Hobby roundup

My hobbying has been very sporadic, thus the long wait for an update.  I finally finished my upgrades to my Fishermen team for Guild Ball.  I now hope to have a lot more tools to deal with my regular opponent's Masons team.

L. to R.  Jac, Corsair (2nd Season Team Captain), Sakana

I was tempted to do some freehand on one of Sakana's sash and on Corsair's trousers.  But I decided against it because 1) I'm pleased with how they look as they are, 2) I worried that the detail would be distracting, and 3) I'm ready to move on to other projects!

Gaming has been sparse, while my regular opponent, Chris, moves house.  But I did manage to fit in a game with some of the local wargamers, who are rising to the call of Frostgrave.  One gentleman, Jeff, has a fully dedicated gameroom, with walls smothered with thematic classic treasures, such as a replica of Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer, art prints from Magic: The Gathering, flaming knives, and shelves full of Warhammer kits.  Here's the sweet Frostgrave table he mustered for us:

The scenario we played is The Living Museum, where a hall of statues come to life, when you attempt to steal their treasure.  Joe brought some models that he made specifically for the scenario.  Here, you can see the moss-covered statues coming to life and beating the snot out of the thieving warbands.

With the sun at his back, my goblin archer, Nod, has a perfect sniping position.  Nod made the mistake of later leaving his perch, and he took a grievous head wound from an enemy orc's axe.  Luckily, Nod's copper helmet saved his life, but he'll have to miss the next game.

Jeff's Crossbowman was his MVP, killing 3 or so of my warband.  He killed the first one by just beating him over the head with the crossbow in hand-to-hand combat!

It took a lot a massive expenditure of firepower, but we eventually took out the bastard.  And he ain't coming back either. 

Speaking of firepower, apparently my casters, Old Man Tumbergrumbler and his apprentice, Laddy Boy, don't have any.  There were probably a score of spell-casting attempts between the two of them, and only 4 succeeded!  They suck. 

And Laddy Boy suffered a Smashed Leg, so he'll be limping from now on.

The boyz recovered only one treasure chest, containing one grimoire and 90 gold coins.  A pitiful haul, relative to the other warbands, but it will at least pay to fill the slots left open by the two injured gang-members who have to sit out the next game. 

Frostgrave is a blast, and I'm glad it's entered the rotation for the local crowd.  The game is a good introduction to the hobby, and we'll run demos of it at the monthly game-night at the beer-tavern to see if we can grow our community.

Hobby roundup

Acquisitions

Some gaming goodness came out of my business trip to Salt Lake City.  I came across these little gems at a comic book store.  Yeah, they're worse for wear, but for $10 a pop, it was worth it to retroactively soak in the thrill of Games Workshop's golden era, which I regrettably missed, due to my hobby detour into Magic: The Gathering.

A few Kickstarters arrived in the mail this week.  First, the Infamy One-Shot.  An awesome, limited edition, goblin cavalry rider.  I can't wait to have this guy lead the charge of my various goblin wolf-riders and chicken-riders.

Here are some new stencils by Anarchy Models.  I especially look forward to trying out the mottled pattern.

Hobby Hangouts

I've been hosting a weekly Hobby Hangout every Thursday using Google Hangouts, ever since I moved down to Huntsville a year ago.  A week ago, Kat, one of my recent attendees took the concept and cranked it up to 11, creating a Facebook Group called Hobby Hangout, which offers hobbyists around the world the option to create and/or join a Hangout at any time!

Since my work-trip caused me to miss my own Hangout this week, I was itching to paint this weekend, and I joined a couple of sessions of the Facebook Hobby Hangout on Saturday.

In my first session, I just wanted to warm up, so I worked on one of many goblins in my backlog.  This guy is one of three artillerymen who man the Goblin Spear Chucka.  He ended up serving double-duty as my new Apprentice for my Frostgrave game on Sunday!

In the second Hobby Hangout session, I worked on Sakana for Guild Ball.  I had painted his face last week.  Here, I did some color-sketching and some base-coats on the rest of the model.  Still needs plenty of work.

Frostgrave

On Sunday, I joined a 3-player game of Frostgrave.

Old Man Tumbergrumbler leads the troops to the top of the hill and is the first to claim a treasure token.
Unfortunately, he is very exposed up there, despite successfully casting a Wall of Fog, and he is taken out with one shot by an enchanted arrow.  I ended up playing effectively the entire game without my Wizard!

An enemy warband of Mouselings.  Look at those evil little bastards, with their beady red eyes.

Don't let their "cuteness" fool you.  They're killy little bastards.

"Die, evil little Mouseling!"

A "model's-eye view" from my goblin archers.

Unfortunately, this misguided hound stood between me and my treasure.

The "dead pool" near the end of the game.  Barely any Wizards or Apprentices survived the game. 

Jac joins the roster for Guild Ball

Here's Jac, the first of my three new additions to the Fishermen line-up.

Next up:  Sakana and Corsair.

First impression of Frostgrave

I played my first two games of Frostgrave this weekend.  The "local meta" is considering adopting Frostgrave into its collective rotation, so my regular opponent, Chris, and I took it for a spin, followed up with a game with Sid, this being Sid's first introduction to a proper miniatures game.

The premise of Frostgrave is a face-off between small warbands of up to 10 figures, led by a wizard and his/her apprentice, as they explore the ruined city of Frostgrave, in search of magical knowledge and treasure.  In essence, the game is a "dungeon-dive", a campaign-driven skirmish-game in the vein of Mordheim.

The rules are quick-to-learn, a common feature of modern game design, thankfully.  The rules are unapologetically loose -- the game is intended as a light-weight, casual game, so the rules don't place a lot of weight on precision or rigor.  For the narrative gamer, though, the rules certainly get the job done.

One primary feature of the game is the campaign system.  The game is intended to be played over successive sessions, allowing wizards to gain experience and improve their gear, capabilities, and henchmen.  The rulebook offers 10 scenarios from which to choose each game.  Some are based off of a "standard scenario", where players alternate placing 3 treasure tokens each, 9" or more away from their respective table edges.

Some things I like about the game:

1. Quick-to-learn.
2. Lends itself to using miniatures from your own collection. 
   It's fun to form a theme for the warband, based on the wizard and his/her school of magic, from the available 10 schools of magic.  For example, some of my favorite miniatures from my own collect, for whom I've enjoyed personifying in games past, include:  Old Man Tumbergrumbler, the goblin shaman; various Swamp Hags, including a classic Talisman miniature, and Zoraida, from Malifaux; my classic Talisman wizard; and Grand Mistress Pontifica, the Dark Elf Sorceress.
3. It's fun to select spells to tailor the warband. 
   I like that the selection must be spread across several schools of magic, with varying levels of competency.  Tailoring the spells and the warband further embellish the character of the wizard.  The first spell I picked for Old Man Tumbergrumbler was 'Mud'.  It was a must-have.  Same for the Swamp Hags, along with the ability to summon Swamp Shamblers.
4. Quick pace and decisive combat. 
   The core mechanics are quick to execute.  The game has an easy flow, and it makes good narrative sense.  I like how either side can win a melee.  It feels like an improved version of the combat mechanic from Lord of the Rings Strategy Game.
5. Wandering monsters. 
   A nice, random element to throw a twist into everyone's plans.  And it's an excuse to bring even more characterful models from your collection onto the tabletop.

I find Frostgrave to be a fun, light-hearted game, and it feels very "comfortable", in its pace, mechanics, and narrative.  I think the game does have one minor flaw, however, and that is the basic scenario.  From a pure, practical standpoint, the warbands have little motivation to interact.  Each warband could simply run forward, grab their nearby 3 treasures and exit the board.  Neither player "wins" the game, but both players advance their warband for the next game in the campaign.

The Swamp Hag directs her goblin archer to shoot the enemy Apprentice.
Old-skool Orcs take the fight to nu-skool Hadross jelly-fish men from Wrath of Kings.
Old Man Tumbergrumbler surveys the city for loot, while a lazy goblin archer scratches his bum.

Narrative players will typically make their own excuses to interact and gain an edge over the opponent(s).  But where Frostgrave seems to keep to modern game design in many areas, it falls short in keeping to modern scenario design.  At a minimum, I would expect some forcing function to motivate the warbands towards the centerline or even into enemy territory.  Some of the 10 scenarios do add such mechanics as embellishments, but I would think the standard scenario would have such a mechanic as a necessary element.  As it stands, I think to make the game more compelling, Chris and I will need to house-rule an enhancement or a change to the basic scenario.

In the game against Sid, Grand Mistress Pontifica lords over the battlefield.
A wandering troll struggles through the Mud, frustrated at being unable to reach all the tasty morsels littering the battlefield.

 Overall, I find the appeal of Frostgrave about on par with Regiments of Renown, the Warhammer skirmish game that GW published a couple of years ago.  I suspect I would be just as entertained playing Otherworld, Mordheim, Song of Blades and Heroes, Fantacide, Dragon Rampant, Arcworlde, and other similar lightweight, fantasy, skirmish games.

Which leads to a final question that I have.  I find it a mystery that Frostgrave has enjoyed so much success.  I don't think it offers a significant differentiator from those other games.  I suspect that the reason is that Frostgrave's publisher, Osprey Games, has better market penetration than any of those other competitors.  Osprey has brand recognition; they have cross-over appeal to the historical players; and they have presence in a greater variety of venues than just game stores, being present in hobby stores, book stores, and on-line stores. 

Does anyone else have any different theories on Frostgrave's popularity, relative to its competition?

Next project

New members for my Fishermen's Guild team...

Really looking forward to fielding Jac, the gentleman on the far right.  One of his tricks is "Ramming Speed", which turns him into a human pinball.  Should be fun to clear a lane by shoving out 3 or so opposing players, heh, heh.

Corsair, the model on the left, is an alternative Team Captain to Shark.  Corsair appears he will be a better choice to use against my regular opponent, Chris, who plays the Masons Guild.  Corsair has some good tricks to ensure ball possession, which has been a challenge for me against the Masons, who excel at stealing the ball.

Painting Challenge wrap-up

So this is where I'm going to leave off with the Orcs of the Behemoth Challenge for now.  I did a little more work on the Warriors of the Wind after this picture was taken, and I did more work on the wicker shields. I was hoping to at least pick out one or two models and completely finish them this weekend, but the time and motivation just didn't reach critical mass. 




My work schedule took a surprising turn this month, and I primarily blame that for missing my mark. I may have also been a touch too ambitious, but I do think I could have pulled it off, if I had the benefit of my normal work schedule.

That said, one thing I learned is that I would prefer to paint Rackham figures at a slower pace. I can imagine what it would have been like to have collected and painted the figures, back in the day. I would have purchased blisters containing 1 to 3 models, and I would have focused on that small batch, enjoying the process of "getting to know" each figure, rather than treating the models as multiple passes in an assembly line. Building up the collection slowly would have been viable, since Confrontation was a skirmish game, and I would have enjoyed growing my army at a slow pace, learning the personality of each model.

So I'm actually kinda glad to pause the project here. I brought a lot of models to a good starting point with a relatively quick turnaround. They're all at a point where I can begin the stage of painting that I really enjoy. I can take my time on one or two models at a time and enjoy painting all the little details, instead of seeing the details as a mess of obstructions that stand in the way of completing of the project.

I also learned that, going forward, I want to avoid imposing deadlines on myself. I had my fill of deadlines, participating in painting competitions. I realized that I was pressuring myself, adding tension to my hobby and my leisure activity. I felt a sense of relief, when I decided I wasn't going to prepare for Crystal Brush this year. And I've enjoyed the freedom to change my focus midstream through a project, shifting my projects to where my current motivation was drifting.

Case in point, I am now going to work on three new additions to my Guild Ball team. Guild Ball is the game that can most reliably play at the moment, and it is one that I am motivated to practice and learn more about.  I am eager to try out these 3 new players and learn how they can change up my strategy against my regular opponent, Chris, especially since he and I both agree that I'm at a disadvantage with the models I'm currently using!

Matching my painting projects with my gaming goals has always been one of the better motivators for me.  I have some ideas for competition pieces for the Capital Palette competition at the NOVA Open convention, and I'll be motivated to do those projects as well.  And I have plenty of time to fit in those projects and enjoy them without the time-pressure.

So here is the kick-off from the game I played this weekend against Chris's Masons Guild.  This game was the first full-size game we've played, using a full roster of 6 players.  The kickoff shown here was the best position the Fishermen were in, for the entire game!

Yup, it pretty much went downhill from there.  I had planned on playing a strong passing game, but Tower's "Shutout" ability shut down my plan.  'Shutout' forces the victim to activate late.  Tower used Shutout on my ball carrier, essentially locking the ball in place for the duration of the turn, enabling the Masons to pound on my weak players.  Halfway through the 3rd turn, Masons won the game by taking out 3 players, plus one of them a 2nd time.

Naturally, I can't blame Shutout for the...uh...shutout.  I made some positional mistakes, and I overlooked some healing options and escape options.  So, hey, a good learning game, and kibitzing with Chris over the intricacies of the game afterward made for an enjoyable event.

Hopefully, next game will see a new line-up on the Fishermen's team!

Hobby roundup

I had a chance to play Kings of War and Guild Ball a couple of weekends ago at a new venue in Huntsville.  The venue is called Rocket Republic, which is a craft-beer brewery.  They recently started hosting a monthly, Sunday meetup for tabletop gamers.

Gaming Taverns

This pairing of game-hall and tavern is a combination that I have long said should be the direction that game-stores should move towards.  There are instances of such establishments springing up around the country, where the combination is deliberate and full-time, not just a monthly event.  I really hope this trend continues.  Hopefully, this local event has legs, and it will either move to Saturday (and more frequently) or at least open its doors at 1pm instead of 3pm.

By the way, their brew, Vapor Trails, is one feel-good, frosty beverage.

Kings of War

I had a revelation about Kings of War, this being my second game.  First off, I should say, both of my games so far have been games at 1000 points.  The game is designed to be played somewhere around 2000 points.  I've suggested in the past that a game should be played at the size for which it is designed.  Otherwise, the game becomes skewed.

Different armies can gain more advantage at smaller sizes or at larger sizes, when compared to the game's "sweet spot".  Armies of different play styles might gain advantages, such as horde armies, stand-off ranged armies, or summoning armies.  The footprint of armies on the tabletop can affect their effectiveness, depending on whether there's more room to maneuver or whether units are congested.

Then there are differences due to the 'size of the battle', as opposed to 'size of the army'.  Playing 1000 points in Kings of War is enough to launch a half-dozen units at each other and work through the mechanics of the game.  Great for demos.  However, some rules might seem awkward at a unit level, as opposed to how they operate at the army level.

For instance, during my first game, I was put off by the 'Wavering' mechanic.  'Wavering' is a morale state, which basically paralyzes a unit, before the unit is completely routed.  The unit pretty much can't do anything.  They're just eating up time and space on the battlefield until the opposing unit finishes the job.

I have a similar mechanic in Mini Mayhem, called 'Shaken'.  A Shaken unit can't Charge or Pursue, and its combat effectiveness is degraded.  However, a Shaken unit can still fight, and it has a chance to Rally back to a Motivated state.  So by comparison, I felt that KoW's 'Wavering' was very lackluster compared to 'Shaken'.  It felt like it was an unnecessary time-sink in the game, waiting for the inevitable rout.

During my second game, I realized that I was judging 'Wavering' in the context of one match-up between units.  What my opponent helped me to realize was that I needed to consider 'Wavering' in the context of the larger game, the scale at which Kings of War is designed to be played.

At the larger scale, a 'Wavering' unit represents a unit that is still standing firm, enough for other friendly units to use the delay for the benefit of the larger army and the greater strategy.  The 'Wavering' unit can be used an "anvil" for a cavalry or infantry "hammer".  It can tarpit its opposing, enemy unit and delay their participation in other areas of the battlefield.  In short, the 'Wavering' mechanic can make a valid, tactical difference in the context of a higher-point game.  Kings of War just became a little more interesting...

Guild Ball

I continue to be very excited about Guild Ball.  Chris crushed me 6-0, and I still enjoyed the game.  The game was the fast-play variant, so the game resolved quickly enough to where I felt like it lasted long enough for me to learn more about my players and about my opponent's players, without the game dragging on and without me feeling like I was on the back foot. 

And the match's duration fit the narrative.  An opposing player used his inherent forte to strip the ball from my cluster of players to score a goal.  Then the opposing team's captain loaded up on Influence (action points) and pounded my weakest player into the ground.  Game over.  Quick, educational, and still fun.  Ready for more.

Confrontation Challenge -- Orcs of the Behemoth

I missed a weekend to work on my Orcs of the Behemoth for the January Confrontation Challenge, due to work.  This weekend I tried to catch up somewhat.  I still have a long way to go.  I'll probably end up picking only one or two miniatures to finish completely and leave the others for follow-up sessions in February.

I'm basically "color-sketching" at this point, seeking my color palette.  I want desaturated, cold colors to serve as the backdrop and "frame" for the faces, which will be painted with more saturated colors.  These guys will look better once I lay in some washes.