LCG's and Modelling

So not really so much board games as card games, LCG's, that's living card games as opposed to CCG's, collectable card games, like Magic the Gathering. LCG's are marketed by selling a starter set that has fixed cards and then extra fixed content supplemental packs are sold on a regular schedule. In this manner the purchaser knows exactly what they are buying and can make decks as they want while a CCG's marketing model is to sell random packs so you cannot be sure what you are buying. Every pack is a surprise. I prefer the LCG model but everyone likes something different.

It seems like I have played quite a few LCG's since the last post. All the games are from Fantasy Flight Games. Netrunner, Warhammer Invasion, Star Wars, Call of Cthulhu and Lord of the Rings. The games of Star Wars, Netrunner and CoC were all learning games and I enjoyed them though I lost all. With one game of each played I would rank them in order of Netrunner, Star Wars and CoC. Netrunner has a good depth of play and a well executed theme, while Star Wars seemed to be missing something though I would like to give it another play before I make a final call, it's Star Wars after all, and while I liked CoC something about having mytho creatures seemingly fighting alongside human factions just seemed wrong.
 
I played a game of Warhammer Invasion LCG as well. It has been quite some time since I played it so it was almost like learning again but I do enjoy the game and will have to get it out more often. Again another loss if I remember right.

I also have played The Lord of the Rings LCG 3 or 4 times solitaire trying to beat the second scenario to no avail. I will continue on the quest though and after reading on the forums I have switched to playing 2 decks even for a solo game, basically playing a 2 player game but controlling both hands of cards. I did this the last game I played and came closest to winning until a bad run of threat cards overwhelmed me.

I also ran another game of pathfinder using the Roll20 program. This time I had 4 players and the system seemed to work fine. There were a few glitches getting the 2 new players in but for the most part it worked quite well and I think everyone had a good time. One of the players is chronicling the adventure on another blog for those interested though it may be a week or so before he updates after the current game session. You can find the blog here.

I have also finished off my 15mm USMC forces by Elhiem Figures, after realizing I had unpainted figures I needed for the next scenario. I still have to finish off the last AAV-7 but I need to get some black paint to spray the camouflage pattern.

The complete USMC. Elhiem figures. Dragon vehicles. The AAV-7 on the right needs to be finished.

Command team.

One of the 2 squads.

Javelin team and SMAW

Sniper team.

Insurgents by Caesar. Techicals by S&S miniatures

US Army. Caesar figures. Dragon Bradley IFV.

Insurgents again.

 

Games, Post Holiday

I did a little gaming over the holidays but generally just relaxed enjoying a variety of European beers I had received, the hops part of my blog title!

Tristan and I usually throw down a fairly large miniature game over the holidays but this year the interest just wasn't there so we gave it a pass, maybe next year.

We did play a couple of games of Conquest of Nerath, a fantasy themed board game of world conquest, which he had received for Christmas. One game between just him and I which we played using 1/2 the board and then a 4 player game with a couple of his friends. Both games were fun with Tristan winning both. We also played a game of Ascension, a deck building game,which I won by 1 point, a surprise to us both because it really looked like Tristan had it in the bag.

I did play a fair bit of Pathfinder, acting as the DM and 2 more players will be joining next session which will make a 4 player adventuring party. It has been awhile since I DM'd for a full group of PC's so there will be some relearning but it should be fun. I am running this game over the internet using the Roll20 web based program which seems to be working out pretty good. I have started a blog about the campaign, mostly for the players but anyone can check it out here.

One of the next miniature games I am planning on playing is another Force on Force game set in Iraq from the Road to Baghdad book. Unfortunately I thought all I needed was to build and paint the USMC transport, an AAV-7, but when I looked at my forces needed for the scenario I realized I had not painted up the second squad of 13 men. So the last few days I have been prepping and painting up the second squad and should have it done fairly soon. While I am at it I am taking the opportunity to paint up the rest of the troops I have which isn't that much extra but does include a sniper team and a few special teams. Once they are completed I will post a picture of the complete force. Down the road I think I might want to get a few more HMMWV's, maybe a LAV or 2 as well as a MRAP(Mine Resistant Ambush Protected).

I hope everyone had a good holiday and got some gaming goodness in.

More Infinity Terrain in Progress

Still doing some work on my Infinity terrain.

I built another building block and a balcony to allow me to stack them or use them individually. Details are still required.

I am also working on some industrial piping with a walkway on top and then I will build a landing pad.

The idea is to have a table depicting a  frontier mining outpost of some sort with the building complex on one side and the rocky area I had built previously and shown a couple of posts ago on the other side.

Tristan and I played a game of Castle Ravenloft, a D&D board game by Wizards of the Coast which was fun but once again ended in failure by the heroes!

At this point I am not sure if Tristan and I will be doing our annual Christmas miniature game. In the past we try to play a larger miniature game over the holidays, usually a GW game but perhaps not this year though I am hoping to get in another Pathfinder session over the computer with Tristan and my friend Pat in Ontario.

See you after the holidays and I hope everyone has a good gaming break.

The 2 buildings stacked.

The 2 buildings on the ground with the balcony removed.

A better view of the stairs. The slots are the height of the bases so the figures are held in.

With the roofs removed. Now to clean them up and add details.

The storage tank with a pipeline leading to an underground source.

I will be adding a walkway on the top of the pipes.

Just another view.

Force on Force Battle Report

The Crown Jewel; Az Zubayr pumping station March 21,2003

This scenario was taken from the Road to Baghdad scenario book from Ambush Alley Games. We played the first scenario called The Crown Jewel and depicts a small group of US Marines  trying to capture an oil pumping station before the Iraqi forces can destroy it.

The Forces:

USMC: 1 squad(12men) and a squad leader with an AAVTP-7(amtrack)
             A Cobra Helicopter is available on turn 3+

Iraqi:     Fedayeen death squad(6 men) and a Ba'ath Party Official with a SUV
            Iraqi Army Section(9 men) and a leader

The miniatures are mostly by Elhiem Figures with the AAVTP-7 by Dragon Models.

Before we started we clarified a few things like when the helicopter would be available and how to breach the fencing around the perimeter. 

This was the setup. Here the Iraqi defenders are being placed. The large building is the administration building while the 2 smaller ones are the pump houses.

We usually play on a slightly bigger board than the book suggest. This is a 3' by 3' as opposed to the 2' by 2' suggested in the book. We do this strictly for the looks as sometimes the 20mm figures and vehicles can get a little cramped on the smaller area. To compensate for this I increased the turns available to complete the mission from 6 to 9. This was suggested to me on the Ambush Alley Game forums by one of the game designers when increasing the table size.

The Iraqi forces in waiting. The ones in the Admin building are hidden and hard to spot until they take some action.

Turn 1. The USMC comes on inside the amtrack avoiding the main road and crushing the fence while the Iraqi troops in the admin building adjust their positions to cover the rear.

And then a sand storm blew in reducing visibility though this did not have a big effect on the game

The amtrack continues to the corner of the building.

And the first team debusses.

USMC fire causes 1 casualty in the pump house.

The Iraqi view.

The other 2 teams head into the admin building.

Taking up positions to fire unto the pump house. The other team is going to head up stairs to the roof.

The team by the amtrack takes 2 serious and 1 light wound and the friction of war starts to build up against the USMC.

The state of things, the Iraqi forces have only taken 1 light wound so far.

The Iraqis get some help.

And they quickly take up positions overlooking one of the USMC teams firing on them, 2 down.

The situation so far. Both USMC and Iraqis occupy the admin buildings while surprisingly accurate Iraqi fire has halted the USMC advance.

Finally the Cobra comes on. It wasn't called in earlier because it was not allowed engage targets in the pump houses and until the Iraqi SF team opened fire the units in the admin building were still hidden.

The Cobra opens fire on the admin building causing little damage and then getting called away next turn.

The USMC clears out the first pump house with the help of a sniper team that lended a hand. But the team on the roof is taken out by the Iraqi SF team. One of the guns jams up on the amtrack!

The admin building completely held by the Iraqis and the USMC do not have enough of a force to continue the engagement.

 We called it at this point two turns early. The Iraqi side had caused too many USMC serious wounds for them to recover enough VP's to win. The game was fast and furious though and lots of fun to play. We had 4 Fog of War cards that came up that really added some twists to the game making things, for the most part, more difficult for the USMC.

We are planning on playing the next scenario, Umm Qasr, so I have started to assemble a DragonModel AVVTP-7 to have two.

A Christmas Game Weekend, HOHOHO

Hi, a few weekends ago I invited some friends over for a weekend of games. This seems to becoming another annual event alongside the Malifaux weekend I hold in the spring and consists of mostly the same group of people.

So, for this weekend I had in attendance, Pierre, Eric, Julian, Ian, Shawn and Chet as well as my oldest son, Tristan. This weekend had no particular game theme so people brought over board games and a few miniature games.

We kicked off the games  with a 3 player game of Force on Force playing the 1st scenario out of the Road to Baghdad scenario book. I, as the USMC was pitted against Eric and Pierre during the Iraq war in 2003. This was, I think, the most enjoyable game I have played of Force on Force yet and I will post a full battle report later this week.

While that was going on Shawn pulled out his game of Dungeon Command and battled it out with Tristan.

Soon Chet arrived and we had a 4 player game of X-Wing which was a lot of fun and was similar to Wings of Glory which I have played a fair bit.

Then Ian and Julian arrived and yet more games of Dungeon Command were played with the day ending(or the next day beginning!) in a titanic 6 player game of X-Wing with(if I remember correctly) 48 ships on the table. A glorious day for the Empire!

The next day people had to head home but we played some more Dungeon Command and a game of Zombicide with the players that were available.

Of course throughout the weekend there was time filled in with some good conversations, food and a few drinks.

It was great seeing everyone, some I see only a few times a year, some more frequently but I think everyone had a good time with lots of games played and a few rematches demanded. And Chet, the rebel scum will never defeat the might of the Empire.

Force on Force turn 1. The Marines have driven through the fence.

Near the end, things went bad for the USMC, "the friction of war"

My first X-Wing game. Chet and Eric trying to take down the Empire...not today!

A close up. The game is fun and fast and because it is Fantasy Flight Games it has lots of counters.

Shawn and Tristan with Dungeon Command, Tristan really liked this game.

A 4 player game. Shawn and Julian shown with Tristan and Ian out of the frame.

The game continues.

Craft time! Chet spent a fair bit of time trying to put a paper model of the Millennium Falcon together.

The big battle, the forces of order. We had a chart to track damage etc. so the table wouldn't get cluttered with counters.

The forces of anarchy.

The Rebel scum, Tristan, Chet and Julian.

The Empire, me, Ian and Shawn.

The forces close.

...and clash.

The mayhem continues.

...and continues...

...and continues till around 3:00am

The next day. Zombicide, somewhat fitting.

And the last game. A 4 player Dungeon Command.

The End.