WooHoo

Nothing like opening a package of new miniatures, especially when it's coming from exotic locales like...Suffolk, UK. Just got my shipment of FSE and a few NSL ships from GZG. As part of the Christmas deal they offer I received a Merino-class livestock transport, 2x NSL Missile Destroyers, and 2x FSE Galiano-class New Heavy Destroyers. The rest of the order included (and needs to updated on the side bar):

1x NSL Escort Carrier
1x NSL Light Fighters
1x NSL Heavy Fighters
1x FSE Da Silva-class Battleship
1x FSE Duquesne-class Battlecruiser
1x FSE Centauro-class escort carrier
2x FSE Colbert-class escort cruiser
2x FSE Thetis-class destroyer
3x FSE Daphne-class corvette
1x FSE Mirage IX fighter
1x FSE Camerone heavy fighter

The casting on these are what I would expect from GZG, quite good, though it seems the mold didn't close properly on one side of the Duquesne, but nothing that can't be fixed. The flat areas don't exhibit the pitting that I saw with the NSL ships, which is a good thing.

Can't wait to get started on these, I think the FSE scheme is going to be brown/khaki on my wife's advice.

Nothing like new minis to make me feel all giddy.

On a Roll

MMmmm, rolls.

Huh? Oh sorry, wrong king of roll. :)

Finished up the NSL battleship and battlecruiser. Just waiting on the final wash to dry then seal 'em. Hopefully I can keep this up. The carrier for the NSL and an opposing FSE battlegroup are due in any day now.

Pictures as Promised

Here are the three corvettes as promised. Tried to not cover the whole thing in gray this time, dry brushed one and just tried to stay out of the corners on the other two. Not overly happy, but they're good enough for the table. I base coated the battlecruiser and battleship today and picked out all the panels I want green on the battleship. That took longer than I thought it would, so the cruiser will get green tomorrow. Probably won't make a lot progress beyond that though, have an appointment tomorrow.

More Ships Done

Finished up the three corvettes. Pics after they get on their stands.

First Off the Line

OK, they aren't the prettiest things I've painted, but not bad considering my right hand is in a cast. these are the first ships of my NSL fleet from GZG. Two each of destroyers and escort cruisers. There are three corvettes and a battleship already mounted ready to start painting tomorrow.

And despite using my light tent, these pictures seem to be washed out.

Updates to the sidebar

Updated the finished and to-do lists on the side. I've decided that I'm not going to bother putting the decals on the Klingon ships, only the Feds. I've also finished the last of the Silent Death fighters. (Wait, finished, with a set, since when do I do that?) So that brings the annual total to 69 for the year. I've also decided to lay out in detail the Pax Arcadian miniatures that need work as well as the terrain pieces. I've been working on those slowly and am now at a point where the backlog isn't as bad as it looks. I should probably do the same for that Cadian army, but I don't feel like taking it all out to count what isn't done yet. I also think I'm going to switch paints on those and start using the Reaper ProPaints instead of sticking to the same craft paints I started the army with. The ProPaints just cover better.

Right now though, the current fad is starships, so expect to see some of those here later on.

Kickin' the Tires

Posted this at the Majestic XII forums the other day, forgot to put it up here:

Having printed out the sample ships and laminated them today (having you're own laminator is a good thing) I was itching for a game. My wife was working on her homework so a solo game it was to be. I decided that since there just happens to be two ships in the sample set that just happen to be the same CRAT I'd use those. Hmm, what two ships that are supposed to be an even match do I have miniatures for...ooh ooh a D7 and a Constitution-class, the classic pair up. (queue the background fight music)

So I got the minis (a random D7 and the Constitution, laid out my FedCom hex boards (waiting for the HotzMat to arrive) on the coffee table and got down to business. The game only lasted 3 turns, The Constitution landed a solid hit in the first turn at long range, the second turn saw some manuever and a fairly even exchange of damage, and the last turn could've gone either way. The combat phase ended up destroying the D7, and had the damage rolls on the Constitution landed a few more odd numbers she'd have been destroyed. As it was, the Constitution would would be spending a good amount of time at the nearest Starbase undergoing repairs.

So, the combat mechanic worked smoothly for me. Playing solo destroyed the whole purpose of plotted movement, but it worked. Overall I can't wait to play against another person.

Oooh Shiney!

So it's not enough that I can't really paint figures really well right now, but then I go and order more starships from GZG. Of course, now I'm waiting for Brigade Models to get their casting machine woes rectified before order some ships from them. And I've been eying some of the Spartan Games starships and The Warstore will have a Black Friday sale and they carry Spartan Games minis. Then, what's the point of having a "universal starship combat toolkit" if you can't do Star Wars, so I've been pricing SW Starship Battles singles on EBay and looking at the Studio Bergstrom fighters. And of course I need the Klingon Armada and Rules Annex supplements...

On Being a Rules Junkie

So, seeing as how I generally don't have much time to actually play the games I have, let alone opponents why in the world would I go out and purchase a new rule set? Because I'm a rules junkie, that's why. That and I've been trying to find a way to use some starship minis that I've had around. Everyone seems to instantly default to Full Thrust when it comes to starship games, but I just couldn't get into it, and I tried. I toyed around with making my own RAGE based starship game, but could never work out a points system I liked. And for those attempting this, keep in mind that how you design your movement system will spark Religious Furor regardless of how you do it. So finally I ended up buying Starmada: Admiralty Edition. Why? A solid design system that allows for and an insane amount of customization, active support, easy to understand rules, and a lesser amount of book keeping during the game. The combat mechanic may take a while during the first few games, but I have a feeling that like Battletech it goes faster the more you go through the die roll iterations. I think next month's purchases will be the Klingon Armada and Rule Annex expansions so I can get my Trek on. Then maybe some Star Wars ships and fighters.... This way lays madness.

hiatus

Well, I've gone and given myself a compound fracture in my right wrist which sounds like is going to take a couple months to heal. Naturally, I'm right handed, so not a lot of painting is going to get done until after after recovery. There's other medical issues at hand (no pun intended), but they don't impact the subject of this blog. Maybe I can get some games in when I'm not so reliant on the medication. Anyway, enjoy yourselves and keep gaming!