Stompy Stompy

As per usual I headed over to Mark’s for some gaming today. I took my RC tank to have a bit of a play with. I’m definitely going to have to get another one, and upgrade them to the infrared battle system. (When the budget allows of course) 

 

First game up was a 300 point Infinity game, using the YAMS system for objectives. Phil and I changed the allocation of them to make things a bit more interesting. Instead of drawing six and discarding two, so you start with knowing your four objectives.

We draw three to start with and discard one, then on turn three, we draw another 3 and discard one. So you have two objectives to concentrate on for the first 2 turns before the next two objectives (basically thinking of it as you get assigned more objectives from HQ during the mission). The only other addition rule was that you couldn't fulfil an objective you get in turn 3 before you actually get the objective. Oh yeah, and if you cant meet one of the object cards you draw because it’s impossible, just draw another card.


I ran an old Combined Army list I had printed up, that just happened to be in my game bag. I choose it simply because it had the Cascuda in it and I want to use him. So my list was

First Group
Aswange  Lieutenant – Adhesive Launcher
Caskuda
Iskaller  - Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun
Speculo Killer
T-Drone
2x Seed Soldiers
Second Group
2x Preta
2x Gaki

So here’s a rough run down of the game. Phil was using his ALEPH. I ended up with first deployment and first turn, keeping the Cascuda and Iskaller off the table to use there combat jump ability later on in the turn to go for two objectives. The first beginning search an unconscious/dead enemy for documents, followed by placing a beacon in the enemies deployment zone 10’ or less from a corner.

First I ran my Preta’s and Gaki’s up the left flank to cause some chaos (think I killed a couple of models and lost one Preta). I then walked the Cascuda on, right up by Phils deployment zone on the right flank. Simple plan… kill everything in site that could shoot back, which was only one model as it turned out, achieved that then moved in and scored my first objective by searching the body.

Phil then moved up and killed some more of my Gaki and Preta’s in a shootout on the left flank. He then proceed to kill my Cascuda with a damn combi rifle after I failed a bunch of saves really badly. Thankfully the heavy flamer of the Cascuda managed to kill his model as well. (cant recall what it was).

A bunch more shenanigans happened over the next turns as Phil killed off my remaining Gaki’s. I then walked on the Iskaller onto the board in the same place as my Cascuda did and he then proceed to slaughter the other two models that were there, a Netrod and some small harmless bot. I then placed the beacon  and setup the Iskaller up for defence of the beacon.

Turn thee and I get a mixed bag of objectives, one simple one and a choice of two hard ones. I opt for the easy one of course, which was sabotage a terrain piece and the second much hard one of “Hold” which is not be in retreat at the end of the game. (at that point I need to keep all my models on the board alive.)

So my turn three is all about getting the sabotage done and scoring my third objective, and what I hope is good placement of my models to make Phil think twice about coming to close. Thankfully Phil goes for his objectives and scores one of them. My fourth turn I get all my guys as far away and well hidden as possible. Which turned out to be just far enough to stay alive as Phil runs one of his models into my DZ to score another one of his objectives.

So I actually win 4/2 on objectives, think that's my first win against Phil using the Combined Army.

After lunch I played Will at Malifuax, and tried out the Pandora starter box, using proxies as I’m thinking of getting the starter box to expand my Neverborn crew. So with Will also using proxies as his gang hasn't shipped from Wayland yet. The photos are not what they seem.

Talk about mess with your mind, as a last minute decision, it wasn't a good one. Read the cards once, pop the models on the table and start playing. It messed with the brain a little as I tried to figure out the best way to use them and combine the abilities.

The play style is quite different from the Guild gang I’ve been playing, but still fun. So I’m definitely going to have to do some reading and searching on how to use them more effectively. Safe to say Will pretty well stomped me. He was using Seamus and kept bring back corpses. (a rather annoying ability)

 Looking forward to playing more Malifaux, I really like the cheating fate mechanic.

Onslaught and Insanity

So as the onslaught and insanity of Christmas approaches, as does the mountain of work. Hence my lack of posts and game time. The one constant I keep remanding myself after my holiday up to Indonesian island of Flores, is, I’m damn lucky. I have a good job, a place to live and great wife. Not every one in the world is that lucky.

So without complaints. I haven't had much time for painting or modelling but have been getting in a few games. I’ve been playing Fantasy Flights Living card game “Call of Cthulhu” with my wife over the past few weeks. Along with a few other board games. I must say it’s really starting to grow on me, it’s a much easier mechanic to grasp than Net Runner and the rules are pretty straight forward. As well as the rules are the same for both sides, unlike Net Runner. We are playing just with the starter box and six factions that come with it. We are now onto the stage having played half a dozen games and starting to mixing up the factions and have lots more fun. So far all the games have been quite different, from getting totally white washed to nail biting battles where one of us only just wins. If I had the choice to go back in time I’d would have started playing with Call of Cthulhu before Net Runner, as that would have made the transitions much easier. Both games are great and quite different, highly recommend both of them.

For today's gaming with the lads I rocked out a game of Infinity with Phil, then another blustering game of Dust with Will, followed up by X-Wing. Will’s doing up great battle reports over on his new blog http://willsramblingsnz.blogspot.co.nz/  so I wont regurgitate that, not to mention my brain is fading fast after another 4 hours work tonight.

        

Big Bugs and Six guns

The weekend started with me trying to cut my thumb off, followed by smashing it on a bench vice followed by badly burning it on a tungsten lamp. yep, that was my Saturday. It did get better when I went and watched Iron Man 3 at the movies. Nothing like siting back sippin scotch and watching a great movie.

So come Sunday I was ready for some gaming. So I rocked out a random list for my Combined army using the Cascuda again, since I put all that time into making the base and painting him. Phil with using his ALEPH and that nasty Asuras which I always seem to have trouble dealing with. We used the YAMS cards for missions and this time I had three which I though I’d have a good chance of getting and one was a maybe…if I’m lucky.

It turned out I was lucky, and I actually got all four of my objectives, the first time ever. So I ended up winning the game 4 to 3. Whaoo .. The highlight was having the Cascuda’s airborne deployment hacked by Phil, then nailing the landing on top of a building…. and landing on one of Phil's camouflaged models hiding on the roof. Splat …Urrrr …Bug Bug carnage.

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A shot of Will’s Highlanders from his game against Phil in the afternoon.

After that Mark and I picked up a game of Legends of the Wild West with his newly made fences and repainted buildings (still a work in progress), along with his newly acquired wagons, gallows and a long drop. This time we used the full rules and made up gangs using the $200 startup money. My usual Cow Girls versus the Mexican Bandit’s.

The game rolled out very smoothly and with all the extra cover, it was alot more fun. Everyone on both sides was lasting alot longer with all the cover taking a beating from gunfire. Add that with the use of the Fame and Fortune of the characters really made for a fun game.

With my burnt thumb there was no way I was taking my DSLR to take photos so I just shot a few pics on my phone, which turned out ok,

My Soiled Dove did a great job of walking up and shooting one of the Mexicans in the back, only to try and take cover from the others in the wagon and failing her climb roll, then her grit test… broken neck.. what a way to go out.

In the end the Cow Girls whittled down the Mexicans and they headed for the hills once again. So I think that puts the Cow Girls in a bit of a winning streak.

I’ll probably regret it next game.

Club Day

South Auckland Club day was a quite affair this month, with a few of the regulars away and some having to leave early. The usual FOG games going, along with some Lord of the Rings and Bolt Action.

Phil and I played a couple of games of Infinity, using all his building. But only at one level as if we were in an underground complex, which made for quite a different gaming experience. We used the YAMS rules for both games. I tried out my Preta spam list and adjusted it for the second game after a few things became apparent in the first game. Suppression fire made a good impact and both sides making good use of it.  I really must get my models painted, now that I’ve got a good core base for my lists.

I lost the first game 3VP to 4VP, which was pretty good for me. I’m still struggling with working out how to best score points of some of the missions. (more practice required I think). The second game I lost 2VP to 5VP, again with some of the mission messing me up. But the game was a really hard fort one, with my Preta’s really working well. I’ve finally got the hang of them I think. Also helps when you have six of them.

And to round of the day I pulled out Wings of Glory for a quick game. My Zero’s losing against the Allied… never helps when you crash into your own planes and cause damage of 50% in the first turn on one plane. It’s a great fun, not to serious game.

So three losses today, but all good fun.