Starting a New Year of Gaming

It's been quite awhile since my last post. 

I managed to get a fair chunk of the house renovations done which cut into some of the free time. Now I did squeeze in a nice amount of games though not much modelling and not much time to blog so to catch up I am just going to post some pictures that I remembered to take of some of the games.

Malifaux versus my son.

Game 2

Vikings finished, need basing still.

My birthday present!

Robotech Kickstarter finally arrived!

My birthday gathering.

Temple run with Pierre and my youngest.

Sentinel Tactics, friends and food! (Rob T and Pierre in the frame)

Eric, Julian and Ian play Incursion.

X-Wing, team Pierre and me as the Empire came out on top versus Tristan, Chet and Shawn. Julian observes.

Fortune and Glory till the wee hours.

Julian, Chet, Ian and Tristan nearing the end. Eric has bowed out by now.

Next day, more Sentinel Tactics. Chet and Tristan as the evil overlord.

Malifaux versus Shawn.

A Game of 40k. My Orks.

Hal Con 2014 demos.

X-Wing.

Malifaux 

More X-Wing.

Just a regular game of Formula D.

Zombiecide.

Progress

I wasn't getting much hobby or gaming stuff done between work and the ongoing kitchen renovation with a washing machine break down thrown in there for good measures.

But in the last week I did get in some catch up gaming and painting in. Tristan and I played a game of Dust Tactics. This is the first game I have played in awhile and the first with the new rules. The game plays almost as quick as the previous edition. You do have to throw a lot more dice for combat resolution and there seems to be more incentive to use reactive fire.

I also started running a new Star Wars Edge of the Empire game. The first session was played using the Beyond the Rim adventure with new players and new characters. I think they had fun and quickly moved through the first few encounters. The next session is planned in a few weeks.

I also painted some miniatures finishing off the Woodland Indians for the French. My friend Eric picked up some regular French soldiers and is going to paint up a unit allowing us to get in a 200pt battle soon. The fact that Eric is painting up the last unit required gave me the incentive to finish them off. I will work on my other figures for Muskets and Tomahawks after we have had a few games.

I also received a replacement track section from Warlord Games for my Churchill tank that I had purchased awhile ago but came with two right track sections and no left side. I put the kit together and I am glad they sent both sides as the new ones where slightly smaller than the original. I assume the new sides must have been made from a resin that shrank more. I had to modify the pegs as well to get the sides to attach properly and in the right location. All assembled and primed it looks fine.

And finally I painted up a unit of Viking warriors for Saga. I will paint up a few more figures before having a basing session for Saga and Muskets and Tomahawks.

Dust Tactics underway. Our first time with version 2 and with a "big toy" on the table.

The Allies getting the advantage. We called it shortly after this.

I was rolling well, the Allied star is what I was looking for.

A Woodland Indian warband allied with the French.

My first Viking warriors ready to join my painted Berserkers.

The Bolt Action Churchill Mk VII together, primed and ready for paint.

Getting Back to Some Painting Projects

The family went on a camping trip to Cape Breton and we visited Fortress Louisburg like we usually do when we are in the area. Though it has been a few years since our last visit. The weather was cloudy with a few showers but overall it was a pleasant visit. The point of this is that when I got home, newly inspired by the visit, I started back into painting my French & Indian War figures from Conquest Miniatures. I finished off the first French unit, a unit of Compagnie de la Marines and started a unit of Woodland Indians which should be finished this week. That leaves one more unit to paint, do the bases and then ready for a fight using Muskets & Tomahawks.

Tristan and I also finished putting together our Saga forces after which we played a 4pt (the size of our forces at present) battle. We played the first scenario which has the players trying to kill each other's warlord. The game was quick and was deadly and was a lot of fun to play. Tristan won on points as our warlords killed each other in the same combat. We did do a couple of things wrong dealing with the special rules for the warlords which we now know and it was an easy game to pick up and play.

Tristan and I also put together a small Planetary Empires map for 40k and are starting a small Imperial vs. Orks campaign. We our using our own campaign rules but keeping it very simple. We are ready to fight our first battle after maneuvering our forces on the map.

I almost forgot that Ian had dropped in on his way to the airport and we played a game of Vikings by Z-Man Games. A fun game that we picked up pretty quick and though Ian won it was a pretty close game.

The role playing games have been on a short hiatus but will be starting up soon. I have to make up a new character for Call of Cthulhu and will be starting up a new Star Wars game with the group I play D&D 3.5 with as well as restarting Dragon Age.

I picked up the new D&D players book and after a quick read I think I will like it much more than the previous edition. I also finally got the new Dust Tactics rules and unit cards which the retailer was having a problem getting in.

Fortress Louisburg.

The main gate.

The boys on a cannon.

I thought this would make a great wargames room!

Playing Vikings with Ian and Michelle, Ian looks impressed with Michelle's next move!

The setup for Saga, one primed hoard vs. another!

The first completed French unit.

The French Officer.

The Woodland Indians in progress.

Another 3 underway.

Getting some paint on my Saga Viking Berserkers. I think these minis will paint up pretty fast.

The new D&D and Dust Tactics books.

Hey, Some Summer Gaming After All

Well I guess I lied after my last post because I have managed to get in a number of miniature games.

First up was a couple of 40k games on with my son. Breaking out my 40k Orks after I had packed all my GW stuff away in the basement thinking I would not be playing them for awhile if at all. Our first game was 500pts Astra Militarium vs. Orks and then a 750pt battle adding in some extra units. The first battle was a loss for my Orks in a Crusade scenario using Hammer and Anvil deployment. I just couldn't get close enough to start doing any amount of damage to use units. 

The second was a Maelstrom of War scenario, Tactical Escalation. In this scenario I was able to come to grips with his main army and was able to wipe out most of his force till he conceded on the last turn. 

I really like the new edition of 40k and I find it plays a lot smoother than some of the previous editions and not having the mighty rule tome on the table is a bonus also! I don't play competively so I am not sure how it holds up in that environment.

The next game I played was Malifaux 2nd edition, I think this is only the second game of this edition I have played. I played against Shawn, my old nemisis. I decided to go back to basics with Perdita and Shawn fielded Ramos. Shawn beat me handily as I could not go after my objectives well with Ramos on the table. We did do a few things wrong but it was a good game to get reacquainted with the crews. The game mechanics haven't changed much other than tidying up some of the rules but the individual miniature abilities have changed a fair bit so it's a bit like learning the crews over again. We will probably try to get a few more games in and I will try to host my annual Malifaux weekend tourney again in the late fall providing I finally finish my kitchen renos, which are starting to take shape by the way. I can't seem to find the pictures I took of this game so next time I'll make sure I get some.

The last game was a 1850pt 40k battle against my friend Chet. He also fields Astra Militarium. We tried a new deployment method he borrowed from another mini game which had us taking turns placing markers on the board. Once the markers were within a certain distance of an opposing marker they were locked in place and their placement determined the deployment zones. This was a good game with lots of Orky mayhem going on. And though the final score was quite lopsided for Chet the game was actually fairly tight till the end.

Since the last blog we also got in another game of Call of Cthulhu rpg inwhich my PC died, well he was pretty much insane anyways and the rest of the party ran away. They did come back in daylight and did some damage control so a partial success I guess.

I also ran the last installement of Dragon Age RPG for the summer and have formed the greater plot in my head for when we continue this fall. The PC's were successful in the intro scenario but had to leave the area before the good will of the town enivitably turned against them.

And with all this 40k stuff going on I starting building and painting some Orks again, sucked back in again!

This was our setup for the 500pt battle. We set up the terrain thinking to deploy at the top and bottom edges of the picture but the deployment we rolled had us setting up in this direction giving the Astra Militarium the advantage of the built up terrain which Tristan wisely defended and I just couldn't 

get to grips with him.

This is the setup for the 750pt battle with the terrain a little more even. We had a diagonal setup.

The Orks closing in. Tristan's artillery officer called in fire on his own tank allowing me to finish him off!

The tank is gone with the explosion taking out some Guard leaving the remaining Orks to close in on the last of the Guard.

The table for the 1850pt battle.

The final deployment after using Chet's borrowed deployment method.

1850pts of Orks.

Deployment at the other end of the table.

My Blitza Bomba enters the board...and rolls double 1's crashing nowhere and forgetting to release it's bombs. Not the best debut but I'll remember it anyways!

Things have not gone well, my Shock Attack gun, after doing little damage to the enemy decided to fire on it's own units finally doing damage...to my Nobs. Chet's Vendetta gunship finished them off. Every Nob jumped infront of the bullets to save the Warlord and then failed all their armour saves destroying the whole unit.

So knowing painted units fight better I started getting some quick paint jobs in!