FoW and The Walking Dead

On Saturday I was able to go to the de-escalation  tournament.  Paul ran a good show which had each player’s list shrink from 1750 to 1500 and finally 1250.   I brought my Italian Squadrone Esplorante with lots of little tanks.  First game was versus US Mech Infantry which I had a great start with, but when Morgan’s reserves all came in on the flank and rolled across the board killing all in their path.  Second game was against Michele from Des Moines and her Irish Recon force.  Solid game, I didn’t really read the scenario correctly and failed to grasp that her reserves came on right on the objective.  She played a solid game and with the Sherman’s coming in I really wasn’t going to bounce her off with an L-6.  Last game was vs. Kyle and a US Infantry team.  This was a pretty good game and I actually killed an entire platoon or two and only had a marginal loss when time was called.  Over all I was 0-3 with 5 points.  Not too good, but I had three good games. 

Sunday was Halloween and we did a bit of decorating, but only got about a dozen kiddos.  So I was able to bring in a big bag of left over candy, like everyone else to the office.  At 9pm, the first episode of The Walking Dead started.   The show was outstanding.  I never been a huge zombie guy, but I really liked how this episode wasn’t about them.  It was about the undead walking around.  Don’t get me wrong, they were there, but the story is what is driving this story, not the gratuitous violence.  The lead character, Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Grimes, waking in a world that was not the one he remembers, having lost his family, and beginning his quest to find them, still takes the time to find the crawler he encountered early in the show and provide the mercy that was needed.  Lots of promise is this one.  I’ll keep tuning in.

jp

Dominion Play

The eldest and I got to play some Dominion after dinner tonight.

We did three games with me taking two and her stomping me on the third.  Just took her a while to get warmed up I guess!

I'm going to try and sign up for the FoW tournament at the Game Shoppe on the the 30th.  I haven't played in about 6 months so it is about time to get stomped there too. I'll have to dust off the Italians.

Not much new going on.  Hope to go see RED this weekend and looking forward to The Walking Dead on Halloween.

jp
What me game?

Italians on the roll

On Saturday I got to participate in the first Flames of War event of the year down at the Game Shoppe.  It was Paul's first tournament as an organizer and he did a real stand up job on keeping the games rolling and players in line.   We had 12 participants with an equal split between axis and allies.  One Italian (Me!), five Germans, six Americans.

Round One: I played Mick's American Infantry, but the scenario had delayed reserve rules in effect, meaning half my army wouldn't be on the table until much later in the game.  In fact, I never got two platoons on the board and I lost due to attrition, unable to stop the big heavy monster's that Mick brought.  I lost more then 50% of my platoons and my CO was dead, so everyone that was left fled.  Loss at 5-2

Round Two: The scenario was about the Mid War Monster breaking down and having to go rescue it before your opponent got it off the table.  I won the attacker roll, so it gave me a bit of an advantage for the scenerio, but the mobile reserves put a pinch on my first round forces...  P40's and L6's...  That was it.  The Heavy Machine Gun Motorcycle Platoon came on turn two, but nothing else until turn four or five.  Luckly for me the P40's were able to take out Eric's Monsters and thier platoon before it moved, forcing his infantry company to slog across the table.  It was a very close game early on while I was out manned, but Eric, despite trying hard, had his dice betray him, allowing me to reorganize and push in with a tank assault.  Win at 5-2

Round Three: Again with the reserves!   It would have been nice to fight a battle with the troops I brought.  I played Rob who had to Tiger Monsters.  The goal was for him to capture one of two objectives on my side of the board.  I lost this game due to breaking with out a CO again, but I killed two Tigers which was a win in my book.  The hero of the game for me was the P40 CO that became the Unknown hero, rallied his platoon to allow the P40 a desperte shot at the back of the second Tiger to take it out of the game...  Of course, he died shortly after, but hey, that is OK.

I did a history.  I thought it was pretty good, and the guys seemed to like it.  I've posted it up in Google Docs, but the formating got a bit messed up and you loose the appeal a bit since I printed it on card stock in booklet format.   I think that helped me with best historical (I think that is what it was) which is a combo of painting (fully painted baby!), history, and sportsmanship.  I was pretty stocked, but will likely funnel the $20 into new Khador stuff (or Cygnar stuff) for Warmachine. :)

jp
Avanti! (Crap...  I forgot to do that that the entire tournament!  Dang!)

Late Night Prep

The Mid War Monsters tournament is tomorrow morning, so I've been madly painting trying to get the Italians at least looking presentable.  I've also been doing some research for the 'background' or fluff for the unit I'm playing.  I decided to go with an intelligence report (Technique and Tactics) on the Italian Reconnaissance Forces and printed it in booklet form.  I think it turned out pretty well.  If I figure out a way to share it I'll do that.

My force is here:
HQ
L6/40 - 4 stands  at 120

Combat Platoons
Armor Car - AB41 - 4 stands at 125
Lt Tank - L6/40 - 5 stands at 150
Motociclisti Platoon -  5 stands at 115
 W/ Passaglia Bombs at 10
Motociclisti MG Platoon - 5      stands at 140

MWM
P40 - 4 stands at 385

DIV SUP
Anti-tank - 47/32 Platoon - 4 stands at 185
Carri -  M14/41 - 5 stands at 300
Anti-tank - Lancia da 90/53     - 2 stands at 220

Total   1750


It is a pretty heavy recon list, but I thought four combat platoons was pretty good.


I'll let you know how the games go.


jp
ZZZzzzz

The Next Level...

Yesterday saw the start of the next level for Flames Of War slow grow league. The Italian Africa Recon Force continues its growth. I got my 600 painted up and I thought they looked pretty good. I put together Thursday (Happy T-Day) and Friday enough to field most of my 1250. This includes the M14 tanks, two big 90/53 AA guns, an additional L6 for the HQ, and a Mortocicli Machine Gun Platoon with a soloturn anti-tank gun team attached.

I played a game versus Paul's Kiwis using the break out scenario. I was the attacker since I was a mobile force and had to fight my way through his two quadrants to the one diagonal opposite my deployment zone. I opted to have my two Mortociccli platoons come in as reserves on the objective side of the board. Paul had to bring one of his two mech teams in reserve and choose the Shermans. My volume of machine gun fire did me well as I swooped in on his positions with my tanks and Paul's dice betrayed him to the end. I had a platoon on the objectives on Turn three with Paul's Shermans unable to contest them. It was a good educational game for me, allowing me to see the best way to deploy the HQ, broken up vice as a single platoon.

On Friday I also picked up a Dremel as it was on sale at Lowes. Since I've got Iron Fang to stick together, I wanted to replace the pole arms with something that wouldn't bend so much. I'll post how that goes.

A week ago, TJ dropped me a note to let me know that his local game store had Grind on sale for $35. That is below retail costs! He swung by on Friday since he and his wife were passing by and dropped off my copy! Sweet. I opened the box and peeked, but haven't had a chance to play yet.

jp
Ci siamo!

Saturday Game Action

I got to head over to Steve's a bit early on Saturday to play my last game of the Flames of War Slow grow. It as a good solid game against Steve's Italian Infantry force (1 full platoon with Carri squad in support). I ran the same 600 point list of a L6 HQ (3), 5 L6 platoon, 4 AB-41's, 1 Motorcycle Platoon, and the 20mm AA. Steve used the Infantry to camp on my objective and used the Carri as his assault side. I used my AA on the objective and ran everything else forward. Got some good MG shots on the platoon and assaulted doing well... Except for the 2IC in the Wabbi, that ended up killing four guys + the Company Commander when the L6's finally failed a moral to continue. The Motorcycle Platoon then rolled in, dismounted, and assualted the remaining Infantry platoon, to get to the objective. However, the Carri Squad rolled the AB's and was threating the dug-in AA guns, but just couldn't pull it off. I won, but by an ugly 4-3. It was a solid game and I had a good time playing against Steve as always.

Eric showed up just as we finished and we played tho hands of Race for the Galaxy. Eric was having no luck at all and couldn't get the cards to come out for him. Steve made it a close game on the first one, but I one by a few points with the Galactic Developer. Second game I massed 52 points to Steve's 47 using the Separatist Colony, a solid military build, but the <6> cards for explore bonuses (worth 11 I think) and the development bonus.

We then broke out Agricola which is fast becoming one of my favorite games. Eric and I were running head long with Steve having some resource issues. I played an occupation that limited the player's ability to collect their goods timely which really slowed down their development, allowing me to sprint ahead a bit. With the Sheep Farmer and a fence builder bonus I was able to fill up many spaces, plus the plow allowing me to plow 3:1 actions helped me fill up the board quickly. Close game with me having 38, Eric 32, Steve 9.

Steve's lady friend and her friend came over and we started a game of Talisman. It was the GW 4th edition with the Fantasy Flight add-on. It went pretty well, kind of slower playing then I remember, but I had to bail out near the end as it was getting late.

Solid Saturday of gaming. Good times! :)

jp
Game On!

Weekend O' Gaming

Salutations,

I got quite a bit of gaming in over the weekend. I kicked it off with a game of Flames of War with Paul at the house. I was suppose to go to the slow grow league, but forgot to pack my toys! Paul was nice enough to come over that night so we could knock out the game.

The game was a great game of my Recon Italians versus Paul's Motorized Brits. It was a blood bath on both sides with me having a clear line to the objective, but loosing one stand too many and loosing enough platoons to force a test. Since Capitino had passed away, that wasn't happening. Paul got the win with a 4-3.

Saturday I had a game of Warmachine with Adam. I started my Khador stuff and used a Sorcha rush with four Shock Troopers, a Kovnik marshaling a Berserker, Mechanics Marshaling a Juggernaut, Widowmakers, & Grey Lords. Adam was running Magnus with a Mangler, a Mule, 2 Renegades, Herne & Jonne. I moved everyone up pretty aggressively, and on turn two I popped Icy Gaze to freeze all the 'Jacks, allowing me to run my heavy hitters in position. Won't be able to do this trick in MkII, but it worked for now. The Kov & Berserker took the Mule while the Shock Troopers worked on the Mangler. Neither finished the job, but they did some serious damage. The Widowmakers exchanged rounds with Herne & Jonne and came up on top. I used the Juggernaut and Grey Lords to tie up a Renegade and keep Magnus worried. Game ended with Sorcha doing a few solid hits with Ice Fang. It was a good game from my point. Adam and I discussed tactics, like hiding the lights behind the heavies so they could both fire. Also discussed swapping the Mule for a Nomad so he could bring the Pirate McNale into the fight.

Saturday afternoon I was at Rob and Steve's and we rolled up Savage World characters. It is interesting system and I hope to run a modern setting game in Las Vegas. The characters are all 'real world' entities. Rob and Steve opted to make a larger version of themselves at 'GAMA Trade Show' while Eric made an employee of the Excalibur in full medieval attire. Paul rounded up those present with a cowboy reenactor from one of the sideshows on the edge of town. We tried the combat system versus a pack of dogs and it wasn't pretty. That lead to some minor character mods to help things along. Hope to have a real go in a few weeks.

Later Mic showed up and we played a bit of Rob's Forgotten Realms D&D game. I rolled up a new character, a 5th level Tempest Fighter that had lots of attacks, but low damage. One encounter was good, but I was dead tired and headed home about 11pm.

On Sunday, The Eldest and her Roommate came over for dinner. I roasted a chicken with potatoes, carrots, & green beans. It was pretty yummy if I say so myself. We played a three handed Ticket to Ride with The Eldest winning with a whopping 8 routes complete. We then introduced her Roommate to Pandemic. We lost to virus outbreak in the first game, but one the second.

Lots of games... :)

Finally, I worked on the WARMACHINE MkII Slow Grow League Rules. You can find them on The Game Shoppe Forum for review and comment. It should be fun.

jp
Play!

Painting up the Italians

Ciao,

I've been working on the Italians for the paint and play being run down at the Shoppe. I've been pretty happy with the work so far, used my crappy camera to take some shots, but it has never done close ups very well.

This is the general painting area and all the stuff in its general areas... Most of the 600 points is on the dirty paper towel. For those I still need to do the highlight colors after doing the wash on the infantry and guns. The tank teams need the treads done as well as some detail pick outs. Not sure how I'm going to do the markings yet.

This is the motociclo platoon. They are all but done except for some tuffs of static grass for dead weeds.

The last picture to show is my one objective for round one.

The camp scene is nearly done, static grass and work on the fire pit a bit as well as the highlights on the troopers to help bring back some of the detail following the wash. Also need to dry brush the palm a bit to make it greener... I guess it isn't quite ready for prime time yet. :)

A few more happy snaps can be found here

Hope to get a game in on Friday with them.

jp
Putting the IT in Italians

Edit: Having some pic issues with Blogger. :(

Father of all updates

Lets see... Since my last blog, much gaming had transpired or at least a fair amount.

On Tuesday the normal Warmachine crowd meet at The Game Shoppe to play a few games. To be honest it has been over a week and I can't remembered what I played! Must be getting old.

On Thursday, I went over to Steve and Rob's with Space Hulk in tow. Steve and I decided that we would try to go through the 12 scenarios over time, each of us playing one side. I had a bit of an advantage since I have played the first scenario already with JC and it helped. In Suicide Mission, the Marines have to get the Heavy Flamer to the control room and torch it. No easy task as the Genestealer player has tons of tokens to flood the board. I was able to pull off the mission, but I blame the fact that it was Steve's first game. On the reverse side, I was able to swarm the Marines with the Genestealers, preventing them from the objective.

On Friday, the Directorate had a 'Patriot Day' bike ride event. I did a 25 mile bike ride with my back side protesting furiously. Afterwards I hit the Shoppe and picked up my Italian Army for the Flames of War Africa Mid-War Slow Grow (FoWAMWSG). I spent the next few hours quickly putting together enough guys to get a 're-learn' game in that evening. Paul kicked off the league and I got a game at 600 points against Kyle's American Airborne. I did pretty well, but his 6 pounders made mince meat of my (pseudo-) armor. Kyle took the game, but by a 4-3 victory.

Saturday I ran a WARMACHINE Steamroller tournament at the Shoppe. We had 10 folks show, thanks to Lincoln bringing down three and a new guy coming from Columbus! It was well done and everyone seemed to have a good time. Mike L. took overall with a nasty pirate list. Chris' trollbloods took second. Alex from Lincoln took best painted, as always, and Greg took best sportsman since his tie with Adam and the new guy Nick placed him higher up in the standings. I was suppose to head over to Steve and Rob's for some D&D, but I was beat from all the activity and called and gave my regrets and headed home.

On Sunday, I spent the vast majority of the day cleaning the house as The Other Half was returning and I wanted the place to look nice. I did some priming of my Italians and the Space Hulk figures as well.

Tuesday I didn't get to hit the Shoppe as I was in Baltimore for work, just returning on Thursday night. No gaming other then Spider Solitaire. :)

Friday, I got to play golf. Hadn't done that in about three years and it shows. Luckily it was Best Ball and we used my shots about once every 15... I can live with those odds.

That brings us all current to today. I spent some time painting the Italians. Working on the Motciclisti Platoon with the Alce Motorcycles as well as the HQ AB41's. It looks like I'll have to play Steve, Paul, and Eric for the slow grow first cut. I'll post the lists and how the painting is going soon. Also the Battle Foam for Space Hulk showed up in the mail. They are nice, but looks like I am missing a slight cut on the Sargent with the Power sword. He is a bit of tight fight, but the others are OK. I may have to custom hack a bit of the foam.

jp

Catching up!

A saturday afternoon

With my Sister and JC in town, we spent some time tootling around. We hit the Farmer's Market for some fresh veggies for Sunday, hit D-Rocks to check out some guitars as JC is a long time player, and then finally the Game Shoppe.

At the Shoppe I joined the Flames of War slow grow league and decided on creating an Italian force for my British to fight. I used by discount to get my HQ, some combat platoons, a few weapons platoon and some divisional support. A bit more the first level of 600 points, but I was using the discount so I wanted to make sure I got enough to get started.

I also picked up my copy of Space Hulk. The contents look great and I can't wait to start putting the pieces together.

After dinner at Espana, we went back to the house and played a few rounds of Apples to Apples. Good times were had by all and we laughed at all the funny word combos. My Sis almost wet herself from a really bad knock knock joke failure.

Off to bed know, more to follow...

jp

Who's there? Orange

Solo Race

I've been playing a ton of Race for the Galaxy solo... Well, if a single game is 1/16th of a ton, then I guess it is a ton. Using the new home worlds, I've been trying to beat the game's 'robot' on easy. I think I am missing something or I'm a bad player. I'm only winning about 1 in every 4 games versus the automatic opponent.

The updated stats can be found on the spreadsheet. It isn't real pretty. Don't think I have hit every combo of homeworlds, but some are just easier then others to win against (or loose against). I like Galactic Developers. The extra card every development phase is a great starting benefit. If you can get the other Development boosts, you can become a <6> card laying down machine. If you have Investment Credits, the <6> with a -1 Development and have the new Crash Research that allows you to discard it for a -3, then you can get the new <6> for free on your turn, actual +1 with the Galactic Developers in your hand.

I'm taking a training course next week. Thank you Department of Air Force. I'm taking RftG in tow to fill in the non-study times.

I'm going to miss gaming tonight as it is my last night home for a bit and next week as I have to take the cert exam on Saturday in Boston. On the 15th the guys are running a doubles Flames of War event so no sweet, sweet D&D action for me then either. I've placed by quarter on the table for the 22nd and hopefully that will work out.

Last Tuesday was great for Warmachine at the Shoppe. We had eight players (nine really) and quite a bit of action. Good times. Thanks to Dan and Adam for showing up on their vacation day. I'm still trying to place appropriate leverage on Adam to put in his PP application. When the store expands we should have enough room for a Saturday or Sunday event to complement the Tuesday event. Plus then we can tag team the tournament.s So Adam... How's that application going? :)

I'll try to update from Boston.

jp

Developer of the Galactic

A whole week... Wow...

What can I say... I'm behind the curve yet again. :) So let me catch you up on the happenings this week.

Thursday I got to sneak out for some Paint Night action at Casa Rob&Steve. Paint night is a bit of a stretch. Steve was basing his Italians for Flames of War and I put together Epic Cain for a 750 point Warmachine Tournament on the Saturday. After that 'painting' I twisted arms to play Race for the Galaxy. Steve, Paul, Eric and Rob all seemed to enjoy the game and I may be able to talk them into it again in the future.

As stated the Warmachine tournament was down at the Shoppe. James volunteered to run the event for me, which was great, so I could play. I played my new Epic Cain list with Sword Knights and GMA. Fun list, bad player. I could have one the first round by scenario, but I got greedy and went for Caster Kill. That allowed Epic Gorshade to return the favor. Game two, I put Cain WAY too out front that led him to get squished by halberds led by Ashlyn. Final game was versus Skarre and I didn't even come close as she put the hurt down on old Cain with a roll of 17 on the first Skarre Bomb... jp not do so good as a player, but he did have fun.

On another note, I did find out that Tyler from Lincoln picked up his colors and will be running WM out in that area. His first event is on the 21st of March and I'm working to see if that is something I'll be able to swing or not.

After the tournament, I had to stick and run a MonPoc event. I think that will be the last time I double dip as it makes for a way too long day. The event went fine, hodgepodge of items thrown in for support.

On Tuesday, I got to have some B-Day cake complements of Ms. Becky. I also went all in for the 'War of the Ring' picking up several plastic box sets and movement trays using my discount. I spent some time with the preview rule book and I must say, I like the system. Becky, Heath, Mike and I finished off the night with two games of Pandemic. We lost both games... I blame Becky as she drew at least six of the eight epidemic cards that showed up!

Tomorrow night Steve, Becky, Heath, and I are off to the Watchman after a quick stop at Hooters for dinner. I am very excited, despite the middle of the road average over at Rotten Tomatoes. I'll post my review on Friday as I'm taking the day of after being up until 3am!

That is about it for tonight, I'll let you know Friday my thoughts on the Movie.

jp
Giddy as a School Girl

Nuke Con 08

I've signed up two events for Nuke Con 08.

On Sunday I'm going to run a WARMACHINE & Hordes 500 point tournament and on Saturday Night I'll run a IK RPG based on 4e Mods.

I can't hit the Fall Out Shelter, but you might. Not sure what the issue is. Nuke Con site is www.nuke-con.com.

Rob is running a FoW tournament on Saturday in the morning if I remember correctly as well.

jp

Flames of War & Character Gen

Ok, not really related, but they both happened on Saturday.

I got a chance to play in the Flames of War (FoW) tournament on Saturday. It was a fun time, despite the massive headache I had running form about half way through my second game. Rob ran an interesting format of only 750 points, which in the FoW world is pretty darn small. The Game Shoppe hosted the event and we had about ten folks show. Four rounds ensured plenty of time to get your FoW itch out of the way.

I ran a Brit Infantry Company with a HQ, under strength Inf. Platoon, 3 Churchill III (Cheddary Bastard!), a HMG platoon, and a 20mm AA section. Not a lot of toys on the table. I went D-W-W-D which really surprised me since I haven’t played the game all that much. Took fourth place and got a nice little gift card, which promptly got spent on some D&D minis. Which takes us to the Character Gen…

So with blazing headache, I offered up the opportunity to go and role up some characters! It went pretty well, a bit slower then I would have liked, but not too bad. Bonus: Eric and Paul who missed the tournament were able to come and play too. The only missing in action was Steve, who was paying off his debt to society by helping a buddy that helped him move, move. Steve you are a righteous man!

So here is what we got so far:

• Extell: Human Fighter who is stronger then anyone ought to be. (Mic will be joining us on a part time basis...)
• Eldacar: Halfing Rouge with a pair of Katar Punching Daggers (Rob)
• No Name Joe: Dragonborn Paladin of the Raven Queen (Eric)
• No Name Joe II: Half-Elf Warlord who is a work in progress :-) (Paul)
• Frak: A Dwarf Cleric that wants to be in the front rank (Mark)
• Sliver Elmwalker: Elf Ranger, Master Archer. (Kyle - Winner of coolest name too!)

In game terms we have two Defenders, two Leaders, & two Strikers. Not a bad mix. With Steve still to role up a character, we might get a controller, but if not I think that we should be OK.

We took a quick encounter, level one. Bad guys were similar to what I ran the last test. 1 – 3rd level Goblin Hexer, 3 – 1st level Goblin Warriors, and 6 - 1st level Goblin Cutters (minions). The party burned three of their daily powers on the encounter, and several of the players took some hits. They should have been OK to go to another encounter with out any issues.

With a successful test run, I think this is what may happen in the near future. I’ll finish up the current Dark Heresy adventure and turn over the “Purge the Unclean” to Rob who can take over DH GM duties. I’ll step in to run D&D adventure and pick up a player in the DH campaign. I’m looking at a Psyker! I would like Rob and I to swap adventures. So Rob would run a story line to completion, then I would run a D&D dungeon to an end… flopping back and forth about every three to four weeks. That should give both of us plenty of time to generate new material and a chance to both play and run a game.

For the D&D players, I’m going to force the guys to do a bit of homework. I want them to write up a short character background. Nothing hard core, just a paragraph or so that I can use as adventure threads. Bonus XP to the players that provide me more then two lines of flavor text! :-p

Let me know what the gang thinks, if that is doable.

jp
Gaming Whore