Let's get ready to paint some #mecha

 I do love a good Locust sculpt, but I have a few more figures queued up for painting. 

Usually, I do a light color as the base, but you can see I used black on the Mechs in the back rank. I've never tried that before. The Battlemaster and the Commando will be dark green, with red and white details, along with a bit of silver and gunmetal. 

The jars of dice are my next laser project. I'll be cutting some 3 mm thick lids for them. The next generation will have laser-etched glass, but I need to buy a rotating stand for that. 

#MechaModay for September 2nd - The Archer and The Locust

 #MechaMonday is here and I am leading with my two favorite mechs - The Locust and The Archer. 

It's been years since I have painted and I started right in with camouflage. We'll see how that goes. I'll get better pictures up soon. 

The reason I like these two mechs is you can get a 2:1 movement ratio. Sure there are pairs of variants that do not have this ratio, but you have to look for them. You can start advancing with the Locust zig-zagging while the Archer lumbers along behind. 

Thanks to the variants, you can pretend to be something you aren't by moving slightly slower. This shouldn't work by the rules, but it sidesteps the rules by repetition. If they see you move 8" and 4" every round, they will assume that you will in the future. The rules don't assume for player assumptions.   

This creates many possible attack positions for the pair: 

• The Locust can move in lockstep with the Archer, forcing your opponent to pick between a sure kill on the closer Locust or trying to kill the distant Archer.  
• The Locust can dash through the enemy and end up at their rear or better, a flank. 
• The Archer can dash forward and end up slightly in front of the slowing Locust.  
• The feint is a good gambit, where the Locust moves to one side dragging the enemy around so the Archer can turn to face a different foe or objective.  

This combo is costly in terms of Locusts but you can wreck formations, cut off individual mechs or make fancy powerplays with low-end mechs. Personally, I like the satisfaction of getting the Archers in front of the Locusts because my opponent has to sweat the dice to kill an Archer while worrying about what the Locusts are really doing. Even if they aren't doing anything.  

The Archer Slide Show

The Locust Slide Show

You can pick up a copy of this game on DrivethruRPG, but if you hit up brick-and-mortar stores, you can get the physical copy with minis. 

(Ab)Using What You Got

I like to use random ideas. Generally, I hate spam but spam comments have caused some of my better writing to come to the forefront. In this week's version, "a better life with Spam", I'll post images of artwork based on Artificial Intelligence. 

This was a project I started a few months ago. I like the unicorn but needed to figure out where the rest of it was going. 

Queue up the spam suggesting Artificial Intelligence gets things done more efficiently. Since I was lost on this image, I didn't know how to proceed. I upload it to Deepart.io and the results are lovely. 

I've tried redoing this image in oil paint, but that seems wrong. I think I will try colored pencils, which isn't my favorite choice, but I think it could work. 

On a side note, I generally don't delete spam. Some of it is amusing, such as the guy at a consignment shop that tried to imply that his goods were magic items to tie into my 52 Weeks of Magic posts. Classic. 

Let me take a second to shout out Fat Goblin Games, 3dMakerworks.com, and Goblin Clan Miniatures. These 3d printed products came to my awareness via a spam link. They have suspended their affiliate program, but they are so nice, I can't help but suggest them for your table.  

Having said that, I have noticed an uptick with tech-themed spam which has been deleted. The problem with tech products and spam is they can do nasty stuff with your data. I will implement a policy of report and kill from here on out. If you have noticed missing comments, that is why. 

My apologies, but I can't host something dangerous. 

As always, if you have a product or website you want promoted, post a link in the comments or hit me up at Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, Dice.Camp or Mastodon. I am always looking for new stuff and content for my site, I would love to do a write up on you. 

Mash-up of a Master

I really love van Gogh. I did a couple of mashups of his work for an oil painting class.

Disney Cast Offs

I liked the idea of this painting, but lost interest. I will probably start over.

The last painting is oil paint, but with a knife instead of a brush. I really enjoyed the process despite not liking the results. 

That Horse Has Wacked Out Poo Brains, Part 2

More horse drawings and paintings. I find horses to be fascinating, but daunting as subject matter. The blue horse painting was done a Pinot's Pallet on our 15th anniversary. My wife also made a matching painting. There was no good classes that week, so I came up the the idea of incorporating a heart shape, a copy of a master and a horse. My wife had no idea what she was painting at the time.

Rough sketch for painting below.

Franz Marc style copy of a master.
Acrylic. 

The above painting as it was being worked.
I believe this is my wife's copy. 

A robo-horse from Robotech. 

That Horse Has Wacked Out Poo Brains, Part 1

I like drawing horses. I have collection of Equine themed artwork in a variety of media.

Horse Skull, chalk and charcoal

The waterhorse was for my wife, Kitty, before I gave her the nickname "Kitty". In the front leg of the first image, you can see where I was trying to work in a "J" and an "E". I was flummoxed as to how I would get an "N" in there, so I abandoned that plan.

Waterhorse - in progress. Sharpie .05

Waterhorse - complete. Sharpie .05

Waterhorse - Complete. Permanent Ink and Skin.
The tattoo artist was very good and there were only small changes. 

5 minute horse - completed, oil paint and post processing

Not Working Out

The first is my most recent, a landscape of downtown Buffalo.

Prior to the landscape, I attempted a sky-seascape with a castle in purples. I didn't care for it and painted over it.

Stary Night - Copy of a Master

Several years ago, I tried to copy Starry Night. It was fun, but the end results were lacking.