Daily Chronicle: More British Inbound

Back in May of 2014 when my oldest son graduated High School, I purchased him an US Airborne 1000 point army (that we never got around to assembling and painting). So I know we are 15 months away from AdeptiCon 2018, but my son and I are going to work on a themed force the Bolt Action Team Tournament (assuming they will run it again in 2018).

The Team Tournament for Bolt Action is all about having a themed army and having a good time. So since my son never finished his US Airborne, I thought it would be a good incentive to get them done. So now what are we going to theme his army with, since I plan on working on my British all year long for 2017, why not theme his US Airborne with some British Airborne for 'Operation Market Garden'. How successful will this army be, I dont know (especially without any tanks), but I think it will be a nice themed theater list and fun to play.

So I just ordered myself the British 1000 point Airborne army. (This years Team Tournament it is 800 points per player, so this should be enough models, even if they up the points to 1000 for next year).

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Bolt Action: Great Britain 'PIAT Team'

Nothing better to do on Sunday's than to watch football and get some painting done. IN the last 15 years of painting, I never had space next to my painting station to place a TV or an iPad next to me to watch TV and paint. With my new setup, I actually do. So I took advantage of that and had my iPad next to me with the games and got some painting done.

With Version 2 of Bolt Action, 'Shape Charges' are not as bad as they were in Version 1 (no longer penalized for long range). So since there are pieces on the sprues, I decided to add a PIAT Team to my British army.

Great Britain: PIAT Team

Great Britain: PIAT Team

Great Britain: PIAT Team

I am still waiting on a sprue order from Warlord to finish assembling my British Infantry, so I am not sure what models will be next in line to get painted. I may work on some Command models this week.

Painting Points: 2

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Bolt Action: Great Britain 'Sniper Team'

Well last night I finally got a start on my Great Britain army for Bolt Action. It has been over 2 1/2 years since I last painted anything for Bolt Action and that wa for my German army.

I wanted to start with a small team so I can test the colors I'll be using for the army and to see how they paint. After I applied my wash I was debating if I wanted to go back and highlight the colors. A part of me really wanted to, but another part of me likes the 'natural' look of the soldier after the wash. Sometimes for me when I see highlights that make the model stand out, it just does not look right. I do like highlights fir certain armies and certain games, but Bolt Action for me is about getting dirty in war. So I elected not to re-highlight after my wash and keep the same feel as the rest of my armies. When it comes time for the vehicles and artillary pieces, I will do a little highlighting afterwards on the edges.

Anyways, here's to the first 2 Painting Points of 2017.

Great Britain: Sniper Team

Great Britain: Sniper Team

Painting Points: 2

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Happy New Year! What's in store for 2017

Happy New Year 2017! Everyone......

It is that time of the year of again to write the first post of 2017 and lay out my plans for the upcoming 2017 (only to be disappointed on December 31st.... LOL)

As I mentioned in my recap of 2016, this past fall I moved from Arizona to Michigan and unfortunately I had run out of room on the moving truck to bring any of my models/hobby supplies with me. I did not think I would need them right away as I knew I had a lot of painting that needed to get done for the house. I finished painting most of the room by early December and I was looking for things to do. With the new relese of Version 2 for Bolt Action this past Fall, I thought it might be a good time to jump back into Bolt Action. Another reason I chose Bolt Action over Warmachine/Hordes is that most of my friends/people I know that play in Chicago (only 100 miles from where I live in Michigan) play Bolt Action and not WM/H. My other group of friends that play in Chicago play Warhammer and Warhammer 40K (and I did not feel like getting back into Games Workshop), so Bolt Action it is.

Mid December I had my oldest son in Arizona ship me my two Bolt Action armies (Soviets/Germans), Army Books, and my paint brushes and other supplies that I would need. Unfortunately during the moving clean up I had thrown out all my Vallejo paints (so I needed to place an order for these).

So now my armies are with me and it is time for 2017.

Bolt Action

Painting Goal: Just before Christmas 2016, I took advantage of a 'deal' that Warlord Games had on a Great Britian army package. $500 plus dollars of models for around $300. Probably close to around 3000 poiints (if not more). I had always wanted to start a British army, so my goal for 2017 will be to work on this army. My 'plan' is to work on this army over the entire year to keep me busy. No need to really speed paint these guys. I already have two armies painted that I can play with, so I am just going to enjoy myself modeling/painting this army. I still have a few models I can also add to my Soviet and German armies if I get a little bored with the British. By chance I get the British done before the end of 2017, then we will scope out another army to start.

Gaming Goal: Well there are no gamers that are 'real' close to me, but I did find a Facebook group called 'Michiana Bolt Action' and they meet once a month in Michigan City, IN (about 50 miles from me). The first meetup for 2017 will be January 22nd, so I do plan on heading out for a reintroduction to Bolt Action along with Version 2 of the rules. So the plan, try to meet with these guys once a month if possible. Other than that, most of my other game will probably come from events that I plan on attending in 2017. I will be heading out to LVO next month (more details below) and I offered my 'ringer' services to BA Chef on that Saturday of the Bolt Action Tournament if needs it.

Warmachine/Hordes

Painting Goal: As of right now, I have no painting goals for WM/H. All my models/paints are back in Arizona. When I go back at the end of May to pick up my wife and younget child, if there is still room in our van, I may bring back my models with me. I really do enjoy the models from WM/H and enjoy painting them. Gives a nice break from painiting WWII. But I am not setting any expectations for me.

Gaming Goal: Well without my models I obviously cannot get many games in. I do plan on getting in a game or two with my oldest son at LVO though.

Events/Conventions

I actually think this will be a busy year for me in regards to events and conventions. Last year my plan was to attend Las Vegas Open (LVO) and Privateer Press Lock & Load and I attended both of those. This year I think I have a little bit more planned out.

I will be attending the LVO again next month with my oldest son. I will be flying back to Arizona, and the two of us will then drive to Las Vegas. So in the car I plan on bringing my WM/H armies, along with my sons United States army for Bolt Action (in case BA Chef needs me to 'ringer'). I think my son and I will also split his army into 2 and play some US v US just so he can refresh on the V2 rules.

At the end of March, we have one of the largest conventions in the US called AdeptiCon in Chicago. Before moving to Arizona in 2005 I had always attended this convention (and helped run the Warhammer events). I had been back once in 2010 and my son went a few years ago by himself. Now that it is only 2.5 hours away from me, I will be going back in 2017. I was just going to go and catch up with some old friends, but I saw they still had openings in the Bolt Action US Nationals for Saturday/Sunday. So I decided to sign up for that event, and I think I will be playing my Germans (have not fully decided yet). I have NO expectations on winning any games, for me it is just to throw some dice and meet up with the Chicago Bolt Action crew.

For the summer months of 2017, I need to see what is available in the area, I know at the end of May I will be busy going back to Arizona to pick up my wife and youngest son, and June will be busy taking them to Disney World. I may spend the summer months away from gaming and get back to cycling while it is warm outside.

I know there are two events I do plan on attending in the fall. There is the Michigan GT the weekend of October 6th-8th in Lansing, MI (and more than likely they will have a Bolt Action tournament again). In November there is Operation Sting back in Chicago (if I can get quickly registered for this event, it sells out).

I think If I can make it to those four events, it will be a good year with plenty of games played.

Have a Happy New Year!

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2016 Year in Review

Once again it is that time of the year where us blogger's get to recap what we did or did not accomplish for the year. I actually kind of enjoy writing these posts along with the first post of the new year for my goals.

2016 started with a "What's in store for 2016" so we will use that post as basis for our year in review.

Bolt Action
2016
Painting Goal: None at the moment.
Gaming Goal: Play at least 1 game.

I accomplished my painting goal for Bolt Action. Nothing was added to any of our armies. But things are changing for that. Two weeks ago I got the bug to get back into Bolt Action. So armies were shipped from Arizona and a new Great Britain army was ordered from Warlord Games, so look for more Bolt Action news in 2017.

My gaming goal was not accomplished, I had thought maybe I woud get in 1 game, but that did not happen.

Dugeons & Dragons (Roleplaying)
2016
Roleplaying games take a lot of commitment on a weekly basis. I honestly do not see myself getting involved with another group unless it is planned to be a short session.

I had no plans to continue playing D&D in 2016, and those plans were met.

Warhammer 40K
2016
No plans at all for completing any more armies, the prices from GW are too ridiculous for me.

Painting Goal: None at the moment.
Gaming Goal: I can see myself possibly getting in a few games.

There was no painting done on my Warhammer 40K armies nor any games played.

Warmachine/Hordes
2016
Now this is the one that I see will take up most of my time in 2016. If the year continues as it ended in 2015, it should be a good year. The big question is hopefully my son will not get burnt out on Warmachine/Hordes. As long as he stays interested, I see myself staying interested. As I mentioned the other day, I love the sculpts from Privateer Press. So even if the gaming is down for the year, the plan will still to be to collect and paint.

Painting Goal: Tough to say. I use a Painting Points system each year to track my painting progress. Not sure if I will put a number for a goal, but maybe a collection of armies. I am in the middle of painting my Gatorman Army, after the Gatorman are completed to at least 50 points, I will probably move onto my Trollbloods or continue on my Khador. My Khador Army for Warmachine is "my" army. That is the army that will be played most and I would like to try and collect all the models for Khador. So that will be my goal, to at least own every Khador model. Getting them painted will be a different story. Any 'new' armies for Warmachine/Hordes, unsure at the moment.
Gaming Goal: I would love to say 52 games (average 1/week, which may be doable) but let's be realistic. Let's shoot for half that. 26 Warmachine/Hordes games played for 2016.

2016 was actually not a bad year for Warmachine/Hordes (at least the first 7 months). I did get quite a bit painted more for Khador army. I completed my Gatormen army, and I also was working on my Trollbloods army. Gaming on the other hand I fell 2 games short of my goal, I played 24 games of WM/H's. If I did not move to Michigan at the end of September, I know I would have gotten in a few more games with my son.

X-Wing
2016
I really want to get back involved with this game, realistically if I concentrate as much time as I have planned for WM/H, it may be unlikely, especially since we are ow behind on quite a few of the Wave releases. Plus the game has always been a 'meta' game with the latest releases.

Painting Goal: Not applicable.
Gaming Goal: I am going to shoot for at least 5 games played of X-Wing.

Nothing was accomplished for X-Wing in 2016, and I do not see myself buying any X-Wing models for myself in 2017. My son and I shared our models, so I will not have him ship me anything either. So it looks like X-Wing will be a done game for me...."looks" is the key term, but you never know.

Events/Conventions
2016
This is a new topic for 2016. I always enjoy attending conventions, more for the comraderie with other players than 'winning' a tournament. When I lived in Chicago, it was always AdeptiCon each year. Living in Arizona, attending AdeptiCon gets a little costly. We already have 2 events planned for 2016. Las Vegas Open in February, PP Lock & Load in June, and I am going to look for one possibly in the Fall (maybe Warmachine Weekend).

Well my son and I did attend the LVO back in February and drove out to Seattle in June for PP Lock & Load. I really enjoyed myself at these conventions and that is where I got most of my games in the year. I did not attend anything in the Fall with my move taking up all my time.

Stay tuned for my 2017 goals posts and what events/conventions are planned for the new year.

To anyone reading this, have a Happy Holiday!

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Daily Chronicle: Shaking Off The Dust (Again)

Yea I know, I am always shaking of the dust. I go in spurts when it comes to wargaming. I enjoy so many hobbies, but can usually only concentrate on one at a time. Now that I back up North in the frozen tundra, the winter months keeps me from cycling outdoors, so it's time to get back to an indoor hobby.

A good part of my hiatus has been my move from Arizona to Michigan. After I came back from Lock & Load in June, the wife and I really started to look for house back in Michigan (with the original plan being we rent to my wife's sister for 2 years before we move up). Well plans change and the end of September had me loading up the moving truck. Unfortunately the truck was so full, that all my wargaming models/supplies had to stay behind at my mom's house with my oldest son.

The past 2 months here in Michigan kept me busy painting... that is painting bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathrooms. Now that I am 95% done with that, it's a little boring up here by myself (wife and youngest son do not come up till May 2017) so I need to keep myself busy.

2016 was suppose to be the year of Warmachine/Hordes for me, and it truly was through June. For some reason last week the itch to play Bolt Action started coming back to me. I think part of the reason is that where I am located in Michigan, there is not much miniature wargaming, everything is about 50 mile drive. In Chicago (100 miles) I still have plenty of friends that play Bolt Action (and none of them play WM/H), so when I go to Chicago to visit, I can always get in a game of BA. I also found some Facebook groups that support Bolt Action around here (Michiana Bolt Action and Bolt Action Michigan).

Now is actually a pretty good time also for me to get back into BA, back in September, Warlord Games released Version 2 of the rulebook so most players are still getting a feel of the new rules. So I ordered my V2 book last week and I am now starting to go through it and see what has changed since V1.

But where are my models..... Back in Arizona....so I had my son this past weekend go through the garage and start packing up my models/armies and prepare them for shipping (he will be keeping his US Army with him, but is shipping my Soviets and Germans). Unfortunately during my move, I did not keep any of my paints I used for BA (just my WM/H paints), so I will have to put together an order for those. But at least I'll have my existing armies to try and get a few games in. I'll be luck to get in a game once a month, but thats not too bad and it'll give me time to paint new armies.

Thats all for now, we'll go into a little bit more detail when I write up my post for my plans for 2017.

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WM: Khador Behemoth 'new sculpt' (Warjack)

Back to a little Warmachine with my Khador army. One of the perks of attending an event like Lock & Load is that Privateer Press sells models in their store that have yet been released to the public. Seeing that I knew I was going to be spending a lot of money on MKIII items, I was not planning on purchasing too many new releases. But when I saw the 'Behemoth' there, I had to get it. If I already had the older sculpt I probably would have passed on this purchase, but the 'Behemoth' is one Warjack I was missing from Khador army.

While waiting for the Keynote to start the Saturday night of Lock & Load I was able to assemble him and I actually playtested him in a game the next day. Seeing how he was already assembled, he had to hit my painting table next. I did not want him to end up like 'Grolar' that I purchased early at the LVO and he is still sitting in his box.

I went with my usual way of painting my Warjacks, making them look like they have been on the battlefield and not fresh off the assembly line.

Behemoth

Behemoth

Behemoth

Painting Points: 5

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Hordes: Trollbloods Janissa Stonetide (Solo)

Picked up Janissa Stonetide from a friend last weekend who was selling off some of his models. I had this model on my list of models needed for my Doomie 1 list and while I was at Lock & Load, I forgot to pick it up. Glad he was selling her and I picked her up for $6. She had a little paint on her so I did a quick re-prime and threw on my colors. Nothing fancy, just quick and fast.
 

Janissa Stonetide

Janissa Stonetide

 
Painting Points: 2
 

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Hordes: Minions Blind Walker (Warbeast)

This past Sunday was Father's Day and my oldest son actually got me a present this year. I usually do not expect anything from my three boys (since when I want something I go out and buy it myself), but it was nice to actually receive something this year.
 
Seeing how my oldest is into Warmachine/Hordes it was only fitting he bought me another model. He knows that I really like to paint my Minions army, so he bought me the new Blind Walker / Wrastler model. Seeing how I already have a Wrastler model completed in the old sculpt (and I really did not one of each sculpt) I decided to model this kit as Blind Walker. My Minion army is fully painted and I like to try and keep it that way, so Sunday afternoon I put aside the Trollbloods I was assembling and opened up Blind Walker and starting assembling him. Sunday night saw the primer hit the model and I spent any free time on Monday/Tuesday to complete the model.
 
It has been awhile since I painted a Warbeast for my Minions and I am trying to keep them all uniform in color scheme (luckily I wrote down all my colors). I believe he came out matching really good and I am really happy with him. Now we just have to see if he is actually any good on the gaming table.
 
 

Blind Walker

 

Blind Walker

 

Blind Walker

 
Painting Points: 5
 

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Daily Chronicle: 'Lock & Load 2016 Recap'

I know this a few days late, but I thought I'd go ahead and write a quick recap of 'Lock & Load 2016' which took place the weekend of June 10th-12th in Bellevue, WA. along with a small photo dump.
 
For my son and I, this was the first 'Lock & Load' we attended. We attended the LVO back in February and previously living in the Chicago area attended AdeptiCon multiple times, but this is a first event for us in the Pacific Northwest.
 
When it comes to traveling, I am not a fan of flying unless I have too (not that I am of afraid to fly, it is just that I would rather drive and bring the whole 'kitchen sink' with us than forgetting to pack something for a flight). So with that in mind, my son and I took a road trip to 'Lock & Load'.
 
We ended up leaving Phoenix really early Wednesday morning and the plan was to drive the direct route through Nevada and straight through (with a few rest/sleep stops) and arrive in Bellevue sometime early Thursday afternoon. Well the trip was smooth sailing and we arrived right on schedule (around lunch time on Thursday). We got a quick bite to eat for lunch and then headed to the convention center to meet our friend Adam with Broken Egg Games to drop off the 50 tournament trays we were carrying for him. After we dropped the trays off we perused the hall a little bit while Privateer Press was still getting a few last minute things wrapped up.
 
It was then time to check in to our hotel (Hilton...about a mile away) and make some plans for dinner and prepare for Fridays events. Having a car was really nice and we were able to drive out to a Buffalo Wild Wings, along with catching a showing of the new 'Warcraft' movie.
 
Friday June 10th
 
The original plan was for my son and I to both play in the 2nd Heat of the Masters Tournament. Well since I did not get much playing time in before the event (and I was really rusty on the rules) I decided to back out and peruse the venue and watch my son play in the Masters. With a late start to the 2nd Heat (around 3:00 PM) after the second game of my son's loss he decided to drop out and we would go and get some dinner. I ended up finding a gaming store not far away that also had a restaurant and bar, what a great concept. So we headed out to MOX Boarding House for some dinner and a beer.
 
Saturday June 11th
 
With the realease of MKIII at 'Lock & Load', Saturday morning was used to wait in the store line and do a pre-order of our items. Privateer had it setup that you pre-order your items during the day, then after the keynote at 9:00 PM they had all your items already packaged for you to be picked up and the lines were broken down into groups of 50 order numbers. It was a great idea.
 
My son and I ended up playing a few last games of MKII in the Iron Arena (to collect some points for prizes). After dinner we headed back to convention center for the keynote and our MKIII goodies.
 
I ended up getting a Khador and Trollbloods Battlegroup Box (so I can have a mini rulebook of each). I did not elect to get the cards since we were going to use the Warroom app and I also did not get the full size rulebook. The new rulebook is huge and I was not going to be carrying that to the stores to go out and play. 2 mini rulebooks will be fine for me.
 
Sunday June 12th
 
The original plan for today was to play in the Speedmachine Event, but with the release of MKIII, my son and I decided just to play in Iron Arena and learning the new MKIII rules. After a game or two of just using the Warroom app, I headed back upstairs to store and came down with 6 packs of Faction Cards (Khador/Trollbloods/Minions/Mercenaries/Cygnar/Circle). While learning what the new cards can do, it was easier to physically have the cards in front of me and to be able to flip through them.
 
When the gaming was over for us I finished the weekend playing 7 games and going 4-3. I could have squeezed in more games on Friday, but with the release of MKIII late Saturday night I did not want to get too comfortable with MKII since I will be learning MKIII. But I am alright with that. I love attending these events for the social aspects.
 
We wrapped up Sunday night by walking through downtown Bellevue and getting some dinner at one of my sons favorite places, The Cheesecake Factory.
 
That ended the 'Lock & Load' portion of the trip for us. The plan for going back home was to go through San Francisco and see the sights for a day and half. So we arrived back home in Phoenix late Wednesday night.
 
So the question is.....will we be attending 'Lock & Load 2017'.....the drive is really really long.....I am going to say that at this moment there is a 50/50 chance we will go back next year.....but without the stop at San Francisco.....too much extra dollars. I will probably make a decision after 'LVO 2017'.
 
Onto a few photos.......

The van all packed and ready for the trip.

My son and Cygnar.

Khador and me.

Heading into the Events Hall for the Masters.

My sons army ready for Masters to begin.

Lock & Load 2016

Iron Arena Hall

Iron Arena Hall

Finally a Gargantuan for Minions.

 

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