Return to Arkham

I was really excited about the new resin models that came with second editions.  I really wanted every set!  In the end I went with the new Batman and Arkham Guards starter set and the Nightwing single.  The models are really nice.  I only had a problem with the assault rifle guard.  He had some really bad mold lines that I needed to file, fill with liquid green stuff, then file again. 

We are going to be starting a new campaign at Lords of Wargames and Hobbies this weekend.  I am going to play my Brave and the Bold crew, however with one alteration; no Batman.  I am using some cops and the three new Arkahm Guards.  The crew will be lead by the new Nightwing, with Starfire backing him up.  I got Starfire a little while ago and have not had a chance to try her out.  I do like the thematic feel of Nightwing and Starfire together. 

I was able to finish up one of the guards for the start of the campaign.  I am very happy how the blue uniforms turned out.  I am not overly satisfied with the vest.  I started with a grey base that I though was going to be much darker.  After some highlights it was far to bright, so I used some watered down black to bring it back down, but it just ended up washing the highlights out.  I will try something different for the next guard (then revisit this one). 

It felt good to get some paint on a model after taking a break for a few weeks, but it was the best break of my life.

Kevin

Wayne Financial

I finally finished up a project that had been sitting on my back burner for six months, the Suicide Squad buildings.  Now, I know what you are thinking; how did some pre-printed cardboard buildings take you so long to finish?  The answer may or may not surprise you, I don't like to do anything the  easy way.

When I first got my copy of the SS game I could not decide which of the building fronts I wanted to make.  One side was the rundown, graffiti-covered look.  While the other side was the clean uptown style.  So I built them without glue (which was surprisingly easy).  I figured I could flip it around if I wanted to.  However, as the buildings sat on my shelf the boards started to bow.

I tried to glue and reshape the pieces with no success.  I figured I could straighten the boards by reinforcing it with some foam-core.  It seemed like such a waste to destroy one side of the boards by gluing some foam to it.  Then an idea struck me.

I peeled one side of the boards off.  The card was still thick enough to build one set of the buildings.  Then I just cut it out and built it.  I then glued the peeled piece to a sheet of foam-core.   Then some cardboard to the sides to cover the seams and modified the roof to match my other scratch built buildings.  I made up some gargoyles to hide the holes where the roof supports used to be.  The last thing to mask was the balcony; for one I used a strip of balsa and for the other some spare quarter-round. 

All in all I was very happy with how it  turned out. I think I am going to go back and redo the roofs of the other two SS buildings to match. 

Kevin
 

DCU WAR recap and BMG v2 First Game

The Justice League WAR event at Lords of War Games and Hobbies last Sunday was a blast.  We had a solid turn out.  6 players playing the Justice League (Superman, Flash, Swamp Thing, Bat-Mite, Rebirth Batman, Aquaman, Hawkgirl, Suicide Squad Harley, Starfire and Wonder Woman on a Warhourse).  3 Players stood against them fielding Darkseid and Zod and about 26 Parademons!   The game went back and forth, with Darkseid dominating most of the table for the first 3 turns.  However in the end the Justice League pulled off a late game upset (thanks to White Lantern Wonder Woman) and achieved victory.  Notable Moments:  Every time Superman or Swamp Thing threw a non-winged parademon onto a roof, forcing them to jump back down, only to be thrown back up next turn.  Wonder Woman holding 1/3 of the table alone then coming back to life in the final round to clear out a group a parademons.  Aquaman fighting against Zod and about 10 parademons and surviving for like 3 rounds! and Zod not able to hit, shoot or grab Batman...ever...

I was a little worried about the scenario I wrote up going into the event.  I have done wacky scenario mega battles back in my GW hay-day.  However I wanted this one to be different.  Instead of a big exciting game to keep a group of kids entertained, I wanted a big exciting game to keep a group of grown up kids (me included) entertained...and still be fair and use the rules.  In an old GW megabattle it was very common place for me to favor one side over the other (it really depended on which kid was getting on my nerves).  For the WAR event I wanted both teams to have an equal chance at winning and to not have one side win because rules were changed.

I was especially worried about the Power Crystal tokens I made up.  To keep the game interesting I added 2 tokens each turn randomly on the table that players could grab.  They then got dealt a Power Crystal card.  It would either be a bonus for the player or a trap.  I tried to keep most of the cards fairly balanced by just using different abilities that were already in the game (like giving a player Heavy Batarmour, or the Fly ability).  I did make some more powerful cards too (activate a model twice in a single turn, return a model back to life that died earlier and heal/hurt an objective etc).  It worked out well that both teams got an equal amount of the powerful cards.   

There was a lot of excitement and strategy discussion around the table.  It looked like everyone had a lot of fun!  And to show that I was not biased for the JLA side, I was the first (and only) player to have every one of my models killed!  If anyone is interested in the scenario, let me know and I would be happy to post it.  

A few days later, I was able to get in my first game of the new Batman Miniatures game Version 2.0.  I am very happy with it.  The movement was simplified and the game moved very quickly.  I had Batfleck in combat first turn!  The new sewers are great (we actually used them for once).  The change to the batclaw was the biggest adjustment for me.  I know a lot of people are complaining that it can only be used every other round, but I kinda like it.  I had to be a lot more strategic with Batgirl.  I did not just want to batclaw into combat with no way to make a speedy retreat when it goes south (and with my rolling, it always does). 

I wanted to try out some of the new objectives too, the Fire Drum and the Ace Chemicals.  While they appear to be good, they were not the greatest for my crew.  Due to them being placed in no
man's land, Chris was able to get some early victory points from them and I just could not catch up.  Batfleck did punch a lot of heads though.  Looking forward to round two!

Kevin         

Teen Titans and WAR!

It has been a Batman-heavy few weeks.  There has been a lot of buzz about  BMG 2.0 and the new resin models.  I was getting really pumped to play both the new edition and the DCU!  I recently picked up the Teen Titans repack.  I really wanted Starfire and Cyborg for both games (and having a Kid Flash around is not a bad idea).

I have been finding that Superman in the DCU tends to be a lightning rod.  It is a lot of levels (at 18!).  I was also finding that I was having better success playing with my Suicide Squad team.  I like the play style of lots of lower level characters compared to a few high level ones.  So my plan is to drop the boy scout and put in Starfire and Cyborg for the same level cost.  

In the DCU Starfire can deal a lot of damage.  She can set off a 4 inch explosion each turn and has an impressive attack 8 attribute. I painted up Starfire first in anticipation for the Justice League War event at the Lords of War this weekend. Starfire is very top heavy (I am not making a joke about her anatomy) and kept tipping over.  I added some fishing weights to the base and camouflaged them with some smoke.

Also for the War event I painted up a Parademon to add to Darkseid's endless swarm!  I have only played against these guys once and they were pretty good.  They have a low level cost and don't die very quick.  Then when you do get them close to dying, they self destruct in your face.  It will be interesting to play against a never-ending wave of them this Sunday.

I also got some scatter terrain painted up.  I took the barrels from the Warhammer Empire cannon and filled with with realistic water.  I also painted up some oil drum garbage/recycling cans.

I found a cool youtube video that teaches you how to make mini garbage bags out of real garbage bags.  Super easy to make and they look awesome.  I made about 15 in an hour.

I am working on some objectives for the DCU event this weekend.  I got some Mother Boxes and Crystal Power tokens to paint up!  The clock is ticking...

 Kevin

It is All Fun and Games Until...

I added another booth to the midway on my dilapidated circus table this week.  I used the same dimensions as the last one, but changed the size and shape of the window.  This booth was a classic staple of any carnival game area; the ring toss game.  I think another 2 booths and the midway will be done.

The one thing that this table is missing right now is height.  Most of the buildings are only around 3 inches tall or smaller.  I think I am going to add a Haunted Mansion amusement park ride next to offer some different levels.  

Kevin

I Made a "Grave" Mistake

This title is incorrect.  I made no mistake. Instead I painted 5 graves.  I was gearing up for the second scenario in the Age of Sigmar Skirmish campaign last week.  The mission calls for 5 treasure hordes placed around the table.  The goal of the game is to explore the treasure markers and keep enemies off them.  Since Brad is playing Grand Alliance of Death, I figured grave markers would be very thematic substitute for the treasure markers.

I think I will end up making a small base for the graves.  Have it surrounded by a wooden fence and have the tombstones free floating (like the GW plastic trees).  I have always liked the look of terrain in fantasy games.  However in the previous GW fantasy editions, unless it was a hill, terrain was a pain in the but.

WIP - Ring Toss Game Booth

Age of Sigmar has a very different relationship with terrain.  It can be an intrinsic part of an army or it can be an impartial second opponent.  On the other hand it could just be there to look pretty.  I think I am going to work on some terrain in the near future starting with an new piece for my BMG Carnival table.






Kevin

Unpacked and Ready to Hobby

The move is now over.  We are waging a constant war against the relentless tied of boxes.  We have reclaimed the main floor and much the second.  The basement was where I suspected they were breeding.  However with the vocal support of the Creedence Clearwater Revival a mighty victory was won in the underground today.  

I have my hobby desk set up and after a month hiatus I was able to get some projects done.  A few weeks ago a good friend of mine left the county.  Before he left however we were able to play a few games of Age of Sigmar Skirmish.  It was only my third time to try out the Age of Sigmar rules.  I am liking it more and more each time.  Since then another of our mutual friends has also expressed an interest in trying the game.  

So I decided to rebase some of my old Lizardmen (AKA Seraphon).  Since I was only doing a small skirmish warband, I wanted to do something extra for the bases.  I tried out one of Green Stuff World's textured rolling pins.  It was easy to use, came of clean and with a lot of detail.  I was impressed.  I added a few old GW Lizardmen glyphs to add some Seraphon atmosphere.  The bases were definitely more work but I am happy with them.  

In addition to rebasing models I was also able to get in a game of Knight Models DC game.  I used my Suicide Squad featuring; Deadshot, Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, Slipnot, Harley Quin, Diablo and Katana.  Chis's (from Lord of War Games and Hobbies) used his Injustice league; Black Adam, Lex Luthor in his warsuit, Sinistro and the Joker.  The mission was Big Combat.  Basically each players highest point character (the champion) is placed in the middle of the board at the beginning, which the rest of the team on the table edge.  You get victory points for taking out your opponents champion and each other player alive at the end of the game.  

So it was was Black Adam vs Diablo...not off to a good start.  Chis took out Diablo by second turn, Black Adam is a beast!  I was able to bring down Black Adam the following round.  Katana did some great damage since her soultaker sword attacks supernatural defense, which Black Adam has no resistance too.  Deadshot was a disappointment, 5 shots from bullet-time and I only hit once.  Captain Boomerang took the final wounds off with a homing explosive boomerang, which also KO'ed Katana.

Things took a turn for the worse for me in the following round when Sinistro and Lex killed Katana, Deadshot and Captain Boomerang at the same time.  Meanwhile Joker put down the Killer Croc while Slipnot kept himself out of trouble hiding on top of building. 

Harley Quin was the model who turned the game around for me.  With her Agile rule (move twice) she was able to clear most of the table and do her Crazy Attack, hitting both Lex and Sinistro, KO'ing them both.  She then kept beating Sinisto to death with her bat the following round before hi-tailing it out of there.  Harley would not hurt her pudding Joker.  Both Champions were dead, Chis had Joker left standing, while I had Harley and Slipnot.  We scored it a 4-3 victory for the Suicide Squad. 

However there was some ambiguity there.  The scenario says you get a single victory point for each model that survives the battle.  Lex Luther was KO'ed, not incapacitated.  He did not recover in the last round.  So what counts as "survived" the battle?  Is it anyone who was not incapacitated?  In which case a KO'ed model would still count.  Or does the model have to be Active during the final round to be considered survived?  

What do people thing?            

Whether it was a narrow victory or a tie, I am very happy with how the squad preformed.  Much better then I expected.  It went back and forth and had a lot of dramatic points, a great example of what the game can be.  

Kevin