Thursday 31 December 2015

Zombicide Black Plague

A couple of weeks ago, Cool Mini or Not (CMoN) announced they would ship the core box of Zombicide: Black Plague ahead of the exclusive/add-ons/expansion. The expected delivery date was "before Christmas".

A shipping label was created December 23rd for my package with the expected delivery date of December 29th. Which was a surprise. As each time CMoN sent me a shipping label, I had already receive the packages. 

December 29th came and went. So did December 30th. Despite the fact Canada Post had the package since December 24th. Obviously, with the Christmas rush, they were busy.

Nevertheless, I was starting to get a little frustrated. Everything is accessible at my fingertips instantly, my ability to wait has diminished. So I checked the Canada Post tracking number I had, and lo and behold, it was on a truck to me! 

Great success! My wife had a small series of chores she wanted me to go out to do! Nope! Had to wait for the package.

And three hours later, I heard a noise outside. Inquisitively, I poked my head out the door, and was met
With a wonderful sight. The Canada Post truck was outside.

Here is it. Being unboxed. At this time, my iPhone informed me I had no more space for pictures so this will have to do for now.


My 4 year old and I sat down to the intro level. He seemed to enjoy it. Success! I'm reading the rules now though as there are some differences between Black Plague and the modern series.

I have a "real" game scheduled for January 2nd, with some friends. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.

That's all for now. Catch you next year...

Happy New Year!

Sunday 15 November 2015

Western Town Redux

A few months ago, I broke out the start of my yet-unnamed Western Town built by the talented Colin Rush, some newly acquired painted Foundry figures and the Legends of The Old West rules for a quick game.

Well, my passion for all things cowboy was re-ignited and I decided to treat myself to some new buildings to expand my set-up.

Below is the second of my three purchases. Detailed posts of each will follow shortly. I plan to post pictures of the other buildings as well.

I ordered the Schmidt General Store. It is truly a beautiful building loaded with detail. When it came to the door, I noticed the box was a little crushed. 
I also had to pay $30.00 for handling. 

I opened the box to find extensive damage to the General Store. Luckily by super glue skills are above par and I fixed all of the damage.

I've included before and after pictures.

Two 2nd floor deck supports are broken.
 
And fixed. Just look at the detail!


The balcony rails have been pushed in and come apart.


And fixed. So much room for figures. And a close up of the flags.

 
A roof strut broke and the framing on the top of the building cracked in three pieces.


Fixed. This was the least of the damage. Maybe a touch of paint to hide the cracks?


Lastly, the stairs to the second level. Thankfully the stairs were pretty solid and just detached from the wall and posts.


That's a long drop down. And the fixed photo below!


Excuse the photos. The lighting in my hobby corner sucks. Anywho, all the damage is repaired. It only took 5-10 minutes.

And I do not blame Colin at all. He packs the boxes very well, stuffing styrofoam popcorn in every crevice, under porches and stairs to ensure minimal movement. Somewhere someone put a much heavier box on mine and crushed it, or kicked it down a hallway. 

Thanks for sticking with me. See you soon!

Friday 31 July 2015

What I've been up to...

Since my last post I've been super busy. I've meant to post several times but you know what they say about good intentions. I'll split the 'news' up into 2 posts so I don't fall further behind.

For starters I had to redo the floors on my  1st floor. The guy that I bought this house from (over 4 years ago now) like taking shortcuts. I've trying to fix them one by one. I'm pretty handy so I don't like paying hard earned money for things I can do well myself. So I installed some new hardwood and trim. The laminate that preceded it was buckling in places and there were some critical errors so it was time to go. That and the 3-1/2 yer old ripped up a piece in the middle of the floor! D'oh!
 The floor all ripped up. Just over 300 square feet. I went to Lumber Liquidators and snagged some 3/8x5" "Hand scraped" Log Cabin Birch for $2.69sqft.


That first piece was a true bastard. It took over 1 hour to get it in. The tiles + grout (inside the doorway) were about about 1" tall. The hardwood is only 3/8 tall. I shimmed under the piece to get it level with the tiles but it sits on an angle. It was the best solution without laying new plywood down to build up the subfloor. It looks good but odd at the same time.



The floor took just under 2 days to lay. The living/dining room had the baseboard installed by me approximately 2 weeks later. The hallway is still waiting (eek) nearly 5 weeks later.

The trim I went with:


 I scored some unpainted poplar from my aunt at a local building store for a huge discount! But I had to paint it! That took 2 days.

I coped the inside corners instead of cutting 45 degree bevels. I hate coping. I truly do, but it looks neater in the end.


The finished room:

Unfortunately the door casing was mangled at the bottom (again previous owner taking short cuts). So to salvage them, I had to put plinth blocks on the bottom. I feel it really classes the joint up.


Unfortunately sometime during the installation of the floor(hammering) I loosened the anchors holding a shelf in the basement. This came crashing down resulting in 5 broken beer glasses and chips/cracks in my conflix terrain. I haven't fixed it yet. I'm still too upset.

Hold The Line Convention 
June 20th, 2015.

I was supposed to attend and play some games with my dad but my 3-1/2 year old didn't want me to leave. So instead of not going, I brought him along. 

The convention was a lot busier then next year. It may seem early but it shows the promise of growth.

I wasn't able to play but I got some cool loot. 

Renedra bases and mealie bags and some 4ground Saxon houses for my ongoing SAGA project.

The true find was a vendor with Copplestone Back of Beyond figures. It was a shame (or a blessing on my wallet) that he only accepted cash.

I picked up Chinese Leaders, buglers/flag bearers and infantry. I also got an Austin for my RCW Russians and a motorbike with sidecar for my Chinese bandits. The army/aliens tube was a game given for free to my some from a nice vendor.
 
Well that's all for now. 

Friday 12 June 2015

Painted Goodies

Where has the time gone since my last post. Real life really gets in the way sometimes.

At Hotlead 2015, I spoke with a commission figure painter, Karl, from Kura Creative. I had seen his booth the year before and had brought 19 Wargames Foundry Darkest African Tribal Archers with me. I also snagged some Copplestone Back of Beyond Sailors at Hotlead and decided to drop them all off with him.

It took a couple weeks and there was regular communication during the process. 

My sister was kind enough to pick them up in Kitchener as she was passing through. No shipping! Yay!

Here are all the Russians. Karl based them on washers and added a banner pole for me as they were a surprise purchase and spontaneous commission.

Here are the Tribal Archers. I had already based them on pennies, and they were already primed.


I'm quite happy with both sets. Karl's pricing was very reasonable. He will definitely be getting more of my business (the Copplestone's from previous posts aren't going to paint themselves after all.

Friday 8 May 2015

Back of Beyond

I've been toying with the thought of getting into this era for quite a while now, well over 3 years in fact.

At Hotlead this year, I stumbled across an excellent deal at the Bring and Buy. I found a package of Copplestone's Russian Sailors for $10.00. Retail is roughly $24.00. However, at a quick glance the package had more than 10 sailors in it. Upon purchase, I realized it also contained the Russian Sailor Command Pack as well.

A quick query on LAF and I landed some European Mercenaries, Chinese Bandits and Russian Cossacks.




My Russian sailors are out art the painters now. My plan is to add a second  10 man unit and a machine gun. The Cossacks will be their cavalry wing.

The Chinese Bandits need a lot more love. I want to field 2x 15 man units and have some cavalry also and vehicles and and and.....

I'm trying to do this on the cheap as new hardwood floors at home have depleted my funds.

Monday 6 April 2015

Hotlead 2015

My favourite time of the year! 

I headed out to Stratford Ontario at 630am with 90 minutes of driving ahead.
I had to be home by 2pm and wanted to get a lot done there.

I set out several goals I wanted to accomplish. This was my 6th consecutive year and have always had a great time. This year I left feeling empty. I couldn't figure out why. Here are the goals:

1) Play 'Technical Difficulties' an imagination modern Africa game
2) Sell unwanted stuff (approx $500 worth of goodies)
3) purchase painted miniatures from a specific painter that fit into existing collections
4) purchase miniatures for either KKBB or RCW/Back of Beyond
5) purchase Viking/Saxon terrain
6) spend as little as possible (weird considering #3-5
7) speak with a painter about a commission (and drop off the figures)
8) be home by 2pm ( imposed by the wife)

I arrived at 8am and offloaded my stuff at the bring and buy table. I walked around the hall but as the tables were being set up, there wasn't a lot to look at. 

The vendors were set up but I usually avoid them until after the bring and buy (gotta grab the 'real' deals first)!

An announcement was made to line up to sign up for the 930 game slot. I managed to find myself about 40 gamers back from the front. I was pretty worried as the GM running 'Technical Difficulties' runs another game called 'Mongols and Mausers' which is always a fun looking but full table. After what seemed like a long wait I managed to snag a spot at 'Technical Difficulties'! Goal 1: achieved.

Next I went to the bring and buy and began looking ( despite not officially being open, whoops)!

The guy who flogs painted miniatures didn't appear to have dropped anything off Goal 3: denied but I found a pack of Coppletone Russian Sailors which was jammed with more then 10 figures. For $10. I snagged those.

There was nothing else that jumped out and grabbed my attention so I sat at the table where Technical Difficulties was being run.


I was in control of a small detachment of MILF troops (Morrowi Independance League Fighters or something like that).

Here are my troops in all their finest.


There were 3 main forces on the table divided into 2 groups which allowed for 6 players. There was a 7th 'special' force (think drones and snipers) who could deploy anytime and help monitor the balance of power.

My objective was to seize the compound and any diamonds inside.


Well, I failed miserably but had a good time doing so. However the game ran over until 1230.

Realizing I had a 90 minute drive home and exactly 90 minutes to get there (yikes!) I quickly went to the bring and buy to gather my unsold wares. I had sold $170 worth of goods ( Goal 2: small success). Next I spoke with the commission painter and dropped off some Foundry Darkest Africa archers and the &10 Copplestone Sailors (which was the 10 Sailors and 4 Sailors command pack valued at $38).

I sped home after hitting a drivethru arriving closer to 3pm. Goal 8: failed.

So I achieved some of my goals. But I think the crux was that given the time frame imposed (by my wife) I wasn't realistic about what I could do at the venue. I opted to play a game but in doing so, I missed out on looking at the other great games going on and didn't have time to even browse the vendors wares. The flip side is I only spent $30 ($20 entry + $10 Figures).

I think next year I will stay one night so I can do a bit if everything.



Tuesday 24 March 2015

Zombicide "Completion-ism"

Just wondering if any one else suffers from this. I had a quick Zombicide game yesterday and after lookin through the boxes, I thought I should maybe do some organizing.

First, noticed I had a bunch of Season 2 actors still in the boxes. I like to keep the survivors and Zombivores in separate ziploc bags. I also keep each zombie type divided in ziploc bags by genre and class. ie. normal Zombie walkers are separate from normal Zombie runners and are separate from Toxic zombie walkers etc. it just helps locating pieces during game play.

I also decided to snap a picture of ALL the Survivors and Zombivores.

The Zombivores are on the left of the table break and the survivors on the right. This is every survivor ever made minus two family game night promos - Bill and Mr. Phal - which are both in various states of transit to me, and Season 3, which was held up due to the Longshoreman's strike on the West Coast.

8 rows of 7 plus 2 at the back totals 58 survivors and respective Zombivores...


For those with the keen eye, there are three primed survivors on the extreme right which I haven't stripped as I'm afraid of damaging the plastic.

Lastly, I organized the equipment cards and zombie spawn cards.

Here they all the equipment cards! 5 rows of 10 plus 6 extra totals 56 types of equipment (or wounds) you can carry.


I then culled some of the repeats to create a master equipment deck. Wounds and "plenty of ammo" cards aside, no item has more 4 cards in the deck. 

On one hand, I feel good as I organized some of the components a little better but on the other hand, became aware a literal treasure trove of things I may never use but have for the sake of simply having it.


Monday 23 March 2015

Solo Zombicide Game

So I had a little free time today and decided to squeeze in a quick game of Zombicide while the wife and 1 month old slept.


I picked Scenario 10: Small Town from the Zombicide Season 1 rule book.



I usually like running 6 actors ( lots of actions) but decided to run 4 due to the narrow window.


I opted to use my 3 newest actors as I haven't had the chance yet. Union Worker 42 and Alyana Heska came from a Wrath of Kings Kickstarter Crossover. Thiago (Not Austin Powers) came from the Family Game Night #2 kit (via eBay). Lastly, dependable Phil (aka Rick Grimes from the Walking Dead).

Hindsight being what it is, the first 3 are all melee oriented with Phil is the only ranged specialist.

Turn 1 - lucky lucky lucky! Managed to get Phil the other pistol. Being able to dual wield them means he can shoot them together for 1 action.


The group moves towards the first building and breaks down the door.


After dispatching the meagre zombies. I made my first mistake and split the group. I NEVER split the group. Don't really know why I did. 


The actors moved up to the cross roads and set up shop. ( Mistake #2 - any spawn card with man hole cover spawns zombies on each man hole which means 3 extra potential spawns). Also 3 of the 4 actors have been wounded. Not looking too good for the good guys. Especially with those fatties ( legit game term, honest) coming from the north spawn zone.




The crossroads are finally clear. Time to move. 


Breaking into the bottom right building spawns more zombies. I don't have great equipment so move everyone (minus Thiago- who has been devoured) inside  to search. Not good. 1 actor down. 2 wounded.




Trapped! Trying to break free/whittle them down.


An Abombination enters via the north spawn point. I have nothing to kill it with and a large hoard surrounding Alyana after the space was cleared and she chopped open the next door. Luckily he had a chain saw and the dice gods were kind.

 
Alyana makes it back into the room unscathed. 

 
The actors clear out the room and begin to pray. The Abombination is getting closer...they empty the street and run across into the next building a growing horde at their heels.




Thankfully this building had a back door as the rooms are filling quickly with zombies. They escape the building and make a run for it. Only targeting zombies ahead, and leading the others toward the final building.


 
Outside the final building. Zombies all around. The runners just got an additional move meaning there are 9 within striking distance. The actors kill all the zombies in the spaces immediately north and south and move inside the building.



The actors make it inside and seize the final objective with runners standing on the door step. This one really came down to the wire.

The survivor cards at the end. All three had hit the red level and contiued again. Looking at the numbers, minus he objective tokens Phil and Union Worker 42 killed 48 zombies each and Alyana killed 38 zombies. Thiago added another dozen or so.


Afterthoughts:
I shouldn't have split the group. I possibly could have avoided some of the early wounds. I didn't use Thiago's reaper ability properly by having him fight single zombies.

I also didn't get to use Alyana's sword master ability but she and Union Worker 42 were melee monsters as the levelled up. 

By standing in the crossroads for several turns, I allowed extra zombies to spawn from the man holes.

I love Zombicide and hopefully I can get another game in soon. The season 3 Kickstarter can't come soon enough.