Blackstone - last game of the year

20191212

Last night we had a game of Blackstone Fortress at (FLGS) Good Games in Top Ryde shopping centre.

Three players all up, and given we now know roughly what we're doing the with admin side of things the dice rolls, initiative setup and all that kind of bajaga was handled as second nature. It definitely helped having extra eyes for picking up missed or forgotten caveats with the specific maps.

Started around 5:30pm and finished around 9pm.

We resumed play in 'Passage 1' where the Rogue Trader picked up a grievous wound from a sniper. Then played Chamber 8.

This was a very mild encounter with traitor guardsmen the only real opposition. A twist helped keep numbers down but meant picking up discovery cards provided the risk of a wound (which we generally risked as we planned to return to Precipice once the chamber was done - 5 clues between us was enough to get back).

Between us we've now played 3 sessions (of the expansion version). First session progress in red, second in green and last night's efforts in yellow.

This was our first time returning to Precipice after about 10 or so exploration bits (chambers, passages or random combats/labyrinth) which we mainly did to drop grievous wounds before hitting the stronghold.
A few trading events happened including picking up a speed bonus, some vintage amsec and a melta bomb - pretty random for the most part.
We now have the perma-inspire for the Rogue Trader, and the Navigator.
I swapped out the second, new version Rogue Trader given the similarity in combat roll to the original RT. Took the space elf instead to add some long distance firepower to the group.
With the exception of the retinue servitor all the team was now original game characters.

Back to the fortress. It is possible that our understanding of the mechanics for exiting/entering the fortress is not quite perfect but we spent our clues and 'resumed the story' if nothing else.

This was our first time tackling one of the strongholds and safe to say that it was FAR more challenging than the combats we'd previously encountered. From my understanding this might have been the easiest of the strongholds too.

We did triumph however with the Missionary and space elf dashing for the shrine and destroying it before the (copious) reinforcements managed to take out any of our explorers.

There were two goals on this mission:
- take out the firebrand (cultist leader), which the Navigator did with his newly acquired melta bomb to the cultist's face,
- then destroy the shrine.

The threat level had been raised (only by 1) by our prior return to precipice and we consistently rolled up 'reroll reinforcements' with the end of turn random shenanigans.     so we had A LOT of reinforcements for the entire game (kinda annoying).

The Missionary managed to inspire (twice) and probably not exaggeration to say that without her firepower the explores would probably have been overwhelmed. The other characters all contributed admirably, 'supporting flanks' as it were, but the Missionary was the backbone of forward progress until the final goals were in sight.

On completing the mission we are returning again to Precipice where we can't really trade much due to having no new creds to trade with -  but can remove wounds and start 'round 2' afresh. I'm hoping to maybe get the perma-inspire for the space elf too to help shift our progress along.

And that's probably it for the year.    Next session (whenever that happens) should be a lot easier with the explorers starting to acquire and accumulate bonuses, as well as general game experience.

Our players too generally have tactically similar ideas so there's not a lot of loose-cannoning going on, though some variation provides some depth there.

Overall the session was very entertaining, suspenseful at times, and it felt like the story was moving forward which is adds to the experience.

Until next time...

Epic - New Templars - pt10 - Paint'n

[Original Draft - 2019-11-25]

[this one's going to be a multi-day progress report, not a one day release.]

Progress
So i managed to finish off the last printing for this army... back 2019-11-20 or there abouts. Referring back to my photos the project took more or less 6 months (printing, not including the painting).

In a wave of production i managed to assemble the squads of neophytes (relatively painlessly), the stormraven (mussy as there some pockets of resin in an unused 'stand hole' on the underside - but successfully eventually), and get the Landers to a  "just don't care anymore" stage.

Everything then got a spray of charcoal (also attack bikes) and now waiting for the paint to dry suitably. Which means everything is spray painted and on to detailing!!.    gonna be a big block of work but just chug through it gets you there eventually.


[20191128]
The painting will progress as two waves; i) everything else, ii) stormravens and landers.

Everything else  is going first. Have slopped on the first coat of null oil. Started on the second but need a new bottle to complete the rest (plus wave 2).

Was just reviewing the pic above; between 2 formations of sword brethren, 5 of tacticals, 3 or neophytes there are 300+ individual infantry soliders in there.
Quite a lot - and precisely why washes and dry brushing must be your friend for Epic armies imo.

Now that the details are being picked out a bit more and everything more a 'worthy' colour i'm really liking the poses on the models and the feel of the army in general.
It's not the shoulder-to-shoulder of the original version. There's staggered, semi-random infantry stands. A bit of shape to the bike attitudes... basically more dynamic than before.... so worth the effort.

In other adjacent news - I've got a green light to play them at cancon. Have even put together my first tentative list, looking at taking the 'iconic' units of the army, even if it's not the gamiest selection. The chances of them seeing much in the way of victory is highly unlucky, but want to spread the word as much as anything.   They're fun.
[update: 20191215 - i ended up playing an air assault list at CoD december meet and they were shite. Had all the iconic formations but just a huge lack of depth to the list. Am considering adjusting to a Terminator heavy force. We'll see]


[20191129]
Got some null oil, finished off the second coat on everything (else). I then did the light grey dry brush on everything (else). Up to leadbealcher.

For the non-hobbists, one dry brushed, one not.
doesn't that just look messy?
Nope, once you add some more colours and so on it helps to highlight the edges and provide a bit of definition. And at arms length...

Side note:
I went into hobby shop for this...

 and came out with this...

Demonstrating (imo) that gw underestimates the value of walk in impulse buys.

I have really really really vague visions of updating my knights and titan armies with titanicus stuff, but who knows. Not really wanting to start anything new at the moment. Pretty much wanted to have a look at the new models... more collection than gaming.

anywhom...


[20191202]

Leadbelcher done. Potentially the most voluminous step, well over 300 tiny faceplates, backpacks and various weapons. It's just dots and smears but we're in the 'precision' stages now - the less fixes the better.

All the little sessions...

add up...

eventually...

[20191203]
Onto 'white panel' step...

and at some stage i got bored and started doing red panels as well...

The sword brethren dudes are getting red pauldrons, which is a variation on the traditional colour scheme, pretty close, thematic and feasible given 6mm.
All chainswords get red 'covers' too.


[20191212]

Managed to scrape the bottles to get the astrogranite done. Will need another bottle for the stormravens

The xiphons and thunderhawk 3 are already boxed as they don't require basing. They got a couple coats of stormshield and done.

In other news i bought one of the paper trimmers from officeworks (roller cutter blade thingy). Will be cutting strips of magnetic sheet to size for attaching to bottom of the bases.
Which means i'll be magnetising everything again. However i'm only going to magnetising the model bases, not the boxes/trays. Having to align the magnetic 'grain' was annoying.
Will make up some sheet metal trays to fit in the boxes (not sure of the details as yet).

Way too much for one box.   not ready for that yet anyway.


[20191215]
DONE!   For clarification still 2 Landers and 18 Stormravens to go, but all the small fiddly infantry stuff... DONE!

Just pulled everything out for photos...

Pretty happy with the results....

Minor shading variation in the basing on the first and next 5 sets of tactical marines (even following the checklist). Not enough to be concerned about. BTW; that's 180 individual marine models there. 6 formations of 6 stands x5 models. Which is 2 company's worth in Tacticals alone.

Neophytes.  Most model types (including old ones) received some 'swamp' tufts. Might end up trimming them back a little too, but they're fine for now. Probably 2/5 per type on average got tufted. Bikes got none and only model with bases obviously (i.e. not Thunderhawks etc).

Sword bros. Everything looks better in real life. Pretty pleased with the results. Everything with swords and pistols ended up getting 3 coats of stormshield (clear finish) in order to strengthen the models - there were things (mainly pistols) snapping off as i was painting and the connections are so minuscule for gluing, added support with a clear sheath.

Bikes. Two sergeants with chainswords. There a dude chucking a mono just for shiggles.

And that's it. Been a couple of weeks since starting this post, so yeah, lots of little sessions. phew!


20191218
not worth a post in it's own right...  based on build pics i calculated that i've made and painted at least 1485 marine army infantry models (that's regulars, scouts, character sticks, dudes on bikes or in speeders).
while i have the stats (before i delete them)  511 were from the new BT which is by far the larges force. The second largest group was the old BT with 379, followed by imperial fists on 265, then there was the 'everything else'.

2447 infantry/critters all up including chaos marines, vraks, eldar infantry or swarms of tyranids.


Until next time...

Necromunda Game - Blackstone Progress - 3D Legacy

Necromunda
On Thursday last (14th Nov) we had a game of Necromunda, possibly our second 'real' game.

And the first using the new wall blocks. Also our first game for well over a month, aka, a bit rusty on the rules.

Put together a 6 section map and ran full 10 person gangs. We've kind of developed a liking for an 'under the aircon duct' area at Good Games, and they seem happy to have something different being played. Actually there was a game of SW Legion going on adjacent to us as well. Go tabletop wargames!!

Escher...

vs Enforcers...

At about turn 4 the Enforcers bottled out, having lost 3 or 4 casualties by then; then fleeing and leaving 3 models on the table, one of which was seriously injured. So we called the game there, wasn't much to be gained from continuing once an obviously decisive point is reached. Lots of pretty poor dice rolls by both sides.

Apart from scrubbing the rust off our rules knowledge were were also trying different rules and load-out options etc. Trying to push our (so far) limited knowledge. Overall it was educational and enjoyable. Looking forward to the next game.

The gangs looked the part, and the walls helped add a sense of 'enclosing'  or inside a hive (or maze even) IMO.

Added a splash of ink and dry brush here and there. Might end up adding a bit more to strengthen the effect.

The store manager was taking happy snaps of the game diversity going on during the evening. Fair enough.

Blackstone
Motivation for hobby stuff has been fairly low. Not that there's anything else significant taking it's place, but it seems that until there's an even requiring progress, not progress is happening. More or less of course.

With the new cultists and rogue trader hitting the board recently the sight of unpainted models made me cringe a little.
So the rogue trader is done. Standard 'looks better in real life' disclaimer applies.

The run-of-the-mill cultists are also done.

And these guys got left behind at some stage. At the moment i'm using the 'paint batches of colours' method.

Will get to these guys next. I did make a couple of really small adjustments here. The Fire Brand had an over the top flame from the flame thrower stick. I knifed this down to a more manageable size - it's just going to get snapped off in the box for sure. Similarly there was an wispy antenna on the tech-priest which has been smoothed over after it snapped off. Was to delicate - nice, but unmanageable.


Epic
I managed to pick up one of the original Epic Armageddon rule books over the last week, just for nostalgia sake. There's also interesting hobby stuff in there that is often overlooked when the rules stuff is referenced (online). I'm also researching alternative scenarios.

I've finally been making progress printing the stormravens - the final models for the Black Templars army.
They are proving problematic (wow, what a change). i think the vat film is a bit loose or something. Printing in the middle is causing a lot of warping and or lift, which is really unusual given how solid previous prints were. Printing toward the edge seems to be alleviating the issue (fingers and toes crossed).
This is a 3rd party model (i.e. someone else's) off thingiverse and i'm not entirely convinced of the underside which is the bit that needs to stick. Nice enough model though, just technically challenging to print (i think the landing gear makes a small sliver of space that creates a print gap).
Anyway, i'm getting results so far so just keep chugging away with it.

[update 20191119: the machine spirit was looking favourably on this project and i now have bodies and wings. Just tails to go which (famous last words) should be quick and painless.]
[update 20191120: aaaaaahhhahaahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaar]

[update 20191121: got 18 tails printed and, 'oh yeah, bases'. which means... drum roll please... the Black Templar army is finally finished... printing. some assembly and painting still required but the 'unknown'/'tentative' aspect is done. so, this project took from 20190525 - 20191121 based on the first pic of a printed unit i have.]

Have assembled the attack bikes. Need to assemble neophytes. need to finish the landers. All the spray painted stuff is still 'curing'  :)   and will/may probably remain that way until the final models are ready for painting. Either than or a mad dash to finish pieces for Cancon (decided to play this year, well, next year).


Back to the model... when i was getting ready to print up the Stormravens i had a fresh look at thingiverse for a better model than what i'd done. And was happy to find something that looked suitable.

I noticed that it was 'based' on my old model. Fun!

Obviously a lot of changes between then and now and i'm not taking credit for their work etc (i'm sure if there was nothing there they could have started from scratch).
I guess the thought is that it's nice that models have/can develop and improve when they're shared and built together. Building something better (or more tech/resolution appropriate) based on the previous generations of models etc.

I'm also glad i didn't have to remodel the existing version.

Until next time...

CoD - November '19 Game Day - Megageddon

On Saturday 2nd November we had Company of Dice game day.

Megageddon was our scheduled event - aka   Epic Armageddon with  2 vs 2 player teams on (slightly) oversized boards.

Turned out well. We had 10 players all up which meant 2 tables with 4 players, and 1 table with just 2 players (though we still used the larger tables and ran 2 armies each).

Ship got a showing...

Another player kitted this table out fully...

And pipeline/church/forest...

Actually by the time the tables were set (above), i had zero terrain pieces left in the box which was a novelty (and somewhat satisfying).

The parameters for the games, objectives, setup, special rules etc all seemed to work ok. There were some suggestions for alternative options which seemed worthwhile (i'm happy to try them at future events) - but basically everything went as planned. 

Games started up around the 10-10:30am mark.

The first game was our two Newcastle visitors (both with flavours of chaos marines) vs guard (krieg) and imperial knights. This game finished off relatively quickly, somewhere between 2 and 3pm.
Here we had two of the country's most experienced players vs two virtual neophytes, so the results weren't entirely unexpected.
However, i'm reasonably confident that our guys will have learned a tonne about the game from their match up, plus hopefully garnered that epic people are pretty friendly where ever you go.
Many thanks to the Newcastle guys...

The second game was the 1 vs 1 table, which had ork gargants and chaos marines  vs  imperial titans and codex marines [my forces].  We called a draw on turn 3 at around 4pmish.

The third game was two eldar armies vs codex marines and imperial titans. This ran until 4:30-5pm before winding down.   Was called at turn 3 with a slight eldar victory.

Below... gargants/chaos vs titans/marines - just about to rumble...

Notes and Observations...

As far as i can tell everyone had a good time. I'd very much like to pencil this in as an annual event and the general consensus was 'aye'.

Probably too long to play team games frequently.
The double the players = double the time was probably true on average.
Rules lawyers took substantially longer and i guess more players = more discussions.
The 1:1 game we played (with experienced players) seemed to flow more continuously given less interaction and the requirement of combined decision making (i would still like to be part of a 2:2 at some stage).

With more flexibility as to match ups i could have come up with some better options but there were too many people who wanted to play in 'set teams' (which is fine as well).

The mission objectives worked as planned (read; perfectly). They'd work on regular size battles/tables and for 1 on 1 games. Looking forward to giving that a try. A worthwhile alternative to standard 'tournament rules'. 

The board extensions were solid enough. Have donated them to the club for future events - our or other games.

I would like to make proper sized mats to avoid the half:half looking tables which is !gak! ugly. however, one of the mats we used (borrowed from club) was the canvas/silicon that i had contemplated using. The dices skid and slide horribly on it so i'm not as sure about that anymore.  not an urgent project anyway. 

And that's about it. Was a good event IMO. Ran easily and without drama, which was more a testament to the players than 'the organising' which was minimal.

There is news in the wind of other players in the area who are interested. Based on prior experience i'll let that unfold as it may.  Maybe next year we can actually fill 3 full tables (maybe more!!).

Hopefully the spectacle that we put on will be enough to convince other players that not only is Epic something fun (and big) to be a part of, but also that the scene is alive, kicking, and growing in the area. huzzah!

Until next time...

Epic - New Templars - pt9 - Batch Paintings

Endings
So all that printing that happened in part 7 is now painted up.

Dreadnoughts. Pretty happy with these.

Vindicators. Very happy with these.

Rhinos, 2 formations worth. Largely indifferent about these.

Drop pods - closed. The two at the front at dreadnought sized. Liking these.

Drop pods - open. could possibly do with a tiny bit more detail... perhaps a ledge on the inner floor. Pretty happy for a first attempt though.

Deathstorm Drop Pods. Happy enough with these. Probably prefer the 'full stripes' to the partial stripes on the originals.

So this is everything i've built so far. Unfortunately this is about 1/2 the full army. Strike Cruiser should probably be included at this stage as well.

There is of course more than enough to run the army in a game - plenty of points there, however some of the mandatory formations are missing - specifically, need more Tacticals.


Startings
With these off the painting table it's time for the next batch to get the army 'legal'.

I've been assembling and preparing the next batch (the last big block to be done, with some final units still to be printed) over the last couple of weeks.

Matt spray.

Sword brethren (and a couple of sticks of chaplain) - these are going to look rad when they're done.  Poor lighting, poor photography and too much red in the previous pics didn't do them justice but there's enough detail in these sticks to give them a bunch of character.

I mounted the xiphons on some left over acrylic rod and some throw away bases for spray painting. At some stage (possibly after null oil washes, or even dry brushing) i'll snap the rods out and replace them with transparent rods instead.

The land speeders will also be on transparent acrylic rods. so base painting them unmounted as well.

Bikes, fairly plain. There are 2 'sergeants' with chainswords, 2 stands where the bikes are turning/leaning/banking, and 1 stand where a guy is popping a mono - just for variety.

So as well as the above there are also 5 formations of Tacticals * in the batch, and also the 3rd thunderhawk.

* The army list requires a certain ratio of Tactical formations before you can take specialist formations. So you need to take 1 Tactical formation and then you can take e.g. 1 Terminator formation and 1 Predator formation.

I started cleaning up the green stuff on the 2 landing craft. just scraping, sanding and slicing. 1 is done, the other to do.    just a matter of getting around to it, nothing overly taxing.


Leftovers
I started printing the neophyte models.  2 print batches done out of 4 all up.   Decided i want 3 sets of 6 stands - 18 stands with 5 models a piece = 90 models (print batch contains 25 models).
i frankensteined some guard model bits onto some marines models in sketchup and came up with 5 neophyte models. they're actually printing almost perfectly (weapons included). Will probably interject a 'real' marine on each stand or perhaps every second stand for variety.
The neophytes technically (not that you'd see it) don't have pauldrons, the marine helmets, and no backpack. apart from that they're more or less the same.

Just have neophyte, storm ravens and attack bikes to print and that's the army done. so quite close.


[Update 20191031]
managed to get the neophytes and attack bikes done after the printer flat-out decided it wasn't printing at all on tuesday.

guess which ones were new resin and which got the left overs...

just massed storm ravens to go!!!


Until next time...