Game Plan 2021 - Q4

And so, we enter the final quarter of the year... Things seem almost as uncertain as they did at the beginning of the year... Almost. 

Looking back at my Plan for Q3... 

MINIATURES

I'd hoped to mostly paint up more Age of Sigmar stuff... 

• Warhammer Underworlds Warbands
• Skaven
• Hedonites of Slaanesh
• Daughters of Khaine 
• Warhammer Quest Cursed City

What I DID Actually paint was... Not much of anything!? I think in the last three months all I managed to finished that was totally new was TWO Drukhari Kabalites. The rest of the hobby work was assembling a few things that have yet to be painted and rebasing and touching up of a number of 0K miniatures to use with Kill Teams... 

I guess there was the Sepulchral Guard - I repainted their weapons to make them all rusty... (I counted them under "purchased" so I might as well count them as "painted"!)

Actually as I look through the posts over the last month, I'm now realizing I actually just did a poor job of keeping the 2021 Painted vs Purchased page up to date as I also finished up Ironskull's Boyz!

and I partially re-painted some more Orruks. 

Ah, I see now... there were a few more I did in July that were initially included in Q2 on the Painted Versus Purchased page... 

I also painted 

• 1x Skaven Gutter Runner
• 20x Daemonettes
• 1x Stormcast Knight-Questor
• 11x Ulfenkarn City Watch
• 3x Freeguilders (Erekosë and Old Norse)

So I guess that's FIFTY NINE miniatures I painted - Almost double what I did in Q2!? Woo! 

It just felt like I didn't do much, as MOST of that was in early July and most of what I've been doing over the last bit has been rebasing and reorganizing... Still, there were a LOT of things I WANTED to do, and very little of it actually got done. 

The Kill Teams I touched up and rebased and reorganized, included: 

• The Crimson Wave Wych Cult - the aforementioned Drukhari 
• Dance of the Midnight Effusion - Harlequin Kill Team
• Hammer Troop - Veteran Guard 
• Maesenir's Rangers - Craftworld Aeldari Kill Team
• (which I expanded into an entire Combat Patrol for 40K9E)
• Nurgle Chaos Marines 

There were others I've been working on... I just haven't gotten them to a state where I could do a post about them. 

I also rebased and reorganized a Warband for Frostgrave (2nd Edtion) 

So... not as poorly as I initially thought when I started this post... 

Terrain and Other Hobby Projects

Didn't do much... 

5x5 Challenge

I didn't really have a focus, so it was hard to challenge myself to do something I had no interest in... so I GUESSED I might be able to play the following games, five time each. 

• Wingspan
• Age of Sigmar
• Warhammer Underworlds
• Some other Board Game?
• CURSED CITY! 

I managed to only play ONE of those listed at least five time... Wingspan (no surpirse, as it's our most-played game this year...). I did get in four games of Age of Sigmar (so close)! I only got in two games of Warhammer Underworlds and STILL haven't played (or even finished the minitures for Warhammer Quest: Cursed City!? 

I did, however, play OVER FIFTY games in Q3 - more than double the number of games a 5x5 challenge is designed to generate!

What I DID end up playing was: 

• Retro Loonacy x9
• Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team x8
• Wingspan x6
• Necromunda  x5
• The Arrival x4
• Terraforming Mars x4
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar (Third Edition) x4
• Savage Worlds x3
• Kingdomino x3
• Century: Golem Edition – An Endless World x2
• Warhammer Underworlds x2
• Azul x1
• 7 Wonders Duel x1
• The Castles of Burgundy x1
• Habitat x1
• Just Desserts x1
• Kingdom Builder x1
• Lords of Waterdeep x1
• Sidereal Confluence x1
• Splendor x1
• Viticulture Essential Edition x1

So... Q4....

How shall we wrap up this year...? 

MINIATURES

PAINTING

I'd like to just focus on a couple of things... I think those things will be:

Kill Teams - for for Warhammmer 40,000: Kill Team (2021) - and possibly expanding those Kill Teams into Combat Patrols for 40K9E. Kill Teams I'm planning:

• Death Korps of Kreig - Veteran Guard
• Tallarn Desert Raiders - Veteran Guard
• Valhallan Ice Warriors - Veteran Guard
• Necromunda Regiment - Veteran Guard
• 11th Antari Rifles Regiment - Veteran Guard
• Cadian - Veteran Guard
• Tempestus Scions Imperial Guard
• Scions and Armageddon Steel Legion Imperial Guard 
• Imperial Fists Scouts Space Marine 
• Tangermarine Reaver Space Marine 
• Greenskin/Orks
• Ork Kommandoes
• Ecclesiarchy/Sisters of Battle 
• Mechanicus Forge World (or, perhaps DARK Mechanicus) 
• Emperor's Children Traitor Marines 
• Chaos Daemons
• T'au Hunter Cadre 
• Hive Fleet - Genestealers
• Grey Knights

For the first month of the Quarter, I may focus on the Orks... just to do a sort of Orktober thing... 

MOST of these just require some organizing and filling out cards (and taking pictures!) - others require finishing off a few miniatures and/or some re-basing. One or two require painting the whole damned team... 

Warhammer Underworlds Warbands - Ive painted a LOT Of them this year... but I also have LOADS more to do! Still to paint:

• MORE Steelheart's Champions
• MORE Garrek's Reavers
• Magore's Fiends
• Mollog's Mob
• Ylthari's Guardians
• Thundrik's Profiteers
• Grashrak's Despoilers
• Skaeth's Wild Hunt
• Hrothgorn's Mantrappers
• The Wurmspat
• Myari's Purifiers
• The Crimson Court
• Storm of Celestus
• Drepur's Wraithcreepers
• Elathain's Soulraid
• Da Kunnin' Krew - from the upcoming Harrowdeep
• Xandire's Truthseekers - from the upcoming Harrowdeep

A few Things for Other People - have a small backlog of things I promised I'd paint for other people... I should really get SOME of THAT done... 

SO MANY other things that I have that pop into my brain as THINGS I SHOULD PAINT.... but I'm going to try and suppress that and try to focus on they 40K Skirmish/Kill Team and Warhammer Underworlds! 

PURCHASES

I know I really SHOULDN'T be buying anything else at this point... and I feel like I have been exercising SOME restraint in my purchasing this year... but it would be foolhardy to imagine that I simply won't buy ANYTHING for the rest of the year.... A few of the things that are on my wishlist that might get picked up in Q4:

Kill Team: Chalnath - the next boxed set for Kill Team including Adepta Sororitas Novitiates versus T’au Pathfinders + Rules, Scenario, Board and Terrain.

Warhammer Underworlds: Harrowdeep - New season of Warhammer Underworlds core set. Xandire’s Truthseekers (Sigmarites) and new Kruleboyz (Orruks), with new boards - set under the seas in Ulgu!? 

Death Korps of Krieg - Squad Box - when they're released - just to finish up the Kill Team and add in some options for Specaialists that you can't do with just ONE set!? 

Necromunda: Book of the Outcast - I did get in some games this summer. Though it's kind of been pushed aside in favour of Kill Team, I have VERY MUCH Still interested in Necromunda... 

Further down the list into the "Maybe, at best" are of the list (You know... just in case I suddenly inherit millions for a long lost relative, or something)... 

Aeronautica Imperialis: Valkyrie Assault Carriers!? - I haven't even finshed the ones from the first game box, let along PLAYED the game... but I have PLANS for our Xoxigar campaign that would involved some aerial battles... and soem Valkyrie Assault Carriers fit into that! 

Aeronautica Imperialis: Wrath of Angels!? - Space Marines and Eldar!? Well... MAYBE if I get the stuff I HAVE done and start playing it... 

War Dogs/Armiger Knights - with the summer Power Rating updates, Wardogs (Chaos Armiger Knights)  and all the Imperial Armigers have dropped to 8 (or less) making playing a Combat Patrol with Knights a viable thing... so... I woudn't mind picking up a few boxes to do three Wardogs - and maybe three Imperial Armigers... just for funsies... 

Maybe some of the other Warhammer Underworlds Warbands from the previous seasons that are still available: Rippa's Snarlfangs, The Starblood Stalkers, Hedkrakka's Mob - and the terrain bits Primal Lair and Arcane Hazards

Stargrave...!? 

OTHER PROJECTS?

I don't know that much else will be happening... I might game some terrain finished up for 40K/Kill Team. I have lots left to finish from the Previous Edition of Kill Team and all the Ork Shanty Town terrain from the NEW Kill Team to paint (and I'll probab 

GAMES

I will play some games. 

Do I even BOTHER with a 5x5 Challenge any more? I mean it's supposed to; A) be inspiration to plays, B) play a bit of a variety of games, but C) Play a few games at least a few times - to get to know the game batter... I kind of end up doing that most Quarters - and most years! I do recognize that it does help to have SOME kind of plan... but also be totally willing to CHANGE that plan as the need arises... 

If I HAD to guess which games I'm going to play more than once or twice (and hopefully five or more times) I'd say... 

Kill Team -  seems to be going strong... can't imagine that stopping. 

Wingspan - it's been a favourite all year. Haven't played it AS MUCH in the last two months, but I'm sure we'll get some more games in before the year ends. 

Warhammer Underworlds - I REALLY want to get playing this again on the regular... it's hard when there are SO MANY other games... 

Wrath & Glory - I'd really hoped to get TWO games of this going on alternating weekends through the fall - one with the online group I've been playing games with off and on over the last year and a half, and maybe start an in-person game with some new, local folks... but with Covid numbers soaring up like we've not seen before... I just don't think they latter option will be prudent for this fall/winter. Hopefully the Online group, though.  

I'd also like to get in some smaller, Combat-Patrol-level games of 40K, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that. 

I'd like to finish up some Ork Dakka Jets and try out Aeronautica Imperialis. 

There are SO MANY board games I'd LOVE to play... and love to play a BUNCH of times, so that I really get a chance to LEARN them... but interests change on a daily basis and OTHER PEOPLE are required to play these games, so THEIR interests have to be taken into account... so... WHO KNOWS what I might also get around to playing. 

September Games

In previous years I've done a Game-a-Day challenge... This year.... not-so-much this year. 

Still.... Games were played. 

I can't complain. 

Wednesday, 1 September 2021

Kicking things off, I played a quick game of the new Kill Team with Orion. 

You can read the full report and see more pics here:

Kill Team - Game Two

Friday, 3 September 2021

Friday evening Amanda and I planed Century Golem Edition: Endless World. 

She won. By lots. 

Saturday, 4 September 2021

Originally I was supposed to run Lost Tomb of the Bitchin Chimera... but then some Ikea furniture arrived on Friday (which was supposed to have arrived a week earlier) and Amanda was FREAKING OUT about it getting assembled.... so I assembled that instead of preparing the game... 

In the end a couple of the guys just showed up to chat for a bit... talk about our respective kids first days back at school and what a crazy sh!t-show the Covid situation has been in our respective provinces.... 

Thursday,  9 September 2021

Another Game of Kill Team - starting off our campaign. You can read the full report and see all the pictures here:

Kill Team - Welcome (Back) to the Jungle

Friday, 10 September 2021

Friday evening we had a few friends over to play Sidereal Confluence. The last time we played had been nearly a year ago (13 September 2021). We had placed with almost the exact same group - Brent Kurtis, Amanda, Finnegan and myself. Rob was the new edition - a fellow I met in high school and knew through Youth Parliament and then later served with in the Canadian Forces. I kind of lost track of him for a couple decades - but reconnected through Facebook a few years back and just happened to run into him earlier in the week while I was out for a ride and he was out walking his dogs and we got to chatting and I invited him to join us! 

It's a fun game with a LOT of moving parts - mostly a trading/engine-building game... I guess... I like it, but it's a little overwhelming at times - with six people all trying to trade stuff and get the things that they need - which others are also trying to get...  I also feel like we need to play it a little more often than once a year to really GET IT!? All the different species have their advantages and things they do and recourses the produce... but they all lack... other things... 

This is the largest game I've played in... well... a long time! Probably since the beginning of the Pandemic! I was a bit anxious about getting people together with the covid numbers on the rise again - this week smashing all previous records for new infections and hospitalizations - but this time with NO Public Health Order in place!? Everyone here is fully-vaccinated and have pretty tight bubbles, so... 

Saturday, 11 September 2021

Initially I was supposed to run Lost Tomb of the Bitchin Chimera this evening... AGAIN?! but once again... life happened... so instead Amanda and I decided to play Terraforming Mars.

I played the Mining Guild with Smelting Plant and Dome Farming from the Prelude expansion. I took the Builder Milestone and Landlord, Miner and Thermalist Awards! Probably the best game I ever played... I can't say it was all me being brilliant - I was exceptionally lucky in my card draws - pulling a lot of things that really worked together... sometimes... (Most of the time) I just draw crap and can't get ANYTHING working together... but this time it totally worked out. 

Amanda played Inventrix with Business Empire and Early Settlement and took Mayor and Planner Awards. The game went 13 Turns. This was the 38th game I've played - of Terraforming Mars. 

Sunday, 12 September 2021

Finnegan and I played another game of Kill Team - furthering the narrative of our little campaign. 

This time the Ebony Vipers Genestealer Cult faced Maesenir's Rangers. a full report of the game and loads more pictures can be found on a separate report:

Aeldari Ambush

Tuesday, 14 September 2021

Amanda, Keiran and I played two quick games of Retro Loonacy in the evening. 

I think Keiran had had a rough day at school and needed some cheering up... 

Thursday, 16  September 2021

Orion came by to play Kill Team. We played a game involving Maesenir's Rangers and some very nasty Space Wolf Primaris Intercessors were looking for an ancient relic amidst the ruins of an Inquisitor's lander. 

The initial game I had set up went so quickly, we actually had time to play a second! 

Friday, 17  September 2021

Rob came by again this Friday and Amanda and I introduced him to Terraforming Mars. 

Rob did pretty good for his first game - especially considering he hasn't done much board gaming at all (save Risk)! He took Robinson Industries with the Mohole and Mohole Excavation from Prelude and pretty much single-handedly raised the temperature on Mars... He also cleaned up on the Cities and Greenery - AND took the Planner and Gardener milestones! 

We totally covered the planet with Greenery and cities! I was red, Rob was blue, and Amanda was green. 

At the end of the game Amanda was leading with the Terraforming Rating (with 46), Rob had 31 and I had 32!? 

Even after counting Greenery and Cities (which I didn't do TOO bad on) I was trailing - then we started counting points on cards and I scored an astounding 46 points from cards alone - rocketing me into first place!? 8 of that was from Pets - which I managed to get out in the first turn before 16 of the 17 cities were built! I got another 8 from a card that scored one per Jovian tag... That's two games in a row I've won!? 

I did get insanely lucky with a few of the card draws. I got research station with my initial cards (Every Card cost one less to put into play) and Space Station as one of the Space Tag Cards I drew along with Acquired Space Agency (every Space card I put into play cost two less) and then in the second or third turn I drew Earth Catapult (Every Card cost TWO less!?) - so all cards cost me 3 less than their printed value - except space cards which were five less... OH, AND I got Advanced Alloys which made all the steel and Titanium I produced worth one more (Steel = 3 MC, Titanium = 4 MC)! so I was able to put a LOT of cards into play. Amanda and Rob kind of dragged getting the last few oceans out - extending the game a few rounds longer than it could have -mostly so they could get more cities and greenery.... but every turn they did that I just kept putting more and more cards into play - I was also drawing extra cards per turn with AI Central... and I'd just put ANYTHING into play that had points on it - and those points all REALLY ADDED UP!? 

Saturday, 18 September 2021

I FINALLY got to run Last Tomb of the Bitchin Chimera... Well... STARTED to run it, at least. We got as far as discovering the entrance to the Lost Tomb.... and had to call it a night. It was fun, though. It has been a LONG time since I've played Savage Worlds. I forgot how fun and simple it is. 

Sunday, 19 September 2021

Sunday evening, Amanda, Keiran and I played Viticulture... Originally Finnegan had said he'd play, but as he often does these days, decides he'd rather just watch videos on YouTube in his room... or whatever... 

Amanda just destroyed us - scoring 24, when Keiran and I couldn't even make it to 20... One thing I was pretty excited about was the fact that I actually had all three fields planted - which I almost NEVER do... I usually sell one at the beginning of the game to make money for building infrastructure and I don't know... I find that it's rare that I ever harvest all three in a year, so... why would I ever bother planting all three!? 

Tuesday, 21 September 2021

After school, Keiran and I sat down to play a few quick games of Kindomino, as they'd been suggesting it for some time and somehow it just hadn't happened... There was nothing specific planned for the evening. Amanada would be out for hours, Finnegan was monopolizing the computer working on his school-like-stuff... 

I won the first game and then - because a 2-player game uses exactly half the tiles, we just used the ones we hadn't used in the first game for the second. Keira won that one. 

Then I got the idea of curating the tiles we used. Like, "all odd ones" or "all even ones or" or "all the highest numbered ones".  The latter sounded fun, but I worried it might now work out with NO double ones - it might be insanely hard to out things together... So we did tiles 1-6 and 30-48... a mix of the highest numbered tiles and the lowest... 

Keiran won that one by PILES - like, 75 points, or something!?) 

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

Quick game of Retro Loonacy before bed. 

Thursday, 23 September 2021

Thursday Orion came over for another game of Kill Team and we started off a new campaign... 

Details and move pictures can be found here:

Kill Team - a NEW New Kill Team Campaign

Friday, 24 September 2021

And Friday evening, Finnegan and I continued our Kill Team campaign on Xoxigar Tertium.

That Game Report can be found here:

Kill Team - Destroy the Ruins

Saturday, 25 September 2021

We WERE to finish off Lost Tomb of the Bitchin Chimera... but life got in the way again and few were available so we decided to wait until next week/month to finish up the game. I'd really hoped to get started again on Wrath & Glory in October... I guess I still can... it'll just be LATER in October. 

Thursday, 30 September 2021

The very first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

In the evening, Amanda and I played a game of Azul. 

And that's September. 

I'm working on Game Plan 2021-Q4, which I'll probably be posting later this evening...

Age of Sigmar - End of the Campaign....?

These are some pictures of the last game of Age of Sigmar that I played with Finnegan... it was part of a new AoS3E Paths to Glory Narrative Campaign we'd started... and then lost steam... and then interest... and I coudln't even motivate myself to finish up thsi report. We'd planned at least ONE mroe game... but didn't even get to that before being fully distracted by Kill Team!?

I had edited the photos and uploaded them into a draft and it sat in my drafts folder for ever and it seemed a waste to just delete it... but I have little idea what was going on here or where the notes I took during the game went to... so I thought I'd just share the pictures without much comment. 

I know there WAS a story behind it all... but I can't remember which. 

I think maybe the Deamons of Slaanesh were retreating from their attempted assault of the Stormcast's stroghold and ran into a band of Khorne Daemons on their way to attack the Sigmarites and just happened to run into their equally hated enemy - the servants of Slaanesh. Battle ensued. 

I was playing the Slaanesh Daemons, Finnegan played the Daemons of Khorne. 

I really enjoyed Age of Sigmar and playing this campaign... and I'd LOVE to play more... I really loved building up these forces and the narrative to go with them and the narrative of the campaign... but I've come to the realization that I CAN'T DO IT ALL!? I just dont' have the time to do ALL the games and paint ALL the miniatures I'd like to and need to FOCUS on something... and right now that focus is KILL TEAM. I'd initially hoped to keep up with Kill Team AND Necromunda AND Warhammer underworlds... this fall... AND maybe get to WArhammer Quest: Cursed City... AND maybe get back into out Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress campaign... but it's feeling more and more like all I'm going to accomplish is some more Kill Team!? 

And, y'know... maybe that's okay... 

I can always return to this - or any of those other games when I tire of Kill Team...