AoS28: Freyvid Hafnar - The Eclipse

Is it like the hand of God hovering above?

Freyvid Hafnar, Chief investigator of the Barak-Nar Biologis Guild, had been commissioned, alongside an Overlord warfleet, to venture into the humid cloudbanks of Ghyran in search of a missing explorator fleet. The Kharadron had long forsaken the realm of life for the riches of their native Chamon, but greed and hubris garnered from their dominion over the skies eventually pushed them outward. Rumors circulated the airways of some daemonic taint that had begun to overtake some of the farther reaches of the realm, and the Admiral Counsel began to fear that their ships may have been lost to its vile clutches. In hopes of salvaging something from the lost venture, they commissioned a Grundcorps reconnaissance fleet to investigate, with Hafnar amongst their storied crew. Never ones for superstition, the Barak-Nar Admirals reasoned that a scientist would prove useful in case the lost fleet met their end via some unconventional means. Hafnar was also somewhat of an expert on Nurgle pox and maladies, if anyone could truly be called such, studying the Guild’s labyrinthine archives on the matter. Whatever the fate of the lost ships, the decaying hand of Nurgle or otherwise, they would be found and avenged…

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 18: The Dark Age of Sigmar

The Dark Age of Sigmar.

We begin this episode by talking about the new Age of Sigmar releases, focusing on some of David Waeselynck’s work, the Vanguard-Palladors and the new Slambo. We also discuss the recently released Warhammer Quest game, Shadows over Hammerhal. We then transition into describing how Jake from Ex Profundis started a movement to bring the narrative style of Inq28 to Age of Sigmar, creating AoS28. The Age of Sigmar setting is a veritable blank slate upon which you can explore virtually any creative impulse, without feeling beholden to droves of background knowledge. This has encouraged us to start building a warband of warriors afflicted by an odd crystallizing disease, inspired by the J.G. Ballard novel The Crystal World.

A look back: Best Blogs of 2016

After having posts detailing our favorite models of 2016 and documenting our exploits, it is time that we highlight some of our favorite blogs and hobbyists from the past year! It was a truly remarkable year, filled with the creations of so many talented hobbyists that we could never name them all. But below is a small selection of ones that really stirred our imaginations. We endeavored to highlight blogs we have not mentioned in previous years, but would encourage you to look at our selections from 2015 and 2014, as most are still producing stunning work!

A look back: Best Blogs of 2015

We have already discussed our favorite model releases and our work over the course of 2015, but my favorite part of each year is seeing what interesting miniatures that the community creates!  I spend more time than I should each day browsing the internet, looking for little converted soldiers.  If you are reading this blog, you likely do not need me to tell you about how fantastic this year has been for the hobby.  Instead, I will show you some of the blogs and models that stood out to us at Between the Bolter and Me!  This list is not an all-inclusive one, and is listed in no particular order.  Sorry in advance if we forgot to include anyone on this list, the wealth of fantastic models and modelers is too great to ever list in just one place!

Kingdom Death: Marred by Misogyny?

Miniature-based wargaming has long been a male-dominated hobby, one that has partially been kept that way by the portrayal of women in many of the games (well-endowed and often scantily clad women in provocative poses, etc...). Anyone who has had any involvement with the hobby can doubtlessly come up with plenty of examples of this, but today I want to touch on one of the newer offenders, Kingdom Death. After over 2.5 years since being successfully funded on Kickstarter, the base game for Kingdom Death: Monster is finally in the hands of the over 5000 project backers. For those unaware, Kingdom Death: Monster is a survival horror boardgame which puts you in control of a band of human survivors awakening in a nightmarish realm of endless night, beset on all sides by cohorts of horrid creatures. The imaginative and unsettling creatures that populate the game take heavy inspiration from Kentaro Miura's fantasy-horror epic, Berserk (Bruticus over at Ex Profundis has an excellent compilation of artwork from  the manga if you are interested). To complement this unique theme, all of the survivors and monsters have been skillfully realized in game terms as finely detailed miniatures. The theme and accompanying miniatures would have been enough to support a successful Kickstarter campaign (back in late 2012, Kickstarter was not as inundated with miniature games). However, one of the primary things used to promote the game were "pin-up' versions of many of the human survivors. All of these pin-ups are female, generally very sparsely clothed, and often in suggestive poses. Just a glance at some of the concept art for these pin-ups should give you a good idea of what I am referring to: