Signs and Poertents have shown the coming of the Star Gods and the return of the Four-Armed Emperor. It is time for all the faithful to Rise Up against their oppressors and clear the way for the coming of the Old Ones. It is time to dismantle this regime that would call us "filth" and "XENOS" and purge us from this world through outright genocide.
There are rumours of uprisings and insurrections across the planet. Some of these are other groups of the faithful, others are just people that have been kept low for too long and have snapped. Regardless, the chaos they have caused distracts and spreads thing the Imperialist forces. Now it the time to strike and take what is rightfully ours!
Because why would we finish one thing before starting another...!?
This campaign involves some other players, that's why! Since exactly no one else gives any fucks at all about social distancing around here anymore, we decided we could maybe open out isolation bubble - just a bit - to some members of another reasonably responsible family and invited Da Boyz to come and play some Warhammer 40K with us!
In THIS campaign we're kind of flipping the script on the Genestealer Cult and rather THEM being the "Bad Guys" - from the Imperium's perspective - we're going to see them as plucky rebels Rising Up against the tyranny of their oppressive Imperial overlords!
Ian, Oliver, and Finnegan will be the Genestealer Cult players and each will, likely, get ONE Character and ONE unit of... something else... with a grand total of no more than 25 Power Rating. Most of the HQ and Elite Character models have a Power Rating or 3-4 and most of the Troops and Elite units have a base Power Rating of 3-4. I guess if they all picks stuff worth 3, they could conceivable get a few more...? But given the mix of what they have that is painted... I think it will be 3 Magi or Primus and 3 units of Acolytes (Hybrid or Neophytes) or a Blood Brothers Infantry...
To customize the characters a bit, each will start with ONE bonus ability from those in the Open Play - Custom Characters article in Chapter Approved 2018. There will also be a chance to improve their characters as they fight through the campaign. For each game that the character survives (i.e. not take out of action during the game) they will gain an 1 Advancement Point. When the character has gained 1, 3, and 5 advancement points they gain an additional ability.
Characters that are taken out of action during a game, they must make a recovery roll. To do this they will roll d6 at the end of the game. If the result is equal to or less than their Toughness, they will recover from their injuries quick enough to continue fighting in this campaign. If the result is higher than their toughness, they have been either so seriously injured that they will take a long time to recover or are permanently disabled, or they have died (on a roll of 6) - either Killed in Action of Died of Wounds. If a players character does not recover, they simply start the next game with a new character with ONE bonus ability and no Advancement Points...
Non Character units will always start each game at full strength. It is assumed that those taken out of action will have recovered or replacements will be found between games.
For non-character units, we will also be using the system of experience from the Narrative Play - Battle Honours section of the same Chapter Approved. Troops gain experience for various things they do and at certain experience levels (5, 10, 15, etc) they gain "Battle Honours" which give them some additional ability. Units that are removed from the table lose d3 experience - representing the loss of group experience as the squad has to take on more replacements due to some of those taken out of action being killed or seriously injured enough to no longer be able to fight in the campaign.
I have a feeling we will be seeing something similar in the Crusade Campaign in the #New40K - but as that is 3 weeks out and we want to play NOW... we're making do with what we've got.
We will be using the New40K (9th Edition) core rules to play (as a free PDF of said core rules HAS been released) and 8th edition where we have to fill in the gaps...
The Campaign will be set in and around Gehardos Fol - a large sprawling city in the Southern Hemisphere of Xoxigar Tertium that has recently seen a lot of rioting.
Currently, I'm planning to run about six scenarios of increasing difficulty (and Power Level!). There will be some sort of points awarded within the game - to introduce some "friendly" competition between the Genestealer Cult players...
Games start THIS VERY AFTERNOON! So Stay Tuned!!
Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
Rise Up! Scenario One: The Ambush!
Later this week Finnegan and I are planning to continue The Signal campaign (on Tuesday and Friday) and we have a second game planned for the Rise Up campaign (on Thursday)! It's going to be a busy 40K kind of week!
I also have LOTS on the workbench... some of which will, hopefully, get OFF the workbench and appear in pictures here as painting updates!
Showing posts with label Kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kids. Show all posts
Monday, July 6, 2020
Monday, June 15, 2020
MORE June Games (and... Other Stuff)
Another week... a few more games...
It LOOKS like we played a LOT of games on the 2nd, 9th, 10th, and 15th... but those were each ONE game of Blackstone Fortress - but I used FIVE expansions with each game we played and I try to always log plays with each item I used, that I have catalogued on Board Game Geek... (Otherwise it looks like I got a tonne of stuff I never use... well... I DO have a tonne of stuff that I never use - so I'd like to remind myself that I DO use SOME of it!?)
Monday, 8 June 2020
As I had mentioned in the Previous Post, Monday was to be our Blackstone Fortress Night going forward... but that didn't happen. I was still assembling furniture. I'd been working all day on the bookshelves and the LAST ONE was missing a piece... and rather than wait another 3-6 weeks for a replacement part to show up - all the while tripping over a partially assembled book shelf and piles of books that were to go ONE said bookshelf - I decided to manufacture a piece and just get it DONE. This took me well into the evening, so I decided to do a swap with Keira. On Tuesdays, she and Amanda are to watch an episode of Supernatural together... so the two of them watched an episode (or... two...? maybe three...?) while I finished the book shelf...
In the afternoon I'd gone out to get groceries and popped on by the Dragon's Den to pick up Engine War - as it had finally come in!
Tuesday, 9 June 2020
In the afternoon Amanda and I went for a bike ride. As part of this whole new schedule of things, she had been planning to get up and go for a half hour ride to start off her day - to sort of simulate/make up for the riding she was no longer doing, now that she's working at home. It didn't happen at all on Monday (because we were up a bit late on Sunday). Tuesday we didn't get out until noon - Oh, she'd started her work for the day, but decided to take a break at noon and go for a bike ride for a bit of a break (actually, in the new schedule, she's supposed to take a break at noon anyway - in addition to the morning ride - and do some sort of movement yoga, a walk, a ride, and impromptu dance party, whatever, just something to get her up from the desk and moving around - her set up here at home is not nearly so... ergonomic... as her office on campus... and she's starting to feel the effects of just sitting at our home computer all day!)
As we neared the end of our short loop, I peeled off and went for a bit of a longer ride, heading BACK to the Dragon's Den - this time to pick up Necromunda House of Chains - which had FINALLY been restocked! Apparently it had arrived just minutes after I'd left the day before!
In the evening...
We started on a NEW QUEST in Blackstone Fortress - The Dreaded Ambull!
The game went a little late, so we kind of paused it - at a bit of a cliffhanger - and left it set up on the table to finish the following day.
Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Wednesday morning we DID get out for a ride.
Despite the sun, it was a bit chilly (and has been for the last few days!)
WE rode down to the South Bridge and across.
Back through Gabriel Dumont Park.
As we got to the Traffic Bridge, I peeled off and went for a longer ride - No, not to the Dragon's Den again (though I was briefly thinking I might later in the day... at this time, however, it was a few hours before it would have even been open!). I just wend for a bit of a longer ride while Amanda went home to start her work for the day.
Saw lots of goslings in the park downtown by the Vimy Memorial.
And a Blue Jay on a wire.
Later in the evening we continued with the game of Blackstone Fortress we'd started the evening before...
Then a battle with the Ambull itself!!!
More on this game here:
The Dreaded Ambull
Friday, 12 June 2020
Out for another morning ride with Amanda. We did the 8Km loop to the south bridge again and she tuned back when we crossed back over at the Traffic Bridge. I did another 37Km to the North Bridge, and then back down to the South Bridge again... and then another 10Km getting groceries.
In the evening, it was "Family Game Night"
Keira's choice for the evening: Dominion. We played one round. 30 minutes, tops... Ah, well... better than nothing.
We played with the Base Game and Intrigue and used a set of cards called "Underlings". I basically just bought Stewards and used them to buy gold or trash Estates and Copper and when I had enough gold I just started buying Provinces. But I couldn't buy them FAST ENOUGH! Should have picked up a Festival or two...
Amanda and I decided to play something else. We'd had fun playing hanging Gardens last week, so we tried that again, except with just the two of us.
Wow... when there is just TWO playing you get a LOT more tiles - and points. Amanda got super excited and, upon tallying up declared she did "really good" and had 93 points... (I had 118).
Saturday, 13 June 2020
Finnegan ran his D&D game.
I ran my Wrath & Glory game. Three showed up, so their Characters arrived in the Xoxigar system and met with a high ranking Adeptus Arbites official on Xoxigar Tertium, who informed them of some potential Heresy going on! The investigation began.
Totally forgot to do a screen shot of the game... AGAIN!
Sunday, 14 June 2020
Kind of rained all day. I spent a lot of the day just painting and organizing... but I did dig out the cello (after not playing for 6 months) and retensioned the strings and tried to learn a new tune with Keira. She's also not played for months. But I thought maybe I'd try and get her to play with me once or twice a week through the summer - just to keep in practice. I probably won't start taking lessons again any time soon, but Keira is starting high school in the fall and has signed up for band. We met the band instructor in the spring and she seemed pretty excited at the prospect of having a violinist join.
The tune we were figuring out were the first few bars of a string arrangement of Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name Of. It's been stuck in my head a lot lately. It is both despairing and infuriating that it is STILL so utterly relevant almost 30 years after it came out!?
Monday, 15 June 2020
Last week Amanda got an email from work saying they could make arrangements to go in and pick up certain stuff to take home for work... Seems the university is planning on keeping their employees working at home for the next little bit! So Monday morning we rolled over there to pick up a few things.
Afterwards I went out for a ride on my own... just along the paved trails up and down the river.
It had been TOTALLY sunny in the early morning when we first went out. but it rained the whole time I was out alone....
Later in the afternoon the sun came out - which was nice, because I had to head out and pick up groceries!
In the evening Amanda and I finished The Dreaded Ambull and conquered the Lair of the Beast! the Explorers successfully stole away with 3 priceless Ambull eggs!
I'll do a full report on those escapades in the next few days....
Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
The epic conclusion to The Dreaded Ambull: The Lair of the Beast!
New distractions on the workbench.
Also started working again on a few posts about necromunda gangs I started AGES ago!?
Thursday, May 21, 2020
May Games (and Stuff) Part the Second
For some reason I decided to do May in thirds...
Things got off to a bit of a slow start for the second part of May, but we've been on a bit of a gaming streak this past week!
Monday, 11 May 2020
Well Monday was a very special day!
It was Keira's birthday! She started the day with crepes and presents. Amid those was a copy of Tuscany Essential Edition.... I felt a little bad about giving that to her. We'd bought it, like, six months ago when Dragons Den actually had it in stock during their anniversary sale and Amanda suggested we hold onto it until her birthday and give it to her then. (our copy of Viticulture is actually HERS - she'd asked for it after playing it at ToonCon one year). Anyway, feeling a little bad about it because she's just completely lost interest in games over the last few months... I know it's lame getting gifts that you're totally not interested in.
Teenagers....
Actually she was pretty chill about it. We'd had a talk some time ago about her lack of interest in games and she actually feels pretty badly about it - as in, she feels like she SHOULD play games - to do stuff with the family - but just has no interest. I told her not to worry - and NOT to play games with us until she's actually interested in doing so. I've had long periods of my life where I walked away from gaming - for a variety of reasons. The only other thing I suggested was that she NOT get rid of ALL her game stuff when she has moments like that - just to leave it with us and we'll store it for her, because in a year (or TEN years) when she gets back into it, she will probably seriously regret having got rid of some of that stuff. (Speaking from personal experience here!).
Later in the day my Mom and Sister came by to have a little chat - at a distance.
Because she couldn't really have a party, we had a little dance party with her later in the afternoon.
Then I made her one of her favourite meals - fresh, homemade burritos, mexi-rice, and BBQ Black Beans (basically what she'd have had at Amigos).
And finally, of course, CAKE!
She actually made this one herself ! That was supposed to be a Black Widow symbol on it. She ran out of red food colouring and it ended up kind of pink... but it was delicious!
This year's birthday was SUPER disappointing. the MCU movie Black Widow was originally supposed to be released in May and she'd been hoping to go see that for her birthday... but the release date for that has been bumped to later in the fall.
Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Amanda asked if I'd play a game of 7 Wonders Duel with her while she and the kids ate supper (I'd already eaten...). I'm not a fan of playing games while eating meals... but... I played anyway...
We'd played a LOT of this for a bit and I'd kind of gotten sick of it. But it was fun to play.
SO close to a science victory... SO CLOSE!
I won anyway... but it would have been way more fun to WIN WITH SCIENCE!!!
Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Well... today I neither played games OR went for a bike ride... I was Work-In-Progres Wednesday, so I took a picture of the workbench and posted it on the Hunters of the Warp (local 40K club)...
Focus is for sissies that... like... want to get stuff DONE... or something...
Actually after taking and posting this picture I (mostly) cleared off the workbench and pulled out a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT project... well, okay... it's still miniatures... in fact, it's still 40K miniatures... but not something I've mentioned or worked on for some time.
While painting I finished of Galaxy in Flames - the third book in the Horus Heresy series. I'd picked up a bunch of Black Library audiobooks on two occasions through Humble Bundle. The first was just a Black Library Sampler - so there was a wild assortment of both 40K and AoS - but I got Dark Imperium out of the deal and a Ciaphus Cain story and a Ravenor/Eisenhorn story - so it was worth it just for those. I've listened to a few of the other 40K stories as well - mostly short stories. I may or may not get around to listening to any of the Fantasy ones.
The second batch was from a Horus Heresy bundle! It included the first FIVE NOVELS from the Horus Heresy series - plus a few more full novels from later in the series - AND a pile of shorter stories. I listened to Fulgrim first - because EMPEROR's CHILDREN!! Then went back and started at the beginning with Horus Rising and False Gods, and then Galaxy in Flames... Next up is the Flight of the Eisenstien.
Considering those Audiobooks are about $50CAD (EACH!!! for the novels - and $20 for shorter audio dramas) and I got, like 8 or 9 novels and a dozen short stories for $25 - most of which was a donation to the JDRF - it was a pretty sweet deal!
I have been enjoying the Horus Heresy series well enough. The first one was written by Dan Abnett who ALWAYS spins a good yarn - well enough to make me actually care about space marines!?
Later in the evening Amanda, Finnegan and I finished off Season 4 of The Expanse.
Thursday, 14 May 2020
Finally got out on my bike again...
Went for a little ramble around the gravel roads west of town.
Redwing Blackbird.
I meant to, more or less, follow a route a friend had ridden a few days ago (and posted on strata)... but I missed a few turns and ended up turned about and heading down the wrong track or road.... I was never LOST, per se.... I just didn't end up going down the roads I meant to be on an ended up riding along a rail track rather than an adjacent trail I'd missed the trailhead to... whoopsie...
I'll try it again next time there's a west wind and I'll know better where I need to turn and avoid some of the less fun parts of this ride.
I did, at the end, make it back onto the route I'd wanted to be on.
Friday, 15 May 2020
I spent a good chunk of the day finishing up Kreuger's Unvalids and listening to the Flight of the Eisenstein audiobook. Later in the afternoon I went for a ride. I'd originally planned on a gravel ride out of town on my Salsa Fargo... but when I went to get it out, noticed it had a flat... and I was feeling lazy... so I just went for a mountain bike ride along the trails up and down the river.
Saw the first goslings of the year!
Mostly stuck to singletrack in the bush along the river. But, like, the easy stuff... not the technical stuff...
The wind was super calm and it wasn't too warm.
Saturday, 16 May 2020
Yeah... I totally didn't get out for a ride on Saturday... and felt pretty lazy about it...
I did finish up the post about Kreuger's Unvalids!
and I did spot this bat on the side of our house while I was out in the yard hanging up laundry or fixing the flat on my Salsa... Which was pretty cool.
In the evening Amanda and I tried out Viticulture: Tuscany Essential Edition - Tuscany is a set of three modular expansions for Viticulture. We tried just one - the new board - just to ease into things. With the new board there is a whole new kind of sequence to things - It splits the year (and tasks) into four seasons rather than just two. I kind of liked it. Had to think about things a little differently - but there were a few new elements - different things you COULD do - if your intitial plan got destroyed by someone else grabbing the spot you needed. New ways to gain points. And the new method for determining play order was kind of clever and added in a bit of a balancing effect (if you have less workers - or nothing to do in the Winter, you're generally going to get first choice as to where you want to go in the turn order the following turn)
Despite the fact that we were playing something new, it didn't take too long, so, afterwards, we tried a game of the original Viticulture Essential Edition with just two players. With only two, only ONE SPOT is ever available for any give action! It was HARD... I liked it less. Less than playing with three or more. Less than playing with the Tuscany board with just two.
Sunday, 17 May 2020
Finnegan helped me make a D&D5E character in the afternoon.
A friend had offered to run some only D&D games to a number of his friend and I'd expressed interest and originally it was just going to be four of us, playing Keep on the Borderlands
a facebook messenger thread was created and discussion began and we decided the Keep would be on a wall - similar to Hadrian's wall - at the ass-end of a massive, cosmopolitan empire created by humans. The immediate region around the keep was originally populated by dwarves, who were largely pushed out and/or subjugated by the humans. So now, South of the wall are largely human settlers (and subjugated dwarves). Immediately North of the wall are the "wild" dwarves and further north... well... there be dragons.. and orcs.. and other stuff.
Afterwards I dragged him out for a ride with me.
It was really warm, but very windy, so there wasn't nearly as many people out on the trails - as I'd have expected for a Victory Day Long Weekend Saturday when the temperature is 25°C!
Because of the wind, we mostly stuck to the trails in the bush along the river (rather than heading out of town to hit the gravel roads to avoid people!)
I'd almost forgotten how much longer a ride with Finnegan can take - not that he's slow or out of shape (okay, he's a BIT out of shape, because he rarely goes out if he can help it!). It's the constant stopping to check blood-sugar levels and eat snacks and sometimes just have to sit and wait for said blood-sugar levels to rise up from DANGEROUSLY LOW to safe-to-proceed again.
Diabetes can go such dead donkey dick.
In the evening Amanda and I tried out Tuscany again with the second expansion - special workers. This added an interesting element to the game - worker that have special abilities (depending on where you place them, or giving themselves innate placement bonuses). There are eleven of them, and only two are ever used in any game - so should be lots of options with those!
I also finished the first Ciaphus Cain omnibus - I'm really enjoying these stories. Sandy Mitchell/Alex Stewart can spina good yarn. These are probably my favourite 40K stories I've read so far... Not sure what to read next... I have the next Cain Omnibus... I've been really wanting to read Honourbound by Rachel Harrison (another story, about ANOTHER Commissar!?). I want to finish Blackstone Fortress by Darius Hicks (which I started AGES ago... but then got distracted). I have a Kal Jericho Omnibus to finish up (read the first novel within). And the other two Eisenhorn series... and the other two books in the Path of the Eldar... (I seem to be one book into a number of series!?) GAH!? Too many choices.
Monday, 18 May 2020
Victoria Day!
Monday morning I dragged EVERYONE out for a ride with me!!!
Teenagers complained... but, I swear, if I didn't MAKE them, the would NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE!?
SO MANY goslings out now - and their protective parents hissing at everyone along the paths that got too close. I gave them all a wide berth anytime we came near. Keira didn't give one of them a wide enough berth and one hissed and lunged at her - which put her in a pretty dour mood for the rest of the ride.
Finnegan admitted he was having fun at one point... but also was very clear to state that there were OTHER THINGS the MUCH RATHER be doing AT HOME!
Amanda LOVES going for rides... but she probably wouldn't ever go on her own... or suggest we go... But was very thankful that I'd suggested we all go out. One of the things she misses the most of not going to work is her daily commute. Year round she rides her bike to work (whether it's +40°C or -40°C - we have both extremes here!) - mostly along paved trails along the river - 5K each way. For the last two months it's been a struggle for her to get out and get exercise when there isn't the impetus of having to do it to get to the office.
I think she's trying NOT to smile.
The kids walked this section. This was probably the most technical bit (which really isn't all that technical at all).
Originally the plan had been that we'd get up and go for a ride in the morning... do this lop in a couple hours.... be back by noon and the Amanda and I could play Blackstone Fortress in the afternoon.
That way we would avoid the rain that was forecast for later in the afternoon....
Instead we only got out at noon... and did an abbreviated (28Km) version of the (36Km) loop I'd originally intended to ride...
And it took us 3.5 hours to do the shorter distance than the 2 hours I would normally do the longer ride in.
And we got rained on a bit...
Mostly it was light sprinkles, but we were pretty far from home when it started and I was a little concerned we might get drenched (and I was the only one that bothered to bring a jacket!)
Is that a smile...? It must be because we were in the last 2Km...
Last leg of the journey.
When we got home it was late afternoon and there wasn't time (and I was too tired) to set up Blackstone Fortress...
In the evening we did actually manage to convince Keira to try out another game of Viticulture with the Tuscany expansion that SHE got for her birthday!? She admitted it was "pretty cool".
Tuesday, 19 May 2020
I did go out for a couple of rides, but they were m mostly to run errands and stuff. One errand was to stop at Dragon's Den Games and pick up some Agrax Earthshade - as they'd FINALLY got a restock from Games Workshop. For years I never used washes... not I slather EVERYTHING with it... well... not EVERYTHING... I do use it a lot on bases.
In the evening Finnegan had a D&D game - seems they've moved to Zoom... for some stuff... other stuff they use Roll20.
While he was doing that I set up a game of Blackstone fortress to play with Amanda - we only got through the first three Exploration Rounds - two Combats and a Challenge, which was actually another combat!? You can read all about it and see loads more pictures here:
The Ratlings' Return
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Work-In-Progress Wednesday again - so I took an obligatory Status-of-the-Workbench pic...
I have to admit, I fell into a bit of a malaise after finishing up the Kreuger's Unvalids and didn't do any painting at all for a few days (which is really out of character, as I usually paint EVERY DAY!). But I got my mojo back on Tuesday (after picking up the Agrax Earthshade!) and got focused on trying to finish up this small force of Grey Knights and then I want to try and focus on finished up some Blackstone Fortress stuff...
Well it just POURED rain almost all day... almost... the sun came out briefly in the afternoon - just long enough for me to think - "Hey! it's stopped raining, let's hang out some laundry..." and then it clouded over and started pouring again and just poured and poured the rest of the day and then turned into a thunderstorm over night...
I didn't get out for a ride.
I spent the morning waiting for our family doctor to call for a telephone appointment - she called 3.5 hours later than the scheduled time... and then I played D&D all afternoon and Blackstone Fortress all evening... so there wasn't much chance to get out anyway.
That's what I'm telling myself:
"I'm NOT lazy"
"There were REASONS!"
For most of the afternoon I played an online D&D game that a friend ran. Originally there were supposed to be five but one had to bail just after joining and another just never showed up. That was okay because 3-4 players and a GM is kind of my "sweet spot" - especially, I have discovered, for online gaming. It was just a one-shot. It was okay. I mean, it was a fun afternoon hanging out online with some fun people. Wasn't really what I was EXPECTING... Long story.... which I don't feel the urge to type out in this post that has already gotten way too damned long...
In the evening Amanda and I finished off the Blackstone Fortress exploration we'd started the previous evening! Loads more pics and a full description of the ensuing escapades in a separate post:
The Ratlings Return (Part Two)
I hope this is the prompt we needed to finish off the campaign! Could be as few as three more games! We have enough clues gathered to do the last two Stronghold Assaults - assuming we were successful at those, and then managed to beat the Hidden Vaults.... that could be it for the Quest! (not that there is any shortage of expansion quests to play through! We have The Dreaded Ambul, Escalation, No Respite, and Traitor Command... then there are more in the Blackstone Fortress Annual... and two more expansions to be released before they wrap up this story arc - and hopefully release a NEW Warhammer (40K) Quest just in time for Xmas!
Coming soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
Ummmm....?
Well, as I mentioned, Grey Knights and Blackstone Fortress figures have been shuffled to the front of the Workbench, so maybe there will be some pics of those...
I also never got around to posting pics of the Necromundan Guard that I finished up a few weeks back...well... MOSTLY finished up - there is ONE GUY that wasn't finished, and I've been waiting for him before I take pics of the whole gang..
Hopefully before the final instalment of May Games (and Other Stuff) there will be more Blackstone Fortress game reports - as we make a push to finish up this first campaign!
Things got off to a bit of a slow start for the second part of May, but we've been on a bit of a gaming streak this past week!
Monday, 11 May 2020
Well Monday was a very special day!
It was Keira's birthday! She started the day with crepes and presents. Amid those was a copy of Tuscany Essential Edition.... I felt a little bad about giving that to her. We'd bought it, like, six months ago when Dragons Den actually had it in stock during their anniversary sale and Amanda suggested we hold onto it until her birthday and give it to her then. (our copy of Viticulture is actually HERS - she'd asked for it after playing it at ToonCon one year). Anyway, feeling a little bad about it because she's just completely lost interest in games over the last few months... I know it's lame getting gifts that you're totally not interested in.
Teenagers....
Actually she was pretty chill about it. We'd had a talk some time ago about her lack of interest in games and she actually feels pretty badly about it - as in, she feels like she SHOULD play games - to do stuff with the family - but just has no interest. I told her not to worry - and NOT to play games with us until she's actually interested in doing so. I've had long periods of my life where I walked away from gaming - for a variety of reasons. The only other thing I suggested was that she NOT get rid of ALL her game stuff when she has moments like that - just to leave it with us and we'll store it for her, because in a year (or TEN years) when she gets back into it, she will probably seriously regret having got rid of some of that stuff. (Speaking from personal experience here!).
Later in the day my Mom and Sister came by to have a little chat - at a distance.
Because she couldn't really have a party, we had a little dance party with her later in the afternoon.
Then I made her one of her favourite meals - fresh, homemade burritos, mexi-rice, and BBQ Black Beans (basically what she'd have had at Amigos).
And finally, of course, CAKE!
She actually made this one herself ! That was supposed to be a Black Widow symbol on it. She ran out of red food colouring and it ended up kind of pink... but it was delicious!
This year's birthday was SUPER disappointing. the MCU movie Black Widow was originally supposed to be released in May and she'd been hoping to go see that for her birthday... but the release date for that has been bumped to later in the fall.
Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Amanda asked if I'd play a game of 7 Wonders Duel with her while she and the kids ate supper (I'd already eaten...). I'm not a fan of playing games while eating meals... but... I played anyway...
We'd played a LOT of this for a bit and I'd kind of gotten sick of it. But it was fun to play.
SO close to a science victory... SO CLOSE!
I won anyway... but it would have been way more fun to WIN WITH SCIENCE!!!
Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Well... today I neither played games OR went for a bike ride... I was Work-In-Progres Wednesday, so I took a picture of the workbench and posted it on the Hunters of the Warp (local 40K club)...
Focus is for sissies that... like... want to get stuff DONE... or something...
Actually after taking and posting this picture I (mostly) cleared off the workbench and pulled out a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT project... well, okay... it's still miniatures... in fact, it's still 40K miniatures... but not something I've mentioned or worked on for some time.
While painting I finished of Galaxy in Flames - the third book in the Horus Heresy series. I'd picked up a bunch of Black Library audiobooks on two occasions through Humble Bundle. The first was just a Black Library Sampler - so there was a wild assortment of both 40K and AoS - but I got Dark Imperium out of the deal and a Ciaphus Cain story and a Ravenor/Eisenhorn story - so it was worth it just for those. I've listened to a few of the other 40K stories as well - mostly short stories. I may or may not get around to listening to any of the Fantasy ones.
The second batch was from a Horus Heresy bundle! It included the first FIVE NOVELS from the Horus Heresy series - plus a few more full novels from later in the series - AND a pile of shorter stories. I listened to Fulgrim first - because EMPEROR's CHILDREN!! Then went back and started at the beginning with Horus Rising and False Gods, and then Galaxy in Flames... Next up is the Flight of the Eisenstien.
Considering those Audiobooks are about $50CAD (EACH!!! for the novels - and $20 for shorter audio dramas) and I got, like 8 or 9 novels and a dozen short stories for $25 - most of which was a donation to the JDRF - it was a pretty sweet deal!
I have been enjoying the Horus Heresy series well enough. The first one was written by Dan Abnett who ALWAYS spins a good yarn - well enough to make me actually care about space marines!?
Later in the evening Amanda, Finnegan and I finished off Season 4 of The Expanse.
Thursday, 14 May 2020
Finally got out on my bike again...
Went for a little ramble around the gravel roads west of town.
Redwing Blackbird.
I meant to, more or less, follow a route a friend had ridden a few days ago (and posted on strata)... but I missed a few turns and ended up turned about and heading down the wrong track or road.... I was never LOST, per se.... I just didn't end up going down the roads I meant to be on an ended up riding along a rail track rather than an adjacent trail I'd missed the trailhead to... whoopsie...
I'll try it again next time there's a west wind and I'll know better where I need to turn and avoid some of the less fun parts of this ride.
I did, at the end, make it back onto the route I'd wanted to be on.
Friday, 15 May 2020
I spent a good chunk of the day finishing up Kreuger's Unvalids and listening to the Flight of the Eisenstein audiobook. Later in the afternoon I went for a ride. I'd originally planned on a gravel ride out of town on my Salsa Fargo... but when I went to get it out, noticed it had a flat... and I was feeling lazy... so I just went for a mountain bike ride along the trails up and down the river.
Saw the first goslings of the year!
Mostly stuck to singletrack in the bush along the river. But, like, the easy stuff... not the technical stuff...
The wind was super calm and it wasn't too warm.
Saturday, 16 May 2020
Yeah... I totally didn't get out for a ride on Saturday... and felt pretty lazy about it...
I did finish up the post about Kreuger's Unvalids!
and I did spot this bat on the side of our house while I was out in the yard hanging up laundry or fixing the flat on my Salsa... Which was pretty cool.
In the evening Amanda and I tried out Viticulture: Tuscany Essential Edition - Tuscany is a set of three modular expansions for Viticulture. We tried just one - the new board - just to ease into things. With the new board there is a whole new kind of sequence to things - It splits the year (and tasks) into four seasons rather than just two. I kind of liked it. Had to think about things a little differently - but there were a few new elements - different things you COULD do - if your intitial plan got destroyed by someone else grabbing the spot you needed. New ways to gain points. And the new method for determining play order was kind of clever and added in a bit of a balancing effect (if you have less workers - or nothing to do in the Winter, you're generally going to get first choice as to where you want to go in the turn order the following turn)
Despite the fact that we were playing something new, it didn't take too long, so, afterwards, we tried a game of the original Viticulture Essential Edition with just two players. With only two, only ONE SPOT is ever available for any give action! It was HARD... I liked it less. Less than playing with three or more. Less than playing with the Tuscany board with just two.
Sunday, 17 May 2020
Finnegan helped me make a D&D5E character in the afternoon.
A friend had offered to run some only D&D games to a number of his friend and I'd expressed interest and originally it was just going to be four of us, playing Keep on the Borderlands
a facebook messenger thread was created and discussion began and we decided the Keep would be on a wall - similar to Hadrian's wall - at the ass-end of a massive, cosmopolitan empire created by humans. The immediate region around the keep was originally populated by dwarves, who were largely pushed out and/or subjugated by the humans. So now, South of the wall are largely human settlers (and subjugated dwarves). Immediately North of the wall are the "wild" dwarves and further north... well... there be dragons.. and orcs.. and other stuff.
My character was to be Shendakartabarakadal (but people just call him Shendi) is a Kushling - a halfling barbarian with very, very dark skin from the most southerly reaches (exact opposite end!) of the Human Empire. He's been stationed at the keep for the last couple of decades. He was probably recruited as a teen with promises of seeing the empire and vast riches and a genuine full citizenship in the empire. So far he was issued equipment he has no interest in (a spear and a shield and a short sword and a mail shirt that was much too large... all of which he eschews and prefers to fight unarmored with a giant-ass, two-handed Kopesh! Which, I know, means he fights at disadvantage... always... but this seemed more fun!), marched clear across to the opposite end of the empire (many thousands of miles) and has for the last few decades been essentially a police officer/border guard at the same mile fort along the wall. Approaching middle age he's starting to question the promises given so long ago. He certainly hasn't seen any other part of the empire (and, indeed isn't really sure he's interested to anymore). There have been no riches. He's not sure if the enlistment will ever end for him to actually be able to retire as a citizen. And he is feeling it is unlikely he will ever see his homeland again.
I had loads more ideas to flesh this dude out... but then the game grew to SIX players, and that's just too many... three players is my sweet spot for role-playing games. Four is acceptable. Five is getting to be a bit much. Six... too many... So I dropped out of the game before it even began...
BUT! I DID get ME thinking about getting off my ass and finally trying out running an online role-playing game myself! I just can't settle on which one!? I have so many ideas! The two most prominent ones are a Cthulhu Invictus campaign (Cthulhu - set in the Roman times... but I wouldn't use Call of Cthulhu...) or Wrath & Glory...?
All was not lost with my friend who was planning the other game. He had such an overwhelming response that he's also organized a few one-shots with different groups of people, and I'm going to play in one (or some) of those.
Afterwards I dragged him out for a ride with me.
It was really warm, but very windy, so there wasn't nearly as many people out on the trails - as I'd have expected for a Victory Day Long Weekend Saturday when the temperature is 25°C!
Because of the wind, we mostly stuck to the trails in the bush along the river (rather than heading out of town to hit the gravel roads to avoid people!)
I'd almost forgotten how much longer a ride with Finnegan can take - not that he's slow or out of shape (okay, he's a BIT out of shape, because he rarely goes out if he can help it!). It's the constant stopping to check blood-sugar levels and eat snacks and sometimes just have to sit and wait for said blood-sugar levels to rise up from DANGEROUSLY LOW to safe-to-proceed again.
Diabetes can go such dead donkey dick.
In the evening Amanda and I tried out Tuscany again with the second expansion - special workers. This added an interesting element to the game - worker that have special abilities (depending on where you place them, or giving themselves innate placement bonuses). There are eleven of them, and only two are ever used in any game - so should be lots of options with those!
I also finished the first Ciaphus Cain omnibus - I'm really enjoying these stories. Sandy Mitchell/Alex Stewart can spina good yarn. These are probably my favourite 40K stories I've read so far... Not sure what to read next... I have the next Cain Omnibus... I've been really wanting to read Honourbound by Rachel Harrison (another story, about ANOTHER Commissar!?). I want to finish Blackstone Fortress by Darius Hicks (which I started AGES ago... but then got distracted). I have a Kal Jericho Omnibus to finish up (read the first novel within). And the other two Eisenhorn series... and the other two books in the Path of the Eldar... (I seem to be one book into a number of series!?) GAH!? Too many choices.
Monday, 18 May 2020
Victoria Day!
Monday morning I dragged EVERYONE out for a ride with me!!!
Teenagers complained... but, I swear, if I didn't MAKE them, the would NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE!?
SO MANY goslings out now - and their protective parents hissing at everyone along the paths that got too close. I gave them all a wide berth anytime we came near. Keira didn't give one of them a wide enough berth and one hissed and lunged at her - which put her in a pretty dour mood for the rest of the ride.
Finnegan admitted he was having fun at one point... but also was very clear to state that there were OTHER THINGS the MUCH RATHER be doing AT HOME!
Amanda LOVES going for rides... but she probably wouldn't ever go on her own... or suggest we go... But was very thankful that I'd suggested we all go out. One of the things she misses the most of not going to work is her daily commute. Year round she rides her bike to work (whether it's +40°C or -40°C - we have both extremes here!) - mostly along paved trails along the river - 5K each way. For the last two months it's been a struggle for her to get out and get exercise when there isn't the impetus of having to do it to get to the office.
I think she's trying NOT to smile.
The kids walked this section. This was probably the most technical bit (which really isn't all that technical at all).
Originally the plan had been that we'd get up and go for a ride in the morning... do this lop in a couple hours.... be back by noon and the Amanda and I could play Blackstone Fortress in the afternoon.
That way we would avoid the rain that was forecast for later in the afternoon....
Instead we only got out at noon... and did an abbreviated (28Km) version of the (36Km) loop I'd originally intended to ride...
And it took us 3.5 hours to do the shorter distance than the 2 hours I would normally do the longer ride in.
And we got rained on a bit...
Mostly it was light sprinkles, but we were pretty far from home when it started and I was a little concerned we might get drenched (and I was the only one that bothered to bring a jacket!)
Is that a smile...? It must be because we were in the last 2Km...
Last leg of the journey.
When we got home it was late afternoon and there wasn't time (and I was too tired) to set up Blackstone Fortress...
In the evening we did actually manage to convince Keira to try out another game of Viticulture with the Tuscany expansion that SHE got for her birthday!? She admitted it was "pretty cool".
Tuesday, 19 May 2020
I did go out for a couple of rides, but they were m mostly to run errands and stuff. One errand was to stop at Dragon's Den Games and pick up some Agrax Earthshade - as they'd FINALLY got a restock from Games Workshop. For years I never used washes... not I slather EVERYTHING with it... well... not EVERYTHING... I do use it a lot on bases.
In the evening Finnegan had a D&D game - seems they've moved to Zoom... for some stuff... other stuff they use Roll20.
While he was doing that I set up a game of Blackstone fortress to play with Amanda - we only got through the first three Exploration Rounds - two Combats and a Challenge, which was actually another combat!? You can read all about it and see loads more pictures here:
The Ratlings' Return
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Work-In-Progress Wednesday again - so I took an obligatory Status-of-the-Workbench pic...
I have to admit, I fell into a bit of a malaise after finishing up the Kreuger's Unvalids and didn't do any painting at all for a few days (which is really out of character, as I usually paint EVERY DAY!). But I got my mojo back on Tuesday (after picking up the Agrax Earthshade!) and got focused on trying to finish up this small force of Grey Knights and then I want to try and focus on finished up some Blackstone Fortress stuff...
Well it just POURED rain almost all day... almost... the sun came out briefly in the afternoon - just long enough for me to think - "Hey! it's stopped raining, let's hang out some laundry..." and then it clouded over and started pouring again and just poured and poured the rest of the day and then turned into a thunderstorm over night...
I didn't get out for a ride.
I spent the morning waiting for our family doctor to call for a telephone appointment - she called 3.5 hours later than the scheduled time... and then I played D&D all afternoon and Blackstone Fortress all evening... so there wasn't much chance to get out anyway.
That's what I'm telling myself:
"I'm NOT lazy"
"There were REASONS!"
For most of the afternoon I played an online D&D game that a friend ran. Originally there were supposed to be five but one had to bail just after joining and another just never showed up. That was okay because 3-4 players and a GM is kind of my "sweet spot" - especially, I have discovered, for online gaming. It was just a one-shot. It was okay. I mean, it was a fun afternoon hanging out online with some fun people. Wasn't really what I was EXPECTING... Long story.... which I don't feel the urge to type out in this post that has already gotten way too damned long...
In the evening Amanda and I finished off the Blackstone Fortress exploration we'd started the previous evening! Loads more pics and a full description of the ensuing escapades in a separate post:
The Ratlings Return (Part Two)
I hope this is the prompt we needed to finish off the campaign! Could be as few as three more games! We have enough clues gathered to do the last two Stronghold Assaults - assuming we were successful at those, and then managed to beat the Hidden Vaults.... that could be it for the Quest! (not that there is any shortage of expansion quests to play through! We have The Dreaded Ambul, Escalation, No Respite, and Traitor Command... then there are more in the Blackstone Fortress Annual... and two more expansions to be released before they wrap up this story arc - and hopefully release a NEW Warhammer (40K) Quest just in time for Xmas!
Coming soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
Well, as I mentioned, Grey Knights and Blackstone Fortress figures have been shuffled to the front of the Workbench, so maybe there will be some pics of those...
I also never got around to posting pics of the Necromundan Guard that I finished up a few weeks back...well... MOSTLY finished up - there is ONE GUY that wasn't finished, and I've been waiting for him before I take pics of the whole gang..
Hopefully before the final instalment of May Games (and Other Stuff) there will be more Blackstone Fortress game reports - as we make a push to finish up this first campaign!
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