Spurred on by a Facebook group I decided to try and get some more paint on my Epic Armageddon forces. First up was my Emperor’s Children Sicaran battle tank. This is a vehicle recently introduced in 40K lore and stemming from the Horus Heresy. perfect for my Heresy Emperor’s Children. And in support we also have an Emperor’s Children super heavy tank – Fellblade Glaive -still WIP. The Eldar were not left out this weekend as they got some heavy support in the form of a Scorpion grav tank.
#Epic #Armageddon Progress
Posted: April 20, 2015 in PaintingTags: Emperor's Children, Epic, Horus Heresy, Il-Kaithe
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#Paddyfaux – Weekend Gaming in Cork
Posted: March 19, 2015 in GamingTags: Lilith, Lucius, Lynch, Neverborn, Paddyfaux, Tournaments
Well last weekend seen our annual trip to Cork on the South West coast of Ireland for Paddyfaux, so-called as it is run over the St Patrick’s Weekend street party in Cork. Hosted by the great Mike Foreman and held in the luxurious Imperial Hotel in Cork the event is always a lot of fun and highly anticipated event in our gaming calendar.
Day 1
Setting off from Belfast it took just under 5 hours to reach our destination and that even included rush hour traffic in the one-way system of Cork’s main streets. Some of our friends from the United States made the trip across the Atlantic for the event and we met up with them in the family-run bar of the host Mike. Dan Lowrey’s Bar is a great location serving fantastic local ales and ciders and with wonderful home-cooked food it really is worth the trip. Sitting down with a few pints of Chieftain IPA we caught up with the Americans, Tera and her husband George, over a few bowls of traditional Irish stew. Then it was back to the hotel for gaming.
Our Americans brought some gaming goodness from their game store Mastermind Miniatures and Models which included a lot of X-Wing ships for the guys and some Cthulhu expansions for me. We broke out Luchaodr Mexican Wrestling Dice, played some Munchkin Loot Letter and snacked on authentic american jerky! It’s all good!
Day 2
The matchings were drawn for the first round and I would be facing George with his Gremlins on a swamp board. The Strategy was Reconnoiter which is perfect for summoning Gremlins with Som’er Teeth Jones. Thankfully he didn’t take slop haulers meaning any gremlins summoned would be on half wounds and easier to kill. It still meant I would have to take a minion heavy crew and this led me to use Lucius who can use his commanding presence to make his minions perform better. A nicely placed pathfinder ensured Rami would be taken out early and should be a nuisance with summoned traps. An austringer was placed to threaten most of the board from turn 2 while 2 terror tots would be scheme runners down the flank. By turn 3 I had achieved everything I needed and the game ended 10-1.
Game 2 matched me against a regular opponent Mark in Squatters Rights. Knowing he would be taking Perdita with the ability to make traps interact I had to take Lucius again in order to gain access to traps and the pathfinder. Taking Mr Graves for mobility I placed Bodyguard on him and dropped my pathfinder right beside his Trapper. Initiative turn 1 would be a crucial part in the game. Unluckily he won, shot my pathfinder dead and controlled that side of the board. It didn’t help that Graves died turn 2 but not before splashing Black Blood on Lucius who died turn 3 giving him Assassinate. In the end it was a solid 10-5 victory but I would like to think I played my game and gave him some thought in his actions. Bloody death marshals!
Game 3 was a rematch vs Matt O’Brien and his Hamelin crew in Reckoning. I switched to Lilith for this gam and took Nekima, Mature Nephilim and Barbaros in this game. Was a closely fought match and cost us a lot of soulstones and cards. Matt just managed to pip me 6-5. I had Entourage on Nekima who died to Bishop but not before softening him up. In hindisght maybe keeping Entourage hidden and just running Lilith into the deployment zone may have been better. Food for though.
After some tidying up it was back to Dan Lowrey’s for more pintage, some craic, chats about the day’s games and then food. We ended up in a Japanese restaurant, Wabisabi, which was fantastic. They readily changed the layout to suit or large group, brought Jasmine tea for us all and were on hand to help with any issues. The food was stunning too. The Steak with Ramen in soup was to die for. Onto The Abbot for some more beers! This bar is quaint and possibly unique in that all bottled beers and ciders are in a large fridge in front of the bar. This means you can ponder and decide what you will have next without getting in the way of the bar staff. Once you have made your selection, pop it on the bar, pay for it and the barman will open it and hand you a glass if needed. I went for a Black IPA. With more than a hint of liquorice it was very palatable.
Day 3
A new opponent for my first game on Day 3 was Jimmy Murphy, the local Ophelia player for Turf War. Corner deployment on a dense desert board and I thought I should run Lynch. First time with him and a blast! He is a bit squishy but the Hungering Darkness more than makes up for that. Casting Expert meant I was able to walk Rami off a high building and leave him in a very open position. The rest of the game Huggy just became a more of a nuisance while my tot and silurid did their schemes. It really helps to be able to cheat an Ace of Masks and pull it back for either sprint or defensive stance. We ran out of time and so it ended 8-1 to me.
By Game 5 I was sitting mid table and managed to get a bye for the last round. This put me effectively on 3 wins and 2 losses and my VP differential ensured I took 3rd place. So Mike and I settled down to defeat a Great Old One in Elder Sign. And we did!
So with the final game finishing the results were totalled and Mike Marchal (Le Jerk) took the top spot with Mark Byrne and myself in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Best in Faction awards were handed out (I took Best Neverborn) and the Mr Tannen award for bad luck was given to George who managed to fall down the stairs in The Abbot.
With that all done, goodbyes were said and we made the 4 hour trip home. Great event and good times.
New #Malifaux Artwork from @WyrdGames
Posted: March 9, 2015 in HobbyTags: Boondoggle Seven, Gremlins, Malifaux
First artwork from the infamous ‘Boondoggle Seven’ or whatever name they settle on for the new band in malifaux. Each member of the band belongs to each faction and 1 member is lead singer and can bring the others together to form a crew. The crew members are also Tormented meaning Jack Daw can be the front man for a spin-off group! Oh Yeah \m/
I present Gluttony
Latest Malifaux Previews from @WyrdGames
Posted: March 2, 2015 in HobbyTags: Gremlins, project brown
Here are some lovely new previews for the Gremlins. Roll on #Projectbrown
Trixibelle is beautiful, almost NSFW
@Guildball Shot of some painted figures
Posted: February 26, 2015 in KickstarterTags: Butchers, Fishermen, Guildball, Kickstarter
Awh man I am so happy I’m in this Kickstarter. Can’t wait to get my teams.
First artwork for the Tengu faction for Bushido – looking great for the killer ninja birdmen of the forests of Jwar. Naigubu the Ancient
Just hot off the presses. Colette and a mannequin. Looking great!
Elder Sign – Solo Play
Posted: February 20, 2015 in GamingTags: Arkham Horror, Elder Sign, The King in Yellow
So tonight I got home from work early and decided to crack out this great little game. With the latest expansion on the way I wanted to get back into the feel of the game.
The base game involves investigation around Arkham Museum as the investigators go on adventures and try to achieve Elder Signs in an attempt to seal the gates and prevent a Great Old One from destroying Arkham, and consequently, the world.
Each turn an investigator will pick an adventure, whether it’s ‘Don’t go near the Windows’ in the dinosaur exhibit or a visit to the Koi Pond. Each adventure will have a series of objectives, achieved by rolling dice and matching symbols. Each successful roll will help you achieve victory. Failing will result in penalties to your stamina or sanity and can even increase the Doom Track to bring the Great Old One out. Succeeding at an adventure will gain items, spells and unique abilities to help in the fight.
After every adventure the clock is advanced 3 hours until Midnight strikes. At midnight a new Mythos card is flipped and it’s affects will last for the following day. Some can be good but most are bad for investigators with monsters turning up to spoil the fun.
Tonight I played a solo game with 3 adventurers battling to prevent Hastur, The King in Yellow from emerging. After some initial success the adventures became more difficult but i was still racking up the occasional Elder Sign while gaining some key spells and common items (dynamite adds 2 special dice to your dice pool for the round).
Finally Dexter Drake opened a portal directly to Ry’leh. With 10 Elder Signs already Dexter knew a last gamble would gain him 3 more but it would not be easy. Gambling all (dynamite and having a clue token available to re roll any or all dice) he went for it. Gaining enough for the first line Dexter braced himself and rolled again – Lore,Attack but no Terror. A re roll later and 4 dice came to rest with a Terror symbol showing! Dexter and the team had done it and no one would ever know their plight.
Great game and more importantly a quick game.
So last night seen a great demo of Bushido to the hungry gamers at Wee Gamers. A quick overview of the cards and stats and away we went. Bushido is a tabletop skirmish game set in the pseudo-fantasy Jwar Isles with a distinctly Japanese feel to it. A group of between 4 and 7 models will make up your typical warband and put you straight into the numerous battles in the Jwar Isles.
Each model or group of models will use a stat card to list their characteristics: melee and shooting ability, movement and Ki generation each turn. Ki is an important resource as it allows models to boost their attacks, defence or perform Ki feats at times in the game. Also listed is their Traits that can include Armour (1), Martial Prowess (2) or Light-footed. Each trait is explained in the rules and gives models a distinct flavour.
Combat is quite unique in that a model’s Melee Skill (MS) determines the dice pool for each combat. This pool is then secretly broken into attack and defence dice and all rolled together (2 sets of coloured dice are required). The current attacking model will compare his attack dice to the defender’s defence dice. If the defender survives he can then compare his attack to the other player’s defence. The difference between the 2 will determine the success level of each attack. A further 2D6 are rolled, added together and that will determine the number of damage sustained. Armour (1) will reduce this dice roll by 1, Armour (2) will reduce it by 2 etc.
Wee Si and I set up a quick game of 19 Rice Cost (RC) which for Si was Takeji and his 2 Jade Mamba Guard. I took Saratoshi and Kenzo Ito in response. The first 2 turns were tactically moving for a turn 3 strike. The melee was swirling around when Si with a model advantage managed to get a surprise charge which put me on the back foot. Some quick thinking and armour (3) I managed to weather most attacks but numbers proved the winner and Si eventually won the day.
Good times in Jwar!
The Arcanist Menace: A Malifaux Tournament #agoodyeartogamehard
Posted: February 5, 2015 in GamingTags: Malifaux, Mei Feng, Rainbowfaux
So Sunday seen my first tournament of the year and the beginning of my year of #Rainbowfaux. Deciding to get the Arcanists out of the way as the crew I have least models for I thought I would also use it as an opportunity to try new models. Deciding to run Mei Feng (my favourite Master) all day it gave me a good grounding for using new models with unique abilities in the games.
Game 1: Turf War vs Hamelin
Mat was playing Hamelin for the first time and I was facing Hamelin for the first time. With a buried Killjoy and Ama no Zako in his crew I knew I would be in a tough spot from the outset. With the amount of rats and stolen he was summoning I was soon on the backfoot for activations. Knowing that I would be ok if I could survive past turn 2 I concentrated on my schemes – Breakthrough which was easily achieved with a strike from the Mechanical Rider and Frame for Murder on Willie who exploded on Turn 3. Ignoring Killjoy by feeding him Hard to Kill models I was able to lock Hamelin down and deny him scheme points. 9-3 victory
Game 2: Reckoning vs Seamus
Myk is an expert at all Ressers and taking an unusual lineup of 4 belles meant I had to avoid any and all lures. Mei can put up a great aura for negative flips to all casts keeping my guys safer. A small elite crew meant that I was denying Reckoning points and effectively we danced around each other. I scored a VP for Vendetta while he scored 3. That was the key difference. 7-4 loss.
Game 3: Squatter’s Rights vs Tara
Another tough matchup that would decide final rankings. I was on the backfoot but knew I was fast enough to achieve Power ritual so I announced it. Taking Glen by surprise I had the Mechanical Rider in his backfield in turn 2. He kept the flank busy pooping out constructs for the rest of the game which was enough to swing activation order to me denying Tara her ability to reactivate. Cursed Object was handy to take with large Melee ranges denying the opportunity to remove the condition. 10-8 victory.
With the results in somehow I managed to come second. Chuffed with that. Gunsmith, fire gamin and Mechanical Rider are all now firmly in my good books.
