Under Siege's Top 10 Posts of 2015

This is the third year I do this and it's always nice to revisit this material.  It also tells me what my readers like and what draws new readers in.

Despite the second half of the year features far less content compared to the first half, readership over all has increased and for that I thank all of you who have taken the time and I sincerely hope that my occasional ramblings serve some sort of purpose.

So... here's the list with my thoughts following it.

10. Weekend R&R: No Salvation for Witches

09. Weekend R&R: SUPERS! Revised Edition

08. Games & Gears Ichiban Studios Pro Line Brushes - 9 Months Later

07. The Problem With Citadel Paints

06. Weekend R&R: The Seclusium of Orphone of the Three Visions

05. Why Victorious Matters

04. Weekend R&R: A Red & Pleasant Land

03. Weekend R&R: Games & Gears Katana Brush

02. Weekend R&R: Death Frost Doom

01. Modular Dungeon Terrain

The Weekend R&R series of posts have always been popular and pretty much a staple of this blog.  I take the time to reflect, reminisce, and review something connected to the hobby.  Most often, this will be some sort of rulebook, supplement, or module but sometimes, they could be some sort of kickstarter package I have received or to do with painting.  Last year, I reviewed a few products from the Lamentations of the Flame Princess line and they all ended up on my top ten list.  They are very popular products and I really do love them.  However, one gaming book stands out in the list and that is the review I did for the SUPERS! Revised Edition rulebook.  It's a solid game with solid concepts and simple, get into the action, rules even if it doesn't have the 'spit and polish' of more professional products.

But I mentioned painting, and it's nice to see that three posts are involving painting.  While I do have some painting guides and, I feel these are ALWAYS useful, those who paint miniatures are often obsessed with the tools of the trade.  Two of them involve Games & Gears brushes and there is a reason why people are interested to get more information about them.  Opinions regarding quality are a bit split and, despite the problems I had, the company DOES stand by its products and it's refreshing to see that sort of dedication.  Then again, given the amount of cash you end up dropping on these brushes, you kind of want that support.  They company was kind enough to replace my set of brushes and even give some more due to the problems I have had.  The replacement brushes I have received were better than my original sets and I suspect that issues were worked out between the Early Bird stuff I had gotten and the replacement brushes months later.  I even picked up some other brushes to try out as well.  Given everything, I'll likely be doing another review of some of there other brushes in a few months.

As to my other painting related article concerning Citadel paints... Nothing has been resolved for me and I'm still looking into some solutions.  Looks like I'm stuck with Citadel a while longer.

The other two articles stand out for a different reasons -- one is for a new RPG and the other is concerning modular terrain.  The new RPG is called Victorious being published by Troll Lord Games in the coming weeks.  As of a couple weeks ago (give or take), a bunch of us received access to a Beta version of the text.  Is is art-free but the content of the main book is there.  As I have mentioned before, I have a history with the game and it's interesting to see what has changed and what hasn't changed since it was in my care.  I am very curious at what the finished product will look like once all the art is in place but the layout seems 'off' somehow.  Hopefully it will look better in the final, printed product.  I am still excited to see that the game is now so close to fruition.

My article on Modular Dungeon Terrain was the number one post from 2015 it was spurred on by a Kickstarter which ended up being cancelled.  In it, I discus other projects and 'systems' and challenges associated with them.  After all of that, I believe I finally found what I was looking for thanks to Fat Dragon Games when they launched a Kickstarter in the Fall for sets of 3D files to print your own modular terrain with a 3D printer.  For a fraction of the 'start up cost', I have all I need to print what I need.  Well... that is once I get a 3D printer.  Thankfully, that is a planned investment I am making this year.  Will it actually solve my problems?  I don't know.  I keep on looking at all the other stuff and, judging by the hits, others are too.

Thanks for reading and, if you are curious about 2014 and 2013, you can find those HERE and HERE.

M