Getting what I asked for

I've been quiet on the blog recently.  Ironically, it's because I've been busier in my hobby.  I've been squeezing in more painting and more playing, leaving less time to talk about it!

The odd thing is that the ebb and flow of game-choice has been totally unpredictable.  The Squig Hopper project was intended for imminent games of Regiments of Renown.  Almost as soon as I finished painting the models, the most promising candidate to play Regiments of Renown with me had to back out (and understandably so, given the choices of his game-time budget against real life).  That was a couple of weeks ago.  Just today, though, another gamer buddy contacted me to arrange a game.  After some back-and-forth among our choices, we settled on Regiments of Renown!  To play tomorrow!  Irony.

The two games that have emerged to the forefront in recent weeks have been Warhammer 40K (another irony, given my previous lukewarm regard for the game) and the new Second Edition (2E) for Malifaux.  40K gained some legs, since a local game store, Victory Comics in Falls Church, started hosting an escalation league.

An escalation league is an ideal opportunity for me to dip my toe back into 40K.  I've always enjoyed smaller games anyway.  The league is starting at 500 points and slowly inching up only 250 points every two weeks.  My kinda pace.  This is a great opportunity to put my head into list-building, which I decided is necessary for me to truly enjoy the game for what it is.  Indeed, I've been having a fun time rediscovering the game.  And it gives me great motivation to work on painting my 40K collection.

Here is the 750-point game I played this past weekend.  Naturally, I brought a knife to a gunfight, as you can see my all-infantry army huddled in the corner, trying to figure out what to do against an armored company....   That happened because, up until that game, I developed my list against an opponent who was likewise developing an infantry-heavy list.  I really didn't expect to face off against two tanks and two armored transport carriers at 750 points.  So, yeah, I'm learning a lot.... (the hard way, as usual!)

After this game, I was motivated to paint up more Fire Warriors, to replace the AT-43 proxies that I was using for two out of three of my units.  I decided I would try out an oil wash on the Fire Warriors.  Here is the result, applied on zenithal black and gray primer.

This is my second try at an oil wash.  I've had high expectations that oil washes would be near-perfect for my style.  Not so much.  I think it's best for very specific applications, not as a general wash.  It would have been a lot less trouble and just as effective if I had mixed my own acrylic wash, like I usually do.

On a related note, I tried out GW and Secret Weapon washes on a few models here, as well.  Same conclusion.  I can actually do it better.  GW and Secret Weapon washes are very handy for many applications, but for general-purpose, assembly line painting, I'm going to return to mixing my own.

A quick note about Malifaux 2E.  I'm very satisfied with the direction they took the game.  It met my high hopes, to streamline of the rules and manage the complexity of the profiles.  Great job, Wyrd Miniatures.

I am now participating in a group that has started a weekly Malifaux Monday event.  We've had two meetups so far, and I'm learning my Ramos crew.  It's still challenging to figure out all the options, combinations, and sequencing.  Malifaux is still more brain-burning than Freebooter's Fate or Alkemy (still my preference), but it's a tremendous improvement over 1st Edition Malifaux.  Like 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy and 6th Edition Warhammer 40K, the improvements make the difference between me playing the game and not playing the game.  Fun times ahead!

Oh, and one last thing, for 40K, I have begun working on the mysterious Project K.....