Update on Life

Wow I'm tired.  I haven't updated my blog in almost a month and for that I'm sorry.  I promised to show you a painted example of the heavy armor.  Trouble with that is I actually have to paint them.  I honestly haven't found the time.  I have them assembled and primed but I have gotten no farther.  It's the story of my entire miniatures collection.  It grows but I can never seem to complete an army.

So what has taken my time?

Well a gaming table actually.

My gaming group got together shortly after my last blog post and while drinking a lot we decided it would be quite nice to build a gaming table. 

I can’t stress how much alcohol was involved in this decision because it has proven quite the undertaking.  We aren’t the most graceful or skilled carpenters on the planet. In fact I’d have to say our skill level with “Craft (furniture)” is roughly -4 ranks averaged between us. 

However with several pints of Guinness anything is possible.

So I was tasked, possibly as a cruel joke, with coming up with a perfect gaming table design.

So that I did.

After our RPG session we drank and discussed options and the materials we could use.  We hashed out our basic needs and what level of complexity we were talking about.  Some of my gamer colleagues and I even field tripped to local home supply stores to see potential materials for the build.

Afterwards, armed with all this critical intelligence I sat down with another beer and google sketchup to plan.   I put the design together in google sketchup so that people can take a look at it in 3d. 

At its core the table design we came up with is modular so we can reformat it to fit our needs.  Made up of 3 separate segments, the two outside segments are self-supporting and hold up the central segment.

The first section is a relatively small table sized at 32”x48” followed by a center projection section also at 32”x48”, and the last section with a size of 48”x48”.  When combined, this will make a single table 4’ by 9’4” table suitable to fit our large 10 person gaming group.  In the center of this large table is an LCD projector rear mounted to display dynamic content on the tabletop itself.  The entire surface of the table is covered in plexiglass mounted on piano hinges so maps and gaming aids can be put under them and wet or dry erase markers used directly on the table top.  In all, great for RPG gaming. 

Or we can remove the projection section to make a 4’ by 6’8” table.  This size is perfectly sized for table top wargaming, having a standard 4’ b6 6’ surface with 4 inches on either side for models in reserve or removed from game. 

Or we can separate the 4’ by 4’ table giving us a single square table.  This is perfect for traditional 4 player board games or smaller skirmished based table top games.

The 2’8” by 4’ table also works for smaller board and card games with 2 to 4 players.  Or it can be tucked out of the way for entertaining.

The frame of the table is sturdy design using 2x2 and 2x4 lumber to distribute the weight.

Along the outer edge of the table are mounted K-Rails, a snap fit rail system traditionally used in garages. Here we use it for mounting shelving to expand the surface as needed. The K-Rail system acts as both the lip of the table top and lets us mount temporary table space around the outside of the table as well as mount cup holders, dice towers, and other amenities wherever we sit.

Kobalt makes K-rail shelves, baskets, and so on that, with minor modification, can serve the needs of any gaming group without trouble.  Our basic design mounts a 12” by 18” piece of 3/4^th inch particle board onto two flat K-rail brackets with a piano hinge at the back to mount plexiglass.  This simple structure adds a single seating place with enough room for the player to roll dice and store their character sheet under plexiglass and use markers to track health and so on.  Other designs can be made and the player or group could customize these shelves to whatever they need or simply go without them entirely.

The structure is supported by its two end sections.  Each one is mounted on a set of 4” by 4” legs mounted on locking casters.  The legs are 30” long with 2” casters, once flush mounted with the top the table stands roughly 32” high.  This is a tiny bit higher than a normal table for sitting but slightly low for a standing counter top. We found this was a good medium for both standing and seated gaming.  The casters make the table easy to move around.  The large size and sturdy nature of the legs allow the table to support the center section of the table for the projector.  This insert is pinned on with aluminum pipe.  Though it may support a side seat it is mostly intended to simply mount the projector.  Minor modifications could make this table free standing or mount other equipment like an LCD TV or monitor.

So that’s the design.  Lets see some pictures.

Needed Supplies

1/2" Masonite                         x1  32"x48" + x1   48"x48"  +  x2 2" strips 48" and x2 2" strips 28" long

1/8" Plexi                                x2  32"x48" +  x2 24"x48"                                    Note: the largest plexi we found was 32” x 48” if you can find bigger it might be a cheaper build.  This is the most expensive part, doesn’t count any plexi for K-rail place settings.  Roughly 250 bucks here, literally costs as much as the entire table (minus projector).

2 part epoxy                                        1 tube                          Used to glue plexi to hinges.

2” Flush Seat Wooden Screws   x100                                    Used to mount the K-rails

2x2                                    53'6"                            ~7 boards Cuts are below.

2x4                                    39'2"                            ~5 boards Cuts are below.

3/4" Aluminum pipe               3'                                 holds table sections together

3/4" U-bracket                                    x16                  holds up the pipe that holds table sections together

3” Flush Seat Wooden Deck Screws   x100                                    Used to build the frame.

4x4                                          20’                       ~2 boards Note: alternatively you can use folding table leg kits but each section will need to be self supporting.

Casters –locking                     x8                                    screw on casters best.

Cotter pins                              x8                                    Ace has them individually, need to get ones that will fit the pipe bought to hold tables together.

 Glass Mounting Kit                x1                                    not sure on this, you need to mount a mirror at a 45 degree angle for the projector to get a focal length of 5 feet not sure on the fittings needed for that, I assume, duct-tape

K-Rail Track                                    26'7”                                    ~8 six foot rails

L-brackets                               x32                                    used to mount the legs. Note: not needed if you use folding leg kits

LCD projector                        x1                                    standard long throw projector that has rear mounting settings.

Mirror                                     x1                                      Minimum 12"x12" preferably larger                                    16” or 18” square would be best

Piano Hinge                            x6  12"                          Sold individually   

White Craft Paper                                    32"x48"                                    this is the projection surface, you can use craft paper, tracing paper, or any other semitransparent surface with an opacity of around 70%.  You can buy drafting paper that has this opacity and ½” grid lines.

Wire Cart +casters no top      x1                    used to mount the projector, could be a board with casters honestly, just needs to be flat and can mount a projector and mirror.

Wood Cuts

2x2 - x6 48" - x6 29" - x4 45"

2x4 - x4 32" - x6 41" - x2 48"

4x4 - x8 30”

masonite - x1 32"x48" - x1 48"x48" - x2 32"x2"  - x2 44"x2"

K-rail - x4 48" - x4 32"

Shelves

K-rail flat mount brackets - 2 per seat/expansion shelf

MDF - 18" x 12" per seat/expansion shelf     x1 8'by4' MDF board cut down into segments

In Defense of the Breast Plate

This is the second post I’ve done without major 3d modeling content so I’ll try to keep this somewhat short. My last one, a background piece, was long. Maybe long enough people lost interest but I hope it was satisfying for those who read it.  I like background so it kept me entertained to write a foundation piece for a mythos I’m slowly creating with my miniatures. Not that GW’s existing mythos isn’t entertaining, just, sometimes you want to do something new and interesting.  Really the primary impitous behind this is that I want to kill sometime while waiting for miniatures to arrive so I can blog them.

Anyway, this time I wanted to blog a bit about an aspect of my personal projects that has gotten me some flak in my gaming circles.  Namely, as one female gamer put it, my “Fetish for Tit Armor”.  Now I don’t expect this to matter to a lot of gamers.  Sexy armor is as old a fantasy trope as Eleves being archers or Dwarves carrying hammers.  But the propensity of games to do “babe” armor on their miniatures has been criticized recently.

There are a number of bloggers that have attacked chainmail bikini’s and skimpy space suits with a vehemence that makes you less than proud to be gamers.  The often spoken notion that gaming is becoming less of a man’s hobby has encouraged these critiques.  This is generally done out of the perception that the sexy armor trope is sexist and thus should be discarded.

Obviously not everyone feels that way, and I myself don’t as you could have guessed from the title of this article. It’s hard to form a cogent argument against something like this.  The perception goes that if you support the sexy armor trope you are automatically a sexist pig, and admittedly there are a lot of those in the hobby.  But beyond that I really think very few people really have considered why armor like that exists in fantasy or scifi literature.

I’ve heard a lot of arguments against sexy armor.  The most prominent among these arguments being safety and/or impracticality.  This argument goes that receding body coverage is unsafe on the battlefield or simply impractical to be considered armor.  I always agree with this to an extent but it’s also an issue of cultural subjectivity.  There has been an obsession in first world nations with the value of human life for a long time now.  Throughout the first world nations in Europe the movement from hide and leather armors to part and full plate has captured the imagination of fantasy authors.  To such a point that we interpret full plate armor as the standard of the world when it isn’t now nor was it then.  The more affluent countries in Europe and other areas like Japan used full armor extensively for hundreds of years but that wasn’t the norm.  Throughout Asia, Africa, Mesoamerica the standard was lighter armor that protected the core of the body and the head.  Limbs, regardless of how important to you or I were considered expendable and rarely armored.  These lighter armor often left large swaths of the body exposed. They also tended to hang on the body making female anatomy more visible when women were allowed to be warriors.  The fantasy trope of the nomad barbarian half naked living among beasts is essentially true in some parts of the world.  The primary concern with these lighter armors was generally speed and maneuverability.  Segments of the body, like arms and legs, were uncovered so the soldier didn’t have as much weight to move while in action.  Even into the middle ages common soldiers were only lightly armored. Archers rarely wore anything more than chain shirts, while city watches and spearmen were lucky to have breast plates to shield their hearts and lungs.

Other arguments include that it’s entirely an aesthetics issue.  That the idea of curvy armor only has the purpose of being pleasing to the eye, specifically the male eye.  Again this is quite true to some extent. As a man I admit that female curves are attractive, that’s why most sports cars are so curvy.  It’s just bred into me to like those soft curves.  At the same time that isn’t the only thing that is forged into those curves.  Most men can attest that there are times when women are simply frightening.  Like a tigress protecting their young a woman can be more fierce and brutal than any man could hope to be. Along with the attraction of those curves a woman’s body calls to mind that absolute willingness to destroy anything that threatens her family.  This dichotomy of beauty and ruthlessness is a part of femininity that shouldn’t be forgotten. Stopping sexism is all about gender equality but it also is tempered with the truth that some things men or women can’t do.  No one can complain that women not peeing standing up is sexist, it’s a fact of human physiology and as such must be accepted. All we can do is offer equal bathroom facilities and be done with it. It’s true that women can be soldiers just as well as men can but we must also acknowledge that they have tools at their disposal that men don’t. Both the disarming allure of the female body and the frightening ferocity of a woman’s mental and biological drive to fight for what she holds dear are weapons that men rarely can achieve.  There is a psychological component to warfare that aesthetics plays a big part in.  No matter how gruesome we don’t question the idea of littering things with skulls and wicked blades in table top gaming.  The ancient Greeks would mold chiseled abs and pecks into their body armor for psychological effects.  There are even some accounts of Pict women fighting naked on the battle field against roman soldiers.  Regardless of how you feel about the female form arguing that because it’s aesthetically pleasing doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a place on the battle field.  That may mean it has more of a place there than you’d like to admit.

Bullet trap cleavage theory, somewhat addressed as a safety issue, is also one particular argument trotted out.  This goes essentially that the cleavage shape on a breast plate makes it either A. funnel weapons fire to the heart, or B. structurally unsound.  There is some scientific evidence that would support this except for the fact that no scientific study has ever been done that actually examines this.  As a practical issue in melee combat the “breast” shape of the armor is no more or less effective against blows.  At range, any shot that would fall inside the “V” of the cleavage was already a center of mass shot which if it has the velocity to penetrate your armor was already a kill shot anyway regardless of whether it glances to the heart or passes through the lung.  I read one very scientific sounding article that said a women falling on her face in breast armor would die from a shattered sternum. An interesting scientific quandary that totally ignores any internal padding worn under fitted armor.  As though, the soldier was totally naked under the armor.  There is a certain amount of truth that surface bends, such as the concave cleavage area, are structurally less durable than a convex surface.  But most male armors aren’t a simple convex shape like classic plate armor.  They are often just as sculpted, albeit as a male body or generic design, as a female armor plate. The issue here is simply it may be less structurally sound than a classic breast plate but is it any less structurally sound than the male counter parts? Truth be told probably not.

There are of course concepts I can’t really defend in the field of sexy armor.  I don’t understand the concept of combat heels.  High heels have no purpose other than to affect posture.  Some shoe design are intended to shift the weight of the body off the heel towards the ball of the foot but there really is no evidence they would serve a tactical purpose.  There could be said to be a cultural significance to the incorporation of heels in a female boot.  If the culture has a specific focus on feminine posture as a key sexual trait of women you could lump that into the argument for aesthetics of psychological warfare.  However from my perspective the added mobility of flats vs heels on the battlefield would trump any psychological benefits.  Alternatively, in science fiction settings where zero G combat is the norm magnetic, spring, or rocket heels would be a tactical advantage but only if the heel actually represented these design integrations, a normal heel would still be a detriment to movement.

Of course the overriding reason that is the real impetus behind these arguments is simply that it makes female gamers uncomfortable.  Truthfully, some portrayals make me uncomfortable too a lot of the time.  There is always a balance between a strong feminine characteristic and a sexpot pinup girl.  It’s sometimes hard to fix where that line is drawn in your mind. It generally has to come down to the question of is this sexy for no other reason than its sexy to me, or is it part of some larger design aesthetic that is helping me represent a kick ass character that also happens to be female, and yes sexy to some degree.  Truthfully the worst offenders in my opinion are GW’s Madonna Warriors.  I’m ashamed to own a Sisters of Battle army even though I got it second hand.  And over the years as I tried to push the sisters out of the army first by adding storm troopers and then by adding inquisitor retinues I’ve come to grips with the fact that the army is just sexist drivel.  The Power Corsets and bra’s pointier than their swords is of course now considered quant in 40k.  They are a throwback to the age of 1980s female rockers like Madonna and Cindy Lauper.  That doesn’t make them right with modern sensibilities but at least it makes them somewhat understandable.

I could go on and on but really I have made my point. Generally the truth is that sexy armor isn't just about sexism.  There are real reasons that armor should be feminine.  Femininity is a part of the human condition.  The idea that women must emulate men to be perceived as strong is has been an aspect of the women’s liberation movement and its one that has been changing slowly.  Women can be feminine and still be strong without giving up what makes them feminine. Those who balk at the female form on the table top I must ask is it the sexy armor you don’t care for or is there something so psychologically terrifying about the idea that women are part of your gaming reality that you are afraid to acknowledge their right to be there and be themselves, in the game or playing the game.

Star Marine Heavy Armor, Softsuit Variant, Outfitted for Female Operator.
The Softsuit variant of the Star Marine Heavy Armor replaces the Tactics and Logistics Capsule  (TLC) for a breast plate of hardened thermo-ferric composites. The term Softsuit is something of a misnomer as the armor has nearly the same level of operator protection as its TLC equipped Hardsuit cousin.  Often used in atmosphere or controlled environment engagements where total vacuum seal is unnecessary.  It is favored by officers for its mobility and freedom of vision not afford by the TLC's visual assist systems.  The body of a Softsuit is fitted to its occupant in a process that is performed by the operator's house, often making some or all of the suit's equipment a heraldic heirloom.

Star Marine Joslyn of House Crowan being fitted for heavy armor.

Wargaming's Future (3/19/2013)

I haven’t spent a huge amount of time on my blog over the past several months.  Mostly my time has been dedicated to completing some commissions.  But I’ve been slipping into designing some cool bits now and then when the inspiration strikes.  On the one hand I’m proud of the commission work I’m doing but I feel I’m doing a bit of disservice to my readers and all those who order my items.  I know I’ve got a small stack of requests in my in box and a couple of errors on printed items that I need to get to.  I promise you that I’ll get around to them ASAP now that my free time is becoming mine again.

I semi-officially finished my largest commission last Tuesday.  I only await the final approval on the models to know that I’m definitively done.  I’d love to share with you the fruits of those projects but due to confidentiality agreements I can’t. Suffice it to say it was a huge challenge and I’m quite proud to have done it.  Now that I can get back to my own projects I’ve jumped on my star marines again.

When I started making my female space marines I jokingly referred to them as “Star Marines”.  This was as much a tongue in cheek reference to GW’s product as it was an example of my insecurity over the idea of barrowing on the Games Workshop mythos.  I am a huge fan of Warhammer 40k and the models of Games Workshop but the older their world gets the less I feel at home in it.

I could chalk this up to my age but I don’t really believe that’s the case. I still watch power rangers and read comic books so age isn’t the issue. The issue is Games Workshop is reinventing itself.  It’s been doing it for years and on the one hand being the Madonna of its industry is what makes it great.    On the other hand reinvention always leaves someone out in the cold. And that someone in this case is me.

I’m willing to bet that it’s a lot of other people too.  I’m not afraid of change but change, reinvention, can’t be for its own sake.  To often we take for granted that change will be good or bad and generally fail to acknowledge that the scary part of change isn’t its good or bad points but the lack of control we have over it. Games Workshop has changed Warhammer 40k a lot over the years and while we can say over and over that it’s changes aren’t all bad we must admit that some of them are.

Which brings me to 6^th edition 40k.  I started playing 40k back in 2^nd edition and back then the land scape or “meta” if you want to believe in that, was a lot like it is now.  There were a lot of people spoiling to play cool new things that could be done with the game books.  But back then Games Workshop accomplished the same thing with a lot less money and a lot less man power.  People were inspired less by Games Workshop’s fluff background and more by their own imaginations.  And people took absurd ideas and ran with them for hours upon hours of conversion and gameplay fun.

Today with the freshness of 6^th edition, the newly revised whitedwarf, and the quicker pace of releasing Games Workshop has captured that anything can happen vibe of Rogue Trader.  But in doing so what have they spent.  In terms of money? In terms of manpower? In terms of long term viability of the products they produce?  I’m not really qualified to speak on the time, effort, and money Games Workshop has spent to revitalize 40k.  What I can say is I’m not sure its sustainable.

Games Workshop has started trying new things and that’s good in the long run.  But they haven’t been terribly good at what they have tried.  6^th edition 40k is still a terribly hard to explain game for very little reason.  Contrary the to popular belief the rules for playing toy soldiers are very easy to articulate.  Any 8 year old can explain them, I shoot you, you die.  We all love rolling dice, we all love watching enemy and even allied soldiers get removed as casualties.  Games Workshop keep’s making that complicated.  Arguably this is done to making teams balanced but everyone can attest that, while the most balanced it’s been in years, 40k is not balanced so all that extra writing and layers of rules technicalities is a waste.  Beyond that every rule in the big book pretty much has an exception in one or more army books anyway making it less a rules guide than a bunch of things you have to remember to ignore but only when X is on the field anyway.

I have a 7 year old nephew.  A 7 year old nephew that is part of my table top roleplaying group.  We play a lot of different games but his favorite is Star War D6.  A game played with fists full of D6s and lots of brash fun gunslingers shooting at each other.  I tried teaching him Warhammer 40k. a game that is arguably very similar to the WEG Star Wars experience.  He lost interest after 15 minutes.

Perhaps 7 years old is the wrong age to learn mass combat games.  Maybe I’m not a good gaming instructor.  Or maybe there are just too many rules and to many exceptions for a child to track. I don’t really know.  The trouble is that most of the gamers I know are table top gamers because they started young.  I started at around 7 or 8 myself with RPGs and moved to wargames at 10 or 11.  My Nephew actually totally grasps the concept of characters, line of sight, hit points, armor saves, and all of that.  He just doesn’t care about look out sirs, overwatch, snap fire, anything that is a USR, or why some models get feels no pain and others don’t.

At the end of the day Games Workshop’s new more engaging business model just doesn’t make for a healthy game.  As a current gamer it’s nice that things are more balanced. It’s great that we are getting new kits faster.  It’s nice that unasked questions are being faq’d sooner.  It’s even nice that I can spend my money on a poorly designed digital product instead of an over designed print product.  But when it comes down to it balance, speed of releases, faqs, and even digital or print products aren’t the barriers to entry on the game.

At a time when the entire world has seen economic distress the biggest issue is now and always will be price and service.  Games Workshop’s constantly up sloping prices coupled with relatively poor customer service and the constant feeling that whatever I buy will be devalued in the game by 6 to 10 weeks out make it hard for a current gamer to justify the price tag.  At the same time while other games have maintained a reasonably price tag for their core products and an extremely low price tag for their starter sets, Games Workshop continues the trend of uniform prices across the board. This means new gamers can’t buy into the game to get hooked without a friend that’s already in the hobby and spent the money.

As a gamer I’m an advocate for gaming. I love gaming and believe everyone who plays is in some way better for playing.  But I can buy a DnD starter set for 20 bucks, all the core books for 60, and a bunch of plastic DnD miniatures for a buck a piece. For Warhammer 40k I spend 65 bucks for the core book, another 60 for my army book and then 100 plus for a bare bones starter army that isn’t even always complete to play and is rarely what you actually want.  I’m not sure I can advocate that as easily as I can other aspects of the hobby.

Maybe that’s the point though, Games Workshop is trying to change the dynamic of the hobby.  It seems clear they don’t want it accessible to just anyone.  Constant price rises, pushes to remove services from 3^rd party retailers, and even the semi-mainstream effort put into forge world are attempts at elitism within the hobby.  Games Workshop’s goal is to push people towards their in house distribution.  As an example, they just contractually killed bits service through 3^rd party retailers which means they will likely start unveiling a bunch of shitty fine cast bit kits that are direct order only.  Every kit will be priced at 19.99 or similar and have just enough kinda useful and kinda useless bits on the kit to make you feel like it might be a good price but the quality and service will still be lacking and spending 20 bucks for the one power fist will still leave someone feeling a bit let down.

See Games Workshop is ok with someone leaving the hobby so long as you aren’t ordering from them directly.  Their greatest profit margin is in house where their supply chain takes care of everything rather than paying an outsider.  Their highest degree of control is in house where they do all the training and control all the advertising. No risk of their employees telling you about a competing product or their magazine advertising WarmaHordes.  In the end their goal is pretty transparent.  If they can’t get you into one of their stores and keep you, they don’t want you as a customer.

If you want to understand their elitism look no farther than their “digital products”.  Their “digital products” are nothing more than the iBooks News Stand products.  I get game informer the exact same way, only for 14 bucks a year. Same basic content. Useful index, searchable functionality, fancy revolving 3d images (game characters are cool that way), occasional videos, forced landscape viewing (even though portrait is traditional print lay out and easier to bloody read), and of course outrageously large 300mb downloads.  Only difference is that Games Workshop feels their product is worth more because they made it.  Same goes with their print game books.  We can talk about all the fancy color print pages and stuff we want but I have personally felt for years that the army book prices are trending towards the point they aren’t in my price range. I can pick up a hard cover 200 page DnD supplement for 39.95 but I have to pay 60 for a warhammer one? And then by the models? And the core book? Oh and you’ve made stupid objective markers and psychic power cards too, great. 

I’ve come to realize that I’m not Games Workshop’s market for 40k anymore.  Neither is my Nephew.  It’s not about age.  I don’t feel entitled to anything because I’ve played for so long.  No its more about the very real truth that they don’t care if I patronize them or not.  They aren’t worried about losing me as a customer because they haven’t had me invested in their business model for a couple of years now.

Why is this all important? Well I’ve just realized something very clearly. For a long time side companies like Chapterhouse have been combating Games Workshop’s elitist mentality by keeping bits and specialized models cheap.  But they don’t have to. Games Workshop isn’t killing itself by getting rid of bits or raising prices or driving off customers. It’s giving life to its competition.  I’m not going to start a kickstarter.  But I will predict that someone soon will. Within a few months of Chapterhouse and Games Workshop settling Chapterhouse will start its own game.  Mantic has already started its Warpath game and will kickstart that.  Beyond the Gates of Antares was pulled from kickstarter and arguably was going to be a shitty game, but it will be back.  Within a year Anvil industries will at least talk about making a game as will Wargames Factory within 18 months.  The point is, I can’t look at Games Workshop’s business tactics as “bad for the hobby” anymore. They are good for it, just not good for Games Workshop’s place in it.

That's my deep thought for the day.  Later this week i'll be talking about Star Marines and what that means for my future projects, and hopefully a little about the design of my Heavy Armor troopers.

Recent Emails...

I recently received an email that heavily advised I stop spouting my moral judgements on my blog.  It said in no uncertain terms that even if I don't LIKE intellectual property rights laws they need to exist as they are and I can't change that.

Perhaps I'm to harsh. I know the individual was trying to look out for my well being.  However, I find that quite infuriating to hear.

I completely understand that IP exists in a certain way right now.  I also understand that it took a lot of decisions and arguing before court rooms to get it to this point.  But our country was founded on people speaking out against injustice. Legally condoned injustice has become the norm with intellectual property laws.  We live in a society that allows corporations, groups of people to have more rights than individuals.  That's not right.

Many of those rights corporations have spring not from the truth of the law but from an individuals in ability to defend themselves.  Through a mixture of ignorance and legal dancing corporations convince people they have no right to defend themselves.  As an individual I have the right to speak my mind.  As a moral individual I have both the right and obligation to speak out against what I see as injustice.  When one man oppresses another we call that injustice so why is it not injustice that a corporation oppresses other individuals?

Have I been beaten, exploited, or extorted? Perhaps not, but there are people who are being bullied by corporations. Entire countries that are being raped of their natural resources because corporations "have the right".  People are being exploited by corporations. Children used as labor, artists making a pittance off their own creations, and more.  And other people who are being extorted by corporations.  Individuals who have their hard earned cash or personal creations taken from them by unfair business practices.

Is it wrong for me to speak my mind that these things are wrong?

The United States is in the middle of a class war.  People don't admit it but it is.  There are two ways to be heard in Washington in the united states today.  You can be born part of the "Upper class" born into the 2% that own 98% of everything.  Or you can be a corporation the next largest income bracket.  And of course everyone glosses over the fact that corporations with their free speech only speak the message that the rich people that own them want.  Effectively giving the rich two votes to our one. And of course if you are an employee of the corporations your free speech extends only so far as you can afford to go before you lose your job.

I understand that legally my opinion has little wait. That my morals aren't heard over the reality of legal precedent.  But that is no reason not to speak.

I think people telling me my opinion doesn't matter depress me more than Games Workshop's legal threats.

The presidential elections are coming up.

Shouldn't this be the time for debates like this?

Shouldn't now be a time for a voice to be heard?

I can't change the past but our nation is built on the idea that good men can change the future.

I respect that people are entitled to their opinion.  that they don't have to listen to mine.  But telling me or you not to speak is beyond the pale.  The law can't silence me only embolden me to change it.  I threaten no one, I harm no one, but I won't be silent.

And you shouldn't either.

On the Invention of the Boltgun

Those who are new to warhammer 40k may not recognize the significance of the iconic design of the now ubiquitous bolter.  The icon of space marine supremacy it is a standing testament to imperial weapon design.  Though the Ork Shoota and the Eldar Shuriken Catapult have been with us almost as long none has captured the futuristic essence of Warhammer 40k as well as the Boltgun. 

Within the 40k mythos Bolters are said to be relatively rare.  The fact that the entirety of the Adeptus Astartes and Adeptus Sororitas are equipped with these weapons is meant to imply the eliteness of their individual combat prowess over the more common Imperal Lasgun.   The boltgun’s Strength 4 power is often used as the “average” for Warhammer 40k in the same manner in which a 44 Magnum is the “average” weapon for action movies. Though its background is intended to be incredibly rare its implementation is comically saturated in game.

The term “Bolt Gun” first appeared in Laserburn by Bryan Ansell.  Games workshop began using the term boltgun before the rogue trader days as part of their promotion of the “dark future” line of products. The term has stuck since then with the addition of expanded terminology such as its colloquial name “Bolter” and its pistol and heavy variants.  The exact source of the boltgun as developed by the design team is unknown.  Indeed, I personally experienced some confusion among gamers as to whether the Boltgun was indeed a cased rocket ammunition weapon or a pneumatic metal slug projector.  This confusion from my days gaming in the 80s rested largely with my exposure to metal workers who referred to their pneumatic drivers as boltguns on occasion.  Games Workshop has since defined the Boltgun in a much clearer sense making its intended lineage much clearer. 

Early models which could be considered “space marines” often wielded boltguns with a squared off body made of a single print plate (like below).   This highbred somewhere between a Mac10 and AK47 was a significant aspect of the culture at the time.  Both weapons were key playing pieces in 1980s warfare from escalating gang violence to constant warmongering in Africa they were icons in the news regularly. 

Later designs would evolve further along the path towards modern boltgun we recognize today.  They kept their blocky shape but added technical details which we see in modern weapons such as multipart construction.  The intent of the design is clearly meant to convey both durability and power by making the weapon design bulky and oversized.  Like a head and a half bastard sword in the hands of a barbarian the weapon is intended to be intimidating on sight and add extra gravitas to the wielders awe inspiring presence.

Perhaps more intriguing is the source of the actual weapon idea.  Bob Naismith sculpted the original weapons but the idea for a “boltgun” pre-existed games workshop for 20 plus years.  The essence of the boltgun is a weapon that fires rockets instead of traditional bullets.  This is an idea that began to be envisaged following WW2.  Scientists experimenting with jet proportion following the war theorized the idea of miniaturized missile weapons.  The race to develop rockets that could deliver payloads overseas grew at pace with the tensions of the cold war.  As jet engines began transition to commercial activities in the late 50s the military began experimenting with micro missile design that could take advantage of smaller and smaller jet propulsion systems.  The result was the Gyrojet family of weapons patented and perfected in the early 60s and produced commercially throughout the following decade.

Gyrojet weapons used a 50 caliber caseless rocket round that was stabilized by an internal gyro system.  These dumb rounds had greater range than conventional bullets of similar caliber with considerably less recoil. Early hopes for the weapons included delivering specialized payloads such as explosive rounds.  As well as extra atmospheric operation in the event of conflict in space.  They proved unreliable for military use due to the precise nature of rocket fuel mixtures under various conditions.  However their space age design became quite popular with the public keeping them in production long after military funding had been withdrawn.

Gyrojet rifles were particularly popularized in science fiction.  Many TV shows depicted weaponry with elements of gyrojets.  Weapons from 60s and 70s tv shows often have conspicuous thermal vents and seem to fire caseless rounds propelled by gouts of smoke.  Many popular movies including those in the James Bond series used gyrojet weapons as set props.  Unfortunately the real world intervened with technology.

Running tests on gyrojet weapons proved they reacted poorly to changes of climate and altitude.  The burn potential of rocket fuel varies based on a variety of factors, including temperature and air pressure.  Weapons tested in humid climates proved to be the nail in the coffin however.   Extreme humidity can dampen the firing capabilities of the weapons making it impossible or at least impractical to deploy to the Vietnam conflict.  The result meant that any hope of future military funding was over.  Weapon manufactures scaled back production and the gyrojet faded from lethal weapon to a collectors item.

Of course modern technology could revive the design.  At the time of their development rocket and missile technology was in its relative infancy.  Modern missiles and bombs are much more sophisticated and the science of rocket fuel has come a long way in 30 years.  The military has already developed impressive smart bullets and fire control systems capable of deploying explosive rounds that explode after penetrating walls.  Weapons such as the OICW could greatly benefit from gyrojet’s low recoil and lighter weight construction.

Where is this going? Well I’d like to introduce my new gyrojet series. Astute individuals will recognize the design as an expansion on a one off design I had made some months ago.  The original model was lost but I’ve spent the last three weeks working on reconstructing and modularizing the design. Developing a selection of variants including rifles, pistols, and heavy weapons. 

More than a simple redesign of basic weaponry the chassis of these weapons will become the basis for my future weapons.  I’ve begun ideation of weapon variants to include plasma weapons, lasers, meson particle beams, flame throwers, grenade launchers, linear accelerator rifles, and machine cannons.  I’ll be creating hand held weapons first followed by turret, sponson, and pintle mounted variants.

I’d like to say this is a fast process but it is not.  I’m carefully selecting what design elements I choose to develop and utilize from existing sources such as modern and historical weapon designs.  The first sets will appear shortly with subsequent designs appearing as I have time.

As I have time? Yeah well, I’m making this too…

I’m not done yet, but I’m not down and out either.

Daleks and Disappointment

I live with so much disappointment in life.  It’s so tragic.  I was inspired last week and revived my long abandoned Dalek designs.  This was mostly out of apprehension over my other designs removal but also in anticipation.

The new season of Doctor Who started this weekend and I was very excited that I’d see “the most Dalek’s ever seen on screen at once”.  It’s not by the way. They lied about that.  Advertisers do that I suppose.  There are more daleks on screen in "the parting of ways" (I counted by the way) than in this episode but I suppose there is less variety of Daleks in that episode so whatever...

"Asylum of the Daleks".  I had hoped the return of this iconic villain would herald some deep change in the show.  Something to pull it out of its spiral of boring poorly paced writing and move it back towards the epicness that it once had. 

Don’t get me wrong I’m not a hater, I like the 2005 revival and the original run equally.  I’ve watched Doctor Who since I was a kid.  It is a cherished memory.  The 2005 doctor who breathed life into that memory.  Looking back at the original the subtext and nuance I remember from my childhood don’t exist.  It was campy, badly funded, and generally made little sense even within a single episode.  But I loved it.  The new series took everything that was horrible about the old doctor who and proved it was amazing.  It rewrote the whoniverse so that it was epic and massive and both new and old at the same time.

Then Davies left and Moffat took over.  Some people like Moffat I hear.  Understand, I have zero problem with the Matt Smith as the doctor.  I don’t get a boner over Karen Gillian but I think she makes a splendid companion.  And even what’s his name I always forget is much more tolerable than most male sidekicks that the doctor has had.  But Moffat… Moffat.. Moffat… Moffat!

There is a reason his name is used as a title for evil Imperial commanders in the Star Wars movies.  Some people sing his praises.  I think he is a little kid that’s been given his say and should be slapped upside the head.

See Moffat knows how to do seriously big scenes… sort of…  He also knows how to make characters act… kind of well…  Moffat also knows how to manage a big overarching plot… kinda in the last 5 minutes…

See Moffat is sort of like George Lucas but more tolerable of a human being.  He’s got this addiction to flash in the pan scenes.  For instance! Asylum of the Daleks opens with the Doctor meeting someone on the surface of Scaro.  Scaro… The Dalek homeworld which was destroyed in like episode 3 of the original series.  The red irradiated planet shown which should have been white and petrified according to its original incarnation, if not just totally blown up.  Less aggravating than a planet that was blown up not having blown up, but just as stupid, is how this episode pans across a burnt city scape and up the decaying form of a giant fucking Dalek.  So Daleks built giant Dalek shaped skyscrapers on their desolate not blown up Dalek home world. What's the point of an eye stalk on a skyscraper? Was it pretty pictures, sure.  But was it fucking necessary??? I argue not.  part of the excitement of Doctor Who is you don't know what they hell is happening till it happens.  In the episode "Dalek" you get that a dalek will be in the show but it doesn't start out that way.  And even for 5 minutes you wonder how the beaten half dead dalek is gonna factor in and then bam dalek murder fest happens.  That's how the Daleks should be handled.  From scene one of "Asylum of the Daleks" it seemed pretty obvious the goal was to make my eyes bleed daleks. Its a slap in the face saying, "Oh hey did you know daleks were gonna be in this episode" it insults the viewers in my opinion. Epic scenes are great but come the fuck on they should be epic for the sake of the plot not epic cause you want to blow your CG budget for the year.

And then there is of course the whole, lets make daleks out of people.  And they say it, you make Daleks by subtracting love.... Let me say that again in case your mind is boggled. "By subtracting love".  Subtracting love… Love… FUCKING LOVE!!! How about subtract love and then add 3 million years of radiation and genetic mutation, cloning, geneingeering, eugenics, galactic and inter-temporal war, and of course add a fucking hover tank.  FUCKING LOVE MY ASS!  Why do daleks have to… sigh.  And that is the thing, he knows how to make a pretty picture but misses all the subtext and emotion of pretty much everything.  Saying something like "that how you become like a dalek they remove your emotions, make you cold, make you alone, make you hate everything that isn't you.  So hold on to what matters because love beats hate any day, Amy."  See what I did there.  Its punchy, it builds on itself a bit.  It makes you feel the punch line. And it implies the exact same concept.  Its like moffat thinks we are all 2 year olds when it comes to dialog.

I'd like to say I gave the episode a fair shake.  Maybe I didn't.  Maybe I'm glorifying Davies run on the show but so much more could be done with the concepts at play.  For instance when I read the title of the episode… “Asylum of the Daleks”… I thought, "Well the Dalek race has been through the wringer lately maybe they gave up".  I figured, maybe the new paradigm Daleks, you know the smarty Daleks people hate that Moffat introduced earlier, are magically smarter than the old Daleks.  Maybe they finally realize they lost the timewar and maybe even the general war on everything, if so just maybe they would ask the Doctor to stop the time war.  Imagine that.  A group of Daleks actually asking the doctor to change the course of history so their race doesn’t get wiped out over and over again.  And the doctor would have a chance to save his people before they resurrect Rassilon and go all apeshit nuts on the universe.  How would that be for an opening episode? The entire season could be the doctor trying to rewrite the history of the Daleks to save them from the time war and vicariously insure the timelords never get involved and thus both races are saved.  But he could be thwarted at every turn by the psylence (or however you spell that) or whatever the fuck they were called.  Only in the end to find out that the psylense are agents of the timelords or something awesome where Rassilon is trying to stop the Doctor from Timelocking the Time War.  That would be wicked cool.  Talk about an epic over arching plot... and the puzzle... "Silence will fall when the question is answered."  We all know the question is "Doctor Who?" its retardedly obvious, or maybe i'm just gullible.  It could be as simple as a password to control the Moment and unlock the Time War.   

But of course that’s not what happens.

And I knew that going in.  I went online and looked up some reviews based on the previews.  And I learned the Asylum of the Daleks was really about an Asylum of the classical sense.  The Dalek’s version of Arkam. (yes I say that picturing a Dalek Joker). And from that I though, "ok that would be cool too".  Dalek Sek went insane and had prophetic visions.  They implied the Psyche Daleks in the old series were insane or would go it eventually due to their emotions.  I could see the Daleks making an Asylum to send their crazies too.  Like Sek the crazy daleks would be of use to the "normal" Daleks at some point so they might not kill them just imprison them.  And if the crazies got loose what would they do to the norms that imprisoned them?  I mean that was a cool idea too.   The Doctor kidnapped by the Daleks to go kill a Psychic Kaled mutant that has taken over the asylum and is systematically destroying the Dalek empire.  SO the doctor gets sent to the Asylum and has to fight his way through insane kaled mutants, weird brain-squid tentacle monsters attacking them. That's what the daleks are really, the travel machines are just mechanical tanks they live in. The inmate daleks could have cobbled together  travel machines built from spare parts with strange weapons improvised from whatever they could find.  And at the end a show down with a colossal mutant kaled that would demand to know whether the Doctor really believed saving the normal Daleks was "Right".  But again that’s not what we get. Oh no.  We get dusty time war era daleks in a sewer system.  Why the fuck would you send someone to a mental hospital in a hover tank??? At least take the fucking gun away.  So many missed opportunism.

And lets talk about zombies.  Specifically dalek nanite controlled zombie humans.  WHAT THE FUCK!.  Really? We can’t get away from zombies in popular culture did we really need Doctor Who and the Zombies?  Shit really? I hate the idea of reanimated corpses in general, its physically impossible. Its a trope for the week minded to frighten people. "Oh how do you kill them they're already dead???" If they can't fucking die what's the fucking point of trying to kill them build a fucking wall.  But in doctor who did we really need zombies? A show were no one caries guns and they run around scared a gratuitously large amount already, are zombies really needed? I say not.  Not to mention that’s not Dalek MO.  They make mutant slaves or stick mind control chips in your brain.  They don’t turn you into zombies. That’s more a cyberman thing and even then it would be kinda stupid.  Just fucking stupid.  Not to mention if Daleks had that kind of technology why not just shoot every fucking planet with a nanobomb to zombify everyone. Either the Daleks are fucking idiots or Moffat is and I choose Moffat.

I'm digressing way off my chosen rant but I can't stop now.  So lets touch base on one of my real pet peeves.  The Parliament of the Daleks.  Apparently Daleks now follow a republic system of government.  See and I thought they were a military dictatorship and that’s why they had ranks like Supreme and Emperor but apparently they get to elect pretty much every bronze suited dude into their representative government. So what they are a constitutional monarchy now? Projecting much Britannia?  But wait there's more apparently the Daleks have a psychic network of sorts!  I don’t remember this, they've mentioned Dalek psychic abilities in past episodes so it could be in the old series but I don’t recall it. What this means is that apparently you can delete memories from the Daleks if you can “hack” their psychic network.  They aren't individuals they are worker fucking bees now.  Each Kaled mutant in his personal hover tank is nothing more than a data processor for a dumb terminal hooked to the emperor server. Fuck...  You know, when you think about it, a psychic network makes a parliament useless right? I mean if everyone can share thoughts instantly full on democracy can be done at the speed of thought.  And if the Dalek's had a psychic network why are they always surprised when the Doctor shows up after one of their guards has gone missing?  

The point is they are a military dictator ship!  They live to kill everything but themselves where’s the debate?  They would have built the bridge to nowhere in record fucking time and then exterminated everything at the other end of the god damned bridge.  They are fucking daleks!.

And now to the heart of Moffat’s failure.  See the girl behind the curtain of crazy dalek number one is the future doctors companion.  You know once they dump the dead weight of Amy and Rory’s failing attempts to have a life.  So Amy and Rory just want a regular old life in no where’s vile England.  Amy and Rory's personal life has been a great selling point of the new series. It feels real... sometimes... you know when Amy isn't randomly trying to rape the Doctor or when they aren't magically divorcing in the first five minutes of an episode with NO exposition.  I get it, time travel show.  What's been 6 months off air for us is like 5 years for the girl who waited and the nurse who waited longer.  Fucking understand that, but maybe something should be hinted at, like a fight scene every so often.  Maybe some bickering about shit in the christmas episode something.    Karen and Arthur are good actors and their stage direction when acting has been good but the gaps between their moments and sometimes lack of a consistent connectedness to each other has been problematic. To the point that when Rory says "The unspoken fact of our relationship is that I love you more than you love me!" is obvious blatant fact not just an insulting attack he made on Amy's character in the heat of passion.  Perhaps it's intended to feel that way and Amy would be better described as "the girl who settled" rather than the "girl who waited." Speaking as a man who had crushes on female friends in college I recognize this type of relationship can be very real, the problem is that the jarring manner in which their relationship is treated on screen feels like their lack of a proper loving relationship is more the product of the writers ignoring them for portions of the show than the intended friction of always question if you're good enough.  this is bad character writing and generally poor pacing not bad acting as such.

Ultimately we need something more exciting in a companion going forward than Amy's desire to be a normal house wife, or maybe Rory's desire to be a normal house wife.  Karen Gillian’s attractive and all but she doesn’t really add awesome sauce to the show.  Her character has become a long string of wishy washy good by and hot and horny hello scenes directed between the two men in her life.  Ultimately entertaining but slowing to the show's pace.  After the first 10 minutes when I figured out the chick they need to rescue was a Dalek I thought awesome! Dalek Companion!.  That’s right! I said it.  Moffat’s greatest mistake was turning his back on this idea.  DALEK FUCKING COMPANION… not a Dalek doing that to a companion… err sorry bad images. No a Dalek as a companion.  Better even, a deranged Dalek that thinks she’s human, as a companion.  How awesome would that be.  Super genius to keep up with the doctor. Teeth to frighten enemies.  Deranged paranoia to keep the doctor on edge.  And of course a tragic back story with lots of plot hooks to draw out over the course of a season.  Of course that would be possible only if Moffat was a good producer.  And if you aren’t sold on the idea, picture this… Dalek painted Hello Kitty pink wearing the 4^th doctor’s scarf!  BAM perfect.  Keep the chick who is gonna play the dalek as she is.  Keep her trapped in a little apartment inside her crazy little Dalek brain just have her sassy attitude follow the doctor around in a fragging tank!  Moffat I hate you…  I hate you because you don't think like this.

I love Daleks though.  I love how repeatedly people make fun of them as wheelie bins but they still manage to terrify and surprise us. They are fantastic and typify the amazing ideas that Doctor Who brings to life. I guess the stupid weeping angels are the new thing now.  Supposedly they’ll be in this new series someplace. Deranged statue aliens, great.  They are just a different type of villains I guess. They are villains like hungry wolves are villains to those who are slow and made of meat.  Daleks are villains to everything that doesn't want to be shot which is pretty much everyone. I hope the Weeping Angels eat Moffat.  Their temporal digestion dissolving his past present and future until he never existed would be justice.  Then maybe Davies would have had another season before he moved on and Who could have found a real successor after that.

Any Who… I’ve uploaded Steven’s relatives.  In my Shapeways gallery you’ll find a variety of new Dalek models.  The formidable Special Weapons Dalek.  The commanding Dalek Supreme.  The agile Spider Dalek.  The colossal Dalek Strider.  And of course the imposing Dalek Emperor.  Note standard, special, supreme and spider daleks should stand approximately 33 mm tall when assembled.  Strider and Emperor dalek should stand approximately 80mm tall.  Each sprue builds one wargame scale Dalek with a group of weapon options.  Due to changes in scaling and design elements new Dalek model parts are not compatible with old Dalek models.  Arms and parts are generally interchangeable between models of same size.  Special Weapon options can be exchanged with neck weapons on the strider or emperor’s arms.  Strider’s heavy weapon is unique in size. Models have been shelled for printing in Frosted Detail.

New-ish project update 8-23-2012

Well my posts have been pretty depressing lately.  With Games Workshop's legal division bringing the iphammer down I haven't really had a lot of good things to talk about.  Beyond that i've got a lot of stuff going on at work and a brief personal trip I'm making this weekend.  All that means I haven't had a lot of time to digest the situation. I have no doubt that that's the reason behind the GW Legal team's methods with charging individauls with IP infringment.

I took some time this afternoon to remove some of the models they claim are infringing from my shapeways store.  These included some of the gyrojets, thermal lasers, laser cannons, etc.  It totaled something like 15 to 20 models.  I only had about an hour with internet so I didn't end up getting much accomplished in the way of removing items.

I had much more time without internet to work on personal projects.  With the issues with GW's legal team I didn't want to work on my usual stuff.  Its all pretty heavily tied to 40k even the extremely unique designs are really ment to work with the 40k game.  So I didn't want to work on them.  I needed something... different to clear my emotial pipes as it were.

So I dusted off Steven.  You probably don't know steven.  I give all my models names, if you are the observent type you might have noticed the name in the file title.  Not the item title but at the bottom where it lists the file name and version. 

Anyway, Steven is the first model I uploaded to shapeways. Back in 2010 I built steven, registered for shapeways, and uploaded him with a foolish dream in my heart about how awesome he would be.  Of course he wouldn't print.  I rebuilt him a dozen times and Steven still failed over and over.
I tossed Steven to the wind and instead worked on my technofists. Technofists being giant gloves which look significantely different than power fists in 40k.  (note that just in case I'll still be revising them). Yay Paranoia... Anyway. I left Steven alone for a while and came back after my Techno-fists properly printed.

The theory of my design skills sufficiently proven with a tiny 3d printed glove I returned to my first love Steven... Wow that did not sound hetero... Anyway. I revised Steven.  And it failed.

At this point I was quite pissed.  So I stubbornly took most of june and revised Steven a dozen more times.  Specifically, exactly, 15 times.  And it finally printed properly.

I ordered it in WSF and painted it when it arrived.

So thats the story of how I got a little Steven to sit on my desk at work.

Oh wait did I forget to mention Steven is a Dalek? That totally makes the anecdote better. Steven's totally a Dalek.

So yeah, this is Steven.  He's a 2 year old Kaled mutant in a mark 16 travel machine from the time war era.  He stands a strapping 34mm tall and has been thinned to a 1mm thickness making him viable in WD, WSF, and FD/FUD.  In spite of his horrible drivers liscence photo I asure you he has arms.  He recently had his travel machine retrofitted.  Its a totally pimped ride now, note the greater detailing on the dome and the extensive mesh ribbing along the neck.  Not shown is its boss under cariage with a full on Elevation system for long flights in the moonlight.  Steven's favorite colors are black and a nice metalic bronze that brings out the blue in his eye.  He's been known to spout witty catch phrases when startled so be gentle with his heart ladies.  I know he's just your type right?  Well taking Steven home isn't going to be easy!.  While Steven's more than happy with the idea I have to talk to his parents at the British Broadcasting Service and Character Options before I can let him sell his body to you. But don't worry I already sent a request. Till then for more inquires into Steven or his big brother Ted, his cousin Uennis, and his bitchy parents Valarie and Wilfred shoot me an email at dynath@gmail.com.

GW Legal's responses and plan of action

Alright so I have received my response from Games Workshop’s legal counsel regarding their "infringement claim”.  I’ve posted the contents of our correspondence below.   Basically the gist of the discussion is that games workshop claims all chapter icons (as expected), all weapons? (I think they mean the bolter design mostly), vehicles (this specifically applies to the ground taker/ land raider I made but it was never for sale), Characters (like the stealth suit again I’ve already complied with).  The last correspondence manages to clarify that they also claim the shape of the space marine shoulder pad as their property as well, though the physical shape can’t be copyrighted it can only be patented so the legitimacy of the claim is questionable.  They also conspiquously list “the design of certain marks of armour” which clearly implies they believe my female marines are also infringing.  I don’t think they technically are but can’t really argue the point without getting sued.  They also specifically point out the trademark on the Aquila, this is the main reason the female marines are problematic as they have an Aquila on their chest.

He gave me 14 days to comply with the infringement take down notice. Which means they must be removed by September 3^rd 2012.  Following this course I will begin removing shoulder pads from the gallery on Saturday September 1^st.  Legally I can’t encourage anyone to purchase anything within the allotted time remaining before products are removed.  The time frame of item removal has nothing to do with item sales.  It has to do with the fact that I work every day of the week and will be out of town on the weekend of the 25^th so the 1^st is the first opportunity I will have to remove the items.  Removing the items does not mean I agree I am infringing on any of the products, only that I cannot afford a legal battle.

You will note towards the end of my latest response I mention the Chapter House Studio lawsuit.  The same things I’m cited for infringing are the same things Chapter House is being sued for.  Games Workshop’s legal department is no doubt aware of this fact.  They can’t rest on their laurels and just hold their breath till the lawsuit is done.  They will continue to assume they are in the right until proven wrong.  I however, unlike Chapter House don't have the legal counsel to fight Games Workshop so I will comply like a lot of websites have done.  However it’s important to note I am NOT destroying any of my works.  The 3d models will be removed from my Shapeways gallery but I will archive them.  In the event that Chapter House wins their lawsuit with Games Workshop the shoulder pads and weapon models may (I stress may) become viable again.  If a legal battle goes Chapterhouse's way I will likely seek legal advise regarding these items at that time.

If you haven’t followed the Chapter House lawsuit I encourage you to do so.  I know some people have talked about it as comical or like the sky is falling.  However I distantly hope Chapter House wins.  Not because I want to sell shoulder pads, but because Games Workshop is a legal monopoly.  They own the game rules, the game pieces, and the social events you use them at, I understand they created 40k but they are strangling the industry with their pricing scheme and poor rules writing.  Yes I know 6^th edition is the best written 40k ever, it’s still a polished turd not worthy of the background the fan base has supported for so many years.  Anyway, a win for Chapter House would limit Games Workshop’s litigations, foster competing products in the form of both additional game companies and added model companies, and possibly drive Games Workshop to limit unwarranted price increases.  I’m a huge fan of miniature gaming and good things can happen if Games Workshop loses their lawsuit.  If you’re one of those people that says Chapter House is getting what they deserve I argue that the Intellectual Property laws weren’t meant to limit industry growth and that’s exactly what Games Workshop’s monopoly does.  For every Chinese recasting company there are a thousand people like me who just want to make something for the hobby and can’t because Games Workshop claims are so broad they encompass aspects of the game beyond the identity of their products and company. By their argument the shape of their dice could be their patent which is wholly absurd.

Anyway, if anyone wants to request anything please email me and we can discuss its viability in the light of these limitations.  I will continue to make designs and produce products on Shapeways to the best of my abilities.  Regardless of the outcome of the Chapter House lawsuit I will strive to make products that support the hobby even if they don’t support games workshop.

In the interest of public disclosure here is the discussions between myself and Games Workshop's legal team.  I'd like to point out that inspite of the underlying threat of legal action the representative has been quite curteous and respectful and I personally want to say thank you to him for being civil in executing a matter that could be executed in a very uncivil manner. 

Enitial Contact on Shapeways Aug 15th 2012

Our Ref: Legal/TN/GLS/11843

Dear Sir

Your Shapeways products have been brought to my attention for infringing copyright and trademarks belonging to Games Workshop Limited.

The 'Warhammer 40,000' universe was created by Games Workshop in the 1980s. The universe and its many characters, organisations, vehicles etc. form the basis for the tabletop wargame 'Warhammer 40,000'. Games Workshop has produced and licensed a huge number of products based in the Warhammer 40,000 universe including miniatures, novels, video games, art books and sourcebooks, art prints, merchandise, digital products and more.

Having designed and developed the Warhammer 40,000 universe and the races, characters, icons, units, vehicles, weapons etc. therein, Games Workshop owns the copyright in them. It is therefore an infringement of that copyright for a third party to offer for sale, possess in the course of business, manufacture or import any product based on the Warhammer 40,000 intellectual property without Games Workshop's permission.

You have copied a significant part of the unique expression of a number of Games Workshop's products. Copying of these icons, characters, weapons, vehicles and accessories is an infringement of Games Workshop's rights as copyright holder.

Games Workshop also owns a number of registered and unregistered trademarks. One such trademark is the 'aquila' double headed eagle design. You have featured this registered trademark on several of your products without permission. This is an additional infringement of Games Workshop's rights.

Please immediately remove the infringing items from sale and contact us at tom.nanson@gwplc.com to confirm you have removed the items and that you will not infringe Games Workshop's rights in future. Please read and comply with Games Workshop's Intellectual Property Policy found at http://legal.games-workshop.com.

We reserve all rights in this matter. If you have any doubts as to the contents of this message we recommend you seek legal advice.

Yours faithfully,
Group Legal Department - Games Workshop Group PLC
For and on behalf of Games Workshop Limited
tom.nanson@gwplc.com

My responce Contact on Shapeways and email Aug 15th 2012

Dear Sir,
I thank you for your notice. I deeply apologize for any affront. While I don't always agree with GW's business practices it was not my intent to undermine your intellectual property nor "steal" anything from you. My intent was to provide products which assist your customers in realizing their army vision. And as I've spent a great deal of time painstakingly creating each piece from scratch in my 3d software I didn't see this as "Copying" anything. I'm very sorry you feel that I've infringed your intellectual properties and will be happy to remove content you feel is inappropriate. However I must ask which files you specifically feel are too closely identified with your intellectual property. I will readily admit that all of my products are made in 28mm scale to be compatible with your products. While I can identify specific icons that and items that I've been asked to make that are patterned after your designs (generally older or limited availability designs), I would like clarification of where that line ends for my own edification. For example I'd like you to clarify if it is the icon on a shoulder pad or if it is the shape of the shoulder pad itself that you feel infringes. Likewise I've made a variety of weapons, arms, legs, female equipment etc, that are significantly different than your official designs but still use similar motifs to your traditional products. As example I of this I point to my pole arms and swords lines. I'd greatly appreciate clarification on these issues.
I will begin by taking the items which I recognize as falling into your IP down, this will include the shoulder pads with specific chapter icons, the individual units I recognize from 40k including my stealth suit and drone models, as well as weaponry directly patterned after 40k items such as the heavy weapons etc. Unless I hear otherwise I will assume this does not include shoulder pads that do not bare GW iconography, weapons that are uniquely designed, and custom units.
Please understand I do greatly enjoy your game and my goal was to grow and serve the fan base in a manner which was never intended to undermine any aspect of the GW business. The 3d modeling of my products and their subsequent offering on Shapeways is a hobby to me that doesn't even reimburse me for the cost of ordering test prints of the products. Perhaps the 3d printing process is an idea that should be presented to the executives to fill market niches for underserved armies in a manner similar to the "bits" service discontinued in the 90s.
I sincerely want to find a middle ground where I can comply with your wishes and continue to develop wargaming products to support my hobby and the hobbies of others. If we can please clarify the detail of what items infringe I'd greatly appreciate this.
Sincerely,
Dynath Kajira.
PS. This message sent via shapeways private messaging will also be sent to the email address listed above.

GWlegal response by email Aug 20th 2012 

Hi Dynath

Thank you for your swift response and for agreeing to remove the infringing products.

I appreciate your enthusiasm for the hobby and Games Workshop encourages hobbyists to convert and customise their forces to increase enjoyment. Games Workshop does, however, object to commercial use of its intellectual property and/or distribution of its copyrighted material.

I’m afraid that I am not permitted to offer you any legal advice and therefore cannot give detailed guidance on your models. You would have to seek your own legal advice in relation to intellectual property for your product line.

I can inform you that Games Workshop considers any significant copying of its creations to be an infringement of its copyright. This includes, but is not limited to, the unique design of its vehicles, weapons, logos and the several marks of Space Marine armour, which includes the iconic shoulder pad design. Having created and developed the unique expression of the Warhammer 40,000 universe in its text, artwork and sculptures, Games Workshop claims the exclusive rights to produce or license products based on this intellectual property.

I can also inform you that the ‘Aquila’ double headed eagle design is a registered trademark and therefore any product that bears this symbol is an infringement. Games Workshop considers any significantly similar logo to be an infringement of its registered trademark.

I am sorry I cannot offer further assistance. As the seller, it is your responsibility to ensure your products do not infringe other parties’ intellectual property.

I look forward to your confirmation that you have removed any infringing items from your store within the next 14 days. Please also confirm that you will not infringe Games Workshop’s intellectual property in future.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. We reserve all rights.

Best regards

Tom

Tom Nanson

IP Assistant

Group Legal Department

Games Workshop Group PLC

tom.nanson@gwplc.com

My Response by email Aug 20th 2012

Dear Mr, Nanson

Like yourself I appreciate diligence regarding this matter.  I am a simple hobbiest and take the interests of Games Workshop in this matter with great seriousness.

I want to assure you I am already complying with the requests of Games Workshop.  I have already removed a number of products and will continue to remove additional products going forward.  Unfortunately there is no automated or batch removal function in Shapeways which means I have to manually edit each item to delete it from my account.  This process takes time and I appriciate your patience.

I’m sorry that my request for clarification was interpreted as a request for legal advice. I honestly assumed that when Games Workshop was deciding I was infringing they would have made a list of specific infringements for me to correct.  As I understand the legal process the individual with a claim of infringement is responsible for defining that claim.  My only intention was to insure I addressed all of Games Workshop’s claims of infringement. I didn’t mean to be requesting your legal expertise, only the specifics of the infringement.  Regardless I’m working to comply with your requests so I see no need to consult legal counsel at this time.  And besides I have no doubt that Games Workshop’s claims have merit or its legal councils wouldn’t pursue them.

That having been said, I will endeavor to remove items based on the “shoulder pad”, “logos” (I assume this is directed at Chapter logos) and “Aquila” design that Games Workshop claims as their intellectual property.  I’m saddened by the loss of these designs particularly because Games Workshop has not made comparable products based on the Intellectual Property they claim.  I do however understand the need for licensing and intellectual property as a whole and will comply.

I agree it is my responsibility to ensure my items don’t infringe intellectual property laws and I will do better to comply in the future. Up to and including seeking legal advice regarding my hobby if needs be. However, in spite of not having legal counsel I am aware of the current litigation between Games Workshop and Chapter House Studios.  While I will comply with your wishes now I feel that I need to inform you that if the court decides you are not the Intellectual Property holder of any or all of these designs I will continue with my distribution of any public domain items at that time, which would be my right if that is found to be the case.

I will do my best to have the offending items offline within the time allotted.  I will also attempt better judgment regarding what items and requests to fulfill in the course of my hobby so that I don’t violate games workshops Intellectual Property again.

Sincerely

Dynath Kajira