Shadow War: Armageddon - Kill Team Tomb World Terpagina

A few weeks ago I built a new Necron Kill Team for Shadow War: Armageddon, "Tomb World Terpagina".  I painted them fairly quickly, priming the Immortals silver and the Deathmarks grey before applying some simple base-coating and dipping them.

To build the team I used the Shadow War Zone website which lets you easily build and customize your Kill Team and also allows you to track its progression as it gains experience in battles.  I'm still looking forward to trying out the rules with either this squad or my Hive Fleet Kraken Kill Team, "Kraken Omega 3K3", that I build using the website a few weeks back.

JeffCon 2017 Recap

Last week was our (fifth annual) JeffCon up at Jeff's cabin at Lake Kachess.  Again we brought a mix of old classics and new games to try out. Here are some of the games we played this year

• Kingdomino - This latest Bruno Cathala game was my top new game.  This Spiel des Jahres winner is fun, fast, and provides good choices for players to make.  It is a simple take on dominos, with players each building a 5x5 grid which scores points based on the number of crowns in a connected area, times the number of similar types in that connected area.
• Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City - This was my prior day's purchase, as it was on sale at Target.  We had played the original game with expansions a few days before.  It is a fun, simple game, but the red and purple stealing cards seemed to drag on the end-game a little further than needed.
• Cyclades - This is an old favorite, but this was the first time playing on the six-player map, with three teams of two.  I found that it changed the game by adding more conflict and more combat-focused, which I didn't enjoy.  The expansion added Kronos, and another way to initiate a battle.  The proximity of land-based neighbors made the game feel more like a wargame than a balanced builder.
• Star Trek: Ascendancy - We played this for a second time, which provided a similar fun experience to the first game we played.  I'm looking forward to the long-delayed expansions.
• Star Wars: X-Wing - We played a six-player deathmatch, with pre-defined squads of 30 points each (each player using only one ship).  The table was two mats long and we played to 10 points, (with 3 points for a kill and 1 point for a hit).  It was a fun way to experience the game, as it has been awhile since I have played it.
• Risk: Legacy - We are now three games into our campaign and we just opened our first card pack.  As it is a Risk game, it has some drawbacks in mechanics and the payoff has been lacking.  Although the first few games have been fairly dull, we are hoping the legacy aspects bring some variety and fun to future games.  
• Stockpile - This was the highlight of Jeffcon gaming last year. This stock trading game is still fun with its great bidding mechanism, but I'm starting to tire of it the more games I play.  There appear to be few choices to make other than during bidding and the price movement of stocks are very random and unpredictable.

Relic Knights - Black Diamond Cadre

Now that my Black Diamond cadre is complete, I'm pretty happy overall with the overall look -- especially based on the limited amount of time I spent painting them compared to other projects, (about a third of the time that it took to paint the smaller Cerci Speed Circuit cadre).

Leopold Magnus and Diamond Corps
Darkspace Iron Chef
Diamondback and M8-Blitz Auto-Tank
Sophia Drake and Black Dragons
One Shot

The time savings was mostly due the grey color scheme of Black Diamond which allowed me to prime and quickly highlight most of the models, with minimal need for fine detail, or the strong contrast in colors that I usually go for.  It also provides some incentive to choose similar approaches for other projects.  For example, I've considering different Space Marine chapters, and the Space Sharks ("Carcharodons Astra") have a simple gray color scheme that would work well with the same approach.

Star Wars Miniatures (West End Games) - Emperor and Royal Guards

Many years ago I bought some of West End Game's 25mm Star Wars miniatures, from their Star Wars Miniatures Battles game.  When I did, I painted up the Emperor and his Royal Guards first.  It was my first real experiment with painting highlights and with inking (the red on the Royal Guards).  The basing style is vintage 1990s Goblin Green with yellow/white highlights.  I based the figures on coins - nickles in the case of the miniatures below.

These models provided a good opportunity to test out different camera options and lighting, and below are photos using three different lighting methods for the same basic picture angle and composition.

Star Trek: Ascendancy

A few weeks back, Juice, Strom and I played our first game of Star Trek: Ascendancy, a three-player game of space exploration, expansion, research, and combat by Gale Force Nine.

The game provides many different paths to victory, and one aspect we all enjoyed is that each faction plays differently and has unique benefits and drawbacks.  Juice played the Romulans and focused on technological advances.  Strom played the Klingons and built large fleets for expansion.  I played the peaceful Federation and drove hard toward a cultural victory through careful exploration and colonization.

I started with a lead in cultural points, which also act as victory points to end the game.  However, I ignored technological and military advances which eventually sealed my doom.  Just before what would have been the turn when I would have claimed victory, Juice used his warp technology to warp all the way across the universe to the Federation home spaces, which he conquered.  The Klingons soon followed suite and I ended up simply being the king-maker in deciding a Klingon/Romulan tie.

Overall, the game has good pacing and offers choices in how to build your empire.  I think the end game came a little too quickly, as advancements build exponentially upon prior advancements in culture and technology. It does have a strong Star Trek theme and the overall game mechanics work well.  It is one of the best three-player games I have played and I highly recommend it for that reason.  It appears that Gale Force Nine's additional player factions are soon being released as game expansions, after a long delay in production.

Relic Knights - Cerci Speed Circuit Cadre

My Cerci Speed Circuit cadre is now complete and they provided a good break from the typical sci-fi models that I paint (from a well-known "grimdark" setting).  One thing I love about Relic Knights is the brightness of the models and their dynamic poses.  The miniatures turned out bright and colorful despite the dipping media, and most models still provided a good contrast in color.  I do wish I would have spent a little more time cleaning up mold-lines, as the dipping method really makes mold-lines stand out.  However, they look good on the tabletop, which is the level of detail I was going for.

Princess Malya, Mr. Tomn, and Pit Crew
Marie-Claude and Esmee
Betty, Lug, and Pacer

Relic Knights - Black Diamond: Leopold Magnus and Diamond Corps

Before I painted my Relic Knights models I decided I would complete them quickly with my "20/80" rule - 20% of my best effort to try and get 80% of the effect.  That meant I spent limited time cleaning up all the mold lines, used colored primers for each model's base color, and performed only simple base-coating as detail.  I then dipped each model using Minwax Polyshade.  Magnus was treated a little different in that he was first primed white, then stained with purple stain, then dipped with the same medium.  In all, once they were base-primed, I spent just two evenings painting and dipping my entire Black Diamond cadre.

Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade - iOS

Most of my computer gaming time these days has been limited to playing games on my iPad.  One of the games I spend a few minutes with each week is Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade.  Freeblade is a great, simple on-rails shooter that takes place in the Warhammer 40K universe.  Your opponents are Orks or Chaos, and there are a number of fun map environments.  I enjoy upgrading the different weapon options for my Imperial Knight.

A few months ago I purchased a Warhammer 40K Imperial Knight which I eventually plan to assemble and paint to represent Salocin, my in-game Freeblade from the game.

Relic Knights - Black Diamond: Darkspace Iron Chef

Darkspace Iron Chef was painted up along with my other Black Diamond miniatures.  For all of the bases I used plasticard that simulated metal grating, along with some metal plating pieces from some plastic sprues from Ebay for added decoration.  I tried to paint most colors with extreme contrast to balance out the black and grey covering most of the miniature.

 

Showtime, A-Holes: Guardians of the Galaxy with the Milano

A few years back I picked up the Galactic A-Holes from Highlander Studios.   With the recent release of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, I thought I might go back and add their plucky starship - the Milano.  I think it scales pretty well with the 15mm miniatures.  The sci-fi landing pad mat is from Soda Pop Miniatures (for their Relic Knights game).  I'm looking forward to playing 15mm scenarios with it -- I'm planning to base one on the already classic opening scene from the movie.

Relic Knights - Black Diamond: Diamondback and M8-Blitz Auto-Tank

For Diamondback, I used zenithal highlighting to achieve the glowing effect, again doing this in the priming step.  I hit the model with Crystal Blue Army Painter primer from the angle of its axe.  His axe was painted light blue and white after painting over the dipping media, which provided the splattered texture that appears on the axe - the paint beaded-up due to the water-proof dipping surface.  The M8-Blitz Auto-Tank was painted simply as well, but I'm considering adding decals to it down the road.

Shadow War: Armageddon - Kill Team Kraken Omega 3K3

Last week I picked up the new Shadow War: Armageddon rulebook from Heroic Knight Games.  I promptly made a new Kill Team with my Tyranid Warriors.  The Shadow War Zone website lets you easily build and customize your Kill Team and also allows you to track your Kill Team's progression as it gains experience in battles.  I'm looking forward to trying out the rules with my new Hive Fleet Kraken Kill Team - "Kraken Omega 3K3", which you can find over at the Shadow War Zone website.

 

Relic Knights - Black Diamond: Sophia Drake and Black Dragons

Sophia Drake and Black Dragons were painted using zenithal highlighting during the priming step.  I first primed the models using black primer, then hit them with grey primer just on the top of the models.  I did a quick hit of light grey primer directly over top before adding color and painting the guns.  Then, I used the same dipping method that I used on the rest of the miniatures in my Black Diamond force.

Relic Knights - Black Diamond: One Shot

I recently started working on my Black Diamond forces for Relic Knights after becoming re-engaged during the latest Kickstarter campaign for Relic Knights 2nd Edition.  I painted most of the models simply and used the dipping method to add some depth.  Although One Shot's relic has limited contrast and is rather stark, I think it makes One Shot herself really stand out, based on her colorful outfit and dynamic pose.

Relic Knights - Cerci Speed Circuit: Princess Malya, Mr. Tomn, and Pit Crew

I recently completed a few Cerci Speed Circuit miniatures for Relic Knights.  I once again used the dipping method, using just a few base colors and a simple color scheme.  I finished Princess Malya, Mr. Tomn, and Pit Crew, completing the models I wanted to paint from my faction starter for Cerci Speed Circuit.  Now that my Cerci models are complete, I plan on posting some complete cadre pictures soon.

 

Star Wars: Risk

I have played Star Wars: Risk a number of times now with my Dad - it's a great two-player game, and not like Risk at all. It's based on the old "Star Wars: Queen's Gambit" board game, but the theme is the attack on Death Star 2 from ROTJ. The designers also designed the classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer Boardgame (another great game) and like that game this is also a very fun and fast (30 minute play time) game with a great theme.

Our first game was much like the movie. Shield Generator came down, Death Star took out a few capital ships, Luke turned Vader, but the snub fighters (Y-Wings) destroyed the Death Star in the end. Rebels win. Second game was different - Luke was killed by Vader, Falcon blew up, and the Executor engaged the Rebel fleet head on. Rebels were delayed taking out the Shield Generator with simply terrible die-rolling, but finally did it -- just as the last Rebel Capital ship was destroyed. Still a mass of X-Wings and B-Wings still had a chance to take out the Death Star, but were annihilated before they could initiate the final attack run. Close, but Imperials win.

In the plays since, the Rebels have often won, but many of the games have been close.  At the end, when the Rebels need a "6" to blow up the Death Star, there are a number of fun "stand-up and pay attention" dice rolls being made.  It appears that the Rebels are favored balance-wise, but a run of bad die-rolls for the Rebels can balance things out quickly. A few simple rule modifications can also help balance things out.
 
Components could be better (thin cardboard and cards). There is a "Black" edition that upgrades some of the components from cardboard to models.  Its about $25 and sold at the big-box stores and Amazon too.  I highly recommend it as a good, fast two-player game.

Wen-Con 2017

Yesterday I was able to visit Wenatchee and attend Wen-Con for a few hours.  On Friday night I saw an advertisement in Leavenworth at the Krampus Kave, as my wife and I were spending the weekend nearby.

On Saturday morning, I arrived shortly after the doors opened at 10:00AM.  I enjoyed walking through the exhibition hall and visiting the vendors.  The floor was full of cos-players, and the exhibition hall included artists, game stores, comic shops, and a variety of other relevant pop-culture vendors.  My favorite was the film-accurate replica of the Back to the Future Delorean.  There was also a great Ghostbuster and a Star Wars Scout Trooper.  I enjoyed browsing the old miniatures and spent some time in the video gaming room.

It was a fun way to spend a few hours and I think Wen-Con had a great inaugural event to build upon for future years.

Flames of War - 7th Armored Division

A year or two ago I painted some US Army miniatures for Flames of War.  I painted the infantry up as the 7th Armored Division, with the primary color patch on the left shoulder.  I painted them fairly quickly, just basecoating the main colors and then using the dipping method for highlighting.  The tanks are pre-painted Sherman tanks from Point of Contact.