Monday, September 29, 2014

Valyndra from Descent

As I prepare to head off for Fallcon, I've managed to complete Valyndra  the Dragon, as I have a feeling its going to be in the game Sunday.


Another nice sculpt, however it was hard to get in to paint the back inside legs due to the pose. It would have been nice if it could have been glued to the base after the fact.


This will likely be my last post until I get back from Fallcon, though I may manage to get 1 more consignment figure finished to box up for the trip.

Monday, September 22, 2014

A Bit of Everything

It's been a busy time for my wife & I. This past weekend we attended the Annual Model Train Show in Sherwood Park. As well we are now looking forward to the Edmonton Comic Expo. The weekend after that I will be heading to Fallcon.

Between all these outings, I've been working on getting some more of the consignment of Descent Figures painted, as well as finally finishing my concrete barricades I picked up.

So without further ramblings, onto the photos.

First up, the Model Train Show.

It's impressive the amount of work that people have invested in the hobbies they enjoy.




Of course Tim Horton's is always a hit!


The number of features that are now lighted are impressive.


A lot of the layouts portray real world locations.



Again this year, as in 2012, I found Ray & his amazing scratch built depression era streetscape.


He has added more vehicles and people (which he sculpts himself)



As well he has built all the buildings from scratch & is now adding interior features to them.


 




Of note is that whereas the other layouts displayed are built by multiple people. Ray has done this himself which is a testament to a goal.

I also completed 3 more of the Descent figures. Below we have

Merick Farrow


Belthir



& Bol'Goreth



Something else I've been working on is some concrete barriers which I picked up from Tiny Worlds Wargaming. I got these after seeing some ruined walls over on 28mm Victorian Warfare's Blog

Not content just to paint the barriers I endeavored to seek out some Graffiti Decals. Where better than from Model Train Hobby shops. A google search soon found me a bunch of O Scale Graffiti.


I actually got quite a mix of these barriers, some complete, others battered & cracking or crumbling.


I intend to use them for Zombicide as well as ATZ games down the road. These will nicely complement the new Barricades which were in the 3rd Kickstarter.


My goal is to continue working on the Descent consignment & hopefully get a couple more figures ready before Fallcon. As well Zomtober is rapidly approaching & I intend to participate again this year. More details on Zomtober can be found here.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Descent Miniatures

As promised, here are the next 3 Descent Miniatures I've completed.

Up first are Alric Farrow & Eliza Farrow.



Next is one of the large figures I've gotten in the consignment. This is Queen Ariad.


This was a fun figure to paint, very dynamic & would make an excellent creature for numerous games.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Gibbons Town-wide Garage Sale 2014

Well yesterday saw what I consider the end of the Garage Sale season for me. As much as stopping when you see a sign could net you a good item or two, often it just delays getting what you were heading out in the first place to do done.

However since moving to Alberta I've discovered the wonders of Town Wide Garage Sales. These allow me to spend a day out with my wife while she haggles over crock pots & old antiques. They also give me a chance to snag some goodies for gaming.

Where I live there are 4 Town Wide Garage sales I attend (one of which is our own town's), Gibbons being the last of the year.

So here is what I managed to find while out yesterday...

First up were two more of the old McDonald's Flintstone houses. I use these for Barbarian/Goblin/Orc huts. At 50 cents each, I was content, as I've been searching for these for some time.


Below are another pair I got quite a few years ago & you can see how well they paint up.


Another item I've been keeping my eyes open for is 1:43 scale cars for my Zombicide type games. I managed to get 3 this year (none over a $1.00). There were many more but people were asking outrageous amounts for what I intended them for.
 

I often poke my head into the various toy boxes people tend to have. I found this cart, which the lady said I could have for free. Can't beat that price.


Another fellow had some gaming stuff (Star Wars Miniatures, & the Wizkids Hobbit clix figures). Prices of course were somewhat based on rarity...something I find lame when all I want them for is gaming, however he had a box with these 3 terrain making bags. $5 for the 3 items seen.


And now the find of the day. One fella had some Toy Soldier Magazines on his table. As I started looking through them, he said he had some other Miniature type stuff in his van.

So I bought the 2 boxes of these bulletins from The British Model Soldier Society. They are not fancy by any means, but I always like finding old things like this to read through.


I realized after the fact that I should have gotten the Toy Soldier magazines while I was at it, but it totally slipped my mind.

Other items such as Books, DVD's etc I also picked up. The last purchase of the day as we were heading home was a copy of Axis & Allies which the person claimed was complete, so I will need to confirm that.

Up next are 3 more Descent figures that I've just dipped today, so will likely have those to post tomorrow eve.

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Sword & Spear at EWG, as well as a couple more Descent figures

Tuesday night was spent playing a game of Sword & Spear at the club. It was hosted by Dave who wanted to give these rules a try.

We had a simple open field which pitted a Roman force played by Jonathan & Dennis against a mixed force of Goths, Dacian's & Sarmatian's.


The lines move towards one another. So as I have not read the rules, here is the general thoughts of mine.
 
Each unit has a die placed in a bag. Seven dice were drawn & these are then used by each side to roll for orders. The odd dice will give one side a higher number which also determines general order of actions. Each unit type has a discipline value which ranged from 3 to 4. This meant that only dice equal to or higher when rolled for orders would actually be useful. The lower dice were discarded, which also meant units  would get no action this turn. The player did however get to decide which units would be able to activate.


As expected, the crunch came in the centre. I rolled abysmally on my first roll & lost a Dacian unit.

Units which received a 6 were given extra options & thus were highly sought. Now of course comes the interesting mechanic. The lowest order dice perform first, the player who had more order dice going first on ties. Thus a player could potentially null out an opponent sitting on a 6, though that unit would still benefit. After performing the order, the die is turned to show a 1. If a unit is engaged who did not receive a die, one is withdrawn from the bag & placed behind it after combat.

Thus this is another strategy to try to lock down units of the enemy you don't want to have receive actions.


On the far left flank I had 2 Cavalry units engage the Roman Cav & an Archer unit.

Part of the strategy is to gain overlaps to get extra dice in combat. As well charging with a 6 die order ramps up your combat dice even further. When the dice are rolled, the defender rolls as well & the rolls are compared. Equal values cancel one another out. A lower value will require a discipline test (failure causes a hit), a roll that is doubled causes an immediate hit. Units could generally take 3 hits before removal.


The grind in the centre continued with both sides losing units.

Certain unit types gain certain abilities which allow dice mods. For example armoured units can modify one die by 1. Dacian Falc's nullify the armoured effect.


Below is the shot of where the game ended. Both sides were bloodied, however the Roman flanks were now about to feel the weight of the Barbarian Cavalry. I believe however that when tallied it would show both sides as having reached their break points, thus it could likely be considered a draw or minor Barbarian win.
 

It was an fun first try with the rules, the dice mechanics made for interesting options & this aspect will require more study. Thus I think we shall be seeing more of this rule set. We discovered of course a couple errors with regards to overlapping units, but as both were handled the same it wasn't a bonus to just one side. Thanks Dave for hosting this.

As well I finished a couple more of the Descent commission. Below we have Trenloe the Strong & Laurel of Bloodwood.



Again both are excellent sculpts, true there are some flash seams, but that is a curse of all the soft plastic figures these days. I would have liked to see Laurel on a bit larger base as she easily topples.



Up next are more Descent figures. As well I've received a few parcels in the mail - the second batch of Deadzone figures from the Kickstarter, some resin concrete barricades (which I am now getting some graffiti decals for), & a 6 point Jomsviking Saga force.

Until next time.