Modeling Mayhem - Post 00 or I Hope I'm Not Biting Off More Than I Can Chew

Looking back as an adult,  I realize how fortunate I was to grow up in house where this was in the back yard.

I spy, with my little eye.....

I was raised by a hobby nerd. Radio control everything. Model railroad in three scales. Hell, when my dad was laid off in the oil crunch during 80's he made our toys. He taught me and my brother knot tying by crafting a scale ewok village in the azaleas (still one of the coolest projects we've done, well, that and making functioning hang gliders for our GI Joes out of garbage bags). 






His mantra has always been 'why buy it when we can make it'.

.....something awesome!

My younger brother started 40k in the early nineties. He would game while dad and I would make the terrain. When I went off to school I enrolled in architecture, and spent many an hour making models for class that would wind up on the gaming table later in the semester  being defended by the proud warjacks of Menoth. For me gaming was always about the hobby and the further development of the story I saw in my head.

And then I stopped.....for 10 years.....

I left school, wandered around for awhile, returned to graduate, and eventually found a job and began to settle down. 

About a year ago, like an old girlfriend, hobby gaming started to surface in my thoughts. "I wonder if she's still around?", "How's she doing?", "What's she up to now-a-days?" And to find out I did what anyone does when trying to subtly/not so subtly find out about an old ex: I called a mutual friend, my brother.

La Casa de Gamer Dos. Albeit, a touch messier..

He's grown now, too, and father. And to no surprise, he has a gaming sanctuary of his own. Hoping to pick up where I had broken it off, I asked him what was going on with Warmachine lately. He told me an alternate version of the game, Hordes, had been released and that the game had shifted from the rebel, small-list skirmish game we had loved in an attempt to be one of the cool kids that utilized large armies and buckets full of dice. The game was more popular, but I missed the old game and what had made it so special. 








Heartbroken,  I asked if there were any other games that had the same energy and uniqueness that I remembered. Without a pause, he smiled and said, "Have you heard of Malifaux?"

Small list, victorian-horror meets steam punk, with zombie hookers?! I was hooked and I hadn't even seen the game yet. Before I had even returned home from the holidays, I had ordered the Dark Debts box, two beckoners, a fate deck, and the newly released M2e rulebook.

I haven't looked back since. One year, five factions, and 144 models later, I'm still going strong and feel I'm just now hitting a stride with the game.

Which brings us via the long way to the point of this post.

Flush with a sense of accomplishment from completing the first month of the ToMB2, I figured I'd kickoff my own monthly hobby challenge, but instead I intend to focus on terrain.

These 'Modeling Mayhem' posts will be sporadic in their frequency, but hopefully no fewer than once every two weeks. My overriding goal is to generate one medium-sized (or its equivalent) every month.

I've got some ideas of where I want to go, but am looking for input and guidance. Feel free to comment. If there's a technique you want guinea-pigged, or found an article that seems interesting, but not entirely clear, let me know. I'd like for this to be a fluid exercise and maybe even a hub for this type of info. If you've got a blog, again, let me know cause I'd love to reach out. I know I'm by no means an innovator here, more an enthusiastic modeler looking for kindred spirits.

I know there are several folks out there who love terrain (looking at you War Gamers Consortium and Adepticon Sean) and I hope you'll let me tag along with the crowd and maybe give me some pointers.

TLDR : hobby-time....go!