Remember remember the 17th of September...

So I was feeling a little poetic today with the title, sue me.

Hello sports fans, we are back again for another random post from the depths of my gaming life.

So last night I partook in a D&D encounters event at a local LGS. This was not my first time. I actually was there years ago when they first started encounters. It was really quite something actually. I would take my daughter with me and that first season was really something special. That first season our table had the same players and DM every night.

Now it is years later, and I am trying to go again. The original LGS where I went is so popular, that unless you can get there two hours early, you can't get a spot at the table. Which is kind of a bummer. So when a new store offered it, I finally decided to give it a go again.

Let me tell you right off, that apparently I am now the 'old man' at the table. This is really disheartening and quite a surprise to me. I get that I'm 44, but I never really thought of myself like that. When I was in college, the creepy old guy that was still playing was that age. And here I am, sitting at the table, and the DM calls me "sir." I mean really, part of me wanted to excuse myself from the table, apologize for being there, and leave abashed.

I've always had problems thinking of myself as my actual age. Perhaps that had something to do with being the youngest in my family. I don't know, but there is a huge part of me that still thinks I'm in my twenties...early thirties tops. And here I am looking around the table and realizing that I'm the oldest one there. It was a little off-putting to be quite honest.

But stubbornly I stayed, and I had a good time. This latest season is quite a bit different from past ones, and the players at the table (all adults) did more roleplaying than I expected. I'm actually looking forward to going back and playing with them again. Despite all this war gaming stuff I post about, D&D will always be my favorite game.

Shogun Miniatures

Hello Sports Fans,

So as part of my commitment to playing Kings of War, I finally ordered a large set of movement trays from Shogun Miniatures (Link). I learned about them a few years ago actually, but never pulled the trigger. They make these metal trays that have curved edges on three sides. Since Kings of War has set unit sizes, it made sense to invest finally. I ordered a large number of varying tray sizes and a set of 20mm square magnetic bases.

Well yesterday my order finally came in. I am not disappointed. It took about 10 days from payment to delivery, exactly as Andrew from Shogun predicted. Now the average price worked out to be around $2.30 a tray. But as I said, it was a large order, a total of 45 trays in all. That is not too bad. And I know what you are thinking, "Damn Brother G., that is a lot of trays." It is, and truthfully they aren't all for me, just most of them. :) But if you are going to buy metal trays, you might as well get a lot for what you need.

Remember, I have lots of armies, and plan is to magnetize them, and then store them on the trays within plastic bins. So there is a method to this madness.

Anyways, back to the trays. Pics will be coming later today, I just forgot to take them before I left home this morning.

This is what $80ish gets you in trays

Some close ups.

Comparison with my old trays.

So the trays came in two types of metal. I'm assuming that the depth somehow determines which steel to use. I kind of like the dark grey steel better. Seems like I won't have to paint it ahead of time as it will sort of just blend in as opposed to the reflective steel. The trays are firm, not bendy at all. I have no concerns as to whether they will do well with plastic or metal minis on them.

I loaded one up with the magnetic bases that I had ordered. The dimensions are spot on. These things are going to make my life so much easier. As to the bases I ordered, they look pretty good. They are completely square cut, so no sloped edges like GW bases. I think that will give the unit a nice cohesive look without those gaps you typically see. The thickness is just under the lip of the trays. So I figure after putting on basing material and flocking, they should pop out just over the lip. I bought these for a bunch of ungors I just got that didn't come with bases. Those are light plastic models so I think these will work well for them.

All in all, I am very happy. I would recommend these to anyone wanting to invest in trays. As to the magnetic bases, I think they will work well with plastic minis. I am not too sure how they would do with heavy models or a large base since they aren't that thick.

Till next time...

Need to get priming

So it is now September and that means my priming days are going to be few and far between. However, this week in the lovely PacNW, we are supposed to be hitting the 80's which is about near perfect for priming models. If I don't get some done, then I'm going to be stuck with painting projects that aren't what I'm focused on.

So today I will be priming two models when I get home. I'm going to grab two free company models to use as test subjects. My empire army is going to be purple and yellow. However, I don't want a dark purple or a bright yellow, so I'm going to go with a more mustard/desert yellow and a lighter purple. The reason being is that both shade much better than the standard color. I'm all about dipping or keeping things to a simple wash.

Call me lazy, but I just don't have time to do blending. So if I can get a good effect with a base coat and a wash/dip, then that is what I'll go for. Besides, I can try to detail it up afterwards a little too.

So this week, my goal is to prime and paint two empire free company models. One based purple, and the other yellow, but otherwise they will be getting the same color treatment. I'm expecting that the yellow primer will work better because it will get covered by the purple paint much easier than trying to cover purple with yellow.

So here we have the two primed models. In sunlight, they don't look too bad. However my fear is that the purple is too dark for what I want, and the desert yellow just isn't quite yellow enough. However, we will paint them up and see how it looks.

I do have an airbrush and have yet to bust it out. So if the easy can primer fails, well I guess I'll have to give it a go. That seems scary to me. I will have to reach out to other local airbuurshers to see if someone is willing to hold my hand. :)
So look for another update later this week with progress pics of the models. Also, if I'm really lucky, I'll get in another game of Kings of War and put up another battle report.

Smart shopping or signs of a problem?

So not too long ago, I talked about this great deal on a starter Empire army I had acquired. I was really proud of that purchase. It was a bit heavy on the shooty side, but honestly, I could play a 2K game with it. Well time has gone by and I thought I'd give you a small progress report.

Obviously, there were lots of things I could get for the army still. I had this nice little plan laid out. I was going to pick up a unit of knights. That would be eight models in the current box set. Now I already owned a mounted Luthor Huss model, so I'd need one more to fill the unit up to a full 10 man unit. So during the OFCC (Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge - google it) I got the opportunity to buy the Empire General box set (makes a mounted and foot character). Also ended up getting a sweet deal on a Steam Tank. So lets say at this point, I've dropped $140. Still, an amazing deal for the army.

But see I really love models. I love cool models. And the Empire has cool models...cool models that I did not own yet. So I started to scour the interwebs for deals. And luck was not mine to have, i.e. the models I wanted were expensive and I couldn't justify getting them.

Then a fateful day at my LGS, and lo and behold, they had a copy of the Empire starter army. It was the box set that GW released when the 8th edition book came out. So it had lots of the new toys basically. It has the new griffon model, one of those wizard wagons, the new character combo, an engineer, and new great swords. At retail though it was sitting at $240. I'm not sure if it was just due to its age and GW's lovely pricing policies, but somehow this box was a bit of a bargain (it was cheaper than buying everything separately). My conundrum though was that it was $240. So once again I scoured the interwebs for a copy for sale at discount...and once again Lady Luck passed me by. Now realize also the pressure that during all of this, the great Age of Sigmar upheaval was happening. Who knew what models would continue on from GW?

So faced with the prospect of possibly not getting these models for who knows how long, or at what prices, I bit the bullet and bought the box set at retail. Glad to support my LGS, but not so glad to pay retail for a GW product. I hate doing that.

Okay, so now my Empire army just got a solid boost. I got a swordsmen regiment, knights, greatswords, some more shooting, and some great centerpieces with the griffon and wizard wagon. And I got it all for under $400. Life looked good. In fact, the only thing I was planning to expand was the greatsword unit, as the box only came with 10 guys.

Here is where my disease really rears its ugly head. This weekend I have a friend who is selling his empire stuff. He has greatswords. I have an opportunity to help my friend out, and get the models I want, and at a fair price. Lady Luck has arrived! But then there, on Ordo's bartertown forum...an empire army is for sale. Assembled, all new plastics, primed but no paint. Sure, it has lots of stuff I don't need, but it does have some stuff I want. Also, now that I'm playing KoW, it will give me lots of options. I could have several horde level units now. And then the killer, the price is only $275 shipped, with foam. We are talking less than $2 a model, every model (cav, characters, steam tank, warmachines...). It was my kryptonite. Great models, amazing deal.....how could I resist?

Well I couldn't. It took me all of about 4 hours of mulling it over and the seller tossing in some free company guys for me to pull the trigger. So here I sit, with now a substantial Empire army (300ish models), and a hole in the wallet to the amount of $655.

I have to admit, that looking at that total makes my chest tighten up a bit. I just blew over $600 on plastic soldiers in the span of two months. I also went for a reasonable painting project (100ish models), to an absolute bear of a project.

Now once I get all of my models together, I will sit down and see what I can cut out from that mound. Hopefully I can trade/sell off what I don't need and bring that total down just a little. Because if I don't, then I'll really know the answer to the above question and I'm not sure what I'd do then.

Till next time.

Back in the saddle

Hail and well met!

Hmmmm flashback to Everyquest days. Hail! heh...I remember the first time logging on with my human mage. Some guy was trying to talk to me and I hadn't figured out that "enter" opened the chat window. :) Good times.

So, back to the now....and a strong need to focus. Darn Kings of War keeps tempting me with all these new lists. You see I have a beastman army for WFB that I have actually never played. And now Mantic has this Herd list that keeps calling to me. Stupid gamer ADD.

Well I'm not falling for it, do you hear me? Nope, I'm going to stay on the path of my new Empire army. In fact, I'm hoping to pick up a few more units this weekend as a friend of mine is selling off his models. I really don't have too much left to get. In terms of WFB, I have more than enough, but strangely, KoW seems to require a little more still. Those darn horde formations just need so many models. Yeah I know I could use filler pieces, but I'd rather have the rank and file troops. Just my own preference.

Oh, and I finally ordered some movement trays for Shogun Miniatures. These are nice little metal trays with flanged edges on three sides. Plus I've ordered some of their magnetic bases to try out too. You see I much prefer to build a unit and then keep it on its movement tray instead of packing it away in foam. At the craft store Michaels, they have this great plastic storage system. It is a stand with six bays, and each bay comes with a clear plastic case about four inches high. In fact, in that battle report I recently posted, I was able to fit my entire army into one case. Some of the really tall models had to be put on the side, but for the vast majority of them, they were fine to stand upright on the tray. And since the case is enclosed, no dust! I just slide it back into the bay and yadda yadda yadda, army is put away. The whole thing costs around $80 to $100, but you can typically find a sale or coupon for Michaels which cuts its price dramatically. I'm going to get more as I get movement trays for all my armies and magnetize them. Currently, I have four fantasy forces in the bays and two flames of war armies. For the flames of war troops, I fill the bottom of the tray with stands, and then I put a foam layer down and then repeat. I put my entire eastern front Italian army in that way.

So where was I? Oh yeah, my empire army. So I'm refocusing back on them. I've got lots of models now, and quite a few that need assembly, so that is going to take off soon. I need to prime up a few test models for painting. All in all, I'm pretty excited about it.

Till next time....

KoW Battle Report - Undead Vs Kingdom of Men 2000pts

Welcome back Sports Fans,

So yesterday, I got my first taste of a big game of Kings of War. My friend Nathan and I threw down the gauntlet for our first 2nd edition game. I had mistakenly thought that Nathan had been playing with his brothers, but instead, they had only ran through some specific scenarios, instead of playing a full game.

So here we were, with our first game of the new edition. Cherries were popped. I was running Undead, mostly because the army was still on movement trays and it took the least amount of work to get ready. Nathan fielded a Kingdom of Men army, represented by his awesome looking Bretonnians.

My forces (bottom of pic) reading left to right: Soul Reaver Cav troop with pathfinder item, skeleton spear regiment, catapult, liche king, revenant reg with stealth item, necro with heal, zombie horde with +1 hit item, BSB, skeleton regiment, necro with bane change, ghouls, werewolf horde with phalanx item, and vamp on dragon with +1 armor item. Every unit that could have the rat upgrade did except for the skeletons without spears.

Nathan's forces (top), reading left to right as best as I can remember: Knight reg with pathfinder, three archer troops with a spearmen horde behind with +1 to hit, mounted wizard with wind, archer horde with jar, mounted BSB, two catapults, mounted general behind tower with +1armor, spearmen horde with CS(1), archer troop with a foot wizard with lighting behind, and a knight regiment with elite.

Nathan won the rolls for board side, and first turn (bastard). Pic above shows table from his side.

End to turn 1: he moved some stuff, and his trebuchets both hit my catapult and sent it back to the afterlife. He also put a wound on the zombie horde and two on the werewolves.

End of Turn 2: I moved some stuff up, surged a few units, and my werewolves were in charge range of his knights.

End of turn 3: He moved up some more, shot me a bit here and there, both trebs missed (as I foretold) and his right side knights backed up. Our left side knights were doing the "just out of range dance"

End of turn 4: I made a huge goof here and thought I could surge my vamps into his knights. We had actually gone through the combat and I had even routed his knights...and then had to take it all back as I realized my mistake. I was able to take out two of his archer troops and then threaten the third. However, the resulting free pivot for my revenants was done after I thought his knights were gone, and I forgot to reposition them once they were back on the field.

End of Turn 5: His left side knights charge the flank of the revenants but fail to route them. His left horde of spears and general hit the zombies, but fail to route them. His right side knights continue their retreat dance. But he shifts his archers over to help.

End of Turn 6: The revs and spear skels charge his knights while my soul reavers reposition for a charge. My zombies countercharge and my skels charge his general. Not wanting his right side archers to block a charge, I take the risk to hit them with the werewolves, positioning my general to breath attack his knights. No routes occured.

End of turn 7: His knights charge the revs, but rolls snake eyes on the route. His spear horde and general sends the zombies off, and his archer troop charges the skeletons. His knights charge the werewolves and then proceeds to roll an 11 which is just enough to route them! My inspiring vamp is too far away.

End of turn 8: I triple charge his knights, but the reaver rear charge was enough to do it on their own and his knights route. My skeletons counter charge his archers and route them. My ghouls flank charge his other horde and the vamp on dragon hits them in the front. Good damage was done, but they hold.

End of Turn 9: I forgot to take a picture here, but his left side horde hits the revenants, and again rolls snake eyes! His trebs don't hit anything else the whole game (as I predicted). He was pin cushioning my liche king, but regen saved him over and over again. His right side horde counter charges the ghouls and routes them.

End of turn 10: My left side forces slam into his horde and route them. My dragon positions to flame his right side horde, but fails to route.

At this point, we had to call the game. Current score: Undead - 760, Kingdom of Men - 655.

Result - Tie.

All in all, it was a very smooth game. The only major hiccup we had was when I tried to surge the reavers. Other than that, the only thing we needed to catch was pivot limits for characters. We did have a few LoS cover questions pop up. I will post on the Mantic forums to get some answers there. But for the most part, the game went well and quick. With only one turn left for each of us, I could see him sending off the revenants with bow shots. They had more damage done to them than Nerve and only were there by the grace of snake eyes. I am not sure if I could get any more points out. My dragon might be able to reach his trebs, but I think my left side forces were too far from anything else. So I think a tie would have taken place anyways.

Till next time.

Kings of War tonight

Hello Sports Fans,

So I am finally back from vacation and getting ready to hop back into the thick of it. Tonight I meet a friend on the field of KoW. Nathan is an experienced WFB player and though it pains me to say it, a fairly bright sort, even moreso than me. :(

However, I have somehow kept an edge on him when playing fantasy games. He kicks the holy crap out of me in 40K though. He has been trying out KoW 2 since the fall of Fantasy Battles. At this point, he probably has more experience with actually KoW2 games than I do. However, I have full confidence in my luck that it will carry the day and let me win regardless of how much better of a general he is than I. :)

On the building front, not much has been done. Mostly because I have been out of town. I did put in quite a bit of time building movement trays though. I was using the GW custom trays and then using a adhesive magnetic card to go on top. For the most part it works well, even with models not yet magnetized.

What I have been doing lately is adding to my collection. That seems to be a step that is always in my hobby process. Recently I just picked up some warmaster models. First off, I love Warmaster as a game. Probably the best game GW has ever produced. Second, I think I will be able to use Warmaster models to play KoW2. Think of the armies you could array on a standard table using that scale? Gives me goosebumps. Sure, the base dimensions don't quite work out, but I think it can work for the most part with just minor tweaking. Also, I've doubled my Empire army with a major purchase and had added to my beastmen as well.

Painting wise, I've done just a little work on my Planetfall models. I should be able to find some time this weekend to finish up a few and then can post pics.

For the most part, I'm at peace with my hobby. I'm enjoying it again, which is its main purpose to begin with. There are a few ripples on the water though and for once, it isn't my fault. Many of my friends who were WFB players are trying to find a new hobby game. The problem is that they are all picking different ones. Some are indeed trying KoW2, but some are switching over to skirmish games as well. On the one hand, it is great to see people branch out, but on the other hand, I don't own those games...and now I'm being tempted to buy in so that I can play too. Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a gamer.

Well, that is all for now. See you guys next time.