "tube" screen, support low res all the way to high rez, PC input, large-ish size, 4:3 ect ect ect.....I found a few models that fit the bill, but they were very rare, most having been produced in the late 90's, none currently produced, and very expensive ($5k + just for the screen), so I was being faced with a compromise...and was getting to the point of dropping the tube idea, and just going with a wide-screen LCD as it seemed the next best solution, to my "have it all" gaming desire...then I stumbled across an online sale...for one of the exact high dollar models I was after, and after reading the online manual I was surprised to find out it'll go all the way up to 1280X1024 (I'd thought 1024X768 was the max, not super high res like I run on my real PC gaming rig, but still decent enough to let me play any game more then 2 years old)   a Gov't clearance center was selling NIB (new in box), exactly what I wanted, $149+ shipping.....can't go wrong! Will post pics when she gets here.

next up (purchase wise) is some light-guns (to be modified with AimTrak's new light gun tracking system)  this will allow me/us to play shooter games, where you shoot the target, on the screen.
 and some interim control panel hardware.  Going to buy some cheapo buttons and joysticks, for the sole purpose of panel mock ups...I've created and printed out about 100 sheets of different mock ups, to get an idea of what I like, so I've narrowed it down, but I think it needs to built in real life to make sure.  Pressing fake buttons, and grasping fake joystick handles, on  paper layouts can only take you so far with the ergonomics.  If I'm going to put this much effort in, I want it to be perfect!!  so far I think this will be the base layout, for the player 1 and 2 positions, Joystick is represented by the lone smaller circle on the left, the other 8 are actual buttons

Model's 5-6-7 done!  IMO each one is a home run!!

4th model done in the crew....loving how these are coming out!

Some Malifaux Mini's painted....on DragonForge Bases

Part of a Outcast Mercenaries warband....

So, for the better part of 1/2 a year, I've been "researching" a new Mother-ship system....Starting back in the AT/XT series of Intel systems, I've always built my own...price to performance was always superior, I could never find "exactly" the configuration I wanted in pre-built systems, unless I went with $10K monsters that came with tons of stuff I'd never need/use. I was heading down that same path this time...researching...find the best components, at the best price etc.....I had it all mapped out, and figured out.....then on a whim, I investigated some "pre-built" options.....and wow.....for what I was after, the price was competitive....I could configure to my hearts content, and get exactly what I was after....hrmmm...conundrum....I was very impressed, a number of years ago when I purchased a laptop for work use, at the quality of the product, and level of support I got throughout the ownership experience, but I'd always wondered if the desktop/high end experience would be the same?  Then along came a deal.....making pricing, better then what I could achieve building it myself....and still I waffled.....then, as if fate needed me to have this system, I came in to not one, but two, stacking discount codes....for crying out loud....twist my arm off already.....and so it was done...with but one compromise....total number of HD's is lower then I'd envisioned, capped out at 4.

well...it's been a while....

New contract panned out, but sadly it took me away from hobbies and games for a bit.....I finally get things sorted, just in time for the non stop Xmas obligations...

but here's a little side project I'd been working on, in conjunction with Fat Dragon Games

in short it's a mapping program for games...I of course have other systems mapped out for my own use, but FDG has been most interested in providing this to their community

TileMapper

Only minutes before Rockbottom was sure they would have their prize. X marks the spot and that spot was right over there. Then they spotted the Skorne, and hell broke loose.
Greg wins the setup roll and decides to go first
Greg sets up Mordikaar and his beasts on one side of the map while the Preatorian Swardsmen assemble in ranks on the other side.
Kyle sets up all his models in a loose semi organized bunch somewhat centrally on the table.
There is no Advanced Deployment.
The Sea dogs raced forward howling and cursing,  faintly aware of Rockbottom’s frantic calls to ‘Slow down’ and ‘Wait for us’. The Sea Dogs did slow down more likely from the hulking Skorne beasts and soldiers flanking on the left.
Mordikaar 1:
Mordikaar and his beasts advance while the swordsmen run to the top of the hill.
Durgen 1:
Everything runs forward. The pirates are careful not to get too far ahead of the slower Dwarves.
The looming presence of the Gladiator sobers up the Sea Dogs somewhat. Comments such as ‘I’m not paid enough for this’ and ‘ That armours too strong for pistols’ along with ‘Do we have a health plan?’ are muttered amoung them.
Rockbottom shakes his coin pouch. The pirates nod their heads at the sound of tinkling money.
Durgen, however, thinks the pirates could use a little something else to get them fired up he he. The Rockram fires it’s cannon fallingat short of an approackhing Cyclops. Smiling with glee Madhammer remarks ‘It’s not to far for me little buddy!’ as he fires a case cracker shell into the armoured beast.
Mordikaar 2:
The Titan Gladiator runs up while Mordikaar and the two Cyclops advance more cauciously. The swordsmen, content on the hill, stay put.
Durgen 2:
Two focus points are given to the Rockram. The Sea Dogs run forward while Rockbottom pays the Sea Dogs and tells them to ‘Walk it off’. Durgen advances and casts ‘Primed’ on the Sea Dogs. Durgen then attacks and damages one Cyclops with ‘Case Cracker’ attack. The Rockram advances and shoots at the same Cyclops as Durgen but is out of range. Thor advances up beside the Rockram.
Realization that the prize has already been taken fires up the Sea Dogs. Pistols blaring, swords swinging, they charge the mighty Titan. From bullets and blades and the steel-like fists and booze fueled rage of Bloody Bradigan the mightty Titan falls.
The Savage Cyclops fares better. Glimpses of the future allow him to avoid the most serious of blows parrying both the Rockram’s attacks and Durgen’s mighty hammer.
Mordikaar 3:
Mordikaar advances, heals the Cyclops for one point of Spirit and casts ‘Void Walker’ on the same Cyclops. Then he discards two fury. The Cyclops charges the Rockram slightly scratching it. He buys a second attack on Thor and takes him out. The Titan Gladiator charges Bloody Bradigan and the Sea Dogs but is too far and fails the charge. The second Cyclops repostions himself between Mordikar and the Sea Dogs, blocking charge lanes. The Swordsman charge the Sea Dogs, taking out a couple. They fail their tough rolls and blow up, taking out the Swordsmen.

Officially the game has ended in victory for Greg and Mordikaar. We do continue playing the game for fun.
Durgen 3:
Upkeep ‘Primed’ on the Sea Dogs. Allocate two focus to the Rockram. Rockbottom pays of the Sea Dogs with ‘Walk it off’ and ‘Pay Day’. The Sea Dogs charge the Gladiator doing marginal damage. Bloody Bradigan charges the Gladiator doing awesome damage, taking it out. The Rockram attacks and damages the Cyclops. Madhammer advances and attacks the Cyclops but fails to finish it off.
Waves of destructive energy shoot from Mordikaars fingers knocking sea dogs aside and tossing them through the air.
The Cyclops, spurred on by Mordikaars will hacks through the Rockram’s thick armour, sheering through pistons and hose. Momentarily catching his weapon in the wreckage the Cyclops is unable to defend himself as Madhammer shatters its bones and smashes its armour with a mighty swing of his hammer.
Mordikaar 4:
Mordikaar shoots the Sea Dogs with ‘Death Blast’ takeing out three of them. They pass their command check for massive casualties. He then casts ‘Spirit in Amber’ , heals the Cyclops and discards one fury. The Cyclops attacks the Rockram takeing off it’s left arm(the arm with the big hammer). The second Cyclops charges bloody Bradigan, doing six points of damage. One Preatorian Swordsman charges and takes out one Sea Dog, blowing up in the process. The rest of the Swordsman run.
Durgen 4:
Durgen lets Primed drop. Rockbottom gives the Sea Dogs ‘Pay Day’. The two remaining Sea Dogs charge the Cyclops attacking Bradigan and do a combined total of three damage. Bradigan fallows up with another two awesome damage rolls on the Cyclops takeing it out. Durgen attacks and takes out the remaining Cyclops.
Bruised and worn the remaining sea dogs are no match for the Preatorians while Bradigan falls into unconscious stupor from Mordikaar’s energy rays.
Rockbottom draws his fire beltcher. WHOOOSH gouts of flame spill out engulfing the Pretorians. Seeing this Madhammer grins. ‘A fine job ya done’ he shouts. Licking his finger he tests the wind. Range is good; Madhammer lobs a hail of explosive shells at the Skorne Warlock.
Mordikaar 5:
The Preatorian Swordsman charge the remaining Sea Dogs in the back taking both of them out. Mordikaar casts ‘Spirit in Amber’ to bring back a Swordsman and then ‘Essence Blast’ to shoot Durgen causing six damage. Mordikaar then takes out Bradigan with ‘Death Blast’ and then moves away.
Durgen 5:
Rockbottom shoots two Swordsmen, taking them both out. Durgen moves towards the remaining Swordsman and casts ‘Ground Zero’ but is out of range. Durgen then shoots Mordikaar for ten damage with ‘Carpet Bomb’. The Rockram advances.
With his last beast down Mordikaar has little options. He calls back a Skorne spirit only to blast him back to the void rendering Rockbottom useless and pitting Durgen’s armour.
Seeing Mordikaar’s weakness Durgen cackles with glee. Left foot right foot left foot right foot he charges, raises his hammer and his face shield falls. I ment to get that fixed, he thinks as now blind he swings savagely mising once and then BOOM connecting with such force he annihilates.. something. Breathing heavily he lifts his shield.
Mordikaar is nowhere to be seen. Meh, I must have smashed him into a million pieces, thinks Durgen. And with that Durgen turns back to find Rockbottom.
Mordikaar 6:
The last Swordsman runs around Rockbottum. Mordikaar advances and casts ‘Spirit in Amber’ and ‘Essence Blast’ on the new Swordsman takeing out Rockbottum and dealing four damage to Durgen. Mordikaar shoots and misses with ‘Death Blast’.
Durgen 6:

Durgen charges and misses. Durgen takes another attack and hits. Boosting damage for good measure rolls the ‘Number of the Beast’, taking out Mordikaar.
Rockbottom stands, rubs his head and shakes the dirt from his coat. He surveys the battle field. Smoking craters litter the ground. Sea dogs everywhere grumble and moan. Bones are broken, clothing is torn. The air is thick with greasy black smoke burning the nostrils. Jack pieces lay scattered, carnage and mayhem everywhere. All the while the Skorne make off with the prize. This was a bad day.

Madhammer joins his side. He surveys the battle field. Smoking craters litter the ground. Sea dogs everywhere grumble and moan. Bones are broken, clothing is torn. The air is thick with greasy black smoke burning the nostrils. Jack pieces lay scattered, carnage and mayhem everywhere. He grins. This was a good day.