Infinity Terrain

I have just started to build some dedicated terrain for Infinity. I think, in general Infinity might look better on a table that has not been previously destroyed by battle or covered in skulls. Infinity also needs a lot of terrain to block lines of sight and elevations to give advantageous positions.

My idea is to make some structures that would fit in with a mining outpost or something similar. So I have started by making some "prefab" looking buildings and then I will make a landing pad and maybe some piping and gantry walkways to give some height. I have also made some "rock" bridges out of high density foam.

On a slightly different front I am continuing to run the Pathfinder role playing game via the internet using the Roll20 web program. I am starting to get used to both the program interface as well as the Pathfinder system so I am hoping to recruit 1 or 2 more of my friends to play. I think 4 players would be the maximum I could run using the computer.

I am planning to have a gaming weekend in a few weeks with a number of friends over for a weekend of games, both miniature and board games, so that should be a lot of fun.

Foamcore board with the main structure marked out. The dotted lines are where I will cut a 45 degree cut part way through.

My plans, or what amounts to plans.

The foamcore cut out, 2 ends and the main structure.

The main structure held together with elastics.

Once again with the windows and door cut out, and the removable roof in place.

The structure with a figure beside it. Details are yet to be added.

My "rock" bridges.

Lots of Games

I played loads of game this time round between some at home and the demo games at Hal-con its been a pretty full period for games.

Tristan and I played another game of Battlelore in which I finally got a win. After finishing all the scenarios in the main rule book we have started the scenarios from the Dwarf expansion that Tristan has. We have been ticking off each scenario as we go so we know exactly how many we have played.

At Hal-con I ran a few demos. I was only there on Sunday and was running the demos by myself but I did manage to get some interest in the games I had brought, running a few demo games of Dust Warfare and Infinity and some detailed game turn explanations for Infinity and Malifaux for interested folks.

I also played a game of Zombicide by Cool Mini or Not. My friend Chet had brought the game down and we had 6 players while he ran the zombies until one of the players had to go and then he hopped into that players spot. It was a fun game and very tense action. We managed to get a win though 3 characters died, including mine.

Eric, another friend came over on a day off and we played a game of Force on Force by Ambush Alley Games . The first turn took quite some time because it had been awhile since we had played last and we were introducing vehicles. After the first turn the game came back to us and we played fairly quickly after that and I got a marginal victory. We had made our own scenario with 2 HUMVEE's of USMC troops coming onto the board accompanied by a truck with a unit of Iraqi army soldiers working with the Americans. The insurgents were in ambush already on the board. The insurgents waited for the Iraqi army unit to drive by and destroyed the following HUMVEE with a RPG hit causing 1 light wound. The second HUMVEE swung wide and took cover behind a building. From then on the American forces slowly caused casualties to the insurgents with the second team flanking around the enemy on foot. The Iraqi army unit was badly mauled in the action and the USMC took 1 KIA before chasing the insurgents off the board taking a few POW's in the process.  

We also managed to play a small game of Infinity which was very quick with me losing. We played at 100 pts with my PanO troops taking on Eric's  Araidna. This was still a learning game and I learned that when the other player has a lot more units on the board I have to be very careful with the few, if powerful, units I have. The game was very fun though and we will play this again soon.

Finally Tristan and I played a 800pt game of Flames of War pitting an American Infantry Co. against a German Armoured Panzergrenadier Co. I took pictures during the battle so take a look below to follow the battle. Tristan wants to give this another go soon as well. I found the 3rd edition to be clearly written, easy to look things up during the game and fast to play, so I give this edition a thumbs up.

Hal-con 2012

The games room, Sunday morning, just starting.

From the other corner.

My demo games setup, Malifaux and Infinity. Dust Warfare came out later.

The Empire was well represented.

Zombicide, my character(red)about to be pulled down by a dozen zombie's, no wait one of the other players throws in a molotov cocktail and kills them...and me.

The empty square where I was, many more zombies on the way. The player that killed me was killed very shortly!

Flames of War

Initial deployment. Germans at the top. Panzergrenadiers on both flanks with StuG's in the middle. American infantry spread out along their deployment zone at the bottom with Shermans on 1 flank and a mortar platoon and HMG platoon on the other. The 2 beige stands are the American objectives while the 2 turretless panthers are the German objectives. 

German turn 1. The StuG's have taken up position in the crops, 1 panzergrenadier platoon moved into the town while the other is flanking behind the hill to advance on the objective.

American turn 1. Mortars try to lay down fire(miss), infantry advances on the town while the Sherman's advance on their objective taking out a StuG on the way. HMG's take up position on the hill.

End of turn 2. StuG's and Sherman's trade ineffectual fire. German's consolidate in the town inflicting casualties on the exposed American infantry. Out of the picture, on the hill, the American HMG's are overrun by an assault.

A view as the Americans approach the town.

End game The Shermans are halted by StuG fire. The Germans hold the town as the 2nd panzergrenadier platoon completes it's sweep onto the objective.

Force on Force

The set up. The USMC supported by an Iraqi patrol prepared to enter the board. Insurgents hidden in the compound and 2 areas of bush, one near the road where the USMC/Iraqi will enter and the other group further down the road near the hill.

Looking up the road. Insurgents hidden on the left and directly ahead.

The Iraqi's are pinned down under fire, 1st HUMVEE taken out with crew dismounted. The 2nd HUMVEE is behind the building with it's crew occupying the building. The first group of insurgents by the road have been taken care of.

The 2nd group of insurgents(top right in the bush) suffer from USMC fire.

The USMC team in the building(far back) advanced along the hill and took the building while the other team moved to the white truck and pinned the insurgents to cover their advance. A sand storm had blown up to help cover the movement.

 Infinity

The board set up. PanO on the bottom, Ariadna on the top.

A street view from the Ariadna side. One of my fallen troops in the background.

That's all or now folks,

Hal-con 2012 Ready or Not

A quick post before Hal-con.

I am only going to be able to make it one day this year due to some personal business that came up so seeing as I have a limited time to do game demos I have thinned it down to Malifaux(of course), Infinity and Dust Warfare.

I am out of time but have things pretty much where I want them if not quite the grand vision I had 1 year ago just after Hal-con 2011.

After Hal-con it will be time to start prepping and playing all the games that I have been saying "after Hal-con" like running Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and some Flames of War.

Last week I also played a short session of Pathfinder over the web using Roll 20 web program. This was a first for me running Pathfinder as well as running a session online. As I said I ran the game while my son, Tristan joined in from his computer in another room and my friend Pat joined in from Ontario. There was a few glitches and I wasn't well prepared as this was somewhat of an impromptu session after a brief phone conversation with Pat but it worked better than I thought and was fairly easy to run. I had to get used to the audio lag which made conversation a little awkward but over all it went well and I anticipate that we will try it again pretty soon.

The Haqqislam force for the Infinity demo. They are not quite finished but close(enough).

The PanO demo team.

The Infinity table.

Most of the buildings are empty mushroom containers.

Getting down to street level.

The Dust Warfare table.

 
Maybe see some of you there.
Rob

The Madness Continues

Well surprisingly enough I have managed to keep some steam up painting my 15mm Napoleonics and WWII Americans.

I have painted enough British Napoleonics now to fight a reasonable sized battle using Lasalle. I can field enough to fight either a defensive or offensive battle with an extra attachment. With a little more painting this will be jumped up to 2 more attachments.

The way the army builder works for the game is that you get a number of units depending on the theatre/time period based on the type of command(Infantry, Guards etc,) and then the players decide how many extra attachments they will get, both sides receiving the same amount. The attacker also receives a slight boost in the number of base units. 

I have also continued painting up my Flames of War Americans. These are relatively easy to paint compared to the Naps. I have the 1st platoon and Company HQ painted and the 2nd platoon on the bench.

I am also painting up a few figures for Infinity, 6 figures to be exact.

The reason behind this is I want to get enough figures painted to field small forces in some demo games that Ed I will be running at a local convention, Hal-Con in Halifax. It is a Sci-fi/fantasy convention with a fairly large boardgame component. Last year Ian, from The Aethervox and I ran some well attended Malifaux demos and this year we are going to expand this to include other games. I will most likely be doing demos of Flames of War, Lord of the Rings by GW, Infinity, Dust Warfare as well as Malifaux. Because of the convention theme I will not be doing any historical games besides from FOW. I might bring in some pictures of other games in progress just to show people some of the other games out there.

Tristan and I also played a game of Battlelore which we haven't played in quite awhile and I forgot how easy it is to pick up and fun to play and if you are wondering Tristan won the game, 6VP for the win against my 4.

Anyways back to painting and skimming rules!  

My entire force so far. I have more yet to paint.

The infantry.

The cavalry attachment.

The artillery.

The force from the side.

The 1st American platoon and Company HQ. Bases will be done later.

Company HQ.

1st platoon.

Infinity demo force 1, PanOceana. Painting required.

Infinity demo force 2, Haqqislam. More painting required!

15mm Madness!

The cooler weather is starting to set in and that means gaming season, at least for me. the evenings start to get dark earlier, the air is cool and heading towards just plain cold in a month or so, so this is the time of year I like to start playing games again.

I plan on starting up a role playing campaign using Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3e continuing off with the adventure that was started some time ago over the annual Malifaux Weekend event, minus a couple of characters so it should be a more manageable group(at least by numbers!) of 4 players.

I also want to get in a number of miniature games probably starting with Force on Force with my friend Eric but I would also like to get in some games of Flames of War as I have yet to try out the 3rd edition rules, Dust Warfare, Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40k(I haven't played the newest edition here either), Infinity, Lasalle, Trafalgar, Bolt Action WWII and perhaps some others. Of course I realize I am not going to get all these in, after all there is only so much time to game and there is always other stuff to do.

I have also gotten back into some console gaming mostly F1 on the PS3 and Battlefield 3 on the 360.

I have played a few board and card games with the family. We went camping and we played a few rounds of Once Upon A Time, a card game by Atlas Games in which you try to empty your hand of cards by telling a story that uses the words written on the cards. The cards have names of places, people, items, events and aspects(words of description). The other players can interrupt your story by playing certain cards and take it over spinning their own tale and taking yours in a new direction. The rules are very basic and the game plays fast and is a lot of fun.

We also played Gloom, another card game by Atlas Games. This is another story telling game but has a little more structure. The idea is to make your family of misfits as unhappy as possible before they meet an untimely death. You do this by playing a number of events on your family members that will make them miserable while you can play happy events on other families. The game ends when one family is all dead and then everyone counts the "miserable" points on their dead characters(only dead characters). The most miserable family wins!

Tristan and I also played a game of Rune Wars by Fantasy Flight Games. I like this game a lot and have played it quite a bit. Tristan won, getting his 6th rune while I only had 4. I was in a position to get my other 2 runes within a couple of turns so it was a close game.

I have done a little painting as well. One of the things I like to do when I am not gaming is modelling. It is one of the reasons I like wargaming because when I can't get together to game I can always work on some other aspect of gaming like building and painting the models, making terrain, reading rules, researching a period, making army lists or any number of other activities.

Anyways I have been working on some 15mm soldiers, a little smaller scale than I usually paint and they require a slightly different method of painting. When painting 15mm figures I usually block in all the colours on the figures and then apply a wash coat, done. I painted up a couple of units of Napoleonic British. I used a white undercoat when painting these so the colours would be nice and bright before the wash was applied. I have also started painting up my Flames of War Americans. I used my traditional black undercoat for these as this gives a good base for the earthy colours of their uniforms. Both projects are coming along fine and I plan on painting up some cavalry next for my Napoleonic force. This will give me some options to field using the Lasalle rules.

I hope everyone is enjoying some games and if I get in the game of Force on Force soon I will take pictures and perhaps write up a battle report.

See you then.  

15mm Napoleonics by Battle Honours. Colours blocked in.

A closer look.

A unit of 4 bases with Army Painter Shades applied. Flags still to be attached.

The same unit.

Battlefront 15mm American infantry primed with the painting just starting.

The company CO underway.