HotT FTW

On Friday night I took my Irish Heroes down to the club for a Hordes of the Things tournament. It is a very simple army with a Hero General, Hero and 8 war band. My opponents fielded much more mixed armies and I think that was the telling point. My command and control was much simpler and my plan was simply to grind away with the Wb while taking care of the opposing Cv with my heroes. No fancy manoeuvring or match ups. I doesn't hurt that a hero general at +6 is a pretty imposing base to face. I was also very lucky in that I was defender in all three games so I was able to choose both terrain and get the first move which allowed me to offset my opponents' deployment and control the tempo of the game. There were a couple of misplays through the three games thanks to differences in the DBx series but nothing game changing. More practice is required :)

In all a good evening and though yes I won, it was the playing that made it. My one regret was that Marc's work schedule meant he couldn't play.

A great night

I got an invite to a DBMM game last night. Romans vs Selucids at Thermopylae. I made a total hash up of the Roman cavalry command but had a great time doing it. Rather than running out to get a bunch of Selucid cav, I am motivate to get my Britons painted up so I can learn to use cav better. I also found a potential place to play with my Montrose.

A very good night. Thanks to Nick for hosting.

The Martians are Coming! (along nicely)

I have about half of the martians painted and dipped. I just need to go over them with flat varnish and they will be table ready. I started on the Brits but the red I was using was far too dark and I will have to start again.

Reinforcements

They're Here!

Yesterday was a very good day for any number of reasons. One of the best of which was a package from RAFM via Canada Post containing 40+ Canal Martians, 20 Colonial British, assorted Victorian adventurers and - A Gatling Gun! Along with the Brits I already have, I will be able to field two companies plus some extras. Fun times ahead.

DBA Marians almost done - Pushing forward

I got a little demoralized at pushing off projects so I sat down last night and put the final paint on enough 6mm Marians for a 25mm DBA army. I just need to base them up and do some flocking and they are ready for the table.

I had been toying with the idea of getting a horde of 6mm Greek psiloi to make up an early Libyan army. However, the Baccus Greeks aren't out yet and Marc has his Thracians and will be getting Greek Hoplites so that is enough for us to get on with.

I have also been toying with Space 1889 again and went over to the RAFM site for a quick drool. %30 off all orders - ending that day. So I ordered two lots of Martians, another batch of British, a Gatling gun and some Victorian Civilians. I then dug out my existing company of Brits and got on with painting them. Much progress of an evening.

DBMM - What is a normal army?

In response to a question on the DBMM list on AP reduction for smaller 300 point armies Phil wrote:

I still think of 300 AP as a standard size army, so no.
As rules have simplified over the years, there has been a continuous trend
for people to use bigger armies to slow the game down again (and becausethey just cannot bring themselves to stop buying lead).
Phil

Those of us with small lead stocks should be happy - I am. ;)

I painted.

There has been a lot going on over the last while that has cut into hobby time.  Marc was able to get over a couple of times for some DBA and HotT but that has been it.  This weekend was fairly quiet so during the movies Willard (excellent) and Tin Man (visually stunning but slow) I nearly finished the last of the Marians needed to make up a DBA army. All that is left is pila, touchups and basing.

It wasn't much work and really a small thing in the the grand scheme but very satisfying.  Next up Alexandrian imperials. 

Busy Summer

It has been a very busy Summer with a couple of camping trips and Steampunk events taking up most of my free time.  On the last camping trip I was able to get in a couple of games of Hordes with Marc and introduce the game to a few other lads as well. An added bonus was receiving a shipment of Montrose English Civil War miniatures from Neil Shuk of Meeples and Miniatures. Not a period I have looked at before but free lead is free lead. My current plan is to paint them up and use them for Pike Shotte and Zombies skirmish games.

Real Life

I had intended on getting in a solid days worth of painting this Sunday last. Eldest daughter was going off on a double date but all the movies playing were crap so they wound up back at our place. I have not been able to get my painting space in the garage setup again after the last big cleanup. I was going to use the kitchen table but that is close to the library where the quartet of teens was hanging out. So, in order to be a good parent and give the kids some space but be close enough to know if things were getting too quiet, I wound up upstairs watching Two Men Went to War and First Squad and didn't lift a brush.

Oh Well.....

Father's Day

After two Father's day breakfasts - sibling rivalry has its benefits - I headed out to the club for a little gaming. Marc brought out his gobbos and I re-glued my dinos. We got in 3 games with me winning 2-1 but only barely. Marc can still roll dice like a demon and in the first game I managed 4 1's in a row in combat before retiring the dice. In the final game I went for a very cluttered board to give my dinos as beasts good terrain and replaced my hero general with a cleric general. Marc switched out the blades he had used to this point and went with bow  for the bad terrain.

The cleric was just the thing as its cone of protection messed up Marc's magicians. My beasts were shot to ribbons leaving me 8 points down but he had pushed his general into the bad going and got stomped for his foolishness leaving me with a win.

A great set of games if a little frustrating at times. HotT may get looked down on as just a fantasy set, but it remains one of my fast play favourites.

Reinforcements

With some acting pay in my pocket, I was able to place another order with Baccus this morning. I have been smitten by the look of pikes since I first discovered 6mm so I ordered up some extra cavalry for my Marians and the 25mm GS DBA Macedonian Army - Pikes, Pikes, Baby!. This will give me two DBA armies to field with support options for the Marians and a start on DBMM as well. Marc has the opponents but I'll let him post about that.

Whoot!

The game that started all things steampunk for me is getting new life from its original creator. Frank Chadwick has started up a new Space 1889 blog. In the works are new skirmish rules and 15mm and 1/1200 minis.

Snow Shoes are Go!

It's going to happen. Thanks to dinner provided by my goth house sitter Chrissy and cutting help from her partner Mike, as of midnight last night I have completed 4 brass, copper and wood spring cannons, a landed martian cylinder and 3 tripods and a whack of human land ships. The final steps are to glue the bases on for which I will be buying another glue gun at lunch and to play test which I shall do with my gaming buddy Marc at the convention. AS the camera is at the convention, I have no pictures but will post some as soon as they become available.

Just Maybe - Martians in the Snow at the CNSE

The current election in Canada is due to take place on Monday May 2 - right after the Canadian National Steampunk Exhibition. Since I work for Elections Canada, this was going to prevent me from running my Martians in the Snow game. However, my unit's work load is slowing down and I have managed to parlay some of my over time into three days at the CNSE. This week will be filled with doing all the prep work I didn't do because the game wasn't on. Ugern from Junior General has created an impressive series of War of the Worlds paper troops that I will be using for the game.



The game is afoot and pictures will follow after the event (the Countessa is taking the camera with her...).

Life vs gaming

Between the ramp up to the Canadian general election and re-doing the office space I have had precious little time to game and no time to paint. Even my Martians in the Snow game I was going to run at the CNSE is threatened by the election so might not happen.

That said I did manage to beat to a pulp win a few games playing HotT with Marc and I have had a couple of extended games of Zombies with friends and family. Good friends bought us a bag of extra zombies the same day we bought an extra bag as well - so no more using counters. The missus also added zombies dogs to the mix and given the estrogen level in the house, girl zombies are on order "Not the teeth, Tammy."

And if you are Canadian - Remember to vote, or spoil your ballot or refuse it just get out there and do something.

I think I just found a HotT Army for my youngest.

Magister Militum Meerkats

Sandals into the new year.

Nothing much to report on the gaming front the last month or so. I was able to place an order for some of Baccus' new Marian Romans. When they arrive, I will be faced with a decision: Base them for 15mm frontage or 25mm frontage. Currently, my Dwarves are all on 60x30mm bases and I love the mass effect this size gives. However, going to 60mm takes the Marians out of the running for 15mm HotT and DBA - both popular out my way. Decisions, decisions....