Gyrinx

I got a little distracted from my ongoing and quite substantial DreadBall project over the last few days and painted these two guys.  I did base one of the figures for use as a DreadBall coach though, so I didnt get completely sidetracked.

These furry little predators are domestic cat models bought from the sadly very soon to be no more Mega Miniatures, painted to represent a bit of old school 40k nonsense called “Gyrinx”.

Gyrinx as illustrated in Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, 1987

According to the first Warhammer 40,000 rulebook (AKA Rogue Trader):

A Gyrinx resembles a large cat, with very thick and fluffy ginger or orange fur and bright blue eyes.  They can grow to as much as a metre in length.  Gyrinx are not intelligent as such, but they have an astounding ability to empathise with other creatures, forming a mental bond with their owner which is comparable to true friendship.  This mental empathy is of great benefit to the creatures owner, whose own speed of thought and action are actually improved whilst the Gyrinx is in close proximity.  What benefit the Gyrinx obtains from the relationship is unclear, but there is plainly some deep-seated need being fulfilled, because an ownerless Gyrinx will actively seek out and adopt some other creature.  Oddly enough, Gyrinx show a slow metabolic change so that they come to resemble their owner physically, tempermentally and in habit.

Obviously, these are creatures of great value, and unlikely to be owned by ordinary people.  Typically they would be owned by Inquisitors, Rogue Traders, high-level members of the priesthood and the like.  Even evil aliens might own a Gyrinx – the creatures inherit their morality from their owner so they can be pretty mean!”

An eldar warlock hanging out with his gyrinx master from Warhammer 40,000 rulebook 4th edition, 2004

The original 40k book was full of daft little entries like that, more like something from a RPG bestiary than from the modern Codices.  The aim of the game at the time was to have as many ways as possible for players to use various miniatures that they already had in their collections, rather than prescriptive lists from which deviation is not allowed.  There are pros and cons to both approaches of course, but 40K was a very different beast in those days.

A few of the entries were defined by the various other miniature ranges that GW produced at the time, with the model of Dave the orangutan mayor of Mega City One from the GW Judge Dredd range being the inspiration for the Jokaero for example.

Although I am bit out of touch with the 40k background these days, I am pretty sure that there hasnt been any proper reference to gyrinx since the eighties (although you can see in the picture above that there was a sly reference to gyrinx in the 2004 rulebook).

Work Night Out, 41st Millennium style

I bought a few cat models for use in the long stalled, but definitely still going to happen Personal Vanity Project, (I like cats). I had planned to paint up a few as gyrinx for ages, so painting these two was a satisfying little diversion.  The description above states specific colours for the fur and eyes of a gyrinx, but I went ahead and painted mine in exotic space-alien colours.

GW did make a limited edition gyrinx model back in the eighties but it goes for daft money on Ebay these days.  It isnt a particularly knock out model (it has a bit of a Looney Toons, Sylvester the cat, cartoony vibe).  All of that said of course if anyone reading this has one that they are willing to part with then let me know and we might be able to make a deal.  Death Ferrets also glady accepted  :)

Failing the procurement of vintage, oddball space cat miniatures these domestic cat models are perfectly suitable for that role.  The blue model above will take part in my WH40k Skirmish project whenever I get that off the ground.

Sideline Staff

For the laugh I based the purple cat up for use in DreadBall as a coach.  If you read the background text above you will see that the notion of a mildly psychic cat granting enhanced reflexes and cognitive agility to players from the sidelines isnt that much of a stretch.  It makes as much sense as anything involving psychic space cats does really.

An Ursa Miner Bruin and an OCP Patriot with magnetic balls.

I attached magnets to the bases of my DreadBall miniatures.  I also magnetised the bases on my Blood Bowl teams a while back.  During play the ball (with corresponding magnet) can be quickly and easily placed on the players base, where it will stay during play.  It makes a surprisingly fiddly aspect of the game easier.  Those of you who have hardly given a thought to where you position your balls may be sceptical, but its worth the minimal effort.

The process is simple but as a few people asked me how I did it I decided to put together a post about it.  The materials and tools that I used to make my balls attractive are as follows:

• 1.5mm diameter x 1.5mm height magnets (1 per ball)
• 3mm diameter x 1.5mm height magnets (1 per base)
• Drill with 1.5mm bit
• A small clear plastic bag (I used a small ziploc bag that a miniature was supplied in)
• Superglue
• Permanent marker

Magnetised Blood Bowl Balls

1) Drill a 1.5mm diameter hole at least 1.5mm deep into the underneath of both of your DreadBalls.

2) Mark two of the smaller magnets on one of their flat sides with the marker.  Make sure that the the same side of each magnet is marked – the marked sides should repel each other and the unmarked sides should attract the marked sides.   This is the most important part of the entire process, so dont rush it.  Make certain that the same pole is marked on each magnet.  The last thing that you want is repulsive balls.  Trust me on that.

3) Place one of the marked magnets on a rigid, flat part of your work surface.  It doesnt matter whether you put the marked side of the magnet face up or face down as long as you are consistent with all of the magnets that you plan to use in the balls.

A Blood Bowl Skaven mutant models the magnetic effect.

4) Put a small drop of superglue into the hole in the underneath of a ball and press the ball down on the magnet with a quick motion.  If you do it too slowly the glue is likely to cure too rapidly and jam the magnet halfway in.  Repeat this process for both balls.  Wait for the glue to dry fully.  I magnetised the balls last January and didnt take photos, so I have no visual aid for this step, sorry.

5) As I have been using painted balls to play the game for the last six months or so I want to make sure that they dont get glue or anything on them in the next step.  So I put one of the balls into the small, clear plastic bag.

A breathtakingly dull photo, but it gets the point across.

6) Put a drop of superglue into wherever you want the magnet to go on the underside of the base.  Put a magnet near, but not in the glue and pick the base up.  Hold the magnetised ball (still in the bag) against the top of the currently upside-down base near the glue and the magnet will shoot from wherever it is to that location, flipping over if required.  This flip is why this is the easiest method that I have found to get the magnets in the right place AND in the right orientation.  Doing it this way 100% ensures that the magnet ends up where it should.  Its not rocket science, but its a hell of a lot better than gluing a magnet into a drilled hole the wrong way around, trust me on that too.

This short, no expense spared video should make the process very clear.

You now have attractive balls.

EDIT:  I was subsequently asked where I bought magnets suitable for this process.  The answer was usually from China via Ebay.

OCP Patriots Guard and Keeper (Libby)

While prepping an extra guard for my OCP Patriots DreadBall team I remembered that I have had a Hasslefree Power Armoured Libby sitting in the box of unpainted Blood Bowl stuff for years now.  A bit like Barik Farblast and Flint Churnblade the Libby figure is better suited to the sci-fi DreadBall setting than it is to Blood Bowl anyway, so I modified the football Libby is carrying into something a bit more DreadBall-y and painted her up.

L to R: Guard, Striker, Keeper, Jack, “Lucky” Logan.

Like Barik, Libby will serve as a proxy for a “keeper” position player, keepers being upgraded guards that can crudely manipulate the ball (regular guards cant touch the ball at all).  Keepers have heavier armour than standard guards too, so Libbys heavier appearance fits thematically too.

Libby is also a suitable substitute for the Anne-Marie Helder MVP if required.

Flint Churnblade

Another vintage addition to the Ursa Miner Bruins, Flint has been hanging around the unpainted figure mountain for ages.  DreadBall seemed like a good excuse to get him painted, so I went for it.

I painted Flint at the same time that I painted Barik Farblast and I treated Flints chainsaw the same way that I treated Bariks bazooka.  Although there is justification for Bariks ball launcher being present in a DreadBall game, to date there is no in-game reason for a forgefather to carry a chainsaw around with him in the arena.

I dont really care though.  I saw an chance to paint a figure that had been sitting around for decades and went for it.  If Flints in-game presence is required then I will happily justify the saw somehow.

Like Barik, Flint is ever so slightly smaller than the forgefather miniatures, the guard in particular.  These old GW guys are shorter than average short DreadBall folk, but within normal racial parameters I think.

Barik Farblast

Barik is a 2nd edition Blood Bowl Star Player who overcame his racial inability to throw the ball satisfactorily by using a (surprisingly high tech) bazooka.  The models clean lines are quite a contrast with more recent Blood Bowl dwarf miniatures (which tend to look like Warhammer miniatures with their weapons clipped off rather than sportsfolk).  I think that the figure probably fits in better with a game of DreadBall than it does in Blood Bowl.

Barik Farblast features three rows down, third from the left.

Photos of the painted Barik miniature featured in the first White Dwarf magazine that I ever saw/bought (#108, December 1988).  Before I saw that magazine I had no idea that miniatures of fantasy sport themed, bazooka wielding dwarfs could be purchased, let alone painted to such a high standard and subsequently gamed with.

I pored over this magazine and this page in particular.  So from that day I wanted to paint my own Barik Farblast miniature.  Twenty five years later I finally got around to it.  Barik has been waiting for paint since before some of my gaming opponents were born.

I painted Barik with the same palette used for my Ursa Miner Bruins.  While it isnt a match with the original BB scheme shown in the scan above, it has some coincidental similarities.  The armoured style of the DreadBall forgefather miniatures is quite different to the sportswear look that Barik has, so I had to work a little to get the scheme to fit.  In retrospect its possible that I should have added a yellow stripe travelling front to back on the top of Bariks helmet, but that idea only just occurred to me now.

I decided to paint the bazooka in the same way that I paint the bases on my DreadBall miniatures.  I reckon that it makes the weapon look a little more like its something from TRON or Automan or possibly some sort of holodeck style re-sequenced photon projection rather than a big ol’ mechanical apparatus.  I think that it looks cool like that, but YMMV.

In DreadBall “guard” position players occasionally evolve, Pokémon-style into “keepers”.  As well as being tougher versions of regular guards, keepers also get the rather dubious ability to handle the ball crudely and launch it down the field via modified DreadBall launchers.  This makes Barik a pretty perfect proxy model as a DreadBall keeper, all the more so because the keeper models are not available yet.

L to R: DreadBall forgefather striker, Blood Bowl 2nd edition Barik Farblast, DreadBall forgefather jack.

Barik is a fraction smaller than his teammates and the style of his kit is a little different, but I think that he fits in just fine.  Im looking forward to using the model in a game after a quarter of a century wait…

Bambi, Tiffani & Candi.

Most Blood Bowl figures are a bit too fantasy looking to be suitable for use in DreadBall.  DreadBall miniatures are also a bit smaller than the GW heroic 28mm that Blood Bowl figures conform to, which also limits compatibility.

Those restrictions dont apply as much to the second edition Blood Bowl miniatures range.  Those figures were sculpted twenty five years ago, when miniatures were just a little bit more miniature and the aesthetic for Blood Bowl figures was quite different.

In the brief lull between getting DreadBall Season 1 finished and starting work on DreadBall Season 2 I decided to work on some old and neglected Blood Bowl figures that to my mind fit in mechanically and conceptually with DreadBall.  DreadBall is the catalyst to finally get those models finished and on the table, which is fun and satisfying itself considering that I have owned some of them for them for quarter of a century…

First of the repurposed BB figures finished are these cheerleaders.  They are not terribly sexy looking to me, but then I am not an ork or goblin.  Presumably the Cowgirls shown would represent a Beyoncé level of physical attractiveness to me if I was.  Its all about current cultural norms anyway: your grandchildren might well be very attracted to human women who look like this.

Maybe.

Bambi and Candi have passably modern cheerleader attire.  Not very sci-fi, but I suppose the fact that they are little green women will carry that aspect.  The orc/ork/orx (Tiffani) is a bit more fantasy looking, with a chainmail skirt and a couple of other fantasy trappings hanging from her belt.  I decided not too worry about it: the figure is too unique a painting opportunity to leave out just over that.

Nine of the ten competitors. “Athlete” number ten is behind the camera. 

The event had an uneven number of entrants (nine) which was ideal as it meant that I could play in the tournament too, rather than assume bystander/ref-bot duties for the day.  I would have been happy enough to sit things out if required, but its always more fun to actually take part.

The venue has plenty of room and we have access to a number of DreadBall sets, so a large number of players can be accommodated if necessary (the local club run 40k competitions with ~50 entrants on the site which should give you an idea of how much space we have access to if required).  I wasnt sure how many entrants we would have for DreadMill, but being able to have five simultaneous games running was great.

The ten competing teams (no unpainted teams allowed).

A fully painted team was a prerequisite for taking part and some nice teams hit the table.  All four of the currently available “Season 1″ teams were represented, with a preference shown for forgefathers (4) followed by veer-myn (3), corporation/human (2) and marauders (1).

Forgefathers vs forgefathers (top) and Marauders vs Veer-myn (bottom).

Part of the appeal of DreadBall is the relatively short game time.  I have played numerous full DreadBall games within sixty minutes, but its pretty intense.  Its good fun playing like that with regular gaming buddies, but it could easily make for needless hassle with strangers.

With that in mind and because it was likely that a few of the players would only have previous experience of a couple of games anyway, we allowed 75mins per round.  The goal was for a pleasantly competitive environment that stopped short of being cutthroat.

Veer-myn vs Corporation (top) and Forgefathers vs Veer-myn (bottom).

Registration was at 10am with the first game starting at 10.30.  Lunch was scheduled after the second game, with short breaks between each of the four rounds.  A number of the players said that they would have been happy to play a fifth round after the fourth and final games finished, but I figure that its always better to finish a day like this with players still enthusiastic rather than burnt out.   So we stuck to the four rounds as planned.

The day was good fun and the feedback received was great, with enthusiasm for another similar event at a later date.  We had some prize support as sent to us by Mantic Games, which was cool.

After paying for the costs of the premises etc the balance of the (nominal) entry fee left over will be put into prizes for future events, so the next DreadMill will be even more lucrative for the participants.

I did some playtesting on the above miniature rules set earlier this year (accounts of some of the games can be seen here).  It was fun and it was a pretty painless way to get a lot of older figures back on the table for the first time for years and make some “pew pew” noises.

If you like the Ganesha rule sets and you have an interest in any of the sort of thing that this blog covers, then I can heartily recommend Swatters.  Even if you are not familiar with the Ganesha rulesets, the PDF only costs USD$8 so its worth a punt if you already have access to appropriate miniatures.

You can get the PDF here.

DreadBall Season 1

 2013 is turning into DreadBall year at Sho3box Towers.  Since January I have got the following models painted, all of which are DreadBall figures:

O.C.P. Patriots DreadBall Corporation Team

B.P. Oilers DreadBall Marauder Team

Ursa Miner Bruins DreadBall Forgefather Team

Rekall Rentokillaz DreadBall Veer-myn Team

Season 1 MVPs, Coach, Ref-Bot, Balls and Trophy

All of the miniatures that can handle the ball have had magnets attached to the base that correspond with the magnets inserted into the base of the balls, as seen below.

Making substantial progress like this is great.  With two more equally sized DreadBall shipments due over the year (thats a lot of toy soldiers), getting off to a great start like this is very satisfying.  Fifty-one DreadBall miniatures (plus two balls) painted and counting.

John Doe – Nameless DreadBall MVP

John Doe (not his real name: his native tongue is unpronounceable by homo sapiens) is the final MVP from DreadBall Season 1 that I have finished.  It is also the final DreadBall Season 1 figure completed, making it a milestone.

I have added a lot of pink to the colour schemes on my DB miniatures. When I painted Coach Renton with a black/pink/green scheme reminiscent of a Mega City 1 character a couple of weeks ago I liked the look of it, so I used a similar palette on John.  The model has a Mos Eisley, tentacle-face vibe, but the vibrant uniform moves it a bit away from the dusty brown Tatooine fashions..

There is a full team of these guys – the “Nameless” – due out later on this year.  I will likely paint the full team in the same scheme.