Where does he get those wonderful toys?

I've been asked by Shapeways to give them a plug, and being an accommodating fellow who has used them in the past, here it is!

Shapeways is a 3-D printing company that makes all sorts of things based on designs others enter.  As miniatures gamers, there's a lot on offer there.  I personally have used them (through the designer CustomMinis, who has a ton of 40k useful designs) for shoulder pads for both the Space Sharks and Sons of Taurus.  If I end up expanding the Space Sharks I will probably end up getting the door set pictured above, as FW has dropped the Badab War ball and even stopped making their Carcharodon transfers.  Boo.  If you have a custom chapter or just want some variety in pads, check them out.  I expect you'll be able to find something you can work with.

The interface and searchability still leave a bit to be desired, though it does look like it has improved since I first scrolled through page after page to find what I was interested in.  Some examples of things folks might find interesting below:

Want a BFG cruiser?  (from GrimDarkBits)

Or some things for X-Wing games? (from Mel_Miniatures)

Some teeny weapons for those Hot Wheels cars you're converting for your Fury Road games? (by swinks)

How about an interesting portal glyph marker for those daemons? (by dashleysmith)

Or maybe you have been looking for the right hats for your Lego Napoleonics army? (by woody64)

Check them out, poke around and I'm pretty sure you'll find something interesting and even useful!

Before he was a Legend he was a Marine

Larry Brom, esteemed miniatures rules designer and wonderful human being recently passed away.  Larry was a huge influence on historical miniatures gamers, with his Sword and the Flame rules often being the go-to rules for colonial-era conflicts, and other rules covering the Franco-Prussian War (with variants for US Civil War and other conflicts) and his Before I was a Marshal I was a Grenadier rules for Napoleonics, among others.  He was more focused on fun and playability than intense detail in his rules and the games he put on, focusing on the flavor and enjoyment of the participants.

I was fortunate enough to know Larry when I was a lot younger, when he and the Triangle Simulation Society humped down the road to put on games for us at J&S Hobbies in Winston-Salem.  These games really helped the miniatures bug to bite me hard, though I never took the plunge to get historical armies myself.  For their first visit, they put a tarp down over some tables, pulled up the edges and dumped kitty litter all over it.  The game hadn't even started and already we had spectacle.  Once the dust settled they shaped the mounds a bit, pulled out spray cans and soon the mass of kitty litter had become a rolling landscape of grassy hills, with roads and a stream.  Some buildings were placed to form a village and trees stuck directly into the litter to make areas of forest.  After that the miniatures came out and a crowd of us battled back and forth, with casualties left on the field where they fell as evidence of where the fighting had been hardest.  I was hooked.  The whole experience - the immersive terrain, the complete armies of painted figures, the fun and fast rules and general excitement is what I generally try to re-create every time I play (with varied results!).

They came back a number of times later, though usually without the kitty litter.  We played a variety of conflicts, including some great games with his French Foreign Legion fort and a giant Alamo setup.  (his process of giving various legionnaires names from his fellow gamers was the inspiration for my Scythiak recruitment drive)  Again, spectacle and fun were the key drivers.  We played other games and I was in various RPG campaigns and the like, but whenever Larry came it was always a treat.

He moved on, and it has been many years since I had seen him in person.  He got ill, and the other day his daughters posted that he had passed away.  He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.

Endless Ones Heldrake, Merkan 76th vs. Hive Fleet Jumbo

Still needs a check for fixing visible goofs and sealing, but the heldrake for the Endless Ones is pretty complete.  Painting one of these already assembled is...annoying.  Thankfully, years ago some friends gave me an angled brush that came in very handy getting to spots where the wings overlap.