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.

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...

Nomad Nation Paint Redo Results

Well, a lot on Nomads have been painted, in smallish batches. Three at a time unless it's a really big mini like the Szalamandra. Here are the fruits of my labors:

Clockmaker, Sin-Eater & Zero

Daktari & Zondbots

Szalamandra & Pilot

Alguaciles & Interventor

Next up is another Alcuacile, a Securitate, and a Reverend Moira. I also just finished priming the Zero with the E/Mauler, so she may be added to the batch. All I need to do now is see if Huzzah Hobbies has that Alguacile HMG mini I've been considering. I found some unexpected cash, and it would be well employed getting her.

I'll need to try to secure some time here (wedding permitting) to get a game in. I'd really like to start playing this game for real, and in order to do that I must strike whilst the iron remains hot. I wish to turn murmurs of interest into shouts of unbridled joy at discovering a new, excellent game system!

But first I must finish assembling my troops...

Nomad Knowledge- Tournament Point Values

I made a discovery today. The NOVA Open runs its Infinity tournament at 300 points (at least this year). My last list was 250 points. That means I had to expand my army a bit. With those extra points I had do make a decision- do I just expand on the concept of my current army, or do I trash it and start from the ground up and re-tweak the entire concept?

This posed a problem; my gaming budget is shot until my wedding, and so I can't get any more minis. Even adding the Zero was a stretch. I had to work with what I had available.

So, I was limited to:
3 Alguaciles w/ Combi Rifles
1 Securitate w/ Combi Rifle+Light Shotgun
1 Interventor
1 Clockmaker
1 Daktari
1 Reverend Moira w/ Shock CCW & MULTI Rifle
1 Sin-Eater Observant w/ HMG
1 Mobile Brigada w/ MULTI Rifle+Light Shotgun
2 Zeroes- 1 w/ Anti-Personnel Mines, 1 w/ E-Maulers
1 Szalamandra & Pilot
2 Zondbots

That's my Nomads collection. It was from this I would have to draw my force. First out was the Mobile Brigada. He's just a weird mini, and I really don't like the look of him. Sure he's pretty cool on the tabletop, but I just can't bring myself to like him (unlike the Yu-Jing power armor- which looks fantastic).

The Szalamandra was an auto-include for its sheer firepower and durability. Ninety points isn't such a hard pill to swallow when you have 300 to work with. The inclusion of the Szally meant the addition of a Clockmaker, his Zondbot assistant, and an Interventor to protect this valuable asset. Of course, not all this is purely to support the TAG, the hacker can also go on the offensive and shut down enemy minis.

Of course, Alguciles are a must-have both as cheap, expendable troops and a way to generate orders for the rest of the gang. If somebody needs to draw out a sniper, who better than an Alguacile? Somebody need to form a meat-shield for your Lieutenant? Alguacile. Gotta clear out that minefield? Well, you get it.

Then defense came to mind. How best to cover my advance or just dominate an area of the board? Sin-Eater. Although he only fires once while I'm active, while I'm reactive he fires four shots when he gets an ARO. He's a beast. Plus he's camouflaged so it's hard to get rid of him once he settles into position. He's just an amazing mini in all respects (I even love the sculpt).

How about getting behind enemy lines? A sniper in the right position (or worse, a Missile Launcher sporting Hac-Tao) could really ruin my day. That's where my Zeroes come in. Got a sniper problem? just set a mine under him, step back, and BOOM! Problem solved. You'll be coming in as a Camouflage Marker, so he won't be able to do squat about it. I went into E-Maulers in my last entry, so if you want my opinion on them check that out.

Now, I've got a fair few infantry minis here, and a lot of them are pretty tough to kill, so how about a little backup? The Daktari is in. She'll nurse my troops back to health (those that don't get instantly splattered) and help recover anybody who falls unconscious from their wounds. Again she gets a Zondbot to run around with her and help out where she can't/shouldn't go.

Now, I've got all these minis I should take, but what about the one I want to take. Reverend Moira. She's a great mini, although she's a close combat mini (where I'm pretty much running a shooting force) but hold on! she's a Religious Trooper with an Optical Disruptor. This means she'll never back down or run away, and she'll inflict at least a -6 modifier to hit her. Tactically I'm torn between her and a Securitate (she's a Repeater and she's always expecting you). I just don't like the Securitate mini as much. She's a better bodyguard for a mini an enemy is trying to assassinate, and in a pinch she can let me try to hack any power armor or TAG that ventures too close to my line. The Securitate would also let me upgrade an Alguacile to an HMG, and you can never have too many HMGs.

I really ought to go with the Securitate. I really ought to go with the HMG. Unfortunately I can't get the HMG until a friend places an order from a mail order company, or I special order one from Huzzah Hobbies. The HMG Alguacile is pretty cool too...

I may, MAY have talked myself into a new mini once finances allow. Either that or someone out there could grab me one as a birthday present... (^_~)*

All that rambling aside, I just plain like the Reverend. she's dynamic, she's melee capable, she's wearing a thong...

Well, here's how the force stands right now:

GROUP 1 (Regular: 7/Irregular: 0):
 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
 INTERVENTOR (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26)
 CLOCKMAKER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (18)
 ZONDBOT Electric Pulse. (3)
 DAKTARI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (14)
 ZONDBOT Electric Pulse. (3)
 REVEREND MOIRA MULTI Rifle / Pistol, Shock CCW. (38)
 SZALAMANDRA Hyper-rapid Magnetic Cannon, Heavy Flamethrower / . (2 | 90)
 SZALAMANDRA PILOT Pistol, Knife.

 GROUP 2 (Regular: 4/Irregular: 0):
 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)

 5 SWC | 298 Points
I may also want to work on my group distribution, but that's a thought avalanche for another time.

Breaking Up Black, Green and Purple With... Black, Orange and Purple

I came to a conclusion yesterday. I hate my Nomads' color scheme. As a reminder since I hav not gone into Infinity in a while, here's what they look like:

The paintjob is rather abysmal, even by my own standards. With only about eleven miniatures in the force, I want to be 100% satisfied with the color scheme. It is for this reason that I've decided that a repaint is in order. Why now? Well, two reasons;

-Firstly, I'm approaching "goblin burnout". This is not good, as the end of the army is I sight. I'm almost there, and I don't want to end up saying "forget it" and have them sit on the shelf for another half decade.

-Secondly, there have been Infinity rumblings. Well, there always seem to be rumblings, but there never seems to be any action, as I've maybe played half a dozen games of Infinity since I started collecting my minis, and only once with my Nomads.

So, what will the repaint look like? I'm going with my original color scheme, black and purple. I've already run some test minis through the process, and they came out looking pretty darn good. Well, better than the above paintjob any way. They have more of a night time Spec-Ops look to them. Of course, being Nomads they have obnoxiously colored hair, which kind of breaks down the subtlety, but brightens up the minis. Of course the Zero and the Sin-Eater have no hair which makes the end result remain quite dark, but they have the Camouflage special rule, so they probably ought to be.

Since I'm out of Simple Green I'm doing something unheard of. I'm painting over the existing paint. It's actually come out rather well. Pictures in a few hours to a few days, time permitting.

Of course, it wouldn't be a return to a game system without the addition of a new mini to the force, so I went ahead and grabbed a Zero with an E/Mauler. These beauties are just what the doctor ordered, if the doctor is a Interventor Hacker that wants to stay well away from the action. The E/Maulers are pretty sweet since they both act as Deployable Repeaters for hacking attempts, and have the ability to defend themselves with an EMP pulse if an enemy gets too close. Of course since they're so big that they can't be hidden they have the weakness that they can just be shot off the board, but that just means I'll have to learn to deploy them correctly. Perhaps they should be protected by a land mine? I'll have to fiddle around with the idea, but having Sin-Eater covering fire for them, or perhaps just having the Zeros watch over them from a safe distance will work. It'll be pretty situational, and will require some practice, but this game is slick enough that I won't mind.

Of course, why do an Infinity order at all without a touch of cheesecake? I went ahead and grabbed the "Bootleg Lizard Squadron Pilot". I'm not sure if she's limited edition or not, but I decided not to risk it and go ahead and grab her while I'm at it. Even if I never decide to run a Lizard TAG, she'll be a nice piece to have, and I'll just show her in my display case.

The reason for the purchase of the new Zero is that I've (again, as usual) rewritten my army list. Before I had a Mobile Brigada mini in my force, but after a bit of reconsidering I decided to drop him. For his cost and the addition of an Alguaciles trooper I could add two Zeros and a Daktari. The Zeros are great for area denial with their mines and E/Maulers, and the Daktari is a quite competent field medic. The addition of the Zeros would also mean that I would have the ability to hunt down things that toss out smoke (my force's glaring weakness) which would disrupt my advance since the Szalamandra TAG I run is rather obsolete and can get blinded by such things. The last thing I want is for my Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon to be rendered useless, as it takes up 90 of my 250 points. With a Burst of 5, an effective range of 36" (maximum 104"), and a Damage of 15 with Armor Piercing ammo, it is death to everything- even other TAGs.

The TAG itself may be considered obsolete, but HMCs never go out of style.

Well, al that's left is to toss out my list, which will of course have my Lieutenant's identity concealed. Here we go:

 GROUP 1 (Regular: 9/Irregular: 0):

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

 5 SWC | 250 Points

It's a bit more fluid than before, and is less vulnerable to EMP, hacking, and the like. I still have the Sin-Eater's brutal AROs. I won't have to commit my Interventor, Clockmaker, or Daktari to the front line, and I get to paint and use those adorable little Zondbots! What's not to like?

I'll see how it performs on the table later, but on paper it looks killer.

*** After doing some reading it turns out that the Lizard TAG is the out of date chassis. Oh, well. My comment about the HMC still stands.

Final Results And A Bummer

Well, I went 2&1 in the tournament, and despite having the only fully painted and based army and playing friendly to a fault, I ended up with no placing of any kind, which is bummer number one. I'm a bit miffed about the whole painted army thing, but oh, well. Life goes on.

The real bummer last night is that my Friendly Not So Local Games Workshop is shutting down. The store is getting packed up and moved down the street about a quarter mile. That in itself wouldn't be so bad, but the store is becoming a one man store. A shame that, as my orders from now on will be placed on the internet, and my games will be played at home or in friends' basements. Game Parlor is out, as games happen on days I have to work. I'm just so glad I just spent hundreds of dollars on an army I was supposed to use to get out of the house and game with.

Time to start pimping Infinity I suppose. It's nice to have a game where you can spend about $100 and never have to buy another miniature. It's not nice to not have a player base. Now if I can get people's scheduled to synch up...

Any way, fare thee well GW Springfield, I barely knew ye.

Nomads Completed

Well, I'm stumped on my pre-calculus homework, and my "tutor" won't be out of class for a while, so here are my latest Infinity miniatures! I enjoyed painting them up, especially the Reverend Moira (on the right). this officially brings me to three fully painted Infinity forces, and a break from painting these lovely minis.

Until my Dark Eldar arrive on Monday (or I get un-stuck from this stupid equation), my attention will shift to my remaining Anima: Tactics minis. I have a fair number of Church figures needing a coat of paint, and I figure I should put a dent in them. They have, after all, been sitting in storage for nearly two years now...

Things I Do When I Should Be Studying

Yep, more painting progress today. I just finished Dullcote-ing my Nomads. The force is still two minis short (I'm waiting on an Interventor Hacker and a Reverend Moira I ordered with a gift certificate I had laying around from Christmas) but as you can see it's mostly finished. I decided to go for a camouflaged color scheme, broken up by the Nomad red and black colors. Yeah, I was going to paint them black and purple, but at the last minute (literally as I was pulling my paints out of their storage box) I called an audible. I think I did them justice.

Now I just need to get another game in. Both this force and my Aleph minis are sitting, unused in my display cabinet. This is a challenge to my only Infinity opponent who reads this blog: get those buildings assembled. Your Haqqislam force is going down.

Now to finish those last ten math problems before I spend all day tomorrow memorizing biology notes.

More Forward Progress

Yeah, no snappy title for this one.

Well, yet another tiny little post. I finished my Mournfang Cavalry. Here's a picture.

I received a Nomads starter box for my birthday, along with the Black 13th Gun Mage Strike team. Seems as soon as I dig myself out of my painting backlog, I'm backed up again. Not that I'm complaining, I'm just not sure what color I want to paint the Nomads minis. I'm thinking black and purple. It's been a while since I painted something purple, and the bug is starting to bite at me again.

Also the black 13th makes me want to run an eCaine list, and for that I need to paint up those Cygnaran Rangers I've got in my figure case, as well as one of those Chargers that've been collecting dust...

As Promised

Today I needed to paint up a gift for somebody, so while I was at it I finished up my ALEPH force.

Now all I have to do is finish off my Mournfangs before the influx of minis on my birthday. It's good to have such a tiny list of items that need to get painted.

Not No Progress, Just Very Little

Well, a really quick hitter this time. I've not gotten much painting done recently. This is my recent progress, as when I haven't been getting my weekly game in or celebrating my six-year anniversary with my S.O., I've been studying. I promise I'll have one of these two projects done within the week, probably the Infinity minis. Sorry for so little to see.

ESWAT

Appleseed inspired.

Well, my ALEPH stuff arrived, as you can probably see. Reading up on what ALEPH fluff I could scrounge, it seems that the AI's forces are peace-keeping affairs, so I immediately thought of ESWAT from Appleseed. Thus, my color scheme was decided for me. I looked around the interwebs amd found various SWAT uniforms, finally deciding on the above blue and grey.

I started with my usual Rust-Oleum primer, and then basecoated them Imperial Blue. Next came a heavy wetbrush of Ultramarine, and once that was dry I hit the models with a wash of ultra-thinned Imperial Blue. Once this layer dried (and it took quite a while), I layered on a wash of Levithan Purple. This left me with a dark, but in my opinion not too dark, blue uniform. Next were the grey areas. These were basecoated with German Grey, and then highlighted with a special blend of Bonewhite and Chaos Black.

The various markings in white are done with Vallejo Model Color, as are the gunmetal basecoats of the guns. The weapons are then covered with my favorith little painting secret (thanks Mike McVey!), Tamiya Smoke.

The cyborgs' skin is painted with Deneb Stone, washed with the old Citadel Chesnut Ink, and the re-highlighted with Deneb Stone. This left me with a kind of wierd "Data from Star Trek" artificial skin. Eyes and lenses were then hit with Scorpion Green dots.

Leather areas were first painted with Vallejo Earth, then washed with Devlan Mud.

I really wanted the "hair" on the minis to offset their uniforms, so I painted it a vibrant red color, achieved by first basecoating them Flat Red, highlighting them with Bloody Red, and finishing with Blazing Orange.

The bases were of course painted with a heavy wetbrush of Earth, and then a drybrush of Khaki, before hitting up the rims with Chaos Black. A couple of white lines on each mini to delineate their arcs of vision, and voila! Some fully painted ALEPH troopers.

My final list needs another Asura (with a Spitfire), as well as a Myrmidon Officer, and the Deva Functionary will be dropped from the final roster. All told my force (short the Deva) comes to 299 points, and with only 8 orders will be a touch... interesting to field. Hopefully the hyper-elite status of most of my troops will make up for the lacking order pool, but first I'll have to get a game in to find out.

That's about all from the ol' EV camp for now, but I expect to get the new Ogre Kingdoms book around the 20th, so I'll definitely be posting a revised army list not too long after then. Here's hoping for more than editorials until then, right?

Look What I Found!

While I was at my local game store I was rifling through their metal Skaven miniatures, and came across this little gem. Now, I've heard a lot of horror stories about the new resin miniatures being produced by Games Workshop, and due to this I've decided not to purchase any until these stories stop. I had given up hope getting my hands on a metal copy of Ikit Claw, but the gaming gods saw fit to smile on me. Now I just need to find a game to try him out! Of course I painted him up as soon as I got home.

In addition, I rounded out my Yu Jing force with a sniper. From what I've been hearing they're great for board control (with their extreme range and accuracy they can use an ARO against just about anything on the board).

Now that I've finished my Yu Jing force, I'm waiting for my ALEPH starter to arrive from the War Store. The website said the miniatures I ordered were in stock, but this wouldn't be the first time I ordered something listed on their site that had to be restocked by them...

Eye of the Tiger

What my miniatures look like pre-primer.

My Friendly Local Gaming Store happened to have in two of the miniatures I needed to wrap up my Yu-Jing force for Infinity, so I went ahead and grabbed a pair of Tiger Soldiers. One is equipped with a combi-rifle / light flamethrower, and one with a heavy machine gun. Tiger Soldiers are paratroopers, and the ability to sneak an HMG behind enemy lines was just too appealing to pass up.

The pieces of the miniatures are a bit fiddly, with a pair of cylinders below the fin on their back all separate pieces. The cylinders went on easily enough after drilling some guide holes for the tabs on the end of them, but the fins were a nightmare to align properly as there is no groove on the miniatures' backs for it to set in. Once dry, it was outside for some primer. I followed up giving them the same treatment I gave the rest of the miniatures, ending up with the following results:

Now I'm only a single miniature away from finishing my force, and I picked him up today. Once I'm done with my sniper I'll be ready to start on my ALEPH force, and then I'll be able to demo the game (time permitting, of course). An ALEPH starter (seemingly impossible to locate) just came in over at The War Store, so hopefully I'll be able to wrangle one up pretty soon.

Invincible Warriors of Yu Jing

Well, I finished my Yu Jing miniatures. Instead of the orange body armor seen on the painted examples of the miniatures, I opted for a green and black color scheme. It was only after painting that I realized they ended up looking like the Salamanders Chapter of the Space Marines...

I started with the Zhanshi as these were the miniatures I cared about the least. Not that I didn't want a high-quality paint job on them, but if I did make an error on their color scheme, I'd prefer to make it now. It was while painting these miniatures that I realized the idea of actually painting them in a camouflaged color scheme was just not to be. There is just not enough flat space on these guys (or any other miniature) for that to work.

Next was the Celestial Guard model. I chose him because he would be the perfect transition from the lightly armored Zhanshi to the fully-carapaced heavy infantry.

My paint scheme was fully decided upon with this miniature. I settled upon "Uniform Green" (Vallejo Model Color #70922) body armor, brown leather (duh) red lenses on the helmets, and black weapons and cloth. The holographic displays on their arms would be the only splash of bright color on the miniatures with their orange finish.

Finally I moved on to the heavy infantry, These miniatures are pretty much all plates of armor, only broken up by tiny bits of cabling.

The cloth and guns were painted by first basecoating the areas with Citadel "Chaos Black", then drybrushing the areas with "German Grey" (Vallejo Model Color #70995) and then highlighting the sharp edges with Chaos Black mixed with "Bleached Bone" (Citadel). Once this dried, the area got a "Badab Black" (Citadel) wash.

I achieved the armor's coloration by first basecoating the areas with Uniform Green, then applying a "Thraka Green" (Citadel Color) wash. Once this dried, I went back and highlighted the armor with more Uniform Green.

Leather areas were painted "US Field Drab" (Vallejo Model Color #70873), washed with "Devlan Mud" (Citadel) and re-highlighted with more US Field Drab.

What little flesh appears on the miniatures was painted "Dwarf Flesh" (Citadel), washed with "Gryphonne Sepia" (Citadel), Highlighted with "Elf Flesh" (Citadel), and washed again with Gryphonne Sepia.

The red lenses are simply "Flat Red" (Vallejo Model Color #70957) painted onto the eyes.

Finally, the orange holo-projectors were basecoated Flat Red (this paint has amazing coverage) and highlighted with "Bloody Red" (Vallejo Game Color #72010) and finally "Blazing Orange" (Citadel).

The barrels of the weapons (and any other metallic areas) were painted with "Gunmetal Metal" (Vallejo Game Color #72054) and then washed (for lack of a better term) with "Smoke" (Tamiya Color #X-19)

The bases were my usual Drybrushing of "Earth" (Vallejo Game Color # 72062) over Chaos Black and then finishing with a light drybrush of "Khaki" (Vallejo Game Color #???- the number is worn off of my paint dropper)

A couple of areas of static grass were superglued into place on the bases, before wrapping up the paint process.

Finally, I painted around the edge of the base with Chaos Black, before drawing lines in Skull White (Vallejo Game Color #???- again, the number is worn off) to delineate the model's front arc (troops see 180 degrees to their front in Infinity).

Sorry if the step-by-step painting guide bored you, but it's as much for my reference when I pick up the last three minis for my force next month as it is for anybody who may like to mimic the results I got.

All I need now is a blister of Tiger Soldiers one with a Combi-Rifle and one with an HMG, as well as a Guilang Skirmisher with a Sniper Rifle to round out my 300 points of Yu Jing so I can move on to some ALEPH troops.

Infinite Possibilites

Well, I decided to grab some Infinity minis. More out of a sense that they're pieces of art than anything else. The squad shown above is illegal as it includes both a flamethrower and a missile launcher in such a small group, but come on, it's a girl in a skin-tight uniform with a rocket launcher. What more could you ask?

I haven't decided on a color scheme yet, but I'll likely go with dark green, khaki, and brown camouflage.

Just a quick-hitter today. I promise next time I'll have something of substance.