Core Space: Scavenger Hunt - The Set Up

After the fiasco on Arcturus, the Ebon Fox was left worse for wear. Money is tight and with Purge moving into the sector, making an "honest" living might be difficult. So what's the next best thing? Scavenge from the dead. After all, they aren't going to need anything where they've gone.

For this mission, I decided to do something completely different. Instead of going after a station, I decided to make things interesting and have my crew of "good Samaritans" investigate a wreck that they discovered. Introducing, the Sparrow.

This is a small trading vessel that makes runs to various outposts and colonies. Or at least it did until the Purge arrived. It wasn't clear what had happened to it but Kylan and Riva picked it on their sensors floating dead in space. The power was still running but it would just be enough to keep the lights on. There was some structural damage but it looked intact and still had an atmosphere. Best case? There might be a survivor on board that needs rescuing. Worst case? Maybe there are still some goods onboard that they could help get back into the supply chain.

For this mission there is yet another special map. The last mission had a whole bunch of civilians and this one... well, that's the surprise. Unlike a normal mission with the Purge track, this mission is safe from the typical wandering monsters. That doesn't mean that they won't be part of the story though.

Instead of having civilians starting in fixed positions with the Purge showing up at random entry points, this is exploring an enclosed environment. There was a crew of two onboard, a few random items, and maybe something else?

First to pick the civies. In this case, I decided to use Dolin the trench and Mara the techie. They both are pretty average characters so I think they will do nicely. Beyond that... well, the rest is going to have to wait for next week. My thought is to create two or three possible scenarios for what happened on the Sparrow. Is the crew alive? How badly damaged is the ship? Is there anything else hiding on the ship?

Lots of variables to figure in but I wanted to at least throw out a teaser for what's to come! Be sure to come back and we'll take a look at the fate of the Sparrow. Until next time...

Core Space: The Heist On Arcturus Station - The Aftermath

We talked about the set up for the mission, then ran it through the paces. The question is how successful was it?

From a mechanical point of view, it felt like it worked pretty well. I wasn't sure about delaying the arrival of the Purge to a narrative point, but I liked how it all fit together. There was enough pressure to get out but still the ability to get some stuff before heading to the hills. It wasn't in the pictures, but Kylan was actually down to two health at one point so pretty close!

So where to start... how about all those civilians! I was worried that it would be too much going on but most of them were static for this mission. I did decide to give Delmar the delivery man at route instead of having him wander aimlessly, but that just made sense.

Dolin also had a static position until he was approached by Kylan. The idea was that once the contact passed off the information, he would want to make himself scarce. Of course that also assumes that I could actually make a Persuade roll for Kylan to get the data! I liked the narrative that evolved from that though so that works out as well.

The Purge arriving from one side of the board did mean that they were the giant stone from Indiana Jones, pushing the crew out of the station. This felt right though as I imagine the Purge vessel latching onto one location. They were still a threat and the crew wasn't able to just poke around and grab things so that feels like a good balance as well.

So how about the things that they grabbed? This was my first test with using the goods dice instead of the weapon tokens as normal. In this case they rolled up pretty good, totaling 11UA in value. To add a "role play" aspect to this, one of the crew is chosen to go out and sell the goods. How good they are at doing this is determined by their current Skill stat, just like when you try to persuade an NPC. The more successes you roll, the better the value you are able to collect. Makes sense, right?

    0 successes: There aren't any buyers right now. Things are too chaotic, or the goods are too eclectic... however you want to spin it, but the goods are left sitting in your hold.

    1 success: You get the "fair market value"... meaning whatever you rolled up on the dice. Better luck next time!

    2 or 3 successes: You are able to talk up the value some, raking in half again the value of the goods... rounded down, of course.

    4 or 5 successes: You have managed to double you money, you smooth talker! Nice work!

Of course it can't all be good! If you roll two or more "misfires", then things have gone pear shaped. Something about the items you are selling has caught the attention of the Authority and it is confiscated! Loose the highest value die but apply any other results as normal.

With all this in mind, let's see just what Kylan is able to wrangle for their 11UA of goods. Rolling three dice for his skill and... two hits and one misfire! The captain is able to talk up the value at bit and comes back to the ship with 16UA for this ship's coffers. Nice!

Now do they want to buy or sell any regular gear. Besides the goods, the crew also picked up a combat knife and a crafted short sword. Since Zhong the cyber samurai is one of the custom characters I'd made up, I figure I'll keep the sword but sell of the knife. Looking over the options that are out there, Kylan will pick up an enhanced military pistol. Nice and compact but still able to potentially reach out and kill someone. What a great combination! This drops our bank down to 8UA.

Next up is hiring new crew members. The other two custom crew that I made up are either 13UA or 17UA to hire permanently, which is out of my price range right now. Just for grins, I shuffled up the crew that I have available and pulled out five... and they are all a bit pricey so no new crew members. On to the maintenance phase!

And that's when Murphy strikes! Ouch! During their flight to get away from the Purge overrunning Arcturus Station, the Fox took some structural damage and the life support system got a bit taxed when the station's CO2 scrubbers shut down. She's still operable, but definitely worse for wear.

And there we have it! Overall... I think the switch from weapons in boxes to stuff works, at least for me. It was also fun to throw together a logical map; there were sleeping quarters, a market, a maintenance bay. It felt much more like a living space than some of the other maps I've seen. Now the question is, what's next? With the Fox getting to be worse for the wear, it looks like it might be time to scavenge for some ship parts. After all, no one will miss parts from one of the derelict ships left in the wake of the Purge. What could go wrong? Until next time...

Core Space: Heist on Arcturus Station - The Playthrough

With a thunk and a hiss, the airlock of the Ebon Fox attached to Arcturus Station.

"You remember the plan?" the bear of a man known as Kylan Hesketh asked as he holstered his Outland pistol. It would be nice to have something more reliable, but for now they just have to make do.

His partner, the diminutive Riva Doan, tossed her green hair as she rolled his eyes. "Are you serious, Kylan? It's not that complicated; find Dolin, get the codes, grab the goods, and get out. Now are you going to open the lock so we can get started?"

A smirk played across Kylan face as he slapped his hand against the airlock release. "Alright then Riva, let's go get us some credits."

Kylan and Riva make their way onto the darkened station. There is still a buzz of activity even though the station has ticked over to the night cycle.

As the crew make their way from the docks to the market, the delivery man moves to finish his route for the day as an augmented canine wanders around looking for scraps.

Kylan casually strolls through the market, heading towards his contact. Dolin the trench is known for being able to get anything for the right price, and this time the price is perfect. He owes Kylan a favor, and this is the perfect time to collect. "Dolin, my friend!" Kylan booms as he approaches the weaselly man.

"Sorry Hesketh, I've got places to be. Can't chat now!" Dolin says as he slips away.

Damn it!, Kylan thinks to himself. As he follows the man, he looks around for his partner but Riva is no where to be seen.

Meanwhile, Riva opens one of the sleep spaces off the market. Hmmm... Nobody home, she thinks. Let's see what I can find...

Heading into the dimly lit room, she notices a cargo container in the far corner of the room. Bingo! Checking to make sure no one is looking, she cracks it open and finds some quality goods inside (mechanically it was a 4UA roll on the goods die). Stashing her prize away, she heads back out into the market to find the captain.

Kylan breaks into a trot as Dolin tries to get away by heading into the other sleep space. "Come on now Dolin, fair is fair. I helped you out when Shovar was after you, time for you to pay up."

"Alright, fine! Here, take the passcodes but you didn't get them from me, understand?"

Kylan takes the datacard from the man with a nod and a wink. "Absolutely Dolin. Always a pleasure doing business with you."

Now where did he go... thinks Riva as she approaches the terminal outside the cargo bay lock. Hmmm... looks pretty basic. Maybe we don't need Dolin's info after all.

"Riva! What are you doing?" Kylan hissed as he walked up to the terminal. Riva was bent over the terminal running through the displays.

"You weren't here and I was. Might as well see if I could get us a head start." she said and the terminal buzzed at her again.

"Guess it was a good thing I was able to get the info from our friend." Kylan said with a smirk as he slotted in the data card. The locks flipped to green, there was a hiss, and the door to the cargo bay opened up. "Easy, right?"

And then the sector alarms rang out.

"What the Hell did you do?!?" Riva yelled over the alarm.

"That wasn't me." Kylan said as he worked the terminal. "It's a proximity alert. Something is on a collision course with the station. What is that... Uh oh, that's a Purge scavenger vessel! Quick Riva, grab the goods and lets get out of here!"

Without a word, Riva ran into the bay and threw open the nearest crate as everyone started heading for the the transports to get off the station.

"Jackpot! There's some good stuff right here Kylan, get in here and grab some!"

"I'll grab the rest." Kylan said to her. Dolin dropped something when he was running for the transport. Go see if it's any good!"

Kylan grabbed the rest of the supplies from the crate, only to look up into the glowing red eyes of two harversters.

I'm going to regret this, thinks Kylan as he runs over to another crate and cracks it open. Damnit! I'm risking my life for a knife?! "Riva, I could use some help in here!"

"Get out of there!" Riva shouted as she ran back and opened fire on one of the harvesters. The bullets struck home but bounced off its metal body.

The two harvesters scamper towards Kylan with inhuman agility and swing at him. He dodges under one blow but the other harvester gets a glancing blow on him. As he curses under his breath, an explosion sounds from another part of the sector and the lights briefly flicker.

"What the Hell was that?" Riva asked.

"They must be attacking the power systems in maintenance. We need to get out of here!"

Riva covers him as he runs out of the cargo bay, and together they are able to drop both of the harvesters as the sound of energy blasts rang out near by. "Hear that Riva? There must be a devastator here now. Head for the Fox!"

With the Purge closing in, Riva and Kylan ran through the empty market. The could hear more blasts coming from Oblivion's Edge but they were able to keep their distance from the approaching machines.

"Disengage the lock! I'm getting us out of hear!" Kylan yelled as he pounded towards the cockpit. Riva sealed the lock and with a thunk released the magnetic ring holding the ship to the station. She slumped down on the floor as the Fox rocketed away and dropped into core space. There's gotta be an easier way to make a living.

And there we have it! Was the mission a success? Did the mechanics I threw in make any sense? Just what the heck did Kylan and Riva find in those crates? We'll find out soon! Until next time...

Core Space: The Heist On Arcturus Station

Finally time to play some Core Space again, but for this one I've created my own map and scenario, complete with a bunch of special rules. Why? Why not! So let's dive into the heist on Arcturus Station!

The map for Arcturus Station

For this mission, the crew of the Ebon Fox are going to try to line their pockets with some goods liberated from a cargo bay. The door to the bay is locked but the Captain knows a guy that knows the code... and maybe he'll actually share that information! There are rumors on the Purge closing in on the station but surely those can't be true, right?

The "market"

For this mission there is a special map that I put together. The Ebon Fox is docked at the bottom of the board and their target is the cargo bay on the other side of the board. In the middle of the board is a small market which is also where the crew will find their contact, Dolin the trench. Also in the market are two stalls, one manned by Sundr and and the other by Mara Chaldr.

The Oblivion's Edge

On the right side of the board is the Oblivion's Edge, a club that employs Zolla-13 and is currently being patronized by the fixer Luya Faetala. There are also two other civilians that are in the sector, the delivery man Delmar Inarta and the cyberdog Skitz.

That's right, there are seven civilians in this mission! And to keep it "simple", they also have special rules. Delmar and Skitz both move freely each turn as normal. Zolla will also move each turn but she will not leave the Oblivion's Edge... at least not yet.

Dolin the trench will remain where he is until the crew persuades him to share the codes to unlock the cargo hold, but they only have one shot at this. Once they have talked with him, Dolin will start to wander around the station, moving each turn just like a regular civilian.

The cargo bay terminal.

Once the crew have the code, they can open the cargo hold door with an effortless action. If they somehow didn't get the code, then they will have to hack the console next to the door to open it (this is an easy task and only needs one success).

And this is when it hits the fan.

When the door unlocks, alarms start sounding on the station as a Purge scavenger vessel has dropped out of Core Space and closing to dock with the station. Once the alarm sounds, the hostility tracker is set to 5 and there is a chance for the Purge to arrive each turn.

Maintenance room...

...the cargo bay...

...and the storage rooms.

There are three locations the Purge could arrive; storage rooms on the right side of the board, the cargo bay in the center, or in the maintenance room on the left. If the Purge arrive in the maintenance room, they will attack the conduits and the CO2 scrubber. If the conduits are destroyed, all of the doors will remain either open or closed and no longer function (all of the doors start in the closed position). If the CO2 scrubber is destroyed, then all of the non-Purge on the board will start to suffocate. At the end of each turn after it is destroyed, roll a red die for each living creature. On a hit, they take one point of damage that ignores armor which means that the civilians will start dropping like flies.

The emergency exit.

Once the alarm sounds, all of the civilians will start to head out of the sector. All of them will move twice towards the exit which is located on the bottom of the board next to where the Ebon Fox is docked. As soon as they reach the edge of the board, they are removed and will no longer be part of the game.

If an Event card is drawn that activates the civilians, then they will follow the instructions on the card and then continue moving towards the exit during the NPC phase.

But wait, there's more!

I've also switched out all of the gear tokens for goods dice. When the traders crack open the crates, there probably won't be weapons in them. Instead they will have some kind of... stuff... that will have a random value. As soon as the goods die is found, it is rolled and has that value. What can you do with them during the mission? Nada! BUT... you can sell them Trade Phase... more on that later.

If any of the civilians are killed or die before they leave the board, remove the mini but place a random piece of gear where they died. This gear can be grabbed by the traders for an effortless action as normal. There are two exceptions to this, Sundr and Mara Chaldr. When the alarm sounds, they will spend their first action to grab the goods out of their respective crates and then start moving towards the exit. If they are killed, they drop both a piece of gear and a goods die.

And there we go! Loads of moving bits and pieces to keep track of so I'm sure that something will slip my mind once the action starts, but I'm excited to see how this narrative plays out! Until next time...

Random Updates: A Calm In The Storm

Nothing but silence for weeks... but with good reason. There were parts of the real world got to be a bit much and I had to focus on resolving those for a time. Thankfully, things are getting... better isn't the word, but at least more under control. I feel like it's time to get back to the blog so expect more posts soon. Until next time...

Week In Review: Wait... Where Did The Weeks Go?!?

So as I previously mentioned, there had been a lot of packing as I moved back home for a few weeks.  On top of that was a ton of driving with me heading down to Boston one day, back to home the next, then back again, then home again... So much driving! On top of that, there has been snow storms, birthdays, medical things... it truly has been interesting times!  That said, I have been able to squeeze in a tiny bit of hobby so let's take a look!

Eastern Reinforcements From The West!

I picked up the last of the vehicles that I need for the 12th Company... a GAZ-AAA from Rubicon Models!

Yay for generic box art photos... since I threw my box away too soon.  Whoops!

Now for those of you with some knowledge of WWII (which didn't include me until recently BTW), the GAZ is a truck that was built by the Soviets which means it's in entirely the wrong theater for me to include with the 12th, right?

Nope.

The GAZ-AA is actually a version of the Ford Model AA that was licensed to the Soviets by Ford motor company.  Besides the USSR, the Model AA was also produced in other European countries including France.  So yes, in this case, I can field a GAZ-AA... I just decided to go with the Rule of Cool and slap the extra set of wheels on it as well.  The rivet counters are just gonna have to deal with it.

This was also the first Rubicon model that I've purchased and overall it's pretty nice.  There is a bit more detail than you typically find on Bolt Action models, plus their range actually covers more vehicles as plastic kits.  In fact, the only downside that I could find was gluing them together.  All I had on hand was Testors glue in the blue bottle.  This works great for Warlord stuff but Rubicon... not so much.  It still works, but the time that it takes to get a solid bond is much longer. Once I realized the issue I did a search to see if this was just me or if this is just something I'd not realized. Apparently Tamiya plastic glue is the recommended type, so I'll have to try to get some of that in the future.  As it was I made it work with the Testors with only a minimal amount of swearing so that seems like a win.

And with the Ford assembled, it also means that I have all the vehicles I need for the 12th to be fully mechanized and ready to go!

My motley mechanized force. Can't wait to finish painting them up!

I have no idea how this motley assortment will fare but even unpainted I love the feel that it gives.  The two trucks have MMGs attached to their roofs like they were pressed into service, and I swapped out the MMG on the from of the Hano for an HMG more fitting for the US M3.  I'm hoping that I can start painting them this weekend, plus I still need to make sure that I have all my ground pounders sorted as well.

The Building of Decks And More!

Other than picking up and starting to assemble the GAZ, there hasn't been any mini related progress.  There were boardgames though!  Dominion, Trash Pandas, Radlands, Splendor, Clank! Acquisitions Inc... so many games which has shot me up to 35 games this year!  Soooo much better than last year and the best part is the time that I've been able to spend with friends and family.

And that has been about it! I will be heading back out to the field soon which will in theory mean more time for hobby, but I'm starting college a week after that so... yeah, more interesting times. Still, I want to focus my hobby more while I am away so I'm going to narrow down the things that I bring down to work on. Variety is good, but too many options mean nothing gets done. I have some ideas that I want to try out for Core Space, plus I have all those minis that I painted! I also picked up the Outlands Delta Garrison terrain set from Battle Systems which I think will add some interesting variety to what I already have for Core Space. Oh, and there's a dragon that I want to paint. Until next time...

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...

Core Space: Getting Into Some Characters

Since I picked up all my new cyberpunk minis, I figure it's high time that I actually wiped up some stats for them in Core Space.  The thing is, while there are rules for making characters, its a little vague as far as what is... well, average?  To try to figure this out, I broke out the character cards that I have.  First things first, every crew needs a captain... and I honestly think that this was the easiest one to make.

I see captain Kylan Hesketh as a bear of a man from a life of hard knocks, so I used Weaver as a starting point for his stats.  I dialed down his skill points by one, dropped combat expert, and made close assault 1 as his secondary ability.  Kylan is a former gang member that has broken from his criminal past and is trying to make an "honest" living as a trader.

Now for the crew.  I'd planned on stating them all up but I think that for now I'm just going to focus on the second crew member for the beginning of the Perseus Campaign.  In this case, the crew is Riva Doan.

Looking over the base crew cards, most characters start with four health, four skill points, and an array of nine career points spread between two or more commonly three levels.  In this regard, Riva is pretty much bog standard.  The only difference is that when you build characters, you have to start with two career points while most of the out of the box characters only get one.  Not a big deal but it does mean that the point value for custom characters are going to be a bit higher.  As for her background, Riva was another member of the gang that Kylan was part of and she decided to follow his lead when he jumped ship on the gang.

This gives me what I need to start the campaign though I want to incorporate some of my new civilians into the story as well.  I won't post all their cards but we have Mara Chaldr the techie, Sevia Nakamola the corporate, Dolin the trench, and even Skitz the cyberdog.  I'll probably tweek their stats once I play a few games with them but this is good enough to start!  Now to get them to the table and see how it works out.  Until next time...

Week In Review: Frosty 12th Heroes!

This week I managed to finish up a project that I've been working on for a while now.  It started as something simple and then... yeah, I might have gotten carried away but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  What is it?  Let's find out!

Auril the Frostmaiden

Yep, that's right.  It's another Auril, but this time I think that she is a bit more impressive.  Here she is in all three forms.

These are a set of figures that I purchased on Etsy from Light And Luck Minis, and they did a really good job with this.  Nice and clean prints with very good detail as well.  The biggest difference between this set and the official set is... well, they're bigger!  The third form on the right is mounted on a 25mm base but the first two forms are both on 40mm bases.  This technically puts them out of the medium size category but it's still shy of the large so hopefully it works out for my friend.

Of course since I painted up this special set of minis I decided that I needed to make a box to put them in as well.  I could have just gone with a plain old box but what fun would that be?  Time to get creative with foamcore and hot glue!

I used the glue on the foamcore to give the box a frozen look to it, which I tried to emphasis with the blue white paint scheme.  My daughter suggested putting the window in the top, and I love how the frosting effect turned out to make them look like they are inside a block of ice.

The cover goes almost the full depth of the bottom and I lined it with some white felt as well.  This should protect the icy detail that I did on the bottom plus it gives the box a bit of friction so the bottom doesn't just fall out.

I've been working on this project for a while so it's good to see it finally complete.  On to more projects!

Daqan Knights for Song of Blades and Heroes

With my elves done, I pushed on to get my Daqan knight troops done as well.  First up was one of the missing crossbowmen.

I didn't write down my process on this one so I was kind of winging it, but I think I am close enough to have it consistent.  I did decide to paint the helmet and torso armor as well, which I hadn't done with the spearmen but I really like how it makes the figure pop.  In fact, I liked it so much that I touched up one of the spearmen so that it would match.

This change will help to tie them together and gives them a more finished look.

The other troops for this little force will be the Outland scouts that I already painted up.

When I looked at the artwork later, I realized that they did the chest armor as metal instead of leather, but I like the hardened leather look.  Not sure if I'll do the rest of them with leather, but I'm happy with these guys so far.  Once I finish up the one remaining crossbowman then it will be time to get back to some Songs!

The 12th Company for Bolt Action

The date for the upcoming Bolt Action event was finally announced so it's high time for me to start working on the 12th company again!  To that end, I decided that I needed to dirty up the Opel Blitz that I'd already painted.

A little bit of rust and a lot more dirt, and I like how worn it looks.  I still need to mount a machine gun at the front of the bed, but that should be a quick addition.  For vehicles I still need to pick up another truck and I'd really like to grab an SdKhz 251 instead of just running the regular M3 half-track.  It's not essential, but I love the idea.

And that was it for this past week.  Things are going to be getting... interesting... as well.  Shorter week for me this week, plus I'm looking to come home from the field for a couple of weeks to help with a project at the office.  Perfect timing since I just got my hotel work station set up just the way that I want.  LOL.  Is what it is, right?  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...

Snowman's 2021 Year In Review!

Hey, we all made it through another year!  Huzzah!  So beyond that pretty awesome achievement, how about things on the gaming front?  Let's take a look...

Total minis bought...  No idea!  I should probably start tracking this again...

Total minis painted...  Some random number?

Terrain pieces built...  Ummm... None?  I don't think?

So as with last year, I'd thought about tracking things... well, I didn't think about it too much but damn it, I think that it was a brief thought at one point in the beginning of the year.  Then again, I feel like I was able to achieve more as far as quality over quantity.  I've really be enjoying stopping and... well, smelling the paint?  It's acrylic, so don't look at me like that.  Instead of just rushing through minis, I've decided to take my time with them and really enjoy the process.  This was especially true with the BrushFu prints and Trollbloods that I've been working on.  The larger size of some of them has been a nice change and helped me work on digger deeper into the details.

And then there are the purchases.  Yeah, there weren't really any mad splurges this year.  I did have some figures that I was snapping up towards the end of the year, but nothing was really driving that forward.  Oh, except I did get the Nikstarter for Stargrave.  That was too good a deal to pass up and I like the figures that I've assembled from those sets, plus I still have a whole bunch more that I can do with them.

As for terrain, I did grab the two Infinity sets but that was pretty much it really.  I'd thought about grabbing some other Battle System sets, or actually starting to work on terrain for Zona Alfa but I just haven't felt the drive to push forward with those.  Maybe this year... but we'll see.

Total games played... 45?  That's it?!?

Yep, that's the lowest number of games since I've started do the year in review.  And that was with me being at home for most of the year too!  What the Hell?!?  Still, at least there was some games... but what were they?

For third place, we have Clank! Acquisitions Incorporated Legacy edition with a massive 3 plays.  This is actually pretty impressive since that was just in the last month or two of the year!  This game is a lot of fun, and every time for me it's come down to "Do I survive the game or try to push the story forward?"... and it's been story every time!  They did a great job adding some fun fluff to game, and it's been great exploring it!  We are on a short pause what with the holidays, but I'd love to see us back to this be a more regular thing so we can finish the story!

In second place is Betrayal Legacy with a whole 4 plays, which was enough to finish the game and find out the true story of the Betrayal.  This was a blast to play and I love how different this copy is from the original, and knowing why it is the way that it is just makes it that much better!  I will be honest that I don't know how much more we will be playing it, but it's good to have it there for an option.  And after painting up the Heroclix figure last week, I think it would be fun to expand on the generic dudes like that.  They could be used for Betrayal or maybe I could actually get around to playing some more Fear and Faith?  I did enjoy the... huh... apparently I only played it one time before.  Thought I got that to the table more...  Well, this could be the year for that!

And the most played game for 2021 is... Gloomhaven with 6 plays!  We had hopes of making this a biweekly game, and seeing how much of the world we could explore... and then life happened.  For all it's faults, I was enjoying the mechanics of this game and it would be cool to play it some more.  I think I'd place Clank AI Legacy above it just because of the light nature of the game but it would still be good to dig some more into it.

So what's on the docket for this year?  I'm going to do more with Core Space at some point.  I've got all those minis painted up after all, plus I've got some ideas for some changes that I'd like to make to the system but more on that later.  I also really want to play some Song of Blades and Heroes again.  It's been way too long since I have been able to get that one to the table, and it is such a fast and easy system.  I also think that it would be good for me to get more active with a social gaming scene.  I'll admit that I'm not the best socially dealing with strangers, but obstacles are only there to be overcome.  After all, we are all gamers, right?  Social awkwardness for the win!  Until next time...