31 May 2014

Model and Hobby Show

I went along to the local Model and Hobby show today, just a small gathering of various hobbies. A lot of model train displays along with various other hobbies such as model boats, old school collections of toys, the usual model planes and tanks etc. Stamp collectors and rock collectors. There were some awesome displays of Meccano.




























There were also a couple of stands doing 3D printing which was interesting. Once crowd had some impressive sculpts printed out. From the quality of the print outs they have come along way in the past couple of years. Looking at it the time input required for running your own 3D system and getting your moneys worth out of it, it would destroy what precious little gaming time I have , so it still doesn't seem to be an option for me. I would definitely get into it if .. when the costs come down further... or I win lotto.

I picked up some "Noch" tree's for HO scale trains that will make a nice addition to my Japanese theme gaming board along with some more "MiniNatur" maple foliage for various projects.


28 May 2014

Edradour Beauty

For something a little different
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My Scotch habit, is more of a what you might call a fluid addiction, which accompanies painting rather well. As long as you keep the scotch glass and brush water glass well separated…. Yes I have to admit I’ve made that mistake at least once or twice. Drinking brush water is a major step down from scotch, I can assure you of that.
So my current nectar for the pallet is a rather nice but different scotch. I thought about doing a review, then through better of it. My sense of smell and taste is pretty well warped. So I asked Mr Google what he thought.
Edradour 1997 Ibisco Bottling
Distilled on the 16th December 1997 at the Edradour distillery, it was aged for 14 years in cask number 566 before bottling on the 6th June 2011. A release of 566 cask strength bottles, packaged in beautiful Ibisco decanters
That's the marketing blurb above, then I found some interesting tasting notes online.

Staff Tasing Notes
Nose: Woody and spicy with some fresh mint. Something like Arbroath smokies at the back with rosewater and linseed oil present. becomies very herbaceous (Thyme)
Palate: A mouthful (thick and chewy). Spicy toast, bitter herbs and a 2 hour old piece of Hubba Bubba bubblegum with a hint of raisins coming out with water.
Finish: Slightly burnt.

Tasting Note by The Chaps at Master of Malt
Nose: Werther’s Originals, very malty, Manuka honey, Pecan Danishes.
Palate: Treacle, Candy floss, Juniper, Cardamom, Wood varnish. Gingernut biscuits.
Finish: Gingernut biscuit mix, before it goes in the oven. Very “musty” too, and rum-like. Astonishing!

The best thing about scotch, if you drink enough of it you can come up with some spectacular descriptions of what your drinking…2 hour old piece of Hubba Bubba…LOL
So what I think after my third glass …

Thick and Chewy sweetness with a lingering warm fire
… A.K.A … Awesome on a bloody cold winters night!

On the gaming side of things I picked up a couple of second hand rule books for Warmaster, more out of interest than anything else.

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I managed to do some modelling as well this week, getting stuck into my Bushido gang, making bases for them. Picture to come when i get them to a point worth taking photos.

26 May 2014

Bolt down that Action

How to get attract gamers to your game …. offer them 50% off

http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/ex-gw

“Well any products you choose from this collection you will be able to buy at a 50% discount when you submit the discount code ‘ex-gw’ during check out - the deduction will then be made to products in your cart from this collection only”

So this means I completely fail at my new year resolutions. … yep …. cant go past 50% off a game that I’ve already played and like.

Guess I’m turning Japanese

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25 May 2014

Super Dungeon Explore

So with beer in hand one hand and dice in the other we rolled out a couple games of Super Dungeon Explore today. I ran the consol both times, and had a blast. I didn't have a couple of the rules quite right in the first game. (So I’m sure the boys will take a few digs at me for that …LOL) But even so we had fun.
Game one Mark playing the Deeproot Druid managed to be last man standing and he killed Starfire wining the game.
Super Dungeon Explore

Super Dungeon ExploreSuper Dungeon Explore


Super Dungeon ExploreSuper Dungeon Explore



The second game we actually play six Hero’s so everyone could play (the game is only a 5 player), which was a bit of fun, and we through in a sixth spawning point and treasure chest once a couple of them had been destroyed. We ended up timing out just a Starfire got onto the board. So I call that a draw. :-)

The models are well made and are going to be great fun to paint, as are the rest of the components I thought they were well made. I know there was a bit of flak about it from some people online, but a few card sleeves will sort out the thin cards issue.

A couple of things could have been done better in production of the map tiles, namely the difference between the walls and floor squares. They are a bit hard to distinguish between, especially once you start covering the board in monsters and hero’s. (a minor thing in the scheme of things)

The one thing that I recon that needs re-doing is the rule book. Not easy to go back and check rules at all. The rule book looks nice, but no real index …Ahrrrrr …. (I hate that)

Super Dungeon Explore
Theme                -         Awesome
Art Work             -         Fantastic
Models                -          Great
Rule Book           -         Average

Overall                -          Epic Fun

If you played Gauntlet as a child as much as I did … you cant live without this game, It is simply the board game version of an all time classic.(you can get over the rule book as its so much fun you forget about it) I can see myself buying some expansions very soon.

24 May 2014

12 May 2014

Random stuff

Like my life at the moment, it full of random stuff happening and changing from one extreme to the other, so no surprise my gaming is a bit like that as well. (which is kinda normal for me anyway) My 15mm Samurai army has been a work in progress for some, but now it’s on my desk, I’m chipping away at it quite regally. With my first Yari battle group now on bases and three more battle groups lined up I’m actually feeling like I’m making progress finally.



I’ve also recruited some War Machine models in for my Kings of War army, with some of my Legion of Everblight going to see the table top again. I’ll be able to try out a few different lists and see if I can beat those bloody Angels of Phil's…. dirty, dirty beasts that they are.

I’ve also kept my terrain building momentum going and done up my first attempt at a bamboo forest. Think it needs some more work, the plastic leaves …looks a bit plastic, so I think I may have to paint them up a bit. Also finished my third rice paddy and a bunch of hedges.








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10 May 2014

Back Seat Blogging

Yes, blogging has taken a back seat for awhile, as life gets in the way. The usual work, family and general “my brain is fried and overloaded” feeling. But beyond that I’ve just hit 15 years at work, that is 15 years working for the same company. So along with that comes my birthday, so it’s been an awesome.

Today was the South Auckland Club day. With the guys finally getting around to pulling out there Dust Warfare stuff they got back at Battle cry in February. So we rocked out there first games. Now since I've been so busy, and haven't played for such a long time, I was rusty as hell on the rules.

Since I have quite a lot of the SSU force, I made up a couple of lists one of which Phil used and I used the other. I also managed to pickup the new cards put out by Battlefront this week, which I must say are very usable. The only down side with the pack, it doesn't come with enough copies of the base SSU troops .. (in my opinion .. but then it’s only $13 so you cant really complain to much)

I took on Glen and Cavan as they teamed up and we ran through a game, keeping it pretty straight forward as they also borrowed an Axis army from Arthur. End result was the Axis took the win, with some great rolling. We skipped over a bunch of the exrta advanced rules as I had forgotten some of them along with not really knowing the Axis extra bits very well. A fun game and good to get into the swing of the rule set again. Looking forward to a couple of games at next months Club meet.

Dust WarfareDust Warfare


Dust WarfareDust Warfare


Dust Warfare


I fielded the Steel Guard for the first time…. think I’m going to filed them quite abit.


After lunch Arthur busted out his Star Trek Attach wing, having acquired everything released so far he setup a 4 player game with 100 points each. This worked out at 3 ships per person. I just sat in and watched as a four way game unfolded with Cavan dealing out some spectacular damage in his first go. Which made him a marked man from that point on.

Star Trek Attack WingStar Trek Attack Wing


Star Trek Attack WingStar Trek Attack Wing


Star Trek Attack WingStar Trek Attack Wing


Star Trek Attack Wing


On the miniature side of things, I managed to pickup two starter boxes for Dropzone Commander really cheaply. So I’ve caved in and got another miniature game. But I managed to stick out 4 months of the year …. LOL… ( I’m so weak when it comes to new toys) I got them at 1/4 the price, and since Phil already has some miniatures, I couldn't pass that up. So in a few months I’ll give this a go.
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So I’ve now got the “Shaltari” and “Scourge” starter forces. Looks like a bit of fun will be had with painting them.

I have managed to get in a few games of Super Dungeon Explore with my wife, which was a lot of fun, a very cool game, but I now have so much to paint… so little time …