Blood Bowl: Troll

Well after a rather emotional weekend, and lack of motivation to finish my Troll (which really was finished a week ago, I just couldn't bring myself to finish the base, ugh!), I finally forced myself to sit down today and do my thing and take some pictures.

Without further ado some pics of the beast which was rather fun to paint.

Well that leaves four more Orcs and a goblin to paint and I am done baby! As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

I cried today...

Veterans Day. My Son's birthday. Two dates that shall be forever intertwined.

I cried today for the pain my boy suffered when deployed overseas for two tours. For his courage to persevere, with all the ups and downs along the way,  to slowly pick up the pieces and carry on with his life. For the joy that many parents didn't have, his return. For being able to celebrate his birthday with him.

For those of you who have served, for those that have had son's and daughter's serve, or maybe it was someone you knew, a cousin, uncle, or friend. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service, the families for their support, and for being there when that someone you knew needed you to be.

My thoughts and prayers with all of you
SSG Kevin Davidson Ret.

WIP: Blood Bowl Troll

Well even though I never got a chance this past weekend to play my first face to face, that has not stopped my enthusiasm to continue painting more players to have a more flexible Orc team. I started working on my Troll today and am pretty happy with how it's turned out so far.

A lot more work to do yet, but it's shaping up nicely.

Cheers

Kevin

Pro or Con Convention report October 27th 2018

Pro or Con is one of two small conventions (or club events if you will) that my local club puts on. They put on Battlefields in March, and Pro or Con in October. We will draw anywhere between 75 to 120 people to our event. It's a one day convention divided into a morning session, afternoon session, and an evening session (which only the club and hardcore gamer's stay for).

The venue provides food on site, and a bar that opens at 2PM (it's an Elks Lodge). It's a great location, but I might be a little biased as I live three blocks away. Life can't get better than that! Well at least hobby-wise;)

I apologize to those games I didn't get a chance to include here, as my mind tends to wander when I have all this glorious gaming going on around me. Hopefully I got the pictures and names of hosts who ran them correct.

First up my eye caught the famous Battle of Hastings. One look at a distance and it was instantly recognizable by fans of the period. Looked really cool. It was run by Rodney Cain, using Triumph! miniature rules.

[below starting positions]

[below later in the game the Normans advance]

What convention could go without a game from the future, X-Wing 2nd edition being setup by Chad Marlett.

[below the Force be with you]

Next up the game I played in and one of the reasons that kept me from going and taking more pictures because I was having a blast. "The Cruel War in the Spanish Netherlands", using Pikeman's Lament rules and put on by John Thull, were modified for a better convention experience. For instance a player may have four units, and the first failed command check would keep him from activating the rest of his command. Instead only that unit would fail, the rest of the units still eligible to try and activate. When a player comes to play, let'em play!

The forces of Louis XIV's France and the Dutch Republic square off in the countryside of the Spanish Netherlands (today's Belgium) in 1690. 

[below is my command two French aggressive gallopers, and two units of command shot]

[below Dutch rear guard]

[Below my forces pushing the rear guard hard]

[below on my left flank more French pressure the Dutch]

[The Dutch rear guard hung on just enough, as I push in for the final confrontation, to do a little bit better than they did historically, which was getting completely wiped out]

Up next was the "Battle of Vienna 1683", run by Michael Zajchowski. The Holy League Armies of Austria and Poland engage the Ottoman Turks during the Turkish Siege of Vienna, using Field of Glory Rules. He had a nice setup and it looked like the players were having a lot of fun.

[pan of the battlefield]

[Below a view of the Turks]

[view of the Holy forces and you can just see the famous Polish Winged Hussars on either side of the infantry.]

Now our club members will bring games to setup just in case we don't have enough games put out to cover our player attendance.  I wanted to give a special hats off to club member Mark Magdowski for carting his stuff out and setting up the game, but not being needed, he stepped back so other game masters would be able to have players for their games. Mark setup Stephenson's Depot which was at the end of The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in the lower Shenandoah Valley. 

Now the next game up was really pretty looking, and I only caught it when they were starting to pack up, but it still deserves some photo's. The game was called "Charlie Don't Surf: Mekong Delta 1967", run by Michael Harris and using what I believe were home grown rules? Not sure but here are a couple of photos.

Last but not least, I got a chance to play in a "Gangs of Rome" game. It was called, Just "Roman" the streets (cool title), and run by Mike Broyles. His description of the game went... "Come and enjoy a day in a Roman forum (not THE Forum), shop, chat and make 'arrangements' for later.  Just be sure to bring your best knife and 'trusty' friends."

Since the release of this game I've been wanting to check it out, and I am glad I did. It was a lot of fun, and Mike made it so. Playing a one off is cool, but I can see where playing a campaign adds a lot to the game. I really liked that each player had a different agenda, yet they were intertwined with other players agenda's. The big multi stands full of figures are mobs, and they are really cool. They can help you move, but they can also panic and stampede and hurt you pretty bad as well. Any ways here are a few pictures.

Well that's it for now. I was supposed to do a pick up game of Blood Bowl, but unfortunately my opponent became ill and went home earlier (have no fear he is doing better). So my first Blood Bowl game as well as report will have to wait for another day.

If you've read this far, it's because your a hardcore hobby enthusiast and I thank you for your time.

Cheers

Kevin

Blood Bowl: Orcs: The Gouged Eye

Well I did it. 24 days from the post that said I was going to do this. This Saturday is my clubs local convention and I set down a little bit of time each day since the beginning of October to get this team ready to play a friend who is bringing one of his teams so we can throw down. With a day to spare I can't be happier. Well I could win the match Saturday and that would be even better!

I've always done Orcs in some fashion or form, whether fantasy or 40K, so how could I not pick this glorious team of smash mouth bad dudes, The Gouged Eye. The only thing left to do is try and learn the rules to play properly come this Saturday.

The box set comes with 12 Orc players, two Throwers, two Blitzers, two Black Orcs, and six lineman of three poses. So I will post a front and back of pair poses, and then the final picture will be of the whole team together.

I hope you like them as much as I do.

1st Lineman pose

2nd Lineman pose

3rd Lineman pose

Throwers

Blitzers

Bad ass Black Orcs

...and finally the whole team together

The only thing I wish is that they had made the kits so you could make more poses. The snap together parts make it harder (not impossible) to kit-bash. 

I have to add a couple of more Black Orcs and Blitzers, and then there is the cool Troll, and some goblins for him to toss. You gotta love a game were you have a Troll that can toss goblins around. I do!

Cheers

Kevin

No you did not!!!

One of my local buddies has talked to me about Blood Bowl in the past and said how he heard it was fun and might want to try it out. Of course it never happened. 

But that all changed last Friday when I met up online with a gaming buddy in UK and he wanted to play the computer game of said game (Blood Bowl). He said he had played it in a local shop and fooled around with game before trying it out with me and said there was no difference between computer game and miniature game. Well after playing the game I was wowed. It's pretty darn good. Lot's of decision making, dice rolling, etc. I won't go into great detail. Suffice it to say that Games Workshop made a good decision to update the figures etc. and has been bringing out teams since it's re release. If you wanna know all about the history of it click on the link here for the wiki site Blood Bowl

Well I had such a good time with it after we finished gaming I turned to my Wife and asked her if she'd like for me to take her out to dinner. She tilted her head and gave me that look that only a wife can give and said, "what's the catch?" I was like come on honey no catch, I just have to stop at the local hobby shop on the way, which she then rolled her eyes and said okay.

I happily took my Wife out to eat and on the way picked up a box of the Gouged Eye Orcs team pack to start painting up. Oh and it was the best tasting beer and hamburger I've had in a long time (probably because I was feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve).

 [Above all the figures cut off their sprues]

 [Being OCD I cut off all the parts belonging to figures and place them in separate bins to build once I've got them cleaned up (mold lines etc). The figures are snap together, but there is no way in heck I'm spending a lot of time painting these and have them come apart so I glued them in place.]

 [Figures mounted on my paint sticks and primed]

[The first few coats}

I have a local convention coming up October 27th, a small local thing. But I have a pal who has agreed to bring up his figures to play so my intent is to finish this starter team before I go off to buy more figures to add to it. You only need 11 to play, but I need a couple of other figures (Black Orcs, and Blitzers) to make it a competitive team.

Cheers for now

Kevin

Multi report - ECW - Pikeman's Lament - Infinity

Welcome to my multi report blog post where you will need a multipass to read further!

Don't leave home without it!

So I have been busy of late and thought I'd catch up the ole blog and the happenings of said business.

First I did finish my final Cavalry unit for the small force I was doing of English Civil War in time for my friend's visit. This was a major undertaking. I don't like being under a time constraint (30 infantry and 12 Cavalry completed, pretty fast for me), but I must admit had I not been they would have never gotten done. Sadly the humidity here just won't quit and I haven't been able to put on a coat of dulcote to take the shine off the gloss I place on the figures first. But it's proof I wanted to show, so here are some pictures before I proceed on to next subject.

Definitely taking off the shine will help greatly in seeing the colors better.

Okay my friend Skip flew in to have a visit with me over this past weekend where we played lot's of miniatures games. It was almost like being at a gaming convention.

First on Friday we went over to our friends house to play Pikeman's lament and played two games with our freshly painted English Civil War armies against the dreadful Turks. For a report check out my friends blog  antonswargame for pictures and such. By the way his site is awesome to check out for all the crazy scratch building terrain projects he does. They will blow you away.

Saturday had me hosting a mini Saga tournament based off the Age of Crusade army book. We had three players who played Saga 1 before but no one had played Saga 2 yet (other than myself). There were two Crusade Armies, Eastern Princes, and a Spanish army. I set both boards up exactly the same way and let everyone play each opponent. In the end Anton came through and like a beast unleashed (his first time playing any Saga) he tore up the competition. My friend Skip came in second though, with my other friends bringing up the rear.

Sadly I was so busy being the gamemaster, making sure things ran smoothly, that I completely dropped the ball on taking any pictures. Everyone said they had a good time and left with smiles on their faces, so I felt that I had won too.

Sunday, Skip and my last day together was spent playing Pikeman's lament using Samurai figures and then a game of Saga.

In the Saga game I played Skip's Spanish, and he played the Mutatawwi'a. After watching Skip play with the Spanish the day before I had a good idea of how to make them take advantage of their battle board. Skip falling into the "I remember how the Mutatawwi'a worked in Saga 1", was surprised by how different they are in Saga 2. Needless to say he took a hammering. Which of course made me smile ear to ear, but then sometimes I wonder if he just doesn't let me win..... naaahhhhh.

Next the Pikeman's lament game was a blast. I'll just show our setup first below.

My troops are at the bottom of the picture with Skip's at the top. The three six man foot units you see in the upper left hand were Skip's Samurai and we counted this unit as Aggressive Forlorn Hope, the unit next to those are Ashigaru Pikemen (the long Yari's), and then echoloned to the rear are a group of ashigaru shot (bow armed).

My troops from left to right are Ashigaru Pikemen (the long Yari), Ashigaru shot (bow armed), then in the super cool movement stand Anton made are some Ashigaru Command shot (armed with Teppo). What you don't see are my two 6 man Samurai Cavalry that are off board. We treated these as Aggressive Elite Gallopers. Oh and the one man you see between my large units is a prisioner of the enemy that Skip is trying to rescue without loosing half his troops.

[Above another picture of start positions]

[above my two Cavalry units arriving off board]

I won't go through all the details, but let's just say the battle was brutal and we lost lot's of figures on each side with me squeaking out a victory by turn eight. In Pikeman's Lament you dice for each unit to be able to do something. If you fail then your turn ends immediately, regardless if no other troops have moved or not. We played exactly like this, but at conventions this would suck as people want to play, so we normally just say that unit can't do anything and they can keep trying with other units until they've all had a chance to do something. I mention this because around turn five both Skip and I pleebed our first rolls and did absolutely nothing for that turn. But it's still a fun game to play. Simple and easy to learn. 

Here is the last picture (below) of how the game ended. My last few cavalry smashing through his depleted ranks. Ahhh, it's good to be a Samurai Lord taking my opponents heads for trophies!!!

We've reached the last part of the article. I drove Skip to the Airport on Monday, both of us completely exhausted from gaming. But we had a grand time gaming and visiting. Georgia is a long way off, so getting together once in a while is a good thing. 

This week being pretty much burnt out from all the gaming and painting that I've done the last four weeks, I did do a little painting on some bases for Infinity that I plan on mounting my Yu Jing on. 

Otherwise it's been sitting on the couch and vegging, and I couldn't possibly tell you what I am watching on the TV because my eye lids get droopy and I fall asleep.

Cheers
Kevin

Pikemans Lament: The Kings Lifeguard of foot Muskets, some Royalist Cavalry and Command Shot

Well I have been busy and on schedule so far, but haven't been able to post photo's because the weather around my parts totally sucked. The humidity FINALLY went down enough today that I was able to finish my seal coat on the 18 infantry I did two weeks ago, and the 6 cavalry I did this past week. I have 6 to go this week before my buddy comes next week, and I'm hoping I'll make it. I am burned out of this and want to go back to painting Infinity figures, but my hardcore historical only miniature buddy is worth finishing these last six (but I will bitch every single moment Mr. Buddy!!!).

So I've made a combo post of all I have done to date. My purpose painting these was speed and I can do way better, but I am so slow, even cheating on these for the sake of speed, still took way too long for my impatient self.

First up I finished the King's Lifeguard Foot musketeers. I really need to paint another 12, but that will be off in the future somewhere. I probably should also paint an entirely different unit of a different coat color so I have some more variety AND more importantly for Pikeman's Lament anyways I'll have another force for my local friends to game with.

The next unit I just painted a random color, I am not sure I like it, but it is what it is. This six man unit could be used for a Command Shot unit or a Forlorn hope using Pikeman's Lament.

Last and not least, I had to experiment with mixing colors for the buff jackets, but after looking on some other blogs, it gave me some ideas and I ended up mixing Vallejo English Uniform and Yellow Ochre at 50/50 to give the base coat and then added a little Ivory for the little bit of highlighting I did. I could have taken this a few steps further but I still have another unit to do and I am just doing them to a gaming standard. So here is my first Royalist Cavalry unit. Only 6 man, but that's all you need for Pikeman't lament.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin