Sunday I had the opportunity to play some War Machine. Unless you have been living under a bridge, you should know a little about the game. If not, shoot on over to Privateer Presses website and take a look. The miniatures look awesome if you are into steam punk Victorian stuff.
Overall, I think War Machine is a decent game. It is by no means perfect and suffers from a scaling problem. There is a crazy amount of stuff to track. You will need something to keep track of focus and spell effects. You will also need something to track your jack system status. Grease pen and card protectors work great. Yeah, this game uses cards for the unit stats.
I think the game probably plays best at the 25 point range. 11 points is really too little, but would make real quick games. A single mistake would spell doom at that level. I found that 15 points feels right for learning since you can have an interesting mix of jacks and units. The game still moves pretty fast at that level.
I feel 35 points would be pushing the upper level of what the game can realistically support. There is just too much to keep track of and not enough focus to really spread around. Sure you can play larger games, people do it all the time. I feel that you would need a bigger playing area.
A key tactic in the game is to know when to utilize the special ability that your war caster has. In some respects you need to think about the game at least one turn in advance since the order that you activate your units in can make a huge difference. It is a sad day when you do not use your own special ability.
I also think that how War Machine handles cover and concealment is probably the best way I have seen in a miniature skirmish game. They essentially use penalties to hit, which makes a lot of sense. I also like how the deviation of missed area attacks is handled. I really hope Warhammer 40K adopts similar rules.
I did manage to get in a few games against different lists. I played my own list, with no changes between the matches. I own 15 points of Cygnar, which is half painted at the moment. It consists of the starter box and a Black 13th Unit. In the games I played the jacks I had were not as effective as I had hope. You really need to have extra focus to put on them to get them to do something interesting. For the most part it seemed they were big targets.
The Black 13th however were exceptionally awesome! They had an answer for everything. I was really surprised at how versatile they were. Reading about them on the internet really does not prepare you for what they can do. Even in the game where I faced the all stealth list, they were the go to unit. I think if I played them more aggressively, I might have won all the games I played.
Overall I like many aspects of War Machine. I think it is a game I could play off and on for a long time but only if I can get a decent 4x4 table made.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Eldar Tactics - Rise of the Swooping Hawks
Swooping Hawks are one of the least used units in current Eldar armies today. Occasionally you will see some brave individual attempt to field a squad of them, only to have them under perform or get shot to pieces before they can do anything. This is not a problem unique to Swooping Hawks - a lot of deep striking assault troops tend to be cut down easily.
I tend to change this in the games I play. I have decided to build an army around using Swooping Hawks again. To add further insult to my opponents I will play "Attack of the Hawkmen" from Flash Gordon when they attack somewhere.
Fear me and my space elf hawkmen!
Swooping Hawks have some good things going for them. For one they come with Haywire Grenades that if hit will penetrate vehicle armor, no matter how high. Most likely they are going to just glance the vehicle. This is perfectly fine as well, since the worst result on the glance table is "cannot shoot". A vehicle that is not shooting is not achieving its points back and is neutralized for a turn.
Secondly, a Swooping Hawk squad with the Exarch upgrade has the option to buy the ability "Intercept" for 5 points! This ability is gold since it makes the maximum to hit roll 4+ on all vehicles. Those pesky Dark Eldar skimmers just got a whole lot easier to hit.
Swooping Hawk shooting is not impressive. They best they can do is harass light infantry. The leader can be equipped with a sun rifle that not only shoot six times, but has a chance to pin an enemy unit. I have never been successful at pinning an enemy unit with laser fire, so I stopped taking the Sunrifle upgrade. What I do take is the Hawk's Talon. The weapon is is STR 5, Assault 3. Outfitted with a Hawk's Talon the squad has a good chance of being able to penetrate the rear armor of a tank if they deep strike in.
How will I use the mighty Swooping Hawks?
My new tactic is to field two to three large squads of them and have them deployed on the table at the start of the game. They will be sent after primary vehicle targets that can threaten my vehicles - such as Razor Backs, Land Raiders, Storm Ravens or Dark Eldar Ravagers. Additionally, any vehicle that has some sort of cover save would be targeted if it is in an opportunistic range.
The Hawks will hit and run with the goal to keep them alive until the end of the game. Their mobility should allow them to take advantage of cover or line of sight blocking terrain features. Near the end of the game, they will be used to contest objectives or just overwhelm straggling foot troops.
Another option that I am currently exploring is adding an Autarch to the mix with wings and a fusion gun. That would add some extra ranged tank busting abilities to the squad for the turn they deep strike in.
I tend to change this in the games I play. I have decided to build an army around using Swooping Hawks again. To add further insult to my opponents I will play "Attack of the Hawkmen" from Flash Gordon when they attack somewhere.
Fear me and my space elf hawkmen!
Swooping Hawks have some good things going for them. For one they come with Haywire Grenades that if hit will penetrate vehicle armor, no matter how high. Most likely they are going to just glance the vehicle. This is perfectly fine as well, since the worst result on the glance table is "cannot shoot". A vehicle that is not shooting is not achieving its points back and is neutralized for a turn.
Secondly, a Swooping Hawk squad with the Exarch upgrade has the option to buy the ability "Intercept" for 5 points! This ability is gold since it makes the maximum to hit roll 4+ on all vehicles. Those pesky Dark Eldar skimmers just got a whole lot easier to hit.
Swooping Hawk shooting is not impressive. They best they can do is harass light infantry. The leader can be equipped with a sun rifle that not only shoot six times, but has a chance to pin an enemy unit. I have never been successful at pinning an enemy unit with laser fire, so I stopped taking the Sunrifle upgrade. What I do take is the Hawk's Talon. The weapon is is STR 5, Assault 3. Outfitted with a Hawk's Talon the squad has a good chance of being able to penetrate the rear armor of a tank if they deep strike in.
How will I use the mighty Swooping Hawks?
My new tactic is to field two to three large squads of them and have them deployed on the table at the start of the game. They will be sent after primary vehicle targets that can threaten my vehicles - such as Razor Backs, Land Raiders, Storm Ravens or Dark Eldar Ravagers. Additionally, any vehicle that has some sort of cover save would be targeted if it is in an opportunistic range.
The Hawks will hit and run with the goal to keep them alive until the end of the game. Their mobility should allow them to take advantage of cover or line of sight blocking terrain features. Near the end of the game, they will be used to contest objectives or just overwhelm straggling foot troops.
Another option that I am currently exploring is adding an Autarch to the mix with wings and a fusion gun. That would add some extra ranged tank busting abilities to the squad for the turn they deep strike in.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Hmmm
This morning I discovered why Blue Table Painting makes all their big scenery pieces out of just foam and not foam and hardboard. Hardboard in large sheets likes to bend a bit too much causing a lot of stress on any filler compound you use.
I am debating scrapping the WarMachione table and salvaging what I can from the foam. I might go ahead and finish it up, but cut back on the detailing and crack filling I had planned on doing. Decisions, decisions.
I am debating scrapping the WarMachione table and salvaging what I can from the foam. I might go ahead and finish it up, but cut back on the detailing and crack filling I had planned on doing. Decisions, decisions.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Warpath
I just got the beta rules for Warpath, a game being put out by Mantic Games. The game is 40K-ish in a lot of respects. I am not sure how successful the game will be, as I see some holes in the system already.
What I do like is that the game has a number of modifiers for shooting. Cover seems to reduce the chances of being hit, instead of preventing damage. The other thing that I love is the heavy weapons guys can shoot at different targets!
I will have to print out the rules and read them to get a good grasp of how fun the game will be. Might do a test game next week sometime if I can scrounge up the models.
I am doing a happy dance, the majority of my order has shipped! I should have D&D miniatures and WarMachine armies by next Wednesday. Should be a good week!
What I do like is that the game has a number of modifiers for shooting. Cover seems to reduce the chances of being hit, instead of preventing damage. The other thing that I love is the heavy weapons guys can shoot at different targets!
I will have to print out the rules and read them to get a good grasp of how fun the game will be. Might do a test game next week sometime if I can scrounge up the models.
I am doing a happy dance, the majority of my order has shipped! I should have D&D miniatures and WarMachine armies by next Wednesday. Should be a good week!
War Machine Table
Its been too long. I am enjoying my month long vacation, and by vacation I mean making scenery! My family is out of town which means I can do crazy scenery projects and not get the third degree about how I am making a mess or taking up too much room with my garbage.
I decided to use the time to make a niffy war machine table. I wanted something that could play up to four people and still be interesting to play all the normal two player missions. What I came up with was a nice rocky mesa piece that will be lots of fun once I build some bridges to connect parts of it. I will also need to make some removable pieces to fully enhance the game play. Overall the table should be fun to finish and paint.
This project is bigger than anything I have done, and I have made it out of scraps left over from other projects. As my first foray into such project types, I have learned a few things.
The first is while using scraps is cost effective, it is far better to plan on using who sheets of foam. I should have just purchased a sheet of 2" foam and carved the rocky cliffs from that instead of layers of the smaller stuff. There would be less gluing hassle and overall there project would have flowed better.
The second thing I learned is foam will dull a blade really quickly. I was not aware how quickly until I worked on this project. I will have to buy a few new blades this week.
Thankfully, I have finished cutting everything I need to cut on the board itself. The next step is to put down some putty to make the transition from foam to table top and then to glue down a bunch of stand before I start painting it with my mighty airbrush! In theory, I could finish this up by Tuesday if I actually work ojn it over the weekend.
I did order my starting War Machine forces. I am going to play some Cygnar painted up like the Confederacy, minus the battle flag. I love the Cygnar blue, but I already have a blue army in Ultra Marines. Besides if Martin gets into the game, I know I will be painting his stuff up in traditional blue and I want my stuff to stand out as different.. Hopefully I will get them sometimes next week.
Other than that, I saw Green Lantern this week. I would like that two hours of my life back please. Its a decent movie if you do not think about how utterly absurd the story and characters are. I am not referring to the super hero genre or camp-ness. I am referring to the huge gaping plot holes and nonsensical character development. I actually had hope that it would be good. DC can stop making movies now as they seem to be terrible, with the exception of Batman.
I decided to use the time to make a niffy war machine table. I wanted something that could play up to four people and still be interesting to play all the normal two player missions. What I came up with was a nice rocky mesa piece that will be lots of fun once I build some bridges to connect parts of it. I will also need to make some removable pieces to fully enhance the game play. Overall the table should be fun to finish and paint.
This project is bigger than anything I have done, and I have made it out of scraps left over from other projects. As my first foray into such project types, I have learned a few things.
The first is while using scraps is cost effective, it is far better to plan on using who sheets of foam. I should have just purchased a sheet of 2" foam and carved the rocky cliffs from that instead of layers of the smaller stuff. There would be less gluing hassle and overall there project would have flowed better.
The second thing I learned is foam will dull a blade really quickly. I was not aware how quickly until I worked on this project. I will have to buy a few new blades this week.
Thankfully, I have finished cutting everything I need to cut on the board itself. The next step is to put down some putty to make the transition from foam to table top and then to glue down a bunch of stand before I start painting it with my mighty airbrush! In theory, I could finish this up by Tuesday if I actually work ojn it over the weekend.
I did order my starting War Machine forces. I am going to play some Cygnar painted up like the Confederacy, minus the battle flag. I love the Cygnar blue, but I already have a blue army in Ultra Marines. Besides if Martin gets into the game, I know I will be painting his stuff up in traditional blue and I want my stuff to stand out as different.. Hopefully I will get them sometimes next week.
Other than that, I saw Green Lantern this week. I would like that two hours of my life back please. Its a decent movie if you do not think about how utterly absurd the story and characters are. I am not referring to the super hero genre or camp-ness. I am referring to the huge gaping plot holes and nonsensical character development. I actually had hope that it would be good. DC can stop making movies now as they seem to be terrible, with the exception of Batman.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
6th Edition Rumors
It was only a matter of time before the rumblings of a new edition of 40K started brewing. Given the recent change in the communication policies of Games Workshop, I believe that a new edition is just around the corner. My guess is Christmas.
Lets look at some of the rumors.
* Development relied heavily on feedback of veteran playtesters. You can see some results of this new approach by the way the FAQs were handled in the last months. All codexes since Codex Tyranids were written with the new rules in mind, especially the new mission and reserve structure.
That might explain why the Grey Knight Falchions only give an extra 1 attack. My theory is we are going to see a lot of changes to assault that make it less game winning. The biggest one I can see is the removal of extra attacks for having two weapons.
The question then becomes, what makes an assault troops, assault troops? I have no idea. Perhaps they will get a bonus to their attack roll or be the only unit in the game that can fleet.
* strong narrative focus on Chaos, perspective shifting from the Empire to the struggle between free races and the Warp
A narrative focus would be good, 40K doesn't seem to have that anymore.
* Similar ballistic to hit chart as wound chart: compare BS to target’s speed and unit type. BS 3 hits moving infantry on 4+, but lightning fast jetbikes on 6+ and stationary tank on 2+… HUGE
This would be entertaining. Though now we will need movement markers for the units. I am a fan of markers so I am good with this.
* Victory points are back, but with another twist: you get two victory points if an unit holds an objective for an entire game turn, if a scoring unit holds one, you get three and one if you destroy a squad leader or vehicle
Seems like GW wants to do away with last turn sweeping in and taking objectives. I do like that any unit can hold objectives since it means my heavies can sit back on an objective and pour out some grade A bang, bang. It would add a more strategic bent to the game than it has now.
* Before the game there is a bidding contest for the opportunity of the first turn, if you bid more strategic points you can go first, but the enemy can spent these points on stratagems as in Cities of Death: 22 generic stratagems – for example for one point you can decide on night fighting or place an automatic gun, for four you can shift your reserves, most expensive stratagems are at 12 points and are really drastic, every unspent point can be used once a game for a reroll
I am not sure I really like this. It will come down to how interesting the stratagems are. The automatic gun could be interesting, hopefully they will have race specific weapons or a generic weapon. If they are anything like the City of death ones or the Planet Assault ones, then I will not enjoy this change. The stratagems were sometimes vague and either over or under powered. None really felt right to me.
Of course the idea of being able buy re-rolls is one I really like. I cannot begin to count the times I have said, if I could only re-reoll, it would change the course of battle.
The big question on my mind is what happens if nobody puts forth points to get the first turn because they both want to spent all their points on stratagems? How will that work?
* new turn sequence: prepare-movement-assault-shooting-consolidate
new phase “consolidate” phase for random movements, jetpack movements, pursuits, morale checks/effects and resolving shooting reactions
assault before shooting – big units are real roadblocks!
I love the idea of having a "prepare" phase. I have often argued that 40K needs a Babylon 5 wars style turn outline to show what order things are supposed to go in. A prepare phase will solve a lot of disagreements as to when some powers can be cast with units coming from reserves.
The assault before shooting would be an interesting change. It would move the meta away from many small elite units to the realm of full squads again. It would also make arming the assault squad with anti-infantry weapons pointless for the most part. I find this one a little hard to believe, unless there will be something else at play, such as assaults do not last longer than the single assault phase.
*Heroic characters:
- independent characters more powerful, armour save and invulnerable save at the same time
- squad leaders more important, no more 50% rallying threshold, unit can rally as long as squad leader lives
- independent characters can snipe
I love the idea that squad leaders will allow the squad to rally. Too often I watch my eldar run off the table with an autarch attached to the squad. Having them being allowed to rally would be a great thing.
*More visceral combat:
- standard cover only 5+ now, Feel No Pain (1) only on 5+
- slow slogging units very vulnerable
- some weapon types are specialized in taking out specific unit types and are incredible good at doing this (sniper vs. infantry without armour), but on the other hand ordnance vs flyer isn’t going to do much
Yay for the reduction of cover saves! The game really was becoming less and less about the armor penetration of your guns due to the abundance of cover. I imagine stealth units and going to ground will still be in the game which will bring that cover save back up to 3+ for a few select units. That is a lot better than the 2+ cover save monkeys that currently prowl some game tables.
The idea that some weapons will be better at taking down specific unit types is another good change.
*streamlined:
- no more random movement at all
- 5 general types of psychic powers
- wound allocation like 4th edition on unit basis, but attacker can chose every 5th wound to go to a single model (sniper weapon every second wound)
- artillery is normal immobile vehicle squadron, crew has no other game purpose than to be a counter for rate of fire and attacks
I always worry when a game touts it is being streamlined. That typically means it is losing some flavor or some complicated rule set that made it fun and interesting. I will not cry with the loss of random movement. I hated it, mostly because my harlequins would roll a 2 for their run speed.
I cannot recall how would allocation worked in 4th edition, (as that was when I had stopped playing) but I do vaguely recall some complaints that you could use template weapons to pick off specific models. I suspect there will be no real wound allocation, it will just be roll to see how many wounds you can save against. The targeted wounds will be rolled for first.
5 general types of psychic powers? That sounds like they are going to define them something along the lines of shooting, buffing, debuffing, template and utility.
* terrain rules on a single page, true line of sight, non-vehicles models are ignored altogether, rules for special terrain like bunkers, ruins or deathworld mangroves in narrative rule section
This sounds like the idea of having ground troops screen for your tanks is also gone. I love the idea of having a rules for terrain on one page. Currently they are scattered through out the book, well at least the way a model interacts with terrain. I would love to see something along the lines of more rules instead of just a cover save.
* More elaborate reserve rules, can nominate turn of arrvial and has only small change to arrive earlier or later, or can intervene behind enemy lines, arrives randomly but can hinder enemy reserves, must be distributed evenly between turn two and three, later arrivals only randomly
This would be awesome, something me and my 40K group has talked about for sometime. The idea that reserves could be more reliable would be great. It would prevent someone from getting hosed if their reserves do not come in until turn 4 or 5.
I used to be that eldar player that reserved everything. Then I realized when I do that it really cuts down on my fire power. It is better to just start with most of your army on the table and focus down units. My win ration has doubled since I started using that tactic.
*no more random game length
*no roll for first turn
Love it!
*deep striking units more than 18” from enemy away don’t scatter, but landing in 6” is much more dangerous
This would speed the game up, and might make swooping hawks viable again.
* movement impairing effects from pinning weapons even if morale check is passed (if roll is above halved Ld), Fearless not immune to this, but only effected if rolled over full Ld
This would make pinning weapons useful again. As it stands now, there is little point in taking them except to try and kill monstrous creatures. Sniper weapons should be true infantry killers. Tactical squads should run in fear of them. Currently it is the opposite.
*more reactions to shooting than going to the ground depending on unit type and special rules. bikes can evade (3+ cover as same as before, but cannot assault or shoot next turn), jump troops can fly high, units with Stealth can attempt to vanish, …
This would be all sorts of cool!
My gut reaction is that Games Workshop wants to stream line the game because we will be putting even more models on the table with 6th edition. As a business they want us to buy more toy soldiers and field them. I cannot say I blame them. I would love to play a game where I can field even more eldar or marines.
It also sounds like they may be gearing the game towards competitive play by taking out the randomness that can kill you before the game really begins.
Only time will tell.
Lets look at some of the rumors.
* Development relied heavily on feedback of veteran playtesters. You can see some results of this new approach by the way the FAQs were handled in the last months. All codexes since Codex Tyranids were written with the new rules in mind, especially the new mission and reserve structure.
That might explain why the Grey Knight Falchions only give an extra 1 attack. My theory is we are going to see a lot of changes to assault that make it less game winning. The biggest one I can see is the removal of extra attacks for having two weapons.
The question then becomes, what makes an assault troops, assault troops? I have no idea. Perhaps they will get a bonus to their attack roll or be the only unit in the game that can fleet.
* strong narrative focus on Chaos, perspective shifting from the Empire to the struggle between free races and the Warp
A narrative focus would be good, 40K doesn't seem to have that anymore.
* Similar ballistic to hit chart as wound chart: compare BS to target’s speed and unit type. BS 3 hits moving infantry on 4+, but lightning fast jetbikes on 6+ and stationary tank on 2+… HUGE
This would be entertaining. Though now we will need movement markers for the units. I am a fan of markers so I am good with this.
* Victory points are back, but with another twist: you get two victory points if an unit holds an objective for an entire game turn, if a scoring unit holds one, you get three and one if you destroy a squad leader or vehicle
Seems like GW wants to do away with last turn sweeping in and taking objectives. I do like that any unit can hold objectives since it means my heavies can sit back on an objective and pour out some grade A bang, bang. It would add a more strategic bent to the game than it has now.
* Before the game there is a bidding contest for the opportunity of the first turn, if you bid more strategic points you can go first, but the enemy can spent these points on stratagems as in Cities of Death: 22 generic stratagems – for example for one point you can decide on night fighting or place an automatic gun, for four you can shift your reserves, most expensive stratagems are at 12 points and are really drastic, every unspent point can be used once a game for a reroll
I am not sure I really like this. It will come down to how interesting the stratagems are. The automatic gun could be interesting, hopefully they will have race specific weapons or a generic weapon. If they are anything like the City of death ones or the Planet Assault ones, then I will not enjoy this change. The stratagems were sometimes vague and either over or under powered. None really felt right to me.
Of course the idea of being able buy re-rolls is one I really like. I cannot begin to count the times I have said, if I could only re-reoll, it would change the course of battle.
The big question on my mind is what happens if nobody puts forth points to get the first turn because they both want to spent all their points on stratagems? How will that work?
* new turn sequence: prepare-movement-assault-shooting-consolidate
new phase “consolidate” phase for random movements, jetpack movements, pursuits, morale checks/effects and resolving shooting reactions
assault before shooting – big units are real roadblocks!
I love the idea of having a "prepare" phase. I have often argued that 40K needs a Babylon 5 wars style turn outline to show what order things are supposed to go in. A prepare phase will solve a lot of disagreements as to when some powers can be cast with units coming from reserves.
The assault before shooting would be an interesting change. It would move the meta away from many small elite units to the realm of full squads again. It would also make arming the assault squad with anti-infantry weapons pointless for the most part. I find this one a little hard to believe, unless there will be something else at play, such as assaults do not last longer than the single assault phase.
*Heroic characters:
- independent characters more powerful, armour save and invulnerable save at the same time
- squad leaders more important, no more 50% rallying threshold, unit can rally as long as squad leader lives
- independent characters can snipe
I love the idea that squad leaders will allow the squad to rally. Too often I watch my eldar run off the table with an autarch attached to the squad. Having them being allowed to rally would be a great thing.
*More visceral combat:
- standard cover only 5+ now, Feel No Pain (1) only on 5+
- slow slogging units very vulnerable
- some weapon types are specialized in taking out specific unit types and are incredible good at doing this (sniper vs. infantry without armour), but on the other hand ordnance vs flyer isn’t going to do much
Yay for the reduction of cover saves! The game really was becoming less and less about the armor penetration of your guns due to the abundance of cover. I imagine stealth units and going to ground will still be in the game which will bring that cover save back up to 3+ for a few select units. That is a lot better than the 2+ cover save monkeys that currently prowl some game tables.
The idea that some weapons will be better at taking down specific unit types is another good change.
*streamlined:
- no more random movement at all
- 5 general types of psychic powers
- wound allocation like 4th edition on unit basis, but attacker can chose every 5th wound to go to a single model (sniper weapon every second wound)
- artillery is normal immobile vehicle squadron, crew has no other game purpose than to be a counter for rate of fire and attacks
I always worry when a game touts it is being streamlined. That typically means it is losing some flavor or some complicated rule set that made it fun and interesting. I will not cry with the loss of random movement. I hated it, mostly because my harlequins would roll a 2 for their run speed.
I cannot recall how would allocation worked in 4th edition, (as that was when I had stopped playing) but I do vaguely recall some complaints that you could use template weapons to pick off specific models. I suspect there will be no real wound allocation, it will just be roll to see how many wounds you can save against. The targeted wounds will be rolled for first.
5 general types of psychic powers? That sounds like they are going to define them something along the lines of shooting, buffing, debuffing, template and utility.
* terrain rules on a single page, true line of sight, non-vehicles models are ignored altogether, rules for special terrain like bunkers, ruins or deathworld mangroves in narrative rule section
This sounds like the idea of having ground troops screen for your tanks is also gone. I love the idea of having a rules for terrain on one page. Currently they are scattered through out the book, well at least the way a model interacts with terrain. I would love to see something along the lines of more rules instead of just a cover save.
* More elaborate reserve rules, can nominate turn of arrvial and has only small change to arrive earlier or later, or can intervene behind enemy lines, arrives randomly but can hinder enemy reserves, must be distributed evenly between turn two and three, later arrivals only randomly
This would be awesome, something me and my 40K group has talked about for sometime. The idea that reserves could be more reliable would be great. It would prevent someone from getting hosed if their reserves do not come in until turn 4 or 5.
I used to be that eldar player that reserved everything. Then I realized when I do that it really cuts down on my fire power. It is better to just start with most of your army on the table and focus down units. My win ration has doubled since I started using that tactic.
*no more random game length
*no roll for first turn
Love it!
*deep striking units more than 18” from enemy away don’t scatter, but landing in 6” is much more dangerous
This would speed the game up, and might make swooping hawks viable again.
* movement impairing effects from pinning weapons even if morale check is passed (if roll is above halved Ld), Fearless not immune to this, but only effected if rolled over full Ld
This would make pinning weapons useful again. As it stands now, there is little point in taking them except to try and kill monstrous creatures. Sniper weapons should be true infantry killers. Tactical squads should run in fear of them. Currently it is the opposite.
*more reactions to shooting than going to the ground depending on unit type and special rules. bikes can evade (3+ cover as same as before, but cannot assault or shoot next turn), jump troops can fly high, units with Stealth can attempt to vanish, …
This would be all sorts of cool!
My gut reaction is that Games Workshop wants to stream line the game because we will be putting even more models on the table with 6th edition. As a business they want us to buy more toy soldiers and field them. I cannot say I blame them. I would love to play a game where I can field even more eldar or marines.
It also sounds like they may be gearing the game towards competitive play by taking out the randomness that can kill you before the game really begins.
Only time will tell.
Friday, June 3, 2011
A little Teaser
I came home early today to get some more work done around the war room before the game this weekend. I had some time so I figured I would set up a light booth and take some photos of the D&D miniatures. Let me say that I am really impressed with my son's cheap $90 camera that has macro and 12.9 mega pixels. I paid over 600 bucks for the hunk of junk that I can no longer get to power up.
Isn't the technology curve wonderful?
I ran into some problems with the light booth, I probably need to get all daylight bulbs and use a purer white back drop to get the photos. All my photos I took today have a yellowish tint to them. I will get it take care of as I set up a permanent photo station in the near future.
The preview is of the NPC healer in the party - a mountain folk cleric. I based her on the concept of a white mage healer. Her personality is based loosely off of Starfire from the "Teen Titans" TV series - a heroic outsider that does not completely understand the world she lives in. The inspiration of the character came almost entirely from the image to the left. Yes, I know its from anime, but nothing says gaming and anime cannot mix.
Since she is a savage, I decided to go with a miniature in leather. I selected "Feiya - Iconic Witch" from the Reaper Miniature line. It fit the look I wanted and as a bonus came with a animal companion that I used for the wizard familiar.
I tried a experiment with the bases. I used my printer and adobe to print out name plates. I simply cut them and pasted them onto the base. I might eventually go back and paint the edges and see if I can get the outlines to disappear. I could also make them larger and cut them to fit specifically. I was impressed for the 20 minutes of work that it took me to do it.
This is the Auriel from the back.
Tomorrow will be the full unveiling to my players when we start the D&D game. Hopefully they will be happy with how I see tier characters. Most gave me a good physical description, but one did not. All she said is that she wanted her character to wear bright colors. That is what I went for.
Isn't the technology curve wonderful?
I ran into some problems with the light booth, I probably need to get all daylight bulbs and use a purer white back drop to get the photos. All my photos I took today have a yellowish tint to them. I will get it take care of as I set up a permanent photo station in the near future.The preview is of the NPC healer in the party - a mountain folk cleric. I based her on the concept of a white mage healer. Her personality is based loosely off of Starfire from the "Teen Titans" TV series - a heroic outsider that does not completely understand the world she lives in. The inspiration of the character came almost entirely from the image to the left. Yes, I know its from anime, but nothing says gaming and anime cannot mix.
Since she is a savage, I decided to go with a miniature in leather. I selected "Feiya - Iconic Witch" from the Reaper Miniature line. It fit the look I wanted and as a bonus came with a animal companion that I used for the wizard familiar.
This is the Auriel from the back.
Tomorrow will be the full unveiling to my players when we start the D&D game. Hopefully they will be happy with how I see tier characters. Most gave me a good physical description, but one did not. All she said is that she wanted her character to wear bright colors. That is what I went for.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
WIP - D&D Party (Day Four)
My day consisted of working on the local convention and painting miniatures. This week I kept my painting station up on my conference table and that allowed me to paint and work on other things. Unfortunately, some of the miniatures required a fair amount of attention.
Here is today's progress:
Here is today's progress:
Auriel (Cleric) - COMPLETED
Bhesh (Sorcerer) - COMPLETED
Joeseph (Fighter) - COMPLETED
Ketheryn (Bard) - COMPLETED
Leyr Joir (Wizard) - COMPLETED
Leyr Joir (Dog) - COMPLETED
Mathias (Fighter) - COMPLETED
Perrin (Rogue) - COMPLETED
Rhagan (Fighter) - COMPLETED
Ferox (Enemy) - Primed
Hakkar (Enemy) - Cleaned, ready to be Primed
Labros (Enemy) - Primed
Lupa (Enemy) - Primed
Thoos (Enemy) - Primed
I am pretty happy that not only did I meet the deadline for the party's miniatures, but they look pretty decent. Loyal readers will have to take my work until I can get my camera set up. That should happen sunday, unless I am playing 40K ... then I make no promises.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
WIP - D&D Party (Day Three)
I have come to the sad conclusion that my eye-sight is beginning to get a lot worse. I had a lot of trouble today focusing to see the detail on some of the miniatures. I suspect this will be fixed when I get contacts in the next few weeks, since I am long overdue for a new prescription. I am still churning out quality table-top work, but I know I can do much better.
At any rate here is my progress for today;
Thoos (Enemy) - Primed
I really only have one day of work to get eight and half miniatures done. It is possible, but only if I focus on it. Tonight I got really exited about the direction that the Auriel miniature went. I think what really did it was I realized I could make the miniature similar to the anime-image the character was based on. Then I added in a sailor moon theme and the rest is history.
I came up with a new idea for the bases on these miniatures. I cannot wait to talk about it and show some pictures provided it is successful. If this works it opens up a whole lot of possibilities for future work.
At any rate here is my progress for today;
Auriel (Cleric) - COMPLETED
Bhesh (Sorcerer) - 90% done, base completed
Joeseph (Fighter) - 99% done
Ketheryn (Bard) - Primed
Leyr Joir (Wizard) - 50% done
Leyr Joir (Dog) - Primed
Mathias (Fighter) - COMPLETED
Perrin (Rogue) - 10% done
Rhagan (Fighter) - 95% done
Ferox (Enemy) - Primed
Hakkar (Enemy) - Cleaned, ready to be Primed
Labros (Enemy) - Primed
Lupa (Enemy) - Primed
I really only have one day of work to get eight and half miniatures done. It is possible, but only if I focus on it. Tonight I got really exited about the direction that the Auriel miniature went. I think what really did it was I realized I could make the miniature similar to the anime-image the character was based on. Then I added in a sailor moon theme and the rest is history.
I came up with a new idea for the bases on these miniatures. I cannot wait to talk about it and show some pictures provided it is successful. If this works it opens up a whole lot of possibilities for future work.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
WIP - D&D Party (Day Two)
Ugh, woke up later than I wanted to and had to run my daughter on errands. I was only able to put a little work into the party today before I head off to hang with friends and play some Starcraft and enjoy Chinese food! It is becoming apparent6 that i may need to replace my brushes. Its getting harder to control them.
At any rate here is the update. Blue text indicates some progress has been made.
At any rate here is the update. Blue text indicates some progress has been made.
Auriel (Cleric) - 10% done
Bhesh (Sorcerer) - 90% done, base completed
Joeseph (Fighter) - 99% done
Ketheryn (Bard) - Primed
Leyr Joir (Wizard) - 20% done
Leyr Joir (Dog) - Primed
Mathias (Fighter) - COMPLETED
Perrin (Rogue) - 10% done
Rhagan (Fighter) - 90% done
Ferox (Enemy) - Cleaned, ready to be Primed
Hakkar (Enemy) - Cleaned, ready to be Primed
Labros (Enemy) - Cleaned, ready to be Primed
Lupa (Enemy) - Cleaned, ready to be Primed
Thoos (Enemy) - Cleaned, ready to be Primed
I have some thoughts that I am gonna post about later tomorrow. One of the posts will be my view on both "Dr Who" and "Game of Thrones" TV season. I also plan on starting a new Blog feature this week, so look forward to that. I know I am.
Monday, May 30, 2011
WIP - D&D Party (Day One)
I have been neglecting my blog this past week. Hopefully I can make up for it this week. My personal goal is to write 1,000 words a day scattered throughout my D&D campaign, other projects and this blog. I know I am capable of doing it since this past Sunday I churned out 1,200 words for some D&D fiction.
I really need to set up my camera so I can get some photos of what I am working on. That should happen this week I am hoping, provided I can get it all power up and working again.
My goal for this week is to finish my D&D party and probably some of their foes for the session coming up this weekend. Each night by midnight I will be updating my current status on the nine miniatures for the party. Unless otherwise noted basing is done separate.
Auriel (Cleric) - Primed
Bhesh (Sorcerer) - 90% done, base completed
Joeseph (Fighter) - 75% done
Ketheryn (Bard) - Primed
Leyr Joir (Wizard) - 20% done
Leyr Joir (Dog) - Primed
Mathias (Fighter) - COMPLETED
Perrin (Rogue) - 10% done
Rhagan (Fighter) - 75% done
I really need to set up my camera so I can get some photos of what I am working on. That should happen this week I am hoping, provided I can get it all power up and working again.
My goal for this week is to finish my D&D party and probably some of their foes for the session coming up this weekend. Each night by midnight I will be updating my current status on the nine miniatures for the party. Unless otherwise noted basing is done separate.
Auriel (Cleric) - Primed
Bhesh (Sorcerer) - 90% done, base completed
Joeseph (Fighter) - 75% done
Ketheryn (Bard) - Primed
Leyr Joir (Wizard) - 20% done
Leyr Joir (Dog) - Primed
Mathias (Fighter) - COMPLETED
Perrin (Rogue) - 10% done
Rhagan (Fighter) - 75% done
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Progress Report
The month of May is half over and sadly I have made little progress on my painting and modeling projects. With two weeks to go, I think I can get some work done.
What has been taking up my time? T^his week it has been retro gaming with Star Trek: Birth of the Federation. It is so easy to lose hours to that game since it is a classic 4X game and you just want to play one more turn ... every turn.
I did get the miniatures for my D&D party cleaned up and primed. I plan on painting tomorrow. I am pretty happy about the miniatures I found for the group. Now I just need to get them panted and on the table for my p,layers to enjoy. So help me if anyone complains about what I chose to represent them, I will be savagely annoyed since nobody really looked for their own miniature.
In between I will be basing all my marines, so they too can be primed and I can begin painting them. I did finish up some conversion work for my assault squad sergeant.
I am also working on magnetizing a commission piece, along with painting several other miniatures for Warmachine.
I am hoping that these projects do not lapse into June.
What has been taking up my time? T^his week it has been retro gaming with Star Trek: Birth of the Federation. It is so easy to lose hours to that game since it is a classic 4X game and you just want to play one more turn ... every turn.
I did get the miniatures for my D&D party cleaned up and primed. I plan on painting tomorrow. I am pretty happy about the miniatures I found for the group. Now I just need to get them panted and on the table for my p,layers to enjoy. So help me if anyone complains about what I chose to represent them, I will be savagely annoyed since nobody really looked for their own miniature.
In between I will be basing all my marines, so they too can be primed and I can begin painting them. I did finish up some conversion work for my assault squad sergeant.
I am also working on magnetizing a commission piece, along with painting several other miniatures for Warmachine.
I am hoping that these projects do not lapse into June.
Ack Price Increase Incoming
So this weekend is the Rapture as proclaimed by some religious old guy. If you are not familiar with the concept, go Wikipedia it. My plans this weekend are to game and possibly go looting!
The big announcement from Games Workshop this week is that they are going to resin instead of metal. This comes along with the annual price increase. I have mixed feelings about it. Nobody likes it when their hobby increases in cost, but in some ways I think resin will be easier to work with. For one resin holds more detail. I also think that resin is lighter in terms of weight.
On the other hand it can also be more fragile when it comes to weapons like swords, spears or bows. You also must be careful when sanding resin since the dust is toxic. I am not looking forward to wearing my workshop mask to do clean up work.
Interestingly enough there has been no mention of new Eldar Wraith Guard, or them becoming resin. God willing there will be a plastic box set coming soon for them.
Course, I do not think the price increase has anything to do with the new resin miniatures. After all, Games Workshop likes to increase their prices every year or so. I have already cut back on what new items I buy, mostly because my extra funds are limited at the moment. Though, that is fine as I have several thousand other miniatures to paint! Might want to get them done first before starting a new army.
I think that is really the lesson here. It is better to focus on one army, than dabble in a dozen. I wish more people would play smaller point games. That would allow others to dabble in different armies. When the local 40K club was going strong we used to play 1250 to 1500 point games. That was a lot of fun as it allowed some of us to get armies painted for the gaming. Others would show up with unfinished models, substitutions and paper bases. ::sigh::
Smaller games allowed me to effectively get back into the game without spending a lot of cash upfront. Though in the end I did end up dropping about 300 bucks to round out my Eldar army with tanks, more troops and walkers. Now I have a fair amount of choices of what I want to field. Eventually I will spend another $275 to finish rounding out my Eldar army even more and fully mechanizing it.
Though there is an extreme of focusing on just one army. You sometimes become that guy who has over 10,000 points of forces that you will probably never get to field at once. Kudos to you if you have it all painted, but in my experience I rarely see that. I mean are you really going to play Apocalypse that often to get that much use out of your collection? I don't see it.
Though, it is nice to have different options of what you want to field. I have toyed with the idea of adding 6 bike squads to my space marines so that I can field an entire bike army. That is in vogue now. However, I think I would rather spend the money on some awesome Grey Knights or Blood Angels.
The big announcement from Games Workshop this week is that they are going to resin instead of metal. This comes along with the annual price increase. I have mixed feelings about it. Nobody likes it when their hobby increases in cost, but in some ways I think resin will be easier to work with. For one resin holds more detail. I also think that resin is lighter in terms of weight.
On the other hand it can also be more fragile when it comes to weapons like swords, spears or bows. You also must be careful when sanding resin since the dust is toxic. I am not looking forward to wearing my workshop mask to do clean up work.
Interestingly enough there has been no mention of new Eldar Wraith Guard, or them becoming resin. God willing there will be a plastic box set coming soon for them.
Course, I do not think the price increase has anything to do with the new resin miniatures. After all, Games Workshop likes to increase their prices every year or so. I have already cut back on what new items I buy, mostly because my extra funds are limited at the moment. Though, that is fine as I have several thousand other miniatures to paint! Might want to get them done first before starting a new army.
I think that is really the lesson here. It is better to focus on one army, than dabble in a dozen. I wish more people would play smaller point games. That would allow others to dabble in different armies. When the local 40K club was going strong we used to play 1250 to 1500 point games. That was a lot of fun as it allowed some of us to get armies painted for the gaming. Others would show up with unfinished models, substitutions and paper bases. ::sigh::
Smaller games allowed me to effectively get back into the game without spending a lot of cash upfront. Though in the end I did end up dropping about 300 bucks to round out my Eldar army with tanks, more troops and walkers. Now I have a fair amount of choices of what I want to field. Eventually I will spend another $275 to finish rounding out my Eldar army even more and fully mechanizing it.
Though there is an extreme of focusing on just one army. You sometimes become that guy who has over 10,000 points of forces that you will probably never get to field at once. Kudos to you if you have it all painted, but in my experience I rarely see that. I mean are you really going to play Apocalypse that often to get that much use out of your collection? I don't see it.
Though, it is nice to have different options of what you want to field. I have toyed with the idea of adding 6 bike squads to my space marines so that I can field an entire bike army. That is in vogue now. However, I think I would rather spend the money on some awesome Grey Knights or Blood Angels.
Friday, May 13, 2011
40K - The God of War
was listening to this weeks 11th Company Podcast. During the list building segment. The gang was making a Space Marine list called the B-Team. The idea was to make a list that was composed of stuff that people do not generally take. Neal dubbed the list a collection of fail, which cracked me up until he suggested Marneus Calgar was added to it.
Really??? Was Neil suggesting the God of War is fail? Or was he mealy thinking of including him because so few people do? I will assume the later, since there are not many people who really play Ultra Marines. Which is ashame since they are an iconic chapter. In my Space Marine list I always take Calgar.
He is the rundown on selling points for Calgar:
• Calgar is an Eternal Warrior! What is even better is that he comes with four wounds, which means he won't be doubled out.
• He can re-roll wounds with his shooting which includes Orbital Bombardment! In theory this means every model under the template should be wounded. That could be utterly devastating if the blast marker lands correctly on top of a key unit. Best part is no cover save, unless they are in area terrain.
• His bolters are assault 2 with AP 2!
• On the charge, he can get 6 power fist attacks if you are willing to go at Infinitive 1. Put him in with an assaulty squad and let him finish them off. Six power fist attacks will ruin anyone's day.
The best part about Calgar is his "God of War" ability. This ability allows units with Combat Tactics to choose to pass, or fail, morale tests as long as Calgar is on the table. This is critical to my non-mechanized marine list. I generally take 80 marines in that list, and being able to combat squad them and then automatically pass morale tests means my boys in blue are going to weather a lot of shooting and tank shocking craziness.
The down side for some of the 40K community, is that Calgar has to be on the table for this ability to be utilized. That means he cannot cower off the board in reserve. It also means that he will be a high priority target of the enemy. You will need to protect him by putting him in a squad. It would be awesome if you could get a Command Squad for him, but you cannot without taking another HQ.
Marneus Calgar also has only one fault that I can see. His power armor is only 3+. He is the fraking Lord of the Ultramarines, the God of War and he doesn't even get artificer armor? I guess he is a true mud marine, not needing anything really shiny to do the job. I do not consider this one a huge problem since you can upgrade him to wearing terminator armor for 15 points.
He is rather pricey at 250 points. Truly, you need to play a specific army list to really get your points worth out of him. I am not sure he would be worth it in a fully mechanized space marine list. This is something I will experiment with soon.
Really??? Was Neil suggesting the God of War is fail? Or was he mealy thinking of including him because so few people do? I will assume the later, since there are not many people who really play Ultra Marines. Which is ashame since they are an iconic chapter. In my Space Marine list I always take Calgar.
He is the rundown on selling points for Calgar:• Calgar is an Eternal Warrior! What is even better is that he comes with four wounds, which means he won't be doubled out.
• He can re-roll wounds with his shooting which includes Orbital Bombardment! In theory this means every model under the template should be wounded. That could be utterly devastating if the blast marker lands correctly on top of a key unit. Best part is no cover save, unless they are in area terrain.
• His bolters are assault 2 with AP 2!
• On the charge, he can get 6 power fist attacks if you are willing to go at Infinitive 1. Put him in with an assaulty squad and let him finish them off. Six power fist attacks will ruin anyone's day.
The best part about Calgar is his "God of War" ability. This ability allows units with Combat Tactics to choose to pass, or fail, morale tests as long as Calgar is on the table. This is critical to my non-mechanized marine list. I generally take 80 marines in that list, and being able to combat squad them and then automatically pass morale tests means my boys in blue are going to weather a lot of shooting and tank shocking craziness.
The down side for some of the 40K community, is that Calgar has to be on the table for this ability to be utilized. That means he cannot cower off the board in reserve. It also means that he will be a high priority target of the enemy. You will need to protect him by putting him in a squad. It would be awesome if you could get a Command Squad for him, but you cannot without taking another HQ.
Marneus Calgar also has only one fault that I can see. His power armor is only 3+. He is the fraking Lord of the Ultramarines, the God of War and he doesn't even get artificer armor? I guess he is a true mud marine, not needing anything really shiny to do the job. I do not consider this one a huge problem since you can upgrade him to wearing terminator armor for 15 points.
He is rather pricey at 250 points. Truly, you need to play a specific army list to really get your points worth out of him. I am not sure he would be worth it in a fully mechanized space marine list. This is something I will experiment with soon.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
New Goodies
I was a little bummed that the Warstore did not have all the Reaper miniatures I wanted, so I was forced to buy them directly from the company. In the past 5 years this is something I have had to do from time to time and always found the experience to be irritating. For one, I hate paying full retail and shipping and the last time my miniatures took two weeks to get to me. With hesitation I ordered a batch of miniatures for my D&D game from reaper on Tuesday Morning.
What a difference! For one they now offer free shipping on orders over twenty five bucks! I was ecstatic since it is hard not to spend thirty of more dollars with any good selection of miniatures that I want. Second, the miniatures showed up today!!! I would not hesitate anymore when it comes to order from Reaper. In fact, this means if I need something for my Saturday game, I could get it in time to actually paint it on the week of the game.
This batch contained the character models for the remaining D&D cast, and a big bad that will soon be tormenting my party. The big bad will be a converted miniature. I happened to find a pose I liked and ordered some bits to customize it. I cannot wait to see my party's face when the enemy is revealed and I have a miniature for it! Better than Christmas!
What a difference! For one they now offer free shipping on orders over twenty five bucks! I was ecstatic since it is hard not to spend thirty of more dollars with any good selection of miniatures that I want. Second, the miniatures showed up today!!! I would not hesitate anymore when it comes to order from Reaper. In fact, this means if I need something for my Saturday game, I could get it in time to actually paint it on the week of the game.
This batch contained the character models for the remaining D&D cast, and a big bad that will soon be tormenting my party. The big bad will be a converted miniature. I happened to find a pose I liked and ordered some bits to customize it. I cannot wait to see my party's face when the enemy is revealed and I have a miniature for it! Better than Christmas!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
What's on my Television?
While I have been prepping marines for painting, I have also been watching some Netflix goodies. One of my personal passions is movies and television. If given the opportunity I would love to work in Hollywood despite all the craziness a simple production worker would put up with.
My passion for film making, may be one of the reasons I love to DM role-playing games all the time. Its movie making, without the movie, but still with visual props and the interesting story telling techniques I love. In the future I will blog more about my role-playing sessions and views.
Here are some of my thoughts on what I have been watching this week:
Remember Me (2010)
My mother recommended this movie to me, saying I have got to see it. I looked it up on IMDB and it had Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Emilie de Ravin and Robert Pattinson. The cast, with the exception of Robert Pattinson are some of my favorite people in Hollywood.
The movie itself is a coming of age drama that opens with 11-year-old girl named Alyssa "Ally" Craig (Emilie de Ravin) witnessing the murder of her mother on the subway. It then jumps forward a decade to show her as a college student living with her over protective father.
The audience then is introduced to Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson), a moody, direction less 21-year-old, who is auditing classes at NYU and working in a book mine. He has had a strained relationship with his businessman father, Charles (Pierce Brosnan) since his brother Michael's suicide.
Both of these characters are dealing with a tragedy and both of them find happiness in each other's company. What intrigues me about this film is how real the character's feel. Within the two hours you see them all grow as people, overcome some of their problems and generally learn to live again. That is really what this movie is about - learning to live in the moments we have since you never known with some terrible event that cannot control will befall you.
The ending is very bold. I never saw it coming, and when I did I stared open mouthed at the screen saying "No way". A few critics have blasted the movie for the ending, but honestly it was one of the most thought provoking pieces I have seen in a long time.
I warn you dear reader, do not look the movie up and ruin the ending - watch it unfold!
Saving Grace (2003-2007)
Saving Grace is a television show that aired on TNT about an Oklahoma Cop named Grace Hanadarko (Holly Hunter) who lives a reckless life of booze and promiscuity. She blames herself for her sisters death in the Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In the series opener, Grace meets up with her "last-chance" angel, when after a night of drinking she runs down and kills a pedestrian with her Porsche. In desperation she calls out for God's help, and a scruffy, tobacco-spitting man who calls himself Earl (Leon Rippy) appears.
The three seasons of the show follows Grace as she tries to deal with the unwanted attention of her last chance angel and figure out who or what he is really. Earl's only goal is to convince Grace to have faith in God.
What really intrigued me about the show was how it dealt with the topic of religion. The show does not promote any one religion but does use the story to discuss the topic of faith, and how difficult faith can be in such an imperfect world. In fact one of Earl's charges turns his faith to Islam! The show is never preachy and sort of makes you wonder if we each have guardians angels looking out for us or of people are just lucky.
The beat of the story was also unusual. Most episodes closed on a pseudo cliff hanger or thought provoking question. It made me want to see the next episode just to see how some part of the story played out. Also the character development is pretty rich and well done.
Another underlying theme is that you cannot blame yourself for the evil in the world. Many characters suffer from this flaw and carry guilt from the death of a loved one thinking they were somehow responsible. This theme struck home with me because for a while I was carrying guilt for grievous crimes that a friend of mine committed before he took his own life. As people we think we have more control over the actions of others than we do.
Evil and hatred become personified in the series when we are introduced to a mysterious character who turns out to be a agent of the devil. The actor played the part well, and you will find yourself completely hating what he does.
Finally the ending to the show is more abrupt than I wanted. However it was perfect ending for the character of Grace. I will not spoil the ending, because I did look it up before I saw it and it lessened the wow factor I think.
ThunderCats (2011)
I cannot wait for this show to start! I was reading up on the show's voice actors and discovered that Will Friedle has been cast as Lion-O. Some of you may remember him as the voice of "Terry McGuiness" in Batman Beyond. I cannot wait!
My passion for film making, may be one of the reasons I love to DM role-playing games all the time. Its movie making, without the movie, but still with visual props and the interesting story telling techniques I love. In the future I will blog more about my role-playing sessions and views.
Here are some of my thoughts on what I have been watching this week:
Remember Me (2010)
My mother recommended this movie to me, saying I have got to see it. I looked it up on IMDB and it had Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Emilie de Ravin and Robert Pattinson. The cast, with the exception of Robert Pattinson are some of my favorite people in Hollywood.
The movie itself is a coming of age drama that opens with 11-year-old girl named Alyssa "Ally" Craig (Emilie de Ravin) witnessing the murder of her mother on the subway. It then jumps forward a decade to show her as a college student living with her over protective father.
The audience then is introduced to Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson), a moody, direction less 21-year-old, who is auditing classes at NYU and working in a book mine. He has had a strained relationship with his businessman father, Charles (Pierce Brosnan) since his brother Michael's suicide.
Both of these characters are dealing with a tragedy and both of them find happiness in each other's company. What intrigues me about this film is how real the character's feel. Within the two hours you see them all grow as people, overcome some of their problems and generally learn to live again. That is really what this movie is about - learning to live in the moments we have since you never known with some terrible event that cannot control will befall you.
The ending is very bold. I never saw it coming, and when I did I stared open mouthed at the screen saying "No way". A few critics have blasted the movie for the ending, but honestly it was one of the most thought provoking pieces I have seen in a long time.
I warn you dear reader, do not look the movie up and ruin the ending - watch it unfold!
Saving Grace (2003-2007)
Saving Grace is a television show that aired on TNT about an Oklahoma Cop named Grace Hanadarko (Holly Hunter) who lives a reckless life of booze and promiscuity. She blames herself for her sisters death in the Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In the series opener, Grace meets up with her "last-chance" angel, when after a night of drinking she runs down and kills a pedestrian with her Porsche. In desperation she calls out for God's help, and a scruffy, tobacco-spitting man who calls himself Earl (Leon Rippy) appears.
The three seasons of the show follows Grace as she tries to deal with the unwanted attention of her last chance angel and figure out who or what he is really. Earl's only goal is to convince Grace to have faith in God.
What really intrigued me about the show was how it dealt with the topic of religion. The show does not promote any one religion but does use the story to discuss the topic of faith, and how difficult faith can be in such an imperfect world. In fact one of Earl's charges turns his faith to Islam! The show is never preachy and sort of makes you wonder if we each have guardians angels looking out for us or of people are just lucky.
The beat of the story was also unusual. Most episodes closed on a pseudo cliff hanger or thought provoking question. It made me want to see the next episode just to see how some part of the story played out. Also the character development is pretty rich and well done.
Another underlying theme is that you cannot blame yourself for the evil in the world. Many characters suffer from this flaw and carry guilt from the death of a loved one thinking they were somehow responsible. This theme struck home with me because for a while I was carrying guilt for grievous crimes that a friend of mine committed before he took his own life. As people we think we have more control over the actions of others than we do.
Evil and hatred become personified in the series when we are introduced to a mysterious character who turns out to be a agent of the devil. The actor played the part well, and you will find yourself completely hating what he does.
Finally the ending to the show is more abrupt than I wanted. However it was perfect ending for the character of Grace. I will not spoil the ending, because I did look it up before I saw it and it lessened the wow factor I think.
ThunderCats (2011)
I cannot wait for this show to start! I was reading up on the show's voice actors and discovered that Will Friedle has been cast as Lion-O. Some of you may remember him as the voice of "Terry McGuiness" in Batman Beyond. I cannot wait!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Cheesecake Burritos
Sunday I went out to the local Mexican place and discovered a new dessert - Cheesecake Burrito! The cheesecake burrito is simple divine! I can not say enough good things about the dessert. Martin will complain because they put whipped cream on it ... like they do to the flan. If you see the item on the dessert menu, give it a try. You will not regret it.
I realized that this past Sunday was the first of May, despite my thinking otherwise. Yeah, I live in my own time zone - deal with it. I did make some progress on the remaining scenery pieces from RoundCon. All they need now is a good flocking and they are ready for the table. In theory, I might be able to get that done before D&D tonight.
I have started the process on getting my Ultramarine army prepped to paint. I spent all the past weekend laying out my figures and deciding on how I wanted to field my marines. In the end out of seven squads, four of them are the classic Mark 6 "Corvus Armor" and three are Mark 7 type. It should be noted that one is an assault squad. I have enough classic marines to do another squad and a little bit, so I might replace one of the Mark 7 squads down the road. I did not want to initially since I have them already painted and that seems like a waste. Besides, I want to have some extras for the time being in case I need to change weapon load outs. The next step is basing all the marines and then spraying on the primer. That should be done hopefully by the weekend.
I have also started on building some War Machine models for a friend. I cannot wait to get the Retribution of Scyrah suits all assembled, magnetized and painted up. I am seriously thinking of getting into the game since I love aspects of the rule set and the miniatures look great. Plus I feel the urge to make some steam punk scenery!
In my spare time I have been watching "Saving Grace". The series seems to really draw one in and always seems to end of a pseudo cliff hanger. I really like the flow of the show and it is not too preachy. It keeps me company while I work on miniatures. This week I should finish up the series and then move on to something else.
I realized that this past Sunday was the first of May, despite my thinking otherwise. Yeah, I live in my own time zone - deal with it. I did make some progress on the remaining scenery pieces from RoundCon. All they need now is a good flocking and they are ready for the table. In theory, I might be able to get that done before D&D tonight.
I have started the process on getting my Ultramarine army prepped to paint. I spent all the past weekend laying out my figures and deciding on how I wanted to field my marines. In the end out of seven squads, four of them are the classic Mark 6 "Corvus Armor" and three are Mark 7 type. It should be noted that one is an assault squad. I have enough classic marines to do another squad and a little bit, so I might replace one of the Mark 7 squads down the road. I did not want to initially since I have them already painted and that seems like a waste. Besides, I want to have some extras for the time being in case I need to change weapon load outs. The next step is basing all the marines and then spraying on the primer. That should be done hopefully by the weekend.
I have also started on building some War Machine models for a friend. I cannot wait to get the Retribution of Scyrah suits all assembled, magnetized and painted up. I am seriously thinking of getting into the game since I love aspects of the rule set and the miniatures look great. Plus I feel the urge to make some steam punk scenery!
In my spare time I have been watching "Saving Grace". The series seems to really draw one in and always seems to end of a pseudo cliff hanger. I really like the flow of the show and it is not too preachy. It keeps me company while I work on miniatures. This week I should finish up the series and then move on to something else.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Lazy Saturday
It is a lazy Saturday, the first one where I am not running my D&D campaign. It feels odd to not have to be prepared to run a session of D&D. My group chose to change the day in which we role-play on to a week night since two of the player's schedules have shifted to not allow them to play on Saturdays.
I have been running role-playing sessions on Saturday's since 1991. In some ways it feels like this is the end of an golden era and the beginning of something else. Instead of role-playing those who do show up at my ranch will probably kick it old school with some RTS games or board games. Then in the evening there will be Starcraft 2!
Since tomorrow is the last day of April, my goal is to finish up the dozen pieces of scenery left over from RoundCon. I have 9 ruins, 4 craters and maybe 6 hills that need to have some paint and flocking put on them. It would be great to get them on the table in a finished state. Also I need to organize the scenery supply bins to allow better access to them the materials.
Then I can start on getting my Ultramarines painted!
I have been running role-playing sessions on Saturday's since 1991. In some ways it feels like this is the end of an golden era and the beginning of something else. Instead of role-playing those who do show up at my ranch will probably kick it old school with some RTS games or board games. Then in the evening there will be Starcraft 2!
Since tomorrow is the last day of April, my goal is to finish up the dozen pieces of scenery left over from RoundCon. I have 9 ruins, 4 craters and maybe 6 hills that need to have some paint and flocking put on them. It would be great to get them on the table in a finished state. Also I need to organize the scenery supply bins to allow better access to them the materials.
Then I can start on getting my Ultramarines painted!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
May Terrain Project - Imperial Construction Yard
I decided that each month I will not only tackle a painting/conversion project, but also a terrain project. I have decided to do monthly terrain projects for two reasons.
The first is that my family has compared my tenacities to storing raw terrain components to that of a hoarder. Yes thanks to that wonderful A&E show, I have been lumped in the same category as mentally disturbed people who just do not know how to throw stuff away or give animals away. Monthy terrain projects will show them that I am not insane and more importantly that I do something with the stuff I liberate from my neighborer's roadside cast offs.
The second reason is I like to make terrain and need to keep myself motivated in the hobby. Being able to play on quality scenery really makes a difference in the overall enjoyment of the game I think. This will also serve to round out my scenery collection that is composed of hills and ruins.
The rules for my monthly terrain projects are simple. Each project must have a central theme and each component must fit that theme. In addition, I must make a minimum of 6 pieces of terrain. Ideally I want to make enough to cover 33% of a gaming board. That would be enough scenery to give the board a certain feel and still allow me to use some generalized terrain in which to round out the experience.
For the month of May I decided on an Imperial construction yard theme. I suspect there will be a number of storage tanks, some buildings and some vehicles. In my head I am thinking it should have the feel of the colony from the Aliens movie. I have lots of bits that would be suited for such a project, but I found the best one last week while driving around.
Yep, that is a big honking fire truck that will be converted into some sort of imperial vehicle. I will take it apart to do some detailing on the interior control cab. This will most likely be the big center piece to the set. Though there might be another large center piece as well.
I had to resist the urge to make the truck an ork battle wagon.
The first is that my family has compared my tenacities to storing raw terrain components to that of a hoarder. Yes thanks to that wonderful A&E show, I have been lumped in the same category as mentally disturbed people who just do not know how to throw stuff away or give animals away. Monthy terrain projects will show them that I am not insane and more importantly that I do something with the stuff I liberate from my neighborer's roadside cast offs.
The second reason is I like to make terrain and need to keep myself motivated in the hobby. Being able to play on quality scenery really makes a difference in the overall enjoyment of the game I think. This will also serve to round out my scenery collection that is composed of hills and ruins.
The rules for my monthly terrain projects are simple. Each project must have a central theme and each component must fit that theme. In addition, I must make a minimum of 6 pieces of terrain. Ideally I want to make enough to cover 33% of a gaming board. That would be enough scenery to give the board a certain feel and still allow me to use some generalized terrain in which to round out the experience.
For the month of May I decided on an Imperial construction yard theme. I suspect there will be a number of storage tanks, some buildings and some vehicles. In my head I am thinking it should have the feel of the colony from the Aliens movie. I have lots of bits that would be suited for such a project, but I found the best one last week while driving around.
Yep, that is a big honking fire truck that will be converted into some sort of imperial vehicle. I will take it apart to do some detailing on the interior control cab. This will most likely be the big center piece to the set. Though there might be another large center piece as well.
I had to resist the urge to make the truck an ork battle wagon.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Project - Land Raider MKI Restoration
I have been cleaning out my store house of miniatures, at my spouse's instance because I do have a lot of them. More than I can ever paint or play with, unless I become independently wealthy and hire midgets to help me.
Why? Because everything is better with midgets!
In my search I happened upon a forgotten relic from when I first got into the game - a Land Raider MK 1! I had completely forgotten that I owned one. It is in pretty bad condition at the moment. I have decided that my major project for May will be to restore it to the glory it deserves!
Yes loyal reader, that means each month I will be tackling some sort of interesting painting project. Imagine the fun you have to look forward to.
My current plan is to strip the paint off, disassemble it and magnetize the weapons. I plan also on getting some additional parts to allow it to switch between any of the current Land Raider options. Oh, and I will be painting it up for my Space Marine forces - the noble Ultramarines!
Why? Because everything is better with midgets!
In my search I happened upon a forgotten relic from when I first got into the game - a Land Raider MK 1! I had completely forgotten that I owned one. It is in pretty bad condition at the moment. I have decided that my major project for May will be to restore it to the glory it deserves!
Yes loyal reader, that means each month I will be tackling some sort of interesting painting project. Imagine the fun you have to look forward to.
My current plan is to strip the paint off, disassemble it and magnetize the weapons. I plan also on getting some additional parts to allow it to switch between any of the current Land Raider options. Oh, and I will be painting it up for my Space Marine forces - the noble Ultramarines!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Welcome to My World
Welcome to my new blog, which is mostly about miniatures, gaming, and the crazy shit that I do. The current plan is to update it twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it is possible that the schedule will change to more frequently as I get used to posting again.
You may be asking yourself, "What did he mean by again?" This is not my first blog. My other blogs slowly died due to neglect. Such a terrible way for them to go, left out there alone in cyberspace to fend for themselves. Sadly it happens.
A little about me, I started playing Warhammer 40K in 1991. Prior to that the only miniatures game I really played was BattleTech and I barely count that as a miniatures game, much less a game anymore. I played off and on for many years and eventually got burned out by the time third edition came around. I came back two years ago after I had a falling out with my World of Warcraft Guild. I have been enjoying all the fun that the hobby has to offer since then.
I no longer play World of Warcraft ... I now play Starcraft II.
I started this blog on the day that I completely finished painting my Eldar Army. Pictures will be coming soon, I need to steal my kids camera. A lot of it is composed of the older models. I think it adds a lot of character to it. There are a few conversions that I did, like my Autarch. I also magnetized all the guns on my vehicles. I can easily see myself adding more units to the army to fill out the ranks more, but for now I am done painting it and will enjoy being able to play with a fully painted force. I
So what is next for me? The current plan is to finish up painting my Ultramarines! Most of them are the older "beakies" models.
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