Cottage Con 2014

So every year in the spring a friend of mine has a bunch of gamers over to his cottage for the weekend. We play boardgames, BBQ, and have a few beers for the weekend. We call it Cottage Con.

This weekend gone by was Cottage Con 2014. Most of us arrived at various times Friday evening with the last attendee arriving Saturday morning. This year we actually narrowed our choice of games down before we left to save some transport but we still had more than enough games for the weekend. 

My son and I arrived Friday after supper and after getting settled in we played Betrayal at House on the Hill and Legendary: The Deck Building Game.

Saturday continued with Kaosball Ball, Robinson Crusoe, Blockus 3D, Live Letter and Firefly the Boardgame.

Sunday was a game of Exodus: Proxima Centauri.

Some games played by other people included Bohnanza, Archipelago and Terra Mystica.

I did get some painting in on the first unit of Compagnie de la Marines for the French Indian wars and hopefully will have the French forces finished in another 3 weeks or so.

A game already underway upon on arrival, Robinson Crusoe by Z-Man Games.

My first game, Betrayal at House on the Hill.

Bahnanza by Brain Games.

My second game, Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game by Upper Deck Entertainment.

Alien Frontiers by Clever Mojo Games.

Kaosball Ball a recent Kickstarter by Cool Mini or Not.

More Kaos Ball. This was a fun game and I enjoyed it but it did take a little longer to play than I thought. This was a four player game, two might be a little shorter.

A game of Eldritch Horror by Fantasy Flight Games.

I played this game of Robinson Crusoe. Even though this is a cooperative game Shawn still seemed to be doing some diabolical planing.

The game of Firefly by Gale Force 9 underway.

Others playing  Archipelago by Asmodee Games.

And Exodus: Proxima Centauri by NSKN Games. Our table wasn't quite big enough!

Terra Mystica by Z-Man Games.

Nearing end game. I was blue and I didn't have much left. The game was fun but the movement phase was a scource of analysis paralysis!

All the attendees minus one, I accidentally(honestly Pierre!) cut Pierre put of the frame.

The French under way.

Main colours applied.

The British Are Coming

Thanks to a sick child I had some time to finish off my British Regular Infantry for the French Indian Wars while he was recuperating. With this unit finished that makes 200pts for the British. I have the next batch of figures primed which are the Compagnie Franches de la Marine as well as starting a small building kit. 

I also received word from Warlord Games saying that they are sending me the replacement part for the Churchill kit I have that was mispacked with two track sections for one side and none for the other. This was quite quick and if I receive the part in a reasonable time then I am very happy with their customer service.

Making the flag for the unit. A piece of wire for the flag pole. A thin piece of plastic card. I used the needle nose pliers to hold the card flat along the edge that will be attached to the pole while I used the heat gun to soften the plastic and form some waves.

I had already drawn the lines on the card so that I could paint the flag. 

I then attached the card to the pole with green stuff. I also used some liquid green stuff later to smooth out the joint.

The completed flag.

The troops.

The drummer.

The officer.

One of the soldiers marching.

And firing.

The flag bearer.

The flag bearer with the flag, I think I should weather the flag a little.

The French primed and ready for paint.

The building glued and primed.

French & Indian Wars

Painting the British Regulars is taking a little longer than expected between real life getting in the way and figuring out how to paint all the details on the models. I decided after painting the base coats from last post that the best way to proceed would be to paint one model up so that I can follow the paint scheme on the rest of the models. Of course the officer and drummer are painted a little different so those will be completed last. So I have one completed model and the others are following.

Other projects include a couple of buildings for Muskets & Tomahawks from Pegasus Hobbies and a Bolt Action Churchill MkVII. Unfortunately the Churchill has two track assemblies for one side and none for the other side. I have sent a request for a replacement part to Bolt Action so we will see what happens.

Hopefully I will have bases for the Conquest Miniatures soon and I will base the British force before moving onto the French force.

I also played a few turns of the Fortune and Glory boardgame I bought on Free Comic Book Day and it seems like a lot of fun so when I have a block of time I will lay a full game. I can't leave a game set up or the cats will loose pieces!

The Churchill kit with the two tracks for the same side.

The first completed British regular.

From the other side.

And the rest waiting for the finishing strokes.

Free Comic Book Day!

Last weekend was Free Comic Book Day and this has become an annual family event. For the 3rd year in a row the whole family headed into town to visit a few comic & game stores. As has become the tradition we picked up our friend Shawn on the way in and hit our first store, Monster Comics, which also has a store wide sale. My youngest picked up some free comics and some Mario figures while my oldest bought a boardgame, Gearworld the Borderlands by Fantasy Flight Games while I picked up a couple of rpg's,13th Age by Pelgrane Press and Fiasco by Bully Pulpit Games and a couple of boardgames, Fortune and Glory by Flying Frog Games and Love Letter by AEG. We have yet to play any of these but I am looking forward to giving them a try. From there we all went for lunch and then another comic store, Strange Adventures before dropping Shawn off at one more store on our way home. A good day!

Also over the weekend I played a game of D&D 3.5 continuing the Shattered City campaign run by Suzanne and I also ran a game of the Dragon Age rpg this being the 3rd session of that campaign with a total of 4 players now that my son has joined in.

By the end of the weekend I almost felt gamed out!

I have continued painting miniatures for Muskets & Tomahawks working on a unit of 10 British infantry and the British commander but did not get a chance to finish off the unit. Hopefully I will get the time this week and then I will start the French forces.

Also this month is our annual boardgame weekend, Cottage Con, held every year at my friend's cottage. This is always a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it. Next month we are trying a similar event we are calling Cottage Quest for a weekend of RPGs' . A bunch of us are all chipping in to rent a cottage and we are planning on running a bunch of different games with a few of us taking turns being the GM's. If this works out well it will become an annual event as well.

And now a few picks of my Brits.

My commander so far.

Marching.

Firing.

All the troops that are underway.