Daily Chronicle: Organizing The Mancave

I have two months until my oldest son moves up North and I thought today was a good time to re-organize the mancave and make some room for his gaming items.  Currently the closet in what will be his bedroom held all the family board games so those were going to have to come down into the basement, then my current miniature gaming shelves in the basement I was going to have to re-organize and make some more room.

Recently the chain store Target closed in our area and this past Thursday they held an online auction for items that were left behind.  I have never took part in one of these before but there were a few items I was interested in.  One of the items was a ‘Kellogg's Grab and Go’ shelf that I was able to win for $30.00.  I thought this shelf would be perfect to hold all my new in box gaming models that are yet to painted.

I brought the shelves home last night and started to clean them up and remove anything ‘kellogg’ related that I could.  Then this morning the real cleaning started.  First I had to build new shelves to hold the family board games, then I had to remove all the items on my gaming shelves and slide them over a bit so I could fit the the 5 shelf rack.

Now I think I ‘should’ have enough room to hopefully store what we bring up with him on the moved.  I know I have a few more army bags left in AZ that may come up and some more foam trays.  One half the board game shelves will probably be used for any gaming terrain.  My gaming table is right in the middle of the room and this will make it easier to set up the table.

Once cleaning was done it was time to get my AdeptiCon frame put together.  When I came back from SteamCon in December I thought it would be cool to frame some of the items I received.  I decided to do the same for AdeptiCon, I wish I would have thought of this idea years ago from when I first started going to cons.

Read More

Daily Chronicle: Broken Egg Games Warmachine/Hordes Token Sets

Well today is my birthday...Happy Birthday to me!

A few weeks ago after a Hordes games versus my friend where I prepared all my write on tokens before arriving to his house, only to realize when I got there the ink started to smear off while I was getting my army ready.  That’s when I thought I should go ahead and get some pre-prinited tokens.  For me it is a “catch 22”.  Pre-printed tokens eventually get changed and you need to buy updates, but the write on one’s get smeared off.

When I got home I started to look into two companies that I know that make very nice ones here in the US.  Muse on Minis and Broken Egg Games, both are really nice quality but Broken Egg Games are officially licensed by Privateer Press (and a few dollars more).  I actually had decided on purchasing the Muse on Minis tokens (they are officially licensed to make Guild Ball tokens and those are very nice) and I was going to get a Circle Orboros set for my son but while asking him if he already had a set, he had told me that he purchased the Broken Egg Games tokens   At that point he told me that he also purchased Minions, Trollbloods and Khador for me as a birthday present (he was going to surprise me with them at AdeptiCon but he did not want me to purchase my own sets).  Last weekend at AdeptiCon he brought them with him and they are gorgeous.  I first learned of the Broken Egg Games tokens at Lock & Load 2016, Adam (the owner of Broken Egg Games) showed my son and I the proof of concept on what the tokens would look like and they looked nice just on paper.

Now the problem I had is trying to get all my tokens organized.  There are just too many to fit in my current dice/token tray so I decided to break them up into baggies per Warcaster/Warlock the best I can.  When I came around to organizing Khador there were some spells that only came with one token, but their were multiple Warcaster who have that spell.  I decided for those to place the spell in the bag of the Warcaster I used the most.  By using the baggies, this will speed up a little time getting organized before the game starts and the leftover Solo/Unit tokens fit nicely into my tray.

Now all I need is the Minions 2018 update pack which I hope they release very soon.

Read More

Daily Chronicle: Muse On Minis Game Tracker Steam Punk

During my visit through the vendor hall at AdeptiCon 2018, I stopped at the Muse on Minis booth just to glance at some of their tokens and to see if they had with them their Game Tracker:Steam Punk scoring and objective point tracker.  Sure enough they did, so this was another item I “had” (wanted) to have for playing games of Warmachine and Hordes.  It is 3D pre-printed on thin mdf and yesterday I took some time to assemble it, from what I can tell so far, it looks like the dials can count up to 20 for objective purposes (which is usally enough for games of WM/H).  Glue was not really needed during the assembly, but I went ahead and used some white glue in a few places just to make it even more secure.  To purchase one for yourself, you can find them on the Muse on Minis store HERE.

Read More

Hordes: Trollbloods Skaldi Bonehammer (Unit)

With AdeptiCon 2018 being last weekend, I did not have any time to prep/build many models to paint for this week.  I still had one ready to go and that is ‘Skaldi Bonehammer’.  ‘Skaldi Bonehammer’ is a Command Attachment for the ‘Trollkin Champions’.  One of the main benefits ‘Skaldi’ provides to the ‘Trollkin Champions’ is he grants Pathfinder to the entire Unit.  With how terrain is placed with SR2017 (and I am sure it will be the same in SR2018), there is a lot more terrain now towards the center of the board.  Pathfinder will not hinder the Units movement through terrain.

With the end of my Painting Quarter coming to an end on Saturday, I am not sure if anything else will be done this week.  I need to look at my Painting Queue and re-priortize my models with everything that I just purchase last weekend and from what my son brought up with him.  There are a few Minion models that may have to priority over my Trollbloods so I can be sure they are done in time for the NOVA Open and the end of August.

Skaldi Bonehammer

Skaldi Bonehammer

Painting Points: 2

Read More

Weekly Chronicle 2018 #12: AdeptiCon 2018 Recap

It is now Monday and I am back from AdeptiCon 2018 so it is time for my Weekly Chronicle.  Obviously with most of time over the weekend being spent at AdeptiCon, not too much was done in my hobbying aspect.  I did manage to get 2 models completed and posted last week, and then it was prep time for AdeptiCon.

Now it is time for a semi-short AdeptiCon 2018 recap.  I did post a few photos from Days 1-3 while I was there, and today I’ll go into a little bit more.

Thursday March 22nd, 2018 Day 1

Thursday was my sons and I travel/shopping day.  I left Michigan around 10:00 AM and arrived at Midway Airport in Chicago around 11:00 AM local time and waited for my son to land from Phoenix, AZ.  By the time he landed and we got his bags it just after noon and we headed towards the convention center in Schaumburg, IL.  Arriving in Schaumburg around 1:00 PM we went straight to the registration area and checked-in and collected our swag bags.

The swag bag was probably my only disappointment from the weekend.  For some reason, I received 1/2 the items that my son received in his bag.  Grant it, most of the items in the swag bags I will never use, but the items my son received that I did not, I probably would have.  A few examples is: a Warmachine/Hordes Command Book, God Tear miniature, AdeptiCon 2018 Pin and a few pots of paint.  I know bags are limited in the items received, but mine was half empty compared to his.  We did each receive a copy of Guild Ball Kick-Off from Steamforged Games and Dark Age 2 Player Starter Set from CMON.  In all honesty since we already had Kick-Off, I will probably try and sell it.  The Dark Age starter set we actually may open and give it a try.

Some of the AdeptiCon swag

After registration we hauled our swag bags back to car (so we would not have to carry everything since we will be shopping soon) and headed back inside the convention center.  We decided to get a quick bite to eat from the food that was offered inside (we kept it on the cheap side since we would be going out to dinner).  After lunch it was time to hit the vendor hall and do some shopping.  I am usually more excited for the vendor hall than I am actually for the gaming at these conventions.  Well not to disappoint, the vendor hall was awesome.

Vendor Hall

Vendor Hall

Of course I spent quite a bit of money through out the weekend on models that I “needed”, but I actually held back and did NOT buy into any new games (sort of).  Every day I was lured back to the Malifaux area and so tempted to buy some models and a mini rulebook, but I held back (I kept telling myself that I usually do not have time to play another game and need to concentrate on my Warmachine/Hordes and Guild Ball). We did see a lot of other cool games like a fantasy skirmish game called Freeblades and of course Fantasy Flights new game Star Wars Legion.  Even with Star Wars Legion I decided to hold back and I am not getting into that game.  X-Wing tempted me again and when my son moves back in June I’m sure we’ll get in a few games with the models we already have.  So for the ‘new’ game that I did actually purchase, it was Knight Models Batman Miniature Game (just the new rulebook and ‘Two-Face Crew Starter Set’). I mentioned in my first post of the year that this is a game I may try to get into (my son really loves this game, so I am doing it to give him someone to play when he moves here).  Other than that, it was mainly models for Warmachine/Hordes that I purchased and a few board games for the family.  I also was a little disappointed that Steamforged Games did not have the new Minor Guild Ratcatcher’s on pre-release, nor they did not have any of the new Game Plan Decks for sale (I had heard that a pallet with the cards did not arrive in time).

Batman Miniature Game

Muse on Minis Turn Counter

Warmchine/Hordes

Warmachine/Hordes

Board games

Hobby supplies

Once shopping was completed for the day for the first time, it was time to check-in and just relax a bit before dinner.

Friday March 23rd, 2018 Day 2

Friday was our first day of gaming.  I was signed up in the Warmachine/Hordes “Who’s the Boss?” Tournament, and my son was playing in the Batman Miniatures Game Tournament.

“Who’s the Boss?” was a unique event for Warmachine/Hordes and I liked the concept of the event.  The part I did not like is that the 2 games I played (both losses) my opponents were still geared towards winning the actual game, rather than gaining the achievements we were suppose to get.  So it really did not feel much like a unique event.  I tried to get some of the achievements but just fell short a few times.  After 2 games I decided to pack up and do more shopping.

50 Point Khador Army for “Who’s the Boss?”

My son started off really good in his Batman Miniature Game tournament going 2-0 and got his hopes up really high, and then he lost his next 2 games finishing 2-2 for the event.  But he played all his games and he had a lot of fun.

After dinner Friday night my son and I headed back to the Guild Ball room and played a game with our Homelands Cup lists to prepare for Sundays event.  It was a fun game and different.  I was up like 10-4 and then my son clocked out. I earned 1 more point from the clock out, 11-4 and when it was my turn I managed to get in another goal making the final 15(12)-4.

Saturday March 24th, 2018 Day 3

Saturday my son and I were signed up for the Warmachine/Hordes Team Tournament.  Going into the event we were both pretty excited but that changed during game 1.  We did not bring a “bag of tricks” with us but our opponents did.  So when our entire army cannot do anything for 2 turns and we lose 5-0 on control points, it was not fun.  Plus there was one thing that really irked me about our opponents.  I know it is a competitive game played with chess clocks, but every time my son would mark damage on his card, our opponent would switch the clock back to us and then leave it on us while he attacked again, he would swap the clock back to them when he was done attacking.  Now this is “alright” to do if someone is taking too long marking damage, but my so was not, he ha the card right in front of him and marked right away...then leaving the clock on us while he still attacked bothered the shit out of me.

Well after losing that game my son and I decided to just turn in our game sheet and move to an open table and get in a couple of fun games between trhe two of us.

Barnabas 2 and Kromac 2 (our Team Tournament army)

Sunday March 25th, 2018 Day 4

Sunday was suppose to be our day to play in the Guild Ball Homelands Cup but when we woke I asked my son if he just wanted to head to Michigan so he can see his mom for the day.  My wife happened to be off for the day so I thought it would be nice for them to spend a little time together before he flies back to Arizona on Monday (today).  We did get in a game of Warmachine down in the mancave, Khador vs Cygnar with no clocks.  I (Khador) ended up winning 12-6 (but I finshed off Stryker 2 for fun).

I looked online to see how many showed up for Homelands Cup and they had 4 players, so we might have had a chance...I kind of wish that we played, but it was also kind of nice to get back to MI earlier in the day.

Well thats AdeptiCon 2018...not sure what we’ll play in for AdeptiCon 2019, too early to tell.  Probably after NOVA Open we may have a better idea.

Week #12

Models Completed: 2

Trollbloods: Pyre Troll

Trollbloods: Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia

Games Played: 7

Read More

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2018 Day 3 3/24/2018

Day 3 completed and not too many photos today, seems like I am getting worse and worse with remembering to take photos.  My son and I started the day playing in the Warmachine/Hordes Team Tournament and then got in a couple of smaller friendly games in, and then a liitle more shopping.

Read More

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2018 Day 2 3/23/2018

Day 2 of AdeptiCon 2018 is now completed.  I got to play 2 games of Warmachine in the Who’s the Boss event (both loses) and a practice game of Guild Ball in the evening for a win.  Was also able to get some more shopping done during the day for some more items that I wanted.

Read More

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2018 Day 1 3/22/2018

Well my son and I made it to AdeptiCon 2018 in Schaumburg, IL.  Today was just a travel day and shopping day for us and boy did I get a lot of items checked off my list.  I am still missing one item, so it looks like it will be an online order when I get back.

Mainly these daily posts will just be of a few photos that I took.  I will “try” for a slightly more detailed recap next week.

Read More

Daily Chronicle: Off To AdeptiCon 2018

The countdown time on the right shows 0:00:00:00 and that means today is the day for AdeptiCon 2018!

My bags are all packed and shortly I will be making my way towards Schaumburg, IL (via a stop at Midway airport to pick up my oldest son).  I am excited for this one, I am registered in three events and I am just going to play them to have a fun time (hopefully I can remember all the rules).

Today will be our travel/shopping day checking out all the vendors in the vendors hall.  I have my shopping list all ready to go and as always there is more on there than the budget allows.  We shall see, I may have to priortize my purchases to the items I am actually going to use and not just want.

Hopefully at the end of each day I will do a quick photo dump here on the blog, I figured out a new way to do a photo slide slow here on blogger and I am curious to see how it works out.

My schedule for the weekend:

Thursday: Travel/Shopping

Friday: Warmachine/Hordes ‘Who’s The Boss ?’ Tournament

Saturday: Warmachine/Hordes ‘Team Tournament’

Sunday: Guild Ball ‘Homelands Cup’ Tournament

Read More

Hordes: Trollbloods Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (Warlock)

‘Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia’ or better know as ‘Doomshaper 2’ is my first Warlock completed in my green theme and only my second Warlock for my Trollbloods army.  You can click on the “Armies” tab above and few all my completed models.  Originally when I bought the ‘Doomshaper’ Warlocks back in MkII, they were known to run with the ‘Glacier Kings’, though in MkIII that slightly changed, but the ‘Doomshapers’ are still good to run with Warbeast heavy lists, and that is the playstyle I am looking for with the Trollbloods.  Warbeasts in ‘Doomshapers 2’ gain FIELD MARSHALL [OVERTAKE] plus he has quite a few spells geared toward his Warbeasts like PRIMAL SHOCK along with his FEAT: SCROLL OF GRIMMR.

I also have the ‘Doomshaper 1’ and ‘Doomshaper 3’ models that will eventually need to be painted, but I am looking at possibly purchasing/painting ‘Madrak 1’ before that so I can also have an infantry Warlock.

Doomshaper 2

Doomshaper 2

Painting Points: 2

Read More

Hordes: Trollbloods Pyre Troll (Warbeast)

I enjoy painting Warbeasts, maybe with me getting up in age, they are easier to see.  I had this model the ‘Pyre Troll’ sitting in my bin of Trollblood models and just decided to open him and get him painted.  I believe I know only have one unpainted Warbeast left and that one is suppose to be in my blue scheme, but we’ll see, maybe he’ll be green also.  I know when my sone visits in a few days for AdeptiCon, he will be bringing me the Warbest ‘Rok’ so that one will keep me busy for a bit, and then I will have to get to painting some Units, though there will be a few items I will need to get to for my Minions army.  Like I mentioned yesterday, after AdeptiCon I’ll have to re-prioritize my queue a little bit.

This the second model I am posting with a different camera setting that I used for the lat year, so far I am liking it.  I amy look for a better back drop at AdeptiCon on Thursday.

Pyre Troll

Pyre Troll

Painting Points: 2

Read More