2012 ends and 2013 begins.

237 Dice, and my gaming, has been put on the back burner for quite a while now. At least it seems like a long time. I completely chalked off November in order to participate in NaNoWriMo. But some really bad shit decided to happen to me in real life in the middle of October which put paid to all my gaming for the foreseeable future. So all the painting I planned to do while taking breaks from writing in November and painting in December has not happened at all (it means that my Menoth army will not be fully painted by the time January rolls around).

But now that things have settled down a little, and Cross Gaming Club not opening up again for a little while yet, I have  got back into a gaming mind-set. So to begin with, let’s end 2012. Stats please:

Warmachine/Hordes

P - 66  W – 18 D – 0 L – 48

Infinity

P – 4 W – 0 D – 0 L – 4

Malifaux

P – 5 W – 1 D – 0 L – 4

Overall

P – 75 W – 19 D – 0 L – 56

So, it’s not quite the 50% win ratio I wanted but it’s an improvement (it’s still all about the playing and not the winning) on the 2011 record. The longest win streak was two (2) and the longest losing streak was fifteen (15) – thankfully not the famous twenty game streak of 2011. I would like to say that some of the losses, especially on tourney days, did go down to tie-break situations so I was marginally short of a few more wins. However, a loss is still a loss.

I have also, finally, got round to playing Malifaux and Infinity. Both have been fun, and I have put the effort of getting my Morat force (most of them anyway) and Viktoria crew painted. I am also happy, and sad that I steered clear of Bushido recently. It looks like a really fantastic game which is being tweaked to be better. The minis look awesome and the people playing the game sound like they are really having fun.

Painting wise, I haven’t gotten any better when it comes to technique and style, but I have improved on my patience in front of a painting table. As it stands at this moment in time, I have over 66% of my main armies fully painted and based.

So for 2013:

I’m hoping to be involved with Infinity and Malifaux bit more in 2013 by taking part in the clubs Infinity campaign and attending the Malifaux tourneys being advertised on the Wyrd forums.

As for WarmaHordes, I want to concentrate on my Menoth force a bit more. This was something I had planned back in October by wanting to constantly use the casters that I haven’t used that much. I started to utilise eKreoss and eFeora a lot for the UK Masters, ETC and for a handful of one day events after that. To start off the year in I wanted to field the High Reclaimer and Vindictus a bit more, but that was before I made a few purchases. In order to cheer myself up from my personal life, I bought Intercessor Kreoss and a Judicator. Naturally, with the new Kreoss, I would want a unit of Vengers. Which is totally new for me as I have never fielded a cavalry unit before. So, horses will be my main thing for the first couple of months of the year along with squeezing m new Colossal into an eFeora list.

I will continue to attempt to churn out fully painted minis at the same rate as the third quarter of this year. I want to be able to have finished my Menoth army (only another 43 models to go) before I start up on something else.

I have started to pick up my paints again just now so hopefully I’ll have the Judicator and horsey Kreoss and his horsey friends finished before the club opens up again in January.

I cannot wait to get back to the table top.

No game, some gain.

So, my second game of Malifaux this Tuesday night didn’t happen. But I did watch a game in action between Neverborn (Zoraida) and Outcasts (Viktorias). I watched as the Outcast crew that Luke played was pretty much what I was hoping to use. With a extremely unlucky control hand in his last turn, things got quite ugly for Luke. Still it was interesting to see the mechanics of the game again and watch how crazy the Neverborn Stitched Togethers are with Collodi and Zoraida.

Once I got home, I put my Malifaux crew to one side and pulled out my Combined army. I had actually forgotten why I picked up this starter set in the first place. But as soon as I started to glue them together, I realised that they just looked like bad-assed mofos. The Morat Vanguard and Datuzari models just look completely solid. I think this is what all front line troops should look like. The question is: am I going to make them look good. Probably not. The Charotnid looks super cool and sleek and the Malingos suitably creepy, while my Speculo Killer looks sexy. Possibly a bit more than the Viktoria model with the dual swords. I should have a bit of time on Sunday to work on these so they can be presentable on the tabletop.

I have also just realised that this is my ninety-ninth blog post which means that the next one will have to be special. It should include something like a highlight reel or best bits, but it will most likely be full of bloopers.

A touch of freshening up.

During the last week at the club, I took the time to watch one game of Malifaux and one game of Infinity being played out. I have been meaning to get into these games for quite a while (I bought my Combined Army starter for Infinity more than a year and a half ago), but just never had the inclination to do so. So I have dug out my Malifaux and Infinity models and will now definitely get to using them.


Please note that this has nothing to do with a 20 game losing streak for Hordes/Warmachine (maybe only slightly, VERY slightly).I have been playing the game week in week out for a long time, ever since I gave up 40k and would just like to mix it up a bit. Other players do it, so why can’t I. Anyway, it would be good to get to know the other club members who don’t play PP games.

First off, (hopefully) next Tuesday I’ll be exercising my Viktoria crew. This crew consists of the boxset (both Viktorias, Johan Taelor and Bishop) plus Hamelin (not the Master version). At the same time I did purchase the Somer Teeth Jones box, Leveticus and the Desolation Engine. I glued these all together on Sunday and will hope to splash a bit of paint on them this week so they at least look a bit presentable. It was refreshing to see a game that doesn’t need annoying dice.
Once that’s done, I’ll begin work on my Combined Army starter and other bits so that I can get a game in the following Tuesday. Maybe some time after this I'll get to work on my Yu Jing starter. I really liked the way actions met counter-actions.

I think I will be looking to spend a bit of time with each game over the next few months, but Hordes/Warmachine will still be my primary choice (I haven’t spent all that effort painting most of my Skorne army for nothing).

Miniature catastrophe - Major heartbreak.

My name is Shelly and I have a problem. I am addicted to collecting models.


This isn’t such a strange statement for a gamer to come up with. We all know we buy more miniatures than we can paint. Some of us are actually good when it comes to controlling the habit. Others aren’t. You hear it all the time down your local club about the numerous painting projects this guy has or the number of models that guy bought ages ago but still hasn’t used. I use both of these frequently. Like many gamers, I have (or had – read on) several armies/forces from different systems:

Warhammer - Dwarfs
40k - Dark Angels, Imperial Guard and Necrons
Necormunda Ratskin Renegades and Van Saar
Infinity - Yu Jing and Combined Army
Monsterpocalypse - Terrasaurs and Empire of the Apes – Monsterpocalypse
Warmachine - Protectorate of Menoth
Malifaux - Outcasts
The sad thing is this hobby can make gamer do really impulsive things as there is always something new to try. Since attending the Cross Gaming Club for the last year and a bit, I have been sucked into new gaming systems. Before that I was a proud and devoted Dark Angel player with an army worth over 11000 points. I won’t detail everything here but it does have a full battle company and many, many tanks. Initially, I was aiming to collect a whole chapter which was obviously inspired by the pictures of the entire Ultramarines chapter featured in White Dwarf. Naturally this would take an enormous amount of time and is definitely more than varied enough to play a simple 2000 point, but achieving that goal would have been so great! Of course there would be a lot of time to devote to the painting of the chapter. Out of my 11000 or so points I would only guess that approximately 15% was fully painted and based, while another 70% was either base coated only or in the middle of being painted. As I’ve said before in previous posts, I don’t have a lot of patience for painting. And this isn’t helped when other ideas/projects come up. And neither does not having a competitive Codex. Under the new rules, it seems that non-regular Space Marine armies have suffered under the new 40k rules. I love my Dark Angels as they are my first army but this left me feeling slightly jaded.
Which is why I decided to wait for the next Codex to come out by starting a side project to spice things up a bit. After looking into (lusting after) both the Necron and Tau armies (this took a lot of thought), I went for the Necrons. The deciding factor was that they would suit my painting style, i.e. very little skill needed. Most of them have just been base coated in Boltgun Metal and then sprayed with Devlan mud or Badab Black. Shoulder pads and face masks have been lightly painted with either Red Gore or a very dark blue mixed with Mithril Silver, and other small details have been picked out (scarab design on the chests and wire from the weapons). By doing this, I would say that 80% of my 6800 point force is fully painted. I am very happy about this. But again I am feeling a bit jaded with them. So with the Necrons facing the same Codex issues, I was happily whisked off into another project.
I fell heavily into Warmachine during the first couple of months of playing at Cross Gaming Club. Watching everyone else play just kinda sucked me in. I took a look and fell head over heels for the Protectorate of Menoth. After a year of more or less using them every week and buying lots of minis solidly each month, I now have a stupidly large force (nearly 200 points with six casters – 7 if you count the epic version of Kreoss). I am still very focused on building on this. Painting has gone mostly ok but I still think that I’ve only painted under 50% of these guys. The good thing about this army is that I haven’t lost interest. Moving into the MKII rules hasn’t dulled what is a great game, I haven’t had a bad experience yet.
Alongside Warmachine, I have also looked at playing Infinity and Malifaux. I have a couple of starter boxes for both games but haven’t really used either, I have only had one game of Malifaux. Neither of these have seen even a sniff of paint. I like the different styles of play of these games and will hope to get some game time soon. At the moment, these starter forces are going to stay starter forces. I am not going to expand just yet.
I also decided to make a go of starting a Dwarf Warhammer army. I’ve always liked the Dwarfs and the first ever GW blister I bought (and painted!) was Dwarf Crossbowmen. I’ve always had a few minis but not enough to make a legal force. I did have at one point a legal force, but lost a full case of minis (which included all sort – Dwarfs, Guard, Dark Angels, even a Lord of Change!) while moving flats one time. So over the last fifteen years or so this small throng has just gathered dust. Plus I’ve never had an opponent to play with and when I started attending the club I had other interests. Just before Christmas last year, I was given an opportunity to get the Dwarfs operational by buying a big box of them of a fellow club goer. This no doubt would have made my throng legal. But then, GW decided to release the 8th edition rules which kinda put me off a little. So they stayed in their box, partially painted by someone else.
One other game I have glossed over is Monsterpocalypse. This appealed to me so much. Where else can you actually play a game that unfolds just like a big monster b-movie? Also, and this was the biggest draw of them all, the minis are all pre-painted plastic! After much hype, I have only played two games. Unfortunately there isn’t a great amount of interest at CGC, so my large force (which I built up alongside my Menoth force) is just sitting on the bench.
This pretty much illustrates my collection and my compulsiveness. I’m sure there are lots of fellow gamers in similar situations. But the compulsiveness came to light after an argument with the wife when she found out how much I had spent over the past year. When put together, the sums that I had spent each and every month prove to be really quite terrifying. For the same amount I could have got myself some driving lessons and a decent used car. It’s not really about the money, but it’s more that I felt I had to hide these purchases from my other half which led to the argument. Anyway as a result of my ‘strike two’, ‘I am trimming the fat’ in my collection. I had a good hard look at what I own and drawn up a list of the armies/forces I will keep (the ones I will use frequently and have a current interest in). The rest (ones that I am quite positively not going to use for some time) will go. I am slowly selling them on eBay a bit at a time. Again, it’s not about recouping some of the money I wasted, but about having only what I need as a gamer. Plus there will be a lot more space at the back of the wardrobe.
So here’s who and what made the cut:

Dwarfs – GONE - I was never going to continue with the Dwarfs anytime soon and it was just a silly pipe dream. They were the first army I really liked and maybe one day I’ll make a good go of collecting my own throng.
Dark Angels – GOING – My first full army with a lot of time invested in them. A lot of good games as well were had. Both DA and Necrons both suffered a little under the new rules, but I think the Necrons will have more chance of being sorted out first.
Imperial Guard – MOSTLY GONE – It was a nice idea, but I don’t think I would really have gone for a full Guard army. I only would have used them as allies, but that would not have been too frequently.
Necrons – STAYING PUT – See DA
Ratskin Renegades and Van Saar – BOTH STAYING PUT – just waiting for the next Necromunda campaign at the club.
Yu Jing and Combined Army – BOTH STAYING PUT – Haven’t started this game yet, but will definitely do so once the current Warmachine/Hordes campaign is over.
Terrasaurs and Empire of the Apes – ??? – totally undecided about this lot. I would love to play this game some more, but would also just fancy keeping them as they look really great. This one needs some more thought.
Protectorate of Menoth – DEFINITELY STAYING – this army, and game, has really dug it’s claws into me.
Outcasts – DEFINITELY STAYING – Only just started!

This has a been a heart-breaking but cathartic exercise, but it feels slightly odd as all I’ve ever seemed to have done was horde stuff. I hope now that I can view minis in a more serious way. It’s great to have the flexibility in my forces, but most of the time it’s just surplus to requirements. I still feel the urge to splash out on a new unit or three, but know I have to be a lot more sensible about the hobby. Also, more discipline is needed when it comes to painting/modelling, I should have listened to my wife when she said I should only get more minis when I have painted the first ones! It is only a hobby after all and I can think of other things in my life that should take precedence over this.

I haven't had the energy to write about much this week (preparing for a charity run - which was a great event this year. I managed to get my wife to beat her personal best. I'm actually a little scared to try and beat mine from 10 years ago (I don't want to know how out of shape I have got, it's already going downhill) so I am happy to help my wife with (unwanted) encouragement), but I'll give it a go.
Tuesday at the club saw my Ratskins successfully complete an Exploration Action. they managaed to get rid of all the Zombies and Scavvies and save four Settlers.
My gaming new KR Multicase arrived the next day, but I waited to the weekend to move things around. Now my Necrons have their own Double Aluminimu case, but the two Monoliths will continue to travel separately. The new case now houses my entire Menoth force with plenty of space for expansion. Taking up a bit of that empty space for the time being is my Infinity (Combined Army and Yu Jing) minis along with my Malifaux (Outcasts) minis. I still do not know how I can tidy up all the boxes of Dark Angels that are cluttering the back of my wardrobe. I have a GW case that holds a basic force (a couple of squads each of Deathwing, tactical, devastators, assault, several characters, all three dreadnoughts and a couple of tanks). I'd like to put the remaining 75-80% of the force on some sort of shelving some day, but I'll have to annoy the wife a little more by keeping them in the back of the wardrobe.
Also I'm still waiting for this month's Maelstrom order, but I'm not really impatient about it as I'm going to take a couple trips soon to Florence (wife birthday) and Samadet (visit the in-laws). I have some time to figure out how the incoming Avatar of Menoth, Knights Exemplar unit, Paladin of the Wall and Errant UA are going to fit in with everything else. So this coming Tuesday will be a couple more games of Necromunda in lieu of playing in the big, mega, massive final game that is planned. I'm just gutted I'll miss it. When I come back though, I think I'll concentrate fully on Menoth (and by the time I get back it'll be time to order more Protectorate goodness) and start messing around with the themed lists (which calls for a second unit of Zealots...) as much as I can before Hordes MKII comes out and I get to have an excuse to start a Skorne force (I've already decided that they are going to be mostly green and gold).

Phase in / painted up.

I just received my OOP Necrons today. Thank you Maelstrom Games! 20 Warriors, 3 Destroyers, 5 Immortals, 7 Scarabs and a Lord (this put a serious dent in this month’s finances – I had already spent my £50-60 that I allow myself). I will try and post some pics along side my the newer models. These models more or less came out when me and my friend ‘took a breather’ from the hobby and did a little growing up (and at that time I was strictly a Dark Angels man), which is why I don’t have any in my collection (not even the one GW attached to the front of White Dwarf). When I saw them on evilBay I knew I must have them, but really didn’t think it through. I don’t think that they’ll give me the impetus to play 40k a bit more as I’m thoroughly into Warmachine right now and would like to get the odd game of Infinity and/or Malifaux.

These Necrons actually came to me painted which is nice because, as I’ve said before, I hate painting (I really do). This little lot pushed my army up to 6792 points all in. I’m probably not going to play an Apocalypse game anytime soon, but it’s nice to have a large collection.

I did manage to sit down and paint for a few hours either side of the Grand Prix yesterday which I was quite surprised at. I put the finishing touches to my Menoth Choir and Vanquisher. They look like they’ve been painted by an elephant (I don’t care – they will certainly be eligible for tourneys that require painted minis), but at least they are out of the way. All of my ‘jacks are done (except for my Blessing of Vengeance) as well as my Zealots, Severius and Kreoss. I still have to finish my Monolith Bearer, Errants, Deliverers, Flameguard and Seneschal, while I need to make a start on various solos and ‘casters. Once that’s done, I’ll think about painting my Infinity and Malifaux stuff.

Success off the tabletop, and failure on the tabletop (again).

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.

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.

A flurry of activity.

After some absence from gaming, I'm back. But I find myself troubled.

My gaming brain has been led astray by the many gaming systems I wish to involve myself in. This year, I’m starting off with Necromunda as there is a bit of a campaign going on at the club. I was fortunate to be part of it as I started while I was away on my honeymoon. But then someone dropped out. A fellow gamer, Marcus, immediately put my name forward as a replacement. The organisers said yes, but only if I took over the Ratskin gang of the guy who dropped out. I accepted, but was disappointed not to be able to use my Van Saars. So now I’m playing with a totally new gang (but having said that, even if I used my Van Saars’, it would be like playing with a new gang because I haven’t played Necromunda for over a decade). But then the idea struck me, that when the campaign is over I would have to give the gang back to their rightful owner. I would have a small gap in my heart without them. So I did something bad. I went to evilBay and scored myself a lot of Ratskins! This means that I can replace the gang with my own models (maybe change the names) and keep the gang alive. I hope this isn’t a foolish thing to do. At the same time, I am also thinking about beefing up my Van Saars. I am most likely going to add some reinforcements.
Next on the list, is Monsterpocalypse. I have been building up my Terrasaurs and Empire of the Apes forces at a very steady rate. I now have more monsters to choose from (including a lot of Mega forms and Quantum King Kondo!!!) and a fairly flexible amount of units. I am hoping to get some games in down at the club soon. I now have made the conscious decision to not spend anything on MonPoc until Series 5 is released in a couple of months time. This is because I would like to get back into Warmachine.
Recently I purchase the Warmachine MKII rulebook and Menoth MKII card deck. All I need now to carry on the momentum would be a new warjack or unit. This would be ideal when the Necromunda campaign finishes. But then, this will be undermined by yet another gaming system. Infinity.
I have seen a few games of Infinity being played at the club recently and it looks to be a slightly more tactical game. I’ve been looking at the models for the various forces and have been taken in by either the Combined Army or the Yu Jing (most likely Yu Jing). This would mean getting a starter box and possibly the rulebook (I may just keep with a pdf that I printed). But starting with a new gaming system, means less time for 40K.
I will be adding some Destroyers and Warriors to my already large Necron force. This would be really great, as I like playing with an armada of Destroyers. They can really cause some problems during some games. While on the subject of 40K, I am still waiting for the Dark Angels to get a new lease of life in the shape of a new Codex (hopefully). Until then, I have quite foolishly entertained and old idea to have a small force of Deamonhunters. There have been a couple of deals recently (one at the club and one on evilBay) that I just missed out on, that really could have started this off. So now this idea goes back onto the shelf in the back of my mind. With all of these gaming paths to follow, I almost forgot about Warhammer Fantasy.
At the end of last year, I bought a load of Dwarfs that will make my own small force (heh) into a much larger (and legal) throng. I even bought the rule book as well. Who knows when I‘m going to get the time to learn how to play this amongst other games.

As a result, I just have no idea how this year is going to pan out. I think I have worked out a priority list of what I want to do, but that might be thrown out the window fairly quickly. One thing is for sure, the year will start with Necromunda.