First Two Games of Warmachine

They didn't go very well for me.  I need to get into the combo-chaining mindset needed for that game, and to do that I need to be more familiar with the rules. Granted, I haven't read the book in about 9 months, but don't blame the tools right? Can't even blame the rolls, aside from a couple I was rolling average/slightly above average.  But, that's ok. There'll be time for more games.

On the up-side, the models looked good on the table. (sorry, no pics)

Cygnar Battlebox Done and Other Stuff

Well, it only took me four or five months, but as mentioned earlier, I finished the Cygnar battlebox last weekend. Feel like crap today so will probably go to the store for my first smackdown next weekend. Here's the pics of the finished group.

Also, last weekend was the third game of our Day One campaign. Going to replay it this weekend though because I don't want the last game to be too one-sided. That and Zachary should've mopped the floor with me, he just couldn't get the die rolls he needed. Not going to post the commentary, just the pics.

And finally, these are the 15mm goodies that came in from a combination of Christmas orders and anniversary gifts from my wife. A few packs of Rebel Earthforce Marines, a Rebel Merka 5, a Khurasan Siler tank, and Khurasans' mammoth Dictator. These may become WIPs in future posts.

Merka 5 parts

All the goodies together

Last Minis for 2011

Finished these up on the 30th, was too busy getting ready for company on New Year's Eve to get pics. Speaking of pics, my trusty old Panasonic camera died on me today after seven or eight years of service. I think the cheap blister pack cameras we got the kids for Christmas this year had a better megapixel rating than this one but I kept it around because I liked the optics. It seems to be a firmware error, but I need to research it to see if it is salvageable. In the mean time I'm using my wife's Coolpix and it is taking some adjusting to. For one thing I have no idea where the sweet spot is for the macro mode. So I apologize for the pics until I get a better feel for this camera.

So, enough on that. I did manage to get the Ironclad done, but not the Charger. I may go back over the shoulders a little bit, but for now I'm calling it done.

This next piece had been sitting on my table for some time as something I'd work on while waiting for paint to dry on other models. It was close enough for me to quickly add the last details and be done with it. It is a Federation New Light Cruiser from Amarillo Design Bureau. If I get any mini in the new line of ships it will be this one when it becomes available because the mold is just shot on this one. I'll deal with it being larger than the rest of my fleet. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to using it in games, the stats are just a bit less than the traditional Heavy Cruiser so I'm looking to try a scenario with a patrol group consisting of this NCL, two oCLs, and two FFs encountering either a Klingon C8 dreadnought or a pair of D7 battlecruisers.

Not anticipating getting any painting done today. I'm in the process of setting things up for the End of Year Wrap-Up post for 2011, which will be going up later.

pStryker Finished

So the day after Thanksgiving, rather than braving the crowds I spent the day painting, or at least a good part of it. I had intended to stop after finishing the basecoat, but I kept doing "just one more thing" and at around midnight he was done. Spent about 10 or 12 hours on him and I have to say that this is the best mini I've painted since returning from deployment. Unfortunately I still haven't figured how to get my camera to photograph a figure so heavily covered in metallic paints.  The cloak doesn't actually glow like it seems to in the picture. Oh, and I still hate painting eyes.

Progress

pStryker is now basecoated with the exception of the base. I'll get that last. Painted a bit more of his armor blue than is usually depicted. Thanks to my....meticulous...method of painting he's taken pretty much all afternoon to basecoat. Though a few spots got redone in a different color after realizing that two of my paints are very similar in shade.

Cygnar Lancer

Finished the Lancer today. Not my best work by a long shot, but more than suitable for gaming purposes.I think that next time around I'll base in the lighter blue and wash with with deepwater blue rather than base coat with deepwater then paint over with the lighter blue. Overall though I'm pretty happy with how it came out. For a light 'jack it's pretty bad ass lookin. Unfortunately, all the metallic paint made it hard to get decent pictures

 

Progress

Got two of the three basecoat colors down on the Lancer. Also have the better part of the Ironclad prepped, though I've decided that from this point forward it'll be paint, then assemble for these models. Too many finicky parts that fit too closely together.

Had some primer issues with pStryker.  Whatever you do, do not use Rustoleum auto primer for miniatures, it'll leave a nasty texture all over your figure. Thankfully a few hours in some simple green and a good scrubbing got the offending primer off and allowed me use my normal primer (duplicolor sandable primer).

I'd show some WIP pics, but the blue is very dark right at the moment and wouldn't show up very well.

Airplane! Reference?

My Cygnar battlebox arrived yesterday. Commander Stryker is already assembled and after I clean up the base a little bit ready for primer.

Wasn't the main character in Airplane! Commander Stryker during the Vietnam flashback sequence. You know, the guy with the drinking problem.

Warmachine and 200 Posts

First, this is my 200th post. and earlier I had 10,000 hits. This blog has been around since January 2008, so almost four years now. Not bad in my mind since I didn't really announce the existence of the blog other than as a link in my forum signature blocks until late last year and earlier this year. Thanks to all my readers out there!

So, remember earlier how I was thinking about getting back into 40k in order to play with a co-worker? This has transformed into Warmachine. Warmachine (WM for brevity's sake) is a game that I've been dancing around for some time. The 'jacks look cool, the mechanics interesting, but being a fantasy game and not knowing anyone local to me that played was always what kept me from jumping. Turns out my co-worker has been infected with some kind of WM fever. I'm more inclined to try out WM rather than 40k, even if it doesn't involve anything remotely sci-fi, the big stompy Warjacks make up for that. So, on Thursday I ordered a Cygnar battlebox from Amazon (saved a lot on that, $38 instead of the listed retail of almost $50).

For the 15mm, starship, and CAV readers don't be dismayed. I'm not abandoning those, just looking for a game that will actually get played with somebody besides my kids.