Saturday, December 31, 2022

Looking Back at 2022

(TL/DR; I did stuff. There were REASONS!) 

It was a slow year here on the old Game Blog... 

You just have to look at the number of posts on the blog to see that things have slowed down around here. In the past sixteen years I've been doing this, I've created between 100 and 199 post per year (average 145), this year I only managed 83...? There are a few reasons for this... 

The biggest reason for less posts on this blog, is I tried to focus on some other things - getting out and riding my bike more, and making ART more. This is evidenced by the activities on my other blogs over this past year. The Bicycling Blog has had an average of 12 posts per year, and this past year I did 36! The ART BLOG, on the other hand, has had an average of 11 posts per year, and this year there have been 187!?

Part of the drop in posts has been the drop in interest in/engagement with blogs in general. I get comment notifications every day, but at this point, 99% of those are just spam comments that I delete. I can't blame people for not reading blogs anymore... I mean, I hardly read anyone else's blogs anymore - of course, a LOT of the people I did regularly follow in the past have either stopped, or just don't post as often, and so blogs have lost their critical mass for me. If things don't happen as part of a regular routine, they just don't happen in my life. I stopped checking my list daily, when there stopped being new stuff every day, and then I just stopped checking at all!? Now I just check in when I remember and have some time - which tends to be every few months... but by then it's just do daunting to leave a comment on all the blog posts... so I often just don't... (Sorry fellow bloggers!) 

I do check social media daily, for my dose of hobby/art inspiration. I've found a few past bloggers that post more regularly there, which has been really nice. Mostly instagram. I did rejoin twitter a little over a year ago and strictly limited things to hobby and art stuff and it was a much better experience... but wow... things have gotten a little weird over there and I might delete my account again... if the whole thing doesn't implode first!? I also started a Tumblr... but I don't love that site. It seems less intuitive to navigate and interact with and I haven't really found any hobby stuff to follow there. 

(If you DO have a social media account where you share your hobby stuff, let me know where to find you in the comments!)

A lot of other big things happened, outside of gaming.... I turned fifty and the day before, Russia invaded Ukraine - triggering all sorts of deep trauma of growing up in the 80s - raised by parents where were very involved in the anti-nuke movement and being HYPERAWARE how very close we were to utter annihilation in a nuclear war at any given moment - the popular media of the day didn't help! It was so bad, one of my core beliefs became "fuck it, who cares, probably not going to survive to adulthood" So many bad decisions were made based on this core belief. I think somewhere deep down in my brain it's lived on all this time... so imagine my surprise when I suddenly realized I had an ADULT CHILD (Finnegan turned 18) and I turned FIFTY!? WTF!?!?! I swear I was a teenager last week!? 

Finnegan also finished high school and started university! Runs two weekly D&D games and has just started posting videos about his D&D campaigns (they aren't four-hour live play-throughs - it's kind of animation... sort of... and, like, eight minutes long. You can see it here: The Goat Saga on YouTube) 

Keiran starred in their first musical and been very involved in school activities.

Amanada's just been CrAzY busy at work, and if that weren't enough, was teaching SIX different yoga classes on top of a full-time job!? 


GAME PLAN 2022

What I HAD planned to do last year can be seen here:

GAME PLAN 2022 - Q1 

GAME PLAN 2022 - Q2 

GAME PLAN 2022 - Q3 

Extra Thoughts about 5x/10x Challenges

GAME PLAN 2022 - Q4


50 Miniature Games 

I had wanted to make 2022 the year of getting back into miniature gaming. The plan was to play at least ONE miniature game every week of 2022 and post a game reprt of said game. I thought it MIGHT be possible. The previous year I'd played nearly fifty games (Warhammer Underworlds x22, Kill Team x10, Necromunda x6, Age of Sigmar  x4, The Silver Bayonet x2, Dragon Rampant x1, 40K9E x1, Warcry x1) and 51 the previous year (Blackstone Fortress x23, 40K8E x8, 40K9E x8, Hellboy: The Board Game x5, Necromunda x5, Battlefleet Gothic x1, Kill Team x1), so why shouldn't I be able to do at least 50 this year...? 

That totally DID NOT HAPPEN... 


GAMES PLAYED

5x5 (Quarterly) Challenge - 10x10 (Annual) Challenges 

The past few years these quarterly challenges had worked out okay and I totally even managed to pull off a 10x10 challenge - it worked out better if I didn't define WHICH ten I'd play for the year in January, because there was no telling where my interests would have gone by the end of the year. I figured the same model would probably work for this year... 

It did not. I just didn't play enough games overall... I didn't even make it to 100 games in TOTAL. The previous two years I played OVER 200 games. 

Here is what I DID end up playing this year:

  1. Terraforming Mars x11
  2. Wingspan x11
  3. Carcassonne  x10
  4. Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm x10
  5. Azul x8
  6. Five Tribes x8
  7. Wrath & Glory x6
  8. Quebec 1759 x5
  9. Stone Age x5
  10. Splendor x5
  11. Andean Abyss x2
  12. Dresden Files Accelerated x2
  13. Hellboy: The Board Game – Deluxe Edition x2
  14. Warhammer Underworlds: Harrowdeep x2
  15. Wizard Kings x2
  16. Angola x1
  17. Bananagrams x1
  18. For Sale x1
  19. Kingdom Builder x1
  20. Marrying Mr. Darcy x1
  21. Mutant Crawl Classics Role Playing Game x1
  22. The Silver Bayonet x1
  23. Space Base x1


So a total of 96 games were played this year. 

I guess if I looked at the top ten played games and expressed the games played as a percentage of 10 i got through 78% of a 10x10 challenge... a passing grade, I guess... a solid B (story of my life - "If only Tim would APPLY himself...") 


Wargaming Birthday Bash/February Game Weekend

Also just didn't happen. I played a few boardgames with the family... that's it... 

Next year...? I don't know... I've had thoughts... Don't know if it will happen... Might be too late.


TOONCON

There WAS a ToonCon this year. I did not go. The provincial mask mandate had ended and while some businesses and organizations continued to require staff and patrons to wear masks - for at least a little while, most did not. ToonCon had no mask mandate and the province was in a huge spike in Covid cases... so I decided not to go. 

Every year it's been a bit of a "Do I REALLY want to go do this...?" I didn't LOVE large gatherings of people BEFORE the pandemic began - too many people, so much noise... I had an okay enough time, but was UTTERLY EXHAUSTED by the end of the weekend, and NOT always a "good" kind of exhausted. 

I told myself that the games I ran were promoting the games, and getting more people playing the games I love could only be a good thing and it would be an opportunity to meet some new people that I might be able to play games with in the future. But, taking an honest look at the games I've run at conventions over the years, I don't know of ANYONE getting into a game because they played it with me at a convention, nor have I gained any new friends because of them... so... maybe I won't even bother with these in the future, even IF the pandemic ever fizzles out (which it is showing no signs of doing in my neck of the woods, despite pretty much EVERYONE's insistence that it is "over")


OTHER EVENTS

Nope. 


PAINTING

This was the least productive year for painting in the fifteen years I've been tracking this. By, like LOTS... On the plus side, this year also saw the lest acquisitions. 

Only looking at 28mm foot figures (by for the most common miniatures I own/paint), over the previous 14 years that I've been tracking painting, I've painted 9586 28mm foot figures - an average of 684 per year. The most I painted in one year was ten years ago in 2012 when I painted 1231 28mm foot figures. Over the previous 13 years that I've been tracking purchases/acquisitions, I have acquired 12906 28mm foot figures, an average of 992 per year. The most I acquired in one year was also 2012 when I acquired 2470 28mm foot figures!? Seriously, WTF was I thinking!?!?

By contrast, this year I only purchased 80 28mm foot figures, but only managed to paint 57. And the majority of the ones I painted were NOT the ones I PURCHASED this year!? 

Here's what I DID paint this year.... 


28mm Foot

Q1

Year Total: 57 

28mm Mounted/Smaller Beasties

28mm Big Beasties/Vehicles

Little Bits/Markers/Tokens

Total Bitz: 14


The above stats ignore other scales, as they are dwarfed by the amount of 28mm stuff I have. This year, I DID manage to get to painting a BUNCH of the micro/"epic" scale miniatures I've acquired over the years, which partially accounts for why I painted so little 28mm stuff. Here's what I got done:

Micro Foot

Total: 181 Mirco Foot

Micro Mounted

Total: 19 Micro Mounted

Mirco Tanks/Vehicles

Total: 39 Micro Vehicles

What DID I acquire this year...?

I bought two Kill Team box sets (despite STILL not finishing ANY of the stuff from the previous two I purchased last year), Warhammer Underworlds: Nethermaze, four warbands for Warhammer Underworlds, and 8 old metal Harlequins off ebay - to fill out a small contingent of Harlequins in an Aeldari force (after picking up the 9th Edition Aeldari Codex) 

Other than the Kill Team boxes and Nethermaze, I only bought ONE other boardgame this year (Stone Age). I did pick up a few sets of rules for miniature games (that I have yet to play); the new edition of Lion Rampant and Xenos Rampant. 

There were a LOT of VERY TEMPTING THINGS that came out in the last year that the ADHD (OOH! SHINY!) part of me really, REALLY wanted to get in on... but I somehow managed to NOT buy! So, there's that... 

The Warhammer Horus Heresy box set was SUUUUUPER tempting to buy... and I didn't... and STILL haven't (despite there still being a copy sitting in my FLGS!!). What's kept me from buying it (beyond the fact that it would be ridiculous to do so, given how much I've gotten painted this year) is that the rules are basically a throwback to pre 8th edition 40K, which is just not my thing... what still keeps me interested is COOL MODELS, and the fact that I could probably paint them all fairly quickly, being mostly ONE COLOUR and all.... and having read a few of the Horus Heresy books, it would be super fun to play out some of those engagements... AND most of the guys that got in on the game, locally, are the fun guys to play with... Fuck, I hope someone just buys that box and removes the temptation... 

Also haven't bought any of the new stuff for Necromuda, even though there has been a new core started box for the Ash Wastes with super cool vehicles and giant-bug-riding Ash Waste Nomads... and a few books to go along with that. Again SUPER COOL stuff... One of the things that's helpedhold me back is the fact that ALL of the miniatures I've been using in Necromuda, so far, are my OLD metal ones. to get in on Ash Wastes would mean new plastic models... which I'm not so opposed to these days as I might have been in the past, but... just not excited to MIX plastic and metal in a collection... 

I also didn't buy into the new edition of Warcry. Only played ONE GAME of the previous edition, so... It was a fun game, and I wouldn't mind playing it again... but given how much I've been playing miniature games in general, I just couldn't justify it. GW did release ALL of the stats for all the miniatures from the previous edition as pdfs... so I COULD just buy the Core Book if I wanted to get in on it... and I don't think I'd need ANY new miniatures (I might need to paint a few that I already have...) 


WHAT HAPPENED!?

Well, as I mentioned, I focused on making art is what happened.... for the most part... Making art meant lest time/energy for miniature painting. Miniature painting is what inspires me to play miniature games. 

Miniature gaming only accounted for about 20-25% of games played the last few years, so what gives with the drop in playing boardgames? I think part of that was everyone pretending the pandemic was OVER and going back to... doing other things and not having time to play games. A large chunk of the games played in 2020 was role-playing games I ran online or games I played with Amanda who had nothing better to do. That began to fizzle in 2021, and pretty much completely died in 2022 - I played more IN PERSON role-playing games this year than with the online group. 

It's been a pretty low year all around. The unending social upheaval and never-ending pandemic has really taken it's toll and, despite trying really hard to focus on positive things and make more art... I've been pretty depressed... 

Maybe next year will be better... 


I have most of the Game Plan (such as it is) for 2023 written... I MIGHT get around to posting that tonight... or maybe I'll leave it to tomorrow. 


Sorry this has been a bit of a downer... Hope you all had a better year and all of us can have an even better one in 2023! 

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December Games

In December, we played GAMES!!!

It gets cold out. we're less inclined to go out... so... 

Also I severly strained my hamstring at the end of November so there were a few weeks I didn't even leave the house... 


Saturday, 3 December 2022

Saturday afternoon we played a game of Carcassonne, while Finnegan was out at work and Keiran was at an all-day dress rehearsal for the musical they were in the following week. 


Sunday, 4 December 2022

Sunday afternoon, Amanda wanted to try Stone Age as a two-player game. So we did. It was okay. Amanda soared ahead of my in points DURING the game, but I went whizzing past in the end-game scoring. It was still pretty close when all was counted up, though. 


Tuesday, 6 December 2022

Tuesday evening Finnegan was recording upstairs after work, so Amanda and I hid in the basement for a bit and played another game of Stone Age. I think the game ended up playing faster (and was a bit lower scoring) because we had a clearer idea of what we were trying to do and do it faster than the other... and that brought the game to a conclusion quicker, but with fewer points scored all around.  Amanda won this one. 


Wednesday, 7 December 2022

Wednesday evening we played Terraforming Mars. Mostly because I'd given up on the idea of getting any sort of challenge finished. Amanda had suggested Stone Age again, but I felt like playing something different. I like Stone Age... but not enough to play it three times in a row. 

Mars after 14 generations of Terraforming. 

I was playing Helion with Ecology Experts and Early Settlement. Amanda played Valley Trust with Biofuels, Aquifer Turbines, and Galilean Mining - she took Generalist and Tychoon milestones and Celebrity, Desert Settler, and Benefactor Awards. I got the Ecologist Milestone... 

Amanda won, obviously... 


Sunday, 11 December 2022

Stone Age. Again. 

Amanda won. 

By LOTS! 


Saturday, 17 December 2022

ON Sunday we were supposed to be playing another session of Finnegan's RPG - the first session of the new Dresden Files Accelerated RPG campaign he was going to run for me and my friends Neil and Jasper. As we got closer to the day, I checked in with Finnegan to see if he was ready and still interested to run the game - from the get-go I realized this was a bit of an imposition on him, being busy with his first year of University, running his two weekly D&D games, his part-time job an the library AND his side-passion-projects... and he admitted it was starting to cause him some stress having to come up with and investigative, mystery-solving campaign... 

So talking to the guys, we decided maybe I could take over and GM a game... though there was little chance I'd have anything ready by Sunday... so I suggested we try out Hellboy: The Boardgame. Everyone seemed keen on that, so it became a plan. 

Unfortunately it's been over two and a half YEARS since I last played, and, though it isn't a terribly complicated game, I thought maybe I should try playing through one of the scenarios to remind myself how to play. I can TOTALLY be played as a solo game, and I would have done so, but Amanda graciously volunteered to try playing through a game with me the night before. 

We just played the easy introductory scenario... It's kind of a cake-walk - designed to learn the important basic rules. Everytime I've run it the players win... 

It did NOT go well for us... Yikes. teh Boss monster - the Giant Frog Monster appeared and just kicked our asses. I was playing Abe Sapien... this is him about to be knocked out... 

Amanda was playing Johann Kraus... Here is Kraus, surrounded by Frog Monsters, a GIANT FROG MONSTER bearing down on him, and the room is ON FIRE.. this is where we called it. The writing was on the wall (which was on fire...)

It occurred to me afterwards, I think this might be the first time we played it WITHOUT Hellboy! 


Sunday, 18 December 2022

The next day Jasper and Neil came by and Finnegan, though he just didn't have time to PREPARE a role-playing adventure, figured he did have enough time to play the boardgame with us. He may even join the game that I run for Neil and Jasper. He only has to show up and role-play one afternoon a month, seems doable. 

Neil played Hellboy, Jasper played Johann Kraus and Finnegan played Abe Sapien. I kind of just ran the show and pushed around the frog monsters. 

They had a MUCH easier time of it... 

Especially with Finnegan making attack rolls like this, when Abe was shooting the Giant Frog Monster!? BLAM!! (because they'd acquired two insight tokens, the Giant Frog monsters Resilience was reduced from 4 to 2, I think...? or maybe the insight tokens are what upgraded the dice...? I don't remember... so this dealt NINE - or 7? - damage... the poor creature only HAD 20 wounds.. Abe shot him twice and then Hellboy PUNCHED him and... that was about it...). 

Fun times. Looking forward to trying running a role-playing game for these guys next month. 


Saturday, 31 December 2022

Amanda AND Keiran said they's play a game, and Keiran suggested Splendor.

I totally crushed it - ending the game with 17, Amanda took a final turn and got to 15... Keiran suggested we play again. I was very lucky... I couldn't POSSIBLY have that kind of luck again!? 

Ummm... apparently lightening DOES strike twice!? I won this game with EIGHTEEN points?! Amanda didn't even make it to 15. Keiran scored higher in the second game so they were pleased enough... They really like the game, but have only even won it on two occasions! 


Aaaaaaand... that's it... 

We played next to NO GAMES over the holidaze (compared to previous years!)... Which was kind of a major bummer... for the last decade and a half, that's kind of what we DID over the Holidaze between Xmas and New Year - pay lots and LOTS of games... I had really thought those last two weeks might be filled with gaming!? 

Part of the problem was Amanda got roped into cat sitting for almost three weeks!? Initially, there was an understanding that Keiran would help out... but then didn't... and then this last week we had CrAzY amounts of SNOW!? Which made it harder to get back and forth to the house and the snow had to be cleared off sidewalks and I couldn't even help out because I've strained my hamstring during the first snowfall in November and it just gets worse every time I try to shovel snow or walk over any kind of uneven ground - like across all the uncleared sidewalks all around our neighbourhood... So Amanda's just been exhausted and the kids are kind of into their own things... so...   

Ah well... maybe next year... 

Still to come this evening - Looking Back at 2022 and maybe Game Plan 2023 - Q1...?

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40K - Tallarn Roughriders

 I have started re-basing all of my Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum in anticipation of the new 9th Edition Codex being released in the new year some time... (I had initially thought it was going to be released in December, hot on the heals of the Cadia Stands: Astra Militarum Army Set, alas...). 

Rumoured to be returning are ROUGHRIDERS!? Those daft brave soldiers of the Empire that ride into battle atop a horse - charging tanks and space marines and xenos horrors... 

Tallarn Toughriders! Recently re-based on GW oval bases (Previously, they has been on 40mm lipped bases, which I never loved the look of...) 

The plan is to eventually rebase all of the Astra Militarum onto proper 25mm plastic bases - to align with the Kill Teams... I already did the Cadians! Still have a LOT of Tallarn and Guaiacan Commandoes... and... Valhallans... 

This was kind of a test batch, to see how they look. I kind of like it... I don't know... I feel like the oval bases make them look... "Speedier"...? I have another five that are painted and just need rebasing and then another dozen or so that I could paint up for another unit or two! 

They are ABSURD... but I love them. 

Does this mean I might get back to playing 40K this year!? Maybe... I don't know... We'll see... 90% of the fun in this hobby, for ME, has always been the collecting and painting and THINKING and IMAGINING games and scenarios and possibilities. Games, especially competitive games, are almost always a little bit of a let down, compared to the fun I have imagining how they might be... 


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The Goat Saga

Finnegan finally uploaded the first of a series of videos he's planning to do about his various Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. It is hilarious. Go check it out, give it a thumbs up and, if that's something you'd like to see more of, subscribe! 

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ECW - Musketeer in Blue

 I painted ONE musketeer.... 

Solitary Musketeer (in blue)

This was done as part of the absurd rebasing project... I needed ONE musketeer to fill up a unit... 

The entire force. 

That's about 30 points worth of stuff (taken at their standard point value - no upgrades or downgrades) which should be plenty to start the campaign. 

For this Blue force I have another unit of shot and pike to do and a unit of Horse that I half finished. 

Still have to finish up rebasing the Red and Green English forces and at least one of the Scots Government forces. The second Scots Government force is all on washers... but they're all DONE, so those could probably wait! 

Stay tuned, later today I'll probably be posting my December Games report, and a look back at 2022, and a look ahead with Plans for 2023... 

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Saturday, December 24, 2022

ECW - Scots Royalist Cavalry

I guess I could have waited another day and posted these all together with the rest of the Highland Company. I went ahead and did those, knowing that I may not get to this guy before being distracted by other things... Also, I really have enough to do TWO forces/companies of Scots Royalists. One of just Highlanders, and another of just Irish mercenaries. This unit would likely be the command for the latter. 

the Commander! This is the one mini I needed to finish up to complete this until I'm not entirely sure where I got it from. I feel like since this was in the drawer with the rest of the Irish Brigade that this model was meant to be the Marquis de Montrose.

(I googled it, this is in fact James Graham, The Marquis of Montrose, from Warlord Games' Pike & Shotte/ECW line)  

So this, then, is the Commander of my Irish company with a couple of his bodyguards. The rest were, until last week, still on 60mmx60mm DBA?HotT style bases, all have been rebased to wooden discs. I did the rest of the unit on slightly smaller bases - as that is what MOST of the ECW cavalry has been based on... But Jimmy's horse's legs were rather to spread out to easily fit on a similar base, so I went one side up. The lack of uniformity within the unit DOES kind of bug me a bit... but Jim's a rather important personage, so... I let it go... 

I'll likely classify them as Gallopers. Do I make them aggressive? No cost upgrade to give them the Wild Charge rule and increase their Attack value to 3+!?

Could be some time before I get to finishing up the rest of the Irish done, however... 


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Legends of the Five Rings - Oni No Akuma

 Another Oni from the Legends of the Five Rings Clan War Miniatures. 

Oni No Akuma - or Akuma no Oni, as I see it written in some places 

This one is a bit bigger than the Kamu No Oni I did last month. Shown here for scale...

And here are some unfortunate Phoenix Clan warriors facing the three large Oni! (Also for scale!) 

Oni No Akuma is apparently an Oni Lord and one of the most powerful creatures of the Shadowlands? So I'm going to go ahead and call it a Greater Warbeast, Single Model Unit. That's 6 points, I could give it FEAR to make it 8...? I guess I have to wait and see what other units end up being in this force!? I know I have boxes with two other types of greater Oni, which could all pretty much end up being THE SAME - they could ALL end up being Greater Warbeasts, Reduced model units... where would the fun be in that...?

I guess I don't really need to worry about it until I get a few more units DONE. I guess it does help to figure these things out in advance, then I have a better idea of WHICH units would be best to paint up first... 

In the end I could end up with TWO Shadowlands forces - on of just Oni, another of just Goblins! 

Though I do have a couple units of both hovering in boxes around my workbench, I have a feeling it may be some time before I get to them... Interests have shifted... I'm on to other things. 

If I COULD find those boxes of other Oni - I would probably get them done, because they'd be relatively easy to do and could potentially finish up another force. 

I may also try to finish up Yogo Junzo and his entourage/bodyguard - as a unit to LEAD the Oni. 

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Great War - British Tanks

Repainted some tanks that have been sitting in a box for over a decade. I had this idea of doing A little campaign of seven to ten battles based on the Last 100 Days of the Great War using Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames. I've had the rules for ages and wanted to try them out. I've had the tanks even longer... I

 figured I'd paint them up as the first battle of the campaign would be Amiens and tanks featured fairly prominently in that battle, if I recall... the 4th Tank Brigade - with its 140+ MkV tanks were in support of the Canadian Corps. 

I have no idea if these are MkV tanks... I can't be bothered to figure out the differences... It's a British tank in the Great War, they all look pretty much alike... 

Two British tanks of the Great War - I don't know the Mk (I do know they are "male" and "female" varieties - a breeding pair!). I don't know the manufacturer of the models. 

Tanks supported by infantry (for scale). 

Yes, if you look close there are parts that are broken or missing. I COULD have tried manufacturing some... but that seemed like too much work for something that's probably going to see action in one game and then go back in a drawer never to be used again... and when I have SO MANY OTHER THINGS I'd also like to be painting that MIGHT get used... potentially could be used... 

Never say "never", I guess, though. If ever I DO think I'll get to using these on a slightly more regular basis... I'll fix them up a bit better! For now, they are DONE! 

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Friday, December 23, 2022

ECW - Highlanders

 Could probably be passed off as highlanders from 17-18th century - showing up in either English Civil War forces OR Jacobite rebellion forces... 

It's English Civil War that I've been thinking of most, lately, so... I'm calling them English Civil War highlanders. 

Seven newly painted Highlanders. I think most are from Old Glory...? The archers in the back might be Warlord Games...? 

Iv'e actually been on multiple massive rebasing sprees lately - 40K figures being rebased from metal washer to proper-sized plastic bases, and a mix of historical and fantasy minis being rebased from washers or multi-figure DBA/HOTT bases to individual plastic bases or wooden discs. 

The ECW stuff is going onto wooden discs - and organized into units of 6 or 12 for The Pikeman's Lament.  

I'm trying to get SIX (or seven!?) different forces completed. Scotts lowland/government, Scotts Highland and four English companies (in red, green, blue, and orange uniforms, respectively). The Scottish lowlanders could easily be TWO forces, I have so many of them!? 

the Highland Company, so far... 

  • 1x Forlorn Hope (6), Aggressive (in the middle there, the Laird and his closest pals)
  • 4x Clansmen (12) 
  • 2x Commanded Shot (The Skirmishers up front) 

This adds up to 22 points, and a standard force is 24, so I could upgrade one of the commanded shot to "veteran" for two more points to make it 24... Maybe the ones with bows....? 

There they all are again... 

I did the bow-armed figures on slightly larger bases to put a bit more space between miniatures - to show they are skirmishers - even when in base-to-base contact. The other unit of Commanded shot are on the "standard infantry size" because I though they were part of a larger unit that hasn't been finished yet... upon recounting, I have enough OTHER shot to make three full units, and these are extras... At some point, when I get to painting the others, I'll do six of them on the larger bases - to make clear that they are different from the surrounding units of shot. 

I have loads more to do... Enough that it could be two separate forces. I Highland company and an Irish company (both of which fought together under Montrose). 

I have a unit or Irish shot and a unit of Irish pile that are also painted, but are still on washers. I have two MORE units of each to finish up and that would make 24 points right there - for an Irish mercenary force. 

I have one unit of horse - probably Gallopers - that are on the workbench having recently been rebased (they were on DBA-style multi-figure bases). Most were full painted, but I'm touching up two of them and a sixth mounted figure is being painted to finish off the unit. I could conceivably downgrade ALL of the Irish pike and shot to Raw units and add in the unit of horse and make them elite...? OR just down grade four of the Irish units and add a regular unit of horse... OR downgrade ALL of the Irish pike and shot units and add the Mounted unit AND a unit of commanded shot...? I have enough Irish to do that! 

I also have enough Clansmen to do 2-3 more units of them.. If I had SIX units of Clansmen, the one unit of bow-armed commander "shot", and the Forlorn Hope - that would also be 24 points... I guess I should get working on those last two units of Clansmen! It would be nice to have one more drawer that is FULL of COMPLETELY PAINTED miniatures... 

Now.. WHY am I suddenly working on English Civil War units, suddenly, you may wonder...? and WHY SIX different forces!? I've been thinking about campaigns again and organizing something loosely based on the old, old GW Mighty Empires game... involving a number of minor nobles in a remote part of England (on the border with Scotland). For centuries they have been rivals and fought over who controlled this pasture or that village... None of them necessarily have any strong allegiance to king OR parliament and when they hear the call aren't particularly motivated to send troops - especially when the chaotic situation may mean their neighbours would use their absence as an excuse to take back or take over lands they figure is THEIRS... 

When and HOW will I run this campaign? No idea. Ideally sometime next year. Likely I will run it online - with the players doing the diplomacy via email and submitting moves for their armies once a week (or, every other week?). If an conflict takes place, I play out the battles here and post the results with game reports of the battles and we start all over again...

It may or may not happen... I have a LOT of English that will need to be finished up to be ready... mind you... If I was okay with NOT having the English forces all being in a uniform colours, I could probably use the mix of what I DO have finished to start any time... 

Hmmmmm... 

Watch for details in the new year. 

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Terrain Bitz

 I've had a handful of wee terrain bits on my workbench for a few weeks. Thought they'd be fun and easy to knock off... But there were also an HUNGREG OTHER THINGS that I ALSO thought would be fun and easy to knock off. I started working a bit quicker when the prospect of playing Hellboy: the Boardgame popped up... but I didn't quite get these done in time... 

I'm pretty sure the furniture bits came with the Hellboy game (I went ALL IN and there was an option to get furniture upgrades from Mantic Games- to use instead of counters) and the stump was from the last Reaper Bones we kickstarted. 

Hopefully we'll be playing Hellboy again before another two years pass! 

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Wednesday, December 14, 2022

40K - CADIA STANDS!!!

 Or... so they say... 

This past month I've started a massive re-basing project in anticipation of the new Warhammer 40,000 (9th Edition) Astra Militarum Codex. I thought it would be released hot on the heals of the new Cadia Stands box set... and I'd be posting this, the first of the forces to be rebased, with its new Organization all spelled out... but this has not been the case. Despite the box set being released - with the SPECIAL EDITION of the new Guard Codex... the regular codex has NOT been released yet nor shall it be for at least another two weeks!? 

The entire force, so far, re-based. 

This is all the old Cadian/Generic metal Guard figures I have painted so far - which is MOST of them. There have been some changes to the way the Guard is organized in the new edition - it looks like Platoon Commanders are now a headquarters option and are part of a Command Squad  - as they were in (almost) all previous editions! (Unfortunately i STARTED this rebasing BEFORE I learned that and I based all the commanders on 32mm bases - as in 8th they were independant character models and I've started basing all such on the slightly larger bases... bah... not changing it now!)

Once the codex is out I'll break down the new organization and post better pics of each unit... 

I have a handful of other items to add to this force - a small squad of Kasrkins, extra elements for Command squads (the standard bearer), Primaris Psyker, etc. (the Tallarn are for Kill Teams). HOpefully I'll have these done by the time the Codex is released so I can include them in a Complete Force post. 

I also have Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed, Colour Sergeant Kell, and Commissar Yarrick models, I got in a lot of Guard a year or so ago, which I thought I might get around to painting up for use with these guys - for "historical" battles...? Defending Cadia from the Black Legion, and such. Apparently all of these characters have been dropped from the new codex! 

The plan is to rebase all of the Tallarn and Guaiacan Commandoes onto plastic bases as well (as I'd been doing with the Aeldari earlier this year).

I have been up to other hobby business - MORE re-basing (of... OTHER things) - but more on that (and what I'm PLANNING for them!?) in another post...

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