Holiday Gaming

Belated Merry Christmas to all. In the never ending attempt to find that ruleset that combines the right balance in playability and fun for my collection of Mechwarrior minis, I picked up Battletech: Alpha Strike. LeadAddict and I played the original Battletech when it first came out many moons ago. We liked it mainly for it's concept of giant stumpy robots duking it out on the war ravaged battlefields of the future. Never mind that using giant, expensive (as in the GDP of most countries) in just plain dumb. A lowly grunt with a shoulder fired missile launcher could bring one down, and missing is almost impossible. Never mind that the original models were direct rip-offs of Robotech. We were 13!

Yes, the buildings need paint...

Infantry try to keep pace with the mech.

The original rules were a grind. Hundreds of little ovals to fill in every time you took damage. Keeping track of heat build up. So, when I read a several positive reviews of the new, improved quick rules, boasting of fielding several mechs at a time, I had to at least try.

Infantry disembark

They were worth it. The rules are split into introductory, standard, and advanced. The Intro rules are very basics and really only use mechs. As I have a ton of tanks and infantry, I used Standard.
Everyone had picked up the rules by turn 2, with the only reason to check the QRS, was for movement modifiers to hit. Where the game could real shine is with all the bells and whistles.
Now, I just need more mechs.

That was last week. Last night there were only a few of us. I've had some old boardgames around that needed dusting off. One was an old standard, Wizard Kings by Columbia Games. It's a "block game". Really, an upgrade of the old chit games of old. All the info on you troops is there on the wooden block. You get the added bonus of Fog of War as only you see what on the blocks by standing them on their sides. The was a titanic struggle between Orcs, Amazons, Elves and Undead. As the Undead player, I had cheap troops, but slow (Oh, zombies..) or really expensive highly class undead. My swift moving vampires captured two cities single handed. We played 10 turns, and my undead hordes pulled out a win. The geomorphic maps make replay endless. The would be a great campaign system for Mayhem.
That's it. One more week of freedom, then back to my job that lasts only tip February. Then the grey unknown.

Bolt Action

Rather than just repeat what John over at Curio Clashes did, I thought I'd just link to his post on last Thursday's Bolt Action game HERE . I will add, however, I have really liked what Warlord has done so far (Black Powder, Hail Caesar). These not so much. I will give them a replay as I think we probably did some things wrong, but I find them way too vanilla. So far, I'm digging Victory Decision more, and am excited about the their newest Future Combat.

More painted minis, more Longstreet

Up first, some retro Sci-Fi miniatures for a top secret project in the works. Emperor Xorg's Imperial Navy. I wanted these guys to have a Naval Landing troop color scheme/vibe.

After that, more 10mm goodness for Maurice/Might & Reason. The Elite Swiss Guard of the Arch-Duchy of Volborg.

Finally, battle one of the year 1863 for Longstreet. This is the midpoint of the war. The Union is getting more troops. Units are getting more experience and training, but in some cases, also getting battered. One Union regiment went to the field with 3 stands!

The scenario was #8: the Cornfields. (I gotta work on my fields) The standing crops didn't prove much of a barrier to either side. The Rebs started out aggressive, but quickly began to fight a holding action. LS favors the the side that engages in combat the most. The most an attacker takes in a charge is one stand loss. So when possible ATTACK!
The fight ended as a draw, but I think maybe the Union took the most losses. That's OK, they can afford it.

Objectives

Two different ways.

Here are some gaming objectives I painted up. They could be used for any number of games, but mostly Pulp Alley for now. I thought of painting little scenes on the amphoras, but I looked at the painting table and decided there were other things that needed work before that.

The other objectives are personal. With my job finishing up at some point in the near future I embark on the great unknown. When I found out I was getting laid off, the first thing my said was , "well, now you can do something you want. What's the point of getting up every day and going to a job you don't love?"

I don't have a job lined up, but I'm hoping it can be something from home so I can start on a life long dream of creating games and minis. Both are a tough gig. I wrote my own rules, published and unpublished for years. Many times my projects have been stalled due the fact I work all day in the creative world, and don't have much left when I get home. Also, my mac died many moons ago.

I bought a new one last week. Top of the line. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.

Objective one reached.

The sketch book comes out tonight.