Memorial Day Weekend Activities

 It's been an awesome long Memorial Day weekend and I took an extra day off because of the late night last night. More on that in a moment.

    On Sunday I met Mike and Mark for an afternoon of gaming. I took my Renaissance Spanish and Venetians for a big Lion Rampant game (45 points per side). Each side was split into two commands and each command's initiative order was determined every turn. We played the Sausages with Mustard scenario, with the Venetians defending. Mike and Mark shared leadership duties on the Spanish side while I wrangled the Italians.

An early opening shot. You can see the four buildings in the center which the Spanish were trying to burn down. I deployed a unit of pikemen in the middle as my single forward "speedbump" unit.

The first engagement took place in the hill with the tower. Our heavy cavalry squared off with Mark successfully counter-charging me.

I got the better of the engagement and the Spanish horsemen fell back...

A wide view of the center. I was having a far better time activating units than M&M.

On the right, my crossbowmen had peppered the Spanish light cav who were facing a block of pikemen.

The center had turned into a mess. I had pikemen and greatswords in disarray. The greatswords learned firsthand how nasty arquebusiers are!

In one of my favorite moments of the afternoon was when Mike's initiative rolls had him active twice, back-to-back... fourth in one turn and first in the next. He used the opportunity to charge his heavy cav into my light cavalry. I passed the evade test and fell back into the woods. The Spanish cavalry still completed their charge but in the trees, everyone was hitting on 5+ and only had 2 armor! The equalizer paid off as the Spanish cavalry took it on the chin. 

We played a bit more but at the end of the day, the Spanish torches couldn't get the job done and no buildings burned! In all fairness, my dice were hot and both Mike and Mark rolled hot garbage most of the day. You probably don't need me to tell you how frustrating the Rampant games can be when your activations are failing early and often.

Mark and I then played an introductory game of Quar - Clash of Rhyfles. Interesting item of note... Mark has been bumping his gums for YEARS about his collection of Quar and trying to sell us on the game. He's never once offered to put it on the table and show it off. Mike picks up the new models from Wargames Atlantic and has it on the table in a fortnight. Classic.

We each had 10 troops with a mix of weapons, mostly rifles but also some SAWs and SMGs. The clear glass bauble in the picture above is our objective location we fought over.

My blues turned things into a tragedy for the greens. I was able to get a few very useful fire lanes set up, picking off enemy troops left and right.

I did lose a couple in the process, but in the end was able to take the objective, occupy the enemy backfield and overall, take the win!

Last evening, my wife and I did something quite unusual for us... we went to a WWE RAW pro wrestling event at the new area in Savannah. I got a couple of freebie tickets from work and, well... it was a heck of a lot of fun. 

and of course a cage match!

Even if you aren't a fan, it's truly quite a production spectacle and those athletes are amazing to watch. Awesome stuff.

Commissioning

 Wayne has a few more ideas in the hopper for our recurring Battletech games. One of those plans include deploying a Leopard-class dropship on the tabletop. That's this thing:

They're typically used to transport 4 average-size 'mechs to a planet's surface. I of course asked Wayne how he's like it painted and he gave me a very Wayne answer of "do whatever you want." I warned him that he might end up with a Def Leppard-class dropship. He wasn't bothered.

Wooooo!

I tell you what, I had fun with this.

I stuck with a paint scheme he's got on a few lances worth of 'mechs to create some continuity on the tabletop.

I free-handed the emblems on the ship, not my specialty, by a longshot. Those two open side doors will close. The front ones were no where near as forgiving and Wayne gave me permission to seal them shut. Chalk it up to a less-than-perfect 3d printed model. I enjoyed painting this model. I'm starting to get past my distaste of painting big models. :)

Another Battletech

 The Space Cadets re-convened for another iteration of Battletech on Saturday. Wayne, our host and GM managing the campaign had all of our pilots recruited to join a mercenary company. This was our first mission as a full team against a common enemy.

I didn't take tons of pictures but the scenario had us investigate and engage some backwater nutbags who'd opened a dimensional rift to another sci-fi intellectual property.

Apparently Red Jack isn't familiar with the mighty Games Workshop legal department! We were there to maintain the sanctity of Fasa/Catalyst's IP. The Falcon grav tanks were fast and dangerous. The Warlock titan was slow and far more dangerous. We allied briefly with Red Jack against the Eldar but came to decision that if it's not part of our unit, it probably should be eliminated.

Poor Mikey, not even in attendance and his Rifleman took a headshot from the Eldar Titan and...

After mopping up, we engaged big 'un. I lost a Locust drawing fire, leaving Dave's Centurion in one piece.

It took some doing, but we eventually brought the machine down. 

A fun game for sure and I think we're all getting comfortable with Battletech overall. I think Wayne's got one or two more games left in the campaign. I've been rather enjoying it so far. Be well everyone!

A Hole in my Head

 I did the thing. I bought Bolt Action stuff. 

Not sure how I feel about that, but you know what? I'm enjoying the hell out of the build process! 

I bought a British infantry starter army, though they'll be dolled up as wicked nasty Canadians. I'll need to pawn the Churchill that came in the box off on someone or trade it for a Sherman. 

So, what was I thinking, right? Well, after the flood, renovations and my wife and son re-decorating to their taste, my ability to host games in my dining room has been severely affected. This means that My out-of-the-house gaming will likely increase. Mike runs a lots of Warlord games at his club and having a BA force gives me an opportunity to throw dice.

I did up 36 MDF bases with putty, sand and a basecoat to help keep the sand in place.

Some tough dudes awaiting their bases.

Other tough dudes being supported by their metal gun crew brethren while the superglue sets.

 I'm enjoying this so far. If you know me at all, I really do love the building and painting part of the hobby and this scratches that itch very well.