GenCon 2017 - Part I

Welcome to the 50th Anniversary of GenCon

This will serve as the introduction to GenCon 2017 rambling.

Yes, it's been over two weeks since GenCon wrapped up, and that's like ancient history now, but:

1. I wanted to get this in the blog, and; 
2. I had a horrible bout of the "GenCon Plague" (aka double sinus infection) that kept my motivation low.

So, this is the intro post; the intent here is to lay out a few things up front.  This is not intended as a "How to GenCon" (although next year that might be a reasonable thing to post), and assumes you know something of the event.  It's meant more of a view through our eyes for the 2017 event.

4th Time's the Charm:  First, this was our 4th GenCon overall.  In years past, we've had fantastic times but each year has been different, with different events, different game titles, and different challenges in scheduling.  Every year we walk away with new ambitions and talk about how we'll tackle the next year; things that we'd change or things we wouldn't do again.

But overall there's not a lot to complain about.  We have a group of old friends from college that converge upon Indy every year that we meet up with.  We've met my favorite author (Jim Butcher).  We've had our picture taken with Summer Glau and bright green Cthulhu monsters (that's an inside joke).  And we've expanded our knowledge and understanding of the Tabletop Industry each and every year.

Planning:  I spent far more time preparing and strategizing our shopping  plans this year than any previous year.  Normally we wander down to the vendor hall after the initial crush of nerd bodies and then work our way through fairly randomly.

This year, both Mrs. Zoxe and I had multiple booths and multiple vendors to try to obtain exclusives and pre-releases.  This meant paying attention to show-open times, picking an out-of-the-way entrance (crowd avoidance), and studying the vendor hall map to min/max our route to loot.

(Yes, I live in a house where topics like pre-GenCon planning is debated over the dinner table.  Life is good. :)  )

Nerd angst:  Kingdom Death topped my Thursday morning plans, but this gave me much angst. As I mentioned previously, I backed the 1.5 Kickstarter very heavily, and have MUCH content inbound.  However, the KDM universe is full of similarly named figures, some of which are included in the Kickstarter and some of which are not.  There's a lot of existing content that I've already paid for that I consistently get very confused.  The thought of passing up something I didn't have and then not seeing it restocked for months/years makes me unhappy.  Without knowing exactly what Poots would bring to GenCon, before the event I spent several hours making a cheat sheet for my phone so that I could avoid repeat buys and buy with confidence (more on this later).

Event tickets:  GenCon uses a lottery system for reserving events.  You can login in advance and peruse the catalog and create a wish list.  Both Mrs. Zoxe and I spent the time to pick our preferred events, and min/maxing our 4 days of games.  We were both online the day of the event sales, punched the button to join the queue the moment it went live ... and then unhappily watched all of our selected events fill up one after another.  We scrambled back through the catalog, and managed to fill in some alternate game time on Saturday and Sunday.  This actually worked better, as it left Thursday and Friday for shopping.

Food:  Part of our planning involved a strong desire NOT to eat at the convention center snack bars for the entire weekend.  Not only is the food expensive, it's also sub-par, and my guts will only handle so many greasy fries and nacho-cheese that's closer to bathroom tile caulk than a dairy product.  Last year the food trucks looked enticing, but crowded - this year we vowed to make decent food a priority.

And so, as the months, weeks, and days counted down, we eagerly awaited our trip to downtown Indy for the best 4 days of gaming.

Beli'al Build

Ready for action.

Background:
I snagged Beli'al at GenCon16 and was super excited about him. Other than the Derelict Ship expansion, Beli'al is my 2nd most-wanted SoB addon/expac. I had great intentions of getting him assembled and painted over the winter of 16/17, but real life got in the way and I had a lot of things on my painting table ahead of him (which mostly didn't get done either). I was also fairly intimidated by him - given the investment of time and money I really didn't want to screw him up, and my indecision about what to do with the base cost me months (and persisted through the build process).

Goals:

1. I am not a pro painter. The goal of anything I do is to look reasonable as "board game pieces" from several feet away. 
2. Learn something new. I am not a raw beginner, but I also realize that I'm bumping up against the limits of my ability/patience and I pick techniques that I can be successful with. That being said, each big project I try to add another entry into my bag of tricks.
3. Be done before GenCon17. 

Disclaimer: 
I'm posting this not as a "look how cool I can paint" but more of a reference for others wanting to paint Big B - searching around for references resulted in few google hits, and several of you will be buying Beli'al at GenCon or when he hits retail this fall.

Beli'al Model & Assembly:
Beli'al is a large model. The pieces are big, assembly is not particularly difficult. The instructions in the box are helpful. The cloth ribbons around his "legs" are perhaps the most tricksy, but refer to the instructions, use the process of elimination, and take your time and it's pretty straightforward where they are supposed to attach. It's been a few months now, but I remember no excessive trimming or sanding. I used GaleForce9 plastic cement and dry fit every piece beforehand.

Here's box contents (GenCon16 preview edition, NOT retail), the sprue, and some assembly pics. (Where there are FATE dice included, they are intended for scale).

Yes, the Mrs. lets me do assembly on the dining room table.

Opening the GenCon16 Preview Box.

Box contents. FATE dice for scale.

Body sprue.

Wing sprue.

Torso assembled.

The wings are socketed. I briefly considered magnetizing for storage options.

Note the scale to a standard SoB Hero.

Back view, before installing wings.

Front view.

There is not a ton of superfine detail. With Beli'al and a few other XL/XXL monsters, it feels like FFP does their modeling in one scale and then makes the end product bigger or smaller during production - but there are a lot of little things that can and should be brought out. Claws, the jewel on his shoulder, the inlay work on the armor, even the battle damage in his wings are all things I knew I wanted to highlight during final.

Gaps: There are a few unfortunate mold line placements where the torso pieces fit together - straight through the shoulder pads in particular. I am apparently one of the few people on the planet who struggles using Green Stuff, so I refused to risk it on Beli'al. Instead, I used a combination of Vallejo Plastic Putty and Vallejo Matt Varnish to hide the seams. This worked very well on the shoulder pads, but left a seam-if-you-look-close on the legs/smoke. If I were after a perfect finish, I should have sanded and re-primed, but the result fit my criteria of tabletop.

Paints Used:
I use ArmyPainter primer/brushes/colors/shaders almost exclusively. Most of the color names I mention are from the SoB painter packs, but all translate to the core ArmyPainter line. Where I know the "real" color name, I've included it.

• Primer: Matt Black rattle can
• Crystal Blue (wings)
• Molten Orange (shoulder jewel)
• Skeleton Bone (Cowl, claws, base doodads, base drybrush)
• Matt Black (Cowl interior)
• Spirit White (selected highlights, claw highlights)
• Gold (Belt, Key, rope, armor dry brush)
• Necromancer Cloak (legs/smoke)
• Crimson Hand Red (cloth ribbons)
• Leather Brown (base drybrush)
• Dark Flesh (base)
• Dark Tone Ink (everything but armor)
• Blue Tone Ink (armor)
• Red Tone Ink (blood effect)

Color Choices:
I didn't want to do Beli'al with lava legs. Those look great, but wanted a different, perhaps more sinister or smoky effect. But I do love the model enough that 'someday' I may do a 2nd one for Cynder fights.

The crystal blue wings were the biggest decision point for me. Arguably should have been deep red or even charcoal black. But the rest of my Otherworld crew are all painted with Crystal Blue and then given a Dark Tone Ink wash, and I wanted to stay consistent with the rest of my set. I had just done some other pieces with the Pistol Silver / Blue Tone Ink technique and loved the result, so I wanted to use that for the armor. From there, the rest of the colors kind of fell into place.

As I was painting I had a mild panic attack because the raw colors were so different that he looked like a demon clown (nothing against Pennywise fans, but not the look I was after), but I knew that the dark tone ink would subdue everything dramatically AND I also started putting some of the colors (skeleton bone in particular) into the base to help pull things together. With only a mild change in planning I pressed on.

Base Colors:
I primed in AP rattle can black. The skeleton bone cowl took several coats to cover reasonably, but everything else went down in 2 thin coats. Due to the model size, I typically worked with 2 brushes at once - one fairly large brush for open areas and another smaller brush to work towards the borders. Once the base colors were down, I needed several passes to straighten lines and catch all the little spots I missed. Beli'al is a twisty-turny model with a lot of little nooks that are easy to overlook.

Here are some work-in-progress pictures of the basecoating process.

ArmyPainter rattle can primer worked great.  Watch the wings, old-B actually took flight due to some late afternoon wind.

There is an old fence post in my back yard that lets me work at chest height when priming.

Most base coats done. At this point I am straightening lines and need to do the maroon cloth.

Basing done, ready for shading.

Shading:
I started with the Armor - Blue Tone Ink (unthinned) over the silver base coat. I really can't say enough about the colored AP inks. The rest of the model got Dark Tone Ink (unthinned) working in sections. Here's a picture showing one wing just after the shading was applied versus the basecoat, and another showing the shaded and drybrushed armor. (I am most happy with the armor).

One wing shaded with Dark Tone vs. unshaded.

Armor is silver basecoat, Blue Tone Ink, then dry brushed with Loot Gold.

The cowl came out blotchy after shading. I attempted to fix with some liberal dry brushing, but lost all of the color/texture definition in the process. I ended up mixing some very thin base color and reglazing most of the cowl, followed by a thinned coat of Dark Tone to even the colors out. A little dry brushing finished the cowl off. I am least happy with the cowl, but have to remember Goal #1.

For the 'legs,' I was really after the look of dark billowy smoke (think: oil tanker fire) and happened to find the AP Necromancer Cloak color. This avoided custom mixing the color for repeat coats. The legs also got a Dark Tone Ink to push the shadows back towards black, and then some dry brushing to bring the charcoal color back out. The result looks more convincing in the normal room lighting vs. the direct outdoor light in the pictures below.

Base:
The base is a Secret Weapon 95x120 Flagstone. I wanted a little extra room to place the Scibor faces, and during play will need to remember that Belial plays as a 3x3 base. I painted the base separately (due to size) using similar methods - thorough wash and dry, then black AP primer, Dark Flesh (Oak) base coat followed by a liberal (and unthinned) Dark Tone Ink, then dry bushing with Leather Brown, Fang Bone, and Necromancer Cloak in a radial pattern. The rim was touched up with Matt Black. This is a work in progress shot:

Flagstone base with the Dark Flesh basecoat down.

Scibor Faces: Wash and dry, Skeleton Bone AP primer, Dark Tone Ink, Skeleton Bone dry brush, and Red Tone ink for the bloody tears.
Here they are after initial shading:

Scibor faces shaded with Dark Tone and some other bits I didn't use.

And finally.... the finished model.

Rawr.

Running away. Not that he ever would.

Red tone ink for the bloody tears.

This weekend was our 4th GenCon, and so I submitted my Beli'al for the painting contest. Knowing my limits and skill, I did NOT expect to win or place, but I was completely jazzed to see my big B behind the glass at the FFG booth. There was a small army of Beli'als submitted, and all looked great so I was in good company. Mine is the back right.

I'd also thank Pevil if he's reading this, and other friends at GC17 for stopping in to visit Beli'al and sending me txts of support.

Beli'al at GenCon17 with his brothers Beli'al, Beli'al, and Beli'ial.  Mine is back right.

A better shot of the phenomenal lava base.

Wyrmwood Gaming Dice Tower

So, as a first 'real' post, let's do a quick review.

Wyrmwood Gaming makes some of the most beautiful (and expensive) gaming accessories around.  I first encountered them at GenCon 2014 (our first year) and have been smitten ever since.

A little background is perhaps in order.  Before I was born, my father apprenticed in carpentry with his neighbor.  I suppose he'd consider himself a hobbyist, but he developed his skills well enough that when I was little, he worked part time at a shop that refurbished antique furniture and to this day still takes the occasional consignment.  Some of my earliest memories are of working with him in his basement shop, or travelling with mom and dad to various crafts fairs to sell toy trucks and shaving mirrors.  One of my prized possessions is a solid cherry toy box that he made for me 30+ years ago that is currently sitting at the foot of my bed.

Anyway, I typed all that so I can type this:  In our plastic-and-disposable modern civilization, I have a longstanding affection for wood furniture and woodworking in general, and after dabbling in some of my own garage highjinks, I can appreciate fine craftsmanship when I see it.

This Wyrmwood dice tower qualifies as "fine craftsmanship." But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Wyrmwood logo, on the top front piece.

Background:
As we planned for GenCon 2017, my annual bonus came through.  It was a nice, fat, bonus check, at least in my line of work.  I'd worked hard, and decided that I was going to take 50% of it and spend it at GenCon as a treat (the other half went in the bank).  When thinking about all the goodies I could drop money on, Wyrmwood came to mind.  I had just backed Dog Might's Component Collector on Kickstarter, and the idea of a semi-matching, upscale dice tower to round out my gaming space sounded like a good plan.

Arriving at the Wyrmwood booth on Thursday, I immediately reached for the Black Walnut specimen (side note: another special place in my heart for this particular tree; we have a stand of Walnut on our property that I've enjoyed cultivating towards future lumbering).  But there, under the pretty lights, the Bolivian Rosewood really popped.  After a short conversation with the saleswoman, and a smile and a nod from Mrs. Zoxe, we picked the prettier of the two Rosewood versions to come home with us.

Features:
Wyrmwood towers are available individually.  What you see here is the "Complete System," which includes the tower, Dice Vault, Personal Dice Tray, and leather carry strap.

The tower is magnetized, and collapses down into the tray nicely for compact storage and protection.

The tower is also a nice compromise in compact size (preserving precious tabletop space) and allowing for sufficient volume of dice and interpreting of results.  Games like Shadows of Brimstone sometime result in buckets of dice being thrown to resolve a single attack, and I'm confident that the Wyrmwood design will handle them.  Playing only briefly, I've been unable to cheat/tilt/sway the dice results while dropping "normally."

The Personal Dice Tray provides a soft landing for your throws, with enough roll-out room to not hinder most rolls.  The pad at the bottom is precision-fit leather with the Wyrmwood logo stamped in.  The corners are all mitered at 45 degrees.  Rubber feet suspend the bottom and protect your table from scuffs and scratches.

Wyrmwood Dice Tower, Complete System

Fit and Finish:  

Each piece is precision milled to size; all angles, corners, edges are flat and crisp.  The wood is milled to perhaps 3/16" thick - the pieces have some pleasant heft but are neither frail nor overly chunky. 

The thinness also adds a tonal quality not unlike a guitar top - the pieces click and clack with a tonal note you don't get from plywood and MDF.  The comparison to a musical instrument is probably the best I can make; the amount of precision demonstrated in the Wyrmwood manufacturing process is found in few other wooden products.

The magnets are installed precisely and tightly in their holes and ground flush; no obvious slop or misalignment.  

I don't throw this word around lightly, but the craftsmanship is perfect.

All of the pieces, ready for assembly.

All assembled minus the second side panel.

Assembly:
The magnets used in the tower are nice and strong; pieces snap together with a smile-inducing clack, but they're easy to break apart when it comes time to tear down.

I start with one side panel, then usually grab the back piece.  The back has 3 magnets, with the middle one installed off center so that the magnets only line up one way.  From there, I add the ramps and front pieces in whatever order I happen to grab them.  The ramps are installed with 3 magnets to avoid shifting under load.  The first/top entry ramp has those 3 magnets strung very closely to take the brunt of the initial dice throw.

The Wyrmwood staff make assembly look so easy.  While they can assemble and disassemble in seconds, my first foray was perhaps 5 minutes of trial and error.  The pieces are stamped with numbers, so if you truly get lost you can always find your way to a successful assembly.  With a bit of practice, I'm getting better.  It's almost impossible to assemble incorrectly - the pieces just look "wrong" when they're in backwards or upside down.

Dice Vault with KDM Death Dice.

The Dice Vault:
This came as a surprise to me.  We don't play D20 RPGs, so I wasn't exactly sure what I'd fit in the Vault, but got it mostly because it fit so nicely with the other two pieces and I wanted the complete set.

But when I got the tower out to take some pictures (and giggle as I threw dice down the tower), I grabbed the KDM: Death Dice that I also bought at GenCon and am happy to report that they fit brilliantly inside the vault.  Bonus points.

Final Thoughts:
Do you need one?  Of course not.  MDF and acrylic dice towers are available on Amazon for as little as $15-$20.  But if you're an avid game fan and enjoy the fit and finish of fine woodworking, then this Wyrmwood piece is a worthy addition to your collection.

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