Bought some stuff

Well I splurged (read: wasted lots of money) and bought some stuff:

• Blood Bowl Boxed Set
• B-29 Superfortress: Bombers Over Japan, 1944-1945.
• World at War: Eisenbach Gap
• Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! - Russia 1941-1942.

In addition I also bought the rest of the stuff I need for my 1500 point Ork list.

Also bought the "Goff Rockers" models too, because they rule. I want to get the Drummer from the WFB Orc Boxset and make a full band, possibly for use in Apocalypse.

Oh yeah, I also pre-ordered the Assault on Black Reach set. It's the new 40K starter. It's an awesome deal for $60.

I bought Blood Bowl because I wanted a pseudo sports game that was a little bit more complex than the combat football game I already have, Battleball. The league system sounds cool. Maybe I can start up a league at the FLGS? I've read the rules and liked what I saw. Hopefully this arrives soon. GW needs to do more Hobby Board games that are (more or less) self contained.

Conflict of Heroes was bought on impulse. It's supposed to be the new hotness as far as Squad Based Tactical WW2 games go. It has a pretty simply combat resolution system (no charts) and I liked that damage recieved by units was hidden from the opponent. This might see play. Currently on preorder, should arrive August? This is the first game in the Conflict of Heroes series.

B-29 was something I've wanted for awhile. It was either this, or B-17 but since this is better than B-17 I opted to get it. The quality of the game is wonderful. Beautiful counters. This one was a labor of love, it's obvious. The design notes in it remind me of Downtown. Just cleared the table off to play. Only grip with this one is that you have to photocopy the roster/campaign sheets yourself, but the masters included in the game are on cardstock. I think this is a nice sister game (ok, maybe Cousin) to Silent War. What I liked about Silent War was that it did make me feel like I was in charge of ComSubPac and I learned a great deal through the simulation about how difficult the Submarine campaign was early on. Hopefully with B-29 i'll learn (albeit abstractly) what it was like to be on a B-29 going to fight over Japan.

I've wanted World at War: Eisenbach Gap for awhile. Finally decided to pick it up. It's the newest printing, so it's on preorder. Should arrive in August I imagine. This is straight up NATO vs Warsaw Pact in a fictional '80s brawl. First game in the series. If I like it I may get the expansions. This is Platoon level I believe. Also features a chit-draw activation system. I currently have no games using that mechanic.

Musings on 5th ed, Orks, + Tau

Well i'm on vacation in the great state of California until July 11. I should get back in to my wonderful town (Backwoods, MO) at just a little after 11:00pm CST if I have zero delays. If I have some reasonable delays, then I'll get there around 12:00AM CST July 12, which is just in time for the 40K Midnight Release. The only dissapointing thing is that I wont be able to enter any of the contests which (at my store) will all have prize support from GW which is nice.

Yes, I probably couldn't think of anything nerdier to do on a friday than attending the midnight release party for a new ruleset for a niche tabletop miniatures game.

At least I don't roleplay.

Besides my 5th ed book that i've already paid for I'd like to pick up the majority of the rest of the models I need for 1500 points of Orks. I still need a box of lootas, the battleforce box, and like 8 nobs. I think i'm going to make an order from http://www.thewarstore.com/ since I plan to spend around a stupid sum of money. 20% off retail and 4.95 shipping? Count me in on that. Of course, don't take this as me dropping all support locally as FLGS ARE the backbone of the hobby game community.

I bought the Tau codex, despite the fact that all the army books will eventually be updated. I don't think the Tau is high on the list at the moment. I know we'll see Space Marines soon, which is why I held out on getting that.

Plus I wanted to toy around with their models.

I'm buying a Crisis Battlesuite when I get back.

Ultimately GW is right: by the models you think are cool. At least with Battle Suits they don't suck in game.

I'll probably never play Sisters of Battle/Inquisition, Chaos, or Daemons simply because, while cool, I don't really care for the model ranges.

On the New Avalon Hill releases + some other musings

Good Job Hasbro!

So the new Avalon Hill releases have been pretty nice.

I own Diplomacy and now Acquire.

I think the quality is quite good, despite the pieces being all cardboard. The board AH is using is similar to what Fantasy Flight Games uses for all their uber-thick counters - so it's pretty durable stuff.

Granted, these new editions of Diplomacy or Acquire aren't as good as previous editions (particularly Acquire) but the argument there is mostly from an aesthetic viewpoint. With Acquire a plastic board like the older 3M/AH version would have been nice. That edition was designed such that the hotel tiles couldn't slide around the board (think the Deluxe Edition of Scrabble). But playing Acquire with Scrabble-esque "don't bump the board" rules is fine by me. Nothing is going to top the 1999 edition of Acquire, however, but then again the new edition is in print with an MSRP of $30. Last I checked the 1999 Acquire still goes for around $100 used on eBay. No thanks. I was pleased to see one of the hotel chains in this 2008 edition is named "Sackson." Much respect to an awesome designer!

A note on the Diplomacy Counters: They're actually doubled sided, with different art on each side. Basically one side shows the Unit art (different type of boat/cannon/or flag) while other side simply displays a solid color. Each type of counter is a different shape so you wont be getting confused if you opt to use solid color side. I thought that was a nice touch.

The actual gameboard in the new edition of Diplomacy is beautiful. Really good looking map on a nice single piece mounted board.

AH actually included a ton of Planning Maps too which was really nice. I was shocked months ago when I bought Downtown: The Air War Over Hanoi, 1965 - 1973 and found out it only came with three planning sheets of each kind that you needed (map/aircraft loadout) which was not even enough to play all the game's scenarios! Ah well, GMT is still a quality outfit in my book.

Some other musings:

40K + Xbox 360 have been consuming quite a bit of my entertainment income as of late. Thats not a bad thing, since I am enjoying 40K and I believe i'll be playing video games until I die.

There are still some boardgames i'd like to get though, particularly I want (need) to get Combat Commander: Med to finally round out the base game. Since Chad and co over at GMT have pretty much stated that all future Combat Commander: Europe expansions will require Med. Plus i'm pumped for that Stalingrad battle pack, which I preordered.

I also would like to get Federation Commander: Klingon Attack to round out my Klingon forces. From there, who knows? There are just so many ship options available and a host FedCom products. I think I'll pick up either another attack module or some boosters.

So Agricola is supposed to be shipping soon. Am I excited? Not really. This shit is overhyped to the max. Bear in mind, however, that overhyped does not in any way mean it wont be good. It will be a pleasure to play with some friends who have never heard of the game and won't be influenced by the hype machine. Personally, I think the game is going to be fun but certainly wont replace my current favorites. From a thematic standpoint I think the game is totally awesome.

It's about farming. Sorry, that's rad. I guess i've just done too much reading in History/Anthropology/Geography courses to not think that agriculture isn't completely awesome.

I mean, who doesn't love Harvest Moon anyway?

Only time will tell if I regret this pre-order.

Can't Sleep

Well, Warhammer 40k sure is expensive. I enjoy the modeling aspects though, so the financial aspects of the hobby are moot in my opinion (so long as the prices of the models don't become prohibitive, however).

Basically the core of my Ork list is shaping up to look something like this:

2 Shoota Boyz Mobz of 20 models each.
- Each mob will include 1 big shoota boy, 1 rokkit boy, and one PK/Slugga Nob. The rest of the boyz are armed with Shootas.

2 Trukk Boyz Mobs of 12 models each
-Each mob will include 1 rokkit boy and 1 PK/Slugga Nob with Bosspole. The rest of the Boyz are armed with Sluggas and Choppas. Each mob has their own dedicated transport (the Trukk) which is armed with a Big Shoota. Trukks will most likely have red paint jobs, armour plates, and rams. Not sure about other options.

1 Warbiker mob of 6 models
- including 1 PK Nob.

1 Loota mob of 8 (10?) models.
- I don't have my first box of lootas yet. Word is that you only get 4 burna/deffgun boyz models and 1 Mek model. If true that you only get 4 burnas/4 deffguns then that sucks. We'll see.

1 HQ Unit.

-Right now I have a Warboss w/ big choppa. I also have a Big Mek w/ KFF. I sort of wish I had the PK boss or the attack squig boss. Whatever, i'll use the BC Boss until i get the plastic warboss in the 5th ed starter set.

I'll probably field the Mek w/ KFF just to take up points and give my Boyz 5+ saves.

This is the core for now. I don't know about the points because I haven't refigured them out.

I might need an additional mob of 20 boyz.

I have a Deff Dread that will see some action in my list too.

I figured i'd try to fo a 1000 point corp of Boyz/Bikez/Trukkz and then have 500 points to "swap out"

My Army name is "Lagduf's Ladz"

Trukk names are: Da Wheelz of Mork and Da Wheelz of Gork

Clans featured so far are Blood Axes and Evil Sunz (for trukkz and bikez). The Lootas will be a different clan, as will the next shoota mob.

Bored.

I'm bored.

Working on my 40K army at the moment. This is currently what I've got:

HQ:

• Warboss with Big Choppa and Boss Pole (70 points)

Troops:

• Blood Axes 'Ard Boyz Mob (10) with shootas + stikkbombs. One boy with big shoota. (115 points)
• Evil Sunz Trukk Boyz Mob (12) with Choppas and Sluggas. One boy with Rokkit launcher, One Nob with Powerklaw and Bosspole. (123 points)

Dedicated Transport:

• Evil Sunz Trukk (1) with Red Paint Job, Armour Plates, Wrecking Ball, Reinforced Ram, and Boarding Planks. (65 points)

Fast Attack:

• Evil Sunz Warbikerz (3). One biker is a Nob with Big Choppa and Boss Pole. (70 points)

443 Points total.

So I basically still need more troops to get to a playable 500 point army. Somewhat dissapointing. I can probably play some 450 point games though, if anyone is up for it.

Some of the wargear options i've only added to up my point totals to get closer to 500 points. For example i'll probably only take Red Paint Job on the Trukk once I get more Boyz. The Blood Axes Mob are 'Ard boyz simply because I don't have more Boyz to take, might as well make them a bit tougher.

I need more Boyz. I'm only shooting for a small army at the moment, in the range of 500-750 points. I think my best purchase (moneywise) would be to get another Battleforce. But i'm not sure. That would still only give me 22 more boyz, and I would use 12 of those as Trukk Boyz for the other Trukk. I would add the other 10 boyz too my existing Blood Axe mob.

I could buy 22 more boyz (i hear you can get 11 off one sprue, you just need an extra base) and add 6 to my current Blood Axe mob and then have another new Shoota Mob with 16 boyz.

I'd like large mobz to make use of the fearless (i think thats the name of the USR) rule, but I also want to be able to maneuver.

What I think i'm going to do is buy a box of boyz and confirm you can get 11 boyz off the sprue (my shoota mob needz a PK Nob currently) and then i'll add 5 shoota boyz a PK Nob.

I could then get another box of boyz and make a new mob of 16 boyz.

Of course with 20 boyz In each mob I could add 2 special weapons (big shootas or rokkits).

Hmmm....decisions, decisions...
I'll probably just get that battleforce box again because I do want another trukk...

So something like

Warboss
2 trukk boyz mobz (slugga/choppa boyz, each unit with 'eavy armor PK Nobs and Rokkit boy)
1 Blood Axe mob (20 strong with an 'eavy armor PK nob and two big shoota boyz [probably should go with rokkits, but I don't care])
2 Warbiker Units of 3 boyz each (Both with BC nobs)