The streak continues

Yep, lost another game. It's common enough that I really should have a label for it or something. I got in another game last night at Dice Dojo, this time against Luke.

He was running trolls:

• pHoarluk
• Mauler
• Blitzer
• Full unit of fennblades plus UA
• Full unit of stone bearers

I was trying out Maelok again, and had:

• Maelok
• Bull Snapper
• Ironback
• Wrastler
• Full unit of posse
• Croak Hunter

Long story short, I lost. I made some truly stupid rookie mistakes (like forgetting to heal a beast before burning through fury on Maelok), and some that show I haven't played beyond battlebox lately, like forgetting that pHoarluk has Rampager - fortunately, he used it mainly to keep the wrastler out of the way, instead of attacking other stuff with it.

Eventually, it came down to me attempting a charge, and failing. Again, I should have checked control first - although the game was over at that point, so if I could not make the charge, I was finished. I can't say that I learned anything from the game, but I was certainly reminded of how some mistakes are very easy to make.

Still had fun though, and got to watch some other games. I did pick up some of the Cygnar figs - a full unit of Long Gunners plus the UA, a unit of rangers, eNemo, and a HRT for my poor neglected Retribution. With the Hammerfall UA and the Khador wardog I picked up Wednesday night, my collection got some holes filled, and I have some painting to do once we get back home.

Third time was not the charm

So, I got in yet another game tonight, this time at Unique Gifts & Games, up in Grayslake. It's not too far from the in-laws, which turned out to be rather fortunate. I got there a bit early, and browsed shelves for a bit until other people showed up and I could get a game in. I met my opponent, we agreed on points, set up the table, I pulled my figs, tokens, dice, etc. And then started looking for my cards. And looked. And looked. And came to the realization that I had left them back at the in-laws.

The fact that there were children present kept me from using the language that I wanted to use, but I begged out (missing an eCaine match-up), ran back, picked up the cards, and came back in time to get in a game.

My opponent (Chris) was running the Heavy Armor Battalion theme list from NQ #39. At 35 pts, he had:

• eIrusk
• Behemoth
• Juggernaut
• Gun Carriage (x2)
• min unit of mechanics (x2)

I was trying out Sturm & Drang, also a theme list, and had:

• Sturm & Drang
• Warhog (x2)
  
• Targ
• max units of Brigands (x2)
• Slaughterhousers

The game did not go well. I chose the wrong personality, and also chose to go second. I should have chosen Sturm and gone first. I would have fared better.

Without going into a long, drawn-out, and pictureless report - by my second turn, my slaughterhousers were dead, as was one of the war hogs. I did manage to kill a mechanic and one of the gun carriages, but I could not get to his caster. He wiped out my last warhog, and although I almost managed to take out the second gun carriage (literally, I left it on its last damage box), but there was nothing I could do to stop the Behemoth from stomping S&D into the ground.

Good game, and I had a lot of fun. S&D is definitely a tricky warlock to play - I will have to give him another try. I already have some modifications to the list that I want to try, and cannot wait until I get the chance to lose with him again.

No gaming stuff for Christmas

To be honest, I wasn't expecting any gaming stuff anyway, so it was not a huge letdown. I think I may treat myself to a small gaming item or two over the next week or so, since I will be at several stores which carry a good stock of Warmahordes.

The best thing about iBodger

is that I can work on army lists pretty much anywhere. A lot of them may be theorymachining, since my play beyond battle box has been extremely limited of late, but it's something to do, and I can try to eliminate obvious weaknesses. (All comments about my troll slugger and scattergunner list can stay in the peanut gallery, thank you very much.)

So, since we had to be at church extremely early for the Christmas service, I took along ibodger and made some theory lists, and changed up the troll list I lost with yesterday. I need to try the new one at some point - I think it is a slightly better list, and a couple more tries with Jarl certainly cannot hurt.

On a related note, my magic 8 balls says, when I ask about gaming stuff being under the tree tomorrow, laughs at me. Looks like I'll have to buy my own gaming-related presents this year. What a shame.

Another day, another loss.

Quick post, but I got in another game this afternoon. This time, I got to play Felix (of Pokeminiatures fame). Instead of trying gators again, I tried out a troll list. I had been wanting to try Jarl, and I had a 25 point list that I wanted to try.

It failed. Not spectacularly, but it failed. Part of the problem, I think, stems from my failure to use Jarl to the fullest, but a unit of sluggers and a unit of scattergunners just doesn't have enough punch to deal with heavies. And the RAT on both is pretty low, which made dealing with Def 13 infantry tough.

Again, I had fun, and I did not lose as badly as yesterday. I'll post a more detailed report later, and when Felix gets his report written, I will link to it.

Losing is fun too

So, my original plan was to drive down to Dice Dojo this evening and get a couple of games in. I forgot that the Edens can back up quite a bit, and forgot to budget some extra time for that. Add in some unfamiliarity with the area, some poor directions, and I got there somewhat later than originally planned.

I did mange to get a game, however. Dan (I think) was running pigs, and he had Carver, 2 War Hogs, a Gun Boar, Rorsch & Brine, a unit of slaughterhousers and a unit of brigands. On my side, I had Maelok, an Ironback, a Wrastler, a Bull Snapper, two full units of Gatormen, a Croak hunter, and swamp gobbos.

Long story short, I lost, and fairly badly. No complaints - I deserved to lose. It was the no-man's land scenario, and deft use of Quagmire pretty much kept one of my units of Gatormen out of the game. My only hope at the end was an assassination run, and it failed. I got close, but close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and 5" templates.

The important thing is that I had fun, and I hope to get in another game or two tomorrow.

Getting stuff ready for the holiday

Since I am on the road over Christmas, I'm taking some Warmahordes stuff with me. I'm trying to pack light; I'm taking only three armies (more or less - I'm not taking all I have of one faction, and pretty much limited to what I have for the other two anyway). I expect to lose some games, maybe win once or twice, and have a lot of fun.

I have very few readers (somewhere between 0 and 3, I think), but I am not going to post army lists. I will say that I am taking trolls, pigs and gators though.

More Hirst Arts goodness.

Not sure if I have said it before, but I am a license holder for Hirst Arts. Basically, it means that I sell kits, or sell in excess of $1k per year - both of which are true, for a loose enough definition of "true." At some point, possibly beginning next year, I need to move forward with making it an actual business, but that's another post.

Anyway, in the last couple of days, I have had 200 pounds of Ultracal 30, and 100 pounds of dental plaster delivered. And today, I got 5 more molds - all ones for making the Space Hulk board. I already have the molds to make the board, but the addition of these turns it from a month-long project into one that can be done in a couple of weeks.

So, tonight, in addition to trying to get some painting done, I need to pour some plaster and start assembling some things for sale again. I don't make much, but it does pay for more Hirst Arts stuff, and helps keep me in miniatures.

More undead

I spent most of my painting time tonight working on more Cryx figs. Nothing finished, but a lot of things moved along. And it will do me no good for months, possibly more. Meh.

In the meantime, I am making some army lists for what I want to test over the holiday break. I intend to get some games in, and, while I do not intend to lose, that's probably how it is going to go. I will have fun losing, however, and that is what really matters.

Riddle me this. ..

I haven't played my Cryx in something like 18 months. I certainly haven't bought any new figs for it - one of the reasons that I haven't played them is because I need to fill out some units, and buy some new ones, to make armies that are more than legal - getting slaughtered because the army is a 35-pt collection of random things is not fun on a routine basis.

Anyway, I was down in the basement tonight, thinking about what I was going to take with me to play over the holidays. I'm currently leaning toward pigs, gators, and trolls. I have thought about Retribution, or possibly even Legion. So why did I wind up spending the evening painting Cryx that I won't be using anytime soon?

Quick thought on 2013

Sure, sure - next year is still a few weeks away, but I started thinking about it the other day. I hope to get a lot done (gaming-wise) in 2013 - get back to GenCon, play a lot more Warmahordes, actually get some more stuff painted, get my local community active, maybe get at least all my Warmahordes stuff assembled and primed, make and sell a lot of terrain. Lots of stuff.

So, for my couple of readers out there - sometime in the next couple of weeks, I intend to post a list of what I plan on getting done in 2013. And, once you are done laughing, I expect you to post snide comments about my lack of progress from time to time. Because if I have learned one thing over the years, it's that a public declaration of intent puts a lot more pressure on me than any private goals ever will.

Trimming (but not the tree)

On the good news front, I got the sluggers either primed or ready for priming (depending on the fig), as well as the scattergunner UA. I still have some scattergunners unassembled, and that probably won't be fixed before the weekend, but I'll play them anyway.

On the bad news front, the magnets in both the torso and one of the heads shifted as I was gluing them, and I really don't like the way they are currently seated. So, tomorrow, I have to get them out and try it again - I thought about doing it tonight, but decided that it just wasn't worth the effort right now.

Still trying to decide what to take for the weekend. I generally take battlebox forces to loan out, and I have been taking some Legion, Menoth and Skorne stuff to loan as well. I then take an army or two to try out. I usually don't get in more than one or two games, but that's a darn sight better than zero. Anyway, I want to take my pigs, so Sturm & Drang can get a road test, but I am wondering if I should just take some trolls, now that I have a new unit, a new UA, and a new 'lock.

And I need to think about my holiday travels as well. I'll take along paints, supplies, and a couple of armies, since I should be able to find a game in the Chicago area, right? (Yes, I know about Games Plus and Unique Games. I will be reasonably close to both of them.)

Not much progress today

Spent a good chunk of the afternoon trying to fix a computer issue, so I lost that time. I did get Jarl and Gorten primed, and three of the sluggers assembled, so there is that. And, while puttering in the basement, I remembered that I had some small drill bits which (1) were the right size for the jack magnets; and (2) might fit in the pin vice. Both turned out to be true, so I got a little more work done on the jacks tonight.

Probably not much tomorrow - I have to prep 8 model rockets for assembly at a Scout meeting later on in the week, and cutting the fins may take some time.

Hooray, a shirt!

My pressganger shirt arrived yesterday. I guess that makes me all official and stuff.

Did little work tonight. Remembered that I had snapped a drill bit the last time I had magnetized a plastic jack, so I couldn't get too far on my menoth or khador heavies. Got Gorten assembled, as well as Jarl, but just did not really feel like doing much tonight. Got some time blocked off for some basement time in the next few days, and I need to start thinking about what I am going to take with me over the holidays.

While I would like to take a lot, its probably going to be gators, pigs and trolls. Want to get in some practice with each of those - I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I will probably be running Minions at GenCon - I have fun with them, even when I lose, which is probably the most important thing.

Also looking at running something at a local con at the end of Feb. Stay tuned, although my readership is low enough that it probably would not make any difference in the con attendance anyway.

Win some, lose some

Got in two small games with Maelok today. Won the first against a legion list (eThag, Typhon, some shredders), mainly because the shredders were in the way of Typhon and eThag, and I used feat to get past them to the crunchy warlock center. Could have gone the other way though.

Lost the second against a Xerxis Skorne list. Bronzeback, Gladiator, min paingivers and the beatstick. It wasn't even close. I almost managed to eke out a victory - I had Xerxis down quite a bit, he had no fury, but I had to resort to slamming one of my gatormen into him to try and finish him off. When it didn't work (and, frankly, it was a long shot at best), I was done. It was a go big or go home attempt, and I got spanked for it.

Good games, both of them. I think Barnabas is still my favorite gator, but once the boneswarm and the witch doctors are out, Barnabas might have to take a back seat.

Next week, I think I will take my pigs. Sturm and Drang need some testing too.

They're heeeere

My shineys, that is. As I said previously, I had ordered some new shineys. Well, they arrived today, after that terribly long wait (since Monday, I think). I forgot that I had ordered Hakaar as well - I needed to replace one which had gone from unpainted, to painted, to given away in a few weeks.

Hoping to have some time tonight, to get the Sluggers trimmed and primed, and start work on magnetizing the plastic jacks. Maelok is going to get some work, too, if I can manage it. I want to give him a try on Saturday.

Space Hulk board

It's as finished as I am likely to get it - I just don't play Space Hulk often enough to justify any more work on it. So, it went up on Bartertown, and will go on Dakka Dakka later today. Hopefully, I can get some Talion charter figs or cash out of the deal.

Update to last post

Got the shipping notice just a few minutes ago - should have them on Thursday. That gives me tonight and tomorrow to finish up a largish terrain project and put it out on Dakka Dakka and Bartertown, before I get distracted.

(Hint - I finally am almost done with the project I showed here, as a WIP. Finally got back to it, and it's starting to look finished enough for me to get rid of it.)

More shineys on the way!

Well, in the next few days, my percentage of painted figures will drop once again, since I will be receiving:

• Maelok the Dreadbound
  
• Jarl Skuld
  
• Khador plastic heavy jack kit
• Menoth plastic heavy jack kit
• Scattergunner UA
• Trollkin Sluggers
• Gorten

It won't actually affect my painted percentage all that much - adding less than 20 new miniatures against 700 or so really doesn't change things all that much. I know that I won't finish as much this year as I had hoped, but I do think I can do better next year. I figure I will start planning some GenCon armies in the next few weeks, so I can start getting them painted well before GenCon. I'm thinking Minions, just because I like my gators and my pigs.

Hooray for gaming! (and random thoughts)

Got in two games on Sunday - a draw between Menoth and my Rhulic, and a battlebox win (my Gators over Everblight). The Menoth game was a good one, and it could have gone either way - we called it to get in a game with the other two people who showed up, which led to my Gators doing a number on a modified Everblight battlebox.

(FWIW - if I had run my pigs, the Everblight player would have slaughtered me, I think.)

Need to clear off some space on my gaming table - I ordered some more stuff, and I have some terrain that I want to get finished up and gone before the end of the year.

Not getting rid of all my finished terrain, because there is a local con at the end of Feb that I would like to see have some Warmahordes action going on. Since it is in my area, I guess that means it would be my job to organize something.

I'm back

Went dark for a while, mainly because I was on holiday for a week or so. Good times - got to see the Mars Rover launch, ate too much, drank not nearly enough, etc. No gaming though.

Hoping to do a game related post later today - have to dig out of the pile of laundry and cleaning that always accompanies vacation.

Need to make my Christmas gaming plans. Looks like I will be in the Chicago area for part of it, so I really should make a couple small army lists, and just take them and some paints, instead of trying to bring a lot and accomplishing almost none of it.