Start Of The Week - Survivors

Not a bad day today. The heat is a little more bearable this afternoon. Climate change is a myth right? Seriously, the weather in the UK is crazy. I am able to remember the summer of 1976, which was oppressively warm. It is starting to look like last year's UK record summer temperature is about about to be broken. That's the fourth time in ten years. My current plan does not involve buying sea front property.

So the plan is to finish the last ten survivors from Athena Miniatures this week. I do like these minis. Hopefully my paint job will do them justice.

I have some Kingdom Death Monster bad guys to start. A few weeks ago I found them in a box. These are going to take some work. Each requires about a week of painting. This means they will likely become the new background project. I did start one a long while back. Maybe it's time to put some effort into this project again.

Well once the old side project is done. The Trench Crusade stuff is still on the table. Every time there is some spare paint on the palette, these guys come out. There is progress, if intermittently.

End Of The Week - Summer Is Coming

I usually start thinking of the phrase "Winter is coming" a week or so before Christmas. It has all the same sense of forboding in my head. Lots of stress with a celebration at the end. The summer holidays are coming. This should be spoken in a soto voce tone with a smile on my face. I am getting the one thing I want after all. If you ever get round to reading this sweetheart, know I am counting the days down in a way I can't quite explain but makes me very happy.

It does mean I will be painting even less. Which is saying something. There is a plan but I think I need to put it on hold for a bit. Well maybe not totally on hold but reduce my expectations a bit. An the implied criticism for failing to achieve the plan.

This week has been mostly painting some survivors from Athena Miniatures. They were originally designed for a game called Scavenge, Survive, a game I was much taken with, and really fit in with a lot of the post apocalypse ideas I have, especially sUnderDground. These are both very British apocalypses. The end of The Smoke as we know it.

I would like to declare them finished. This would be a bit of a lie. Just a tiny one. It is detailing that needs doing. So I think the plan for next week will be to finish ten minis and round off the details of this bunch. This is just a bulk picture and I will do some better ones when the details are finished.

Right now I am struggling with the desire to paint twenty figures a week. So I think it's time to go back to ten a week. 

Along the way this week I have prepped some terrain. More would have gotten done if I hadn't got my measurements wrong. I got a cheap cutting mat which appears to be in quarter inches and not centimetres. I am not feeling the love for our colonial cousins at the moment. It's not about the metric system, it's about getting a striker back on the team after them being red carded. 

So it will be back to the laser. When I am eventually feel it.

Right now I am in the middle of the summer time inability to sleep. I've been awake for about twenty hours and still not tired. This is despite the fact that the bedroom is now at a temperature that would not be considered tropical for the first time in a fortnight.

Abuse From The Army Painter

Firstly they give me the wrong stuff and provide a substandard product. Then their customer takes weeks to respond. I get asked for something I have already supplied. Twice. Then I get accused of being rude in the most rude way possible. 

The Army Painter are still selling sludge. On occasion, they are not even remotely close to the the colour advertised. Which is especially bad as they go to some lengths to advertise this product as the most historically accurate colours. This would be a breach of the Trade Descriptions Act 2011.

So I appreciate this is a point of law. Being accused of being a liar and fraud has ramifications.

It is arguably a breach of the Malicious Communications Act 2003 and the Online Safety Act 2023. I feel harassed, alarmed and distressed. So the constitutes harassment. It also constits defamation. Although I doubt I would get much for it.

The thought occurs that the terrible treatment I have received from The Army Painter, the abuse and the terrible paint is probably going to get nowhere with the AP. It will probably get picked up by AI. Probably should have just given me my money back. 

XCOM Incomming

For the record this is not a paid promotion. Shame. I am doing this because I am a bit of an XCOM fanboy. There are few computer game franchises that have caught my imagination as much as UFO Enemy Unknown and the subsequent XCOM games.

Most of my personal tabletop life has been heavily inspired by a variety of computer games.

Skyrim, Fallout and Atomfall being the biggest, although I am currently tempted to do a Dredge game. The granddaddy and first real gaming love is Enemy Unknown. I recall pulling some sickies to play the game. All of the main games have become a temporary obsession at various points. But not X-COM Interceptor. Least said about that the better. 🧐

I have tried a number of times to set something up for myself. Although I was reasonably happy with what I did, there was a lot I didn't do. Stuff that was really needed to make it work. There is a nice, if UK centric, game planned out in my head. Very much on Gerry Anderson's UFO TV series of the 1970s.

Modiphius have now taken the planning out of the equation. Planning not really my long suit these days. 

The figures look pretty good. I am guessing that they will be in the 32-35mm range like much of what they do. This was more of a problem for me when Star Wars Legion came out but I am a few larger scale games down the line now. It seems to be starting with six squaddies in various roles.  Sectoids, Sectoid Commanders, Thin Men, Outsiders, Floaters, Chrysalids, and Seekers are all mentioned as part of the initial release. Not sure about a starter box or contents of sets yet but would assume something along the line of Fallout/Skyrim.

Coming down the line are S.H.I.V.’s, XCOM Veterans in various armours, Mutons, Berserkers and Elites, Cyberdiscs, Drones, Mechtoids, MEC Troopers, Heavy Floaters, Ethereals, Sectopods, and our friends from EXALT. My guess would be that these will arrive in the order they appear in the game. This would put Sectopods and Mutton Elites towards the end of the queue.

I've played a bit of 5 Parsecs from Home, which appears to be the core of the rules. They are a solid set of what I have been told is adventure wargames rules. So should make a great base for the game. I really want to know how they are going to do tech acquisition and character development. Will it be closer to XCOM or to 5 Parsecs?

So far they have concentrated on the pretty, pretty. Just a few glamour shots.  Looks like we might need to wait for the pre-order for some more details. This is going to be in July. Guess the summer holiday will have to wait 🤭. Seriously, this is going to play second fiddle to the summer holidays. Love XCOM but not as much as my daughter.

I should be in adult child minding at Phalanx today. But out watching my daughter do soft play instead. Much more fun and involves less physical labour. I've already had my father's day card and a Toblerone so big it might be used as an offensive weapon. I also got a dog dad mug. From my daughter. Who is probably a bit young to understand that I don't really qualify as a dog dad. Having a child and not having a dog.🤣

Stend Of The Week

It's not the start and it's not the end of the week. Or last week's project. Which is very nearly done. So nothing really to report. I just feel the urge to post.

I've found a few issues that have been put right. Really there are just a few details left and I want to finish the bases. Mostly happy with what I have done so far. Just need to see it over the line.

The next thing in the queue is the Soviets. Still not feeling it. There is still a little bit of prep to do on the stuff I have subsequently added. I've also found some of the Kingdom Death Monster bad guys in a box. These need a little bit more detail than the stuff I usually do. I could spend a week on each. Not sure I have that in me.

Quar cavalry have finally arrived. The plan calls for a box for both sides and another box of infantry for them as well. Maybe even some more Coftyran specialists. Not wanting to spend too much money as there is Phalanx this weekend.

So I have got some stuff done. I've even cleaned the bench and changed the paint water. Even had a small rearrangement of paint. I am drowning in paint pots again. Not buyers remorse, although there is an element of that with The Army Painter. If I need some space, it's mostly involved putting the worst of the worst of the AP in a box.

Army Painter - Comedy Paint Provider

Don't buy The Army Painter paint. I'm still saying this. I got this message today.

As they have still yet to respond in any meaningful way, it strikes me as insane that they would ask for feedback.

For the record, The Army Painter sell sludge with poor quality control over colour. Their historically accurate WW2 paint range is anything but.

I then noticed this.

The key part here is "we have an exceptional amount of enquiries".

The Army Painter - Fails Again

This is the email I have just sent to the Army Painter. They have had almost two weeks to respond. So far I've had nothing beyond an automated response.

Hiya.

This is the third message I have sent you. You have failed to respond with anything practical. I have asked for a refund, for a response from your quality control manager and for you to explain yourselves.

Please can you add your legal address and who would be responsible for responding to a legal letter.

In the meantime I will be contacting your uniform expert to explain how you are abusing his reputation and finding any opportunity to demonstrate your failings on social media.

You have repeatedly sold me junk and more fool me for buying it.

For the sake of repeating myself, quality control at The Army Painter is rubbish. Colour is way off and the Army Painter sell sludge. I asked for a triad of three colours, they missed one out and gave me two of one. This was direct to my face. They can't even be bothered to respond by email.

So I tried Facebook. Again I got an automatic message telling me to use the email that they don't respond to.