[sefadu] Berserker finished!

THE close-combat specialist of a melee oriented faction, the Berserker looks exceptionally bad ass. I haven't seen the faction cards for the sefadu yet, but I'm really interested to see the stats on this guy!

He hasn't even got a gun, and even the Kemvar Assassin has a gun! He's just got two blades stuck to his forearms... that's a fairly strong commitment to carving face when everyone else on the battlefield has guns!

Onto the photos!

Sync out.

[sefadu] Sniper finished!

I think this is a uniquely designed and well-posed sniper model. All the sniper models from the MERCS range so far have been holding their prized LRK weapon, but not the sefadu sniper.
It's truly a testament to the close-combat melee style of the faction that even their sniper has slung off his primary weapon, to wield a dagger in a crouched combat stance.

Another dynamic and great looking sefadu model! I don't think my painting does the model justice, but hopefully Angel will bless us with his work soon.

Sync out.

Keiwai Waza Teaser Photo!

Brian has shared this teaser photo of the upcoming Keiwai Waza faction on this forum post. He's also stated that:

Keizai Waza samples will be in the booth. The sixth MegaCon for MERCS, they will be available for purchase in two short weeks. Here is a quick preview shot of the group.

Keiwai Waza - click to enlarge!

Here's the Faction Artwork, to provide a comparison between the models and concepts. More fantastic work and collaboration from the MERCS team!

Can't wait!

Sync out.

MERCS at GenCon 2011

So these photos are the closest I'll be getting to GenCon, with me living in Sydney - I'll update this post with any more photos that pop up. I think it's great that Brian shares things like this with the community via his Twitpic - have a great time guys!

Sync out.

MERCS Buttons available at GenCon

In this thread Brian announces that MERCS Faction Buttons will be available for purchase at GenCon this year. No news on whether or not it will be available for purchase online (which is the only feasible option for non-North American MERCS), but I'll update this post with any word.

Here are the designs from MERCS sculptor Tom Mason:

CCC

FCC

KemVar

sefadu

USCR

Keizai Waza

Sync out.

[sefadu] Grenadier finished!

I really like the dynamic poses of the sefadu, and the first thing that comes to mind when I look at the Grenadier is "Run and Gun!"

Define Grenadier: A soldier armed with grenades or a grenade launcher.

When I first saw the model, I thought it would require pinning to the base, seeing as the contact point between the model and the base seemed minimal. It's actually a really solid connection though, and no pinning is required - which lead me to the realisation than none of the MERCS miniatures I've painted have required pinning. A small, but appreciated aspect of the model design.

Onto the photos!

Sync out.

[sefadu] Gunner finished!

There was something lacking from my first attempt at the sefadu - the red was too dark, and I wasn't completely satisfied with using the yellow as an extreme highlight.

So I gave the red a few thin coats of Blood Red, highlighting up with each coat. I'm not sure if the photos show it clearly, but the yellow I used for the extreme highlights are still faintly visible, which I think does well to add to the overall blended highlighting.
Without the yellow though, the colour scheme was missing a bit of pop, so I painted the backpack fins yellow for good measure.

Here are some comparison shots of the red and yellow highlighting:

I'm happy with my sefadu colours now, and am ready to get to work on the rest of the squad!

Sync out.

Hotz Mats

As part of my fantasy MERCS project, which I'm calling CLANS, I wanted to create a suitable battleground for my skirmishes to take place.
The first thing I needed was a theme to the battleground - something versatile for which terrain would be common or easy to make.

The first thing that came to mind for fantasy wargaming was grassy fields, which suits fantasy somewhat more than Sci-Fi. I already have my Toposolitario Battleground for Sci-Fi, so I thought I'd go to the other end of the spectrum for my fantasy battleground. I guess if I really wanted to, I could play Sci-Fi on grassy fields too.

With that idea, I started thinking about all the options for terrain that would be appropriate for Grassy Fields - and the options were really limitless. I could have hills, towns, ruins, trees - pretty much anything appropriate for a fantasy setting. Hills would be great for creating elevation ratings, town houses and ruins for full and half cover, and trees would be pretty good for half cover too!
So I was set on creating a grassy field battleground!

The first thing I need would be a gaming mat - something suitably designed that would thematically unify all the terrain on it, while still being durable enough to withstand the rigors of miniature wargaming (the occassionally spilt Coke).

I wasn't able to find any good papercrafting options, but after some looking I stumbled onto Hotz Mats.
Hotz Mats are treated felt gaming mats, designed specifically for miniature wargaming. Check out their website for all the details - they come in a range of designs and sizes, with the option for crater artwork and/or squares/hexagonal grids.

So, I found the size most appropriate for MERCS: the quarter-size (22"x34") which is close enough to the MERCS recommended 24"x36".

I ordered the Green Planet design, with no craters or hexes - the craters suits 15mm wargaming moreso than 28mm, but I guess they could represent a very war-ravaged landscape.
I also ordered the Moonscape design, with no craters or hexes, after I found out postage for two quarter-sized game mats had the same cost! I thought the Moonscape design could also be used as a dungeon, cave, or mountain pass setting.
For the two mats it costed me about AU$32, including postage. I went down to the local art store, and found the Hotz Mats prices (including postage) were actually cheaper than plain felt mats without any designs on them of roughly the same size... go figure.

32 days later, my package arrived from Canada! This struck me a particularly long, but Eric did warn me when I put my order through that there was a postal strike in Canada.

So here are some photos I snapped real quick before bed - I'll take more photos over the weekend, hopefully with better lighting.
I'll also be posting a short review on the mats as well, so stay tuned!

Green Planet (no craters, no hexes)

Close-up

Moonscape (no craters, no hexes)

Close-up

Sync out.

[sefadu] Gunner WIP

Last Wednesday morning I put through my sefadu order with Defiant Gaming, which also included FCC models I decided I would get (to round off my MERCS collection) and some paints I needed to re-supply.

With crossed fingers I waited eagerly, in hopes that my package would arrive on Friday before the weekend (as post doesn't get delivered on weekends). To my relief, Dan came through and I had my MERCS miniatures and was ready to get painting - yay for quick order processing and delivery!

Here's my first attempt at the sefadu Gunner. I'm nowhere near capable of free-handing the designs on the artwork shown above, so I thought I'd include the yellow as heavy contrasted highlights. Looking at my painted model below and comparing it to the artwork, I might try to tweak the red and get it a bit brighter, as the other colours are pretty dark too - so for now, he's still a WIP I guess.

Sync out.