How ChatGPT & AI Can Complement the Tabletop Miniature Hobby

December 31, 2022January 25, 2023 wilbur

Can Artificial Intelligence be used to complement the tabletop miniature hobby? Let’s ask it. Take it away, OpenAI…

Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly popular tool in the gaming industry. From driving game simulations to virtual reality (VR) experiences, AI is being used to create immersive and realistic gaming experiences. But one area where AI has been slow to gain traction is in the realm of role-playing games (RPGs).

We also re-visit Rangers of Shadow Deep: Blood Moon on this episode.

RPGs are a unique type of game that is driven by narrative and character development. Players control a character, oftentimes with a unique set of skills, as they progress through a story-driven adventure. As the player progresses, they make choices that affect the story and character development. But with the introduction of AI, this type of game could potentially be taken to the next level.

AI could be used to generate unique stories and characters that can then be customized based on the player’s choices. AI could also be used to create unique and dynamic NPCs (non-player characters) that can interact with the player in a realistic manner.

AI could be used to create dynamic and interactive environments that can react to the player’s actions. This could include enemy AI that can adapt to the player’s strategy, resulting in a more challenging and rewarding experience. Overall, the potential use of AI in RPG games could lead to an even more immersive and realistic gaming experience. With AI, games could become more dynamic, responsive, and engaging. It could also result in more believable characters and storylines, making the game even more enjoyable.

*AI-generated tabletop miniature hobby artwork*

AI & the RPG Hobby

AI can be used to benefit the RPG hobby in a variety of ways.

Dungeon Master-Generated Encounters

AI can be used to generate dynamic and challenging encounters for players, based on the game’s current state. This could include customizing the difficulty of the encounter, as well as adding unique elements such as powerful monsters or traps.

AI-Driven NPCs

AI can be used to create believable and dynamic NPCs. These NPCs could interact with players in a realistic manner, responding to the players’ words and actions.

AI-Controlled Monsters

AI can be used to control the monsters in the game, making them more unpredictable and challenging. This could include monsters that can adapt to the players’ tactics and strategies, making for a more dynamic and engaging experience.

AI-Generated Quests

AI can be used to generate unique and interesting quests for players to complete. These quests could include various objectives and enemies, as well as unique rewards and storylines.

AI-Controlled World Events

AI can be used to create and control random world events. These events could range from natural disasters to political turmoil, and could have a profound impact on the game’s world and characters.

AI & Miniature Wargames

AI can also be used to benefit miniature wargames in a variety of ways.

AI-Generated Scenarios

AI can be used to generate unique and dynamic scenarios for players to play out. This could include customizing the battlefield, terrain, objectives, and enemies.

AI-Generated Units

AI can be used to generate units for players to command. This could include customizing the units’ stats, equipment, and abilities.

AI-Controlled Enemies

AI can be used to control enemy units, making them more unpredictable and challenging. This could include enemy units that can adapt to the players’ tactics and strategies.

AI-Generated Strategies

AI can be used to generate strategies for players to follow. This could include customizing the tactics, objectives, and resources available.

AI-Controlled Events

AI can be used to generate and control various events on the battlefield. This could include weather, terrain, and even random events that could affect the game.

Summary: How AI Can Complement the Tabletop Miniature Hobby

The potential benefits of AI in the tabletop miniature hobby are numerous. AI can be used to generate a more immersive and dynamic experience for players. It can also provide an extra layer of complexity and challenge to the game.

AI can be used to generate unique scenarios and objectives for players to complete. This could include customizing the battlefield, terrain, objectives, and enemies. AI can also be used to generate units for players to command. This could include customizing the units’ stats, equipment, and abilities.

AI-controlled enemies can be used to make the game more unpredictable and challenging. AI can also be used to generate strategies for players to follow. This could include customizing the tactics, objectives, and resources available. Finally, AI can be used to control various events on the battlefield, such as weather, terrain, and random events.

Thanks for these hot takes, you clever big robot. Oh, and please, don’t annihilate us humans as soon as you have the capability to do so. Which probably won’t be that long, will it?

Blood Moon: Rangers of Shadow Deep (A Lycanthrope Cluedo)

November 29, 2022November 29, 2022 wilbur

Blood Moon is the first micro-supplement for Rangers of Shadow Deep. Having enjoyed The Deserted Village, The Infected Trees, and The Bridge Guards scenarios, we were excited to get to grips with this one.

Unfortunately, after a positive start, we misinterpreted a vital rule and botched the entire thing. We were keeping investigation scores for each auxiliary companion as opposed to one single collective score. Now that we know what we did wrong, it makes perfect sense. It isn’t the clearest when you read it in the book, though, and we aren’t the brightest of chaps, so it was the perfect storm.

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Lesson learned, though. We’ll definitely be arranging a rematch in the very near future.

We did get to fight some giant rats before it all went wrong.

As well as some giant flies.

But not really any wolves. This certainly never happened.

Nor did this.

Our auxiliary companions, Seb, Orla, Nicolan, and Covin. None of them were the werewolf, so in some ways, this game was a tremendous success.

The Manor House. Built with some kids wooden blocks, and furniture from Dungeon Saga.

Range-ers of Shadow Deep.

Dangers of Shadow Deep. We did get to fight and kill this werewolf. Eventually. Is it acceptable to skin it and wear its fur? Or would it turn back into mouldy human skin once the moon went away?

Thanks for taking a look at our failed (but still fun) game of Blood Moon. You’ll find all of our other Rangers of Shadow Deep content right here.

Here is the full range of pictures and miniatures from our Blood Moon game, too.

And be sure to subscribe to or follow the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast on your listening app of choice.

October 2022 Nostalgia Paint Challenge

November 12, 2022November 13, 2022 wilbur

The brief was simple. Paint something that is (or looks) old, and give it a puerile name.

This was the first paint challenge run in the Bedroom Battlefields Discord Server, and it was a lot of fun. There was a good level of participation, a diverse range of models, and the quality of the brushwork was superb.

Here are the photos of everyone’s completed miniatures.

By LateNightPainting

“Here is my metal squig hopper painted up with the Richard Gray paint scheme. Funny faces on these old model, but man, the metal just doesn’t hold paint as well. I think that rattle can is the way to prime metal models. My airbrush primer just rubs off.”

An ogre skeleton from Ral Partha.

By Demonsub – DemonSubMinis

Baron Årsöl of Börll’s Deep

By Mark Smith

Legend has it that the underground city once belonging to the dwarf lord Börll is guarded by a demonic knight, Baron Årsöl, who roams its empty dungeons and corridors howling in pain. Why he does this, nobody knows. But none who have ventured there have made it back alive to tell the tale.

Ligma Balz

By Space Goblin

Bombu Bellybong

By SamuelLarsson

A Games Workshop dwarf from 1985.

Ashat Ma’Sel

By Tom Heaney – TabletopChronicles.com

“He is a Citadel C31 Balgorg sculpted by Trisha Morrison. I bought it second-hand from eBay then soaked it in Dettol for about a week.”

Ashat enjoys long walks through barren ash wastelands and swimming in molten lava lakes. If he had one wish, it would be for world peace, by killing and enslaving all living things. His favourite colour is black, and favourite food is grey wizards.

Ashat is currently single and concentrating on his career. He would one day like to find the right lady demon to share his massive pile of skulls.

Shagsmak Skogbuttz

By Ryan – Adventure Built Gaming

“I painted the ork with Army Painter speed paints and starter set for the most part with one or two more paints mixed in. But with a zenithal priming base. As for where the miniature came from, it was made by Games Workshop and released in 97 for the Gorkamorka game.”

Neil Warlock

By the Author

“I bought this guy from Knightmare. He bears a striking resemblance to football manager Neil Warnock.”

Hild Michbieber von Mordheim

By Idle Doodler – There Could Have Been Snakes

“An old handgunner gifted by a friend some 20 years ago, and I kept his original colour scheme. Experimented with acrylic inks and highlights on the clothing, and kept to more familiar layered highlights and washes on the skin. A flocked green base in honour of Goblin Green battlefields everywhere.”

Zhug Ma’Dheek

By CoveringFire (Ted) – OddGitsHut

“I got this miniature in a lot with some 4th edition hobgoblins, and it took quite a while until I was able to identify it as a Hobgoblin rocket launcher crewman. I never intended to use it with my army, so I thought it would be fun to paint it up for this challenge. I found a photo of the original paintjob, so I tried to emulate that using my Nostalgia ’88 paints. I mainly used Orc Brown for the skin.”

When the hobgoblin artillery positions were surrounded during the battle of Scheissdorf in 2478, Zhug was ‘elected’ to negotiate with the humans. As he approached the enemy lines and was called upon to identify himself, Zhug promptly yelled “Zhug Ma’Dheek!” Unfortunately, the Imperial cavalry took this as an outrageous insult and charged…

Do you think we could kickstart a card game featuring these characters in time for Christmas?

Thanks for taking a look. And thanks to everyone who took part, too. It was a lot of fun.

We’ll be running the next painting challenge in December 2022, so be sure to join the discord if you’d like to get involved!

Hungry Like the Wolf

November 4, 2022November 4, 2022 wilbur

A long-awaited game of Blood Moon, the Rangers of Shadow Deep expansion is still on the cards.

One of the many things that have been holding us up has been a lack of the miniatures recommended to play the game.

Naturally, wolves and werewolves are part of those recommendations. I was able to pick everything here up from Otherworld, who are one of my favourite miniature companies.

The big guy is actually Grendel from the Beowulf saga, but I thought he’d work well as a werewolf.

I also needed some giant flies and a companion called Orla, which are now painted up. Oh, and a pond, too – I got some nice 2D neoprene terrain to take care of that.

We’ve played through three Rangers of Shadow Deep scenarios to-date, and it’s definitely one of my favourite games.

A Visit to Warhammer World

October 20, 2022October 20, 2022 wilbur

Spectacular dioramas, beer, and just a teasing hint of nostalgia. My thoughts on a recent visit to Warhammer World.

Bumped into Horus and the Emperor at Warhammer World. I get the impression things aren’t great between them.

After a 20+ year break from the hobby, I decided to pick up a paintbrush again. I quickly discovered that there’s more to life than Games Workshop, though the company, their games, and their lore are still a massive part of my childhood.

Battlemasters, Christmas day 1992 — *Christmas day 1992, popping the Battlemasters sprues alongside my late brother.*

My hobby journey started in the early 90s. Citadel Combat Cards, Battlemasters, HeroQuest, White Dwarf, Warhammer Fourth Edition, Epic Space Marine, and Warhammer 40k Second Edition. Like most other kids growing up with this stuff, I lost interest in my early teens. And just like many others, I came back into it again as a “grown-up”.

outside Warhammer World — *30 years later, outside the home of Games Workshop*

I’ll admit that the modern Games Workshop stuff doesn’t appeal to me very much. I miss the old colourful and fun aesthetics. But, I know that things change and move on. You can’t argue with the company’s size, success, and the mark they’ve made.

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So even though I’m unlikely ever to play a game of Age of Sigmar, or buy any new miniature from GW, I still jumped at the chance to visit Warhammer World when the opportunity arose.

Visiting Warhammer World

I knew very little about Warhammer World beforehand, so wasn’t sure what to expect. The building is split into different areas, you have the exhibition, the shop, the gaming area, and Bugman’s Bar for your refreshment needs.

See my full gallery of pics from Warhammer World.

My main aims here were to see the exhibition and to get a couple of pints. I still had a wee look around the gaming area though, and it had some pretty impressive tables.

Tickets to the exhibition were a very reasonable £7.50, and you could go round it as many times as you wanted.

It’s a place packed with vast, world-class dioramas. Seriously impressive stuff on that front. There was the odd classic on show, too. Mike McVey’s Emperor Vs Horus from 1994, and John Blanche’s 1982 masterpiece March of the Undead.

My one small gripe (if you could call it that) was that I was hoping for more of a museum or “through the ages” experience. There were some great wee 80s and 90s bits and pieces here and there, but they can get lost amongst the epic sprawling warzones of the modern era. It’s almost as if the company want to pull you back to the present day as quickly and as regularly as possible. I suppose that is how they make their money, after all.

In any case, this didn’t spoil my experience, and I had a great time. We finished up with a few beers, a walk around the shop, and then back off to Nottingham town centre via the excellent Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (England’s oldest Inn, apparently!).

Also on this episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast:

Miniature hobbyist magazines – I had a lot of feedback and recommendations from my previous episode, and have since subscribed to Miniature Wargames
The Minimum Effective Painting Method
mtgcardsmith.com – see them in action in my Dungeons & Badgers post
The October painting challenge in our Discord channel
Monster in my Pocket

Minimum Effective Miniature Painting

September 29, 2022March 18, 2023 wilbur

I’ve talked a fair bit on the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast about my miniature painting process. I consider myself a very limited painter, but with these techniques, I get results that I’m very happy with.

First up, I apply the basing to the miniature. I know for many hobbyists, this is one of the final parts of the process. I like to do it early because I feel it helps with the overall consistency. I use Vallejo Ground Texture which turns rock hard after about 12 hours. I find it stays on much better than a sand/PVA glue combo.

Then, I undercoat with Chaos Black, before applying what’s known as a zenithal highlight, using either the Wraithbone or Grey Seer sprays. This technique involves applying a few short bursts from above the miniature, and gives the effect of natural light and shadow.

Then, I cover the entire miniature in the Citadel Skeleton Horde contrast paint.

The “colouring in” stage falls easily into place after that. I’ll add colours where they are needed (again, using Citadel contrast paints) but I try not to go overboard. I use Plaguebearer Flesh on the grass, which has also benefited from the zenithal highlight earlier on in the process. I’ll then finish up with a bit of traditional Goblin Green around the base edge.

And that’s it. Not a lot to it, and I won’t be troubling Golden Demon any time soon. But I find this an efficient, satisfying, and satisfactory way to paint miniatures.

Time Flies by When You’re a Chaos Lizardman

September 2, 2022September 2, 2022 wilbur

I’ve painted a very small amount of miniature in the past six weeks. Nevertheless, it’s still progress.

Latest Podcast Episode: Miniature Transportation, Fish Tank Terrain, & Warhammer-Themed Recipes

Do you ever think to yourself “if I owned a Warhammer-themed cafe, what would be on the menu?”.

No?

Well, strap yourself in. You’re about to.

In this episode, I also ask the question “do Games Workshop’s paints have an accessibility issue?”, and persistently get the names of miniature companies mixed up.

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My super-expensive high-end miniature transportation solution.

And I’ve been painting miniatures from Midlam, Otherworld, and North Star.

Frostgrave Vs Rangers of Shadow Deep

August 11, 2022August 11, 2022 wilbur

This isn’t a direct comparison of Frostgrave Vs Rangers of Shadow Deep. We’ve covered the ins and outs of the latter quite a bit on this podcast, already. Instead, we’re going to turn our attention to the frozen city, and delve into the Frostgrave rules (and spells) to see the similarities and differences between these two excellent games.

Rangers of Shadow Deep episodes on the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast so far.

Not content with reading through the Frostgrave rulebook, we then take the heroic next step – put some little painted toys on a table, roll dice, and probe measuring tapes about the place.

The forces of good. Our Rangers of Shadow Deep crew are led by illusionist Claire with the Bear, and her apprentice, Russell Sprout.

They’re up against the forces of evil – led by summoner Courtney Lovecraft, and her apprentice, Squid Vicious.

The forces assemble. Photo credit, Vinny the Vulture, who did not take part.

Claire and Russell were joined by ‘Adam & his Apple’. A fast runner who eats his five a day.

An Orc Brute. Surely he’ll mash a few heads in. Surely….?

A Chaos Goblin champion and his two Chaos Warrior chums.

An Orc Warrior, and veteran of Battlemasters. He’s seen it all.

Squid Vicious, apprentice to Courtney Lovecraft.

A Chaos Dwarf with two heads, and Weird Willie (left) with… well, you know…

This didn’t actually happen (summoning a greater daemon was way too hard) but I thought it made for a cool picture.

It reminds me of a sort of grimdark Bioshock.

The kids went without supper that evening, purely because Stu was away out with his mum’s best pot on his head.

As for the big guy? Turns out he only needed directions to the post office.

The game in full swing.

Frostgrave Vs Rangers of Shadow Deep

Thanks as always for listening to the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, and please remember to follow or subscribe on your listening app of choice!

From Stripping Paint to Storytelling

August 3, 2022January 12, 2023 wilburLeave a comment

On this episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, I’m joined by George, a returned hobbyist and fiction podcaster. George is the writer and creator of The Tales of Hobgob & Mulch. This is a show that draws some inspiration from the Warhammer world, though perhaps through a somewhat lighter lens.

We talk a bit about storytelling and fiction podcasting. I also mention The Witch Hunter Chronicles, and, if you’re in the mood for some high-fantasy audio fiction with a (very) NSFW twist, check out The Lords of the Ring Piece.

Elsewhere on the episode, a big thanks to our sponsor Midlam Miniatures, and I talk about my recent completion of a band of their junior townsfolk range – see my pictures in the link, there.

Then it’s on to the serious matter of stripping paint. We spend all that time talking about unpainted miniatures building up, so what do we also like to do? Remove the paint from those we’ve actually finished.

As I mention on the episode, though, there were a few minis from both childhood and early on in my “return” that I thought looked terrible. I really wanted to use these guys in various future projects. After some failed attempts with methylated spirits and Dettol, Biostrip 20 took that paint off faster than the guy in the takeaway shop shaves a stick of doner meat. A big thanks to the folks on Discord who helped me see the light (and the shiny metal), here!

By the way, that red grout brush is really good too. That said, after a bath in the Biostrip you could probably dab the paint off with cotton wool.

Finally, I talked about the pros and cons of 2D terrain. I recently got my hands on this wee kit, and, in the main, I love it.

Thanks as always for listening to the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, and please remember to follow or subscribe on your listening app of choice!

Midlam Miniatures’ Junior Townsfolk

August 1, 2022August 9, 2022 wilburLeave a comment

I recently painted up some of the excellent Junior Townsfolk range from Midlam Miniatures. As always, they’re full of character, and were a lot of fun to work on.

There is a time, before they are sent to be apprentices or a life of responsibility, when the young folk of Midlam can play freely in the streets, happy with their games regardless of the dirt and squalor. Others, though the entrenched poverty of their families, find themselves from an early age, forced in to a life of servitude. Some will go on to become craftsmen, artisans and nobility, others may cast off their heavy duties for a life of adventure. – Midlam Miniatures’ Junior Townsfolk

As I mentioned recently on the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, I got these kiddos as part of my preparation for a game of Rangers of Shadow Deep – the Blood Moon supplement, to be specific.

I’m going to stat this gang up as a warband at some point, either for a game of Song of Blades and Heroes or Frostgrave. I like the thought of them taking on a group of hardened chaos mutants or daemons, and – maybe even at all costs – winning.