Nova Open Recap: Team

All for one and one for all and all that. 

Going into the Open the team tournament was a big question mark for me.  I didn't try to find a team before the event as conventional wisdom said it would be good to have some non-event time at a con.  With Iron Arena going, and a total lack of details before the Open began, I figured I could either get in Iron Arena games, nap, tour the con, or fill out someone's squad.  There was a bit of chatter about finding people on Thursday which grew in intensity through Friday and into Saturday.  I knew I could find a place to play if I wanted to, but the question of whether I wanted to or not was still undecided after the close of the morning's Steam Roller.  After three tournaments in a day and a half what I wanted most was to have a leisurely meal so I strolled over to the Bozzelli's that had spurned my breakfasty advances that morning to get a big, greasy meal that I could lord over like a dragon and its hoard.

Painting on the go, living the dream

Bad lighting?  No problem. 

This past Thursday we had a painting night at the FLGS.  While the participation rate was dramatically less than I anticipated that didn't stop me from getting some good work in.  You may recall eLylyth in a basic state from a while back.  Fast-forward to now and she's (probably) done after a rather casual night of painting.  I'm not entirely happy with the bow, and the armor as a whole could use a highlight to knock some of the blue down, but I'm pleased for two reasons.  1 - another model (close enough to) done.  2 - painting time was low and the results are still decent.  Considering I did all the actual work (anything after the initial basecoat and wash) at the FLGS with new/sub-prime lighting in a not entirely comfortable position while engaging in the usual gaming night gabbery, I think the results are fairly remarkable.

Revenge of Tournament Mode

The right way to prepare for a tournament. 

I keep my eyes open for tournaments in the DMV, and this weekend was full of them.  On Sunday Games & Stuff (which I'll get to one of these days) had a tournament going and on Saturday my local group was trying to put together an end of Olgunholt tournament.  Unfortunately that fell through because of the other tournament going on Saturday, a 50 point Steam Roller down at Game Vault, which was already on the calendar for a number of the locals.  We ended up sending five people down south to take the fight to Fredericksburg, the first expedition of the still coalescing Nova Nomads (of which more will undoubtedly be written later, when there's more to write about).  I met up with Danny, Hawk, and Ron in Falls Church, where we all piled in Hawk's car.  After a quick drive down and a stop at Sonic, we got to Game Vault and saw our fifth local, Austin, making his way in.  There were 15 players when we got started, so the TO filled in to even up the numbers.  Fortunately there was another willing organizer who took over the administrative duties (also the same guy whose Skorne I played at Dream Wizards about a month ago, but whose name I still can't manage to hang onto.  Third time is the charm).  I'd played a handful of games over the past week to reacquaint myself with Legion and fielded the following:

eLylyth WIP # 1

The model isn't half this dark.

The painting table got a new resident today in eLylyth.  I've been having some issues adapting my Legion scheme from beasts to infantry.  The beasts have an easy logic to them: blue/white skin, orange chitin, creamy undercarriage, purple transitions.  Infantry can follow the same sort of approach: skin is skin, chitin is just a beast's armor, cloth is like the undercarriage, and infantry always has little spots of detail begging for a different color (purple).  The problem lies in materials that beasts don't have: leather, wood, metal.  Mostly the problem is leather.  My initial thought was to make it purple and keep my palette small, but the vast swathes would (I think) take away the impact gained from keeping the bits of bright purple tiny.  While pondering these problems and looking at eLylyth's model, I had a bit of an epiphany and a scheme for her clicked into place.  Leather bits will be brown, and for now the bow will be wooden and therefore brown as well (though I'm considering making it creamy/bony).  I didn't do much work with the model, just basecoating and the usual Devlan Mud wash, but I have a direction in mind now.  With any luck it'll spark a similar breakthrough with the Shepherds and Swordsmen that have been mocking me for a month or two now.

Gaming could be interesting this week.  The Caps play at home tonight and Thursday, on the road in the middle of the day Saturday, then potentially home again on Sunday at a yet-to-be-determined time.  With Olgunholt starting this week, and the NFL-style league (that needs a better name) also rolling, scheduling is a bit challenging at the moment.  Hopefully I can get in my Olgunholt games for this week as well as the NFL league, but odds are long on that at the moment.