I know, I know; never use published scenarios. However, it was the best way to get a solid grounding with 4th Edition. It just seemed like an interminable dungeon crawl. Room after room of rather dull low-level beasties and unbalanced (class wise) loot. This was especially problematic with only 3 players: encounters had to be dumbed down and monsters entirely removed from some rooms to make it possible for the party to progress. This flaw was glaringly obvious during the climactic battle: without sufficiently tough minions, the “big bad” had to repeatedly cast a spell that would immobilize the paladin and rogue to keep them out of melee range. Once they saved against it, they bum rushed the evil bastard and did about 70 hp damage to him in 2 rounds. Kind of an anti-climax.

Oh, well. It’s finally done and I can move on to our long delayed Eberron campaign. Good thing too as the Player’s Guide is released tomorrow. Oh, and I’ve russeled up a fourth player, so things should run smoother.

The Ghostbusters game comes out June 16th.  This is, as we say, a “must-buy”.  I’ve loved the franchise for 25 years (except for the weak as piss sequel), owning the under-rated West End Games pen and paper RPG and enjoying the Real Ghostbusters cartoon.  With the entire cast back to do voice work (except for Moranis and Weaver), I can’t not buy it.

Saw the following on Kotaku today.  A definite future must buy:

Now I have the following to (at the very least) assemble before I can actually play a game:

• 15 Tactical Marines
• 5 Scouts
• 5 Assault Marines
• 1 Rhino transport
• 1 Razorback Transport
• 1 Techmarine
• 1 Thunderfire Cannon

This pile represents the parts of only 5 little mens.  The most daunting part was filing down the mold lines.  At least I don’t have to drill any barrels…

They went together fairly easily, so here’s what they look like after assembly and priming:

The level of detail is quite impressive for plastic, and with all of the extra bits provided, no two figures look exactly alike.  Speaking of bits, I’ve got about half of the pile in the first picture to play around with.

I doubt I will try to paint 18 figures at once ever again.  I’m nearing the finish line on the A0BR Tactical squad, Terminators, Captain and Dreadnaught, but boy is it ever a slog to get through them.

I discovered that not only are there members of the Dueling Grounds Warmachine / Hordes league into 40K, but much about Games Workshop’s has changed for the better since I last bought and played their products.  I took a couple of field trips to the 2 GW stores in Toronto: at the Scarborough Town Centre location, I picked up the Assault on Black Reach starter; and I checked out the “battle bunker” store at Yonge and Lawrence.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the redshirts were friendly and personable, and as expected from a salesperson, promoted their products effectively without the hardsell.  At the sizable uptown location, I actually heard a staff member tell the gaggle of pre-teen boys that the first objective of Warhammer was to have fun.  It was somewhat refreshing to hear (although, it may be because of all the parents around who had brought their kids in for painting classes).  Playing at the bunker became a palatible option, until I learned that Dueling Grounds is going to be selling GW games again.

I like the crowd at the store, and in terms of distance, it takes just as long to get to DG as it does to the GW locations.  Plus they have chairs.  I’m old now, and I don’t relish the idea of standing to play out an entire 2 hr + game.  So, after selling of the Black Reach orks to a fellow goon, and a Khador starter to Jaime from the league, I’m easerly awaiting the arrival of a ton of plastic Space Marines from Great Canadian miniatures.

I’m tired of painting blue, so for the time being, I’ve switched to green.  Here are the test models I completed for my Salamanders chapter army:

Using my good old Delta Ceramcoat paints, I think I achieved the right degree of base, shading and highlighting in all of a few hours.  My recipe:

• Black spray primer (Krylon flat black)
• 2 base coats of Kelly Green
• Washed with very thin Gamal Green
• Drybrushed with Kelly Green
• Highlighted with Light Foliage Green

After this, the other detail colours (like the unbelievably easy black) went on very quickly.  I even used a bright 14k gold with a dark umber wash for the Marine iconography.  I’ve got the rest of the set on the assembly line, and about half completed with the green highlight.  I’m trying to get them done before the Space Marine Battleforce, Thunderfire Cannon, Razorback and counter set arrive in the next couple of weeks.

‘jacks

Which of the following could not be considered a good thing?  Answer; none:

• MAT and RAT increases.
• Are not disabled when 3 systems are crippled; they keep on fighting (although poorly) until ALL damage boxes are filled.
• Can expend focus to stand up immediately from knockdown or shake off status effects like stationary.
• Are now mandatory in lists due to ‘caster ‘jack points.

Units

• Unified stat lines regardless of rank and automatic field promotion.
• Unified formation rules and greater flexibility in trooper placement.
• Units are far more specialized rather than some fitting many roles, allowing for greater force diversity.

‘casters

• Free is a great price.  Bonus ‘jack points is even better than free.
• You can field Epics any time you want.
• Are no longer overshadowed by elite solos or units.  ‘casters and ‘jacks are once again, the core of the game.

Rather than going into specifics on the point values or model changes, I’ll translate a recent 500 point MKI list into MKII terms:

As you can see, the numbers match up pretty well in what is considered a standard game in MKI and II.  However, with the bonus ‘jack points, the Lancer is essentially free.  I honestly have no clue what I would do with the extra points (add a Hunter to the Journeyman, perhaps?), but one thing isn’t in doubt: armies are going to grow in size.  Of course some of the above models (*cough* Bokur *cough*) are changing significantly, so they may no longer be as useful in a largely shooty list like this one.

If there is one criticism I can level at Privateer, it’s that the filed test for MKII may have been released a bit prematurely.  Looking at model changes specifically, I’ve realized that I’m quite happy with my current collection and have little reason or incentive to buy more until late this year or in early 2010.  For example, purchasing a Stormclad now would be a waste of money since I simply wouldn’t field him in our league, but come next year, he will work quite well with models I already own.

On the positive side, this gives me lots of time to catch up on painting.  Or at least it would have, had I not filled the “buying things” gap with something else.  But more on that next time…

So, I thought that now was the time to remind you of this post, from a while back.

Major Haley

How many coats of white can one paint before one goes mad?  Probably one more than I did.  It may not look like it, but working on her swirly cape was a lot of fun and somewhat quick.  There’s a couple of touch-ups to do on her left arm and cowl, but otherwise it’s another model down.

The Black 13th

Bullets are small and made of metal and cause much pain relative to their size.  Much like working on these guys.  They are tiny, and weigh next to nothing, yet the level of detail makes them seem much larger than they are.  I estimate the 13th took me three weeks to do.  Check out Watts all blurry over there on the right: thematically appropriate.

Lt. Caine

Certified bad-ass!  Quite straighforward to paint.  What wasn’t so straightforwrd was the repair job I had to do on him (not yet complete, as seen by the base).

I was foolishly spray sealing Thorn, the Squire and Caine on an unusually windy day when a gust cast my spray box and models to the unyielding surface of my driveway.  Caine lost an arm, the Squire it’s base and Thorn burst apart completely (the latter hit spear point first, bending it nearly in half).  I’ve fixed them all, but it cost me some precious painting time.

Next time: my thoughts on Warmachine MKII and internet whiners, how cool my local gaming group is and how I finally succumbed to the lure of the “grimdark” future.

I know 9 to 12 hours of free time per week seems a lot, especially to other parents of small children, but here are the options and constraints we face:

• Watch TV.  Mind you, we don’t waste time watching broadcast TV, so we don’t lose precious entertainment minutes on hateful, hateful, commercials.  We don’t even follow that many programs right now:
  • BSG
  • Dollhouse
  • Chuck
  • United States of Tara
  • Burn Notice
  • The occasional interesting documentary, but rarely movies.
• Paint.  Usually combined with the above whilst the wife knits.  Multi-tasking is a fine thing, when you remember to actually tear your attention away from the screen.
• Games.  I swore I wasn’t going to do it, that I would finish what I had before buying anything new, but then February happened.  As with every February, game publishers decide to unleash a pile of quality releases.  It also doesn’t help that my computer can now run everything at max.  Last week it was Left 4 Dead on sale and  Dawn of War II; and this week Puzzle Quest: Galactrix and possibly (god help me), Killzone 2 and Noby Noby Boy.  Oh, and the TF2 Scout update.  PC gaming is less obtrusive than console gaming, but both require balancing the TV and computing needs of my significant other.

Notice something missing?  Time with friends, which can only really occur on Saturday nights.  Every other Saturday night is claimed by our D&D campaign, which, unless Mel and I drink one hell of a lot of caffeine, tends to lack  a certain amount of energy.

Time out to go to dinner or a movie?  Nigh impossible with no easily available babysitters in the family.  While it may technically be possible to see Watchmen on opening weekend, I just realized I’m on call and wouldn’t be able to go anyway.

None of this is new to us, but this year it feels particularly draining.  My bet’s on the weather and the lack of light.

In my view, the most important changes are:

• Changing the point costs across the boards.  Let’s face it, many units, ‘jacks and solos just aren’t worth the points compared to others.  Models just languish in storage, never put to good use.  However, considering that….
• … all units, ‘jacks and solos will be reevaluated in terms of their stats, this will breathe new life into the poor, dusty fellows.  In particular, ‘jacks are getting a major overhaul along with…
• … the fact that they have no “disabled” state anymore.  In line with the staying power of Warbeasts, ‘jacks will only be completely out of action if all of their damage boxes are filed.  This is THE definitive move that puts an end to solo- and infantry-machine.
• No more kinds of formations (which, outside high-level competitive play no-one cared about anyway): just in or out.

Granting more utility to under-used models has the side-benefit to Privateer to sell more miniatures.  The Charger, Stormclad, and Hammersmith, for example, are rarely used by Cygnar players, but after this change, they may become useful options.

In related news, I picked up size 0 and 1 Winsor and Newton Series 7 sable brushes on the recommendation of many, many miniatures painters.  They better grant me godlike painting skills!