Review: Vallejo Surface Primer

Vallejo Surface Primers

  So, it's been pretty cold around here lately.  That means no priming, and that means no painting.  I'm not liking that!

  Surfing around the Vallejo website, I came across their Surface Primer line of paints.  I did some research and a lot of people really like these primers.  Well, off to the War Store to get my order filled and a week or so later, I'm in business again!  And what kind of business it this.  This stuff is GREAT!

  I have always been  user of GW's primer line (Chaos black and Skull white) and I have never really had reason to doubt them.  I have always liked the black better than the white though.  The white seems to go on powdery sometimes, and yes, I am not spraying too far away.  I have tried what some other folks had mentioned, Krylon and the Hobby Lobby brands, but I always found them lacking in some way or another.  Either they were not smooth or they were splotchy.  Suffice to say, I always ended up back with GW primer, paying the huge GW tax for the great name on the can.

  There really is not a whole lot you can say about primers.  They need to do some very simple things.  Bond well to the surface your priming (plastic, resin or pewter, in my case) is the most important thing.  They also need to be tough, resistant to damage from rough handling.  If the primer chips off, all your hard work painting goes with it.  Lastly, they need to be thin to not hide any surface detail and provide a smooth surface to paint on.  GW's black primer had always done all that for me, or so I thought.

  Enter the Vallejo Surface Primers. These come in plastic bottles (17ml, 60ml and 200ml).  Vallejo says they can be brushed or airbrushed on.  I tested both, Vallejo is right.  Brush painting the primer on is a breeze (with a decent quality brush... see this post).  It flows on nicely, dries very smoothly and is very thin.  As long as you don't glob it on, brushing this stuff on will yield results much akin to using a rattle can.

  Then came the airbrush.  To be honest, the wife was sleeping and I didn't want to fire up the compressor while she rested.  Once she was up, I was able to break out the older airbrush (an Iwata revolution CR).  I used the Iwata because it is a .3mm brush and the Renegade Krome is a .21mm.  I had heard that the primer sprays better at the .3mm size.  I did thin it about 1 part primer to 1/2 part mix of Tamiya Acrylic thinner (X20) and Golden Airbrush Medium.

  It sprayed on like a dream.  It covered really well and dried very quickly.  I did some drop tests from about 8 inches to my wooden tabletop after letting it dry for 12 hours and no chips.  Best of all, the surface is baby-skin smooth and accepts paint like... well... like a primer.  Best of all, I can paint prime my figs inside without all the hellish fumes!!!  And who cares how cold it is outside?  As a side note, the white is every bit as good as the black, and WAY better than the GW skull white!

  All in all, this is GREAT primer.  If you need it, run, don't walk to get this stuff!

iPad Software: Quartermaster

  I just recently purchased Quartermaster for the iPad.  I had tried it a few times in the past, but never really considered it.  This time I tried to actually use it to build a list and went through all it's features.  I have to say, it's pretty darn good.

  First off - It is not Army Builder or even Battlescribe.  It will not prompt you through to make a completely legal and certified tournament list.  If you are not sure if certain combinations of weapons/effects can be used, you will need the codex by your side. 

  That said, if you know what you are doing, and do not want/need your hand held during the list building process, this is a GREAT portable list builder.  You get all the options and none of the overhead.

  To start, you have to get the program, here are the links;

Quartermaster Web Site Link

iTunes direct link

  Then you will need Templates.  Templates are the files used by the program to generate the lists and all the assorted options that come with those lists.  You can either download the Template files or make them yourself.  I'm a lazy bugger, so I downloaded them.  There is a great site for them here;

QM Templates website for Quartermaster Template Files

  Keep in mind, the template files are separate from the program for the same reasons that they are separate for Army Builder and such, Intellectual property/copyright/oh bugger off rules.  It's not a problem with the program or the software, it's just the silly rules we live by.
 
  Now that you have everything installed, build lists to your hearts content.  It really is as simple as tapping to add the unit, then tap the unit's name to add options to it (like Force Swords and Heavy Bolters and Lascannons, oh my!)  From the main screen, you will see a listing of all your lists built so far (or the two demo lists that come pre-made).  AT the top right is all the menu items.  YOu can edit the templates (or add your own) from here.  The Star button is nice, it allows you to designate favorite lists which are then moved up the screen to be at the top for easy access.  The blue + button makes a new list.  It does not ask for point limits or what rulesets you will be using.  That is up to you.  It does keep a running total of your list points though.

Crusade of Fire

So, I'm one of those that went out and ordered GWs new Crusade of Fire book as soon as it was available to order. Two reasons, 1) I much rather to play campaign format games and 2) I have always been intrigued by the Planetary Empires set.

To be honest, I did not know the campaign system was a build on, or refinement to the planetary empires set. At least not when I bought it. That doesn't bother me, but it may turn off some folks. It kind of makes me think the book was a vehicle to sell more sets of hexes. (But that is why GW is in business, right?)

The campaign system presented in the book is really quite good, I think. The crusade covers two forces, space marines and chaos. There is a third faction, but Moreno that later. The campaign system uses the planetary empires sets to track the status of the campaign, but that is not really necessary. You can track it all using paper, or even computer programs. There is an iPad app I just got called Hex Map Pro that would work perfectly.

They really suggest using a GM for the campaign, and I tend to agree. They do show how the gm can be players as well. It's all well presented. They show how the the three turns, or phases of the campaign play out, and it is really quite engaging. For once, when reading something from GW, I felt like it was them having fun, and not just selling product or playing it a pre-planned battle report.

The campaign is a fight for a system that has just recently emerged from a warp storm. As the campaign plays out, more planets are revealed to be fought over. Very cool idea for changing the layout of homemade campaigns. What's very odd is the third faction in the fight. It feels tacked on, like a last minute change to a planned thing. Still, the third faction shows you how to shoe-horn a new player or faction into your own deal.

Overall, I think the campaign system is great, and the presentation is great as well. They show how to add all kinds of spice to the campaign system without bogging it down too much. The real beauty is how you can use this system to do your own campaigns using the ideas and building blocks they have given you in the book.

As a bonus, in the back of the book are rules for demon worlds, a gladiator combat system for independent characters and a dogfight system for aircraft in 40k games.

Demon world rules are great. Hands down the most bad-ass section of the book.

Dogfight rules are fun and look like they might play well. They don't seem like they will add too much overhead or extra time to a game, but they do add some time, so caveat emptor... Basically it's like challenges for aircraft. There are three sub-phases that get played out when a dogfight starts, and chances to make choices in each. A table is used to cross reference you and your opponents choices and see what happens. In the dogfight section is also special maneuvers and a few pages of upgrades you can buy in your list for your flyers. (pilots with mad skillz).

The gladiator combat system is comical at best. It would be a fun sideboard thing to do while your waiting for your next tourney slot or whatever. It is horridly balanced, but as long as you both approach it in good fun, it looks like it could be fun. You basically agree on a point value for an IC then go toe to toe in the ring. You use cards that you photocopy from the book to control the fight and how the crowd likes you. It's pretty simple, and might be a fun distraction for a while.

All in all, I found it to be a great book. My problem is the price. I generally don't knock gw for their pricing, but this book seems a little over the top to me. It's not all that thick but it does deliver on what it says it will. It was a limited release, and that's something I hope they don't make a habit of. I don't mind the occasional limited release, but this is a campaign source book? Why a limited release?

Well, that's about it. Hope it helps you decide if your gonna pop on that eBay auction, since that's about the only way to get it now...