The Millennium Falcon is the most notorious starship within the realm of Star Wars' Galactic Empire.
It's also one of the most iconic starships in pop culture, next to Star Trek's USS Enterprise.
Since the movie's debut, the George Lucas, now Disney, marketing campaigns churned-out numerous playsets and action figures over the past 46 years. Of course, one of the biggest, was none other than the Millennium Falcon.
About 10 years ago, I borrowed my friend Joe's playset. Then, in 2015, I took advantage of a Christmas sale and bought The Force Awakens version, and returned Joe's Falcon.
What I liked right away about this playset is the plastic is softer, and more durable than earlier versions. It was as if the playset was designed to be played with, instead of being put on display..
But as usual with the toy industry, the action figures are out of proportion to the starship. This didn't matter to me, because I had no intention of using them. I wanted the playset to use with my Star Wars Miniatures collection, or my 28mm sci-fi figures from other gameverses.
A couple years after buying this latest version, I decided to add a bit of detail by painting the recessed areas with black ink wash.
Afterwards, I'd spend time pondering what--if anything--I could do to add even more detail, without turning this into a major painting project.
Since 2015, I purchased additional ink washes in various colors for my Cruel Seas vessels. A couple weeks ago I thought I'd give another try at touching-up the Falcon.
I slathered the side hull with a coating of gray ink wash. While the gray tone darkened the vessel along the side, compared to the top & bottom hulls, it didn't bring out all the details I wanted. So I used a sparing amount of black ink wash in various spots. I also added another layer of black to the recesses I painted years ago.
I added touches of a light rust colored ink wash in a few spots, mostly around the hatch entrances and vents. I figured these areas would most likely collect condensation when in-use planetside.
Here's my finished project from a few topside angles:
Finally, for the underside, I re-ink washed the recesses, then added an oiled earth wash on and around the landing pads.
Here's the underside view:
My mind's at ease now that I feel I haven't left anything out. But this was an easy and relaxing project to do.
So if I think of any more ideas on how to enhance my Millennium Falcon's look, I may give it a try.
The color, weight, and texture a outstanding. My only “issue” with this piece is that if you want to recreate the Battle of Hoth, and include the targeted shield generators, you’ll need to buy three more sets. At about $29.25 per set, this will truly be a “high value asset.”
For other gaming scenarios though, a single shield/power generator will be fine.
But even one high value asset needs to be guarded and protected.
A few months ago, I had some Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K) quad-autocannons painted by my friend Dan.
The Aegis Defense Line set comes with one quad-autocannon, four long, crenelated barricades and four short barricades. Below is a picture of two long barricades I purchased at a gaming swap meet:
Here’s a look at two identically painted, short barricades along with some obstacles:
Here’s another obstacle:
I purchased a couple unassembled and unpainted Aegis Defense Line sets. While Dan assembled and painted the auto-cannons, I tried my hand at painting the barricades. Here’s a couple of examples of a desert barricade:
And a couple examples of a forest/grassland barricade:
Here’s a look at the back of typical barricades:
When it comes to sci-fi gaming, I don’t limit myself to WH40K. While I haven’t invested (yet) into Star Wars: Legion, I bought a couple sets of the Barricades Pack.
Since I’m too lazy don’t have the time to prime and paint these pieces, I simply brushed them with a grey ink-wash to give them a greasy, dirty weathered look:
I’m a regular patron of The Miniature Page. This site offers free shipping for orders of $99 or more.
So to take advantage of this deal, I often top-off my orders with purchases of their Tiny Terrain Line.
In this case, both damaged and undamaged Sci-Fi Walls...
...along with the more mundane Jersey Barriers (only one style of damaged barriers seem to be currently available).
For impromptu barricades, there’s various piles of sandbags (currently out of stock):
While Tiny Terrain figures are inexpensive, I found the hard plastic made them hard to paint. I tried ink-washing the Sci-fi Walls and the Jersey Barriers, but the fluid just beaded up and ran off the surfaces. I had better luck applying brown wash on to the sandbag piles.
In addition to plastic, painted or otherwise, there’s also paper terrain the you can download.
I believe I got these from DriveThruRPG several years ago, but the set is no longer available.
The site Paper Make It! has some 3D Models available for download, costing between $2.50--$5.90, along with an assortment of various science fiction-themed materials.
So while we're all "barricaded" in our homes due to the Coronavirus Pandemic Stay-At-Home decrees; we can order, assemble and paint our miniature barricades to protect our critical terrain pieces on the tabletop.
What intrigues me most about military history are the campaigns that lead up to the major battles. I'm fascinated by the hows and whys battles develop more so than the actual blood-letting of combat.
I like campaign games because they force players to think beyond a one-of battle, and inhibits them from going all-out to achieve a single victory. However, I've experienced mixed results at running and participating in campaign games, as I'm sure many (all?) of my fellow gamers have. The initial enthusiasm may be high, but it's hard to maintain, which often leads to the campaign fizzling-out.
Still, I love the idea of being involved in such a tabletop venture. Hey, I can still dream, can't I?
--1 x 20-page rulebook
--6 x Fleet Rosters
--2 x Team Rosters (Rebel & Imperial)
--10 x Main Ship ID Tokens
--10 x Ship ID Tokens
--10 x Scarred ("damaged") ID Tokens
--2 x Main Flagship Tokens
--2 x Flagship Tokens
--14 x Squadron ID Tokens
--12 x Scarred Squadron ID Tokens
18 x Veteran Tokens
3 x each Diplomat, Spynet, and Skilled Spacer Tokens
--6 x Obstacles representing asteroids (3), dust fields (2) and a space station
--16 x Squadron Disks to place on the standard fighter squadron stands
--39 x various cards for squadrons, objectives and the space station
--1 x sticker sheet, representing active or destroyed bases and outposts
--and one small, cardstock map representing the Corellian Sector...
Here's what you don't get for your money--
--additional miniatures
--a hefty, mounted map
--counters representing active and destroyed bases and outposts
Three reviewers on Amazon.com gave The Corellian Campaign a 5-star rating.
But after scrolling through the comments section on various "Unboxing" videos, like Crabbok, YouTube viewers have been less-than kind. Some even cancelled their pre-orders.
Most gamers have issues with the small size and flimsy map.
The designers' justification for using stickers instead of counters or tokens was "...to create a living record of the ongoing Corellian Conflict," (page 6 sidebar).
And...then what? Frame and hang the map up in your man-cave?
The sidebar note goes on to say that players can eschew the stickers, which will probably be impossible to remove from the map, and keep track of who controls what via the Team Rosters.
Here's a suggestion: How about using counters to represent political influence and military control, like other board games do?
To remedy this sticky situation, I intend to paste the stickers on blank boardgame counters, or a matboard, trim the corners, and use them as control tokens for the game. One player used magnets to create re-usable playing pieces.
Arts & Crafts project recommendations aside, since I haven't played Star Wars Armada...
...I've only given The Corellian Conflict rules a cursory glance.
Set-up appears to be in "tic-tac-toe" style. That is, the Empire initially controls Corellia proper. Then players alternate placing their base/outpost stickers on planets, keeping in mind some planets provide more resources than others...
...followed by constructing 400 points worth of starships and fighters.
Despite the above-mentioned shortcomings, I don't regret buying the game. The artwork is nice. The cardstock map is no thinner than other non-mounted boards I've seen in larger, more expensive games. And the actual counters are thick and durable.
So I give The Corellian Conflict Campaign Expansion a conditional 3-star rating.
"Conditional" being based on how I feel about the game after I get a chance to actually play it.
I thought this song, which I found rather quickly, fit the "big reveal" made my one of the characters in this story.
The way I have the rest of the story plotted-out, there's eight chapters left. However, it seems like nearly all my previous chapters end up multiplying into two or three scenes. So for now, let's just say there's eight more plot-points to go.
I'm still in the process of learning about my new Nikon CoolPix P530 camera. I hope to start using it by the time I start taking pictures for Chapter 16.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.
For this chapter's Theme Song, I chose Prepare for the End uploaded by xDarkLegacyx2. I think this tune fits the epic, space opera aspect of Star Wars, while it's steady--almost monotonous--beat, implies impending danger.
I'm now in the process of re-writing Chapter 15, which is giving me some trouble narrative pacing-wise. Once I'm satisfied this chapter is good enough to post, then it's "back to the drawing board" for the Chapters 16 onwards. That is, I'll need to snap a batch of new photos.
In the meantime, I've been looking at some webcomic hosting sites to determine which one I'd like to join in order to make a "second home" for Breakout from Bongolaan.
Since I wrote Chapters 12--14 in one fell-swoop, which took me several months to complete, the "only" thing I had to do was some editing on Chapter 13.
For this chapter's theme song, I chose two pieces of music.
The pace at where I work didn't slow down any since my last chapter posting.
Not only that, but Chapter 12 was originally much longer than it currently is. As the page length lengthened, I ended up dividing the narrative into more chapters as I found more appropriate stopping points. So this part of the story grew from Chapter 12 and 13, to Chapter 12--14, and finally to Chapter 12-15.
By the time I reached this point, I decided to quit writing additional material and work on editing and revising.
By the time I was satisfied with most of my recent work, I did some final tweaking of Chapter 12.
My "cunning plan" is to do the similar tweaks to Chapters 13 and 14 within the next couple weeks and then post them.
Which brings me to Chapter 15. I'm not currently happy with it. I feel this portion will require some major re-writing, but I'll wait until Chapter 14 is posted before I even start.
In my last webcomic update, I said I'd launch a new format for Breakout from Bongolaan by 4 January 2016.
Well, I'm afraid I have to postpone the launch date. With the little time I've had to spare, I devoted it all to getting these chapters written. I'm hoping the delay won't be more than a month. I appreciate your patience.
You might think this is an odd choice for a chapter's mood music, especially since Star Wars is and epic space opera, not a space western, like Firefly.
But I think the song fits for a few reasons. First, in this chapter Callithea expresses her desire to return to her home planet. This segways into a hint of what society on Callithea's home world, Tarsus, is like. Finally, our heroes are essentially planning for a "road trip--IN SPACE," and depending on what list you read, Home ranks anywhere from #13 in Paste Magazine to #1 on BuzzFeed.
Part of the appeal of science fiction in general, and Star Wars in particular, is the ability to roam the galaxy at ludicrous speed.
So for a Star Wars role playing game (RPG), acquiring a starship, but not necessarily "buying" one, is a critical goal for player characters (PCs) starting out on their misadventures.
If you're involved in a game which relies heavily on miniatures, representing a starship can be difficult. While two-dimensional deck plans or graph paper, while effective, loses "cinematic appeal." Models specifically made in typical "RPG Scale" (usually 15-35mm Scale) are invariably scratch-built by talented modelers, like Maker.e2oGame.
For those of us lacking talent and patience to construct our own ships, we turn to toys.
For my, now dormant, Redshift Chronicles Campaign, my friend Joe placed his Millennium Falcon Playset in my care, which was utilized on a couple of adventures.
The playset isn't exactly to scale as my Star Wars Miniatures, but I figure starships are suppose to be big anyway. Besides, there's enough room inside to get interior pictures.
(Han Solo and Chewbacca making last-minute repairs before taking off)
I've had Joe's 'Falcon for a few years now. During this time, I've made half-hearted inquires about buying my own, but have balked at the "Collector's Edition Prices."
However, two events motivated me to acquire my own 'Falcon.
Which means Star Wars merchandise has deluged the market long before the movie appears on the silver screen.
And second, Joe is now the father of two little boys.
I reached my decision point a couple weeks ago, when I stumbled across Hasbro's "Force Awakens" Millennium Falcon, while Christmas shopping with my wife. (Isn't it amazing how you manage to find gifts for yourself when shopping for others?). I was hesitant to buy it, but my wife assured me it was okay, thus salving my guilty conscience, and the Base Exchange (department stores on military installations) was knocking off $25 for purchases of $100 or more as part of their "Black Friday Weekend Sale."
The price tag on this new 'Falcon alone qualified me for the discount.
I haven't opened it yet, since we've been busy putting up Christmas decorations.
Yes, at the risk of loosing some of the collector's value, I do intend on opening the box, because I want to have the ship "ready for flight" for any future Star Wars RPG/skirmish adventures. But my "cunning plan" is to open it carefully and keep all the parts I won't utilize, in order to maintain a decent portion of any possible collector's value.
One possible point of concern is the new 'Falcon looks smaller than the older one, but I'm hoping it may be more appropriate for my Star Wars Miniatures I use.
In any case, I have a new 'Falcon, Joe gets his old one returned and he'll get to experience all the parental joys of watching his two boys fight over play with an iconic toy.
For this workshop review, I thought I'd use my webcomic trailer to Breakout from Bongolaan--as an example of what not to do when creating a book trailer.
I made my initial trailer before I attended a lecture on making book trailers. I actually like my latest trailer, which I remade when I took additional photographs for my webcomic, despite its shortcomings which I'll mention in parenthetical comments on this post.
This workshop was hosted by Rian Fiske and Steve Ahlbom of Visual Quill.
First, what is a book trailer?
--It's an advertisement for your book.
The internet has changed the way we market products and today's society is the most marketed in history.
What a book trailer is not--
--A plot reveal (mine is)
--A story summary (mine is)
--More important than your book (I'm still writing my webcomic, so I hope not)
--Boring! (I hope mine isn't)
--Unappealing (I hope mine isn't)
--Too focused to a specific person or group (okay, mine is guilty of this last one)
A good book trailer--
--Has a good script, is brief and creatively edited.
Time length:
30 Seconds = Good
60 Seconds = Okay (mine's just over a minute)
90 Seconds = Not Good
A book trailer should evoke a visceral response from a viewer, not an intellectual one, and the mood should be similar to the book.
A book trailer is an important part of book marketing because--
--It takes advantage of the explosive growth of online advertising videos.
--It's on a shareable medium.
--It fosters a deep like-know-trust connection.
--It keeps your book in a reader's mind.
--It's cost effective.
Some interesting statistics--
--Viewers are 64% more likely to buy your book.
--There's usually an 80% increase in conversion rates on your website. That is, visits turning into actual purchases.
--There's often an increase of 2 minutes per stay per viewer on your website.
--92% of mobile viewers share videos with others.
--There's a 19% to 300% increase of sales if a book trailer supplements e-mails and flyers.
--These statistics hold no matter what genre you're writing.
Elements of a good book trailer--
--Visually hint at what takes place.
--Keeps the story moving and is not too short, or too long.
--Uses a good selection of graphics and music.
Bad book trailers are everywhere.
--Most aren't trailers, but rather do-it-yourself (DIY) slide shows (like mine).
--DIY tools exist, but you still need to use them correctly.
What makes a book trailer bad--
--Low quality graphics and photos.
--Too many graphics.
--Too much explanatory text.
--Poor music.
The five elements that make a quality book trailer are:
1. It's not a plot reveal. Think of it as a pitch session.
2. Plan the entire trailer with a story board.
3. Production quality is essential. Hire a professional, if necessary.
4. Know what style you're using and make sure it all hangs together.
5. Don't confuse building your brand with selling your book.
Here are some tips if you are going to go the DIY route:
Your book trailer needs a script, so here are some things to consider--
--Start with your book's synopsis.
--Duration should be between 30-60 seconds.
--Consider this rule of thumb: 50 words = 30 seconds of video.
Utilize appropriate music for your trailer. Music sets the emotional tone and should coincide with the tone of your book.
Editing tools for your DIY book trailer--
--PC users can utilize Windows Movie Maker.
--Mac users can utilize iMovie.
--Tutorials are available on Lynda.com.
And speaking of websites, there are several doityourselfers can make use of.
On deciding whether to use voice-over or text in your book trailer, either will work if done well.
Once you've made your book trailer you'll need to distribute it. For this, you'll have to go beyond Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo.
Upload your trailer on top websites in your niche or genre, along with your personal website, your Amazon Author page, library catalogues, and distribution sites like OneLoad. Also, be sure to set up a computer to play the trailer during book signings.
If you'd rather hire a professional to create your book trailer, there's a few questions you need to keep in mind--
--How much will it cost?
--What can I expect?
--What will the pro do for me?
Prices range from $400 to $4,000, with $1,200 being the average. The more material and input you provide, the less it will be in price.
As to the last two questions, you'll have to discuss the details of the services a professional offers to provide.
With all this information, hopefully you'll be able to say "Lights! Camera! Action!" soon.
I bought this VT-49 Decimator because I thought it would make a good addition to the Imperial side of my Redshift Chronicles Campaign, and, I have to admit, because I felt it was really cool looking.
I'm happy to report that the same quality that went into making the Tantive IV was incorporated into this Imperial assault ship.
(Image: A VT-49 on patrol "out in The Black")
Like the Tantive IV Expansion Pack, this kit contains a beautifully detailed model, lavishly illustrated cards, playing aids and an additional scenario, Mission 11: Interdiction.
Several famous, or infamous, individuals in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (SWEU) are associated with their time spent aboard Decimators. Three of the four ship cards included in this kit are:
With my attempts at being cinematic, what I like most about this expansion pack is the model's scale seems appropriate to the other ship figures in my collection.
(A Decimator overtakes a possible smuggler)
While the members of the cast of characters listed above are long-gone by the current Redshift Chronicles Campaign, there'll still be plenty of Decimators patrolling the galaxy, giving non-Imperials grief.
Decimators are highly rated by other buyers, and are still available at a discount on the following sites: Miniature Market, Amazon.com and Boardgame Geek's Marketplace. (At this time, they're sold out on E-Bay).
Notes:
The clear-plastic stands in Pictures #2 and #3 were edited out, while the images were done over with an "ink sketch" program using Paint.Net.
The star mat used as a backdrop is by Monday Knight Productions, while the YT-1300 light freighter seen in the last picture, is actually a toy of unknown origin I bought from my friend Adrian.
Later this month, I plan to start working on Chapter 11.
I'm still exploring options on a new, webcomic-based format for this story. But I think I'll wait until I reach, or surpass 365 pages. Once I accomplish this, I'll have a year's worth of daily material to introduce Breakout from Bongolaan to a new audience.
In the meantime, I'd like to thank the "old audience" for your patience and support.
Chapter 10 is the initial fight scene in the Star Wars RPG (Role Playing Game) adventure this story was based on. Since it took place in the Presidential Palace's Ballroom, I thought a fitting theme song for this chapter would be--what else?--The Ballroom Blitz by Sweet.
