Let’s start, covering the 19th of December 2017 through to the 7th of January 2018.
But before that, its my birthday today! And to celebrate, its my first day back at work!
BLOG STUFF
Since the last Wargaming Week I posted up two articles. The SAS CT Response Impressions (I really like them) and the second part of the The Great Big Modern Wargaming Comparison article. Both of these did pretty well and I’m happy with the tail off – the two weeks I had with no posts still had a nice background number of views.
The plan for this week is to do an analysis post on 2017 tomorrow (looking at the stats and going through that survey)and then take a look at what’s coming up in 2018 on Wednesday. All this before a big post on Friday looking at Round of Fire, a new ruleset that is pretty exciting.
Some bad news though. Looks like I’ll not be running Operation Dragon’s Hoard (my demo game) at Vapnartak in York. Some emails fell through the cracks and so they became booked up. It’s a shame, and I’m going to continue working on the game to get it ready for February, but the main focus will be making sure it’s ready for Hammerhead. More updates in the next few weeks.
On the other hand, I managed to get some really cool things in motion over the break. I’ll post more when I can say more but they are all pretty exciting.
NEWS
Hey a new heading! Yeah, I’ve decided I need somewhere on the blog to add weekly news updates. I post a lot of them on the Facebook page but I realise that a lot of people don’t actually use it that much, instead preferring the blog format. Some weeks will obviously be pretty quiet but I’ll endeavour to show off what’s coming soon.
The start of the year is always pretty quiet, but Spectre have dropped a preview image on Instagram. From zooming in, there are a few things to take a look at:
- The torsos look like we’ve got a selection of gunners for the Humvee set
- The crew in the foreground has baseball caps and a selection of kit as well as some M4 looking guns. Maybe we’re seeing some PMC troopers or alternatives Special Operations troops.
- There are four civilians in slightly more aggressive poses than the current releases. Perfect for those angry mobs interrupting your missions.
- There are a group at the back wearing what appears to be cowboy hats, although I think it’s actually more of a folded boonie hat. They are also carrying some interesting guns. Due to the distance, I can’t tell if they are QBZ-95s or just old style M4s. Either way, I’m expecting they will be some form of new African fighter.
These are all exciting additions and I can’t wait for when they are available. I do wonder if we are about to see a few new figures for Spectre’s original setting of Africa, something suggested by someone on facebook. Perfect timing as I’m getting ready for operations in Zaiweibo.
GAMING
For a change, I actually got a few games in over the Christmas break!
The first was not against my usual opponents. With the book and talking about my hobbies, my uncle asked if I wanted to run a game of Skirmish Sangin for him on the 27th of December (the day the extended family usually comes to Leeds for a meal). So I quickly threw something together (helped in a big part by the profile cards I already had printed), pitting four BLUFOR operators (a mix of Veterans and Elites) against the local militia (Novices, Averages and Veterans with assault rifles and a MMG). Add to that a combination of MDF buildings from REDVectors and a scratch built cardboard base board (assembled in five minutes) and the game was ready to go.
Overall the game was a nice intro, showing off all of the key aspects of infantry combat in Skirmish Sangin. Giving the new players BLUFOR (with their armour and high skill values) meant they were pretty successful at taking out bad guys and surviving bursts of fire. At the same time, when the MMG opened up they really got the picture of just how potentially deadly they can be. Frag grenades were used to deadly effect, cunning crossfires were setup and overall, while the night rolled in, we had a great time. It also means they now vaguely understand what I’m on about when talking about it.
Next up was the trip over to York for the regular wargames/painting days. After a bit of a delay due to snow, we set up the above town with a combination of my bought MDF and Peeb‘s homemade terrain, some of which is still WIP but looks great. The main aim of the gaming portion was to get Round of Fire on the table. We managed to put a few learning scenarios on the table, to test out certain elements of the rules before jumping into a bigger game with four elements per side.
I’m not going to say much (you’ll have to come back on Friday for my full thoughts) but it was a fun game trying out some cool ideas. The core concept of the game is something I don’t think I’ve seen before and it’s something I’ll be interested in playing more of.
You should also go follow Peeb’s Gaming Nonsense on Facebook. He does a bit more varied stuff than I do (including 40K) but I do keep trying to persuade him over to the moderns side. Don’t forget to tell him I sent you!
PURCHASES
I mentioned last time that I was in the midst of an ebay auction last Wargaming Week. Well, you’ll be pleased to know I won it. I was bidding on three unopened Radio Dishdash technicals, a product I’ve been wanting to look at for a while thanks to Project Technical. They arrived just after I set off for Christmas break in Leeds so I didn’t get to look at them until I got back. I’ve got to admit, I’m not overly happy so far. The hulls seem to be lacking in detail and the metal parts are covered in flash, similar to the troops I angrily abandoned midway through painting. There was a plan to investigate integrating them in Project Technical (trying to fit the hotswap Technical weapons) but I’m leaning away from that idea. Either way, expect an impressions this month.
Of course the big addition was Christmas! I received some wonderful presents, some of which you’ll be seeing on the blog. The big ones have to be the dremel and airbrush. The main reason for both these purchases is the demo board – I’ve reached the point where I need the right tool for the job. Trying to remove panels from the wing using a hacksaw or “lightly” spraying the damaged edges seems like a bad idea. I’ll need some practise before I go to town on the actual elements, but this way the end result should be better. The books are going to going their cousins in the reference library; the Special Patrol Vehicles will be especially useful as I wait for the Spectre Humvees to drop.
I also opened up my birthday presents and my sister got me another KRCase cardboard interior box with lots of space of infantry and some pick-n-pluck for vehicles/weapon teams. I am entirely sold on the KR products – they are great quality and the nature of them means I can stack them and just take whatever trays I need for a game day. I also used some birthday money to get a GorillaPod so I have a proper tripod – just what you need when you’re about to take a load of photos of tiny figures.
HOBBY
Despite having a fair amount of time off, I actually didn’t do a huge amount of painting. This was probably down to being busy writing things but also I don’t have a painting setup in Leeds (not helped by parents redoing chunks of the house). However, I did have the painting day in York. Well I say day, it was more of a long afternoon once we managed to get everything together after a lie in. I managed to paint two models to completion and get well on the way with five more (they just need camo). The two figures are extensions of existing ranges, so I got to have the fun time to make sure the colour palettes matched. I also think these are two of my favourite figures from Spectre, especially the new breacher. Now I just have to finish off the other three Task Force Operators
Speaking of piles of models, one thing I did once back in Edinburgh was to do a collection check. I find it a little too easy to just keep buying models and not realise how much is still on the “to paint” pile. So the plan this year is to create a list at the start of the year and then keep it updated at least every three months. I’ve done my collection check and the results will be coming soon. Lots still to do! But that’s going to be covered in Wednesday’s post.
That’s it for this update, expect more updates next week! And welcome to 2018!