March Games

In March, we played a few games....




Friday, 1 March 2019

The first of March was a Friday, and therefore Family game night. As we hadn’t gotten to play a game on my birthday, I chose to play Terraforming Mars. This was our fifth play of it so far this year (half way to 10!). While I (and probably Amanda) are far from tiring of this game, I think the kids are… well… interested in playing other things…?




This evening we played with the Hellas board.




My stuff at the end of the game.

Amanda Plante played Ecoline, I tried out Credicor, The Girl played the Tharsis Republic, and Finnegan played Inventrix. I felt like the game went crazy quick – like I was barely getting going… and it was all over!? I did managed to take the Rim Settler milestone and first for the Space Baron Award and tied for second in the Magnate Award. Amanda took the Tactician and Polar Explorer Milestones and first for both the Magnate and Cultivator awards. Finnegan came in second for the Space Baron, Magnate, and Cultivator awards.

Amanda won with a total of 81 victory points, I wasn’t too far behing with 77, Finnegan had 62, and The Girl ended up with 58.


Saturday, 2 March 2019



All day Saturday I was at the Battle of the Abyss – Apocalypse event.



You can read all about that here:

Battle of the Abyss


In the evening Amanda went out to play Call of Cthulhu and Finnegan ran his Dungeon Crawl Classics game.


Sunday, 3 March 2019



On Sunday we got in a quick game of Splendor as Amanda and I were heading out to see a play at the Persephone Theatre.



Amanda won. Again. Dang, she’s good at this game. She ended with 16, the Girl and I both had 10,  and Finnegan only had 2!?


Monday 4 March 2019



Monday evening our firend Kurtis came by and played a game of Centruy Golem with us. With five players, we only played to four victory cards. Finnegan ended the game by taking his fourth, but I ended up winning.



I had a really good hand of cards and went for some BIG POINT cards. In the end I had 60 points, Finnegan had 51, Kurtis had 47, Amanda had 42, and The Girl had 33.


Saturday, 9 March 2019

We didn’t get to play again until Saturday (Friday, The Girl was dancing at an early St. Patrick’s Day Céilí).



Saturday evening we played Abyss. It went really quick too! Again, I felt like I was just getting going and it was over! I think everyone was in a rush to get it done so they could all go watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (I picked up Season One from the library and we’re all loving it!)



I thought Amanda was going to just bury us all, but when the points were all totaled up I wasn’t too far behind. She ended with 70, I had 66 (and I only had five of the dudes…) and the kids were tied at 64…




Friday, 15 March 2019

This was the third in the mini, narrative campaign for Sentinels of the Multiverse, set up by Finnegan.




Once again I played Haka, Amanda played The Naturalist, Finnegan played Dr. Medico and The Girl played The Harpy.

In our last adventure, we acquired a space ship to travel to Mars to confront Baron Blade. Along the way, however, we intercepted the Celestial Tribunal which was on its way to Earth and we tried to redirect it. Unfortunately, Chokepoint (a villain) was also there trying to convince them to continue on their way to Earth, presumably for her own nefarious purposes. In the end, it was Chokepoint that was put on trial by the tribunal and taken out by one of the Celestial Executioners….


Saturday, 16 March 2019

Saturday was supposed to be Call of Cthulhu night, but I was just NOT feeling up to going out, so Amanda and I stayed in and watched movies.



The kids did have some friends over, though, and played Dungeon Crawl classics.


Sunday, 17 March 2019

On Sunday we played Castles of Mad King Ludwig – because not EVERY game we play has to be on the list o’challenge games!



I actually won this game, though it was pretty close. More importantly, however, I made a really fun, cool castle – which is really my main goal when playing this game!



I think this game plays way better with four… There’s a bit more options, and more tension – when you’re the last to pick.


Monday, 18 March 2019



Another game of Abyss. I feel like these games are getting quicker. Though not TOO quick.



I was totally ON this week, and ended up just squeaking ahead of everyone else – in another very close game.


Friday, 22 March 2019



Friday Amanda and I were heading out to a burlesque show in the evening, so we played a quick game of Splendor while the pizza was cooking.



Amanda declared at the beginning of the game that we’d all have a “significant advantage” over her this time as she was “absoloutely brain dead” after a long tiring week of work…. And then she beat us, ending the game with as many points as the rest of us combined!?



I had five points.


Saturday, 23 March 2019



Again, Saturday was SUPPOSED to be Wrath & Glory… but everyone bailed… We might have to look at a different evening for Wrath & Glory… or maybe I just need to run it for a different group…


Sunday, 24 March 2019



Despite having planned to do so for the last half dozen family game nights, we finally got in another game of Castles of Burgundy. I felt like this game went a little bit quicker. Still closer to the 2 hour mark than the 30-90 minute suggested playing time.



I felt like I had a slightly better idea of what I was doing, but Amanda, despite her protestations that she didn’t either, clearly has this figured out and left us all in the dust…


Monday, 25 March 2019



Last Monday we decided to get in a quick game of Kingdom Builder - as we hadn't played in a while and everyone seemed keen to take a break from games on "the list)

We played with the Hermit, Knight, and Builder victory thingies, and the Tavern, Oracle, Oasis, and Harbour boards.



Amanda picked up FOUR location tiles (double what anyone else had) and ended the game - and wondered why others had so many extra settlement blocks left? Finnegan, despite putting the least total number of settlements on the board ended up winning - making very good use of the Harbour tile ability to extend his horizontal line, for the Knight victory Points, and make separate communities, for the Hermit points.


Wednesday, 27 March 2019



It’s been a long time since Mr. Miller and I played a miniature game… even longer since Mr. Miller played 40K – though he played through the first six editions, he threw in the towel at 7th… but has, somehow been drawn back in after two years of poo-pooing 8th edition…?



He was wanting to try it out, and I wanted to try out my new 1000 point Eldar force against a fairly competitive player to see how badly they’d do…

You can read the full report here:

Ruins of Station 5743b


Friday, 29 March 2019



Friday evening our friend Laura came over to play Power Grid deluxe with us. She had never played before, but had read the rules and watched a play-through video online with lots of strategy tips and ended up doing very well. In fact, she said she was watching US doing all sorts of things the video had said NOT to do! (But wouldn't tell us what they were!? I guess I'm going to have to look for a good play through with tips and tricks - otherwise she will crush us next time!!!)



I did end up winning - with THREE COAL-FIRED GENERATORS!? (I almost never buy coal, for various reasons..). On the last turn, I powered 15 cities. Amanda and Laura both powered 14. Amanda, I think, had 15 cities connected, she just didn't have the generation capacity. Laura, on the other hand, had 15-16 generation capacity, but just wasn't able to connect to 15 cities... The kids weren't far behind with 12 and 13 cities.


Saturday, 30 March 2019

I had hoped to get in a game of 40K in the afternoon with Finnegan, but that somehow just didn't happen...



In the evening, I finally made it out to another session of Bruce's Call of Cthulhu game. The last game ended up being cancelled when we didn't show and they ended up playing Terraforming Mars. I didn't do much this game, I was holed up in my house reading the Book of Eibon and slowly going insane...

While we were out, the kids had another session of Dungeon Crawl Classics. Next month I think they're going to be moving their game to Saturday afternoons and running it weekly instead.

And that's about it for games we played this past month.



We're doing okay on the Challenge front. We're a quarter of the way through the year and we've played 23/100 games... so, not so bad.

I was pretty bummed about not getting in any games of Wrath & Glory - Saturdays just don't seem to be working out for those guys. I sent out a note to see if there was a better time, but have had no response... maybe I just need to find some new players.


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Miniatures?



So much stuff creeping on to the workbench! I still have the Swooping Hawks I'd originally planned to paint up to finish off a 1000-point Eldar force. But I also have the third Wraithlord and a couple more Warlocks lurking on the bench - along with a few Howling Banshees... I've been back and forth about trying different things - more Warp Spiders, More Dire Avengers and/or Rangers... Striking Scorpions and/or Banshees!? The table we'll be playing on at the tournament is rather small - maybe more melee specialists would be better...?

There are also a bunch of Necromunda gangers of a variety of different sorts... Dungeons and Doggies figures.... Even some Grey Knights still skulking in the background!

In piles nearby I have a load of minis to paint for my friend John and no shortage of other things I still consider "active projects"

I need to get working on the Blackstone Fortress figures before I lose any impulse to play the game! But I'm so excited about the Eldar force at the moment, I just want to finish them all up - and then move on to finish up Amanda's Drukhari!

Game Report? I would really, REALLY like to get in another game (or two! or THREE!!) of 40K this week before I have to submit my tournament list on Saturday! just to try a couple different options out. Mind you, I doubt I'd be able to get ALL of the options done in time to play with them this week...

Ruins of Station 5743b

The place was dead. There was no sound save for the incessant wind howling through the ruins of the station. It seemed an unlikely place, but the skeins of fate had shown the Farseer that that a weapon lay hidden beneath the ground. A Weapon that, if it fell into the wrong hands, could spell the doom of the Biel-Tim fleet.

They were not alone. The Star Soldiers of the Mon-Kee where here. The ignorant, meddling, unpredictable Mon-Kee. So belligerent and full of blind hatred for all they do not understand. And there was just so much that they did not, nor could they ever, understand.

Last night Other Tim came by to try out Warhammer 40,000 (8th Edition). Other Tim is an old school 40K player that played the game for over 20 years, through 6 editions off the game, but finally threw in the towel at 7th Edition. For some reason, however, he's dragged his toys out of the closet, dusted them off and decided to have a go at 8th.

We played a smaller game (1000 points) for him to just try out the rules and for me to try out my 100 point Eldar force I'm planning to use at the Battleforce: Recon tournament in just over two weeks.

There isn't as much detail or fluff in this report as I might have liked for two reasons. #1, I am not totally familiar with Eldar - so many more rules and different weapon stats to remember compared to my Imperial Guard - so I spent a lot of time looking things up, rather than taking notes and pictures like I normally do. The other is I have injured my elbow and am trying to keep it immobilized for a few days, so I am "hunting and pecking" with one hand here, so....

SCENARIO

The scenario we played was one that will be used in the tournament. The board played on was (approximately) 4'x3'. There were objective markers in the centre of each quadrant - at the end of each turn you scored 1 VP if you controlled more markers than the enemy, or 3VP if you controlled three of the markers, BUT only models of the "Troop" tripper could contest the objectives (i.e. no HQ, Elite, etc...). In addition to that, there were tactical objective cards to draw which gave other opportunities to score victory points. Also points were awarded at the end of each round if one side eliminated more units than they list during the round, plus the usuals for matched play - First Blood, Killing the Warlord, and Linebreaker...

FORCES

Battle host of the Biel-Tim Fleet
Battalion Detachment (8 CP) - as Biel-Tan

Headquarters
1x Farseer
2x Warlocks

Troops
2x Ranger Squads (5)
1x Dire Avenger Squads (5)

Fast Attack
2x Warp Spider Squads (8)
1x Swooping Hawks (5)

Heavy Support
2x Wraith Lords
1x Dark Reaper Squads (4)


Emperor's Brethren Space Marines
Battalion Detachment (8 CP) - as Ultramarines

Headquarters
1x Librarian
1x Chaplain
1xTechmarine

Troops
3x Scout Squads (5)

Elites
1x Ironclad Dreadnought

Fast Attack
3x Attack Bike Squads (1) with Multi-Meltas

Heavy Support
1x Whirlwind
1x Thunderfire Cannon


THE GAME



Farseer Thymiltelyir lead a group of Dark Reapers from the Shrine of the Pulsating Rod to a ruined building near the centre of the station that the Rangers had been scouting out. He'd hoped to suppress the Mon-Kee before they advanced too far into the station and disrupted their search for the weapon.



Another squad of Rangers, covering the Farseer's advance, exchanged fire with the Star Soldiers scouts, while a Wraithlord tried to keep their heads down with a volley of rockets. The attempts to keep the Star Soldiers Heads down were largely ineffective and brought withering fire down on the Dark Reapers, and called in artillery from their supporting units...

My Dark reapers could see nothing in their initial location and had to advance to get into a position where they could - and so were unable to foreign their first turn. On Other Tim's first turn, he wiped them out with a combination of fire from the Scout Marine Snipers and indirect fire from the Thunderfire Cannon. So... I have no idea if they're any good, as they never got a shot off... Guess they're good at drawing fire!!



Ugh... I can't keep up with the fluffy narrative - too much typing for one hand!

Dire Avengers moved up into a position where the were both in cover and controlling ab objective. Wraith lord put a nice neat hole through the Ironclad Dreadnought - one shot - 6 damage! Boom! (it still had 2 left...)



Warlock Adrellewi, controlling another of the objectives, was cut down by fire from the Scout snipers as well...



Ironclad Dreadnought charged, and subsequently wiped out, a squad of Rangers.



The three units of Attack Bikes shot the Dire Avengers to crap, leaving only the Exarch! So the Exarch and Warlock Bro'wyn charged one of them... got in there, but just couldn't hurt it...

On Turn Two, the Swooping Hawks I borrowed from the Girl dropped out of the sky and shot up a couple of Marine Scouts... but not much else. I was expecting these to be big performers, as they've done well for her - but now that I think about it, that was always against Guard or Cultists, are Hormagaunts or other T3, low armoured targets... they are less effective against /marines.... 

The Warp Spiders also arrived in two turns they wiped out two squads of Marine Scouts... Maybe I'll be painting a few more of these instead of my swooping Hawks...? If my arm gets better!!

The Farseer fell back to the other Rangers position.



Attack Bike fell back and shot up the Exarch and Warlock.



Swooping Hawks went down in a blaze of glory....



Other Tim and our small game set up on the kitchen table.



Warp Spiders finishing of that second unit of Marines and controlling one of the objectives (for one of the Tactical Card conditions - the couldn't count as holding it for the scenario conditions - but at least they cleared the Marine troops off of it!)



Farseer set up in a building with two Wraithlords - allowing them both to re-roll all failed hits - one with his warlord ability, the other with the "Guide" psychic ability. Wraith lords were far more effective than the Dark Reapers... I'm going to have to figure out how to modify then to carry a second heavy weapon (as they are allowed two!)



Wraith lords finished off the Ironclad and exchanged fir with the attack bikes, blowing up one.

The Thunder Cannon and Whirlwind all but wiped out the Warp Spiders, so I had the Exarch (with one wound remaining) blink into the enemies rear to try and exact some revenge for his fallen warriors... i'm not sure he did anything there but die... maybe took out a Scout, but didn't finish off the unit...



Wraithlord anf Farseer moving up to charge an Attack Bike in hopes of taking it out and moving up to control the objective beyond it - for a tactical card objective. They succeeded!



The last remaining Attack Bike moved up, trying to break through for a line breaker point (1VP for having a unit in the enemy deployment zone at game end)



In the end he didn't need it, as he concentrated all of his indirect fire on these rangers and wiped then out. Ended the game with 8 VP to my 7....

It was a pretty fun and exciting game. I think it's going to be fun playing the Eldar - I just need bunch more practise to learn all their special rules and stratagems and weapon stats and such - and how to use them all together effective!

I have to admit, I think these "Maelstrom of War" type scenarios - with drawing Tactical Objective cards to see what you get victory points each turn - are kind of silly. It's hard to build narrative around them...

Wraithlords are pretty badass - they're like little walking tanks. I might have to find a way to convert them to carry a second heavy weapon each (as they are allowed to!).

The Warp Spiders were also surprisingly effective. I had some really good luck with rolls for them, but the speed with which they could dart about the field is really useful for a scenario like this.

Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I was going to try and finish up the Swooping Hawks, but now I'm not so sure...? Maybe the third Wraithlord? More Dire Avengers and Warp Spiders? Do I change things up at this point? Get in more games with the same force? I probably won't get any painting done over the next few days (because of my arm)but maybe I'll be able to talk Amanda or the kids into playing a game or two over the weekend!!