Rasslin' - Some Rumbleslam

 Wayne and I got together to a couple games of Rumbleslam last weekend. No AARs to speak of, just a few pictures.

Game 1 was a pretty standard affair with both of us using basic crews right out of the box. I won that match pretty cleanly if you don't count the moment my Minotaur hoisted the Werewolf up with his horns and dumped him outside the ropes! Right place, right time for The Bull! That Werewolf is one tough cookie.

Game 2 was much more closely fought, and without a freebie to get rid of the FLAIR-Wolf (see what I did there?), I was stuck having to fight it. Things didn't go that well, but I lasted until turn 5.

But I won the initiative in the final turn and my Barbarian Grappler put a figure-four on ol' Wolfie, slowing him down for the remainder of the turn. After the leg-lock, the Grappler ran so he'd at least survive the bout. But then Wayne who didn't realize the game was over DID remember he'd drawn a terrible special event card at the start of the game causing his Werewolf to be fired from the team at the end of the match. This resulted him that wrestler being removed from the ring before counting up Knock-Outs. I had won, by accident since I'd forgotten about the "You're Fired!" card, but any win's a good one. Sometimes, you just get lucky.

Two very entertaining games that we both enjoyed quite a bit. I've got another team in the painting queue so the next time we play there will probably be some fresh blood on the mat.

Adding to Infinity

 Plus six this time around.

I picked up some additions to my Infinity Starco group a few months ago and finally got around to assembling and painting them over the last week. Assembly was slow, I was patient since the models were a bit fiddly. I've matured in that respect. These models are Mobile Brigada (the four human-sized models) and Tsyklon Remotes (droids). As always, picked up when marked down with a 50% discount! The whole Starco group has been procured at well under retail.

I could resist a group shot of all the Starco remotes together while I had them out.

Avocado Fatalis

 The Battletech Fortress-Class Dropship that Wayne gave me to put together and paint is done! I gave it Kurita markings - it's Wayne's and their insignia is very snazzy. I'm pretty happy with the final product. I hope Wayne will approve.

I'm not sure what the internal layout of one of these monsters looks like, but, well... I'm not sure where engines and fuel and cargo / materiel fit. Not my problem. It was a delightful project and as always I look forward to the next!

And Some Mid-Week

 I got the mechs cleared out of the queue. They came out nicely and are a welcome addition to the stable.

Left to Right: Pinion, Bandersnatch, Lobo, Spatha and Uziel.

The importance of finishing those was so that I'd have space to work on the Avocado of DOOM!

Some good progress on the dropship. The base has been fun, particularly trying to give it that "blasted" look from the craft's engine exhaust. I know it'll be barely visible once it's assembled, but...

Project Work

 Hi folks. Just a quick hobby update. I don't often share WIP pictures, but I've got a doozy right now. Wayne handed me a Battletech dropship along with the box of mechs a few weeks ago. I've started getting to work on it.

The orb is about 4.5 inches in diameter and the landing gear poke out a bit past that. Given its fiddly nature, I decided the monstrosity needs a base.

Some 3mm plywood with some texture and fine sand. Note, I've drilled the landing gear and synched up holes in the base. God willing, it'll be stable. 

More pics as progress happens!

Also in the queue, and close to complete are some more mechs from the lot...

The reptiles are less "mech" than the rest. They're Ghost Archipelago minis I've had for a few months. I wanted to break up the mech painting grind and pulled them out.

In other news, I completed my most recent guitar project on Friday evening.

I enjoyed this build immeasurably. Perhaps more surprising was that when I played it yesterday, it plays as nicely as any guitar I've ever played. Great action, no fret buzz, no hum, smooth electronics, holds its tune. I really couldn't be happier with the way this one turned out. I have a co-worker who might be interested in buying it. If he does want it, I'll be sad to see this sweetie go, but hey, if I can build and sell guitars, why not?

Some Weekend Gaming

 On Sunday, most of the usual suspects got together at Wayne's office for some tabletop wargaming. I put Shipwreck on the table - it's been many years since those toys saw the light of day. Wayne put on a Classic Battletech game. Both were good fun.

My game - 1985 Gulf of Sidra. The Libyans vs the US Navy. At this point in the proceedings, the opposing forces have located each other and missiles have just been launched!

Left to right... Ziggy, Aaron, David Mark and Wayne.

Oh oh! Four Harpoons bearing down on one of Z's Nanuchkas!

Still, that's better than six SS-N-9s! 

Both ships actually remained afloat due to some rather effective close range defenses and fortunate damage rolls. Needless to say, neither boat was in fighting shape.

Of course this spelled doom for Wayne. David's boats picked up the USS Scott and let loose twelve missiles her way! 

Wayne did very well to account for 9 of the 12 incoming missiles. The remaining three all hit sending the stricken ship under the waves! Tragedy!

After a couple hours, we had all had a fine time and it was on to Battletech. 

It was a 3 v 3 engagement featuring Marik and Steiner forces. 

The fickle finger of fate! 

Not many pictures of BT, but a fun outing. The Marik side (me, Mark and Arron) got wrecked. Good job Steiner crew!

Thanks for hosting, Wayne. Zig, stay safe... he's off to Germany for a month-long NATO exercise.

Painted Mechs

 The house is finally gone! Two months and my mom's been moved, her house emptied and sold!I'm excited that things can get back to something more "normal." I got four of the metal Battletech minis Wayne gave me finished up over the weekend. The refurb and paint stripping process wasn't too terrible. They're fine additions to my fledgling Marik / Free Worlds League collection.

That an Albatross, Stealth, Huron Warrior and Gunslinger, left to right.

The Stealth is half regular paint, half blue/violet color shift paint... its either cloaking or de-cloaking. 

And the gang so far...

The Easter Egg company. Say whatever you want about the garish color scheme, as I've said on many occasions, as long as it's UNIFORM, it'll look fine.

Name That Mech!

 Wayne has handed off a lot of unloved Battletech minis to me for refurbishment and painting. My Mech Fu is weak and need help IDing these models. Some have become broken over the years but part of my job is to reassemble and make them gorgeous. 

All help is welcome and thank you in advance!

A Few Goblins More

 The next batch of ten Wargames Atlantic goblins made it through the queue over the weekend. They had some stiff competition from a few mechs Wayne gifted me and a major move. The move was that of my mother. She's moved into a retirement facility. Independent living, but downsized, manageable and more social for sure! For us kids that involved sweaty manual labor, sorting through millions of documents to separate the wheat from the chaff, organizing and running a garage sale and trying to sell the house. The stars aligned and everything came together, including finding a buyer for the house during the garage sale. Booya indeed. Pending an inspection, we should close within a month.

On to those gobbos!

Ten more in that box... now, do I just get them done or paint something else as a distraction?

Stragrave Campaign Game 5 - The Overgrown Factory

The Space Cadets + played the fifth game of our Stargrave series on Saturday. We put all six players on a single 4 x 4 table this go 'round. It's the first time we've tried it with everyone in a single game and it was a hoot. The scenario we played was "The Overgrown Factory." With six crews, the scenario special rules and some teleporter rules I cooked up, we ignored the wandering monster / attracting attention rules and played an even 10 turns. 

The table from the Oddfellows Local 151 starting edge. 

David, Ziggy, Mike, Mark and Wayne.

I didn't take my team long at all to be right on top of a couple of loot markers. One physical for Scoop the runner and Sweet Mama Stringbean and Katie Kaboom reached a data loot in no time. I let Katie Kaboom unlock the data since she's the Codenreaker and good at that sort of thing.

I had Sweet Mama Stringbean test out the teleporter rules. My die rule was a seven, allowing David (the player to my left) to place her at any destination teleporter marker. He of course put her in the one-door warehouse. Mike sent a guy through a teleporter as well and that guy also ended up in the same room as Stringbean!

Wayne places a "goalie" in my deployment zone, trying to prevent me from scoring the data loot. Katie Kaboom gave the Burner a blast from her shotgun. I had already managed to extract Scoop and his physical loot token. 

Wayne's Burner attracts a lot of attention from my group who were really looking for something to do. The Stun and Wound marker on the flamethrower guy kind of says it all.

Stringbean's adventure continues! She snagged the physical loot token and in order to exit the table from my start zone, needs to get lucky teleporting back. Bloop. No luck. On top of a tower with Ziggy's sniper lining up a shot! GAH! She took a solid hit but was OK. Mike of course had a dadgum robot saucer trooper up there too. 

So whaddaya do? Jump back through the teleporter! Miracle of miracles, I rolled a 1 and Stringbean appeared right back where I needed her! Now that's a hell of an adventure for one game of Stargrave. Meanwhile, Beverly Kills, my medic, managed to get herself killed while brawling with some of David's schlubs. Roy Christmas, my First Mate, took care of those bums to avenge her (left, fight the unpainted gray horde).

Oddfellows Assemble! The crew escort Stringbean off the battlefield.

For me, Ziggy and David it had been a terrific game. I scored two physical and one data loot, had a couple KO's, only lost one character and picked up some good loot items. Mike, Mark and Wayne didn't fare so well, but that's how dice games work. Mike's dice in particular were atrocious and he got completely mauled by Zig's crew. 

Regardless of individual success, we all had an enjoyable time - hey it's gaming, right? Game six is still up in the air; we didn't schedule a weekend initially and Mike's got a baby due towards the end of May so we may just kick it down the road a ways. We'll see. Have a great week and good gaming!