Back to the Blackstone Fortress

The better half was off for a day, so I tried to organise the collective for a game … unfortunately many were unable to make the day. However Steedo and Sylon could make it. After much dithering Blackstone Fortress was decided up on - hopefully with a game of Imperium Classics to finish. 

We decided to have a “recap” expedition into the Fortress and pick the heroes to take in. Steedo took the Amallyn Shadowguide (Eldar), Sylon Pious Vorne (the fanatic with a flamer thrower) and I took the Janus Drak -rogue trader. The 4th hero were the ratling twins Rein and Raus. We had a couple of challenges, then an ambush!

Above is the field of play - Spindle drones and Ur-guls were are opponents. We charged about with some good shooting to take out the enemies and had a good recap of the rules. We followed up with a couple more challenges, where we pushed are luck … which was a mistake because a couple of characters lost enough health so we weren’t able to visit another challenge in the fortress. 

We now decided that we would go on a stronghold mission - this meant taking characters with clues (4 are needed to go to stronghold). The chosen this time were Espern Locarno the Navigator, Thaddeus the Purifier, Dahyak Grekh (Kroot tracker) and Pious Vorne (for a second run of the evening). 

We read (scan) the rules and decided that to try and run 4 exploration cards before hit the stronghold would be suicide and would take too long. We were up against Obsidius Mallex and all of his minions (2 chaos warriors, 4 beastmen, 4 Negavolt cultists, 14 traitor guardsmen and 2 rogue psykers. However the guard and Obsidius (marines and psykers) could move until we moved into a chamber … the guard would shoot if we stayed in particular hexes at the end of an action. 

The game started well - we cleared out the beastmen and cultist pretty easily. Steedo came up with a plan to move Obsidius towards us using Espern’s power … we think we played this right… so we could blast him to pieces at range. This worked … however we were taking damage from the guard … we moved quickly from a position of looking like the whole team would get out …to would any of us get out! Espern in a moment of madness or over confidence by Steedo, who thought his psychic shield would save him was blasted to bits by a Chaos Space Marine … Thaddeus was overwhelmed by reinforcements of traitor guard. 

After spending a turn trapped in the grinding room Dahyak and Pious made a sprint to the escape portal!

Then we had to deal with the aftermath … Thaddeus survived his roll on the death table … unfortunately Espern Locarno was less lucky and now has a mortis card meaning he is dead and out of Blackstone Fortress …

The check through also picked up that the traitor guard could have been more active if the explorers were more visible to them … that could have made it a bit tougher, as would actually looking at the legacy cards in the little wallet … but set up was a bit rushed for some reason - I just wasn’t on it. Anyway good fun was had I am planning another visit to the Fortress soon - we need more clue tokens to get back to a stronghold … I will to much better prep next time. 

I also found some rules for Kill Team 2019 for Blackstone Fortress characters and for using the tiles … I think that will be developed (by me … GW are 2 editions on by now). 

As it was we didn’t manage a game of Imperium Classics - another time. 

Morts

Games in and out ….

So Osprey games send out a Black Friday offer, which a bargain in it! Imperium Classics for about £15 including postage. I had looked at this in the Orcs Nest a week or so ago, so it was snapped up.

What it’s arrived has caused an issue with space on the shelf … so I am looking at Kill Team here …

So I have to decide to see if I can sell the 1st edition (two books on the left) or 2nd edition …

GW has produced a new edition of Kill Team in the last 12 months, which I haven’t picked up. As I understood it the new edition has limited teams which you have to buy. 

2nd edition was based on fire teams which were a little bit of a pain to be honest - the 1st edition was very flexible, with the ability to pick what was in core book - the single expansion I have does have rules for most of the primaris space marine models.  The rules are more like Warhammer 40k from 2019 (I don’t know what edition of 40k that was). So currently i’m leaning towards keeping 1st edition (old expansions would also probably be cheaper on eBay). 

Will discuss with the collective moving forward on this plan. 

Morts

Not much to update, but it is halfway through November

 A couple of weeks ago I was out on the moor - and a very nice day out it was too. The morning and evening …

We also saw a film set under construction at bottom of Fernworthy forest. Initially we thought it might be for the Harry Potter series (as they are filming in Lustleigh, but it might be for a William Defoe Werewolf movie set in the 1300s. 

Then this weekend we went up to London - the first stop was the V&A museum. A really interesting place to visit - so much there. But remember to book in advance for any special events - like the Marie Anntonete … we didn’t. 

Lots to do and see there - like the Natural History and Science museums just up the road. We did see everything there, better planing over a couple of visits is probably needed. 

Friday evening was watching Ricky Gervais at Wembley area - a good nights entertainment. Very funny and thought provoking at times. But I suppose that having watched all the others shows on TV means that the edge appears to have dulled a bit … still worth the watch. 

Saturday morning saw a trip to Convent Garden and a bit of a wander around. 

Managed to find the Orcs Nest game shop - hoping for some inspiration to get me out of my gaming malaise - I got a mug … the shop was small and had some nice stuff but nothing I needed or wanted. Still need to sort out some of my stuff to sell on. There we met up with my sister for lunch. 

After seeing my sister off, we wandered off to Trafalgar Square - Nelson’s column (with St Stephen’s tower in the background), the Christmas decorations in convent garden and the Rik Mayall bench in Hammersmith. While at Trafalgar Square we had a look around the National Portrait Gallery (lots of culture on this visit). The room numbering there was a little confusing but we managed to see some Holbein’s etc before ending up in the Van Gogh’s and the Monet rooms. Really cool. 

With some of my eBay money I have bought Voidfighter, as the rules seemed interesting and I would like to get some Babylon 5 and Battlestar fighter to play with … I might try with counters first. 

These might get out of my malaise … but what to do with the Star Trek attack wing stuff …

Morts

Doing some selling … Voidscarred Corsairs

I have a a review of some of my stuff and I have decided to get rid of some stuff. The Mantic Epic Warpath kickstarter is going mainly due to the realisation that I was never going to get around to painting it in a reasonable time frame - I still have the 15mm Hit the Beach stuff which has hardly been touched …

I have also chosen to move on the Voidscarred Corsairs for Kill Team - managed to paint them but never played with them.

So I have done a little photo set to remember them by …

The whole team. 

Kunite Hunter, Felarch, Way Seeker

Heavy Gunner, Gunner, Fate Dealer

Starstorm Duellist, Soul Weaver, Gunner

Heavy Gunner (on guardian body), Shade Runner, Kurnathi (based on Guardian body). 

3 Warriors based on guardian bodies. 

On the whole I was pleased with these figures - but they never had their time so they are off to new battles. 

Morts 

DK’s Birthday Bash! Some games played.

DK has crept a little closer the retirement … a bit ahead of me at least. Snake-eyes kindly said that he would host a get together and play some games. DK had chosen John Company and Res Arcana - all new to us.

The day started as usual with a full English breakfast to ready us for a long days gaming in Kernow. 

John Company

First up in the scheduled games was John Company - a game of the East Indian Company exploiting the subcontinent. Now there is a little controversy about this game due the subject matter, but actually I think the game does deal with the fact that the British Empire was not planned, but haphazardly created by individuals trying to make a fast buck, these people were ruthless and did not care who or what they exploited to achieve their objectives - definitely the bad guys. 

Now having watched a play through of this game I did not have high expectations - it looked too complicated and fussy to play. 

The basics of the game are to run the EIC to make money and skim-off money to get family members into luxurious retirements - the key way of getting victory points. To do this you have to get family members into roles across the company - chairman, director of trade, ships, president of Bombay or Madras and writers and army commanders and officers. The game is a mixture of cooperative and tactically trying to get one over your colleagues.

We cracked on - took on debt on the company and set about exploiting the population of India. We conquered two of the presidency’s … unfortunately we didn’t expect a major uprising … which closed off all the Indian markets and wrecked the company’s reputation! 

So possibly in under an hour we had managed to lose the game in less than one turn … there was much shock and laughter at our incompetence - basically when in battle we used all the sepoys, so we were unable to defend against the uprising. But this was a good thing, as we were up for trying the game again, it had been fun and we had done some good learning. I think Snake-eyes win with zero points.

So the second attempt started and it was a jolly good effort. Steedo started scoring points by retiring family members. However, by the end of turn 4 out of 5 DK had taken a good lead - so we had moved into trying to hobbling him (getting him to agree to be president of Bombay, but not providing any money, ships or troops, making the presidency pointless), while at the same time pushing our own agendas. I had managed to get myself into a reasonable position - chairman of the company, president of Bengal and most of the company’s officers in the army. Into the final turn we were doing well the company had plenty of money, we had won some battles and exhausted our troops again … and in the final India Events phase we pulled the uprising card again and “tanked” the company’s reputation again and lost again! We really shouldn’t have, but we did. 

We did the scoring and DK won with 16, Steedo 11, me 6 and Snake-eyes 4. If we hadn’t have wrecked the company I would have scored more, because I had a fair number of family members on the board (and some decent retirements lined up) - board members are negative points if the company fails.

I enjoyed the game much more than I thought and would play again.

Heat

We then moved on to play heat - a card driven racing car game. If you can count cards it would help a lot. It has some interesting mechanics about adding or taking “heat” out of the engine - cards to gum up your hand. There are “adrenaline” cards which gum up your hand but you can’t get them out of your hand. 

This was a fun game which I have to say was a depth change from John Company - I was struggling to get the card counting right and was in last place most of the game. DK was first across the line and the winner. Snake-eyes, Steedo and I all passed the first line in the same turn (in that order) - to break ties it is the player who is furthest over the finish line. And although Snake-eyes was first over, Steedo went further and then in a shock I went further still - 2 place to me!

After a rather nice buffalo chicken roll and chocolate cake from Snake-eyes we tried a game of Res Arcana.

Res Arcana

This is a resource collecting and buying game with some deck management - so not usually my thing. You take on the role of a mage and have to get 10 points, from places, monuments and points on your cards - another solid win for DK. I finally managed to get my head around the game towards the end when I realised that I had bought the dragon, the dragon bridal and dragon lair in the wrong order … perhaps next time I should study the cards in more detail.

A good day’s gaming and hopefully DK enjoyed his birthday (and his 3 bottles of lambrini … I have no idea how he can stomach that stuff).

Morts 

A game and a little painting …

I was discussing my lack of motivation with Steedo, so he organised a game around his last week. We played a game of Raiders of the North Sea, with Hall of Heroes expansion.

Another good game - a win for Steedo. I think I need to start a new strategy … the Valkyrie, raiding harbours and visiting the longhouse doesn’t seem to be working … 

I have re done the flesh tones on these - I didn’t like the speed paint. Much happier with these faces. 

I also sorted out the shields (they were the only 2 of the unit with plain shields and I picked up the new winged ones ages ago) on these elves swordsmen and replaced the axe on the leader with a sword (well top of a lance). The plan was to base 6 of these up on 60mm squares … but I am now thinking 25mm rounds and sabots again … aaagggghhhh!

I need to make a decision on the basing 

Still no painting and gaming mojo

I am still missing the gaming and making mojo - just not quite feeling at the moment - which is annoying as I have the Epic warpath kickstarter now. I have watched the rules play through and actually read the rules - looks like a fun game. But total inactivity in regards to getting it, or anything else for that matter up and playing. 

I have been think about it recently to see if I can work out the issue … for the 28mm fantasy stuff I think it is some confusion about basing … sabots or fixed bases and having to make a decision. When I moved over to HotT in the early 90’s it was a not brainer … this time I am having major issues making a decision.

The Viking and Saxons are staying individually based for SAGA games … like I have played lots of that …

Also I have been considering the 40k stuff - the major mission creep on the Ad Mech and Marines in particular well beyond the skirmish/Kill teams that I originally planned … so do I review this set up??

Obviously it hasn’t stopped me picking up some Mantic Ork marauders to make up a Kill Team … they were a bargain, but now I am looking for some GW spare bits. 

More thinking to do …

Morts 

Been away - managed a big anniversary

So I have been away with the good lady to the delights of the Sorrento coast to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. So I will bore you with so pictures.

Above Sorrento - it was a little damp. But we like the feel of the place. 

Amalfi, Positano and a Saracen tower. To be honest we preferred Sorrento to these two - perhaps we are being unfair as we weren’t staying there and they were very crowded, with shops (which we weren’t really interested in selling the same stuff). Nice to look at …

The crater of Vesuvius and a view of the Sorrento coast. 

Pompeii - the temple of Apollo and the forum. 

Pompeii’s amphitheater and the forum. There is just so much to see in Pompeii, the few hours we had there just scratched the surface. We had planned to visit Herculaneum, but it was just a little bit further than we wanted to travel. 

Carpi’s coast. 

On the last day we walked to Castellammare di Stabia (quite an industrial town - think Plymouth) and visited the villa Arianna which was destroyed on the 79AD along with the town of Stabia (the statue TL to represent a citizen trying to escape). 

The final set of pictures, 3 of which are of Vesuvius which was such a dominant feature in the bay of Naples and was always ‘there’ … 

The last picture is a sunset with Capri to the right.

A great get away - would certainly recommend the area. 

Morts 

Some Servitors and other news

I finally got on with some of the Wargames Atlantic Canon Fodder and GW spare part Servitors. I see these as recently converted to servitors former convict types, hence the lack of leg cybernetics. If I had waited a few weeks I could have used the Stargrave Automatons, which might have been better. Anyway here are the first 5 - these will be classed as close combat types. 

As these are the first I have painted in a while I a fairly happy with these. Especially as I a now thinking that I shouldn’t have started these, because 28mm sci-fi should really be just skirmish, but my Ad Mech forces are pretty big now. Damn that mission creep!

Also on the horizon, the Mantic games Kickstarter for Epic Warpath has arrived. Some nice little miniatures and the rules seem tight, having watched a how to play video. So something else to do … and still thinking about rebasing to multi bases the 28mm fantasy armies, but I am a little confused on that one. 

Morts

Drakons - work in progress

Now obviously I show be finishing the servitors I started a few months go … but not to get me out of the painting malaise I decided to put together the Mantic drakon riders for my elf army … these obviously need a fair bit of green stuff action as I want them to fit in with the Ral Partha minis which make up the bulk of the army. 

These are still a work in progress. All need new plumes on their helmets. I was using spare hoplite crests, but lost one and they are a little bit thin for fantasy minis.

Drakon 1 - need to smooth the join between lance and GW spear join and check for gaps. 

Drakon 2 - the one I lost the crest from - same as 1. 

Drakon 3 - nearly there. Plume mainly. 

Drakon Lord - I swapped in a GW dragon knight rider for the lord, a more imposing figure in me opinion. I am going to change the angle of the lance, need to press mould a shield and sculpt the fabric on his under skirts. 

I think I will base on 60mm squares rather than 50mm that came with the kits. 

Nice models to put together - hopefully I can do them justice. 

So plenty to do - plus the servitors …

Morts

August round up

 Last weekend I went for a little walk out on Dartmoor with my old man. A good day for a walk.

We had a good time around Brat Tor and picked up a quality pasty from the Lydford Farm shop - a recommended place for good food and coffee. 

This weekend saw a quick trip back to the moor - well more accurately Moreton Hampstead to visit an exhibition of art inspired by the moor. 

Some lovely pieces - I did like the troll witch (top left). DK was there on Wednesday or Thursday during the day and I think it was quieter than on Saturday, when I went. 

The works by Alan Lee of Lord of the Rings, both illustrated books and the movies were obviously a big draw, and explain the extra people at the weekend. Glad I went. 

On the getting back on the modelling/making/painting side of things I did a little painting tutorial for my nephew who has started his journey in games, with a number of named Space Marines …I have suggested that he starts using washes to gain some depth. I did a Greek Hoplite to demonstrate. 

TL - neat(ish) base colours. TR - chose you wash. BL - apply the wash. BR - add a few highlights with the base colours. I will probably add another highlight later. 

I also got off my backside and assembled a Drakon and rider. I have tired to get the legs to match with those of the Ral Partha high elves - BR picture with green stuff chain mail skirt. 

The actual Drakon model has gone together nicely - I think I will need to do a bit more work on chain mail but happy so far. This might get the painting mojo back … it might start me playing a few games. 

Autumn is nearly upon us …

Morts

Brecon Beacons - a quick getaway

 Nearly 2 weeks ago (I am getting a bit slack - probably due to non gaming related activities) the beeper half and my good self headed across the board to Wales to visit the Brecon Beacons National park.

A we had a very good time - except for the walk up Pen y Fan which as you can see from the pictures was a tad damp. This was in the middle of a UK heatwave… it has taken a week for the walking boot to dry out from the walk going down are legs to fill them up …

After going back to the accommodation to change and dry off a bit we headed off to Brecon town itself. A nice little place. Also home to the museum of 24th Foot - South Wales Borderers, of Zulu War fame. 

The flag over Rorke’s Drift and the VC of some of the outpost’s defenders and victims of Isandlwana. Some really interesting history there. Below a couple of pictures of an impressive diorama in the Zulu war room. 

A fascinating museum - which had also opened up their educational rooms that day to have a look around.  They had a lot of home front information there and about 5 hand written notebooks by a Brecon boy from the start of the war until sometime in 1942 - which the curator believed ended as he was called up. 

A copy of the page on the channel dash by Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen (this stood out as I remember reading an account of this as a teenager myself) - the lad was not impressed with the navy’s performance - the quick scan of the notebooks indicated possibly some different interpretations of the events happening in the war at the time compared to a lot of the big picture history I have read - really interesting and to think these were just handed to the curator in the street in a box file or shoe box and could have easily gone to the tip. 

The following day we headed out on another walk. This time Henrhyd (or Batman) waterfall. 

A nice walk - the falls didn’t have as much water as usual, due to the dry conditions we have been having recently (as clearly shown in the BL where there was not water in that little fall). 

A good couple of days away - only spoiled by the torturous journey back home. Planning to go back and try to get up Pen y Fan and see a view …

Morts