Musings from the Lair

Well I played like I had a pair...

2006-01-29T20:21:00.000-08:00

"Play like you have a pair!" Is the tagline for Privateer Press's WARMACHINE game. It's a quick, small action game of brutally swift combats and awesomely powerful machines. I tell you this because I played my first game ever on Wednesday. Bold tactics and careful management of your resources are the order of the day.

I have to admit that I've still got a lot to learn about that last part.

Tuesday night's Flames of War game saw my trusty 17th/21st Lancers hold admirably against a Soviet push in spite of having very much inferior equipment and far fewer men, only to have everything come undone when the Cossacks took out my supporting infantry on my left flank. A well played game that I was in no danger of winning.

Spoke too soon!

2006-01-14T22:53:00.000-08:00

Dagnabbit!

Yesterday morning I woke to the sounds of a feline scuffle. Opening the back door I found Gollum and his nemesis locked in epic battle. Long story short, the fool is injured again.

I played two games of Flames of War today using my Australian Infantry.

The first game I was utterly swamped by the sheer volume of enemy troops. That's what happens when you pick a fight with Russians. It didn't help that half of my force was in reserve and refused to arrive until it was far too late.

The second game I was defending against an Italian Compagnia Bersaglieri, a nasty collection of light tanks and support weapons, really. After a slow start while I arranged my forces for the best defenseI could arrange I was thoroughly overwhelmed by light tanks swarming around on my left flank.

New year: Old stuff.

2006-01-11T22:44:00.000-08:00

My cat's all better, and he's taken up residence atop my computer monitor. He spends most of the day crouching, sitting or even sleeping up there.

I'm coming out of the funk that's held me over the last couple of months. Spending my days at work is helping, there's a feeling of inspiration there at the moment. I've even been seen dabbling with CCGs again.

I started remodelling my Black Consul Terminators, breaking down all but the Sergeant into their constituent parts, but then I put that project on the back burner. More drastically I ripped half the green stuff off my Space Wolf Terminators. Their proportions just seemed wrong. The rebuiding process is taking a while, but looking at the results so far, it's well worth the trouble.

Inspired by the release of the new Apotheosis book for Privateer Press's WARMACHINE game, I've unearthed some old boxes and brought my meager collction of Warjacks and 'casters to the light of day.

Like I said...

2005-12-24T17:46:00.000-08:00

Two and a half weeks since his leg was toren open, my fiendish feline friend is all but completely healed.

I still haven't really done much hobby-wise. There are a whole load of half started projects sitting on my desk or strewn about the surrounding area.

I restarted my 'putty over Power Armour' Wolf Guard Terminators, having decided that half the models were too heavily bulked up. This time around I am very much happier with the outcome, although I have nearly run out of the Green Stuff putty. As part of the rebuilding process, I also reposed the Battle Leader. He now holds his axe by his side, waving his troops forward with his right hand. A much more relaxed and natural looking pose than the original axe held two handed across the chest stance.

My New Guinea campaign Australian infantry company has stalled, awaiting an influx of funding. Another Vickers platoon with stowage laden Jeeps to transport them and another rifle platoon, as well as a platoon of the nigh invincible (for the theatre) Matilda infantry tanks are the planned next wave of reinforcements.

Fighting through the tumbleweeds.

2005-12-06T03:13:00.000-08:00

I would have had an update for about now, but I haven't really been very active in the hobby of late.

My various Space Marine armies languish in a state of abandonment. The minis I have been painting for work haven't been touched for about two weeks. I've done a little painting for my Flames of War collection, but only things I have had sitting around.

This lack of progress isn't confined to my miniatures hobby, either. I have let my CyberGeneration game slide and generally withdrawn from the world.

The reason for this:

My cat is too stupid to look after himself!

For the last month or so, I've been fighting as losing battle to keep my best friend and closest companion from getting himself destroyed by the local strays. Every week My grey-brown half-Manx moggy Gollum claws his way inside reeking of marking scent with his leg torn up and spends a couple of days resting before he begins the process anew.

This morning, at around 3:30, following the most godawful racket I've had the opportunity to hear, smelling particularly pungent, Gollum came in with an open wound along half the length of his left foot. After about two hours he had settled enough that I could approach him without threat of losing a limb. At 9:30 the Vet looked him over and prescribed regular washings with a cleansing solution, gave him a shot of penicilin and sent him home. The wound can't reasonably be stitched - The act of walking would tear the sutures, but given time and good management this gaping hole in my buddy's leg should heal on it's own.

Of course it's too much to hope that hell learn from this experience. I'm sure he'll find a way outside again before too long and we'll start over.

One thing's cetain, though: he's gonna have some cool scars after this is healed up.

And now for something completly different....

2005-11-02T00:16:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what got me started, possibly frustration at the fact I haven't been able to buy anything new for a while, but I've been working on the store Space Marine army for work. That's right, I'm breaking my second rule of miniature painting. "No space Marine should ever be painted Ultramarines Blue!"

I stopped asking satupid questions at the beginning of this project. Now I just sit at my paint station and cackle isanely about the tortures I'll inflict on the little Smurfs.

Just call me Gargamel. I've been doing so all week.

Of course, as with all painting tasks that aren't for my own armies, I've been turning out some rather decent miniatures while I've been painting the blue guys.

In more personal news, I'm working away on my Space Wolves, Black Consuls and Black Templars armies, too. I need to buy some chain for the Templars so I can update the ones I have to their new look, and the Wolves are looking rather despondent in their plain grey, with most of them still waiting for arms or heads. The Consuls are looking the clsest to finished, needing only simple things like tactical recognition markings and base detailing - I would like to remodel their Terminator Squad though.

At some point soon I plan to retouch my Sisters of Battle with a better basing style. I'll probaby give them all new bases, just to make the process smoother.

Australian Golden Demon 2005! Whoo-hooo!

2005-10-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today at work we hosted the Tasmanian regional qualifier for the Australian Golden Demon painting competition. All I can say is that it was fun!

I entered my Abaddon the Despoiler into the warhammer 40,000 single miniature category, and placed about 5th out of seven. Not a bad showing for a model I consider to be a gaming standard centrepiece.

When I asked the judges for their opinions, from a purely academic standpoint, I was told: "Black is a difficult colour to paint to a high standard," and "It's not really a radically new interpretation of the figure."

Both are very valid points. My highlighting on that figure isn't really anything to write home about, and apart from a little remodelling of the right shoulder the model is a basic presentation of the character.

Another item that was mentioned was the basing. Except for a few small pieces of rubble the figure is sitting on a very plain base with a very bland, fine asphalt texture, which is fine for gaming but isn't really Golden Demon standard.

Thw winning entries were of a high standard across the board. I am hoping to see some of them taking Demon statuettes in Sydney.

What to field?????

2005-10-20T00:13:00.000-07:00

I am facing a couple of events in the near future, and I am wondering what to use.

Dark Elves for the current Warhammer Fantasy League of Gentlemen, that's a given. I really must get another viable WFB army together.

For the Warhammer Ancient Battles demonstreation days I would like to have some forces that make sense given their opponent, but that'll be quite difficult on my budget.

From my personal figure collection I can use my Lord of the Rings Rohan troops as Anglo-Saxons or Vikings, or with some imagination they could even pass as very early Crusaders - perhaps those who have just set out from their European homeland.

Time to stop hiding...

2005-10-04T05:04:00.000-07:00

I think I'm done hiding behind my screen name.

Hello World! My name is Mark, I will be your host for this evening.

"What", I hear myself asking (the gods know nobody else reads this drivel), "brought on this change? My friends at Camp Cromwell invited me to contribute to their blog, where they write up the action from their regular gatherings. Being, as they are, a collection of professionl men, I felt it only appropriate that I operate with full disclosure.

It also means that I can unleash more fun here. Maybe add more contributors. Especially if my friendds can get together for more Pirates games.

I didn't want the American's to rescue MY donkey anyway...

2005-08-24T02:10:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was FoW day for me. I had a demonstration game in the store in the afternoon, followed by an evening game with the gentlemen from Camp Cromwell.

The afternoon game was originally meant to be against an American Airborne Infantry force, but my opponent's collection wasn't easily to hand. Instead he was fielding a British Heavy Armoured Squadron.

Eight Shermans and a couple of Grants rolled across the table at me, punching holes in my Valentines and Crusaders with impunity. My Motored Infantry looked on, unable to do more than scratch the paintwork of the American made behemoths, while my 2 pdr tank guns merely set the hulls to ringing. I think I bailed out two of his tanks over the course of the gsme, and both of those with my Crusader troop's 6 pdr guns.

I'll be looking at revisiting my Death or Glory Boys at some stage, presenting them for the 1943 invasion of Italy.

In the evening's Main Event, I was placed on the American team, commanding part of a force of Armoured Infantry. The plan was to steamroller down the field, cross the minefields and mop up the kraut's hiding on the hillside. The plan didn't even make it as far as contact with the enemy.

I had volunteered to lead a feinting strike down the right flank, in an attempt to draw out two Tiger tanks with their fearsome 8.8cm Tank guns. For my bravery I was handed command of around half the 'BlitzDoughs' and a platoon of four Shermans.

For the duration of the battle I wass given advice along the lines of, hold those guys backout of range of the Tigers; Spread out to avoid his airpower.

What started as a concerted push by the Americans to liberate the hills of Austria fell apart under the threat of '88' fire and the Americans didn't make it past the second minefields.

In completewly unrelated news, I have noticed some 'comment spam' has been posted. Word verification protection is now in effect. I apologise for the inconvenience.

Now to find a way to delete the spam comments that have slipped through the net.

Late night and no rest in sight.

2005-08-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

Sucker for punishment that I am, I have been toying with ideas for yet another Flames of War force. This time I'm looking at British Commandos. I also have to finish buying my Long Range Desert Group Raiding force, finish painting my Death or Glory Motor Platoons, touch up my Australian Infantry.

My Space Wolves have been shifted to the back-burner again. The League of Gentlemen filled up quickly enough that I didn't need to enter. I still should get them painted, though.

The local community has taken to holding 'Unofficial Painting Challenges', giving a period of about a month to finish a piece to a particular theme. The current one is "swarms", so I'll be sculpting a base load of Betty Page style devil girls to use as Gibbering Hordes in my Lost and Damned army. I have a couple of weeks to work on them, so I might actually get the job done.

Last week I defended in a Flames of War 'Big Push' scenario with my Australians against a German Grenadier force. I feel confident that my initial estimations of the field were accurate enough. My forces were in place where they could do their jobs best. Once the shells started to fall, though, I lost track of the flow somewhat. My second platoon, initially placed to defend the right flank, was left in place even after the Germans had committed themselves fully to attacking on the left. They spent the entire game watching a pair of 8.8cm FlaK 36 guns on the far hill lob shells around.

I called the game with a turn of my own still to play, but may well have dealt with the enemy on the objective had I not done so. I had a full infantry platoon, six tanks and a pair of AT guns which I could manoeuvre into place for the assault. It could have been messy.

Preparations for the October tournament are taking their toll on my fragile mind. I can't get the Saturday schedule I want from the boss because another game system is currently going great guns, I can't fit the schedule into a Sunday, and I can't ask Northern players to drive three hours each way to and from Hobart two weekends running. Other than that I think I have things under control. I'll spend a bit of time in at work this week looking at the scenery requirements, and arrange what we need to build.

Oh God! No More Tanks!

2005-08-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

I've finally assembled the armoured assets for my Flames of War Death or Glory Boys army. A 15mm scale representation of the 17th/21st Lancers in Early 1943. I am also officially sick of painting little tanks.

I now have eight Valentine II infantry tanks, three Crusader III cruiser tanks and three American M3 Lee Medium Tanks painted. With the addition of two Lorried Motor Platoons and a platoon of 6 pdr anti-tank guns, preferably portees, I'll finally be done with that force.

Then I'll just have to fix up the Australian Divisional Cavalry Crusader IIs and a section of three Bofors 40mm AA guns with all the trimmings.

In the meantime, I am planning to enter the upcoming League of Gentlemen Warhammer 40,000 competition at work with my Space Wolves. Quite a big ask when you take into account the fact that I haven't assembed more than half the models, let alone painted any.

Sun Tsu was right, Damn him!

2005-07-10T00:14:00.000-07:00

Know yourself.
Know your forces.
Know your foe.
Know the lay of the land.
Have the people in accord with the ruler.
let the generals lead the troops without interference.

There are a dozen more little snippets that I could rattle off here, but I won't.

What is this little rant about? I played my first Flames of War game on thursday night. I had my 1500 point Australian Infantry company, with armour support from the Divisional Cavalry (a platoon of Crusader II), Royal Tank Regiment (a Valentine II platoon) and The War Office, Experimental Weapons (two Matilda Scorpion Mine Flail Tanks). Teamed up with another company of Australians, who brought the artillery and Air support, I faced a combined force of Deutches Afrika Korps and Italian Army.

Four hours of confusion, indecision and occasional combat later the game was declared a draw.

I am going back next week for another game. This time with a single player on each side and a smaller table.

I need to work out how this game works before September so that I can make our inaugural tournament a success.

What a year it is!

2005-06-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't really done anything miniatures-gaming since the end of the WH40K League of Gentlemen in February.

Down at the shop we are building up to the inaugural Tasmanian State Championships for both Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy Battles. With two weeks to go, there is still a lot to get done, especially in the terrain buildsing department. In one thread on the store's forum, participants were asked what lengths they have gone to in order to prepare for the tournament. One of my co-workers replied with the following:

Build thirty tables worth of terrain.

I am not participating in this one, but I may step up to the mark in the Flames of War tournament we are considering. I am still to play this game, but I am having an enormous amount of fun painting the tiny little soldiers and things. They've occupied most of my attention this year, with the rest being taken up by the odd little Pirates game.

I still plug away at my backlog of figures, but I have enough tokeep me occupied until the end of the calendar year at least.

That's that for another tournament.

2005-02-26T01:43:00.000-08:00

Well the last two rounds of the League of Gentlemen went quite poorly for me.

In round four I was pipped at the post by another Tau army for a 12-8 point split against me. Were it not for poor fortune on my opponent's part it could have gone a lot worse for me. Thomas was a very pleasant opponent, and I think he'll be one to look out for in the future. I'd post more of a breakdown of the game, but it was over two weeks ago.

Round five saw me facing the army I had been hoping for all through the tournament, the Oriental flavoured Jade Warriors Space Marines. This is a beautifully presented army, optimised for drop pod assaults. Throughout the game the initiative flowed from one side to the other as each turn saw new developments arise.

The loss of my Stealth Suit team to a bad drop quite probably left me crippled, but even so, I fought on tenaciously, conceding nothing until it was unavoidable. The result was a well deserved 14-6 to the Jade Warriors.

For myself the Tournament experience was generally enjoyable, with several good games played, and plenty of new contacts made.

Did anybody get the registration on that Rhino?

2005-02-10T05:34:00.000-08:00

Nearly a week after the event, I am still in shock. My hunter Cadre arrayed themselves opposite possibly the most exquisitely painted Space Marines I have ever had the pleasure of facing, and promptly died off.

The warrior team on my left flank melted away under fire from a Vindicator, and the rest of my force was picked off a piece at a time by a very small portion of the enemy.

The Broadsides managed the obligatory revenge shot, immobilising the Vindicator, only to be charged and wiped out by a Veteran Squad and the Captain.

My Shas'O and his bodyguard dealt with the Land Speeder squadron, but found themselves boxed in on the far left flank and were engaged in close combat.

On the Right flank things started out better, with the second Fire Warrior team killing two Devastators, but it was too good to last. the Pathfinders were left stranded when their Devilfish was taken down first turn, stripped of it's guns and immobilised.

Generally my army was picked apart, isolated into units and surgically destroyed. At the end of the game I had a single Pathfinder and the immobile Devilfish left under my command.

It felt odd to face off against an army I would normally field, and I can only congratulate my opponent on his success (Especially given that he had never faced Tau before). Well done Matt. Good luck with the rest of the tournament.

This week I face another Tau army in a Recon mission.

Round two! The art of war.

2005-02-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

My victorious Tau have slept well this week, secure in the knowledge that they achieved their appointed tasks.

I made a couple of mistakes in this game, but fortune favoured me in the end. I must remember not to let the commander stand around looking at his handiwork. In this game he was fortunate to survive his close encounter with the enemy's second Dreadnought.

Fighting against Chaos Space Marines of the Death Guard legion reduced the effectiveness of my Hunter Cadre's firepower substantially. Many of the 'long-shot' weapons I would normally use against vehicles proved utterly useless, and even when deployed against the enemy infantry my massed firepower was less than inspiring.

Tomorrow they face Space Marines in a Seek and Destroy. Superior firepower shall see me through.

Close, But No Cigar

2005-01-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

After a couple of hours dishing out and soaking up some serious firepower with my Tau army, I lost the first round of the League of Gentlemen tournament by the narrowest of margins.

Playing a Cleanse mission, I made some serious mistakes early on, but they were the kind of thing where I was damned either way. My stealth suits for instance, left themselves rather exposed after destroying the enemy's Basilisk, which allowed the rough riders to sweep through them and into the rest of the table. Of course the Basilisk would likely have reaped a horrendous toll if they hadn't.

At the end of the day, I was defeated by the numbers of the Imperial Guard, but only barely.

Next week, it's a Secure and Control mission.

Cancel that last thought.

2005-01-17T21:50:00.000-08:00

I am actually playing in the League of Gentlemen after all. I'll probably use my Tau army, especially since it's one of my better looking collections.

Work on the large collection of random Space Mrines continues, with the most recent addition - a Raven Guard Chaplain - glaring accusingly at me from the desk. I really should find some legs for the guy.

I've been granted a reprieve.

2005-01-11T05:15:00.000-08:00

In an unsurprising turn of events, I've given up my spot in the WH40K League of Gentlemen Tournament due to an overabundance of players.

Next time!

Of course this gives me more time available to work, which will be good for paying my bills.

Modelling-wise, I have done a lot more work on my Space Wolf Termionators, with the first three almost ready to be painted. Now I just need to design a good Assault Cannon which I can reproduce easily for the remaining two models.

Getting Comfortable.

2005-01-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

I am having trouble deciding which army to use in the upcoming League of Gentlemen WH40K tournament being run at my local store.

My website languishes in obscurity, abandoned to the nether reaches of the Internet, because I am too lazy to update it. And why am I too lazy?Because there are a good couple of dozen pages, each of which needs to be individually adjusted. My League of Gentlemen WFB tournament log taught me a lot about why I should redesign the whole site again.

I can't look in any direction at the moment without seeing half finished modelling projects. I really need to focus on one thing at a time.

Letting the Dust Settle

2005-01-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm not certain why I created this Blog. It'll come to me eventually.