Kickstarter Rewards - War & Empire III - Forged in Battle

I received the kickstarter rewards from Forged in Battle (Westwind productions) yesterday. I have been eagerly anticipating this one for sometime. Since the production of the rulebook had fallen behind they opted to go ahead and send out the miniatures and would follow up with the book later.

I had opted for two starter armies rather than trying to mix and match packages with an unknown rule system and hope the Forged in Battle know what they are doing with the starters. I received the Norman army and the "Viking" army. Viking is in quotes here because I suspect that what I actually received is the Saxon starter army as all of the packs are marked either SG or SX. Since my four extra Viking packs are marked VK I figured something was off.

So that email is on the way, so far I'm not doing well with orders from the UK lately! However, everything else looks great. The miniatures are clean and fresh and just crying out to be painted. Of course we know how that goes in my house, they might be crying for sometime. I have vowed no miniature painting until Chester is finished, he remains my top priority.

Along with the Viking army I had to get a a couple of Viking longships to transport them. Both castings are quite clean and the metal miniatures (oars and upper torsos) look great. My only beef is that the ship hulls were cast with the shields mounted on the side which looks good but near as I can tell from the historical record is not how the shields would have been carried on board, its more for show and would have probably only been done in quiet waters for parades and funerals, not for going into battle. They still look great, some tiny casting flaws which are not unexpected in something like this. Certainly one of the better Viking longships out there right now, especially in 15mm.

Now that's a box full of stuff!

Shield transfers because I just couldn't bear the thought of painting all those shield designs by hand.

The extra Viking packs which provided the first clue that something might be amiss,

The Norman starter army with an extra NR3

The "Viking" Starter Army, all those SX notations make me think that this is more likely the Saxon Starter Army.

A beautiful Viking Longship, one of two.

Genghis Con XXXIII Painting Conference and Competition - What the heck is it?

As some of you know or have figured out I organize (and crack the whip) the Painting Conference and Competition at two conventions; Genghis Con and Tacticon. Genghis Con is next week. We will be running 30 painting classes running the gamut of basic to advanced painting, composition, color theory, basing and even army painting. My slaves...er instructors deserve a huge thank you for the time and effort they put in. This year the following folks will be spilling forth everything they know about painting: Bob Crum (Rookie!), Jen Kaufman (who also picks up the pieces after me, and is the power behind the throne), Derek Matthews (returning for a 2nd appearance), Colin Monnes, Michael Proctor (getting better and better every time I see his work), Torin Reed, Andy Still, Lili Troy (two time slayer sword winner), Kirk Troy and Bianca Weeda. And a special thanks to my guest of honor Marike Reimer (first winner of the Crystal Brush competition).

And of course there are the folks providing product for the painting classes and for prizes:
Reaper Miniatures http://www.reapermini.com/ (Paints and Minis! What more can you ask for!)
JMD Miniatures: http://www.jmd-miniatures.com/ (Providing support all the way from France. Jean-Marie does awesome work and provides excellent service, definitely take a look at his work)
Iron Wind Metals: http://ironwindmetals.com/d/ (Providing a ton of miniatures for prizes and gift certificates, not only do they produce new miniatures but they own and produce most of the old Ral Partha miniatures)
Total Escape Games http://www.totalescapegames.com/ (One of our local FLGSs that is really coming through when I needed it, supporting the new Silver Star Competition for 15mm WWII miniatures)
Secret Weapon Miniatures http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/ (Providing washes, pigments, scenery kits, resin bases, really coming through with prizes and sending Grab Bags too!)
Forged in Battle http://www.forgedinbattle.com/ (Another company stepping up to provide support for the Silver Star competition, beautiful 15mm vehicles and miniatures)
Dick Blick http://www.dickblick.com/stores/ (My favorite source for brushes, and that's what they are sending, a ton of brushes. Without this tool, well we couldn't paint!)
Scibor's Monstrous Miniatures http://sciborminiatures.com/ (Another overseas company coming through with prize support. Their first time supporting the convention so definitely check out their fabulous line of resin miniatures)
DGS Games http://www.dgsgames.com/ (What can I say, I asked and Mike delivered, really sweet line of fantasy miniatures and expanding! They will be running games at the convention showing off their miniatures and their rules)

I really could not put on this show without my instructors and the support of manufacturers like these. Please check out their links and if you like what you see definitely pick something up from these companies, they all produce high quality miniatures from 15mm to 54mm and larger, in metal and in resin. I guarantee that you will see something you can't live without (come on you can't participate in this hobby without paint brushes!).