Saga challenge complete!

Phew! That was a bit of work. I needed to prepare my 4 point Viking warband for a game this Thursday and was only able to work on it from Saturday... Due to using multipart plastics for most of the figures, it meant I effectively lost all of Saturday to gluing them together!

So that left me with Sunday, Monday night, Tuesday afternoon and tonight to finish them all! Well, you'l be happy to know I succeeded and, while not the best painted figures, they'll do for my purposes and I'd rather have them done for gaming than still be trying to paint the buckles on their belts!

Before I introduce you to them, I should say thanks to Pete who gave me the plastics, thereby saving me a small wad of cash and proving he is one of the most generous and kind natured wargamers I know! Well, either that or he really did hate the figures as much as he said... Thanks, mate!

Anyhow, on with the show....

8 Warriors (Plastics from Wargames Factory) 1 point. 

Warlord. Made up of two spare plastic warriors, but I may upgrade to a more 'warlordy' figure at some point.

8 Warriors (Plastics from Wargames Factory) 1 point. 

8 Hearthguard (Metal figures from Black Tree) 2 points

The whole motley crew. I'm content with that for a couple of day's work...

Side view to display my clumsily painted shield designs!

So that's it. I'm hoping they will do me proud on Thursday... The next question will be what to chose for the next 2 points worth. I'm thinking berserkers and another Hearthguard unit...

But for now it's on to the Normans....

Saga

I've been shamefully absent from my blog for ages now and thought it was time for an update on what I've been up to. The title pretty much gives it away!

I had played Saga a few times at the club I go to, always as the Vikings and usually against the Skraelings. This was fine and I enjoyed the games a lot, but I didn't have the overwhelming passion for it that I do now. The reason for this is probably that the Viking battleboard is fairly simple and the Skraeling one tends to focus on using the enemy's abilities against them, so I wasn't getting a real feel for the way other factions played and the interesting challenges this provided. (If you don't know about the battleboards used in Saga, click here for a useful overview.)

Enter the Welsh...

One evening I played 2 three way games and in the second I got to try the Welsh. This totally changed the way I saw the game. The Viking abilities are all about getting stuck in and timing attacks so they are backed up with some good effects. The Welsh on the other hand are sneaky ****s who disrupt enemy movement and stay out of reach whilst peppering their foe with javelins. So much more my style!

I suddenly found that I absolutely loved this game. I immediately texted a friend to see if he would sell me his copy as part of a clear out he was having and he was happy to oblige. We played a couple of games one day and  found I liked the Normans almost as much as I liked the Welsh...

Norman Knights holding a hill and awaiting a Viking onslaught!

While the Welsh are notoriously 'unfair' fighters, the Normans love to soften up the enemy with bow fire before smashing them with heroic cavalry charges. Hurrah!

Vikings advance towards the protection of the woods

What is excellent about the system, in my opinion, is how the abilities of each faction act to make each of them unique and all this information is gathered on an easy to read board without the need to flick though a book for charts, tables or lists of abilities. The core rules themselves are really quite simple and effective, to the extent that you may read them and think 'what's the point of cavalry, they don't get anything except a move bonus and an armour penalty from shooting?'. But when this is combined with the abilities on the board which reflect how the various factions fought, you end up with a game of considerable depth and interest to it: Norman cavalry are deeply scary when they charge into you, whereas Welsh mounted are used to conduct hit and run missile attacks while staying out of reach of foot troops. It is a rare thing that I play a skirmish game and feel I have a great deal of options and tough decisions to make, but this is something Saga does very well indeed.

The downside of this is that it becomes really hard to resist wanting to try a new army when you read what their abilities are. So far I am working on Vikings and Normans, but have plans to collect Welsh, Anglo-Dane, Breton, Jomsviking and possibly Scot armies as well... Oh and for those of you who are wondering, no I am not doing it in 15mm. I have found a game which has made me break this promise to myself, mainly because I want to play against other people's warbands at the club.

So do give Saga a go if you get the chance. Don't expect a 'historical simulation' if that is your thing, but if you like games where your decisions really matter and are rewarding to play, you might just find yourself with a new gaming addiction!

(PS: I'm going to be selling things on eBay to fund my new Saga habit!)

Monsterpocalypse

This post is a bit of an aside as it is not about my usual wargaming antics, but I just feel like writing about it. Monsterpocalypse is an out of production collectible miniatures game from Privateer Press. I came to it a little late in the day which has a bit of an advantage in that I didn't end up spending lots of money on it! On the other hand, it is now very hard to expand my collection. And that makes me sad.

I only own a two-player starter set, but what sets it apart from a lot of other CMGs is that it feels like a complete game in itself. For those who do not know, Monsterpocalypse sees two monsters battle it out over an urban landscape, supported by smaller units aligned to them. These monsters vary from giant robots, apes and dinosaurs to Martians and Cthulhu type monsters, catering to every taste.

But aside from the variety, theme and surprising depth of game-play, the game just looks fantastic. (Sorry for the glare on the board, I lay some perspex over the paper maps when I play.)

The Martian menace advances

A helicopter swoops across the urban landscape.

Sky Sentinel protects the humans from the alien invaders

Woosh! Boom! Zap!

Saucers advance on a nuclear power plant

So anyway, I just stopped by to post a few pictures. And if anyone is looking to sell any Monsterpocalypse stuff, drop me a message!

15mm Ratmen HotT army (Irregular Miniatures)

While browsing options for 15mm HotT army packs/deals, I came across an offer that could not be refused! While it appears that most armies sell for £15-20, I happened to see Irregular Miniatures have a line in their 15mm fantasy catalogue which simply states:

24 AP Armies	£9.00
except Lizard Army	£10.00

(Note for those who have not played HotT: AP= Army Points and a usual army is 24 points. Units are generally 2 AP each with some exceptions, leading to a typical 12 element army)

Intrigued, I sent a quick email to Ian Kay (super chap, great customer service) to inquire as to the contents of the 24AP pack for the Ratmen. His speedy response was:

"It contains 25 assorted rat inf, 2 rat riders, 2 chaos knights, 2 magicians ,1 lurker and a god figure! Over £12 of figures!"

Well, that was enough for me to take a shot, although I was slightly wary that there were no specific ratman magicians, lurkers or gods listed in the rest of the catalogue. By some crazy miracle, the packet which was posted on Friday turned up on Saturday morning and I eagerly tore it open.

Here is a picture of the small pile of led my £9 got me (note this does not include 9 ratman archers which I foolishly started to paint before taking this picture):

True to Ian's word, the contents were just as described. True to what I guessed from the catalogue, the god, lurker and wizard figures were generic and not ratman specific. The god in particular was a curious choice as it seemed to be a 28mm Greek philosopher, not exactly what I picture ratmen worshipping. Of the wizards, I preferred the one which looked like a hunchbacked old man, as that seemed to fit the army better. The other looked like a generic evil wizard (which will no doubt find a place in another army).

Figures which did not make it to the painting stage 

Sorting out the rest of the figures, I saw they were a good mix of ratmen with hand weapons, some with bows, a few banners and a couple of polearm types with helmets. There were a couple riding wolves, which was good to see, and also the chaos knights, which looked fine as an 'ally contingent'.

Arranging the force into suitable elements, I came up with the following:


1x Warband General (Ratman leader and armed guard) @2AP

1x Hero (Ratman Hero) @4AP

1x Riders (Ratmen on wolves) @2AP

1x Knights (Chaos Knight allies) @2AP

3x Shooters (Ratmen with bows) @2AP

4x Warband (Ratmen warriors) @2AP


So an 11 element 24AP army was achievable while adhering to my need for a theme which did not include philosophising Greek deities.... At this point I realised that I had a spare ratman, so I decided against the magician and picked the ratman which looked most like a hero and based him for that purpose. I have painted the magician anyway and it can find a home in this or another army at some point.

Once painted and based, the figures looked like this:

3x Shooters (Ratman Archers) 

4x Warband (Ratman warriors) 

1x Ratman Hero and 1x Magician 

1x Warband General (Ratman elite warriors) 

1x Riders (Ratman wolf riders), 1x Knights (Chaos Knight allies) 

To a degree you 'get what you paid for', but then again for £9 I think this is excellent value for money. If I were to make any suggestion, it would be for Irregular to ditch the generic figures and include more of the wolf-mounted ratmen, or even a couple of their fantasy wolves as a Beast element option. In my opinion, this would give the army more thematic coherency. But as it stands, it was only the knights in my final selection which were not 'ratman specific'.

All in all, though, I am very happy and will definitely consider buying more of these army packs! I want to end by mentioning that the service from Ian was top notch throughout, with quick email responses and super fast delivery.

(Note: I started drafting this post when the figures arrived and before painting had started. When my wife saw I had put a reminder in the text saying "[Insert painted figure pictures]" she 'helpfully' commented "Painted figures? So just when do you expect to be able to post that entry?" Naturally this filled me with resolve and a desire to prove myself, resulting in the army being painted over the course of the weekend. As it would never have been so without that comment, this post is dedicated to my wife! Thanks for helping me get through all the painting!)

Thought for the day

Nothing should get in the way of a good game!

Recently I finally acquired a hardcopy of Hordes of the Things from a good friend and was immediately beset by thoughts of epic campaigns, huge battles and creating army lists for the setting of the classic Lone Wolf gamebooks. I have wanted to refight the battle of Cetza for ages (see map below) and this has extended to thinking of army lists for each of the major nations (plus who hasn't read the books and wanted to field Banedon's flying ship in battle?!).

So, naturally this is all a bit ambitious at the moment, especially as my fund for figures lies at exactly zero right now. The side effect of this could be that the HotT rules get added to the pile and forgotten about, but no! I decided this was not good enough. Thus, with the help of the Junior General, I rapidly assembled generic good and evil fantasy armies.

Sure, it isn't the best looking game and I haven't even painted or flocked the bases yet, but a game is a game and Hordes of the Things deserves to be played!

Test Page

So, I'm slowly gearing up to kick off a campaign of The Department. I think I have enough figures either painted or almost painted for it and have started to think about the 'mood' of the setting. I want to use Comic Life still, but would like to aim for a different tone compared to my fantasy game reports. So far, I have come up with this:

I quite like the black and white images with a little 'splash of colour' here and there. I am currently painting a handful of 'men in suits' which I will probably use for the main character(s).

I also want to get some regular police officers and riot police as these can serve a dual role in both The Department and my zombie games. But I'm getting off track!

Although the above pictures were posed purely for the photos, they nature of the game means it should lend itself well to this kind of narrative approach. I look forward to presenting more reports from this game soon.

Warhammer Battle Report

After a period of painting, I thought it was about time I got the lead on the table and played a game of Warhammer. Those of you who follow the blog may know that, while I am a fan of 3rd Edition, I grew up around the time of 4th (although I never played at the time) and it is the images of the warmachines and miniatures from the time that really attracted me. So, having painted my 1990s Doomwheel, I thought it fair to give it a run around the table....

What I learnt:

1. 4th Edition gives a fun playable game (assuming you are not looking to field tournament-style armies or find stupid magic item combos I guess)
2. I really should have remembered the march move option earlier in the game...
3. Don't waste time deploying your toughest unit behind a forest, even if it is meant to be a story-telling flanking/ambush move!
4. I must make movement trays, even if they are just card painted green. Moving the figures probably doubled the length of the game, which was a bit irritating.
5. I need to paint a lot more Skaven...

All in all it was a very fun game, although I wish the Doomwheel hadn't been killed by such a lucky shot: 4+ to hit the warmachine, a 6 to hit the driver, 4+ to wound... Ah well, it made for a fun incident at the very least!