Friday, April 29, 2011

Crimson Skies Thursday

I just had to try out the new table top and all it's hexey goodness. And since I've always had a weakness for Crimson Skies, this week's game was an obvious choice.
"Border raids into Missouri by ISA forces have steadily increased. Coupled with the ISA providing weapons to sympathizers in St. Louis, Confederate forces felt that had to act. A daring raid on a suspected munitions factory just across the MIssissippi would send the message to the Industrial States to stay out of the CSA."
Brave Confederate pilots begin their run
CSA forces consisted of a Behemoth fighter-bomber escorted by a light Valiant, a Bandit ground attack ship and a Curtiss Warhawk (pictured at the top).
Intercepting them would be ISA airplanes and a mercenary pirate gang (the Flying Monkeys) consisting of 2 Brigands, a Cutlass, a Vampire and 2 Defenders.
The pilots plot their moves
The bomber had to cross the table and drop his bombs to be successful. From the start he was in trouble. The pilot of the bomber was going to have to redline the engine all the way. Half of his escort flew off to engage the pirates, leaving the lumbering giant exposed.
The behemoth took a beating starting at turn 2, and the pounding never let up. Only it's armor kept it in the air. He managed to blow an ISA Brigand out the sky with a well placed HE rocket before going down himself.
Lots of shooting this round
The fight only lasted 4 turns, but it was a brawl. I've run this same scenario before with equal forces and the bomber always gets away with it. This time I gave the interceptors more planes and it went completely the other way. Still fun, though.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I guess it's my turn....

I've noticed this award going around and despite the fact it seems like a form of chain letter, I am pleased to announce that this blog has been nominated for a Stylish Blogger Award! Many thanks to El Grego for the nomination (what took you guys so long, huh?)

There are four rules that need to be followed after receipt of this award:

1. Link back and thank the nominating party - Thanks again El Grego!
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Nominate 10-15 other blogs for this award.
4. Contact those bloggers above about the nomination.

Seven things...


• I've worked for almost 20 years at a large greeting card company located in Kansas City. ( Care enough to send the very best. I have kids to put through college.)
• Despite playing with soldiers for most of my life, I've never had a desire to be one. (It's that artist's disdain for authority)
• I rarely miss a Thursday night gaming session.
• I HATE the smell of patchouli (4 years of art school will do that to you.)
• Every Christmas my family and I watch all 13 hours of the extended Lord of the Rings trilogy in one sitting. (OK that's not quite true. We shut it off at Sam's wedding.)
Lead Addict and my wife are convinced I cheat at games. A blatant lie. If I cheated, they'd never know.
• If given a choice, "First the zombies, then the robots, then the tanks."
And now, in no particular order, the next nominees (some are not wargames blogs):

Lead Addict
Dropship Horizon
Battle Royale with Cheeze
LUDstuff
I See Lead People
Emperor vs Elector
Geektactica
and everyone else linked here on the right of your screen....

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Table update

Work on the gaming table continued Saturday. I dropped about $200 at Home Depot and bought some really nice wood to face the rough construction. I faced the top with 1/2" MDF so it's nice and smooth. I painted it the same color as most of my terrain and added hex "corners" so the default top has 5" hexes for Commands and Colors or an aerial combat game.
I'm adding faux "bolts" by glueing dowel caps to make the table, when painted, look like rivetted metal. I'll then give it a rusted look. Steam-punk! Steam-punk!
I've been slowly framing all the military art I've collected over the years, too. It's slowly becoming my dream game room.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Battle of Boscheberg

Franistover's Irish Guards
As every good Unkerlanter knows, the roads in Franistover are terrible. So it was no surprise when good Prince Adalbert raised taxes to help pay for said roads. It was, however, a surprise to the citizens of Boscheberg when their beloved  Schlossenslopp beer got the brunt of the taxation. The town mayor refused to pay, and in an act of near insanity appealed to Franistover's age old rival, Zlobenia for help. A fight was on.
Both forces arrived in late morning (probably because of the state of the aforementioned roads). The Zlobenian center was taking time deploy. Meanwhile, on the Zlob flanks, the cavalry took advantage of open terrain to fly foward. Zlobenia being hilly country, rarely affords a horseman such luxury as open terrain.
On the other side, Franistover forces were also taking their time. Indeed, it was early afternoon before ineffectual cannonade was exchanged. The citizens of Boscheberg lined the walls to watch.
As the Zlobenian cavalry on the right, thundered across the valley, led by the vaunted Ducal Horse Grenadiers in their shining gold breastplates, they spotted the Franistoveran horse still deploying. Now was the chance! But, the Zlobs miscalcualted, and the Franies counter-charged. The Ducal Horse were scattered
and beaten.
The Ducal Horse Grenadiers charge to their doom.
In the center, the Zlobenian cannon was taking a toll on the Franistoveran infantry, but the Guard were still lagging. The Scots Guard has stopped for lunch, it seems.
With the afternoon wearing on, the Zlobenian cavalry on the far left finally came to grips with the Franistoveran horse. They met the same fate as their broters on the opposite end of the field.
The people of Boscheberg, mesmerized by the battle at their doorstep, had forgotten to lock their gates. The Franistoveran grenaiders occupied the streets and houses and seized the brewery. They lined the walls troops and began reigning fire down on the approaching Zlob infantry.
Night, mercifully fell, and the Zlobenians quickly fell back across the border.
Prince Adalbert enjyoed a lovely dinner in the town square, accompanied by a tall mug of Schlossenslopp and the hanging body of the mayor.

We used Might and Reason again, as it is a flawless, fun system that let us play a fairly large game in a short time. As all my miniatures are not done, a careful observer will notice the use of foamcore stand in:
It is everything I can do, not to do switch from 10mm ( doable scale for this campaign) to 28mm which is soooo pretty.
Once everybody gets a firm grip on the rules, we will continue our Unkerlant campaign started a while back. Stay tuned.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

A work in progress...

We are moved. Not everything has been completely unpacked, but is at least on a shelf. Due to cost issues, construction on the wargames table has been scaled back (gotta save up for that pool).
I finished the basic framing. It's 8 x6 and will eventually have built in shelves and a more finished appearance (can you say "steampunk").
But for now, it's at least usable. Have a barrister book shelf to show off the better painted armies.I haven't gamed in weeks, and haven't painted anything in months.
The painting table is at last ready to go. Lots of room to expand.
All those boxes are full of games. Rule books, boardgames, unpainted lead.
Boxes of painted lead. 


Monday, April 18, 2011

Drips

Sorry for the long absence. The title says it all. I've been really sick, and had water in the basement of new home in two places (one right where the game table is going). This morning, on the way to work a black cat ran in front of my car. Awesome.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A shout out to the other blog

Just wanted to take moment to thank everyone who has travelled with me Beyond the Wall (My Old School Dungeons and Dragons blog). This really all started when Lead Addict helped me discover the OD&D revolution. The world Beyond the Wall has let me reconnect with old friends, introduce my kids to something that was special to me growing up, reflex some tired old drawing muscles and create a world somewhere just beyond the horizon. How many things let you do that?
Work, house moves and sports schedules have kept me away too long, so hopefully here in the next few weeks, you'll see new adventures from Gildrid, Gruffydd, Gustav, Laramine, Miss Adventure, Nemon and their new friend, Morey.
Until then, thanks for following along.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Thursday Robofire!

Last Thursday was the opening of the new gaming room. Haven't built the new table, so three 6 x 2 folding tables had to do for now.
I also still have most of my horde in boxes so I needed a game I could throw up fast, and everyone who hadn't played before could pick up quickly. So Robofire! fit the bill.
I haven't painted any new troops and I decided to mix it up a bit. I borrowed an idea from AK-47 Republic and added objectives. Each side got 5 markers (0,5,10,15,20). They placed them anywhere on the board, as long as they were 12' from each other or a table edge. Then, they diced for which side they came in. Ooops! Suddenly that 20 point marker you put on your side is going to get snatched by the other side.
I also made it so you had to hold on an objective for 3 turns to claim it. My mech spent a lot of the game just doing that.
This Saxon APC is actively jamming (defensive manuevers), plus a shot of the objective marker on the right.
There was the occasional loss due to long range sniping, but most of damage was done close up. Sometimes very close up. We haven't had the occasion yet to use close combat. A giant mech seems to be especially good at this. Stomp! Stomp! Squish, squish.
A heavy tank killer supports the advance.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Tis Done

The move has been made. Now I have to go through 40 plus boxes and get organized. Then, it's new table makin' time. After lugging painfully heavy boxes around for 3 days, I've decided to "open" my table design a bit. Oh, and here's some pictures from RECRUITS.
More soon....