Last weekend, I managed to do something that happens to be improbable. I successfully sat down to paint. I got my 14 Ratskins painted to a very basic standard, although not completely as there are still some white bits. Once done, I'll probably give them a wash and then finish the bases and leave it at that. I don't have an incredible hunger to paint, but I have to get them finished. I actually want to move onto painting my new Infinity stuff. It will be nice to see some different models. After that I want to finish painting my Warmachine models. Then and only then, will I start to tackle my Imperial Guard and Dark Angels.
Last night's visit to the club involved a bit more Necromunda. While my campaign action was postponed, I looked for a casual game. I found one against Pete and his Van Saar gang. We opted to play a Shoot-out scenario which are always good for a laugh. When rolling for how many gang members would participate, I rolled only two while Pete rolled four! This wasn't looking good to start with. As our groups shuffled towards eaach other on the tabletop, we kept rolling to see whose nerve would break first. It turned out that Pete's gang lost it first, which was good for me as it meant some more experience at the end. We established the order of shooting, which saw my two Ratskins shoot second and joint third. Pete's first ganger missed with his shot and then so did mine. My other Ratskin failed to shoot which left them both at the mercy of the Van Saar's Heavy Stubber. This jammed after two shots (Pete rolled five shots for sustained fire) which didn't change things as it took my guys out. One of my Ratskins did get up only to be put down again.
This was a very quick game indeed. One of my Ratskins, Eecheyakee, picked up multiple injuries but survived, but both gangers picked up a stat increase. I also picked up a bit of income which enabled me to buy another ganger a Blindsnake Pouch which is always useful.
I now have to wait a week for my next game (my exploratory campaign action involving ZOMBIES) and my first taster of Infinity. I shall be reading the rules (for once) and will let you know if I like it.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Erm... fail better!
My latest game at the club saw my Ratskins pursue a campaign action against those muscle-brained Goliaths. I was hoping to get my first win this year (not an uncommon wish for any game that I play) and to do that I had to remember things. Those things included: remembering the fact that my leader (The Great White Rat) has got a Blindsnake Pouch (which stopped him from getting hurt a couple of times), remembering the fact that all games involving Ratskins are subject to Treacherous Conditions (I rolled for Toxic Fog which helped reduce the vision of the Goliaths) and remembering that some of my gang have been armed with move or fire weapons. Marcus (the Goliath owner) was otherwise occupied with a game of Warmachine, which I also have to get back into at some point, so a guy called Fishy (Ben) stood in for him. We set up for a Gang Fight scenario and I was hoping to (once again?) take advantage of my numbers – 14v9.
Having played two games with my hunters, I got a better idea on how to group my gang. I put the move or fire weapons in one group hoping to have them race towards the enemy and another of fairly reliable weapons (lasguns) coming up behind them. They were separate from my three infiltrators, who looked to spring a surprise.
Ben rolled and got the first turn in which nothing much happened. My turn saw a rather bold forward action as everyone ran towards the enemy. My infiltrators popped out of their hidey-hole and opened up on a pair of Goliaths. This turned out to be a little futile as last week’s bad dice appears to be still with me. Ben managed to get one of his gangers to throw a Hallucinogen Grenade. Although this did not have any effect on my Ratskins, it still moved around the table much like Seeawee (still suffering the effects of Stupidity, just kept moving aimlessly across the board until he got taken Out Of Action). I started to take casualties at a frightening rate while at the same time I wasn’t causing them. The gang stood their ground when it came to taking Bottle tests. It got frustrating when, not only were the few shots that actually fired failing to wound, the Goliath who threw the Hallucinogen Grenade took Flesh Wound after Flesh Wound getting up after each. At the end of the game, he took one too many and went Out Of Action.
I did manage to force Ben into a Bottle test, but he passed. In the subsequent turn, I failed mine making me lose the game. I did feel that I was onto a winner here and could have earned some campaign points for my Ratskins. It wasn’t meant to be.
The post game stuff saw my gang get a few useful skills which I can put to good use in my next game. No-one died or prematurely retired which was a good thing. My next game should be better (I’ll be looking to explore my surroundings and try to expand my territories in order to gain more Campaign points).
Having played two games with my hunters, I got a better idea on how to group my gang. I put the move or fire weapons in one group hoping to have them race towards the enemy and another of fairly reliable weapons (lasguns) coming up behind them. They were separate from my three infiltrators, who looked to spring a surprise.
Ben rolled and got the first turn in which nothing much happened. My turn saw a rather bold forward action as everyone ran towards the enemy. My infiltrators popped out of their hidey-hole and opened up on a pair of Goliaths. This turned out to be a little futile as last week’s bad dice appears to be still with me. Ben managed to get one of his gangers to throw a Hallucinogen Grenade. Although this did not have any effect on my Ratskins, it still moved around the table much like Seeawee (still suffering the effects of Stupidity, just kept moving aimlessly across the board until he got taken Out Of Action). I started to take casualties at a frightening rate while at the same time I wasn’t causing them. The gang stood their ground when it came to taking Bottle tests. It got frustrating when, not only were the few shots that actually fired failing to wound, the Goliath who threw the Hallucinogen Grenade took Flesh Wound after Flesh Wound getting up after each. At the end of the game, he took one too many and went Out Of Action.
I did manage to force Ben into a Bottle test, but he passed. In the subsequent turn, I failed mine making me lose the game. I did feel that I was onto a winner here and could have earned some campaign points for my Ratskins. It wasn’t meant to be.
The post game stuff saw my gang get a few useful skills which I can put to good use in my next game. No-one died or prematurely retired which was a good thing. My next game should be better (I’ll be looking to explore my surroundings and try to expand my territories in order to gain more Campaign points).
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
The strangest game I've played!
Last night I played the strangest game of Necromunda in my life. It certainly left me baffled as I couldn't figure out how it could have happened. I couldn't even put it down to me getting used to my new adopted gang (only their second fight under my leadership). I just... it went... the dice... what!
I went down to the club after French class as usual to get my Ratskins some more experience. The challenge I made couldn't happen as my opponent was already taking on another player. So I had a casual game against Carlos and his Pit Slaves. This probably should have been fun as long as I didn't get into close combat with them. We rolled for the scenario and chose The Hunters, in which I was to be the attacker. We would set up our models just like in the Gun Fight scenario, except that I would get all my gang available while Carlos got to take d6 of his gang. He rolled a one! As two of my guys had the Infiltrate skill, it looked to be twelve against one (although Carlos could deploy the rest of his gang on the table edges). After making the Initiative rolls it was clear that the odds were against the lonely Pit Slave the order of shooting put all of my Ratskins first. So we started the game and our respective gangs started to move towards each other. Eventually the shooting kicked off. What happened next would shock anyone.
Out of twelve Ratskins, only eight could shoot (one failed a Stupidity roll from a Head Wound and three others had move or fire weapons). The eight Ratskins that could shoot all failed to hit or failed to would. This was awful. The lone Pit Slave (a Servitor with the Bulging Biceps skill) opened up with it's Heavy Stubber. It took out my Leader and pinned three others. Three Ratskins fled the scene when the leader went down. And that was before Carlos took his turn.
Carlos brought the rest of the Pit Slaves forward. Out came another Servitor with Heavy Stubber and pinned those who were not pinned or fleeing. Two Pit Slaves came out and charged two of my fleeing warriors, and promptly put them Out Of Action with their awesome Buzz Saws. This triggered a Bottle Roll on my behalf which I promptly failed. GAME OVER!
That's right! GAME OVER!
I had the advantage but was let down by the dice. They failed to work for me yet again. Having said that, the dice made up for it in the after game by giving some nice skills and characteristic upgrades to the majority of my warriors (I now have another Infiltrator, two Ratskins have the Evade skill which could prove useful and one warrior has a full compliment of wounds).
That was possibly the most WTF game I've played in any system. Nothing went right at all and there was certainly no explanation as to why. The most annoying thing about the game was the fact that my leader was taken out right at the first minute yet again. The who should be the best Ratskin in my gang, could not even take the chance to show it. What an absolute disappointment. I just hope for the next game he can actually stand up for much longer than he has done so previously.
I went down to the club after French class as usual to get my Ratskins some more experience. The challenge I made couldn't happen as my opponent was already taking on another player. So I had a casual game against Carlos and his Pit Slaves. This probably should have been fun as long as I didn't get into close combat with them. We rolled for the scenario and chose The Hunters, in which I was to be the attacker. We would set up our models just like in the Gun Fight scenario, except that I would get all my gang available while Carlos got to take d6 of his gang. He rolled a one! As two of my guys had the Infiltrate skill, it looked to be twelve against one (although Carlos could deploy the rest of his gang on the table edges). After making the Initiative rolls it was clear that the odds were against the lonely Pit Slave the order of shooting put all of my Ratskins first. So we started the game and our respective gangs started to move towards each other. Eventually the shooting kicked off. What happened next would shock anyone.
Out of twelve Ratskins, only eight could shoot (one failed a Stupidity roll from a Head Wound and three others had move or fire weapons). The eight Ratskins that could shoot all failed to hit or failed to would. This was awful. The lone Pit Slave (a Servitor with the Bulging Biceps skill) opened up with it's Heavy Stubber. It took out my Leader and pinned three others. Three Ratskins fled the scene when the leader went down. And that was before Carlos took his turn.
Carlos brought the rest of the Pit Slaves forward. Out came another Servitor with Heavy Stubber and pinned those who were not pinned or fleeing. Two Pit Slaves came out and charged two of my fleeing warriors, and promptly put them Out Of Action with their awesome Buzz Saws. This triggered a Bottle Roll on my behalf which I promptly failed. GAME OVER!
That's right! GAME OVER!
I had the advantage but was let down by the dice. They failed to work for me yet again. Having said that, the dice made up for it in the after game by giving some nice skills and characteristic upgrades to the majority of my warriors (I now have another Infiltrator, two Ratskins have the Evade skill which could prove useful and one warrior has a full compliment of wounds).
That was possibly the most WTF game I've played in any system. Nothing went right at all and there was certainly no explanation as to why. The most annoying thing about the game was the fact that my leader was taken out right at the first minute yet again. The who should be the best Ratskin in my gang, could not even take the chance to show it. What an absolute disappointment. I just hope for the next game he can actually stand up for much longer than he has done so previously.
Monday, 8 March 2010
My new adopted gang.
My own Ratskin models arrived in the post and I can now say that I can field Bill's gang without Bill's models. I got them out of the padded envelope they arrived in and took a closer look. I realised that a lot of the models do not correspond with Bill's gang roster. This is only minor and I can work around it, I'll only have to raid my bits box..
Thursday, 4 March 2010
4 shades of AWESOME!!!
I love Apes. I love the Empire of the Apes faction. I love King Kondo. He has four forms. I know I can only use two in any game of MonPoc, but this was just a good time to show him off in a photo.My love for this charismatic ape, obviously, started with the Series 4 Mega Kit where I opted for Empire of the Apes as my faction. I got my Alpha and Ultra King Kondo models (1st and 2nd in line). I then won the roll-off for Mega King Kondo (3rd), who came as a bonus model with the Mega Kit. And then the week before last I obtained Quantum King Kondo (last in line) on evilBay from a seller in the US for much less than I imagined (only $17!!!). I saw that a German seller was trying to sell Quantum King Kondo for €47.50. So I am quite thankful that I was able to finish my simian quartet for cheap. I really now have to organise a game or two.
I have also managed to add a few units to both Apes and Terrasaurs factions. I've probably said before that what I like best about MonPoc is the fact that I don't have to paint them at all, I can just collect and play. MonPoc has a sort of PokéMon feel to it. So much so that, despite loyalty to the Radicals Agenda, I want to collect all of the other factions. But I'm not going to... yet. Instead I'll concentrate on collecting buildings.
I think I need to have a better variety of buildings, so I'll be on the look out for more.
Friday, 26 February 2010
I've done it now.
I have just ordered a Combined Army starter set for Infinity. I don't know why. I think I hadn't woke up properly or something. I don't know when I'll get time to start playing with everything going on at the club.
I also boosted my MonPoc forces as well with a few more units. I also need to get into playing game. Why do I want to play all these different systems? Life was certainly more simple before I started attending Charing Cross Gaming Club.
I also boosted my MonPoc forces as well with a few more units. I also need to get into playing game. Why do I want to play all these different systems? Life was certainly more simple before I started attending Charing Cross Gaming Club.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Another game, another loss, another round of run!
Despite my first game of Necromunda in well over a decade ending in a rather bad loss, I had fun reliving the past. I was amazed that I remembered anything from that time at all and didn’t need much help remembering certain rules.
I turned up at the club, which was quite busy as all of the table were booked, all excited like my old teenage self. I put my coat and bag down and got my self a pint of bitter (I was a little early). I got to talking to another gamer who is selling pretty much all of his models (he is leaving the country soon). We had arranged for me to buy some Necrons from him (this little lot takes my army total to nearly 6000). Once I bagged my purchase, I watched some of the other Necromunda games being played. I actually missed my opponent playing his first game, but I caught his post game (rolling for injuries, generating income, etc). Once Dezul (real name Chris) had finished, he called me over to begin play.
Now Bill (the guy who dropped out of the campaign) had forgot to leave his Ratskins behind. This meant that I had to use a handful of zombie models to use as proxies to add to the few models that I had received from evilBay. Once I established which model was which ganger (the zombie with the bone club has a lasgun while the zombie with the green trousers has a shotgun), we got down to setting up. I had challenged Dezul and his Eschers to a Loot and Pillage scenario. This meant that he had to set up just a few of his gang (the remainder coming on as reinforcements) and set up the loot tokens which I would be after. I then set up my large gang (14 members) in 4 smaller groups in the hope that if one was hurt, their buddies could still carry on the fight.
To start off, the only thing I could do was to race towards the lovely loot. Then Dezul took a pot-shot with his leader (she was on overwatch) and took out my leader straight away. He also failed his reinforcements roll.
The next turn saw more running on my part. Those Ratskins that were under fire had frozen and pinned by enemy fire, couldn’t shoot back because they were mostly carrying muskets and blunderbusses (very short range weapons). This time Dezul managed to get some reinforcements to come on. They came on behind on behind my leaders’ group and toasted them with a Flamer! Just one Ratskin was left standing from that group, amazed that he survived. The amazement didn’t last long as he was taken out by the flamers’ buddy. Dezul’s Wyrd took shot at the Ratskins on the other side of the table and missed. His leader did much better and took out another scout.
I raced forward some more and grabbed some loot. Dezul’s turn saw some more reinforcements enter play. This brought another flamer, which in turn brought some pain to a couple more of my gang.
One of my braves then raced forward to grab some more loot, while two of my guys took out the newly arrived flamer and pal. This time Dezul’s Wyrd performed a little better and used his telepathic power to knock out one of my guys. Then the Escher leader had the best shot of the game where she shot one of my guys at long range. While this only caused a flesh wound, it was enough to make him fall two stories onto another one of my gang (thankfully he wasn’t hurt).
I spent the next turn trying to retreat back to my table edge in order to regroup. My shooting was ineffective. Dezul then led a charge with his Eschers. The first hand-to-hand combat of the game ended with a draw.
With the vast majority of my gang either down or out of action, I decided to tactically ‘bottle it’. It was clear that I wasn’t going to get anything more from the game.
So we both did our end of game stuff. I had a bit of bad rolling on the Serious injuries chart with two Dead results, one Capture and a couple of Head Wounds. With everything updated, my gang (Bill’s gang) were looking a little shell-shocked. There were unlucky to have a flamer sneak up behind them, but it didn’t retract from the fun. I later learned the Ratskins are resilient. This means that they can re-roll on the serious injuries chart. I can actually save my dead Ratskins and maybe get rid of the head wounds. One thing that I’ve agreed not to re-roll is the captured result as Dezul and I had already resolved the issue (he gave me back the brave in return for the loot I took). Any changes to this would prove slightly chaotic for Dezul in his next game.
But still, it was great to get back into the game. It has been a long time, but the wait was worth it. One good thing about this campaign is that the players can add some back story to it. So everyone has been writing some fluff for the narrative. I wrote a piece for the game against Dezul. I think I will centre my writing on two of the gangers (they are twins) rather than the exploits of the leader. The first piece was of fluff was about harmony within the warband and how it is disrupted by other gangs in the underhive. It has also shown a disruption in the harmony between the two brothers. Hopefully I can keep the fluff going in order to enhance my gaming experience.
I turned up at the club, which was quite busy as all of the table were booked, all excited like my old teenage self. I put my coat and bag down and got my self a pint of bitter (I was a little early). I got to talking to another gamer who is selling pretty much all of his models (he is leaving the country soon). We had arranged for me to buy some Necrons from him (this little lot takes my army total to nearly 6000). Once I bagged my purchase, I watched some of the other Necromunda games being played. I actually missed my opponent playing his first game, but I caught his post game (rolling for injuries, generating income, etc). Once Dezul (real name Chris) had finished, he called me over to begin play.
Now Bill (the guy who dropped out of the campaign) had forgot to leave his Ratskins behind. This meant that I had to use a handful of zombie models to use as proxies to add to the few models that I had received from evilBay. Once I established which model was which ganger (the zombie with the bone club has a lasgun while the zombie with the green trousers has a shotgun), we got down to setting up. I had challenged Dezul and his Eschers to a Loot and Pillage scenario. This meant that he had to set up just a few of his gang (the remainder coming on as reinforcements) and set up the loot tokens which I would be after. I then set up my large gang (14 members) in 4 smaller groups in the hope that if one was hurt, their buddies could still carry on the fight.
To start off, the only thing I could do was to race towards the lovely loot. Then Dezul took a pot-shot with his leader (she was on overwatch) and took out my leader straight away. He also failed his reinforcements roll.
The next turn saw more running on my part. Those Ratskins that were under fire had frozen and pinned by enemy fire, couldn’t shoot back because they were mostly carrying muskets and blunderbusses (very short range weapons). This time Dezul managed to get some reinforcements to come on. They came on behind on behind my leaders’ group and toasted them with a Flamer! Just one Ratskin was left standing from that group, amazed that he survived. The amazement didn’t last long as he was taken out by the flamers’ buddy. Dezul’s Wyrd took shot at the Ratskins on the other side of the table and missed. His leader did much better and took out another scout.
I raced forward some more and grabbed some loot. Dezul’s turn saw some more reinforcements enter play. This brought another flamer, which in turn brought some pain to a couple more of my gang.
One of my braves then raced forward to grab some more loot, while two of my guys took out the newly arrived flamer and pal. This time Dezul’s Wyrd performed a little better and used his telepathic power to knock out one of my guys. Then the Escher leader had the best shot of the game where she shot one of my guys at long range. While this only caused a flesh wound, it was enough to make him fall two stories onto another one of my gang (thankfully he wasn’t hurt).
I spent the next turn trying to retreat back to my table edge in order to regroup. My shooting was ineffective. Dezul then led a charge with his Eschers. The first hand-to-hand combat of the game ended with a draw.
With the vast majority of my gang either down or out of action, I decided to tactically ‘bottle it’. It was clear that I wasn’t going to get anything more from the game.
So we both did our end of game stuff. I had a bit of bad rolling on the Serious injuries chart with two Dead results, one Capture and a couple of Head Wounds. With everything updated, my gang (Bill’s gang) were looking a little shell-shocked. There were unlucky to have a flamer sneak up behind them, but it didn’t retract from the fun. I later learned the Ratskins are resilient. This means that they can re-roll on the serious injuries chart. I can actually save my dead Ratskins and maybe get rid of the head wounds. One thing that I’ve agreed not to re-roll is the captured result as Dezul and I had already resolved the issue (he gave me back the brave in return for the loot I took). Any changes to this would prove slightly chaotic for Dezul in his next game.
But still, it was great to get back into the game. It has been a long time, but the wait was worth it. One good thing about this campaign is that the players can add some back story to it. So everyone has been writing some fluff for the narrative. I wrote a piece for the game against Dezul. I think I will centre my writing on two of the gangers (they are twins) rather than the exploits of the leader. The first piece was of fluff was about harmony within the warband and how it is disrupted by other gangs in the underhive. It has also shown a disruption in the harmony between the two brothers. Hopefully I can keep the fluff going in order to enhance my gaming experience.
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