Team Yankee - Yugoslavian Army T-55s and BTR-60s

My quest to make a JNA (Yugoslavian) force for Team Yankee (using the rules for the East Germans) is getting closer as I complete the T-55s and BTR-60s.  I need to add tank commanders to a few command models and the armor component will be complete.

The T-55 tanks are from Plastic Soldier Company and the BTR-60 transports are from Battlefront Miniatures.  I primed them with Goblin Green from Army Painter, but primed the wheels black before gluing them on.  The tracks for the T-55s were first primed with the green, then hit on the top and bottom with black primer.  I hit each model with Army Painter Dark Tone that greatly muted the bright green.  I painted on the details before lightly drybrushing on dust and dirt using a light brown color.

When complete, the force will include 31 T-55s and 15 BTR-60s, and I plan on adding a number of infantry units to the force as well.

15mm Superhero Gaming - Blue Raven Character Sheet

Blue Raven is the newest member of the The Repulsers superhero team.  Trained by Black Widow herself, Blue Raven is a master gymnast, acrobat, spy, and tactician.  Her Raven's Claw - which can deliver electric shocks up to 30,000 volts - is capable of incapacitating almost any foe, while her Needle Pistol can expel a flurry of poisonous darts.  Despite her advanced technological weapons, she prefers engaging enemies up close, relying on her martial arts skills for attack and her remarkable agility and dexterity for defense.

Leaked Pictures of Upcoming Free Nations Releases for Team Yankee

A post at the Team Yankee forum over at No Dice, No Glory contains some leaked pictures showing the next releases for Team Yankee.  Free Nations will contain army lists for Canadian, French, Dutch, and Australian forces.

The French Starter Force Box "Durand's Devils" appears to contain three AMX-30 tanks and two Aerospatiale SA342 Gazelle helicopters.

The NATO Starter Force Box "NATO's First Line" appears to contain three Leopard 1 tanks and two PAH-1 BO-105P helicopters.

The best guess is that we will see these all released sometime in June or July.

Star Wars: Legion Officially Released

Earlier this week, Star Wars: Legion was officially released by Fantasy Flight Games.  Many have been anxiously awaiting its release since it was first announced back in August at GenCon.

First reviews have been very positive around the rules, but there has been some criticism about the each model's lack of customization.  Nine products are now released for the game:

• Star Wars: Legion Core Set
• Star Wars: Legion Dice Pack
• Star Wars: Legion Movement Tools & Range Ruler Pack
• AT-RT Unit Expansion
• Rebel Troopers Unit Expansion
• 74-Z Speeder Bikes Unit Expansion
• Stormtroopers Unit Expansion
• AT-ST Unit Expansion
• T-47 Airspeeder Unit Expansion

More unit expansions are to be released over the next few weeks and months. The Han Solo Commander Expansion and Rebel Commandos Unit Expansion have just been announced.  However, the previewed model for Han has been universally panned as not being representative of the character it portrays, and many of the Rebel Commando models appear to be simple modifications of the existing Rebel Trooper models.

The question now becomes how well will the game sell and how successful will it be at getting adoption by the community.

Team Yankee - Russians vs. British (64 Points)

I played Team Yankee against Strom a few weekends ago.  He used his Russians and I played my British FV432 Mechanized Company, along with some Chieftans.  Strom's airpower went unchallenged and it was a war of attrition with both sides taking heavy losses.  A few hours in we were considering calling it a stalemate, but we decided to give it a few more turns.

In the end, Strom captured an objective with his Hind Air Assault Battalion for the win.  The previous few turns he had slowly winnowed down my forces with his airpower and artillery.  He pinned the infantry unit guarding the objective.  When I failed my unpin roll there was no way I could contest his capture of it.

Games Workshop Announces "Blitz Bowl"

At the New York Toy Fair, Games Workshop announced another introductory game last weekend called Blitz Bowl.  Like Space Marine Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necrons, this game looks to be targeted more toward new-comers to the hobby.

On close examination of the picture, one can make out what looks to be a Skaven card.  This makes me excited for the possibility that different teams will be released for the game.  I would love a faster-playing version of Blood Bowl for game night tournaments and one-off games, with a variety of different teams to play.

Blitz Bowl is a new way to play Blood Bowl. The teams are smaller, the games are faster but the action is just as intense, as each player seeks to distinguish themselves in the eyes of Nuffle in the infamous Crush recruitment rituals in fast-paced skirmish games.

Games Workshop Announces "Space Marine Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necrons"

Games Workshop announced an introductory game called Space Marine Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necrons at the New York Toy Fair over the weekend.  Like the Battle for Vedros set, this game is targeted more toward new-comers to the hobby.

The Space Marines miniatures are from the Japanese Hero Figurine sets, and they include some of the more common Space Marine chapters - Ultramarines (blue), Space Wolves (grey), Salamanders (green), Blood Angels (red), and Imperial Fists (yellow).

The Necron figures are cardboard and the game looks to be fairly simple.  However, based on a close examination of the picture, one can make out "Do Not Open" on three packs of cards.  Might this indicate a more complicated campaign approach, or even a legacy-style game mechanic?

Space Marine Adventures allows 1-4 players to join forces and attempt to break into a Necron labyrinth. Choose your hero and use each character’s unique skills to battle various deadly hazards, not least of which are the Necron guardians themselves. The easy-build nature of the kits and intuitive game make it suitable for players aged 8 and over – good for anything from family games nights to a quick adventure for a regular gaming club. While this set is a great introduction to the 41st Millennium, each Space Marine in the set is also a unique and dynamic sculpt, making them great additions to an existing collection, too.

Disney Frozen Gaming - Attack of the Wolves

A few weekends ago my daughters and I tried out a custom tabletop game using a modified set rules based on the most recent version of Warhammer Quest.  The winter scenery I have makes for a great scene for Frozen, and so we played a scenario with Elsa, Anna, and Olaf facing off against the wolves that are known to inhabit the forest located outside of the capital village of Arendelle.

The Elsa and Anna miniatures are the Fire Elementalists from North Star Military Figures for Frostgrave.  I made the Olaf figure myself using greenstuff and wire.  My youngest daughter played Anna, my oldest Elsa, and I took Olaf.  The wolves were played by the game itself according to a script detailed on custom cards.

The story:

Elsa was startled by her sister entering the room unexpectedly. 

"What is it now?", she asked as she quizzically looked at her sister.

"It's Nona Greta - she's sick!".  Anna looked worried.  "...and the doctor says that in order to cure her he needs a special elixir that he left in her house on the edge of the forest!  I know that house - I can find it and be back in 10 minutes!"

Elsa glanced outside the castle window.  "It's getting dark Anna...."

"I know, we need to hurry!" Anna replied.

"Anna - you know the Kristoff and Castle Guard left on their training exercise two days ago - we'd be all alone without support or protection.  What about the wolves?"

"Its a danger that you and I are going to need to face, Elsa."

Just then, Olaf entered the room, and added, "I can help out too!"

With that, Elsa confidentially said, "Let's hurry!"

The game uses custom-made sheets based on the rules from the new version of Warhammer Quest.  Elsa is the best at combat, Anna has the ability to heal, while Olaf is able to provide support via his ability to stun his opponents.  The direwolves are fast and increase their number of attacks while other direwolves are near.

The objective was to have Anna enter the house, find and obtain the elixir (needing a roll of 6+), and then return to the castle walls before any hero character was defeated by the wolves.  The direwolves entered the table from the forest on the far side of the board.

Luckily, Anna was able to make it to the house and quickly find the elixir.  However, on the return trip to the castle, the wolves all attacked the party at once.  The first round of combat was dangerous, and Anna, Elsa, and Olaf each had only a few wounds left afterwards.  But with Elsa's magic, Anna's healing actions, and Olaf's stun ability, enough healing was performed and damage done to the wolves to reduce their numbers in subsequent turns and provide a respite from their future attacks.  After a few rounds, all the wolves had been defeated, (and they each respawned on the far side of the forest).

The three successfully made it inside the castle as the next pack of wolves approached.

As Anna and Olaf hurried off to deliver the elixir, Anna looked down at the wolves from the castle walls as they approached... they turned and fled into the night as darkness fell on Arendelle....

Relic Knights - Radiant: Candy & Cola

I finished up Relic Knight Candy a few weeks ago, so now Radiant Candy and her fox-tailed friend Cola are both complete.

I tried to paint everything up fairly quickly and used the dipping method, but afterwards I had to repaint Candy's flesh as the dipping media had pooled and left some unsightly blotches.  For the bases, I decided on German Grey to help contrast against the pastels of Candy's Relic.  I also experimented with using glitter glue, to help give the base even more sparkle and shine.  The sparkles don't show well in photographs, but in real-life they give off a nice shimmer in the light.

Oxenfree

Over the last few weeks I've been focused on playing Oxenfree, a game by Night School Studio.  The game is part supernatural thriller, part teen relationship movie, with some of the elements from the Sierra Online adventure games I enjoyed playing as a child.  I can't go into the plot too much without spoiling it, other than it involves a few teens that take an evening trip to an island in the Pacific Northwest.

Some of the things that drew me to Oxenfree were the clean and effective graphics, along with the great soundtrack.  Its creepy atmosphere channels Stranger Things or one of the classic Stephen King movies.  There are few games that have evoked such emotion and nostalgia in a long time. The great character development and intriguing story heavily invested me in the outcome of the story.

I finished the game after five or six hours and greatly enjoyed the whole experience. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a rewarding gaming experience.

Star Wars: Legion - Leak of (Commander) Leia Organa and Rebel Fleet Troopers!

Over in Europe, it appears that an employee of a French games distributor for Fantasy Flight Games took and posted a photo of two unannounced expansions for Star Wars: Legion on Instagram.

We knew that Leia would be one of the upcoming Rebel releases, but the surprise is that this release of Leia is her wearing her Endor combat gear -- most bets had been on her sporting her Hoth outfit.

Additionally, while most were expecting that Rebel Hoth Troopers would be announced as an upcoming expansion, it now appears that the next Rebel expansion will be Rebel Fleet Troopers, (the Rebel Troopers as seen in A New Hope).

I'm very excited for this news, as the vanilla Rebel Troopers have always been my favorite!

Star Wars: Legion - Comparison of Legion's AT-ST to Imperial Assault's AT-ST

Fantasy Flight Games just released a photo showing the differences in size between the Star Wars: Legion's AT-ST and Imperial Assault's AT-ST - the results are quite telling.

Legion's Scout Walker is almost twice the size and one can easily pick more exact detailing in Legion's tabletop model when compared to Imperial Assault's boardgame miniature.

There were many wanting to use their Imperial Assault Scout Walker miniature as a proxy, but this picture puts a dagger into that idea for those who would like representative scaling in their wargaming sessions.

Relic Knights - Radiant: Cola

I tried to finish up Radiant Relic Knight Candy and her cypher Cola a few nights ago.  Cola is now completely done, but I needed to make a few fixes to Candy from the pooling effects of the dipping media.

Cola was painted in a few basic colors, highlighted, then dipped using Mixwax Polyshade.  I used some glitter glue on the base to give the model some sparkle and shine (being a Radiant model).  The glitter glue effect seems to work well on the tabletop, but doesn't translate well to photography.

Merry Christmas!

Best holiday wishes to you and yours....

Star Wars: Legion - Snowtroopers and General Veers

Fantasy Flight Games has announced two new Unit Expansions for the upcoming Star Wars: Legion miniature game:

• General Veers, and
• Snowtroopers.

These announcements bring additional cards and abilities to some of the units available in the Starter Set, but the biggest revelations is the price for the Veers Commander expansion, which helps give a view into upcoming costs of future Commander expansions, (like Leia - the likely next previewed Commander).

Imperials:

• Snowtroopers Unit Expansion $24.95
• General Veers Commander Expansion $12.95

I'm looking forward to additional Unit Expansion previews over the next few weeks as we approach the launch of the game in early 2018.

Rules of Survival

My iOS gaming these days is limited to playing pretty much one game - Rules of Survival, a great PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) clone for the iPad.  Despite disliking most competitive online shooters, the awkwardness in the controls is a benefit to me, since my lack of skill compared to other players isn't as much as a handicap, comparatively speaking.

Another reason I enjoy the game is that it is as much about hiding and sneaking as it is about shooting.  My typical strategy is:

1. Jump off the airplane as soon as allowed,
2. Glide as far as fast as possible, getting to ground quickly,
3. Gather as many supplies as possible from the nearest buildings,
4. Start heading toward the center of the safe zone,
1. Using a vehicle, if possible,
2. Otherwise, running (when concealed) or crawling (in open),
5. Take opportunity shots against other player only if I'm almost guaranteed a kill,
6. Hang out in the middle of the safe zone until end game, letting the other players and the constricting safe zone winnow out the competition.

I've been in the final 2 one time, and in the top 3 more than a few times.  I haven't yet come out on top yet, but hope to sometime.  But even without coming out on top, the game is a blast to play.

Star Wars: Legion - Next Two Commanders Announced!

We all know that Luke and Vader will be the initial commanders released in the Core Set, but the December issue of Tabletop Gaming (Issue 13) has spoiled who the two new commanders will be in the game. 

It will be no other than Leia Organa and General Veers joining Luke and Vader as options in the next few months.  No further details have been released yet, but I'm expecting more information in the near future.

Tabletop Gaming Magazine is only available for purchase in the UK, but you can buy a digital version of the issue here:
https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/board-games/store/back-issues/tabletop-gaming/tabletop-gaming-issue-13

In our first monthly issue (December) of Tabletop Gaming we have an exciting first look at massive miniatures game Star Wars: Legion, as its designers tell us about recreating the battles of the original trilogy on the tabletop and following up X-Wing.

Star Wars: Legion - Core Set Miniatures

The core set of Star Wars: Legion was announced a few moths ago, but a number of recent images help provide a view into the quality and variety of the miniatures:

The Rebel contents contains two unique miniatures - Luke and the AT-RT.  The rest of the models contain duplicates, leading to seven miniatures that are included twice.

The Imperial side is much the same, with two unique Speeder Bikes, and one Vader miniature.  The remaining models contain duplicates, meaning there are six miniatures that are included twice.

It is too early to tell how much customization these miniatures will allow for, but once we see the sprues it will be easier to determine how easy it will be to slightly modify the non-unique miniatures.  It would be really nice to have a separate bits sprue to allow some customization between similar miniatures, but I'm guessing an official accessories sprue is not likely to be released anytime soon.

"Painting" 40K Space Marines with Sharpie Pens - Completed Land Speeder

A few weeks ago I started to assemble and paint a Build+Paint Land Speeder for the small Sharpie-painted Ultramarines force.

Over the weekend I completed the Land Speeder, and I think it turned out well for the time and effort spent.  The last few steps were to dip the model, apply the decals, glue in the drive and gunner, re-apply dipping media over the decals.  I finally applied a matte spray to tone down the reflection of the dipping media to complete the model.

There are a few touch-ups needed to be made with a fine Sharpie pen, (in areas where I still see some blue where it shouldn't be). As a proof of concept, it was a success.  The metallic Sharpie pens worked great and saved a ton of time painting those colors.

I probably won't paint any miniatures solely with Sharpie pens alone going forward, but for models with some metallic colors, I'll be sure to pull out the Sharpies - at least for easy to mark areas.