March 30, 2019

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2019 Day 4 3/30/2019

Well first off, Happy Birthday to me! yep today is my 45th Birthday and I spent the entire day playing in the AdeptiCon Guild Ball Championships.

The event started at 10:00 AM and after 4 games my son and I were ready to call it a day.  With 38 players registered, it was going to be a 6 Round event.

I started off my Game 1 vs an acquaintance Ray from Michigan, and his Butcher's managed to beat my Butcher's 12-8 and it was a very fun game.  I enjoy starting off tournaments against people I know.

Game 2 was another mirror matchup vs Max from Wisconsin.  This game Max totally controlled me and he easily won 12-0.  I started off 0-2 and my son was sitting 1-1.

Game 3 I got to play Justin from Indiana playing Fisherman (who actually I have met once at our South Bend store) and I actually pulled out a 12-4 win (even with a Goal by the Butcher's.

Game 4 was against another Fisherman Guild played by Doug  (who my son had beaten earlier), Doug had managed to get the win on me 12-4 but 'Shank' had missed 2 Goal's in the game that cost me the win.

At this time it was now 6:00 PM and we played 4 games that I was shooting for and I was happy to be sitting 1-3, my son also had finished 1-3.  It was now time to go out for a birthday dinner to Tilted Kilt.

Once we arrived back it was time to watch Alex Botts (Butcher's) vs Cory Burns (Farmer's) on Table 1 for the Guild Ball Championship, Alex Botts won the game 12-6 and it was interesting watching him play.

There is a lack of pictures for today since I was busy playing most of the day.

March 29, 2019

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2019 Day 3 3/29/2019

Friday was Day 3 for AdeptiCon and it did not go as scheduled for myself.  My son went downstairs early for his Batman Miniatures Game tournament and I was heading down an later and I was entered in the X-Wing System Open Qualifier.  At the last minute I decided to bail out on the event and continue to check out the vendor hall.

I wanted to get in a demo game of Arestia! from Corvus Belli, so one of the founders of Corvus Belli, Carlos game taught me how to play the game.  This was the game I was eyeing before coming to AdeptiCon as a quick play game to have done within an hour.  I enjoyed the game a lot, so stay tuned next week for some posts about it.

When I was done with the vendor hall for the morning, I decided to head upstairs for lunch and a quick break before heading back down with my Guild Ball stuff.  If someone was going to ask to play, I might as well get a game in.

While watching my friend Josh play a friendly with his Fisherman's Guild, Alex Botts (World's #1 Player) asked me if I wanted to get a game in...hell yea!  Since I know Alex like to play Butcher's and that is the Guild I was playing, I asked if he wanted to play the mirror match-up, he decided to bring out the new Cook's Minor Guild for our game.  Alex totally controlled the flow of the game, yes I managed a Take Out, yes I managed a Goal, but he just dominated the pitch for a 12-6 win with his Cook's, it was fun game though and Alex is a friendly player to play against.

After that game was over, it was time for re-fill of my cup with some Jim Beam. well that was a mistake, when that drink was done, I found myself back in the vendor hall making another new game purchase with Judgement.  It seems my friends from Grand Rapids are all getting into this game so I decided to get 3 models for myself and 3 models for my son and we can start some 3v3 battles.  Hopefully we'll be able to get up there for a few games.

Once my son was done with his BMG tournament which he finished 1-3 it was time to get some dinner at one of my favorite Italian Beef places, Buona (better than Portillo's).  When he got back we headed to the 2nd floor and hang out with some friends watching some Judgement games.

Tomorrow is the big day with the AdeptiCon Guild Ball Championships.

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2019 Day 2 3/28/2019

Day 2 for AdeptiCon has come and gone.  Today was going to be our shopping day with a little bit of gaming.

The vendor hall opened up at 10:00 AM and we were downstairs right when it opened.  We walked up and down each aisle just handing my wallet to every vendor we see, not really but we did purchase a lot.  Mainly I was able to purchase the items I needed with once exception.  It seems like each year there is always a new game I want to get into, well just before AdeptiCon I was eyeing a new game and I did make the purchase, I am saving that post for when I arrive back home.

Some of the vendors we did purchase from were : Broken Egg Games (Tharn CID and Destiny tokens), Muse On Minis (Miners, Cooks. New Captain tokens), Army Painter (washers), and some terrain for Batman Miniatures Game (dumpsters and bus stop).

Once shopping was completed it was time to get ready for the Guild Ball Early Bird Open.  With then event starting at 3:00 PM, we had a feeling we would only be playing 2 games before we headed out for dinner, sure enough after 2 games it was about 7:00 PM so we headed our to Red Robin.  I did want to say that really enjoyed my second game vs Nathan Pullan and his Fisherman, it was a close lose for my Butcher's 10-12.

After dinner my son and I decided to get in a friendly game of Guild Ball and I decided to play something different with my Captain being 'Filet', another close one and I lost this game 10-12 also but lost the last point on the clock.

It was a pretty long day today wrapping up our gaming around 11:00 PM.

Tomorrow we have the X-Wing System Open Series.


March 28, 2019

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2019 Day 1 3/27/2019

Day 1 for AdeptiCon was mainly a travel day for my son and I.  We left Michigan around noon our time and made it slowly towards the Chicagoland area.

On our way we stopped at a gaming store in Lemont called Gamestorm that I had heard about to check out the store and see what they have in stock.  I knew they carried a decent range of Warmachine/Hordes models so I wanted to check to see if they had any of the new Circle models for mys son.  Sure enough they did, they had the new Warlock, 'Iona the Unseen', so we purchased her a few bottle of paint and got back into the car.

We arrived to the hotel sometime around 3:00 PM and proceeded to check-in and luckily our room was ready for us, then it was just the usual of unloading the car.

Once we were all settled it was time to go downstairs and get the lay of the land, similar to last years setup.  We ran into Jeff Chua, one of the founders of AdeptiCon and a gaming friend from back in the day and we chatted for awhile to catch up.  We did talk about the expansion of AdeptiCon and there is not really any more venues that AdeptiCon cold move into besides the convention center in Rosemont (which because of the union, the badge prices would have to double).   I did not want to keep him to occupied since he looked busy still setting everything up so we then parted our ways.

Toledo Game Room was already setup outside the main vendor hall with their tables selling items and we went over to check what they had.  I did purchase a Guild Ball pin which was 40% off and couple of the new Citadel painting handles in 50mm.

We then proceeded fo an earlier dinner so we could come back for badge check-in to one of my favorite restaurants in the area, Yu's Mandarin, back from the day when I used to work up here.

After dinner it was about time for AdeptiCon badge pick up and the line was forever long.  We decided to catch a movie in the room (Tag) and then check the line afterwards.  That was a smart idea, when we headed back down, there basically was no line and we walked right up to the "U-Z" line.

I only purchased one swag bag this year, there was no need for us to have double the items, and to be honest I do not think we will be using any of it.  Warhammer Underworlds is a thought, but the models are not do anything for me.  TANKS is also an option and something I had thought about.  I am glad Steamforged Games included an item, but it is the first Farmer's Guild box which I already have.  The big item in the bag was the starter set A Song Of Ice & Fire from CMON, this box set retails for $150.00  The box says the game is played in 45-60 minutes, so this may be an option, I am looking for the quick play games.

OK.... time to get ready for Day 2.

March 27, 2019

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2019 Officially Starts Today!

AdeptiCon 2019 officially starts today and in just a few hours my son and I will hit the road and make our way to Schaumburg, IL.  The drive is not bad at all, only 2.5 hours and we'll take our time getting there.  Hotel check-in is not till like 3-4 PM so there is not much to do beforehand since badge pickup does not start till 7:00 PM.


I believe we have everything all ready to go for the car.  Guild Ball Guilds and accessories, Batman Miniature Game models, X-Wing ships all fit in our Battlefoam Tournament Bag.  Then we are bringing some Arena Rex with us packed in the black Battlefoam bag (with terrain) in case we want to get in some open gaming Friday night and show our friend Frank how it plays.

Stay tuned for updates through out the weekend!

March 26, 2019

Guild Ball: Hunter's Guild 'Steeljaw'

Well I was able to get another model completed just in time for AdeptiCon 2019 (just in case my son will be adding this model to his roster).  'Steeljaw' the new Captain for the Hunter's Guild is now completed. 

'Steeljaw' is one of the four new Captains released on March 1st and my third one completed.  It may be awhile before I get to the fourth ('Yukai') since I gave my model to my friend while he waits for his purchase to arrive.


 Steeljaw

Steeljaw

Painting Points: 1

Battle Report: Arena Rex 3/25/2019 Ludus Magnus vs Legio XIII (3v3)

Wow, I cannot believe it has been three months since our last game of Arena Rex, and the first game of 2019, I do miss the quickness of the game play, I may have to remember that as I am shopping the aisle of the vendor hall at AdeptiCon this week.

We played the scenario "Duellum" which we played once before back in October of 2018.

Scenario: Duellum
Two Gladiators take center stage while their cohorts jockey for position and favor.  The grand melee begins when one of the duelists falls.

Special Rules: Each player secretly selects one gladiator from their cohort to take part in the duel.  Dueling models may not voluntarily leave the duel zone.  No other models may enter the duel zone until one of the dueling gladiators is defeated or pushed completely outside of the zone.  Dueling models must be activated if they are Ready.

Deployment: A 5" diameter ring is placed at the center of the arena, this is the duel zone.  The dueling gladiators are deployed in base contact with one another at the center of the duel zone.  Remaining models deploy in base contact with their controlling player's arena edge.

Cohorts: Both players bring cohorts of equal value.

Restrictions: Each player must bring at least one gladiator.  Gladiators selected for the duel may not have more than one stage.

Victory Conditions: The last player with models remaining in the arena is the victor.

The Arena setup.

 Both Ludus lose their men in the zone.


Down to the last two men standing, and Micon was able to push Gaius Pallidus into the pits for the victory.

March 25, 2019

Weekly Chronicle 2019 #12 (Week of AdeptiCon 2019)

"Monday, Monday, so good to me"
It was a pretty good week for me last week and this week will be even better with AdeptiCon 2019 starting in just 2 days on Wednesday.  Check-in begins Wednesday night and all the gaming and shopping begins on Thursday.

Let's recap week #12 first before we move onto this week.  Although I did not play any games during the week, I did manage to get in 2 games of X-Wing on Saturday and 2 games of Guild Ball on Sunday, those 4 games were very much needed for this week events.

I also managed to get some painting done with completing 2 models and started work on a 3rd.  Limited Edition 'Mataagi' for the Falconer's Guild and the new Captain 'Mourn' for the Mortician's Guild were completed this past week.

Now we move onto the biggest event of the year, AdeptiCon 2019, and I am so looking forward to attending this year.  AdeptiCon 2019 which is in it's 17th year, will actually be my 10th year attending.  I missed out on the very first AdeptiCon 2002, but started attending with 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017 and 2018.  Between 2010-2017 I was living out west in Arizona so my son and I had attended some of the West Coast events like the Las Vegas Open and Privateer Press Lock & Load.  Since moving back to the Midwest, this is the cant miss event each year.

What a difference a year makes in this hobby.  Last year I was attending AdeptiCon and mainly playing in Warmachine/Hordes events, the previous year in 2017 it was Bolt Action, and now in 2019 it  is mainly Guild Ball with some X-Wing.

Wednesday is going to be our travel day, not that we are traveling that far (2 hours), but in order to get a hotel room onsite, I had to book the 4 night which runs Wednesday-Saturday nights.  We will probably leave mid-afternoon and get there right about check-in time for the hotel.  Get our bags all moved up to the room and then go out and get some dinner.  AdeptiCon badge check-in does not begin till 7:00 PM, so sometime after dinner we will start to wait in line.

Thursday is our shopping day in the morning, followed by the Guild Ball Early Bird Open at 3:00 PM.  The Early Bird Open was set at 16 players, but I hear they may open it up to more which will cause the event to go later into the night.  My goal for the event is to at least play 2 games and then we shall see what happens.  In regards to shopping, right now I have a fairly small list (mainly needed paints/supplies), but there is always something that catches my eye like a new game to get into.  There is a game that caught my attention last year, and I may have to take another look at it again this year (we shall see).  I am currently happy with what I am currently gaming (mainly Guild Ball and X-Wing) and I still have Arena Rex and a lot of Warmachine/Hordes.....plus I have to finish models for MeSBG.

Friday is my day for X-Wing and the System Open Qualifier, this will actually be my very first X-Wing tournament.  With the System Open Qualifier once you acquire 2 losses you are eliminated, so I think it will be a fairly early day for me, that is ok, more time for shopping and demos.  For my son, it is his day to play in the Batman Miniature Games tournament, he does not get to play BMG that often (actually hardly ever) so he is really looking forward to this event and will be playing all the rounds until it finishes around 6:00 PM.

Saturday is the Guild Ball AdeptiCon Championships and both my son and I are playing.  Like on Thursday, depending on time we shall see how many rounds we will be playing in.  I think we can play 4 rounds and still make it to dinner at a pretty decent time, maybe even 5 rounds.  This is my main attraction for the weekend, so who knows, we may play all rounds and then go out for my birthday dinner.

Sunday was going to be a relaxing day with some last minute shopping before heading home, but at the last minute we added a small event called Chicago's Bootleggers and it is just a small skirmish game taking place during the Prohibition.

Stay tuned this week as I do some daily recaps from AdeptiCon 2019.



March 24, 2019

Battle Report: Guild Ball 3/24/2019 Butcher's vs Hunter's (AdeptiCon Practice)

Seeing how last weekend I did not play in my own event "Cooking with a Roast", I needed some more practice games before I head off to AdeptiCon on Wednesday, so earlier today my son and I were able to get in 2 games (just like our 2 games of X-Wing practice on Saturday).

We both changed up our lineups a bit, I swapped in 'Brisket' this time with my 'Veteran Boar' Captain, and my son for the first time was trying the new Hunter's Captain 'Steeljaw'

The lineups that were played for Game 1 were:

 V Boar
Princess
Boiler
V Ox
Brisket
Shank
 Steeljaw
Snow
V Minx
Seenah
Jaecar
Egret


Like I usually do, I clocked out in this game.  My Butcher's were up 8-2 and then time expired and I lost 8-12.  Once Activation I must have spent like 15-20 minutes thinking about what to do, but 'V Boar' is still new to me and playing with 'Brisket' also changed some things up.  This is just practice and I need to learn from my mistakes.

For Game 2 my son changed his lineup once again and went back to a 'Theron' list, I decided to try the exact same lineup so I could get more practice in.


The lineups that were played for Game 2 were:

 V Boar
Princess
Boiler
V Ox
Brisket
Shank
 Theron
Fahad
V Minx
Seenah
Hearne
Mataagi


Game 2 went much better for me, especially Turn 1 where I was able to setup 'Veteran Ox' perfectly and pull in 4 Hunter's players into 'V Ox'.  The Butcher's were up 9-4 and I had two options to win the game, 'Shank' could charge 'Theron' under 'V Boars' Legendary and finish off 'Theron' and 'V Minx' for the win, or go for the game Game Winning goal.  The clock was getting close to the end of my first 45:00 minutes, so I elected to go for the Goal run with 'Shank', with a Bonus Time shot, 'Shank' scored the Goal hitting 4 with only 1 die.  Butcher's win 13-4.  This game I did play much faster, but I still had some time of slow play, I just need to quickly decide and execute.

I think for the Thursday "Early Bird Open" game at AdeptiCon, I'll probably go with the above list for at least 2 more practice games before Saturday.  Thursday's event does not start till 3:00 PM, so by the time Round 3 starts, it may be getting late for dinner.  I guess we'll play it by ear.

Battle Report: X-Wing 3/23/2019 (AdeptiCon Practice)

Yesterday my son and I played 2 games of X-Wing to get a little more practice for the X-Wing System Open Qualifier at AdeptiCon next Friday.  My son will not be playing in X-Wing (but instead Batman) but he still got in a few games for my much needed practice.

Last time I played a couple weeks back, I was testing a "Fat Han" list with just Han Solo and Wedge, a 2 ship list (Hyperspace legal), but since the AdeptiCon event is a System Open Qualifier and is an Extended Format event, I decided to change a few things up by putting Han on a diet and squeezing in a Bandit Squadron Pilot Z-95 ship.

Game 1:



My List:
Han Wedge Bandit v1.0

(82) Han Solo [Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter]
(5) Nien Nunb
(8) Perceptive Copilot
(6) Veteran Turret Gunner
(5) Lone Wolf
(6) Millennium Falcon
Points: 112

(52) Wedge Antilles [T-65 X-wing]
(2) R4 Astromech
(0) Servomotor S-foils
(5) Hull Upgrade
(6) Outmaneuver
Points: 65

(23) Bandit Squadron Pilot [Z-95-AF4 Headhunter]
Points: 23

Total points: 200

 My Son:
Luke Wedge Norra

(62) Luke Skywalker [T-65 X-wing]
(2) R4 Astromech
(0) Servomotor S-foils
(12) Proton Torpedoes
(2) Instinctive Aim
Points: 78

(52) Wedge Antilles [T-65 X-wing]
(6) Outmaneuver
(2) R4 Astromech
(0) Servomotor S-foils
Points: 60

(55) Norra Wexley [ARC-170 Starfighter]
(4) Veteran Tail Gunner
(2) Predator
Points: 61

Total points: 199

 I learn to fly the YT-1300 a little better than last time and managed to keep the ship on the mat.  My Rebel list was able to destroy all of my son's Rebel ships for the victory.  I did manage to lose my T-65 and my Z-95 in this but the YT-1300 was still flying.


Game 2:

In this Game, I played again with my same list, and my son changed his up a bit by dropping the ARC-170 and adding another T-65 with Biggs.  The 3 Rebel T-65's managed to bring down Han in this game, but my Wedge and my Bandit Squadron Pilot were able to finish them off with the Bandit Pilot getting 2 direct hits to finish off Luke Skywalker.

March 22, 2019

Guild Ball: Miner's Guild Assembled

I had a busy last couple of days assembling models, first with 'Mataagi' and 'Mourn', then 'Steeljaw' and then I decided to work on assembling the new Miner's Minor Guild.

Unlike the previous Minor Guilds; Ratcatcher's, Falconer's, Navigator's and upcoming Cook's which all come as PVC plastic material, the Miner's Minor Guild come as colored resin and need assembly.  I also have the alternate sculpts for 'Salvo' and 'Colossus' so I assembled those at the same time.

At least now they can hit the Pitch and we can see what they can do as a team.



Guild Ball: Mortician's Guild 'Mourn'

With the recent release of three new Captains this past March 1st, my Mortician's were now incomplete and I had to get 'Mourn' completed.  'Veteran Boar' was the first of the new Captains completed since the Butcher's are my go to playing Guild, and yesterday I decided to just quickly paint up 'Mourn' for the Mortician's.  My paint style for the Mortician's is quick and easy (table top quality) so I knew she would not take long to complete.  With that, my Mortician's are back to being completed.


 Mourn

Mourn

Painting Points: 1

March 21, 2019

X-Wing: Wave III Is Available Now

Today March 21st marks the release of Wave III for X-Wing 2.0.  Since the release of X-Wing 2.0 I have not really purchased that many new ships.  Back in Wave 1 I did purchase 'Lando's Millennium Falcon' and couple of 'Fang Fighters', but other than that, my son and I have been playing with our ships (with new upgrades) from 1.0.

There is not really too much also that interests me from today's release of Wave III except for maybe the 'Sith Infiltrator Expansion Pack', this one will come with a pilot card for 'Darth Maul'.

Seeing how AdeptiCon is less than a week away, more than likely any purchases my son and I make we will just wait for AdeptiCon.

Here is a list of ships for the the Wave III release:

Servants of Strife Squadron Pack



Guild Ball: Falconer's Guild 'LE Mataagi'

Back when I purchased "The Falconer's Guild: Daughter of Falcons", I also received a Limited Edition alternate sculpt of 'Mataagi'.  This worked out really nice because 'Mataagi' is also one of the Falconer's that can play for the Hunter's Guild.  With the recent errata change to 'Chaska', my son has been trying out 'Mataagi' more and more and I thought now would be a perfect time to get him completed just in time for AdeptiCon.


 Mataagi

Mataagi

Painting Points: 1

March 20, 2019

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