The Last Post of 2014

 
As I see from many other blogs I follow, this tends to be the time of year when everyone sums up their gaming of the year & plans for the new.

Well I am not one to step on tradition, though my past years accomplishments can be seen throughout the posts of 2014 so there isn't much to dwell on.

So for the Year in Review. I think 2014 was when I got caught up in the Kickstart Funding models more than I should have, as I am now still awaiting 13 of the 20 projects I've backed to be delivered. I understand how timelines are changed by things out of our control, but when I think of how much longer that stuff will take to come, well...I am not getting younger or living in stasis.

Thus I think Kickstarter may be one of the things I shy away from until such time as the existing projects are completed. That's not to say those such as Zombicide which has successfully completed 2 previous rounds, will not continue to receive my pledges. They have certainly sorted out the pitfalls that others are still mired in. I even managed to NOT get into the RUM & BONES even though I am a big fan of Pirate themed miniatures. I may just wait out the retail launch & go from there.

Now that isn't to say I am against Kickstarter as I see the good it provides those wanted to develop an idea & not having the funds to start it. It allows the developers to gauge interest in the idea & in some cases allows them to edit the original plan via a re-boot if the original plan fails.

So of course that leads us to What does 2015 hold in store?

Well to start I went to pick up my copy of Eldritch Horror - Mountains of Madness Expansion when I saw these 2 core games sitting there...



As I went to pick up the first one, I was immediately taken by the sheer weight of the box. As I would hope they were stuffing them with sand, I quickly turned to the back to see what was inside. I hummed & hawwed for several minutes & was going to just buy the 1. But hell! I hate going into a game system half-cocked, so snagged the second as well. Now to hope that more hero types become available, or of course I could likely create some using the many western figures I have. I just hope that this is a game I can coax my wife into giving a try. Anything more than Monopoly tends to lose her interest.

So onto 2015. I received a kind invite from Tim to attend his February Weekend Gaming in Saskatoon, so first up is getting my faction for Song of Shadows & Dust painted up. We were given 300 points to build a gang, so here I have my initial band. 

I opted for the King of the Streets as my leader. At this point I should thank my friend Dave for assisting me with most of the miniatures that will be making up my band, as this isn't an era I tend to buy miniatures for.

I also opted to take a dog as a member, though it cannot gain experience, it will be a continual pain in the butt for someone & they mangy cur's are easily replaced.

The Master & his best friend together!

As I dug through my miniatures I found this little lad & figured he would make the perfect Urchin! He may not be strong, but his agility & speed will be useful for any snatch & grab scenarios. (if there even are such scenarios).

After much deliberation I opted to buy a second expensive starter....the Assassin. I figured if I am going to paint the guy, I am going to use him!

Which brings me to the 2 Henchmen I am starting with. Although armed with cudgels, they will not be starting as such & will hopefully be promoted to Cudgel Carrying Members.

So you will see more of the extra band members gracing the blog in the near future. As well I still have several Descent Consignment figures to complete by March. Work will also continue on the Zombicide miniatures as I have Lots....& I mean lots!

I also hope to get into my 28mm WW2 miniatures & vehicles for use in Chain of Command. My intent is to build up a platoon to start of early war British, German & French (though wish Scott currently blowing through his French) these will be last. I will also be looking at Polish & Soviet as well. My focus will be on Early War units.

Mayday will also be on my Radar! As Scott & I have agreed to run  a game of... 

 All's Quiet on the Martian Front!

Scott recieved his second shipment of Martian Kickstarter stuff a couple weeks before Christmas....alas I haven't even had a sniff of a shipping notice yet. So Scott will be working on the Landship & we will be banging our heads together for a scenario for 4 players.

Once Mayday is done, it will be time for Cangames in Ottawa. I would expect to start seeing the schedule starting to be posted by end of February. As always I will be looking forward to the insanity that is Rubberboots!

That leaves the summer free to paint & attend the regular club nights until the arrival of Fallcon in late September.

Of course should I ever win a lottery I would make a point of attending the other notable conventions, such as Historicon, Gencon & Origins as well, just got to be sure I keep buying my tickets!

So that ends my 2014 ruminations. Both my wife & I are down with illness at the moment so any sort of plans we had for New years are dashed.

"The Trenches are empty, the artillery dice still

the bloggers have joined with others for good-will

to close out the year with libations & beer

Share the comfort of chums & laughter with cheer

for come the morrow will be a new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Greetings!

 
 
As we prepare for another Christmas feast and we are presently between phone calls, I've managed to steal away for a few minutes to get this post together.

Christmas has been another good year for us. The weather is good, just a bit of snow on the ground, so those traveling should enjoy the roads. The temperature is falling to more seasonable levels, so it makes the indoor festivities that much more enjoyable.

I did manage to get the matte over spray on these Zombies this morning. These consist of a Walker, Fatty, and the first of my Berserk & Toxic Zombies. One thing to be sure, the players will need to look a little closer before rushing into zones as they will no longer be that bright green to make them stand out.

I've gone with a light brown to represent the plating on the Berserk Zombies.
 

I tried to put some number squiggles on his back, but an afterthought hit me, that I may try for next. I will try using some of the really small numbers from the info blurb found on decal sheets left over from my model kits.

For the toxic Zombies I am going with a dark purple boil, with a lavender hi-light

Of course the morning continued with the opening of gifts. This year could have been entitled Malifaux Christmas as you shall see.

First up, the Descent Trollfens Expansion.

Next the beautiful Desolation of Smaug Hard Cover Art Book. We will be hitting the bookstores this boxing day as I am sure there is a Battle of 5 Armies version available. This will be a source of inspiration for when I start working on my GW LOTRO miniatures.

Another item my wife picked up on last Christmas season was my hovering over this Doctor Who Magazine Special on the magazine rack. She must have snagged it when I moved on & stashed it away. To be fair we tend to do this a lot, picking up things this year during the boxing week sales & stashing it away until the next Christmas, which by then has likely been forgotten & becomes a wonderful surprise to see.

Next up are several boxes of Malifaux miniatures. As with most miniatures I buy, they tend to be for systems other than the one produced for. But I must say Malifaux does intrique me & fits well with the whole Pulp, Steampunk, Victoriana eras.

Last up, is an item I bought with my Birthday money, which made a timely arrival in the week before Christmas & thus deserves mentioning. The somewhat new Dystopian Legions 2 player starter set.

The beauty of this set, is it introduces 2 new factions to the Legion's lineup, namely the French & Antarctica. This also will provide 2 more forces for such games as G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T, IHMN & Pulp Alley.

So what's next? Well I am currently starting on my faction for Tim's Song of Shadows & Dust campaign weekend. Hope to have some of these done this weekend. Tomorrow being boxing day is a write-off as I have already been informed of our early departure time to hit the sales.

As I am now smelling the Turkey, it's time to be away. So here is wishing all of you who visit my blog a Very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Zombicide Doug

This past weekend I completed Doug & his Zombivore variant.

Doug is one of my favorite characters from the original set as his Matching Set ability is a shoe-in to received the Pistol from the starting equipment.

The second Zombivore variant is painted as part of the long term commission I've been slowly working through.

So happy when he does get to the stage of dual wielding Uzi's

As for the Zombivore's, I am leaning to stray from the official take of 5 wound walker style zombies & will instead be using them full throttle - Hey! If your going to get some Phat Lewt, your going to get bloody doing it!

I have the first batch of 5 zombies on the paint table. I've also started putting together my first mdf building which I purchased quite a few years ago from CNC Miniatures Workshop.

As well, with Scott working on his 28mm French, I've caught the bug to pull out my early war British to start working on them for Chain of Command.
 

Another pair of Descent Miniatures

I managed to complete 2 more of the Descent figures.

Here we have the Hero Raythen & the Villain Serena

Up next on the paint table is the Zombicide Brad with Zombivores. I am also starting to prep a band of figures for a Song of Shadows & Dust Campaign at Tim's.

More Descent Miniatures

I've finished off 3 of the 4 figures I've been working on  for Descent.

First up is Rylan Olliven. Not sure what class he represents, though the nobility or clergy comes to mind. 

Next is a wonderful figure of a liche type character

Lastly we have the villain version of Raythen. I have the Hero version well under way, but ran out of painting time on Sunday to get him completed.

The villain version has quite the dynamic pose. 

I have some more Descent figures to paint as part of the ongoing consignment. As well I am getting the next Zombicide character & zombivores ready to paint.

Chain of Command at EWG

Last night at the club, Dave hosted a game system I have been waiting to give a try for some time, Chain of Command.

The scenario pitted a platoon of US 29th Division troops trying to get inland. A troop of Shermans were in support. Our objective was to get at least 1 team off the far end of the board (which happens to be the end closest in this photo.

The US force was hindered by wide open fields & a great many German MG's. Below the Germans are deploying onto their jump off points.

Added into the mix for the Germans was a Pak AT gun, which destroyed 2 of my 3 Shermans before I could force the crew to abandon the gun.

The Shermans were forced to start coming in on the road, which created a bit of a bottleneck. The rifle squads didn't proceed past the stone wall nor the building in the centre. The German player Andy had hot dice & they were getting very good command rolls, which spelled a stalemate for the US troops.

Looking forward to giving this ruleset some more playtime. The command dice are a nice change from the usual card driven systems of the Lardies games.

Zombicide & Descent

Finally getting back into some painting & I've finished up a few more Zombies & another of the Descent commission figures.

First up, 4 more Walkers

The Descent Lieutenant is Gargan Mirklace whom I assume is some sort of demon.

Up next I have some more Descent on the painting table. Tomorrow night is Club night where I will finally get a chance to try Chain of Command!