2021 Year in Review

As I always say each year, the two blog posts I enjoy writing the most are "What's in store for" (next year), and the second one is my "Year in Review". 

2021 started with a "What's in store for 2021!" so we will use that post as basis for our year in review.

Arena Rex 2021

Painting Goal: None, I am not setting any expectations for painting.

Gaming Goal: I missed my planned goal of 5 games last year with only 2 played, so we are going to shoot for 3 games played in 2021.

Arena Rex was a big MISS in 2021 with no models painted and 0 games played.

DCU Miniature Game 2021

Painting Goal: If Knight Models would ever ship me my models, there may actually be a goal in place.  I placed an order in November and still have not heard anything from them, honestly I do not think I ever will.  If my models arrive, then I may put a few on the painting table through out the year.

Gaming Goal: Just like with Arena Rex above, this game be played every now and then when we want to change it up.  I think 3 games played may be a good expectation.

DCU was pretty much a MISS, but I did get a few models completed in January 2021, but 0 games were played in the year.  I did offer to play a game with my son, but then we ended up playing Warhammer 40,000 instead.

Blitz Bowl / Blood Bowl 2021

Painting Goal: 1 full Blood Bowl team box of 12 players will be my goal for 2021, I really think this is attainable and may surprise myself with another.  I just need to decide which team will be first.

Gaming Goal: I have high expectations for Blood Bowl this year (at least with Blood Bowl 7's).  We are planning on playing an in house League with 4 Teams to start the new year off and then add a few Teams in future Seasons.  Blood Bowl does still take a few hours to play, so combing Blitz Bowl/Blood Bowl.... I am going to shoot for 30 games played in 2021.

I had really high hoped for Blitz Bowl / Blood Bowl in 2021, with purchasing a lot of new armies for the game.  But with like most games lately, it was a big MISS.  We did end up playing 2 games of Blitz Bowl, so far that is better than the above two games.  I also did not get a Team painted for the game either.

Middle-earth SBG 2021

Painting Goal: I did buy a lot of models at the end of 2020 for quite a few different armies so I may concentrate on getting some of them done.  I am not really setting any goals or armies completed, where I can see myself painting a few models / warbands here and there through out the year.  There is a big convention in the Fall (that actually may happen) where it would probably kick my painting into high gear if I elect to play MeSBG there.

Gaming Goal:  My plan is to try and play 1 game a month, so in theory that would be 12 games for the year, but we all know other plans do happen.  So I am setting a goal of 10 games for 2021.

Well I did paint a few models for Middle-earth SBG, like with DCU above, they all got completed in January 2021, and nothing since.  NOVA Open 2021 was cancelled, so that Fall event did not kick start me into a higher gear.  Unfortunaltly 0 games were also played this year.

Warhammer 40,000 2021

Painting Goal: With AdeptiCon 2021 already cancelled, it is tough to set any painting goals.  I think it will be more like MeSBG above and when I am in the mood to paint a model for Warhammer 40,000, I'll just paint it.  I have fully painted Imperial Fists army for 1000/1500/2000 point games, and plenty of more models to add to that army.

Gaming Goal: Last year I had a goal of 30 games and I hit it with 38 games played.  If we are not attending any events this year for Warhammer 40,000, I have it scheduled for twice a month which would be 24 games.  That is less than last year, but we are adding MeSBG and Blood Bowl into the mix.  I think I will stick to what is scheduled and set my goal of 24 games played in 2021.

Warhammer 40,000 was our mainstay game of the year and we stuck with it.  This is where most of my painting time was spent with expanding my Imperial Fists army, and in October starting a whole new army with the Necrons and completing over 2000 Points of them.  I had a low amount of games set for the year with 24, and we barely just hit that with 29 games played, at least I did hit my goal for the year.

X-Wing 2021

Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)

Gaming Goal: Last year I lowered my expectations with a goal of 6 games played, and I hit it with 10 games played.  For 2021 I will keep the same goal of 6 games played.  If more games are played again in 2021, that will be a bonus.

X-Wing was another HUGE MISS for the year, I honestly thought we would get more than 1 game played in the year.

Events 2021

As I had thought, the early part of 2021 were not good for events with most of them being cancelled due to COVID.  The first event we attended was Motor City Mayhem in April which was a nice event and close to home.  Then in October was the Michigan GT that we attended and once again was close to home.  At least we were able to get away to two events for the year.

New Games Played 2021

Warhammer Age of Sigmar

Painting Goals: None

Gaming Goals: None

Warhammer Age of Sigmar was a new game I picked up for 2021.  We started off the year pretty hot about it with building a whole Kharadron Overlords army and playing 4 games, and then it kind of simmered.  Age of Sigmar v3 was released in the Summer and thought we may get a few more games in, but it has still been sitting.

Painting Points 2021

January 2021 started the year hot for Painting Points with 66 points for the month, then it cooled way down until the Fall when I decided to start a new Necron army for Warhammer 40,000 and the points really picked up and saved the year for me finishing with 293 points.

By reading the above post, you'd probably think that 2021 was not that good of year, but in all honesty, I did pick up Bass Fishing as another hobby and some of my weekend time in the Spring thru Fall were spent Fishing instead of playing games and painting.  To me, I had a satisfying 2021.

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Weekly Chronicle 2021 #3

This past week was pretty busy assembling models for my new Warhammer Age of Sigmar "Kharadron Overlords", I wanted to have at least 500 points ready for the weekend (and then some).

I did manage to get 2 models completed and posted to the site, but that was for DC Universe Miniature Game with 'Krypto' and 'Steel', but at least some painting was completed.

For gaming, on Saturday we got to test out our new 500 points for AoS with a Pitched Battle mission from General's Handbook 2020.  With 500 points, honestly it is not enough models to really play the game, like in Warhammer 40,000, the missions are pretty heavily based on holding Objectives, there are just not enough Units in 500 points, luckily the first mission in the book only had 2 Objectives.  At the end of Round 5, we each had 1 Objective, and like in W40K with Secondary Objectives, there are Auxiliary Objectives in AOS (2 per player), the game came down to who completed the most Auxiliary Objectives, and my flying Dwarves only managed 1 while Stormcast Eternals managed both, my Dwarves suffered a Minor Loss.

Sunday was suppose to be a game of Blood Bowl 7's, but I was busy in the morning and early afternoon assembling more Kharadron Overlords to get me up to 1000 points, that instead we played a game of Blitz Bowl in the late afternoon, my Skaven vs Wood Elves.  This was a close game game, but I managed to "squeak" out a victory winning 18-16.

For this coming week I should have some Warhammer 40,000 models being posted (for now W40K is still a high priority to paint) and I "may" start prepping some "Mirkwood Rangers" for the painting table (now that I have paints for them).  I have like 36 Warrior models I need to paint for my MeSBG list, and I know I still have some time with them, but I'd rather not wait till the last minute.  While they are on the painting table, I may have to "proxy" them in some test games.  Plus once I can get these completed, then I can start adding my Kharadron Overlords to the painting table.

Gaming this coming weekend will probably see some X-Wing action on Saturday and possibly 1000 points of AoS or Blood Bowl on Sunday.

Models Completed: 2

Games Played: 2

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DCU: Steel (John Henry Irons) [JL]

While I was painting 'Kryptos' cape with Contrast "Blood Angels Red", I decided to also work on 'Steel' at the same time.  I knew 'Steel' would be fairly quick to paint with just a metal body and his cape.

Steel

Steel

Painting Points: 1

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DCU: Krypto [JL]

For Black Friday I placed a fairly decent sized order with Knight Models and when placing an order with them, Knight Models were including 'Krypto' for free.

My order finally arrived from them not long ago, and I thought 'Krypto' would be a good model for me to test the Citadel Contrast "Apothecary White", and I do like the results.  'Kryptos' cape was also done with a Contrast "Blood Angels Red".

'Krypto' does not have a stat card, but he will be a nice piece just to follow 'Superman' around.

Krypto

Krypto

Painting Points: 1

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Weekly Chronicle 2021 #2

Last week was pretty good for me...  

I ended up completely 4 Heroes for my "Survivors of Lake-town / Halls of Thranduil" army list with 'Bard', 'Legolas', 'Tauriel' and 'Bilbo Baggins', which only leaves me the Warrior models for that list.

For gaming, my son arrived back from AZ late Saturday night, so yesterday I got to play my first game of 2021.  Originally it was scheduled for some Blood Bowl, but my son was in the mood for Warhammer 40,0000.

We threw down for a 1000 point game of my Imperial Fists vs Dark Angels using the recent points update from Game Workshop along with the updated scoring rules for the 2020 GT Mission Pack.

This was a pretty close game, for the Primary Objectives we were both tied at 35 points a piece, it was in the Secondary's (plus Battle Ready) where my Imperial Fists managed to get the victory 60-43.  Maybe that extra 10 points for Battle Ready will urge my son to get more painted....

For this upcoming week, I have a couple models ready to go for DC Universe Miniature Game and then I need to get building on some models.  Gaming this weekend is still up in the air, I do have a Gaming Schedule I am trying to follow, but sometimes we may be in the mood for something else, so it is just a recommendation, so we shall see.

Models Completed: 4

Games Played: 1

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What's in store for 2021!

Happy New Year 2021!

Today is the day where I get to use my psychic powers and predict my gaming trends for 2021.

Yesterday I posted my "2020 Year in Review" and today we shall see what stays on the list and what is going away and if there are any new additions.

Arena Rex

Arena Rex is going to stay on the list for 2021, we do have some models painted along with terrain, so it is a nice quick game to occasionally throw down.

Painting Goal: None, I am not setting any expectations for painting.

Gaming Goal: I missed my planned goal of 5 games last year with only 2 played, so we are going to shoot for 3 games played in 2021.

DCU Miniature Game

DCU MG for now is staying on my list for 2021, but it slid way down to another occasional game.

Painting Goal: If Knight Models would ever ship me my models, there may actually be a goal in place.  I placed an order in November and still have not heard anything from them, honestly I do not think I ever will.  If my models arrive, then I may put a few on the painting table through out the year.

Gaming Goal: Just like with Arena Rex above, this game be played every now and then when we want to change it up.  I think 3 games played may be a good expectation.

Blitz Bowl / Blood Bowl

I am going to combine these 2 games in 1, Blitz Bowl being the quick board game style of play and Blood Bowl being more in depth.

Painting Goal: 1 full Blood Bowl team box of 12 players will be my goal for 2021, I really think this is attainable and may surprise myself with another.  I just need to decide which team will be first.

Gaming Goal: I have high expectations for Blood Bowl this year (at least with Blood Bowl 7's).  We are planning on playing an in house League with 4 Teams to start the new year off and then add a few Teams in future Seasons.  Blood Bowl does still take a few hours to play, so combing Blitz Bowl/Blood Bowl.... I am going to shoot for 30 games played in 2021.

Middle-earth SBG

In all honestly the re-watching of the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings movies toward the end of 2020 and it re-sparked my interest in the game.  We do own quite a few models for the game and I have recently added some more in the past few weeks.  Will the fire keep burning through all of 2021, that may be a tough one.  I may just have to re-watch a movie to light the spark again.

Painting Goal: I did buy a lot of models at the end of 2020 for quite a few different armies so I may concentrate on getting some of them done.  I am not really setting any goals or armies completed, where I can see myself painting a few models / warbands here and there through out the year.  There is a big convention in the Fall (that actually may happen) where it would probably kick my painting into high gear if I elect to play MeSBG there.

Gaming Goal:  My plan is to try and play 1 game a month, so in theory that would be 12 games for the year, but we all know other plans do happen.  So I am setting a goal of 10 games for 2021.

Warhammer 40,000

Just like in 2020, Warhammer 40,000 will more than likely be our primary game in 2021.  We have a lot of models and different armies to play/paint throughout the year.  With the ease of just going into any gaming store and picking out a new model when we want, it is the easiest to get a hold of all the games I have listed so far.

Painting Goal: With AdeptiCon 2021 already cancelled, it is tough to set any painting goals.  I think it will be more like MeSBG above and when I am in the mood to paint a model for Warhammer 40,000, I'll just paint it.  I have fully painted Imperial Fists army for 1000/1500/2000 point games, and plenty of more models to add to that army.

Gaming Goal: Last year I had a goal of 30 games and I hit it with 38 games played.  If we are not attending any events this year for Warhammer 40,000, I have it scheduled for twice a month which would be 24 games.  That is less than last year, but we are adding MeSBG and Blood Bowl into the mix.  I think I will stick to what is scheduled and set my goal of 24 games played in 2021.

X-Wing

X-Wing is a great game that can be played in 75 minutes, so it always seems to make the list for the New Year....plus we do have a lot of ships for the game.

Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)

Gaming Goal: Last year I lowered my expectations with a goal of 6 games played, and I hit it with 10 games played.  For 2021 I will keep the same goal of 6 games played.  If more games are played again in 2021, that will be a bonus.

New Games for 2021?

This is a little tough one to decide.  Towards the end of 2020 we picked up Blood Bowl and I seem to have resurrected MeSBG, so it will be tough to get another game into 2021.  

Is there a chance to also resurrect Warmachine/Hordes? I think that would be very slim.  I have been out of WM/H for awhile now and have not kept up with any of the changes.

What about bringing back Bolt Action? Possible, but slim also.

Then there is another game that is very easy to pick up at the gaming store, Warhammer Age of Sigmar.  All of my Warhammer Fantasy models are gone, and with Age of Sigmar they really changed the game, but AoS is played a lot like Warhammer 40,000 now and there are a few models that I really like, but you do need quite a few of them to play the game.  I can "maybe" see this game happening if MeSBG is not quite doing it for me (I enjoy the world of MeSBG and the models, it is the game play of almost always needing 6's on the dice that gets to me).  I think squeezing in AoS will be really tough unless something else gives.

Another possible interest may be Star Wars Legion, again there is quite a few models to this game and it is sci-fi like Warhammer 40,000.  When Legion was first released, there was not a lot of choices for models, but it has been out for a couple of years now and the line has grown.  It is hard to get into Legion when we have so many models already for Warhammer 40,000.

Events

Well the early part of 2021 is not looking good for events.  The Las Vegas Open in January and AdeptiCon in March have already been cancelled.  The next two larger events that interest us, NOVA Open and Renegade Open do not happen till the Fall, September/November.  Those two events are a possibility if the vaccine for COVID-19 works and gatherings are allowed again.  The problem with the Fall trips is that I still have a month long Europe trip scheduled for the Summer and getting more vacation time and dollars may be an issue.  If Europe gets cancelled once again for 2021, then there may be a chance.

The above is not set in stone, I like to look back at this post through out the year and see how I am doing and if anything changes.  There are only so many weekends in the year, and other interests sometimes do take some of that time.

We shall see what happens in 2021.

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2020 Year in Review

As I always say each year, the two blog posts I enjoy writing the most are "What's in store for" (next year), and the second one is my "Year in Review". 

2020 started with a "What's in store for 2020!" so we will use that post as basis for our year in review.

Arena Rex 2020 

Painting Goal: 1 model, I purchased 1 model at GenCon 2019 and would like to get it completed.

Gaming Goal: Lowering my expectations quite a bit this year, even though 0 games were played last year on a goal of 20, we are going to shoot for 5 games. 

Arena Rex was a sort of a hit and a miss for 2020. My Painting Goal was to finish a model I purchased from GenCon 2019, that did not happen, but I did complete 1 other model for Arena Rex. The Gaming was a miss, I lowered my expectations for this game, but it was lower than I had planned. I was shooting for 5 games to be played, but it ended up just being 2 games played.

Batman Miniature Game 2020 

Painting Goal: This is a tough one for me, I have a huge backlog of BMG models waiting to be assembled/painted. It is on a hold pattern at the moment till we can see how the game is, interest may pick up if we like the game. 

Gaming Goal: I am going to try 3rd Edition, so it really depends how much we like the game. If we like it, it will probably be played quite a few times (since I built a lot of buildings in 2019).

Batman Miniature Game was a "no go" for 2020. We never did purchase 3rd Edition to try the game out, with the use of all the "cards" for the game really changed the game play and I was no longer interested in playing. With that feeling, no models were painted for the game either. I really do not think this will see the list for 2021.

DCU Miniature Game 2020 

Painting Goal: A lot of the DCU models are the same models as BMG, so we have a pretty good collection. I do have some models that are DCU specific so those may be completed this year.

Gaming Goal: First we need a test game, so I can say 1 for sure, if I like the speed/ease of play it may hit table more frequently and in place of Arena Rex. My plan is to get a game in early this month so we can evaluate how we like it. 

DCUMG was so so for the year. I did paint 4 models for the game and we actually played 2 games. This one will be staying on for 2021 but in a limited capacity.

Guild Ball 2020 

Painting Goal: I still have quite a few recently released Captains that need to get completed, so I do not see myself painting any complete Guilds for 2020, but at least a handful of models.

Gaming Goal: As mentioned above, I really like the game....I am going to have a new high priority game for 2020 (see below) so it is tough which game will be my second. I have a feeling it will be Guild Ball so I will set a reasonable expectation of 20 games played. Currently I do not have any events lined up for Guild Ball, but there may be a weekend here or there where I may be able to attend one.

Guild Ball was probably the biggest MISS of the year. With my renewed interest in Warhammer 40,000 all my painting time went to that and away from Guild Ball. Then came the announcement from Steamforged Games that they were ending Guild Ball and that just put the nail in the coffin. So there was no models painted and no games played of Guild Ball in 2020 and I already found a replacement with Blood Bowl.

Middle-earth SBG 2020

Painting Goal: Once again no expectations, if anything gets done, it would be an accomplishment.

Gaming Goal: Keeping my expectations low again like last year, I think at least 1 game in the next few months before AdeptiCon so my son can refresh on the rules, and then we'll see what happens. 

2020 was not so hot for MeSBG, but the fire is still burning. I did recently paint 2 models, 'Durin' and the 'Witch King' for MeSBG and 3 games were played. Looking forward to 2021 to see what happens.

Warhammer 40,000 2020 

Painting Goal: My #1 goal is to finish what I need for my 1000 points and 1500 point lists for AdeptiCon which is for my Imperial Fists army, long term goal is to get them completed to 2000 points. My plan with the Imperial Fists is for them to be my "main" Space Marine army with which to add new models too, so the army will be growing. The collector in me likes to see other armies too, so my plan is to add another Warhammer 40K army in 2020 and for now that will be Tyranids. The reason for Tyranids is, I like the look of the models and it it something different to paint than just Power Armor. I believe with the Tyranids I am going to look into the new GW Contrast Paints for them. Going to start small with them (1000 points) and we'll see.

Gaming Goal: As stated above, Warhammer 40K will be my highest priority in 2020 but I will be realistic. I'll be getting in around 8 games just at AdeptiCon, so let's set a goal of 30 games for 2020 (I still have to squeeze in all the other games in too). 

Warhammer 40,000 was huge for me in 2020. I was able to get everything painted that I needed to for AdeptiCon and then as we all know, COVID-19 hit. I was slowly painting more models for the game throughout the year and I am happy with my progress. I did start on some Tyanid models, but the Contrast Paints were not working with for me and had to go back to regular paints. I did not get too many Tyranids completed unfortunately as I was concentrating on my Imperial Fists. In regards to gaming, I did hit my goal even without attending any conventions, 38 games of Warhammer 40,000 were played in 2020.

X-Wing 2020 

Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)

Gaming Goal: Last year I set a goal of 20 games, and I just managed to squeeze that in. I think with trying to add in DCU and possibly MeSBG, 20 may be a bit tough. I do like that the game only takes 75 minutes to play, I think realistically 6 games would be a good goal (1 every other month). 

I was right on par with my prediction for X-Wing, 6 games was a good expectations and 10 games were actually played in 2020. More than likely my expectations for 2021 will be kept the same.

Events 2020

Well 2020 will not be a good year for events for me. I am attending AdeptiCon at the end of March, but that is basically it for the year. My vacation days are very limited in 2020, 3.5 weeks will be spent in Europe over the Summer, and then another week in the Fall with my wife on a cruise. Any events I attend after AdeptiCon will mainly be just single day events on Saturday/Sundays and those will even be tough this year. There is a very loooooong shot that we may be able to attend NOVA Open again since its falls on a Holiday weekend, I will need to look at the schedule of events and see if it is worth it. 

So I predicted 2020 was not going to be a good year for events, but it was because of a planned vacation to Europe and not because of COVID-19 shutting down the World. Every event that we had planned was cancelled for the year and as of now it is not looking to good for the early part of 2021.

New Games Played 

Blitz Bowl 

Blitz Bowl is a faster board game style game of Blood Bowl. We picked this up late in the year just to have something to play in an hours time. I am liking it a lot since it uses the same models as Blood Bowl. We managed to get in 7 games with this late pickup. 

Blood Bowl 

Just like Blitz Bowl above, Blood Bowl was a late game pickup for us this year. At the end of November, Games Workshop released the newest edition of the game with an all new starter box, and since we just started Blitz Bowl, I thought it would be fun to grab Blood Bowl. We only played through 1 full game to learn the rules and 1 game of 7's (less models/smaller Pitch). 

Painting Points 

Painting Points were not as good as the previous 3 years, but I still managed 200+ Points. Even though COVID-19 had hit and a lot of people were stuck at home painting, I was really busy, so at the end of the day I did not feel like sitting down to paint. Another reason was all the events being cancelled. Usually I sit down to paint models I want to play in an upcoming event as a motiviation, well obviously that motivation was not to be had. So it was not a great year, but it was not bad either.

All in all 2020 was not too bad considering dealing with COVID-19. Honestly most people would think that I would have gotten in more games played, but THANK GOD my real job was keeping me busy all year long. Tomorrow we shall see what will make the list/expectations for 2021.

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Weekly Chronicle 2020 #15

Still on "stay at home" orders due to COVID-19 but my normal work schedule is still actually keeping me busy, so not really has changed much for me.

Painting wise last week saw me complete three models for the DC Universe Miniature Game with 'Ultraman', 'Owlman' and 'Power Ring'.  Nothing was completed for Warhammer 40,000, but more work was done on some 'Termagants' and I did assemble some 'Terminators' for my Imperial Fists.

Gaming wise, we took a slight break from Warhammer 40,000 this past weekend and actually got in two games of X-Wing, for some reason I was in the mood for X-Wing.  I actually have a few more ships on order so I think this weekend may see another game also.

This Saturday after the next Games Workshops Preview, we'll go back to a 2000 point game of Warhammer 40,000, either afterwards or Sunday I think we'll get more X-Wing.... who knows maybe even get in a game during the week.

So far I am 0-3 this year in X-Wing, time to turn the tides.

Galactic Empire vs Rebels (Hyperspace)

This was a close one with the Empire only losing by 10 points and a final score of 190-210.

Resistance vs Republic (Extended)

This game we did not tally the score, all the Resistance ships were killed and I think Obi-Wan (1/2) and a Starfighter (1/2) were left for the Republic.

Models Completed: 3

Games Played: 2

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DCU: Power Ring (Harold Jordan) [JLV]

As of now I have only prepped three of the Crime Syndicate models, the first two were posted Tuesday and Wednesday with 'Ultraman' and 'Owlman', and today we have the third model which is 'Power Ring'.  'Power Ring' is the alternate universe 'Green Lantern'.

 Power Ring

Power Ring

Painting Points: 1

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DCU: Owlman (Thomas Wayne Jr) [JLV]

Continuing with where I left off with the DCU Crime Syndicate, up next is 'Owlman' an alternate universe 'Batman'.

 Owlman

Owlman

Painting Points: 1

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DCU: Ultraman (Kal-Il) [JLV]

When I ordered my DC Universe Miniature Game rulebook back in November after the Renegade Open, I also added to my order the new DC 'Crime Syndicate' box that was released that came with 'Ultraman', 'Owlman', 'Power Ring', 'Superwoman' and 'Johnny Quick' so that I would have an equivalent to running Justice League America.

This past weekend I decided to prep three of the models for painting this week, and the one for the week is 'Ultraman'.

Ultraman

Ultraman

Painting Points: 1

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Weekly Chronicle 2020 #14

Week #14 was a pretty average week for me, which is a good thing, a model was completed and games were played.

First off, 'Doomsday' for DCUMG was completed during the week and actually hit the gaming table on Saturday also.  I was also able to prep some of the Crime Syndicate models for DCUMG, 'Ultraman', 'Owlman' and 'Power Ring' and they should be hitting the blog this week.

Sunday we played a smaller game of Warhammer 40,000 (1000 points) and we played it full ITC.  Imperial Fists vs Dark Angels and I removed a lot of nasty from my list to try and keep it more fun, even 'Captain Lysander' made a debut dropping into the game (literally on Turn 2).  The Save rolls were not there for the Dark Angels and they took a pretty bad beating 35-7.

I am not sure yet what will all be on the agenda for this coming week, I have some assembly needed for my Imperial Fists, I have 'Captain Lysander' I would not mind painting, but I do want to play him agin this weekend and I still have some 'Termagants' I am slowly working on.

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Battle Report: DCUMG 4/4/2020 (Core "Superman VS Doomsday")

Seeing how I just finished 'Doosmday' the other day, it was only fitting that the 2nd Edition of the DCU Miniature Game Rulebook had a scenario called "Superman VS Doosmday", and I thought it would be fun to try this one out.  This was our first game playing with a full Power Level Team of 60 for each us.

I ended up fielding for the Villains; 'Doomsday', 'Deadshot', 'Black Manta', 'Grodd' and 'The Merciless'.  For the Heroes it was; 'Superman', 'Batman', 'Green Lantern', 'Batgirl', and 'Flash'.

The Justice League Villains were able to draw first turn, so of course 'Doomsday' was going to go on into 'Superman' and see what he can do.  The Scenario specified that the two of them could only attack each other for the first two Rounds of the game.  'Doosmday' was using "Fury" right off that bat and I was lucky enough to score 3 Critical Hits doing 15 points of damage right away to 'Superman'.  If sis not last long for him as he went down in Round 2.

The Heroes did manage to take out 'Grodd' and 'Deadshot' and the Villains cleaned house winning 14-3.  You scored 5 points for killing 'Superman/Doomsday' and 1 point for the others, 'Batgirl' has a rule granting an extra point along with 'The Merciless'.

'Doomsday' is really tough and powerful, but DCUMG for me/us is not a "competitive" game, I just want to throw out some Villains and see how they do.  We did have one 'Grab/Throw' in this game (a cop car smashing into 'Deadshot') and we still need to play around more with smashing buildings and see what happens (especially if 'Batman' goes and batclaws to top to hide).

Not sure when our next game will be (maybe 2 weeks) but I will see what other models I can come up with for 60 Power.

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DCU: Doomsday [JLV]

Well I did not expect to see this coming so soon, actually painting DCU specific models.  We played our first game of DCU this past weekend and I thought the game was pretty fun, similar to BMG 2E, yet different.  The next morning I had to go out and look for the baddest bad guy of them all, 'Doomsday'.  I was able to find him on eBay for a really good price and the shipping was fast.  I was able to get him assembled Tuesday night and some primer and then finished him up yesterday.  If we get in a game this weekend, he will be hitting the table.

Doomsday

Painting Points: 5

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Weekly Chronicle 2020 #13

Well week #13 is in the books, it was not as exciting as it should have been attending AdeptiCon 2020, but we made the most of it and were able to play 6 games here at home.

Painting wise, nothing was completed except for a few colors on some 'Termagants', looks like my next batch of 5 will not be done this quarter and will slide into Q2 for the year.

In regards to gaming, as mentioned above, 6 games were played this past weekend.  You can read each of daily recaps HERE, HERE and HERE.  We were able to get in games of Kill Team, MeSBG, DCU, X-Wing and Warhammer 40,000 a nice variety of games for the weekend (just like a convention).

Hopefully the next 'DraganCon II' does not fall on another convention weekend.

Models Completed: 0
Games Played: 6

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Daily Chronicle: "DraganCon I" Friday 3/27/2020 Recap

I wrote the other day how my son and I would be spending the weekend gaming in the absence of AdeptiCon 2020, and yesterday kicked off our three day weekend of gaming.

We started the day off getting ready to play a game of Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team at 125 points.  Being this is only our second game of Kill Team, we introduced the use of Command Points in this game, but just the non faction ones for now.

Once we got the table and our armies ready to go, it was already 10:00 AM so we decided to watch the the live keynote session from Steamforged Games on YouTube.  I mainly was just paying attention to the talks about Guild Ball and how this Monday there will be an errata coming out for the game.  Once we were done listening about Guild Ball, we just kept it playing in the background.


Kill Team

As I mentioned above, this was our second game of Kill Team, so we used the second mission in the Core rulebook for Matched Play, "Take Prisoners".  Seeing how both of our armies (Imperial Fists and Dark Angels) like to stand and shoot, I had feeling while reading this mission, the game may end up in a tie.

Sure enough I was right, even though my Imperial Fists killed more of the Dark Angels, neither of us met any of the criteria and scored no actual Victory Points.  The gamed ended at the end of Turn 4, 0-0.  Originally our plan was to get in two games of Kill Team, but it was no lunch and we took a break and wanted to get started in the other two games systems.

MeSBG

After we finished lunch (fine take out from McDonald's) we prepped the table for a game of Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game.  Just like two weeks ago we elected to play 400 points and a scenario from the new "Matched Play Guide", it was randomly determined and we played "Fog of War".  My sons 400 point list was very different that his last game, instead of running some Gondor Warriors, he wanted to have fun and just run Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli.  In this mission we had to selected a non Leader Character who we wanted to target, along with a piece of Terrain, keeping our own Leader alive and keep the Army from becoming broken.  I could not choose his Leader Aragorn, so I selected Legolas, and since I only had one Character, the King of the Dead, my son chose him.

Basically with only 3 models on his side and 20 on mine, it was not that hard to surround his modes.  He kept Legolas back a bit to try and get a few shots, I sent one warband to my right flank to go and capture the terrain piece and the rest of army concentrated on the three.

I lost a few of my Army of the Dead, but I managed to wrap up Aragorn with the King and 5 models for support and after 2 rounds of combat, Aragorn was slain.  U next I concentrated on Legolas seeing he was the model I was going to score points off of, it was not to difficult, once surrounded, there was not much he can do and the Elf boy went down.  His army was now broken and we rolled to end the game (1-2 it ends, 3+ we continue) a 2 was rolled and the game was over.  I managed with my Army of the Dead to achieve all 12 VP's to his 3 VP's.

We finished that game around mid afternoon and then started to prep the table for DC Universe Miniature Game.

DCU

Back on January 1st in my "What's in store for 2020" post, I mentioned about trying DC Universe Miniature Game (DCU) this year and hopefully getting in a game back in January, well January became March now and we finally got in our test game.  We originally were going to play with the full 60 points (about 5 models) but we both decided to just play with 3 and pretty much the same 3.  My son played Justice League with Superman, Batman and Green Lantern and I plated the Villains with models from the Crime Syndicate box, Ultraman, Owlman and Power Ring.  The scenario that we chose was the just the first one from the rulebook, "The Artefacts".

The game played very slow, not because of the rules, but because we were still learning them, but it seems like it will play at a pretty decent pace.  Last year I played 24 games of BMG (Batman) and I honestly think I enjoyed the mechanics of DCU than BMG (2e).  It is nice that each model has a Power Level and you can elect to spend those points however you want, standing still and just punching or moving or shooting.  The Crime Syndicate ended up winning this game 5-2 and only leaving Superman left on the table for the Justice League.

I am actually really looking forward to trying this game again sooner than later and possibly with the full 60 points.  Who knows, I may even paint a few of my DCU specific models.  I know Warhammer 40,000 for 2020 is my go to game, but we definitely need to keep this one up there also.

Up for today is a couple games of Warhammer 40,000.

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Daily Chronicle: "DraganCon I" Schedule Of Events

As already mentioned plenty of times since being cancelled, AdeptiCon 2020 was suppose to take place this weekend, starting tonight and all the way through Sunday.

When the cancellation was announced, then my son and a few friends were going to get together and play some games.  Now all three of our states are on "stay at home" orders so that cancelled those plans.  The weekend is now going to just be my son and me, seeing how both of our names is Dragan, the weekend is going to be called "DraganCon", I even made a cool looking logo for it.

Originally for AdeptiCon, I was still working on Thursday (from the hotel) and only had my schedule set for Friday-Sunday, that is still the plan.  We are going to start out with multiple smaller games on Friday and then finally a larger game on Sunday.

Here is the schedule of events we have laid out for the first DraganCon I:

Friday
Kill Team (125 points, 2 games)
MeSBG (400 points)
DC Universe Miniature Game (60 points)

Saturday
Warhammer 40,000 (2000 points, ITC Mission)
Warhammer 40,000 (1000 points, CA2019 Eternal War)

Sunday
Warhammer 40,000 (3000 points, CA2019 Maelstrom of War / Schemes of War)

I had talked about trying DCU back in January and we never got around to it, I finally put together some Crime Syndicate that are for DCU and we'll spend the rest of Friday afternoon into the evening learning how to play the game.

Saturday will see us playing 2000 points ITC again (but I am going to be paying my Imperial Fists without my big nasty unit) and hopefully in the morning we'll be breaking to listen/read about the Games Workshops previews that are suppose to take place.  The afternoon will then be a nice little 1000 point game of armies we have not played in awhile, I am breaking out my old Imperial Guard for this game.

Then on Sunday, my friend from IL always talks about how fun the Schemes of War games are for Warhammer 40,000, so why not go big and play 3000 points using the Tactical Objectives to play the game for fun.  We start in the morning and take our time throughout the day to play the game.

I will try and remember to take a few pictures and maybe a quick recap for each day.

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