Week In Review: Hanos And Heroes!

Things happened this week!  In fact, I even managed to play a game!  Shocking, right?  So without ado, let's dive right in!

Harry the Hanomag

The first bit wasn't painting but it's a step forward for the 12th Company!  Introducing their captured half-track, Harry the Hanomag!

Going with my theme for the 12th Company, I had to include a Hanomag in their force.  I have always loved the look of the Sd.Kfz 251 and this is perfect excuse to put one into my army.  In this case, it will be as counts as M3 since the stats for the two vehicles are very similar but it will still let me run with the German version.  This leaves me with one more vehicle to buy but I've already got my eye on one that will give the 12th a wonderfully ragtag look that I am going for.  More on that soon, plus it's time for me to get to painting these guys!

Daqan vs Latari in Song of Blades and Heroes

Next I finished painting that one dude I needed for the Daqan force so it was time to dust off Song of Blades and give it a go again.  I stated up the two forces, set up a table, and away I went!

On the Daqan side, we have three Outland scouts, two crossbowmen, and a single spearman.  This gives the Daqan a good variety of units; the scouts are light while the crossbowmen and spearman both have heavier armor.  Not necessarily that relevant in SoBH given the high level view the system takes of things but I think I was able to capture the different feel of them?  Maybe?

Meanwhile, on the Latari side there are a whole two swordsmen and two bowmen.  That's it.  Nothing else.  When I did their stats I gave them all Forester but... yeah, we'll see how that plays out.

So with the forces set, it was time to hit the table!

For this battle, I decided to just go with a basic meeting engagement; two forces are walking through the countryside and stumble into each other.  Obviously, only one of them can leave here alive.

So... I actually did play through almost the whole game.  I even took pictures of each figures actions going back and forth across the table.  It sounds great, right?  Unfortunately it wasn't.  The lack of any real forests meant that those points were wasted on the Latari and left them at a numerical disadvantage.  Add that to a bunch of horrible dice rolls... yeah.  Back to the drawing board.

The Forester ability isn't worth the points sink that it became and I think that the Latari needed a bump to the Quality.  I had them at Q3+ but I want to kick them up to Q2+.  This will still leave them at disadvantage but the high Quality should help to balance it out better.

And... yeah, that's about it really.  I've been recalled for a few weeks so this week will be focused on packing and moving.  Hopefully there will be some mini time in there as well but... just gonna have to see how this plays out.  Fingers crossed!  Until next time...

Week(s) In Review: Whoopsy! Missed A Couple There!

Yeah, I missed a week... or maybe two... whoops!  To be fair, my schedule has been a bit hectic but, hey, it is what it is.  So did I actually do anything during that time?  Heck yeah, so let's take a look!

Trollbloods of Erehwon

That's right, more Trollbloods!  In fact, I figured out a few units that I have completed!  First up, my Trollblood stone scribes (aka crazed psychotic axe wielding maniacs).

I know that I had mentioned using Madrak as my chieftain (aka the lord) but after thinking about it, I decided that he would be the perfect leader for this unit.  I still have one more of the regular scribes that I could paint up but it's that whole two sculpt problem, especially since I need a leader for the unit.  Throwing in Madrak breaks up their look and he does look pretty badass as well.  Perfect!

Of course this means that I'm missing a leader for my army... or am I?

No I'm not, because I finally repainted Borka!  This picture is kind of dark but I think you get the idea and I just love this sculpt!  He's just an absolute bad ass and I love the idea of being able to use him in a game again.

Latari Elves for Song of Blades and Heroes

I've had an itching to play this game again, and I finally finished my little elven warband.

I thought this would be a good starting point for this force.  It has some balance between ranged and melee so it should be interesting to field them again my Daqan Lords... when I finish them.  I wanted to have a balance force on their side as well but I haven't painted up two crossbowmen yet.  They are started though so I should be able to finish them this week... or I could just be a rebel and play them withoug finishing them!  Craziness!

Funko Madness!

So Funko isn't painting but it is something that I have collected a lot for.  In fact, a lot more than I had realized.  Behold the wall of Funko!

I had stopped picking up sets for this but my friend decided that I had to have some more, in this case the Avengers four pack and the Thanos single.  There are plenty that I missed but I'd completely forgotten how much of this game I had picked up.  As I've said before, it's not a bad game and there's a lot more to it than I expected.  So many combinations you can throw together just for the insanity of it all.

So one of the big problems with this one, is actually what you see above.  There are so many boxes!  It's just not easy to cart around, ya know?  But... I think I have a solution.

This is a Rigid tool case and as you can see, it fits all of the Funkos that I have (30 figures total... for now...) and there is some room to spare in the middle for the tokens, crystals, and dice.  Of course there isn't anywhere for the maps and cards, but I figure I can consolidate most of those into one or two of the four pack boxes.  Overall, this will be much more portable, plus my daughter calls it my murder box.  I mean, look at the thing.  It kind of makes sense; this thing is a beast!  Now to finish packing up the last of the bits then there will be Funko pandemonium!

And There Were Games... Lots And Lots Of Games

Last year, I track a whooping 45 boardgame plays for the entire year.  45!  What the heck, right?  Well this year, we are already up to 25 plays.  In 10 days!!!  It's crazily awesome and I really hope that we keep this momentum going because I've really been enjoying it.

Beyond all of this, there has also been some role playing, both playing and running so there has been map making as well.  Lots and lots of stuff, and it's been a lot of fun, and now I'm headed off to do some more stuff.  Until next time...

Song of Blades and Heroes: For The Kriel!!!

Lately I've been looking at my dusty and little used Trollbloods.  I LOVE these minis!  The lore for the Trollbloods is great and the minis are so full of character!  It is a damn shame that as an army, they were so lackluster.  I tried to field them a couple of times back in the day when I was playing Hordes, but man... they were just a grind.  I've even thought about selling them but... I just can't.  The minis have just always spoken to me, ya know?  But what to do with them...

The Kriel in all their glory!  Minus a little bit of paint...

I'll admit that my first impulse wasn't SOBH, even though it makes sense.  The system is open ended and encourages you to bring whatever minis are in your collection into the game.  For some reason, my brain side stepped this one and went to Warlords of Erehwon... but I'll delve more into that in the future.

I'd already been looking at pulling my Wrath of Kings minis into SOBH, and since they are on the large side, they will fit in nicely with the trolls.  Of course I'll need to get them stat'd up... oh, and painted too.  It's good to finally have a plan for these guys though, and I'm going to fit them into my rotating painting queue.  Very excited at the idea of finally putting these guys to good use!  Heck, I might even expand my collection a bit more as well, but more on that later.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Blades, Wrath, and Buffy

Things got busier for me on the work front at the end of this past week so I wasn't able to get as much hobby done as hoped.  I did start to dabble with stating up my Goritsi and Teknes minis for Song of Blades and Heroes.  It was a little difficult since there isn't a lot to differentiate the minis.  Normally this isn't an issue but when I got to the Goritsi shield breaker it was making things pretty challenging.  While I ruminated on the solution, I decided to break out another board game to give it a try.

I picked up Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the Board Game a while back but hadn't tried it out yet.  I brought it with me since it scales from one to four players so it works for solo play.  So without much ado I cleared off the table, set it up and gave it a spin.

I wasn't able to finish the game due to phone calls but I feel like I was able to get a good feel for it, at least enough for a quick review anyway.  Overall very quick to pick up but good gameplay that still gives a challenge.  Not going to dive too deep for now but I'm glad I picked it up and I'm looking forward to running through a full session soon.

I was able to get back to my Wrath of Kings minis after that though and I think I figured out the best way to handle the breaker.  Oddly enough I had to tap into some rules from Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes but I'm looking forward to giving them a try.  Currently I have two 250 point forces stat'd up for both forces so I'll have to see if I can squeeze in a game this week.  This is going to be a short week for me but worst case scenario I'll be able to run a game or two next week for sure.  Once I give those a try, I'll expand the forces to see how they work plus I've also picked up the advanced rules.  Figure running a game or two of each using the "same" minis will give me a good feel for how the two compare.

I've also managed to get a paint "table" set up too, so I've started working on my resin cyberpunk minis again.  Slow progress for now since I've doubled back to finish off some details (the bases and other small bits), but I've got some more into the cue that will be appearing soon.  Until next time...

Workbench: A New Crew and More Elves!

I've continued working on my Runewars elves this week and I am enjoying painting these minis.  There is a good depth to the details and they are at least 32mm which is a great combination for painting.  Makes it a little challenging to mix them in with other minis, but I have enough floating around to field at least 750 points for Erehwon and whole lot more in SoBH so this shouldn't be an issue.

Beyond the two army boxes that I've picked up (at less than $25 for 22 minis, how can you go wrong?), I've also added a box of swordsmen and the command attachment to my collection.  There are still a couple more of the leaders that I'm considering adding but even without these extras, I have enough options available to me with just these figures to field a well rounded army.  Standard for the Runewars line is a variety of poses as well.  Within the infantry units there are four distinct poses, while cavalry and large critters have two poses, letting you avoid the carbon copy appearance that you usually find with cheap miniatures... which these normally aren't.  Unit boxes MSRP for $25 but since FFG dropped the line, the surplus has been lurking on Amazon for over a year now for some great discount prices.  As I've mentioned before, they are a bit larger than your typical minis (kind of the Legion minis compare to the old Imperial Assault minis) but for the price they really are hard to beat.

And speaking of that other line that was abandoned by FFG, I haven't just been focusing on the fantasy side either.  I've been searching around for some sci-fi 28mm minis to put together my own crew for Core Space.  There are a good number of cyberpunk style prints on Etsy that I'm looking at picking up, but I also have my figures from Imperial Assault that have been sitting around gathering dust (like I I tied that all together there?).  I'm not going to try to stat them up accordingly, I'm just looking at the aesthetics of the figures and then I'll make them as my own characters using the Core Space rules.  Their stories have already been told elsewhere so it's time to hear about someone else, such as the crew of the trader vessel, the Avadora.

First up is Captain Delany Peirson (aka Jyn Odan).

I've always liked this figure though I'd though about staying away from it since she is crouched down.  I usually try to stay away from minis like that as it feels a bit like I'm gaming the system by having a figure with less of a profile for LoS.  I like the gunslinger feel that she has though so I decided she is a must have to lead my crew.

To lend a hand in the role of the heavy is Korbin Donham (aka Biv Bodhrik).

I'd already painted him to go into my GoA privateer list as support trooper with a micro-x launcher so he is the perfect to lend some firepower to the crew.

Next up is Ekaf Noran (aka one of the rebel saboteurs) as the tech.

Originally I was going to use Saska Teft as the tech for the crew, but then I saw this guy when I was pulling out Biv's mini.  This is another mini that I've always liked and for some reason the blue skin tone just makes me happy.  With all his additional kit, he is the perfect fit for the role of the tech as well.

Finally I'm going to round out the crew with Fasrak Pas'deral (aka Mak Eshka'rey).

He is another last mini substitution as I was planning on using Hera Syndulla as the pilot for the ship, but Mak is already finished and this is another mini that I like so it only makes sense to use him to round out the crew.

I want to work up some backstories for them all, but that will be for another day.  For now, I glad to have them all painted up and (almost) ready to go.  Plant life might not be the best match for a game that is set primarily on space ships and stations, but it's gonna work for my guys.  They are just taking being green to a whole new level!  Until next time...

Workbench: Core, Paint, Elves, and Acrylic... So Much At Once!

Man was last week a helluva week!  Nothing life shattering, and in fact more eye opening in some regards, but it did put the blog onto the back burner for a bit.  Life happens, ya know?  Thankfully I've still been able to get a fair amount of hobby in though, so I figure it's time to hit the highlights!

It all started last weekend when my new paints came in!  I knew that I ordered a bunch but actually seeing them was something else.

The top row of nine are the replacements, but the other 27 are all new.  So many options now!  And since I have all this paint now, it only made sense to get a better way to store them as well.

This is 6 shelf acrylic tray that I picked up from Amazon.  I've seen these before at nail salons and the like, but it never occurred to me to pick one up for myself until a friend on mine on Instagram posted pictures of his hobby space.  This makes things so much easier as most of my collection is right there at a glance, though I still have more that don't have homes yet.  Looks like I'm going to need to pick up another one of these in the near future!

I've also been making headway with my Core Space minis.  In fact, the crew of the Ion Hope are now done!

I'm happy with how these turned out, and I really feel like I'm starting to push myself further with them as well.  For example, I used to mostly rely on GW shades to give my paint schemes some depth, but now I'm mixing and blending colors more to create these transitions.  I've also started using a larger brush more, even for the finer details.  It seems counterintuitive but the reasoning actually makes sense.  With a larger brush, the bristles have a larger belly which means it will hold more liquid.  This keeps the paint flowing better than on a smaller size brush, and as long as there is a good tip then it works fairly well.  I feel like I've been getting better control with this approach as well.

I also started working on the crew of the Black Moria as well though I've only started to scrape the surface with this crew.

Then again, if you don't have a captain, how can you have the crew?  I'll start working on them soon but I've also started working on another little project again.  Over a year ago I'd picked up a number of Runewars minis for a crazy discount.  My thought had been to use them for a Warlords of Erehwon but then Covid happened and that project was set aside for a time.  Just this past week, I started to get the itch to get some Song of Blades and Heroes to the table so I broke out more of these Runewars minis and started painting up some of the elves.

This archer is the furthest along, but his buddies are close behind...

All of these guys add up to just over 200 points.  Pair these off against some of my human warriors that are already painted and I'm looking at a nice little conflict to push around so I can get back into the swing of things.  I'm even thinking about introducing my daughter to the game since she is on Spring break!  We've played things like Frostgrave before but time always seems to be a limiting factor nowadays.  Hopefully the quick nature of SoBH will help up get past that and have some fun trying to slaughter each other!

Well, that about sums it up for now but it's great to be moving forward with my hobby again!  Can't wait to push around SoBH again, and I might even try to post a battle report as well!  Just pure craziness, let me tell you!  Until next time...

SoBH Miniatures: Wee Giant Beasties!

A little while ago I decided to order some World of Warcraft miniatures to add to my Song of Blades and Heroes collection.  For those of you who might not know, these are pre-painted miniatures that were produced for the ill-fated WoW miniature game.  Never played it myself but I'd seen the miniatures and thought they didn't look too shabby.  Unfortunately I'd never seen them next to your more generic 28mm fantasy minis so I had no idea just how big they are.

"Wow... Have you guys been eating your Wheaties or what?"

For some of these its definitely not an issue.  The Tauren look like minotaurs so it just makes sense that they would be massive, and it should be easy enough to work around the large size of the Draenei since they are pretty unique looking.  Unfortunately the humans, elves, and gnomes would definitely be a too large if you mix these in with other lines.  I suppose that's not that big a deal for some but it would make things look a little odd on the game table.

"When I said you were a big girl I  just meant you were tall!  Honest!"

Still, they do have some very unique looking figures so I think I'll be picking up some more to add a little variety, plus most of them are pretty inexpensive nowadays which makes them an even better option.  Now if I could just find those Mage Knight orcs and get them rebased... That's always the problem with cleaning; you just can't find anything once you've done it!  Until next time...

Raising My Ork Warband; AKA Grudark Smash!

I was cruising around eBay looking at old Mage Knight minis when I stumbled across something interesting. All of their orc minis that I'd looked at in the past were from the original line so they had a kind of WoW cartoony look to them.  Nothing wrong with that IMO but the figure I found was definitely not that style.  In fact it reminded me more of the orcs from the Reaper Warlord miniature line.  Looking around I realized that it was actually from the 2.0 version of the game so I did a little more exploring.

For those of you who don't know the 2.0 Mage Knight figures are a made of a stiffer plastic than the original figs and also seem to hold their detail better as well not to mention the paint jobs are typically better.  Don't get me wrong, these are still mass produced prepainted figures so the painting is nothing to write home about but they are much better than the originals.

I was able to piece together an eight figure warband for about $20 including shipping with only a couple of repeats and even a pretty good sized warbeast which isn't half bad.  I want to rebase them onto 30mm lipped bases but I thought I'd throw up a couple pictures to show everyone what they look like "out of the box" as it were.

First up are the grunts of the band, two marauders on the left and two hunters on the right.

This should give the group a nice mix of ranged and melee.

Next are the three personalities for the band, a warrior in light armor on the left, another in heavy armor on the right, and a blood shaman in the center.

Unfortunately both of the warriors are equipped with spears so I might do a weapon swap on the heavier armored one to make him more of a melee monster.  This shouldn't be too hard to do but it will definitely require me digging around in the old bits box... well, first I need to dig out the bits box before I can dig in it but you get the idea.

And finally here is the warbeast to round out the band.

I have no idea what this thing is supposed to be but I wouldn't want to run into it in a dark alley that's for sure.  Oh and to give you an idea of the size, here is the warbeast and a marauder next to a wizard from the Reaper line.

Not the best angle to see the height but it should give you an idea of how they match up.

As you can see the paint jobs are not that bad considering they are just a bunch of prepaints.  I know I can do better but if you are looking for some figs you can just swap the bases on and run with these really aren't a bad option.

Overall I'm really happy with all of them and I'm looking forward to getting them to the table and giving them a run.  Heck, maybe I'll do an orc vs. goblin battle just to mix things up!  After all, those poor little gobbos are just too much fun to beat up.  That's it for now but more Malifaux is coming... next week.  Until next time...

Song Of Blades And Heros Battle Report: They Be Goblins! We Be Heros!

Recently there have been a number of battle reports posted on the Song of Blades yahoo group and reading them gave me an itch to play a game myself.  Conveniently enough I also have a bunch of freshly painted fantasy minis so throwing together a couple of war bands was a snap... especially because I actually used stats right out of the book!  Sure, it's a minor thing but I'm pretty sure I've gone with custom stats every time I've played so this was definitely something new.  But enough talk; its time to fight!

For this game, I decided to have a group of adventurers raiding a goblin camp, an ironic little twist that just made me smile inside.  On the adventurers side, they were led by the heroic cavalier with her stalwart companions the human barbarian, the human wizard, the human crossbow woman, the elf warrior, the dwarf crossbowman, and the gnome crossbowman.  For the goblins, the bugbear warrior was the leader, supported by the goblin shaman, the goblin archer, the troll, and goblin warriors A, B, C, D, and E.  As you can tell, I really went all out for this one, right?

The goblins deployed in the center of the board with a few of their numbers within their tents, while the adventurers were split into three groups moving onto the board.

The first turn, almost all of the adventurers moved forward.  The cavalier and the barbarian both moved to lock down two of the goblins, while the wizard and the human crossbow woman (let's call her the hunter) tried to get into position to try to get off some shots next turn.

Meanwhile, the gnome and the dwarf were busy discussing the finer points of beer making and failed to notice that the rest of the group had started the attack.

The bugbear warrior charged out of the tent and launched a devastating attack against the cavalier, driving her to the ground under his furious assault.

Meanwhile, the goblin in the wedding dress that had been charged by the barbarian swings wide and is knocked to the ground!

 

One of the goblins that had been herding the troll charged the barbarian and caught her by surprise, sending her crashing to the ground next to her first attacker...

 

...while yet another goblin surged forward and was able to inflict the killing blow on the now helpless barbarian.

On the other side of the camp, the goblin archer tries to finish off the cavalier but she is able to block the lethal blow with her shield.

 

With the rest of her warband stunned by the turn of events, the cavalier tries to get to her feet but she is still too shaken and can do little more than brace herself for the oncoming onslaught (you guessed it, she rolled three failures...).

Sensing victory was close at hand, the bugbear warrior bellows "And now you die hu-man!"  and slams his mace down at the cavalier.  With lightning quick reflexes, she manages to roll out of the way in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding the powerful attack!  The rest of the goblins howl in anger and frustration as they focus completely on the combat unfolding in the middle of the camp (and now it was the goblins turn to fail...).

Seeing her opening, the cavalier uses the momentum from her roll to get to her feet and launches herself at the goblin archer, slicing his body in half with the force of her attack (now that's what you call a gruesome kill!).  Shaken by having his victory stolen away from him so easily, the bugbear howls in confusion and fear and runs away from the battle, with the troll and two goblins in tow (though if I'd remembered that he was Fearless this wouldn't have happened... whoopsy!).

On the other side of the camp, the elf warrior charges only to be knocked down by her goblin target while the goblin shaman who had run out of his tent when the bugbear fled now turned and ran in the other direction as the wizard directed her magics against him.

 

At this point I remembered that the goblin war band never took their morale check for loosing half of their numbers, which quickly sent more of their numbers scurrying towards the edge of the table, including the shaman.

With most of their warband dead or fleeing, it was just a case of the adventurers mopping up the stragglers before they burned down the goblin camp, leaving nothing but ashes.  Victory for the... good guys?

Sure there were some serious mistakes in there that might have changed the course of the battle (forgetting about Fearless, forgetting about the morale check...) but honestly it was so much fun it just doesn't matter to me.  It was a chance to get my new models to the table and play a fun game which is a perfect combination in my book, and definitely makes me want to get this game back into the rotation, even if it is just for a few solo games.  Of course looking at the Relic Knights Kickstarter also has me wondering about adding some anime flavor to Song of Blades but more on that later.  Until next time...

Songs Of Silence And Torment

The Silence From Space

First off, I just wanted to let everyone know that SpacerGal is still with us in spirit if not in text. In case you hadn't noticed, she has been doing her post on Tuesdays but just like Mrs. Brisby, moving day is almost upon her so there might be a slight delay as she gets settled into her new digs. No worries though as she will be back with more of her insights into RPGs, kids games, and anything else her fevered little brain can conjure up.

Singing The Songs Of Torment
A Song of Torments Reach Battle Report

Yes, the much alluded to but often postponed battle report is finally here! I finally managed to squeeze in some time to break out my own take on the Malifaux setting using some home-brewed Song of Heroes rules. So how did it go? Let's break it down and take a look...

Assembling The Crews

For this battle I decided to go with the two crews that I've already talked about here on the blog, the Guild and the Arcanists. For more details on just who is in each, you can click here for the Guild or here for the Arcanists. Now place your bets because its time to throw down!

Setting The Scene

As this is basically a playtest of the rules that I've added into the game, I decided to keep the terrain pretty basic. Just a couple of buildings and a couple of forests is all.

The defending Guild crew are deployed along the right side of the board...

...with the attacking Arcanists along the left.

The Arcanists activate first and thanks to Sasha's leadership ability are able to make some serious headway on the first turn, using the building and the forest to provide them with some cover as they advance.

The Guild followed suit on their side of the board as most of the crew moved up by the house while Samael moved through the forest to see what he could see.

Going into turn two starts with Boomer rushing one of the Guild Guards but despite the odds being heavily against the unfortunate Guard, the giant mechanical menace only manages to force him back!

Unfazed by this turn of events, the rest of the Arcanists advance as well, trying to get themselves into position to attack next turn.

Faced with the awesome combat power of the Boomer, Sonnia launches an potent arcane bolt at the machine but fails to make it even flinch as the energies surge over its armored hull. Stunned by this, she orders the two Guards to concentrate their fire on it and amazingly enough they are actually able to force it back under a maelstrom of flying lead.

Turn three opens with the enraged Boomer barreling forward to smash one of the Guards while Sasha lets loose her own arcane bolt to fry the other Guard and the rest of the crew moves forward to get into position to take out Sonnia next turn..

Gathering her arcane powers again, Sonnia unleashes another bolt at Boomer but again fails to do anything to it! Knowing she is no match for the machine in close combat, she retreats behind the nearby house where Jeremiah Smythe, the convict gunslinger, has taken up position.

On the other side of the board, Samael has been busy trading shots with with gunslinger Valeria for the past couple of turns but neither of them have managed to do anything to the other. This continues yet again even though Samael closed the gap between the two of them first.

For turn four, Taryn lets loose a flurry of lead as she rapid fires at Jeremiah on the opposite cover of the building but he is able to duck back before any of the shots can strike home. Feeling heady with the success of her crew so far, Sasha moves herself up into the open and lets loose another arcane bolt as she tries to remove Jeremiah from the equation. Bearing the brunt of the blast, Jeremiah simply grits his teeth and stands his ground against the magical onslaught.

On the other end of the board, Valeria opens fire on Samael and finally is able to break the standoff as she forces him back into the forest.

Seizing their advantage, Sonnia and Jeremiah both let loose against Sasha and are finally able to bring her down under a tempest of lead and fire. With their leader dead, the rest of the Arcanists start to fall back but none of them flee the battlefield.

Paralyzed by the lose of their leader, turn five opens with the Arcanists doing nothing as they try to assess their chances. Meanwhile, the Guild try to capitalize on the situation with Jeremiah and Sonnia attacking Taryn but their heady success against Sasha made them overconfident as they again failed to do anything to their new target.

Samael chases after Valeria and attempt to bring her down but just like the rest of the crew manages to do nothing at all.

At this point, I decided to call the game with the Guild winning. Sasha Dubois had been brought to justice and the rest of the Arcanists headed for the hills to lick their wounds and plot their revenge.

The Dust Settles

Overall it was not a bad game though a number of bad die rolls made it much longer than I'd expected. From Boomer failing to kill a simple Guard to the Guild failing to connect in all of turn five, both sides were plagued by bad die rolls for combat though almost all of their activation rolls were phenomenal. There are a few things that I'm going to change though as I noticed they really were limiting the game, the biggest offender being the range limits.

For this game I was using the penalties and limits that are laid out in ShadowSea which effectively caps your ranged combat at three lengths from the attacker. As a majority of these crews were equipped with pistols, this was a massive disadvantage as it meant that the had to almost get into melee before they could effectively shoot. For the next game I'm going to use the range penalties from Flying Lead which will almost double all of their ranges and should make them that much more deadly... provided everyone doesn't choke on their die rolls again.

I also want to add some flavor to the arcane abilities as right now Sonnia and Sasha are both technically flinging around the same type of energy. Instead I want to add some kind of aspect to their individual magic types, in this case electricity for Sasha and fire for Sonnia. I also am going to modify the energy resistance special rule so it is more specific and add in a energy weakness rule as well to make models more susceptible to other types of energy. For example, I am thinking of making Sonnia resistant to fire but giving her a weakness to ice to really play up her whole fire mage flavor. Not sure on the details but I definitely want to give it a try. I guess we'll just have to see how it works out in the next battle report!

The Parting Shot...

And there's another one in the books! Since I have my new photo editing program program up and running there shouldn't be any more delays in the future (knocking on wood...). If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here on the blog or you can drop me a line at SinCitySnowman@gmail.com. Remember, feedback is always welcome! SpacerGal should also be back with her insights either this week or next, so be sure to come back and see what other insanity we can get up to here at the Dispatch! Until next time...