Can you believe that 1/12th of 2024 is already over? Where does time truly go? Since i’m trying to become better at documenting my hobby collection, I have decided to attempt to create a “Hobby Roundup” summary and overview of each month of my hobby. This will include notable collection changes, painting project, and my goals for the next month. While this is something very methodical, I am testing to see if it helps me be more self aware of how I am hobbying and my overall pile of potential changes over the course of the year.
This year I have two primary goal.
Be mindful of my collection growth.
While I want to grow my collection I want to grow it with models that I deeply desire to paint and play with. The goal is to remove models from the collection that will not be loved by me and give them to another home which will be loved. Using those shifted models I’ll sell off or trade for other models that I will use.
Significantly reduce the overall “In Progress” project list to Painted.
One of the most insightful things i’ve noticed about cataloging my collection (iCollect Everything Minaitures Edition) is that I have as many if not more in progress models than I do completed models. This is both due to lack of confidence in having the final model not living up to its potential as well as getting distracted.
Collection Additions
For this month I have been adding a significant number of models to my collection as i’ve started the Escalation League (2024 New Year, New Army: Escalation League Begins) with one of my local friendly game stores. Finally starting my Cities of Sigmar army I have always dreamt of.
I have also decided to subscribe to the Stormbringer magazine which delivers 4 weekly issues a month and often paired with models to help you grow your collection. I intended to share more about this magazine in the future to be sure to stay tuned.
New Additions to the Collection
Unit
Model Count
Source
Daggok’s Stab Lads
4
Purchase, new underworld warband for Kruelboyz
Wildercorp Hunters
11
Purchase, split Warcry box with a friend
Lord Imperatant
2
Stormbringer Issue #8
Swampcalla Shaman
2
Stormbringer Issue #9
Xandire’s Truthseekers
4
Stormbringer Issue #10
Total
23
two purchases and subscription
Xandire’s Truthseekers- Stormbringer MagnazineSwampcalla Shaman with Pot GrotLord ImperatantWildercorps HuntersDeathGorge Daggok’s Stab Lads
Photo Credit: Product Images shown above from the Warhammer community/store pages.
Models Sold off
To help pay for the models i’ve added this month and try to keep my total model count down, i’ve been trading models and selling them to other people in my local community.
Gutrippaz X 10, Killaboss with stab grot x2, Hobgrot Slittaz 10x, Kunnin Crew x6, Shaman & Pot grow x2 (gained this month). Total model count: 30d
Overall I am really proud of the fact i’ve kept pretty event with my total models coming in and out. I have even been on top of selling off models from the Stormbringer magazine off as they come in. Since my current primary army is Kruelboyz many of the models are duplicates and therefore unneeded.
Janruary Model Net= -7
Paint Projects
While for Janruary I have not finished many models I have certaintly started them. Starting with my Cities of Sigmar army I am definitely doing what I can to get as much dones as I can before the end of Phase 1 (February 18th) for the league. Stay tuned or follow along on my instagram https://www.instagram.com/crazmadsci/ for periodic updates.
Models Completed: 2
Scatter Terrain Portal
Dwarf Ref Bloodbowl
OnWards to February
The month of February will probably be my most ambitious month ever. If I accomplish it then it will gain a significant amount of momentum for throughout the year. We are almost halfway through and i’m starting to get nervous.
However this weekend I am giong to be stretching my tabletop experiences further than ever before and be heading to Nashville for an Age of Sigmar teams tournament i’m going to help run as their designiated score keeper. I have a feeling that this could impact my game and how I am as a miniature painter for some time to come.
Are you keeping up with your goals this year so far?
Have you ever gotten to a stage in your hobby journey where, you have forgotten what models you have? What about where they are located? How much do you have painted vs new in box? What about the giant pile of grey plastic you are too afraid to look at closely?
January 2023 I realized that I have hit the peak of my problem. Models were in my shed spread out in boxes, thrown together and were resulting in getting damaged, shattered and broken miniatures. Something had to change. I have always dreamed of a good way to organize and catalog my model collection but only had only a few failed spreadsheets to show for it. I needed something more robust than a spreadsheet.
Since I’ve started 3D printing and especially since I’ve started collecting models for Age of Sigmar I realized that I had no idea what was truly in my collection. I decided to figure out what I truly own and am working on.
When you cannot remember everything you own to be able to play with things without accidently buying or 3D printing more then there is a problem.
How my collection was stored in Janurary 2023
What I needed
I came up with a list of things I needed or desired in my database collection of my models. I also realized that I most likely would have to find something to fit my needs and not build my own. My time was limited.
My Needs:
A consistent catalogging system
Something that will display an image of the model
Filter searching
Capability to set my own catalog parameters
Cross platform compatability
Sharable with friends and family
If a product such as an app, have ongoing development and not a project that is half finished.
Searching for apps, I tried several different things with the closest to what I was looking for is Figure Case, Hobby Progress. However it did not appear robust enough to sustain all the data I was looking for. It could be an opportunity for some if they want something more straight forward.
The Long story short…. my Winner
Overview:
iCollect Everything is an app on Apple, Mac, Android and PC products as a way to catalog and collect all your collectibles. While there is capabilities for barcode scanning and pre-generated collections such as Legos, Wine, Movies, Games, Puzzles, Shoes, Model Trains, etc. There is not a category yet for Miniature Figures in tabletop gaming.
However the real power and utility in this app is in its custom collections section. I have begun using this app for over a year now and have had the time to really consider the pros and cons of the system, I believe that this is a tool that could make a major difference for other miniature hobbyists out there and is currently flying under the radar. This is providing so much utility and tools that other companies have attempted at but lets you cross until multiple brands, platforms, and more.
The Setup
Before I go into more of the pros and cons of this app and how I have made it work for my immediate needs let me give you a glimpse of what it looks like.
Left: PC desktop computer UI, Right: Android Mobile phone UI
Example Entry: Kruelboyz Killbow (Android perspective)
The Full Breakdown
Overall I am really happy with the app but understand that there are definitely growing pains associated to this app. With a very limited development team progress is slow. However credit must be given to the designers as it is extremely obvious of their commitment to their endeavor.
Lets start with the first obvious question. How much does it cost?
Con: iCollect everything does have a higher barrier to entry for the full app than almost any other app in its category I could find. Although advertised as free. It is extremely easy to fill up your “free entries” resulting in needing to fully purchase the app. From last glance I believe the pricing is as follows but is subject to change as the app further develops. I believe when I started using the app it was a one time purchase of $10 or so, for transparency.
Note: I did have to purchase for each platform Android & PC as PC was not released when I started using iCollect. I do not know if this is still the case
Pro: Using the custom collection I can set my collection anyway I want. Any order I want and with any field I want. There are limited rules such as only allowing one quantity field and value. I’ll do a full breakdown of my collection setup at the end.
Con: To input all your data it is a massive time commitment. There is no bulk editing, no bulk copying and uploading from your own csv is currently not functional for custom collections. This was probably the largest reason why it took me a year to input all my data so far. I have found it significantly easier to input from a computer than a mobile phone. My data entry skyrocketed once desktop on PC was released. Also a major pain point is that every data field required a value even if I didn’t have any data associated to that field.
For example there are several fields in my collection to mention if the model was 3D printed and data associated to that such as material volume and print cost. If the model was purchased from a manufacturer I am required to input any value and $0.00 was not allowed. Almost all fields with 0.01 are desired blank fields for my collection.
Pro: With embedded images associated to each entry on my collection it is incredibly satisfying to see the images associated to each thing. Currently most of my images are product renders or photographs but one day I hope to replace all with images of my personal stuff. You can currently associate up to 4 images per entry.
Pro/Con While iCollect Everything will let you export your collection to .csv, it currently does not let you import your spreadsheet to iCollect for custom collections. Even though there is no statement in the app that this functionality does not work for custom collections. I only found out by attempting to import collections and was told via email that the functionality is not supported.
To Summarize:
Pros
Cons
* Complete Customizable Catalog * Visualization of your collection for easy scrolling * Filtered Search on Every Category * Can export collection to .csv
* High Cost * Large Time Commitment for entry * Require Data for every field * No multi tagging system * No Import functionality for custom collections * Limited sharing visibility for custom collections * Have to buy Android and PC separately
My Wishlist:
1) Of my largest desires the capability to add multiple searchable tags to each entry in the same data would be by far the largest one. Being able to search for models in the collection by potential D&D class, weapon, race, etc. And with multiple parameters would be an incredible boon to help me dynamically pull models out of the collection for player characters and things like Dungeons and Dragons.
2) Improved sharing visibility for custom collections. On the Android app you are capable of generating a URL of your collection to share with others but I have never been able to have it work for me with custom collections. I am hoping that this utility would be improved in the future.
Summary
All in all I’d rate this app a 4 out of 5 stars.
While there are a good number of cons I cannot overlook and could turn off others and/or be current growing pains in regards to the app being in active development. I do not think that this app can be overlooked in its power and capability to help catalog and organize your miniature collection. While there are smaller features and sites to help track your model journey being able to have such robust capability to give an incredible perspective into my collection. Check out my 2023 summary below! All data was pulled from my custom collection.
Do you catalog your models? If so how do to catalog your models? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
I also will write up all the fields and data types I use in my custom collection if you’d like an idea of where to start if you decide to use iCollect Everything.
My Custom Collection Parameters
Here is the settings and parameters i’ve used to setup my custom collection.
Field Name
Data Field Type
Description
Title
Title
name of the model
Category
Text List
Miniature, Bust Terrain, Scatter
Model Count
Quantity
The quantity of how many of that model I have. Can only Have 1
Model Number
Text Field
used for personal library reference
Damaged Count
Text Field
log if that model needs repairing
Status
Text List
Model progress; New, In Progress, Painted etc
Army, Team, Category
Text List
subcategorization such as army name
Game System
Text List
What game the model is used for
Total Value
Value
Estimated Value
Digital Location
Text Field
file path of STL location for 3D printing
Storage Location
Text Field
location of model in physical storage
Magnetized
Toggle
True/False
Date Added/Created
Date Picker
Date of model purchased or 3D printed
Date Finished
Date Picker
Date of when model was finished (or 2030 as a palceholder)
Who would have thought almost three years ago this week my future in tabletop gaming would be changed forever. I mean it isn’t that dramatic but sometimes it makes me not so sure.
I have since started diving into the massive world of tabletop Wargaming specifically Age of Sigmar and it completely changed my confidence in an entirely new area of gaming. Flashback, I was at my friendly local game store for a paint hobby night and saw that they had several boxes of Games Workshop boxes at 80% off! To date I have always felt priced out of Games Workshop products and intimidated. The price of entry was to steep to see if it was something that interested me. I’ve always wanted to see what these fancy Games Workshop models were all about and at 80% off I couldn’t resist. I decided to bite the bullet for less than $30 and purchased both Greywater Fastness Start Collecting box of dwarves and the Bloodbowl team of the Imperial Nobility. I was absolutely stoked.
Little did I know that I purchased the absolutely worst thing to buy in order to try and learn Age of Sigmar. You see to start a Cities of Sigmar army which contains Greywater Fastness box I purchased has more choice and options to build an army than any other army in the game, with perhaps the iconic Stormcast Eternals. Cities of Sigmar was one of the oldest, most out of date and complicated armies to attempt to learn how to play Age of Sigmar since it contained almost the entirity of the now retired Warhammer Fantasy game. To shorten the story, I ended up shelving the dream of fielding the mortals of men, dwarves and elves against the large monsters and creatures of the Mortal Realms and picked up a beginner and more affordable army of Orruks, Kruelboyz as my army with training wheels.
Waiting, impatiently like a child waiting for Christmas morning I eagerly waited the day for the promised new 3rd edition Battletome and updated model range of which to kit out my army. Now the time is primed for me to bring this long awaited dream to reality.
I mean check out this beautiful model range (credit Games Workshop youtube)!
NEW YEAR, NEW HOBBY
Fast forward to today. I have joined forces with my friendly local game store. Together as a community we have decided to start a local escalation league of which to encourage others to collect, build, and paint new armies of which to play Age of Sigmar. This is one of the best opportunities to get started in the game as games start small, less financial investment and moving pieces to learn the rules. It is also the perfect opportunity of which to learn a new army. We all suffer the torment of endless hours of building the army of our dreams together.
Coordinating with the store who is doing a fantastic financial incentive of “New Hobby, New Year” any models purchased from November 1st, 2023 til March 1st, 2024 and are painted by the 1st of March will receive 25% of that boxes purchased value in store credit. This is my time to purchase the new model line and build my army. Since so many of the models are brand new there is not really a second hand market in existence yet so buying full price will have to happen more often than I’d like to be able to play the army I want.
Getting Encouragement from my peers
The escalation leauge is broken into 4 phases and an introductory painting phase. We are currenting in Phase 0.
Phase 0 January 1st 2024 to January 28st, 2024
Painting Phase
Minimum:
1 Hero
1 Battle Line Unit (Minimum unit size)
No Monsters (To help keep the 500 pt skirmish game balanced)
Phase 1 January 29nd, 2024 to February 18th, 2024
500 Points Game
Minimum:
1 Hero
1 Battle Line Unit (Minimum unit size)
No Monsters (To help keep the 500 pt skirmish game balanced)
Phase 2 February 19th, 2024 to March 10rd, 2024
1,000 Points Game Minimum:
1 Hero
2 Battle Line Unit (Minimum unit size)
Phase 3 March 11th, 2024 to March 31st, 2024
1,500 Points Game Minimum:
1 Hero
3 Battle Line Unit (Minimum unit size)
Phase 4 April 1st to April 22th, 2024
2,000 Points Game
Makeup painting
Scoring System
Activity
Points
Bonus
Build a new unit (Non Hero/
+3
+1 for Conversions
Paint a new unit
+3
+2 Diorama Display / +1 extra details
Complete 500 Pts every 3 Weeks
+15
Build/Paint a Hero Unit
+5
+1 Conversions / +1 Diorama Display
Huge “mini”
+5
+1 Conversions / +1 Diorama Display
Play 1st Game
+3
+2 Play for 1+ additional Games
Sportsmanship
+5
Great Opponent +3
Game Results
+3 (1/Phase)
+5 Narrative write up(Max 1/Phase)
Painted models will need to meet the following minimum standard:
All base colors as applicable to specific miniatures (Armor, Weapons, Skin, Cloth, etc.)
Must be based (Minimum of a color sand)
Extra details include: Washes/Shadows, highlights, high quality basing
Status Check
With Phase 0 ending on Monday January 1st I admit I’m significantly behind where I’d like to be. Currently the only points I have accumulated in this phase for the league are related to building the models. I might be able to squeak a unit completed by Monday but my hopes are not so great.
Assembled Units:
+3 Steelhelms
Alchemite Warforger (hero), no points until painted
+3 Freeguild Command Corps
+3 Wildercorps Hunters
Onwards!!!
I am so excited to see where this army is going to go but admittedly intimidated. Can I paint up my collection? How am I going to afford some new models I need for my list without hurting the bank? Next phase I have quite a few deals lined up and print commissions to help lessen the burden and I can’t wait to talk about it.
Now the decision I will have to make is do I decide to have a mixed army of Humans, Dwarves and Elfs or purely focused on one race…. I currently own quite a bit of all 3.
Yes as we all know its time for that annual breakdown and preview of what is to come with our hobby goals. People have set New Years Resolutions and of course always end up broken and I am absolutely no different. For 2022 I set upon myself a list of lofty goals and have accomplished very few if you are curious on my track record check out my past write ups 2022 Hobby Goals & 2021 Hobby Goal Retrospective.
“Yes I know what you are thinking, hobby goals, showcases these yearly posts are cliche and exhaustively overused.”
2022 Crazmadsci
But I inevitably find it incredibly useful in seeing my personal mentality from year to year. So bear with me as I gauge how my mentality and goals in the hobby have shifted.
What did I accomplish last year?
My universal motto and approach will be, “Improve my skill, output and performance over the previous year.” So I am planning on using last year as a benchmark of comparison so I can more definitely see how I match up. I’d argue that my performance is ehh comparable to the year before because so much of my free time shifted to actually playing games rather than just preparing for them.
Of my entire list of 2022 hobby goals I only succeeded in two hobby goals.
Success!: Paint more models than 2021 Success! Play two new tabletop games.
For the past year I have painted 42 models to 100% completion this is greater than the number in 2021 which was 26! Yes I know it still does not feel like enough but for me building a routine and navigating my perfectionism in models it is harder to accomplish. I do have easily do have easily double this number with only a few hours of paint time left. This list includes a Snotling Bloodbowl team (20), my 2021 benchmark model, my 2022 benchmark model and 2 units of hobgrots from the Kruelboyz army in Age of Sigmar (20 models).
I have spent a very long time assembling, gathering, priming, basing and painting a Kruelboyz army for Age of Sigmar in 2022 but tended to jump around quite a bit and didn’t finish as much as I would have hoped. As you can see a lot of progress has been made it just requires a bit of focus to knock it out.
As for playing two new tabletop games I actually count playing 3 games. The first two are Age of Sigmar which has been my primary go to game for the year, Gloomhaven online (which still counts in my book), and Dungeon Bowl.
New Goals for 2023?
While I have a lofty list of goals for the upcoming year I have decided to boil it down to five “simple” items
Finish more projects than I start
Finish more models than I buy/print
Limit the amount I print for others and focus on my own hobby
Paint more models in 2023 than I did in 2022 (42 in 2022)
Focus on improving the skills of my painting
Some of these definitely sound easier said then done especially the reduce the backlog goal of painting more than I buy. With the new Cities of Sigmar book coming later this year I need to do a ton of painting to reduce the model count. But overall I think its more doable than past years while also tackling the backlog of projects.
Conclusion
What do you think? Do you set annual goals for yourself? How did you do last year, let me know in the comments below.
For 2022’s benchmark I have decided to paint the giant model from December 2021’s CastnPlay release Adventurer’s Guild. This included a group of adventurers coming in from their days dungeon crawling and drinking at the tavern resting and relaxing. The models also include an amazing tavern bar build and a quest board which is on my painting agenda. The giant in question I do not think was sculpted with “Frost Giant” in mind but rather a friendly giant adventurer. However I painted a Hill Giant last year and wanted to accomplish something different. Applying one of my goals for the year of trying to paint in different skin tones I decided to approach the model with a blue skin for Frost Giant and do something I’ve never done before, apply paint to a model that wasn’t primer via a brand new tool in my arsenal.
Frost Giant printed and unassembled.
While painting this model I was faced with a few hurdles that I am sure you are familiar with.
psyching yourself out
burn out
being paralyzed from self imposed extreme expections
Well in my 2022 Benchmark Model I encountered all the above. I have had such a difficult time trying to articulate everything that I felt, did and aspired to do while painting this model that I even have been procrastinating in writing this post.
Regardless I am incredibly proud of this years benchmark model and can’t wait to see what I come up with in improvement for the year. But before I get ahead of myself, what the heck am I talking about?
What is a Benchmark Model?
A benchmark model is essentially a painted figure or model which you can use at a later time as a form of measure of standard to compare to. Therefore a benchmark model is my attempt at gauging my personal growth in the miniature painting hobby. The rules are simple I’ll paint a model to the best of my ability and then I will paint a second version of the same figure (thank you 3D printing) in one year to see how I’ve grown in that year.
Can I See My Growth Two years in a Row?
I did a benchmark model comparison for 2021 and it was actually really quite incredible as a way to Gauge my Growth in miniature painting. I never thought i’d be able to see my growth yet let alone have people actually comment guessing the areas of growth I focused on for that year. Interested? Read More from 2021’s Benchmark
Left 2021 Benchmark, Right 2022 Benchmark
Battling your Worst Enemy, Your Mind.
So if I successfully set a benchmark last year and could see my growth, why was it so intimidating this year? Well to put it simply I kinda felt surprised that I could see growth in the last year as I didn’t paint many models and put as much time into gaining skills as i’d like. My mind is my enemy married to my low self esteem that I could pull it off again.
I also suffered from burnout. Painting to the best of my ability two models in a row was exhausting. Sometimes not seeing much completed on your hobby table can make you feel like nothing will ever get accomplished. Spending so much time on these really exhausted my desire to paint and push through. It also didn’t help that I decided to paint one of the largest models I’ve ever tackled. A frost giant.
On top of that I have decided to focus on areas of painting that are difficult or out of my comfort zone. This has resulted in more anxiety in my color palette, techniques, etc.
So What am I working on this year?
2022 Painting Goals
While I did make a lengthy list of things I want to work on for my 2022 Hobby Goals. The goals for painting this year are simple….
Master the airbrush
Having just receiving an airbrush I have barely started utilizing it to the best of its ability or know how it can help me in painting. I am aiming to get started in airbrushing and making it a regularly used tool in my toolbox.
Learn more Skin Tones
Learn how to paint non Caucasian skin tones. This includes different colored skins like green, blue, purple, red etc. for monsters. I have recently started my airbrush journey and am still not confident in my knowledge.
Paint out of my comfort zone
I am tired of painting generic fantasy character with a green or blue cape. I need to stretch my imagination beyond and try more color schemes.
Gain a better understanding of volumes
I want to understand how light hits various shapes and be better at highlighting models. This will start with muscle groups but I hope to go beyond that and especially show in armor.
Color Theory?
Begin my long long journey into a greater usage of color theory.
Painting Hair & Fur
I am ready to build on the above statements and paint hair and fur to a more realistic mentality and result.
Utilization of Environment & Basing Methods
I deeply believe that a base can drastically change the story of the model, its tone and really elevate figures. I am going to try to improve my basing game while also improve model storytelling.
Setting the Standard: Benchmark 2022
Now lets get into the painting of the model.
Breaking Out the Airbrush
I received an airbrush for Christmas 2021 and up to this point have only primed a few miniatures with it. I have gotten better and have to say that I am immensely proud of the zenithal highlight of this model. It might be the best I’ve ever done.
Frost Giant Zenithal Highlight Frost Giant in airbrush booth primed
After priming I applied a blue contrast paint for the skin to see how contrast paint would go through an airbrush followed by various browns that make up the leather of the body. My goal was to try to go from largest areas of the model to smallest in the attempt to improve my aim via practice. I have never used my airbrush to apply base coats to a model before and am genuinely surprised and thrilled by how fast it was to get a model base coated.
Frost Giant SideFrost Giant frontFrost Giant back
Frost Giant leather frontFrost Giant leather side
The entire time I was doing this I was being supported by my friends of Goobertown hobbies as the continuously encouraged me to Paint Bravely. I pushed through and worked up the various layers of skin. I definitely feel like I should have pushed this highlight more but alas I did not get to it.
Frost Giant MidtoneFrost Giant Skin Highlight
To finish off my spray basecoats I painted the tree and did my best to not have too much overspray. An area of improvement is definitely improved aim, masking off areas of a model to prevent overspray, and gaining a better understanding of how to angle my airbrush to help me in highlights and volumes.
All in all I feel like this was a pretty strong showing and attempt for using an airbrush to paint for the first time. It definitely helps that I choose to paint a large model knowing that my aim was not going to be very great and wanted a place to practice before I paint a standard miniature.
The Devil is in the Details
Once I put my airbrush down I set to work on the details. Picking up a brush to paint the model was actually really exciting and I felt a significant sense of relief now that I am using tools that I am familiar with. I set forth to do colors and choices I have not used before, namely in trying to not use brown hair and fur. So I decided to go with a blonde head which was mostly a dirty blonde. I know air is on the agenda and perhaps i’ll learn how to do different colors better this year. I also wanted to try to contrast the bright blue of the skin and went with a dark black, grey fur for the areas of clothing that had fur.
Blonde hair additionPainting fur and textured hair
I then started to work on details such as leather work, skulls, pouches, etc but… I got worn out. I spent several nights at this point painting the figure and I walked away from it. And it sat on my shelf for probably about two weeks before coming back.
Just Calling it Done
Seeing that all motivation to keep pushing through the model and feeling a significant thread of diminishing returns I decided to base the model, varnish, and flock with snow to call it done. At this point I was truthfully disappointed with myself because I always feel like I can do better. I could catch more detail, improve a highlight but there is a point when you should just call it done.
Frost Giant final paint job
It all comes together!
Know how I mentioned that I want to improve my basing game and telling a story in my basing. Well I feel like this model is the perfect example for that. I felt for so long that the figure was missing something and that wasn’t until I added the snow. And oh boy did it feel great to see everything just slowly come to life. Adding the snow to this model and its base really had a great marriage between the two. However I couldn’t fully realize it until a friend recommended that I add snow heavier on the feet like he has been wading through the snow. Boy did it really make a difference. I think the snow was one of the most commented aspects of this paint job.
Added Snow Effect AddedHeavily applied snow on boots
Final Photoshoot
A benchmark would not be complete without a good ole photoshoot of the figure. And this has been an aspect of the hobby that I think is super important to capture the full detail of the model to convey to readers, inspire others, and capture mistakes. I worked on taking photos of this model in both black and white backdrops (poster paper). I think the black backdrop was the better choice in the final shots. What do you think?
Frost Giant Final Photo white backdropFrost Giant photoshootFrost Giant Final Photo Black backdropFrost Giant Final Photo Black backdrop
On to 2022
While I am happy with this model and would be a fantastic figure to put on my table I still desire to grow and improve. I tried many new things and even color choices on the figure such as the skin, fur and hair that were well outside my comfort zone. Now that the benchmark is set. Lets see what we can accomplish for the rest of 2022.
Happy Hobby, Carrie, Crazmadsci the crazy mad scientist
I am definitely riding the high from this year’s 2025 Nova open. And what a treat it has been to go to and see my friends. I always walk away full of inspiration, a bag full of goodies and a mind full of creative endeavors to do for next year. Heading to the event I…
Playing Bloodbowl is wacky and fun. But wouldn’t it be better with a fully fleshed out stadium to play in? Join my process of creating a 3D printed bloodbowl pitch.
I started 3D printing for tabletop gaming in 2018 and every day I am blown away by how much the hobby has grown. The community of hobbyists is bigger than ever before, there is more art and creators than we can even fundamentally track, and new technologies and tools are hitting the market making the hobby more accessible. There is now more software to make, modify, and slice 3D printed models. Materials have evolved to have significantly more variety in color, additives for flexibility, transparency, hardness, etc. The list of how this hobby has grown in the past 4 years could go on and on.
Tennessee Tech makers space of Raise3D printersMy home printing setup 2022
However there is one aspect of the hobby that has not changed. The most elusive and coveted part of the 3D printing hobby is its knowledge. So much of the collective knowledge for tabletop gaming in the 3D printing community is spread out and only documented as a series of trial and error. Many of our communities of this collective knowledge are broken into sub groups and platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Reddit, Discord, etc. This requires a lot of asking around for people to share their stories over the internet’s equivalent of a campfire. Much of the information is heard from the grapevine making that piece of information under scrutiny as to if it is really true or has just changed through each telling like a bad game of telephone.
As someone with a passion for learning, gathering that knowledge and does tests purely for the sake of deeper understanding. I have found the lack of knowledge repository, well frankly frustrating. While not everyone is like me and needs to answer the Where, What, How, and Why of every aspect of our 3D printing hobby I know that I am not the only one who has become frustrated when forced to try new things and not knowing where to start, troubleshooting a taxing issue, or even needing inspiration on how to go the next step.
We the collective community have made assumptions and sweeping statements such as “People cannot print miniatures on an FDM printer”. Layer lines are so terrible post processing for FDM printing requires sanding, gap filling, and even in some cases acetone smoothing. Why can’t resin be used in 3D printing terrain? I have made a career of exploring these declarative statements and providing people with the most information possible to let them come to their own conclusions.
FDM Miniature Figure, proving that FDM can indeed print supports.
What if we as a community banded together to curate a knowledge base of information to help not only brand new members of the hobby but veterans or even those who wish to purchase from 3D printing services. What kind of things should you look out for or ask when hiring others to 3D print files for you? What quality of print is standard? How much should you 3D print for your tabletop games? There are so many questions that I am seeking to answer.
Call to Action
I have made it my mission to be apart of the movement to close this gap in our knowledge, experiment & document often in order to search for answers to things that have not been tested yet, and assist those who wish to truly utilize all the things 3D printing has to offer. However this is something I cannot do on my own. I am looking for help, excitement to search more and those who have any questions. There is no such thing as a stupid question. If you have one regarding the 3D printing hobby for tabletop gaming just ask. I have been deep enough in the hobby that I have taken for granted the little questions that might plague those just getting started in the hobby. Having people ask questions really helps me make sure I can help answer it and those that might come in the future.
Most importantly. I am in need of troubleshooting photographs for your 3D printing issues!
What am I doing about it?
I have decided to step out and begin releasing content even if it may not completely fit the image of what I want it to be. So as of today I have officially released a brand new category to my website. As of now, we have a 3D printing navigation section. I have begun to curate the write ups I have done for 3D printing with a main home main and separate categories for resin and FDM printing. I am going to be posting a mix of information and guides to cover introductory subjects, topics I encounter in my hobby but most importantly information asked by my community and the communities I am a part of.
I have admittedly been nervous in posting only a portion of content that I desire to write and have it appear more empty leading to a poor new reader interaction. However recently I have had several people approach me on how different guides I have written helped them and have told me that writing more tutorials and guides would be useful without realizing that it was already my intent. Starting this main navigation panel and landing page will make it easier for people to find what I have written as well. This is still very much a work in progress but I am excited on where it will go. Not every thing written will end up in posts but will try to make notices in my weekly state of the crazy posts if anything has been added as a permanent page rather than a post.
I am working on adding content as fast as I can while also balancing all aspects of my hobby as well.
If you want to become apart of the discussion or just banter, ask questions or enjoy aspects of the community all are welcome through the Tableflip Foundry discord server. You are welcome to come say hi and interact with the community and is the best place to find me day to day hanging out! https://discord.gg/tableflipfoundry
It is that time again to welcome in the new calendar year, we are now older and hopefully a little bit wiser. Much like many many people, last year I wrote down a pretty humble list of hobby goals for2021 and although I didn’t complete all of my goals I am still incredibly happy with what I did accomplish in the past year. Feel free to read more about my review of last year here: 2021 Hobby Goal Retrospective.
Yes I know what you are thinking, hobby goals, showcases these yearly posts are cliche and exhaustively overused. However last year I discovered that having a thought out list of goals was actually immensely helpful for me to see what I really wanted to achieve but also gain perspective on how much I accomplished over the course of the year. This allows me to have an improved understanding of my time management and really prioritize the upcoming year.
So for my own sanity and organization here I am…
What is different this year?
For this year’s goals I have decided to do something a little bit different. I am setting overview goals out of a long bucket list of aspirations that are on my mental list of some of the things I desire to do. Why? I tend to be a really big dreamer with more goals than I can reasonably do. So I am going to attempt to do a specific number of goals per category which will allow me to still have a dreamer list while also still being reasonable as to what I can accomplish. This will provide flexibility to move with changing interests or adapt to things I don’t yet know will happen.
My universal motto and approach will be, “Improve my skill, output and performance over the previous year.” So I am planning on using last year as a benchmark of comparison so I can more definitely see how I match up.
I also hope to solve one massive issue in my retrospective of last year, I don’t know specifically how many goals I achieved in the last year because many of them were not objectively pass/fail. This should be more straight forward.
Painting:
Paint more models than 2021:
Scatter Terrain: 2
Buildings: 2
Miniatures: 26
Try or start learning 5 New Techniques and Skills
Begin 3 New Deep Dives
Overall all of these things are pretty straight however if you are new to the site you may be asking what is a deep dive?
From an analytical standpoint a deep dive is an “intense, in depth analysis of a certain problem or subject.” What does that mean for the tabletop hobby? Well for one I want to research, explore and experiment with all the different ways myself or my fellow hobbyists tackle a subject in the tabletop space. Either painting, printing, playing or something perhaps something else entirely. A deep dive will document my entire journey, the successes, failures, and methods.
I started a project several years ago in attempt to recreate a Printable Scenery marketing image of a ruined castle using their rampage castle digital files. To this day I’m determined to finish it and paint it for my collection.
I also have had an idea to really dig into the conversation of “3D printing is Cheaper than buying Physical Models”. There is the perfect set of files for this conversation and I fully plan to really give my highly researched spin on the topic.
Blog:
Average of 5 or more posts a month (4 was average for 2021)
Maintain writeups of 2022 printing & painting. Aka If I print or paint itthe models end up on the site
Add 10 3D printing tutorials
Other:
Put 250 miniatures on the website from Current Physical Collection (approximately 25%)
Aim for 500 Instagram followers and use to track hobby days (323 as of today): Follow Here
Play two new tabletop games
Conclusion
Much Easier to achieve, right? Also so much more easily explainable. I definitely think this list is doable and flexible to account for the changes I don’t see coming. I also very intentionally shifted my priority to be writing and painting related. I have always put printing first as it has been a primary hobby, and source of hobby income. However, I have immensely begun to enjoy painting more than ever before and am going to embrace it this year and see where it takes me.
I am also extremely disappointed with the lack of writing I’ve been doing lately and found it therapeutic during the year. Specifically the “State of the Crazy” of my weekly updates of what I’ve been up to kept me honest and on track of the happenings in my hobby universe.
What about you? Do you have goals and aspirations with the new year? I’d love to hear from you.
As December is officially wrapping up. It is the time of year to look back on all the things that you’ve done, aimed to achieve, and reminiscence over the last year. If you were not aware at the beginning of the year I set out to accomplish more than i’ve ever done in a year regarding my miniature gaming and hobby universe. I believe the direct quote was…
This is definitely a list which will take time to focus on but I think it is absolutely accomplishable.
2021 Hobby Goals
This list of hobby goals was so long I broke it up into several categories. So the main question is. Did I accomplish what I set out to do? In short, no I did not, however I am immensely proud of what I have achieved. Follow me as I go back through the list and break it down into levels of success.
Painting
Success:
Paint to completion at least 24 models (regardless of size)
Moderate Success:
Paint an average of 4 days a week
Have greater than 183 hobby days (more days than not)
Did not Achieve:
4 deep dives to paint techniques or methods/recipes of painting
Create 12 different bases for miniatures
Of my painting goals the only goal I can definitely mark as successful this year I did hit that goal of 24 models by painting:
Total (30):
2 Scatter terrain
2 Buildings
26 miniatures
2021 Commission PiecesFrostgrave Warbands and ZombiesHill GiantThamarya KidFishers HutBlacksmithCatfolk FisherSiege Equipment2021 Benchmark Model
While this does not sound like much for others, for me this marks a major accomplishment. I have not been the most confident of painters. My lack of confidence has lead to painting paralysis making it more difficult to finish things. The largest thing that changed that was a surprise painting commission which was wrapped up just in time for the new year. This commission was my very first commission and i’m honored to be asked to paint models for others. Also this was my very first year where models that I now have painted models exist in other peoples homes.
Feel Free to Read more about some of these painting projects!
Two categories that I do not quite know if I was successful or not was my total number of hobby days. Which I believe I did do successfully but lost track of how many days. One great thing I did do was track specifically what aspect of the hobby I did on what day in a fun and creative way that I wish to continue into the new year. I also did not paint on average 4 days a week but am happy that I did spend the majority of the days of the year on aspects of the hobby. Doing something in this hobby is now officially a requirement in my daily routine which feels fantastic.
Also I did not succeed at doing 4 deep dives for the year but did a few. The largest one I’m most proud of is my wood painting deep dive.
This category is one where I ended up spending a large amount of time and much of it unexpected. The largest area of success by far was in learning how to support resin models. I started printing in resin late 2020 and was super new in that aspect of the hobby (Happy Anniversary a Year in Review). I desired to work on mastery of supporting resin models to print with confidence. Not only did I succeed but have joined up with TableFlip Foundry to become a professional presupport artist which does the presupport work for modelers and artists. I can’t wait to share more of what we have done and share my growth of knowledge with you in the upcoming year along with showcasing artists and projects i’ve worked with.
I also got a lot of compliments on my FDM test printing for the Uncharted Lands Kickstarter for miniature printing and released a guide on how I do supports for FDM models.
FDM Printed Kobold Scavenger
I learned al lot in this year about printing and feel better and more knowledge than ever and excited to share that with others. However much like I anticipated, documentation and photographing my work and prints has caused a serious backlog to add to the site. I am intending to play some serious catch up.
Blog
Success:
Get 25 Followers to Blog
Did not Achieve:
Weekly update write ups (Mondays)
Weekly Page addition to site (Fridays)
Complete Digital Catalog of what I have made
Complete Beginners write ups to 3D printing
My personal goals for the site is above and beyond my most disappointing mostly due to the shear amount of content I wish to create for the site. I did not take into account how much of the behind the scenes work I would spend on the site. But as a positive spin I have come up with some pretty great statistics.
Posts Written in 2021: 49 (4 average a month) Pages Created in 2021: 191 (15.9 average a month) Total WordPress Followers: 39 Total Unique Visitors in 2021: 2,291 Top 5 Most visited Countries: United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Canada
Overall even though I am not writing content to match my personal expectation I am still growing faster than I anticipated with my average views a day four times greater than at the beginning of the year. I am also writing an average of three times more words per post in 2021 than in 2020. Therefore I feel that I am writing more and producing more quality content.
So again I am going to take the Blog 2021 Hobby Goal category as a win. Areas I would love to grow in is community engagement, I want to find more bloggers like me to enjoy their content and have more members of the community engage to help me make something that could be valuable to them. If you have a blog, create content, or have suggestions please comment down below.
Other
Success:
Improve photographing of projects/miniatures
Read/Listen to 5 books
Moderate Success:
Try 2 new tabletop top games
Did not Achieve:
Monster Cards for each monster in collection
Play a video game to completion
In my catch all category for 2021 I have mixed success. I am definitely improving in aspects directly related to the above three categories. I improved my miniature photography and am now even bringing out the DSLR camera and improving my camera settings and scene I am sure this will be a continuation in the new year.
I also tried Frostgrave for the first time and although didn’t beat a game did play a little bit of video games but am still happy more time went into tabletop gaming.
Conclusion
2021 was an incredible year. I not only have grown a tremendous amount but have gained a significant amount of confidence in both my painting and printing. I have been working towards having the hobby completely pay for itself which I started to do in the 4th quarter of this year.
I am inspired and motivated to continue on into the new year and am working on a new list of goals. Although I did not hit every achievement I am really happy with myself. I have learned more of what works and what doesn’t work for me along with a ton of self discovery.
Did you have any hobby goals for the last year? How did you do?
See you next time and as always. Happy Hobbying, Carrie aka crazmadsci
Tick, Tock. The clock is moving ever closer to my epic gameday with handsome husband over the icy cold city of Felstad. Herein lies the second installment (Part 1: Frostgrave Beginnings) of my quest to create the most involved, detailed, and “completed” battle mat I’ve ever accomplished in my tabletop hobby career. This has recently become a “challenge” for myself and my husband as I have been 3D printing and painting for the predominate portion of the year but have played very little of any tabletop game.
Feeling the drive to play a game again I have decided to draw a line in the figurative sand, call it good enough and just play. However I have a small problem, I’m a perfectionist that wants everything to be painted and completed. So this series will document my journey and you can follow along and hold me accountable to finish this project.
I have decided to make my Frostgrave board epic, bigger (3 ft x 3 ft) with more wiggle room, more terrain of not just buildings but also scatter, rubble, ruins, and objects to break line of sight. But most importantly I want to take the lessons learned from February’s games to make it a more enjoyable experience.
Lets see my process in designing and picking out key elements I want to put on my battle map!
Learning From Past Mistakes
When I played my first few games of Frostgrave with my husband back in February I realized that my terrain was significantly lacking. As someone with game design experience it became quickly evident that game balance was DRASTICALLY impacted by game layout.
When setting up our 2 foot by 2 foot board I missed a very very key piece of advice from the core rule book.
Setting up the Table
“The ruins of Frostgrave are a dense labyrinth of broken buildings, collapsed walls, shattered statues, and patches of ice and snow. In truth the exact nature of the terrain isn’t overly important. What is important is that there is a lot of it! The table should be crowded with terrain, leaving only a few areas or avenues of open ground, and giving figures plenty of places to hide and take cover. It really shouldn’t be possible for a figure on the group to draw line of sight to any point more than a foot or so away.”
FrostGrave 2nd Edition, Joseph A McCullough
Frostgrave Board February 2021
Ouch, looking at the Frostgrave board above you can definitely see line of sight avenues going every which way across not just one foot but all the way across the map (2 feet). Why is this a problem? Well i’m glad you asked. “All shooting attacks have a maximum range of 24 inches.”
Since our map was 2×2 feet, that was the entire length in all directions of our battle mat for a small standard game. Due to this emphasis and success of your warband was significantly skewed to hiring more ranged attackers such as archers and crossbowmen. The aim of the game would be to climb into a fortified area, shoot through the windows or protected area, and pick the other time off slowly and then claim the treasure. This did not feel fun for both people involved, the game felt broken. So this time around I’m planning my game board ahead of time to attempt to balance everything out.
Key to Map Design: Educate Yourself
OK rulebook,fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice… well we wont get to that.
This time around I refuse be the victim of my lack of knowledge about the game. To fully plan my map I want to take into account all the types of movement and shooting defense modifiers in the game. This would make the world feel more dynamic instead of two dimensional while also tackling my previously experienced ranged shooting imbalance.
First things first.
Shooting Defense Modifiers
Much like other games like Dungeons and Dragons, my most familiar tabletop game. Taking cover is a large part of the game in combat. Hiding behind obstacles such as walls, trees, or even other creatures can make you less of a target and become more difficult to hit. The difficulty of hitting your shot in Frostgrave is similar to dungeons and dragons as there are three types of cover. Instead of half, three quarters, and total cover the game uses somewhat different jargon.
Intervening Terrain (+1 to hit): “Every piece of intervening terrain between the shooter and the target gives a +1 (cumulatively).”
Light Cover (+2 to hit): If an obstacle obscures up to half of its body for hard objects (i.e rocks, walls) or almost the entirety of the body (bushes)
Heavy Cover(+4 to hit): “target is in contact with solid cover that almost completely obscures its body”
This is telling me that I don’t just need ruins for my game but also a variety of terrain and objects of which to hide behind the more the better. Although I cannot cite it at this exact moment I believe I have read somewhere that ideally there should be no more than 6-9 inches of line to sight in any given direction for best experience.
Movement
In the game of Frostgrave verticality and variable terrain are such a big part of its gameplay. To play in this there are several types of movement.
Rough Terrain: Any kind of terrain that is difficult to move over or through (1/2 movement speed).
Climbing: Players can climb over obstructions at 1/2 movement speed (1 inch climb per 2 inch movement).
Jumping: “A figure may jump any distance provided it moves an equal distance in a straight line before making the jump”.
Swimming: water comes in two varieties shallow and deep water. Shallow water is considered a rough terrain but deep water does have a swimming modifiers table. Essentially if you are wearing heavier armor, carrying objects or treasure, swimming across deep water is more difficult.
Falling: Fall damage is possible and a key part of gameplay. If a figure falls more than 3 inches, they suffer damage equal to the number of inches they fell multiplied by 1.5.
These movement aspects tell me that I should ideally have multiple stories in builds, a lot of ways to climb and get around. Perhaps a few sections where you can jump from building to building? How about even some water running through the city.
My Inspiration
Now that I have a better understanding of things to look out for and considerations to make while making my map I need inspiration as to how it will be laid out and perhaps even look like.
I have had the perfect inspiration for this map stuck in my head for a long time utilizing The Elder Scrolls Franchise. You see the Elder Scrolls Online MMO RPG was the game that changed my life, helped me to step out as a proud gamer girl, and even where I started my career in game development as a combat designer.
Memorial District, Imperial City Elder Scrolls Online
The inspiration i’m drawing for this map will be loosely based off of the Imperial City. The Imperial City is the capital city of the entire continent of Tamriel which holds the infamous White Gold Tower and the Ruby Throne of which the empire sits. This city is broken into 6 sections or districts of which you can play and explore. Utilizing the time period around the Elder Scrolls Online, the city has been invaded and now in ruin, where the throne is empty, and armies (or players) fight for the right to be emperor.
When I imagine the empire of Felstad for Frostgrave my imagination makes me believe that each battle map is only a snapshot image of a fraction of the city of which my wizard and warband are exploring. Why not only try to recreate a snapshot of one of the districts of the Imperial City? The Imperial City is also a player vs player zone so map design already considers some of my line of site concerns in the world building itself making it a perfect spring board for my plan.
Of the little terrain I already own and have painted one of the primary focal pieces is the Mausoleum. Since the mausoleum has its own scenario I have decided to start my campaign into Felstad there. Which leads me to the Memorial District. The Market District of the Imperial City districts was converted into the Memorial District and turned into a mass graveyard for its dead, after a mass rebellion (not important).
The Memorial District consists of four corners of tall Market city buildings and roads leading to its center which holds a massive graveyard in its center ring. There is also a river/ sewer that runs around the city. This variety of large ruins, center graveyard, and terrain including water is perfect to utilize our Mausoleum and capture the various movement types the game can provide.
Map Layout of the Memorial District Imperial City
This is the perfect inspiration with its arches and high crosswalks, courtyards, statues, fences and so much more.
Goals
The overall goal of this board is of course to be cool and wow people, most namely my husband. This game mat should give me a feeling of accomplishment because so far this year I’ve worked on many things but haven’t quite felt “finished” in anything. Hopefully this board will also be so fun it would motivate more gameplay in my house. Perhaps even entice some players in my area to want to join via hubs bragging about it at work.
Also most importantly in the spirit of what I want to do here at crazmadsci.com my goal is showcase and feature a large variety of talent, stores, and models that you can bring to your 3D printed tabletop. I will of course be keeping track of all my data for helping you print your future battle board or even understand the cost and time commitment on bringing your dreams a reality. The the moment I have an estimated 5 terrain companies & 3 miniature companies featured in my current battleplan.
Trying to Make the Plan
No that I have a rough idea as to what I want my layout to be, what type of terrain and aesthetic I desire its time to attempt to plan my layout.
Using the above inspiration I went to draw my 3×3 board to scale on paper. I broke the map into 9 sections and proceeded to draw a central square to mark the mausoleum location and space it will occupy. Then attempt to cut construction paper to scale of the various objects I wish to have in the space and eye ball how much of what I’d need where.
Beginnings of my city layout. Blue (river), Black (roads), Purple (buildings), Orange (featured Building)
Over the course of this week I realized I have encountered two primary design blocks
City Layout is largely dependent on Graveyard surface area
In attempting to block out my city to scale I have a major design flaw. I cannot conceptualize how large the graveyard itself should be with tombstones, crypts, trees etc. How big should it be to ensure a fun area for skirmishes. Until this section of the board is roughly laid out it is immensely hard to plan the surrounding area. Therefore It appears I am going to have to plan this out block by block with a more “living build”.
2. What wallsshould I make my graveyard with?
Since the center of the board will be its focal piece the method of which you get to its center is also important. What is the best way to funnel players? Should the fence be intervening terrain or provide partial/ complete cover? I have several different graveyard walls and fences to choose from. Some ruined in design and others structurally sound. Should I curve my walls? Or keep it straight. I have so many options to choose from and much of the choice depends on block #1. Filtering the ways you can get into the graveyard sounds like a fantastic idea to funnel soldiers or utilize climbing.
Here are my current options, nominate your favorite in the comments.
Broken Anvil
CastnPlay Fence
Printable Scenery
Frost Kickstarter
Frost Kickstarter
Of the list I think my personal favorites would be the Frost Kickstarter walls since they are curved and have a good amount of versatility and am capable of using them in other builds in the future. I also really like the printable scenery walls as they are extremely thematic and are not straight linear fences. However the ones from CastnPlay and Broken Anvil are also more true to what I imagine a graveyard fence to be.
Notable Featured Pieces in this Map
Since I cant completely plan out where everything will go, I am including some of my ideas and concepts that I am currently planning to bring to the table as a little tease. All have their own strengths and I am definitely going to showcase and discuss the various companies and prints in more detail as we lead up to gameday. If you see something that catches your eye or have something to add do not hesitate.
A River
I really desire to bring a river to this map. Mostly to provide a larger diversity in the terrain that I see online when I see other Frostgrave boards but also make rivers which I am going to need to have for some Rangers of Shadowdeep Scenarios which I hope to do in the future. Plus even the Felstad has a river called the “Might Mergile River”. I have settled and owned the Infinite Dimension Games modular river set for sometime as i’ve always enjoyed their product and got these files for a steal of a deal when they originally released.
2. A bridge
Makers Anvil Bridge
Makers Anvil is a new company to the community that I have been keeping my eye out on for quite some time. I finally decided that this is the perfect opportunity to use their Bridge design and even incorporate their ruined section since I need some way to cross the river.
3. Ulvheim ruins
The Ulvheim ruins and buildings are probably some of the most famous and commonly spotted ruins on any 3D printers table. These are made by Terrain4Print and have been free on Thingiverse for over 3 and a half years. It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t showcase more of what was freely available to print for your Frostgrave board as well. I also want to bring these ruins to life more and plan to incorporate ruined beams and Trusses made by ecaroth as I cannot stand a table of just stone buildings.
4. Hagglethorn HollowAncient Ruins
To be fair until yesterday I was not planning at this exact moment to play Frostgrave with any Hagglethorn Hollow pieces. I am however planning a major write up series around the Hagglethorn Hollow kickstarter later this year. This kickstarter has been one of my most anticipated kickstarters of all time. Hagglethorn Hollow first teased its designs in 2018 on Adam Savage’s TESTED youtube and ever since i’ve been impatiently waiting to add it to my table. I plan to have at least one ruin section of the Ancient Ruins in time for gameday.
5. Shadowfey: Burgomaster’s Office
The Burgomasters Office from Printable Scenery’s kickstarter late last year Shadowfey features some of the best collection of ruined buildings and terrain for Frostgrave. In my ambition to increase my verticality of gameplay while also making it appealing to the eye. As a result one of my center piece builds will be this Buromasters office. Featuring complete modularity this is a perfect piece to showcase what Shadowfey has to offer.
This is only a sampling of what I hope to be able to create. Make sure to follow me on my journey, cheer me on, or give me pointers! Comment down below what you are looking forward to the most.
Whats Next?
Well for now I am attempting to print some of the largest pieces that I know I want on my table such as the Burgomaster’s Office. I have also been selecting my warband and 3D printing both mine and my husbands for game day. Next week I plan to discuss how to build your warband and the models we have selected for those.
While this is a journey largely based upon my preparation for my own game; I hope to incorporate knowledge so you can learn more and potentially play for yourself. If you have any questions on how to play Frostgrave or want to know more about it do not hesitate to ask below.
So the inevitable happened…. I got challenged by my husband. He has stated that it is LONG overdue to actually play a game instead of just making more things. You see, my handsome husband does not necessarily craft with me but he does game with me. Due to the pandemic and people moving due to jobs, our gaming groups have fallen apart and we have been in search of new things to play and people.
Last summer we even created a death match homebrew game and recruited miniatures and built maps to battle each other. I even wrote about it as one of my very first blog writeups: “Are you Ready to Battle! The silly tale of needing a DnD group”. It only scratched the itch to game slightly.
Picture of D&D Battle Game from July 2020
Then in February the desire to play something again came to learn a new game, Frostgrave. I was long overdue to play as I’ve been carrying around a printed PDF binder of the 1st edition rules since April 2020. It was amazing that Osprey Publishing company actually gave out the core rules for free as a way to help people during the early days of the pandemic. In truth it was a fantastic strategic ploy to sell their 2nd edition rules which released later last year. It was time and I decided to dive in and ordered a hardcover copy of Frostgrave 2nd edition. I absolutely love having a hardcover copy! The colors & illustration are fantastic to say the least.
My Frostgrave Warband
First Game of Frostgave Feb 2021
However when playing the game for the first time I realized a serious flaw of my tabletop collection. Up until this point i’ve been purely focused on 3D printing two dimensional Dungeons and Dragons Maps. To be precise I consider myself an expert on 3D printed dungeon tiles. If you are curious or interested to know more about what is out there let me know in the comments.
While I had a few buildings in my collection I did not have nearly enough verticality in my game for tabletop skirmish and wargames. The battles were won by ranged attackers due to their crazy line of sight and movement felt semi flat. Building bridges, climbing and jumping moments really brought the game to life for us.
As a result I started my quest to make more buildings and vertical scatter. However, I’ve also been working on my 2021 goals of “Mega Projects” which has been a major distraction.
Hence the current situation of being teased by my partner in crime as to why I’m only crafting and not playing. So I have set a date, a deadline as you will of September 25th. But before I get ahead of myself let me start at the beginning.
What is Frostgrave?
Frostgrave is a fantasy tabletop skirmish game of which you choose a wizard from one of ten schools of magic, select spells, and hire a warband to overcome wandering monsters and solve scenarios in order to capture treasure.
Number of Players: 2-8 (Considered best with 2 or 4), optional rules available for solo play Time to Play: 60-120 minutes Age: 12+ Play Area: 2 ft x 2 ft (short game), 3 ft x 3 ft (standard game), 4 ft x 4 ft (long game typically for multiple players) Miniatures: Miniature Agnostic (what ever you have laying around).
Designed by: Joseph McCullough Publisher: Osprey Games
Long ago, the great city of Felstad sat at the centre of a magical empire. Its towering spires, labyrinthine catacombs and immense libraries were the wonder of the age, and potions, scrolls and mystical items of all descriptions poured from its workshops. Then, one cataclysmic night, a mistake was made. In some lofty tower or dark chamber, a foolish wizard unleashed a magic too powerful to control. A storm rose up, an epic blizzard that swallowed the city whole, burying it deep and leaving the empire as nothing more than a vast, frozen wasteland. The empire shattered, and the magic of the world faded. As the centuries came and went, Felstad passed from history to legend and on into myth. Only a few wizards, clinging to the last remnants of magical knowledge, still believed that the lost city had ever actually existed. But their faith was rewarded. After a thousand years, the fell winter has passed. The snows have receded, and Felstad has been uncovered. Its buildings lie in ruins, overrun by undead creatures and magical constructs, the legacy of the empire’s experiments. It is an evil, dangerous place. To the few hardy souls who inhabit the nearby villages, the city has acquired a new name, ‘Frostgrave’, and it is shunned by all right-thinking people. For those who seek power and riches, however, it is an unparalleled opportunity, a deadly maze concealing secrets of knowledge long forgotten…
In order to play a game of Frostgrave you will need to select miniatures for your warband as you explore the frozen ruins of Felstad. Miniatures used in this game can be from any brand, manufacturer of your choice but recommended that they are all the same scale or size.
Warbands Consist of:
A Wizard (representing a school of magic)
An Apprentice (optional but highly encouraged)
Eight hired soldiers/mercenaries to fight by your side.
You will have a limited budget when starting so selecting a warband is definitely a balance. Stay Tuned for a post which discusses the process of making a warband.
Also in order to explore ruins of a magical empire you need well, ruins. Terrain is the second thing you need. The book suggests enough terrain that a ranged attacker does not have longer than a 12 inch/ 1 foot line of sight. More is better apparently.
You will also need a singular 20 sided dice per player and 6 treasure markers.
Last but not least is that there are multiple scenarios you can play which can require unique terrain, monsters or locations but not needed to play your first game. This is what we did for our first game and just made a standard game without a scenario.
My Challenge
I have officially set a date of September 25th to build my first ever preplanned battle board, choose and paint warbands, paint my treasure markers, and monsters needed for a day of epic playing with the handsome husband.
So what does that really mean?
I have a long to do list:
I need to design, print, and paint 9 square feet ( 3×3 ft) of tabletop terrain,
At least 2 warbands need to be printed and painted (wizard, apprentice, and 8 soldiers): 20 total models
Need to gather and paint an unknown amount of wandering monsters & summons
Paint 6 treasure tokens
This is anything but easy for me and to be honest i’m super intimidated. I absolutely hate playing games that aren’t painted and really like Frostgrave the game. My goal is that if the game is epic enough we will play with significantly higher frequency. Of course we don’t need everything to be perfect but I’m a perfectionist.
The Project
This is probably the largest project i’ve ever attempted to undertake and the number of miniatures alone I am aiming to complete will smash through my entire 2021 painting hobby goal for the year in less than 2 months. Overall, I’m absolutely intimidated by the prospect and really want to create some incredibly fun terrain pieces to go with. Better graveyards, rivers?, should I finish my castle project?, what about bridges?
All of the planning, discussion, and mentality of my battle map will be featured next Friday. My starting point is actually based off of the Memorial District in the Elder Scrolls Franchise of the Imperial City if you are looking for a tease. I will be posting every Friday until game day revolving this project.
Future posts will include how to play the game, building and designing your warband, and so much more.
Questions?
Have a question about the game? Anything you are curious yourself? Do you play? Don’t hesitate to comment down below and follow along in my journey.
