Event Horizon # 4

So the end of a long week off. Tradition dictates a wrap-up post.

The last couple of days I've played a few games with Rich who also took me SUP-ping, stand up paddling Monday morning. We'd played a couple of games of Halo on Friday. I got a bit more into it and won both of our very close games. I'd quite happily play it again. After SUP it was Duck, Duck, Go which was pretty much all I could, or wanted, to handle. Fantastic game!

It's been a good week off,  playing plenty of games and eventually getting round to some painting on the last day. It's kind of been the point to not have a specific project this time round and recharge the gaming battery a bit. A hackneyed phrase but the change has been as good as a rest and I'm keen to get stuck into Armada. Rich kindly donated me a bunch of ships so I've got plenty to be getting on with.

Deciding to go full broadside I've blacked in the bases, including all the card piece edges, and got basecoats on the Imperial capitol ships. I have plans to use tiger stripe and dazzle camo schemes on them. I see them as a very rag-tag outer rim force. Ill crowbar Thrawn in there somewhere, somehow.

Its good to have a positive focus back and by indulging myself elsewhere I've reminded myself why I'm playing the games I do. X-Wing will always be there but Netrunner and Armada will be my focus for a while.

The triumvirate system is still working for me, just need a touch of readjustment :)

The Week Off - Prelude

Hello people,

So, another week off, another "realistic" project list. The last one worked out pretty well so hopefully that's repeatable. It's bits and pieces this time round but each with its own purpose and payoff.

So from top left;

YV-66: I've got the re-paint scheme sorted in my head for the Hound's Tooth / Natasha Pup. I'm playing down at Warboar on Saturday and I want to get it on the table for some fly casual action.

Nomads: Just the Inventnors, plus Pandas, and the Intruder Sniper to complete the set. Big woop!

Apartment: It's steampunk, designed for Wolsung, but I'm more than happy that it'll fit in with my industrial set in a Blade Runner kind of way. I'll be going for a semi derelict look with some Sci Fi graphitti to finish the job. I'm playing Tuesday night so it's the priority one piece.

Shasvassti Gwailos: These ARE recent purchases but targeted. With a far better a appreciation of the game I've worked out a list I want to put in some games with. This is just a build, base and spray job. I've got a specific plan for the paint job that will need to be done as a job lot.

So that's it. As before I'm aiming to be good to go by midday.

Best laid plans ;)

End of the Year show

Hello people,

Just rounding out the year with my last bits of brush-craft. As some as you might remember my goal was to finish off Rob's Tohaa by the time I went back to work on Monday.

These chaps were finished on the last day of 2015;

The squiggle handlers haven't seen any table time yet but the viral sniper has been terrorising the club for a while now, especially me it would seem.

Another 12 Painting Points to round a fairly sparse year which, as I've previously discussed, has been as a result of the shift in my gaming. Without Infinity it would have been far less.

These chaps were finished today;

18 Painting Points is pretty good for Day 1 of 2016. It also earns me a pair of Geckos for my Nomads which, as a seemless segway, is my main project for the forseeable. Once everything is done I'll switch over to my Shasvassti.......at some point. I'm sure that they'll be some X-Wing along the way.

More shortly I'll actually set up the camera and catch up with myself....honest ;)

Merry New Year :)

Dance Card

Would you look at that I've actually added a new page! Nothing too stunning, a showcase page for my current gaming.

The last batch Tuesday night's at Enfield Gamers I've been playing through  the first three rounds of the club's Infinity campaign during I have insisted on making a bunch of school boy errors where I should have known better. My dice have also been pretty terrible early doors at which point I've found myself fighting from the back foot. Having said that against both Jon and Rob I've somehow come back to clinch last turn draws. Last night it was snatched by the last dice rolled, much to Rob's chagrin.

In honesty most of my mistakes came from not playing in a while and as such failing to pay attention properly. I must get back to regular games and as such that's kind of the point. X-Wing is my main game and will remain so for quite some time. I've invested a lot of time, effort and even international travel but got so much more back from it.

Infinity gives me the long term hobby project that I need, as well as being the Sci-Fi skirmish that I've spent so many years looking for. Netrunner adds an extra element of quick turnaround, low hobby impact gaming. It's far more than a filler game but it can do that if it needs to.

With three different bases covered I can see that being a template for the forseeable. Even within that triumvirate I'll need to juggle priorities. There's been a lot of competitive X-Wing recently but as I blogged recently it'll be far more casual until the New Year now. Infinity got some hobby love with Thunderdome but there are plenty of minis to get across the painting table with a few ships to break things up. The club campaign will get me fortnightly games at worst but I want to keep that up at the least.

With another local event day in a couple of weeks and a Team Tournament at the end of month Netrunner needs to be prioritised for current table time though I'm happy to take the slower learning curve there. As such I'm not going to be looking elsewhere for a while. I'll be tempted I'm sure and other games will rotate in and out such as SAGA and Dreadball. The magpie effect is notorious amongst gamers but the bases covered as they are it will be interesting to see how I hold out.

Pretty good so far ;)

Enter the THUNDERDOME!!

As previously threatened I took a bunch of shots last night as myself and Jon got in our first game of Infinity for a few weeks prior to the club's upcoming campaign.

I could take dozens of close up shots but I've been much more bothered by the overall feel rather than individual pieces. Keeping the District 5 buildings fairly bland has worked nicely against the busier AT-43 tiles and card pieces. Similarly I'm pleased that the construction vehicles have done the same but with a co-ordinating splash of JCB orange.

So, 36 Painting Points on the board but more pleasing is a major project completed. The occasional extra piece may be added but I need to concentrate on figures for the forseeable.

The week off - Thunderdome prt 3

Hello people,

My apologies as I'm sure you've been waiting on the edge of your sears with baited breath.....

THUNDERDOME AWAITS! TWO FORCES ENTER, ONE FORCE LEAVES!!

Thunderdome is most definitely 90% completed. Everything on the schedule is just about done. Only a cacked can of varnish has prevented me from finishing things off and that will definitely done tomorrow. The buildings, vehicles and all of the detail pieces were finished by early afternoon Friday ahead of schedule. Some of the weathering is a bit severe at the moment but varnish will bring it down a touch at which point a second round may occur. Gloss varnish also needs to be applied to windows and displays but otherwise all good. Very pleased thank you oh so much!

So in short no Painting Points just yet but a horde are upon the horizon. Once everything is 100% I'll put up shots of the whole table set. Meanwhile, without further provarication;

The week off - Thunderdome prt 2

Hello people,

So the end of day 3 and I'm very happy with the project so far. All of the buildings and construction vehicles have been block painted, which is a big step. As a bonus I've based all of the remaining Nomads as well.

Tomorrow will be detailing and I'll turn my attention to the smaller pieces. Friday will be weathering and finishing up the smaller pieces. Plenty of varnish will seal the deal.......sorry ;)

Anyway, eye candy;

The week off - Thunderdome prt 1

So as briefly mentioned previously I'm off work this week and have set myself the goal of sorting out my Infinity scenery, at least to the 90% mark, aka Thunderdome.

Thunderdome is a light industrial zone with a number of ongoing construction projects. It's not that great to visit and you'd definitely not rather live there. Detailing will be a big deal here and I'm determined to pack in as much as possible.

Yesterday, whilst watching Bladerunner I got all of the outstanding construction dealt with, including my last batch of figures. In an attempt to maximise results I want to be sat in front of by midday and that needs to stick. As you can see I've got quite a lot to get through and the time will evaporate far quicker than expected.

So today is all about basing, undercoating and base-coats. Tomorrow will be the big day. I know what colours I'm going for where, it's just a case of actually getting it done. It may seem fairly limited today but it's club night tonight and I want to put my first Netrunner decks together as well so it's a reduced clock.

On that note, best get to it :)

Reasons to be Cheerful, 1, 2, 3!

Hello people,

One of the reasons we all engage in our hobby, and many others besides, is to find some escapism from the occasional harshness of real life. I often find that when life bites a bit harder than usual I often splurge on my various interests.

As such, behold!

I rarely get out of my pit early on a weekend but yesterday the lure of a Hound's Tooth and buddies did the job. Three Khiraz join the party along with two monstrous TIE Punishers to join Thrawn's Splinter Squadron. As such I spent an enjoyable morning popping card tokens and reshuffling my card folder (GEEK!!) whilst comtemplating the Slaver repaint.  Now that will be a labour of, geeky, love!

The Infinity pile has already been discussed. The second week of September has been booked as leave and I'm looking at a couple of ITS tourneys at Wayland in October. Always useful to have an aiming point!

So that just leaves Netrunner. I have a starter set and that's it so far. I can myself making a big investment over time and to help myself out I'm going to go all Tale of the Net with a series of posts charting my introduction. True Tale of style I'm going to set myself a monthly budget of £30 and do my utmost to stick to it. As much as anything it should be a nice change of pace from X-Wing and Infinity posts ;)
Meanwhile here's a Netrunner site I found that will form my lunchtime reading for a while.

Happy days ;)

Embrace the Chaos

Nothing that dramatic in honesty but whilst attempting to simplify and progress my current projects I've actually managed, as many of us do, to increase the mountain whilst simultaneously finding other shiny things to run after.......

Firstly I've finally spent my birthday Element Games voucher on this lot;

I went for the Aguacile specialists the Tunguska Inventnors (the pandas are SO cool) and a couple of Zonds to round out the selection. The rest went on completing the scenery set with a three storey apartment, some holo ads, consoles and a dumpster which is to follow.

Additionally I've dug out another couple of AT-43 vehicles to add to the scenery set and also picked up a Moran Massai as I've realised just how good they could be. While I'm at a pair of Geckos have also made thier way onto the WANT list. Meanwhile I'll be picking up about £100 of X-Wing Wave 7 on Saturday as well as renewing the car tax........sigh!

I was already looking at taking a weeks leave in early September which is now likely to become scenery week. I'll also paint a few of Rob's bits to alleviate the mild guilt.

Moving swiftly on, Rich introduced me to Kaos Ball and the Netrunner LCG over the weekend.

Kaos Ball looked pretty much like another Blood Bowl / Dreadball clone when the Kickstarter came round so I didn't really take a look. Apparently it's aimed at novice / non gamers and it certainly comes across that way with simple, primary coloured graphics / print.

However, despite deceptively simple gameplay there is a lot more depth to the game than I expected. Card driven there's a decent element of resource management and bluff. There are various cheat / power up cards with some drastic penalties if you get it wrong. Most impressively there's multiple methods to score points, which ramp up as you play through the quarters which in themselves are timed by how many cards you've played.

As such there are quite a few variables knocking about that you have to pay attention to. All of a  sudden it wasn't nearly as basic a game as I first thought. Probably still not a replacement for DB, if and when I get round to playing it again, but I'd happily play a few more games of it :)

Which brings us to Netrunner, which has already been registering on the fringe of my radar for a little while now. In honesty it was already hitting a lot of buttons for me. The background, imagery, concept and the fact that as a card game it's straight out of the pack with little room required are all big wins. the only downside is its LCG nature and the potential need to catch up with the pack.

I'll admit that I wanted this game to be good and I was HUGELY impressed. Learning as we went with pre-built decks meant we surely never got all the bells and whistles going but they weren't necessary. There's a great tech feel, and thrill, to the game.

You alternatively play as the Runner and the Corporation and both feel significantly different to play. As with many LCGs there are strong resource management elements but the big thing here is the feeling of paranoia and pressure that comes with it.

As I'm sure you've already guessed I forsee a fair bit of Netrunner in my near future :]

Hit and Run

Hello people,

Yes, yet another I haven't done too much this week though that isn't entirely true.

Tuesday night at the club we ran through several rounds of an Infinity TAG mini game, that I shall attempt to link at some point, for which I did complete putting together my Iguana. Rich also gifted me some of Ancenotti's particularly lovely resin scenery pieces consisting of a bubble car and a pair of bikes and vending machines for which I'm very grateful.

Rob also dropped off his latest Tohaa acquisitions while I then came home to my own Nomad and Shasvassti reinforcements on the doorstep. These were soon followed by the sets of Tau transfers that I picked up from E-Bay. As such Lead Mountain has grown somewhat and is currently spread about the flat in an attempt to disguise itself.

Meanwhile tomorrow is another day out playing X-Wing for which I'very recent lying repainted a trio of M3A Interceptors and another Z95. I will set up the photo box over the weekend and have a major shoot of recent additions.

You have been warned :)

WORK sucks. ......so make it better

Hello people,

I've not said much because there's not been too much to say. Going back to work and having a few other bits on has meant very minimal Hobby-time.

I've managed to build and base the Nomad support pack and Iguana but that's been about it. I've managed a few games and worked on a Corrigedor list. Played significantly better with the Tomcats.

"Investment" wise I've done much better. Father dearest also got me a Meteor Zond and I've picked up a pack of basic art stencils to try out at some point. The Klingon fleet has now been recycled into a few more remotes and a Med-Tech "Doctor Worm". A C3-PO card went today as well so there's some reserves as well.

Rob has also mentioned that he's ordered a few bits so I forsee super-glued figures in my near future. Back to the grindstone; )

Beyond Thunderdome #1

Hello people,

I have to admit that I enjoyed To INFINITY and Beyond so much that I couldn't let it die. As such the ongoing project will become Thunderdome as an homage to much of my influence for the scenery set and my viewpoint on the game as grown up Necromunda. Also it should serve to stop me repearedly almost buying sets of Dark Future on Ebay!

First up I bought myself an Iguana as a birthday present. Father dearest has also procured some remotes, though I'm not sure which as yet. My Klingon fleet sold for £65 which will be recycled into more remotes. This will give me options for Hacker / Corrigedor lists upto 400 points and the intention to complete a box set per week.

Scenery will be a rolling project and the weeks progress has been getting the Micro Art Admin Block and Gaurd Tower put together and put through a few levels of spray. I still feel that I'm lying a bit of height but table time will tell. I have a few ideas brewing.

More cruise control rather than high pursuit :)

To INFINITY and beyond - Day 16

Okay people I'm back to the grindstone tomorrow so here's the roundup.

As below I got my Tomats and Reverend Moria finished to complete all of my Nomad force that I had at the beginning of the project. Due to a late start Rob's Auxilliaries and TAG pilot haven't quite made it but the weekend will see them cross the line.

As such I'm claiming success on all four objectives, which surprises even me! In honesty I could have achieved a bit more with the brush but that was always likely. Where I have over achieved is with an understanding of my force and where I want to go with it. The case has been ordered and I plan now filling it up over the coming months as well as stepping up to regular 300 point games.

Infinity has become something of a seminal game for me as a grown up Sci - Fi skirmish that I've been looking for for quite sometime. The UK Infinity community seems fairly committed and I'm looking forward to joining them. I've found Infinity, now it's all about the beyond ; )

To INFINITY and beyond - Day 16

Taa daa......actual painted Nomads!!

So thats 6 Agaucils, including Ms Balboa, my proxy Iventnor, my proxy Spektr sniper, my actual Spektr and my proxy Zero (more white) finished, varnished and everything for another 20 Painting Points.

That leaves just the Tomcats and Reverend Moria fromy my initial pile and the Auxilliaries for Rob's Tohaa which is very achievable for Day 16.

I got a 200 point game in with Rob tonight and the newly varnished brigade let me down badly in the opening turns, as expected, despite actually designing an army list with an actual plan to it. Thankfully the basecoated Tomcats did all of the heavy lifting, flamethrower stylee, to drag things back and snatch victory at the last. I played much better with a definite game plan using the Tomcats far more intelligently. They deserve that paint!

Better photos to follow but here's the group for now;

To INFINITY and beyond - Day 15

Hello people,

A bit more of gap between posts but as I head back to work on Thursday things ramp up much as they often do. Since last time various bits of progress have been made.

First I kind of cracked down at Dark Sphere last Thursday and made a number of "relevant investments". First up I picked up a couple of Micro Art scenery pieces that give me a complete 4x4 with a number of options. The security tower should fit on top of the administrative block for an extra bit of hight. I'll keep my eyes open for extras but I'm happy with the set so that one's sorted.

Whilst digging through their scenery stock I also came across a set of WarArsenal acrylic silhouette markers which I couldn't resist. Adding a laser pointer means I now have rules, army lists, tokens and accessories covered off.

I've also spent some time researching list options, as in what I've got versus what I'd like to run at 300 points. Part of this has meant looking at some of my duplicate figures having doubled up on Op Icestorm. Specifically my two Grenzer snipers will be painted up as a Spektr and an Intruder respectively. One of my Spektrs will become a Zero, a Reverend Moria a Tunguska Inventnor and a female Aguacile becomes Ms Balboa.

I'm not sure that such proxies are entirety tourney legal but that's not too huge an issue for the moment. Picking up the support pack leaves me looking for a few remotes to round out my options for a good while. I'm also going to pick up a KR case for storage.

To that end my Attack Wing Klingons have made it onto flea bay along with along few X-Wing Rebel alternate art and crew cards.

Last but not least the Nomads have had some brush time and now that I'm into the swing I'm confident of getting everything done before heading back to the grindstone.

A clear weekend remains as backup ; )

To INFINITY and beyond - Day 10 prt 2

Hello people,

So technically I've slipped into day 11 but hey not by much and these are my guidelines I'm bending :)

 As below I've finished up 10 of Rob's Tohaa. I went pretty much the box colour scheme, other than turning them all ginger for a bit of a focus colour. As with my Brigada I've discovered that Infinity figures really benefit from as clean a paint job as you can manage. That pretty much reflects the sculpts themselves which are what I'd call a "true" scale rather than "heroic", clean and crisp without becoming busy.

Once I'd worked that one out they paint up pretty quickly whilst still rewarding attention to detail. It makes all of that construction pain well worth it, more or less. Another 20 Painting Points in the bag and I reckon I can get everything finished before heading back to the grindstone......more or less ;)

To INFINITY and beyond - Day 10 part 1

Okay, so another missed post but that kind of gets me back on track, kind of!

In the intervening period there has at least been some decent progress.

First up a £30 kids construction kit from Toys R Us has been a major find providing a mobile crane, dump truck, digger, JCB, skip, oil drums, signs and stop boards. Re-sprayed grey they'll be detailed up a fit the industrial theme well.

Quite a bit of it got onto the table last night as well as various extras. Below is an objective crate, objective civilian, base markers and a pair of repeaters.

As well as all that I've, eventually  (with Charlie's tech support) got the printer set up and sorted out all of my tokens.

On the brush front Rob's Tohaa starter set is just awaiting highlights which I hope to post up later. Until then it's back to earth taking the car for its MOT. Delight!

To INFINITY and beyond - Day 7

Hello people,

Yeah so I missed a day but that was always going to happen at some point a day I have actually made some progress 😊

First up Richard dropped round yesterday and my setup got its first run out. In short I didn't have as much scenery coverage as I thought! Even with two basic sets plus a few extras moving up from 3x3 to 4x4 was bigger than I thought, that extra 3sqft makes a big difference. The AT-43 tiles do well a day I'll continue with the industrial theme. I need a few bigger, taller pieces and extra scatter. A visit to Toys R Us is on the cards.

The game itself was a convincing win for Rich though I got to do a bit of hacking and it gave me plenty of ideas for future lists, tactics and matching the two. Infinity is a brutal game but all the better for it. I shall be investing in some drones imminently!
Another bonus was having my list up on the tablet which made life far easier.

Today I slapped together the tokens I got from Op Icestorm  backing them on to acrylic crafting domes picked up via E-Bay. Tomorrow I'll set up the printer to sort out a bunch more.

Major bonus of the day is actually getting in some brushwork, though I've done the usual and gone straight for the boss models in the form of two Mobile Brigada. I W's keen to keep them similar but with individual heraldry and I'm pretty pleased with the resultsame.  First Painting Points in a while too.

They were fairly quick to paint being finely sculpted figures but not hugely busy. Nice paints :)

Tohaa tomorrow!