February is weird

 In case you missed it, Beasts of War is running Mercs Week. Check it out. They do good work, and Mercs totally deserves the coverage.

So yes, February is all but behind us. Not much actual gaming for me, but things happening in the backfield. 

Spent a few nights recently getting stuff ready to sell at Cold Wars next week. Looking forward to the show! My to-buy list is already as long as my arm, and I know I will wander into awesome surprises there as well. A little Gaslight on Friday; evening game up in the air. Selling stuff Saturday morning, then more gaming, Catching up with a friend who lives up near there Saturday night, too. Action packed!

Will be selling off some of my Imperial Guard there as well. I haven't played 40k for a couple years now, and it's just taking up space in the basement. (And selling it will fund more purchases, heh.) I kind of wish I hadn't checked eBay prices ahead of time, because wow. But really, the plan for the past couple years has been to eBay them, and it hasn't happened. And pricing them to move at Cold Wars will get them out faster and I won't have to fiddle with the post office. So there's that.

My compatriot Imam is also asking me to sell off his Flames of War British while I am at the con. Yep, the army he loaned me while I (slowly) got my Cobra together.

Not pictured: the other large infantry platoon.

But in exchange, he's loaned me an even-larger Hungarian army. Switcheroo! Will have to schedule some time to play with lists in EasyArmy.com.

When he was over, we also played more Gloom (which my wife won) and then some Ticket to Ride (which my wife won. She's good.) I actually met Imam on Usenet back when such a thing was vaguely relevant. We don't do as much toy soldier gaming as we used to, but make up for it with the board games, and apparently, loaning me armies. He's a prince among men.

Next update likely to be the post-Cold Wars report.

checking out Infinity and Dark Age, and more

Just throwing up a few quick pics. Last week, hit up my Friendly Local Game Store to check out a couple games. They're starting up an Infinity campaign, and Infinity is popular enough online to be on my radar, but a game with which I was at best vaguely acquainted.

This is a TAG. They are apparently scary.

Primarily, was watching Aaron take his Yu Jing to face off against Mike's Ariadna. The game itself is similar to other games I play, alternating unit activation, point builds, etc. I do like the reaction system better than Mercs (which is a little awkward.) The rules are definitely on the more believable side of scifi, with a lot of details, but does not feel overly strict. The setting has a lot of charm. Currently thinking Nomads or Haqqislam, if/when I buy in, but that's a while off either way.

The game also demands a high level of terrain, and I am a big fan of that. The above table, which I know I took pics of before, continues to impress. Doubly so in that it's more modular and transportable than it looks.

The other table featured some Morat on Morat action. I didn't check who won, but I presume Marc acquitted himself well in battle.

The surprise game of the night was when a game of Brushfire broke out! Usually it's my crew that's playing the game no one else has heard of. Lovely figs, too.

The other reason I showed up was to get a run-through of Dark Age. Again, a game I know a lot of people play, including in my own circle, but I never sat down to really check out. We didn't play through a full game, but ran through a turn and a demo of combat. Very brutal and fast-paced, it has a great action vibe that a lot of games miss out. Much like Infinity, every faction has some really lovely figs. I guess I'd look at Skaard or the Forsaken, but the Kukulkani are pretty fancy too.

So now that I've taken a closer look at both, I will read up voraciously on both online for the next few weeks, checking out websites and blogs and forums and galleries and the like. I have opponents available in the area, so I won't have to win anyone over, and can even borrow a force to try out first, which is always a benefit. If interest sticks around, I will pick up the rules, and then start shopping around for an intro force or pretty figs I've had my eye on.

This typical schedule will be slightly put off as the next couple weeks will be spent putting together stuff to sell at Cold Wars. And not too long after the con, I should start getting the toys from a couple Kickstarters from last fall (Reaper Bones, Relic Knights, and more.) So loads of treasure rolling up in the near future. It's not like I didn't already have plenty of figs I should be painting, but really, it's a great complaint to have.

Caen: Germans vs. Canadians

To date, I don't quite get why I enjoy Flames of War. I don't typically like games with multibase models. I don't do any other historical games. The rules are simple, yes, but not that simple, nor that elegant. Some people compare it to 40k, but there's no essence of "codex-itis" that really, for me, defines the Games Workshop Experience.

Well, whatever the reason, I have found a certain charm in it. While my not-Germans slowly get assembled, I've borrowed a bevy of Canadian tanks from my cohort Imam, and last week, sat down to face off against Maurice's Germans.

I set up bottom right, Maurice on the top left.

On the outskirts of Caen, his German Panzer Lehr force took on my Canadian Armored Squadron. 1700 points (because that's how much I had assembled; turned out I was wrong after all, and had to borrow a couple stands. Heh.) Rolled for the scenario, and we got Dust Up. Two objectives in our own table corner to defend, with reserves coming in on the other side of the board to try and dislodge the enemy from their objectives. Rough! I won the roll to set up first, and took the ruins, hoping that I could use the cover and keep the Germans out in the open and harried by my tanks. That was the theory, anyways.

The German side of things. Panzers, Panthers, Howitzers, and something called a Königstiger. Eep.

I came loaded for bear with many, many Shermans, Fireflies to back them up, some reece, and a random Motor Platoon to sit around near the objectives and not get anything done. Oh, and all under the watchful eye of a Typhoon to provide air support.

The forests ran with the maple syrup of my fallen heroes.

I didn't take great notes, but that was really for the best. I sent out some tanks, and the Germans showed me exactly how tough they were. Four tanks sallied forth, four tanks got shot up for their trouble. Yow. Veteran German armor is a tough nut to crack. Luckily, I inadvertently brought along one nutcracker.

"15% of all proceeds go to the continuing fight against foo."

Pictured above, my "Typhoon" does a number on the Königstiger. Yes, the model I used for the Typhoon was in fact a UFO ('captured foo fighter') from Monsterpocalypse. I did mention I really don't play historical games, right? Heh. But yeah, thanks to some dynamite rolls, the Typhoon was one of my two MVPs for the day. Took out the Königstiger and remained a thorn in the Germans' side all day long.

German armor taking up position to defend the road.

Brave Canadian reinforcements rush the dug-in Germans.

After repeately smashing myself headlong into the fortified enemy, the Germans finally got their own reinforcements, and came in to town to dig us out of our beaver holes. Pictured above is my other MVP f the game. At this point, things were definitely pointing to a German rout. A kraut rout, if you will. Turns earlier in the game, my second-in-command was shut down, and took over a Staghound armored car from the reece platoon. And just when the hour was darkest, the 2iC floors the gas pedal and takes out a couple of the German reinforcements closing in on our objectives! Not enough to turn things around, mind you, but it definitely put the fire back in things.

A last-ditch effort to dig out the German artillery in the backfield, and seize the rear objective. It... didn't work. The Germans took the field and the day.

What did I learn? Aircraft, rolled well, is super scary. I think the biggest lesson is that Veteran is much stronger than Trained. I think I will be going Vet until I have the rules and tactics down better. And yeah. More Flames is definitely on the docket, especially if I can push to get some Germans of my own on the table before a coupe Kickstarter rewards get shipped. We'll see.

comparing Pangalactic Legion with Jasmine Throne

As mentioned elsewhere, I’ve been looking forward to the Khurasan Jasmine Throne Foreign Battalion for a long while now, so I can do my own 15mm version of the Alien Legion.  My version will be the Nomad Legion, aliens from a thousand suns, taking the jobs no one else wants. And when Rebel Minis surprised us with the Pangalactic Legion last year, I knew they’d be a great complement to the concept. For my army, they will represent the Nomad Legion recon units, sent ahead to secure key positions and gather crucial intel fast.

But how do they size up next to each other? It’s a little more complicated, since the Khurasan figs, while slightly larger on average, have a wide range of heights (and widths and lengths, heh.) But I think you can see from the pics below, they will line up nicely. The Pangalactics may average slightly shorter, but the style is a match for my eye.

[In the interest of space, Rebel Pangalactic Legion will be abbreviated as RPL, and Khurasan Jasmine Throne Foreign Battalion will be abbreviated as KJT.]

Zombiesmith Guuk, RPL, Blue Moon Aquan, KJT, RPL, HOF Octopod, KJT (Quar!)

RPL, Oddzial Osmy Worm, KJT, RPL, KJT, RPL, Superfigs/Old Glory Ookla, Khurasan Kontrol.

Critical Mass Kaamados, RPL, KJT, RPL, KJT, GZG Crusty, GZG Spider Drone.

HOF Draccian, RPL, KJT, RPL, KT, GZG Civilian, KJT (Garn!)

Blue Moon Twanax, RPL, KJT, RPL, KJT, Khurasan Sponk.

RPL, Micropanzer Krystrial Soldier, KJT, RPL, KJT, Hot Wheels Swamp Buggy

RPL, GZG Scifi Egyptian, KJT, RPL, KJT, Matchbox Armored Response Vehicle

If you have any other requests for size comparisons with these, let me know, I will see what I have in my collection I can do up. I am always accepting donations if you really want those pictures, of course! Heh.

 

Still deciding on vehicles to use; will need at least a couple dropships. Thinking military-style khaki for the uniforms, maybe an olive drab, if it doesn't look too dark in 15mm. Hopefully have a few units painted by the time Cold Wars rolls around.