Game Plan 2020 Q3 Plans

Damn, are we done another three months!? Feels like it's been for-EVAR since I made the Q2 plan... but at the same time it's like... "Wait, what? We're HALF WAY THROUGH THE YEAR!? WTF!?" Lacking the usual markers of the passage of the months - working up to year end dance recitals, dress rehearsals, recitals, etc... I feel totally adrift in time and space. It doesn't help that that which has defined me for the last decade and a half - The Homeschooling Dad - feels like it is suddenly, very abruptly coming to an end! Keira has decided to enrol in high school in the fall and, while finnegan continues to do school AT home, he has been in a very structured online program the last couple years and is VERY self-directed and needs very little help from me...

Of course if people continue to give zero fucks about social distancing or any other pandemic precautionary measures like they are doing, school may be cancelled again by the fall and Keira may be back to homeschooling...

Anyway....

Looking back at the Q2 plan...

5x5 Quarterly Challenge

I had planned on playing the following...

Wrath & Glory
CHECK! Just got the last one in under the wire! Got started a little late, but have been going solid on Saturday nights for the last month with no sign of stopping! Only two games where a single player was missing.

Blackstone Fortress
CHECK! - We played THRITEEN TIMES!!! Really having a lot of fun with this!

40K
Ehhhhh... Not-so-much... This was put on there when I was thinking there STILL might be a chance of playing in Battleforce Recon... and that would have been four games in ONE DAY - and I'd likely have played at least one or two games the week before to try out the force!

Other Skirmish Games
Whoopise... We did get in ONE game of Kill Team... but that was it!?

Five New Games!
CHECK! - We played three of the games we picked up in the ToonCon2020 auction - Castle, Fauna, Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game - and Dogs, which Keira picked up at another ToonCon auction...? Maybe in 2018...!? (or earlier!? the one that Amanda missed). We also tried out Machi Koro (which was gifted to use by Other Tim who was clearing out in preparation for his move)

We also tried out Tuscany, a few times!  Keira got it for her birthday in May. It was new but it's kind of just an expansion to a game we already have and played before..

While we didn't play all the 40K and Killteam/Necromunda games, we DID play THIRTEEN GAMES of Terraforming Mars, though! As well as seven games of Azul and five games of Carcassonne and five games of Splendor (including one with each of the four expansions included in Cities of Splendor)... So... through we didn't play the five games I chose for the challenge, we definitely played more than five games at least five times each... so, I think the 5x5 was covered...


Here are ALL the games I played in the last three months:

Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress x13
Terraforming Mars x13
Azul x7
Carcassonne x5
Splendor x5
Wrath & Glory x5
Viticulture Essential Edition x4 (with Tuscany Essential Edition x3)
The Castles of Burgundy x3
Century: Golem Edition x3
The Hanging Gardens x2
7 Wonders Duel x1
Castle x1
Fauna x1
Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game x1
Machi Koro x1
Dominion (with Dominion: Intrigue) x1
Ingenious x1
Power Grid Deluxe: Europe/North America x1
Railways of North America x1
Kill Team x1
Dogs x1

(I know, I know... June isn't over... we COULD end up playing another game or two in the next two days... but we're looking at generalities here and, in general, the last three months have been pretty good for game playing!)

Events

I had speculated that it was unlikely I would be attending any events due to the Pandemic. I was correct.... No events were attended.


Painting

I was king of all over the place at the end of March - with everything looking so... uncertain... There wasn't so much of a plan as a general intention to paint some Chaos stuff (Space Marines and Daemons) and some Blackstone Fortress stuff and maybe some stuff for Necromunda and Kill Team. I didn't get all of the stuff I was thinking of done (not so much of the Chaos or Necromunda stuff... but I did get some stuff done for Blackstone Fortress and THREE Kill Teams!)... but I still think I did pretty good on the painting, all things considered...

Q2 Painted
1x Amazon Hoplite
25x Imperial Guard
1x Penitent (for Blackstone Fortress)
8x Traitor Guard (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
2x Nega-Volt Cultists (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
2x Chaos Beastmen (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
1x Chaos Space Marine (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
1x Rogue Psyker (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
1x Traitor Commissar (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
1x Chaos Ogryn (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
2x Ogryn Retinue Characters (Brogan Brothers) for Blackstone Fortress
1x Ogryn Pit Fighter for Necromunda
1x Gellerpox Infected for Kill Team Rogue Trader
1x Eversor Assassin
1x Vindicare Assassin
1x Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn
1x Inquisitor in Terminator Armour
1x Death Watch - Watch Master
1x Death Watch Space Marine
1x Grey Knight Brother
1x Genestealer Patriarch
3x Grey Knights
1x Grey Knight Terminator
2x Imperial Fists Scouts
1x Master of Possession
2x Greater Possessed
13x Kreuger's Unvalids
1x Little Robot Thingie from Space Hulk
2x Chaos Space Marine Raptors
1x Necromunda Hive Scum
29x Genestealer Cultists (for Finnegan)
12x Kroot Warriors for (Finnegan)

1x T'au Commander in XV86 coldstar Battlesuit (for Finnegan) 

2x Imperial Navy Thunderbolt Fighters (wee ones for Aeronautica Imperialis) 

2x Fabius Bile and Surgeon Acolyte

125 total...?

Acquired
1x Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn
3x Plague Marine miniatures (Blackstone Fortress: No Respite)
6x Poxwalker (Blackstone Fortress: No Respite)
1x Traitor Commissar  (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
1x Chaos Ogryn  (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
1x Arco-flagellant (in trade from Orion)
2x Imperial Navy Thunderbolt Fighters
2x Imperial Navy Marauder Bombers
3x Ork Air Waaagh! Dakkajets
2x Ork Air Waaagh! Fighta Bommers
2x Fabius Bile and Surgeon Acolyte
1x The Archivist (Zoat from Dark Alliance)

25 bought by me... but then there were...

109x Mantic Space Orks (gifted from Other Tim)
15x Burnaboyz (gifted from Other Tim)
2x Warboss (gifted from Other Tim)
1x Mantic Ork Warbuggy (gifted from Other Tim)

More details can be seen on the 2020 Painted Versus Purchased page.


Q3 Plan

5x5 Quarterly Challenge

Five games...

Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Wrath & Glory
#New40K
OTHER GW/40K games (Necromunda, Kill Team, Aeronautica Imperialis)
(Some other To Be Determined Board Game?)

Amanda and I seem to be going strong on Blackstone Fortress - Monday evening has been set aside as Blackstone Fortress night and we still have Traitor Command, Escalation, No Respite, Dark Alliance to play through (and Ascension will likely be released in the next few months!) - so no reason not to keep it on the list

So excited that I FINALLY got a role-playing game going - and even MORE excited that it's with such a great group of guys - most of whom are my very favouritest people to play with - EVER - that I haven't played with in years! ...and Jon... who only doesn't fit into the aforementioned category because I've really only just met him recently... I hope this game continues and doesn't just die (like every other RPG I've tried to run...) so I'm keeping Wrath & Glory on the list too!

#New40k - Warhammer 40,000 (9th Edition) - I'm guessing it will be out in the next few weeks - definitely by the end of the quarter - and Finnegan's been showing some interest in it, so I'm hoping over the summer I can get him to at least play a FEW games with me. I'm excited about there actually being scenarios DESIGNED to be played with smaller forces, on a smaller table, in a shorter amount of time. Maybe I'll even be able to talk Amanda into dusting off her Drukhari or Sisters to try out the new rules!

I know I had OTHER SKIRMISH GAMES on the list last quarter and it didn't really happen (a single game of Kill Team, and NO Necromunda) and I'm not sure why I think it will this time... but I'm putting  back on that list... might be Kill Team... Might be Necromunda... Might be a bit of both... I do have a little campaign planned - which Finnegan is definitely excited about - and we'd PLANNED to play it with Kill Team, but after our recent game... I'm not so sure about Kill Team). I might expand the scope to also include Aeronautica Imperialis - as I'm really hoping I'll get the Ork Dakka Jets finished SOON and we'll at least try it out with THAT!

And... Board Game... I have no ideas what game we might want to play five times. I mean, there are PILES of games I'd love to play dozens of times * each * over the summer... Maybe I should just say Azul - as I know I'll have no problem convincing Amanda to play THAT!


Events

I find it very unlikely that I will be attending any events this quarter. I saw a note on the Hunters of the Warp page that an 40K event was going ahead in Manitoba in July... Perhaps the organizers of Battleforce Recon will be moving ahead with that...? I don't know... active cases of Covid-19 have QUADRUPLED in Saskatchewan in the last week or so as things open up and there is a general sense that it is "over"... I don't know... It's like no one knows how to read a graph around here or has paid any attention to what has been happening in other parts of the world - or even other parts of our own country!?

I'm just hoping at SOME point over the summer we can expand our "bubble" to include a few board/miniature gaming friends and get in some games - face-to-face - with... y'know... OTHER people (not that I MIND playing all these games with Amanda at all - quite the contrary - it's been a LOT of fun!)


Painting

If I had to pick what I was going to paint over the next three months RIGHT NOW - here's what I'd say I'd do (so... these will be guidelines... and I may paint some of these... but I'll probably paint some others stuff as well... and not get some of these done...):

Blackstone Fortress - First I'd like to finish up the Cultists and Explorers for Escalation (Including the extra Cultists of the Abyss I picked up!) There are also Poxwalkers and Death Guard from No Respite, The archivist (the Zoat from Dark Alliance!) and likely the Giant Spindle Drones from Ascension.

Chaos Space Marines - For the Emperor's Children force I have two Obliterators to finish up, Fifteen Noise Marines, ten or eleven Chaos Space Marines, and a handful of Chaos Terminators and cultists... There are also a few older Death Guard and the Malignant Plague Caster I picked up for a HQ unit to lead the detachment. Shouldn't be TOO onerous... though the Noise Marines are a bit of work - at least the way I'VE been doing them!

Grey Knights - I think there are about ten to finish off - they're about half painted. Maybe a couple Terminators. Two Rhinos to finish off.

Daemons - I have a few Seekers, Fiends, and the Infernal Enrapturess to finish up for Slaanesh (and a Start Collecting Slaanesh sitting in storage - but Amanda won't let me have them until I finish the basement). I also have a few Bloodcrushers to finish up for Khorne.

Stuff for Finnegan - I have a few things I'm going to knock off for Finnegan in anticipation of playing some Kill Team and #New40K with him this summer - including a Kill Team of Death Watch and a handful of T'au (six Battlesuits, half dozen Fire Warriors?).

Knights One is ALMOST DONE - just a little push on it might finish it off! the Eldar Wraith Knight is pretty close as well... then one more Imperial Knight and we could have some serious mech battles...

The Eldar Titans Seriously, they're not that detailed... The big one is half done!? What am I waiting for!?

Imperial Guard? I've had a hankering to get to work on the Valhalllans (and maybe finish up some more of the Tallarn) - likely spurred on from reading Ciaphus Cain the last few months.

Necromunda!? Still have LOADS of Necromunda minis to finish up - entire gangs of Van Saar, Orlocks, and Goliaths and piles and piles of Hive Scum and Ratskins and others... Be nice to get some of that done and start playing again!?

Kill Team Additions!? I have lots of ideas for Kill Teams... and I love the idea of Kill Team... I just don't love the game so much. We'll have to experiment with using Necromunda with regard 40K minis.

Aeronautica Imperialis Finish off stuff!


Other

Planned Purchases

This weekend the last of the Psychic Awakening books - Pariah - is to be released. Along with it are two sets of miniatures - Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxus and the Daemonifuge – Ephrael Stern and Kyganil of the Bloody Tears. I was planning to pick up the book and both sets of miniatures, but Finnegan decided HE should have an Inquisitor to lead his small force of Deathwatch and would like to pick up a copy of Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxus for himself - I said there was no sense in both of us having one, so he could have the one I asked for, but I could paint it for him. Of course as we were looking at them, Keira started mentioning that she always liked the ideas of having some Battle Sisters (and already has Harlequins) (Ephrael Stern is a Sister of Battle and Kyganil of the Bloody Tears is - or was - a Harlequin)... but I wasn't about to give up THAT pair...

#New 40k - I have a feeling this is coming up in July sometime. I'll pick that up too and give it a try.

House of Blades - the new Necromunda book covering Clan Escher - was originally slated to be released in Q2, but with the worldwide pandemic going on and things shutting down at GW, it's now to be a Q3 release.

Warhammer Quest Blackstone Fortress: Ascension. Not sure if this is a Q3 release - but given that they announced it a few months ago, I imagine it will be.

I, of course, have loads of other stuff already to paint, so I'm hoping that there won't be any other stuff I really feel I NEED to get!

One other thing I was thinking about, though... As Keira briefly showed some interest with Stern and Kyganil, and has been crazy into Supernatural (the TV show) lately, I thought I might try and lure her back in with a series of narrative games featuring a pair of Ordo Malleus DEAMON HUNTERS - Sam(anther) and Dee(Anna) Chesterwind... (Sam and Dean Winchester are the main characters in Supernatural and they are Hunters - that hunt all manner of supernatural creatures - demons being one of the most common of their foes!) I was looking at a few options at ArtelW miniatures....

Oh, there are other things on my "Wishlist" but I have pretty clearly established prerequisites for each.

For example, I'd like to pick up a Keeper of Secrets - either the new plastic one, or the Forge World one... but I've told myself that I have to paint ALL the Daemons I have before I can pick that up to lead them.

I'd like to get a Chaos Knight (either a Desecrator or Rampager) - to finish off a Super Heavy Detachment of Chaos Knights... but I need to finish the two knights I already HAVE (one is Chaos, the other is Imperial).

Closet-Megalomaniac-Planner is already envisioning mass air campaigns with Valkyries carrying drop troops that have to get to a specific hex to be able to drop them as reinforcements for the ground scenario and bigger play areas and... and... but I have to FINISH all the aircraft in the box set AND play a few games before I buy ANYMORE Aeronautica Imperialis stuff!!

There are others... but all require I FINISH stuff - like, entire collections of what I already got - so I don't imagine I'll be buying TOO MANY more miniatures (beyond the few aforementioned special character figures) at any point in the near future...



Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

A wrap up of Junes games.

Maybe a painting update?