Battle Foam: a miniature storage solution

Battle Foam makes a huge range of different cases to fit any of your gaming needs!

Getting new miniatures is always an exciting time, an excitement that is only surmounted by the feeling of accomplishment when you finish assembling or converting them (and painting them…).  Seeing the little soldiers come to life, piece by piece, has fascinated me ever since I started the hobby back in grade school.  But one thing rarely comes to mind as you excitedly watch new models being released and contemplate the next crazy conversion, and that is: where they are going to go after they are finished?  When I started the hobby I was not overly concerned with storing my models, but as the years went on and I started to invest more time and effort into them, I started to care much more.  Initially I put my models in inexpensive foam-padded handgun cases, but shifted over to Games Workshop’s iconic hardcases when they were first released years ago (when they still had the Imperial Eagle on them!).  Having foam layers with individual cutouts for each model was a dramatic step above simply pressing them between two layers of foam.  I used the GW cases for years, and never really had problems with them (other than perhaps the low quality latches on them, which were prone to breaking), or saw much reason to change until a new company specializing in custom cut foam came onto the market.  I am speaking, of course, of Battle Foam, which was a much smaller company back in 2005, and was still trying to find their feet.  Intrigued by the notion of having foam trays cut for specific models, I decided to give them a try.  I was extremely impressed with that first case, a P.A.C.K. 432 which I use to this day to carry my Deathwing army. I have purchased a number of their cases since and have watched their product line expand and improve with time.  In this post, I wanted to show some of the cases and talk a bit about how they have changed over the years and what I have found them good for.

The Horde Assembles: building Malifaux Gremlins

The gremlins are some of the most lively and characterful models in the Malifaux range.

Over the last few weeks, following up on the excitement over Wyrd’s new releases at Gencon, I have primarily been working on assembling gremlin models.  Although most of the recent effort has been focused on Ophelia’s crew,  I also made significant headway on Som’er Teeth’s gremlins, as well.  I thought I would show you some pictures of those models that I have assembled and talk a bit about a small skirmish they got into against the Judge!

Dark Eldar: Plastics wracks!

Submit to the suffering.

The November 2010 release of the newly redesigned Dark Eldar range was a revolution in scope and vision: an entire army re-envisioned and entirely resculpted, virtually all by one individual, the legendary Jes Goodwin. Even more astounding, all but a few of the new models were plastic and all were interchangeable. The redesign of the army was just before Games Workshop’s switch from metal to finecast, so there were a few models initially in white metal, before being switched over to resin (incubi, mandrakes, character models, etc.). The Wracks where one of the only kits released solely in finecast, because they were released a bit after the initial wave of releases. And although the models were quite good (in their own disturbing way) finecast was a deal breaker for me, so I never got any of them. Almost four years later, the Dark Eldar are finally getting a new release, and plastic Wracks are leading the way!

The Ghost Legion: Building Alpha Legion Headhunters

I am Alpharius. 

It has been a little while since my first post about starting an Alpha Legion strike force for Zone Mortalis. I have been making steady progress on the force and can now finally show the results of my efforts! As I hinted at in my previous post, I have been hard at work on converting a Headhunter squad. The idea of a small cell of Space Marines that excel in infiltrating and sowing dissent and confusion in the enemy ranks is fascinating to me.  Particularly because, although always described as remarkably skilled and determined warriors, Space Marines are rarely likened to assassins (with the exception of the Alpha Legion’s Headhunters). Building a squad of these espionage agents presented an interesting challenge in trying to implement those unlikely themes into a unit of Space Marines.