Eldar Alaitoc Warlock

Warlock from the late 1990s.  I painted this more a decade ago for my still unfinished Eldar Alaitoc army.  I nicknamed him Gene Simmons.

Frostgrave - Elsa and Anna from Frozen

Last weekend I sat down to paint two miniatures I ordered from North Star Military Figures for Frostgrave.  The description is for Fire Elementalists to avoid potential legal action, (else Mickey Mouse "gonna' sue somebody").  Although they will work well for Frostgrave, I could use them for Warhammer Quest:  Silver Tower or Age of Sigmar....  I'm happy with how the snow bases turned out.

JeffCon 2016 Recap

We held the annual JeffCon up at Jeff's cabin at Lake Kachess last weekend.  We always bring a mix of old classics and new games to try out.  Here are some of the games we played this year:

• Colt Express - This was the 2015 Spiel des Jahres winner and I was excited to play it.  I wasn't expecting a pre-programmed move game, which I typically don't enjoy.  For what it is, it works well.  I enjoyed the random nature of the game, but also found it incredibly frustrating.  Part of the fun is the 3D cutout train, but I found it hard to see what was inside each car and would have preferred a normal board.  
• Deception: Hong Kong - This is a social deduction game where the players need to pick a pair of cards out from a huge supply.  One of the players is assigned to be the murderer and selects two of his or her cards to be the targets.  There is a overseer who presents clues to the team so they can pick out the cards.  It was fun (and we were successful in finding the items most of the time), but the game could be much faster and straightforward than the rules as written.
• Isle of Skye - This is a game I already reviewed.  I still enjoy it - good length of time, and hard decisions to make.  My only complaint is that if you make some bad decisions on bid prices early, it can be hard to recover.  However, the game does have a built in benefit if you are behind, which really helps.  On turn one, I had two great tiles, but each were purchased after my time to buy, so I ended up with no new tiles.  I did get extra cash, but was still playing catch up for the rest of the game
• Dark Moon - I was hoping this could be a faster-playing Battlestar Galactica, but so far, it has been hard to replicate the fun associated with the old classic.  It feels a little clunky, but I'm hoping to get a full game as we needed to cut the last game off early.
• Stockpile - This was the highlight of Jeffcon gaming this year.  This stock trading game is fast, fun, with good decisions.  It has some clever mechanics, and a great bidding mechanism.  It might replace Acquire as my favorite stock trading game.  The bidding phase makes the game really fun and interesting - there is bluffing and hard decisions to make.  My only suggestion would be a bidding mechanic for the character selections - I think some of the roles are more powerful than others.

15mm Superhero Gaming - Desert Rescue Session Report

Recently I ran a small 15mm Superhero gaming session for my daughter and nephew.  It had been more than a few months since our last session - Rise of the Dead and I was excited to use my Flames of War desert scenery.  Below are the details for this new adventure....

Desert Rescue

In the heart of the desert, Hydra agents have hidden away the captured Taffy Man deep in an underground bunker.  Nick Fury has selected two superheroes that will lead a clandestine rescue mission:  America Girl - leader of The Repulsers superhero team, and Plasma Man - its newest member.

Superheroes:
*America Girl
*Plasma Man (and Minions)

Avengers (NPCs):
*The Vision

Villians:
*Catoblepas
*Hydra Henchmen

Result:
The small team parachuted into the compound, avoiding being seen until the last minute.  They then descended into the secret facility by elevator.  Plasma Man summoned one Minion, and the team split up to find their extraction target.  They found some keys and hacked in the main computer before freeing Taffy Man from his cell.  Catoblepas attempted to block escape, but the team had found an auxiliary service elevator, and Taffy Man held off Catoblepas and the Hydra henchmen while the rescue team hacked the controls.  Now back on the surface, the team used the stolen keys to steal a Hydra vehicle.  Needing support, The Vision made an appearance to provide covering fire during the escape to freedom.