Friday, October 12, 2012

ISS Assembled


And here are the ISS assembled. Now that I've got them on their bases, I can see that they're all taller than the Texico that I've just assembled, and the style of the models are definitely different to the Texico as well.
This isn't a bad thing by any means - I love that each MERCS faction looks unique, and painting them up gives me a lot of varying sytles to paint!

Sync out.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

ISS Unboxed


These MERCS Starter Boxes are fantastic! Everything you need in one box, even MERCS faction dice!
It wasn't too hard assembling the Texico with my recovering finger, hopefully I can get the ISS together as well.
These models are proportioned COMPLETELY differently to the Texico - they seem to be taller, possibly modelled to a different scale. I'll get them assembled with some paint before a proper review though.

Sync out.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Texico Assembled and Based


Texico - assembled and based! These models seem to have a bit more of a cartoonish look than the other MERCS factions, and their proportions seem a little inconsistent with the rest of the MERCS models. I'll see what they look like with some paint before reviewing them though.

Next up, I'll crack open the ISS!
Sync out.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Texico Unboxed


So here’s an unboxing shot I took of the Texico (the MERCS Starter Kits are great!) and I’ll look at starting some assembly tonight. There aren't many pieces that need to be glued together, so hopefully I can manage with my recovering injury.

Sync out.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Back to Painting!

Well, I think my finger is finally better, which means I can get back into painting my ISS and Texico! I’ve had the splint off since before MOAB so I could run the demos unhindered... it was a little tender on the day, but I think playing FPS computer games in the last few weeks has strengthened it somewhat. Not entirely confident that I’ll have the dexterity for the fine motor-skills required for detailed painting, but I won’t know until I give it a go!

Eager wargamers painting at Mantic's Open Day

So this week, I’ll concentrate on assembling my two new MERCS factions, and I’ll see about starting getting some paint on them this weekend.
Sync out.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

MERCS at MOAB!

Prologue

MOAB - Mother of All Battles - is an Annual Wargaming Convention held in Southern Sydney. A few months ago, I decided that I would re-paint my existing MERCS models, as well as new MERCS models, in order to run demos at MOAB - which lead to weeks of non-stop painting:
I managed to paint up 6 of the 8 existing MERCS Megacons, only to have a major set-back in the home stretch, leaving me unable to finish the new and shiny Texico and ISS factions!
Well, I was very disappointed (that's what I get for leaving my painting table to exercise!) that I couldn't achieve my goals, but am still proud of what I did manage to accomplish in a few weeks.


Prior to the convention, my two younger brothers were kind enough to sit through a few practice demos, and critique my overall presentation, and help me fine tune it. I found this to be a tremendous help - as someone who has never run any kind of demo before, this was a great way to refine explanations, demo techniques and provide a bit of a confidence boost.
I also had a lot of help from the MERCS Black Ops team - big shout out to all the MERCS across the world for your input on forums and Facebook!


MOAB

After driving a little over an hour to get to the convention, I arrived and set up while the convention was just getting started for day 2 (MOAB is a 3 day event, spanning over a long-weekend). I had been assigned a table from 9:30am-1:30pm, with two half an hour breaks included.

My table on the main floor - on the top level there were about 20+ tables
for Warmachine/Hordes/Infinity/WH40K.  There was a stage behind me,
(not pictured) with about 12 tables for WHFB, as well as Historical games.

Close-up of my MERCS table. On the left-side, you can see all my painted
MERCS Megacons on display, as well as some of the starter boxes.
On the right-side, I had the 2D game mats, Rulebook, and Quick-start Rules
for people to peruse at their leisure.
After a slow start, with people just starting to arrive and vendors putting out their wares, I had my first demo at about 10am... and they didn't stop until 1:30pm! I didn't even get a chance to use my allocated break periods!

I ran four demo games throughout the four hours, and between each game I had plenty of interest and questions coming from players in-between their tournament games. The painted miniatures I had on display were a great attraction, and I did manage to get a LOT of compliments about my painting - all those late nights were worth it! People were also drawn to the 2D game mats, and thumbed through the Rulebook and Quick-Start Rules I had on the table.

The demos themselves went well, and I think everyone involved had good fun and enjoyed their games :) One thing that did stand out was how easy it was to pick up the MERCS game mechanics - after a few example turns, most of the players had a good understanding of the mechanics.
In the final demo before I had to pack-up, one of the players even corrected me on something - "Doesn't my Assassin have that Active Camouflage thing? He shouldn't have been able to kill me!" In my defence, I did have a long 1 hour drive, followed by 3 hours of demoing on an empty stomach...

The KemVar did suffer a casualty though - a friendly follow, named Steve I think, (with arms as thick as my legs) did manage to snap the Assassin's arm off. Normally, if I had done that to my own model, I'd be furious with myself - but we were all having such a great time, it didn't seem to matter. I probably should have sealed my models before the demo - I'll make sure to do that for next time.


I was a little caught up in the excitement of it all - being my first wargaming convention, as well as my first demoing experience, so I didn't take too many photos. I'll make sure that I take more photos next time.


Epilogue

Well, I had a great time, and I think everyone who had a demo had a great time too. Hopefully I answered everyone's questions well, and let everyone know that MERCS is more than just awesome looking miniatures!


Oh, I'd also like to give a final shout-out to DEFIANT GAMING - thanks for stocking MERCS Miniatures since they started up two years ago, and always providing excellent service!

Sync out.