Settlers of Catan, but not in Catan

We have a new FLGS! Down the road in Nth Fitzroy is a new game store that also has space for gaming. We checked it out this Sunday, and were badly tempted to buy much stuff. But reason prevailed and we escaped with just the collectors edition of Settlers of Catan - Egypt. Which is just Catan with an Egyptian skin on it, and some nice pieces and an extra scenario.
We also grabbed an expansion pack for Boss Monster, just some extra cards.
L and I managed to get a game in yesterday of the base Settlers rules. It was fun, although we had to fudge a third player as the kids weren't interested this time. It worked out and L won 11vp to my 7vp.
It's a fun game, I can see why it is regarded a classic.

Need more space!

Storage is always a problem. Especially as our board games collection continues to grow. So a couple of weekends ago a quick trip to Bunn-waas and some power tools (woah!) and saw dust resulted in this...
A brand spanking new shelf unit big enough to store more gaming gear in comfort.

More for a galaxy, far far away...

So the Star Wars itch continues to need scratching.  Thanks to the magic of eBay, a new wave of ships joins our Star Wars TCG fleet.
First a 'limited release' of a Star Destroyer and some rare cards. (although, they are everywhere on eBay, so it can't have been all that limited!)

Then I found another guy in the States who was selling another Star Destroyer, then it turned out he had some other cards to sell as well ... and... OK, I may have gone a bit overboard here - but the guy was giving a great deal, a bargain and it was too good to pass up :)

So now I'm pretty sure Kn and I will have plenty of options for our next few battles.    I'm looking forward to our next battle where I can bring out a classic Imperial fleet with plenty of TIE fighters and a Star Destroyer or two as the backbone.  Yeah.

Sometimes, ya just gotta go overboard

So, you may recall that after playing Munchkin at the last big game afternoon we held I ran out soon after and bought Munchkin: Legends for the home collection.  I then drew up a basic version of the game board that can be used to indicate Level progress for the Munchkins, rather than just the counters that the basic version suggests.

Well, I then got all carried away, and L got carried away, and we brainstormed, and decided to make a big board for Munchkin...

So I...

-got some foam (that nice denser blue foam, for improved carving)

-drew out the 'dungeon' (roughly based on the original Munchkin Advanced layout)

- started carving out the rooms, card spaces, discard spaces and dice holder.
- let it age for a couple of months.  (Like a home brew, it should be laid down for a while to mature. Or maybe I just got distracted by family and pre-xmas for a while)

- realised that I wanted to use it soon, so frantically got back into it.  Adding a base and starting to cut out and stick down cardboard pavers and the numbers on the floor.

-eventually had to pull an all-nighter where I paved and bricked the rooms, floorboards in one case.  Added room dressings to give each room a unique theme.

-got out ye olde airbrushe to base coat the rooms in black...

- used the airbrush to add texture to the pavers, bricks and walls.  This was fun as I hadn't used the airbrush as a detail brush in a looong time.  Had to re-learn how to get the right consistency for the paint and adjust the needle and seat and keep the tip clear...  Really happy with the result though. 

- did more drybrushing, detail painting, and painted the 'surface'green in readiness for flocking.

-ready enough to go for the games day.  (which was only a few short hours of sleep away) However, each room needs more detail, and there still is flocking to do.  So there will be more to come on this project!

Yay!  clunk...snooooorrreeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Christmas bounty

So its been Xmas time again, and this year I made sure we all got a bit of gaming goodness under the tree.

I was lucky enough to score 'Gloom' from T at work, and I gave him the Munckin starter set.

Kr also got some Munchkin goodness, expanding the home deck with the "Munchkin 2: Unnatural Axe" deck.

Kn got "Hey, that's my fish!", a game of penguiny fish snatching.  He's quite enjoyed it.

And L got "Last Night on Earth, the Zombie game", which she really enjoyed at the last big game afternoon we held.

The hoard grows!  Muah ah ah aaah!

Munchkin: Legends

Kr quite enjoyed Munchkin on the big games arvo a few weeks ago, so capitalising on that enthusiasm, L and I picked up Munchkin: Legends in the city last week. It was L's idea to get the Legend themed one, as it could then be educational for the kids as well.

We got it out today, as part of our Melbourne Cup afternoon.

As it was one of the plain card decks, I had to draw up a quick copy of the dungeon board you get in Munchkin: Advanced to provide the same feel we had last time.

The Legend deck is cool, and I got to point out some interesting obscure myths, like Baba Yaga, the Russian witch with the walking house. On duck legs. Even though Kn had decided to sit out on the game, he still came over to check out the myths

The game ran as a usual Munchkin, although it ended up with Kr and I trying to stop L who proved unstoppable.

Good fun, and we'll be back for more.

Blast from the past!

Went to the FLGS the other day determined to make a purchase.
First option was not available, so I put that on order and instead found ...
RoboRally!
I remember playing this years ago at the CGS! Good times...

So brought it home and finally got to unbox it and start a game yesterday.
It's just as much fun as I remember, and Kn is loving it as well. Hopefully we'll have many more games.

Big BadaBOOM!

Woot!  I got mail!

My LITKO order arrived yesterday, and I'm nerding out over little bits of plastic (again).

For on table bling during FWC (and other games, I'm sure) I've got myself some 'Smoking Wreckage', 'Medium Artillery' and 'Micro Blast' markers. 

They are very well made, with nice crisp edges (the artillery blasts were actually a bit ouchy as I pushed them onto their bases!).  Some assembly is required, but none of the bits I received had any problems fitting onto each other, and all I had to do was add glue.  I used my Airfix model glue, as I didn't want to risk using something (like superglue) that would fog the plastic.  (I did do a small test area first, just to be sure)

Below is the result of a late evening excitedly gluing.  No fingers were glued together in the making of these markers.

A lot of explosions

And because I am hanging out to use them, here's a small diorama showing the markers 'in action'...

A destroyed Battle Wagon in front of a unit of suppressed Orks, while another two orks are narrowly missed by an artillery barrage. 

Squats tend to tinker, ya know.

Speaking of Squats, I was considering the options available in the list for them and was feeling a bit restricted.  So I figured, ya know - I bet you'd have a hard time convincing a Squat not to re-jig their equipment any chance they could get.

So I got to re-jiggering...

The flamer on the Squat Trike is a nice piece of kit, ignores cover and hits anything in a line for 20cm... but sometimes you don't want to get that close.
Sooo, well, I've got all these Imperial LasCannons just lying around.  How could a short hairy engineer resist the temptation?

Nice!

Now... that covers those that like to reach out and tap something, but what about those that like to clamp on the trigger for some real rock'n'roll?

Heavy bolters for that!

 


Finally, the standard 'Rhino' APC is a bit of a light-weight.  Any Squat worth his steel-cap boots and overalls could see it needs to be up-gunned.  More LasCannons!

Not quite an IFV now, but with a bit more to add to a fire-fight...

 Looking forward to finishing the paint jobs on these and adding them to the Brotherhood motor pool!
  

Waargh!

Just a quick update on the Orks.  

They are coming along nicely, although slowly (as all wargaming projects are at the moment)

Soon the first batch of boyz will be ready to charge out and cause some havoc for the local Squats.

L-R: Gun Wagonz, Gretchin, Boyz, Warbozz, Attack Wagonz, Nobz, NobBozz.

Another cool board game

A few weeks ago I got the phone call from my friendly local gamestore that finally another game I saw on Tabletop had come in.

Tsuro - The Way of the Path.  A gorgeously produced game with a simple yet strong gameplay.

The players are dragons, or perhaps dragon-riders, who must fly the path as it is revealed before them without either crashing into another player or being on a path that leads the off the edge of the board.

The box is beautiful.  Opening it reveals a beautiful rice paper insert first, then the heavy card board folded in four.  The rules are on a piece of folded card.  The tiles that form the paths are neatly stowed in the box, as are the player markers.

I'm thinking if I could find about 8 smallish Asian dragon figures they'd be fun to paint and would add to the feel of the game.  

The kids don't quite appreciate the strategy of it yet, but they'll grow into it.  We had a game of it on Easter Sunday with more adult players and it went really well.

Catching up

OK, so it has been a while since I commanded a battalion of Leopard 2A4 across Germany's fields, or swept my horde of Mongols across the steppes, or even given ol' Jerry some what-for I should bally well say so!

However, I have still been able to enjoy some games of the less lead-intensive type.

Here are some games I have enjoyed these last few months:

Fluxx - Star Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx and Monty Python Fluxx.

Yeah - it is a weird game, and it took a couple of games to really understand what i was doing enough to start to feel like I had any kind of say in what was going on (it initially feels like you are just getting dragged along by the game, but it is possible to regain some control once you realise how the cards interact)

This is popular enough now that I keep a couple of decks in my desk drawer at work and we have had numerous games over lunch.  Star Fluxx is the favourite.

Munchkin

Inspired by the Geek and Sundry show Table Top on YouTube, my manager picked up Munchkin.  We have had a couple of games now, and its a shame we can't drink at work, coz its a great beer and pretzels game.  It does seem that a game can get a little unbalanced though, the last winner had the table in front of him covered in cards equipping and beefing up his munchkin, while the rest of us had a whole bunch of nuffin.

Last Night on Earth

Another Table Top hit.  We had a games night at my manager's place back before Australia Day, and finished the night with a introductory game of this.

Good fun as your few survivors explore the buildings of the town looking to fulfil the mission criteria so they can escape while fighting off hordes of zombies.  Feels a lot like Mall Of America, except it has a game turn clock to keep you moving along.  

I was controlling the two college students and it was funny how the guy was pretty useless and kept trying to make out with the girl (an action card the zombie player can get) but she was ruthless once she got hold of a pistol.  Good fun, looking forward to the harder missions.

Memoire 44 online

Still enjoying an occasional late game on the laptop before bed.  
I like the combine mechanic of choosing a card to play, and then making tactical movement decisions this game offers.

Zombie Dice

Yeah, another Table Top recommendation.  Damn you Wil Wheaton!!!

Wheaaaaaattttooooooooooon!!!!!!

Great game, though.  Push-your-luck dice roller as you try to collect brains and not get shot in the face.  The kids loved it last Friday, we played 4 times.  Kn grabbed the idea really fast, balancing his risk and boldness.  He also grocked the different coloured dice really quickly!

So, still getting some games in, and building up the games cupboard as well.

Forbidden Island

Bought this awesome board game for the family.  Cooperative game style so we don't have to worry about one of the kids losing.

Gets tense as the island starts sinking and we are wondering who's going to pick up the next card that makes it worse!

Played this Friday with Weis and Kr and Kn and had a blast!

We recovered the treasures and got off the island just in time as the last bits of the island sunk right behind us!

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Da Waaugh Boss

Then I got thinking (while at the sink doing the washing up) "These Nobz and Warboss figures are all very well - but I'm using those as elite infantry and HQ stands, what am I going to do for a CinC?  The Waugh Boss himself?"

I need a big figure, Imperial Xenobiologists all agree that Orks increase in height and muscle mass as they improve their standing in the Clan.  So the CinC is going to be the biggest and baddest...

I got it!  An Ogryn figure - 'ere we go!'   Bigger shoulder pads, bigger gun, heavy brow, ears(?), and a steel lower jaw - so far.  Can I fit more on?

Gunwagonz - score!

So, I'm rummaging around in the boxes under my desk looking for some gap-filler for basing, when I knock a box over and hear a distictly plastic-y sprues noise.  "Whats that?" I thinks to myself, opening the box.
Woo-hoo! A number of Ork Gun Wagons from the old Titan Legions box I've had sitting in the garage for years.  Must have brought them in one night and forgotten about them!  Perfect timing for the new project!

So here we go - I've already put one together and primed it, and this second one is the first of the mods.  They're just not quite lumpy enough as they stand.

So I've added plates, some extra fuel tanks and shortened the gun barrel.

I think the next one will have a change to the roller thingy.  Something toothy...

Kustomizin Warwagonz

Made a few small changes to the warwagons, just so they look more hand-crafted by the Mekboy, instead of coming off a factory production line.

The photo seems to be bringing out more of the brown ink wash than you usually see.  The finished versions don't really look that bronzed.

Ork Warwagon

So how to paint an Orky Warwagon?

Well, I figure first its built all out of sheet metal.

Which then gets rusty.

Which then is handed to a bunch of Orks to paint. They like blue, checks and glyphs.

 Turned out pretty good, I think.

Next ones will have additional panels added.

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Deathskullz

Orkses!

First strip of 6 boyz pretty much complete (maybe a brown wash required?) for my first colour trials.  I'm happy with how they turned out...

Gone with the GW 'Deathskullz' flavour for these boys.  Pretty traditional Orks with a taste for the lucky colour blue.

Coming soon... the prototype paint job for the Boyz' battlewagonz...

Achievement! Picked up a paint brush!

Yowza! Actually managed to put a bit of paint on ...

Orks!

eBay has provided a small amount of Orks to provide another challenge for my Desert Squats, who just want to get on with peacefully strip-mining the resource rich Procyon IV.

Just trying to settle on the colour scheme for the Ork Boyz and their battlewagons. I'm thinking Deathskullz, making blue a bit of a feature colour on them (its a lucky colour for Orks).

This is all part of my plans for solo gaming Future War Commander on a 2 ft square desert scenery board.

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Say hello to my littl' friend!

(Coincidentally, 'Scarface' was on tele last night)

More of the Clans big armour. For when your big gunz just ain't big enough!

These beasties need names ... I was reading an article about the volcano in Iceland yesterday and some of those Icelandic names inspire me as appropriate for my squats.
I think my stunties may end up being an offshoot from the (FWC) Macgregor Clan and end up with a more Icelandic/Scandinavian nomenclature.

hmmmm... so above, "Haldenfyord's Hammer"?