The first Leviathan Mortis has been listed on eBay

Casting took considerably longer than planned, two days of fussing with new molds and adjusting vent and sprue size. I suppose it’s to be expected but it sure is frustrating.

Because of the current production rate, I have concluded that I need to move this out of house sooner than later and will be working toward that end.

Until then I had to choose a way to sell, that would allow the greatest number of people a shot at purchasing a kit... I settled on the auction format. I know it’s not ideal and bidding may go over the suggested retail but the market supply and demand will set the price and if there is extra profit, it will go straight to the contract caster to get that end rolling.

I refuse to take pre-orders because I will not sell something that is not in a box and ready to ship.... Been there, done that, and won’t do it again. There are just too many things that can go wrong, and I would prefer not to anger my customers with unreasonable wait times.

I apologize and hope you understand my decision. If the auction format drives the price too high, I would ask for your patients while I work out the production issues. How long will it take? Likely several (2-3) months for the contract caster to start production.

Have a safe and happy New Year, and happy bidding….

Item number: 230568665580 click here to be taken to listing

Casting has started!

I will have two and possibly three Leviathan Mortis available by the 31st.

When they are packed and ready to go I will make an announcement here. I may list one of them on eBay in auction format, to allow those who may have missed the chance at the first run to purchase a kit if they feel they cannot wait until the production rate is up.

The first few models will be a Limited Release Edition, and will include the Crusader Head and a right hand Vulkan Cannon in addition to the normal Mortis head, Scythe and Claw.

The limited Edition Mortis will only be available for a short time, likely five kits. After that the Vulkan and Crusader head will be available separately.

Total Package Value: $400.00  ($350.00 Mortis/ $45.00 Vulkan/ $5.00 Crusader head)
Limited Edition Price: $375.00

Production will be rather spotty; I need to cast up two for Pat over at Senji Studios, a Mortis and when the molds are done, a Crusader, to take care of a trade for the wonderful buildings he made. Possibly two more for other obligations, and then start work on the Crusader molds for it's release.

I'm still in talks with a couple of production shops for contract casting and I will need to make production molds.... In short, there is much still to be done and casting needs to be juggled between tasks.

Updated Website

While I was waiting for the re-printed part, I took the time to hack and slash through the website. It is still not completely done, the Game page needs a lot of work and I threw together the pics for the Vulcan Cannon page.

All in all, it loads faster and is far kinder to maneuver through. You still cannot buy anything; I have the PayPal buttons set so it will not complete the transaction without stock on hand.

No rest for the wicked... I start benching the re-print tomorrow and molds to follow.

Stay tuned! I will update the Blog with a final release date when I have it... Just keep in mind there may only be a couple of kits available on the day of release.

22nd Armoured Brigade Group Nov 41 - finished.

22nd Armoured Brigade Group for Operation Crusader,

Western Desert, November to December 1941

As a change from the Punic Wars stuff that I'm ploughing through (I'm currently finishing a batch of 176 28mm Gallic infantry) I'm doing the odd bit for my WWII collection. I've just finished the first of the four brigade groups for 7th Armoured Division. Scale is 1:5 ish. Here it is:

The whole group and its overall command stand.



22nd Armoured Brigade - comprising 2nd Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, 3rd County of London Yeomanry and 4th County of London Yeomanry.

11th Hussars.

B Company 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps and a troop from 102nd AT Regiment.

C Battery 4th Royal Horse Artillery and 3 Battery 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

All figures and models are FOW. All are painted in enamels and the liberal use of burnt umber acrylic ink.

All are based on 2mm MDF - frontages are 60mm. Command stands and FOO stands are circular. All are sand, grit and cat litter on PVA glue, ink washed and dry brushed with artists acrylic and household emulsion paint; grass tufts are Mininatur, spongy flock is Woodland Scenics products.

Leviathan Mortis Instructions

Instructions for the first release are complete. That was about as much fun as a root canal, but at least its done.... Enjoy!

Just click on the images below

L.A. Noire Developer Diary: The Technology Behind Performance

"The Technology Behind Performance" showcases how L.A. Noire will utilize the brand new MotionScan technology, which provides an unprecedented level of realism, detail, and emotion never seen before in a videogame, bringing characters to life in a totally new way.

Parable of the Holy Turnip - battle report

A short pictorial battle report of last nights action.

From the Chronicles of Kermit the Hermit:

"Whilst the pilgrims and soldiers in Blakadah did suffer the attention of the Saracen archers......

......the two aforesaid Lords, arriving from the lines of Antioch, did push their men hard and came to the countryside around the Holy Turnip Fields before ever a Saracen had word of their coming. They skirmished with the heathen in running battles.......

......until the Lords, having sent many of the enemy scurrying back to their tents, arrayed their forces so as to come to handstrokes..........

.......It was now that the Saracen did emerge from his camp in force, wishing to overthrow the Christians in Blakadah...........

......sending wild Ghazis in furious charges against their hasty defences.......

To be continued next week.

Nominated for Hero Innovators & Innovations for Learning Award.

We have been nominated for an award for Hero Innovators & Innovations for Learning. This is an exciting opportunity and its all down to the public vote.

So if you like what we do and enjoy the ideas we provide start voting.

Text REDBRIDGE to 07950 080 667

Check out the rest of the nominees here and more about the awards here.

Thanks

Parable of the Holy Turnip Scenario

This scenario is based on the writings of Kermit the Hermit. Specifically, that section which has become known as the 'Parable of the Holy Turnip' (the lesson being - don't rub another mans turnip, it costs lives - apparently. The action took place sometime during the siege of Antioch but the exact date and location of the battle are unclear.

From the Chronicle of Kermit the Hermit:

"....with want coming upon the soldiers and pilgrims in the lines of Antioch, foraging parties were sent ever farther abroad into enemy country. One such party, led by a certain English captain named Baldrik, did raid the distant village of Blakadah, wherein the captain's men found fields in bounty of turnips. On the second day of the harvesting a piece of ground was dug, which since has been called Holy, where a large turnip, some say as big as a goose, in the shape of a Cross was discovered. It was thought to be a sign of God's Blessing.

News of the discovery reached the lines of Antioch and caused a great disturbance among the devout who dwelt there. Many hundreds deserted the place and did pilgrimage to Blakadah in the hope of feasting on Gods Holy Turnips rather than await the assured arrival of the Holy Vegetable. Soon the place was athrong and the Turnips all eaten. That night the multitude slept happy and sated. But on the morrow the Saracen was discovered encamped nearby and their heathen cavalry all about, cutting off their route back to Antioch.

Baldrik, immediately fortified Blakadah and deployed what forces, including the hapless pilgrims, as best he could. All prepared to defend themselves and many swore oaths to save the Holy Turnip from the clutches of the Hoards of Satan surrounding them.

News of the Saracen reached Antioch within hours. It was decided, at council, that so great a number could not be sacrificed. Succour was dispatched under the command of Lord Melchitte and Lord Flashart...................."

So much for the chronicle, but it gives just enough information to obtain an Ager Sanguinis scenario. The Map below shows my initial deployments.

The forces:

The Franks, army die D10.

Baldrik:

Baldrik command stand, leadership D10.

Holy Relic stand, applies only to the pilgrims under Baldrik (the rest of the Franks think it mad).
1 unit of mercenary English seamen.

1 unit of mercenary Italian seamen.

1 unit of fanatic levy (pilgrims) with simple bows.

1 unit of fanatic levy (pilgrims) with light spears.

2 units of fanatic civilians (pilgrims).

Lord Melchitte:

Melchitte command stand, leadership D10.

1 unit of knights.

1 unit of turcopoles.

3 small units of mercenary sergeants.

Lord Flashart:

Flashart command stand, leadership D12.

Otherwise as per Melchitte above.

The Saracens, Army die D10:

Three commands of Turcoman horse archers deployed around Blakadah (see map) each:

Command stand, leadership D10.

2 units of Turcoman horse archers.

Undeployed commands:

Command stand '1', leadership D10.

2 units of Turcoman horse archers.

2 units of Ghazis.

Command stand '2', leadership D10.

1 unit of Ghulams.

2 units of Seljuk horse archers.

4 units of Ghazis.

Special Rules:

The Saracen player adds a 'Special 1' and a 'Special 2' card to his sequence deck. On the appearance of the cards the player can elect to pass or deploy the command with the same number (command 1 or 2). If the card is passed on, the player can add or subtract 1 from the roll of a D10 the next time it is turned (passes are cumulative). If the player elects to deploy he rolls D10 adjusted by any 'passes'. The command must deploy on the command in the map square corresponding to the result (the relevant squares are numbered 1 - 10 on the deployment map above).

I'll post a report with pics ASAP. We play the 'Parable of the Holy Turnip Scenario' tonight.

Waiting on Prints

My go-to guy for prints, Moddler, is out of the office for the next couple of days and slammed with work. I will likely have the re-printed part on Friday. I will need to bench the part and make a new family mold. Unfortunately, this will slightly delay the first release. It will take approximately 10 days to get everything done once I have the item in my grubby little hands.

Rest assured, workers in my high tech production facility will be flogged daily until this problem has been resolved.

Just Dance for PE?

At Nightingale I once again had a PE lesson not happen due to things happening in the hall. We couldn't go outside so once again turned to the Wii. Now I had been here before when I used Mario and Sonic at the Olymics and others in my school had used the Wii fit in the hall.

Now when I worked on Mario and Sonic I was trying to work out how a 4 player game could involve everyone - I came up with a solution that ment that it become a relay of sorts in teams of 4. We reviewed it and though that while fun the classroom was too small to really get the rest of the group doing something that raised your heartrate.


Now I seen Just Dance before and a few teachers had said that'd be good to do, so with a bit of practice we gave it a go. For those of you who haven't played it it is a game where you have to copy the motions of a person on screen in time with the music. Fairly easy.


Now where it is better than a lot of other games i've tried to use in PE is that even though it only supports 4 players using the Wii Motes everyone can just join in and play along. See the video below.

You can swap around the leader children (those with the Wiimotes) so every plays the game. I was amazed at how tried you got after playing for 30minutes, i think we did 5 songs. The children had great fun and it definately increased our heartrates.

I'm definatly gonna try this again and next time with the Kinet and Dance Central.

Leviathan Mortis First Build

It has been quite the journey getting here, but it is very satisfying to hold the final model.

Please accept my apologies about the website, I know it's broken... I just have not had time to get to it. It's on the to-do list. I keep the blog up to date so this is where you can find all updates until I can sort out the website.

As expected, it has been many long days to prep the molds for production. I had really hoped to show a nicely painted model on Pat's wonderful diorama but time will not allow that right now, I’ll have to come back to it when the Crusader is ready for the build. I wanted to make sure my customers could see a real world model and not just a CAD render, so primer will have to do for now.

 Although I prefer to take my time on a build, I assembled this kit in just a few hours, skimping on much of the pre prep work and clean up so I could get cracking on the instructions. I did find one part that will need to be re-printed and new molds made so there may be a slight delay on the December 15^th release date. This is still my goal and I am working hard to stick with it.

I will take what I have learned from this build and make notes in the instructions, there are a few components that need to be assembled in a specific order or you will be cussing up a storm. I will also include notes on how to build a resin kit and what tools and glues work best. I dislike pinning resin models and was happy to find that the only part that needs the reinforcement was the spine. As you can glue the spine in place and then drill from the bottom of the pelvis and from the top of the chest right into the spine area it was a fast and easy pinning job.  For a 136 part model, I am happy to say it was a fairly simple build.

Still sooo much still to do; Complete the instructions, new molds and prep of the re-printed component, web site (I doubt I will get this done before the 15^th, so expect the first few sales to be on Ebay) and all the other items I am sure I have overlooked.

Ultimately I need the casting contracted out, sooooo...

**If you are a contract caster or garage kit producer of resin models and looking for long term work, contact me at mark@dreamforge-games.com for details.**

Quick recap:

Release date... shooting for the 15th, depends on the re printed part turn around time. This will likely be on Ebay as I doubt I will have time to fix the broken website before then.

Retail $350.00 (Kit will come with the Crusader head as well as the Mortis head)
Optional Vulkan Cannon $45.00

For now, enjoy the pics!

Here is a shot for scale, using a 30-32mm MERCS Mini.

Here is a shot for fun ;)

New Holiday Update for Balloon Touch!

A new holiday update for Balloon Touch Gift Edition is available now for free!

• Two new Balloon Designs
• One new Background

Also I made some gameplay tweaks to the game to make it more enjoyable:

• The countdown for Endless and Hard mode has been increased to 10 seconds, up from 5 seconds.
• The amount of Balloons needed to increase the speed has been increased to 15 pops, up from 10 pops.

So what's next for Sam and Dan?

We are both working on a new game, which we think its going to be great. Can't say much about it yet but it will include ninjas, and multi-touch controls, stay tuned for more info.

Also I'm working on a side project on my own. The project is basically a Pokemon Tower Defense game, I'm a huge pokemon fan so I hope that you guys will enjoy it when its done.

Thanks

I would like to thank all the supporters who have bought and played the game. If you haven't bought the game and feel like you want to support our future growth you can support us by buying the .99 center version of Balloon Touch. Also I would love to hear from you guys, so leave a comment. Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

Dance lesson at Cleveland Junior School using Xbox Kinect and Dance Central

Its that time of year again when its far to cold and snowy to go out and have a PE lesson. Here at Cleveland Junior we took our lesson indoors and started to use the Xbox Kinect in order to have a dance lesson with a difference.

We had the children warm up as normal and then put them into 2 - 3 lines. We were playing Dance Central which allows the player to dance in front of the Kinect sensor without any controllers or peripherals and it can pick up the players movements and score them on how well they match the dancer on screen.

There is a huge list of songs to chose from and are all very recent and well known by staff and children. We started off with Lady Gaga and Poker Face, we went through the break down section which taught us all the moves and then we performed the entire song on easy mode as a class.

Once the children had got an idea of what they were doing we went through 3 other songs and had a different child step to the front and lead the rest of the class. The Kinect only picks up one player and scores one player but the other 30 children behind were all getting in the mood and dancing along as well. The children all got a good workout and were taught some new dance moves. There is lots of room for progression and we had some children who picked up on the dances very quickly. There are around 30 dances and all have a easy,medium and hard difficulty setting.

There are some images and (blurry & low res) videos below of the lesson in action. Hopefully more to come in the next few weeks.


Simon and Anjum
Cleveland Junior

Click to Play

ClevelandJ and Kinect ;

Click to Play

Clevelandj and kinect