Monday, March 30, 2015

A House Divided - Game Review

I picked up a copy of A House Divided by Game Designers' Workshop.  This is the 1981 edition of the game and I got it for a song along with a copy of another game.






So, I enlisted one of my co-workers, Bryan, to try this out with me.  I read the rules, sorted out all the chits and we sat down to give it a try.

Here is the game board with our starting units ready for battle.
I took the Union forces and Bryan took the Confederates.  This is one of the first chit type board games I've played and it is the first one Bryan has played.

The first couple of turns were spent by the Union trying to build up forces and the Confederates engaging in small skirmishes around the board.  After a couple of turns the Confederates started to focus on pushing into Union held ground out West.





It seems that I let my guard down and the Confederates made a strong push out west moving to attack 3 cities in one turn.  When all was said and done, It turned out that the South had taken enough recruitment cities to drop the North's max army size below the South's.  This ended the game with a win for the Confederate forces.

The really sad part was, I lost the war in January/February of 1862.  I'm really not proud of that, but kudos to Bryan on his cunning, and quick victory.

I really enjoyed the game and with a few turns under my belt (and a better understanding of how army size affects the game), I think I will provide a better general the next time around.

I won't make any judgments on the components as this is almost 35 year old copy and is several edition behind the current edition.  

I'm glad I picked this up and will be looking to give it another try soon.

Terrain Project - Sink Holes - Part 2

I picked up 3 sheets of 1 inch pink foam at my local building supply store.  These sheets come in 4' x 8' sheets and these cost about $15 each.  There are different thicknesses available.  I choose 1" sheets as that equates to 1 level in BattleTech.  

Because I want these to fit next to each other they all need to be uniform.  To do that I enlisted the help of my lovely wife, Amy, and we went to work.

To start with I measured out 2 foot sections down the length of each sheet.  I marked the foam on each side so I could get a nice straight line to cut.

Next, I clamped a straight edge to the foam on each side lined up with the 2' marks.  I got out my trusty Hot Knife and started to cut.  To cut these large pieces, it took some team work.  I don't know if you could do this by yourself, but I know it was easier with help. 




I let the Hot Knife warm up and then I lined it up with the two straight edges.  Using a piece of wood on the side with no handle we pushed the hot knife through the foam along the lines.  I all honesty, this was kind of a pain in the @$$, but the results are much nicer than I could have accomplished free hand.  If you know another way to do this, I'm open to suggestions.



After cutting several boards I'm thinking that I'm going to make a slight change to the plan.  I'm leaning toward 2 sections that are 2' x 4' and 2 sections that are 2' x 2'.  This will still give me lots of layout options, but would reduce the number of cuts and joints on the table.


Here are a few of the boards cut and lined up so you can get an idea for how these will be laid out.


I took my hot knife to the four boards that will make the first 2' x 2' section and here are the results.  I used my sketch as the guide and cut out the top layer.  I used that as the template to sketch out where I would be cutting into the next level and then used that as the guide for the 3rd sublevel.  I left the bottom sheet intact.  

I'm thinking about whether or not I could make these double sided.  Maybe have the bottom as just a mostly flat field with a few sub-levels cut in.  I could use them as the base for a different field and use scatter terrain to build up when I use that side.  I'm not sure how well the surface texture (flock) would hold up, but it might be worth testing it out.
More to follow soon.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Great Plains Game Festival - A Brief Convention Review

I had the opportunity to attend the Great Plains Game Festival here in Lincoln, NE this past weekend.  Due to some other commitments, I was only able to go on Saturday, but it ran from Friday at 3pm until Sunday at 7pm.

The event was held at the NIC Conference Center on UN-L's Innovation Campus.  This is a very nice building and there was lots of space for gaming.  It would have been nice if there were some signs outside directing people to the correct spot, but I was able to find where I was going without too much difficulty.

They highlights for me were the game library and the play-to-win.

The game library was massive.  You could check out any of these games and go play it.  I have about 100 different board/card games in my collection.  The game library at this event included over 400 games.  I was in awe.  I would have loved to play many of them, but obviously couldn't get that many game in.  It was nice to crack open a few boxes and look at the components and rules of some games that I've been eyeballing and found some that will be added to my wishlist.

The play-to-win was a cool idea as well.  There were 6 or 8 games (I'm not sure of the exact count) that you could check out and play.  Everyone that playing in the game got to put their name in a drawing.  At the end of the convention, they drew a name from the pool for each game and that person won a copy of the game.  How great is that?

I was able to play several games in my short time there and took some photos of each and would like to share my thoughts on each.

Area 1851
Published by Five24 Labs and Game Salute

The first game I played for the day was Area 1851.  After playing this game, I learned that it was a play-to-win game so put my name in the drawing for a copy of the game.  The description at BoardGameGeek says, "In Area 1851, youare one of the area's top five Tinkerers and you're looking to prove your grit to the citizens of this Wild West town."

In this game players are trying to build and modify gadgets and then deliver them to their customers to earn reputation.  The player with the highest reputation at the end of the game wins.  There are a number of different actions each player can take during his turn.  To help in their work, everyone has apprentices that can be assigned different tasks as well.

I know the alien influence isn't readily apparent in the description so far...  That comes into play from with the gadgets and modifications that are used in the game.

The art work is pretty cool and the game was easy to pick up and play fairly quickly.  One of my fellow players said that this game has saved worker placement for her.

I probably won't be rushing out to get this one, but would certainly play it if I had the chance.



Evolution
Published by North Star Games, LLC and Schmidt Spiele

The next game I got to play was Evolution.  This was also a play-to-win game.
Sorry, I can't seem to rotate this picture.
 Again I will use BGG.com for the description of the game.  "In Evolution, players adapt their species in a dynamic ecosystem where food is scarce and predators lurk.  Traits like Hard Shell and Horns will protect your species from Carnivores, while Long Neck will help them get food that others cannot reach.  With over 4,000 ways to evolve your species, every game becomes a different adventure."

Here you are trying to develop a variety of species and keep them healthy and alive, while your opponent attempts the same thing, only he might consider your species to be food.  You earn points for how much food your animals eat in the game.  The larger the herd, the more they eat, but you have limited supplies so if you can't get enough to feed them, they die off.  And then carnivorous animals eat other animals which also reduces the herd size.  

The game has lots of options with the cards and it helps to pay attention to what the other players are doing so you can adjust your traits to protect or exploit.

I really like the artwork in this game and I found it to be an enjoyable game.  I think this is one that you need a play or two before you can make informed tactical decision.

I would like to play this one again before making a decision if I should buy it or not.


Splendor
Published by Space Cowboys, Asterion Press, Gem Klub Kft., and others

From BGG.com , "Splendor is a game of chip-collecting and card development.  Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops-all in order to acquire the most prestige points.  If you're wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble as some point, which of course will further increase your prestige."

This game plays 2-4 players, you have a couple of actions that you can take on your turn; collect gems (3 of different colors, or 2 of the same color), buy a card, or put a card in reserve.  You have to think about what resources you take and make your purchases wisely.  Then when you've saved up for the expensive card, the guy before you takes it and now you have to rethink your strategy.

Of the games I played at the convention, this one was my favorite.  It was easy to pick up and I was making informed decisions very quickly, but it was challenging the whole time.  We played a 4 player game in about 45 minutes.

The artwork and components in this game are all nice.  The chips have stickers on them, but I think they will hold up well due to a lip on the chip around the sticker.

I will be adding this game to my collection and have already claimed a copy from the Geek Market.


Nothing Personal
Published by Dice Tower Games and Game Salute

Next up, I joined in a game of crime, influence, blackmail, and bribery.  From BGG.com, "The Capo is getting old and about to retire.  You think.  Maybe it's time for you to make your moves from behind the scenes, to put the gangsters into play that support your goals.  Will you gain the most respect?"


In this game, you are trying to influence a wide variety of gangsters with various jobs within the mafia, trying to put yourself in a position of power.  Ultimately you want to earn the most respect.  You have to be careful, because if you put to much influence on any one gangster then they will be arrested and thrown in jail.  This can be good for you as it opens up jobs that your lower level guys can be promoted to, but it can also suck losing a guy in a high position that you have lots of influence on.

I don't play a whole lot of game that negotiation and smooth talking are important, but this game was fun and I had a good time.  The art and components in this game were nicely done and I'm glad I had the opportunity to play it.

I won't be adding this game to my collection, but would be willing to play it again.



Tsuro of the Seas
Published by Calliope Games

The last game I played for the day was Tsuro of the Seas.  According to BGG.com, "The basic game play of Tsuro of the Seas resembles that of Tom McMurchie's Tsuro: Players each have a ship that they want to sail - that is, keep on the game board - as long as possible.  Whoever stays on the board the longest wins the game.

I would say this game is quite different than Tsuro.  This game adds in dragons that move randomly around the board and will destroy your ship if you move onto one or if it moves onto you.  I did not care for this game.  The dragons add an element to this game that I just couldn't get past.  Tsuro is a great game and it is very much a battle of skill against the other players as you try to send them off the board while keeping yourself active.  This game misses that by the random movement of the dragons.  There was very little interaction between players as we were to busy worrying about the dragons.

The art work is very nice and the components are well made, but this one won't be joining my collection and I probably would find another game if this one was suggested.


Last up for discussion are the vendors.  A couple of local vendors were present with their wares and a couple of games were being showcased.  Area 1851, Discount Salmon, and The Battle for Solaria were all present and offered play test of each.  I played Area 1851 and enjoyed it.  I didn't get a chance to play the other two, but The Battle for Solaria has peeked my interest.  The art on the cards looks very nice and the game play sounds interesting.  I will be following up on that one when it hits kickstarter.

Another vendor at the con was Archer PixelWorks.  This guy takes little plastic beads and makes a variety gaming related things out of them.  These were very cool and came from lots of different source material.  My wife is a big fan of Dr. Who so I picked up one of the pieces that looks like the TARDIS.  He mounted a magnet on the back and now it will hang on my fridge.



Overall this was a great convention and I look forward to going again next year.  Hopefully, I will be able to attend the entire weekend next time and I might even try to run a game or two.

Friday, March 20, 2015

New Terrain Project - Sink Holes - Part 1

If you follow my blog you can see that I've been playing a little bit of BattleTech: Alpha Strike lately.  To spice things up a bit, I thought it might be fun to build some terrain boards based on some of the more interesting BattleTech maps.

The set that I always thought was interesting are the sink hole maps.  As a function of how our hobby works we take our game tables and add terrain on top of it.  This works well and we get to have a pretty wide range of terrain types, but what about if the terrain fell away.  The idea of moving down into the table seems like a challenge and I'm going to work on bringing the sink hole maps to my table with 3D terrain.  Of course, this is primarily for BattleTech, but I'm sure I will be able to use these boards for other games.

To start with I pulled out my collection of map sheets and found the sink hole sheets.  As far as I can see the lowest terrain is sublevel 3.  So my plan for now is to only go that deep with my design.  I however, want to be able to cover a 4' x 6' table so I need to expand the maps a little.

I sketched out some ideas on graph paper and game up with this.


This involves making 6 2' x 2' terrain tiles.  The benefit of 2' x 2' tiles is that I will be able to move these around and turn them in different directions and I will be able to make lots of variations.  They will also be easier to transport than larger sections.

I'm not sure you can see it in the picture, but I have marked the sketch with depths for a rough guide as I start to construct these.  This is of course just a guide and I can tweak the design as I start cutting if things don't look quite right as I progress.

I plan to construct these out of 1" pink foam insulation.  I picked up 3 sheets of foam at my local building supply store.  My next step will be to start cutting these.

Stay tuned to hear more as this project progresses.

BattleTech Alpha Strike AAR - Easter Egg Hunt - Black Jack's Campaign

My gaming buddies got together to play another game of Alpha Strike.  We had 5 players in the game.  Three of us (Randy, Bill, and I) have played a few games and 2 of us (Sam and Nate) were new to these rules.  

I stole the scenario idea for this game from my last game that was put together by Cody and Forrest.  (The game I blogged about yesterday.)  We tweaked the rules a little and used 3025 era mechs.  Each side had 3 lances, you can see the lance lists below.  

The terrain was primarily buildings from Dropzone Commander and some old Epic buildings.  I threw in a few clumps of trees and some other terrain to mix things up a bit.

The scenario:

12 March 3029
                 After a successful mission by the Black Jacks Mercenary Company holding a drop zone and preventing the extraction of key personnel of House Kurita from planet Gauntlet, they have once again been engaged for a mission.
                 This will be a reconnaissance mission in an area near the last engagement area.  It is believed that there are buildings in the area that house Kurita secret intelligence services.  The Black Jacks must hack the computer networks of the target buildings and download the data from any buildings whose systems fit the description.
                 Kurita forces will be in the area and will be attempting to wipe the data from the buildings as well.
 Scenario Type:  Reconnaissance - Easter Egg Hunt Variant
 Rules
                Attacker and Defender will move onto the battlefield on turn 1 within their deployment zone.  There will be 12 target buildings placed on the map that contain the potential target data.  These buildings will be placed within 12 inches of the center line and not closer than 2 inches of any other building.  Both sides will choose 6 buildings secretly to be the objectives for the other team.  Forced withdrawal rules are in effect.
                 Objectvies are revealed either by a successful scan by a unit.  To successfully scan a building, a unit must end its movement phase in contact with the building and spend the combat phase scanning (in which case the unit cannot make any weapon or physical attacks of its own).  Once a building is successfully scanned, the opponent must reveal if it has a hidden objective within.
 Scoring
·         Every objective that is successfully found by a team is worth 50 vp
·         Points value scoring is in effect for units.  For instance if a 35 point Battlemech is destroyed the opponent will score 35 vp.  Units that successfulyy exit the board due to forced withdrawal do not count toward the vp count.
·         Play will continue for one full turn after a side has successfully located all 6 of their objectives.
Forces:

Black Jack's Mercenary Company
- Lance War Pigs - 
GHR-5H Grasshopper 
GRF-1S Griffin 
HBK-4P Hunchback 
RFL-3C Riflemen

- Lance La Cosa Nostra - 
BNC-3M Banshee 
ZEU-6T Zeus 
CPLT-C1 Catapult 
QKD-4H Quickdraw

- The Gun Slingers -
VTR-9A Victor 
PNT-8Z Panther 
ON1-K Orion 
ENF-4R Enforcer

2nd Sword of Light of the Draconis Combine
Assault Lance
AS7-D Atlas
AWS-8Q Awesome
BNC-3M Banshee
GHR-5H Grasshopper

Support Lance
DRG-1C Dragon
HBK-4P Hunchback
DV-6M Dervish
WTH-1 Whitworth

Recon Lance
JVN-10N Javelin
PNT-8Z Panther
VND-1R Vindicator
TBT-5N Trebuchet

Two Kurita Mechs prepare to blast away at a mercenary mech taking cover around a building corner.
The Javelin is scanning the building hoping to avoid fire from the opposing mechs.
A brutal fight took place in the city streets.
Two Kurita Mechs try to kill the Griffin, but expose themselves in the process.
A newbie pilot has attempted a death from above on the enemy Rifleman.  Not the safest move, but even though he missed, he didn't die from the attack.
The mercenary forces used cover as much as possible to protect themselves from incoming fire.
The mercenaries advance, basically ignoring the lone Kurita mech.
The Mercenary Hunchback takes a honor-less shot on the rear armor of a Panther.
All the pilots had a skill of 4 for this game and kills came much slower this time around.  At the end of the game the Kurita forces had 6 objectives to the Mercenaries 5.  After adding in a few kills we ended up being only about 5 points different, so we called it a draw.

As always it was a fun game and it was fun playing the the group.  I look forward to the next engagement and hope the Kurita forces can make a better showing of themselves.

Again, Bill has graciously provided a debriefing report on the battle from the perspective of Frank "Stiletto" Gatti.


The Black Jacks Mercenary Company- Operation Hijack 
Client-Code Black

Company Commander: Ben “Black Jack” Johnson-Black Knight

- Lance War Pigs - 
Lance Captain: Randy “War Boss” Seybert- Grasshopper 
“Ching Ching” Charlie Donovan- Griffin 
Will Parker- Hunchback 
Chuck Connors- Riflemen

- Lance La Cosa Nostra - 
Lance Captain: Frank “Stiletto” Gatti- Banshee 
“Machine Gun” Joe Paterbo- Zeus 
Nick DePaulo- Catapult 
“Big” Jimmy Avalon- Quickdraw

- The Gun Slingers -
Lance Captain:  “Thunder” Jake Johnson- Victor 
Blue Anderson- Panther 
Jack “Buck” Rogers- Orion 
“Dirty” Dan Jensen- Enforcer

Frank “Stiletto” Gatti’s Mission Debriefing 

Our client’s spies had determined there was some sensitive information they needed on planet Gauntlet. Our mission was to retrieve that information from several buildings where that information was stored. We were provided with the equipment needed to hijack the files and were dropped on the city’s edge. We knew which block contained the files but weren’t sure which buildings had what we wanted. Once again our target was the Draconis Combine.  They saw us coming and had three lances set up to meet us.

The plan was to concentrate two lances on the South end of town and have another lance block the center of town and stop their advance. The two lances on the South end were to plug into the buildings and take down the Kurita forces there. Most of the action happened on the South end. 

War Boss’s lance got into a serious fire fight immediately and managed to beat up several Kurita mechs. The Kurita pilots must have been newbies because they were stupid and lucky. They managed to survive several traps and last ditch maneuvers.  They also had several mechs that ran straight at our guns to get at those files. They must love honor more than their own lives because it was near suicide.

In the center of town our blocking force met up with an assault lance led by an Atlas. Machine Gun Joe and Thunder took a beating but stayed in the fight. We weren't able to make it to the North end of town but still managed to get all but one file. I’m pretty sure the Combine managed to get them all but they took a beating doing it.

On the south end Warboss trapped an enemy Panther and took it down. The new guy in the Hunchback got the last shot in. Conners got way too far ahead of his lance and got his Riflemen shot out from under him. Ching picked him up. My lance shot up a Dragon. I don’t know what was left holding him together but he managed to limp off. Their Whitworth wasn’t so lucky it went up in a big ball of flame. He shouldn’t have turned his back on me, but I guess he was too focused on Ching’s Griffin.  As we retreated West, Warboss finished off a Trebuchet that had retreated into the woods. We ended up losing one mech and taking three down and retrieved five of the six files. Not a bad for the Black Jacks.

Kills & Casualties
La Cosa Nostra- 1 Kill, no casualties
Gun Slingers- 0 Kills, no casualties

War Pigs- 2 Kills, 3 mechs lost, 3 casualties

Thursday, March 19, 2015

BattleTech Alpha Strike - AAR - Easter Egg Hunt

A couple of friends (Cody and Forrest) invited me to join in a game of BattleTech Alpha Strike that they were putting together.  They invited several people with varying degrees of experience with the BattleTech universe.  Of the 7 players that joined in on the game, some had never played anything from the universe, others had (or currently) played Classic BattleTech, and a few of us have played Alpha Strike.  

Cody and Forrest assembled some force, put together a scenario and we all battled it out.  I helped by providing some terrain for the game, but they supplied everything else.  Sorry in advance for the unpainted models in the pictures; I guess everyone isn't as picky about playing with painted forces.  ;)

Here is the scenario background, force distribution, and scenario rules.  All pilots had a skill of 4.

10 December 3062

Hostilities between forces loyal to Archon Katherine Steiner and Victor Steiner-Davion are breaking out across the old Federated Commonwealth.  On the planet Bromhead in the Capellan March of the Federated Suns units loyal to both have previously separated themselves in order to prevent bloodshed.  The 22nd Avalon Hussars remain loyal to the AFFS high command and Katherine while the 2nd Davion Guards maintain the personal loyalty to the Davion Family common to all the guards regiments.  Now that Victor has begun his attempt to unseat the usurper Katherine forces loyal to the Davion's have begun striking out.

The 22nd Avalon Hussars have been ordered to retake key supply bases left between the units to avoid just this comflict before the Davion troops can grab them.  The 2nd Davion Guards, having been tipped off to the order by a Davionist communication tech at the AFFS High Command, also move to secure the supplies ahead of the 22nd Hussars.

Scenario:  The Mad Scramble to Civil War

Scenario Type:  Reconnaissance - Easter Egg Hunt Variant

Forces:

B Company 1st Batallion of the 22nd Avalon Hussars with attached support lance 
Command Lance
Timber Wolf Prime
ARC-8M Archer
GLT-3N Guillotine
GAL-1GLS Gallowglas

Calvary Lance
NGS-4S Nightsky
HOP-4D Hoplite
CN9-D Centurion
HBK-5M Hunchback

Scout Lance
JR7-K Jenner
GRF-6S Griffin
ASN-23 Assassin
VLK-QD1 Valkyrie

Support Lance
GHR-5J Grasshopper
Man O' War Prime
Stormcrow Prime
WHM-8D Warhammer

B Company 1st Batallion 22nd Avalon Hussars w/ attached support lance
Sword Company (reinforced) 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Davion Guards
Assault Lance
AS7-K Atlas
SGT-8R Sagittaire
BLR-4S Battlemaster
AWS-9M Awesome

Striker Lance
Hellbringer Prime
FLC-8R Falconer
CES-3R Ceasar
CTF-3D Cataphract

Raider Lance
ASN-23 Assassin
Shadow Cat Prime
ENF-5D Enforcer
RFL-5D Rifleman

Recon Lance
Kit Fox Prime
JR7-k Jenner
COM-5S Commando
SDR-7M Spider
Sword Company (reinforced) 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Davion Guards
Rules:

Attacker and Defender will move onto the board from their table edge.  There will be 12 buildings placed on the map to simulate the supply base.  Both sides will choose 6 buildings secretly to be the objectives for the other team.  Forced withdrawal rules are in effect.

6 buildings on the map must contain an objective secretly noted by each team.  Objectives are revealed by a successful scan.  To successfully scan a building, a unit must end its movement phase in contact with the building and spend the combat phase scanning (while scanning, the unit cannot make any shooting or physical attacks of its own).  Once a building is successfully scanned, the opponent must reveal if it has a hidden objective within.

Scoring:
  • Every objective that is successfully found by a team is worth 50 vp.
  • Points value scoring is in effect for units destroyed.  Units that successfully exit the board due to forced withdrawal do not count toward VP count.
  • Play will continue for one full turn after a side has successfully located all 6 of their objectives.
**In the pictures below the Avalon Hussars normally have green dice by them and the Davion Guards normally have red or blue dice by them.
The table set-up.
My Davion recon lance takes up position next to some building and starts scanning.
The enemy forces advance and open fire.
The Davion raider lance moves up and engages the enemy.
The Davion Guard comes under fire of the Hussars from long range.
Getting in close both sides jockey for advantageous firing positions and try to get rear shots when possible.
The Hussar's get across the board and try to capture target locations within the enemy lines.
Hussars advancing across the open roadways.
My Davion recon lance continues to seek cover while advancing upon the objectives.
The Hussars push forward across the main roadway with their line of mechs.
The Davion Guards have mechs holding the oil fields against the Hussars.
After the Hussars have secured all 6 objectives, both sides open up trying to do as much damage as possible in the closing moments of the battle.
This was a close game and at the end of the battle both sides had lost 7 mechs.  The total points earned breakdown was:  Davion 497 points versus Hussars 529 points.  While the Hussars earned more points it was a very close battle and I would say it was at most a marginal victory for the Hussars (and more likely a draw).

Thanks again to Cody and Forrest for putting the game together, finding the players and running the game for all of us.  I had a lot of fun and look forward to more Alpha Strike games.

I stole their scenario and have used it in another game that you will be seeing here in the very near future.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Tale of an Epic Gamer - March 2015 Update

I made some good progress this weekend.  I have most of the models for this month's goal painted and attached to their bases.  I have a few more Warriors that need to be painted, but the bulk of the models are finished.

I will be texturing the bases next and then painting the bases.




Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Tale of an Epic Gamer - March 2015

This will be my third month of Tactical Commander's Tale of an Epic Gamer painting project.  January saw some Orks being prepared for battle, February was spent on Eldar.  For March, I've decided to work on Tyranids.

NetEpic Gold
Hive Tyrant Brood - 3 hive tyrants - 200 points
Tyranid Warrior Brood - 5 warrior stands - 200 points
Genestealer Brood - 5 stealer stands - 150 points
Genestealer Brood - 5 stealer stands - 150 points
Hormagaunt Brood - 5 hormagaunt stands - 100 points
Hormagaunt Brood - 5 hormagaunt stands - 100 points
Termagaunt Brood - 10 termagaunt stands - 150 points

NetEA
Tyranid Swarm (small) - Hive Tyrant, 6 Hormagaunt stands - 200 points
Tyranid Swarm (small) - Hive Tyrant, 6 Hormagaunt stands - 200 points
Tyranid Swarm (small) - Hive Tyrant, 6 Termagaunt stands - 220 points
   + 2 Termagaunt stands
Genestealer Swarm - 6 stealer stands - 225 points
Genestealer Swarm - 6 stealer stands - 150 points

I've tested some colors in the past and will now move into some mass production painting.  Let the purple washing begin.