Author Archives: Captain Spud

The Other Guys

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On the list of reasons that I like Infinity, the second biggest (following respectfully behind SPACE BUILDINGS, which will forever be first in my heart) is the quality of the model range. Corvus Belli’s minis have a level of dynamism and a clarity of design that I just don’t see in most other gaming ranges– every model is doing something, and the models are covered in details that feel planned-out and somewhat plausible.

However, this was not always the case. If you go to any of the faction galleries on the Infinity website and scroll down, there is a sharp distinction that occurs between the top 2/3 of each faction’s models and the bottom 1/3. Namely, that the old models are just awful. The designs are very bland, the poses are bizarre, and the sculpting quality is very low, with very soft, round shapes instead of the sharp detail the range later came to be known for.

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Love From Above

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Well, crap.

The monkeys who manage Spud’s web server decided to have a highly destructive orgy in the server room this morning, and in the ensuing devastation, Spud’s blog database had to be restored from a backup point eight hours before this post originally went up.

Spud has reconstituted the post from scratch, but his heart really wasn’t in it this time, so apologies in advance if it comes off less “funny and insightful” and more “the desperate weeping of a broken man”.

-Spud

The Infinity group at my store is currently running a mini-campaign that I’m greatly enjoying. Each of the eight participants has created a Spec Ops character for their army, including a bit of backstory to explain where they came from and why they’re awesome. Each week we’re paired against an opponent; the organizer writes some fluff about why we’re fighting, and assigns us an objective-heavy scenario to resolve the conflict. We play it out, and any Spec Ops who survive accrue experience to pick up new abilities and gear. After the game, both players write up a short fluff piece about the battle from their Spec Ops’ point of view; some players write a play-by-play of the coolest parts of the battle, while I’ve focused more on the grisly aftermaths of my relentless series of crushing defeats.

It’s been a hoot. 🙂

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Space Marines!

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So, a few months ago, I made a really bad decision.

Yeah.

When I started playing, I came up with a colour scheme for my lovely new Space People using paper dolls in Photoshop; however, once this conceptual work was done, I then immediately proceeded to do anything but paint actual models for like four months. I drew pictures, I made terrain, I made fancy tokens, I made fancy scenario objectives, I made fancy transport cases… painting my Space Dudes was about the last thing I wanted to spend brainpower on, because for me painting isn’t really a creative endeavor– it’s more of a grudging obligation.

What finally made me pick up my paintbrush was a league my store scheduled for July and August. Someone else challenged the other members to be fully painted by the end of it, and while I’m nowhere near that level of completion just past the 3/4 point of the league, I have put paint on over half of my dudes. Which is, for me, a pretty incredible rate of painting progress. 🙂

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The Floor… the Floor… the Floor is on Fire

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At my local store, we recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Most Extreme Annihilation Challenge, our annual 20pt mangled metal tournament that features robots and monsters tearing each other apart amidst the strangest missions I can come up with. During the four-round event, three of the scenarios rotate from year to year– past favourites have included:

  • Fight in a giant bowl with a hole in the middle. Models tumble toward the center every time they move unless they find something to hang onto.
  • Control a trench that has a massive lava boulder rolling back and forth through it.
  • Battle across a lava river spanned only by a rapidly-crumbling bridge.
  • Control a zone surrounded by crystal formations that random spew fire, lightning, and ice across the battlefield.

I have a lot of fun coming up with these. 🙂

In the middle of all of this chaos, however, there is always one consistent occurrence. Each year, in the third round, the various teams of homicidal monsters and pitiless robots put on colorful jerseys and enjoy a relaxing round of the world’s most refined sport: GRIND!

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Conceptual Diagonality

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infinityterrain_05

I haven’t written a rant in a couple months, so let’s see if I remember how to do that.

I figured that if I’m going to start talking about Infinity, I should probably start with what made me decide to get involved with the game. And it’s probably not what you’d guess.

  • It isn’t the game’s setting, even though I find the setting fascinating and a really creative break from the GrimDark and GreyVsGrey universes in so many other games.
  • It isn’t the sculpting opportunities, though I do really look forward to trying some full sci-fi sculpts.
  • It isn’t the ruleset, even though they could scarcely have come up with rules better-suited to poke my brain’s reward center.
  • It isn’t even the minis line, despite the fact that as far as I’m concerned, Corvus Belli is putting out the best gaming minis on the market– the sheer dynamism and detail in their current line is just mind-blowing to Sculptor Spud.

No, those are all awesome things, and they’re all contributing to my current enjoyment of the game. But the first thing that drew me in, and the thing that has consumed by far the largest chunk of my time since my induction over the last two months, comes down to two words:

Space Buildings.

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