FenPaints
patreon
August State of the Patreon
🕑 Added 2024-07-31 08:43:47 +0000 UTC
Currently on the painting desk and making apperances on the board, the Frogdog! This one isn't even halfway done. Another miniature like the Killennium and Gambler which is really loads of miniatures in one.
Hello all,
Occasionally I try and do a general kind of 'state of the patreon' address, especially at this time each year to note that I take the first week of August of as a yearly holiday so there will not be an post on the 9th of August and likewise no YT video release for that week. However, there is extra news this time that I'll get into a bit further down.
Patreon Posts
I am going to continue to work through the Gambler's Chest content in the planned order; the Bone Eater and Encounter system is coming out on Friday, I'm in the editing stage of the post now. I also have notes on all the Philosophies, so that series will continue forwards because in particular deep diving into each one makes me able to achieve more with them, writing about them helps me get better at the game as it forces me to think more deeply than I do when just playing.
I will also be taking a look at ALL the releases so far in one post and forming a "buyers guide" this will happen in September probably, after the dust from GenCon releases has settled.
The other topics which are in the pipeline are:
Black Knight Full Expansion Review
Frogdog Full Expansion Review
Both of these are coming after the Frogdog/Black Knight campaign I am currently playing, that will be slow progress though, as Cara could attest from her visit here, the gaming attic becomes really hot during the summer, so I only have a couple of hours each morning at best to squeeze in a game before the temp rises a bit too much. I would get some AC, but as we'll discuss further down, there's other things I have to prioritise.
A full review of Primal: The Awakening from Reggie Games
This game is something that if it isn't on your radar already it absolutely should be, it is an excellent Card Orientated Boss Battle that is only really held back by having miniatures that it really doesn't need. It is a true victim of the mentality that big kickstarters and boss battlers should have lots of plastic. But when you get down to playing it, the game is phenomenal when played with others. It's a little wobbly when played solo as it needs to be "two handed" and that can be overwhelming due to how intricate the card play is. Think Marvel Champions, but with even more synergy and teamplay between the two player's turns.
I've recently backed into four new Boss Battlers with:
I'm too low profile for any of these publishers to realise that I specialise in boss battlers, so I've not received any preview stuff. As such these backings are for future reviews down the pipeline. However I would absolutely URGE you to check out and consider backing Monster Kill as it is a small print & play project from a single designer. The price to back is very low so it's a decent gamble.
I've also continued to pick up Aeon's End, Sentinels of the Multiverse (Definitive Edition) and Marvel Champions. I want to write more about each on here on this patreon, but it is a struggle, more on that later.
This will also be interspaced with reviews of shop content as it comes out and I get access to it, Willow is on her way in the post to me as I write this.
Finally I am going to take a good look at the GenCon stuff as and when it hits the internet; it is one of the only times I watch other Kingdom Death content creators outside of my staple channels (TWIST, Forged by Geeks, A warm unpleasant feeling (AWUF?) and Trent "BigDeno" Denison). So maybe I'll put out a post of thoughts if the things we see there are interesting enough to warrant it.
Additionally if you are at The Supporter Tier or higher and have a particular request outside of the planned ones above I take requests via the Community tab, just message me.
YouTube
Youtube content ahead is the following three streams:
"Completion" of the Role Call archetype series - Archers is in the can, Lancers is planned out and then there's a third video covering Acanthus Doctors, Silk Surgeons, Necromancers and Gloom Man survivors that is in note form. That'll be the end of Role Call until other classes turn up in the future.
Reviews of new releases on the KDS as they arrive. I've recorded Echoes of Death 1 and unlike Morgan I do not have any mixed feelings on this release.
A series to deep dive into every single monster in the game, hopefully this will be one monster per video, but in essence it is going to be a modern update to the stuff I did on the Great Game Hunters podcast, except this time short of anything happening to me it will cover ALL monsters from the White Lion all the way to the Gold Smoke Knight and everything in between. It's a lot of work per monster, just the breakdown and analysis stage takes multiple days (and that's not without considering the hours spent fighting the monsters).
There will also be content on the Gambler's Chest if it makes it to the KDS this year. Starting with probably an overly long breakdown/review of all the systems included.
Eventually there WILL be campaign plays on there, but that is waiting for the Gambler's Chest and also my health situation to improve. So let us get into that, as it is both promising and galling.
My Health
OK, so this is a good news, bad news kind of thing. So let us get into it. Be warned, while it isn't going to be super graphic it is about the human body, specifically the digestive system, so trigger warning about things like intestines and bacterial. Skip to the Closing Thoughts section below if that might be too much for you, but heck, you play KDM, the Frogdog is worse.
For those of you who are not aware, for the last decade I've been unable to eat most food without getting sick, and this has gotten worse and worse until recently where it has landed me in the hospital and doctor's office on more than one occasion. However, when talking with the last General Practitioner (GP) he spoke frankly that the health authorities on Gotland would not do anything with this as they are a small hospital with no knowledge of what he suspected it was.
His opinion was that I have a long term SIBO (Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth) which is causing the food I eat to be converted into toxins/unusuable compounds and he directed me to check out a Stockholm based Clinic that specialises in this kind of stuff. It is unfortunately not covered by Swedish Health Insurance, so it has been a combination of selling painted miniatures here (thank you to those of you who purchased some) and support from my parents that has covered the costs to date. It's been tough to manage though.
However, the first couple of thousand euros have not only resulted in a Doctor who understands what is going on, but he also managed to target the issue with a single round of tests and identified that it is indeed an invasive bacteria strain that has got into my small intestine where it should not be. It has not only taken deep root in there over the past 10 to 12 years, but in addition it has killed off multiple vital strains that are core to the human gut biome. As such, not only do I get poisoned by my food, but the fauna that should be supporting me has been decimated, with multiple strains completely absent. It's not good.
The bacteria have also ruined the integrity of the gut wall, meaning that I have what is called a leaky gut, which is where the contents of the small intestine leak out into the body, increasing the toxin load on the immune/filtration system. As this has been over 10 years of me desperately seeking someone, anyone who would take this seriously my body is massively worn out from the daily fighting. The only respite I get is during fasting periods, but of course, one has to eat in order to get well.
The meds have cost over 250 euros, but that is fortunately a one-off cost and was in part covered by . The bigger issue is that is only the first step. I am going to need to supplement this with a bunch of medical grade supplements and probiotics in order to get back to a normal healthy gut biome that isn't slowly killing me. The first batch alone is 252 euros (and I'm scrambling to cover that because since the invasion of Ukraine increasing living cost here dramatically we've been essentially living hand to mouth) and there's probably a year of that treatment needed (along with more appointments with the doctor who costs around 400 euros for an hour long appointment). Believe you me, I'd do this on the public health system if I could, but the public health system's idea was to throw pain pills at me and shrug.
As such I'm considering selling most of my older painted miniatures here in a similar way to the others I've already sold earlier this year - because I am in essence going to have to let them go in order to retain my ability to write/paint. It'll basically be a mix of KDM miniatures including Death High, the Halloween Satans and the resin Scissor Knight (Sadly he lost his head antenna at some point, so I've been hesitant to sell him, but throwing him out felt wrong).
I also considered the idea of running a GoFundMe, but the problem there is I really wouldn't know how much to ask for because I only know the expenses when they occur. It's a nightmare because of course my deteriorating condition has reduced the frequency and speed at which I can work so much.
Closing Thoughts and the Immediate Future
What all this means for the patreon however is that for the next month or so as I go through a course of strong antibiotic meds and supporting treatment (and hopefully the supplements if I can afford those), and that means I might not be able to keep up the pace on the patreon articles and may be unable to record videos. I honestly don't know at this point, because I've been told an individual person's reaction to the treatment is incredibly hard to predict. It could just be some mile headaches, or it could result in full blown anxiety that makes it impossible for me to not melt down at even the simplest of tasks. I have to wait for everything to arrive before I can start.
It also means I might have to stop picking up any new KDM content because it is so expensive for me to do so. That might have an impact on everything, but I have to pay bills, taxes and medical costs ahead of picking things up. It's kind of frustrating to be honest, in order to be able to write about KDM I have to get the new KDM content, but I can't write about the new KDM content if I am too sick, so I need meds, but if I get the meds I can't get the KDM content. Whee! This world doesn't make it easy for sick people does it? You're already struggling, so it is hard to earn a living, but then you also have to pay to reach a functioning state and become a productive member of society. If only someone had listened to me back at the start of the last decade eh? Oh well.
If you want to help out I have a: https://ko-fi.com/fennn but I already greatly appreciate all the support you give via the patreon, it means a lot.
Finally, mini-hot take. The Frogdog didn't impress me as much as the Black Knight initially, it has a harder job because the Black Knight only needs to compete against The Hand, the Frogdog has to compete against The Gorm, White Lion and Crimson Crocodile. I do not think it is the best Node 1 monster, but spending more time fighting with it and using its gear has allowed me to form a positive opinion.
Thank you all and take Care! I'll be back on Friday with the Bone Eaters!
Comments
Fen
Honestly, I don't know. It's one of those games I've backed purely because it is a boss battler and I try to play every boss battler that comes out and review the good ones.
Jake Crowe
Wishing you well Fen! As much as a really appreciate your KD:M content, you could write about any game and I would look forward to reading it. Iβm stoked to see you backed Blood and Grimcoven. Makes me feel like my backing was justified. π I played through the Chronicle Phase on TTS of Dante: Inferno and was less than impressed. Do you think Iβm missing something grander that I should take another look? The theme is SOOO cool, but I donβt want it to be such a bummer.
Fen
It is something I have done in the past, but I have already done that for many monsters and the few I have left now are either "I'm never painting this again. Like the lonely tree." or "This particular mini has extra sentimental value." (Such as my Black Knight which has hairs from my Dog inside, or my Phoenix which has feathers from one of our birds who passed a while ago). There might be some survivor models that go this way, but they'd be the older sculpt size and I'm not sure if there's much interest.
Mathias
Hey Fen, glad to hear you now have more clarity on the situation, although it sounds challenging! I understand that you would be reluctant to sell off painted monsters for the actual game but have you considered trading for unpainted miniatures and some cash? For instance I have some unpainted/unbuilt monsters from GCE that could go that way. All the best!
