Salute 2015

Salute is big - really big. I must admit that I was *very* glad I made a list of things to buy and things to do. Otherwise I'd have wandered around like a lost Revenant. Seriously this event is big! But yes, I managed to grab pretty much everything on my list. Although sadly we didn't get any tattoos from the Dicebag Lady, we did say hello though...

Ok, photo time.

Last year's huge Dropzone ship has obviously been worked on just a little bit more...

 

 

As for the Beasts of War Star Wars Game...

 

 

 

And Mighty Kyle?

 

 

Oh yes, he got a game... Two games in fact. Once with the At-Ats (who suffered at the hands of a flukey dice rolling Luke), and later in the afternoon as the rebels. Just as the At-Ats finally managed to penetrate the rebel defences and blow up the base! Oops! Seriously though, a great game that was very well designed. Nice simple rules that could accommodate gazillions of players all shouting and rolling dice at the same time. Huge thanks to the guys running the game. I can only imagine how knackered they must be at the end of the day. I suspect that several new wargamer's were made in that game today though, so bravo!

It wasn't only Star Wars of course. Some Oldhammer even managed to get a look in.

 

 

 

 

Yes, this Stuka really was dropping a bomb!

 

 

Some tables really got into the spirit of things...

 

 

And then we come to Gripping Beast... I picked up my Revenant box and have read the rules, scrutinised the battle board and we are both looking forward to giving them a go tomorrow. Of course our own table won't be quite as impressive as the Beast's...

 

 

 

Now for some other random photos of games. To be fair everything looked great. My only regret is that we never had a go with the Dam Busters!

 

 

 

 

What a fantastic day! We got home well and truly knackered!

But not so tired that we couldn't enjoy watching Jason and the Argonauts. Yes I took advantage of the show deal for 7th Voyage...

 

 

'Twas the Night Before Salute...

Preorder for outstanding Bolt Action early war German units - check!

Preorder for SAGA Revenants - check!

Rendezvous organised with bloke flogging Guthrum Mane (Oldhammer Giant Hill Troll) - check!

Loooong list of 'essential' purchases drawn up - check!

Location of key vendors for above purchases identified - check!

Bank account raided for emergency cash (in case vendors' credit card machines on blink) - check!

Note made of special show price for Crooked Dice's 7th Voyage rules, cards & dice - check!

Rude comment left on Colgar6's blog for writing brilliant 7th Voyage battle reports and thus getting me hooked - not yet, but I will be...!

Location of Dicebag Lady's stall noted - check! Hey we want tattoos!

Location of Beast of War's Battle of Hoth game noted - check!

Location of Oldhammer game noted (GL05) - check!

Van filled with fuel - check!

Sandwiches made - check!

Mighty Kyle's Friday Night Firefight Club t-shirt washed and ironed - check!

My Oldhammer t-shirt washed and ironed - er...

Wife visiting parents in different town so not around to witness arrival of new toys - check!

 

See you there!

Studio Tomahawk Post SAGA for Beginners Article

Studio Tomahawk have posted a useful guide to the various warbands in SAGA. I'm in general agreement with most of the descriptions, although I think I would have classed Crusaders as an advanced faction simply because the Crusader player starts the game with most abilities locked.

 

Progress Update - Pyramids of Mars

I'm collecting/painting figures so we can play four different Doctor Who scenarios and well on the way to collecting all of the figures/scenery needed for The Sontaran Experiment and Pyramids of Mars. I'm currently painting figures for the Sontaran Experiment so will have something to show for that soon(ish).

In the meantime, I've just taken delivery of some more figures for Pyramids. This classic Doctor Who series sees the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker, yeah!) and Sarah Jane Smith investigating strange happenings at The Priory... The Doctor and Sarah Jane are already based and primed, but I've spent a fair amount of time reviewing options for some of the other characters not available from Harlequin (via Black Tree). I decided that the Thrilling Tales range from Artizan Designs offered excellent options. Here's what I now have.

 

 

The last three figures on the top row (with slotta base tags) are Harlequin, the rest are Artizan. Starting top left the figures will be used to represent: Hanif, Minion of Sutekh (alien form), Namin, mummy, archaeologist, intrepid adventurers x 3, Collins the butler, Dr Warlock, Laurence Scarman and Clements the poacher.

I also have some more robot mummies and Minion (in guise of Marcus) together with Sutekh himself (itself?) that I found on eBay. These are currently being stripped (they arrived with a nasty thick black undercoat).

Scenery wise things are coming together (lots still to make and paint of course). The 'official' Pyramids campaign includes five linked scenarios: Flight of the Intruder, May the Force (field) Be With You, Hit the Hut, Wreck the Rocket and Death on the Nile. The first four are all set in the grounds of The Priory (just like in the TV episodes). Death on the Nile though is an extra scenario set amongst an archaeological dig in Egypt. Looking at the scenarios I thought something else was needed, to set the scene so to speak - so I've written a new one 'The Priory Hides the Truth'. I've had an idea for scenery for this that should make for a splendid game, more on this later in the year when the scenery is ready!

This coming Saturday Kyle and I will be attending Salute. Really looking forward to this year's show. Kyle is keen on participating in the Beasts of War Star Wars game, whilst I've put together a not insubstantial list of 'items' to purchase. Near the top of the list are grave robbers and native diggers to complete figures for Pyramids. Westwind and Foundry both offer possible options. I've also preordered some Germans from Warlord to complete my early war Bolt Action army and (of course!) the Revenant Warband from Gripping Beast. If I play my cards right Kyle and I might get a game in on Sunday using existing painted undead. No promises, but if we do I'll try to do an unboxing of the Renenants and write a battle report.

 

SAGA Revenants!

Bugger! Remember that list of mine? The list that I deliberately didn't include any SAGA stuff in? The list that started to crumble at the prospect of painting a few SAGA figures? Well...

 

Hold on! Number 1 on my list is continuing to collect figures for Warhammer. Specifically the Lichmaster scenario, that includes zombies! Lots of zombies! Can't really ever have enough zombies...

It's out at Salute, but pre-orders are now being taken - more info here.

 

 

Stop the Rocket!

A few weeks ago we visited Cavalier at Tonbridge. The Friday Night Firefight Club had a demonstration table where we were running Dave's 'Stop the Rocket' scenario for Bolt Action.

It's 1945 and the dastardly Germans have developed a dirty bomb that they intend to launch with a V2. Not to worry though, since two divisions of Mighty Kyle's plucky British paratroopers have arrived to capture the naughty German scientists and prevent them pressing the LAUNCH button.

 

 

But what's this? It appears that two Divisions of Russians also have their eyes on the plans for the missile and have arrived with a T34. Unfortunately tanks don't tend to parachute too well, so the Brits arrived with no armour...

 

Not to worry, the Germans had a Panzer and it soon put the T34 out of action, along with most of the Russian infantry.

The Brits managed to nobble a Hanomag (it's amazing how good a shot the British snipers were in their attempts to pin the crew...) and brought in some air support that destroyed one of the vehicles the Nazis were planning to escape in.

 

The Brits also thought it would be a good idea to instruct the RAF to target the radar tower. Yes, the radar tower adjacent to the large nuclear bomb... Nothing like making the umpire scramble around thinking up rules for the 'what if' situation! Fortunately for all concerned, the RAF's accuracy wasn't what it could have been, although quite a few German units found themselves well and truly pinned.

Mighty Kyle was completely hypnotised by the prospect of minefields in the woods and decided to walk in... 'just to see what happens...' I kid you not! Boom! That's what happens...

By the end of the game, the Germans had managed to keep both the Brits and Russians at bay. Although their scientists couldn't escape, they could press the big red button. Fortunately the rocket didn't have enough fuel to reach London...

A great game with a clever scenario that was enjoyed by all.

 

State of Play 2015

I meant to post an article along these lines at the beginning of the year, but I was so busy with terrain I simply didn't get the chance. Oh well better late than never...

After packing away my paints and figures for the best part of 20 years, my son convinced me to unpack my old lead back in September 2013. After a quick forage on eBay, I managed to nab a great deal that included the Skull Pass box set and a whole sackful of paints. For the first 6 months I learnt how to paint again and got to work on the new plastic Dwarfs that we used in quite a few games of Warhammer (using the 7th edition ruleset). I enjoy Warhammer, but these new fangled rules didn't quite do it for me. I bought 8th edition, but don't think we've ever played a game with them...

Looking back at my 80's collection of undead I realised that I enjoyed the atmosphere and scenario driven narrative based battles of 2nd and 3rd editions. It turns out that I'm an Oldhammerer! Battles will once again be fought at Orc's Drift and a certain skeleton's head will be reignited!

Around February/March last year I met a fellow Oldhammer fan who introduced me to the Friday Night Firefight Club. This isn't an organised, committee driven club - rather a collection of friends who meet up once a week to enjoy a wide range of games. On my first gaming night, I was introduced to SAGA and much of 2014 was spent building up three warbands - two of which I managed to fully paint. I even attended three tournaments. Other games that I was subsequently introduced to included X-Wing, Bolt Action, Doctor Who, Mordheim, Kings of War and Hail Caesar (amongst others).

That's quite a few games and it's easy to over collect and try to do too much - with the result that little is actually achieved. I'm therefore trying to be focussed with my collecting/painting and I have set myself some objectives for the year. So what do I hope to achieve for 2015? Making lists like this can can come back to haunt you, but here goes:

1. Continue to collect figures for Warhammer. Kyle likes his Dwarfs (and Elves!) and I have a fairly significant undead army that just needs rounding out. I'm also well on the way to collecting all of the figures I need for Orc's Drift and the various Lichemaster scenarios. My undead army can also be used in Kings of War that we play on occasion. I don't intend to paint many of these figures this year, although I may complete the odd one or two here and there for fun. I certainly don't intend on painting many (any?) units.

2. Work on getting basic terrain features completed. As my previous blog post shows, I've already made good progress with this. There are other items I'd like to complete, but these will now have to wait until the autumn/winter.

3. Paint up some ghouls to join existing undead figures to create a Mordheim warband. This is now achieved so hopefully our campaign can get under way soon.

4. Collect, assemble, prime and paint 1500 points of Early War Germans for Bolt Action. This is my big 2015 project and I have already collected most of the figures I need, with about 1000 points primed. I'm hoping to pick up the last few units at Salute. I've even started the painting. See here...

 

 

This lot just need to be varnished and the bases finished with static grass (the machine gunner will man a Hanomag and is on a temporary base for now).

5. Collect, assemble, prime and start painting a late war German tank division for Bolt Action Tank Wars. Two Panthers have been assembled.

6. Collect, assemble, prime and start painting a US tank division. Three Shermans have been assembled.

7. Collect, assemble, prime and start painting figures and terrain for several Doctor Who scenarios. I have much of the terrain completed for The Sontaran Experiment and only need a few figures for Pyramids of Mars. Hopefully Salute will deliver the outstanding Egyptian tomb robbers and native diggers. I'd prefer to post photos when everything is painted, but here's a peek at a game we played a few weeks back.

 

 

The figures are not yet painted, but if you squint you might just be able to spy the Sontaran Spaceship, Transmat Circle and Communication Module (you'll really have to squint for that last one - it's right at the back!). I've finished a few more terrain pieces since that game, so the next one should look a bit more like moorland.

8. Continue to collect ships for X-Wing. We have most of the current range of Imperial and Rebel craft and I've just bought Most Wanted. X-Wing is a great Saturday afternoon game, although I must find a way of defeating Kyle's Decimator...

9. Continue to support local gaming events such as Broadside, Cavalier and Skirmish. I'm also looking forward to this year's Sci-Fi by the Sea on Father's Day at Herne Bay. Ducat is organising another SAGA event in the spring and I may well attend other localish tournaments.

10. Last but by no means least I intend to collect, assemble and prime at least one, maybe two Division(s) of Ancient Britons for Hail Caesar. I may also start painting these, but given the large numbers of figures needed I suspect painting these will become my main project for 2016.

 

Well there you have it. Let's see how well I do! Since SAGA was my main 2014 project, I've deliberately not included much SAGA related stuff, although I still have a Viking warband to paint. Like Warhammer, I may well paint the odd SAGA figure for fun between other projects. Oh dear, looks like the list is already starting to crumble...