Saturday, November 30, 2019

October AND November Games

I didn't play a LOT of games in October...



I know it looks like there are a lot of has-marks on the 13th and 14th - but that represents one or two plays of the same game, each logged separately, with a few expansions being use with each...

As previously reported, I played a few games over the (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend.


I got in a couple of games of Necromunda with Amanda (Escort Mission and Rescue Mission


and one with Finnegan (Battle for the Bronze Gates

...And then some Not-so-Necromunda games with the family...


Friday, 11 October 2019


Unstable Unicorns


Race for the Galaxy


Saturday, 12 October 2019


Century: Golem Edition


and Splendor...


Tuesday, 22 October 2019

The only other games I got in through October were a couple games I played with Bruce (the Paisley Wizard) on the 22nd...


First I introduced him to Century: Golem. I won the first game, and then he crushed me in the second... 


and then I introduced him to Splendor... 

I typed this up at the end of October... but really didn't feel like there was much there and didn't post it...


So... November... 



Things didn't really get going until we were already a week into the month. Thereafter games were kind-of-mostly just played on Friday and Sunday evenings... More than in October... but less than other months...


Friday, 7 November 2019



On the 7th I played a game of The Pikeman's Lament (well... sort of... there were some fantastical elements added in from Dragon Rampant!). I initially set up the game for my friend Bruce, who, at the last minute, was unable to make it... so I played it out on my own... a full report of the ensuing escapades (with LOADS of pictures!) can be found elsewhere on this blog:

Whit's Fur Ye'll No Go Past Ye

Over the Remembrance Day weekend, we got in a few more games...


Friday, 8 November 2019



Starting with Friday evening, Amanda, Keira and I played Castles of Burgundy. I finally feel like these games are starting to go a BIT quicker (still not anywhere close to the reccomended game length, but still.... quicker than we've played it before...)



I played, like, my BEST GAME EVER and totally won! Woo!


Saturday 9 November 2019



Saturday evening Keira ran us all through character generation for a role-playing game called Epyllion - where we all play young dragons (sort to like Tales from the Loop... but Dragons?).



 I'm playing a lean, red, daredevil dragon with lots of spines, a barbed tail and an overbite.



I also have a burrowing horse-armadillo-alligator companion animal... It seems we are all genderless vegan dragons that like to eat cottonhoney (wait... is cottonhoney vegan? Maybe we're not Vegan... but we apparently don't terrorize humans or eat them or their livestock, so... ethical vegetarian dragons?).



Finnegan's playing a green naturalist dragon and Amanda's playing a black seer dragon.

It's kind of weird.

I kind of dig it.

I was really looking forward to playing the first adventure the following week... but that kind of didn't happen..

There had been a plan to play Necromunda on Sunday... And another plan for a game Monday evening... but both kind of didn't happen either...


Friday, 15 November 2019



Friday evening our friend Laura came over to play games. We started off with Race for the Galaxy - with only the first expansion (as I think it only added cards and no new rules). It was actually really fun to play this way again!




Afterwards we played Kingdom Builder... I was so wrapped up in the game I forgot to take a picture until we were done and had put it away... We played with Lords, Citizens, Merchants
Oasis, Boats, Standing Stones and Inns... or at least that's what I noted in the BGG entry. I forget which is which - the first three are what we got victory points from, the latter four are the boards we played with...


Saturday, 16 November 2019



Kids playing in Finnegan's D&D game - they play every Saturday. I just don't always take pictures and I never log the games on BGG - because I'm not playing with them! But occasionally I remember to mention that these games happen!



We had so much fun playing with the very basic Race For The Galaxy the previous evening, we played TWO MORE games on Saturday evening!



Keira bailed on the second one...



In the second game I had a pretty sweet Gene/Uplift theme going on... but I just couldn't find the 6 cost developments that could have gave me loads of points for such a theme...



THESE are the cards I needed...


Sunday, 17 November 2019



Sunday evening Orion came over to give Necromunda a try.



He played my Cawdor gang and I played the One-Eyed Red Snakes (Delaque gang)

The ensuing shenanigans were fully reported on here:

For All Those Who Seek Redemption

Since this game Orion has picked up the new boxed set and is busily working on a team of Enforcers! Hopefully we'll see them cracking skulls in the under hive sometime in December!



Friday, 22 November 2019

Our friends Bruce and Adele came over for supper and games.



Adele was running a bit late, so Amanda Bruce, and I started off with a 3-player game of Century: Golem Edition



Totally crushed it! Yeah... that's over 100 points!



Then we played a few more games when Adele showed up.



After that we recruited the kids to join in a six-player game of 7 Wonders. (forgot to get a picture of the game while playing... again.. so this is us putting it all away!?)

I played Menneken Pis, which is really weird.... I ended the game with 41 points. Amanda Plante Played Olympia and scored 49 points. Adele crushed it with Stone Hengescorring 61 points!
Bruce played Ephessos and scored 48 points. Finnegan played the Great Wall of China and ended with 44. Finally, Keira played Rhodes and came in second with 54 points.



After the Andersons took off, Amanda Keira and I played a quick game of Carcassonne - with just the basic set. I just squeaked out a win over the others by FARMING - had it not been for the couple farmers I put down, the Grrlz would have both been waaaaaaay ahead of me! I probably won't get to do this again... assuming we play again soon enough that they REMEMBER!


Sunday, 24 November 2019



This week Jacob came by to try out Necromunda.



We played another game with Cawdor and Delaque gangs.

Retribution!

I think I may have him hooked - he's already planning an Orlock gang!



Friday, 29 November 2019

Friday evening we invited more friends over for supper and games. This week it was Darrin and Jackie. We haven't played games with Darrin in, like, forever!? And we've never played with Jackie - honestly I didn't even know she played games - but she actually brought along a few of her own!

We started off with Anomia - on that Jackie bought. I'd never heard of it. It's a pretty like word association game.



After we played Set - again one she brought along (though we do have a copy and have played it a lot - though not recently - and we were feeling woefully out of practice!). Amanda started off by lamenting that she NEVER wins this game... and then crushed us!



We played a round of Exploding Kittens... I'm not a HUGE fan of the game - but we played with the NSFW deck mixed in, which I hadn't played with before, so that brought out a few laughs as I read some of the new (to me!) cards...

Finally we played Dixit (which Keira loves playing - but I will only play if we have at least five players - and we had five players in the house last night!).

November ain't quite over, but I'm pretty sure we're not playing any games this evening, so I think that's about it.

I like that Friday is, at least, finally becoming BOARD GAME NIGHT - and we've even been getting other people to come over. I'd hoped Saturday would become Family RPG night... but that just hasn't happened...YET! And I'm excited that Sundays are becoming SKIRMISH SUNDAYS and I've been getting in some games of Necromunda!

I've got another Necromunda game planned for tomorrow. There won't be a Board Game Night next Friday because it's the Rosebud's Burlesque Clubs annual XXXmas Show... But the following Friday we do have plans to have another couple over for supper and games AND another group of friends coming over on the Saturday that weekend. I'm sure there will be LOTS of gaming over the Holidaze! Stay tuned!


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

As mentioned, I do have a Necromunda game planned for tomorrow, so I'll probably be posting a game report of that on Monday (or maybe later Sunday evening - if it's SUPER fast and bloody!!)

Still have more Necromunda gang posts to finish up...

Should have some Hellboy miniatures coming up in the next few weeks! 

The Dreaded Ambull Hulk

So I FINALLY got some of my Blackstone Fortress stuff done! Did I get some of the Heroes done? Nope. Did I get some of the generic baddies for beginner/basic encounters done? Nope. Infact, I painted three of the miniatures that are the LEAST USEFUL miniatures I need to get painted right now?! The Dreaded Ambull Hulk and it's two and Borewyrm infestations...



The Dreaded Ambull Hulk and it's two and Borewyrm infestations...

I ended up painting these because I was looking at pictures of it and decided "I could paint that with contrast paints and it would take next to no time at all..." And so I did... and it didn't take all that much time...



I probably spent more time trying to do something with the bases - which I'm not TOTALLY happy with... but at this point, I just have to say "good enough" and move the fuck on!

Probably should have added skulls to the Boreworm Infestation bases as well... just of a bit more contrast...



The Ambuls and Boreworms with their 'friends' the Ur-Ghuls... the only other Blackstone Fortress minis I've painted so far... that I painted nearly a year ago...

 A recent white dwarf included rules for using these in Kill Team. I could probably use, more or less, the same rules to include it in a game of Necromunda! If they weren't so CrAzY expensive, I'd buy another one and paint it white - and call it the Dreaded Albino Ambull of the Underhive!!

In other news...

I DID go to my FLGS yesterday for their Black Friday sale. It's the only place I ever really go for Black Friday (or Boxing Day for that matter). The only thing I picked up for myself was some bases and paints and green stuff and... well... Codex: Chaos Daemons... for... REASONS!?

I DIDN'T get any of the OTHER Blackstone Fortress expansions that I haven't picked up yet (even though I was THINKING about it)... like the Abominable Intellect cards... or the bonus Cultists of the Abyss or Servants of the Abyss (that are apparently required to USE the Abominable Intellect cards!?)... because even I realize it's silly to buy MORE for the game when I haven't even PLAYED it yet!?

Not spending any more money until Boxing Day when I go back for the Kill Team Annual and maybe Chapter Approved 2019... and maybe the rumoured Blackstone Fortress annual (I know... I know...) and the fancy new book about the Sabbat Worlds campaign by Dan Abnett.


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Well... a bunch of Hellboy miniatures migrated downstairs and are... CLOSE to the painting desk... There will probably be one or two more 40K/Necormunda items before I get on with those...

Oh and I'll probably post a look back at games I played in November (and October!?)

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Bronze Gates Redux

Just a quick note to point out I have created a PAGE for the Bronze Gates Campaign. It is listed under PAGES over on the left of the screen there. Or you can follow this link:

The Bronze Gates Campaign

The page has some background for the campaign and a listing of all the territories in the Bronze Gates and who currently controls them. It also has pictures of the gangs and Dramatis Personae as well as links to all the game reports of skirmishes that took place in the Bronze Gates.

The Bronze Gates Campaign started out as a Necomunda Dominion campaign I was running for my family to try out the system. As interest in it petered out, I decided to keep using it as a setting for a narrative campaign. My own little slice of the Hive Primus Underhive.

I am no longer keeping track of credits - to hire gangers and buy equipment. The campaign "system" is run more like a Kill Team campaign - gangers are added to the roster, as required, and with whatever equipment seems reasonable. The credit value of each ganger is tracked - so the value of a crew used for a scenario can be determined and additional tactics cards can be issued to the lesser gang if the difference is greater than 100 credits.

The only other things I am still keeping track of are Experience Points (Because it IS fun to watch gangers get better as they gain experience), Reputation, and who controls which Territories (some of which still confer some advantages - just not the credit incomes). Standing within the campaign is based on Reputation and the number of Territories controlled.


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog: 

More gang posts...


Monday, November 25, 2019

Void Ships of the 41st Millennium

I totally thought Games Workshop was going to drop a new version of Battlefleet Gothic this year. I mean, in the last few years they've rereleased Necromunda and Blood Bowl and Adeptus Titanicus and some other fabulous new games... So I thought it was only a matter of time... But it didn't happen this year. I'm kind of glad. If it was anything like the new Adeptus Titanicus, it'd probably be a GAINT $400CAD boxed set with, like, two Imperial cruisers and two Chaos cruisers and a handful of escorts for each in a TOTALLY DIFFERENT SCALE from the previous editions...

And it would have BROKE me...

I've gone more than a little overboard in the last year or so with the 40K stuff and,  more recently, all the Necromunda stuff...

But still... I WOULD love to be able to play some space actions - whether as part of a 40K/Apocalypse campaign or to play out any action that came up in a Wrath & Glory campaign - whether the characters are working for a Rogue Trader or and Inquisitor, there are definitely opportunities for some Void Ship battles!

last week a local dude posted some old Chaos BFG ships on the local miniature trade/sale Facebook group - and I snapped those up. Didn't even have to pay out any cash, I traded him some of the Imperial Guard I picked up in the summer that I have absolutely NO USE FOR!!

There were SEVEN old plastic Chaos Cruisers and three escorts. Most of the Cruisers were damaged and so I had to steal bits from some to repair others, In all I'll have four or five useable ones - which is probably more than I need as I have no Imperial Cruisers!!



The start of a Chaos Fleet. I was king of thinking Slaanesh when painting these - perhaps delivering a contingent of Emperor's Children and NOISE MARINES to a Warzone!

I was trying to do these all very quickly - so these were mostly just painted gold and washed with purple wash and then drybrushed gold (the one in the front has been given a wash with a Flesh Tearers Contrast Red... but I didn't like it, so it got a wash with the purple as well...).

I'm not entirely sure what class of Cruiser that is. I think it may have been put together with parts from a couple different kinds? Perhaps it's a Devestation class cruiser? If anyone actually knows anything about Battlefleet Gothic - feel free to help me out here!!

The smaller ones, I'm pretty sure, are Infidel Class Raiders.



This one had the bubbles of green stuff already on it and was missing a bunch of turrets... so I added the tentacles and giant eyestalk and decided to call it a Nurgle Deamon Plague Ship - of some sort...? Maybe a Hades Class Heavy Cruisers...?

While I was at it, I decided to knock off a few other ships as well!



These are a pair of Imperial-ish ships I picked up from Vanguard Miniatures... oh... a year or more ago...? I was trying to get a Rogue Trader campaign off the ground (pre-Wrath & glory) and wanted a few gen-u-ine-looking imperial ships to represent the Rogue Traders ships. These are pretty tiny. I do have a few more of these and slightly larger one as well.

The one ship can easily be passed off as an Imperial Transport. The other a Destroyer of some sort? The slightly larger ones I have still to paint should be able to stand in as Frigates... not sure how ANY of these are going to fair against a Chaos fleet with CRUISERS!!!

I guess if I actually get PLAYING I'll just need to pick up a few more Imperial ships - either from eBay or a few more of these fro Vanguard.



I'm not sure where these came from. I'm pretty sure I bought them over a decade ago as part of a large lot of assorted space ships. I was hoping I could pass them off as some sort of Ork Attack Ship...? (Red makes them go FASTER!)

I also have a few chucks of bark that I've been gluing bitz to, to make into Ork Roks.



Two of these - the blue and green ones - I'm pretty sure are from Battletech (Aerotech?). The orange one... I'm not so sure. I'm not sure what I could pass these off as...? Perhaps the ships of some minor alien race(s) in the T'au empire...?



The lot of them - for a sense of scale.

The bases are 40mmx40mm 1/8" thick MDF.

and now that those little distractions are out of the way, I think it's time for a Workbench Hard Reboot!



Things have gotten... a little cluttered...

There are some miniatures I SORT OF planned to be working on... (Necromunda).. but there are also dozens of others that have snuck on as distractions - or that have simply been there for AGES but I can't bring myself to clear them off because they're SO CLOSE to being DONE!? I think to get back on track with THE PLAN, I'm going to have to do just that - EVERYTHING GOES! 



Okay... Maaaaaybe I'll keep the Ambul Hulk on there... because, it's really just his BASE I need to finish up - and without other distractions that should be done in very little time...



I'm tempted to leave this Tallarn Mortar Squad on there as well... because it finishes off a WHOLE DETACHMENT! Not that I've played 40k in few months... or plan to at any point in the immediate future...

and...

and...

GAH!?

We shall see...

That's today's project. clear it all off and make space to get some HELLBOY miniatures painted - as of today Xmas is ONE MONTH (30 Days) away - and I have a LOT of Hellboy stuff to paint up if we're going to start playing that on Xmas Day!


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Still have a few of those Gang posts to finish up...

After that...? Well, hopefully, some pics of HELLBOY miniatures getting painted up! I am also planning to play Necromunda on Sundays for the rest of the year - and into the new year, so there should be game reports of those coming up next week.

Retribution!

Yesterday evening Jacob swung by to have a go at Necromunda. We've played a bit of Kill Team, but he hadn't tried out Necromunda yet...

After last week's fiasco, the One-Eyed Red Snakes were DESPERATE to exact some retribution (and claw back a shred of reputation) so they planned to strike out at the New Cawdor Gang in Town.

I decided to try out one of the scenarios in the brand new Book of Ruin. Hit and Run seemed apropos.  The defender got d3+7 Random crew and the attacker got d3+7 Custom crew. Jacob - who played the Cawdor gang decided to defend and started with nine crew. The attacking Delaque gangers had eight crew to start - and I went heavy with Champions and Gangers - all the Juve stayed home!



The defenders started within 6" of the centre of the battlefield. Attackers set up anywhere that wasn't within 6" of a defender. There was a special rule that, after deployment, if any defenders could draw line of sight to any attackers they could make a roll to spot them (Int check - with modifiers based on distance and cover). If passed they could either make a free move or shoot action before the game started. So, I simply made sure ALL of my gangers had no line of sight to start with.

Victory point were gained for taking enemy gangers out of action (+2 if you took out the leader). The attacker then had a special rule whereby if they were out of line-of-sight of any enemy and at least 6" away they could take a special Double Action ("Fade") to simply disappear off the board - it seemed so very Delaque-like. So the idea it to get in quick, cause a few casualties - while taking none or minimal casualties yourself - and bugger off while you're in the lead... At least, that's the theory...



The Cawdor gangers were in a pretty solid position to start - and mostly we were blazing away at each other from hard cover and not doing too much...

Vindex, here, ran out of boltgun ammo after his first or second shot... doh... it was his first battle, one can forgive him if he was a bit nervous (although, he is a CHAMPION, so one might also think this wasn't his first rodeo and should have known better!?)



My leader and Meltagunner were poorly positioned behind some hard cover looking at a giant blast door that the Cawdor gangers had NO DESIRE to open... Eventually Conflatura - the Melta Gunner ran up and opened it - and got a shotgun blast in his face for his troubles - and was taken out of action before he could even try out his Meltagun...



At the other side, the Cawdor gangers busted out of their position to take the fight to the enemy - they quickly took down one of my gangers (looking bad when I'm losing the first casualty!!)



Then they got stuck in fighting Mus... He quickly took down Hinton, the Cawdor Champion, who charged him first, and then spent most of the rest of the game fending off two other Cawdor gangers.



Artifex, the Delaque Leader, charged up the centre, through the door Conflatura had opened. Swinging his power axe left and right, he was an unstoppable killing machine!



Architects snuck up the flank and shot one of the Gangers fighting Mus, and the other Cawdor ganger in the fight failed a nerve check and fled the melee.

 

 This actually gave Mus the opportunity to flee out of sight and fade from the table! (By this point I was actually leading in Victory Points and decided it was time to BUG OUT!)



There was a brief nervous moment as Artifex needed to be extracted from the middle of the damned table - in the open, in a long corridor, with two healthy Cawdor gangers firing at him! He did make it down the hall and around the corner and faded  from the scene!

the One-Eyed Red Snakes called it a Victory!! WOO!! I'd taken out SIX Cawdor gangers to only three casualties of my own (and one ganger that fled due to bottling out!). It did cost the gang, however! Of those three, TWO ended up with lasting serious injuries! Partem took a serious blast to the chest and is permanently enfeebled (-1 T!) and Glacies was Humiliated - one of the Cawdor Gangers carved "Cawdor Rules" into his forehead (-1 Cl and Ld!). Conflatura was saved by his armour and will be back in action next game!

Of the six Cawdor gangers take out of action four were minor wounds and only required some minor flesh stitching and two ended up in recovery but without any sort of lasting injuries (one even rolled "Lessons Learned" and gained a bonus experience point for her troubles!).


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Still have three more gang posts to finish up - The One-Eyed Red Snakes (House Delaque), Jezebel's Crusade (House Cawdor/Redemptionists), and the Crimson Wave (House Escher) - and some pics to post of recent items rolling off the Workbench (Battlefleet Gothic ships!?) - so expect those in the next few days... or.. possibly HOURS...?