Archive for the ‘Editorial’ Category
Hot right now
November 25, 2010Woah, a good while since my last post. Sorry about that, dear readers! Real life has gotten in the way yet again, with other hobbies and studies taking my time.
After a posting break it’s always nice to do something different, and this time it’s a “Top 5 at the moment” post. Here we go, in no particular order:
Horus Heresy book series
While I’m not a big fan of WH40K in general, these books have got me hooked. They depict a time long before the current date in the WH40K universe, being more like WH30K, and chronicle the catastrophic events of the eponymous Horus Heresy that see the Emperor’s most beloved son turn on his father and bring the galaxy to a bloody civil war.
There are lots of things to like in HH. The series boasts many of Black Library’s top writers, such as Graham McNeill and Dan Abnett, and most of the books – even the not-too-impressive ones – are pretty ok scifi fare. The books deal with a time period ten thousand years distant, so the writers have a lot of space (literally, too) to move and work in. Reading these books makes me wish the regular WH40K fluff was this interesting, with loads of alien civilizations and humanity’s spin-offs.
The best thing for me, however, has to be the point of view. Many of the books deal with the so-called Traitor Legions, the Space Marines that sided with Horus against the Emperor. Regular 40K fluff simply places a terribly boring and bland EEEEEVUL stamp on them, whereas the HH books tell the stories from the villains’ perspective. It turns out most of them aren’t really evil after all, but instead have all too human flaws like vanity or pride, which lead to their downfall. It doesn’t help that the benevolent God-Emperor starts to take on a more and more sinister cast as the story progresses.
I’ve always loved interesting villains. Sauron? Boring as hell. Saruman? One of my all time favourites. Whenever the time is taken to flesh out an antagonist, a story becomes much more interesting to read. At times you don’t know who you’re rooting for, and even if the antagonist IS evil, you find yourself thinking “Weell, he does have a point there.” The HH books are loaded with this, and the stories of Horus, Fulgrim and Magnus the Red are nothing short of delicious. Granted, some of the books aren’t really worth reading (Battle for the Abyss, for example, is a waste of time and money in my opinion), but the excellent ones more than make up for this.
If epic high fantasy scifi is your thing, give these books a go. I got mine through the Book Depository. You can check the publishing order here, for example.
Dawn of War 2
It’s been a long while since I’ve been this hooked on a computer game. Dawn of War 2 is a real-time strategy game set in the world of WH40K. Unsurprisingly, my consuming of lots and lots of WH40K fiction (see above) led me to pick up this game, and it hasn’t disappointed.
The story focuses on the Blood Ravens Space Marine chapter that lays down all kinds of hurt on orks, eldar and tyranids. The story is fine, the cutscenes lovely and there’s a little rpg element too, as your squad leaders gain experience and you can tailor their skills and wargear to suit your needs. All this combines to make a game that has a significant “one more mission, even if it’s 2 am” element.
I played DoW1 to death when it came out, and I’m glad to see the sequel is quality stuff as well. There’s a trailer below to whet your appetite.
Role-playing games
Miniatures are cool and all of that, but I’m a role-playing gamer first and foremost. RPGs are going through a small renaissance in my regular group of gamer friends, with games popping up here and there. A few days ago I had the honour of guest-GMing a game in a massive campaign my friend Petri is running. The campaign – named Century – is a wonderful X-Filesy alternative history romp, with one game played per year of in-game time. My contribution? Zombies in Estonia in 1936. Fun was had.
Our 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons is going strong as well. A lot of RPGs we play nowadays deal with pretty adult themes, ethics and the like. This campaign is about monsters, leveling up and solving mysteries. It’s great fun, and the social gathering is at least as important as the game itself.
Role-playing games have also allowed me to combine my hobbies with the real world. My master’s thesis (in education) is a survey study about the views role-playing gamers have on RPGs as a way of developing empathic intelligence – social skills, creativity, empathy and so on.
Winter
Winter has hit Finland yet again. While it brings some annoying things with it – such as loads of snow and freezing temperatures – it also provides a lazy student/blogger/gamer with all the peace and quiet he needs to invest in the things that really matter: games, movies, miniatures and so on. Since it’s perfectly acceptable to stay indoors in the winter, it really is the season of the geek. I’ve prepared for a long winter by stocking up on Horus Heresy books and zombie fiction, as well as making sure that most RPG sessions are held at my place. Oh yes, and there’s Christmas, too!
The Walking Dead
I can’t not-include TWD, can I? For my comments on the subject, see this post. We’re having our second TWD get-together with three of my friends this Friday to watch episodes 3 and 4. Can hardly wait!
Those are the five most interesting things in my life at the moment off the top of my head. Hopefully I’ll have time to get back to my regular irregular posting schedule now.
DotL miniature giveaway
November 1, 2010I have some miniatures I don’t need at the moment, and to be honest, probably never will. I figured I’d share the love and give the following stuff away to loving homes. All you need to do is pay for postage via PayPal, and I’ll chuck them your way. All the people – bloggers especially – reading this: do the same. You probably have minis sitting in a box somewhere, with the vague idea of “these might be useful/valuable/chopped up for conversions one day” that you’ve used to justify keeping them around unused for years – I know you have! Some people might have a use for them, so do them a favour and pay it forward.
I’d rather post these as lots, but will do single miniatures as well. Bases are not provided, I think you’ll manage.
Lot 1 – Warzone Undead Legionnaires – GONE!
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Bought years ago for a never finished “40K Chaos army for cheap” project. One has had his weapon chopped up, no idea why.
Lot 2 – Warzone Pretorian Stalker & Ilian Templar - GONE!
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Same 40K project. Sold the painted stuff ages ago. Still very nice miniatures, with the Stalker going for €4.95 on Prince August’s site.
Lot 3 – HeroClix
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Madame Masque, Colossus, Hawkeye, Umar and Tomoe. Pre-painted plastic. The quality isn’t very good, but these are still a viable option for those looking to do some superhero gaming. Some of the models have other uses as well. I’ve seen Colossus used in a Weird World War 2 Russian army, and a repainted Hawkeye serves as a vampire in my Underworld project.
Lot 4 – Mage Knight
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Utem Crossbowman, Nightblade, Quarterstaff Warrior, Immortal Fanatic. More pre-painted plastic, the Immortal Fanatic has had his other blade snap off (it’s included, though). Again, the quality isn’t very nice, but these could well be used in RPGs etc. They’re far nice than paper counters, anyway. Acetone can be used to strip the paint away, if you fancy repainting.
Lot 5 – Old Plastic Imperial Trooper & Squat – GONE!
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These were found in a large lot of mixed miniatures way back. I have no use for them, so feel free. Might be a blast of nostalgia for someone.
Lot 6 – Grenadier Adventurer & Shadowrun Street Shaman – GONE!
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For reasons unknown I’ve chopped the revolver hand off the adventurer, and replaced the shaman’s right hand with it. The shaman has had whatever was in his left hand replaced with a knife.
Lot 7 – ERM Facehuggers x 6 – GONE!
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These were sent to me as part of the Alien miniatures review. While they’re nice enough minis, I simply have no use for them and want them to have anice, warm home. That’s six miniatures for free (two sets of those pictured), right there.
Lot 8 – ERM Facehuggers with guns – GONE!
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See lot 7.
Lot 9 – Old plastic Citadel Wood Elves x 5 - GONE!
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These are from Citadel’s first range of plastics. They’re all headless. I’ve used some human heads to convert a few to be Huntsmen in my WHFB Empire army.
Lot 10 – Old plastic Citadel Dark Elves x 8 - GONE!
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Part of the same range as lot 9. Two have heads, others are headless. None have their separate crossbows.
And that’s it!
Reservations via comments box, we’ll sort out the details via email, payment via PayPal. One lot per reader, if you want several you’ll have to wait for a week or so. First come, first served. Postage to the US will be a few EUR maximum for letters. The Clix stuff will cost a bit more, but nothing exorbitant.
And as I mentioned before, I encourage other bloggers to do the same. One man’s trash is another’s treasure, so let’s get that old stuff into rotation, mmkay?
User-created greatness
August 10, 2010Since it’s been a while, I figured it was time for an editorial. I’ve been thinking about writing on this subject a long time, so here goes.
For me, user-created content is one of the best things available on the internet. Blogs, fansites, forums and what have you. Personal insights into matters, thoughts and opinions – such as this one – on pretty much any subject you care to name. And as a reader you can comment, reply, take part in the discussion and be a part of a community. There are professionals, amateurs, dabblers, hobbyists, first-timers, last-timers, veterans, rookies…all sorts with different views and different things they bring to the table.
Most of my time (if you don’t include the endless idling on Facebook) on the internet is spent reading blogs and forums, learning new stuff, appreciating and commenting on the work of others, and of course subjecting my own output to similar scrutiny by other users. I can’t even begin to tell how much I’ve gleaned from all this. Countless links and discussions, an endless supply of information both useful and useless, both silly and serious.
As a blogger I’m trying my best to contribute. I aim to provide content that I would enjoy myself: reviews, inspiration, news and sometimes just a few bits and pieces to let people know that there’s an actual person writing this stuff.
Blogging is great fun. You get to give something to the mostly faceless mass of the community/communities you’re part of. The sheer thought of actually writing something interesting is probably what most bloggers dream of. For me, the best things I can hear are comments that tell me that my writings have been of use. Maybe someone has bought a book or seen a movie that I reviewed or used my painting tutorials. There are few things in the world that can beat that feeling of being useful. Isn’t that what most people want to feel like?
That brings me smoothly to commenting. People, if you read a blog post that you like, comment! You’ll be pretty much guaranteed to make a blogger’s day, especially if it’s a small blog. Who knows, your comment might be the one to save a blog sliding into oblivion or the one boosting a blogger to strive for even bigger and better things. The more I’ve blogged (this is post #82 since May 2009) the more I’ve learned to respect the work of others. Nowadays if I enjoy something that I see, I’m more than happy to let the creator know it. Every comment I receive on this site still makes me smile (apart from some crazy Swede calling me retarded, and even that makes me smile a bit nowadays), and there are some frequent commenters that I’m already viewing as friends even if I’ve never met them. If I’m not all wrong, I think I’ve replied to every single comment I’ve received.
It’s typical in posts like these to offer some tips on blogging, so who am I to differ. Here are mine:
If you are a blogger
- Write when you feel like it. Some people will disagree with me on this, as they like doing their postings on a schedule. If you can do that, even better! My blogging depends a lot on my moods. I might write a blog once every three weeks, or three blogs in a week. Better to make a post you like writing, than force yourself to create something mediocre. Be mindful, though. The longer the hiatus, the harder it is to start again.
- Elaborate. Instead of saying “I liked it”, tell the readers why. It’s not that much more work, but it’s that much more useful.
- Don’t be afraid to provoke. It’s your blog, it’s your opinions. Don’t be an ass, though.
- Reply when people comment, it’s polite.
- Check your spelling. Noeone liks torreed txty writtn liek dis evn IF IT contins an lut off inromation.
- Check your layout. Two pages of text with no paragraph breaksislikereadingasentencewithnospacesorpunctuation Alltheinformationistherebutitsalotofworktowadethroughit. Pictures are fine too, as are appropriate uses of formatting. Don’t go overboard.
- Don’t be afraid to advertise your blog a bit. Be careful though, it’s a thin line between providing people with news of interesting posts and spamming every message board every time you write something. Deliver the news to people you think might reasonably be interested. Surprisingly often people will thank you for pointing them to a new source of information.
- Maybe most importantly: Write stuff that you would like to read. Chances are that other people will like it, too.
If you’re a reader
- Comment, comment, comment. Bloggers want and need to know that what they write is read.
- If you find a blog you like, subscribe to it. An RSS or Atom feed is a nifty internet thingy, that notifies you when a blog is updated. It saves you from constantly checking up on a blog and keeps you from forgetting that one blog where there was an interesting post a month back. Google Reader is a very easy online choice. A lot of blogs also provide you with email updates. It couldn’t be easier: just enter your email and the blog will send you a message whenever there’s something new available. Some blogs – this one for example – also provide a Facebook link. Just become a fan and you’re notified of updates in your feed.
- Follow links in blogs, you might often stumble upon something you might not see otherwise. Like this video of an eldritch thunderstorm in Finland.
- Check out the blogrolls on blogs. Bloggers will often point you in the direction of blogs and sites they like themselves. I recommend everything under the Other people header, there on the right.
That’s about it. Now go do your part.
Unspiration
April 28, 2010Ah, the joys of writing an hobby blog when you haven’t been doing anything even remotely connected to your hobbies. Instead of being down about it or posting a quick ‘n’ easy movie trailer post, I figured I’d explore the whole phenomenon some. Everyone loves editorials, don’t they?
For me, painting miniatures is very much a thing dependent on inspiration, which at any given moment you either have or haven’t. It’s very much like a mood swing thing: one day I”ll be thinking “oh, sweet, miniatures!” and spend an hour or six working on all that stuff on my desk and starting different projects. The next day – or rather the next month – I’ll lose interest. Not gradually, mind you, but just go cold turkey. It’s not that I start feeling bad about doing miniatures or getting in any way repulsed by the hobby, but it simply gets pushed way back in the priorities, so I’ll be thinking “oh, I should finish those models. I’ll just clean the flat and go jogging, do a little Facebooking and play some Mount & Blade first.” And what do you know, it’s 1 AM and “oh, I’m not going to start painting at this hour, but tomorrow!” Yeah, right.
Now, I’m a bit of a bipolar character and my relation to miniatures reflects this a lot. It’s almost like a switch that’s either on or off. When I’m really into it, I can – despite my rather slow painting – get pretty prolific and multitask a lot, sculpting this, painting that and assembling those. However, this enthusiasm does have its downside. As probably every single miniature hobbyist knows, minis are like crack or bacon. You just can’t get enough. What this means, that when the craze hits I tend to order just a few more, since I only have around a thousand or so waiting unpainted on the wardrobe shelves. This really isn’t a problem, though. I know that I’m in no hurry, and most of that stuff will get painted some day, but it is a bit funny. I blame the ease of internet shopping. Especially eBay has delivered me a ton of WHFB orcs, which I simply had to have. Even if I play WHFB maybe twice a year.
That brings me conveniently to gaming. Which I don’t do a lot. Come to think of it, I’ve probably played less than ten games during the last year. I get in a shot of WHFB every now and then, although the laborious task of setting up the tables and assembling the armies tends to put our group off frequently. To combat this I bought Fear & Faith to go with all of my vampires, zombies and werewolves. The problem with this? Ummmn. There actually isn’t one, come to think of it. For crying out loud, I should get a game on. Ok, the reason it got put on the back burner was the fact that I was very much into moderns when I bought it, and didn’t have a good modern table setup available. Of course I had grand plans for that too, but it fell into the “oh, I’ll just finish the kitchen renovation first” category. The renovation is long done, the table not yet started.
Gaming is important. Even if I’ve become much more of a collector than a gamer in the last few years, games still hold a very special place in this hobby for me. While I often think that games aren’t half as much fun as painting and collecting, every single time I play I game I will think “oh, this is really fun! Why don’t I do this more often?” Seriously. Every single time (apart from that WHFB game with the high elves destroying my army without ever leaving their hiding place behind a largish wood). Luckily, I now have the new Space Hulk game on the way. It’s very quick to set up, doesn’t require special gaming boards and I already have the painted miniatures I need for it. In other words, it’s perfect to kick start my gaming anew. After that a bit of Fear & Faith, maybe a werewolf hunt using my WHFB Empire troopers and terrain? After that..oh yes, the blog.
This, dear readers, is interesting. Writing this blog right now has actually rekindled my enthusiasm for minis and gaming. All I really needed was a good think about this wonderful hobby of ours. See? It comes and goes, often on a whim, and unspiration turns into inspiration.
I’m leaving for London and Cardiff in ten hours or so – just imagine my frustration about missing Salute by a very small margin! Anyone fancying a pint, a chat or simply a chance to say hi, feel free to send me an email.
Getting all trendy
February 15, 2010Do you want to be notified whenever there’s a new posting on Dawn of the Lead?
Does RSS equal WTF in your mind?
Are you loathe to receive email notifications?
Your worries are now over – if you’re on Facebook, anyway. I’ve started a fan page for DotL, where members will be notified of new posts. There might be other content from time to time as well. Click on the Facebook link below, come in and show your (possible) support!
Love of the Dead
February 13, 2010For Dawn of the Lead’s Valentine’s Day special I was thinking of writing an article called “How to get your significant other interested in wargaming”. The only thing that came to mind was “By lying”, so I decided to change the subject a bit. So…
How to get your significant other interested in zombies?
This is probably a problem a lot of zombie fans run into every now and again. For some curious reason, many people – girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives et al – are not in love with zombie culture. They might even not want to pick a zombie movie for Saturday night’s feature. You might hear such comments as
- All zombie movies are the same. BRRAAAIIINS, BRAAIIINNS and then they just eat people.
- I just think it’s silly. You know, walking corpses and all. Vampires are fine, though. Especially the sparkly ones.
- Couldn’t we watch a movie with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock instead?
Familiar? It is for me. So, here’s a bunch of tips on how to trick guide your loved one into enjoying the one thing you hold dear.
Clothing
In all honesty, zombies aren’t really cool or hip. Except if you make them into cool and hip clothing. Such as these examples (click on the pics to enlarge or the names to buy):
Games
Games are a good way to bring a sceptic into the fold. If it works with kids, it should work with spouses. Now, Dead Rising, Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead might not be the most suitable. They’re all pretty deep in the whole zombie apocalypse scenario. Let’s try something a bit different:
Plants vs. Zombies is summed up brilliantly by the developers:
A mob of fun-loving zombies is about to invade your home, and your only defense is an arsenal of 49 zombie-zapping plants. Use peashooters, wall-nuts, cherry bombs and more to mulchify 26 types of zombies before they can reach your front door.
An excellent blend of cartoony zombies and addictive gameplay will bring your significant other just a bit closer to the world of the undead.
Infectonator! is a simple Flash game. The idea? Cause devastating chain reactions by launching a zombie infection into populated areas. Destroy civilization in 60 seconds. Highly addictive, with a notable “one more try” factor.
Zombies!!! (what’s with the exclamation marks here?) is a light beer & pretzels kind of game, where survivors try to get out of an infested city by reaching a helicopter. Only one can survive, and it quickly devolves into backstabbing and tripping one another. Great fun, in other words.
Movies
The two categories above are a good way to start, but when you really want to reel someone in – which you do – then movies are the way to go. Now, instead of just telling what movies to choose, I’m going to suggest different tactics to use.
- Director familiarity: Honey, do you remember Trainspotting and The Beach? Danny Boyle actually directed this one movie called 28 days later, too. Want to check it out?
- Actor familiarity: I can’t believe it, Zombieland has that girl from Little Miss Sunshine in it! And Bill Murray!
- Theme familiarity: You liked the movie Outbreak didn’t you? This movie’s pretty much it, but the disease is just a bit worse.
- Zombie factor playdown: Shaun of the Dead is not really as much a zombie movie as it is a romantic comedy, you know. And despite the gore, Braindead is actually a story of a young man’s struggle in today’s society.
- Intellectual challenge: As a matter of fact, Romero’s original Dead trilogy is a nihilistic view of mankind’s incapability to work together. Night of the Living Dead had a black leading character, which was remarkable in 1968. Dawn of the Dead is a scathing critique of consumerism, while Day of the Dead mercilessly attacks the flaws in the military-industrial complex. Oh, and the remake of Night replaces the black lead with a strong female one.
- Pop culture challenge: Well, zombies are THE pop culture phenomenon of the early 21st century, you know.
- Conditioning: Remember the night we went dining, got a bit tipsy, watched Resident Evil and made out in the theatre? I’ve got RE: Apocalypse on DVD.
- Guilt: I just wish you could share my enthusiasm. Note: Use at own risk, don’t repeat.
And the common and very functional, mentioned at the start of this post:
- Lying: No honey, there are no zombies in this one, I swear. What I did with [Rec] was a mean thing, I know. Look, this one‘s about Norwegian teens going camping. Note: Stable relationships only.
I also cannot stress once piece of information enough: Unlike in cuisine, keep away from Italian. While there are some classics, the Italians pumped out amazing amounts of zombie schlock in the 70s and 80s, that can be best described as gorenography. Blood, entrails and softcore nudity were the operative words here.
Whether you’re already in a relationship or looking to get someone hooked on zombies (and thus admire you for your knowledge), this should get you started. In true Valentine’s Day spirit here’s a thematic poem to send you off:
Roses are red
Violets are blue
If I’m ever a zombie
I’ll make you one, too
Dawn of the Domain
February 7, 2010I’m actually growing quite fond of my little blog, and to make it just a bit nicer, I registered the domain dawnofthelead.com with WordPress.
No need to worry, there’s no need to upgrade your bookmarks or blog links, as dawnofthelead.wordpress.com will still take you to the blog as well. The simple dot-com address just looks nicer. And allows me to receive feedback with an @dawnofthelead.com address, which is just way too cool.
2010: To Do
January 1, 2010I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions. However, I’m all for planning ahead and getting stressed out. So what’s in store for 2010? Let’s see:
- More zombies. I’ve got a bunch to paint, unsurprisingly.
- Adversaries for the zombies. I’ve been thinking of getting military types, such as Eureka’s Bundeswehr and d&p’s modern French and Italian troopers.
- I need to finish the modern vampires and werewolves that I have unpainted for my Underworld-project.
- The urban gaming table I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Maybe that might get me gaming a bit more.
- Some Empire for my WHFB army. We had a world of fun on Boxing Day, and it somewhat restored my faith in WHFB.
- There are still player characters and NPC’s for our Pathfinder RPG campaign that need painting.
- I want to sculpt more, so should get some of that done too. I have a few WIP zombies on my desk as I write.
- Keep updating this blog. It’s become a nice little hobby in itself!
Hope to see you guys – and a whole lot of new ones too – during 2010. Happy new year, and thanks for reading Dawn of the Lead!
With this I’m off to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt for two weeks of sunbathing and diving, so no new updates until after January 16th.
Merry Christmas!
December 23, 2009
With this lovingly hand-crafted, traditional Christmas card I would like to wish all my readers a merry Christmas. Hope you get a lot of zombie stuff and miniatures!
Just remember to board up the chimney, the door and the windows, it’s not Santa and his elves moaning out there.
