Happy Holidays - toys from Santa's workshop!

Just a brief update on the Dropzone Commander progress. Lots of holiday parties this year and lots of time with friends and family has cut down on my painting time but I still managed to get some progress.  Next time I'm going to have to kidnap some of Santa's elves and put 'em to work!

Check out a few pics here...

Let the games begin!!!

Oh right, I get to play a game with these guys...

Just a brief update this week. Last weekend I managed to get my first game in with my Dropzone Commander armies as Ian from "AndyG and Ian's miniatures game blog" and Klarg1 and I tried out the game and learned the basic rules.

I provided both armies as this was our first time out and I have the most painted figures.  We wanted to see the figures on the table, check out Hawk Wargames terrain box, and really see the rules in action.

For a look at the table and a review of the game and terrain, <<click here>>

Finding Inspiration

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." - Mark Twain

Applying the colours, using the various techniques, and finishing a model takes time, patience, and effort.  But that's the fun part of the creation process.

The hardest part in painting for me has always been just finding the right scheme.  It's in that "getting started" phase in which I spend the most time and have the most frustration. Test bed models, ruined paint schemes...I have buckets of figures with half done paint jobs, odd colours, and minor dents (from me tossing the poor things back into a box!).  The challenge of finding the right colours, the right base coats and highlights, and all the final details is the mountain I have to climb before finally sitting down in front of a painted figure and having the joy of accomplishment that comes after that last coat of varnish.

It's to that end that I want to explore the things I use for inspiration...
<read more>

Updates to Dropzone Commander and some new toys

The sound of the rain beats heavily on my window pane. The wind howls and the rumbling of my furnace kicks in.

The painting gods are saying "stay in Brian...your minis need you". Damn painting gods and their thrice cursed foretelling of winter...

(Translation: It was a cold and damp weekend and that means it was a perfect time to get some painting done.)

Read more>>

For the love of money...(My Firestorm Armada Directorate)

Behold my Directorate. The finest fleet that money can buy... literally.  For they are the Corporate Evil Overlords of the Firestorm Armada Universe.

This is my latest work in progress Firestorm Armada Fleet. 75% done but it's at least tabletop worthy (I hope...). Here is a shot of my tournament fleet.

For a look at my tournament list and tactics...click here>>

Week 6 - Painting the PHR for Dropzone Commander

Another week and a bit more progress. This time I'm focusing on the PHR the second faction I'm collecting for Dropzone Commander.

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The Post Human Republic are the ruthless hyper-intelligent members of those parts of humanity that fled before the coming of the Scourge.  Influenced by an alien device that came to warn the Earth of the invasion they are a shadowy enclave of women and men who have decided to rise above the influence of pure nature and enhance themselves with the power of the machine.

In battle they are a slow and steady, a relentless march of sophisticated walkers and cyber-enhanced infantry. A mix of cyborgs from Ghost in the Shell and the special Ops of Black Widow they are elite core of technophiles, a near perfect blending of man and machine.

They believe that they are the future of humanity - they are humankind, 2.0.
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Dropzone Commander - Week 5 Progress of my Scourge for Dropzone Commander

Here is quick review of my work in progress Drop Zone Commander Scourge army. This is my week 5 update on painting. The hope is to get a full army painted (1000 points to start) in 2 months. I've made decent progress but there's quite a bit to go.

Read more...

And so it begins...

Welcome to Magnetized to lead! My own personal slice of the web - an archive, a living document, and a testimony to how much one can love war games, miniatures, and all things tactical and tabletop related. For now this is a partially a placeholder, with the hope of creating a growing collection of ideas and musings on all things gaming related.

Things I hope to cover here:
(many of which will come in 2015...I hope)

Battle Reports! (with plans for video batreps as well)
Tabletop Wargame Reviews
Painting blogs and tutorials
General musings on the miniatures gaming universe

But before we get too far in...

A note on the name. For years now (some...30 and counting...) I have been an avid collector of miniatures. So much so, that over the years, my friends would tell me that I was a magnet for "lead" (the most common medium by which older miniatures were made). If I new and cool mini came out I would buy it first, then figure out a reason to have it later. I have a collection (someday I will list here) of figures spanning back to the mid 80s and all the way through a continuing and growing collection today.

I was 14 when I purchased my first 10mm historic army - Ancient Egyptians - and I haven't looked back since.

A general idea of the subject matter I will cover here - aka game systems I love and play, in no particular order as my favourite changes over time.

Star Fleet Battles
Dropzone Commander
Firestorm Armada
Babylon 5 Wars
Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Warhammer 40k (yeah, yeah, hammer GW all you want this still make damn fine minis!)
Robotech RPG Tactics (mostly because I love the art and style of Macross).

So I hope you'll check back here from time to time and hopefully I'll have enough progress to merit updating the site. I (hope) plan to do 1-2 updates a month unless massive progress tells me otherwise.

My first two series will be dedicated to my newest loves - Firestorm Armada and Dropzone Commander.

Here is a preview of my latest project:

TREMBLE BEFORE THE SCOURGE!!!

This is my week 5 update on painting a new army for DZC. For a look at the progress I've made to date, click <here>.