Shortshank redemption pt.9. Ask not for whom the bell tolls.

Crashart was in two minds; Ben had insisted there was a massive haul of Wyrdstone buried here but with his lips sewn shut who knows what the silly sod was mumbling? Even more disconcerting was Ben drawing pictures of 'the Pit' in his own blood, on his room walls. At least he hoped it was his own blood! A LOT of the tavern staff had gone missing recently.

Was Ben really sure about the Wyrdstone or did he just want to peer upon the outskirts of 'the Pit' again? Crashart really had to get out of this madhouse soon!

Good Friday massacre!

I promised my son earlier in the week that he could play my brother and I at 'UltraMarine' on Good Friday.

I had played the little fella earlier in the week and he took to it like a duck to water, using the full rules and event cards within two turns.

Of course what does the little sod do yesterday. . . .  Team up with his Uncle Kris to play every single event card on me!!!!!

Despite my losing two Scouts in the first turn and not being able to advance more then 3 board tiles the entire game it was a cracking little session with lots of laughs (all at my expense!!).

I never realised what a cracking little game 'Ultra Marine' is. Considering it's simplicity and 'plug and play' rules it was a really enjoyable game with a surprising amount of tactical thinking involved!!

Well worth picking up cheap of ebay if you can!!

Breaking my duck with T.T. Combat scenics.

Since finishing off Chico's Evil Space Dorf at the end of February I have failed to complete a single miniature. 20 days without painting a miniature is a record for me!

In a desperate effort to break my duck I cracked out some TT combat scenics I had bought at Salute last year for an absolute song.

Within an hour I had completed the following. . . . 

This stuff is brill! It's not as decorative as the 4 Ground stuff but costs peanuts by comparison and if you were inclined you could easily paint the stuff up.

This Clock tower £3.59 from Dark Sphere.

Gallows set, £2 at Salute!!!!

Nobles Carriage, £3.59 from Dark Sphere.

Bridge set £3 from Salute!!!!!!

It also comes with a jetty and some sign posts. £3!

It seems to have worked as I also finished off two of my Mordheim Warband this morning!

And finally some numbers.

Miniatures painted / sold this year = 59

Target 100

Miniatures bought 15 [damn you HATE con and your give away prices ;0)].

395 miniatures to go!

44 in the black this year.

Space Hulk. The legacy continues.

On Thursday I had rushed in from work, plonked down some games for an evening at the Creative Biscuit and then charged upstairs to go to the loo before heading out (is that too much information?). 

I then come downstairs to find my son had spotted the boxes, cracked one open and was setting the miniatures up for a game. It was with a heavy heart I had to explain to him that it was for the club and he had to head up and get ready for bed.

Friday night with the Misses heading out with friends and Kris M.I.A. I decided my son could have a late night and we cracked out the Space Hulk (or Spacemen and Aliens as he called it).

He decided to be the 'Stealers and we set up a modified board for mission 2 and I did not recieve a 'sustained fire bonus' for overwatch. Other then that we played the full rules.

Straight away I forget to put one of my Marines into OverWatch (O/W) and payed the price as Troy spots the opening and charges a 'Stealer out of the shadows and dispatches him!!

Having had two Stealers gunned down, my son soon learns his lesson and skulks the surviving Stealers through the unoccupied corridors. Damn the force is strong in this one!

Troy then learns his next lesson when I use 'command points' to open up with the flamer as another Marine falls to the Stealers assault!

I have lost 2 Marines and only taken 4 Stealers out of action. This is not going well!

My Flamer does a great job of holding up the Stealer assault, adding to my kill tally and giving my Sergeant the time to run up the board and secure the single entry room with the only other surviving Marine.

Then disaster!

One of Troy's Stealers discovers it is fire proof and survives TWO flame attacks. Oh oh!

The Stealer is in and wrecks it's bloody revenge on the Flamer Marine.

My Sergeant and the only other surviving Marine, bunker down in the most secure room and open up with full auto on any Stealer that expose themselves . . . . . . but then disaster!!

Both Marines jam their guns while opening up on the same Stealer and the rest of the Stealers flood into the room!

My Sergeant is killed and the other Marine falls to the surge of the other Stealers and it's all over!

So my Son plays his first game of Space Hulk and absolutely loves it! I had him in bed and all the evidence packed away before the wife returned (the perfect crime!) and I have a new gaming buddy to play Space Hulk with.

RESULT!!!!!

School Enrichment. Gorka Morka. Game 4. Scrap it out!

This weeks session saw the Students trying to capture as many scrap markers as possible. The warband capturing the most scrap markers being able to repair their space shuttle for the last game of the campaign next week.

The shuttle wreckage terrain are the scrap markers.
 

The Morkers showed their cunning by having their 'Big shooter' blast away in the middle of the field while they ganged up on the spread out Gorkers and mob, stomped them out of the game one by one.

By the time the Gorkers realised what was happening they had already taken too many casualties to lauch an effective counter strike.

Once again the Morkers carry the field and will have an advantage for the last game of the campaign next week . . . . 'Get to the Chopper!'

Shortshank redemption pt.8. Saved by the Shell?

Ben could sense its' presence! Like a bottomless pit within his mind, sucking all the sanity and compassion from him.

This close to the pit he could so nearly discern the bearly audible whisperings that had been taunting him in both his dreams and while awake. This close to the pit he felt he was on the cusp of deciphering the whispers and the infinite knowledge they contained. Taunting him, coaxing him to listen harder, to come closer, to wonder, to question and questions can get you killed in Mordheim . . . . . . or worse!

School Enrichment. Gorka Morka. Game 3

This weeks session saw the Students trying to eat whatever jumped out of a shuttle that had just crash landed between their two camps.

The students were allowed to 'borrow' any cool weapons the 'oomies were carrying when they get clumped.

If the students shot the 'oomies, the weapons were destroyed in the barrage of shells.

Game ended up in a massive Ork punch-up round the shuttle while the human survivors tried to quietly slip off towards the shelter of the underground bunker.

No one managed to capture the techie with the remote control for the wardroid. If they had they would have gained control of the 'clanker' for the rest of the campaign (unless it was nicked by the other team).

The game was another episode of absolute chaos.

Next week can the teams find enough scrap to fix the shuttle?

Combating my 28mm ADHD

Normally I'm pretty good at sticking to a project, as my completed forces below testify and I generally outlast my fellow gamers when we all sign up for something (we are NOT going to mention my Inquisimunda campaign or my Bloodbowl Stadium!).

Space Marine Demi Company

Orc Bloodbowl team

The Gentlemen of the Realm

4 point SAGA Viking army

4 point SAGA Norman army

Gostello's Intergalactic Psycho Circus

Mordheim Dwarf treasure hunters

Mordheim Reikland Warband

Warmachine High Born 20 point Army

Warhammer Fantasy 1000 point army

Even in my fighting days I found I could happily work on my fundamentals like foot-work and basic techniques far longer then my fellow fighters and enjoyed the application of these basic techniques during a competative bout. Of course I would rather be knocking guys out with Bruce Lee, Ninja-Monkey, Chuck Norris, flying Superman, spinning, triple axe kicks; but I was never one of those fighters.

Below are a couple of my old fights. I am the fella in the tank top. . . . .

I LIKE crossing off lists, I find the completion of (even mundane) tasks rewarding!

So whats this post all about I hear you ask (probably not). . . . . . 

I think I have caught 28mm ADHD!

I LOVE all the blogs I follow but I REALLY enjoy bloggers like 7th Mordian and Goblin Lee etc who bang out completed army after army to a consistant level.

There are bloggers who probably paint single figures to a higher level (and are all brilliant to follow) but even reading the completed army posts is extremly satisfying.

I guess that is why I enjoyed BOYL so much, it was seeing ALL those madcap projects brought to fruition in one place.

The last couple of weeks has seen me struggling to finish anything, with far too many miniatures on the painting shelf. To add to the misery I sit at the painting table and find myself procrastinating about whether to paint or finish a piece of terrain or start building another one or start building a Witch Hunter warband or pick up a Warmachine solo or dab paint at one of several undercoated miniatures or start a kit bash or bang my head against the desk!

I have ONE miniature to complete to finish my brothers Dwarves, I have ONE miniature to complete to finish my second unit of Knights for WHF, I have 4 NPC miniatures to finish for 'The Battle of the Bulge', skirmish, for Mordheim and what do I find myself doing. . . . . .

opening the doors of the  'cupboard of doom' and thinking of starting another project.

Part of the reason could be there is nothing 'big' going on at the moment within my gaming circles and nothing concrete has been set for BOYL but the real frustration seems to be not the lack of Mojo but ironically having too much Mojo and wanting to see every project finished immediately.

Shortshank redemption pt.7. The quay to the city?

Crashart did not know what was more disconcerting; the smell of the putrid river being carried on the stagnant air or the vision of the youngblood Ben, with his newly shaven head and self mutilation where he had sown his own lips together with leather twine.

Crash guessed the blow Ben took to the head last foray was harder then he first thought.

Crash did not even want to imagine how the silly sod ate now! Maybe he REALLY liked soup?

To add to his depression  the bloody Dwarves were following them again! Despite their bloody nose last encounter they were still making a habit of following the Reiklanders and nicking their Wyrdstone off them on the way home.

Did they not realise all I wanted to do was grab enough Wyrdstone to desert this shithole and retire to a nice, cheap, brothel in his homeland of Tilea and leave all this foolishness behind him?

School Enrichment. Gorka Morka. Game 2.

This weeks session saw the Students racing around trying to secure the abandoned water processing plant to give their Warband a strength bonus for the rest of the campaign.

There were also a number of 'presents' scattered around the board which would either be booby trapped or contain some good, old fashioned, extra, DAKKA DAKKA (depending on your roll).

Not being able to focus on anything hobby related for more then 5 seconds recently meant I did not paint up (or even glue together) the required objective markers so I just grabbed some Christmas presents out of a load of doll house stuff I picked up in an auction years ago. They match my silly mood at the moment!

The game was pure carnage from the beginning and one of the lads is making a real reputation for himself as he charged around the board hacking down several opponents! He just so happens to be the smallest / meakest lad in the group IRL.

He will recieve a special miniature next week to signify his new 'bruiser' status.

Roll on next week.