More Dwarven Forge

Dwarven Forge just launched their second kickstarter, this time for natural cavern pieces. I've been ogling the photos of the various new pieces, but I'm holding off on pledging until I get my original set finished. They arrived while we were awaiting our new house to be finished, and I've only managed to get them unpacked and started a week or so ago.

Five sets of Dwarven Forge is pretty daunting, but I've been plugging away and can really see some progress now. With less fiddly details than miniatures, I've found you can cut through huge swaths of unpainted dungeon tiles in only an hour painting session. Looking forward to finishing the tiles and running some games (and ordering some new dungeon tiles once this original set is done!)

Cold Wars 2014

Managed to get up to Cold Wars for a day of gaming. Played two fun scenarios and tried to snap as many pics between as I could. Photos after the jump.

Song of Blades and Heroes Bash

Skeletal undead prepare to slay the living

We had a party and later in the evening an impromptu Song of Blades and Heroes game broke out. Terrain was thrown down quickly, random warbands hit the table and the soon the classic scenario "just kill everybody else" was under way.

We had five warbands:

• Vampire with wolves and ghouls
• Wraith with skeletons and wights
• Alchemist with frankenstein monsters
• Dwarf Orcslayer with cavalry and scouts
• Cleric with undead hunters

A ghoul and wolves screen their vampire lord

Dwarven cavalry race to intercept their enemies

Alchemical golems batter their way through the woods

I could detail the shifting alliances, brokered power deals, backstabbing and double crosses, but I don't think even I kept it straight. 

A three sided battle breaking out, dwarves facing down golem and skeletons on the left,
with holy undead hunters fending off a wraith atop the hill

The wraith takes on the currently allied dwarves and undead hunters.

Wolves charge the newly allied undead hunters and golems after they slew the wraith

Essentially three groups ganged up on the dwarves, but when the table realized the vampire was hanging back. the melee cluster gradually worked its way towards him to make sure he couldn't simply pick off the wounded winners of the grand melee. Which he did anyway. 

The vampire lord wades into a battle, his ghouls having broken through the Allies' front line.

Still, fun game, easy to teach, and great to play when food and drink are flowing liberally. 

I Think I Might Be a Reptile

Like much of the country, the Washington DC area has been crushed by icy weather delivered directly from the arctic this winter. Bundling up and shivering all day distracted me from anything but the most minimal progress on hobby projects. A few days ago Jack Frost failed his morale check and we got a break in the chill, reaching a delightful "several" degrees above freezing. Like a snake warmed by the summer sun, I've finally shaken off my torpor and gotten back to painting and gaming.

I've got a number of projects underway. I'm about halfway through Henry Hyde's "Wargaming Compendium " and he's as cheerful and enthusiastic in writing as he was on the "View from the Veranda" podcast (R.I.P.).

Building off my SAGA Norman warband, I'm expanding the cavalry with the hopes of eventually having a full Norman 1st Crusade or Italo-Norman army. I might have to press them into service as Riders of Rohan or something before the army is finished though just to get them on the table. The horses have their oil coat drying which will take a few days, so it's on to the riders next.

I also finally dug into my Dwarven Forge dungeon kickstarter. Holy Smokes! So many pieces, much quality, wow. This stuff is great. I've only unpacked a third of my order, but it was enough for my son and I to play Dungeon Crawl Junior for several hours. I've ordered the Pokorny Paints to avoid any frustrations with tackiness or mixing custom colors, and I'm looking forward to getting these painted up.

We're also having friends stay with us next week, and my wife has already planned a game day with them to celebrate their arrival. Not sure what we'll get on the table, but I have a feeling there will be lots of miniatures and dice at some point.

Reaper Bones Kobolds

I polished off a dozen kobolds from the first Reaper Bones kickstarter. Their small size made their details feel even shallower than some of the other Bones figures I've painted up, but the wash helped pull out their features. I still felt like I was guessing when picking out things like their teeth, but they should be serviceable as dungeon chumps for the players to cut down.

I glued them to washers and extended the dungeon floring they were standing on with some milliput sculpted to look like flagstones. I suppose they turned out ok, but I looking forward to getting back to some metal or plastic historicals next.

Easing back into painting with Reaper Bones Beetles

We're moved in, the holidays have wrapped up, but I'm still unpacking and setting up our new house. Happily, I managed to get a bit of painting done: a pair of Reaper Bones beetles. Not too impressive, but it's nice to be able to get back to the hobby finally.

George and Ringo

Happy New Years! Let's invade Russia!

Smash Up! Fun, but
5-year olds get
analysis paralysis

So are "games for New Year's Eve" a new tradition or something I've just aged into? My son insisted on a game of Smash Up after I got home from work on the 31st (pretty fun game, although I haven't figured out the trick to getting the Wizards to be useful yet). After we wrapped up, we piled into the car and went to a family party (kids downstairs, 'rents upstairs) where various party games were broken out. After we returned home to put our boy to sleep, my wife and I broke out "Command and Colors: Ancients" for its inaugural game, finishing up just before the ball dropped.

The next day I joined my buddies for our 2nd annual Axis & Allies game. Checking my various social media feeds after getting home I saw tons of game playing across the board, even by people who aren't "gamers" per se. Even a bunch of coworkers broke out Catan and Cards Against Humanity for the New Year. Is this a trend, or is everyone I know just old and ditching the drinking (and subsequent hangovers) for quieter pursuits?