More hobby musings...

Hey everyone,

It's been a few weeks since the last post, so thought would post a few comments about recent hobby goodness.

I've played a few more games of Super Dungeon Explore (SDE) with Dan and Olly and they've been a lot of fun. Although I've enjoyed playing SDE with my six-year-old lad Jake, playing against these guys has allowed me to explore more of the competitive tricks and combos that the minions and denizens of the dungeon have to offer. It's also been interesting seeing the heroes in action with a more competitive force in the driving seat.

Princess Ruby, (who has now been painted, updated pic to follow...) has been somewhat of a revelation. I'd pretty casually written her off a while back when writing up those character bios, but Olly took a chance with her, and she's proved to be a key character in more than a handful of adventures. Being able to enhance or 'augment' her fellow characters in a particular area, heal a wound or status effect, or even dish it out with her own magic attacks has proved invaluable. 

 
As an aside, one thing that we have agreed on, is that the Hexcast Sorceress does seem like a 'nice-to-have-but-not-essential' character. Her special abilities are best suited tackling multiple wound creatures and slow down the really nasty bad guys, but, on balance, there aren't too many of those in a three hero game using combinations of the currently available minions. 

I would be interested to see what sort of affect she would have on the final battle with Roxor though, as he has become notoriously tough to shift. Maybe next time we'll take a punt on her and maybe she'll surprise us in the same way as the princess? Or maybe she's been planted in the base set to come into her own against minions in future releases?

Dan found a stack of information on the tubes about the development of pieces for a Glauerdoom Moor expansion featuring the forces of the undead. Check out some of the shots over at Hobby Before I Die...

Olly found this packshot on the tubes suggesting that the Glauerdoom Moor figures will be released under the title of 'Von Drakk Manor'. The release date is a little sketchy, but seems imminent and I'm keen to get hold of the box as soon as it's out. Much like the Caverns of Roxor set, there is a swathe of new minions, new bosses and some new heroes to boot. From the images available, it looks as though one of the heroes will have the same shapeshift ability that the Deeproot Druid/Angry Bear currently has, allowing it to change into a werewolf type creature.

If you've not already had a chance to do so, check out the 'Watch it Played' series of videos on YouTube which introduce SDE and go through the rules before playing through a three hero game over a series of further installments. I watched these on the lead up to Christmas last year and was able to play the game as soon as I'd stuck the pieces together, only consulting the rulebook to check the odd ruling I'd made was correct and confirm a particular status effect.

This past weekend I managed to make it down to the Gambit Games UK monthly club day (albeit very briefly!) and catch up with the guys after what seems like an eternity since I got down there last. Check out a full run down of the day over at the Gambit Games UK page or on Facebook.

The club has grown considerably since the first meetings and even since the last time I attended 18ish (?) months ago, both in terms of membership numbers as well as the variety of game systems being played. If you're local to the Brighton area, definitely look up the Gambit guys (and girls!).

Something that has very (VERY!) recently grabbed my attention is the X-Wing miniatures game from Fantasy Flight Miniatures. I was hooked after watching this demo video and picked up a couple of ships from eBay. Dan is also taking a keen interest in this system and is already thinking up scenarios to re-enact from the films. The X-Wing game uses similar mechanics to the Wings of War games, so should be fairly straight forward to jump into and I'm looking forward to my first game :D

Anyways, until next time folks!

A call to WAAAAAAAGH!! (Part 1!)

Hey everyone,

I thought it was about time I got round to posting some shots of the Ork Kill Team I've just finished putting together. I'd not played 40K for some time, so have recently been playing the Kill Team mission from the Battle Missions book to get back into things. I've yet to get hold of the 6th ed rules (waiting for a pocket-sized rulebook from ebay :P) so am still rolling with the old rules. My opponents have been Dan of Hobby Before I Die (Chaos) and Olly from the Bearded Arts (Tau Empire). To be honest, the results with the Orks have only cemented the fact that their strength is definitely in numbers and really don't fit into the elite specialist role too well. That being said, the games have provided some cinematic (and slightly idiotic) moments!

At this point I'll throw in the caveat that these figures were purposely speed-painted to a battlefield standard. I've also been tinkering with the photography a bit which has allowed me to capture closer images that really highlight the imperfections of the painting style....

This guy is the squad leader (or Nob...) whose name is yet to be decided. He's armed with a big chopper and a bosspole. The skin tones were achieved using Gretchin Green (still on the old paint range!), washed with Ogryn Flesh and highlighted back up with the base colour. 

The Armour plates and other metallic areas were the first trial of Cold Steel from the Formula P3 range, which was recommended by Ron at From the Warp. This was also washed with Ogryn Flesh and highlighted back up with the Cold Steel. Both the Nob and Heavy Gunner had muzzle flashes and spent bullet casings added to the guns, and these were sourced from Armorcast in the US.

The light cloth areas were good-old Dheneb Stone; The darker clothing is Charadon Granite (which all the models were sprayed with as a first coat), washed and then weathered with a mix of brown and red powders.

I was keen to have each of the figures looking unique, and managed to get them all different by modifying a couple of pieces from the Ork Boys kit and kit bashing a few components from the Dakkajet kit...

The head of this boy was one of the optional pilot pieces from the Dakkajet and is one of the three nominated 'specialists' in the team, which has one of the universal special rules each game.

 

This is one of my favourite pieces in the Kill Team...

I was trying to avoid using the chainsword in the Kill Team as it didn't really fit the stealthy (as Orks can be...) elite team, but ended up using it to keep everything individual. I guess he'd be the one guy who gives the plot away as they approach the objective, with the chainsword on...?

Right; that's about that... part two with the support unit, the Dakkajet will follow (promise)

Laters!

3 Way Kill Team Battle Report

Guys, my blog activity has been somewhat limited over the past few weeks as any spare time I've had has been spent on prepping my Ork Kill Team for their forst outing and refreshing my memory of the 40k rules. As it panned out, the first game I played, was against Olly from the Bearded Arts and Dan of Hobby Before I Die fame.

The Dakkajet has since been finished off with decals, the canopy, some heavy weathering, a re-painted pilot and a flocked base, but I managed to sneak it out of the mekboys workshop for a test flight.

It was a free-for-all melee and you can read the full game report over at Hobby Before I Die right now!

Hobby Before I Die!

Ladies and Gents, I'd like to recommend you all visit a new blog page posted by my good mate Dan.

 

There's a heap of great stuff on there already, including some cracking Chaos/Space Marine conversions, a host of great Dystopian Wars pics and some particularly amusing shots of Heroclix minis.

So don't delay! Head over to Hobby Before I Die! now. Go now I tell you! Enjoy and be inspired :D

Laters all