T. U. R. T. L. E. Power

Not teenage or mutant and definitely not ninjas.

 Another Super Dungeon Explore achievement. I finished two rollers last night. I also completed painting my Burning Gels, but unfortunately I have no picture of them to share. Now I just need to varnish these fellows. Short post today, and still no end of year wrap up, but you get what you pay for, right?

 

In all seriousness, happy new year!

Von Drakk Gap Victory

I got some green stuff from GW last night. Not quite a deal, but at least I have it now. With any other bases I would have just glued some receipt paper over the holes, but since the bases are already textured, I get to sculpt the flagstones into the putty I'm using. This is not such a bad thing, it's just time consuming. Good thing I have a job, eh? Yep, once again I'm doing hobby stuff here at work. Call it consolation for the awful end to an awful season for Washington's pathetic NFL team. I will not sully the face of my blog by mentioning them here by name.

 

What good came out of the game is below:

 

Von Drakk villains and then some.

 Yep, the bases of my Von Drakk Manor villains have all been filled. Not just that...

 

Von Drakk heroes & Nyan Nyan.

 ...The heroes are good to go as well.

 

Base gap lacking.

Not too much content today, just pictures for you. Painting here would be nice, but I'm already pushing it. (^_~)*

Closing The Gap (Or Not)

 

Bat butt. Also base gaps.

Well, last night I pulled out my epoxy putty to go about closing the above holes in the bases of my Von Drakk Manor miniatures. Turns out it, over the years since I bought it at my local(ish) model train store, it has turned into a brittle roll of not epoxy putty. This sort of brought my base fixing aspirations to an abrupt halt. Today I have nowhere to go with my minis (at least not here at my desk), and it is unlikely that I will be able to finish my pre-painting necessities before the new year. I'm a bit strapped for cash, and without putty and primer these fellows will have to hang around unloved for a while until finances dictate my ability to get the items I'll require to make them as spiffy as possible.

Annoyed EV is annoyed.

This is okay however, as I have pulled out my Caverns of Roxor stuff to get back to painting the Rock Top Gang tortoises included. They are quite a hassle, make no mistake, but all I will need to finish them is a $4 pot of paint. Much more reasonable.

The reason for the hassle is their shells. They are a very dark brown, and I have not the color to properly highlight them. This is one of the few instances I hope for the usual translucent properties of Citadel paint as this will permit me to build up highlights slowly, as opposed to my usual banded highlighting.

I'll try to go into the exact process I'm using later. For now, suffice it to say I'm using a great many layers to paint these fellows.

I'm also planning on putting up images of my long since finished Fire Gels. I'm also well into the Burning Gels, and they'll be up as soon as I finish them. Which will be finished first? The Gels or the Rock Top Gang? I don't know. It will depend on which one holds my attention better and longer.

SDE Update- The Mold Line Massacre of Von Drakk Manor

Yep, that's my desk.

 

Lots of work has been put in tonight, and lots of mold lines have been removed. These minis are rather interesting to clean up, as the mold lines, while small, are difficult to remove. They go across detail, they go down jaw lines, and they go across hair at bad angles. This has been a test of my patience, and I won. Now for the real test. It's difficult to see above, but there are gaps in every last base above. These gaps need to be filled with green epoxy putty, and sculpted to match the rest of the base. This is not horribly difficult with the proper tools, but it is an unnecessary hassle. I'll power through- I have a game to listen to, and nobody in my building to worry about, so I can sculpt away. Let's see what kind of damage I can do here.

Irken No More.

Sandy bases abound.

 

Today has been very productive. As you can see above I have now based every miniature in my "Tau" army, and I have encountered an issue. I hate the antennae I have added to my troops. Passionately. This has led me to (with pliers) rip every antenna out of my minis heads and go back to square one. They are no longer going to be Irken. I have had too much of an issue with finding the correct basis for my minis, and I am no about to start sculpting every last little thing. This is a cop-out, I know, but I have to protect my sanity here. My fingers too. I had the dremel slip on me as I was trying to drill a hole and it got perilously close to my hand. Not good.

 

Counts as Crisis Suit.

 

My conversions are not ending, however. I didn't like the head that came with this robot, so I swapped it for a bead just as I did with the bigger boys. This will give the army a more cohesive look as the heads of all of my mechanical minions will look the same. The fellow above counts as my Battle Suit Commander with two Fusion Blasters. You can't see it from the front, but I also added some thrusters to the model's back so that it will look like it will be able to boost around the board in the manner of Jetpack troopers. What sets this fellow apart from the other three "battle bots" (I'm working on a better name, believe me) is the aerial coming from his back. As you can see I shaved the bolts off this fellow in the same way as the Leviathan.

 

My "Ethereal" flanked by his two recon robots (Markerlight Drones).

 

I have also put together my "mini bot" models (by which I mean putting them on their bases). I fully intend to replace their heads as well, but I'm not too sure I can find the correct sized beads at the craft store, so their default heads will remain attached until I can find suitable replacements.

 

Ready for boostin'.

 

Finally, I added thrusters (well, most of the way) to the Leviathans. I fully intend to cover up the holes that are visible there, and I intend to do it with whatever I use for the minibots' heads. I just decided that these are supposed to be Jetpack Monstrous Creatures, so they should look the part. Good thing I had these resin jump packs lying around.

 

That's it for right now. I brought Von Drakk Manor to work with me to remove mold lines and fill in gaps in bases. I know I most likely shouldn't be doing this at work, but come on! I'm not even supposed to be here today!!!

For The Glory of Irk!!! Also, Christmas. Kill Team Too.

Playing around with my phone's collage function.

 

Well, most of my Irken force has arrived. I got a box from Zombiesmith on Monday, and then a box from Hydra Miniatures on Tuesday. I've put together all the included minis, and as you can see there are a lot of warriors in my army.

 

All is not well in EV land though- I started drilling the holes in the heads of the minis to put the antenna into, and things could be going better. They're ending up all over the place in the minis heads. They are not being drilled in the places I would like, and this is causing the models to look... Not Good. I'll have pictures later, but once you see them I think you'll agree that things have gone awry. Perhaps (most likely) it is because I am using a Dremel to drill out the holes. I really wish this weren't the case as drilling 122 holes by hand will be a nightmare. Not to mention the wear on my hands. I'm going to give it a shot on a few more minis, but right now I don't like the look of things. I'll stick to it though, as this is sort of a fun thing for me (in theory) and I really don't want to admit defeat here.

 

More exploring of Super Dungeons.

Next up is Christmas. I was a good Vassal this year, so my family got me Super Dungeon Explore: Von Drakk Manor. This both pleases and irks me. Now I honestly do not know what to paint. Listen to me here; I love, repeat love the aesthetic of SDE, and I still have most of the Caverns of Roxor to paint. This places my SDE queue along the magnitude of my Irken, and they need less (read no) fiddly drilling into tiny metal heads. Just mold line cleanup and base hole patching.

 

White primer is needed for both, so no difference. What else is there? Likelihood of use. This one's a really tough call. I'm not sure here. Demitra and I are less and less likely to be able to get a full game of 40k in any time soon, as my "job", despite my protestations, has begun to fiddle around with my hours. This reduces our Tuesday Gaming Time to being long enough for some Infinity or X-Wing, but not really much more. Super Dungeon Explore does not fare much better here. The game is fun, and I do have one person interested in playing, but as far as I know that's it. It's a really tough call.

 

This is worth the price of admission.

Finally, on the whole 40k note, I went ahead and downloaded my first Games Workshop digital book, Kill Team. For those of you who don't know what this game is, allow me to explain. Kill team is for those of us who like to take an occasional break from the legion-sized battles so common in the 40k universe. It is the polar opposite of Apocalypse. Kill team is about one or two squads of elite troops who infiltrate into no-man's land or even enemy territory to accomplish a vital mission. This is the scalpel to regular 40k's sledge hammer.

 

Every miniature, despite being purchased as part of a squad, deploys and plays as a unit consisting of a single miniature.

 

I love this way of playing 40k.

 

Now, this version of Kill Team (for those of you familiar with the game) is tighter and brighter. They have tweaked several things that made original Kill Team... A little unbalanced. New composition rules are in place for your team, which are:

 

- 0 HQ, 0-1 Elite, 0-2 Troops, 0-1 Fast Attack, 0 Heavy Support.

- Must consist of 4+ non-vehicle models.

- Nothing with more than 3 wounds.

- No vehicles with more than 33 total armor across the total of all three values or more than 3 Hull Points.

- No Flyers.

- Nothing with a 2+ Armor Save.

 

Now, I disagree with the 2+ save rule (as this removes the super-fluffy Grey Knight Terminator squad suicide mission option) but all the rest I am down with. There have been Kill Team events where the "elite fighting force" consists of a single Riptide (not exactly subtle). Big vehicles (and especially flyers) would just plain remove playability. Lots of wounds means things like Trygons & Carnifexes, which again are not exactly the "elite fighting force" the designers professed to envision. There is also the ability to have the elite hero/villain surrounded by a bunch of mooks, which I also kind of like. It's tough to play against, but as Demitra will attest to, it's not unbeatable by any means.

 

Further tweaks can be found in the Specialist rules. For starters, you Leader now cannot be a Specialist. Instead he gets a sort of "mini Warlord Trait" that can either drastically alter the game, or in a few cases do just plain nothing. Secondly, the Special Rules your Specialists can take have been tweaked. Gone is the ability to give Shrouded to your heavy weapon trooper (or anybody at all). The Special rules have been broken up into categories- Combat, Weapon, Dirty Fighter, Indomitable, & Guerilla. Your three Specialists must choose their abilities from amongst these groups, and a group may not be repeated. Special Rules are now clearly defined as to what kind of weapon they can be attached to. For example, a Fleshbane weapon may only be a close combat one.

 

Death Watch: the original kill team.

 

A personal favorite of mine is to attach Haywire to a Splinter Cannon. Now, not only does it shred any model that gets in its path, it will glance pretty much any vehicle to bits in a single volley. Yep, interesting combinations of Special Rules and miniatures abound in Kill Team. I've found a fair few, but I'd be tipping my hand were I to reveal any more.

 

I've been thinking up various Kill Teams over this last week. Purifiers in a Razorback, a Tau incursion team, Dark Eldar raiders...

Most likely naught will come of this but maybe, just maybe, I can find some like-minded individuals who would be up for a game.

I've rambled long enough. Happy Holidays to you regardless of which one, none, or all you observe, and thanks for reading over the last year. I'll see about an end or year roundup in the next five days, but failing that I'll see you in 2014!

 

Big Stompy Robots

 

"You made the fires worse!"  "Worse? Or better?"

Here they are! Yep, I've finished up the two models which have arrived for my Irken invasion force. They're the 15mm scale Leviathan Crusader from Dreamforge Games. These will count as Riptides with Heavy Burst Cannons and Twin-Linked Plasma Guns (they're kind of hard to see, but they are sticking out of the chest in the armpit area).

 

How the model is "supposed" to look.

I decided that the head was too "human tech" looking and went with a more dome-shaped head by gluing a glass bead into place. I also didn't like the way the power plant looked, so off came the smoke stacks. Finally, I cleaned off every last rivet on the model to give it a smoother look. Demitra commented that the model was a bit small to represent a Riptide, but then everything is a bit small in my army. I'll give you a side-by-side once I get around to it. Personally I think they're plenty big, so I'm pleased.

 

How about the assembly process? Why bring this up? Because it is a nightmare. The pieces are poorly labeled. The instructions are confusing and in a couple of places just plain wrong (in particular one step where the parts are numbered incorrectly). Unless you cannot find a mini to fill in the space of this model, avoid this thing like the plague. I cannot stress this enough- I have been modeling for as long as I can remember, and I have not hit this level of frustration in years.

 

Now continues the waiting game. Will my Irken arrive soon? How about my Megadoomers? My various robot servants? We shall see, but honestly I'm not holding my breath. Most places have closed up shop for a while, so unless the minis I'm waiting for are already in the mail (as with the soon to be Megadoomers- though on a slow plane from England) They just plain won't show up on time.

Looks like it's Super Dungeon Explore time!

The Irken Terror Arrives... But For How Long?

Well, at least part of my army has arrived. My big stompy robots came in the mail yesterday, and I am pleased. They are much larger than their box suggests, which means they fill out the oval bases they go on rather convincingly. I am pleased because, despite them being noticeably smaller than Riptides, they're still big. Especially when compared to my "Irken to be". I did a bit of "conversion" (if you can call it that) to the models, but this is best saved for a post with pictures.

Suffice it to say, I'm on a roll here.

This actually worries me a touch. Why? Because I don't want to be diverted. Already I am putzing around the interwebz checking on various other minis. This is, in a word, stupid. I need to focus. Here's the problem; I am missing some very key parts to the army. For example, no Irken. I know that Josh over at Zombiesmith runs his business out of his garage. I know that he is a two-man operation. I know these things. Unfortunately I am impatient. I have a lot of work to do, not the least of which is drilling two holes into each of the little buggers' heads to put antenna into. This is one of those times I would prefer resin to metal. Drilling holes into 61 minis' heads will be quite a process. That's 122 holes (Dremel time). That's 122 antenna to be clipped and glued into place. That's 122 gaps to be filled on 25mm bases. I'm game, but other projects beckon.

Nyan Cat.

Take, for example, Nyan Nyan over here. I got her for Super Dungeon Explore, mainly because she's a "limited run" mini. Now, I have yet to see a single SDE mini disappear- Candy & Cola, the Herald of Vulcanis, and Vandella the Succubus are still going strong, but dang it if I didn't want the mini just because she's a catgirl. Besides, maybe they did a more limited run of Nyan Nyan.

Yeah, sure.

What I'm getting at here is that I have many, many Super Dungeon Explore minis waiting to be painted. Pretty much the entirety of The Caverns of Roxor, and all three extra plastic minis. These guys and gals are fully assembled, most of them are primed, and all of them hold interest for me. This is also a game I can easily play. A fair few people around me would enjoy goofing off with SDE, but I refuse to play the game with unpainted minis. Entirely. This is just too slick a looking game to pass up the opportunity to play a full-on beautifully realized session. That means I pretty much only have the base game to use. This is not an awful thing, just limiting. Of course, I ought to get a few "Super!" level games under my belt before I aim too high. I've only played at the "8-Bit" and "16-Bit" levels thus far.

Remember us?

My point is, I want to paint these minis. I want to game with these minis. There is a problem, though. What I want out of these minis conflicts with what I want out of the other minis. The longer my Irken take to arrive, however, the more Super Dungeon Explore beckons. Besides, I've been feeling like painting in this style for a while now. I also have some partially painted (and then abandoned) minis sitting in my gaming closet. They need some lovin', and soon. I feel bad letting them sit there in the darkness...

I need to avoid distraction. Christmas is just a little bit away, however, and I featured the "Von Drakk Manor" expansion prominently on my wish list, so there's a very good potential for yet more chibi goodness on the horizon. They will get in the way. They will grab my attention.

My next post definitely will feature new pictures. I just had to get this off my chest.

Irken Rising

It's got chicken legs! I'm gonna eat you!

The Cygnar minis have been sold, and (hopefully) soon I shall have enough money to assemble my mighty Irken invasion force! I have (of course) located my Irken soldiers, I have found my SIR Units (Hydra Miniatures' Minibots with a head resculpt), and I have even found my Megadoomers (Hasslefree's Grymm Walker to the right). A little tweaking will be in order for all above, and they will not quite look the same as their cartoon counterpart, I will strive to get as close as possible.  A rocket pod added here, a gun repositioned there, and voila! The Megadoomer Mk. II Combat Mech!!!

But then I am confounded. I need a Riptide stand-in. I need something to represent my Crisis suits.

My first concern is the Riptide. I have a plan here. I'm thinking of using a decent sized Zaku model. It has to be big enough to fill a GW oval base convincingly, so I'm thinking 1/100 scale, but that might be too big. I'm pretty sure 1/144 will be too small though. Another model altogether would be preferred, but what to match this?

You! Twist some knobs! And you! Pull some levers!

I'm also hung up on what I should use as my Crisis Suits. Since they're pretty agile I was thinking some sort of hovering machine, sort of like these, but I'm not sure. Irken technology tends to be rather bulky. Again, I continue pondering.

Since this "invasion" takes place some time after the events in the series (yeah, we'll say that) the vehicles can look a bit different, but I don't want things to be too radically so. I posted the question on a couple of forums looking for help, so hopefully I'll get a response soon. If not, however, my friends have been quite helpful in finding minis thus far, so here's hoping, right?

It is Done. A New Era Dawns.

A new home for so many minis.

Well, I went through with it. Many, many miniatures are now briskly on their way to the local landfill. I would be lying if I said it didn't break my heart a bit, but it is something that had to be done. I needed to refocus my time, attention, blog space, and most importantly money onto something actually useable. The many, many minis that were trashed last night were not amongst those games.

This brings some changes to Wargaming Chaos. This is now primarily a 40k, WHFB, and Infinity blog, with bits of boardgaming miniatures thrown in here and there. That's pretty much it. Maybe a miracle will happen and I'll get back into Warmachine; I've decided to hold on to my Cryx, but that's it. My Cygnar stuff is gone. Finished. Outta here. After hearing that you pretty much need a Stormwall to be effective, I decided to bail.

Seriously, no.

I know you can potentially run (almost) any list in Warmachine, but I don't want this mini. In my opinion it is ugly, overpriced, and it being an auto-include doesn't help my opinion of it. The fact that you have to have this hunk of resin to be competitive just grinds my gears. I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them "Sam I Am".

I am still not pleased that I have to buy a Bane Thrall command section for my Cryx, but it is much less a bitter pill to swallow than having to spend a hundred and some-odd dollars on that Gargantuan.

Now the problem:

Selling my Cygnar minis.

I hate eBaying things, I prefer to get rid of things in one fell swoop. I want somebody to swoop in and grab up my stuff at the low, low price I'm offering them for. The problem is that not everybody (in fact fairly few people) want to drop the kind of money involved in picking up an army all at once. I have one potential buyer, but that's assuming he doesn't balk at the $400 price tag. This, for this much pewter, is a STEAL. The fact that they are (in my opinion) quite well painted only adds to the value. I can try posting them on eBay if nobody bites, but will anybody start the bidding at $400 plus shipping? I am seriously not willing to let them go for anything less.

Operation: Impending Doom

But what to do with said money? Well, as alluded to in my last post, Tau.

...But wait! Not just any Tau. I've been wanting to do this army for a while, and now that I am refocusing my attention onto games I can actually play, I will build an Irken army worthy of the Almighty Tallest! The Tau, with their high-tech weaponry, inability in close combat, and overall shootyness just screams Irken. I will be using the Zombiesmith "Grey Alien" range, as the sculptor basically said he modeled them after Invader Zim. I've got some ideas as to how to represent other machines of war, but they're still in the planning stage and may or may not change as I consider my options. This is my dream, it will be realized.

Oh, and I'm building an army for my wife, too. It's pretty stupid to be honest, but it does have potential. I'll just say I flagrantly stole it from somebody else and leave it at that.

Crisis of Faith? Or Warmachine Atheism?

It is with a heavy heart I say this, and not lightly.

I do not enjoy WARMACHINE any more. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was my total inability to win. Perhaps it was the nerfing of so many rules my old armies depended on. Maybe it was the introduction of Battle Engines, Colossals, and Gargantuans. Perhaps it was that there are (in my opinion) too many units with too many rules to keep track of. Maybe I just no longer get the game. It's got to be one, a few, or all of these things.

I think it started a while ago when I sold my Skorne. I felt no pain at letting them go. None. I gave my Hordes rulebook to my sister who was at the time starting up the game (who knows what happened to that). I never even flinched at getting rid of any of these things.

Just not doin' it for me...

During this time my figure cases full of minis have been sitting in the closet. Not just unused, not just collecting dust, but getting in the way. I have a limited amount of closet space, and on several occasions I have found myself getting annoyed that I can't put things like my Skaven or Dust Warfare minis there. They're beyond unused, they're almost a hassle. it is at times like these I begin to contemplate things.

Let's throw out an example. I really, really like Song of Blades and Heroes. A lot. I have a bunch of miniatures for it. I have a ton of terrain for it. What I do not have is an opponent to play the game system. The same goes for Alien Squad Leader. The same goes for Hordes of the Things. The same goes for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. Finally, the same goes for Flames of War. These are, to me, dead game systems. They are great games, but with no opponents, they are dead games.

It could get worse. I built an entire In Her Majesty's Name warband (that was the secret project) and barely even finished painting it before coming to the realization that there was no way I was going to be able to play the game.

Tau to be?

I guess what I'm getting at is this; it's "spring" cleaning time. All the above miniatures have to go. I'm going to sell the ones I can, but most of them (LotR, HoTT, SBH, ASQL) will be seeing the dumpster. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars of stuff getting pitched because of impulse buying into systems that looked cool, but I had no opponent for. Watch this space for the upcoming picture of the "Big Mountain O' Trash Minis" coming soon.

Now my attention turns to games I actually enjoy. Games I want to play. Games I have an opportunity to play. There's just this big part of me that doesn't care to play Warmachine any more. Maybe it'll pass, but it's only got until I find a potential buyer for my stuff.

Time will tell.

Mystical Mice

One of my birthday presents this year was a surprise- a very welcome one at that. As you may have gathered from the title as well as the image to the right, I got a copy of Mice and Mystics. Now, I am a BIG fan of the Redwall novels, and a board game that approximates these books is a more than welcome addition to my already generous collection. This would be great alone, but there was an added bonus. The game is gorgeous. Let me repeat that- the game is gorgeous. the art has a very storybook feel, and the components are made of very sturdy cardboard. There are also excellent sculpts of the mouse heroes, as well as their foes. The box has six mice, eight roaches, six rats, and two very large sculpts; a spider and a centipede. at first I was willing to let these minis be. The sculpting is excellent, with fine crisp detail and very few mold lines. There were of course a couple of burs where the minis had been separated from their frames before assembly, and the plastic is the typical sorta flexy plastic. About on par in terms of flexibility with the GW Finecast resin. I wasn't exactly thrilled with that, but it's a board game not a miniatures game.

...Then I went to the company's website. There I found the picture to the left. A fully painted set. Well painted too. That sold me. I'm going to paint up my set as well. This is sort of a leap of faith since I have yet to actually play the game, but look at those pieces! Even if the game is abysmal they'll look good on display.

I've been in a bit of a painting rut lately as between X-Wing miniatures (which are prepainted) and the fact that my regular Sunday gaming group (sort of) plays Magic: The Gathering. Again, there is very little painting involved in trading card games. The primary reason for this is that I am now working earlier on Tuesday, and we only have an hour or two to game on Sunday nights. Those games are quick and easy to play, so there's no doubt that we'll be able to finish a given game before Real Life gets in the way.

My next post will feature my fully painted roaches and rats, so unfortunately no images from my camera today.

...Also, I've been having a bit of a crisis of faith on a certain wargame's front. That's a rant for a different entry though.

Taking Some Time Off

I'm busy getting married today. I'll be taking a bit of time off doing married guy things. Be back to writing in a week or so.

-EV

The Nomad Shuffle

A few days ago, before the terrain frenzy began, Demitra delivered me a batch of Infinity minis I had ordered through him. I got another set of Alguaciles, a pair of Moderators, and a Mobile Brigada miniature, this one toting a HMG. I managed to get them painted in the last few hours, as I hoped to bring them to gaming night tonight, along with my new terrain and gaming mat. I'll try to remember to snap a picture of the game(s) in progress, and give a quick overview of each. I tend to get wrapped up in my games though, so no promises.

Now I need to convince my cohorts at the game store to mark arcs of vision on minis' bases, as it gets very frustrating trying to guess what a model can and cannot see. I'll try to communicate this nicely, as it seems people haven't really gotten that far into painting their dudes. Demanding that they start with their base is a bit... arrogant and demanding.

Here's hoping tonight goes well.

Terrain Tuesday

Well, the task of slapping together some more terrain has come to an end. I glued some ballast down, spray primed everything, and then laid down the real colors.

The Dust Tactics crates were just sprayed over with silver spray paint and then gone over with Tamiya Smoke. I figured that they wouldn't spend as much time outside as the chemical tanks, so I opted to make them look dirrty, but not so much rusty.

The tanks on the other hand are constantly exposed to the elements, so they needed to look as grungy and nasty as I could get them. A base coat of Warplock Bronze brushed over with Leadbelcher did the trick. I'll have a proper looking industrial site soon enough.

While I was in the middle of putting all this together I found that I had run out of wood glue. This stuff bonds amazingly well and holds the ballast I use to texture my terrain firmly in place, so this would not do at all. Off I ran to Michaels to refill my supplies.

While there I found some boxes. They were perfectly shaped to become some gigantic power sheds or something along those lines. No matter what they looked like buildings. I snatched two of them up, some hardboard rectangles to make bases for them, and some tiles of wood about the right size to become doors.

When I got home I assembled everything and rooted around my apartment. Eventually I found some GW cavalry bases to glue to the top to look like vents. I grabbed a couple of the plasticard tiles I have laying around and glued them to the doors I had created. Once dry it was ballast time, and then outside.

I found that I had a can of Army Painter green spray paint laying around from when I put together my Skaven army, so I decided that I wouldn't have yet another entirely metallic piece for my table. I hosed them down, douched up some of the areas with my usual rusty look, and voila! Yet another piece that jams up vision nicely. I'm still wondering if I should wash them with something to make them look beat up and to bring out the detail. I'll have to ponder that at work. I wasn't able to use any of these pieces terrain in my game against Demitra today since they were still drying, but I should be able to throw them down on the table tomorrow.

4x4

My newest creation.

No, today I really couldn't think of a title, so that's all you get.

I ran out to the fabric store today. I have come to the decision that if I'm going to bring terrain to play Infinity on to the store, I really ought to bring something to put it on. To that end I found this 100% recycled plastic felt. Feeling eco-friendly, I approached the counter at which they cut up said fabric for you, and I asked for a price check. Turns out the material was on sale for $2.99 per yard! Joy!!! This was a sign. reaching into my pocket I produced the stack of one dollar bills I had scrounged. Ten of them. The material, which was also the closest match to the color I paint my terrain, was affordable and just seemed to beckon to me. The right color, the right price, the right material. It was meant to be.

Since fabric is sold by the yard, I would have to do some chopping. I went ahead and got two yards of the stuff. After handing over the correct amount to the cashier, I practically skipped out to my car. I had a gaming mat.

Nothing quite like when a plan comes together.

When I arrived home I grabbed the nearest at hand tape measure, as well as a Sharpie, and set about measuring and marking. Next, the scissors. Unfortunately my scissors are... quite dull, and had a bit of an issue slicing through the felt, but perseverance paid off and I got through the trim down.

I laid my terrain down on the square and came to a horrifying realization. The terrain didn't match! The drybrushing just made the hills look too different. Now I needed a new plan.

I marched off to my room and grabbed the paint can from which I got all my drybrushing paint, and walked outside carrying it, the felt, and a paintbrush. after laying down my newly cut felt square on the porch, I set down my can of paint, took off the lid, and dipped in the brush. Wiping most of the excess off, I began dabbing the tip of the brush against the felt. This produced little spots all over the place, though at a glacial rate. I resolved that, no matter the time investment I would accomplish this mission. On hands and knees I dabbed and dabbed, for half an hour, and then finally stood up.

I don't mind telling you, I was pleased with the result as well as myself. This looked good.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to employ the mat, today is unlikely (I know, I'm already flaking out on Infinity after only one showing), but I have bigger concerns tonight. You see, we're having a wedding party (not so much a shower, as it's too close to the big day) and things are not quite ready to go despite it being in only three days! It's time for a pow-wow with the maid of honor to get things set for the upcoming festivities.

LOS blocking goodness.

I've also set about trying to rectify the (lacking) terrain situation. I have a bunch of junk laying around, so I gathered it up and started gluing it together. Looks like I'll have more chemical tanks in the near future. They're cheap to produce and they look good enough on the table. They also help break up line of sight nicely, especially the one on the left there.

I also have plans to raid Michaels in the near-ish future in order to grab some random bits and bobs. The wood I use as a base for my terrain is from that store, and it's cheap, so I may as well grab some more. Plus I can grab some things like little boxes and maybe even some palm trees or something along those lines. I'll be able to slap all that stuff together in an assortment of interesting ways and hopefully produce some quality terrain to help further obscure minis as they move up the board.

Oh, by the way, for those of you counting:
Exactly one month from today I'll be getting hitched. More and more weird, but not in a bad way.

Training Wheels

Demitra and I got in another "let's see how this game works" round of Infinity today. It was once again informative, and we learned a few new things. The more I read about this game and learn new strategies the more I'm coming to enjoy it. But then, I've sung this game's praises here before.

I've learned a few things about terrain in Infinity. The primary being that you should empty your terrain stores onto the board. Seriously, plunk it all down. As you can see in my illustration to the left, it is very hard to have too much terrain. I basically upended my terrain box onto the table, and it made for a more interesting and tactical game. Of course, as I have mentioned before, my terrain collection tends to leave some fire lanes open. That is to say my buildings are not terribly good at blocking up lines of fire, as they're, as Demitra put it, "Swiss cheese".

I have managed to find hope for my terrain woes on the interwebz though. At least potentially. It turns out that O-gauge shipping crates like the ones carried on ships are a great size for Infinity. I'm pretty sure they'll be kind of... huge, but if they work they work. One thing is for sure, AT-43 containers like the ones I've painted silver above are right out. They are ungodly expensive no matter where you find them, and as long as gamers with more cash than sense continue to snatch them up they'll remain that way. Curse you law of supply and demand!!!

Terrain woes aside, today's matchup was interesting. I seem to have constructed, at low point values at least, a very defense-oriented group. This irks Demitra to no end, as I have a tendancy to grab some cover and blaze away. I'll admit that this can be a frustrating tactic, but when the alternative is to jump out and get your face shot off, the turtling option really begins to shine. Having a Sin-Eater watching over me may have encouraged me to venture out of my safety zone a bit, but crafty ol' Demitra brought in a Tiger Soldier with HMG in behind my lines and opened up on my poor little Sin-Eater. He kind of died. that meant that this would be my first game without him. My HMG equipped Alguacil spun around to gun down the offender, but he simply slunk behind a statue and hid. My poor Alguacil was promptly gunned down by an enemy sniper, leaving me with no special weapons! Truly an uphill game.

I did manage to off the Tiger Soldier with my first ever use of a coordinated order, catching him in a pincer movement between an Alguacil and my Reverend Moira. Unfortunately, despite my love of the minis, the poor Reverend just doesn't look like she'll make the final cut in anything short of a jurisdictional army. Her stats really aren't up to snuff despite her ODD and Shock close combat weapon. The points dumped into the Reverends I planned to run in that army most likely would do better dumped into another Sin-Eater HMG. I'm going to have to reassess my Bakunin army. Sin-Eaters are in, Pupniks & Chimerae are in, and I will of course have to drop in a couple of Moderators in to give me some Orders...

I'll hit up Infinity Army when I'm done here.

All in all today's game went pretty well, as despite some setbacks I was able to eek out a victory. We'll see what, if anything, tomorrow holds. I'll be grabbing some felt to make a game mat tomorrow at the craft store, and I'll try to get another little skirmish in.

Nomads & That Come Hither Look

Come here big boy.

Another Alguacil painted, and some revelations.

First off, I've finished another Alguacil. I decided to go with the over the top yellow hair, since I imagine Nomads as very individualized people, who declare their independence in any way possible- including dying their hair outrageous colors. I say this because I know how to paint "realistic" blonde hair, and wanted to make it clear that yes, this is intentional.

Now to the revelations. I am rusty on the rules to Infinity (if not downright ignorant), and I need to play a lot more small games in order to get my feet under me. I thought (from watching other people play at Huzzah Hobbies) that Zeros wouldn't reveal their presence if they laid mines or deployed repeaters and E/Maulers. I was rather wrong on that front. I am vindicated on one thing though- BTS is applied as a positive modifier on rolls, and a negative modifier to WIP rolls when being hacked. Why BTS isn't written as a positive number is a mystery- it must be a Spanish thing.

I have learned thet Viral weapons are ungodly powerful- two BTS rolls, and if a one wound miniature fails a single one it just plain falls to the ground dead. This makes Daktaris rather useless against the Tohaa, as pretty much everything they use is Viral.

I learned that yes, smoke is as much of a problem to my squad as I was told and as I feared. Demitra (yes, Demitra- the one who swore up and down he hated the art style of the game) pulled some serious smoke shenanigans on me, and I lost a miniature in close combat because of it. My answer to that issue is simple- suppressing fire. So what if I'm at -6 to hit when a mini moves through the corridor? They take the full Burst value of the weapon as an ARO, which will cause anybody to keep their head down. Who says "spray and pray" doesn't work?

A very bad man.

 I learned that I LOVE Sin Eaters. They dominate any section of the table they can see, and just need to be moved into position before they ARO their little metal hearts out at their weapon's full Burst value. This weapon should be an HMG- the volume of fire and the fact that it hits like a train (Damage 15) will bring the hurt to any enemy mini be it a single wound throw away mini, or a big stompy TAG. Since they're using an ARO they blaze away without orders, so they will be a great way to assign orders to the minis that need them. You have to approach them from behind or preferably in a simultaneous pincer movement to keep the mini from simply spinning around as its first ARO, and then (assuming it survives) gunning you down each time you order the sad little dude. He's not too great in melee either, so if you can sneak up on him and stab his face you should be able to end his reign of terror rather quickly. I have leaned rather heavily on this guy so far, so I'm pretty scared to find out what will happen when (not if) I lose him.

I learned that I still enjoy this game, despite all the "learning experiences" (read getting stuff just plain wrong) I've been through. The mechanics, while rewarding defensive play, are fun and different than just about anything else on the market. The reaction system is very different than Dust Warfare. Weather this is a good or bad thing to the new found gaming group (for me anyway) is going to be a mystery for a while, but I'm holding out hope for a decent run.

I need a table more like this.

Finally, I learned that I need more LOS (LOF in Infinity- Line Of Fire) blocking terrain. My ruined city just doesn't provide enough places to hide. I need to create some sort of industrial complex with things like machinery, chemical tanks, barrels, shipping containers, and all other manner of things to hide behind. I should also save up for some intact buildings from Armorcast (and quickly since their lines of resin scenery are rapidly dwindling and I don't want to buy GW's overpriced stuff) so that my cityscape is more hospitable to close combat miniatures. Right now melee stuff just gets shot dead while attempting to close the gap. I think I'll try having some forests as dense growth Zero Visibility Zones next time, as well as bringing all my scenery (or at least a more thought out box). I should probably look at getting a piece of felt that I can lay down as a gaming mat. They seem to be sparse at the store I went to on Wednesday, so I should at least help remedy that.

Now I'm awaiting a few miniatures I ordered through Demitra. More Alguaciles, a couple of Moderators, and a Mobile Brigada with HMG. They'll let me play some more varied configurations.

My last thought for today, I swear. I've been poking around and pondering a pure Bakunin force. That gives me four Reverend Moiras and a whole lot of Religious Troops. The list has also turned me on to the idea of Zonds. They look super nifty, at least on paper. A Repeater equipped Total Reaction HMG equipped model that can climb walls like they were normal horizontal terrain! Yummy.

Right now however I'll keep pondering wedding stuff. Thirty two days left until I'm officially a married man. Kind of surreal...

A More Modest List For More Modest Games

So Demitra informed me that the local Infinity scene is pretty much all starter box games, which is cool. To that end I slapped together a list half the size of the last one. No TAG, no bells and whistles, just basic stuff.

We all have humble beginnings.

 NOMADS

 GROUP 1 (Regular: 7/Irregular: 0):

 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 SECURITATE Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (23)
 SIN-EATER HMG / Pistol, CCW. (2 | 34)
 MOBILE BRIGADA MULTI Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (43)
 ZERO Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (18)

 2 SWC | 148 Points

It's a 150 point list, so basically a starter box plus one mini. If a starter box game is desired, I'm all set. If a slightly bigger game is the order of the day, that's cool too.

Demitra has been sniffing around the rules recently, and while I don't expect him to pick up the game (especially with all the WHFB Empire stuff he has laying around waiting for paint) it's kind of nice that he's at least interested in how the game plays. As far as I'm concerned, he's got HordesMachine to play when he's not at my place, and I've got Infinity. It's a symmetry I can deal with.

All that being said, with both the comic book shop and Huzzah Hobbies potentially starting up Infinity, I'll have to consider where I game carefully, as while it's a game likely to be a flash in the pan like Dust was, I want to get as much out of this game as I can, since I'm planning on putting away $10 or so per paycheck in order to attend the NOVA Open Infinity tournament next year- price be damned. I will need practice, I will need opponents with fair sized forces, and I will need a decent number of games. While I don't want to belittle my usual Infinity gaming buddy, Playing all my games against Haqqislam is not the best way to feel out all the factions, how they play, and how various opponents think.

Plus I really ought to get my hands on the Paradiso book...

More Nomad Painting and Army Revision

Alguacil, Securitate, & Reverend Moira

I finished painting a few minis on Wednesday, but I had no time to post them since I had a movie to attend. I went ahead and posted them today, so I guess better late than never, eh?

I've been painting eyes on my minis this time around, but since my brushes are.. sub par. NEVER buy the current Citadel brushes. They do not hold their shape and the tip splays out every couple of strokes. I thought the first one I bought was defective, but it turns out the quality of the brushes is just plain awful. Because if this I've been using an old (like several years old) detail brush. The tip is a bit wonky, but nothing like the Citadel brush I purchased. This made the pupils come out all huge and googly, and the minis are sort of staring, but hey, they have eyes, which is a massive improvement over past efforts.

Zero w/ E/Mauler, Mobile Brigada, & Alguacil w/ Sniper Rifle

My revisions of the paint scheme from before have all of the armor painting in purple, while all the rest of the clothing is in black. I kind of thought that a solid purple TAG might look a bit off, so I left most of the armor plating black. On the Mobile Brigada I decided to just go for it and see what painting every last armor plate purple. On a Power Armored mini this means quite a bit of purple. In fact, there's only a bit of black on the back of the mini and on the MULTI Rifle.

I also made another decision. All the armor plating on my minis will be glossy. I like the idea of having the armor on my minis being made of an advanced plastic or something along those lines. This, while a nifty addition on the other minis, makes the Mobile Brigada have a whole lotta glossy goin' on. That's okay with me though.

Now on to the actual army list. After reading this post I came to the decision that the two groups I had with only a few Orders each were quite possibly a big liability. I guess it can partially be your list rather than you. With that in mind I figured the "swarm/TAG" idea I had was just a little off. It was a great toolbox list, but would have kind of jerky turns- I'd be forced to move some of my minis from each group rather than having the option of having the Szalamandra "go Rambo" or withdraw a mini to the rear to keep it alive.

There was another problem. My original Lieutenant had the highest WIP in my force, which would broadcast who they were. Now the LT has an average WIP, which while a bit of a gamble as far as gaining the Initiative for deployment or first turn, keeps the identity of my leader a secret. For those who don't know, "Loss of Lieutenant" is often a game losing state- you drop from your normal Order pool to two Orders, and it costs both of those Orders if you want to nominate a new Lieutenant. In other words you're in deep, deep trouble.

Here we go:

 NOMADS

 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 ALGUACIL HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 19)
 INTERVENTOR Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26)
 CLOCKMAKER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (18)
 SIN-EATER HMG / Pistol, CCW. (2 | 34)
 MOBILE BRIGADA MULTI Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (43)
 ZERO Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (18)
 ZERO (Deployable Repeater) E/Mauler, Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
 SZALAMANDRA Hyper-rapid Magnetic Cannon, Heavy Flamethrower / . (2 | 90)
 SZALAMANDRA PILOT Pistol, Knife.
 ZONDBOT Electric Pulse. (3)
 ZONDBOT Electric Pulse. (3)

 6 SWC | 298 Points

This army has exactly 10 Orders, which is the maximum allowed in a single group. This will make the group fluid, and allow me to dump Orders exactly where needed. It has the tools to take on any enemy force, with Camouflage Markers roaming around the board causing problems by plunking down mines and E/Maulers in order to deny areas of terrain. Big Burst values allow the army to deal with swarms. Are there weaknesses? Sure, but they can be gotten around. I like the look of this army, but I'll have to try it out on the table to find out for sure. Hopefully on Wednesday I'll be able to play a game. Hopefully on Wednesday there will be someone with a big enough army to take me on...

Three Hundred Points of Nomads: The Next Revision

Yep, I'm still pondering my Nomads. This time I listened to my brain and swapped the Reverend Moira for a Securitate and an Alguacil with a Heavy Machinegun. More orders, better defensive capability, and an HMG that can advance and cover the rear of my Szalamandra team (Szally, Clockmaker & Zondbot) as they advance, and not care too terribly much if they die. People bemoan the Alguacil HMG as not being accurate, but it has a Burst of 4 and can tear through armor. All it needs is a decent roll and the target is in trouble. Here's what I'm thinking for my team now:

 GROUP 1 (Regular: 7/Irregular: 0):

 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 ALGUACIL HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 19)
 SECURITATE Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (23)
 INTERVENTOR (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26)
 CLOCKMAKER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (18)
 SZALAMANDRA Hyper-rapid Magnetic Cannon, Heavy Flamethrower / . (2 | 90)
 SZALAMANDRA PILOT Pistol, Knife.
 DAKTARI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (14)
 ZONDBOT Electric Pulse. (3)

 GROUP 2 (Regular: 5/Irregular: 0):

 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 SIN-EATER HMG / Pistol, CCW. (2 | 34)
 ZERO Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (18)
 ZERO (Deployable Repeater) E/Mauler, Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)

 6 SWC | 299 Points

This one manages to keep the TAG, while still covering the table with enough infantry to generate sufficient Orders to go around. The number of minis does force me to divide my force into two groups, which also splits up my Order pool, but that just means I'll have to use them as a coherent force rather than having a couple of minis running around going nuts with Orders. I feel that this will force me to rely on my force as a whole, rather than simply leaning on my TAG and asking it to do all of the heavy lifting. With that mentality it's a sure way to have me lose games as soon as the Szalamandra goes down, rather than being able to regroup and start my push again. Granted, my TAG basically dominated the board with its HMC last time I used it, but there are ways around it, and opponents will figure out how to tackle the challenge it provides soon enough. Once that happens, the Szalamandra may even become a liability, but who knows? I'll just have to practice, practice, practice. As much as possible, because I'm really thinking that if I do ever go to the NOVA Open, I'd do it to play Infinity.

The tournament is cheaper, and the rules just make sense to me. The geometry and shenanigans involved in HordesMachine have escaped me. If I'm going to harp on a system and try to get really good at it, it really ought to be one that clicks in my mind, no? Besides, I like the unofficial slogan of the Infinity; "It's not your list, it's you."

In other words, this game is less about what minis you bring, it's about how you employ them on the table.

Of course, while I was writing this I came across a beginner's primer on list building for Infinity...

I'll have to think about some of the points the author brought up and see about integrating a few of them into my build.

Back to the list building site...